Proverbs 27: 1
Hebrews 3: 7 (from ‘To-day‘) - 8 (to ‘hearts‘)
Luke 18: 35-43
I had an impression this morning as we came together as to what we anticipate, what we think about in view of tomorrow, or the next day, or next year. Things may be in our minds that we may look forward to. No doubt we all have things that we look forward to, things that we think about. Maybe you wish the preaching was over and you could go home and do what you want to do, maybe playing the latest computer game, or maybe a game of cricket, or whatever it may be, or spending some time reading a book that interests you. Some of us may be thinking about our work tomorrow, and the challenges that may face us in the days ahead. Some of us may be thinking about what may befall us, maybe as a result of illness or some concerns that we have in life. We all think about these things. But what if tomorrow does not come for you? It is a solemn, sobering thought. We mentioned in the reading today one person whom we all know who is lying in a state in which you would not expect him to recover. It is not a nice thing to talk about, not a nice thing to think about, certainly not a nice thing for his family to think about. He might be in a position where he might be expected to die. You might not feel that way about yourself. I am not seeking to terrify anybody, but none of us knows. This proverb was written, and it says, “Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day will bring forth”. None of us knows what the next day may bring forth. What is it going to bring forth for you? What is it going to bring forth for me? You might say that Lord’s day night and Monday morning have happened many, many times before, and the likelihood is they are going to happen again.
But God has no desire for you to look into the future only in terms of things that may happen: He would like you to address matters now - not tomorrow, but today. Today is a very important day because the gospel is going forth: Jesus is being made available as a Saviour. I cannot promise you anything about tomorrow because He might not be available as a Saviour tomorrow. We do not know. We do not know what a day might bring forth. The day might bring forth something that causes the gospel not to be preached tomorrow, the Lord Jesus not to be available as a Saviour tomorrow. None of us knows. But this proverb gives us a warning, “Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day will bring forth”. There is no man that can promise that tomorrow will come. There are those that have tried to promise that tomorrow would come, and to some of them God has spoken and caused that tomorrow never happened for them. That is a solemn matter. But today God is offering in the glad tidings the opportunity for your future to be secure regardless of whether tomorrow comes for you or not. Now that is a future that man cannot offer you, but it is a future that God can offer. Only God Himself can offer it.
Where we read in Hebrews it says, “To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts”. “To-day if ye will hear his voice”: whose voice is that? It is the voice of Jesus, crying out; God’s voice, you might say, in the glad tidings, “if ye will hear his voice”. You might ask, ’Why would I need to listen to His voice?’. Well, He has something very important to tell you, something very, very important, something that He might choose not to tell you tomorrow, but He has chosen to tell you today “if ye will hear his voice”. You might say, ’I would rather listen to something else. I do not really want to listen to His voice’. Some men said, ’Tomorrow is another day’. "We will hear thee again also concerning this”, Acts 17: 32. Some men got the opportunity and said, ’We are too busy’. One said he had married a wife and could not come; another man said he was busy with his work; and another man said he was busy with some land; and when the next day came these men never had another opportunity, Luke 14: 18-20. But this scripture says, “To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts”. So He has something important to say to you, and the important thing that God has to say to you involves your never-dying soul; it involves your sinful state; it involves your blessing; it involves your salvation; and it involves where you will spend eternity. These are vast matters. These are tremendous things. But God wants to speak to you about them, and He wants to speak to you about them today. It says, “To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts”: that is, you might hear what He says and you might harden your heart to the point where you might refuse His offer in the glad tidings. What a terrible thing that is to think that if God would speak and offer you something you might refuse it. God is seeking to draw attention to His own blessed Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, this man that we have read of in Luke’s gospel was blind. I suppose that could be like you and me. You may not see your need. You may be wrapped up in your own little world, and you do not see your need, and you do not see any need for a Saviour. Well, God would seek to give you sight by faith in Jesus to see your need. That is something that God can give, and God only can give. No-one else can give you it; God Himself can give you it. He would seek to draw attention to the fact that you are a sinner. That is the first thing He would seek to draw to your attention, that you are a sinner, and, as a sinner, you need a Saviour. That is a tremendous thing. If you could just see that, that you are a sinner! You might say, ’What right do you have to tell me that I am a sinner?’. Well, just look inside yourself, look at your own heart, look at your wayward ways, look at your disobedience, look at the wickedness of your own thoughts, and I have to tell you, dear friend, that you are a sinner; and God would seek that you might see that you are a sinner, and, as knowing that you are a sinner, see the need for a Saviour.
