What Can A Sinner Do?

Q: What does the Bible say about what a sinner can do?

The Bible teaches that a sinner can take their place before God, seek the Lord, ask for mercy, and walk in the light given to them. According to the sermon, a sinner's response to God's grace involves several key actions. Initially, a sinner must recognize their sinful state and come before God as they are. The Bible teaches that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). This acknowledgment is crucial because Christ came to save sinners, as seen in 1 Timothy 1:15, where it states Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Secondly, sinners are encouraged to seek the Lord, for it is written in Jeremiah 29:13, 'You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.' This pursuit of God often leads to a genuine encounter with Him through His Word and those who preach it. Lastly, sinners are called to ask for mercy and salvation, as illustrated in Matthew 7:7, 'Ask, and it will be given to you.' This active seeking and humble approach align with the biblical understanding of salvation by grace, where God's mercy is freely offered to the undeserving.

Q: How do we know that salvation is by grace alone?

Salvation is by grace alone as God's gift, unearned and unmerited, reflecting the essence of His mercy. In the sermon, the preacher highlights that salvation cannot be earned or deserved because all humanity has sinned. Romans 5:8 affirms that 'God demonstrated His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.' This underscores the notion that salvation is a gift influenced solely by God's grace, not human effort. The preacher emphasizes that we are mercy beggars, unable to compel God to act on our behalf through our deeds. Ephesians 2:8-9 affirms this truth, stating, 'For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.' Therefore, salvation being entirely by grace reflects God’s unmerited favor towards sinners, making it accessible to all who humbly call upon Him.

Q: Why is seeking the Lord important for Christians?

Seeking the Lord is essential for Christians as it leads to a deeper relationship with Him and understanding of His will. The sermon stresses the importance of seeking the Lord as a vital part of the Christian faith. Scripture encourages believers to seek God earnestly, as seen in Isaiah 55:6, which says, 'Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.' This active pursuit signifies a desire for an intimate relationship with God, which can only deepen one's understanding of His character and purpose. The preacher mentions examples of individuals in the Bible who sought God, such as the Ethiopian eunuch and Cornelius, showing that their earnest seeking led them to profound encounters with God's truth. Furthermore, seeking God helps believers to walk in His light and receive further revelation of His grace, as well as assurance of their salvation.

Q: What can I do if I struggle with assurance of salvation?

If you're struggling with assurance, seek the Lord in His Word, ask for mercy, and trust in His promises. In the sermon, the preacher addresses those who believe in Christ yet struggle with assurance of their salvation. He encourages individuals to take their concerns to the Lord, emphasizing that doubts are common but can be addressed through sincere seeking and asking. The act of seeking God's presence in His Word is crucial, as Paul wrote in Romans 10:17, 'So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.' Believers are invited to trust in the sufficiency of Christ's work on the cross for their salvation, as assured in John 6:37, where Christ says, 'All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.' Seeking the Lord and asking for reassurance is a vital step in overcoming doubt, as it reflects a heart genuinely desiring relationship and understanding of God's mercy.

Q: What is the role of faith in salvation according to the sermon?

Faith is the means by which sinners receive salvation, believing in the work of Christ as their only hope. The sermon articulates that faith plays a central role in salvation, as articulated in John 6:29, where Jesus declares, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.' This faith acknowledges Christ's sacrificial death as sufficient to pay for sin and restore the relationship between God and sinners. The preacher highlights that true faith results in assurance and confidence in salvation, with examples from Scripture affirming that believers can claim their inheritance as children of God (Romans 8:16-17). Faith must not be placed in one's feelings or performances but solely in the person and work of Jesus Christ, who promises to sustain those who come to Him in realizing their need for grace.

