I want us to turn tonight again
to Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 9. I realize that all of us this
week and the next few days will have many opportunities with
family, friends, and others to speak to them concerning the
Lord Jesus Christ, his person and This time of the year, everybody
has their mind on the fact that Jesus Christ once came into this
world. If you drive around town, you'll
see nativity scenes, as they call them, little idolatrous
pictures and statutes of Jesus. You'll even have folks daring
to have children lay in a cradle and act like they are him. Oh
my soul, what have we come to? Our nation is steeped in superstition,
religion, idolatry. is just everywhere abounding.
And the fact is, most people who claim to believe in Jesus,
who go to church every Sunday in this country and in others,
things are the same all over the world. Most people who are
members of churches like this one, give their money to support
churches like this one and ministries like this as far as, when I say
like this, I mean religious, not at all like this, but most
folks don't have any idea who Jesus Christ is. They just don't. They just don't. Most of the preachers you know,
and I know. Most of the religious folks you
know, and I know. Your family and mine, your neighbors
and mine, are as lost as a goose in a snowstorm, believing in
Jesus. And the Jesus they believe is
no God at all. No Savior at all. So tonight
I want us to look at this text of scripture and I want to give
you some clear answers to two questions. Our text says here
in Hebrews 2 verse 9, we see Jesus. Now here are the two questions
I want to answer. May God give me wisdom by his
spirit and in his word to answer them. Number one, who sees him? And number two, who is this Jesus? Who is the we spoken of here? We see Jesus. Who sees Jesus
Christ? Now I know this. No man can see
him by natural means at all. No man can see him by natural
ability. There was a terrible form of
heresy in the early church. You find it dealt with plainly
in the book of Colossians. It was called Gnosticism. the
teachings of the Gnostics, the Gnostic heresy, was the teaching
that men and women, by acquiring knowledge, acquired the knowledge
of God and acquired the knowledge of salvation. Well there is a
form of Gnosticism that continues. Multitudes imagine that men and
women can get to know God by knowing facts and knowing doctrines. Now there's no question God does
not bypass the mind to get to the heart. You'll never know
Christ without knowing his doctrine. You'll never know Christ without
knowing something factual about his person and his work. I hear
folks frequently, I hear folks frequently say, when God saved
me I didn't know anything about Jesus. Well God didn't save you
then. That's just all there is to it. When God saved me, I didn't
know anything about who God was. If you didn't know who God was,
you weren't saved. That's just, that's just, I don't
know how on earth anything could be considered any plainer than
that. You can't believe in a God you
don't know. You can't trust a Christ you
don't know. Well, who sees him? Nobody by natural means. You must know the facts, but
knowing the facts won't save you. You must know the doctrine,
but knowing the doctrine won't save you. Let me see if I can
be clear on this. Turn over, if you will, to 1
Corinthians 2. A person can know much about
Christ and not know Him, not see Him. This is what seeing
Him is, it's knowing Him, trusting Him, believing Him. The word
see in Scripture is often used in just this way. You can know
the historic facts of his life and his doctrine, the doctrine
he taught. You can learn it well. When my
daughter was four years old, she knew better doctrine than
most preachers in this town know now. I'm telling you the truth. She could recite the catechism
that I had written out for her and recite it distinctly and
clearly from memory, and she understood the doctrine taught
in the catechism in the simplicity of it better than most preachers
in this town. But she didn't know him. There's
a big difference. Knowing the doctrine and knowing
him is a different thing. Knowing historic facts about him and
knowing him are two different things. Even rejoicing in his
doctrine and in the example he left is not knowing him necessarily. A person knows Christ not by
natural means. This is what the Holy Spirit
tells us, the Apostle Paul writing by inspiration in 2 Corinthians
5. He said, we know him not after
the flesh. We don't know Christ after the
flesh. We just don't. Now, God teaches us to know Him,
but we know Him after the Spirit. Do you understand what I'm saying? It's one thing for me to teach
you something, Bob, it's something else for God to teach you. It's
one thing for me to give you facts, another thing for God
to put His Son in you. Look here in 1 Corinthians 2.
