To One Not Savingly Joined to Christ

To One Not Savingly Joined to Christ

by Albert N. Martin

Edited transcript of message preached December 26, 1965
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Now in any passage of Scripture, there is always a balance of truth for one class or the other. Any paragraph, any text is either directed primarily to those in Christ or primarily to those outside of Christ. But if rightly handled, there is rarely a passage which does not speak in some measure to both classes. And I seek to do this in the ministry of the Word Sunday by Sunday. Though we're in the Sermon on the Mount, and this is basically instruction for Christians, surely we have found much that is applicable to those outside of the Savior. But this morning I want to focus my remarks and my exposition of the Scripture to those of you who, as you sit here this morning, are not savingly joined to the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want to make it very clear to whom I am addressing myself this morning.
Who is the preacher talking to this morning? Well, I'm talking to every man, every woman, every fellow, every girl, teenager, preteen, whoever you be who is not a child of God. Now by that I mean you are not savingly joined to Christ. We read in 1 John 5 "He that hath the Son hath life, and He that hath not the Son of God hath not life." So I'm addressing myself to you who do not possess Jesus Christ in a vital saving relationship with Him. I'm speaking to those of you who have not experienced what Jesus Christ mentioned in the third chapter of John when He said, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." I'm talking to those of you who have not experienced that supernatural birth of the Holy Spirit. To use another Scriptural expression, I'm talking to those of you who have not yet been soundly converted. Jesus said in Matthew 18, "Except ye be converted, ye shall not the kingdom of heaven." I'm talking to every fellow, every girl, every man, woman, visitor, friend, member--I care not who you be--who have not experienced what Jesus meant when He said, "Except ye be converted, ye shall not the kingdom of heaven." In short, I am addressing myself to every individual this morning who has not become what Paul calls in 2 Corinthians 5 a new creature in Christ Jesus. For Paul says, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
Now those of you who are in that dreadful condition, who are coming to the close of 1965 and facing the prospect of 1966, and you are not savingly joined to Christ; you are not converted; you are not born of the Spirit; you are not a new creature in Christ, you fall into several very distinct categories this morning. And I'm aware that you do, and I want you to be aware of that fact. Some of you here this morning are not joined to Christ; you are not converted; you are not new creatures; you have not been born again, and you are in that state out of ignorance.
Perhaps you are a visitor here this morning, and this may be the first time you have heard the terms "born again", "converted", "new creature in Christ". And so one of the reasons why you are not joined to Christ is that you never heard that you need to be. And the Scripture says in the Old Testament, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." And you are in that condition out of ignorance.
There are others of you in that condition in indifference. You've heard the message; you've heard me preach, and you've heard others preach. And you have enough acquaintance with the Bible to know that you are a sinner, that God is holy, that you cannot enter His presence unless your sins are cleansed and your nature is changed by the power of the Spirit. But you couldn't care less. You're in that condition this morning in a state of indifference. You don't hate Christ, but you don't love Him. You don't hate His Gospel, but you don't love that Gospel. You don't despise His blood, but neither do you look to that blood as your only hope of your acceptance before God. The other things of life--making a dollar, making a living, getting an education, having a good time--these things Jesus said are the cares of the world which choke the Word. And you're in that state, a state of indifference.
Some of you ignorantly, some of you indifferently. And then there are others of you this morning who are in that condition rebelliously. You know the great issues of eternity, so much so that you would actually be delighted if no one ever again spoke to you about your need of the Savior. Nothing could make you happier this morning than for no preacher again to cross your path; who would look you in the eye and declare on the basis of the Word of God, the Holy Scriptures, that unless you're born again and repent, you'll never, never, never enter the kingdom of heaven. For you see, you are not joined to Christ, but unlike those who are not because of ignorance and others indifference, you are in that condition with a rebellious attitude. And the cry of your heart is expressed in Luke 19:14: "We will not have this Man to reign over us [Leave me alone in my sins; let me do as I please]."
Then there are others of you in that stage in what I would call an awakened condition. You're no longer ignorant. You've heard enough of the Bible to know that you are lost. And you've heard enough of the testimony of your own conscience that there's a day of reckoning coming. And you know there's no hope in the world; you know there's no satisfaction in the world. And you are here this morning not joined to Christ. You make absolutely no profession of Him--openly unsaved, no profession. And yet you're in that condition where you know that the issues of your relationship to God and Christ are the only things that really matter in life. You wouldn't dare speak against Christ and His Truth because you know if there is ever to be any hope for you, it is to be found in His Truth and in His Son.
