Good morning. If you will, turn
with me in your Bibles to Luke, chapter 1. Luke, chapter 1. It's my great honor and privilege
to be here. It always is just to be with you. Y'all are special
in my heart. It's especially a unique time,
knowing our beloved friend and pastor is no longer with us.
But let me just say, I'm so thankful for that man. We know that's
how God is pleased to save his people, through the preaching
of his word. And I'm so thankful that God
has raised up men to proclaim his gospel, that he's caused
the light of the glorious gospel of Christ to shine in our hearts,
Where would we be had he not? We'd be lost and dead in our
sin. And with that, I just want to say thank you. And I pray
that the Lord will keep you. And if we belong to him, we know
he will. I pray that God will keep his
hand on this church, on this ministry. And again, it's my
honor to be here. May God be pleased to meet with
us this day. If you will look with me at Luke chapter 1, verse
26. And in the sixth month, the angel
Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth
to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph of the
house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel
came in unto her and said, Hail thou that art highly favored,
the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. The words highly favored right
there mean graciously accepted. They also mean pursued with grace. Now, I just want to make mention
of the fact that people tend to idolize Mary. Well, according
to God's word, here's what Mary was. Mary was graciously accepted
before God. Mary would have told you that
she was a sinner saved by grace. She would have said, God in his
grace pursued me. I did not pursue him. We read
that Noah likewise found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God
had just said that every man upon this earth had one heart,
and that's evil and wicked continually. But Noah found grace. And the
same thing happened to our sister Mary here. She was a chosen vessel
unto the Lord. She was an instrument of his
grace. That's all she was. There was
nothing special about Mary. Verse 28 again. And the angel
came in unto her and said, Hail, or rejoice, thou that art highly
favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed
art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was
troubled at his saying and cast in her mind what manner of salutation
this should be. And when God comes to us, that's
the reaction. We're shocked. We fear and we tremble. Why would
God reach down for me? Verse 30, and the angel said
unto her, fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God.
And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a
son and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great. and shall
be called the son of the highest, and the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over
the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be
no end. He shall be great. That's the title of my message.
Now I want us to consider four things about our Lord Jesus Christ.
His person, his name, His work and His glory. He shall be great. May God be pleased to show us
His greatness. Now, in Luke chapter 1, we read
of two men of whom it was said, He shall be great. The first
one was John the Baptist. Look up at verse 13 with me in
Luke 1, verse 13. But the angel said unto him,
Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard, and thy wife
Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name
John, and thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall
rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the
sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong
drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from
his mother's womb. And many of the children of Israel
shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him
in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers
to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to
make ready a people prepared for the Lord. John the Baptist
was indeed a great man. It says he was filled with the
Spirit from his mother's womb. We read, I believe, in verse
41 where it says, when Elizabeth, his mother, heard the salutation
of Mary, that she was gonna give birth to the Son of God, it says
John leaped in her womb. I don't know if I've read something
that amazes me more than that. That baby leapt in the womb at
the hearing that Christ, the Messiah, was coming. Is that
not amazing? I take that to mean that child
was saved from the womb. He was a believer from the womb.
and how my heart rejoices. John, God sent him, and God used
him to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. And our Lord had this
to say about John. Matthew 11, verse 11, he said,
among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater
than John the Baptist. Truly, John was great in the
sight of the Lord. But that verse goes on to say,
notwithstanding, He that is least in the kingdom of God, in the
kingdom of heaven, is greater than he. What are we to learn
from that? John was a great man, yes, but
just like Mary, John was a sinner. See, and Adam all died. Christ
is the only sinless man. That's why he was born of a virgin.
He didn't need man's help to come into this world, and he
does not need our help in anything. John was a great man, but his
greatness did not compare to Christ. He wanted people to know
Christ. He was sent to prepare the way
of Christ. He was prophesied of in the Old Testament, prepare
you the way of the Lord. See, John was great in the sight
of the Lord, but he was not great in his own sight. And that's
important. We need to, I pray it's the same
for us, that we might be great. And if we're great in God's sight,
it's only because he chose us in Christ and graciously accepted
us in the beloved. But here's what John said. He
said in John 3 verse 30, He, Christ, must increase, but I
must decrease. See, John wasn't pursuing his
own greatness. John was sent with a message to declare the
greatness of the one and only, the one and only man who is great.
