Well, amen. It's a blessing to be back here tonight. It's been a rainy, dreary day, but it's good to be alive in the rain, isn't it? I'd rather be alive in the rain than dead in the sunshine. Amen. You know, there was a problem in the town hall in a hardware store in a church with squirrels getting in the buildings. Mayor said, I'll get some cats. He got some cats and brought them and got rid of the squirrels. The squirrels left. Well, the cats got in the city files and tore all the files up. So he said, well, I got to get rid of these cats. Well, he did and the squirrels came back. The guy at the hardware store, you know, he said, well, you know, we're going to be a little bit more conscious about how we treat animals. We'll trap them. We'll move them somewhere else. and release them somewhere else in the wild, and that'll take care of the problem. Well, he did that, and in a few weeks, the squirrels came back. And in the church that had a problem with them, they came up with a novel idea. They baptized them, put their names on the church row, and they only came back for Christmas and Easter. That's it. That's about the way Christians are, amen? So if we don't see you before then, Merry Christmas. Turn to John chapter one tonight. I appreciate the privilege I've had being here and I have had great liberty preaching here and that's a testament to your pastor. Sometimes a pastor don't want you to have liberty. I'm serious. There are some churches, the pastor, if someone is blessed through someone besides him, he's jealous of it. God forbid. And look, if the Lord had you preaching, I'd hold your coat and pray for you. And this is not a, man, we're trying to help people. It's not about us. But I appreciate Brother Decker and his wife and their children and they love this church, I know that. And they love this ministry and love you. So thank the Lord for them. And we've put them on our prayer list, been praying for them, not that we're anything special or anything like that, I'm not trying to boast or anything like that, but we do try to pray for people. And I don't even know how to pray for people sometimes. I just do like Paul the Apostle said, four times though, Paul said, making mention of you in my prayers. And so if I just make mention of you, put God in remembrance of you, he said, put me in remembrance. That's what the thief said, remember me. And look what he got. He got forgiveness of sin, paradise, born again, He didn't ask for all that. He just said, remember me. And so we put God in remembrance and ask him to remember you and he sees all your need. We appeal to his great omniscience and his power and trust him to do exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or think. And so you pray for us. We covet your prayers. And man, I'm telling you, I've seen the Lord do so many things through prayer. Amen. And so we'll be praying for this church and Brother Decker and his family, Brother Nick and Miss Emily and all the church here. Thank you again for your hospitality and all the accommodations, the wonderful meals. The meal tonight was delicious, thank you. You have treated us like kings and we appreciate it and we thank you for it. We don't take it for granted. We appreciate it. We're in the gospel of John chapter one. Brother Nick, I'm sorry, he's heard me preach some of these messages. I think he said he'd heard the message on the cup how many times? Three or four times. But he said, I believe it was better tonight than it was the last time. But you know the Lord, when God gives you a message that he uses, how many of you use the same lawnmower? Amen. How many sleep in the same bed? Amen. And so, you know, if God uses something, and the Lord burdens your heart with it, go with it, amen. We're in John 1, verse 1. The Bible says, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. Now, us Bible-believing Baptists, we have several distinctives that adorn our faith, and probably one of the most important is we believe in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that our Savior was God, That's what we believe, amen. We don't believe He's a created God. We believe He's co-equal, co-eternal, co-existent with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. According to John 1 through verse 4 here, 1 through 4, our Lord existed before He came into the world. He was the creator. All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made. And the Bible says that concerning our Lord in Hebrews chapter 1 and it says, By whom also He made the worlds, the Creator was Christ. That's what the Bible teaches. And the Bible says there in verse 14, if you look at it carefully, it's a very important passage. It says, and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And so that verse of scripture touches upon the doctrine of the incarnation. And of course that's a theological word that people use to note the coming of Christ in the flesh. And so our Lord existed before he came into the world and he literally clothed himself in human nature. He drew near to us in our own nature. That's what the Lord did. He drew near to us in our own nature. And the Bible says he took upon himself, he was the seed of Abraham and took upon himself the likeness of men. Sin accepted, he was not