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Give Bible and turn in it to the Old Testament.

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To the prophet Isaiah's writing, we will read the first nine verses of the 40th chapter.

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For those of you familiar with the book of Isaiah, the first 39 chapters, you'll recall,

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deal with judgment primarily.

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Really that judgment is intermingled with the hope of Christ's blessing and the reign

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of God over men, over his people.

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It is primarily a message of judgment.

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We come to chapter 40.

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We begin a new theme in the book of Isaiah.

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That is the theme of salvation.

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It tells how God is going to bring about this blessing that he has spoken of infrequently

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through the first 39 chapters dealing with judgment.

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It is through the coming of the Christ.

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Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.

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Speak ye tenderly to Jerusalem and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that

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her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins.

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The voice of him that cryeth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord.

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Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

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Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill shall be made low.

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And the crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain.

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And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed.

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And all flesh shall see it together.

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For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

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The voice said, cry.

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And he said, what shall I cry?

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All flesh is grass and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.

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The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the breath of the Lord bloweth upon it.

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Surely the people are grass.

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The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever.

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O Zion, thou bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain.

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O Jerusalem, thou bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with thy strength.

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Lift it up, be not afraid.

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Say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God.

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What an amazing prophecy this is, that there would come a day in the land of Israel when

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Judah would hear from the people of Jerusalem, Behold your God.

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Once before a similar statement had been made in ancient Israel, it was the time when Moses

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slingered long on top of the mountain receiving the law.

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The people's hearts became disturbed and unsettled and they cried out to Aaron saying, make us

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a God.

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And Aaron yielded to that voice of the people, gathered together gold and fashioned that

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gold in the form of a calf and said, This is your God that brought you out of the land

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of Egypt.

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He said, This, behold your God to the people.

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And yet they fell under the judgment of God because God had commanded them that there

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should be made like unto him no graven image.

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Their Yahweh, their Jehovah was invisible.

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He was spirit.

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And there was to be no man-made thing made like unto him that was to be worshiped.

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Nothing was to be made to represent him.

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He would appear to them in his own glory, but they would have fashioned nothing like

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unto God.

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And yet Isaiah the prophet says there is a day coming when Jerusalem will tell good news

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to Judah.

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And Jerusalem will say to the people, behold your God.

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This is your God.

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How would he come?

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Would he come on a chariot of fire?

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Would he ride a whirlwind?

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Would he be seated on a white charger?

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How would their God appear in their midst?

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In a most unexpected and mysterious way, there was a day when in the land of Judah, God entered

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human history.

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Not on a charger, not in a chariot of fire, but in a lowly manger.

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God quietly entered into history as a baby.

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Isn't that amazing?

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As we look together into the life of the Lord Jesus Christ today and see some of the outstanding

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events, I would like for you to with me behold your God.

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There are a number of times in the life of Christ when that word behold is used of him.

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It was a statement of exclamation.

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It was a statement intended to point to something or someone.

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And a number of times in the life of Christ we see the term behold used of him, fulfilling

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Isaiah's prophecy, behold your God.

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Turn with me first to Luke chapter 2 as we discuss together the behold of the incarnation.

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The beloved physician Luke records the most detail regarding this birth of the Savior.

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We would expect him to do that.

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Luke chapter 2 verse 10.

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We have the word of the angel to the shepherds after the birth of the Lord Jesus.

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The angel said to them, fear not, for behold I'll bring you good tidings of great joy which

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shall be to our people.

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For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord.

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And this shall be a sign unto you, ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes

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lying in a manger.

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You notice what the angel said to the shepherds, fear not, behold I'll bring you good tidings

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of great joy.

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A Savior is born.

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This is the behold of the incarnation.

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That word is a theological word that has really a very simple meaning.

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For the word incarnate means to assume flesh.

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By theologians this act of God entering human flesh and assuming a human nature is called

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the gracious voluntary act of the Son of God in assuming a human body and a human nature.

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In Jesus Christ two natures, deity and perfect humanity are united in one person.

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Miracle of the ages, how could this be?

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Have you ever pondered this event from the standpoint of God the Son as he left the glories

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of heaven and came down to this earth?

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And in the virgin conception of Mary entered into her womb?

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Can you imagine what it was like for the God of the universe who spoke all of this around

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us into existence?

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To be born and for the eyes of that baby to open for the first time and for the God who

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created the universe to see the universe from the standpoint of a man?

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Can you imagine the hand that flung out the stars into the heavens reaching out for the

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first time?

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It is a mysterious thing that God entered human flesh and yet that is the behold of

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the incarnation.

