I'm sure you noticed while I
was reading the scripture how devout and how religious Mary
and Joseph were. They did everything according
to the Jewish calendar, ceremony, and requirements. When their son was born, the
Lord Jesus Christ They had him circumcised on the 8th day as
required. They took him to the temple to
do certain things according to the Levitical law. His mother
Mary served the days of her purification and brought the turtledoves or
whatever sacrifice was required of a very poor young woman. Every year they went to Jerusalem
to observe the Passover. when the Lord Jesus Christ was
about 12 years of age, they made this trip to Jerusalem with their
kinfolks and acquaintances. A whole host of them journeyed
to Jerusalem, and they spent the days there that were required. They went through the activities
and all of the ceremonies and the rituals and everything that
was expected of a religious Jew, and they started home. And our
text tells us that they traveled a whole day's journey, sunup
to sundown. And at the end of that day, it
said that they began to look for Jesus Christ. And they sought
him among their kinfolks and acquaintances, and they inquired
of everyone they knew. But he was missing. These words
in verse 44 grip my heart. They've lived with me all week.
But they supposing, taking for granted him to be in their company, went a whole day's journey, and
then they began to seek him. And here is the next verse, they
found him not. Now, they had the religious activity. They were energetic and busy
people. They were involved about all
of the ceremonies and sacrifices and things that were required
of them. They did everything that was expected. They had all
of the religious activities. They'd been to Jerusalem. They'd
been there. And they'd been there several
times, and they went there this time, and they were on their
way home. And then they had the symbols. They had the ceremony. They kept the Passover. They
had gone to Jerusalem, and they had kept the Passover. They had
said the holy words and read the holy scriptures and prayed
the holy prayers and went through all of the holy kneelings. And
they had a lot of company. They had some fellowship. They
stood around and talked in Jerusalem and visited with folks from everywhere,
kind of like a Bible conference. And they had a big crowd on the
way home. There was a whole bunch of them came together and left
together and went through all of the ceremonies together. They had a good time. And then they had journeyed from
sunup to sundown. That's a day's journey. That's
a pretty good while. They had some good fellowship.
They talked about who they'd seen and who they'd met and what
a good time they'd had and how their hearts were moved when
they read certain scriptures and how that they had such a
good heritage, Abraham and Moses and David and Isaiah, all of
these things. But amid all of this religious
to-do and activity and fellowship, in ceremonies and sacrifices,
there was a missing person. A missing person. The really important person.
The altogether vital person. And they were too busy to be
aware of the fact that he was missing. He was what it was all
about, but he wasn't there. He was the key to it all, but
he wasn't there. And they conducted it without
him. And they made their journey home without him. And they traveled
a long time before they were aware that they were without
him. And they had a good time without
him. This is frightening, it's the
most frightening thing in all the world. It's a frightening
prospect. Sun up to sundown, traveling
in good company, religious company, moral company. The company of
people who go by the name of God and are concerned about the
things of God, concerned enough to make journeys of many miles.
but traveling without God, without Christ. Our Lord warns us about
this, how solemnly he warns us in a way that ought to shake
every one of us and make us constantly to take inventory. Lord, don't
leave me. Take not thy salvation from me.
Take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Lord, I don't want to, if
you go not with us, don't let us go. Moses said, don't let
us go. There's no reason for going if
you're not there. He said, many will say unto me
in that day, not a few scattered here and there who were ignorant,
theologically incorrect, unorthodox. Many shall say unto me in that
day, many, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? Have we not in thy name cast
out devils? Have we not in thy name done
many wonderful works? And I shall say unto them, Depart
from me. I never knew you. There was never
anything between us. You have the activities. You
were zealous in those activities. You had the ceremonies and the
symbols and the rituals. You had the good fellowship.
But you didn't walk with me. I didn't know you. Paul warns
us about this. Solemnly, Paul says, let a man
examine himself. Not examine me. That's not your
business. Himself. Not your neighbor. Let a man examine himself whether
he be in the faith. Know ye not your own selves how
that Christ is in you, Christ is with you, Christ dwells in
you? That is, if Christ does not dwell
in you, you are a reprobate, regardless of your religious
activities and religious zeal and proper motives. If Christ
be not in you, you are reprobate." John warns us, John says this
is the record, this is the fact. God hath given us eternal life,
but this life is in his Son. This life is not in theology,
it's not in the church, it's not in the law, it's not in the
rituals, it's not in the ceremony, it's not in morality, it's in
his Son. This life's in his Son. He that hath the Son of God hath
life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. If we miss him, We won't miss judgment. If we
miss him, we won't miss that day when God says, depart from
me. If we miss him, we won't miss
that condemnation, depart from me, bind him hand and foot, cast
him into outer darkness where there's weeping and gnashing
of teeth. If we miss him, we won't be the first to miss him. The world missed him. He made
the world. He was in the world, and the
world knew him not. They were astounded by him, and
amazed by him, and amused by him, and angered by him, but
they didn't know him. They didn't know him. Had they
known him, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory,
but they missed him. He was in the world, and the world was made by him.
