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Henry Mahan

You Hath He Quickened Who Were Dead

Ephesians 2:1
Henry Mahan • December, 28 1975 • Audio
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Message 0170b
Henry Mahan Tape Ministry
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Sermon Transcript

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Our text tonight is found in
the book of Ephesians, the second chapter, the first verse. And you have he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins. Now, dead is a strong word, but
I didn't invent it. to use in reference to sinners,
and I didn't coin the word. The Holy Spirit inspired the
Apostle Paul to write this about the Ephesians. You who were dead
in trespasses and sins hath he quickened. The Lord Jesus Christ
used this word in reference to the prodigal son. When the prodigal
came to himself, returned to his father, The father ran out
to meet him and embraced him, called for his elder son and
his friends and family to rejoice with him, for he said, This my
son was dead and is alive again. You'll turn with me to the book
of Romans, chapter 5. The apostle Paul uses this term
in reference to all of Adam's sons. In Romans 5, verse 12,
he says, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world,
and death by sin, so death, spiritual death we're talking about here,
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned, death by sin. Sin entered the world, and death,
spiritual death, passed on all men. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians
15, in Adam, all die. And then in Revelation 3, verse
1, our Lord speaking to the church at Sardis said this, I know you
have a name that you live, you have a profession, but you're
dead. You're dead. Now, this is a strong
It's an offensive message, I know that. But you must remember through
this entire message that I did not invent the word. I'm preaching
what God's word declares. To the Ephesians he wrote, you
were dead and you were quickened by the Holy Spirit. The Lord
Jesus in illustrating the grace of the Father in receiving the
prodigal said, this my son was dead and now he's alive. Paul writing to the Romans said,
Death passed on all men when Adam fell. And again, he said,
as in Adam, all died. And our Lord, speaking to the
church at Sardis in Revelation 3, said, I know you have a name
that you live, but you're dead. You're dead. Now, spiritual death
is an awful idea, and it's one that men are not willing to receive. People don't mind if preachers
say they're sinful, but you mustn't say they're dead. People don't
mind if preachers say that sinners are thoughtless, but we're not
to say that they're dead. Sinners don't mind if we call
them careless or even rebellious, but dead, dead in sin, dead to
God, oh no, we mustn't say that. And this is one of the reasons
why the gospel of free grace is not understood. If you don't
understand the sinner's condition, you can't understand the sinner's
need. If you don't know how bad off the sinner is, you don't
know what it takes to make him well. Sinners are sick, but they're
not dead. They're not dead. When Eve discovered
her son Abel lying on the ground in his own blood. I'm sure she
fell upon the form of Abel and she wept and she sobbed. She'd
never seen anything like this before. And she called out to
him. She called his name, but he didn't
answer. The more she wept and sobbed
and the more she cried out to him, he didn't move. He was silent. He was still. He didn't reply. He was dead. He was dead. He couldn't hear
her. He couldn't respond. The book
of God says in Genesis 50 verse 1 that Joseph fell upon Jacob,
his father's face, and he wept upon him and he kissed him and
he cried out to him, but Jacob didn't answer because Jacob was
dead. David cried, O Absalom my son,
my son, my son, would God, I had died for you, O Absalom my son. But Absalom didn't reply. He
was dead. And this is the condition of
every man out of Christ. Every natural man in Adam is
dead. God speaks to them by mercies,
but they don't hear Him. They're dead. God speaks to them
by afflictions, by judgments, by providence. God speaks to
them by conscience, by nature. God speaks to them through the
Word. But they do not hear. Like Jacob, they're unmoved.
They don't respond. Why? They're dead. Christ the
Lord came into this world. He wept over this world. Jesus
wept, the Scripture says. He wept over the city of Jerusalem.
