Work Of God In Progress

Transcript

Alright, thank you very much. And hello again, my dear radio friend. How in the world are you? You doing alright? Thank God we can be in the world but not of it. Isn’t that a good thing? You don’t have to be smeared with all of the world’s corruption in order to live in it, God can keep you. Peter says, “Ye who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.” God can keep you. Day after day, let him do it. Turn your life over to Him and trust Him step by step. You and I are looking at John’s Gospel, chapter six and we were commenting, momentarily. The last time we got together on verse 36, seeing is not always believing. Jesus said, “You saw me but you don’t believe.” And so it is, that we need to open our hearts to the Lord, really trust Him so that he can reveal Himself to us. “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him,” says the Psalmist.

You start with God, you don’t start with what you know. You start with God, you don’t work up to Him. You don’t just talk about Him. You start with the blessed Lord as the center of your life, and the one who rules your life. If you make the Lord Jesus Lord of your life, you’ll find that you begin to understand how He works. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. Now we come to verse 37. Oh, what a blessed verse that is. “All that the Father giveth me, shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.” Now in the counsels of God, Almighty God knows everything past, present and future. He’s omniscient. And so in the counsels of God, the way things work in individual lives is already known. And so some people are given to Christ, for his own. That’s what he’s saying here. “And all that the Father giveth to me, shall come to me. And he that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.

Small thought here, never wonder whether you are one of the elect, some folk worry about that. I’ll have to tell you something, if you have the faintest desire for God, you know that He’s working in your life. Don’t worry about “Oh, I wonder if I’m one of God’s chosen.” If you have any kind of a desire for God at all, even thinking about Him now and then, you know that God is working in your life. Striving, as Paul says, “The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.” God is so good and He works in your life to bring you to a place where Jesus becomes your Lord and your Savior. But what I really want to dwell on is the second half of this wonderful verse, John 6:37. “And him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.” Someone was dealing with a seeker at Pacific Garden Mission, there in Chicago. How often I’ve preached there with great blessing, great lighthouse on South State Street.

And someone was dealing with a seeker, years ago as I recall, and they said, “No, I’m too great a sinner.” And the person who was the counselor said, “Jesus said, ‘him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.'” He will not cast you out if you come to Him. Well he said, “I’ve strayed away too long, I may have even committed the unpardonable sin.” And the council again said, “Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.” And finally, the truth of the verse that was big quoted, sunk in you may say, to this man’s mind. And he said, “You mean, if I come to Jesus, He won’t refuse me? He won’t cast me away?” And again came the verse quoted by this counselor, “Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.” And so that poor, miserable, wretch of a human wreck knelt right where he was there at the front of the Pacific Garden Mission and gave his heart to the Lord Jesus. And he found out for himself, that the Lord Jesus will not refuse you if you come to Him.

“Him that cometh unto me. Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.” What does that mean to you? Well, I suppose every one of us have points of discouragement in our lives where we wonder if there ever is any hope at that level. And I have to tell you, that if you will relate this verse, if you will relate this verse to your need, you’ll find that God keeps His promise. Let’s say Mister, that you’ve made some mistakes and your marriage is on very rocky ground. And you’ve tried, in a bumbling way, to attempt a reconciliation with your spouse, but she’s so deeply hurt and grieved that she can’t respond. Humanly, it’s just hard for her to do anything else but be broken up and angry too. And you say to yourself, “Well, I’ve blown it, I guess it’s all over.” Oh no, no, no it’s not all over. Start with Jesus, “Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.”

You spend some time with your Savior until your own heart is filled with His love, and cleansed by His precious atoning blood. And until your life is filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit, and then you go on living your life for Jesus. And I can guarantee you that God’s blessed Spirit will also work in the people, and in the circumstances around you. I’ve seen that happen so many times. Listen, don’t give up, because Jesus will never throw you out. Somebody’s lived in the shadow of some addiction, some habit pattern that has just had a hold on you. Well, what is it? Tobacco, alcohol, drugs, sex, whatever. You’re under the shadow of some slavery, like that. And you say, “It’s all over, I can’t do anything about it.” Oh, yes. He can. Maybe you can’t but He can. “Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.” Is Jesus your Savior able to do anything?

