I want to talk to you this morning
about Jesus of Nazareth. You go down to Mexico and there
are a lot of little boys, a lot of men, grown men, old men and
young, and a lot of them named Jesus. And they call it Jesus,
Jesus. And they're all different individuals,
different identities. They all have that same name.
You listen to preachers around the country today, and they're
all talking about Jesus. Doesn't matter what denomination
it is. They're all talking about Jesus.
But I'll tell you this. It was so frightening. They're
not talking, all talking about the same Jesus. The Apostle Paul
said some come preaching another Jesus by another spirit, another
gospel. If we're going to have life everlasting,
and I'm very much interested in that, we've got to know the
Jesus of Nazareth in this book. We've got to know who he is,
what he is, and we've got to know the truth about Him. Twenty-some
years ago, I guess, they had Jesus Christ Superstar, and that
was nothing but blasphemy and lies and wickedness. This Jesus
is the one that saves, and He's the only one that can save. Now,
it's not left up to us to think of Him what we want to think
of Him, what we might have been raised to think of Him. We must
know Him and think of Him as He's presented. in this book. And that's just so very important. This, this is life eternal. That they might know Thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou said is life. Knowing
Him is life. Life. We know that the true God
has come. We know Him and we're in Him.
And this is life, 1 John 5, 20. Knowing Him is life. God's given
us an understanding that we might know Him. And knowing Him, we
have life. We have hope. We have salvation
by knowing Him, who He is, what He accomplished, where He came
from, where He is now, knowing Him, the Jesus of this book. Now, I want to talk to you this
morning very simply and briefly, perhaps, about Jesus of Nazareth,
my Savior. He's my wisdom. my righteousness, my sanctification,
my redemption, my salvation, my all and in all. That's the
Lord Jesus Christ. The one of this book is the one
I'm talking about. And what I tell you about him,
you can find out that I'm telling the truth if you look at this
book. And if you find that I'm not telling the truth about him,
you want to listen to somebody else. But as long as God gives
me grace, and I think he's taught me, we talk about the one that's
in this book, not the one that the world believes in, but the
one that's set forth in this book. God sent an angel to Joseph
and said, she's going to, don't you put that woman away now,
she's going to have a son. and I shall call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins." That was the
announcement of the angel to Joseph, and he took her to be
his wife. And she did have a son, and they
did call him Jesus, Jehovah Savior. And He is saving His people from
their sins. He's not trying to. It never
said that. It said, He shall save His people. Whoever His people are, He shall
save them without fail. He shall not fail, God said,
nor be discouraged along the way. He shall save His people
from their sins. That's what I'm talking about.
And then Isaiah. Chapter 7, it said he'd be born
of a virgin, and he was. Isaiah chapter 9 said, unto you
a child is born, and a son is given. The name shall be called
Wonderful. He's a wonder. The wonder of
wonders is our Lord Jesus Christ. Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty
God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, the government shall
be upon His shoulder, and of the increase of His government
there shall be no end. He shall sit on the throne of
David till He's brought all of His sheep to graciously bow before
Him. and brought every enemy under
his feet. He shall not fail nor be discouraged."
We are, as Rothbard used to say, we're in his hands, we're on
his hands to dispose of one way or another. He's going to deal
with us one way or another. And we ought to sue for mercy.
We ought to seek for grace from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Christ
of God. Now, I want you to think as we
go through this study this morning. I'll ask the question four or
five times. What do you think of Jesus of
Nazareth? What comes to your mind when
you think of Jesus? What comes to your mind? I'm
sure it's not superstar or some fashion play. You get your ideas
from this book. You get your knowledge from this
book. And that's what I want to talk to you this morning.
What do you think of the Lord Jesus Christ? What does that
name mean to me? What does that name mean to you?
It's on bumper stickers, it's stamped up on buildings, it's
on marquees around the country in front of church buildings,
and people wear belt buckles with Jesus on it. That doesn't
sound very good to me. It's like it's a name that's
not divine and sacred. Holy. Sovereign. Majestic. Just pasted around
everywhere. People talk of him so flippantly.
