Preaching the Gospel

Q: What does the Bible say about reconciliation?

The Bible teaches that God reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, who bore our sins. Reconciliation is a central theme in the Bible, illustrated in 2 Corinthians 5:18-21. This passage states that God reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, making peace between Himself and humanity. As sinners, we were once enemies of God, but through Christ’s sacrificial atonement, we are now considered His friends and children. This reconciliation is a work entirely of God, underscoring His sovereignty in bringing about salvation. It means that God's anger towards sin has been satisfied in Christ, allowing us to approach Him without fear of condemnation.

Q: How do we know God's sovereignty is true in salvation?

God's sovereignty in salvation is affirmed through Scripture, indicating that all things related to salvation are orchestrated by Him. God's sovereignty is a foundational doctrine within Reformed theology, clearly established in passages like Romans 8:28-30 and Ephesians 1:4-5. These scriptures reveal that God's control extends to His elect, effective in their salvation. When Scripture states, 'All things are of God,' it encompasses creation, providence, and salvation, emphasizing that faith and repentance are gifts from Him. This doctrine not only reassures believers of their security in salvation but also illustrates that God orchestrates every circumstance to bring His chosen ones to repentance and faith in Christ.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to understand the sovereignty of God?

Understanding God's sovereignty brings comfort and assurance that He actively governs all aspects of our lives. The sovereignty of God is crucial for Christians as it underpins our understanding of His nature and the promise of His providence. In times of trial and uncertainty, acknowledging that God is in control provides peace, knowing that all circumstances serve His purpose. As Paul writes in Romans 8:28, 'We know that all things work together for good to those who love God,' which reassures us that God orchestrates our lives for His glory and our ultimate good. This understanding fosters a deep trust in God's plan, whether we face challenges or blessings, since nothing occurs outside of His sovereign will.

