I’m going on, I’m going to have this Brethren, bottom line, when the Christian is down there, and he can barely crawl, he can barely move, he’s been beaten down, Satan’s been upon him. He’s discouraged. Brethren I’ll tell you, even in the midst of that this is what keeps a man going. Because even in the midst of all of that He realizes, he comes to the reality, he hears the Word of God, “It’s momentary, it’s light.” And Christ is at the end of this thing He’s going to move on through.
But brethren, when you have somebody that’s not fully persuaded that Christ is worth trading everything for. Then what happens? He hesitates, he backs down, when something is needed, when something is required, when some sacrifice is… is appropriate, he hesitates. He’s always balking, Why? Because He’s not confident. See it’s more like the old poor me attitude. “Look at how much I’m already doing,” kind of attitude. “Look at what I’ve already done.” He’s always keeping a check list of everything he’s already had to give up because it’s been so difficult, because it’s been such a trial. Because there’s been things he hasn’t really wanted to give up, he keeps a stark record of it, “Well, I’ve done this, and I’ve done this, and I’ve done this.”
Where as brethren, how often have the missionaries… Have you ever read Adoniram Judson? He said at the end of his life “I have never made a sacrifice.” “Judson… you’ve never made a sacrifice?” If you read his life, through bitter tears he laid two wives in their graves. He laid numerous children in holes in the ground. He was in a prison that is… it’s not like anything describable, here in the West. And he gets to the end and he says… Hudson Taylor said the same thing brethren.
Amy Carmichael… She just rejoiced that going to India was a chance to die. You see when a person is living their life and not even their own life is dear to them, they’re not keeping a check list. You know what you find there on judgment day? “Lord when did we do those things?” Verses this person that’s always hedging. They know exactly when they did everything, they keep a list, they check it twice. Why? Because there’s no persuasion. They’re always hesitating, they’re always halting. The man who will not venture all for Christ and do it joyfully, according to this parable, is a man not fit for heaven.
I’ll tell you this, men act the way they do, because of what they’re persuaded of. Mark it down. Brethren, what are you persuaded of? I just ask you this, in wrapping up here. Do you have a passion, a joy… have you made such a calculation: Christ and all other things… and with joy been able to say “Christ is worth more.” It’s not always easy what he is going to require of me, because sometimes it’s homes, family. You see those things given up for the sake of Christ. Sometimes it’s difficult. But brethren, the bottom line comes down to this, I know some of you have… Brethren, it’s going to be part and parcel and par to the course. We are going to have Satan rush upon us and according 1 Thessalonians Chapter 5, some of us are going to be more feeble and weak than others. You’re going to be more susceptible to Satan coming in and trying to convince you you’re not saved, disturb your peace in that area. I recognize that’s true. Brethren, I don’t think it is appropriate to just simply tell the whole church, that when doubts come, you just need to… not concern yourself with it, because it’s not true. Some of you may very well be in our midst and you may be lost. Bottom line, when it all comes back to this, right down to here, Here’s the reality, again, it seems like so many times, so many opportunities today. Pilgrim’s Progress, you know He’s in the interpreters house. And he sees a fire over against the wall and he sees a man with a bucket of water throwing it on the fire, but every time the man throws the bucket of water on the fire the fire get’s bigger, and so the interrupter takes him around through a door way to the other side of the wall, and the fire there in the fire place is actually being quenched on one side, but there’s another man on the other side of the wall throwing oil on the fire. Well that man on the other side of the wall is Christ, and that man on this side is satan, he’s trying to put it out. But I’ll tell you this, that’s a picture of Christianity. Because Brethren, Christians fall into sin, they do they fall into despair, they fall into sorrow, they fall into discouragement, of course they fall short, they fail, they mess up, they dishonor God, they stumble, they make fools of themselves at times. Brethren I’ve been there, done that, you have to, we know these things. But here’s the thing, in your inner being do you come back to this persuasion over and over again. That Christ is all I need, all my hope, all my salvation, all my treasure.
Brethren. Because here’s the reality no matter how much satan may throw wet blankets on us, throw buckets of water on us, we have Christ over there with His buckets of oil throwing them on, bringing us back to this persuasion over and over. This is worth having. Brethren this is a mark of the genuine work of the Spirit of God in the life of a sinner. Lay it down. This is the heart of the matter: Will you have Christ above all? Are you going to go hard for Christ no matter what it costs you? Are you going to follow Christ if He takes your spouse? If he takes your children? Are you going to follow Christ if He takes your comfort? Are you going to follow Him if He takes your wealth? Are you going to follow Him if he takes your car, your house? Are you going to keep going if He takes your health? Are you gonna keep going? Because in the end, all these things that are thrown upon us. When satan comes against us and all of his whisperings. And all that the world can throw, and all the deprivations and everything. Are you going to be just like Adoniram Judson in the end of the day and say “When I look at Christ” Just like the Apostle Paul, it, the world, was all nothing. It was less than nothing, that I might have the surpassing worth of Christ. Can we say that brethren? This is the mark of real Christianity. There are other things to be considered. But this is the heart of the matter, is Christ the driving, compulsion of your life? And is there a certainty that He is more precious then everything else? Because brethren, those that hedge have not come to this persuasion, and if they haven’t they fall out of that parable. And Jesus says the Kingdom of Heaven is like this. And if you’re not like this, you should be afraid.
God help us brethren. Brethren I know, that that is true in my heart, I know it is! I may not know a lot of things, but I know, brethren, that when it get’s hard, I keep coming back to this over and over again for 20 years. I’m going to keep going, this is hard, and there’s a lot of days I want to throw in the towel. But I want Christ more than I want anything else.
