God, by the very perfection of His moral nature, cannot but be angry at sin – not only because of its destructiveness to humans, but, more important, because of its assault on His divine majesty. This is not the mere petulance of an offended deity because His commands are not obeyed. It is rather the necessary response of God to uphold His moral authority in His universe. And though God’s wrath does not contain the sinful emotions associated with human wrath, it does contain a fierce intensity arising from His settled opposition to sin and His determination to punish it to the utmost.
Jerry Bridges

The Missing Child

The Missing Child

The missing child

I want to preach today on “The Missing Child” out of Luke chapter 2. Let’s look at Luke 2, verse 39, and begin reading.

2:39 And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.

40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.

41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover.

42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.

43 And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.

44 But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day’s journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.

45 And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.

46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.

47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.

48 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.

49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?

50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.

51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.

52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

Lord, we do thank you tonight for the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for the mercy you’ve given each one of today. Without your mercy, Lord, we wouldn’t have made it. Thank you for the grace that is found in our Saviour. Lord, I pray tonight that you would help me to preach faithfully, clearly, the things that you would have me to say. And I ask you, Lord, that you’d open a direct line to each and every heart in this place. We will thank you, and may we hear tonight from thee. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now, you have a very familiar text and passage to folks who read their Bibles. And you know a lot of things that might even be said in the message. It’s a case where Joseph and Mary have lost sight of Jesus Christ. I’m preaching to saved people today basically, and I want to say that when I talk about losing Jesus Christ, I’m not talking about losing your salvation. There’s a sense in which Jesus Christ is with you, and then there’s a sense in which He’s not always with you. It’s sort of like a married couple; they might always be with each other, but they might not be with each other, if you understand what I’m saying.

Jesus Christ is sealed inside of Rex Harrison today, and He’s done that Himself, and He can’t get out. He cannot break His own word. I’m thankful today I’m signed, sealed, and delivered.

But I know that I’ve experienced many times in my Christian walk and life an emptiness, and at times I’ve missed the Lord Jesus Christ.

That’s what Joseph and Mary have done. They’ve gotten involved in some things here that has caused them to miss Him. I want to tell you that the most important thing that you have in your Christian walk and life is your fellowship with God. I want to tell you that the most important thing is not the increase in numbers, but the most important thing is the increase of the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul said, “I count all things but dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.”

So let’s get down with it and get into it, and then I’ll get out of the way. Look in verse 41. The Bible says, “Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.”

I want to say, first of all, that they lost Him in the keeping of their tradition. Not all tradition is bad. We read in the Bible in II Thessalonians that Paul exhorts the church in Thessalonica to keep some of those traditions that they’ve got by word or by epistle. And then he warned about a brother that walked disorderly and not after the tradition that they received, over there in chapter 3 of 2Thessalonians. Some traditions are good. You are observing a tradition here today, just by meeting together on the Lord’s day, the first day of the week, to worship the Lord, fellowship and to sing praises to God, to pray and give thanks, to give cheerfully as God has given increase, and to hear the word of God preached and taught. This is a tradition that has gone on in Christianity for centuries. Sometimes we get so zealous in our hatred for starched, stuffy religion that we forget some tradition is good. As a matter of fact, this tradition that Joseph and Mary are keeping is a Bible tradition. It’s something that was commanded. It’s the Passover.

But the point is they lost sight of the Saviour in keeping a good tradition. You can go to church when you ought to go to church. You can pray when you ought to pray. You can read your Bible when you ought to read your Bible, and you can witness when you ought to witness. But, brethren, those things can get into the way of the real purpose. And the real purpose is fellowship with Jesus Christ, that you might honor and glorify Him, in your walk on this earth.

The Pharisees kept traditions. Nobody in here kept traditions like the Pharisees. They weren’t all bad traditions; they kept all the ones in the law, and added a few themselves. The Pharisees were good at keeping traditions. But one day the Lord Jesus Christ looked at them and He said, “Search the Scriptures; for in them you think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.”

