Would you turn back to Acts chapter
21? I've entitled this message, An
Old Disciple. Verse 16, there went with us
also certain of the disciples of Caesarea and brought with
them One Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple with whom we should
lodge. Now I have looked at that and
I've looked at that and I thought why does God the Holy Spirit
record this? Mnason. an old disciple. Well, I want to be an old disciple,
don't you? Now, there are two words in the New Testament that
are translated old. One is where we get the word
palantology from. I think that's the way you say
it. It has to do with how old. the age of something, and the
other word is the word that's translated archeology, and it
has to do with beginnings or origin. Now, I think it's very
interesting that this word is used, old, is used in the New
Testament 12 times, and not once is it a reference to age in number
of years. Not once. This is not talking
about Manasseh being 60 or 70 or 80 or 90 years old. And it's
not talking about how long he had been a believer. This word
has to do with origin and beginnings. John 1, 1 in the beginning was
the word. And this is the adjective form
of that word in the beginning. As we will see, every disciple
is an old disciple. And that has nothing to do with
their age or how long they have been a believer in their experience. Now, with regard to aging, I,
as many of you do, see myself getting older. I used to have hair. I used to
have full hair. I thought it was thick. There was a time when my skin
didn't look like crepe paper. It does now. was a time when I was young,
somebody that was in their 60s, they either are ready to die
or ought to be dead at that age. I mean, that is old. And why
in the world would anyone want to live that long in the first
place? And I just thought people died when they hit 60. That was a good time to die. certainly have physical limitations
that I once did not have. I may feel young, and I do. I don't feel any different than
I did when I was 18 years old, as far as in my mind. I feel
young, but I realize that my life is in the last probably
20%. Probably. I'm on the downhill slide. Now that is not what Luke is
talking about. when he talks about Manasseh
being an old disciple. Now this is inspired by the spirit
of God that's given for our learning. Notice these words in verse 16. One Manasseh. And that's the
word that is generally translated certain. A certain man. God always saves certain men. a certain disciple. God's people are all disciples. And he was an old disciple and
his name was Manasseh. Now, the first thing that I would
notice is that a certain Manasseh. Turn with me for a moment to
John chapter five. John chapter five, this will
give us the significance of certain. Verse two. Now there is a Jerusalem
by the sheep market, a pool, which is called in the Hebrew
tongue, Bethesda having five porches. And in these lay a great
multitude of impotent folk, a blind halt withered. waiting for the
moving of the water for an angel went down at a certain season
into the pool and troubled the water. Whosoever then first after
the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever
disease he had. Now there was a great multitude
of weak, sick people. Now look at verse five. and a
certain man. God always saves certain men
and women. A certain man was there which
had an infirmity 30 and eight years, and it is this certain
man that Christ intended to save. intended to heal and he did what
he intended to do. He healed this certain man. God saves certain men and women
and he saves these certain men and women on purpose. Now There
was a woman who was struggling with seeing election in the Bible
and she didn't really know what it meant, but she saw it was
there, she couldn't deny it. So she went to a preacher and
said, I'm having trouble understanding election. I see it in the Bible.
