Open your Bibles again to the
book of John, chapter 12. The Jews here in John 12 are
meeting in Jerusalem to observe the Passover feast, which they
observe every year. And when they came to Jerusalem
to observe the Passover, usually there were Gentiles among
them, a number of Gentiles. For example, the Ethiopian eunuch
had gone to Jerusalem for one of these feasts and was going
back to his home when God sent Philip to him to preach the gospel.
at the feast of the Passover were many Gentiles. Now, we look
at verse 20. That's where I want to start
the message. And there were certain Greeks. Those who were not Jews were
Gentiles. Greeks were Gentiles. There were
certain Gentiles among them that came up to worship at the feast. Now, these Gentiles had heard
of the raising of Lazarus. Back there in verse 9 of chapter
12, much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there, and they
came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus
also whom he had raised from the dead. Now, these Gentiles
knew about the raising of Lazarus as everybody did who was there. in Jerusalem for this feast.
Secondly, these Gentiles were observers when our Lord entered
the city of Jerusalem in verse 12. And all of this hoopla associated
with his coming in, they're casting their garments before him and
the palm leaves, listen to it in verse 12. On the next day,
much people that would come to the feast, when they heard that
Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees. And they went forth to meet him,
crying, Hosanna! Blessed is the King of Israel!
The King of Israel. They could just visualize this
mighty kingdom of David being restored to Israel, the heel
of Rome taken off their necks. They said, blessed is the king
of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. These Gentiles
saw all that. And another thing that they were
aware of in verse 19, that the religious leaders, these Pharisees,
and these Pharisees were not held in very high regard among
the people. And these Gentiles knew, verse
19, the Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Receive ye
how ye prevail nothing, behold the whole world is gone after
him. This man Jesus has stirred up the whole world. These Gentiles
were aware of that. So verse 21, these Gentiles came
therefore to Philip, And which was of Bethsaida of
Galilee, and they desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Now these Gentiles didn't want
to bear sight of him. They'd seen him. They saw him
when he came into the city, and those people were throwing their
garments and palm leaves in front of him. They saw him when he
was walking down the streets and other places. What they wanted
to do was inquire of him. They wanted to know something
about what he was doing. Who is this man? And what is
his philosophy? Is he the king of Israel? Is
he the Messiah? Is he the prophet? They wanted
to inquire. They wanted to sit down with
him and find out what he had to say. They wanted to see Jesus,
who He is, what He was doing, why He was doing it. And I tell
you, I'm not certain that they were interested in His saving
work, but they were interested, like these Jews, in His Kingdom
work, the King. But I do know this, I do know
that this is where the treasure is. It's not just a bare bare
knowledge of Christ, it's actually seeing Christ, who He is, who
He is. And that's what they're saying.
We want to see Him. Our Lord turned to John 12. Our
Lord promised special blessings to those who really see who He
is. In John chapter 6, it says this,
listen. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone that really seeeth the Son, Really seeeth
the Son, who He is, inquires of Him, seeks Him out, and sees
Him, and believes on Him. They have everlasting life, and
I'll raise Him up at the last day. Oh my, there's a treasure
hid in the field, that when a man finds it, he goes and sells everything
that he has and buys that field. Buys that field. It's like the
pearl of great price that the fellow found and hid it, went
and sold everything he had and came back and bought that pearl.
And these men are right on the threshold, they're right on the
threshold of something, something great, something eternal when
they come to Philip. I don't think they know where
they are on this threshold of finding life, they said, sir,
we would see Jesus. Tell us about Him. Let us meet
Him. Let's talk to Him. Let us enter into who He is.
Would you? Oh, my, my, if we could get that
kind of interest, that kind of interest. Well, this presented
a problem for Philip. It says in verse 22, Why didn't
Philip take them by the hand and say, well, let's go see him?
Let's go see him. But it presented a problem for
Philip. You say, what was the problem?
