Well, welcome to the the glory of Jesus Christ Conference. I'm so delighted that you're all able to come. This has been such a marvelous experience to contemplate the time that we'll be having here to consider all all these matters, and we're grateful that you would come to such a conference to consider the things that we'll be doing here. Now, you know, those of you who've been here before know that, you know, every NCFIC conference is really a youth conference masked and Because there's so many young people here now. We have a coloring book for especially for little ones I forgot to bring it up here to hold it up But if you don't have one, you know, your little ones might might want to to to use it We don't really think children need all that many aids for preaching, that children can understand preaching just like anybody else, but we have that for you.
Maybe it's a blessing to you. And So we're just grateful to have so many young people here in this room and pray that it'll help them to see the glory of Jesus Christ. Another thing, just sort of a housekeeping issue here, If you've been here before, you know we're not high on big applause after messages We'd really like you to just think and pray and consider so we just ask you not to applaud The speaker you may be so excited about what that guy said But you know let let the joy fill your heart and contemplate it. You know in your heart there, so I Pray that God really blesses our time here Please open your Bibles Please open your Bibles to John chapter 7 And I'd like you to find verse 46. I'm gonna base really the introduction to this conference on this one verse.
And John 7, 46, reads, no one ever spoke like this man. No one ever spoke like this man. Now I have a very simple message tonight that can, it can really be boiled down to two words, and I really desire that what I say now will sort of set the stage for what will come. The word why and this and second the word how and Why are we doing this conference first and then how? Do you behold the glory of Jesus Christ?
So Let's engage these these two headings now. Why are we doing this conference? Because it's such a blessing to dedicate time to meditate on the glory of Jesus Christ in order to inflame and to feed our Affections for what is truly glorious. Here's the deal God desires to change your glory for his isn't that good? He wants a greater glory greater joy greater help and he does it as we behold his glory.
And so my primary objective and prayer for this conference is that when we leave this mountain, that we would look back and we would consider, we would remember how God revealed his glory through his word, and that we would remember how we hung on the words of scripture, and that we would be singing a song that we're gonna sing later on. All that thrills my soul is Jesus. He is more than life to me. I pray that's how we go down this mountain. And because no one ever spoke like this man, our Lord Jesus Christ.
You know, many times in the last few months, I've thought of what a privilege it would be for our team to work all year long to gather people for this subject. And of course, as you might imagine, I've been reading John Owen the glory of Jesus Christ This is God's objective for us and and I'm just very grateful You know, We're gathered to inflame our desires on that one thing that David desired when he said, one thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. And another way to say it is that we wanna be caught doing what the Apostle Paul spoke about to the Corinthian church in 2 Corinthians 3.8, when he said, but we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory. Now as you know, probably know, the mission of the NCFIC is to proclaim the sufficiency of Scripture for church and for family life.
And there's nothing more central, there's nothing more defining to church life, there's nothing more central, nothing more defining for family life as beholding the glory of Jesus Christ. The church is always profoundly affected by what it desires, And the family is profoundly affected by what it desires, and particularly what kind of glory that church or that family beholds. There are various categories of glory that you can behold. But God desires it would behold the glory of Jesus Christ. It's so superior to everything.
Nothing shapes you more than what you believe is glorious. And so I pray that as we're together, our affections for what is glorious would rise. And our work at the NCFIC has really been dedicated to the replication of biblically ordered families and biblically ordered churches. And returning to biblical order in these two areas cannot happen Without beholding the glory of Jesus Christ. And so this is very central to our whole message and and our ministry here Now in the next a few minutes I want to give you an approach to this conference you're gonna hear a lot of messages I want to give you kind of a methodology a grid By which you can walk through these messages that that will be delivered and and to explain that methodology I I I couldn't help but going to John chapter seven and to see what is happening here.
Now, I've been preaching through the Gospel of John in our local church in Wake Forest, And I've been pondering all year long what what text I would bring to this conference in Order to open it and what would be the basis of my opening? Comments and I bring this text John 7 46 to help us to prepare for every single message that you hear at this conference. Because no man ever spoke like this man. And the context of this verse is Jesus' appearance at the Feast of Tabernacles. He comes to the Feast of Tabernacles.
In the middle of the feast, it's six months before his death and his resurrection. And on the very last day of the feast, the Lord Jesus Christ stands up in the temple and he cries out, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his innermost being or out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water. So Jesus, in this whole context, he begins by saying, come to me, don't go anywhere else. Stop drinking out of the broken cisterns.
And he's saying your life is like a river. It's not like a lake, it's not like a container. It's like a river that's designed to be filled and it's designed to overflow. And so the Lord Jesus is speaking of this. But when Jesus said these words, The crowd was divided.
