Well it's good to see friends here tonight,
thank you for coming.
And the subject under discussion is the question,
How to receive Jesus Christ as Saviour?
It was a question that was put to
me and therefore we're going to try and
deal with this subject tonight.
The scripture reading is from John's Gospel chapter
one and we're going to read from verse
one.
In the beginning was the Word and the
Word was with God and the Word was
God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him and without
him was not anything made that was made.
In him was life and the life was
the light of men.
And the light shineth in darkness and the
darkness comprehended it not.
There was a man sent from God whose
name was John.
The same came for a witness to bear
witness of the light that all men through
him might believe.
He was not that light but was sent
to bear witness of the light.
That was the true light which lighted every
man that cometh into the world.
He was in the world and the world
was made by him and the world knew
him not.
He came unto his own and his own
received him not.
But as many as received him to them
gave he power to become the sons of
God even to them that believe on his
name.
Which were born not of blood nor of
the will of the flesh nor of the
will of men but of God.
And the word was made flesh and dwelt
among us and we beheld his glory the
glory as of the only begotten of the
father full of grace and truth.
And John bear witness of him and cried
saying this was he of whom I speak
he that cometh after me is preferred before
me for he was before me.
And of his fullness have all we received
and grace for grace.
For the law was given by Moses but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
And no man hath seen God at any
time the only begotten son which is in
the bosom of the father he hath declared
him.
And the Lord will bless to us the
reading of his precious word.
I suppose as preachers constantly we use a
phraseology that sometimes people cannot understand.
And over again we talk about the word
saved and people get puzzled over that that's
why we dealt with that on Sunday.
And sometimes we ask them are they born
again and they're puzzled over that.
And then right at the end of the
service we will invariably ask people to receive
Christ.
And people will often say well how do
we receive him and that's what I want
to speak about tonight.
The scripture that I'm going to give to
you is one that's well known well worn
in gospel preaching and it's this.
He came unto his own and his own
received him not but to as many as
received him to them gave he power to
become the sons of God even to them
that believe on his name which were born
not of blood nor of the will of
the flesh nor of the will of man
but of God.
Now I'm not going to talk about that
great mystery of being born of God because
we dealt with that last night.
But I want to just speak on the
subject what it means to receive Christ.
First of all I must share with you
that it is possible to reject him.
He came unto his own and his own
received him not.
When the Lord Jesus came to his own
people the Jewish people he came with all
the prophecies behind him.
Prophecies concerning his birth prophecies concerning his life
prophecies concerning the miracles that he would perform
prophecies concerning his death prophecies concerning his burial
prophecies concerning his resurrection and even prophecies concerning
his ascension.
And I think if you add them all
together there are roughly 410 prophecies that he
fulfilled when he came and went back to
heaven.
And although he fulfilled all those prophecies before
the eyes of the Jewish people they still
rejected him.
He came again with mighty authority.
They saw miracles that are so startling that
they became almost frightening.
For instance they saw men and women that
were full of leprosy.
That meant part of their hands were disfigured.
Their toes had dropped off.
They had the lion like appearance.
They had lost their features.
They were totally bald.
Their bodies were covered with ulcers and they
were totally disfigured.
And yet one touch from the master and
they were cleansed and made whole.
They saw on one occasion a man that
was totally paralyzed.
And one word from the Lord Jesus take
up thy bed and walk.
They saw the man get up and the
very thing that had become a burden he
carried it.
Take up thy bed and walk.
And then on another occasion they were at
the graveside of Lazarus and as the stone
was rolled away they could actually smell the
composition.
And yet one word from the master Lazarus
come out and they saw a man coming
out from a grave with all the grave
clothes around him.
It must have been frightening.
So he said loose him and let him
go.
And yet he came with all this authority
and they received him not.
And then he came to them in passion
and love when he was on the cross
and they had done terrible things to him.
In fact they treated him not as a
human but as an animal.
And as they were treating him with this
vulgarity he met all their hatred and all
their bitterness with those beautiful words.
Father forgive them they know not what they
do.
And yet they still rejected him.
When he was raised from the dead he
commissioned his disciples to go only to the
lost tribes of Israel.
