The title of my message tonight
is Lessons from the Master's Boyhood. What was life like for
our Savior as he grew up in the home of Joseph and Mary? What
occupied his time? How did he and his family live
day by day? Those might be interesting questions,
but they are questions for which no answers are given in the Word
of God. All that we know about our master's
boyhood, his youth, and his early manhood, we have in the text
before us this evening in Luke chapter 2, verses 41 through
52. In these 12 short verses, we
have the whole biography of the Son of God as he walked on this
earth in human flesh from his infancy until he was 30 years
old. Nothing else is written about
his boyhood, and that is as it should be. You see, God never
satisfies vain curiosity. We ought to take a lesson from
it. God never answers or gratifies the quibbles of men about questions
to which there are no answers given. God the Holy Spirit has
here given us everything that's needful and profitable for our
souls to know about our master's childhood. We would be wise to
recognize this. It is both the depth of folly
and the height of arrogance for men and women to speculate about
the things of God which he has chosen not to reveal. Let me repeat that, it's worth
remembering. It is both the depth of folly
and the height of arrogance for men and women to speculate about
the things of God which God has chosen not to reveal. It is an
act of wisdom, of faith, and of humility, simply to believe
and heed what God says in his word. Faith bows to the word
of God. Faith heeds the Word of God. Faith obeys the Word of God. Faith doesn't stand around and
question God. Faith doesn't debate with the
Word of God. Faith bows to the Word of God. Here the Holy Spirit gives us
the history of our Master's boyhood. Now, I pray that he will graciously
teach us the lessons he would have us to learn from it. Let's
read together beginning at Luke chapter 2 and verse 41. Now his
parents went to Jerusalem every year to the feast of the Passover.
And when he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem after
the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the
days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem,
and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they, supposing
him to have been in the company, went a day's journey, and they
sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they
found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.
And it came to pass that after three days they found him in
the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing
them and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished
at his understanding and answers. And when they, that is when Joseph
and Mary saw him sitting in the temple with the learned doctors,
listening to them, asking them questions, not quibbling and
disputing, but listening and asking questions, they were amazed. And his mother said unto him,
Why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I
have sought thee sorrowing.' And he said to them, How is it
that you sought me? You ought to have known where
to find me. How is it that you sought me? Wist ye not that I
must be about my father's business? And they understood not the saying
which he spoke to them. and when he went down with them
and came to Nazareth and was subject unto them. But his mother
kept all these sayings in her heart and Jesus increased in
wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men. Now listen carefully, I want
you to grasp these two things. The believer's only hope of life
before God is the death of Jesus Christ as our substitute, his
obedience to God unto death. And our only rule of life is
the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do you understand that? Do I understand that? Our only
hope of salvation, eternal life, the forgiveness of sins, and
everlasting acceptance with the Holy Lord God, is the sin-atoning,
expiatory sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. We live by his
death. Christ's payment canceled our
debt. His obedience was our obedience. His judgment for sin, being punished
by the justice and wrath and law of God, was our judgment. His death was our death. His
obedience, that which he performed, the agony he suffered, and all
the hell he endured, all the debt he paid, indeed everything
endured and performed by Jesus Christ as a man, was endured
and performed for us as our surety in our room and in our stead.
The Lord Jesus owned nothing. He had nothing that was required
of him, nothing to be performed by him, nothing to be paid by
him. But everything he did, everything he suffered, everything he endured,
he did, he suffered, he endured. The payment that he made was
made as our surety and as our substitute so that now our life
is in his blood. We live by the merit, by the
virtue, by the power, by the efficacy of the blood of Jesus
Christ. Don't ever allow this modern
infidel generation to turn you away from the preciousness of
the blood of Christ. We are redeemed, James, by his
precious blood, accepted of God by his precious blood. Indeed,
if you read the New Testament and understand that which is
written in the New Testament, everything that we enjoy as God's
people in this world and to eternity by the grace of God is ascribed
to the blood of Christ. Did you know that? Everything.
