Now in the second chapter of
Luke, the second chapter of Luke, and
you listen to me for just a little while this evening. Let's see
what we have here. It may be that God will speak.
It may be that we'll hear from him who speaks from heaven, and
we won't hear just the voice of a man. It says in verse 21
of Luke 2, and when eight days were accomplished of the circumcision
of the child, his name was called Jesus. Wasn't that what the angel
instructed them to call him? Call his name Jesus, or he shall
save his people from their sins. And he was so named of the angel
before he was conceived in the womb. And when the days of her
purification, according to the laws of Moses, were accomplished,
Mary and Joseph brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the
Lord. As I've told you so many times,
the Lord Jesus Christ was born, he was made of a woman, made
under the law. He fulfilled every requirement
of the law, the Levitical law. He was the fulfillment of every
Old Testament type and picture. He did it to fulfill all righteousness. None of God's law was set aside.
Christ said, I didn't come to destroy the law. I didn't come
to whittle it down. I came to fulfill it. And everything
he did was a fulfillment of God's law. You see, as his custom was
on the Sabbath day, he went to the synagogue. He kept the Passover. And all of this was done according
to the law, for it says in verse 23, now listen, as it is written
in the law of the Lord, every male that openeth the womb shall
be called holy to the Lord. And so Mary came, now that 23rd
verse is in parenthesis, and it says in verse 22, the last
line, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, verse
24, and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said
in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves and two young
pigeons. This was an offering for poor people. They brought
a lamb or a bullock, but if the woman was very poor, she could
bring turtledoves and pigeons, and that's what Mary brought
because they were very poor people. Now watch verse 25. We have here
something interesting. We have here a person. We have
here a man. And behold, there was a man in
Jerusalem. There's a lot of men in Jerusalem.
There's a lot of people in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was a popular city.
It was the religious capital of the world. But we have here
a man, a particular man. His name was Simeon. And the same man was a just and
devout man. He was a sincere, serious-minded
man. He had something on his mind.
This man, Simeon, was a man who believed God. He was a man who
expected and looked for a Messiah. He was an unusual man. He was
a just man, he was a devout man, he was a serious-minded man,
he was a sincere man who believed God. And in all of this superstition
round about him, and all of this religious nonsense, In all of
this legalism and ritualism and ceremonialism, this man was in
tune with God. And he expected a Redeemer. He expected a Messiah. He expected
God to visit his people. That's what it says. He was waiting
for the consolation of Israel. You see that in verse 25? And
the Holy Spirit was upon him. God had singled him out. God
Almighty had singled this man out. This was a man who was unusual
and different from the rest. There are some in Ashland, in
Boyd County, in the tri-state area, wherever I go, I find some
people, men and women, young people, who are sincere. They're serious-minded about
this business of God, redemption, life, the Redeemer, and these
things. They're serious-minded people.
They're going about their daily task and their daily responsibilities,
but they're in tune with God. And like Simeon, they know that
what's going on around about them is not of God. They're waiting
on a visitation from God. They're looking for a visitation
from God. They're looking for something unusual, something
different, something spiritual, something from God. That's the
way this man was. If you'd seen him on the street,
he looks like any other man. You engage him in conversation,
his conversation would have been a conversation of honesty and
truth and clean conversation, but it would have been like any
other man. But in his heart and in his mind, he wanted something
he didn't have. He was looking for something
he had not seen. He was different. He just wasn't willing to be
swept along with the crowd. He wasn't willing to take just
what people said, what they thought. He was waiting for something.
He was waiting for something. He's waiting for someone. Now
look at verse 26. We have here a promise. Now we
have a person called Simeon. Now we have a promise. And it
was revealed to him by the Holy Ghost, by the Spirit of God,
that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
That his life was not going to be lived in vain or in vanity.
That God was going to do something for him. He believed that. God
was going to visit him. This man had lived and waited
a long time, but he was one of God's own. Scripture says, the
Lord knoweth them that are his. They came to our Lord Jesus one
day and they said, if you be the Christ, tell us plainly.
