receive it, why dost thou glory
as if thou hadst not received it?" I think I'm correct on this statement. Well, I know
I am. Every church God Almighty has graciously bestowed the gospel of free grace. This
is usually going to be the statement that's made about that place. Men, women, and other places
will say, what makes you think that you're the only one in this
place that's right? Now, I know that it's very easy. Man by nature is puffed up. He's puffed up in pride and arrogance
And it is only by the grace of God that any man, any woman is
made by God's grace to be brought down in pride. I know that. I know that that statement is
an arrow shot at those that Truly love the Lord Jesus Christ. Love His gospel. I know that
men by nature despise the gospel. They despise it. I was talking
this week Brother Scott was telling me about a conversation someone
had with him recently. Just very arrogant, very disrespectful. Let me ask you something. Wherein
do we differ? What is the difference? There's a difference. Obviously,
there's something that is different. We're not working together with
all men, all different denominations. We're not. You know you're not.
There are certain times that men have said things to me, and
I know to other preachers, and they've said, listen, we're going
to have a big get-together A bunch of us, a bunch of pastors were
going to get together when I was in Franklin. A fellow called
me and he said, we're going to have a big get-together on Saturday
morning on Holtz Square there in Franklin, Tennessee. They've
got a big monument there in the middle of the town, a little
town square and little banks and courthouse and this, that
and the other. We're going to all get together.
On the square, Saturday morning, nine o'clock, all going to get
together and pray together. We're going to pray for the salvation
of Franklin. You know, we count on you to
be there. And I said, no, no, can't be there. Why? I said, well, I just don't feel
that I can be there. Just don't, just can't. I don't
have like spirit, like communion. I just came. Wherein do we differ? What's the difference? Paul,
writing in the book of 1 Corinthians, asks that question, Who maketh
thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? Now, let me tell you, Phrase
right there that I just read. Who maketh thee to differ, and
what hast thou that thou didst not receive? The word who, right
there, and the word what. Who maketh thee to differ and
what hast thou is the same word. Who and what. And the word maketh. Who maketh thee to differ? The word make and the word differ
is the same word. Same word. It means distinguished. Who distinguished you? So when
you read it, it says this, For who distinguished thee to distinguished? And who hast thou that thou didst
not receive? Now that's what it says. Who
distinguished you that distinguished you? And who do you have that
you didn't receive? Who distinguished you to be distinguished? And who do you have that you
didn't receive? is not an event. It's not an
event. Man by nature speaks of salvation
as it's an event. Yeah, I've been saved. I've kind of entered into that
event. That's just like when the Lord
Jesus Christ came to Martha and He said, rise again. She said, I know that my brother
is going to rise again in the resurrection. And he said, Martha,
he said, I am the resurrection. The resurrection is not an event. The resurrection is a person. Salvation is not an event. Salvation is the possession of
a person. Who makes you to differ? And who do you possess that you
didn't receive? What makes us differ? Today we
want to consider something about the difference of one man over
another. maketh thee differ." If we seek to know the difference
between one person and another person, the first thing that
we've got to consider is the similarity of all men by nature. To see something of the difference
between men, you have to know where they came from to begin
with. So first point this morning, and I'm preaching this morning
on this subject, who maketh thee to differ? You believe you're
different, do you? I mean, if you do, who made you
different? If you believe that you're different, who made the difference? All
those who have been made to differ first of all, came from the same
source. They were all born in Adam. And if you are going to
recognize something of difference, where did we come from? Romans 5, verse 19 says, "...for
as by one man's disobedience..." Now listen, one man's disobedience. "...many were made sinners."
Adam's sin, the sin of Adam, is ours by being associated with
Adam. In Adam all die. His sin, Adam's sin, is our sin
by imputation. Adam was our representative. The first Adam. When Adam sinned
against God, all mankind sinned before Almighty God because Adam
was all mankind. Adam. All mankind sinned. And in Adam, all died. By Adam's sin, all were made
sinners. Where did we come from? If there
is a difference in me and you and anybody else, where do we
come from? Is there a difference? Evidently
there is. Paul asked the question, Who
maketh thee to differ? Where do we come from? Psalm
14.2. This is one of those passages
right here. Whenever anyone says, when they
began to speak of election, Predestination. Oh, I'm telling you, I think
to myself, I think of the explanation that men give concerning God's
electing grace. And this is what they said. God
looked down. They said, look down. And He
saw, you know, that some would choose Him. He saw that they
would choose Him, and so therefore, He chose them. He elected them. That's the only way a man can
explain by nature election. God looked down in time and saw
who would choose Him, who would receive Him. So He elected them
unto salvation. I said, yeah, God did look down.