Listen to this. The scripture tells us that we are justified
by his blood. It is the blood of Christ that
makes us just with God. It is his blood, his death as
our substitute, the life poured out in his blood, which was the
consummation of his obedience unto God. I received a note just
the other day, yesterday or the day before one, I've forgotten
which, from someone who made the statement that said, since
we are justified by his resurrection. Oh no, we're not. Oh no, we're
justified by his blood. His resurrection declares our
justification, but his blood accomplished it. The scripture
tells us that we have forgiveness of sin through his blood. The only way God Almighty in
holiness and justice can ever forgive sin is if sin is paid
for to the full satisfaction of justice. He forgives us by
the blood of Christ. We're reconciled to God by the
blood of his dear son. We drink his blood for the satisfying
of our soul's thirst. It is his blood that purges the
conscience from dead works. and satisfies the demands of
a conscience before God, so that we can draw near to God with
confidence and with full assurance of faith, being accepted of God
by the merit of His blood. The blood of Christ purges our
consciences, and the blood of Christ brings us now who are
far off from God by nature. It is the blood of Christ that
speaks peace to our hearts, and the blood gives us access into
the holiest, emboldening us to come before God upon the blood-sprinkled
mercy seat with acceptance being assured our souls. We are sanctified
by his blood. The blood of Christ was the ransom
price, the purchase money of our redemption, paid to the hands
of God's offended justice. The blood of Jesus Christ is
the seal of the everlasting covenant. It is the blood that cleanses
us from all sin. The blood speaks for us in heaven
better things than that which is spoken by the blood of Abel.
It is the blood, the precious blood of Christ, by which we
shall overcome at last, according to Revelation 12, 11. No wonder,
then, Cowper wrote that blessed hymn, Dear dying lamb, thy precious
blood shall never lose its power till all the ransomed church
of God be saved to sin no more. And all who have seen that blood
might well repeat the line, E'er since, by faith, I saw the stream
thy flurry wounds supply. Redeeming love has been my theme
and shall be till I die. I cannot imagine any redeemed
sinner ever tiring about the blood of Christ, hearing about
it, thinking about it, meditating upon it, nor can I imagine any
preacher ever tiring about proclaiming it. Our obedience has nothing
whatsoever to do with our salvation. We are saved by Christ's obedience
unto death as our substitute. If you would be saved, you are
yet without Christ. If you would be saved, you must
kiss your obedience goodbye. You must cast your righteousness
aside and look to Jesus Christ's obedience unto blood as your
substitute, as your only hope before God. You must call on
him, trust him. As Gary read a little while ago
in Romans 10, that faith doesn't save. Who's going to come down
from heaven? Who's going to descend into the
deep? Faith says it's already done. Faith doesn't say what
needs to be done. Faith says Christ has done everything
and looks to him, confessing him alone as our hope before
God. Our only hope then is Christ
the Lord. Now Rex, that's the most difficult
thing on this earth for men and women to be persuaded of. Nobody
will ever look to Christ's blood alone for acceptance with God
until he is stripped of all self-righteousness, until he is stripped of all hope
in himself, made naked before God and made to see by divine
revelation that the life we had before God is in his blood. But
here's something else, and this second thing is just as important.
The believer's rule of life The pattern by which we must mold
our lives in all things is the example Christ left us when he
walked on this earth. Our blessed Savior was much,
much more than an example for us to follow. But understand
this, he was and is the example by which our lives must be governed,
ruled, and molded in this world. We are free from the law. Bless
God, we are no longer slaves. Bless God, we who are born by
his spirit are no longer under the curse, nor the covenant,
nor the condemnation, nor the constraint of the law. We're
not motivated in any way whatever by the law. But we are bound
to Christ. Our hearts are bound to him. And I'm telling you, if your
heart is not bound to the Son of God in love, bound to him
in consecration, bound to him in faith, bound to him. You don't
know him. Your faith is a sham, a fake,
a pretense. It's something the devil's pulled
over your eyes. It is not the faith of God's
elect. Listen to what our Savior said in John 13. Turn over there
if you will. I want you to look at it. John
13. Verse 13, you remember the disciples had
walked into the room and the Lord Jesus did a strange thing,
strange thing. God Almighty in human flesh took
a basin of water, wrapped a towel around his waist and knelt down,
dipped their feet in the water and washed God Almighty condescended to
serve the needs and comforts of the people he loved. Oh my soul, what an example. Now look what the Savior said.
You call me master and Lord. We do, don't we, Merle? He's
our master. He's our Lord. That's what we
say. And you say, well, for so I am. If I, then, your Lord and
Master, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's
feet. Now he's not here teaching us
some strange ordinance where folks get together for what they
call high communion and you, to be sure, you wash your feet
before you get there and everybody pulls their shoes and socks off
and kneel down and wash each other's feet before they take
the Lord's Supper, as many have taught. Not at all. He's teaching
us a way of life, Lindsay. a way of life. I've given you
an example, you see, that you should do as I've done to you.
What on earth is he talking about? He's saying to us, I have shown
you by my life what it is to walk in this world and live for
God's glory, and this is what it is. It is to serve one another's
needs with a loving heart. In all things, he's our example.
