Astonishing Doctrine

Q: What does the Bible say about man's lost condition?

The Bible teaches that all men are lost in sin due to Adam's fall, as stated in Romans 5:12. According to the Scriptures, man's lost condition originates from Adam's sin, where sin entered the world and death by sin. As stated in Romans 5:12, 'Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.' This concept of original sin asserts that all of humanity fell in Adam, representing the entire human race in a single action. Consequently, we inherit a sinful nature and are spiritually dead, separated from God. This doctrine is essential as it underscores the necessity for salvation through Christ, the only one who can restore us to a right relationship with God.

Q: How do we know God is sovereign?

The sovereignty of God is evident in Scripture, particularly in Psalm 50:21, where God declares His authority over all creation. God's sovereignty is an unequivocal teaching of Scripture, emphasizing that He is supreme over all things. Psalm 50:21 affirms this notion, stating, 'These things thou hast done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.' This illustrates that God governs creation according to His will, and His decisions are not contingent upon human actions or understanding. When people misinterpret God's silence or perceived inaction, they mistakenly believe He is impotent or indifferent. In truth, God's sovereignty ensures that every event happens according to His divine purpose, thus instilling believers with hope and confidence in His plans.

Q: Why is the doctrine of Christ's divinity important for Christians?

The doctrine of Christ's divinity is vital as it establishes His authority to save and reconcile humanity to God. Understanding the divinity of Christ is foundational for the Christian faith. Isaiah 9:6 proclaims, 'For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.' This scripture affirms that Jesus is not merely a prophet but God incarnate, the one who possesses the authority to redeem sinners. If Christ were not divine, He would lack the capacity to bear the weight of our sins and provide true salvation. Believing in Christ's divinity reassures Christians that He has power over life and death, enabling the hope of eternal life through Him alone.

Q: What is the meaning of salvation according to the Bible?

Salvation is defined as a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, through whom we receive eternal life. In biblical terms, salvation encompasses much more than merely escaping hell or adhering to a set of religious rules. It fundamentally involves a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the Son of God. According to 1 John 5:12, 'He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.' This verse underscores that true salvation comes through faith in Christ alone. This relationship is characterized by a transformed heart and life, where believers become new creations in Christ, reflecting His character and righteousness. Salvation is not simply about actions or decisions; it is about the indwelling presence of Christ in the life of the believer, granting them eternal life and a new nature.

Q: Why is the idea of eternal life significant for Christians?

Eternal life signifies a lasting relationship with God, secured through faith in Christ, which brings hope and assurance. Eternal life is a pivotal concept in Christian theology, as it assures believers of their everlasting union with God. Jesus articulated this promise in John 10:28 when He declared, 'And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.' This assurance brings profound peace to Christians, as it underscores that their salvation is secure and unchangeable. The significance of eternal life goes beyond mere duration; it speaks to the quality of life found in a personal relationship with God. This relationship begins in the here and now, as believers experience life in abundance through Christ, and it will culminate in eternal communion with Him after physical death.

