Let's look now to scriptures
here and say a few things about them. I told you to turn to Matthew 17. I want to read a
couple of things that pertain to this scripture. Over in chapter
16 it says this in verse 21, From that time forth began Jesus
to show unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem.
That's one of those musts. He must go to Jerusalem. It's
ordained of God. He must go. He must go to Jerusalem
and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests
and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third
day. And then over in Chapter 20, in verse 17, it says, And Jesus going up to Jerusalem,
now He's going up to Jerusalem for the last time. He took the
twelve disciples apart in the way and said unto them, Behold,
we go up to Jerusalem. and the Son of Man shall be betrayed
unto the chief priests and unto the scribes. And they shall kill
him, and they shall condemn him to death. They shall deliver
him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify him.
And the third day he shall rise again." That's the third time
he said that to them. And back here in chapter 17,
let's go back to chapter 17. Verse 22, And while they abode in Galilee,
Jesus said unto them, The Son of Man shall be betrayed into
the hands of men, and they shall kill him. And the third day he
shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorrowful. The title of this message is
Living in the Conscious Awareness. The conscious, the constantly
conscious of Christ in Him crucified. Always having that before us. Every day. Every day. Most people do not live in reality. They live in their own world. They live, for the most part,
with blinders on. If people lived in reality, they
would have a much greater interest in their souls instead of what
we are going to eat, what we are going to wear, where we are
going to live. How are we going to do this?
How are we going to do that? They would be more concerned
about eternal matters than temporal matters. I just turned 64 years old and
there's one thing I've learned about temporal matters. They
are just temporal. They are just temporal. In a
little while, everything's over. In just a little while, this
will be over. The things that matter are eternal. It's my relationship to the Lord
Jesus Christ. You know, as a pastor, I have
conducted several funerals over the years. And everyone that I have done, The moment they died, and I'm
not talking about as believers, I'm just talking about people,
as we die, that moment, no matter how much money you have in the
bank, no matter how much you have accomplished, you are penniless. And the only thing you have is
what you have in Christ. And as I get older, that's what
I want to stress more than anything, the importance of our relationship
to the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm learning. I'm learning. Nothing else is that important. You know, I have said to my wife
several times, I have said, you know, that sooner or later, our
relationship will be dissolved. The relationship I have with
my two sons as their father will be dissolved. And the only thing
that's going to last is our relationship in the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to live in the reality
of that. I want to live with a conscious awareness of that
continually. Continually. So I want us to look here at some realities that our Lord
gives us. He said this three times. And
three times, you know, the first time He said it, Peter rebuked
Him. He rebuked him. He said, not so, Lord, no, no. Well, when I read that here,
I preached from not too long ago, I read that and I thought,
I have some hope here. I have some hope here. I thought
of how spiritually ignorant you can be and still be saved. He
said, not so, you can't die. And this is a man who said, thou
art to Christ, the Son of the living God. I thought, well, I got some hope
here. I don't have to know everything, I just have to know Him. I just
have to know Him. And in knowing Him, I learn everything
else. For Jesus Christ is the key of
knowledge. That's how we arrive at true
knowledge, through Him. We don't arrive at Him through
knowledge. We arrive at true knowledge through Jesus Christ.
That's how we arrive at true doctrine. We arrive at true doctrine
through the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't arrive at Him through
the doctrine. He's it. He's it. Now the first reality is this. His person. The scripture says
over in Hebrew, He that cometh to God must believe that He is.
That He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. And here we have the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Son of Man. The Lord Jesus Christ is, not
was, not was, He is. He is right now seated at God's
right hand. He is God in the flesh. But here
He calls Himself the Son of Man. There is such a person called,
named the Lord Jesus Christ. And we have to deal with Him.
You know, I don't have to deal. There's over 7 billion people
in this world. And I will know... I mean, it
will hardly register the ones I'll know or have to deal with.
Everyone has to deal with Jesus Christ. Sooner or later. Absolutely
everyone that's ever come into this world will deal with that
man. The Son of Man. Jesus Christ. He's a real man. This is a real
man that is. I want to say that was, but is. He is. And He's God. He is Almighty God. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. That God is Jesus Christ. That's who He is. He's, as the
old writers would say, God, very God. But he's also a very real
man. I mean a very real man who trusted
in God. Who believed God. He's a very
real man, except this man knew no sin. This man is the man. This man is the perfect man.
