When David was reading that passage of scripture, verse 19 always strikes me. As I understand it, Peter was crucified upside down. That's what church tradition says. He didn't feel worthy to be crucified the same way the Lord was. So he was crucified upside down. Verse 19, this spake he signifying by what death He should glorify God. That is so glorious. I don't know what else to say. Turn back to our text in 1 Corinthians chapter 16. I've entitled this message, The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says to the church at Corinth in verse 23, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. And I'm sure that this is what he prayed for them as well. The highest, the greatest benefit there is, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ being with you. The grace, the favor, the saving benefit of our Lord Jesus Christ. John said, First chapter of John, we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. If you have his grace, you have him and all the fullness of his salvation. So don't look at this just as a closing statement. What could be more necessary than to have the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ being with me? Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. I want to have his grace for me. I want to have his grace with me. If I say I'm for you, it means something. But if I say I'm with you, it means more. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now he is the Lord Jesus Christ. Every knee is gonna bow. and every tongue is gonna confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That's going to take place. He is the Lord Jesus Christ, but what a blessing of his grace when he is our Lord Jesus Christ. When we can say with Thomas, my Lord and my God, the transcendent, excellence and glory of his name, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord. I love it when they were on the shore and they didn't recognize the Lord. And he said, children, have you any meat? No. And all of a sudden John said, it's the Lord. It's the Lord. And I love the way Peter jumped in the water after him. That's when the Lord said to him, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He's the Lord. Now that is not an empty title. That means he's the Lord of creation. Jesus Christ created the universe. I like saying that. Jesus Christ is Lord of creation. Jesus Christ spake the universe into existence. He's Lord of providence. That means everything that happens in time, he's in control of. He's the first cause of everything. What about the bad stuff? He's the first cause of everything. And he brings good out of evil all the time. Now, I don't understand how he does it, but he does it because he's God. And it's not difficult for him to do that. He's the Lord of Providence. He controls everything. He controls even the thoughts that go through your mind. He is completely sovereign over the free and uncoerced actions of men and demons. He's the Lord of Providence, and most especially, He's the Lord of Salvation. What that means is, your salvation is completely dependent upon Him. If He wills your salvation, you're saved. And that's a good place to be, because if it wasn't completely dependent upon Him, nobody would be saved. Thank God he is Lord. He's the Lord. He's Jesus. Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. What a precious name, Jesus. He's the Christ. He's God's Christ. He's God's prophet. He's the very word of God. He's the word that God brings to sinners. Jesus Christ. He's the Word of God. He's God's priest. If he represents you before the Father, you must be saved. Peter, I've prayed for you that your faith fail not. If he prays for you, you must be saved. He's able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. What a priest. He's not like some human priest in some kind of human garb. He's the true priest. The priest after the order of Melchizedek. If he represents you, you're saved. When he said, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. That wasn't a generic prayer. Everybody he prayed for was forgiven. The Lord always hears him. He cannot not hear him. He's the priest. He's God's King, yet have I set my King on my holy hill of Zion. He's the King of Kings. He's the Lord of Lords. He's the true King. Don't we love his name? The Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Be with you. Do you remember in Matthew 1, 23, we read these words, thou shalt call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. This is more than God for us. God with us. Jesus Christ with us. Lo, I am with you always. even unto the end of the age. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. What more could there be? The grace, the saving grace, the saving benefit of the Lord Jesus Christ, that one who is full of grace and truth. The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth, came by Jesus Christ. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Now, I want you to turn to 2 Corinthians 8. I believe this verse speaks of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, perhaps more powerfully than any other verse. Verse nine, 2 Corinthians chapter eight. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes, he became poor that you through his poverty might be rich. What a glorious statement with regard to the grace of our Lord Jesus You know, Paul says, you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Paul knew that that's what every believer knows. This is, every believer knows. He appeals to their saving knowledge. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said, I know. whom I have believed. And we know, we as every believer, we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are thee called according to His purpose. How do you know that, Paul? Well, because God said it for one thing, and for another thing, it just lines up with the character of God. He controls everything, all things, we know. Somebody says, I don't know that. Well, I do. We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. Paul said in Romans 7, 14, we know that the law is spiritual. We know that only the believer knows it, but we know that this is an appeal to every believer's knowledge. We know. that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal. Not, I used to be carnal before God saved me. I didn't find that I was carnal until God did save me. We know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. Do you know that? If you're a believer, you do. He's appealing to their saving knowledge. The Lord Jesus Christ said in John chapter three, we speak, we speak. Who's the we? He's speaking in behalf of every believer. We speak that which we know, and we testify to that which we have seen. I love John chapter 17, three. This is eternal life, that they might know thee. The only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Now, you know, more specifically, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the believer knows the grace of Christ. Everybody in here that's a believer, you know the grace of Christ. I don't have to prove anything to you. You know the grace of Christ. Now, I love saying this. The only way to define his grace is by the divine attributes. He is eternal. His grace is eternal. He is sovereign. His grace is sovereign. He's all-powerful. His grace is all-powerful. That's why it's irresistible. It can't be resisted. Invincible grace. He is omnipresent. You can't go anywhere where His grace is not. He is omniscient. His grace is omniscient grace. He is independent. He doesn't need something to take place before he can make his move. His grace is independent grace. It's in a word, saving grace, immutable saving grace. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let me say at the outset that we can't fathom the riches he possessed. When it says, you know the grace of Christ, that though he was rich, we're not going to be able to fathom the riches he possessed, and we're not going to be able to fathom his poverty either. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich. Both of these things are beyond our grasp, I realize that, but let's think about it. You know, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich. We measure riches by how much material wealth a man has. Millionaire, billionaire, I don't think there are any trillionaires, but you think of the riches of Elon Musk, and we can't even conceive of how much money that is or what it would be like to have that much money. Oh, the riches of Warren Buffett or the riches of Jeff Bezos and go on and on. Their wealth is listed in magazines and articles. And we think, can you imagine that kind of riches? That's how we measure wealth. But do you know there is an end to their riches? It's measurable. And there's a point where they don't have a dollar more than that. The wealth of Christ is immeasurable. You see, all that they think they have is His. Every bit of it. They might have it borrowed, and I'm sure they think that they're very lucky, as it were. But it's all His. And the only reason they have it is because He purposed for them to have it, and He can take it away when He is pleased. But everything is His. The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof. the world, and they that dwell therein. Everything belongs to him, his riches are immeasurable. And if he wanted more, all he'd have to do is create it. You know when I hear preachers try to manipulate people to get them to give, or preachers begging for money, I think they don't know my father. My father is infinite in riches. And if they knew him, they wouldn't be acting like that. My father is infinite in riches. This is my father's world. We think of riches also in terms of relationships. If you don't have a lot of material wealth, but you have good relationships, you count yourself rich. If you have a marriage where your spouse has got your back and you don't have to worry about them, you love them, you know they love you, what wealth there is in that. What wealth there is in having kids that you love, that you have a relationship, you count that yourself wealthy, really more so than material riches. to have friends in the gospel. What a blessing that is to have a relationship with God's children, to be friends with those who are friends with God. What a blessing of wealth relationships can be. What a relationship the Godhead has with one another, infinitely more than anything you and I know about. The Lord Jesus Christ in eternity past was daily the delight of his father. The father loveth the son and hath given all things into his hand. Sit thou at my right hand till I make thine enemies by footstool. He had the love of the father. He was beholding his father's face. He had the worship of angels, the adoration of angels. love to think of the relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit before the time began. He, the one God in three persons, I don't even know how to say it. He's one God. Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one God. He's only one God in three distinct persons. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and how they adored one another before time began. There was no need for them to create. satisfied with themselves. He did it out of his abundance. But you think of the richness of his relationship, what fellowship they enjoyed with one another, something you and I could never enter into. Now, when we think of riches, we think of the power that comes with riches. We think of wealth as power. Let me say this, it's not. It's not. Somebody that thinks, well, I got money, I got a lot of power. No, you don't. You don't have any power. Power belongeth to the Lord. And I can't stand it when people say he's a powerful man or he's a powerful woman. No, he's not. The Lord's power, all power belongs unto him. Nobody else has any power in and of themselves. Now, they're in positions where the Lord has put them, but they don't have any power. Don't look at things that way, but this is the way the world thinks. Oh, he's got a lot of money. He's got a lot of power. No, he doesn't, but think of the Lord's power, the power of creation. He spake the world into existence and he could speak 10 billion other universes into existence with no effort on his part, simply willing it. What power he has. He has power over providence. You know, how many people who think they're doing well, providence, boast not thyself of tomorrow. You don't know what a day may bring forth. Everything may become crashing down. You may lose everything. You may lose your health. You may lose