It says here that our Lord took
Peter, John, and James with him to a mountaintop to pray. Now evidently the Lord had prayed
for a long time because the disciples fell asleep. And while they slept,
the Lord's face was lit lit up with the glory of God. In fact,
it says here in verse 29, and as he prayed, the fashion of
his countenance was altered. Even his clothing became white
and glistened with the glory of God. And then it says in verse
30, two men, behold, there talked with him two men, Moses and Elijah. Now I have to pause here just
a moment in proceeding with this message, as we read the scripture,
there are so many things implied that are not actually pointed
out in a particular place. When you see this, here the Lord
is on a mountain praying, and the glory of God overshadowed
him, his inner glory came out. His countenance was altered,
even his clothes were white and shining. And suddenly two men,
Moses and Elijah, what's the first thing you think of? Well,
I thought of this. These men had been dead. Well,
Moses had been dead for centuries, centuries. Elijah, of course,
didn't die. He was taken to heaven in a chariot
of fire. But here were two men, long since
dead, but here they are now appearing with Christ, talking to Him.
So, this is true. Those who are dead are still
alive. You see that? Here's Moses. The
Scripture just says Moses and Elijah appeared. Well, Moses
has been dead a long time. But yet Moses still lived. Another
thing I noticed, it called them by their names, Bob, Moses and
Elijah. It didn't say two saints or two
disembodied spirits or two folks that used to live on the earth.
It says Moses and Elijah. People ask me, will we know each
other in heaven? Who is that? That's Moses. Who
was he? Moses. Who is he now? Moses. Who is this? That's Elijah. Who
was he? He was Elijah. Who is he now?
He's Elijah. Who will he always be? Elijah.
So we retain our personalities, we go by our own names, of course
we'll know each other in glory. Another thing about these two
men, what did they represent? Moses represents the law. The
law came by Moses, the law of God, the word of God. Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Elijah was a prophet. He represents
the prophets. When the rich man in hell cried
for father Abraham to send Lazarus back to the earth to warn his
brothers that they come not to this awful place, Abraham said,
what did he say? They have Moses and the prophets. They have the law and the prophets.
If they hear not the law and the prophets, neither will they
be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. So these two men,
here's Moses and Elijah, And they're appearing, talking with
the Lord Jesus Christ. Indicating that those who are
dead in Christ still live. That they retain their personalities,
that they retain their individuality, that they retain their names,
that they're known by those names that they were known by on this
earth. And they're the Law and the Prophets. Now what was the
Law and the Prophets talking to Christ about? Well, let's
look and see. It said in verse 31 that Moses and Elijah appeared
with Him and spake, what did they speak of? Moses spake to
Christ on this eventful moment about the same thing that Moses
believed and preached and rested in when he was on this earth,
the death of Christ. I hear folks all the time talking about, well,
the folks in the Old Testament were saved by keeping the law,
they were saved by observing the ceremonies, they were saved
by the ordinances, Tommy Roth. They were saved by looking to
Christ. They were saved by believing in Christ. This is the very thing
that those old Jews said to Christ. They said, we have Moses. And
Christ said, if you'd have believed Moses, you'd have believed me.
Moses wrote of me. They say, well, Abraham's our
father. He said, if you'd have believed Abraham and if you were
Abraham's children, you'd love me, because Abraham rejoiced
to see my day. He saw it and was glad. And when
Moses and Elijah were permitted by the Father to come down here
on this earth and appear on this Mount of Transfiguration and
talk personally to the Lord Jesus Christ while He was here on this
earth to talk personally with Him about the most important
matter in the whole universe, what did they choose to talk
about? The cross. You see what I'm saying? And
that's what our Lord says. If you want to take the time
to turn to Luke 24, this is what our Lord is saying in Luke 24
to His Apostle. And it's the thing that needs
to be stressed over and over and over again. The message of
the Bible, whether it be the Old Testament or New, whether
it be Genesis or Revelation, whether it be Psalms or the Book
of John, is Christ and His sacrifice, His substitutionary work, and
His death. In Luke 24, beginning with verse 27, and beginning
at Moses, and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all
the scriptures the things concerning himself. In verse 44, he said
to them, These are the words which I spake unto you while
I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which
are written in the law of Moses, in the prophets, in the Psalms
concerning me. Then opened he their understanding,
that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them,
Thus it is written, and thus it behoove Christ to suffer,
to rise from the dead the third day, that repentance and remission
of sin should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning
at Jerusalem." So here's Moses, the law. Here's Elijah, the prophets. Here's the Messiah, and they're
talking. And they're talking about the
cross, the death of the Son of God, the sinner. All right, let's
look at the next verse. Here's where I wanted to go in
verse 32. But Peter and they that were
with him were heavy with sleep. Here's the Lord. Now get the
picture. His inner glory. such as the
earth has never seen, manifested on this mountain. His countenance
was altered. Even his clothes were white and
glistening with beauty and holiness and the glory of God. And Moses
and Elijah and the disciples were sleeping through all this.
