When Dead Men Live

Now if you'll turn in your Bibles
to John chapter 5 again, John the 5th chapter, our Lord is
speaking here to the religious people, to the Jews, and he is
telling them that they had received abundant evidence of his being
the sent one of God. They had been given abundant
evidence They had been given many witnesses of His being the
sent one of God, the Messiah, the Redeemer, and yet they had
rejected Him. He said in verse thirty-three
that they had the witness of John the Baptist. They were willing
for a season to rejoice in His light. He said in verse thirty-three,
You sent unto John, and John bear witness unto the truth.
John the Baptist at the baptism of Jesus Christ declared him
to be the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. John
was the forerunner of Christ. He was supernaturally born, he
was supernaturally blessed, he was supernaturally sent. And
God had told him, upon whom you see the Spirit of God descend
in the form of a dove, that's the Messiah. And John bore witness
that at the baptism of Christ that the Holy Spirit did in fact
descend upon him in the form of a dove. And he cried, The
Lamb of God, behold him who taketh away the sin of the world. And
then in verse 36 he tells these religious Jews that he had greater
witness than that of John, for the works which the Father had
given him to finish the same works he did. Now, when John
the Baptist was in prison, he sent two of his disciples down
to where Christ was preaching, and they asked Christ this question,
Are you he for whom we look, or should we look for another?
And this was the witness that Christ gave them. He said, You
go back to John, and you tell him how the blind see, and the
deaf hear, and the lame walk. Now, this is the fulfillment
of Isaiah 35. I want you to turn over there
just a moment. Isaiah 35, the prophecies concerning the Messiah,
concerning the Redeemer, and this is one of them, Isaiah 35,
verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse
4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Isaiah
35, verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse
4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Isaiah
35, verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Isaiah 35,
verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Isaiah
35, verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Isaiah
35, verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Isaiah 35, verse 4. Isaiah Then the eyes of the blind shall be
opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall
the lame man leap as a heart, and the tongue of the dumb shall
sing. For in the wilderness shall waters
break out, and streams in a desert." This is the Savior. When this
comes to pass, Nicodemus said that. He said, we know you've
come from God. No man could do these miracles.
except God be with him. This is a witness. This is an
evidence. And Christ said, you have this evidence. I have done
those works. Now, in verse 37, he gives us
another witness. He said, and the Father himself,
John 5, 37, and the Father himself which hath sent me, he hath borne
witness of me. Now, three times the Father spoke
from heaven. Three times. bearing witness
to Christ. I want you to turn to these.
In Matthew 3, when Christ came to the River Jordan to be baptized
of John, as he said, to fulfill all righteousness, the scripture
says, and Jesus, Matthew 3, 16, and Jesus, when he was baptized,
went up straightway out of the water And lo, the heavens were
opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like
a dove and lighting upon him. And lo, a voice from heaven saying,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Now I recognize
that we've got people in this day who call themselves the Jesus-only
people. We've got those who say that
there is no Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, no Trinity. But
this Scripture would answer them right here. Here was Jesus Christ
being baptized in the River Jordan. Christ manifest in the flesh.
And the Scripture plainly tells us that the Spirit of God descended
upon Him, lighted upon Him in the form of a dove. And a voice
from heaven said, this, listen, this is my beloved son, in whom
I am well pleased. You have the Father speaking.
I don't claim to understand the Trinity. I certainly can't explain
it. I'm simply saying that God as Father, God as Son, and God
as Holy Spirit is manifested in this Word, and also in this
world. and also in our lives. The Father
gave, the Son redeemed, the Holy Spirit called. And the Father
speaks here now in another place in Matthew 17. Would you turn
there with me? Matthew 17, verse 5. In Matthew 17, verse 5. While
you're finding that, let me say this about the Trinity. Christ
said to His disciples, I go to my Father. And if I go, I'll
send you another Comforter, the Holy Spirit. The Father sent
me, I send the Spirit, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. In
Matthew 17, 5, it says, While he yet spake, behold, a bright
cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud
said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear
ye him. Then in John 12, here's another
scripture. revealing the Father's witness. In John chapter 12, 28, the Father
spoke again. Our Lord said, Father, glorify
thy name, John 12, 28. Then came there a voice from
heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. The people, therefore, that stood
by and heard it said that it thundered, others said an angel
spake to him, and Jesus answered, This voice came not because of
me, but for your sakes." And then John 5, turn back there
again, there's another witness. Christ speaking to these religious
people. He said, God has given many evidences that I am the
sent one, many witnesses. John the Baptist came, the forerunner.
Supernaturalist, born, sent, blessed. And then the miracles
which I have performed, these are witnesses, these are fulfillment
of the scriptures. Then the Father himself has spoken
from heaven. You've not heard his voice, but
others heard it. And then verse 38, there is the
indwelling witness. You have not his word abiding
in you. For whom he hath sent, you believe
not." To those who know Christ, God gives an internal witness
of the Word and of the Holy Spirit. There is an internal witness.
I know these things because I feel these things. I know these things
because God hath given me an inward witness. His Spirit beareth
witness with our spirit. The Gospel is just not a series
of facts. The gospel is an experience.
And then the fifth witness, verse 39, there should be the little
word ye in front of search. Christ is saying, you search
the scriptures. This is what you do. And these
men did. They were students of the word. No question about that.
They were orthodox. They were fundamental. They were
theologians. They were men who studied the
word. Paul was a student of the scriptures. You search the scriptures. For in the Scriptures you think
you have life. But that's where you're missing
it, Christ said. The Scriptures testify of me. The Scriptures testify of me.
This book is about the Savior. This book is not just a historical
account of the wanderings of the Jews and their religion.
This book is about the Savior. Christ said, Moses wrote of me.
Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, and they're about
Christ. The book of Psalms is about Christ. The book of Isaiah
is about Christ. In Acts 10.43, Luke wrote to
him, give all the prophets witness. Christ is their message, just
like Christ is our message. Christ was Isaiah's message.
Christ was Jeremiah's message. Christ was Malachi's message.
Christ is the message of all the prophets. This whole book
is about the same. Now, in spite of all these witnesses,
look at verse 40. You will not come to me that
you might have life." In spite of all these witnesses. Now let's
get the picture. Christ is speaking to these religious
Jews. He came unto his own and his
own received him not. He said, I'm coming in my Father's
name and you receive me not. Let another come in his own name,
seeking his own glory, preaching his own message. Him you will
receive. You won't receive me. You won't
come to me that you might have life. In spite of all these witnesses. All right. change now, let's
go to another paragraph. Let's turn our minds away from
these unbelieving Jews to whom Christ was speaking. Let's turn
our minds away from these unbelieving religious people to whom he was
speaking then, and let us look at today's unbelieving Gentile. There are people in this congregation,
there are people in everybody's congregation, there are people
in the radio audience who will hear this message There are people
in the television audience who will hear this message who have
not come to Christ. Now they're familiar with these
evidences too. John the Baptist is certainly
no stranger to these people today, to the unbelieving Gentiles.
The apostles are not strangers to the unbelieving Gentiles.
They know men such as Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, John
the Baptist. These are not strangers. And
then the miracles and character and work of the Lord Jesus Christ
are known by unbelieving Gentiles today. They're aware of these
miracles. We have not heard the Father's
voice, but we've seen Him in the heavens. The heavens declare
the glory of God. The firmament showeth His handiwork.
We see Him in creation. We feel Him in conscience. There
is an inward witness. God hath not left himself without
a witness. There is a light that lighteth
every man that cometh into this world. We are not mentally dead,
we are not physically dead, though we are spiritually dead, and
the Holy Scriptures are in our possession. We have all five
of these witnesses today. The apostles, John the Baptist,
the miracles of Christ, the Father's revelation, the inward witness,
and the Holy Scriptures. And yet, you will not come to
me that you might have life." To whom does the Savior speak
in verse 40? And you will not come to me. Let's turn our minds away from
the unbelieving Jews for a moment. Let's turn our minds even from
the unbelieving Gentiles for the moment, and let's come down
to one three-letter word, Y-O-U. Christ said, and you, and you
will not come to me. There was a prophet by the name
of Nathan. who preached in the days of King
David. And one day someone came into
the throne room of King David, and they said, Nathan the prophet
wants to talk to you. And David said, well, show him
in. So Nathan the prophet came in to the presence of King David,
and he went through all the formalities, I'm sure, greeting the king and
passing comment on the things of the day. And then he said,