Now let's open our Bibles tonight
to the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians 5. I'm going to be
reading verses 18 through 21. Now there
are only four verses. only four verses in my text,
only four verses. But if by the grace of God you
and I can lay hold on the things that are taught to us in these
four verses, we'll have a threefold blessing. We'll have, number one, a foundation
which cannot be shaken. We'll be settled and established
on the power and the grace of our God, a foundation that cannot
be shaken. And secondly, we'll have a good
hope, a good hope in Christ Jesus our
Lord, a good hope of eternal life. That's what these verses
deal with. And thirdly, in time of trial
we'll have the greatest comfort that our sovereign almighty God
worketh all things after the counsel of his own will for his
glory and for our good. Foundation, hope, and peace and
comfort. Now let me read these verses.
2 Corinthians 5.18, and all things are of God. All things are of
God. Paul probably refers here to
the preceding verse, the statement here in verse 17. Look at it
with me. Therefore if any man be in Christ,
in Christ, He is a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. And these all things are of God. When a man is in Christ, and
when a man becomes a new creature, he has a new name. He has a new
nature. He has a new heart. He has a
new family. He has a new attitude. He has
a new direction. All things become new, and all
these things are of God. You see, repentance toward God,
we repent, but God enables us to repent. See, the goodness
of God leads us to repentance. Our repentance is of God. All
things are of God. When we believe, we do believe. But God enables us to believe.
Even faith is the gift of God. Paul wrote in Ephesians, for
by grace are you saved through faith. But that's not of yourselves. It's the gift of God. You see,
it is not only given unto us to suffer for Him, but to believe
on Him. That's the gift of God, to believe
on Christ. So all things are of God. If I have a new heart, God said,
I'll take the stony heart out and give you a heart of flesh.
He gave it. All things in this new creation,
in this new creature, in this believer are of God. But I believe
that this is true on a wider scale, on a much wider scale. All things are of God, verse
18, and all things are of God. In creation, all things are of
God. In providence, all things are
of God. In salvation, all things are
of God. That's what Steve read to us
just a few moments ago. He's the first cause of all things. The Lord rules over all. Our
Master said, all authority is given unto me in heaven and earth.
He said again, all power over all flesh is given unto me, that
I should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given me.
The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness are the world and
they that dwell therein. He established it upon the floods.
He established it upon the seas. He rules over all. Nebuchadnezzar
said, when my senses returned to me, he said, I praise the
Most High God who rules in the armies of heaven. and among the
inhabitants of the earth, and giveth it to whom he will." All
things are of God. Not only in the new creation,
but in the old creation. Not only in a believer believing,
but in providence that leads him to believe. And not only
in a believer being saved, but in that salvation by which he's
saved. It's of God. All things are of
God. Somebody said the wind that blows, the rain that falls, the
snow that covers the earth, the flowers that bloom, the sparrow
that falls, the home, the place, the date of birth are of God. The covenant of love, the gospel
of grace, the Savior who died for men, the man who preaches,
the man who hears, and the faith that saves from sin. Do you believe that? All things
are of God. All things are of God. Verse
18, all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. I was sitting there thinking
about this reconciliation. He, this great God of all power
and might and sovereignty, He, according to His divine will
and purpose, hath reconciled. What does that mean? Well, it
means we who were enemies are now friends. We who were strangers
are now sons. Rebels are now accepted in the
Beloved. What a great and wonderful work. And it can only be done by a
sovereign God who rules over all things. That's the only one
who can do it. The only one who can do it. That's
the reason Paul starts out with this, all things are of God.
In order to reconcile us, in order to save us, in order to
bring us who are so far away to Himself willingly, actually
running to Christ, then all things have got to be of God. I thought
about when, to go back to the creation, the sun is a certain
distance from the earth. God put it there. is any closer,
any farther away, think of the consequences. The stars in their
certain places, the planets, all on schedule. The air we breathe,
the oxygen is maintained. The carbon dioxide and the oxygen
in the plants, no matter how much fish we take out of the
sea, it's still full. No matter how much air we breathe
out of the atmosphere, it still sustains all the lungs that breathe it.
No matter how much water we drink, there's plenty of water. And
the ground keeps bearing fruit. No matter how much we use it
and reuse it, it still bears fruit. All things are of God
in creation. But all things are of God in
providence. I'll skip the creation of man
and the fall. Let's just come down to Israel. God ordained Israel to be in
Egypt. Well, God has to be almighty
to get them into Egypt. Here's a little group of 70 people,