You remember how our Lord said to Nicodemus, he said, except
a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. He can't
know it. He can't perceive it. He can't
apprehend it. Now here in 1 Corinthians 2 verse
12. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but
the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that
are freely given to us of God. You don't know these things by
the spirit of the world. You don't know these things by
the flesh. You don't know these things merely by carnal instruction,
but by the Spirit of God. Look at verse 14. But the natural
man, the natural man, that's every man born of woman who hasn't
been born of God, the natural man, receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness unto
him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned. If any sinner sees the Lord Jesus
Christ, it is because Christ has been revealed to him and
in him by the power and grace of God the Holy Spirit. I don't
know how on this earth I can state this without folks misunderstanding
us. I'll not attempt to avoid the
misunderstanding. People sometimes think that when
you don't just get all bent out of shape because somebody is
showing a little interest in something that you're being hard,
nothing could be further from the truth. If somebody calls
me or talks to me or comes by the office, one of you should
come and visit with me and say, you know, I don't know whether
I'm saved or not. I wouldn't make any effort to try to tell
you you were. I would not make any effort to try to do so. Somebody
says, well, what am I to do? Believe on Christ. Believe Him.
Believe Him. Believe Him. Or a preacher, what
do you do? I tell them to believe Him. I
tell you to believe Him. And I wait on God to do His work.
Because if I can give you faith, Rex, I can take it away. If I
can give you confidence, I can take it away. If I can give you
assurance, I can take it away. Or somebody else can. But if
God gives you faith, if God gives you confidence, if God gives
you assurance, nobody's going to take it away. You understand
what I'm saying? We preach the gospel and we wait for God to
put His Word in men and to reveal His Son in men. Look in Matthew
chapter 16, if you will. You remember how Paul said, when
it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb, he
revealed his Son in me? Here in Matthew 16, we have this
great confession made by Simon Peter. He said in verse 16, Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And in verse 17,
Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon
Barjona, For flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven." I'm talking about spiritual light,
spiritual sight, spiritual knowledge, spiritual understanding. It's
the gift of God. It doesn't depend on your educational
level. It doesn't depend on your academic
abilities. It doesn't depend on your logical
perception. It doesn't depend on your theological
training. It depends on God's revelation.
just on God's revelation. I have a dear friend who's with
the Lord now, Brother Elmer Harrell. He was one of the deacons at
the church in Lookout. And he won't mind me telling you this,
he couldn't hardly read at all. He went to school to the second
grade, started working. And he'd have a tough time sitting
down and arguing with you about anything in an intellectual conversation. Not that he wasn't smart. He's
smart as a whip. He just wasn't educated. He wasn't
educated. But he knew God. You remember
Elmer. He knew God. And walked with
Him. How'd he know Him? God made Himself
known to him. And that's the only way you'll
ever know Him. Is if He makes Himself known to you. In Matthew
chapter 11. Our Lord tells us plainly, God
gives this light to some. And hides it from others. Look
at verse 25. At that time Jesus answered and
said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth. Thank
you for what? Because thou hast hid these things
from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. What does that mean? What does
that mean? That means, Lindsay, the only
way you're ever going to learn anything about God is to come
to Him as a baby. That's the only way you're going
to ever learn anything about God. No other way. You come to Him on the ground
of your knowledge, you come to Him on the ground of your intelligence,
you come to Him on the ground of what you have learned, what
you have acquired, you'll never know Him or anything spiritual. There are lots of people who
claim to believe the gospel, even the gospel of God's grace,
and they seem to think that really the only difference between folks
who believe grace and the Arminian, the free willer, is that the
Arminian, the free willer, he hadn't learned as much as we've
learned. As a matter of fact, I was preaching one time at a
conference. This had been 27, 28 years ago. I was preaching in Charleston,
West Virginia at a Bible conference. The fellow in front of me made
this statement. He said, now I know it. He used
the term Calvinist. I don't care much for it. But
he said, in order to be a Calvinist, you've got to have some gray
matter. And I just stood up behind him. I have a way of saying what I
think needs to be said, you know. And I want to tell you something.