The Lord Jesus Christ. Some men came to John once, some
religious men, and they kept asking him, what's your name?
Who are you? Are you that Christ? He said, no, I'm not the Christ.
They said, well, who are you? Tell us your name. He said, I'm
just the voice. I'm just the voice of one crying
in the wilderness. He that cometh after me, he is
preferred before me, for he was before me. The message John was
sent to declare was believe on the Son. John 3, 36, he that
hath the Son hath life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. John preached
Christ. He declared the greatness of
Jesus Christ. Look back in our text at verse
31. Behold, thou shalt conceive in
thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest,
and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father
David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and
of his kingdom there shall be no end. I'm gonna try to say this reverently.
The baby that Mary gave birth to is God Almighty. The Lord Jesus Christ, and that's
how we ought to refer to him, is Lord. He's God Almighty. And this is another amazing thing
to consider, but God became a man. God became a man. John 1 14 says,
the word, that's Christ, was made flesh and dwelt among us,
and we beheld his glory. as of the only begotten of the
Father, full of grace and truth." What a mystery. What a wonder. We read that He is the Son of
the Highest. Now I'll just point out, often
we call Him God's Son, but a more appropriate way to speak of Him
would be God the Son. We know that God is three in
one, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. Christ
is no less God than the Father or the Spirit. when he was in
the womb of Mary, he was no less God right then than he was when
he spoke this world into existence, and no less God than he is right
now seated on his throne in glory. That baby was God Almighty. And
in Luke chapter two, we read a man named Simeon, he came and
it was revealed to him that he should not see death till he'd
seen the consolation of Israel, the Lord's Christ, and he picked
that baby up and he held him in his arms and he said, mine
eyes have seen thy salvation. His eyes saw the Lord God Almighty,
the King of heaven and earth. That's who he is. And we don't
make him king. I hear that said a lot. Make
him king. Make him Lord. God made him Lord. He beat us
to it. And he did it more perfectly than we could dare try. He was
born king. And he's king over you, and he's
king over me. And oh, I'm so thankful to be his servant. He's
my king. And we just read that he has
an eternal kingdom. There shall be no end to his
kingdom. And his kingdom is great. And we just read that he shall
reign over the kingdom, over the house of Jacob, the house
of Israel, forever and ever and ever. Now by nature, we don't
like that. We say, I will not have this
man to reign over me. We want to be our own king. We
want to have our own way. he shall reign. He reigns over
us right now. A verse in Revelation says, the
Lord God omnipotent, that's Christ, reigneth. He reigneth, he's always
reigned, he reigns right now, and he will reign over everything
and everyone forever. Now, speaking about Jesus Christ
being God Almighty, I must say this. He's not who we naturally
think he is. People often speak of Jesus as
though he were a weak man, as though he needed help, as though
he were a beggar. Won't you give Jesus your heart?
Won't you give him your life? Won't you decide to follow him?
We've all heard it. I'm here to declare our Lord
Jesus Christ is no beggar. He's no beggar. He needs nothing
because He is everything. He created everything, all things.
Thou hast given Him power over all flesh. He spoke everything
into existence. Our souls belong to Him, whether
we know it or not, whether we know Him or not. He's on His
throne. He's not, if God needed something
from us, you know what that would mean? That would mean we're here
and God's here. And that's just not the case.
We're here. God's here, and I'm so glad it's
that way. He doesn't want anything. He
doesn't want you to be saved. If God purposed to save you,
you shall be saved. There's no ifs, buts, or ands
about it. God's people will be saved. He's not hoping, hoping
that we'll let Him in, hoping that we will anything. God's
accomplishing His purpose. God's working salvation in the
midst of the earth. Let God, what a foolish thing
to say. Oh, may God keep us from saying that or thinking that.
He's God. He's the pot or we're the clay.