Jacob and his sons and his people. And he works all this out for
Joseph to be on the throne in Egypt, and then he sends a famine,
sends seven years of plenty to take care of them when he gets
there. And seven years of famine to make them go there. See, he's
got to control the rain. He has to control The rain, he
has to control the power of the earth to give nourishment to
grow this barley, corn, wheat, rye, whatever, and they fill
their silos and then it stops raining. And so Jacob and his
70 have to go to Egypt. But they have 400 years in captivity. They don't leave, they stay there
in captivity. Now, how's he going to deliver
them? Well, he's got to control them through his permission or
directive will to the very heart of Pharaoh who demands that all
the Jewish boys be slain. And Moses' mother, knowing he
was a proper child, she gave her the ingenuity and the desire
to take that little boy and build a cradle of reeds and leaves
and set him out there in the water and his little sister over
here to watch him. What's to keep a crocodile from
getting him? God. What's to keep a snake from biting
him? God. What's to prevent somebody else
from finding him besides Pharaoh's daughter? Pharaoh's daughter
came there at that exact moment and saw that little boy. Why
was her heart kindled with love for him? God controls all things
of God. And then Pharaoh bucked the Lord's
plagues and so forth And finally, the one plague to which he surrendered,
by which God led the Israelites out of Egypt, was the plague
of blood that pictured Christ and the Passover. And then come
down to the time that Herod decided that the whole world should be
taxed. Christ had got to be born in Bethlehem. Out of Bethlehem
shall he come whose goings forth is from everlasting." He's got
to be born in Bethlehem. How's he going to get Mary, the
virgin with child? Well, how's he going to get a
virgin with child to begin with? You see, God controls all things. All things are of God. And Herod
decides he's going to tax the whole world. So Mary and Joseph
had to go to Bethlehem. Right at the time she was nine
months pregnant. And there the child was born.
How's he going to get down in Egypt? He said, I'll call my
son out of Egypt. Well, persecution drove him to
Egypt. How's he going to be raised in
Nazareth? That's where Joseph stopped when he was coming back
from Egypt and afraid to go to Jerusalem. Then how's he going to open your
heart to receive him? You see, all things are of God.
hath reconciled us to himself. He even, a sinner's got to hear the gospel.
And a sinner's got to find out he's a sinner. And he's got to,
he's got to receive that gospel willingly. He's got to thirst
for it and hunger for it and desire it. And be brought to
see it's the only gospel. And God does that too. All things
are of God in creation, providence, and salvation. When God sets
his affection and his love on an individual, he makes that
person willing. He brings that. Perseverance
is of God. You continue by the grace of
God. You're kept by the power. All things are of God. You see
that? Verse 18, All things are of God
who hath reconciled us, enemies, sinners, by nature, by birth,
by choice, He has made us sons and friends, accepted us in the
beloved, and He's reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ. That's how God reconciled us.
He reconciled us by Jesus Christ. He made His Son our substitute. You see, it takes the power of
God to save a sinner in all aspects of that salvation. God in His
wisdom In other words, the law was put upon man. Man's got to
obey the law. Man's sinned, so man's got to
die under the judgment and justice of God. Well, how is God going
to save and reconcile and redeem that sinner, this sinner, those
sinners, consistent with His justice in a way that His law
will be honored and magnified? Only God can do that. And so
God Himself became a man. God can satisfy all that God
requires, but a man can't. But a man can suffer, God can't
suffer. So God became a man, and both
satisfied being who he is, and suffered being what he became.
You see, that's the wisdom of God. And the reason that he could
bear the sins of so many is because of his infinite character and
infinite glory. And that's what this is saying.
And all things of God who hath according to his purpose and
will by his power actually reconciled us. Peace is declared. God hath
accepted us. God hath made us righteous and
holy and accepted and unblameable to himself. Solely, completely,
absolutely by Jesus Christ. Not by any decision we made or
faithfulness or good works. It's only by Jesus Christ. And God hath given to us that
gospel, that ministry of reconciliation. In other words, don't look for
dreams. You say, how's a man going to discover this gospel
of reconciliation? He's given it to men. He's put
it in men. He has sent me. Don't look for
a dream or a vision. Don't wait for an angel to come.
Don't put your confidence in religious feelings and forms
and traditions. Hear a man. This treasure is
an earthen vessel. This good news is preached by
men. Turn, if you will, to Luke chapter
16. Listen to what our Lord says
over here in Luke chapter 10. Luke chapter 10. Listen to this. In Luke the 10th chapter, in
verse 16, that's where Luke 10, verse 16. Our Lord's speaking
to His disciples. He that heareth you, heareth
me. And he that despiseth you, despiseth
me. These are men He's talking to.
Peter, James, and John. These are men, men like you and
me, men whom He's sending out to preach this good news, this
gospel. See, all things are of God. His purpose, His will, His