This man is a holy man. This man became bone of our bone
and flesh of our flesh. This man can feel what I feel. He hungered. He thirsted. He can feel what I feel. We have
a high priest. And our high priest can be touched
with the feelings of our infirmity. He can be touched. John said
we have looked upon him. We've handled him. He's very real. He's very real. You know, when Martha and Mary
were weeping over their brother, Lazarus, and they was talking
to him about Lazarus. It says that Jesus wept. And I like what Matthew Henry
said about it. He said he felt everything he
took away. He felt everything he took away.
I can't feel your pain. Now if you and I have the same
experience in a situation, We can feel something of each other's
pain, but the Lord Jesus Christ, He knows our pain to perfection. He knows it to perfection. I may feel painful over something,
but He knows that pain in a deeper sense than I know it. And this man, this son of man,
who is God, suffered. Suffered. Our Lord always kept His sufferings
and death and resurrection in the forefront. Now if He did
that, you reckon we ought to? I reckon we should. It is always always Christ and
Him crucified. You know, when John went to the
third heaven, he said, I saw a lamb as it had
been slain. He saw Him in His sacrificial
character. We will always hold before us
and in our preaching and in our lives Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Jesus Christ and Him crucified
is the reason you and I are here. He's the reason we are here.
You take Him out of the picture and there's no reason for us
to be here. You take Him out of the picture and there's no
reason for our existence. All things were made by Him and
for Him. I was not made for myself. I
was made for Jesus Christ. His glory. And as I get older,
I realize that. I realize that I am not my own. You've been bought with a price.
You are not your own. We are His. He said in one portion of the
scripture I read there that he must suffer. Must suffer. He cannot just die. He cannot
come into this world and just die. And that's the end of it. He must suffer. God is holy. God is holy. I called Tom Hardy
once. I said, Tom, let's talk about
this. I said, why must he suffer? Why can he not just die and put
an end to it? And I just wanted me and Tom
to talk about this. And Tom said, well, one reason
is to fulfill the scriptures. Isaiah 53. He's wounded for our
transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, and by his stripes,
we are healed. He's bruised. He's tormented. So that has to happen. for him
to fulfill the scriptures. And then secondly, I deserve
suffering. I deserve suffering. And then thirdly, God is holy.
That's why God is holy. And sin has to be dealt with. And he says here, the son of
man must suffer. Not an animal. All those animals
in the Old Testament that were offered year by year, day by
day, and year by year, could not put away one sin. Never put away one sin. I read
this one time years ago. I don't know where I got it,
but it's always stuck with me. A man broke God's law. Therefore,
a man must keep God's law if he is to be honored. God's law
has to be fulfilled. I know this human race does not
think anything of God's law, but He does. He does. They don't think anything of
God's justice, but He does. The same nature. that broke God's
law must be the same nature that renders satisfaction to God's
law. I thought, and it just, when I read that years ago, it
just cleared things up. I thought, that's why he has
to die. That's why he has to suffer. The same nature that
sin has to be the same nature that satisfied God's law. An
animal didn't sin. An animal cannot satisfy the
justice of God for the sin of a man. Can't do it. That's why the Son of Man, God
in flesh, God came into this world, took upon Himself flesh,
and suffered His own justice. He's the only one that could
do that. The only one. And then we must live in the
reality of this man's death. A man must die. The Scripture says the soul that
sinneth shall surely die. I have to die. God cannot just
forgive me. There has to be payment for the
penalty. There has to be. He cannot just
forgive me. There's got to be a death because
God said the soul that sinneth shall surely die. The man, Jesus Christ, really,
really died. I'm not going to die. I'm not going to die because
he did. Now I know you're looking at me and you're saying, have
you looked in the mirror lately? You're dying. You're out where
man is perishing. It's getting gray. You're dying. No, I'm not. I am not dying. My body is. And I'm just going
to change houses. I'm going to change places. I'm
not going to die. I tell you, when you realize
that, that's when you begin to live. That's when you really
begin to live this life is when you realize you're not going
to die. In a little while, you're going to change places. That's
why I don't get too attached to this place. You're going to
change. I'm not going to die. You're
not going to die. Now if you believe God, you're not going to die. The man Jesus Christ, though,
he really did die. He was put to death. He was put
to death in the flesh, it says in the Scriptures. He had to die. You know, for
the Lord Jesus Christ, to put sin away, he had to die. He had to die in my place. I
was thinking of this as I was looking over this again the other
day, and I was thinking of Christ dying for my sins, and I thought, what is the greatest
sin? What is the greatest sin? You're
looking at it. You're looking at it. It's not
an action. It's a person. It's me. It's me. And for God Almighty
to put my sin away, He had to put me away in the death of the
Lord Jesus Christ. I had to die. I died in Christ.
