Hmm. Be Thou my vision, O Lord of
my heart. Not be all else to me, save that
Thou art. Thou my best thought, by day
or by night. Waking or sleeping, Thy presence
my light. Be Thou my wisdom and Thou my
true word. I ever with Thee, and Thou with
me, Lord. Thou my great Father, I Thy true
Son, Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one. Riches I heed not, nor man's
empty praise, Thou mine inheritance now and always, Thou and Thou
only, first in my heart. High King of heaven, my treasure
Thou art High King of heaven, my victory won May I reach heaven's
joys, O bright heaven's sun Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O ruler of all. Still be my vision, O ruler
of all. Good morning. It's good to be
with you again. Wonderful to see brethren. I was glad when they said to
me, let's go to the house of the Lord. It's good to dwell
together in unity, isn't it? Looking forward to the day when
we're all in the same congregation with the same pastor. Looking
forward to that. Turn with me, if you would, to
Matthew chapter 3. Matthew chapter 3, and let's
read the last two verses together. Matthew 3 verse 16, it says, And Jesus, when He was baptized,
went up straightway out of the water. And, lo, the heavens were
opened unto Him. And He saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and lighting upon him. And lo, a voice from
heaven saying, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."
Now, this is the holy word, cover to cover, this is the holy scripture,
but that is holy. That is holy. Let's read that
again. May the Lord open this up to
us. Verse 16, And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway
out of the water, and, lo, the heavens were opened to Him. And
He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon
Him. And, lo, a voice from heaven
saying, This is My beloved Son. in whom I am well pleased." This
is a moment between God. That's what this is. Father,
Son, and Spirit. All three of them in their work,
in their office, in their unity. And this is holy ground. This
is just holy ground. You know, the Lord told Moses,
take your shoes off. Humble yourself. Come down as
low as you can come down. This is holy ground. And it is. This is a moment between God
the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. That's what salvation
is. A moment between God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Spirit. The glory and the accomplishment
of the Son is seen right here. The witness of the Spirit is
seen right here. And the announcement of the Father
is seen right here. Just hearing Him say, My Beloved
Son. If the Spirit would let us enter
into this announcement from the Father concerning the Son. You
just enter into the Father opening the Heaven to Him. and saying,
My Beloved Son. We could get lost in the wonder
of hearing the Father say, My Beloved Son. In those three words we hear
the love of the Father for Him. We hear the confidence of the
Father in Him. the Father's love for Him, the
Father's confidence in Him. I love how Ephesians 1 says,
the Father first trusted in Christ. The first one to trust Christ. You go do it, I trust you. That's
just awesome, isn't it? That's full of awe. We can hear
right here that The Son is the apple of the Father's eye. The
only apple of the Father's eye. In the Father's announcement,
we can hear the glory of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. In this one sentence, this is
just one sentence. What we read here is one sentence.
And God the Father declared the fullness of eternal salvation
right here. And that's what I want us to
see. The announcement of the Father, what we just read, is
the Gospel. It is the Gospel. The announcement
of the Father is the message. This then is the message. What
are we to preach? What are we to hear? What are
we to believe? What are we to witness? What
are we to cling to? That right there. This is the
gospel. This is the message. From the
father's announcement here, we're going to get our outline for
this message. Verse 17, he said, this is my
beloved son in whom I am well pleased. That word beloved means
esteemed. It means dear. It means favorite. It means worthy of love. He said this, this is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased. I pray the Lord might burn into
my soul that that's the gospel and that's the message. That
is the message. Our outline this morning has
three points, okay? The first one is, this is my beloved son. The second point is, in whom,
and the third point is, I am well placed. This is my beloved
son. In whom, I am well placed. That's the announcement. That's the message. That's the
good news. That is the gospel. Alright,
point number one. The Father loves the Son. The Father loves the Son. When we get to point number two,
we're going to see that any sinner that the Father says that He
loves is only because of the Son. Only because of the Son. The Father loves the Son. God
the Father's love has been given to the Son. The Son, all of it,
to the Son. The only begotten of the Father. He said, this, He alone is my
beloved. The Father has made it very clear
where His love lies. in the Word. He made it very,
very clear where His favor lies. You know, we say, sometimes people
say, what does God see in me? God chose a people. God elected
a people. A particular people. Before the
foundation of the world. The book of Romans says, Any
good or evil was done that the purpose of God according to election
might stand. He said, this one I love and
this one I hate. God chose a people, alright? So we hear that and
we believe that He has given us faith to look to Christ and
to cast our all on Christ, which is the evidence of things hoped
for. And then we say, why me? Why
would He choose me? What could He possibly see in
me? He doesn't see anything in me. Nothing. He sees nothing in me. Nothing good anyway. If He was
to look directly on me, He would see something, but it's not good.
