Good morning. If you have your Bibles this
morning, this is not our text, but it's something that I want
to read first. If you have your Bibles, turn
to Matthew chapter 1. Book of Matthew chapter 1. When I was asked to do the Bible
study, you know, you pray about it, and you look at scripture
and stuff, and I got to thinking about the world that we live
in, and I got to thinking about the most important thing that
I can think about. I got to thinking about our Lord
Jesus Christ. And as I thought about Him, I
thought about, you know, when He was here on this earth, He
faced controversy and adversity, and all down through the ages.
things have been said about him. Some people believe this, some
people believe that, and the world is so full today. It's
as worse today as it's ever been. The world is so full of many
different gods, many different Jesuses. Some believe this, some
believe that. And I got to thinking, Well,
let's see what the Holy Scriptures say about our Lord Jesus Christ,
because it don't matter what people think about Him. It don't
matter what people say about Him. But let's see what the Holy
Word of God says. You know, this Word was given
by the inspiration of God, and it is absolute truth. And every
word of this, it was penned by men, but God told these men what
to write. So what we're going to do is,
this morning, we're just going to look and see what God says
about the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. And his title of the
lesson is, Jesus Christ is our Lord. In the book of Matthew, I'm going
to start here. In the book of Matthew, beginning
in verse 20, 1st chapter, verse 20, this is what the Holy Word
says about our Lord Jesus Christ. It says, But while he thought
on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto
him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to
take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in
her is of the Holy Ghost. And listen to this, And she shall
bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken of, the Lord by the prophet
saying in verse 23, listen to this. Behold, a virgin shall
be with child and shall bring forth a son and they shall call
his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. There are so many millions of
people in this world that believe in God, but they have a problem
with the Lord Jesus Christ. But Jesus Christ said himself
in John 14, six, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and
no man can come unto God but by me. There are so many people
in this world today that worship God, but there's no way that
a person, a man, can go to God except through his high priest.
And our high priest is the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what
we're going to look at this morning. As a man, he was set up on the
earth Galatians 4 verses 4 and 5 says this, But when the fullness
of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman,
made under the law, to redeem them, speaking of the elect,
that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons. If it was God, He was always
in heaven. In John 3.13 the Bible says,
And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that come down
from heaven, even the son of man, which is in heaven. If we go, if we will, we'll go
to our text, which is Philippians chapter two. Philippians chapter two verses,
6-11. Look at verse 6, it says, in
chapter 2 of Philistines, it says, Who, being in the form
of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God? To say
that Jesus Christ His Lord, first of all, is to acknowledge that
He is Almighty God. He is the sustainer and the creator
of all things. Turn over a couple of pages here.
One page here to Galatians chapter one, and this is speaking of
Jesus Christ, our Lord. It says, This is talking about the Lord
Jesus. This is who God, the Word of God says He is. For by Him
were all things created that are in heaven and that are in
earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers. All things were created by Him
and for Him, and He is before all things, and by Him all things
consist. Verse 18, and He is ahead of
the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he might have the preemptance. And then over
in John, first chapter, speaking of Jesus Christ our
Lord, this is what the word of God says of him. First chapter, first verse. In the 14th verse, it says, in
the beginning was the Word, which was Jesus Christ our Lord, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And then in the
14th verse, it says, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. Then in Isaiah 43,
the last part of verse 10 and verse 11 says, Before me there
was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. Even I am
the Lord, and beside me there is no Savior. And God the Father
himself said in Hebrews 1a, but under this sign he said, Thy
throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness
is a scepter of thy kingdom. His kingdom is a kingdom of sovereign
righteousness. Then when talking about our Lord
Jesus, He is present in all places at once. Matthew 18, 20 says,
for where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am
I in the midst of them. He's all-powerful. Listen to
this promise and what a precious promise it is. And there are
so many other verses. Philippians 3.21 says this, who
shall change our vile bodies? Now to think about it, you know,
we look at the world today and we see what shape it's in. We
think it's, you know, it's an awful shape. There's so much
sin out there. And then when I look in the mirror, I even
get sicker because I see who I am and I know what's inside
of me. The Bible says a heart is deceitful above all things,
desperately wicked. But he says right here in this
verse, he says, who shall change her vile body that it may be
fashioned like unto his glorious body. That's a promise of our
Lord. According to the workings whereby
he is able even to subdue all things unto himself, And then
our Lord Jesus, He is all-knowing, Romans 11, 33. The Bible says,
the Word of God, Oh, the deaf and the rich is both of the wisdom
and the knowledge of God. How unsearchable are His judgments
and His ways past finding out. And then he's unchanging. In
Hebrews 13, 8, the Bible says that Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday, today, and forever. And he forgives sins. Who can forgive sins? No one but God himself. In Matthew
9, 2, and behold, they brought to him a man sick of the apostles.
