Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians
the second chapter. Let's begin at verse 19 and read
this one more time. Now therefore you are no more
strangers, no more foreigners, but we're fellow citizens. We're fellow citizens. We have
a fellowship with Christ and with the saints. We're fellow
citizens with the saints. Every believer in Christ is a
saint. That's right. Sanctified and
blessed and made holy, unblameable in Christ alone. And we're fellow
citizens with the saints and the household of God. Believers
are in the family of God. We have been adopted into that
family by His grace. We are fellow citizens. We are
in the household of God. Now that's quite the opposite
of strangers and foreigners. By nature, we are without God,
without hope, and without Christ, strangers from the covenant of
promise. But in Christ Jesus, we are fellow
citizens with the saints and the household of God. That's
our hope. And we're built up. We're established. We're no more tossed to and fro
and carried about by every wind of doctrine. But believers, fellow
citizens, Those who are in the household of God are built upon,
they're resting upon a foundation. And that foundation is Christ
Himself. The foundation of the apostles.
What was their foundation? What was Peter's foundation?
Peter's foundation was, we know you're the Christ, we believe
and we are sure that there's salvation in no other. Peter
and Paul, all the apostles, their foundation and all of their hope
of salvation was vested 100% in the Lord Jesus Christ himself. How about the prophets? All the
prophets of the past, you know they all wrote about one thing? Did you know that? To him give
all the prophets witness, David wrote about Christ. That's right. Moses, those first five books
of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, all those books, you
know what they're all about? Our Lord said, Moses wrote of
me. They're all about the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's right, all the apostles
and all the prophets, they all have the same exact hope that
I have, that every believer has, and that is what it says right
there. Notice, Jesus Christ himself. Now, is that all your salvation?
I mean all of it. All your hope before God who
is holy. The believer's hope is Jesus
Christ Himself in whom all the building fitly framed. We're framed together in Christ.
We grow it together unto a holy temple in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the words of this text are
few. Jesus Christ himself. That's the title of this message.
Jesus Christ himself. The words of the text are few
and brief, but the message and the meaning of these words are
vast and unexhaustible. You can't exhaust these words. Right across the page in Ephesians
chapter 3, look at verse 8. Look at verse 7 and 8. He said,
"...wherefore I was made a minister according to the gift of the
grace of God, given unto me by the effectual working of His
power," this is Ephesians 3, 8, "...unto me, whom less than
the least of all the saints is this grace given, that I should
preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ."
Can you exhaust this subject of Jesus Christ Himself? You
can't exhaust it. Not at all. The depth of the
riches of the wisdom of... they're unsearchable. How about
the riches of His love? The riches of His grace? The
riches of His person? In this chapter, Ephesians 2,
God sets before us a very clear description of salvation that
is in the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He describes us in Ephesians
chapter 2, what we are by nature, in the first three verses, children
of wrath, even as others. That's us by birth and by nature. Children of wrath, born in sin,
shaped in iniquity, without God, without hope, and without Christ.
He also not only describes what we are by nature, but He defines
for us what God has done for us. Notice again, Ephesians chapter
2 verse 4, But God, who is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith
He loved us, when did He love us? When we were lovely? When
we were holy? Look what it says right there.
But God who is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith
He loved us, even when we were dead, dead and ugly, dead and
sinful, and yet He loves us. He died for the ungodly. When
we were dead in sin, have quick enough together with Christ by
grace, are you saved. So he describes what we are by
nature, sinners, and then he tells us what he's done for us
by his grace. His rich mercy He's made us new
creatures in Christ Jesus. And then he describes the present
blessings that we have in Christ as being fellow citizens, being
one with Christ, being in that household of God. The household
of God. Now the gospel of God's grace
and glory is a marvel and a wonder. It's a beauty. The beauty of
it, the power of it, and the glory of it is what? Jesus Christ
Himself. He's the power of it. He's the
wonder of it. He's the glory of it. He's the
strength of it. It's Christ Himself. We glory
not in our wisdom, not in our righteousness, but we glory in
Him, who is all of our righteousness, all of our sanctification, and
all our redemption. Now this message has five points.