And Peter stood up on the day of
Pentecost and said to them that same Jesus
whom you crucified God hath made both Lord
and Christ.
And although about three thousand trusted in the
Lord in the main they rejected him.
And then God gave them his last opportunity.
He raised up a man whose name was
Stephen.
He made his face shine like an angel
because the covenants came to them through angelic
mediation.
And so his face shone like an angel.
And he preached with such mighty power that
they were spellbound.
But then they stoned him to death.
And whilst the stones were falling upon his
skull he was heard to say Lord lay
not this sin to their charge.
And he left upon them the shadow of
Calvary.
And in spite of that love they rejected
the message of Christ.
And then the curtains came down.
And now ladies and gentlemen I want you
to observe what has happened.
In 70 AD Titus ransacked the whole of
Jerusalem so that one stone did not stand
upon another.
And for two thousand years the Jewish nation
has been persecuted.
Most of us in our time have witnessed
the German race persecuting the Jewish people so
that six million were slaughtered to death in
the last war.
And now they are back in their land
but they are surrounded by their enemies and
they are yet to be punished.
Why?
Because they rejected the Messiah.
What a lesson for us Gentiles.
Ladies and gentlemen can I say this it
doesn't pay to reject Christ.
Israel as a nation is a lesson to
the world.
He came unto his own and his own
received him not.
But as many as received him to them
gave he power to become the sons of
God.
Now how do we receive Christ?
Number one as our sin bearer.
Number two as our daily saviour.
And number three as our sovereign.
And it is as simple as that.
Now what does it mean to receive Jesus
Christ as my sin bearer?
We shall never understand the message of Easter
better expressed.
We shall never understand the cross until we
understand our need.
When does a person really appreciate a doctor
when they're sick?
When does a person really appreciate a dentist
when he has a nagging tooth?
When do we really appreciate a solicitor when
we're in legal need?
When do we really appreciate a chiropodist when
our feet hurt us?
You see it's need that drives us to
the specialist.
Now dear friends may I say this in
an emphatic way.
We shall never never never understand the cross
until we understand our guilt.
Now what do we mean by guilt?
Every single person in this building tonight has
violated the dictates of their own conscience.
When your conscience has said don't do it
you have done it so often and that
includes your poor creature.
Every single one of us in this room
tonight we have broken the Ten Commandments.
Some people have broken them more than others
but we've all broken the Ten Commandments and
because we've all broken the Ten Commandments we
have committed sin and you cannot deny that
fact.
Now why is it that we cannot keep
the Ten Commandments because we possess in our
bodies a nature that's called flesh and that
flesh nature is the source of sin in
us.
For instance if you could take out your
flesh nature and if you could pull it
to pieces you wouldn't find one speck of
good in it.
It is totally corrupt and it's the seed
plot of and that's why we find it
very difficult to live a decent good life.
Now because we have a sinful nature and
because we have broken the commandments the bible
says the whole world is guilty before God.
But this is the problem most of the
people in the western world now do not
understand that they're guilty before God.
In the Victorian period, in the Edwardian period,
in the early Georgian period and I'm only
referring now to about 60 years ago the
gospel was preached and the average person in
the western world knew he was guilty but
today the gospel is not preached and therefore
people are unaware that they're guilty before God.
But whether they're unaware of it or aware
of it the fact is they're guilty.
Imagine a man driving his car in Sydney
and he's doing 60 mile an hour and
the policeman stops him and says do you
realize you were violating the law of the
road?
No I'm unaware of it.
What would he say?
You should have known it and because you
were doing 60 mile an hour you will
now pay 200 dollars.
That's right that's correct he should have known
and therefore whether we know that we're guilty
or whether we don't know we should know
and therefore we're guilty before God.
Now what does that mean?
Now I always find it hard to say
this to a congregation that's why I shall
never be a hellfire preacher.
I will preach it because it's in the
word of God and the fact that it
always hurts me when I say it.
