Schwartz, F W: Week Of Meetings 02 ~ 2 Cor.5;8

Something that I very seldom do. The likelihood is that I would have given it out. It was for me, yes, all for me. My, I wish that people could just take that in. This morning we were trying to point out the fact that God is interested in individuals, individual sinners like you and me. There's a preacher up in Canada whom I used to listen to quite frequently, who expresses himself just a little differently from the way some others of us do. One night he was at the back of the chapel, shaking hands with folks as they left, and a certain lady went by that he knew had been really concerned about her relationship with God and to eternity. He stopped it. He said, Mrs. So-and-so, I am a feeble sinner, but Jesus died for me. You can say that, can't you? She hung her head and said, no, I can't say that. Well, he said, try saying it after me. Now, don't get the impression that my brother is one who believes in just talking people into a profession. He's not that type at all, but this is the way he dealt with the woman on this particular occasion. He said, repeat it after me. So he repeated the words, I am a feeble sinner, and she, in a weak voice, repeated after him, I am a feeble sinner. But Jesus died for me, and she repeated, but Jesus died for me. And no sooner were the words out of her mouth when she said, and he did. He did. The truth of it just came home to her in that moment, and she trusted Christ on the spot. My, wouldn't it be a great thing tonight if some soul in this meeting were to realize, as you've never realized before, that it was for you. The Lord Jesus Christ went to that cross of shame long ago. It was for me. Yes, all for me, this love of God so great, so free. Oh, wondrous love, I'll shout and sing. He dieth for me, my Lord, the King. Take it home to yourself tonight, if you've never done it before. Now, I'd like you to read with me from second Corinthians chapter five. The second Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter five. verse eighteen. And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation, to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you, in Christ's death, be ye reconciled to God. For he, God, hath made him, Christ, to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. In this particular passage, the apostle is speaking of his ministry or his service for the Lord, and he's telling us what the nature of his message was. God had given him a very privileged assignment. His ambassadorship, for that's what he calls it, was by a divine appointment. And just as the ambassador of this country, for instance, going to one of those other lands, uh, has the full backing of the home government, so the gospel messenger has the full backing of heaven. The message that he brings is the gospel of God. That's what it's called in the first verse of the Epistle to the Romans, and since it is from God, it has the stamp of his approval upon it, and it has all his authority behind it. And those who ignore the message of the gospel ignore it at their peril, simply because it comes from God. Now, Christians generally, and there are a number of us here tonight who are Christians, need to be reminded sometimes that we share the privilege that the apostles boasted in in his day. In our day and in our measure, it's our privilege to pass on the very same message that the apostle preached. Of course, we claim no authority such as Paul had, but the message itself, because it is from God, is no less authoritative today than it was when Paul preached it. And it's good for you and for me to be reminded that this assignment that God has given to you and to me involves responsibility. We're responsible to pass on the gospel. A great deal depends for people around us as to whether they hear that gospel or not. And you and I, who know the Lord and who are familiar with the good news of the gospel, should be persistent in the passing on of it by every means in our power. Now, that doesn't mean that every one of us is called upon to stand upon platforms and preach the gospel. But oh, what about witnessing to the folks around us that we come into contact with from day to day? What about passing out a gospel tract now and again? Oh, brethren and sisters, it's such an easy thing to do, to pass out gospel literature, but alas, alas, there seems to be less and less of that kind of thing, uh, being done. At about every conference that I've been at recently, I've gone to the folks in charge of the book table and said, uh, how are the tracks moving? And I'm sorry to tell you that in each case, the report was that they were scarcely moving at all. Now, here's a situation that you and I ought to try to correct. We have the means in our power of letting people around us know what the good news of the gospel is, but we're neglecting the opportunities that we have. Said the apostle, necessity is laid upon me. Woe is me if I preach not the gospel. How very much that dear man was willing to endure that the gospel might go forth. Did you ever take time to read those, uh, accounts that he gives of his sufferings, of his privations, and of his labors? Oh, how he did exert himself, just for the sake of