If you'll open your Bibles with
me to Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1, I'll do my best to preach
to you about what she just said. The reason why Christ is the
one I love, the one I trust, the one in whom all my hope is
found. My subject tonight is life from
the dead. life from the dead. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1,
and you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. You hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sins. The Apostle Paul is here speaking,
of course, to the church at Ephesus. But as he does, he speaks to
God's church everywhere in all the ages of time. He says to
every sinner who believes on the Son of God, he says to every
sinner redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ and called
by God the Holy Spirit, given life and faith in Christ, you
are now alive. You hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and in sins. Now this quickening, this new
birth, is a mysterious work of God's grace. So mysterious that
it cannot be understood by any who haven't experienced it. In
fact, the things of God in all the things of God. We deal with
things that can be understood only by experience. God teaches only by experience. You cannot understand the new
birth until you're born again. You cannot understand faith until
you have it. You cannot understand forgiveness
until you experience it. You cannot understand grace until
you know it. You cannot understand God's salvation
until you possess it. Until you experience the things
of God, they are foolishness to you. They're as much foolishness
to you as were our Lord's words to Nicodemus when Nicodemus came
to him by night and said, what must I do to enter the kingdom
of heaven? How can I enter into the kingdom of God? And the Lord
Jesus said to Nicodemus, except a man be born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God. And Nicodemus responded, with
all the brilliance, with all the intelligence, with all the
academic training that any man could possess in his day, well,
do you expect me to crawl back up into my mother's belly and
be born again? That's just how much understanding the natural
man has of the things of the Spirit of God. They are utterly
foolishness to him. I repeat, the new birth is a
mysterious thing, a work of God's omnipotent mercy for us and in
us. The hymn writer put it this way,
not all the outward forms on earth nor rights that God has
given nor will of man, nor blood, nor birth can raise a soul to
heaven. The sovereign will of God alone
creates us heirs of grace, born in the image of His Son, a new
peculiar race. The Spirit, like some heavenly
wind, blows on the sons of flesh, creates anew by grace divine,
and forms the man afresh. Our quickened souls awake and
rise from the long sleep of death. On heavenly things we fix our
eyes and praise employs our breath. But you can understand nothing
about that. You can understand nothing about
the songs, no matter how beautifully sung, until you experience God's
grace in the new birth. God has quickened us who were
dead in trespasses and in sins. That's the state in which God
found us by his grace, dead, spiritually dead, full of digger
towards everything else, full of digger towards everything
that is contrary to law and holiness and spirituality, full of digger
to everything contrary to God and righteousness and truth.
We walked according to the course of this world, but as to everything
spiritual, We were not only somewhat incapable, somewhat weak, somewhat
impaired, but we were totally and absolutely dead. We had no
sense with which to comprehend spiritual things. We had no eye
with which to see spiritual things. We had no ear with which to hear
heavenly things. We had no heart with which to
understand the things of God. We were dead. All of us dead.
And yet, none of us were exactly alike. All dead, but all somewhat different. Death may be universal over a
multitude of people. And yet, the bodies look very
different from one another. The dead on the battlefield,
torn, mutilated, and corrupted. The dead, I thought particularly
as I was preparing this message last night, finishing up the
work on it, that the dead blown up by the explosions over there
in Paris. Oh, what a hideous sight. It
must take some kind of a mind I can't quite grasp to want
to see those dead bodies. But then you take one that you
love who's recently died, and he's laid out in a coffin after
the undertaker gets done fixing him up, and that's more acceptable. That's more pleasant. The corpse
still looks like life. I recall my dear friend, Louelle
Harrell, in West Virginia. She and her husband adopted Shelby
and I right after we went there. much our seniors, but dear, dear
friends. And we had a mortician that everybody around there used
this mortician for their loved ones when they died because he
was good. He was just good. She said, one time when I die,
I'm going to look pretty because Bob's going to make me look pretty.
And he was good. He could take you and fix you
up and you lay out in a casket. Oh, she looks like she can speak
to you, doesn't she? Still has the appearance, but
just as dead. as the corpse is laid on the
battlefield and has corrupted in the sun. The corpse still
looks like life. Corruption hasn't done its work.
Tender care has guarded the body from what surely will come upon
it soon. And yet, there's death. Sure,
complete, total, absolute death in one case as in the other.
