I want you to open your Bibles
to 1 Timothy chapter 3. Find verse 16 and just hold it
open on your lap. The Apostle Paul tells us in
verse 15 that the church, this local assembly, this one right
here, and every true gospel church in the world in every age and
in every place. The church is the house of God. This is the church of the living
God. It's not a social club. It's
not an entertainment center. It's not an amusement park. It's
not a theater. It's the house of the living
God. Now that seems strange in this
day. You just can't imagine how strange it seems unless you bother
to read the church advertisements in your local paper every Friday
or for some of you every Sunday morning. The church today is a laughing
stock. It's a laughing stock. And that
which goes on in the church were it not blasphemy would be hideously
funny. Done in the name of God, done
in the name of serving God. And it gets worse in December
than any other month of the year. This is the house of God. Paul says in verse 15, if I tarry
long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself
in the house of God." We don't have to guess about how we ought
to behave. God tells us. It's His house. How are you supposed
to behave in the house of God? What are you supposed to do?
Open this book and find out. Open this book and find out.
Nothing is to be done here except what God in His Word specifies
is to be done here. Say, well, we believe in soul
liberty. We believe in the priesthood
of the believer. That's real religious talk to
cover up rebellion. That's all it is. Just covering
for rebellion. No, God tells us how to behave
in his house, which is the church of the living God, the pillar
and ground of the truth. This church then, the church
of the living God, the very house of God, is the place where God
meets with his people. This is the place where God promised
he'd meet with his people. Nowhere else in the world, this
place. You may come here and not see
him. And you may not know his presence. You may not hear his voice. But it's not because he's not
here. He said, where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them. He said, I'll come and make myself
known to you. Not to the world, to you. To
you. To you, my people. I'll meet
with you. The house of God is the house
where the Lord God makes himself known to his own. People who visit my house with
any regularity get to know me pretty good. That's where you
let your hair down because this is my house. That's where you
don't put up any guard. This is my house. You want to
find out what a person is really like? If you can get them to
be honest and tell you, ask the folks who live with you. I'll
tell you what it's like. This is the place where God makes
himself known. The house of God, this is the
place where God feeds, instructs, comforts, ministers to, protects,
guides his children, the house of God. Paul tells us plainly
that his purpose in writing the epistle of 1 Timothy is that
we might know how we ought to behave ourselves in the house
of God. If there's any place where a
man is to be honored, it's in his house, in his house. God Almighty demands that we
honor him in his house. My daughter is married and has
a husband of her own, children of her own. But I still demand
that she honor me in my house. I'm thankful I don't have to
press the issue. But if I had to, I'd press it. This is my
house. This is my house. You're not going to come in my
house and speak disrespectfully to, about, or of me, or to, or
about, or of my family. Not going to happen. God demands
that we honor him in his house. God teach us to do so. Come here
preparing to meet God. Did you? When you got up and took a shower
and brushed your teeth, and you ladies, I hope none of you men
did, put on your makeup, put on your best face and got ready
to get here, did you think about coming to meet God in His house? Preparing to worship the living
God? Asking God to speak to you, to make Himself known to you?
Come to the house of God to hear His Word. Honor Him by hearing
it. Be swift to hear. Swift to hear. And when you've heard it, guard
it. Keep it. Honor God in His house
in everything done here. Every song, every word, we take
great care that every word spoken in the song, every word spoken
from the pulpit honors God. Every message is prepared for
His honor. Every ordinance performed for
His honor. honor God in his house. And then Paul tells us that the
church, this local assembly of blood-bought sinners, is by the
appointment of God the pillar and ground of the truth. The pillar and support. The pillar and mainstay. The pillar and ground of the
truth. This is the place where God's truth is established where
God's truth is maintained and where God's truth is promoted
in the world. Now, we have no other purpose
for existence. No other purpose. No other purpose. Well, I want to be entertained
when I go to church. Go down the road, you can find
plenty. I want a church that offers me
something special for me because I'm single or because I'm divorced
or because I'm or because I'm young, or because I'm old, or
because I don't do things the way other folks do them. Go down
the road, you'll find churches that do it everywhere. Why don't
you have something special for the young people? Because young
people need the same thing old folks do. The very same thing. Young people are going to hell
just like old folks are going to hell. And they need the gospel
of God's grace. That's all. That's all. Go to the social club to be entertained.
