Hebrews chapter 7. We want to
read one verse and just pitch tent there as they say. Verse 25, Hebrews 7 verse 25. This is our text. Wherefore he
is able, that is the Lord Jesus Christ, he is able also to save
them to the uttermost They come unto God by Him. Ask anybody
who has. Any sinner who's done that, that's
come to God through, by, the only mediator, the Lord Jesus
Christ. If he's able to save to the uttermost,
and they'll tell you right away, in a New York minute, absolutely. Absolutely. And the second part
of the verse tells us why that's so. Why is He able to save to
the uttermost all that come unto God by Him? And here's the answer,
the second half of the verse. Seeing He ever liveth to make
intercession for them. That's why. That's why. The title
of my message is this, and you have it plainly in the text.
The Exalted Living Savior. The Exalted Living Savior. In Luke chapter 24, after our
Lord had risen from the dead sometime after that, He joins
Himself to two grieving disciples on the road to Emmaus. They don't
recognize Him. They're sad because they told
Him concerning the Lord Jesus Christ that they had hoped that
He would have been the one to redeem Israel. And now they're
just not so sure. Just not so sure that He was.
And you remember what our Lord said to them, among other things,
He said, "...ought not Christ to have suffered these things."
That's the cause. That's why He came into this
world. Now here's the effect of that. "...and to enter in
to His glory." One is as certain as the other. He must suffer
these things and to enter in to His glory. And then, some
time after that, shortly after that, He appears with His disciples
on the Mount of Olives, before He ascends back to that glory
that He had with the Father before the world began, and He says
to them, Thus it is written, and therefore thus it behooved
Christ. It was necessary. It behooved
Christ to suffer. And here's the effect of that
suffering. And to rise from the dead, and
then he ascended back to the glory before their eyes. I point
that out to remind us that Jesus Christ had to suffer for us because
we could not otherwise have been saved. He must suffer for us
because redemption could not have been accomplished in any
other way. But, as our text says, he must
likewise rise again from the dead, otherwise he could not
apply that redemption that he purchased, that he obtained on
Calvary. That's why our text says he ever
liveth. Don't leave him on the cross.
Dead Christ doesn't save anybody. Isn't that what our text says?
He's able to save the uttermost. Why? Because he ever liveth. That redemption that he obtained,
now he applies the blessed effects of it to those that he redeemed. It's the ever-living, reigning
Christ. That's what I'm saying. It's
the ever-living, reigning Christ that saves to the uttermost every
sinner that comes unto God by Him. Christ, as we said, left on the
cross or left in the manger. It's getting near that time of
year now. Easter is on the cross. Christmas is in the manger. That's
the only conception most people have of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's never entered into their thinking. perhaps because those
images present no threat. But it never enters into their
thinking that Jesus Christ right now, this very moment, rules
and reigns in heaven over everything. Everything. That includes you,
whether you believe it or not, or like it or not. And that includes
me. Everything and everyone is under
his feet. It's where he is now that gives
assurance that what he did was successful. Now think about that. It's what he did now that gives
assurance that what he did at Calvary was successful. Had it not been successful, he'd
have stayed in the town. God raising Jesus Christ from
the dead proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God Almighty
approved, was satisfied with the work of Christ. You've heard
me say it and put it this way. Christ, before he ascended back
to heaven, before he gave up the ghost, before he said, Father,
into thy hands I commend my spirit, he said, it is finished. Now, finished means finished.
It means complete. Whatever he intended to do, he
said, I've done it. It's a finished work. You don't
add nothing to what Christ did. No, he's finished it. He did
what God Almighty sent him into this world to do, and he said,
I've done it. It's complete. It's over. It's
finished. And God Almighty was as if he said, Amen, three
days later, when Christ emerged from the tomb. Yes, God says,
it is finished. Now, my beloved son, you sit
right here in this place reserved only for you. You sit at my right
hand, right hand of the majesty on high, until I make all your
enemies your footstool. That's the testimony of God Almighty. I used to make this statement,
and I thought about this when I was working on this message.