Then there are others of you who are not joined to Christ--you make no profession that you're joined to Him. You're not only awakened, but you've gone a step further. You are seeking sinners this morning. You are become so disturbed about this matter of your relationship to God in Christ that the cry of your heart is the cry of the jailor: "What must I do to be saved? [Where is He that I might find Him?]" You're like the rich young ruler who ran to Christ and fell before Him saying, "Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" And yet all of you have this in common: you have absolutely no profession of belonging to Jesus Christ. And I'm confident that there are those of you here this morning who if I were to ask you, "Are you a Christian?", you would say, "No, I'm not." And you fall under these four or five categories.
Some of you utterly ignorant of what these issues are, God has a word for you this morning. Others of you indifferent (you couldn't care less), God has a word for you this morning. Some of you rebelliously determined to kick against the pricks, God has a word for you this morning. Others of you awakened, beginning to come out of the slumber of the night of sin, God has a word for you. And there are seeking sinners here this morning. Some of you are desperate that you might know that you belong to Christ. God has a word for you. And that's the first class of unsaved people to which I address myself this morning--those of you openly unsaved.
Now there's another class of unsaved people to whom I'm speaking this morning. And you are the class that I would call the false professors of Christianity. You make a profession, and on the basis of some decision you've made or some kind of profession with the lips, you have assumed the name Christian. But listen, you know that you don't have the real thing. You know that when Jesus talks about people who draw nigh with their lips but their hearts are far from Him--you know that's you. When you read that Jesus talked about white-washed sepulchers that appear beautiful to men but inwardly are full of uncleanness--you know He's talking about you. But some of you who are false professors of Christianity and know it, you're glad you're in that state. Jesus said in John 5:44, "How can ye believe which receive honor one of another and seek not the honor that cometh from God only." Some of you are pretty content. You've mother and father and pastor and others pretty well convinced you're a Christian. You know you're not, but you're pretty content in that condition. You've got them off your back. Dad and Mom won't hound you because you're pretty respectable, and you keep the outward standards of Christianity. And your pastor and the elders can't come and sit you down and deal with you in terms of a matter of church discipline. You're pretty respectable; you come to church enough, but you know you don't have the real thing. But you're content in that condition. God has a word for you this morning.
And bless God, I trust there are some who, though you've made a profession and know you don't have reality, you're getting well nigh sick unto death about it. You're at the place where you're tired of putting up a front. Would to God that we had a church half full of people like that, who are sick and coming to the place where they just say, "I just want reality or nothing at all." And maybe there's someone like that this morning--I trust so. And so that's the second class of unsaved people to whom I'm addressing myself this morning: those openly unsaved--no profession; those of you who make a profession, but you know you don't have reality.
Then the a third class to which I would address myself this morning is what I would call the deceived professor of Christianity. You name His name, and you're convinced that you're a Christian. But listen to me, if your profession is true, this Bible is a lie. And if this Bible is true, your profession is a lie. You got me? You profess Christ as Savior and Lord, and you're convinced you're a Christian. But listen, if your profession is true, this Book is a lie. Why? Because this Book says anyone who is born of God loves righteousness and hates sin. You don't hate sin. You love it. This Book says those that are born of God have a hunger after God, a desire to know His will and to do it. You couldn't care less about the will of God. All you're concerned about is your own will. This Book says those that are born of God love the brethren. All things being equal, when they've got the chance, the people they want to be with are those that love their Savior, and who talk most about Him, and who reflect Him most in life. Not you--you would rather be with the crowd that talks about the things that interest your depraved heart.
Now either your profession is true and the Bible is a lie, or the Bible is true and your profession is a lie. And I know which one it is because my Bible says, "God cannot lie." My Bible says, "Let God be true and every man a liar." And I have a word for you from God's Word this morning. And every one of you who are unsaved falls under one of those three categories this morning: openly unsaved--you make no profession; those of you who make a profession but know that you don't have reality; others of you who make a profession and think you have reality. But if the Bible is true, you have a mere profession, for by your works you deny Him. Now I am specifically addressing those three classes of unsaved people this morning. And I am not ignorant that I have others here who know Him, who belong to Him. But I want to address myself to you more specifically tonight.
Now as we come to the end of '65 and face '66, what is my word to this class of people this morning? First of all, I want to give you some words of sober warning. Then I want to give you some words of warm entreaty. And then I want to lay before you some words of blessed hope and encouragement.
