We're going to observe the Lord's
table tonight, and remember next week we're going to have a church
dinner together. I've entitled the message for
this morning, Where is He? I want to ask myself this question
as I approach this subject. Do I want to know? Do I want to know where He is? Verse 11 of John chapter 7. The Jews sought him at the feast
and said, where is he? Verse two, now the Jews feast
of tabernacles was at hand. This is the feast they sought
him at and said, where is he? His brethren therefore said unto
him, depart hence, and go ye into Judea, that thy disciples
also may see the works that thou doest. For there's no man that
doeth anything in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known
openly. If thou do these things, show thyself to the world. You
see, his brethren didn't know who he was. These were his siblings.
They grew up with him in the same home, saw him every day,
and they didn't have a clue as to who he was. Verse six, then Jesus said unto
them, my time is not yet come, but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you, but
me, it hateth because I testify of it, that the works thereof
are evil. Go ye up into this feast. I go
not up yet under this feast for my time is not yet full come.
When he had said these words unto them, he abode still in
Galilee. But when his brethren were gone
up, then went he also up unto the feast, not openly, but as
it were in secret. He did the opposite of what they
said he would do. No man does anything secret.
He did. He did. He went up into the feast
secretly. Then the Jews sought him at the
feast and said, where is he? And there was much murmuring
among the people concerning him. Much inward grumbling is what
the word means concerning him. For some said, he's a good man. You know, that was a flam against
him. They thought it was a compliment.
He's infinitely more than a good man. He's the God man. Others said, nay, but he deceiveth
the people. He's the only one who didn't.
They were both wrong. How be it no man spake openly
of him for fear of the Jews. Where is he? The pronoun usually translated
he in our text is not the pronoun John uses. It's literally, where
is that one? There is only one, that one. Where is he? Where is that one? Now the importance of the answer
to this question is determined by the answer to this question.
Who is that one? If I know who he is, This question
is going to be more important to me than anything else. Where is he? Where can I find him? Who is that one? His siblings
didn't know. I think that's so amazing that
they grew up with the Lord Jesus Christ. They grew up with perfection.
They grew up with holiness and they didn't get it. The natural man would not know
holiness if he saw it. They didn't. Who is that one? He is the one
and only begotten son of God. The only begotten son I don't know if I'm saying this
right, it's a dead language, but it's called in the original,
the monogamous, the only begotten, the sole representative, the
being of him who sent him, the one who possesses all the fullness
of the Godhead in his body. This is that one. He's God the Son, he's the creator, he's the one
who created the universe. He upholds all things, the scripture
says, by the word of His power. You know what that means? The
breath you just took, He gave you the ability to take it and
He can withhold it whenever He's pleased to do so. He upholds
all things by the word of His power. He's the Lord. That means His will is always
done. He's the Lord. He's the Lord
of creation. He's the Lord of providence.
He's the Lord of everything that takes place. He's the first cause.
He's the Lord of salvation. That means if you're saved, it's
up to him. It's not up to you. It's up to
him. The only thing to do is to ask
him to save you. You know, he's never turned anybody
down that did. If you ask him, I'm not talking
about bargain with him saying, if you do this, I'll do that
though. If you ask him to save you, he will save you. He's the Lord. He's the brightness of God's
glory and the express image of his person. He's the one mediator
between God and men. The man, Christ Jesus. He's the
one Isaiah saw sitting on the throne. In the year King Uzziah
died, I saw also the Lord sitting on a throne. High and lifted
up. He's the only savior of sinners.
