Let's look at him of whom that
type of the serpent on the pole speaks of, John 19. Our Lord said, As Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have eternal life. Look at verses 25 through 27
with me. John 19, 25-27. Now, they're stood by the cross
of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife
of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene. And when Jesus therefore saw
his mother and the disciple standing by, that's John, whom he loved,
he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son. Then saith he to the disciple,
Behold thy mother. And from that hour that disciple
took her unto his own home. A few weeks ago we began looking
at the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we have camped
here. We are still here, and I don't
want to leave here, and perhaps we never should. We sing that psalm, Lord Jesus
keep me near the cross, there a precious fountain. It would be wise, it would be
good for all of us to always read, at least read the account
here and keep it in mind certainly, until we can come to the conclusion
that With the determination that Paul reached, I am determined
not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. If we see His glory, we will
say with Paul. If we really do see Christ and
Him crucified, we will say with Paul, God forbid that I should
glory, be taken up with, admire, be passionate about, anything,
anyone saved in the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ, by whom
I am crucified to the world. Oh, may I be crucified to this
world that it holds no, if you're being crucified, if you're hanging
on a tree, the world means nothing to you. The things of the world. And the world, and I to the world. May I be sold, sold out. to Christ,
that the world, like Him, fit away with Him. The cross, the
cross, the cross. Now, we're not talking about
the wooden cross that our Lord hung upon. I mean, I must labor
this point. When Paul said, God forbid that
I should glory save the cross, he is not talking about that
wooden cross that our Lord hung upon. That's what's wrong with
that old sentimental song in our book. On a hill far away
stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame,
and I'll cherish that old cross. I don't cherish that old cross. He's talking about the one who
hung there. And why? He's talking about the
one who hung there. This is his glory. The One who
hung there. This is the sum and substance
of God's Word. The truth, the gospel of our
salvation is Christ and Him crucified. Not in a thing. It's a person.
Who He is. What He did. Why He did it. Now
we're told over and over again. Let me labor this point. We're
told over and over again in the scriptures not to make graven
images, aren't we? Our Lord calls it the abominable
thing. The accursed thing. The accursed
thing. The accursed thing. What did he say about a curse?
Cursed is he that hangs on a tree. Are you getting a hold of that?
So we're to wear the accursed thing around our neck? A preacher, you're being too
strict. I'll tell you why. People worship
things. People worship objects. Man's
a fleshly creature. His religion, the fleshly religion,
is just that. You've got to see things. You've
got to feel things. You've got to hear things, don't you? I'll
tell you what you need to hear. You need to hear the truth. That's
all you need to hear. You need to hear His voice. Not the choir. Away with all that. We worship
no confidence in the flesh. You don't need fleshly props
when you worship God in the Spirit and truth. True worshipers do that, worship
God in the Spirit. Rejoice in Christ Jesus. He's
the center of their worship. Rejoice in Christ and Him crucified.
And no confidence in the flesh. Don't need it. Look at 1 Kings chapter 15. Go back to
1 Kings chapter 15. We need to make this clear in
a day in which the accursed thing, the land is full of them. The
land is full of idols. We need to make this clear. God calls it the accursed thing,
idolatry, symbols. 1 Kings 15. Turn over here. I'll
show you a couple of different stories, a couple of kings. This
is Asa. Asa was a good king. There were
no good kings in Israel. There were some in Judah. All
the kings of Israel worshipped the golden calf. They were all
bad, idolatrous men. There were a few good, kings
in Judah, the remnant, like Asa. Look at this, verse 9. In the
twentieth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, reigned Asa over Judah. Forty-one years reigned he in
Jerusalem. Now, his mother's name was Mechai,
daughter of Absalom. This is Absalom's daughter. Asa did that which was right
in the eyes of the Lord, as did David his father. He took away
the Sodomites out of the land, removed all the idols that his
father had made. And also, Maokai, his mother,
this is his grandmother is who it is, his grandmother, his dear
old grandmother. He said he removed her from being
queen. Jeroboam set her up as queen.
