called the key to a book in the
Bible. Somebody says, I've got the key
to the book of Hebrews. That's not always wise. You could
get a hold of the wrong key. That's not always a wise thing.
It's not always a wise thing to try to sum up even one verse
of scripture. Somebody says that's, in a nutshell,
that means this, you can't put one word of God in a nutshell,
let alone a whole passage of scripture. So it's not always
wise to seek what we call keys to books and passages and even
to one verse of scripture. It's not always wise to try to
sum up everything in one point. Look, if you will, at Hebrews
1, verse 4. Hebrews 1, 4 says this, being
so much better So much better than the angels. For a season
he was made lower than the angels. For a while he who made woman
was made of woman. For while he who made man was
made in likeness of man. I know that. And for a while
he was made a little lower than the angels, but being made so
much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained
a more excellent name than all the angels of God. Gabriel and
Michael and all of them put together. Christ is above the angels. And
then look at Hebrews chapter 3 verse 3. This man was counted
worthy of more glory than Moses. I suppose if you pick one man,
of all men, one man, that you would give greatest glory, to
whom you give greatest glory, among men. I suppose it'd be
Moses. I know that the Israelites would.
I know that the Old Testament does. Everybody talks about Moses,
Moses, Moses, Moses. Even the New Testament, they
said, they didn't say we have Joseph, or we have Jacob, or
we have this one. They said we have Moses. We have
Moses. And even Abraham said to the
rich man in hell, they have Moses and the prophet. Let them hear
that. But our Lord Jesus Christ is greater in glory, preeminence,
and excellence than Moses. All to Moses. And then of Aaron
and his sons, his priesthood. Turn to Hebrews 10 verse 11. Hebrews 10 verse 11. It talks
about these Old Testament priests. They served their day. They served
God's purpose. They were very important, influential
men. No man dared come to God without
that high priest. There wasn't but one high priest
at a time. And no man came to God except
through that priest and through the sacrifices which he offered.
But the thing about it is that there were many of them. You
see, those priests lived and they died. There were many of
them. Christ is one. Christ is one. They had a temporary priesthood.
Their priesthood began when they reached a certain age, when they
took over from their fathers, and then their priesthood ended
when they died. But Christ has an eternal priesthood,
like Melchizedek. He's an eternal priest, from
eternity past to eternity future. He is and always has been and
always will be our great high priest. And these men offered
many sacrifices. Christ only one. And these men
offered the sacrifices of animal blood, Christ his own blood. And these men offered their sacrifices
daily. He, by one offering, perfected
forever them that are sanctified. And they offered their sacrifices
standing throughout that tabernacle. There were seven pieces of furniture,
but no chairs. They never sat down. having offered
the once sufficient effectual sacrifice in redeeming the Church,
sat down, because he finished his word. And I know there are
a lot of preachers who like to picture the Lord Jesus Christ
up there in heaven pacing the floor, but he's not pacing the
floor. He's not a husband in waiting
the birth of a child. He's seated. His children have
been born. They've been bought and they've
been born. And he said, all that my Father giveth me will come
to me. Our Lord shall see the travail of his soul and be satisfied.
He's seated. He's expecting every friend will
share his glory and every enemy will be his footstool. It's over,
my friend. As far as God's work is concerned,
as far as Christ's redemptive work is concerned, I know he
ever lived to make intercession, but he pleads the wounds that
he's already suffered. He pleads the blood he's already
shed. And these priests, they never sat down. They always walked
about. They never sat down. Christ finished
his work and sat down. And all these priests in the
Old Testament put them all together. There were thousands of them
over the many, many years, millenniums. And they offered rivers of blood.
