The Biography of the Believer

Now, with very little introduction, I want to get right into the
heart of my message this evening. And the message you're going
to hear, if God's Holy Spirit gives me
the liberty to preach it, is as contrary to what you normally hear in
churches and on religious programs as anything can possibly be. I feel with all of my heart that
we are in a religious awakening, we're in a religious revival
of religion, but not in a true spiritual awakening at all. I think it's just the opposite. And in my message tonight on
the biography of a believer, I pray the Holy Spirit will show
us the difference. There is a difference. Now this
message will be understood by those whose biography it is,
the believer. This message tonight will be
appreciated by those whose biography it is, the believer. A man can
never understand regeneration until he's born again. That's
the first point of difference in this message and what we hear
preached today. The natural man, contrary to
what is thought and what is preached, does not understand the things
of God. There's no possible way that
he can weigh truth against error. He cannot see, understand, or
hear truth. All he knows is error. Even his
light is darkness. And Christ said, if the light,
if the only light you got is darkness, how great is that darkness. You can't understand regeneration
unless you've been born again. A man cannot understand faith
who's not a believer. It is impossible for a natural
man who does not believe to understand what it is to believe. A man
must be in God's family to know family secrets. It's impossible
for a person who's not in the true family of God to understand
the secrets of God's family. The revelations of the Father,
the words of the Father, the counsel of the Father. He has
not entered into the family circle. They're all foreign to him. True
spiritual knowledge is only gained by personal experience. It can
come no other way. That's what's wrong with the
terrible buttons that are being distributed today. Try God. If you cannot see what's wrong
with things like that, there's something wrong with you. Spiritual
knowledge is not gained by trial and error, it's gained by the
new birth, by personal experience. Perhaps the Holy Spirit will
create some interest in unregenerate hearts by showing them what they
don't have. Perhaps he'll speak to the others. You know, there in verse 3, while
I read, did you notice that statement? We were even as others. There
are others. There are believers and there
are others. And we believers were at one time even as others.
And maybe the Holy Spirit will speak to the others as we tell
our story, what we were and what God did and what we are now and
what we're going to be. But I can say emphatically, without
reservation, that there's no way that a man can understand
this story, this biography, if it's not his biography. No way
he can appreciate it, enter into it, if it's not his. Now the
first thing you can underline is in verse 1 of chapter 2 of
Ephesians, and you, you notice the words hath he quickened are
in italics, just leave them out, they're supplied by the translators,
sometimes they help, sometimes they don't, but it reads as follows,
and you who were dead in trespasses and sins, dead in sins, it's
repeated again in verse 5, even when we were dead in scenes. Now I take you into a funeral
home, and here's a coffin in front of us, and in that coffin
is a man. Walk up with me to that coffin,
look into the face of that man, he's dead. He's dead. And it's a picture of what we
were and what natural men are spiritually. God says they're
dead, spiritually dead. As we stand by the casket of
this dead man and you and I talk, he does not hear us. We may talk
of pleasant things and he does not smile. Others around us who
are living hear us and they smile. They understand what we're saying.
They can relive these pleasant experiences. We talk about days
of pleasant memories and we all smile, but he doesn't smile because
he doesn't hear. Or we may talk of unpleasant
things and we begin to weep, but he does not weep because
he does not hear us. And even so, those who are dead
in trespasses and sin, and one day we were dead in trespasses
and sin, they do not hear God's Word. They're words of judgment
and wrath and condemnation. And you who are regenerated,
you who are born again, hear those words, and you shudder
at those words, and you tremble at the words of death and judgment
and condemnation and eternal separation from God. There isn't
a change in his expression, because he really doesn't hear you. You
talk about God's grace and mercy and God's love, and the regenerated,
the believer, smiles. There's a light of heaven comes
across his face, the countenance of Moses as he came down from
the mountain, the glory of God's presence. But the unbeliever,
he doesn't hear anything. You talk about Christ's redeeming
sacrifice, Christ's sacrificial offering on Calvary, Christ's
love, Christ's grace, the words of invitation, compassion, salvation. There's no change of expression.
