How to Receive Jesus Christ as Saviour — Peter Brandon

Well it's good to see friends here tonight thank you for coming and the subject under discussion is the question how to receive Jesus Christ as saviour it was a question that was put to me and therefore we're going to try and deal with this subject tonight.

The Word Who Became Flesh

The scripture reading is from John's gospel chapter 1 and we're going to read from verse 1. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.

All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life and the life was the light of men and the light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John. The same came for a witness to bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe. He was not that light but was sent to bear witness of the light.

That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world and the world was made by him and the world knew him not. He came unto his own and his own received him not.

But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name. Which were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of men but of God.

And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth. And John bear witness of him and cried saying this was he of whom I speak he that cometh after me is preferred before me for he was before me and of his fullness have all we received and grace for grace.

For the law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. And no man has seen God at any time the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him. And the Lord will bless to us the reading of his precious word.

I suppose as preachers constantly we use a phraseology that sometimes people cannot understand. And over again we talk about the word saved and people get puzzled over that. That's why we dealt with that on Sunday.

And sometimes we ask them are they are born again and they're puzzled over that. And then right at the end of the service we will invariably ask people to receive Christ. And people will often say well how do we receive him and that's what I want to speak about tonight.

The scripture that I'm going to give to you is one that's well known well-worn in gospel preaching and it's this. He came unto his own and his own received him not. But to as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name.

Which were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God. Now I'm not going to talk about that great mystery of being born of God because we dealt with that last night.

But I want to just speak on the subject what it means to receive Christ. First of all I must share with you that it is possible to reject him. He came unto his own and his own received him not. When the Lord Jesus came to his own people the Jewish people he came with all the prophecies behind him.

Prophecies concerning his birth, prophecies concerning his life, prophecies concerning the miracles that he would perform, prophecies concerning his death, prophecies concerning his burial, prophecies concerning his resurrection and even prophecies concerning his ascension.

And I think if you add them all together there are roughly 410 prophecies that he fulfilled when he came and went back to heaven. And although he fulfilled all those prophecies before the eyes of the Jewish people they still rejected him.

He came again with mighty authority. They saw miracles that were so startling that they became almost frightening. For instance they saw men and women that were full of leprosy. That meant part of their hands were disfigured.

Their toes had dropped off. They had the lion like appearance. They had lost their features. They were totally bald. Their bodies were covered with ulcers. And they were totally disfigured. And yet one touch from the master and they were cleansed and made whole.

They saw it. They saw on one occasion a man that was totally paralyzed. And one word from the Lord Jesus, take up thy bed and walk. They saw the man get up and the very thing that had become a burden he carried it.

Take up thy bed and walk. And then on another occasion they were at the grave side of Lazarus and as the stone was rolled away they could actually smell the composition. And yet one word from the master, Lazarus come out.

And they saw a man coming out from a communal grave with all the grave clothes around him. It must have been frightening. So he said loose him and let him go. And yet he came with all this authority and they received him not.

And then he came to them in passion and love. When he was on the cross and they had done terrible things to him. In fact they treated him not as a human but as an animal. And as they were treating him with this vulgarity he met all their hatred and all their bitterness with those beautiful words.

Father forgive them they know not what they do. And yet they still rejected him. When he was raised from the dead he commissioned his disciples to go only to the lost tribes of Israel. And Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost and said to them that same Jesus whom you crucified God hath made both Lord and Christ.

And although about three thousand trusted in the Lord in the main they rejected him. And then God gave them his last opportunity. He raised up a man whose name was Stephen. He made his face shine like an angel.

Because the covenants came to them through angelic mediation. And so his face shone like an angel. And he preached with such mighty power that they were spellbound. But then they stoned him to death. And whilst the stones were falling upon his skull he was heard to say Lord lay not this sin to their charge.

And he left upon them the shadow of Calvary. And in spite of that love they rejected the message of Christ. And then the curtains came down. And now ladies and gentlemen I want you to observe what has happened.

In 70 A .D. Titus ransacked the whole of Jerusalem so that one stone did not stand upon another. And for two thousand years the Jewish nation has been persecuted. Most of us in our time have witnessed the German race persecuting the Jewish people so that six million were slaughtered to death in the last war.

And now they are back in their own land but they are surrounded by their enemies and they are yet to be punished. Why? Because they rejected the Messiah. What a lesson for us Gentiles. Ladies and gentlemen can I say this.

It doesn't pay to reject Christ. Israel as a nation is a lesson to the world. He came unto his own and his own received him not. But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God.

