Open your Bibles with me to 1
Corinthians 2. And while you're turning, let
me mention again Kathy Bell's daughter that had that car wreck. Sunday morning. Sunday. And really, really banged up. Continue to pray for Kathleen and others among us,
and Bruce got a nephew, 49, and they just got a few hours. And
they took chemo away from him, and the kidneys just didn't stop
working. And when that happens, you know,
you don't last long. So there's a lot of sorrow and grief in
this world. And some maniacs went out in California today
and shot 14 people, just dead. Dead. Police caught up with some
of them. I told Shirley, I said, the men,
those guys that were shot dead, said they went to hell just like
that. Just walk in and shoot down 14
people. This world's gone mad, ain't
it? And what it is, I think, personally, I think it's God
just gradually withdrawing His hand from America. and letting
people do what they are by nature more and more and more. And if
he was to take his hand off this world, we'd live in a world full of
demons. Well, George Whitefield said, man is half beast and half
devil. And that's about right, ain't
it? But oh my, what a sad thing. There's so many people out there
this evening. It's going to have the awfulest
grief. Husbands and wives, sons and
daughters, grandmas and grandpas. It's going to be awful. I can never think of anybody
dying anymore that it don't make me think of the person that's
got to live with it later. It just makes me think about
the person that's got to live with it when they're gone. Now
they're gone. Well, let's pray. Our blessed, blessed Father,
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, You told us to call You
Father. When our Savior taught us to
pray, He said, Our Father, say, Our Father, which art in heaven,
His name is holy, and His kingdom Oh, let it come. Let it be done
in my heart, in this congregation of believers, and in this world
to bring glory to yourself. Father, we're so thankful and
blessed to be able to understand your gospel, to believe your
gospel, to know your son, to rest in your son and embrace
your son, to love your son and need your son. And Lord Jesus,
we do need you. Oh, how we need you. May our
eyes turn upon you tonight. May we see your grace and glory
in them blessed eyes and turn our eyes away from the world.
And our Savior, we pray for those we mention tonight. Pray for
Kathy and Larry as they deal with their
daughter in such a miserable condition. And I pray for her,
Lord, that you'd use this if it would please you and your
providence to show her her great need of salvation, show her how
helpless and hopeless she is. And Lord, we continue to pray
for Kathleen, that you'd strengthen her, encourage her, and continue
to bless her body and cause it to get stronger and stronger.
And Lord, we pray for Bruce's nephew. Oh, Lord, have mercy
on the young man. God help him. He says he's praying
so Lord we'll pray with him. That you'd be merciful to him.
That you'd receive him as you do us for Christ's sake. If it
pleases you to do so and brings glory to your name. Enable me
to preach tonight. Enable us to hear. We ask these
things in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Alright. I'm going to read this 1 Corinthians
2 verses 1-5. And I, brethren, when I came
to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring
unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know
anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness
and in fear and in much trembling. And that's pretty much a condition
to anybody that gets up to read scripture, that gets up to pray,
gets up to preach. Weakness, fear, and tripling. And my speech and my preaching
was not with enticing or persuadable words of man's wisdom, but my
preaching was in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. God
demonstrated that the gospel comes by the Spirit of God and
it comes through the power of the Spirit of God. and this being
the reason that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men
or what men could talk you into and persuade you, but in the
power of God. Now back up there, he said, I'm
determined in verse 2 not to know anything among you save
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Christ and Him crucified. We
are wealthy in our Lord Jesus Christ, great wealth, wealth
that we cannot imagine. all the wealth that we possess
in our Lord Jesus Christ. His grace is called unsearchable.
His riches are unsearchable. His glories are unsearchable.
