Alright, turn back with me now
to 1 Corinthians chapter 4. I want to talk to you this morning
out of chapter 4 here in 1 Corinthians on this subject, Who maketh thee
to differ? I believe I can say this, that
this is an indisputable fact that we are not all the same. Now, we're just not the same.
It doesn't take very long. We go to visit one another, and
we sit down and begin to talk, and we find out very quick we're
not the same. We're not the same. We're all from different backgrounds
and different parentages. We differ a great deal on our
education. Some of you in here are college
educated. Some of you here didn't finish
high school. We differ in our education. We
differ in our knowledge of the sciences and math, history and
geography and all these things. We differ. I can sit down and
listen to a man who really knows his history, and boy, he loses
me quick, because history wasn't one of my main searches. I'm
interested in it now, too late. I just don't have that background.
I don't have that understanding. And he can lose me pretty quick.
He can begin to enter into all the sciences and begin to talk
about the biological forms of animals and plants and things
right over my head. I just can't enter into it. We
differ in that respect. And we differ, we're certainly
different in many varied opinions on religion and religious issues.
And we've got rich and poor. It doesn't take too long being
in the presence of a rich man when you realize, I'm not rich.
I don't know where he's coming from. I've never had that opportunity. So we've got differences here.
We differ. We've got rich and poor. We've
got male and female. Men and women don't think alike.
They just don't. We're different. We're different. Old and young. Young men, old
men, they don't think the same. Some of us are farmers, some
of us are businessmen, some factory workers. We're all different.
And to these differences, it might be to our advantage to
ask, who maketh us to differ? Why are we different? Why are
we different? Why is it that I have a family
and a wife who loves me and children who care and grandchildren Why
is it that I have a home while another sleeps in the alleys
in a cardboard box? Why is it that I have children
while others have no family at all? Why is it that I have an
income to support my needs while others beg on the street? I can
remember being just a little fellow and my dad worked construction
and he was on a big carpentry project in a steel mill, and
so we had to move to Cleveland. It was going to be quite a while,
and it was about a hundred-mile drive one way, and back in those
days, you just didn't drive that back and forth with those automobiles.
So we moved to Cleveland for a short amount of time, and the
only knowledge I ever had of anywhere where we lived as a
child was this little town up in northern Ohio, population
5,000. So you can imagine, when we went into Cleveland, Cleveland
back in that day was one of the biggest cities in the country.
And it still is geographically. It's spread out over a huge area. I mean, it's just a mammoth place.
But I've never seen the things that big cities have. And Dad
and Mom, they went in to do some business. And they were just
right there. I mean, I wasn't out of sight.
But they left me in the car. And I was just a young boy, about
five years old. And here comes a man on the street.
He was a beggar. And he was a man who didn't have
any legs. And he had this little platform and he had these kind
of blocks like on his hands that he could motivate down that street
with his hands, but no legs. And I'd never seen anything like
that. He came past that car and he stopped and looked up at me
and smiled. And I crawled under the seat.
He scared me to death. Why should I have health? And
men like this are hobbling down the sidewalk. You see what I'm
saying? Who maketh thee to differ? Why?
Why are these differences? Why am I here this morning? Who
maketh thee to differ from another? I'm different. I see that. I
see men and women that I speak to, they're different. But is
there any part of my existence that's not owing to the grace
of God? I don't have to look very far
to see somebody else. in worse shape than I am. And so that I can count, no matter
what it is I have, I can count myself to be blessed of God in
that respect. But what have I gotten that I
haven't received? I've heard men talk about being
self-made men, but I've never seen one. Every one I ever talked
to, for just a little while, you begin to talk to them, you
find out somebody else gave them their start. You find out that
some group of people, something in the economy, something in
the government, whatever you want to call it, spurned this
thing on, and then they become wealthy. They weren't self-made
men. What have you got? This is what
he's talking about to this church. What have you got? Who makes
a thing to differ from another? The more I read this blessed
book, the more I begin to enter into some understanding of the
greatness and majesty of God and of the magnificence of His
character and of the insignificance of man. He said the nations are
but just a drop of the bucket. And some of you in here old enough
to know what that means. That's that old bucket you used
to drop down in the well and pull up the water and you'd dump
it out, but you didn't strain that last drop, did you? You
just set the bucket up. You ignored the last drop. He
said, that's the way the nations are to me. It's just the small
dust of the balance. That's another thing we don't
know too much about in this generation, but he's talking about the balance,
the scales. And they get that fine dust from
the house on them. They don't even bother to wipe
it off. It doesn't even affect the measurement of it. He said,
that's the way the nations are to me, just the small dust on
the balance. He said, this is me, I'm God.
