From Soothsaying To Salvation

Q: What does the Bible say about soothsaying?

The Bible warns against soothsaying and aligns it with the works of evil spirits, encouraging believers to seek God alone for truth. Soothsaying, as defined in scripture, refers to fortune-telling and divination, often associated with evil spirits. For example, in Acts 16:16-18, a possessed woman followed Paul and Silas, proclaiming their divine mission, yet her spirit was not from God. The word of God advises against seeking out these spirits; Isaiah 8:19 cautions us not to consult wizards or those with familiar spirits, but rather to turn to the law and testimony of God's Word for truth. Therefore, while the existence of such practices may be real, they are ultimately deceptive and serve to distance individuals from the true light found in God.

Q: How do we know that salvation is by God's grace?

Salvation is by God's grace alone, as it is a gift that we do not earn or deserve, detailed abundantly throughout scripture. In the context of sovereign grace theology, salvation is understood as an unearned gift from God, reflecting His mercy and sovereign will. Ephesians 2:8-9 emphasizes that it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is the gift of God. This means that no one can boast about their salvation or claim it as a result of their own efforts. Understanding salvation as a work solely of God reinforces the truth that human efforts are insufficient and that we are entirely dependent on God's grace for redemption.

Q: Why is prayer important for Christians?

Prayer is essential for Christians as it fosters a relationship with God and aligns us with His will. Prayer holds a foundational place in the life of a Christian. It is through prayer that believers cultivate intimacy with God, as demonstrated in the practices of Paul and Silas who were devoted to prayer (Acts 16:16). The act of praying opens communication with God, allowing Him to reveal His will and purpose in our lives. Moreover, prayer equips believers to recognize God's interventions and answers, ensuring that they attribute these to His glory. Continuous prayer encourages perseverance in faith and reliance on God as the ultimate source of strength and guidance in the Christian journey.

Q: How does God's sovereignty relate to salvation?

God's sovereignty guarantees that salvation is wholly His work, ensuring that it cannot be thwarted by human actions. The sovereignty of God plays a critical role in the doctrine of salvation within Reformed theology. It asserts that God alone is the author of salvation, responsible for choosing who will be saved according to His divine plan. Scriptures such as Romans 8:28-30 illustrate this process where God predestines, calls, justifies, and glorifies those He has chosen. This understanding provides believers with assurance that their salvation is secure, based on God's immutable will rather than their own fluctuating faithfulness. God’s sovereignty highlights His ultimate authority and control over all aspects of salvation, confirming that His grace and mercy are freely given to the elect.

Q: What does the Bible teach about the response to sin?