Well, three folk, number one, these were Gentiles. And these
Jews, Philip and Andrew and Nathanael and all the rest of them, had
been forbidden of God to go the way of the Gentiles. You know, Peter had a lot of
conflict over that. He had conflict when God was going to send him
down to preach to Cornelius and the Gentile band. He had a lot
of problems with that. And even later on in his ministry,
when he was fellowshipping with the Gentiles and the Jewish brethren
came down from Jerusalem, he got up and left the table. These
men had been brought up to avoid Gentiles, have nothing to do
with them. And this presented a problem.
These Gentiles, I don't know how many of them there were,
but they came to him and said, we want to meet with Jesus. We
want to find out who He is. We want to sit down and talk
to Him. We want to see where He's coming from. Second thing
that bothered Philip was this. If Jesus Christ, at the Feast
of the Passover, In Jerusalem, when everybody was there, the
Sanhedrin, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes, everybody
was in Jerusalem for this. This was the once-a-year feast
of the person. And if Jesus of Nazareth met
together in public with a group of Gentiles, the wrath of the
Pharisees would be indescribable. I want to show you a scripture
in John 7. Turn back here a minute. In John chapter 7, verse 34. And listen to this. Our Lord
said, You shall seek me and shall not find me, and where I am thither
you cannot come. And then said the Jews among
themselves. Now this is the conclusion they
drew. Where will he go that we can't find him? Where would he
go when they wouldn't find him? Listen. Will he go unto the dispersed
among the Gentiles and teach the Gentiles? Is that where he's
going to go? We wouldn't find him there, that's
for sure. That's the last place. You see
what I'm pointing at? The last place. Philip got him a problem. And the third reason What would
the people of Israel do? He came on his own, his own received
him not. But what if he had come to the
Gentiles and associated and identified with them and brought this council
together right here in the midst of this piece of the Passover?
He meets with a bunch of Gentiles. There'd be some problems. So
what did Philip do? Well, let's read on. Philip cometh
and tells Andrew his problem." He went to Andrew and told him
his problem. And then what did both of them
do? And Andrew and Philip, both of them, went and told Jesus. Pastor, can you find an application
there for us? Yes, sir. I surely can. I surely can. Now, if they had
come to Peter, he'd have straightened them out right there probably.
But they came to Philip, a man of wisdom, he went to Andrew. They both went to Jesus with
the problem. So here's the application that
I have for us. These men did not have an answer. They did not have an answer.
They were face to face with a tremendous conflict, and they did not have
an answer. So what did they do? They did
nothing. That's what they did. They did
nothing. They went and told the Lord and left it with Him. And I'm saying this about these decisions that we have to make
and choices with which we're faced, where there's no scriptural
precept. Where there's no scriptural precept,
and most of the time there is, we can turn to the Word of God
and get our answer in most cases. But where there's no scriptural
precept, and where there's no clear leadership or evidence
that gives us some direction by which we can make our decision.
I'm living in this particular area right now where we can make
our decision what to do. Don't do anything. Go and tell Him. That's right. Go to Him. Go take the whole
thing to Him. And that's what they did. I just
love this so much right here, Brother. It's just something
special for us. And this is what the Word of
God is for us. Philip and Andrew didn't, but
they were apostles. They were important. They were
the twelve apostles, two of the twelve apostles. And these heathen
Gentiles came to them and laid a problem in their lap. And Philip
and Andrew, neither one felt that they were obligated to deal
with it, or equipped to deal with it. So they didn't. They
went to the Lord. They said, here it is. We'll
just leave it with you. Leave it out there. Where there's no scriptural precept,
where there's no clear evidence and leadership, I mean clear, take it, tell the Lord Jesus
Christ and leave it out there. Leave it out there. Wait on the
Lord. David said, I'd have fainted,
I'd have given up if I had not seen the If I didn't believe
that I was going to see the goodness of God in the land of the living,
so wait on the Lord. Leave it right there. Isn't that
right, Cecil? That's good advice, isn't it? Leave it right there. All right, well, this is an interesting
thing now, verse 23. He didn't do anything about the Gentiles. Jesus answered Philip and Andrew
and said, The hour is come that the Son
of Man should be glorified. Our Lord didn't reveal to the
disciples what would be done about these Greeks, or what would
be done about their request, or what would be done about their
conference. We have no word here at all. I do not know. I do not know what He did about
the Greeks. But if everything our Lord said
and did was recorded, the world wouldn't hold the books. We couldn't
carry our Bibles. We'd have to come into the pulpit
with a library if everything He did and said was recorded.
