The Great Question -- The Answer

I'm reading a short verse of
scripture found in the seventh chapter of John's gospel. It's
verse 11, John 7, verse 11. Then the Jews sought him at the
feast, and they said, Where is he? Where is he? Now, the wise men asked this
question back in Matthew chapter 2, verse 2. The wise men asked
this question that they might come and worship him. They said,
Where is he? that is born King of the Jews,
where is he that we might worship him, that we might bring our
gifts and praise him? We want to know where he is.
And then Herod asked this question, Matthew 2, verse 4, because he
wanted to destroy the young child. He felt that this King of the
Jews would be a threat to Caesar's throne. So he asked, he sent
for his wise men and brought them in, and after they had gathered
around his throne, he said, Where is he? this person that claims
to be the king of the Jews, where is he to be born? And they said,
well, we searched the scriptures, and the scripture says that he
is to be born in Bethlehem. Infidels and atheists have asked
this question of believers throughout the ages. I want you to listen
to what David wrote in Psalm 42. In Psalm 42, verse 3, he
said, My tears have been my meat day and night. while they continually
say unto me, Where is your God? David was suffering and sorrowing,
and David was in trouble, and David was weeping, and they kept
coming around saying, Well, where is your God, David? You trust
in him, you believe on him, why doesn't he come to your aid?
He goes on and writes in verse 10 of that same chapter, 42 of
Psalm, as with a sword in my bones. My enemies reproach me
while they say daily, Where is your God? Where is your God,
David? David running from sorrow, David
hiding in the mountains and in caves, David persecuted, forsaken,
David cast out. His son Absalom had taken over
the throne and driven him from the kingdom, and as he wandered
out there away from the kingdom, forsaken of those who claimed
at one time to love him, the people came around and said,
Well, where is your God, David? Where is God? And then when Absalom
was killed, and David went up there into the room by himself
and wept and cried and sobbed and said, O God, Absalom, would
God I had died for you, would God I had died for you. And they
said, well, where is your God? I heard a story one time about
a man whose son was killed, and the preacher came by the house
to see him, to comfort him. And when the preacher came in,
the man was bitter over the loss of his son. And he said to the
preacher, where was God when my son died? And the preacher
looked at him and said, well, when your son died, God was in
the same place he was in when his son died. He was on the throne. That's where he is. Where is
he? Where is your God? Infidels and skeptics and agnostics
have asked believers that for years. Where is your God? And
then the doubters have asked this question of believers, you
know we preach Christ is coming back to this earth. In fact,
Paul preached it 1900 years ago. We have been in the last days
since Christ died on the cross. The scripture calls these days
from the cross to the present time, the last days. And we preach
and will preach, will continue to preach, we have preached and
will continue to preach that Jesus Christ is coming back.
He may come back tonight, he may come back tomorrow, he may
not come back for a hundred years, I don't know, but he's coming
back. The angels announced that he would return. They said to
the disciples, as they watched the Lord ascend back into heaven,
they said, this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven,
shall so come in like manner as you've seen him go. But the
skeptics and the doubters have asked for years, 2 Peter 3, verse
3, where is the promise of his coming? Since the fathers fell
asleep, everything continues like it was before. There's no
difference. Countries arise and countries
perish, and kings are born and kings die, and millenniums pass,
but he still hasn't come back. Where is the promise of his coming? Where is he? Where is he? And then servants of God have
asked this question. This is no new question. It's
been asked for years. It's being asked today. Servants
of God have asked this question. Men who know they're only men,
who need some strength and some power and some inspiration and
the power of his Spirit and the message, they've asked that question.
Well, where is God? Old Christmas Evans was a one-eyed
preacher, preached in Wales years and years and years ago. A godly
man. God used him to bring revival
to that country. One day one of his deacons, right
before church was supposed to start, The minister wasn't in
the pulpit, and they missed him. They didn't know where he was.