Receiving Christ as Sin Bearer

Now how do we receive Christ? Number one as our sin bearer. Number two as our daily saviour. And number three as our sovereign. And it's as simple as that. Now what does it mean to receive Jesus Christ as my sin bearer?

We shall never understand the message of Easter, better expressed. We shall never understand the cross until we understand our need. When does a person really appreciate a doctor when they are sick? When does a person really appreciate a dentist when he has a nagging tooth?

When do we really appreciate a solicitor when we are in legal need? When do we really appreciate a chiropodist when our feet hurt us? You see it's need that drives us to the specialist. Now dear friends may I say this in an emphatic way.

We shall never, never, never understand the cross until we understand our guilt. Now what do we mean by guilt? Every single person in this building tonight has violated the dictates of their own conscience.

When your conscience has said don't do it you have done it so often and that includes your poor preacher. Every single one of us in this room tonight we have broken the ten commandments. Some people have broken them more than others but we've all broken the ten commandments and because we've all broken the ten commandments we have committed sin and you cannot deny that fact.

Now why is it that we cannot keep the ten commandments because we possess in our bodies a nature that's called flesh and that flesh nature is the source of sin in us. For instance, if you could take out your flesh nature and if you could pull it to pieces you wouldn't find one speck of good in it.

It is totally corrupt and it's the seed plot of iniquity and that's why we find it very difficult to live a decent good life. Now because we have a sinful nature and because we have broken the commandments the bible says the whole world is guilty before God.

But this is the problem, most of the people in the western world now do not understand that they are guilty before God. In the victorian period, in the edwardian period, in the early georgian period and I'm only referring now to about sixty years ago the gospel was preached and the average person in the western world knew he was guilty but today the gospel is not preached and therefore people are unaware that they are guilty before God.

But whether they are unaware of it or aware of it the fact is they are guilty. Imagine a man driving his car in sydney and he is doing sixty mile an hour and a policeman stops him and says do you realise you were violating the law of the road?

No, I'm unaware of it. What would he say? You should have known it and because you were doing sixty mile an hour you will now pay two hundred dollars. That's right, that's correct, he should have known and therefore whether we know that we are guilty or whether we don't know we should know and therefore we are guilty before God.

Now what does that mean? Now I always find it hard to say this to a congregation. That's why I shall never be a hellfire preacher. I will preach it because it's in the word of God and the fact that it always hurts me when I say it.

Dear friends, if you die guilty before God you will be eternally separated from God in that place called hell and that is why every single one of us we need a sin bearer and the only one that could possibly bear our sin and judgement was the Lord Jesus and when he came here, he came here to die upon the cross and when the moment of his death came he said with dignity mine hour has come and then he went into a garden and prayed and in that garden he saw the whole question of sin that he was going to bear on the cross.

He saw it's corresponding judgement, he saw the power of Satan behind it and the enormous mess was so great that he sweat as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground but then he took that invisible cup from the hand of his God and said not my will but thine be done and he went to the cross.

And on the cross at Calvary he became a massive infinite sin bearer for the whole world and that's what John meant when he said behold the Lamb of God which beareth away the sin of the world. And when a person becomes a Christian he comes to that cross where the Lord Jesus died and he's not so much concerned that Christ died on behalf of the whole world, he's not even concerned so much that he died for a select group of people concerning the church but he sees the Lord Jesus dying for his sins and he says something like this He was wounded for my transgressions, he was bruised for my iniquities, he bare my sins in his own body on the tree and he begins to see his sin causing the death of the Lord Jesus.

And to put it very simply instead of that observer bearing his sins the Lord Jesus bore them for him, instead of him bearing the punishment and the guilt for his sin the Lord Jesus bore it for him and when he sees that he receives the Lord as his sin bearer.

The Cross as Penal Substitution

Professor Rendell Short told a story in London that caused a shock and it was one of the best stories I've ever heard concerning the cross. As you know he spent two years in surgery in the old Belgium Congo by the way they've returned to that name and he heard the story concerning a prince who had all his wealth in diamonds and gold and silver and ivory and so on and he was fabulously wealthy in fact he didn't know really the extent of his wealth.

And one day one of his primitive accountants came to him and said that his best diamond had been stolen and therefore he called his primitive town criers and sent them all over the compounds we would call them villages telling the culprit when caught he'll be beaten with 30 rods that was to the point of death but they couldn't find the culprit.

Four days later this primitive accountant came to him and told him that four of his diamonds had been stolen and now the fact was in the fire and so these town criers they were simple men they went about the compounds calling the people together saying the culprit will be beaten with 30 rods but they still couldn't find the culprit.

