Turn if you will back to John's
Gospel chapter 12. In verse 1 we read that Jesus
came to Bethany six days before the Passover. Before the Passover. And this was the last Passover. Biblically, no more Passovers. Because that one, that one, the
Lord Jesus himself of whom John, three years or a little more
before this, pointed to Jesus of Nazareth as he walked by and
said, behold, the Lamb of God, the Lamb of God, that's Him,
that's Him. All the Passovers typified Him
and He who was foreshadowed by those, will soon to fulfill all
that the Passover pictured. Everything. Therefore, it's done
away. It's done away. Paul said in
1st Corinthians 5 verse 7, for even Christ our Passover is sacrificed
for us one time. One time. Turn, if you will,
to Hebrews for just a moment, then we'll come back to our text,
Hebrews chapter 10. Paul, writing here, compares
the earthly sacrifices, or rather I should
say the sacrifices under the old covenant, the types. He speaks of them and what they
accomplished and then he compares that to Christ our Passover. What he did and what he accomplished
here in chapter 10 verse 1. For the law having a shadow,
just the shadow of good things to come, and not the very image
of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered
year by year continually make the comers there unto perfect.
Now if they could, if they could, Paul says, then would they not
have ceased to be offered? If by offering them on the behalf
of the people they were made perfect, then they didn't need
to offer them anymore. But they didn't do that. Because
that the worshipers, once purged, should have no more conscience
of sins. Therefore, no need of an offering.
But, verse 3, in those sacrifices there's a remembrance again made
of sins every year. And Paul says, verse 4, it is
not possible, it's not possible that the blood of bulls and goats
should take away sins. Now look down at verse 12. But
Christ our Passover, this man, but this man, After he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down. Sat down. Why? Why? Because it was done. It was done. He sat down on the
right hand of God from henceforth expecting until his enemies made
his footstool. For by one offering, by one offering
he had perfected What the animal sacrifices could never do, He
had perfected forever them that are sanctified, them who were
set apart in God's eternal covenant of grace. In verse 26 of chapter
9 we're told that Christ had once in the end of the world,
had He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And what he spoke of in John
chapter 12 was that time had come. That hour, that hour. Again, look what he said in verse
27. Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Save me
from this hour, Father? Save me from this hour, this
time? No, no. For this cause came out
unto this hour. This is the reason I came. And
having that time, that hour, so close for which he came into
this world, explains our Lord's response, as we pointed out in
the reading, to the Greeks' request in verse 21. We would see Jesus. And he addresses their possibly,
probably, misconceptions about his mission just like the disciples
had in verses 23 and 24. That time had arrived when Christ
would do what Paul mentions in Ephesians chapter 2. When he,
by offering himself to God, would break down that middle wall of
partition between Jew and Gentile, and making himself one, one,
so making peace. He would save his people from
their sins, Jew and Gentile. Yes, the hour had come to fulfill
all righteousness, all righteousness. That hour had arrived when he,
the sinless one, the sinless one, So easy to say. So easy to recite. He knew no
sin. He did no sin and Him was no
sin. Oh, but think about that. That
was never said prior to that time or since that time of any
other man except the Lord Jesus Christ. He knew no sin. Sin, as Paul expresses in Romans
chapter 7. It's mixed with everything we
do. Everything we do. Every prayer,
every hymn, every message is tainted with sin. That's why
Paul cried out, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me? Christ never cried such a Such
a cry as that. No, he was the sinless one. And
now the hour had come when he who knew no sin would be made
sin. The hour has come. When he would
be accursed by God, when he as the prophet foretold would be
bruised, God would bruise his son. That is, he would be crushed
beneath the awful weight of God's holy wrath. The hour was come
when he would trod the winepress alone. My soul, what loneliness
that was. What loneliness must that have
been. I'll trod the winepress alone,
and of the people Don't look to Peter, James, or John. They're sleeping. Don't arise
and go back to them and seek to find comfort. You won't find
it. I've trod the winepress alone
and other people. There was none with me. This night, he told them, you'll
all leave me alone. I'll be left alone. Oh, but yet
I'm not alone, cause the Father is with me. Oh, but when that
hour come that he should trod the winepress of the fierceness