Who is this one? Where is he? Well, first, who
is he? He's the only savior of sinners. He's the subject of
the eternities. You know, before creation, what
was the song of heaven? The lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. When time is no more, what will
be the song of heaven? Worthy is the lamb that was slain
and creation took place just for him. He created this and
he did it for his glory. Who is this one? The friend of sinners. Where is that one? Herod asked this question at
his birth. Where is he that was born? King
of the Jews. The Shulamite in the Song of
Solomon said, where is he that my soul loveth? The heathen said to David, where's
your God, David? Our God is in the heavens where
he's always been. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. Somebody once said after the
tragic death of their son, and what a tragic thing, where was
God when my son died? And someone replied the same
place he was when his son died, on the throne, ruling and reigning. Where is that one? Would to God
that that question would be answered. And I ask that you would pray
for me that I would be enabled to give what the Bible says where
he is and pray for yourself that you'll be able to hear with hearing
ears. Even now ask the Lord, pray for
me, pray for yourself. Here's where we must begin. He's in this book. This is where he found. He is
in this book. The Bible, the holy word of God. He's in his word. He said to
the Pharisees in John chapter five, verse 39, you search the
scriptures. In them you think you have eternal
life. If I can just figure out how
to keep the rules in this book, I'll be in good shape. They are
they. which testify of me." That is
the truth with regard to every single scripture. They are they
which testify of me. Peter said to him, give all the
prophets witness. We know that ahead of time. Whatever
is said, it's bearing witness to him. I love it in Luke chapter
24, on the road to Emmaus, where he said, beginning at Moses and
the prophets, he expanded unto them in all the scriptures, the
things concerning himself. He's in this book and we will
not know him apart from the scriptures. All scripture is given. by inspiration of God. It won't
do me any good to talk about my trying to find out who he
is or where he is if I don't do it with this book. What I think of God himself,
what I think of the Lord Jesus Christ is seen in how I view
this book, the holy I love that word, holy, other, not of this
world, supernatural, the holy scriptures. The heathen said to David, I've
already quoted this in Psalm 115, where is thy God? Where
is he now? You know, people have asked that
question. Where is God? Where is our God? David replied, our
God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever. He hath pleased. Whatever's going on right now.
He did it. Everything. He did it. What about the bad things? He
did it. He's God. Are you saying God
sins? Of course not. Are you saying
God does evil things? Of course not. But I'm saying
whatever happens, God is the first cause and he brings good
out of evil. You and I might not understand
it, but I don't need to understand it. God brings good out of evil
because he is good. It's the goodness of God. He's on the throne ruling and
reigning. From the throne, he sits in regal
splendor, undisturbed by opposition. He rules and reigns from his
throne. Now that's where he is. He's
on his throne. Ruling and reigning in heavens,
in the heavens, controlling everything that takes place here upon earth. Aren't you thankful for that? Oh, praise the Lord that he rules
and reigns. We don't serve some kind of weak
peanut God whose will is not done unless we let him have his
way, that's ridiculous. He's God. Beside him is none
else. And in the heavens, he's seated
on this throne. Hebrews 1.3 says, when he had
by himself purged our sins, he sat down. Why did he sit down? His work was finished. Sin was
purged. Put away. And he sits at his
throne, but there's something he's doing as he sits on his
throne in heaven. Hebrews or Romans 834 says, who
is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Get ahold
of that by the grace of God. That's the only answer you need.
It's Christ that died. Yea, rather, that's risen again,
who's even at the right hand of God making intercession for
us, representing us. Even right now, the Lord Jesus
Christ is representing me before his Father. Everything's fine. Peter, I have prayed for you. Anything else need to be said? In Isaiah chapter 57, verse 15,
we read this, thus sayeth the high and lofty one, that's the
Lord Jesus Christ, isn't it? He is the high and lofty one.
Thus sayeth the high and lofty one who inhabiteth eternity. Where is he? He inhabits eternity. He's not bound by space nor time. He inhabits eternity. He's not
in the cosmos. The cosmos is in Him. He is omnipresent. That means you can't go anywhere
where He's not. That's where He is. In Him we live and move
and have our being. He is omnipresent. Can you say that about the Lord
Jesus Christ when He's a man in a human body? How can you
say a man confined to a human body, and he's a human being
right now, as he's seated at the right hand of the Father,
there's flesh and blood there. A spiritual man, but a body,
a human being. How can he be everywhere at once? I don't know, but he is. You know, when he was talking
to Nicodemus in John chapter three, he talked about No man
hath ascended into heaven, but the Son of Man, or hath descended
from heaven. No man hath descended from heaven,
but the Son of Man, which is in heaven. Present tense, right
then. Explanation. It's just who He is. He's omnipresent. You cannot go anywhere where
he's not. If he's in the father and the
father's in heaven, he's in heaven, isn't he? And so is every other
believer, because the scripture says, if we're in him, we're
seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. I love to think of this.
