Turn to Matthew chapter 21 now. Matthew chapter 21. There are a multitude of different
religions in the world. Literally. hundreds, even thousands, of
different religions, which are based upon as many different
things. Different things, different philosophies,
different beliefs. There are a multitude of religions
out there. which is true religion. Our religion, true religion,
is based on one thing, a person, Jesus Christ. The whole of our
religion is based solely on a person named Jesus Christ. The sum and substance, the whole
of our religion, is who this person is, what he's like, what he did,
why he came, and where he is now. The whole of our religion, true
religion, is based on this person. This one person, we stake our
lives upon it, our children upon it, our future upon it, our eternal
souls upon this one. And all our hope and everything we
do, everything we say, everything depends upon this person, who
he is, what he's like, why he came, and where he is now. It all depends on that, on him. In other words, if you were to
ask me, what do you believe? If someone were to ask me that,
I wish more people would, instead of how many, how many you've
got down there. If someone asks me What do you
believe? This would sum it all up. It'd
say it all, wouldn't it? I believe Christ. We've got that on the front of
our bulletin. We preach not ourselves, but Christ, Jesus the Lord. Determined
not to know anything, but Jesus Christ and him crucified. The
whole of our religion is Jesus Christ. Christ is all. What do
you believe? That Christ is all. That Christ is all. Look here
in Matthew 21. Matthew 21. I'm going to ask
four questions, and you saw that in the title of the message,
I suppose. Who, what, why, and where. Four questions that would sum
up what we believe, or rather who. Matthew 21, let's read verses 1 through 10. When they drew nigh unto Jerusalem,
or come to Bethphage, unto the Mount of Olives, then sent Jesus
two disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village over against
you, and Straightway, or immediately, you shall find an ass tied, a
donkey tied, a colt, and a colt with her male offspring. Loose them and bring them unto
me. And if any man say unto you, you shall say, The Lord hath
needed them. And straightway, immediately,
he'll send them. Now, all this was done that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet in Zechariah
9, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold thy king coming
unto thee, meek, sitting upon an ass, and a coat, the of an
ass. And the disciples went and did
as Jesus commanded them. And he brought the ass and the
coat and put on them, that is, the animals, their clothes, and
he set thereon. And a very great multitude spread
their garments in the way, or in the road, on the way into
town. Others cut down branches from
the tree and strawed them in the way and the multitudes that
went before, thousands of people literally that followed cried,
saying, Hosanna to the Son of David. Hail to the Son of David. Blessed is he that cometh in
the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. And when
he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who
is this? Who is this? Who is this? Look at the answer. Look at what
some of them, or most of them, the multitude said, this is Jesus. Jesus. Well, Frank M., this man, who do you say that this is? All of our religion says one
thing. The world out there is saying
quite another. They're saying this is Jesus, aren't they? That's Jesus. We know who it
is. It's Jesus. Who do you say that
this is? Huh? Look back at Matthew chapter
3. I'd say who he is. He's God. This is God. None other than the Lord God
who made the earth that he walked on. That's who this is. He is God. And only true religion says that,
that He is God. Every spirit that confesses that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. If you come in the
flesh, it means you had to exist before, right? Christ said, I
am the same yesterday, today, and forever. I am the first,
the last, Alpha, Omega, God. In the beginning, God. I am God. Look at Matthew 3, verse 1. In those days came John the Baptist
preaching in the wilderness, saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand. This is the year that was spoken
of the prophet Isaiah, saying, The boys have won the crown in
the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Who's John going to be preaching
about? Jesus? He never mentions that name. John never mentions the name
Jesus. He's preparing the way. He's
preaching the Lord. God. That's it. Look at verse
10. John says, The axe is laid under
the root of the trees, therefore every tree which bringeth not
forth good fruit is shewn down and cast into the fire. I indeed
baptize with water unto repentance, but he that cometh after me is
mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to carry. He
shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire whose fan
is in his hand he will thoroughly purge his Turn to John, chapter
1. Who is this? Who is this one? He's God Almighty. Look at John,
chapter 1, okay? John, chapter 1. Look over there.