The Bible teaches that sin requires acknowledgment and the need for redemption through Christ, as true awareness leads to repentance. In the biblical narrative, sin is depicted as a serious condition requiring divine intervention for restoration. Romans 3:23 declares that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. This understanding compels Christians to recognize their need for salvation, which is found only through Jesus Christ. It is essential to comprehend that God's grace is sufficient, already covering our sin through the blood of Christ. Believers are called to acknowledge their sinful state, repent, and trust in God’s provision for salvation, thereby returning to a right relationship with Him. As articulated in 1 John 1:9, when we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we now are receiving our choice
with Thee, then we shall be where we must be, then we shall be
what we should be. Things that are not now are good
things, good shall be. OK, if you read Acts 16, good. That's where we'll be preaching
from tonight, finally, getting back to our study through the
book of Acts. Acts 16 is where we'll be studying tonight. I've said before that I don't
want to get bogged down in this study of Acts. I want to go through
it rapidly, but we've been through these last two chapters. We've
bogged down, haven't we? I want you to see the historical
context of what the Lord was doing in the early church, how
he formed and developed the early church. This right here, this
account, is talking about the church at Philippi. The first
church the Lord established in Europe, and so it is marvelous
to see the Lord's providential dealings in establishing his
church. But I don't want to miss the spiritual application of
the text, either. There is a spiritual meaning
in every—Christ said in John 6 that my words are spirit. So
that's the important thing, that we see what he's saying, that
we see the gospel in the passage, isn't it? And this is a difficult
story that we have before us tonight, but I think you'll get
something out of it. I think we'll see the spiritual
application of it. This is the story of a soothsaying
woman who confronts Paul and Silas. and comes away, I believe,
from the text, a saved woman. Hence the title of the message,
From Soothsaying to Salvation. You remember the story of Lydia.
Look down at verse 15, another certain woman, Acts 16, verse
15. When Lydia was saved and baptized,
her household, she besought us, saying, If you judge me to be
faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there." And
she constrained us. She insisted upon it. She wanted
Paul and Silas to come in and stay with her. It says in verse
16, and it came to pass as we went to prayer, they were on
their way to the house of prayer, wherever Paul went in Whenever
he went into a city, he went to the synagogue. Remember, our Lord said, Shall
not my house be called the house of prayer? And certainly it should. But Paul was always wont to pray,
as our Lord was, right? Our Lord was always praying.
And that song we sang a while ago, he is our pattern in that
area. Teach us to pray, Lord. The disciples
said that because they noticed he was always praying. That's
why they asked that. Lord, we see that you're always
praying. Would you teach us to pray? Not
only impress us with the need to and give us the desire to
pray, but we don't know how to pray. We don't know what things
we should ask for. So he did. And Paul and Silas
went to prayer as they were going to prayer. I wish we could understand,
I wish I understood, more of the necessity and importance
of prayer and what God has and will do
through prayer. He has marvelously and miraculously
answered some of my prayers in a way that it was obvious to
me the Lord answered my prayer in many ways. I could give you many examples,
and I'm sure you could, too. These men, Paul and Silas, were
men of prayer, and marvelous things happened around them. They were intimately acquainted
with the Lord himself. The Lord gave them a special
sense of his presence, didn't he? They were intimately acquainted
with their Lord. Why? It had something to do with
their converse, their constant communion with him. And they
saw his glory, they saw his power revealed. We've seen that in
several places here in Acts, haven't we, how people prayed
and the Lord poured out his power. And we made this statement before,
that perhaps the reason we don't see more of the hand of God moving
is because we don't exercise or avail ourselves of this thing
called prayer, that the Lord is ordaining that we might see
his power. He said, Pray and I'll show you.
He said, Pray and I'll open up the windows of heaven, and you'll
see it. and you'll acknowledge my hand
in it." And I've said this before, the reason he tells us to pray,
that we're to ask him for things, is that when things come, we'll
acknowledge his hand in it. Because if things come without
us praying for it, we'll attribute it to luck or chance or happenstance
or nothing. We'll take it for granted, right?
But if God puts it upon our heart to pray, to pray, to pray for
something, and then he answers it, he gets all the glory that
way, right? Look back at chapter 10, verses
1 and 2. Do you remember this story of
