I earnestly covet your prayers
at this time. As I was saying to one of our
ladies earlier this afternoon Just as the scripture says, you
reap what you sow. If you sow to the flesh, you'll
reap of the flesh. If you sow to the spirit, you'll
reap of the spirit. The way the Lord generally works
is that if you pray for the preacher, For the preaching of the gospel,
for the glory of God, for the gospel to run well, as Paul said
two or three times, the Lord will generally bless you. You
ask the Lord to bless the preacher, and he will generally bless you. God doesn't help those that help
themselves. The character and way of God
of doing things is that he generally helps those who pray for the
help of others. Intercessory prayer. Just as
Christ took upon himself the form of a servant and was always
praying as an intercessor, praying for other people, the Lord blessed
him immeasurably. And I believe the same will hold
true for us. He asked the Lord to bless me, bless the preaching
of the gospel for his glory, and he just liable to bless you. When I think of all the blasphemous
ways that men use the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the various ways that mankind
uses God's name in vain, it makes me both sad and sick or nauseous. This is one of the reasons I
strongly believe the Lord is not far away, is not too far
from coming, because men are blatantly blasphemous. There's no fear of God before
their eyes, and they just quickly and flippantly and carelessly
use the name of God, and even now, the name of the Holy Spirit
and the name of Christ. Like I said this morning, you
can almost tell if someone knows God or knows Jesus Christ by
the way that they speak of the Lord, what terms or how they
refer to God. If men or women use careless,
irreverent, flippant, familiar, worldly terms, then I say on
the authority of the Scriptures, they don't know God. Do men describe God and His Holy
Son in fleshly terms or comparisons? That's what God asked when we
read over there in Isaiah chapter 40, to whom will you liken me
or make me equal and compare me? He said that in several places. Isaiah 46, to whom will you liken
me? How will you compare me?" Well, men have imagined all sorts
of things out of their foolish and darkened hearts, haven't
they? Paul said it in Romans 1, they've
changed the glory of the incorruptible into an image made like unto
corruptible man. Modern Rome, America. This is modern Greece, modern
Rome. In an attempt at cleverness, they liken God to all manner
of things. And you've heard and you've seen
some of these atrocities, some of these blasphemous things that
they say about God. Things like this. This is what
they put on their bulletin boards. The church, so-called. This is not atheist. This is
not agnostic. This is not Frank and Ernest
cartoons in the, or the far side in the newspaper. These are so-called
God worshippers. And they say things like this.
God is like Coke. He's the real thing. For God is like hallmark cards. He cared enough to send the very
best. Now, some people may think that's
cute, but that's blasphemy. One of our ladies said she saw
a sign the other day, right down here in Farrington. God is like
hairspray. He holds you up all day. To whom will you liken me, says
the God who created the heavens and the earth. Well, God is like
a bottle of coke, a can of hairspray, a greeting card. Is it any wonder he's going to
blast this place away with the breath of his nostril? I'll show
you what I'm like. It'll just take one nostril to
do it. As clearly blasphemous as those
statements are, as clearly as men take the name of God in vain. There are subtle ways that you
and I take his name in vain. He said, thou shalt not take
the name of the Lord thy God in vain. That is, that means
to ever use it in any way, in any shape, form or fashion that
is not giving him 100% glory and honor and in fear and awe
and reverence and majesty. ever to even refer to God. To Henry in the Old Testament,
they wouldn't even call his name. They were too fearful. They wouldn't take it upon their
lips. But we use subtle ways, subtle ways that we take the
name of our God in vain. Whenever we use a description
or a superlative, that is an adjective, the highest form of
an adjective that should only be reserved for God Almighty,
we have taken his name in vain. When we call someone good, he's
a good man. As innocent as we may be or feel
like we are. The Lord God Christ himself said
to that rich young ruler, didn't he? Why do you call me good?
There's none good but God. If you call anybody good, John,
he says he's got to be God, doesn't he? There's none good, no, not
one, but God. This so-called fellow named Muhammad
Ali, for years, you know, would spout his big mouth off and say,
I am the greatest. Remember that? The scripture says, great is
the Lord and greatly to be praised. Incidentally, there's another
boxer today that calls himself The Truth. Have you seen that
stamp? Carl The Truth Williams is his
name. I'm telling you, men are getting
more and more blatantly blasphemous. We say things like this, and
boy, oh, don't ever put a watch over your lips. I've heard people
that I believe are Believe. Say this. Lordy. The Lord. Laws of mercy. That's taking God's name. The
Lord. The name of the Lord is greatly
to be praised. The Lord. You don't use that
term. The Lord. The Lord. You know what Lord, the name
Lord is? It's Jehovah. I am the Lord, thou shalt not
take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, ever, reverend."