Rivers of blood. They offered bullocks and rams
and turtledoves and heifers and all of these animals. Blood, if it were all flowing
in one stream, it would fill the Ohio River. But it couldn't
take away one sin. Not one sin. Not one sin of one
sinner on God's earth. Not one. You say, well, why did
they offer it typically, symbolically? These sacrifices pictured his
blood that taketh away the sins of the world. His blood, the
Lamb of God, you see, their sacrifices could never put away sin. One
songwriter said, all the blood, all the blood of bulls and goats,
all the blood on Jewish altars slain cannot take away one sin,
cannot remove even a stain. But our Lord Jesus Christ died
not in vain. His blood is effectual. His death is sufficient. Ever
since by faith I saw that stream, thy flowing wounds supply, redeeming
love has been my thing, and it will be by God's grace till I
die. For dear dying Lamb, thy precious
blood shall never lose its power, till all the ransomed Church
of God be saved to sin no more." You preach what you will. Paul
said we preach Christ crucified. You know what you will. I'm determined
to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified. You seek to
get along. You seek to please the flesh.
You seek to pamper and coddle rebels, rebels in their hearts
that appear to be sheep outwardly. I'm going to preach Christ crucified,
the sufficient sacrifice, the sufficient priest. His priesthood
is infinitely, infinitely infinitely above the priesthood of Aaron
and all his sons. The scripture says in Psalms
8 and Proverbs 8, O Lord, our Lord, how excellent, how excellent
is thy name in all the earth, who has set thy glory above the
heavens. When there was no depths, when
there were no depths, thou wast brought forth when there were
no fountains abounding with water. Thou wast brought forth before
the mountains were settled. Thou wast brought forth before
the hills. Thou wast brought forth when
he prepared the heavens. Thou wast there when he appointed
the foundations of the earth. Then were you by him as one brought
up, by him daily his delight. You better get in Christ, boy.
He's God's delight. He's God's delight. If you think
little of Christ, you think little of God, because He's God's delight. If you think nothing of Christ,
you think nothing of God, He's God's delight! And whoso findeth
Him findeth life! Isn't that what it says? Read
it. Whoso findeth Him findeth life,
and shall obtain favour of the Lord." I'd love to have God's
favour. Then find Christ. Set your affection
on Christ. Set your heart on Christ. Seek
Christ. Whoso findeth thee, findeth life! And whosoever shall find thee
will obtain favor of the Lord. Listen to this, and he that sinneth
against thee wrongeth his own soul. And all that hate thee love death.
They love death. Oh, I wouldn't seek to rob him
of his glory. I wouldn't in any way. The man
that despises Christ loves death. The man that slights Christ loves
death. The man that thinks little of
Christ loves death. The man that flippantly, carelessly
uses the name of God's delight loves death. He's a fool. He might as well put a gun to
his temple and pull the trigger. He delights in death. The preacher
that stands in the pulpit and slights Christ and ignores Christ
and does not exalt Christ. He loves death. He loves death. He's a dealer in death. He's
a dealer with the dead. He who would find thee finds
favor with God. Boy, I tell you this, that's
the reason I said when I started this message, I don't have any
doubt about this. I'm safe on this subject. I can't
exalt Christ too much in the eyes of God, or in the eyes of
men who love him, or in the eyes of the redeemed. He says in verse
1 of Hebrews 1, go back there again, verse 1 of Hebrews 1,
God spoke to our fathers. He didn't leave Himself without
a witness. He didn't leave our fathers without a word. He spoke
to them. God spoke to them. He spoke to them in different
ways at different times. He spoke to them how? By the
prophets. Who? Moses spoke to the men for God. Jeremiah, Isaiah, Samuel, Eli. They all spoke to the people
for God. They said, Thus saith the Lord.
