All right, brethren, chapter two, Luke chapter two. Now, we saw this morning that they went up there, our Lord Jesus is 12 years old, and they went up to the feast of the Passover. Our Lord Jesus is the fulfillment of that that feast. He is the Passover lamb. And what's remarkable to me is when they went up to that feast, they had the Savior of whom that was written. They had him with them in their midst. He was there with Joseph and Mary. And they go up there to that feast. Now he's fulfilled it. He is our Passover. He was given by God to glorify the Lord Jesus. Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us.

Here's the question I want to ask. Where is Christ found? They left that ceremony. They had their acquaintances, their kinfolks with them. It wasn't just Joseph and Mary. There was quite a group there. And they left and they went, headed home. And after a day, they realized that Lord Jesus was not with them. And they began looking everywhere for him. And they go back and they find him in the temple, 12 years old. He's listening to the doctors of religion. He's asking them questions. And they speak to him and say, why'd you do this to us? We've searched you sorrowing. And he said, why'd you have to search for me? That's what he's saying. Why did you have to look for me? Don't you know I would be about my father's business? I have to be, I must be.

Where will Christ be found? I want to see what we can learn from this. First of all, I want you to take note that Christ went to the feast with them. When they went up there, he went with them. Now, when we're born again of God, Christ dwells in us. When we're born again. by the Spirit of God, Christ dwells in us. He is with us, and he promises to be with us. When we assemble to hear the gospel, he promises to be with us. At that time, for the true believer, those ceremonies was the same as us gathering here to worship. Same, same, they were gathering there to worship the Lord.

I'm not like Many who think that the Old Testament saints didn't understand the gospel. I think they did. They were taught of the same spirit as we are. We see better because Christ has already come. They were looking for him to come. But David, Peter said on the day of Pentecost, he said David knew the things he wrote weren't written about David. He knew they were written about the Lord. He knew the Lord is the king. So they went up there and when they were observing this feast of Passover, those that had been given faith were looking to Christ. They saw Christ in that ceremony. So we gather here to remember him. We gather here to be reminded that he's our Passover lamb. We partake of his table to remember him.

We're not going back to the ceremonies. We're not going back to that, we're not going back He's delivered us from the old and he's established under the everlasting covenant of grace. He's given you, you can't serve God and live to God till you're dead to the law. Until then, everything will be done out of a guilty motive or a self-righteous motive. It'll be done trying to please men, trying to be seen of men, trying to get the favor of men or out of the fear of men. It takes the Lord making you know He has saved you, He is saving you, and He shall save you, and that He's with you, and that He's made you accepted of God. When He does that by His Spirit, then you'll start living to God, walking by faith, not by sight. But that day they went up to this feast, the Lord was with them. And our Savior has promised when we're born of Him, that he dwells in us and he will be with us. He said in his high priestly prayer in John 17, praying to the Father, he said, Father, he said, the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them. What is that? The Father gave him the glory of being the salvation of his people. That's what the gospel declares, of being our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, our redemption, everything we need for salvation. And when the Lord gives you faith, he gives you the glory. In other words, he makes you see God's glory in the face of the Lord Jesus, and you believe him for the first time by his grace.

Why did he give them the gospel? Why did he give them life and faith and eyes to see Him and to see His glory and know His salvation. He said that they may be one, even as we are one, praying to the Father, even as we're one, Father, that they may be one, I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one. And so when the Lord gives you faith, He's in you, and He's made you one with Him, one with the Father, And the only place we're perfect is in Christ, perfect in one.

And so our Lord said he will be with us. And he said, where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst. That's not just anybody gathering. That's where he has assembled his people. The church he forms on Christ our foundation, which is a habitation of God through the spirit. He dwells in his people. and he's with his people when he gathers us. That's what Paul said to the Philippians. If you wanna, that verse where he says, where two or three are gathered in my name, I'm there, that's out of Matthew 18. And the Lord was using that in the context of if a brother has to be rebuked and a church has to come together, well, you wanna read the commentary on that, read Philippians 2.

Paul said, do everything in mercy, in lowliness of mind, preferring the other above yourself, not seeking glory. He said, do everything with fear and trembling. Do it without murmuring and disputing. Why? What was the motive to do everything in this lowliness and this looking at your brother as better and looking out for his good? Why? Because he said, God's in your midst. He's present. Christ is there. God is in you. He said, working in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. That's the same as what Christ was saying. When you're together, I've gathered you and I'm there. How would you treat one another if Christ was standing right there and you could see him? Well, he's there. He's there. And he promises never to leave his people. He said, I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee. When you know that, that's when you serve the Lord and stop serving men. All those different ways I just mentioned. Fearing men, trying to please men, trying to gain their favor. He said, I'll never leave you nor forsake you so that you may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man shall do to me.

