Take Ye Away the Stone

Q: What does the Bible say about spiritual death?

The Bible teaches that all humanity is spiritually dead in trespasses and sins due to Adam's sin (Ephesians 2:1). The Scripture clearly states that by nature, all men are dead in trespasses and sins, as found in Ephesians 2:1, which emphasizes the totality of spiritual death that results from Adam's sin. This death is not merely physical but includes spiritual separation from God, leaving humanity entirely dependent on divine intervention for life. Just as Lazarus could not raise himself from the dead, so too, spiritually dead individuals cannot quicken themselves. It is solely the authority and will of Jesus Christ that can provide life to those who are spiritually dead, as He has the power to grant eternal life (John 17:2).

Q: How do we know that God has the power to give life?

God's power to give life is demonstrated through the resurrection of Lazarus and the authority of Christ (John 11:39-44). The narrative of Lazarus's resurrection (John 11:39-44) profoundly exemplifies God's authority to give life. In this account, despite the hopelessness of Lazarus's condition—having been dead for four days—Jesus revealed His divine power by commanding him to come forth. This act illustrates that it is not through human effort or will that life is granted, but solely by the sovereign will of Christ. Likewise, we see that salvation is not achieved through human works or decisions, but through the authoritative call of God, affirming that only He holds the power to regenerate and grant eternal life to the spiritually dead.

Q: Why is understanding regeneration important for Christians?

Understanding regeneration is critical as it clarifies the divine nature of salvation and the believer's transformation (2 Corinthians 5:17). Regeneration is essential for Christians to grasp the transformative nature of salvation. It signifies that a dead sinner becomes alive through the Holy Spirit, who imparts spiritual life and faith in Christ—an act entirely by God's grace (John 3:3). This contrasts with common misconceptions of salvation being merely a decision a person makes. When one understands that regeneration is God’s work, it fosters a deeper appreciation for God’s mercy and sovereignty in the salvific process. As 2 Corinthians 5:17 illustrates, being a new creation in Christ fundamentally changes a believer's life, leading to genuine faith and obedience, which stem from this divine transformation.

