If you would go with me back
to John chapter 19, for anyone who may not have been
here a moment ago when I made the announcement, our dear brother
and pastor, Henry Mahan was taken to glory. I knew I would say that at some
point, and here it is. His funeral is going to be at
Johnstein Funeral Home in Ashland, Kentucky tomorrow morning at
11 o'clock. I know that there are some who
never met him. Some here never met him and did
not know him. But he was so near and dear to
so many in this congregation. For that reason, if you will
just allow me just a moment, I would like for this message
and this service to be a memorial, our own memorial service for
Him. I mentioned in the bulletin,
and our brother just prayed for us, that we do not lift up men. We don't. God's people do not
lift up men. But we do acknowledge our true
thanks to God for the men who spent their lives lifting up
the man. Christ Jesus the Lord. It's not
easy. It's a big responsibility. It's
a big work. Men have to be called to it to
survive it. God has to strengthen the man
to survive it. But when he does, we thank him
for it. We do cry how beautiful are the
feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad
tidings of good things. The scripture says, whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. But it says,
how shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? Just because a man says, I've
decided to be a preacher, that doesn't make him a preacher.
He can say Jesus all he wants to, but he is not speaking on
behalf of Jesus of Nazareth. God manifests in the flesh, the
Christ, the Son of the living God. So we truly do thank our Lord. We do. I thank the Lord. I know
you do too. For sending us such a dear preacher
and pastor and friend. He was so dear. So dear, he was
so loving. There's one thing that people
all say about him. He loved people. He loved people. When I came here, when I had
my car packed, he told me this many times. When I was moving
to Kingsport, he said, listen to me, love them to Christ. He told me that over and over
again. Love them to Christ. He loved people. He was so sincere. You want to know what kind of
man he was? Whatever he was in the pulpit, he was out of the
pulpit. He didn't have two personalities.
He didn't have two trains of thought. He didn't. That's what
he was sincere. God made him to be faithful.
He was a faithful preacher of Christ. Well, for an introduction
to this message, I want to tell you something that I believe,
as long as I have my mind, I'll never forget. I believe I'll
never forget this. About the time that I first started
preaching, Brother Henry and his wife Doris were still living
in Ashland, Kentucky, and Hannah and I went up for a visit. Because I had just started preaching,
I was asking Brother Henry every question I could think of about
preaching. And he was so kind to help me. And I tried to soak
up everything he had to say. But in the course of conversation,
he was telling me stories and he told me about a few things
that happened that were big moments for him. Very memorable moments
for him. And one of them was the fact
that he had the opportunity to preach to his 40th high school
reunion. A classmate called him to see
if he would be able to attend it, and he said, well, I'll try.
When is it going to be? And the classmate said, it's
going to be on Sunday, the whatever date it was. Brother Henry said,
I can't make it. I can't be away from my pulpit
for that reason. And the classmate said, well, if you preach to
us, would you be able to come? And he said, I'll be there. So he said, I had the opportunity
to preach to all the kids I went to school with. I said, that's amazing. That
is amazing. What an opportunity. And I thought about that for
a second, and I asked him, What do you say in that situation? When a situation like that presents
itself, what do you say? And he looked at me like I'm
not following you. And I said, when you have one
opportunity to preach to people that you have no idea if any
of them know anything about the truth, for all you know, all
of them could be completely lost. What do you do in a situation
like that? What do you say to people? He looked at me like, that's
the dumbest question I've ever heard in my life. He said, you
preach the gospel to them. I said, oh yeah. I apologized. I said, I'm sorry. We sat there for just a second.
I said, do you remember what your text was? He said, John
19, 30, it is finished. And that's the moment it was
clinched to me. Go preach the gospel to all the
world. What do you go out and tell men
who have no desire for God, no interest in God, no knowledge
of the truth? Those who do not reverence the
Christ. And what do you go out and tell
them? Go preach the gospel to them.
