In this sermon, the speaker shares a personal experience of helping a lady clear out thorn bushes from her property. The speaker emphasizes the joy and reward of enduring until the end and working for others, even when the task seems impossible. The sermon also highlights the importance of worship and the need to keep the flame of worship alive in our hearts. The speaker encourages the audience to focus on Jesus Christ and realize his excellency, as he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The sermon concludes with a reminder to follow the example of those who have spoken the Word of God and to yield to the compassion and pity of Jesus.

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold. You are welcome to make copies for your friends and neighbors. If you would like additional messages, please go to our website for a complete listing at www.charityministries.org. If you would like a catalog of other sermons, please call 1-800-227-7902 or write to Charity Ministries, 400 West Main Street, Suite 1, Efropie, 17522. These messages are offered to all without charge by the freewill offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. I greet you all this morning in the name of Jesus Christ. May His Spirit, that He promised us, draw near to you this morning and fill your hearts with the fullness of God by knowing Him and understanding Him and the realization of Him this morning. Therein is the fullness of the Spirit. I would like, if we could, to kneel for prayer, if we could this morning, in worship. Now, Father, we come to you, this congregation. We lift up our eyes to you, our Father. Here at the beginning of this message, thank you for all that you've given us up till now. Thank you for your working in this opening and the children's lesson this morning. Thank you for the courageous words that you give to us. Now, my Father, would you open up the Word of Life even more. Quicken hearts here in this room. Enlarge our hearts that we might run the way of Thy commandments, that we might hear the Word of God and do it. Lord, let your Word have power. I pray that you'd give us a sanctuary here this morning. Give us a sanctuary from our own idle minds and draw those minds in by the power of your Spirit. Give us an understanding heart that we might understand those things which are freely given to us by God. And more than all, Lord, we would see Jesus this morning. God, would you lift up the Son of God this morning again in our minds. We lose sight so quickly in this day. Please lift up your Son again this morning. We trust you and ask all these things according to your will. In the name of Jesus, Amen. Thank you. Well, I'd like to welcome the visitors that are here today. I've noticed we have some that at least I have not met before. Welcome and thank you for coming to worship with us this morning. Worship in singing. To worship in the hearing of the Word of God. I would like to speak a message this morning and I thank God for the way He's already worked in Vernon's opening. He actually used some verses that I was planning to use in my introduction. So, thank you brother. I was wondering how I'd get through all my material today. So, I think that will greatly help me. Praise God for laying that on your heart too. I would like to speak this morning on the manifold excellence of Jesus Christ. I am going to be preaching out of 1 John sometime. And this morning I'll touch in 1 John, but I felt this morning that this would be the subject that God would have me preach. It's the one that is closest to my heart this morning and I always like to preach out of my heart. I see a great need in this last day. I know that we preach about this often and I don't think that we should get tired of hearing it. So, if you have that little twinge that goes through your heart this morning, oh, that subject again. Sit up and do what you have to do to sharpen your ears and hear the word of God this morning because we're going to be talking about Jesus Christ. The most eminent and most majestic topic that can be spoken by mortal tongues, the name of Jesus Christ. Noah Webster defines excellence this way. He says that excellence is the state of possessing good qualities in an unusual or eminent degree. That's excellence. Excellence in a person, the person of Jesus Christ, is that state of possessing good qualities in an unusual, a very unusual degree. Wouldn't you say? Jesus Christ possesses good qualities in an unusual degree and a very eminent degree. I've heard men praised for a lot of things and I'm sure you have too. We've heard men praised for an excellent memory. My, that man has an excellent memory. Excellent physical strength. Maybe he's a fast runner or a strong worker or something like that. Excellent speaking abilities. My, that man can speak. Excellent composure. He just doesn't get flustered. We've heard men just exalted for many, many qualities in their person. Maybe he's an excellent engineer, or an excellent builder, or an excellent manager. Maybe he has an excellent family. He's an excellent family raiser. But who is like unto Jesus Christ? I'd ask you. Who is like unto Jesus Christ this morning? You can bring the greatest and the most excellent of all men together and they don't even come close to the Lord Jesus Christ. They don't hold a candle to our Lord. He is most excellent in every way. And I know it's one thing to say that, and we all know, yeah, Jesus is excellent, I'm sure. I believe that. I agree with that. But this morning I hope to go a little step further and I'm just going to walk down the character of Jesus Christ and tell you again why Jesus is excellent. I have here 11 areas in which Jesus is excellent. I'll list them here if you'd like to take notes and then we'll go through them. He is most excellent in His Father. First of all, His pedigree is without spot. He is excellent in His person. He is excellent in His character. Excellent in His teaching. Excellent in His deeds. He is excellent in His promises. He is excellent in the power of His death. He is excellent in His resurrection. Excellent in His return. Excellent in His authority. And excellent in His worship. In every one of those areas, and I'm sure there are many, many more facets of the Lord Jesus Christ that you could draw into, but these were the ones that were on my heart this morning to share. And if you just remember when we say excellent, excellent is not just neat or good or great. Excellent is that which surpasses what is usual. It is that which surpasses others. My purpose this morning is that worship flows out of these things. Just like Brother Vernon read to us this morning, if you'll notice, that Christ might dwell in your heart through faith. And that you might know what is the love, the breadth, the height, the length, and the depth. And in the knowing of that, you will be full of God. As your heart is aware of those things, God fills you through the knowledge of Him. Like Ephesians says in chapter 1. Ephesians 1.17 says that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. That's where it is. It's in the knowledge of Him. It's when you come to the realization of Him. