I recall some statements made by some old
preachers years ago that at the time that
they made these statements it was hard for
me to agree with them because the church
on third day wasn't as bad as it
is now.
I remember Leonard Ravenhill saying 25 years ago
that he believed only 5% of professing
Christians in America were saved.
And L.R. Shelton Sr. said 50 years
ago he believed only 2% of professing
Christians were truly saved.
R.G. Lee, the former pastor of the
huge Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, commented at
a SBC conference decades ago that he believed
only 1% of his entire congregation was
saved.
Having been a former member of that church
for 20 years I'd have to agree with
the old boy.
I look around today at the nonsense we
call church on Sunday morning and the watered
-down perverted gospel that spills out of our
pulpits today and I'd have to agree with
all these men.
Our churches are largely filled with unconverted church
members.
I believe one of the largest mission fields
in the world today is the American church.
We are experiencing today the sad result of
modern evangelism that has deceived millions into believing
they're on their way to heaven when in
reality they're actually on their way to hell.
When you tell individuals that they can be
saved by walking an aisle and making a
decision for Jesus, when they never felt their
need of him, you get them to join
the church believing that church membership is salvation.
The church in this country quit preaching about
sin and hell and repentance and regeneration years
ago when they decided to grow their church
campuses so they could look good within their
denomination.
The end result that the American church today
is predominantly unconverted.
If you don't believe me, friends, you go
into a church today and preach a message
that God is a God who must punish
sin and you have a fight on your
hands.
You stand up in a pulpit today and
preach that God is the one who sends
sinners to hell while the good deacons will
wring your neck.
But unless we get back to the gospel
of our Bibles and preach it in its
purity and proper order, we will continue to
harden men and women in their sins by
getting them to accept our little Jesus.
You must preach the first message of the
cross which is God must punish sin.
Then after you do that you can come
along with the second message about a Savior
from sin.
Our trouble today is we offer sinners hardened
in their sins a remedy for sin without
first showing them their need of that remedy
because we are afraid today to preach the
truth and upset anybody.
Why, if we did that we'd shrink our
membership down to nothing.
Folks don't want to hear today that they
are born in ruin with a depraved nature
that hates God and all things holy.
That God is angry with the wicked every
day.
That God commands all men everywhere to repent
or be sent to a devil's hell.
That good people don't go to heaven.
Only forgiven people get to go there.
You must get out of the blood and
stand in the merits of another who is
a substitute for sin.
That's your only hope against being held up
to the strictness and severity of the holy
law of God and not being sent to
hell.
That God requires perfection to get to his
holy heaven and no man is perfect and
all deserve hell because they are traitors and
rebels against a sovereign king who demands obedience
to his commands and a life of discipleship
where one takes up his cross daily in
a life of self-denial and utter surrender
to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Now you go and try and preach that
message in our churches today and you will
have a ride on your hands while you
split the congregation right down the middle.
Well that's the introduction to my message this
evening friends.
The title of my message is the gospel
is for the needy and my text can
be found in Matthew's gospel in chapter 9.
You can turn in your Bibles there now
friends.
We will be in verses 9 through 13.
In Matthew's gospel in chapter 9 we see
Jesus speaking piercing words of truth to the
self-righteous Pharisees who felt no need of
him.
Let me read us his passage at this
time.
Here now is the Word of God and
may the Spirit of the Lord be pleased
to attend the reading of his holy word.
And as Jesus passed forth from thence he
saw a man named Matthew sitting at the
receipt of custom and he saith unto him
follow me and he arose and followed him
and it came to pass as Jesus said
at meeting the house behold many publicans and
sinners came and sat down with him and
his disciples and when the Pharisees saw it
they said unto his disciples oh why eateth
your master with publicans and sinners but let
me pause here friends here is Jesus having
a meal and some fellowship with some folks
and some preachers bust in on a man
object to it and criticize Jesus why I
wouldn't be surprised to learn that they were
Baptist preachers well let's return to our text
but when Jesus heard daddy said unto them
they that behold need not a physician but
they that are sick let me pause here
again friends to comment that if a man
learns he has a deadly disease and there
is a cure for why that man will
spend every nickel he has to go and
get that cure and live what Jesus is
saying here is that the Pharisees felt no
need of him they believed they were already
all right and stood good in God's sight
but Jesus told them in John 5 and
verse 40 and ye will not come to
me that ye might have life these self
-righteous preachers saw no need to come to
Jesus for forgiveness of sin because in their
own eyes they were whole and had no
need of a physician now let's continue with
our text but go ye and learn what
that meaneth I will have mercy and not
sacrifice for I am not come to call
the righteous but sinners to repentance I will
stop there friends Jesus says if you feel
you're all right then the gospel is not
for you I'm not talking to you but
you won't come to Christ because you believe
you're all right but the gospel is for
those lost and sick sinners who feel their
need of a remedy for sin the gospel
is for the needy the weary the hungry
and the thirsty are you hungry for God
are you weary of your sins are you
thirsty for Christ then come to Christ and
repent of your sins but the majority of
the church today won't come to Christ to
stay out of hell because they feel they
are already all right after all they already
made a decision to accept Jesus and they
joined the church and they give their money
to that church and serve that church in
some capacity and feel secure when they go
to sleep at night not realizing they could
die in their sins and make their bed
in hell tonight because they've never been awakened
to their lost condition they've never come under
Holy Spirit conviction apart from which no one
can be saved for if you miss Holy
Spirit conviction you miss repentance if you miss
repentance you miss faith if you miss faith
you miss the new birth if you miss
the new birth you miss Christ and if
you miss Christ you miss heaven and you
were doomed and damned to suffer eternally in
the devil's hell but you won't hear that
message preached in our church today in this
country because nobody wants to hear it and
you'll starve to death as a preacher because
very few will support you and that message
Jesus said you will not come to me
that you might have life why friend won't
you come to Christ is it that you
feel no need of him let us pray