Turn with me to the first chapter
of the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 1. We'll read the first three verses. Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 through 3. God, who at sundry times and
in diverse manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by
the prophets. Half in these last days spoken
unto us by his son, or the better translation is in son, spoken
unto us in son, or in his son. whom He, that's God, appointed
heir of all things, still talking about the Son now,
by whom also He made the worlds, and still talking about the Son,
who being the brightness of His glory. The Son is the brightness
of God's glory. and the express image of his
person, that is, the Son is the express image of God's person, upholding all things by the word
of his power, when he had by himself purged
our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. Well, I want to talk to you this
morning about the only Savior. I want to preach to you this
morning on an old subject, the Lord Jesus Christ. I remember
reading in the book of Acts in the early New Testament church,
it said in regard to these apostles and members of that early church.
They were referred to as the people of the way. They were
referred to sometimes as a sect. As a matter of fact, they were
first called Christians at Antioch because their lives depicted what our Lord Jesus Christ stood
for, what he lived for. Their lives depicted him by his
example, and they called them Christians because they were
Christ-like, because that's what they talked about. because that
was their one particular aim and purpose in life, was to serve,
to worship, and to glorify Him, to be identified with the Lord
Jesus Christ. This was the purpose of these
early New Testament Christians, so they called them Christians. Their whole scene was filled
with the cause and claim and purpose of God in Christ, so
they called them Christians. Daily in the temple, it says,
and in every house, they seized not to teach and preach Christ
Jesus. This is what it said of the early
New Testament church and the apostles. Daily, every day, in
the temple, and it wasn't confined to the meeting house. But daily
in the temple and in every house they seized not to teach and
to preach Christ Jesus. When Philip went down to Samaria
to preach to the Ethiopian eunuch, now what do you suppose he preached? Did he preach some doctrine?
Did he preach some practice? Did he preach some law to him?
No. It says that he preached unto
him Jesus. And what part of the Bible do
you suppose that Philip used in preaching Jesus? He preached
Jesus unto him from the 53rd chapter of the book of Isaiah.
So when I say that it's an old subject, I mean an old subject. That's all they preached in the
New Testament was Christ Jesus the Lord. When the Apostle Paul
was converted, it is said that he straightway preached Christ
in the synagogues. So this morning, I want to speak
to you in regard to an old, old subject, Christ Jesus the Lord,
the only Savior. And I certainly feel that it
is a privilege for me to do so, and therefore, having experienced
to a degree and measure the Lord Jesus Christ, I am not ashamed
to preach what the apostles and the martyrs preached, Christ
the Lord. Paul said, I am not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation
to every man that believes. He is the bread of life which
came down from heaven. He is the water of life, which
if any man shall drink, he shall never thirst. I believe that
this is the subject which God delights to bless. You may preach
a whole lot about the church, but the Holy Spirit does not
take the things of Christ and glorify the church. But the Holy
Spirit takes the things of Christ and glorifies Christ. So if I preach a doctrine or
a practice apart from the Lord Jesus Christ being the core and
the center of the doctrine or the practice, then I'm only giving
you the shell and not the meat, or the husk and not the kernels. that God the Father delights
to hear His Son extolled and exalted through the preaching
of the gospel. He said, This is my beloved Son,
in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him. As a matter of fact,
I say this is an old subject, Christ Jesus the Lord, the only
Savior. I say that That's what the apostles
preached. They preached Christ. Paul said
as he went into the city of Corinth, this city of Greek culture and
otherwise, he said that I'm determined to know nothing among you. That is, if he came by a group
of men who were debating in regard to the facts of creation, or
astrology or some other subject. He said, I'm determined to know
nothing in regard to that, although Paul knew about creation and
astrology and all the other subjects. But he said, I'm determined to
know nothing among you save Christ and Him crucified. That's what
he preached. That's what they all preached.
And I said, as a matter of fact, The whole Bible, from Genesis
to Revelation, is written in regard to the Lord Jesus Christ. The whole Bible is about Christ.