Brethren, everything in our Christian walk and Christian life is to point us to Jesus Christ. Paul said, “That I might know Him.” I’m always encouraged when I read of Paul’s conversion in the book of Acts. He asks two questions. And I have said, “Lord, if I could just ask those two questions, and if I could get those two answers to those two questions, what a blessed walk I’d have on this earth.”

The first question Paul asked was, “Who art thou, Lord?” I know you might be saved today, but I’m going to tell you something. After you’re saved, you ought to get on your knees somewhere alone, and say, “Lord, I want to know you. Who art thou, Lord? I know you’re my Saviour, and you died for me, and shed your blood for me. But who art thou, Lord? I want to know you better. I want to count all things but dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, including my education and my upbringing, and my background, and all my smarts and abilities. I want to count everything but dung for the excellency and knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.”

And then the second question–and I do believe they ought to be asked in this order; I think that’s part of the problem with Christianity today–and the second question is, “What wilt thou have me to do?” We go off half-cocked and trying to do what we feel like we ought to do, and feel like God wants us to do. And surely God wants us to serve Him in a way that we like to serve Him. After all, isn’t this aptitude Christianity. And this–“I’m fitted for this job.” And, “I’m fitted for that job.” But it seems the men that I run across along the way that God’s doing something with are not fitted for what God’s doing with them at all. They didn’t have an aptitude for it; they weren’t built for it; they weren’t made for it. Some of them don’t even like it. And yet, God places every member in the Body as it pleases Him–not them. I don’t like this modern Christianity that preaches and teaches that God saved you to cater to your whims and fancies. God didn’t save you to cater to you; God saved you so that you might serve Him; that’s why God saved you.

They lost Him in the keeping of their traditions. And don’t we have the tradition? They have a name that they live, but they’re dead. They have a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof. How many of God’s people–Christians and preachers alike–how many are performing the service of God and keeping the traditions of God, and if you added up all the prayer time in a week, they couldn’t stand and sing, “Sweet Hour of Prayer,” with an honest heart. I’m going to tell you something; if your prayer life stinks, then your tradition stinks, and your walk with God stinks.

Then I want you to know something else. In verse 43, “And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem.” And then look up at verse 39, “And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord.” Most Christians are like a convict who’s in jail. They’re just putting in their time. They lost Him by keeping the letter of the law.

Brethren, I believe you ought to do right, whether you want to or not. I was raised that way. I wasn’t raised like this modern generation; I don’t even understand it. I was raised to do what you’re supposed to do if you felt like it or didn’t feel like, and raised to do what you’re supposed to do without question and without suggestion–just do what you’re told. I was raised that way. But I’m going to tell you something; if all you do is keep the letter the law, and you’re not operating under the power of the Holy Spirit, it’ll defeat your walk in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says, “If you be willing and obedient, you eat the good of the land.” There are a lot of Christians who are doing right because they know it’s right to do. And so they’re going on doing right. And I commend them for that. But there’s a lot of discouragement and defeat, and a lot of people quitting this day and age, because they have surrendered to do right, but they might have surrendered, but they’ve never submitted. I looked in my concordance program on my computer today and punched up the word “surrender” in my Bible concordance, and little message came on the screen that said, “No Such Word in the Bible.”

There’s a difference between surrender and submission. Ask anybody who’s been in war and had to surrender under the hand of the enemy, and ask them if they submitted. There’s a big difference between surrender and submission. I said, “I just gave up; I couldn’t go no farther; I just surrendered.” That’s what Jonah did; and he was a happy fellow, wasn’t he?

The letter killeth! The letter killeth! It’s the Spirit that quickeneth! It’s the Spirit that gives life! I’m not telling you that you shouldn’t obey the things of God and the commands of God, but you must do it in the power of the might of the Holy Spirit of God, and not in your own might and power.

