If We Say...

Q: What does the Bible say about fellowship with God?

1 John 1:6 warns that claiming fellowship with God while walking in darkness is a lie. In 1 John 1:6-10, the apostle John speaks emphatically about the nature of fellowship with God. He categorically states that if someone claims to have fellowship with God but walks in darkness, they are not truthful; instead, they lie. This exposes a fundamental truth regarding the relationship between a believer and God: true fellowship requires walking in the light, which means living in accordance with God's truth and righteousness. It is vital for Christians to recognize that harboring sin or false claims about their spiritual condition can lead to deception, both about themselves and towards God. John further emphasizes that acknowledgement of one's sinfulness is crucial to maintaining a right relationship with God.

Q: How do we know we are guilty sinners?

Scripture teaches that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). The knowledge of our guilt as sinners is rooted in Scripture, particularly in Romans 3:23, which declares, 'For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.' This universal condemnation applies to every person, emphasizing that we are all born with a sinful nature inherited from Adam. In 1 John 1:8-10, John elaborates that claiming to be without sin is self-deception and directly contradicts God's truth. Acknowledging our sinful state is essential for repentance and receiving God's grace. Furthermore, it is through understanding God’s holiness and our depravity that we appreciate the depth of Christ’s redemptive work on the cross, where He bore our sins and provided a way to reconcile us with God.

Q: Why is honesty important in the Christian faith?

Honesty with God and ourselves is crucial for true fellowship and marks genuine faith. Honesty is paramount in the Christian faith because it facilitates genuine communication and fellowship with God. In 1 John 1:6-10, we see that honesty about our sinful nature and condition is essential for maintaining a right relationship with our Creator. God desires authenticity; He is not deceived by pretense or hypocrisy. The disconnect often occurs when individuals project a false sense of righteousness while internally struggling with sin. This contradiction not only misrepresents one's faith but also undermines the transformative power of the Gospel. By being honest before God and with ourselves, we can experience true repentance, the joy of forgiveness, and a deeper relationship with Christ. The absence of honesty leads to spiritual blindness and disconnection from God's Word.

Q: How can we discern false teachings in the church?

We discern false teachings by grounding ourselves in Scripture and seeking truth through God's Word. Discerning false teachings within the church demands a deep commitment to knowing God's Word accurately. There are numerous warning passages in Scripture where Christians are cautioned against false prophets and teachers (e.g., Matthew 7:15, 2 Peter 2:1). These individuals often preach messages that are contrary to the biblical definition of the Gospel or seek to exploit believers for personal gain. As revealed in the sermon, the key is to continually compare what is being taught with Scripture. The truth of the Word serves as the ultimate standard, and any deviation must be met with scrutiny. Believers are called to test the spirits (1 John 4:1) and to ensure that what they hear aligns with the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Scriptures. Fostering a mindset of discernment, grounded in prayer and the study of Scripture, will empower Christians to recognize and reject falsehood.