I want to speak to you today
on the subject, What Can a Sinner Do? Now, I'm reading from my
text, John the 6th chapter, verse 29. John 6, 29. Now, listen to the Word. Then
said they unto Christ, What shall we do that we might work the
works of God? shall we do? And Jesus answered
and said unto them, This is the work of God, that you believe
on him whom he hath sent." Now, that's my text. What shall we
do? What can we do to work the works
of God? Now, when a man preaches the
Word of God to a congregation as large as this TV audience. And I recognize that this station
reaches many, many, many people all over West Virginia and Kentucky
and Southern Ohio. And when a man preaches the Word
of God to this many people, there are always five classes of people
in the audience, five classes. Now watch this carefully. Number
one, They're all sinners. Everybody listening to my voice
is a sinner. That's what the Word of God says.
Whether you're in the pulpit or the pew, whether you're in
the church or in the world, you're a sinner. The Word of God says
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All we like
sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. And Romans 3 says there's none
good, No, not one. There's none that understand
it. There's none that seeketh God. They all together become
unprofitable. Sin is the common disease of
all flesh. The Scripture tells us, by one
man sin entered this world, and death by sin. So death passed
upon all men, for all have sinned. So that's true, isn't it? Everybody
listening to my voice, it doesn't matter how old you are, It doesn't
matter who you are, you are a sinner and a sinner's speaking to you.
And secondly, there are people out there, there are sinners
out there who have faith in the Son of God. They believe the
Word of God. They believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and they have assurance of that faith. There are people
listening to me right now. I believe I'm one of them. I
believe I can say this. I have assurance, I have confidence
of my interest in Christ, and many of you have confidence of
a saving interest in the Son of God. And you can say with
Job, I know that my Redeemer liveth. I know, I believe the
Word of God, I know that I'm a sinner, and I believe Christ
died for my sins, and I believe on Him, I've trusted Him. I know,
I can say with the Apostle Paul, I know whom I have believed. And I am persuaded that he's
able to keep that which I've committed to him against that
day. I can say with David, the Lord indeed is my shepherd. And with that old man, that old
blind man whom the Lord healed, I can say, I know I was blind
and now I see. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now
I'm found. I was blind, but now I see. You
can say that. I believe I can say that. I believe
many of you can. I'm a sinner saved by the grace
of God. I'm resting totally and completely
on the person and work of Jesus Christ. But thirdly, I said there
are five classes of people out there now. All are sinners. There
are some sinners who are saved and who know it. They have a
confidence in Christ. But thirdly, There are sinners
out there who believe on the Son of God. They truly do. They
can say, I do believe the Bible. I do believe I'm a sinner. I
do believe Christ died for my sins. I do believe that. But
these people struggle with the matter of assurance. Sometimes
they have assurance and sometimes they don't. Sometimes they feel
like they have an interest in Christ and sometimes they don't.
John Newton sort of wrote about this when he wrote that hymn,
"'Tis a Point." I long to know and often it gives me anxious
thought. Do I love the Lord or no? Am I His or am I not? There are people out there who
can say, I do believe that Bible is God's Word. I do believe that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I do believe from my heart, preacher,
that He died on the cross for sinners. And I know that He's
the only Savior. And I believe I'm trusting Him.
I just don't have assurance. I just don't have that confidence
that many people have. I struggle with doubts and fears
about my interest in Christ, about my relationship with the
Son of God. I say with the Apostle Paul,
O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body
of death? And then there's a fourth class.
Now listen, now this is true. I know what I'm talking about.
All the sinners There are some sinners who are saved by the
grace of God and they have rest and peace and joy and comfort
about their relationship with God. There are others who do
believe, but they don't have assurance. They don't have confidence.
They're always troubled about their relationship with God.
Then fourthly, there are people who, plenty of people, who claim
to have salvation, who claim to have eternal life, who claim
to know God, who do not really know Him at all. who do not have
salvation, who do not have eternal life. Christ spoke of them. He
said, Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven. For many, many will say to me
in that day, in the day of judgment, Lord, we preached in your name. We cast out devils in your name.
We did many wonderful works. And then will I profess unto
them, I never knew you. I never knew you. And John wrote
about these people. He said, they went out from us.
They quit. Oh, they served for a while,
they came to church for a while, they witnessed for a while, they
walked with the disciples for a while, and then they left.
And John said, they went out, they left us. They went out from
us. But he said, they never were
of us. Because if they had been of us, they no doubt, no doubt
would have continued with us. So there are people who have
