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Henry Mahan

We Have an Advocate

1 John 2:1
Henry Mahan • July, 24 1977 • Audio
1,528 Articles 3,940 Sermons 760 Books
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Henry Mahan
Henry Mahan • July, 24 1977
1,528 articles 3,940 sermons 760 books
Message 0275
Henry Mahan Tape Ministry
6088 Zebulon Highway
Pikeville, KY 41501
What does the Bible say about having an advocate?

The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is our advocate with the Father, interceding for us as believers.

The concept of having an advocate is deep-rooted in scripture, particularly in 1 John 2:1, which affirms that if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. This advocacy means that Jesus stands as our mediator before God, representing us and pleading our case due to His righteousness. His role as an advocate emphasizes God's mercy and grace, providing assurance that despite our failures, we can find forgiveness and cleansing through Him.

1 John 2:1, Hebrews 5:1-2, Hebrews 7:24

How do we know that original sin is true?

Original sin is affirmed in scripture, specifically referencing Adam's disobedience as the source of sin and death for all humanity.

Original sin is a foundational doctrine in Reformed theology that asserts all humanity inherits a sinful nature due to Adam's transgression. Romans 5:12 highlights this by stating, 'Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.' The concept emphasizes that our sinful nature predisposes us to sin, inherently separating us from God. This doctrine is crucial for understanding our need for redemption and grace through Christ as our advocate.

Romans 5:12, Genesis 3

Why is confessing our sins important for Christians?

Confessing our sins is essential for receiving forgiveness and experiencing God's mercy, as emphasized in 1 John 1:9.

Confession is a vital aspect of the Christian life, as it acknowledges our sinful nature and our dependence on God's grace. 1 John 1:9 clearly states, 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' This act of confession not only brings about forgiveness but also restores our relationship with God. It allows us to confront our shortcomings honestly, leading to a deeper understanding of God's mercy and reminding us of the righteousness of Christ, our advocate.

1 John 1:9, Psalm 51

How does Jesus serve as our mediator?

Jesus serves as our mediator because He perfectly represents both God and man, enabling reconciliation between the two.

As our mediator, Jesus Christ fulfills a unique role that is essential for Salvation in Christianity. According to 1 Timothy 2:5, 'For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.' His dual nature as both fully God and fully man allows Him to bridge the gap created by sin. As mentioned in Hebrews 9:12, He entered the holy place with His own blood, securing eternal redemption for us. This means that in His advocacy, He presents His righteousness to the Father on our behalf, making Him an effective mediator who pleads for us before God.