letting people hear the gospel of the grace of God. Now, there's a suggestion here as to what is the attitude of the people, uh, who need to have this gospel brought to them. It's not exactly stated in the text, but it seems to be assumed in the wording of the message that the attitude of those to whom the message comes is one of enmity toward God. And that's exactly the situation where men and women are concerned who don't know the Savior. And many of them are willingly alienated from him. They don't all express their enmity in the same way, but the fact is there. Some go to length of saying that there is no God. Well, that's really not very logical. Everything in nature around us points to God as its source, and in you and me there's self-consciousness, there's reason, and there's conscience, all pointing to an author who must be an intellectual and a moral being. Many years ago, in Springfield, Massachusetts, a Doctor Daniel Wise one night was listening to a group of men chatting together. One of these men happened to be an atheist, and he was letting the others know that he just did not believe that there was such a being as God. He waxed eloquent in trying to put the idea across to these other men. Eventually, Dr. Wise walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder and said, Mr. So-and-so, uh, did I understand you to say that you don't believe that there's a God, and did you say that you had this, that, and the other reason for believing that there is not a God? Yes, said the man, that's what I believe. Well, said Doctor Wise, uh, would you mind putting that in writing? The man hid. He didn't want to put it on paper, but the men who had been listening to him said, well, you've told us that you believe that, you should be willing to put it in writing. So, after some urging, he took a sheet of paper and wrote down in a concise sort of a way these beliefs of his, or rather this unbelief of his. Dr. Wise took up the paper, folded it, and put it in his pocket. After a few moments, he left the place. He hadn't gone very far when he heard footsteps behind him, and looking around, he saw Mr. Atheist, the man who had just, uh, put his thoughts on paper, following. Uh, said he, uh, did you want to speak to me? Yes, said the man. Well, what can I do for you? Said the man, uh, if you don't mind, I'd like to have that paper back. Oh no, said Dr. Wise, I'm not going to give it back to you. It's properly mine. I'm going to hang on to it. Oh, but the man said, I'd like so much if you'd let me have it back. But why do you want it back? Don't you believe what you put on that paper? Yes, to the man, I believe it, but I'd be a good deal more comfortable if I had that paper back in my possession. Just how the thing ended, I don't know. But somebody said to Dr. Wise a little later, weren't you taking a chance? Weren't you taking a chance in doing what you did? No, said Dr. Wise, I was taking no chance at all. I've never yet met an atheist who is willing really to go through with the thing when he's challenged and put on the spot. I suppose the most of them would realize how utterly illogical their position is. I trust there's nobody here tonight who's trying to believe that there's no God. A certain lady that I happen to know in Philadelphia told me that, uh, when she first went to university, uh, the first day she was in the biology class, the professor said to, uh, the folk, now he said, uh, I may as well tell you now, for you're going to find it out sooner or later. I don't believe there's a God. I don't believe there's a heaven. I don't believe there's a hell. Up went our little friend's hand. Well, Miss So-and-So, what is it? Uh... Professor, have you got a brain? Well, now that was appalling. I don't think I would have dared to put a question like that, but she was redheaded, and as I told her a little later, she wasn't that for nothing, and she knew just how to speak up to these men. Have you ever looked around you, she said, at the wonderful things that there are in this big universe, and looking at those things, can you convince yourself that there is no God? Why, she said, man, you need to open your eyes, and you need to do a little thinking. And friends, you and I don't have to look very far to find evidence of the being, the existence of one who is intelligent, who is all-wise, who is all-powerful. But then there are others who would go the length of saying, uh, that there are many gods. Well, I don't suppose that any here tonight are afflicted with that idea, so we'll pass that up for the time being. But then there are those too who say that we just cannot know whether or not there is a god. Now, doesn't that seem rather presumptuous? Just because they can't, are we to believe that no one can? No. These are the folks who call themselves agnostics, and agnostic, I understand, is just Greek for what in Latin is ignoramus. You know what that means. On a train one day, a few men were in conversation, and again, it was one who was doing the most of the talking, and he was one of these gentlemen that I'm referring to. And he was letting the other men know that he doesn't believe it was possible to know whether there's a God or not. He was doing