The Way Out of the Mess We Are In

The 13th Street Baptist Church
of Ashland, Kentucky invites you to listen to a sermon by
their pastor, Henry Mahan. Address all correspondence to
Henry Mahan, Box 1700, Ashland, Kentucky. And now, Henry Mahan. Now, my message today is on this
subject, the way out of the mess we're in. The way out of the
mess that we're in. I want you to listen to this
message. I think it'll be scriptural. I believe it'll be enlightening.
And I believe it'll be irritating. It may even be rejected and refused. But I want you to listen to it.
Will you give me a hearing? That's all I'm asking. Just give
me a hearing. Give me a hearing. The way out of the mess that
we're in. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 11,
verse 3, these words, I fear. This is the beloved apostle of
our Lord, the apostle to the Gentile. I fear. He feared some
things. He didn't fear men. He feared
God. He feared false converts. He
said, I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through
his subtlety, his craftiness, so your minds, your minds should
be corrupted. Do you hear that word, corrupted?
From the simplicity that is in Christ. I want you to listen
to some of these words now. I fear, he said, I'm afraid.
I'm afraid, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled our mother
Eve through his subtlety, his craftiness, that your mind should
be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. Now, all of
these fears are revealed today. They're realized today in what
we call religion. Where is the simplicity of Christ? and that is in Christ. Where
is the simplicity of worship? Where is the simplicity of walking
with God? Where is the simplicity of preaching
the gospel? Where is it? Where is that faith
in Christ, that love for Christ, that worship and exaltation of
Christ alone, like Enoch of old, who walked with God and walked
right on into glory? No, religion today is corrupted. It is corrupted. It is complicated. You know, the average person
doesn't even know what's going on in church. He can't understand
the theological terms. He can't understand all the ordinances
and rituals and liturgies and all these. He doesn't even know
what's going on. It's so complicated and so corrupted. Listen, religion has its popes,
its cardinals, its bishops, It's priests, it's vicars, it's reverends,
it's doctors, it's elders, it's superintendents, it's symbols,
it's steeples, and it's uniforms. It has all these things. Complicated? And then religion has its temples.
It has its cathedrals. It has its shrines and holy places. It has its crosses and statues. It has its pictures and idols. It has its Sabbaths and holy
days and altars and all these words like confirmation and catechisms
and constitutions and choirs and cantatas and entertainment. What's happened? Where is the
simplicity of Christ? Where is the simplicity that
is in Jesus Christ, the simplicity of worship? When people hear,
and when they understand, and when they know, and when they
walk in the way of the Lord. Complicated. And religion has
its denominations. There are hundreds of them. All
different brands and names. It's springing up every day.
Religion has its organizations. High-powered organizations. Multi-million
dollar organizations. It has its conventions. It has
its synods. It has its schools, and high-powered
orators, and organizers, and politicians, and money raisers,
and picketers, and petition gatherers. It just has all these complicated
things. Where's the simplicity that is
in Jesus Christ? That's what I'm asking, and that's
what Paul warns us of. He said, I'm afraid of you. I'm
afraid of you, lest Satan the serpent, like he deceived Eve
with his subtlety and craftiness, should corrupt your minds, take
you away from the simplicity, this simplicity, heart worship,
heart faith, heart love, sitting with the people of God and worshiping
the Lord Jesus and praising His name, walking with A childlike faith. A bowl is
a font. We don't just call them a bowl
with water in it. It's got to be a font. And then an auditorium. You just don't, in 1988, say
we met in an auditorium. We met in the sanctuary. And
a preacher is no longer a preacher. He's a clergyman. He's a member
of the cloth. Most folks don't even know what
that means, a member of the cloth. And then prayer. You don't just
say, pray for us, you say, would you render the invocation or
pronounce the benediction? You see, we've got high sounding
words and this is satanic. It's nothing in the world but
mind cloudiness and brainwashing and the work of Satan to take
us away from the simplicity that's in Jesus Christ and get us in
the mess we're in. How long has it been since you
worshipped God? I didn't ask how long since you've been to
church. You might be a regular attender, but what you call church
today, all of this confusion, and all of this competition,
and all of these contests, and all this recognition of the flesh,
and all this money raising, is not worship. That is not worship. How long since you worshiped
God? I didn't ask how long since you heard a sermon. How long
have you, since it's, has it been since you worshiped God
from the heart and heard the gospel of His divine, dearly
beloved Son. How long has it been since your
heart and soul and affection was set on things above?" Now,
where is the simplicity that's in Christ? Well, Paul said in
Acts 17, verse 24, he was preaching there on Mars Hill. He passed by all their It'd be
like he walked through Huntington, West Virginia, or Beckley, or
Ashland, or Parkersburg, and saw all these steeples, and all
these cathedrals, and churches, and temples, and buildings, and
all these religious monuments. He said, I passed by all your
altars and shrines. You're religious people. You're superstitious people.
