At the beginning of this psalm,
the psalmist says, my heart is indicting a good matter. What he is saying here is this,
my heart is full, my heart is bubbling over, my heart is running
over with good news, with glad tidings, with the gospel, with
a good matter. My heart is bubbling over, my
heart is full. And he goes on, he says, I speak
of the things which I have made touching the king. One writer
said he's saying, I speak my poem before the king. Or better, I speak of things
as touching or pertaining to the king. He is my message. I preach the king. I speak concerning
the king. Just this morning, I opened the
mail and read some literature from various preachers, and I
thought, what a temptation there is to speak of our person. What a temptation. And yet, what
an empty subject we are in the light of such a great thing. Why should I speak of myself
when I can speak of Him? But it's such a temptation to
speak of ourselves. And so many succumb to this temptation. We preach not ourselves, Paul
said. We preach Christ. But what a
temptation to talk of ourselves, to talk of our work, to talk
of our efforts, to talk of our ambitions and our plans and what
we're going to do or what we have done or what we plan to
do. And what a temptation to defend our position. Our positions
are so important to us, theologically and theoretically. We're such
great thinkers. We're such great theologians.
But what a small and insignificant subject are my positions in the
light of His exaltation. Why would I ever defile the pulpit
talking about my plans when I can talk about His purposes? or talking
about my person when I can talk about the King. That's what he's
saying here. My heart is full. My heart is bubbling over and
I speak concerning the King. I speak as pertaining to the
King. The King is my subject. Christ is my subject. You see,
the disciples learned this early. Paul said we preach Christ. We
preach Christ and Him crucified. There's not any new thing under
the sun. You're not going to straighten this world out. But
when God deals in the heart of a sinner, through the merits
of Christ, He can straighten out that man. You're not going
to correct all the wrongs of this world. You're not going
to straighten out all the troubles of this world. You're not going
to bring civil rights into every nation in this world as long
as men's hearts hate God. As long as they hate God, they're
going to hate one another. And the only one who can do anything
about an evil heart is the Holy Spirit of God. He can shatter
abroad the love of God in the heart. What a temptation to boast
of our possessions, even our gifts and our talents, when we
realize that they're only borrowed. Whatever I have is borrowed. What do you have you didn't receive?
Now, if you received it, why do you boast as though you didn't
receive it? Whatever I have, whatever I know, whatever ability
I have, is God-given. And it can vanish just as quickly
as it can. There's nothing I can do to restrain
it or retain it. He gave it. Whatever ability. Why do we boast of our persons,
of our positions, of our possessions, of our gifts, and of our talents,
and call attention to these things when we could be talking about
the King? I speak as pertaining to the
king." Paul said, I'm determined. Even when he stood there among
the philosophers and all of the great debaters and all of the
intellectuals of Corinth, mighty city, renowned, recognized people,
and yet he stood among them and he said, I'm determined to know
nothing among you. but a hated, despised redeemer
who died on a cross. That's my message. Christ is
my message. If he ever ceases to be my message,
I'll quit preaching. He said, I'm determined. I've
determined this in my soul. I've determined it in the face
of all temptations and all subtleties of Satan to draw us away. Satan
is such a subtle enemy. How can he better accomplish
his purpose than to keep us from preaching Christ? How can Satan
better accomplish his purpose than to detour us from the cross,
cross the gospel in Calvary? How can he better accomplish
his purpose than to get this church to come together and spend
their time debating and arguing over all the problems of this
world and ignore the cross of Jesus Christ. When he has done
that, he has won the battle, he has won the victory. God forbid,
Paul said, God forbid that I should glory, rejoice, or boast save
in the cross of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But I've
never found anything more important to talk about than the cross.
I can't find a subject that's more important than the cross.
I can't find anything more delightful than the love of Christ. And
I can't find any place where it's expressed more fully than
at Calvary. We do not preach Christ because
we have to, but because we want to. We do not preach Christ because
it's our duty. We preach Christ because it's
our joy. You know something better to
talk about? He turned to the disciples and said, will you
go away? And they said, to whom? Maybe you can suggest somebody
for us to go to. Since we find in you all we need,
why should we go anywhere else? Since in you dwelleth all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily, why should we turn anywhere else?