He may even thumb through a songbook while you're preaching. He may
even look out the window if he can see out the window. His mind
is off somewhere thinking about what he did last week or what
he's going to do next week. He's thinking about some personal
relationship which he has, some personal obligation which he
has. He dead. He does not hear your words.
No matter how pleasant they are, how frightening they are, no
matter how joyous they are, or how terrible they are, he does
not hear them. They don't affect him. Because
he dead. And you can dance around the
pulpit. Preachers do everything in their power to get people's
attention. You can't get a dead man's attention. You can put
on all kinds of costumes, you can hire trumpet players, you
can get puppet shows, you can go give away stamps, you can
do all these things. You can get their presence, but
you can't get their attention. They don't hear you. They're
dead. Stand there with me. The man
does not hear us. We talk about these pleasant
or unpleasant things, these joyous or frightening things, and he
does not hear. He's dead. All right? He doesn't see you
either. You can go over to the window
and you can pull the drapes and let in the brilliant sunshine,
and all of us blink. That brilliant sunshine comes
into our eyes and we're immediately affected by it, but there's no
change on his expression. because he does not see the light.
Wave after wave of brilliant light can cross his face and
he does not see it. And men who are dead in trespasses
and sin do not see the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus
Christ. They don't see the dangers of
sin. They don't see the certainty of death, they don't see the
certainty of judgment, they don't see hell, they do not see the
Savior's love and grace, they do not see his bleeding hands
inside, they do not see any beauty in Christ at all. You can talk
about his beauty and his grace and his love and they're unaffected
by it. They can't see it. They can see material things
and they can rejoice over them. They can see a cash deal They
can see a material deal, they can understand these things,
but they cannot see spiritual glory. Their eyes are blinded
to these things. They can't appreciate them, because
they're dead. And you stand there by that man,
and he does not smell. You can bring a bottle of the
sweetest smelling perfume, And you can put it right under his
nose, and its fragrance can fill the room. And everybody standing
way over in the corner will turn, and over here they'll turn, and
over there, and they appreciate the fragrance of that perfume,
or those flowers fill the room. But no expression on his face.
It doesn't affect him. or you can bring the foulest
smelling ingredients known to man and stick it under his nose
and he's unaffected by that too. He's unaffected by the sweet
beautiful fragrance of precious ointment and he's unaffected
by the foul smelling ingredients that you wave under his nose.
He's dead. I've been in services. I've heard
sermons. when it seems like the precious
box of God's greatest glory has been opened and the fragrance
of God's grace and mercy and Christ's love has filled the
room and you could just, the fragrance of it was so sweet
it filled the house. And I've had people walk out
of those services totally unaffected. They smell no fragrance, they
felt no presence, they heard no joy, They saw no light. They went out unaffected. And
then I've been with people and heard preachers preached and
it reeked of error. It reeked of darkness. It reeked of deadness. And my
companions didn't catch the odor at all. They didn't catch the
odor of error. They didn't catch the odor of
satanic influence. I heard it and I saw it and I
smelled it. And it turned me away. But they
said, now wasn't that a great sermon? And I thought to myself,
you couldn't catch the error of hell itself? You couldn't
catch the subtlety and craftiness of that foul-smelling fiend from
hell? You couldn't smell that? Dead. I'm going to say something here
that may be offensive to some people, but I know it will be
understood by those who know what I'm talking about. The scripture teaches us the
simplicity of worship. David said, I lift up my eyes
to the hills, for whence cometh my help. David talked about the
Lord as my shepherd. He leads me by the still waters.
into the green pastures. The heavens declare the glory
of God. When I consider the moon, the
sun, the stars, the world's thy hand hath made. And yet, in religion today, what
do we do? The preacher dresses up in some
religious-looking, ceremonial-looking robe. He dresses himself up different
from the people, different from the man on the street, different
from... You'd never see anybody in a gaudy, awful-looking thing
like that except in church. And then the choir is all dressed...
Now, I may get on your toes, but now just hold still a minute.
