Now, if you will, let's look
back to the text, John 19, verse 30. John 19, 30. When Jesus, therefore, had received
the vinegar, he said, It is finished. It is finished. and he bowed
his head and gave up the ghost. Now someone has said that the
ancient Greeks prided themselves in being able to speak much in
few words. This is what they said. To give a sea an ocean of thought
and matter in only a drop of language Got that? It's important. The ancient Greeks
prided themselves in being able to speak much in few words. They'd say, give an ocean of
thought and matter in a drop of language. Now what they only
sought is here found. What they only sought is here
found. Our Lord prayed in John 17, I
have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished, I have finished
the work you gave me to do. What work was that? Here on this
cross, lifted up between heaven and earth, our Lord cried so
that it might be heard throughout heaven, all the earth, and even
the places under the earth. It is finished. But let me give you five brief
thoughts on this. These things I know to be true.
It may be too vast for me to speak of or you to comprehend,
but let's touch them if we can. This I know from the Word of
God. The Lord God from all eternity
And everything that God does in time, he decreed from eternity. I know that. He declared the
end from the beginning. And from ancient times, the things
that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, I will
do all my pleasure. The Lord God hath determined
to have from all eternity, yea, before the creation of the first
heaven and the first earth. He hath determined to have a
new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." Do you
doubt that? You can't doubt that. That's
true. God never learns anything. God
never forgets anything. Our Lord God hath planned and
purposed to have a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
righteousness, where everything blossoms like a rose, where there
is no bitterness but all sweetness. where there is no darkness but
all light, where there is no hate but all love, where there
is no evil but all righteousness, wherein dwelleth righteousness,
a new heaven, a vast new heaven, and a new earth. He said the
first heaven and the first earth will pass away, and there shall
be a new heaven and a new earth, no evil or potential evil, not
even an ill wind. Not even a bitter cold wind. Perfect. Perfect. Absolutely
perfect. Not a thought contrary to His
thought. Not a word contrary to His perfection. Righteousness. Righteousness. Holiness and righteousness. Almighty God hath determined
to have a new heaven and a new earth. That's so. Now that's
so. He's going to put away all evil.
Secondly, the Lord God hath determined to have that new heaven and that
new earth populated with a people. It's going to be populated with
a people. It's going to be populated by a people that'll number the
stars of the heavens and the sands of the seashore. That's
what the Word says. God said to Abraham, who's the
father of every believer, your seed, and that seed is Christ.
We read that this morning. He said, lift up your eyes and
look to the heavens. Can you number the stars? Do
you know how many stars there are? God said, so shall thy seed
be, even as the sands of the seashore. Do you know how many
grains of sand on the seashore? I said this morning, there'll
be more people in heaven than there will be in hell. I know
that's true. Our Lord shall have the victory.
More people will be praising His name than those who curse
His judgment and His righteousness. Can you imagine how many people
have died as infants and little children in this world? We had
a missionary come here and speak, and all infants go to be with
the Lord. I don't have any doubt about
that. I don't have any scripture to prove, but our Lord is a righteous
God. and a just God. And this Bible is written to
morally accountable, responsible human beings. David prayed this
prayer. I know this. When his little
son died, he said, he cannot come back to me, but I can go
to him. But Spurgeon once said this. He said that no evangelical
preacher that he has ever known or read after who knew anything
about the gospel ever said anything but that babies and infants went
to be with Christ. Never knew one. He was perhaps
the most well-read man in the history of the ministry. And
he said he never existed. Anybody who really knew the gospel
and preached the gospel of redeeming grace and was an evangelical
preacher ever preached anything but that infants, children, dying
in infancy, went to be with Christ. A dear lady came up to me Thursday
morning after I preached in Pine Bluff. Her husband was converted
in the last meeting I preached down in Lake Charles, Louisiana. He came every service, and the
pastor told me he came to knowledge of the gospel in that meeting.
A man about 60, 61, his wife, I imagine a little younger. She
came up to me after I'd preached and we finished having the meal.