I sit on the circle of the earth and all the inhabitants there
are of ours, grasshoppers. Oh, we want to get our bibs on
and pin them thumbs behind them straps and swell up like a toad
over every little thing we do. I grew that. You did? You made that grow? Well, no,
I just planted it. That's what I thought. I built
that. You did. Who taught you? What
have you gotten that you haven't received? Everything you have
is a gift of God. We just don't recognize it. We
don't recognize it. Oh, I tell you, the insignificance
of man. Our Lord knew where the tax money
is. Go down there to the sea and
there's a fish down there. Open up his mouth. There's your
tax money. He knew where it was. He knew
Peter would deny him, and he knew that the rooster would crow.
He chose twelve disciples and knew that one was a devil. What
is it, do you suppose, about us that he don't know? Huh? Then why do we swell up? Why do we want to set ourselves
above another thinking that what we've done, we've done? That's what he's talking about
here. They had begun to put some emphasis. If you go back here,
I read it to you just a few moments ago. He said, Let a man so account
of us. This is a sober recognition of
the minister of God. Let him account of us as ministers
of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. But he goes
on to tell you he's nothing. I'm just nothing. And I'm telling
you this so that you know that and so that this next preacher
that comes along with his thumbs in his straps on his lapel and
trying to tell you how great he is, that you'll know that
he's nothing either except as God has raised him up. And you
don't see the man. I love this illustration. I was
reading one of the old writers. And he was talking about one
of these Dutch, he was a Dutch reformer, I can't even remember
his name now, but he was on his way to the meeting. And he said
he passed by an auctioneer and they were auctioning off paintings.
And we had an opportunity here lately to go to Washington, D.C.
and go through that big art gallery. You remember those pictures by
those Dutch painters, how beautiful they were? And this man had a
painting, this auctioneer did, one of these huge big paintings.
And he held it up. And he was taking his finger
and running it up and down, and he was showing them all the special
parts on that painting. And that preacher, when he walked
by, he kept looking, and he never could see the auctioneer. All
he could see was what he was pointing to. He held that picture
up in such a way as to hide himself and still point out the glory
of the portrait. And he thought, boy, that's how I want to preach
Christ. I want to hold him up so that people can't see me.
All they can see is my finger pointing. pointing to His glory,
the glory of His substitution, and the glory of His redemption,
and the glory of His righteousness, and the glory of His deity. It's
not me I want you to see, it's Him. It's Him. Oh, for an attitude and a heart
to preach Him in such a way. But I go through and I see in
the Scriptures all these differences, these outward differences, I
guarantee you, you go down here to any church, I don't care what
it is, I don't care what denomination it is, and you walk in there
and you're dirty and smelly and you've got your old grimy clothes
on and not very many people are going to come and invite you
in. But you roll up there in your big Rolls Royce and the
butler opens the door and lets you out and half that church
will run out and grab you by the hand. We're so glad to see
you. Come on in. Why? Because we put so much stock
in what these eyes see. That's why. Paul said, why do
you do that? Why do you do that? Somebody
had come into this Corinthian church and began to point out
gifts and began to set one preacher above another and one man above
another and began to cause division in that church. And Paul's writing
to them and he's saying, this ain't it. Now, this ain't it. If you have something, and I'm
not denying that you have, Who gave it to you? Where'd you get
it? Then thank God for it. And don't get all puffed up and
blowed out of shape because He gave you a desire to give and
He don't give it to another. Don't begin to elevate yourself.
