There are four other passages in dealing with inquirers, which were used by Christ Himself. “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John iii. 3.)
In Luke xiii. 3, we read: “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”
In Matthew xviii., when the disciples came to Jesus to know who was to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, we are told that He took a little child and set him in the midst and said, “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven” (xviii. 1-3).
There is another important “Except” in Matthew v. 20: “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter the kingdom of heaven.”
A man must be made meet before he will want to go into the kingdom of God. I would rather go into the kingdom with the younger brother than stay outside with the elder. Heaven would be hell to such an one. An elder brother who could not rejoice at his younger brother’s return would not be “fit” for the kingdom of God. It is a solemn thing to contemplate; but the curtain drops and leaves him outside, and the younger brother within. To him the language of the Saviour under other circumstances seems appropriate: “Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you” (Matt. xxi. 31).
A lady once came to me and wanted a favor for her daughter. She said: “You must remember I do not sympathize with you in your doctrine.” I asked: “What is your trouble?” She said: “I think your abuse of the elder brother is horrible. I think he is a noble character.” I said that I was willing to hear her defend him; but that it was a solemn thing to take up such a position; and that the elder brother needed to be converted as much as the younger. When people talk of being moral it is well to get them to take a good look at the old man pleading with his boy who would not go in.
But we will pass on now to the other class with which we have to deal. It is composed of those who are convinced of sin and from whom the cry comes as from the Philippian jailer, “What must I do to be saved?” To those who utter this penitential cry there is no necessity to administer the law. It is well to bring them straight to the Scripture: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” (Acts xvi. 31). Many will meet you with a scowl and say, “I don’t know what it is to believe;” and though it is the law of heaven that they must believe, in order to be saved—yet they ask for something besides that. We are to tell them what, and where, and how, to believe.
In John iii. 35 and 36 we read: “The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
Now this looks reasonable. Man lost life by unbelief—by not believing God’s word; and we got life back again by believing—by taking God at His word. In other words we get up where Adam fell down. He stumbled and fell over the stone of unbelief; and we are lifted up and stand upright by believing. When people say they cannot believe, show them chapter and verse, and hold them right to this one thing: “Has God ever broken His promise for these six thousand years?” The devil and men have been trying all the time and have not succeeded in showing that He has broken a single promise; and there would be a jubilee in hell to-day if one word that He has spoken could be broken. If a man says that he cannot believe it is well to press him on that one thing.
I can believe God better to-day than I can my own heart. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer. xxii. 9). I can believe God better than I can myself. If you want to know the way of Life, believe that Jesus Christ is a personal Saviour; cut away from all doctrines and creeds, and come right to the heart of the Son of God. If you have been feeding on dry doctrine there is not much growth on that kind of food. Doctrines are to the soul what the streets which lead to the house of a friend who has invited me to dinner are to the body. They will lead me there if I take the right one; but if I remain in the streets my hunger will never be satisfied. Feeding on doctrines is like trying to live on dry husks; and lean indeed must the soul remain which partakes not of the Bread sent down from heaven.