this man named Cornelius? Do you remember that one? Acts
10, verses 1 and 2, it says, A certain man in Caesarea called
Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,
a devout man, a serious, sober, a studious, devoted man, and
one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms
to the people and prayed to God always." And God even said down
there, he said, I've heard this man's prayer. I've heard his
praying. And the Lord saved him and his
house. The Lord saved him and his house. Do you hear that? Look over at
chapter 16 again. Look at verses 13 and 14. It
says that Paul and Silas went down to the river where prayer
was wont to be made. On the Sabbath we went out of
the city by a river where prayer was wont to be made. We sat down
and spoke unto the women which resorted thither, and a certain
woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, was there, worshiped
God, heard us, and the Lord opened her heart. And verse 15 says,
And she was baptized and her household. A certain woman who
was where prayer was wont to be made, the Lord saved her and
her house. And her house. We're going to
see in a little while in In another study, a Philippian jailer says
the Lord saved him and his house. Well, do you want to be saved? Call
on the name of the Lord. Call on the name of the Lord.
And don't quit calling until you get an answer. Call on the
name of the Lord. He's the one who does the saving.
Are you really interested? Is anybody really interested
in being saved? call on the name of the Lord.
Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Right? As you say, that's whosoever
the Lord calls, that's right. That's God's sovereignty, isn't
it? Our responsibility is to call on the name of the Lord.
You leave God's sovereignty to him, you take your responsibility
to you. He says, Whosoever shall call
on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Anybody who really
wants to be saved, I have a hard time believing Anybody who really
wants to be saved who the Lord doesn't save in a short amount
of time. Right? Whosoever shall call on
the name of the Lord shall be saved. But do you want your house
saved? And who doesn't, really? Your
husband and wife and children calling on the name of the Lord.
How long? How long, O Lord, how long? Until
you get an answer. Right? Like that importunate
widow, she kept calling, she kept calling. And the unjust
judge said, I'm going to avenge her, I'm going to avenge her,
I'm going to answer her, lest by her continual coming she weary
me. How much more, he said, shall
the Heavenly Father avenge his very elect who cry unto him day
and night? As long as there's life, there's
hope. Right? As long as there's breath, there's
hope. Right, John? Right. No matter how old they get, there's
hope. You want your house saved? Call
on the name of the Lord. Call on the name of the Lord.
Keep calling. Keep calling. Pray without ceasing. Isn't that the command? Pray
without ceasing. All right. exhortation therein,
a much-needed exhortation to me. So they went to prayer. Verse 16, "...as it came to pass,
as we went to prayer," which was their custom, which they
were prone to do, "...a certain damsel," here's another certain
person, "...possessed with a spirit of divination met us." which
brought her masters much gain by soothsaying." Soothsaying,
a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination. This
was a spirit of fortune-telling, an
evil spirit of fortune-telling, casting spells, foretelling future
events. You've heard someone say, That's
where the word soothsaying came from, for sooth, this shall happen,
soothsayer, foreteller of scripture or of future events. Scripture mentions several places
in the Old Testament. It mentions astrologers and soothsayers. If you want those places, you
can look them up in your concordance, or I'll give them to you. But
it mentions several times astrologers and soothsayers, Gentiles, that
is. This woman is what we would call
today a psychic. She would be on television and
have that 800 phone number. She would be a psychic to the
stars. She was well-known. for her soothsaying, and she
brought much gain. She made a lot of money for her
masters or whoever it was that was promoting her, public relations
men. She was a psychic and brought
her masters much gain. Is there any truth to this thing,
to this stuff? Any truth to this soothsaying
and fortune-telling and all that we've seen, these psychics and
all that? Well, there's no truth in it. There is no truth in what
they are saying, but there truly was and truly are people possessed
with these spirits which give dreams and visions. These spirits,
these demons and devils give dreams and visions and some powers
to these people. Yes, this is real. These demons are very real. And even some of their soothsaying,
some of their fortune-telling, is fulfilled, and it comes to
pass. It comes true, something that
they've said. Well, then, should we consult
them? Since what they're saying is
some of the things that their foretelling comes true, then
maybe we should seek unto them. Did you remember reading that
in Isaiah 8? Verse 19, you remember that?
I'll read it to you. He said, Don't seek unto them
that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and
that should not of people seek unto
