My text this evening is Isaiah 53 and verse 12. Isaiah 53 and verse 12. Now, the title of my message is How Did Christ Get His Glory? You know, I trust that I am not talking about his essential divine glory as God. His divine glory is underrived. It is eternal, incomprehensible, infinite, the glory of the unapproachable God. The Apostle Paul writing of the Lord Jesus Christ says his glory is such that no man has seen it, no man can approach unto it, no man can even think about describing it. It's the glory of the infinite God. So as God, Our Savior never derived anything in his divine character. He never attained anything. He never got anything. He never received anything.

But as a man, the Lord Jesus Christ, seated right now in the heavens, has obtained glory. Glory that is infinitely above that of any man. or that which any man shall ever possess. He is the God-man, our Savior, seated at the right hand of the majesty on high in glory." Now, how did he obtain that glory? Numerous passages of scripture answer the question for us. Let's look at several of them. We'll just read them and then we'll come to our text.

Look in John chapter 17. John chapter 17. Our Lord Jesus is praying his high priestly prayer just before his sacrifice as our great substitute. And he says in John 17 and verse 2, thou hast given him, talking about himself, the son of man, thou hast given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. Then in verse four he says, I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do, and now, O father, glorify thou thee with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. Now in that prayer, our savior describes his source of glory as being his obedience to the father and having finished the work his father gave him to do.

Look in Romans chapter 14, Romans the 14th chapter and in verse 9, the apostle says, for to this end, Christ both died and rose and revived That is, he died, he rose from the dead, he ascended into heaven, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. So this is how he got his glory. He died, he arose, he ascended into heaven, and now he sits in heaven as Lord both of the dead and of the living.

Look in Philippians chapter 2. Philippians, the second chapter, the Apostle Paul is writing, urging us to follow the pattern of Christ's life, to be like-minded with Jesus Christ, the Lord, to humble himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And then in verse nine, he says, wherefore, that is because of his obedience, because he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross as a man. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, of things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess. One day it's going to happen. Because God's exalted him, because God Almighty has given him a name that's above every name, everybody who ever has been shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Look at one more text in Hebrews chapter one, Hebrews one, verse one. God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world, who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, when he got the job done, when he had by himself, unaided, unassisted, alone, the God-man by himself purged our sins, and then he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.

Now all of those texts of scripture describe for us the source of Christ's glory. But none describes it more fully and more clearly than our text this evening. Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 12. This text is sort of a summary of the whole 53rd chapter of Isaiah. Here the prophet of God brings to summarization the message of redemption that he has been proclaiming from verse 13 of chapter 52 down to this text here. Therefore, this is the conclusion of the sermon.

Isaiah says, therefore, he's speaking for God, will I divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because, that is, this is the reason for it, he hath poured out his soul unto death and he was numbered with the transgressors and he bear the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors.

Now, our Savior's mediatorial glory is essentially twofold. He has this glory, this twofold character of glory. Number one, our Savior's glory is his sovereign dominion as Lord over all the universe. That's what you have in the opening line of verse 12. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great. These are the words of God the Father promising his son, our mediator and our substitute, a great portion of mankind as the reward of his obedience. That would make Him higher than the kings of the earth. This great work of God the Father in the exalting of His Son makes Him as a man to be higher than all men, makes Him as a man to be the King of kings and Lord of lords, and makes Him as a man to have an elect multitude who shall be His portion forever. God the Father says concerning his son, I'm going to give him a throne and dominion. I'm going to make him to be among the great, the kings of the earth. And I'm going to give him a portion. I'm going to give him a portion of Adam's race who shall be his portion forever and forever.

We rejoice to declare the Lord is my portion, saith my soul. But I rejoice even more to hear him say the Lord's portion is his people. We are the portion of Jesus Christ, our God and our Savior.

Sons of God, rejoice. Christ Jesus is despised and rejected no more. The Son of God is exalted. He is glorified. He sits on his throne. He wears a crown of glory.