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened. And to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge. It excels knowledge. The love of Christ. And that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. So let's begin. Jesus Christ is first excellent in His Father. I buy tools from a company. The Manhattan Supply Company. I don't think it's wrong to make that known. It's a big tool company that sells tools over a wide area of businesses. Machinist tools. Industrial tools. It's an industrial supply corporation. They are a vast company. If you need it, they have it. And I remember, I've been doing business with them for some years. And in their book, they have a book about this thick now, of all their things that they supply. And in the beginning, if you open the first book, the first page, there's a picture of the president of the corporation. I don't know if any of you other have dealt with them very long, but if you remember about eight years ago, that picture was of an old man, graying, balding, very noble man, the president of MSC, Manhattan Supply Company Incorporated. A very important man, I would say, for sure. But as the years passed, then the next, pretty soon a book came out, and it had a picture in there of that old man shaking hands with another young man who resembled him, his son. And then now, if you go look at that book, you'll see his son's picture, the president of the corporation. Well, you would say that that young man was excellent in his heritage, in his pedigree. He was the son of the president of the corporation, Manhattan Supply Company. But you know, all the austeres, and some of you have been in that business before, you know, up there in the upper enchiladas where you have the stained glasses and marble tables, and let your mind go to the highest and noblest and most majestic setting, and the son of the most highest and grandest and most eloquent, and you name it, Jesus Christ surpasses by far that majesty. He is by far more majestic. I once thought, I grew up under the shadow of a man, Dian Murray Cooper. That was my father. And going to school, I grew up in his shadow. I was his son. I was Dian's son. When I went to school, oh, you're the son of Dian Murray Cooper. Dian Murray was the school board administrator. He was a deacon and song leader in the First Baptist Church of Arlington. He was also a Bible study fellowship group leader. He was a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering, a carpenter, a mechanic, and a salesman. Dian Murray Cooper, and I grew up in his shadow. I was the son and am the son of Dian Murray Cooper. There is an excellence that a son has because of who his father is. And glory came to me because of who my father was. I wasn't deserving of it. I brought shame to that name many times. But you can just think of it. I mean, what passes through your mind when you think of the son of George Brunk? What kind of a boy do you think of? What kind of a man is George Brunk's son? The son of Keith Daniels. The son of A.W. Tozer. Jonathan Wesley. You know, there is an honor that is attached to a young man because he is the son of his father. And Jesus is no exception. He is the Son. In Ephesians 1.17 we read this morning, it says that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory. That's the Father of Jesus Christ. He is the Father of Glory. 2 Corinthians 1.3 says, Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comforts. You wonder where Jesus gets it? He gets it from His Father. Why does Jesus excel? Because His Father excels. It is the glory of His Father. His Father is God the Father. Of whom the Bible says are all things. He is the Source of all things. God is the Source of all things. Jesus Christ is the Son of Him for whom and unto whom and of whom are all things. I don't know how awake your minds are this morning, but the more awake you are in your mind, the more that will humble you and amaze you and wonder you. He is the Most High. He that is enthroned above the cherubim, who dwelleth in unapproachable light. He is the King of Heaven. One hundred million angels, the Bible says, attend Him constantly. No king ever had an attendance like that. One hundred million, not just servants, but angels attend Him constantly. Some cry, Holy, Holy, night and day it says, never ceasing, with voices that make the temple's post shake. He is infinitely majestic in being and He is worshipped night and day constantly. Jesus has an excellent Father. Who is like the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ? The Bible says, Who is like unto thee, O Lord, who made Heaven and Earth and all that is in them is? That's my Daddy, Jesus says. That's my Dad. So, when you see the Father shaking hands with the Son, that austere moment of passing on authority from one to another, we are talking about the Father from whom are all things. Alright, Jesus is excellent in His Father. Jesus is also excellent in His person. And when I say person, this is what I mean. Jesus is excellent in the very essence of who He is. You know, a person is more than just what He says or what He does or His character or that. There is someone that He is and a position that He holds that makes the person. When the person of the judge of the state of Pennsylvania, the high judge, He is a person, but He fills a position and that position makes Him someone because He stands there. The President of the United States may be nobody when He is born, but He is the President of the United States when He steps into that office. Jesus Christ is God, the second member of the undivided triune God. Do you understand that? His person, His very person is who He is. He is the second person of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost who was with the Father before the beginning, had glory with Him even before the world was. He is one with the Father. The Magi at His birth knew that because it says they came from the east, followed His star, so that they could get down on their knees at a cradle where there was an infant realizing that that baby was the Son of God, the second member of the triune God. And they worshipped there and brought their gifts. It says when they were coming to the house and they saw the young child with Mary His mother. Actually, pardon me, I slipped there into my childhood memories. The Magi came to Him while I was in the house, not while I was in the cradle. And they fell down and worshipped Him. There was a wedding at Cana. You remember the disciples were at a wedding with Him at Cana? And Jesus made approximately 150 gallons of the best wine that the steward had tasted. And as He was saying, most people serve the best wine first, you serve the best wine last, and the servant knew where the wine came from, that it was water. And the disciples knew, and the Bible says, this beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and He manifested forth His glory. He pulled back the robes of His plain humanity and out from His inner being shone forth the realization, this person is not just any ordinary man. This man commands water to be something it is not. And it obeys Him. He manifested His glory. He is God the Son. And His disciples believed in Him. In the boat, after Jesus rebuked the storm, if you remember, Jesus stood up in the middle of the storm, they woke Him in the ship, the water was coming in, they were sinking, the boat was getting sluggish, Jesus stood up in the prow and said, Stop it! Be quiet! And the sea that was about to swamp them, obeyed. And they got down, it says, and they worshiped Him. A dawning and a realization in the heart of a man, that I am