Turn over to 1 Peter chapter 2. The Apostle Peter is talking
about suffering. Oh, we all think we have so much
to suffer. God keep me from self-pity. Our Lord tells us here by his
Spirit, even here unto where you call to suffer as a believer,
that's what it is to walk in this world with Christ. If you
walk with him it's going to cost you, I promise you, I promise
you. If you follow him it's going
to cost you, you can bank on it. If you believe him it's going
to cost you, it's entering into a warfare, Gary. That's just
the way it is. That's just the way it is. We
live in this world in hostile enemy territory, and the enemies
shall be those of your own household who rise up against you. Even
here unto where you called, because Christ also suffered for us. So that in his incarnation, as
he comes to do his father's will, in his day by day life, as he
washes his disciples' feet, and in his suffering and obedience
unto death. Christ suffered for us, look
at it now, leaving us an example that you should follow his steps.
Oh God give me grace to follow his steps. Now tonight I want us to look
at the family life of our Savior. as it's recorded in Luke chapter
2, verses 41 through 52, and seeing what lessons the Spirit
of God would have us to learn from it. It appears to me that
there are four distinct and obvious lessons in this passage. First,
there is a lesson about marriage, a lesson about our homes. We're told his parents went to
Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. were three feasts
in which God required the men of Israel to come to Jerusalem
every year. The journey would normally take
at least two weeks. There'd be at least a week going
and coming, and then a week while they were present at Jerusalem.
And when he was 12 years old, This is mentioned, I suppose,
because with the Jews it was common for them to sort of let
boys grow up under their mother's skirts until they were 12 years
old, treat them as children. But when a boy was 12 years old,
then it was his father's responsibility to begin to take him and mold
his character as a man and his discipline as a man and teach
him what it was to live in the world as a man. When the Lord
Jesus then was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem just
like they'd been doing all their lives, after the custom of the
feast. And when they had fulfilled the
days as they returned, the child Jesus carried behind in Jerusalem,
and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. Now here are the lessons. Husbands and wives ought to help
one another in the worship and service of Jesus Christ. That's the way it ought to be,
but that's not often the way it is. Joseph and Mary worshipped
God together. What a picture. Every year at
the appointed time, they went together to Jerusalem to keep
the feast of the Passover It was their custom to observe all
the ordinances of divine worship in the appointed place, at the
appointed time, in the appointed way. Joseph and Mary, you see,
were a couple who honored God. They honored him, served him,
and worshiped him together. The trip from Nazareth to Jerusalem
try to grasp it now. They didn't have to just jump
in their air-conditioned car and drive up there. It was a
long, dangerous, costly, difficult trip. Normally folks traveled
in caravans for security's sake. Joseph and Mary didn't have much,
they were a poor couple, but all that they had was in Nazareth.
The wrecks three times every year. They left everything they
had down in Nazareth and went to Jerusalem for two weeks. How
come? To worship God. Well, what great
irresponsibility. How dares a man go off and leave
his business? His shop, his house, his property,
all that his family depends on for two weeks, three times a
year, six weeks every year to go worship God. Not a responsibility,
the height of responsibility. You see, Joseph believed God. Let's see if I can show you that
from the scriptures. Turn back to Exodus chapter 34. Hold your
hands here. Exodus chapter 34. I've been pastoring now for nearly
30 years, and I've heard folks justify their disobedience, justify
the neglect of divine worship, justify the neglect of God's
house, justify their contempt for the things of God by almost
every imaginable excuse. But I haven't found one yet that
justifies it. Have you ever found us? Have
you ever found for yourself? Have you ever found for yourself?
You don't have to answer me, answer for yourself. Have you
ever found for yourself anything that satisfies your own conscience
when you willfully neglect the worship of God? Oh no. Oh no. Not at all. But you know,
Aunt Sally's here. So what? If Aunt Sally wants
to go to hell, let her go. You don't have to go with her.
But mama came to visit. So what? But, but, you know,
I've got this, I've got this. In Exodus 34, God commands the
men, particularly the men, because it's a man's responsibility to
lead his family in the worship of God. And if you don't do it,
God holds you accountable. He commands the men to go three
times a year up to Jerusalem. But what about, what about the
house? What about family? Folks often
ask me, don't you, don't you worry about your wife when you're
gone away preaching? No, I worry about her when I'm
here, but not when I'm gone. Oh no, I'm on the master's business.
And if I am doing his business, he is honor bound to take care
of my business. Is he not? He's honor bound. Look what it says here. Exodus
chapter 34, verse 23. Thrice in the year, three times
every year. shall all your men, children,
all of them, all of them, appear before the Lord God, the God
of Israel. For I will cast out the nations
before thee, and enlarge thy borders, neither shall any man
desire thy land." Why, they fought for their land all the time they
lived in it, except when they were worshipping God. Except
when they were worshipping God. They had trouble all the time,
except when they were worshipping God. When thou shalt go up to
appear before the Lord thy God three times a year. Trust in the Lord. That'll take care of most of
your difficulties. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Acknowledge
him in all your ways. Lean not to your own understanding. He'll direct your paths. How
could Joseph and Mary leave everything down in Nazareth and go up to
worship God? They knew God's will. And when you know God's
will, you just do it. You just do it. You see, the
problem most of the time, I have folks that say, well, you know,
I sure wish I knew the Lord's will. That's not the problem.