It said in our text, and it came
to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were
astonished at his doctrine. Turn to John 10. Here's something
else I want you to see, and this is what I'm leading up to. All
true ministers of the gospel will astonish their congregations
this morning if they preach what Christ preached. This religious world is no different. Men are no different. They love
darkness and hate light. They love sin and hate holiness.
They love evil and hate God. They love themselves and hate
one another. And every preacher of the gospel,
if he's a true minister of God, is not going to soothe the natural
flesh today. He's going to astonish the people
by what he says. Christ always did. John 10, look
at it, verse 19, It says there was a division, a division. Therefore again among the Jews. I'm not talking about among the
drunks and the profane swearers and the rabble of the street. There was a division among the
religious people. This is where the division was.
It was among the religious people. It was among the Bible believers.
It was among those who were in the temple. It was among those
who had come to worship God. That's where the division was
among the Jews. These people were religious people.
They had the right background, they had the right heritage,
they had the right teachers, they had the right orthodoxy
and fundamentalism, they had their own minds made up about
what they believed. And Christ, how did he divide
them? There was a division therefore
again, again, again among the Jews for these sayings. And they
weren't charitable in their opinion either. Some of them said, why
this man is crazy. This man has a devil. This is
a doctrine of devils. This man is mad. This man is mad. And I'm saying
to you today that Christ declared to his day, I have not come to
bring peace but a sword. He that is not with me is against
me." There is no neutral ground. I'm going to refer to a few things
that our Lord taught which offended the people, some things the Bible
teaches which offend men today. I know how not to be offensive. I can stand here this morning
in this pulpit and offend no one except true believers. If
I didn't preach the gospel, they would be offended, but they wouldn't
say much. They'd just say, well, the preacher struck out. That's
about all they'd say. But I know how not to offend
religious people, and everybody does. Stay off those things that
are offensive. But our Lord didn't. He astonished
them. He divided them. He separated
them. Here are some things. You can
get this outline briefly because it's a very simple outline. Number
one, we will astonish the people and startle and divide them when
we preach that men are lost. Men are lost. Our Lord said, the Son of Man
has come to seek and to save the lost. and lost. Now what does the word say about
the lost? It says this briefly. It says
first of all that God dealt with the whole human race in Adam. Now God dealt with the fallen
angels individually. They fell as a field of corn
or a field of grain, each one cut down in his own rebellion
They all stood for themselves and fell in their own sin and
rebellion. When God dealt with you and me,
he dealt with us in one person, in one representative, and that
man was Adam. That's what the Bible says. That's
what startles, that's what astonishes, that's what offends people today.
The Bible says in Adam we died. The Bible says, by one man sin
entered this world, and death by sin, and death and judgment
and condemnation passed upon all men, by one man. God dealt
with a fallen angel as a field of corn. He dealt with the human
race as a tree. Adam was the trunk. And when
that trunk lost its life, when it fell, when it was hewn down,
when it was dug up by the roots, every twig, every branch, every
acorn, every leaf, every limb fell with it. When you destroy
a tree, you don't want to start by cutting different limbs off.
Just cut her down at the base. And when that trunk falls, the
whole outfit falls. And when Adam stood in the Garden
of Eden, he stood there as the whole human race. The whole human
race was in that man Adam, in his loins. We are the seed of
Adam. We come from Adam. And the whole
human race was in Adam. And when he fell, we fell. That's
original sin. That's what the scripture teaches,
and that's offensive. When Adam fell, we fell. When
Adam sinned, we sinned. When Adam died spiritually, we
died spiritually. When Adam lost communion with
God, we lost it. When Adam lost his vital union
with God, we lost it. When Adam was put out of the
presence of God, we were put out of the presence of God. Adam
in the garden lost the way to God, he lost the life of God,
he lost the truth of God. And those three things are restored
in Christ, who said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the
life. But when Adam died, you died.
I said up at Fairmont, West Virginia, yesterday morning when I preached,
the issue between you and God, the issue between me and God,
is not that I stole the watermelon one time. Everybody's sitting
around debating over how many sins they've committed. Well,
let's see if I can remember some of my sins. I remember, let's
see, back when I was a boy ten years old, I was a bad boy, I
went out in Farmer Brown's yard and I stole a watermelon. Or
I sassed my mama. Or I slipped off and went to
the show on Sunday afternoon. That is not the issue between
you and God. And if you think that's the issue
between you and God, you're not acquainted with what this thing