I would say, if Christ didn't rise from the dead, we would
never know if God had accepted His sacrifice. That's not exactly
so. Partially so, but that's not
the whole story. Because if Christ didn't rise
from the dead, we could be pretty sure that God didn't accept His
sacrifice, that it wasn't enough. This is how Paul put it in 1
Corinthians 15. If Christ be not raised, your
faith is in vain. It's vain. If Christ be not raised,
it doesn't say if Christ didn't die, your faith is vain. No,
if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain. It's Christ that
ever liveth that's able to save to the uttermost. Paul went on
to say, you're yet in your sins. In other words, the atonement
of the Lord Jesus Christ would, if he hadn't raised from the
dead, if he doesn't sat on the throne of glory ever living at
this very moment, his atonement would remain impersonal and largely
irrelevant until we make contact with that living God and Savior
that saves, that atones. And that contact is a vital kind
and it's only possible, it's only possible if Jesus Christ
arose and now lives and reigns as the mighty God that He is. Turn a page or two here in Hebrews
the chapter 9. Let's read a few verses that
tell us that very thing. Hebrews chapter 9, look at verse
24. Hebrews 9 and 24. For Christ is not entered into
the holy places made with hands, not the earthly tabernacle, which
are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself, to do
what? Now to appear in the presence
of God for us." His very presence so to speak, speaks volumes. The very fact that he's now in
glory is proof that God Almighty accepted his sacrifice and he
now appears in the presence of God for us. He represents us. Now how about that? How about,
think about that. Don't let that go by too quick.
Think about that. God Almighty accepts us for Christ's
sake. Christ appears in the presence
of God for us. You think God's pleased with
him? You think God accepts him? You think God is satisfied with
all he did? He did it for us. He represents
us. Brothers and sisters in Christ,
you couldn't be better represented. Look at verse 25. nor yet that
he should offer himself often. No, that's not necessary. He
got the job done the first time, as the high priest entered into
the holy place every year with the blood of others. For then
must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world.
But now, now, once, in the end of the world, that's now, hath
he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. One
time, one time. And as it is appointed unto men
once to die, and they see a bright light and they come back and
write a book about it, no, they're appointed unto men once to die,
and after that to judgment, even so, likewise, likewise, with
that same finality, Christ was once offered to bear the sins
of many, and unto them that look for Him, the living, reigning,
triumphant Christ, unto them that look for Him shall He appear
the second time without sin unto salvation. It would be profitable,
if you've never done it, to go through the Book of Acts
and see that the Apostles, everywhere they went to preach, they didn't
preach a doctrine of the Resurrection. No, they didn't. They didn't
preach a doctrine of the Resurrection. They preached a living Savior. There's a difference. There's
a difference. You can know a doctrine and it
never touch your life. You can know correct doctrine,
and it just lays on the shelf dry and dusty. It doesn't have
anything to do with how you live. Oh, but if you ever come in contact
with the exalted, risen, reigning Savior, it's going to make a
difference. It's going to make a big difference.
You can start in chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost, and Peter
says, let me tell you, him that you crucified, God raised him
from the dead. That's what convicted him. That's
why they cried out, what can we do? What should we do? Afterwards,
in chapter 3, when Peter and John stand before the Sanhedrin,
and they said, who gave you the authority to do this? They arrest
them after the healing of the blind man. And Peter said, let
me tell you something. That stone that you builders
rejected, you leaders rejected, that wanted nothing to do with,
that plotted the death of the Son of God, let me tell you what's
happened to Him. God Almighty raised Him from
the dead. All through the book of Acts
they preach the living Savior. I point that out because of this.
Unless Christ is now enthroned, His death is powerless to save.