Thus saith the Lord. God spake to these prophets and
they spake to the people. God would say, Thus saith the
Lord. They'd go before the people. Thus saith the Lord. God appeared
to them in dreams. visions and God appeared to them
through angels and God gave these prophets his word for they wrote
his word and They delivered it to the people. Well, what did
God speak to these prophets about? What do you suppose when when
God spake to Abraham as? Abraham the scripture said the
friend of God as a man speaks to his friend wonder what they
talked about You know what they talked about? Christ I'm as sure
as I'm standing here, because Christ later said, Abraham saw
my day and was glad. And Moses, what do you suppose
Moses and God talked about? When God appeared to Moses, and
the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses, what do you suppose
they talked about? Because when the Pharisee said, we have Moses,
we have Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, we have
the ceremonial law, he said, you'd believe Moses, you'd believe
me. Moses wrote of me. Moses wrote of me. Moses wrote
of me. God talked to Moses about Christ.
Turn to Luke 24. Let me show you something. When
our Lord sat down with his disciples after he had walked with them
on the road to Emmaus, After he had risen from the tomb, after
he had suffered for our sins, after he had come forth from
the grave, he sat down with them in Luke 24, verse 44, and he
said to them, Christ said to them, these are the words that
I spake with you while I was yet with you, that all things
must be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses and the prophets
and the Psalms concerning me. Concerning me. That's what it's
all about. Me. Concerning Christ. What about
Christ? His death. His sacrifice. His sufferings. Moses. Listen to what the scripture
says in Hebrews about Moses. He counted the reproach of Christ. The afflictions of Christ. To
be worth more than the riches of Egypt. Moses knew something
about Christ. While Moses said this, he said,
the Father, the Heavenly Father, the Lord, will raise up from
among you, from among the brethren, a prophet. He'll raise up a prophet,
and you listen to him, a prophet far greater than I. He'll raise
up a priest far greater than Aaron. He'll raise up a messenger
greater than all the angels. The Lord himself will give you
a sign, too. A virgin shall be with child,
and I shall call his name Immanuel, God with us. I shall call his
name mighty God, the everlasting Father, wonderful Counselor,
the Prince of Peace. Turn to Luke chapter 9. Luke
9. Our Lord Jesus Christ went to
the top of the mountain with his disciples. Luke 9 verse 30. Our Lord, this is called the
Mount of Transfiguration. When the Lord's glory, glory,
Donny, was shown. His glory. Oh, they saw his glory. Peter said, I'd like to just
stay here. Let's just build three tabernacles. And let's just stay
here. Peter still hadn't seen the excellence
and glory of Christ. He wanted to build Moses and
Elijah's tabernacle too. That old boy still hadn't seen
it. Some of you hadn't seen it either. You still want to put
things on an equal basis with Christ. It can't be. Somebody's
still wanting to share in the glory of Christ. You still want
to give man his dignity and man his place and man his position,
fully on man. Let's talk about Christ. God
doesn't owe man anything. Christ, everything's his. By
inheritance, by decree, by God's purpose. You're still walking
softly. You're still walking like you're
walking on eggshells, afraid you're going to upset some son
of Adam, some evil, rebellious, devilish son of Adam. You exalt
Christ no matter who gets mad at you. And Peter said, let's
build three tabernacles, not on your life. Moses and Elijah
got to go and they saw Christ only. Only Christ. But I'll tell you this, when
our Lord appeared with Moses and Elijah, Moses representing
the law and Elijah representing the prophets, they talked, they
sat there and talked. What did they talk about? Look
at verse 30, Luke 9, and behold, there talked with him two men,
which were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory, and they
spake of his deceits, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.
That's what they talked about. Moses has been talking about
it for 4,000 years. Moses is glad to come down here
and talk to the Lord about it, Jerry. He's been telling you
folks about it all these years. He'd been talking about Christ's
suffering, Christ's death, Christ's victory, Christ's redemption,
and when he met the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration, that's
all he wanted to talk about. Elijah represents the prophets.
