when Moses had finished raising
up the tabernacle, that great type and picture of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the true tabernacle. He saw the glory of the Lord
fill the house. So great was the glory that filled
the house that he could not enter in because of that glory. When Manasseh, or Manoah and
his wife saw the Lord do wondrously in the pillar of fire that rose
up from the sacrifice they offered to God as the sacrifice was accepted. Manoah and his wife looked on
in astonished faith. When Isaiah saw the crucified
Christ, exalted on his throne, the accepted sacrifice, the accepted
lamb, the accepted redeemer, who's seated upon his throne
He cried, heard the angels cry, holy, holy, holy is the Lord
of hosts. And he cried, woe is me. I'm
a man of unclean lips. I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips. He confessed his sin and he received
from the Lord Christ on his throne, the purging of his sin. Now I
have a question for you. Have you seen his glory? Have you seen his glory? I do not ask, do you consider
yourself a Christian? I'm sure almost everybody here
would say yes to that. I do not ask, are you religious?
Obviously you are or you wouldn't be here. I do not ask, have you
been baptized? Most of you I have baptized.
I don't ask, have you made a profession of faith or do you pray? Or do you read your Bible? Or
do you go to church? Or do you tithe? Or do you serve
the Lord? Have you seen his glory? Have
you seen his glory? That's my subject. Salvation
has something to do with seeing the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. When Philip went down to Samaria,
this man who had seen the glory of God in the face of Christ
preached Christ unto them. And there was great joy in that
city because many who heard him preach saw the glory of God in
the face of Christ. Why do you suppose it was that
Paul wrote to the Corinthians and said, I determined not to
know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified?
Without question, he made that determination because the only
way men and women ever come to have a saving knowledge of the
living God is by the revelation of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ, our Savior. You see, Jesus Christ is the
revelation of God. He is the message of Holy Scripture. And Paul was determined to preach
Christ to men everywhere he had opportunity because there's no
other way for men and women to see the glory of God, be reconciled
to God, and find peace in their souls except by Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. Turn with me, if you will, to
John chapter 1. John chapter 1. You who are yet
without life before God, you who yet believe not, do so, refuse
to believe because you vainly imagine that you must find something
good in yourself to bring to God. The reason for your unbelief,
Deny it as much as you will to yourself or to anyone else. The
reason for your unbelief is that you vainly imagine you can find
something, you can muster something good in yourself to bring to
God. You must find something good
to bring to God before you can bring yourselves to Him and trust
the Savior. What a foolish, foolish notion. What a horrid, satanic delusion. You seek rest from where no rest
can be found. You want to find rest in your
good works. If not your good works, your
good feelings. If not your good feelings, your
bad feelings. If not in your feelings and your
experience, if not in your experience in performing religious duties,
if not in duties in great remorse over sin, if not in remorse over
sin, then at least in your act of faith. If not in your act
of faith, then in your orthodoxy. And you mistake all those things
for faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You make for yourself a refuge
of lies that has to be swept away the sooner the better. You lay on a bed that's too short
to stretch yourself upon it. The sooner the bed is thrown
away, the better. You wrap yourselves in coverings
that are too narrow to cover you. And the sooner they're thrown
off of you, the better. You wonder why you can't find
rest for your souls. It's because there is no rest
except believing on the Son of God. No rest except faith in
the Son of God. No rest for your souls except
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. There's nothing in this world
that can give rest to the soul except the saving revelation
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. If you would have
rest, you must be reconciled to God And if you'd be reconciled
to God, you must come to Him believing on the Lord Jesus Christ,
looking to Jesus Christ the Lord. You must somehow have given to
you a sight of the glory of Christ, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father. He who alone is full of grace
and truth. Now we're gonna look today at
John chapter one and verse 14. I had promised you Tuesday, I
would preach to you on Tuesday night on Zaphnath Panea, and
I had prepared to do so, but the Lord prevented that with
a good snowstorm. And I can't bring myself to just
bring leftover food, but I have a message for you. And I want
you to hold your Bibles open at John chapter one and verse
14, as we look at this profound text of scripture. I have been
trying for the last two months to bring messages to you identifying
the Christ of God. I've been erupted for a while
preaching to you from the book of Romans. I'll come back to
it the Lord willing in a little while, but this is such a very,
very important subject. He that believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. There is no salvation. trusting
a Christ who is not the Christ of God. You must know, you must
believe, you must trust the Christ of God. Someone asked me just
this week about one of the fellows on television, I forget his name,
has that Shepherd's Chapel nonsense, and he just preaches verse by
verse out of the Bible. What can be wrong with that?