1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews 7:24

Sermon Transcript

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I want to introduce the message
tonight with four statements, four things that, by the grace
of God, we know. We know them in our heads, I
pray, I trust that we know them in our hearts. By the grace of
God, four things that we know. When you introduce a message
It ought to do two things. The introduction ought to do
two things. First of all, it ought to stimulate and excite
some interest in the subject. And then secondly, it ought to
lay the groundwork and the foundation for the subject. And I trust
and pray that's what this introduction will do. I'm speaking tonight
on We Have an Advocate. We Have an Advocate. And to introduce
this message, I make four statements. The first one is found in verse
6 of chapter 1 of 1 John. By the grace of God, we know
this. John says, If we say that we
have fellowship with God, he is our Father with his children.
We have been redeemed by the blood of his Son, that gracious
gift of his love, the unspeakable gift of his grace and mercy,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He came down here and died for
our sins and redeemed us. And that precious Holy Spirit
has enlightened and called us into a divine fellowship with
God Almighty. We know him. We call him our
Father. We believe on his Son. We have been regenerated by his
Spirit. We've been called into a communion, into a vital living
union with God Almighty. We say that. We have fellowship
with God. He walks with us. He talks with
us. He's our living Lord. If we say that and walk in darkness,
walk in disobedience, walk in unbelief, we walk in worldliness,
we walk and live a life of indifference, We're liars. That's what it is,
we're liars. And we do not the truth. This
can't be. The scripture says if any man
is in Christ Jesus, if any man is in Christ Jesus, he's a new
creature. Now Paul said in Philippians
3, turn over there just a minute, we're not perfect, that's not
what we're claiming, that's not what we're preaching. The Apostle
Paul, if any man walked with God, it was Paul. If any man
loved Christ, it was Paul. If any man was chosen and used
of God and anointed of God, it was Paul. Question about that. And yet he said in Philippians
3 verse 12, not as though I had already attained, either were
already perfect. I am not perfect, he said. I
don't claim to be. I have not attained that which
I seek for. I have not attained the resurrection
of the dead, the living image of Christ, the perfect conformity
to his glorious person. I haven't attained that. I'm
not perfect, he said. But one thing I do, I'm following
him, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended
of Jesus Christ. Brethren, I count not myself
to have arrived, but this one thing I do. getting those things
which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which
are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Jesus Christ. That's my pursuit. That's my
direction, he said. That's the bin of my will. That's the tenor of my life.
If you say you have fellowship with God, the God of Paul, And
this is not the bin of your will, and this is not the tenor of
your life, and this is not the direction of your thinking."
He said, You're a liar. That was a harsh word. But if any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he's none of His. Doctrine of the head without
obedience of the heart is hypocrisy. That's the first thing we know.
By the grace of God, we know that. If we say, And notice every
one of these statements begin with, if we say, this is our
profession, this is our claim, we say we have fellowship with
God. He's our Lord, he's our Redeemer,
he's our Father. If we say that and walk, this
is our continuous practice, we walk, this is our walk, this
is our tenor of life, this is our direction. Men who walk sometimes
stumble. Men who walk sometimes fall,
but they're walking. They're walking in this direction
in a pursuit of God. Now, if the general tenor of
your life and the bent of your will and the direction of your
walk is not in obedience and you claim to know God, he said,
you're not telling the truth. All right? Secondly, the second
thing, by the grace of God that we know. If we say, verse 8,
if we say, that we have no sin, S-I-E, if we say we do not have
sin. Now, I believe this, John is
writing about here, is the nature of sin. If we say we do not have
the nature of sin, if we say that we did not participate with
Adam in that terrible fall, if we say we did not participate
with Adam in his rebellion If we say that we have not received
by imputation and impartation that nature of evil, if we say
we do not have a nature of guilt, then we are deceiving ourselves.
We are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in it. Now,
you may not know the meaning of original sin, and I suspect
a lot of people don't know One of the biggest shocks I've ever
had in my life, I was sitting in the office one day in the
study, and a man came in to talk to me about a matter, a businessman
downtown. And we were sitting there talking,
and during the conversation he was telling me about his church
and about the congregation, the pastor. He was a leader in the
church, been a leader a number of years. We were talking, and
after a while he said, He said, A lot of people don't believe
in original sin. It's been a long time since I've
heard someone just sit in conversation and say that he believed in original
sin. I said, Do you believe in original
sin? Oh, he said, I know it, I know
it. I know what happened back there
in the fall. I know that we receive from our Father Adam a nature
of darkness, a nature of rebellion, a principle of sin in our souls
and in our hearts. He said it's not just what we
do that's wrong, it's what we are that's wrong. For what we
do is motivated by what we are. You take, for example, when children
are born into your home, when a child is born into That child learns from us. He learns how
to speak. He learns words to say. If his
father is a man that speaks with profanity, he'll speak with profanity
and not know the difference. If his father and mother, if
this child's father and mother are people who are very clean
and keep the house clean and their bodies cleaned up, chances
are that child will learn from those parents. If those parents
are people of honesty outwardly, he'll probably have honesty outwardly.
He learns from his parents. But that child, even though he
is not taught to hate, and taught to be selfish, and taught to
be envious, and taught to to have jealousy and wrath and anger. Those things are already there,