What does it mean? What is its significance? And
the man was evidently working in his garden where I read this
and he got up and thought, well, how can I say this? And he asked
the woman, are you saved? And she said, I think I am. And he said, how were you saved? And she said,
well, the Lord saved me. And he said, well, did he, Do
it or did you help out? And she said, well, he did it
all. And he said, well, did he do it on purpose or was it by
accident? And she said, oh, I see. God saves certain men on purpose. He calleth his own sheep by name. There was a certain woman. with
an issue of blood. And no doubt there were other
women with issues of blood, but there was a certain woman with
an issue of blood, a certain centurion whose servant was sick. There was a certain woman named
Martha. And if you're a believer, you
can put your name there. There was a certain man named
Lazarus who was sick. A certain man, there are a lot
of other sick people, but there was a certain man named Lazarus
who was sick and he died. And when the Lord called his
name, he didn't call the name of everybody in that graveyard,
did he? Lazarus, the name of a certain man and Lazarus came
forth. He saves certain men and women. And here's what my response is
to that. Lord, save me. Let me be one of those certain
individuals that you save. Lord, have mercy on me. You know, the fact that he saves
certain men and women doesn't discourage anybody from calling
upon his name. If you need him, you call on
his name, you ask for his mercy, you believe on him, you'll be
saved. That doesn't take away from the fact that he saves certain
individuals. Aren't you thankful the Lord
crossed your path? A certain individual that he
came in saving mercy to. Now, the next thing I would notice
about this man, he was called a certain disciple. A disciple
is the noun form of the verb to learn. A disciple is a learner. That's so simple. A disciple
is a learner. In John chapter six, the Lord
said, it's written in the prophets and they shall all be taught
of God. Somebody says, well, God's trying
to teach me. No, he's not. That's wrong. God doesn't try
to do anything. If he teaches you, you are taught. A disciple, a learner, it's written
in the prophets, they shall all be taught of God. Every man,
therefore, that hath heard and learned of the father. cometh unto me." Now, a disciple
is somebody that God's taught. I want to be one of those people,
don't you? Somebody that God has taught. And when God teaches
someone, he teaches them who he is. This is where we begin.
He teaches them of his character. of his person as he's revealed
in the scripture, of his attributes. What we're doing when we preach
the gospels, we're preaching the true character of the living
God. And really, you won't know yourself,
you won't know you're a sinner until you see his character.
And if you ever see his character, you'll dead sure know you're
a sinner. The only thing that would prevent you from knowing
you're a sinner is not knowing Him, because if you know Him,
you'll sure enough know what you are. You're nothing in and
of yourself but a sinner. Do you believe that? Well, if
you believe that, it's because you've learned who God is. Nobody
understands that they're a sinner until they first see who God
is. Well, I've always been convicted of my sin. Well, not really,
not really. You don't even know what sin
is until you know who God is. And when you know who God is,
you'll know something about who you are, your sinfulness. But
listen to this. Everybody that knows who God
is, everybody that knows who they are, you know what they
do? They come to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's written in the prophets,
they shall all be taught of God. Every man therefore that has
heard and learned of the father cometh unto me. Now, what is this thing of coming
to Christ? It's believing on him. I don't
want to make it any more complicated than that. It's believing on
him. Do you believe that he's the
Christ? God's prophet, God's priest, God's king. Do you believe?
Do you believe He's God the Son? Do you believe all the fullness
of the Godhead dwells in Him? Do you believe who He is? That's
what it means to come to Christ. You come to Him for mercy, believing
who He is. Believing that He is all you
need to make you accepted before God. All that the Father giveth
me, shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. Now, listen to me. Everybody
in this room is called upon to come to Christ. You ought to
come to Christ. You're commanded to come to Christ. Well, what
if I'm not elect? You're commanded to come to Christ.
You don't need to worry about whether or not you're elect.
You're called upon to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And
you'll find out in believing, the only reason you did is because
you were elected. You'll find that out. But your
job, my job, is not to find out whether or not we're one of God's
elect. It's to come to the Lord Jesus Christ and to believe on
his name. All that the father giveth me
shall come to me. I love that passage of scripture
in first Peter chapter two, verse four, it says to whom coming.
Now, this is what I love about this thing of coming to Christ.
Don't ask, well, have I come? Come. Don't say, well, have I
ever come? Come. It's not a one-time act. It's something you always do.