They began to hunt him. Finally one of the deacons found him,
and he heard him praying, and he studied. Lord, I've gone into
that pulpit by myself for the last time. If you don't go with
me, I'm not going. Where is God? Servants of God
have asked that for years. Elijah was going to be taken
up from him. He knew it. The prophets down
at Bethel told him, and the prophets at Jericho told him, and the
prophets at Jordan told him. When he and Elijah came to the
River Jordan and Elijah smoked the water with his mantle and
it opened up and they walked across on dry land, followed
by this assistant, followed by this young preacher, Elisha.
And when Elijah was ready to be taken up into heaven, he turned
to Elisha and he said, what do you want? And Elijah
said, I'd like to have a double portion of your power. Well,
he said, that's not mine to give, but I'll tell you this, if you
see me when I go, then you'll have it. And about that time,
the fiery chariot came down from heaven and took Elijah up to
glory, and as he went away, the mantle fell at the feet of this
young prophet. And he walked over to the River
Jordan and wrapped that mantle around his arm and smoked the
water and cried out, Where is he? Where is he? Where is the
Lord God of Elijah? Where is he? And then children
of God, and some of you know what I'm talking about here,
children of God in severe trial, when the valley is so dark and
the way is so rocky and the burden is so heavy, children of God
in severe trial have asked this question, where is God? Job,
in Job 23, verse 1 through 3, listen to Job. You know something
about his suffering. He lost everything. And he said
this in Job 23, verse 1, My complaint is bitter. My hand is heavier
than my groaning, for that I might know where I could find God. I go forward and he's not there.
I go backward and I cannot see him. on the right Herod asked it. Infidels and
agnostics and atheists have asked believers in ridicule and mocking,
where is your God? Things are going rough for you,
aren't they? Where is your God? Doubters have asked it, where
is the promise of his coming? Men of God trying to preach the
gospel have gone into pulpits for hundreds of years, powerless. Where is God? And children of
God, in the darkest of valleys and the roughest of roads, with
the heaviest of burdens, have cried out of their grief, Where
is God? The heavens are brash. I pray,
and he doesn't answer. David said, O Lord, wilt thou
forsake me forever? And Job said, I cry out, but
I can't find him. I turn to the left and to the
right. I go forward and backward, but he's not there. But I have
this comfort and this consolation. I know he's with me. And I know
that when he's finished trying me, I'm going to come out of
this pure gold. Where is he? This is the question.
Where is he? Now, I'm going to answer that
question. I'm going to answer that question for every seeking
sinner. I'm going to answer that question
for every doubting soul. I'm going to answer that question
for every servant of God. I'm going to answer that question
for every child of God in trouble. Where is he? First of all, let's
let David answer. Let's call in David, the man
after God's own heart. And David writes in Psalm 115,
verses 2 and 3. Now listen carefully. Psalm 115,
verses 2 and 3. Wherefore should the heathen
say, Where is your God? But our God is in the heavens.
He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Where is he? He's in
the heavens. Now he dwells not in temples
made by human hands. I know there are a lot of people
who have the wrong notion about where God is. They think you
go down to some cathedral or temple or synagogue or chapel
to meet God. But he dwells not in temples
or cathedrals made by human hands. He said, David, Solomon, will
you make for me a house? While the heaven of heavens won't
contain me, the earth is my footstool, and you're going to build for
me a dwelling place out of stones and sticks and mortar and wood
and brick? God dwells not in shrines and
holy places vested with the pilgrims. We have people who are going
over to Jerusalem to find God, or going to Mecca to find God,
or going to some other place to find God. And then he dwells
not in religious rituals and holy days. He dwells not in powerful
ecclesiastical organizations. He dwells not in traditions and
legends and creeds. He dwells everywhere. He is the
ever-present living God. God moves in mysterious ways,
his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps on the
sea. He rides upon the storm. David,
where is your God? He said, Our God's in the heavens.