covenant, His glory, salvation is all of God. "...who hath reconciled
us to Himself by Jesus Christ." But His people must be made willing. They must come to love that gospel,
believe that gospel. They come willing to Christ.
They submit and surrender. But that gospel of reconciliation
and message of reconciliation is in the hands of men. And when our Lord says, he that
heareth you, heareth me. And he that despiseth you, despiseth
me. And he that despiseth me, despiseth
him that sent me. He's given to us this ministry
of reconciliation. Now look at verse 19 in our text. To where? That is namely. Here's
our ministry. Here's our message to what it
means namely. Namely that God was in Christ.
God was in Christ. God was actually in Jesus. So what are you preaching by
the way? I'm preaching that Jesus Christ is none other than God
Himself. The same God who created all
things, who purposed all things, who by His divine will purposes
and controls all providence, and sent his son into this world. Jesus Christ who came is God. I am a father of one. If you'll
hold that place and turn to John chapter 1, just a moment, I'm
going to show you three or four scriptures. John chapter 1. Isaiah said this, Under us a
child is born, under us a son is given, and thou shalt call
his name Wonderful Counselor the Mighty God. the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. That's who Jesus Christ is, the
Everlasting Father. And here in John 1, listen, in
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God, and all things were made by Him, and without Him
was not anything made that was made, and in Him was life. Now
verse 14, And that word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and
we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father, full of grace and truth. Who is Jesus Christ? He's God. God was in Christ. God himself
was in Christ. Now God, the Lord our God is
one God. Three persons, one. Father, Son,
Holy Spirit, but they're one. I can't explain that. We'll just
have to wait and find out in glory about that. But the Lord
Jesus Christ is God. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God, yet made himself of no reputation and took on
himself in the form of a servant. And this verse in my text says
God was in Christ. Now turn to Acts 20, verse 28.
Listen to this. Acts 20, verse 28. Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves
and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you
overseers." Acts 20, 28. The last line, to feed the church
of God, the church of God which he purchased with his own blood. Whose blood? God. Great is the
mystery of godliness. God was manifest in human flesh. all things are of God, who hath
according to his will and purpose and by his power reconciled us
to himself by Jesus Christ and given us this word of reconciliation
which is God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. Now turn
to Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews the first chapter. You
say these things are elementary. My, my, they're profound, they're
elementary, they're things you've heard all your life, but we're
going to have to hear them here too. And it says in Hebrews 1, God, verse 1, who at sundry times
and in different manners spake in time past to the fathers by
the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things. by whom he made the
worlds, who being the brightness of his glory, the exact or express
image of his person, who upholdeth all things by the word of his
power, when he hath by himself purged our sins. Who did it?
God did it. Sat down at the right hand of
the majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels,
as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
For unto which of the angels said God the Father at any time,
Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And again, I'll
be a father to him, and he shall be to me a son. And again, watch
this, when he bringeth the first begotten into the world, he said,
Let all the angels of God worship him. There's only one who's worshiped,
and that's God. And Christ is worshipped because
he is God, read on. And of the angels he saith, who
maketh his angels spirit, his ministers a flame of fire, but
to the Son he saith. What does he say to the Son?
What does he say to our Redeemer Christ? Thy throne, O God. Thy throne, O God. You know,
the one with whom we have to do is the one who loved us and
gave himself for us. That's exactly. The One with
whom we have to do. The One before whose throne we'll
stand. The Father judges no man. He's
committed all judgment to the Son. He is the One who loved
us and gave Himself for us. He's our God. Unto the Son, He
saith, verse 8, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. A scepter
of righteousness is the scepter of Thy kingdom. Now back to the
text. Let me move on. This is our message that God
was in Christ. God was in Christ. Christ is
God. Reconciling the world unto himself,
and listen, actually not imputing, not imputing their trespasses
unto them. Not, what's the word impute?
It's charging, it's reckoning, it's accounting, and in Christ
God actually does not charge or reckon not one sin against
those for whom Christ died. I mean past, present, and future. Sins of omission, commission,
secret sins, presumptuous sins, sins of thought, sins of imagination,
sins of attitude, sins of action. There is not one single sin or
transgression or iniquity recorded or remembered or hailed against
one of God's children. We are in Christ holy, unblameable
and unrepentable. Perfect. That's right. Not charging
