I believe if I had the whole
world for an audience tonight, that I could not have a more appropriate message than
the one that I have, entitled, Looking Unto Jesus. Now there are some things about
which we can be dogmatic and speak with the strongest emphasis. I've been in the ministry for
a number of years. I've spent some time looking
into the scriptures, if only in preparation for messages. I've spent quite a bit of time
in the Word of God. And there are four things that
stand out to me as being unquestionably true. I stand before heaven, earth,
and hell, and I declare there are four things about which I
am absolutely, unchangeably certain. And the first one is this, if
you'll turn to Ephesians chapter 1, the first one is this, and
you can write this down in the strongest, boldest penmanship on the pages of your
Bible, and turn back and look at it frequently, because these
four things are true. The first thing is this. Everything
that a holy God, an infinite, immutable God, of whom David
Atkins said, we can't comprehend Him, we can't begin to comprehend
the majesty and glory of the eternal God. Well, I'll tell
you this, that everything that that God has prepared and purposed
and planned and promised, to any son of Adam. He has put by
his purpose and divine design in his Son. Now, you can rest
on that. It says in Ephesians 1, verse
3, look at it, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessing, all spiritual
blessing, not Seventy-five percent of them, or eighty-five percent
of them, but all spiritual blessings. Well, the natural is not going
to exist. It's not going to continue. They'll not be left one stone
standing on another. God's going to destroy the old
heaven and the old earth. There's going to be no natural
relationships, no material substance left of this old world. Nothing
natural. So spiritual is all there really
is. that will continue to exist. Spiritual is the only blessings,
spiritual blessings are the only blessings that are eternal. And
he says all of them, all of them, Tom, are in Christ. All of them
are in Christ. All spiritual blessings are in
Christ. Verse 4 said he chose us in Christ. Verse 5 said he predestinated
us to the adoption of children by Christ. Verse 6 says he accepted
us in Christ, and verse 7 says in Christ we have redemption.
It's all there, all spiritual blessings. Everything that God
Almighty has purposed, planned, promised to any son of Adam,
he has put every bit of it in Christ. Let me show you two other
scriptures, John 3, verse 35. Listen to this now. And I'm saying if I had the whole
world for an audience tonight, this is what I believe I'd preach.
That's where I'd start. God's put everything in Christ.
In John 3, 35, the Father loveth the Son, and hath given, and
I wish we'd get a hold of these two words, all things, all things. He's given all things into his
hands. Everything's in Christ. Everything. Now, here's another. In 1 Corinthians. Chapter 3. I turn over to I Corinthians
chapter 3, and I'm reading verse 21 and 22. I Corinthians 3, verse
21 through 23. This is such an important scripture.
I Corinthians 3, 21. Therefore, let no man glory in
men. Now, I know there's some men
and women here who have some accomplishments. And like Brother
Scott said, you didn't come into Ashland on the back of no pickup
truck. You're somebody. But now, the scripture emphatically
teaches all the way through, let not the wise man glory in
his wisdom. Let not the musician glory in
his talent. Let not the strong man glory
in his strength. Let not these men glory in anything. Let not the rich man glory in
the riches. What hast thou that thou didst
not receive? Who maketh thee different? If
you can breathe tonight, God gave you the breath. If you can
walk tonight, God gave you the strength. If you're alive tonight,
God gave you life. What have you got to glory about?
What is there in you to boast about? If any man glory, let
him glory in the Lord. When are we going to get this
through our head? There's not a nickel's worth of difference
in any of us. Somebody said, you know what
a degree is? A doctor or a doctor of philosophy
or a doctor of letters or all of these different things. It's
just one worm bragging on another worm. That's all it is. That's all of our credentials
and differences and all this sort of thing. It's just one
worm bragging on another worm. Therefore let no man glory in
me, for all things are yours, everything's yours, whether Paul
the apostle or Apollos or Cephas or the world, the world's yours.
It's yours. God made it for the elect. Did
you know that? Next time you're standing down on the beach and
looking out over that vast, beautiful ocean and the sun is setting,
by Christ's grace, that's yours. Now, don't look at one of these
old tall buildings and say, that's mine. God's going to tear that
down. When you're standing looking at the forest with its great
and magnificent trees in the fall when the leaves are changing
and the leaves are floating down and God's handiwork is seen in
painting such a beautiful picture, just say, that's mine. The world
is yours. It's yours. That's right. The
world is yours. Life is yours. Life is yours. Death is yours. I got the victory through Christ
over death. Don't be afraid to die. It's
yours. It's your transportation to glory. It's your ticket to
the kingdom of God. Don't be afraid of it. It's yours.