And I saw one shrine to the unknown God. That's the one I'm going
to preach to you, the unknown God. God that made the world. Listen to him in Acts 17, 24.
God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he's
Lord of heaven and earth. He's not a little peanut God
that dwells in some little temple somewhere. He's Lord of heaven
and earth. He doesn't even dwell in temples
made with hands. There it is, Acts 17, 24. God
doesn't dwell in temples made with hands. He's not worshipped
with men's hands. as though he needed anything,
seeing he giveth to all life and breath and all things. And Christ our Lord said to the
woman at the well, while true worshipers worship God in spirit,
God seeketh such to worship Him. God is spirit. They that worship
Him worship Him in spirit and truth, not playing games, not
playing ring around the roses and holding hands and burning
candles. and all these fleshly demonstrations
of outward piety. God is Spirit. God is Spirit. They that worship Him, like Paul
wrote in Philippians 3, he said, we're the true Israel who worship
God in Spirit from the heart. And we rejoice in Jesus Christ,
not in our building, not in our denomination, not in our numbers. We don't rejoice in that. We
rejoice in Christ Jesus, only in Christ Jesus, and we have
no confidence in the flesh. We have no confidence in the
continuation of anything that we do or have done or are doing. It may fold up tomorrow, but
let it fold up if God be glorified. Isaiah wrote, listen to this,
Isaiah 66. You need to just draw a big circle
around this, Isaiah 66, 1 and 2. I read this to our congregation
just recently. Thus saith the Lord, thus saith
the Lord, the heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool.
Where is the house you build me? Where is the place of my rest? Where would you have me to abide?
Huh? You thought I was altogether
such a one as yourself? Why, he said, all these things
my hands made. I made the heavens and the earth,
the stars and the seas and the dry land. I made the rocks. I made the trees. I made all
these things, and all these things have been. Are you going to bring
some of them together and build me a house and shut me up there
to rest? But to this man will I look. Now, I'll tell you something.
That caught my attention. To this man, I'll look. Not to the fellow out there sweating
and laboring and building some kind of temple or cathedral for
God to live in. And if his God's that small that
he can live in that thing, well, that's his hope. But God said,
to this man will I look, even to him that is poor. Poor, poor
in spirit. Old Arthur Pink said one time,
Somebody asked him, what is this poor in spirit? He said, a man
that's poor in spirit, spiritually, has nothing, is nothing, knows
nothing, and can do nothing, and he has all things through
Christ from God. He's poor. He's poor. And I look to that man who's
without, who's poor. And I look to that man that is
of a broken, contrite heart. And I look to that man who trembleth
at my word. Where is that man who is poor
and of a broken heart and that trembleth at God's Word? I ask,
where is the simplicity that is in Christ? I ask, where is
the shepherd king? You talk about David's greatest
moments. His greatest moments were not
when he was building or getting the material together for Solomon
to build that temple. His greatest moments where when
he was sitting out there on a rock playing his lute and singing,
the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not walk. He maketh me
to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside these still
waters. He restores my soul. He maketh
me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside still waters. Where is that simplicity? Where's
that worship? He leads me in paths of righteousness,
for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through this
valley of the shatter of death, I'll fear no evil, for Thou art
with me. Thou art with me? I thought we
had to go down to the building to meet God. David said out there
on the side of the hill, Thou art with me. He walks with me
and talks with me along life's narrow way. We shares, we tarry
there. None other has ever known. Where
is that? Where is the Mary of Bethany? Oh, for some Marys of
Bethany who sat at the feet of Christ. Our Lord said, she's
chosen the good thing. Martha was busy organizing things. Martha was busy, cumbered about,
our Lord said, with so much care, just in and out of the house,
up and down the steps. slamming doors and opening cupboards
and cabinets and preparing food. And finally she came in there
and said, Master, don't you care that my sister lets me do all
this preparation, serving and work, while she just sits there
at your feet and listens to you? He said, Martha, Martha, Martha,
you're cumbered about with so much care. Mary's chosen the
good things. Stop your feet and shut your
mouth. and sit down at the feet of Christ
and maybe we'll learn something. We haven't learned much. We're
ever learning and not ever coming to knowledge of the truth. We
have a form of godliness but deny the power there. Where are
the people? Where are the people? I'd love
to preach to them. Who came from afar and had one request. They
came from many miles and they had one request for these apostles. They said, We would see Jesus. We would see Jesus. We're not
here for the contest. We're not here for the bake sale.