and these things come out of that child. They are revealed.
As that child grows up, you watch that child, and he does things,
and you say, well, we didn't teach him that, we didn't show
him that, and we didn't lead him into that. Where did he get
that? He was born with that. He was born with the nature of
sin. You don't teach a child to do
wrong, you teach him to do right, but he's born with the knowledge
and the love for wrong and evil. Turn to Romans 5, let me show
you that. Romans 5, verse 12. Now look at this. Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered the world, and death my sin, so death
passed upon all men. Death came upon all men. Now
look at verse 18. Therefore, as by the offense
of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so
by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men
unto justification. For as by one man's disobedience
we were made, the many were made sinners." By Adam's disobedience,
we were made sinners. We received from our Father.
a nature of evil. Christ said, This is condemnation. Light is coming to this world,
but men love darkness because their deeds are evil. Our Lord
said, I am come in my Father's name, and you receive me not.
Let another come in his own name, and him you will receive. Now,
if I say that I do not have a nature of sin, then I am deceiving myself. If I say I do not have a nature
of sin, now this is clear. Four things I know. Number one,
I know that if I say I have fellowship with God and walk in darkness,
I'm a liar. And I know this, if I say I don't
have a nature of sin, if it's not easier for me to do wrong
than to do right, which is harder for you to do? Is it harder for
you to pray for 30 minutes or to watch TV for 30 minutes?
Which is the hardest thing to do? The nature of flesh, the
nature of flesh is so strong, it's so powerful, the nature
of evil, the nature that loves the self and the things of this,
which is easier for you to do? Sit and listen to a sermon from
God's Word for one hour? or sit and listen to us people
sing for one hour. Which is easier for you to do,
sit in church in a Bible conference and listen to two speakers, or
to sit out at the football stadium and watch boys play football? Our human natures are not tuned,
are not directed toward spiritual matters. Sometimes it in those
who are saved, in those who are converted, in those who love
God. We have to turn our minds this way. We have to direct our
thoughts this way. It's easy the other way. It's
like spilling water, which is easier to spill water or to draw
water. And that's the way we are, and that's our sinful nature.
Don't tell me it's different. Honest confession of the heart
admits that it's so. We have a nature that loves things
that are not right. That's the reason Solomon said,
stolen fruits are sweet. A person may have an abundance
of wealth but he sees something else he wants and he goes for
it and goes for it even at the expense of losing what he has.
But it's that nature of thirst and that nature of desire and
that nature of self and that nature of covetousness Now, you
try for one day. I will not this day at any time
lose my composure or lose my temper. I will not demonstrate
in any way envy or jealousy or wrath or malice or vengeance
or any of these things. I will not through this day.
You will find the most difficult task upon which you ever set
forth, you'll find it impossible, because that nature is there,
that principle is there that came from our father Adam. It's
the principle of evil. That's what original sin means. That's what the fall did to us. It gave us a nature that is contrary
to God. That's the best way that I can
put it, a nature that's contrary to God. I want my way. I want
my way and not God's way. The third thing, if we say that
we don't have this nature, we're deceived. You say, Brother Man,
aren't there people who don't believe that? Aren't there people
who claim that they have no seeing? Now, listen to me. Yes, there
are. There are people who claim they
have no seeing. Now, if a man claims he has no sin, then one
of two things is true. Number one, he's a victim of
ignorance. He's ignorant of the Word of God, he's ignorant of
the holiness of God, he's ignorant of his own nature, or two, He is a totally deceived person,
totally deceived. He is either ignorant or deceived,
and either one is a horrible condition. But if we say we have
no sin, all right, thirdly, verse 10, if we say, if we say we have
not sinned, I believe there is a different expression here.
If we say we have no sin, no nature of sin, no principle of
sin, Then we are deceived. But if we say we have not sinned,
if we say we have not sinned, that we have not in word, in
thought and deed sinned against the Holy God. Now, what constitutes
sin? I was listening to Brother John
Thornberry preach one time, and he brought an illustration that
I thought was excellent. He's preaching from this scripture,
and he says, people talk about keeping the law, obeying the
law of God. And the reason that they can
have some satisfaction that they're keeping the law is that they
have, not that they have kept it, the holy law of God, but
they have lowered that law. They have lowered the standards
of that law. They have lowered the meaning
of that law to a point where they can keep it. In other words,
he said, I can jump over a if you let me build the barn." Well,
what would you do? Well, I'd just build me a barn
about two feet high. And I'd go around and say to
everybody, I can jump over a barn. I can jump over a barn. I can
jump over a barn. Yes, you can jump over a barn.
What kind of barn? My kind of barn. A little barn,
a two-foot-high barn. So a man says, I can keep the
law, and I do keep the law. What law? My law, my interpretation
of the law. My idea of the law, I can keep
the law that I interpret. But you can't keep the law God
interprets. Turn, if you will, over here
to the book of Matthew. Our Lord Jesus Christ is talking
here in Matthew 5, and he's interpreting the law. Now, my friends, I want
to speak as simply as I can tonight. I'm not entertaining, I'm trying
to exhort and edify. Sin is just not hating. You can sin and not hate. It's
a sin not to have a perfect love, not just hating. You may not
hate anybody, but Scripture commands you to love your neighbor as
yourself. You may have no opposition toward
God being God. Let God be God, but I'm just
not interested Let God be God, let God run the world, let God
run the kingdoms of heaven, let God run his kingdom of salvation. That's all right with me, I've
got no quarrel with God. Yes, the Bible doesn't command
you not to have any quarrel with God, it commands you to love
God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Hatred is