She took my hand between her hands, and she said, I want to
thank you. I said, what for, Ms. Carmouch? She said, my son
was nine years old, and he drowned in a pond, I believe, behind
our home. And she said, since that time,
I've carried nothing but bitterness and blame. She said, I blame
my husband. I said, he should have been with
him. He should have watched him. should
have been with him, or he wouldn't have drowned, he wouldn't have
drowned. She said, I've carried that. And not long ago, I heard
your message on when I preached my son's funeral and why I preached
it. And she said, since I heard that
message and God blessed it to my understanding, all bitterness
and all blame and all resentment has gone, completely gone. She said, I'm totally happy in
the will of the Lord. And I no longer, after all these
years, have any bitterness, blame, or resentment." She said, that
happened to you, so you could help me. Well, if I can help
you, let me assure you this. My friends, David, when the child
was sick, he mourned and grieved. But when the child was dead,
he rejoiced and praised God. I said to the dear lady, I said,
well, I said, your son, as far as I'm concerned, as I see the
Word of God, is with Christ. I don't have not the slightest
glimmer of a doubt that young man's with Christ. Not even a
glimmer. If I had a glimmer, I'd tell
you. But I don't. There's some significance. I
don't believe there's any age of accountability. I think that's
been invented. You can search through the Bible
and you can't find any statement like that. But there's some significance
in the fact that God said to Moses, when they were crossing
the desert, going into the promised land, God said, not anybody who
was over 20 years of age when you left Egypt will enter the
promised land. Now, I'm not riding on that number, but I'm simply
saying, you see, when Israel came out of Egypt, and they rebelled
and rebelled and rebelled, and God said, you won't enter, but
those under 20 will enter. Now you can mull that around
all you want to, but I'm saying if I had a child who died in
infancy or early childhood, I'd just rejoice and praise God.
Just praise God. He's with the Lord. He has what
I want, He's where I want to be, and He's in the image and
glory of Him who's my Lord. And I just know a missionary
said to me one time from Africa, he said in Africa for years,
in the Sudan interior, Belgian Congo and these other places,
they don't even name children until they get to be about seven
years old. Don't waste names on them, Mike. There'd be families
with 12 children that have one living, or two living, or three
living. Multiply this by India, and China, and Japan, and all
the barbarian, pagan societies for the last 6,000 years. It's
only of late years, I mean in the late years, that we've conquered
smallpox. And these other terrible diseases,
childhood diseases, diphtheria, and polio, and smallpox, and
typhoid, and all these whooping cough, and all these things that
have plagued the earth for 6,000 years. And infants, and babies,
and children, and young people have passed away. I'm just saying
God's going to populate this earth. God's going to populate
the New Heaven. And God's going to have a people
as the stars of the sky and the sands of the sea shore. God's
going to have a people out of every tribe, kindred, nation,
and tongue under this sky. That's what he said, under heaven.
I know that. Thirdly, the Lord God has determined
to have an elect people, either elect infants or elect sheep
whom he's brought by his grace to receive Christ. But he's going
to have an elect people. He's going to have out of Adam's
fallen race. He's going to lift the beggar
from the dunghill. He's going to lift the beggar
from the dunghill and set him among princes. He's going to
have a people with clean hands and pure hearts. That's exactly
right. He's going to have a people with
a perfect holiness. He's going to have a people there
just like Christ. Just like Christ. Everybody in
glory. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things, God said, I make all things new. Did you know
that we're going to someday, everybody on the new heaven,
the new heaven, on the new earth, will never even have a thought
of sin? Never, not even a thought. Can
you imagine such a thing? I'll tell you it's hard for me
to imagine even sitting through a song service without a sinful
thought. It's hard for me to imagine going through a worship
service without a worldly, materialistic thought. Have you been here tonight?
Have you had any thought whatsoever contrary tonight to perfect holiness?