Then one of his primitive detectives said to him it could be someone in the family that's doing the stealing so he disguised one of his detectives as one of the servants and that person was waiting on the table.

And one day he hid in the throne room where the diamonds were kept and the door opened and in came the chief's mother and she went to the safe and she was apprehended and the news leaked out it was the prince's mother and now the battle was on would he be just and punish his mother.

If one of the ordinary people was caught with the diamonds he would be punished now would he be just but then others said something like this how can a son punish his own mother to the point of death well if he releases her he's merciful but he's not just.

And there was a battle between love and justice the court was set and thousands of people assembled to hear the case and unfortunately for the prince the mother came forward and confessed that she had stolen all the diamonds what would he do.

According to Randall Short he stood still for two or three minutes and then he stepped forward and heaped upon his mother the heaviest penalty of the law and sent her to the post of beating and they all whispered and said just just but it was her judgment it was right that her judgment.

When God says the soul that sinneth it shall die it's right but you say where's the love just when his mother was going to be tied to the post of beating they saw the chief stripping himself of his legal regalia until his back was bare.

Then from the very place where he found his mother guilty he stepped from it and he went to the post of beating and said to the man untie my mother he wouldn't do it and then he said this I made the law I'm going to fulfill it release my mother and tie me.

And his mother was released and he was tied to the post of beating an innocent man stepping from the bar prepared to bear the judgment and that's what Jesus Christ did. He came from the glory of heaven when he found that we were guilty and he went to the cross not as an innocent man but as a perfect man to bear the punishment.

The mother stood by her son and as every rod cracked upon his back she was heard to say for me for me and when the 38th blow fell on his back it was broken he was dead and as he crumbled being held only to the post by the ropes.

His mother went up and she cried out I'm terribly sorry thank you thank you but he was dead. Dear friends the son of God your creator hung upon a Roman gibbet and bore your judgment from God and so realistically was he made one with our sin he cried out my God my God why has thou forsaken me and then with a mighty voice finished.

But there's a difference that mother was pleading with her son to forgive her thanking him for bearing the punishment but he was dead. Jesus Christ is alive God has raised him from the dead God has given him an eternal throne but tonight you can go to that living Savior who died for you and you can thank him for dying for you and claim the forgiveness that comes through his blood and you can say tonight he was wounded for my transgressions and bruised for my iniquities.

And that means that your sins are eternally put away through the cross of Christ. But then comes a problem over and over again especially people in England and I feel sure this is the same in Australia have put this to me.

I would love to be forgiven and saved wonderful to think that God can eternally forgive me because of the work that Jesus did for me on the cross. Now they've got the gist of the truth when they say that you see God doesn't forgive you because of the size of your penitence or even the size of your faith he forgives you on the work of the cross.

Your faith receives the forgiveness but God forgives because Christ bore the judgment. But then comes this problem how am I going to live the Christian life in a factory? Man said to me recently have you ever been in a modern factory and seen all the lockers and the pornographic literature?

How can I live Christ there? That's a problem. Then a girl said this to me. Do you understand modern man Mr. Brandon? Well I think I do. There isn't a girl in the office that's kept her virginity and sin is at random.

How can I live the Christian life in that office? Difficult. A student said this to me with tears in his eyes. I would love to be saved but how can I live that life in the university? I'd be a laughing stock and probably he wouldn't.

A mother said this to me in Africa. My husband's a drunkard. I live in a tin shed and four families are living in it and they're all drunkards. How can I live the Christian life in a tin shack? How can I do it?

The Holy Spirit Gives Power for Christian Living

Friends you can't do it in your own strength. This is what the Lord Jesus said and this is what the word says. You shall receive power. After that the Holy Ghost is come upon you. And ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost part of the world.

Listen to that brilliant word. Power. Genuine power. Paul says don't be drunk with wine but be filled with the Spirit. There's the power. Always remember this dear friends. The disciples, the apostles, the twelve apostles were all failures.

When the Lord Jesus came to the point of his death Mark tells us they all fled. Even Peter their leader let down the Lord with a few nasty swear words and a broken oath. And when the Lord looked upon him he wept bitterly.

They were all failures. But when you read of those men in the book of the Acts they are so transformed you can hardly tell they're the same people. You say what's happened? The Holy Spirit has come into them and given them power.

Power to live. So that when you receive Christ, note this, you receive him first of all as your sin bearer. And then you receive that living Christ as your saviour. And that living Christ has sent the Holy Spirit so that when he comes into your life he gives you the power to live.

