And he said unto them, Whom say ye that I am? Whom say ye that I am? Now this man, Jesus of Nazareth, was born in poverty, and he was
brought up in total obscurity. He was the son of an unmarried
young Jewish woman. His foster father, a man called
Joseph, was a carpenter. He was a very inconspicuous man,
unknown and very uninfluential. This man, Jesus of Nazareth,
had no formal training, no formal education. As far as we know,
in the flesh, on this earth, he never traveled over 90 miles
from his own home. All of his friends were poor
people and unknown people. He himself
never owned a piece of ground, never owned a home, never held
a public office, And as far as we know, his only earthly possession
was the robe that he wore on his back. He traveled about with
his disciples preaching. Jesus began to preach, the Scripture
says, preaching the kingdom of God and doing great and wonderful
works. Scripture says he went about
doing good. When he was just 33 years old,
he was accused of preaching heresy. He was accused of seeking to
be king. And upon the testimony of false
witnesses gathered together by religious leaders, he was sentenced
to be crucified. He only had 12 disciples. One of them sold him for $18. Another one denied that he even
knew him. And the rest of them, the scripture
says, forsook him and fled. He stood in judgment alone. He was nailed to a cross between
two thieves, two common criminals, and during his dying hour, according
After recorded testimony, he cried out, My God, why hast thou
forsaken me, indicating that even the Heavenly Father turned
his back on him when he died on that cross. He was taken down
from the cross and placed in a tomb that was borrowed from
another man. This man, Jesus of Nazareth,
never wrote a book. with his own hand, and yet more
books have been written about him than all other subjects combined. This man, Jesus of Nazareth,
never wrote a song, and yet he has been the theme of more songs
than all subjects put together. This man, Jesus of Nazareth,
never founded a college. Yet all the colleges together
cannot boast of as many students as those who study his life.
He never studied medicine, yet he healed more broken hearts
and bodies than all doctors put together. He had a personal conflict
with Satan who could not seduce him, religious leaders who could
not answer him, lawyers who could not entangle him, and Pilate, who could find no
fault in him, and death, which could not destroy him, and the
grave, which could not hold him. Who is this man? Well, the whole
world will agree on some things. The whole world will admit and
agree that he was the most unusual man who ever lived, no question
about it. And the whole world will agree
that his life on earth was above reproach. He said to his enemies,
which of you convinces me of sin? And the man who tried him
wanted desperately to find at least one thing for which he
could condemn him, that he might rid his soul of the guilt. And
finally he said, I find no fault in it. I find no fault in it. Even the
demons that possessed the man in the tombs cried out, we know
who you are, you're the Holy One of God, Holy One of God. All men will agree that his works
and miracles had to be done by the power of God, that no man
could do these things except God be with him. All men will admit and agree
that his teachings are above reproach. They're the purest,
holiest, ever spoken. No man ever spake like this man. But since he walked on this earth,
since the time that he lived on this earth and died on that
cross, there has been no end, no end to the controversy concerning
four things. There's been no end. Now, they'll
agree. most unusual, even the calendar,
even our calendars speak forth years from his coming this way
and from his coming back the other way, before Christ and
after Christ. And his teachings, his life,
his works, his miracles, the purest, holiest, above reproach. There's been no end to the controversy
regarding four things. And if you've ever listened to
me in your life, listen to me now. And then you can turn me
off, because when I've said these four things, I've said it all.
All that a man needs to know for life and eternity, there's
no end to the controversy regarding who he is, who is this man. Who is Jesus of Nazareth? See
him standing outside Pilate's judgment hall, early in the morning.