All of the Old Testament points to Christ. Everything that is
said in the Old Testament has reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. All the offerings, all the sacrifices,
the temple, the tabernacle, all the bloodshedding, all of the
regalia of the priesthood, and all of that points to the Lord
Jesus Christ. All of the New Testament points
back to the cross of Christ. Paul said, God forbid that I
should glory. Save in the cross of Christ. It's all Christ. You can't hear
too much about Christ. You just can't do it. The whole Bible is written about
Him. So, I want to then, if God will
help me, just to let Jesus Christ speak for Himself from these
passages that I've read to you. set before you the text in verses
1 and 2 and 3 here, and hope and pray and trust that the Spirit
of God will impress upon my heart and mind and your heart and mind
the theme of these three verses, which is Jesus Christ, the only
Savior. The Savior who must save me,
who must save you, or else we shall perish. You remember in
the book of Acts it is said in regard to the Christ whom I have
made mention of here, for there is no other name given under
heaven among men whereby we must be saved, except the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ." Well, first off then, number one, let
me speak to you this morning of who the Savior is. Well, the text here says in verse
number two, "...have in these last days spoken unto us by or in his Son, whom he hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he framed, or created,
or made the worlds." First, then, Jesus Christ is the Savior. Secondly, Jesus Christ, who is
He? He is God's own Son. Now, if
I were to try to explain the relationship between God the
Father and God the Son, I'd only muddy the water. I'd only confuse
you and confuse me, and we would be far worse off. than what we
are before we enter into an explanation of this divine, mysterious relationship
between God the Father and God the Son. All I can say is that
it's beyond me to explain this intricate union of oneness, God
the Father and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, this trinity. Many attempts by men and theologians
have been made to explain or try to explain the relationship
between these two divine persons, the Father and the Son, and they
only, as I said, have muddied the water. But I come across
the statement which I believe and which expresses to a degree
some understanding that I think that I have in my heart in regard
to who the Lord Jesus Christ is being God's Son. I think that
Christ is God of God. He is light of light, very God
of very God. That is, He is co-equal with
the Father. Though how, I know not, but yet
I know. that He is co-equal with the
Father. To explain it, I can't do it.
But I found out this, that deity is not to be explained, but deity
is to be adored, and deity is to be worshipped, not explained. I'm not an explainer, I'm a proclaimer. I can't explain it. Only God
can explain it. I cannot explain the mystery
of the Incarnation. I can't explain that. I can only
proclaim that. There's a lot of things in the
Bible that I can't explain, but I'm not called upon to explain
things. I'm called upon to proclaim things
and let God the Holy Spirit explain things to our hearts that we
might rest in a person. You see, That babe at Bethlehem's
manger was God incarnate. I can't explain that. That little
baby. Little baby. Twelve, fourteen,
sixteen inches long. I don't know how long a baby
is ordinarily. I wouldn't know how long the
Lord Jesus Christ was when He was a baby. But He was a baby. He was born of the Virgin Mary
in Bethlehem's manger. And he lay there in the straw
or in the hay, swaddled, and that little baby there was God
incarnate. That is, that little baby was
God in the flesh. I can't explain that. Someone
said only a fool or a Christian can believe that. That's right,
only a fool or a Christian can believe that that baby in Bethlehem's
manger was God Almighty manifest in the flesh or in the
flesh. Alright? The same divine person that has subsisted or consisted
or lived throughout the dateless ages of eternity was none other
than the Lord Jesus Christ. And I can't explain that either.
In Luke chapter 2 and verse number 11, there was an announcement from
heaven. You remember the story, we call it the Christmas story,
that is, it's called that by modern churchgoers. But in Luke
chapter 2 and verse number 11, there was an announcement made
from heaven as this baby was revealed, the Son was revealed. Now, it says, unto you is born,
unto you is born. A teacher? No sir, it doesn't
say that. Unto you is born, A example? It doesn't say that, although
he was a teacher and he was an example, but that's not what
it says in Luke 2 and 11. Unto you is born a judge. Doesn't say that, although he
is a judge. But what does it say? It says,
Unto you is born a Savior Christ the Lord. Well, this is what I'm trying
to say. I'm trying to say this morning
that it is not only that the Lord Jesus Christ declared or
delivered God's message. That's not only what I'm trying
to say. I'm saying that that's true.