Our God's in the heavens. He created all things by the
word of his power. He upholdeth all things by the
word of his power. In him we live and move and have
our being. He's God. Alpha and omega, beginning
and end, he's God. And he hath done--" Listen to
this, Psalm 115, verse 2 and 3. Where is your God? David said,
Our God's in the heavens. And he hath done whatsoever he
hath pleased. Our God is in the heavens, and
he's an almighty God, and he's a sovereign God. Now, I've found
this out through thirty years of preaching. Only at a sovereign
throne will a man really worship. That's right now. Only before
an almighty, sovereign God. Men will play games before idols
and false gods. They'll bargain with equals,
they'll debate and argue with equals, but they'll worship a
sovereign. The Lord is in the heavens, let all the earth keep
silence before him. Be silent and know that I am
God. Be still and know that I am God. And then only before a sovereign
throne will a man find comfort, when he knows that God controls
everything. There may be second, third, fourth,
or fifth causes, but God's the first cause. And all things in
my life All things work together for my good, my eternal good,
and for his glory, because he works them out. He works them
together. And only at a sovereign throne
will a man find a definite, permanent, eternal salvation, a God who
can save, a God who can save, a God who can keep. Our God is
in the heavens, and he hath done whatsoever he pleased. Can I
not do with my own what I will? That's what God says. I am the
Lord. I form the light. I create darkness. I make peace. I create evil.
I, the Lord, do all these things. None can stay my hand or say
unto me, What doest thou? I'm God. He worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will. We bow before God. We fear
God. We stand before him in absolute
reverence and awe because he's God. He hath done what he pleased,
what it pleased him to do. If you take your Bible and look
through the concordance, you'll find what it pleased him to do.
In 1 Samuel 12, it says it pleased God to make you his people. He
loved sinners. Aren't you glad? God said he
has everlasting love upon us. He drew us with an everlasting
love. He committed his love toward us, and then why were we yet
sinners? Christ died for us. It pleased him to love sinners.
Then it pleased him, Colossians 1.19, that in Christ should all
fullness dwell. It pleased him to make Christ
our Savior. And then it pleased him, Isaiah
53, 10, says it pleased God to bruise him. It wasn't Roman soldiers
that really put him on that cross, it was the Father's will. It
was the Father's covenant. It was the Father's purpose to
redeem you and me. God sent him to the cross, the
Father did. It pleased God to reveal his Son to me. That's
what Paul said, it pleased God to stop me on my Damascus road
to hell and to arrest me and to break me and to humble me
and reveal his Son. It pleased God to do that. to
reveal his Son in me. And it pleased him to do it,
how? In 1 Corinthians 1.21 it says, By the foolishness of preaching,
it pleased God. By the foolishness of preaching
to save them that live. Where is he? He's in the heavens.
He hath done what he pleased. Let's let Peter answer that question.
Peter, where is he? We'll turn to Acts 10.43. Peter
is preaching here, and he says to him, talking about Christ,
to him, Give all the prophets My friends, if you take this
Bible and compress it until you get the essence of it and the
substance of it and the heart of it and the life of it, it
will come down to two words. I mean from Genesis to Revelation.
You just compress it and it will come forth, the substance of
it, in two words, Jesus Christ. That's what this book is all
about, Jesus Christ. His love for sinners, his life
for sinners, his death for sinners, his pleading for sinners, his
coming for sinners. That's right. His reward for
sinners. Search the scriptures, Christ
said, in them you think you have life. They are they which testify
of me. Moses wrote of me, that's what
he said. In Genesis, he's the woman's seed. In Exodus, he's
the Passover lamb. In Leviticus, he's the great
atonement. In Numbers, he's the brazen serpent. In Deuteronomy, he's the city
of refuge. In Joshua, he's Rahab's scarlet
thread. In Judges, he's the angel of
the Lord. In Ruth, he's the kinsman-redeemer. In the six books of the Kings,
he is the great king. In Job, he's my redeemer. In
Psalm, he's the Lord my shepherd. In Proverbs, he's the wisdom
of God. In the Song of Solomon, he's
the bridegroom. In Isaiah, the substitute, in
Jeremiah the physician, the branch of Israel, in Ezekiel the glory
of God, in Daniel the beloved, in Hosea the forgiving husband,
in Jonah the sovereign Savior, in Micah Bethlehem's infant,
in Habakkuk the faithful one, in Haggai the desire of all nations,
in Zechariah he is the foundation stone. Go to the You'll find
Christ. There you'll find him. He's in
the heavens. He's in the word of God. He reveals
himself in his word. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. Don't depend on tradition. Don't
depend on the works of men. Don't depend on the feelings
or dreams or visions that you have. Depend on the book. God
said it. I believe it. And I dare not
go one step beyond what he says. If they speak not according to
the law and the prophets, it's because there's no light in them.
