I want nothing more than to honor, magnify, and exalt
the greatness of our Savior. We were chatting back in the
office before services about the work of God's Spirit in revival
and the deception that is often called revival, I told the men I am confident that if God is pleased, and oh
my soul I want it, that if God is pleased to send the moving
of his Spirit in power in this church, or in your heart individually,
or in his church throughout the world in this day. It will not
be accomplished by us talking about what happens when revival
comes. It will be accomplished when
you and I, by the power of God's Spirit through the preaching
of the gospel, come to see the greatness of Christ. come to know that he is the great
God and our Savior. It's my heart's desire that in
my meditation, in my deeds, in my words, and in my preaching,
that Christ's name be glorified. We worship and serve a great
Savior. He's great. He's great. We cannot exaggerate when we
come to talk about the greatness of Christ. I want all men to
know his greatness. When we think or speak of Christ's
greatness, we recognize that he infinitely deserves infinitely
higher praise than we can give. The angels in heaven fall far
short of the praise which he is worthy to receive, and even
those redeemed saints, those sinners who have been saved by
his grace in their glorified estate, cannot possibly give
praise to Christ such as he is worthy of receiving. Our great
Lord is great and greatly to be praised, the psalmist said.
Our Savior is great in his eternal compassion for his people, great
in his covenant, great in his condescension in coming to this
earth. When he died in shame and humiliation,
he was great in his crucifixion, great in the mighty conquest
which he has made by virtue of his resurrection and by virtue
of the power that he now extends over the hearts of sinners. And
when he comes again, he's going to come in power and in great
glory. Our Savior is great. Oh, that
men might know the greatness of God our Savior. The tendency
of this day is for preachers to declare the greatness of man. Last Sunday evening, when I left
here, I turned on the radio. And that's always a mistake when
I'm feeling good. I thought, well, maybe I might
hear something, and I did, about two o'clock in the morning. But
when I left here, I heard the pastor of First Baptist Church
in Danville exalting the greatness of man. He was ridiculing that
which I delight in, the gospel of God's free grace. Poor man's
ignorant, didn't even know what it is that we believe, but he
didn't like it. Anyway, make a long story short, he made the
statement. He said, God will never interfere
with the sacred will of man. I don't blame you. I had to drop
something too, Rex. I'd like to have dropped him out of the
pulpit is what I'd like to have done. He said, God will never
interfere with the sacred will of man. I didn't know man was
sacred, much less that his will was sacred. I suppose the servants
of men must proclaim their master's greatness. And I know that it
pleases proud rebels to hear their pulpit puppets proclaim
the great sacredness of their will. but the sheep of Christ
choke on such rubbish. They can't digest swine's food. You'll never hear a servant of
God proclaiming the greatness of man or the sacredness of man's
will. Those who serve Christ declare
Christ's greatness. We consider no will sacred but
the will of God. We preach up Christ and preach
down man. Those who preach up man and preach
down Christ are false prophets. I don't care who they are. I
don't care to whom they preach. I cannot find words scathing
enough to describe my abhorrence of villains in the pulpit who
are the deceivers of men's souls. I know it's not popular to make
such statements, but I had never been seeking a popularity contest
and I had never won one, but I'm going to tell you the truth
if God will let me. I'm going to tell you the truth.
You are nothing. Nothing. I mean less than nothing. Your pastor is nothing. The chief
of nothing. Jesus Christ alone is great. He alone is great. He alone is
worthy of praise. He alone is worthy of adulation. the high thoughts of man and
low thoughts of Christ that this religious world has going to
bring this religious world down to hell very soon. Oh, children
of God, let your thoughts of Christ ever be high. Ask God
to give you an ever-expanding estimation of Christ's greatness
and glory, never diminishing. Ask God to make your thoughts
of self ever-diminishing and never expanding. Let your heart's
cry be that of John, who said, He must increase, but I must
decrease. If we have high, lofty, grand
thoughts of Christ, we will obtain a proper understanding of all
other things. In the light of Christ's great
love and his great sin-atoning sacrifice, we see something of
the depths of our degradation and sin. We hate sin, which wounded
and caused our Emmanuel to suffer and die under the wrath of God,
which made it necessary for him to die. We hate that sin only
to the extent that we know the value of his blood atonement.
Only to the extent that we know the value of his blood atonement.
