Give Bible and turn in it to the Old Testament. To the prophet Isaiah's writing, we will read the first nine verses of the 40th chapter. For those of you familiar with the book of Isaiah, the first 39 chapters, you'll recall, deal with judgment primarily. Really that judgment is intermingled with the hope of Christ's blessing and the reign of God over men, over his people. It is primarily a message of judgment. We come to chapter 40. We begin a new theme in the book of Isaiah.
That is the theme of salvation. It tells how God is going to bring about this blessing that he has spoken of infrequently through the first 39 chapters dealing with judgment. It is through the coming of the Christ. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye tenderly to Jerusalem and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins.
The voice of him that cryeth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill shall be made low. And the crooked shall be made straight and the rough places plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed. And all flesh shall see it together. For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The voice said, cry. And he said, what shall I cry?
All flesh is grass and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the breath of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely the people are grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever. O Zion, thou bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain. O Jerusalem, thou bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with thy strength. Lift it up, be not afraid. Say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God.
What an amazing prophecy this is, that there would come a day in the land of Israel when Judah would hear from the people of Jerusalem, Behold your God. Once before a similar statement had been made in ancient Israel, it was the time when Moses slingered long on top of the mountain receiving the law. The people's hearts became disturbed and unsettled and they cried out to Aaron saying, make us a God.
And Aaron yielded to that voice of the people, gathered together gold and fashioned that gold in the form of a calf and said, This is your God that brought you out of the land of Egypt. He said, This, behold your God to the people. And yet they fell under the judgment of God because God had commanded them that there should be made like unto him no graven image. Their Yahweh, their Jehovah was invisible. He was spirit.
And there was to be no man-made thing made like unto him that was to be worshiped. Nothing was to be made to represent him. He would appear to them in his own glory, but they would have fashioned nothing like unto God. And yet Isaiah the prophet says there is a day coming when Jerusalem will tell good news to Judah. And Jerusalem will say to the people, behold your God. This is your God. How would he come? Would he come on a chariot of fire? Would he ride a whirlwind?
Would he be seated on a white charger? How would their God appear in their midst? In a most unexpected and mysterious way, there was a day when in the land of Judah, God entered human history. Not on a charger, not in a chariot of fire, but in a lowly manger. God quietly entered into history as a baby. Isn't that amazing? As we look together into the life of the Lord Jesus Christ today and see some of the outstanding events, I would like for you to with me behold your God.
There are a number of times in the life of Christ when that word behold is used of him. It was a statement of exclamation. It was a statement intended to point to something or someone. And a number of times in the life of Christ we see the term behold used of him, fulfilling Isaiah's prophecy, behold your God. Turn with me first to Luke chapter 2 as we discuss together the behold of the incarnation. The beloved physician Luke records the most detail regarding this birth of the Savior.
We would expect him to do that. Luke chapter 2 verse 10. We have the word of the angel to the shepherds after the birth of the Lord Jesus. The angel said to them, fear not, for behold I'll bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to our people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you, ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.
You notice what the angel said to the shepherds, fear not, behold I'll bring you good tidings of great joy. A Savior is born. This is the behold of the incarnation. That word is a theological word that has really a very simple meaning. For the word incarnate means to assume flesh. By theologians this act of God entering human flesh and assuming a human nature is called the gracious voluntary act of the Son of God in assuming a human body and a human nature.
In Jesus Christ two natures, deity and perfect humanity are united in one person. Miracle of the ages, how could this be? Have you ever pondered this event from the standpoint of God the Son as he left the glories of heaven and came down to this earth? And in the virgin conception of Mary entered into her womb? Can you imagine what it was like for the God of the universe who spoke all of this around us into existence?
To be born and for the eyes of that baby to open for the first time and for the God who created the universe to see the universe from the standpoint of a man? Can you imagine the hand that flung out the stars into the heavens reaching out for the first time? It is a mysterious thing that God entered human flesh and yet that is the behold of the incarnation. Without this there could be no salvation. There could be no forgiveness, no cross of Calvary.