It was there, but they didn't see it, they were asleep. And
it says here, when they were awake, they saw his glory and
the two men with him. Now, it does not say that they
saw his glory and the glory of Moses and the glory of Elijah. Great is Moses, but compared
to Christ, he has no glory. Great is Elijah, but compared
with Christ, he has no glory. And when the disciples were awakened
out of this sleep, the thing that they saw was the glory of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me see if I can illustrate
that. We go down into Mexico in the Yucatan almost every year
to visit with the missionaries and go out in the services. And
one of the things that is most impressive to me when I go down
there is when we go out to these services way out in the Pueblo,
way away from town and from pollution and from people and from everything,
and you're out there in the little Pueblo, and after the service
is over, it's deep dark night. And you walk out of that little
straw hut where you've been having preaching services and walk down
a dirt road and look up in the sky. And that's the most beautiful
sky you've ever seen. You say, what is it? It's millions
and billions of stars. You never see them here. There's
such a haze and such a covering of pollution. over this country
that you don't see. In the Yucatan it's clear as
crystal and you can see, it just seems like you can see for millions
of miles and millions of stars. They're just everywhere. And
if it's a night when the moon is shining, it's over there and
all those stars. And they just seem so set and
so permanent and so important and so vital and so beautiful
and you're just taken up with them. But the next morning, you
get up and have your coffee and walk out, and there's that brilliant,
bright, burning Mexican sun. And you look around in vain for
your stars. Where are they? Where's that
moon? They're still there. They're
still there. The stars are still there. If
you were to stand in the self-same spot at night and look up, there
are those stars. Stand right there in the morning
and look up, and that sun's out, and there's not a star to be
seen. Nowhere. The glory of the sun. In the
glory of the sun, those stars are there, but they lose, they
just fade. They lose their significance.
They lose their importance. And what I'm saying is this.
That when we're awake to the glory of Christ, like these disciples,
they woke out of their sleep and they saw the glory of Christ.
And in the light of His glory, Moses was still there and Elijah
was still there, but they just didn't count or something. They
just weren't all that important. You say, what are you getting
at, preacher? I'm getting at this. If you and I can ever be brought
by the Spirit of God to see the glory of Jesus Christ, and that's
what I want to talk about this morning. If we can be brought
to see the glory of Christ. Now, our jobs, I know your jobs
are important, too. You know, your business is important.
You'd be foolish and neglected. I know your family's important.
I know your husband, wife, and children, and grandchildren,
all of these things. And all of these, and your young
people, the education. And there's a time in life when
these things are almost everything. You're just struggling to get
it. You give yourself to your job,
and to some people they still are everything. It's just like
those stars standing out there on that moonlit night. They so
just look like that's all there is in the world, those stars
and that moon. But the next day, automatically, now those things
are still there. They didn't go anywhere, they're
still there. But that Son has come out in such brilliance and
such glory that you don't even see those thoughts. And this
is what I'm saying about life. And this is something that you
can't teach a person, this is something you can't impart to
a person. It's something you can't impart to your closest
loved one or closest friend. It has to be God-given and God-revealed. But when Christ becomes revealed
to a man's heart by the Spirit of God. He becomes everything. And while that job is still there,
it's like a disappearing star. And while that business, while
that family, while that loved one, while those children, they're
still there, and they have their place, like the stars have their
place. But in comparison with His glory, you don't even see
it. Now some illustrations of that
throughout the scripture. Hagar, you remember when Hagar
was left, Abraham put Hagar and Ishmael out. And they were journeying
in the wilderness, and they ran out of water. And Hagar put her
boy over there under the tree, and she's just going to let him
die. She didn't want to watch him die, so she turned her back.