He said, I told you. But you didn't believe me. You
didn't believe me because you're not of my sheep. My sheep hear
my voice. They're peculiar people. They're different people. They're
God's own people. He calls them His own. He calls them His sheep. And
this man was one of God's own. God had revealed to him that
he would not die until God had visited him in grace. God had
done something for him. Something eternal, something
spiritual, something real, something genuine. Something having to
do with a relationship with God Almighty. And that's the gift
of God. That's the gift of God. Did not
Christ say, when the Pharisees murmured, they said, well, this
is the carpenter, we know him, we know his mother and dad, we
know his brothers and sisters, this is the carpenter. He said,
murmur not among yourselves. Don't murmur among yourselves.
I said unto you, no man, no man, whatever his background or education,
or advantage or heritage, no man can come to me, is able,
has the power to come to me, that is, to believe on me, to
lay hold on me, to receive me, except my Father which sent me
drawing. And they shall all be taught
of God. It's written in the prophets. They shall all be taught of God,
and everyone that heareth and learneth of the Father, They
come to me. Here was one of them here. His
name was Simeon. His name was Simeon. And God promised him,
I'm going to do something for you. I'm going to do something
special, something unusual for you. He was a man who never quit
waiting. He never gave up his expectation.
He believed God was going to do something for him. He believed
God. Oh, that we might believe God.
Well, I just quit. Simeon wouldn't. Evidently, he
was an old man by this time. And this promise was made years
before, but he fully expected God to do something for him.
In verse 27, we have a meeting, finally. We have a person's simian,
we have a promise. You won't die till you see the
Lord's Christ. And he came, verse 27, by the Spirit, not by accident.
He came by the Spirit. Not by chance, as luck would
have it. He came by the Spirit. I tell
you this, in the realm of the spiritual
there are no accidents. In the kingdom of God there are
no accidents. Do you think it was an accident
that blind Bartimaeus happened to be sitting by the roadside
outside of Jericho when the Lord passed by? Do you think it was
an accident that Zacchaeus happened to be in town that day when the
Lord was there? And out of curiosity, climbed
up into that tree to see the Lord, and the Lord Jesus, instead
of going another direction, walked right onto that tree. Do you
think that was an accident? Or the Samaritan woman, do you
suppose it was by chance that she gathered her water pot at
15 minutes till noon, instead of 15 minutes afterwards, and
put it on her head and started for the well? Do you think that's
an accident? Or perhaps it was by chance that this particular
thief died on that particular cross on that particular day
in that particular hour, and not one day earlier. There are
no accidents with God. You think you're here by chance? Oh, how glorious when the Spirit
of God is pleased to cross the path of one whom God gave to
His Son. And He did. He gave His Son to
people. He said, all that my Father giveth me will come to
me. That's what Christ said. All that my Father giveth me
will come to me. And him that cometh to me I'll in no wise
cast out. I didn't come down from heaven
to do my will. I came down from heaven to do
the will of him that sent me. What is the will of him that
sent you, Lord? This is the will of him that
sent me, that of all that he hath given me I'll lose nothing
but raise it up at the last day. Simeon was one of his own. And
Simeon came by the Holy Spirit into the temple on this particular
day. He didn't have a cold that day. He wasn't ailing that day. He was at the temple. And you
know what night? The Lord came. First time he'd
ever been there. He wasn't eight days or four
in the flesh. That's the first time he had
ever been in that temple. First time he'd ever been there.
Boy, I sure was lucky for Simeon that he made it that day, wasn't
he? Because he didn't come back. The Lord didn't come back. They
brought him one time for that particular ceremony. No, sir,
all known unto God are all his works from the beginning. He
doeth all things well. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. Now, that's the living God. That's
not modern 1986 God. That's the living God. That's
the living God, who doeth as he will, when he will, with whom
he will, who ruleth in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. God's not
defeated, nor is he disappointed. And he's never confused, and
he never learns anything because he knows everything. That's right. And he came with the Spirit into
the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, And
they didn't bring him there to see Simeon, they brought him
there to do with him after the law. God brought him to see Simeon.
Or rather, for Simeon to see him, he'd already seen Simeon.
He had his eye on Simeon for a long time. He knew Simeon from
the foundation of the world, that's what the Word says. But
Simeon didn't know him. And he brought him there at that
time, and oh, how glorious it is when an empty center meets
a full Savior. What a glorious time it is when
a seeking sinner meets a willing Lord. This is when misery meets
mercy, and guilt meets grace, and dry
land meets the shower. What a time that is. Richard,
you just didn't wander in here one Sunday. God brought you. That's right. Tommy, it wasn't
an accident. I tried it, it wasn't an accident.