First of all, I want to warn you. Young people, adults, friends, visitors, members, I'm in earnest this morning. God bearing me witness, I've literally cried out to Him that He would be pleased to send these words of warning like a thunderbolt from heaven in the hearts of some of you this morning; that it would so disturb you that err the dawn sounds the last not of the 12th hour of 1965, you'll be found safe in the ark of God's salvation. What are my words of warning?
O how often a well placed warning, a well timed warning has saved life and limb. You're barreling down the highway at 60 miles an hour, and then a sign comes into view of your headlights (you're driving at night): "Danger, Sharp Curve!" Then it shows what that sharp curve is like, and you put on your brakes and slow down from 60 to 40. You're safe--a well placed warning. If that sign had not been there and you came into that curb at 60, you'd be in the morgue the next day. A well placed warning heeded in time, and it saved your life. But O how sad it is that unheeded warnings have wrecked as many lives and limbs as headed warnings have saved them.
Over the radio this past week, the warning has gone out from disc jockeys and announcers and from news casters: drinking and driving don't mix. People have been warned, and yet you and I will listen to the news cast tomorrow morning and will be saddened that probably well over 500 lives will be snuffed out on the highways this weekend. And probably the great majority will trace right back to the bottle. Warnings, warnings, warnings unheeded! Death is the result. This is tragic when it's in the realm of physical life. But I tell you, beloved, it's more tragic when it's in the realm of the spiritual life. And I want to warn you this morning, and I want to warn you in terms of what you've done in the past year if 1965 leaves you still unsaved, whether openly so, whether making a profession but not having reality, or whether deceived. If '65 leaves you as it found you, still in your sins, you know what you've accomplished in '65? Three very terrible, frightening things.
Number one: 1965 has added great weight to the inevitable judgment of God that will fall upon you. Will you turn with me to the second chapter of Romans. And listen to the words of the Apostle Paul as he addresses a people similar to, I'm confident, many here this morning. Romans 2:4-5: "Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God." What is Paul saying? He says to a group of people, "Don't you see how good God has been to you, how He's been longsuffering, and how He's forborne with you in the past days?"
Think of the ways of God's goodness to you this morning. I'm talking to those of you now who are not joined to Christ. Think of His goodness over the past year. You sit here this morning with soul and body intact--sound of limb, sound of mind. He's put food upon your table; He's sent breath into you lungs. Think of the blessings of love of wife, of children, of friends. And yet you've lived everyday of 1965 with no thought of God's glory, no thought of God's honor, no thought of God's will. And what's He done? As you've treated Him this way, what's He done? He's showered the riches of His goodness upon your undeserving head--riches of His goodness! Hundreds and thousands will awake tomorrow morning to the fear and dread of the bombs and the shelling and the killing in Vietnam. Hundreds and thousands live in constant dread and fear in other troubled spots of the world. A third of the population of India living on a border line starvation diet. Nobody here living a border line diet of starvation. No of us here need fear that between now and the time the sermon has ended that a shell might rock this building and bring the roof down upon us. O think of the goodness of God, the riches of His goodness.
Then Paul says not only the riches of His goodness. but riches of His longsuffering and His forbearance. Listen to me dear young people, some of you have sat here every Sunday for a whole year and you've heard sermon after sermon after sermon. And the Son of God has been freely offered from this pulpit week after week after week after week. He's been preached poorly, yes, I'm sure at times, terribly poorly, and yet earnestly and sincerely. And He's been held up as the glorious Lord of glory in whom salvation is found. Have you not been urged to seek Him? Have you not been entreated to call upon Him? Have you not even with tears been pled with to flee to Christ? And yet 1965 finds you still in your sins. O behold the riches of His longsuffering and forbearance!
If you are outside of Christ this morning, every sin you've committed in 1965 has been like a voice that has thundered up to God, and it has called upon His justice and has said, "Almighty justice, judge that sinner." As the arm of God's justice would be raised to take the dagger of His pure and holy wrath and plunge it in your breast, His longsuffering has stayed the hand. Every sin has been a voice calling upon God to judge you. And the only reason the hand of justice has not come down with the sword of wrath is the longsuffering and the patience of God. Every sermon you've heard, every appeal you've been exposed to, every plea that has been addressed to your ears--flee to Christ, come to the Savior, seek the Savior--and you've turned a deaf ear. And you've stiff armed the appeal of God's servants. That too has been a voice calling unto God to judge the impenitence of your heart. And yet here you are this morning. The last Sunday of '65, and you're not in hell, and that's the only reason. Ah, dear young person, adult, friend, or whoever you be, the only reason is the riches of God's forbearance, His longsuffering, and His mercy.
