here this morning from the book
of 1 Corinthians chapter 1. And then I'll read a passage
or two from the book of Matthew chapter 1. Apostle Paul, during the writing
here, inspired of God, writes to the
church of Corinth. He says in the second verse,
well, he identifies himself in verse 1, Paul called an apostle. The 2B is inserted by the translators,
so it actually should be Paul called an apostle. of Jesus Christ
through or according to the will of God. He's an apostle according
to the will of God. That is, he's not an apostle because he
was elected to be an apostle by the rest of the apostles or
in some other means or method. But he attributes his apostleship
to God himself, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through
the will of God, or because of the will of God, and so thin
is our brother, under the church of God, letters directed to the
church of God, which is at Corinth, and to them that are sanctified
in Christ, called saints, there's that to be again, added by the
translators, called saints with all that in every place that
call upon the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours. Grace be unto you and peace from
God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God
always on your behalf. for the grace of God which is
given you by Jesus Christ, that in everything ye are enriched
by him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony
of Christ was confirmed in you, so that ye come behind in no
gift waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. who will
also confirm you unto the end that you may be blameless in
the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." Now, I don't know how many times,
I haven't counted them here, but how many times he mentions
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. The ninth
verse, he said, God is faithful by whom ye were called into the
fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I beseech
you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, one more
time here, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there
be no divisions among you, that ye be perfectly joined together
in the same mind and the same judgment. this church at Corinth,
those that are called saints, those that in every place that
call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, be no divisions
among you, perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same
judgment For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren,
by them which are of the house of Chloe, that they are contentions
or divisions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul,
I am of Apollos, and I am of Cephas, And I, Christ, said,
Is Christ divine? Was Paul baptized for you, or
were ye baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized
none of you, but Crispus and Gaius, lest any should say that
I had baptized in my own name. And I baptized also the household
of Stephanas. Besides, I know not whether I
baptized any other, for Christ sent me not to baptize. He didn't
send me to baptize. What did he send you to do, Paul? Christ didn't send me to baptize. motive, but to preach the gospel. How are you going to preach this
gospel, Paul? Not with the wisdom of words,
lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the
preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness,
but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is
written, or it is said by God, I will destroy the wisdom of
the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is
the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom
of God, The world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign and
the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified
unto the Jews a stumbling block and unto the Greeks foolishness.
but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ,
the power of God, and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness
of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger
than men. But you see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many Not many
noble are called. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty. And the base things of the world
and the things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and the
things which are not. to bring to naught things that
are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are
ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written,
he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. Well, I read all
that to emphasize the emphasis that the Apostle Paul, who was
called of God and inspired of God to pen these words, to set
forth the great emphasis that Paul puts upon the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Throughout this whole chapter,
31 verses, he emphasizes and builds all his arguments around
and on the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, over here in the book of
Matthew, chapter 1, we find these words written. by Matthew, who was called of
God unto the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ. And he penned these words, words
that were spoken to him by an angel. These are the words of the angel
of the Lord to Joseph concerning the incarnation and the birth
and the work of the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. And this
twentieth verse, it says, And while he thought upon these things,
what things was he thinking about? Well, verse 18 says, the birth of Jesus Christ was
on this wise, or was like this. When, as his mother Mary was
espoused to Joseph before they came together, she was found
with the child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph, her husband, being
a just man, not willing to make her a public example, was minded
to put her away privately. But while he thought on these
things, that's what he was thinking about. What shall I do? 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 Thou shalt
call his name Jesus." Now, it seems to me that anyone who reads
or hears that the Son of God assumed human flesh and came
into this world as a man would want to know, would want to know
why Did the Son of Man come into this world? It seems to me like
they would want to know why He came. Well, the angel here plainly
tells us that God the Son came into this world for a specific
reason, to do a specific thing, and on a specific mission. The angel said this to Joseph,
Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people
from their sins. Now, who is this Jesus that he's
talking about? Who is Jesus? Now, that may seem to be a strange
question. Who is Jesus? Well, you and I,
collectively, have heard about Jesus all of our lives, haven't
we? We've heard about him. Most of
us went Daily Vacation Bible School. Maybe some went two or
three times to Daily Vacation Bible School. And they talked
about Jesus. They had little pictures or pictures
they showed. And we had made pictures and
little things of that nature depicting somewhat the baby Jesus. When I say who is Jesus, I know
that seems to be a strange question because we have heard about Jesus
all of our lives. Perhaps you might think that
everyone knows who Jesus is, everybody. Well, you're mistaken
if you believe that. because this is the truth. You
are mistaken if you believe that everyone knows who Jesus is. The fact is that there are very
few in this world who know who our Lord Jesus is. The Christ
that is worshipped in the average church is but a figment of man's
imagination as we compare what they're saying
with what the Bible teaches. The Lord warns us of these people here in the book
of Matthew, in the 24th verse, if you'll turn with me. Our Lord
warns us about what men will teach and what men will say.