And he was lying over there on the sand, under the tree, and
dying of thirst. And she turned her back, and
the Lord spake to her. And he said, Hagar, Hagar. And she said, Thou God seest
me. He said, Open your eyes, Hagar. And he says, The Lord
opened her eyes, and there was a well of water. It was there
all the time, but she hadn't seen it. And he said, Drink. And the same thing is over there
in 2 Kings 6.16, the prophet Elijah, Elisha it was, was being
pursued by the king of Syria, and he was going to destroy him.
And Elisha was in this certain city, and the king of Syria just
encircled that city with men and horses and chariots. And
the servant of Elisha came running in, wringing his hands. He said,
Master, he said, there are thousands of enemy soldiers out there.
Come out here. And he took him out. He said,
look, they're all around us. Look all around us. And Elisha
calmly lifted his voice to heaven and said, Oh God, open the eyes
of this young man and let him see, let him see, that they that
are for us far outnumber those who are against us. And it says,
the young man's eyes were opened and he saw the heavenly host,
the host of God. And there were so many more than
these enemies. And what I'm saying is the glory
of Christ is here. Turn to 2 Corinthians. Let me
show you something. It's here, 2 Corinthians 4. The
glory of Christ cannot be obscured because man is blind. But it's
hid to that man who is blind. It's there. It's like Hagar's
well. It's like the heavenly host to this young servant. In
2 Corinthians 4, verse 3, it says, If our gospel be hid, And
our gospel's Christ, it's the glory of Christ, it's the person
of Christ, it's the work of Christ. If that be hid, it's hid to them
that are lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the
minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glory,
of the glorious gospel of Christ, whose image of God should shine
unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the
Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God who
commanded the light, to shine out of darkness, hath shined
in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Christ Jesus." These disciples were
asleep, unconscious of what was going on around them, just lying
there asleep, and the very glory of God was in their presence. The very glory of God, the glory
of the law of God, which pointed to Christ, the glory of the prophets
of God, which talked of Christ, the glory of Christ himself.
And there they slept. So concerned about their bodies
and their food and raiment and their rest and all these things.
So taken up with those things. Lying there. Doesn't that remind
you of us just snoring, snoozing away their lives while the glory
of God. But they awoke. It says here,
and when they were awake, they saw His glory. And when they
were awake. I'm going to point out seven
things here that God, I believe, gave me in reference to this
very thing. You may think I'm making a play
on words, but I don't think I am at all. When they were awake,
they saw His glory. His glory. His glory. And here are seven things. If
you want to jot them down, I'd be happy for you to. I think
they're very important. I'm going to say this first of
all. When we are awakened by the Spirit of God, Now, here's
the thing about our being awakened does not make something so. It's
already so. We're just sleeping. We're just
oblivious to it. We're just dead to it. It's there. God's glory is there. God's purpose,
God's glory, God's eternal redemption, God's redeemer, it's all there. But we, like the disciples, are
sleeping, snoozing, slumbering. But if we're ever awakened, first
of all, to what happened in the garden, If we ever are awakened
to what happened in the garden, we'll see the glory of his grace. The glory of his grace. If we
ever wake up to what happened in the garden. Now, what did
happen in the garden? Well, let me tell you this. We
went over it in our Sunday School lesson this morning. There were
two races that failed. There were the angels who failed. Somebody said a third of the
heavenly host, led by Lucifer. In Isaiah, it tells us, Isaiah
14, how they said, we'll be like God. We'll ascend above the stars
of God. We'll put our throne above the
throne of God. We'll be like God. And they failed. And God's wrath was turned against
the angels, the fallen angels, and he reserved them in chains,
everlasting chains in darkness until the day of judgment. Well, Adam fell, too. Man fell. And this was man's sin. He said,
I'll be like God. Isn't that what the question
was put to him? God said, you shall not eat of
the tree. God has said, we shall not eat of the tree of knowledge
of good and evil. But God does know when you eat it, you'll
be like God. You'll be like God. And with this in mind, our parents
ate that fruit. And we rebelled against God. We sinned against God. The sin
of man is the same sin that the angels committed, and for which
they reserved an everlasting chains in darkness unto the day
of judgment. Our fall, our fall was a rebellion
against God. Our fall was an attempt to dethrone
God Almighty. Man didn't just steal a watermelon. That wasn't the issue. Man didn't
just tell a little white lie. Man
sought to take God off his throne, just like the angels. That was
man's fault. And the scripture says that he
did not take on himself the nature of angels, but the seed of Abraham.