a sinful human being. He was virgin born, bypassed the fallen nature of Adam and was a perfect man. We all believe that. But tonight I wanna preach on this thought, the union of God and man. Deity was joined with humanity. God became a man. Brother Decker's little grandson here in the arms of his daughter, look at that child. There was a day when God was in that same form. The babe that Mary held in her arms was her creator. Man, you can't lay hold of that. The breath that came in out of his nostrils and his breath was the same breath that he breathed into a lump of dust and man became a living soul. And that little baby has a grasping reflex. You could put your finger right there in his hand and he'll grasp your, put your finger in his palm and he'll grasp your finger. And I'm sure Mary when she, put her finger in the hand of the Son of God. He grasped her finger. That's the same hand that formed the heavens. Amen. It's a great mystery, Paul the Apostle said. This is a great mystery. What? The mystery of godliness. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Now, I don't use theological terms very often, but sometimes if you read commentaries and read any kind of biblical writings at all, you'll come across this particular terminology, and they'll use this word, and it's a word that belongs to the realm of science and medicine. It simply means essence or nature or substance. They call the incarnation of Christ, God becoming a man, they call it the hypostatic union. Doesn't that really sound smart? They have this trade language in theology, it's a trade language. And I try not to use it. But anyway, that simply means the Lord took upon himself the same nature as a man with sin accepted. And so the Bible teaches us that the Lord Jesus was both God and man. He existed before his coming in the flesh and clothed himself with human nature in the conception and the virgin birth through the Virgin Mary and took upon himself the very essence, nature, and substance of a man, sin accepted. We believe that. That is a foundational doctrine of our faith, a great Baptist distinctive, and we make no apologies for it, amen. That's what we believe. There's two Jehovah Witnesses come to my door the other day, knocked on my door. Not one Baptist's ever visited my house. But this Jehovah witness knocked on my door. Two women, well-dressed, modestly dressed. I knew who they were. I said, Rose, get my Bible. They're standing there with the door. Rose, bring my Bible. So she brings my Bible. And I said, I know who you are, I know what you believe, but let me show you something. And I began to show them what I just showed you here. I began to show them verses of scripture. I said, you believe that Jesus was a created God. The Bible doesn't teach that. Amen. I showed them 1 John 5, 7. I said, the reason you don't believe that is because it's not in the New World Translation, because you have a perverted Bible. You know, some people, they just insult Jehovah with it to run them off. Hey, the way I look at it is the heathen has come to me, amen. So why should I run them off? Give them the gospel. Amen. My brother called me one time. He said, the two Mormons on one doorstep. Hurry, get over here. So I went over there. And I had that Mormon elder, I had him so mad, his trainee with him, he was agreeing with me. Yeah, that's right, I see that. And that guy, he's so mad. And they went, you know, they wasn't on bicycles, they was in a car. And they went and got in the car, and that guy, he was preaching to them, and a little while, the windows was fogged up. I mean, he was. But you ought to be able to defend what you believe. The Baptists don't believe, I mean, the Mormons don't believe this doctrine. Neither do Jehovah Witnesses. But we believe that our Lord Jesus was both God and man. He was God before he was man. And tonight, my friend, there is a man in heaven at God's right hand. The man, Christ Jesus. He's sitting right there in the same body that came out of the tomb three days and three nights after he was buried, glorified body. The same Jesus that ascended up into heaven is seated at the right hand of the Father in a physical body of flesh and bone in the third heaven, in paradise, because it's a real place. Can I say a word about heaven, then we'll come back here? You know, the Bible says heaven is a country in Hebrews chapter 11. The Bible calls it a land, a land that is far off. Most people think of heaven as just a city. Oh no, my friend, there's a city in that country built on a mountain called Mount Zion. That city itself is 1,500 miles long, 1,500 miles wide, and 1,500 miles high. That's the New Jerusalem. It's in the heavenly country. The Bible says to the intent that the principalities and powers in the heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God. They're heavenly places. There's more than one place in heaven. It's gotta be a big place. Amen. Much bigger than we think. But anyway, our Lord has sent it back to that place. It's a real place. Some people think heaven's an airport, you know, you float around on a cloud and about every million years strum a harp, you know, and then say hallelujah, praise God. It's more than that, friend, it's a real place. Amen. And our Lord went back there