The beloved brother of Mary and
Martha was dead. Nothing so final, humanly speaking,
as death. His restoration to life was utterly
hopeless. That is, as far as ordinary or
human means were concerned. He could not in any way give
himself life. Lazarus was dead, his beloved
sisters, with all their affection and their love, could not give
him life. His friends, the religious community,
even those who believed in the resurrection, could not give
him life. Nothing so final, so hopeless,
as death. There was only one, only one
who could give Lazarus life again. And that decision was his. And that authority was his. And that power was his. Everything
rested on his will. Lazarus was dead. Think about
that a moment. Hopelessly, helplessly dead. Totally beyond any ordinary means. But there was one who could give
him life. There was one who had the power. There was one who
was able. His restoration to life, his
resurrection from the grave, rested totally and completely
with the will of one person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this
is a picture of every son of Adam. By nature, by birth, we're
dead in trespasses and sins. That's what the Scripture says,
you who were dead. in trespasses and sin. The scripture
says, by Adam, in Adam we died. By one man's sin, death, spiritual
death, physical death, eternal death, death passed upon all
men. By one man's sin entered this world and death, death,
hopeless, helpless death, nothing so final as spiritual death. By nature, all men are dead.
The sinner cannot quicken himself. No man, Christ said, can come
to me except my Father which sent me drawing. Those who are born again are
born again not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of
man. Paul wrote, it's not of him that will it. Our friends
and our family cannot quicken us. Paul said, I could wish myself
a curse from Christ for my brethren, according to the flesh. He couldn't
give them life. He couldn't regenerate them.
He couldn't make them live. Moses said, Lord, if you destroy
Israel, blot me out of the book which you have written. But there's
nothing he could do to deliver Israel. It's in the hands of
God. And religious education cannot give life, or Saul of
Tarsus would have been a living man. Reason and persuasion will
not give life, or Paul could have given Felix life. for he
reasoned with it. Sensationalism cannot give life. The rich man said, Father Abraham,
send Lazarus back from the dead. Abraham said, though one rose
from the dead, they will not believe. Can these bones live? Yes, they can. But they cannot
give themselves life. The preacher cannot give them
life. The community, the religious community cannot give them life.
That decision and that authority and that power is in the hands
of God Almighty. Turn to John 17 with me and listen
to our Lord. In John chapter 17, these words
speak Jesus. And lifted his eyes to heaven
and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son, that thy
son also may glorify thee, as thou hast given him authority,
power over all flesh. that he should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given him. Lazarus was dead. He couldn't
give himself life, nor could his sisters, nor could his friends,
nor his family, nor his community. That decision rested with one,
with the one who had the power to give him life. It rested with
his decision, his will. He was the only one who could
give him life. Sinners in Adam are dead, without hope, without
God, completely dead in trespasses
and sin. They cannot give themselves life.
It's not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man. It's
not a family inheritance. But life can be theirs, but it
has to come from him, from Christ the Lord. He has the authority. He has the power. It's that name. It's that name, the name of Jesus
Christ. You don't win souls like you
sell insurance. I wish that folks could see this. I have a mental vision of a fellow
witnessing. And he goes to a home, he calls
the friend and he says, John, could I come on and talk to you?
Yeah, what do you want to talk about? Well, I want to talk to
you about your soul. That's commendable. So he goes
over, and John sits over here, and the friend sits over here,
and the friend says, now, you know you're a sinner. Yes, I
know I'm a sinner. You know that you can't be saved by works,
you can't be saved by your good deeds, you can't be saved by
baptism, the Lord's Supper, church membership, peace. Well, I know
that. You want to be saved, yes, I want to be saved. You want
to go to hell, you don't want to go to hell, do you? No, I
don't want to go to hell, I'd like to go to heaven when I die.
Well, Jesus Christ died on the cross for sin. He suffered and
bled and died and was buried and rose again and ascended to
heaven where he is at the right hand of God. He's the mediator.
You believe that? Yep. Yeah, that's what the Bible
says. I believe the Bible. Here's where most soul winners
make their mistakes. Now listen to me. I'll tell you
the truth. Well, John, will you trust him? Will you right now
bow your head with me and say, Lord Jesus, come into my heart?
Will you right now bow your head and say, Lord, forgive me of
my sins? Be merciful to me, O sinner? Will you take my hand and say,
right now, I'm trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior and
Lord? There's where we make the mistake.
You don't win souls like you sell insurance. Now, when you're
selling a product, the first thing you do is present the problem,
present the need. This man needs a new car, or
he needs a home. You need a home. You and your