David said, what is man that art mindful of him? If you're
not pleased to save the angels, why are you pleased to save me?
And I'll tell you, if we ever get any kind of understanding
or comprehension of the depth of that fall, of the wickedness
of that fall, of what is encompassed in that fall of man declaring
war on heaven, man seeking to dethrone God, we'll just be overwhelmed
with the glory of His grace. All right? Secondly, if we ever
awaken to our total inability Inability. We'll see the glory
of His election. Now, I know there are a lot of
folks who despise the doctrine of election. Turn with me to
Romans chapter 9. Now, first thing I'm going to
say is this, election is a Bible doctrine. There's no question
about it. If you deny election, you're
going to have to deny the Scripture. The election is a Bible doctrine.
The Bible talks about the elect. The Bible talks about those whom
God hath elected in Christ. It talks about the angels that
gather his elect. It talks about the Antichrist
shall come, and if it were possible, they would deceive the elect.
That's a Bible doctrine. Here in Romans chapter 9, listen
to this. Romans 9, verse 11, "...the children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God, according to election, might stand. Not of
works, but of him that calleth. It was said unto her, The elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob hath
a love, but Esau hath a head." Now turn to Romans 11. Here the
prophet Elisha. He's saying to God in Romans
11, 3, Lord, they've killed your prophets and digged down your
altars. I'm the only one left and they're seeking my life.
What was God's answer? What was the answer of God to
him? I have reserved to myself 7,000
men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so
then, at this present time also, there's a remnant according to
the election of grace. Now, brethren, the election's
a Bible doctrine. But here's the issue. The issue
is this, what is the basis of election? Why did God elect me? Why did
He elect you? Was it based on our merit? Was
it based on our works? Was it based on our goodness?
Certainly not. God elected us according to the good pleasure
of His own will. And I'll tell you, if we ever
come to see our total inability and our corruption, we'll see
what makes God's sovereign election necessary. If God had not chosen us, we'd
have never chosen Him. If God had not determined to
save us, we would never have been saved. Herein is love, not
that we love God, He loved us. You will not come to me, Christ
said. Men love darkness rather than light. The natural mind
is enmity. The songwriters said to His,
not that I did choose thee, For, Lord, that could not be. This
heart of mine would still refuse Thee, if Thou hast not chosen
me." Now, when we awaken to what happened in the garden, we'll
see the glory of His grace. The glory of His grace. When
we awaken to our depravity, our inability, our natural minds
are enemies against God. We will not come to God. We'll
see the glory of His election. Now, thirdly, When we're awakened
to the corruption, to an understanding of the corruption, the limitations,
and the weakness, and the condition of human flesh, we'll see the
glory of His incarnation. Turn with me to John chapter
1. The glory of His incarnation. I never will forget one time
hearing a preacher preach from this passage of Scripture, and
he just He just, for a long time, just kept repeating this text
in John 1, 14, and the Word was made flesh. Flesh. You know who the Word is? In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. And all things were made by Him.
Without Him was not anything made that was made. And that
Word, very God of very God, became F-L-E-S-H, flesh. The Word was
made flesh. This is the most extraordinary
fact that's ever been declared in human language. God became
a man. God Almighty took on Himself
the likeness of sinful flesh. He who made woman was made of
a woman. That's astounding. He was in
the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world didn't
know Him. He who made the rivers cried, I thirst. He who planted
the fruit tree hungered. He whose life became subject
to death, he whose holiness was tempted in the flesh, my flesh,
my bones, my blood, he bore even my sins. When we're awakened to the corruption,
depravity, the weakness, the limitations of this flesh, we'll
be awakened to the glory of his incarnation, Christ became a
man. Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh. He actually was born
of a mother. The Son of God, the Lord of Glory,
was held in a mother's arms and received his nourishment from
her breast and was cared for like a weak, tender plant. And
then he stood in the carpentry shop as a little boy and worked
beside his foster father, Joseph. And then he walked this earth
and was subject to all the temptations and trials of the flesh to which
I'm subject. He hungered, he thirsted, he,
a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. He wept. He got dirty. He had to bathe. Oh, the God
of glory became a man. Now, the fourth thing, when we're
awakened, and I'm proceeding with this step by step, when