not just not doing evil only, sin is not just doing evil, it's
failing to do good. To him that knoweth to do good,
and doeth it not to him, it's sin. Our Lord said here, look
at Matthew 5, you've heard it said by them of old times, thou
shalt not kill. Whosoever shall kill and whosoever
shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto
you, whosoever is angry, with his brother without a cause,
shall be in danger of the judgment, whosoever shall say unto his
brother, Raker, vain fellow, shall be in danger of the judgment,
whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire."
The man has not spilled blood and yet he is killed. The man
has not destroyed life and yet he is killed. The man has not
annihilated a person and yet he is killed. Christ said he
is guilty of murder. He is in danger of hell fire.
He did it in thought. to offend in one point of God's
law is to be guilty of the whole law of God. Verse 27, you've heard that
it was said by them of old times, Thou shalt not commit adultery.
But I say unto you, whosoever looketh, now here is sin up here
in thought, here is sin in a look. You mean to tell me, preacher,
that I can sin by just looking? That's exactly right, that's
what Scripture says. A thought is sin, a vain thought, a foolish
thought is sin. The thought of foolishness is
sin, that's what Scripture says. It doesn't say it's a mistake,
it says it's sin. And to look with lust, to look
with desire, to look with passion, to look upon forbidden things
is sin, Christ says. Verse 38, you've heard that it
hath been said, And I for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,
I say unto you, Resist not evil, whosoever shall smite thee on
thy right cheek, turn the other." Here's vengeance. So my friends,
this thing of sin, I know there are a lot of people in this world
that feel like, well, I haven't murdered and I haven't committed
adultery and I don't curse, I don't take God's name in vain, and
I never have stolen anything, and we feel pretty comfortable
in regard to the law of God. The law of God speaks in wrath
against every son of Adam. Cursed is everyone that continueth
not in all things written in the book of the law to do them."
God commands us to love our enemies. God commands us to pray for them
which hate us and despitefully use us. God commands us to feed
our enemies. Do good unto them which despitefully
use you. God commands us to be perfect,
as perfect and as holy as the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is
the goal and that is the standard, and you and I have all sinned
and come short of that glory. All men are not as evil as they
could be only by the restraining grace of God. But no man is as holy as he is. All right? The fourth thing that
I know. I know that there is forgiveness
with God. Verse 9 says, If we confess our
sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I know there is mercy with God.
I know it. God plenteous in mercy. I'm glad. Our Lord delights to show mercy,
delights to show mercy. All right, having established
those four things, go to chapter 2 and verse 1, and here is the
message on we have an Advocate. Now, those are the four things
I know, and they lay the foundation for this statement right here
in chapter 2, verse 1 and 2. My little children, these things
write unto you that you sin not. Well, that's my desire. That's
my desire. I believe that every person in
here who knows God, that this is the chief desire of every
believer, to sin not. Somebody asked Spurgeon one time,
you know, the Lord came to Solomon and told him he'd give him anything
he wanted, and he asked for wisdom to govern the people of Israel. God gave him wisdom more than
any other man. But they came to Spurgeon, and
I'm not lifting Spurgeon above Solomon, but I'm simply saying
that I believe Spurgeon offered a better request. Somebody said, if God would give
you, Mr. Spurgeon, anything you wanted,
now think about it a minute, don't answer quickly, but anything
you wanted, if God Almighty would give you anything you wanted
right now, What would you ask for? Now, you think about that
a minute. Some men would ask for wealth.
That shows covetousness. Some men would ask for great,
for good health and long life. That's fleshly, isn't it? Mr. Spurgeon answered, If God
would give me right now anything I wanted, I would ask him to
give me perfect holiness, perfect holiness. If I had perfect holiness, I'd
be just like the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's what I want more than
anything on earth. I believe David was saying that
when David wrote these words, I shall be satisfied, I shall
be totally, completely satisfied when I wake with his likeness.
And I believe, really, if every believer in this congregation
sat and thought about that question for a few moments, I believe,
honestly, I believe that would be your reply. If you weighed
it carefully, you would say, yes, I believe that's what I
want more than anything. I want to be like Christ. Turn
to Psalm 27, verse 4. Listen to this. Psalm 27, verse
4. Or to be free from every thought of sin. Or to be free from every
desire to do evil. ought to be free from every offensive
thing, ought to be free from every shade of darkness, ought
to be free from every thought of anger. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Someday that will be realized.
Someday we're going to awake with his likeness, someday. One
of these days we're going to see him, and the Scripture says,
be just like him. And he that hath this hope, being
like Christ. God's predestinated every one of his people to be
like Christ. That's our ultimate goal. To
be like Christ. Not just to gain heaven, to be
like Christ. Not just to walk on streets of
gold, but to be like Christ. Not just to live eternally, but
to live eternally like Christ. Listen to Psalm 27. For one thing
have I desired of the Lord. You know, brethren, I believe
if we could come to this point, one thing have I decided. We're
too diversified in our request, I'm afraid. We're too divided
in our goals. Maybe that's the reason we're
not blessed with a successful spiritual life. We're too divided
in our goal. What one thing, David said, have
I desired of the Lord? Just one thing, God, I want one
thing. We want a whole lot of things. We're not satisfied with
what we have. We pull in too many directions. One thing have
I desired of the Lord? That will I seek after, laying
all things aside. that I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord,
and to inquire in his temple." If we don't hear anything else
tonight, that could be the motto of every believer,
that could be the verse that we seize upon one thing of our