of sin really is. The issue between you and God
is that in your daddy Adam, you spit in the face of God. When
Adam shook his fist in God's face and said, I'll be like God,
I'll dethrone God, I'll be my own God, you and I were right
there with him. And the issue between you and
God is that your hands are dripping with the blood of his son. When
the voices cried out in Jerusalem, "'Crucify him! Crucify him!'
your voice and my voice was right there with them." God confronted
this race in the garden, and this race said, "'We will not
submit to you.' God confronted this race at Calvary, and this
race said, "'We will not have this man reign over us. Crucify
him!' That's the issue. We are rebels. We fell in our
daddy Adam. And the Bible says that we're
totally corrupt. I want you to look at some scripture.
Turn to Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah the first chapter. Now
this is astonishing, I know that. I know what preachers are supposed
to preach. They're supposed to preach the
dignity of man. They're supposed to preach that
in all these boys and girls there's a goodness And in all of you
men and women, there's a spark of spiritual life and righteousness,
and all we have to do is just by some sentimental song stir
that spiritual emotion. And by some sweet message with
three points and illustration and a poem gets you to respond
to that inner life, that spiritual fire, that little flame of God
that's burning in every soul. But the Bible says there's no
soundness in you from the sole of your feet to the top of your
head. Isaiah 1, 6, look at it. It says in verse 5, why should
you be stricken any more? You'll just revolt more and more.
The whole head is sick, that's the mind, the will. The whole heart is pain, that's
the affections. And from the sole of the foot,
even unto the head, there's no soundness in it, nothing but
wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. Turn to Isaiah 64, verse
6. Listen to this. This is a picture
of the human race. God's Word calls us worms. God's Word calls us rebels. God's Word calls us traitors. God's Word says, in the flesh
dwelleth no good thing. In the flesh no man can please
God. This is the way God's Word describes
us. Our preachers have deceived us. Our preachers have cried, peace,
when there is no peace. Our preachers have tried to convince
us we know God, and all we know is the God they preach. We don't
know the God of the Bible. We don't know ourselves. How
can we repent when we don't know ourselves? How can we mourn over
sin when we don't recognize it? How can we grieve over sin when
we've never been introduced to it? Isaiah 64, 6 says, we are
all, we are all as an unclean thing. And all our righteousnesses,
this is not our bad deeds, this is our righteousnesses. This
is not the watermelon we stole, and I bet it tastes better than
the one you bought. That's human nature. Our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. And we all do fade as the leaves,
and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Look
at Romans 3 again. There is none, verse 11, none
that understand it, none that seek God. They're all gone out
of the way. They're together become unprofitable. There's none that do it good,
not one, not one. The natural mind receiveth not
the things of God." The natural mind, look at Romans 8, 7. Listen
to this scripture. Let it sink in. We read the scripture
like we read the newspaper. You can't do that. You can't
do that. You've got to stop and camp a
little while. You've got to ask the Spirit
of God to open it up. You've got to read it word by
word. Listen. Romans 8, verse 7, The carnal
mind, the natural mind, is what? Enmity. What's where enmity means? Hatred. It's at war. That's what enmity means, at
war with God. Your natural mind's at war with
the God of the... but not with your God! Not with
that little peanut God that you've heard preached and that you've
worshipped, that little God that's up there just crying his eyes
out because you won't let him do what he wants to. You're at
war with the living God in your mind and in your heart. And Christ said, you will not
come to me that you might have life. Now that's offensive, but
that's what it is. Man's lost. Now then, Psalm 50,
verse 21, my second point, quickly, that's offensive, astonishing.
Psalm 50, 21, and it's very brief. Here it is. God is sovereign.
The God of the Bible, the living God is sovereign, absolutely
sovereign, totally, indisputably sovereign. Psalm 50, verse 21. Here's your
problem. God said, These things hast thou
done. And I kept silent. I let you
go. I let you have your way. Give us a king like the other
nations. Okay, I'll give you a king. That's
what you want. He gave them Saul. That's what
you want. You can have a king. I let you do these things, and
I kept silent. And you thought, listen, you
thought Because I kept silence and because in my permissive
will I let you go, you thought I was altogether such a one as
yourself. My silence led you to believe
I was impotent. That's what God said. The man
stands on the soapbox in the park and says, I don't believe
in God. If there's a God up there, let
him strike me dead. Everybody stands, you know, and
their eyes open. Nothing happens. He brushes off
his sleeve and collects a little money, puts it in his pocket
and goes down and has him a steak dinner. Where's God? Now, where's God? Why didn't God strike him dead?
You step on every ant that crosses your path? I don't. Do you destroy