I don't want to presume that you know these scriptures. John,
chapter 1. Jesus Christ is God Almighty,
who created all things, who reigns, who rules over all things, in
whom we live and move and have our being, who created all, who
reigns over all, who controls all, who orders all, who directs
all. God Almighty walked this planet,
and his earthly name was Jesus. He's none other than the Lord.
Jesus Christ. Look at John 1, verse 1, in the
beginning. Was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. What's that talking about, preacher?
Look at verse 10. He was in the world, and the
world was made by Him. Now, does that tell you who He
is? He's the Creator, right? Well,
I still don't understand this word. Verse 14, "...the Word
was made flesh, and dwelt among us." God became a man, and the reason
He's called the Son of God. Do you have a problem with that,
anyone? Why, well, they say, Jehovah's Witnesses and so forth
will say, they'll acknowledge this much. Well, He's the Son
of God. Why is He called the Son of God? The reason he's called the Son
of God, because look at verse 14. He's the only begotten of
the Father. He's the only bodily offspring
of God Almighty. He said, Lo, I come, a body hast
thou prepared me. See, he existed as God before
the world, but a body was prepared for him, and the angels Anastas
coming and said, that holy thing, that offspring, that flesh, we
don't rightly know what to call it. There's never been one like
it. It's the Son of God. Adam wasn't. Adam wasn't born as it was from
the seed of God. Right? Jesus Christ was. His body was. He's called the
Son of God because he's the bodily offspring of God. But he's very
God of very God. He's God. Turn to Matthew chapter
8. Matthew chapter 8. You see, everything
depends upon the fact... Listen, people. True religion,
salvation itself, depends upon the fact that Jesus Christ is
God. We're not splitting hairs here.
We're not arguing doctrine here. We're not arguing theology. We're
not just begging to differ. Everything depends upon this.
Who this is. Everything, John. Everything
depends upon it. Doesn't it? Who this is. They
said one place, when he told the man who was sick of the palsy,
he said, Jesus Christ, the Lord, said unto him, Thy sins be forgiven
thee. And the Pharisees got all up
in arms and said, Who can forgive sins but God? That's right. Jesus Christ can't forgive our
sins unless He's God. Because the Scripture says all
sins is against God. Right? He can't forgive sin unless
he's God. He said, right. Thou callest
me Lord, thou sayest well, for so I am, Master. He took, he
allowed men to fall down at his feet and worship him and call
him Lord, didn't he? Everywhere, everybody that came
to him that that was saved fell down to his feet and called him
Lord, and he allowed it to happen. Jeannette, if he's not God, then
he's the world's greatest blasphemer. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy
God, and him alone shalt thou worship. Doesn't it say that?
Isn't that what God said? Thou shalt have no other gods
before me. See that you worship me and me
only. The Lord thy God, thou shalt
worship Him. Jesus Christ let men fall down
and worship Him. Now, He better be God, or He's
the biggest liar and blasphemer to ever live. Right? We're not splitting theological
heritage here. I worship Jesus Christ. I worship Jesus Christ. I say he's Lord. Well, the scripture
says in the Old Testament, I am the Lord, there's no one else.
Well, over in Philippians, it says that the name of Jesus every
knee will bow and every tongue confess that he's Lord. Who's
Lord? They're one and the same. Same person. I worship God. I worship Christ. I worship the
one Lord. Jesus Christ is God. If you don't
worship Jesus Christ as God, you can't worship God. You can't
worship God. Right? Didn't he say that, Henry? I tell it to you all the time.
You and I love this verse. John 8, 24. He said, If you believe
not that I am, you'll die in your sin. Didn't he? Same name
that God gave to Moses on that mountain. Who shall I say sent
me, God? He said, Say I am that I am. They came to get him in the garden.
Whom seek ye? They said, Jesus. He said, I
am. They fell down. The Pharisee
said, Who do you say you are? You're not fifty years old. Are
you older than Abraham? He said, Before Abraham was,
I am. I am that I am. He said it. They
just didn't know his name, did they? I am. I am God. Matthew 8. Everything depends upon this.
