Who Maketh Thee to Differ?

God's Word, Jesus Christ is the way to God. He said, I am the way. And men
without Christ are separated from God, eternally separated
from God, eternally lost. To be without Christ is to be
without God. According to God's Word, Jesus
Christ is the truth. He said, I am the truth. Without
him lies our portion, lies our refuge. No matter how good it
may sound, if Christ is not the heart of it, not the center of
it, not the sum and substance of it, it's not the truth. Christ
is the life. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. And men without him are dead. in trespasses and sin. We have
other words to describe the condition of the unbeliever, but God simply
uses the word dead. Dead in trespasses and sin. Christ
is the light. Men without him walk in darkness,
deceiving themselves and being deceived. Scripture says Christ
is divine. Without him we are as dead branches
fit only for burning. That's the way God's word describes
us. Christ is divine. Without him, severed from him,
separated from him, we are as dead branches. Christ is the
rock. Without him, we build on the
sand. Without him, we can expect to be swept away in judgment. Christ is the bread of life.
He said, I am the bread of life. Without Him, our souls hunger
and continue to hunger in vain. Christ is the water of life.
Christ is the sin offering. Without Him, we have no sacrifice.
Without Him, we must face God's wrath. Christ is the Mediator. Scripture plainly declares there
is one God and one Mediator between God and man, and that's the man
Christ Jesus. And without Him, there is no
communion with God. Without him there is no fellowship
with the Father. Now when these facts are so clear,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the
Father but by me. I am the light, I am the vine,
I am the rock, I am the bread of life, the water of life, Christ
our sin offering, Christ our only mediator. With these facts
so clear, Don't you wonder why men do not flee to Christ? Both
young and old, rich and poor, why men do not believe on Christ? Why men do not freely receive
His grace? Why don't they come to Christ?
Why don't they receive Him? Why don't they believe on Him?
Well, the first reason is the natural man does not see these
things. Turn to Matthew 13. The natural
man does not see these things. Now, I have stated these truths. I have quoted the Scripture.
This is what God's Word says. The Bible, which we claim to
believe, the Bible which we hold in our hands, says this, I am
the way. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. I am the light of the world.
I am the vine. I am the bread of life. Christ
the only mediator. These things are what the Scripture
says. Now why do men not come to Christ,
since these things are so clear? Well, they can read these words
and hear these words, but they do not understand nor see these
words. Matthew 13, verse 10. Now listen
to the Master speaking here. Matthew 13, 10. And the disciples
came and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He
answered and said unto the disciples, Because it is given unto you
to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them
it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall
be given, and he shall have more abundance. He will continue to
grow in the knowledge of these things, the mysteries of God.
But whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away that
which he hath, even what confidence he has. Even what hope he has
shall be removed. Therefore speak I to them in
parables, because they seeing see not, and hearing they hear
not, and neither do they understand. The natural man does not see
his sins, or he sees a few things that he does wrong outwardly,
He sees that he has a few shortcomings, but he does not see the real
cancer of sin, the root of sin, the exceeding sinfulness of sin. He sees a few outward products
of sin, but he does not see the real growth of sin within his
heart, within his nature. He does not see that wide, broad
separation between him and a holy God. He doesn't see that. He
doesn't see his need of a Redeemer. He doesn't see his need of a
sin offering. He doesn't see his need of a
Savior. He does not see the beauty of Christ. There's no beauty
about him that we should desire him. When we shall look upon
him, we see nothing but corruption. We despised him and hid, as it
were, our faces from him. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
2. Listen to this scripture. Why do men not come to Christ? Why do they not embrace Him,
seeing that the Scripture says all these things about Him, and
in a measure we believe these things? In 1 Corinthians 2 verse
8, verse 7, it says in 1 Corinthians 2 verse 7, but we speak the wisdom
of God in a mystery. even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world unto our glory, which none of
the princes of this world knew. For had they known it, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written,