this. Why doesn't God charge us our
sins to us? Because He charged them to Christ. Our sins were laid on Him. He
was wounded for our transgressions. For our iniquities, the chastisement
of our peace was upon Him by stripes, we're healed, healed
completely. Did you hear that? Not imputing their trespasses
unto us, and He has committed to us, not to the angels, not
to special messengers, to men. This word of reconciliation.
God has, reconciliation, peace. No wrath, no judgment. There's
therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ. No
judgment, if you're in Christ. That can't be said of one who's
in the church, one who's in religion, or even one who's in the pulpit.
But it's said of all who are in Christ. Now then, verse 20, now then. Now then. Oh, what a word, now
then. Now then. These things being
true. that all things are of God. He's
able. This is what Abraham believed,
that God was able. You see, it's only a sovereign
God who can save. I hear people seem to imply that,
well, God's limited in certain things. Unlimited, God can't
save. When you consider all the things
that must be done in the redemption of a sinner, it takes a sovereign
God. You take a person, a person who
comes to hear, just in hearing the gospel. If God didn't control
and overrule all things, you may be down there hearing someone's
not preaching the gospel. But God somehow or other works
out in your life, and in your contacts, and in the people you
know, and in your desires, Somehow to bring your path to cross somebody,
one of his men to whom he has committed this word of reconciliation,
this true gospel, and you hear it. And you know even your general
health must be in such a state that you're willing to listen. Your general attitude's got to
be in such a state that you will hear the man. And you'll not
let it slip away, but you'll go away even, and he keeps back
the birds of Satan to keep them from taking their seed out of
your mouth, so you'll keep thinking on this and come back and hear
it again. See what I'm saying? It takes a sovereign God to save
a sinner. All things of God. It takes a
sovereign God to purpose it. It takes a sovereign God to will
it. It takes a sovereign God to picture it. It takes a sovereign
God to execute it? You know the men who crucified
Christ, why did they just happen to rest Him on that particular
day? It had to be on that day. Why did they pick a cross? Why
did they do it outside the city walls? Why didn't they do it
in the city walls? It had to be outside the city walls. Why
did Judas betray Him and sell Him for thirty pieces of silver?
Why did Peter deny? Why all this that had to be fulfilled? Why did Joseph of Arimathea request
that he be buried in his tomb? Why didn't they throw him in
the Sea of Galilee? Why did they roll a stone? All
things of God. And it comes right on. It just
boggles your mind when you start thinking about it. It becomes
so great you just don't know how to put it together. And you
trace your life as God Almighty has overruled, and overcome things
in your life and brought you to this place, or that place,
or some other place where you heard the gospel. I think about how you met Becky,
and I know you're sitting there thinking about that now. Bob
wasn't interested in religion in any shape, form, or fashion.
Oh, he's like all the rest of everybody else you know, but
running a boat dock down in South Central Kentucky. And the Kentucky
Parks are going to send him to Cincinnati. There's nobody preaching
the gospel up there at that state fair, but you've got to go there
to come here. It's remarkable. He didn't want
to go. They sent him to the state fair
to run a booth. And Five Cove, who else do you
work for? Five Cove told Becky she had
to go to the same fair. She didn't want to go either. So there's two reluctant, indifferent
Jonas down there in a state fire doing what they didn't want to
do. And they met each other. And she brought him up here and
he sat down in that pew and heard the gospel. God. All things of God. It takes a
sovereign God to save a sinner. You've got to find Him. He knows
where He is. He's got to find Him. He's got to convict Him.
He's got to bring Him to Christ. He's got to give Christ to Him. All things are of God. Now then,
this being true, that all things are of God, and He has reconciled
us, and He has given us this ministry of reconciliation. He
has taught us the message which is Jesus Christ. Now then, we
are ambassadors for Christ. What's an ambassador? He's a
messenger. He's a servant. I talk about preaching the gospel,
I don't have any right to preach anything but the gospel. That's
what God sent me to preach, what He sends you to preach, the gospel.
I don't have any right. The apostle Paul said this, though
I preach the gospel, I don't have anything to glory in, worries
me if I don't preach it. I'm an ambassador of Christ.
What is Christ? He's the Savior. I'm not just
an ambassador of God, I'm an ambassador of Christ. See that,
Charlie? God in Christ. I'm not an ambassador
of the Baptist church, or the Calvinist, or the Reformed. I'm
an ambassador of Christ. What's this though? As though
God Himself did beseech you by us. I know we're sitting here
tonight listening to a man talk, a man preach, but I'll tell you
this. If that man is an ambassador
of Christ, if God did call whomever, me or whatever man or preacher
stands, if God did call him and God did speak through him, and
he's an ambassador of Christ, you're hearing God. You're hearing
God. That's what it is. As though