of the wrath of God alone, even God forsook him." And he cried
out, oh how lonely this must be. He who was God, forsaken
by God. Don't understand that. My God,
why hast thou forsaken me that I ought to come? But that's not
all. That's not all. In doing so,
in being made sin by suffering in the room of his people, he
thereby, in doing so, He obtained eternal redemption for us. Oh yes, He obtained eternal redemption
for us. He, our Passover, He, our Passover,
says so very plainly, very plainly. He shouts in complete, total
victory He shouts with a voice of triumph. As our great God
and Savior, the captain of our salvation declares from the cross,
it is finished. Don't you love that? These words
from the lips of our glorious substitute still echo throughout
glory itself. It is still the theme, this wonder,
this marvel, this blessed accomplishment of our victorious Redeemer is
still the theme of the song of the redeemed already in glory. Nothing there so captivates their
hearts, so ravishes their soul, than the wonder of what He did
on their behalf. It never gets old. It never gets
stale. Never. It unfolds upon them wave
after wave after wave in glorious majesty. Unto him who hath loved
us they sing and washed us from our sins by his own blood to
him be glory forever and ever. Yes, it is finished. Hear that? Hear that? Christ by himself purged our
sin. He has delivered us from the
curse of the law. We have redemption. Present tense. Louis, we have redemption through
his blood. Even, Paul wrote, The forgiveness
of sins. Oh, lie down on that sweet bed
of peace and everlasting acceptance with God. A little nippy this
morning, isn't it? Oh, but how warm is it for a
redeemed sinner to wrap himself up in the robe of Christ's perfect
righteousness? How warm is that? What a comfort
that is to every believing sinner. I hear another voice. I hear
God's answer to the blessed words of his son when he cried, it
is finished. God responds thus. And he says,
when I see the blood, when I see the blood, I like that. Not when I see what Larry does
or fails to do. My soul, that would be torture. Torture the mind and heart if
that were the case. Oh, no. God always looks with
satisfaction to the blood. And he says, when I see the blood,
the blood of my dear son, the effectual soul-cleansing, sin-atoning
blood, I will pass over you. When I see the blood, God says,
that's enough. That's enough. I'm satisfied. I can demand no more. I'm satisfied. I will pass over you. Turn, if you will, to Ephesians.
Ephesians chapter 4. Listen to what Paul says here
in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 32. Paul says, Be ye kind one to
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, even as God for Christ's sake, God for Christ's sake,
when I see the blood God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven
you. Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children and walk
in love as Christ also had loved us and had given himself for
us in offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor. What comfort, what hope and peace
this should give believers. God, for Christ's sake, hath
forgiven You. Mercy and truth are met together,
David wrote, in the cross of our Redeemer. Righteousness and
peace have kissed each other. By that means, through Christ,
God can now be perfectly just in justifying the sinner for
whom Christ suffered and died. You see, the reason, as I said
a moment ago, has never been in you, has never been in me. We read it just now in Ephesians
4, verse 32. God, for Christ's sake, for Christ's
sake, isn't that comforting? Brother Maurice Montgomery, who
went home to be with the Lord not long ago, November the 25th,
He wrote this, commenting on this verse, but now after ye
have known God, or rather are known of God. Maurice said, you
see, just as the sinner loves God because God loved him first,
even so he knows God because he was first known of God in
electing love and grace. I find this to be very comforting
to my soul. And he tells us why. Lately,
I've noticed that my memory is not nearly as good as it used
to be. I find it hard to recall sermons
that I heard only a short while ago, and very difficult to remember
people's names. And this leads me to wonder.
This leads me to wonder. If there may come a time when
through the natural deterioration of sin, I become incapable of
loving God, worshipping God, calling upon God, clinging to
God and confessing Him publicly with my hope of salvation in
heaven. Will my hope of salvation in
heaven be forfeited? No, no, not at all. Because my
salvation is of the Lord. For Christ's sake. For Christ's
sake. He will never forget those whom
He knows, those whom He chose, those for whom Christ died, those
whom He calls and converts to Christ by His Spirit and grace. He will never leave me nor forsake
me. Oh, thank God for His mercy and
His grace. Psalm 85 again, verse 13. Righteousness shall go before
Him The Lord Jesus. And he shall set us, that is
God, in the way of his steps. I told you this story before.