The world missed him. He came and they missed him.
He visited and they missed him. He walked the streets and they
missed him. They rubbed shoulders with him
and looked at him and heard him speak and missed him. He's not
coming back. Not in that character anyway.
Oh, he'll be back, but he won't be as the lamb, he'll be as the
lion. He won't be as the servant, he'll be as the judge. They just
flat missed him. The Jewish nation missed him.
He came unto his own, and his own knew him not. He came as David's son, and they'd
read all about David's son, and they missed him. He came the
Passover, and they missed him! He came the tabernacle, he came
the priest, he came the sin offering, and they missed him. They just
missed him. They crucified him. This same
Jesus whom you crucified, Peter said, God hath made him Lord
and Christ, both Lord and Christ, but you missed him. The students
of scripture missed him. I see them in their studies. all the musty, dusty books on
the wall and the scrolls hanging and the candle burning, and they're
pouring over the scriptures. And they're comparing Dr. So-and-so
and Dr. So-and-so and this professor
and that one, and they're splitting all of the different doctrines
and all of the theology of the old fathers. And they missed
him, too. Christ said, you search the scriptures,
for in them you think you have life, but they are they which
testify of me. And they missed him. He was right
there, but they missed him. They got concerned about how
high the fence was around the tabernacle. And they got concerned about
what kind of material the veil was made out of and how thick
it was, and they got concerned about all these different long
words, you know, nobody knows what to mean, let alone can pronounce
them. And he came and they missed him.
Isn't that tragic? They just flat missed him. and
the righteous and the moral. They were going about to establish
their righteousness with God. They wanted acceptance. They
had a zeal for God, but not according to their knowledge. And the righteousness
of God Christ Jesus came in his holy, perfect life, in his holy,
perfect obedience, in his holy, perfect manifestation of all
that God is, and stood right beside them. And they said, howdy,
good morning, and went right on trying to find acceptance
with God by what they did. They missed him. Good men missed him. Bad men
found him. Good, honest, moral mothers missed
him. Harlots found him. Pharisees and scribes and Sadducees
and preachers and teachers and bishops missed him. Publicans
found him. They were looking for the right
way and missed the way. The ceremonialists, with all
their circumcision and sacrifice, incense burning, holy days, they
missed him. They were keeping their Sabbath
and Miss God Sabbath. That's right. He is our Sabbath. They were keeping their Passover
and missed God's Passover. They were busy cutting the flesh
and missed the heart. Just missed it. They're missing
Him today. There's some folks who look upon
this day as most holy. And they'll go about certain
ritualistic practices through this day and abstain from other
things that they wouldn't do on Sunday. And they missed him,
our Sabbath. Just missed him. He was there,
but the miracle followers. No man could do these miracles
you do except God be with him. Many believed on him when they
saw the miracles that he did. Oh, praise God, Sister Sally
got healed. Well, praise God. We know there's
a God now since he healed Sister Sally. There was a whole lot
of folks that believed there was a God because of the miracles
he did, and they missed him. He said Christ didn't reveal
himself to them. He needed not that any man should
testify unto him what was in man. He knew what was in man.
They followed him because they saw the miracles. They followed
him because they didn't want to die. They didn't want to get
sick. They didn't want to be blind. They didn't want to be
lame. They wanted to be healed. They found the miracles and missed
the one who did them. The loaves and fishes crowd.
He turned one day a whole bunch of people, Master, Master, when
did you come over here? We've been looking everywhere
for you. He said, I'll tell you why you're
following me. I know you. Not because of the miracles.
You're following me because of the loaves and fishes. I know
you. You were over there when I fed
that 5,000 people, when I turned those five loaves and two fishes
into enough food for everybody and took up 12 baskets full to
dispose of. I know you. You followed me to
get your bellies filled. That's why you're following me.
