I would like for you to open
your Bibles this morning to the book of Job. I'm going to speak
to you on this subject, If a man die, shall he live again? In Job chapter 14, verse 14,
and if you will, find the scripture because I'm going back and pick
up a few verses which precede this 14th verse and talk about
some things that I think are mighty important. In the 14th
verse of Job chapter 14, The man of God asks this question.
He says, If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of
my appointed time will I wait till my change come. Now, Job
opens this discussion with his three friends, talking about
the shortness or the brevity of life. He says, Man is born
of woman. This is in verse 1. Look back
there at verse 1. He says, that is born of a woman
is of few days and full of trouble. Now Job lived a long time. I
don't know exactly how many years Job lived, but he lived something
like 300 or more years. And he talks about life being
short, brief, just a few days. In the next verse he says life
is like a shadow that fleeth. It's like a flower that blooms
for a moment and is cut down. In the book of James, the apostle
says, what is your life? It is a vapor. The scripture
tells us it's appointed unto men who wants to die. So everybody
out there listening to me is going to die. Sooner or later,
I'll be dead, you'll be dead, your friends will be dead, all
of you members of your family, we're going to die. And this
life at its longest is very brief. Job lived Close to 300 years,
he talked about the brevity of his life. Think, we, the average
age today is something like 70 or 72 or 73 years. That's a short
time. It's here in just a moment. Like
a flower, like a shadow, like a vapor. But then the next thing
I see here, will you look at verse 5 with me? Man's days on
earth. And we're talking about every
son of Adam. We're talking about you and me.
We're talking about everybody listening to this program. Man's
days on earth are determined. Determined by whom? Determined
by God. That's what the scripture says.
You read it there? It says, the number of his months
are with the Lord who has set his bounds so that he cannot
pass. In other words, what the prophet
is saying here is this, that our lives are not in the hands
of blind fate or or empty chance, our lives are in the hands of
the living, sovereign God who killeth and maketh alive, who
bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up. What are you saying,
preacher? I'm saying this, my friend. I'm
saying what the word of God right there in your hand says to you,
that God gives life and God takes life. God is the only one who
can give life and God is the only one in his own time. who
can take life. Your breath, this is what Daniel
said to Belshazzar, he said, your breath is in the hands of
the Lord. When God wills for your breath
to stop, your life stops. And one of the old writers said
this, I am immortal till God sees fit for me to die. So our
days are determined. The number of our months are
with the Lord. All men have died. There's no
one that has not died except Enoch and Elijah. They're the
only two that have not died. Enoch was translated that he
should not see death, and also Elijah. But every other son of
Adam of the millions and millions and millions who've lived on
this earth have died. Everybody dies. And our days
are appointed. One scripture says that the instrument
of death, is already prepared, that way by which you'll die,
that disease by which you'll die. Maybe they're making the
car in Detroit right now in which you'll be killed, but that's
all determined by God Almighty. Now, that's what the Bible says.
That's what God's word says. Now, here's the question. We
talked about the shortness of life, the brevity of life. We
talked about who gives life and who takes life in whose hands
are our lives and our breath and our ways. But now here's
the third thing. If a man dies, shall he live
again? Is there life after death? That's
the question that Joe's asking. That's the subject we're dealing
with. Well, according to the word of God, and that's our only
source for questions like this. You can't just go to some philosopher
and get that question answered. He doesn't know. Ask your doctor. Your doctor works over your body
and tries to keep your life in that body, but once it's gone,
it's out of his hands. There's nothing he can do. He
doesn't know where it is or even what it is. He just knows when
the life is in the body, it lives. When it's gone, it's dead. And
they take it out and bury it. The undertaker doesn't know where
it is, and the preacher doesn't have the answer, and the priest
doesn't have the answer. You have to go to God's word.