Look at verse 23. Matthew 8. When he was entered
into a ship, His disciples followed him, and behold, there arose
a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with
waves, but he was asleep." I love this passage of Scripture. The
time the Lord chose to sleep was when they were full of fear.
Think about it. Maybe that's when we all go to
sleep, isn't it? He was asleep. His disciples came to Him and
woke Him saying, and people, they never called Him Jesus.
They never called Him Jesus. No man can call Jesus Lord but
by the Holy Spirit anyway. They never called Him Jesus.
That would have made Him their equal. John, Matthew, Simon,
Jesus. They always called him Lord.
The Holy Spirit, in narrating the Scriptures, occasionally
says Jesus, doesn't it? The Holy Spirit, in narrating
the Scriptures, calls him Jesus every now and then, quite often. But the disciples who knew him called him by his right title,
Sir, Senior. Lord. Lord. They said, Lord? Save us, we perish. And he saith
unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? He arose,
and rebuked the winds and the sea." Got up on that bow of that
ship and looked out, leaned over that water, and those waves were
crashing, and that ship was tossing and turning. He said, Be still.
Settle down, so I can go back to sleep. Settle down. And that raging
ocean lay down at his feet like a farm pond. And this is the question the
disciples asked after that. The men, verse 27, marveled,
saying, What manner of man is this? Who is this? This is God. What's
he like? What manner of man? All right,
here's a man. We see a man. He's God, but yet
he's man, isn't he? What manner of man is he, is
my second question. What's he like? What manner of
man is he? Well, first of all, he's sovereign,
even as a man. He's sovereign. They say even
the winds in the sea obey him. Can you do that, Henry? Can you control everybody here? Buddy, I was out on the ocean,
and you were too. You were out there on the rail.
I was out there one time when the rails were crashing over
the boat ten foot. If I could have done something
about it, I would. I've never been so frightened
in my life, hanging on to that rail. And these fellows were experienced
fishermen, seamen. They'd been through some squalls
before, and this one was, man, it was one of the most they'd
ever seen. And this man, you understand,
this man walks out and says, now hush up. Lie down. What sort of man is this? He's
sovereign, man. He's sovereign. That's all there
is. Even the winds and the seas obey
him. Look at verse 28, when he was come to the other side into
the country of the Gergesenes, they met him too possessed with
devils, coming out of the tomb, exceeding fierce, so that no
man might pass by that way. And, behold, they cried out, saying, And in another gospel, it says
this. It says, we know who you are,
the devils that were in this man, this demon-possessed man
said, we know who you are, the Holy One of Israel. Look at it. It says, What have
we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Art thou come hither
to torment us? Before, at the time, there was
a good way off from them, a herd of many swine feeding. The devils
besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us, allow
us to go into a herd of swine. He said, Go. Devils obeyed him. Winds and seas obeyed him. Devils
obeyed him. Go. What manner of man is this? It's the God-man. Go. Hush. Go. He's sovereign. That's who he is. He's sovereign.
Sovereign. Look at chapter 9. Look across
the page. It's chapter 9. Verse 9. As Jesus
passed forth from thence, he saw a man named Matthew sitting
at the receipt of custom. And he saith unto Matthew, They
never met him, humanly speaking, never seen him, and this man
had never seen him before. And this man, named Jesus, walks
by where he was sitting at this table. This fellow had been in
the tax business for years, making big money, sitting there at the
table. And Christ passed by, the Lord
passed by and said unto him, Follow me. And the Lord walked on. And that man got up, and threw
his bag of money down. Now understand this. He threw
his wallet down, and followed this man he'd never
met before. Who is this? What manner of man? He's sovereign, that's who he
is. Seas and winds obey him, devils obey him, and men obey
him. Follow me. And they followed. Hush up, and
they hush up. Get out of here, and they get
out of here. What manner of man is he? He's
sovereign. That's who he is. He ain't Jesus
to do with as we please. He's sovereign. Who is this? Well, it's Jesus
of Nazareth. No, this is the Lord Jesus Christ,
sovereign over all. We see Jesus, yes, made a little
lower than the angel for the suffering of death. But now he's... I'm getting to my last point
too quick. He's not a man anymore. Just
a man. Not a man as we know him. No, he's not. That description
in Revelation 1 differs, doesn't it? We'll see him as he is someday. And the devil said, we know who
you are. Though a man, yet he's God. John chapter 8, turn over
there. John chapter 8. Who is this?