The choir is all dressed up there in their gold robes. and they're
all kind of fancy religious-looking things, and on the windows are
shepherds and crosses and open tombs and all of these things,
and the choir boys come marching in with candles. That's all beautiful. But here's what's wrong with
it. Here's the reeking odor of error in it. It is disassociated
from real life. And you come on Sunday, and you
sit in that atmosphere, Now stay with me. Don't be a dummy. Try
to learn something. You come and sit in that atmosphere
of religion and you feel so good and you feel so near heaven.
That's what Satan wants you to do. Because when you walk out
that door, you don't see robes and candles and stained glass
windows and sweet smelling flowers and all these fancy things that
remind you of religion. You go out into a stark, cold,
plain world. You know what you do? You leave
your religion right here in this fancy atmosphere. Preachers get
up and start praying and an organ starts playing. Well, no organ
plays a background for your prayers at home, so consequently you
don't feel religious. Consequently you don't feel the
presence of God. You've got to come to one of
these places, one of these special places, where everybody's dressed
like a clown. a religious clown, where you're
surrounded by an atmosphere where the crescendo of cantatas is
resounding in your ears and fancy religious music, and when you
get out in the cold, plain world, God is not there. Because your
God's an idol. You left him down in that fancy
religious place. Now that's the truth. And I don't
know, I guess the only reason why people can't smell that is
that awful, awful fragrance of evil and error, because they're
dead. They're dead. It's like the old-time
movies, the movie makers of old, what they used to do. The poor
old housewife, she draws water out of the well and carries it
to the house. She scrubs floors. She cooks
on a big old coal range or wood range. She irons with one of
those old irons that you sit on the stove and get it hot,
you know, and then rub it on your clothes. And she, Saturday,
she goes to the movies. And there on the screen is that
woman that wears that long silk beautiful gown and rides in that
limousine with a chauffeur with a fancy hat. And she has a maid
to do her nails, and a maid to comb her hair, and she goes to
the different fine restaurants, and they wait on her, and some
handsome man takes her there. It's a world of make-believe.
It's a world of fantasy. But that poor housewife gets
out of the drudgery of her real life, and for a little while,
for a little while, she lives in that make-believe world, and
she's transported from real life to make-believe. But in an hour,
she's got to go back. Go back. That's what preachers
are doing today. They're taking people into a
make-believe world of religion. And then they leave the congregation
or leave the building and they go to the real life. And I say
unto you, God's in real life. That's where a man walks with
God and where a man talks with God and where a man lives with
God. And if you can't separate the
fantasy from real life, you got a problem. You can't smell the difference.
If you can't smell the difference, because you're dead. God's people
here Stay here. God is real to them, and they
don't need these crutches. They don't need these properties.
You know, when you put on a play down at the theater, you've got
to have properties. You've got to have a scene, setting. You've
got to have all these things to make it what it's supposed
to be. But I'm saying you don't need
these things to worship God. You don't need an organ playing
while you're praying. You don't need candles burning
around. You don't need uniforms. You don't need robes. You don't
need crosses. You don't need these things. You just need the Holy Spirit.
to walk with the living God so that that man can come here in
the simplicity of everyday life, faced by a man who is a man of
like passions, who knows Him, who understands Him, who walks
with Him, who lives with Him, who's tested in the same way,
who talks to Him out of his heart from the Word of God about God
and Christ and eternal life. And that man can walk out of
that simple place into a simple world, out of that real place
into a real world with those real people among other real
people. It's not fantasy, it's not make-believe. That man, stand there with me,
he doesn't hear you, he doesn't hear you, he's dead. He doesn't
see. He's light, he's dead, he doesn't
smell, he can't distinguish between beauty and ugliness. He calls them, and he can't feel. You stand over his dead body,
and you tell him about your joys, and tell him about your blessings,
and tell him about your gifts, and tell him about all that God's
done for you, and the people around you rejoice with you.