Then quickly, in verse 43, it says, “And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.” You know, I imagine they lost Him in the hustle and bustle and the entanglement of the affairs of this life. Isn’t that easy to do? I’ll tell you something; I think it’s harder to be a godly Christian in Southern California than anywhere else. I don’t know how it’s done out here, and stay right with God. The hustle and the entanglement of this life can get ahold of you so quick, and so fast, you’ll lose sight of Him.

You would think that, with their own child, they’d know whether He got in the camel train heading back or not–but they didn’t. The Bible says in verse 44, “But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day’s journey.”

I want to preach to you independent, Bible-believing fundamental Baptists, because there’s a good point for us here. And that is, that they took His presence for granted. Thank God I’m saved, and you can’t do anything about it. I can’t do anything about it. The devil can’t do anything about it. I mean as far as my security in the Lord Jesus Christ, I’m in Christ Jesus, I’m saved, and I’m on my way to heaven. Like it or not, I’m on my way to heaven. Amen?

You say, “Well, I always like it.” Well, maybe you always like it; sometimes I don’t like it. But I’m on my way to heaven anyway. Nothing can be done about that. And so, Jesus Christ is with me to the end, and He is with me always, and one of these days, the last trump will sound, and the voice will shout, and I’ll fly out of here, because I’m signed, sealed, delivered, I’m hell-proof, and I’m heaven- bound. But I want to tell you today, the danger in that is taking His presence for granted. The danger in that is this hyper-grace kind of Christianity that believes you can live like the devil, talk like the devil, dress like the devil, and say, “I’m saved and on my way to heaven.” You can do all that if you want to, but don’t tell anybody you’re saved. I didn’t say you weren’t saved. I said, just don’t let anybody know it. They’d be a whole lot better off.

They take His presence for granted. We know He’s there. How many times have you gotten down on your hands and your knees and prayed, only to get up and not even know what you prayed? How many times have you opened the word of God and read through the Bible and read through chapter after chapter, only to close the Book, and not even know what you’ve read? You know what you’re doing? You’re taking the presence of your Saviour for granted. You’ve become too familiar with it.

I don’t like that. I do it myself, but I don’t like it. You say, “You do it?” Yeah, I do it. So does every preacher in here, if they’d be honest. I’m just going to tell you something; I don’t like it! I know I’m saved and I’m on my way to heaven, eternally, but I don’t want to take for granted the fact that Jesus Christ is sealed in here! Listen, I want His trip home to be joyful too; do you understand what I mean?

I’ll give them something; it only took them one day to notice He was absent. I’ve observed a lot of God’s people over the years. And I’m convinced that most of God’s people are doing all the right things and everything else, and they have lost sight of Jesus Christ about five or ten years ago–and they don’t know it yet! Give them credit; they went one day, and all of a sudden they said, “Well, something’s wrong here. Where’d He go? Where’s Jesus? Anybody see Jesus around this place?”

Wouldn’t it be good as a church to get down on your knees once in a while and say, “Now, where are you, Lord? Are you outside the door?”

Hey, listen, He stands three times in the New Testament after His resurrection. He stands three times, and they are all three times of judgment–every one of them. And the last time, He stands at the door of a local church, and He says, “How come I’m not inside?” He said, “I would just walk away and leave, but I’ll tell you what. If any man in there would like to have fellowship with me, just open the door, and the rest of them forget it–you and I can have some fellowship.” You don’t believe that? Go read your Bible. Quit believing your tradition; believe what the word of God says. Just believe your Bible.

One day they lost Him. But it took them three days to find Him. You know, I’ve been saved now nearly two decades, and I’m ashamed to tell you this, but a lot of that time was spent out of fellowship with Him. A lot of that time I was backslidden. You know something I know? I know it might only take you one day to lose Him, but it’s going to take you longer to get your fellowship back where it was when you lost Him than it did to lose Him. You can get down on your knees, and I don’t mean play games, I mean you can confess it, and you can get it all cleaned up in the wash, and you can get it right–but, brethren, there’s a longer road back than there was down. I don’t care how far you’ve come, but it’s a long way back. It only takes ten seconds or three seconds or five minutes; it might only take you one day to lose sight of Jesus Christ. But it’s going to take some diligent search to get that fellowship where it ought to be.