dealing with God. This is not just a humble carpenter of Nazareth who can do some tricks. This man is the Son of God. He is the second part of the triune God. He is God the Son. This is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. If you remember Peter, what was Peter's reaction when they had fished all night and caught nothing? And suddenly Peter finds himself in this sinking ship full of fish around him, flopping and he can't believe it. And the one thing that he realizes is, I can't believe this is happening. And as he realizes that Jesus Christ is the one who is the result of it, it says he falls down in the boat and worships Him amid all those fish. And says, Lord, depart from me. I am a sinful man. You're God and I'm a sinner. Depart from me. He is God. The blind man. It says Jesus heard that they had cast him out. If you remember, he was the man that the Pharisees brought in and brought him on trial, and then got his parents in there. Well, I don't believe he was blind when he was born. Finally, the man was put out of the synagogue and it says when Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and when He had found him, He said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? And he answered and said, Who is He, Lord, that I might believe on Him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen Him, and it is He that is talking with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped Him. That blind man knew more than a lot of seeing men of his day. He realized, this is the Son of God. And I believe on Him. And he worshipped. That was his result. And that's my heart this morning in all this. We need to quicken our hearts. I don't know what happens in our daily grinding life, but that essence of worship gets dull, doesn't it? It grinds to a slow grinding halt, and life loses its flavor, and the joy of my salvation somehow waxes cold, and my heart this morning is, can we just look at who Jesus Christ is, and somehow quicken that flame again of worship, that when we sing our songs, it's coming out of a heart of realization of worship this morning. He is infinitely excellent in His person. After His resurrection, it says, they came and held Him by the feet and worshipped Him. Revelations 5.11 says, And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts, and the elders. And the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand. That's one hundred million. And thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive honor, and glory, and blessing, and riches, and wisdom, and strength. And every creature which was in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped Him that liveth forever. I know we're all familiar with that scene. But brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ hasn't changed one iota from this day that this was first seen. He has not changed a jot. And He is still worthy. And those angels are still enthralled with Him. Why aren't we? Truly Jesus is excellent in His person. Who is like unto Him? Who is like the Lord Jesus in their person? He is worthy of worship. Alright, number three. He is worthy. He is excellent in His character. And I'd like to talk about some of His character this morning. One, I love the character of Jesus Christ in His humility and His patience. You know, those two in His life blended together. Being the Son of God, the second member of the Godhead, yet was the epitome of humility. Can you believe that? Such a high position, and yet such a low esteem of Himself. And patience. There's a few things here, just a few sessions in His life that bring this out. If you remember when Lazarus died, remember that scene? And Jesus purposely stayed away for three days, because He had plans much bigger than any man could ever imagine for His friend Lazarus. And finally He said, Now, let's go, and we need to wake up My friend Lazarus. And what did the disciples say? Now remember, this is the Son of God, who hearing that His friend Lazarus, whom He loved, was sick, and on the verge of death, lingered three more days. Now, He didn't linger because He was delinquent. He lingered because He was the Son of God. And He knew, I'm going to raise Lazarus from the dead, because I love Him. I'm going to do something in His life that people will talk about for the rest of eternity. No one was raised from the dead like Lazarus was. Save the Lord Jesus. So what did the disciples say? Well, Lord, if He's asleep, He'll recover. Can you imagine, you're speaking to the Son of God. Can you hear the intimation behind that? Well, Lord, you know, sleep does wake up. The humiliation of that. I mean, they treated Him like a child. How many times in His ministry do His disciples try to tell Him what to do? I mean, Peter says, No, Lord, it shall never be thus. You know, scold Him like a little child. No, that's not the plan we have for You. And they treat Him as though He were just some carpenter from Nazareth in a brown robe. And forget the night on the storm. And forget the Cana of Galilee. I see the humility of Jesus Christ. You see Him saying, Wait a minute, who do you think I am? No. You don't see that. You just see Him teaching them, No, boys, what I mean is He's dead. And I'm glad He died. Because I'm going to wake Him. So that you can believe that I'm the Son of God. And who was raised from the dead like Lazarus? Lazarus, come forth. And the dead had no choice. Bound hand and foot, He must come forth. The patience of Jesus Christ. If you want to feel small, observe the character of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no end to the room that you can grow in your Christian life as you gaze upon the beauty of the character of the Lord Jesus Christ in this era of humility and patience. At the Last Supper, if you remember, Jesus said to His disciples, He says, I have earnestly longed to eat this supper with you. Why do you think that is? You know, we just had communion here. Why did Jesus earnestly long and pray, God, let me eat this supper with my disciples? Because it was the most important thing to Him. It represented His very lifeblood. It represented His death and His body. And He knew the power that that blood was going to have in changing our lives. It was very important to Him. If you had to say one thing was important to Jesus, He wanted to eat that supper. He wanted His disciples to grasp hold. Men, do you understand? This is my blood. I'm going to shed it for you. Drink it, all of you. It will give you eternal life. The realization of that blood shed for you will give you eternal life. Eat this bread. It is my body. It's going to be broken for you. Eat of it. I'll not drink this wine until I meet you again anew in the Kingdom of God. I'm going to be fasting wine from here until the time the Kingdom of God is established. You know, it was important to Jesus. Those were precious, sacred moments. Now you tell me, what happened immediately following the communion? Can someone tell me? What was the conversation immediately following communion? No, I think Judas might have been gone by that time. They fell to arguing who is greatest. Now tell me, what did that do in the heart of Jesus Christ? Here he's trying to impress on them the most valuable truth the human race has ever or will ever get. The blood of Jesus Christ. And the next thing you know, they're bickering like boys about who's greatest in the Kingdom of God. And what