It's yours. And all things present are yours. And all things to come are yours. It's all yours, he said. It's
yours. You're Christ. He bought you.
He bought God the Father, gave you to Christ. And God Almighty
gave you life, and Christ came down here and bought you, and
you're not your own, you're bought with a price, you're His, and
He belongs to God, and God owns all things, so everything's Christ,
and everything that's Christ is mine. He's put it all in Christ's
hands. That's where it is. The fellow
out of Christ doesn't have anything. He doesn't have anything but
the husk that the hogs eat. He doesn't have anything but
the leftovers. All he has is just enough to sustain him till
God Almighty sends him to hell. That's all he's got. But everything's
yours. And I tell you where it is. It's
in Christ. It's in Christ. Turn to Romans 8, 38 and 39.
It's in Christ. He said in Romans 8, 38, I'm
persuaded that neither death No angels, no principalities,
no powers, no things present, no things to come, no height,
no depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, the unchangeable, infinite, everlasting, indescribable,
unspeakable love of God, which is where? In Christ Jesus the
Lord. That's where it is. Anybody got any rebuttal? There
is no rebuttal. According to God Almighty's design
and decree, he has taken all things, all spiritual blessings,
all things in heaven and earth, and he put every bit of it in
Christ. Now then, that becomes mine. Here's the second thing
I'm confident, absolutely confident, these spiritual blessings, all
things, are mine. by a union with Christ. Now,
the other day I was out in the backyard. My grandson Luke and
I were working in the yard. We like to work in the yard,
and we were going to trim some trees. We got a magnolia tree
and an apple tree, and some of the bottom limbs needed to come
off the tree. So we got us a saw, and we went
out there, and we started sawing the limbs off the bottom of the
tree. And those limbs were so full of life and green, the leaves
were green, and when I'd saw through there or he'd saw through
there, just little old drops of sap, moisture, life, that
limb was living, living. And we just cut it off. And then
we'd drug them over there and pile them in a pile in the yard.
And next morning I looked out there, and they weren't green
anymore, Bob. They'd start turning brown. and
started shriveling up, wrinkling up. And now, that's two weeks
ago, they're dead as a hammer. Dead as a hammer. You know why? Separated from the vine. Separated
from the vine. Turn to John, if you will, chapter
15. Now, brethren, somebody said, you preach awful simple. Let's
hope so. Let's hope so. Somebody needs
to preach simple. Because we're sure not hearing
that other stuff. What I'm saying here is the same thing my Lord
said in verse 5 of John 15. I am the vine. You are the branches. That's all you are, is a branch.
You're not a tree and you're not a vine. You have no life
in you. No spiritual life in you. You
have no fountain of life in you. You are a branch. He that abideth
in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. Without
me you can do nothing." It doesn't say you can do a few simple tasks.
You can't even live. You can't exist. You can't abide. If any man abide not in me, verse
6, he's cast forth as a branch and is withered. What am I going
to do with those tree limbs? I'm going to give them to the
city and they're going to haul them off and burn them. And that's what
God's going to do with you, apart from Christ, is give you to the
forces of evil to be hauled off and burned. You've got no life.
Cast forth and men gather them and cast them into the fire and
they're burned. There is no life. I have justification, sanctification. These are the fruits of having
been placed by the grace of God into Christ. You see, all things
are Christ's, so they're mine, as I'm a part of him. He's the
head, I'm the body. He's the vine, we're the branches. And the life is not in us, it's
in him. And everything that the tree
has and is, is manifested in the branch. You see this apple
tree out there, and these limbs, and the limbs bear fruit. And
when you go out there and you pull a big, red, juicy apple,
he said, that trunks an apple tree, because it bore apple by
the branch. And the fruit of God, when he
said, let your light so shine before men that they may see
your apples and glorify God. They may see your good works
and glorify God. God's glory is manifest in his
people. The fruit of God's Spirit is
borne by his people. And that's the reason James said
that If you don't bear fruit, you don't belong to God. You're not in the vine. If you're
in the vine, you naturally, spiritually, are going to bear what the vine
produces. And that's how it all becomes
mine. All these blessings are mine
through a union with Christ. Here's the third thing I know.