Go to the theater to watch a movie. We're here as a pillar and ground
of the truth. The pillar and ground of the
truth. And as long as I have breath and God gives me good
sense and grace, that's all that's going to go on here. That's all
that's going to go on here, no matter who objects. The pillar
of the house is that which bears inscriptions to the honor of
the one who built it. You go find the pillar of the
house and you'll find a plaque often times giving honor to the
one who built the house. The pillar and ground of the
truth gives honor to Christ who builds it. The pillar is that
which upholds the house and gives it stability, Christ Jesus the
Lord. The ground is the basis, the
foundation upon which the house is built and stands. Without
it, it'll crumble, Christ the truth. The ground is the foundation. It is that which determines the
shape and the structure of the house. Christ the truth. Now we're not left to guess about
these things. We're not left to form our own
opinions about them. In the very next verse, the Holy
Spirit clearly identifies that body of truth of which we are
to be the pillar and ground in this world. That body of truth
we are to uphold and maintain and declare in this world for
the glory of God. Look at it. And without controversy,
without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. Here is a mystery without controversy. There's a lot of controversy
about it in the religious world. A lot of controversy about it
in the academic world. A lot of controversy about it
in the world at large. But in the Church of God, there's
no controversy. No controversy. I'm aware of
the fact that no point of gospel doctrine is more controversial
to others than the incarnation of Christ. And yet in the Church
of God, among true believers, this is a point beyond all controversy. It is not up for debate. Well,
won't you consider another thought? No, I won't. Well, you're so
bigoted and narrow-minded. Yes, I am. Just as bigoted and
narrow-minded as this book. It's without controversy. And
I'm telling you that there is no such thing as a sinner who
believes God with whom this is controversial. No such thing.
I don't care what name he wears. I don't care how many degrees
he has. I don't care what kind of costume he wears. There's
no such thing as a sinner who believes God about which there's
any controversy here. God was manifest in the flesh. God. the invisible God, God whom
no man has seen nor can see. God, incomprehensible. God, spirit. God, the omnipotent,
the holy. God, who is a consuming fire.
God, the maker of all things. God, the creator of the universe.
God, who rules all. God, who governs all. God, before
whom we stand and before whom we fall. God was made manifest
in the flesh. You know what that means, Merle?
God, whom you can't see, was seen in the flesh. God showed himself in the flesh. The invisible God was made visible
in the flesh. The greatest mystery in all the
world is the mystery of the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Son of God. It was a miraculous, supernatural
work of God. And that which is supernatural
cannot be explained by the laws of nature any more than that
which is spiritual can be explained by the laws of physics. How could
that be? God did it. That's all. God did
it. Here is a matter that can only
be received and understood by faith. When Paul said God was
manifest in the flesh, this is what he means for us to understand.
God the Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity, who in the
covenant of grace assumed all responsibility for the saving
of his people, to put away their sins. This God became a man so
that he might accomplish the will of God, the mission upon
which God sent him into this world, the salvation of his people. Look in Hebrews chapter 10. Hold
your hands here in 1 Timothy. Look at Hebrews 10. The Apostle Paul is quoting here
from Psalm 40 and elaborating on it slightly. He tells us,
sacrifices of the law could never take away sin. The psalmist said,
sacrifice and offering, burnt offering, thou didst not desire.
God never had satisfaction in any sacrifice made on this earth
by any man, no matter how great it was. God Almighty could never
turn away his wrath because of any sacrifice any man made. I
like to work crossword puzzles, and it's become very popular
now. When you speak of someone who is a repentant one or a penitent
one, the answer is an atoner. What blasphemy. Oh, no. You make reconciliation with
God with what? With what? No, no. Sacrifice
and offerings God doesn't desire. They could never put away sin.
Look at verse 5 of Hebrews 10. Wherefore, since there was no
other way whereby God Almighty could be satisfied by any sacrifice,
When he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice an offering
thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me. A body,
that holy thing conceived in the virgin's womb, hast thou
prepared me. In burnt offerings and in sacrifices
for sin thou hast had no pleasure, no satisfaction. Then said I,
Lo, I come, in the volume of the book, the book of God's decrees,
the book of Holy Scripture, the book of the Old Testament, in
the volume of the book it is written of me, to do thy will,
O God. above when he said, Sacrifice
and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest
not, neither has pleasure therein which were offered by the law.
Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. Now watch this.