There ain't no queen. There's just a king, and his
name is Jesus Christ. There's no rival to him. There's
no one who sits in heaven right now at his side. That's idolatry. There's no co-redemptress. You say, what are you saying,
preacher? This is what Catholicism says about Mary. They call her
the co-redemptress with Jesus Christ. That's what they say.
That is anti. Christ. That needs to be said
so loud and clear. Millions of people are idolaters. Read on. He removed her from
Queen, and she laid an idol in a grove, and he destroyed her
idol. He destroyed his dear old grandmother's idol. We need to
go home and do the same thing, people. If you've got a grandmother,
a mother who doesn't know the Lord, you need to go home, and
the first thing you need to do is kill her God. Destroy her
idol. Tell her. Look at 2 Kings chapter
18. Preach it too hard. Well, Oasis
even put it pretty hard on his grandmother. 2 Kings 18, look at this. Now
this is Josiah. Oh my, how thankful I am. No, Hezekiah, I'm sorry. Hezekiah,
oh, good king. Look at verse 4. Hezekiah removes
the high places and break the images and cut down the groves
and broke in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made.
Under those days, the children of Israel did burn incense to
it, and he called it nehushtah, that is, just brass. In other
words, the people found the serpent on the pole. They found that
brazen serpent, and they were worshiping that thing. a religious
relic, and they were worshiping him. And Hezekiah, who knew God,
who knew the truth, who knew God's to-be-worshipped in spirit
and truth, he took that brazen serpent and ground it to powder. He said, it's just brass. Now,
worship that thing? People were. They're bound down to it. If
you don't think people worship things, crosses and so forth,
take one down and burn it before their eyes. Take it down and
burn it and see what happens. If you don't think people worship
Mary, tell them. Tell them point blank, boldly
tell them, Mary is just as much a sinner as Mary Magdalene. That
virgin Mary was just as much a sinner as the worst harlot
on the streets of Jerusalem. And she was saved one way, by
Jesus Christ's blood and righteousness. And Mary's no better than any
other woman. And you watch and see if the
people don't rise up like the Ephesians did when Paul was talking
about Diana. You watch and see if they don't
rise up and say, Hail Mary. Does this need to be said? Oh
my, does it ever. Now more than ever. That cross was an emblem or an
instrument of torture and shame reserved for the worst criminals.
There's nothing wonderful about that piece of wood. It's awful.
Do you think for a minute that Mary, the Virgin, and Mary Magdalene,
all of them, when Christ led, that they came back and wrapped
their arms around that wooden cross? Oh, I just love this old
cross. Let's take it home with us. that cross that killed their
Lord hung on it. And do you see that God hates
it too? He hates it too. He hates the worship of things
rather than the one who hung there. Now, in our text, they
are stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother. They stood by the
cross. Several women and John were standing
there by the cross. And it says his mother, Mary.
And there's another woman named Mary. There's several Marys.
That's something. There's a Mary in here. Boy, you've come to the right
place, Mary. This is for you. John. There's a few Johns in
here, aren't there? John. They're going to stand
at the foot of the cross. Mary, his mother. Mary Magdalene. Now, the other
Gospels mention Mary Magdalene first. You know that? The other Gospels mention Mary
Magdalene first. All four Gospels mention women
there. And the other ones mention Mary
Magdalene first. And they only refer to Mary,
his mother, as the mother of James and Joseph. They call her the other Mary. In other words, she's no more
significant than Mary Magdalene. But she's his mother. Oh, really? His mother? Didn't he say prior
to that at one time, who is my mother? This is he, of whom Paul wrote
in the Hebrews, that is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek,
and really he has no father or mother. But, but, but what? The disciples one time said,
show us the father. He said, have I been so long time with
you? You're looking at the father. Didn't he? I don't understand. Well, I don't either, but I believe
him. called his name, wonderful counselor, the mighty God. That's a man hanging there, that's
God. That's God shedding his blood
for the church. The mighty God, the everlasting
Father. Mary's son is really her father. I love that, don't you? Mary. women here called Mary. And they're
all standing at the foot of the Lord's cross, beholding Him,
being crucified for them. They're beholding their crucified
Lord and Savior. And they're called Mary. And
this is, I think it's, well, I know it's by design and purpose
they're called Mary. So many Marys in the Scripture.