You believe on him. If you're looking for a time
that you came, you've missed him. Faith is not in the past. I'm not to look at, well, I did
this in the past. I believe, forget the past. It's
a false refuge. Come to him right now. That's what disciples do. They've
been taught by God, they've been taught who he is, they've been
taught who they are, and everybody who's been taught who God is
and who they are, they all come to the Lord Jesus Christ. They're
drawn, they come, this is what believers do. To whom? Coming. If you continue in my
word, then are you my disciples. My learners, indeed. Now he was a certain disciple
and his name Manasseh. Now his name has significance
because his name means remembrance. remembrance. Now we can learn
something about what faith is by this thing of remembrance. Now what's the opposite of remembering? Forgetting. Turn with me for
a moment to James chapter 1. James chapter 1. Verse 22, but be ye doers of the word and
not hearers only deceiving your own selves. For if any man be
a hearer of the word and not a doer, he's like unto a man
beholding his natural face in a glass. He looks in a mirror. He sees what he looks like. For
verse 24, he beholdeth himself and goeth his way and straightway
forgetteth what manner of man he was. Now, you look in the
mirror of God's word. What do you see? Let's just take the Ten Commandments.
You look in the mirror of the Ten Commandments. What do you
see? If you see the Ten Commandments,
you see that I have broken every one of them with every breath
I have ever taken. That's the mirror of God's Word. It shows me what I am. Now what
about that one who sees that and goes his way and forgets
it? That man is not a doer of the
word. Now, most people, when they read
that passage of scripture, they start thinking about all the
things they need to be doing, and you've missed the point of
it, if that's what you're seeing. To see yourself in the word and
forget what manner of man you are. This is so important. You
see, the only way you can hear the gospel is as a sinner. Anytime
you hear any other way, you're not hearing. It's to hear as
a sinner and the forgetful hearer is the one who forgets what manner
of man he was. Now, faith is remembering. What do I mean by that? In John
chapter 14, verse 26, but the comforter, which is the Holy
Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you
all things and bring all things unto your remembrance whatsoever
I have said to you. Now, what's that mean? He'll
bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I've said to you.
Well, here's the fact of the matter. We forget the gospel. All the
time. Every day. Every hour. I'm not just talking about forgetting
of the reality of the Lord Jesus Christ and the gospel of God's
grace. We forget the gospel. Now, how
many times have you found this to be true? I stress over my sin. And then it's brought to my remembrance.
Thy sins, which are many, are forgiven me." Isn't that a wonderful
thing when the Lord brings something to your remembrance? You see,
anything you learn, anything you hear, it's in your mind for
good. You might not remember it, but it's there somewhere
in the subconscious. And all of a sudden, you remember. It's brought to your remembrance. I feel inadequate and lacking. I feel that way all the time,
don't you? Inadequate. Lacking. And then it's brought
to my remembrance. In him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily and you are complete. Lacking nothing. Perfect before God. I feel isolated,
alone, and this is brought to my remembrance. I will never
leave thee, nor forsake thee. My conscience or the devil accuses
me. And this is brought to my remembrance,
who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect, it's God
that justified them. What a glory it is when it's
brought to my remembrance that I stand before God without guilt,
that I really am without guilt, that I really stand before God,
not just legally, People talk about justification as being
a legal transgression. No, I'm justified. I stand before
God without sin, without guilt. When God looks at me, he sees
no sin. It's brought to my remembrance. My sin oppresses me and I'm made
to remember. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. I am worried about something
and Romans 8 28 is brought to my remembrance and we know that
all things work together for good to them that love God to
them who are called according to his purpose. There's a situation
that's grieving me and this is brought to my remembrance in
everything give thanks even that situation that's grieving you
in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning I become infatuated with the
world. And I'm not talking about the
planet and the beauty of the planet. We ought to appreciate
that. There's so much in this world. This is my father's world.
This is God's world. And there's much we should appreciate.
When I'm talking about the world, I'm talking about the world that
hates God. I'm talking about the world that's
contrary to the gospel. I love what Paul said, God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
by whom I am crucified, the world is crucified to me. I see it
for what it is. Aren't you thankful when the
Lord brings that to your remembrance? A disciple is not only a learner,
but he is one who has brought to remembrance what he has been
taught. He forgets it all the time, and
then God, the Holy Spirit, brings it back to his remembrance. I
think of that scripture in 1 John, where John says, you know all
things. And the first thing that comes to my mind, well, I don't
know all things. Well, if you know Christ, you know all things.