He taketh away the first. totally, completely, absolutely,
that he may establish the second. Takes away the carnal ceremonies,
takes away the sacrifices, takes away the priesthood, takes away
the temple, takes away the mercy seat, takes away the altar, takes
away the first, that he may establish something better, the second.
It is by the witch will. the doing of the will of God,
by the sacrifice of God's Son, we are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ one time. One time. The Son of God assumed mortal
human flesh. Now, He did lay aside His manifest
glory, so that when He came down here on the earth, He didn't
look like God. There wasn't any halo over his
head and there sure wasn't one over his sinful mother's head.
No sir. No sir. He was just a man. He
was just a man. He came down here and veiled
his glory. He, in that sense, laid his glory
by, but only in the sense that he never ceased to be God. He
never abdicated his throne. He never gave up the rule of
the universe. He is still God in heaven while
he is man upon the earth. But this God, the Son, of some
mortal human flesh, He's God over all, blessed forever, infinite,
eternal, immutable, incomprehensible, yet all the fullness of the God
is in Him bodily. All that God is. All that God
is. Now hear me and hear me well.
All that you and I can ever know or see or experience of God is
the God-man, Jesus Christ. That's all. You can't see God. Scriptures are so plain about
that. He's spirit. He's spirit. And if you ever
see a spirit, it's because you're high on something. God is spirit. You can't see Him. You can't
see Him. You don't see angels unless they
take on themselves the form of flesh. Can't be done. They're
spirit. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
himself the embodiment of all that God is. Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in the
body of that man who came in human flesh and now sits on the
throne of glory. And yet, this God did become
a real man. Till God in human flesh I see,
my heart no comfort finds." There can be no comfort for a sinner
in the knowledge that God is. Folks say, well, I believe in
God. That's nothing. That's nothing.
Who doesn't? There's no consolation for your
soul in believing that God is. If you have any concept at all
of who God is, you're terrified by that fact. Oh, but when God
takes on himself my mortality. When God takes on Himself my
nature. When God takes into union with
His being all that I am, sin alone accepted. Now, there's
a reason for that. It must be because God intends
to do me good. It must be because God has come
here to help me because I can't help myself. The Word was made
flesh and dwelt among us. John says, and we beheld His
glory. He's right here. We saw Him transfigured. We heard
the Father speak to His Son, saying, This is My Son in whom
I am well pleased. Hear Him. And we saw Him as He
stood with Moses and Elijah on the mountain. Transfigured before
our eyes, we beheld His glory. This man, who is God, whom we
touched and handled, we beheld His glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. No man
has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. Turn over
to 1 John chapter 1. Listen to this. We don't have a high priest in
heaven which can't be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Now listen to what John says
about him, 1 John 1. That which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which
we have looked upon, and our hands have handled. He said,
now, have we seen him? We've heard Him. We've looked
on Him. We've handled Him. We've handled
Him. I shook your hand when you gave
me this morning. John said we've handled Him. Just like that,
we've handled Him. We've handled Him. The Word of Life. For the
life was manifested, and we've seen it, and bear witness and
show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and
was manifested unto us. That which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you. We declare now all that we've
seen and heard, eternal life, which is Christ Jesus the Lord,
that you may have fellowship with us. And truly, our fellowship
is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. Was it necessary
that our Redeemer be a man? How important is that? How important
is it that we lay stress upon this fact that Jesus Christ became
a man? Man had sinned and man must suffer. But man alone could do nothing
for us. The sufferings of a mere man
could never put away sin. The sufferings of a mere man
could never make atonement. The sufferings of a mere man
could never satisfy the wrath of God. This man who is our Savior
is the God-man. Now because Jesus Christ is a
man, he was able to suffer for us. Because he's God, he was
able to satisfy all the wrath of God with one tremendous draught
of love he drank damnation dry. The sufferings of the God-man
unto death were vicarious sufferings. He suffered not for himself,
but for us. And there are sufferings of infinite,
perpetual merit and efficacy to save us, to satisfy the law
and justice of God for the constant forgiveness of our sins by God
Himself. Because God was manifest in the
flesh and put to death in the flesh. God can be just and justify
the ungodly. There was no other way by which
it could be done. Look at this text again, back
in 1 Timothy 3.16. God would manifest in the flesh. Watch this. Justified in the
spirit. Justified. What on earth does that mean? The Lord Jesus Christ claimed
to be God the Son in all things equal with the Father. Now there's
no question that that's the claim he made. Folks say, well, he
never really said he was God. You'll have these fellas come
around with black britches, own carrying a black satchel in their
bag, and they'll sit down and tell you Jesus Christ is a God. He never said
he was God. The Jews picked up a handful of rocks and fixed
them to kill him. Because thou being a man, makest thyself God. They understood that. He claimed
to be God. He claimed to be the Son in all
things equal with the Father. The Holy Spirit confirms his
claims. The Spirit speaks of him and
confirms his claims. In John 15, he said, When the
Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father,
even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father, he
shall testify of me. Look in John 16. John 16. Now you may mentally Give assent
to the fact that Jesus Christ is God. You may mentally give
assent to that fact, but you will never believe He's God until
He is verified in your soul by the Spirit of God as God. And this is how it's done. John
16, verse 8. Our Lord says, when He, the Spirit
of truth, has come, when He comes to you, He will reprove. The word is convince. Convince. We use the word Holy Spirit conviction. But the word has gotten a little broad, shall I say. Folks tell
me, the Holy Spirit convicted me, I ought not wear this. I ought not go there. I ought
not eat that. Folks get convicted about the
Holy Spirit. You ought not eat any artificial
sweeteners. You ought not eat any pork. You
ought not do this. That ain't Holy Spirit conviction.