Don't begin to puff yourself up. He's given me some understanding
that maybe He didn't give to you. If He did, He gave it to
me to give to you. And I got it of Him. I didn't
come up with it. Sometimes I sit in my study and
I weep when God begins to give me some understanding of something,
because I know how stupid I am. I know how ignorant I am. And
to see that is just way beyond my ability. Way beyond. Way over
my head. And yet He gives it to me. And
I don't ever want to believe that this is me or something
in me. He makes His sun to shine on
the just and the unjust, and His rain to fall on the just
and the unjust. It's all His. If you read this
book carefully, you'll discover that even the attitudes and behavior
of men God has control over. Oh, yes, He does. I can read
to you back in Genesis where Pharaoh hardened his heart. That's
what it says over and over. He'd repent, and then he'd harden
his heart. But I can read for you in the same verse of Scripture,
I can read it to you again. It says, And God hardened his
heart. Well, how did he do that? God
gave him over to the hardness of his heart. That's all he has
to do. God doesn't have to give you
a lie to believe. All he has to do is just let
you go. You believe the lie, no problem. We don't have to
shove you in the ditch and just let you go. You'll follow that
blind man, and he'll lead you into the ditch. Everything we
have, all these things that we see with these eyes that separate
us and cause differences between us, they're all just gifts of
God, and they're for His purpose and for His reasons. I can't explain it, and I don't
intend to try, but I know it so by the Word of God that he
worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. And
we better learn that. In Isaiah 45, verse 5, it says,
I am the Lord, and there is none else. There is no God beside
me. I have girded thee, though thou hast not known me. You mean back yonder when I didn't
know God, He was taking care of me? That's what they say,
isn't it? You mean back there when I was
running the bars and just running and being a rebel? You mean God?
Yeah, God was taking care of you. Ain't that what He said?
I girded thee, though thou hast not known me. And here's why
I did it, that they might know from the rising of the sun and
from the west that there's none like me. I am the Lord and there's
none else. I form light and create darkness.
I make peace and I create evil. How the Lord do all these things?
That's God. That's God. And I'm not a fool. I know God
uses means. I know that men and women have
to love one another, and we have to get an education to get a
job. And the better the education,
usually the better the job. I know we've got to work to achieve
certain goals, and go on with our lives, but I'm not talking
this morning about means and secondary causes. I'm talking
about Him who is the cause. Who gave us the desire, the will,
the want to be what we are and have what we have? That's what
Paul is talking about. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? Oh, we'll just get some puffed
up bat stuff. Turn with me to the book of Daniel. You got the major prophets, Jeremiah
and Isaiah and Ezekiel, and then next comes the book of Daniel. Here in Daniel chapter 4. Now
this is a story, and these are the words of Nebuchadnezzar.
It's his testimony. And Nebuchadnezzar was the king
of Babylon. He was powerful, he was wealthy,
but he was proud in heart. And this big, proud king, he
didn't know God, he didn't know anything, he didn't know religion
from a goat. He didn't know anything. But
he had this dream. Down here in verse 4, I Nebuchadnezzar,
Daniel chapter 4 verse 4, I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in my house and flourishing
in my palace. He had it made. He had it made,
this big king. And I saw a dream, and it made
me afraid, and my thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my
head troubled me. And so he made a decree, and
he said this thing was aggravating him, Winston. It was causing
him trouble. He couldn't sleep. And when he did, this same dream
just kept coming back to him over and over and over. He didn't
understand it, but he knew it wasn't just an ordinary dream.
And so he made this decree, and he called for everyone who even
might have the possibility to tell him what this vision meant.
He sent for the wise men and the magicians and the astrologers
and the chaldeans and the soothsayers, and he got them all in there.
And everybody told him what they had to say, and nobody gave him
any comfort. Look down here in verse 8. But
at last, Daniel came in. There's that single voice I was
telling you about a while ago. Daniel came in before me, whose
name was Bed-Teshazzar, according to the name of my God." That
wasn't his name, that was the name Nebuchadnezzar gave to him,
and he named him after his God. "...And in whom the Spirit of
the holy gods, and I told him the dream. And the king told
Daniel how he saw this great tree rise up from the earth."