So he's with his people. Now secondly, we must never presume We must never presume, but always seek the Lord's presence continually. Seek his presence continually. We have to have Christ's presence. Look here in verse 43. When they have fulfilled the days, they went through the ceremony, and as they returned, the child Jesus carried behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and his mother knew not. They didn't know it. But they, supposing him to have been in their company on a day's journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And verse 45 says, and they found him not. Now you get the scene there. That's, you know, we're not just blaming Mary and Joseph. There was a lot of folks in their company. They had some acquaintances that went up there with them. They had their kinfolk with them. There was quite a few of them there. Them two, I mean, or those three, it was a lot of folks. And they left and they headed back and they don't have any idea the Lord Jesus is not with them.

Now, the first problem was they supposed him to be with them. They took it for granted. They supposed him to be with them. Don't ever suppose Christ is with you. Don't do that. Never suppose Christ is in you personally. Our chief concern at all times, now listen, I wanna say this right. I want him to give you the faith to know he is with you and will never leave you. If you've been born to him, that's his promise. But he's gonna keep us ever dependent on him. So we don't ever just suppose and take for granted that he's with us.

He said, He told him in Ezekiel all the things he would do for him. But he said, but you're going to ask me because he's going to keep you knowing you need him. Never suppose, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure. How do I do that? Listen, who did the saving? Religion has taken this phrase down south where I'm from, and they probably do it here, but once saved, always saved. Well, that's true, depending on who did the saving. Men use that to defend just going to a church, and walking an aisle, and making a profession, and being baptized, and getting their name on a church roll as if that's something, and then never showing up again. say anything. Well, once saved, always saved. No. It's if Christ saved you, you're going to be saved. That's the question.

How do I make McConner and election sure? Did you choose God or did God choose you? That's the question. Did you produce your faith or did God give you faith by grace? Was it by God's will that you were drawn or was it by your will? Our Lord said, you've not chosen me. I've chosen you. I've ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and your fruit shall remain. Who produced your fruit? Did you produce it, or did the Lord produce it? Did you produce faith, or did He do it? Did you produce repentance, or did He do it? Who gets the glory? God gets the glory. That's how we make our call in an election, Sheriff. Who did the saving? Did I love Him, or did He love me? Did I propitiate God for my sins? Did I do something to atone for my sins? Or did Christ do it all? Here in His love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sin.

Did Christ alone quicken and call me? Or did I muster up the faith and do this? Am I satisfied that Christ alone gets all the glory? God in three persons in Christ gets all the glory for every aspect of my salvation, and I don't get any. I don't want any. Is that so with you? Scripture says, blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and calls us to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts, we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. That's what he works in his people. That's how you know you were chosen and called of God. When the Lord's taken up his abode in you, and really is with you, he makes you to know he's done it all. He gets all the glory, and he sanctifies you from that intemperate lust of wanting to have the glory for things only the Lord can do. The carnal religion wants the glory of believing Christ, they want the glory of choosing Christ, they want the glory of justifying and sanctifying themselves. That glory goes to God, not to us, not to us.

Also, never suppose Christ is in our company when we gather to hear the gospel. Seek Him. Seek Him. Before you come, seek Him. Ask Him to dwell, to meet with us. When you hear me pray, when I start the service, I almost always ask the Lord, Lord, please meet with us. We can't worship God of ourselves. You cannot worship God unless the Lord speaks the word to your heart in spirit and causes you to behold him and truly worship him. He worships of the Lord. He's the one that creates worship in the heart of his people, and we need him to do it.

Listen, he said, it is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you or spirit in their life. That wasn't just so when he walked this earth. That's so right now. It's the Lord that speaks and makes the word effectual in the heart of his people. They went a day's journey before they even sought him.

Brethren, Christ is to have the preeminence in our heart. That doesn't mean we seek him first and then we get the other way and we seek other things. That means he's first all the time. No matter what, when we start our day, throughout our day, at the end of our day, when we're looking for what we eat or what we're going to be clothed with, we're not looking to that, we're looking to Christ. He said, take no thoughts in what shall we eat, what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed. He said, that's what the lost world is seeking after. He said, your heavenly Father knoweth You have need of these things. He knows what we need. If there's something we don't have, we don't need it. Whatever you need, he's gonna provide it. But here's the point. Christ said, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. He's the righteousness we must have. Seek him first. And he said, these other things will be added to you. Let's seek him first.