I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that
love him." Man doesn't see these things. He doesn't hear them. never entered his heart. Paul
said again, if our gospel be hid, the gospel of redemption,
the gospel of free grace, the gospel of substitution, if our
gospel be hid, it's hid to them who are lost, in whom the God
of this world hath blinded their minds, lest the glorious light
of the gospel of Christ should shine unto them, and they should
be converted. A man can't appreciate what he
doesn't see. A man cannot understand what
he does not hear. So why do men not come to Christ? They're blind to their need,
and they're blind to His beauty. They're blind to their condition,
and they're blind to His grace. Another reason why men do not
come to Christ is this. The natural man is dead. And I'm going to speak on that
tonight from the book of Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 1. But listen
to what the Bible says here. hath he quickened who were dead,
dead in trespasses and sin? The Bible describes man's natural
condition. It says every imagination of
his heart is only evil continually. God said in Isaiah 55, my thoughts
are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways. God said
in Psalm 14, verse 2, the Lord looked down from heaven upon
the children of men to see if there were any that did understand
and any that did seek God. And he found they're all gone
aside, they're all together become unprofitable, there's none good. John 5.43, our Lord said, I come
in my Father's name and you will not receive me. Let another come
in his own name and him you will receive. Brother Barnard was pastor out
in Borger, Texas, many, many, many years ago. He was about
25 years of age. He'd be almost 75 now. He was
the only pastor in a town of 50,000 people. He told me there
were 19 saloons in that town. It was a booming oil town. 19
gambling houses and 19 houses of prostitution. He was the only
preacher there, and when anybody got in trouble, they sent for
him. He stayed there two years, he said, and he had a funeral
a day, average, 365 funerals a year for two years. One day
he had seven funerals, but he averaged at least one a day.
It was a vicious and vile and wicked town. The queen of the
town was named Dixie. Dixie was a dance hall girl,
a very beautiful girl. Barnard said one day in one of
the dance halls, Dixie was shot accidentally. Someone tried to
shoot the man she was dancing with and hit her. They took her
into the back room and put her on a cot and they called the
doctor. While she was gasping for breath, she said somebody
called the preacher. So they went and got Brother
Barnard and he came and the doctor was ministering to her She said,
I want to talk to the preacher. So after the doctor finished,
Barnard came and sat down beside the cot on which she was dying,
took her by the hand, and she said, Preacher, is there any
hope for me? Barnard began to talk to her about sin and the
Savior. He began to talk to her about
man's need and God's provision. He began to talk to her about
God's love and God's grace and how in his mercy he gave his
son to die for sinners just like her. tears came in her eyes,
and Barnard said she gripped his hand real tight. And he paused,
and he said, Dixie, do you want the Savior? She was silent for
a few moments, and then she turned her face away from Barnard and
looked at the other wall. And then she looked back at him,
and he said she stared into his eyes, and she said, Poitier,
there's no use in me lying to you and lying to God. If I get
well, I'll go back to the same life that I've always lived."
He said, then she sobbed and turned her face to the other
wall and died. That's a true story. That's the
deadness of the human heart. Man does not see his need. He
does not see the beauty of Christ. He does not see his need for
Christ, and therefore he does not come to Christ. But some
do. Some do. Some can say with the
apostles, Lord, we've left all and followed Thee. Can say with
the apostles, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of
eternal life. Like David in Psalm 51, turn
to Psalm 51, verses 1 through 4. Like David, aware of their
great sins, they have cried for mercy, unembarrassed, unashamed. They have cried out unto the
God of glory in Psalm 51, Have mercy upon me, O God. Dixie could
have done that, but she wouldn't. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to Thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of Thy tender
mercies. Blot out my transgressions, and He would have. Wash me throughly
from my iniquity, and He would have. Cleanse me from my sin,
and He would have. For I acknowledge my transgression,
O and my sin is ever before me." That's got to come. Against thee
and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight.
Oh, that's got to come. That thou mightest be justified.