Mr. Spurgeon, back in the middle 1800s, was preaching to a large crowd of people, about 20,000 or more, in the Exeter Music Hall in London, England, and he had his enemies. And one night, as people were gathering in just about the time Spurgeon stood to preach, As he opened the scriptures and started to read, someone in the galleries cried, fire, fire, the galleries are falling. And when they did, there was a horrible stampede, just a mad rush to get out of that place. Two people were killed and Spurgeon was devastated. Young preacher, he was just in his early twenties, I think, maybe 21, 22 years old. He was just devastated, just devastated. And he could not bring himself to preach the next Sunday. He just, his heart, his mind was crushed. He couldn't imagine what on earth has happened. What's, what's, what's, what have I done to cause all this? And one day, as he was trying to prepare to preach the Sunday following, he was out one Sunday and then the following Sunday, he wanted to preach to his congregation. He found a subject and a text, which just braced up his soul and he preached. On the text I read to you earlier in Philippians chapter two, wherefore God also hath highly exalted him. Mr. Spurgeon said, if my savior is exalted, my troubles are insignificant. If my savior is exalted, nothing else really matters. If Jesus Christ is exalted, that's the only thing of significance. And so he preached and preached well. a tremendous sermon on the exaltation of Christ.

We ought also to align ourselves in just that manner. Nothing else is really significant except the exaltation and glory of Jesus Christ. God has exalted his son. And His Son is exalted permanently, His Son is exalted forever, King of kings and Lord of lords. Not only is He the King of kings, He's the Kingmaker. For He has made us to be kings and priests unto God to reign with Him forever.

The saints of God, when they see his throne aright, are well represented in Revelation chapter 5. The 24 elders are around the throne, representing the saints of the Old Testament and those of the New, the apostles as well as the prophets, representing all of Israel, all the Church of God. They're gathered around the throne and they sing, Thou art worthy. Thou art worthy for thou was slain and hast redeemed us to our God out of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue.

Our Lord Jesus Christ is exalted with princely dominion over everything, and his sovereign dominion is his glory. Now, what's the source of that glory? Why does the Lord Jesus, as a man, possess these honors? Isaiah tells us in the latter part of our text, because he hath poured out his soul unto death, because he was numbered with the transgressors, because he bared the sin of many, and because he made a decession for the transgressors.

Now our Savior's glory is his dominion over everything. But it is also to be seen from our text that his glory is his sovereign exercise of his saving power and grace toward the sons of men. The Lord God says, therefore will I divide him a portion with the great. I'm going to make him be king. And then he says he shall divide the spoil with the straw. Do you see the twofold glory that he possesses? A glory which the Father gives him and a glory that he exercises. He shall divide the spoil with the straw.

Now here is the consequence of our Savior's exaltation. He divides the spoil with the straw. The Lord Jesus is a mighty conqueror. He is a conqueror who led captivity captive in his day. All other conquerors lead liberty into captivity. He led captivity into captivity. He is a conqueror who defeats death, not a conqueror who brings death. And in the exercise of his sovereign saving grace and power, the Lord Jesus delivers his redeemed ones from the captivity of Satan.

I have written down here, years ago I read John Gill's commentary on this text of scripture. And he said the best commentary, the best comment on this sentence is Luke chapter 11 and verse 22. You might want to write that down somewhere. Luke chapter 11 and verse 22. What does this mean? He shall divide the spoil with the grain. What does that mean? Well, our Lord himself explains what it means. He's talking about the power that he possesses as the son of God. He says in verse 20, if I, with the finger of God, cast out devils, the kingdom of God's come to you. Then he says in verse 22, or verse 21, rather, when a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace. Satan holds his prisoners in captivity. Everything's all right. He's got everything under control. The gospel is just bounces off your heart like a bounce off a stone wall. It doesn't have any penetration, doesn't do anything.

But when a stronger than he shall come upon him and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted and divided his spoils. This is what the Lord Jesus does in saving grace. He comes to sinners who are held captive by Satan and taken captive by Satan at his will. And he binds the strong man. He casts him out and takes possession of his spoils. And Jesus Christ sits king in the hearts where once Satan was enthroned and the prince of darkness ruled.

And why does the son of man have these spoils of victory? Why does the Son of Man possess this glory in the exercise of his sovereign saving grace? Isaiah tells us, because. Because he had poured out his soul unto death. Because he was numbered with the transgressors. Because he bared the sin of many. Because he made intercession for the transgressors.