I've already died. I've already died. My sin's been
put away through the death of my Savior. The Scripture says His soul was
made an offering for sin. That's me! That's me. Now it's hard to find somebody
that's, actually you won't find anybody unless God saves them,
that's going to confess that they are nothing but sin. That
they're none good, no not one. He's talking about me. He died
for the ungodly, those who are unlike Him. That's me. I'm about
as unlike God as you can get. And He died for the ungodly.
He didn't die for good people. There's not any. If you're really
good, as God calls good, you don't need a savior. You don't. Not if you're really good, there's
nothing good but God. When God talks about being good,
He's talking about perfection. Christ died for the ungodly. That opens a gate wide open for
me. I'm as unlike God as you can
get. God is light. I'm darkness. God is holy, I
am sin. I am the opposite of everything
God is. And Christ died for the ungodly.
But I tell you what, it takes the work of the Holy Spirit to
bring a man to the place to say, I am ungodly. Christ did not die for a multitude
of sinners that's just not that bad. There's not one of them
good. There's not a good person in
this room. Does that offend anybody? It's the truth. It's the truth. Not by nature now, not by nature.
There's not. Christ died for our sins. The scripture says He was made
to be sin for us. I believe he was made to be what
I am, that I might be made to be what he is. Righteous. Righteous. But he had to take my place.
The substitute had to really, he had to really actually become
a substitute. He had to be made what I am.
I am sin. I don't just do some sinful things.
That's what I am by nature, and that's what you are. The Lord Jesus Christ died to
put away all the sin of all the elect of God. I thank God He
chose a people. There's nobody to be saved. We'd
all be like the lost angels who had no hope. All those who fell.
We'd be just like them. if God had not chosen the people,
because we wouldn't have a thing to do with God. The darkness
will not come to the light, lest its deeds should be reproved.
You don't want anybody to know you. Would you want your thoughts
put up on the screen here? I don't think so. We could empty
this room. Our Lord did one time when the adulterous woman was
tossed at His feet. He emptied the house, didn't
He? He said, you that are without sin, You cast the first stone
and they all start slipping out the back until there was nobody
left but him and her. All of them gone. Then we live in the reality of
his resurrection. Just as sure as the Son of Man
suffered, just as sure as the Son of Man died, and was put
to death, he was quickened by the Spirit. He was raised again
by the power of God. He who is God raised himself
from the dead. This is over our head, I know
that. It's over my head and that's why it makes me so nervous when
I preach. I'm preaching about things and I'm not swimming in
deep water. And I'm not a good swimmer. And I'm swimming in
deep water. Our Lord was quick and death
could not hold Him. It could not hold Him. There was nothing to hold Him
with. He's the perfect sacrifice. He's
the holiness of God. He's God. It couldn't hold Him. Jesus Christ is not dead. He died. His death was the death
of death. But now he lives. He's alive
forevermore. And he is seated at God's right
hand. Making intercessions for transgressors. Making intercessions for me.
You know, I like it when people pray for me. I like to hear people
intercede for me. But there's one whose intercession
I desire above all his. Because he said, Father, I know
you always hear me. And he gets everything he asked
for every time. Every time. He is seated at God's
right hand and at God's right hand right now. He is running
this world. He is running the universe. He
is ruling. He is reigning over all right
now. Live in the reality of that.
Don't live in the reality of the news that you see on television. That will keep you tore up. But if you live in the reality
of this man, Jesus Christ, Him crucified. No matter how bad
things look out there, you can go home tonight and you can go
to sleep. And your sleep will be sweet.
If you live in that. But if all you live in is what's
going on horizontally, you're not going to rest, you're not
going to find rest. It is Satan's great tool to take
your rest from you. is to take away your rest. And
he's a master of confusion. He's a master of deception. He's a master of hype. And that's
mostly what news is, is hype. I tell you, live in the reality
of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. What you have in Him and your
relationship to Him, and you can go through this life a lot
differently. Our Lord rose, when He rose from
the dead, He rose a mighty conqueror. He rose and He took captivity
captive. He rules all principalities and
powers. Satan is no one to be afraid
of. Fear God and you fear no one
else. You will fear no one else. If
you have a right fear of God, You'll fear no one else. Don't
fear God, and you'll fear everything else. Our Lord said, because I live,
you shall live also. Because I live. He is my life. He didn't just give me life.