But what do you think of the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth? Well, I'm going to tell you what
this book says, what this book teaches. This book teaches that
to God the Father, to the triune God, this is a name, this name
Jesus, is a name that's above every name that ever has been,
is now, or ever shall be. God has given him a name above
every other name. Throughout eternity, that one
name shines out above all. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
And God the Father has given Him this great name. At the rage
and the enemy of the heathens, He said, let us break their bands
asunder. Cast the cord from us. God said,
that's all right. I sent my king, my son, on my
holy hill sign. Everything's all right. He'll
deal with them. He'll take. He said, ask of me
and I'll give thee the heathen for thine inheritance in the
uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. He asked
and he received. All things are delivered unto
me of my Father, said the Lord Jesus Christ. What? Everything
is delivered unto him. And God said, it'd be wise if
you'd kiss the Son, make peace with the Son, be reconciled to
the Son, lest his anger be kindled a little, just a little, and
you perish from the way. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible
said in Isaiah 53, that He would be despised and rejected of men. When He came, they would turn
thumbs down on Him, even though He was the Son of God, even though
He was the anointed Christ of God. They would turn thumbs down
on Him, have nothing to do with Him, reject Him, and finally
crucify Him. And they did all those things.
They did all those things. And they crucified Him. You know,
one of the problems they had, the biggest problem they had,
was His authority. The first time they sent out
hearers, Listen to what he was preaching, what he was saying.
These men came back and said, this man spake and no man ever
spoke before. He spoke not as the scribes and
Pharisees, but he spoke with authority. The scribes and Pharisees
said, look to God, look here, look there. He said, look to
me. I'll give you life. I am life. I'm the water of life.
I'm the bread of life. Look to me. I'll give you rest.
Spoke as one having authority, because he did have authority.
He did have authority. Now, one of the occasions where
they picked up stones to stone him is John chapter 10. And he
said, for which of my good works, good deeds, do you stone me?
They said, not for your good works. But because you being
a man make yourself to be God. You act like you're God. You
talk like you're God. You present yourself as God.
They had it just backwards. He was God who made Himself to
be a man. When the fullness of time was
come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the
law, to redeem us from the curse of the law. God became a man. Almighty God. Unchangeable God. Eternal God. Became a man. One of us. It behooved Him in
all things. Hebrews 2, to be made like unto
His brethren. He became one of us. Became one
of us. That man that was born in Bethlehem
of Judah, He was Almighty God. He just looked like any other
infant of his time, but he was Almighty God. That child that
Mary took care of and nourished and breastfed, he was the one
who sustained her and all the universe. He was God, God Almighty,
everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. And the government is
on his shoulder. Without controversy, they said,
you being a man, make yourself to be God. Well, it's just the
opposite. Without controversy, great is
the mystery of Godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. justified in the Spirit, seen
of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed all in the
world, and went back to glory. That's the mystery of godliness.
That's our gospel. That's our gospel. The Lord Jesus
Christ. Numerous, numerous, numerous
passages in the scriptures identify Jesus of Nazareth. They who read
the scriptures every Sabbath, they should have been identifying
him in these scriptures by what he said, the claims he made,
the works he did, but they didn't see it. They had their minds
on another object. They had their minds already
made up what kind of Jesus they wanted. And they wouldn't receive
him as he was. Look at Acts 13, just a moment.
Acts 13. I've read this before here several
times, but I want to read it to you one more time. Because
the same thing is going on all around us in our day. Very same
thing. Men are going to church, they're
carrying their Bibles, they have their Bible classes, and they
missed him. They missed him. Acts chapter 13, verse 26. Listen
to these verses, how serious and solemn occasion this is.
Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham and who
serve among you, fierce God, to you is the word of this salvation
come. For they that dwell at Jerusalem,
they are rulers, because they knew Him not. Nor yet the voices
of the prophets which they read every Sabbath day. That's what
I want to point out. They read the Bible every Sabbath
day. They met and worshipped, but
they didn't know Him. They worshipped they knew not
what. They never worshipped Him. They
never recognized Him. They never knew the voice of
the prophets. They came to Christ one day and He told them, said,
you folks study the Scriptures. You do that. For in the Scriptures
you think you have eternal life. But the Scriptures bear witness
of me and you won't come to me. And he said, later on, he said,
if you believe Moses, you trust in Moses, and brag on Moses,
and say we, our faith's in Moses, if you believe Moses, you believe
me, cause he wrote about me. And yet they read the Scriptures
every Sabbath. They read the Scriptures all
the time. And they miss the Lord Jesus Christ, who is so plainly
set forth in the Scriptures. When the soldiers came and when
they stuck the spear in His side, they were identifying Him according
to the Scriptures. When they nailed Him to the cross,
they were identifying Him according to the Scriptures. When they
gambled for his garment, they were identifying him according
to the scriptures. It was prophesied. It was predicted.
It was written. When they put that crown of thorns
on his head and beat it down with a reed, they were identifying
him according to the scriptures. The scriptures they read all
the time. And people are doing the same thing today. There's
probably not many Baptists around in the country today that would
deny the deity of Christ. They say He was the God-man. He was divine. He was the Son
of God. And yet, when you try to enforce
through the Scriptures His absolute authority over all things, especially
over all flesh, they pick up stones to stone Him. It's part of their creed, but
they won't have it enforced upon them in practice and doctrine.
And yet the Bible says that's what He is. That's what He is. There is a way. Proverbs 14,
Proverbs 16, the same identical thing. There is a way that seems
right unto men, but in there are ways of death. Whatever they
figure out on their own, whatever is apart from the scriptures,
whatever is contrary to the scriptures. It may seem right to them, but
it's not. It's a way to destruction. It's
the road to perdition. And these modern religions, when
you start talking about the sovereignty of God over all things, the sovereignty
of Jesus Christ over all flesh, they want to pick up stones and
stone you. They won't have that kind of
Jesus. But according to this book, they will one day, one
day. Philippians chapter 2, it talks
about what he did, what he became, what he endured, that he was
obedient unto God as our substitute and surety, our representative. He was obedient unto God even
the death of the cross. Obeyed God to die. with our sins. Then in verse 9, this big word,
wherefore, wherefore, because of this, wherefore God also hath
highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every
name. That at the name of Jesus, one
of these days now, it's going to happen. Every knee should
bow, things in heaven, things in earth, things under the earth,
that every tongue shall confess that Jesus is L-O-R-D, to the
glory of God. It's going to happen. God gave
him that name. God gave him that majesty and
authority and power and glory. And one day, every knee, every
knee is going to bow to this Jesus, going to give honor to
this name. They're going to bow to Him one
of these days. Sooner or later, in grace or
in the judgment, one or the other, but they're going to bow. Every
knee, God's given Him a name above every name. The name of
Jesus to God the Father is the name above every name. There's
no name in all of the universe that means to the Father what
that name means. That's His beloved Son, the gloriously
unique God-man, Jesus of Nazareth, the Lord Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus of Nazareth? The
Bible says in John chapter 1, and I won't turn there and read
all of it, and throughout the Scriptures, He is the Creator
of all things. That's what John said. Without
Him was not anything made that was made. He is our Creator. He is our Creator. That's what
the Bible teaches. You don't hear much said about
that today, but Jesus of Nazareth is the Creator of all things.
He is the Creator. And not to preach this truth
about the Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus from Nazareth, is just
simply, plainly, clearly, is to preach another Jesus. If you
preach a Jesus who's not the Creator, who doesn't have that
majesty and that authority and that glory, you're preaching
another Jesus. That's what Paul warned them
against. Some come and you're preaching another Jesus. Now,
Jesus is not only our Creator, Jesus of Nazareth. I don't know how to say it any
more simply than to say He keeps us going. I have trouble breathing
sometimes. You know who keeps me breathing?