But this is what He's saying. Now get this. This is so important.
Jesus answered Philip and Andrew and said, the hour has come that
the Son of Man should be glorified. You say, well, did he just put
these Greeks off? Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. It's not Jesus, the Jewish king,
that saves. It's not Jesus, the prophet,
who saves. It's not Jesus, the healer, who
saves. This is not the way that these
Greeks need to see our Lord and our Redeemer, nor the way He's
to be known. He said, the hours come and now
is for the Son of Man to die. and be glorified. These Greeks
don't need to see the Jewish king or the healer or the prophet. They need to see the Lamb slain. That's right. The hours come
that the Son of Man should be glorified. Then we'll see what
these Greeks think of Jesus. and what everybody else thinks
of Jesus. It's not the infant in the manger. Everybody quarreling
about the nativity scenes, whether they have them on the Capitol
grounds or whether they have them in the church yards. Take
them all away, roll them up and dump them in the river. It's
not the babe that's saved. It's not the holy man walking
the streets of Jerusalem. It's not the healer. It's not
the martyr. It's the crucified Son of God. That's right. I could turn to
so many scriptures. I'll just quote them to you.
1 Peter 1, 18, 19, for as much as you know, you're not redeemed
with corruptible things such as silver and gold, kingdoms
and material things. We're redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ. As of Eleum without spot or blemish. I Peter 3.18 says, He died just
for the unjust that he might bring us to God. Hebrews 1 said,
When he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down at the
right hand of God. Hebrews 10 says, "...by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." Jesus Christ
considered, apart from the cross, without the cross is of no value
to any sinner. That's right. Let me say that
again. These fellows, these Jews gathered
around Philip and Andrew, we want to see Jesus, the one who
raised Lazarus. The one a little while ago we saw riding
into town, all the people bowing and saying, Hosanna unto Him
that cometh in the name of the Lord, the King of the Jews. We want to see Him who has the
Pharisees all upset, and the world's going after Him. And
our Lord said, that's not who they need to see. That's not
the issue that needs to be settled. Here's the issue. The hours come. It's here that the Son of God
is going to be glorified. That's what he prayed in Gethsemane's
garden. He said, Father, the hours come. Now glorify thy Son that thy
Son may glorify thee. I have finished the work you
gave me to do. Glorify me. Jesus Christ, considered
without the cross, without death, without the sacrifice, has no
value for sinners. The value for sinners in Christ
Jesus is the Lamb slain. And you go back in the Word of
God, you'll find the woman's seed in Genesis 3.15, and it
says the woman's seed was bruised. You go back to the Passover lamb,
and you'll find that the lamb was slain. You go back to the
rock, that rock was Christ smitten. In John 3, it says, as Moses
lifted up the serpent, even so must the Son of Man be lifted
up. And I want you to turn to Revelation chapter 5. Listen
to this. Revelation 5, and when they When
the prophet saw that book of the purposes of God in the hand
of him that sat on the throne, and he wept because no man was
found in earth, heaven, or under the earth that could open the
book. And then he said in verse 6,
And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the
four beasts, in the midst of the elders, stood a baby. No, sir. Stood a prophet. No, sir. stood a king, no sir,
stood a lamb, as it had been slain." Having
seven horns and seven eyes, that's the omnipotence of God and the
omniscience of God and the seven spirits of God, The omnipresence
of God sent forth into all the earth, and He came and took the
book out of the right hand of him that sat on the throne. And
when He had taken the book, the four beasts and the four and
twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of
them harps and golden vows full of odors, which are the prayers
of the saint. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy
to take the book. Open the seals thereof, for Thou
wilt slay. and has redeemed us to God by
thy blood out of every kindred, tongue, and people, and nation,
and has made us kings, made us under our God kings and priests,
and we shall reign, we shall reign with Him on the earth." The two disciples, Lord, we got
a problem out here, Gentiles. The hour has come now for the
Son of Man to be glorified, to be lifted up, to be crucified,
to be slain, to accomplish that for which God the Father sent
him into the world, to fulfill all the promises and prophecies
of the Scripture. That's the issue. And what's
verse 24 now? Verily, verily, I say to you,
he's still talking to these disciples now. I say to everyone, but He's
talking to these two disciples. You see, truly, truly, I say
to you now, listen to me just a minute before I read the rest.