He is my life. If I have real life, if I have
real eternal life, it's because I have Jesus Christ. Because
I have Him. He is life. He is the resurrection. Look over in John chapter 11. In John chapter 11, let me see here, look in verse 20. Then Martha, as soon as she heard
that Jesus was coming, went and met him. But Mary sat still in
the house. Then said Martha unto Jesus,
Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But
I know that even now whatsoever thou would ask of God, God will
give it thee. And Jesus said unto her, thy
brother shall rise again. And Martha said unto him, I know
that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
I know this, I believe this. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection
and the life. You're looking at the resurrection.
She's thinking of an event. Now when you and I think of the
resurrection, let's quit thinking of an event. Let's think of a
person. Jesus Christ. That's why I said,
I'm not going to die. I've already risen. I'm already
risen in Christ. Live in the reality of that.
Account that to be so. As Paul said in one place in
Romans, reckon yourself to be dead to sin. And that reckoning
is an accounting term. I don't feel dead to sin. Do
you feel dead to sin? I feel like sin is pretty much
alive. But he says this, you reckon yourself to be dead to
sin because you died in Christ and that's so and you live in
the reality of that. Look over in 1 John chapter 1.
I said when you think of the resurrection, think of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the person. I am the resurrection
and the life. And when you think of eternal
life, don't think of how long it is. Everybody is going to
live forever, either with the Lord or in hell. One place or
the other. But now listen, John says this,
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we
have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our
hands have handled of the Word of life, Life is a person. Life is a person. For the life was manifested and
we've seen it and bear witness and show unto you that eternal
life which was with the Father and was manifested to us. Eternal
life, he said, was with the Father. And it was manifested to us.
And His name is Jesus Christ. Life has a name. Jesus Christ. Let's live in the reality of
that. And then let's live in the reality of His salvation. Did His death accomplish anything? Did His death really, His sufferings
and His death, did it really accomplish my salvation? Am I
saved in Christ? Absolutely. Absolutely. It accomplished the salvation
of everyone for whom He died. For whom did He die? Sinners. The ungodly. All you that labor and heavy
laden, come to Me and I'll give you rest. Have you come to Him? Have you come to Him? Lord, I
believe. Help Thou my unbelief. Yes, I've
come. You know, one of the scriptures
that the Lord used to keep me going when I heard the gospel,
I mean, it was a time of a lot of doubt that the Lord had saved
me, that I really knew the Lord. Because
all I could see was sin. But the one scripture that I
held on to is this, He that cometh to me, I will know why I was
cast out. I held on to that like Job held
on to that angel said, or Jacob held on to that angel said, I
will not let you go until you bless me. And I hung on to that
scripture. Lord you said, and there's no
better way to go before God than to say you said, he that comes to me, I will know
why I was cast out. I come. God's good for His Word. He's good for His Word. And I
believe that God will do exactly what He said He would do. Do
you believe that? Do you really believe it? That God will do
exactly what He said He would do. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. Do you believe that? God said
so. That's all I got to go on. I
don't go on feelings. It's hard telling how I feel
before the day's over with. I go on God's Word. His death accomplished the satisfaction
of God's justice and I could not satisfy justice. That's why
hell is eternal. That's why hell is forever. No
one there can satisfy justice. They can't pay the penalty. But the Lord Jesus Christ did.
He did. The law of God absolutely cannot
be more satisfied than it is right now in Jesus Christ. Just as sure as Christ rose from
the dead and satisfied God's justice, so shall everyone who
trusts in Him. I expect to be with the Lord. Based on His Word. Based on His
Word. The foundation of faith, right
here. Taking God at His Word. That's what faith is. It's just
taking God at His Word. Not to do that is to call Him
a liar. To walk out of here in unbelief
is to call God a liar. God who cannot lie. And to believe
God is just to take Him at His Word. Not trying to wait for
some feeling to come over you. Not waiting for some experience. Just take Him at His Word. God
said it. Lord, You said so. You said. And just as sure as he died,
and rose from the dead and satisfied God's justice, and we are going
to rise in Him, we are going to be with Him on that new earth. I try to live in the reality
that one day I'm going to walk on a new earth. You know, there
was a time that this earth was perfect. It's hard to believe,
isn't it? I mean, it's hard to conceive that this earth at one
time was absolutely perfect until Adam fell. Well, there's coming a time when
there's going to be a new earth wherein dwells righteousness.
Nothing that offends will ever enter in. And every believer
is going to walk on it. And they're going to enjoy the
very presence of Christ. Faith is going to give way to
sight. Now let me close with a few realities
here that go along with this. That you and I need to live in
the conscious reality of these things. His presence. Don't think of Jesus Christ some
way, way off out there somewhere. He's in you. Where two or three
are gathered together in my name, they remind me that He's with
us. He's with us in spirit. That's just Israel's body. God
is spirit. He's spirit. He's with us. Believers
are never out of His presence. Look over here in this chapter,
chapter 17, verse 25. Well, let me go to verse 24.