This union is brought about by faith. Turn to Romans 4. Romans
chapter 4. Now, God's put everything in
Christ. It's all in Him, in Him. And everything is mine through
a union with Christ. Now, this union with Christ is
accomplished, this is what I'm preaching on tonight, by faith. Now, if we look back yonder in
the Old Testament, everybody knows Abraham. If you go over
there in the middle of the Orient and mention Abraham, they know
Abraham. Here in this country, they know Abraham. Every preacher
talks about Abraham. What is Abraham? Why does everybody
know Abraham? I'll tell you why. Abraham is
the father of the faithful. He's the pattern of faith. He
is the man of whom the Scripture said he's the friend of God.
God spoke to Abraham friend to friend. Abraham, the Scripture
says, believed God. He believed God. And the scripture
says again and again that Abraham believed God. Look at Romans
4, verse 3. What does the scripture say,
Paul said? Abraham believed God. Now, would you pause there a
minute? It doesn't say Abraham believed there was a God. The
devil believes there's a God in Trimples. It doesn't say there
that Abraham believed that God existed and God created the world. The devil knows that. It says
very plainly here, Abraham believed God. There was an old, and you
say, what are you pointing out? I'm pointing out this, that Abraham
knew in his heart that God existed and that God reigned and that
God made all things and that God was able to do all things,
and he flat believed God. He believed God's Word. He believed
God's purpose, he believed God's revelation, he believed God. There was an old man, an old
Puritan preacher who was dying, and he called his wife in by
his bedside, and she sat down. And he said to her, he said,
Dear, he said, I'm not able to read anymore. And I miss the
word of God. Would you just sit there and
quote me some scripture? Just quote me the scripture."
And she, do you know some scripture to quote? She said, oh, yes,
I'm familiar with several passages. He said, well, just quote me
some scripture. She said, well, I know in whom I have believed. And he said, hold it, hold it
right there. That's not what it says. She
said, What's not what it says? He said, It doesn't say I know
in whom I have believed. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. He said, Don't even let a preposition
come between you and Christ. It's not I know in whom, I know
who. I know who. And that's what this
is saying here. Abraham believed God, verse 3,
Romans 4, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. holiness,
acceptance, sanctification in God's sight. Abraham believed
God. And because he believed God,
God was his friend. And God walked with him, and
God revealed himself to him, and God accepted him. And God
made him holy and righteous because he believed God. You say, what's
that got to do with me? All right, let's turn over here
to verse 20, Romans 4, same chapter. Romans 4, verse 20, you got it?
Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief.
God came to Abraham when that old man was 100 years old, told
him he was going to have a son, an heir, and his wife was 90.
That didn't stagger him. Well, he believed God. And he
was strong in faith, giving glory to God, verse 21, and he was
fully persuaded that what God promised, God was able to perform,
and therefore was imputed to him for righteousness, for acceptance. You know what this righteousness
is? Well, I'll tell you this. I'll
give a call up to heaven. Now, Gabriel, can I get in touch
with you for a minute? You've got time. I want you to
do something for me. I want you to go in the computer
room in Heckman, wherever that is, and I want you to look up
something for me. Okay? Go in the computer room, Gable,
and look up my name. What is your name? Henry Mahan,
Henry T. for Thomas. You'll find it. I found it. You got the books? I got the books. The book of
which it says they shall be open and men shall be judged out of
the things written in the book, I got the book, I got your name. What do you find under my name?
Quiet. Nothing. Not a mark? Not a mark. Not a sin? Not a sin. Not a taint or a stain
or a spot? Not a taint nor a stain nor a
spot. Told you, see, I find under your
name that you fully, completely obeyed every jot and tittle of
God's law. That's righteousness. You say,
I can't go with you on that. Let me tell you something. If
that's not true of every one of us, we're going to miss salvation. We're going to miss God. Because
God can't have anything to do with anybody. that has any stain
or spot. That's right. He can't have anything
to do with anything except that which is perfect, and that's
what it says, except it be perfect. And Almighty God cannot receive
anybody that has violated his law in any measure to be offended
one point or to be guilty of all of it, and we must have a
perfect righteousness. And in Christ I have that, and
I believe that, because I believe God. I believe God. And that's what Abraham had.
