All right, brethren, let's be
returning to Luke chapter 2. And I want to look this morning
with you at the honor that's given to our Lord. And these things are important. When Luke wrote this word, when
he wrote the book of Luke here, the gospel of Luke, he tells
us that he's writing this to Theophilus. And many, I think
a lot, believe that that's a specific person, a real person with the
name Theophilus. I tend to think it's written
to you that are called Theophilus, you that love God. That's what
that name means, Theophilus, you that love God or those that
love God. And so these were told here,
is that these are the things which are most surely believed
among us. And so our Lord has told us that
he's telling us here. He's giving us five witnesses
in the angel and the angels, in the shepherds, in the law,
in Simeon, who is a type or a picture of the prophets, and of Anna,
a picture or type of the church. And they all give witness that
this Jesus is the Christ, the salvation that God has sent to
save his people from their sins. And so first we look at the angel
that announced Christ's birth to the shepherds. Look at verses
10 through 12. And the angel said unto them,
fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people. You think about that. These shepherds
were there at night keeping watch over their sheep. And that means
most likely the birth of Christ took place in a warmer month,
spring or summer or fall, not at Christmas. But this is the
time when people tend to think of our Lord's birth. But the
angel appears out of nowhere and tells him, don't be afraid.
I would be afraid. I'd be startled and taken aback
if an angel appeared to me. But the angel says, don't, don't
be afraid. I've got a good word for you. And that's an encouragement to
you that are sinners, to you that have no righteousness of
your own. The Lord has gathered you here
this morning to hear his word, to hear his gospel word to comfort
the hearts of his people, to comfort those that are poor and
needy sinners who have no righteousness of their own. This is a good
word. Hear the word. Beg the Lord to
help you hear his good word. And he says, unto you is born
this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the
Lord. And this shall be a sign unto
you, when you go seeking for him, when you go searching for
him, ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in
a manger. And that's a good word, when
the Lord shows you your sin. and shows you your need, not
the need of others, but your own need. I'm the sinner. Help me, Lord. Have mercy on
me. Blind Bartimaeus cried out, help
me, thou son of David. That's what he does. He stirs
up his child. He shows them their need of Christ, and that Christ
alone is the sufficient one to save his people to the uttermost.
When the Lord does that, he says, this is how you're going to find
them. He's poor and lowly. He came not high and mighty,
not one who showed himself to be showy and according to the
expectation of men, but when you seek the Lord, when the Lord
stirs your heart, He says, erase all the ideas and the thoughts
you have of what men think of God, of what men think the Savior,
of who he is and how he came. Put all those ideas of your flesh
away, because that's not how he came. He didn't come according
to the expectation of our earthly thoughts and our earthly ways
and what man thinks God is. That's not how he came. We're
told actually by the Lord that that which is highly esteemed
among men is abomination to God. What we think is greatness, what
we think is righteousness, what we think God is looking for,
our Lord tells us that it's abomination to God. because we come in the
strength of our own flesh, in our own works. We come in putting
on airs, and pomp, and circumstance, and we puff ourselves up, and
we put on hypocrisy to try and show God that we are acceptable
to him, that he can receive us because we're good. And he says,
no, that's not why I receive my people. It's not based on
their goodness. I receive my people on Christ,
in Christ, and Him alone. And so the angel's saying, look
lower. Be humble. Get down on your hands
and knees. Come lowly, because that's where
you're going to see the Savior. Below that carnal gaze of proud
man, you're going to see the Savior who's come lowly. who
made himself of no reputation, who is poor and has nothing to
show. He doesn't come with observation
of men. And you'll see the Lord low,
because he's pleased to dwell with you that are of a contrite
and a broken heart. You that have nothing to boast
in. You that have nothing to give
to God. That's where he's found. He's
found of you that seek for him for mercy. who ask him for grace,
who come seeking peace, not because you've done anything to deserve
peace, but you're asking him to be gracious and to be merciful
to you. And there you shall find the
babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in the manger. He came
poor and lowly for this cause. Because that's what the Lord
came to do, to revive you that are low, to revive the spirit
that is humble, to revive the heart of those that are contrite,
that is broken and sorrowful for your sin. Then we're told
in verse 13 and 14, And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude
of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, Glory to God
in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. And so the Lord has given us
a testimony. Because this Jesus came low and
poor and without in such a way that we don't naturally see Him
or know Him or recognize Him, He gave us this witness from
Heaven. He bore witness and testimony
that this is the Christ, because otherwise we'd never know Him.