And then verse 28 we have a revelation. He took the child Jesus up in
his arms, he embraced him, and he blessed God. Now here was
just a common, looked like ordinary baby, a very young Jewish maiden,
brought into the temple at the time of her purification, And
there were hundreds of them came through there every week. Hundreds
of young mothers bringing little babies to present them to the
Lord, and offering their turtle doves, and their pigeons, and
their rams, and their sheep, and their lambs, and so forth,
and bringing their babies to offer them to the Lord. And this
one particular little Jewish maiden had this child in her
arms. And this old man Simeon, with
understanding, You see, God has to give us an understanding.
I've had people hear me preach the gospel who went out shaking
their heads saying, I didn't understand a thing he said. I've
had others come and say, I see. You know what you said, Eddie,
one Sunday? I see. I never will forget that.
I'm going to tell this on him. He had got fed up with what he
was hearing in a synagogue here in town, and so he quit church. Told the pastor he wasn't hearing
anything. Didn't know what he wasn't hearing, just knew he
wasn't hearing anything. See, that's one of God's own. That's
one of God's own. They're looking for something.
Something real. Something of God. And so Eddie
Stevens, I think, invited him to come out here, and I knew
Ed Ballard, and I kind of watched him when I'd preach, and I didn't
get much. He didn't register. He sat there with that frown
on his face. And he'd go out the door, and I'd shake hands
with him, and I'd say, well, Ed, come back. I might. Something like that, you know.
Go on out. I'll see you. So one Sunday I
had a little liberty to preach. Well, God spoke. One Sunday,
God spoke. He does once in a while. God
spoke. And I stand back there by that
door. I don't know how many years it's been ago, but I remember
it. And Ed came out, and he had the look he's got right now.
That smile. understanding. Now, we don't
know everything, but we see some things. We had a revelation.
That's what sent me, a revelation. He came out the door, and I stuck
out my hand. I said, well, he'll come back.
He said, I'll be here tonight, Wednesday night, next Sunday. I see what you're saying. Isn't
that the way it was? I see what you're saying. God
has to do that. I see, I see, I see, I see. The Son of God hath come and
given us an understanding that we may know Him that is true.
Not a ritual, not a religion, not a bunch of rules, but a person. I see, I see, I see. I see. I could tell you stories
like that. Gerald, that happened to you.
I see. I see. Bob, all the rest of it. I see. Simeon took him up in his arms
and blessed God, and verse 29, he said, All right, Lord, now
let me depart in peace. Let thy servant read the Doctrine.
I'm not afraid to die. The promise has been fulfilled.
When I came into this world, why I came into this world, the
one I came into this world to meet, I have met. I have met. Now I'm ready to die because
I've seen, now what's this? Thy salvation. Mine eyes have
seen thy salvation. Salvation, deliverance, life,
forgiveness, redemption, sanctification. Just to me, mine eyes have seen
thy salvation. Wait a minute now. He didn't
see a cross. He didn't see any blood. He didn't
see a throne. He didn't see a tomb. He saw
a person. I wish that I could get this
across to people. I hear them say, well, I'm just
trusting the finished work. I'm not. I'm not. That's almost idolatry. I'm not trusting the finished
work. I'm trusting the person who finished the work. Now, there's
a difference. You say you're splitting hairs. I ain't splitting
hairs either. I'm telling you the truth. I'm
telling you the truth. The blood that Christ shed on
the cross didn't save that Roman soldier that it dripped on down
there underneath the cross, and the blood actually fell on him.
He went away splattered with the blood of Jesus, but it never
saved him. It's not the literal blood or
the literal cross or the literal death, it's the person who's
saved. Here this man Simeon didn't say,
mine eyes have seen a way of salvation, or a worker of salvation,
or a plan of salvation, I've seen your salvation. That's what
he said, I've seen God's salvation. And when we, when we truly see
Jesus Christ, and that's what I'm preaching to you tonight,
I'm telling you this is, this wasn't put in here by accident
either, it's there for a purpose. When a person truly sees Christ,
and I'm not talking about seeing with these eyes, don't trust
a vision. I don't want a vision. Satan
can give you a vision. Actually, an overdose of drugs
can give you a vision. Hallucination, that's right.