Here in this 24th chapter and the 23rd verse it says, false Christs and false prophets,
and shall show great signs and wonders, inasmuch that if it
were possible they shall deceive the very elect." Now, that makes the question
very important. Who is this Jesus? Who is the
Christ of the Bible? Now, we've got to know. We must
know, and we must trust, and we must worship this Christ if
we would be accepted by God and if we would know God. We've got
to know who He is. I read to you where it says,
there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and show great
signs and wonders inasmuch that if it were possible, it's not
possible, but if it were possible, they would deceive the very elect
of God. So it's vital that we find out. who this Jesus is. I said that the majority of the
churches here in this world today are
worshiping a false Christ. They're not worshiping the true
and the living God. Over in the book of John, turn
with me there to the seventeenth chapter of the book of John.
I might emphasize something there. John chapter 17. I said that we must know Him,
we must trust Him, we must worship this Christ, And if we would
know God and be accepted of him, we've got to know who he is.
And over here in this third verse, it says this. Well, let me read the second
verse, the seventeenth chapter. As thou hast given him power
over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many
as thou hast given him." He's talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ, and this is the high priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Because the first verse says,
These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven,
and he said, Father, the hours come, glorify thy Son, that thy
Son also may glorify thee, as thou hast given him, as God the
Father has given the Lord Jesus Christ, power over all flesh. That means authority over all
flesh. In other words, right now, this
one that we're talking about, whom the angel said to Joseph,
Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people
from their sins, this Christ, this Jesus that we're talking
about, says that God hath given him as thou, that's God the Father,
has given him, the Christ of God, power over all flesh. Now, if he's got power over all
flesh, then all flesh is in his hands. And if he be the sovereign
Christ that has power over everything that moves and wiggles, then
he has the right to give life to as many as it pleases him
to give life to. So he says he has power over
all flesh that he should give eternal life to how many? To as many as the Father has
given him, to as many as thou hast given him. Now listen, here's
that must now. I said we must know who this
Jesus is that came from God to do a specific thing, and this
is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Now, you see, if you trust
a false Christ, no matter how sincere you might be, you are
lost nevertheless. if you trust a false Christ. What is a false Christ? A false
Christ is one who cannot accomplish what he set out to do. I'm saying
that the Lord Jesus Christ of the Bible, God sent him to do
a specific thing. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins." Now, if the
Christ that you recognize, or I recognize, or I bow to, or
I worship, if he hath not completely accomplished the work that the
Father giveth him to do, then he's a false Christ. because
the Christ of God, his name shall be called Jesus, for he shall,
he shall, not he might, not I hope he can, but he shall save his
people from their sin. Now, how does he do this? He
does this by way of transfer, as I've already mentioned, that
he takes the sins of his people and lays them upon himself and
bears the penalty that's due their sins. Now, he's not trying to save
his people, but he is saving his people. So if you trust a
Christ, that cannot save his people, then you're trusting
a false Christ. If you think that you, or if
I think that I have something to do with my salvation, that
I must somehow cooperate with God, then I'm trusting a false
Christ. If you trust a false Christ,
no matter how devoted you are to him, And no matter how sincere
you are, you're lost. Now, if you and I have any concern
or care for our soul whatsoever, we need to seek God. We need to ask God the Holy Spirit
to show us who he is. We need to search the Scriptures
like the Bereans of old. We're told that the Bible says
that God looked down or looked out from heaven to see if there
were any that had understanding, to see if there were any that
seek after God. Well, he concluded that there
was not any. Let me read over here. in the
book of Romans where he says, As it is written,
there is none righteous, no, not one. In the Old Testament
he said that he looked down from heaven upon the children of men
and he said that there was none good, no, not one. And here in
the book of Romans, in the third chapter, in the tenth verse,
he says, As it is written, it's already been written, it's already
said, As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. There's not one single solitary
individual upon the face of the earth that is righteous, no,
not one. There's none that understand
it. There's none that seek it after God. They are all going
out of their way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good.
No, not one. That's what God says about us.