your family. We're thankful we have these things, but we don't have power over providence. The Lord does, and he controls everything. You think of that power. He has power over the weather. What if a man had power over the weather? He does, the God-man, and His will is always done. And you think of His riches in honor, His riches in glory, His riches in worship, His riches in peace, how rich in righteousness, how rich in holiness, the riches of His attributes. In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete. in Him, the riches of beholding His Father's face, the Lord Jesus Christ. You know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich. Now this is inconceivable, I realize this. He's God, of course He's rich. Infinite riches. And you take the richest man you know, he's got nothing. He's got nothing. Oh, but you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor. Now I've been talking about the riches of Christ and I realize I've done a poor job describing it. I wish I could describe it better, but I feel like I'm in good company. Nobody else could either. It's impossible. I can't describe his riches, but once again, I can't really describe his poverty either. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for your sakes, he became poor. And I believe the scripture that would most accurately describe that was the scripture we were considering this morning, 2 Corinthians 5.21. For he hath made him sin. for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Now here is his poverty. He who was rich in righteousness when he was made sin became poverty stricken in righteousness to the point that he cried out, I'm a worm and no man. I'm swimming in water that I'm way over my head right now. And it's way over your head as well. But to think of the poverty of the Lord Jesus Christ, when he was forsaken by his father, he became poor in relationships. He was cut off from his father. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He was all alone on the cross. He didn't have the help of angels at this time. Now I know in Gethsemane's garden, they came to minister to him, but not while he was on the cross. He didn't have his people that really loved him. They all forsook him and fled in fear. He became poor in relationships, all alone. We can't fathom the poverty that became his and remember this was brought on because he willed it. This didn't just come on him like something bad happened to him. This was brought on to him because he willed this to take place. Would you turn with me for a moment to Philippians chapter two? Philippians chapter 2. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Now the only one who's equal with God is God. What if I said, I'm equal with God? It would be blasphemous. It would be evil. I'd do well to get out of this place if I said something like that about myself. But the Lord Jesus Christ is equal with God because he is God. He thought it not robbery. He thought it not a thing to be grasped for, to be equal with God. But he made himself. You notice that? He made himself. This is what he did. He made himself. of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men." Now, I don't understand how the Lord Jesus Christ was not a man before he became a man. He was spirit. And what an act of condescension for him to become man, for him to be made flesh. I think of the Son of God, the Creator of the universe, becoming a one-celled organism in His mother's womb and going through that nine-month gestation period. He never quit being God. But He was a one-celled being, lived nine months in His mother's womb. He was born in a manger with the smell of cow manure in the air. He grew up the carpenter's son. He grew up a carpenter. He lived 30 years. And I love the way the Bible gives us so little information about the 30 years the Lord lived. We read about his circumcision. We read what Simeon and Anna said. And then we read of that statement he made when he's 12 years old, which I love. Know you not that I must be about my father's business. But every second of that 30 years, he was about his father's business. working out a perfect righteousness, living in utter obscurity. His brothers and sisters had God manifest in the flesh, living in their house, and they didn't know it. They didn't get it. They didn't see it. What a stoop when he became in the likeness of men, a real man, There's one God and one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus was a man, is a man. There's a man in glory right now with a heart, blood pumping through his veins, breathing the God man in a glorified body, but a real man. What a stoop. And do you know when he became man, that's forever. He's never gonna stop being man. Bone of our bones and flesh of our flesh. The God of glory submitting Himself to being a man. That's His first step. But let's go on reading. Verse eight. And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. What a stoop. God was manifest in the flesh, the great mystery of godliness. And then what a stoop, he became obedient unto death, Even the death of the cross, when as an act of obedience to his father, he willingly took the sins of his people in his own body on the tree. And when I talk about that, I realize I have no way of fathoming what all that means. I just believe it, because the Bible says it. Who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree, and the poverty he experienced through that, he experienced everything about sin but the commission of it. Much more acutely, than your idea. You know, when you feel guilty, he felt much more guilt than you've ever felt. You know, when you feel ashamed of yourself and frustrated with yourself, he felt that much more acutely than you when he was made sin, although he never sinned. God can't sin, but he bore everything as far as the infirmities of sin, but the commission of sin itself. And that's why he's this great high priest that can be touched with the feelings of your infirmities. That's the promise of the scripture. When we are overcome with the feelings of our weakness and our infirmity and our sinfulness, and we think, what is wrong with me? The Lord's touched by that. And he's experienced it infinitely more acutely than Me and you have. Now, if you came up to me and told me