He doesn't believe that Christ is God. That's what's wrong with
that. He believes Christ is something less than God. And there are
multitudes of false Christ in this world. And all the false
Christ in this world. If you listen to what men say
as they describe Him, you will recognize they are all less than
God. Less than God. He that believeth
that Jesus is the Christ, the Christ of God, the Christ who
is God, he alone has life with God. May God the Holy Ghost be
our teacher. Look here with me, John 1 verse
14. And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld
his glory. The glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. If there is any passage
of scripture that is written and given to us with emphasis
by God the Holy Ghost, surely this is one of those texts. John
here compares Christ to that which was the greatest glory
of the early Jewish church. Lindsay is about to get into
the passages in Exodus that deal with the tabernacle and the erecting
of the tabernacle. That tabernacle was the great
glory of the Old Testament church through the days of their wilderness
wanderings in this world. There it was that God communed
with man, and man communed with God. If men would meet with God,
worship God, and know God, they did so in the tabernacle. And the word that is translated
in our text this morning, dwelt, is the word tabernacle. The Word
was made flesh and tabernacled among us. You see, Jesus Christ
is himself the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not
man. The Jewish Church of the Old
Testament came to worship God at the tabernacle, in this tent
that Moses was specifically ordered of God to make in a certain way,
with all of its furnishings made in a certain way, with all of
its priestly garments given, made in a certain way, and all
the sacrifices given, specific sacrifices given in a specific
way, at a specific time, in a specific place. because this whole thing
represents salvation, redemption, grace, eternal life by one man
and one sacrifice, Jesus Christ the Lord. The Word was made flesh
and tabernacled here among us. That's Christ Jesus the Lord.
You noticed in our reading this morning in Exodus chapter 40,
after all the materials were made, everything put together,
In one day, one man raised up the tabernacle. In one day, one
man accomplished the whole world. The tabernacle was so designed
by God that the whole thing could be assembled, raised up, and
finished in one day. Because the Lord Jesus Christ
is that one who is the woman seen, who comes to crush the
serpent's head and to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
And he said, I will remove the iniquity of the land in one day. Jesus Christ, one day, by the
sacrifice of himself, put away sin. This tabernacle is the tent
where men would come and God would come to men. Here and here
alone, God and man were reconciled. Here and here alone, God and
man came together. All of this pointed to our Savior. The ancient Jews went to God
went to the tent where God revealed himself. It was in the center
of the camp of Israel and there they came to worship the eternal
God. So we come to Christ and in him
we worship the eternal God. If the Jew would be released
from any ceremonial uncleanness by which he had polluted himself
and was ceremonially separated from God and from the altar of
God, He went up to the sanctuary of God, the tabernacle. There
he found cleansing by the sacrifice God required, and peace was restored
to him with God. So it is that you and I, being
washed in the precious blood of Christ, have access to, and
bold access to, and acceptance with God Almighty, even the Father,
through Jesus Christ, the true tabernacle our great God and
Savior. Follow the parallel a little
further. If you went in to the Holy of Holies, there you'd see
the Ark of the Covenant covered with a mercy seat. And in that
place where the mercy seat was, where the blood was sprinkled
on the atonement day, the angels, the cherubim looked down upon
the mercy seat. They looked down upon the blood
and their wings touched one another. And rising up from that mercy
seat of the accepted sacrifice, there was a pillar of fire that
rose up by night. So that all the children of Israel
could see the Shekinah glory of God sacrifice. By day it was a cloud, a pillar
of smoke that rose up and spread over all the camp of Israel,
sheltering them from the blazing sun. And they moved not, except
the pillar of fire and the pillar of smoke moved with them. So
the Lord Jesus Christ is that one of whom we read in scripture
here in John 1 14, we beheld his glory, his Shekinah, as the
glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and
truth. Jesus Christ crucified. Jesus Christ crucified. Himself the glory of God. Jesus Christ crucified is Himself
the glory of God. Now pause a moment and be sure
you understand what the Scriptures mean when they speak of Christ
and Him crucified. The Scriptures mean Jesus Christ
having accomplished By his sacrifice, all that the scriptures said
