In this sermon, the speaker begins by sharing a story about a man who trains dogs and prize fighters. He compares the strength and endurance of the Lord Jesus to the legs of a prize fighter, emphasizing that Jesus' legs are like pillars of marble that never give out. The speaker then discusses the book of Haggai, highlighting how God claims ownership of silver and gold but asks to see a penny, emphasizing the importance of knowing Jesus intimately. The sermon also touches on Jesus' hunger and the joy of his fellowship, as well as his ability to ride on a humble donkey and the clouds. The speaker concludes by sharing his struggle to find a topic for the sermon and ultimately deciding to talk about the Lord Jesus.

I was disappointed, really, this morning. I didn't hear anybody be grateful to God for the Holy Spirit. No one that testified mentioned Him. Beloved, you'll never get anywhere in the Christian life unless you give Him some place. He's the one that makes Christ precious, the reason Brother Stratt could sing that song. I'm surprised, I really was surprised. We've had such fine services, and nearly every speaker has mentioned the value of that lovely person, but we didn't hear anything this morning about it. I woke up this morning at 4.30 and got up. I didn't know what to speak to you about. I went to bed last night and I couldn't go to sleep, wondering what in the world shall I give to God's dear people for breakfast. Now, you have such fine men, men that delve into the deep things of the Word of God and the precious, sweet things, and I thought, what can I say that will be helpful, since we've had so much and so many of God's precious men. I went back to bed, and I couldn't go to sleep, so at 5 o'clock I thought about that word of David's, which is, my meditation of him shall be sweet. I thought, well, I'd better talk to him about the Lord Jesus. That wouldn't be out of the place, would it? Because everywhere they went they talked about that lovely one, and we who are saved love to talk about him, and we do. So I wrote down a few things I had in mind about it, and I read this in my Bible again. No pictured likeness of my Lord have I. He carried no record of his ministry on wood or stone. He left no sculptured tomb nor parchment rare, but trusted for all memory of him men's heart syllable. That's the reason we don't have any picture. Nobody knows what he looked like, but we know he's fairer than the sons of men. And each one of us, I suppose, has a different picture of him. And you notice that each artist that paints a picture of Christ paints him according to their nationality. The Swedes paint him with yellow hair and blue eyes and a sharp nose. The German friends paint him like a German. The Italian friends paint him like an Italian. Well, that's all right. He is. He just fits in, doesn't he? No matter who we are, he just fits in there somehow. And when we talk to him in prayer, somehow we think of him as our own nationality, the kind of a person that we are. So he trusts for all memory of him men's heart syllable. Then I thought of this, that I made a note of some time ago, that a spirit-centered ministry should have these characteristics. A spirit centered for power, missionary centered for purpose, Christ centered for perfection, and Bible centered for permanence. And I thought, well, do I have any of that? What can I give? And while I was sitting about five o'clock meditating in my room, I remembered that wonderful word in John 6. Remember the crowd left Jesus at the end of the chapter? And he said to the disciples, Will you also go away, verse 67, Will you also go away? Go away where? Go away to who? Go away what for? They went away. Will you twelve also go away? And I thought of that. Where would I go? David said, Oh, that I had wings like a dove, that I could fly away and be at rest. Well, where would you go? Who would we go to? Is there any person in all this world we could go to and get what our hearts need, and know that we can go back tomorrow and get more, and go back a little later and get more? To whom shall we go, said Peter. And the Savior, he didn't tell him anybody he could go to, because there isn't anybody. There isn't anybody we can go to for salvation or peace or rest or any of those thirty-three wonderful things we get when we trust the Savior. There's nobody else we can go to but that lovely woman. Where would they go? Would you go to any artist? I was thinking as I saw some of the flowers out there of Burbank. What a wonderful man he was in horticulture. I saw trees he had grafted a black walnut into an English walnut. Who else would have done that but Burbank? He made fruit without seeds in them. Oh, such miracles was that man, and he wasn't a believer, you know. And I thought, well, will I go to him? What will I get from him? Oh, something about how to raise oranges. Well, I'm not interested in raising oranges. I'm practicing medicine. Would I go to Beethoven or Mendelssohn or Paganini or Handel? Or who will I go to now for music? Will I go to them? Will that satisfy me? Will that fill my heart? Or shall I go to some great artist, Remington or Michelangelo or some of these men whose gift of painting was wonderful? Will I go to that person, one of the greatest men in the world, these artists? Will I go to them? What will I get? Will I get what I want, what I need? Or suppose I go to some financier. I remember sitting down in a seat in the Trinity Church in New York where one of our great wealthy men used to sit in the church. The gent let me sit down where he sat. I guess he thought I'd get some inspiration. I didn't get any