While I'm here floundering in my flesh, floundering in my unbelief,
my uncertainties about myself, I'm seated in heaven already
there. Not just as if I was there, I'm
there in the beloved. If he's there, I'm there. Seated in the heavenlies in Christ
Jesus. Where is he? Where is he? Well, he's on the throne. He's
everywhere. and he is in every individual
believer. Colossians 1, 27, Christ in you.
If you're a believer, Jesus Christ, the Lord, the one
seated in the heaven, dwells in your heart, the heart that
he gave you. He gave you a heart that he dwells
in and he is in, he resides in every believer. When he said
to Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus, make haste come down today, I must
abide. He didn't just say, I'm going
to visit there and go away. The word abide means remain.
I'm there for good. I will never leave you nor forsake
you. He is in the heart of every believer
and it's a fit place for him to be because it's the heart
he gave. You know, when preachers say, won't you give Jesus your
heart? I want the new heart he gives.
I want the heart David spoke of when he said, create in me
a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me. This is why he could say, in
as much as you've done it to the least of these, my brethren,
you've done it to me. And in as much as you did it
not to the least of these, my brethren, you did it not to me.
This is why he could say to Saul, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? Now wait a minute, he's at the
right hand of the father. Yeah, but he's an every believer
and Saul was persecuting a believer. He was persecuting the Lord Jesus
Christ himself. Paul said, when it pleased God
who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace
to reveal his son, in me. Not simply to me. This is better. In me. I live yet not I, but
Christ liveth in me. And the life that I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me. He lives in me. Now, I wouldn't believe that
unless the Bible told me that, but I believe it. Christ in you,
the hope of glory. I think of when Nebuchadnezzar
had thrown Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the fiery furnace
bound. And the fire was so hot, the
people that threw them in were burned up. There's such a gospel
message in that. Nebuchadnezzar said, did we not
throw three men into the fiery furnace? Lo, I see four men,
loose, free, and walking. And the likeness of the fourth
is likened to the son of God. God is always with his people
in the furnace, just like he was with Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego. Where is he? Where is he? Well, he's on the throne ruling. He's in his people. And he said, where two or three,
this is in Matthew chapter 18, listen to this scripture very
carefully. Where two or three are gathered together. That's
what this is, isn't it? Where two or three are gathered
together in my name. This is not just a gathering
of people. This is gathering together in
his name. There am I. In their midst. Now, if the Lord Jesus Christ
was here physically this morning, would you feel a need to be here?
Of course you would. If he's here physically, the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Lord of glory, you would
feel the need to be here. He is here, right now, in this
room. Because he said, where two or
three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst
of them. He inhabits the public assembly
of the saints when the gospel is preached. Question, is there
ever a reason to not be where he is at? Every time. Two or three people
are gathered together in his name. He's promised his presence. He's here. Somebody thinks, well,
I don't want to become legalistic about church attendance. He's here. I don't want to be legalistic
about coming home. I don't think I'm going to go home tonight.
I'm just going to stay out all night. I don't want to be legalistic
about that. No, come on. Wait. He's here. He's here. Anything else need
to be said? He's here. Where two or three,
that's talking about a public assembly. God's special presence
is blessed, is promised where two or three are gathered together.
Now I realize there's people have to work. Sometimes they
can't come to church when you got to work. I realize that that's,
there's nothing wrong with that. But he is still promised. where
two or three are gathered together in my name. There I am. He still walks in the midst,
the scripture says, of the golden candlesticks of the churches.
He is there. Psalm 80 verse one, you can look
this up on your own. He is called thou that dwellest
between The cherubims. Now what in the world does that
mean? Thou that dwellest between the cherubims. The cherubims
are those angelic beings that had six wings. With two, they
covered their face. With two, they covered their
feet. With two, they did fly. Isaiah spoke of them. They're
spoken of in Revelation. But what dwells between the cherubims? Well, in the tabernacle, you
had the mercy seat. The mercy seat. And it was in
between the two cherubims, embroidered on the cloth with their wings
pointing toward each other, the mercy seat. Now, what is the
mercy seat? The mercy seat is called by Paul,
the propitiation. Whom God has set forth to be
a propitiation, a mercy seat. Now, what in the world does that
mean? of propitiation, because that's
not a word we normally hear in our vernacular today, propitiation. It means a sin removing sacrifice. Now that's where he'll meet you.