How did Christ get his glory? I keep stressing that because I want you to see this. I'm going to make a statement to you that I think probably you will not really begin to appreciate until you meditate on it a while. But understand this, according to our text of scripture, the extraordinary glories of Jesus Christ as a man, as our savior, as the God-man, our mediator, our surety, the extraordinary glories that Jesus Christ possesses in heaven today as a man, the glory of dominion and the glory of saving grace, the extraordinary glories he possesses, must be that which he earned and which he won by his connection with sinners.

Jesus Christ has the glory now that he possesses and shall forever possess because he connected himself with such things as we are in the accomplishment of redemption. So that the glory he possesses is a glory which he determined to get through his work of grace for us, in us, and with us.

We read back in the office Rex did a few minutes ago. In Ephesians 1, the apostle Paul speaks of God's elect, of redeemed sinners, and says that we are the fullness of him that filleth all in all. We are the completion of Jesus Christ's mystical body. And without all of his redeemed ones, his mystical body must be forever maimed, and that will never happen. We're the fullness of him that filleth all in all.

I am overwhelmed when I think of God's delights with the sons of men. When I think of the infinite God, men talk about finding new galaxies. The scientists reported last week they've taken their huge telescopes and they've looked right through our galaxy and see other galaxies beyond our galaxies and speculate about all kinds of things, other worlds. Why, it wouldn't surprise me if God made 10,000 worlds. That wouldn't surprise me any.

But here we are on this insignificant particle of dust, just as insignificant as dust swept behind the door. Here we are on this thing called the earth, in this thing called the world. And only in this particle of the universe, only here, has God been pleased to create man in his own image and after his own likeness. Only here did God Almighty come in human flesh to accomplish redemption and to glorify himself. And he does it in everything that he does in this world. Can you grasp that? Everything. Everything. I've repeated several times to people this week, talking on the phone, folks call and we get to talking about things happening in the world, I'm absolutely convinced this world was created by God for one purpose, to glorify his son in the accomplishment of redemption by the shedding of his blood and the exercise of his grace. And everything God does Everything God allows, everything God permits, everything God performs on this little particle of dust called the earth, everything is to the end that Jesus Christ be exalted and every sinner chosen by Him in everlasting love will stand with Him in His glory.

Everyone, the glory of Christ as a man, as our Savior, was won by his connection with sin and sinners in this world for the accomplishment of redemption. I pray that God the Holy Spirit will give us clear instruction as we look at these four statements given by the prophet Isaiah as the cause of our Savior's glory. I'm not going to do much preaching. I'm just going to read it to you and set the facts out before you. I think sometimes the best way to present truth is just to present it naked and unadorned without illustration, without any stories to set it forth, just exactly what it says.

How did Christ get his glory? Number one, he poured out his soul unto death. He poured it out. Death is the penalty for sin. The wages of sin is death. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. God said to Adam, in the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. So death is the penal consequence of sin. Now when the scripture says that Christ poured out his soul unto death, It is so that we might understand He did this as our substitute, bearing the just and righteous penalty of our sins. This is the constant theme of Holy Scripture. Without shedding of blood is no remission of sins. The Lord God will not, cannot, never will, never has, forgive sin apart from the shedding of blood. Every sacrifice in the Old Testament, all the services of the tabernacle and of the temple, all the acts of the priesthood, day after day, year after year, generation after generation, declared without the shedding of blood is no remission. And so the scripture says that Jesus Christ attained his glory as our Redeemer by pouring out his soul unto death.

When Isaiah says he poured out his soul unto death, he means for us to understand these things, certainly. Number one, the Lord Jesus died by his own voluntary will. No one took his life from him. The Lord Jesus poured out his soul. He said concerning his death, no man has power to take my life from me. I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my father and the father loves me because I'm doing it. As I've come to this place because I wanted to come to this place. He said his face like a flint and was determined to go up to Jerusalem to suffer for us. Our Savior poured out his soul voluntarily.

Now, that word poured out implies a deliberate, purposeful act as well. We read, I think it's Toplady's hymn, It speaks of the blood of the lamb being spilt and a lot of folks get upset and say it wasn't spilt. And in our language, that seems to imply an accident. She just kind of accidentally knocked over the glass and the water spilled out. But there is a deliberate spilling of blood. And the Lord Jesus deliberately spilt his blood at Calvary. He deliberately spilt out his soul unto death by the purpose and decree of God, by his own determination as our covenant surety. Everything he did in this world, he did with the intention of going yonder to Calvary 2,000 years ago and pouring out his life's blood unto death for us.

