Good morning. I trust everyone had a happy
holiday, a merry Christmas. Everybody ate too much. And we've resolved now to lose
some of that. That might last a day or two,
and then we'll go back to our old ways. I hope everyone is
hungry today. I've got meat for you and drink. I pray that the Lord makes you
hungry for His Word. I pray that I have a feast of
fat things and wines upon the leaves. I pray that I have some sheep food
for the sheep. You know, when you go to a fancy
restaurant, You have a, they bring out appetizers and I have an appetizer
here. Brother Henry Mahan, he wrote
some commentaries about the scriptures and they're very good, very good. And I would like to read you
from what his commentary on second Corinthians. Chapter 5, verse
17. It says, Therefore, if any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are new. He writes, If any person is in
Christ, in religion, not in the church
or in moral reformation, but in Christ, by faith in Christ,
by a new birth wrought in the soul by the Spirit of God in
Christ through electing love, redeeming grace, and a living
union, He is a new creature. This new creation is a creation
work, not of man, but of God. It is a new nature,
a new man, and a new principle of grace and holiness, which
was not there before and is distinct from the old nature, the old
man. with which we are born in the
flesh. Old things are passed away, the
old way of life which loves and serves the flesh, the old legal
righteousness and religion, old companions and friends, old desires
for riches, honor, and human Philosophy and old foolish thoughts
of God, self and future, glory, the new man thinks and acts from a new principle, new rules
and new goals and objectives, and in a new fellowship,
He has a new commandment of love, a new name, a new song in His
mouth, even praise to God, a new and living way, opened by the
blood of Christ, and an inheritance in the new heavens and new earth,
in the new creation. Absolutely nothing of the flesh
is needed. Our Lord said, Behold, I make
all things new. I need to be made new. Because
all I see is my old man. My old flesh. 2 Corinthians 5.17 Therefore, if
any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed
away. Behold, all things are become
new. It says, therefore, if any man,
it also means if any man, woman, boy or girl, rich or poor, Jew
or Gentile, bond or free, black and white, be in Christ. God has chosen the people out
of every nation, tongue, and tribe. Because He so loved the
world. Not every single person in the
world, but His chosen, His elect. So, we read, if any man be in
Christ, what does it mean to be in Christ?
How can a person be in Christ? One, we're in Christ by the will
of God. We're in Christ by faith. Three,
we're in Christ by a vital, personal, and living union with Christ. We're in Christ
by the will of God. In James 1, of His own will,
begat He us with the word of truth. But of God are ye in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption. That is how a man is in Christ,
is by the will of God. 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 flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. So a person
is in Christ by the will of God. We're also in Christ by faith. Galatians 3.26, For ye are all
the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many
of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. We are immersed in Christ. This is how we are in Christ.
We're baptized into Christ by the Spirit of God. Turn to Ephesians
chapter 1. You probably figured I was going
here. We love to go here. It speaks
of God choosing us, Christ redeeming us, keeping us. In Ephesians chapter 1, look
at verse 2. Grace be to you and peace. Grace be to you and peace from
God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in Christ, according as He hath chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love. We have been predestinated
unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise and the glory of
His grace wherein He hath made us accepted into beloved." He
has to make us accepted. We can't make ourselves. "...in
whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins according to the riches of His grace." Look down at verse
13. in whom ye also trusted after
that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy
Spirit promise." The Holy Spirit is that seal, a token, a token
for good. When God warned Noah, of the
wrath to come, Noah and his family went into the ark by faith. And God shut the door and sealed
them in with pitch or propitiation. Christ sealed our pardon with
His blood. You can't be saved without hearing
the Gospel. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by the Word of God. It pleases God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. God's Word is life. In John chapter 1, it says, 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." I pray somebody's hearing
this. It's a sign of life. Turn to John chapter 3. We'll be speaking about the new
birth. Man has to be born again. Man
is dead in trespasses and sins. Yes, he's alive, but he's dead
in spirit. There was a man of the Pharisees