You might have to have some gray matter to be a Calvinist, but
to know God, you've got to be a sinner saved by grace. And
that's it. That's it. Men and women come
to know him by divine revelation. Look again, Matthew 11, verse
26. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. All
things, verse 27, are delivered to me of my Father, and no man
knows the Son but the Father. Neither knows any man the Father
save the Son. And who? He to whomsoever the
Son will reveal him. That's how men come to know God.
by revelation. Anything you see, anything you
know, anything you do by nature, by your own wisdom, will and
power is not spiritual and is of absolutely no benefit to your
soul. Let me see if I can illustrate
it for you. Do you reckon Judas knew about
as much as we do? I expect he did. He knew as much
about Jesus Christ as Peter did, but he didn't know it. Judas
saw his face, but he never saw the glory of God in his face.
Judas touched the Savior, but he was never touched by the Savior.
He kissed the Son, but the Son never kissed him. Judas saw Christ's
body, knew his origin as a man, and knew the history of his life
and ministry as well as any man. He knew the Master's doctrine.
But he didn't know the Master. Oh my God save me from that,
and you too. Judas saw everything about Christ,
but he never saw him. Christ was always before the
betrayer, but he was never in him. Christ's power was observed
by him, but he never experienced it. I hope you understand what
I'm saying. Christ was never revealed in
Judas. And without that revelation,
Judas did not and could not know the Son of God. All who are saved
are saved the same way Saul of Tarsus was saved, by God revealing
his Son in him. Now this is the reason why we
don't try to pressure folks into professions of faith. This is
the reason why we don't engage in any of the shenanigans that
go on by which the souls of men are deceived. We just don't do
it. You're not going to talk me into it. Nobody's going to
talk me into it. I don't care if everybody here and everybody
in this town joins hands and says we're going to do this.
You go ahead. I'm not getting involved in that
kind of nonsense. And I've told you many times
Several years ago, shortly after I came here, some of you will
remember, they had a movie here in town, all the churches got
together, the liberals and the fundamentalists and conservatives
and everybody else, and they showed a movie out at Boyle County
High School called The Burning Hell. And they tried to scare
the hell out of everybody. And folks got religious. They
called me and said, won't you join us in this? No. Well, how
come? Because you can't scare the hell
out of folks. That's just it. Well, what do
you mean? And finally I taught him to explain,
I said, you wouldn't understand. You just wouldn't understand.
Why not join us? It's surely it won't do anybody
any harm. Oh yes it does. Oh yes it does. You're just somebody
making a profession of faith. You take that little girl sitting
there. Anybody can make a profession
of faith who knows anything at all about scaring kids. Anybody can
make a confession of faith that knows anything at all about working
on folks' minds. Anybody. You can do it with adults.
That's no trouble. That's no trouble. You persuade
them of the right things. You get them to answer the right
questions. You can get them religious. But what you've done is you've
made them two-fold more the child of hell than they were before.
What do you do then, preacher? We wait for God to do His work. And He'll do it. He'll do it. If you and I see Christ, it's
because he's been revealed to us and in us by the power and
grace of his Spirit. God sends blindness and darkness
upon many as he did the Jews of old, as Isaiah prophesied
he would, as he will again in this dark day, as you read tonight
back in the office, but he promised he would send this great delusion. But blessed be his name, to some
he gives eyes to see. and ears to hear, and hearts
to believe. Listen to what he said. Our Lord
Jesus said to his disciples, blessed are your eyes, for they
see. Oh, if you see, blessed are your
eyes, for they see. If you hear his voice, blessed
are your ears, for they hear. Children of God, hear this and
rejoice. The fact that we now see him
and hear him and trust him, the fact that we now come to him
as sinners trusting him alone is proof positive that we're
his. We see him because he revealed
himself to us. We hear him because he redeemed
us and called us. We're his because he chose us,
and now we choose him because he chose us. If you see him,
it's because he called you by his grace. and made you to see
him. I'm not interested in when you
came to see him. It's irrelevant. I'm not talking
about how clearly you see him. If you see him today, tomorrow
you'll realize you didn't see him very well. And if you walk
with him, been looking at him, and looking to him and trusting
him for twenty years, you realize you haven't seen him very clearly
yet. I'm not talking about how clearly you see him. But this
is the vital issue. Do you see Christ? Do you trust the Son of God? Do you believe on Him? Well,
in order to answer that question, this one has to be answered.
Who is this Jesus? High Tech says we see Jesus.