To whom shall we go? To what shall we turn? What shall
be our theme? What shall be my cause? Whose
banner shall I march under? The Lord is my banner. The Lord
is my righteousness. The Lord is my shepherd. The
Lord is my peace. The Lord is my provider. The
Lord is my shield and my buckler. The Lord is my reward. I found
Him, whom my soul loveth. Are you still looking? I found
Him, God forbid. God forbid, if I could leave a legacy, if
I could set an example, if I could finish my ministry and finish
my course and depart this world and leave a legacy for anyone
who cares, it would be this. Preach Christ. Don't be a fool. Don't be taken in. Don't become
involved. You're not the counselor, he's
the counselor. You can't bring priests to anybody,
he's the prince of peace. You're not the voice of peace,
he is. And if they won't hear his voice, they won't hear yours. But I'll tell you, when the subject
is the king, it's a good matter. That's what he says here, my
heart is full, my heart is bubbling over. My heart is filled up and running
over with a good matter, a good matter. I'm speaking pertaining to the
King. And when the subject is the King, it's a good matter.
In fact, there's none good but God. The rich young ruler came walking
up to the master and said to him, good master, what good thing shall I do to
inherit eternal life. He said, why do you call me good?
Why do you call me good? If I'm not God, I'm not good.
And certainly in the eyes of this man, he was not God. He
was a choice person. He was an interesting prophet. He was a well-known and influential
figure. But this young man did not regard
him as God, or he would have fallen down in worship, like
the leper. or like Mary, or like Thomas
when he said, my Lord and my God. So Christ said, why do you
call me good? There's none good but God. If I'm not God, I'm
not good. Somebody says, that was a good
sermon. Good sermon. Only if Christ is the theme.
Because there's none good but Christ. Is that right? That's right. That was a good deed. Only if
Christ was the motivator. and His glory the object. It
was not a good deed. It may have benefited someone,
it may have helped someone, it may have relieved some suffering,
but it wasn't a good deed unless Christ was in it, unless His
glory was sought, unless He was the motivator. That's right?
Can't be. None good but God. Is that right? Nothing good but
God. Nothing good but that which is
pertaining to His glory. Nothing good. It may have been a beneficial
deed, may have been a helpful deed, but don't call it good
unless God is the object. He's a good man. No, no he's
not. Only God is good. And anyone
else who is good is good in relation to Christ because they're in
a union with Him. It's His goodness that they have.
It's His righteousness they enjoy. They're not good. He's not a
good man unless he's in Christ. And if he's in Christ, he's a
sinner saved by God's grace. And in the sight of God, he has
on the righteousness of another. It's not his own. Well, that was a good service
we had Sunday, only if men's hearts were turned to Christ. That's right. If their hearts
were turned any other way, it was not a good service. It wasn't
good for you. It wasn't glorifying to God. You see, here's where
the whole issue is determined. He said, my heart, watch this
now, my heart is full and bubbling up and running over with a good
matter. I speak pertaining to the King. That's a good matter. And then right here, here's two
interesting words. He says, my heart and my tongue.
My heart and my tongue. Here is where grace is worked, and here is where
so much evil, evil, evil is produced. The heart and the tongue. The
heart and the tongue. Oh, James says, the tongue is
a little member, but it's set on fire with hail. How great
a fire, little matter kindleth, the tongue. How unwisely men
use it. How unwisely they use it. He
said the tongue can be compared to the rudder on a great ship.
I don't know whether you've ever been underneath a ship bigger
than this building. Much bigger than this building.
Two or three times as long, wide. But under that ship is a little
rudder. And that's what turns the ship and keeps it on or off
course, that one little rudder. He said that's what the tongue
is, it's a little member, small member, but it can divide churches
and divide homes and divide friends and cause heartache and strife
and trouble and sorrow and all, he said, just the tongue. He
said it's like a fire, you know, just strike one little match
and set a whole city on fire. One little match. How unwisely
men use the tongue. But this man is a wise man because
he said, what my tongue has to say, and that of which my tongue
speaks, is a matter that has been bestowed and worked in my
heart. That's where it comes from. Out
of the heart, the mouth speaketh. Out of the heart. As a man thinketh
in his heart, so is he." David said this, and Paul quoted him.