These men, believe me, they did not understand nor accept His
death. They did not want Him to die. You say, well, how were they
saved? if they didn't have a concept and understanding of the death
on the cross. They believed Christ. They looked
to Him. They trusted Him. He's the Savior. But they couldn't connect glory
and death. They couldn't understand it.
Over here in Matthew 16, listen to Peter. I want you to listen
to what he has to say in Matthew 16. In Matthew 16, our Lord said,
whom do you say that I am? You're the Christ. You're the
Son of God. But they couldn't understand
or accept His death. It was a shock to them when He
died. You remember those two walking along the road to Emmaus,
and Christ joined them, and He said, why are you all sad and
down in the mouth? They said, are you a stranger
here? Don't you know what's happened? Jesus of Nazareth is dead. And
we thought he was the one that would restore the glory to Israel.
That was two of his disciples. Listen to Peter, Matthew 16,
verses 21. From that time forth began Jesus
to show unto his disciples how that he must go to Jerusalem,
and suffer many things of the elders, and cheap priests, and
scribes, and be killed. and be raised again the third
day. Now, he told them that. And Peter took him, evidently
took him aside, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far
from thee, Lord, this shall not be unto thee. And our Lord turned and said
to Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan, Thou art an offence unto
me. Thou savest not the things that
be of God, but those things that be of men." What Peter is saying
is, we're going to get to it in a minute here in this passage.
Live, Lord. You've got power. You've got
authority. You've got wisdom. You've got
a following. You've got people. You can take
this world. You can live in luxury. You can
have followers all over the world. You're perfect in word, perfect
in deed, and perfect in expression. You can be great. You can reign. Just don't die. That's sin. Everybody I've ever seen die.
That's it. That's what Peter's saying. And our Lord said, Peter,
you don't get it. This is satanic. You don't savor. You don't enjoy. Why don't you savor something?
You put it in your mouth and, oh, you just savor the taste.
And Peter, God says, you're not savoring the things of God, you're
savoring the flesh, material things, the things of this world.
That's what you're chewing on. That's what you're feasting on.
That's what's important to you. You don't think of the... law
and the holiness and righteousness of God, how God can be just and
justifying these things. These fellows wanted His glorification,
but they couldn't connect glory and death. And what He's saying
to them here, He's telling them that His death is necessary to
His glorification. No cross, no crown, no sacrifice,
no sheep, No debt paid, no victory. No Satan conquered, no kingdom. And look at the next line. I
say unto you, listen to me. Except the corn of wheat fall
into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it brings
forth much fruit. Got these disciples here. You're with me, you understand.
They can't connect glory and death. They live in the world. Some folks, what shall we eat,
what shall we drink, what shall we wear, wherewithal shall we
be clothed? And he's saying there, a corn
of wheat is a grain of wheat. And he says, here's a grain of
wheat. Now if you don't put it in the ground, If you put it
in the ground, it rots, corrupts, dies. And it brings forth much fruit.
