desire to preach the gospel. I get excited. You don't really
know what the Lord's going to do. It takes a long time to find
out. I know that when I began to preach,
I questioned whether or not I had any business preaching for at
least 10 years. Just not knowing. So you, you
just, you just wonder about that. But still, anytime someone desires
to preach the gospel of Christ, What a blessing that is. And
we're looking forward to hearing you. And may the Lord bless you,
give you a word from him and give us hearing ears. You come
up and preach to us. Well, Todd, I'm excited as well.
Nervous. I don't know what the Lord has
in stock, but I do hope it is a blessing this evening. Let's
turn to Matthew chapter one, shall we? Matthew chapter one, starting
at verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ
was on this wise, when as his mother, Mary was espoused to
Joseph before they came together, she was found with child of the
Holy ghost. Then Joseph, her husband, being
a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was
minded to put her away privily. 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 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 by the Lord, by the
prophet, saying, 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. Then Joseph being raised
from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him and took
unto him his wife and knew her not till she had brought forth
her firstborn son and he called his name Jesus. Let's go to the
Lord in prayer. Father, thank you for the Lord
Jesus. Thank you for being the savior
of sinners, the friend of sinners. Lord, please draw us closer. Please draw us closer to one
another and draw us closer to yourself. Please give us a little
more light day by day. Show us Christ more and more. Reveal to us In a deeper way, what he has
done for his people. Father, make us less in our own
eyes and make him to be so much greater. This message that you've entrusted
into the hands of men, please let all your preachers be good
stewards of your word, that they might edify your people
everywhere. In Jesus' name, amen. This passage provides us with
a beautiful summary of the gospel. And it shows us who is the great
theme and tenor of the scriptures. These are they which testify
of me, Jesus said. You shall call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins." Just as a vast
and incomprehensible amount of matter can be compacted into
a small black hole in outer space, likewise, and even more so, is
so great salvation So infinite and plenteous redemption condensed
within the name Jesus, such that every detail of our Lord radiates
His glory, and every detail pulsates with His saving power. When Jesus
stood atop the mount on which he was transfigured, his countenance
was altered. His face did shine like the sun. His raiment was glistering and
white as snow, whiter than any fuller on earth could white them.
So that the event has sometimes been described as his deity bursting
through his humanity. For in him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. Every facet of his person speaks
of his death, which he accomplished, and points to and declares his
righteousness for the remission of sins that are past. It is
his kingdom and his righteousness that we are to seek and not our
own. For our righteousnesses are as
menstrual rags, garments, which represents the best deeds of
an already guilty people. And every fiber of his being
was steadfastly and stubbornly determined to do the work that
the father sent him to do. that is, to save His people from
their sins. He was perfectly equipped for
the task, being the Son of God with power, and He lacked nothing
in Himself to save sinners. We lack everything, but He lacked
nothing. We are full of weakness. He is full of strength. He is
full of power. The Savior, the sinner, and salvation. That's what I've entitled this
message this evening. And this is the train of thought
that runs through every page of scripture. That sinners need
a savior to save them from their sins is the message summarized
in many verses scattered throughout the word of God. We read in Jonah
2.9 that salvation is of the Lord. We read in Romans 6.23,
for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord. And here, thou shalt call
his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. And yet I use these verses as
an introduction To another verse of scripture that will serve
as my main text this evening, let's turn to 1 Timothy chapter
one. Chapter one, verse 15. Here is
a beacon of light. to the wondering soul. Here,
the young believer and old believer alike can read this passage or
call it to mind and take great comfort in it. Whatever you don't
know about scripture, know this, that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners. And in knowing that, you know
the scriptures. Whatever Bible verse memorization
you plan to engage in, this ought to be the first on your list,
for this is a faithful saying. All the Word of God is faithful.