wife and children are cramped in that little old house, and
you need room. Right, we need room. You agree with me, we need
room. Yeah, I need room. Okay, we have a house to sell you.
It's a spacious. Eight room, four bedroom, two
bath. Would that fit your needs? Yes sir, that'll fit my needs.
We have a contract right here to cost you. $35,000, you can
pay $12,000 down, pay the rest by the month, 20 years. Would
you sign it? Okay, I'll sign it. That's a close. That's called
presenting the problem, presenting the remedy, and making the close.
And to a salesman, the close is the most important thing.
And they're teaching today in fundamentalism that in sewing,
in the close is the most important thing. Don't leave that man until
you get a decision out of him. Well, what you'll do, is make
him twofold more the child of hell than you are, when you press
him for a clothe. Now here is the way to witness
to people. You leave that clothe in the
hands of the Lord. He's the only one who can clothe
a man with Christ. That's not your business. Your
business is to present the need. Yes, we do. From the word of
God, we present the need. A man is a sinner. A man is lost. The law whittles us down and
strips us and knocks our foundations out from under us and leaves
us standing before the searchlight of God's holiness and God's law
as sinners. A man's a sinner. Only God can
show him that. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal
that to him. He may tell you that with his
mouth and not know it in his heart. He has to say he's a sinner. He may not feel it. He may not
believe it. He may not mourn over it. He
may not grieve over it. It may not be a reality to his
heart, to his experience. But you ask him, are you a sinner?
Well, any fool knows that. What do you expect him to say,
no? Of course he's going to say yes. You can take a four year
old and ask him if he's a sinner and he'll say yes. He's been
taught that since he was a child. He knows it up here. You can't convict him of sin,
the Holy Spirit has to. The Holy Spirit has to bring
sorrow to his heart and conviction to his soul and break his heart
and make him contrite before God. The Holy Spirit has to smite
that man. You can't do it. He has to do
it. You can present the problem. You can even present the remedy.
Christ died on the cross. Do you believe that? Do you know
anybody that doesn't believe that? Now be honest. Do you know anybody that doesn't
believe that? He was buried and rose again.
Does that constitute salvation? Does that constitute faith? The
devil believes that. You can't make that man see the
glory of his death. You can't open that man's blinded
eyes to see the beauty of his righteousness and the sacrificial
element in his death. That man can't see that. Till the Holy Spirit opens his
eyes, till the Holy Spirit unstops his deaf ears, till the Holy
Spirit says, let there be light in that darkened heart and understanding. And you are so wrong, so deadly
wrong, when you reach your hand out and say, will you make a
decision? What are you expecting to do?
Expecting to say, I will not. I will not believe on Christ,
I will not accept Christ, I will not go to heaven, I will not
take God's mercy, I'd rather go to hell. They'll say, well,
yeah, I'll do that. Yeah, I'll come down your aisle,
yeah, I'll pray your sinner's prayer, yeah, I'll join your
church, yeah, I'll give you a little money once in a while, yeah,
I'll do that in exchange for heaven, who wouldn't? That's
a good deal, that's like buying a house. This closing with Christ business
is a life-giving business. And I warn you, my dear people,
I warn preachers, and I warn evangelists, and I warn missionaries,
and I warn everybody here, you witness, you leave that closed
to the Holy Spirit. You tell a man what the Scripture
says, and that's all you can do. You can't make him see it,
only God can make him see it. Lazarus is dead! Only one in
this whole universe that had the power to say, Lazarus, live,
is Jesus Christ. That's the reason our churches
are filled with unbelievers. That's the reason there are so
many professing so-called Christians today who have no life and no
joy and no peace and no rest and no communion with God. They've
been talked into a profession of faith, a mental concept, an
intellectual asset. They don't know the reality of
the Son of God. Now you know that and I know
that. You look here at verse 38. Here's
the key. Here's where it is. Here's the
good news. Look at it. Here Lazarus is dead.
He's in the grave. He's been there four days. He's
corrupted. He's rotten. The sinner's dead.
He's been in the grave 6,000 years. He's dead in sin. He's corrupted. He's rotten.
From the sole of his feet to the top of his head, Isaiah said,
there's no soundness. He can't give himself life. Lazarus
can't, his friends can't, it's a hopeless, helpless situation,
it's dead! But here, listen to this. Jesus,
verse 38, therefore, again groaning in himself, he cometh to the
grave, O my soul. Here's the ultimate salvation. Here is life. Here is good news. Here's what needs to be done.
Jesus Christ himself came to the grave. Now, you've got some
hope there. You take your preacher and your
choir, and your instrumentalists, and your singers, and your quartets,
and converge on a town, and like these dead bones out there, these
Lazarus rotten, corrupt in their graves, and you're going to do
all these things, entertain them, preach to them. I'll tell you,
when Jesus himself comes on the scene, that'll make a difference. And you sitting there talking
to that friend, it's as dead as four o'clock. It's as dead
