Witness of Christ

Now, the first and chief witness
of Christ is, of course, the Holy Spirit. Men today do not
understand the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's work
is not to make you feel good. The Holy Spirit's work is to
reveal Christ to you. The Holy Spirit's work is not
to manifest himself or his name, but to glorify the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, let me show you that. Turn
to the book of John, chapter 15. In John the 15th chapter,
reading verse 26 and 27, our Lord is speaking of the work
and ministry of the Holy Spirit. And he says in John 15, 26, But
when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the
Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father,
he shall testify of me. He shall testify of me. And you also shall bear witness. Now turn to John 16, verse 12,
right across the page. John 16, verse 12. Our Lord speaking
to his disciples about his death, his burial, his resurrection,
and his ascension back to the Father. And he says in verse
12, I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear
them. You cannot understand them now.
You cannot cope with them now. Howbeit when he, and the Holy
Spirit is not an it, the Holy Spirit is a person, when he,
the Holy Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into
all truth. For he shall not speak of himself,
that's not his mission, that's not his ministry, to call attention
to himself. He shall not speak of himself,
but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he'll
show you things to come. He shall glorify me." Christ
said the Holy Spirit ministry and message and mission is to
glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and shall show it to
you. But now did you know a moment
ago when the Lord Jesus introduced the work of the Holy Spirit and
the mission of the Holy Spirit, he shall testify of me, he shall
glorify me, he shall take the things of mine and show them
to you, he also said this. And you also shall bear witness.
And you also shall bear witness. I can't think of a more honorable
office, I cannot think of a more important work, than to bear
witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. I remember reading a story one
time about the great missionary William Carey. William Carey
was a pioneer missionary. God used him mightily over in
the land of Burma and surrounding areas. Preached there for many
years. In fact, William Carey preached there for seven years
without ever seeing a convert. But not discouraged, knowing
that God's word would not return void, he remained there for many,
many, many years. Well, he had a son. The son's
name was Felix. Felix was an intelligent young
man. Felix was a popular young man. Felix was a missionary like
his father. But the Queen of England appointed
Felix ambassador to India. Now, that's a pretty important
post. That's a pretty important position. And most of us fathers,
if we heard that our sons had been appointed by the king or
the queen or the president or some ruler to be his personal
ambassador to a foreign country, we would be elated, we would
be thrilled. Not William Carey. When the word came to him that
his son Felix, the missionary, the preacher of the gospel, had
been appointed ambassador to India by the Queen herself, these
were his remarks. Poor Felix. Poor Felix. He has shriveled from a missionary
to an ambassador. A witness for Christ. I can't
think of a more honorable office, can you? The King's personal
witness. I cannot think of a more important
work than the witness for Christ. What a privilege! But what a
responsibility! What an honor! But my, what a
burden! What a joy! What a delight! But
if we realize what we are about, we have to say, how frightening! Ye, listen to this, ye are witnesses,
ye are my witnesses. Christ said ye shall be witnesses
unto me. In Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria,
and to the uttermost parts of the earth, ye are my witnesses.
Now listen to this. And I want especially the young
ministers in the congregation to hear this this morning. We're
not inventors of the gospel, we are witnesses of the gospel.
Listen to Paul in Galatians 1, turn there with me, Galatians
chapter 1. It's not my gospel in the sense
that I invented it. We're not inventors of the gospel,
we are witnesses of the gospel. In Galatians 1 verse 11, Paul
said this, I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached
of me is not from man. That's not where I got it. I
didn't receive it of man, I wasn't taught it by man, but by the
revelation of Jesus Christ. This is not a Baptist gospel
I'm preaching, or a Methodist gospel, or a Catholic gospel,
or a Jewish gospel. This is the gospel of God. This
is not man's creed that we're preaching. John said this, this
is the message which we've heard of him and preached to you. God's gospel. We're not ambassadors
of a denomination. We're ambassadors of a Lord.