Now what does God intend with all this goodness, all this longsuffering, all this mercy? Notice, verse 4: "…not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" Why has God shown this goodness? Why are you here sound of mind and of limb? Why are you here with sufficient to feed your body and to cloth your body? Why such riches of goodness? Why such forbearance? Paul said God's intention is that He might break you by His goodness. "No you not", he says "that the goodness of God has as its intention to lead you to repentance." To cause you to reflect and say,
"What a wretch I am. Here God sends rain upon the soil that I might have food to eat. He gives me a mother and dad and keeps them well that they might care for me and provide for me. He gives me a sound mind and strong body that I might work and provide for myself and my children. And what have I done with all this goodness? I've faced every day of '65 with no thought but my lust, my will, my plan, my purposes on a miserable wretch. The hand that has stretched out everyday and fed me and cared for me, I haven't even looked to that hand and said, 'Thank You.' O God what a miserable wretch I am."
Paul said that's what it ought to do. Beholding His goodness, it ought to cause you to bow in brokenness and repentance and seek Him.
As you look back this morning, think of the sermons you've heard this past year. Think of the times when conscience has pricked you in those quiet hours when you've lain upon your bed, and when all has been still, and the clamor and den of that jungle music is gone from your ears, young people, and then the clamor and den of the children's appeals for this and that--and all of that has been quiet. You've been laying there upon your bed, and conscience has begun to go to work. Your conscience has begun to thunder, "You're slated for judgment! What about that Lie? What about that area of cheating? What about that area of dishonesty? What about that area of lust? What about that pride?" And conscience has begun to thunder, and you begin to feel a little foretaste of what it will be to stand before God in judgment. But what did you do? Rather than obey the voice of conscience and fall to your knees in the quietness of the night hours and begin to call upon God for mercy, what did you do? Maybe you reached over to your little transistor radio and turned it on to more jungle music to drive out the thoughts of God. Or maybe you watched the late show until you practically fell off the chair--anything--but still the voice of God. Why? God shows His longsuffering to you. For what end? That He might lead you to repentance. That's God's intent.
But what have you done with God's longsuffering and patience and goodness? Listen, listen, listen to verse 5: "But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath…." Do you get the equation? Paul says you've taken the riches or the treasures of God's goodness, and they have summed up to the treasures of His wrath. You see, you have misinterpreted God's goodness and His longsuffering. You thought that God's goodness and longsuffering was an indication that you didn't care whether you turned to His Son or not. You thought that the indication you could sin and still not have God judge you and snuff out your life was an indication that God didn't know about your sin. No, that's the mistake we read about in the 50th Psalm where God says, "These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself." Then God goes on to say, "But I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes." You see, you've misinterpreted God's goodness. God's goodness was intended to lead you to repentance, but you have regarded lightly. That's what the word "despised" means. "Despiseth thou the riches of His goodness?" To treat with disdain and with lightness and scorn and as thing of little worth. God's intent was to lead to repentance. You have abused His goodness. And what's the result? Paul says you've been treasuring up wrath.
O, will you listen to me this morning? Just as surely as you have added days to your age and knowledge to your mind, experience to your life, joys and sorrows to your memory; just as sure as 1965 has added all of these things, so has 1965 added to the weight of the judgment of God upon your soul unless you repent. I tell you, a thought that's haunted me in my study this week is this. And I trust it will haunt some of you until you seek the Lord. Listen, if you don't repent and flee to Christ and be savingly joined to Him by the Spirit, in hell one day you'll curse every single day of 1965. And you'll have an eternity to curse it. Why? Because every day lived in impenitence added weight to your judgment in hell. And you'll curse every day of 1965 through all eternity. For though God showered the riches of His goodness; showered the riches of His forbearance, instead of leading you to repentance, you have abused it and despised it. And Paul said all it did was cause the great mountain of the weight of God's judgment to grow higher and broader and heavier. Brethren, that's a sobering thought.