did Jesus do? Did He scold them? Did He say, don't you guys have any spiritual interests at all? No, He simply laid aside His own desires. Laid aside that precious teaching. Figured that that moment was past. And He took up that old, old teaching that He taught them a number of times before. And says, now men, among you it shall not be this way. It's not this way. But whoever is greatest will be the least. That was an old teaching. It's written two or three other times in the Gospels that He taught them that lesson. Once He took a child and said, unless you humble yourself like a child. But the patience. Who is like Him? Tell me, how many of you are like that? Can we say, I'm like that? When I read those things, I say, Lord have mercy on me. Make me like that. I want to be like Jesus Christ. He is excellent in humility and patience. Endurance. Jesus is excellent in endurance. In the garden before Caiaphas. In the garden, the endurance of enduring the shame of being taken captive. Before Pilate, the shame, the pain of the scourging. Before the Roman soldiers, having the whole Roman guard fall down and mock you. And scoff at you. And tear your beard out by handfuls. And beat a crown of thorns around your head with a reed. And on the cross, the suffering on the cross. We see the Lord Jesus Christ not once yielding to the flesh. Not once. But always. Loving. Forbearing. Forgiving. Enduring. Often you see Jesus Christ serving and healing. If you remember the time that it says that He was so busy healing that He couldn't even eat. His disciples didn't even eat. And His family came to take charge of Him, thinking He was insane. He's gone mad. And they came to take charge of Him. The endurance of the man was beyond human reason. They thought, something must be wrong with the man. People just don't go without eating all day long. And serving. And healing. If you remember what it says, when the woman touched Him with an issue of blood, remember? What did Jesus say? How did He know that she touched Him? I felt virtue go out of Me. That tells us that it wasn't nothing for Jesus to heal people. Virtue passed out of Him and healed people. But He lost in it. He gave in it. Jesus gave in it. And you find Him day after day after day in the press of the people. Giving. And the virtue flowing out of Him. And the virtue flowing out of Him tirelessly. The endurance of Jesus Christ is excellent. He is beyond normal. Jesus is excellent in His compassion and pity. Remember the time that John was killed? John was the only man on earth that understood where Jesus was coming from. He had foretold His coming. He was a close friend to Jesus Christ. John had actually baptized Jesus. And yet, at His death, the news came to Jesus. And His heart was heavy. And He drew aside from His disciples, with His disciples in a boat. And if you remember, as He was going across the lake to a wilderness place where He could be alone, the people knew where He was going. They saw the direction of the boat and ran on land and got there first. And as they came ashore, Jesus saw all these people waiting for His virtue to flow out of Him some more. And what did He do? Come on guys, I'm tired. Just leave me alone. No. It says He had pity on them. In that study, the compassion of Jesus and the pity of Jesus, it just astounds me. Who is like Him? Who is like the Lord Jesus in His pity? And in His compassion for people? Hurting people? And He got out of that boat and He began to teach again. And began to heal again. The blind Bartimaeus. You know, we often focus on blind Bartimaeus. Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. But think about it from Jesus' perspective for a moment. He's being pressed on every side by people moving along in this mob. And now there's another voice shouting from the crowd. I mean, He has people pressing all around. Our natural tendency would be to be annoyed at one more need when He's being pressed by needs all around already. And yet, what is His response? He stops and says, bring that man to me. Always, even in the press of ministry, always has enough of grace to be sensitive to the need of where that man is at. That's a blind man. He needs me. Bring him here. The compassion, the pity of Jesus Christ. That woman who had an issue of blood. You know, can you envision what that was? Peter says, Master, people are all around you, touching you. How can you say, who touched me? What would that be like? Just imagine that for a minute. You're in a crowd of people, and everybody wants to touch you. And you're just moving through a crowd, and this woman's got to press her way, and just has enough room to reach the hem of your garment. It's just that pressing and yielding to it. You know, not, get me out of here. Like the flesh would want to do. But rather, yielding to it, and allowing virtue to continue to flow from God through me to the people. The compassion and the pity of the Lord Jesus. Is it not excellent? Does He not surpass the usual in degrees? His integrity and His honesty are unblameable. Here's the most difficult setting, wouldn't you say? You've been invited to somebody's house for supper. And you're sitting down at their table, and their food, and they have sin in their life. That is a test of a man's integrity. That is a test of how much honesty he really has, isn't it? That's where you're pressed the most to keep it to yourself. I mean, the man is feeding you. But not the Lord Jesus. Not the Lord Jesus. Now, you Pharisees, you wash the outside of the cup. But inside, you are full of dead man's bones. That is a testimony of the integrity of the Lord Jesus. The Word of God and the truth were of utmost importance to Him, no matter what setting He was in. He told the truth. Simon, I have something to say to you. This woman has been forgiven much. And that's why she loves me so much. But you, Simon, you have been forgiven very little. And that's why you love me so little. Who is like Jesus Christ in His character? And that's just a few. I think I've just touched on a mountaintop. If you want to plumb the depths of character, Jesus Christ excels in all. I would love Him more. That's what I would do. I want to be like Him. I want to be like my hero. Jesus Christ is my hero. And let this vain world out there with its business and its trucks and its homes and its pleasures and its honors, let it go its way, but give me Jesus, the song says. Take the world, but give me Jesus. Let my character become more like His character, whatever the world says about me. Jesus Christ is excellent. The excellence of the Lord Jesus Christ in His deeds. Jesus Christ is excellent in His deeds. Acts 10.38, the testimony of the apostles was, How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power. He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil. Period. That's the synopsis of Jesus' life. He went about doing good and healing all those who were oppressed of the devil. Jesus Christ is excellent in His deeds. He is excellent in His healing. And I'm just going to list some of them here. If you just think about the healings that He did. Who healed like Jesus Christ did? Not a man. Who preached and taught like Jesus Christ? Impromptu. Any moment of the day, He was ready. Preaching. Teaching. Disciples get a burner saddle, who's the greatest? He just, right there with a teaching. What were you talking about along the way there, men? And