without a living, present reigning Christ with whom through faith
the believer can come into contact. The old writers used to call
it a vital union. You know what that means? You
know what that means? A vital union. That means coming
into a saving relationship with the Son of God. That's not a
doctrine. That's not a doctrine. Oh, he
loved me. He loved me. He loved me and
gave himself for me. He lives for me. He intercedes
for me. He spoke peace to my heart. I dare say I don't see how anyone
could be satisfied with anything less than that. Billy, if I tell
you you're saved, That's my word. I don't know if you're saying,
it's not my place to do that. If the priest tells you, well,
do this, do that, count some beads and blah, blah, blah, and
you're saved. Anybody that's satisfied with
that's not serious about their immortal soul. Oh, but for a
sinner, a real sinner, he wants nothing less. He can't be satisfied
with anything less than a vital union with the Son of God. I
want to know Him. I want to know Him." And it's
that living Savior that bestows all the benefits of His death
on all those for whom He died. It was their experience of this
relationship with the Son of God that made the disciples more
than conquerors through him that loved us. Redemption obtained
on Calvary by the dying Savior? Yes, yes, absolutely. But redemption
is only applied from the throne by the living Savior. Is that
not what our text plainly says? A gospel that doesn't speak of
an ascended Lord is not the gospel of God. And it's not good news. We proclaim, and it gives us
joy to do it, whether the religious world today agrees with it or
not, and they don't. But we proclaim a risen Christ,
exalted and reigning. He's the one that must be preached. I read this statement the other
day by old Ralph Barney. I guess I hadn't really heard
it put in these words. He said, always the apostles
preached the living Christ and worked backward from there. Now
you think about that. They preached the living Christ.
Are you getting drowsy? Do I need to turn the heat off?
They preached the living Christ and they worked backward from
there. They preached where He is now. Where He is now. If Christ be risen and exalted,
if we believe that, if we're made to know that, then everything
else is easy. If I come in contact If I experience
that vital union with the Son of God, if He saves this sinner,
this living Savior says to me, live, then I won't have any problem
concerning anything else that this Word says He did. He's God. He's God. You see what I'm saying?
Our God is in the heavens, the psalmist said, when His enemies
wagged the finger at Him. Where's your God now, David?
Where's he at? Your son is taking your throne. You're living out here in a cave.
You're hunted. He wants to do away with you.
Why is all this happening to you if you're God so great? Where's
your God now, David? And David, by the grace of God,
said, my God's where he's always been. My God's in the heavens. And if that's so, if He's in
the heavens, that means He's reigning over everything, then
it's only natural that He's doing whatsoever He is. Please, let
me ask you this. If you've got any doubt about
that, let me ask you. Who's going to stop Him? Who's
going to stop Him, Lester? Who's going to stop God Almighty,
the God-man, that has His way in the whirlwind, and the clouds
are just a dust at His feet? Who's going to stop Him from
having His way? Now, I said I was going to pitch
tent on my text. I'm tempted that it's hard not
to pitch tent right there. This impostor that men are panhandling
today, this pitiful little Jesus that can't have his way, that
can't even save a sinner unless the sinner enables him and helps
him to do it, that's a lie. If you believe in that impostor,
you're not a Christian. You're not a believer. You've
been deceived. That's another Jesus. That's
another Jesus. He is where he is. exalted because
of who he is, who he is, the great God and Savior, the Prince
of Peace, the everlasting Father, the government upon his shoulders,
the care of everything God's committed into the hands of his
Son. If not, if not, The virgin birth
and everything else can't be accepted. Doesn't mean anything. The whole pattern of the gospel
message sinks or swims with this blessed truth. The resurrection
and the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ. This was God's
answer. You killed my son and God said
I raised him from the dead. You said, we won't have this
man rule over us. And now he's exalted, ruling
over everybody. The stone that the builders rejected. Psalm 118. Our Lord used that
very verse, that very passage of scripture to the Pharisees.
And they were just blind. They didn't have a clue. He said,
have you never read in scripture the stone which the builders
rejected? They claim to be the builders.
The same has made the headstone of the corner. That's the same
thing Peter preached before the Sanhedrin. You killed him, but
God raised him, and he's at the right hand of God right now in
everything. And everybody is under him. Christ the conqueror rules and
he shall rule until he has, as Paul says again in 1 Corinthians
15, has put everything under his feet. That's good news. That's good news for a child
of God. The suffering servant is now enthroned. He's not suffering
anymore. That was once. Now he reigns
in glory. Romans chapter 1, verse 1. Paul, the servant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, concerning
his son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of
David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of
God with power. Isn't that what he told his disciples
before he sent them out into a hostile, Christ-rejecting,
God-hating world to preach his gospel? He said, all power is
given unto me. That means nobody else has it.