King David, I have a story to tell you. King David said, well,
proceed. Nathan said, King David, there
is in your kingdom a very wealthy man. This man is rich. He has many lambs and many sheep. He's a wealthy man. He has a
poor neighbor who lives nearby, who was very poor, and who had
only one lamb, a lamb which he loved very, very much. Well,
King David, one time a visitor came by to see this rich man,
a hungry visitor, and this rich man, instead of providing one
of his many lambs or many sheep for the hungry visitor, he went
next door. And he got the one little lamb
that belonged to his poor neighbor, and he killed that lamb, and
he fed it to his hungry visitor. David rose up from his throne
in anger, and he said, Nathan, tell me who this man is, and
as sure as there's a God in heaven, I'll have him killed. And David
sat back down, and Nathan looked at him and paused a long time,
and then he said, King David, thou art the man. Thou art the man. There is a man whom God Almighty
created, to whom God gave life, and God supplied him with all
that he needed, gave him health and happiness, gave him companions
and friends. Gave him eyes with which to see,
and ears to hear, and a tongue to speak, and legs to walk. God
gave him all that he needed, provided him with more than he
needed. And God's enemy came in, lied
about God, and this man turned away from God and made friends
with God's enemy. He turned from God to the arch
foe. Instead of doing God's will and
God's bidding and God's commandments, he began to do the will of this
Satan, satanic enemy. He walked with the evil crowd.
He took the side of this enemy against God Almighty. He said,
who is this traitor? Who is this ungrateful wretch? Thou art the man. Thou art the man. There is a man who lives in God's
world and eats God's food and breathes God's air and enjoys
all the good things of God's kingdom. But about the only time
that he uses God's name is in vain. He never praises God, but
rather he murmurs against God because God doesn't give him
more. He never gives thanks. Who is this ungrateful wretch?
Thou art the man. There is a man who, because of
sin, was put out of God's kingdom, out of God's garden, because
of the fall, because of rebellion. But God told him, there's a way,
you can come back if you so desire. I've made a special door, a special
way, a special entrance, at a great cost to myself, God said. It
cost me the death of my only begotten Son, but I have made
a way for you to come in. There is a door, there is a way.
But this man out there ignores that door, he ignores that way
that God made it such great cause, and he keeps slipping around
to the back trying to come in another way. Instead of coming
the way of grace, he wants to come the way of works. Instead
of coming the way of calvary, he wants to come the way of the
ceremony. Instead of coming the way of
the blood, the way of the cross, he wants to come the way of deeds.
Who is this fool? Thou art the man. When God sent His Son into this
world to bring His love to this world, His grace, His redemption
to man, when God gave His Son as a messenger of holiness, a
messenger of truth, a messenger of grace, a messenger of forgiveness,
there was a man who spat in his face. He plaited a crown of thorns
and he pressed it down into his brow. took him outside the city wall,
and drove nails in his hands, and hung him on a cross, and
stood back and laughed at him while he died, saying, We will
not have this man reign over us. God, take your messenger
back where he came from. Who is this horrible creature?
Thou art the man. Thou art the man. There is a man for whom Christ
died. There's a man for whom Christ
suffered. There's a man for whom Christ
gave himself on Calvary's tree. There's a man to whom God hath
given forgiveness and grace and mercy and called to himself. There's a man upon whom God hath
placed honor, sonship, blessings. One day an enemy came by and
offered him a little pleasure, offered him a little pottage.
And he took it in exchange for his birthright. And he sold out. Who is this fool, preacher? Thou
art the man. Thou art the man. There is a
frail creature walking through this world today. All around
him are dangers, diseases, and death. He's getting older and he knows
that he only has 70 or 80 days at the most. He could die at
any moment. If he dies in his present state,
he'll die under God's wrath. If he dies in his present state,
he'll face judgment without God and be cast into hell. He'll
forever die. He's been offered life. He's
been offered security. He's been offered eternal health,
but he won't take it. He refuses. He'd rather continue
his precarious journey and perish hopelessly. Who is this senseless
man? Tell me, brother man, who is
it? Thou art the man. Thou art the man. There's a man
for whom Christ Jesus lived and suffered and died. God loved
him when he was unlovely. Christ lifted him when he was
fallen, helpless, hopeless, without God. God washed him when he was
unclean, and God has forgiven him day by day when he sinned. But when he gets around his worldly
friends, he's ashamed of Christ. He blushes to speak his name. He can find companionship with
those who hate the Savior. He walketh David said, in the
counsel of the ungodly, he standeth in the circle of sinners, he