That the Lord Jesus Christ declared and He delivered the message
of God. But what I'm trying to emphasize
here is this. that Jesus Christ himself is
the message of God. In other words, all that God
has to say is in his Son. God who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake
in days gone by unto the fathers unto people by the prophets,
Isaiah, Jonah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Obadiah. He has, in days gone
by, spoken to people by men whom he designated as prophets. His
voice, he spoke that way. has in these last days, now,
now, has in these last days spoken unto people, unto us, in Son,
by and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what I'm saying is
this, all that God has to say is in His Son. God doesn't have
anything else to say to anybody apart from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Can you get that this morning? He has spoken unto us in His
Son. He hasn't got anything to say
to nobody apart from His Son. Just by way of illustration,
these people that that tell you that God, or they don't tell
you that, but they tell the world that through television, radio,
and newspapers and so forth. They tell you that they were
over in the hospital or they was in some remote area and all
at once God spoke to them, told them something, spoke literally
from heaven and told them to go here or go there or do this
or do that. I'm telling you that God did
not speak to them apart from His Son. I'm telling you this
morning that God doesn't speak to anybody, I don't care who
He is, apart from His Son. That all that God has to say,
He says in the Lord Jesus Christ, not apart from the Lord Jesus.
He says in Jesus. And I'll go farther than that.
I'll say that God does not, will not, cannot speak to any member
of the human race or be spoken to by any member of the human
race apart from his son. Won't do it. Can't do it. Violation
of his character to do it. Can't do it. In other words,
as the old preacher said, God has put all of his eggs in one
basket, and that basket is Christ. That's the reason I say that
God delights when His Son is extolled and exalted, because
He has put everything that He has in Christ. There is nothing
that God has in heaven or in earth or under the earth or under
the seas that God has not put in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, this is what I'm trying
to say here, brethren, this morning. This will say it all. I'm saying
that all of God's thoughts, I'm saying all of God's counsels,
I'm saying all of God's promises, every promise of God. I'm saying
all of the wisdom of God. I'm saying all of the gifts of
God are all deposited in the Lord Jesus Christ. And there
is not a promise in the Bible that any man, regardless of rank,
station, creed, color, nationality, or anything else, there is not
a promise in the Bible that any man can enjoy apart from the
Lord Jesus Christ, because they are all in Christ. Everything
is in Christ. Everything. You see, all that
God has to say is in His Son. All of His thoughts are right
there. Everything, all of His wisdom is right there. You remember,
the familiar words of Luke chapter 19 and verse number 10 that says,
ìThe Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which is lost. But who is this Son of Man? This Son of Man, His Son, is
God manifested in flesh.î Thatís what Iím trying to say. I'm trying
to say that this is teaching here that the Lord Jesus Christ,
the only Savior, is the Son of Man, and the Son of Man is God
Almighty, over all and above all manifested in a body of flesh. That's what I'm saying. It was
and is God revealing Himself in his Son's character. All right, let's get on with
this now. I want you to notice in the text
here that this Son, who is the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God
manifest in the flesh, who is beyond our Well, we just can't
explain it. We're just going to have to bow
down to Him and believe it and let God the Holy Spirit give
us to some measure some satisfaction in regard to our understanding
as to the explanation of it. But nevertheless, the Lord Jesus
Christ is the Son and He's God manifest in the flesh, but listen
to what the Bible says about Him, about the Son. It says that
God has spoken unto us in his Son. That's the only way he speaks,
is in his Son. Get that! You better get that
this morning. I better stop right there and
let me tell you again. Now if you're waiting this morning,
if you're here outside of the Lord Jesus Christ and you're
waiting and hoping and feeling that some mysterious, fictitious
mercy is going to be extended to you somehow apart from your
embracing God's only Son, then you're in for a rude awakening.