You can read about it there in those verses. a great tree to
rise up. It's going to rise up above every
other tree right on into heaven. It's a huge tree. And its branches
are going to stick out and it's going to be a strong tree. And
the birds of the air are going to come find shelter on the limbs. And the beasts are going to come
lay down in the shade. And the leaves are going to be
bright and green and cast that shade out all around and give
comfort to those who come to lie down in it. And it's a fruit
tree. It's got fruit on it. And this
fruit, he said, becomes food for all that come around it.
This great tree. But, he said, there's a watcher.
And the voice of the watcher said, cut the tree down. Chop
it off. Cut it right off, even with the
ground. Let it fall. And take away the fruit and scatter
it. And shake off all the leaves. And cut off all the branches.
Take it all off, and then put iron bands, brass bands around
it, fleshly bands. Brass stands for flesh. Fleshly
bands around it. Secure it. Put it down there in the earth. Hew down the tree and cut off
the branches and shake off the leaves and scatter the fruit,
but leave the stump in the ground and let it be wet with the dew
of heaven. and let his portion be with the
beast, and let his heart be changed from a man's heart to the heart
of a beast, until seven times pass over." Verse 17, "...to the intent that
the living may know that the Most High God ruleth in the kingdom
of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over
it the basest of men." Now, he said, here's that drink. And Daniel told him in verse
22, it is thou, O king. You are the tree. You are the
tree. And God has allowed you to grow. And He sent you over this kingdom.
And He is the One that gave the fruit. And He is the One that
called men to lay down in your shade. He is the One that gave
you all these things, all these earthly blessings for your flourishing
in your palace. He gave you the palace and the
flourishing. He gave you the desires. He gave
you the strength and the power to be raised up as king. God
gave it to you. And God is going to take it away.
He is going to take it away. And the king thought about these
things a little while, and he let some time pass. And just
like us, he forgot about it. He just put it aside. Forgot
all about it. And twelve months went by. And
the old king was walking around. And he was looking at that big
garden, that big hanging garden of Babylon, and he was looking
at all this big kingdom, and got all puffed up, and sat up
there in the palace, and he said, It's not this great Babylon that
I built. That ain't what Daniel told him,
but that's what he said in his heart, wasn't it? It's not this
great Babylon that I built for the house of the kingdom, by
the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty. And
while the Word was still just lingering on his lips, still
in his mouth, a voice came to him out of heaven, and it said,
O King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken. Huh? The kingdom has departed from
you. And all the things spoken in
the dream came to pass. And when the King came to himself,
look down here in verse 34, at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar,
lifted up my eyes unto heaven, and my understanding returned
unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored
him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and his kingdom from generation to generation, and all the inhabitants
of the earth are refuted as nothing. And he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, What doest
thou? And the last verse of that chapter,
it will tell you the whole story. The proud he is able to abase. What did he have that wasn't
given to him? Nothing. Nothing. What has thou gotten that thou
hast not received? And if you received it, why do
you boast like you did? And then what about spiritual
matters? Did the Holy Spirit preserve this story about Nebuchadnezzar
to puff up the old king? Is this just put in there so
that we can counsel kings? Is that what this is here for?
Is it not babbling of the very picture of religion used over
and over and over throughout the Old Testament? It's a picture of religion. Is
it not the very concept of it, a man rising up to conquer the
world? Ain't that what religion tries
to do? I'm talking about the world in here and in here. Religion
says you can conquer that. Can you? A man rising up to conquer the
world, to overcome and resist everything around him and in
him. And when he's gotten to some degree, some understanding,
some station, some office, some outward respect, does he not
gloat over it? I've had them, I'm telling you,
put them thumbs in that suit and say, I can tell you the time
and I can tell you the place. I can too. Eternity. And here's the place in Christ.
In Christ. How do we arrive at these things?
There are two religions in this world. One is the belief that
something we do, something we can think or be, can merit and
earn favor before God, bring us into fellowship with God.
That is the religion I call works, what the Scripture calls works.
And the other belief is that salvation, no matter what part
of it you consider, is by the free and sovereign Grace of God,
it is the gift of God. Just two religions. You can go
through and write the denomination on them if you want to, but there's
only two. There's only two. And he said, if it be by grace,
then it is no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. Let me go back to the earliest
days of God dealing with me and see what a difference He makes.