They're living. They can feel your joy. He can't
feel it. He's dead. You tell him about
your sorrows, and tell him about your trials, and tell him about
your failures, and he doesn't weep. He's dead. He can't enter
into your joys or your sorrows. He feels them not. feels them
not, he's dead. And I say when a man has spiritual
life, God Almighty gives him a keen spiritual response and
feeling for fellow sufferers and fellow laborers and comrades
in faith. He feels their joys and he feels
their sorrow and he weeps for those that weep and he rejoices
with those that rejoice because he's living! And they're living. When the day comes that I cannot
enter into your tears, and I cannot enter into your joys, and I cannot
enter into your trials, and cannot enter into your suffering, that's
the day when I'll say to myself, you're dead. You're dead. We were dead. But look at the
next line over here in verse 4. But God, oh boy, but God. Not the evangelist, not the preacher,
not the pastor, but God. We were dead, but God! Brethren,
that's the difference. But God. It's not, but I decided
I'd do this, or I did that. It's but God. Salvation's not
what you do for God, it's what God does for you. But God, read
on, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved
us. Now let me point something out
here. Stay with me. Preacher, That man in the casket
is dead. He doesn't hear you. He doesn't
see you. He doesn't smell. He doesn't
feel, because he cannot. That's right. And you say, I
have pity for him. If he's dead, I pity him. He
can't hear you. He can't feel for you. He can't
listen to you. He can't hear you. He can't smell
the difference. But that rebellious sinner He doesn't hear God's voice because
he will not hear it. Now that's right. And not any
of you can hide behind inability. Your problem is unwillingness.
You'd rather listen to the voices of evil, you'd rather listen
to the music of the world, you'd rather listen to carnal reasoning,
you'd rather listen to error than truth. You'd rather listen
to a preacher who will tickle your ears and please your flesh
and preach what you think he ought to preach. You'd rather
do that than go out of your way to hear somebody who preaches
what God says. They'll heap to themselves teachers
having itching ears that'll turn away their ears from the truth.
He said, the prophets prophesy falsely, but my people like to
have it so, God said. Isn't that horrible? They like
it that way. Christ said, I come in my father's name and you won't
hear me. Let another come in his own name
and him you will hear. Men do not hear God's voice because
they don't want to hear God's voice. Because they will not. Men do not see Christ because
they will not see Christ. They're willfully blind. He said
they have closed their eyes that they might not see. I wish I
had a dollar bill for every time I've heard people say, I will
not listen to you. I will not listen to you. It's
not I cannot, it's I will not. We preach not ourselves, we preach
Christ. We're trying to tell the people
the difference. We're trying to show people the subtlety of
Satan. Satan is not going to walk up
to you with horns and a pitchfork and cloven hoofs and a forked
tail in red underwear. He comes subtly as an angel of
light, as a minister of righteousness. And the only way you can distinguish
the difference, Christ said, he'll deceive if it were possible
to very elect. Isn't that what he said? He's
a crafty, subtle, deceitful worker of iniquity. And the only way
you can tell the difference is by the word of the living God.
Try the spirits, try them how? By the word of God. That rebellious
sinner doesn't hear God's voice because he won't hear it. He
doesn't see Christ because he won't see him. He doesn't smell
error because he doesn't want to smell error. He doesn't feel
for others because he's self-centered and self-willed. His whole life
revolves around himself. Now let me ask you this. You
pity the dead man in the casket because he can't. But what's
your feeling for that man who won't? Who won't? Well, you say, who could love
such a creature? Who could love such a creature?
I feel no pity for such a creature who will not hear God, who could
but want, who will not see God, who could but want the lights
there, who does not feel because he wants Feel no pity for such
a creature. He gets what he deserves. When
he hears God say, depart from me, that's what he ought to hear.
But God loves them. That's what he said. He said,
we were dead in sin. We fulfilled, verse 3, the lust
of our flesh, its pride, its arrogance, the desires of the
flesh. We were by nature children of
wrath, even as others. But God, in this cesspool of
human ruin, God has a people whom he loves. In this cesspool,
in this cemetery of human rebellion, in this awful smell of death,
God's got a people that he loves. They haven't loved him, but he
loves them. And having loved his own, he
loves them to the end. Now, my friend, The truth is offensive. But the Bible talks about the
wrath of God, did you know that? Psalms chapter 5 says God hates
the workers of iniquity, that's what it says. In Psalm 711 it
says, God is angry with the wicked every day, that's what it says.