Now, I'm going to be speaking
today on this subject, if we say, if we say. In 1 John chapter 1, the apostle
wrote these words, if we say, if we say that we have fellowship
with God and walk in darkness, we lie. We're not telling the
truth. He said, if we say, if we say
that we have no sin, no sinful nature, no depraved nature, we
deceive ourselves and the truth's not in us. If we say that we
have not sinned, that we're not guilty sinners, that we're not
sinners by practice, by choice, by conduct, by walk, we make
God a liar. We make God a liar. We lie, we
deceive ourselves, and we make God a liar, and His Word is not
in us. Now, my friends, there's more
hypocrisy and shame and counterfeit, and you might add showmanship
in religion today. that in any other area. Did you
know that? In religion, more than any other
area, there's more shame, hypocrisy, counterfeit, showmanship. Why is this? Why is this true? It's amazing to me that in the
area where there should be total honesty, total honesty with God,
in an area where there should be total honesty with God, Because
God knows all things. God looks on the heart. Man looks
on the outward countenance, but God looks on the heart. All things
are naked and open to Him with whom we have to do. God's not
deceived. God's not mocked. We can fool
people, deceive people, even ourselves, but not God. And in
the area where we ought to have total honesty with God and total
honesty with ourselves and total honesty with others, truth candid
with others, in the area where there ought to be total honesty,
while there's more pretense put on, lies, and superstition than
in any other area of the whole world. Did you know that? That's
right. In religion today, And I've been
around long enough. I've been preaching 40 years,
pastoring a church 39 years, radio 20 years, television 15
years. I've traveled all over this world,
preached in many, many countries. And I know this, in religion
today, especially the TV variety, especially the TV variety, and
that's what's taken the country by storm. Preachers and religious
leaders are dishonest, totally dishonest with God and with people. They claim to be what they're
not. They claim to feel what they do not feel. They claim
to experience what they do not experience. They claim to see
what they do not see. They claim to hear what they
do not hear. They claim to be able to do what
they cannot do and know what they do not know. That's right. Now, you buckle your seat belt
and stay with me today. I'm going to tell you the truth.
I hope I'm not your enemy for telling you the truth. But these,
what they are, our Lord said, beware of false prophets. Peter
said, as there were false prophets among the people of Israel, there
shall be false teachers in your midst. And these people, these
promoters of religion, these con artists, They claim to be
able to heal sick people. They cannot, and they do not.
They cannot, and they do not. They claim to be able to put
their hands on people and heal them, and they cannot, and they
do not. Now, God heals sick people. God's
the great physician. When it pleases Him, God will
heal. All healing is of God. God said, I kill, I make alive.
God heals people. God hears the prayers of His
people. mine and yours, and He'll relieve
our sickness if it pleases Him, if it can bring glory to His
name. He relieves our distresses according to His will, but everybody's
got to die. And it's not true when a preacher
tells you that if you're sick, you don't have enough faith.
If you're poor, you don't have enough faith. If you don't have
a job, you don't have enough faith. If they had to get out
of the ministry, and not be supported by gifts from other people and
had to work for a living, they'd probably be without a job anyway.
James 5 tells us, is any among you sick? Don't send for a faith
healer. Call the elders of the church
and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil. And if he have
sins, God will forgive him and the prayer of faith will save
the sick. God's able to heal, and God does heal, and I pray
for people that God might make them well. Sometimes He does,
sometimes He doesn't. But it's all His will. It's His
will. And these men do not have any
special power to heal the lame, heal the blind, and heal the
deaf, and heal the sick. They do not have it. They're
not doing it. And I'll tell you this, if I got on the television,
And I sold a fake cure for cancer. The government would come after
me. A fake cure. But these men can get on television
and they can sell their witchcraft and their false promises and
tell people to lay their hands on the television and they'll
be healed and talk about how they've broken crutches and healed
sick people. The hospital's full of sick people
and none of them are walking up and down the halls healing
anybody. I'll tell you another thing. These men claim to speak
in tongues, but they do not and they cannot. The tongues in which
the apostles spoke were other languages in which they preached
the gospel. The scripture says every man
heard the gospel in his own language, in his own tongue. This so-called
gibberish and jabber and so forth is not a tongue at all. It's farce, it's fake, it's put
on. They even rehearse it, some of
them. And they do not speak in another language. There are men
who can preach the gospel in other languages, but they learn
those languages. We have missionaries in Mexico
who preach in Spanish, in Africa who preach in French, and in
Spain who preach in Spanish. We have missionaries in other
fields They've learned these languages and preached these