He's in the Word. If we preach Christ, we'll preach
the Word of God. And then let's let John answer.
John, where is he? John 1, verse 10. He's in the
World. He's in the World. The World
was made by him. The World knew him not, but he
was in the World. The World was made flesh and
dwelt among us. Do you hear that? Do you understand
that? Do you believe that? The Ancient
of Days has become the Infinite of Days. He who made the worlds,
he in whom the worlds dwell, who holds the nations in his
hand as a drop in the bucket, he was in this world. He who
walks upon the clouds now walks upon the sand. In the fulness
of time, Paul wrote in Galatians 4, God sent his Son into the
world, born of a woman, born under the law, made of a woman. to redeem them that were born
under the law. He took our flesh. That's right. He took our flesh,
bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. The Lord of glory
condescended to come down here to this earth and become a man. He took our nature, not the seed
of angels, nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham. The
first Adam was of the earth. God made him out of the dirt.
He was of the earth, earthy, and we bear the image of the
first Adam. But the second Adam is the Lord from heaven, and
thank God someday, because of his grace and his mercy, we're
going to bear the image of the heavenly man. The second Adam,
the second man, the word Adam is man, is the Lord from heaven,
man of Solomon. What a name! For the Son of God
who came, ruined sinners to redeem, hallelujah, what a Savior. Guilty,
vile, helpless, we, spotless, Lamb of God was he, full atonement,
can it be? Hallelujah, what a Savior. He
became what we are, that we might become what he is. The sinless
became sinful, that the sinful might be sinless. A perfect righteousness
was worked out by his obedience as a man, right here on this
earth. He was tempted and tried and
tested in all points as we are. without sin. He thirsted, he
hungered, he was weary, he was a man of sorrows, he was acquainted
with grief, he was rejected, despised, forsaken and killed
in our place. Where is he, John, in this world? Let's let Paul answer now. Turn
to Galatians 6.14. Paul, where is he? Listen to
him. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ in the cross of
God? God's got a cross? You know,
you might follow my message up until now, and a lot of people
will, I'm sure. God's in the heavens. God's in
the Word. Even God's in the world. But
wait a minute. Can God be on a cross? Can God
die? Go with me to Pilate's hall.
You see that man sitting there? They have lacerated his back
with a cat of nine tails, the blood is streaming down his back,
you can see his ribs, they've plucked out his beard, they've
spat in his face, they've blacked his eyes, he doesn't even look
like a man, his visage is so marred that he doesn't even look
like a man, and then one of these soldiers says, well, the king
ought to have a crown, so he goes out and gets a some thorns
and bushes, and he makes a crown and walks over and jams it down
on the head of the Savior. And then somebody says, Well,
a king ought to have a robe, and so they go somewhere and
find an old piece of red bathrobe or an old piece of red quilt,
and they come and they yank off his garment and throw that old
robe, dirty robe, across his lacerated back. And then somebody
says, well, a king ought to have a scepter, and they go out and
break off a hollow reed and bring it and put it in his hand, and
then they all stand back and they begin to bow and mock and
ridicule and cry, Hail, King of the Jews! Hail, King of the
Jews! Who is that? That's God Almighty
in human flesh. That's God. taking our place,
numbered with the transgressors. Wait a minute, come on with me.