In John 3, he that believeth not on the Son, the wrath of
God abideth on him. Romans chapter 9, Esau have I
hated. The wrath of God is upon a world
of sin and rebellion. And I know it's something you
don't talk about, it's a word you don't use, but if you'll
check this Bible from Genesis to Revelation, you'll find God's
anger and God's wrath and God's judgment upon the rebellious,
upon the unbeliever. It's there. But also you check
through this book, you'll find God's love. God's love, but I'll
tell you where God's love is God's love is in Christ Now you
turn to Romans 8. Let me show you that in John
in Romans chapter 8 The last verse of chapter 8. He's talking
about neither death nor life No angels, no principalities,
no powers, no things present, no things to come, no height,
no depth, no any other creature verse 39 Romans 8 shall be able
to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord." That's where it is. Out of Christ, God is a consuming
fire. Out of Christ is to be out of
the ark in the flood of wrath. Out of Christ is to be outside
the door on which the blood is placed, and that's death. When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you. And to be in Christ is to be under the blood. But
to be out of Christ is to be out there where wrath is, where
judgment is. You see what I'm saying? We're
hearing a one-sided subtle attack of Satan that continually dwells
upon the love of God and how we can't exalt. It's immeasurable. The love of God is infinite.
It's everlasting. But it's in Christ. Noah didn't have a bumper sticker
on the back of that ark. God loves your smile. Wouldn't
that have been a horrible, sadistic type of humor? As he floated
off yonder, under the grace and mercy and protection of God,
while the people drowned back here under the flood of judgment,
and he had that silly-looking sign, smile, God loves you. That's horrible. And I'm telling
the truth to this generation. If you're in the ark, you're
in the love of God. If you're out of the ark, Christ
Jesus, you're under the wrath of God. If you're there in the
home where the blood by faith has been put on the door, you're
under the love and mercy of God. If you're outside that door,
I don't care if you're Pharaoh's son, or if you're the scrub woman's
son, or if you're the son of that cattle on the side of a
hill you're gonna die under God's wrath and it's no nice thing
and Preachers can be nasty nasty all they want to and scratch
the back and tickle the ears and entertain Sinners on their
road to hell, but it's an ungodly sadistic type of profession. I'll tell you that God loves
his people. There's a people whom he loves
out of Adam's wreath and God has given to his Son a people
who are the object of his eternal pity, who are the object of his
infinite love, who are the object of his everlasting grace. God
commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners.
And he loved us through the rebellion of Eden's garden, and he loved
us through the denials of Gethsemane, when Peter and the rest of the
apostles said, we don't know him, and walked off and forsook
him and fled. He still loved him. He loved
them through the sufferings of Calvary. He loved them through
the Damascus road of persecution. He loved them. And then verse
5, it says, And when we were dead in sins, here's the third
chapter in this biography, he quickened us together with Christ.
He loved us in our deadness, in our corruption, in our evil,
and he regenerated us, he redeemed us, he quickened us in Christ. Now let me tell you something. Do you want to know the true
gospel? Well, the true gospel is not
a proposition. We're not selling encyclopedias. We're not trying to win converts.
The gospel is not a proposition. The gospel is a declaration.
The gospel is a declaration. It's good news of a work done. It's finished. One preacher right here in the
tri-state area said in the presence of a friend of mine in whose
word I have absolute confidence Isn't it a shame that Jesus had
to die and he didn't finish what he came to do? That's what the
Baptist preacher said there. Let me tell you something. He
finished what he came to do. He came to redeem a people. And
when he closed his eyes on Calvary's cross and gave up the ghost,
he cried, it's finished. It's finished. And he went into
the grave and he came out approved of the Father, accepted of the
Father, and he went to the right hand of the Father and sat there
waiting till what he bought became his. to what he ransomed the
king is. It's finished. And I'm not up
here offering a proposition to you, if you'll do this, God'll
do that. Now if you'll do this, God'll
do that. And if you'll do this, God'll do that. That's not the
gospel. The gospel from in total, from
alpha to omega, beginning to end, is what God has done. It's an announcement. It's a
proclamation. It's good news. It's not, it's
glad tidings. It's not, God's done all he can
do, now it's up to you. The true gospel is not a recipe
for righteousness. Now, if you do this, that, and
the other, you'll be holy. If you do this, that, and the
other, you'll be filled with the Spirit. If you do this, that, and the
other, you'll get a crown of glory, or a crown of rejoicing,
or a crown of life, or some other kind of crown. If you do this,
that, and the other, you'll get a star in your crown. If you
do this, that, and the other, you can reign over a certain
place, a bigger place if you do this, that, and the other.