And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money
came to Peter and said, does not your master pay tribute?
And Peter said, yes, yes. And you know he wasn't going
to say no. He said yes. I think he said yes just out
of response. And when he was coming to the
house, Jesus prevented him saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? Of
whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? Of their
own children or of strangers? The Lord heard that conversation.
He heard that conversation. We were never out of His presence.
He was present there with Peter. And that conversation going on,
He's hearing it. He's listening to it. And he
prevents Peter when he comes in the room, he stops him. Peter
didn't say anything, he stopped and he said, Peter. And he gives
him this scenario. Because he heard the conversation. Our Lord sees us at all times. Hagar said this, Thou God seest
me. You know, David said concerning
his sin, Bathsheba, he said, Against thee is the only, and
have I sinned, done this evil in thy sight? With you looking
on. With you looking on. We're never
out of His presence. He knows exactly where we are
at any given time. In fact, In fact, He knows how many hairs
are on my head. That's how intimately acquainted He is with us. He
sees us. I mean, right down to how many
hairs are on my head. David said in Psalm 139, whether
shall I go from thy spirit or whether shall I flee from thy
presence? that you're not there. He says
in Jeremiah 23-24, Can any hide himself in secret places that
I shall not see him, saith the Lord? Do not I fill heaven and
earth, saith the Lord? Do you ever feel like, where's
God at? David said, How long, Lord? Will
you forget me forever? Psalm, I believe it's Psalm 12
or 13. Do you ever feel like that? He never forgets us. He said
a mother may forget her sucking child, but I won't forget you.
We are never out of His presence. When He comes, when He comes
to gather His people together that are on this earth and He
puts an end to all this, what is He coming with? Thousand times
ten thousand thousand of his saints. He's not leaving them
back home. He never goes anywhere without
them. He's never separated from them
again. Always in his presence. We need
to realize this at all times. We live in the immediate presence
of our Lord at all times. Never alone. Never alone. Every thought, every word, every
action is in his presence. Then we need to live in the reality
of His power. He said, all power is given to
me in heaven and earth. He said in John 17, Thou hast
given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life
to as many as Thou hast given Him. The Lord Jesus Christ has
been given all power to execute the will of God and to take care
of us. Why would we worry? He has all power. Notice here,
notice something. In verse 26, Peter said unto
Him, in answer to the question, or in answer to the question
the Lord asked him. And Peter said of strangers,
Jesus said unto him, Then are the children free, notwithstanding
lest we should offend them. Go thou to the sea, and cast
a hook, and take up the fish that first comes up. When thou
hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money. That take
and give it unto them for me and thee." How did that fish get that piece
of money in its mouth? The first one. The first one. Our Lord has the power over all
things. Somebody out there fishing dropped
a piece of money overboard and that fish picked it up And the
Lord tells Peter, now you go down, and the first fish that
you get, don't fish all day, you just need one, and it's waiting
on you. It's waiting on you. And when
you get it, take the coin out of its mouth, and then you go
pay our taxes. He has power over all things.
And you and I worry. He is able to make all things
work for our good. Whatever it is that every last
one of you is going through right now, the Lord Jesus Christ, by
His power, is making it work for your good. You need it. It's a need be or it wouldn't
be happening. And He's making it for your good. Your good. Nothing nothing nothing in this
world is out of control Nothing There was a lady who asked her
pastor one time after he had preached She said and she asked
him her question was this Is it Is it right to pray about everything and
not just the big things. And he said to her, he said,
Ma'am, everything with God is little. Now it may seem like a big problem
to me and you. Everything with God is little.
It just depends on how big your God is. If He's God, there's
none bigger. If He's God. And then last of all, I close.
I want you to just notice here the oneness of the Lord with
His people. And we need to realize this.
He's one with us and we're one in Him. When Peter caught the
fish, how many pieces of coin was in his mouth? Two? Was there
two in there? One for the Lord, one for him?
No. It was one piece of coin. that
took care of Peter and the Lord, the taxes that was owed. But here's my thought when I'm
reading this. Our Lord here, in this situation
with Peter, not only paid the tribute for himself at that time,
but also for Peter. Our debt became his. our debt became his. And his
payment became mine. He has paid my tribute. Notice what he says here. Let
me find it. Back in 26. Peter said unto him,
of strangers Jesus said unto him, then are the children free. Our Lord has paid our tribute. He's paid what we owe. And you're
free. You're free. And you need to
live, and I need to live, in the reality of that every day. Alright.