And the wealth we possess in Christ and by our union with
Him. You don't have this wealth unless
you're joined to Him and in union with Him. And in preaching Christ
here, the apostle proclaimed, you know, he said, Jesus Christ. That's the first thing he said,
Jesus Christ. Jesus, the son of God, Jesus,
the son of man, Christ, God's anointed, God's servant sent
into this world. So they first preached him as
the Christ, as a man, as that man of Nazareth, that man who
was raised in Nazareth, Jesus. that one whose name means Jehovah,
our Savior, and Christ, that one that was anointed in sin
of God himself. And then when they sent out who
Jesus Christ was, then they preached his death, because it matters
who died, why he died, and the reason of his death. They proclaimed
his death. and his resurrection they proclaimed
his exaltation at the right hand of God it says even after he
by himself purged our sins he sat down on the right hand of
the majesty on high and Paul says here he was determined determined
it takes some determination to preach nothing but Christ and
him crucified unto the Jews He's a stumbling block. Under the
Greeks, he's foolishness. But under us, which are called,
he's the very power and wisdom of God. And Paul was determined
to preach him. Now he could have warned the
Greeks, he could have warned the Greeks, if he dressed up
his message with philosophy, some new theory. He said, let's
debate the implications of what it was for God and man to be
one union. Was he really God or was he really
man? And let's debate that. Let's
go through the implications of that. Let's go through the implications
whether he could have sinned or whether he could have sinned
or not sinned. Let's go about his impeccability. Let's deal
with that. Let's go through the theories
of Christ crucified, the theories of the atonement. And he could
have had them eaten out of his hand. With those kind of things. And he could have gained the
Jews, and all he had to do was gain the Jews is just preach
a little law, preach a little Moses, preach a little works,
add some circumcision, add some works, add some prayers, add
some repentance, add something to Christ, and he would have
had the Jews eaten out of his hands. And oh, but that's what
he says in verse 4, My speech and my preaching was not with
enticing, persuading words of man's wisdom, I didn't come here
to convince you. He said, Do we persuade men or
God? We certainly ain't going to persuade God to do anything.
The only thing that will persuade a man is the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's why Paul said in Galatians
1, If we or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto
you that we have preached, let him be accursed. So say I now
again, though we or an angel preach any other gospel, another
gospel, which is not another gospel, let him be accursed.
And he says, now do we persuade men of God? And Paul, so he said,
that's why I don't use enticing words of man's wisdom. I'm not
trying, I'm being as plain and simple. That's why our Lord Jesus,
you know what they said about Him? The common people heard
Him gladly. I heard Milton Howard say one
time, how many one-syllable words is in the Gospel? Count them
one of these times if you've got time. Just go through one
chapter and count how many one-syllable words is in a chapter. And all this Christ is a one-syllable
word. And listen, he could have, but
he didn't seek converts by compromise. He knew God had a people and
these people were the called of God, the chosen of God, the
elect of God. And so preaching Christ and Him
crucified, preaching the Lord Jesus Christ and knowing nothing
but Him, that God Himself would make Christ to them, be their
salvation, and their all salvation, and everything they have and
hope for in eternity, they find in Him. And so that's why He
knew preaching the gospel, preaching Christ and Him crucified. He
wouldn't take the offense out of the cross. Let me show you
something. You keep this and look in Galatians
chapter 5. He wouldn't take the offense
out of the cross. And oh, I tell you, people take the offense
out of the cross. It's easy to take the offense out of the cross.
But Galatians 5.11, Paul said it like this, and he
said, and I, brethren, If I yet preach circumcision, if I'm preaching
Moses, if I'm preaching the law, if I'm preaching that you can't
be saved by God unless you be circumcised after Abraham and
Moses and the Jewish law, if I preach circumcision, why do
I still suffer persecution? If I'm compromising the gospel,
if I'm not preaching just Christ and Him crucified, why do I suffer
persecution? He said, then, Then, if I don't
suffer persecution, then the offense of the cross is ceased.
He said, so listen, the offense is in the cross. And I tell you
that's why he says, and that's why he said here in verse 5 of
1 Corinthians 2, He said, oh, now I preach this with enticing
words. I preach in the demonstration
of the spirit and of power. And the reason being that if
you have faith and God gives you faith, and you believe that
that faith that you have not going to stand in some persuadable
words of man's wisdom, it's not going to be something some soul
winner talk you into, some prayer you had to repeat. seven steps
you had to take, or some altar you wore out somewhere, or some
work that you did. He said, I preach that your faith
should not stand in the wisdom of men, but stand in God's power
itself. God gives you that faith, and
that faith will stand by God's blessed power itself. And the
watchword today, the watchword today is contemporary. Contemporary. Oh, people love that word contemporary.