desire, that to be the one goal that we could establish for our
thinking and our conduct, our conversation, everything, our
life, one thing. That I'll seek after, that I
may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life
to behold the beauty of the Lord. Oh, to be like the precious Redeemer, come with thy power, come with
thy fulness, stamp thine own image deep in my heart." My little children, these things
write I unto you that you see and not. I'd love to get in there,
wouldn't you? I'd like to get in on that, that
you see and not. Someday I hope to. But you notice
he goes on and says, and. He doesn't say but, he says and.
There's no but about it. It's not but if any man sins,
it's and when you sin. This has been my experience.
I must be honest with God. I read something the other day.
Listen to this. God will meet a person where the truth is and
nowhere else. I wish I could enforce this upon
your thinking tonight. I wish that every person in this
building... You know, there's a scripture
over in the book of Hebrews. It's Hebrews chapter 4, I believe. Over in the book of Hebrews it
says this, "...all things are naked unto the eyes of him with whom
we have to do." All things are naked and open unto the eyes
of him with whom we have to do, with whom we have to deal, in
whose presence we must come, before whose judgment we must
stand, in whose hands we are dealt with. God Almighty is the
one I've got to deal with, not you, not the church Not the community,
not my neighbors, not even my family, not my parents or my
friends. God Almighty, all things are naked. There's no covering. All things are naked and open. My thoughts, my motive, my attitude, my life,
my conversation, everything is naked. You can cover a whole
lot of things with clothing. You can cover blemishes and marks
and ugliness and stains and wrinkles and all these things with clothing.
We can look a whole lot like what we ain't. But before God
there is no clothing for our sinful thoughts and our sinful
attitudes and our sinful motives, all things connected. So this
man said, God will meet you where the truth is, and he won't meet
you anywhere else. Men will deal with you based
upon what they see outwardly. God will deal with you based
on what he knows inwardly. If I feel that I'm sinful, I'm
worse than I think. I can't see what God sees. If
I feel that I'm unworthy, I'm more unworthy than I think. If
I feel I deserve no mercy, this is a fact, this is the truth.
Hypocrisy in any area of life is foolish. Not only evil, it's
foolish. But hypocrisy before God is fatal,
fatal. So he continues and says, Deal
truthfully with God, and God will deal in mercy with you.
Deal truthfully with God, and God will deal in mercy with you. My little children, these things
I write unto you, that you sin not. Would the God of the day
would soon dawn? Won't it be wonderful then? No
sin, no evil, no darkness, no chaos. You say not. Yes, and if any man sins. All right, here we are. Watch
this. We have an advocate. We have an advocate. Now, my
friends, we need an advocate. We need, what is an advocate?
Well, an advocate is a mediator. An advocate is a lawyer. John
laid the guilt at our door. He lays the blame at our door.
He knows our frame that we're done. When we would do good,
evil is present with us. We must confess our past sins,
our present future, our potential to sin. We need somebody to plead
our cause. Well, John said we have somebody.
We have somebody. We have an advocate. We have
a divinely appointed lawyer. Turn to Hebrews 5. Now this is
important. We have an advocate. He is divinely
appointed. Divinely appointed. He's poured
upon us. In Hebrews 5, it's talking about the Old Testament priests.
And Paul said that these priests, verse 1 of Hebrews 5, taken from
among men, ordained for men, ordained of God for men, in things
pertaining to God. that he may offer both gifts
and sacrifices for sin, Ava, sons of Levi, who can have compassion
on the ignorant, on them that are out of the way, for that
he himself is compassed with infirmity. And by reason hereof
he ought, as for the people, so also for himself to offer
for sin. No man taketh this honor upon
himself. There are no volunteers to serve
as a mediator. There are no volunteers, sought
or accepted. Read on. The old man taketh this
honor and said, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. People stood here with their
guilt, God there in his holding. Between God and the people was
a man, Aaron, the priest. He wasn't a volunteer, he was
an appointee. God selected him, God appointed
him. to serve in things pertaining to God, to go to God for the
people, and to come to the people with God's message. Now what's
the next verse? So also Christ glorified not
himself to be made a high priest, but he that said unto him, Thou
art my son, today have I begotten thee, he appointed thee. So this
advocate we have, all right, we know we've sinned. We know
we've got a principle, a nature of sinning, a foundation of sinning.
And we would do good, we've got a law. We see a law in our members
warring against the Spirit. We have sinned and were taught
in deeds. We like to be perfect. That's our desire. But our experience
is we're not. But we've got an advocate. We've
got a mediator. And he's God-appointed. That's
the first thing. Secondly, this mediator, this
advocate, is of perpetual intercession. Now turn to Hebrews again, Hebrews
7. Now, here's what I'm talking
about here. I didn't need an advocate yesterday
and don't need one today, and might not need one yesterday.
I need one yesterday, today, and forever. I needed an advocate
back yonder, the time when Adam took his test in the face of
God. You know the only thing that kept God from obliterating
this whole creation was that Advocate. The blood of Christ
in the purpose and plan of God, listen now, was already shed
before Adam fell, before sin came into the world, because
the Scripture says Christ is the Lamb slain. from the foundation
of the world. Before there was a center, there
was a Savior. If any time had elapsed between that fall and
the selection of a Savior, God's justice and righteousness and
holiness would have annihilated this world and all creation.
Sin cannot stand in His presence, but the presence of a mediator,
the presence of a substitute, the presence of the blood. When
I see the blood, I pass I'll pass over. If that blood's not
there, death, judgment, God's wrath. No man can look on God
and live. No man can come into God's presence
and live. There was some folks came into
the tabernacle without a blood sacrifice and went out a lipper. That fellow Uriah touched the
ark. Was it Uzzah that touched the