Dear friends if you die guilty before God
you will be eternally separated from God in
that place called hell and that is why
every single one of us we need a
sin bearer and the only one that could
possibly bear our sin and judgment was the
Lord Jesus and when he came here he
came here to die upon the cross and
when the moment of his death came he
said with dignity mine hour has come and
then he went into a garden and prayed
and in that garden he saw the whole
question of sin that he was going to
bear on the cross he saw its corresponding
judgment he saw the power of satan behind
it and the enormous mess was so great
that he sweat as it were great drops
of blood falling to the ground but then
he took that invisible cup from the hand
of his God and said not my will
but thine be done and he went to
the cross and on the cross at Calvary
he became a massive infinite sin bearer for
the whole world and that's what John meant
when he said behold the lamb of God
which beareth away the sin of the world
and when a person becomes a Christian he
comes to that cross where the Lord Jesus
died and he's not so much concerned that
Christ died on behalf of the whole world
he's not even concerned so much that he
died for a select group of people concerning
the church but he sees the Lord Jesus
dying for his sins and he says something
like this he was wounded for my transgressions
he was bruised for my iniquities he bare
my sins in his own body on the
tree and he begins to see his sin
causing the death of the Lord Jesus and
to put it very simply instead of that
observance bearing his sins the Lord Jesus bore
them for him instead of him bearing the
punishment and the guilt for his sin the
Lord Jesus bore it for him and when
he sees that he receives the Lord as
his sin bearer.
Professor Rendall Short told a story in London
that caused the shock and it was one
of the best stories I've ever heard concerning
the cross as you know he spent two
years in surgery in the old Belgium Congo
by the way they've returned to that name
and he heard the story concerning a prince
who had all his wealth in diamonds and
gold and silver and ivory and so on
and he was fabulously wealthy in fact he
didn't know really the extent of his wealth
and one day one of his primitive accountants
came to him and said that his best
diamond had been stolen and therefore he called
his primitive town criers and sent them all
over the compounds we would call them villages
telling the culprit when caught he'll be beaten
with 30 rods that was to the point
of death but they couldn't find the culprit
four days later this primitive accountant came to
him and told him that four of his
diamonds had been stolen and now the fact
was in the fire and so these town
criers they were simple men they went about
the compounds calling the people together saying the
culprit would be beaten with 30 rods but
they still couldn't find the culprit then one
of his primitive detectives said to him it
could be someone in the family that's doing
the stealing so he disguised one of his
detectives as one of the servants and that
person was waiting on the table and one
day he hid in the throne room where
the diamonds were kept and the door opened
and in came the chief's mother and she
went to the safe and she was apprehended
and the news leaked out it was the
prince's mother and now the battle was on
would he be just and punish his mother
if one of the ordinary people was caught
with the diamonds he would be punished now
would he be just but then others said
something like this how can a son punish
his own mother to the point of death
well if he releases her he's merciful but
he's not just and there was a battle
between love and justice the court was set
and thousands of people assembled to hear the
case and unfortunately for the prince the mother
came forward and confessed that she had stolen
all the diamonds what would he do according
to randall short he stood still for two
or three minutes and then he stepped forward
and heaped upon his mother the heaviest penalty
of the law and sent her to the
post of beating and they all whispered and
said just just but it was hard judgment
it was right but hard judgment when god
says the soul that sinneth it shall die
it's right but you say where's the love
just when his mother was going to be
tied to the post of beating they saw
the chief stripping himself of his legal regalia
until his back was bare then from the
very place where he found his mother guilty
he stepped from it and he went to
the post of beating and said to the
man untie my mother he wouldn't do it
and then he said this i made the
law i'm going to fulfill it release my
mother and tie me and his mother was
released and he was tied to the post
of beating an innocent man stepping from the
bar prepared to bear the judgment and that's
what jesus christ did he came from the
glory of heaven when he found that we
were guilty and he went to the cross
not as an innocent man but as a
perfect man to bear the punishment the mother
stood by her son and as every rod
cracked upon his back she was heard to
say for me for me and when the
38th blow fell on his back it was
broken he was dead and as he crumbled
being held only to the post by the
ropes his mother went up and she cried
out i'm terribly sorry thank you thank you
but he was dead dear friends the son
of god your creator hung upon a roman
gibbet and bore your judgment from god and