I've plead to God by name for almost every one of you dear young people often in the past several days because you've sat here week in, week out. But I don't know your heart; I don't know where you stand. I don't know if the past year has found you seeking the Lord or simply sitting in a pew. I've sought God for many of you adults by name, for you've sat here; you've listened; you've looked; you've shaken my hand; you've gone out the door. And I don't know if there's been any closet that could witness that you've been seeking God. I don't know if there are any tear-stained rugs that could rise up this morning and witness that you've sought the Lord with brokenness. I don't know that there are any walls that could cry out that they've been witness to your pleas for forgiveness and for mercy. I don't know if there's any Bible that could open up this morning and witness that its pages have been delightfully perused by your seeking heart. All I see is your face. That's all I see, beloved. And if '65 finds you unsaved, leaves you unsaved, the first thing you have done is you have added weight to the inevitable judgment of God. What a warning. You say, "Pastor, you've spoiled the New Year's celebration." Beloved, if I could spoil it so that you would seek God, that would be the best spoiling I've ever done.
The second thing '65 has done if it leaves you unsaved is that it has further hardened your heart to the truth of God. The thought of a hardened heart is one of the most sobering doctrines in the Bible. And the Bible states that there is such a thing as a hardening of heart. All men's heart by nature are hard. Ezekiel 36 says, "I will take out the heart of stone." But when the Bible talks about the hardening of the heart, it's talking about a peculiar hardness. We read about it in Romans 2: "But after thy hardness and impenitent heart…." In Hebrews 2:7-8, God says, "Today if you hear His voice, harden not your heart."
May I describe the process by which a heart is hardened? There's man's part in this hardening, and there's God's part in this hardening. What is our part in having a hardened heart? Here it is: first of all, it's the process by which we stifle the voice of conscience. In 1 Timothy 4:2, we read this: "Having their conscience seared with a hot iron." And the Greek word literally means cauterized. You see, when something is burned and then there builds up a scab; the scab is insensitive. And that's the picture. Paul says people having taken conscience and they've seared so it's built up a thick layer of scabby flesh that's unfeeling. And conscience no longer speaks.
Have you been stifling the voice of conscience in the past year, young people? If you've listened to anything that Mom and Dad have taught you in family devotions, and anything your teachers taught you in Sunday School, and anything your pastor's tried to teach you, your conscience has become awakened to certain issues. Now what have you done with the voice of conscience? As conscience has spoken, have you sought to stifle the voice of conscience? Have you sought to still and cause the voice of conscience no longer to speak? Have you stifled the voice of conscience on the issues of sin? Every time you and I sin and conscience speaks, that little pricking is a preview of judgment. You never told your conscience to condemn you when you sin. If we had our way, we'd see to it that we didn't have a conscience, because conscience makes the most profligate, wicked sinner to some degree bothered about his sin. Where did that conscience come from? God put it there. And God says that's a little pledge that one day you're going to stand before me. Ever time conscience condemns, God says that a little pledge of the day when you'll stand before Me. And to have a hardened heart is to stifle the voice of conscience. When conscience pricks us about that little business dishonesty, about that impure thought that's entertained, about that act that's impure and unclean, about that step we take in a social relationship that is wrong, about that liberty we take with a young woman or young man that is sin. And conscience smites, but we stifle the voice of conscience. And it gets a little bit easier the next time, and conscience speaks a little less loudly. And then its' a little bit more easy the next time, and conscience speaks a bit more softly, until we can with a high hand and a bold, brazen attitude do that now which once we did with trembling. Ah, dear person, your hardened heart. In 1965, if it finds you unsaved, has hardened your heart as you've stifled the voice of conscience on the issues of sin, on the issues of the Gospel.
You see, a preacher has two things in his advantage if he's preaching the Word of God. He has God on his side and this Book. And he has the conscience of his hearers on his side. When I call upon you to repent and flee to Christ, your conscience affirms that this is the right thing to do. And you know it. Now you can try to argue conscience down, That's a little pledge of the fact that one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord. And just as when conscience condemns about sin, that's a little preview of judgment, so when conscience convinces you that the Gospel is true and that you ought to repent and flee to Christ, that's a little preview of the day when you must bow before Him. And every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord. To harden your heart is to stifle the voice of conscience.
It's to reject the overtures of God's mercy. I don't have time. Perhaps I ought to bring sermons sometime on the hardness of heart. There are too many illustrations in the Bible. But on your part, dear one, anything short of immediate response to God's dealings is to harden your heart. God dealt with Pharaoh, and He sent judgments. But it said after each judgment by which God tried to awaken him, he hardened his heart. Then in answer to the prayers of Moses, God would lift the judgment. And then it would say, "But Pharaoh hardened his heart." You see, he wouldn't respond either to mercy or to judgment. He had a hard heart. That's what has happened in the past year to some of you. God has showered His mercy upon you, but you've hardened your heart. God has terrified you with some judgment, perhaps some accident that could have taken your life, perhaps some near miss. You were in a situation driving your car, and to this hour you don't know how you escaped a head-on collision. You just found as though some angel was there pushing the cars apart. In those sober moments you thought, "Where would I be if my life had been snuffed out?" God spoke through that near act of judgment. But you've spurned His judgment; you've spurned His mercy. You've hardened your heart.