We'd never look for Him, we'd never see Him. And so this testimony
is given to say to us that God has not forgotten His promise
to be gracious and merciful, to reconcile His people unto
Himself by His Christ, by His Lamb, by His Son whom He sent,
the seed of woman. And so these angels, they come
forth to bear this testimony, to assure you and me that this
Jesus of Nazareth, born in Bethlehem in the city of David, who's poor
and lowly and lying in a manger wrapped in rags, that this is
the Christ of God. And we're told that when he bringeth
in the first begotten into the world, he saith, and let all
the angels of God worship him. And that's what they did. They
came and they worshipped him and glorified him before the
hearts of these low, poor shepherds. And so that brings us to the
second witness, these shepherds. They were moved to go and see
this thing. They said, well, let us go and
see this thing which has been announced to us by the angels.
And when they got there, they found it just as it had been
reported to them. They found it to be so. Verse
17. And when they had seen it, they
made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning
this child. And so the birth of our Savior
was a mean birth. It was lowly. He was poor. There
was dirt. There was filth. There were rags. There was nothing to speak of
as far as the sight can see that glorified him, that said, this
one is mighty. This is the wise counselor. This is the wisdom of God. This
is the righteousness of God. This is the sanctification of
God's people. This is our redemption. Nothing
said that about Him in His birth. And so, what the Lord is showing
us is that He didn't come as man would expect Him to come. We expect Him to come in all
this glory, in all this greatness, that we would recognize Him for
who He is when we saw Him. And so we're looking for qualities
and characteristics, we're looking for tallness and charisma and
beauty and riches and that's not what the Lord has done to
save his people. He didn't come in that way. He
didn't come in that way that men think of that the Lord would
come. And he wasn't born to parents
that were wealthy and revered and respected in the church.
He was born to parents that were nobodies, that had no reputation,
that weren't well known in the church, and they weren't known
in Jerusalem, and they didn't know all the rabbis, and the
teachers, and the wealthy people, and the doctors, and that wasn't
them. That wasn't them at all. And
what that does is it encourages you that are also of no reputation,
you that have nothing, you that are nobodies, you that have nothing
to glory in or to speak highly of and to recommend yourselves
to God, that's who this Savior came to save. We that are sinners,
we that are cast off, we that are despised and hated and put
off from this world, that's who Christ came to save. And he was
born in an animal barn and he was swaddled with filthy rags
and he was laid in a manger. And that's why the scriptures
tell us he hath no form nor comeliness and when we look at him, There
is no beauty that we should desire him. And so from the very beginning,
God is cutting through all our carnal senses. He's showing us
that what we think we should see is blindness, that what we
think we should hear is deafness. and that our hearts are thick
and full of fat and cannot hear and do not receive the things
of God. He's telling us you're looking
over here and you should be looking over here, down here. Get low
because he's lower than what you think. He came with no reputation,
no form, and no comeliness. And that's good news to you that
are beggars, to you that are blind, The youth that are have
no money, and have no wealth, and no reputation. That's good
news for the sinner. And so our Lord had to instruct
the people. He said, judge not according
to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. Turn over
to 1 Peter chapter 2. Let's go to 1 Peter chapter 2. The Lord tells us in verse 6,
Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay
in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that
believeth on him shall not be confounded. You won't be ashamed
or confused when you stand before God before His throne in that
day believing Christ. You won't say, what was I thinking
trusting everything to Christ? That won't be what you say. You'll
rejoice in that day because God receives those who come to Him
in His Son. You won't be confounded. You
won't be scratching your head saying, why did I think that? That he would be pleased with
Christ alone. No, you'll be satisfied. You'll rejoice in that day, because
that's what God is satisfied with, His Son. Unto you, therefore,
which believe He is precious, but unto them which be disobedient,
disobedient to the faith, trusting their own works, trusting their
good works, trusting their works under the law, they're the disobedient
ones. The stone which the builders
disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner. They
saw Christ, the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the doctors
of the law, they saw Christ and they said, that's not the chief
cornerstone. We don't want that one. And they
set him aside. And in reality, they stumbled
over him and they fell before the true and living God. The
same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word,
being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed." They
were appointed to death. And so Christ came and Christ
ministered in a manner that exposes the wickedness of this natural
heart. Because we think that we're going to find Christ by
lifting ourselves up and glorying himself and boasting of what
we've done for the Lord. And he says, no, he came with
no reputation. He came to save dirty, filthy,
vile sinners, poor, wretched sinners who have nothing to recommend
them to God. And it goes right against all
of our senses and our natural carnal reason. And so what he's
saying here is that when you're looking for Christ, be aware,
he's very, very offensive to the flesh. He's an offense to
the flesh. Because the greatest of men among
us, what we think is greatness, they all despised him. They all
rejected him and put him off. He's very offensive to this flesh. And so our Lord did honor the
son whom he sent, with testimonies from above and below so that
you who look for redemption don't stumble over what this world
stumbles. That you're aware that don't
be offended. You're going to be offended.