Preach the gospel unto all the world. Go tell all the world
the glorious news of what Christ cried from the cross. It is finished. Do you know that? Those three
words. That's what God uses to Pierce
the heart, open the eyes, bend the knee, and cry out in rejoicing, it
is finished. About five years later, right
after we moved here to Kingsport, we were in our rental house over
in Ridgefields. I got a packet in the mail from
Brother Henry with a note that said, I found that outline that
I preached at my high school reunion and I told you about
it a few years ago. And he said, I'm sending it to
you. And he said, maybe you can preach
it sometime. This seems like a good time. Our dear brother needs to be
remembered for the message he preached. That's what he needs
to be remembered for. He is a wonderful man. The word
was is not a part of that sentence. He is a wonderful man. But the
life that he lived on this earth, what needs to be remembered about
the time that the Lord gave him to be here is The message he
preached. The truth he stood for. The Christ
he declared. From the time God revealed himself
to him, 1950, a man that he loved so much and respected so much,
just like we love and respect him. The man's name was Rolf
Barnard. He came through and screamed the word purpose. And
it pierced his heart. What that means is, it is finished. And from the moment that the
Lord revealed Himself to him, to the moment the Lord called
him to be with Him forever in glory, the message that he preached
was, it is finished. Every time he stood up in a pulpit,
it didn't matter what text it was from, his message was, it
is finished. The Word of God says in John
19 verse 30, When Jesus, therefore, had received the vinegar, He
said, It is finished. And He bowed His head and gave
up the ghost. What was finished? What did Christ, right there
on the cross of Calvary, finish? What really did He finish? If
you look back at John 17, it says in John 17 verse 4, Our Lord said to His Father,
I have glorified Thee on the earth, I have finished the work
which Thou gavest Me to do. What work? What did the father
give him to do? What work did he come to accomplish? What did he finish? The scripture
declares that God created this heaven, the stars and the planets
and everything that's in space. God created this heaven and God
created this earth. And God created every man and
woman that is standing on the earth. And He did it by the word
of His power. But it declares that because
man sinned against Him, God is going to destroy it all. Alright, so He created the heavens. He created the earth. He created
man standing on the earth. But because man sinned against
Him, For that one reason, He's going to destroy it all. If you
look with me at 2 Peter 3. 2 Peter 3 verse 10 says, But the day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall
pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein
shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things
shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in
all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto
the coming of the day of God wherein the heavens being on
fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent
heat." Sin ruined it all, therefore God is going to destroy it all.
He is going to burn it all up. It is going to melt with a fervent
heat. But the scripture also declares
that from the foundation of the world, God purposed to create
a new heaven and a new earth. A brand new heaven and a brand
new earth. Verse 13 says, nevertheless,
we according to His promise. He made a promise. before the
foundation of the world. And we, according to His promise,
look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness."
The first heaven and earth were completely infected with sin. The Scripture says the whole
creation groans and travails in pain because of sin. But it is impossible for this
new heaven and this new earth to be infected with sin. Aren't
you so glad to know that? Has the thought ever gone through
your mind, what if sin works its way in again? It is impossible. for this new heaven and this
new earth to be infected with sin. The only thing that can
dwell there is righteousness. If you look with me at Revelation
21. Revelation 21 verse 27 says, And there shall in no wise enter
into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination,
or maketh a lie." The only thing that's going to enter in is they
which are written in the Lamb's book of life. Sin will never
be able to enter in there. And verse 3 right here in Revelation
21 says, I heard a great voice out of
heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will
dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself
shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death,
Neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain,
for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the
throne said, behold, I make all things new. And he said unto
me, write, for these words are true and faithful." So God the
Father purposed from eternity past to create a new heaven and
a new earth. And He purposed to fill that
new earth with a healthy, joyful, sinless, spotless people. And it's not just a few people.
Revelation 7 says, it's a number that no man can number. And we
have some smart men walking on this earth right now. It is a
number no man can number. It is a great and glorious, sinless
family of brethren. So God the Father has purposed.