You're in for a shock. You're in for a surprise because
God's not going to do it. God's going to deal with you
and God's going to deal with me in Christ, and that's the
only place He's going to deal with us, is in Christ. We're
going to embrace Christ. We're going to fall before Him
and agree with Him and confess our sins to Him, or we're going
to be lost and go to hell, one of the two. Now, you better think
about that. And that's the reason. That's
the reason He said He's spoken unto us. Unto us. In His Son. In His Son. Alright, notice now
in the text what it says. It says that this same Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ, whom He, that is God the Father, whom God the
Father hath appointed Heir of all things. God has appointed
this Jesus whom I am preaching, this Jesus that was the subject
of the apostles' preaching, that God hath appointed this Jesus
that had nowhere to lay his head. He had no extra suit. He had
no extra sandals. He had no money in his purse.
He was so destitute of material things that he had nowhere to
lay his head. This Jesus, God hath appointed,
or determined, or predestined. God hath appointed Him heir of
all things. An heir is what? What is an heir? You know what an heir is. An
heir is a successor to all that his father has. That's what an heir is. If your
father makes you his sole heir, then you are a successor to everything
that he had. That's easy to understand. If
your father dies, Pat, which he's already died, and hath made
you an heir, you're the sole heir, he makes you the sole heir,
then you become the successor. If he's got an old pair of shoes,
the old pair of shoes is yours, lock, stock, and barrel. belong to you, and no one has
the right or is entitled to any part or parcel of that matter
and portion. They belong to you. And brethren, he is not only
a successor of his father in all that his father has, but
he is a possessor and disposer of all things. Now God hath made,
hath appointed Jesus Christ heir of all things. He appointed Him. We talk about making Jesus. We're
going to take Jesus. Will you make Jesus your Lord? Will you take Jesus? You can't
make Jesus anything. You can't make Jesus anything. I can't make Jesus anything.
I can't take Jesus. Now listen to me, if Jesus Christ,
whom I'm talking about here this morning, if He is so little,
if He is so pitiful, that you can't take Him, I want to tell
you this, He couldn't help you much if you got Him. If you could
take Him. If you could take Him. You! If I could take Him, He couldn't
help me much, if I could take Him. He was appointed by God
Himself, and the appointment was made in the eternal councils
of eternity. And the Bible said, My council
shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. God hath appointed
him heir of all things." Appointed him heir, heir. And secondly,
listen now, in the second verse now, something else said about
him. It says, "...by whom also he," that's the Lord Jesus, that's
Son, happened in these last days,
spoken unto us by His Son. He is the appointed heir of all
things. He is the possessor of all that His Father has, and
the disposer of all that His Father has, by whom also God,
by also He, the Son, made, made, made the worlds. You see these benches here? Someone
made those benches. Someone made them. God made the
worlds. He said the Lord Jesus Christ
made the worlds. God and His Son are so perfect
in union and in oneness that they are distinctly separate
and different persons but yet one. And He said whom He, God,
appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds,
the Lord Jesus Christ." Well, let me read something to you
here that confirms this beyond a shadow of a doubt. Over here
in the book of Colossians, chapter 1. Just turn there with me, if
you will, here this morning. Colossians, chapter 1. And I
think about verse 16. I want to read this to you. Listen. If this is not a confirmation
of Hebrews 1 and verse number 2, then I don't know anything
at all. We're talking about the Lord
Jesus Christ here, and that's what I'm talking about. I'm talking
about His Son. His Son is the only Savior. Now notice it says here in verse
13, it says, "...who hath delivered us from the power of darkness,"
that's God, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear
Son." Now that's who we're talking about, His dear Son. Look at
verse 14 now, "...in whom we have redemption." Who do we have
redemption in? In His Son. How do we have that
redemption? It says, "...through His blood,
even the forgiveness of sins." Verse 15, talking about the Son,
says that the Son here, who is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of every creature. Now verse 16, For by Him, that's
by the Lord Jesus Christ, were all things created. By Him were all things created
which are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. Look at this now. All things
were created by Him. By who? By the Lord Jesus Christ. Created by Him and for Him. That's what I'm saying. I'm saying,
I'm talking here this morning about His Sonship. I'm talking
about His Creatorship. I'm talking to you this morning
here about the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is the fullness
of God complete. You know, man cannot create.