named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus
by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher
come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest
except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto
him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God." The natural man receives
not the things of God because they are foolish unto him. They have got to be understood
by the Holy Spirit. Nicodemus said unto him, How
can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second
time into his mother's womb and be born? It's impossible. With man, it's impossible. With
God, all things are possible. Jesus said, Verily, verily, I
say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. That which is born
of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit
is Spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee,
Ye must be born again. The wind blows. like a rushing mighty wind. But
thou canst not tell from which way it cometh. So is every one
that is born of the Spirit." I may be talking to Helen over
here, talking to her about the gospel, and somebody else, and
Ron might hear it. Helen may not hear a thing, but
Brother Ron will hear it. And that's the way of the gospel
of priests. Nicodemus answered and said unto
him, How can these things be? That's just the way it is. That's just the way it is. You
must be born again to enter in. It's not anything we do or can
come up with. We're dead. We're dead. We're like this piano. If nobody's playing it, it's
dead. But the Holy Spirit, somebody
comes who knows how to play, They can make that piano come
alive. In John 6, it says, It is the
Spirit that quickeneth the flesh, it profiteth nothing. The words
that I speak unto you, they are Spirit and they are life. We're in Christ by the will of
God. We're in Christ by faith. We're in Christ by a vital and
living union with Christ. Turn to 2 Peter chapter 1. God has put his people in Christ
by divine power. God has all power. Christ is
the wisdom of God and the power of God. In 2 Peter 1-4, Simon
Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ to them that
have obtained, attained like precious faith with us through
the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be multiplied
unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,
according as His divine power hath given to us all things that
pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him
that hath called us to glory and virtue." The Lord has called
us to glory and virtue. We behold
the glory of the Lord. We see His glory and we want
to be just like Him. I hope, truly I do, but I don't
see much. whereby are given to us exceeding
great and precious promises, that by these ye might be protectors
of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is
in the world through lust. In Christ we are made protectors
of the divine nature, Christ in you, the hope of glory. If Christ be in you, Shouldn't
he stick out? If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature. He is a new creation. If any man be in Christ by the
will of God, by faith of Christ, by the power of God, he is a
new man. The new man in Christ is not
a reformed man. The person in Christ hasn't just
learned a new doctrine. The new creature or creation
never existed before. Only God can create. Man can't do it. Turn to Ephesians
chapter 2. I love these Scriptures. I love
to read them. There was a time I had no interest
in these things, but God. Ephesians 2, verse 8, For by
grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast, For we are His workmanship, created in Christ under good
works, which God hath ordained that we should walk in them.
God works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure. God is the Creator, and we are
the creation. This new man has no sin and can
do no sin. He's a new creature. Do we hear
this? The way God says that it is,
that's the way it is. We see ourselves as sinners. All we can do is sin. We find no help in ourselves
but God. When the old man dies, it returns
to the dust. Yet, in Christ, God has created
a new man that will never die. The new man goes to heaven. Do
I understand this? No, but I believe it. All things
are possible to them that believe. I don't understand the mystery Godliness. How can God become
a man? How can God be made flesh? God is Spirit. We're flesh. I don't understand how the God-man
can go to the cross and die. He actually died. I don't understand
how Christ can be made sin for us who knew no sin that we might
become the righteousness of God in Him. Christ suffered and died
for our sins, what we are and what we do. And He cried, Father, why hast
Thou forsaken Me? Our sin has separated Him from
God. I can't explain all this. I just
believe it. By His grace, I believe this. I believe Romans 4, 17, God who
quickens the dead and calls those things which be not as though
they were. God's chosen, His elect are already
seated with Christ in heavenly places. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. Scripture says old things are
passed away. It doesn't say not all things
are passed away. Do you not know that in yourselves?