And that's the one I despise the most. Holy and reverend is his name.
And then we say this. He or she is such a wonderful
person. Don't we? We all do it. I've
done it. And it's time to stop. You know,
we've done some things at times in ignorance, know not what we
say. Like Christ said, Father, forgive
them. They know not what they say. It's time we learn what
we're saying. Right? The Scripture says, Ascribe ye
greatness to our God alone. wonder, when something is full
of wonder, that means you gaze at it in awe and wonder and amazement. Can anybody, can you say that
about anybody? You sit and gaze in awe and amazement
at this person who's full of wonder and mystery? No. God alone is full of wonder,
right? Now many things that we wonder
at and are amazed by, yet the minute we learn of that, anything
that's finite that we wonder at, it can be reduced in a minute
just as soon as we get to know it. Knowledge reduces something
we wonder at to no longer a wonder. But the Scripture says the infinite
God is past finding out. You never cease to wonder at
God, because he's full of wonder, full of wonder, always full of
wonder. And of this mysterious child
that we looked at this morning, this mysterious baby that was
born, this son that was given, this one who has the weight of
the world upon his shoulders, this spiritual governor He alone,
God says, what are you going to call this one? What are you
going to name such a one? This baby, this magnificent child
that the wise men stood back in amazement at. And this son
who came down, who entered the body of this baby, that incarnation. What are you going to call such
a one? And this governor, this one who took upon himself the
sins of so many people upon his shoulder, bore all the blame.
the brunt, all of God's justice and wrath in six hours on a tree
in that great work. What are you going to call such
a one? Wonderful. His name shall be called Wonderful. Wonderful. Now, just going back over what
we looked at a little bit this morning in context, let's look
at some of the ways that Christ is full of wonder, wonder, if
the Lord God helps us. He's wonderful or full of wonder
at his birth, and we looked at that this morning. Some of us
gazed in amazement and awe and wonder at some of the things
we never really considered before about this immaculate conception
of this child, and in the actual birth of this baby, and in the
essence of that child, the character of that child, and in the son,
his growing up, his maturing. He who is ancient of days became
the infant of days. He who provides for all life,
whom even the the lions receive their meat from, the animals
in the jungle, the birds in the air receive their meat out of
his hand, their seed from his hand. It says even the whales.
Everything throughout the universe receives its sustenance and its
provision and its food from the hand of this one who made them.
But he who is the provider of all things had to nurse. at the
breast of a woman to receive his strength. Explain that, would you, like
Scott would say. Explain that. The child, as we
said this morning, the child was the father of the mother. Immortality dwelled in a mortal
frame. God died. But God can't die. His birth is full of wonder.
His life, His life as a boy. Some of us after the service
this morning, we were discussing this. How that Mary, and we're
the same way, we come in here and we hear of the glory of the
Lord Jesus Christ and we're full of amazement and we take these
things, the Lord puts these things in our heart and we ponder and
wonder at these things. And then we go on and then we
act like he doesn't even exist. Like he's just, I don't know,
like he doesn't exist. Just like Mary did. She went
on her Mary way as a mother. And there was a time, remember,
when he was down in the temple as a twelve-year-old boy, disputing
with the doctors and the lawyers, and Mary, as every mother would
be, was worried about her son. She lost him. Lost the Lord of
glory. He was lost, and she was worried
about him. He still had his eye on her.
He was in Jerusalem, she was way out here, he had his eye
on her. But she had lost him. He was
lost. She was worried about her son. So she went back looking for
him. Son, you've worried your mother and your father and I.
You've worried. What don't you know what you've
done to? And he said, wished, and looked at her with those
eyes. Twelve-year-old boy, as one of our young people here,
twelve years old, looked into the eyes of his mother and said
with perfect distinction and authority, I wished you not. And I must be about my father's
business? And she remembered. You see,
she had forgotten, but he brought back to remember. And she pondered
this in her heart. Remember? And this is what we
do. We go out in the world, we see these things in the church,
we see these things in the preaching of the gospel, and we gaze in
awe and wonder and amazement at them. But we quickly go out
in the world and we forget all these things real quick, and
we come back in here, and then he brings them back to remember.