This act of the incarnation of the Son of God was essential for the salvation of men. And though it is a mystery to our understanding this union of God and perfect man, it nonetheless is a truth that we hold dear to our bosoms. When the shepherds looked into the face of that baby as they went to the stable, they beheld the face of God. Just as Isaiah said, there would come a day when they would behold their God, so the shepherds did on that evening.
For the first time man was able to look into the very face of Jehovah God. Not as he perhaps anticipated that it would be. Not with great glory but with great wonder surely. And looking at the form of that infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying upon that manger and knowing that this was in fact Christ the Lord, the behold of the incarnation. As we think through the life of the Lord Jesus further, we come to a time that is not often emphasized nor is it understood by many people.
And that is the time of his baptism. To go to the account in John chapter 1, would you turn there please and look at verse 29. John chapter 1 verse 29. The scene before us now is some 30 years after the scene in Bethlehem when the shepherds looked upon the face of God in the manger. The Lord Jesus Christ has grown now into young adulthood. There has been for a number of months a mysterious figure on the scene in Judah. The very one that Isaiah the prophet had predicted in Isaiah 40.
There was the voice of one crying in the wilderness. It was the voice of John the immerser, John the baptizer. He was calling the people of Judah to repent of their sins and to indicate their repentance by being immersed in water. And it says in verse 29, the next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him and saith, Behold, the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world. And then John baptized the Lord Jesus. And as he did that, an amazing thing took place.
Suddenly out of the blue azure heavens appeared the form of a dove and it lit upon the Lord Jesus. It was identified as the Holy Spirit coming upon him. And then a voice shook the wilderness as God said, This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And there we see the triunity of God revealed clearly for men to observe. Again, a mystery that our minds cannot unwrap but which we hold dear.
As God the Father speaks from heaven, God the Holy Spirit comes upon the Lord Jesus and as God the Son stands there in the water having been immersed. But why is it that Jesus was immersed? After all, the baptism indicated repentance of sin and yet the Bible records that Jesus was sinless. Why then did he undergo baptism by John? In fact, John wondered at that himself, he said, I have need to be baptized with you. Why do you ask me to baptize you?
And Jesus said, permit it to be so now that all righteousness may be fulfilled. Well, what did Jesus mean by that? In essence, he was saying, John, it is necessary for me to undergo this baptism so that I may identify with mankind in its sin. The purpose of the baptism was not to indicate that Jesus was repenting of any sin, for he was sinless. But it was another step of humiliation or humbling rather on his part as he identified with man in his sin. That was the purpose of his baptism.
As we come to the scene in John chapter one, we behold our God as he was baptized, willing to take upon himself identity with us, with sinners. And now turn in the Gospel of John to chapter 19 with me as we notice a third use of the word behold in connection with the life of the Lord Jesus. John chapter 19 verse five, approximately three years have now passed since the baptism of John chapter one. And we come here to the scene of Pilate's judgment hall.
Already Jesus has been tried by the Jews, has been found by them in their mockery of a trial worthy of death. They have delivered him unto Pilate. Pilate has already tried to evade the whole question by sending Jesus to Herod for Herod to care about the judgment. Herod refused to do that and returned him to Pilate. And Pilate upon Jesus' return caused him to be scourged. A crown of thorns was plaited and put upon his head and he became sport for the rough soldiers in Pilate's guard.
In verse four it says, Pilate therefore went forth again and saith to them, Behold I bring him forth to you, that you may know that I find no fault in him. Then came Jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man. When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out saying, Crucify him, Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him and crucify him, for I find no fault in him.
And then skip down to verse 14 where it says, And it was the preparation of the Passover in about the sixth hour, and he saith, Pilate saith to the Jews, Behold your king. In this account in John chapter 19 we have the behold of his crucifixion. What a terrible scene this is.