Where did these thoughts of self and sin come from? Why all of
a sudden did I get upset about sin? I never was upset before. Out there in my youth, going
down the broad road, I never had a thought about God. Never
had a thought about sin. Or maybe a little. pricking of
the conscience, but how easy that young conscience is to cover
up and suppress, isn't it? We just go ahead and do what
we want to do, going down the road. And then all of a sudden
I begin to be aware of my condition. How come? That's something I
conjured up? That's something you can drum
up inside? I tell you this, we've always
been following men and women, every one of them. We come forth
from the womb speaking lies. We've conceived in sin. But God's
not going to send you to hell over that. God's going to send
you to hell because you're a sinner. And in time, you'll manifest
that sin. You'll manifest those desires.
You'll manifest that work, and that will be your work. Not Adam. God's not going to send you to
hell because of what Adam did. He's going to send you to hell
because of what you did. And you'll do exactly like your
daddy did. Just exactly. By one man, sin
entered into the world. Ain't that what it says in Romans
5.12? And death by sin, and so death passed upon all men. How
come? Because every last one of them
sinned. That's why. They all sin because they are
born in sin. They are sin. Sin is not what
we do so much as it is what we are. We are sinners. If we weren't
sinners, we wouldn't sin. We suppress those things. He
talks about searing that conscience with a hot iron. We just suppress
it and suppress it. And when we're young, that conscience
pricks a lot, and we think about it and we suppress it. And we
get a little older, and after a while, that conscience is hard
as iron. You just do whatever you want to do. Nothing affects
you. Say whatever you want to say.
You don't even have a fear. There is no fear of God, he said,
before their eyes. It's gone. Gone. And then one
day we hear from God, and His voice penetrates that fog of
ignorance and blackness and darkness. And he pricks that heart. And
he takes his own character, and he takes his own image. He takes his own perfections. And he presses those things upon
your heart. And he allows that light to shine
in there. And the more that light shines,
the more that darkness you see. Oh, that voice of God. Like that
old king of Babylon, my heart becomes like the heart of a beast.
I begin to see my sins not in the light of law. Law threatens. Our laws in this country, if
you murder a man, you're going to have to go up before the judge
and pay the due, whatever it is. It ain't what it used to
be. It used to be they'd take you out and hang you. Now you
might get out in five or six years. But whatever that punishment
is, that punishment's set up there that you might keep the
law. That's what it's there for. And the law tells you don't do
this. If you do it, you're going to pay the price. Whatever it
is. That's not Holy Spirit conviction. Holy Spirit conviction is when
you see yourself and your sins before the love of God. It's like a child, like that
son of perdition, that son, the prodigal, when he came and he
got his inheritance and he ran off and he just, you know he
was down there, just give me what I've got coming to me. What
did you have coming to you? You didn't have anything coming
to you. But the Father gave him. He gave it to him. Gave him a
little portion of it, and he ran out and wasted it in a few
days and was down there in the hog pen and said he would have
eaten the husk with the hogs. That's where he's at. Well, when
he began to come to himself, what did he realize? He realized
that all of his rebellion was against the loving Father. That's
what he realized. Now, you said, even the servants
back there got it better than I do. I'm going to go back to
him. And I'm not going back as a son.
I've done rent that. That's out of the question. I'm
just going to go back as one of the hired servants, and maybe
he'll let me sleep out there in the bunkhouse instead of down
here in the hog pen. He began to see what he'd done
in the light of his father's love, and he went back. And then
the father's love was watching for him, made provision for him. and ran out to meet him and threw
his arms around him and kissed him. That's when repentance is
born right there. When you begin to see your rebellion
against your loving Father. That's right. It's the goodness of God that
leads us into repentance. That type of repentance you need
not repent of. That's a God. That kind of repentance. And only God the Holy Spirit
can convince men of sin. When you see your sin against
a loving God, then your sin becomes ugly in your eyes. It becomes
something you don't want to do. If you just see it in the light
of law, you'd do it if it wasn't for the law, wouldn't you? You'd
go back to it. Sure you would. Just like the
dog returning to his mama, you'd go right back to it if it wasn't
for that punishment. If it wasn't a hell, how many
today would just walk out the back door if there wasn't a hell?