We're sent as His witnesses. We didn't invent this gospel.
It didn't come from man. Paul said, I didn't receive it
of man. I didn't learn it from man. I
wasn't taught it by man. This is God's gospel. We're ambassadors
and witnesses of the Son of God. Now there's a sense in which
a pastor is the servant of the people. But there's a sense in
which he is not the people's servant, he's the Lord's servant.
There's a sense in which we who are witnesses of Christ want
to serve our fellow man, but we are servants of the living
God. And then secondly, we're not
revealers of the gospel. And this is the hardest thing
we have to learn. Look at Galatians 1.15. Now Paul's speaking again. We're not revealers of the gospel.
We want to, you know, we want to explain it to people. When
God the Holy Ghost opens our eyes, we want to open theirs.
But it takes the same Holy Spirit to open the eyes of the man to
whom you're witnessing as it took to open your eyes. Our ears
have been unstopped and we've heard his voice and his word.
And what we want to do is employ carnal methods and carnal means
to open other men's ears. Our hearts have been enlightened
and illuminated by the Holy Spirit and we're so zealous That we
want to do for them what no one could do for us, but God the
Spirit. We want to accomplish for them
what no one could accomplish for us, it took the Holy Spirit.
We want to explain these things. I know some of you have experienced
this, I've experienced it myself. The gospel is so clear to me,
that I sit out across the table from a person and I say, now
watch this, Adam fell, you understand that? and guilt and sin and death
and disease and darkness came upon all men. I can just see
Adam transgressing the law of God, and I can see him falling
away from the truth and darkness coming upon his soul and death
entering in and spiritual life leaving, and it's so clear to
me in how it was brought down by imputation and by impartation
to all of his posterity. I say, you see that now? I don't
see that. I don't believe that. And how
that Jesus Christ the Lord came down here into the world, and
how He was our representative, and how as the God-man in the
flesh, He obeyed the law, went to the cross, and died that God
might be just and justify the ungodliness. You see that? That's
so clear. You see it? That's the way it is. I'm doing the best I can for
you. But that's not the way God saves. It's not by works of righteousness,
but by His mercy. Well, I've been a member of the
church for years, but that's not the way God says. But preacher,
I was baptized when I was a kid. And you just want to, you want
to, we're not explainers of the gospel. We're witnesses. Look at Galatians 1.15. When
it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and
called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me. It takes God to reveal Christ.
The natural man receiveth not the things of God. And as long
as he's a natural man, he'll receive the things of the church,
he'll receive the things of the preachers, he'll receive the
things of religion, but not the things of God. It's a foolishness
to him. The world by wisdom knows not
God. And you can preach and explain
until you're blue in the face. Until you've worn out not only
your voice, but your welcome. And they can't see. They have
eyes, Christ said, but they don't see. They have ears, but they
don't hear. They have hearts, but they can't understand. Unless
the Holy Spirit reveals it. Not so. Well, let's get this
through our heads. Our heads are so thick, spiritually.
But we're not inventors of the gospel. We're witnesses. We're not revealers of the gospel,
we're witnesses. And we're not provers of the
gospel. Prove this to me. I heard a young
preacher this morning on the radio. I came over to church
early, and then I went back home to eat some breakfast. And on
the way home, I tuned in the radio, and he was proving that
there was a God. And brother, he was really having
a hard time. Now that is, that's sitting out
across the Pacific in a canoe, to try to prove there's a God.
Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 1, verse 20. 1 Corinthians 1,
verse 20. We're not provers, but preachers.