It is early morning in Pilate's judgment hall and we see the one man who had lived a perfect life accused of crimes he was not guilty of, beaten until he was in his appearance not even a human being, spat upon, mocked, and prepared for crucifixion. But Pilate's statement to the crowd was, Behold the man. Yes, more than a man. But from the standpoint of his humanity what was he at that time? He was the man, the last Adam who would bear the sin of all mankind upon himself. Behold the man.
The man who stood in your place and in mine and received that judgment. The man who was nailed upon the cross and who there shed his blood for your sin and mine. Behold the man today. He is the man who came into the world to save sinners like you and me. Behold him in your place and in mine at this time of judgment. To understand what was taking place here we need to remind ourselves again of some of the words of Isaiah.
How well it is said in Isaiah, we thought that he was smitten of God and afflicted, but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquity and the chastisement of our peace was upon him. We behold the man here rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and yet we do not see him shirk from the reason for all of this taking place.
Jesus does not turn from all of this punishment and suffering, the identification with man's sin, but rather he fully enters into it knowing that this was the reason that he came into the world in Bethlehem. Jesus was obedient to the point of the cross and died in our place. If you and I celebrate Christmas without understanding what took place 33 years later, we have missed the very point of Christmas. As Paul said, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
The reason that we talk about the behold of the incarnation is so that we can also talk about the behold of the crucifixion. And then a few hours, three days after all of this took place, there is another behold that we read of in the word of God. For the record of this one, would you turn to Matthew chapter 28 with me? It was the end of the Sabbath. Dawn was coming on this first day of the week. And it says that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were coming to the sepulcher.
And behold, there was a great earthquake. For an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him, the keepers did shake and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the woman, fear not, for I know that ye seek Jesus who is crucified. He is not here, for he is risen as he said. Come see the place where the Lord lay.
And go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead. And behold, he goeth before you into Galilee. Where shall ye see him? Lo, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy, and did run to bring his disciples' word. And here we have the behold of the resurrection. The crucifixion in itself would be incomplete if it were not for this event. For if Jesus Christ had died only, then our salvation would be a hopeless one.
Of all men we would be most miserable. But because he died and rose again from the dead, we have eternal life through him. Justification from our sins is possible. He died to take away our sins and lives that he might apply his salvation to us personally. As that song that we sing in another season of the year says, Lo, in the grave he lay, Jesus my Savior. And then the chorus, up from the grave he arose. And on that resurrection day he appeared to his disciples.
But there was one disciple who was missing as you recall. And that disciple did not see Jesus until a week later. And on that occasion as Jesus appeared to him he said, Behold my hands, my feet. It's I. It is me. I am alive. To behold the resurrection. There are some who think that this resurrected Lord seen here in his glory and his power is unable to keep them.
But since we are speaking about his hands, let me remind you of something else that Isaiah the prophet said, speaking about the hands of the Messiah. When in chapter 49 he says, Behold I have graven you upon the palms of my hands. My friend, your salvation is as secure today as is Jesus surely raised from the dead. It is more possible that Jesus Christ never rose from the dead than that you could lose your salvation.
For surely as he lives today, the salvation you have received from him is eternally secured to you. How do I know that? Because written upon the palm of his hand is your name. Written there with a nail. For those nail marks upon his hands remind him continually of you.
And as he stands before God the Father in heaven today and intercedes on your behalf and mine as our high priest and our advocate, your name and mine engraved there as it were in those nail holes is a constant reminder of us before God the Father. And there is no way that God forgets us or that God will set us aside or that we will slip out of his hands. We are kept eternally secure in him. That is the power of his resurrection.
And then there is another behold that we see in the book of Revelation. Would you turn there with me? Revelation chapter 1 and verse 7. In this introduction to the great vision that John had, he writes, he says to the seven churches, grace be with them. He says in verse 4, grace be to you in peace from him who is, who was, who is to come.
And from the seven spirits who are before the throne and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and has made us a kingdom of priests unto God and his Father. To him be glory and dominion forever and ever, amen.