in a physical body. It's a real place. Elijah went in the chariot of fire. I'm sure the Lord had to change his body before he got there, but there's only two people in the Bible that went to heaven without dying. That's Enoch and Elijah. And evidently the Lord had to change their bodies. Now listen, their soul didn't abide in paradise awaiting the resurrection of Christ. They went straight there. So the Lord had to change their bodies, I'm sure, but they went in a physical body, did they not? I think God knows what a chariot is. He got in a chariot and rode off to the third heaven, because it's a real place. There must be some chariots there. I know there's a stable with some horses in it, and they're white. Amen. And someday we're gonna mount up, amen. So heaven's a real place. And that's not my message, but I just went down that road for a minute, and I'll come back here. Our Lord was both God and man. That's easily proven from the word of God. Now bear with me here tonight. Let me load my wagon and I'll make an application to this here in a minute, Lord willing. Before we proceed any further, let me caution you. There are many erroneous beliefs concerning this subject of our Lord's humanity versus his deity. In fact, the greatest debates in church periods of the past were centered around this doctrine. And it led to what is called the Athanasian Creed. I don't know if you ever read that or not. But it was a statement of faith that was written by Athanasius on the deity of Christ. You ought to find it sometime and read it. And that's one of the great foundations of our faith. that Jesus was both God and sinless man in one person. Not half God, half man, but fully God and fully man. And it's very evident in the Bible. Now turn with me tonight to Philippians chapter two. Philippians chapter two and look at verse five. Philippians chapter two and verse five. Now this is what the Bible says. Prove all things. So that's what I'm gonna do. If I say something, I'm gonna show it to you in the Bible. And if it's true, then hold fast that which is good. Look at Philippians 2.5. Now if you count here, if you count these, I'm not going to, but you can, if you count what's said here in these passages through verse seven or eight, you'll find that there's seven great steps downward that our Lord took in his humility and to become a man. There's seven of them. And the Bible says in verse five, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in thee, and if you underline, underline it, form of God. The Bible says, thought it not robbery to be, underline that, equal with God. You see that? Co-equal with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Look at verse seven. But made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant. See that? Look here. Form of God, form of a servant. That's deity and humanity in one person. The God man. Christ Jesus. Verse seven, but made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth. And so we find here in Philippians this declaration of Paul beginning in verse five through verse seven and eight, it shows us the two natures of Christ, form of God, form of a servant, God and man. Amen. Nothing could be plainer than is what is stated in these verses. His deity and humanity are both affirmed in these passages of scripture. These two distinct natures differ significantly, but yet they were brought together in this personal union. And by the way, my friend, they will continue forever. Our Lord will never cease to be a man. His humanity will never be taken from him. You don't find anywhere in the Bible where his humanity ever ceases to exist. He's a man forever. Amen. Listen, his humanity had a beginning, but it has no end. Amen. Now let me show you some passages of scripture quickly where you can recognize in the context the humanity and the deity of Christ in the verse. Turn to Colossians 1 and look with me in verse 14. Colossians chapter 1 and verse 14. Are y'all bearing with me? I hope you will. We're going somewhere. The Bible says in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the invisible God. Our Lord is the part of God that you can see with your physical eye. The firstborn of every creature, for by him were all things created that are in heaven or that in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, that's the celestial beings. All things were created by him and for him, and he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Now notice, we have redemption through his blood, but yet all of creation is ascribed to him. His blood comes from a man. The power of creation comes because he's God. God and man, revealed in the passage. Colossians 1.20, and having made peace through the blood of his cross, that's his humanity, by him to reconcile all things unto himself, that's his deity. I say whether they be things in earth or things in heaven, and so on, look at verse 22, in the body of his flesh. That's a reference to his humanity. This is God and man in one person. It's easily proven all through the Bible. Not half God, not half man, fully God, fully man in one person. Amen. So the eternal Son of God united his deity in a sinless human nature and became a human being and you and I through his obedient life and his sacrificial death and his shed blood, salvation is effected and there is none apart from it, none. Look at 2 Corinthians 13 verse four quickly. 