so realistically was he made one with our
sin he cried out my god my god
why has thou forsaken me and then with
a mighty voice finished but there's a difference
that mother was pleading with her son to
forgive her thanking him for bearing the punishment
but he was dead jesus christ is alive
god has raised him from the dead god
has given him an eternal throne but tonight
you can go to that living savior who
died for you and you can thank him
for dying for you and claim the forgiveness
that comes through his blood and you can
say tonight he was wounded for my transgressions
and bruised for my iniquities and that means
that your sins are eternally put away through
the cross of christ but then comes a
problem over and over again especially people in
england and i'm feel sure this is the
same in australia have put this to me
i would love to be forgiven and saved
yes wonderful to think that god can eternally
forgive me because of the work that jesus
did for me on the cross now they've
got the gist of the truth when they
say that you see god doesn't forgive you
because of the size of your penitence or
even the size of your faith he forgives
you on the work of the cross your
faith receives the forgiveness but god forgives because
christ bore the judgment but then comes this
problem how am i going to live the
christian life in a factory man said to
me recently have you ever been in a
modern factory and seen all the lockers and
the pornographic literature how can i live christ
there that's a problem then a girl said
this to me do you understand modern man
mr brandon well i think i do there
isn't a girl in the office that's kept
her virginity and sin is at random how
can i live the christian life in that
office difficult a student said this to me
with tears in his eyes i would love
to be saved but how can i live
that life in the university i'd be a
laughingstock and probably he would a mother said
this to me in africa my husbands are
drunkard i live in a tin shed and
four families are living in it and they're
all drunkards how can i live the christian
life in a tin shack how can i
do it friends you can't do it in
your own strength this is what the lord
jesus said and this is what the word
says you shall receive power after that the
holy ghost has come upon you and you
shall be witnesses unto me both in jerusalem
judia samaria and the uttermost part of the
world listen to that brilliant word power power
power genuine power paul says don't be drunk
with wine but be filled with the spirit
there's the power always remember this dear friends
the disciples the apostles the 12 apostles were
all failures when the lord jesus came to
the point of his death mark tells us
they all fled even peter their leader let
down the lord with a few nasty swear
words and a broken oath and when the
lord looked upon him he wept bitterly they
were all failures but when you read of
those men in the book of the acts
they are so transformed you can hardly tell
they're the same people you say what's happened
the holy spirit has come into them and
given them power power to live so that
when you receive christ note this you receive
him first of all as your sin bearer
and then you receive that living christ as
your savior and that living christ has sent
the holy spirit so that when he comes
into your life he gives you the power
to live by the way that lady that
got saved and lived in a tin shack
there in south africa she saw her husband
saved now she lives in mitchell plains and
she's got a lovely little home and four
lovely children those two men are of another
and the woman have been wonderfully transformed you
see power how can i explain this when
you become a christian it's not struggling to
follow the lord as an example you can't
do it you see jesus christ was absolutely
perfect and you cannot tread in his footsteps
when you become a christian he forgives your
sins the holy spirit comes within you and
the lord jesus wants to relive his life
in you and this is how paul put
it i am crucified with christ that's my
old self-life nevertheless i live yet not
i but christ liveth in me and the
life which i now live in the flesh
i live by the faith of the son
of god who loved me and gave himself
for me so it's the lord jesus reliving
his life in you and that's christianity you
see when you become a christian christ is
your life not a part of it or
your best hobby he is your life and
a christian is someone who is living out
the lord jesus because the lord is living
in him in the power of the spirit
let me rest right a young man before
the war was a wizard at maths but
hopeless at art you often find that and
every time he went into an art class
it was like having a nightmare but in
those days when they took them a trick
you had to do art whether you liked
it or not i'm going to give this
fellow another name i'm going to give him
the name of johnson and he was lining
up outside the art class waiting for the
nightmare and he thought i'm going to try
and do it this time and he was
a boy of determination anyhow he got right
near the back as far as he could
so that no one would see his masterpiece
and they were told to paint a rose
a red rose so he started and the
moment he grabbed hold of the paintbrush he
hadn't got a dog's chance he was holding
it like a cricket there and so he
started to paint and a blob went here
and a blob went there and a blob