You can take certain narcotics and have visions, see all kind
of things. But when we see Christ, when we see Him with eyes of
faith, when we see Him with the understanding, when we see Him
in the Word, When we see Him in His true beauty and glory
and character and attributes, when we behold the Son of God,
we see God's salvation. That's right, then, when you
see Christ. Wherever you see Him and wherever you see Him,
when your spiritual eyes actually light on a person, not a way,
not an altar, not an ordinance, not a preacher, not a pope, not
a denomination, but on a person. Everything is in Him. God has
vested everything in Christ. And when our eyes light upon
Him, the Christ of God, we see God's salvation. Here's a man
who was never baptized, who was never confirmed, who never witnessed
a soul, who never won a soul to Jesus, who never gave a dime. When he saw the Lord Jesus, he
said, I'm ready to die. Because I've seen all I need
to see. I've seen the Lord's salvation. I've seen the Lord's
salvation. I don't care if you see him in
the types. That's the way Abraham saw him. He saw the Lord Jesus
in the types. He lived before the cross. You
mean Abraham saved the same way we are? Christ said he was. They
said, well, we'd be Abraham's seed. He said, if you were Abraham's
seed, you'd love me. Abraham saw my day. He rejoiced
to see it. He was glad. He saw my day. We
have the prophets Isaiah. Isaiah saw his glory, he wrote
of him. He was wounded by transgressions. When they said, we have Moses,
he said, Moses wrote of me. Moses saw Christ. He saw him
in the pictures, in the tithes, in the sacrifices. Simeon saw
him in the flesh as an infant. Matthew saw him as she sat at
his feet. He hadn't even gone to the cross
when this woman sat at his feet. Every time she's mentioned, she's
at the feet of Christ, worshiping him. He hadn't even gone to the
cross. Her faith was in a person. Her
confidence was in a person. She knew that he was her Redeemer.
So you see, in this thing, whether it's Abel who brought the sacrifice
hundreds and thousands of years ago, he brought it by faith looking
to Christ. Abraham rejoiced to see Christ.
Moses? David? Job said, I know my Redeemer
liveth. Isaiah said, under us a child
is born, under us a son is given. The government shall be upon
his shoulders, his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Prince of Peace. There's a saved man. No
cross yet, but there will be. There will be. And that cross
will be the place where his Redeemer dies. And then Long King Simeon
him picked up an infant, and he saw God's salvation, and Mary
was sat at the feet of him. She saw God's salvation. And
then the Roman centurion saw him down a cross, and he saw
God's salvation. And then after he was raised
from the grave, he appeared to Thomas who fell at his feet and
said, My Lord and my God, he saw God's salvation. Saul of
Tarsus met him on the road to Damascus and the Ethiopian eunuchs
saw him in the gospel preached to him, but he saw Christ. He
saw Christ. We're all saved the same way,
by God's salvation. But we're blessed today, and
this is what I want you to see. We're blessed today. We have
a revelation that no other generation's ever had. We can look back yonder. Now stay with me, I'm telling
you what this word says, and like I've said so often, I'm not a novice in these things,
I know something about this book. I know something about this book,
and I listen to you in your field, a field in which many of you
are experts. Now you listen to me in my field, this is my field,
this is where I live. When I come down to where you
work, I'm not going to tell you how to work on those D9s and
10s and backhoes and things like that. That's your field. I'll
listen to you. Keep my big mouth shut. Because I'd be a fool to
open it. If I'm getting to you, what
do I mean? So you call me a fool of a person?
You open your mouth in this field here when you hadn't studied
it, that makes you a fool, doesn't it? Bigger fool as I'd be if
I came into your place and told you how to run your business.
I came out here and told you how to make windows, I'd be a
fool, wouldn't I? And you'd say that. And that's
the reason I say people who don't know anything about the Word
of God, every mother's son's an expert on God's Word. Well,
listen, now here's what I'm saying to you. This is what this book
says. This book says, back down to in eternity, in eternity,
Way back in the ages, before the world was created, before
the scripture says the foundations of the world were laid. That's
what it says. Several times. Before the sun and the moon and
the stars fell forth by day or night. In the beginning. Before the angels stood around
the throne of God when there was only God. It says, in the
beginning, God. That's where this whole thing
starts. In the beginning, God. No explanation. No proof. Just
in the beginning, God. If you don't believe that, be
honest and throw it away. But don't say, I believe the
Bible, when you reject the Word of God. It says, in the beginning,
God. Know what it says? Created. All right? The scripture tells
us this. Before God created the world,
before God made man, in his wise foreknowledge and foreordination,
God knew that the man he created would fall. Do you have any question
about that? Did God know that man would fall?