Abraham had a perfect righteousness. Now look at verse 23. Now, it
was written, Romans 4, 23, it was written, not for his sake
alone that this righteousness and holiness was imputed to him,
but for us also to whom it, it, what are we talking about? We're talking about, Mike, that
perfect, spotless, immaculate, unchangeable Holiness! Holiness! I tell you, when I hear people
on this earth talk about a holiness church, whew! Abomination is what it is. They
wear their dresses a certain length, or their hair a certain
length, or their sleeves a certain length. They don't go to show,
and they don't spit, chew and spit, and they don't drink and
smoke, and they don't do this, that, and then they call that
holiness? Holiness? You know what holiness is? Holiness
is the immaculate glory of God. Holiness is that perfect, spotless
love. Holiness is that presence and
glory of God in mercy and grace and truth, unchangeable truth,
unstretchable truth. It is the perfect righteousness
of Christ. That's holiness. And there's
not anybody here within 10,000 miles of it. The best man that
ever lived is not worth 10,000. He's not within 10,000 miles
of that holiness. Our holiness in God's presence
and sight is an abomination. Our holiness is corruption personified. Our holiness is a mass of wiggling
maggots in a dead carcass, the best we've got in God's sight. I'm talking about holiness. He said that holiness is imputed,
but for us also to whom that holiness will be imputed, how? If we believe. Can you believe? That's what I'm talking. Can
you believe? David read it. Can you believe? Can you just look away from yourself
to Christ? Can you look? If we believe on Him that raised
up Jesus our Lord from the dead who was delivered for our fences
and raised for our pure, perfect justification, just as if I'd
never seen. Turn to Numbers for a moment.
Numbers chapter 21. Listen to this. Numbers 21. Can you believe? Can you look
to Christ in Numbers 21 verse 6? Listen to this. And the Lord,
Numbers 21 verse 6, the Lord sent fiery serpents among the
people, and they bit the people. Much people of Israel died. Can
you imagine these, I don't know, little old coral snakes like
that, fiery serpents. The bite of that snake was a
burning bite that went immediately to the heart. You paralyzed the
person, such a sting, such a fire. These little old serpents around
everywhere, biting people, and they were an epidemic, and they
were dying all over the place. And verse 7 says, the people
came to Moses, and they said, We've sinned. We've sinned. We've spoken against the Lord.
and against thee, praying to the Lord that he'll take away
the serpents. And Moses prayed for the people.
And the Lord said to Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent. And it
was a serpent of brass, you know about it. And put it upon a pole,
put it on a pole, and it shall come to pass that everyone that's
bitten, when he looks, he'll live. When he looks. And my friend, you say, well,
what's the significance there? My Lord Jesus Christ, God's only
begotten Son of His love, stood on this earth and faced the people,
and he looked back there at this incident, and he said, as Moses
lifted up that serpent in the same way, even so must the Son
of Man be lifted up, that whosoever looketh believeth on him will
have everlasting life." That's exactly right. You see,
those serpents that bit the people were the cause of their death,
the cause of the death. And Moses took a serpent of brass
like those serpents, in the likeness of those serpents, and lifted
it up on a pole. And in doing that, he was describing
and illustrating and picturing the death of Christ. And so really
when those people looked to the fiery serpents, you know where
they were looking? They were looking to Christ. When God saw
them by faith look to the serpent, he was seeing them by faith look
into Christ. That's what he's showing. Our
Lord came down here. What is the cause of our death?
Sin. Sin. And our Lord was made in
the likeness of sinful flesh. He came to this earth and took
on himself this human body. This is my problem. This is my
problem, my sin. And Christ became sin. He was
made sin for us. Jesus Christ was made sin for
us and lifted up on the cross. And I'm telling you right now,
if you want life, it's not scurrying around here trying to find the
right church and trying to find the right doctrine and trying
to find the right pattern of life. The best you can do, God
can't accept. It's lying there in your sinfulness
and dying condition and lifting, as God enables you, your eyes
and look into Christ and believe in Him. You have everlasting
life. That's the way it comes. And
then this faith comes through here in the Word of God. The
hymn writer put it this way, I'll go to Jesus, I'll go to
Jesus, though my sin hath like a mountain raised. I'll tell
him I'm a wretch undone without his sovereign grace. I can but
perish if I go. I am resolved to try, for if
I stay away, I know I must forever die. I'll to the gracious King
approach, whose scepter mercy gives. Perhaps he will receive
my touch, and then the sinner lives. But if I should perish
in my sin, After I, the Lord, have tried, that were to perish,
what a thought, as a sinner has never died." No man has ever
come to Christ and then turned away. You go back through the
Word, you'll find Abraham looked to Christ. Our Lord said, He
saw my day and rejoiced. Job looked to Christ. He said,
Mine eye hath seen the Lord. I know that my Redeemer lives.