an awful lot of talking. Eventually, a Christian who had been sitting behind him tapped him on the shoulder and said, Mister, say you talk an awful lot for a man who admits that he doesn't know. Then there are other folks who will admit that there is a God. Oh yes, there's a God, they say, but I can afford to ignore it. They don't just put it in words, at least they're slow to express it in words, but that seems to be their attitude, and they keep up that attitude until calamity strikes, and then they begin to wonder why the God that they have ignored doesn't come to the rescue. While the war was on, we had so many people saying, why doesn't God stop it? But the very people who were saying that were people who had, up to that time, put God completely out of their thoughts. Yes, there is a God, but I can afford to ignore it, or at least they think that. Can they afford to ignore the God of heaven? Indeed, they cannot. Sooner or later, they're going to have to do with him, whether they will or not. And oh, friend, it will be an awful experience to meet with him if you've been ignoring him, if you've been giving him no place in your thoughts or in your life. Then there are other people, and I meet them every now and again. They say, yes, there is a God, but you know, I can't believe that he's concerned about me. My, what a pitiable attitude that is. What a huge mistake such people are making. If there's one here tonight who has been thinking that way, I want to say again, he is interested in you. He loves you. He loves you to such an extent that he was willing to give his beloved son to the death of Calvary for you. God commended his love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. I read a little something a short time ago about Helen Keller. It seems that when she was just an infant, she was lying in her crib one day, when her mother came and leaned over her and said, oh, Helen, Helen, mother would love to let you know how much she loves you, but I just can't, can't get you to understand. You see, she was deaf and dumb, and wasn't she blind too? Just couldn't take it in. My, what must have been the feeling of that mother? Just could not convey the thought of her love to the child that she loved so dearly. But oh, there seems these folks in the world whom God would love to make acquainted with his love to them, but they just don't seem to want to take it in. Their ears are completely deaf to the story, and they won't believe the wonderful love of God for them. Oh, friends, tonight, won't you open your heart to the story of God's wonderful loved. He loved you to such an extent that he was willing to part with his beloved son and allow him to go all the way to Calvess and die that ignominious death under the wrath of a holy God for you. Yes, I say it was for you. Now we'll have to hurry a little. I want you to notice the pressing appeal that we have in these words. What are the terms of it? Be ye reconciled to God. Be reconciled to God. It isn't simply change your ways. It's not become religious. It's not submit to an ordinance, but it is rather consider where you stand in relation to the God of heaven and get right with him. Be reconciled to God. And you notice how urgently the thing is put, as though God did beseech you, in Christ's stead, we pray you be reconciled to God. We pray you in Christ's stead, as God did, as if God did beseech you by us. God actually beseeches the sinner to be reconciled to himself. My, how earnest this is, how forceful. God is urgent. He realizes, friend, if you don't realize how much is involved, to remain unreconciled means that there's no forgiveness, there's no eternal life, there's nothing but eternal doom facing you. On the other hand, to be reconciled means to be forgiven all your many sins, to be justified from all things, to be accepted in Christ, and to have the prospect of being eternally with and like himself in a coming glory. Can you afford to miss all that? Can you? Indeed, you cannot. Now, notice that this appeal is a final one. Had we read a little further down into the next chapter, we would, we would have found a verse that says, and you've often heard it quoted, uh, now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation. Now, at once, be reconciled to God. Have you any assurance that tomorrow will bring you a fresh opportunity. Oh, I know we like to think that our health will hold out and that we'll still be around tomorrow and able to function tomorrow, just as we are doing today, but you and I have absolutely no assurance of that. I've said quite frequently of late, as I've looked into the faces of people in an audience like this, I never know when I'm shaking hands with somebody for the last time. I happen to think of dear Paul Cole, whom quite a few of you are acquainted with. Had a very interesting conversation with Paul in Detroit, only a short time before he died, and I never would have thought that so soon it would be taken from me, but as I shook hands with Paul that night, it was for the last time, for the last time. And oh, I could mention so many of whom the same things have been true. When I was in conversation with them, they appeared to be healthy, and had I been a betting