sitteth in the seat of the scornful. Who is this man who is ashamed
of such a dear friend? Thou art the man. Thou art the
man. Oh, that God would send us a
Nathan. Oh, that God would send us a
Nathan. to point his finger in our face
and say, Thou art the man. And oh, that God would send us
a spirit of conviction, a broken heart, that God would take out
of our hearts our rebellion and our pride and our haughtiness
and make us like David to fall at the feet of God and cry, Oh
God, I have sinned. I have sinned. Our text says, the Jews will
not come to me. That's not what it says. The
Gentiles will not come to me. That's not what it says. It says,
you, you won't come to me. I want the man. What is the Savior's charge?
He says, you will not come to me. It's to Christ that we're
invited. It's not to the preacher. Find all the infirmities you
can with a preacher, and when you find all of them, he can
fill you in on a few more. He's only a man like yourself.
As James wrote, Elijah, Jeremiah, all of the
prophets of God are subject to like passions, to like failures. But God doesn't invite you to
a preacher. The preacher can't help himself,
let alone you. You're invited to Christ. You're
invited to Christ. Find all the fault you can with
the people of God. The scripture describes them
as a field of what? Wheat and tares. And what men
do today is choke to death on the tares and ignore the wheat. I've heard people say, oh my
my, this person is going to hurt the church. That's not so. No man can hurt God's church.
Our Lord said the gates of hell can't prevail against my church. You can't break the rock, you're
broken on the rock. It's himself that he'll hurt
and destroy and finally incur God's wrath. But God's church,
you can't hurt it, no way. You can't hurt it by your presence
and you can't hurt it by your absence. You can't hurt it by
your so-called holiness or your so-called sin. No way. God'll take even the wrath of
man and get his praise out of it. That's what he says in the
book. He'll accomplish his purpose. Oh, there's so many hypocrites
in the church. Of course there are. There's
sick people in the hospital. That's what a hospital's for. It always has been and always
will be. But this is not a reflection
on the church, it's a reflection on them. That they can be in
the presence of the Lord and remain false, it's not the Lord's,
it's not a reflection on Him, it's a reflection on them. Our Lord is pure. Our Lord is
perfect. But preacher, there's so many
different ways preached today. Of course there are, there always
has been. But God has only one way. Men
have many ways. They've always had many ways
and always will. But God has one way. Christ said,
I am the door. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me. There's none
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved. Of course there are many ways
preached. But God's always preached one
way. One way. And that way's Christ. The Savior says, and you, thou
art the man, and you will not come to me. You will not come
to me. Look at the next line. What is
the Savior's promise? To whom does he speak? You. Wherever
you are this morning, whether you are an unbeliever, or whether
you are a hypocritical believer, or whether you are a fallen church
member, or whatever you are, he speaks to you. You will not come to me. To me. Not to the preacher, not
to the church, not to the ceremony, not to the ordinance. To me. I'm the one you'd better do business
with because I'm the one you're going to face in the judgment. What is the Savior's promise?
That you might have life. Now I want to show you something
now that all of us need to know. All of us need to know this. Life, Christ said. You need life. I need life, first of all, because
by nature I'm legally dead. What does it mean when the Spirit
of God quickens the dead? You who were dead in trespassions,
what does that mean? Dead in sin. First of all, man
is legally dead. Now you'll learn something here
if you listen. What happened in the Garden? Man is legally
dead. When a man commits a murder in
our country and he stands before the judge, now he's guilty. He's committed the murder, the
evidence is presented, the jury's verdict is he's guilty, and the
judge sentences him to die. So they take this man and handcuff
him and take him to prison and put him on death row. He's awaiting
execution. legally dead. There is an election,
but he doesn't vote. He's legally dead. There's the
death of a relative, but he doesn't inherit. He's legally dead. There's a family reunion, but
he doesn't attend. He's legally dead. He has no
papers, no identification. He's now a number. He's legally
dead. And that's what happened in the
Garden of Eden. Man, you may boast of your life, you may boast
of your standing, you may boast of your rights, you may boast
of your personality, but the scripture says, he that believeth
not on the Son is condemned already. He's legally dead. As far as
God is concerned, as far as the kingdom is concerned, as far
as the government of God is concerned, as far as the glory of God, he's
dead. He's already been subtracted,
and he's awaiting execution. That man on death's row, as far
as this country, as far as his voting rights and privileges
and citizenship, he's dead. He no longer lives. And that's
what happened in the Garden, as far as the kingdom of God,