Because all of them like Naomi. You remember the story of Naomi?
Naomi, who started out rich and was somebody, yet she fell, didn't
she? Lost everything through the death
of her husband. And she came back to Jerusalem
poor, widowed, with nothing, having heard that there's bread
in Bethlehem. God's feeding His people. When
Naomi came back, when she came into town, everybody said, there's
Naomi. Bless her. No, she said, don't
call me that. Call me Mara. Mary, which means bitter, sorrowful. I went out rich and I'm coming
in poor. I'm now poor and bitter and in
mourning. And this is who God brings to
the foot of His cross. Blessed are they that what? Mourn. Mourn over sin. Those that are
in bitterness. Sacrifices in the Old Testament
were always to be eaten with bitter urge. This sweet-smelling
savor that is Christ and Him crucified, the gospel of our
redemption, is only sweet to those who have tasted the bitterness
of their own sin. Don't call me blessed, call me
moron. Are you a married? Have you felt
the bitterness of your own sin? Thought you were rich, now you
realize I'm poor. That's who's at His cross. That's
who's standing at the foot of the cross. All those in bitterness
of soul. All those who need a Savior. Alright, three points. Who stood
at the cross and what? Who saw them? And what did He
say? Who stood at the cross? He says
His mother. His mother? Who is my mother? The Lord said.
He never called her mother. That's thy design. That's on
purpose. That's to teach us a lesson. He never, not even now, hanging
on this cross, did he call her mother. Is that disrespect? Is
that dishonor? No. He's teaching us a lesson
here. He never called her mother, because
in reality, he is her father. He is her God. This is a great
mystery. God became a man made of a woman. It doesn't say he
was made by a woman. It says he's made out of the
woman. Made under the law. There's a difference. Mary didn't
bring him into this world. God did. Her womb was merely
a borrowed womb like that tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. That
was a borrowed tomb. He just borrowed it for a brief
while. He borrowed her womb to come into this world. But she
didn't bring life to him. She didn't give life to him. have any part in his life. That
which is born in her is of God. And that's the way it is with
every person that's born of God. When Christ is born in them.
Man doesn't have anything to do with it. Your mother doesn't. Your mother didn't give you new
birth. And, you see, She was a chosen
vessel. Mary was a chosen vessel. She wasn't chosen because she
was special. But the Lord made her special
because she was chosen. It's the same with all of God's
people. Mary Magdalene. Mary the Virgin
had Christ formed in her. So did Mary Magdalene. Mary's conception was immaculate. So was Mary Magdalene. So was
mine. Mary, his mother, was a miracle
of God's sovereign electing, calling, saving grace. A miracle
that Christ was formed in her. So was Mary Magdalene. Look at
this. The next person beside her was
Mary, his mother's sister. Mary, the wife of Cleopas. His
mother's sister. Oh, what mercy and grace. The
Lord showed mercy to his earthly family. Would you save your family
if you could? Would you? All of them? Sure
you would. The Lord can. He can. And he does. He saves every one
of his true family. But did he save all of those
earthly brothers and sisters? It doesn't indicate that. Huh? Where were they? Where were they? Were they at
the foot of the cross with Joseph? James, we believe, was one of
the apostles. Where is he? By the way, Joseph,
Mary's husband, certain that he died many years previous to
this, because she's a widow now. Because he takes care of her
in her widowhood. We're going to get to that in
a little bit. You're going to rejoice greatly.