Only evil continually. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. None good. No, not one. None
righteous. So there's nothing good to see
in me. His eye is singled in on His
Son. He is singled in on His Son.
The message to God's people is, look to Christ. Look to Christ. We grow up in religion. Just being born into the world
as its own religion, you worship the idol of yourself, you have
your own, and then the Lord starts to do something for you, and
you're just so frustrated by what you see here, and you think,
you know, the Lord has saved me, why don't I look more like
a believer and more like Christ? Here's the message, stop looking
right here. You can't reform this. Look to
Christ. The reason that's the message
is because that's what God the Father is doing. That's relief. That's the truth that will set
a man or a woman free from the utter bondage of the law and
just everything. Look to Christ. That's what God
the Father's doing. His eye is singled in on His
beloved Son. That's His announcement to everybody. He said, this is my beloved Son. This is my well-beloved, only
worthy, favorite. Don't you love hearing that?
God the Father said, He's my favorite. to that all of God's
people cry, Amen, He's ours too. My favorite, favorite son. Turn with me, if you would, to
John chapter 3. John chapter 3 verse 35 says, The Father loveth the Son, and
hath given all things into His hand. Everything. Everything. Everything. The Father said it
all goes to Him. I want Him to have it all. Everything is going to Him. Everything. Look with me if you would at
John chapter 5. John 5 verse 20 says, For the
Father loveth the Son, and showeth Him all things that Himself doeth,
And He will show him greater works than these that you may
marvel. For as the Father raiseth up
the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom
He will. For the Father judgeth no man."
Many people believe that the Father is that great judge that
they must stand before. But verse 22 says, The Father
judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. He's
given him all judgment. Verse 23 says that all men should
honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth
not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him. I
absolutely love that. I love hearing that. I love reading
that. The father loves the son so much, he has said, the only
way that you can honor me is by honoring my son. And man naturally,
naturally wants to honor the father. This imagination of God. And they love to set Jesus Christ
to the side. And they loved to be thankful
for Him, and He showed the way, and all those kinds of things.
And He's the One who can get you to God, and we don't want
to be without Him, but the Father said, the only way you can honor
Me is by honoring My Son. Seeing Him high and lifted up. Every knee bowing to Him. You don't honor Him, You don't
honor God, Father, Son, and Spirit. All the fullness of the Godhead
dwells in the body of Him. He said, you want to see the
Father? Look at me. It's Him. It's all Him. There was a time when God the
Father spoke out loud another time. We just read in Matthew
there where He came up out of the water and the Father spoke
out loud. There was another time when He spoke out loud. Turn
with me over to Matthew 17. Matthew 17 verse 1, it says, And after six days, Jesus taketh
Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an
high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them. And
his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as
the light. And behold, there appeared unto
them Moses and Elijah talking with them. But then answered
Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here."
And the other accounts say he was so scared he didn't know
what to say. And that's a good moment to not say anything. When
you don't know what to say, just... But verse 4, Peter said unto
Jesus, Lord, it's good for us to be here. If Thou wilt, let
us make here three tabernacles, one for Thee, one for Moses,
And one for Elijah. One for you, one for the law,
one for the prophets. Peter said, Lord, if you're okay
with it, we'll honor all three of you. If thou wilt, if you're
okay with that. And the Lord didn't even respond. God the Father spoke out loud.
God the Father interjected. And he cried, absolutely not. Absolutely not. No flesh is going
to glory in His presence. No other flesh but Him alone.
Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good
for us to be here. If Thou wilt, let us make here
three tabernacles, one for Thee, one for Moses, one for Elijah.
While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and
behold, a voice out of the cloud which said, This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. Worship Him. bow down to Him."