As you come to that, the Lord Jesus Christ is offered to you as a Saviour where you cannot save yourself. The Lord Jesus Christ is offered as a Saviour for sinners and, as the hymn-writer says, and as each one should know, that He is ‘Saviour of sinners like me’ (Hymn 122). Can you say that, dear friend, that the Lord Jesus Christ is your Saviour? You might say, ’Why should He be my Saviour?’. Well, dear friend, because you are a sinner and God finds you unacceptable before Him. As a sinner, He finds you unacceptable, and He has found a Saviour, found one Man who was acceptable, and He found this acceptable Man in the Lord Jesus Christ. He was so acceptable to God and God gave Him up as a sacrifice for sin. He sacrificed His own Son for sinners in order that He should have a perfect sacrifice, a perfect answer for sin and, in so doing, He said, ’I now have a Saviour, and I will offer Him to every single man’. What a wonderful matter, and He is offering Him to you today - not tomorrow, but today. He offered Him to me one day, and I accepted Him as my Saviour. I came to know what it was to have my sins forgiven, taken away, washed away altogether in the precious shed blood of Jesus. Do you know that for yourself? The Lord Jesus Christ in His love, when He was sacrificed, went there and He hung upon the cross, and He gave Himself a ransom for all. Think of those three hours of darkness when the Lord Jesus Christ hung upon the cross, and God poured out all His wrath in relation to sin on the head of the Lord Jesus Christ. Had that been you, had that been me, if God had asked us to answer for one sin that we had committed, we could not have sustained it. It says, “For the wages of sin is death”, Rom 6: 23. Sin has come in, and death therefore is the penalty. No man has lived for ever. Every single man dies, evidence that sin is alive. In this world sin is alive and every man perishes and the Lord Jesus Christ, as the perfect, sinless Offering, became the propitiation for the whole world. The believer can say that He exhausted the judgment of God to His entire satisfaction, and God, therefore, can say, ’I have a Saviour in Jesus, and I can offer Him to you as the complete answer for your sins’. He was sinless. He did not need to answer for His own sins: He had no sins to answer for. Whose sins did He take? He took my sins and He took the sins of all who trust Him, as God meted out that judgment. And not only that, as He hung there upon the cross, He cried, “It is finished”, John 19: 30. Think of those wonderful words: “It is finished”. What had He finished? He had finished the whole work to God‘s entire satisfaction. Then the soldier came and pierced His side and it says, “and immediately there came out blood and water” (v 34), and that blood, dear friend, that was shed can cleanse from all sin, and if you put your faith in His finished work and in that blood today, you will know what it is to be freed from your sinful state.
Now, this man was blind, but it says “when he heard the crowd passing, he inquired what this might be. And they told him that Jesus the Nazaraean was passing by”. This man understood the urgency of the moment. The Lord was passing by. Dear friend, the Lord is passing by today. It might be the last day He passes by. This man probably knew that if the Lord was on His journey, He might not come this way again; that gave the urgency of the moment, and so it is today. It is urgent, urgent that you come to know Jesus because He might not pass this way again. He was passing by. “And he called out saying, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” Think of the Lord Jesus Christ as the One who could extend mercy. This man had a definite need. Yes, he had a definite need and so do you, dear friend. You have a definite need, and the sooner you come to realise it the better. You have a definite need, but, oh the wonder of the story, there is someone that can meet that need. This man knew it and he cried out, “Son of David, have mercy on me”. He knew there was no other way, and I can tell you today, dear friend, there is no other way, no other way to salvation. There is only one Man. Scripture says that, “for neither is there another name under heaven which is given among men by which we must be saved”, Acts 4: 12. There is no other name; there is no other way; and this man grasped that.