Shame on you. Shame on you. But can you imagine
going not just one service, but a day, a week, a month, a year,
a decade, a millennium, an eternity without one thought of sin? So that's the way it's going
to be. Without one, not one bitter word, not one, not a discouraging
like that song, and never is heard a discouraging word. Perfection. That's what it's
going to be. Now I may trip you up a little
here, but what I'm about to say is true. Just as true as everything
else I've said. Those people in this new earth
and this new heaven are going to be... John said, Behold what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us. What a fascinating,
amazing love that we, folks like us, should be called sons of
God. And it does not appear what we shall be. You don't have any
inkling of what we're going to be, compared to what we're going
to be. Now you say, Well, I have an
inkling. That's all it is. That's all it is. We talk about
this perfection, but oh, what perfection. We talk about this
love, but oh, what love. We talk about this righteousness,
but oh, what righteousness. All we can do is think about
it. Paul said he went to the third heaven and came back, and
he told us he saw a thing he couldn't even put in human language. Unlawful to utter. And brother,
what are we going to be? What are we going to be? We're
going to be just like Christ. just like Christ, and we shall
see him and be just like him, just like him. Now with me, we're
going to say amen to his love. We shall, now I know in part,
I prophesy in part, when that which is perfect is come, I shall
know even as I have been known, I'm going to love like Christ,
be holy like Christ, righteous like Christ, tender, kind, But
I'm going to be able to say, listen to me, I'm going to be
able to say amen to his judgments against sin. That's right. Now, this is what I'm going to
say. I'm going to take it to a real, a truthful extreme. But at the judgment, we're going
to be so like Christ. Now, this seems like an impossibility
right now, but it's going to be not only a possibility, but
dead certain. We're going to be at the judgment.
I don't believe believers are going to bypass the judgment.
I believe we're going to be there. And Almighty God, Christ is going
to be the judge. He has committed all judgment
to the Son. And he's going to turn to those
on his left and say, depart from me. Cast them, bind them, hand
and foot, and cast them into hell. Depart from me. And in
that group is going to be one of your sons, or daughters, or
grandchildren, or mine, not in that group. And we're going to
be so in love with Christ, and so like Christ, and so much conformed
to His image, when God casts that son at firstborn, or that
son or daughter, or husband or wife into hell, we're going to
say, praise the Lord. You say, that's too much for
me. It is now, but it won't be then. This is right, I'm telling
you the truth. Let me show you that in Revelation
19. You say, where do you get things like that? I get it out
of God's Word. I'm saying, my friends, now listen
to me, there shall not enter into his presence anything of
a disagreeable nature to his holiness. And if God in his holiness
and righteousness and truth can damn men then those who are on
his side can say amen to his judgments. They better, or they'll
have to leave with him. If you can't take sides with
God against sin, wherever that sin is found, even in yourself,
you haven't yet been converted. You're using God as a bellhop
or a valet, but you're not yet converted. You've got to say
amen. Look at verse 1 of Revelation
19, after these sayings I heard a great voice of much people
in heaven saying, hallelujah, hallelujah. Salvation and glory
and honor and power unto the Lord our God. For true and righteous
are his mercies. Huh? No, judgments, Charlie. True and righteous are his judgments. He hath judged the great whore.
That's the religious system. That's what that is. Can't be
anything else. That's all of the legalism, ritualism, fundamentalism,
ceremonialism, and all the other isms, which did corrupt the earth
with her fornication. And he hath avenged the blood
of his servants at her hand. Every servant of God that's ever
been persecuted by this religious system, every true preacher of
God's gospel who's ever been put to death, mocked, or persecuted
by this great religious system, God's going to avenge him. God's
going to avenge every one of them. Not your battle, it's his. Just preach his word, he'll fight
the battle. He may wait until the judgment
to do it, but he'll wind it up. Paul said, Alexander the coppersmith
has done me much evil. God reward him. God will. And
when God does that, again they say, verse 3, again they say,
who is this? This is those much people in
heaven who said hallelujah. Salvation and honor and glory
belong to our Lord, true and righteous are His judgment. When
He judged this great religious system and cast them into hell,
they again said, Hallelujah! And her smoke rose up forever,
and they said, Hallelujah! See what I'm saying? We're going
to be so like Christ. He said, He that is not with
me is against me. He that gathers not scattereth. And His name
is above every name. His throne is above every throne.
His love is above every love. His judgment is righteous and
holy and above every judgment. His word is above every word.