But if you don't put it in the ground, if you save it, it abideth
alone. And that's a picture of our Lord's
work of redemption. He's got to die. Why did He use
a grain of wheat? Well, let me give you five reasons.
I'll tell you why I used a grain of wheat. Number one, a grain,
one grain. It doesn't take two grains of
wheat to make a stock. It takes one. Alone, each grain
of wheat that germinates, that dies, that brings forth fruit,
does it alone. He died alone. He retread the
wide press of God's wrath alone. Our Lord by Himself purged our
sin. It didn't take two, it took one,
a grain of wheat. Secondly, it falls into the ground. It doesn't fall in the ground
by accident. It's planted. The ground's prepared. That's
right, isn't it? And the farmer takes each grain
of wheat and plants it deliberately. Our Lord's death wasn't an accident.
He was planted. He was bruised by the Lord. That's
what Joe read last night. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. The husbandman, the farmer, planted the wheat. My Lord was
crucified by the hands of men, but God ordained it. A corn of wheat falling to the
ground and die. He's got to be forsaken. The
man who plants the wheat's got to turn it loose. Can't hold
on to it. There's no way. My God, why have
you forsaken me? Got to die. Got to be separated,
got to fall into the ground, got to be planted, got to die.
Our Lord's got to be forsaken, left alone, lost! It pleased
the Lord to bruise Him. The husbandman, the farmer, planted
the wheat. My Lord was crucified by the
hands of men, but God ordained it. A corn of wheat, fall into
the ground, and die. He's got to be forsaken. The
man who plants the wheat's got to turn it loose. Can't hold
on to it. There's no way. My God, why have
you forsaken me? I've got to die. I've got to
be separated. I've got to fall into the ground.
I've got to be planted. I've got to die. Our Lord's got
to be forsaken, left alone, lost for a while. I can't understand
that. I just know it's so. God turned
His back on God. That's pretty hard to figure.
Fourthly, but the wheat didn't remain long in the ground. It's
there, planted on purpose by the father, the farmer, and after
a while, a few days, it comes up. And our Lord lay for a while
in the tomb, scapegoat, justifier, but not for long. He came out. Because I live, you live. Because
that corn of wheat lives, all the grains live. And fifthly,
it brings forth much fruit. Revelation says he has a people
in every tribe, kindred, nation, one grain of wheat planted. When
it comes up, hundreds of grains of wheat. That's what he's saying
here. I say unto you, it's not the
kingdom. It's not the British, uh, English,
I mean, the Jewish king. It's not the prophet. It's the
sacrifice. It's the Son glorified. Slain! Buried! Risen! And bringing forth much fruit. Now look at verse 25, and he
says, got a message for them here now. The disciples objected to such
talk by our Lord. But I think everybody here can
see it has to be revealed. Had we lived in the day in which
they lived, we would have had the same conflict. But by revelation,
don't you see what our Lord is saying here? We are in Him. Given to him way
back yonder in the covenant of grace put in Christ Now if he
stays here on this earth and doesn't die doesn't shed his
blood It abideth alone And you and I finally wind this thing
up if this all is we have all men most miserable But he our
representative died under the judgment of God was buried and
rose glorified We died with him and rose with
him. We are seated with him. Now he
says in the next verse, watch this. He, talking to you now, he said,
he that loves his life shall lose it. He that hateth his life in this
world shall keep it unto life eternal. You see, the same principle
is applied to his disciples. If our Lord resists the cross,
the humiliation, what's that verse I'm trying
to think of? Despise the shame endured the
cross. If He had said, I'm not going
to pay the price, I'm not going to sacrifice, I'm not going that
route, I'm going to, it's too good like it is. And I'm just
not going that way. He saved his life, but he lost
it. And you and I, if we hold to
this world... Now turn to Matthew 16. I want
you to look at this statement here of our Lord. Matthew 16. Matthew 16. It says here, Matthew 16, verse
24. Look at this carefully Matthew
16 24 then said Jesus to his disciples if a man comes after
me Let him deny himself and take up his cross And follow me the
cross is the symbol of death But whosoever shall save his