That's foolishness. The gospel is a revelation of
a righteousness already finished. God doesn't demand that you produce
a righteousness. He invites you to receive one
already finished. That robe of righteousness has
been woven by the hands of Christ! And it's finished! Not a hole
in it. You don't need to put the hymn
in. It's already hymned. It's perfect. The gospel, the
true gospel, is not an invitation to serve God. It's a privilege
to know God. The true gospel is not a story
of what you can do for God, it's an announcement of what God's
done for you. It is done, the great transaction
is done. I am my Lord's and he's mine.
I don't serve him and pray and worship and give in order to
be saved. I serve him because I love him,
and the more I love him, the more I serve him. He quickened us together with
Christ. When we were dead, He quickened us, He raised us. And
you know something? Look at verse 7, chapter 4. That
in the ages to come, He's going to show, He's going to show,
look at this, the exceeding riches of His grace, that's what He's
going to show, His grace, in His kindness toward us through
Christ Jesus. There's something missing. There's something missing in the man or the woman who gets
weary of the gospel of God's grace. I've heard people say, well,
Brother Henry just preaches the same thing over and over. Well, I'm in good company. Paul preaches the same thing
over and over. He said, I'm determined to know nothing among you but
Jesus Christ, Him crucified. And I'll tell you there's something
missing in the man or woman who gets tired of hearing that message
and tired of hearing that story and weary with the gospel of
God's grace and has no incentive and no desire to go where it's
preached, to go where it's proclaimed, to go where he can hear it. Paul
says the gospel of God's grace is the theme of heaven. What's
he going to do in heaven? He says, in the ages to come,
We're going to magnify and exalt and glorify His grace, the riches
of His grace. When all the saints of God are
gathered around the throne of God, what are they going to talk
about? Unto him who loved us and gave himself for us. What
are they going to sing about? Now unto him who loved us and
washed us from our sins in his own precious blood, the song
of Moses and the Lamb. where they're going to rejoice
in. He is worthy. He is worthy because he's the
Lamb slain. They're going to talk about,
they're going to sing about, they're going to rejoice in his
riches, the riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through
Jesus Christ. We're not going to talk about
the power of positive thinking in heaven. Now we're going to
talk about the victories that we won through our strong efforts
and determination and consecration. We're going to talk about the
blood of the Lamb that washed us from our sin. Who are these
folks singing around the throne here clothed in these white robes?
You know who they are! Who are they? These are they
that have washed their robes and made them white in the blood
of the Lamb. At the start of the journey,
His grace When I close my eyes in depth, his grace. When I stand
before the throne, his grace. His grace. In the ages to come,
he's going to show the exceeding riches of his grace. Do you weary of hearing of his
grace? Do you weary of hearing of his
blood? Do you weary of hearing of his
sacrifice? And then verse 8 and 9, "...for
by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves?"
It's the gift of God. Do you know that faith is the
gift of God? That's what the Bible says. Turn
to Philippians 1.29, next book in the Bible, Philippians 1.29. Have you ever wondered why you
believe the gospel and the man next to you doesn't? He's got
as big a brain as you have. Have you ever wondered why you
believe the gospel and maybe your sister or brother or mother
or father or dear friend doesn't? Why is the gospel so real to
you, so understandable to you, so precious to you, and yet here's
a religious man that it's not real and understandable and precious
to him? Why? Why is it so, why is it so, such
a Fragrant ointment of God's presence to you and yet another
fellow can sit there and boy. He wishes it all get over pretty
soon And yet you could sit there and listen for hours But you
believe and who made you to differ Who gave you that thing? Philippians
129 listen far under you it is given in the behalf of Christ
Not only to believe on him but also to suffer for his sake.