He's God. What manner of man is He? He's
sovereign. John chapter 8. Look over here.
John 8. I tell you, everything we believe
depends upon this. And I already quoted this, didn't I? Look at it. John 8, verse 23. I am from above. You're of this
world. I'm not of this world. Did he
ever say he was God? He just did. Didn't he? That's what they argued that
day. Sam, that's what they argued, didn't they? That Jesus never
said he was God. He just did. They just don't know his name,
do they? I am. Verse 24, I said therefore
unto you that you shall die in your sin. If you believe not
that I am. He. Hebrews 11, 6 says, He that cometh
to God must believe that what? He is. I am. You shall die in your sin, because
only God can forgive sin. Verse 28, Then said Jesus unto
them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye
know that I am. Verse 58, look over there. Verse
58. Jesus said unto them, Ye Jews,
ye are not fifty years old yet. And he said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Well, how is it? Look at verse
46. Look over there. Which of you
convinced me of sin? If I'm a man, then somebody proves
that I'm sinful. That would prove he's just a
man. How is he? What manner of man
is he? He's holy. That's how he is. Holy. Hebrews
7 says this, he's holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. He's holy. That's who he is.
Holy. Scripture also says he's, and
I wish I could preach this like it ought to be preached, says
he's altogether lovely. You know what? If I could preach
him as he is, more people would worship him and believe him and
confess him and rejoice over the gospel. I can't. I'm a pitiful
example. I'm like old Abraham's old servant,
you know, his oldest servant who was going down to find a
bride for Isaac, Abraham's son, and going down to try to woo
a woman. to come marry a man that she'd
never seen before, never met before, and that old fellow was
trying to tell her something about the greatest man on the
face of the earth, Abraham, and his son, Isaac. And what he ended
up saying is, will you marry him? You just have to see for
yourself. Altogether lovely, the scripture
said. He's altogether lovely. Try to describe him before he
can. He just can't. Preach him part, all together
level. You take the loveliest person ever, that you've ever
known, and multiply them a million times, and you'll have something,
a little bit of what Jesus Christ was like. Merciful. Full of mercy. Gracious. Even if things draw you to any
one gracious fellow, he's a gracious fellow. Huh? Oh, he's a real
gentle man. You ever, you know any gentle
men? What a gentle woman she is. What a gentleman he is. Such
a gentleman. So kind. Loved the planet a million
times. And you've got Jesus for coming
to man. Harlots and publicans and so forth who were caught
in the vilest of vile acts were brought to him. And everybody
would lay, nobody wanted anything to do, they were scum. And he
said, It's alright. I don't condemn you. I came to
die for you. Merciful. Full of mercy. When
nobody else will show mercy, he's full of it. How long, Lord? How long shall we forgive our...
Keep on. My mercy endures forever. Ever. I never stop showing mercy. Gracious. Huh? Tender. Got people that
are tender. Tender. Kind. Compassionate. Compassionate. Lenient. Meek. What about meekness? I'm drawn
to people that are meek. They aren't so rash with their
mouth. He says he's meek, lowly. Friend
of sinners. Oh, I'm drawn to him for that.
Friend of sinners. What manner of man is he? He's
a friend of sinners. Nobody else will have you here
at all. Friend of the center. Ain't my center in here? If there
was a center in here, I'd get down right as soon as I got here.
Who's a friend of the center? I'm the center. I go to him all
the time. You know what he says? Come unto me, I'll give you rest.
I don't condemn you. I forgive you. When my own conscience
condemns me, John, he says, I don't condemn you. When the Lord, God
says, condemns me, he says, I don't condemn you. What manner of man is he?