The Bible says, “God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.” Your savior can do anything, He’s all powerful. Because that’s so He says, “Come to me, I won’t throw you out.” Bring your hopelessness. What I’m saying, bring the hopeless situations to Jesus and let Him operate on you. See it’s Him, not the circumstances, “him that cometh to me.” It’s not just the circumstances. “Oh, if I had a different job. Oh, if I had a different family situation. Oh, if I had a different relationship with people. Oh, if I had more money,” or whatever. See, we think in terms of circumstances and things, don’t we? Jesus thinks in terms of a miracle person. “Him that cometh to me,” said He, “I will in no wise cast out.” You want to try that on for size in your own life?

Lay aside for a moment your worry about things, what is it? Money? Job? People? Relationships? Whatever. Lay that aside for a minute and say, “Jesus I want to come to you. I want to be yours. I want my life to be full of your presence through the indwelling, Holy Spirit of God.” You spend some time with your savior. “Him that cometh to me,” the person to whom you commit your life, is the one that makes the difference in the circumstances. Do you follow that? The person, the Lord Jesus. The person, to whom you commit your life makes the difference in the circumstances. I’ll give you a simple illustration. I lived by myself in Philadelphia for, nine months, I guess it was. After having moved there to be pastor of a church on Philadelphia’s west side, Weston Memorial Baptist. That name is no more because they merged with Spruce Street, and then moved out to New Town Square, I believe it is. Good, good people. Wonderful folk, back in 1935. That’s a long time ago, isn’t it? [chuckle]

Oh my. I was smarter then than I’ve ever been since. [chuckle] Just out of college. Young pastor. And so I got a one-room apartment. The bed fitted into a huge closet. It was a Murphy bed that folded up. And it fitted into a huge closet that you could stash away. There was a kitchen on one side of the room with a stove, and a refrigerator, and a sink and some cupboard space. And a little tiny bathroom that you could get in if you went side ways. [chuckle] And that was it. Well, it was pretty bleak. I didn’t have much furniture. What I had was a chair or two, and this Murphy bed that I would roll out to sleep on. And I didn’t have much to cook with; although I learned to cook as a boy, so that I could always eat. But I had a frying pan, and a can opener, and a coffee pot, and some silver, and a plate and a cup. And that was about it, pretty bleak.

And so, the weeks and months went by and finally the day came when I drove back to Chicago. And saw that pretty little Norwegian girl march down the aisle at Logan Square Norwegian Baptist Church, on Wrightwood Avenue in Chicago. And the preacher said, “Wilt thou,” and I wilted! I tell you I was so glad. I was so glad to get married that when he said, “I now pronounce you husband and wife together,” and so on, I said, “Amen.” I was glad. And so then we drove on back. Little car full of whatever gifts there were, not many, but some. That was Depression days. And drove on back and started. Well, now it was the same room, and I had the same salary. I was making, I think, $28 a week, isn’t that something? Boy, what a big salary. And things were the same but they were different. Oh, wonderfully different. And that bleak, little, one-room apartment began to take on a different look as my young bride began to fix things up.

Conditions began to change when a person took hold. Well, that’s kind of a lame illustration of what Jesus can do in your life. You commit your life to a person, and things and circumstances are going to be altered. When He takes control. Would you do that today? Do you know how to do it? I’ll give you a little steer along this line, always… There are some items that stand in the way of complete surrender. For Stewart Hamblen, he told me that it was his drinking, and smoking, and dirty stories, and horse racing, gambling. That was what stood in the way, and he had to take each of those items and bring them to Jesus, and say, “Here Lord, there it is. You can have it.” I don’t know what it is with you, but if you want to come completely clean with the Lord Jesus, go down the list of the things that stand between you and Him, and let Him have them. And you’ll begin to know the person who can make the difference.

Father God today, take hold of our lives, may Thy person and Thy presents change the conditions, in Jesus name. Amen.

Till I meet you once again by way of radio, walk with the King today and be a blessing!