Proclaimers of the gospel. You cannot prove to the satisfaction
of a natural man that there is a God. God has to reveal himself. In 1 Corinthians 1 verse 20,
listen to this. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world? Had not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For
after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew
not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching. to
save them that believe. Listen to that in the amplified
version. Listen to this. Where is the
wise man? Where is the philosopher? Where
is the scholar? Where is the investigator? Where
is the logician, the debater of this age? Hath not God shown
up to nonsense and folly of this world's wisdom? For when the
world, with all its earthly wisdom, fail to know God by its own philosophy,
God in his wisdom was pleased through the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. For the Jews ask for signs and
miracles and the Greeks seek philosophy and wisdom, but we
preach Christ crucified, which is to the Jew a stumbling block
and to the Greek sheer nonsense, but to those who are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom
of God. So when our Lord said, you are
my witnesses, he's not saying that we are inventors of the
gospel, but witnesses. We're not revealers of the gospel,
but witnesses. We're not provers of the gospel,
but witnesses. Now there are true witnesses
and false witnesses. Christ warns about false witnesses.
He said, Beware of false prophets. Paul warned about false witnesses.
He says in 1 Corinthians 15, If Christ be not risen, we are
false witnesses of God. And then Peter warned about the
false prophets. He said, They shall come. Well,
let's see what a true witness is. Let's go back to Luke 24. I want to show you several verses
here. Now, what a true witness of Christ is and what it requires. First of all, a true witness
of Christ must himself, this is as vital as anything I'm going
to say, a true witness of Christ must himself have a personal
encounter with Christ. Now that's right, you can't talk
about conviction of sin if you've never been convicted. You cannot
talk about the grace of God unless you have partaken of the grace
of God. You cannot talk about the glory
of Christ until that glory has been revealed to your soul. You
cannot talk about the peace that Christ gives until you have entered
into that peace. You cannot talk about the perfect,
sufficient work of Christ if you have not yourself had that
work revealed in your heart. Now that's so. Look at Luke 24,
verse 36, and that's what our Lord's doing here, 36 through
40. And as he thus spake, Jesus himself! Not his doctrines, not his books.
And we preachers better be careful out here. You can enter the ministry
like anybody else enters any other kind of profession. Just
like a doctor takes the writings of other men and studies the
body and becomes a doctor. A man can enter the ministry
or a woman can try to be a witness of Christ and she can take the
books of theology and the doctrines and the orthodoxy and the requirements
of religion and study these things and become very proficient at
these things and never be a witness of Christ. You've got to meet
him, Jesus himself. Not his doctrines, not his laws,
not his ceremonies. I could put on the robes of any
denomination. and take the candles, and the
cups, and the plates, and the platters, and the wafers, and
the rituals, and learn the Latin, and the Greek, and all these
things, and go through the mumbo-jumbo of some religious ritual or service,
and people feel real religious in that atmosphere. Never be
a witness of Christ. You've got to meet Him. And Jesus
Himself stood in their midst. He said, Peace be unto you. Peace be unto you. They were
terrified and affrighted, and they supposed they'd seen a spirit,
and he said, Why are you troubled? Why do thoughts arise in your
heart? Behold my hands and my feet, it's I myself. Touch me. Touch me. I like that song, He
Touched Me. He touched me. A witness for
Christ has got to personally have an encounter with Christ,
or he's wasting his time and everybody else's time. And he
tries to make proselytes to religion, or proselytes to doctrine, or
proselytes to a system, and Christ said, you come from sea and land
to make a proselyte, and after you've made him, he's two-fold
more the child of hell than you are. My motive is all wrong unless
I have one motive, and that is that you may know Christ. Secondly,
a true witness must have a personal encounter with Christ, the Redeemer
himself. And then secondly, a true witness
must understand the scriptures. Look, if you will, on down here
at verse 44. Now, I don't claim to be a doctor
of divinity. I think that's one of the I don't
know, I maybe better not say too much along that line, but
we're not experts on the Scripture by no means, by any stretch of
the imagination. We're not experts on the Scripture. But I'm telling you this, a man
who is a witness for Christ has got to have his understanding
opened by the Holy Spirit and be enabled of the Holy Spirit
to see Christ in the scriptures. And that's what we're saying,
to see Christ in the scriptures. I can't tell you the name of
every king of of Israel and how long he reigned, and I cannot
tell you how long it took the children of Israel to go from
Egypt to the Promised Land. I cannot tell you how many days
transpired between the falling of the walls and the coming of
the Messiah. I cannot tell you. Those things are unimportant.
