Well, it's a pleasure to be here. Thank you very much. I'll just mention that my welcome has been excellent. I'm really pleased to be amongst friends and it is a joy when we can travel many miles and yet feel at home amongst the Lord's people. And we are strangers in many ways, and yet there is a bond between us because we are brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ. I do come from a little congregation. It's a little country church, an old stone-built building. One or two of you have seen it, I know. And it's really quite far out in the country, out in the sticks, we would say. I don't know whether you use that phrase. But I bring greetings to you from Egglesburn Baptist Church. It's a generally old congregation. I can't get some of them to go more than 10 miles away from home. They will never, ever be in Kentucky. I can assure you of that. But they are eager that the gospel is preached amongst them. And they are willing and happy that I am here somewhat on their behalf to preach to you this evening. But our greatest desire is that the Lord Jesus Christ might be uplifted wherever that might be. We sang in our opening hymn, may they not see the channel, but only see him. So yes, I'm a long way from home. Yes, my accent is a little peculiar and I will speak slowly so that you Kentuckians can keep up. No, it's a privilege to be here and I trust that we will understand each other and we will know that our desire is to glorify our savior, Jesus Christ. If you'll turn with me please to the 13th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. Acts chapter 13. I want to read a few verses from this chapter as the Lord enables and perhaps in some small way that'll get you into the tone of my voice. Acts chapter 13, we're going to read from verse 14. But when they departed from Perga, we're speaking here of the Apostle Paul and a number of his associates, his company. But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them saying, ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. Then Paul stood up and, beckoning with his hand, said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt. And with an high arm brought he them out of it. And about the time of 40 years suffered he their manners in the wilderness. And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he divided their land to them by lot. And after that, he gave unto them judges about the space of 450 years until Samuel the prophet And afterward, they desired a king, and God gave unto them Saul, the son of Kis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of 40 years. And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king, to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will. Of this man's seed hath God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus. When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel, and as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he, but behold, there cometh one after me whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose. men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. For they that dwell at Jerusalem and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him. And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a sepulcher. But God raised him from the dead, and he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you, glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us, their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again, as it is also written in the second Psalm, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore, he saith also in another psalm, thou shalt not suffer thine holy one to see corruption. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep and was laid unto his fathers and saw corruption. But he whom God raised again saw no corruption. Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. And by him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware, therefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish, for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you. And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. Now, when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytites followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. The next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said, it was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you. But seeing you put it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light to the Gentiles, that thou shouldst be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region. The Lord bless. this reading of his word. When the Lord Jesus Christ is preached faithfully and fully, It is to be expected that there will be a reaction. It is to be anticipated that there will be a response. Sometimes that response will be positive. And there will be that fruitfulness which the Lord has ordained to follow upon the powerful declaration of the Gospel and by the work of His Holy Spirit. And sometimes that response will be negative and we will see that there is a latent anger and opposition to the truth of the Word of God. The gospel is like a sword that divides, and we should always expect that where there is a faithful ministry and a faithful preacher and a faithful congregation, then there will be both positive and negative results through the preaching of the gospel. That positive and negative will be at a congregational level. It will be focused upon the pastoral and ministerial responsible people in that congregation. And undoubtedly it will flow also against the individuals who comprise