as it can be. You're witnessing to him, he's
listening to you, and you're all talking religion. But oh,
my brother, if Jesus Christ himself comes to the plane, there's hope. There's hope for both of you.
I'm up here preaching, and I've preached at times when it's been
so dead. Old brother Mews, you say I want
to pull anchor and head for shore. But I've been up here other times
when Jesus Christ himself came to that awful grave, that awful
dead place, that dry, arid desert. He came. Oh, the water of life. He came, the bread of life. He
came, the living Lord. He came. All who had been to
the grave before, all they could do was wring their hands and
cry. That's all. And that's the way we are. We're
as hopeless and helpless in the face of spiritual death as they
were in the face of physical death. But there was one who had the power to do something
about it. And let me tell you this, it
rested alone with him. It was in his power, it rested
with his decision and his will. Lazarus, won't you come out?
Yeah, I would if I could. But he rested with him. He stood
out. He came to the grave. That's what I groan for. Can
anything except his power divine my stubborn will subdue? It is
thine, O blessed Lord, only thine to make my heart anew, to chase
the shades of death away and bid the sinner live. A voice
from heaven, a ray of life, it is thine alone to give. I wish we could feel this, what
Mary and Martha felt. Imagine as they stood outside
that grave, they buried their brother there for a day. Imagine
their helpless feeling. Imagine their helpless feeling.
They didn't go and try to give Lazarus life, they knew the impossibility
of it. But they looked to one who could.
And oh, I know hope sprang afresh in their hearts when he himself
came to the grave. He came. Now, having said this,
I want to point out something our Lord commanded them to do. Now, Ezekiel couldn't raise the
dry bones, but he could do what God told him to do. Right? He could preach. Paul could not
give faith to Israel. He said, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. But he couldn't
save them, but he could do what God told him to do. Preach to
them. Mary and Martha couldn't call
Lazarus forth. They knew it. They didn't try
it. But they could do what the Lord told them to do, are you
with me? In verse 39, Jesus said, take ye away the stone. They
could do that, couldn't they? Now you get the picture, Lazarus
dead, he's in the grave, no use me going over it again. There
was a stone over that grave. Mary and Martha stood out here,
wanting him to live. And they had some hope that he
would, because there stood life, the Lord Jesus Christ. There
he stood, there he stood, there's life. Jesus himself came to the
grave. This pool won't give life. It's
been there for twenty some odd years. This altar, this table,
this preacher, all these things, they can't give life, but oh,
that he might come. That he might come. That he might
bless us with his presence. That he might come. We'll have
a little hope if he shows up. We'll have a little hope. And
so he turned to them and he said, Roll ye away the stone. Now brethren, they had done some
things. Look back at verse 1. They had
called on the Lord. Now a certain man was sick named
Lazarus, and it was that Mary which anointed the Lord with
ointment, and wiped his feet, whose brother was sick. Therefore
his sister sent unto him, saying, Lord, he whom thou lovest is
sick. They had called on the Lord.
You know what the Prophet Samuel said in 1 Samuel 12, 22, and
23? He said, God forbid. that I should sow sin against
the Lord and cease to pray for you." They called on the Lord. Moses, great prayer. Intercession
is commanded. My heart cries, Paul said, and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. We can do
that. Laban and Martha sent for the Lord. They called on the
Lord. They prayed. Secondly, they had confidence
in his power. Yes, they did. Look at verse
22. And Martha said, I know, I know. And Martha was a very,
very straightforward woman. We found that out in studying
about her before. She said, I know that even now,
whatsoever you'll ask of God, God will give it to you. That
doesn't sound like this little weak, frustrated superstar they
preach today called Jesus, does it? Martha said, I know you can
do what you will. I know that. I know whatever
you ask the Father, he'll give it to you. You can't fail. I know that. She expressed confidence
in his power, in his sovereignty. I know Lazarus is dead, but I
know even now, anything you want, you'll get. Thirdly, they had
expressed faith in his redemptive work. Verse 25, Jesus said, I'm
the resurrection and the life. And verse 27, Mary said, Martha
said, I know, yea, I believe that the Christ, the Son of God,
that should come into this world. They'd done that. They'd prayed, they'd expressed
confidence in his power and sovereignty, and they'd expressed faith in
his redemptive work. All right, Christ said, now,
roll away the stone. Roll away the stone. Here's a
command from our Lord that is both significant and enlightening,
and I'm not trying to be sensational. I'm not trying to be clever.
I'm trying to be honest. Now listen to me. Roll ye away
the stone. I can't give the sinner life,
but I can assist my Lord in doing what he commanded. Take away
the stone. I'm going to give you four stones
that we need to remove in this generation. Number one I can
take away the stone of ignorance ignorance That stands between
the dead sinner and the living Lord. There's a stone of ignorance
now my friends most sermons are Preached to people as though
those people understood The way of salvation the mysteries of