Psalm 14. Verse 2, the Lord looked down
from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any
that did understand and seek God. And they are all gone aside,
they are all together become filthy, and there is none that
doeth good, no, not one. God did look down in time. Next
time if you ever hear anyone say, God looked down and saw
who would choose Him and so He chose them, that's a lie. That's a lie. So first of all,
God looked down to see if there were any that did good, any that
would seek Him. There was none. There was not
one. From the first book of the Bible,
God, the Scripture says, saw the wickedness of man was great
in the earth and that every... I'll not labor for this one.
But I'm going to tell you something. You talk about minutely considering
man. Every imagination of the thoughts. I can't even enter into that.
I mean, I think something. And my mind, my thoughts, you
know how thoughts are. They're just kind of here, there,
there, here, you know. Every imagination is a thought. The Scripture says, that man's
heart was only evil continually. Outside Christ, man by nature,
you, me, all of us, Every imagination of the thoughts of our heart
is evil. Right now, you say, well, now
wait a minute. Good grief! You mean to tell me why I'm sitting
in church? Well, I got up this morning.
It's raining outside. I got up and got ready and took
a bath and ate breakfast. And I'm here this morning. I'm
telling you that man by nature Every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart is evil continually. Our problem is that we don't
realize the depth of what we are. We see ourselves as being
pretty good folks. A member of the Katie Baptist
Church, I mean, we are soldiers. We stood for the truth. I am
telling you that the imagination of the thoughts of our hearts
is evil continually. How abominable is man with drinking
iniquity like water. That's what Job 15, 16 says. Man is evil. Isaiah 64 says,
We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are
as filthy rags. Mark 7, verse 21, From within,
out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications,
murders." Where did we come from? I'm telling you, we all came
from the same pit. There's not one person in this
room this morning, in themselves, that's worthy to have one good
thing said about them. Not one. We've never had a good
thought a good thought. We've never had a righteous thought. We've never done one thing that
is acceptable before Almighty God in ourselves. We're all out
of the same pit. Who maketh thee to differ? Secondly, there is a difference between
some as to their standing before God. There is a difference. Okay,
we are all in the same pit, but obviously there is a difference. We are all the same, naturally
speaking. We have nothing to glory in,
naturally, but obviously there is a difference. God said in Genesis 6, I will
destroy man whom I have created." I'm going to do that. But, Noah
found grace in the eyes of the Lord. It wasn't anything. Remember where Noah was. That
was point number one. There was no difference in Noah
and anybody else. Noah's imagination of his thoughts
of his heart was evil continually. Noah was a lowdown, good-for-nothing
scoundrel just like you and just like me by nature. Noah was a
sinner. Noah was dug out of the same
pit. There was no difference in Noah. Man by nature is the same, but
obviously, There is a difference. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Noah didn't do anything. Almighty God just looked on him
in favor. Noah found grace in God's eyes. Not in Noah's acceptance of God's,
not in Noah's free will. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Exodus 2.25 says, God looked
upon the children of Israel and God had respect unto them. That word respect means He knew
them. He knew them effectually to the
spiritual Israel. Remember, Israel of old is a
picture of spiritual Israel. God looked upon them and had
respect unto them. Why? Because they were a greater
nation? Why? Because He chose to do so. There is a difference. We are
all dug out of the same pit. But some, the Scripture reveals,
there is a difference. Some honestly and willfully come
in heart to Christ. Now, the Scripture says that
man by nature will not seek God. No man seeks God. But the Lord
said, they that seek Me, find Me. No man can come. No man can come,
except the Father which has sent Me draw him. No man can come. You cannot come. That has to
do with ability. I had someone ask me one time.
They said, you say that no man can come except God Almighty
draws him. I said, that's right. They said, you say that no one
will come or can come unless God Almighty from the beginning
chose them to salvation. I said, that's right. They said, what if somebody sincerely
wants to and they're not one of the elect? What if somebody really does?
I mean, they really do! What if they want to and they're
not one of God's elect? I said, the Scripture says that
they won't. No man seeks God. is hypothetical and makes sense
to the human reasoning. But the Scripture says, Thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power. Leave a man to himself,
and he will not come. He will not come. But some do. The Scripture says in John 3.18,
He that believeth on Him, that is Christ, is not condemned. But he that believeth not is
condemned already because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God. The Lord said, He that heareth
My word and believeth on Him that sent Me hath everlasting
life and shall not come into condemnation. but it's passed
from death unto life. Romans 8, verse 1 says, Therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. To walk after the
flesh, I'll make this real easy. That's another scripture that's
real abused. People talk about, well, I was
walking in the Spirit, as if that there's a time. I've said
this before. as if there's some time that
you're walking a little bit more holy, you know. Usually, they're
walking in the Spirit. That means to them. That means
I've walked a little bit more spiritually today, a little higher
plane, you know, a little bit more aware of the Lord. I've
walked in the Spirit. Now, some people walk in the
flesh, you know. And it's like they kind of flip-flop
back and forth, you know. I was in the Spirit this afternoon
between 2.45 and 3.15. Then I got back to the flesh
about 4 o'clock. Got mad. Then I got back in the
Spirit. To walk in the flesh is to walk
as an unbeliever. To walk in the Spirit is to walk
as a believer. There's times, I'm going to tell
you something, when you don't feel saved. Feelings. We go by feelings. That's where
we go. Walking in the Spirit. is to walk believing God. That's
the bottom line. That will help you a lot. I hope
it helped me. It is at this point when men
say, okay, I know that we're all dug out of the same pit.