We've got to take our place as guilty sinners and justify God
in his wrath. That's something this world will
not do. They will not justify God in his wrath against this
world. We cry out. We don't like the
scripture, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What don't
we like about it? Esau have I hated? Esau deserved
to be hated. Jacob didn't deserve to be loved.
You see, we won't justify God in his wrath. We won't justify
God in his holiness. We won't justify God in his righteousness. We're too busy justifying ourselves. against thee, and thee only have
I sinned. I have done evil in thy sight,
that thou mightest be justified when you speak." When God says,
I'm damned, I deserve to be damned, and God's right. And clear when
you judge me. God is clear. I clear God of
all responsibility. Because I was shapen in iniquity,
and in sin my mother conceived me. I was brought forth from
the womb speaking lies. I'm a sinner by birth, and by
choice, and by practice. And if God sends me to hell,
God will be just, and I'll get what I deserve." Aware of our sins against God. We're going to have to justify
God in His judgments and in His wrath. Take our place before
God as sinners somehow. But you've got to see them to
confess them. You've got to understand them
to own them. You've got to own them, and then aware of their
inability to meet God's demands. Paul said, "...in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing." Oh, wretched man that I am! At one time, Paul
was talking about, before the law, I was blameless when he
saw the Lord He cried, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me from this body of sin? When we cease to be self-justifiers
and become God-justifiers, then God will do business with us.
And seeing in Christ the power and the wisdom of God, he is
able to keep that which I have committed unto him. of God, he
is made unto me wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
that he might be just and justifier of those that believe in Jesus.
We have believed him, we have trusted him, we have received
him. In Richmond, Virginia, back during
the Civil War, there was a black preacher whose name was John
Jasper. John Jasper was famous. He wasn't
an intellectual. He wasn't an educated man. He
was an ordinary, uneducated black preacher, but he knew God. And
he preached with power the gospel of Jesus Christ, and he was quoted
even across the ocean in England and France and Spain and other
countries. People came from miles to hear
John Jasper, the old black preacher who ministered in Richmond, Virginia.
One day a man walked up to John Jasper on the street and he said,
John Jasper, I want to ask you a question. The old man said,
what is it? He said, John Jasper, if you
were to die tonight and walk up to the gates of heaven, and
they opened the gates to you and you stepped inside, and somebody
walked up to you and said, John Jasper, what right have you got
to be here? What would you say? And John
Jasper stepped back and he said, well, my friend, if I were to
die tonight and walk into the gates of heaven, anyone could walk up to me and
be justified in asking the question, John Jasper, what right have
you got to be here? And I would reply to any who
asked me that question, I've got no right to be here at None
at all. I'm here on the righteousness
of another. I'm not here on my righteousness.
I'm here on the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who maketh thee to differ? What
hast thou that thou didst not receive? You can say this morning,
I'm aware of my sin, Brother Mahan. I'm aware of my inability
to meet God's demands. I've justified God in his judgments
and in his wrath and in his condemnation. If I go to hell, I'll get what
I deserve, but I don't want to go to hell. I don't want to be
separated from God. I want to know God. I want to
walk with God and fellowship with God. I want the mercy of
God in Christ. I want the Savior. And I've trusted him, and I've
believed on him, and I've committed my soul to him. And I can say
with the Apostle Paul, I know whom I have believed, and I'm
persuaded he is able to keep that which I have committed to
him against that day. That's my hope. And I can say
with old John Jasper, I'm here on the righteousness of another.
Well, who made the difference? I want you to turn with me to
John chapter six. The sixth chapter of John. Why
do men come to Christ? Why do they believe on Christ?
Why do they receive Him while most do not? Why is it that we
believe Him when most do not believe Him? Why is it that we
receive Him when most do not receive Him? Why is it that He's
come in His Father's name and we have blessed God for this
glorious gift while others have turned away and said, we do not
want this man to reign over us? Why? Well, the first reason why
we have come to Christ is because, listen to me, the Father gave
us to Christ. Look at John 6, verse 37. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. I love both parts of that verse.