Could God have prevented it? Don't you say no now. Don't you
say no. God can do all things. Nothing
God can't do except lie. God could have prevented the
fall, but he chose not to. But before that fall and before
that world was created, God determined to have a race of people. A race
of people. A kingdom. A kingdom, a new heaven,
and a new earth. Which was first in the mind of
God? The old heaven, old earth, or the new heaven, new earth?
Well, the new heaven, new earth. That's His end. That's His grand
design. God's grand design is to have
a new heaven, new earth. When did He decide that? After
the first one fell? Oh, no. Before the world began. A new heaven and new earth populated
with a people like Christ. Now, let me tell you something.
Every creature has failed under every circumstance. The angel,
what was Satan before he failed? He was an angel, wasn't he? Lucifer,
son of the morning, with great power and pomp and splendor and
majesty, knowledge, but he failed. And Christ said, I saw him fall
from heaven like lightning. He was an angel, and he failed. And then God made a man called
Adam. In a perfect garden, in perfect
environment, somebody said, well, if we can straighten up the environment,
we'll straighten out man. Didn't help Adam much. He walked
with God, talked with God. And he fell in a perfect garden.
He fell into depth, depravity. And then God saved one man, his
family, in a flood, and when he landed the boat, he fell. And God made a man, a great man,
king, called David, gave more power than any other man, and
he fell. And then he raised up a man called Solomon, made him
smarter than anybody living, and he fell. And then he selected
twelve disciples, and one of them was a devil. And the chief
apostle did not even know him. Well, you say, Preacher, when
God wraps this whole thing up, in the new heaven and new earth,
and takes us to glory and raises us from the dead. What's going
to keep us from falling later on? That's a good question, isn't
it? I tell you, Lucifer was mighty
powerful. Adam was awful high. Just one thing, you want to know
the answer? You're going to be like Christ, and He can't fall. That's what it says. See, that's
God's grand design. Jonathan Edwards wrote a book
on the history of redemption, and in it, a chapter of the grand
design of God in redemption, and the great design of Almighty
God. God never started it. God never
did start this thing without having the end in mind. No one
under God always works from the beginning. And back here in the
council halls of eternity, God determined to have a people that
says He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.
It says, God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation. Isn't
that what it says? God didn't wait till man fell
and then select a savior. God didn't wait till man fell
and then say, well, I'm going to try another way to save man
now. Tried innocence, and then I tried conscience, and then
I tried judges, and then I tried law, and now I'll try Jesus.
Try Jesus. It reminds me of one of those
ads. Try it, you'll like it. That's
not God's way. Everything he does, he does on
purpose. That's what it says. So back down in eternity, I'll
tell you what the Word says. And you can read it. There are
hundreds of scriptures. Did you know the word covenant
is used in the Bible 300 times? Covenant. Covenant. Covenant.
Covenant. Covenant. Covenant. God's covenant. Covenant. And God made a covenant. With whom? With whom took he
counsel? Isn't that what the scriptures
say? With whom took he counsel? Who entered into his divine wisdom
and counsel and covenant? Not man, not angel. Well, who
did? The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And David called
it an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure. And Paul
called it twice, an everlasting covenant. Christ is the surety.
What's a surety? What's a surety? A surety is
a guarantor. A surety is one who stands for
another who fails and provides all that's required of him. He
calls him the great shepherd of the sheep through the blood
of the everlasting covenant. Everlasting covenant? You mean
a covenant from everlasting to everlasting? That's it. You got
it. You got it. An everlasting covenant. That's
what it says. And in that everlasting covenant, the Trinity, let us
make man. Let us make man in our own image. Who will go for us? God said.
Who is he talking about? Father, Son, Holy Spirit. One
God. And yet the Father gave the Son
a people. That's what the Son said. As
my Father sent me, so send I you. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Father, thou hast given me authority
over all flesh, John 17, that I should give eternal life to
as many as you gave me. When did he give those sheep
to Christ? Well, the Bible says, for the foundation of the world.