every worm that wiggles across your footpath? Huh? I don't. Do you spray every mosquito that
zooms at you? I don't. They'll die eventually. They're not going to raise too
much cane. They're not going to upset my world too much. God says, you thought I was like
you. I'm not like you. Our God is
in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he pleased. The heathen said, We don't see
much out of your God, David. Where is your God? We know where
our God is. He's where we let him be. That's
where our God is. He does what we let him do. He
says what we let him say. That's our God. He's just like us, you see. We've
modeled him after ourselves. I don't think God ought to do
this. Well, that's your problem, you know. You think God's like
you, but he's not. They said, David, where's your
God? He said, My God's in the heavens,
and he's omnipotent. He does what he pleases. And
I want to give you three things that are important here. The
only place a man might be offended and he might be astonished and
he might back off, he might fight you a little bit over there,
but there's really only one place a man will worship. And that's at the throne of a
sovereign God. People who come to this church
to visit sometimes are amazed by the reverence of our young
people. They don't get up and gad about
and go out to the drinking fountain, and they don't pass notes, those
that know God don't. And they don't misbehave in the
house of God, and the people all sit with their Bibles and
And yet in other churches it's like a three-ring circus, and
people say, why? I said, we worship the God of
heaven here. There's the fear of the Lord.
That's the only place a man will worship. People won't worship
this little peanut God that's being preached. They're not even
awed by his presence, because he can't do except what they
let him anyway. We're in the presence of God. The Lord is
in his holy temple, let the earth keep silence. The Lord is in
his temple, let your words be peace." God's here. People in the Old Testament,
when they wanted to describe a believer in the Old Testament,
you know how they described him? One that feared the Lord. That's
the way he's described. Read your Bible. Every time they
describe Jacob, Joseph, Samuel, all of them, they say, he feared
the Lord. You know how God describes the
unbelievers in the New Testament? No fear of God before their eyes. They don't fear God. I don't
want you to fear me. I want you to fear God. I'm just
a peanut, but he's God. Barnabas used to say, you're
just a tadpole, that's all I am, but God's sovereign. Fear the
Lord. There's only one place a man
will worship. There's only one place a man will find comfort
for his trials and troubles, and that's at the throne of a
God who does everything on purpose. There are no accidents with God. And that's where you can rest
confidently and comfortably, knowing that whatever happens
to you, it's for his glory and your good. I don't care what
it is. Job knew that. When he lost everything, he said,
The Lord gave, and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of
the Lord. Eli knew that. When his sons were killed, he
said, Why, it's the Lord. Let him do what he will. He knows
what's best. There's only one place a man
can find comfort, and thirdly, there's only one place a man
can find real hope of salvation. And that's in the presence of
him who's able to save you, who's able to give you a clean slate,
who's able to take away your rebellion, who's able to give
you a new heart and a new nature and a new life, who's able to
put your name in his book of life, who's able to raise you
from the grave when you die, who's able to make you like his
Son, a sovereign, absolute, indisputably omnipotent God. That's the only
place a man can really find hope. You won't find any hope in the
water, or the altar, or the table, or anything, you'll find it in
him. Astonishing that God controls
life, he controls heaven, he controls death, he controls hell. The scripture says the keys of
hell and death are in his And he openeth and no man can shut,
and he shuts and no man can open. And he does everything on purpose.
That's astonishing. Well, I tell you this, if every
preacher in this nation this morning from Billy Graham down
to the smallest preacher in the smallest chapel or brush arbor
meeting somewhere in this country, would stand up on his hind legs
with a little strength in his backbone and the fear of the
Lord in his heart and tell people who God is, we'd have a revival.
Now, I'm sure of it. And we'd have some people who
would fall before a living God and worship and cry for mercy. The third thing. Turn to Isaiah
9. This is astonishing doctrine.
But it's so. It's what the Bible teaches.
The third statement, Christ is God. That baby in Bethlehem's
manger is none other than God Almighty, the same One who created
this world and the stars and the sun and the moon and all
things therein. It says, Isaiah 9, 6, look, unto
us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government
shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father." That's who
he is, the Mighty God. That man in Judea
is God Almighty. He said, I and my Father one.
He said, he that hath seen me hath seen the Father. That man
on the cross In human form, that person on
the cross, in human form, is God Almighty. God was in Christ,
reconciling the world to himself. You say, God can't die, I know
that. But God in human form, that human nature, that human