Go to Exodus 33. I want to show you something. Moses understood this need for Christ to be present with us. Listen to this right here. You know how I said that we're sanctified by Christ dwelling in us and being present with us? That's how we're kept separated unto him, kept holy. and separate from this world. Look here, Exodus 33, 12.

And Moses said unto the Lord, See, thou sayest unto me, bring up this people, and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight, and consider that this nation is thy people.

And he said, the Lord said, my presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, if thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is it not in that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated. That's the same word for sanctified. We're gonna be sanctified. I and thy people from all the people that are upon the face of the earth, It's only by your presence, Lord. And the Lord said to Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken, for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. See, that's why we need Christ's presence. So always seek his presence. You know, get here early. I make these bulletins, put them on the table back there so you can read them and get your heart settled and look into Christ. And you know, you can't just run in and just expect to worship. It takes the Lord, you have to go to him, you have to ask him, and he's gonna prepare your heart, and he's gonna set your affection on him and bless you in the heart. So that's what we're seeking.

Now, lastly, so he went with them, he promised he'll be with us, but secondly, we never presume, we're not gonna suppose, we always seek his face, seek him to be present with us. when they realized he wasn't with them. He's always with his people, but he'll make you think he's not with you just to wake you up and remind you how much you need him. And so when that happens, where are you going to find him? Where are you going to find him? Well, first of all, where they did not find him, they did not find him amongst their kinfolks and acquaintances. Look here in verse 244. The second part there says, they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. Verse 45 says, and they found him not.

Now, some have kinfolks that know the gospel. Some have kinfolk that God has saved and they know the gospel and believe the gospel. But if you go to them because you're looking for Christ, you know what they're going to tell you? If you go to somebody that truly believes the gospel and knows the Lord, you know what they're going to tell you to do? Go to him. Look, I want to help you. The Lord's given me the privilege to minister to His people, and I want to help you. But if you come to me, this is my responsibility to tell you, go to Christ. Go to Christ. I can't help you. Go to Him. Don't go to a priest. Don't go to a preacher. Go to Christ. We have one high priest. Go to him. He's given us open access. He's given his people access to his throne of grace. To come to him that we may find mercy. You're going to always need mercy because you've got sin mixed with everything you do. To find mercy and grace to help in time of need. Go to him.

Where did they find him? Verse 45 says, they turned back again to Jerusalem seeking him. Look over at Hebrews 12, Hebrews chapter 12. They turn back again to Jerusalem seeking him. Now, they went to an earthly city. That's where they went back to. But brethren, our Lord's not in that earthly city. Our Lord is in heavenly Jerusalem. He's in heavenly Jerusalem at God's right hand. See, he redeemed his people. He accomplished our salvation. And he arose and now he's calling out his people. And he's keeping his people. We're assembled to preach this gospel because he's going to use us to call out more of his people until he's called every one of them. But where are you going to find him? He's in heavenly Jerusalem. Look here in Hebrews 12, verse 18. You're not coming to the mount that might be touched and that burned with fire and blackness and darkness and tempest. That's Sinai. Listen, when you're looking for Christ, don't go back to Mount Sinai. Don't go to the law.

The law is like a thermometer. The thermometer can tell you you have a fever, but the thermometer can't make you well. is the great physician. Christ is the balm of Gilead. He's the physician that heals, and he's the medicine that heals. And he's in heavenly Jerusalem. Go to him. Don't go to Kinfolk. Don't go to Mount Sinai. Go to him.

Verse 22, you're come unto Mount Zion, unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. Look at verse 22. You come to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel. He says there in verse 25, see that you refuse not him that speaketh. Go to him and hear him.

Christ is at God's right hand. Colossians 3 once said, set your affection on things above. Your life is hid with Christ in God. There's our righteousness, there's our holiness, there's our acceptance, there's our everything. Complete in Him. Go to Him. Go to Him. Where else does it say they found him?

Verse 46 says, Luke 2, 46, And it came to pass that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions. Now listen to me carefully. I'm not saying that God dwells in temples made with hands. I'm not saying that the Lord is everywhere. It pleased God to save through the foolishness of preaching. That's what scripture says.