That's when he gave the sheep to Christ. And the Son of God. Now, here's what happened in
the everlasting council halls of eternity when God made a covenant. That covenant was established
on the principles of His character. If there's going to be a redemption,
it's got to be in tune with God's attributes. It's got to be glorifying
to His holiness and to His mercy, to His justice and to His grace,
to His righteousness and to His truth and to His mercy. It's
got to be. Today's God is all love, and
that's not the God of the Bible. The Bible talks about God's wrath
and God's justice and God's judgment. He must be just and justified. And He gave the Son of People.
A covenant is made in which every attribute of God would be honored.
A covenant of grace, ordered in all things, ensured. And when
the Holy Trinity struck hands, and the Triune God set forth
that counsel and covenant of mercy, and Christ stood as our
servant, you're looking at God's salvation. That's God's salvation. He was a lamb slain, what does
it say, before the foundation of the world. You mean there
was a Savior before there was a sinner? Absolutely. Absolutely. You mean that there
was a lamb, a sacrifice before there was a sinner? Oh, yes.
You mean Christ stood as our shelter before man was ever formed
and put on the earth? Oh, yes. Yes, sir. Had to. Or Adam would have been annihilated
just the moment he fell. There was one standing for him
when he fell. That's right. That's what the
Word says. You see, they don't preach that today. No, they don't.
But every preacher God's ever used in the history of religion
preached it. I know that for a fact. In this
country, Jonathan Edwards. Over in England, Spurgeon, Gill,
Keats, Whitfield, Knox, all of these men, Luther, Calvin, Zwingli,
Hearst, Latimer, Ridley, Rutherford, name them, just keep names, all
the missionaries, William Carey, Judson, every one of them were
men of grace. You know that, John, you've read
these fellows. Every one of them preached what I'm preaching to
you tonight. This was the message. It's only the last 150 years
in this foolish country here that the Charles Finney, Billy
Sunday, Dwight O. Moody, Billy Graham, Arminian,
Semipalagian, Freewillism has taken over. That's when it started
with Charles G. Finney. That's when the altar
call started. Before that, people preached a holy God, a sovereign
God, a living God, an almighty God, a victorious God, and Christ
the surety of the covenant. You seeing that? Can you see
it? Can you see it? Well, let me
ask you this. If you don't see it, if you don't
go any further back than In what sake go to Calvary? If you don't
go any further back than Calvary, tell me who that is on Calvary.
Who is that? Did he make his appearance there?
Well, he can't do any good. He can't be of God because there's
nothing new. Everything God does is ordained
from old. See what I'm saying? I'm looking at Christ in the
eternal covenant. I'm looking at Christ in the
Old Testament. Turn to Luke chapter 24. Let
me show you something. Luke 24. I tell you, this is
a big book. This is a big subject. This is
eternal. This is an eternal subject. This
is God. Anything that's of God is vast. Unmeasurable. You can't measure
it. I look here at Luke 24, 27. Beginning at Moses, he talked
to his disciples. And all the prophets, this is
Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Isaiah, Jeremiah, all
of it, he expounded unto them in the scriptures the things
concerning himself. Himself. He's the seed of woman
in Genesis 3.15. He's the Passover lamb. He's
that rock. Moses smoked the rock. Paul said
that rock's Christ. He's the brazen serpent lifted
up. That's all Christ. That ark in which Noah rode out
the storm, that's Christ. It's all Christ. Look at Luke
24. And he said to them, these are
the words which I spake unto you while I was with you, that
all things must be fulfilled which are written in the book
of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms concerning me. This is where Moses saw Him,
back here in I hear in the scriptures, in the tithes and the shadows,
and I see Him, and then watch this. I see God's salvation like
Simeon. I see Him in eternity past as
my surety. I see Him in the Old Testament
as my Passover and as that rock. I see Him there in the law of
Moses, and I see Him in human flesh when Mary brought Him into
this world. That's God. That's the God-man. The angel appeared to Mary and
called Him in her womb, said, which shall be born of you shall
be called the Son of God. The angel appeared to Joseph
and said, Mary will bring forth a son and call his name Jesus,
Emmanuel, which is being interpreted, God with us. The angel appeared
to the shepherds and said, Unto you is born this day in the city
of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord, the Lord born. Now
wait a minute, picture, let me get this straight. You mean to
tell me you believe that Jesus of Nazareth is not just a messenger
or an ambassador from heaven, he's literally actually God Almighty
clothed in human flesh? That's exactly what the Bible
says. No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying that's what the Bible
says. That's what the book says. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. And the Father said, Of him thy
throne, O God, is forever. Let all the holy angels of God
worship the Son. I can't explain the Trinity,
but I'm not going to deny it. The Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. Simeon, what do you see holding that baby? A
mere babe? Oh no, I see the Word incarnate. The Son of Mary is the Son of
God. When you see Jesus, Son of Mary, you see God's salvation.