money. But he was a millionaire, worth millions. But I didn't get anything out of that. Will I go to some great singer? I knew personally one of the greatest singers the Metropolitan Opera ever had. I tried to enter for the Savior, but didn't succeed. At 31 years, she died of tuberculosis. And I went to her. I talked with her many times. But I didn't get anything from her. Have you noticed that Paul in Galatians 2 tested the value of a Christian? He said, Those who seemed to be somewhat in conversation added nothing to me. That's the test of a person's greatness. What will I get from these men? Or maybe it's power. Some great general or some great president. President Theodore Roosevelt. One of the finest men we ever had in the White House. He was a lovely Christian. Carried his Bible everywhere. Theodore Roosevelt. And I was with him. I didn't get anything from him. He didn't do anything to me. He was a lovely man. I loved him. Who will we go to? That's what Peter said. Lord, to whom shall we go? Well, you figure it out yourself. If you turn away from the Lord Jesus, now where will you go? And what will you find when you go? That's something worth thinking about. And deciding in your own heart and mind. I want to read you about what Solomon said. Brother Zonderman quoted that last night. Remember? When he gave his testimony? I'm going to read it to you. It's the fifth chapter of the psalm of Solomon, verse 14. His hands are like gold rings set with a burl. His belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires. Now notice this. His legs are as pillars of marble set upon sockets of fine blue. And I wondered why that was in there. And one day I was talking with a man who trains dogs, hunting dogs in the daytime, and prizefighters at night. I said, Hey, do you know anything about this? He said, Sure. The first thing he gives away in a prizefighter or a wrestler or a runner is his legs. Or the soldier. The legs give out. He says, He's telling you the Lord Jesus' legs are like pillars of marble. They never give out. He'll walk with you from the cradle to the grave and never give out. And certain sockets of gold because they're so beautiful. His walk is so lovely and so wonderful. And his strength is so marvelous that he compares it to marble. His legs are as marble. My, what a lesson there is there for us. He never gets tired of us. And then he says, His mouth is more sweet. How did he know that? Well, he said, remember, in the second chapter, first chapter, Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. Remember? Some folks kiss you around here by the ear. There's no kicking that at all, getting a kiss back here by your ear. He said, Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. For thy love is better than wine. His mouth is most sweet. And he's talking about sweet, intimate fellowship with our lovely Lord. We don't, many of us have. We are professional with him and formal. But he wants that close, intimate, loving fellowship. Remember, God is faithful, by whom you're called under the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ. I remember in Fort Smith, Arkansas, where I lived, was raised as a boy. There was one millionaire in town. And he had one only boy, about ten years about my age. And he had a big iron fence all around his palace. And nobody was ever allowed in there, unless by special invitation. And one day I got a nice pretty blue letter when I came home from school. And my grandmother said, There's a letter here for you, Walter. Well, it was an invitation from that lady to come and play with her boy on a certain afternoon. Boy, I showed that all over town. I just showed everybody. I got invited to the millionaire's house to have fellowship with that boy. But since I've been saved, I've been finding that in 1 Corinthians 1.9. God is faithful, by whom you're called under the fellowship of his Son. I wonder how many of us are glad of it, and take advantage of it, and tell about it. The fellowship of his Son. We are called under that, and then the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. You remember in the last verse of 2 Corinthians, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, from the janitor to the top. I wonder how many of us have that sweet fellowship. You see, it's a nice thing to say you're saved. But I remember an evangelist asked a young fellow if he knew anything was better than being saved. And the young fellow says, yeah, I know something better than being saved. And the evangelist said, what is it? He said, keeping company with the fellow. Isn't that better? That's what he's talking about here. His mouth is most sweet. He is altogether lovely. Everything about him. You love to see him. I heard George Horowitz, a great Episcopalian rector, loving our Lord one day on his face. He was lying flat on the carpet in the study. And he's saying, Lord Jesus, I love you. I love everything about you. You precious, precious one. You're dear to my soul and heart. I love you. I love those lovely lips of yours that spoke such precious words. I love those lovely hands of yours that were so kind. I love those feet of yours that carried you on errands of mercy everywhere. I just love you. Everything about you I love. And it's the fellowship of his son. I wonder if we know anything about that. Or are we just beggars? And so now, Lord, we thank thee for this beautiful day. Won't you, won't you, won't you give me, give me, give me. Do, do, do. I wonder if we know anything about fellowship. That's what he's saying. He is altogether lovely. This is my beloved. He didn't say this is my banker. This is my helper. This