If we didn't have any loaves and fishes to pass out, you'd
find you another Messiah. I know you. I know you. Saul of Tarsus missed him, born
a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee of Pharisees, of the tribe of
Benjamin, exact, precise, orthodox, moral, clean, zealous, religious,
accurate, right, dead, dead as a doornail. He'd missed Christ. And when he finally realized
he'd missed Christ, he said, I count these things but rubbish,
that I may win Christ and be found in him. Have we missed Christ? It's certain. It's certain. It's as certain
as God's on his throne that a religious man who has missed Christ doesn't
know he's missed Christ. Stop just a moment. Mary and Joseph made that trip
from Jerusalem, wherever it was they were, when they found out
he wasn't along, and they didn't know he wasn't along the whole
trip. You think about that, I mean,
this is important. The world missed him, but they didn't know
they missed him, and they're not going to know they missed
him until God reveals him. The Jewish nation missed him,
but they didn't know they missed him. The students of scripture,
they thought they had eternal life. In them you think you have
life. You search the scriptures, you're
students of the scripture, you're students of theology, and you
think you have life. A man can miss Christ and every
man who has missed him does not know he's missed him. And he will never know he's missed
him unless he's led by the Spirit of God to search for definite
evidence of the presence of Christ. Here goes Mary and Joseph. They
had their activities. They had their ceremonies. They
had their fellowship. They had all these things. They
didn't know Christ was not alone. And they never knew he wasn't
along until it came in one of their minds, where is Christ? Where is Jesus? And that's when
a man, if a man's miscreant, he's not going to know it until
pouring through his books, suddenly comes to him by God's providence
and power, someone's missing. someone missing. I do not feel his presence. I have his throne, and I have
his theology, and I have his teachings, but the life is not
there. the life, the peace, the joy,
the rest that only he can give. Mary and Joseph did not know
they were traveling without him. It wasn't until they began to
seek his presence that they discovered he wasn't there. That's when they discovered.
And the only way that you and I can determine whether or not
we've missed Christ is to examine ourselves, not our church, ourselves. Not our wives and husbands, ourselves. And determine if we have any
evidence whatsoever of the presence of Christ. It's so amazing to
me, Mary and Joseph had not heard his voice all day, but they didn't
know it. Mayer and Joseph had not seen
him and his dog, if he had one, or
his toys, if he had any, or his clothes or his face. They hadn't
seen it, Charlie, all day long, and they didn't know it. How
long has it been since you've seen him, heard his voice, felt
his presence? the other things, but they didn't
have him. They didn't have him. They were
content. They weren't troubled. Not until
they missed him, then they got troubled. They missed him. They began to seek him. They
began to look everywhere. And they turned around and went
back. They were determined that they
were going to have him back. Well, you say, Preacher, what
are the evidences of Christ's presence? Like I say, they had not heard
his voice all day long. You say, Brother May, this is
amazing. Here a mother and a father have a 12-year-old son. And they go all day long and
never lay eyes on him. That's what happened. Isn't that
amazing? No more amazing than a preacher
standing in the pulpit 25 years and never knows Christ. But it's
happened. No more than a Sunday school
teacher stands before class every Sunday and prepares a lesson
and teaches and never knows Christ. No more than a deacon in a church
goes through all the motions gives his tithes and attends
the services and never knows Christ. That's no more amazing. That's just about as amazing. If I thought that one of you
mothers here would go all day and never know where your child
was, I'd be stunned. But I'm equally stunned that
we, in our religion, would be content to go all day and not
hear his voice. Well, a person who has Christ,
I'll give you four things that I use for my own examination. Number one, a person who has
Christ will have the truth of Christ. The truth of Christ. What think ye of Christ? Whose
son is he? I know what you think of heaven
and hell, and I know what you think of the Bible, it's the
inspired word of God, and I know what you think of all these,
but what do you think of Christ? Who is this that cometh from
Edom, with garments dyed in blood,
glorious in his apparel, trembling in the greatness of his strength?
Who is he? Who is he? I know who he is.
He's the very God of their God. He's the express image of God's
person. He's the brightness of God's
glory. Who is this King of glory? I
know who he is! He's the one by whom all things
were made, and by whom all things are sustained, and by whom all
things in his good providence will be destroyed. He's the owner
of a cattle on a thousand hills, of gold and silver and every
mine. He's the King of kings and Lord of lords. Who is he?