their God. Then what does Isaiah 8.20 say, John? To the law and
to the testimony of God's If they speak not according to his
word, it is because there is no light, no real light or morning
in them, dawning in them. What this is, now this is real,
there were and there are really some people who have these powers. Scripture makes that clear, very
clear. Well, if these things come to
pass, turn over to 2 Thessalonians. I've quoted it to you so much,
but I want you to know where it is. 2 Thessalonians 2. Since these things come to pass,
then they must be true, right? No, they are real spirits and
all, but these are delusions sent by God Almighty. Look at
2 Thessalonians 2, verses 10 and 11. Verse 9, even him, and let's go on up there, verse 7,
the mystery of iniquity that has already worked, talking about
antichrist. Verse 9, even him who is coming
is after the working of Satan with all power. and signs and
lying wonders, with all deceivableness of unrighteousness, and them
that perish are perishing, because they receive not the love of
the truth, that they might be saved. So for this cause, God
shall send them strong delusions that they should believe a lie. So these things are really happening. There are really people with
these powers. And when people say, Scripture
is not enough, God is written, he is divine, he is glorious,
he is all-wise word, When people say that's not good enough, God
says, OK, I'll give you what you're looking for, signs and
wonders. Since you're strong in delusion,
you'll believe a lie and be damned for it. You'll believe a lie
and be damned all along with those spirits. But I'm reminded
how the Lord says he saves to the uttermost. He even saves
some soothsayers. Some soothsayers. And he's going
to do that in our story here. Let me say this, and then we'll
go on. Don't play around with this stuff. Don't play around with it. Young
people, all this soothsaying and this psychic stuff and astrology,
all this, it's wicked. Don't touch it, not with a ten-foot
pole. Is it harmless? Certainly not. Certainly not, especially if
you catch yourself continually reading these things and pursuing
these things. And like so many things, we should
avoid and shun every appearance of evil. If it doesn't have a
savor of the word of God and truth in it, shun it, avoid it,
the appearance of evil. What about these horoscopes? Are they harmless? Are they? Well, let me tell you something
about those horoscopes. And I'm not preaching on horoscopes,
but I've got to touch on that. I'll give you the whole Council.
I'm not shunned to declare it. All the Council of God ain't
kept back nothing profitable from you, nothing profitable.
Is a horoscope harmless? What is a horoscope usually made
out of? They say they get their information from the stars, the
alignment of the planets and stars and so forth, astrologers
and all that. What does it usually say in your
horoscope? When you read it, does it say, you're a no-good
bum, you're going to fail miserably today, and you're going to lose
your wife and your job, and you're going to be put in prison? You're
a worthless, no-good slob. Does it ever say anything? No,
what does it feed? What does a horoscope feed? It
always feeds your pride. You're so sweet. You have a loving
disposition. You're so kind, it's the reason
everybody loves you. Everything is going to go well with you.
Why? Your future looks bright. It
feeds pride, doesn't it? Do we need that? Oh, if anything,
we need to avoid those things that feed our pride, right? Feed
our pride. Peter said over in 2 Peter 1,
verse 19, he says, Now we have a more sure word of prophecy,
wherein to you do well that you take heed, as unto a light that
shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star
arise in your heart. There's only one star we need
to see, and that's the day star. The sun of the morning. The bright
and morning star is set over in Revelation 22. The bright
and morning star, what's that? What's the bright and morning
star that comes up in the morning? It's the sun! The S-O-N, sun, till the day
star arises. That's the one star we should
sit, the one star. Now, you can plant your beans
by the moon if you want to. That's fine. There may be some
validity to that. There are times and seasons,
and I know the Lord has put the stars and the moon in the sky
for the changing of seasons and various things like that. But
don't be consulting the moon and the stars now, come on. Consult
the one that made them. Lord, would you bless my beans?
I'm going to plant them now. Would you keep back the first
frost? Consult him, not the moon. That's superstition, isn't it? It's not the one who made the
money. Lord, it would grow my garden, would you? Look back into Jackson, verse
17. So this woman was very real,
though. This is the point I'm trying to make. She was very
real. She had this spirit of divination made of, and this
thing is very real, and we should shun it, avoid it like every
appearance of evil, like the plague. Avoid it. Verse 17, this same woman followed
Paul and us, Silas and Evidently Luke was here, he's the recorder
of it, Timothy now, and cried, saying, These men are servants
of the Most High God. I couldn't help but think, even
her mocking. She's not people. She's possessed
