SER: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.