And in Deuteronomy 12, five, when they went into Canaan, there was a lot of places that, just like our day, you look around, there's churches everywhere. I'm from the South, and in the South, there's a church just about on every corner, a church building just about on every corner. But when the Lord delivered them into Canaan, and I've got an article in the bulletin on this, I want you to read that bulletin.

When they got into Canaan, the Lord said, don't you assemble with them people. He taught them to burn their altars and tear down their places of worship. You don't have to do that. do what he said do. This is what he said to them. He said, unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall you seek, and thither thou shalt come.

The reason Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem is because at that time, that's where the Lord said, I've put my name. And so they went to his house where the Lord said he would make himself known. Well, brethren, the Lord has established where he sent his preacher with the gospel, assembled his people, the habitation of God through the spirit, that's where God's gonna minister to his people. That's where the Lord Jesus is gonna be present. And that's where he said, come there, assemble there. That's where you're gonna find him.

We get sick or something, we go through some trial, and we don't wanna come to the house of the Lord. We got some brethren sick right now and they can't come. They would if they could, they're listening right now on YouTube. But I'm saying, when you go through trial sometimes, you don't wanna come hear the gospel. That's the best place for us to be, that's where we need to be. Because it's where the Lord's gonna minister this word to you, it's where he's gonna minister into your heart

I'm not, he, you know, there's such thing as family worship and I encourage you to read the Bible at home and study the word at home, study it with your family and all. But listen, he said, after that in man's wisdom, man knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Since our Lord came, He called Paul personally, because he's an apostle. But even then, he sent him to Ananias, and Ananias preached the gospel to him.

But everybody else the Lord called since then in the New Testament, he called them through a preacher. He sent a preacher to them. And they'll say, well, that's limiting God's sovereign. He can save how he wants to. Yeah, he could have these rocks raise up children under Abraham. But here's what manifests his sovereignty even more.

for God to tell you beforehand, I've chosen to save through preaching and then save that way. That shows he's sovereign to tell you beforehand how he's gonna save and then save that way. You think about that Ethiopian unit. He went to Jerusalem, spent that whole week there at these ceremonies and left as empty as he went there. And he's out on the backside of a desert on a side road and the Lord directed Philip right there to where he was and gave it in Philip's heart to go up there and say, what are you reading? And he read out of Isaiah 53 and asked him, who's this talking about? And Philip preached the gospel to him and the Lord saved him.

The Lord is able to bring his child under the preaching of the gospel and quicken the heart And for you that he has, he says, where I've put my name, where my gospel's declared, that's where you're gonna find me. Go there, that's where you're gonna find me.

Now, we see here what he does through preaching. We see a picture of it, verse 46. They found him sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions. Christ is the wisdom of God. He's the prophet Moses spoke about. He's more than a prophet. He's a prophet, priest, and king. He's everything in salvation. But he's the prophet. He is the preacher who is God.

The word shepherd means pastor. He's the bishop and shepherd of our souls. And just like they heard him that day, and he was hearing them and asking them questions, when you come to the house of the Lord, and the house of the Lord is not these walls. It's where the Lord's assembled his people. And you come there, the Lord, he knows your need. He's heard your prayer. He said, before you ask me, I'm going to answer you. He already knows. He put the prayer in your heart. And he'll ask you questions through this gospel. And he'll speak into your heart through this gospel. And that's how we're going to be ministered to.

He's the head from whom all nourishment is ministered to his body, the church. And here's what'll happen when he makes you hear him. Verse 47, and all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and his answers, and when they saw him, they were amazed.

See, if you just hear me, it's not gonna do you any good. But if he makes you hear him, if he speaks to you, I'm not saying you're gonna hear an audible voice, I'm saying, You don't know it. It's more powerful than an audible voice. When the Lord really is speaking to a man's heart, our Lord does not try. He's trying to teach me something. No, he's not. He's God. He spoke heaven and earth into existence. Inhabitants are his grasshopper. He rules among the inhabitants of men. He works his will. If he's teaching you something, you're gonna get it. and he's gonna speak into your heart, and you're gonna hear him and be astonished because he's the wisdom of God. You're gonna be amazed when you see him by faith. Now here's the last thing, and this is the main point. Christ is always in his father's business, and he's gonna make his child be about his business. That's what we're talking about here. The only reason we lose his presence is we start minding our business and quit being about his business.