the gospel in the way of life I find that people are totally,
completely, people in general, are totally and completely ignorant
of the way of salvation. They do not know what happened
in the garden. Do you know what happened in
the garden? Do you know the death and the judgment and the condemnation
that came upon this human race when our representative, our
father Adam, rebelled against the Holy Ghost? Do you know the
spiritual death, the spiritual corruption that descended upon
this human race when Adam sinned against God Almighty? Do you
know the depths of man's depravity? Martin Luther said, if we could
see our condition, our true condition before the law of God, before
the holiness of God, before the presence of God, if we could
see what we are by nature, we'd lose our sanity. God is infinitely holy, and you
and I are totally, completely corrupted. When Adam sinned in
the Garden of Eden, death, judgment, condemnation passed upon all
men, so that Paul said, there's none good, no, not one. There's
none righteous, no, not one. There's none that seeketh after
God. David said, God looked down from heaven, and he found there
altogether become unprofitable. There's none! Doeth good none
that seek after God. Men love darkness, they hate
light. They love sin, they hate holiness. They love evil, they
hate God. Ye are of your father, Christ
said, the devil. You are children of wrath. You
are fulfilling the lust of the flesh, the lust of the iron,
the pride of life, and the life of God is not in you, and you
are without hope, you are without help, you are without God, you
are dead. This world is ignorant of that.
They deny original sin. They deny natural depravity.
They deny our birth in sin. They deny our whole, complete
separation from God Almighty. Men don't know what happened
on the cross. They do not know who he is. They don't know who
he is. Who is this Jesus Christ? Where did he come from? I was
teaching a class of young people one time in Chattanooga, and
I said, when did Jesus Christ actually begin to exist? And
nearly every one of them said, why, in Bethlehem's manger. That's
when he began. That's when he started. I said,
my dear young people, do any of you know anything about the
Christ of God from all eternity? In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and all things
were made by him. Do you know anything about him
who said, Glorify me with the glory which I had with thee before
the world was? Do you know anything about the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, who he is? The
one who spoke to Moses at the burning bush and said, I am,
is the one who spoke in the garden of Gethsemane to the soldiers
and said, I am. Who is he? What did he do? This
perfect life he lived, this death that he died, what did he do
and why did he do it? Was this just an example? Was
God setting forth a pattern? Was this just an offer? Was this
just an effort? Did Jesus Christ die as a substitute
to satisfy God's holiness that God might be just and justified?
that God might demonstrate not only his love, but his righteousness,
not only his mercy, but his truth? People don't know anything about
that. If somebody asks you this morning, why did Jesus Christ
die on the cross, you say, well, to save me. Well, why did he
die on the cross? To save you. Well, to put away
my sins. Well, why did he have to die
on the cross to put away your sins? Why couldn't God Almighty, God
can do all things, Why couldn't God just tear that page out of
the book and say, well, it just never did exist? Because God
of holiness and righteousness and truth can't do that. There's
some things God can't do. Listen to me. There's some things
God can't do. One, God can't lie. God can't
do wrong. God can't put away a sin without
that sin being paid for. That's right. God Almighty cannot be just and
forgive a man of sin if that sin is not paid for. That's why
he died. Jesus Christ's death was not
toward you, it was toward God. He didn't pay you anything because
he didn't owe you anything. He paid your debt to God. Men do not know what happens
in a sinner when God Almighty saves him. To the average person,
a religious decision is when a man makes up his mind that
he is going to quit his sins and start living for God. The
average person thinks the new birth, salvation, regeneration,
conversion, is when a man decides that he won't do this anymore,
but instead he'll do this. That he now believes the Bible,
that he has studied it, and that he's come to the conclusion That
what the Bible says is true. And he has made up his mind to
publicly confess Christ as his Lord and Savior, and he's decided
to live the rest of his days for God, and that God writes
his name in the Book of Life. Not a word of truth in any of
that. Ignorance. The average person believes this.
I know what I'm talking about. They believe that you come to
church on Sunday and sit down. Now, you're a sinner, and you
go to the movies, and you drink a little, and you curse a little,
and you do this, that. Now, you gamble a little, you
know, and all these things. You do these things, and you're
a bad old boy. And your wife don't want you drinking and hanging
out at night and running around. She wants you home. And that's
the reason she wants you saved. Where, as far as God's concerned,
she could care less, but she does want you home. When she
knows she gets in church, she'll get you home. She knows if she
gets you converted, she'll get you off the bottle. She knows
if she gets you converted, you'll quit running around. That's right.