All the Word of God is true. It is able to make one wise unto
salvation. It is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. To you who are fraught with doubts,
you who have misgivings and apprehensions, here's a faithful saying, here's
a most faithful saying you can trust in. and you can surely
lean upon. These are not the words that
man's wisdom teaches. These are the words of God. And
the wisdom of God was to send Christ Jesus into the world to
save sinners. The wisdom of man teaches to
work for your salvation, to merit your salvation, where no merit
really is. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation. All of God's word is worthy,
and it ought to be accepted, received, embraced, and loved
by all. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus when we come across
our Lord's name. This always should give us reason
to pause and consider how his name relates to salvation. His name is not just a mere ordinary
or commonplace name. It is a name above every name,
and it is the only name to which every knee shall bow. It is the
only name given under heaven whereby we must be saved. In his name do we see the fulfillment
of that proverb. A good name is rather to be chosen
than great riches. His name is indicative of those
three offices, prophet, priest, and king. Here we have his name,
Christ Jesus, the anointed savior. As Christ, he is our prophet. He is that prophet of whom Moses
spoke, and it is unto him that we hearken. He is the word of
God. He is the literal mouthpiece
of the Father. Let's turn to John 6. starting at verse 60. Many, therefore, of his disciples,
when they had heard this said, this is a hard saying, who can
hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that
his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this
offend you? What and if you shall see the
Son of Man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit
that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak
unto you, they are spirit and they are life. but there are
some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were that believe not and who should betray him. Therefore
said I unto you that no man can come unto me except it were given
unto him by the father. From that time, many of his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto
the 12, will you also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him,
Lord, to whom else will we go? You have the words of eternal
life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ,
the son of the living God. You are that Christ that Moses
prophesied of. He is God's prophet, and he was
permitted to speak of himself unlike any other prophet. He is the messenger and the very
message itself. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No one, no man can come to the
Father, but by me. What other prophet could have
made such a claim? None but this one. And he is
our high priest. Turn, he is Jesus, the high priest. Turn to Hebrews chapter one. Verse nine, thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God,
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Every high priest of old was
anointed to fulfill their task of making atonement for themselves
as well as for the Israelites. And so was Christ Jesus. But
he was anointed above his fellows. We have a measure of anointing. We have an unction from the Holy
One and we know all things, but Jesus had an infinite anointing. His mission was to not sacrifice
bulls and goats, but it was to sacrifice his very own self. Let's look at chapter 11 of Hebrews. Excuse me, chapter nine, verse 11. But Christ being come
a high priest of good things to come by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not
of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves,
but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us. And verse 26 of the same
chapter. For then must he often have suffered
since the foundation of the world, but now once in the end of the
world, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself. And as every high priest dies,
Jesus does not die. He is our King. The high priests,
when they died, one succeeded another, but he ever lives to
make intercession for us, and he is therefore fit to reign
over us as the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the king
of king and lord of lords. And a truly kind and benevolent
king he is, he loves his people, and he gives himself for them. By nature, we are ignorant. We
are ignorant of Christ's righteousness, and we are ignorant of how it
is that God saves sinners. By nature, we are guilty. We are guilty of sin. We are guilty of transgressing
God's holy law. And by nature, we are depraved. We might be guilty of sin, but
sin has corrupted us. Being ignorant, we need Christ,
the prophet, to teach us the Word of God, to teach us how
it is that God saves sinners. Being guilty, we need Christ
to make atonement for our souls and to cover us with his blood
and put away our sins. And as depraved, we need the
Lord Jesus Christ, the King, to reign over us and put our
rebellious passions under subjection. And it was none other than this
High King of Heaven who came into the world." Christ Jesus
came into the world. Let's turn to John chapter 1. John chapter 1 verse 10. He was
in the world. and the world was
made by him and the world knew him not. He came unto his own
and his own received him not. The king came to the place where
his subjects dwelt, but rather than being welcomed with open
arms, he was welcomed with arms that sought to seize him, to
take hold of him, to arrest him. He was in the world, but the
world knew him not. No trumpets blew at his nativity. The angels and all the heavenly
hosts may have been praising God, but this world was not waiting
in rapt anticipation of the arrival of their savior. They were completely
ignorant that their savior had arrived, save for some shepherds
and a handful of foreign kings who came bearing gifts. But from
the moment of his birth, Our Lord was a wanted man, and he
wasn't wanted dead or alive. He was just wanted dead. In this world, he suffered the
Pharisees and their craftiness, their poor attempts to catch
him in his words. He withstood the temptations
of Satan, giving them no heed. He didn't even It didn't even
enter into his mind, even one thought of giving in to temptation. He tolerated the perverseness
of his generation, the frequent faithlessness of his own apostles. He was mocked and derided. He was confronted with blatant
unbelief and hypocrisy. He was accused of the Pharisees
of transgressing the law that he fulfilled. And at the same
time, he set sinners free. He was criticized for healing
on the Sabbath day, and he was betrayed with a kiss. He was
whipped and beaten and hung on the cross. He experienced all
the guilt and shame and condemnation that sin carries with it. In
this world, he who knew no sin descended from heaven, that he
might be made sin for sinners, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him." If you've ever felt like you had the whole world
against you, this man, had the whole world against him. He bore
the weight of the world on his back, but he bore the weight
of the sins of his people in his body. Turn to John 15. John 15, verse 18. If the world
hate you, You know that it hated me before
you. If you were of the world, the
world would love his own. But because you are not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you. It is true that the world hates
his people. And it is true that the world
is against us. But all the more true, the world
was against him and the world hates him. And even more so,
not only was the world against him, but Satan and all the demons
were against him and all the powers of darkness. The kings
of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together
against the Lord and his anointed. And even his own father was against
him. My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me? And all this our Lord endured
in order to save sinners. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. And He came to save, not to destroy. Turn with me to Luke 9. Luke 9, verse 51. And it came to pass when the
time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly
set his forth to go up to Jerusalem and set messengers before his
face. And they went and entered into
a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him. And they
did not receive him because his face was as though he would go
to Jerusalem. And when his disciples, James
and John, saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command
fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elias
did? But he turned and rebuked them
and said, you know not what manner of spirit you are of. For the
son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."