You're going to look at him in the flesh, and you're going to
think I'm something, and he doesn't want nothing that I have to give
him. And it's going to be an offense to the flesh. But that's
who he came to save, people who have nothing. People who say,
you're right, Lord. My works are filthy. You're right,
Lord. It's all by your grace or nothing.
If it's not by your grace and mercy, I cannot come at all because
I have nothing. He does that. He empties the
hand. Now, we come to the third thing. Paul tells us in Galatians
4.4 that when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth
his son, made of a woman, made under the law. So this is the
third witness that followed the birth of our Lord. So that the
law is also giving witness that this is the salvation of God.
This is him of whom the law, all the law, Moses and the prophet
spoke. This is him of who the law is
writing. We're told in verse 21, that when eight days were
accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called
Jesus. So eight days later, according
to the law, he had to be circumcised. So not only was Christ made of
a woman, to be made like unto his brethren, that's you and
I who were made after the flesh, but Christ also submitted himself
to the law by being circumcised. He submitted himself to the law
being circumcised. And what does Paul tell us in
Galatians 3.10? Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do them. What he's
saying there is if you get yourself circumcised, if you say I'm going
to be circumcised and keep the law, he's saying once you start
it, you're on the hook for the whole thing. the entire perfection
of the law. And just because you tithe mints
and cumin and other things, be aware you're swallowing a camel.
You're not doing the righteousness of the law. We're failing. We
come short of God's glory and trying to please him by the works
of the law and to gain an acceptance with God by the works of the
law. And so he was circumcised. And by this act of being circumcised,
he became a debtor to fulfill all the law of God perfectly.
But he did it for you. He did it to bring honor to the
law for his people by fulfilling that law perfectly and we in
him so that we come to God in Christ, not in the law, not in
our works, but we come to God in Christ, believing him by faith,
trusting that he is all our acceptance with the Father. And he was made
under the law to be made a curse for us, to deliver his people
from the curse of the law. Now, here's a mystery. Here's
a mystery. In Galatians 3.13, it says, Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse
for us. For it is written, cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree. And he was hung on a tree. Now
I confess I don't understand all that transpired there that
day, but I do believe it. I do believe that all that was
necessary, Christ paid it all. Christ paid that debt as my surety
and as the surety of His people. All that I owed to God in perfect,
holy righteousness, Christ paid it. By the death of Himself,
when He hung there on that tree willingly for His people, laying
down His life, He went to that cursed tree willingly to save
His people from their sins. And though I don't understand
it, I know that He knew exactly what He was doing. And I know
the Father knew exactly what He was doing. And it was according
to the will and purpose of our God in perfect, holy righteousness. And I know God was pleased because
God raised Him from the dead, declaring, I've accepted the
sacrifice. He is justified. And you that
come to me in Christ are justified. You that have no righteousness
and believe on Christ, you're justified. You're just to do
it. You're just to believe on Christ, because that's how I
receive my people. I provided him for their salvation,
and he obtained it. He obtained eternal redemption. Unto you, as Peter said, unto
you, therefore, which believe, he is precious. he's precious
because he obtained it. I don't understand everything
that happened there but I know it was all perfect in God's sight
and he's well pleased and he receives you that come to him
in Christ. Now the law demands perfection
from us and we cannot keep the law without sin. We come short.