And they had arrested him in the garden, and they brought
him to Caiaphas and then to Annas, and finally they woke Pilate
up, four, five, six o'clock in the morning, probably the breaking
of day. And Pilate came out there, and
they had this man, Jesus Christ, standing out there outside the
judgment hall. And someone in the crowd of religious
leaders spoke up and cried these words, He said he's the Son of
God! He said he's the Son of God! And Pilate, standing on the steps
of that judgment hall, trembled. Trembled. And he called Jesus
Christ and said, Follow me. And they went back into the judgment
hall privately. And he looked at him, he said,
who are you? Who are you? Where'd you come
from? It's trouble. Who are you and
where'd you come from? And that's my question. Who is
he? Who is he? And then the second
thing, the controversy revolving around
the head of this man is what did he do? What did he do? They said, we found this fella,
we found this fella, Pilate brought him back out there and they said,
we found this fella stirring up the people. We found him on
the streets and in the synagogues and on the steps of the temple,
stirring up the people and perverting them. That's what he did, he
perverted the people. And he taught the people that
they didn't have to pay taxes to Caesar, tribute to Caesar.
That's what he did. And he said he's a king. He's
trying to take the hearts of the people away from Caesar and
turn them to himself. He's some sort of king. What
he is, he's a troublemaker. He's a troublemaker. That's what
he's doing. He's causing discord and division
and trouble. Is that what he did? Is that
really what he did? Then the third controversy that
revolved around his head is why did he do it? Why did he do it? Pilate took him back in the judgment
hall and he said, Why don't you answer me? Why don't you answer
me? He said, Where are you from?
Who are you? And our Lord answered him, not
a word. He said, Why don't you answer me? I don't understand
why you don't answer me. Don't you realize that I have
the power to crucify you? Don't you realize that? Don't
you know? Hasn't that dawned on you, man?
I've got the power to nail you to a cross or to let you go. Why? Why don't you answer me?"
He was befuddled. Our Lord didn't answer. When they stood beneath that
cross, They said he saved others himself. He cannot save. Why? Why can't he save himself? Surely
one who can call a man out of a tomb can step down off of a
cross. Surely a man who can walk up
to a coffin of a young man that had died and they were taking
him out to bury him and put his hand on the coffin and say, young
man, arise, now surely he could step down off that cross, like
I'd step down off this pulpit, or easier. A man who could take
five loaves and two fishes and break them up and feed 5,000
people, looks like to me he could step
down off that cross, could have if he wanted to. But why did
he stay there? Why don't you answer me? Why
does he hang on that cross? Why does he allow men to spit
on him? He spoke up in the chief priest's
home, and a fellow of his tone slapped his face. I read that
a while ago, earlier. A fellow slapped his face, Charles.
He slapped his face. Oh, I couldn't take that, could
you? Why did he take it? Why? Why did he do all this?
Then the fourth question revolves around his head, controversy.
Where is he now? Where is he now? I go in these
Catholic places down in Mexico, and I see him hanging on a cross.
Is he still hanging there? I see him hanging on a cross.
Every once in a while, I see somebody with one of those things
around their neck, and there's this Jesus, and there's him hanging
on a cross. Is he still on a cross? Or in Mexico, they have a, you
go in down to Isamal, one of these places, and there's a coffin.
It's a glass coffin. It looks like about 200 years
old. And there's a wax dummy in there with a crown of thorns
on his head and a sheet, you've seen it, that veil over him and
he's fully lying there in death. Is that where he is? Is that
where Jesus is? Is that where he is? They stood beneath that
cross and they said, he trusted in God, let God deliver him if
God will have him, if God will have him. He said, I'm the Son of God,
let's see if God will have him. Did God have him? Let's see if
God will own him. Did God own him? Good question,
isn't it? Did God own him? If he did, where
is he now? What did God decide to do with
this man, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross? What did God do
with him? Where is he now? Well, let me just briefly answer
those four questions. Who is he? Who is he? Well, I answer that question
in three ways. First of all, who is this person,
this person? Who is this person? And I answer
that in this way, he is God incarnate. I wish, and I know everybody
will not understand what I'm saying, and everybody will not
comprehend what I'm saying, but I'm making this point As strong
as I possibly can make it, Jesus of Nazareth is God Almighty,
very God of very God. He is the one who spoke the world
into being. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and by him
all things were made. Without him was not anything
made that was made. When he was born, before he was
born, the angel said to Joseph, Don't be afraid. to take Mary
to be your wife. She's with Chau, but that's no
ordinary Chau. That holy thing which is conceived
in her is the Son of God, is God, is God. And now, when he's born, Joseph,
you call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from
their sins. And this is interpreted, this
is from the writings of Isaiah, the angel said, who said, The
Lord himself will give you a sign. A virgin shall be with child,
and thou shalt call his name Immanuel, Immanuel, which is
being interpreted, God with us. And that's what I'm saying. This person is God. He's the
express image. He's the exact image of the invisible
God. He's the invisible God incarnate. He's the invisible, eternal God
in the flesh. The Father said not to the angels,
but to the Son, Thy throne, O God, is forever. And all the holy
angels of God worshiped Jesus of Nazareth. The disciples said
one day, Well, just show us God. Just show us God. Everybody wants
to see God. I don't blame you. I understand
that. Sometimes I wish God had flicked the heavens open and
said, Henry, do this, don't you? I really do, I'll be honest with
you. Finding the will of God is so difficult, so difficult,
and they said out of exasperation, let's show us the Father. But
our Lord said, he that hath seen me hath seen God. I and my Father
are one. That's what I'm in his person.