He calls a child over. Now, I want to teach you something here. Unless you are converted. And there's a definite change in your life. And you become like this little child. You won't even enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Teaching. Always teaching. His teachings, or His deeds, pardon me, and His preaching and His teaching. His praying. Did you notice when He said to Peter, Peter, Satan has wanted to sift you like wheat. But what? But what? I prayed for you, Peter. You know what that tells us about the Lord Jesus? There was praying going on that we don't know about. And who was it for? Peter. Lord, I know you're going to sift Him. I know He needs some sifting. You need to deal with those things in His life. But Lord, when He's converted, would you please make Him an anchor and a rock in your church? I've prayed for you, Peter. And when you turn, then comfort your brothers. Strengthen your brothers. In His giving to the poor, Jesus is excellent. Did you notice that Judas, when he went out, all the disciples thought Jesus just told him to go give something to the poor. That was their assumption. Why is that? Because Jesus gave to the poor all the time. It was not uncommon for Jesus to give to poor people. He was excellent in His giving to the poor. He is most excellent in dying for the sins of men. The deed He did in dying to save us, who has ever excelled like that? Is there any deed that any man has ever done that comes close to the redemption of the ungodly and sinful race of men? In His death, He redeemed the human race. If you want to shake hands with someone of importance, it would be Jesus Christ. If you had to pull some name out of heaven or earth by which to lift up song and majesty and exalt, it would be the name of Jesus Christ. He is the Exalted One. And yet He had to tell us as His disciples, He that is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous generation, I will be ashamed of Him in the day that I come with my angels. Because we are ashamed of Him often. Shame on me. He is most excellent. The Lord Jesus is most excellent. He is worthy of the honor and the adoration and the respect and the worship of every living creature, let alone men. It says in Revelation, I heard the voice of every created thing. Birds, reptiles, trees, the trees of the field will clap their hands. He is worthy of excellent praise. He intercedes day and night for His people even now. Even now. He is worthy. He is excelling in His deeds now. Who is like unto the Lord Jesus Christ? I exalt Him this morning. I shall exalt Him in the future. It is my earnest intent that He should be exalted in my life with my lips, with my life. Let the Lord Jesus be praised by our lives. Let the heathen hear it of our lips. He is excellent in His teachings. And all of us know this, but I thought I'd just pick out some just so that our hearts could maybe be inflamed a little this morning. You know, the officer answered the Sanhedrin when they were sent for Jesus, if you remember that story. The Sanhedrin heard that He was blaming them. What was it? He was preaching the resurrection of the dead. No, it wasn't that. Sorry, it flips me what the specific teaching that broke the camel's back with the Sanhedrin, and they sent guards to get Him. Do you know what He was teaching when the guards got there? He stood up at the end of the feast and said, If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. And the guards said, What? Who are you? And so they just listened for a little longer, and Jesus says, and maybe, I don't know what those guards were going on, but maybe they were saying, Well, you know, it is the end of the feast and I should be full, and I should be satisfied, but you know, I guess if you put it that way, I am kind of thirsty yet. I am not satisfied yet. And Jesus says, He that believeth in Me, out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. And the guards just stood there, and their mouths got opener and opener and opener, and finally they just looked at one another and headed back to the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin said, Why didn't you bring Him? And this is their testimony, and this is my testimony. Never man spake like this. He is excellent in His teachings. The Lord Jesus excels in His teaching. No man ever spoke like the Lord Jesus. You look over the religions of the world and look at the wisdom and all the things that men have concocted over the years, and praise God, there are some there, but nothing like the wisdom and the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every word that comes out of His mouth can be dissected down to its finest, minutest part, and you'll only find it wiser and wiser and wiser. Praise the Lord Jesus for His teachings. His teachings are practical. He came among us and just taught us practically. He says, When you come to supper, don't sit at the head of the table. Go to the end of the table. And then when He comes, you'll see you sitting there and say, Friend, you don't belong down there, come up here. But if you sit at the head, someone more important might come and say, Would you give place? And then everything is full and you've got to go to the foot of the table. That's practical, isn't it? Praise the Lord Jesus. He's so practical. Treat others the way you wish to be treated. That's the law. And the prophets. That's practical. What a man eats does not defile the man. It goes into his belly and then is eliminated. Do you understand? He cut right down through all that spiritualization of foods and what's holy and what's not. No, that doesn't defile a man if you eat that. That won't defile you spiritually. Because it goes into your belly. It doesn't go into your heart. And then it's eliminated. That's practical. Pay the drachma tax so that you'll not offend them. Yes, we don't have to pay, Peter. But lest we should give up offense, pay the drachma tax. Praying in faith. Jesus taught us very practically. Whatsoever thing you pray, believing, it shall be given to you. He taught deep teachings like that one we talked about. He that believeth on me out of his inner, his belly will flow rivers of living water. He talked about oil of ten virgins. All ten slept. And yet five had an oil in reserve that brought them into the kingdom of heaven. He taught us in ways that made us stew and meditate and chew and wonder and pray for wisdom and enlightenment. Ye must be born again, Nicodemus. I have spoken to you of heavenly things. John 16.12, he actually said to his disciples, he says, I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Who is like Jesus Christ, the perfect teacher? Excellent Lord Jesus. A++. He taught challenging teachings. Take up thy cross daily. No man builds a tower except he sit down first and count the cost. Lest he should not be able to finish it. And then he will be a fool. Count the cost. Resist not evil. You have heard that it was said to hate your enemies. I am saying love your enemies. That is a challenge. I am turning the tables on you. Now love those men. Don't resist their evil. Love them. He challenged us in his teaching. So ye are to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. Plenty to be challenged in the teachings of Jesus. He was excellent in his comforting teachings. Have you ever been comforted by the Lord Jesus like no other man can comfort? He said, like the prodigal son, he says, God