He's laying on the bed. And Jesus said unto the sick
of the posse, Son, be of good cheer, thou sins be forgiven
thee. Christ Jesus our Lord receives
worship and he's been given all power in heaven and in earth. Now you think about that, all
power in heaven and earth, Matthew 28, 17 and 18. And when they
saw him, they worshiped him. And some doubted, as they do
today. And Jesus come and spoken to
them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. And then in Galatians 2.9, think
about this. For in our Lord Jesus Christ,
for in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead body. And if we
are one of his elect, we are complete in him. The Bible says
that He is our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption. And I thank Him for the glory
of that. And then in John 10, He plainly says that I and my
Father are one. Whenever we read this Bible,
when we read the Word of God here, we're seeing God in action. When we read of the works of
Christ, We hear the words as recorded in the New Testament.
We're hearing the words of God. When we hear God, when we hear
Christ express emotion, we are listening to the heart of God.
In Isaiah 6, 1, speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ, God's word
says, in the year that King Uzziah died, saw also, listen to this,
the Lord setting up on the throne, high and lifted up, and his crane
filled the temple. Christ our Lord is God in the
fullest possible sense. Therefore, being God, he is absolute,
sovereign, in creation, salvation, and in providence. And that's
something you don't hear in the religious world very much. He
is absolute sovereign. One of the definitions that I
come up with that a preacher thought was a very good definition,
and it is, what do we mean by the sovereignty of God? And that
is this right here. Too many people today want to
allow God to be God. They don't think that Christ's
blood is sufficient. It's grace plus works. Right
here it says, the sovereignty of God is His absolute, speaking
of God alone, it is His absolute independent right to dispose
of the world and all the creatures according to His own good pleasure
and his good pleasure is without constraints. I've actually heard
preachers say that God is obligated to man, and that sounds so ridiculous,
but God possesses supreme or ultimate power in the physical
and in the physical world. God is absolutely sovereign in
creation. I read this a while ago, but
I'm going to read it again. It says, in the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The
same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by
Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.
In Galatians 1, 16 and 17, for by Him were all things created
that are in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether
they be thrown for dominion, principality, or repairs. All
things were created by Him. And I thank God for that. And
that's what the Word of God says about it. And all things consist
by Him. Romans 4, 11, the Bible says,
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for
Thou have created all things and for Thy pleasure. It's not
our pleasure. He's not there for us. I mean,
you know, we need Him. He don't need us. But he says
here that he is worthy to receive all glory on empire for they
have created all things and for their pleasure they are and they
were created. Then Psalms 135, six. Whatsoever the Lord please that
did he in heaven and in earth and he sees in all the deep places
of the Lord. You know, he says in book of
Daniel, he says, I do it according to my will in the army of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay
in my hand." This is the Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord. And then the Lord is absolute
sovereign in salvation. And this is something that man,
most religious man have so much problems with because they want
to add to it, but he's absolute sovereign. And I love that word
absolute. When I talk of God, When I talk of the Lord Jesus
Christ, absolute, complete, but he is absolute and complete.
Jonah said in 2.9, he said that salvation is of the Lord. And
then the Apostle Paul said in 1 Timothy 1.15, this is a faithful
sin and worthy of all exceptions, that Christ Jesus come into the
world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. That pleases every
one of us, doesn't it? But anyway, Salvation is of the
Lord in its origination, in its execution, in its application. in its sustaining power, in its
ultimate profession. There's no place for man there.
It's all of God. And I'll show you that. In its origination, 2 Thessalonians
2.13 says, God's word says, but we are bound to give thanks always
to God for you, brethren. Beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and the belief of the truth. If in the salvation
of the Lord is sovereignty in His execution, Galatians 4.45
says, but when the fullness of the time was come, God sent his
son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them, who's
them, the elect, to redeem them that were under the law, that
we might receive the adoption of sons. If in salvation of the
Lord and its application, Galatians 115 says, but when it pleased
God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by
his grace, he said, I have loved you with an everlasting love.
Therefore, with loving kindness have I grown you. If in salvation
of the Lord is His sovereignty and his sustaining power. Man
today thinks that they have to do it, but no, it's all, we are
kept by the power of God. If you will, if you don't care,
if you'll turn to the book of Jude, it's just before the book
of Revelation, one chapter. I love this right here, the last
two verses of the book of Jude. When we talk about the sustaining
power, listen to this. Now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling and to present you faultless before
the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise
God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power,
both now and forever. If you don't care if you turn
to Revelation 21, Salvation of the Lord is in His ultimate perfection.