That wintery night, walking out to meet my uncle, who could only
get so far up that hollow where we lived. And this wintery night,
oh the snow was deep and I was following my father. And every
step he took, I try to put my foot in the prince he'd already
made. God Almighty. God Almighty puts
every believing sinner in the footsteps of Christ's perfect
obedience and complete satisfaction. For Christ's sake. For Christ's
sake. Now look, if you will, at this
request in verse 21 of John 12. Verse 21, these Greeks asked Philip, Sir, we would see Jesus. That was their request. J.C. Rowe wrote in his commentary
on John concerning this verse, he says, Who these Greeks were has exercised
the ingenuity of commentators. And I found that to be so. I
found that to be so. The truth is, we don't know. And we don't know what their
reason was for wanting to see Jesus. It doesn't tell us. And
we don't know. I mean, after all, there are
multiplied examples in the Gospels of what Isaiah foretold In chapter
53, when he said, when we shall see him, we shall esteem him
not. When we see him, we'll see no
beauty that we should desire him. We'll turn away our faces
from him. Jesus of Nazareth, the religious
leader said, oh yeah, we know him. He's Joseph's son. We know who, son of God, are
you out of your mind? We know who his father is. God's
his father. We know who his father is. We
know his mother. We know his sisters and his brothers. Some wanted to see him just out
of curiosity. Zacchaeus did. Herod did. For a long time we're told when
he stood before Herod, the night of his betrayal and arrest, that
Herod for a long time had wanted to see him. was hoping he might
perform a miracle for you for Herod's entertainment. There
were various reasons. So I don't know and neither does
anyone else why they wanted to see Jesus. It's not important who wanted to see Jesus. What's
important is who they asked to see. Sir, we would see Jesus. Oh my. Oh yes. because there's
life for a look at the crucified one. It's he that says, he that
says. Nobody else can. He says, look
unto me. Oh, I would see Jesus because
He says, look unto me, Larry, and be ye saved. I'm God. Nobody else is. I'm a just God
and a Savior. There is none else. You try anyone
else and you'll be praying to a God that cannot save. Oh, but look unto me and be ye
saved. Oh, yes. That's the difference. First, who we see. Jesus. That's who they ask to
see. Not the disciples, not the preacher,
not the priest, not the Baptist or the Baptist bride. I had people
tell me over the years that they believed that they were the chosen of the chosen, the
elect of the elect, that they were the Baptist bride. And as they were speaking, it
kept sounding like pride to me. They kept saying Baptist bride,
but I kept hearing Baptist pride. Oh no. I don't want to hear a
Baptist bride, but the bridegroom himself. He, John said, the bridegroom,
He has the words of eternal life. He that has the Son has life. Oh, I want to see Jesus Christ
Himself. Not His gifts. There's a difference. Not His gifts. Not His doctrine
even. But Himself. Himself. I have found Him, Bobby sang
a moment ago. I've found Him. Hallelujah! Look and live, but only by looking
unto Jesus. He's the only object of faith. This is my beloved Son, God said. Hear ye Him. We can't be saved
by looking to anyone else or to anything else. Oh God, give
me grace to keep my eyes focused. Keep my eyes focused. on the
Lamb of God, does anything else after all compare to Him? How sad it would be, and how
dishonoring to God, and how unkind to you, it would be for me to
preach anything other than Jesus Christ to you today and every
time we gather here. You may be hurting, suffering,
burdened down. You may have drug in here with
a heavy heart. My soul, the only remedy for
you is to direct you to behold the Lamb of God, He who healeth
the brokenhearted. Look to Him. Jesus is the one
thing needful. Jesus is the only one in whom
I stand before God complete. In Christ, I lack nothing at
all. I want to hear that over and
over. I can't hear that too much. That's good news. Paul said in
Galatians 1 that when it pleased God, who separated him from his
mother's womb and called him by his grace to reveal his son
in me, Paul said, that I might, what? Galatians 4 and 16, that
I might expound the mysteries of all prophecy. That I might
figure out who is that man, that beast, 666, Oh no, that I might study to
be a Dr. Paul, a Reverend Paul. Was it Don that told us about
the fellow who was a preacher and his name was Twiddley and
he got a Doctor of Divinity, a Doctorate of Divinity and he
was known as Dr. Twiddley D.D. I think it was
Don that told us that. Paul says, no, no, he revealed
his son to me that I might preach him. That I might preach him. And that's what Paul did. Whether
at Ephesus, Galatia, Corinth, it didn't matter. In Acts 9 we're
told, and Paul immediately, after the scales had fallen from his
eyes, And he saw Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God. He preached
immediately Jesus Christ in the synagogue. And when we close
the book of Acts, we find that Paul is still preaching and teaching
those things concerning the Son of God, always and everywhere. I want to share briefly two articles
to you that illustrate this, what I'm saying. The first one
is by Brother Moose Parks. I got this off a blog on Free
Grace Radio. But Moose wrote this and I appreciate
his honesty. He said a certain moral issue
was being hotly debated in the early 80s. And I moved myself. I moved myself to feel led to
preach a message on it to the church to whom I ministered.
