I'd like for you to turn with
me this morning to the Old Testament book of 1st Samuel. 1st Samuel chapter 12. Judges, Ruth, and then 1st Samuel. 1st Samuel chapter 12. Verse
22. Now here the Lord, through the
prophet Samuel, promises something to those that he died for. Are you interested? 1 Samuel
chapter 12, verse 22 reads, for the Lord will not forsake his
people for his great name's sake, because It hath pleased the Lord
to make you his people. The first great truth we see
in this verse is the fact that the Lord will not forsake his
people, those that he died for. Isn't that a glorious and comforting
thought? If Christ died for you, if you
trust in Christ alone as the only sacrifice for sin, you cannot
be lost. The Lord will not forsake His
people. Secondly, we see why the Lord
will not forsake His people. He will not forsake them, it
says, for His own great name's sake. There's no reason outside and
apart of Himself. Only because of His own great
name's sake and for His own glory and honor will the Lord not forsake
His people. Thirdly, we see that this redemption,
this reconciliation of the Lord and His people is very pleasing
to Him. It actually pleased the Lord,
it says, to make you His people, to make some His people. And
isn't that an amazing thought that the Lord is pleased to make
some His? I hope that we've learned that
there is only one reason and one reason only, that God was
pleased to show mercy on anyone. What is that reason? For his
own namesake. He's simply pleased for him to
do so. God has hid these things, the
scripture says, from the wise and the prudent and has revealed
them. By divine revelation, God has
revealed these truths unto babes. Can you trust Christ like a babe? You will if God reveals His gospel
to you. He'll see to it. There's only
one reason, let me say it again, there's only one reason that
any sinner has ever been redeemed. Only one reason that any sinner
has ever been saved and conformed to Christ in order that they
might stand perfectly before God. You see, that's what God
requires. God will accept nothing less
than perfection. God provides what we can't provide.
We don't know a lot about perfection. Not when it comes to our doing.
But we must stand before God perfect. Perfectly holy. Perfectly
righteous. Perfectly just. Without blame. There's only one reason that
we can. And it's for Christ's sake. Now
let those three words burn into your heart. For Christ's sake. It's for Christ's great name's
sake that it pleased the Lord to make you His people. And this
took a mighty, sovereign work of grace. The God of creation. The same God that spoke the heavens
and the earth into existence. It took the same power of creation
to create life and give life to you. Therefore, if any man
be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things have become new. And all things are of God, who
hath reconciled us to himself." How? By Jesus Christ, 2 Corinthians
5, 17 and 18. And this is how God reconciles
us. No wonder the psalmist cried, for thy name's sake, O Lord,
pardon mine iniquity, for it is great. Has God shown you that
your iniquity is great? If God is going to pardon a sinner,
it'll only be for Christ's name's sake and for the glory of His
person. The sooner we learn that, the
better off we'll be. So do you see just how straight
and how narrow the gate is that leads to eternal life? That's
what our Lord told us. Straight is the gate and narrow
is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find
it. There's only a few out of the
overall number of men and women that have lived in this world
that find this straight and narrow way. And I'm telling you unequivocally
today that it's for Christ's sake that you find it. In Psalm
23, we know the Psalm well. When I was in school way back
then, we learned that Psalm in school. That don't happen anymore,
does it? And it's in that great psalm
that we see David's great confidence in Christ alone and how obvious
it was when he said, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. With Christ as my shepherd, there
is nothing that I lack or want for. I have everything that I
need and everything that God requires, it's all found in Him. David said, He maketh me to lie
down in green pastures. He makes me to trust and to rest
in Him alone. He leadeth me beside the still
waters while He gives me drink from the water of life. Christ
is that fountain that shall never run dry. He restores my soul. He gives life to this dead soul
that sin has destroyed. See, He's my shepherd, and I
shall not want. He leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness. Why? For His namesake. He is the path of righteousness.