with a devil, a spirit, a demon, and he's not preaching the gospel. That's not in the business that
he's in. He's not trying to get people
to come and hear the gospel. She's mocking these men. The demons and the devils aren't
telling everybody, that man down there at Central, he's a man
of God. He's telling you the way of salvation. You needn't
go hear him. Is that the business they're in? It's the opposite,
Roberta. He's preaching doctrines of devils.
Don't go hear him. Go down here, he says. So she's
mocking these men. You understand that? She's mocking
them. These men are servants of the
Most High God! Looking around, mocking them. I couldn't help but think, even
the wrath of man shall praise him. Even her mocking glorified
God reminds me of those who taunted our Lord on different occasions.
Remember some of the things they said to our Lord, taunting him,
mocking him? Who can forgive sin but God? I can't help but think that Christ
smiled. Right. You spoke the truth. Remember
when Pilate said unto him, what was it he said? Somebody called
him Lord, and he said, Thou hast well spoken, for thus I am. I forget who it was, it wasn't
Pilate or someone else. Remember they said, This man eateth with
publicans and sinners. Can't help but think he smiled,
Barbara. Publicans and sinners did, didn't they? They smiled.
Right, he's well spoken. He's spoken the truth in wrath,
but he's spoken the truth. While he was hanging on the cross
at his greatest hour, they mocked him as never before, didn't Well,
he saved others. Himself he could not save. Right. Right. If I'm going to save others,
I cannot save myself. Right? The wrath of man shall
praise God. And men curse God. You hear it all the time, don't
you? And it makes me cringe when I hear God's name. A man goes
to curse. hits his thumb or something happens,
the first thing he says is he calls on God's name, doesn't
he? Well, God! You know, even though that is
used in vain, his name has been spoken. Understand what I'm trying
to say here. Even though they have used his
name in vain, the name has been heard and men are now accountable. They've heard this name. God
has been acknowledged. You understand what I'm saying?
And I can't help but think that it's no coincidence that in our
day, as the coming of Jesus Christ draws nearer and nearer, men
are calling his name more and more. Ever think about that? I can't help but think, I don't
think that's mere coincidence, that as Christ is at the door,
even at the door, his coming draweth nigh, even him who shall
come shall come very shortly. I can't help but think, this
is one of those signs, men are taking that name so freely on
their lip. God's holding them accountable.
Jesus Christ! He's coming. You said it. You
said it. and God is going to hold them
accountable for it. Have you ever thought about that? Well,
Peter said again over in 2 Peter 3, in the last days, scoffers
shall come. Scoffers shall come. Never has
there been, like today, never has there been such an open,
blatant, all-out assault on the truth and on the gospel. Never
has there been a more open assault on the truth, on God's word. Brother Henry, even basic biblical
truth, basic principles taught in the scriptures that just twenty
years ago were somewhat believed, are being scoffed at today, aren't
they? Huh? You know it's so, Roberta. And
ridicule, that's archaic, that's old-fashioned. You still believe
that nonsense? That's a bunch of religious tradition.
That's irrelevant to our time. We're smarter. We're in modern
days now. New knowledge, new revelations. That's all irrelevant, it's untrue,
it's ridiculous. Spare the rods. Viking? Come
on now. Studies have shown that, you know, calling good evil and
evil good. Right? Isn't that the place we're
at right now? Calling good evil. And as I said, especially the
gospel is under attack today. Anybody who preaches it or believes
it is scoffed at and ridiculed. It's preaching the bare word
of God. It's ridiculed as being bigoted,
behind the times, unloving, and you preach it or you believe
it. Just believe it. You'll be a
target of everybody's anger and hatred. We read that in John
17. Christ said that in verse 14. He said, Father, I've given
unto them thy word, and the world hates them. what he said there
in verse fourteen, I've given unto them thy word, the word
of God, and the world hates them, because they merely believe the
word of God. And never has it been more true
than now. Right? This woman was scoffing at Paul
and Silas. She was ridiculing Paul and Silas. These men are servants of the
Most High God. That's true. He is most, he is
high, and he is God. That is true. Servants of the
Most High God. Why, they preach a sovereign
God. They preach God is sovereign.
They preach God is just. They preach a condemning God.
They preach a judge. Look at it, verse 17. These men
show us, unto us, the way of salvation. Why, they say their
way is the only way. They say if anybody preach or
teach any other way that they'll be damned. Isn't that funny? Why, they preach that Jesus Christ
is the only way. By his blood and his righteousness
alone, a man will be saved. Unless someone knows and believes
and trusts Christ and Christ alone, they'll be end up damned
by God Almighty. That's what they preach. They