things, the gospel in these languages. With this unknown tongue, it's
phony. And they're using it to con people. And they also have folks who
say people who believe Christ and love Christ, but because
they can't speak in a tongue, they feel inferior. They feel
like they're not spiritual because they haven't been so-called baptized
by the Holy Ghost and had some kind of emotional fit. or experience,
they feel spiritually inferior to these people. These people
like to appear to be holier than thou, more spiritual than somebody
else, more knowledgeable than somebody else, look down on the
common everyday folks that can't speak this gibberish, and it's
nothing in the world but fake. They're the ones that are not
spiritual. And then I tell you this, they
tell me, you listen to me, it's sad. They tell me that God speaks
to them in a voice. I heard a preacher Sunday on
television talking about how God told him personally. God spoke to him in an audible
voice. God told him all that he plans
to do. God told him he had six months
to do certain things. God told him that he was going
to use him in a special way, and with him, and through him,
and to him, and by him. God was going to send revival
and all these things. But he got to the end of that
speech and said, Now, God told me to tell you to send me several
million dollars so I can get this job done. I knew he would
come around to that before it was over. This is a shame. God tells them that we must send
them millions of dollars to promote them and their schemes. God does
not speak to anybody in an audible voice. Nobody. No man has seen
God at any time. the Son hath revealed Him. God,
who spake to our fathers by the prophets, hath in these last
days spoken to us by His Son." God speaks through His Word.
No man knows the Father save the Son, and He to whom the Son
will reveal Him. And people, I tell you, preachers
who I don't understand why we are deceived by these people.
who say God talks to them. They walk along the road and
God speaks to them in an audible voice. That's not true. God speaks
through His Word. That's how He speaks to men,
through His Word and through the incarnate Word, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Nothing can be added to the Word
of God. They're not apostles. The apostles,
there were three requirements for an apostle. One, he had to
have seen the Lord. in the flesh. Paul did as one
born out of due time. Secondly, he had to receive his
gift or his message, his gospel, directly from God. And he had
to be sent by the Lord himself. That was an apostle. And they
had special gifts and credentials to prove that they were sent
from God. They had the power to speak in other languages.
They had the power to heal the sick, raise the dead, make the
lame to walk, and the blind to see. Am I your enemy because I tell
you the truth?" And then these preachers fifthly, I see them
holding hands and closing their eyes and claiming a word of knowledge. They're trying to raise money
now and they're praying for the sick and they're saying, now
I see someone out there, I see someone out there that's got
a bad back. I see someone out there that's
got a sore head. I see someone out there that's
got a stiff neck. I see someone out there that's
got a sprained ankle and God's healing them right now. I see
it. They do not. They do not. Only God's omniscient
and omnipresent. Only God can, like the Lord Jesus
said to Nathanael, I saw you under the fig tree before he
found you. You don't. What these men are
doing, and it seems to me that somebody would understand this,
Out of the thousands of people listening to such a far-reaching
program, somebody's got a bad back. They're gonna hit somebody.
Somebody's got a sore neck. Somebody's got a sprained ankle.
Someone's got an ingrown toenail. Somebody out there's got these
things, and these fellas are doing nothing in the world but
trying to attract attention to themselves. One TV preacher could
tell you who your family doctor was He'd give you street address,
and the apostles didn't deal in circus antics like that. They preached the gospel. They
preached Christ. You know what I'm saying is so,
and somebody needs to say something. poor widows out there, and people
on Social Security, and people who can ill afford to do so,
are keeping up the lavish, luxurious lifestyles of these leeches. And that's what they are. And
I'll tell you this. Most of their so-called worship
services would rival Hollywood stage shows. That's what they
are. They're Hollywood stage shows.
Most of these so-called worship services put on television. They're
dressed up in fancy hairdos and diamond rings and expensive clothes,
and they use music and showmanship and emotionalism and entertainment
and theatrics to excite people and work them up emotionally
to a fever pitch. And it's nothing but psychology.
It's music, music, music. It's the beat of the music. It's
a glad time. It's a happy time. It's a rejoicing
time. It's a hallelujah time. You don't
dare be anything. It's like a salesman. It gets
everybody saying, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Don't ever let them
say no or they'll drop back down again. Keep the beat going, the
beat going. And they call that the Spirit
of God. It's a counterfeit spirit. It's another spirit. It's not
the Spirit of God. People who worship God do so
in humility. They bow before God. They worship
God in sincerity. They worship and praise God from
the heart. Like the publican in the temple
who would not so much as lift his eyes to heaven, let alone
his arms, but smote upon his breast and said, God be merciful