When we form some proper opinion of what Christ has done for us
by his almighty grace, then our gratitude and love toward him
will grow. And grateful love for Christ
compels us to consecrate ourselves more and more to Christ. I'm
often encouraged by men that, you know, you need to tell folks
more what they ought to do and ought not to do, and you need
to hold over people certain rules and laws, the law of God and
the laws of men, and you need to kind of make certain everybody
gets in line and stays in line. Let me tell you something. Let
me tell you something. If ever in your heart you come to know
the greatness of Christ and you fall in love with this great
God, if ever you do, You're going to give yourself to him most
willingly. Your only lamentation shall be
that you give so little of yourself to him. You'll give yourself
to him. The more fully we give ourselves
to him, the more bold we will be in speaking for him and the
more willingly we will be to suffer with him. Our great savior
compels us to surrender everything to him with willing hearts, never
imagining that we've given or done a thing. I say entertain
great thoughts of Christ and you'll have great delight in
Him. A great Savior gives a great sense of security to those who
trust Him. And that sense of security, contrary
to popular opinion, does not promote licentiousness, but rather
it promotes devotion to Christ. It produces a great joy and a
peace which keeps our hearts leaning on Him. If you would
rise above this world, and rise above the cares of this earth
and rise above the toys of time. You must set your affection on
Christ and let your thoughts of him be elevated. And as Christ
rises, the earth diminishes. Everything else wanes in the
presence of the Redeemer. The way to grow in grace is to
let your thoughts of Christ grow and ever increase. Now, my singular
object tonight is to set before you the greatness and the glory
of our ever living God and Savior. I want to set him before you
by the power of God's spirit, high and lifted up with every
word. I want simply to guide you and
to inspire you so that in your heart you say, bring forth the
royal diadem and crown him. Lord of all, that Christ may
be exalted in your hearts. Oh, that God may show Him to
you in His greatness and in His glory. May God make Christ glorious
in our hearts tonight. And I know of no better way to
do that than simply to set before you our Lord's own description
of His glorious being. You find my text in Revelation
chapter 1 and verse 18. John had seen Christ manifest
in his glory and he fell away at his feet as one dead. And
the Lord Jesus came and laid his right hand upon him and said,
fear not, I am first and last. Now look at how he describes
himself. I am he that liveth and was dead and behold, I am
alive forevermore. Amen. In those words, our Savior
tells us three things about himself. Follow with me. He says, I am
he that liveth. Now those words assure us of
this blessed fact. Our dear Savior is alive. He's alive. That great God who
came into this world as a man, That God-man, that man-God, who
lived as our representative to establish righteousness for us,
and died as our substitute to put away our sins, that very
same God-man is alive today. Now, the thing I want you to
see is this. Christ in glory. We kind of refer to Him as being
up in glory. His glory is such that while
His bodily presence is in heaven, He is everywhere present for
he's God. But Christ in glory is exactly
the same as he was upon this earth. He hasn't changed a bit.
He hasn't changed a bit. Now it's true he's undergone
the change of glorification. His body has been glorified,
but essentially He's the same. His nature, His heart, His love,
His will, His grace, His purpose, all are unchanged. The Apostle
says He is Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and
forever. He undergoes no change. He is
this Lord. He changes not. He who now is
the light of heaven is the very same Christ who was born at Bethlehem. He who now sits upon the throne
of sovereign dominion is the very same Christ who stilled
the troubled waters, healed the sick, fed the hungry, and raised
the dead. He who is now clothed with majesty
is the very same Christ who bare our sins in his body upon the
cursed tree. Now just meditate with me for
a few minutes. on the character of our Lord during those 40 days
between his resurrection and his ascension or his glorification. Those 40 days of his glory on
earth will serve as a picture. I want you to see what he was
then so that you know what he is now. Those 40 days will serve
as a picture of the character of our Redeemer. And while he
was upon this earth during those 40 days, he appeared to his disciples
a number of times. Apparently, apparently he did
so to make them understand that what I am now, I shall forever
be. What you now see and hear from
me is what you shall always expect from me. What I am to you right
now, I will be to you forever. I've gone through the gospel
narratives and I want to call your attention to five things
concerning this character of Christ who lives in heaven, his
attributes, his being. First of all, the risen Christ
was loving, tender, and forgiving to his sinful people. Turn back
to the Gospel of John chapter 20. Now remember, all had forsaken