We're not here for the money raising. We're not here for the
rally day. We're here to see Jesus. You
reckon anybody around here would preach Christ to us? And I'll
tell you, where are the people who heard the apostles, those
noble Bereans? Where are those noble Bereans?
who heard the apostles, they heard the apostles, and they
didn't go out to dinner. They didn't go down to the ballpark.
They went home and searched the scriptures to see if these things
be so. You do it. You do it. You search the scriptures, see
if I'm telling the truth. But nobody cares. They just take
the word of any Tom, Dick, and Harry that graduated from the
seminary and has a D.D. after his name and says he's
a preacher, no matter how big a crook he is. You better buy
your Bible. You better buy your Bible and
search the Scriptures to see if these things be so. Where
is the preacher? Where is the preacher who says,
I covet no man's silver or gold? That's what Paul said to that
bunch of elders down there in Antioch when he started to leave
and go to Rome to be killed. He said, You won't see my face
anymore, but I'm telling you this. I labored among you, and
I coveted no man's silver or gold, and I kept back nothing
profitable unto you, and I didn't shun to declare unto you all
the counsel of God. and I was determined to know
nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." Where's
the preacher? Where's the preacher who covets
no man's silver or gold? Where's the preacher that's not
afraid of a board of deacons? He's not afraid of a woman's
missionary society. He's not afraid of his denominational
hierarchy and heads and ecclesiastical powers. He's not afraid of any
man. He's boldly called the bond slave
of Jesus Christ who will tell the truth whatever it costs.
Where is the preacher? Where is the preacher who can
say, I'm content with what I have and where I am? I have learned
in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. Where is he? If
you can find him, you listen to him because he's got something
to say. And he's got someone to tell you about because God
sent him. God's servants are God's servants.
They're not men's servants. They're not interested in pleasing
men at all. They know if they please men,
they're not the servants of Christ. Where indeed, I ask you, is the
simplicity of Christ, the simplicity of gospel preaching? Where are
the Bunyans? The man who spent 12 years in
prison because he dared. He dared to preach the gospel
of God's grace. He dared to battle the religious
traditions of his day. Where are the Luthers that were
hounded and chased all over Germany because he dared to tell the
truth? He had the courage to rebel against
the corrupted, organized religion of his day. Where are the Whitefields?
Where's Charles Wesley who stood on his daddy's tombstone and
preached the gospel because they wouldn't let him in the local
church? These Bunyans and Luthers and Whitefields were cast out
of organized religion, but they preached Christ to all who'd
listen to them. Where's the simplicity of worship?
I ask you, you talk about being in a mess. Where's the simplicity
of worship when men and women gather together before God and
praise Him in hymns and psalms and spiritual songs? When they
gather together to hear the gospel preached, where the word of God
is read, where the word of God is read, And Christ alone is
exalted. And you go away from that worship
service saying, did my heart burn within me when I heard his
word and sang his praises and heard the gospel preached? I
ask you, is it not true that today's church service is a fashion
show? If we spent near as much time
preparing our hearts to go to the house of God to worship him
as we spend before the mirror preparing these corrupted bodies,
and putting on clothes that will impress somebody, we might contact
God someday in a worship service. Today's church service is a fashion
show. It's not a show of grace or a
show of humility. Is it not true that today's church
services are a time of fellowship with men, not a coming before
the Lord? Why are people counted I ask
you, why would a church count the people that are there? What
difference does it make how many is there? Doesn't God know who's
there? What does it matter if anyone else knows how many is
there? Who cares about records? Who keeps records? Why keep records?
Why all these records about how many we had a year ago and how
much we gave a year ago and how much we're going to shoot for
next year? If God's not there, we're wasting our time anyway.
David counted Israel and God killed 70,000 men. He said, I
know how many people I got. Why are visitors recognized?
We get in a church service and everybody's got to raise their
hand and stand up and get a card to sign and recognize the visitor.
I thought we were there to glorify God. Well, we might miss somebody
and they get mad and won't come back. That'd be a joy. Paul the Apostle spoke of this
day, this day of competition, this day of commotion, this day
of contest, this day of corruption. And he warned us, but we haven't
listened. We've ignored his warning. And I'm heart sick. I'm heart
sick over everything I see and hear today in the name of God.