The Bible says that they found Him after three days. But then notice, in verse 44, that they sought Him among the wrong crowd. “They sought him among their kinfolk and acquaintance.” They sought Him among the wrong crowd; they didn’t find Him there, the Bible says. Listen, I hate to say what I’m going to say, but it has to be said; it’s Bible. You know that I feel the coming of the Lord draweth nigh; and there are signs in the times of what’s going on in this old world. But there’s another sign, maybe you’ve missed and haven’t noticed. The closer you get to the time of the Tribulation, and the closer you get to this thing winding down, then the more those verses that deal with it are going to come into play and into prominence–Luke 14 and Matthew 10. And they talk about the Lord saying, “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword, and to set a mother at variance against her daughter, and a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and a father against a son–yea, a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.” I’m going to tell you something, brethren; the sad truth of the matter is, most of your family, most of your friends–and some of them are saved–most of them don’t share your same diligence in your quest to know the Lord Jesus Christ. And they’ll not be a help to finding Him; they’ll be a hindrance to finding Him. I’ve said I don’t like to say it, and I don’t like to say it; but it’s the truth. It’s something that’s true.

Today, if you sit here with family and friends that encourage you and maybe even rebuke you and help you out and encourage you to get more diligent about the Lord Jesus Christ, and draw near and closer to Him, then you ought to get on your knees somewhere before you hit the sack tonight, and thank God–because there are a whole lot of people who don’t have it like that. Most family and acquaintance, when you get around them, you have to keep your mouth shut if you just want to get along and smile, don’t you? I’m telling you the truth today! I’m telling you the truth.

Listen, Jesus Christ is to have the preeminence in all things. If you want to know why everything’s falling apart in this day and age, it’s because God is a jealous God, and He’ll not have anything placed above devotion to Him. Nothing! Not the church; not the family; not anything! God will have nothing ahead of Him! And when you put those things ahead of Him, as this modern Christianity has done, you’ll lose sight of the Lord Jesus Christ! You’ll compromise the Book and everything that’s right. You’re going to lose Him! When the Son of man come, will He find faith? I doubt it.

Then I want you to notice something else. Not only did they seek Him among the wrong crowd, and didn’t find Him, but they were diligent in their search. His mother comes to Him in verse 48 when they find Him, and she says in the middle of the verse, “Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.” What father and what mother in this place today, if you lost one of your little children, you lost a little child and didn’t know where they were, what father and mother, if they found the child, wouldn’t make that statement? You really think they slept for three days? I don’t. Do you think they ate for three days? I really doubt it. Yet Baptists can’t get together without pie and cake, can they? They can get together without the Lord. Oh, I know they think they have the Lord. Bible-believing Baptists are guilty of what Southern Baptists are guilty, and all the rest of the outfits are guilty of. They keep pointing that apostasy is everywhere else; I’ve got news for you; apostasy is in the ranks. What, you’re the people and wisdom will die with you? Help yourself.

You see, brethren, if you’re going to keep your relationship to Jesus Christ what it ought to be, you have to be diligent about it. You have to work at it! Never mind these Baptist charismatics who go around telling you, “Just keep the word, and just believe it, and just yield…” Listen, God places some responsibility on you. Paul said in Ephesians 1:6, “I’m accepted in the beloved.” And there’s no condition, other than being saved. But in 2Corinthians 5, “I’m accepted in Him, but I have to work to be accepted of Him.” There’s a difference between being accepted in, and being accepted of. “Wherefore we labor”–isn’t that what it said? You younger generation, that means work. “Wherefore we labor, that whether present or absent, we may be accepted not in him, because we already are–but accepted of him.” Better be careful! Better be careful. They were diligent in their search.