Jesus of Nazareth. You know who keeps this old heart
beating? Jesus of Nazareth. You know who
keeps me alive, in other words? Jesus of Nazareth, Mary's son. He is Almighty God. He upholds all things. Hebrews 1.3. He upholds all things. How many things? Everything by
the word of His power. That's Jesus of Nazareth. Look
at Colossians, just a moment. Colossians chapter 1. I love
this. I've read it so many times here
to this congregation. The Lord Jesus Christ, in verse
15, who is the image of the invisible God, and He's the firstborn Creator
of every creature. For by Him are all things created. How many things? Everything. He created this world. By Him are all things created.
that are in heaven, that are in earth, things visible, things
invisible, where they be thrown, dominions, principalities of
power, all things were created by Him and for Him and revelation
for, for His good pleasure. That's Jesus of Nazareth. And He is before all things,
and this is the verse that I love so much, and by Him all things
consist. All things have their cohesiveness. in the Lord Jesus Christ, in
the will of the Christ. All things have their cohesiveness
in Him. I think about the other day they
had to shoot down this thing we sent up in orbit and it got
all messed up and had to shoot it down. Who directs all those
planets and those stars? The Bible said He put them all
in this particular place and He gave them all the name. They're
all named. He named all the stars. Jesus
of Nazareth. Oh, what a gloriously unique
person He is. God and man in one person. So He is the creator of all things. He is our sustainer. He is our
benefactor. He's our King. It is Him. We live in Him. We move in Him. We have our very being. He giveth to all life and breath
and all things. Who is Jesus? He's our Creator. He's the ruler of this world.
We're on His hand to dispose of us one way or another. He
both died and rose and revived that He might be L-O-R-D, both
of the living and the dead. And He is. And He is. All things
are in His hands. All things are under His rule
and under His control. Daniel 4.35, He doeth according to His will.
He does according to His will. Now you hear people talking about
what He's trying to do and men won't let Him. He does according
to His will. In the armies of heaven and among
the inhabitants of this earth. That's us folks down here. He
can slow us down in our path of sin and hell. He can turn
us around and bring us into the kingdom of God. He can just let
us go. And He doeth according to His
will. He works all things after the counsel of His own will.
He lets some go and He turns some around. We're on His hands. He's going to deal with us one
way or another. He doeth according to His will
in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of this earth.
and none can stay his hand. Though men join hand in hand,
they can't thwart his purpose. He does as he pleases." Psalm
115, Psalm 135. David said, why should the heathen
say, where now is your God? If I may paraphrase a little
bit, you can check it out. David said, my God's in the heaven
where He's always been. And He does whatever He pleases.
In the heavens, in the earth, in the sea, all deep places,
whatsoever pleases Him. That's what He does. You know
what Jesus Christ is doing today? Whatever He pleases. Whatever
He pleases. This world has been given into
His hands. And the wise saying, Psalm 2,
is to sue for mercy. Oh God, have mercy on me. Oh God, don't pass me by. To
sue for mercy. He does as He pleases. Job 23,
verse 13, and this is a clincher. In the context of all those things
that happened to poor Job. The Bible said, he is of one
mind. The Lord did it. The Lord gave
it. The Lord took it away. He's a
one mind who can turn it. And then you have this statement,
whatsoever his soul desires, that's what he does. And if it
were not so, he wouldn't be God. But He is God and it is so. Whatsoever His soul desires,
that's what He does, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then He asked
this question. He threw out this question in
the days of His ministry here in the flesh on this earth. And
is it not lawful for me to do whatever I will with my own?
Isn't that right? Lawful? Good? We're His. We're His own. This earth is
His own. And it's lawful. It is perfectly
lawful for Him to do whatever He pleases with it. And that's
what He's doing. That's what He's doing. Who is
Jesus of Nazareth? I'll tell you this. He is the
one and only Savior of sinners. He will save. He will save alone. Or He will not save at all. There is none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. He said, I'm
the way, I'm the truth, and I'm the life, and no man comes to
the Father but by me. No man can come to me except
the Father's glory. I'll raise him up at the last
day. He's the only Savior. He's the only one who came into
this world, took our nature, made in the likeness of sinful
flesh, lived out his days in perfect heart obedience to God
to give me a righteousness that I might stand before God, took
my sins, all of them, upon himself, and bore the curse and the punishment
of sin that I might be freed from the law. free from the law,
oh, happy condition. Jesus has died and does remission. He was obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. And when he cried, listen, with
a loud voice, cried with a loud voice, it is finished. Righteousness had been established
for every person for whom he died. When he cried, it is finished. Justice had been satisfied for
all of those for whom he died. He established their righteousness.