that congregation. And there will be trouble will follow those who seek to uphold and maintain the faithful preaching of God's Word. You see, the Gospel demands a response. The Gospel will always have a way of entering into men's conscience. There will always be that challenge which comes with the faithful preaching of sovereign grace. It will either break a man in his pride or it will feed it like petrol upon a fire. And that pride will rise up and it will say, don't tell me that I have no part in this, don't tell me that I have no way in this, don't tell me that I have no will in this. because we want to have a way and a will with God. Our nature requires that we have something that God desires, and men will always want that unless and until the grace of God breaks in upon their proud hearts and humbles them before his holy throne. The Gospel demands a response, and even in our day and age, ignoring the Gospel is a response too. I don't know what it is like here, but we often find back in the United Kingdom that there is a great deadness of spirituality. There is a lack of interest. Our churches are very few, and those that do exist are very small. There is a form of godliness, there is a form of religion, but there are very few that preach sovereign grace. There are very few who stand for square upon the gospel of free grace. And yet we discover that even amongst those religious people, there is an antagonism and an antipathy towards the gospel. So it is, so it always has been. And so it always will be. Here we find one of the finest preachers of the Gospel, standing up and boldly declaring what the Lord Jesus Christ has done and who the Lord Jesus Christ is. And he also discovered that he had great opposition in the preaching of the gospel. But he also had a very positive response. There were those in this town of Antioch who hated him for what he said. And there were those who learned to love the Lord. because of the faithfulness of his ministry. And is it not interesting that those Gentiles who heard the gospel and desired to hear more of it were contradicted and refuted by the religious people of the day? And here we are told in the 45th verse of the passage that we read that they contradicted and blasphemed the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Things don't change very much and we must expect that wherever Jesus Christ crucified and risen in power is preached and declared, that there will be that contrariness, there will be that opposition and there will be that blasphemy. Is not this free will doctrine that pervades our towns and cities, is not this religious activity that we see all around us a form of blasphemy as it undermines the glory of God and detracts from the work of the Lord Jesus Christ and sets man upon the throne that ought to be the place of God? That is the blasphemy of our day. And that was the reaction which the Apostle Paul obtained also. But let me say that this reaction, the positive and the negative, ought to be an encouragement to us. It is not encouraging when we are constantly opposed. It is not comforting when we are beset all around by trials and troubles and those who would seek to silence our mouths when it comes to preaching. And yet, It shows us that the preaching of the gospel is not in vain, that the preaching of the gospel is a very potent thing. As that word goes out, as that message is heard, the reaction of men and women to it shows us that it is a lively word, a living word, that it does enter the heart, that it does enter the conscience, and it elicits a response. The preacher ought to be encouraged in that. The Apostle Paul elsewhere wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. But unto us that are saved, it is the power of God. And it is the preaching of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ that we desire to hear. I was delighted to hear our hymns being sung and particularly nothing but the blood of Jesus. That was the great message of the apostles. The disciples took the fact that Jesus Christ had been crucified and they ran with that message. Sometimes we hear it said, wouldn't it have been wonderful if the Apostle Paul had taken the time with all of his scriptural understanding, with all of his Old Testament awareness, to write as a definitive commentary on the book of Isaiah. It wasn't the prophecy of Isaiah that thrilled the Apostle Paul. It was that which the prophet had spoken of. It was the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. He had done with all the old ways and he was filled and he was thrilled with the fact that Jesus Christ was alive. That Jesus Christ, the Savior, had come, that he had died, that he had risen again, and that he was coming back. And those are my four points this evening. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior, is come. The Savior has died. The Savior is risen again. And the Savior is coming back. What a Savior. Our verses are those that are found in the 29th and the 30th verse of Acts chapter 13. The Apostle Paul was speaking of the way in which the Jews had crucified the Lord Jesus Christ, taking him to Pilate. And there, upon Calvary, He was crucified. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a sepulcher. But God raised Him from the dead. God raised Him from the dead. We worship our risen Savior. The Savior came. In Luke chapter 2 and verse 11 we have the account of the way in which the Lord Jesus Christ's coming was related to some of those who were there around Bethlehem at the time of our Saviour's birth. In the 11th verse we read these words, And I wonder if you've ever noticed that the one who was born was a saviour. He was announced as a saviour. Unto you is born this day not one who would become a saviour, but one who was a saviour. Unto you is born this day in the city of David a saviour. Christ did not become a saviour. He was born a saviour. He was the Savior before he was born. It was the Savior who was born. Now think on that. We see many men and women. We have the history books before us who have proved to be of great usefulness to their fellow man, who have perhaps in a time of war or in a time of disaster or in a time of trouble proved a usefulness in the way in which they have been able to help and indeed to deliver their friends, or their families, or their neighbours, or their compatriots, and deliver them out of danger, to be a saviour to them. But they were not a saviour before that incident. Whatever they did of bravery and greatness at that moment and whatever they are applauded for and provided with accolades subsequently, they were not a saviour until they delivered that salvation. Christ is the eternal saviour of His people. He always was their saviour. He always will be their saviour and He demonstrated that salvation when He laid down His life for His people at the cross. He was a saviour when He was born. He was a saviour who came into the world. And we have many Old Testament statements and acknowledgements of that great role which the Lord Jesus Christ was due to enact and perform in this world. There was a purpose to His coming. There was a reason for His coming. In Isaiah chapter 45 and verse 21 we read, Who hath declared this from ancient time? Ordinarily, normally, whenever we read such references to ancient time, or time long ago, or time before the foundation of the earth, it is a reference to eternity. It is a reference to that which has always stood. And here is a declaration from ancient time. Supposing you want to say that it is limited to time. It is still demonstrably a long-standing promise and purpose. Who hath declared this from ancient time? Who hath told it from that time? Have not I the Lord? And there is no God else beside Me, a just God, a God who is just, a God who justifies, and a Saviour. There is none beside Me. In ancient times, in times before times, in eternity, the Lord who was alone, the one true God, the God in his three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, declared himself to be God, declared himself to be Lord, God, the Savior. It was his purpose, it was his plan to come and deliver the people whom he loved. In Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6, we can begin to see some of the outworkings of that plan. Unto us a child is born. This is the one that was born the Savior. Unto us a son is given. This is the second person. This is the very Son of God. And the government shall be upon His shoulder. He shall have rule, for He is a King. And His name shall be called Wonderful, for all those things which He shall reveal, for all those things which He shall accomplish, for all the praise that His people will give Him. Wonderful Saviour! What a Saviour! He shall be a counsellor, a counsellor before God on behalf of his people, a counsellor for his people as their great prophet in revealing God to them and as he brings that word of life to their hearts, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. That was the plan. Here was the one coming who had been long prophesied. Here was the Savior being revealed. And then we discover that in due time, this Savior came into the world. And there was an expectation. These Jews were not ignorant men. They understood something of the Old Testament prophecies. They appreciated that there would indeed be a Messiah coming. And yet their blindness prevented them from seeing this one. Here we discover that in Matthew chapter 2 there had been an awareness given to Herod in his day that this Messiah, this King, would be born. We read, when Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled. Here is a competitor. Here is another king in the land and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. Where is this Messiah going to be born? Where is this prophesied one going to be born? Where will the Savior appear? And they said unto him in Bethlehem of Judea, aye, they knew. For thus it is written by the prophet, and thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah, for out of thee shall come a governor, that one that was prophesied, that shall rule my people Israel. And of course we understand that in the Old Testament, Israel was the name of that people who were chosen of God. But there is a loveliness about the name of Israel. Jacob was called Israel. The deceiver, the supplanter, the cheat was called Jacob at birth, but Israel after the experience that he had with God. Israel means a prince with God. And by that name, and by the testimony of the New Testament, as we read and understand it, we perceive that Israel, the true Israel of God, the true chosen ones of God, those who are princes with Him, are those who are the chosen People of God. The elect of God. In a New Testament age, they comprise both Jews and Gentiles. All who are the blood-bought people of God. All who are saved by the death of Jesus Christ. All who have been brought into that experience of grace by faith in Him. Here is a Savior. A Savior who has come. And He was a Saviour who died. Our Lord Jesus Christ, that prophesied One, that One who was planned from eternity to