I thought about this when our Lord
took his disciples in a boat and they were sailing to the
other side. Our Lord went to the back of
the boat and it says he was sleeping on a pillow. And a great storm
came, and I'll tell you, God sent storm. He has his way in
the whirlwind and in the storm. God sends the storm. And his
disciples were afraid. It says the boat became full
of water. They were starting to sink, like Peter. When he
stopped looking at Christ, they began to sink. And they rushed,
and they were afraid, and they went, and they woke up their
Lord, and they said, Master, don't you care that we perish? He said, fear not. Why are you
so fearful? Oh, you have little faith. That's
us, isn't it? And here's what our Lord said, okay? Here's the
point. He said, peace, be still. Try that sometime, see how it
works for you. When he said it, it said immediately the wind
ceased and there was a great calm. And what that tells us
is our Lord has all power. We don't let him. After he did
that, his disciples were exceedingly amazed. And they said, what manner
of man is this that even the wind and the sea obey him? And I say the same thing. What
manner of man is this? It's the God man, that's who.
God Almighty, the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything is under his
power and control. Look with me at Hebrews chapter
one. Hebrews chapter 1, verse 1. God, who at sundry times and
in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made
the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory, and the express
image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his
power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on
the right hand of the majesty on high, being made so much better
than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent
name than they. I hope you realize we just read
Christ is the very image of God. The only way we're gonna see
God is by faith in Christ. Until that day when we awaken
his likeness and see him as he is. We just read he's the brightness
of God's glory. He's the expressed image of his
person. And we just read that he's much better than the angels. It says He's obtained a more
excellent name than the angels. His person is great, and I hope
we can see that. Who can His greatness declare? I'm trying,
but it's infinitely greater than I dare try. His person is great,
and His name is great. His name is great. What is His
name? Call His name Jesus. Jesus means Savior, Deliverer,
Joshua. Christ means the anointed one,
the Messiah. Our Lord has many names. I want to show us just a few
more. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter nine. Isaiah chapter nine, verse six. For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his
shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government
and peace there shall be no end. upon the throne of David and
upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment
and with justice from henceforth, even forever, the zeal of the
Lord of hosts will perform this. Don't you love what his name
shall be called? What a glorious verse. His name shall be called
wonderful. We use that word so often, don't
we? I tell you, it has no greater meaning ever than it does right
here. His name shall be called wonderful.
Let me show you a verse, keep a finger here and look over it,
Isaiah chapter 25. Isaiah 25 verse one. I pray we don't think of him
as any less than wonderful in all his attributes, in every
way, wonderful. Isaiah 25 verse one says, O Lord,
thou art my God, Think of Thomas when he said, I won't believe
till I touch his wounds myself. And when he did, he said, my
Lord and my God. My Lord and my God. Verse 1,
O Lord, thou art my God. I will exalt thee. I will praise thy name, for thou
hast done wonderful things. Thy counsels of old are faithfulness
and truth. When we stand here to preach
God's word, we don't declare something that we must do. We
declare a simple message. It's the wonderful things that
our Lord has accomplished for us. And what a glorious message
to declare. You can look back at Isaiah. Isaiah 9 says, our Lord is full
of wonder. His name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor. We just read it in Psalm 135,
that in the beginning when He created everything, did He take
counsel with anybody when He did that? No. God does not take
counsel from us. We take counsel from Him. He's
our wisdom. He said, learn of me. And a counselor,
you go to a counselor if you need help. Where do we go when
we need help? Peter said, to whom shall we
go? We go to our Lord, don't we? He's our very present help
in time of trouble, is He not? His name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God. That's my favorite. He's our
Mighty God. That speaks for itself, don't
it? Mighty God, all powers given unto him. His name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father.
Well, I thought the Triune God was
three separate persons. He is. But our Lord said, Philip
said, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. He said,
have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known
me, Philip? He said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father.
He said, I and my Father are one. We've seen him, we've seen
the Father. And lastly, his name shall be
called the Prince of Peace. Our Lord told his disciples before
he went to the cross, he said, peace I leave with you. My peace
I give unto you, not as the world giveth. This world doesn't provide
any peace. You know, we can find contentment
in it, and we're supposed to be content with the things we
have, knowing that our Lord has given it to us. But this world
gives no peace. All peace comes from Christ.