we're awakened to what happened back there in the fall, we'll
see the glory of his grace. His purpose in grace to Adam's
race. When we're awakened to that,
when we're awakened to our inability, our total spiritual inability,
we'll see the glory of His election. When we're awakened to the corruption
of this flesh, we'll see the glory of His incarnation. Now
watch this. When we're awakened fourthly to the holiness of His
divine law, we'll see the glory of His obedience. Christ as a
human being was born under the law. Turn to Galatians 5. Let
me show you this. Galatians chapter 5, or chapter
4, verse 4 and 5. Galatians 4, 4 and 5. Now listen
to this. Galatians 4, 4 and 5. When the
fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son made of a
woman, made under the law. to redeem them that were under
the law, that we might receive the adoption of son." Now, back
here in Galatians 5, verse 21, tell me, Galatians 5, you that
desire to be under the law, do you hear the law? In other words,
do you hear what the law says? The law that's binding on all
flesh. Now, it's binding on flesh. Christ
became flesh. But the law of God does not demand
that you live the best you can. Did you know that? Rather, the
law of God demands that you live the best that God can live. Now
watch this. The law of God does not command
you just to love God. It commands you to love God with
all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. The law of God does
not require that you love your neighbor. It requires that you
love your neighbor as yourself. There's a difference. You're
talking about the law of God now, under which we were born
and on which Christ was born as a man. The law of God does
not command that you do no evil only. It commands that you think
no evil. That you think no evil. When
the law of God does not require you to live a good life, it requires
you to live a perfect life. Now, if you and I, here's what
I'm saying, when the disciples, they were lying there asleep,
and all this glory was right there, and they didn't, they
had to be awakened to see it. And we're here, all this glory's
right here. All this glory's in Christ. The
glory's there. We're just sleeping. We're just
so dumb and callous and careless and indifferent. If ever we're
awakened to the, to what happened in that garden, When God's judgment
and wrath descended on this human race, all of heaven's cannons
were turned on this race, if we can ever see the seriousness
of it, the depth of it, the extent of that fall, we'll see something
of the glory of His grace. And what I'm saying now, if we
ever see something of the of the holiness of God's law. You
know what God's law requires? I get so tired of hearing people
talk about, well, the law is enough religion for me. Do you
know what the law is saying? The law of God requires of this
human being here, that I love God with all my heart, mind,
soul, and strength, that I love other people, my worst enemy,
as much as I love myself. Not only that I do no evil, I
think, and under this law, Christ was born. Subject to this law,
Christ came into the world. To fulfill this law, he did.
And in the flesh, as a man, tested in every part, he did just that
thing. He said, I always do those things
pleasing to my Father. The Father said, this is my Son
in whom I'm well pleased. Even his enemies couldn't find
any fault with him. Our Lord was perfect. perfect by His obedience, He
made us righteous. Do you see that? And you'll see
the glory of that obedience, the glory of that righteousness.
You just become taken up with it. Now, fifthly, when we're
awakened to the strictness of God's justice, and I know how
many times we as parents, we said, now, if you don't cut that
grass today, I'm just going to I'm going to take all your privilege
away from you. You're going to be restricted
for a month. We're not going to do it. We're
not going to do it. I mean, we may, you know, restrict
them for the day, but that kid's not going to stay in a month. We're always threatening. But
let me tell you something about God. If we ever awaken to the
strictness of God's justice, we're going to see some of the
glory of Christ's death. I can say this without fear of
contradiction. We don't hate sin like God does.
We tolerate it in ourselves, we tolerate it in others, imperfections
and evil. We overlook it, and we should
because we're identified with them. But my friends, God is
perfectly just. Now, he said, Adam, when you
eat that tree, you die. There wasn't any question about
it, there wasn't any plea to be made, there wasn't any alterations,
there wasn't any mercy, just he died. Noah's flood, they died. That's right. And Sodom and Gomorrah,
they died. God's going to punish sin. All
sin. Every transgression shall receive
a just recompensive reward. He said, He will in no wise clear
the guilty. Justice. will not permit mercy
and love even to be expressed because justice must be satisfied. That's just so. Justice stands
between the sinner and God's mercy, between the sinner and
God's love. And if we ever see the strictness of his justice,
God will punish sin, every transgression, every sin. He's not going to
let it by. He's not going to let it go.