Oh, how blessed that is! The very name of Jesus to the
eye and ear of faith is full of blessedness. It is the name
most precious and sweet to all who know Him. We often sing that
hymn of Newton's, how sweet the name of Jesus sounds in the believer's
ear. It soothes his sorrows, heals
his wounds, and drives away his fears. The person seen by the
eye of faith is Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Old
John Kershaw put it this way, He is the promised Messiah, the
Ancient of Days, the Bright and Morning Star, the Branch which
should come out of Jesse's rod, the Son of Righteousness that
should arise with healing in his wings, the Seed of the Woman
that should bruise the serpent's head, the Immortal Word that
was made flesh and dwelt among us. The child born, the Son given,
whose name is called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, upon whose shoulders
the government of all things in heaven and earth is placed,
the King of kings and Lord of lords. He said, Oh, this is the
glorious person seen, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom all fullness
dwell, who is head over all things to his body, the Church. Adored
be his name. He is over all, God blessed forever. Now that's who he is. Listen
to how he's described. This one whom we see, this one
who must be seen, who must be trusted, is called Jesus. Now that's very unusual. That's
very unusual. I know these days everybody uses
the name Jesus like they use the name dog. And they mean just
about the same thing by it. Have just about as much reverence
for it. But in the New Testament, folks who reverenced him, folks
who worshipped him, folks who trusted him, seldom ever just
called him Jesus. Very seldom. Very, very seldom. Why? Because that's the name
given to him in his humiliation. As you read the New Testament,
most of the time he's referred to as the Lord Jesus, the Lord,
the Lord Jesus Christ, or Christ, but seldom is he referred to
just by this lonely, humbled name, Jesus. But here, when the
Apostle is writing to us by inspiration and says, we see Jesus, as indicating
we see now, How that God's promise shall be fulfilled and he will
put all things under the feet of man. Because we see this man,
Jesus. He's talking about him in his
highest exaltation and glory. And yet he uses the name of his
humiliation. Why is that? Because the Jesus
whom we see by faith. The Jesus the world does not
see and cannot see. That one whom we trust is God
our Savior, the effectual, all-sufficient and only Savior of sinners. This
is not a wont to be Savior. Most people imagine, most people,
imagine that Jesus Christ wants to be everybody's Savior. And
they think that sounds good. They think that sounds reverent. They think that sounds godly.
Jesus wants to save you. Jesus wants to bless you. Jesus
wants you to love him. Let me tell you something. If
Jesus wants to save you, he'll save you. If Jesus wants to bless
you, he'll bless you. And if Jesus wants you to love
him, he'll fix it so you do. That's exactly right. And if
the Jesus you trust is not that one who has dominion over your
heart, you don't know Jesus Christ. You've never met him. The Jesus of scripture is not
a walk to be saved. He didn't come here hoping folks
would pretty please maybe let him save them. He came here to
save his people from their sins. This is what the scripture tells
us. Thou shalt bring forth the Son, and shalt call his name
Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." We see
Jesus, who came to save his people from their sins, now seated upon
the throne of glory. Yonder he sits, at the right
hand of the majesty on high. What does that mean? That means
he did what he came here to do. That means his work's finished,
his mission is accomplished. That means this one who is the
man, Jesus, is himself God Almighty. That means that all for whom
this man entered into heaven shall surely follow him. In that
man, seated at the Father's right hand, I see the pledge of God's
purpose and God's covenant promise made before the world began.
God's purpose to put all things under man's feet. That's what
this passage is about. Thou has put all things under
man, made all things subject to man. Well, how can you possibly
say that? Not by looking at you. Not by
looking at me. Not by looking at any nation
in this world at any time in history. Well, how is it then
that God has put all things under a man? He's put all things under
the feet of Jesus Christ. And one of these days, ladies
and gentlemen, he's going to put everything under your feet and mine. Well,
what do you mean? Turn over, if you will, to the
book of Revelation. Revelation chapter 3, verse 21. This is our Lord's
promise. To him that overcometh will I
grant to sit with me in my throne. even as I also overcame and am
set down with my Father in his throne." What on earth does that
mean? Just exactly what it looks like
it means. As Jesus Christ as a man was made to sit down on
the throne in the glory of God. You and I, saved by his grace,
will one of these days be made to sit down on the throne of
dominion over all things in the glory of Jesus Christ. Turn to Revelation 22. You remember
in 1 Corinthians 6, was it, where the Apostle Paul said, Don't
you know you're going to judge angels? You're going to judge
angels? What? You're going to judge angels. God's going to put everything
under your feet. The God of peace will bring Satan under your heel
shortly. Look here in Revelation 22 5. There shall be no night
there, they shall need no candle, neither light of the sun, for
the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign forever
and ever. Every one of God's elect, every
one of them, going to reign forever. All who see Jesus, all who are
born of God, all who believe God, all who are saved, all who
are heirs of eternal life, all who are the children of God,
every one of them, see Jesus Christ as their only and all-sufficient
Savior. You don't need to turn back to
1 Corinthians 1. I quote it so often, I hope you
all have memorized it and know it, not just from memory, but
in your hearts. Of him are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification,
and redemption. Now this is what that means.