We fail in this way, in that way, in other ways. We don't
even know the depth and the length and the breadth of our sin. We
don't even understand it fully and that's because of the infirmity
of our flesh in Adam. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. That's the testimony of scripture.
We've all come short But Christ came in the likeness of this
sinful flesh, yet without sin. And He, the Son of God, submitted
Himself under the law, that law which was too high for us to
reach, too heavy for us to bear. He put His neck under that heavy,
yoking law, taking the form of a servant to do that very work
for us which we could not do. And he tells us, Paul tells us,
it's full of beggarly elements, rudimentary things. But Christ
did it to show us that it all spoke of Him, it all looked to
Him, and it's all fulfilled in Him perfectly. And so Christ
came to save sinners. He is the mediator between God,
holy God, and His people, reconciling them by the death of Himself.
and gives us all things. He gives us His perfect righteousness
to stand in the presence of Holy God and they shall never be ashamed. Never confound it, you that hope
in Him. You won't go away sorrowful in
that day. You shall rejoice in that day.
You shall hear the words of your Father which says, Well done
thou good and faithful servant, enter into thy rest prepared
for thee from before the foundation of the world, all because Christ
obtained that life for us. and obtained our salvation. But
those who come and say, I won't hear it. Surely there's something
I can bring. I'm going to bring my own righteousness.
I'm going to bring my righteousness with Christ. They shall have
a miserable day, because they did not believe the word. The
word that our God tells us, look to Christ, behold my servant,
look to Him, rest in Him, trust Him, believe Him, cry out to
Him, He's merciful and gracious to all who ask Him, to all who
need His salvation. Needy sinners find a complete
Savior in Christ. He's everything. And when you
need Him, when He shows you your sin, you'll come to Him begging
for mercy. But until then, you're going
to keep coming with your own works, and you're going to keep
coming and saying, but look, didn't I do anything for you?
Didn't I do these wonderful works for you? And he'll say, depart
from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you, because you
didn't rest in me. You didn't rest in me. All right,
so the law testifies to us that this is the Christ. And now we
come to a fourth one. Mary and Joseph had been encouraged
with all these tokens. They kept seeing these things
and seeing these gracious tokens of God showing them that their
son is the Savior, the promised seed of woman. And so now they
bring their son to Jerusalem. Now I don't know if it was if
all those who had their firstborn child, if they brought them to
present them to the Lord in Jerusalem. But the Lord had providentially
worked it out, and they're there in Bethlehem. And he made it
easy. They fulfilled all righteousness
according to the law with Christ. Christ did it. He fulfilled all
things. And so they bring him to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord. When parents would bring their
child to present them to the Lord, they were being presented
as a stranger. As a stranger to the Lord. And
that's how Christ was coming. He was being presented as though
he were a stranger. That's how much he humbled himself. under the law and it's here that
we're given another testimony which honors the son and esteems
him in our hearts. We're told that when they came
to do that in verse 25, behold there was a man in Jerusalem
whose name was Simeon and the same man was just and devout
waiting for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Ghost was
upon him. And so This man was chosen of
God to publicly exalt Christ before the eyes of the people.
We see this ministry, this showing of Christ is expanding, it's
growing. More people are being made to
know that Christ is here. The one who was spoken of in
the law and the prophets, he's here now. He's come. He's been
born. He's here in the flesh. And so
he comes in at this time, at this time. Because he read. He
read what Daniel said. He read what Jacob said, that
the scepter would not depart until Shiloh come. And it had.
It had departed. It was under the rule of Rome
now. And it wasn't a king from Judah. It was under the rule
of Rome now. And he came to declare that the
Christ is here. Now he's a just and devout man.