form can die, and it did. God became a man. Actually, I'll
never die. My body's gonna die. But I'm
not going to be dead. I'm going to leave the body,
the absence from the body to be present with the Lord. The
soul doesn't die. The only death the soul knows
anything about is spiritual death. The soul that sent it, it shall
die. But Christ said, he that liveth
and believeth on me shall never die. God didn't die, no. God as a man died. That's what
scripture teaches. Turn to 1 Thessalonians 4. Listen,
now this is interesting here. 1 Thessalonians 4, and I've read
this a dozen times, but just last night this thing, three
words I saw in here that just make this more alive. In 1 Thessalonians 4.16, that
coming Christ is God Almighty. Look at this, 1 Thessalonians
4.16, "...for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven." Who?
The Lord himself. I was going to Grand Rapids,
Michigan. They embarrassed me one time. I was going up there
to preach a few years ago, and they put out some handbills with
a big picture of me on it. And underneath the handbill it
said, you can see Henry Mahan in person. I started to autograph
them for folks, in person. That's embarrassing. But this
here says, the Lord himself, in person, is coming down, in
person, himself. Now the fourth thing that's astonishing
yet true, the fourth point, is this. Listen carefully to it. Salvation is Christ. Salvation
is Christ. Salvation is not legalism. By the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified. You who would be saved by the
law, do you not hear the law? Salvation is not ritualism. Heaven
is not gained by circumcision or baptism or religious feasts
and fasts. Salvation is not decisionism. Unfortunately, many people think
that they find salvation in a preacher's hand or down at the front of
a church, but believe me, it's not here. Salvation is not legalism,
salvation is not ritualism, salvation is not decisionism. What is it?
It's a person. It's living, vital union with
a person. Listen to the Scripture. This
is the record. God had given us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son. That's where it is, it's in his
Son. And he that hath the Son hath
life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. He
may have the doctrine, he may have the decision, he may have
the profession, he may have the facts, he may have all these
things, but if he doesn't have a living, personal, vital union
with the Son, he hath not life. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. I'm persuaded he is able to keep
that which I've committed to him. Paul, how do you know you're
saved? Well, I joined the church when
I was a boy. How do you know you're saved?
Well, I had a wonderful feeling. How do you know you're saved?
Well, I was raised by Christian parents. How do you know you're
saved, Paul? I know whom I have believed. He said, Christ in you, that's
the hope of glory. He said, I travail till Christ
be born in you. Christ said, he that eateth my
flesh and drinketh my blood hath everlasting life. Turn to John
1. This is an interesting scripture.
John 1, when you look at it carefully, when you quit looking over the
Bible rapidly and quit memorizing scripture, and reciting it like
a parrot. It's all right if you read the
scripture so much it becomes a part of your memory, that's
different. But don't sit down and memorize scripture like you
memorized Mary had a little lamb when you was a kid. Read it and
soak it up and study it and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you
the Word of God. But don't just memorize it so
you can recite it like some kid reciting a poem. This is God's
world. The important thing is not that
you're committed to memory, the important thing is it's committed
to your heart. That's the important thing. They
advertised a preacher who was a walking Bible. He memorized
the whole New Testament. That doesn't impress me at all.
He could have all those doctrines stored in his head and be his
heart be far from Christ. Look at this, John 1, verse 12.
but as many as received him." It doesn't say, as many as received
his church, him. It doesn't say, as many as received
his words, him. It doesn't say, but as many as
received his life, as many as received him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God. To them, to them, to those who
received him, to them he gave the right, the privilege, the
authority to claim to be God's child, to receive him. What is salvation? It's a person.
It's not a decision. It's not a reformation. It's
not church membership. It's not a feeling. Salvation
is not an experience. person. It's all in him, and
you've missed it if you haven't met him. No matter what you believe,
no matter what you've encountered, if you haven't met him, if he
doesn't live in your heart, you've missed it. Our Lord gave this illustration. The evil spirit went out of a
man And it walked to and fro in dry places and found no rest. It said, I'll return to my house.
Now watch these words, my house. And when he came back to his
house, he found it empty. He found it swept. He found it
garnished or decorated. He went out and got him seven
other demons, more evil than himself, and they all moved And
the second state of the man was worse than the first. You know
what that's teaching? A man told me a story. He said,
a member of my family got religion. He made a profession of faith.
He joined the church. He even started preaching. And
then one day he quit preaching, and he went back out into the