Isaiah looked to Christ, he said, I saw the Lord high and lifted
up. Simeon looked to Christ, he said, Lord, now let thy servant
depart in peace. Mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Now here's the fourth thing,
and it has a series of things. Everything's in Christ. It's
mined by union with Christ. That union comes by faith. And
the fourth thing is looking to Christ as he's revealed in the
Word. Now, here are six words I want you to look at for a moment,
and I'll try to be brief. The first word is covenant, covenant,
looking to Christ in the covenant, looking to Christ in the covenant.
Let me ask you a question. There were two races that fell,
angels and men. You know that. I know that. Scripture
tells us that. Angels fell and men fell. Our
Lord said, I saw Lucifer fall from heaven as lightning. We
know Isaiah 14 tells us that Satan, who is Lucifer, said five
times, he said, I will. I'll be like God. I will exalt
my throne above the stars of God. I will ascend into the heights. I will, I will. And God said,
no, you'll be cast down to hell. And they tell me that about a
third of the heavenly host followed Lucifer in his rebellion, something
like that. And the scripture tells us that
God hath reserved the angels. Look at 2 Peter, let me show
you this, chapter 2, verse 4. The angels that fell, God, listen
to it, in 2 Peter 2.4, if God spared not the angels that sinned,
but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of
darkness to be reserved unto judgment." There's no Savior
for the angels, there's no salvation for the angels, there's no mercy
for the angels. Is that correct? Jude says the
same thing. He hath reserved them in everlasting
chains of darkness until that day. Is that true? That's what
the Bible says. Well, the angels fell, and God
reserved them in darkness and chains until eternal condemnation. But Adam fell. Adam fell, and
human race fell in Adam. By one man's sin entered the
world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men. In Adam
we died. By one man's disobedience we
were made sinners. And his sin was just about the
same as Satan's sin. I will. It wasn't like that.
Satan said to Eve, You will be like God. What was Satan saying?
I will be like God. And Adam deliberately took the
fruit of the tree with full understanding of what he was doing. He was
not deceived. Do you know what the Word says?
He was deceived, he was not. He did what he did on purpose.
And he did it with this motivation, you'll be like God. And he sinned
and he died. Now then, here's the question.
Why did God spare him? Why did God spare him? He didn't
spare the angels. He spared nothing. Why did he
spare Adam? What was in God's character that
when Satan fell, immediately cast him out of heaven, immediately
cast him out of his presence, immediately bound him in hell,
immediately turned him into darkness? Why not Adam? We see some change
in Adam. We see he saw he was naked. Shame, fear, foolishness, envy,
hatred. We see all these things. But
he still lived. He still lived on the earth,
God make. He still lived with a hope of
redemption, of being put back, restored back to where he was.
Do you know why? Do you have any idea why? I'll tell
you why I turned to the book of Hebrews. I'll read it to you,
Hebrews 2.16. I'll read it to you. It's because when Adam fell,
there stood for him and his race a surety. That's why a Redeemer,
a Savior, a Priest of perfect righteousness was already in
the purpose of God ours. Look at Hebrews 2.16, "...for
verily he," that's Christ, "...took not on him the nature of angels,"
they didn't have a surety, they didn't have a Savior, they didn't
have a Redeemer, "...but he took on him the seed of Abraham."
Let me ask you this, when did he take it on him? Well, he was
a lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Now, if you've
never got acquainted with the word covenant, you'd better get
acquainted with it, because it's used in this Bible between 250
and 300 times. Covenant, covenant, covenant,
covenant, covenant. God is a covenant God. We know
a lot of so-called scripture, do unto others as you would have
them do unto you, and Rob Peter to pay Paul, and we quote all
these things, you know. We'd better learn something about
covenant, because when King David was dying, Now, that was a man
after God's own heart. One man in this Bible is said
to be a man after God's own heart. That is declared by the Word
of God. It's David. He was the sweet psalmist of
Israel. David was such a prominent person in the program of God
that his son, Jesus Christ, was called the son of David. Now,
you think about that. Turn to 2 Samuel 23, and I'll
show you the last words David spoke on this earth. And I'll
show you wherein his hope rested, his hope of heaven and glory. I'll show you 2 Samuel 23, listen. 2 Samuel 23, 1, you have it?