2 Corinthians 13 verse four. And I understand sometimes today you have to have a Bible study to preach a message so that it'll make sense, and that's okay. 2 Corinthians 13 verse four. The Bible says for though he, Christ, for though he was crucified through what? Through what? Our Lord was crucified through what? Weakness. Yet he liveth by the power of God. You see that? The Bible says here in the passage, for we are also weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you. Listen, our Lord could be weak. And by the way, it was voluntary weakness. Amen. When our Lord laid his life down, this is what he said. No man taketh it from me. I lay it down of myself. That's voluntary weakness. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. That's God. Man and God. Weak yet omnipotent. Amen. John 18, four, the Bible says this. Catch up if you can, I gotta hurry. Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth and said unto them, Whom seek ye? The Bible says Jesus, therefore, knowing all things. What do we call that, if you know all things? What do we call that? It's omniscience. How did he know all things? Because he was God. Yet the Bible tells us in Hebrews 5.8, though he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. He learned obedience? What? He knew everything, but yet he learned? You see, that's deity and humanity in one person. Knowing all things, yet learning. Do you understand that? I don't understand it. I believe it. How could someone who knows everything learn something? But the Bible says he did. Let me show you another principle about him. Turn to Mark chapter 11. I'm gonna let you get here. Mark chapter 11. Look with me at verse one. Now this is my introduction. I'll get to my message. It'll be real short. My application will be done. Look at Mark 11 one, and when they came nigh to Jerusalem unto Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, go your way into the village over against you, and as soon as you be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat, loose him, and bring him. Now look at this, his knowledge of where there was a colt. Are y'all listening to me? The Lord knows where every mule is in this county. He said, oh, there's a village over against us here. There's a colt tied. No man's ever rode him. He knew everything about that colt. Why? Because he's God. Are y'all listening? A sparrow doesn't even die without him noticing it. He knew where the city was, knew where the colt was. He knew no one had ever rode on it. And he says, you bring him. The fact that it was tight, all those things, that's part of his omniscience. He knew everything. Verse seven, it says, and they brought the coat to Jesus, and cast their garments on him, and he sat upon him. Now listen, you say, why in the world did the Lord need a coat? Well, first of all, his omniscience, the fact that he's God is shown in his knowledge of this coat, and secondly, it shows us that he's a man because he needs transportation, he needs something to ride on. You say, why do you want a coat? He needed transportation into the city of Jerusalem. And they fulfilled the prophecy. Thy king cometh unto thee riding on an ass's coat. The Lord commanded the obedience of an unbroken coat. I'd like to see Brother Nick ride a coat that had never been broken. We'd tie his feet under him, put him on there, tie him in, turn him loose, open the gate. Wouldn't y'all like to see that? Wouldn't that be fun to watch? but the Lord created the animal. The animal had never been broken. No man had ever rode him. It would have been a wild animal, but yet our Lord sat on him and commanded the obedience of an unbroken animal because he made it. But yet he's a man sitting on it, riding it to take him into the city of Jerusalem. That's God and man. It's all in the gospels. He was the creator so he could command the animal. Amen. He was in control of his creation. Look at Mark 11, 12. And on tomorrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry. What? He was hungry? God and man. Our Lord was hungry. I don't know about you, but that's fascinating to me, that God in the flesh could be hungry. Why, there's one occasion in John 4.35 where he said, I have meat to eat that you know not of. And it has nothing to do with physical meat. Why is he hungry? Because he's a man. Look at this. And seeing a fig tree far off, having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything thereon. And when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever, and his disciples heard it. So his humanity is plainly visible in this fact, he was hungry. and he comes to this tree that has no fruit and curses it because it's not fulfilling its intended purpose. Now look at verse 14, no man eat fruit, he said unto it, no man eat fruit of thee hereafter. Look at verse 20, and in the morning as they passed by, the disciples noticed this, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots and Peter calling to remembrance, saying unto him, master behold the fig tree which thou curses is withered away. So notice, The Lord has accelerated the natural force of nature. He's dried up the tree