That's the reason these women want their husbands saved. You
know the reason mom and daddy want their children saved? So
they'll know where they are at night. If they get saved, if they get
converted, if they join the church, then they'll be good children.
And they'll go to work, and they'll pay their bills, and they'll
come home at night, and they won't get drunk and tear up the
car and all this stuff. They'll be good children. That's
why they want them saved. Now be honest. And so they get them
to church and they pray, Preacher, I hope you'll say something this
morning that'll bring my husband to the Lord. They're used to
the Lord, you know, but they mean to the altar of salvation. So they go to heaven. They want
them to go to heaven. They all want to meet. They want to meet someday
in heaven. They want to meet in heaven.
Honey, meet mama in heaven. Promise me before I die, will
you meet me in heaven? That's right. This is human religion. And so they sit there, and the
preacher does his best. He's studied, and he's done all
these things, so he tries to reach that center. You're a sinner,
and this drinking's going to ruin your life, and this grambling's
going to break up your home, and you're going to lose your
children, and you're going to be embarrassed and shamed. You're going to hell
when you die. And he comes to the end, and he says a poem.
He tells a sad story about a dog dying, you know. And somebody's
crying over the dog, and he says, Now won't you come and accept
the Lord? Now this is horrible, but this
is so. And the wife grabbed her husband and said, honey, won't
you go today? Won't you go today? Honey, won't you be saved today?
Please be saved today. You don't want to go to hell.
I don't want you to go to hell. And she cries, and he, boy, so he's got
under all that pressure, so here he comes. Well, hallelujah, he's
saved. No, he's not saved. He's not within spitting distance
of being saved. You know what salvation is? Now,
you listen to me. This is ignorance. And I can do what my Lord told
me, roll away that stone. That stone of ignorance. You
know what happens when God saves a sinner? That sinner's dead. He doesn't know God and doesn't
love God. He doesn't know that salvation
is a mystery to him. He's totally ignorant of it.
And in salvation, the Holy Spirit comes using the Word of God.
And the Holy Spirit gives life to that dead sinner. The Holy
Spirit regenerates it. The Holy Spirit does something
in here. It's not a relationship between him and a woman or a
man or a person or a job or a business, it's between him and God. And
the Holy Spirit reveals that his sins are against the Holy
God. It's not the watermelon you stole,
it's the Son of God you crucified. That's the issue between you
and God. It's not this place you went
that you shouldn't have gone It's in the Garden of Eden mankind
stood up in the person of our representative and said we'll
not have this man reign over us Gonna have my way and my will
and do my thing God can go to and stay put that's the problem
And the Holy Spirit comes and convinces that sinner that there's
a problem between not him and his wife, not him and his neighbor,
not him and his conscience, there's a problem between me and God
Almighty. And God's angry with me. And
my sins have separated me from God. And God's wrath rests upon
me and God's judgment rests upon me because of my sin. My sin
is ever before me. Against thee have I sinned. I'm going to still have problems
down here because I live in the flesh, I live in human nature,
I'm surrounded by the flesh. But this problem between me and
God, that's the issue. My guilt, my sin, my awful wicked
iniquity. And the Holy Spirit gives me
a desire to know God. The Holy Spirit gives me a desire
to have a fellowship, a communion with God. The Holy Spirit gives me a desire
to know Him. Oh, that I may know Him, Paul
said, that I may win Christ, that I may have His righteousness,
that I might have this old fig leaf apron of self-righteousness
ripped off and the perfect, spotless holiness of Christ draped upon
me, that my sin might be put away. Blessed is the man to whom
God will not charge sin. Happy is the man whose iniquities
are forgiven, whose sin is covered. And that sinner begins to cry,
O God, be merciful to me, be merciful to me. Let thy blood
be propitiation to me on the mercy seat. The Holy Spirit comes
to that sinner's heart and says, Christ died for sinners. Christ
died for sinners. Christ is God's unspeakable gift
to guilty men. Christ is our righteousness.
Christ is our atonement. Christ is our sacrifice. And
the Holy Spirit gives repentance toward God, a grief for sin,
and faith in Christ. And that man in his heart embraces
the Son of God. He trusts the Son of God. He
bows to the claims of Christ. He surrenders to the authority
of Christ. He bows to the throne rights. Jesus Christ, that's what happens
when God saves the sinner He bows to the throne rights
to the crown rights to the scepter To the sovereign rule of his
blessed Lord And from then on he's not his own master Christ
is The church and the law and the rules of the denomination
is not his master. Christ is. He walks with him
and talks with him. And that's the reason you don't
have to beg that fellow to come to the house of God, because
that's his Lord's house. You know, I didn't have but one
brother. He's gone now, but he never did
have to get me off to the side and say, Henry, won't you please
come home? Maybe that's where that song originated. Bill Bailey,
won't you please come home. Maybe that's his brother trying
to get him to come home. You know you're welcome at home.