come and deliver His people, He enters into this world. And He lives a life in relative obscurity for most of it. And then only at the very end is His ministry revealed. Here we see the Lord Jesus Christ these three years, this obedient service to his father, this doing good to all men, this boldness of preaching, this declaration of the truth, this manifestation of God amongst men, the prophet, priest, and king, the Lord Jesus Christ. And what happened to him? Well, Paul, in his preaching in the synagogue here in Antioch, had given something of a history lesson. And it's interesting the way in which these men, the scribes, the rulers of the synagogue, having seen Paul and his compatriots enter into the synagogue that Sabbath morning, gave them ear, gave them the opportunity to speak. It is a privilege. when we get the opportunity to speak about the Lord. Let us follow Paul's example. I don't say go and knock on people's doors and become an annoyance to them. I don't say speak about it every day at work to such an extent that you're workmates can't abide your presence. But as we have an opportunity, as we see that desire in the part of one and another to hear something of the Lord, let us be ready to lay our testimony before them. Let us be ready to tell them what the Lord means to us. Here is a saviour who has come into the world, but what did they do with him? Well, the Apostle Paul just took his history. He set the history of Israel before these people. He demonstrated that he had a knowledge of where they were coming from, that he understood something of their background, something of their awareness of the world in which they lived. But then he took them on to speak about the Saviour. He didn't berate them, he didn't accuse them until that time in which they manifested their rejection of him. Then there was a need to be bold. But until then he plainly presented the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what the Lord would have us do. He says, regarding David, David, the son of Jesse, was called of God a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will. To this extent, the Jews were happy. But then he led them on from that, and he said, Of this man's seed hath God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus. Let us be ready to preach the Saviour. Let us be ready to preach Jesus Christ, and to tell men and women what He has done for our souls. He calls upon these men to listen. He says, you of the stock of Abraham and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. Oh, what a privilege to see some saved. What a great thing it is when the gospel goes forth and men and women are convicted of their sins and brought into a knowledge of the truth. I trust you do not take for granted the blessedness that you have in having so many to fellowship with. I trust you do not take for granted how good it is to see so many young folk amongst your congregation. It is a great privilege to see young men and women, older men and women coming to a knowledge of the truth, having that fear of the Lord in their heart and knowing something of the grace of God towards them. Paul preached Jesus Christ to them. He preached the Saviour who died. He said of this one, they fulfilled all that was written of him and they took him and they put him on the cross. They hung him on a tree. This Savior who died, he died for the salvation of his people. He died in order to bring that people who were placed into his hands, that people that he loved from all eternity, into that place of reconciliation with God. He paid the price of their sins upon the cross. He purchased that people. He redeemed them by His blood. He sanctified them, set them apart and cleansed them with His own blood. not the blood of calves, not the blood of goats, but with his own blood. A little later, the apostle Paul would speak to the Ephesian elders. It's recounted in Acts chapter 20. And he would say to them that they had a responsibility to preach this Jesus, the one who was crucified, to their congregations and to all men. Feed the church of God with the gospel. Feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood. That is the church of God, the people whom Christ has died for, the people who are purchased and redeemed with the very precious blood of Jesus himself. The writer to the Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 12 says, wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. And this is the testimony that he has left us through his servant, John. As we go into the book of Revelation and that great prophecy that John received, the revelation of Jesus Christ, We are told there, and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. is the great subject of our ministry. The blood that cleanses, the blood that deals with the problem of man's sin, the blood that cleanses the conscience and gives us a purity before God, that is the only message of substance, the only message of power, the only message which has a reality for men and women today. And therefore we have the privilege and the responsibility of taking it to all men and preaching Jesus Christ and Him crucified. There had been sacrifice before. There had been many great feats performed by men and women of valor and bravery before. Think of the Old Testament, how that there were men like Moses who delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt, or sisters like Esther who was raised up for a particular time in her nation's history. But here is one who came to save a great multitude, a multitude that no man