He can make, but he can't create. You see, man can't even, you
see, just a speck of dust. out here in the parking lot,
just a speck of dust. Man can't even create a speck
of dust. If you took just a speck and
put it on a piece of white paper and strained it and shook the
paper and tried to look, you couldn't find the dust. Maybe
take a high-powered scope of some sort, magnifying lens, and
finally find a little fragment of dust there on that white.
Man can't even create. That little piece of dust. But
Christ Jesus, the Lord, He created worlds. Worlds! I don't know
how many there are, but ever how many there are, I know who
made them. I know who created them. The
Lord Jesus Christ created them. He's the heir of all things.
By whom? Also, He made the world. He created the world. And then
thirdly, I want you to see this about Him. It says in verse number
three, who, that has reference to the subject of these three
verses, which is the Son, who being the brightness of His glory,
the brightness of God's glory. That is, as life is to the Son,
so Jesus Christ is to the glory of God. There is not any glory
in God but that it is also in the Lord Jesus Christ. What I'm saying and what I believe
that this verse says here, when it says, who being the brightness
of His glory, I believe that it's saying here that the Son
is not one whit inferior to the Father. But in every way, the
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is His Father's equal. So apart
from God, The brightness of God's glory cannot be seen by us. That is apart from the sun. The luster of the glory of God
can't be seen. Just can't do it. All the glory
of God is in the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, without Christ, Man
is in utter darkness concerning God. It is only in Christ that
God is revealed, who being the brightness of His glory. You
ever want to know anything in regard to the glory of God? You
must see it in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. It can't be
seen anywhere else. Ah, well, we can worship God
in creation. That you can do. You can observe
the manifestation of God's power in creation. There's no doubt
about that. Look at the green in the pine
trees out here, the green in the grass. Look at the trees
in the forest and the clouds and all that. But you cannot
see the glory of God in it. You might see the power of God
in it, but you can't see the glory of God in it. Listen to
me now. The brightness of His glory is
expressed only in His Son. That's where it's at. So apart
from the Lord Jesus Christ, the brightness of God's glory cannot
be seen by us. And fourthly now, there's another
thing said here. He is the expressed image of
His person. Look at verse number three, right
after the first statement there, who being the brightness of His
glory. And here's the fourth statement now, and the express,
the exact image of His person. Now what does that mean? Well,
I'll tell you what it means. It means whatever God is, Christ
is. That's what it means. That's
exactly what it means. It is for you and me to take
our shoes off in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. If
we could really understand and really lay hold of the seriousness
of what we're involved in as so-called Christians, we'd understand
that we'd better take our shoes off when we come in the presence
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because whatever God is, Christ
is. Jesus Christ is the same as that
burning bush that God dwelt in when He spoke to Moses. And He
said, take off your shoes, Moses, because He said, this is hallowed,
this is sacred ground. Take off your shoes. You're in
My presence. You're in the presence of God.
That's what God was telling Moses. You're in My presence. And there's
a sacred hallowness of my presence, take your shoes off." But we
run. We run into the presence of Christ
in our day without any thought or any consideration, without
any awe, any reverence, or any respect whatsoever. Isn't that
all right? We do it. We do it. God help
us. God help us to understand that
whatever God is, Christ is. All that God is. in his nature,
in his wisdom, in his perfection, in his character, is expressed
absolutely and perfectly by the Lord Jesus Christ. You'll never
see God apart from Christ. You'll never experience the mercy
of God apart from Christ, never experience the love of God apart
from Christ. When we stand before God, there's
not going to be, if we die, if we die as we are in our sins,
lost for the lack of love to God's Son, well, there's not
going to be any hope of mercy in the end, that God somehow
is going to say, well, I know that you did the best you can
while you was here, And there was some misunderstanding as
to the interpretation of the Bible, that this denomination