That's the point. He's all. And if you know Christ,
you know all. And how many times does he bring
that back to your remembrance, what he has said? That's what
faith is. It's not you figuring out how
to believe. It's him bringing this back to your remembrance. Now, Manasseh, he's a certain
disciple. He's a disciple. He's one who
remembers. And he's called an old disciple. Now I've already said, there
are two words, generally translated old. One has to do with years
of age. I'm 62 years old. That's not
what that's talking about. It's talking about beginning,
beginning your origin. Manasseh was a certain old disciple. Now, Christ is called the Alpha and
the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last,
and the word here has to do with Orange. This thing of Manasseh,
him being an old disciple, this is the word God the Holy Spirit
is pleased to use, and it is never with reference to years
of age. It's talking about origin. It's
talking about beginning. Now, let me ask you a question.
How old is the covenant of grace? I love what David said. The Lord
hath made, hath made with me an everlasting covenant. Now how old is that? Well, that's
how old you are. Before I formed thee in the belly,
I knew thee. Behold, God says in Jeremiah
31 three, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Now that's how old Manasseh is. He's as old as however old somebody
is that God knows. Was there ever a time when he
didn't know you? Was there a time when his knowledge of you began?
No. Before I formed thee in the belly,
I knew thee. Now, you've probably heard, I
know you've heard, of the phrase, once saved, always saved. That was invented by Baptist
preachers. And it was used to say, now if you were saved, I
remember when you were, I was there when it happened. If you
really were saved, you'll always be saved. And it's given to teach
some kind of security. Once saved, always saved. I like what Brother Mahan said
about that passage of scripture. That's not a passage of scripture,
why would I call it that? Sorry, it's a man-made term. But I love
what Brother Mahan said about it. said well with regard to
once saved always saved it depends on who saved you if you saved
yourself now i don't believe it don't believe for a second
but if god saved you i believe once saved always saved listen to this i believe Always saved, once
saved. Now think about that. Always saved in eternity, you
will be once saved in time. Now think of this scripture,
2 Timothy 1.9, this is so important. 2 Timothy 1.9, he saved us. He saved us and called us. What came first? He saved us. When? Well, according as He has
chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him. Now I realize people will
criticize that kind of thinking, but it's scriptural thinking.
They'll say, well, you're trying to give somebody hope that maybe they're
saved, even though they don't believe. I'm doing no such thing.
That's not even entering my mind. I'm saying this, if you were
saved in eternity, you will be saved in time. You will be called
by his grace. You will believe the gospel. If you were saved in eternity,
you can't make a division. Well, somebody saved in eternity
and maybe not saved in time. No, if you're saved in eternity,
you will be saved in time. Listen to this scripture. Second
Thessalonians 2.13. says, we are bound to thank God
always for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you unto salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth. what God chose you for
in eternity, you will experience in time. Sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth. By grace, you are saved. Now this word, old. Manasseh, Believed the old, old
story. Did you know the gospel is called
the everlasting gospel in Revelation? The eternal gospel. Now, I love
thinking about this. I believe the exact same gospel
Abel believed. By faith, Abel offered unto God
a more excellent sacrifice than gain, by which he obtained witness
that he was righteous. That's powerful language, isn't
it? He obtained witness that he was righteous. God testifying of his gifts. Talking about the blood sacrificed.
And he, by it being dead yet speaking. I'm saved by the same
gospel Abel was. We believe the exact same thing.