The first one is this. His character, Jesus Christ Himself,
His character, His person, who He is, is glorious in Himself. He is glorious in Himself. Jesus
Christ Himself. He is the Lord of glory. Jesus Christ Himself. God has
blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly in
Christ Jesus Himself. Jesus Christ Himself. The glory
and beauty and power of salvation is the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, I don't like to hear
anybody talk of my Savior in such a demeaning way as just
to call Him Jesus. Now, that is His name. But I
like to refer to Him, He is the Savior. God gave Him that name
as the Savior, mediator. But let's refer to Him with respect
and reverence as the Lord Jesus Christ. There's a difference
now. There's a difference. He is Lord
because He is God Almighty. God manifests in the flesh. In Acts chapter 2 we read, God
had made that same Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ. He's not Lord by something we
do. We hear people in religion today say, well, make Jesus your
Lord. Well, my friend, you can't do that. You can vow to Him as
Lord, but God has made Him Lord by His decree, by His death,
by His mediation. He is Lord for the glory of God
the Father. He is not only Lord, the Lord,
but He is the Savior, the only Savior. Call His name Jesus,
He shall save His people from their sin. He is the only Savior. Neither is there salvation in
any other name. but the Lord Jesus Christ. I'll tell you a story. Years
ago, when Rob Barnard came to Ashland back in 1950, Brother
Henry was telling me this story, Pastor Mahan. And they were singing
a song about Jesus saves, Jesus saves. You know, Barnard got
up in that meeting after they sang that song. He said, there's
not a word of truth in what you just sang. He said, it's the Lord Jesus
Christ that saves. You know, that got their attention,
didn't it? It's just not Jesus. It's the Lord Jesus Christ that
saves. You see, it's who He is that
gives value to what He did upon the cross. God brought us with
His own blood. So let's refer to Him as the
Lord Jesus, Savior. And then He's the Christ. He's
the Lord. He's the only Savior. And He
is the Christ. What does that mean? That means
he is the Messiah. That means he is the anointed
one of God. He's anointed in all of his office
as prophet, priest, and king. He's a prophet to represent God
to me to tell me what I need to know. He is that prophet who
came and told me the truth and he is that priest who represents
me to God. I need both. And I need someone
who is anointed in his office as prophet, priest, and king. He is the king. As a matter of
fact, he is called King of Kings and Lord of Lords. His character
has commanded respect from even those that were his enemies,
Pilate and Judas and others. Pilate said, I find no fault
in him. Judas later said, I betrayed
innocent blood. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself is glorious in His person. The Lord Jesus Christ. You get what I'm saying? Let's
not just use that flippant term, Jesus this and Jesus that. It's
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who saves sinners.
You know, it takes a great Savior to save a great sinner, and we're
great sinners. Thank God we have a great Savior
named the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, here's my second point.
Jesus Christ Himself is not only glorious in His person, who He
is, but the Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the theme of all Scripture. What is the theme of this book?