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Without this there could be no salvation.

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There could be no forgiveness, no cross of Calvary.

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This act of the incarnation of the Son of God was essential for the salvation of men.

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And though it is a mystery to our understanding this union of God and perfect man, it nonetheless

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is a truth that we hold dear to our bosoms.

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When the shepherds looked into the face of that baby as they went to the stable, they

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beheld the face of God.

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Just as Isaiah said, there would come a day when they would behold their God, so the shepherds

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did on that evening.

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For the first time man was able to look into the very face of Jehovah God.

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Not as he perhaps anticipated that it would be.

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Not with great glory but with great wonder surely.

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And looking at the form of that infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying upon that manger

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and knowing that this was in fact Christ the Lord, the behold of the incarnation.

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As we think through the life of the Lord Jesus further, we come to a time that is not often

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emphasized nor is it understood by many people.

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And that is the time of his baptism.

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To go to the account in John chapter 1, would you turn there please and look at verse 29.

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John chapter 1 verse 29.

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The scene before us now is some 30 years after the scene in Bethlehem when the shepherds

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looked upon the face of God in the manger.

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The Lord Jesus Christ has grown now into young adulthood.

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There has been for a number of months a mysterious figure on the scene in Judah.

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The very one that Isaiah the prophet had predicted in Isaiah 40.

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There was the voice of one crying in the wilderness.

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It was the voice of John the immerser, John the baptizer.

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He was calling the people of Judah to repent of their sins and to indicate their repentance

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by being immersed in water.

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And it says in verse 29, the next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him and saith, Behold,

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the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world.

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And then John baptized the Lord Jesus.

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And as he did that, an amazing thing took place.

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Suddenly out of the blue azure heavens appeared the form of a dove and it lit upon the Lord

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Jesus.

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It was identified as the Holy Spirit coming upon him.

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And then a voice shook the wilderness as God said, This is my beloved son in whom I am

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well pleased.

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And there we see the triunity of God revealed clearly for men to observe.

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Again, a mystery that our minds cannot unwrap but which we hold dear.

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As God the Father speaks from heaven, God the Holy Spirit comes upon the Lord Jesus

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and as God the Son stands there in the water having been immersed.

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But why is it that Jesus was immersed?

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After all, the baptism indicated repentance of sin and yet the Bible records that Jesus

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was sinless.

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Why then did he undergo baptism by John?

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In fact, John wondered at that himself, he said, I have need to be baptized with you.

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Why do you ask me to baptize you?

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And Jesus said, permit it to be so now that all righteousness may be fulfilled.

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Well, what did Jesus mean by that?

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In essence, he was saying, John, it is necessary for me to undergo this baptism so that I may

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identify with mankind in its sin.

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The purpose of the baptism was not to indicate that Jesus was repenting of any sin, for he

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was sinless.

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But it was another step of humiliation or humbling rather on his part as he identified

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with man in his sin.

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That was the purpose of his baptism.

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As we come to the scene in John chapter one, we behold our God as he was baptized, willing

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to take upon himself identity with us, with sinners.

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And now turn in the Gospel of John to chapter 19 with me as we notice a third use of the

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word behold in connection with the life of the Lord Jesus.

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John chapter 19 verse five, approximately three years have now passed since the baptism

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of John chapter one.

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And we come here to the scene of Pilate's judgment hall.

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Already Jesus has been tried by the Jews, has been found by them in their mockery of

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a trial worthy of death.

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They have delivered him unto Pilate.

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Pilate has already tried to evade the whole question by sending Jesus to Herod for Herod

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to care about the judgment.

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Herod refused to do that and returned him to Pilate.

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And Pilate upon Jesus' return caused him to be scourged.

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A crown of thorns was plaited and put upon his head and he became sport for the rough

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soldiers in Pilate's guard.

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In verse four it says, Pilate therefore went forth again and saith to them, Behold I bring

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him forth to you, that you may know that I find no fault in him.

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Then came Jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe.

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And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man.

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When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out saying, Crucify him,

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Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him and crucify him, for I find no fault in him.

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And then skip down to verse 14 where it says, And it was the preparation of the Passover

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in about the sixth hour, and he saith, Pilate saith to the Jews, Behold your king.

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In this account in John chapter 19 we have the behold of his crucifixion.

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What a terrible scene this is.

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It is early morning in Pilate's judgment hall and we see the one man who had lived a perfect

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life accused of crimes he was not guilty of, beaten until he was in his appearance not

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even a human being, spat upon, mocked, and prepared for crucifixion.

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But Pilate's statement to the crowd was, Behold the man.