I'm saved by the same gospel Noah was. Same gospel that Abraham
believed, Isaac believed that Jacob believed. I'm saved by
the gospel that Moses believed and David believed and Peter
and Paul. It's an eternal gospel. It's
an eternal gospel. When Manasseh was called an old
disciple, it's not a reference to how old he was or how long
he'd been a believer. You know, I, could not tell you
when I was saved. I know there's, I've heard a
preacher, and it really, I remember it really bothered me. He said,
if you break your leg, you know when it happened. And if you're
saved, you'll know when it happened. Well, my answer to that is I
don't remember when I was born. I can't remember it. I can't
remember anything the first memory I have is driving a tricycle
off of a porch. I can remember doing that. And
that's the earliest memory I have. I can remember going down with
that tricycle into the ground. I don't remember anything before
that. Now just because I can't remember when I was born doesn't
mean I wasn't born. I was born. Now, if you know the very second
you were saved, fine. If you have no idea when you
were saved, fine. The issue is, do you believe
the gospel now? That's the issue. Don't try to figure out. I bet
just about every time we baptize somebody, somebody thinks, well,
maybe I wasn't saved when I was first baptized, and I need to
be baptized. Well, you know, maybe you weren't. If you're always trying to look
for something to think, I would say then, then, then, you're
always going to come up short somehow. You're going to come
up, look to Christ right now. He believed the eternal gospel. I love what Paul said to Timothy
or to the church at Philippi. He said to write the same things
to you. The same things. I tell you what, I hope if the
Lord gives me another 10, 20 years preaching, you're going
to say, man, that fellow never says anything different. He says
the same things. And when I'm talking about saying
the same things, I'm not talking about just grinding out the same
things. I'm talking about the newness
of the gospel. You see, the gospel is always new. It's always new. When God gives
us the grace to hear it, we hear it as news. Not something old,
not something that I already believe. No, it comes as news. Here's what perseverance is.
Perseverance isn't remaining religious. A lot of people do
that. A lot of people stay religious all the way till they die and
they bury them and talk about what a great Christian they were
and all that kind of stuff and how good they were. That's not
what perseverance is. Perseverance is continuing to
look to Christ only all the way to the end. That's what perseverance
is and nothing less than that. We are made partakers of Christ
if we hold the beginning of our confidence. Now, I don't know
when I was first saved, but I do know this. When I was first saved
is when I first to look to Christ alone as all I had. That's the
beginning of my confidence. And you never graduate past that. We're wholly unblameable and
unreprovable in his sight if we hold Confidence and the rejoicing
of the hope, firm to the end. If we're not moved from the hope
of the gospel. Now that's what perseverance
is. I hope by the grace of God that
I'm never moved from this. The Lord Jesus Christ is all
I have. I don't have anything else. I
can't look to my preaching. I can't look to my performance.
I can't look to my anything about me. All that does is fill me
with confusion. Christ Jesus the Lord is all
I have. And I don't want anything else.
I'm satisfied with that. Now that's what Manasseh was.
He was an old disciple. He believed the old message.
He believed that eternal gospel of the grace of God. And I love this passage of scripture
in Lamentations chapter three. Now I know this is the Lord's
speech. One of these days, read the book
of Lamentations and read it as everything that is said is Christ
speaking. Everything. Who else could say,
I am the man that has seen affliction. Who else can say, is there any
sorrow like my sorrow, wherewith the Lord afflicted me in the
day of his fierce anger? This is Christ speaking, but
it's also Jeremiah speaking. And he talks about the wormwood
and the gall and lamentations chapter three, but then he says
this, I recall to my mind. You know what we're talking about
remembering? This I recall to my mind. Therefore I have hope it's of
the Lord's mercies. We are not consumed because his
compassions fail not. They are new every morning. That's the gospel. They're new
every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. Now, every believer is an old
disciple. However long it is that God know
them, that's how old they are. They're an old disciple. And
the evidence of being an old disciple is the gospel's new. It's new. And it's all I have,
and it's all I want. You have to be old to see the
gospel as new. Manasseh, a certain old disciple. Let's pray.