I mean, it was profoundly divided. And John goes to great pains to tell us of the different divisions, the different opinions that people had in their minds that were communicating those different opinions that they had. And one of the most interesting opinions is found in verse 46. And it was the opinion of the officers who were sent to arrest Jesus. They went on a mission and they failed in their mission.
They just could not do it, they did not do it, and They came back to their rulers and their rulers said Why didn't you finish the job? Why didn't you bring him back here? And they said, no one ever spoke like this man. And these men were just stopped in their tracks because of the words of Jesus Christ. And these men, as many of the commentators say on this verse, many of them say the same thing, they went to arrest Jesus, but they got arrested by Jesus.
And why does John include this? Why doesn't he include this story? Well, everything he includes in the Gospel of John is really explained in John 20, verse 21. These things were written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ and that in believing in him you might have life in his name that's why John included this story so that you might believe so that if you were holding back that you would have a reason not to hold back any longer if your heart was hard if you were trapped in sin if if you if your heart was dull or you just didn't understand, that these things would help you to believe. And when you read the gospel of John, It's hard for me to read it without asking, what would it take for you to believe?
He's full of grace and truth. He heals the sick, he raises the dead. What more do you want? He is so good. Well, John writes this and He includes it in order that we might believe.
And so the big question in any passage of scripture in John is do you believe? Do you have life in His name? So that's why, why, How. How in the world do you behold the glory of Jesus Christ? Now, There's an underlying assumption for this conference and everything that we're doing here.
And the assumption is God speaks through His word. And that we behold the glory of Jesus Christ by beholding his word and meditating upon his words. Now I think we need to recognize how significant this is because this simple statement No one ever spoke like this man It bears witness to the entire body of the doctrine of Holy Scripture and it it's it's really a launching point for scripture's inspiration and its inerrancy and its authority and its clarity and its sufficiency and its immutability and its absolute invincibility. His words reveal the glory of God and You know the Bible says that the words of God are like fire. They're like a hammer.
They're like water They're like thunder They're they're like a sword and I hope you experience all those when you hear the words of God. Isaiah said that his words were like the gentle flowing waters of Shiloh. I hope you feel that. I hope you have that come upon you when you're here. And, you know, we don't behold the glory of God through some kind of mystical, esoteric, hidden, magical, you know, some kind of transcendent experience.
It's not primarily a function of, an effusion of emotions. It's actually simpler than that. It's more accessible than that. Rather, to behold the glory of Jesus Christ Is to receive with meekness the implanted word by loving it and by obeying it because His his glory is manifested when we embrace his word And we obey it and of course as you might guess that's why this is a preaching conference. Preachers are gathered here to open up the words of God.
And they will be hemmed in by the words of God. And they will try with all their heart and soul to explain what's there and help you to understand how to live it out. And so we've invited men to preach here because the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ is found on every page of the Bible. And some of these men are going to preach out of the Old Testament. Every word of the Bible is a word of Jesus Christ.
Every word of the Old Testament is a word of Jesus. And some will speak out of the New Testament as I am here. But wherever you open your Bible, you see the glory of Jesus Christ. If you want to see his glory, just open your Bible. If you want a voice from God, and I've heard the voice of God several times today already I've heard his voice because I opened his his book and he spoke to me in his in his own words and and so this this this gift is described in Hebrews chapter one where the author says that God, who in various times and various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by his son.
And so God has designed us as his creatures to hear words and those words would transform us. And so the glory of Jesus Christ is contained in and displayed in his words. And so to answer the question, how do you behold the glory of Jesus Christ? You behold the glory of Jesus Christ by beholding his words. And these words are spirit and they are life, as the Lord Jesus Christ said.
Well, he also said the flesh profits nothing, but the words that he speaks are spirit and our life. And that's why those officers who went to go arrest Jesus came back, and they said, no one ever spoke like this man, because he did have the words of life. Now, let me, I wanna try to illustrate this by using lots of illustrations from scripture. I have been meditating on this verse, and it caused me to launch into reading a couple of the gospels front to back and to read other parts of scripture, to look, I was looking for the power and the glory of his words. That was the grid that I embraced in trying to explain this phrase, no one ever spoke like this man.
And so I'm gonna give you a number of phrases and words that come out of these illustrations in scripture that I hope they'll help you to pick various kinds of words out from the preaching that will take place. And so listen, listen for the words, listen for these particular categories of words. And I wanna start with maybe what's the most obvious. Authoritative words. Our Lord Jesus Christ spoke words of authority.
No one had such authoritative and astonishing words as Jesus Christ. You know, at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew chapter seven, Matthew reports that the people were astonished at his teaching For he taught them as one having authority Not as the scribes they were listening to a teacher like they had never heard before The rabbis were just always go around quoting the rabbis, but Jesus said, I say unto you. And, you know, of course, his father said, this is my beloved son, hear him. And the Lord Jesus Christ himself in Matthew 28, he said, all authority is given to me in heaven and on earth. Jesus Christ spoke words of authority.