And we bow to Him, submit to Him, not in body but in soul,
heart, thought, and mind. I can't now. There's no way beyond
perfectly honest with you, be totally honest with you. I don't
believe. I don't believe. that I could
say hallelujah while God sent anybody to hell. I don't believe
I can right now. That's being totally honest.
I don't believe I can. I believe in the satisfaction of the law.
Somebody asked me one time, said, you were in the service when
they dropped that atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. What a horrible thing. Looks
like those men would have lost their mind. Not me. I'd have
dropped it personally. Because the law must be upheld. violators of truth and justice
and righteousness must be punished. It brought us home, Cecil, didn't
it? It ended the war. It saved millions of lives, didn't
it? I'd have dropped it and I would
drop it now in the same situation. You say, could you act as a judge
and sentence a man to death? Oh, yes, sir. Yes, sir. That's
righteousness. Don't want to, but it can do
it. Could you actually pull the lever and send some rapist or
murderer out into eternity? Oh, yes, sir. Yes, sir. That's righteousness. God's love.
Let me tell you this. I know there are a lot of sentimentalists
and emotionalists and religionists, namby-pamby, pussyfoot and preachers,
is what they are, and religionists, who say, oh, live and let live.
Let me tell you something. Almighty God's love and righteousness
and truth, but he's justice and holiness and wrath. And you remember
that. And those who know him are like
him. And God is angry with the wicked. God will punish sin. God will judge sin. He's not
a granddaddy sitting up there in heaven who's overlooking everything
that goes on with his tongue and his cheek. He's a righteous
God, and He deals in mercy on the basis of a sacrifice, and
a sin offering, and satisfaction through His Son. Now, God will
punish sin. If you want to find out God will
punish sin, you go to the cross. Somebody says, where was God
when my son died? Right where He was when His son
died, on a throne. A throne of justice and a throne
of righteousness and a throne of truth. And if you can't get
in harmony with God's righteousness and God's truth and God's justice,
I'd say you better try to get in harmony pretty soon. That's
just right. Absolutely right. And God's going
to have a new heaven and a new earth. wherein dwelleth righteousness,
nothing that worketh or maketh a lie, nothing that's bitter
or offensive, nothing contrary to his absolute, perfect, indescribable,
infinite, immutable holiness. And yet that population of people
is going to be made up of every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue
unto heaven, and they're all going to be just like Christ,
and they're all going to be just like Christ in His love and in
His justice. in his justice. It's going to
be a great transformation. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, we shall be, this corruptible will put on incorruption. This mortal will put on immortality. This weak shall be put on his
glory and his strength. This shame and humiliation will
be made into the likeness and image of God himself. Christ
is God. Well, my friends, all of this
work that God's going to do and is doing and has done, He has
put in the hands of one man. Did you know that? All of it. Think of the vastness of this
work. Think of the infinite scope of this work. A totally new heaven,
new earth. A kingdom and a race of redeemed,
regenerated. recreated people, all just like
God, evil, evil, satisfied and conquered and put away, evil
dealt with in truth and justice, God's law honored, God's justice
satisfied. Almighty God accepts into His
bosom of compassion and love a people that were once His worst
enemies. He's put this new creation, He's
put this this harmony of the law, honoring of the law, he's
put this satisfaction of justice, he's put this expression of his
righteousness and the expression of his love in the hands of one
man, one man. And in that man dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead All of God's plans, purposes,
everything that God's decreed, everything that God's designed
in eternity past for eternity future has been taken together
and put in the hands of one man. And that man has been given the
commission, he has been given the mission and the task to do
it. Do it. You know who that is? That's Christ. And it says in
Isaiah 53, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand. That's what I said to you some
time ago. You see this Old Testament of
39 books. I'll tell you basically what
it's all about. It's about someone's coming.