world. And now he's worse than he ever was before. What happened?
Exactly what happened right there, when Christ just gave you that
parable from his Word. The evil spirit was not driven
out, it went out willingly of its own accord. When Christ comes
upon a sinner to conquer, to inhabit, to save, there's a warfare,
there's a battle. That old evil spirit doesn't
leave willingly, but stronger than he cometh upon him and drives
him out, by the power of God he's driven out. Well, this evil
spirit left, and then he said, I'm going back to my house. It
was his house when he was there, it was his house when he left,
it was his house while he was on vacation. You feel what I'm
saying? It wasn't God's house, it wasn't
God's child, it wasn't God's abode, it was his house. So he
came back, and what did he find? He found it empty. Now, when
Christ saves a man, is that man empty? No, the Lord Jesus said,
My Father and I will come and take up our abode in him. We're
moving in. God moves in. If any man has
not the Spirit of God, he's none of His. When God saves the sinner,
God inhabits that sinner. Our bodies are the temples of
the Holy Spirit. If that man had been saved when
that evil spirit came back, he'd have found the Lord living there.
But the Lord wasn't living there, was he? and it was swept. Now, you women know how to clean
a house, don't you? You don't sweep it. You just
move the dirt from over there over here when you sweep. You
move it off the floor onto the coffee table when you sweep.
So when you get some water and go to mopping and wash that floor,
it'll be clean, you won't move the dirt around. God doesn't
sweep his people, they're washed in the blood. And he found it
garnished, and that word is decorated. Boy, he got him a a pen here,
a cross in his lapel. He decorated up. That evil spirit
came back, and he found the fellow with a Bible, and he had a great
big cross on his Bible, and wore one here on his lapel, wore a
pie pen. He had a bunch of awards for
going to Sunday school and not missing a Sunday, and he was
really religious. He wanted everybody to know he
was religious. He was all decorated up with
all of the signs of religion. And that demon said, for me to
live there alone, I'll go get me some more of my comrades and
we'll move in." And they did. And you know what happened. That's
false religion. And that's what happens so often.
But salvation is not decisionism. Salvation is not cleaning up
the house. Salvation is a person. And when
he comes in, he cleans it up. He straightens it out. He takes
over the government. He runs out the corruptors and
the con men and the grafters, and he straightens it out, and
he begins to reign. Takes a while sometimes, but
he takes over. And that man's a new creature.
The last statement I'm going to make is this. You go back
over and think about him. This astonishing doctrine, I
know it's not being preached, but what our Lord preached, and
that's the reason there was a division. That's the reason people were
astonished. He said, man's lost. He said, God's sovereign. He
says, I'm God. He says, salvation's a person.
It's eating my flesh and drinking my blood. And then last of all,
now you get this. I'm not going to deal with this
again for a while, but I want you to stay with me now. Eternal
life is eternal. You say, what's astonishing about
that? Well, people don't believe No, sir, they don't. They certainly
do not. Eternal life is eternal. People
don't believe that. Let me say this, and you listen
carefully. A man's idea of salvation and
the security of that salvation depends on three things. Your
idea of salvation, I don't care whether you're Baptist, Methodist,
Praetorian, what you are, your idea of salvation is based on
three things. Salvation and the security of
it is based on three things. It's based, first of all, on
how you got it. It's based, secondly, on what
it is that you have. And it's based, thirdly, on what
it did for you. Now, let me point those out. Number one, how did you receive
salvation? Your idea of salvation and security
of that salvation depends on how you got it. How did you get
salvation? Was it something that a work
you performed? Was it a change that you effected? Was it a decision that you made? Was it something that you did
for God? Then you can lose it. Because it's your work, and your
work will not abide, your work will not endure the trial. It
won't last. If it's something of salvation,
if it's something you did, it won't last. You can lose it.
But was it God who saved you? Huh? Was it God who found you
in the ditch? Was it God who found you hopeless
and helpless like the babe in Ezekiel 16, neither washed nor
swaddled nor navel cut, lying in your own blood, polluted,
waiting for the vultures to pick your bones dry? And God said,
Live! It was a time of love. And he
said, I came by and I said, Live! And I gave you life. Was it a
work God did for you? then it'll last. Because the
scripture says, he that hath begun a good work in you will
perform it, or finish it, in the day of Christ. Depends on
how you got it. Ezekiel 5, or 3.14 says, the
work that God does is forever. No man can add to it or take
from it. I don't know who But I tell you,
if God did, it's an eternal work. Now, if you did it, if some preacher
stood up and kept begging you to make a decision for Jesus,
and you stood back there and rastled over a while and decided,
well, you might as well please your wife and your son and daughter,
and you might as well please your brother or sister, you might