That's religious persuasion. That's all. When the Holy Spirit
convinces you of something, it's not a debatable issue. And He
doesn't convince one fellow of one thing and one fellow of another.
He convinces all of the same thing. He convinces them of Christ. Look at it. See what it says.
When He is come, He will convince the world, God's elect, wherever
they are in the world, of sin. He'll convince you of your sin. Paul said, I didn't know sin
until one day God made me know sin. Sin. Not what you did, what you
are. He'll convince you of sin. Because
they believe not on man. There's the issue. You hate him.
He'll convince you of righteousness. Righteousness. Not yours. You haven't got any. His. Not the righteousness of God's
character. Every man is born with that knowledge. It's stamped on him by creation.
Read the first chapter of Romans. Well, what's he talking about?
Convince you of righteousness. Convince me of what I ought to
do in order to make myself righteous. No. No. He'll convince you you
can't. What? He'll convince you, Ron,
righteousness is done. He'll convince you that Jesus
Christ is the Lord our righteousness. Because I go to my Father. The
fact that this man who was made to be sin and suffered the just
wrath of God because of sin and was buried in the tomb has arisen
from the dead and goes to the Father, that means righteousness
is done. He'll convince you of it and
of judgment. Oh, I was under such conviction
of the Holy Spirit, I got convinced I was slipping down to hell,
and hell was coming up to meet me. I could feel the flames licking
on my heels. I knew that when I came out of my mother's womb
by nature. Read Romans chapter 1. And I
became more and more convinced of it every day that I lived.
What's he talking about? Convince you of judgment. Oh,
man, you're scared of going to hell. No, that's not it. He'll
convince you there's no possibility of you going to hell, because
judgment is done. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus, to them who walk in the Spirit,
being born of God, taught of God, justified in the Spirit. How is Christ justified in the
Spirit? When the Holy Spirit was given
to Him without measure by the Father, John chapter 3, the Holy
Spirit justified His claims. When our Lord submitted to baptism
to fulfill all righteousness in a picture in Matthew chapter
3, the Holy Spirit descended upon him, lied upon him, and
abode upon him, confirming his claims. Our Lord performed mighty
miracles while he walked on this earth. John sent his disciples
to him and said, Art thou the Christ, or do we look for another?
He said, Go back and tell John what you say. And by these things
the Holy Spirit justified his claims. Our Lord Jesus, when He was made
to be sin for us, was justified from sin when He was raised from
the dead. The body of our Savior, when
He was made to be sin, He knew no sin. He had no sin. But He
was made sin. And when He was made sin, God
drew forth the sword of his justice and buried his sword in the heart
of his son. And buried his son in the earth.
And his body lay in an unjustified state in the grave for three
days. There he lay. They stood around
and mocked him. Let's see if God will have it.
But see if God will have him. Look at him. There he is in the
grave. Told you God wouldn't have him.