preach that this Jesus Christ that was crucified, that God
crucified him. That God made him a bloody sacrifice. That God shed his own son's blood. Isn't that awful? Isn't that
barbaric? Because God would only accept blood for the remission
of sin. Well, we're beyond that. Blood? Only that old-fashioned bloody
barbaric religion. These men preached that God elected
some and passed by others. Everybody knows that's not fair,
don't you? Yeah, it's not fair, the crowd
says. That's not fair. Nobody believes
that. You see, that's what she was
saying. She was mocking and scoffing these These men preach that Christ
died only for the elect, and nobody else has a chance. Nobody
believes that. Nobody in the world believes
that, do we? No, we don't believe that. Nobody in their right mind
would believe that. Those that have been transformed
by the renewal of their mind will, and have the mind of Christ,
they'll believe that. They preached the way of salvation. All their talk of sin. One woman
told one of our ladies that, your preacher preaches too much
on sin. Who was it? Nancy Parks said that one somebody
she worked with said that, our preacher said he doesn't like
to preach on sin. He wants people to feel good about themselves.
That's right. That's exactly what they're doing
today. He wants people to feel good
about themselves. and good for people who are about
him. Because sin, God has to have
blood, death. That's what the soul that sins
must have, death. And God hates it so much he killed
his son to get rid of it. So there ain't nobody out there,
you don't find many anyway. So we preach on sin, we need
to know sin. Right? These men, all their talk
of sin, we don't need that. God loves us. Right? God loves everybody. Come on. Tone her down a little
bit. Preach on the love of God a little
bit. I would like to preach on sin a little bit. And we'll tell
that God loves sinners only. Only sinners. Verse 18 says of this she did
many days. She did this day after day after
day. Paul would get up in the morning
and go to the house of prayer, evidently. Wherever they were
going, I have to think he'd go to the house of prayer again,
daily. And she would get in behind them. These men are servants of the
Most High God, who preach unto us the way of salvation. It says in verse 18, Paul being
grieved Now, as a man, he wanted to wring her bloody neck, I guarantee
you. He wanted to bust her mouth,
being a man. And I have, too, and you have,
too. But the indwelling of God's Spirit made him a compassionate
and a kind man. He was grieved at her condition,
I believe. Remember, he gave that very attitude
in Romans 9, verses 1 and 2, and Romans 10. He said, My heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel. Who's Israel? They're
the ones that killed the Lord. They're the most despicable,
worst sinners on earth. They're the worst, the most rebellious,
the most violent of people against the gospel. Paul said, I wish
they'd be saved. I wish the Lord would save them.
He said, I could wish myself were cursed for my brethren,
my kinsmen, according to the So that's the spirit that he
had here, and he was grieved at her condition and what was
going on, at what she was saying. He was grieved at what she was
saying, how she was mocking him, and like I said, he was just
plain tired of this. And he said, verse 18, he turned and said to the Spirit, and perhaps
we ought to not get so mad at people, but pray the Lord that
he would remove this evil spirit that people are indwelt with. Right? We were just like them,
weren't we? Just like them. And Paul turned
and said to the Spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ
to come out of her. And he came out at the same hour. Now, I can't help but just surmise
a little from this by experience and knowing other
examples of salvation in the scripture, the first thing I
believe that happened to this woman. This woman was possessed with
a spirit of divination and prophecy and soothsaying, and she was
a talker. Have you ever heard any of these
psychics? I confess. I've seen them on TV. I recall
the number. No, I won't do that. But I have
seen them. I've briefly looked at and seen
what they've said. They're talkers. Nine miles an
hour. Faster than nine. Nine miles
an hour. They've got the answer for everything.
Big talkers. Fast talkers. I can't help but
think that the first thing that happened to this woman was, she
shut up. You see, she heard another voice
beside her own now. If people quit talking, they
might hear somebody besides themselves. A point that we all need to take
in. She shut up. She quit talking. She listened,
and she heard another voice beside her own, and she believed. She
believed. I believe she believed what she
once ridiculed. that these men were servants
of the Most High God, that God is Most High. And they preach
the way of salvation. I can't help but believe that
she heard what they were saying, finally. This is the power and
glory of God, isn't it? Moving on somebody's will, making
them love what they once hated and hated what they once loved,
making someone believe with all their heart what they once ridiculed
and scoffed at. I told you before that I remember
telling one of my cronies, cronies, whatever that means, one of my
old friends, so-called. I got me a little book, and I