to me, a sinner. Isaiah bowed before God and said,
woe is me. I'm undone. Paul, John fell at
his feet as a dead man. And I'll tell you this, I'll
tell you this. They're forever coming up with
some new method or means to raise money, to support their lifestyles
and their programs. They offer cheap jewelry, selling
jewelry. They sell religious relics. One fellow was selling dirt.
out of the tomb of Jesus in Jerusalem. He had dirt in a little vial
with a chain around it and told people to send him $15 or $20. I don't know how much dirt he
got over there somewhere. And he said, send it and it'll
bring you good luck. And if your kid's making bad
grades in school, let him wear this dirt out of Jesus' tomb
around his neck and it'll make good grades for him. Now, let
me tell you something. How in this world could you ever
buy that? Idols. And they sell books and
Bibles for a donation. They don't dare sell them because
they'd have to pay tax on them. But they sell them for a donation
twice or three times the value of the book or the Bible. They
cheapen and prostitute the gospel of Jesus Christ to serve their
own purposes. That's my day. That's religion
in my day. They use God Almighty to promote
themselves. I tell you this, if God's in
a ministry, God'll support it. If God's in a ministry, you don't
have to beg, you don't have to sell anything, you don't have
to lie to people. Through His people who love Him
and His Word and the preaching of the gospel, Almighty God will
support that ministry. He'll supply all your needs according
to His riches and glory through Christ Jesus. And any time that
any preacher stands before you, radio, television, or pulpit,
and says, if you don't, this is a faith work, and if you don't
support it, it's gonna go broke, let it go broke. Let her go. It can't be faith when you're
broadcasting it to the world. Faith looks to God alone, like
Abraham. He said to the kings of Sodom,
I'm not gonna take a dime from you, I've lifted my hand to God.
And I'll tell you something else, these television stars of the
religious world, ridicule and make light of the local small
churches of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, they do. These small local
churches all over Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia, in little
towns and villages and cities that minister the gospel in their
communities, and the humble, simple preachers of the gospel
who have no bands and no diamonds and no big cars and no fine homes,
and no entertainers, no superstars, just simple preachers of the
gospel who search the scriptures and teach their neighbors and
teach their friends the truth of God. These men ridicule them,
make fun of them. God's church is not an electronic
box in the house. It's a people who meet in His
name to worship Him, praise Him, and preach His gospel. And they
don't need bands, they don't need entertainment, they don't
need promoters, and they don't need salesmen. They meet in a
humble spirit before the Lord and call on His name and preach
His gospel. And they've been doing it ever
since the cross of Christ. And God's never left Himself
without a witness. And there's somebody in this
perverse, superstitious, traditional-bound generation that's speaking for
God Almighty. And His sheep are going to hear
Him. I'll give you several reasons
for this charade, today's religious charade, I call it, and spectacle
in the name of God. Number one, these people do not
know God. They just do not know God. Paul
says they have a zeal of God. They have a zeal of God, but
not according to knowledge. They're ignorant of God's holiness.
Read Romans 10, 1 through 3. He said, I'd like to see these
people saved, because he said they don't know God. They have
a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. They're ignorant
of God's holiness, God's righteousness, and going about to establish
their own. Lord, have we not preached in your name and cast
out devils and done many wonderful works? I never knew you. I don't
know you. Thou thoughtest I was altogether
such a one as thyself, God said. Well, God's not who you think
he is. God's who he is. The Lord God's in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before
Him. Be not rash, be not hasty to
utter anything before God. God's in the heavens. You're
upon the earth. Holy and reverent is His name.
I don't need to sell God. I don't need to promote God.
God doesn't need a cheerleader. Almighty God rules and reigns,
and what He wants, He'll get. He said, everything under the
heaven is mine. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness of the world and all they that dwell therein. I don't
have to sell God. I don't have to promote God.
I don't have to lead cheers for Jesus. He's on the throne. He's
King, King of kings and Lord of lords. I feel like the thief
on the cross said to the other thief, don't you fear God? And
I want to say that to my whole generation of preachers. Don't
you fear God? There's no fear of God before
their eyes. And then another reason for this
religious charade and sham and show is that men love the applause
of men. They love the approval of men.
That's what they seek. He said, you love the praise
of men rather than the praise of God. He said, you seek the
honor that comes from men, the honor that comes from men, the
applause and approval and praise. that comes from men and not the
honor that comes from God. Our Lord said in Matthew 6, don't
you be like the Pharisee and the hypocrite who loves to pray
standing on the street corner. You do your praying in the closet.