religion, who belong to the church, who make a great profession of
faith, but who really do not know the Lord, who do not know
Christ, who do not have life, and eventually they'll quit.
Eventually they'll drop along the wayside, return like the
Apostle Peter said, like the pig to the water, like the dog
to his vomit, they leave. And then there's a fifth class
of people out there listening to my voice today. They're those
who make no profession of faith in Christ at all. They make no
claim to a hope of eternal life. They've never, never confessed
Christ. They've never claimed to be a
Christian. They've never laid any claim
at all to being a child of God. And it's perhaps they've never
seriously faced the matters of sin and death and judgment and
eternity. Maybe they never have. Maybe
they will today. Perhaps they will. Perhaps the Spirit of God
will kindle an interest in their hearts and regenerate them, bring
them to have an interest in Christ. Well, is there a message, is
there a message, is there a word for all these people who are
listening to this preacher and who listen to other preachers
who preach the Gospel, the Word of God? Is there a word for sinners?
Is there word for sinners saved, and is there word for sinners
saved with no assurance? Is there word for sinners who
think they're saved but who are not? Is there word for those
who have no saving interest in Christ, no profession? Yes, there
is. There is. There is. And this,
that's what I'm going to deal with today. It's the answer to
the question, what can a sinner do? What can a sinner do? All right, this question has
been asked by all sorts of people. You're not the first one that's
asked this question. It's been asked, it's asked several
times in the Word of God. I looked through the scriptures
and I found in John 6, that one I read to you a moment ago, they
came to the Lord and they said, Lord, what shall we do? What
can we do? That we might work the works
of God. In Mark chapter 10, a rich young ruler came to Christ and
he said, good master, what shall I do? What can I do to inherit
eternal life? What can a sinner do? In Acts
2.37, after the apostle Peter had preached on Pentecost and
rebuked them for crucifying the Lord of glory, charged them with
having, with wicked hands, crucified the Son of God, they said, well,
men and brethren, what shall we do? What can we do? What's the way out of the mess
we're in? Acts 16.30, when God sent the earthquake and shook
the prison and released the fetters and chains from the hands and
arms and legs of the Apostle Paul and Silas, and the jailer
came in trembling and fell on his knees in front of Paul and
said, Sirs, what can I do? What must I do to be saved? What
can a sinner do? I intend to answer that question.
I intend to answer that. But I want to lay this foundation
first. Now, it doesn't matter who you
are, listen to me. Because all have sinned and come short of
God's glory. And whatever state you're in right now, you need
to hear these words. First of all, before I answer
the question, what can a sinner do? Let me say this. No man deserves
God's mercy. And my friends, we're mercy beggars. No man deserves God's grace.
We're certainly not going to receive grace because we deserve
it. Grace is undeserved favor, unmerited favor. Mercy is free. And no man can obligate God.
God's not obligated to us. He's not obligated at all except
to deal with us in justice. And whether He saves us or damns
us, He's going to deal with us in justice. If He deals with
us in mercy, that justice will fall on Christ. If He deals with
us in condemnation and judgment, the judgment will fall on us,
but He's going to deal with us as a just God. But no man can
obligate God. We just can't do it. And no man
can in the flesh please God. Now, we've got to understand
that. No man in the flesh, even you people who are saved, you
people who know God, you people who are redeemed, In your flesh,
you don't please God. Your righteousness is a filthy
rags. It's Christ that makes your prayers
acceptable. It's Christ that makes your gifts
acceptable. It's Christ that makes your works
even acceptable. He's our great high priest. Nothing's
acceptable in itself that you and I do, because to be accepted,
it must be perfect, and we don't do anything perfectly. Never
have done anything perfectly. Never said, thought, or have
we ever done anything perfectly. So no man in the flesh can please
God. In the flesh dwelleth no good
thing. And no man by searching or by natural wisdom can find
God. What's higher than heaven, Job
said, what can you know? It's deeper than hell. What can
you find out? It's broader than the sea. Oh, the depths of the riches,
the wonders of the glories, the mysteries of the gospel of the
Son of God. No man by natural wisdom of searching
can find God. He's got to be revealed, revealed
unto us by the Spirit through His Word. And no man can come
to God except the Spirit draw him. Now, that's just so because
our sinful condition is a helpless, hopeless state. Well, what can
a sinner do? Preacher, what can a sinner do?
If you're addressing a bona fide, genuine, self-confessed, Tell
me, what can a sinner do? All right, will you listen? Firstly,
he can take his place before God as a sinner. Now, he can
do that, can he not? All who received his mercy in
the New Testament when Christ walked this earth in the flesh,
all who received his mercy in the flesh, when he was in the
flesh here on this earth, those that were healed by him and redeemed
by him and vested in mercy by Him, they came to Him as sinners.
And those who did not come as sinners were turned away. The