I love to say to the sinner, him that cometh to me, I'll in
no wise cast out. Come to Christ, he'll receive
you. Come to Christ, he'll save you. Come to Christ, he'll redeem
you. But I love the first part of
that, too. All that my Father giveth me shall come to me, and
him that cometh I'll in no wise cast out. We come to Christ because
the Father gave us to Christ. That's what it says. All that
my Father giveth me. Turn to John 17. Now this is
the Lord's Prayer, John 17. The prayer that we pray that
is commonly called the Lord's Prayer is the prayer the Lord
gave to the disciples. The disciples asked Him, they
said, Lord, teach us to pray. And so he taught them to pray,
Our Father, which art in heaven. Now this is the Lord's Prayer,
John 17, the one he prayed to the Father before he went to
the cross. And in verse 2, he said, As thou
hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given him. Look at verse 9, I
pray for them, I pray not for the world, I pray for them which
thou hast given me, for they are thine. Look at verse 24.
Father, I will also, I will that they also whom thou hast given
me be with me where I am. They were given to the Son by
the Father. And then the next thing, they
were given to him before the world began. Look at Ephesians
chapter 1. Ephesians, the first chapter.
Verse 3 and 4, Ephesians 1, verse 3 and 4. Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath
chose us in him, in Christ, before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him. having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children. They come to Christ because the
Father gave them to Christ, and he gave them to Christ before
the world began. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning. They are an innumerable company.
The Scripture says in Revelation 7, verse 9, that they are an
innumerable company, a company, a number which no man can number.
He says that they are out of every nation, kindred, tribe,
and tongue. Somebody asked me one time, You
believe there will be more people in heaven or more people in hell?
I said, I believe there will be more people in heaven. I certainly
do. I believe every infant who ever
died is in glory. Every infant who ever died. The Bible is a book written to
morally responsible men and women, accountable men and women. All
who are infants, who die in infancy, go to glory. And more have died
in infancy than have ever matured in this world. Did you know that?
You go back over past history, go back way back in the beginning
and back to the tribes in Africa and Russia and Alaska and even
the Indian tribes in America and South America, and you'll
find even today in many of those places that children aren't even
named till they're five years old, some of them, because they
don't survive. They don't survive. How can God
have a people out of every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue?
How can he? He has an infant out of every
tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue under heaven. There isn't a tribe
under the stars in which God doesn't have a people. That's
what the Bible says. They were given to Christ before
the world began. They are in innumerable company
as the stars of the sky and the sands of the sea show us. They
are out of every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue unto heaven,
and they are called the sons of God. Beloved, behold, now
are we the sons of God. As many as received him, to them
gave he the power to become the sons of God. Who maketh thee
to differ? What hast thou that thou dost
not receive? God gave you to Christ. God gave
you to Christ. All that my Father giveth me. They'll come to me. Now secondly,
turn to John 6 again. Why do men come to Christ? John
6, 44. Now watch this. No man can come
to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him, and I'll
raise him up at the last day. No man can come to me. Why do
men come to Christ? All that my Father giveth me,
Christ said, shall come to me. But no man, no man, whatever
his ability, whatever his education, whatever his background, whatever
his talent, no man, not even those given to Christ, no man
can come to me except my Father which sent me draw him. Now,
if we are left to ourselves, which way will we go? Well, the
Bible says, All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned
everyone to his own way. Left I said we'd go our own way.
Which way is that? There is a way that seemeth right
unto men. The end thereof is destruction
and death. God the Spirit quickens those
whom he gave to the Son. God the Holy Spirit quickens
and gives them life and makes them willing. Turn with me to
Psalms 110. Listen to this scripture, Psalm
110, verse 3. Why do men come to Christ? Because
the Father draws them to Christ. How does he draw them to Christ?