He said, I believed in my heart, therefore have I spoken. And
here the psalmist says, my heart is indicting. My heart is bubbling
up. My heart is running over. My
heart is full. My heart knows Christ and loves
Christ. That's where this thing, the
whole work is done. Regeneration's a hard work, and
I'm not talking about I'm not talking about a fleshly organ.
I'm talking about the soul, the inner man. The inner man. That's where the work of regeneration
is performed. God said, I'll take out of you
that hard, stony heart. That heart that's so hard, the
Word bounces off of it. It's so flinty and sharp that
sparks fly from it. That heart that will not soak
up the water of the Word, but it repels the water of the Word. It's so hard. It can't be impressed,
it can't be touched, it can't be, it's not warm, there's no
heat from it. You can get it hot, but leave
it alone, it'll cool off. A stone, you know, you can get
a stone hot, but once you move the fire, it's cold. But he said,
I'll take out of you that stony, hard, callous, flint-like, unmoving
stone of a heart with which you was born. So hard, so callous. So unbending, unrelenting. I take that out and give you
a heart of flesh. Soft, pliable, easily entreated,
warm, produces heat. Give you a new heart. And that's
the heart he's talking about here. My heart is full and bubbling
over. My heart is a heart not like
stone, it's a heart of emotion, of feeling, of affection. And
therefore, because I have that heart of feeling and affection
and that heart of love for Christ, then my tongue becomes a ready
writer. My tongue wants to express what my heart feels. My tongue is the servant of that
heart. And that's what people's tongues
are. They're the servants of their
heart. They say what they're really thinking. Somebody said
there's a preacher who believes the gospel and doesn't preach
it. Nonsense. The tongue is the servant of
the heart. A man speaks and writes what
he considers most, and what he thinks most, and what he loves
most, and what his heart and mind dwells on. That's what he
speaks. That's what he writes. That's what he deals with. That's
where he's coming from. If his heart's in love with Christ,
his tongue will speak of Christ. He says, my tongue is always
ready to express the thoughts of my heart. My tongue is always
able to express the thoughts of my heart because my tongue
is a ready writer, a fluent writer. He writes about the king. He
writes about the king, not writing about himself, not writing about
his visions, not writing about his feelings, not writing about
his friends. Not writing about his plans,
not writing about his purposes, not writing about good things.
He's writing about the King with his tongue. He's writing with
his tongue. A tongue's a ready writer. And then he says in verse
two, he says, Thou art fairer than the children of men. Thou
art fairer than the fairest. I think everybody has a favorite
song. I like a lot of songs. I like
On a Rugged Hill especially well. I like I've Been to Calvary especially
well. I like He Touched Me. I like
He Lifted Me Out. But I believe my favorite song,
if I have a favorite song, it's not in our hymn book, but it's
called No Other Name. The words go like this. There's
none other name. given among men. There is none
can with him compare. All others are marred by sin,
they are scarred. He is fairer than all the past. Jesus, the Lamb of God, has died,
opening the gates of heaven wide, and all who believe are justified
freely from every sin. on a cross lifted high, when
a man forth to die. And the arm of the Lord was revealed. In sorrow forlorn, all my sins
he has borne, and with his stripes we are healed. This Lamb that
was slain has risen again. His triumph we all shall see. Once dying in shame, soon he's
coming again. My Savior and King is He. Jesus, the Lamb of God, has died,
opening the gates of heaven wide, for all who believe are justified
freely from every sin. He's fairer than all the fair. That's what He says here. Thou
art fairer than the children of men. He's fairer than the
fairest. We're born. He's the only begotten
of the Father. We're creatures of the dust.