In fact, when he sent his 72 disciples out to preach, they came back with joy in their hearts, and they said, look, even the demons are subject to us in your name. Why? Because no one ever spoke like this man. So listen for words of authority. Place yourself under the authority of the words.
It's the best and safest place you'll ever live, is under his authority. He also spoke astonishing words. One day Jesus went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and he opened up the scroll of Isaiah and he said, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he's anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted. And when he was done, it says that they all bore witness of him and they marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth.
They were awestruck. Look for awestruckedness in the words, in your own heart. Look for gracious words that are gonna fall upon your ears. Look for them, anticipate them. Men are gonna bring gracious words like the Lord Jesus did.
He also spoke words of life. When the multitudes were abandoning Jesus, as recorded in the Gospel of John, well they'd all left, and Jesus turns to Peter and he says, do you also want to go away? And Peter replied, Lord, And Peter replied, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of life. You know, no one ever spoke words of life like Jesus Christ.
Listen for words of life as these men preach. You know, he also spoke words of grace and truth. The Lord Jesus was marked by grace and truth. John reports in the first chapter of John, we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. No one ever spoke with so much grace and truth.
And I pray that as we all listen, we would say, Lord, nobody ever spoke such a grace and truth to me like you. He spoke words of happiness. You know, Hebrews chapter one, verse nine, says that Jesus Christ was the happiest of all the disciples, that he was actually anointed with the oil of gladness above his companions. You know, there is no one who has ever lived that spoke from a wellspring of happiness like Jesus Christ. He was the happiest man in the room.
If he were here today, and by the way, he is, and he wants to speak out of the happiness of his heart to his children. He spoke words for our joy. He had the most wonderful motives in his words. You know, we are all messed up in our motives with our words. We have so many personal agendas in our words and we need so much mercy from God because the words that we speak are so mixed in their motives.
But the Lord Jesus Christ came so that our joy might be made full. And John says that he wrote all this so that your joy might be made complete. And no one ever spoke with such life-giving motives for us. His motive is for our joy. Isn't that a blessing?
Aren't you thankful for that? That his motive in speaking to you and to me is to increase our joy and to deliver us from the despondencies of our own souls. The Lord Jesus spoke soul-penetrating words as well that really unmasked the hearers. And in Matthew chapter seven, Jesus spoke to very gifted and successful, effective, religious people who had already done much good in the world and he said to them, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven." And then he said, many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, done many wonders in your name, cast out demons in your name? And then Jesus says, I never knew you.
No one ever penetrated the soul and the realities of the soul, like the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen for words that will tell you who you really are Jesus spoke inviting words, you know the Lord Jesus Christ wanted children Around him, You know, they brought little children to him that he might touch them, but his disciples rebuked them when they brought him, but Jesus saw it and he was very, very displeased, and he said, let the little children come to me, for Such is the kingdom of heaven. No one ever spoke to children or about children like Jesus. Listen for inviting words. He invited even children.
Listen for him to invite you. You know, there are many invitations in scripture. I'm sure these men will preach some of the invitations that are in the Bible. He also spoke healing, healing words. You know, no one called out to people trapped in sin like Jesus.
And one day he went to a rich man's house. It was Matthew's house, Matthew the tax collector, and Matthew had invited all of his corrupt friends over to eat with Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes were upset that he was eating with the tax collectors and sinners, and they said, how is he eating and drinking with these tax collectors and sinners, and Jesus said, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. And then, the other day, they said, well, I'm going to go to bed, and I'm going to go to sleep. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
No one ever called really broken people like Jesus. He spoke threatening words. He actually spoke threatening words to protect little children. He loved little children, and he spoke threatening words to those who would cause them to stumble. He said, whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he be thrown into the sea.
No one ever had child protective words like Jesus. Jesus spoke hard words. He spoke really, really hard words, particularly to hypocrites, and he spoke the truth without the fear of man, and he freely confronted those who needed to hear difficult truth. And so, as a result, he called the scribes and the Pharisees whitewashed tombs and hypocrites and blind guides and a wicked generation and men full of dead men's bones and serpents and brood of vipers. And he tells them, you're of your father the devil.
But no one ever spoke more disturbing words than Jesus. I would expect that some of us gathered here need to hear some disturbing words. I pray that you hear them and God brings them to your ears. Listen for hard words. He spoke fearless words.