is my physician. He said this is my beloved. This is my friend. Isn't that lovely? I wonder how many of us knew anything about that. That genuine Christianity. That's what our Lord wants us to have. Then remember when Paul met the Savior on the road to Damascus? I went along that road, and I wished I could find the spot where it happened, but I didn't find the spot. But the light shined out of heaven, and he looked up and said, Who art thou, Lord? And oh, boy. You know, he wrote nine books trying to answer that. He just wrote and wrote and wrote, trying to tell us the answer to that. Who art thou, Lord? Oh, he says, wonderful. And the answer. I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. And he said, Oh, Lord, what will thou have me to do? And in one minute, he was transferred from and transformed from an enemy into a lover. And he talked about the Savior the rest of his life, didn't he? And my, the things he told us about that lovely Lord are simply wonderful. And look at the millions that have been blessed by the answer to that question, Who art thou, Lord? And then there was Martha. Martha sat at his feet. She'd been out in the kitchen helping, you know. She got the stuff ready, but Martha, I mean Mary, but Martha wanted to do a lot more. And Mary went and sat at Jesus' feet just to listen to him and look up into his face. I tell you, beloved, that's a bit of heaven on earth. Somebody over here spoke about this place being a vestibule to heaven. That's a vestibule to heaven. Sitting in his presence, loving him. Like the woman that was in the, the washerwoman sitting in her home, and one of the moody courtage men called on her and knocked at the door. And you could hear her voice, Come in. So he went in, and she was sitting there by the fireplace. He said, I'm sorry if I disturbed you. Oh, no, you didn't disturb me. I was just sitting. That's fellowship. That's fellowship. And the Lord wants that with us, and we ought to want it. I think I told you at the time that my sweetheart came and said, When are you going to love me more than your business? I said, Right now. So I put my business away and went out in the kitchen, cut the bread and put the butter on the table and made the coffee and fried the potatoes and everything I could do. And I said, Don't I pay your bill? Yes. She said, But that's not what I'm interested in. I'm interested in you. I said, I'm glad you are. That's what our Lord wants. That we ought to love him. You know the product of the Son. He said, Give me, give me, give me. And he got it and went away to the far country because he cared more for the gift than he did for the giver. See, it was the gift he wanted. He didn't care anything about the giver. And so many of us are like that. And he went away, and he forgot that the world didn't love him. I remember when my oldest boy got the wanderlust. He was tired of dad and mother, and he wanted to go out and see this great, big, wonderful world. So one day I gave him $20. I said, You're going to have a good time. You don't need to tell us where you're going at all. Pat takes some few things with you and you're going to have a good time. He did. He was back in 10 days. He found this wonderful world didn't have a thing to give him. Nobody cared for him. He thought everybody would be bowing his feet in his own place to sleep. He wanted the gift, but he didn't want the giver. The old man made the money. He spent it. Isn't that the way we are? Gimme, gimme, gimme. Instead of making love to him, his love is better than wine, the scripture says. So Martha was out in the kitchen, busy. But Mary sat there and looked at his face and heard his voice and was thrilled with his presence. And God wrote it down in his book that she did it. And then you remember a strange thing about our Lord Jesus. He said in Haggai, And isn't that place, God, the silver and the gold are mine? Know him as the rich one, but know him as intimate, close, loving to him intimately. Then he said, He that cometh to me shall never hunger. And yet when he saw a pig tree, it says he hungered. He came back from Bethany and all the folks out there forgot him. Didn't give him any breakfast. Mary and Martha lived there. And Simon, you know, nobody cared for him out there. Somehow, after all he'd done for them. And it says when he approached the pig tree, he hungered. Yet, of course, you get both angles of it. As the eternal Son, he made himself of no reputation, but humbled himself. And isn't it wonderful he'd make himself of no reputation? You can't do that. And John L. Lewis had a reputation. And Jesse James had a reputation. Anything you do gives you a reputation, but not our blessed Lord. And then again we read, He was a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief. So you'd feel free to come and lean on his breast and hear his words of comfort as he puts his everlasting arms around the tears. Yet he says, These things have I spoken unto you that my joy, my How could he be the man of sorrow? How many times I've And you see the dear mother. I saw a mother with four children down scarlet fever. I took care of those kitties. And then, remember, he wrote in Nahum 1.4, You know, if you live out in the country, if there's somebody you love and wish to see, you're so glad. And our Lord uses that. And grief, and you're going to stand beside him. And he loves to be with you. And then we read, too, about Simeon. Now, I love baby Jesus, you remember, in the temple. And took him up in his arms. And I've seen people that died the other way. They'd never seen him. Came to him. But dear Simeon, holding a wee baby. Because, you