Thirdly, When Isaiah says he poured out his soul unto death, he means for us to understand that his death was a reality. In an attempt to mold the scriptures to the opinions of men, preachers and imaginary theologians have come up with all kinds of theories and notions of interpretation about the scriptures. And many have suggested through the years that when the scripture talks about the death of Christ, it is not really talking about him actually having died, but mentally having died, mentally having given himself. And so this whole thing is just really a spiritual concept. And the Lord Jesus did not really die at Calvary. It just looked like he died. It just appeared that he died.

And when our Lord says that he poured out his soul unto death, he means for us to understand that he who is God, having assumed human flesh, actually died at Calvary in our stead and in our room. Folks say, well, God can't die. I know that. I know that. But take Godhood into union with humanity and the scripture says God redeemed the church with his own blood, didn't it? He who died for our sins at Calvary, he who poured out his soul unto death is a sacrifice of infinite value because he is a sacrifice who is God.

He poured out his soul unto death. And Isaiah means for us to understand also the completeness of his sacrifice. What did Christ give to redeem me? What did the Son of God sacrifice to put away your sins? What did the Savior lay down for atonement? Everything. everything. He held back nothing. He poured out his soul unto death. And that word soul implies the completeness of his being, the entirety of his being. He poured out his very being unto death for us.

Then the scripture says, He was numbered with the transgressors. This text looks like one of my outlines. He states the last thing he did and goes back to the first thing he did. But he does it on purpose. He says, I want you to understand now that in order for the Son of God to pour out his soul unto death There was a reason for it. He could never have poured out his soul unto death had he not been numbered with the transgressors.

The Lord Jesus knew no sin. He is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. He had no sin, he did no sin, he knew no sin, and he never could have, be, or do sin. Never in himself could the Son of God perform that which was evil and that which was contrary to his nature. Never. And yet the scripture says he was numbered with the transgressors. How? Well, in his incarnation, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was rich in his everlasting glory, who possessed all the riches of heavenly praise, who was himself and is himself the eternal God, infinite possessor of all things. He who was rich for your sakes became poor. He was numbered with you. He came into this world, he who is the image of the invisible God, and took upon himself human flesh. The scripture says he thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but he made himself of no reputation. And that word means he emptied himself. He laid aside all manifestation and displace of his deity and his glory as God, and he became one of us. He was identified with sinful flesh. No, he did not assume sinful flesh, but he was made to be flesh and assumed a nature that was like the nature of our sinful flesh, and so was numbered with the transgressors. And he was numbered with the transgressors in his life. And by the tone of slander. There he is. The Lord Jesus, the son of the living God. Who is so holy, he can't even look at sin. He's God Almighty, he's so holy, the heavens are not clean in his eyes.

And me and said, I was down there at Cana. in Galilee, and I saw him. I saw him. He turned water into wine. He's a winebibber. He's a drunk. I saw him. I was over there in Bethany, and there was a woman who came in. And that woman, she was a harlot. Everybody in town knew what kind of woman she was. But she came in and kissed his feet and washed them with her tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head and anointed him with oil. He didn't say anything about it. He's a friend of harlots. I saw it. He was with the publicans and sinners. He's the friend of publicans and sinners. He must be one of them.

The Lord Jesus came. And he turned the religious world upside down. He gave no rest to those who blaspheme God in the temple of God. He turned Judaism upside down and he turned the religious world outside of Judaism upside down. And everybody looked at him and said, this man, he's a riotous man. This man, he's not to be trusted. This man, he cast out the devil by the prince of devils. So by the tongues of slander, he was numbered with transgressors. And not one time did he attempt to correct his accusers. Not one time. Isn't that amazing? What condescension.

You and I sitting in this place are speaking in terms of humanity. have to qualify this. We're honest folks. Every man in this building pays his bills. And we would become indignant. I would become indignant if someone accused me of theft and robbery. But the Lord Jesus was accused of such. He kept his mouth shut. You ladies If anyone gave you the name of a harlot and identified you with the hookers and the street walkers and the prostitutes, you'd just become enraged. But the Lord Jesus, who is truly holy, was accused of being himself the prince of devils, and he kept his mouth shut, never attempted to say a thing, because he's God's servant. And he recognized one of these days, everything's gonna be set in clear view. God'll take care of things. God'll take care of things.