Now see if we can enter into this. God the Father has purposed
to do away with the heavens that are now. He's going to destroy them. He's
going to be done with them. And He has purposed to do away
with the earth that is now. He is going to destroy it. He
is going to just be done with it. And He has purposed to do away
with sin. He is going to destroy it in
this great destruction, this great fiery destruction. He's going to destroy it. Finally,
forever, gone, done. He's purposed to be completely
rid of it. But He has not purposed to do
away with His sinful people. He has not purposed to destroy
them and be rid of them in order to create brand new perfect people. Is that sinking in? He's going
to create a brand new heaven And He's going to create a brand
spanking new earth. But He is not going to create
brand spanking new people. He could have just killed the
sinners and started over. But He didn't purpose to do that.
Everything's new, but His fallen sinful people. The Scripture
says that the Father chose to redeem His sinful people, not
do away with them. Redeem them. If you look at Hebrews
2, Hebrews 2 verse 14 says, For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that
had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them,
who through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to
bondage. For verily He took not on Him
the nature of angels, but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore, in all things it behooved
him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a
merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God,
to make reconciliation for the sins of the people." He didn't
choose to do this for the fallen angels, but he chose to do it
for sinners, like you and me, sinners. Matthew 1.21 says, Call
His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. Luke 19 says, The Son of Man
is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Not just do away
with it all. He came to seek and save that
which was lost. John 6 says, All that the Father
giveth to me shall come to me, and Him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. He said, no man can come to me
except the Father which hath sent me draw him and I will raise
him up at the last day. The Apostle Paul said, this is
a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Now, what does
it take for a sinner to be redeemed? When God made Adam in the garden,
he was made in the image of God. He was made in the likeness of
God. He was perfect. He was absolutely perfect. What
will it take for a sinner to be redeemed back to that state? Reinstated, conformed back to
God's image. What will it take? It is going
to take justice and righteousness. That's what it's going to take.
Justice is going to have to be served to satisfy the offense. And righteousness is going to
have to be provided to satisfy the demand. What does God demand to stand
in His presence? Well, you've got to be sorry
for your sins. You've got to go back to all the people you
hurt and make things right. What does God demand in order
to stand in His presence? Here's the answer. Absolute perfection. I mean spotless perfection. Holy perfection. In order for a sinner to stand
holy and without blame before God, his debt must be paid. and His perfection must be provided. That is the work that the Father
gave to the Son. That's the work He gave Him to
do. Christ had to take the righteousness that He earned and He had to
bind all of His people in it. He had to wrap all of His people
in that righteousness. And He had to take all of their
wretched sin upon Himself and he had to go face the judgment
of God with it. And with holy judgment poured
out on the sin, and with spotless redeeming righteousness provided
in its place, when the fullness of the work was complete, from
the cross of Calvary, our Savior, our Redeemer, and our Scripture
says He's our Friend. He cried, It is finished. It is absolutely finished. All judgment is finished. All righteousness is finished. We just sang the song that says,
Arise my soul, arise. Shake off thy guilty fears. The bleeding sacrifice in my
behalf appears. Before the throne my surety stands. My name is written on his hands. Five bleeding wounds he bears,
received on Calvary. They pour effectual prayers,
they strongly plead for me. Forgive him, O forgive, they
cry, nor let that ransomed sinner die. My God is reconciled. His pardoning voice I hear. He owns me for his child, I can
no longer fear. With confidence, I now draw nigh,
and Father, Abba, Father, cry." That's the work that God the
Father gave to Christ His Son, and our Lord said, it's finished. It's finished. He said, I finished
the work that you gave me to do. Now, our dear brother Henry
ended that outline by saying, Based on the scripture, there
are three things that I know. Number one, the only way that
this work could have been accomplished was for God the Father to put
it in the hands of Jesus Christ. This is the only way. Men go around wondering, what
must I do with these hands? What must these hands do to satisfy
God? Here's the only way the work
could possibly be accomplished. God the Father had to put it
in the hands of Jesus Christ. That's it. It never could be accomplished
by my hands. Never could it be accomplished
by your hands or any other sinful hands. The God-man, Christ Jesus
the Lord, He was the only one who could provide the righteousness
and satisfy the justice of God. It had to be placed in His hands.