That's where he'll meet me. The place of propitiation. He said, there will I meet thee,
Exodus 25, 22. There will I meet thee and have
communion with thee. Propitiation. Hebrews chapter
eight, God said, and this is where he'll meet you. This is
where he'll meet me. Nowhere else. But he always meets
anybody who comes here. There will I meet you. God said,
for I will be, in Hebrews chapter eight, merciful. The word is
actually propitious. I will be propitious. I will be a sin removing sacrifice. That means my sin has been removed
by what he did. I can come into his presence
and be accepted, holy and unblameable and unapprovable on his side
because my sin has been removed. I will be propitious to their
unrighteousness and their sins and iniquities. I will remember
no more." The reason He doesn't remember
them? There's nothing there to remember because He removed them
and made them to not be. And that is exactly what the
publican in the temple was praying. The Pharisee said, God, I thank
Thee that I'm not as other men are. And then the publican in
the temple beat upon his breast, crying, God, be, I know the King
James Version says merciful, but the word is actually propitious.
It's not just a general desire for mercy. Lord, be a sin removing
sacrifice to me. Remove my sin, do something about
my sin. Now, how did that work out? How
did that end? Christ said, I say unto you,
that man went down to his house justified. Justified. That's how it worked
out. Justified. No sin. Sinless. Perfect in God's sight. Through the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ on the cross. He's at the mercy seat. That's
where he is. He's at the mercy. He'll meet
you there. He'll meet you there. We're not talking about somebody
else. I'm talking about me. He'll meet me there. And accept me
through the blood. Where is he? Solomon said in 1 Kings 8, 12,
he dwells in the thick darkness. He dwells in the thick darkness. You see, the scripture says he
covers himself with light as with a garment. He dwells in
the thick darkness. I thought about that, there's
several things I thought about. I thought about the thick darkness
of Mary's womb. Utter darkness. I thought about the darkness
on the cross. when the world was covered with
darkness, darkness that might be felt, this reminds us that
you and I really don't much understand about what was going on on the
cross. We do maybe a little bit, but just a little bit. Actually,
we don't understand at all. To know that he was made sin,
that God turned the lights out at that time, And I think of the darkness of
the tomb that he laid in. All of a sudden, his heart began to beat. His
lungs began to heave and his eyes opened in the darkness of
that tomb. He dwells. in the thick darkness. And I know why Paul said, we
see through a glass darkly. We see through a glass darkly. Psalm 22 verse three says, but
thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praise of Israel. Where is
he? He inhabits the praise. of Israel. Now who is Israel?
Israel is every believer. That's just not talking about
the nation of Israel in the Old Testament or the nation of Israel
right now where all the conflict is going on. Israel is every
believer. It's everybody with a circumcised
heart. It's the true Jew. He is a Jew,
which is not one outwardly, but one inwardly, whose circumcision
is that of the heart, not of the letter of the spirit, whose
praise is not of men, but of God. This is the true Jew. Every
believer is a true Jew and every believer praises God for who
he is. We love who he is. And he inhabits
the praises of Israel, the Israel of God. The Israel of God love
God as he is. They love all of his attributes.
They love all of his characteristics. They love all his ways of saving
sinners by his grace. And whenever there is true from
the heart praise to God for who he is, he's there. He's there. Where is he? He's in the preaching
of the gospel. Matthew 28, I'd like you to turn
there. Now, whenever I say something
about the preaching and the gospel, I don't want to say this in a
way that would put some kind of importance on the preacher. I don't want to say it that way.