By the way that lady that got saved and lived in a tin shack there in South Africa, she saw her husband saved. Now she lives in Mitchell Plains and she's got a lovely little home and four lovely children.

Those two men are of another and the woman has been wonderfully transformed. You see power. How can I explain this? When you become a Christian it's not struggling to follow the Lord as an example. You can't do it.

You see Jesus Christ was absolutely perfect and you cannot tread in his footsteps. When you become a Christian he forgives your sins, the Holy Spirit comes within you and the Lord Jesus wants to relive his life in you.

And this is how Paul put it. I am crucified with Christ, that's my old self-life. Nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

So it's the Lord Jesus reliving his life in you and that's Christianity. You see when you become a Christian Christ is your life. Not a part of it or your best hobby, he is your life. And a Christian is someone who is living out the Lord's youth.

Because the Lord is living in him in the power of the Spirit. Let's illustrate. A young man before the war was a wizard at maths but hopeless at art. You often find that. And every time he went into an art class it was like having a nightmare.

But in those days when they took them a trick you had to do art whether you liked it or not. I'm going to give this fellow another name. I'm going to give him the name of Joseph. And he was lining up outside the art class waiting for the nightmare.

And he thought I'm going to try and do it this time. And he was a boy of determination. Anyhow he got right near the bank as far as he could so that no one would see his masterpiece. And they were told to paint a rose, a red rose.

So he started. And the moment he grabbed hold of the paint brush he hadn't got a dog's chance. He was holding it like a cricket bat. And so he started to paint. And a blob went here and a blob went there and a blob went somewhere else.

And then he took his handkerchief out and smudged it. Then he got somewhere on his face and on his nose. And he was struggling for 20 minutes. And the perspiration was dripping from his forehead. And he didn't know the art master had got behind him.

And all of a sudden the boy was so defeated he threw down his brush and quietly said, I'm finished. And the art master slapped him on the shoulder and said, Johnson you are absolutely hopeless. He looked up and said, agreed sir, agreed.

He confessed that he was absolutely helpless. That's where God wants us. The apostle got there when he said, Oh wretched man that I am who shall deliver me. And when we come to a point where we say, Lord I can't live this Christian life.

I'm too weak. Sin has beaten me. Oh do something with me. Right, he says, Johnson, clean your paints. So he did. He said that's not good enough for me. So he looked up as though to say, You're very fastidious.

And then the art master got to work and cleansed the paints. Until they were perfectly clean. Now he says, get a new piece of paper. So he got a new piece of paper. So the paints were clean and there was a new piece of paper.

Now that's what God wants to do with every one of us. He wants to give us a cleansing that will satisfy him. And he does that through the death of Christ. And he cleanses us once and for all. And then he gives us a new life.

Like a new piece of paper. Right, he said, laddie, take hold of the brush. He said, don't hold it like that. You never paint like that. Hold it like that. So he did. And then he slipped his hand over it.

And they started to paint. And the boy's eyes nearly came down on his cheek. He could see a rose coming. All he saw was the parchment like the world in its chaotic state. But now a rose was coming. And he got really excited.

Because he was holding the brush that it was the art master painting through him. And then all of a sudden the art master said to him, let your hand go limp. You're struggling. I'm just borrowing your hand.

And then being a cockney says, let it go like a piece of wet fish. And he knew that language. And then he gave himself unreservedly over to the art master. And then the rose was complete. And the boy smiled and said, could I take that home?

He said, yes. So when the art master had gone, he put his name underneath. And there he was smiling. I did that. But it was the art master doing it through him. Can you see that's what Christ wants to do in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Forgive my excitement. It's not you living. It's you abiding. And Christ reliving his life in you. Thinking through your mind. Seeing through your eyes. Listening with your lips. Speaking with your, listening with your ears, sorry.

Speaking with your lips. Loving through your heart. Reliving his life in you. When he got home, he put the painting on an old-fashioned mantelpiece. I can't explain that to you. Some might know. And his mother was at work for keeping at school.

He had lost his father. And when his mother came home, he was doing his homework. And there was the painting. And she went right up and looked at the painting. And there was his name underneath. Then she looked at him.

And he was doing his homework. Wouldn't look up. Then she looked again. And she looked at him. Now I'm going to tell you what she said verbatim. Forgive me, but she was a typical Cockney. She said one word.

Liar. Liar. What do you mean? You didn't paint that. I did. Did you hold the brush? Yes. Did you put the paint on the paper? Yes. Now come on, did you really paint that? Yes. Well, she said the days of miracles are not over.