All right, secondly, under that, who is he? What is his office? in which he came or as he came
into the world. In his person, he's God incarnate. In his office, officially, divinely
anointed, he is that prophet, that prophet of whom Moses wrote
and spake, that prophet who would reveal the will of God. He is
that eternal priest The eternal priest without beginning of days
or end of days, without heritage or ancestry, without mother and
father, whose goings forth have been from of everlasting, he's
that eternal priest after the order of Melchizedek. He is that
priest. He is that King of kings and
Lord of lords. And all of that is summed up
in one word, the Christ. When Peter said, Thou art the
Christ, he knew exactly what he was saying. I don't think
he comprehended all of the consequences of it, but he knew what he was
saying. Thou art the Christ. The Christ. Thou art be Christ. Now, Peter said on Pentecost,
Acts 2.36, God hath made this same Jesus whom you crucified,
Lord and Christ. He didn't mean God made him Lord
and Christ after they crucified him. He made him Lord and Christ
from eternity. They crucified the Lord in Christ.
It says, oh, I want you to turn to this scripture, 1 John 2.
This is one you need to turn to and look at. 1 John 2, verse
22. I want you to look carefully
at this now. 1 John 2, 22. Who is a liar? Who is a liar? It doesn't matter whether he's
got a clerical robe on or not. It doesn't matter whether he
may be truthful about a lot of things, but who is a liar? Who
is the liar? I'll tell you who he is. It's he that denieth that Jesus
is the Christ. That's who the liar is. That's
the world's biggest liar. The world's biggest liar is the
man who denies that Jesus is what? I'm not saying We use his
name, Jesus Christ, or Lord Jesus Christ. But do you know what
that word Christ implies? Do you know what that word Christ
denotes and includes? That he is that prophet, that
priest, and that king, solely and completely holding those
offices, divinely anointed, divinely appointed, and we bow to him
as that Christ. The Old Testament said the Christ
is coming, the gospel says the Christ has come, and the epistles
say the Christ is coming back. He's the Christ. Now, you can
be saved if you can see him and receive him as the Christ, because
in 1 John 5.1, just over one page, it's still there. Because
this is it, 1 John 5.1, Whosoever believeth that Jesus of Nazareth
is the Christ. He is born of God. That's all
that Scott said there are to it. That's it. He is the Christ. You see what
I'm saying? Who is he? Well, he's God incarnate, and
in his offices, he is the Christ. He is the Christ. And whosoever
genuinely, earnestly, honestly believes that he is the Christ,
we look for no other. We need no other. All fullness
dwelleth in him." He's born of God. That's how you test a preacher,
whether God sent him or not, is that Jesus is the Christ and
he has come in the flesh. And if a man doesn't preach that,
he's an antichrist. Okay, whatever else. What else
he preaches? Who is he? Oh, here's the third
part of that. What is his relationship to me?