It's going to be punished with eternal damnation, with eternal
condemnation, with eternal separation from God. This is what the Bible
teaches. And if we ever lay hold on that, our sins must be punished. Then if we can see in Christ
on the cross the satisfaction of that justice, The full payment
of that death, every sin, my every thought, my every deed,
my every imagination, my every sin against God, my lack of love
and pride and lust and covetousness and passion and temper and temperance
and all these things, nailed to the cross. Boy, I tell you,
that cross will come to mean something to you. That death
will come to mean something to you. In Christ there is no sin.
It's paid for. But I think the reason that the
death of Christ is, we sing about the blood, we talk about the
blood, we talk about the death of Christ, but somehow we're
just not taken up with it. But I'll tell you, I've seen
men in financial trouble. I read about them back during
the Depression jumping out of 15-story buildings. Why? In debt. Bankrupt. Couldn't pay. Everything gone. They just killed
themselves. And I've known men today to stand
around wringing their hands. I'm out of a job. I've got a
house to pay for and a car to pay for and children to raise.
I don't have anything. What am I going to do? And I'll
tell you, as I stand before God's ledger and the sins that I've
committed and thought and said and done and all these things,
the sin of my nature, the fall, all these things, God will punish
sin. God cannot clear the guilty.
And, oh, I panic, don't you? I fall into a pit of depression. How? Oh, Lord, if Thou shouldst
mark iniquity, who'll stand? And then he turns my eyes on
Calvary, and I see there my Savior, my Lord, my Redeemer, and me
dying in Him, and all that debt is wiped away, blotted out. Oh, I tell you, it cost me something. You ever see it? Ever see it? I got a story. There's a fellow
in jail by the name of Barabbas, and he's guilty. He's a thief
and a murderer and a no-count, good-for-nothing outcast, and
they sentenced him to be crucified. And he's sitting down there in
the dungeon waiting for the time of crucifixion. He knew the day
was close at hand. And he heard a crowd out there.
Oh, there's people, people everywhere. And he couldn't make out what
they were saying, and it was one fellow said something, and
he couldn't make out what he said, but he heard the crowd
say, Barabbas! Give us Barabbas! And then the other fellow said
something else, and he couldn't make out what he said, but then
the crowd says, Crucify him! Let him be crucified! And old
Barabbas was sitting down there, scared to death, shaking like
a leaf. He knew his time had come, and he heard the soldiers
step down the steps. And the soldier came closer to
his dungeon there, and he cringed in the corner, you know, and
held his chains to himself. Finally the soldier threw the
door open and came in, two of them, and unlocked his chains
and unlocked his fetters and threw them aside and stood him
to his feet as best he could, trembling in his dirt and filth
and corruption, waiting to be hauled out there and nailed to
a cross. And the soldier brought him to
the door and he said, get out of here, you're free. And old
Barabbas said, what? He said, you're free. But he
said, I heard the crowd. They said, Barabbas, give us
Barabbas. Crucify him. I'm guilty. I'm supposed to be
crucified. I heard them call my name. And the soldier said,
didn't you hear Pilate? No, he said, I didn't hear anything
but that crowd. Well, he said, there's a man
called Jesus Christ crucified in your place, and you're free. And I bet you Barabbas went up
there on that hill overlooking the city or wherever he could,
and he looked down there and he saw, here he was free, out
in the sunshine and the wind. He saw those crosses on the hill. And that middle cross, he said,
that's my cross. And that man died in my place.
And Barabbas was free because Christ died in his place. Now
this is what I'm saying. If we ever see the strictness
of God's justice, God's justice will appreciate the glory of
Christ's death. He died in my place. And then
in the sixth place, if we ever awaken, turn to Isaiah 64. This is something, if we ever
awaken to the sins of our best deeds, and this is what most
people never see there. Most people never see anything
I'm talking about today. But I've seen it. I know what
I'm talking about. Not only the Word, I've experienced
it. I've got some comprehension of what happened in that garden.