He's the Lord from heaven. We've done no good, but He did
no sin. We're darkness. In us dwelleth
no light. He's light in whom dwelleth no
darkness. We're children of wrath. He's
the Father's delight. We're so empty, and in Him dwells
the fullness of God. Looks like to me we could never
run out of something to preach about him. Never run out of something
to say about him. How could a person have a greater
theme than the praise of Jesus Christ? In heaven's eternal bliss,
the glorious theme is this, may Jesus Christ be praised. To God
the word on high, the host of angels daily cry, may Jesus Christ
be praised. We ought to praise him. He said,
let everything that hath breath praise him. The angels do. The Father does. The scriptures
do. The redeemed in glory do. But
we can find so many subjects to talk about. Seems to me that instead of preaching
so much on the church, we would preach about the church's head. William Carey, the great missionary,
who labored so long and faithfully, lay dying. And of course, when a great man
like that is about to die, people carry on something Something awful. Everybody was
running here and running there, and taking messages here and
there, and all kind of goings-on, you know. They were trying to
make him comfortable. The doctor was there, and the
nurse. Well known. William Carey, one of the greatest
missionaries, ranking with Brainerd, and McShane, and Judson, and
names like that. Spurgeon. That's how well known
he was everywhere. William Carey. And the doctor was calling him
Dr. Cary, Dr. Cary this, Dr. Cary that. The
nurse would fluff up his pillars, your head resting well, Dr. Cary. Some of his elders would come
in and could we see Dr. Cary, you know, and different
people all around. Finally the old man said, everybody's talking about Dr. Cary. I wish somebody in this
house would say something about Dr. Cary's savior. But we're human, aren't we? He's fairer than the children
of men. I think as I start my second
sixty years, I'm more determined than ever to preach Christ. I'm more determined than ever
to make every, every open door, a door through which I take the
message of Christ. And I'm not talking about preaching
about Him, I'm talking about preaching Him. I'm not talking about raising
money to erect something in the name of Christ, I'm talking about
preaching Christ. Preaching Christ. Preaching Christ. Making the subject of every song
and the object of every prayer and the subject of every sermon
and the center of all fellowship, and the motive for every deed,
and the foundation of every hope, and the end of every life. Christ
in Him crucified. Now those who love Him will never
weary of it, and those who need Him cannot hear enough of it. And those who know him will know
him better. Christ. And then he says in that
next verse, he says he's fairer than the children of men. He's
fairer. Who is? He is. He is. He is. Not his church, not his
bride. He is. And grace is poured into
thy lips. Now, wrestle with that a little
bit. I read all the different writers. Grace is poured into
thy lips. Since he's the fountain of all
grace by nature, is he not? He is the fountain of all grace.
And since he is the source of all grace, you see, the law came
through Moses. Grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. Without Jesus Christ, there's
no grace and truth. He is the truth. He is grace.
Isn't that right? He's grace. He's grace. He's not a way of life. He's
life. He is grace. He himself is grace. This is what so many people just
can't get a hold of. They say, the Lord Jesus made
a way for us to be saved. No, He didn't. He is the way. He said, I am the door. I am the door. And since outside of him there
is no grace, and to be in Christ is to be a partaker of grace,
and not to have Christ, know Christ, love Christ, be joined
to Christ as a branch to a vine, a man has no grace, then I must
interpret this in this way. Grace is poured from his lips. From his lips. I think a verse that helps with
that is Luke 4, for you all who are interested in this type of
thing in cross-reference or going somewhere else to see if you
can help us a little bit. In Luke 4, 22, it says this,
and this is when he spoke in Nazareth, his hometown. He read the scriptures pertaining
to the Messiah, Messianic prophecy. And he said, The Spirit of God
is upon me. He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor, and deliverance to the captive, and recovery of sight
to the blind, and set at liberty them that are bruised. And he
said in verse 21, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your
ears. And all bear him witness and
wonder at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. The grace that flowed from his
mouth. Grace. What is grace? Undeserved favor. Unmerited favor. Unearned favor. Most of the time,
unsought favor. Grace, grace. Well, how is it
that grace is poured from His lips? Well, several things. Number
one, let me give them to you briefly. As the surety of the
everlasting covenant, grace pours from His lips. He says, I am
the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. I know my sheep, and am known
of mine. And other sheep I have which
are not of this fold, and them also I must bring. And they shall
hear my voice, and they shall be one fold and one shepherd."
They said, How long do you make us to doubt? If you be the Christ,
tell us plainly. He said, I told you, and you
didn't believe me. You didn't believe me because
you're not of my sheep. You see, my sheep hear my voice, and they
follow me, and I give them eternal life, and they'll never perish.