“And those who were going before rebuked him that he might be silent; but he cried out so much the more, Son of David, have mercy on me.” What happened? It says “And Jesus stood still”. He stopped. He heard the voice and He stopped. If you cry out to Him tonight, He will hear your voice and He will stop for you. He will, Himself. He does not send anybody else to do it when you cry out to Him. If you go to some of these big organisations and you want to speak to the chief operating officer or whoever it may be, he might send one of his minions, he might send his PA, or whoever it might be. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself listens and He will have to do with you personally. This man cried out and the Lord stopped and it says He “commanded him to be led to him. And when he drew nigh he asked him saying, What wilt thou that I shall do to thee? And he said, Lord, that I may see”. The Lord might say to you tonight, ’What do you want from Me?’. Cry out, ’I need to be saved. I need a Saviour. I cannot save myself. I need a Saviour. I need my sins forgiven’. Cry out to the Saviour. He is the only One who can do it, and He will do it for you, personally. No one else could do it. He does not send any other agency. He does not send an angel; He does not send any great personality of this world; He does it Himself. And the Lord Jesus Christ says to him here, “See: thy faith has healed thee”. What is this word “faith”? God would give it to you as you cannot see for yourself. It is not something we can see naturally. It is not something that we have the ability to grasp hold of naturally, but God in His goodness is so great that He gives us the ability to see it. He gives us faith, that is, that we can see what God is offering and we can understand it and lay hold of it for ourselves. Such is the greatness of the gift of God that He would give you the gift of faith that you might see it for yourself.
“And Jesus said to him, See: thy faith has healed thee. And immediately he saw, and followed him, glorifying God.” You might say, ’I know my sins forgiven’. Are you a follower of Jesus? Are you? Do you find yourself as a follower of Jesus, interested in what He is doing? You might say, ’I am interested in what He has done because He died for me and I am going to spend eternity with Him when He comes for me’. Well, what about just now? Are you interested in what He is doing? Are you following Him? We spoke in the reading today about the fact that the Lord is not actually here. Well, He is not, but His body is here, that is there is a company of persons here who appreciate Him, who love Him and want to be here for Him, want to hear His current speaking, want to see His current movements, want to be with Him, want to enjoy Him, in view of another day when He is going to reign, who want to give Him His rightful place. Are you amongst them? Is that your life? Are you a current lover of Jesus and one who enjoys His company? You might say, ’I would like to be’. Well, if you would like to be, commit yourself to Him wholeheartedly.
What a matter it is to be a follower of Jesus, not a part-time follower, not one who is just there some of the time, but a follower of Jesus! It says “he … followed him”. It does not say he stopped following Him, or his affections waned or anything like that. It says, “he … followed him”. Commit yourself, dear friend, as a lover of Jesus! Commit yourself to Him! You might say, ’How can I do that?’. Well, He has asked lovers to do one thing. He has asked us to remember Him in the breaking of bread. Think of that, an opportunity currently to call Him to mind, an opportunity to enjoy His love currently and, not only that, but to make a public testimony to the fact that you are here for Jesus. What a wonderful opportunity there is in that. You might say, ’Well, I do not know if I am able for that. It might bring reproach. People might wonder who I am, where I go. I do not know if I am able for that. Going to school people might ridicule me. Persons might say things to me that I do not feel able for’. Dear friend, commit yourself and depend upon Him and His power and His current ability to help you and to sustain you, and you will find that there is blessing in it. Persons found that there was reproach. We have spoken about that already today as well. There may be reproach in these things. If you show your true light and say, ’I am a lover of Jesus, I have committed myself to Him, I am going to be with Him eternally and I want to be with Him now in what He is doing’, you may shine your light and others may frown upon it. They may tease you and do whatever they want to do to you, but, dear friend, you will find that you can be sustained in this pathway because the Lord Jesus Christ can help you in it and, not only that, but there is available to you the gift of the