Important things. Look at verse 44. Now listen
to our Lord. He said to them, These are the words that I spake
to 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." Now you want to be a witness for
Christ? Ask God the Holy Spirit to let you see Christ in the
Scriptures. In the Law, in the writings of
Moses, in the Prophets, that you might see Christ. Don't become
bogged down with how long the Ark was. What kind of wood it
was made out of, how wide it was, how high it was. Saturate
yourself in this truth, that art was Christ. Don't become
bogged down about how many times Moses hit the rock, how wide
the flow of water was that came out of the rock, how deep the
water was, how long it lasted, what difference does it make?
That rock was Christ. not how long the brazen serpent
was, it's not how high it was lifted in the air, that serpent
was Christ. And this is what people are being,
that Satan is just absolutely mowing our feet down in the quicksand
of our intellectualism and all these other isms and ologies
and doctrines, and we're missing the person. person and the glory
of that person. He opened their understanding
that they might understand the scriptures, his place in them. And then thirdly, a witness not
only must have a personal encounter with Christ, he must understand
the scriptures. And I don't mean you've got to
be able to, I bet you most people in here couldn't name the twelve
apostles. And I hear these people on quiz
programs. This man, he selects a Bible
as his topic or his particular question and answer period. Now,
this man is going to answer it so they ask him, name the twelve
apostles. Boy, he just rattles them off.
And somebody says, boy, he knows his Bible. Yeah, he may do it
and not know the Lord. And so many folks are bogged
down with a mental agreement to facts and doctrine and miss
the person, the person. And then the third thing, a true
witness has got to have a message. He's got to have a message. And
that message is given in verse 46 and 47. And he said to them,
Thus it is written and thus it behooved Christ to suffer and
to rise from the dead the third day, that repentance and remission
of sin should be preached in his name. This is my message. My friends, there is a door,
and that door is Christ. My friends, there is a fountain,
and that fountain is Christ. My friends, there is a city of
refuge, there is a ransom, there is a redeemer, there is a way,
and that one is Christ. I want to give you a four-fold
summary now of our message. I hope you won't grow weary.
I'm going to take just a few minutes now and give you a four-fold
summary of our witness. We're witnesses. We're witnesses. We're not inventors of the gospel.
We're not revealers of the gospel. We're not provers of the gospel.
We're witnesses. And a witness disqualifies himself if he doesn't
have a personal encounter with Christ. You can't introduce me
to somebody you don't know. That's right. He must have a personal encounter
with Christ. He must see Christ as Christ is revealed in the
scriptures. Don't come to me with, I think,
I believe, I've heard. Come to me with what God says.
You see, a witness, a good witness of Christ has a personal encounter
with Christ. the Christ of the Scriptures.
He understands Christ in the Scriptures. That's right. And
he has a message. God's given him a message, and
this is what it is. Number one, we are witnesses
of the facts of his incarnation. Now turn to 1 John, chapter 4.
1 John 4. Now listen, we are witnesses
of the facts of his incarnation. 1 John 4, verse 2. Hereby know ye the Spirit of
God. You got it? 1 John 4, verse 2. Hereby know
ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. This is a faithful saying. Christ
Jesus came into the world. He made the world and he was
in the world. In Genesis 3.15, God announced
the woman's seed. That's what scripture says in
Genesis 3.15, the woman's seed shall come. In Deuteronomy 18.15,
Moses said God will raise up a prophet, capital P-R-O. And when he talks about human
prophets in small letters, when he talks about Christ, it's a
capital letter. And you shall listen to him. In Job 19.25,
Job said, My Redeemer will stand on this earth. In Haggai 2.7,
the desire of all nations shall come. Malachi 3.1, the Lord himself
shall come to his temple. Isaiah 7.14, the Lord will give
you a sign, a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son, and thou
shalt call his name Immanuel, God with us. Isaiah 9.6, unto
us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and his name shall
be called Wonderful Counselor, the Everlasting Father, the Mighty
God. What am I saying? Now listen,
this is what I'm saying. I want it to be clearly understood.