Sam Wall sitting back there, my brother in Christ. Sam, if
you and I are in Christ, God put us in him. That's what it
means. And if God's put us in him, If
God's given us union to Christ by life and faith, we recognize
that Christ alone is our wisdom before God and from Him. We recognize
that Christ alone is our righteousness before God and from Him. Doesn't
matter what kind of righteousness you talk about, the only kind
you've got is Jesus Christ. That's all. Christ alone is our
sanctification. He alone makes us holy. He alone separates us from the
world. He alone will bring us to God.
Christ alone is our redemption. He alone paid our price. He alone
will bring us at last into everlasting glory. And we acknowledge it,
and we confess it, that according as it is written, He that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. We boast not. We boast not in
our flesh, we boast not in our earthly privileges, we boast
in Him, in Him. We see Jesus as Christ the Savior,
who was chosen, ordained, appointed, and anointed of God, and being
so, He is that one whom God alone will accept. He is that one whom
God alone has ordained, the one God alone will accept. He's that
one God alone appointed, that one God alone will accept. That one whom God has provided,
God will receive. And we come to God bringing Him
what He has provided, Jesus Christ the Lord. He's an almighty, chosen,
exalted, covenant Savior. And because He is our almighty,
chosen, exalted, covenant Savior, He is a sure Savior. We see Jesus,
the Christ, in the glory of his absolute dominion over all things. Turn over to John chapter 17.
John chapter 17. I'll wrap this up. This is our Lord's high priestly
prayer. I love the way he begins it. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, The hour has come, glorify thy
son, that thy son also may glorify thee, as thou hast given him,"
look at it now, power, authority, dominion over all flesh. How come that he should give
eternal life to everybody in the world. That's not what it
says. That he should give eternal life to everybody who will let
him. That's not what it says. That he should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given him. Well, how do you know he
will? How do you know he will? Because
he's Lord over all flesh. He's Lord of creation. He's Lord
of providence. He's Lord of all men, Lord of
all actions, Lord of all events. He's Lord of salvation, and He's
the Lord of His people. Now this is what I'm saying.
Nobody sees Christ. Nobody knows Him. Nobody trusts
Him. Nobody believes Him. Except those
to whom He is revealed, and who see Him in His true character. in his true character. So Pastor,
are you suggesting that other folks are lost just because
they don't see that Christ really did save his people? Of course
I am. Are you suggesting that a person
is lost just because he doesn't see that Jesus Christ really
is the absolute God of the universe? My soul, yes. Yes. A man or woman, I wish you could
understand, it doesn't matter whether it's your mama or mine.
It doesn't matter whether it's your son or mine. It doesn't
matter whether it's your daddy or mine. It doesn't matter whether
it's your neighbor or mine. A man or woman is just as well
off worshiping a stump. Worship a stump and call it Jesus.
That's the worship of Jesus who tries to do what he can't do.
Now you call one Christianity, you call the other Christianity.
You call the one salvation, you call the other salvation. But
that's not according to this book. We who believe see Jesus
and we understand he's the cause of us seeing him. We do. I didn't see that when God saved
me when you hadn't saved me. That's just as crazy as it can
be. A man's saved. A man's born of God when he sees. When he sees. when he sees. But do you see? You're still
groping about in darkness. God help you to see. And may
God give us grace and wisdom to show others the light. And
may he give them eyes to see, for Christ's sake. Amen. All right, Lindsey, you come
lead us in the hymn, if you will.