What's all this mean to me? Under that, he is my head and
representative. In Adam, Adam's my physical head,
my fleshly head. And we call it federal head,
which means very little to most people. But he's my federal head
and representative. In Adam I died, in Christ I'm
made alive. By man came death, by man came
the resurrection. As I born the image of the earthy,
I shall bear the image of the heavenly. By one man's disobedience,
I became a sinner. My head was Adam. My representative
was Adam. What he did affected me. What
he did was imputed to me. What he did was imparted to me.
And I'm judged as a human being on the basis of what my head
did. By one man's disobedience, I've made a sinner. By another
man's obedience, I've made righteous. There are two Adams, the first
Adam and the second Adam. The first atom is of the earth,
earthy. The second atom is the Lord from heaven. That's God's
Word. And you can fuss at it and fight it and grind your teeth
and clench your fists and do what you want to, but that's
the Bible. Representation. And Christ, Jesus, is my representation. In him I lived. In him I obeyed
God's law. In him I died. In him I went
to the cross. In him I went to the tomb. In
him I was raised. In him I'm seated at the right
hand of God. He's my holiness. He's my holiness. He's made of
God unto me wisdom, righteousness, sanctification. I am wholly sanctified
in Christ, in God's sight. Wholly sanctified. I'm in union
with Christ. I'm as near to God as I can ever
be, legally, spiritually, in Christ Jesus. That's right. I
grow in grace now. And I grow in the fruit of the
Spirit, and I grow in understanding, and I grow in faith, and all
these things. But I'm as near to God as I'll ever be in Christ.
That's so. I'm holy, totally, completely
holy, because He's my righteousness. You see, He was made sin for
me, who knew no sin, that I might be made in Him, the what? Righteousness
of God. He's my sin offering, in whom
I have redemption, the forgiveness of sin. He was made a curse,
Galatians 3.13, Christ was made a curse for us. He bore the curse
of the law. And then He's my life. I'm crucified
with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. He's my father and mother. He's
my brother and sister. He's my husband and wife. He's
my brother and friend. All things are in Christ. He's
first, not only first, but He's all my life. I belong to Him. I'm not my own. I was bought
with a price. As Jim prayed this morning, what I give is not mine,
it's His. It belongs to Him. It's not my
life and my family and my home and my car. It's His. It belongs
to Him. He bought me body and soul. And
He's my life. That's who He is. Alright, secondly,
what did He do? What did He do? Now, being God,
He has done and will do all that God does. You understand what
I'm saying? Turn to Colossians 1, verse 15.
Being God, he has done all that God will do and has done, because
he's God. What the Father does, the Son
does. What the Son does, the Father does. They're one. That's
the reason it says in verse 16, by him were all things created.
What did Jesus Christ do? Well, if you want to find out
what Jesus Christ did, you have to go clear back to the time
that the angels were created, that Lucifer was created. That's
what Jesus Christ did. But what I'm interested in, what
did he do as my head and representative? That's what I'm interested in.
I'm interested in the other two, but more than anything else,
what did he do on the earth? What did he do in the flesh?
What did he do in the redemption of his people? What did this
man Jesus Christ do? That's my subject. All right,
number one. In the eternal covenant of mercy,
he stood as my surety. He said he was a lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. It says in Hebrews 7, his blood
is the blood, in Hebrews 13, his blood is the blood of an
everlasting covenant. In Hebrews 7, it says this, that
he's the surety of a better covenant. So actually, in eternity past,
being the Lamb slain, he was Christ regarded in the flesh
in the purpose and mind of God. He assumed flesh in time. But
he was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world.
Well, I can make that clear or not, but as he stands, he sits
at the right hand of God as a man right now. And in the mind and
purpose of God, when God chose us in Christ, he chose us in
the God-man Christ Jesus. He stood then as our shepherd.
And then in the Old Testament types, Christ is the Old Testament. In the Old Testament types, he
gave them life and power. You see, when they took that
animal and cut its throat and caught the blood in a basin,
that wouldn't have been any different from a pagan in Africa killing
a chicken and shedding its blood in his ritual to his God, except
for one thing, Christ is that lamb. You see what I'm saying?