My Father gave them me. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all, and no one can pluck them out of my Father's
hand, and I and my Father in nature, in essence, in purpose,
in will, in covenant mercy, are one. which thou hast given me," he
said. When our Lord stood and speak, and grace poured from
his lips, it was the grace of the surety of an everlasting
covenant. Do I believe in full ordination?
Do I believe in God? Do I believe in divine election?
Do I believe in God? Do I believe that God has determined
the end from the beginning? Do I believe in God? If you believe in God, you have
to believe that, Herman. A God of chance is no God. A
God of possibility is no God. A God of perhaps is no God. He
may be a religious idol, but he's no God. The only one who
is God is the one who is almighty, all-powerful, sovereign in all
things, and doth his will in the armies of heaven and among
the inhabitants of this earth, and none can stay his hand or
say unto him, What doest thou? So when our Lord speaks, grace
pours from His lips, the grace of the covenant, the grace of
the surety, the grace of one who came for a purpose. who could
say when he had finished that task, I've finished the work
you gave me to do. Thou hast given me all authority
over all flesh that I should give eternal life to as many
as you gave me. And I've manifested thy name
unto the men which you gave me out of this world. And I have given them thy word,
and they have received it. And I pray for them, I pray not
for the world, I pray for them which thou hast given me. They
are thine, and all thine are mine, and mine are thine, and
you are glorified in them." That's God speaking. That's not the
pitiful, sad, frustrated, confused Jesus of modern fundamentalism. That's God. That's the King speaking,
and where the word of the King is, is power. power. You do err, he said, you
don't know the scriptures and you don't know the power of God.
That's the whole problem with our religious generation, the
same that was a problem with the generation when our Lord
walked on this earth in the flesh. They didn't know the scriptures. They knew the words on paper,
but they didn't know the message. They knew the facts and the figures,
but they didn't know the message. They searched the scriptures,
for in them they thought they had life, but there they which
testify a hymn. The Bible's a hymn book. The things Moses wrote, and Isaiah,
and David, and all the rest of them was concerning him. And
when he stood right before them, these masters of theology didn't
know him. They'd been reading his book
and didn't know the author. They've been memorizing dates
and times and kings and seasons and taking their little Bible
quizzes and missed the master. We have too. But he's the surety,
and when the surety speaks, grace flows from his lips. Sovereign
grace. There ain't no other kind. The whole world believes in grace
and hates sovereign grace, and there's no other kind. Men talk
of mercy, but there's only one kind of mercy, sovereign mercy.
If I owe you anything, it's not mercy. If I return favor for favor,
it's not mercy. Mercy is for the guilty. Mercy
is for the undeserving. Mercy is for the miserable. Mercy
is God not giving you what you do deserve. Grace is God giving
you what you don't deserve. It's sovereign. I'll be gracious
to whom I will, he said. I'll be merciful to whom I will.
So then it's not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that showeth mercy. So when he speaks of sovereign
surety, grace, free grace, sufficient grace, sovereign grace flows
from his lips. That's the reason he said to
that bunch down at Nazareth, he said, you Jews think you've
got a corner on God, but you don't. You think God's obligated
to you because you're Abraham's seed, but He's not. He said there were many widows
in Israel in the time of the prophet, and none of them were
fed, but a widow of Satan, a Gentile, God feed whom He will. And He
said there were many lepers in the land of Israel in the days
of the prophet, and God healed none of them, but Nahum, an Assyrian,
a pagan, pagan Gentile. That's sovereign grace. That's
sovereign mercy. And when they heard that, when
they heard that, even though it was in the Bible, and they
knew it was in the Bible. They'd read it before. But even
though they knew it was in the Bible, when they heard him say
this, they rose up in wrath and would have cast him off a cliff.