He was about his father's business and still is, and he's gonna make his people be about his business. Look here in verse 38. His mother said to him, son, why hast thou dealt thus with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. Now listen to what our Lord said, and I'm gonna just give you what it means here. He said to them, how is it that you sought me? Here's what he's saying. He's saying, you heard everything Simeon said about me, that I'm God's salvation. You heard everything Anna said about me, all that we saw before this. You heard them. Christ is 12 years old. He had probably told them who he was, what he came to do. You've heard that I must be about my father's business, so why don't you have to look for me anywhere else? You knew I was gonna be right here in this temple. You knew I was gonna be in this place. about my father's business. You didn't have to go anywhere else to find me. I'm going to be where my father's exalted. I'm going to be where I'm calling my people. That's where I'm going to be.

You see, you hear people all the time, oh, I'm looking for God. I'm seeking for the Lord. I'm just trying to get an answer from God. Well, where are you looking? In his word? Are you under his gospel that's been going forth where he said, I'll be and I'll minister to you? Are you at his throne of grace and heavenly Jerusalem? Men looking for him other places. Truth is, he said, there's none that seeks me. If you truly seek him, it's cause he made you, and if he does that, you're gonna find him, but you're gonna find him where he said he'll be found. In his word, under his gospel, on his throne high and above.

And brethren, the whole point here is when our Lord walked this earth, he lived and was about his father's business. This was the first time he made that statement. And the last word he said is, is it is finished. He finished the work. He saved his people. He redeemed his people. Now he's about his father's business in that he's sending this gospel forth and calling out his lost sheep. He's ministering to you. He has saved and growing us. When he calls us, he makes us to know we're here for one reason. We're here to spread this gospel as a congregation. We're sending it out right now all over the world. And we're here to spread it forth because through the gospel, Christ is calling his people.

And we're not here to build up our homes. We're not here to build up our state and build up a big bank account. We're here for the preaching of the gospel and glory of our Savior, because this is how he's going to call out his people. And he's not gonna stop till he's called the last one he redeemed. So he's gonna make us be about his business.

And look, verse 50 says, they understood him not what he spoke. When he's called you and he's given you his gospel, you don't understand at first. In fact, at best, we understand We see through a glass darkly. But look, verse 51, he went down with them and came to Nazareth. He'll go home with you. If he's in you today, he was in you when you came in here, he's been in you right now, and he's gonna go home with you. He went down with them to Nazareth. You know what Nazareth means? It means guarded one. And it's a form of the word Nazarite, which means a separated and a consecrated one. By his word, when Christ is formed in his child, he separates you and he consecrates you to him and he guards you the rest of your days. He'll be with you, he'll be in you.

And look, verse 51, and he was subject to them. Now he did that to fulfill the law, but he's fulfilled it now. But he's gonna make you be subject to him. Verse 51, but his mother, she didn't understand everything, but she kept these sayings in her heart. That's what he's gonna make his child do. You're gonna keep this gospel in your heart.

And look at verse 52. Listen, as he grows you, dwelling in you, and teaches you more of this gospel, he's gonna grow you to see that God's favor is to him only. God is satisfied with him, with his son. He's satisfied with his work, and he's going to make you satisfied with him. He grew in favor with God and man. He's going to make you satisfied with him like God is satisfied with him. That's what I read. Blessed is the man he calls and causes to approach. You'll be satisfied. He makes you satisfied with Christ.

And look, and it says, and as he grows you, you're going to see he's the wisdom of God, And that's what true wisdom is, is to commit it all to Him and trust Him to do the saving. Now go to John 15, I'm gonna give you my last word, and this is Christ's word. This is the application of everything I've been trying to say. I'm not gonna give you any application. We're gonna hear Christ give you the application. If you're His child, if He's called you and given you faith in Him, trust Him only. Here's what He's saying to you. This is what I've been trying to say through this message.

Verse three, John 15, three. You are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. That's where true holiness came from. Christ said you are clean through the word I have spoken to you. Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can you, except you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing.

See, we need his presence. We need him in us, and we need to be in him, because we cannot do anything without him. But when he's in you, and you're in him, you have life. You have everything, righteousness, holiness, acceptance with God. And not only is he gonna keep fruit in you personally, but if you read on, that fruit, he's gonna use us to preach the gospel, and he's gonna quicken and save others, which is the fruit that he produces through his gospel.

So, abide in him. Abide in him. Seek his presence. I've tried to tell you where he'll be found. Seek his presence, always.

All right, let's end with a closing hymn, and Brother Adam, if you'll come lead us. I'll tell y'all why I preached, I preached about the time I usually preach, but I'm trying to preach slower, and I'm trying to be more clear. So I'm going to have to start shortening up my notes.