ark? God smote him dead. One of the sons of the priest
brought strange fire, and God killed him dead. Look at Hebrews 7. Now watch
this. Hebrews 7, verse 24. This man, because he continueth
ever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore? Because he has an
unchangeable priesthood, he's able to save them to the uttermost
that come to God by him, seeing he ever liveth, he ever liveth. Not he's going to live, not he
did live, he ever liveth. I am. You don't ever say, and
this worries me sometimes, I hear preachers talk about Jesus was
this and Jesus was that. Jesus wasn't anything. He is. He is the man Christ Jesus. He is the King of Kings and Lord
of Lords. Don't ever say Jesus was. The
word was can't be even connected. That's past tense. With the glory
of the Son of God, He is. He is the same yesterday, today,
and forever. And what He is now, He's always
been and always will be. He never changes. I am the Lord,
I change not. If he is my representative today,
he was my representative yesterday, the day before, and in aeons
past, he's always been my representative. He always will. If he's the Lamb
slain now, he's always been the Lamb slain. He always will be
in the midst of the thrones to the Lamb, slain as it were. We're
going to see in heaven the Lamb slain. Garden of Eden there was
a lamb slain, from eternity past he's our mediator, he is now
and he always will be. We're creatures of time and we
think in reference to God like we think in reference to each
other. And we meet with a situation and then we seek a cure. We meet
with a problem and we seek a solution. has the solution before the problem
ever arises. He knows the end from the beginning,
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying,
My counsel shall span, I'll do all my pleasure. Before there
was a sinner, there was a Savior. Why God permitted the fall? I
can't answer that. Why God permitted Adam to fall?
I can't answer that. I can say what John Wexner said
in a sermon one time, if there'd been no fall, there'd been no
song of redemption. If there had been no fall, there
would always be a danger of a fall. If there had been no fall of
Adam, we would stand today in danger of falling. But in Christ,
there is no danger of our ever falling, for he is able to keep
you from falling and to protect you faultless. I don't know why,
but I just know that it did. I know God had a reason. God
had a substitute. And so this Mediator, we need
one, so he is divinely appointed, and he has a perpetual intercession,
always, always. All right, what is the next thing?
Now, any man sin, we have an advocate. Now watch this word,
four-letter word, W-I-T-H, with the Father. This is important. The first qualification of a
lawyer, the first qualification of a mediator between two parties,
is that he must have the right to enter into the court. I can't serve as your lawyer
if I don't have the right to come into the court. How can
I serve as a mediator if I don't have access to both parties?
This one, here I am the sinner. Here God is the Holy One. Now
if anybody's going to serve as a mediator between me and God,
between God and me, he's got to have the right to get into
that place. This right doesn't belong to
everyone. In order to represent me before
God, my advocate must be admitted into God's presence. Now suppose
the union, RMCO, and management got a problem, and I'm going
to serve as mediator, or the union comes to me and says, we
want you to be our mediator. We've got some problems here
and some and some thoughts, and I'd go knock on the door of management
and say, I've come to represent the union. Well, they'd laugh
me out of town. They'd laugh me out of town.
You've got to have the person that represents the offended
or the offender. You've got to have a right to
get in both of their places. Now look at 1 Timothy. All right,
let's see what God says. 1 Timothy chapter 2, verse 5.
And our Lord is speaking. He says, for there's one God
and one mediator and one advocate and one lawyer between God and
me. Just what Mary is not missing. The St. Jude, you see St. Christopher
and all these fellows, they have these little statues on the dashboard
of their cars, praying to those fellows. That's wicked. The fellow can't do you one bit
of good. You can go lay all your problems at the feet of St. Christopher,
and he can't do a bit of good because God's not letting him
to the throne to represent anybody. You're wasting your time just
as much as that union's wasting their time coming to me because
I can't get to management, and they can't get to God. And Mary
can't get to God. One time Mary came in, our Lord
was preaching, and there was a crowd of people all around,
just packed around her. She and the other children of
the family, Josie and Judy and whoever was there, and they came
and somebody slipped up to the Lord and said, Doug, your mother
is outside and wants to see you and your brothers and your sisters.
And he turned and said, Who is my mother? Who are my brethren? He pointed out to the people
in front of him, and he said, Behold, my mother, my brothers,
and my sisters, all who do the will of God are both my mother
and my brothers. Now, he couldn't get in his presence
then when he's down here on the earth. And when he was serving
as an obedient son, he sure couldn't get in his presence now to pray
for me. But I don't need her, I have him. There is one mediator
between God and men, one, and that is the man Jesus Christ. Stephen saw him, turn to Acts
7. Stephen saw him when Stephen
was being stoned and dying in Acts 7, verse 55. He had a revelation. And he said in Acts 7.55, he
being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven
and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand
of God. Young people, mothers and dads,
religionists, denominationalists, sectarians, cultists, whatever
you are, this is the word of God. Stephen saw Christ at the
right hand. That's the hand of acceptance.
That's the hand of power. That's the hand of love. That's
the hand of glory. All right? In closing, look at
1 John 2 again. And if any man sin, you can grow
Listen to me, you can get mad as you want to, you perfectionist
and all who want to play the Pharisee,
you get mad as you want to, but I'm going to tell you this. You'll
sin tonight before you walk out that door. You'll sin before you walk out
that door. Now if you just got mad at me for saying that, you
just sinned. Angry sin. You'll walk out that door, and
you'll sin before you get to your car, because you are sinning. Because before God in the flesh,
no man can please God. Because Paul said, in the flesh
dwelleth no good thing. And because flesh and blood cannot