life Conserve it Save it. He's gonna lose it But whosoever
shall lose his life for my sake shall find it. What should a
man profit be gained the whole world? Lose his soul. What would a man give in exchange
for his soul? Now you connect that with verse 25 of my text,
John 12. He that loves this world, loves
this life, and loves the comforts of this life, and the ease of
this, he's going to lose his life. But he that despises this life
in this world, his life in this world, is going to keep it unto
life eternal. Here's what he's saying. If we
hold to and protect and shield this life to the neglect of a
relationship with Christ. Here's a young lady that's a
good musician. She and her parents both face
a crisis. They let her go and giving her
life and time and everything to becoming an accomplished concert
pianist who travels the world in the musical circles and plays
in Carnegie Hall and gets to be famous and people seek her
autograph and her pictures everywhere, but she doesn't hear or know
the gospel. She gained the world, lost herself. Wouldn't it be better, far better,
if she had met some young man, if she had learned to play the
piano for the joy of playing it, or for the comfort of her
friends, or play in the services for people to sing. Praise the
Lord, and met some young man, and they struggled to make ends
meet, and had him a couple of children, and came to the house
of God, and she heard the gospel, He was a young man with a lot
of ability in sports. He has ambition. He wants to
be great. So he becomes one of three or four hundred
in the world that can do a certain skill on the field of honor and
valor. All of his Sundays are spent
butting heads with a bunch of fellas for a million dollars
a year. Oh, he's got fame and popularity and power. But wouldn't he be better off
plumbing? And I'm not discouraging plumbing,
I think it's a great trait. Working with his hands, working
under the hood of a car. I'd much hope ten million times
rather one of my, our children here, spend eight or nine hours
a day under the hood of a car driving a ditch witch or something
like that, and here in the house of God on the Lord's Day, rejoicing
in Christ. You see what I'm saying? And we push them to go and get
education, get all these, sit under these professors that hate
God, hate the truth. And the more credentials they
get, the prouder they get, the more arrogant they get. The further
away from God they get. I've seen it too many times.
I actually, when I pray for people, I pray they will not prosper. That's right. Don't let them
prosper. Prosperity and riches are detrimental
to grace and truth and the love of God. I promise you. I've seen it happen too many
times. The bigger they get, the less they know of God and love
God and love anybody else. They love themselves. Proud and
arrogant and worldly. Oh, if my son could be a lawyer.
Wow on earth. If your son could be a Christian
believer. That's what he's saying here.
That's what Peter said to him. Don't go to the cross. Don't
go that route. That route's sacrifice. That
route's humiliation. That route's harassment. That
route is cutting off from the people of the world. They won't
think anything of you. Who wants your autograph? Nobody.
But my name's written in heaven. Written in heaven. I tell you, young people, listen
to me. If I hold to this life and protect it and shield it
to the neglect of a knowledge of God and a knowledge of Christ,
I'm going to lose it. I've held to it. I've said, this
is my life. I don't have but one life. Oh, I have one existence here. I've
got life eternal. This ain't my life. This is not
my life. My life's waiting. If this is
my life, I don't have any life waiting. If we refuse to be identified
with Christ, and I tell you, bowing your knee
on a football field after you made a touchdown ain't identifying
with Christ. You fight that battle. If we refuse to be identified
with His gospel, His people, His way of life. Because of its effect on this
life, we're going to lose all of it. All of it. Not only this
life, but that one too. But oh my soul, if we can, if
we can cast our lives, alright Lord, here it is. Here it is. Like the farmer, here's my grain
of wheat. Cast it into the ground. Die. Not carrying the cost, not
carrying what others think, not carrying what others say. We
can cast our lives on Him. We gonna live. We gonna live. That's not salvation
by works. Yes, salvation by His works.
His works. His works. Never mind His works.