He started it. He'll finish it. But in Revelation
21, verses 3 through 6, the Word of God says, And I hear the great
voice out of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with
men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people,
and God himself shall be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away all tears
from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow,
nor crying, neither shall there be any more. for the former things
are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne
said, behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, right,
for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me,
it is done. I am alpha and omega, the beginning
and the end. I will give unto him that is
a first of the fountain of the water of life freely. When it
comes to redeeming a lost soul, it is all by the person, the
work, and the sacrifice of our blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. The Lord is absolute sovereign
in providence, and that's something else that a lot of people have
a problem with. A lot of people think that Satan and God is in
competition for one or nothing, but Satan is no more than a created
being. He's an angel. But the Lord is
absolute sovereign in providence. Romans 11, 36 says, for of him
and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. Philippians 2, 13. God's
Word says, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, for it is God which
worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Ephesians
11. in whom also we have obtained
an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. And we are all so very familiar
with this verse right here. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
to his purpose. You know, we don't joy in criminalization. We don't joy in suffering and
disease and pain and hurt. but we enjoy in the effect because
they're to grow us closer to the Lord. You know, the Bible
says, love not the world, and neither things that are in the
world, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the
pride of life. And the sovereignty that we face in this world, the
hardships that we face, it draws us apart from this world and
draws us closer to the world that is to come. And we thank
Him for that. But once we see and we agree,
when we truly have confidence in our Lord Jesus Christ, and
we truly have confidence in the Word of God, we can accept the
hard things or whatever comes into our lives as part of His
sovereign will and purpose, and it's for His glory, and it's
always, it's for our eternal good. It's for our eternal good. If you will go back to Philippians
2, I'd like to read verses 6 through
8. Who, being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself
of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and
was made in the likeness of a man, and being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself. and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross." We see here in these verses the
humiliation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He not only took upon
himself the likeness of a man, but the form of a servant. His
whole life, when you read it and look at it, was a life of
humiliation, meanness, poverty, and disgrace. The Bible says
he has nowhere to lay his head. He was a man of sorrow and acquainted
with grief, Isaiah 53, 3. The Bible says he is despised
and rejected of man, a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief.
And we hid it as it were our faces from him. He was despised
and we extended him not. And the lowest step of his humiliation
was him dying on the cross. He became obedient. He not only
suffered, but was actually involuntarily obedient. That's something that
is very hard for me to understand. All the pain and the suffering
that he went through. In John 10, 18, God's words say
that Jesus himself said, no man take a fit from me, but I lay
it down on myself. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
from my Father. Even the death of the cross,
a curse, a curse, a painful and shameful death, a death accursed
by the law, because it says, cursed is he that hangeth on
a tree. But he was so full of pain, his
hands and his feet was nailed to the cross, and he had the
full weight of his body on him. And he stood there, he was on
that cross for about nine hours. Now you imagine, nine hours.
And they say that the Lord Jesus cried with a loud voice and he
said, my God, my God, why have thou forsaken me? We think about
the physical pain, but think about the mental pain that he
went through. I cannot imagine my father turning his back on
me, but God couldn't look upon him because he had the sins of
all the people that the father had placed in him before the
foundation of the world. And then in John 19, 30, our
Lord said, The last words that he said before
he gave up the ghost, he said, it is finished. Then we're going to look at his
exaltation, if we will, real quickly. Let's look at 9 through
11. He says, therefore God, In her text, God also hath highly
exalted him and given him a name above every name, that it's the
name of Jesus. Every knee shall bow in heaven
and in earth and under the earth, and that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, the glory of God the Father.
I trust the holy word that God says about our Lord Jesus Christ,
and there is no salvation except in his Lordship. Romans 10, 9
says that if I shall confess with the mouth of the Lord Jesus,
And believe in my heart, God has raised him from the dead,
I shall be saved. He may not be a savior to some, but there
is one thing that is a fact, he is absolute Lord to all men. All sons of Adam, he is absolute
Lord. He put the kingdom, the father
put the kingdom in his hands before there was a kingdom. He
is Lord by God's almighty degree. In Revelation 19, 16, it says,
and he hath on his vesture and on the thigh a name written,
King of kings and the Lord of lords. God's chosen people recognize
this. They receive and they bow to
our Lord Jesus Christ as our prophet to know God, our priest
to bring us to God, and our king to reign. for Him to reign over
us. The Bible says that we were bought
with a price. What was that price? His precious
blood, spotless Lamb of God. This verse right here, you know,
we're here, God has saved us and we're here for a purpose.
It says in 1 Peter 3.15, but sanctify the Lord God in your
heart and always be ready to give an answer to every man that
asks you as their reason. of the hope that is in you with
meekness and fear and every word with great compassion and love
and with great reverence toward our Lord. When we're out in this
world, whenever we need something that I need to do, I need to
ask God for me to be more concerned and for him to open up doors
of opportunity for me to witness to people that has never had
the privilege. We don't know what a privilege
it is to hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, but to open
up the doors and when he does, And then we witnessed to him.
I had a preacher tell me one time, he said, I don't force
my belief on no one. And he's a grace preacher, and
I love him very much. He said, I force my opinion on
no one. But if they come to me and if
they ask me what I believe, I'll take the scriptures. I'll tell
them what I believe, and then I'll show them in the scriptures
why I believe it. I want to leave you with one
more verse, if you don't care. Turn to 1 Chronicles. First Chronicles 29. First Chronicles 29, verse 11
through 13. Speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ,
He is so precious. It says, thine, O Lord, is the
greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and
the majesty. For all that is in the heaven
and in the earth is yours. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord,
and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor
come of thee, and thou reigneth over all. And in thy hand is
power and might, and in thy hand is to make great, and to give
strength unto all. Now listen to this first. Now
therefore our God, the elect, we thank thee and we praise thy
glorious name forever and forever, not only in this life, but in
the life to come. Your dispense.