Turn to Luke chapter 24. The theme of this whole book,
you know it has one message. Sixty-six books, but it has the
one message. What would you say that one message
of that this book is? Of every book in the Bible? Luke
chapter 24. Luke chapter 24, beginning at
verse 25. Luke 24, verse 25, He said unto
them, O fools, slow of heart, to believe all that the prophets
have spoken, ought not Christ to have suffered these things,
and enter into His glory? And beginning of Moses, and all
the prophets, He expounded unto them, and all the scriptures,
the things concerning, what's that word there? Himself. So
the Lord Jesus, now this is the resurrected Lord, and these two
men as they walked on the road to Emmaus, somehow the Lord Jesus,
the resurrected Lord, came unto them, and they were talking about
the events of the day, what had happened, and the Lord took those
same Scriptures that they had all those years, and He took
those Scriptures and expounded unto them Himself. Beginning
at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them, that
is, He's explained unto them in all things concerning Himself. Now look at verse 44, Luke 24,
44. And he said unto them, These
are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you,
that all things must be fulfilled which are written in the law
of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning
me. It's all about, this whole book
is all about the person and work of Jesus Christ. If we can find
out In the Scripture, when we read the Scripture, read this
with an eye to see the Lord Jesus Christ. And in the book revealed,
do you know what we see? What do we see? Jesus Christ
Himself. He's the whole message of this
book. All of it. The Old Testament declares unto
us that someone's coming way back in Genesis. The woman seen
that would crush the serpent's head. That speaks of the Messiah,
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Old Testament declares all
the way through that book, someone's coming. Someone's coming, and
that someone is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Gospels declare unto
us that the Lord Jesus Christ has come. In the fullness of
time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the
law, to redeem them that were under the law. In the beginning
was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and
that Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. The Old Testament
declares Someone's coming, that someone is Christ Himself. They
all look for Him, the coming of Christ. Our Lord said, Abraham
rejoiced to see my day, he saw it and was glad. The Gospel declares,
the Gospels of four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke declare
that He has come. God incarnate. And the epistles
tell us that He's coming again. Again, this same Jesus. will
come again in like manner as they stood that day and watched
Him ascend to glory, the messengers from heaven said He's going to
come again in like manner. This same Jesus, this same Savior,
Jesus Christ Himself. So He's the theme of this book.
This book's all about Christ. If anybody ever asks you, what
is the Bible all about? I don't understand it. What's
it all about? You can simply say it's about Jesus Christ Himself. He is a glorious person and he
is redemptive work. He is priestly work. Now here
is my third thought. Jesus Christ himself is the theme
of all Scripture, that's true. If that is true, and it is, he
must be the only message of gospel preaching, Jesus Christ Himself. Now, here's the Scripture. I
want you to turn back to 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter 4. He is the only subject of preaching,
Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, Look
at verse 5. 2 Corinthians 4 verse 5. He said, We preach not ourselves,
but Jesus Christ the Lord. You see that? And ourselves your
servant for His sake. For God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. We have this treasure in an earthen
vessel that the excellency of the power may be of God and not
of us. What's Paul saying here? Our
message of preaching is Jesus Christ himself. He says we preach
not ourselves, but what? Jesus Christ the Lord. Now, there's
another scripture on that. Turn back to 1 Corinthians chapter
2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Verse 2, he says this, I'm determined,
1 Corinthians 2.2, I'm determined not to know anything among you
except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. You see, it's His glorious person
and His work. One old preacher of the past
said this, when we are done preaching Jesus Christ as all of our salvation,
we better be done with preaching. A sermon without the Lord Jesus
Christ is a mistake in its conception, and a crime in its execution
is worthless and lifeless to the children of God. But we must preach the Lord Jesus
Christ as everything in salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. Not
of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
would show mercy. The preaching of Jesus Christ
and Him crucified is the power of God and the salvation. It
says that in Romans chapter 1. I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ. It's the power of God and the
salvation to everyone that believes that gospel. The preaching of
Jesus Christ is by the commandment of God. He told us to go preach
the gospel of Jesus Christ. Go preach the gospel. He commanded
us to do so. Paul, when he wrote to young
Timothy, said, I charge you before God. to preach the word, to preach
Christ and Him crucified. The preaching of Christ and Him
crucified is a means God uses to call out His sheep to Himself. Now, I know this world thinks
what we're doing today is foolishness, but unto them which are called
by the gospel is the very power and wisdom of God. It pleads
God by the preaching of the gospel, Christ and Him crucified, Christ
Himself, to call out His people. The preaching of the Lord Jesus
Christ is the children's bread. He said, to feed my sheep. If you love me, Peter, feed my
sheep, feed my lamb. What do we feed them with? Well,
the bread from heaven. He is the bread of life. We feed
upon Him. He said, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger. He that believeth on me shall never thirst. I believe
in Him, don't you? He is the bread. There's no message
but Jesus Christ Himself that quickens the dead sinners to
life. You have to be quickened who were dead. We read that in
Ephesians 2.1. There's no message but this message
of Christ. And it's not my ability and the
power of my speaking and my... That's not the power of God in
the salvation. It's Christ Himself. It's the
Gospel Himself. We have this glorious treasure
in a weak vessel. I don't want you to glory in
the preacher. I want you to glory in what is
preached. Christ and Him crucified. Does
that make sense? It's the message that quickens
dead sinners to life. Of His own will beget He us with
the word of truth. It is a message that reveals
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. This message,
how can God be God, just and holy, and justified the ungodly? Well, it is always through Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. It is always through Jesus Christ
Himself. So this is a message that quickens
dead sinners to life. It is a message that reveals
the glory of God, the very sovereign mercy of God to sinners, that
comforts a sinner's heart. Now what comforts your heart?