is like the father waiting for the prodigal to come home. Who has wasted his substance and wasted his substance on riotous living. And yet the heart of God is waiting for him to come down the road. And he is watching the road. And when he comes down the road, he will meet him and give him back his robe. And give him his position as a son. And he will bless him. Be comforted with these words. Because that is my Father. That is what my Father is doing. There are angels in heaven who rejoice at the sinner who repents. Who could comfort? Who has comforting words to teach like Jesus does? Let me tell you what heaven is really like, sinner. I know your heart can hardly believe that God could even accept you. Let alone accept you joyfully. But let me tell you what heaven is really like. Angels are anticipating your homecoming. They are waiting for your day of repentance. And when you do, they will rejoice. The lost coin. The woman is sweeping the house. It is a teaching of comfort for the sinner. God is calling for you. He is looking for you. He is waiting for you. He is searching for you. Fear not, little flock, for it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Isn't that comforting? Who can comfort like the Lord Jesus can? Who is such an excellent teacher like the Lord Jesus? I thank Him for that. Don't be afraid. My little children, every hair on your head is numbered. Every hair on your head, my Father knows about it. Not a sparrow falls to the ground except my Father knows. And you are more valuable than many sparrows. What a teacher the Lord Jesus is. Without comparison. Wouldn't you say? Let Confucius be silent. He is a most wonderful counselor. That is his name. All right. I am not going to cover all these because I purposely filled my heart with more than I could say. But I would like to just talk a little bit about His promises. The Lord Jesus excels in His promises. Who made promises like the Lord Jesus? This is the promise that He hath promised us, 1 John 2, 5. Even eternal life. Who can make a promise like that? Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. I shall. Count on it. Who can make a promise like that? Who can make a promise like the Lord Jesus? Is He not excellent then this morning? In His promises. If you love me, keep my commandments and I will pray the Father and He will give you another comforter. That He may abide with you forever. I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you. All things whatsoever you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive. Promise. These things I have spoken to you that in me you might have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. Those are words of a promisor par excellence. More than usual, wouldn't you say? Excellent is stating it mildly. Praise the Lord Jesus. Heaven exalts Him. Earth should do the same. Let His people rise and bring their praise to the Lord Jesus Christ. The power of His death, and I have already spoken about this to you all. I don't get tired of speaking of it. The world has seen the death of some great men and their death has affected many people. I know some of you sisters, I would dare just to lift up something that is very close to the hearts of many of you, I'm sure. But when a husband dies, it affects us. Doesn't it? It is the death of a man that affects the deepest heart in a widow's life. You know, when Danny Troyer died, it affected his widow's life, but you know, it left a hole in the whole church. His business was left empty. No life in it anymore. No one driving. No vision for it anymore. The brother he was working for, all of a sudden, things that he had planned were just gone. The connections were missing. When men die, it makes an effect upon the world. When President Roosevelt was assassinated, when President Lincoln was assassinated, it had an effect. It was a shock to the human race, as it were. Adolf Hitler's death made an effect in the world. Alexander the Great's death made an effect in the world. If you remember the story in the Old Testament, Saul had seven sons, and because Saul had tried to wipe out the Gibeonites with whom God had made a covenant under Joshua, he tried to put them to death, and God sent a plague in the days of David. And to stay that plague, seven sons of Saul were hanged to their death, and left to be eaten by... There was actually one of the widows that kept the birds from eating the flesh, but they were left to hang as a curse because of that disobedience. And that death turned away the wrath of God, and the plague was stayed. The famine was stayed. But whose death has had the effect that Jesus Christ's death had? In His death, the sun hid His face for three hours. Like that song says, well might the sun in darkness hide and shut His glories in, when Christ, the mighty Maker, died. My Maker is on the cross, and the sun shut His glory in. He said, I'm not shining. Who is like that? Man cannot even conceive the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's some of our problem. We live in what we conceive, and we need to get out of that and start living where we can't conceive. Praise God. At the death of Jesus Christ, the rocks rent. I'd sing this song if I had time, but I don't. But I'll read you some of the words. It's to the tune of... It says, Behold the Savior of mankind nailed to the shameful tree. How great the love that Him inclined to bleed and die for thee. Hark, how He groans while nature shakes, and earth's strong pillars bend. The temple's veil in thunder breaks. The solid marbles rend. Isn't that a beautiful song? The Lord Jesus' death. Whose death is like His, in the effect that it had on earth. The graves of the saints opened, it says, and many came to life and appeared to many after His resurrection. The veil, which was said to be, I heard, twelve layers thick. It was an impossibility to tear that thing. It was an impervious curtain, separating the holy God from unholy men. And only the high priest was allowed in there once a year, and only with blood. And it rent from top to bottom, at the death of Jesus Christ. Paid. Open. Jesus Christ has reconciled by His one death, the entire human race to God, by His one sacrifice. Hebrews 10 and 12 says, but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sin forever, sat down at the right hand of God. Exalted. And at His rightful place this morning. That's where my Lord Jesus belongs. At the right hand of God. There is no higher place to go, except the throne of God Himself. He is sitting at the right hand of power. He is exalted. His name is exalted. It is the highest name on earth and in heaven. At the name of Jesus Christ, someday, even those knees, which have for the centuries been resisting Him, did you know that there are a third of the angels who will not bless that name? They will not. Willfully, they have chosen 50 million angels. I will not bless the Lord Jesus. But someday they will. Someday that knee, that proud knee, will bend and acknowledge Jesus Christ is Lord. And I, for my part, want to be with the other hundred million that are left who have chosen the love and the adoration of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is exalted and He is worthy. He is excellent in all His ways. His resurrection is excellent. I could list... I could just think of all the resurrections that were glorious in the Bible, and Lazarus is not among the least. But