the Christ of God would accomplish is that one seated yonder in
glory. Any other Christ is not Jesus
Christ crucified. This is the true tabernacle which
the Lord God himself pitched and not man. For in him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and every center saved
by God's free grace is given light from God, and calls to
see the glory of God, all the accomplishments of the purpose
of God in the saving of his people in the face of one man, Jesus
Christ, and him crucified. He is the only sacrifice. by
which sin could ever be put away. And he is the sacrifice by which
all the sin that was made his, all the sins of all his people,
all the sins of all who are redeemed, all the sins of all who are saved
at last in everlasting glory, he is that one who by the sacrifice
of himself put away our sins. The old tabernacle had a barrier. There was a wall, a thick, thick
wall. It was actually just a veil,
a heavy, thick, thick curtain, a thick curtain, which stood
between the holy place and the most holy place, between the
outer court and the inner sanctuary, between God's glory between God's
place of revelation, between God's acceptance and the people. And no man could come behind
that veil except one man, a man appointed of God, the priest
of Israel, and he only one day. only on one day, only on the
day of the Passover. On that one day, he could go
behind the thick veil and offer blood upon the mercy seat, covering
the broken law, making atonement for Israel. And he'd come out
from behind that curtain from the mercy seat, and he would
bless the people of Israel in the name of God because of the
glory. revealed in that inner tabernacle,
in that inner sanctuary. Jesus Christ is the one high
priest, ordained of God, who came by the sacrifice of himself
and ripped the veil wide open from top to bottom. When he said,
it is finished, the veil just ripped in two. And God said,
the way is open. Sinners can now come to me with
full assurance of faith. A new and living way accomplished
in one day by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and him crucified. This is that one we read of here,
full of grace. Oh, how I love that word, full
of grace. There's not a little grace in
him, not much grace in him, but a rich, abundant fullness of
grace. Grace is so treasured up in him
that he is full of grace. Everything in him is grace. He is full of grace. The old tabernacle was full of
imagery, types, and shadows, pictures, and symbols. But Christ,
the true tabernacle, is full of truth. He's the substance
of the picture, the reality, not the shadow. Here is our great
joy. Coming to Christ, we come to
the true tabernacle of God. We come not to the Shekinah glory
that represented the glory of God, but to Him who is the glory
of God. We come not to a representative
of God and His grace, but to Christ who is God and full of
grace. We come not to the shatterer
of truth, but to Him who is truth, that one who is accepted of God
for our souls. Have you come to Him? Have you
beheld His glory? Let me put it another way. Do
you come to Him? Do you behold His glory? Yesterday
is meaningless. Yesterday is gone. Most everybody,
when they start to talk about salvation and assurance of salvation
and assurance before God, point to something yesterday. Something,
yes. I remember when I was there. I remember what happened. I remember
when I made my decision. I remember when I made my profession.
I remember when I got baptized. Do you now come to Him? Do you now behold the glory of
God in the face of His Son? I want to call your attention
to five things in this verse of Scripture. John chapter one,
verse 14. First, the Apostle John here
was inspired of God to speak of the Incarnate Word. The Incarnate
Word. The Word was made flesh. Here is the glorious person so
highly spoken of in the first 13 verses of this chapter. The
Word was made flesh. That Word that's used here for
flesh is a very strong word. It's the same word used in the
third chapter of Romans where we're told that no flesh can
be justified by the deeds of the law. It is the same word
that's used in Romans 8 and verse 3 where Christ is said to have
been made in the likeness of sinful flesh. The word flesh
has the same significance as the words that we find in Genesis
chapter 6 when the Lord God speaks of corrupt flesh. The Word was made flesh. Bill, when John uses that phrase,
he could not have used a stronger, more emphatic statement by which
to declare the utter degradation of the Son of God. I chose my
words deliberately. Christ, in his humiliation, degraded
himself. He humbled himself. He emptied
himself and came to dwell in flesh among us. John didn't merely
say the Word was made man. That would have been a great
act of humiliation, but not so emphatic as this, the Word was
made flesh. We read in Philippians 2 that
our Lord Jesus Christ humbled himself. And when he came in
the likeness of flesh, came in the likeness of men, being found
in fashion as a man, he still humbled himself and became obedient
unto death. even the death of the cross.