He is the way. He is the truth. He is the life. And no man, no woman, no sinner
comes to the Father but by Him. You see how narrow this is? You
see how straight this is? But by Him. No other way. Psalm 106 verse 8 says, Nevertheless
He saved them for His name's sake. that he might make his
mighty power to be known. Now listen, if God ever saves
a sinner, that sinner is going to know beyond a shadow of a
doubt that salvation is of the Lord. Now we say that often,
salvation is of the Lord. But we're going to know what
that means because we're going to know that it's by the mighty
power of God that we're saved. And God chooses to save his people
one way and one way only, for Christ's sake, for Christ's sake. Only Christ could provide the
perfect righteousness required to stand before a thrice holy
God. And God requires perfection from
us in order for us to be accepted. And it's found only in him. You
know, that's why it's so profane and so ungodly for a sinner to
think that he or she can do anything that would merit them any consideration
from God apart from Christ. God saves sinners for one reason. Do you know what that reason
is? For Christ's sake. That's it. Help us, O God, of
our salvation for the glory of Thy name. And deliver us and
purge away our sins for Thy name's sake. The believing sinner will
say, Lord, have mercy on me. Put away my sin. Not because
I earned it by working, not because I deserve it by goodness. not
because I merit it by any righteousness that I have, but save me, O Lord,
for Christ's sake, for His glory, for His honor. David prayed,
quicken me, O Lord, for Thy name's sake, for Thy righteousness'
sake, bring my soul out of trouble. Lord, won't You bring me out
of trouble? And do it for my Lord Jesus'
sake. Jeremiah said this, he said,
do not abhor us for thy name's sake. Do not disgrace the throne
of thy glory. Remember, break not thy covenant
with us. Do you know that if God broke
His covenant with His people, that it would disgrace His throne
of glory? If God fails to fulfill any of
His promises to His people, He is not the God of glory. But
the Lord will not forsake His people. Isn't that what we read?
Why? For His great name's sake. Because
it's pleased the Lord to make you His people. Oh, that just
does something inside of me every time I read it. It pleased the
Lord to make me, the wretch that I am, one of His. That's the
most amazing thing I've ever heard. In order for God to make
you His, He has to do something for you. He's got to do something
for you. Not you do something for Him. I hear a lot about that today.
What people are doing for God. But that's not salvation. It
doesn't have anything to do with it. Salvation has everything
to do with what God does for me. What God does for you. He has to put away your sin.
and he has to put it away justly. In other words, his justice cannot
be compromised. God can't just flippantly sweep
sin under a rug. God can't just turn his back
and say, well, I choose not to see their sin. Kind of like we
do with our children. Boy, it's amazing how many things
my children got spanked for that my grandchildren get away with.
God cannot just flippantly ignore our sin. He's too holy. He's too just. He's got to deal
with it in justice. He can by no means clear the
guilty. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. God's going to
see to it. And it's only for Christ's sake
that we're saved. That's where mercy begins. It's only in and by and through
Christ's substitution and sacrifice for His people that God remains
just and at the same time justifies the ungodly. And in Christ, God
has purposed a way that God's law can be kept, and His justice
can be satisfied, and the sinner can be saved. That's where mercy
begins. God only has one motive for mercy,
and that is for Christ's sake. That's the heart of the gospel.
Do you know that the phrase for Christ's sake actually means
denoting origin? In other words, that's where
mercy to sinners begins. For Christ's sake, this denotes
the origin of God's mercy to us. If it wasn't for God determining
from the foundation of the world to exalt His Son, there'd be
no redemption. You see, before there was a sinner,
there was a Savior. And Christ was the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. for a people that had not yet
even fallen. Now, does that mean that Adam's
fall caught God off guard? Does that mean that Jesus Christ
was an afterthought? Oh my, what am I going to do?
Adam has sinned. How am I going to redeem man?
I think I'll send my son. No, sir. Perish the thought.
Was the coming of Christ God's backup plan? God don't need a
backup plan. He's God. He didn't need a backup
plan. It was the purpose of God before
time ever was to exalt His Son in the redemption of chosen sinners. And listen to me closely. There
is redemption only for Christ's sake. Turn with me to the book
of Revelation. You can let your place here in
1 Samuel go. Revelation chapter 13. Revelation
chapter 13. Revelation chapter 13 verse 8. Here we're told there is soon
coming a day that all that dwell upon the earth shall worship
Him. How many upon the earth? All
upon the earth. Does that mean that all be saved?