whose resurrection was like the Lord Jesus? There was an earthquake. He is the firstborn from the dead. He says of Himself, I am He that liveth, and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. You see, the difference between the firstborn and the dead and all the rest of the resurrections is they had to die again. They were not raised with the power Jesus Christ did. He triumphed over death in His resurrection. And He says, I have the keys of death and hell. They are in My possession now. Death does not hold Me. I hold death. I am the one who makes decisions when it comes to death anymore. And I shall never die. Who is exalted like the Lord Jesus this morning? There is no one in heaven, no one on earth, no one under the earth like the Lord Jesus. His name, that name, Jesus Christ, should be the most precious words in our lips. And I know. I know at times it's not. And this world gets a hold of us and makes our love to wax, and our visions get cold. But that name should be lifted up this morning in our estimation. We should go out of these doors into the world with that name as precious to us again. There is no one like the Lord Jesus. He is excellent, excellent, excellent. At His resurrection, dead people appeared to their families again. Angels started appearing. Did you ever notice that? I mean, angels appear on rare and very special occasions like His birth. But you notice that His resurrection, it actually mentions angels appearing many times in the different accounts. Angels appeared. They just appeared in the tomb. Oh, you're looking for Jesus. He's not here. He's risen. Death doesn't hold Him here anymore. You're looking in the wrong place. He will go with you, before you. He's triumphant over death. I won't talk about His return because I think most dealt with that last week, and I've also preached on that. But His return, my friend, is excellent. No return of any king is like unto the Lord Jesus' return. It is far beyond imagination, let alone history. His authority, the authority of the president is peanuts compared to the Lord Jesus. Nebuchadnezzar said, Whom I will, I spare alive, and whom I will, I put to death. That was Nebuchadnezzar's words. I have power. I mean, I say it and it happens. I'm the king of the world. Well, the Lord Jesus was the one who told Nebuchadnezzar, You will eat grass for seven years until you acknowledge that I'm the one who makes kings kings. He is excellent in His authority. The Father judgeth no man, but He hath committed all judgment unto the Son. The Father judgeth no man, but He hath given all judgment unto the Son. Sit here at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. All judgment is thine. Like Joseph, Joseph was a type of Jesus Christ. Pharaoh said to Joseph, No one will lift a finger or a foot in all of Egypt except by thy word. The Lord Jesus is exalted in His authority. Last of all, Jesus is excellent in His worship. And that's where I hope we come to this morning. I hope these words have somehow quickened in your heart a fresh realization for the Lord Jesus Christ. He is excellent in His worship. The worship that takes place for the Lord Jesus is beyond imagination. It is beyond any other. He is excellent. He is exalted in it. Myriads, it says, when He took that book out of the hand of the Father, having won redemption and earned the right to open the Kingdom of God to the world. It says, angels fell on their faces. Elders fell on their faces. All over heaven, everybody's falling on their faces. And then I heard everything down on earth. The sea and all that in them is. And under the earth. And the birds of heaven. And all the peoples of the earth. And I heard one great cry, worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ. If I had one request to make of God, I would ask Him, God, let my heart realize that from now until the day I die. That is the most important thing, that our vision not grow dim when it comes to the person of Jesus Christ. And I preach to myself too. There is much more concerning the excellence of our Lord Jesus Christ. I have seen it. And I desire to see it more. If you wish to excel in life, I mean all of you. Young men and maidens. Old men and women. If you want to excel in life, then set your affection and your adoring eye upon the Son of Man. The Man of Galilee. The Carpenter of Nazareth. The Eternal Son of God. You will never lack for something to wonder at. As you look at Him, you will be like Him. And you will excel as well. And I can say that on the basis of Scripture. If you notice in the book of 1 John, the third chapter, verse 2, says, We know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him. Why? Because we will see Him as He is. There is a connection between seeing Jesus Christ and being like Him. There is a definite connection. And I hope this morning you have seen Him. And I hope that it will make a change in your life and make you more like Him. Thank you very much. Sorry for going long this morning, but I hope that your hearts are burning. May God bless His Word. And my praise goes to the Lord Jesus this morning. There's a little verse that's squeezed into the book of Hebrews here. Chapter 13, verse 8, it says, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. If there's any life motto that you want to hang on to, this would be a good one. If you want your heart to burn, as Brother David was talking about, focus your heart and attention on this for a while. I think you'll find your heart to burn after a while with love for this Jesus Christ. Brother David was talking about the excellency of Jesus. Well, that's not just somebody that had a wonderful effect in His day and was a great person in His day, but He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. And I find it interesting that that verse follows. Verse 7, Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. What is the end of their conversation? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the glorious end. He is the reason that we strive. He is the reason that we want to, as Brother Vernon had in the opening here, deny ourselves, take up the cross. He's the reason that we want to discipline ourselves in meditating on the word of God. Jesus Christ, the glorious end. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. I'm not very old, and I've seen a lot of men come and go with many different doctrines. And I've seen presidents or heard of them making glorious claims, but they're all tossed to and fro trying to please people or whatever, but Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Let that sink into your hearts here today. Thank you, Brother. It did my heart good. Anyone else have something to share here this morning? Okay, Brother Darrell? Bear with me a minute. I'm shaking. When my wife came out of the house this morning, she found me sitting on the passenger's side. And I think she knows by now that when she finds me there that God is speaking to me, and she needs to drive. And you know what? We started down the driveway, and it was all. I didn't know why, but it was all. And I came here, and there were verses on the way, on the road coming, and it was all. And we sang to 10, and I shall find in thee my all and all. And then Vernon asked, and the list was expansive, but he was speaking to me again about all. And the exercise he was speaking to me about with this word all, he took me to Mark 12, 