Can you imagine, if it was this day and age, they would have put His picture on TV. They would have plastered posters everywhere and got His name on the radio. I’ll tell you one benefit by seeking Him among their kinfolk and acquaintance–they weren’t talking about the football scores. They weren’t talking about the world affairs. You know what they were doing? They were going to their family and acquaintances, and they were holding out the picture, and the tears were rolling down Mom and Daddy’s faces as they said, “We’ve lost sight of Him. Have you seen Jesus? This is what He looks like. Do you know Him?” I’ll tell you one good thing that came out of it; His name got dropped everywhere they went. Everywhere they went, they said, “Do you know our Jesus? This is what He looks like.” You know what that crowd knew? That crowd knew that Jesus Christ was the most precious possession Joseph and Mary had.

If we were to talk to the crowd you get around, do they know what the most precious possession is you have? Then what would they tell us? What do you talk about most? What do you want to do most? What makes you the happiest? What gives you the most joy?

I’ll tell you something today, there’s a serious lack of closeness to Jesus Christ among Christians. This old world needs to see some people who are fanatics for Him. It needs to see some people who are not just fanatics to take stands and fight the government at every hand, but people who are fanatics to know Jesus Christ. I can’t help but wonder if God’s people weren’t more diligent in knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as they are in everything else they want to rebel against, then maybe it wouldn’t be in the mess it’s in. But we like to point fingers everywhere else.

They knew how much Joseph and Mary loved Him, because they sought Him with tears. Have you ever sought Him with tears?

When I got polio, my parents were drunks. We didn’t have any alcoholics in our day; they were all drunks. No alcoholics; just drunkards. I don’t like this modern generation; they never call anything right. Boy, I tell you, I got in a meeting the other night. I heard ol’ Bobby Utley; man, I sure appreciate his preaching. He got up and preached out of Job, what God thinks of an unsaved man. He said, “Look, I went to the 1828 dictionary, and the word donkey is not even in the dictionary. It’s a new, modern word, so people don’t have to hear the word jackass, because God thinks an unsaved man’s a jackass, and God wants him to know it.” Man, I almost walked! I came out of my seat and shouted, “Amen!” boy! Glory to God! And some of you prude-and-do-wells, you say, “You’ll never catch nothing coming out of my lips!” Yeah, nothing but gossip! You’ve let the devil trick you into thinking that some words are just bad words. But I’ll tell you what; that might not be a good word, but doesn’t that describe your old nature? Yeah, it does; it describes you. Just jinnies and jackasses; that’s what describes you.

Their faith was rewarded because of their works. Brethren, faith will lead to works. Don’t forget Ephesians 2:8,9–there was another verse in that chapter, I think; one or two more. “We are created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” And we’re to have those good works, and we’re to let men see those good works, so they might glorify our Father, which is in heaven. I’m old-fashioned about it; you don’t have to be, but I am. I believe the Bible is. Their faith was rewarded because of their works, and one of these days, you’ll stand in the judgment seat of Christ, and be rewarded for the words that are done in your body, whether good or bad. They found in.

When I had polio at four years old, as I started to say before we got that rabbit out of the way, my parents were drunkards. They were saved drunks. So they weren’t really drunks, but they were drinking a lot. Bible says, “Such were some of you,” and some of you were, and some of you are still trying to do it. But, you know what God did by putting their little boy in crutches and braces and slowing him down, a little bit? I thank God all the time, I’m crippled. I’ll tell you, I’d be a mess if I wasn’t crippled. The Lord would have to do something worse than that to slow me down. You know what they did? They got right with God. They sought Him now, but they sought Him sorrowing. It cost them something. When my dad would roll over in the middle of the night, because I’d wake him up and holler for a glass of water, he’d say, “Get it yourself.” You say, “Is that a mean dad?” That’s a good dad. Because he knew I’d have to learn to do things on my own.

But don’t you know there were times that he rolled over, and when he thought about it, a tear fell in his eye, because he was sorrowing in heart?