can number, a multitude from the four corners of the earth, a people that will spend eternity in the presence of God because the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ has washed their hearts from sin. The Lord Jesus Christ saved his people by his death. He died the just one for the unjust. In John 15 verse 13 we read, greater love hath no man than this, than a man lay down his life for his friends. And God commendeth his love towards us. in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. What a great privilege and blessing we possess. Our blessed Saviour paid the price of our freedom. He gave His life as a ransom. It was a high cost to pay. But He was willing for the love that He possessed for His people, for that everlasting love, that eternal love which He had foreknown us with. He came and He shed His blood. He represented us upon the cross before His Father. He stood in our place as a substitute. He died for us on the cross. God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. The Apostle Paul knew that this was the message that would touch the hearts of men and women there in Antioch, but he knew also that it would cause controversy. And so it proved to be. now is made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel. When the Gospel is preached, it will have a reaction, and so it proved. We have a Saviour who came, and we have a Saviour who died. But bless God, we have a saviour who rose again. What a wonderful thing to know that the one that we serve today is alive. There are many people who are worshipped. There are many who have originated or constructed religions in this world, but we serve a risen Saviour. Of this man's seed, the Apostle said in Acts 13.23, we read it, of this man's seed hath God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Saviour, that is, Jesus. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a sepulcher. This is how dead Jesus was. He was dead. These Roman soldiers had done their job. They had come out that morning with the purpose of putting this man to death. I often wonder whether or not we truly appreciate some of the scenes around that cross. My mind has recently been turned to that centurion that stood at the cross of the Saviour. He got up that morning and went to get his daily orders and he took them out just as he had taken them out Probably hundreds of times before. And he read what he had to do. And he got his men to go down to the jail and to get this Jesus and to bring him out. And to get the hammer and to get the nails and to get the cross and take them out to Golgotha. Take them out to Calvary. Now get on with the job. He had seen it so many times. A man who was hardened in so many ways to death and brutality. And yet by the end of the day, having accomplished all that was his duty to perform, that man in some capacity was touched by the things that he had observed that day. Indeed, the things that he had heard that day from the cross. And he was able to testify, surely this was the Son of God. What an amazing statement for that centurion to make. He was just going about his business. He was just doing his job, brutal and gruesome as it was. And yet he saw something in this man that I believe may well have changed his life for all eternity. Who had revealed that to him? Surely this was the Son of God. Oh, may we have the privilege of being able to see Jesus Christ crucified and risen as the Son of God. May we know Him to be the Son of God. May that vital illumination, may that enlivening, may that quickening word come to our souls. that we might see this man of whom a hundred thousand books have been written, of whom many films have been made, of whom many sermons have been delivered, not simply as the historical Jesus of Nazareth, but as the Son of God who died and is alive here. was the great theme of the apostles, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, not simply alive, but risen from the dead. Three days and nights in that tomb and risen from the dead. If we really could grasp that, would not that challenge us in the very depths of our being and send us out into this world as a people who know that whatever this world can do, for what more can it do in the end than take our lives? It can rob us, it can steal, it can marginalise, it can persecute, it can heap all manner of trouble upon us, and it may even, as is the experience of some, be a martyring life, a martyring experience. But we know that life beyond death now exists. We know it to be true. And when we lay a brother or a sister in the grave, we believe that we will see them again. Why? Because Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. Death is defeated. The grave is broken. Satan cannot hold. Those chains of death which men rightly fear have been snapped into and Jesus Christ is alive. Oh, may we get that deep in our souls and may it cause us to preach the gospel with vitality and enthusiasm and boldness. For we have a message which no one else has. We have a risen savior. Corinthians says, Moreover brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved. Our salvation flows from the shed blood of Jesus Christ, the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, and we follow our risen Savior. In Revelation 118, our Savior says, I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell and of death. Those chains, those padlocks, they're broken and the Lord Jesus Christ has the key. We serve a saviour who came. We serve a saviour who died. We serve a saviour who is risen again. What a saviour. and