44. But she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all of her living. All. And then in 1 Corinthians 3, and in 1 Corinthians 15, and in Ephesians 1, at the end of Ephesians 1, and in Colossians again, put all things under his feet. All things under his feet. Who is the head? All and all. And Brother David spoke of even all of those foes, even death. The last enemy, all. He's conquered it, all. We want to exercise ourselves. He's asking all, all of us. And I want to take that back to a message that Brother Rick spoke a couple years ago, and we heard on tape last fall, and it was about this very matter that's coming in two days from now. And then we weren't here again a couple weeks back. We were coming on Wednesday night, and I thank you, Brother Dean, for calling and telling us that the message was spoken on that Sunday. We wanted to hear that. And we're talking about should a Christian vote, and the Christian's voting booth. And it's all again. You see, I wrestled with that, and before we even started coming down here, I had to get to the point where I could not reconcile it. I couldn't work my way through all. Even in the churches where we had been telling us that when it got to be this time of year that maybe not suggesting and maybe suggesting even a party or a man. But I couldn't reconcile it, and I found myself fighting with this thing. And I'd go to vote, and I might be able to vote for a question, a referendum, and I couldn't vote for anybody. God wouldn't let me vote. And then finally a few years back, I just had to lay it all down. And I quit, because He wanted all of me there. And you see, there were things coming in that I couldn't reconcile with who He really is. Because even if the church was telling us, and the church leadership was telling us these things, it just couldn't be in my life, because the all was being interfered with. And so I close with this. Yes, it is in a tear-stained prayer closet, but it's in all places at all times. It's in the warehouse, it's in the plant, it's in the school, if that's in your classroom in your home, it's in the restaurant if you stop along the way, Brother Dean, it's everywhere, it's all. That's what He's after. And it takes every one of us. It takes you, brothers and sisters, every one of us here. That's what He's saying to us this morning, I believe. It's all about every one of us. And Brother Rick's message, last message, a couple Sundays ago, was this word, stranger. It's going to take every one of us to help one another to settle in on being a stranger in this life, here and now. Brothers and sisters, my appeal, my plea would be that we can vote today, and that's by being a stranger, a pilgrim on this earth. And as the brother said, Brother Rick said, it's not a given day, once every two years or four years. He wants all days, every day, every moment. He wants all of us. Every one, brothers and sisters. And I'm just standing saying, I need all of you, all of your help, to be what He wants me to be. It takes us all. The body of Christ, that which He gave Himself for, put all things under His feet. The head over all. Thank you, brothers. Anybody else? Marcus? I was very encouraged today. I was thankful for Vernon's encouragement to my heart of enduring until the end, and also David's encouragement with that. Yesterday I was working for an older lady. It seemed like the rose bushes wanted to overtake, they were thorn bushes, just wanting to overtake her house. And as I looked at it, I thought, this will take a lot of time and dedication. And as I went into the job, I found out it's a lot bigger than I thought it would be. And a lot of times there were just thorns hanging on my clothes. It went through my jeans and just sticking everywhere in my hand. But I said, God, just give me strength. I want to do a good job for this lady. And I just kept on going and going and going. And finally the job was done. You could see all the way to the little stream behind her house. And it's so rewarding when we endure until the end. There's just a joy in that when we work for others and do something for them too. Even though it seems impossible and it doesn't look good, those thorn bushes had a very small root. The root was weak, but once you took them and pulled them out, a whole vast area cleared. And it was just a picture of how the Lord wants us to take hold of the root of those ugly things in our lives. And just get rid of them and pull it out. And just the joy even on the lady's face to see that all of that could be removed. So I want to encourage all of us young ones to just go on, to just plow into it and seek the Lord. Thank you for the message, Vernon. Amen. Noel? Yeah, I prayed this morning that the Father would boast of His Son to us today. And I just praise Him. I want to know Him more. And I love Him. Just thank the Lord for showing us the excellence of His Son. Brother Steve? Well, I was sitting here this morning and measuring myself against the excellency of Christ. And realizing the shortcomings in my own life as I look at His character and I look at all of these things. I was blessing the Lord for that clear picture. And I wasn't tempted to be discouraged in it. And I realized here as we were sharing the reason I wasn't tempted to be discouraged. And that is that it's God's stated purpose to conform us into that very image that we saw here this morning. That's His whole purpose to keep us here, to conform us into that image. And I'm thrilled with that thought. He starts by making us sons. We don't even start. We can start right at the first point that Brother David raised. That we receive adoption into the same family. And so bless the Lord for that. And I hope that we'll go forward encouraged that that excellency is what God wants to see in each one of us. And in the church. And if we would be a church full of little Christ like that, how it would turn the world upside down. And so amen to that. Thank the Lord for hearing our prayers and answering our prayers and continuing to show us ourselves. And I guess I would remind you all to pray for me because I'm measuring myself in that mirror. I'm far short, but I know that the Lord will continue. Amen. I was very blessed this morning by the message that Brother David shared. You know, as you think about, I've pondered already, what is in a name? You know, you think of different people. You think about their name. As you think of their name, you know, many memories go through your mind. Some pleasant, some not so pleasant. You know, there's a lot in a name. But you think of characteristics of a person, their character, their conduct, and many other things. But as you think of the name of Jesus, it was sweet to me this morning to think about that. And I'm very thankful this morning to be a son of God through the blood of Jesus. Edmond. Praise the Lord. I can say thank you, Dave, for the washing of the Word. I feel if the Son of Jesus is lifted up that He will draw all men to Him. And I feel drawn today. And I thank you. I do see through the eight years that I've been walking with Him that I, you know, you kind of lose a picture of what Christ is. And I thank you for lifting Him up, putting Him in His rightful place. Are we done? Okay. Jesus Christ is made to each one of us. All we need. Wisdom, righteousness, and power. Holiness forevermore. My redemption full and sure. He is all you need. Amen.