went somewhere else and then he took his
handkerchief out and smudged it then he got
somewhere on his face and on his nose
and he was struggling for 20 minutes and
the perspiration was dripping from his forehead and
he didn't know the art master had got
behind him and all of a sudden the
boy was so defeated he threw down his
brush and quietly said i'm finished and the
art master slapped him on the shoulder and
said johnson you are absolutely hopeless he looked
up and said agreed sir agreed he confessed
that he was absolutely helpless that's where where
god wants us the apostle got there when
he said oh wretched man that i am
who shall deliver me and when we come
to a point where we say lord i
can't live this christian life i'm too weak
sin has beaten me oh do something with
me right he says johnson clean your paints
so he did he said that's not good
enough for me so he looked up as
though to say you're very fastidious and then
the art master got to work and cleansed
the paints until they were perfectly clean now
he says get a new piece of paper
so he got a new piece of paper
so the paints were clean and there was
a new piece of paper now that's what
god wants to do with every one of
us he wants to give us a cleansing
that will satisfy him and he does that
through the death of christ and he cleanses
us once and for all and then he
gives us a new life like a new
piece of paper right he said laddie take
hold of the brush he said don't hold
it like that you never paint like that
hold it like that so he did and
then he slipped his hand over it and
they started to paint and the boy's eyes
nearly came down on his cheek he could
see a rose coming all he saw was
the parchment like the world in its chaotic
state but now a rose was coming and
he got really excited because he was holding
the brush but it was the art master
painting through him and then all of a
sudden the art master said to him let
your hand go limp you're struggling i'm just
borrowing your hand and then being a cockney
says let it go like a piece of
wet fish and he knew that language and
then he gave himself unreservedly over to the
art master and then the rose was complete
and the boy smiled and said could i
take that home he said yes so when
the art master had gone he put his
name underneath and there he was smiling i
did that but it was the art master
doing it through him can you see that's
what christ wants to do in the power
of the holy spirit forgive my excitement it's
not you living it's you abiding and christ
reliving his life in you thinking through your
mind seeing through your eyes listening with your
lips speaking with your listening with your ears
sorry speaking with your lips loving through your
heart reliving his life in you when he
got home he put the painting on an
old-fashioned mantelpiece i can't explain that to
you some might know and his mother was
at work for keeping at school he had
lost his father and when his mother came
home he was doing his homework and there
was the painting and she went right up
and looked at the painting and there was
his name underneath then she looked at him
and he was doing his homework wouldn't look
up then she looked again and she looked
at him now i'm going to tell you
what she said verbatim forgive me but she
was a typical cockney she said one word
liar liar what do you mean you didn't
paint that i did did you hold the
brush yes did you put the paint on
the paper yes now come on did you
really paint that yes well she said the
days of miracles are and that's it christianity
is a supernatural life it's the holy spirit
the divine person reliving the life of the
lord jesus in you and our job is
to hand ourselves over completely to the lord
and then he'll relive his life in us
so it's receiving him as my daily savior
and then lastly with this i'll close it
receiving him as my sovereign now what does
that mean i saw a boy from where
i'm staying and he was on one of
those skateboards and the boy was only about
11 and what that boy was doing with
that skateboard was amazing the moment he got
on it he was under its control and
it was amazing what that little boy could
do with that skateboard because he was in
control but he could make a blunder and
he did when you become a christian you
make jesus the savior and the sovereign of
your life now dear friends this is a
very delicate point i've heard people saying this
that they've made him savior but they haven't
made him lord now dear friends if that's
the case you're not saved and when the
lord comes you'll be left behind get the
word whosoever shall call upon the name of
the lord shall be saved if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth jesus as lord and
believe in thine heart that god hath raised
him from the dead thou shalt be saved
what must i do to be saved says
a man in the new testament in the
act chapter 16 and the apostle says believe
now note this on the lord jesus christ
and thou shalt be saved not just jesus
not just jesus christ the lord jesus christ
now my dear friends can i put it
as bluntly as this there are lots of
people who just attend church sunday morning and
they are sunday morning only christians and they
are not under the lordship of christ now
there are some people who are old and
they can't come out different matter some people
who are sick and they can't come up
that's a different matter some people have a
family and one has to stay behind with