My Lord and my God, Jesus Christ. God in human flesh, what did
he do? Is it nothing to you? All ye
that pass by, is it nothing to you? Behold and see if there
be any sourer like my sourer with which the Lord has afflicted
me. I've been to Calvary. And that heart that was pierced
was pierced for me, and those hands that were pierced were
pierced for me, and that sweat and blood that flowed mingled
down flowed for me. Why did he do this? Why this awful scene? Why, deserted
by God and man and attacked by demons, why this son of glory
turned over to the demons of hell? Why? that a holy God in
his righteousness and justice might look on an unholy creature
like me and you and say, my son, that's why. That mercy and truth
might meet together, that righteousness and peace might kiss one another,
that heaven might claim its own. that every fallen son might be
brought home, and every straying sheep might be rescued, that
God in his justice and righteousness might be true to that same justice
and righteousness. That's why. Where is he now? I know where he is. He's highly
exalted above every name, above every being, above every creature.
Above all things, and God hath given him a name above every
name, he's at the right hand of the majesty on high. That's
who he is. A man who has Christ doesn't
have another Jesus. He has God's Jesus. A man who
has Christ has God's Christ. And he in awesome, fearful reverence
of his soul bows at his feet and says, My Lord and my God.
And then a man who has Christ has the presence of Christ. Not a representative, but himself. had some things that represented
him, but didn't have him. See what I'm saying? Christ is
not a doctrine, he's a person. Christ is not a theological position,
he's a person. Christ is not a belief, he's
a person. He's a living, real person. He's a controlling, dominating
person. He's an influencing person. He's a controlling person. That's the reason Paul wept over
those people in Galatia. I travail like a woman trying
to deliver a child till Christ be formed in you. I'm afraid
of you, he said, lest I labored among you in vain. God who was pleased to separate
me from my mother's womb was pleased to reveal his Son in
me, Christ in me, the hope of glory. The life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me, Christ liveth in me. Some of us are carrying pictures
of Christ rather than the person of Christ. Some of us are carrying
things that represent him, things that remind of him, things that
resemble him, but the believer has him, him, him, his present. I will be with you. As I said, Christ is our Sabbath.
We don't keep a day, walk with a person. Christ is our law. We don't follow
rules and regulations to please some orthodox fool. Christ is
our law. The love of Christ constraineth
us and restraineth us. A man who has Christ has the
presence of Christ. Thirdly, a man who has Christ
has the spirit of Christ. Paul wrote If any man hath not
the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." Now, I know that means
the Holy Spirit, but is it not also, and I looked up this word,
the Spirit, which means the life principle, the thinking, the
mind, If any man have not the presence of Christ, of course
he's none of his. If any man have not the Holy
Spirit of Christ, of course he's none of his. But if a man have
not the Spirit of Christ, the thinking of Christ, the mind
of Christ, the attitude of Christ, the life principle of Christ,
how can he claim he has Christ? If Christ is the headmaster of
my wagon train, it's moving toward God. If Christ is the pilot of my
ship, it's headed for the haven of rest, that direction. If Christ is the pilot of my
plane, it's headed on the right direction. That's right, the life principle.
Let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus, who
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself
of no reputation. Let this mind be in you, and
took on himself the form of a servant, not the king, the servant. Let
this mind be in you, and became obedient unto death, even the
lowest death. Let this mind be in you, and
it will. He said, you love one another
as I love you, and you will. He said, Be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God for Christ's sake
forgave you, and you will. I've noticed that when a woman
lives with a husband for a number of years, if she is a submissive
wife and in subjection, and is pretty well taken up with him
and loves him, she eventually becomes a whole lot like him. She becomes like him in his expressions,
in his convictions, And I believe if we're married
to Christ and we are a submissive wife, and that's the only kind
he has, we'll take on his expressions and become submissive, take on
his characteristics, take on his principles. He dominates
us. That's what a man does. A very
strong man dominates a woman. And he dominates her so much
and controls her so much that he molds her to be like him. And Christ called 10 million
times more domineering. He said, take my yoke upon you,
but my yoke is pure and perfect and holy and easy. My yoke is
easy. And we want it. We want to take
it up. And we want to be like him. And he controls us. And we have his spirit. I've known men who are so forceful
in their personalities that they dominate a room when they walk
in. They dominate a meeting in which they are involved. They dominate any situation,
either for good or bad. But they are controlling, dominating
personality. Our Lord is Lord where he is. He has the right, he's worthy.
He's worthy. He's not a servant, he's a king.