The Son of God was made all that we are by nature. He was made to be everything
we are, sin alone excepted. We use the words, he assumed
flesh. We use the words, he took on
himself flesh. But the word of God says, he
was made what you are. Sin alone accepted. And then
at last, when he who knew no sin, did no sin and could not
sin, came to die as our representative, as our surety, as our covenant
head upon the curse tree, when he died as our substitute, he
who knew no sin, been made flesh was made sin. He was made to be everything
we are by nature, everything, everything, everything, everything. There was no other way of by
which he could make us to be all that he is. The word was
made flesh and dwelt among us so we could touch him and feed
him and lay our hands on his breast and hug him up to our
bosoms and we could hear his voice and he could hear us. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us and when at last He died in our stead upon the curse
tree, and sin was put away by the sacrifice of himself. We
beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. Jesus Christ, God the Son, is
God who has taken our nature into union with his divine nature
so that he is the God-man. We almost always write that word
G-O-D hyphen M-A-N in small letters. It's all right to write it G-O-D
M-A-N and write it in all capital letters. It's even all right
to write it M-A-N-G-O-D and write it in all capital letters. He
is the God man. He is the man God. That man seated
yonder in glory is God in our nature. In him dwelleth all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily. Now, here's the second thing. John describes in this passage
a favored people. What a favor this is. And we
beheld His glory. What a favored people. Do you
behold His glory? If you do, you are among this
favored people. We beheld His glory. They are an elect people. A chosen
company of men and women who behold his glory. To them the
Lord Jesus says, I know whom I have chosen. Ye have not chosen
me, but I have chosen you. He came unto his own, and his
own received him not, but to as many as received him. They
are described as a people who were born not of blood, nor of
the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of the will
of God. Those who behold his glory were chosen in him from
eternity. Those who behold his glory now
shall behold his glory forever in heaven's glory. These who
behold his glory are especially redeemed people. Hold your hands
here and turn back to the book of Job. Job. People who object. to the gospel
revelation, a particular redemption, special redemption, limited atonement,
effectual redemption. So where is it written in the
Bible that God just died for specific people? Everywhere the
Bible speaks of it. Everywhere the Bible speaks of
it. Here in the book of Job, in the earliest written book
of Scripture, probably. Job was probably the first book
of the scriptures to be written. We read of a specifically redeemed
people, and those redeemed people are all people who see God by
faith, because they have been chosen of God. Look here in Job
33 verse 24. Here is redemption. Then he is
gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to
the pit, for I have found a ransom. All for whom Jehovah found a
ransom in Jehovah the Son are delivered from going down to
the pit. And they're born again. Verse 25, His flesh shall be
fresher than a child's. He shall return to the days of
his youth. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. Old things have passed away.
He's born again. And those who are born again
call on God. He pours out on the spirit of
grace and supplication. He shall pray unto God. And that
man, that woman who prays to God, he will be favorable unto
him. You call on the name of the Lord
and God will be favorable to you. He said, I'll give you the
sure mercies of David. He said, I'll forgive all your
sin. I'll put away all your iniquities. I will never remember your transgressions.
And they are a seeing people. Look at this. And he shall see
his face with joy. The man redeemed and called who
looks to God in Christ Jesus the Lord, he'll see his face
with joy. He'll look on God and smile. He'll look on God and smile.
You know what it is? You remember what it was, Rex?
To look on God and tremble. Those who look on God in Christ,
look on God and smile, say, Abba, Father. They'll see his face
with joy. How come? Because the Lord God
will render unto man his righteousness. Make him the very righteousness
of God in Christ. He looketh upon men, and if any
say I have sinned, and perverted that which is right, and it profited
me not. Anybody who confesses his sin,
now what does he say? He'll say, I've sinned. Well,
I haven't confessed my sin enough. Have you confessed your sin?
Do you confess your sin? He'll confess his sin. He'll
say, I've done that which was not right. I perverted the right,
and I got nothing from it. Look at verse 28. He will deliver
his soul from going down to the pit and his life shall see light. No. His life shall see the light. The light typified back yonder
in that pillar of fire. The light typified in the candlestick
standing before the veil. The light, which is spoken of
in John chapter one, when it says, in him is light, and the
light was the light of men. He'll see Jesus Christ, the light
of the glory of God, he'll see it in the face of Christ. Those
who behold Christ's glory are a graciously called people. We
behold his glory because we've been specifically called by him
to behold his glory. He calleth unto him whom he would. He calleth his own sheep by name
and leadeth him out. The humble shall see this and
be glad. And it shall be said in that
day, lo, this is our God, we've waited for him. He will save
us. This is the Lord, we've waited
for him. We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. Those
who behold his glory are a divinely illuminated people. If you see
him, if you behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,
It's because God the Holy Ghost has given you eyes to see, otherwise
you couldn't see. All the preaching in the world
wouldn't do you any good. When our Lord Jesus walked upon this
earth, you stop and consider this, stop and consider this. Those self-righteous Pharisees,
meticulous religious folks, meticulous religious folks, those self-righteous
Pharisees who memorized the Old Testament Scriptures, who sewed
them into their garments so everybody would see that they're really
holy people. They anticipated as did all people
in that day. They anticipated that the Christ
of God must come while they were walking on this earth because
that was Daniel's 70th week and there's no way getting around
it. You remember when the wise men came to Herod and Herod heard
about this. There's one going to be born
king of the Jews. He could be born anytime now. Where is it?