That's right, you take all of the kingdoms and plans and creations
and falls and restorations and all these things that the vast
mysterious things that God has purposed and planned and almighty
God has designed comes down to this, that God's put into the
hands of one man and he's coming. He's coming to this earth. He'll
be a prophet like Moses and a king like David and a priest like
Melchizedek, but he's coming to this earth. And Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John, they declare, and the summary of their message
is, that One whom David said and Moses said and Isaiah said
was coming, has come! He has come! And when He finished
His work on this earth, He cried, It's finished! It's finished! And I'll tell you every prophecy
Every promise, every picture, every design, every decree, every
purpose is already fulfilled. Every sin dead is paid. Every
sin of every elect is forgiven. Every enemy is defeated. The
holy law of God has been once and for all honored. The holy
justice of God satisfied. Hell is defeated. Heaven is assured. And it's just waiting His coming
to take it over. You believe that? I do. That's
what teaches. It's done. When he stood in that
garden, he said, I have finished the work you gave me to do. Let
me ask you this. In relation to God and redemption,
the recreation, the restoration, the inhabitation of this earth
and heaven, is there any work that's not in the hands of Christ?
Has he got a competitor? Come on now, has he? Do we make
any contribution? Uh-uh. We just receive it. Do
the angels make any contribution? They're just ministering servants
to the heirs of salvation. Does any creature? No! God put
it in the hands of Christ, and he said, I finished it! And when
he died at the death on the cross, he screamed so that it might
be heard everywhere, and gave up the ghost. He said, get it! is finished." And our Father said, come up
here and sit down, and I'll make you in Him as your footstool.
No man sits down who hasn't finished his work. A man that sits down
that's still got work to do is lazy. A man that sits down that's
still got work to do has given up. A man who sits down who still
has work to do is a man that's failed on his job. But our Lord
Jesus Christ sat down. Come up, he said, come up and
sit down. The Lord said to my Lord, sit
thou at my right hand. I'm just waiting to make all
your enemies your footstool. And all his people are going
to say hallelujah, whoever that enemy is. That one man, God has
all these purposes and plans, he's put in the hands of one
man. And Isaiah said, the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his hand. But let me tell you something. That man came into
this world in the fullness of time. He came into this world,
that man. And this is what baffles the
religionists. This is what's foolishness to
the natural man. He doesn't understand. He tries
to apply his human logic to God, and it can't be, it won't work.
He tries to bring God down to the understanding of his natural
wisdom, and it won't work. But here God has decreed all
of these things that shall come to pass. All of these things
that I've mentioned. And he puts it in the hands of
one man. And then, and then, He sends that man down here to
the earth to be born from the womb of a teenage Jewish maiden
without a physician in attendance, probably some midwife. That little
tender life. Now listen, all that God's done
and is doing and going to do is riding on the birth of this
baby. And he doesn't have him in intensive
care somewhere or a palace with the best surgeon available. He
has him in a cow stall. Now you think about that. Surrounded
by a bunch of sheep and ox and goats and cows and shepherds. And she brought forth her firstborn
son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a haystack." Things are getting close, Lord. Look at all that's got to be
done. But wait a minute. He's got to be born of a virgin
that he not partake of the sin of Adam. He's got to be born
in a manger. to be identified with the lowest-born
person on this earth. You see, my Savior has got to
be identified with me. I can't be below Him. He's got
to be right down here, numbered with the transgressors, identified
in all points, tested in all points of His will. He's got
to be born low. He's got to be born despised
and rejected, a root out of dry ground, a little tender plant.
All of the tree of God's kingdom, the kingdom of God is like a
great tree. But brother, it started as a little old tender plant,
a root out of dry ground. He's born in poverty and obscurity,
and then he was despised and rejected. Now listen to me. When
he walked on this earth, he did not have the influence or the
aid or the assistance or the help in his redemptive work of
any government agency, of any religious organization, or any
common people. He does it alone. This work of
redemption, our Lord must not have any hand lifting Him or
any arm supporting Him. He even carried His own cross. He had to be despised and rejected. He had to be deserted and denied. He had to stand, the Scripture
said, to walk the winepress of God's wrath alone, without the
aid or influence or help or assistance from any direction. And even
as he hung between heaven and earth, now watch it, God's put
it all on him. There's no help, no assistance,
no influence. He is every one of his elect
in person. He's our federal head and our
representative. He's me, you, every believer
hanging on that cross. And that law has to be honored,
that justice has to be satisfied fully, completely by that person
alone. He can't have any help or assistance. And as he hung there, only his
father with him, suddenly he cries, My God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Now, he's totally alone. Totally
alone. So nobody's ever been that alone. Nobody's ever been born that
low or died that alone. But I'm telling you, Almighty
God, has put this redemptive work, this restoration, this
new creation, every purpose and plan, he has put all his eggs
in one basket! And our Lord's that basket is
not even a spilling over into the hands of any human being
or angel or seraphim or cherubim or creature in heaven, earth,
or hell. Our Lord walked it alone. God committed it to him, and
he engaged the forces of hell under the most trying circumstances.