him. Peter is the one we single out,
but every one of the disciples had forsaken him, every one of
them. All were overcome with sinful unbelief. The only one
of our Lord's disciples who seems to have had any understanding
and any belief in what he taught concerning his death and resurrection
at the time was Mary Magdalene. She's the only one. She came
and she, with that alabaster box of ointment, that precious
spikenard, anointed his body for the burial. And with those
words, we have an indication that Mary did understand what
our Lord taught concerning his death and his resurrection. But
the other disciples, they were hard of hearing. They just didn't
understand what he taught them until after he was raised and
revealed himself to them. Mary Magdalene anointed him for
his burial. and the other disciples all forsook
him. They all forsook him. And yet
his love was unquenched, his forgiveness was free, and his
tenderness was constantly manifest. As I was studying and preparing
this message, my heart broke within me at the realization
that Jesus Christ, who dealt so tenderly with his erring disciples,
still deals tenderly with erring disciples like you and me. He
still does. He's exactly the same. Here in
John chapter 20, our Savior appeared first and revealed himself to
Mary. Mary came with the other Mary
early in the morning on the day of the resurrection. And they
got the news that the Lord was risen. And then they went and
told Peter and John John came and he stooped down, looked into
the tomb. Simon Peter rushed right past John into the tomb
and they got the message. Christ is not here, but he's
risen. And they all left and Mary remained. And she had Christ
standing by her, but she thought it was the gardener. She didn't
recognize him. And this gardener asked her, it was the Lord. He
said, what's troubling you? And she said, well, they've,
they've taken away my Lord. And I don't know where they've
laid him. And look in verse 16, Jesus saith unto her, Mary, she
recognized that voice. She knew that Mary, this is the
same one who spoke to her and cast out the demons from her.
This is the same one who had said, your sins, which are many
are all forgiven. This is the same one who had
tenderly, lovingly embraced this sinful woman. He said, Mary,
and she turned herself and saith unto him, Master, Master. She was the first one who saw
the Savior when he was risen. First one. I got looking at that
and I thought to myself, she probably needed that. She probably
needed that. She was, among all the disciples,
the least reputable. She was, among all the disciples,
the one most likely to be scorned, the one most likely to be looked
down upon. When she came and anointed him
for his burial, Judas spoke pretty sharp to her. What kind of waste
have you made? You've taken a year's wages. He poured it on his feet. That's
a terrible waste of so rich a gift. And the other disciples likewise
murmured. They likewise murmured. And Mary
was only doing what her heart told her to do. No way to explain
that. I love him. He's done so much
for me. He's about to die. as my substitute. He's going to rise again. I don't
know anything to do but take the most precious thing I have,
that which I've been storing up all my life, and bring it
here and pour it out at his feet. It was a symbol. She was pouring
herself out at his feet. But Mary Magdalene, she was a
disreputable woman. And so with the Lord's people,
God forgive us, but it's still so. With the Lord's people, her
ill repute was always in mind, was always remembered. And they
looked a little suspicious on Mary. The first one to have the
risen Christ revealed to her is this Mary. He came to her
and he said, Mary. And she knew, she knew that it
mattered not what else would happen. Christ came and made
himself known to her, particularly, personally. You see, he ministers
to the specific needs of your heart. He ministers to the specific
needs of his children. And then over in Mark chapter
16, turn over there with me. This is one of my favorite passages
of scripture. Mark chapter 16. This is another
story of the resurrection. It's Mark's account. In verse
six, the angel said to them, be not afraid, ye seek Jesus
of Nazareth, which was crucified. He's risen. He's not here. Behold
the place where they laid him. But go your way and tell his
disciples. Now look at this. And Peter. Go tell his disciples and be
sure to tell Peter that he goes before you into Galilee, there
you shall see him as he said unto you." Peter. Boy, he needed that, didn't he?
He had denied the Lord with a profane swearing. He had forsaken Christ
altogether. He said to his buddies, he said,
fellas, I'm going back to fishing. I'm through with this business.
I'm going back to where I was when Christ called me. I'm not
fit to be seen with him. And I'm not fit to name his name.
The Lord arose and he sent message. He said, now you go and tell
my disciples. He told the ladies, you go and
tell my disciples. I'm going to meet them just like
I said I would. And be sure to tell Peter, I
want to see him there. Oh, what a blessed Savior. In John 20, he appeared on the second Sabbath
day after his resurrection. Thomas wasn't there the first
time. And they said, Thomas, you ought to have been here Sunday.