God did beseech you by us. You're hearing God. And I'll
tell you, if we hear from God, we're going to have to hear it
through a man. I know these preachers on television talk about God
said certain things to them. And one night, one of them came
on. He said, now, this afternoon
I was praying and God said to me, Jimmy, I turned to Darth
and I said, God didn't say that to him. I wish he wouldn't lie
like that. I mean, here, if God ever called
your name, said something to you. Now, be honest. Straightforward,
I tell the truth. God Almighty actually said something
to you. Nobody. But God speaks to us
through His Word. Now I can truly say that God
said this, I'm reading it. All Scripture is God breathed,
God spoken. So if you hear it from God, you're
going to hear it through a man. That's exactly right now. You're
going to hear it from a man. as though God did beseech you
by us. Now, we pray you in Christ's
stead. We pray you in Christ's stead.
Christ is here, but He's not preaching. I am, but He's preaching
through me. I want to say that carefully. Be ye reconciled to God. Now, two things are here. Be
ye reconciled to God. Two things here. Number one,
he is reconciled. That's what he said up there.
God in Christ, God was in Christ, verse 19. He reconciling the
world to himself. Verse 18 said he has reconciled
us to himself by Christ. God's anger and God's wrath and
God's judgment against our sins is no longer there. Isn't that
true, Cecil? It's no longer there. God loved
us. everlasting love, infinite love. And he sent Christ down
here and Christ has done all that he required, all that God
demanded. And God's reconciled. Saul on
the road to Damascus was not reconciled to God, but God was
reconciled to him. That's right. He was mad. He made havoc of the church.
He spewed out all kind of venom against Jesus Christ. But Christ
loved him. That's right, Christ loved him.
Christ was reconciled to him. Christ died for him. But he wasn't
reconciled to God. What had to take place? He had
to be broken. He had to be stripped. He had
to be humbled. He had to be brought down. And
that's what it's saying here, there's two things. First, verse
21, God the Father, He, for He hath made Him the Son to be seen
for us. who knew no sin, Christ knew
no sin, we may be made the righteousness of God in him. God has no reason
to be angry with us if we're in Christ, does he? God has no
reason to be angry with us. We're righteous in Christ. Now
he says in verse 20, that last line, you be reconciled to God. Now Jesus Christ, by his life
and death, reconciled us to God. The Holy Spirit comes, quickens,
regenerates us, and by His power, He works a work of grace in our
hearts and breaks down the enmity and the rebellion and makes us
be reconciled to God. That's right. That's the work
of grace. You actually, it's like Steve
read that scripture. We actually love that scripture.
There's some people who hate the sovereignty of God. We love
it. Some people who hate the purpose of God, we love it. Some
people who hate the substitutionary work of Christ, we love it. Some
people who despise the free and sovereign grace of God, we love
it. What's happened? We're reconciled to God. We're
not angry. Like Eli, he said, it's the Lord,
let him do what he will. It's like Job, the Lord gave
and the Lord taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
We're reconciled to God. Old Brother Barnard told a story
one time, some of you remember it. He said when he pastored
in Texas, that there was an old gentleman, a member of the church
there named Brother Burke. And every once in a while on
Wednesday night, Brother Burke would stand up at the close of
the service and he'd say, Brother Pastor, he'd say, did I ever
tell you how the Lord saved me? Brother Barnard thought, yeah,
three or four times, but tell us again. And he said Brother
Burke would tell this story of how his wife was a believer and
how he hated church, hated preachers, didn't have any use for the gospel.
He just was a real rebel, real enemy of the gospel. But his
wife would go to church. They'd have a meeting on Friday
night, on Saturday night, Well, they'd have a meeting on Saturday
night, Sunday morning, and Sunday night, once a month. Had a traveling
preacher. They'd have service at their
church on Saturday night, Sunday morning, and Sunday night. And
so he said, for some reason or other, one Saturday, I decided
to go to church with my wife. He said, I hadn't been in years
and years and years, but something, what was that something? That's
God working. He said, something that made
me want to go to church. and hear the preacher. So he
said, I went with her. I got everything done and that
Saturday we got in the wagon and we rode to church. And he
said, I no more sat down until that preacher started talking
about me. And he said, I sat there and
I squirmed and I fidgeted and that preacher just kept preaching
to me. He wasn't preaching to anybody there but me. He just
kept talking about me. And he said, I got some man. And I thought, if they ever get
out of here, I'll never come back. And he said, when the service
was over, he said, I just stomped out, up the aisle, out the door,
went out and sat in the wagon. And he said, my wife came out
and she said, what's wrong with you? He said, I don't think it's
right for that preacher to stand up there in front of all those
people and talk about me that way. She just smiled, you know. That's
God working. And so they went home. He said,
I'll never go back. I guarantee you that. I'll never,
ever go back again with you church. So the next morning, He got up