said this, and this denomination said something else. I take that
all into consideration, and I just know that you was trying, and
you was doing your best, so you didn't come up with the right
answer. So I'm going to excuse you, no siree, no way, no way
is that going to be experienced, brethren. No way, no way. Jesus Christ! is the expressed
image of God himself. And all of God's perfection and
wisdom and love and mercy is expressed, is seen absolutely
and perfectly in the Lord Jesus Christ. And fifthly now, I've
got to hurry on. Fifthly, it says, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, This great world in which
we live in is upheld by what? By certain pillars? No, by certain
laws of nature. It says here that he is the express
image of his person and upholding all things, upholding all things
by the word of his power. That is, even this world is upheld
by the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ, and if not, if it's not,
if it's not, it would go back into the nothingness from which
it sprang. Oh, if that's true, and that's
true, brethren. You see it there. It's the Word
of God. That's true. If that's true, then, I tell
you what, that same Word can uphold the trembling heart of
some poor sinner if that poor sinner trusts in the Lord Jesus
Christ. I believe so, don't you? All
right, now I want to conclude here. What Jesus did. I told
you who Jesus was. He's God's Son. He's God manifest
in the flesh. And I told you these things that
God said about Him, invested in Him. Now what did He do? What did Jesus do? All right,
look here. At the end, there where that
comma is, and upholding all things by the word of his power, now
notice, when, this is what he did, this is what Jesus did,
when he had by himself purged our sins, this is what he did,
he purged our sins. The great God, the great God
of the universe, Not just the heir of the earth, but the heir
of the universe, the maker of all things, visible and invisible,
who kills, who makes alive, who sustains. This God manifests
himself in the flesh of a baby, born of a virgin, known as the
Lord Jesus Christ. What did he do? He purged us
from our sins. He purged every believer, every
soul that would trust in Him. He said, I purged you from your
sins. That's what it means. That's
what it means. And oh, the work of purging our sins. I'll tell
you, a sweeper of the street, a cleaner of the sewers, is honorable
work in compared to the work of purging us from our sins. I told you here the other night
about how His sorrow and His grief was exceedingly great,
even unto death. I told you how, brethren, that
the Lord Jesus Christ, before He could purge me from my sins,
must learn obedience. Well, I'll stagger if you ever
think about that. Our Lord Jesus Christ, before
He could purge me from my sins, before He could pay that which
was my due, must do something. He must learn obedience. Some people just frown when you
talk about obedience to the Word of God, obedience to the Lord
Jesus Christ. And you say, well, listen, brother,
I'm worried about your soul, or sister, I'm worried about
you. Your compassion, your profession
of faith is not in accordance with your profession here, your
life. And I'm afraid for you. I'm afraid
for you. Well, I don't care. A preacher come down here and
talk to me and tell me what to do and this and that. Oh, you'd
better listen to him. You'd better listen to him, I'm
telling you that. You'd better listen. You'll wind
up in hell one of these days. You'll wind up in hell just as
sure as two and two's four. Our Lord Jesus Christ learned
obedience, and you'd better learn it. I'd better learn it. I'd better learn it. He learned
obedience. How did he learn it? By suffering. He couldn't pay the debt that
was due me apart from him learning obedience by suffering. I told
you about that. I'm telling you, the cleaners
of the sewers is a more honorable work and an easier work and a
better work by far in comparison to the purging of our sins. How did he purge us? How did
he purge us? When He had by Himself purged
our sins. How did He do that? How did He
do that? It tells us here. By Himself. Listen now. Just bear with me. Look at me now and listen to
me. Listen to me. I'm telling you. I'm telling
you the grand and glorious story how Christ died for sinners and
paid their debt and freely has forgiven them their sins. You can't hear anything better
than that. I don't care what you hear, where you hear it,
or who you hear it from. You cannot hear any better than
that. You can't do it? Christ, Christ the Lord, purged
our sins. I'm anxious to know, brethren,
about Him who made me perfect in God's sight. That takes precedent
over everything else. That's what I'm interested in.