blessed Holy Spirit to sustain you as a believer and as a lover of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What is the Spirit? The Spirit is God Himself. God has given of His own Spirit, and He has put something in the believer. Any lover of Jesus who asks for the gift of the Holy Spirit, God grants it, to those who obey. The scripture says, “the Holy Spirit also, which God has given to those that obey him”, Acts 5: 32. So if you want to be here as a lover of Jesus, and if you want to be here for Him in the time of His absence, ask for the blessed gift of the Spirit, and God will grant you the gift of the Spirit. He will help you and sustain you. It says He will come and dwell in you. That is, there is an environment in the believer, an environment in man, woman, boy or girl that, using human language, is sterile, is perfect, is pure, is there for the divine pleasure, and God is free to put His Holy Spirit there, resident in the believer, in order that He might be available to you as a real and living power, available every day of every week. He is available all the time. If you cry out to Him in your need in the night; if you cry out to Him in your need in the day, whenever it may be, wherever it may be, the blessed Holy Spirit is available. It speaks as to Him as the Comforter. Think of that! You might not know if you are able for the Christian pathway. It is difficult; it is hard in one sense; but the blessed Holy Spirit is available as a Comforter all through the time of the absence of the Lord Jesus Christ, and He wants to be with you, wants to help you. What a wonderful thing, therefore, the love of God is in all its detail, and God is saying all this is available to you today.
So, dear friend, have you heard His voice? Have you? Have you hardened your heart, or have you opened your heart? It is quite a solemn thing to think of it in the light of the fact that nobody knows what tomorrow may bring; if you harden your heart, you might not get another opportunity. God may say today is the last day there is ever going to be for you. He may decide this dispensation will end tomorrow. God has that ability, and He will do it one day. He has made that promise already. It says that the Son does not know the time, but the Father knows the time (Mark 13: 32), and He has appointed that time. Make no bones about it, dear friend! The time has been appointed. If you drive a stake into the ground and you start walking towards it, and you get closer and closer and closer, there is a point when you are going to arrive at it and you are going to be able to touch it. That is like God setting the time. He has appointed a time. You and I know what time is: it moves on and it moves on and it moves on and it moves on. God has appointed a time when the present time of grace will end. It has been appointed. It might be tomorrow; it might be tonight. Who knows what tomorrow may bring? I would say to you, dear friend, make sure of your soul’s salvation, make sure that you know the Saviour, make sure before you walk out of that door this afternoon that you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour and that you know Him for sure. That gives you certainty in your heart, and certainty in your soul, that when that appointed time comes and the Lord Jesus Christ comes from heaven to gather up all those who belong to Himself, you will be there. What victory there is in that! What surety, what certainty there is! Dear friend, do not miss it! There are those who have passed on before, who had the faith of this in their souls: they also are awaiting that time, that glorious shout. The dead in Christ will hear His voice. Think of the power that is in that voice! The dead in Christ will hear it. Dear friend, you are not dead yet, “the living who remain”, 1 Thess 4: 17. Think of that voice, you are among “the living who remain”. Will you hear His voice? If you have not accepted Him as Saviour, that voice will pass you by. Just think for a moment; if that voice were to pass you by, where would you be? A Christ-less eternity, no Christ in your life, sins not forgiven, where are you going to go? What is going to happen? There is one place God has appointed for all those who reject the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour and they will all be banished to the lake of fire, an eternity of torment without Christ. Such is the portion of the unbeliever.
But it says, “To-day if ye will hear his voice”. What a wonderful matter it is that God is still speaking in love to your soul. That is what the hymn-writer says:
He‘s speaking from heaven in love to thy soul;
His blood He has given; wilt thou be made whole?
(Hymn 324)
You have the opportunity to be made whole today, dear friend, by what Christ has done, through accepting it for yourself. May God bless His word!
Buckie
22nd May 2011