They hated sovereign grace. They hated sovereign mercy. Oh,
the grace that flows from the lips of the surety. the sovereign
surety. And then as the revealer of the
Father, grace flows from his lips. They said, show us the
Father. He said, he that hath seen me hath
seen the Father. I am the Father alone. Do you
believe that? Brother Mahan, how can God be
one God in three? I don't know, ask him. He's the
one that said it. He said, the Lord our God is
one God. You know what he said? One God. And yet he said, there
are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word,
and the Holy Ghost. I can't explain it, but I do
know this, that Jesus Christ, who was born of Mary and laid
in Bethlehem's manger, said, let there be light. And there
was light. Jesus Christ, who stood there
in the carpenter's shop working alongside his foster father Joseph,
was the one that laid the foundations of this world and built it thereon. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God and was God, and all things were
made by Him. There was not anything made that
was not made by Him, and in Him was life. When God breathed into
Adam the breath of life and he became a living soul, it's Christ
that breathed into his nostrils, Jesus Christ. And the 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. And
Isaiah said, Thou shalt call his name Immanuel, God with us. His name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. He's not a messenger, He's God. I and my Father are one. And He
said, Father, I pray that they may be one as we are one. For
Thou lovest them as Thou hast loved me. These are mysteries. These are mysteries. These are
not little mechanical things that you memorize in vacation
Bible school. These are mysteries that are
revealed. These are not little creeds and
catechisms that you sing song as you walk down the aisle and
shake hands with the preacher and tell everybody you got saved.
These are mysteries that are revealed by the Spirit of God
to the hearts of men and women. And it can't be learned anywhere
else. Everything you know by nature is wrong. Everything you do by nature is
wrong. Everything you think by nature is evil. Every imagination
of man's heart is what's evil continually, every thought. We have to be taught of God.
No man can come to me except my Father which sent me drawing. It's written in the prophets,
and they shall all be taught of God. And every man that hath
heard and learned of the Father, special revelation comes to me,
and I'll raise him up at the last day. The natural mind is
enmity. The natural man knoweth not the
things of the Spirit. He cannot discern them. They're
spiritually understood. We have to be taught. Great is
the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. God was manifest in the flesh,
seen in the angels, justified in the Spirit, believed on in
the world, preached to the Gentiles. God was in human flesh. That's my Savior hanging on that
tree. Yes, and that's my God hanging on that tree. That can't
be. Yes, it can. Only God can do
that. And that's the only way a sinner
can be saved. See, man can suffer, but no man can satisfy the infinite
justice and holiness of God. And you see, God can satisfy
in a moment, but God can't suffer. But God in human flesh can suffer
and satisfy. My righteousness is the Lord.
The Lord is my righteousness. My God is my righteousness. My
righteousness is the righteousness of my God. My God worked it out
here in human flesh and imputed it to me. How'd I get it? I believed
it. As the preacher of the gospel,
grace pours from his lips. He said, I'm come that they might
have life. They're dead. All men are dead. There's not a spark of life in
the human heart. There's not a spark of truth
in the human soul. When Adam sinned, he died, and
his whole race died with him. And Adam would die by one man's
sin. Death passed upon all men for
all sins. Right then, dead, dead, dead
in trespasses and sin. Dead is dead. Dead is without
life. You have to be quick on who were
dead. Jesus Christ said, I've come
that they might have life. In Him was life. In Him was life. The Son of Man has come to seek
and to save that which was lost. The Son quickeneth whom He will. Christ quickeneth. It says this
is the record God has given us eternal life. This life is in
His Son. Life is not in a law, life is
not in a doctrine, life is not in a religion, life is not in
a profession, life is not in a decision, life is in a person. Christ is our life. Christ is
our life. On that great day of the feast,
he stood and cried, if any man thirst, let him come to me, and
out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. This he spake
of the Holy Spirit. Oh, the grace that flows from
his lips as he declares that he is the gospel. See, the gospel's
not an invitation. The gospel's a person. The gospel
is not a pathetic plea of some pastor trying to get someone
to get religion so mom will be happy. The gospel is the proclamation
and declaration of a person and his worth. Paul said, I'm separated
to the gospel of God concerning his son who was made of the seed
of David and declared to be the son of God. That's my gospel. Whether you believe it or not
has nothing to do with the declaration of that gospel. What men do with
it has nothing to do with it. The gospel is the gospel whether
anybody believes it. The gospel is the gospel if everybody
believes it. Christ is the gospel. And when
he stands as a preacher of the gospel, he's declaring himself.
Come to me! Come to me! Life is in him. You don't come to the front,
you come to Christ. You don't make a decision to believe some
facts. You embrace a person who as many as receive him, to them
gave he the right to become the sons of God. Our whole soul-winning
program is off-centered. The whole program. We're sending
people out here to knock on doors to give people a little theology
and ask them if they believe that. You believe this? You believe
this? You believe this? The Pharisees believed every
word of it. The devil believes every word of it. You're not
saved by believing facts, you're saved by receiving a person.