Satan came to Adam and Eve in the garden when they were refreshed,
they were holy, Adam was a genius, he named all animals, he was
a king, a prince, a strong man in the image of God, and Satan
flipped him over like a fly. flicked him like a flower. But
Satan came to our Lord Jesus, the man in whom God had put everything. Now watch this. You talk about
when that trail of blood, and I ain't talking about that silly
book people teach. I'm talking about that trail
of blood from Eden's garden to the cross of Calvary that portrays
our Lord Jesus Christ, that trail of redemption, that Christ our
Lord. When our Lord Jesus Christ came, you talk about that infant
in the manger. Now, wait a minute. Here's the
kingdom of God, the purpose of God, the plan of God, the design
of God, the redemption, all on one man, and he's been out there
on a mountain fasting for 40 days. You know what Scripture
said? Forty days. He's weak, he's tired, he's fasting. This is the King of glory in
human flesh, in flesh's most weakened condition. Our Lord
Jesus Christ faced this law and faced God's holiness and righteousness
for us, tempted to the lowest point any man can be tempted,
at the weakest time. And Satan didn't send a little
demon like he sends both you and me. He didn't send a messenger. He came in person. That's what
it says. And Satan tried him. And he said,
if you're the Son of God, make these stones into bread. You're
hungry. All you got to do to eat is show off a little bit. Oh, I tell you, well, you talk
about hanging. You know, you go to talking about
coming down the aisle and shaking the priest. I know I'm saved
because I had an experience. Brother, I'm watching him on
that Mount of Temptation. That's my salvation going on
right there. Right there. This thing of salvation is a
whole lot bigger than a handshake. It's a conflict between heaven
and hell, and you never fought one battle. Our Lord fought every
one of them. He met every thrust of Satan. He met every temptation of Satan. He did it for me in my place,
in my stead, and he sent him off back to hell. He said he
came, he came, Satan came, and found nothing in me, nothing. And that's me he's talking about.
I'm he. He and I are one. Our Lord engaged
the perfect love of God, and every jot and tittle finally
hated, rejected, despised, sold out, all alone. He was nailed
to the cross, and when that darkness had passed and that work was
all done, and every debt was paid, and every law honored,
and every speck of justice satisfied when it was all over, He bled
out his life and gave himself. He cried, it's finished! Brother, it's finished. That's
what I'm preaching. That's so, it's finished. Turn
to Hebrews chapter 10 verse 14. It's finished. It's finished. Everything God's
designed and purposed and planned. and decreed and given into the
hands of Christ. Our Lord, in the lowest time,
in the most terrible conflict, in the most soul-searching agony,
our Lord fulfilled all that holiness and righteousness and justice
and truth and law can demand or command of any son of God. He fulfilled Hebrews 10 and 14, by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Now let
me ask three questions. Why is all this necessary? Why
is all this necessary? You go through this preacher
and you talk about God's character and attributes and law and righteousness
and justice and holiness and Christ must come and he must
die and he must suffer and he must obey the law, he must. Listen
to me. This is so important. What I'm
going to say here, if you'll get a hold of this, it'll help
you with a lot of things. All of this, from his birth to
his resurrection to his ascension to his seating, his exaltation
at the right hand of God, is necessary to the Father. It's
necessary to the Father. I do not mean that God's under
any necessity to redeem anybody. I don't mean that God has anything
lacking in his character, in his attributes, in his glory. Nothing lacking. We add nothing
to him. But I'm saying this, and our
redemption is an act of free grace. But once, listen, but
once God determined to save fallen men, It became necessary. It then became necessary. Whenever
that was, it became necessary for the holiness of His law and
the immutability of the justice of God to be honored and satisfied.