And we gaze, we take them back into our hearts. ponder them
again, don't we? His life as a boy. Can you
imagine a twelve-year-old boy? How old are you, Stephen? Twelve. Without sin. Without mischievousness. Perfectly obedient in every respect. Don't you know, Dad, I must be
about my God, my Father's business?" Carrying more for the things
of God than the things of his little playmates. Can you imagine? And later he began in his life,
later he grew up, says he grew in wisdom and stature. That's
wonder, isn't it? And then later he began to perform,
later on in life as a young man, thirty years old, he began to
perform wondrous miracles, healing people. I don't mean now slapping
people on the side of the head and saying, be, heal y'all, that's
as old Ernest Hensley would say, you know. He'd heal people, wouldn't
he? He said, you go tell John what's
happening down here. I mean folks born deaf, hearing,
blind people. I'm talking about fellas begging
on the streets now, not people with cataracts, beggars on the
street from birth. Everybody knows it. You know,
blind have their eyes open. Lame. I'm not talking about a
woman walking with a crutch or a wheelchair that nobody can
substantiate. I'm talking about a man sick
with cerebral palsy. Crippled from his birth, emaciated,
a man with a withered hand. The dead rising out of their graves. And people wondered at him. What
are you going to call such a one? Wonderful. This is wonderful. And he was a wonder to all those
that heard him speak. And some fellas one time went
down to get him, didn't they? The high priest or the rulers
in the temple said, We've had about all we can stand to this
Jesus, fellas. Now, y'all go down there and
get him and bring him up here. We're going to put him on trial.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll get him now. Go down. Okay, we'll get
him. We'll bring him back. And they went down there to get
him, and they rushed into that place, and he was talking. I'd like to hear that boy. One
of these days I'm going to. Well, they heard it. They rushed
in there and they heard him. Listen! Heard of me? And they said, oh, let's sit
down here a minute. And they all sat down. As he
talked, and they went out of that place, forgetting what they'd
come for. They went back, and the high
priest ruler said, Where is he? Who? Well, Jesus. Oh, he's wonderful. We couldn't
take him. No man spake like him. But you
ought to hear him. I wonder in his speech, his talk,
I wonder in his walk. The scripture says, in him. Now,
get a hold of this. This is incomprehensible. The scripture says, "...in him
was no sin." And he said it out loud. I challenge
you, he said, anybody the world over to convince me to find one
charge against Which of you convinces me of sin?" One time. You've observed my childhood,
you've observed my adolescence, you've observed my young manhood,
now you observe me now? Find something! And he faced
the devil. John faced the devil for forty
days. Even the devil could find nothing
in him. Pilate, who tried, didn't he? He wanted to find something to
kill him for, something that he could credibly kill him for,
or justify killing him. He said, he threw up his hands
in exasperation, I find no fault in him. He can't do it. Why, he's wonderful. Ah, boy. And he was a wonder
to his disciples above all people. We looked this morning at how
he rolled back his visage for them to see his real person.
And there was times like on that boat. Remember when he was asleep
in the boat? And the disciples were so worried that waves were
crashing, they went back, And we do the same thing, don't we?
And we come in here, and he comes, steps up on the bow of the ship,
if you will, or perhaps behind the pulpit, and says, be still,
like he did to those waves. And they sit back and say, what
manner of man. It's wonderful. Wonderful. What can you call
him but wonderful? What are you going to call him?
Wonderful! His character, we thought about
that on New Year's Eve night, his character. I wish I could describe him like
he is, in mercy. goodness, tenderness, compassion,
loveliness, love, gentleness. Like we said, you take the most
admirable character in somebody that you know, the sweetest,
gentlest, kindest, dearest, sweetest person that you know, a person
with the sweetest smile, the sweetest attitude and expression,
they pale in comparison to the Lord Jesus Christ. They got everything
they got from Him. You take all that and magnify
it a hundred, a thousand times, and that's the character of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Those that are compassionate,
magnify it. Sweet, gentle, meek. He said,
take my yoke upon you and learn of me. I'm meek and lowly. Moses
may have been the meekest man on the face of the earth. He's
the meekest man who hung above it. His name, his personality is
called wonderful. Wonderful. His character, wonderful
in birth, wonderful in life, wonderful in death. Now get a
hold of this. Somebody said, grab a hold of your seat, we're
going to jump a creek. Can you stand back and gaze in awe and amazement?