Embracing a person. Believing a person. Abraham didn't
believe there was a God, he believed God. Abraham didn't believe in
God, he believed God. How do you know he believed God?
He acted like it. That's what James said. He believed God. He believed
him. Oh, I made a decision. I know. Have you ever met the
Lord? Two different things. Our generation
believes facts. They give mental assent. To some
facts, there isn't a demon in hell that doesn't believe Jesus
Christ was crucified, died on the cross, was buried, and rose
again. Not a demon in hell that doesn't believe that. There's
not a demon in hell that does not believe in the virgin birth.
Not a one. They haven't one believed it.
But they don't love it. And they don't love Him. And
they never bowed to Him. And they never embraced Him. Never taken Him up in their arms.
They've never submitted to Him. They've never bowed and cried,
My Lord and my God. And most Baptists haven't either.
That's right. But they're all going to Heaven.
They let you know that right now. They're swearing on a stack
of Bibles they're going to Heaven. But they've never bowed to Christ. Oh, He's the Gospel. And then
as our faithful promiser, grace, pours from his lips, his promises
are called precious promises. I'll never leave you. It may
look like it sometime, but I'll never leave you. David said,
My mother and father may forsake me, but he'll take me up. I will
not fear what man shall do unto me. He said, All that my Father giveth
me will come to me, and him that cometh I'll never, no never,
no never, in no wise cast out, under no circumstances, but no
reason, I'll never desert him. Never. There's no human being
can say that to you. Lo, I'm with you always, even
to the end of the ages. Who can separate me from the
love of God? Turn over to Romans 8. Romans
chapter 8. Let me read this over here. Art
read it tonight in a study, and I was so touched as he read this. Romans chapter 8. Our Lord, oh,
the grace that flows from His lips. Romans 8, verse 35. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? And I'm not talking about our
love for Him. I'm talking about His love for
us. We love Him because He loved us. That's right. Herein is love, not that we love
God. Don't brag. I love what that dear black lady
said to Doris and I down at the funeral home, sitting out there
in the car. And she came by and told me how
much she enjoyed my message. She shook hands with me. I said, I appreciate that. And
she passed the time of day. And then she said, Brother Mahan,
she said, I love the Lord. I thought, uh-oh. Here's another
bragging testimony, but she didn't stop. Thank God. She said, because
He first loved me. Oh, I like that. I say, well,
thank you. Boy, that made my day. You remember
that? I love the Lord because He first loved me. Who's going
to separate us from His love? Shall tribulation, trouble? You going to get in trouble and
lose contact with the Redeemer? Well, distress? Oh, I'm so depressed
and so troubled and my heart's so heavy. I'm distressed. Which
way to turn? Persecution? Hatred of friends
and family and relatives and religious devils? Or famine? Or nakedness? Poverty? Peril of sword? Huh? These things
going to separate you from the love of Christ? No. Verse 37 said, And all these
things were more than conquerors through him who loved us. I tell
you now, our Bibles don't read like we talk. No, they don't, do they? He loved
us. He loved us. He loved us. He loved us. I'm persuaded, he
said, that neither death nor liars, nor angels, nor principalities,
rulers of the darkness, powers, evil spirits, nor things present,
nor anything to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any creature can
separate me from the love of God, which is in Jesus Christ the
Lord. That's where it is. And outside
of Christ, the wrath of God dwelleth on this whole world. Good news,
America, God loves you, is a lie. Because America is not in Christ.
And the love of God is in Christ. And that's a lie. It's not what
this book says. The book says the love of God
is in Christ. I'd just as soon go on to Sodom
and say, Good news, Sodom, God loves you. No, he doesn't. He's
angry. He's so full of wrath and anger
that he's going to destroy you. And that's what I'm saying to
this country and to all the rest of them. God's love is in Christ. God's mercy is in Christ. God's
grace is in Christ. And I challenge any man to find
any love or mercy or grace outside of Jesus Christ when God has
given all things into the hands of the Son. You know what he
said? All things. And any preacher that talks about
God Indiscriminately, universally, loving every human being is a
liar. There's no truth in him. God
hateth the workers of iniquity. God is angry with the wicked
every day. Jacob hath a love, Esau hath a hated. And you read
Psalm 45. He said, Thou loveth righteousness,
and Lord, thou hateth wickedness. You say, why doesn't he hate
us? We're in Christ, my friend. We're in Christ. We're in the
Ark. We're in the ark of safety. We're in the refuge. We're in
God's Son. We're in God's covenant. That's
where God's love is. Hell is not an act of love. Hell
is not a monument to God's love, and it's not a monument to God's
failure either. It's a monument to God's justice.