Go to Pilate's hall. That's the soldier's hall there.
Now go to Pilate's hall, and you see that man there standing
before Pilate. He's still got on that awful
crown and that red robe, and his hands are tied, and he stands
there and people become come and they begin to give these
false witnesses and lies and tales about him, and he listens
to them, and Pilate said, Don't you see what they're saying against
you? He opens not his mouth. He's led as a sheep to the slaughter,
dumb, opens not his mouth. He doesn't reply. That's the
Son of God. Wait a minute, go to Calvary's
hill, Golgotha's And there's a cross lifted up in the air
between two thieves, and there a naked man hangs on that cross
in shame and agony. You can tell all of his bones,
his joints are poured out like water, and the crowd's laughing
at him and mocking and dancing around the cross and ridiculing
him. He's crying to the Father to forgive them, and crying for
water. He's thirsty. Who is that dying
such a horrible death? That's God Almighty. Where is
he? He is on the cross, taking my
place, bearing my sins. I should have been crucified,
but he took my place and he died, bore my sins in his body on the
tree. Do you believe that? That's the gospel. God was in
Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. The blood of Jesus
Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. He didn't die
as a martyr. He didn't die as an example.
He didn't die as a failure. He didn't die as a reformer.
He died as a substitute. Now, that's so. He died as a
substitute. He died on purpose. He said,
for this cause came I to this hour. He went to the cross to
die for his people. There he paid the debt. It's
paid, it's paid in full, all the debt I owe. See, and left
the crimson stain, but he washed it white as snow. Where is he?
Well, let's let the angels answer. Luke 24, 6. They took him down
from that cross and they put him in a tomb. Three days later,
the women came to that tomb to anoint the body with spices and
precious ointment, and the stone was rolled away and the tomb
was empty and the angels were standing there. And the angels
said, Why look ye for the living among the dead? He's not here. Where is he? He's not here. He's
not here. Why are you going to the Holy
Land to visit an empty tomb? He's not there. He's not there. Now you can go visit the grave
of Confucius, he's still there where they put him, his bones
are, what's left of him. You can go to the grave of Buddha,
and you can pay your respects because the old boy is still
there, his bones are. You can go to the grave of Mohammed,
he's still right there, what's left of him, still there. You
can't go to the grave of Christ. The angel says he's not here.
He's not here. He's risen! Low in the grave
he lay, Jesus my Savior, waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord. Death could not hold its prey,
Jesus my Savior. He tore the bars away, Jesus
my Lord. And up from the grave he arose,
a mighty triumph over his foes. He arose a victor over the dark
domain, and he lives forever with his saints to reign. He
arose. Where is he? He's at the right hand of God.
There's one God and one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus. And Paul said he's right there
on the right hand. That's the place of power, the
place of love, the place of acceptance, the place of victory. Come sit
on my right hand until I make your foes your footstool. That's
what God said to him. I don't want to be one of those
foes. I want to be a friend. I don't want to hear God say,
I'll make your foes, your footstool depart from me. He's on the right
hand of God. Where is he? Well, I quickly
tell you this, he's in the furnace of trial. They looked in that
fired furnace and said, Didn't you put three children in there?
Yes, there's four in there. One of them is the Son of God.
He's in the assembly of believers where two or three are met together.
He said, I'm with them. And then he's in the valley of
the shadow of death. Yea, though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I fear no evil. He's with me. Where is
he? He's with me. If you want this
on tape, We have cassette tapes of all the messages I preach
on this program. If you'd like to have one, write
to me. It'll be a small charge, and we'd be happy to send it
to you. Be glad to hear from you. Until next week at the same
time, Henry Mahan bidding you a very pleasant, good day.

The Great Question -- The Answer

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The Great Question -- The Answer

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