and wonder that the Lord of Glory would
subject himself to such a death as crucifixion. I mean, there's
no form of torture devised by man from the beginning of time
as bad as crucifixion. It was the slowest, most painful,
most humiliating and shameful of deaths. Ancient Rome was good, was practiced
in the art of killing people, torturing people. The floggings
that they put men through, most of the time they didn't last
through it. They died under the hand of the beating that they
received. The Lord received that beating,
that cruel beating. And in the crucifixion itself,
do you not stand back in wonder and amazement that he would subject
himself? Why did he have to go through
that? I know that without shedding of blood there is no remission
of sin, but why that death of all deaths? The worst, the most
painful, the slowest, the most agonizing. Do you not stand back
in wonder and amazement to think of the judge of the universe
before whom all flesh shall stand some day, the holy judge before
whom nothing is pure in his eyes? The sun and the moon doesn't
even shine compared to this light which no man can approach unto,
but we're going to stand before him someday to be looked through
and judged. Do you not wonder at the fact
that he allowed himself to be judged by that kangaroo court? Stand there in front of Pilate
and Pilate, that little pinhead, say to him, don't you know I've
got the power, the power You've got the power." All he'd have had to do. Do you not stand back and gaze
in wonder and amazement at the Lord of Glory hanging on the
cross, while men spit in His face and took their fists and
beat Him to a pulp, when He could have called, as Scripture says,
ten thousand angels? to destroy the world. The lion of the tribe of Judah,
who could have roared with the breath of the blast of his roar
and just consumed everybody in front of him, allowing them to
hit him in the face, isn't that a wondrous thing, an amazement? The lion who laid down like a
lamb? But one day, I'm here to tell
you now, the lamb is going to turn into a lion. Do you not wonder? One of the writers said, he who
wore the stars as his crown. I'm talking the Milky Way as
his ring. The celestial beings are his
crown that hover around his holy head, allowing them to plant
a rose bush and jam it on his head. Isn't that a wonder? Somebody said, you know, let
me tell you a little bit about this blasphemous world. This
is, let me put this thing in perspective. When men talk about, won't you
accept Jesus? Won't you let God, won't you
let Jesus into your heart? What are you going to do with
Jesus, they say? It makes my blood boil. What
are you going to do with Jesus? God put the Lord Jesus into men's
hands one time. And what'd they do with him,
Henry? They killed him, didn't they? And God says, He's not going
to be in men's hands anymore, I tell you. No more. What will
you do with Jesus? You did it, didn't you? We, with
wicked hands, have taken and crucified the Lord of glory.
That's what we did with Jesus. Now, the question remains. This
is the question of all questions. What will Jesus Christ, the Lord,
this One who is wonderful, do with us? He could step on us. Couldn't
he? He's got the power to either
step on us or hold us up. Spare us. Isn't that a wonder? And the
wonder of wonders in this thing of His death is you've got to
ask why. Why? Even so far. It seemed good. It pleased the
Lord to bruise, to bloody, to mangle the body of his lovely
spotless son for that maggot. I'm talking too well about Yarna
Henry. I haven't told half the truth.
It pleased the Lord to bruise, to mangle, to bloody his son
on behalf of this wretch. Why? Well, the scripture says he had
to. If he was going to save others, himself, he couldn't save. He's
going to say, this old wretch, he had to be made sin. And sin
is an awful picture. And what sin brings, the wrath
of God, the judgment of God, is an awful picture. So, Henry,
his visage had to be marred more than any man because he was sin.
And God had to obliterate it, sin. Change the face of it. The wages of sin is death. I
mean a horrible, cruel death is what we deserve. Romaine said this, you can copy
this down. William Romaine said, Death stung
himself to death when he stung Christ. Sting of sin is death. You know, death stung himself
to death when he stung Christ. And God's rod of justice, that
verse four there, God's rod of justice. that could never be
extinguished upon us, John. Why is it hell and eternity?