Somebody describe this. Somebody else do this. Preach
this. What manner of man is this? What's he like? What is Jesus
Christ like? All right, let me preach one
message about what he's like. I said he's sovereign. Oh, we
rejoice in that, don't we? All we bow to that. We know that. He's holy. I can't hardly touch
that. The hem of that garment. What's
he like? He's altogether lovely. Somebody
else take my place now and tell us how lovely he is. Altogether. Everything about him. Every hair
on him. Every fiber of his being lovely.
Merciful, gracious, kind, compassionate. Wrap up all the best of men that
have ever lived, and they won't come close to comparing to this
man. Behold the man. What manner of
man is it? God said, God Almighty, who said
it. Why did he come? All right, he's
gone. He became a man. What manner
of man is he? Oh, we have to go on. Why did he come? Look at Matthew
chapter 1, okay? Why did he come? Why did he come? Matthew chapter 1, look at it.
Got it? Matthew 1, verse 21. It says
this virgin, Mary, shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call
his name Jesus." Boy, it means something. Savior. He shall save
his people from their sins. He shall save his people from
their sin. Look over chapter 5. Look over
there real fast. How will he do that? Look at
chapter 5. How will he save his people from
their sins? to chapter 5, verse 17. He said, Think not that I
am come to destroy the law of the prophets. I am not come to
destroy, but I am come to fulfill. Verily I say unto you, Till heaven
and earth pass one jot or one tittle, no wise pass from the
law, it shall all be fulfilled. He says, I have come to fulfill
the law for you. I have come to do something for
you that it is impossible. possible for you to do it with
men. It is impossible. By the deeds of the law, no flesh
will be justified. Neither in the flesh can not
please God. God became a man who dwelt in
the flesh, and he said, I can. I can please God. And he fulfilled the law and
lived a holy life for thirty-three years, and God said, I'm pleased. Good job. Good life. A man approved of God. A man
approved of God. Now Christ says, I've done it. Come unto me and I'll give you
this righteous. You need it. I am come, he says, to fulfill
the law. I have come to call my sheep.
See, they won't come unless I call them. I have called them, I know
them, they follow me, and I give unto them life, eternal life,
and they shall never perish. How's that? I clothe them. I
cover them with this righteousness. I cover them in this righteousness.
Turn over to John chapter 12 quickly, okay? John 12. John
chapter 12. 30 minutes, people. John 12. Why did he come? He came to save his people from
their sins. How did he do that? He came to
fulfill the law for them. You need to see this right here,
okay? Very few people understand this right here. Very few people
understood what I was just talking about. Romans 10 talks a great
deal about this imputed righteousness. I'd venture to say very few Methodists
believe that, because John Wesley said it's imputed nonsense. Did
you know that? Didn't he, Ed? Romans 10 talks a great deal
about it. Romans 4 talks a great deal about it. I'm telling you,
salvation depends upon this imputed righteousness, without which
no man shall see the Lord. Imputed righteousness. Romans
10 talks about people going about to establish their own righteousness.
And God says it's filthy rags. And he says that Jesus Christ,
though, is the end of the law for righteousness, doesn't it
seem? Righteousness. Righteousness, which is of faith,
says this, Jesus Christ did it all. That's what believers say. Jesus
Christ is all of my righteousness. That's what Isaiah 45 says, surely
shall one say, in the Lord am I righteous. That's what David
said in Psalm 71, I speak of thy righteousness and mine only.
There is no other. He is my righteousness. Very
few people understand that. More than a doctrine, it's a
vest code for heaven. It's the wedding garment. Isn't
it? It's the wedding garment. If
we get in, if we go in there without the wedding garment,
we'll be cast out. If we go in with the wedding garment, we'll
be received. What is the wedding garment? It's a robe of righteousness. Our Joseph's multicolored coat,
multifaceted, altogether lovely coat that he robes us in, and
the Father sees us as being Jesus Christ. More than a doctor, he
came to live, to establish a righteousness. I don't grow tired of saying
that. I've grown weary of not being able to convey it like
I ought to, of not being able to say it in such a way that
it gives God the glory, of not being able to preach it in such
a way that we see that, hey, this is not a doctrine. This
is something somebody did for me. And I'm going to actually
get into the presence of God because Jesus Christ established
righteousness. This is His glory, Janette. This
is His glory. Who can convince me of sin? Nobody.