He laid in the grave. But then on the third day, the
spirit of life revived. And he arose and was declared
to be the son of God with power justified in the spirit. visibly, clearly justified from
the sins that had been imputed to him and made to be his, and
thereby we were justified. He was delivered for our offenses,
delivered because of our offenses charged to him, and raised again
for our justification, raised again because of justification
accomplished by him. Augustus Toplety described it
beautifully. Whenever I have seen on rare
occasion The eclipse of the sun. I think about this. I got picked
this up somewhere years ago from Toplady. He said, when the sun
of righteousness arose from his sad but brief eclipse, he rose
to set no more. And he rose with healing in his
wings. The Holy Spirit continues to
justify Christ. Turn to 1 John 5. 1 John 5. He bears witness to the claims
of Christ in the hearts of chosen sinners when He comes in saving
power to raise us from the dead and give us faith in Him. 1 John
5, 6. This is He that came by water
and blood. Even Jesus Christ, not by water
only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth
witness, because the Spirit is truth. The Spirit beareth witness
with our spirit, that we're the sons of God when He beareth witness
because of the truth revealing Christ in us. For there are three
that beareth record in heaven, the Father, the Word, that is
the Son of God, and the Holy Ghost. And there are three, and
these three are what? And there are three that beareth
witness in the earth. The spirit, the water, and the
blood. God, the Holy Spirit. The word,
represented as the water by which we are washed. and the blood that cleanses us
from all sin. And these three agree in one. The Spirit comes and takes the
Word, speaks to my heart, and sprinkles on my heart the blood
of Christ, which God Almighty has accepted in heaven, and I'm
declared to be the Son of God. All right, back here in 1 Timothy.
Look at this. Here's the fourth thing. Scene
of angels. Scene of angels. I don't know when the angels
were created, but they appear to be God's first
creatures, the very first creatures of God. Just as soon as they
were created by him, they saw him, loved him, adored him, and
worshipped him. To this day, the angels attend
the gathering of God's church. desiring to look into the mystery
of redemption. We don't see them, but my best
is just as often as you and I get together here to worship God.
Angels of God sit here in our midst to hear the wonders of
redemption as we give the praise to our Redeemer and declare His
Word. They can know nothing of it by
experience. Fallen angels are preserved in chains of darkness,
but the elect angels stand in awe of this wondrous mystery.
And yet those holy creatures saw the Lord Jesus Christ as
he performed the great work of redemption. The angels of God
saw him in his pre-incarnate glory, not just as God, But as
our Savior, they were informed of His intention, of His purpose,
of His covenant to save His people. And I know that because they
are sent forth to be ministering spirits, to minister to those
who shall be the heirs of salvation. When the blessed Son of God actually
entered into this world, the angels saw Him. The angels beheld
His miraculous conception. An angel was the first and the
second messenger of the Incarnation. An angelic host announced his
birth at Bethlehem. What a place Bethlehem stable
was for one brief night. The presence of God the Son in
human flesh turned a cow stable into a temple. A trough where
animals fed was made to be the throne of grace where the king
of glory was laid. The angels of God sang his praise
that night. as they beheld Him. The angels
of God attended to the Son of God, our Savior, in His time
of trouble, in the wilderness. They came and ministered to Him
after His temptation of the devil. When He was in Gethsemane, He cried, Not my will, thy will
be done. His body covered with bloody
sweat, the angels of God came and ministered to Him. When he
hung upon the cursed tree, he was alone. And there were none
to minister to him. But the angels of God watched
over his dead body in the tomb. And the angels of God rolled
away the stone from the tomb on resurrection day. And they
were the first to announce his resurrection to the disciples.
At last, turn to Revelation 12. I read this last night and again
earlier this morning. When our Lord Jesus The God-man
ascended up into heaven with his own blood into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us. Can you imagine the scene? Can you imagine the scene when
the angels of God saw Him whom they had seen for all these thousands
of years, whom they saw before the world was made determined
to save His people, whom they saw with His joy set before Him,
for which He endured the cross, despising the shame. Now, here
He comes, having done His work, having obtained redemption. Look
in Revelation 12 verse 10. John says, I heard a loud voice
saying, In heaven now is come salvation, and strength, and
the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ. For the
accused of the brethren is cast down, which accused them before
God day and night. And they overcame him by the
blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and
they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore rejoice,
ye heavens, and you that dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants
of the earth and the sea, for the devil is come down to you,
having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short
time. John says, I heard the angels
of God shout when he came back to glory. Now look at this next
line. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles. The Gentiles. You know how the
Jews referred to Gentiles? They don't do it so much publicly
these days, but the attitude's still the same. Dead dogs. Common prayer, God, I thank thee.
I'm not a woman, a Gentile, or a dog. And you know what? They were being complimentary.