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Yes, more than a man.

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But from the standpoint of his humanity what was he at that time?

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He was the man, the last Adam who would bear the sin of all mankind upon himself.

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Behold the man.

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The man who stood in your place and in mine and received that judgment.

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The man who was nailed upon the cross and who there shed his blood for your sin and

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mine.

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Behold the man today.

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He is the man who came into the world to save sinners like you and me.

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Behold him in your place and in mine at this time of judgment.

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To understand what was taking place here we need to remind ourselves again of some of

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the words of Isaiah.

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How well it is said in Isaiah, we thought that he was smitten of God and afflicted,

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but he was wounded for our transgressions.

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He was bruised for our iniquity and the chastisement of our peace was upon him.

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We behold the man here rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and yet we do not see him

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shirk from the reason for all of this taking place.

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Jesus does not turn from all of this punishment and suffering, the identification with man's

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sin, but rather he fully enters into it knowing that this was the reason that he came into

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the world in Bethlehem.

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Jesus was obedient to the point of the cross and died in our place.

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If you and I celebrate Christmas without understanding what took place 33 years later, we have missed

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the very point of Christmas.

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As Paul said, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

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The reason that we talk about the behold of the incarnation is so that we can also talk

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about the behold of the crucifixion.

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And then a few hours, three days after all of this took place, there is another behold

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that we read of in the word of God.

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For the record of this one, would you turn to Matthew chapter 28 with me?

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It was the end of the Sabbath.

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Dawn was coming on this first day of the week.

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And it says that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were coming to the sepulcher.

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And behold, there was a great earthquake.

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For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the

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door and sat upon it.

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His countenance was like lightning, his raiment white as snow.

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And for fear of him, the keepers did shake and became as dead men.

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And the angel answered and said unto the woman, fear not, for I know that ye seek Jesus who

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is crucified.

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He is not here, for he is risen as he said.

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Come see the place where the Lord lay.

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And go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead.

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And behold, he goeth before you into Galilee.

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Where shall ye see him?

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Lo, I have told you.

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And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy, and did run to bring

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his disciples' word.

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And here we have the behold of the resurrection.

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The crucifixion in itself would be incomplete if it were not for this event.

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For if Jesus Christ had died only, then our salvation would be a hopeless one.

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Of all men we would be most miserable.

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But because he died and rose again from the dead, we have eternal life through him.

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Justification from our sins is possible.

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He died to take away our sins and lives that he might apply his salvation to us personally.

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As that song that we sing in another season of the year says, Lo, in the grave he lay,

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Jesus my Savior.

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And then the chorus, up from the grave he arose.

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And on that resurrection day he appeared to his disciples.

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But there was one disciple who was missing as you recall.

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And that disciple did not see Jesus until a week later.

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And on that occasion as Jesus appeared to him he said, Behold my hands, my feet.

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It's I.

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It is me.

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I am alive.

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To behold the resurrection.

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There are some who think that this resurrected Lord seen here in his glory and his power

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is unable to keep them.

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But since we are speaking about his hands, let me remind you of something else that Isaiah

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the prophet said, speaking about the hands of the Messiah.

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When in chapter 49 he says, Behold I have graven you upon the palms of my hands.

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My friend, your salvation is as secure today as is Jesus surely raised from the dead.

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It is more possible that Jesus Christ never rose from the dead than that you could lose

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your salvation.

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For surely as he lives today, the salvation you have received from him is eternally secured

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to you.

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How do I know that?

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Because written upon the palm of his hand is your name.

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Written there with a nail.

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For those nail marks upon his hands remind him continually of you.

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And as he stands before God the Father in heaven today and intercedes on your behalf

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and mine as our high priest and our advocate, your name and mine engraved there as it were

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in those nail holes is a constant reminder of us before God the Father.

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And there is no way that God forgets us or that God will set us aside or that we will

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slip out of his hands.

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We are kept eternally secure in him.

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That is the power of his resurrection.

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And then there is another behold that we see in the book of Revelation.

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Would you turn there with me?

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Revelation chapter 1 and verse 7.

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In this introduction to the great vision that John had, he writes, he says to the seven

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churches, grace be with them.

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He says in verse 4, grace be to you in peace from him who is, who was, who is to come.

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And from the seven spirits who are before the throne and from Jesus Christ who is the

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faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the

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earth, unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and has made

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us a kingdom of priests unto God and his Father.

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To him be glory and dominion forever and ever, amen.

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And now verse 7, behold, he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him and they also

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who pierced him and all kindreds, all families of the earth shall rail because of him, even

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so amen.