He cried, O Jerusalem, thou that stonest and killest the prophets
that are sent unto you, how often would I have gathered you to
myself as a hen doth gather her brood, but you would not. Christ
wept over this world. He preached to this world. He
died for this world, but men don't hear him. They don't hear
his voice. Why don't they hear them? They're
dead. Ministers of Christ preach the
word. They exhort men to repent. They
crown to men to believe the gospel. Sincere invitations are given,
but men do not hear. They do not heed. They do not
respond. Why? They're dead. And you hath be quickened who
were dead, as in Adam all died. Death passed upon all men. You
have a name, he said, that you live, but you're dead. And you
might as well expect a man in a coffin to respond to your pleas
and cries and calls as to expect a dead man to respond to the
word of God without the aid, the life-giving aid of God's
Holy Spirit. They're dead. When a man's heart is cold and
unconcerned about his relationship with God, what's wrong with him? Well, when a man in natural,
physical life, when his heart is cold and unresponsive to your
calls, what's wrong with him? He's dead. And when a man's heart
is cold and unconcerned about his relationship with God, he's
dead. When a man's hands are never
employed in doing God's work, when a man's feet never walk
in paths of righteousness, when a man's tongue is never used
in prayer or praise, when a man's ears are deaf to the voice of
God, when a man's eyes are blind to the beauty of Christ, when
a man's mind has no response to God's glory, when these spiritual
works are all absent The word of God has the right word to
use in reference to that man, and that word is dead. He only lives who lives to God,
and all are dead beside. He only lives spiritually who
lives to God, and all are dead beside. Now, we have many words
by which we describe our friends and our relatives who are unbelievers,
we're kind about it. We say, well, they're misdirected,
they're deceived, they're wrapped up in tradition. How does God
describe them? He says they're dead. We say,
well, they're busy, they're busy with business and the things
of this world, and they just haven't had time to consider
spiritual things. What does God say? They're dead. Well, they're sincere, but they're
ignorant. Well, they're young, and they're
inexperienced. Well, they have trouble at home,
and trouble on the job, and trouble in their family. Well, they have
bad health, and they're just not able to get out. We use all
these phrases. God uses one word. It's a shorter
word. It's a four-letter word. God
says they're dead. You have be quickened who were
dead, dead in trespasses and dead in sin. The minister looks
at those about him who never take up the cross and who never
follow Christ. He looks about him at those who
think that their neglect of God's worship is of no importance,
at those about him who fold up under the least trial, the least
affliction, and quit. those who neglect the Bible and
prayer, those who listen to a sermon and totally ignore it, and he
says, why is this? And God responds, they're dead. They're dead. They're dead. For when a man's
heart is cold and unconcerned, when a man's hands are never
employed in God's work, when a man's feet never walk in paths
of holiness, When a man's tongue never speaks in prayer or praise,
when a man's ears never hear the voice of God, when a man's
eyes are blind to the beauty of Christ, when a man's mind
has no thoughts of God's glory, that man is dead. That man is
dead. For when spiritual life comes
in, when spiritual life is quickened in the heart by the Holy Spirit,
when spiritual life begins in the man's life, all excuses vanish
away, because we pass from death to life. Death to life. John says, we know that we have
passed from death unto life, because there are signs of life.
We love the brethren. They're evidences of life. We
love the brethren. And every man who would be saved
must be quickened. Every man who would be saved
must be awakened. Every man who would be saved
must be made spiritually alive. Every man who would be saved
must have a second birth. Every man who would be saved,
of him it has to be said, and you have to quicken who were
dead in trespasses and sin. Let's look at our text, word
by word, quickly. First of all, in Ephesians 2.1,
Paul writes, and you, and you, you who were dead. I never despair
of anyone being redeemed. I guess I don't expect it as
much as I should, but I don't despair of anyone being redeemed
regardless of what he is, or what he has done, or what he
has been, because the Scripture says God is able to say to the
uttermost, them that come to him by Christ, he made this beautiful
world out of nothing. He can certainly do it again. He raised Lazarus from the grave,
Lazarus who had been dead four days, he certainly could do it
again. And he took a Jew named Saul
of Tarsus, the bitterest enemy Christ had on this earth. the
most self-righteous, profane, blasphemous enemy that Jesus
Christ had on this earth. God, by the power of his gospel,
took a Jew named Saul of Tarsus and made him a preacher of the
gospel. And you, Saul, who were dead, hath he quickened. He took a Roman Catholic monk,
trained in superstition, trained in idolatry, steeped in false
doctrine. a slave to the natural church,
and he made that man the reformer of the religious world. He made
that man the champion of justification by faith, Martin Luther. Martin Luther, you who were dead,
dead in your religious tradition, dead in your religious custom,
dead in your religious orthodoxy, hath he quickened and made alive. God took an English tinker named
John Bunyan, a man who was totally without learning, totally without
money, totally without influence, noted, not for his piety, but
for his profanity, that God used that man to write one of the
greatest religious classics that's ever been written, Pilgrim's
Progress. and made him such a mighty preacher
of the gospel that the great John Owen, with as many degrees
as you have fingers, chaplain to the king, said, if I could
preach the gospel like John Bunyan, I'd give up all my learning.