Nope. It just means that all are gonna worship Him, even those
whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. Now there are some
crucial things to be learned from this very verse of Scripture.
First, The whole reason for the existence of mankind dwelling
upon the earth is the worship, the adoration, and the glory
of God's Son. In the end, all that dwell upon
the earth shall worship Christ, the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Even those who are not saved
are going to worship Him. Those whose names are not written
in the Book of Life of the Lamb will worship Him. Why? Because
every knee is going to bow and every tongue is going to confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
We're right back to it, for Christ's sake, for the glory of God. Secondly,
we see that God has a chosen people, and He put their name
in a book, but He chose them in Christ, and that book of life
is said to be the book of life of the Lamb slain. When was that
Lamb slain? On Calvary? Well, yes, but before
the foundation of the world. and the purpose of God. Isn't
that what Paul said in Ephesians chapter one? According as he
had chosen us and him before the foundation of the world.
When did God choose his people? Before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before him
in love. How do our names get in the Lamb's Book of Life? Well,
we're chosen in him. Our names are written there for
Christ's sake. Christ wrote in this book the
names that were written upon His heart. All that God gave
Him before time ever was were written upon His heart and in
this book. Oh, how I wish folks understood that this was done
before we were born. Paul said these things were done
for us before we had done any good or evil that the purpose
of God according to election might stand not of works. but of him that calleth. This
is all God's doing. Can you and I take any credit
for our names being written in this Lamb's Book of Life? How
could we if they were put there before we were born and unable
to do anything that would in any way be deserving of God's
mercy and grace? The only reason any sinner is
saved is for Christ's sake. If we're going to accurately
preach the work of Christ in redemption, if we're going to
accurately tell sinners how God saves them through Christ's person
and work, we're going to have to begin back in eternity past,
and we're going to have to go all the way to eternity future.
You cannot present the whole Christ, the complete sacrifice,
the redeeming Savior, unless you talk about what He did in
time past before the foundation of the world, and what He's doing
now, and what He is going to do, what He shall do. And to
accurately present the work of Christ, you have to go back to
when He first represented sinners, when He first undertook to save
them, when He first agreed to be their surety, Way back before
the creation of the world, before God ever put the son, S-U-N,
in place, his son, S-O-N, was in place as the lamb slain. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter
one. If I already turned you there,
if not, look there with me real quick. Ephesians chapter one. We'll begin reading in verse
three. I want you to see this. Have you figured out why God
has shown mercy to you? He did it for Christ's sake.
Ephesians 1 verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ. You see that? according as He
hath chosen us." Where did He choose us? In Him. When did He
choose us? Before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him
in love. and having predestinated us, having predetermined, determined
beforehand, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to what? The good pleasure of
His will. To the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. Who's that? That's Christ. in
whom, that's Christ, we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. I'm telling you, it's for Christ's
sake that the Lord has been mindful of you. In 2 Thessalonians 2
verse 13, Paul said, I thank God for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation. God chose you in Christ from
the beginning. From the foundation of the world,
Christ is the firstborn of every creature. Christ is the first
elect. Isn't that what God said? He
said, Behold My servant in whom I uphold, Mine elect in whom
My soul delighteth. Now listen to what I'm saying.
I want to be plain. I want to be simple. The elect
of God are elect in Christ. If you don't see that you're
an election and that you're chosen in Him, then you've missed the
election. You're chosen in Him before the foundation of the
world. If you're one of God's elect, it's for Christ's sake.
You're chosen in Him. The redeeming Christ is not just
someone who came on the scene 2,000 plus years ago. The redeeming Christ is not one
who just appeared in Bethlehem's manger and became the Redeemer
and Savior of His people. He's always been the Redeemer.
He's always been the Savior. Salvation has always been for
His sake. If you're saved, if your name
is written in the Lamb's Book of Life, it was written there
when Christ became your surety and your sacrifice as the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. Why was He slain? The only way you could be saved. Christ's work of redemption was
represented and portrayed in all the Old Testament sacrifices
and ceremonies. We love the study of the Old
Testament because it's the gospel. In the Garden of Eden when Adam
and Eve fell and they tried to cover their nakedness with fig
leaf aprons sewn with their own hands. You know what that pictures.