He makes them willing to come to Christ. No man is saved against
his will. Somebody says, you believe people
are going to be saved whether they want to or not. Oh no, that's
not true. Whether they come to Christ or
not, that's not true. Whether they believe the gospel
or not, that's not true. It says in Psalms 110, verse
3, "...thy people shall be willing." God says, willing people, whosoever
will, let him take the water of life. "...thy people shall
be willing in the day of thy power in the beauty of holiness." They were given. Why do men come
to Christ? They were given to Christ by
the Father, and they are drawn by the Father. The Holy Spirit
quickens them, and the Father, by a work of divine grace, makes
them willing to come to Christ. Turn to 1 Thessalonians, chapter
1. Now, this is an important scripture
here, and I want you to look at it carefully. I want you to
look at it very carefully. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 4 and
5. Now, what I'm saying is this.
A sinner comes to Christ because, first of all, the Father gave
him to Christ. That's what the Bible declares.
All that my Father giveth me shall come to me. I pray for
those which thou hast given me. Thou hast given me power over
all flesh, yet I should give eternal life to as many as Thou
hast given me." Now I'm saying that the sinner comes to Christ
because the Father, in divine grace and in divine Holy Spirit,
you know, divine Holy Spirit work, draws that sinner. Now
look at 1 Thessalonians 1, verse 4, "...knowing, brethren beloved,
your election of God for our gospel." That's what I'm preaching
this morning, the gospel of Christ. The gospel of redemption. I said
Christ is the way, Christ is the truth, Christ is the light,
Christ is the vine, Christ is the rock, Christ is the bread.
This is the gospel of Christ. The gospel is concerning his
son. It's the gospel of God. It's
the good news of redemption. It's the mystery of God. That's
what we're preaching, the mystery of God. Great is the mystery
of God. God was manifest in the flesh.
scene of the angel, justified in the Spirit, raised from the
dead, ascended to the right hand of the Father. This is the gospel.
And he says, our gospel came not unto you in word only, but it came also in power, in
life-giving power, in quickening power, in awakening power, in
regenerating power. It came to you in the Holy Ghost.
It came to you in much assurance. Now, here's two men sitting here,
both of them sinners, both of them contrary to God, both of
them natural men. And the gospel's preached, and
both of them hear it, both of them intelligent, both of them
got minds, both of them got ears, both of them have ears, and they
sit there and listen to the preacher. And when they get through, they
get up and go out. And one of them, you talk to him, How was
the service? Fine service, nice service. Preacher,
preacher, good mess. He has a fine delivery. I enjoy
it. It's a quiet service and feels
very reverent and very relaxing and very warm. And, well, what
did the preacher say? Well, he said some good things.
Well, exactly what did he preach? Well, he didn't preach about
sin. Well, what did he say about it? Well, he was against it.
The other man, you stop him and say, how was the service? Well,
we had a great service. Well, how do you feel about it? Well, I'll tell you, the Word
of God spoke to my heart. The Word of God smote me. Oh,
I've sinned against God. I'm a wretched, miserable sinner. My thoughts are not right. My
heart's not right. My motive's not right. My attitude's
not right. I'm a son of a fallen father.
I need help, I need mercy. And that preacher told me some
good news. That preacher said that God loves sinners like me
and that he gave his son on the cross to die for folks like me. And even with my blasphemy and
my evil thoughts and even with my terrible past, and even with
my rebellion, that God would receive me if I believed on His
Son and trusted Him. Oh, that's good news. I pray
that God will give me faith to believe. I pray that God will
strip me of my pride and self-righteousness. I pray that God will enable me
to lay hold on Christ. I pray that God will give me
an interest in His Son. Fellow, pray for me. I need help.