Verse 6, And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their
face and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them
and said, Arise and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their
eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only. And that's the desire of
the Father for His children, all of His children, that they
might see and hear and bow down to and worship Christ alone. Christ alone. That's His desire. And if that's His desire, that's
what's going to happen. Every knee is going to bow. Every
tongue is going to confess, Jesus Christ is Lord. That means God. Lord means sovereign. Lord means
the controller. In Isaiah 42 verse 1, the Father
said, Behold My servant, My Son, whom I have raised up, Highly
lifted up and exalted. He said, mine elect. I remember the first time the
Lord really opened that up to me. God the Father in this thing
of election. Who did the Father choose? Christ. That's who He chose. He is my
elect. He is the one that I have chosen. I've put my spirit, my blessing,
my approval upon Him. I've put it all on Him. He is the one that is going to
bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. And the Father said, He's not
going to fail. He is not going to fail. He's
going to accomplish what I have sent Him to do. The Father said,
This is my beloved Son. You look to Him. You hope in
Him. Don't look to yourself. Don't
hope in yourself. Look to Him. Because the gospel,
this good news message of salvation is only found in Him. It is only found, every piece
of good news that God has in His book for sinners is in Christ. Only in Christ. Only in Christ. In the Father's announcement
concerning Christ, He revealed the gospel to us. He declared
where salvation is found. He said, this is my beloved son. In whom? In whom? The depth of those two
little words, just the depth of those two little words, you
know, we quote that, we know that, it rolls off the tongue. but to just stop and think about
what the Father was saying in those two little words. In whom. That's where every blessing
from the Father is found. That's where all the love of
the Father is found. In whom. Turn with me if you
would to Romans chapter 8. Romans 8 verse 1 says, There
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. That means
they are not walking after the flesh, trying to do the works
of the flesh to earn favor with God by His Spirit. They are looking
to Christ alone. In whom? In Him. In Christ, sinners
are free from condemnation. And why is that? It's because
verse 39, if you look at Romans 8 verse 39, it says that's where
all the love of God is. Verse 38, he said, I'm persuaded
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." That's
where all of God the Father's love for His people is. What was that love for His people? What was the Father's love for
His people? What did He do? Look right here
at verse 32. And He that spared not His own
Son, but delivered Him up for us all, every single soul in
Christ, all of us, how shall He not, with Him, also freely
give us all things. The love of the Father for His
people is found in the fact that He spared not His own Son. Just amazing, isn't it? Just
amazing. You know, outside of Him, to
look upon us, it is only vengeance and wrath and anger
And there's one that He said, I'm well pleased with one. And
that's the one He gave for wretched sinners like us. That's where
His love was for His people. In the fact that He spared not
His only well-beloved Son. God the Father has placed all
of His love and all of His mercy and all of His forgiveness in
the sacrifice of His Son. And he said, that sacrifice is
not going to be shed in vain. If a man is going to have life,
he's going to have to have that life in and through the sacrifice
of my Son. I did not shed His blood in vain. It's going to come one way. It's
not going to be by a man's own works. It's not going to be. If righteousness
comes by the law, then Christ died in vain. It's not going to be by man's
own worthiness. It's going to be by the offering
of the Son of God alone. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath
not life. Period. Nothing else matters.
But Lord, we did all these things. It doesn't matter. He that has
the Son hath life. And he that hath not the Son
hath not life. This is my beloved Son. In whom? In Him. In Him. It's all in Him. Nowhere else. Only in Him. Look with me if
you would at Ephesians chapter 1. Verse 1 says, Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints which are
at Ephesus and to the faithful in Christ Jesus, grace be to
you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places,
in Christ. in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
where it is. Verse 4 says, According as He hath chosen us in Him. That's where He chose us. In Him. Before the foundation
of the world that we should be holy and without blame before
Him in love. Verse 5 says, Having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according
to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. Verse 7 says, in whom we have
redemption. Through His blood, the forgiveness
of sins according to the riches of His grace. It's all in Him.