as well get religion, you might as well go to heaven when you
die, if that was all there was to it, you joined the church
and you was baptized, you turned over a new leaf, you quit your
drinking, and you did this, that, and the other, you're going to...
hell before it's over. That's not nice, but that's so. Because if you did it, you can
lose it. But if God did it, it's a whole
lot different. Second thing, it depends on this.
What is it? What is salvation? What is it? Is it just reformation? Well,
you can lose it. You can reform one way, you can
go back the other way. Is it just mental assent to certain
doctrines? Did you just read some doctrine
and say, well, I believe that? Well, you can unbelieve it, too.
That's all it is. Is it just a desire to go to
heaven? Everybody wants to go to heaven. Maybe someday you'll
change your mind. And you'll decide there isn't
a heaven after all. You could, you know. You made
that other decision, you can make this one. What is salvation? Reformation? mental assent to
doctrine, a desire to miss hell, then I say, you can lose it.
Or if salvation, listen to me, what the Bible says, a new life,
a new life, a new life. The Holy Spirit quickeneth, giveth
life to whom he will. A new nature, That which is born
of the flesh is flesh. I still have a fleshly nature,
but thank God by his power, by his regenerating, begetting power,
I have a new nature, a divine nature, a godly nature. If any
man be in Christ, he's a new creature, a new person. We've
got wall-to-wall babies in that nursery this morning. They're
the cutest things you ever saw. I wonder, any of those babies
in there, somebody else come back from the dead. You believe
that? You reckon Cecil little Tara, now you reckon she's maybe,
she lived back 200 or 300 years ago and some old folks come back?
Why, she's a new person. That family there had a new person
come in when Sandy brought her home. And I'll tell you, when
God gave the sinner life, it was a new person, a person that
never lived before! A new person, a new being, a
new creature! That's what salvation is! It's
a new creature! Christ is the king and prophet
and priest of that new creature, the new being. Not the old man
reincarnated or rejuvenated. It's not the old man reformed.
It's not, I'm not, my life with God, my union with God, is not
the boy that was born in 1926. It was the one that was born
of God later. Brother Barnard asked a young
lady one time, he said, are you a Christian? She said, yes. He
said, how long have you been a Christian? She said, I've always been a
Christian. He said, that's too long. You have not always been a Christian,
you silly thing. There was a time when you were
born of God. There was a time you believed
on Christ. There was a time when you saw yourself lost and received
Him as your Lord. There was a time, not interested
in when it was, just interested in the fact that it happened.
Now, you'll lose that. And the third thing, and I'll
close. Let me ask you something. Your idea of salvation and the
security of it depends on how you got it. what you got. Was it a new life or that old
one made over? But he got religion. He quit cursing. But he'll start
back, I promise you. I promise you he will, unless
a new man moved in, unless God moved in. That's right. He won't make it. You wonder
why I don't coerce people and put pressure on them, drag them
down. I hate false professions. I want God to save sinners. If
God doesn't do it, I don't want to be around when somebody else
does it, because I know they won't last. The third thing is,
what has it done for you? What has this salvation done
for you? Has it made you miserable, or
has it made you happy? Has it left you pining for the
world? As it left you wishing you didn't
have to go to church, and wishing you didn't have to give your
income, and wishing you didn't have to associate with those
religious people, and wishing you could be like you want to
be. Well, go on and be what you want to be, because you will
sooner or later anyhow. But when God saves a sinner,
he puts the love of God in his heart. And he gives him a new
want to and a new desire. He makes him happy in Christ. He is happy with the people of
God. He loves the gospel. That's his
new nature. That's his new life. He that's
born of God overcometh the world. You see what I'm saying? He's
not miserable, he's happy. This is where he wants to be.
These are the people he wants to be with. This is what he wants
to be doing. Our Father, bless the Word, teach
us, break us, humble us, save us, give us Christ, give us a knowledge of ourself. us thy precious will. Leave us
not in a false religious profession, but bring us to a knowledge of
thy dear Son. In his name we pray, amen.

Astonishing Doctrine

What does the Bible say about man's lost condition?

How do we know God is sovereign?

Why is the doctrine of Christ's divinity important for Christians?

What is the meaning of salvation according to the Bible?

Why is the idea of eternal life significant for Christians?

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Astonishing Doctrine

What does the Bible say about man's lost condition?

How do we know God is sovereign?

Why is the doctrine of Christ's divinity important for Christians?

What is the meaning of salvation according to the Bible?

Why is the idea of eternal life significant for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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