Turn to Acts 10, 43. Let's see if we can make good
on this, Brother Mews used to say. He said we'll take another
hitch at it and see if we can make good on it. Acts 10, 43,
listen to this. What did Elijah want to talk
about? the greatness of the kingdom, not on your life. Not on your
life. It says in Acts 10.43, to him
give all the prophets witness. Well, they witnessed that through
his name, whosoever believeth in him should receive the forgiveness
of sins. That's what those old boys wrote
about. That's what they talked about in their understanding,
in what God showed, in the light God gave them. They talked about
Christ. And it's because blind preachers
and blind religionists and blind philosophers and blind educators
and blind religious intellectuals have pointed out other things
than Christ in the Old Testament and taken our eyes off Him. But
those men talked about Christ. And when Moses represented the
law, the law was not given to save, but to turn men to Christ. The law wasn't given to sanctify,
but to put men in Christ. who sanctifies, to point them
to Christ. The prophets didn't come along
to talk about the splendor of the kingdom, or the events and
advents that will take place someday. They came to talk about
Christ, and when Moses and Elijah sat down and talked with the
Lord, that's what they talked about. what he would accomplish
at Jerusalem. And let me tell you something,
they didn't talk about what he would try to accomplish. Charley,
they didn't talk about what he'd make an effort to do. They talked
about his decease, his death, and what he would accomplish.
He did it all. He paid it all, all the debt
I owe. And then look at verse 2 in Hebrews
1. God spake to our fathers. God
spake to them. by the prophets about Christ,
but verse 2 says, he hath in these last days. I don't know
what last days mean to you, but I'll tell you what they mean
to me. They mean the days since Christ came. Somebody's divided
the history of the world up into three eras, three time segments. There was the time from the creation
to Moses. and the time from Moses to Christ,
and the time from Christ to the end of the world, and these are
the last days. They're the early days, they're
the middle days, and they're the last days. And God spake
to our fathers by the prophets. He spake to these back here by
personal visitation, Noah. God spake to him, and so forth,
and then he spake through symbols, and signs, and pictures, and
ceremonies, and the law, and so forth. And he has, since Christ
came, he hath spoken to us by his Son. The Son of God is the
Word of God. God speaks through his Son, by
his Son. Jesus Christ says, I'm the truth. He that hears me hears the Father
and the message of God. He actually became flesh and
dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Emmanuel,
God with us. One of the disciples said, show
us the Father. Lord, show us the Father. We
want to see the Father. We don't understand the Father.
We don't understand God, His glory, His greatness, His excellence,
His majesty, His righteousness, His grace, His love. We don't
understand. Why he said, he that hath seen me hath seen the Father.
Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father
in me? If you don't believe that, believe me for the very works
sake. Only God can do what I do. Have I been so long time with
him you don't know me, fellow? I and my Father want. He's the
Word of God. Look at verse 2 and 3 here. Gives
us three important things about Christ, our Lord. Who He is,
what He did, and where He is now. Look at verse 2. He says,
He hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son. His Son. That's who Christ is.
He's not just a messenger, though He is. He's not just a preacher,
though He is. He's God's Son. God's Son. God's Son. Not by creation as
the angels, not by adoption as you and I, but by nature. He's
the Son of God. His Son. That's who He is. Read
on, verse 2. Whom He hath appointed heir.
He's the heir of all things. Let me tell you something. God's
given everything to Christ. And if anything you share, anything
you enjoy from God, you're going to enjoy in Christ, because it
belongs to him, Joe. It's his. He's the heir of all
things. He's the heir of heaven and the
new earth. He is the heir. Christ is the
heir. God's put everything in Christ.
In Christ dwelleth all the fullness of God. Christ, God's put everything,
he's vested everything in Christ. And you and I are in error of
God because we're joining with Christ. That's right. Anything you talk
about God's love, only in Christ. I'm sorry, that's the fact. He
that believeth not on the Son, the wrath of God abideth on him.