He satisfied the law and justice of God, that they might go free,
that God might be just and justify the ungodly. The Bible says,
by one offering, He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified,
the elect of God. Perfected forever. And their
sins and their iniquities I'll never remember against them again. It's done. Salvation's done. And salvation's in the Son, Jesus
of Nazareth, the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, as
pertaining to men, He is a sovereign, sufficient, successful, satisfied
Savior. That's what He is. To preach
him in any other sense is to preach another Jesus. Sovereign,
sufficient, successful, satisfied Savior. That's what he is. He shall see of the travail of
his soul. He shall see all of his sufferings
and be satisfied with the results. See the travail of his soul and
be satisfied. John chapter 5, verses 21 and
25. As the Father raises the dead
and quickens them, even so the Son, now listen to me, gives
life to whom He pleases, to whom He wills. He is sitting on the
throne of all power and all glory, the only Savior. He has the power
to give life, speak and give life to your souls. I'd ask Him
to do it if I was you. I'd say, Lord, speak to me. Don't
pass me by. Don't leave me to myself. Speak
to me. Cause the wind to blow. cross
my soul." Psalm 110, verse 3, "...thy people shall be willing
in the day of thy power." John 17, verse 2, "...Thou hast
given Him, Christ Jesus of Nazareth, Thou hast given Him power over
all flesh, that He might give eternal life to as many as thou
askest. He has the power to give life.
He can reveal God to you. Nobody else can. Preacher can't
do it. Church can't do it. He can reveal
God to the souls of men. Matthew 11, 27. Matthew 11, 27.
Philippians chapter 1 and verse 6. He which hath begun a good work
in you, Paul said, I'm confident of this very thing, that he which
hath begun that good work in you will keep on doing it till
the day of Jesus Christ. He's the Savior, the only Savior,
sufficient Savior, successful Savior, satisfied Savior. He saves His people from their
sins. And then I won't turn there to
read, but John chapter 5, Acts chapter 17, present Him as the
judge of all men. One day, every man must stand
before the triune God and be judged by that man, Jesus Christ. He's the judge. And also in John
chapter five, he's not only the judge, but he's the executioner. One day he'll speak and the grave
will open and every man and woman will stand before him and he'll
execute righteous judgment upon their souls. He is sufficient. He is suitable to me. He is able and he's willing to
save sinners. You know, the Bible teaches from
one end to the other that he came into this world on purpose
to save sinners. No man will ever be turned away
because of his sins. They're turned away because of
their self-righteousness, their phony, false ideas of their own
ability. But sinners He receives, always. Always. The Bible says, Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, the Christ of this book, and thou
shalt be saved. I mean completely saved, forever
saved, thoroughly saved. He is able to save to the uttermost
all that come to God by Him. He delights. He delights. He takes pleasure. in saving
sinners. What sovereign free love. What
amazing free grace. And we deserve nothing but perdition. And He did us to save sinners.
That's the Lord Jesus Christ. The Word of God sets forth from
one end to the other, shows sinners crying unto Christ for mercy,
and He has mercy on them. We have in our day preacher is
talking about Jesus who's crying unto sinners, won't you let me
save you? Won't you let me come into you?
Two different Jesuses. They're not the same one. It's
a different Jesus. It's a different spirit. It's
a different gospel. The Christ of Scriptures is a
sufficient, suitable, able, willing Savior. And He shall save, He
is saving His people from their sins. He shall not fail. He shall not be discouraged.
He is successful. He is satisfied. And when all
is said and done, when time shall be no more and the mystery of
God is finished, he shall be satisfied throughout eternity. Satisfied. Okay, David, let's
have a song, please. May God bless these words ever.