and milked the cows and fed the chickens and duned around. He
said, I just had to go back. But he said, I told my wife,
he said, if that preacher gets on me this morning, I'm going
to whip him after church. He said, he don't talk about
me that way. So he said, I went in and sat down. He took up where
he left off that night before. He said, he just told everything
about me worked me over good, and he said, after service over,
I stomped out again. Stomped out, got mad, sat in
the buggy, waited on her. She came out and said, I'll never
come back again, I guarantee you. I'll never go to church
with you again. She just smiled. See, we know what's going on
there. God's reconciled us in Christ. We've got to be reconciled. And
God has to strip us and break us and humble us and shut our
big mouths, strip us and lay us low, bring us to Christ willingly,
bring us to Christ submitting to Him. Be ye reconciled. If you're ever saved, you're
going to be reconciled to God. No matter what God does, what
He says, it's Amen and Amen. He's going to take the starch
out. He said, I went home. He said, that afternoon, my wife
got sick. And he said, she just told me,
she said, well, I'm not going to be able to make it to church.
She said, I just feel too bad. And we got a bite of supper,
and she went and went to bed. And he said, I came to the room
and started putting on my clothes, and she said, where are you going?
He said, I'm going to church. She said, I thought you were
never going back again. He said, I'm going one more time.
One more time. One more time. By yourself. It
had to go. I tell you, when God starts working
in a man's heart, shutting him up, stripping him, and bringing
him down, revealing Christ, he'd go back and hear the gospel.
You couldn't run him off with a ten-foot pole. And he said,
I went back, and he said, he started again Sunday night. Every
word he said was for me. Just for me, as if there wasn't
anybody else there. And he said, along about the
middle of the message, I just got up in my seat, I walked down
to the front, and I said, Preacher, you can stop talking about me,
because everything you said is true. It's all true. I'm a sinner, and I need help.
I need mercy. I need God. And he said that night on my
way home, the Lord saved me. And on my way home, he said,
it seemed like the wind whistling through the pine trees said,
glad you're saved, Brother Burr. That's just what the wind said
to him. And he said, as I drove by the creek, rippling over the
rocks, the creek seemed to say, glad God saved you, Brother Bert.
And he said, I got home and I put the buggy up and put the horse
up and he kind of walked around the yard a little bit and he
said, I stepped up on the porch and opened the front door and
my wife said, Lord saved you, didn't he? He came in the bedroom and he
said, how did you know that? She said, I heard you coming
up the walk singing amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved
a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm
found. I'm blind, but now I see. That's what it is. That's what
it is. All things are of God. This salvation is all of God. This purpose, this covenant,
this kingdom is all of God. And I thank God it is, otherwise
we wouldn't be saved. He has to be a sovereign God
to save a lost sinner. He has to have control over the
elements. He has to have control over wicked
men. He has to bring you to Himself.
He has to have control over you. Total, absolute control. The
heart of the King in the hands of the Lord. He told Pharaoh,
I've raised you up to show my power in you. I pray God by His
grace has raised me up to show His grace in me. I don't want
Him raising me up to show what I am. Because if He leaves me
alone, I'll show what I am. But I want Him to raise me and
He raises us up. It's not of Him that will it.
It's not of Him that runs it. It's of God that shows mercy.
And God has to have power over the mercy. That's right. He has to have the power, the
absolute power to Himself come into this world in a human body. That's an indescribable supernatural
miracle for God to become a man and for God to die in that flesh
and rise again. But I'm still a rebel. He may
reconcile the world to Himself, but I'm still a rebel, so He's
going to un-rebel me. And that's what He does. He takes
the enmity out. That's right. He did that to
you. He did every one of you. Everyone of those who have brought
to Christ are going to come broken, a broken heart, a contrite spirit,
submissive, and it's under the preaching of the Gospel. That's
it, under the preaching of the Gospel. I'll tell you what will
humble us the more we hear about who He is. His power and might
and majesty and holiness and what Christ did. He loved me. He gave Himself for me. and who
I am. So when the preacher gets personal,
thank God. When you start squirming under
the message, thank God. Dead men don't squirm. Dead men don't squirm. Spurgeon
said, I'd heap rather a man get mad listening to me preach than
to remain neutral.

Preaching the Gospel

What does the Bible say about reconciliation?

How do we know God's sovereignty is true in salvation?

Why is it important for Christians to understand the sovereignty of God?

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Preaching the Gospel

What does the Bible say about reconciliation?

How do we know God's sovereignty is true in salvation?

Why is it important for Christians to understand the sovereignty of God?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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