quickly. It obeys what he says. Hey, look up here. How about you go talking to a tree and see if it does what you say? I don't go around talking to trees. But he was God, he made the tree. The tree had to obey him. and it was dried up from the roots upward. It didn't just slowly fade away and its leaves drop. No, my friend, he accelerated the natural forces of nature and it was dried up from the roots the next day. He was hungry as a man, but yet able to command the tree as God. Now, I don't know about you, but that's fascinating to me. That's really good. Amen. He rides an unbroken colt, knows where it is, he's hungry, but yet curses the tree, and it obeys what he says. It's God and man in one person. Turn to John chapter four, verse four, and he must need to go through some area. Verse five, then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there, Jesus therefore being wearied with his journey. As a man, he was wearied. And this woman comes out to draw water. You know the story, right? Look at verse seven. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, give me to drink. Now why do you think the Lord asked for a drink? Why do you think he asked for a drink? He's weary as a man. He's thirsty as a man. Give me to drink. And she says, how is it thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which I am a woman of Samaria, for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans? Jesus answered and said unto her, if thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith that he give me to drink, thou would have asked of him, and he would give thee living water. Here's a man that's thirsty and weary, that's asking for water, but on the other hand, As God, he can give her a drink of water that will quench her thirst forever and she'll never have to come draw physical water. He's talking about the eternal life that we'd give her if he just put her, she just put her faith in him. Do you see that? Asking for physical water but able to give living water in one person. I don't know about you, but that's fascinating. He said, whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. And you know the story of the woman. The woman was converted and the fact that he knew that she'd had five husbands and the one she had was not her husband shows his omniscience as God. He's God and man in one person. And that's where the disciples prayed him to eat, and he said, I have meat to eat you know not of. So there again, we see his deity on display alongside of his humanity in one person. Now I'll say this, and I'm gonna move on here and make an application of this message. The present blessings of the Christian that you and I incline upon the counsel of the wicked, of course, does not understand at this point what's going on in his life. But notice the questions that Job asks, beginning in verse four. Hast thou eye and searches after my sin? No answer. Look across the page in Job nine, look at verse 32. For he is not a man as I am, that I should answer him and we should come together in judgment. Neither is there any daisyman betwixt us, an old English word, two people who are at odds. It's called a mediator. And the Bible tells us, Paul writing Timothy, there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man. Christ Jesus. All of Job's answer or questions are answered in Christ. Oh yes. Our Lord sees as man sees. Amen. He became one of us and drew dear to us in our own nature. And though he were God, yet he became man, so he could comprehend and understand our experience. And listen to me, when he said, neither is there a daysman betwixt us, let me give you an illustration here. My dad, my dad was a World War II veteran. I was raised by someone who came from the old school, and thank God I was. I never saw my dad cry. And I'm not saying that made him a man, but he did not wear his emotions on his sleeve. My dad never told me that he loved me, but I knew he did. Some of y'all know what I'm talking about from that old generation, don't you? They were not emotional people. My dad lived through the Depression, served in World War II in the South Pacific on a little island called Eniwetok in the Seabees, the Navy. He also volunteered, joined the Army and fought in Korea. My dad was in the military all combined about eight years. And he got out to marry my mother, knew her for three days and stayed married for 62 years. Now I don't recommend that. Amen. My dad was one of those kind that if he was gonna discipline you, he'd say, let's see here. Okay. Oh, there's a stud right there. Oh, there's a stud right there. I believe your head will fit right in there. Amen. The old school. He was a leader, my dad was a leader of men. He was a superintendent of a factory that employed about 300 men. He was the plant superintendent. And anyway, but he learned how to do it. Like today, With the humidity like it is, if you don't mix the mud properly, all the commodes made by the men, hundreds of them will crack and you throw them away. Junk. He knew how to mix the mud. Look at the humidity and the temperature. He knew how to mix the mud, the slime that makes the pot, the clay that makes the pot. He knew that. He knew what college engineers did not know. Ceramic engineers come out of college and he'd have to