This is what a true witness will say. What am I saying? I'm saying
that 2,000 years ago, in Bethlehem's manger, a child was born. A child
was born to the descendants of David, Mary, and Joseph. And that child's father was not
Joseph. That child was conceived in Mary's womb by the Holy Ghost.
And that child lived on this earth and grew up in Nazareth
and worked in a carpenter shop. And as a man, he lived an absolutely
perfect life. He preached, he taught, he went
about doing good. And that man, when he was 33
years old, was tried for blasphemy. And he was nailed to a cross
outside the walls of Jerusalem. And they took him down from the
cross and buried him in a tomb that belonged to a man called
Joseph of Arimathea. And on the third day, he rose
from the dead. And forty days later, he led his disciples out
to the Mount of Olives and he ascended back to heaven. Who
is this man? Well, here's what I'm saying
to you, and this is what God's Word says. That man is God Almighty. A man, yes, but more, the God-man. A preacher, yes, but more, that
prophet. A priest, yes, but more, the
great high priest. having no beginning of days and
no end of days, having no mother or father, priest forever." Now,
who he was? A king? Yes, but more, king of
kings. A sacrifice? Yes, but more, that
one great sacrifice to which all of the sacrifice pointed.
A lamb? Yes, but more, the Lamb of God. Now, a good witness will make
that clear. And he'll not back up. He'll not back up. Who is Jesus Christ? That crowd
took up stones to stone him one day, and he said, Now wait a
minute. Many good works have I done among you. For which of
them do you stone me? And they said, We're not stoning
you for good work. We're stoning you because you are a man, and
you claim to be God. They understood what he was saying.
Do you understand what I'm saying? I'm saying that Jesus Christ
of the manger, of the Judean hillside, of the Galilee seashore,
Jesus Christ of the well in Samaria, Jesus Christ of the cross of
Calvary, Jesus Christ of the open tomb, is none other than
God himself in human flesh. Secondly, we are witnesses of
the facts of his incarnation, God in the flesh. He had all
the attributes of God. Eternal existence, only God's
eternal, Christ said, I am. Before Abraham was, I am. Holiness,
our Lord said, which of you convinces me of sin? Omniscience, he knew
all things, he knew their thoughts. Omnipresence, he said, Nathanael,
I saw you over there on the fig tree, many miles from there.
Nathanael was amazed. He said to the sea, be still. And even the waves obey his voice.
The power to give life, only God can create and give life,
and yet the Son says the Son quickeneth whom he will. He's
God Almighty. And I'll tell you this, if he's
not God, if Jesus Christ is not God, he's the biggest liar that
ever walked on two feet. If Jesus Christ is not God, he's
the greatest imposter this world's ever seen. If Jesus Christ is
not God, his bones are over there in Jerusalem right now, if somebody
could find them. If Jesus Christ is not God, his
soul is in hell, because he was a liar. That's right. And if Jesus Christ is not God,
everybody here that worships him or anywhere else is an idolater. He's worshiping a creature instead
of the Creator. Huh? Now boy, I'll tell you,
when you get on that subject, you're on a powerful subject.
Let's look back Now listen to this, we are witnesses of the
fact of his incarnation. Secondly, we are witnesses of
the results of his coming. What's God doing on the earth?
All right? Suppose, preacher, what you're
saying is so, that that man is God Almighty in human flesh.
What's he doing on the earth? Why did he come down here to
this earth and live here as a man? Why is this? Tell me. All right. I won't have you look it up.
Our time is slipping away. Matthew 1.21 says this, the angel
announcing the birth of Christ said to Joseph, Thou shalt call
his name Jesus. For he shall save his people
from their sins. That's why God came down here.