I'm interested in when I die. that the angels will come and
bear me up to the throne of God. And it won't be a throne of judgment,
but it will be a throne of mercy and a throne of grace. That's
what I'm interested in. I'm interested in all of my sins
gone. I don't want to face them. I
don't want you to see them. I don't want them to be embraced
in the glory of heaven there for everybody to see. I want
them to be purged. I want them to be put away. That's
what I want, and I'll tell you, brethren, I'm talking about serious
business. I'm talking about wonderful business. It says, when he had by himself,
by himself, oh, listen to me now, listen to what it says,
who his own self bore or bear our sins in his own body on the
tree. How did he do it? By his doctrine? By his preaching? By his spirit? No. He offered himself. He, this baby born in Bethlehem's
manger, This baby who was God incarnate, who had desires, who
had passions, who hungered, who thirsted, who had pain, who had
feeling, who was insulted, who was looked upon as a wine-beber,
and who was looked upon and considered as in league with Bamboobub,
this man, This man, that's who he was. And I'll tell you, blessed be
God, when this is all over with, our confession will be when they
say, who saved you? You'll have to say, Jesus, the
Son of Mary. This man, Christ Jesus, he bore,
a fellow told me here just He said on Easter Sunday, Easter
Sunday, he said at a church nearby, a Baptist church nearby, he said
they was trying to be impressive, I suppose. They thought they
was doing right, but God help them. They said that they had
a fellow stood all the time the service was going on, they had
a fellow standing up here, back of the preacher, had a big long
beard. I'll tell you, idolatry. God helped the people that put
up with such trash as that. There's a man who they fastened
to that tree, and that man was none other than Christ the Lord,
who was the express image of God's person. The heir of all
things is Him. It's Him that they fastened.
to a tree. He gave him shelter. You didn't buy him. I didn't
buy him. Didn't have anything to buy him
with. He came, listen to me this morning, he came unsought, undesired. There ain't no one of you here,
including this preacher, that ever desired that God would send
a sacrifice to pay for his sins. He come unasked, undesired, and
unwanted, and gave himself. He offered Himself in our stead,
in our place, in our room. What did He do? He purged our
sins. He put them away. He paid for
them. He put them away. God did not
forgive our sins. Our Lord Jesus Christ put them
away. That's what happened to Him.
He put them away. You want to know where they are?
Let me tell you where your sins are. If you're a believer here
this morning, you know. You know. You're a believer. You're bound
to it. You're made to see your guilt. You felt your guilt. You tasted the shame of your
insurrection and rebellion in your mouth. You tasted it. You're
guilty inside and outside, you have no one to turn to. God sent
the prophet, he sent the preacher to you with the message, and
you said, this is it, this is what I, my soul's been waiting
to hear this. And you embraced him, the Lord
Jesus. Where's your sins gone? I'll
tell you. Look up. Stand on your tiptoes and look
up. Get your ladder about forty feet
high and lead it to the highest tree and climb up. to the top
of that ladder, climb up to the top of that tree and look up,
I'll guarantee you'll never see him. You look as far to the right
as you can and you'll never see him. And look as far to the left
as you can and you'll never see him. And look down to the depths
and dig a hole in the ground if you're so minded, but you'll
never see him. He purged them. That's what he
done. He purged our sins. And you know what God said? God
said, I will. I like this, I will. I like it. I will cast their sins behind
my back. Let me tell you a little story
real quick about that. I heard this on the radio the
other day. I took heart. I took heart when I heard this
because I'm so dumb. But this fella, this fella is
dumber than I was. You know what he said? He was
talking about, he was talking about the horror of hell and
so forth. And he said, he said the very thought of that makes
chills go up the back of my back. The back of my back. He makes
chills go up the back of my back. Not the back of his neck, but
the back of his back. And I wondered where that was,
the back of his back. But nevertheless, our Lord said,
I will cast their sins behind my back. Not behind the back
of his back, but behind his back. Now, I don't know where behind
God's back can be, do you? Do you know where that's at?
I don't. I would say it's nowhere. I'd say it's nowhere, for God
is everywhere, present, seeing everything. So that is when our sins are
gone, and I say this reverently, that they're gone and put away
even where God can't see them. Even where God can't see them.