and I diligently researched the holy scriptures regarding the
subject and I arranged my findings in a very systematic and orderly
manner and I delivered the message. It was truthful regarding the
issue but devoid of him who is the truth. Devoid of him who
is the truth. A certain lady attended our worship
service that day for the first time. And she was in complete
agreement with everything I said, judging from her facial expressions
and head motions while I preached, and from her comments after the
message. I realized afterwards," Moose
wrote, that I had not preached the gospel to her. But judging,
but judging from her reception of the message I just preached,
I was sure, I was confident that she would be back. I resolved that I would preach
the gospel when she returned. But she never came back. She
never returned. I never saw her again. I had
only one opportunity to preach Christ to her, and I neglected
it. I neglected it. Moose said, I
can't say with Paul that I testify unto you this day that I am innocent
of the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare
unto you the whole counsel of God. I regret that I cannot make
that same declaration at the end of my ministry. I regret
I spent so many of the early years of my ministry preaching
something other than the whole counsel of God, which is summed
up in Christ and His gospel. I regret that so many sinners
in need of Christ heard me preach something else. I have prayed
to be forgiven of this sin. The second article are comments on the verse from
Romans 10. How beautiful are the feet of
them. Of course, this is taken from Isaiah. How beautiful are
the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things. It's written by David Edmondson,
the pastor at Madisonville, Kentucky, Bible Baptist Church, where Brother
Maurice Montgomery pastored for so many years. David wrote, Maurice
Montgomery, my pastor, brother, and friend, often joked about
the big toe. How beautiful are the feet. the
big toe that he had lost in a lawnmower accident years ago and I found
it so endearing that he could laugh about something that must
have been painful and would have been devastating the most. But
this week as he laid in that hospital bed struggling for every
breath and his foot was uncovered and I couldn't help but smile
as I thought about some of his comical comments about that absent
big toe. Friends, I tell you as sincerely
as I know, Maurice Montgomery had the most beautiful feet that
I ever saw for they were the feet that for years faithfully
brought me the gospel of peace and the glad tidings of good
news. As Paul said, I've determined
to preach nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. We would see Jesus because Jesus
Christ is all. How would we see him? savingly. Oh, by God's grace, savingly.
And how can that take place? Only by faith, which is the gift
of God. Many saw him literally in this
very chapter in John chapter 12, verse 27. But though he had
done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on
him. Many saw him in the flesh, were
not saved, Oh, it's not an intellectual look, but spiritually, looking
unto Jesus. The one is natural of man, the
other is God. This is what Paul meant. In 2
Corinthians 5 verse 16 when he said, Though we have known Christ
after the flesh, yet henceforth know we Him no more. Paul was
saying our knowledge of Christ is not a carnal reasoning that
we have arrived at on our own, but our knowledge of Christ is
the gift of God to us, giving us faith in His Son. That's how
we know Him. Any other knowledge is not saving. We remain lost. I'll not turn
there for the sake of time. But our Lord demonstrates both
these things in John chapter 6. He said, you've seen me and
you believe not. You've seen me with the natural
eye and you believe not. He said, Oh, but this is the
will of Him who has sent me, that all that seeth the Son and
believe a different kind of thing, not the result of flesh, but
the result of God's Spirit and grace, granting faith to needy
sinners. This is what our Lord spoke of
concerning Simon. Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. For God has revealed this to
you. This is not of yourselves. It
is the gift of God. We have a demonstration of that
with Bartimaeus. The Lord opened his eyes. With
Simeon. With the thief on the cross.
They all found. There's life for a look. at the crucified one. Did you
not find it so? Did you not find it so? Look
and live. Look and live. And you looked. And you lived. And our Lord says,
blessed are the eyes that see. Last of all. Why would we see
Jesus? We've already said so. We can't
be saved otherwise. We can't be saved otherwise.
Notwithstanding God's purpose to save. notwithstanding the
redemption by Christ Jesus. We must believe. We must believe. We must believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. We would see Jesus for he alone
shall save his people from their sins. And if I've never seen
Christ, I may have all my ducks in a row. I may know scripturally
Be accurate. This point, that point, all the
points. But if I don't know Him, I don't
know God. Christ said to those religious
leaders of His day, if you believe not that I am He, you'll die
in your sin. Oh, but bless His name. The just
shall live by faith. Looking unto Jesus, we shall
never die. Let the rich man look to his
riches, the wise man to his wisdom, the religious man to their religion. Oh, but for grace to keep looking
unto Jesus. Seeing Jesus, I see God incarnate. Seeing Christ crucified, I see
my sins put away. Seeing Jesus exalted and risen
on high, I see God writing over the debt I owed, paid in For,
oh yes, I would see Jesus. And bless His name. Now we walk
by faith, not by sight. Now we see Him, yes, through
a glass darkly. Oh, but when He shall appear,
we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. We shall see Him. Not streets of gold, mansions
and harps. Oh, that won't be the attraction
of glory. It'll be Him. Then, then we shall
know what Paul said concerning our affliction. Then it'll appear
light. And just for a moment, look what's
standing at, look who's standing at our journey's end. Look who's
waiting to welcome us home. Look at the end of the finish
line. We'll see Jesus who loved me
and gave himself for me. Oh my soul, won't that make it
all worthwhile? God bless you. God bless you.
Amen.