That's why he came. That's what he's doing down here.
He came down here to save his people from their sins. All right? Luke 19, 10. The Lord Jesus speaks
here and he says, For the Son of Man is come to seek and to
save them that are lost. That's what he's doing down here.
2 Corinthians 5, 19, He who knew
no sin was made sin for us, in order that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him. That's why He came down here.
God decreed from all eternity to have a people. That's right.
God Almighty from the foundation of this world gave the Son a
people. He decreed to have a people.
He purposed to have a people. And he purposed that those people
should be like Christ, that those people should live always in
glory with him. Now listen to me. Two things
stood between God and having those people. Two things stood
between God showing his love and his mercy to those people.
Two things stood between God and those people becoming his.
Two things that even God couldn't ignore. What were they? His holy law and his righteous
justice. That's right. Almighty God is
love. God is mercy. God is grace. And out there are people upon
whom he has set that love, and upon whom he has set that mercy,
and upon whom he has set that grace. But two things stand between
him and a manifestation of that love and a manifestation of that
grace and that mercy. What are they? His holy law. Scripture tells us that God's
law must be obeyed. It must be. Who shall stand in
his presence? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart. How good does a man have to be
to go to heaven? Listen to me. As good as God. That's right. How good does a
man have to be? You say you're doing the best
you can? My friend, it won't measure up. You sin and come
short of God's glory. And if you're going to stand
in God's presence on the merits of your goodness and your righteousness
and your works, they better be as good as Christ's righteousness
and Christ's goodness and Christ's works. And I'll tell you another thing
that stood in God's way of redeeming sinners was his justice. He said,
I will in no wise clear the guilty. You know what he said? God said,
the soul that sinneth it shall die. Now, God didn't say it might
die or it ought to die or it should die or it could die or
it might die. He said, it shall die. Sin bringeth
forth death. God said that. Did God lie? Will God take his word back?
No, so he won't. So these two things. There's
the object of his love, there's the object of his mercy, there's
the object of his grace, right there. How's he going to save
them? His law won't let him show mercy
without righteousness. His justice won't let him clear
the guilty. So what does he do? Himself goes
down there in the flesh, on the earth, and becomes a man. Now
turn to Galatians 4 and look at this. Galatians chapter 4,
God himself robed himself in human flesh and became a man
subject to his own law. And in Galatians 4 verse 4, 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 sons. He came
down here and what his law demanded, he did. as a man, just like you,
Bob, in human flesh. Hands and feet and eyes and ears
and nose and mouth and heart, he thirsted, he wearied, he hungered,
he grew tired, he was a man of sorrow, he was acquainted with
grief, he was tested in all points as we are, yet he never sinned. And he did that for me and for all
who believed. That's why he was our representative.
He did that for us. By the disobedience of Adam we
fell, by the obedience of Christ we live. And then he went to
the cross and there he stretched forth his hands and took the
nails and the spear and shed his blood and died under the
wrath of his own justice. And he died for us. You see,
now one objection, preacher, one objection. You're talking
about one man, one person, satisfying the law for millions of people.
And one person bearing all the hell and wrath and judgment for
millions of people. How can that be? One answer. Because of who he is. Because
of who he is. Infinite holiness. infinite righteousness,
infinite deity, and he's the only one who can satisfy infinite
requirements. That's right. That's the reason
hell is eternal, because man can never satisfy God's righteousness,
God's holiness, and God's justice. And eternity will not satisfy
it. But Christ, at one time, by one
offering, because of who he is, could meet every requirement,
who he is. All right, the third thing, quickly,
we are witnesses of the sufficiency of his work. Now, I want you
to understand what I'm saying here. I want you to understand
this. I do not preach the person and
work of Christ as an attempt on the part of God to save anybody.