to find answers for questions like this. If a man dies, shall
he live again? Well, according to the word of
God, man shall live again. All who have lived and died on
this earth shall live again. Some shall live in eternal glory
and happiness, and some shall live in eternal shame and misery,
but all shall live again. Let's read the Scripture on this
subject. Let's just go back and pick up some of the old prophets
and come right through the Scripture and see what they had to say
about man living again, life after death, the resurrection
of the dead. This is what Isaiah said. He
said the dead shall live. Together with my dead body shall
they arise. That's what Isaiah said. Now
let's look at Daniel. Daniel said this. Them that sleep
in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life
and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Inspired by the Holy
Spirit, God breathed, Daniel wrote, the dead shall rise. Our Lord Jesus Christ said this
in the book of John. He said, the hour cometh in the
which all, all, all that are in the graves shall hear the
voice of the Son of God and shall come forth, some to the resurrection
of life, some to the resurrection of damnation. But they're coming
forth. Listen to Paul. be a resurrection of the dead.
There shall be a resurrection of the dead. He said in one place,
if the dead rise not, Christ is not risen. He said if the
dead rise not and Christ is not risen, you don't have any hope.
You are of all men most miserable, you believers. But he said that
there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just
and the unjust, both. Listen to John, the book of Revelation,
the gave up the dead which were in it, death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in them, and they were judged, every man,
every man, according to their work." Now, my friends, this
resurrection, according to the scriptures, is divided by a time
element. And I don't think that's awfully
important. They talk about a thousand years between the first and second
resurrection. It may be. But let's don't get
our attention focused so sharply on that time element and that
thousand years that we miss the importance of the resurrection.
It's the happiness and holiness of those who have part in the
first resurrection and the misery and contempt and shame that is
upon those in the second resurrection. Happy and blessed and holy is
he that hath part in the first resurrection. But the scripture
tells us the dead shall rise. There shall be a first resurrection
unto life and a second resurrection unto condemnation. Now, if this
life is so short, and there's no question about that, this
life is very brief. And they tell me that the longer
you live, the faster the days go by. if it's so short, and
it is, and if death is so certain, and it is, it definitely is,
and if eternity is so long, and it is, and if heaven is so wonderful
and so blessed and so to be desired, and it is, and hell is so terrible,
such shame and suffering, and is to be avoided, and it is,
Then why, why do men, why do the sons of men continue in their
rebellion and in their sin and in their blindness? Why, why
do the sons of men not seek eternal life? Why do they not spend their
time on earth reading God's word and seeking eternal life and
seeking the face of God and seeking the mercy of God? Why do they
not give themselves to trying to find out how to live forever
and enjoy the mercies of God forever? Well, I think if you
listen to me a little while longer, I can give you six reasons why
men do not seek the Lord, why men do not seek the mercy of
God, why men miss life everlasting, why they miss the mercies of
eternal life. Now, here they are. The first
one is this. Men miss the mercies of eternal life and the joys
of salvation in Christ Jesus because they love this present
world and they refuse to part with it. Now, there's a man called
Demas who was a friend and companion of the Apostle Paul. And he walked
and worked with Paul for a while, but Paul wrote this of Demas.
He said, Demas hath forsaken me. And this man Demas was exposed
to the gospel. Having been with Paul, he was
exposed to the promises of the gospel. He was exposed to the
privileges of salvation, he was exposed to the benefits and blessings
of knowing Christ because he heard the greatest preacher who
ever lived, the Apostle Paul. And yet he says, Demas hath forsaken
me. Why? Demas loved this present
world. That was the reason. Demas left
Paul, he left the church, he left the gospel, because he loved
the world. In John chapter 3, verse 19,
it says, this is condemnation. This is condemnation. Light is
coming to this world. Who is this light? Who are we
talking about? We're talking about Christ. We're talking about
a revelation of God. We're talking about the light
of truth and the light of holiness and the light of pardon and forgiveness. That's Christ. Light is coming
to this world. And men love darkness rather
than light because their deeds are evil. They love darkness.
