? Waiting for my body that will
never sin ? ? Looking for a city that will never end ? ? Waiting
for the one that's my hope within ? ? My savior, my lord, my savior,
my lord ? The one that bought me with his
precious blood The only one that could ever be good The one that
in my place stood On Calvary's tree He's the lily of the valley. He's altogether lovely to me
now. He's the rose of Sharon. The dew of youth is on his brow
The one that found me when I was
lost The one who paid the terrible cost ? The one that hung on Calvary's
cross ? ? My sin debt to pay ? ? He loves me with an everlasting
love ? ? And in the veil he's my Christ above ? ? The one that
calls me unto him ? My bridegroom, my love He's the lily of the valley He's
altogether lovely too is is One that taught me how to beg
at his feet At the table of grace he gave me a seat And in him
salvation so complete My Redeemer, my Lord One of these days He's coming
for me And all of those who fought at Calvary Then forever He will
be Heaven He will be Heaven I have been so blessed this weekend. I mean that. I would like for
Chris and Vicki to sing a special before I preach every single
time. I mean that. It has been so wonderful to hear
the gospel preached. I mean that. I really do. It's been so wonderful to see
brethren who I love so much. And I just sincerely thank you
for having us. Thank you for having our family.
On behalf of our family, thank you for your love and kindness.
Thank you to this congregation for everything that you have
done to put on a conference. Thank you for doing this. I want
to especially, we all want to especially thank Adam and Lauren
for opening their home to us. You guys are rivaling the greatest
hosts we've ever had. Sincerely, I'm thankful. I'm very thankful. Turn with me, if you would, to
Matthew chapter 14. Matthew chapter 14. Our text will be verse 14. But let's
begin reading in verse 1. We'll read down to it. At that time, Herod the Tetrarch
heard of the fame of Jesus and said unto his servants, This
is John the Baptist. He is risen from the dead, and
therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him. For
Herod had laid hold on John and bound him and put him in prison
for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. For John said
unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. And when he
would have put him to death, he feared the multitude because
they counted him as a prophet. But when Herod's birthday was
kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased
Herod, whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever
she would ask. And she being before instructed
of her mother said, Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger."
And the king was sorry. Nevertheless, for the oath's
sake, and them which sat with him at meet, he commanded it
to be given her. And he sent and beheaded John
in the prison. And his head was brought in a
charger and given to the damsel, and she brought it to her mother.
And his disciples came and took up the body and buried it and
went and told Jesus. When Jesus heard of it, he departed
thence by ship into a desert place apart. And when the people
had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. And Jesus went forth. and saw
a great multitude and was moved with compassion toward them.
And he healed their sick. Herod beheaded John the Baptist. And when John's disciples heard
that that's what had happened, they went and asked if they could
have his body and they took it and buried it. And then they
went and told the Lord everything that had happened. And when our
Lord heard their report, he got into a ship and he went to a
desert place apart and a great multitude followed him. And when they got to him, he
healed every one of them that was sick. Verse 13 says, when
Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert
place apart. And when the people had heard
thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. And Jesus
went forth and saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion
toward them. And he healed their sick. Now,
what strikes me in reading this is how calmly our Lord responded
to their news. Just how calmly He responded
to their news. John's disciples came and told
him the horror of what had just happened. And our Lord very calmly
left that place, and He went on about His good
business. He went to another place, and
He healed everybody that was sick. The reason our Lord responded
so calmly to their news is because it was not news to Him. It wasn't news to Him. It was news to them, but it was
not news to Him. Our Lord Himself is the very
One who predetermined for that to be done to John. Our Lord is the One who allowed
it. Our Lord is the One who ordained it. Our Lord is the One who sovereignly
reigns and rules over all things, even this. Even this. In Deuteronomy 32, He said, I
kill. I wound. Job 14 says man's days are determined. The number of his months are
with the Lord. The Lord God has appointed his
bounds and man cannot pass those bounds. Man cannot pass those
bounds. Sometimes we go talk to a doctor
and the doctor informs us a little bit about some of these things
and sometimes we don't. But we're all in the same boat. We're all in the same boat. Man's days are determined. The
number of his months are with the Lord. They're not shortened.