The devil's trying. What about God in the Holy Land?
No! He's holy. A perfect, a sinless,
without spot or blemish. A Lamb! One God will accept. One Lamb,
once and for all, forever. But put away all sin by the sacrifice
of Himself. We need a Lamb, John. A perfect
one. It shall be perfect to be accepted. I can't do it. Jesus Christ said,
I can, and I did. I did. Who'd you do it for? Me. That ain't just a doctrine. That's my Lord doing something
for me. Righteousness. He came to establish righteousness. We can't be ignorant of this
righteousness. We can't. Stan Kenway. We can't be ignorant
of this righteousness. Otherwise, we're trying, we'll
be trying to, John will be trying to, and that's what people are
doing, aren't they? Well, I've got a son, he's still
peeing, I've been, what, why should you go to heaven? Well,
I'm baptized, that's your righteousness. That's your doings. Well, but
I came down, I confess, I believe, I, I, I, I, I, I, that's you. Isn't it? That's doing something.
Salvation is not of the man. Salvation is of the Lord. Righteousness. He came to establish righteousness
and give it to his elect people. I don't get that. I really, honestly,
if I said anything more, the most, it'd be that. Thousands,
literally thousands of thousands have been here in six years.
Righteousness. More than five hundred times
it's spoken of in the Scripture. Five hundred. We can't be ignorant of it, can
we? We can't. We can't. A man may not understand
the principle of imputed righteousness. He may not even be able to say, But he can say it isn't. Christ
did it all for me. What's your hope? Do you believe
in repeated righteousness? Well, I don't know. I can't really
explain that. I can't really say it, but here's
what I believe. Jesus Christ did it all. And
God accepts me because Jesus Christ did what He did. In my
hands, no price I bring, simply to the Christ of the cross I
claim. Why did He come? You've got to
see this. You've got to see this. John 12, verse 23, Jesus answered
them, saying, The hour is come that the Son of Man should be
glorified. Oh boy, here it comes. His greatest
glory is crowning hour. He said, This is why I came.
Here's the center of time, center of the universe, the axis on
which everything turns. Verse 24, Verily, verily, truly,
truly, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the
ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. Look now at verse 27, Now is
my soul troubled. What shall I say? Father, save
me from this hour, the hour of his death. But for this cause
I came. For this cause came I unto this
hour. This is why I came, he said.
All other religions talk about some messiah like Buddha, like
Krishna, Confucius, Mohammed, who came to show us how to live.
Jesus Christ, our religion says, he said, I came to die. That's just human substance. Christ crucified. He had to live,
yeah. He had to live as a man, as my
substitute. Y'all understand that? That he
was a substitute for men in the life that he lived. He wasn't
just living Margaret, you understand it. Just to show you how to live,
so you can be impressed with Him, as a good example. He was
doing something that had to be done for men and women, that
God would accept. That's what Ephesians 1, 6 says. We're accepting the beloved.
We're accepting. God can't accept you, Margaret.
Your worship's not good enough, is it? It's just not good enough. It's not from the heart like
it ought to be, is it? Jesus Christ is. Everything about Him,
God accepts Him. And Christ said to the Father,
I did that for Margaret Torrance. He said, I did what I did for
her. I came to live only for her and
for Steve Parks there and other people, persons What doctrine? It's a person doing something
for a person. He said, but there's something else that's going to
be done for Margaret. She's saying to us, the Holy God. And the
Scripture says, the soul that sinneth must what? Die. Why? Why is God that strict? He's holding it. See, our generation,
They don't have the foggiest, do you understand? They don't
have the foggiest idea of why God required blood, and why Jesus
Christ had to die, so they don't make much mention of it. Christ
said, I came to die. He said, nobody takes my life
from me. I lay it down. I come to die, to spit my own
throat. and pour out my own blood." Why?