They don't love light. They don't want light. Will not
come to the light lest their deeds be reproved. And then the
Lord Jesus Christ told the rich young ruler who came to him and
said, now, I'm interested in eternal life. I'm interested
in living forever. What shall I do that I might
inherit eternal life? Well, the Lord knew his problem.
The Lord is not saying that a man is saved by giving up his riches
and giving to the poor. by doing good deeds. That's not
the way men are saved. Men are saved by the grace of
God through faith in Christ through the blood of the Son of God because
Christ loved us and gave himself for us. But our Lord knew that
this man loved riches. Our Lord knew that this man loved
riches more than he loved anything. Our Lord knew that this man's
God was riches. And this rich young ruler who
boasted of his morality and his holiness and his righteousness
was a very ungodly man because he loved himself and hated his
neighbor. He was a greedy man, he was a
covetous man, and no one knew that but the Lord. And the Lord
was going to expose it to this man, expose his covetousness. So he said to him, sell what
you have and give it to the poor and you come follow me. And the
man went away sorrowful because he had great riches. He was unwilling
to part with them. He wanted eternal life, but he
wanted as rich as more. And you just can't have both.
No man can serve two masters. So plenty of men and women are
confronted with the claims of Christ. You're confronted with
the claims of Christ every Lord's Day on this television program. Many men and women are confronted
with the Lordship of Christ, and they refuse the claims of
Christ. They refuse to bow to the royal
claims of King Jesus because they love this world. They love
the possessions of the world, they love the world's honor,
they love the world's fame, they love the world's glory, like
Esau. It's not that Esau wanted to
get rid of his birthright so much as he wanted that mess of
pottage. He just wanted that more than he did the other. There
are a lot of folks who'd like to have heaven, they'd like to
have a mansion in the sky, but they like the one they're living
in here better. They'd like to walk on streets of gold, but
they're happy walking on streets of cement and asphalt. They'd
like to sing in the hallelujah chorus and the glory band in
heaven, but they enjoy what they're doing here, and they're just
not willing to part with it. Men love darkness because their
deeds are evil. A man's eyes must be turned on
Christ, and then the things of this world will grow strangely
dim in the light of his glory and grace. But as long as our
eyes are upon this world, then they'll never be turned on Christ.
And that's the reason men miss the mercies of life eternal.
They love this world. And our Lord said, you can't
have both. You can't have two masters. Now,
secondly, men miss the mercies of life eternal because Satan
blinds them. And Satan holds them captive. Listen to 2 Corinthians 4, verse
3. If our gospel be hid, the gospel of deliverance, the gospel
of redemption, The gospel of salvation, the gospel of real
joy and peace and rest. It's a mystery, the scripture
says. It's a mystery revealed to the heart of the Spirit of
God. But if this gospel be hid, it's hid to them that are lost,
in whom the God of this world, you know who that is? That's
Satan. The God of this world hath blinded, hath blinded their
minds, their understanding. and they cannot see. Satan blinds
men to the true nature of sin. You know the average person has
no concept whatsoever, no concept at all of what sin really is.
Paul said that before he met Christ, Saul of Tarsus said,
I didn't know sin until the law came and said thus and thus.
I didn't even understand sin. Here was a man who was a theologian,
here was a man who was a great student, here was a brilliant
man, yet he didn't know what sin was. And most people don't. You say, I know what sin is.
Sin is committing adultery. Sin is stealing. Sin is killing
somebody. No, you don't know either. That's
the result of sin. That's the product of sin. That's
the fruit of sin. Sin is a principle in the heart.
Sin is a nature. Sin is a nature. God's nature
is holiness, therefore God loves and God's merciful and God's
gracious. Man's sin is evil, therefore he does lie. He does
steal. He does kill. He does commit
adultery. These are the results of sin.