These be the last words of David, the last word. Verse 5, Although
my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure. A covenant. What kind of covenant? Everlasting. That's everlasting both ways.
Eternal covenant. Christ is called, keep that scripture
there, he's called the shepherd, the great shepherd of the sheep,
through the blood of the what? Everlasting covenant. Christ
is called the surety of the everlasting covenant. And this is what David's
pointing to right here, that everlasting covenant, ordered
in, here's that word again, all things, all things in the hands
of Christ. All things are yours. He had
put all things, you see? And ordered in all things and
sure. And this is all my salvation and all my desire, although he
make it not to grow. In other words, you look around,
you see my kids hate God and hate me, and that's where David
was, and been tossed out of the kingdom and back again, all these
trials and tribulations. But he said, it's sure. And my
friends, this is what I'm saying. I'm looking to Christ, but I'm
looking back beyond the cross, beyond the cradle. Even beyond
the fall of Adam, I'm looking clear back into the great design
of God before the foundation of the world, before the morning
stars sang together, before the sons of God shouted for joy when
God, in an everlasting covenant, gave his Son a people, not out
of the angelic race, out of the Adamic race. And that's right. And here's what you, nobody,
nobody can deny the covenant. Nobody can deny that God gave
the Son of People. Nobody can deny that Christ is
the only Redeemer. Nobody can deny that Jesus Christ
is the only Sacrifice and Substitute. What we've got to decide is this,
when did he become such? That's where the issue is. When
did he become such? Was Jesus Christ an afterthought
Was Jesus Christ provided after the fall? Then what kept Adam
from being annihilated right then when he fell? I'll tell
you what. God Almighty had already designed
this world for the glory of his Son. Almighty God had already
given his Son a people out of the human race to populate glory
to be like his Son. Christ was a lamb slave for the
foundation of the world. I'll give you these quickly.
Look to Christ in the covenant. Look to Christ in his life for
imputation. Now, here's another word we need
to learn. Imputation. Turn to Romans 5. Romans 5. You say, well, preacher, what
does that word imputation mean? Well, it's to charge or to reckon
to someone. It's to charge and reckon to
someone. Romans 5. Look at that a minute, imputed,
reckoned, charged to their account. In Romans 5, verse 19, listen
to this. Let's go back to verse 12 for
just a moment. Verse 12, "...wherefore by one man sin entered the world,
and death by sin. So death was imputed," or passed
on to everybody, reckoned everybody, death. When Adam fell, God created
one man. Adam, and we were all in his
loins when he was standing on it. When he stood, we stood.
When he fell, we fell. When he became a sinner, we became
a sinner. God never made but one man as Adam. Everybody else
came from him. Even Eve came from him, right
down the line. And because of his fall, I have
imputed to me, also imparted to me, a wicked, sinful nature,
imputed to me. I just can't buy that. I can't
buy the fact that we, before we was ever born, a man stood
and fell, and we stood and fell in him. I just can't go with
that imputed guilt. Well, look at Romans 5, 19. It
says, for as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners. Now,
you know who those are. By one man, that's Adam, by his
disobedience, that's his fault, the many were made sinners. Everybody
identified with him became a sinner right then, by imputation. All right, now watch this next
line. So, by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. That's imputation. You say, I
wasn't living when Adam died, or when Adam sinned. I wasn't
living when Christ died either. I wasn't living when Christ died.
But there are two men, the 1st Adam and the 2nd Adam, and God
regards whether we like this or not. Turn to 1 Corinthians
15. I'm just telling you what the Word said. Whether you want
to accept it or receive it or not, this is what the Word of
God teaches. Representation, federal headship, covenant works
and covenant mercy. And there are just two men, the
1st Adam and the 2nd Adam. In verse 21 of 1 Corinthians
15, you have it, 1 Corinthians 15, 21. For since by man came
death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. Who are those men?
Well, that's the two Adams. By man came death, by man came
the resurrection. Verse 22, for as in Adam all
die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. All who identified
with Adam, associated with Adam, died in Adam. And all who identified
and in union with Christ live in Christ, by Christ's obedience. Now look at verse, turn over
to verse 47 of 1 Corinthians 15, or verse 45. I'm taking a moment, but we need
to see these things. These are foundation things.