It's not hard to know his will. All you've got to do is read
this book. It's not hard to know God's will. The difficulty is
submitting to it. Joseph and Mary knew the Lord
commanded them to go worship. So they went to worship. They
knew that the worship of God was the one thing they had to
have. The one thing they had I wonder if we know that. Bobby asked us, this is one thing
we've got to have. We've got to worship God. I live in a tent, but I've got
to worship God. I can walk where I have to go.
There are not that many places I have to go, but I've got to
worship God. I've got to worship him. by soul I get to. I get to. What a privilege in
this dark, dark, dark world when there are few people anywhere
in the world to whom God has made himself known. He's given
me the privilege of worshiping him. And they worship God together.
What a Side by side, they walked to the house of God. Side by
side, they knelt in prayer. Side by side, they stood to sing
God's praise. Side by side, they sat to hear
his word. Let every married man and woman
here observe and learn from the example given. Let every man
and woman contemplating marriage lay these things to heart. You will never make a decision
so important as the decision you make about who you marry. You who are yet single, nothing will have a greater effect
on your lives for good or evil than the person
you marry. The person you marry will either
help you upward or drag you downward. Your marriage partner will either
lead you to heaven or to hell. So seek your companion by God's
guidance. What do you do? Best thing for
you to do is not seek one. That's right. Best thing for
you to do is not seek a husband. Best thing you do is not to seek
a wife. Seek the Lord. Ask him to bring you a husband.
Ask him to bring you a wife. Because this business is forever.
I know we live in this day, folks, imagine that you can end a marriage
like you can end a career or like you can end a job. Well,
you can before men, but not before God. Not before God. Well, but
you don't understand. I know, I don't. I don't understand
anything, but I do understand this book. I do understand this
book. Marry, oh God help you to hear
me, marry a believer and worship God as a family. I spoke to a
young man recently, met him down in Charity, young man. Asked my counselor,
I said, I'll tell you to do one thing. Find you a place where
you can take your family and worship God. But, you know, jobs here, careers
there, business opportunity there. Find you a place where you can
take your family and worship God. And nothing else matters
by comparison. Nothing. Nothing's more important
to you and your family than the worship of God. These days many
women treat church attendance as a matter of convenience. I
know, I know. I warn you, you not only do so to the ruin
of your soul, you do so to the ruin of everyone around you under
your influence. If the worship of God is such
a contemptible thing to you, I guarantee you, buddy, by example,
it becomes contemptible to those we influence. Contemptible. What difference does it make?
Church is always there. Preacher is always there. God
will always let us come worship him. Well, that brings us to the next
lesson. The lesson about presumption. They supposed him to be in the
company. Well, I know his promise. Lo,
I'm with you always. I know his promise where two
or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
But don't you ever presume upon God's goodness and God's promise.
Oscar, if we would have the Lord's presence with us in his house,
we must If we would have his power and his blessing upon us
and upon our labors, we must need it and seek it and depend
upon it. If we would have Christ in our
company, we must stay in his company. Quickly, here's a lesson
about obedience. They found the Lord Jesus out of their presence. in the temple. They said we've
been looking for you for three days with broken heart and he
looked at him as if to say mom dad you ought to have known I'd
be right here. You ought to have known this
where I am. Oh what an example for children. Honor your parents
as fully when you're out of their sight as you do when you're in
their sight. What an example for you and I,
the children of God. Most sobering thing I ever came
to realize in my life. Most sobering thing I ever came
to realize. Bob, every word I speak, every thought I have, every act
I perform, everything is done in the immediate presence of
my heavenly Father. everything, everything. Let me then seek in all things
to honor him. And one last thing, we have a
lesson about Christianity. Wished ye not, he said in verse
49, I must be about my father's business.
That's what it is. Remember our Lord spoke to the
disciples. He said, as my father hath sent me into the world,
even so send I you. What did he come there for? To
do his father's will, to do his father's business. And God Almighty
has put us here, Lindsay, to do his father's business. That's
all. That's it. To walk in his will,
to serve his purpose. He's ordained us to good works,
and whatever work it is he has ordained us to, it's our business
to pursue it. For the glory of God, the building
of his kingdom, furtherance of his gospel. Amen. Okay, let's
sing a hymn, Lindsay.