He had no fear of man. He did not bow to the pressure to impress men One time someone came to him and said teacher we know that you are true and care about no one For you do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth No one ever spoke with such fearlessness and lack of the fear of man as Jesus Christ Listen listen for fearless words He spoke gentle words. He said I'm gentle and humble and hard listen for words of gentleness and humility he You know he also spoke he spoke very succinctly he He spoke very succinctly he He was able to do a lot with his words He spoke very, you know, economically one man one time a man with an impediment was brought to jesus And he he happened to be deaf And not only did jesus heal His deafness and he did some very strange things. He put his fingers in his ears and spat, but he healed his impediment like that. I don't know if you've ever tried to deal with a speech problem.
It's incredibly difficult. Jesus healed it like that. But he spoke one word. It's two words in English, be opened. The word that Jesus used was ephphatha, one word.
No one ever spoke words of such massive effect using so few words. The beauty of the Christian life and also the hope of being separate from Jesus Christ is that he can bring you to himself with one word. I'd encourage you to listen for even one word. One word that will go into the innermost being and change your whole life. One word can change your whole life.
Listen for one word. Try to find words that are designed that way. He spoke loving words. He spoke words of compassion for the aged, and he spoke comforting words. You know, he spoke willing words as well.
He spent time with lepers and the most, who had the most unconquerable disease of the era. They were hopelessly diseased, and They were begging him to heal them and he he willingly healed them he said I'm willing Be cleansed No one ever spoke with such willingness to save. That's his disposition toward his people. He has a willingness to come and help us. You know, he spoke what I'm, I'm going to call knockout words.
He spoke detonating words. He spoke words that were like a shot coming out of a cannon. And the Lord Jesus Christ was in the garden And soldiers came to capture him And Jesus went forward, he went up and faced them And he said, he said, who are you seeking? And he said and they and they answered him were seeking Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus replied I Am Ego in me the the the tetragrammaton the the Hebrew Name for God that's translated Yahweh, which means you know he's the self-existent Three hundred to six hundred soldiers fell down to the ground These were detonating words. These were like words shot out of a cannon.
It's interesting that the language that John uses to describe this. The words drew back literally means staggering and stumbling backward as if some force hit them like a ton of bricks and push them backwards. And the word fell can mean, you know, a person falling so hard, they appear dead like a corpse. They fell down and they fell back. And, you know, listen for knockout words.
No one ever spoke like this man. His words tell you who you are. They interpret the story of your life. They reveal the most intimate parts of your thoughts and your emotions. They unmask your motives and their healing words because no one ever spoke like this man.
And I pray that as we engage our minutes and hours together that we'll all be saying no one ever spoke to me like that man. No one ever spoke to me. You know, no one ever made claims like Jesus Christ. He claims to be the only one who can forgive sin and that he's bred of life He gives eternal life. He claims to be to forgive sins He he claims that you can't do anything without him He claims to show the Father's glory, and he claims to be God.
You know what you do with people who claim to be God? You put them in an insane asylum. So He either is who He said He was, or you should run like the wind away from everything He ever said. He doesn't leave us middle ground options. He either is God, He either came from heaven or he's crazy.
Now finally, how do we behold the glory of Jesus? Well, we behold the glory of Jesus Christ by beholding his word, by reading his word. And the preaching of the word is one of the primary means for that purpose. And the reading of it privately is another means or in your family or in your church. But I'd like to just make a couple of recommendations.
And first of all, I would like to encourage us to get poised for meditation on the glory of Jesus Christ. Take prayerful, thoughtful, impactful moments to meditate on the words of Jesus Christ. You know, going from session to session without reflection is a deflection of the words. And so we need to take time to meditate on the words. And I'm going to ask you to take more time meditating, pausing than you ever have had at one of these conferences.
You know, it's easy to hear one message after another and give them very little careful and deep Consideration. And there are three admonitions I wanna give you. First of all, pause after each session. Pause, slow down, ponder the path of your feet, as Solomon said in Proverbs four. Secondly, speak to the people who are with you about what you just heard, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, I pray that what we're saying is what they said.
Did not our hearts burn at his words? And then thirdly, take something with you to bed, tonight and tomorrow night and the next night. And be like David who said, on my bed I remember you. I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.
Take something with you to bed. Go to bed tonight and be saying, how sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth. Like David said in Psalm 119, or as he said in Psalm 17, as for me, I will behold your face in righteousness. I will be satisfied when I awake in your likeness. Well, this is how we behold the glory of Jesus Christ.
We behold his glory, Not through some mystical experience, but by beholding his word, embracing it, internalizing it, loving it, and then obeying it. So let's behold the glory of Jesus Christ because we believe that no man ever spoke like this man. Would you pray with me? Father, I thank you that you have lined up these preachers and these hearers. As you have done so many times in this world, oh Lord, come down and fill your house with your glory.
The glory of your words that transform, that heal, that bless, hard words, comforting words, compact words, Lord, that you would come that You would come and give us a discipline of mind, maybe that we've never had at a conference before, and that You would help us to meditate on the words. And Lord, that you would use this time to replace more of our glory with your glory and that you