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And then as this great book closes, we have another behold in chapter 22.

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And here these are the words of the Lord Jesus himself.

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Chapter 22 and verse 6, these words are faithful and true and the Lord God of the holy prophets

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sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

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Behold, I come quickly.

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And once again in verse 12, the same words, and behold, I come quickly and my reward is

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with me to give every man according as his work shall be.

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As we view the high points of the life of the Lord Jesus, we think of his birth in Bethlehem,

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we think of his baptism when he identified officially with mankind in his sin, we think

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of the cross when he became sin on your behalf and mine, of the resurrection from the dead,

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and then we come to this glorious time as we think of his coming again to the earth.

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Jesus says, behold, I come quickly, the behold of his return.

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This is a promise that Jesus gave even while he was still here upon the earth for he spoke

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of his return.

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But on that day when he ascended back to heaven, there appeared as he was taken out of sight

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two angels who comforted the hearts of the disciples and said to them, I stand you gazing

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here into heaven.

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This same Jesus who has taken up from you into heaven shall so come again in like manner

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as you have seen him go into heaven.

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And again as the book closes, as the Bible closes its pages in Revelation, we have the

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same theme emphasized once again.

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And remember that this is some 60 years as John writes, some 60 years later after those

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words of the angels on the Mount of Olives.

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We have again brought before us the behold of his return.

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Behold, I come quickly, says the Lord Jesus.

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Why is he coming?

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Well, first he is coming to receive the church to himself.

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You and I today have a blessed hope as we ponder his first coming.

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It is the fact that very soon he is coming again to receive us to himself in what we

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call the rapture of the church.

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We await the sound of the trumpet and the shout of the Son of God as the voice of an

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archangel.

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As we hear him call forth his church from the earth and the dead in Christ raised first,

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we who are alive and remain, changed and then caught up with them in the clouds to meet

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the Lord in the air.

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That is the behold of his return that we anticipate.

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But he is also coming back again later, seven years later, for the sake of Israel.

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For during that period of time of seven years after the rapture, after we have been taken

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out of the world, God will again deal with his people Israel in a very personal way.

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As we think of some of the events in the Middle East, it is sad to note that the Bible predicts

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that the most unhappy, sorrow-filled days that Israel has ever known are yet to come

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upon her.

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There are the days of the tribulation, the time that Jeremiah calls the time of Jacob's

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trouble, a time when many of them will be killed, a time when Israel will be brought

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to the place of repentance because of her unbelief and rejection of her Messiah.

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There will come a day, as the prophet Zechariah says, when they will see him whom they have

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pierced and they will repent.

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What a great day that is going to be because it will usher in for Israel, the nation of

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Israel, the kingdom that has been long promised to her, that Messianic age that was intermingled

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with the judgment of the first 39 chapters of the book of Isaiah, that Messianic age

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that is promised again and again to the prophets of the Old Testament, that reign of David's

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son that was promised to him in 2 Samuel chapter 7.The second coming of Jesus Christ, the behold

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of his return, will bring that time upon the world, the time when he will come again to

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establish his reign.

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He will not come as he did the first time humbly, intervening in human history as a

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baby, but he will come majestically sitting upon a white charger with King of Kings and

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Lord of Lords written across him.

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He will lead forth the armies of heaven, the armies of rebellious man will be destroyed

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and put down, and then will enter the golden age of the earth, when for a thousand years

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upon this world the Son of God will reign personally and every eye shall see him.

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Jesus Christ is coming again not only to receive the church to himself, but so that ultimately

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he may fulfill the promises given to the Jewish patriarchs and prophets to that nation of

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old that God himself would reign over his people.

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And in that day they will behold their God, the behold of his return.

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There is another behold that is important for us to consider though today as we think

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of the life of the Lord Jesus and the beholds involved, and that is the behold of opportunity.

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In 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 2, the apostle says, behold, now is the accepted

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time.

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Behold, today is the day of salvation.

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You may be visiting with us here today or you may have come a number of times.

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You have heard the story of Jesus' birth from your childhood.

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And again you have heard the story of Easter from the early days of your life.

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And yet never before has all of this been personal to you.

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The behold of opportunity is your opportunity today to receive the Son of God as your personal

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Lord and Savior.

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God has graciously given you another opportunity to understand and to turn to his Son in faith.

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He has brought you to this place today.

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We have spoken today of his coming into the world and why he came, what he accomplished

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while he was here, and that he is coming again.

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Do you have any assurance yourself of eternal life?

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Should he come today?