The Lord was with us. I don't believe it. I don't believe
it. I'll not believe it until I put
my finger in the hole in his hand and thrust my hand into
his side. The Lord came to him and he said,
Thomas, put your finger right here. Give me a hand. And he said, my Lord and my God. You see how he stoops and condescends
to minister to our fickle faith? to our foolish, sinful unbelief,
to take away the unbelief, to strengthen the faith. In John
21, turn over there. John chapter 21. Peter was out
with the disciples. And the Lord came the third time
and showed himself to his disciples after he was risen in verse 15.
He called Peter aside and he said, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest
thou me more than these? They asked him three times. And
finally, Peter responded. He said, Lord, thou knowest all
things, thou knowest that I love thee. Thou knowest all, you see
everything. You heard my profane words and
you saw my actions. But you know, you know, you know
what none of these other men know. You know that I love you. You know that I love you. And
the Lord graciously came to Peter and restored him to his rightful
position by the hand of God among the other disciples. And he also
restored to Peter the sense of the knowledge of his acceptance
with him. Now that's blessing. That's blessing. I'm delighted to have Merle Hart's
approval. I want your approval. I delight
in your approval. But I can live without it. I
can live without it. I've got to have his approval.
That's what he gave Peter. He said, Peter, feed my sheep. Feed my sheep. He said, you're
weak, frail, shifting sand. That's what you are. Your name
is Peter. But he said in the end, you're going to glorify
me in your death. That's what he said down here.
Look in verse 18. Verily I say unto you, when you were young,
you girded yourself, you walked whither thou wouldest, but when
thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and
another shall gird thee and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.
This he spake, signifying by what death he should glorify
God. Lord Jesus lovingly tenderly,
graciously, forgivingly, dealt with all of his disciples. Now,
notice, as you read through those appearances of Christ, he never
one time raised a scathing word to one of those foolish men.
Not one time. He never one time scolded them. Not one time. He never one time
even offered a A sharp rebuke to them. The nearest thing you
get to a rebuke is where he said to Thomas, blessed are you, but
blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe. Now, that's
as close as you get to him taking out the whip. That's not bad,
is it? That's the tenderness of the
Savior. That's his love. That's his forgiveness. And I'm
here to tell you, children of God, he deals with his saints
the very same way right now. I sat at my desk about three
o'clock Saturday morning, preparing that one point of this message,
and I had a good time. He who on this earth was loving,
kind, tender, and forgiving to his sinful people is still that
way in his glory. I said, thank God for such a
saint. My brother, this is the way our
Savior is now. His heart is full of love, tenderness,
and forgiveness toward His erring disciples. You can go to Him
freely. You can go to Him without fear
of reprisal, without fear of punishment, without fear of being
turned away, without fear of being rejected in the teeth of
your sin. Go to the Savior. He has died and shed his blood
to remove all your sins, and he will not hold it against you.
Secondly, during those 40 days after the resurrection, our Lord
was constantly with his beloved church. The gospel writers record
only certain appearances of Christ. He revealed himself to his disciples
wherever they met. When they searched for him, they
found him. When one searched for him, she
found him. When two or three gathered to
talk of him, he was present in their midst. When the twelve
met, he appeared. When five hundred gathered in
his name, he immediately appeared among them. And I'm sure that
those Writers who record these appearances only record a portion
of them. They only record what was sufficient
to make it evident that Christ had risen. But I'm certain that
wherever his disciples met, he met with them. He promised them
where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am
I in the midst of them. He was preparing them for that
descent of the spirit when his bodily presence would be taken
away. But he was assuring them that though his bodily presence
was gone, he was with his own. He said, Lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the earth. Now, that's true of every man
and woman here who knows Christ. He's with you. He's with you. 24 hours a day, seven days a
week, 365 days a year, 81 years out of a lifetime. He's with
you. He's with you. Constantly with you. what our
Lord was saying by his appearances. He's saying, you're going to
go through some hard times, but my eye is always upon you. My hand will always provide for
you. My right arm will always protect
you. And as often as you gather in
my name, whether many or few, I'm in the midst of you. Wherever
you go, I am with you. That's exactly what he is today. That's the reason Paul, while
he was in prison in Rome, writes to the Philippians. He writes
to us and he says, Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say
rejoice. Let your moderation be known
unto all men. The Lord's at hand. He's with
you. He's with you. Thirdly, after
his resurrection, our Lord Jesus Christ opened the scriptures
and taught his disciples things concerning himself. You have
it in Luke 24. These two disciples were on the
road to Emmaus. And as they walked, talking about
the things that had happened, they were just walking along,
talking about the Lord's death, talking about his resurrection.