They're not lengthened. The Lord God has appointed His
bounds. And we cannot pass. Can I pass? Romans 8 says, Whom the Lord
God foreknew, He predestinated the life of that man or woman. You think about that. Predestinated. Do we realize what comfort there
is in predestination? He appointed everything about
that person's life. A time to be born, a time to
die. Which really is a time to live.
There's a time to live. Time to be born and then a time
to live. There's a time to be physically conformed to the Lord's
image. Predestinated. There's going to come a moment
when mercy and grace is revealed. Every time in between that, it's
all appointed. Hebrews 9 said it is appointed
unto man once to die. It's not an accident. It's not
an unfortunate circumstance. It's an appointment by God Almighty. For all men. All men. But most importantly, it was
appointed by God Almighty for the God-man. Most importantly, Christ Himself,
even His death, was appointed by God Almighty. Father, Spirit,
and Son Himself. When He would die, how He would
die, why He would die. In John 10, He said, I lay down
my life that I might take it again. No
man taketh it from me. I lay it down of myself." God
Almighty chose to use the means. He did. He purposed in His own
will to use the means of some Jews and He used the means of
the Romans and a Roman cross and such on and so forth. But
everything that they did was predetermined for them to do
it. Everything. The death of the
Lord Jesus Christ was no surprise to God. Our Lord's reaction to John's
death, that ought to show us something very comforting concerning
Christ's death, His own death. The fact that Christ's disciples
begged for His body and they buried Him in a tomb. That was
not news to God. You know, men and women say,
if I'd have been around back then, I would have put a stop
to that. God wouldn't have allowed it. Thank God. That was the decease that the
Father sent our Lord to accomplish. That was the work that was given
Him that the Father declared concerning His Son He shall not
fail in it. That was Christ's business for
being here. He said, for this cause came
I into the world. And I want to take what time
we have here this morning to just look at that cause, alright,
for just a minute. I want our Lord's reaction to
John's death to be a reminder of the cause of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I've titled this message, The
Gospel in One Verse. I could have titled this, The
Cause of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here it is, verse 14. It says, And Jesus went forth and saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion
toward them, and He healed their sick." That's salvation. That's salvation. That's what Christ accomplished
in His death. His appointed death. That was His cause. That was
His cause. Jesus went forth and saw a great
multitude and was moved with compassion toward them, and He
healed their sick. That's what Christ did for His
people. That is the declaration of Christ.
That is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That was His cause.
Now, let's just focus on each line. Verse 14 says, And Jesus
went forth. This all started with Him. Salvation. The healing of their sickness. God did this. A lot of people
don't realize this. They don't realize this. God
did this. God did this. Salvation is of
the Lord. If any man glory, let him glory
in the Lord. In the beginning, God. That's
how this happened. That's how salvation happened.
God did it. In the beginning was the Word. The Word himself was with God. The Word was God. And the Word
was made flesh and came to us. He came and dwelt among us. Why? Why did God become flesh and
dwell among us? Why? Matthew chapter 1 told us
why. Turn with me over there if you
would to Matthew chapter 1. Matthew 1 verse 18 says, 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 privately. 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 might save his
people from their sins. Don't you love the word shall? That's why he came to us. He came to save us from our sins,
even though our sins were so many, so many. One of you men,
maybe brother Chris said Friday night. When you get to know something
of sin, you will hate yourself. That is so true. So many. The angel said, he by
himself alone shall. Shall. Save. cleanse, heal, redeem,
justify, wash His people. Did He come for everybody? Did
He come here for everybody? Did He come to do this for everybody? If He did, He's a failure. Because everybody's not saved.