So we have many, many, many folks look at them and say, well, they
can't be dead. They just can't be dead. Many who are lovely,
moral, very admirable in their lives, like the rich young ruler
the Savior looked upon and loved, but they're still dead. Then
there are others who are drunk, profane, unchaste, and they're
dead, but not more so than others. Their deadness has left terrible
traces, more plainly invisible, but they're no more dead. You
see, sin, when it is finished, brings forth death. And death
in time brings corruption. Whether we were as corrupt as
others isn't really very important. The point is, Paul tells us,
we were all dead. Some trained by godly parents.
We were well instructed in the gospel and brought up under the
sound of faithful, fervent gospel preaching. Yet you were still
dead. Just as dead as the most profane
blasphemer. And so is the case with some
of you here tonight. Still dead. Maybe not so corrupt in your
outward behavior. Maybe very pleasant to look upon.
Maybe very admirable. Maybe very upright morally. But dead. Just as dead as the
harlot in the street. Just as dead as the murderer
on death row. All were dead. Ephesians 2, 1
brings Easter tidings. It speaks of a resurrection.
a resurrection. Turn back to John chapter 5.
John chapter 5. We'll come right back to the
text in a minute. When Paul speaks of us being
quickened, raised from the dead, he's talking about a resurrection
from the dead. Understand this. The doctrine
of Holy Scripture is that man by nature since the fall is dead. He's a ruined thing. Utterly,
entirely dead. And if any have spiritual life,
they must be raised from the dead. Now let me make three statements,
and I'll get to this passage here in John 5 in just a little
bit. Let me make three statements given clearly in our text. First,
you were dead. What a solemn, solemn sight is
presented in that. I tried to realize what this
thought implies. Dead. Dead. That's where we were
when God saved us by his grace. Dead. Dead. Soon this body of
mine must be a house of worms. These sockets will soon be empty
holes. This body Now full of life, will
be stretched out in a coffin, dead. Now that's what God here
tells us about all men by nature spiritually, dead. In our father
Adam, we all died. What does that mean? We died
in that representative man. We died in the loins of Adam. When he died spiritually, we
died in him. Man was created upright and full
of life, and he died. Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death hath passed
upon all men. God created Adam in the perfection
of mature manhood. And I'm convinced we don't have
any clue yet what that was. Adam was a remarkable man. He was the perfect man. He was
the ideal man. Body, soul, and spirit. He lived
before God until sin was found in Adam. This man Adam was the
father and representative of all the human race. That means
everything that he did and everything he experienced, we did and experienced
in him because God so arranged it. God created Adam for the
purpose of the fact that there's another Adam who would come made
like, after whose image Adam was made. Adam was made to be
a similitude of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was made to be a substitute
man. And God made him that so that
he might be a picture of our Redeemer. When Adam sinned, we
sinned in him. When Adam rebelled, we rebelled
in him. It's not as though we had done
so. We really did so. We were in
him just like Levi paid tithes in the loins of Abraham to Melchizedek. So we sinned against God in Adam
and we died in him. God had made with Adam a covenant.
a covenant which seems to have been a covenant that would have
secured life for Adam and for us all. And yet, under the threat
of divine judgment, Adam broke God's covenant and plunged himself
and all his race into death, spiritual death. Being dead in
Adam, we came under the sentence of God's holy law, condemned
and cursed. Through the fall of our father
Adam, We became guilty of sin, and death began to reign over
all men. We are born with Adam's nature,
born with that nature that overwhelmed Adam when he sinned in the garden
and died spiritually, born with a corrupt nature, inclined toward
every evil, with every evil propensity in us, and we became subject
to eternal death. condemned to spiritual death,
sentenced to physical death, dying, we began to die and subject
to eternal death, all because of sin. Though we were dead by
nature, the manifestations of death in us were not all the
same. If you go through the gospel
narratives, you'll find that our Lord Jesus raised three people
from the dead. Just three. Just three. In Luke chapter 8, he raised
Jairus' daughter from the dead. In Luke chapter 7, he met a woman
at the gates of the city, going out of the city of Nain to bury
her son who was dead. And in John chapter 11, he raised
Lazarus from the dead. These three examples were given
in the gospel narratives to be instructive to us. Pictures of
what the Lord Jesus has done for his people when he quickened
us, when he raised us from the dead. Think first of Jairus'
daughter. Jairus' daughter had just died.