And now verse 7, behold, he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him and they also who pierced him and all kindreds, all families of the earth shall rail because of him, even so amen. And then as this great book closes, we have another behold in chapter 22. And here these are the words of the Lord Jesus himself. Chapter 22 and verse 6, these words are faithful and true and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
Behold, I come quickly. And once again in verse 12, the same words, and behold, I come quickly and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be.
As we view the high points of the life of the Lord Jesus, we think of his birth in Bethlehem, we think of his baptism when he identified officially with mankind in his sin, we think of the cross when he became sin on your behalf and mine, of the resurrection from the dead, and then we come to this glorious time as we think of his coming again to the earth. Jesus says, behold, I come quickly, the behold of his return.
This is a promise that Jesus gave even while he was still here upon the earth for he spoke of his return. But on that day when he ascended back to heaven, there appeared as he was taken out of sight two angels who comforted the hearts of the disciples and said to them, I stand you gazing here into heaven. This same Jesus who has taken up from you into heaven shall so come again in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven.
And again as the book closes, as the Bible closes its pages in Revelation, we have the same theme emphasized once again. And remember that this is some 60 years as John writes, some 60 years later after those words of the angels on the Mount of Olives. We have again brought before us the behold of his return. Behold, I come quickly, says the Lord Jesus. Why is he coming? Well, first he is coming to receive the church to himself. You and I today have a blessed hope as we ponder his first coming.
It is the fact that very soon he is coming again to receive us to himself in what we call the rapture of the church. We await the sound of the trumpet and the shout of the Son of God as the voice of an archangel. As we hear him call forth his church from the earth and the dead in Christ raised first, we who are alive and remain, changed and then caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. That is the behold of his return that we anticipate.
But he is also coming back again later, seven years later, for the sake of Israel. For during that period of time of seven years after the rapture, after we have been taken out of the world, God will again deal with his people Israel in a very personal way. As we think of some of the events in the Middle East, it is sad to note that the Bible predicts that the most unhappy, sorrow-filled days that Israel has ever known are yet to come upon her.
There are the days of the tribulation, the time that Jeremiah calls the time of Jacob's trouble, a time when many of them will be killed, a time when Israel will be brought to the place of repentance because of her unbelief and rejection of her Messiah. There will come a day, as the prophet Zechariah says, when they will see him whom they have pierced and they will repent.
What a great day that is going to be because it will usher in for Israel, the nation of Israel, the kingdom that has been long promised to her, that Messianic age that was intermingled with the judgment of the first 39 chapters of the book of Isaiah, that Messianic age that is promised again and again to the prophets of the Old Testament, that reign of David's son that was promised to him in 2 Samuel chapter 7.The second coming of Jesus Christ, the behold
of his return, will bring that time upon the world, the time when he will come again to establish his reign. He will not come as he did the first time humbly, intervening in human history as a baby, but he will come majestically sitting upon a white charger with King of Kings and Lord of Lords written across him.
He will lead forth the armies of heaven, the armies of rebellious man will be destroyed and put down, and then will enter the golden age of the earth, when for a thousand years upon this world the Son of God will reign personally and every eye shall see him. Jesus Christ is coming again not only to receive the church to himself, but so that ultimately he may fulfill the promises given to the Jewish patriarchs and prophets to that nation of old that God himself would reign over his people.
And in that day they will behold their God, the behold of his return. There is another behold that is important for us to consider though today as we think of the life of the Lord Jesus and the beholds involved, and that is the behold of opportunity. In 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 2, the apostle says, behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, today is the day of salvation. You may be visiting with us here today or you may have come a number of times.
You have heard the story of Jesus' birth from your childhood. And again you have heard the story of Easter from the early days of your life. And yet never before has all of this been personal to you. The behold of opportunity is your opportunity today to receive the Son of God as your personal Lord and Savior. God has graciously given you another opportunity to understand and to turn to his Son in faith. He has brought you to this place today.