Is it not the Lord Jesus Christ Himself? When Isaiah talked about,
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God, speak unto Jerusalem,
and tell unto her that her warfare is a conflict, that her sin is
pardoned? That comforts my heart, knowing
that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself put away my sin. He put away
my sin. And the Lord Jesus Christ meets
all my need Himself. I have a lot of need. Notice
that singular, need. I have a lot of need. But He meets all my need according
to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus Himself. Jesus Christ
Himself. Now, I've never heard any believer
complain that I preached the Lord Jesus Christ too often,
too earnestly, too joyfully, or that I exalted Him too highly. I'd like to be guilty of that.
I'd like to be guilty of preaching Christ too much, too often. and
to joyfully, and to exalt him, give him all the honor and glory. God forbid I should glory save
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where I glory
in, Jesus Christ himself. There's no fear in exhausting
the subject or driving away his people. driving away the sheep. Our Lord turned to some of those
people that day when He said, no man can come unto Me except
the Father which sent Me. Draw him. And a lot of people
said, well, we're just going to quit. You know, they were
following Him because of the miracles and the loaves and the
fishes. They said, well, we're just going to quit. They went
back and followed Him no more. Then He turned to His twelve
and said, well, will you also go away? Peter said, Lord, to
whom shall we go? We believe and we're sure that
you're the Christ, that you're the Son of the living God. You
see, you can't drive the sheep away by preaching the Lord Jesus
Christ too often, too much, too highly. Giving Him all the glory
and honor. Now, I know religious folks don't
like that. They'll get tired of that. They'll want to move
on to social programs, and how to feel good programs, and this
program, and that social program, and we don't do enough for the
kids, and all this thing, and kid programs, and camp programs.
I tell you, our children have too much to do as it is. with school activities, extra
activities, homework activities. We don't need more activities,
do we? What's the best thing we can do for our young people?
Preach the gospel to them. That's right. Tell them they
need to hear the truth and to love Christ by His grace. A lot
of times people back in Ashland, they would criticize Pastor Mayhem.
And one of the things they would say, well, you don't do enough
for the young people. You know what his pat answer was? What
do the young people need? They need to hear about Jesus
Christ Himself. They have enough activities at
school and social activities. Don't you young people have enough
to do? Huh? With computer, internet and all
that stuff? You've got more than enough to do. We can take out
some time and come together and tell our young people about the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what's needed. That's
what's needed. Well, here's the fourth point. The Lord Jesus
Christ himself accomplished all salvation for us. And here's
the scripture, back to Ephesians. This time find Ephesians chapter
5. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself
accomplished all salvation for us. Now, salvation is not that
He did a part and that I do a part. That's not what salvation is. Salvation is all of Christ and
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ Himself is the accomplishment
of all of our salvation. Now, here's the Scripture. Ephesians
chapter 5. Verse 2, walk in love as Christ
also hath loved us and hath given, what's that word there? Himself. He gave Himself for us. That's substitution. I tell you,
when you give yourself and give your life for someone, that's
love. By this, you all men know that
you're my disciples, that you love one another. He loved us
and He had given Himself for us. A sacrifice for sin. Now watch this. An offering and
a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling What does that mean? That means
it's satisfying to God. Satisfying to the God Almighty. You know, that sacrifice of the
Lord Jesus Christ is offered not toward men, Huh? Now stay with me. It's not offered
toward men. It's offered toward God. This
is God's atonement. It's not up for me to accept
or reject whether it works or not based upon what I do with
it. It's the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ that's offered
unto God who's offended. He must be satisfied, not me.