All right, I know we're all sinners. But obviously there is a difference
because some believe and some don't. I'll agree with you. All men by nature, they'll say
that. I believe that. Man by nature will say, if a
man believes on the Lord Jesus, he shall be saved. Anybody will
say that. Anybody will say that. I dare
say there are many churches that I'll find this morning that won't
say, I agree with you. I believe man is dug out of the
same pit. I believe that there is a difference because some
of them come to the Lord and some of them don't. It's in the
heart of natural man to believe that a difference is made as
to a man standing before God because of obedience." Did that
statement make sense? It is within the heart of natural
man to believe this. They'll say, I believe that there's
a difference between some and others because of obedience. Some obey and some don't. Anybody
will say that. I saw someone the other day had
a little thing here that says, Born Again. Born Again. What that means is he believes
that because of me believing on the Lord, being born again,
I received Him. He offered Himself to me and
I believed. Man by nature will readily say,
I believe that all fellows, all men, all women are dug out of
the same pit. I believe we are all sinners. And I believe this,
that there is a difference, because some believe and receive the
Lord and act in obedience before Him. I believe that. The Pharisees
believed that they were righteous before God and not like other
men are, but the Lord told them that they were white encephalopods
full of dead men's bones. There are some that truly believe,
though. There are some that truly cast
themselves upon the Lord for mercy and from the heart believe
unto salvation. They do. They do. Here is a fact. We're all dug out of the same
pit, and man by nature cannot, cannot come to Christ. Why? Because he's dead. Spiritually, he's dead. That
makes sense in every realm. Every realm to the natural man
except when it comes to salvation. That makes sense. I talked to Sean yesterday. Sean
told me he went squirrel hunting. Shot a squirrel. Shot him. Shot him dead. Dead. I tell you what, how long do
you think it's going to take that squirrel to jump up and run back
up that tree? A long time. Death equals inability. Cannot do it. We believe that
in every realm. Someone dies, they're in a casket.
You know and I know they're not coming out of that casket. You
know that. They're not coming. They're not
going to move. They're not going to respond.
They're not. They're not. Why does man think that when
the Scripture says we're dead, we're going to trespass into
our sins, what makes a man think that he somehow still has the
ability to elevate himself back to God and to respond to something? The Scripture says he cannot
do. Why do we believe that? Because
the heart is desperately wicked and it is deceitful above all
things. And it is the biggest liar in
this world. The natural heart. We are all
dug out of the same pit. But there is a difference. There
is a difference. There are some There are some
that came out of the great tribulation and washed their robes and made
them white in the blood of the Lamb. There are some to whom
it shall be said, Well done, thy good and faithful servant.
Thou hast been faithful over a few things. I will make thee
ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of the
Lord." My friend, there are some that right now, by faith, they
behold Christ and soon shall by sight behold Him." There are
some right now that shall delight themselves in the Lord. There
are some right now that truly, truly from a new heart say, He
is my strength and those who overcome. Will it be granted,
listen to this, Revelation 3, this is amazing, 321, to sit
with Him in His throne Even as He has set down the Father in
His throne, Revelation 3.21, our Son that truly will. There is a difference. But in
closing, it is going to be my answer, my question. And this
is the question that is absolutely the question of every person
here that truly knows Him. Who? Theta Differ. We are all
dug out of the same pit. Surely there is a difference.
Who maketh Theta Differ? Who distinguished you? Who called
you out of spiritual darkness into His light? Who gave you
the power to believe? The unbelieving heart says, I
did it. False hope says, I exercise my
right to choose and to accept God's offer of salvation. I'm born again. The Lord said,
Nicodemus, you must be born again. You must! You must be born again. Why? Because man is the way he's
born the first time will never come. You must be born again. Who maketh he to differ? Man
says, I ran down by my own bootstraps and grabbed hold of them and
pulled myself out of the sluice of the pond and I exalted myself
by my own free will to a state of justification before God. That is a lie. That is a lie. By my faith, man says, in obedience,
I have done all that is required to answer to God's holy law. I did it. Who maketh thee to
differ? Man says, I made the difference. I decided one day to walk down
the aisle and come up and shake a man's hand. And I decided to
give my heart to Jesus, and He was standing right there with
his arms open wide. And I knew that if I took one
step toward the Savior, my friend, He'd receive me. Well, I say
this, if you could take the first step, you'd take them all. If
you could take the first step, then salvation is not of the
Lord. Salvation is by your power. Salvation
is by your will. Salvation is by your choice.