He purged us of our sins, and God put them away. How did He
do it? He gave Himself. God's law demanded that the sacrifice
be perfect. If you were to go to heaven apart
from the Lord Jesus Christ, you know what you'd have to do? You'd
have to offer a perfect sacrifice. You'd have to find somebody.
who was absolutely immaculate and perfect, absolutely in every
respect, inwardly and outwardly, one that God would accept. You
couldn't find any. You couldn't find him. If you
offered yourself, it would be like offering a dog's neck. It
would be like offering an insult, like offering a dog's neck, because
we're rebels and sinners against God. God said it shall be perfect
to be accepted. If the sacrifice is to be accepted,
the sacrifice must be perfect. It must be. The Lord Jesus Christ
offered himself a perfect sacrifice. They are, of all things, the
possessor of all that his Father has offered himself freely. Someone said, Abraham gave his
son. Abraham offered to offer up his
son. Someone told me that. But I thought
about that a little bit. Listen. God commanded Abraham
to offer up his son. But God freely gave his. And there is a world of difference.
God freely gave His. Oh, all right, let me go on so
I can quit here. What does He now enjoy? And then
we'll quit. When He had by Himself purged
our sins, what did He do? What does He do now? He sat down
on the right hand of the Majesty on high. What He now enjoys,
He sat down. What does that imply? It implies
a place of honor, a place of security, a place of safety,
a place of dignity, and above all of that, it implies a place
of rest. He sat down. He sat down on the
right hand of the majesty on high. Listen, do you remember
in the Old Testament when the high priest went within the veil? He did not sit down. I'll tell
you why he didn't sit down. Because there was no place for
him to sit down. There was no chair in the tabernacle. There was no chair there furnished
to priests when he went into the tabernacle. No place to sit
down. You know why there was no chair
and no place for him to sit down? Because his work was never completed. He couldn't complete his work.
He made thee. He offered thee. Sacrificial
blood once a year in the Holies of Holies. And then he had to
offer it again next year, and next year, and next year, and
next year. So his work was never completed. That's the reason there was no
chair in the Holies of Holies in the tabernacle. You see, but
our Savior, He no more sacrificed for sin. No more. There's no
more. There's no other. There's no
more. There's no more. You want to be saved? You'll
have to come to the sacrifice. There remaineth no more sacrifice
for sin. It says, but this man, this God-man,
but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever
sat down on the right hand of God from henceforth expecting
till his enemies be made his footstool. You see, brethren, a risen and
resting Savior is the glorious, unanswerable proof that our sins
are gone. He could not be where he is doing
what he's doing if there was one sin that wasn't paid for. You know, when they hung him
on that tree, when they hung him on that tree and he said,
It's finished! Right then, all of my sins were
paid for, every one, past, present, and sent to come. It's all paid
for. All paid for. Unanswerable proof. No lowly Jesus today. No lowly
Jesus. It says that He's on the right
hand of God in that eighth verse. Listen to what it says. But unto
the Son, He saith. That's God. But unto the Son,
God says, Thy throne. Even God calls Him God. But unto
the Son he saith thy throne, O God, he is for ever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. No lowly Jesus today. Trust in
him today. Will you do that? This trusting
in the Lord Jesus Christ is a mark that distinguishes his people
from all other people. Have you trusted in him? Have
you really? bowed to Him and trusted in Him
as your sacrifice and your Redeemer. Have you fell in love with God's
Son, who is the heir of all things, who is the express image of God,
who is the brightness of God's glory, the Savior of them that
believe? Have you fell in love with Him?
Listen, have you felt it? Really, really felt it? Has God given you a heart of
flesh that you might love His Son and you bowed to Him? Listen,
trust in Him today. This is the mark that distinguishes
His people from all the other people on the topside of God's
green earth. My sheep hear my voice and I
know them and they follow me. He also said, You believe not,
because ye are not of my sheep. Don't wear that damning mark
of unbelief to your grave. Don't do it. I beg of you this
morning in God's name, I beg of you. Don't wear the damning
mark of unbelief to your grave, because if you do, if you die
with that brand on you, You'll be lost forever. Don't wear it. The distinguishing mark that
distinguishes the people of God from all other people is they
trust in His Son. They bow to His Son. His Son
is their Lord and their Savior, and He knows them, and they know
Him. They hear His voice, and they
follow Him. Don't die with the brand, with
the brand of unbelief on your soul. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't. Don't do it. Don't do it. If
you do, you'll be lost forever. God help you. Let's stand.