Who tells people about his fasting, he wants the whole world to know
that he's fasting and he looks sad and all while he's fasting.
And he wants everybody to know it. He said, when you fast and
when you pray, wash your face and comb your hair and put on
your good clothes that you appear not to men to fast. Don't tell
them your communion with God and God will hear you. And when
you give alms, don't do it to be seen of men. Don't sound the
trumpet in front of you. Let not your left hand know what
your right hand's doing. I tell you, many go along with
this religious farce because they just don't want to buck
the trend and buck the tide. But Peter stood on Pentecost,
and he said, you better deliver yourself from this perverse generation,
this superstitious religious generation. You better come out
from among them. Another reason for this sad situation
is nothing in the world but greed, covetousness. Television has
made religion a profitable business. Did you know that? There's a
lot of money to be made in religion today, preaching, singing, healing,
entertaining. There's a lot of money to be
made, and people are taking advantage of it, too. People with no call
from God, that's evident. They don't know the gospel. People
with no convictions, they'll change. They'll change their
convictions. They'll change any time to have
a more exciting show. Like one religious leader said,
Competitor didn't know we were in competition. When your competitor
gets a bigger bloom, you just get a bigger one. Religion show
business. Show business. People with no
conscience, people with no understanding of the Word of God can appeal
to the natural religious instincts of an audience and live lavishly
off their free gifts. People just send it in. Just
send it in. The love of money is the root
of all evil. Over there in Jeremiah and Ezekiel,
the Lord God spoke to Jeremiah and spoke to Ezekiel. He said,
all of the prophets and even the priests are covetous men,
greedy men, greedy men. Another reason for this corruption
in religion is preachers do not know anything about the person
and work of Jesus Christ. and what salvation really is.
Paul feared that even when he was preaching just a few years
after Christ died on the cross and arose again. Paul said, I
fear, I'm afraid, I'm afraid, lest by any means, and he'll
use any means too, as the serpent beguiled Eve, tricked her, deceived
her, led her astray, through His subtlety and craftiness. So your minds will be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ. Have our minds been corrupted
from the simplicity that's in Christ? Religion today is complicated,
ceremonialized, ritualism. You have to have special training,
have to have all these talents and big buildings and powerful
organizations. What happened to the simplicity
of Jesus Christ? Let me talk to you right where
you are for a moment, just me and you. Let me talk to you.
Do you believe these? Are you a sinner? A sinner, that's
all I'm asking. Are you a sinner? All that sin
comes short of the glory of God. Are you a sinner? Well, as a
preacher, I am. Can you save yourself? No, sir.
Do you know God's holy? God's perfectly Your sins have
separated you and that holy God. Yeah, I know that. I know God's
holy. Do you know God loved sinners? And God was pleased to send His
Son into this world in the flesh, bone of our bone, flesh of our
flesh, to die on the cross to redeem us from our sin. Do you
know that? Do you believe that? Well, yes,
I do. Who shall ascend into heaven
but He that descended, He that had clean hands, a pure heart,
and never sworn deceitfully? Do you believe the Word of God?
Do you believe God? Do you believe you're a sinner?
Do you believe Christ died for sinners? Do you believe He's
the only Savior? Do you? Then repent of your sins. Turn
from your sins. Confess your sins. Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. You don't need to call me. You
don't need to call a counselor. He's the counselor. You don't
need to write to me. You don't need to send me a check.
I have nothing to do with your relationship with Almighty God.
I'm just a voice, just telling the truth about God. and the
truth about me and the truth about Christ. I tell you, believe
God. Love God. Walk with God. Trust God. Go about your business.
Do your job. Live honestly, truthfully, holy. Worship God. Serve God where
you are with what you have. Be yourself. Be honest before
God. Be honest with yourself and be
honest before others. And like Enoch of old, walk with
God. You don't need to put on a show for anybody. You don't
need to try to impress anybody. We can't impress anybody if we
wanted to. God loves sinners, and Christ died for sinners.
And here's a sinner who loves God and trusts God. Men are men,
strong men, able men, and they love God. Well, I hope this is
helpful. If you want a copy of it, it's
called, If We Say. If We Say. Send $2, I'll send
you this message and another one. Here's the address. Till
next week, God bless you.

If We Say...

What does the Bible say about fellowship with God?

How do we know we are guilty sinners?

Why is honesty important in the Christian faith?

How can we discern false teachings in the church?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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If We Say...

What does the Bible say about fellowship with God?

How do we know we are guilty sinners?

Why is honesty important in the Christian faith?

How can we discern false teachings in the church?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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