see, there's something inside. And we ought to love his person. As Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures. And he and I are good friends, aren't we? But you see, this dear boy's never done a thing for me. And nothing he could do would make him belong to me and be in my family. Something would have to happen to bring him into my family. Haven't you seen lots of folks you were glad you weren't married to? They hadn't done anything against you. But you just didn't like them. Didn't want to be around them. Or somehow, you're mighty glad you weren't married. In the Beloved, I have. And they're all welcome in my home because of me. I wouldn't have picked them out, personally. But they did it, you see. They had their own eyes. Now, God couldn't accept any of us here. Except we belong to his son. So we trust the Lord Jesus. We take him. We accept him. We receive him. And then we're in the family. Because Simeon, Lord, now I'm ready to die in peace. Because I've seen thy salvation. Then there was a precious old buddy in that same chapter named Anna. There was one Anna. And you know what made her famous? She spake of him. Doesn't say what she said. She spake of him to all those that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. And because she spake of him, God put her name in the Bible. Just think of it. We don't know of any other great women who lived in that time. No doubt there were women. There was an angel who gave them cakes that didn't fall when you took them out of the oven, I suppose. And there were folks that were lovely painters and singers, but they're not mentioned. But here's a dear old buddy about 102 years old. And says she spake of him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. And that's the reason she got him in the Bible. You see, God loves those that talk about his son. And those that advertise the value of his son. And those who hallow his name. That's the meaning of the word when you read the Lord's Prayer. Hallowed be thy name. That's what it means. You go and tell what that name means to you. And there are many of them. You know, he has 226 names. And we ought to know a lot of them. And what he does, what those names mean to us. What that name does to us. And we ought to hallow it and tell about it. And then there was a thief. And he just said a few words. We don't know what he did. We don't know anything about his crimes or his life or where he came from. But he said something. And for so valuable, God wrote down in his book, This man hath done nothing amiss. This man hath done nothing amiss. And those words became immortal words. And God wrote them in his book and everywhere the Bible goes. Those words go, This man hath done nothing amiss. You see, God puts down what we say about his Son. He wants us to have such an intimate walk with him that the same things that move his heart will move our hearts. And then again we read about a woman. She had something to say about the Lord Jesus. And the only thing she said was about him that's recorded. That's quite often the case. But she said, Hath thou nothing to do with that just man? She gave the wrong advice. That's the very thing they should have done. Had something to do with him. Hath thou nothing to do with that just man? I've suffered many things in a dream because of him. And God wrote it down, what she said. Stay away from Jesus. Stay away from Jesus. Don't do anything to him. Stay away from him. That's the counsel so many give. And God wrote it down. And he wants us to come near. Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. I like that. Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. That's lovely. And that's fellowship. That's what he wants. And then you remember a very strange thing he said in Haggai, also that little book. Christ is called the Desire of All Nations. The Desire of All Nations. That's one of the names given to him in Haggai. The Desire of All Nations. Every nation wants somebody that'll give peace. Everyone wants peace. That's one of the five-letter sentences, five-letter words in the Bible. You know, almost nearly all the words we love are five-letter words. Peace and bread and water and Bible and Jesus and blood. These are all five-letter words, because the Lord knew we wouldn't have great big brains. The Desire of All Nations. That's the name of Jesus. I wonder if we desire him. I hear people wanting to be saved. You know, one time I doubted a verse in the Bible. I was reading the third of Romans. There is none that seeketh after God. And I thought, that isn't right. That's the wrong translation. Well, I have 26 translations in my library, and so I looked them up. Said the same thing in every one of them. There is none that seeketh after God. And I got on my knees and I said, Lord, I don't know why you put that in the Bible, because it doesn't seem to me it's true. I've seen lots of people wanting to be saved. Just lots of them. I've seen people in tears, in the office, on the street, in the church. I've seen that happen lots of times. But there it was. I looked at it. I read it. There is none that seeketh after God. And so I knew I was wrong. And I said, Holy Spirit, you wrote it. You must know, you know what you're talking about. But I don't. I wish you'd explain it to me. And while I was praying, he said to me, Walter, when you were in soul trouble, were you seeking after God? And I quit praying. And I meditated on my experience. I knew what I came up with. I wasn't seeking after God at all. I was seeking after God's gifts. The gift of forgiveness. The gift of redemption. The gift of pardon. That's what I was looking