Read the history of our forefathers. who think your family tree is
something else. Read your family tree just a little bit past your
great granddaddy. Just a little bit past your great
granddaddy. They were all folks who were barbarians. Our Gentile
fathers would make Saddam Hussein look like a prince. Our Gentile
fathers worshipped stumps and worse. Our Gentile fathers were
pagans. Our Gentile fathers were vile
in the very most despicable form of moral vileness. No virtue. No virtue. God, I thank you I'm
not a Gentile. Not a Gentile. I don't go down
there and involve myself in that stuff, those Gentiles. Glory
in. But Christ was preached to Gentiles,
to the most undeserving, vile, base, unbelieving, corrupt men. And here's a great mystery as
well. The way he made known the gospel
to us is by preaching. Mark this, my friend. God has ordained that the gospel
be made known to men by preaching. The mightiest weapon of God's
church is the pulpit wherein the gospel is preached. This
is the battering ram by which the gates of hell shall fall
before the kingdom of Christ. Oh, we need no other attraction
but the uplifting of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Here's another
wonder. The ones who preached to him
were the Jews who used to say, God, I thank you, I'm not a Jindo. The first preachers of the gospel
were themselves Jews who came to make Jews out of Gentiles. Who came not to make physical
Jews, not to make religious Jews, oh no, but to make us to be Jews
inwardly by the converting power of God's grace. Worshippers of
God, the sons of Abraham and the men who preached. They were just unlearned, unlettered,
ignorant fishermen who came and preached the gospel to brilliant,
educated, philosophical, wise Gentiles. And God saved them. And it's always been that way
throughout history. Oh, every now and then, There
will arise some brilliant shining star, an apostle Paul, someone who has tremendous abilities
and God will use them for his appointed purposes. But I've
read a little church history and I like to read how God works. And I tell you what I've discovered.
It is seldom that brilliant, Well-educated, learned, lettered
men are used for anything in the kingdom of God. It just doesn't
often happen. I know folks like to be called
Dr. So-and-so. You can buy them for 10 cents
a piece now. You can get your doctor's degree.
Folks call me Reverend Dr. Don. Reverend Twiddle D. Got him a
doctor's degree and now they call him Reverend Twiddle D.D.? Such foolishness. But God takes
a bunion, a Warburton, a top lady, a Spurgeon, a nothing,
a nobody, A failure, useless, worthless piece of human flesh. And Jesus preached the gospel
to the building of his kingdom for the glory of his name. Preached
among the Gentiles. Because next thing, believed
on in the world. Oh, yeah. Christ faithfully preached. He's believed by the power of
God's Spirit. He takes the word and calls the
sinners to believe on the Son of God. And now the mystery of
godliness becomes without controversy to another. And look at this
last thing. Received up into glory. Our Savior was received up into
glory because His work was finished. He sat down in heaven and received
gifts for me and yea, for the rebellious also that the Lord
God might dwell among them. As our representative surety
and forerunner, He received all the fullness of salvation, all
the fullness of glory that He might give all the gifts of His
grace, His salvation, and His glory to His people. While the echo of men's voices,
crucify Him, crucify Him, had not even been silenced. Heaven
opened wide its gates and received the victorious King and resounded
with the song, worthy, worthy, worthy is the Lamb. God the Father
received him as our sacrifice and our substitute, as our savior,
as our mediator, as our forerunner, as our shelter. And he received
us in him. Since Christ is in glory, we're
in glory too. Risen together with him. Seated
with him in heavenly places. And that which we already possess
with him, representatively, Because He possesses it for us, we shall
possess with Him personally real soon. Because all that He has obtained, He's obtained to give to us. He received gifts for men. He didn't receive it for Himself,
but for us. Eye hath not seen nor ear heard,
neither hath any man entered into the heart of any man things
God has prepared for them that love Him. For I reckon now that
the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory that awaits us. Ah, what glory! It is every believer's
great joy to know that Christ Our Savior, the King of glory,
the God-man who died to redeem us, now sits upon the throne
of heaven. There he makes perpetual intercession
for us. And as we read in Psalm 21 this
morning, the Lord God gives him all his desire. Everything he
asks of God for me. Everything. He asks of God for
me. Everything. God gives it to him. And he gives him long life forever. For me. Long life forever. He rules the universe for the
good of his elect. For the saving of his people.
Executing the purpose of his grace. And because he's been
received up into glory, he shall not fail.