You, John Bunyan, who were dead in trespasses and sin, hath he
made alive. It takes God's power to do that,
but God can do it. He took an English sailor, a
slave trader, a man who captained a ship that hauled slaves from
their homes in Africa to European slave markets. A man drenched
in blasphemy, soaked in whiskey, filled with worldliness, and
made him one of the greatest hymn writers and one of the most
blessed preachers of the gospel who ever lived. John Newton,
who wrote Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound, that saved a
wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm
found. I was blind, but now I see. It's
no secret what God can do, but it takes God to do it. What He's
done for others, He can do for you. You, who were dead in your
trespasses and sin, dead to God, dead to light, dead to truth,
as he quickened. He took a woman, a woman of the
streets, a woman possessed with seven devils, and he made her
one of the redeemed companions of Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene. Read here in Ephesians chapter
2, beginning with verse 1, a description of our nature. He says, When
in times past you walked You weren't dead physically, you
weren't dead mentally, but you were dead spiritually. But physically
and mentally and morally, you walked according to the course
of this world, according to the prince of the fire there, that's
Satan, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
I told you this morning, sin is a spirit, it's a condition,
it's an attitude. Sin is not a deed as much as
it is a spirit. We hear a lot of preaching about
sins, but so little preaching about sin from which sins come. You walked according to the spirit
that worketh in the children of disobedience. And you had
your conversation, your behavior in times past in the lust of
your flesh. fulfilling the desires of the
flesh and of the mind, and you were by nature. That's where
sin has its taproot planted. That's where sin has its source,
by nature, the nature of the children of wrath. That was your
nature, even as others. But God, who
is rich in mercy for his great love for everything he loved
us, even when we were dead in sins, hath made us alive. quickened us together in Christ. And you, you. Well, let's look at the next
word here. It says, and you hath He, and you hath He quickened. Who can make a dead soul ill? Can the preacher do it? Can mother's prayers do it? Can
the high-pressure evangelist do it? Oh, we would have a great
revival if we could get some great preacher. You know, the rich man in hell
said to Father Abraham, he said, Father Abraham, I have five brothers
on the earth. Would you send Lazarus back from
the grave and preach to them? and warned them lest they come
to this awful place. Now, Father Abraham, if you had
sent Lazarus back from the dead, he'd been dead a long time. And
if he suddenly appeared on the streets in Jerusalem and walked
up and down the streets warning people about hell and sin and
judgment and death and telling people to believe God and to
receive Christ, they'd do it. Abraham said they have the word
of God, Moses and the prophets. If they hear not God's word,
they wouldn't believe, though one rose from the dead. Man cannot
make a dead soul live. We can change our ways, but not
our hearts. We can take up a new direction,
but not a new nature. We can adopt religion, but not
regeneration. Can the Ethiopian change his
skin? Certainly not. Can the leper
change his spot? Certainly not. Why? It's his
nature to be spotted. It's the Ethiopian's nature to
be black. Can you that are accustomed to
doing evil do any different? Not according to the scriptures.
Only God can give spiritual life. Let's look at some scriptures.