Now watch this. Fourthly, when you see Jesus
Christ, see Him in the home, see Him in the home as a child,
fulfilling the law. See Him in the cart and the shop,
working with His Father, fulfilling the law. See Him on the streets,
talking with men, healing the sick. That's God fulfilling,
God in the flesh, God-man fulfilling the law. You see Him before every
temptation and trial. You see Him, His perfect life
and obedience. enables him to impute to me that
perfect life and obedience. You see, here's something the
average preacher never mentions, and the average church member
never heard it and knows nothing about it. Throughout the Bible,
there is the truth of representation. God made one man, Adam. He never
created another man before or since. He created one man, Adam.
Everybody came out of Adam. From Adam. The loins of Adam. Even Eve came out of Adam. You
know when Eve was deceived and took the fruit and nothing happened?
Nothing happened. If Adam hadn't taken the fruit,
the human race wouldn't have fallen. Eve didn't represent
the human race. Adam did. Adam did. Adam did. And Adam all died.
You know what the Bible said? By one man's sin, Death came
into this world, and death by sin, so death passed from that
man through that man to all men. That's what's said. That's what's
said. By man came death. That's representation. All right, on the other side,
there's another atom. The Bible talks of the first
atom and the second atom. This first atom didn't come by
natural generation, neither did the second one. This first Adam
is of the earth, earthy. God made him out of the red clay
and called his name Adam, which means red earth. But this second
Adam, he didn't come from that first Adam. He's the Lord from
heaven. That's what the Word says. And
as we have borne the image of the earthy, the first Adam, by
God's grace we'll bear the image of the second Adam. In Adam we
die, in Christ we're made alive. That's the book. Federal headship,
representation, imputation. I won't have it, I hear people
say. I won't have it. You mean to tell me that that
man back there under sin 6,000 years ago, and as a result of
his sin, I'm a fallen creature by imputation? That's what I'm
saying. I won't have it. Now hold on
before you say that. You say, I wasn't born when he
sinned. He wasn't born when Christ died either. And you claim that
he died for you? You claim that God takes his
merit and gives it to you, and his righteousness and gives it
to you, and his blood and imputes it to you? That's imputation.
That's representation. I'll take it. That's the only
way I can stand, by imputation. That's the way I fell, and that's
the way I stand. In Adam we die. By man came death. By man came
the resurrection. What man? The man Christ Jesus.
That's what this Word says. Amen. And we're going to have
faith in Him. When you see Jesus Christ on
the cross, you see God's salvation. That's God's salvation. Salvation's
not by the will of man. You say, does man have a will?
Of course he does. What kind of shape's it in? It's fallen,
it's in bondage, and it's in slavery. It's in slavery to his
nature. Christ said, you will not come
to me that you might have life. Your will is enslaved by your
nature. It's in bondage to your nature. It does what your nature
lets it do. We're born not of the will of the flesh nor the
will of man, but of God. Paul said in Romans, it's not
of him that willeth salvation, not of him that willeth nor him
that willeth, but of God who showeth mercy. God says, I will. You know what we say? We say,
I will. I will what? Just like Satan. I'll be like
God my own way. God said, I'll show mercy to
some. Our Lord Jesus Christ went to
the cross, and of that death, one of the hymn writers said,
I saw one hanging on a tree in agony and blood. He fixed his
languid eyes on me as near his cross I stood. Sure, never till
my latest breath can I forget that look he seemed to charge
me with his death. Though not a word he spoke, my
conscience tethered on my guilt, and plunged me in despair. I
saw my sins, his blood had spilt, and helped to nail him there.