He's got it all. All power is given unto me. Therefore,
with that at your back, go and preach the gospel and start right
at Jerusalem. Start where they hated me the
most. Start right there. All power is given unto me. And declared to be the Son of
God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection
of the dead. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15
again, if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain. It remains impersonal. Oh, but this gospel that the
apostles preached, this gospel that I preach, speaks of the
experience of a union with the risen, exalted, living That's
not a fairy tale. Anything else, anything less
than that, is not salvation. I hope you'll read the bulletin
today. I worked on it for a while. But
let me just share a portion, the last couple sentences, of
the article by old Rolf Barnard. Some of y'all knew him. He said,
now I'm trying to say to you that you're going to go to hell,
as sure as I am preaching to you, unless It becomes a personal
reality with you that Christ died for you, that He was raised
for you, that He intercedes for you, and that He's coming for
you, that you are His and He is yours. I pray that the Spirit
of God I pray that the Spirit of God make that real to somebody
as this message goes out. Oh my soul, Bonner said, the
reality that is in Christ Jesus, and this is what he said, do
not be satisfied with anything else. Most people are. Most people
are. You know why they are? You know
why most people are satisfied? like they'll be doing all over
Sylacauga and all over this country, all over the world today? How
many decisions for Jesus do you think will be made? How many
signing on the dotted line and claiming that saves you will
happen today? And how many people will be satisfied
with that? I'll tell you who'll be satisfied.
Anybody and everybody that's not serious about salvation. Anyone that's not serious will
be satisfied with that. They'll make their decision and
go on out, excuse the expression, they live like hell before they
make the decision, they'll go out and live like hell after
decision. It don't amount to a hill of beans, that's exactly
right. But, but, if God Almighty, if the Son of God that reigns
in glory get your attention, you won't be satisfied with that.
That won't be enough. No, the cry of your heart, he'll
make it the cry of your heart, is God be merciful to me, the
sinner. Lord, save me. Don't let me lay
down and close my eyes another night because I might wake up
in hell. God have mercy on me. Oh, that's the union with the
Son of God. It's a living Christ that saves. That's what I'm repeating. It's a living, that's what our
text says, because he ever liveth. Paul said in Romans chapter 5,
for when, if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by
the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be
saved by his life, by his life. And not only so, but we also
joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received
the atonement. You ever look at that verse and
scratch your head? By which we have now received the atonement.
Now wait a minute, wait a minute. I thought the atonement was made
when Jesus Christ died. I thought the atonement was made
on the cross when he offered himself without spot to God.
That's exactly right. That's why God says deliver the
soul of that sinner from going down to the pit because I found
the ransom, the atonement of his son. Then what does it mean
that we now have received the Atonement? It means that now
we have received the blessed benefits of the Atonement. I can view Christ as dying on
the cross. I can know that it's a particular
redemption. I can argue with the staunchest
Arminian that he didn't die for people who went to hell. No,
no, no, no. He died for his people and not have a clue that the
Son of God died for man. It's just a cold, dead, empty
doctrine. It's all up here. It's all up
here, but nothing here. That's what it means to receive
the atonement. It's to be washed from our sins. It's to come in contact with
that one who atoned for my sins. I cannot know that otherwise
until I believe and bow to the Son of God. That's what it means.
It's the reality, the sweet reality of having the experience of this. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fountain I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. This is what all that boils down
to. We've got to do business with
the Son of God. I'm not a mediator. That old
deceiver in Rome, Pope, his unholiness to Pope, he's not the mediator.
There's only one mediator between a holy God, a just God, that
I've offended, that I've sinned against, that I've broken His
laws, the only mediator between that just God and my immoral
soul is the Lord Jesus Christ. I better do business with Him.