And that's it. Christianity is a supernatural life. It's the Holy Spirit, the Divine Person, reliving the life of the Lord Jesus in you. And our job is to hand ourselves over completely to the Lord. And then He'll relive His life in us.

Receiving Christ as Sovereign Lord

So it's receiving Him as my daily Saviour. And then lastly with this I'll close. It receiving Him as my Sovereign. Now what does that mean? I saw a boy from where I'm staying. And he was on one of those skateboards.

And the boy was only about 11. And what that boy was doing with that skateboard was amazing. The moment he got on it, he was under its control. And it was amazing what that little boy could do with that skateboard.

Because he was in control. But he could make a blunder. And he did. When you become a Christian, you make Jesus the Saviour and the Sovereign of your life. Now dear friends, this is a very delicate point.

I've heard people saying this, that they've made Him Saviour, but they haven't made Him Lord. Now dear friends, if that's the case, you're not saved. And when the Lord comes, you'll be left behind. Get the word, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. What must I do to be saved, says a man in the New Testament, in the Acts chapter 16.

And the Apostle says, believe, now note this, on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Not just Jesus, not just Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now my dear friends, can I put it as bluntly as this.

There are lots of people who just attend church Sunday morning. And they are Sunday morning only Christians. They are not under the Lordship of Christ. Now there are some people who are old and they can't come up, different matter.

Some people who are sick and they can't come up, that's a different matter. Some people have a family and one has to stay behind with the little ones, that's a different matter. But a person who claims to be a Christian and just comes Sunday morning only.

There is a big doubt whether that person has been really saved. How can that person be under the Lordship of Christ? Can you see the point? And if you have groups of Christians just like that, Sunday morning only Christians.

You will find that that kind of church will fade and die. You see we must preach the full gospel. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord. And believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

And just in our old days when sin and self controlled us. Now we turn from that kind of living and now it's the Lord Jesus that saves us. In the old days we were slaves to sin. Now we are slaves to righteousness.

Now may I say this. The Lord Jesus is the greatest master you could ever serve. He's not a tyrant. He's full of love. And when you come to a place where you call him Sovereign Lord. That means you acknowledge his deity to equal with God.

And secondly you give him the reins of your life. Then the moment he has the reins he's only got one objective. To fill you with the beauty and the loveliness of the Lord Jesus. Now are you willing to make him Saviour?

Are you willing to make him Sovereign? Then you're almost there. Let's follow it and then close. I receive him as my sin bearer for the remission of my sins. Good. I receive him as my daily Saviour so that he can relive his life in me.

I receive him as my Sovereign Lord so that he can control me. And he controls you by the word. Now the act. How do I receive him as an act? You mustn't imagine you can drift into this. One man thought that he could go to bed on Tuesday night and wake up Wednesday morning.

And then say oh it's all happened. I've been saved. You will never get saved like that. There comes a moment when you have to go directly before the Lord Jesus. And you have to receive him as your sin bearer, your Saviour and your Sovereign.

And when you start talking to him, confessing your sins, thanking him for dying for you. Always remember this. He's listening to the groan that comes from your heart. And when he sees there a flicker of faith and he hears you saying Lord I can't pray much.

But thank you for dying for me. Thank you for promising to give me the power to live. Lord I receive you now as my Saviour and Lord. The moment that comes from your life you have passed from death unto life.

As many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God. Now when I have received him what will happen? Will I have a wonderful feeling of peace? Yes, you could do. But don't rely on that.

Could I have a wonderful sense of joy that the burden's gone? Yes, but don't rely on that. Could I have a wonderful sense of wonderful joy that now I belong to the Lord Jesus and I'm a new creature? Yes, you could do.

But don't rely on that. Don't rely on any feeling at all because feelings fluctuate. If you want to be sure that you're saved, don't rely upon any subjective feelings. Do two things. Number one, get the claws of your faith right in Christ and Him alone.

And then with your two feet, figuratively, stand upon the Word of God. You see it's the Lord Jesus that saves, it's the Word of God that makes you sure. And when the Word of God says that as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, quietly say, Lord, I believe thy word and therefore I have become a child of God.

How do you know? Because God says it. And when God says it, it's final. Now we're going to test that in class. We're all going to stand before God and give an account of ourselves. Let me give you the scriptures, Romans 14, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, every tongue shall confess to God, so that every one of us shall give an account of himself to God.

Now if you stand before him and say, well I heard the preacher and I asked the Lord to save me, oh and I got a lovely feeling within me. The Lord would say, are you trusting the feeling? Or supposing you will say, Lord I asked you to save me and I got a wonderful vision of the cross.