You ought to come home. No, that was my house too. Why
should he invite me to my house? Then why should I beg you to
come to the house of God? Huh? This is your father's house,
isn't it? You're welcome here. And I'll
tell you this, if you knew him, you'd want to come here. If things
is right between you and your father, you'd want to come to
his house. Why should I beg you to come
to the house of God? Why should I beg you to read
the letter from your father? If he's your father, you'd be
glad to read it. You'd want to read it. Now you think about those things
a little bit. Let's roll away this stone of
ignorance. I'll tell you what we've got. We're saddled with
this thing of decisionism and easy believism. We're trying
to force people to love God. And if the Holy Spirit ever sheds
abroad the love of God in their hearts, they'll love God, but
not until. We're trying to force people
to love Christ. If they ever see who he is and
what he did, they'll love him. We're trying to force people
to live what we call a Christian life. If they ever come to know
him, they'll live for him. Secondly, quickly, I can take
away the stone, here's an awful stone, a stone of Phariseeism. Now, I want you to listen to
me. I'm going to read something Charles Spurgeon wrote, and I want you to listen
good while As one fellow said, telling it
like it is, let's tell it like it is, let's go on. Many people have the notion,
now you listen, that true religion makes a man unmanly, effeminate,
soft and weak. Many people have the notion that
true religion produces affectation and phony religious conversation. To be religious, if a man or
woman is religious, we must whine, speak in a ministerial tone,
we must turn our eyes toward heaven to appear to be devout,
We must fold our hands and appear to be holy. We must stand around
with a silly grin on our faces, talking in religious clichés,
and then everybody knows we're holy. I see these fellows on
TV holding hands to pray. I don't want to hold hands with
any man. That's unmanly. That's effeminate. But this is what the average
person thinks. Listen to Spurgeon. Let men be men. Let no one say
that your religion and your faith in God is affectatious and your
conversation is forced and phony. Our Lord was a man. Always the
highest type of strength and manliness. You never see anything
unnatural about him. You never see anything affectatious
about him. You never see anything phony
about him. You don't hear him talking in
religious clichés. He was always honest and truthful
and outspoken and brave and true and faithful. Let your men be
men and your women be women. And we can learn from that. Oh, that stone that's standing
in the way of so many people, dead sinners, I know. Christ
said, throw away that stone. Get rid of that stone of ignorance.
Get rid of that stone of Pharisee-ism, a religion that's so affected. Boy, I don't think I could ever
be a religious preacher. I never could learn to talk that
way. Well, I hope you never do. I hope, God save you, you're
still able to talk like a man. I hope if God Almighty saves
you, and I believe if he does, that you will, you'll be yourself.
You won't try to go around impressing somebody with how holy you are,
and how pious you are, and how much you pray, and how many times
you fast, and how much you give, and how many times you go to
church, and you always run around with, praise the Lord this, and
praise the Lord that. You people know what I'm talking
about. If you honestly praise the Lord, praise him. If you
can honest, but don't make it a byword. It's phony. It's phony. Oh, I'll tell you
something else we can roll away, and that's the stone of human
works. Let's get it out of the way.
Let's move it out of the way. What must I do to be saved, said
that Philippian jailer on his knees. What must I do to be saved? What Paul answered. Come on.
Boy, I'll tell you. Today, if you ask a man, what
must I do to be saved, they've manufactured a thousand new ways.
Paul just said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on
Christ. Trust Christ. Embrace Christ. Rest your soul in Christ. It's
hard to get an answer like that today. Well, you ought to do
this and you ought to do that. Somebody said this, the manufacturer
of new commandments is a fascinating occupation for some people. You
must do this, you must not do that, you must do the other.
If you do this, you're not saved. If you do that, you're not saved.
If you don't do this, you're not saved. Really, this author
said, I find ten commandments quite more than I can handle.
I don't need any more from you. And I find the commandments of
my Master, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and thy neighbors thyself, to be sufficient. I don't need any
Baptist commandments or Catholic commandments or holiness commandments
or commandments otherwise. Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to his mercy he hath saved us. Rather than because a man does
not agree with you on everything doesn't mean he's not saved. Let's quit bringing human works
into this thing of a relationship with God. Now, last of all, and
I close, our Lord has the power, the authority to give life to
Lazarus. And he turns to us and he says,
roll away the stone. Roll away the stone. Let's make
this a direct confrontation, listen to me, between the sinner
and the living Lord. Let's have that sinner do business
with the living Lord. Roll away that stone. Let's roll
away the stone of ignorance. Naaman said, well, I thought
this. Well, now, you don't think this any longer. Man's what happened
in the garden, what happened on the cross, what happens when