That's what our text says. He saves all those that come
unto God by Him. There's no other way to come
to God. except by him. Let's put a little shoe leather
on it. You remember that woman in Mark
chapter 5 with the issue of love? Sure you do. It's in Luke. It's
in Matthew as well. Remember her? Remember her? She
was hemorrhaging. She was bleeding to death. She
went to every doctor in town. The only thing they relieved
her of was her bank account. They drained her. And we read
that she was nothing better. She only grew worse. Just got
worse. Oh, she heard that Jesus was
there. And man, this was the year of
popularity. Before the novelty wore off,
you know. There were multitudes just flocking
around him. Can you picture that in your
mind's eye? I mean, just multitudes. He and the disciples couldn't
hardly walk. Mark says it was a press. They
were just pressing against him. I dare say they could hardly
breathe. What a mob. But this woman, she
had already determined, I'm going to get to him. I'm going to get
to him. If I can only get close enough
to reach out my hand and touch his garment, the hem of his garment,
I believe I'll be saved. I'll be healed. I've got to get
to him. If I don't get to him, I'm going
to die. I'm already an outcast. The priest already says I'm unclean.
But whether I'm unclean or not, I've got to get to him. And the moment that she did,
we're told she was made whole. She pressed through that mob.
Maybe she got down on her hands and knees. But she said, I've
got to get to him. I've got to touch him. He's passing
by. And if I don't make contact,
if I don't make a vital touch of him, if I don't do business
with him, I'm going to perish. That's exactly right. So she
pressed through the crowd. And it was worth it. Oh, glory to his name, it was
worth it, wasn't it? And it's still true today. Sinners
must deal with Jesus Christ. If they have to press through
all the religious rubbish, I did, that stands between them and
Christ, do it. May God give us grace to do it.
Press through preachers and their altar calls and their decisions. I was somewhere years ago. Somebody,
I guess one of my brothers, sisters, somebody, gave me a bulletin
from their church. I just kind of laid it aside, didn't pay
much attention, and I got home and looked at it, and it said
this morning or last Sunday we had some first-time decisions. First-time decisions. And then
they had some second-time decisions. And third-time decisions. because
it didn't work the first time. It didn't amount to a hill of
beans the first time, so they had to do it a second time and
a third time. Oh, if you press through that
rubbish and touch the Son of God, it'll be a first time and
a forever time you'll be made a new creature in Christ Jesus,
just like this woman was. Oh, press through tradition. Oh, and touch the hem of his
garment. That woman, that woman, the only
thing she could claim as her own was her disease, her filth,
her uncleanness. And that's all you and me can
claim. We can put on our Sunday best, we can get us a Bible,
we can sing, we can quote scripture, we can try to look saved and
religious, but if we've never done business with the Son of
God, we don't know Him. It's impossible. It's impossible.
There is none that understandeth, Paul wrote. There's none that
seeketh after God, unless God first seeks them. They've all
gone astray, no exceptions. Like this woman, sin from head
to foot. Someone said, you contribute
nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary. From this woman, there only was
a flow of her polluted infirmity, her poisoned blood. She had only
one hope, and that was Jesus Christ, the living, reigning,
exalted God. John Flavel, an old Puritan,
he put it this way, when God intends to fill a soul, He first
makes it empty. When He intends to enrich a soul,
He first makes it poor. When He intends to exalt a soul,
He first makes it sensible of its own miseries and wants and
nothingness. This woman was like this. Like
the old hymn writer put it, this was the cry of her heart. I can
but perish if I go. I am resolved to cry. For if I stay away, I know I
must forever die. But if I die, If I die with mercy
sought, when I, the King, have tried, this were to die, O delightful
thought, as a sinner, never die. Because Christ says, all that
the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh unto
me I will in no wise cast out. He delights to show mercy. This
woman wouldn't be the first. She wouldn't be the first sinner
that sincerely approached the King of Glory and was denied
from Christ. Unlike her, from Christ there
flows merit. Oh, there he is. There he is. God in the flesh. There He is,
the Word, the Eternal, the Everlasting Word of God made flesh and tabernacled
for a little while among us. He was made like unto His brethren.
Oh my soul, what virtue, what power, what efficacy resides
in Him. She reached out and she touched
Him. She'd been touching every other
doctor, but she touched the great physician. And it was his worthiness, his
merit, his power that made her whole. It wasn't what flowed
through her diseased body, it's what flowed from him into her
that made her whole. You see the picture? We're accepted
in the beloved. We're accepted in the beloved. God made him to be sin for us
who do no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God
in him. Oh, great position of souls. Thank you. Thank you. God, thank you, until I can thank
you one day with an unsinning heart that the mercy and the
grace of God flow through Jesus Christ into this sinner. I have
the very life of God. How about that? The life of God
in the soul of a sinner. Christ in you, put there by the
operation of God's mighty grace. Now a decision won't do that.