In other words, in the mind of this man offering the sacrifice
and in the mind of God receiving it, that lamb takes on life and
power because of whom it represents. It's Christ. You see what I'm
saying? No, Abel's sacrifice is no different from Cain's as
far as the elements are concerned in themselves. Cain brought the
fruit and vegetables. Abel brought a lamb. He was a
shepherd. He brought a lamb. And they're all physical, they're
all material, and God had not respect to the vegetables, He
had respect to the lamb. Why? It's Christ. Christ is that lamb. Christ is
our Passover. You see what I'm saying? Jesus
Christ, what did He do? He's our surety, and He gave
life and power to Old Testament pictures and types. Without them,
they were paganism, pagan ritualism. And that's the reason they didn't
benefit many people who brought them because they didn't see
Christ in them. That's exactly why. To some people
they were ritualistic, pagan ceremonies. That's the reason
God said, I'm tired of your burnt offerings. Oh, God shouldn't
say that about an offering representing Christ to that bunch who didn't
represent Christ. And that's when he said, I'm
tired. I'm tired of your prayers. I'm tired of your burnt offerings.
I'm tired of your holy days. They don't mean anything. They're
a stench in my nostril. Abraham's offering wasn't a stench
in God's nostril, because Abraham offered it by faith. See the
difference? By faith. Without faith, it's
impossible to please God. Don't do anything without faith
in Christ, because that'll be a stench in his nostrils, too.
apart from faith in Christ and regarding Christ as that Lamb
and that Offering and that Mediator and that Intercessor, that's
a stench in God's nostril. Even things that are orthodox
and doctrinally sound and even things that are scripturally
commanded become an abomination to God apart from faith in Christ. Oh, get hold of that now, that's
important. That's important. And in the
furnace of time, he took on himself flesh, because man sinned and
man had to die. And the law was given to men,
and the law had to be obeyed by man in the flesh. And in the
furnace of time, God sent his Son into the world, made of a
woman, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them
that were born under the law. And Jesus Christ took upon himself
the form of a servant and became obedient, obedient even unto
death, even the death of the cross. As a man, he fulfilled
every law and requirement and took our sins in his body on
the tree. He died for the ungodly. He died
for sinners. He bore our iniquities and our
sins and our transgressions in his body. It was his love for
me that nailed him to the tree, to die in agony for all my sins. He saw my greatest need, and
he became my friend indeed, and through him I have been free
of all my sins." And he was laid in a tomb, and he rose again. And this is the gospel. It's
the gospel not of a work to be done, It's not the gospel of
a work to be added to. It's the gospel of a mission
accomplished, of a work fulfilled and a work finished, and the
gospel of a great Savior that has redeemed us. And that's what
they sing about in glory, unto him who loved us and washed us
from our sins in his own blood. That's what he did. And he's
not through now. He prays for us. He ever lives
to make intercession for us. And I tell you this, our gathering,
our solemn gathering, our worship, our prayers, has so much flesh
in it and sin that God would have to reject even that apart
from the prayers of our great high priest right now. Don't
ever feel lifted up. Don't ever feel that that anything
you've done, said, or given in reference to God has any appeal
to the living God. It doesn't, because our righteousness
is a filthy rag, but Christ washes them, makes them clean white
linen, and makes our prayers, oh, my, my, how could we be lifted
up in any way when these rotten minds and hearts of ours, how
can we feel good? Well, I tell you, he makes it
right. He prays for us. He prays for us. I can say, my
Father which art in heaven, because Jesus Christ is praying for me
right now, and God hears me. All right, why did he do these
things? Why did he, why, why all this? Number one, he did
it because he loved us. And that's so hard for us to
understand. We love them that love us. That's what we do. We love those who love us. We
give to those from whom we hope to receive something in return.