What kind of service if you know, in fact, several churches around
here and other places, they have the traditional service. That's
for the old folks. And then they have contemporary
service two or three hours later. That's for the young folk. And
you know what contemporary is? That means that you come, if
you want to come in your shorts and your flip-flops, if you want
to sit and drink a Coca-Cola while you're in service, If you won't, it don't make any
difference how you come. We're contemporary around here.
We have this contemporary worship. We don't care that we're in God's
presence. God don't want us to be offended. We don't have, our
God don't have to, we don't have to worship Him the way you do.
He don't care about, you know, I know He looks on the heart,
but I'll tell you something, beloved, and they had this idea
that God, God is some old doddering fool that's just tickled to death
to have you in His presence. And He don't care how you come
in and what you look like. But I'm telling you something,
there's not one of us. We don't even go to a doctor
without taking a bath and shaving and cleaning up. But people want
to come and worship God and just look like a fool. And that's temporary worship.
Oh listen, you got to sing and you got to preach and we got
to accommodate the world. We don't nobody be offended.
We want everybody to come in here. Wear your camouflage. Wear your hat, don't even take
your hat off. And I tell you what, if they
want intellectualism, Give them some philosophy. Bring in a doctor
or a master of divinity or a master of theology. I got a pamphlet
the other day where they're going to have this big meeting and
every single person on that had more credentials after his name.
Unbelievable the credentials. Listen, you want intellectualism,
get you a doctor, get you a master of of divinity and have him come
in. Let him use, what do you use
to call them, them gut-busting words? $10 words? That's one of them
$10 words. That's one of them Philadelphia lawyer words. Do
they want ritual? Then go to the law. Give them
some law. Give them a priest. Give them
a preacher who wants to tell them how to live. and cloak it
all in mysticism. Let them some candles. Let them
burn them some candles. Let the preacher wear a robe. And oh, do they want emotionalism
in this contemporary business? They want inner healing and outer
healing. You know what to do? Give them
music. Give it loud, give it proud, give it... I mean get
it going, get it rocking, get it reeling and get them going.
Get them dancing in the house and let them participate in the
services and let them wave their hands and do all that thing.
Just whatever works, let's do it. But no, Paul wasn't like
that. He didn't use the wisdom of man.
He didn't use enticing words. He was certainly out of step
He continued to preach that offense that defended the world, but
all beloved drew those that were called of God. And I tell you
what, he was not going to compromise the gospel regardless. If he
was in jail, or whether he was in a synagogue, or whether he
was in the marketplace, he would not compromise the gospel. And
oh, let me tell you, it says, And I came determined not to
know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
First thing I want to ask tonight is in preaching Christ crucified,
who killed the Lord Jesus Christ? Who killed Him? Well, Acts chapter
2 tells us. Acts chapter 2 tells us. I went
in the wrong direction. Acts chapter 2 tells us exactly
who killed Him. Acts chapter 2 and verse 23.
You know, Paul said we preach Christ and Him crucified. And
you got to tell him who killed him. Why was he crucified? What
was the purpose of this? Well, I tell you what, look what
he said here in Acts 2.23. Him, Him, the Lord Jesus Christ,
Jesus of Nazareth, the man approved of God among you by miracles,
wonders, and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you,
of you yourselves also know him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God that word counsel means will
same thing as the will of God by the determinate will and foreknowledge
of God then look what he says you took him and by wicked hands
have crucified and slain I'll tell you the Jews and the Romans
and those that were there were guilty that day of crucifying
the Lord Jesus Christ, condemning Him to death, calling Him a criminal,
calling Him a blasphemer. But the cross was planned, purposed,
and it was intended for God before ever the time was. And I'm going
to show you that. I quote it all the time. Revelation
13.8. Revelation 13.8. We quote this all the time, but
you need to see it for yourself. We quote it, but the cross, the
cross was God's purpose, God's plan, God's intention. He was
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. And then because of that, God turned him to let men do
to him what they would by nature so that they could be blamed.
