Have You Gotten to Christ

I want to ask you a question, friend. Have you gotten to Christ? I'm not asking you if you made a decision for Jesus or if you walked in and out to receive Him as your personal Savior. The question is, have you gotten to Christ? For if you have missed Christ, then you have missed heaven.

And that's the title of my message today, friends. Have you gotten to Christ? And my text can be found in the Gospel of Matthew, in chapter 19. You can turn in your Bibles there now, friends.

We will be in verses 16 through 22. Here now is the Word of God, and may the Spirit of the Lord attend the reading of His Holy Word. And behold, one came and said unto Him, Good Master, what good things shall I do? That I may have eternal life.

Let me pause here, friends. Here was a young man who was self-reliant. He called Jesus, Good, Good Master.

And he's looking to do a good thing, to get into heaven. Keep that thought in your mind as we proceed. And he said unto Him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, and that is God.

Let me pause again, friend. Jesus is stating that no mother's son is good in God's eyes. A good opinion of ourself is just a stinking pile of filthy rags in God's sight.

But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto Him, Which Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, honor thy father and thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The young man saith unto Him, All these things have I kept from my youth up.

What lack I yet? Let me pause here again, friends. This young self-righteous man was blind to his own condition. He believed he was in good standing with God when he was on the wrong side of God, and under God's condemnation.

But God had to open his blind eyes and show him the sore spot in his life that was keeping him from getting to Christ. You see, friends, this young man had come to Jesus, but he had yet to get to Him savingly. Something stood in the way, and Jesus put his finger on it and pointed it out.

Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell thou that hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me. Let me pause again, friends. You see, this rich ruler could not follow Christ because he was not joined to Him through repentance and faith.

He refused to give up his idol, his pet sin, which was his worldly reputation and self-controlling wealth. He wanted Jesus, and he wanted heaven. But he still wanted to sit on the throne of his life and rule there until he was ready to die and go to heaven.

But Jesus would not accept this man in his condition. Now your average Baptist church would have welcomed a man and patted him on the back and made that rich young ruler the chairman of the deacons, because that's how they do. Let me finish our text.

But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had a 401K and a big stock portfolio. Then Jesus said unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

I will stop there. Now that ought to shake up the deacon board. Vance Havner said of the rich young ruler, the rich young ruler was a good boy, but he wasn't God's boy.

And that's true, friend. Are you a good person? I bet you've never killed anybody, have you? Did you ever rob a liquor store? I bet that when you compare yourself to others who are much worse than yourself, you don't look so bad. And you know what, friend? You probably are a good, honest, hard-working person who helps folks when they need help.

You're a generous person. You are a good person. Listen friend, good people don't go to heaven.

Only forgiven people get to go there. You must get under the blood. Now this young man did something.

He came to Jesus, but he never got to him. Something was in the way. Maybe there was a time back yonder, friend, when you responded to a pastor's invitation to come to Jesus, and you got up out of your seat and walked that aisle.

And the best way you knew how, you got a handshake from the pastor and a church membership. And they put you to work. And you believed that you had salvation.

But you never got to Christ. Something was standing between you and Christ. And that something stands between you still.

And that is the huge mountain of sins with your name written all over them. There used to be a big Baptist pastor who had a big church. And he'd stand up there with a big grin on his face and say, Come to Jesus! Come to Jesus! And every Sunday, folks would get up out of their seats and walk that aisle to come to Jesus.

I was one of them. And I was still lost like everyone else who had walked that aisle and joined that church who mistakenly believed that's how you get to heaven. And we just reformed ourselves somewhat on the outside, cleaned up a little to better fit in.

But there was no conviction by the Holy Spirit, without which no one will ever be saved. And because there was no Holy Spirit conviction, there was no true gospel repentance. And if you miss repentance, you miss faith.

Listen, friend, there can be no genuine saving faith without genuine heartfelt repentance. Now you hear me on that one. And if you miss faith, you miss the new birth.

And if you miss the new birth, you miss Christ. And if you miss Christ, you'll surely miss heaven. And it's hell for you, friend.

It breaks my heart to think of the tens of thousands of individuals who, like the rich young ruler, came to Jesus seeking salvation. But they never ever got to Him and got under His blood. All their testimony is, is that way back yonder, they did something one time and thought it was salvation.

And to stick that physical act or decision in a tin can and bring it out every now and then to verify they are saved. But their hope of heaven is nothing more than a hole in the wall. They are climbing to heaven on a rope of sand.

Let me ask you, friend, have you ever gotten to Christ? Have you ever taken your place as a poor lost and ruined sinner? And where you admitted you were a guilty rebel who deserved hell, and then you laid at His feet begging for mercy, have you ever been lost? Then how can you be so sure you were saved? Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. Do you know Christ? Have you gotten to Him? Are you joined to Him in a vital union with the living Lord? Did you know, friend, that you have a poison in your blood and you were under a curse because of Adam's sin? That you were born with a sin nature and bent toward sin? You're a natural enemy of God because of your ruined and fallen nature? Listen, friend, you're not a sinner because you sin. Rather, you sin because you are a big sinner.

My Bible says a man that he drinks iniquity like water. You won't admit it because you're blind to your condition. Only God can open your eyes and reveal to you your desperate and real danger and great peril that you face every minute outside of the blood of Christ.

Lost sinners, only refuge is Christ, and Christ is the only remedy for sin. Have you gotten to Him, friend? Have you gotten to Christ? Jesus declares, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Oh, dear friend, it chokes me up and breaks my heart how many souls are deceived in this day of ours. Jesus invites poor lost sinners who feel their need to come to Him and believe on Him. The gospel is for the hungry, the weary, and the thirsty.

Let me ask you, friend, are you hungry for God? Are you thirsty for Christ? Are you weary of your sins? Come lay your burden down at the feet of a sovereign. Listen, friend, I know I am a sinner, and I need a sin substitute in the person of Jesus Christ, and so do you, friend, so do you. Salvation is not doing a thing, salvation is Christ.

Have you gotten to Christ? I pray that you will, let us pray.