But oh, if you can see them sins, if you can see them sins in the
light of God's love, and in the light of His goodness, and in
the light of all that is done of His grace and His mercy, then
sin becomes exceedingly sinful. And you don't want it anymore.
You don't want it anymore. And I'll tell you this, without
this conviction, there's never going to be a conversion. And
only God can take that man in the hog pen, ready to eat the
slop with the hogs and make him know something about the goodness
of his Father's love. Only God can do that. And if indeed I've ever been
convinced of sin, it's not something in me that I had all along. It's something He put in there.
It's a gift. It's the gift of God. We receive
it. And one day I come to hear His
blessed gospel. You know, it says over there
in Romans 10 and 15, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach
the gospel of peace. And I'll tell you when them feet
will become beautiful. When He sends that gospel to you. Huh? When He says, boy, I tell you,
I know that man He'd come and he'd preach for me, and I couldn't
even speak his name. I went back to shake hands with
him and couldn't even speak his name. I wept like a baby. How
beautiful are the feet. He stood up there and stammered.
He'd had a stroke and he stammered. He couldn't even preach straight.
And I didn't care. I didn't care. How beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace. When God
brings that gospel into your heart, God strips a man and leaves
him alone for a little season. moves away for that little season,
just takes his presence back to where you cannot detect it.
And you see yourself in your sins, and you see yourself under
the curse of that law, and under the eternal judgment of God,
and that wrath of God burning hot after you, just like Israel
was sitting there with an offended king on their tail. That king
had every notion of coming up there and wiping every man, woman,
and child, beast, chariot, everything they owned. He was going to put
it in the dust because he was offended. Brethren, God is offended
with us. He is offended. And that offended
God has to be appeased, and He is only appeased in Christ. Oh,
let that fall on your head. Let that offended justice come
down and this sovereign God hot on your tail. And then when that
prophet says, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord,
there you are with this great gulf fixed. You can't cross it. You can't go through it. You
can't swim across it. These mountains of no escape
on each side, you've got nowhere to go. You're going to sit there
with your mouth shut and listen to the prophet, and he's going
to tell you, stand still. and see the salvation of the
Lord. And you stand still. Oh, yes, you will when He strips
you and brings you down, you will. You'll see yourself with
no goodness, no righteousness, no understanding, no seeking
after God, no nothing. You'll just sit there. No way
to connect yourself with God. Only He can do the connecting.
Now, I'm telling you the truth. That's what it is to be lost.
Men ain't lost. They think they got God in their
pocket. I can just take Him out like that rabbit's foot when
I need Him. I'll take Him out. Oh, you wait. You wait. If God
ever brings you down and just pulls His presence just a little
bit, He'll leave you trembling in the mud. That's where you'll
be. And I'll tell you something about
that. God gets you lost, you'll cry out. Old Scott Richardson told a story
about A friend of his in the church up there went deer hunting
with him. And he was out there on that mountain, and it got
dark. It got dark a little quicker up on that mountain than what
he was used to, and especially in them deep woods. And he said,
this fellow got lost. And he said, I knew where he
was. He said, I was standing right there by the truck, and
I could hear him. He said, I knew where he was. But he said, I
just sit there. And he said, he walked this way
a little bit. And he said, I could hear him. He'd holler, Scott?
Where are you, Scott? And it began to get dark. And
there were some pretty big cats and stuff up in them mountains.
Not to mention all the snakes and everything else. And there
he was. And it began to get dark. And
sure enough, he was lost. He began to yell out, Where's
the road? Where's the road? He was lost. Lost. God said, It's right here. Right here. He was just a few
hundred feet from him. He walked through the woods and
God even brought him down. Old Darryl come down and got
in the truck. That's the problem. That's why
we don't cry out to God. We've never been lost. God ever stirred your heart?