You can trot up every church house in Sylacauga and it won't
produce that. The only thing that will is touching
the Son of God. Doing business with the Son of
God. Is that not what our text says? Doing business with Him. Verse
34 of Mark 5 about this woman with the issue. Our Lord looks,
sees her, and she's not diseased anymore. He told his disciples,
somebody touched me. They said, are you kidding? What
do you mean somebody touched you? We can't move in this press.
Everybody's pressing. What do you mean somebody touched
you? He said, somebody really touched me. Somebody really touched me. Among all these religious folks,
all these novelty seekers, he knew why they were there. But
he knew also there was one woman there that was a real sinner
that had a real need. He said, they touched me. That's
the only ones that ever touched Christ, are real sinners needing
real grace. He said, virtue, I know somebody
touched me because virtue has gone out of me. Virtue has gone
out of me. Saving efficacy has gone out
of me. Reigning grace has flowed from
me. And that woman fell before him and told him all the truth.
And he said, he said unto her daughter, thy faith, has made
you whole. Go in peace and be whole of thy
plague." Jesus Christ ever said that to you? You're whole. Go in peace. Because she had
contacted the one who is mighty to save. She was made whole as
every sinner is made whole that comes into union with the Son
of God. Whole. Complete. Lacking nothing. completing Him to the point where
we will be presented without fault before the throne of God. Listen to this. This is a description
to everyone that's in the Son of God. Isaiah 61, verse 10. I will greatly rejoice in the
Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God, for He hath clothed
me. He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He hath
covered me with the robe of righteousness. As a bridegroom decketh himself
with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
Ezekiel chapter 16. And thy renown went forth among
the heathen for thy beauty. That's talking of a redeemed
sinner. For it was perfect, your beauty was perfect through my
comeliness which I put upon thee, saith the Lord. Imagine that. Perfect. God looks at believing
sinners as perfect. Wow! What about that? But think about it. Why wouldn't
we be? Why wouldn't we be? We're clothed
in the perfect robe of Christ's righteousness. That's the robe
that God Himself provided. That's the robe that the father
told the prodigal son to be robed in, clothed in, wrapped up in.
The robe of his son's perfect righteousness. Why wouldn't he
be pleased with them? Why wouldn't he be satisfied
with them? That's the robe of his son. We're accepted in his
son. First he sees Jesus, and then
he sees me in the beloved. Accepted and free. You reckon
that's why Paul said concerning all of his past religious tradition. And he had a heap of it. He had
a heap of it. And he loved it. He worked hard. He worked all
of his life weaving that road with self-righteousness. And
people would see Paul on the street, and they'd say, buddy,
what a holy man. That's Saul of Tarsus. Isn't
he something? Wish I could be like him. Oh, he's so close to
God. He didn't know God from a goose. He was lost as he could
be. But he didn't think so until
God turned to light. God got him lost. What happened
to you then, Saul? He said, all that rubbish. How
do you view it now, Saul? Is it pretty? You think it's
enough? You think God will accept you
because of the traditions you've kept? And being a Pharisee, a
Pharisee, you think that's going to get it done, Saul? He said,
no. How do you view it now, Saul? It's done. It's done. That's all it is. Well, Paul,
you're going to cast all that aside? Yes. Why, Paul? Because
I found something better. Now, my only hope is to be found
in Him. Not having my own righteousness
was of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith. Paul found something
better. You remember when Blind Barnimaeus
sat by the wayside and he heard Jesus was passing by and he begged
him to cry out. He was serious. Have mercy on
me. If you continue to pass by, I
have no hope of mercy. Will you take notice of me? And
Jesus stood still. He always hears the cry, a sincere
cry for mercy. And he said, bring him to me.