about your innermost feelings and infirmities, although mine are just as bad, I'd say, what's wrong with him? But you come to him and he's touched, moved to sympathy with the feeling of our infirmities. He was forsaken by his father. Why? Well, it's God's purpose. It's God's eternal purpose for this to take place. He's the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, and He did it for His Father's glory. That's why He went to the cross, for the glory of His Father. He went to the cross so The character of God can be made known. You and I cannot know the character of God apart from the cross. In the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have the whole character of God manifest. We see his love. We see his grace. We see his justice. We see his sovereignty. We see his righteousness. We see his holiness. We see his immutability. We see his purpose. Everything God has been pleased to make known with regard to Himself, He makes known through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. He became obedient to death, even the death of the cross. He did it for all those reasons, but that's not what Paul says. He says, for your sakes. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, Yet for your sakes, he became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich. I'll go back to 2 Corinthians 5.21. Let's consider the end of it. For he hath made him sin for us, for us, For our sakes, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. You want to talk about rich. Every believer is nothing less than the very righteousness of God. And we would not dare say anything like that had not the Bible said it. The righteousness of God in Him. He took my poverty, that I might have His riches. Now, in Him becoming poor, here's what happens to me. Listen to this scripture. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 30. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus. Is that where you want to be? Do you want to be anywhere else? Christ Jesus. Somebody says, well, how'd he get in Christ Jesus? Of him, are you in Christ Jesus? And do you know that if you're in Christ Jesus, there's never been a time when you were not in Christ Jesus? Before I formed thee in the belly, before you had any existence, I knew you. Of him, Are you in Christ Jesus according as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him? Of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom. To think of God having communion with somebody like me, the God of glory calling me his friend. The only way that can be is if Christ is made into me wisdom. God can have fellowship. with me if Christ has made into me wisdom. Christ has made into me righteousness. God will not have fellowship with one who's not altogether perfectly righteous. And in Christ, every believer is perfectly righteous. He's made into us sanctification. He's made into us holiness. Now, you either are holy or you're not. People say, well, I'm getting holier. Well, you don't even know what holiness is if you think that. Holiness is not something you grow and become holier. The only time the word holier is found is when the Lord rebukes those people who say, I'm holier than thou. And he says, these are smoking out my nose. Every believer is holy. As he is, so are we in this world. Every believer is holy. David said, I'm holy. And every believer can say that because Christ is made into me sanctification. He is my holiness before God. And God can have communion with someone who's holy. He can't have communion with someone who's unholy. He only has communion with that one who is holy. And Christ is made into me holiness. And Christ is made unto me redemption, full deliverance. You want to talk about riches. I'm now an heir of God and joined heirs with Christ. Paul said to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 3, 21 through 23, for all things are yours. All things are yours. Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all things are yours. And you are Christ's. And Christ is God's. You want to talk about rich. that you through his poverty might be rich. We're rich in providence, all things working together for our good. Rich in possessions, rich in relationship with him, what a family we have, the family of God. Believer, the wealthy of this world has nothing compared to what you do. If I'm a believer, if you're a believer, we can read this verse like this. I know the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for my sake, he became poor, that I, through his poverty, might be rich. Now let's close by turning to Psalm 23. I just want to read it. The Lord Jesus Christ is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. I'm not gonna want peace. He leads me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, which is right now, me and you are walking through that valley, and we will be until we close our eyes in death. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil, for thou art with me. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. You know, the gospel comforts. It comforts. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. And when I was reading that, I was thinking, there are people, no doubt, who would count me their enemy. I realize that. And you have people who would probably count you their enemy. But when he's talking about you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, you know who my enemies are? My sins. My sins. And yet he prepares this provision of grace in the presence of my enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And Lord, we stand amazed thinking of what you've told us in your word, that though he was rich beyond our conception, for our sakes, he became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich. Lord, give us the grace. to look to your son only and find all of our riches in him, the one in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Bless this message for your glory and for our good. We thank you for our Redeemer. We thank you that you gave your son. We thank you that he willingly came to this earth. obeyed the law for us, died for us, was raised for us, how we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ. In this coming week, we pray for grace to walk by faith with our Redeemer. In Christ's name we pray, amen.