The second look he gave would say, I freely all forgive. This blood is for thy ransom
paid. I died that thou must live."
You see that? You see that? Christ crucified
is God's salvation. And then I see him again, I see
him exalted to God's right hand. Yes, he died, but he lives. He was buried, but he lived.
And the women came there to the tomb, and the angel said, why
do you seek the living among the dead? He's risen! And you
can today, listen to me, you can today go to the Holy Land
and stand at the manger, but he's not there. You can today
go to the Sea of Galilee and they say, walk where Jesus walked,
but he's not there. You can go to the Mount called
Calvary, where they nailed Him to a cross, but He's not there.
You can go to the tomb of Joseph, but He's not there. Well, where
is He? He's at the right hand of God, in power and majesty,
and brethren, by the grace of God, we're seated in Him. In
Him. And I see Him coming again. Now
then, let me sum this up. And I said on the television
program this morning, there's just two religions in this world,
just two religions. I know there's Mormonism, Buddhism,
Protestant, Catholic, Jew, Denomination, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian,
you can lump them all together, there's just two religions in
this world. There's that religion of Cain,
the Way of Cain is what God's Word calls it. I don't care whether
they're dressed in black or white. I don't care whether they wear
beards or clean shaven. It doesn't matter to me if they
worship on Saturday or Sunday. It doesn't matter if they come
to the front or go to the pool, whether they're immersed, dipped,
poured, sprinkled. It doesn't matter whether they've
got laws or no laws. It doesn't matter whether they
sing hymns or songs. It doesn't matter. All religions can be
lumped into two. There's those that believe that
they can be reconciled accepted and approved of a holy God by
something they do. By something they do. It doesn't
matter what it is. Whether it's called a good life,
or whether it's even called faith. Whether it's even called faith.
Or whether it's called giving, or helping others, or reaching
out, or sharing, or call it what you want to. But this human race
of religionists believes that God is going to actually receive
them, love them, embrace them, and take them into an immaculate,
infinitely holy kingdom because of what they do. And this book
says that our righteousnesses are filthy rags. This book says
man at his best state is altogether vanity. This book says there's
none good, no, not one. This book declares that man at
his top righteousness is filthy rags. And I've got to have a
righteousness better than the cheap righteousness that this
world's ever produced, for I'll never cease the kingdom of God.
You say, a preacher, what's that other religion? The one I just
preached to you. I see God's salvation, which
is a person. You see, we're saved by works,
but not our works, they're His works. We're saved by obedience,
but it's not my obedience, it's His obedience. We're saved because
the law's been satisfied, but I didn't do it, He did it. We're
saved because the justice of God has been clearly satisfied
and honored by somebody's death. But I didn't die, He died. We're saved by praying, not my
prayers, His prayers. He intercedes for us. He ever
lived to make intercession for us. It's substitution. It's satisfaction. It's another in our place. He was wounded for our transgressions.
He was bruised for our iniquities. By His stripes we're healed.
That's what I'm saying. That's the only hope you've got.
Because there's none good, no, not one. There's not a good person
in this building. That's right. If God turned this
whole outfit loose, no telling what he'd do. You're restraining
the hand of God. All the capabilities of hell
are born in you. You watch that little baby. seventeen,
eighteen months old, and let the mother deny it's something,
and those eyes flash, and those teeth grind. Now aren't they
dangerous? That's right. And it's even worse
when they get older. The Lord Jesus Christ, why do
you think they crucified Him? You just figure that out. Why?
He did no evil, perfect man, healed the sick, fed the hungry,
Clothed the naked, raised the dead. Never spoke a word, it
wasn't perfect. Why? It's his message. There was a division because
of what he said. We need to find out what he said.
And he said, I and my Father are one. And no man knoweth the
Father, but the Son, he that is in the Son will be with him.
You don't know God except through Christ. You don't know God except through
Christ. You can't know. You know a God, but not the God. Because
he is the revelation, he's the exact image, express image of
the Father. That's just it. You say that's
fanatical. No, it's biblical. It's just biblical. Adam was
a fanatic when he thought he could defeat God. That's fanaticism. You talk about fanaticism, it's
when a man thinks he can be bigger than God. But when people bow
and submit to a living holy God, that's not fanaticism, that's
good common sense. That's a revelation of truth.
I preach Christ to you. And I have seen thy salvation.