was into the Eastern mystics, as the early youth movement was
in the sixties and seventies, into the Eastern mystics. That's
where all the wisdom, and everybody knows that you're wise if you're
born in India. You're just born wise. Is that
the reason they're in poverty and abject poverty and starvation
and have all those problems? Well, anyway, seeking all the
wisdom and so forth, I got me a little book that I thought
just opened up the mysteries of the universe. A book of about
twenty-five pages by this guru. I remember reading through that,
and wow! I remember telling one of my
friends, and I still to this day am so very ashamed, I said,
I've got a little book that will renounce and disprove everything
my father has been preaching for thirty years. Wasn't I smart? When God Almighty takes a person
and makes them believe with all their heart what they once ridiculed
and scoffed at, that takes the power of God, doesn't it? Nothing
else will do it. In the process, he makes them become—turn over
to Hebrews 10, very quickly. We read this this morning. After the Lord does this work,
makes them swallow their tongue, bite their tongue, shut up, start
listening, pierces their heart with a word, makes them believe
in their heart with all their work, become persuaded who they
believe, Christ as person and work, the Most High God and so
forth, he makes them become, in turn, objects of that same
ridicule and slander. He turns them around and makes
other people scoff and mock and ridicule them for what they once
did. Has that happened to you? I see enlightened ones today
looking at me as I go to church in my little tie, and everybody
knows I'm going. I see people who don't go going to church. That's what I used to say. When I didn't go staying, I'd
see people going, I'd say, yeah, going to church. I don't need
that. Not then I didn't, I sure do
now. But you see, he makes them become objects of ridicule and
scoffing themselves. It's proof. It's a trial he puts
them through to see if it's real. Look at it down there in verse
32. chapter 10 of the Hebrews, called her to remember the former
days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great
fight of afflictions, partly while you were made a gazing-stock,
both by reproaches and afflictions, and partly while you became companions
of them that were so used." Isn't that right? That's the way it
is. So this woman in our story, she
went from soothsaying to salvation. She went from reading her horoscope
to reading the Bible. She went from believing a lie
to believing the truth. She went from being rich in the
world to being rich in faith, poor in spirit, rich in faith. The reason I believe she was
saved—you say, what do you base that upon? The reason I believe
she was saved is because every instance in the scriptures of
the devil being cast out of somebody, they were They were saved. That person
was saved. I believe she was. I believe
this woman went out a saved woman. I believe when Christ, in the
name of Christ, when the devil went out, I believe Christ went
in. The Spirit went in. So this woman went out. She went
from hating the gospel and the preachers of it, to loving the
gospel and those who did, who do preach it. And like I said,
I'm sure there's some of you in here that at one time, if
not all of you. And I've said I hate to pick
on our young people, but maybe one of these days something I
say, a word in season, will prick their young minds and hearts.
But I remember, I look at some of our young people and I see
the same look in their faces that I had on mine. The look
of, the brooding look like, if they could say what they really
want to say to They'd say, I don't have any use for you, your gospel
of this church, I wouldn't be here if Mom and Dad didn't make me. I had
the very same thoughts in my head. I'm sure glad Mom and Dad
made me. I'm sure glad the Lord didn't
give me what I had come to. I'm sure glad the Lord stopped
that wild young man and made him begin to love what he once
hated. I'm sure glad. if not all of you, mocked and
scoffed at religion at one time, ridiculed unless you were brought
up in religion, and that's the worst place to be. That's a false
refuge that has to be torn down. Boy, a lot you have to unlearn
in there, Janann. A lot. We're just too clever for all
this nonsense. I was, I don't know about you.
But now you believe with all your heart. Don't you? Believe
with all your heart, and now it's the only thing. It used
to be you said, that's a bunch of nonsense. But now you know,
Barbara, it's the only thing that does make sense. Huh? The
only thing that does make sense. And I've said this many times.
You see, God Almighty demands first. He demands childlike faith. Not proof. Not, well, you show
me and I'll believe. You believe, and I'll show you. You believe. Childlike faith,
complete trust, whatever. That's the reason there aren't
many believers, Henry. Everything God says, he demands
complete, implicit trust and faith and belief in and confidence
in, everything you say. And then he gives people proof
and evidence. Then he proves himself to you.
And I quoted it this morning. He said to Martha and Mary, didn't
I say unto you, if you believe, you should see the glory of God?
But with man this is impossible, isn't it? Nobody will. No man can, and you will not