He's just toward men and he's devout toward God. And this is
evidenced in the fact that he's waiting. He's waiting. He's watching
for the consolation of Israel. And that word waiting signifies
he was expecting. He was looking for it. He saw,
according to the Word, he was looking for the Christ to be
born. He was looking for it. And the Spirit told him that
he was coming, that he wouldn't die until he had seen the salvation
of God. He was waiting. I want to always
be waiting, expecting to see the salvation of God. Even when
times are dark, and times seem impossible, I want to be found
waiting, looking to the Lord. And that's what he works in the
hearts of his people. Lord, I'm looking for your salvation. Lord, don't forget me. Lord,
look upon me. Save me, Lord. He works that
in the hearts of his people, to be waiting and expecting to
see his promises, to care for you, to provide for you, to do
for you what you need. bring you to his embrace there
when we go to sleep and awaken his arms. Now understand, once
again, there's a contrary note to what Simeon says here, contrary
to the flesh. It's contrary to our expectation
according to the flesh. We will not approach him to God
in our own works. He says all that come to God.
No man can see God and live. Isn't that what the scriptures
say? No man can see God and live. What's it talking about? It's
talking about when we come to him in our own works and in our
own righteousnesses. will be blown away like a dried
up leaf will be carried away by our sins. But those who come
to God in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, they are received. And
in Christ, we see the very face of God. And we understand and
know the true and living God. That he's not worshipped with
the works of men's hands, but that we worship him in Christ,
our temple, who is raised from the dead. Just as he said, and
so Christ is the light of God for sinners. He's the one that
shows us the true and living God. He's the one that opens
these eyes. He's the one that takes away
the blindness and gives sight to the blind, and opens that
deaf ear that can't hear, and opens the heart, turns the heart,
as Paul's saying in 2 Corinthians 3. But when the heart turns,
who turns it? Us? or the Lord. The Lord turns
that heart. He's the one who gives a new
heart and a new spirit and life to believe Him. And so He shows
us that in ourselves we're sinners. He shows us our need and He shows
us the sufficiency of Christ. And those that are His people,
they receive Him and believe Him and follow Him. This is the
word of faith which we preach, Paul said. that if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be
saved." That's the word of faith. That's our hope. That's our confession
that it's all in Christ for His sake. Now, we see this same faith
that I just spoke of manifested in Simeon, in what he confesses
here. Look at verse 26. It was told
of Simeon that it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that
he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
And he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents
brought in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of
the law, then took he up Then took he him up in his arms, and
blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant
depart in peace, according to thy word. For mine eyes have
seen thy salvation." Now this is the very thing that the Lord
works in the hearts of all his people. Just like we see here
with Simeon. We know him because he gives
us his Holy Spirit. Now Simeon did have a special
prophetical spirit upon him and he prophesied of the Lord. He
prophesied of the Lord but the Lord tells us he gives his child
his Holy Spirit so that we are born again, that we are delivered
from The deadness of this flesh to know to recognize that this
is the salvation of God the Lord Jesus Christ And he saw his salvation
before he died right before he saw death. That's what the Lord
does He saves all his people. He doesn't wait till we die and
then show us Then then then give us salvation. He gives us salvation
right now Right now, he raises us from the dead. Right now,
he gives new life to his people. And he was led by the Spirit
into the temple. And that Spirit is Christ. And
that's where we're led by the Spirit, into Christ, in the temple
of God, in whom we worship the true and living God. And it says,
Simeon took him up in his arms and blessed God. And that's what
we do by faith. We embrace Christ. We take Him
up in our arms because we're taken up in His arms. We think
we're holding on to Him, and He's holding on to us. And no
man can pluck you out of His hand. He's done that. And so
by faith, we take Him up and believe Him, and we bless God
in Christ for Christ, because it's by His blood that we are
cleansed from our sin. Now Simeon was now ready to depart
and go to the Lord in peace, saying, Now lettest thou thy
servant depart in peace, confessing, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Salvation is a person. It's not in what you do. It's
not in what you don't do. Salvation is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the very salvation of God. When Simeon laid eyes on Christ,
he said, now I've seen thy salvation. You that are saved are saved
for Christ's sake, not because you did something. You're saved
for Christ's sake. Now, what's amazing is that this
Jesus here was probably about 40 days old at this time. That's
when they would present the child, the firstborn, to the Lord. So
he was somewhere, I guess, 40 days old there. And he hadn't
spoken a word. He hadn't done one miraculous
thing before men. And yet Simeon looked on him
and knew this is the salvation of God. How did he know? He knew
by faith. And you that believe know that
this Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ by faith. Because God
has shown that He is the salvation of God, that He is your acceptance
with God, that it's not by what we do or don't do, it's by Christ,
it's in Christ alone. He, in verse 32 and 33, is a
light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel.
and Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken
of him." Christ is the light of God. He's the one who shows
us who the Father is. He's the one who gives us his
spirit so that we come to God worshiping him in spirit and
in truth. Christ is the way, he's the truth,
and the life, and no man comes to the Father but by him. and
He's been given by the Father to save His people and to lead
them to the true and living God. And hearing these things, you
that believe marvel at His grace, marvel at the things that are
spoken of Him as He shows you again and again the depths and
the breadth of His love and grace and kindness for sinners. He
shows us over and over again what He's done to save us, And
when we get proud and lifted up and puffed up and thinking
we've arrived and have done something, he humbles us and brings us low
again to show us, nope, it's all of Christ. It's all of my
grace, which I've given to you in my darling son. And so Simeon
goes on and blessed them. I just want to show you this
in verse 34 and 35. Simeon blessed them and said
unto Mary, his mother, behold, This child is set for the fall
and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be
spoken against. Yea, a sword shall pierce through
thy own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. You know, when we exalt Christ
and we declare that he is salvation, it's an offense to men. And when
we declare that he saves sovereignly whom he will save by his grace,
it's an offense to man. The more we exalt Christ and
the lower we put men in the dust, the more offensive Christ is
to this flesh. But He does that. He shows us
what we are in this flesh. And it is an offense to us to
show us our need of Him and to show us the sufficiency of Him
so that it cuts through the heart. It shows that left to myself
I come in pride. I come in my works, I come thinking
I'm something, and the Lord's saying, no, it's not by your
works. You're nothing. You've done nothing
for me. I've done everything for you.
And he does that to humble us, to show us that I've got nothing
to boast in except the Lord Jesus Christ. And so that's what we've
been sent to declare is Christ, Christ alone. And then there
was another one. This is the final one, Anna.
Anna. And so Anna comes in. She's called
a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age and had
lived with a husband seven years from her virginity. And she was
a widow of about 84 years. And I take that to mean she was
a widow for 84 years, which departed not from the temple, but served
God with fastings and prayers night and day. Now, I've said
she's, to me, what I see here is a picture of the church. She's
a picture of the church. And her name, Anna, is the same
as Hannah, which means grace or gracious. And she's the daughter
of Phanuel, which means the face of God. And she's a prophetess
of the tribe of Asher, which is in the land of Galilee, actually. And she's of a great age. She
would have been above 100 years old. She was 84 years a widow,
plus seven years being married to her husband. That's 91. was
probably married off around the age of 15 so she would have been
about a hundred and six years old and she served the Lord and
she has a word for the people of God and that's what it says
a word for the people of God verse 38 she coming in that instant
right as Simeon saying what he said she came in that instant
gave thanks likewise unto the Lord and spake of him to all
them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem." This is the mystery,
brethren, that we come to God in Christ. And it really is a
simple word. It really is a simple word that
Christ has obtained eternal redemption. for all his people by the death
of himself. There's nothing you or I can
add to it, and I'm thankful for that because if there was anything
left for me or you to do, I know I'd come short. And I know the
people of God would confess the same thing, I would come short.
If there was anything left for me to figure out, I'm doomed.
I'm done. But Christ is all. He's everything. Praise God. And it really is
that simple of a message. Believe Him. And you that are
looking for that salvation, who look for God, have mercy on me,
save me, He's come. Here He is, the Lord Jesus Christ. Look to Him. Believe Him. Rest
in Him. He's given to save you that are
sinners, you that are poor, you that are dirty and filthy and
lowly and have nothing to boast of yourselves and are of no reputation. That's who Christ came to save.
And that's why the world hates Him. And the world despises Him.
And the world wants nothing to do with Him because they've got
something. You that have nothing and are needy, that's who Christ
saves, to the uttermost. Give glory to God. And we praise
God. We thank God for this salvation. So there you have it. There's
five testimonies that exalt Christ before our eyes and in our hearts
to show us this Jesus is the Christ of God. And I pray he
blessed that word to your heart's breath.