That's man's part. And it's frightful that God has a part in the hardening of the heart of a sinner, for the Bible says God hardened Pharaoh's heart. In Romans 9, we read, "Whom He wills, He hardens." That's a terrible thing, beloved, that Almighty God has had a part in the hardening of some of your hearts this past year. As you have stifled the voice of conscience; as you have refused the overtures of God's mercy and the warnings of God's judgment, what has God done? God's hardening of the hearts of men has a twofold aspect. One is an aspect of permission; the other is an aspect of desertion. You see, God has permitted you to go on involved in that sin that's about to damn you. You see, sometimes in mercy God will arrange circumstances that bring us up short, and we can't even follow the course of sin that we want to. I think back to my high school days, and I to this day praise God for certain things that happened to me that kept me from the course of action that my sinful, unregenerate heart wanted. I thank God for it. And when God begins to hardened the heart of a man, He just lets him have his own way. He just says, "Alright, I'll take off the restraints; I'll permit you to go on in the course of your own wicked desire." Think of it, what a terrible thing. And that state of permission then leads to a state of desertion where God no longer rules the conscience, where God no longer causes His Word to thunder to our hearts. Beloved, it's a terrible thing, but there may be some of you outside of Christ who will be able to hear this sermon this morning and go on home and have your Sunday dinner and watch the Colts and the Packers this afternoon and go to bed tonight and never think one sober thought about your relationship to God. I tell you, beloved, that's the most terrible state to be in. God is leaving you at the mercy of your own stony heart.
I fear for some of you young people for this very reason. I never had the Gospel preached to me with earnestness and clarity and with entreaty as some of you have had for a year, two, three, five, ten. Yet how I bless God that the little Gospel I heard would hound me and trouble me day after day and night after night until I found, by His grace, that pardon that comes from the Savior. When you hear a sermon like this morning, boys, girls, teenagers, college students, adults--listen to me--can you hear a message such as addressed to you this morning and go home and throw it right out of your mind? Listen, you're in a dangerous place. God is deserting you--that's the hardness of heart. And the ultimate result will be that there will no longer be a concern, and the door of mercy will be forever shut.
I have trembled in my heart as I have read this passage in Proverbs in preparation for the message where God says in the first chapter, beginning is verse 24: "Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof." You said, "I don't want the prickings of conscience, the wooings of the Spirit, the pleas of God's servant--I don't want it." Now notice the sobering words:
"I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon Me, but I will not answer; they shall seek Me early, but they shall not find Me: for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord."
You tie that in with a parallel passage in John 12:37 (we don't have time to look at it) where God says a certain people could not believe because God had hardened their hearts. They came to a place where faith was impossible. Beloved, if this the Gospel, believing this Book, how can I read those words but not fear for some of you. When 1965 leaves you still in your sins, what have you accomplished? You've added weight to the inevitable judgment of God; you've further hardened your heart.
And the third thing you've accomplished is this: 1965 has brought you 365 days closer to death and the day of judgment. "It is appointed to men once to die, and after this the judgment." That time of your death is hidden in the secret counsels of God. But just as surely as the passage from grade one leads to grade two, and ultimately it leads to graduation; just as surely as one second passes another and leads to a minute, which leads to and hour, which leads to a day, which leads to a week, to a month, to a year, so 1965 has brought you one year closer to the day of death and of judgment. Whether we want to think of it or not, it's true.
Think of the man who sits in death row--I visited one once. The sentence has been passed; he's going to die. And he counts the days--20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 10, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Even before he's to be executed, they bring in his last meal. The irony of it--he can choose his own menu. Then he sweats through the night; it seems like an eternity. The sun begins to break over the horizon, and some of its first rays filter into his dingy cell. And then when the key enters the lock, all the blood drains from his system, for he knows the hour has come. He hears the clanking at the door and the squeak as it opens, and he's called out to die. Beloved, I'd rather have that experience a billion times that to have Almighty God summon me out of the dust of the earth to stand before the great white throne and open up the books and say, "Sinner, here's your record--here's all the Gospel truth you heard but didn't obey, the sins that you've done and wouldn't repent of. What do you say, sinner?" Behind one's head and mouth be stilled and hear the sentence, "Depart from me into everlasting fire." Beloved, 1965 has brought some of you 365 days closer to that awful hour. And those are my words of warning this morning, that this year has added weight to judgment; it's hardened your heart, and it's brought you closer to judgment.