The scripture says without the shedding of blood, no remission
of sin. Blood, the life of the flesh is in the blood. That means
a man pours out all his blood. He's dead, isn't he? God said
the soul that sins must surely die. Have you seen Job hurt?
You ever going to stop sinning? What do you mean, Job? To pay
for your sins. Blind. Jesus Christ going to
have to pay your punishment. He said, I've come to die for
Joe Parch. Joe Parch sinned against God.
God says he's worthy of death and hell. Jesus Christ said,
I'll do it for him. I'll die. And he went to that
bloody cross, and there stood Joe Parch, a rebel against God, deserving
of hell, and God saw Joe Parch hanging there. And God said,
Joe Parch, you're an old sinner. You're going to have to go to
hell, buddy. I'm going to have to kill you." Is that right? Old-fashioned. He said, tell
me your little story. Didn't you all sing that? Everybody
in here sung it. He said, tell it to me. This
is as old as God. God's the first one to kill anything.
You know that? Cain wasn't. God brought us,
killed an innocent animal. What a cruel God. No, a holy
God. The old, old story is this. Without
the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sin. The soul
that sinned must surely die. You won't hear this anywhere
today. You just won't hear it. Christ said, I am come to die.
I am come to die that they might live. Establish a righteousness. Pay for their sins. When he poured
out his blood, their sins were covered. Paid for. God says,
My wrath is satisfied. Sherry Anderson suffered hell
for her sin. See, that's a cruel and bloodthirsty
God. No, it's mercy. Sherry's mercy that one man would
do it all for so many people. That's mercy, isn't it? That
we each don't have to do it. We couldn't do it. Why? Do you
see the mercy of God? God Himself became the Lamb. It's not like God did it to a
man who wasn't willing and he was unfair. God came down and
said, I'll abide. There you go. I've been searching
for something to say. There you go. And God said it.
He wasn't unfair and unmerciful and bloodthirsty of God. God
said, I'll come here and kill myself. There you go. That's our God. What man is merciful? Not bloodthirsty. austere and
strict like men think of when they think of blood and dying.
Oh, God came down and died himself, committed, as it were, suicide, so that you don't have to die.
Now, I call that glorious. I call that merciful. I call
that gracious. I call that love who came to
die because we deserved it. He said, I don't deserve to.
He didn't die for you. He didn't die for you. He said, I don't believe that.
You don't want to be a sheep. He said, my sheep hear my voice.
They believe. They see me as their blood sacrifice. Oh, they see it more than anything.
Where is he now? And if you turn here, I'll quit
with this one passage of Scripture. Where is he now? Hebrews chapter
1. And I say this to the members
of this church. Hebrews chapter 1. I say this.
If you want to take somebody to a passage of Scripture, if
you are struggling with something to say to people, something to
sum up what you believe, somewhere to go that would best describe Jesus Christ and
what you believe about him and your hope, the reason for the
hope that's within you, an answer, I say go to Hebrews 1. You can
go there every time. Go right there, and in that you'll
find the answer to all four of these questions that we've discussed.
Who is he? Look at Hebrews 1. Hebrews 1
says, God in different times, or sundry means different, or
earlier times, sundry times, and in different, diverse, different
manners, spoke in time past under the powers by the prophet, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Michael,
Nahum, and so forth. Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai,
Zechariah, Malachi, all the prophets, Moses, so forth, John the Baptist. Hence, in these last days, verse
2, in these last days has spoken on us by his Son. God became a man. He's called
the Son of God, the offspring of God, who walked this planet,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made
the world. Who is he? Who is he? He's the
brightness of God's glory. Why, he's the express image of
his person. Who is he? Look down at verse
6. Who is he? Verse 6, and under
the angel, when he bringeth in his first begotten into the world,
God saith, Let the angels of God worship him. And the angels,
he saith, he makes his angel spirits minister to the flame
of fire. Right under the sun, he saith, look at it, Moses,
who is he? Thy throne, O God. God. Now, if you want, if you
believe the, John said, John John said, if you believe the
witness of men. We try to witness to men, don't
we? The witness of God is greater. Now, I've seen men saying he's
God, haven't I? And you tell men he's God, don't you? But
what's God say who he is? Well, Hebrews 1 verse 8 says,
God says, you're God. God called him God. That's good
enough for me. Who is it? No mistaking, Heather,
he's God. God said so. thy throne, O God."