They wasn't interested in him. We ourselves heard him. They
said, this man blasphemes. He makes himself to be God. And
we can't have that, we can't have God, some fool around here
saying he's going to be God, so we're going to have to kill
him. And you know what they was doing? They was doing just exactly
what God willed them to do before anything else. Look in Revelation
13a. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose
names, now he's talking about Satan who they're going to worship.
Worship him whose names are not written in the book of life of
the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." God asked Job,
said, Job, where was you when I laid the foundation of this
world? Where was you? Well, I tell you,
Christ was there and he was that Lamb slain. And I tell you, that's
what he's talking about. The cross was already planned.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, His death was determined before there was
ever a Jew, before there was ever a Roman, before there was
ever a sinner. In God's eternal purpose and
counsel, the scripture said, and God said this hundreds and
hundreds of years before Christ, awake, O sword, and smite my
fellow. Smite him, and then the sheep,
they're gonna be scattered because I'm gonna turn my hand upon him. I'll show you something else,
what our Lord Himself said in Luke 20, 22. I know I'm, yeah,
Luke 22, 22. I'm having you look at these
things, but I think it's good for us to look at them. And all
I tell you, the Lord Jesus Christ, he was delivered by the determined
counsel of God, but the whole human race was guilty of crucifying
the Son of God. You know, that's why Judas even
took that money and throwed it back at him and said, I've betrayed
innocent blood. I've betrayed innocent blood. that other thief
was on the side of the cross with him he said this man's here
and he's done nothing amiss we're here because we're guilty this
man ain't done nothing to be here as far as the north natural eye
could see there's not but he was there because god willed
him to be there and determined for him to be there and look
what he said here in luke 22 22 and our lord jesus christ
he says And truly the Son of Man goeth as it was, what, determined. Hey, I'm going to go the way
it's determined, but woe unto that man by whom he's betrayed.
I'm going to do what God's sent me to do and God determined me
to do and you're going to do what God determines you to do
and you're not going to know you're doing God's will. He said,
I'll make the wrath of man to praise you. And I tell you, the
righteous judgment of God fell on His Son when He determined
Him to be the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
And why did our Lord Jesus Christ have to die? Why, when we're
preaching Christ, why did our Lord Jesus Christ have to die?
God determined His death. Wicked men did it. And we tell
men why it was necessary for His death. Why is it necessary? And the older I get, and the
more I preach, and the more I search the Word of God and deal with
it, the more I see how necessary it was for the Lord Jesus Christ
to die. If I'm going to be saved, you
see, He was God's Lamb. Do you remember in Acts 22, when
Abraham was going up on the mountain with Isaac, and Isaac said, Father,
we've got everything we need for a sacrifice, but where is
the Lamb? and he says my son God will provide himself a lamb
and that also means this it says the Lord will see to it that
there's a lamb provided the Lord will see to it that we have what
we need and that's what God did he saw to it that we would have
a sacrifice a sin offering a sacrifice a substitute that could actually
put away our sin once and for all by that sacrifice of himself
And God saw to it that we had a Savior before we ever existed. Bless His holy name. He was innocent
in and of Himself. He had no sin. So why did He
die? He was dying for somebody else. All through the Old Testament
from Abel's first lamb, that first lamb that Abel slew, In
Genesis 4, that first lamb that Abel slew, until our Lord Jesus
Christ came and was God's final lamb, there was millions of lambs
slain and not one of them put away sin until Christ came. But
it always, that lamp always represented dying, the innocent dying for
the guilty, the one who had no sin dying for the one who had
the sin. And God said, when I see the
blood, that's when I'll pass over you. And that's why God
passes over us now and passed over us all of our lives till
he brought us to hear the gospel because he was looking at the
blood and he wasn't looking at us. And you know why that now
he don't destroy us? Because he don't look at us,
he looks at the blood. Blood-worst, blood-bought child
of God. Oh, listen. He made an atonement
for sin. He made a satisfaction for sin. And oh, beloved, God's righteous
wrath, it demanded death for sin and he He sent His blessed
Son to propitiate His wrath. And propitiate means that He
took all of His wrath away from Him. I tell you what Christ didn't
do. He did not appease God's wrath. He actually took God's wrath
away. It's one thing you know a soft
answer turns away wrath. That's what the scripture, soft
answer turns away wrath. But I, Lord Jesus Christ, when
God's angry and His wrath is burning in His soul, I, Lord
Jesus Christ, He took God's wrath and just took it all in Himself. And there's absolutely not one
drop, not one speck of God's wrath ever going to fall on one
for whom Christ died. Not one. You know that's why you can lay
down and go to sleep at night. That's why if it's time for you
to leave this world, you don't have to bite your fingernails
off to wonder whether you're going to be accepted of God.