And he said, I've given you my peace. Don't let your heart be
troubled. Don't be afraid. But not only
did he give us peace, he made peace. People will say, make
your peace with God. Yes, we must be right with God,
but I can't do it. I'm a sinner. God must create
peace between us if there's going to be any peace. Anything I do's
sure to fail, but he shall not fail. It says he made peace by
the blood of his cross. And what he has done, I cannot
undo. We read in Ephesians 2.14 that there was a middle wall
of partition, there was division between us and God. But what's
it say? It says, he is our peace, and
he hath broken down that wall of division. Praise the Lord,
he is our peace, the prince of peace. Peter called him the prince
of life, didn't he? Why, because he's our life. He's
our life. It's his name, great to you,
We've just seen a few of his glorious names, and he's got
many more. Jehovah Sikinyu, the Lord our righteousness. Jehovah
Nissi, the Lord our banner. He's got many names, and they're
all wonderful. But is his name wonderful to us? Turn with me
to Malachi chapter one, and we'll see. Malachi chapter one. Last book of the Old Testament.
Malachi one, verse 11. For from the rising of the sun,
even unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great
among the Gentiles. And in every place incense shall
be offered unto my name, and a pure offering, for my name
shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of Hosts. I hope
that catches your attention like it does mine. Who finds his name
to be great? Gentiles, dogs, the heathen,
the ungodly. Can we identify ourselves as
those kind of people? All of us by nature would say
no, of course not. I'm definitely better than that. If we're any better than that,
then his name's not ever going to be great to us. See, like
I said about John, we're either great in God's sight or great
in our own sight. Not both. God says there's none good, no,
not one. Read Psalm 14, Psalm 53, about when God looked down
from heaven and see what he saw. Read what he saw in Genesis 6,
verse 5, before he destroyed all flesh upon the earth. Romans 5 verse 6 says Christ
died for the ungodly. And after we're saved, after
God saved Paul, what did he say about himself? A wretched man
that I am right now. In fact, Paul, he said, I was
a Pharisee. I was more self-righteous than
anybody. And here's how he progressed. He went from that and thinking
he was high and lofty, mightier than everybody, to being less
than the least of all saints, to being nothing, to being the
chief of sinners, wretched man. That's what God's grace does
in a sinner. Makes us learn what we are. Now the fact of the matter
is we won't believe ourselves to be like this. We won't believe
ourselves to be ungodly, God-hating, vile, wicked, until here's when
we'll believe ourselves to be like that. when we see the greatness
of Jesus Christ. I'll show you that. Turn with
me to Isaiah chapter six. That was Isaiah's experience,
and that's every child of God's experience. Isaiah six, verse
one. In the year that King Uzziah
died, I saw also the Lord. sitting upon a throne, high and
lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the
seraphims. Each one had six wings. With
twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet,
and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another and
said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth
is full of his glory. And the post of the door moved
at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with
smoke. Then said I, verse five, woe is me, for I am undone, because
I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the king, the Lord
of hosts. Isaiah saw the Lord Jesus Christ,
and he fell down on his feet and did reverence and cried,
woe is me. And if we ever see the king,
we'll do the exact same thing. The reason this world is so full
of self-righteousness, and that's us until God saves us, is because
we've not seen the king. We hear about a Jesus that wants
to save, tries to save, loves everybody, but there's people
in hell anyway. We need to see the king. Oh, I pray God would
show us the king. May we see the king. Until he
does, we're not gonna rejoice in his name. How sweet the name
of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear. That'll soothe your sorrows,
won't it? There's no other name under heaven
given among men whereby a sinner like me must be saved. There's no name like his name. You know, the Pharisees, they
were the religious leaders of their day. Our Lord called them
blind leaders of the blind. Hypocrites, that's what he called
them, vipers. He warned his disciples against
them. He said, don't be called rabbi,
rabbi. He said, they love to be called
master. They love titles. And how many
so-called preachers want a title? Oh, call me reverend. There's
one reverend. Okay, make sure you understand
that. There's one reverend, and that's Jesus Christ, the King. Oh, I pray that you, like I,
can rejoice in His name. Precious name, oh, how sweet,
hope of earth and joy of heaven. If we don't rejoice in His name
now, then we would have no interest in going to heaven, because heaven
is seated around His throne. We're seated at His feet, worshiping
Him, singing, worthy is the Lamb that was slain. Not, worthy is
me, I made it. Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is,
His name is great, His person is great, and His name is great,
and third, His work is great. Turn with me to Matthew 1. Familiar
verse, Matthew 1, verse 21. His work is great. What is his work? Matthew 1,
21. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his
name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. He shall. Oh, what a glorious
word. I'm so glad it doesn't say he
might. If that were the case, there'd
be no hope for me. I'm so glad it does not say he will try.