Now may I speak very briefly and warmly, I trust. Not only to I give you words of warning, but I give you words of entreaty. What is an entreaty? It's an earnest pleading, an impassionate beseeching. And my entreaty this morning has this one goal, that those of you who are not joined to Christ, whether you are openly unsaved, or whether you have deceived others, and you know you don't have reality, or whether you've deceived yourself--my one entreaty is this, as the old year comes to a close and the new year is before us: seek the Lord while He may be found. Break off with your sins; cry out for mercy. Count no pain too great until you know you belong to the Savior.
Now on what basis do I entreat you? I would entreat you first of all by the testimony of your own conscience. Your conscience tells you that what I've told you from God's Word this morning is true. Your own conscience has been your worst enemy, so you think this morning. But it's your best friend, beloved. You think conscience is your enemy because conscience has told you as I've been preaching, "It's true." And I plead with you this morning by the testimony of conscience that you seek the Lord.
I plead with you by the brevity of life. We read this morning in Psalm 90, that our days are like a tale that's told; they fly away. As Pop Silom this morning passed over the 80 mark, and our dear sister Blair, it seems but yesterday that you were running around the backyard as a little girl and a little boy. And the years have gone--have they not? I could call them up to witness. Young people, I could call these whose gray hairs and fourscore years have come, and they would tell you how quickly, how quickly, how quickly. And I plead with you by the brevity of life to seek the Lord while He may be found.
I plead with you, not only by the testimony of your conscience, by the brevity of life, but I plead with you thirdly by the commands of your Creator. He commands you to repent. Acts 17:30: "God commandeth all men everywhere to repent." He calls on you to return. In Ezekiel 33, He says, "Turn ye, turn ye. Why will ye die?" He commands you, "Seek the Lord while He may be found." Will you act as though you were your own creator, that there was no God who made you, to whom you are accountable? I plead with you this morning by the commands of your Creator.
And fourthly, I entreat you by the wounds of Christ. His open side and His pierced hands were received for sinners. They show God's hatred for sin, and the only way of deliverance from sin, and the extent of God's love for sinners. Will your pride speak louder than the wounds of Christ? Will your lust be more persuasive than the languid eyes of a dying God? Will your stubbornness withstand the sight of the shrouded heavens, when all was blackness? Will the world drown out the dying cries of the Son of God: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" Dear young people, adults, visitors, I plead by the wounds of a dying Savior who shed His blood for sinners. I plead by His wounds that on this last Lord's Day of 1965 that you seek Him.
Then last of all, I plead by the love of my own heart. The Apostle Paul said, "I seek not yours, but you." With all the failures of a pastor that rise up to condemn me, many times, sometimes often in one day, one little ray of hope is when I read a verse like this. And God bearing me witness, the thing that I want more than anything else from you, dear people, to whom He is calling, is the salvation of your never-dying souls. That's all I want. For this I live; for this I pray; for this, beloved, I sweat; for this I study; for this I plead with God. And I plead with you this morning by the love of my own heart that you seek the Lord, that you seek the Lord. Though the more I love you, the less I be loved; though I be unloved for plainness, I must study plainness and preach plainly, lest any of you sink into hell saying, "The preacher talked in big terms. He assumed we were all Christians; I never knew he meant me." I mean you this morning, beloved, and I mean none other. I mean you precious young people whom I've faced for three years. And I've never had you come and say, "Pastor, I know I'm lost. Can you point me to the Savior?" I plead with you by the love of my heart that you seek the Lord this morning. For if my ministry has merely informed your minds but left you in your sins, you know what I've done? I've been an instrument to make hell a worse place for you, because the Bible says to whom much is given, much shall be required. And if my ministry has merely put information into your head, it's made the fires of hell hotter. Do you think I want to be one whose going to be held accountable for that? I don't want it, beloved, but unless you repent, all my ministry for three and a half years has done is make hell a worse place for you. If my preaching has merely caused you to quite some sins and be respectable but have no changed heart, all I've done is make you a whitewashed sepulcher, a twofold more child of hell. And so I entreat you this morning, beloved, by the love of my heart to seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. This is all I plead--words of entreaty.