God gave you both. God gave you the belief and God
gave you the trial. Faith's a gift of God. Romans
2, 4. Turn over there just a moment.
Romans 2, 4. Romans 2, 4 says, do you despise
the riches of his goodness, the forbearance and longsuffering,
not knowing that it was the goodness of God that led you to repentance?
It's a gift of God. Because the next verse in our
text, in Ephesians 2, and I'll close with it, the next verse
tells us the whole story. It's the whole biography of the
believer. We're his workmanship. We're his workmanship. Now God
is the God of sovereign purpose, and God is
the God of means. And as God declares the God declares
the end. God ordains the means to bring
that end to pass. And God chose the people. He
gave his Son to die for them, his Holy Spirit. It's a gift
of God. Because the next verse in our
text, in Ephesians 2, and I'll close with it. The next verse
tells us the whole story. It's the whole biography of the
believer. We're his workmanship. We're his workmanship. Now God
is the God of sovereign purpose, and God is
the God of means. And as God declares the end,
God ordains the means to bring that end to pass. And God chose
the people. He gave his Son to die for them,
his Holy Spirit to call them, and sends his preachers to preach
to them. And God is chosen by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. And God gives them repentance
and God gives them faith. I don't know who they are. He
said, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth
not shall be damned. That's what the Word says. We're
to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature,
as Paul did, but he said to the Thessalonians, he said this,
I know you're one of God's elect. Paul, how do you know? Because
our gospel didn't come to you in word only. It came to you
in power. It was heard. It was understood. It was seen. It was appreciated. It was believed. It came to you
in power. You wonder why I don't walk up
and down these aisles and get people with arms and try to bring
them down front? You wonder why I don't send this
congregation out to talk to people and try to persuade them to make
decisions? Because, my friends, salvation is of the Lord. God
has to convict a man. You can't. God has to show a
man he sins. You can't. God has to give him
life. You can't. God has to grant repentance. You can't. God must give faith. You can't. God must reveal Christ. You can't do it. You can preach
to him and witness to him, but you're making a deadly mistake
to try to talk him into a profession. Leave him alone. If you just stop and wonder why
your churches are filled with names on the rolls who never
attend, who never appreciate the gospel, who never give, who
live compromising lives, you wonder what's wrong? You made
a Christian out of them. God didn't. You made a convert
out of them. God never did. You made a prophet
out of them, and they're twofold more the child of hell than you
are. Nobody in the world will ever
try to convince a lost man he's saved but another lost man. That's
right. I don't care if he's in a pulpit
or the pew or a soul winner or where he is. Any man who tries
to convince another man that he's saved is a lost man. He's trying to get that person
to have what he has. He's trying to get that person
to do what he's done. He's trying to get that person
to make the decision he made. If he knew that it took God to
do that, it took God to do all that, with his workmanship, with
God's workmanship, this man would keep his hands off of that person. If God is the sculptor, then
I'm not going to grab the clay and start trying to shape it
into a living human being. I may make a statue, but I can't
give it life. Only God can give it life. God
can raise a man from his dead state. God can speak life to
a dead heart. Only God can take away the stony
heart and put a heart aflash. I can put doctrine in his mind.