He'll make his best effort. So glad it doesn't say he'll
make it possible for his people to be saved. He'll make it possible. It says he shall save his people
from their sins. And what that is, is that's a
blessed declaration of absolute certainty. You know, things with
us are uncertain. We change like the wind. We change
like the weather. God doesn't change. He changes
not. He said, that's why you're not consumed. Because we're hoping
in an immutable God. When He purposes to save, He
shall save. He's not going to change His
mind. He said, what I've done, it's forever. It's done. No man
can put to it or take away from it. It's done. It's done. And
when God purposed to save, it was done. Now, let me ask you
a question. Perhaps you don't like, for whatever
reason, perhaps you're not happy at this news. Here's the question. Do you need to be saved from
your sin? That's the question. Do you need a Savior? who is
able to save to the uttermost those that come to God by him.
Do you need him? Do you need him? I don't like that you called
me ungodly. Forget that. Do you need him? That's the question. Christ died for those who need
him. 1 Timothy 1.15 says, this is
a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save not everybody, Sinners. And that's when Paul said, of
whom I'm chief, I take my place right there. Why would God save
me? Praise the Lord, Christ died
for sinners. And praise the Lord, every soul
for whom he shed his precious blood shall be saved. I remember
our pastor would say all the time, the cross of Christ will
never be discovered to be a miscarriage. And that's true. He shall not
fail. Turn with me to Zephaniah chapter
3. Zephaniah chapter 3 verse 14. Sing, O daughter of Zion. Shout,
O Israel. Be glad and rejoice with all
the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord hath taken away thy
judgments. He hath cast out thine enemy,
the King of Israel. Even the Lord is in the midst
of thee. Thou shalt not see evil anymore. In that day it shall
be said to Jerusalem, fear thou not, and to Zion, let not thine
hands be slack. Verse 17, the Lord thy God in
the midst of thee is mighty. He will save. He will rejoice
over thee with joy. He will rest in his love. He
will joy over thee with singing. I love, I can't tell you how
much I love that. He shall save, he will save. And I'm here to declare, praise
his holy name. He has saved. He rightly has the name Savior.
He's lived up to it in every way. The cross was no failure. For just a moment, I'd like us
to consider what really happened at the cross. What really took
place at the cross? If you read it, it says that
Jesus was delivered unto the will of the people. He stood
before Pilate. So he delivered them. They said,
give us Barabbas. We want that murderer. You can
have this man. We don't want him. And I'll just
say, that is all of us. We were all right there saying,
away with this man. We don't want him. He's despised
and rejected of all men. But what happened at the cross
was not man having his way. It was God accomplishing his
purpose. Literally everything that happened
there was according to the scriptures. It was so much as a bone of him
shall not be broken. They broke one thief's legs,
they broke the other thief's legs, and then they said, no,
he's dead already, we don't have to break his legs. But it said
not a bone of him shall be broken in the Psalms. God's purpose
was fulfilled. Our Lord from an early age, you
remember when he stayed behind in the temple and his parents
left I think they went about two miles and they realized he
wasn't with them. And they went back and found him in the temple.
And they scolded him and he said, don't you know I must be about
my father's business? This is why I came into the world,
to save my people from their sins. When our Lord stood before
Pilate, he told him, he told Pilate,
he said, for this cause came I into the world, to bear witness
to the truth. The truth is what happened to
Calvary. We see the truth concerning ourselves, sinners, hating God,
lost and undone without God's precious Son. And then we see
that He reached down His hand for us, died for us. We see substitution,
don't we? Christ didn't die for His own
sin. He knew no sin. No guile was in His mouth. He
was perfect. He's the spotless Lamb of God.
He's the righteousness of God. But He's the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. He's God's sacrifice for sin.