inherit the kingdom of God. And while you may have a spirit
of God's grace, you've still got a fleshly nature, and you
need an advocate. I need an advocate. I'm going to deal honestly with
God, and I believe he'll deal in mercy with me. I'm going to
deal truthfully with God, and I believe he'll deal truthfully
with me. And if any man's sin, we have divinely appointed an
advocate of perpetual intercession, and he's with the Father! That's
where I've got to do business, with the Father! He's not down
there in that Catholic church sitting up on a pedestal and
I can come rub his toe with my thumb. That's not where he is.
And he's not in some dark corner in a confessional with his ears
stuck up on a screen wire for me to spill into his ear all
the garbage of my heart. No, sir. That's not where he
is. He's not on a cross, on a crucifix somewhere. He's with the Father. That's where he is. Seated in
the heaven! Who is he? Read the next line.
He's Jesus Christ the righteous. Two words. Don't get away from
these two words. He's with the Father and he's
what? He's righteous. He's righteous. You know what that word righteous
means there? Immaculately. God-like. A successful mediator must not
only be divinely appointed, he must not only have the right
to appear in court, but when he appears he's got to have something
to prove. And when Christ appears with
the Father pleading for us, one hand on God and one hand on me,
to reconcile the two and to make them one. His absolute holiness
and my absolute depravity, what's he got to please? He can't please
my righteousness or this filthy rag. What does he please? His righteousness. His righteousness. Hebrews 4, let's look at this
a moment. Hebrews 4, verse 13. Hebrews 4, 13. In Hebrews 4,
13, it says this. This is that verse I quoted a
while ago. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest
in his sight, but all things are naked and open unto the eyes
of him with whom we have to do. Seeing then that we have a great
high priest that is passed into the heavens with the Father,
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
For we have not a high priest who cannot be touched with a
feeling of our infirmities, But he was in all points tempted
as we are, yet without sin. He came down here as a man. Everything
the law required, he did. Everything God demanded, he fulfilled. Everything God commanded, he
obeyed as a man. So when he takes hold of the
throne of holiness and takes hold of this old guilty sinner
and brings them together as one, he does it by representing me,
by presenting his holiness and his obedience and his righteousness
and his stripes and his blood and his atonement. He pleads
his sacrifice. Hebrews, one more time, verse
9. Hebrews chapter 9, verse 12. Verse 11, But Christ being come,
a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle," not made with hands, that is to say, not
this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but
by his own blood. By his own blood he entered once
into the holy place. having obtained eternal redemption,
for I have an Advocate, I have a Mediator." Now brethren, in
that old tabernacle that was pitched in the wilderness, there
was but one door. There was a seven and a half
foot high fence, that door was six eighths a foot taller, around
that a white linen fence, and there was one door. And you didn't
dare try to come in any other way. God had smite you straight
to hell to try to get into his presence any other way, through
that door. And just inside that door was an altar of burnt offerings. And before the priest ever came
past that altar, he stopped right there and sacrificed an animal
and shed its blood and burned its carcass. And then he came
into the presence of God. And I'll tell you this, if you
bring the water and your shekels and your pieces of silver and
your ragged, filthy rags of righteousness and try to scale the wall through
denominationalism and decisionism and easy-believism or any other
ism you want to, then I'm going to try to come the way God ordained.
through that eastern gate. That's where that song came from,
that gate always face the east. The rising of the sun, the sun
of righteousness coming in that way. And I'm going to stop right
there at that altar of burnt offerings. And I'm going to say,
Lord, let thy blood and thy broken bodies be propitiation for me. And then I'm coming on through
and I'm going to meet the laborer. there before the door of the
tabernacle. I'm going to wash my hands and wash my face daily,
daily. That's sanctifying the power
of the Holy Spirit, daily cleansing of the sacrifice of Christ. We're
going right on in and we eat that table of showbread. I'm
the bread of life. And that candlestick, our Lord
giving, I'm the light of the world. I'm going to stop at that
altar of incense and offer up prayers. That's the prayers of
Christ for His own. And then I can go right into
the presence of God. The veil's already been removed.
And I can go in right at the mercy seat and worship a living
God because his blood's already been put on that mercy seat.
One mediator. That's the gospel. And then people
can clamber down to the front and shake hands and make decisions
and go through all the motions and rededicate and dedicate and
reconsecrate and consecrate and claim to be baptized with the
Holy Ghost and annihilate the old nature and eradicate the
old nature and claim to be without sin. They're deceived. The truth's
not in them. We have an attitude. And it's
just that simple. But there's a way. things right
to men, and men to some. And men, Christ said, will go
any way but thee way. They'll try any door but thee
door. They'll receive any message but thee gospel. What a shame
that I've given it to you from the Word of God. And what I think
all of us ought to do is, before God right now and tonight, whatever
the opposition. You'll get opposition from the
people you work with, from the people in your family, in your
home. They'll fight you tooth and toe. They'll say, Christ
said they hated me before they ever hated you. Men, by nature,
hate the gospel and hate Christ. If you don't believe it, preach
Christ to them. You can preach Christ and Jesus and the blood
and, but just preach Christ. He's the whole message, the whole
gospel, the whole way, everything. He's the life, the way, and the
truth. That's what F.I. says. I know, but you've got
to do this and you've got to do that. I ain't got to do anything
but trust Christ. That's all. He'll add these things
to me. I know that. He'll give me the
sanctification and the holiness and the desire and all these
things I need, but still Him. You've got to talk to Him.
Henry Mahan
About Henry Mahan