Because men cannot ever extinguish, fulfill the justice of God. Their
sins are against an infinite God. They can't ever pay for
their sin. The rod of God's justice and
wrath broke on Christ. Totally extinguished except in
six hours. That's how long it took. That's
how much sin there was. That's how great a work it was,
but nevertheless, that's how little time it took for the Son
of God. Six hours. What would take us
an eternity to bear. And his body and soul. See, Christ
was made, the scripture says he poured out his soul. He made
his soul an offering for sin. And he took a body, he says,
the body hast thou given me. You see, body and soul was made
an offering for sin. Why? We've sinned in both areas. The soul that sinneth must surely
die, and the body has sinned, so it's got to lay down too,
right? So Christ assumed a body, and even his soul was offered. And because he poured out his
soul unto death. Now there's the agony, we can't
even, I can't even talk about that. Like Luther was considering
Psalm 22 when Christ said, My God, my God, that's when Luther
threw up his hands and said, God forsaken God, too deep for
me. When he poured out his soul,
that soul agony we can't enter into it. Someday we'll understand. And wonderful in his ascension
and his resurrection, the bonds of death. shackles. I love the wording of the old
writers and scripture. This reason I love the King James
version of scripture. I think it just adds dignity
and majesty to the word. That's the reason I don't go
for these new modern terms. You know, they just bring that
God down a little closer to our level, don't they? But the shackles
and the bonds and the chains and the fetters They have bound
mankind from the very beginning, death I'm talking about, as chains
of darkness where like little, like little rotten reeds on the
hands of Christ. No man has ever, Terry, no man
has ever just escaped death like he did. Just like Christ one day stepped
off the throne and into that body of that little baby. One
day, Barbara, while hanging on the cross, he said, in another
point, another time, he said, no, no man takes my life from
me. You can't kill God. He said, no man takes my life
from me. I lay it down. Who can say that? Somebody in
here do it. Let's try it. Somebody. Die.
Come on. He said, it's an absurdity. He
did. He said, it's finished. Leaving, stepping out of this
old mortal frame, and went on. Three days later, Henry, it's
time to step back into it. Like taking off a coat and folding
it up real nicely, the grave clothes, put them aside there
and walked out of the tomb. I'm back. Never to leave it again. Never
going to walk out again. What are you going to call him?
What superlative are you going to use? Adjective. Wonderful. Full of wonder. You see why we
can't use that in reference to anybody but him. Wonderful. Call
his name this. Oh, boy, did I get a blessing
out of this. Look at verse 6. Call his name wonderful. And
I just like the sound of it. Counselor. Counselor. I hope I can give
you this picture here. Picture the law. Picture this
court scene in eternity. The tribunal of God Almighty,
the law of God, has been my persecutor. Prosecutor is the word. The law
of God has been my prosecuting attorney from the very beginning. State attorney. My prosecutor
from the beginning. Bringing charge after charge
against me, whatsoever things the law saith, it saith in order
that I might be guilty. It brings charge after charge
against me, and the witnesses have been brought against me.
From my youth up, witness after witness could come forth and
speak of my guilt. How about you, John? Couldn't
it? Why, your own conscience would condemn you, doesn't it?
If God would call your conscience before the court, you couldn't
even silence your conscience, could you? Your conscience. Satan,
the great accuser, he says, I've seen him, I've turned him inside
out. He's served me from the outset. Self, your own self would condemn
you. Everything declares us guilty
from the very beginning. God, the judge, knows it. The world knows it. Everybody
that's ever seen us, been around us, knows it. We're guilty and
we know it, don't we? We're guilty. But. But God. The judge of all the
universe. He says this in mercy and grace.
We're standing before his judgment seat, guilty, guilty. And God the judge says, I know
you're guilty, but I'm sending you a court-appointed lawyer,
advocate, an attorney. I'm going to send you a public
son defender. And he's a good one. You need
one? Oh, do I need one? Do I ever
need one? I'm guilty. But who would represent
me? There's only one that would take
such a case as yours. Guilty until proven innocent. You see, that's the way God's
justice does things. Unlike our kangaroo court, innocent
until proven guilty. And then when they're found guilty,
they ain't guilty, are they? Murder will get you six years
on probation. But God's justice says you're
guilty until proven innocent, right? Guilty. And we say, guilty
as charged. And our judge who judges us says,
I'm going to send you a lawyer. And we say, well, who would take
my case? I'm guilty. There's nothing that can be done. And it appears that way, doesn't
it? But I'm sending you a public
defender. He's a good lawyer. He's a good
advocate. He's the only one you've got.