I hate the thought of clergy lady. There's the preacher and
there's the people. No, no, no. Paul, when he talked about himself,
he said, I magnify my office as a preacher. He said, I'm nothing. I'm nothing. And every true preacher
knows that about themselves. They're nothing. That doesn't take away from the
importance of preaching and please God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. God has manifested his word through
preaching. Now look at this passage in Matthew
chapter 28. And Jesus came and spake unto
them saying all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Hear somebody talk about a powerful
man or a powerful woman, laugh underneath. They're not powerful. He's a powerful man. No, he's
not. He's got no power. All power belongs to the Lord
Jesus Christ. All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Ghost." I've heard people say, you can't really
say that the scripture teaches three gods in one person. You
can't really say the scripture teaches the Trinity. Oh, what's that say? baptizing them
in the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded
you." I've heard people say, well, that's a doctrine of secondary
importance. Says who? You can say anything
that he says is of secondary importance. And something's more
important. Teaching them to observe all
things. If he said it, it's of absolute
importance. Amen. Teaching them to observe
all things. Whatsoever I've commanded you
and lo, I am with you always. That's where he's at. I am with you always. He's speaking
particularly of the preaching of the gospel. But he says, I'm
with you always, even to the end of the world. Now here's
what I want to close with. Where is he? Where is he? He is where there is a cry for
mercy. That's where he is. He is where There is a cry for mercy. Now we read when he was going
through Jericho and coming out of Jericho on his way to Jerusalem,
Luke tells us he set his face like a flint. That's said in
Isaiah. Luke quotes it, he is going to
the cross and there are crowds following him. They don't know
he's going to the cross and everybody's calling his name. A lot of people
using his name, a lot of people crying, a lot of people saying
many things. There he goes. He's not going
to be stopped. And then all of a sudden the
scripture says, Jesus stood still. On his way to the cross, nothing's
gonna stop him. Jesus stood still. What stopped him? This cry. Jesus, thou son of David, Have
mercy upon me. And Jesus stood still. You know, that's a cry that he
always hears. Jesus stood still. And the scripture says he commanded
him to be called. I love that scripture where They
said, Bartimaeus, hold your peace. Shut up. You're not supposed to tell people to
shut up. They told Bartimaeus to shut up. Shut up! You know
what the scripture says? He cried the Moor a great deal.
You know, if somebody wants mercy, you're not going to shut them
up. If that ever comes into my heart, it can't be shut up. I
need mercy. I need God to give me what I
do not deserve. I need him to not give me what
I do deserve. I need mercy for Christ's sake.
I need mercy. And Jesus stood still, commanded
him to be called. And he got up, threw away his
garment, Representing his own covering, his own righteousness,
he threw away that garment and rose and came to Jesus. And the
Lord said, what wilt thou that I do unto thee? What if the Lord
said that to you? What wilt thou that I should
do unto thee? Bartimaeus in his blindness said,
Lord, that I might receive my sight. And the Lord said, go
thy way. Thy faith hath made thee whole.
You know what he did when he went his way? He followed Jesus
in the way. Where is he? He is wherever there
is a cry for mercy. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for who
you are and where you are. Lord, in Christ's name, we ask
that you would unite our hearts together to pray and to make
this request. Give every one of us the grace
to be just like blind Bartimaeus. Crying, Jesus, thou son of David,
have mercy on me. And Lord, let us hear the same
answer. Go thy way, thy faith made thee
whole. And Lord, teach us to follow
thy son in the way. Bless this message for Christ's
sake. In his name we pray. Let's close with hymn number
480, In tenderness he sought me. Number 480. In tenderness He sought me, weary
and sick with sin, And on His shoulders brought me back to
the fold again. While angels in His presence
sang, Until the chords of heaven rang. O the love that sought
me! O the blood that bought me! O the grace that brought me to
the fold! wondrous grace that brought me
to the fold. He washed the bleeding sin wounds
and poured in oil and wine. He whispered to assure me, I
found thee, thou art mine. I never heard a sweeter voice. It made my aching heart rejoice. Oh, the love that sought me. Oh, the blood that bought me. Oh, the grace that brought me
to the fold. wondrous grace that brought me
to the fold. He pointed to the nail prints,
for me his blood was shed. A mocking crown so thorny was
placed upon his head. I wondered what he saw in me
to suffer such deep agony. O the love that sought me, O
the blood that bought me, O the grace that brought me to the
fold, wondrous grace that brought me to the fold. I'm sitting in
His presence, the sunshine of His face, while with adoring
wonder His blessings I retrace. It seems as if eternal days are
far too short to sound His praise. O the love that sought me, O
the blood that bought me, O the grace that brought me to the
fold. wondrous grace that brought me
to the fold. So while the hours are passing,
all now is perfect rest. I'm waiting for the morning,
the brightest and the best, when he will call us to his side to
be with him his spotless bride. O the love that sought me, O
the blood that bought me, O the grace that brought me to the
fold, wondrous grace that brought me to the fold. Thank you.