And our Lord at last, in the close of his life, was numbered with transgressors in the courts of earthly justice, in the courts of Pilate, in the courts of the Sanhedrin. The Lord Jesus, though they found no fault in him, was taken as a riotous man, an insurrectionist, and he was put to death being an insurrectionist in the courts of this earth. Men looked at him and said, here's a man who has been found worthy of death, and we'll kill him.

But more than that, in the courts of divine justice, the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, stood before God Almighty at the bar of justice and was numbered with the transgressors. Numbered with the transgressors. So that in the record of heaven, so that in the court of heaven, God Almighty looked at him and charged him with sin and he was declared and found to be guilty. Guilty in the court of justice. How could that be? Read the next line. He bared the sin of many. This is the reason for his death. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was made to be sin. His death was not merely the result of his humanity. Unless he was made to be sinned, there was no reason for him to die. Humanity was not sentenced to death until humanity became sin. When Adam was created in the garden, he had no potential of death until he sinned against God. And Jesus Christ, being the Holy Son of God, had no reason to die just because he was a man, but rather He was sentenced to death because of the imputation of sin being made to him. Our Lord Jesus, in his death, did not simply set forth an exemplary statement as a martyr, laying down his life in a cause that he considered to be worthy. But rather, in his death, he stood before God Almighty as a penal substitute. one in whom justice was vindicated and satisfied.

The death of Jesus Christ is not merely, and I use the word merely with great caution, but with great emphasis as well, The death of Jesus Christ was not merely an exhibition of the love of God. Oh, no, no, no. A thousand times, no. Yes, the death of Christ displays God's infinite love for sinners. But the death of Christ is an exhibition of the justice of God that was caused by the love of God. God Almighty made his son to be sin for the satisfying of justice. And he did it because he loved because it loved you with an everlasting love.

The Son of God did not bear the sins of all, but of many. And all the sins that he bore in his own body on the tree, he bore away forever. We read earlier Hebrews 1, 3, when he had by himself purged our sins. Purged our sins. I'd get a spot on one of my shirts. You can't tell it by looking at me, but I like gravy. And every time I eat it, I'd get it on a shirt or tie. Every time I eat it. If I eat spaghetti, I don't care if I have a towel or a bed sheet wrapped around me. Somehow I'm going to get it under the towel and bed sheet, get it on my white shirt. And I used to get up, run to the sink and try to wash it out. And you know what I did? I'd just make it worse. Just make it worse. I'd rub, rub and just smear around. to smear around. It would not look as dark in one spot, but now it's all over me. But my wife finally convinced me the best thing to do is leave it alone and let her get something that'll take the stain out of it. And she takes the stain out of it.

The Lord Jesus Christ, by Himself, through the shedding of His blood, by His death as our substitute, when He bore our sins in his own body on the tree, perched them. Perched them. Where's the stain? It was right there. It was right there in the record of heaven, in the book of God. Right there it was. It was right there. But it's gone. He perched it. And there's no record. There's no spot. There's no stain. He purged our sins away forever.

Now then, that means there is no sin abiding upon. Neither can any sin be charged to those for whom the Son of God has died.

Sons of God, redeemed by blood, raise your songs to Zion's God. Made from condemnation free, grace triumph, but sing with me.

This is our gospel. This is the message God sent us to preach. This is a message worth preaching and a message worth hearing. And this is our confidence, assurance, and peace. Here I stand before God Almighty, robed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, washed in his blood, in my sins, as far as God is concerned. And I'm going to tell you something, he's the only one that matters. He's the only one that matters. As far as God is concerned, my sins do not exist anymore. They're gone. He purged them away.

Now look at this last thing. How did Christ get his glory? Well, he poured out his soul unto death and he was numbered with the transgressors and he bare our sins, bare the sin of many. And lastly, he made intercession for the transgressors.