We started out accepted of God. We just didn't know it until
somebody told us. You know the religions, their
end goal is where we start. They want to end up being accepted
of God, we start out being accepted of God. They want to end up being
holy, we start out being holy. They end up wanting to be weighed
in the balances, Christ was already did it for us. That lamb and that bull and that
heifer was without spot or blemish And oh, listen, when Christ consumed
God's wrath, the sinner was free from guilt and punishment. Let's
look in Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53, this is the gospel. Oh, I never read this and I don't
get profoundly moved and affected
by this chapter right here. Oh, listen. Look what he talks
about, talking about Christ. We tell why it was necessary
for him to die. He's God's lamb, God's offering,
God's sacrifice, God's substitute. Says in verse 4, Surely he hath
borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. We didn't know that
and then we turned around and that's what we just said. We
just deem him as stricken and smitten of God and afflicted.
He's doing it for us, our griefs and sorrows was on Him, but it
was determined of God beforehand that He should be stricken and
afflicted. But when He was stricken and afflicted of God, when God
smote Him, He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for
our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him. And with every stripe that our
Lord Jesus Christ bore on His body, by those stripes that he
bore in his body on that tree before they beat him to a bloody
pulp with his stripes, were healed. Healed of our sin, be of sin
the double cure, saved from its penalty, saved from its power.
People say that means the healing of the body. If there was healings
in the death of Christ, and there was healings in the stripes of
Christ, None of us would ever actually get sick in our bodies.
This is spiritual healing he's talking about here. Spiritual
healing. And oh, look what it says here
now. And all we, like sheep, we went astray. Every one of
us turned to his own way. And while we were going our way,
the Lord, Jehovah, picked up his hand with all the sin of
all of His elect in it, and laid them all on Him. Huh? He was oppressed and He was afflicted.
Listen to what it says now. When He went to that cross, when
He died, yet He opened not His mouth. He is brought as a lamb
to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is done,
so He openeth not His mouth. He never defended himself. But
in not defending himself, He defended us. He's our defense. Every man, and I'm going to tell
you something, and I know this to be true. I know it to be true.
I don't care what anybody says. Every man knows he can't approach
God or any of His presence without an atonement. I don't care whether
you're in India or whether you're in Cherokee, North Carolina or
whether you're in Timbuktu. Whether you're down in the Papaya
New Guinea, down there where Lance Heller is. These people
say they don't believe in God, but let them when they start
dying. But I'm telling you, man by nature knows that he's got
to have, there's a God and he's got to approach Him. And he's
got to have something with Him. I've been seeing these people,
I know they've been over in India. And you would not believe the
temples they have over there. One after another, huge, beautiful
edifices, and all of them shall be different gods. All of them worship different
gods, and every one of them brings sacrifices in there for those
gods. They think that they can get
in the Ganges River and wash their sins away in the Ganges
River. And I wouldn't get in it for a lot of money. I'd have
some awful disease. But they think it washes your
sins away. They got to do something. Everybody's doing something.