But God committed his love toward us in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us. Oh, love of God, how rich, how
pure, how measureless, measureless and strong. It shall forevermore
endure. Yeah, the saints and angels song,
but it endured the spitting and the cursing. It endured the humiliation. It endured the death and suffering
of the cross. It endured all my waywardness
and all my failure and all my indifference to this day. It
endures it all. Everlasting love, infinite love,
unexplainable love, greater love hath no man than this. He did
it because he loved us. And secondly, he did it to redeem
a people. He had to do it. It was necessary
that the captain of their salvation be made flesh and obey the law.
Necessary. God's law demanded it. God's
justice demanded it. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission. Without the obedience to the
law, there's no holiness. Almighty God's law demanded it.
He did it because we couldn't do it. That's why he did it. The disciples said, Well, who
then can be saved? He said, Nobody. With me, it's
impossible. But with God, all things are
possible. That's why he did it. And fourthly, he did it because
he was the only one who could. He was the only one who could. There's none other name under
that Brother Jeff Thornberry and I went up to. Sims Creek
Baptist? Is there a Sims Creek Baptist
up there in the country somewhere? I was going to preach a homecoming.
And we went up there for the homecoming, 1953-2. I had way
back yonder. I sang a song, and it starts
like this, and Jeff punched me. Back then, I was just learning.
He's helped me to learn. A lot of fellas helped me to
learn. And I got to where I could listen and I could hear that
middle C. And they started the song off,
and he punched me and said, I like this song, except there's, right
at the first of it, there's a problem. Listen to it. They said, once
I was straying in sin's dark valley, no hope within could
I seek. They searched through heaven
and found a Savior to save a poor sinner like me. He said, you
get it? I said, I got it. I got it. They searched through
heaven. Wonder who else applied for the job. I wonder who was
available. Wonder who was available. None
other than him. None other than him. He's the
only. He did it because there was no one else to do it. No
one else to do it. or the foundation can no man
lay. And let me tell you something, and get this now, Christ didn't
just become the only way, He was the only way forever. You
see, my friends, people who talk about God made a way somehow,
you ever heard that song? That's an abomination. God made
a way somehow, no, no, He's the only way. You've got two things
facing even God in the redemption of a sinner, and that's his holy
law, and that's his unchangeable justice. And those things must
be dealt with, and nobody can do it but him in the flesh. And that brings me to this. He
did these things to enable God to be just and to justify us. Turn to Psalm 85, verse 10. Psalm 85, verse 10. Listen to
this, Psalm 85, verse 10. It says here, and the sharp Bible
student will catch this immediately, Psalm 85, verse 10, mercy and
truth. Now, that's mercy and truth. That's opposites, aren't they?
Mercy and truth. The truth demands holiness. Mercy
forgives the guilty. Well, mercy and truth are met
together. How can that be? How can that
be? Look at the next line. Righteousness,
God's righteousness and holiness, unbending, unbending. There's
no mercy in the law. There's no mercy in holiness
and righteousness. Holiness doesn't say do the best
you can. Holiness says do perfectly. Holiness doesn't say, well, come
as far as you can and we'll tolerate. I beg your pardon? It's straight,
clean, razor's edge holiness. There's no leniency in holiness.
Well, holiness and peace have kissed each other. And you find
out where that took place and go there and fall there. And
you'll be safe. You know where that took place?
At Calvary. At Calvary. That's where mercy,
the mercy of God, that's where the mercy of God sent Jesus Christ
the Son to face the awful truth about us. That's right. And He satisfied truth. Truth
says, I've exacted all I require. That's where Almighty God's peace,
God would show mercy, God would be at peace. And that's where
he sent his son to face that awful, awful, pure, immaculate,
infinite holiness. And that holiness exacted all
it required. And they kissed each other. And
they became friends at Calvary. Now, in no other place, and my
friends, that is not And here's the thing, the gospel's called
a mystery and revealed by the Holy Spirit. And when I say that
the gospel's not being preached in most places and most preachers
who never deal with those things, they just tell a man, well, just
believe on Jesus. Well, every Tom, Dick, and Harry
I know believes on Jesus. He believes such a man lived,
how could he deny it? He believes such a man died,
how could he deny it? A calendar tells him that. The
history books tell him that. He believes he was buried and
he said he rose again. Well, the devil believes that.