The only hope you've got. I'll tell you why he's such a
good one, the judge says. He's such a good one. Counsel
for the defense. We all call him around here,
the counselor. Not a counselor. The counselor. You know why? He's never lost a case. He's
never lost one case. Anybody he's taken defense for,
never lost a one. So my counselor stands for. And he gives me, the name means
to give advice, counsel. Now, stay with me. He gives me good counsel. Sound
advice. But, you know, it sounds more
to me like a command. When he talks to me in the privacy
of the chambers, judges chambers, it sounds it sounds a whole lot
more like command to me than advice. You know what he says
to me? He doesn't say, we're going to bring up this witness.
This wouldn't try to get you off the hook. No, he says, no,
you plead guilty. Plead guilty. But no, I'll not take your case
till you plead guilty. Cast yourself on the mercy of
the court, he says. Cast yourself. Why? Only the guilty receive mercy
at the hands of this judge. So he sounds like he knows what
he's doing. So I take his word. I believe
him. And I cast myself upon his mercy. And though I can't understand
it at first, I don't understand how it misses the question. I
how is this just going to justify me? How can God be just? And it won't
set me free. And my lawyer, my counselor says,
Plead guilty. Nevertheless, it's your word.
This is what I'll do. So I stand before the tribunal
and he says, How do you plead? I put my hand over my mouth.
I've spoken things too wonderful for me already. I just be still
and know that you're judge. I fall at my feet as a dead man.
At his feet as a dead man. Then steps forth my counselor.
And I'm laying there in the dust where I ought to be. And he stands before the judge
and in front of me. The judge can't see me. He stands
in front of me for the judge. And the judge is looking at him.
He can't see me. And he stands there and this
is what he says. My counsel, counsel for the defense. Your
honor, counsel for the defense wishes to speak. Speak on. And he says to this judge, who
can snuff my life out in a minute, he says this way. Father. And my ears perk up, father. The judge is my lawyer's daddy,
and I think. I breathe one sigh of relief,
and it sounds good. And I remember, you know, and
I remember earlier on, I remember him talking to him. He had his
arm around him. Father, he says, now this man
is guilty, I know, guilty as charged. Caught red-handed, yeah,
caught red-handed. His hands have shed innocent
blood. But, God, Thou who art rich in mercy, and
for your great love wherewith you have loved me and him in me." Sparing. Furthermore, justice demands
that he be spared. Your Honor, I demand this day
that this prisoner be set free. On what grounds? On what grounds? On the grounds, Your Honor, that
justice has been served. The sentence has been carried
out. This man has died. He has, yes. I was crucified for him. I died. And he says, here's the
evidence. Irrefutable, incontrovertible. evidence to the fact that this
man died for these things, and he takes off his sandals, shows
his feet, more evidence. And the judge, upon looking at
those evidence, not me, he can't see me. Those evidence, his hands,
his feet, seeing that I was killed, nevertheless I live, yet not
I, but Christ lives for me. And the judge says, case dismissed. You can go for it. This man's
innocent. Innocent of all. Let no man condemn
him from this day forward. Who is he that condemneth? Speak
now or forever hold your peak. Christ died. He died. This man's dead. Not yet lived. And you know what he does then
after that court's over? You know where he goes, Nancy?
He picks me up off the desk. And the judge comes down and
puts his arm around the son, and they both pick me up, and
they take me over into adoption court there, over into the adoption
agency. And the judge says, I want to
adopt this fellow. Oh, boy. All because my counselor. Isn't he wonderful? Ain't nothing
like it. Call his name this. Oh, I've
got to hurry. Oh, how are we going to spend ten minutes on
this? Call his name the mighty God, the mighty God. Just as the natural man is ignorant
and in darkness concerning the God of the universe, who he is,
like we said this morning. The natural man, men and women
are ignorant of who Jesus Christ really is. They wouldn't talk
about him in such ways. Let Jesus. They don't know God because they
say let God. They don't know God if they say
that. If they say let Jesus, they don't know the Lord Jesus
Christ. Emmanuel. You know, I thought about this
illustration. This is the same sense when men
and women The other day, our daughter, we were driving along,
it was daytime, and she saw the outline of the moon in the sky. She said, look, Daddy, the moon's
up. I said, honey, the moon's always up. We just can't see
it, you see. And at nighttime, you know, when
it's dark, we say, what do we say? Well, the sun's gone down.