You're not doing this world any favor at all or you're doing
them an injustice by standing up in front of them with a little
old silly religious grin and say, I love you and God loves
you too. You wait and see. Now, you wait and see. You're
going to say, this is a funny kind of love when he casts you
into hell. It's a funny kind of love. But I can stand before you and
say this, God's love is in Christ. Now, you're welcome to come to
Christ. Boy, I tell you, the old arch is standing there, the
judgment of the flood is coming, but the door is still open, feller,
come on in. Come on in, you say I won't do it, then stay out. This is a free country. You talk
about the freedom of your will, you go right ahead, the only
freedom your will has is to do what your evil nature tells it
to do. You just stay on out there, you're welcome. But let me tell
you this, you're welcome to come in. And God's mercy is in the
art, that's where it is, God's mercy is in the art. God's mercy
is in Christ! God's love is in Christ! God's
grace is in Christ! All things are in Christ! He's the heir of all things,
and anything you participate in, partake of, or enjoy, you
will in Christ, or you won't enjoy anything but God's judgment.
That's so. That's so. Read on, "...by whom
he made the world." That's who we're talking about. He said,
God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but he hath now spoken
to us by somebody else. And boy, you read his credentials.
I hear these fellas introducing preachers, you know, they say,
we're glad to have with us Brother so-and-so, he graduated here
and there and yonder, you know, and he was a dope addict, now
he's in the pulpit and he was in jail, but now he's preaching
the gospel and he was this, that. He one time preached for the
president and all that. Let me tell you who's talking
to us today. His Son. His Son. And boy, that makes
all these flowery introductions fade into nothing, don't they?
His Son, whom he hath appointed heir of everything. This is the
one that has everything. It's the one by whom he made
the world. That's who's talking to us. He
made the world. Reading Colossians, let's say
something about this. It was made by Him. It was made
for Him. Listen to this. He's talking
about His Son now, verse 14, Colossians 1, in whom we have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sin. This
is His dear Son. See verse 13, the last three
words, His dear Son. His dear Son. Boy, I tell you, I'd tackle the
whole world before I'd tackle the Lord Jesus Christ, his dear
son. I'd curse my mother before I'd
take his name in vain, his dear son. I'd curse my wife and all
my children before I'd say anything in a slight way about his dear
son. I don't know, fella, how you
can do it. I don't know how you can do it. "...in whom we have
redemption through his blood, even, even the forgiveness of
sin, whose image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.
For by him were all things created that are in heaven and earth,
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or devils or demons or angels or principalities or powers.
All things were created by him. for him and he's before all things
and by him they all hang around right now. That's not one snowflake
falls without him. Not one sparrow falls to the
ground without him. Not one hair falls from your
head without him. He is sovereign Lord of Lords,
King of Kings. He's boss. Yeah, he upholds the
world by his power. Look at verse 3. He goes on talking
about him. He's the brightness of God's
glory. the brightness of his glory.
He's the real sunshine of his love. He's the brightness, the
sunshine, the glitter of his glory. Christ is the essence
of the Father's glory. Read on. And he's the exact,
the exact express image of his person. Curse Christ, curse God. Hate Christ, hate God. Reject
Christ, go to hell. That's it. He that hath the Son
hath the Father, and he that hath not the Son of God hath
not the Father. No way. No way. And he upholdeth, listen here,
he upholds all things by the word of his power. Now what did
he do? That's who he is. That's who
he is. Now what did he do? He had by
himself, without any assistance from you or me or anybody else,
not even with your faith, but by himself. Not with the assistance
of a soul winner, but by himself. Not with the assistance of an
angel. He walked the winepress of God's wrath alone. He's going to get all the glory.
In the redemption of my soul, in the salvation of my soul,
in the putting away of my sins, of the life everlasting which
he gives me, he did it by himself. Now you play around with anything
you want to, but don't play around with that atonement. And I know
there are a lot of pussyfoot and compromising preachers, back-scratching
preachers trying to get along with the devils of this world
who want to play around with that atonement. You better play
with something else. And I don't know what I believe about the
atonement. You better make up your mind before you die, because
in heaven we're going to know what we believe about the atonement.