the little ones that's a different matter but
a person who claims to be a christian
and just comes sunday morning only there's a
big doubt whether that person has been really
saved how can that person be under the
lordship of christ can you see the point
and if you have groups of christians just
like that sunday morning only christians you will
find that that kind of church will fade
and die you see we must preach the
full gospel if thou shalt confess with thy
mouth jesus as lord and believe in thine
heart that god has raised him from the
dead thou shalt be saved and just in
our old days when sin and self controlled
us now we turn from that kind of
living and now it's the lord jesus that
saves us in the old days we were
slaves to sin now we are slaves to
righteousness now may i say this the lord
jesus is the greatest master you could ever
serve he's not a tyrant he's full of
love and when you come to a place
where you call him sovereign lord that means
you acknowledge his deity to equal with god
and secondly you give him the reins of
your life then the moment he has the
reins he's only got one objective to fill
you with the beauty and the loveliness of
the lord jesus now are you willing to
make him savior are you willing to make
him sovereign then you're almost there let's follow
it and then close i receive him as
my sin bearer for the remission of my
sins good i receive him as my daily
savior so that he can relive his life
in me i receive him as my sovereign
lord so that he can control me and
he controls you by the word of god
now the act how do i receive him
as an act you mustn't imagine you can
drift into this one man thought that he
could go to bed on tuesday night and
wake up wednesday morning and then said oh
it's all happened i've been saved you will
never get saved like that there comes a
moment when you have to go directly before
the lord jesus and you have to receive
him as your sin bearer your savior and
your sovereign and when you start talking to
him confessing your sin thanking him for dying
for you always remember this he's listening to
the groan that comes from your and when
he sees there a flicker of faith and
he hears you saying lord i can't pray
much but thank you for dying for me
thank you for promising to give me the
power to live lord i receive you now
as my savior and lord the moment that
comes from your life you have passed from
death unto life as many as received him
to them gave he the power to become
the sons of god now when i have
received him what will happen will i have
a wonderful feeling of peace yes you could
do it but don't rely on that could
i have a wonderful sense of joy that
the burden's yes but don't rely on that
could i have a wonderful sense of wonderful
joy that now i belong to the lord
jesus and i'm a new creature yes you
could do but don't rely on that don't
rely on any feeling at all because feelings
fluctuate if you want to be sure that
you're don't rely upon any subjective feelings do
two things number one get the claws of
your faith right in christ and him alone
and then with your two feet figuratively stand
upon the word of god you see it's
the lord jesus that saves it's the word
of god that makes you sure and when
the word of god says that as many
as received him to them gave he power
to become the sons of god even to
them that believe on his name quietly say
lord i believe thy word and therefore i
have become a child of god how do
you know because god says it and when
god says it it's final now we're going
to test that and close we're all going
to stand before god and give an account
of ourselves let me give you the scriptures
romans 14 as i live sayeth the lord
every knee shall bow to me every tongue
shall confess the god so that every one
of us shall give an account of himself
to god now if you stand before him
and say well i heard the preacher and
i asked the lord to save me oh
and i got a lovely feeling within me
the lord would say are you trusting the
feeling or supposing you will say lord i
asked you to save me and i got
a wonderful vision of the cross are you
trusting that vision of the cross or supposing
you might say something like this i asked
the lord to save me and oh the
peace of god flowed over me and over
me and over me are you trusting in
the overflowing feeling of peace but if you
say this lord i received you as my
savior and my lord and your word says
your word says but as many as received
him to them gave he power to become
the sons of god can he go against
his word can he the word is eternal
now when the word brings peace and joy
if it should be that's a different thing
but don't trust your peace and joy trust
christ and trust his word now dear friends
you know i'm a bit emotional and when
i'm preaching i get very excited sometimes and
the joy of the lord fills my heart
and sometimes when i'm preaching the cross i
feel like weeping but it's not my joy
and it's not my tears that mean a
lot to god it's the fact that i
rely on that book the word of god
and isn't it wonderful the word of god
is eternal it would be a great night
it would be a lovely easter week if
there was a man here tonight or a
woman that would stay behind and there kneeling
before one of these old wooden seats you
quietly receive jesus christ as your savior and
lord and there you would be born of
god what a moment of joy that would
be may god bring someone there tonight