I need God. See the difference? One man,
the gospel came to him in words, just words, that's all, words,
words, words. Like Mark Twain said to the preacher,
I got a book at home, it's got every word of your sermon in
it. And the preacher said, no you don't, that's an original
sermon. He said, yes I do. I got a dictionary at home, and
it's just words, that's all, words, words, words, got every
word of your sermon in it. But that man heard the gospel
in word. This man heard it in the Holy Spirit. This man heard
it in power. This man heard it in some sort
of effectual work. That's the difference. A woman
came to this church one time from another church, and I stopped
her on the way out, and I said, We're glad to have you. She said,
It's the first time I've ever heard in my life. I said, Don't
you go to church? She said, Been to church ever
since I was a kid. I said, Then you didn't stay for church, you
went to Sunday school. She said, I stayed for church every Sunday.
And I said, well, how come you never heard a sermon? She said,
I never heard a sermon. I heard a preacher, but I never
heard a sermon. It never did come to me in any kind of quickening
power. I never understood what was going
on. Well, brethren, if all we're
doing is standing up here using words and playing church, let's
all go home and watch the football game. Paul said, our gospel came
to you not in word only. It came in power. You see the
difference? It came in the Holy Ghost. That's
how God draws his people to Christ. He sends the gospel to them in
power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. All right? Thirdly, John 6, 45. Let's turn
over there now. Who maketh thee to differ? The
disciples came to the Lord, and they said, Who can be saved?
He said, With me, and it's impossible. I can't save you, the evangelist
can't save you, the priest can't save you, the Pope can't save
you. With God, all things are possible. Salvation of the Lord,
salvation of the work of grace, salvation of not walking down
an aisle, salvation of not shaking a preacher's hand, salvation
of not turning over a new leaf, salvation of becoming a new creature
in Christ Jesus, receiving a new heart and a new nature, salvation
of not without, it's within, and it affects that which is
without. A man will never be a new man outwardly, he's a new
man inwardly. A man will never walk righteously
before men until he walks righteously with God in Christ. So why do they come? Who maketh
thee to differ? God gave you to Christ, and then
God drew you, not against your will, he made you willing. He
drew you, and he did that by teaching you. Now look at John
6.45. It is written in the prophet,
and they shall be all taught of God." Taught of God. Not taught of men now, there's
a difference. You can be well taught in the
seminary and not be taught of God. You can be well versed in
the doctrines of your Baptist denomination and not be taught
of God. You can be well taught in the
school of Arminianism or Calvinism or Liberalism or any other kind
of ism and not be taught of God. You can be a doctrinalist and
a legalist and a theologian and orthodox as a Pharisee and not
be taught of God. That's taught of men. They shall
be taught of God. God taught me, Paul said. I didn't
go to men, God taught me the gospel. Every man, therefore,
that hath heard and learned of the Father comes to me. Comes to me. if he's been taught
of the Father. Who maketh thee to differ? What
is thou that thou didst not receive? Why do men come to Christ? They
come because the Father gave them to Christ. All that my Father
giveth me shall come to me, John 6, 37. They come because the
Father draws them. He will not leave them alone.
He will not permit them to go their way. He will not leave
them in their sins. He will not leave them in their
darkness. He reaches out and says, "'So, so, how persecutest
thou me? Who are you, Lord? I am Jesus
of Nazareth.'" And he drew him. And he drew him with the Word.
And he drew him by the Holy Spirit. And he kept... Saul couldn't
kick against the pricks. Saul couldn't get away from God. He couldn't get away. And then
God taught him the Word. That's how he brought him to
Christ. He taught him. What does God teach us? Well, first of
all, he teaches us the wages and guilt of sin. Romans 7 verse
9 through 11, Paul said, I wouldn't have known sin had not the law
said, Thou shalt not covet. God taught me what sin is. I wish we could learn what sin
is. I get so distressed because people
can't understand what sin is. around talking about, well, I
never have drunk liquor in my life, and I never have run around,
and I never have used God's name in vain, and I never have done
this, that, and the other. I must be a pretty good fellow.