Oh, no. Oh, no. The sun never goes down,
does it? It's just veiled from our view.
And men and women say something about Jesus Christ, you know,
about Him letting Him do this. He's a man that—oh no! He just
veiled Himself, didn't He? He just took on like a cloud
that crossed in the face of the sun. The sun never changed its
essence. The sun doesn't change when a cloud goes and covers
it. We just can't see it. If we'd rise above the clouds,
we'd see it. who the son or what the son is
really like. And just like Christ peeled back his existence, his
mortal existence, and showed his transfigured first person,
the Word of God plainly reveals to a few, a chosen few, a few
select people, that this child was no child. He was the Son,
the everlasting and eternal Son given. He's the governor. And he's the mighty God. The
mighty God. Men say that, we said this this
morning, men say that Christ never said he was God. Well,
that's just because they're ignorant concerning the name of God, right? You see, everybody doesn't know
the name of God. It's not revealed to all, right? Some people, you read that tonight,
Terry, some people are called by his name. What's that name?
The Word is one. The Word. Every time we see the
Word, our eyes light up, don't we? We think of Christ. And every
time we hear this Word, who can take it on his lips?
Every time we hear this, I am. That's the name of God, Emerson
Williams. But the soldiers came in the
garden, remember. Soldiers came in the garden that
day to take him. And Christ stood in front of
his disciples again, like the great governor does, our
protector, stood in front of his disciples and said, who do
you seek? If you seek these now, if you seek me, let these go.
But who are you looking for, men? And they said to him, ìWeíre
looking for Jesus of Nazareth. Who are you?î ìI am.î He said, ìLet me introduce you
to Jesus of Nazareth.î ìI am.î Didnít he? Never said he was
God? Those fellas heard it, didn't they? They heard what he said.
They fell back as dead. As dead. He introduced himself
as the I Am, and he's called the Everlasting Father. The Everlasting
Father. They said to Christ over in John
chapter 8, Are you greater than our father, Abraham? I can hear
him now. Are you greater than our father,
Abraham? Your father. Your father. Why? Greater than your father, Abraham?
Why? Abraham rejoiced to see my day. Why? They said of him, they said,
you're not yet fifty years old. They were still ignorant about
what he was saying. He said, John ate there. Henry,
I went back and counted it some more. He said it more than four
times. He said it about six or eight times. We had eyes to see. They said, you're not yet 50
years old, and have you seen Abraham? Have I seen Abraham? You know, you laugh at some of
the questions of your children and all, they're so infantile. Have I seen Abraham? Ah, it's true, he might have
said. It's true, I'm not 50 years old. I'm not even one year old. You see, time can only measure
finite things, right? Time, you look through the Old
Testament sometime, read, Abraham had a son, and Abraham lived
so many days, and he died. And then Isaac had a son, and
Isaac had lived so many days, and he died, and he died, and
he died, and he died, and this man was this old, and he died,
and this man lived this many years, and he died. Time measures
finite things, you see. Time can only be used to measure
things and people that change. But Christ says, He says there's
nothing outside of Myself that is necessary for My existence.
There is nothing outside of Myself that can measure Me. When there
was neither space nor time, nor the worlds, nor anything, all
he can say about himself is, I am. We can't say that. We can never
say that. Only God can say that. You say,
see, try this sometime. Go over to your next-door neighbor
and try this. Walk next door and walk up to
your neighbor sometime, and he's hoeing his garden or something,
you say, I want your attention. Look at me. Now listen carefully. I am. And he'll say, You are what?
Well, I am that I am. What are you? You see, when we
say I am, we have to define ourselves. We can't ever say that. We have
to say, well, I am a man, I am a nut, or I am a woman, or I
am this, I am that. God doesn't have to say that.
I am this, I am. God just says, I am. What are
you? I am that I am. The moment we say, I am, we are
not. Right? Because we're creatures
of change, and the moment we say, I am, we have become something
other than we were when we said, I am. We say, I am too late. You're not. You've changed, you
see. But God is the same, and Christ
said, the Scriptures say of Christ, Jesus Christ the same yesterday,
today, and forever. I am! Never changed. What he was when he said to Moses
is what he is now and what he will be a hundred million years
from now. I am. I never change. Explain that, would you? Oh, my soul. Jesus Christ is
his own Father. He said, I and the Father are
one. I can't say that. My dad's name is Henry Mahan.