And he appeared in their midst. Now, they didn't know he was
there. They didn't know it. Happens a lot here, doesn't it?
Happens a lot here. But they were musing about what
had taken place. And the Lord came alongside them
and he began to talk with them. And he was, should I say, hurt by their unbelief,
offended by their unbelief. And he began to open the scriptures.
getting back in Genesis and going right on through Malachi and
he showed them the things concerning himself. At last he made himself
known to them and they said in verse 32, they said one to another,
did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us by
the way and while he opened to us the Well, if the Lord Jesus Christ
will be your teacher tonight, rather than Don Fortner, he'll do the same thing for us
now. He'll take the scriptures and open to us the Word of God. And I'll tell you something,
every time he opens the Word to you, you'll see him in it. Every time. Every time. He opens
the word, shows us himself. That's what he is, isn't it?
While he was upon this earth, he was the teacher. He gave his
people understanding in the word. And as they understood the word,
they saw him. In his glory, they grew in the
knowledge of him. And as he opens the word to us
now, by the power of his spirit, He makes us see. Here's another thing. Our Lord's
heart was full of grace toward helpless, perishing sinners after
he arose. In verse 47, look at verse 46. He said, thus it is written,
and thus it behoove Christ to rise from the dead the third
day. and that repentance and remission
of sin should be preached in his name among all nations, and
look at it, beginning at Jerusalem. That's strange. It'd be strange
for Oscar Bailey. It's not strange for the Son
of God. Here's Jerusalem. On one occasion, he stood above
the city and he said, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. How often I have gathered
you, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would
not be gathered." These Jews, his kinsmen, those
of his own nation to whom he came, despised him and nailed
him to a tree. And when he arose from the dead,
he said to his disciples, Go tell them one more time. Go tell those men, first of all,
first of all, you tell those men in Jerusalem that I died
on that cursed tree, that repentance and remission of sins might be
given to perishing sinners like you are. Is it not true today? Oh, I delight
to tell you. that he yet delighteth in mercy.
He yet delights to show mercy to sinners. He is yet that man
who receives sinners, and he is yet that man whose heart is
full of compassion toward perishing men. He alone, he alone has a
heart of compassion toward men who despise him. Oh, I wish I could make you hear
what I'm saying. If you knew how anxious Jesus
Christ is to show mercy to such wretches as you are, you could not resist his love. And if he'll make you see it,
you'll resist no longer. You'll flee to him. You'll flee
with a willing heart so quickly to him Because this man He receives
sinners just like you are just like you are and he receives
them to do them eternal good Fifthly Just before he ascended
our Lord told his disciples That the success of their labor was
entirely dependent upon the power of the Spirit. Look in verse
49 of Luke 24. He said, Behold, I send the promise
of my Father upon you, but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until
you be endued with power from on high. He had just told him
to go and preach. He had just told him, You're
my witnesses of these things. He said, But you can't do anything
until the Spirit of God comes upon you. Oh, my soul, let us ever be aware that the power of the gospel,
the power of the Word that we preach, does not lie in us, but
in the Spirit of as you seek to tell a man about
the Savior, in your heart, ask God to speak through you. Otherwise,
your words will be meaningless. Wait, wait, wait for the power
of the Spirit to fall I keep reminding you, I hope
my words don't fall on deaf ears. When you come here, will you
ask God to grant to this man the power of his spirit so I
can speak to your heart? so that I can speak to you. I
don't want to just instruct your minds. I don't want to just spend
a few minutes with you every Sunday morning, Sunday night,
Tuesday night. I want to speak to your heart! And I can't do
it unless God speaks through. I can't accomplish one thing
for your good or for the good of perishing men around us unless
God speaks through. These radio broadcasts go out
every day, the tapes, the printed page, everything we do here.
It is all so much spinning wheels in the sand. Unless God speaks. Make it a matter of earnest prayer,
Lord God, speak through your servant to my heart and to the
hearts of others as well. Do you understand what I'm saying
to you? Christ in glory today is exactly the same as he was
when he was upon this earth. He's loving, tender, and forgiving.