Now, let me read to you what John Gill says concerning that. He made intercession for the transgressors, not merely in a petitionary way. That means he didn't just say, now, Father, will you forgive them? But by presenting himself his blood, his righteousness, and his sacrifice, pleading the merits of these and calling for in a way of justice and legal demand. That is, on the grounds of his blood atonement, on the grounds of justice satisfied, on the grounds of righteousness brought in, he speaks to God Almighty and says by way of divine right and just right, Father, forgive them.

Don't impute sin to them. I paid their price. I fulfilled all righteousness for them. and preserve them, and keep them, and save them, and justify them, and sanctify them, and glorify them. And the Father can not refuse his intercession. Can God refuse God? Can the Almighty refuse to hear the merit of the blood of the almighty? Can the infinite refuse to hear the merit of the righteousness of the infinite? Can the eternal refuse to hear the merit of the blood, the righteousness, and the atonement, and the intercession of the eternal God? Absolutely no.

Jesus Christ made intercession for the transgressors in eternity when he stood as our surety. At Calvary, when he said, Father, forgive them, they know not what they do. When he ascended up into heaven.

Little children, these things I write unto you, John, say that you sin not. But if any man sin, I've already told you, you're full of sin. I've been telling you all these years, don't ever imagine that you're without sin. But if any man sin, don't despair. We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he's the propitiation for our sins.

The Son of God makes intercession for transgressors. What does that mean? That means he never shrinks from identifying himself with sinners. Never. You read through the New Testament, you read the four Gospels, you'll find that our Lord often hid himself from Pharisees. He got so tired of religious pretense and religious hypocrisy and religious show and sham, he would go and hide himself. But he never hid himself from the sinner. He never shrunk from sinners. Why then should any sinner shrink from him? Since Christ never shrank from sinners, Surely we must not shrink from sinners.

Oh, I think it'd do us some good if God would be pleased to send in here Sunday after Sunday and Tuesday after Tuesday what men and women consider the off-scouring of the earth. kind of folks, you know, society folks won't touch. Those folks that you don't want your son dating. Those folks you don't want your daughter hanging around with. Those folks that you, let's move out of this neighborhood, it's going to cot. Oh God, send us some sinners. I've got good news for sinners. I'm so tired of self-righteous, proud, arrogant, egotistical, religious folks Standing up and singing amazing grace and they don't have the slightest idea what grace is all about if it hit a broadside in the face God sends some sinners. I got good news for Jesus Christ Gets his glory By what he does for sinners That's right, that's right. He saved sinners.

I Roth Barnard used to tell a story. He was preaching somewhere in the north. I don't know where. I've forgotten. He said he was out in a revival, they called them, whenever a preacher came to town, whenever evangelists came to town. He and the local preachers spent all day knocking on doors, trying to get folks to come to the meeting. And they'd been out wearing their shoe leather out. And he started walking down the road, going from one house to the next. He started to open the gate and go up And the preacher said, I wouldn't go in there. And Barnard looked at him and said, well, why not? He said, well, Brother Barnard, let's just not go in there. Barnard's continuing to walk. He said, why shouldn't we go there? We've visited everywhere else in this town. Why should we go up here? And the preacher said, well, preacher, that woman, she has a reputation.

That's the wrong thing to say. So Barnard walked up, knocked on the door. Lady came to the door and looked at him. I guess you could tell he was a preacher. She said, what can I do for you, big boy? And he said, I'm here with Brother So-and-so. We're holding a meeting down here, and I'm the guest preacher. I'd like you to come hear me preach tonight. She said, you've got to be kidding. He said, no, I'd like you to come hear me preach tonight. I've got a message I believe you might need to hear. And she said, well, I might just come. And sure enough, she did.

Services began, she walked in, sat right back there where James Lee and Norm were sitting, and all set up, preached, and God got her attention. So we got up to sing, and the preacher gave their invitation like folks do, you know, and he said, that gal walked right down the front, took me by the hand, and she said, Preacher, God saved me, and I want to identify with his people. and you could have heard a pin drop.

Barnard said, this dear lady, she's come, said, God saved her. What you gonna do? He said, one of the old ladies in the congregation. He stepped right up, just right up front there. She stepped out, walked up, hugged on the neck, kissed on the cheek. She said, welcome home, sister. That's what Christ came to do. That's what he does. And that's how he gets his glory in saving sinners. Amen.