She was in her bed. She still was dressed like the
living. She had some signs of life in
her. Her cheeks were still flush and red. She wasn't cold with
death. Everybody thought she was just
asleep. Everybody thought she was just asleep. Her body was
not yet in a coffin. And so it is with many, especially
our own sons and daughters. But remember, she was dead. There
are many who are dead in trespasses and in sins. who seem outwardly
to be as much alive as anyone. They are very moral, very respectful,
very diligent in life. They're accepted in society.
They're the kind of people, boy, I'd sure like my daughter to
marry that fellow. I'd sure like my son to find a woman like that.
They're those kind of people. Their consciences aren't yet
seared and hearts are not yet hard and cold with sin. They've not yet begun to decay.
The corruptions of death don't appear to have set in. But don't
be mistaken. They're dead. They're dead. Dead. What we want for our sons
and daughters, what I want for you and for your sons and daughters
is not morality. and uprightness, though you ought
to seek to instill those things in them. Oh, I want something
indescribably more. What I want for you is life. Life. Life that only God can
give. And then we had the case of the
widow of Nain's son in Luke chapter 7. His case was Far different. He was in his coffin. No one
really wanted to come near him. His cheeks were hollow. His eyes glazed. His body cold. But like the young maid, he was
dead. Death was much more manifest
in the widow's son. And so it is. for many of our
own households. The corruption of sin has begun
its work. Their hearts are hard, cold,
and steely. They've begun to be the kind
of company that you don't want for your sons and daughters. The kind of company that you'd
shun if they weren't your own relatives. You can see in their
eyes the glaze of death because they're dead, dead. But they are no more beyond the
reach of omnipotent mercy than Jairus' daughter. No more certainly doomed than
Jairus' daughter. And then we come to the case
of Lazarus. His was the worst of all. He was already corrupt. His sister said, Lord, by this
time he stinketh. He was sealed off from society.
Death had thoroughly done its work. So it is with many around
us. So it was with the one talking
to you. The death of sin was thoroughly
making them corrupt. They're altogether outcast of
society. All have lost hope for them. I just told the men back in the
study, Larry and I this morning were discussing William Jay,
a very useful gifted preacher. He was a friend of John Newton,
and one day he was visiting Newton in his study at Olney. And there
was a man who had formerly lived in Olney that was known to Newton,
and Newton said to William Jay, said, do you know such and such
a man? And Jay said, oh, yes, I know him. And he, after some
discussion, he said to Newton, said, if God should save that
man, I would despair of none. And Newton looked at Jay and
said, since God saved me, I've despaired of none. God who raised
Jairus' daughter from the dead, and God who raised the widow's
son from the dead, is God our Savior who raised Lazarus from
the dead. We despair of none. For salvation
doesn't depend upon the dead sinner. Salvation doesn't depend
on his or her circumstances. Salvation doesn't depend on the
persuasiveness of mom or dad or friends or brothers or sisters
or the pastor. Oh, no. Salvation is altogether
His work who quickens the dead. You understand that? You hath
He quickened. We're all dead. But what does it mean to be dead? those who are dead. It doesn't
matter whether you're talking about one like Jairus' daughter,
or one like the widow's son, or one like Lazarus. It doesn't
matter whether you're talking about one who is obviously corrupt,
or one who is very moral. It doesn't matter whether you're
talking about one who is in every way amiable to the eye, or one
who is every way despicable to the eye. The dead can't hear. The dead can't feel. The dead can't smell. The dead can't touch or be touched. When a man is dead, he has no
desire. When a man is dead, he's lost
all power. When a man is dead, he's completely
out of fellowship with the living. When a man is dead, he begins
to decay. Let's look at this passage in
John 5. Here's my second point. I described our case by nature. We were dead. But if we'd been
born again, we'd been made alive. The new birth, I repeat, is nothing
less than life from the dead, a spiritual resurrection. John
5, 21. as the father raiseth up the
dead and quickeneth them. The word means raises up the
dead and gives them life. Even so the son quickeneth whom
he will. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
verse 24, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that
hath sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into
condemnation. but is passed from death unto
life. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
the hour is coming, and now is when the dead shall hear the
voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. Oh, Son of God, cause the dead
this hour to hear your voice and live. Blessed and holy is
he that hath part in the first resurrection, John said. On such,
the second death hath no power. There is a blessed mystical union
between Christ and his people. So that as we were represented
in Adam and one with Adam, so we are represented in Christ
and one with Christ. As we died with Adam, So God's
elect are made to live with Christ Jesus. We were raised from the