They went to Barnimaeus and said, Jesus calls for you. Here, take
my hand, I'll take you to him. And we read that he, that is,
Barnabas, casting aside his garment, casting away his garment, rose
and came to Jesus. You know why? Because like Paul,
he found something better. Doesn't need that rag anymore,
that he sat by the wayside begging again. Darwin told this story
out in, up in North Carolina, when we preached together up
there a week or so ago. He was telling about a restaurant
in Louisiana that Marvin Stoniker's daddy owned and operated. Some
of you may know that. I hadn't heard that before. But
he said one evening, there was this little boy. And he said
they had, Darden said he had eaten it before. It was this
delicious. It was an ear of corn on a stick, just dripping with
butter. He said, man, that stuff was
good. This little boy had one, and he was a mess. I mean, he
just made a mess. There wasn't a colonel left on
that here. He just gnawed it down as just
a cob, but he wouldn't let it go. His parents, they'd finished
the meal, they wanted to leave. They were trying to get that
little boy to let go. Marvin's daddy came out, and
he said, excuse me, I see you've got an issue here. Would you
mind if I try something? He said, sure. So he bent down
that little boy, reached in his pocket, and pulled out a Hershey
bar and held it in it. We dropped a cob and grabbed
that Hershey bar. He found something better. You
know when you let go of your self-righteousness when you find
something? You know when you'll do business
with the Lord Jesus Christ, the living Savior, the living God,
when you realize that everything else around you, everything else
but Him is death. If I don't touch Him, if I don't
do serious business with the Son of God, I'm going to hell. That's just so. That's just so. Oh, but the good news is, He's
able to save to the uttermost because He ever liveth. There's
a Savior on the throne right now, able and willing to save
every sinner that comes to Him. I pray, as old Barnard, that
affected me, that article, that's why I wanted to share it with
you. I cried when I read those words. God give me the burden
that that man had when he said those words. Pray that God would
make Christ real to somebody. pray that He would reveal His
Son to sinners in this place, lost sinners and saved sinners,
that Jesus Christ would prove to us all that He's able to save
to the uttermost because He ever liveth to make intercession for
us. Not long before our Lord was
betrayed in the garden, there were some Greeks that got still
up a side and said, Would you deliver this message? Would you
arrange this meeting? Sir, we would see Jesus. Sirs, they said, we would see
Jesus. Isn't that why we gather here?
I sure hope it is. Not to visit. Not to chit-chat
until 11 or 5 after, if you ever look up the notice. Do that after the service. visit
till six o'clock after the service. But shouldn't we rather ask God
to prepare our hearts to worship? Help us to worship. Is the worship
of God such a casual thing that it doesn't require any serious
thought, any prayer, any attention, any preparation? Oh, God forbid. God forbid. A fellow told Spurgeon
one time, a preacher, he said, well, Mr. Spurgeon, he said,
I preach All the time, I just go in the pulpit and preach and
I don't think anything about it. And Spurgeon said, well,
you're right in thinking nothing about it, because neither do
those who hear you think anything about it. Oh, what did David
say? I'm not going to offer to God
that which costs me nothing. I'm not going to offer to my
God that which costs me nothing. May God keep us, you and me.
God forbid that I come into this pulpit and just open the Bible
and just say whatever pops into my head. God forbid that I offer
in the hymn that which costs me nothing. The hymn writer put
it this way, when I survey the wonders cross on which the prince
of glory died, my riches gain I count but loss, and I pour
content on all my pride. I've sung these words. I don't
know how often I've meant them, were the whole realm of nature
mine that were offering far too small. Love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all. Easy to say, easy to sing. How often does he receive it? Hebrews chapter 13, verses 20
and 21, we'll close by reading these. Now the God of peace that
brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd
of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
oh that everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good
work to do his will. Working in you that was as well
pleasing in his sight. How can that be? Through Jesus
Christ, that's how, to whom be glory forever and forever. Amen. Amen. Let's pray. Let's pray together. God, would you be pleased to
make your word effectual? Reveal Christ to us. Give us
a fresh glimpse of our glorious Redeemer. Give us a renewed appreciation
of our mighty Savior. Where would we be without Him? Be in the world, loving the world,
walking the broad way that the world walks until we wake up,
open our eyes, inhale. That's where we'd be. But because you're mighty to
say, you wouldn't allow that. Oh God, thank you. Thank you
for the unspeakable gift of your son. In his name, we thank you. Amen.