All of it. Our acceptance with the Father
is all in Christ the Son. And God the Father said, in Him,
everything that happens in Him, I am well pleased with it. Whatever
it is that happens in Him, I'm well pleased with it. If it's
in Him, I'll accept it. Even me? In Him? Yes. Yes. If it's in Him, I'm pleased
with it. If it's in Him, I will accept
it. If it's in Him, I'll be happy. I'll be happy. It'll be fine. Now, I've told this illustration
so many times. I probably told it last time
I was here. I don't know. But this is just too good of
an illustration for this acceptance that we have in Him to not tell
this. But this is a true story. Back
in the Civil War, There was a soldier in the Union Army who got word
that his mother was dying and he wanted to go see her before
he died. Apparently he had no leave and
he couldn't get leave and his only hope was to try to get to
President Abraham Lincoln to just ask him, will you let me
go? So he made his way to the White House And he went up to
the front door, went up the steps to the front door. And there
were guards at the front door of the White House. And they
said, you know, what can we do for you? And he said, I'm here
to see President Abraham Lincoln. And they said, you can't see
President Abraham Lincoln. And he said, I desperately need
to see President Lincoln. And they said, well, you can't.
You're not going to see President Lincoln. And the man explained
to them, I have gotten word that my mother is dying, and I want
to go see her before she dies, and I don't have any leave, and
my only hope is that he'll let me go. And I just need to see
him. And they said, sir, you're not
going to. It's time for you to leave. And
the man said, you don't understand. They said, you don't understand. We're under orders. you're unauthorized. And if anyone
is unauthorized, they're not coming in. And that's that. So the man, he finally realized
he's not coming in. So he walked back down the steps
and he just sat down and put his head in his hands and he
just started crying. That man just started crying
right there on the step. And this little boy was walking
by and looked at him and saw the man crying and he sat down
beside him just looking at him and he finally said, what's wrong,
mister? And the man looked over at that little boy and saw it
was a little boy and he said, nothing, son. And the little
boy said, well, just tell me, what is it? And he said, son,
you wouldn't understand. And he said, well, I want to
know, what is it? So he explained to him, I got word that my mother's
dying. And I want to go see her before
she dies. And the only way that I can do that is if President
Abraham Lincoln will just let me go and I can't get in to see
him." And the little boy said, well, I'll take you in. And he
said, what? He said, come on, get up, let's
go. So they stood up, walked right back up the same steps,
right past those two guards, entered into the White House,
walked down a hall, passed another set of guards, that little boy
reached and opened the door and they walked right into the Oval
Office. And sitting at his desk was President Abraham Lincoln.
And when they got in there, President Lincoln looked at that little
boy and said, what can I do for you, son? And he said, Dad, this
man needs to see you. And that man got leave. He went
and saw his mother. That man was accepted in the
Beloved. That little boy was Tad Lincoln,
the son of the President of the United States. Outside of that
little boy, there's no coming in. But in that little boy, with
that little boy, with the son, accepted in him. Everything you
need, you'll have it in Him. God, the Father's announcement
to sinners, His announcement of hope, His announcement of
mercy, His announcement of forgiveness and salvation is, this is His
announcement to us. He said, this is my beloved Son. In whom? In Him. in who He is and in what He has
done for sinners, I am well pleased. I am well pleased. What an announcement
that is. What an announcement of mercy
and goodness and grace that is. He said it's all right there.
All right there in Him. Don't turn to this, but Isaiah
42, 21 says, The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness sake. He
will magnify the law and make it honorable. Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness. He is our righteousness. In Christ,
everything is honorable. In Christ, the law is satisfied. In Christ, those guards stand
there silently and say, welcome in. The law is satisfied. Justice is satisfied. The Father
is well pleased and accepting. He didn't say, turn around and
go back out the same way you came in. He said, what can I
do for you, son? I want to leave you with this
article that was written by a preacher many years ago, Brother Jack
Shanks. This is so good. He said, you say you are unworthy
of the least of God's mercies. Aren't you glad Christ is worthy? the redemption he accomplished
was for the unworthy? You say you have no goodness
or merits to claim? Aren't you thankful God accepts
sinners based upon the goodness and merits of His Son? You say
the law affords you no hope? Right you are. But the Gospel
declares that the mercy and grace of God is freely given to sinners
because of the doing and the dying of His dear Son. This is
the only salvation worth having and the only one worthy to be
proclaimed. Jesus Christ came into the world
to save sinners. He saved sinners. That's wonderful,
isn't it? That's the only salvation worth
having. That's the only one to declare,
the only one worthy to be proclaimed. God the Father said, this is
my beloved son. In him, I'm well placed. Period. Amen. All right. Thanks.