I'm telling you the truth. And we're going to suddenly run
into this truth someday. I know all the namby-pamby sentimental
emotional religion of today is not of God, and this world's
going to suddenly face it when they die, just like that. Just
like that. Just like that. They're going
from all of this error into bare, plain, brilliant truth. Just
like this, they're going from worshiping a sentimental God
who loves everybody and hates no one, who's all love and no
wrath, who's all love and no righteousness, who's all love
and no truth and no justice, And they're going to die, and
they're going to wake up standing face to face with Him who will bring
to light every evil thought, word, and deed, and judge it
according to His righteousness and justice. And they're going
to be surprised. Wait! Now, just a minute, Lord. We preached in Your Name, cast
out devils, and did many wonderful works. I never knew You. Who's
this talking? I never knew You. Hey, we never
met that. That wasn't a God we believed
in. I never knew you, workers of iniquity, depart from me,
bind him hand and foot and cast him into hell." We never heard
that preached. Where'd he come from? He'd been there all along.
And you'd been worshiping an idol. And the God of justice
and righteousness and truth had been on the throne. You preach
it through your curve. That's what Josiah the king said,
wasn't it, Charlie? Our fathers had lied to us. And the reason they lie, the
reason they lie is because they're covetous, because they're greedy,
and they're cowards. And they dare not tell the truth.
And secondly, because they don't know God. And you can't preach
Him whom you do not know. And there's no fear of God before
their eyes. Last, and I'll close, as our
advocate, grace pours from his lips, he's our defender. advocate, defender. The law,
oh, that awesome, awful law of God. I know a lot of people that
feel like that they come, like Saul of Tarsus, pretty close
to keeping it. They like to talk a lot about
it. The law stands unbending, unmerciful,
judging, charging, exposing, revealing. Satan stands pointing
adversary, accused of the brethren. Conscience keeps causing some
trouble, doesn't it? Conscience. Conscience. And all of these, law, Satan,
conscience, brings forth all the charges of transgressions
and iniquities of all of our lives from Adam to this present
day, and stands and accuses us, but my Lord speaks, my Advocate,
my Defender. When He speaks, they listen. And my Defender, my Advocate
speaks, and He says, My client pleads guilty. I do. My client pleads guilty
to every charge presented before this auspicious court. And my client pleads guilty to
some charges that haven't been exposed. And my client pleads guilty to
charges you don't even know about. But I hold in my hand a full
pardon for my client. Yes, more than a pardon, I hold
in my hand a testimony from the eternal God, the eternal highest
court in the universe, for full full justification from all the
charges of the law and Satan in conscience, full justification,
because the law has been fully honored and justice fully satisfied
for my client in the person of his Redeemer, whom God himself
set forth to be his propitiation, that God may be just and justify
it. Case dismissed. That's all I needed. Case dismissed. That's the reason Paul said,
who can lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that
justifies. It wasn't an experience I had
at the front of the church that justified me. It was God in Christ
who justified me. It wasn't a decision I made when
I was 13 years old, walked down an aisle, accepted Jesus, It
was a transaction that took place between the Father and the Son,
in which the Father Himself accepted me in the Beloved, who presented by His obedience
and death the full requirement for my full redemption. Grace
poured from His lips. I could go on the rest of the
night. I got 18 more points. That's
right. You never reach the end of this
subject. Christ. Christ. Christ. Grace. Mercy. Mercy. It's in Him. It's in Him. Oh, what a joy to preach Him.
But I'll tell you sinners, if there's one here, he's the sinner's
Savior. And when you come to know Him
and love Him and trust Him and believe Him, you'll preach Him. and you'll rejoice in the preaching
of Christ and sing about Him.