It pictures us trying to work out a righteousness of our own
that's nothing but filthy rags. But the blood of the lamb was
shed to make a coat of covering for Adam and Eve, which pictures
the robe of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. When
Abel brought that first sacrifice unto the Lord and put it upon
the altar, I'm telling you, that was Christ. And God was pleased
with that sacrifice and accepted it because blood had been shed. But God would have no part of
the work done at Cain's hands. He rejected Cain's sacrifice. You know why? Because without
the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. God would
only pass over Israel, as we've studied in Exodus recently, if
He saw the blood of the Passover lamb. Christ is that Passover
lamb. That manna that fell from heaven
in the wilderness pictured Christ the bread from heaven that a
man may eat and not die. That rock that was smitten in
the wilderness that gave forth refreshing water, refreshing
drink to thirsty sinners, that rock was Christ. That brazen
serpent that Moses lifted high and up on a pole pictures Christ
who was high and lifted up so that all that look to him shall
live. Do you not yet see that if you're
saved that God saved you for Christ's sake? The Lord saved
you for his great name's sake, for his own honor and glory.
One day Moses said, Lord, show me your glory. And God said,
I'll cause all my goodness to pass before you. That's Christ. He is all God's goodness. He
said, I'll proclaim the name of the Lord to you. That's Christ. He said, I'll show you who He
is and what He's done. And He said, I'll be gracious
to whom I'll be gracious. And I'll show mercy on whom I'll
show mercy. And this grace and this mercy
will be shown for Christ's sake. He said, there's a place beside
me. Thou shalt stand upon a rock.
That's Christ. I'll put you in a cliff to the
rock. That's Christ. I'll cover thee with my hand.
I'll do all these things, God says, and I'll do it for Christ's
sake. You're in Ephesians 1. Turn over
a page or two to Ephesians 4, and I'll begin to wrap this up.
Ephesians chapter 4. Look at verse 32. and be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's
sake, hath forgiven you. Why is God forgiving you? For
Christ's sake. But here's what I want us to
consider. God's only motive for mercy to us is for Christ's sake,
but it ought to also be our motive for what we do in the name of
God and for others. Look at the verse again. God,
for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. But notice that he preceded
that with something else. He said, be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even, here's our motive
and our reason, as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. And
in case you haven't figured it out yet, this does not come natural
to us. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God, their foolishness unto him, and
neither can he know them because they're spiritually discerned
or spiritually determined, 1 Corinthians 2.14. Now let me show you what
comes natural to us. Look at the previous verse, verse
31. He says, let all bitterness and wrath, and anger, and clamor,
and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. These
are the things that come natural to us. Bitterness, anger, disappointment,
resentment comes as natural to us as breathing. You know it
so and so do I. Wrath, oh it's a passion for
indignation. It's something embedded into
us by sin. Anger, a strong feeling of annoyance,
displeasure, even hostility. A carnal mind, as I said, is
enmity, hostile toward God and others. That's just something
that comes very natural to us. Clamor, it's an outcry of grief,
a strongly expressed protest or demand. The unbelieving are
quick to voice what they think to be unfair. Especially when
it comes to sinners being reconciled to God and saved for Christ's
sake. God has mercy on whom He'll have
mercy. And they say, that's not fair.
And all these things show themselves with great malice in even the
believer's heart. They must be put away. Can you
put them away? I can't tell you how many times
I've told myself I'm not going to do that anymore, only to do
it again and again and again. What's wrong with me? I've asked
myself that many times. Can you put these things away?
Can you do anything to cause them to cease? They can only
be put away by God, and they can only be put away by God for
Christ's sake. And if they have been put away
by Christ, then let's be kind one to another. That word kind
means employed. I thought that pretty interesting.