We're still, for the most part, the same sinner we've always
been. But God says we're a new creation
in Christ, the believer. We have a whole lot of old things
hanging on to us that we need to get rid of. Remember when our Lord brought
Lazarus from the tomb? He came walking out, but he still
had some old clothes on him, some grave clothes. Christ said,
loose him and let him go. They got busy getting them grave
clothes off of Him. We need to get busy too in getting
these old grave clothes off of us. We need to mortify our members. Put off the new man. Put on the
new man. What are some old things that
pass away? Our thoughts of God are passed
away. We become a new man in Christ. At one time, we had low
thoughts of God. He was the man upstairs. We used to say, God wants to
save everybody. He has done all He can do. He can't save me unless I let
Him. The Lord changes our talk and
our thoughts of God. Believer, all our sin and guilt
are passed away. Come now, let us reason together,
saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. The curse of the law is gone. Christ was made a curse for us. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written,
cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Another thing that
passes away I have a hard time with this
one. The Lord has to make us make these things pass away.
They don't all go all at once, but they will go. Pride. God hates a proud look. Aren't we so full of pride and
self-righteousness? Don't we like to exalt ourselves
and look down on others? If you're of the Lord's, He'll
fix that. He'll fix that. God gave the Apostle Paul a thorn
in the flesh. Why? Paul was a godly man. He preached Christ. But Paul
in the flesh was a self-righteous Pharisee. Before Christ saved
him, he was a strict law keeper. He considered himself blameless. Do we not exalt ourselves? Don't we think, oh, I'm blameless. I'm not like that other fellow.
I'm not like this sinner over here. Yeah, right. 2 Corinthians 12. And lest I should be exalted
above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was
given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet
me, lest I should be exalted above measure. The Lord had revealed
brother Paul on the road to Damascus. He knocked him down off his high
horse. But then he gave him sight to
see Christ. Christ in the Old Testament,
Christ in the Psalms and the Proverbs, Christ in Isaiah. You know, you get to see a lot
of things. You know, we tend to get proud. We think we know
something. Well, the Lord's going to show
you, you don't know nothing. Don't know nothing. God is going
to keep us humble. God resisteth the proud, but
giveth grace to the humble. Another old thing that passes
away is our own righteousness. Salvation is not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He
saved us by the washing up, regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit. Another thing that passes away
in time is the old walk and talk. Do we walk and talk like we used
to? I talk like I used to, more than
I want to. It just comes out. I'm still
dwelling in this body of flesh. I still see John Davis and Jack
Davis in me. I'm afraid they come out more
than I wish. I wish I could hide. I want to
hide myself in Christ. That's where I want to go. In my teens, I used to work construction. I worked with the bricklayers
during my summers. And, you know, you can't work
construction without hearing cussing. and to act like you're
tough and like them other fellows, well, you'll learn to cuss too.
I don't want to talk like that now. I want to be like Christ. John Newton wrote this, Old things
are passing away. I am not what I ought to be. I am not what I want to be. I
am not what I hope to be in another world. But still, I am not what
I used to be. And by the grace of God, I am
what I am. There is a growth in grace, growing
in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Therefore,
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are
passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. What are the new things that
we have in Christ? Psalm 40, He hath put a new song
in my mouth, even praising to our God, Many shall see it and
fear, and shall trust in the Lord." Isn't that amazing? At one time, the only time we
ever used God's name was to cuss with. But now, He's put this desire
to worship our God in spirit and truth. And we rejoice in
Christ Jesus. Oh Lord, make us rejoice in Christ
Jesus. A believer has a new standing
before God. He has a new heart. He loves
God. He loves the people of God. A
new spirit and attitude. We fear God. We fear to say anything
that does not exalt and magnify our Lord. Not unto us, O Lord,
not unto us, but unto Thy name give Glory, for Thy mercy and
for Thy truth's sake. Wherefore should the heathen
say, Where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens.