as far as our citizenship. Our citizenship is among the
damned. We've had our citizenship papers
revoked. We're dead. All right. Secondly,
we are by nature legally dead. We are by nature spiritually
dead. Not only did this sentence pass
in the book of God, but it passed in the heart of man. When we
fell in the Garden of Eden, our wills were twisted. No longer
do we will God's will, but our will. It corrupted our affections. We love what we ought not love,
we hate what we ought to love. It warped our minds. Your thoughts
are not my thoughts, God says. You're legally dead and you're
spiritually dead. It depraved my imaginations. My memory holds the bad and forgets
the good. because I'm spiritually dead. I'm dead to God, I'm dead to
good, I'm dead to glory, I'm dead to holiness, I'm dead to
truth, I'm dead to love. There's the third death. Legally
dead, spiritually dead, and we face eternal death. This is the
result of the two, legal and spiritual death, for the scripture
says, the soul that sinneth, it shall surely die, and die,
and die, and die. Sin separates us from God. It casts us into eternal darkness,
into eternal death, into eternal suffering, into eternal misery. The Savior's promise, listen,
and you who are dead, legally, spiritually, and face eternity,
will not come to me that you might have life." What kind of
life does Christ give? Well, first of all, he gives
legal life. He went to the death row, he went to the prison house
of the damned, he went to the gallows, he went to the place
of execution, and there he took my sentence, and there he took
my judgment, and there he took my death, and my citizenship
has been restored. I am legally justified, I am
legally declared not guilty, I am legally declared pardoned,
fully pardoned through Christ my Lord. And my spiritual life
has been restored, for Christ said we are begotten again into
a living hope. We are born of God. God has come
to us by His Spirit and restored that life that we lost in Adam.
We have been restored to the place of sonship. I now have
a divine nature, a holy nature, a righteous nature. Of course
I have a fleshly nature. This is where some of the religious
people of today conflict. They say when you're born again
that the old nature is eradicated and the old nature dies. This
is not true. The flesh would have to die.
I have a new nature, I have a holy nature, but as long as I'm walking
in this flesh, in this body, I have what the scripture calls
a body of sin, a body of death. I have a fleshly nature. And
there's a warfare and a conflict between that which is born in
me by God and that which was born in me from my Father in
the flesh. But I have that spiritual life.
And Christ said, turn to John 10. And Christ our Lord said
in John 10 that he had restored unto us eternal life. He says, verse 27, My sheep hear
my voice, I know them, they follow me, and I give them eternal life,
and they shall never perish. What happened in the garden?
The sentence of death was passed upon man the criminal. He became
in the books of God legally dead. Spiritually he lost his life
He lost communion with God. He lost contact with God. He
became a flesh creature, not a spiritual creature. Facing
him, eternal death. Eternal separation from God because
of these two. The carrying out of the sentence.
Legally he deserved it. Spiritually he deserved it. Eternal
death awaited. Christ came and took my place.
He took my place before God legally. He was born under the law. He
became subject to the law, to everything the law required,
and as a man he fulfilled it and restored my legal status
in God's presence, put my name in the book of life. He gave
me by his Spirit a new life which I was not born with, which I
did not have. He gave me a spiritual life,
a spiritual holy nature, the nature of God. And he restored
unto me eternal life because these two were fulfilled in him.
Legally, I'm justified. Spiritually, I'm regenerated. And as far as eternal life is
concerned, I'm waiting for the day when God shall come and call
me home. You want that life? Well, you'll
have to come to Christ. You will not come to me, he said,
to me. It's not down here. We face today
what they call decisional regeneration. The average person thinks it's
salvation down in front of the church. It's not down here. It's
not in the baptismal pool, though baptism is important. It's not
in the law. It's in a person. A person, Christ. Would you come to Him? And let
me tell you this, there's nothing worth holding on to and losing
Christ. Nothing. Nothing. Our Father in Heaven, bless the
message this morning. Use it for Thy matchless glory
and honor. Humble us, bring us down into
dust. Let us be willing to turn from
all things and everyone in order that we might win Christ and
be found in Him. Oh, that we may know Him and
the power of His resurrection. May we learn Christ. May we experience
Christ. May we receive Christ. In his
blessed name we pray. Amen.

When Dead Men Live

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

Joshua

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

When Dead Men Live

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

More from Henry Mahan

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Henry Mahan

Books by Henry Mahan

Joshua

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book