First of all, John chapter 1. It says in our text And you hath
he made alive, and you hath he regenerated, and you hath he
awakened, and you hath he quickened. John chapter 1 verse 11 says,
He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But some
did. As many as received him, to them
gave he the right, the privilege, the power to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name. And this describes
them which were born, not of blood, that is, not of family
inheritance, not of the will of the flesh, not of the will
of man. Oh, these who received Christ and believed on Christ
and became sons of God were born of God. This is the second verse. This is the birth of which our
Lord spoke in John chapter 3, when he says, that which is born
of the flesh is flesh, dead flesh, natural flesh. But that which
is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee,
you must be born again. Nicodemus the religious man,
Nicodemus the self-righteous man, Nicodemus the pious Pharisee,
Christ said to him, Nicodemus, you'll never see the kingdom
of God until you're born again. You'll never understand the kingdom
of God until you're born again. You'll never inherit the kingdom
of God until you're born again. How can I be born the second
time? Can I enter my mother's womb
and be born again? That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. That's all it is. That's all
it ever can be. I'm talking, Nicodemus, about
a spiritual birth. a birth of the Spirit, the birth
of God. I'm talking about receiving what
man lost in the garden, his spiritual life. I'm talking about receiving
spiritual eyes and spiritual ears and spiritual understanding,
that which no man has since the fall, apart from God's regenerating
power. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 10. Look at this. 1 Corinthians 15,
verse 10. Paul said, By the grace of God,
I am what I am. What are you, Paul? I'm a believer.
What are you, Paul? A disciple. What are you, Paul? A follower of Christ. What are
you, Paul? A dedicated disciple of the Redeemer. And that's by God's grace. I
want you to look at Ephesians chapter 1 just a moment. Let
me run through something for you here just briefly. I won't
take long with it. But what I'm saying is this.
You, dead in sin, you, by nature rebellious enemies of God, you
have he quickened. Just like he did Saul of Tarsus,
just like he did John Newton, just like he did John Bunyan,
just like he did Martin Luther, just like he did Mary Magdalene,
you have he quickened. The Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. The Father loved us with an everlasting
love. He would not suffer us to perish.
He would not leave us eternally in our sins. He gave his Son
to be our Redeemer. And the Son came into this world
as our representative. He came here and fulfilled all
that the law demanded and required. He died on the cross that the
Father might be just and to justify them that believe on Christ.
The Holy Spirit was sent. Our Lord said, I go away, but
I give you another Comforter, and He shall convince this world
of sin and of judgment and of righteousness. He'll do it. It's
the Holy Spirit that awakens and calls us to receive that
which Christ purchased and which the Father purposed. But here
in Ephesians 1, look at verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. What'd the Father do? Well, He
blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ. Verse 4,
the Father chose us according as He chose us. in Christ. Verse 5, the Father predestinated. Don't be afraid of that word.
It's a Bible word. It's used more than the term,
you must be born again. It's used five times in the New
Testament. He predestinated us under the
adoption of children. The Father, verse 6, to the praise
of his glory, made us accepted in the Beloved. You hath he blessed,
hath he chosen. Hath he predestinated? Hath he accepted? All right,
look at the next verse, 7. Talking about the Beloved here,
made us accepted in the Beloved. In whom? In Christ is the Beloved. This is my Beloved Son. In Christ,
what do we have? Redemption through His blood. Redemption, forgiveness of sins
through His blood. Not through the water, Not through
the handshake, not through the morning's bench, not through
praying through, not through my dedicated work. Through his
blood I have redemption. Verse 9, And he made known unto
us the mystery of his will. He's the prophet. Moses said,
One of these days the Father will raise up a prophet from
among the people, and him you shall hear. Our Lord said, He
that hath seen me hath seen the Father, heard me hath heard the
Father. He came to make known the mystery of the Father's will
according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself.
Verse 11, In whom we have obtained, it's already ours, past tense.
We've already obtained it. What? An inheritance. being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. And you, hath he, the Father,
blessed, chosen, predestinated, and accepted? And you, who, you
who were dead in sin, hath he, the Son, redeemed, revealed the
mystery of the gospel to you? and enriched you with an inheritance
that fadeth not away." Now look at the next verses. "...in whom
you trusted after you heard the word of truth." Nobody's going
to trust Christ until he hears about Christ. Nobody's going
to trust Christ until he hears. Why all this preaching? Why all
this Bible reading? Why all this television, radio,
missionary? Because sinners have got to hear.