He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased. We no longer look to
the things of the earth to comfort and strengthen us. We look to
Christ, the Word of God. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. And all things are of God, who
hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and has given
to us the ministry of reconciliation. The message of the gospel. Jesus
Christ is the author and finisher of all things. For someone to
be in Christ is God's work alone. Returning to Romans chapter 9. Salvation is by God's will, God's
choice, Christ alone, the clay has no say. In Romans 9, let's look at verse
14 through 16. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid, for you saith to
Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will
have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then, it
is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God
that showeth mercy. Look down at verse 18. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, In whom he will, he hardeneth. God is sovereign. Salvation is of the Lord. Cannot I do with my own as I
will? God saves his people from their
sins. He came not to call the righteous,
but sinners unto repentance. He came not to call the self-righteous,
proud, religious person who thinks they're above sin. He came to
save sinners. Does that give you hope? It gives
me hope because that's all I am. From the sole of my feet to the
top of my head, there's no soundness in me. I'm a sinner through and
through. I can't get away from it. The
Lord keeps showing me what I am. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why
doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay, but, O man, who art thou
to reply against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the
potter power of the clay of the same lump to make one vessel
unto honor and another unto dishonor? Some may say this is not fair. Everyone deserves a chance to
be saved. No, salvation is not by chance. Salvation is of the Lord, period. Back in 2 Corinthians 5, it says,
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and
has given us the ministry of reconciliation. God has reconciled
His people to Himself by Jesus Christ. Turn to Colossians 1. Colossians chapter 1. We have
heard it said of some, they made their peace with God. This is
impossible. God is the offended party. If
anyone is to be reconciled, God has to do it. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. It shall surely die. All have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. The wages of sin
is death. The only peace God will accept
is the peace made by the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. So in Colossians chapter 1, let's
look at verse 13. It says, The Lord Jesus Christ hath delivered
us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the
kingdom of His dear Son, in whom we have redemption through His
blood, even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. For by Him
were all things created, that are in heaven and that are in
earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him
and for Him. And He is before all things,
and by Him all things consist. The Lord Jesus Christ is God. He created this world. He even created devils. He saved some. In verse 18 of Colossians 1,
it says, He is the head of the body, the church, who is the
beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things
He might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that
in Him should all fullness dwell. And having made peace through
the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto
Himself, by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things
in heaven, and you that were sometime alienated and enemies
in your mind by wicked works Yet now hath he reconciled in
the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and
unblamable and unreprovable in thy sight. Turn to Romans chapter
5. Romans chapter 5 and verse 6, For when we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet perventure for a good man some would even
dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward
us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if,
when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death
of His Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only so, but we also
join God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received
the atonement. I pray someone will receive this
by the will of God, by faith, by living union with Christ. And all things are of God, who
hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given
to us the ministry of reconciliation to wit, That's an old English
word it means. That is to say that God was in
Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their
trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of
reconciliation. All the sins of God's sheep were
transferred to the Lord Jesus Christ. All of His righteousness
was charged or imputed to His people. For He hath made Christ sin for
us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. It's all of Christ. He's done
all the work. There's nothing left to be done. So, God is reconciled with sinners
through the blood and the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lay
down your weapons. Lay down your warfare and be
reconciled unto God. Lord, we pray that Your Word has gone
forth in power and in the Holy Ghost and has given much assurance
to thy people. We know there are some here who
have never heard thy word. It hasn't penetrated their heart. And it's impossible for us, for
the preacher, to make Anyone understand these things? But
we know that Your Word cannot return void. Can these dead bones
live? Oh, I pray that they do. I pray
that they do. I want to live. Oh, who shall
deliver me from this body of death? Oh, wretched man that
I am. Lord, save us. Have mercy upon
us. Do a work of grace in our hearts.
Put Christ in us. Lord, we thank you for this time
and we thank you for our fellowship together in Christ and be with
all those who are traveling today. Be with those who are sick and
afflicted. It's all according to your will. We know that. So,
Lord, we thank you for allowing us to be here and open up thy
word. It's in Christ's name we pray.
Amen. You're dismissed.