And to him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
to him be the glory. Don't compromise that. Those
folks know what they believe. Who are these, and which came
they? These are they that washed their
robes in the blood of the Lamb. not in the dryness of faith,
or the waters of baptism, or the wine of the Lord's table,
the blood of the Lamb, they know what they believe about the atonement.
And you better know what you believe for long, brother. You
better find out. I'm warning you. By himself purged
our sins. I like that. I'll put you on
that the rest of the week. When he had HIMSELF purged our
sins. And he purged them. There ain't
no purgatory. He's already purged them. That's a lie right out of hell.
O.E.L. Williams used to say, and the devil sat on the eggs.
It was hatched in hell and the devil sat on the eggs. It was
to make money for the Catholic Church. There is no purgatory. Calvary is our purgatory. He
by himself, no angel helped him, no man helped him, no soul winner
helped him, no preacher helped him, no sinner helped him. By
himself purged our sins. Put them away. Cast them behind
his back. That's the reason I wouldn't
give you 10 cents for what these people talk about rewards in
heaven. All the little Christians are going to stand before God
someday and He's going to say, now you preached and won souls
and gave your tithe, here's your big old crown and put you one
on top of, put you four or five of them up there and put you
some stars in it. You didn't mind me, you was a bad Christian. You didn't give your tithe and
you didn't do this and you didn't do that. You're not going to
get a crown, you're lucky to be here. There's a little old
shack at 201 and a half. You know what 201 1⁄2 is? 201
is the big house on the street and 201 1⁄2 is the garage apartment. 201 1⁄2. Celestial Avenue, that's
your address, Jay. 201 1⁄2. I'm gonna live in 201.
Boy, I'm proud. Come see me sometime, bud. Bet
you're riding my Cadillac. Might even let you play with
my yo-yo. With the decals on it. You silly thing. You silly
thing. You mean to tell me God's going
to bring up at the judgment what my Lord purged by himself? Huh? That's the most ridiculous lie
I've ever heard. There's going to be tears in
heaven. I heard that silly Jack VanIppy
talking about tears in heaven. Believers are going to stand
at the judgment seat of Christ and cry because they didn't win
two more souls and get that yo-yo. That's a dirty lie. There is
no judgment to them who are in Christ. There is no condemnation. There are no sins, my Lord. Purge
them! And put them away. Now you go
on supporting those liars. And you just, old brother Barney
said one time, you might not have gone in the bank and held
it up, but you kept the car motor running while they held it up.
And you go into the same cell. You support false prophets, you
live with false prophets. by your presence or by your money.
What he did, he by himself, I'll stand on that, by himself! And if that won't motivate men
for service, I don't want any other motivation. If I can't
get you to witness by looking to Christ on Calvary's cross,
you just better not witness anyway because you got nothing to tell.
If I can't get you to give because Christ gave himself, If I got
to promise you a yo-yo or promise you a little old silly crown,
if I got to promise you a name to get you to give, you better
keep what you got. Buy you something here because
you got nothing in the future. The motive is Christ's love for
me. And any other motive is a rotten motive. It's a made-up motive. Christ's love for me. By himself
purged my sin. Can I do any less than give my
life for his glory? He loved me, can I not love you?
He forgave me, can I not forgive you? Huh? Where is he now? After he had
by himself, verse 3, purged our sins, he sat down. I worked on
that enough while ago, I'll leave it alone. He sat down on the
right hand. What's the right hand? Acceptance. And let me tell you this, we're
in Christ, the elect are in Christ. Christ is their surety from the
foundation of the world. They were chosen in Christ, they
were represented in Christ, they were crucified in Christ, they
are risen in Christ, they are ascended in Christ, and they
are seated, the scripture says, in Christ or with Christ in the
heavenly. So the right hand of the Father
is the hand of acceptance. I'm accepted already in the beloved. The right hand is the hand of
the Beloved. That's where the Beloved sits,
on the right hand of the Majesty. That's where the Queen sits.