He ever asked you? He ever put you in a place where
you begin to ask and question your own misgivings? Has not God caused you to hear
these things contrary to what you've always believed? Has He
not at least generated some questions in there? These things are of God. There's
nothing in the realm of spiritual matters that's not owing altogether
to the grace of God. And I tell you this, God saves
sinners in such a way that He gets all the glory. I'll tell you, I can look back
and it's just a twisted maze. I don't know how God got me through
all that, but He did. But He did. You think of all
the manipulation God has to do to bring you in contact with
the preacher. Think about it. Think about the lives involved
and the businesses and the governments and all these things involved
just to cross your path with a picture. And if he don't, he just leaves
you on that broad way and lets you go to hell. I'm telling you
the truth. What have we gotten that we haven't
received? And is there anything more humbling
than to know that everything I am and everything I have and
everything I ever hoped to be has to be given to me? That's humbling. Every good gift
and every perfect gift cometh down from the Father of lights,
with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." Is
there anything that ought to move us to prayer more than this
knowledge right here? It will move you to prayer and
thanksgiving, knowing that everything that you have has come from Him.
And seeing the lack of it, which also comes from Him, will cause
you to cry out. Prayer born of thanksgiving and
need. Let a man truly need, and he'll
cry out. And let God supply that need,
and he'll cry out in gratitude. Let me leave you with this thought. If, and there shouldn't be an
if with us, there just shouldn't be, but there is. But if the experience of my heart
is altogether an experience of grace, Am I not convinced beyond
a shadow of a doubt if he's made me to differ from another that
he can make another differ too? If God can stop a rebel like
me in my tracks and conquer my stubborn will and bring me to
the feet of Christ to be reconciled, How can I doubt His power and
His will and His intention to do the same thing for another? And I know that some of you here
are throwing your hands up and giving up on inviting folks out
and giving up on asking people to come and to hear. Why is that? Why is it we do that? I don't
mean to exclude myself. I'm in that crowd. Why do we
do that? One or two things. Either we've
never experienced this grace in our heart, never known it,
never known this love, never seen this goodness, know nothing
about this glory, or we've forgotten. We've forgotten what God's given
us and done for us. And that's where Paul was going
with this saying. He wanted to remember. Remember. Elevating man up on this big
platform and putting all these ifs, ands, and buts in front
of everything. He said, just remember where
you come from. Just remember where you come from. Listen to
what David says over here in Psalm 40. He says in verse 1,
I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto me, and
He heard my cry. Can you imagine the grace involved? in God Almighty hearing me talk. How much grace is that? A little wriggling maggot down
here on this earth talking to the Sovereign God, and he hears
my cry. Huh? Oh, he said, I waited patiently
on the Lord, and He inclined unto me and heard my cry. And He brought me up also out
of a horrible pit. and out of the mire clay, and
set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he
put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. Many shall
see it, in fear and trust in the Lord. Blessed is that man
that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud. Their search is turned aside
unto lies. Many, O Lord my God, are the
wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which
are to usward. They cannot be reckoned up in
order unto thee. If I would declare and speak
of them, then more than can be numbered." And you're going to
read the rest of that song, and you're going to find out who
that is that's doing this talking. That's Christ. That's Christ. Does verse 7 sound familiar?
Then said I, Lo, I come in the volume of the book which is written
unto me. I delight to do thy will, O God. That's my representative. He's saying for me what one day
he's going to put in my heart to say for myself. He's the Lord
my righteousness. Let me read a few verses of this
old hymn and I'll close. The name of this old hymn is
Only a Sinner. Have you ever heard it? Only
a Sinner. He said, Not have I gotten but
what I have received. Grace hath bestowed it since
I have believed. Boasting excluded, pride I have
based, I am only a sinner saved by grace. Once I was foolish
and sin ruled my heart. causing my footsteps from God
to depart. Jesus has found me happy in my
case. I now am a sinner saved by grace. Tears unavailing, no merit had
I. Mercy had saved me or else I
must die. Sin had alarmed me, fear in God's
face. But now I am a sinner saved by
grace. Suffer a sinner. whose heart
overflows, loving his Savior to tell what he knows, wants
more to tell it with iron brace. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. And the chorus goes like this,
Only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. This is my story. To God be the
glory. I'm only a sinner saved by grace.