In 1 Corinthians 15, 45, and so it is written, the first man
Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam a quickening spirit. Albeit that was not first, which
is spiritual, but that which is natural, that is first in
revelation. Of course, Christ was before
Adam, and you know that. You know Christ was before Adam.
And Christ was before Adam in his redemptive character, because
he never changes. He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. Does that make sense? As Christ
is now, he always has been. As Jehovah, our Savior, as our
Redeemer, he always has been. But this is saying that was not
first which is spiritual, but that which is natural, first
in revelation, first by manifestation, or at redemption. And afterwards,
that which is spiritual, Christ came later. The first man is
of the earth earthy, the second man is the Lord from heaven.
As is the earthy, such are they that are earthy. We like Adam,
we're born of him, we like him. As is the heavenly, such are
they that are heavenly, spiritual, they're like Christ. So as we
have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image
of the heavenly by God's grace. So listen, I look to Christ in
the everlasting covenant. I look to Christ in his life
on this earth as the second Adam, as the Lord from heaven who came
down here and redeemed me by his obedience and by his death.
And another word we better learn is the word resurrection. When
God raised Christ from the dead, God was saying two things. God
was saying, I accept what he did, I accept what he is, I accept
what he performed. If God had not accepted all that
Christ is and all that Christ did, he'd still be in the tomb.
The second thing that God was saying is this, because he lives,
that those vines, that branches in the vines are going to live
also. That body, which is a part of the head, is going to live
off. Because he lives, I live. Because he lives, because he's
in the favor of God, I'm in the favor of God. I have nothing
apart from him. Another word is the word priesthood. And I don't have time to deal
with all this, but I look to Christ in the covenant. I look
to Christ in his righteousness. I look to Christ in his death.
I look to Christ in his resurrection. I look to Christ right now. as
my high priest." Now, my friends, every era has a smell of truth,
an element of truth. The Catholic system, where the
priest, the confessional, I've seen it so much in Mexico and
France and Spain and other places. People go in here and they lean
up to this little thing and whisper in the ear of that priest their
sins. And he goes to God. and gets
them forgiveness. Now, that on this earth is evil. The confessional is one of the
greatest evils of the Catholic Church. But it's based on a principle
of truth. And that is that every man, every
son of Adam, to gain the ear and favor of God has got to have
a priest. Got to have a priest, a high
priest. A priest with a suitable sacrifice. Now all this conglomeration,
this sprinkling of water and shaking these things and going
through the motions and standing before an altar and raising all
this thing, that's all, that's all an abomination to God. Because our great high priest
is the Lord Jesus Christ, who entered not the place made with
hands, but heaven itself, who gave not the blood of animals
or wine, but his own blood. He is our high priest. He is
the one mediator. He's the one intercessor. He's
the one advocate between men and God. And it's true, God Almighty,
receives me in Christ, because he's my great high priest, and
he has a suitable sacrifice, his own wounds, his own blood,
which the Father will accept. That's as simple as I can put
it. And I'll read it to you in Hebrews 4. Hebrews 4. We've got to have a priest. We've
got to have a sacrifice. And that priest is Christ, and
that sacrifice is his own blood. It hasn't changed. It's still
so. It's changed in the sense that
all the types which represented Christ on this earth have been
fulfilled, like Aaron and the sons of Levi. Now look at Hebrews
4, 14. Seeing then that we have a great
high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of
God. Let us hold fast our profession,
for we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with
the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted
like that we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace." Why? Because we have a high priest,
that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of
need. Now the last thing I'll give
you in close is this, Hebrews 9. That is, I look to Christ
in his return. He's coming back. He's coming
back again. And here in Hebrews 9, in three
verses, if you have just a moment, first of all in verse 26, the
last line says, He hath appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. You see that? he hath appeared
on this earth in the flesh to put away sin with the sacrifice
of himself." Verse 24, the last line says, that now in the heaven
itself, in the heaven itself, now to appear in the presence
of God for us. See that? And then verse 28,
the last line, till them that look for him shall he appear
the second time without sin unto salvation. There are the three
appearances, you can preach for a week on that. Christ appeared
in the flesh, here on the earth, and put away sin. Right now,
he's appearing in the presence of God as our great high priest
and mediator. And to them that look for him,
looking to Christ, he's going to appear again, without sin,
under perfect salvation. Looking to Christ. I hope God
will bless that message to your hearts.