He said, that's the first thing I know. He said, the second thing
I know is that He did indeed finish the work. He did not start the work and
then leave the rest of it to be completed by His people. He did not leave us with an incomplete
salvation. He finished it. How do we know?
Three reasons. Number one, God raised Him from
the dead. God would have never raised Him
from the dead had the sin not been gone. The wages of sin is
death. Sin produces death. So we know
because of His resurrection. The second reason we know that
He finished it is because of His ascension. He ascended back up to His Father
and His Father received Him. His Father would have never received
Him had the work not been finished. He sent Him to finish the work. he would have sent him back to
finish what he started. So we know because of his resurrection,
we know because of his ascension, and we know because he is right
now seated on his throne. When he was about his father's
business, he had no time to sit down. He said, don't you know
I must be about my father's business? But once it was all over and
there was no work left to be done, he sat down on the right
hand of the majesty on high. So Brother Henry said, based
on the scripture, there are three things that I know. Number one,
the only way this could be accomplished was for God the Father to put
it in the hands of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Number
two, he said, I know that he has indeed finished the work
of redeeming his people. And that new earth is going to
be populated with every single one of them. None of them will
be lost. They'll all be there. And he said, the third thing
I know is I want to be among them. I want to be one of them. I want
to be there. I want to end up being one of
the redeemed that steps foot on that brand new earth and walks through the gates of
that beautiful city. Roland Hill told that story of
the dream he had, that he entered into the gates of glory. He said,
I dreamed that I entered into the gates of glory. And as soon
as I got there, I heard the most beautiful choir singing, singing
praises to God. And he said, I wondered where,
where is that choir? Where's that music coming from?
And he said, I started following the music. And the closer I got, the louder
it got and the more beautiful it got. And he said, I came up
on this great choir, this massive choir of people all singing in
perfect harmony and unison. Glory to God. And I thought,
oh, I wish I could sing with that choir. I would love to be counted among
them singing along with that beautiful choir." And he said,
I looked up and at the very top there was one empty seat. So he said, I made my way up
this long set of steps and I came to the aisle and I made my way
down the aisle and I got to that seat and there was a plaque on
that seat with a name on it. It said, reserved for Roland
Hill. About a week and a half ago,
after Carrie and Luke had both taken turns going to the hospital,
staying with Brother Henry, Hannah went up and took a turn. And
from the moment Brother Henry got to the hospital, he was ready
to leave the hospital. And by the time Hannah got there,
he was really ready to leave the hospital. And his mind was confused. He
didn't understand why he was there. He wanted to go. He just wanted to go. Well, the
day came for him to be moved from the hospital to the rehab
facility. And he didn't understand what
was going on, but he could tell he was leaving this hospital.
And Hannah said he was so excited, he was just so excited to not
have that hospital gown on anymore, he had clothes on. And they pulled
his car up. And he was getting into his car.
And Hannah said as she was helping him into the car, he looked over
at her and said, we're going to glory. And when she told me that, I
thought, oh, poor thing. But I'm going to tell you something.
He was right. He was right. No poor thing about it. He was literally on his way to
glory. Friday morning, he stepped into
glory. And he saw the face of the one
he adored. He saw the very nail prints that
he preached for so long. The nail prints that literally
bore the judgment of his sin. And he saw a place with a sign on
it that said, reserved for Henry T. Mahan. And the comfort for
the rest of us is, our Lord said in John 14, I go to prepare a
place for you. I'm going to prepare a place
for you. Peter said it is reserved in
the heavens. It's reserved with your name
on it. If God puts you in Christ, If God covered you in His blood
and robed you in that righteousness and satisfied that judgment and
provided all that perfection, if God did that for you, there
is a place with a name on it. And it's your name reserved for
you. Spurgeon said, come sing in the
midst of tribulation. Rejoice even while passing through
the furnace. Make the wilderness to blossom
like the rose. Cause the desert to ring with
thine exalting joys, for these light afflictions will soon be
over. And then, forever with the Lord,
thy bliss shall never wane. Praise the Savior, you who know
Him. Who can stand up here and tell
how much we owe Him? Gladly let us render to Him all
we are and all we have, because it's finished. It's finished. All right, let's all stand together.