They can't believe on one of whom they've not heard. They
can't trust one of whom they've not heard. They can't believe
a gospel they've never heard. And you trust it after you heard,
not before you heard it, after you heard the word of truth. They're not going to trust Christ
if they hear just a lot of foolish preaching, a lot of sob stories,
a lot of false doctrine and tradition. They've got to hear the word
of truth. What is it? It's the gospel of your salvation. That's what me and it got to
hear. And after they heard it, they believed it said, and they
were sealed with the Holy Spirit, which is the earnest. You know
what that word earnest is? It's pledge. It's token. Which
is the token or pledge of our inheritance until it becomes
mine. That is in reality. until it's put in my hands. It's
like a young man proposes to a young woman, will you be my
wife? She says yes. He gives her a
ring, slips it on her finger. What is that ring? That's an
earnest, that's a pledge. That's a pledge. That's a token
until the day of the wedding when he'll put the wedding band
on. But she wears that engagement ring denoting the fact that she
already belongs to someone else. And the Holy Spirit, the Father
who blessed us because He chose us, chose us because He predestinated
us, predestinated us because He accepted us in the Beloved,
The Son came down here and redeemed us, and the Son revealed the
gospel to us, and the Son enriched us with an inheritance which
He purchased, and the Holy Spirit came and opened our ears, and
we heard the gospel, and the Holy Spirit of God sealed us
in the hand of God, and He gave us a pledge, He gave us a promise,
He gave us a token of that inheritance. That is the assurance which we
have in Christ. He gave us the spirit to live
in our hearts until the redemption of that purchased possession
becomes ours to the praise of His glory. Who did it? Now, you
can talk about how many souls you've won to Jesus if you want
to, but I think that's blasphemy. You can talk about how many people
you've saved and converted if you want to, But I think that's
robbing God of his glory. You have he quicken. He quicken. He quicken. Well, let's look at the word
quicken for a moment. Spiritual life is the greatest
of all possessions. Blind men exchange their birthright
for a bowl of beans. But to me, it's the greatest
of all possessions. To pass from death unto life
is the greatest of all changes. If any man be in Christ, he's
a what? New creature. If a man is not
a new creature, he has every right to suspect that he's not
in Christ. What happens when the spiritual
life comes in? Pride gives way to humility.
Self-righteousness gives way to self-abasement. Carelessness
gives way to seriousness. Worldliness gives way to holiness. Unbelief gives way to faith.
Rebellion gives way to submission. And hate gives way to love. And the life of sin gives way
to the life of Christ. Someone wrote once, we thought
we were not like other men. Now we cry, I'm the chief of
sinners. What's happened? Quickened. Once
we were brainless before the law, now we're the chief of sinners. What's happened? Quickened. Once
we thought it an easy task to get to heaven, now we know that
nothing but the death of Christ can give us that glorious inheritance. What's happened? Quickened. Once
we saw no beauty in the crucified Christ that we should desire
him, now he's the fairest of ten thousand, he's the lily of
the valley, he's the bright and morning star, he's my precious possession. What's happened? Quickened. Once we found no pleasure
in the means of grace, prayer was such a chore, the Bible was
such a difficult book, Worship was such a torsome duty, sermons
put us to sleep. Now these things are food for
my soul, comfort for my heart, the delight of my life. What's
happened? Quicken. Once the world was my
haven and my home. Once the world and its approval
was my ambition. Now the world is nothing but
an empty, unsatisfying wayside stop. My house is beyond the
grave. What's happened? Quickened. Once
we were filled with envy, hatred and strife, now we're able to
rejoice and love and sympathize. What's happened? Quickened. It's a new life. It's a new nature. It's a new principle. It's a
new hope. This business of being quickened, And you who were dead
are dead no more. And you who were dead in trespasses
and sin are dead no more. He hath quickened you. There
are but two ways to walk, and both demand full time unbelief
in faith. There are but two classes of
people. the saved and lost. There are but two foundations,
Christ and works. There are but two destinies,
heaven and hell. There are but two classes of
people, the quickened and the dead. And you hath he quickened
who were dead in trespasses and sins. Our Father, again we give
thanks unto Thee and praise for Thy Word, and we pray that it
hath gone forth in this evening hour in the power of the Holy
Spirit, not in word only. And may these words from Thy
Word be quickened by Thy Spirit to the heart of some person in
this congregation. to bring that one to a saving,
living, vital union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Let these
words not fall on fallow ground to be borne away so quickly by
the birds of this world. Nor let it fall upon rocky soil
to be choked. Let it not fall among the thorns
and thistles of worldly cares and riches But may it fall upon
ground prepared by the Holy Spirit to bring forth fruit for the
glory of Him whose worth it is. For it's in His name we pray.
Amen.
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.

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