There's one sacrifice for sin. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. I mentioned Barabbas. He went
for it. That's what I'm talking about. That's the message I'm
declaring. Christ went to the cross, and as a result, I go
free. That's mercy, isn't it? At the
cross, it says, mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness
and peace have kissed each other. How in Christ, in the substitution
God provided in him. Isaac, remember, on the Mount
Moriah, what did his father tell him? He said, God will provide
himself a land, and that's what happened. at Calvary. God provided
Himself with land. All our sins and iniquities were
laid on Him. He bore in His body our sins
on the tree." And that really had, I dare not
try to say what that really means, but we read that He was made
to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him. And what that means is Christ
wasn't just charged with our sin. He was made sin, made to
be guilty. God said, I will not at all acquit
the wicked. I will by no means clear the
guilty. Then how did Christ die? God's a just God. God only does
that which is right. The only way Christ could die,
the wages of sin is death. He never sinned. He was made
sin, made guilty of the very sins of his people. In the Garden of Gethsemane,
when He sweat those great drops of blood, He was being made sin
for His people. He felt the weight and the guilt
of our sin being pressed into Him. And God, in strict holy
justice, poured out His wrath, the second death on Him, and
He consumed them. Like the burning bush that was
not consumed, Christ bore it all successfully. What happened at the cross? Substitution
and satisfaction. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. On the Mount of Transfiguration,
Peter wanted to make a tabernacle for Moses, Elijah, and the Lord,
and God said, no. He said, this is my beloved son
in whom I'm well pleased. If we're gonna be accepted, it
must be in him. God's well pleased with those
in him. And we know God is satisfied because Christ did not stay in
the grave. just like it was prophesied in
of Jonah, where Jonah was three days and three nights in the
whale's belly. Our Lord even said that to some Pharisees when
they said, show us a sign. He was talking about himself.
When he said, destroy the temple, in three days I'll raise it again,
he wasn't talking about the physical temple. He was talking about
himself, his body that was broken for his people. And God raised
him from the dead because he was satisfied. It was finished. It's finished. And where is he
now? On his throne. And our brethren
that have gone before us are sitting there worshiping him
like I would like to, like we will. Oh, praise the Lord. What
happened at the cross, salvation was accomplished. I love this
too. You think Moses and Elijah, they
came, they walked this earth long before Christ was here physically
in his body. And it says on the Mount of Transfiguration,
it says that the disciples, Peter, James, and John, they stood there
watching the Lord talk with them. They talked with Moses and Elijah.
They were alive and well. And what does it say they talked
about? It says they spoke of his decease, which he should
accomplish at Jerusalem. Sounds like he came to save his
people, doesn't it? And to me, it sounds like he got the job
done. He saved it. Salvation is finished. I thought
of our dear sister, Judaeus, wonderful song she used to sing.
Praise the Lord for full salvation. God still reigns upon his throne.
And I know the blood still reaches deeper than the stain has gone. His person is great. His name
is great. His work is great. And lastly,
his glory is great. I'm just going to say a few words
on this and we'll close. But because of what Christ fully
accomplished by himself, his glory is great. Naturally, we
glory in ourselves, don't we? What do we have? We have mercy.
All glory belongs to him. Psalm 21, verse 5 says, his glory
is great in thy salvation. And it is, isn't it? I have nothing
to glory over my salvation. He did it all from start to finish.
My faith, he's the author and finisher of my faith, Hebrews
12. Christ, by grace, all you save through faith, that not
of yourselves, it's the gift of God. Not of works, lest any
man should boast. Now I wanna show you one more
text here, Philippians chapter two, if you'll turn with me.
Philippians chapter two. Philippians two, verse four. says, look not every man on his
own things, but every man also on the things of others. That's
what Paul was encouraging us to do, and we'd be wise to do
it, but I pray that we can see Christ in that. He didn't do
one thing for himself. He said, lo, I come to do thy
will. You sent me to save a people, the body hast thou prepared me.
I'm coming to save my people. He only did that which pleased
the Father, didn't he? He did nothing for him. He gave himself
completely for this wretch. Verse four, look not every man
on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, but made himself of no reputation. and took upon him the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Now look at verse nine.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a
name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth,
and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. We're gonna bow to him. Now,
it takes the spirit of God to make us bow to him, but we will
bow to him either now or in hell. We will say amen, Lord. Amen,
Lord. I pray that God will give us
faith to bow to him right now. If God has highly exalted him,
then what ought we to do? Highly exalt Him. We're here
to exalt, praise, honor, extol, glorify our King. May God help
us to. If God has saved us, we won't
glory in this wicked flesh anymore. We'll glory in Him. David said,
the Lord is my light and my salvation. I pray we can say the same thing.
Paul said, Christ is all. You're complete in Him. Great
is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and His greatness is
unsearchable. I pray God's allowed us to see
just a glimpse of our Lord's greatness. Call his name Jesus. He shall be great. Amen.