It is my desire to honor, magnify, and exalt the greatness and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. In my heart's meditation, in my life's deeds, and in my preaching, my goal is that Christ's name be glorified. We worship and serve a great Savior. The Christ I preach is a great Christ. He is "the great God and our Savior." And I want all men to know his greatness. When we think or speak of Christ's greatness, we cannot exaggerate. He deserves infinitely higher praise than we can ever give him. Even the angels who continually chant his praise in glory fail to declare the greatness and the glory of the Son of God. And those sinners saved by grace, though they sing the Redeemer's praise better than the angels, even in their glorified bodies shall not be able to praise Christ as he ought to be praised. "Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised!" Great in His compassion – His covenant – His condescension – His crucifixion – His conquests – His coming.
The tendency today is for preachers to declare the "greatness of man". Just last Sunday evening I heard the pastor of Danville's First Baptist Church proclaiming man's greatness, defending what he called "the sacred will of man!" I suppose the servants of men must proclaim their master's greatness. And I know that it pleases proud rebels to hear their pulpit puppets proclaim the great "sacredness" of their free-will. But the sheep of Christ choke on such rubbish. They cannot digest the slop that swine eat. You will never hear a servant of Christ declaring the greatness of man, or the "sacredness" of man's will. Those who serve Christ declare Christ's greatness. We consider no will sacred but the will of God. We preach up Christ and down man. Those who preach up man and preach down Christ are false prophets, hirelings, deceivers of men's souls. I cannot find words scathing enough to describe my abhorrence of such villains. Those who have high opinions of men will have low opinions of sin, redemption, grace, and salvation. Their high thoughts of man and low thoughts of Christ will bring them down to hell. Enough of that!
Child of God, let your thoughts of Christ ever be high. Ask God to cause your estimation of Christ's greatness and glory to be ever expanding and never diminishing, and your thoughts of self to be ever diminishing and never expanding. Let your heart's cry ever be, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). If we have high, lofty, grand thoughts of Christ, we will obtain a proper understanding of all other things. In the light of Christ's great love and sin-atoning sacrifice we see the depths of our degradation and sin. We hate our sin, which wounded Immanuel and made it necessary for him to die, only to the extent that we know the value of Christ's atoning blood. When we form some adequate opinion of what Christ has done for us by his almighty grace, our gratitude and love toward him will grow. And grateful love for Christ compels us to consecrate ourselves more and more to Christ. And the more fully we give ourselves to Christ, the more bold we will be in speaking for Christ, and the more willing we will be to suffer with Christ. Our great Savior compels us to surrender everything to him willingly, never imagining that we have made any sacrifice at all.
Entertain great thoughts of Christ, and you will have great delight in him. A great Savior gives a great sense of security to those who trust him. And that sense of security promotes, not licentiousness, but dedication. It produces great joy and peace, which keeps the heart ever leaning upon Christ. If you would rise above the cares of earth and the test of time, you must set your affection on Christ and let your thoughts of him be elevated. Earth diminishes as Christ rises. The way to grow in grace is to let your thoughts of Christ grow.
My singular object tonight is to set before you the greatness and glory of our ever-living God and Savior. I want to set him before you by the power of the Holy Spirit "high and lifted up." With every word, I want to inspire your heart to –
My God make Christ glorious in your heart tonight! I know of no better way to show you Christ's glory than to give you our Lord's own description of his glorious Being. This is how the glorified Christ described himself to John. "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore. Amen." Divisions:
In the words of our text the Lord Jesus Christ tells us three things about himself.
I. Hear these words, "I am he that liveth," and be assured of this blessed fact – Our Dear Savior Is Alive!
That great God who came into this world as a man, that God-man who lived as our Representative to establish righteousness for us and died as our Substitute to put away our sins, that very same God-man is alive today! Now, the thing I want you to see is this – Christ is the same today as he was when he was here. It is true, he has undergone the great change of glorification, but he is essentially the same. His nature, his heart, his love, his will, his grace, and his purpose are all unchanged – (Heb. 13:8). He who now is the Light of heaven is the same Christ who was born at Bethlehem. He who now sits upon the throne of glory is the very same Christ who stilled the troubled waters, healed the sick, fed the hungry, and raised the dead. He who is now clothed with majesty is the very same Christ who bore our sins in his body on the tree.