This poor lady I heard preaching on the radio this morning, I
heard another one, I listen to a lot of them, but she said, oh, God
does all he can do. God put forth every effort He
knows how. Now it's up to you. Brother, I'll tell you, Christ
didn't come down here to make an effort to do anything. Now
I want this to be understood as clear as I can make it. The
person and work of Jesus Christ is not an attempt, it's not an
effort, it's not a partial payment on the part of God, it's not
a work that He did that sits up there on the shelf and waits
for you to make it effectual. What God promised, he performed. What Christ came to do, he did. What Jesus Christ set out to
accomplish, he accomplished. He cannot fail. Let me show you
that. Turn to Hebrews 10. Hebrews chapter
10. And we're witnesses of these
things. We don't preach a defeated Christ. We preach a victorious
Christ. He's the King. He's the King
when he died. He said in Hebrews 10, now listen,
this man, verse 12, this man, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. You know
why the Old Testament priest always stood about his ministry?
He stood in the court, he stood in the holy place, he stood in
the holy of holies. There wasn't a chair in the tabernacle.
You know why? His work was never finished.
never finished. When he offered the morning sacrifice,
he had to come back and offer the evening sacrifice. When he
offered the Friday sacrifice, he had to offer the Saturday
sacrifice. When he offered the monthly sacrifice, he had to
offer the next month. And they died and other people
took their place, but when Christ offered one sacrifice, he sat
down. He finished his work. He said,
it's finished. Expecting until his enemies become
his footstool. Turn to Isaiah chapter 53. Isaiah
53. Listen to this. You're familiar
with the Scripture. He was wounded for our transgressions,
bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. Are you familiar
with the rest of that chapter? Listen to verse 10, Isaiah 53.
It pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. He shall prolong
his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. And by his knowledge shall my
righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities."
What our Lord came to do, he did. What our Lord came to accomplish,
he accomplished. His atoning sacrifice is not
an example. only, a provision only, it's
a work of substitution and satisfaction. He took my place. If he paid
my debt, I don't owe it. If he put away my sins, they're
put away. If he took my hell, it doesn't await me. If he took
my judgment, there is therefore now no judgment to them who are
in Christ Jesus. Last of all, turn to Romans 1
We're witnesses of the facts of his incarnation, we're witnesses
of the results of his coming, we're witnesses of the sufficiency
of his work, and fourthly, we're witnesses
of the power of his grace. Romans 1.16 says, I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, it's the power of God, the dynamite,
the dunamis, the power of God unto salvation. If any man be
in Christ, he's a new creature. Brethren, if all we know about
Christ is doctrine, I'm afraid we haven't met Christ.
Now, we can preach an inward peace because we have experienced
it. We can preach an assurance. Paul
said, I am persuaded he's able to keep that which I've committed
to him against that day. He said he is able to raise my
vile body and conform it perfectly to his own. He's able! Paul could preach that because
he experienced it. We preach a hope which we possess.
We preach a love that's shed abroad in our hearts. We preach
a joy which God has given to us. We preach Christ and him
crucified because we have sat at his feet. It's a power that only he has
and can give. And I'll tell you this, the church
and the preacher and the denomination and the doctrines and all these
things can give you a religious experience or a religious profession. or a religious reputation that
only Christ can give you life, and peace, and joy, and love,
and hope. That's the fruit of His Spirit.
That's the fruit of His Spirit. I often think about old Lazarus,
you know, when he died, and they put him in that grave, and they
put a sheet on him, and they put spices all over him, and
they did what they could for him. They did what they could.
And then our Lord came and stood himself before the open tomb,
and he did for Lazarus what Lazarus or nobody else could do for himself
or for him. He gave him life. He said, Lazarus,
come forth. And that's what I'm waiting on.
I'm waiting on God to come himself and stand before this open sepulchre
and say, Joe, Bill, Mary, Martha, Betty, live. Has he done that for you? I hope
if he has, you'll rejoice and praise him, which you will. I
hope if he hasn't, you'll ask him to. Lord, give me life.

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Witness of Christ

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