tell them how to do their job. But anyway, he worked on the labor side or the company, you know, the union side. He was the union rep. They voted him the union representative. And later on, the company said, Joe, you're getting older. We're going to hire you. We're going to hire you and we're going to put you in charge and you're going to be the superintendent of all of our operations in this plant. and they gave him a substantial raise and he went to the company side. So you know what all the men said? Mr. Joe knows what it's like to be on our side and now he's working for the company and now they say, The company says, well, he knows what it's like to be one of them, and he's over here with us now. And when we negotiate our contracts, it'll be much easier to come to a labor agreement, which the company wanted at Union Shop. They wanted a guarantee these men would work. And they wanted certain conditions met for their labor. So my dad became a what? a mediator and actually sat with the lawyers when they would mediate contracts between the labor and the company. He would help mediate those contracts. He would tell them, those men are going to have that. And when he said that, they knew he knew what he was talking about because he had been one of them. And so our Lord is a mediator between of God and men. He's betwixt them is what it says. Now there's some language in that passage that says this, that he might lay his hand upon us both. Now let me tell you something about a mediator. A mediator has to comprehend the needs of both parties that he's trying to reconcile. and get to come to an agreement, he has to understand both sides, just like my dad in that situation. He's got to lay hands on both. So listen, Jesus Christ is God. So he comprehends what God expects and commands and desires. And because he was a man, He knows everything that man needs that he goes through. He knows his experience. And so he can lay his hand upon them both and reconcile them within himself. Amen? He knows what it's like to be you. He knows what God requires. And he knows what man needs. And each one is satisfied in him. Amen? There's a few teenagers here. There's a few kids here. Y'all listening to me? You young people, listen up. This is for you. Probably might not be true in your life, but it's true in a lot of kids' lives and I know because I've dealt with kids for years in the juvenile justice system, camps, pastor, I've dealt with teenagers all my ministry. You know what the number one problem is? Well, let me say it like this. The fastest growing subculture among teenagers in the 90s was Satanism, the worship of Satan. And along with that came, with that, constant thoughts of suicide and self-harm. That's what came with it. You wouldn't believe this. I took a poll one time in a congregation of teenagers, about 150 of them, and I asked how many of you have contemplated and had thoughts of suicide. You wouldn't believe how many kids admitted that they had those thoughts. And you know what they'll say? My mom and dad doesn't understand me. Nobody understands me. Yeah, we do, you're stupid. I mean, you gotta joke about something, amen? Kids are dumb. Don't get mad at me, you are. I love you, but you're dumb. Listen, we come to the age in our lives, my friend, where we look back on our former life and we laugh at ourselves, do we not? But I do take every kid's problem seriously because they're problems to them. They mean something to them. It means something, it's real to them. It might not be much to you, but I guarantee you it's real to them, so I don't discredit their problems. I don't make fun of them. I don't, I listen to them. I try to help them. Amen. Let me tell you something I never do. I never talk to a young woman without my wife. And secondly, I never take a kid's side against their parents. I always uphold parental authority. Amen! And I tell them, if you think you're gonna get me to criticize your mom and dad, I'm not doing that. I'm with your mom and dad. You better submit yourself. or your days will be short on this earth. The first commandment, the promise is honor your father and your mother. But they get these thoughts, no one knows, no one understands. Yes, there is someone who understands. Our Lord knew what it was to live among brothers and sisters that didn't believe in him. He knew about siblings. He lived with brothers and sisters who were born after him. He was the firstborn, born of a virgin. But later he had brothers and sisters and he knows what it's like to live in a family. Listen, he knows what it's like to work hard. Do you understand how hard that carpentry was in the time of Christ? It's a hard job. Do you think he knows what it is to feel pain? Do you think he could feel the nails they drove in his hands? You think he could feel the spear they pierced his side with? Do you think, my friend, that the cat of nine tails that ripped his flesh from his bones, do you think that he could feel that? He understands pain. Have you ever been, have you ever been, have you ever been just betrayed by a friend? Well, he understands that. Judas betrayed him, his friend, and betrayed him with a kiss. He understands betrayal. He understands hunger. He knows what it is to thirst. Let me ask you a