I can clean up his body. I can get him to quit certain
habits, but I can't give him life. The one who stood before
Lazarus' grave and says, Lazarus, come out of there, is the one
who's going to have to do the same thing for your friends and
your loved ones and your children. and everybody else who ever is
converted. That's right. That's so. It says here in verse 10 where
his workmanship created. Now creation, listen to this
and I'll close. A creation cannot possibly be
the work of the creature itself. No way. Whatever we are spiritually,
whatever we have spiritually, whatever we ever shall be spiritually
has to be totally God's work for us, in us, about us, and
upon us from first to last with His workmanship. You pray for
sinners. God tells us to intercede. Paul
prayed for his brethren. He said, I could wish myself
a curse from Christ for my brethren. Well, Paul, why don't you go
out and win them to the Lord? Oh, my brethren, my heart's desire
and prayer to God for them is that they might be saved. They're
going about to establish their own righteousness. They won't
submit to the righteousness of God. Well, Paul, you're a fluent
man. You're an educated man. You've got a lot of power and
wisdom. Go out and win them to the Lord. Paul knew that that creating
work, that regenerating work, that life-giving work, was the
work of God. It was a creation. God Almighty
created us out of nothing. He didn't say, I'll take that
old heart and change it. He said, a new heart I'll give
you. He didn't say, I'll take that old man and make it better.
He said, I'll create a new man. You'll still have that old man.
You all have a problem between the two, but I'm going to create
a new man. We're born not of the will of the flesh, not of
the will of man, born of God. God created this world out of
nothing. And He creates His people out of nothing. He says, God
who made the light to shine out of darkness has shined in these
hearts of ours to reveal His glory in the face of Christ Jesus.
God created the world by the power of His Word, didn't He?
The Scripture says, by the Word of God were the heavens made.
And also his prophet said, thy word hath quickened me. These
are the means God uses, the word. That's the reason you ought to
tune your ear to the word of God. It says in his word, being
born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible seed,
the word of God. Woe unto the preacher that reads
the text on Sunday morning and lays his Bible aside and begins
to talk about the beauties of life and the thoughtfulness of
our hearts and reaching out to one another and doing something
for God. Get the Word. This is what God
uses. His Word. Thy Word hath quickened
me, being born again by the Word of God. I say unto you tonight,
If you're interested in knowing God, don't run around buttonhole
some fellow and say, tell me how to be saved. He might not
be saved himself. Get your Bible and saturate yourself
in the Word of God. Open this book and say, Lord,
teach me. By thy Holy Spirit, reveal what
you say here to me. And God lead me to the man who's
preaching your word. And whatever it costs me, friends,
family, whatever it costs me, I'll sit and listen to that word
until it does something for me. We're created for his glory.
We're created on two good works. And watch this, turn to Philippians
1, and I'll close with this. We are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, works of faith. What shall we
do that we might work the works of God? This is the work of God
that you believe, on Him whom God has sent. Works of faith,
works of love, works of charity, works of grace. We're His workmanship. Now look at Philippians 1, 6.
And I'm confident of this very thing. that he which hath begun
a good work in you will perform it. And what's that word, what's
that little one there? Finish it. Until the day of Jesus
Christ. He's going to finish what he
started. God's going to finish. He began the work, I'm his workmanship
totally. Totally his workmanship. I'm
not a dead log, no. I'm not a robot, no. But I'm
His creation. I'm His workmanship. He uses
me. He uses the preaching of the gospel. He uses the Word
of God. He doesn't use dreams and visions and revelations.
This Word is finished. And if they speak not according
to the Word of God, there's no truth in them, no light in them.
He uses His Word. Wherewithal shall a young man
cleanse his life by taking heed to the Word of God. Desire the
sincere milk of the Word as a newborn babe that you may grow thereby.
That's the way we grow. That's the way we develop. That's
the way that God saves us is by the Word. Well, that's the biography of
a believer. And as I said when I started out, the natural man
will not understand it. He'll not appreciate it. In fact,
he'll fight against it. But the man who has come that
route and who knows that I am what I am by the grace of God,
He believes that and He loves it. Our Father in Heaven, for the Word, for Thy grace,
for Thy great love, for Thy mercy in Christ Jesus, for not leaving
us alone, for not passing us by, for not giving us what we
deserve, for giving us life in Christ, we give Thee thanks. the heart worthy to be praised.
We're nothing, have nothing, know nothing. Without Thee we
can do nothing. In Christ we have all things. We thank Thee and praise Thee
and ask Thee to bless this word and use this message wherever
it's preached, wherever it goes for His matchless, well-deserved
glory. For it's in His name we pray.
Amen.

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The Biography of the Believer

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About Henry Mahan

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