I’m just warning you today, you lose sight of Him, and you lose the fellowship with Him, you got to be diligent in getting Him back–and it may cost you some sorrow. Paul says, “That I may know him, and the fellowship of his sufferings.” I don’t know how you know Jesus Christ without suffering. Haven’t figured it out yet.

It’s been a real blessing being saved. I’ve had a lot of blessings along the way–a couple this week I’m not going to take the time to tell you about them. But, I want to tell you something; there’s been a lot of sorrow along the way, and yet in the midst of that sorrow there’s been joy. And, you know what that sorrow has done? That sorrow has drawn me closer and closer to the Lord Jesus Christ.

We don’t like to hear about that, do we? We run down the Bakkers and the Swaggerts and all the rest of them–but secretly, inside of us, we want to believe what they preach. You will not know the Man of Sorrows without sorrow yourself. You won’t know Him.

Well, let’s move on. They found Him where they left Him. That’s deep, ain’t it? Normally, when I lose something, you know where it is? Where I put it! Unless a kid got it, or the dog–or some outside interference, out of the way–I’ll tell you where they found Him, they found Him right where they left Him. When I’m looking for my car keys, I can tell you where they are 95% of the time; they’re in my left front pocket. And I’ll find them there in 25 or 30 minutes, too! You say, “Do you keep your religion while you’re looking?” That ain’t none of your business!

Now, there are a lot of implications here for Israel and prophecy and things that are going on in this text that we’re not going to deal with, because we’re applying it to you and me–like prophecy and things to come. I notice that a lot of people really enjoy all that Bible knowledge, yet they’re living like hell. I wonder about that sometimes. Mama said, “We sought thee sorrowing; why’d you deal with us like that?” It wasn’t His fault–now, was it? No, it wasn’t His fault.

Look at verse 49. I like verse 49. Verse 49 is one of those verses that lets you know that the god of the news media and the god of the charismatics and the god of the liberals and the god of most Christianity is not the God of the Bible. His mama tired, bags under her eyes, blackened eyes from lack of sleep and eating, wore out, pain showing on her face, tears running down it–mad and glad at the same time. She said, “Why’d you deal with us that way? We sought thee sorrowing.”

And he said, “What are you looking for me for?” Isn’t that what He said? “How is it that ye sought me? Didn’t you know where I’d be?” Read the verse. “How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” Kind of sarcastic, isn’t it? I like my God being sarcastic. I need it! The last thing I need is Snake Eyes in his “Glass Cathedral”–I don’t need that nut! What I need is a sarcastic God. I need a God who will slap me upside the face, throw me down on the ground, and whip me up once in a while just to let me know how much He loves me. If I don’t get beat, then I’m a bastard, and so are you! (There’s another one of those good Bible words.) I like the Bible. This one! The one I have is the King James Bible; I just thought I’d tell you that.

That’s what he’s saying–“What in the world are you looking for me for? Didn’t you know where I’d be?” You say, “Where was He?” He was in the Temple, doing the will of the Father.

Hey, listen: I don’t care who you are or what you do. When you lose sight of Jesus Christ, you’re out of the will of God. If you won 50 souls last week, and your church ran 150 and baptized several–that wouldn’t make any difference. If you lose fellowship with Jesus Christ, you’re out of the will of God.

“Didn’t you know where I’d be? I came to do my Father’s business! That’s what I came to do.”

There’s a blessing in here for us, though. And the blessing is found in the Bible in the Book of Philippians, chapter 1. You don’t have to turn there. He’s in the Temple–doing the will of the Father. Hey, you know what He’s doing today? He’s in the Temple; and when I don’t do the will of the Father, bless God, He’s still doing it! Thank God that “He which hath begun a good work in you shall perform till the day of Jesus Christ.” If you don’t perform anything you’re supposed to do, if you don’t work out your own salvation, if you don’t labor that you might be accepted, if you don’t do nothin’ you’re supposed to do– He ain’t laying down on the job! Boy, that’s a blessing! Because there ain’t nobody in this place here today who can stand up and say, “I’m always doing what I’m supposed to do!” There ain’t nobody! So I’ll go with the hyper-grace crowd on that point, amen? I’m so glad that He’s still working on me. I’m so glad that He hasn’t quit doing the will of the Father. What a blessing it is to know that He’s inside.