But, oh, to comprehend. Turn to I John 5, 20. Listen
to this verse here. To comprehend with some understanding
who died, what did he do in all of his
redemptive character and And why did he do it? Now, watch
this, I John 5, 20. And we know, and we know, some of us know,
that the Son of God is come into this world and has given us an
understanding, an understanding that we may know him that is
true, and we're in him that is true, even in his Son, Jesus
Christ, or the Jesus the Christ. This is the true God, and this
is eternal life. Boy, let me tell you something.
If you're sitting out there tonight and you've got some understanding
of these great mysteries that I'm talking about, you better
jump about that high and click your heels. God revealed it to
you. If you can say with Peter, Christ
said, whom do you say I am? And he said, you are the Christ,
the Son of the living God. Boy, he said, blessed are you.
Blessed are you. Blessed are you. You didn't learn
that in school, Simon. Flesh and blood didn't teach
you that. You didn't learn that in the Christian daycare center. My Heavenly Father revealed that
to you. They don't know that out there.
They don't know that out there. They don't know that out there.
If they did, they'd talk differently. They'd sing differently. I heard
Jack Holcomb sing a while ago before I came over here, the
man that's dead now, sang that song there, an old account was
standing of sins yet unforgiven, my name was at the top and many
sinned below and I went to the keeper and I settled it long
ago. Hogwash. You went to the keeper. Yeah,
down on my knees. I'll tell you where my old account
was settled at Calvary. That's where my Lord took it
in his place and died. That's where it was settled.
He said it's finished. That's what I'm preaching. And
if you listen, they're not saying that. Most of them are not. They
ought to, but they're not. And last of all, where is he
now? Hebrews 1. Turn over there. Where is he
now? Let's see if God will have him, they said. Let's see if
God will have him. And that's what everybody's standing
around waiting. They took him down to Metcalfe.
Took him over here and put him in Joseph's tomb and rolled a
rock over the tomb. And the Roman government put
a seal over it. and stationed some armed guards
out in front of it, and the angels of God stood around, stood around. And the whole universe is waiting,
and the demons in hell, they're tuned to that channel. He's lying
in the grave. And he lay there for three days
or three nights. That's what it says in the Scripture.
We'll see if God will have him. It makes a lot of difference
if God will have him. About anybody could die. About anybody could
die, about anybody could say he's the Christ, about anybody
could say that he's the Son of God. Let's see if God will have
him. That's what they said. Let's see if God will have him.
Well, let's see. Hebrews 1 says, God, who at sundry times and
in diverse manners spake in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom he made the world. who
being the brightness of his glory and the exact image of his person,
upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by
himself, by himself purged, paid for, put away our sins, he sat
down on the right hand of the majesty on high. God owned him. And when God owned him, he owned
me. When God received him, he received me, and I could read
you dozens of scriptures regarding the resurrection of our Lord
and the ascension of our Lord and the fact that he was seated
at God's right hand, but that's all you need. Being the express
image of God, who upholdeth all things by the word of his power,
when he had by himself, he walked the winepress of God's wrath
alone. by himself purged them. There's no purgatory for the
believer. Christ purged. Purgatory is at Calvary. He purged
our sins. Purged them. Cleansed them. Put
them away. Settled their account. Long ago. And then he sat down. The priest
wasn't supposed to sit down. They didn't in the Old Testament
because they never did finish their work. But Christ finished
his and sat down. And he's waiting. Wait until
all his elect are brought in, brought to faith. He's coming
back. My reward's with him. That's
who he is. Our Father, we're awed and amazed. We don't have the words to express
the wonder of it all that you were pleased to open our eyes
and let us see these things that we see in your word concerning
Christ Jesus. And to hear you speak through
your word and to understand, comprehend to some degree We
have so much to learn. Lord, we would not be lifted
up with any amount of pride, deliver us from any thinking
that we stand or thinking that we know. We know nothing as we
ought to know it. We know in part, we preach in
part. We see through a glass dimly,
but Lord, we see Christ.