But I'm telling you, beloved, I'm not going to face God without
an atonement. I found out he's holy and he's
infinitely righteous. And he must be satisfied. And
I don't have the ability to satisfy him in any way. But he provided
a satisfaction for himself. He saw the travail of his soul
and was satisfied. And you see, we're sinful and
he's holy. And it's by the death of Christ,
God's approached and enjoyed through our Lord Jesus Christ
in his blessed name. You that were far off are made
nigh by the blood of Christ. And it's by his death we're reconciled. Though he was rich, he became
poor that we through his poverty might be made rich. Let me tell
you something else about his death. by his crucifixion, Christ
crucified. It's by his death that we have
victory over sin. That's the only way in the world.
This is preaching Christ. This is preaching his death.
We, you know, I was watching this big old heavyset guy that's
on TV. What's his name? Oh, he's popular. My goodness. Had him on two or
three TVs the other day. Anyway, he's a great old big
guy, big old popular guy, been on tall TVs all over the world.
He was preaching on living a victorious life and telling people how to
live a victorious life and how to victorious over this and victorious
over that and victorious over that. The only thing I'm interested
in is my sin gone because that's the only thing in the world that
can damn me. Huh? That's the only thing. And if Christ bore my sin in
his own body on the tree, the just for the unjust, the innocent
for the guilty, well then I don't have any. This is the most wonderful news
I've ever heard in my life. that sins are gone. And they're so far gone that
God himself said, I will not remember their sins and iniquities
against them ever. Oh, Christ died for our sins. And not only did he die for our
sin, but he took our sinful selves us and all of our sin. He took
that to the cross with Him. I can prove that from the scriptures.
Look in Romans 6. Listen, He took us to the cross
with Him. When He died, we died with Him. That's why Paul said, I'm crucified
with Christ. I died with Christ. Look what
he said here in verse 6, Romans 6. Knowing this that our old
man is crucified with him oh My and that the body of sin
all the sin that we've committed from past present and future
God said it's just like a body of Body of sins destroyed, that
henceforth we should not serve sin. Now listen to this. For
he that is dead is freed from sin. Where do we die? Crucified with Christ. Oh, listen. You know, that's
why Paul said, I am crucified with Christ. I am. He didn't say I was, he said
I am. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, I'm not the one that's living. Yet not I. My old man died with
Christ. Yet not I. But Christ, He's the
one who lives in me. Christ lives in me, and the life
I live right now in this world, I live by the faith, not by faith
in Christ, but the faith of Christ, what Christ accomplished for
me, what He did. Oh boy, I tell you what, that, oh
my goodness, that just, I can't tell you what that does for me.
And I told a fellow yesterday, I said, you know, I've been preaching
to folks for so many years and what amazes me, they just keep
coming out and keep coming out and keep coming out. And oh my,
his death, his crucifixion, no wonder Paul said I'm determined
to know nothing but Christ crucified among you. Cause that's the only
thing that'll answer your sins. That's the only thing that'll
make you acceptable to God. That's the only thing that'll
make you be dead to sin. That's the only thing in the
world whereby that God can be just and justify you. That God
can take you and save you and be just and holy and righteous
at the same time. Oh man. Well, now look in Hebrews
9. Let me show you a couple things
here, and I'll be done here in a little bit. Hebrews 9. We preach Christ crucified, but
we also preach Him exalted, sitting at the right hand of God. We
also preach Him Christ crucified and exalted and ascended in His
resurrection. That's why the Jews, when he
preached to them on Mars Hill, said, this man seems to be a
set-aforth of strange gods. Well, of course he's strange.