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Should up trumpet sound and his voice be proclaimed and his people taken out of the world, would

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you be left behind to suffer through the days of the tribulation?

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Or would you know that glorious deliverance that is going to come to God's people?

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Today is the day of salvation.

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This is the day of opportunity.

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That is the behold that you must consider.

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Another friend of mine was called one evening at his home.

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The voice on the other end of the line said, Pastor Graham, so and so, and I'll not name

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the person.

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A friend of mine has been critically injured in an accident.

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He is not a Christian.

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He is dying right now at the St. Elizabeth Intensive Care Unit.

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Will you go visit him and try to explain to him how to become a Christian?

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Well my friend immediately got into the car and drove down to the emergency room and asked

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if he might see this individual who had been critically injured in the accident.

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He went into the room where he was.

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The doctors and nurses were there, but they kindly left so that he could have a word privately

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with this young man who was only in his early 20s.

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Dave shared with this young man very briefly why Jesus Christ came, why he was born, why

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he died on the cross, why it was necessary that he rise again from the dead.

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The young man wasn't able to speak.

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He could not respond while he was conscious and could follow Dave's train of thought.

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As he concluded his presentation of the gospel to the young man, he said, now, would you

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right now like to trust Jesus Christ as your savior?

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He said, I know you can't speak to me, but if you will, then take my hand and squeeze

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it twice.

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Slowly the young man's hand rose to Dave's hand they met and the young man twice squeezed

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Dave's hand.

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And then his hand fell back to the cart and within five seconds he was dead.

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The day of opportunity can close before we are ready for it to.

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Are you ready?

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That particular story had a happy ending because here was a young man who seconds before he

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00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:47,040
passed into eternity received Jesus Christ.

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But there was another young man several years ago now who in the state of Nebraska attended

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00:33:55,120 --> 00:33:58,400
an evangelistic meeting in the church.

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He had been invited to come by someone in the church.

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Well now that the preacher gave the invitation, he asked for those who knew that they were

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lost and who needed to be saved to lift their hand.

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And there in the back of the church the hand of this young man went up.

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They had a word of prayer.

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They sang the invitation hymn.

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The preacher asked for those who would trust Jesus Christ to come forward in the service.

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This young man stood there in the back.

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Obviously he was deeply moved, under conviction, but he would not come.

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The invitation was closed.

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During the closing prayer the preacher immediately went down the side aisle to the back door

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to greet everyone who left.

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And this young man was one of the first ones out.

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He said, young man, I saw you lift your hand.

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I prayed for you.

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He said, I wish you would give your heart to Christ.

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And with tears in his eyes the young man said, yes, I know I need to.

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I know I need to and I will.

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I will tomorrow night.

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I will come back tomorrow night.

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I will go forward in the service tomorrow night.

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But I can't do it tonight.

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I don't want to do it tonight.

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The preacher said, I'll be praying for you and trust to see you tomorrow night.

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Without the young man who was emotionally upset by this point turned and walked quickly

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00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:35,080
down the steps and ran across the street.

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But it was this time of year and the street was very icy.

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When he got into the middle of the road he hit a patch of ice he had not seen and slipped.

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And at that very moment a truck came along and rolled over him killing him instantly.

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I do not know the young man's heart.

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I don't know what went on inside of him.

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But this much I know at that instant his behold of opportunity ended.

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Now why do I talk about these stories?

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Why do I give you these illustrations?

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Because I want to impress upon you my friend.

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That the day of salvation, the time that God graciously extends to each of us to be saved,

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is only so long and we know not when that door will be shut.

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If you have never trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then I hope that today

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you will observe the behold of opportunity and trust him, ere you leave this place.

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Let's bow together in prayer.

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Heavenly Father, having quickly seen in review the life of the Lord Jesus, beholding God,

447
00:36:59,720 --> 00:37:08,040
bringing about salvation for us, is deeply humbling.

448
00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:17,160
Thank you for your love for us and for the grace that brought about our salvation.

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Father, I am particularly concerned for some friend who may be here today who has never

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00:37:23,840 --> 00:37:29,380
genuinely opened his heart and received Christ.

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00:37:29,380 --> 00:37:38,800
I thank you that the door, the opportunity, is still there.

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And I pray that that one today will go through the door by faith.

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That he will receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior yet today.

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Thank you for extending the time graciously.

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May none of us be presumptuous about that opportunity.

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00:38:00,640 --> 00:38:06,440
Rather take advantage of it while we may.

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And I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

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Just a moment, we're going to sing a closing song.

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It is our custom here to end the service with the singing of a song and the opening of an

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amenillriendong.