or a gambling man, I think I would have been ready to take a chance on their lives. But only a short time, and suddenly their lives were cut short. And there's not one of us here tonight who knows that the same kind of thing won't happen to us. You can't afford to take a chance, friend. Tomorrow's sun may never rise to bless thy long-deluded sight. This is the time. This is the time. Oh, then be wise, thou wouldst be saved. Why not tonight? Now is the accepted time. Now is the day. Right here, the now, this moment is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation. Now notice the priceless announcement that we have here. We're told here of a tremendous transaction that has taken place. The central figure in that transaction is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. We're told here that he knew no sin. We're reminded elsewhere that he was holy, he was harmless, he was undefiled, he was separate from sinners. And in the Gospels, we read of his standing before a group of people one day and saying, which of you convinces me of sin? And friends, that challenge has never been answered, right down to the present moment. That challenge has never been taken up. God could open the heavens and say, this is my beloved son in whom I am well. He, he's the one who is before us here. And what are we told was done to him? God, we're told, made him to be sin for us. Made him to be sin for us. What are we to understand by that? I believe the meaning is just this, that God treated him for the moment as if all our sin were concentrated in his person, and he was treated as your sin and mine alone could deserve to be treated. The Lord made to meet upon him the iniquity of us all. He bore our sins in his own body on the tree. He suffered for sin, the just one, for us, the unjust ones, that he might bring us to God. We were in the place of alienation. We were in the place of distance. We were enemies to God, alienated in our minds by wicked works, but he suffered for our sins that he might take us by the hand, so to speak, and set us down in the presence of his father, forgiven, justified, and accepted. Who benefits from this wonderful work of the Lord Jesus? My text says it was for us. And you can take that little word us and interpret it just as broadly as ever you like. Us men, us sinners, whosoever. You know, I'd like to get back to that word. To me, it's so expressive. It takes me in. It means me in a way that even my name doesn't. I think it was Richard Baxter many years ago who said that if his name had been emblazoned on the heavens, he couldn't have been sure that God meant him, for there were other Richard Baxters around. And if my name had been in John John three and 16, I still couldn't have been sure. When we first moved to Detroit years ago, one of the first things we did was order a telephone installed. And when the directories came along, why, of course, we checked up to see that they had us listed properly. They had us there, all right. They had three people there of my name. Felt exactly the same way, with the same initial. Then the calls began to come in. Uh, have you got a piece of property at such and such a location that you want to sell? No, I don't happen to be in the real estate business. Well, aren't you Mr. Swartz, Mr. FW? Yes, yes, that's my name, all right. But you want a man with the same name at a different address, a different number. Now, suppose my name had been in John three and 16, I would have scratched my head and said, well, that's good news, that's wonderful news for somebody, but it must be intended for that other fellow. It can't be intended for me. But you know, the way John three sixteen and 16 is put, and the way so many other scriptures are put, there's no doubt left whatever that God means me. Whosoever means me better than my name. Mr. Leonard Sheldrake, many years ago, wrote a tract. If I remember the title correctly, it was Garabed Tavorkion, the name of a man of some foreign extraction. Garabed had been told that his name was in the Bible, and he began to search for it, expecting actually to find his name, Garabed Kavorkian, in the book. Well, he searched, and he searched, and he searched. But one day he came to the man who had, uh, put him to the search, and he said, I found it. I found it? Where did you find it? And he pointed to that beautiful verse that we quote so frequently, and that I've quoted already a couple of times tonight, John three chapter sixteen. There it is, he said. That means me. And it did. And he could be sure that it meant him. Yes, it's for me, it's for you, it's for anybody else who will come in repentance and faith to the Savior and trust him. Only trust him. Only trust him. Only trust him now, friend. He will save you. He will save you. He will save you now. So what's the nature of the benefit referred to here? Listen to these words. Made the righteousness of God. He was made sin. The one who trusts him is made the righteousness of God. He was treated, I repeat, as if all our sin was concentrated in his person. And God receives the believing sinner and treats him as if he were the very righteousness of God himself. Now that means a perfect standing before God. I'm justified, I'm