But where were his other brothers and sisters? Did he save them
all? Could have. Did he? I don't know. Isn't that his sovereign will? He's showing us clearly that
he's no respecter of person. That nobody's his family above
another. that Mary Magdalene was just
as dear and loved by him as that woman who he called, she was
called his mother. Right? Well, it says the wife of Cleopas. Where was Cleopas? Where was Cleopas? Was she another
widow? Is Cleopas alive? Is Cleopas
a believer? We're learning something here.
The Lord saves whom He will. Do you know who's going to be
at His cross? Do you know who's going to know
Him? Who's going to worship Him? Those He chooses. Those He brings. His elect. Right? Right! Let God be true in everything.
And if He doesn't, none of us will worship Him. Where's Cleopas? Is he dead? Is he an unbeliever? It doesn't
matter. It doesn't matter if her husband's a believer or not.
She's standing there. My husband doesn't believe it,
but I do. My husband doesn't see any glory
in Jesus Christ, but I do, Mary said. My husband doesn't need
to hear this gospel, but I do. That's how you know he's on. You know where you find him?
At the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ, every time. No, they
don't love him, but by the grace of God, I do. Thank God. And that's where you'll find
them. Who's at the foot of the cross? His elect, His chosen,
those loved by Him, those He came to die for, those He revealed
Himself to, those He chose. That's why they're there. He chose His mother. He chose
that woman to be His mother. And he chose her sister. What
grace! I believe the Lord saved my sister,
Rebecca. Her name was Rebecca. I'm just
certain of it that He revealed Himself to her. What grace! What
mercy! He revealed Himself to her and
now to me, her little brother. And I think I'm going to be with
her someday. I believe right now, Nancy, she's
standing beside Mary Magdalene. Where? At the foot of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Where you would find her when
she was here on this earth, until the day she died and couldn't
get out of the bed to go worship Him. That's how you know Him! Go to church? No! Worship the
Lord. Who's there? Those He loves. Those He came to save. Those
He chose. Who's there? Those that love
Him. That mourn over their sins. That
need a crucified Lord. That need a Lamb. That's who's
there. Who comes to hear Christ crucified?
Those He came to die for. Those that God chose. Those that
see His glory. Those that see He's all in them. That's who's standing there.
And they don't want to leave. Look who else is there. Mary
Magdalene. Don't you love her? Don't you
love Mary Magdalene? I can't wait to meet two women
that I can't wait to meet in glory. Rahab and Mary Magdalene. You say Rahab was a hurt. That's
right. We've got something in common. We're both the chief of sinners. Mary Magdalene, see whom is forgiven
by the step of love. This gospel is for sinners, not
in theory, not in principle. Sinners. who know that Jesus Christ had
hung on that tree for them, they are at perish. Who's at the foot of the cross?
All whom God chose, all whom Christ died for. That's where
you'll find them. That's where they were then,
bowing, mourning, rejoicing at the defeat of Christ and Him
crucified. And they're together. They're all together. And Mary,
the sister of Mary the Virgin, is no more the sister of Mary
the Virgin than Mary the Virgin. They're all the same. At the
foot of the cross, they're all just sinners saved by grace.
One doesn't love anyone more than the other. And our Lord's
going to show us that very clearly. He's going to send his earthly
mother home with a man who's not her kin, but he's her son. That's how you know the Lord
did it. And all who truly know Him, love
Him now, that's where you'll find Him. That's where you'll
find Him. What did they see standing there
at the cross? A man being crucified? Well, we've got to see more than
that. John preached, Behold the Lamb
of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Every man must
have a Lamb. We've got to see Christ as our Lamb, as our Substitute,
as our Sin Offering, as our Burnt Offering. And dear in hell for
us, we've got to see Him more than Jesus made a little lower
than the angels for the suffering of death. We've got to see Him
crowned with glory and honor. We've got to see the glory of
God in the face of the person and the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We've got to behold His glory, and people His glory be
intercepted. Be made sinless. that we might
be made the righteousness of God. Dying in our state. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold
the sin-subjected. Behold the balm of Gilead. Behold. We've got to see Him. We've got
to see Him. Let me ask you this. Upon seeing Him hanging there
and dying for them, and then later they left, what do you
think they were talking about? And from that day forward, what
did they talk about? What did they glory in? Huh? Did they talk about their decision? Did they talk about their religion?