When I read Romans 8, where it said, “The Spirit maketh groanings and utterings,” and I got to thinking about when I got saved, and how it’s been since I’ve got saved, I know why the Spirit makes groanings and utterings. Listen, ever since I got saved, I’ve been wanting out of this place; and I got a sneaking suspicion ever since God saved me and sealed me Himself inside of me, He’s been wanting out of this place! God didn’t get any bargain when He saved you. “Give your life to Jesus”–don’t do it! Don’t do it; it’s just another mess He’s going to have to take care of. Repent and turn to God and put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; trust Him as your Saviour; He’ll take your life. But, I’m going to tell you something today; God didn’t get nothin’ when He got you; He got a dirtball with a will, that’s all He got.

Self-esteem–throw it down the toilet, man! That guy says the problem in our country is lack of self-esteem. It is not! You think too highly of yourself right now! Yes, you do! I’m repeating a couple of things here, but I’m doing it because some of you are here that weren’t here the other night, OK? And I’m going to tell you, some folks run down with their heads down and they just don’t think enough of themselves–they think a whole lot of themselves, and they want you to tell them! Self-esteem is puke out of the pit of hell. Hallelujah! You don’t need no self-esteem; “He must increase, I must decrease”–that’s what you need! You need to get out of the way; you’re just messing things up. When I got saved, all I did was just bring a whole brand new set of problems and trials for Jesus Christ to take care of; thank God He’s doing it. Thank God I can lay down in my motel room this afternoon and get down on the floor and say, “God, there are some things you need to work on.”

He says, “I’m working on them.”

“But Lord, you’re just going slower than I like.”

He said, “If I went any faster, you couldn’t keep up with me, cripple!”

Ain’t it good? Boy, it’s good. I’m glad to be saved. I don’t want to lose sight of Him any more. I want to keep right on target with Him. I want Him to have the preeminence in my life. Everything. I don’t have any rights. I gave every right up I had when I got saved. I don’t have any right to preach what I want to preach. I don’t have a right to sing what I want to sing. I don’t have a right to go where I want to go. I don’t have a right to be what I want to be. I don’t have a right! Thank God today, I’m a child of the King–but it isn’t because I have a right to be. I’m no child of the King because of anything I did. I was a pauper in rags of righteousness on my way to hell.

Well, let’s close this out. I want you to notice in verse 50 that when you lose sight of Jesus Christ, you lose your understanding of what He said. You know why these folks always run to the Greek? You see, I divide Christianity into babies, brats, and big folks. You can always spot a baby, because he’s always talking in a language that nobody else can understand. And if you want to talk with him, you have to go “Goo goo ga ga!” And sometimes he’ll think you know that language when you do!

You know what their problem is? They’re trying to find out what it means, because they want to get out of doing what it says. I done figured that out. You say, “How did you figure that out?” Because that’s exactly why I want to know what it means. That’s why you want to know what it means. You know the danger of all this Bible knowledge? Thank God for it; you ought to, you’re supposed to study the Bible. You’re supposed to get it. But one of the biggest dangers is that you can get enough Bible in there that you can pull a verse out and justify your sin. Hello!

“They understood not the saying.” If you lose sight of Jesus Christ, you’ll pick up your Bible, and it’ll soon become drab to you, and you’ll say, “I don’t understand; I don’t get nothing out of it.” Boy, I don’t like reading my Bible and getting nothing out of it. Sometimes reading the Bible is hard work, and I don’t like doing hard work and getting nothing out of it. Sometimes I do, and I wonder why.