I don't see anything, anything, anywhere. on television, radio,
or anywhere else, newspaper, anywhere else, that gives me
any indication at all that God Almighty is within a hundred
miles of this place. Oh, for a return to the simplicity
that's in Jesus Christ. And I'm doing my dead level best
at the church where I've pastored for 37 years to worship God and
preach His Word and tell men the truth. and pray that they'll
hear that gospel and come to know Christ. Well, what would
it be like? What would it be like? I can
tell you. We worshiped God yesterday. I can tell you. This thing of
worship and the simplicity that's in Christ is when people, the
people of God, gather together at the time appointed to worship
God. They come to that place for no
other purpose, no contest, No competition, no coercion, no
pressure. They come there to worship God
because they want to worship God. They need to worship God. They love to worship God. David
said, I was glad when they said to me, let's go to the house
of the Lord. Oh, I got to go to church. Could
you come over and visit with us next? No, we got to go to
church. You ain't got to go to church. And anytime you feel
like you have to worship God or you have to contribute to
the kingdom of God. Don't do it. Don't do it. God will not receive your presence
nor your gifts when they are coerced and done and given out
of a sense of responsibility. And there's something else that'll
happen. Men will gather together and women to worship God because
they want to. Secondly, the house of God will
ring with the praises of God. not this modern jive singing
that exalts the flesh and talks about what I've given up for
Jesus. No, the praise of God will be in the hymns and prayer
will be offered in the Spirit of God and the Word of God will
be read. No announcements, no reports,
no records, no recognition of men, just the interrupted worship
of God from the beginning to the last amen. No announcements,
no recognition, No contest. No reports. No records read. Just worship God. Come in and
sing. Praise God. Read His Word. Pray. Preach the Gospel. Fall on your
faces before God. The Word of God will be preached.
It'll be preached. It'll be the center of the worship
service. Preaching God's Word. See, God
speaks through His Word. What Word will we preach? God
in His majesty and glory. God in His power, like Isaiah
of old, we'll see the Lord. Come, David said, let's magnify
the Lord. Let's exalt His name together.
I'm not talking about this little peanut God of impotence I preached
today, this little weak God that wants to and can't, wills to
and is not able. I'm talking about the God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of heaven and earth, who
reigns and rules and does what He will, when He will, with whom
He will. The first cause of all things.
That's the God I'm talking about. God Almighty. He'll be preached. The fall of man, our sinfulness
will be preached. If we see God, we'll see ourselves.
Preachers too. Preachers laud and exalt themselves
as if they're on cloud nine, got the world by the tail on
a downhill pull. And they're just as full of fear
and doubt as anybody else. And just as in need of mercy,
maybe more. The Lord Jesus Christ will be
exalted. He'll be preached. They'll come
preaching Christ, not another Jesus, the Christ of the Bible,
who He is, what He did, why He did it, where He is now. And
I'll tell you this, the preacher will not compromise the Word
of God. He'll preach it verse by verse,
line upon line, precept upon precept. And the Holy Spirit,
listen to me, And today, this thing is such a mess. It's so
organized that they preach their little program or recipe, and
then they say, every head bowed and every eye closed, the organ
starts playing, the choir starts singing, and they start practicing
that psychology on you. Bow your head now, raise your
hand, raise the other hand, now put your feet in motion and do
what your hand says and walk down here and we'll save you.
And you pray the sinner's prayer. You repeat after me, I'll tell
you what to pray. You don't have to tell a drowning
man what to say. When we preach the gospel, the
Holy Ghost will be left to work in men's hearts. No pressure,
no persuasion, no psychology to get professions or joiners
or decisions. The preacher will preach the
gospel, preach the Word of God, and leave people alone. Leave them in the hands of the
Holy Spirit. Coming to Christ is not moving
your feet down an aisle. It's loving Him and believing
Him with your heart. coming to Christ. Oh, my soul. And people would return to their
homes after that kind of service and preaching, and they'd return
rejoicing, and they'd return with anticipation, waiting to
come back and meet with you at the feet of Christ. The way out
of the mess we're in, there's a way out. But we're going to
have to turn to God until next week. If you want this tape,
now write for us. Send two dollars. Here's the
address. Till next week, God bless you. You have just heard a sermon
by Henry Mahan, pastor of the 13th Street Baptist Church of
Ashland, Kentucky. Address all correspondents to
Henry Mahan, Box 1700, Ashland, Kentucky.

The Way Out of the Mess We Are In

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The Way Out of the Mess We Are In

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