Did they talk about what they had done for Him? Oh my! Did they talk about the weather?
Did they were taken up with politics? What did they take, were taken
up with from that day forward? After they saw Christ dying in
their stead, Jeanette, for the rest of their days they could
talk of nothing else. That's how you know him. That's
how you know who's seen his glory. That's how you know him. Am I exaggerating
then? They saw him crucified. Nothing
else will take up their thoughts and attention
from then on. Who saw them then? They saw Him. Look at verse 26. When Jesus therefore saw His
mother and the disciples standing by, He saw them. They were looking
to Him, and He's looking down on them. Stay with me, please. Lord, please
let him stay with me. When he saw them. Now, when did
he first lay eyes on this woman, his mother? Huh? When did he first lay eyes on
her? At birth? I'll never forget. Never forget.
When our child was born, you know. First laying eyes on her. And the doctor handed her to
me. Her eyes were closed. And I began to talk to her. and
all that, and those eyes opened up. It was love at first sight. She looked at me and I looked
at her. Oh, my. But that was not when our Lord
first laid eyes on Mary. Oh, no. He laid eyes on her before
the world began. Before He formed Himself in her
belly. He knew her. Before he formed her in her mother's
belly, he knew her for whom he did foreknow. He did predestinate,
and whom he predestinated, he called. He saw her, yes, he foresaw her,
just like John. Just like John. When did he first
see John? In that ship with James, his
brother, and Fisher? Oh, no. Long before that, long
before that, in eternity past, He set His affection, set His
love, set His eye. He set that man as a mark of
His love and His grace and His mercy and His redemption and
His salvation. He set that man, and perhaps
you, many of you, set His eye on it and never took it off of
Him. He set His eye on Mary and never took it off of her. Like Nathanael, don't you love
that story? Nathanael, Nathanael came walking up to the Lord,
you know, and our Lord said, Behold an Israelite in whom is
no guile. Nathanael said, Master, how do
you know me? Somebody tell you about me? I saw you when you were sitting
under the fig tree. And Nathanael hit his knees. Nobody saw me there. He said,
that's my private place. That's my man cave. I was hiding
away from my wife. Have you seen me? Four saw him. Thou, Lord, seest me. And don't
you love this? Don't you love this? And whom
he foreknew, he never takes his eye off of him. Whom he loves,
he never quits love. Love is perfect. His love is
perfect. Let that cast out your fear. How do you know He loves you? You're standing at the foot of
the cross. Did you hear me? Is this good
or what? This is where I am. This is where
I want to be. I don't want to leave here. Do
you? Let's spend another ten years here, shall we? I'm not
going to scratch the surface of this. The ocean of His fullness,
of His mercy and His love and His grace, the earth won't be
told until He tells it. But He saw
them. He saw them. Oh, He looked on
them. By the way, John is back. You
know, all of them left. Right? We read it in Zechariah. Smite the shepherd and the sheep
will be scattered. They all left. So did John. But
he's back. He came back. This is good. This
is really good. He left like the rest of them. But he's back. Does that mean
anything to anybody? Anybody? That prodigal left. By God's
grace, he's back. He was a coward. He denied the Lord like all of
them. God brought him back. I will heal their backsliding,
saith the Lord. Where did they come? Where did
he come? The foot of the cross of Christ. Our Lord looked down upon them,
not in He went in great love, great condescending love and
pity. He went in great love. He's looking
at Mary, not so much as a son to his mother, but as a father
to his child. That's how he's looking on her.