Notice something else as we come down here. It said, “He went down with them, came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them.” Isn’t that strange? Isn’t that strange that the Creator of the universe was subject unto them? Now, He wasn’t subservient to them. But He was subject unto them. There’s a difference.

When you think of God, with Joseph and Mary holding onto to His little hands, trying to teach Him how to walk. God doesn’t have to learn how to walk. But you do, so He did that because you did it. Isn’t that something? Boy, you talk about air pollution–and this is a good place to talk about it. You talk about air pollution; there were no factories and all of that kind of stuff going on back when the Lord came down and was born in that manger. But I’m going to tell you something; you know what He did do? He left clean, pure, fresh air in glory, and then He stood, talking in the streets with sinners while they were breathing out air that came from sinful lungs, and yet He breathed that same air. You and I can’t understand that, but I’ll bet that was something for God to do!

Subject unto them. There’s a sense in which He’s subject unto us now. Not subservient, not to serve us. He didn’t save us to serve us, I say it again; He saved us that we might serve Him. But the sense is this; He sealed Himself inside. So, when you look at things, He’s there. And when you speak things, He’s there. And when you hear things, He’s there. And when you reach out and do things with your hands, He’s there. He can’t get away; you can’t get away. And when you walk into places, He’s there. He’s made Himself subject, and that, brethren, is how come one day you’re going to answer at the Judgment Seat of Christ for the things done in your body–because He was there when you did them.

I like what Brother Jack Wood preaches when he says about the Rapture, “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught.”

You might not be doing anything more wicked than just sitting back in your study saying, “Aren’t I a big preacher. I’m really somebody.” Just like ol’ King Nebuchadnezzar–“Look at the work that I have built.” Yeah, look at it! You go to your little meetings and gripe and complain about the work that you have built; that’s why you gripe about it–you built it.

I want to tell you something else. The Bible says, “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man,” and that’s exactly how the Christian’s walk is to go–Jesus is to increase, not you. The longer you’re saved, the older you are chronologically in the Lord, the more He is to be seen, and the less of you. And, if you ever stop in that quest, oh, I’m going to tell you something, you’ll lose sight of Him. If you ever think you’ve reached the plateau when you’re where you ought to be according to that verse, you’ll get so backslidden, we won’t be able to tell you from a lost person. That is one of those quests that you strive for, knowing that you never get it, but knowing you ought to strive for it. You’ll never attain, but, brethren, you ought to try.

I’ll tell you something else. If they’d never found Him, if they’d never got fellowship back with Him, the crowd they were with would have never seen Him with them again. Now, He would still be there; but the crowd they were running with would have never seen Him with them again. Do you understand what I’m saying? You’re a child of God; if you ever lose that fellowship with Jesus Christ, and you never get it back; if you never get it back, all the people around you will never see Jesus Christ with you again. He’ll be there, but they won’t see Him. They’ll see that old man, raring up day after day, time after time.

I want to tell you one more thing, and then I’m done. Just as those wise men who sought the child, when they found Him and worshipped Him and did their business, the Bible said they left a different way. Joseph and Mary, the second time, left a different way. They left with Jesus Christ.

Listen! They didn’t do any wicked thing to lose their fellowship with Him. They didn’t do drugs, they weren’t drunkards, they didn’t run out and commit fornication, they didn’t lie and cheat and steal. They lost Him doing good things. Don’t get very Pharisaical about it; you’re liable to lose Him doing good things. But when they left that second time, what a joyous occasion it was! To go back home on the 12th Passover with the child, Jesus.

Let’s bow our heads. Lord, I do want to thank you for the time that we’ve had today in the word of God. Lord, I sure appreciate it. I pray that every child of God, may they be diligent in their service and their quest to draw nigh to Jesus Christ, and may they seek to know Him better and better each day, more of Him, to learn what He loves and why He loves it, and what He hates, and why He hates it. Lord, that the fruit of the Spirit might be evident in their lives. I thank you, Lord, in Jesus’ name. Amen.