question. It was literally, I shudder, I shudder to think that my Lord had his clothes taken from and immodestly displayed before the mocking world. I shudder to think of it. He knows every aspect and every degree of human suffering. Job's questions are all answered in Christ. Because He's God, He can reach up into heaven and lay hold of a holy God. And because he is man, he can reach down to the depths of sin and get a hold of a man of the lowest depths of sin. And because he's paid the price for his sin and satisfied a holy God with his obedient life, God accepts him in his mediation for every sinner. And every sinner that comes to him through him, my friend, is saved, forgiven, delivered, signed, sealed, ready for heaven, Reservations are made there, all accepted in the beloved. They're all reconciled within himself. He understands you. He understands me. Don't you let the devil tell you nobody understands you. Young person, don't let the devil tell you, don't let Satan tell you no one understands you. The Lord understands everything about you. All that kind of business. Let me tell you something. The goodness of God endureth continually. The condition of the human race cannot be laid at the feet of our Savior or our God. Amen. I'll tell you something else right here. I'll say something right here, I'll let you figure it out and give me an answer on later. God gave Satan power over Job's life. He said, you just don't take his life. He sends a whirlwind, which is a tornado, and blows a house down on his children. So God gave him to some degree power over nature, the natural forces of nature. Did he not? You let a tornado come through here and tear up homes. I guarantee there'll be some questions going through people's mind. Why did God let this happen? How do you know God did it? It wasn't that in Job's life. Who was it? Now, I don't know what degree he has control of that. I have no idea. I wouldn't even begin to speculate on it, but I know in that one instance he did. How do you know he hadn't since then? Amen. Hebrews 4.14, seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Now I wanna say something here, and I'll move on quickly, make an application, this will be done, it's nine minutes to eight, listen. You find sometimes, just a while ago we read in Philippians, the Bible says that if the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, the name of Jesus. Now listen, you find compound names of the Lord in the Bible that have titles assigned to them. For example, the Bible says, in some occasions, Lord Jesus. Lord is a title, office. Jesus is His human name, Lord Jesus. Sometimes you'll find this phrase, Lord Jesus Christ. Those are offices. Those titles designate offices that He occupies. But Jesus is His human name. And at the name of Jesus, every nation will bow. And the Bible says here in the passage in verse 14, Jesus, the Son of God. There's a man in heaven that's your great high priest and he knows everything about what you're going through and was tempted in all points like as you are, yet without sin. He understands every bit of it. Amen. Look at verse 15, or let us hold fast our profession. Verse 15, for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was at all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Now let's just for a minute, I wanna just focus for a minute on this phrase here, touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Do you have any infirmities tonight? We all do. I see this brother here I had such a wonderful time fellowshipping with last night. He's got this hat on because he's going through cancer treatment, is that right? Or have been? Yeah. Brother Smith here's got a cane. He said, I had a stroke back when I was so and so. He said, my walking's messed up. I got to use this cane. Those are part of infirmities. There are many of them. Infirmity is a broad subject. We all have them of some kind. And if you don't have one now, write it down. Someday you will. If you live long enough. Amen! You will have. And I don't care what your feelings are tonight. He's touched with the feelings of your infirmities. You know what that tells me, Brother Decker? That tells me He feels what I feel. He's touched by it. Isn't that amazing? That my Savior feels. He's touched with my feelings. He feels what I feel. You know, there are two words in our language. One of them is sympathy. I see people all the time that I have sympathy for. I see they've got a problem and I feel sorry for them, right? But that's not enough. Sometimes with sympathy you just drive on by or walk on by. But there's another word in our language called empathy. And you know what empathy does? Empathy actually identifies with that same problem and moves to help with it. Listen, this guy the other day, brother, this guy the other day told me, he said, my mother doesn't know who I am. She has dementia. Well, see, I can empathize with that, because my mother didn't know who I was. I said, I know what you're going through, buddy. I said, you got five years from the onset of it, you got five years, and she'll be gone. Alzheimer's is about seven. Dementia, five. And it happened exactly with my mother, and it happened exactly with her. I can empathize with that. I said, I know what you're