We have spoken today of his coming into the world and why he came, what he accomplished while he was here, and that he is coming again. Do you have any assurance yourself of eternal life? Should he come today? Should up trumpet sound and his voice be proclaimed and his people taken out of the world, would you be left behind to suffer through the days of the tribulation? Or would you know that glorious deliverance that is going to come to God's people? Today is the day of salvation.
This is the day of opportunity. That is the behold that you must consider. Another friend of mine was called one evening at his home. The voice on the other end of the line said, Pastor Graham, so and so, and I'll not name the person. A friend of mine has been critically injured in an accident. He is not a Christian. He is dying right now at the St. Elizabeth Intensive Care Unit. Will you go visit him and try to explain to him how to become a Christian?
Well my friend immediately got into the car and drove down to the emergency room and asked if he might see this individual who had been critically injured in the accident. He went into the room where he was. The doctors and nurses were there, but they kindly left so that he could have a word privately with this young man who was only in his early 20s.
Dave shared with this young man very briefly why Jesus Christ came, why he was born, why he died on the cross, why it was necessary that he rise again from the dead. The young man wasn't able to speak. He could not respond while he was conscious and could follow Dave's train of thought. As he concluded his presentation of the gospel to the young man, he said, now, would you right now like to trust Jesus Christ as your savior?
He said, I know you can't speak to me, but if you will, then take my hand and squeeze it twice. Slowly the young man's hand rose to Dave's hand they met and the young man twice squeezed Dave's hand. And then his hand fell back to the cart and within five seconds he was dead. The day of opportunity can close before we are ready for it to. Are you ready? That particular story had a happy ending because here was a young man who seconds before he passed into eternity received Jesus Christ.
But there was another young man several years ago now who in the state of Nebraska attended an evangelistic meeting in the church. He had been invited to come by someone in the church. Well now that the preacher gave the invitation, he asked for those who knew that they were lost and who needed to be saved to lift their hand. And there in the back of the church the hand of this young man went up. They had a word of prayer. They sang the invitation hymn.
The preacher asked for those who would trust Jesus Christ to come forward in the service. This young man stood there in the back. Obviously he was deeply moved, under conviction, but he would not come. The invitation was closed. During the closing prayer the preacher immediately went down the side aisle to the back door to greet everyone who left. And this young man was one of the first ones out. He said, young man, I saw you lift your hand. I prayed for you.
He said, I wish you would give your heart to Christ. And with tears in his eyes the young man said, yes, I know I need to. I know I need to and I will. I will tomorrow night. I will come back tomorrow night. I will go forward in the service tomorrow night. But I can't do it tonight. I don't want to do it tonight. The preacher said, I'll be praying for you and trust to see you tomorrow night.
Without the young man who was emotionally upset by this point turned and walked quickly down the steps and ran across the street. But it was this time of year and the street was very icy. When he got into the middle of the road he hit a patch of ice he had not seen and slipped. And at that very moment a truck came along and rolled over him killing him instantly. I do not know the young man's heart. I don't know what went on inside of him.
But this much I know at that instant his behold of opportunity ended. Now why do I talk about these stories? Why do I give you these illustrations? Because I want to impress upon you my friend. That the day of salvation, the time that God graciously extends to each of us to be saved, is only so long and we know not when that door will be shut.
If you have never trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then I hope that today you will observe the behold of opportunity and trust him, ere you leave this place. Let's bow together in prayer. Heavenly Father, having quickly seen in review the life of the Lord Jesus, beholding God, bringing about salvation for us, is deeply humbling. Thank you for your love for us and for the grace that brought about our salvation.
Father, I am particularly concerned for some friend who may be here today who has never genuinely opened his heart and received Christ. I thank you that the door, the opportunity, is still there. And I pray that that one today will go through the door by faith. That he will receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior yet today. Thank you for extending the time graciously. May none of us be presumptuous about that opportunity. Rather take advantage of it while we may.
And I pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Just a moment, we're going to sing a closing song. It is our custom here to end the service with the singing of a song and the opening of an amenillriendong.