Post by David on Jul 20, 2006 12:03:14 GMT -5
This is a little section from his sermon "New Creation" check this out. It may model a conversation that one of us may have!!! Oh, for the opportunity to share this life!!! Read it carefully, it's so beautiful.
3. BEHOLD AND TO BELIEVE.Behold, the Lord Jesus is now enthroned in heaven. He it is who makes all things new. Is not this what some of you here present deeply need? If you look within, yourselves will see much to disgust and alarm you. Peradventure, you dare not take stock of yourselves now; you dare not consider where you are, nor what you are, nor where you are bound. “To speak candidly,” you say, “I want reforming.” Very likely, but you want a great deal more than mere reformation. I have heard of a being who used habitually to swear, “God mend me!” Somebody said, “Better make a new one.” That is the case with full many of you. You are saying, “Well, I will turn over a new leaf.” You had better shut the book up altogether, and never turn over any more leaves, for all the pages are alike bad. “Oh! well,” says one, “I shall try if I cannot alter.” I wish you would try God’s altering of you, instead of altering yourselves. “Well, but surely, surely, I may wash and be clean; I will try to make myself as clean as possible?” Yes, yes, that is all very well; but what if you have a corpse in the house? I would have you make it clean, yet that will not make it live. However much you may wash it, it is corrupt still. You may reform yourselves as much as ever you please; all your reformation will be futile. You need more, a great deal more than that. The fact is, you must be made new. Nothing less will do; you must be made new; you must be born again. “Ah!” says one, “if I could be made new, there might be a chance for me.” Well now, Christ looks down from his throne in heaven, and he says, “Behold I will make all things new.” “Yes,” you say, “but he will not make me new.” Why not? Does he not say, “I make all things new?” “But my heart is as hard as a rock,” say you. Well, but he says, “I will make all things new,” so he can give you a new heart. “Oh! but I am so very stubborn.” Aye, aye, but he makes all things new, and he can make you as tender and sensitive as a little child. Oftentimes a gray–headed sinner has looked back to his childhood and remembered the time when he used to sing his little hymn at his mother’s knee, and he has said, “Ah! I have been in many strange places since then, and my heart has got seared and hard; I wish I could get back to what I was then!” Well, you can, you can. Christ can bring you there. Nay, he can bring you to something better than you ever were when those golden ringlets hung so plentifully about that pretty little head of yours, for you were not so innocent then as you now think you were. Christ can make you really pure in heart; he can make you a new creature, so that you shall be converted and become as a little child. “Oh!” say you, “how can I get it? How can I prepare myself for him?” You do not want to prepare yourself for him. Go to him just as you are; trust him to do it, and he will do it. That is faith, you know—trust, dependence. Can you believe that Christ can save you? Oh! you can believe that; well now, will you trust him to save you? Will you trust him to deliver you from your drunkenness, from your angry temper, your pride, your love of self, your lusts? Do you desire to be a new creature in Christ Jesus? If so, that very desire must have come from heaven. I could fain hope that he has already begun the good work in you, and he who begins it will carry it on. Do not be afraid, however bad your character or however vicious your disposition. “Behold,” says Christ, “I make all things new.” What a wonder it is that a man should ever have a new heart! You know if a lobster loses its claw in a fight, it can get a new claw; and that is thought to be very marvelous. It would be very wonderful if men should be able to grow new arms and new legs, but who ever heard of a creature who grew a new heart? You may have seen a bough lopped off a tree, and you may have thought that, perhaps, the tree will sprout again, and there will be a new limb, but who ever heard of old trees getting new sap and a new core? But my Lord and Master, the crucified and exalted Savior, has given new hearts and new cores; he has put the vital substance into man afresh and made new creatures of them. I am glad to notice the tear in your eye when you think on the past, but wipe it away now and look up to the cross and say:
“Just as I am, without one plea,
But that thy blood was shed for me,
And that thou bid’st me come to thee,
O Lamb, O God, I come.”