Everybody knew it. Everybody knew it. But when he
came, they didn't know him. They saw the same Christ. Other
folks saw. They didn't know him. The Jewish
said he drew the muckety muck of the muckety muck in the religious
world. They didn't know him. They saw him walk in the earth.
They saw him walk on this earth and they heard his voice. They
saw him perform miracles. They saw him, now listen, they
didn't just hear what he preached about, they saw him raise the
dead. They sat down at the table with
a man who was raised from the dead by the name of Lazarus.
Oh, if I could see, if I see a man raised from the dead, I'd
know that's it. Just give me a miracle, I'll be all right.
They saw folks, they saw folks right before their eyes healed. who had been lame all their lives,
who had been deaf all their lives, who had been blind all their
lives. This was not something done in a corner. Everybody saw
it, but they never saw him. Had they known it, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory. Judas Iscariot walked
in his company almost every day for three and a half years. Merle,
he heard every word the Savior preached. He saw every miracle
he performed. He heard every prayer he uttered
when he wasn't in private. That'd do it, that'd do it. No,
no. And sometimes I say to other
preachers and other preachers talk to me like, I wonder why
nobody pays us any attention. I wonder why nobody hears what
we say. didn't hear the Lord of Glory. They didn't hear Him. If you see Him, if the preaching has been made
effectual to you so that you see Him, I'll tell you why. It's because God has caused the
light to shine in your heart to give the knowledge, the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Oh spirit of God, as I read your
word, as I hear your word preached, as I observe your providence,
as I see your hand, illumine me, cause my eyes to see. The glory of God in the face
of Christ. The accomplishment of God in
his purpose to redeem and save his people in Jesus Christ the
Lord. You see, the glory of God. John
1, turn over to John chapter 11. John chapter 11. Here's the thing revealed, that's
the third thing. Not only is Christ the incarnate
God, and not only is He revealed to a chosen, redeemed, called
people, we beheld His glory. Didn't say we heard about His
glory, read about His glory, but we beheld His glory. Now
obviously, this is more than a carnal, physical knowledge. There are multitudes who behold
His glory in a physical way. Multitudes who behold His glory
with carnal knowledge. That was true in our Lord's day,
and that's true in our day. But John is talking about something
that he, along with Peter and James, saw when our Lord was
transfigured on the mount. You remember in John chapter
11, look at it, verse 40. Our Lord said to Martha, If thou
wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God. You see that? This revelation of the glory
of God only comes to faith, to God-given faith. And if you believe,
you'll see it. you were talking about this a
little bit earlier. Just as much, just to the extent
that we believe Him, we see His glory day by day. In redemption, in the Gospel, in the face of
Christ, in His providence, only thing that keeps us from seeing
His glory in everything He does is unbelief. That's all. Unbelief. Now, look in Luke chapter
9. I want you to see this. I said
earlier, this is the thing where John's, this thing John's talking
about, the very same thing Peter did when he said that we've not
followed cunningly devised fables. When we made known unto you the
power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses
of his majesty. Here it is in Luke nine. The
Lord Jesus is on the mount of transfiguration and Christ is
transfigured before their eyes. And if you wonder what that means,
as they saw him, and they heard Moses and Elijah talking to him.
He was transfigured. Peter, James, and John saw him
as he is right now in heaven's glory. They saw it, look at it. Luke 9 verse 28. And it came
to pass, about eight days after these sayings, he took Peter
and John and James and went up into a mountain to pray. And
as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered,
and his raiment was white and glistening. What a sight that
must have been. And behold, there talked with
him two men, which were Moses and Elijah. Moses, the law, and
Elijah, the prophets. These two men, representing everything
in the Old Testament Scriptures. Moses and Elijah standing there
talking to the Lord Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration
as if to explain to us how it is that the man Christ Jesus
achieved His glory. How is it that He is the embodiment
of the glory of God? Look what it says. Who appeared
in glory and spake of His decease which he would accomplish at
Jerusalem. Now if one of these days you're
still around and I'm laying in the hospital bed, everybody's
expecting me to die, you come to visit and you meet somebody
in the hallway and you say, well, you're a little bit late, he's
already accomplished dying. You would look at that person
and think, what on earth are they talking about? Nobody accomplishes
decease. Somebody did. His decease, which
he would accomplish at Jerusalem. You see, the death of Christ
was the accomplishment of his mission to redeem and save his
people. The word that is here translated,
decease, sometimes transliterations might be better than translations.