Sin's a principle. Sin's a nature. Sin's a root
within. And Satan blinds men to the true
nature of sin. And he's got them running around
here saying they don't do this and don't do that and don't do
the other, therefore they're good people. Evil is in the heart. It comes from the heart. Keep
thy heart out of the issues of life. That's where it all is
decided, in the heart. Satan not only blinds men to
the true nature of sin, but he blinds men to the righteousness
of God, and leads them in pursuit of their own righteousness. I'll
never look for the righteousness of God, the true holiness of
God, as long as I think I've got one sufficient myself. Now
that's so. A man will never deal with what
he doesn't understand. He'll never seek forgiveness
until he's a sinner, and he'll never seek for holiness until
he realizes he doesn't have any. Totally without it. And cries
with the Apostle Paul, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me? Satan blinds me into the gospel
of Christ. The preaching of the cross is
to them who are believing and being saved the power of God,
but to them who are perishing, the preaching of the cross is
what? Foolishness. Sheer nonsense. They don't want
anything to do with it. Why, that's the most ignorant
thing they've ever heard of. They call it the bloody slaughterhouse
religion. They call it old first century
theology. They have a lot of harsh, cruel
things to say about this glorious message of redemption through
the sacrifice of God's dear son. But they're blind, and they're
deaf, and they don't understand. Christ said they have eyes, but
they don't see. They have ears, but they don't
hear. They have hearts, but they don't understand. And he turned
to his disciples and he said, blessed are your eyes they see
and your ears they hear. And he said, Simon, my father
gave you those eyes and ears, those eyes with which to see
and ears with which to hear. And then the third reason why
men miss the mercies of life eternal is this, they just refuse
to hear God's word. Now that's sad, but that's true.
They just refused. Solomon wrote in Proverbs 1.24,
he's speaking the words of the Lord here, he said, You set it
not my counsel. You would not hear and heed my
warnings. I called you, he said, and you
wouldn't listen. You refused. I stretched out
my hand, and no man regarded. Men will not hear God's word.
Do you know who they will hear? Now this is sad, but this is
true. Our Lord said this in John chapter 5. He said, I come in
my father's name, and you won't hear me. Let another come in
his own name, and him you will receive. My friends, I come to
you on this television program just quoting the scripture. I
said, life's in the hands of God. And I read your scripture.
Our days are determined. The number of our months are
with the Lord. He has set our bed. That's what it says. I tell
you that Christ died for our sins. It says that. That we're
redeemed, not with corruptible things such as silver and gold,
but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish
or spot. I tell you, we're not saved by
works. The Bible says that no one shall be justified by works.
It's evident. Not by the deeds of the law shall
we be justified, but by his mercy. I tell you, there's none other
name under heaven given among men. I try to seal every point
with the word of God. Will men listen to that? No,
some shaster or huckster or millionaire preacher with promoting his own
program, seeking his own glory. Even some of them wind up in
jail and people still support them while they are serving sentences
for dishonest acts in penitentiaries. Books exposing men written by
those who work on their staff, telling what renegades they are,
what wretched rebels they are, what hypocrites they are. The
public won't believe it. That's a shame, isn't it? Why
won't men listen to the Word of God? Why will they listen
to someone else who's not telling the truth, who's not preaching
the Word of God, who's seeking his own glory, building his own
kingdom, putting his name upon it, seeking his own praise? God
says, all that sin and come short of the glory of God. We say,
we're not sinners. God says, the soul that sinneth shall surely
die. We won't die. God Almighty says, there's none
good, no, not one. We are. God Almighty says no
man's justified by works in the sight of God, it's evident. We
are. Just like Satan came to Eve in
the garden and she said, God said if we eat that fruit we'll
die. He said you won't die. Our Lord
said the prophets, the false prophets come crying peace, peace,
when there is no peace. And men listen to them. And they
follow them just like blind sheep following another sheep over
the cliff and all dashed to pieces. The blind lead the blind and
they all fall in the ditch. Men will not partake of the mercies
of life everlasting because they just won't listen to God's word.
I don't ask you to hear me, I'm asking you to hear God's word.