“Oh! make me a new creature!” If you have said that from your heart, you are a new creature, dear brother; and we will rejoice together in this regenerating Savior.
3. BEHOLD AND TO BELIEVE.Behold, the Lord Jesus is now enthroned in heaven. He it is who makes all things new. Is not this what some of you here present deeply need? If you look within, yourselves will see much to disgust and alarm you. Peradventure, you dare not take stock of yourselves now; you dare not consider where you are, nor what you are, nor where you are bound. “To speak candidly,” you say, “I want reforming.” Very likely, but you want a great deal more than mere reformation. I have heard of a being who used habitually to swear, “God mend me!” Somebody said, “Better make a new one.” That is the case with full many of you. You are saying, “Well, I will turn over a new leaf.” You had better shut the book up altogether, and never turn over any more leaves, for all the pages are alike bad. “Oh! well,” says one, “I shall try if I cannot alter.” I wish you would try God’s altering of you, instead of altering yourselves. “Well, but surely, surely, I may wash and be clean; I will try to make myself as clean as possible?” Yes, yes, that is all very well; but what if you have a corpse in the house? I would have you make it clean, yet that will not make it live. However much you may wash it, it is corrupt still. You may reform yourselves as much as ever you please; all your reformation will be futile. You need more, a great deal more than that. The fact is, you must be made new. Nothing less will do; you must be made new; you must be born again. “Ah!” says one, “if I could be made new, there might be a chance for me.” Well now, Christ looks down from his throne in heaven, and he says, “Behold I will make all things new.” “Yes,” you say, “but he will not make me new.” Why not? Does he not say, “I make all things new?” “But my heart is as hard as a rock,” say you. Well, but he says, “I will make all things new,” so he can give you a new heart. “Oh! but I am so very stubborn.” Aye, aye, but he makes all things new, and he can make you as tender and sensitive as a little child. Oftentimes a gray–headed sinner has looked back to his childhood and remembered the time when he used to sing his little hymn at his mother’s knee, and he has said, “Ah! I have been in many strange places since then, and my heart has got seared and hard; I wish I could get back to what I was then!” Well, you can, you can. Christ can bring you there. Nay, he can bring you to something better than you ever were when those golden ringlets hung so plentifully about that pretty little head of yours, for you were not so innocent then as you now think you were. Christ can make you really pure in heart; he can make you a new creature, so that you shall be converted and become as a little child. “Oh!” say you, “how can I get it? How can I prepare myself for him?” You do not want to prepare yourself for him. Go to him just as you are; trust him to do it, and he will do it. That is faith, you know—trust, dependence. Can you believe that Christ can save you? Oh! you can believe that; well now, will you trust him to save you? Will you trust him to deliver you from your drunkenness, from your angry temper, your pride, your love of self, your lusts? Do you desire to be a new creature in Christ Jesus? If so, that very desire must have come from heaven. I could fain hope that he has already begun the good work in you, and he who begins it will carry it on. Do not be afraid, however bad your character or however vicious your disposition. “Behold,” says Christ, “I make all things new.” What a wonder it is that a man should ever have a new heart! You know if a lobster loses its claw in a fight, it can get a new claw; and that is thought to be very marvelous. It would be very wonderful if men should be able to grow new arms and new legs, but who ever heard of a creature who grew a new heart? You may have seen a bough lopped off a tree, and you may have thought that, perhaps, the tree will sprout again, and there will be a new limb, but who ever heard of old trees getting new sap and a new core? But my Lord and Master, the crucified and exalted Savior, has given new hearts and new cores; he has put the vital substance into man afresh and made new creatures of them. I am glad to notice the tear in your eye when you think on the past, but wipe it away now and look up to the cross and say:
“Just as I am, without one plea,
But that thy blood was shed for me,
And that thou bid’st me come to thee,
O Lamb, O God, I come.”
“Oh! make me a new creature!” If you have said that from your heart, you are a new creature, dear brother; and we will rejoice together in this regenerating Savior.