for. I wasn't looking for him. I wanted what he could do. There is none that seeketh after God. And since that time, I have watched folks in soul trouble, and I haven't found one person yet wanting to find God or Christ. It's always his gifts. Peace and rest and forgiveness and pardon and salvation. That's what men are after. There is none that seeketh after God. And here the desire of all nations is that they're looking for a man. Somebody who can make peace among all the people, for there shall be a peace of death. I give people peace with ether. When I was a country doctor, I used chloroform because we had open lamps. I used chloroform. I give them peace. And the devil has ways and means of giving peace. But there's a man that gives peace, and he wants us close to him. Like a baby when the storm is raging, and mother and daddy take the little one in between them. And because they are there, the storm goes out of that little heart, and there's peace, and the little one goes to sleep. The peace will guide when you're lost in the woods, because he is there. And you know he has the badge on. He's a government guide. You know he knows those woods. And you have peace because he's there. And you walk with him and commune with him until he takes you out. I wonder, beloved, if we know about that. In David's day, he wrote the 23rd Psalm, you remember. I think he wrote it when he was just a boy, because he wrote quite a few of his psalms when he was just about 20, 18, 20, 22. And he said, Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, because you're so powerful. Is that what he said? No. Because thou art... What's the rest of it? With me. And that gave him peace and rest. And because the Lord was with him, he could talk with him. And all through the psalms, he's talking with his lovely Lord. And so did Paul. So did Peter. So did John. Communing with this lovely one who has called us into his fellowship. To walk with him and love him and commune with him. Walking along the road, you talk about the things that he's made. You see everything out there he made. He made dandelions. I don't suppose you planted any, but you have a few around there. And the Lord keeps them. You know why they're so universal? God wants us to be like them. So he keeps them before us all the time. You can't keep a good dandelion down. If the grass is 2 inches high, the dandelion goes up 3. If the grass is 5 inches high, the dandelion goes up 6. If the grass is 10 inches high, it goes up 11. And one of my members of my church brought me one that was 23 inches long. I said, where'd you get it? He said, out of my iris bed. The iris was 22 inches high. So this thing got 23 inches high. You can't keep a good dandelion down. So the Lord wants us to be like that, and he has them everywhere so we can see them. And when we walk with him in fellowship, that's lovely. I will fear no evil for thou art with me. Beloved, I wonder if we know this fellowship. And I'm not giving you a deep doctrinal subject this morning. You get plenty of men who give you good doctrines, wonderful doctrines. We have to have them. But we want something that will make our hearts glad when the tears flow, and money won't do it. And prestige won't do it. And leadership won't do it. And power won't do it. And honor won't do it. But he will. I will fear no evil for thou art with me. And you remember he said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Go into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature. I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee. I leave my family, I leave my wife every time I go away. But I never forsook her and don't intend to. But he said he won't even leave you. I wonder how many of us are conscious of that and love him for it. And say, thank you, Lord Jesus. I'm so glad you're here, and thank you, Holy Spirit. I thank you for your presence. Father Vassar, an Episcopalian clergyman in Boston, was a very great soul winner. And one day he was going out into one of the wealthiest sections of the city. He saw a woman coming down the sidewalk. She had come out of one of these big palaces and had no wraps on, so he just concluded she was going to visit somewhere. And he stopped her and doffed his hat politely, for courtesy goes with Christianity. And he said, I wonder, my friend, if you know the Lord Jesus. Has he saved you? She said, I don't understand. And so he took out his Bible and explained the gospel to her, and the dear woman got saved right on the sidewalk. And that night she said to her husband, the Lord Jesus met me. A man stopped me and told me about the Savior, and he saved me. Because he asked me if I knew the Savior, and of course I didn't. And the husband said, if I'd have been there, I would have told him to mind his own business. And she said, Mister, if you'd have been there, you'd have saw he was minding his own business. It was the natural thing for him to talk, because he walked in fellowship. Now when you're with him, it's easy to talk about him and introduce him to others, don't you see? And God is faithful by whom you're called unto the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. So practice the presence of God, beloved, and your heart will be glad, and life is so easy then, and your ministry is so useful. Let us pray. We look to thee to bless thy precious word, Holy Spirit, thou hast written it. And we thank thee for recording the words of Solomon, and of Paul, and of others, for our benefit and blessing. So that thou enrich our own hearts with it, and give us a deep longing for the presence of the Lord in our souls, for Jesus' sake. Amen. Amen.