He's strange to their way of thinking. He's strange to their
way of living. He's strange to their conception
of self, their strange conception of sin. He's strange. Yes, he's
strange. He's strange to about everybody
until God makes you understand it. He's strange to me until
God taught it to me. It really was. I said, oh my
goodness, it was tough to swallow. God taught it to you. And look
what we say here. We preach Christ as our great
high priest. Look what it said in Hebrews
9, 12. Neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood, he entered once into the holy
place obtaining having obtained eternal redemption oh listen
our great high priest where'd he go the scripture said he went
to appear in heaven itself for us huh he went there to be our
representative we see jesus who is a little lower than the angel
he went there's our forerunner It says in Hebrews 6.20, it says,
even where our forerunners entered for us, even Jesus, a high priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek. He's our peacemaker. He made
peace through the blood of His cross. He's our intercessor. He ever lives to make intercession
for us. He's our accepted. We're made
accepted in the beloved. He's our sanctification, Hebrews
10.10. By the witch will, we are sanctified. What will? The will of Christ, the will
of God in Christ. By the witch will, we're sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for
all. He's our sanctification. Not only that, but he makes us
perfect forever. Look in verse 14, Hebrews 10. For by one offering, he hath
perfected forever them that are sanctified. Boy, if you ever
get to the end of forever. Oh, what a gospel. And as our
great high priest, as our great high priest, he opened the way
for us to follow him into the holiest of holies, into the presence
of God himself. Look in verse 19. As our great
high priest, he opened the way for us to follow him into the
holiest of holies. Having therefore, brethren, boldness,
liberty to enter into the holiest the holy place that place where
that mercy seat was where the high priest went once by himself
once a year now we can go by the holiest by the blood of Jesus
by a new and living way which he hath consecrated newly made
through the veil and that veil was his flesh We get to enter
into his presence. And having a high priest over
the house of God, let's draw near. Let's draw near with a
true heart and full assurance of faith. Having our hearts sprinkled
from an evil conscience. Oh, we get to go into the presence
of God himself. And we got somebody sitting right
there, beloved, that makes us accessible. We don't have to wait outside
the veil. and wait and see if anything's gonna happen. It's
already happened. And we get to go behind the veil
ourself now because the veil's been taken down. And the Christ
in His flesh, which was the veil, took it down, took it down. And
oh, let me give you just one more thing and I'll quit. Oh
my. In Hebrews 9.15, let me show
you this. Our Lord's death bestows on all
his elect an eternal inheritance. Look what he said, an eternal
inheritance. You know, there's three eternal things here. We
have eternal redemption in verse 12. And then in verse 14, we
have the eternal spirit, how he through the blood of Christ,
through the eternal spirit, offered himself without spot to God to
purge your conscience from dead work to serve the living God.
And then it says here in verse 15 and for this cause because
he entered into that holy place because he went without through
the eternal spirit to offer his blood and For this cause he is
the mediator of this New Testament by the means of death For paying
for the transgressions that were under the first testament all
the Old Testament Saints They which are called might receive.
Here's the third eternal thing eternal inheritance now we're
a testament or a will is and there must have also of necessity
be the death of the test taker. Your will was that thing worth
the papers printed on until you die. Ain't that right? It just stays
in a drawer and then when you die, somebody says, where's the
will? Where's the will? Where's the
will? We've got to find out what's in the will. What are we going
to get out of the will? Well, our Lord Jesus Christ died. The next verse tells us this,
for a testament is a force after men are dead, and that's why
because of him and his death, you know what we get? Back up
in verse 15, we receive the promise of an eternal inheritance. That's
what this will gave us. That's what he left us. That's
what he left us, an eternal inheritance. Brother Maurice got to enter
his the other day. A lot of folks get to enter there,
get to go, they get their eternal inheritance. Get clothed upon
with that building, not made with hands, that building of
God, eternal in the heavens. Oh, what a gospel, what a gospel. Lord Jesus, thank you for allowing
us to meet here tonight. Thank you for your gospel, thank
you for your word. Thank you for Christ and him
crucified. Lord, we cannot begin, we fall
so short of honoring Him and glorifying Him of how worthy
He is. But Lord, because we can't, that
don't mean we're not going to quit trying. We're going to keep
on trying. All of us are going to keep trying
to honor Him and glorify Him. We bless You in His name. Bless
these dear saints as they go their way. Go home. Give them
a good night's rest. And Lord, bless their homes.
Bless their hearts. Bless their families. Be mindful
of those we prayed for earlier this service. For Christ's sake,
amen. Amen. Well, I've held you long
enough. You're liberty to go.