But I'm dependent on Him. Don't, young folks, don't set
your sights on the influence and power and
recognition and honor that comes from men. Set your sights on
the honor that comes from God. Look at these, these men and
women right here, just ordinary folks. But there's nobody here
hungry, are you? Nobody here without food and
clothing and shelter. happiness and joy. I resent being
called middle class, don't you? I think we're first class. God's
people are first class. But I'm telling you they're the
happiest people on earth. They're the people who know God.
And they live day by day with their hand like Abraham said,
I've lifted my hand to God and he will provide. He will provide. Don't leave home. Don't leave
home. There ain't anything out there.
Don't leave home. Don't leave your home. I'm talking
about this home, my father's house. Don't leave home. There's
nothing out there but heartache and sorrow. Oh, for a little
while, a little while, the world will entertain you a little while,
and then like the prodigal son, they'll desert you. All right, watch this, I've got
to close, but let me give you this. Verse 26, if any man serve
me, and that's the consideration, his servant, his bond slave,
if any man serve me, let him follow me, let him follow me,
walk as I walk, do as I do. That's an exercise of grace and
love and humility and patience and mercy and kindness. Let him
follow me, and where I am, There will my servant be. Where is
our Lord? And where I am, for man will
be my servant, and follow me where I am, and there my servant
will be." You know where he is? First of all, he's among the
poor and needy. The old Pharisees stood over
there and saw him eating with publicans and sinners, and they
said, why does he associate with them? He loves them, they love
him. And where he is, there his servants
are. They're among the poor and needy,
not the high and mighty, among the poor and needy. Where is
he? He's in the midst of his people. He said, where two or
three are met in my name, I'll be with them, and you will too. That's right, you will too. And I say this to folks listening
to my voice on this tape. Some of them out yonder never
attend the house of God and never worship God and never identified
with the Lord's people. Something wrong with that. Where
I am, there my servant will be. Where is he? He's in the midst
of his people. And they're going to be in the
midst of his people. They're going to seek him out, search him out, and
identify with him. Where my servant is, there I'll
be. Where is he? He's on the cross. despised,
rejected of men, hated, outside the camp. You read that the other
night. Took him outside the camp. That's
where the beasts were burned. That's where the Christ died.
Let us go unto him without the camp, the religious camp. Where is the Lord Jesus? He's
not in these synagogues and cathedrals and high and mighty places and
organizations, they put him out a long time ago. Well, where
he is, there we're going to be. That's right now. Where is he?
He's among the poor and needy. Tell them about the gospel. Tell
them the gospel. Where is he? He's with his people. Ruth said,
where you go, I go. Where you die, I die. Your God's
my God. Don't tell me to leave. Where
is he? He's outside the religious camp.
Outside the holy city. Outside. That's where you're
going to be too. They hate him, they're going to hate you. That's
right, they will. And you don't have to do anything
to them either. Just go out to him. Where is he? He's in glory. And we're seated with him in
the heavenlies. And here's my last point. That
man, if he serves me, my father will honor him. The world won't,
but that doesn't matter a whole lot anyway. Where are the great worldlings
now? Where are the Caesars and kings and rulers and great generals
and hall of famers in the ground? Forgotten. You boys and girls
know these famous folks that are living now, but you don't
know the ones that lived in my day, because they're gone and forgotten.
But you know Moses, you know Abraham, you know David, Isaiah,
Peter, James, and John, disciples of the Lord. Our Father, bless the Word. These are the words of our Master,
and they're not up for debate or argument. They're true. Give us the grace, O Lord. Give
all who here tonight have heard this
message and who may hear it an understanding of these words
of our Lord, and a love for them, and an agreement with them, and
an entering in to them, and an identification with them, and
a willingness to bow, to fall at His feet, to kiss
the Son with the heart. Kiss the Son. Lord, we wait before Thee, Your
work of mighty grace, that we might live eternally. I pray
for Christ's sake, amen.