Let's turn to Luke 19. Luke 19, verse 10. For the son of man is come to
seek and to save that which was lost. You know, what's confounding
is that not everyone flocks to Christ. Christ came to save,
but hardly anybody wants him. Our Lord is not intimidating. He's not intimidating to sinners. They draw near him. We can look
at chapter 15, since you're right there. Chapter 15, verse 1. Then drew near unto him all the
publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and
scribes murmured, saying, this man receives sinners and eats
with them. Yeah, he does. And I'm grateful because I am
a sinner. But Jesus attracts sinners and
they draw near to him. You see that the Pharisees are
the ones that are intimidated by our Lord because it's his
truth that exposes their hypocrisies. The Pharisees were always careful
to distinguish themselves from sinners, and that's where their
hypocrisy lies, that someone could think that they're better
than anyone else or that they're less sinful. God, I thank thee,
says the Pharisee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners,
unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican, even as this sinner. But I love when in the gospel
accounts an individual is designated as a sinner. Because we can be
sure that the Lord came to save that man. Sinners need saving. And salvation is a coin with
two sides. Grace on one side and mercy on
the other. I'm reminded of that hymn, Rock
of Ages, be of sin the double cure, save from wrath and make
me pure. Through grace, we have the blessing
of salvation unmerited, undeserved. We are blessed with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And through
mercy, we receive a withholding of and a pardon from punishment
and judgment and wrath. Turn to Romans 5. Romans 5 verse 9, much more than
being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath
through him." If the blood of Christ covers
you, the wrath of God passes you by. Turn with me to 1 Thessalonians
1. 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 10. And
to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead,
even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. And it's
not God's wrath alone that we need salvation to be saved from,
to be delivered from. We need salvation from our own
sin. We've heard this before, but
it bears repeating. We need to be saved from the
pleasure of sin, the power of sin, and the presence of sin. Turn to 2 Thessalonians 2. Verse
11. And for this cause, God shall
send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that
they all might be damned to believe not the truth, but have pleasure
in unrighteousness." We don't take pleasure in our unrighteousness
or our righteousness, which is unrighteous. We take pleasure
in God's righteousness. The attraction, the allure, the
charm of looking to our own good works as the hope of our salvation,
it's lost its appeal. Our righteousness is just as
evil as our unrighteousness. Our goodness is just as bad as
our badness. Let's throw them both overboard
and trust Christ's righteousness. We've been saved from the power
of sin. Look with me at Romans 6. Romans 6 verse 14. For sin shall not have dominion
over you. For you are not under the law,
but under grace. It's only grace that constrains,
not the law. The law only seeks to excite
more sin, but grace restrains. And we have been saved from the
presence of sin. Those of you who were here last
Sunday evening, you may recall Frank Tate's, uh, sermon from
John 8 about the woman taken in adultery and caught in the
very act. That passage concludes with It
concludes with Jesus telling that woman to go and sin no more. And that always confused me.