There are men and women in hell right now as we speak. So if
Christ came to save everybody, then He did not accomplish what
He came to do. He did not finish the work. We
cannot put our hope and our trust in His Word. What He did may
or may not be enough to save us. But thank God. Thank God. Every now and then
I get a hold of this. I say it all the time. I believe
it all the time. Every now and then I get a hold
of this. Thank God. Here's the truth of
the matter. I'm so glad our God reigns. I'm so glad he will never
step down from his throne. Aren't you so glad no one will
ever take his place? Somebody we don't know who it
is. You know, how's the, you know, how's the, how will the
results turn out? Who's taking it next? Aren't
you so glad God remains on His throne forever? Thank God, here's the truth of
the matter. Not one drop of His blood failed. Again, one of you
men were describing the Lord on the cross as His blood was
falling on the ground, pouring from His hands, pouring from
His feet, pouring from His side, pouring from His back. Not one
drop failed. Not one drop of His priceless,
all the value, the most expensive thing in heaven. The value of all of heaven. The precious blood, not one drop
was wasted. Every single drop accomplished
the purpose it was poured out for. Every particular soul that that
blood was meant for. Every soul that blood was sacrificed
for and shed for and poured out on. Every soul in that blood
was saved. Eternally saved. Call His name
Jesus for He shall save His people. His particular people from their
sins. That's why He came. That's what
He did. And that's what our text illustrates
to us this morning. Turn back with me to Matthew
14. Matthew 14 verse 14 says, And
Jesus went forth God did this. The Lord Jesus Christ did this.
Of His own will begat He us with the word of truth that we should
be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. He did this. Verse
14 says, And Jesus went forth and saw a great multitude. He was not looking at every soul
on earth. He was looking at a particular
group of people. Thank God it was a great multitude. Thank God it was a great multitude
concerning God's true elect people. The scripture says it is a number
that cannot be numbered. A great multitude. I love hearing that because that
means there might just be room for me. There might be room for me. Verse
14 says, And Jesus went forth and saw a great multitude, and
was moved with compassion toward them. Why did Christ die for
His people? Why did Christ die for His people? Why did they nail Him to Calvary's
tree? Why, tell me why, was He there? Why did Christ die for His people?
He died for his people because he was moved with compassion
toward them. What does that word compassion
mean? Love. Love. He died for them because
he loved them and gave himself for them. Having loved his own,
he loved them to the end, all the way to the end. While we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us because he commended his
love. towards us. Greater love had
no man. Herein was love, not that we
loved God, but that he loved us and gave his son to be the
propitiation, the covering. Love covers, covered it all. For our sins. That's the reason
why He saved us. That's why He died for us. Oh, the love that drew salvation's
blueprint. Think about the Father, Son,
and Spirit. God the Father looked at the
Son and the Spirit and said, I promise, I'll choose them,
I'll give them to you. The Son said, Father, if you
choose them, I'll die for them. And the Spirit said, if you die
for them, I'll go get every one of them. Oh, the love. Verse 14 says,
Jesus went forth and saw a great multitude and was moved with
compassion toward them and he healed their sick. That's what Christ accomplished
in his death. The great physician healed his
sick people, sick with sin, When God the Son cried, it is finished. They are perfected. They are
redeemed. When He cried that, God the Father
cried, I am satisfied. I am satisfied with their redemption. I accept their redemption. And God the Spirit cried, I'm
going to go deliver the good news. Live. Live. I think you said that there
was something you desperately wanted for people. Maybe you
said it. Doesn't matter who says it, does it? Something you desperately
wanted for people. I want it too. I want us to live. Life is coming. I want us to
live. I want those of us, me at the
top of the list, who were so dead in this world, dead in trespasses
and sins, lifeless before God, I pray the Spirit of God might
come and say, live, live. You are healed. I pray the Spirit
might say to a soul today, you are healed. You're well. You're well. There is remission. There is
remission. You're in remission. You've been quickened. Revived. Made upright again. By the operation