So I say if we care for our souls, if we care, if we're concerned,
if we care about our souls, then we need to ask God, the Holy
Spirit, to show us who he is and what he does. if we're as
bad as God says we are. And I think we are. Looked out of heaven to see if
there was any that had any understanding of who God was. Couldn't find
any. Couldn't find any that would
seek after God. Now listen to me. If there had
been any good men, women, boys and girls upon the face of the
earth, when God looked down and out from heaven, God would have
found them, don't you think? God would have found them. Why? Because he sees all things, and
he sees all persons, and if there had been any good people on the
face of the earth, then God would have discovered them, wouldn't
he? But he didn't discover them because
there was none there. There's all evil. Now listen, this description
that God gives of the character of man is, no, it is not uncharitable
or unjust on God's part. I read one time where the great
preacher of God, Mr. Whitfield, Mr. George Whitfield,
he used to say that man by nature is half beast and half devil. And I conclude that Mr. Whitfield was right. We are in
bad shape. bad shape, and we need a Savior. We need a Savior who will make
atonement for our sins. We need a Savior who will stand
in our stead, in our place, and in our room, and bear the penalty
that's due us against our sins. We need a Savior that will honor
and obey every jot and every kittle of God's holy law on our
behalf. And we need a Savior that will
establish a righteousness that will stand us in good stead with
God. And the only way we can look
to find such a person as that is in the Lord Jesus Christ whom
God appointed and God sent to be the Savior of them that believe. And the angel was telling old
Joseph a great and glorious truth when he told him that his name
shall be called Jesus, for he shall save his people from their
sins. The Jesus of the Bible. Well,
this is who He is, and there's none other, and there's no need
for us to look for another. He's the only one, the Lord Jesus
Christ. It tells of His incarnation,
about the baby here being born. It says that That holy thing
that's in the womb of Mary, His name shall be called Jesus. That
holy thing. His name shall be called Jesus.
His name shall be called Jesus. That's who He is. Jesus the Christ,
the Christ of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And He shall save His
people from their sins. This man. This man who was none
other than God. He was incarnated. God become
a man. I'm amazed. I'm amazed that God
would condescend and assume our flesh and live our life and die
our death in order to save us. Isn't that? That God would do
that. God would love us. before time ever was, and God
Himself would come down and be the fine lodging place in the
womb of a woman. And a sinful woman would bring
forth a sinless man, and that sinless man is the Lord Jesus
Christ. And He came for that specific
purpose, to redeem His people, to save his people by the sacrifice
of himself. And he gave himself all that
he was, all that the Lord Jesus Christ was as God and man. He gave himself willingly, gladly,
cheerfully as our Redeemer. That's the Christ I'm talking
about. That's the Christ that can save, and that's the Christ
that will save any man that desires to be saved on the
terms of God Himself. He does all the saving. You can't
help save him. You can be saved at any time. You can be saved here this morning.
You'd have to move a muscle to be saved. business of God and
the salvation of the sinner is between you and God, and God
does business in your heart, then you don't have to move a
muscle. You don't have to stand up and wave your hand or come
before the church and give a testimony. You don't have to do anything.
You don't have to do nothing. Don't move a muscle. Don't bat
an eye. You'll be saved because God does
business in your heart. I'm talking about His name shall
be called Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. God saved you as he saved you. Who saved you? You saved yourself. Did your baptism save you? Baptism may have got anything
to do with it. Paul said, I thank God. He sent me not to baptize. He sent me to preach the gospel.
And the gospel is to preach Christ in Him crucified. and asked to
substitute the dying Savior, the Lamb of God. John the Baptist
said, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins. Paul said, I'm determined to
know nothing among you save Christ and him crucified. God help us to be able to answer
the question, who is it? He's God manifest in the flesh,
that's who he is. And in the book of Hebrews, it
tells us, I think, in that third chapter. Let me see if I can
find that real quick. That's not the third chapter.
Some other chapter here. Eleventh chapter. It says this, but without faith it's impossible
to please Him. Without faith, faith is a gift
of God, and without it, it is impossible to please God. For
he that cometh to God must believe that he is. That is, must believe
that God is as he hath revealed himself in the Word. And he hath
revealed himself in the face and in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And without faith it is impossible
to please him. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him." Well, the Lord bless these few scattered
remarks to our understanding and help us, if we don't know,
to do our dead-level best under God to find out who this man
is. Because we must know him. We must know him if we are to
ever enjoy the blessings of the gospel in this life and certainly
in the life to come. Let's stand and paddle.