It's so distressing, it's so heartbreaking. See, it starts
back young in the Garden of Eden when man tried to throw God off
his throne and become God himself. Sin is a thing of the will, sin
is a thing of the mind, sin is a thing of the attitude, sin
is a thing of the heart. The disciples didn't wash their
hands one day before they ate, and the Pharisees said, look
at that, your disciples don't wash their hands before they
eat. Look, he's going to a picture show. He's a sinner. And our
Lord turned and he said, it's not that which goes into the
mouth that defiles a man, it's that which comes out of his heart.
Some of you sitting right here in this service this morning,
sinning against a holy God more than those drunks who are lying
down there in the gutter right now, thrown out of their beer
joint. You're sinning more against God right now than those people
ever have. your greater sinners in your hearts than any prostitute
in a red-light district in the city of Chicago. You're sitting
there with malice in your heart, and hatred in your heart, and
jealousy in your heart, and covetousness in your heart, and self-righteousness
in your heart, and God's going to damn you for it. You don't
know what sin is. You haven't the slightest idea
what sin is. You're so good and pious and
holy because you don't know what sin is. If you ever come to learn
what sin is, you'll cry for God's mercy every moment of the day. You've missed it. And God, that's
the first thing God teaches a sinner. He brings to Christ. He teaches
them that sin is not a thing. Sin is not just an act. Sin is
a condition. We repent not only for what we've
done, but for what we are. You'd better buy you a Bible,
because God says, My word will judge you. He teaches us the
wages of sin, the guilt of sin. He teaches us the sufficiency
of Christ. Christ becomes everything. He
was wounded for my transgressions, bruised for my iniquities. The
chastisement of my peace was upon him by his stripes. I am
healed. God, in the fullness of time,
sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
those born under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons. As Moses lifted up the serpent and the wilderness, even
so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth
on him should not perish, but have eternal life. Yes, God teaches
them. God teaches them. And God doesn't
teach them doctrine. He teaches them life. God doesn't
teach them orthodoxy. He teaches them Christ. God doesn't
teach them creeds. He teaches them a person. And
they grow in the grace and knowledge of a person. Not in the grace
and knowledge of a denomination. In the grace and knowledge of
a person. They're they who came to come
to Christ. They're those who come to Christ, those who've
been taught of the Father, taught of God. Every man that has been
taught of God. Well, I'm Billy Graham's disciple. I'm not. I'm God's disciple.
Well, I'm Brother Mahan's disciple. I hope you're not. I hope you're
God's disciple. And you've been taught of God,
and you've been taught in the school of a person, Christ the
Lord. and Christ is being formed in
you, Christ's love and Christ's humility and Christ, the mind
of Christ, Christ's submission. I want to be able to love those
that hate me. I want to be able to give to
those who do not deserve it. I want, for Christ's sake, to
be able to show mercy as I've received mercy. I want to forgive
as I have been forgiven. I want the life of Christ Do
you? I don't want just the benefits
of Christ. I want the life of Christ. If
I have the life of Christ, I'll have the benefits of Christ.
If I have the person of Christ, I'll have the glory of Christ.
Who make you see the difference? God did. He gave you to Christ. He drew you to Christ. And he
taught you Christ. Every man that hath learned of
the Father comes to me. Are we God-taught? Our Father
in heaven, by the power of thy Holy Spirit, make this message
more than words. May the gospel come to us, not
in word only, but in power, in the Holy Ghost, in much assurance. May Christ be formed in us, the
mind of Christ and the humility of Christ and the grace of Christ. O Lord, destroy our old natural
self, the old natural man. Let him be crucified, that pride
and self-righteousness and haughtiness and arrogance that goeth before
the fall, and give us the humility of the Savior. Although they
smote him and spit upon him and crucified him, prayed, Father,
forgive them, they know not what they do. Have thy way and get glory to
thyself in these services today. For Christ's sake we pray, amen.

Who Maketh Thee to Differ?

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Who Maketh Thee to Differ?

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About Henry Mahan

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