I don't mean to be yelling at you. But you see what I'm saying? It's a sacrifice unto God. You
read in the Old Testament through Exodus and Leviticus, it's always
the blood on the altar before the Lord. As a matter of fact,
on the Day of Atonement when that high priest went in to the
Holy of Holies upon the mercy seat, there was not even allowed
one person other than that high priest to be in the tabernacle.
He had to be in there alone. And that's teaching us that He
accomplished salvation by Himself, with Himself, unto God Almighty. A sweet-smelling savor unto God. Now, look what it says there
in Ephesians 5. Verse 25, Husbands, love your
wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for
it. Now, he died as a representative
for a people. He didn't die for all the sins
of all men. That's not true. He died for
all the sins of those for whom he represents. It says here that
he loved the church. That's his body. That's his elect. And he gave himself to secure
and accomplish their salvation. He put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. of Himself. He bare our sin and
His own body on the tree, that just for the unjust that He might
bring us unto God. Here's another scripture on that.
Back to Hebrews chapter 1. Look at this. Hebrews chapter
1. That word Himself, I believe it's right here too. Yes it is.
Hebrews 1 verse 3. Hebrews 1 verse 3, Who being
in the brightness of His glory, the expressed image of His person,
upholding all things by the word of His power, when He by Himself,
there's that word again, Himself, purged our sin, He sat down at
the right hand of God. Why did He sit down? Done! Salvation's done. He said it's
finished at the cross. It is finished. And notice where
he sat down, at the right hand of the majesty on high. Huh?
God said it's enough. He raised, he put his stamp of
approval on his priestly work, on his blood atonement, and that
he raised him from the dead, seated at God's right hand. Place
of acceptance, love, and power. And because God accepts him,
he accepts those for whom he represents. He brought in for
us Himself everlasting redemption and everlasting righteousness. He established a righteousness
for us. Jesus Christ Himself. Now I must have my sin removed.
He did that by the sacrifice of Himself. But I also must have
a righteousness given. A righteousness imputed. And
that's not by something I do. Something I manufacture. Something
I work up. Blessed is the man to whom God
would impute, reckon, give righteousness without your contribution. You see, my friend, the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself is all my righteousness before God. Now
back to 1 Corinthians. Look at this. 1 Corinthians chapter
1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Now look at this. You see the
Lord Jesus Christ Himself is all my redemption. Okay? The Lord Jesus Christ Himself
is all my righteousness. You know, in Scripture, he's
called, in Jeremiah 23, verse 5, he's called the Lord my righteousness. You know that? He's my righteousness.
Now, you've got 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Notice 1 Corinthians
chapter 1, verse 30. But of Him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us. He's my wisdom. He is my
righteousness. Jesus Christ Himself is my righteousness. I'm no longer going about to
establish a righteousness of my own. I'm resting in the Lord
my righteousness. He's my righteousness and He's
my holiness. He's all my holiness before God.
How holy do I have to be to stand before God? Holy is God Himself. Well, how can that be? Well,
in myself it can't be, but in my substitute, God sees me in
Christ absolutely perfect as His Son. Can I make good on that? Can I show you that in Scripture?
Doesn't it say that over here? Turn to Colossians chapter 1.
Colossians chapter 1. Verse 20, Colossians 1.20, He
said, He made peace through the blood of His cross by Him to
reconcile all things unto Himself. All things unto Himself. There's
that word again. By Him, I say, whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven in you that were sometimes
alienated, enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath
He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death to present
you wholly unblameable, unreprovable in His Son. Now that's how God
sees me in Christ. Because as God sees me in Christ,
He sees my representative who is perfect and holy. And He loves
me and saves me and blesses me because I am in Christ and I
am holy and righteous in Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus we have
a perfect, justifying righteousness before God. Now, others may see me as wicked
and ungodly, and that's okay. I'm not really too concerned
about that. It's how God sees me. That's what I'm interested
in. How does God see me? In Christ. Justified. Justified. Well, here's my fifth point.