publican in the temple beat upon his chest and cried, God be merciful
to me, the sinner. He came to Christ as a sinner.
The harlot who came and bathed his feet with tears in the home
of the Pharisee, she came as a sinner. She knelt at his feet
and wept, and dried his feet with the hair of her head, and
kissed his feet." That's a humble sinner. The thief on the cross
came as a sinner. He said, Lord, I'm getting what
I deserve, but you've done nothing amiss. Remember me when you come
into your kingdom. The Canaanite woman came to him,
and he said, it's not right to give the children's bread to
dogs. And she said, that's true. I
am a dog. So you can do that, can't you?
You can take your place before God as a sinner. You see, Christ
came into the world to save sinners. When the angel announced his
birth to Joseph, he said, call his name Jesus. He'll save his
people from their sins. In 1 Timothy 1.15, Paul said,
This is a fateful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that
Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. In Luke 19.10,
he said, The Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.
In Romans 5, Paul said, God commended His love toward us in that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He came to save sinners.
If He did not come to save sinners, why did He die as a sacrifice?
Sacrifice is for sin. Blood is to cover sins. A mercy
seat is for sinners. And Christ Jesus came to save
the chief of sinners, the chief of sinners. That's what Paul
said, He came to save sinners of whom I'm the chief. I say
this to you, your sins will not keep you from Christ. He came
to save sinners, the chief of sinners, the greatest of sinners.
He's able to save to the uttermost them that come to God by Him.
Your sins won't keep you from Christ, but your goodness will.
your righteousness will, your religion will. You see, salvation
is all of grace. It's free. Therefore, it's for
those who have nothing to pay. Salvation, redemption, forgiveness
is not for innocent people. It's for guilty people. Mercy
is for miserable people. Salvation is for sinners. One
day our Lord was eating with the publicans and sinners The
religious Pharisee says, well, why is he associating with those
people? And our Lord said to them, the
well do not need a doctor, but they that are sick. You go learn
what that means. I am come not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. I think we, we're kind of straying
away from this thing in present day religion. Everybody in the
church claims to be good. They claim to be pure. They claim
to be holier than thou. They claim to be without sin.
And God has nothing for those kind of people. Christ died for
the ungodly. Christ died for sinners. He came
to save sinners. He said, I didn't come to call
the righteous. I came to call sinners. So that's
what you can do if you're interested in the mercy of God, if you're
interested in the grace of God. If you're interested in a saving
relationship with God, take your place as a sinner at His feet. Secondly, secondly, what can
a sinner do? What can a sinner do? He can
take his place at the feet of Christ as a sinner. Secondly,
he can seek the Lord. The Word of God commands men
to seek the Lord, and it condemns men who do not seek the Lord.
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while
he's nearest. You shall seek me and find me,
he said, when you search for me with all your heart." The
Bible does not say that men cannot seek the Lord. It says they will
not seek the Lord. It says they won't. It says they
don't. There's none that seeketh after
God. But they should. And if they would, they could
find him. If they would, they could find
him. The eunuch was seeking the Lord,
was he not? That Ethiopian eunuch who had
charge of the queen's treasury? Well, he'd gone all the way to
Jerusalem in a chariot to inquire after the Lord. And when he came
back, he hadn't learned anything from those religious fellows
up there, and God sent him a preacher who knew the gospel, sent him
Philip, and Philip taught him the gospel, but he was seeking
the Lord. He was reading the Word of God. Cornelius was seeking
the Lord, a devout man, a troubled man, a sincere man, and God sent
Peter to him to preach the gospel to him. The woman with the issue
of blood was seeking Christ. Don't you remember? She'd wasted
everything she had on false positions. Twelve years, I believe, she'd
had this hemorrhaging. And finally she said, if I can
get to Jesus of Nazareth, if I can but touch his garment,
I'll be made whole. Now that's seeking the Lord.
And she came, crawling on her hands and knees, and finally
reached out and touched him and was made whole. She was seeking
the Lord. The Greeks were seeking the Lord.
They came to the disciples and they said to him, said to the
disciples, sirs, we would see Jesus. We're not interested in
talking to you. We want to hear Him. We want
to see Him. Now, how, preacher, how do you
suggest that I seek the Lord? Well, let me give you some suggestions.
First of all, seek Him. Seek Him, not an experience,
not a feeling. Feelings come and go, and feelings
are deceiving. I trust the Word of God. Nothing
else is worth believing. Don't seek a feeling. You might
find one. Don't seek an experience. There's
a good possibility you may find one. Don't seek the right church.
Seek Him. Him. You shall seek Me, He said,
and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Come
unto Me, Christ said. I'll give you rest. That's one
of the biggest problems today. People are going to the front.
They're going to the pool. They're going to the church.
They're going to the preacher. They're going to the soul winners.