I'm Paul Mahan. We're not one, we're two. But
Christ said, I and the Father are one. You've seen me, you've
seen the Father. You can't say that about me.
You're going to see my daddy in a couple of weeks, Lord willing.
You see me now? You can't see me. I may resemble
him, but I'm not him. Christ said, I am. Never said he was God? They don't know his name, do
they, Henry? And he did things that only God can do. They said
about him, only God. Who can forgive sins but God?
Right. Your sins are forgiven. Why, who can do the things that
that man does except God be with him? Right. Rise up and walk. Who can make the claims that
he made, huh? Except God. And only God is to
be worshipped. Let me tell you something. These
Russellites, all these people who refuse to believe in the
deity of Christ, you know what they are convincing, what they
are convicting us of, accusing us
of, above all else? Idolatry. If they say that Jesus
is not God, Jesus Christ is not God, then we are of all men idolaters. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy
God, and him alone shalt thou worship. Right? Well, we worship
the Lord Jesus Christ, don't we? If Jesus Christ is not God,
you're an idolater, Nancy Park. So be it. I'm an idolater. Like that woman said of my pastor,
he's made an idol out of Jesus Christ. You better believe it.
You better believe it. You better believe it, him. And boy, boy, let's just continue
on in tomorrow in this last, this last name. Call his name. I like the sound of this too. The Prince. The Prince of Peace. Only Jesus Christ can be rightly
called our Valiant Prince. You young people have seen the
cartoon Prince Valiant? He's an imposter. There was no
such person. Yes, there was. But it wasn't
a mere man. Jesus Christ is our Valiant Prince. He's our Valiant Prince. The
word Prince, I looked it up, it means to be the head person
over some class or people. This means to be captain, it
means to be chief or general, five star I might add. It means
to be governor, it means to be keeper, it means to be lord,
it means to be master. Prince, the prince of peace,
the son of David, the heir to the throne, came down as our
captain, didn't he? Our captain, our valiant prince
to fight the Lord's battles for us. in a and he vanquished everything
everything the Scripture says the chastisement you ever have
a problem with that version of the fifty three the chastisement
of our peace word means for. The chastisement of that which
was necessary for our peace was laid on him. For our freedom
All that was necessary to set us free, that ransom, was laid
upon him. He took the full force, the full
brunt of God's wrath for us, like a mighty captain that he
is. Our banner. He's called our banner. What's
that? Jehovah. I can't even quote it right now. Jehovah our banner.
He stood forth as our captain, right out in the forefront of
the battle, and took the brunt of the charge, charge after charge,
against us, charge after charge, until he defeated them all, single-handedly. We didn't get in the battle.
We were back there. And he took it all. He obtained
peace. He made peace by the blood of
his cross. Our Prince Valiant, this Prince
of Peace. And if you will, picture this
story with me, and I'll quit. Picture with me, I want you to
see this picture, this story of my knight in shining armor. I want you to call me, think
of me right now as Cinderfella. We've all heard that fairy tale. Well, it's a true story, you
know, and that's me. That's me. in dust and ashes,
cinders, if you will, laying in the dust and the ashes, sackcloth
and ashes, a poor, miserable, wretched beggar in rags, a poor
handmaid of the Lord, a handmaid of the Lord, like Ruth, you know,
gleaning in a field that doesn't belong to me, just trying to
get some crumbs out of the master's field. And lo and behold, I see riding up Prince Charming,
my handsome prince, and I think, oh, he'll never take notice of
me. He'll never take notice of me. And he comes riding up. You know, one time he came riding
on a donkey, didn't he? He said, behold, thy king coming,
riding on a foal, a coat of an ass. Well, it's coming today,
and you read it over in Revelation sometimes. Or he says he's going
to come riding up on a white horse. That's when Henry's going
to take me away. Comes riding up on a white horse,
up rides this man, and oh my, what a man. On his white horse,
his white steed, and he sees me in the dust. And he stoops down, dismounts
that scheme, and stoops down to where I am and picks this
handmaid up off the ground. And I'm dressed in rags, and
he takes his royal, princely, kingly, garment of gold and multicolored
robe of righteousness off, takes it off and wraps it around me
and covers my ragged body. And once he does...