Let's be employed in being kind one to another. Let's be tender
hearted with one another. The word tender hearted means
compassionate, sympathetic, full of pity. How do we know that
we've passed from death unto life? John says, by our love
for the brethren. by our love for each other. God's
people are employed in being kind, they're tender-hearted,
they're compassionate to one another, and they are so for
Christ's sake. Let's forgive one another. To
forgive someone is much more than just to tolerate them. What
is our motive for this mercy? The same as God's motive of mercy
to us. Let's forgive one another, even
as, and that means just as, God, for Christ's sake, hath, past
tense, forgiven, past tense you. That's our motivation for mercy.
And if you ask a believer, why has God forgiven them? They'll
tell you, for Christ's sake. Not by anything that I've done,
no, but for Christ's sake has He forgiven me. And why do we
forgive one another? For the same reason, for Christ's
sake. Now, have I arrived at being
as kind to others as Christ is to me? No. Have I attained the
tenderness of Christ? No. Do I forgive others even
as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven me? Sadly, the answer
is no. But I know I should, and it should
be for Christ's sake. There's no greater motivation
for Christ's sake. What three precious words. You
know, I've heard men use those three words when filled with
anger and wrath and with frustration. And they say, for Christ's sake.
They've misused the most beautiful expression these ears have ever
heard. We are accepted in the Beloved.
We are accepted for Christ's sake. And there's never been
three more important words said, especially in prayer. Our Lord
said, if you ask anything of the Father in My name, and John
added according to his will or for Christ's sake, the Lord said,
I'll do it. God answers our prayers for Christ's
sake. These three words are the key
to understanding the Old Testament Scriptures. To Him gave all the
prophets witness. Christ beginning at Moses and
all the prophets, both major and minor. He, Christ, expounded
unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
There was a man who was lame from his mother's womb, and Peter
said, silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, I give thee. And then he said this. What did
he have? He said, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
or for Christ's sake, rise up and walk. Oh, there's power to
restore the body and the soul in the name of Jesus Christ.
God healed this man for one reason, and it was for Christ's sake,
and for the glory of His own great name. In John chapter 9,
the disciples asked, who sinned, this man or his parents, that
he was born blind? And the Lord said, neither, but
that the works of God should be manifest in him. In other
words, for Christ's sake, he alone can do the work of God.
And in these three words, we have access to the throne of
grace. We've come to the throne of grace.
The Scripture says that we may obtain mercy and find grace to
help in time of need. But there's only one reason that
we have access to God's ear. And that is that we have a high
priest at the right hand of God that ever liveth to make intercession
for us. Christ hears my prayer, and He
speaks it to the Father on my behalf. And God hears me for
one reason, and that's for Christ's sake. This is a continual forgiveness. It's a free forgiveness, totally
unconditional on our part. It wasn't because of our faith.
It wasn't because of our repentance. It wasn't because of any work
that we've done. It's given for Christ's sake,
purely out of His own love. He delights to show mercy to
us, and He does so for Christ's sake. All our forgiveness is
full forgiveness. All our transgressions, past,
present, future, gone. Our forgiveness is eternal forgiveness. All our offenses are gone forever. never to be brought up by God
again to us. Never again will holy justice
require the payment for sin at our hand. Did not our Lord say,
ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into
His glory? You think about that. Christ
is the only one who could take our sin, pay our sin debt, suffer
the penalty of the law and fulfill it, satisfying God's holy justice,
and then still enter into His glory. And guess what? For Christ's
sake, you're there with Him. By your union with Him, where
He is, so are you. Do you see the preciousness of
these three words? When I stand before God, I'm
not going to stand on anything that I've done. I know better
than that. And it won't matter that I was
a preacher. For didn't those who stand before
God in judgment say, haven't we preached in thy name? When
I stand before a holy God, I'm not going to talk about wonderful
works that I've done. You know why? Because I haven't
done any wonderful works. None. Wonderful works are only
seen by those who supposedly do them. When I stand before
God, all that will matter is that Christ knows me and that
He saved me for His own namesake. That's it. The only reason. We
sing the words. I wonder if we believe Him. I
need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough,
and I mean enough, that Jesus died and that He died for me. And I find great joy, comfort,
assurance, peace, rest this morning. And it's all because God, for
Christ's sake, hath forgiven me, the chief of sin. And He'll
do the same for you. May God enable you to trust in
Christ. For your sake. For your sake.