They're going to the Lord. They're going everywhere but
to Christ. Seek Him in His Word, in His Word. Listen to those
who preach the Word of God, who really, truly preach the Word
of God, but don't even follow them. Do like the Bereans. Listen, and then go home and
search the Scriptures to see if these things be so. That's
what I would recommend that you do. Don't follow a man. If one
fellow can talk you into a profession, another fellow will talk you
out of it. If one man talked you into a religious position
and another man talked you out of it, you'll talk yourself out
of it or somebody will. But if you ever are taught of
God, taught of God, our Lord said, No man can come to me except
my Father which sent me draw him. And they shall all be taught
of God. He that hath learned of the Father
cometh unto me. So seek him in his Word and seek
him among those who give evidence that they know him. Don't play
the game. Don't go somewhere because they've
got good activities. Don't go to a church because
it's a pretty building. Congregate with people who give
evidence that they know God. And then seek Him with a sincere
heart. If you have to drive a hundred
miles, drive it. If you have to quit your job
and go somewhere else, do it. But find the gospel. Find the
gospel. With a sincere heart, don't play
the game. Yes, sir, that's what a sinner
can do. He can seek the Lord. All right, thirdly, what can
a sinner do? Well, he can take his place before God as a sinner.
He better, because that's the folks Christ came to save. And
then he can seek the Lord as a sinner. And thirdly, he can
ask for mercy. Isn't that simple? Ask for mercy. and ask for salvation. Our Lord
said, Ask, and it shall be given you. James said, You have not,
because you ask not. Christ said, Seek, and you'll
find. Knock, and it shall be opened. I've always found it
to be true that if a man really or a woman really desires something
badly enough, and they're in the presence of a person who
can give it, they'll ask for it. Is that not true? If a person wants something badly
enough, needs it badly enough, and they're in the presence of
a person who can give it and who's willing to give it, they'll
ask for it. My children, when they were growing up, never hesitated
to ask me for things they needed. Dad, I need a new book. Dad,
I need a pair of shoes. They asked for it, and they generally
got it. In Matthew chapter 8, when our
Lord came down from the mountain, a leper met him. You know what
a leper is? Incurably, helplessly covered with disease. And he
came to our Lord and said, Lord, if you will, you can make me
clean. And Bartimaeus cried out, and they tried to make him hush.
And he wouldn't hush. He kept crying out, Lord, have
mercy on me. The thief on the cross, he asked. He said, Lord, you're coming
into a kingdom. Remember me. Think on me. The public can ask. He asked the Lord. He asked Him. Don't walk another aisle. Don't
raise your hand another time. Don't ask another preacher to
pray for you. Don't sign another card. Don't
join another church. Don't be baptized again. Seek
the Lord. Ask Him for mercy. Quit asking
people. They can't supply your needs.
They can't supply their own need. They can't meet their own needs.
They can't save their own souls. They can't put away their own
guilt. What can they do for you? These preachers don't have any
magic in their hands. Ask the Lord. Ask the Lord. Ask and it shall be given you.
Fall on your face before God, before Christ. Be like the harlot
at his feet. Be like the leper at his feet.
Be like Mary at his feet. Be like the thief. And call on
the Lord as sinners have always done and ask him to show mercy.
Listen to Jacob. Jacob wrestled with the Lord.
He wasn't wrestling with a soul winner or an evangelist or a
preacher. Wrestling with the Lord God in the dead of night. And the morning began to dawn
and Jacob got a tighter grip on him. And he said, I'll not
let you go till you bless me. I'll not let you go till you
bless me." I've got to have mercy. I've got to have grace. I've
got to have help. I've got to have you. And my
Lord said to him, what's your name? He said, my name's Jacob.
That means cheap, supplanter, whatever. And he said, your name
will no longer be Jacob. Your name is Israel, a prince
with God. What can a sinner do? Well, I'll
tell you fourthly, he can walk in the light God's given him.
And if you walk in that light, God will give him more. So why
don't you walk in the light of what you've heard this very day,
and God will give you more light. I challenge you. If you want
this message, what can a sinner do? It's on a cassette tape,
along with another message that I'll bring next week. So until
next week, at this same time, write for the tape, send $2,
we'll mail it to you. Until next week, may God bless
you.

What Can A Sinner Do?

What does the Bible say about what a sinner can do?

How do we know that salvation is by grace alone?

Why is seeking the Lord important for Christians?

What can I do if I struggle with assurance of salvation?

What is the role of faith in salvation according to the sermon?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

What Can A Sinner Do?

What does the Bible say about what a sinner can do?

How do we know that salvation is by grace alone?

Why is seeking the Lord important for Christians?

What can I do if I struggle with assurance of salvation?

What is the role of faith in salvation according to the sermon?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

More from Henry Mahan

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Henry Mahan

Books by Henry Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book