The Beloved. That's where I'm sitting, Jay,
right now. In Christ. I'm already seated in Christ.
In the purpose of God already glorified. What God promises
is as good as done. Seated. The Beloved. Tell you
this, that hand is the hand of power. Don't talk about what
Christ wants to do. God wants you to do this, God
doesn't want, God commands men to do that. So I hear preachers
say, well God's trying to get you, now wait a minute, you may
try, but God's going to do his will in the armies of heaven
and among the inhabitants of this earth, and I'm taught to
pray his will to be done. God commands. God doesn't try
to do it. That's the hand of power. He
said himself, all authority is given unto me, all authority
in heaven and earth. Now you preachers go preach. It's not your business to get
results. That's my business. You go preach. The authority
is in my hands. We need to learn that. The breaking
of the heart is Christ's work. The convicting of the soul is
Christ's work. The revealing of the grace of
God is Christ's work. My business is to preach. All
authority is mine, not yours, mine! It's given to me! Now you
go preach! And I'll do the applications.
I'll do the applying. That's my business. Where is
he now? He sat down on the right hand.
And then I'm going to close with this. The Father speaks of his
glory. Let's just look at six things
here briefly. And when I say six, I just mean six brief ones. Verse 5, the Father says, My
son, this day have I begotten thee, not created thee, not adopted
thee, begotten thee, well beloved by nature, I and my Father are
one. Verse 6, he says, and again when
he brings the first begotten into the world, he says, let
all the angels of God worship him. All those angels with gladdened
hearts stood on that Judean hillside that morning years ago and said,
we got good news. We got good news. We got glad
tidings unto you is born in the city of David a Savior. You know
who it is? It's Christ the Lord. They worshipped
him. They worshipped him. They ministered
to him. They announced his resurrection. When the women came to the tomb,
those angels just weren't standing there. I hear folks talk about
those angels as if they were dumb sentinels or something just
standing there, you know. He's not here. He's risen. Boy,
they said to those women, Why do you seek the living among
the dead? Our Lord's not dead. He's risen. Don't hang a crucifix
on my wall. He's not dead. He's living. He's living. Don't seek the living
among the dead. He's alive! He's living! And
when they stood there and our Lord went back to heaven, those
angels attended His ascension and they said, you men of Galilee,
why do you stand there looking up into heaven? The same Jesus
is coming back! It wasn't a doctrine they were
announcing, it was the coming of the King they were announcing!
It wasn't the doctrine of the resurrection they were announcing,
it was the living Lord they were worshiping! They were declaring. You folks, what's wrong with
you folks? He's not dead, he's alive, Jay. They didn't just announce an
adoption. Now this is the sixth point in our creed. He's alive. And the seventh point is, we
believe, I get sick of seeing these churches put out what we
believe in seven points. That ain't much belief. Here
it is in 66 books. This is what we believe. But
I see them, this is point number, point number six is he arose,
point number seven, he will return. Can you imagine an angel announcing
something like that? Point number seven, he will return.
Oh boy, they stood out there and said, they were amazed. They
said, you men of Galilee, didn't you learn anything in three and
a half years with the Lord? He's coming back. Why do you
stand here so sad? Why do you stand here gazing
up into heaven? He's alive. He will return. Get on about
his business. Get on about his business. Quit
standing around like a bunch of statues. Listen to the Father
in verse 8 right quick. He said unto the Son, Thy throne,
O God, is forever and ever. His throne is a throne of righteousness,
His throne is a throne of justice, His throne is a throne of grace,
and it's forever. And let me tell you something,
it's a throne. It's a throne. Now I know I preach
grace, and I preach mercy. Like Bobby Smith told me, he
was in a class at Piedmont Bible Institute several years ago,
and the preacher, the teacher got up just before the bell rung
so he wouldn't get any static, just before the bell rang. When
the second hand was sweeping around, he said, the Bible doesn't
say anything about sovereign grace. Bing, the bell rung. The
boys had to leave. On the way out, Bobby went by,
and the teacher knew he was a grace believer. He stopped and said,
did I offend you? Oh, Bobby said, you didn't offend me, I just
wondered when you said that what you do with the scripture that
says grace reigns. Huh? Grace reigns. And he said
another scripture I thought about when you said that was the throne
of grace. Now, what's the throne? Sovereign.