Then I close, bless God, with words of hope. As we look back over a year which has done these two terrible things (it's added weight to the inevitable judgment of God; it's hardened our hearts), what hope is there? Thank God as we stand here on this last day of 1965, I have blessed words of hope. The door of mercy still stands open. 2 Peter 3:15 says, "The longsuffering of God is salvation." The only reason the door of mercy has not swung shut upon your life is that God is a God of mercy. "Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all that call upon Thee" (Psalm 86:5). Not only does the door of mercy stand open, but blessed be God, Christ stands in the door of mercy. And He beckons you, not to a church, not to a set of doctrines, but to His own lovely self. He says, "Come unto Me." That's the issue. All visitors, this morning, if you miss everything else, remember this: we set Christ before you. Miss Him and you have missed life. Have Him, and you have all things. He says, "Come unto Me." He says, "Those who to Me, I will in nowise cast out."
Christ stands in the door of mercy, and then within that door of mercy, unspeakable blessings await to entice us in. God would entice us the morning by the knowledge that sins may be forgiven; by the knowledge that we shall have eternal life, that we shall have pledge of everlasting presence with the Living God; God would entice us by the joys of the Holy Spirit made real in the human heart here and now; God would entice us with all the sweet delicacies of spiritual delights that are the possession of the children of God. These are the words of hope that God extends this morning. And if any of you perish, you'll have to perish over the wooings of the Spirit, over the thunderings of conscience, over the yearnings of your pastor. And in that day, will you plead that no one warned you, that no one wept over you, that no one instructed you? No, beloved, you'll be without excuse.
As the old year goes out and the new one comes in, I trust you'll hear the words of warning; I trust you'll hear the words of entreaty; I trust you'll hear the words of hope. May God grant that this morning shall be found in the day of judgment to have been a morning owned by the Holy Spirit to the awakening and conversion of some. Let us pray.
Those of you who come with any regularity know that we do not countenance the idea that coming to an altar, raising a hand is getting saved. That's been made abundantly clear. But I am constrained this morning, as I've prayed and asked the Lord for direction about this service, to give an invitation with an opportunity for an outward response to God's truth. And I want to make clear what that invitation is. I'm asking that each one of you who knows that this word was directed to you today, openly unsaved, deceived (you've been a sham), and God's Word has found you. And you see the terrible thing that you've done this past year. You've treasured up wrath; you've hardened your heart. But you've heard the entreaty this morning; you see the hope set before you in Christ. And right now you say, "O God, I am determined to seek You until I know that my sins are forgiven and I am joined to the Lord Jesus." Is that the response of your heart to the Lord this morning? If it is, young person, visitor, I'm going to ask you in a moment to give evidence of that expression of your heart for this purpose--and I want to make it clear--that I might be able in the coming week to follow through, come, make an appointment to meet with you, that we might discuss together the matter of your soul's salvation. Is it clear now what I'm asking? You acknowledge you're not saved, you're not in Christ, you're not a new creature, you've not been born again. And the warnings have caught you this morning; the entreaties have wooed you; the hope of God has laid hold of you. And you say, "Pastor, I go on record this morning. I'm determined that 1966 will not find me still in my sins. I'm determined it will find me in Christ. To that end, I'm seeking Him. Will you pray with me and for me? And as I need help, will you talk with me?" Is that the response of your heart to God this morning? If it is, just before we close, I'm going to ask you to just raise your hand and indicate that desire to me. This is not between you and the Lord; it's between you and your pastor. Are there such, young people, adults? Yes, I see you. Are there any others? This is an indication that you desire with all heart to be found in Christ. And to that end, you want me to pray with you and then to speak with you if I can be of help. That's what the invitation is. This doesn't save you. This an expression of your heart. Some of you young people, God found you this morning. Will all of our pleading be to no avail? Are there others, just before we close? Alright, any others?
Blessed God, we thank you for these who have indicated a desire to seek You. O Father, enable them, we pray, to look away from themselves and to look unto the Savior. Enable them, O God, to throw the weight of their souls upon the Lord Jesus as He's freely offered in the Gospel. Father, speak to yet others--for those we've asked You for and who've given no indication of their desire to seek You. Lord, disturb them; Lord, trouble them. Lord, don't give them over to a hard heart. Father, have mercy on them. Don't leave them at the mercy of their own wicked hearts. But arrest them, we pray, and bring them to Yourself. Spirit of God, seal the Word to the praise and honor of the Lord Jesus. We ask in His name. Amen.