Henry T. Mahan was born in Birmingham, Alabama in August 1926. He joined the United States Navy in 1944 and served as a signalman on an L.S.T. in the Pacific during World War II. In 1946, he married his wife Doris, and the Lord blessed them with four children.

At the age of 21, he entered the pastoral ministry and gained broad experience as a pastor, teacher, conference speaker, and evangelist. In 1950, through the preaching of evangelist Rolfe Barnard, God was pleased to establish Henry in sovereign free grace teaching. At that time, he was serving as an assistant pastor at Pollard Baptist Church (off of Blackburn ave.) in Ashland, Kentucky.

In 1955, Thirteenth Street Baptist Church was formed in Ashland, Kentucky, and Henry was called to be its pastor. He faithfully served that congregation for more than 50 years, continuing in the same message throughout his ministry. His preaching was centered on the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified, in full accord with the Scriptures. He consistently proclaimed God’s sovereign purpose in salvation and the glory of Christ in redeeming sinners through His blood and righteousness.

Henry T. Mahan also traveled widely, preaching in conferences and churches across the United States and beyond. His ministry was marked by a clear and unwavering emphasis on Christ, not the preacher, but the One preached. Those who heard him recognized that his sermons honored the Savior and exalted the name of the Lord Jesus Christ above all.

Henry T. Mahan served as pastor and teacher of Thirteenth Street Baptist Church in Ashland, Kentucky for over half a century. His life and ministry were devoted to proclaiming the sovereign grace of God and directing sinners to the finished work of Christ. He entered into the presence of the Lord in 2019, leaving behind a lasting testimony to the gospel he faithfully preached.

Broadcaster:
Henry T. Mahan / Zebulon Grace Church
Theology:
#Grace #Regeneration #Soteriology
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1co 01v01-02 Christ and Him Crucified.pdf PDF · 0.1 MB
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