Go and sin no more. Well, she's gonna continue to
sin. I never really understood that,
but he was speaking to her as a new creature. And it is the
new man that never sins. And that's how he was able to
say, go and sin no more. The Bible often seems to contradict
our feelings. I feel like I have, like I take,
like I get all sorts of pleasure out of sin. And yet, I don't
get any pleasure out of my own righteousness. I don't have pleasure
in unrighteousness, but Christ's righteousness. I don't feel under
grace. I feel like sin is very much
alive in my members. And yet the Lord says, sin shall
not have dominion over you. And the presence of sin I feel like I see sin all around
me, but it takes light to reveal the darkness. It takes holiness
to reveal unholiness. And lastly, Christ came into this world to
save sinners of whom I am chief. Paul describes himself several
times in the New Testament in what would seem to be negative
terms. I'd like to look at these. There's three of them. Let's
turn to Romans 7. Romans 7 verse 24. Oh, wretched man that I am. Who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? But I thank God
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Let's look at 2 Corinthians 12.
2 Corinthians 12, 11. I am become a fool in glorying you have compelled
me. for I ought to have been commended
of you. For in nothing am I behind the
very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing." This mature believer
describes himself as a wretched man, as nothing, and in Ephesians
3, 8, He says, well, verse seven, whereof
I was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God
given unto me by the effectual working of his power unto me
who am less than the least of saints. He calls himself a wretched
man. He thinks of himself as nothing.
And he, and he describes himself as being less than the least
of saints. And in our text, he calls himself greater than the
greatest of sinners. He is the chief of sinners. In his own eyes, he was the only
sinner. Isaiah said, woe is me, for I
am a man undone, for I am For I am a man of unclean lips, for
I am undone." You know, Isaiah didn't say, woe is them, or woe
is you, or woe is us. He said, woe is me. And when
we stand before God and are confronted with his holy law and feel the
sheer weight of our sin and the utter dread of condemnation,
We won't be looking around to see who is worse than us, because
at that moment, we will be the worst person in the world, and
we will see ourselves as the chief of sinners. Every believer
can pen his name, can write down his name on the list of the chief
of sinners. While it's true that all men
sin, Very few would identify themselves as sinners. And when
confronted with a biblical view of what a sinner really is, I'm
sure most of them would probably recant. Let's look at Romans
5 verse 6. I'd like to read a few descriptions
of what a sinner really is. Romans 5, 6, for when we were
yet without strength, Christ died for the ungodly. We were
without strength and we were ungodly. Ephesians, well, let's turn to
1 John 3. First John three, verse four, whoever commits sin transgresses
also the law for sin is the transgression of the law without strength and
where law transgressors turn to James two. James 2 verse 10, whosoever shall
keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of
all. It's not just enough to keep
the written law. We need to keep the law in our
thoughts. Jesus said, if you even look
at a woman to lust after her, you've committed adultery in
your own heart. And lastly, Ephesians 2. Ephesians
2 verse 1, and you have he quickened who were dead in trespasses and
sins. Now, most people will say, I
feel awfully alive, but they make the mistake of having breath
in their lungs and a beating heart as being alive when they're
altogether dead in trespasses and sins. Most people will say,
well, I have some strength. Well, I have some ability to
come to Christ. I'm not completely dependent
on God. And we are transgressors of the
law, full. We are guilty completely. Turn with me to Job 42. And here
is Here is what a saved sinner does. We'll start in verse one. Then
Job answered the Lord and said, I know that thou can do everything
and no thought can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hides
counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that
which I understood not. things too wonderful for me,
which I knew not. Here I beseech thee, and I will
speak, I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me, I have
heard of thee by the hearing of the year, but now my eye sees
thee, wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes,
I am sure that most people would abhor the idea of abhorring themselves. But nothing more becomes the
believer than to glorify Christ and abhor himself. Not abhorring just sin. If sin
is what we are, then we ought to abhor ourselves. to justify
God and to condemn ourselves. A sinner cannot wait to be saved. Today is the day of salvation. If you're to come to Christ,
you will come as a sinner or you won't come at all. You can't bring your righteousness.
You can't bring your good deeds. You must come empty-handed. One
last verse of scripture, Galatians 2. For I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not
I, but Christ lives in me. and the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me." I am convinced that Jesus loves me,
and I'm convinced that he died for me because I'm a sinner.
If you're a sinner, Take heart. Jesus died for you. If you're
a sinner, according to how the scriptures describe a sinner,
Christ Jesus came into the world to save you. And to you is the
command to believe and repent. What must I do? Cried the Philippian
jailer. Believe on the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ, King, priest, and prophet. and thou shalt be saved.