And I'll tell you the fact that God's purpose to save this sorry,
no good, fallen, rebellious, traitorous race is a marvel of
His grace. I know a little bit about my
inability. I know a little bit about the
rottenness of this flesh. And oh, I'm grateful for His
incarnation. And I know a little bit about
the law. I know what the law says. And I know a little bit
about God's justice. And I'm so thankful for His obedience
in His death. My substitute! But now watch
this, Isaiah 64, 6. We are all as an unclean thing,
and all our righteousnesses are what? Our righteousnesses. There
must be a misprint there, preacher. No, no misprint. Our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. We all do fade as a leaf. Our
iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Turn to Romans
7. Listen to Paul over here. We're
talking about, my friends, we're talking about here, the prophets
talking about our good deeds, the best we've ever done. And
he says they're filthy rags in God's sight. You see, here's
the thing about it. Now, Ophelia, and let's be, let's
speak so people understand what we're talking about. A fellow
prays a pretty prayer, and we pray the best we can. That's
all we can do, is pray the best we can, as the Holy Spirit leads
us. But there's a lot of flesh in
that prayer, and it may sound good to him, and sound good to
you. It's the best prayer you ever heard, you see, compared
to other prayers. But see, God is all-knowing,
and all-wise, and sees all things. And He sees that fellow's heart.
And he sees that fellow, if two people are going to be saved,
and it's either going to be his son or his neighbor's son, ah,
Lord save my son. And God sees that. See, you don't
see that. This man says, Lord save Joe
and Bill and Bob and Harry, but be sure to save Harry. He's my
boy, you say. You don't say that. But God knows
that. You see what I'm saying? And
here's a fellow that brings his offering. And your gifts are
good. I hate to say your offerings
sting. You know, here's the thing, you
support this work. But here a fellow brings his
offering. And, you know, all of us do. There's a certain obligation
to give now. We're obligated because it's
our responsibility as a Christian. It's our responsibility because
God's blessed us. And these things. But now, when
we give, God looks on our hearts. And He talks about hilarious
giving and cheerful giving, as unto the Lord. Giving sacrificially. How many of you gave sacrificially
this fall? The widow did. Our Lord stood
by the treasure. And the people came by and gave.
And here's a woman came. They probably gave big gifts.
They gave big gifts. Hundreds, thousands. This widow
came by and put two pennies down there. And the Lord punched His
disciples, and He said, now, they gave out of their abundance.
They got plenty left. Plenty left. She gave everything
she had. Everything. You see, this is
what I'm saying. I'm saying that I don't care
how righteous, comparatively, we're living. And your life is
clean and all this, but God looks on your heart. God looks on your
thoughts. And He knows that spirit, that attitude, and that's just
so. Now look at Romans 7. And Paul
says, In me, verse 18, in my flesh, well, it's no good thing.
The will is present with me. How to perform that which is
good I find not. The good that I would, I don't
do. The evil I would not, that's
what I do. Verse 21, I find the law when I would do good, evil's
present with me. I delight in the law of God after
the inward man, but I see another law in my members, warring against
the law of my mind. I can't worship God like He ought
to be worshiped. Pray like ought to pray, praise
Him like ought to praise Him. Now when I see that, when I see
the sinfulness of my best deeds, my best effort at prayer, how
I thank God for the intercession of Christ. Oh, I'm glad I've
got a high priest. Aren't you? I'm glad I've got
a high priest. If I didn't have a high priest,
it wouldn't need my sins to damn me and my good deeds to damn
me. I wouldn't need the vilest affections to put me in hell,
my good deeds would put me in hell. Last of all, and I close,
when we're awakened on that great day, we're going to truly see
His glory. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
13, when we're awakened. All these disciples were sitting
there, the glory of God was right in front of them, but they had
to be awakened. And when they were awakened, they saw His glory.
Oh, the glory of His grace, the glory of His incarnation, the
glory of His obedience, the glory of His death, the glory of His
intercession. And here, 1 Corinthians 13, verse 12, "...now we see
through a glass, darkly, dimly, but then face to face. Now I
know in part, and then shall I know even, as also I am known."
David said, I'll be satisfied when I wake, when I wake with
our likeness. When I shall come to the end
of my way, and I rest at the close of the day, when welcome
home I hear the Lord say, that'll be glory. When in His beauty
I see the great King, when with the ransom His praises I'll sing,
when I see Him my tribute I'll bring, that'll be glory. That'll
be glory. May God awaken you and me to
His glory. Our Father, honor Your Word this
morning Make it to be as a sword piercing the innermost parts of our beings. Make it to be a burning fire
that cannot be quenched. Make it to be a light revealing
the glory, thy glory in the face of Christ Jesus. Make it to be
a hammer breaking these hard hearts and spirits of ours. Bring
us to look to Christ. to turn our eyes upon the Lord
Jesus and behold in Him, in His face, thy glory. For Christ's sake we pray, Amen.