Jesus Christ Himself is the only object of saving faith. Now,
faith that is true, the faith of God's elect, is objective. It has an object. Saving faith
doesn't look inwardly. The faith of God's elect acknowledges
the truth. What is the object of saving
faith? Well, Jesus Christ Himself is the object of saving faith.
I look to Him for all of my salvation. It's plain command of Holy Scripture. Isaiah 45.21 says this, look
unto Me and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth, I
am God, there is none else. Isaiah 45.21, look unto Me, look
unto Me. Matthew 11, 28, our Lord said,
Come to Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I'll give
you rest. In the book of Hebrews, let's turn over there, Hebrews
chapter 12. In Hebrews chapter 12, it says,
Looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews 12. Verse 2, looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was
set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and is set
down at the right hand of God. Looking unto who? The Lord Jesus
Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. Now, saving faith
looks to Christ. He's the object. The foundation
of faith is the Word of God, but the object of saving faith
is the Lord Jesus Christ, the one that's victorious. Now, don't
trust the counterfeit. Don't trust the counterfeit.
Trust the true Christ of God. the true Christ of God. Now,
saving faith looks to Christ, not to my faith. Faith doesn't
look to faith, nor to my experience, nor even to a doctrine, but rather
to a person living and exalted, the Lord Jesus Christ alone and
always. Saving faith has a fixed eye
upon Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. is the object of saving
faith. You've got the book of Hebrews
right there, turn back to chapter 4, Hebrews chapter 4, Hebrews
4, let us therefore, it says in verse 14 of Hebrews 4, seeing
then that we have the great high priest that is passed into the
heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession,
Hebrews 4 verse 14, for we have not a high priest which cannot
be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all
points tempted like as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore
come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy
and find grace to help in time of need. You see, we look to
Him. We look to Him. in time of need, that we may,
that doesn't say here we come boldly to the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy. Not that we earn mercy, we obtain
it as the free gift of God and we find grace to help in our
time of need. But when is that? All the time. All the time. I look to Christ. Well, here's the last one. I
told you there was five, but I've got marked down six. Right
there in the book of Hebrews, chapter 2, this is where we started.
Jesus Christ himself is the source of all joy and comfort. Hebrews
chapter 2 it says in verse 17 wherefore in all things to behoove
him That is it's necessary for him to be made like unto his
brethren He must be a real man and yet God to represent us and
to satisfy God to be made like unto his brethren that he might
be a merciful and faithful High Priest he represents us to God
in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation atonement
He reconciled us to Himself by that blood atonement, for the
sin of the people, those He represents, now look at verse 18, for in
that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to
help, to save, to encourage them that are tempted. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the source of all comfort and joy. He has reconciled us
to Himself. He has given us peace being justified
by faith. We have peace with God. And He
has assured us of His constant presence. He said, I'll never
leave you. I'll never forsake you. When He came forth from the tomb
and met His disciples, it's recorded in Matthew 28, He said, I have
all power in heaven and earth. Go and preach the gospel to every
creature. And then his last words, do you
remember what he said? Lo, I'm with you always, even
to the end of the earth. The Lord is with us always. He never leaves us. He never
forsakes us. You say, well, you know, I just
don't feel his presence. He didn't ask you to feel his
presence. He said, believe my word. He said, I'm with you always. I believe Him. I'll never leave
you. He said I'll never forsake you.
I believe Him. I believe Him. He has assured us His constant
presence. He has promised us His sovereign
protection. Sovereign protection. The Lord
is my shepherd. I shall not want. I shall not
want. He's my shepherd. Well, Jesus
Christ Himself. What do you think? everything
in salvation. It's all this sinner's hope.
It's all this sinner's hope. God gave the best heaven had,
and that was the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And that's all of our
salvation and all our hope.