going through. When your mother don't even know your name, she doesn't even know to take a fork and you've got food on the end of it and you put it in your mouth and you chew it up and you swallow it. She didn't even know that. She doesn't know that she has to use, you know, the restroom. She knows nothing. But I'll tell you one thing she never forgot. Guess what it was? The day she died, she was praying, Lord Jesus, help me. She never forgot him. She forgot me. She forgot her daughter and her children, her grandsons that she loved so dearly and all of her grandchildren, but she never forgot him. So I empathize with that. Amen. I shook a guy's hand the other day His finger was like that, brother. Schmidt, his finger was like that. I shook hands with him like that. Yeah, like yours right there. You know what that's called? Mine used to be like that. Remember that, Nick? My finger was like that. Don't know what you're going through in your life, but whatever you do, don't let Satan or any principality or power Turn your heart and your mind away from God and tell you that God doesn't care. Yes, he does. He cares. And you're to cast all of your care upon him for he cares for you. Yes, he does. Why do you think he came? Why do you think he drew near to us in our own nature? And he's touched with the feeding of our infirmities because he's God. He can do something about it, and because he's man, he can feel what you feel. The great gulf between the two has been bridged by one man, the man Christ Jesus. Amen? And so I don't know what you're going through tonight, and you can write this down. You're gonna go through some bad things if Jesus doesn't come, all of us. Amen. You're gonna bury your mother, you're gonna bury your dad, you're gonna bury your wife, you're gonna bury your husband, you might even bury some of your children. I've known people that's lived long enough to bury their children and they stand there and weep and say, a parent ought not outlive their children. My heart is torn out. Are y'all listening to me? I've stood by the bedside of a teenager that took a gun and put it right here. I've stood there with his mom and dad. You could smell the blood. And the doctor's pumping blood in this arm and it's bleeding out. And all they're trying to do is keep him alive a few more minutes so mom and dad can spend some time with him. I've been there, I've done that! And I'm telling you, it's terrible. And those people have never been the same. Are y'all listening to me? I can only go so far in those feelings. Oh, listen, man, I went in there, I couldn't help it. They were church members, dear friends, part of our family. And I went down in there and we just fell down on the floor together praying and weeping and asking God to help us. Man, what a thing. And I preached that young man's funeral. I don't know how I did it. I knew that kid from the day he was born. We never dreamed that something like that would happen. But I tell you, I know someone tonight that feels everything that they feel even to this day. He knows what it is. to give everything, even life itself. He knows what it is for blood to be shed. He knows what it is to die under the hands of a violent crime, a violent mob. He knows all about it. He knows whatever you're going through. Don't you let the devil or any fallen celestial being, a principality or power or anything else tell you that he doesn't. And don't you let the circumstances of life that are not pleasant, that are not necessarily seem to be for you, don't you let them turn you against your Heavenly Father because He knows and He understands. And you bring it to Him. Let me ask you a question and I'm done. When the Lord sent the Holy Spirit back to the earth on the day of Pentecost, now I'm asking you not for an answer, I'm asking to make you think. When he sent the Holy Spirit back on the day of Pentecost, he sent him in the character of a convictor to convict the world, to reprove the world of sin, of righteousness and judgment, that's conviction, right? Christianity is a religion of conviction. Everything you believe is because of the conviction of the Holy Ghost, or you wouldn't believe it. You wouldn't be saved without it, you wouldn't believe nothing in that book without it. You wouldn't be saved without conviction. But I tell you, there's another character The comforter. The comforter. The Lord said, I'm gonna give you a comforter. Because he knows that in our condition, in this sin-cursed world, awaiting the redemption of our bodies, or either our death and our departure to heaven or the rapture, that we're going to need comfort. And so he gave us a comforter. Amen. And I'm telling you tonight, if you're in need of help, comfort, whatever it is, you bring it to Him and you can be rest assured that He understands and He actually feels it. He feels it. The empathetic Savior. Our lovely Lord. Isn't He wonderful? I'll tell you, He's the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me. Amen! I'll tell you, I can never preach about Him enough. I'll tell you, he's captured my heart. There's no one like him. Amen. No one compares. Nothing compares. Amen. Bring it to him tonight. Whatever it is, he's the answer. He'll give you that comfort that you need. Let's pray.