Does anything touch you more than your child's grief? Your
wife, yes. But anything? Nothing, does it? Only the hardest part is not
moved by the sorrows and the grief of your little The smaller
they are, the more pity he's showing them. He's looking on
her with such pity and such compassion as a father to his little child.
She's mourning. She doesn't know. Remember, she
really doesn't understand yet. And she's mourning for her only
son. And he is going to cheer her.
He's going to comfort her. He's going through great sorrow
and grief himself. He's wearing the weight of the
world on his shoulder, and yet he stopped for this one little
widow woman and a couple of sinners in his agony, and thinks more
on her sorrow and her grief than himself. Oh, let this man be
in you. He's looking on her as a husband,
his bride. He's looking on her as an elder
brother to his little sister. You have a tenderness for your
little sister. He more. Great love, pity, and
compassion. He's looking. What love, what
mercy, what compassion. He's suffering untold agony,
unknown grief and sorrow, loneliness. He's just saying, my God, my
God. He just said that, yet he looks
on her, looks on John, looks on these other women with great
pity because the Lord is very pitiful. Very pitiful. Before this, not recorded in
John, before this, now you behold the mercy and the grace and the
pity, the tender mercies. of your God in this. And this
is the verse the Lord used to break my heart. In Luke's Gospel, it says he
looked on a whole crowd, hanging there in his agony, the very
ones who pierced him. And he said, Father, forgive
them. They know not what they do. Isn't that amazing? Would you have
pity on your tormentors? He did. And 3,000 of them were
saved because of that. No, 3 trillion. You're looking one up. Would God have used that verse
on you? The Lord is very pitiful. Amazing pity and grace unknown
and love beyond degree. He's suffering, yet he beheld
her sorrow, and John's sorrow, and her grief, and her tears.
Weight of the world on his shoulders, yet he tends to her grief and
her sorrow. One poor widow and the four fishermen
stand beside her. They're not worth it. No, they're
not. But he's worthy. That's why. See, true greatness
is not in possessions and what the world thinks about you, in
condescending mercy and love and pity and grace. That's greatness. Sacrifice. His greatness is seen most clearly
in his own hour of loneliness, grief and sorrow, pain and suffering
and agony. He thinks not of himself, but
he thinks of others. What a great Lord. What a great
Savior. Here's what he said. Now look,
verse 26. He saith unto his mother, Woman,
behold thy son. Behold thy son. Now, don't think
I'm taking this out of context. Don't think I'm misapplying this,
because the truth, this is the truth. All right? This chapter
began in verse 5 by Pilate saying, to all the people, behold the
man. Isn't it? Behold the man. That's what God says to the world. Behold the man. That's what Peter
preached at Pentecost. Behold a man approved of God. A man? Oh, this is God's man.
The God's man. This is He-man you wear. God
with us. Come to be crucified. A man.
Second Adam from above. It begins this way. Behold the
man. And Christ the man was crucified.
God can't die. Man must. Man can't satisfy. God must. Behold the man. The second time, Pilate said
in verse 14, the last line, Behold your King. Are you with me? Behold the man. Now he says,
behold your king, king of glory, captain of your salvation, king
of Salem, king of peace, king of righteousness, behold your
king. And now here he says, behold
thy son. Is he talking about himself?
No, not principally, but surely. You see, the first woman, a sinner. In the garden, she's afraid. She's standing there, naked.
She's standing there, you know she's hanging her head. This
Mary, you know she doesn't even want to look on his tortured form, dizzy, smart,
and that's the one she loved. She has her head hanging. Mary,
Eve in the garden. The first sinner, hanging her
head. Sinner, afraid, naked, ashamed, sad, in grief, in tears,
and you know what the Lord said unto the woman? Huh? You know what the Lord said
to the woman? Behold, thy seed. Thy seed. The woman's seed. Made of a woman shall come. I've never seen this before,
really. Behold thy son, the son of man, he calls himself that,
born of a woman, made under the law, and redeemed under the law.