Well, what manner of man is he? Verse 9, he loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. Therefore God hath anointed him
with the oil of gladness above his fellows. He's a righteous,
holy, just man is who he is. Why did he come? Verse 3, why
did he come? Verse 3, he came into the world,
upholding all things by the word of his power, and he had by himself
purged our sins. He came to put away sin by the
sacrifice of his hands. But where is he now? Oh my. Verse 3, After he did
this work, he sat down on the right hand
of the majesty on high. Jesus is leaning over the banisters
of heaven, hoping you will do this or do that. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No He's right
back where he started. That's where he is. Where is
he now? He's right back where he was in the beginning, on the
throne. I've had a good time. He came
down, Christ, God, seated on the throne before zillions, quadrillion
years ago. Before anything was as it is,
God was. Christ was. Jesus Christ is. I am. I am. describes himself,
I am. Not I was, nor I will be. We
have to do that, don't we? What are you? You can't say,
I am. You am what? God just says, I am. Christ,
who are you? What are you like? Who are you?
Tell her, I am. You are. I am. That's God's name,
isn't it? As long as only God, as far as
anything was, it is. Damn. He is. Sat on his throne and he said,
I'm going to create. And create what? Put men on it. Inhabit animals and all that.
I'm going to do it all for my glory. And he did it. The angels
beheld his glory and everything. God looked up. God enjoyed it.
And look at that. It's beautiful. Look what I've
done. Look at the stars. Flinging stars, ooh, I like this,
God said. This is good. Yes! God said,
I like this. This is good. I've done a good
job. Look at my, the heavens declare
my glory. The fountains show my handiwork.
And now, what's this? Man. I'm going to create man.
Master of my own living. Puts man on the earth and he's
an upright creature. Are you followed? Well, took
God by surprise. No. God said, this is part of
my plan. To glorify myself. Watch this,
he says, in a space of about 4,000 years. Watch this, angels. Watch this. God entered the body of a baby.
And the angel said, we are on standing. God said,
I'm doing something. I'm doing a work. And he put
his work clothes on, John. Little, teeny, tiny work clothes.
As a man, became a worm, an old man. Put on his work clothes
and lived a life, grubbing with his hands, thinking, walking,
moving, talking, acting, doing, like a man. And he did it perfect,
perfect. Good job. God said, good job. A man approved. Now Christ said,
I'm through. It's finished. I did what was
necessary. Lived a perfect life as a man. And he gave it to those elect
God chose, that Christ had in his heart, those names. Gave
it to them. Then he went to the cross. God
said, you're going to have to die and they'll pay for their
sin. I'll do it. And he shed his blood and he
died and finally took off that human, mortal not mortal, but
that human robe of flesh, those work clothes, and went back to
the throne and assumed his infinity, his eternity again, and sat on
a throne. I did it. He said, all now that
has been given to me, and I did it, shall come. And he sits there
directing it on. from here on out. Well, won't
you plead? No. He's in control. He's on
the right hand of the majesty on high. Ask David. David? David,
who is this? Oh, the Lord is my strength.
He's become my salvation. Well, what man or man is it?
Well, the Lord said unto my Lord. He's a man, yet he's my Lord.
Well, what's he like, David? Well, he's, oh, he does do it
valiantly, and he's merciful, he preserves, he's gracious,
yea, righteous. Is my God? Well, where is he
now, David? Where is your Lord? Where is
this one you're talking about? My God's in the heavens. My Lord,
my Redeemer, he said in Psalm 115, verse 3, he's in the heavens. And he did what served his people.
Please the Lord and make me one of his people. Who is he? God. What's he like? I can't write when he's preaching.
Where am I to come? To do a work? Did he do it? Yeah. Where is he now? Sitting
down. Finished. Right? You got a song,
Joe? Got a song picked up? All our
religion depends on that. this person.