of the Son of God. All because of His work you can
now live and move and have your being. That's what Christ accomplished
in His appointed death for His people. He Himself bore our sins
in His own body. David was rejoicing and giving
so much thanks to God in Psalm 103, because he said, just remember
all his benefits. He heals all our diseases. He
has. He has. One day, real soon, we're
going to be rid of all these diseases. He healed the great disease,
and the result of that is he'll heal every other disease that
comes from it. He bore our sins in His own body
on the tree that we being dead to sins should live under righteousness
by whose stripes we are healed. That means because of what Christ
did, because of what He endured, because of what He accomplished,
the sin is gone. It is gone. I have in my notes
to turn to Jeremiah 50. And I thought about not having
you turn there because Brother Todd's the one who first showed
me this verse. And I feel like every time I preach and he's
sitting there, I say, go to Jeremiah 50. And I thought, I'm not going
to do it this time. Turn with me to Jeremiah 50. This could be one of the greatest
verses that could ever be read. No scripture is above another
scripture. But this sure does bless my soul. Jeremiah 50. Just think about this. Jeremiah 50 verse 20. In those days. And in that time, saith the Lord. The iniquity of Israel shall
be sought for. And if it says that it will be,
it will be. God will say, go search. Go look. Send them out. Go see what you can find. See
if you can find one spot. Go look and see if you can find
one blemish. One transaction. Dig deep. Dig deep. Verse 20. And in that time, saith
the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there
shall be none. And the sins of Judah, they shall
not be found. For I will pardon them whom I
reserve. Why will they not be found? They're
not there. They are gone. That's the gospel.
That's the gospel. They are gone. They are gone. I don't want to just be forgiven.
I need them to be gone. I can't forgive myself if they're
not gone. I'll leave you with this. Brother
Henry Mahan used to tell the story of when he was 21 years
old in 1948. He was driving with a friend
of his to a meeting like this and after the meeting was over
they were driving home and it was pouring rain and he didn't
see a stop sign and ran a stop sign and hit a woman and tore
up both cars. She ended up with a cut on her
forehead and he just felt awful about it, just terrible. And
so the police officer gave him a ticket and told him to appear
in court. He had a court date, you know,
a few weeks later or whenever. And he was nervous about it,
so he called his dad in Birmingham, Alabama to see if he would go
with him to the court date. He said, I'd never been to court
before. So his dad came up and they were sitting in the courtroom
with all these other offenders. And he said they sat there for
two or three hours and an offender would be called up and they would
deal with it accordingly and then they'd leave the courtroom
and the next one would be called up. And he said one by one it
got emptier and emptier until he and his dad were the last
two people in the room. And the judge looked at him and
was looking at all of his papers and fumbling around for just
a minute and looked at Henry again He finally said, son, what
are you charged with? And Henry stood up and he said,
well, I was driving and it was pouring rain and I didn't see
the stop sign and I ran it, it was my fault and I hit this woman
and, you know, I'm so sorry. And he said, I understand all
that, but what are you charged with? And Henry didn't know what to
say. So the judge is looking around and he looks at the officer
right there and he said, what is this young man charged with?
And the officer's looking through all of his paperwork and he said,
I don't have any record of any charge. And he said, the judge
said, you don't have any record of any charge. No, your honor. So the judge one more time fumbled
through all of his papers and he looked at Henry and he said,
son, There's no charge against you. You're free to go home. Free from the law. Oh, happy
condition. The Lord Jesus bled. There is
remission. Cursed by the law. Bruised by
the fall. Christ redeemed every one of
us. One time. For all. That's the gospel. That's the gospel. Thank God
for the gospel. Maybe it ought to be titled,
Thank God for the Gospel. Thank God for Christ. Thank you,
brother. Let's stand together. We'll sing
the hymn that's on the back of the bulletin. Hopefully there's
enough. There should be three or four
in the pews. There's a few in the back if you have access there.
Let's all stand together, we'll sing that hymn.