dead when Jesus Christ was raised up from the dead. When Christ
came forth from the grave and ascended into heaven and sat
down at the right hand of the majesty on high, we were quickened
together with Christ. We ascended into heaven with
Christ. We were accepted with Christ. We sat down in heaven with Christ,
representatively. Now, don't get the idea that
somehow that's just an abstract point of theology. That's as
real as the breath I just took. We're one with Christ. All that
he has done we have done in him if we're his. All that he is
we are in him if we're his. All that he has experienced we've
experienced in him if we're his. And then we were raised with
Christ from the dead in regeneration. While we walked on this earth
walking in the course of this world, children of disobedience
like everybody else, dead in trespasses and in sins, the Lord
Jesus came to us by His Spirit. Do you remember how it was that
God called Adam to live? Do you remember how it was? God breathed into his nostrils. And that clay doll became a living
soul. God the Son breathed into the
nostrils of the man whom he had created and gave him life. That's exactly how sinners are
made to live. God the Son sends his Spirit
the breath of heaven and breathes into you life, eternal life. The life he breathes into you
is his own life. And then the day is coming soon
when we shall be raised with Christ in resurrection glory
in these bodies. These bodies that must be laid
in the grave. These bodies that must die shall
be raised in life and immortality. This spiritual resurrection is
accomplished only by the power of the Son of God. Man has nothing
at all to do with it. It is the voice of Christ that
gives dead sinners life. The breath of Christ breathed
into us that causes us to live. It was the voice of Christ that
gave each of these three, Jairus' daughter, the widow's son, and
Lazarus life. He spoke sovereignly to the dead. He spoke sovereignly to the dead. He spoke with a voice particularly
for that one who was dead. And the Lord Jesus spoke with
effectual, omnipotent power. So it is when God saves sinners. He has mercy on whom he will
have mercy. He has mercy on whom he will
have mercy. We sometimes get the idea, I
think, that we can direct God in what he is to do by our prayers. We misunderstand prayer. When
God gives us the ability to pray, I'm not talking about when we
say our words or We pray incessantly. We pray
incessantly for our family, our loved ones, our friends. Sadly,
because they're our family, our loved ones, our friends. And
we say the words, God, save our children. And we say them in
this place every week, three times a week as we meet together.
Somebody here says those words, me or you. We say those words.
And then sometimes God gives us the ability to pray. He gives us the ability to lay
hold on His omnipotent arm and speak for the benefit of those
who cannot and will not speak to God for themselves because
He has intended at that time to give them life and faith in
Christ. You do know the difference between
saying a prayer and praying, don't you? I think a time or two in my life,
I have been able to pray with confidence, knowing that what
I ask of God, God would do, and I've seen Him do it. A time or
two. Most of the time, I try to pray
and just rattle off words, but our prayers don't direct God's
omnipotent arm. Rather, God's arm and God's mercy
and God's will direct the prayers of His people. And when prayer
is found in the heart, it's because God put it there, intending to
do the thing He would do. His voice comes in particular
to those whom He's pleased to call. And when God speaks, the
dead live. Lazarus, come forth! wonder if
Lazarus is going to make a decision of God. I wonder if Lazarus is
going to come out of that tomb. I wonder no more God spoke to
him. Lazarus is coming forth. The
Lord Jesus condescends to use unworthy preachers to proclaim
His Word, but only He can make life come into the soul. And happy I am that it's His
voice that gives life. And his voice can give life to
corrupting Lazarus as easily as his voice can give life to
Jairus' daughter. When life comes, how do you know? How do you know you've been born
again? I'm told that the first thing a man feels when he recovers
from drowning is pain. Pain is a sign of life. And certainly
a consciousness of new life brings exquisite pain to the heaven-born
soul. The first thing you have to deal
with is the conviction of sin. And you'll never know what that
is until you experience it. The conviction of sin. Before God takes you to heaven,
I promise you, He's going to take you to hell. Before He gives
you life, He's going to slay you. Before He speaks peace to
your soul, He's going to give you no peace. Before He raises
you up, He's going to lay you down. That's what Paul spoke
about in Romans 7. He said, The commandment came,
sin revived, and I died. He was getting along just fine
until God unhorsed him and showed him who he was. How do we know
when life comes? When a man's brought from death
to life, he sees all things new. For the first time, sin appears
exceeding sinful. Christ appears glorious. Holiness is desirable. God is gracious. The gospel's
majestic. When a man's born again, he has
a lot of questions and he makes a lot of blunders. He comes into
a new world and has new desires, new joys, and he's likely to
make a lot of mistakes. But he's born again, and now
he has life in him. Now look at the third thing.