That's when it became necessary. You see what I'm saying? It's
not necessary that God save us. It's not necessary that God redeem
us. There's nothing necessary to
be added to God's perfect holiness. Once God, in His true character
and righteousness, determined to do business with a sinner,
it became necessary that that law be honored, that justice
be satisfied. Now, I'm going to tell you something
a preacher said on television this morning. I want you to listen
to this. This is what the world believed. Now, you won't hardly
believe this, but this is what he said. Some of you may have
heard it. He spoke preaching on the blasphemy,
sin against the Holy Ghost. He said God made man because
God needed somebody to fellowship with. God had a need. Man fulfilled
that need. Fellowship. Man turned his back
on God. So God began to think of some
way he could get man back, get his fellowship back. So he sent
his prophets, and they rejected his prophets. And God said, well,
I'll send my law. And he sent this book. Preacher
held up this book. And man rejected the law, rejected
the book. Still wouldn't have anything
to do with God. God said, well, I know what I'll do. I'll send
my son. Surely they'll honor my son. So he sent his son in
an attempt to win back rebellious men. And rebellious man crucified
his son. Isn't that what he said? Crucified
his son. And God said, well, I'll try one more thing to win
back my rebellious I'll send the Holy Spirit." Now,
the Holy Spirit, he says, is not the greatest, but he's the
latest. And he said, this is what makes
the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit so terrible, is your rejecting
God's last offer. Now, my friends, and let me warn you, if you don't
see anything wrong with that mess, you're in trouble. But
the first trouble is, you don't even know who God is. The second
trouble is, you don't even know what happened in the fall. The
third trouble is, you have God vacillating, retreating, changing
his mind, trying things. God doesn't try anything. The
Lord God, Christ is the Lamb slain before the foundation of
the world. And you see, the law And the
prophets were sent to reveal Christ. They didn't come to try
to win people over. Even the Holy Spirit, Christ
said, has come to glorify me. He'll not speak of himself. He'll
take the things of mine and show them to you. And this is no boy preaching.
This is a man old as I am. And these are the voices we're
listening to. But what I'm saying is what Joe Preachd on Wednesday
night when he said, how can man be just with God? Only in Christ. And that's been God's way all
the time. That was God's way before the
world was made. He decreed to redeem a people,
to populate heaven, and he put it in the hands of Christ because
it was necessary for his righteousness and justice to be honored. All
right, the second question. How did he do it? He did it willingly. Christ did this willingly. He
said, no man takes my life from me, I'll lay it down. He did
it obediently. He said, I was obedient. He did
it diligently from the cradle to the tomb. Our Lord was so
diligent in the work of redemption, He even forgot to eat. He even
forgot to eat. And He did it completely. What
God required, what the law commanded, what justice demanded, what the
sheep needed, He said, it's finished. Now, in closing, let me ask one
question. What evidence do we have that
this work is finished? Well, I'll tell you, the first
one is this, his resurrection, when God raised him from the
dead. You read that in Acts 13, 32 and 33. Secondly, is his ascension. If he had not finished all that
the Father put in his hands, he'd still be here working. He
finished it, and when he finished it, the Lord said, come up here,
the heavenly Father. And another thing is he seated
him at his right hand. And another assurance we have
is his word. And another assurance we have,
turn to Revelation 5, is the song of the redeemed. He said
in Revelation 5, verse 9, listen to this. Revelation 5, verse
9, And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take
the book, and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain,
and hast redeemed us to God. Thou hast redeemed us by thy
blood out of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation, and hast
made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on
the earth. And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels
round about the throne. And the beast and the elders
and the number of them are 10,000 times 10,000 and 1,000 and 1,000
cranes singing with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb, worthy is
the Lamb. The Father won't permit that
if the Lamb's not worthy. But that's the song of the redeemed.