God saves the sinner. Let's roll away the stone of
Phariseeism. Let's don't have a man think
because God saves him that he's going to be any less a man. Let's
don't make a woman think because God saves her that she's going
to become a machine and no longer a woman. that we're going to fit into
some kind of little old mold and pattern and all whine alike
and talk alike and pray alike and look alike your personality. Let's roll away that stone of
Phariseeism. You don't have to be like me to know the Lord.
In fact, I hope you're like you. I hope maybe we ought to be more
like you. Don't be like me, be like Christ.
Let's get that out of the way. Let's quit telling people if
you do this you're not saved, if you don't do that you're not
saved. If you're not just like me, the only reason I know a
person is not saved is if they don't believe on Christ. Let's
roll away the stone of human works. Now, let's roll away the
stone of intellectualism. You know, some preaching upsets
my stomach. These preachers drink you with
sentiment and emotion. You hear about all the dead children
and all sick people and our parents in heaven and about the good
reunion over yonder, you know, I'm bombarded with these things
and bombarded with hellfire and brimstone. If I don't agree with
the preacher, I'm going to hell. That upsets my stomach. And then I'm promised good health
and good wealth and giddy happiness if I do what the preacher says.
No doctrine, no truth, no direction. But you know something, some
preaching hurts my head. Some preaching upsets my stomach,
some hurts my head. It's so cold and dead and dry. I sit there and I listen to preachers. I try to do this to help me preach
to you. I sit there and listen to them.
And I think, what he's saying is right, but what's he saying? He's talking in words I don't
understand, and my body grows weary while he goes on and on
and on, and my mind tries to stay with him while he talks
of all the shuns, justification and sanctification and imputation
and impartation and regeneration and identification. He takes
me through all these shuns, and I really don't know what he gets
through. I really don't know what he says. My mind's all confused. And then he takes me through
the isms. The Calvinism and the Arminianism and the Pragmatism
and the Pelagianism and the Amillennialism and the Antinomianism and the
Legalism. And I feel like I've been to
the University of Religion and got a degree and don't know God.
That's just the way I feel when I get through here in preaching.
They upset my stomach with emotionalism. They hurt my head with dry, dead
intellectualism. You know what I wish we could
do? I wish God would be pleased to do this for me and you. Send a message to my heart. Preach
to my heart. Talk to my heart. Witness to
my heart. You, speak to my heart. Speak
to my heart. Some preacher on the power of
God's Spirit preaching the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ in heart
language. I want to do that so badly. I
want to remove the stone. Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
has the authority, the power to give you life. And unto God
I want so badly, as he stood there, Mary, Martha, move the
stone! There's an awful, awful block
between me and that sinner. Move it out of the way! Open
the way that that sinner has to face the issue! And it's not
a denominational issue. It's not, will you become a Baptist?
You can go to hell in the Baptist church. Roll away that stone
of phariseeism. It's not, do this, do that, and
do the other. Roll away that stone of phony
affectation. Roll away that stone of human
works. Roll away that stone of ignorance. Roll away that stone of intellectualism. speak to the sinner in heart
language, make him do business with Christ. Oh, that we might weep over our
sins in here, that we might see the glory of Christ in here,
that we might rejoice in the sacrifice of Calvary in here,
that we might enter into the closet of repentance, that we
might realize the joy of faith that we might be honest. Honest. Old Brother Barnard preached
a sermon one time, and the more I think about that old gentleman,
some of the things he said is just now coming around to mean
something to me. He said, honest people don't
wind up in hell. It's all getting people to be
honest. getting them to be honored, moving
all of these stones, and getting them to come to grips with the
crown rites of Christ, the person of Christ, their relationship
with Christ. Ninety-nine percent of today's
religion is a human, human materialistic, sensational, emotionalism, sentimentalism,
that's what it is. I trust, this is a song I love
to sing, Psalm 132, I trust a living Savior. He's in the world today. I know that He's living. I know
He's living, whatever men may say. I see His hand of mercy.
I hear His voice of cheer. Just the time I need Him, He's
always near. And all the world around me,
I see His loving care. And though my heart grows weary,
I never will despair. I know He's leading through all
the stormy blasts, and the day of His appearing will come at
last.

Take Ye Away the Stone

What does the Bible say about spiritual death?

How do we know that God has the power to give life?

Why is understanding regeneration important for Christians?

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Take Ye Away the Stone

What does the Bible say about spiritual death?

How do we know that God has the power to give life?

Why is understanding regeneration important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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