I'm asking you to judge every word spoken by this preacher,
any other preacher, by the whole context of God's not word. Not
one verse picked out here and one verse picked out there and
one verse somewhere else made to mean what it doesn't mean
in the rest of the scripture, but following God's word in its
context. And then the fourth reason why
men miss the mercies of eternal life is they have a false view
of mercy. And my friends, God is merciful,
but God is holy. God is love, but God is righteous. God is gracious, but God is just,
and God will punish sin. Almighty God cannot forgive sin
just by ignoring it. Sin's got to be paid for. If
a man commits a crime and he stands in front of the judge,
and the judge looks at the book, the man has robbed the store
and killed the store owner, and the law says there the penalty
for this crime is life in prison. The penalty for first-degree
murder and armed robbery is life in prison. And the judge looks
at the man and says, well, I feel sorry for you, friend, and I
feel sorry for your mom. Tell you what I'm going to do.
I'm going to let you go. Why, the whole courtroom would
rise up in arms, especially the widow of the man that's been
killed. And all the sons and daughters and the neighbors that
rise up and say, lynch the judge, throw him off the bench. He's
dishonest. He's unjust. He's an unjust judge. And you'd be right. Well, God's
not an unjust judge. Shall not the judge of the earth
do right? He will do right, and he will
punish sinners. He's promised the soul that sinned
that shall die. The wages of sin is death. Every
transgression and every disobedience shall receive a just, recompensive
reward. Well, preacher, what are we going
to do? Well, I'll tell you what we're going to have to do. We're
going to have to have some help. We're going to have to have somebody
take our place. We're going to have somebody die our death.
We're going to have to have somebody pay our debt. We're going to
have to have somebody go to hell for us. If we're ever set free,
if God's going to say, you're free, you're pardoned, you're
justified, you're acquitted, if he's going to say that to
us, somebody is going to have to satisfy this law right here.
Somebody's going to have to pay this penalty. What is the penalty
for sin? Death. What is the penalty for
treason? Hell. What is the penalty for
rebellion against God? Eternal condemnation. Well, somebody's
going to pay that. You're going to pay it, or a
just substitute appointed by God, ordained by God, sent by
God is going to do it for you. And I'm happy to report that
Jesus Christ is that substitute. He's our Savior. He was wounded
for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was laid upon him by his stripes.
We're healed. That's the gospel, my friend.
Christ died for the ungodly, and that's our hope. See, God
now can be just, and yet God can be justified. God can be
loved, and yet he can be righteous. God can be merciful and gracious,
and yet he can be true in Christ. But you've got to have a substitute.
And that substitute's got to be one with whom God's satisfied.
It can't be you, because you're the guilty one. You die, you
die. But if Christ dies, you live.
You see that? A false view of justice is not
going to get you by, and a false view of mercy is not going to
get you by. At Calvary, I see the mercy of God. At Calvary,
I see the justice of God. At Calvary, I see the love of
God. At Calvary, I see redemption fulfilled. Now the fifth reason
why men miss the mercies of life is because they look for these
mercies somewhere besides where they're found. Where is mercy
found? In Christ. In Christ dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Of Him are you in Christ
Jesus, who God has made under us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. Don't look for life in church
membership. God didn't put it there. He put
it in Christ. Don't look for mercy in baptism. Simon Magus
was baptized. He didn't find mercy. He found
bitterness. God didn't put it in the water.
God didn't put it in the law. God didn't put it in the church.
God didn't put it in the priesthood. He put it in Christ. In Christ
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. You're complete
in him. And the sixth reason why men
miss the mercy of eternal life is just flat unbelief. Israel
came from Egypt to Canaan. They got to the outskirts of
Canaan and the scripture says they could not enter in. Why?
Because they'd made a golden calf? Because they'd cursed Moses
and rebelled against him? No. Because of unbelief. That's the granddaddy of all
sin. Unbelief. Unbelief. They couldn't enter
in because of unbelief. I'll tell you this. Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Believe God's
word. Believe God's word, and thou shalt be saved. That's the
promise of God's word. He that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me, shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from death unto life.