come, he said. So you see, it takes the power
of God, doesn't it? It takes the Spirit of God to make a man
and a woman interested, to make them believe what they once hated. Love what they once hated and
believe what they once rejected. With man it's impossible, but
with God nothing is impossible. All things are possible and certain.
And then, once believing, we used to think that we saw things
very clearly, didn't we? In all our cleverness and all
our wisdom. Some of you may be educated.
That's the direction our society is headed in, education. Did you know that education is
going to be the savior of our youth? It's going to be the damnation
of them. I'm not saying that we ought
to quit school. I'm not saying that young people
shouldn't go to college. What I'm saying is, to follow
the course that education is taking, we need in our society
It's going to be hard to get by on basic manual labor without
some kind of specialization, without going on in school. You're going to find out if you
don't. You're going to find out how tough the job world is without
some kind of education or special training. You're going to find
out, right? At any rate, the course which
the world is taking with their knowledge and their wisdom and
so forth is the opposite of God Almighty. Completely opposite. and so forth that our society
is based upon and leaning toward, and even our government and all
this, is getting so perverse, it's completely turned away from
God Almighty. This is what I'm saying. Education in that respect is
going to be the damnation of our youth, not the Savior of
them. It's going to get God totally
out of it. Get their thoughts of God, there is no God. Get
their thoughts of God totally out of their mind, little minds
and hearts. What does that tell you of the importance of having
your children right here? The importance of you saying something
to them in your own home, of you instructing your own children
at home in the ways of God. They're not going to get it at
school, they're going to get the opposite. OK, stand with me. And like I said, I just hope, I pray, my prayer is that the
Lord will take a word, something I've said, and pierce these young
hearts and make them see, see themselves and see reality. The way of the sinner The Lord
said, The way of the transgressor, the way of the world, is hard.
But Christ said, My yoke is easy. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me. My yoke is easy, my burden is light. He said, Remember thy
Creator in the days of thy youth. Walking with Christ is a lot easier than walking the way
of the world. That's what Christ said. That's what he said. That way of the world, the transgressor
is hard, but my yoke is easy, my burden is light. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you
for every portion of your word. There is so much there that we
don't understand, but we thank you for it. What little understanding
we do have of it. Thank you for revealing the truth
and truths in one line, in one verse, in one word. so complex,
so glorious, so miraculous and marvelous, we thank you for it.
Surely the hand of God has written this book, and, Lord, we want
to resort unto it. We want to get all of our wisdom
and knowledge from it. We want to train our children
and raise our children and rule our homes according to it. Lord,
give us the grace, the wisdom, and resolve to do this, Lord,
by your power, by your Spirit. And once again, I pray for our
children, our young people. They might not pray for themselves,
but we'll be like your servant of old who offered sacrifices
for his children who wouldn't for themselves. We'll offer up
praise and thanksgiving for them and ask for them. that you would
be merciful to them and gracious to them and reveal yourself to
them. If they won't pray for themselves, we do. Lord, may
we continue to pray for them until you reveal yourself to
them and everyone under the sound of the gospel. This morning's
message tonight, everyone who has heard it, may it be a savor
of life unto life and not death unto death. It would be a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God, to cast away
this confidence, this glorious good news that we have so clear,
to trot underfoot the Son of God, what a fearful thing it
would be. So, Lord, don't let us leave. Leave us not, Lord, leave us
not to ourselves, as our brother has already besought you. Keep us, Lord, O keep us cleaving
to thyself and still believing, till the hour of our receiving
promised joys with Christ. In his name we pray, amen. Yes,
sir.

From Soothsaying To Salvation

What does the Bible say about soothsaying?

How do we know that salvation is by God's grace?

Why is prayer important for Christians?

How does God's sovereignty relate to salvation?

What does the Bible teach about the response to sin?

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From Soothsaying To Salvation

What does the Bible say about soothsaying?

How do we know that salvation is by God's grace?

Why is prayer important for Christians?

How does God's sovereignty relate to salvation?

What does the Bible teach about the response to sin?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

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