He's constantly with his church. He opens the scriptures to us.
He's ever gracious to sinners. And he ever reminds us to wait
on the power of his spirit. And when our Lord spoke to John,
he said, I am he that liveth. And then he said, and was dead. With those words, we are taught
that Christ's work of redemption as our substitute is completely
finished. I'm certain that's what our Lord
means for us to understand when he says, I am he that liveth
and was dead. Thank God he died. Thank God
he died. But thank God he's alive. A dead
Savior would do us no good. Down in Mexico, in those Roman Catholic dens of iniquity. You've been down there Ronnie.
They've got crucifixes and statues of saints and statues of angels. And they've got a huge statue
of the Holy Virgin over here. You know where they've got the
Son of God? Where they think they've got Him? Over there in
a casket. That's right. Laying over there
in the corner, they keep this gold statue of the Virgin Mary
polished up. That old piece of trash over
there that's supposed to be the Son of God is dusty, filthy. They ignore Him because as far
as they're concerned, He's not important. He's not important.
And while this Roman church does not pretend to say that Christ
did not arise, Their doctrine implies it. Their doctrine implies
it. For they say that he must forever
be offering a perpetual sacrifice to God. That every time they
break the bread and have the wine, as we're going to have
this evening, that Christ is offered again in sacrifice to
God. Let me tell you something. Our Lord Jesus Christ, though
he was dead, is alive. And his death was the death of
death. A whole lot could be said about
this subject. I'll be brief. Let me make four
statements. First of all, the death of Christ made a complete,
final, once-for-all atonement for sin. Turn over to Hebrews
10. Hebrews the 10th chapter. Verse 10. Our Lord said, Lo,
I come to do thy will, O God, by the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ one time. One time. once for all, never
to be offered again. And every priest standeth daily,
offering and ministering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can
never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. For the Apostle Paul we say,
who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. The death
of Christ, when he cried, it is finished, he had completely
accomplished the redemption of his people. Completely. Nothing
whatever is to be added to his finished work. Nothing. Not your
prayers, not your repentance, not your Bible reading, not your
church going, not your giving. Nothing. You add anything to
Him and you miss Him altogether. Add anything to Him to make appeasement
to God, to make yourself acceptable to God, and you have made Jesus
Christ to be crucified for nothing. For nothing! But He, by His one
sacrifice, has forever made all His people completely sanctified,
perfected, forever in the sight of God. Is that what that text
says? That's what it says. People talk about doing things,
you know, and somehow we get the notion that our relationship
with God depends on what we do or depends on what we feel. We
don't talk that way. We don't say that, but that's
how we act. My friends, May God make you
to understand this one thing. Jesus Christ alone is our Savior. Alone. Alone. I don't want or
need anything else, buddy. Nothing. Nothing. Secondly, the love which compelled
our Lord to die for us. is still the love which rules
his heart. Very same love. Now this ought
to give you some comfort. He who rules the world, he who
rules the world, is ruled by love for his people. Now that's a mouthful, that's
a mouthful. Oh yes, I know he's ruled by
love for the glory of God. I know that he's ruled by love
for righteousness and truth. I know he's ruled by love for
justice and equity. But I'm telling you, I'm telling
you that somehow the very glory of God is wrapped up in his love
for his people. And the Lord Jesus Christ governs
the universe out of love for you. That's right. That's right. I don't know any way to illustrate
what I'm saying except use personal illustrations. So you'll forgive
me if I repeat myself. But you know, I love that young
lady there. I love her. I've been loving her for nearly
16 years. Matter of fact, I've been loving
her for more than 16 years. The minute I found out she was
coming, I started loving her. I love her. She was about six months old,
first time I busted her. She cried. Oh, broke her heart. You know how they do, look up
at me like, what are you doing? And I've been busting her ever
since. Gets a little worse as she gets
older. She doesn't require them so often anymore. But every time
she got out of line, I mean, every time she got out of line,
she got it. Every time. Never let up. Well, now, wait a minute. You
said you love that girl. I hear folks, I love my little
boy too much to hit him like that. I couldn't do that. If
you love him, you will. Yeah. If you love him, you'll
see to it he minds you. The easy way, the way of selfish
love, is let kids get by whenever they want to. Our Savior loves
us, and sometimes he sends us pain, heartache, trials, difficulties. And sometimes we wonder, God
forgive us, how he could possibly be acting in love for us. He
is. He is. He's proved it, hasn't
he? He's proved his love to you, hasn't he? Has he proved it to
you? Well, don't ever question it.