Sure. What are you going to do with
this scripture? He said, I will be merciful to
whom I will be merciful, I will be gracious to whom I will be
gracious. Well, that wasn't brought up
again. Because the Bible does know something about, he says,
thy throne. Jesus Christ on a throne, not
on a cross, not in a tomb. He's on a throne, thy throne.
Oh God is forever. Never changes. Read on quickly. And he says in verse 9, thou
hast loved righteousness, hated iniquity. Boy, he showed his
love for righteousness on the cross, didn't he? He was willing
to give his life for righteousness. God won't compromise. Some people
got the idea God's doing his best to squeeze a bunch of people
in heaven, you know, at any cost. Let me tell you something. God's
just, and if he can be just and justify you, he'll justify you.
He's righteous. If he can still be righteous
and receive you, he'll receive you. And that justice and righteousness
is in Christ. He loved righteousness And God
anointed him above his fellows, and he said, verse 10, You created
all things. The heavens and the earth in
their present form shall pass away. They shall perish like
old clothes, like you take an old worn-out coat. I had a pair
of breeches the other day. I've got a suit I've been wearing
for years, and the other day it split, and I looked at it
to see if it could be repaired, and too late. So I just folded
it up and put it away. Never wear it again. And that's
what he's saying here. He says the foundations of the
earth, the world, the heavens, They'll perish, they're like
an old garment, and like a garment that you fold up and put away.
But Christ is the same! He's the same. Yesterday, today,
and forever. And his years never fail. And
if you can find out from the Word who he was, you'll know
who he is. You find out what he did, you'll
find out, Bob, what he's doing. That's right. That's what that's
reading. The old preachers used to talk about the law of first
mention. It's because you find out what he did, that's what
he's going to do, because he's the same. I know a lot of preachers
preach like God changes, you know, that God, he was this way
in the Old Testament. You know the seven dispensations.
There are such a thing as dispensations, no question about that. Paul
talks about the dispensation given unto him. But they're not
God changing, they're God in different ways. revealing himself
in the same redemptive work. I hear preachers talk about the
day of innocence, and the day of judges, and the day of kings,
and the day of law, and the day of grace, and millennium, and
so forth. He's the same. He said the earth
and all, it changes, sure. Change and decay are around me,
I see. O thou that changest not, abide
with me. He's the same. You go study in
the word of God, you'll find he's the same. The God who spoke
to Abraham is the one who came down here and died on the cross.
The God who spoke with Moses is the same God who by his Spirit
came one day and dealt with this old sinner and brought him to
faith in Christ. And in the same way as Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord, I did too, the same way. Noah
just had a different measure of light and degree of light
and understanding of grace, but his hope was in Christ. You talk
about the church in the wilderness or the church here in Ashland,
it's all in Christ. God never changes. He's the same. Our Father, bless your word,
how grateful, how thankful, how deeply, sincerely grateful that
we are not left to listen to men interpret your word without
having a copy of it in our own hands. It's not sealed or shut
up somewhere in a musty, dirty old library by some evil, evil
monk reading it and telling us what it doesn't say, but we have
it right here. You've given it to us by your providence and
your grace. And not only your written word, but you revealed
your written word in the incarnate word, thy son, the Lord Jesus. To him be the glory and the praise.
Lord, give us a heart to love Christ, to exalt Christ, to glorify
Christ, to praise Christ, to trust Christ, and to find in
him our all and in all. We pray it in his name.