Doesn't that sound ridiculous? Yes, it does. The Scripture nowhere,
nowhere, and I challenge anyone to show me one place in the Word
of God that proves salvation to be by the works of obedience
of one man or one woman born in Adam. Show me. Show me. Who maketh thee to differ? No,
I'll tell you what the Scripture says. Almighty God, who is the
One who has set a difference between one man and another,
is God. To some, the Scripture reveals
He has everlastingly loved them. To some, He has left them to
themselves. This is what Jacob and Esau.
To some, He has been pleased to show mercy and have chosen
them in Christ before the foundation of the world that they should
be holy. and without blame before Him in love. That's what Ephesians
1 verse 4 says. He did all this according to
His own will and purpose and good pleasure. A few minutes
ago, Brother Mitch was reading something, and as he read it,
I thought to myself, What a Word of Truth. He read
this Scripture, James 1, in verse 18. Listen to this. Let me ask
you this. If Scripture means anything,
what does James 1.18 say? It says, "...of His own will
begat..." Reborn. Birthed. Us. "...with the Word that we should
be the kind of firstfruits of His creature, of His own will,
of His own will, of His own will. Man may say, but what about my
will? What about my will? The Gospel
of John chapter 1 verse 13 is talking about men that were born. It says, which were born, that
is, reborn. Born from above. Not of blood. Not because you were born in
this family. As I've said before, my children
are not believers because they were born into my family. They're
just not. You men here that are sons of
Brother Scott, you're not believers because you were born to believing
parents. You're just not. Not of blood. That's what that means. They're
born not of blood. nor the will of the flesh. I could desire my children to
be born again. Born again, I know. I know that
by nature someone will say concerning my children, we need to get them
down the aisle. We need to get them to faith.
We need to make a profession of faith. I don't desire. that my children be without Christ. I don't desire that, but I'm
going to tell you something. I can't rebirth them. I can't. I can't. I do not have
the ability to take in and remove a heart of stone and give them
a new heart. I just don't have it. I wish
that they'd come to Christ. I wish they would. But men are
not born by blood, they're not born by the will of the flesh,
nor of the will of man. What part of that do we not get?
They're just not born by the will of the man. Well, I exercise
my free right, my will. I exercise what will? What will? You must, Nicodemus,
be born again. Almighty God, must give a man
life. Salvation is the gift of God. Someone says, well, what it is,
it's a gift that's offered, but all I have to do is receive it.
And if I'll receive it, then, wait a minute, that's salvation
by works. That is salvation by works. And
I don't care how you try to justify that it's not, That is salvation
by works, by your works. Salvation is the gift of God. Brother Tim James made a statement
one day and he says, Almighty God, by His good pleasure, by
His purpose, by His power, saves a man. Saves a man. Saves him and then heals him.
I say, and that man believes it. God Almighty, by His infinite
wisdom and grace reaches down and shows mercy to one that's
not looking for Him. He is not salvation is of the
Lord. Period. There is a difference. Then that's the last question.
Who made the difference? Was it you? Or was it you and
the Lord? He said to Moses, I'll have mercy
on whom I'll have mercy. On whom I will, I'll have compassion.
It's not of him that runneth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that shows mercy. Salvation is by grace. You know
what the difference is if it just came right down to it. And if you're willing, I'll preach
on this tonight. The bottom line on the difference.
Someone says, well, what's the difference in what you all believe
and what we believe? We're all talking about salvation.
We're talking about basically the same thing. What's the difference,
they say? The bottom line is this. How can God be just? Justify a sinner. How can God
be just? The soul that sinneth is going
to die. Is that true? That's right. How can God be
just and justify a sinner? Tonight I want to preach, Lord
willing, when Abraham asked the Lord, shall the judge of all
the earth write? Really? Who maketh thee to do
it? Man is all dug out of the same
pit. But obviously there is a difference. And man, by nature, I know this,
shall not come. But some do come, and sincerely
come. They come with a new heart. They
come willingly. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of power. Who made the difference? That
is the bottom line right there. Who maketh thee to differ? Was
it you or was it God? Who maketh thee to differ? You
find out how God can be just and justifier, and you get the
answer. How God can be just in punishing
sin. Who maketh thee to differ? That's
the difference right there. That's the difference in what
we believe and what man by nature doesn't believe. What I by nature
don't believe. Let's don't talk about them,
let's talk about me. What's the difference in what
I believe by nature and what the Scripture reveals is so to
the new heart? That's the difference right there.