reckoned righteous, and that by a holy God. And dear friends, only the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ can ever make that possible to you or to me. Now how do I get this wonderful benefit? Notice two little words. In him. It's in Christ. And if it's in him, why, it's him that I need. I need to get to know him as my savior and my Lord. Friend, tonight you may be conscious of a variety of needs, but here's a need that I trust has taken serious thought of. It's the greatest of all your needs. You need Christ. Everything that God has for you in the way of blessing is in him. Have you trusted him? Is he your savior? Oh, you say, I- I- I know about him. I've heard the gospel ever since I was knee high to a grasshopper. I'm quite familiar with these things. That's good, friend, as far as it goes. But I'm not asking you whether you know about him. I'm asking you whether you know him, whether you have actually cast yourself in all your need upon the Savior, whether you have truly trusted him. Oh, if you haven't, don't turn from him tonight. Don't go out of that door yonder without having made Christ yours. Don't turn him away. Don't turn him away. Many years ago, down in Ohio, a man was apprehended, charged with a certain crime, and condemned to be executed. Some of his friends pleaded with the governor. Governor Nash was in office at that time, pleaded with the governor to do something for this man. And the governor decided to go and see the man. One day, the man looking through the bars of his cell saw this gentleman come toward him, and he said to himself, oh, another creature. I'm not going to pay any attention to him. So when Governor Nash greeted him, he said, please, mister, go away, go away. But to the governor, I want to do something for you. I- I may be able to help you. Please go away, said the man. I want to have nothing to do with you. I have nothing to say to you. That kind of thing was repeated a number of times until Governor Nash could do nothing but bid the man goodbye and leave. He'd been gone a few minutes when one of the turnkeys came, and looking in between the bars, he said to the man, how did you and the governor get along? What, he said, was that the governor? Was that the governor? My, what a fool I've been. He wanted to help me, and I wouldn't let him. By and by, he was led out of the cell to the place of execution. The last words that he was heard to utter were, what a fool, what a fool I was. The governor wanted to help me, and I wouldn't let him. Oh, friend, there's a savior who tonight wants to do more than merely help you. He wants to save you from your sins. He wants to give you a perfect standing before the holy God. He wants to have you for his own, and he wants to be able to take you to be with himself forever in the coming glory. Are you going to let him? Are you going to let him? Will you, in simple trust, cast yourself upon him tonight? Will you? Oh, that the Lord might speak to your heart, give you to see your need in all its intensity, give you to realize your danger as a sinner as you've never seen it before, and cause you to flee to the opened arms of the Lord Jesus Christ. He still invites you. He says, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Don't, as you value that soul of yours, friend, don't turn him away. Let us pray. Our blessed God and our Father, we do thank thee for the opportunity given to us once again tonight of being together to read thy word together and to meditate upon some of the sacred truths that that word contains. Oh, we do thank thee that this word of reconciliation, this invitation to trust Christ, is going forth in so many places tonight. All over the world, thy servants will be preaching thy gospel. We're so glad that this great volume of testimony is going out. We do ask thee that thou will use it, that thou will bless it, and grant that many a soul may turn from sin, may turn from the lives of futility to the Savior tonight and receive his salvation. We thank thee that he has made it available. It cost him a great deal to do so, but he has made it available on the very simplest possible terms, and we thank thee that no sinner needs to continue in an unsaved state. All may live, for Christ has died. Speak to souls then tonight, we beseech of thee, and give us the joy of hearing of some who have passed from death unto life, perhaps here, perhaps elsewhere. Oh Father, do thine own work. Don't let thy word fall to the ground, but grant that many a soul tonight might be caused to turn to the Savior. Part us with thy blessing by and by. Undertake for us through the week. Remember those sick ones that we have been praying for already today. Undertake for them and bless them. Remember thy servants all over the land. We're so glad to know that so many of them are preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ. Give them help in their labors. Encourage them. Give them the joy of seeing definite results. And now accept our thanks again for thy beloved Son and for the rich portion that thou hast given to thy people in him. We give thee our thanks and praise and look to thee for thy rich blessings in his name who loved us and gave himself for us. Amen.