Behold, have you ever beheld the woman's seed? Miracle of
all miracles. A child is born, but the son
is given. Son of man, but Son of God, come
to redeem us by His own precious blood. Behold, the man, the woman,
see, substitute, send off, insure, to sacrifice, the Savior, your
God and your Savior. He says to this poor, grieving
woman, behold, thy son. Thy son is thy Savior. And yet,
he says to John, or he says concerning John, behold, thy son. Behold thy son, to Mary about
John. Behold thy son. He's telling
Mary that though your other sons are blood kin, your relation,
this is your family. This is your kin. This is who
I died for. This is who I've united you to
forever. This is your brother. This is
your son. This is your family who I died
for. Behold, this is your son. And
then he says to John in verse 27, Behold thy mother. Behold thy mother. In his dying
hour, our Lord is caring for her Mary's remaining years. Yes, he is. He's caring for her
remain in years. How much longer did Mary live
on this earth? We don't know. Perhaps she lived
to be an old woman. Perhaps she did. But here it
is. The Lord is going from Calvary's
tree to prepare a place for her. He's going to prepare a place
for her in glory. And while she remains on the
earth, He's prepared a place for her here. Now, these were
poor times, people, without electricity. All right? And he says to this
poor, grieving widow who her son is leaving, her son is leaving
her, he says, here's your son. He'll take care of you. Don't worry. You will be taken
care of. Anybody worried about being cared
for? Anybody? Huh? Any widow? Any person without
children? Are you worried that you won't
be cared for in your old age? Brethren, there's only been one
caring for you from the day you were born. Cast all your care on Him. He
careth for you. He's been taking care of you
from the beginning, and He won't stop. You haven't cared for yourself. You haven't provided for yourself.
He has. Listen to this. Listen to this.
Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, the remnant of the house of Israel,
which are born or carried by me from the belly, which are
carried from the womb. To your old age I am he. Who? The one that carries you.
The one that gave birth to you. The one that looked on you in
love before the world began. He's never taken his eye off
of you. Listen to me now. He says, I've made you. I'll
bury you. I'll carry you to your hoary
head. David said, I'm old. I've been
young. I've never seen the God-seeking
forsaken or begging bread. Why do I start worrying now? Amen. Here's the thing. You know, where
were other children? Doesn't matter. The Lord's with
them. The Lord's with them. He's taken care of them. He's
taken care of them. And He says, this is your son. He'll take care of you. You love
him. You live with him. You serve
him like blood can. Love his brethren. Behold thy
mother. Behold thy mother. And that's the miracle of the
new birth. A new heart. New kin, new family, new miracle,
or new nature. The love is Christ's love. Thy
this shall all men know. You're my disciple. You'll love
like brethren. You really will. Your own blood
kin have nothing to do with your Lord. Then, it's okay. Because you love your Lord supremely.
And she went, and John, I think, brought out this good point that
even our Lord, you know, the great minister of salvation who
came, left his father, yet he did not neglect those that he
loved, those in his family. He did not neglect them. Now,
some would have us to believe that the Lord meant by leaving
your father and mother and all that. You know, he's talking
about preachers of the gospel going out, you know, missionaries
and so forth, having to literally leave home, but they don't neglect
their family. Who would neglect their family?
Because the Lord has given that child or the wife, you're the
spiritual leader of that home, that's your first responsibility.
Right? That child has been given, that's
a soul, that's your first responsibility, that they might know God. That's
your purpose. That's your first purpose. He
doesn't say, because John and the rest of them, they didn't
lose their houses. Didn't it say John went to his own home?
Peter? They didn't sell their houses.
They just left home and went preaching. They didn't neglect
their family. And the Lord, because the Lord
doesn't neglect, And that's the first thing he
saw to it. First thing. Oh my, may we stand
at the foot of the cross and see his glory and hear his blessed
voice. Behold thy son.