He rules the world in love for you. Everything he does, he does
because he loves you. Everything he does. Thirdly,
the purpose for which Christ died will most certainly be accomplished. I am not among those who think
that the results of Christ's death hang in jeopardy. I believe, according to the Scriptures,
that everything the Lord Jesus Christ intended to do by his
death shall be done. There shall not be one soul lost
for whom Christ died. He has paid the debt for all
his elect, and his elect cannot be charged with their sins, not
ever. The law and the justice of God
will not allow it. And I say it's nothing short
of blasphemy to suggest that the Son of God was born into
this world lived as a representative and died as a substitute for
the purpose of saving anybody who perishes in their sins. It's
nothing short of blasphemy to suggest that the Son of God has
made a step at redemption and failed to accomplish it. And
fourthly, the merit of Christ's atoning sacrifice is eternally
effectual. It's ever effectual. Our Savior
died once, 2,000 years ago, but his blood is just as fresh, just
as meritorious, and just as acceptable to God as if he had shed his
blood this afternoon. Never loses its merit, never
loses its efficacy. God the Father is ever pleased
to look on his Son and pardon He's ever pleased to look on
his son and forgive sinners. He's ever pleased to look on
his son and accept perishing men by faith in his son. Now,
these three things I want you to remember. Our dear Savior
is alive. Secondly, Christ's work of atonement
is finished. And thirdly, our Lord's mediatorial
rule shall not fail. Turn to Isaiah chapter 42. He
says, I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive
forevermore. Amen. Now this is a paraphrase
of what he said. I shall never die again. I will
reign forever and ever. And in my reign, I will accomplish
my purpose as the covenant head and mediator of my people. Our
Lord Jesus Christ, the great ever-living Savior, because He
ever lives, is able to save to the uttermost them that come
to God by Him. This Christ that we preach is
able to save your soul. He's able to save your soul.
I don't care who you are, what you've done, what you've experienced,
where you've been. He's able to save your soul.
He will save all who come to God by Him. Our sovereign Lord
will fulfill all his covenant engagements. Look here in Isaiah
42. He says, behold, my servant,
whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighted. Look
at verse four. He shall not fail nor be discouraged
till he has set judgment in the earth and the isle shall wait
for his law. In chapter 53 of Isaiah, verse
10, the scripture tells us That our Lord Jesus Christ, having
suffered and died for his people, shall prolong his days. And then
the last part of the verse says, the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. He's sitting on the throne of
glory, high and lifted up, ruling and reigning as the mediator
of his people. What's he doing? He's accomplishing the pleasure
of the Lord. He's accomplishing the pleasure
of the Lord. and our ever-living Christ will subdue all his enemies
beneath his feet. He's going to do it. Every man
and woman born of Adam is going to bow down to the throne of
Christ. Every man and woman who's ever drawn breath on God's earth
is going to bow to the throne of the sovereign Christ. is going
to be subdued beneath His throne. Everybody. You too. Everybody. Everybody. You will either be
subdued now by the Spirit of His grace and worship Him or
you will be subdued in the day of judgment by the rod of His
wrath and you'll acknowledge that He's Lord. Either way, you're
going to bow. Either way. This is what the
psalmist said. over in Psalm 2, where there's
prophecy of our Lord's exaltation and his glorious reign as a result
of his death and resurrection. Why do the heathen rage and the
people imagine a foolish thing? The kings of the earth set themselves
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against
his anointed. They say, let us break his bands asunder and cast
away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heaven
shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall
he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure.
Yet have I set my king upon my holy heel of Zion. I will declare
the decree. The Lord hath said unto me, Thou
art my son. This day have I begotten the
ask of me. And now give thee the heathen
for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth
for thy possession. And thou shalt break them with
a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces
like a potter's vessel. Be wise, therefore, O ye kings. Be instructed, ye judges of the
earth. Serve the Lord with fear and
rejoice with trembling. Are you wise? Do you have any
wisdom? Kiss the sun. lest he be angry
and you perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a litter.
Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. Amen.