we serve a Saviour who is coming back. Soon the Lord Jesus Christ will come again. I get into trouble from my wife sometimes. She tells me when I'm preaching that I don't preach with an eye on the immediacy of the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, I ought to. And it's wrong on my part if I talk about what's going to happen in the future and when these things, because we ought to have an eagerness of anticipation. We ought to be expectant. Of course, we have to plan for the future. Of course, we have to prepare for the things that lie ahead. But never let us get away from the fact that soon, very soon, the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back. And of course, he may come back for his church and take us in the entirety. It may be that a sermon like this, a sermon like this, in a service like this, will be the last one. Think of that. We'll all be sitting. What a privilege it would be if the last child of God to be called was called in our congregation. I've got a dozen folk, and as I say, they're mostly old these days. But maybe, just maybe, the Lord will be pleased to make that the place where that final child of God will be revealed and brought into the kingdom, and then we'll all go home. Then the Lord Jesus Christ will come again for his people. The reality may be that He will call for us individually. And we know that too. We know what it is to see friends and family pass from this scene of time into eternity. What a privilege to know that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming soon. And as we anticipate that, let us look to Him. Let us think of Him. Let us anticipate the wonder and the greatness and the glory that will be manifested at that time when He is pleased to call His people home. We look to Jesus, He who is the author and finisher of the faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. where that eternal love which brought Him into this world as a Saviour, that love which He had which took Him to the cross and brought Him again from the dead, is still manifested in His representation of His people before His Father. He speaks to His Father there on our behalf. Oh, we are sinners. We still have the vestiges of that old man in our life. Day by day we manifest the wickedness of our nature. Day by day we show ourselves to be utterly unfit for the presence of God. That old man will not leave us until the Lord is pleased to come and get us one way or another. But until that moment, think on this, He is in the presence of his father. Christ, the risen man, stands in the presence of his father, seated at the right hand of God. But he stood when he watched Stephen being slain. There He is in the presence of His Father, and He is interceding for us. He is speaking for us. He is telling the Lord God that we are His people, we are His bride, we are holy in Him. That all of that sin which might legitimately be laid to our account, all of that condemnation which ought to fall upon us, All of those legal boundaries which we have transgressed have all been dealt with, have all been removed, have all been taken upon the Saviour Himself and He has paid the price and there is no condemnation any longer against that people whom He is pleased to call His own. What a wonderful Saviour we have. There He stands in the presence of His Father. He is the promise. He is the hope that we have in this life. I will come again. Our conversation is in heaven. From whence also we look for the Saviour. The Lord Jesus Christ. We're just pilgrims here. This is no lasting home for us. Don't put down too many roots. Don't bind yourself too closely to this world. Hold these things that the world has to offer you loosely and be prepared to let them go quickly. when the Lord is pleased to translate us into His presence. We are a heavenly people. We are pilgrims and strangers here. Our conversation ought to be preceding our bodies in the very courts of heaven. That's what we're looking to. That's what we're thinking about. That's what we're talking about. We're talking about the blood of Christ that will be the subject of our conversation for all eternity. We're talking about a wonderful savior who will be the topic of our thoughts and our praises. For the millions and the billions, we can't even begin to conceive. This is one who should fill our attention. This is a wonderful Saviour. Now they desire a better country. That is unheavenly. Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God. Christ is not ashamed to be called our Saviour, for He hath prepared for them a city. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself. But where I am, there you may be also. What does this world have to offer you that will compare with such a great Savior? What does this world have that you desire above that great Saviour? What is holding you here in this time from wanting to be in the presence of that great Saviour? He was called a man of sorrows. And he bore all of that sorrow of God's judgment against our sin in his own soul, that we might know his joy. We ought to be a joyful people as we consider the greatness of the Savior that we have. He knew no sin. He was no sinner. He was no perpetrator of wickedness. And yet he became sin for us. He was made sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. This is our God. This is our saviour. This is our redeemer. This is our friend. Jude, verse 25 says, to the only wise God our savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and ever. Amen. And that's a good note to end upon. Amen.