That word, if it were written out, just taking the Greek letters
and transforming them to English letters, this is how you'd spell
it. E-X-O-D-U-S. Moses and Elijah, the law and
the prophets, were talking to him about his exodus he would
accomplish at Jerusalem. Everything you've been studying
in Exodus up to now, when the children of Israel by blood,
the blood of a Paschal lamb slain by the order of God in the stead
of the firstborn of every Israelite. The children of Israel came to
the Red Sea. They're out of Egypt now, not
quite. Not quite, not by a long shot in their experience. They're
out there right in front of the raging Red Sea with mountains
on either side and Pharaoh's horses breathing down their back.
And then the power of God opened up the sea and they marched across
the Red Sea and their enemies all drowned in the sea. Exodus
by blood and by power. By the blood of God and by the
power of God, the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished his exodus,
our exodus at Jerusalem. By his death, he accomplished
all that the law and prophets had spoken. By his death, he
pleased the Father. By His accomplishment at Calvary,
He brought in everlasting righteousness, He obtained eternal redemption,
He earned the right to be Lord as our Mediator, and He revealed
the glory of God, a just God and the Savior. In Christ crucified,
God sent forth mercy and truth from heaven and saved us. And
now righteousness has sprung up out of the earth and God's
salvation looks down upon the earth and he gives mercy and
grace to all his redeemed because he magnified the law and made
it honorable. I ask you again, have you seen
his glory? The Lord Jesus says, look unto
me. Look unto me and be you saved
all the ends of the earth. Look to me and be saved. That is you look and you'll see
the glory of God in the face of Christ. You'll see how it
is that God in his strict holiness can be just and justify you without
you doing anything. how God can be just and forgive
you of your sin without you doing anything. He doesn't say work
for me, he says look. He doesn't say figure me out,
he says look. He doesn't say come and serve
me, he says look. He doesn't say feel me, he says
look. He doesn't say even pray to me,
he says look. Look unto me and be you saved.
Trust in Christ. We see the glory of God just
like Isaiah did. We see Him high and lifted up,
the accomplished Redeemer, seated on His throne, having accomplished
exodus for us at Jerusalem. Now, we look at Him and As we
look to Him, one of the cherubs takes a coal from off the altar
and touches your lips and says, this, this sacrifice has purged
your iniquities. It purged your iniquities. By
faith, we look to Him. And here's the vision. The glory
as of the only begotten of the Father. full of grace and truth. Here is Christ, the God-man. Here is Christ, my righteousness. Here is Christ, my sin-atoning
sacrifice. Here is Christ, the glorious
sovereign who rightfully holds the reigns of all the universe
in his hands. Here is Christ, our intercessor. Christ our mediator, Christ our
advocate. Here is Christ in his persevering
love, of whom it is written, having loved his own, he loved
them to the end. Oh, my soul, how I marvel at
his persevering love for me. This dear lady loves me. Oh,
I'm so greatly loved by her. And I marvel at that. I really
do. I really do. I'd hate to have
to live with me. But that's nothing. God the Son
perseveres in his love for me relentlessly. Having loved His own, He loved
them to the end. So it has been, so it is, and
so it shall be. Now, one more thing. One reason why the Lord God has
so graciously given us His grace to behold His glory in the face
of Christ is that we might bear witness of His glory to others. as eyewitnesses of his majesty. As soon as Isaiah saw the Lord's
glory and the coals touched his lips and the Lord said, this
has purged your sin. He said, go tell this people,
go tell this people, go tell somebody what wondrous things
the Lord's done. Go tell sinners how God saves
sinners by the sacrifice of his son. Go tell his people, go tell
his people what he's done for them by the rich, rich, rich
accomplishment of his exodus at Jerusalem by which the Lord
God is revealed from heaven and shows his glory. The glory of
Him who is God the Son, our Mediator. The glory of Him who's full of
grace and truth. The glory of Him who is the only
begotten of the Father. Amen.