Just mediate for a few minutes on the character of our Lord during those forty days between his resurrection and ascension. Those forty days of his glory on earth will serve as a picture of our Savior's character today. It seems that Christ made it a point to show us five things about himself after his resurrection. By his gracious appearance to his disciples, he seems to have said, "What I am now I will forever be."
A. The Risen Christ Was Loving, Tender, And Forgiving Toward His Sinful People.
Remember, all had forsaken him. All were overcome with a sinful unbelief. The only one of our Lord's disciples who seems to have understood and believed what he taught about his death and resurrection at the time was Mary Magdalene, who anointed him for his burial. Yet, his love was unquenched. His forgiveness was free. His tenderness was evident.
My brethren, that is just the way our Savior is now. His heart is full of love, tenderness, and forgiveness toward his erring disciples!
B. During those forty days after the resurrection, Our Lord Was Constantly With His Beloved Church.
The gospel writers tell us only of certain appearances. He revealed himself to them whenever they met. When one searched for him, she found him. When two or three gathered to talk of him, he was present. When the twelve met, he was there. When five hundred gathered in his name, immediately he appeared. And I am sure that there were other bodily appearances that are not recorded. But by those appearances, our Lord was tenderly assuring his people of these things:
1. My eye is always upon you.
2. My hand will always provide for you.
3. My arm will always protect you.
4. As often as you gather in my name, whether many or few, I am in the midst of you.
5. Wherever you go, I am with you.
That is exactly the character of our Savior today (Phil. 4:4).
C. After his resurrection, Christ Opened The Scriptures And Taught His Disciples Things Concerning Himself.
It is not true today? When Christ is our Teacher, our hearts burn within us as he talks to us about himself!
D. Our Lord's Heart Was Full of Grace Toward Helpless Perishing Sinners – (Luke 24:47).
E. And just before he ascended, Our Savior Told His Disciples That The Success Of Their Labor Was Entirely Dependent Upon The Power Of The Holy Spirit – (Luke 24:99).
Do you understand what I am saying? Christ in glory today is exactly the same as he was when he was here upon the earth.
II. When our Lord spoke to John he said, "I am he that liveth, and was dead." With those words we are taught that Christ's Work Of Redemption As Our Substitute Is Finished.
Our Savior is alive, but he was dead. And his death was the death of death. Much could and should be said about this subject, but I will be brief. I will just make four statements about the death of Christ.
A. The Death Of Christ Made A Complete And Final Atonement For Sin – (Heb. 10:10-14)
"Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died!"
B. The Love Which Compelled Our Lord To Die For Us Is Still The Lord Which Rules The Heart Of Him Who Rules The World.
C. The Purpose For Which Christ Died Will Certainly Be Accomplished.
I am not among those who think that the result of Christ's death hangs in jeopardy. I believe, according to the Scriptures, that everything our Lord intended to do by his death shall be done. There shall not be one soul lost for whom Christ died. He has paid the debt for his elect; and his elect cannot be charged with their sins. The law and justice of God will not allow it. It is nothing short of blasphemy to suggest that the Son of God was born into this world, lived, and died for the purpose of saving any who are not saved by his grace.
D. The Merit of Christ's Atoning Sacrifice Is Eternally Effectual.
Our Savior died once, two thousand years ago. But his blood is just as fresh, meritorious, and acceptable to God as if it had been shed this afternoon. If you come to God upon the grounds of Christ's merit, you cannot be turned away.
III. These three things, I want you to remember.And Our Lord's Mediatorial Rule Shall Not Fail. He says, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; behold, I am alive for evermore. Amen. " That is to say, "I shall never die again. I will reign forever and ever, to accomplish my purpose as the covenant Head and Mediator of my people."
A. This Great, Everlasting Savior Is Able To Save All Who Come To God By Him – (Heb. 7:25).
B. Our Sovereign Lord Will Fulfill All His Covenant Engagements – (Isa. 42:1-4; 53:10-12).
C. The Ever Living Christ Will Subdue All His Enemies. Application: Psalm 2:1-12*