Our text tells us you were dead, and God gave you life, and now
you're alive. We were dead, but now we're alive. You remember that blind man that
came and asked him about the Lord Jesus, and he wasn't a very
good theologian. He said, whether this man is
a sinner, I don't know. I don't know. I can tell you this. I
can tell you this. I was blind, and now I see. Now, I'm not much of a theologian,
and I can't answer all the quibbles and questions folks have about
doctrine and scripture and theology, but I can tell you this. what it is to be dead. I know what it is to be dead. So corrupt that you can't endure
yourself, let alone expect anyone to endure you. Once I was dead,
now I'm alive. Now I'm alive. And I have pains
I didn't used to have. Pains not of guilt and torment. Not pains crushing me with fear. But pains with the exceeding
sinfulness of sin in me. Consciousness of what I am. And I have sights and knowledge of things
glorious. Oh, what is your beloved more
than another beloved? Let me tell you about him. Let
me tell you about him. He's altogether lovely. There's none like him, gracious
and kind and faithful and true. God. Oh, God. God, what a Word. In all His
majesty, in all His glory, in all His attributes, in all His
works, in all His order, in all the things He performs is wondrous
to my soul. God's darling Son, the Lord Jesus. Oh, to you who believe, to you
who are alive, He's precious. precious. To you who are alive,
the things of God are delightful. His commandments delightful.
His word delightful. If we're alive, let us live. Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the Oh, for grace to live as those that
Rex read to us about in Hebrews 11, looking for a city whose
builder and maker is God. Don't dwell among the dead. Live above the graveyard. Walk
with God. As a living child with his living
father, don't be held by the grave clothes of bondage and
law. but rather feed upon the bread
of life and drink from the life-giving fountain. We're alive. That means we're one with Christ.
We're alive, so let us love Him who gave us life. We're alive. How we ought to rejoice in life. Men and women, again, not to
belabor the point, inundated with this just last
24 hours, who survived that ordeal. One of my favorite commentators
on Fox News is not Geraldo Rivera, as you can imagine, but I sure
enjoyed watching him last night. Oh, I enjoyed watching him last
night. Was it last night or the night before? Night before last. I enjoyed
watching Friday night. His daughter was in that stadium. She was alive. You can't imagine
the joy of a bleed heart liberal daddy's heart when his daughter's
alive because she escaped death. Well, sure you can. His politics
got nothing to do with it. That's his daughter. Multitudes
killed. She's alive. I can't wait to
get my arms around you, honey. I can't wait to hold you again,
honey. She's alive. Let us who live among the dead,
rejoice in life. Christ our life and live in anticipation
of the future. Have you ever been really sick? Thinking that you're about to
die. I mean really sick. Ever had
a real severe incident where you were just sure this is the
end of things and then God recovers you and life returns with some
bigger and you begin to look at life differently. You anticipate
the days ahead knowing they are numbered, knowing they are few,
knowing they shall soon be over. You just have so much time. You
got so much to do. We who live in Christ live never
to die. Let us live in anticipation of
the future. Oh, what does the future hold
for you who are alive? What does the future hold for
us who are alive? Soon we shall see His Soon we shall be like Him, for
we shall see Him as He is. Soon we shall be done with all
sin, done with all pain, done with all sorrow, done with all
lamentation, done with all regret, full of life, appreciation, joy,
full of God. Oh, may God be pleased to grant
you life from the dead. And if He's given you life from
the dead, go home and tell your neighbors and friends what wondrous
things God has done for you. Amen.