When he's with men, he's the holiest of men. When he's with
men, he's the wisest of men. When he's with men, he's the
strongest of men. When he's with men, he's the
purest of men. Naturally, he'll control. So I say a man who has Christ
has the Spirit of Christ. And then a man who has Christ,
I'm not talking about the things of Christ, you can sit around
and play with your play partners of religion all your life and
perish without knowing Christ and never know you don't know
Christ. A man who has Christ has the
glory of Christ as his one object and as his delight. David in his last moment, David
in his last words, David in his last hour said, although it be
not so with my house, God has made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things and sure, and this is my salvation and
all my desire, although we make it not to glory. His glory and his presence makes
all that the world is and all that the world has and all that
the world offers fade into nothingness. What is our beauty compared with
him who is the altogether lovely one? Mine eyes have seen the
glory of the coming of the Lord. Mine eyes have seen the glory. What is our food compared to
the living bread? Men talk about feasting on the
things of this world as if it was the living end. It's a living
death what it is. He's the living bread. Sweet
to my taste, huh? What is, where is there to go
after you've been to Calvary? Huh? Where is there to go after you've
been to Calvary? What on earth could ever, could
ever cause you to be taken up with, with it? when you've been to Calvary.
What is there to own when I have the unsearchable riches of Christ? What is the glory of the kings
of this world when I've seen the glory of the King of kings
and Lord of lords? what are the words of men with
all their eloquence and wisdom when I've heard him who speaks
through his word and says to my soul, peace be still. How frail, how empty is our love
compared with that love that loved his own even to the There is no gift like that unspeakable
gift. A man who has Christ knows that
he has in Christ everything. And he's just not controlled
by anything else. He's not dominated by anything. Christ dominates Christ's presence
so thrills him that he's hard to thrill by anything else. It
so excites him that he's hard to excite by anything else. Everything
else, there ain't a comment. He's been with Christ. Let the bride rejoice in the
bridegroom. I've been here a whole lot of
times. Doris says I come in with a frown on my face when I marry
a couple. Well, I know what they're headed
for, you know. I may have a reason I frown. I do. I'm concerned about them. I'm
concerned he'd let them marry, but they'll have sorrow. I'm
concerned about even staying together nowadays. But anyway,
I stand here and look at that girl. And back there in those
things you have back there, you know, everybody stands around
drinks coffee and shakes hands. But I see that girl's got eyes
for one person. That black one. She ain't interested
in her mama or daddy. I said, run get the mama, let
her get in the picture. Who's mama? Well, wait and get
your daddy, honey. Daddy who? She's only interested
in one fella. There he is. And I'm telling
you, Christ is our bridegroom. And you'll have his presence
when he so controls and dominates that you, they're there, but
you don't see them. Not all the time. I don't know whether I'm getting
across what I'm saying or not, but I know what I'm saying. I know what
I'm saying. The Lord Jesus Christ waited
on tables when he was here, but he ain't waiting on tables right
now. He's not your valet. He was your
servant, and he did all that the servant was required to do.
He washed the feet. He ain't washing feet right now.
He's raining. He's the bridegroom. Let the
builder learn of the sure foundation. You better be aware of that foundation.
Your house will fall one of these days. Let the architect discover
the chief cornerstone. Let the doctor Be aware of the
great position. You get sick and lie down there
in the hospital. Aaron's been over at the hospital
for a while. You know who the most important person in all
that experience he had last week was that doctor. That doctor
would walk in the room and Aaron would turn his eyes on him and
start asking him, what about my back? What about the treatment? Now what about this? How am I
going to feel? When will I come back? What are you going to do?
One man. Christ is the great position.
He's the doctor of my soul. He heals my disease. The rest
of these folks are just nurses' aides, running around. You put
up with them because a doctor needs them, that's the only reason.
The farmer, the lord of the harvest, you better find out who it is,
the florist! When he discovers the rose of
Sharon, he puts it on display. He builds his shop around it.
The merchant finds the pearl of great price and sells everything
he's gotten by it. The soldier finds out who the
captain is, the captain of his salvation. The sailor knows who's
the anchor of his soul. The statesman finds out who's
the desire of all nations. The student never becomes a student
until he learns the truth. Christ is the truth. And when
he finds the truth, the center, his Savior, the theologian,
the author and finisher of our faith, if a man has Christ's
presence, Christ dominates, Christ controls each He's Lord,
his glory. Isaiah said, When thou diest,
thou shalt know the Lord, and his glory fill the temple. Not all of it, but one corner,
not half of it, not one-seventh of it or one-tenth of it, but
it fills the temple. His glory fills the temple. And I wouldn't give you that
much for the profession of a man in whom Christ's glory does not
fill the temple. Have we missed Christ? We act on everything else, and
orthodox as the old Jews. That's saying 226.