Brother, if you'll take your
Bibles and turn with me to Acts chapter 2, Acts chapter 2, and
our text will be found in verse 36. Acts chapter 2 and verse 36, the title
of the message is, That Same Jesus. That Same Jesus. Therefore, let all the house
of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus,
whom ye crucified, both Lord and Christ." I heard this the other day, and
I was It hit me, and I had to think about it, but it was so
true. I did not learn or did not know
the Lord Jesus Christ through my doctrine. I learned my doctrine through
the Lord Jesus Christ. You don't have to try to preach
Calvinism or the doctrines of grace. If you just preach Christ,
those things come out all by themselves. I know they're true. But friends,
I'm not trying to convince you of a doctrine I want to show
you a person. And by the person, you'll learn
the doctrine. By the person, you'll learn the
doctrine. And the doctrine won't be just doctrine. It'll be beautiful. Because it's in light of the
person. The person. That same Jesus. Now, out of all the billions
of people upon the face of the earth at this time, There are
very few who have not heard of the name of Jesus. In this age of communication,
this age that we live in where the news travels from one hour,
one fifteen minutes from after it happens, it could be right
in front of you. We've all heard the name Jesus. Now, whether men like it or not,
that doesn't matter. But what I'm saying is this,
everybody's heard the name of Jesus. Now, some men denounce
him as an imposter. They think he's a mythological
character. But these men do so willfully
ignorant of historical facts concerning this man, Jesus Christ. No man can deny the historical
fact that this man, Jesus, lived did miracles, died on a cross,
was buried, and rose again from the dead. God was not without
witnesses. John in his epistles says we
were witnesses, eyewitnesses. And Paul says that he was a witness
after the fact, after the Lord had already risen. He had seen
the risen Lord. Men today confess to believe
on Jesus. They confess Him to be their
Savior. They believe the historical record. They profess to be followers
or disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm sure on your way here, you've
passed several churches. If you came down from Zorin,
You've passed two that way, but if you come down this way, there's
another one over here, and then there's another one up the street
there. Now, there are many churches, and if you were to go to each
one of them and say, Do you believe on Jesus Christ? They would laugh
at you. Well, of course we do. Of course
we do. And there are many different
denominations that you've passed by. And none of them will deny
the truth of the existence of Jesus Christ. They will confess
His death was for sin. They will confess that He was
either a God or the God. They may confess both of those.
I don't know. With this being said, the question
must be asked, is the Jesus we believe? that Jesus we confess to be Savior,
is He that same Jesus that the Apostle preached here? You men of Israel, hear this. Jesus of Nazareth. He's being very specific. Because
there were a lot of men named Yeshua. There were a lot of men
named Jesus in that day. And in case you were wondering
which Jesus of Nazareth, it was the one that did the miracles.
You know the one. He said, you know this. It was
the Jesus that was crucified that I'm talking about. The one
that you crucified, the one that was spoken of in
Holy Scripture by the Prophet David, that's the Jesus I'm talking
about, this Jesus that ascended to the right hand of God, and
this Jesus God hath made Lord and Christ, this one Jesus, and
not another. When Jesus walked upon the earth,
there were many who professed to believe Him. There were many
who professed to be His disciples. But once they heard the truth
of who he really was, many of them did not walk with him ever
again. There were many who believed
on him and then immediately wanted to throw him off a cliff. There were some who believed
him and then called him a devil. Wait a second. You mean people
believe on Jesus and would call him? Yes. After they heard what
he preached, after they heard what he was and what he came
to do? Yes. Go to John chapter six. John chapter six is a wonderful
example. These are those that Jesus fed,
that five thousand he fed, and they came across the sea. They
spent a lot of money coming across that sea to find him. on the
other side because he just left them there. I love how the Lord
does that. They weren't his and he just
left them there. John chapter 6, look at verse
59. These things said he in the synagogue
as he taught in Capernaum. 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, he said, and him does 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 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
believed not and who should betray him. And he said, therefore,
I said unto you, no man can come unto me except it were given
him of my father. From that time, many of his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. After he had declared
the simple truth that he is God manifest in the flesh. that He
came to save an elect people. And only those elect, the Father
gives them faith. And that offended them so much,
they left. They left. Go over to John chapter
8. John chapter 8. Look at verse
30. And as He spake these words,
Many believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews
which believed on him, If you continue in my word, then are
you my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free. And then they were very
offended. What do you mean, free? We're
Abraham's seed. Go over to verse 58 and look
what the end result was. Go to look at this in verse 56,
he said, Your father, Abraham, rejoiced to see my day and saw
it and was glad. And the Jews said, You're not
50 years old. And you said that you've seen Abraham. And Jesus
said, Truly, truly, I say unto you before Abraham was I am.
And what did those people that believed on him do? They took
up stones to cast at him. They tried to kill him. When Jesus walked upon this earth,
there were many who professed to believe. But when they found
out who he was, they went away. They hated him. When the gospel
of Jesus Christ is preached and when Jesus is declared and revealed
by the power of the Spirit, there will be a division. Jesus said, I came not to bring
peace, but a sword. What is that sword? It is a sword
of division, division between the sheep and the goats, the
lost and the saved, the elect and the damned." That's the sword. The Word of God divides. And
it divides on the edge of this. Who is the Christ? Who is Jesus? There will be a separation. So
that those who believe in this Jesus of Scripture, who is the
only Savior of sinners, and there will be a division between those
and those who believe in a Jesus made up of their own carnal imagination. There's going to be a division.
This Word of God separates. Why do you think men spend so
much time singing? And then they get up and preach,
or so-called preach, 10-15 minutes and get out. Why? They don't
have a message that's not offensive. They can't read much in here
without offending people. See, I don't intend to offend
anybody. The Word of God does that all
by itself. It separates all by itself. This Jesus of Scripture. is different from the carnal
imagination of men. Therefore, house of Israel know
assuredly that God had made that same Jesus." Who is that same
Jesus that God made Lord and Christ? You hear them say, make
Jesus your Lord. Well, obviously, we're not talking
about the same Jesus. Because God hath made my Jesus
the Jesus of Scripture. He hath already made Him Lord. He is not waiting to be made
Lord. He is Lord. He is not waiting to be crowned.
He is crowned. He is not waiting for you to
do something for Him. Friends, He needs to do something
for you. They ask, what will you do with
Jesus? No, no, not this Jesus. What will this Jesus do with
you? This Jesus is Lord. And this Jesus is the Christ,
the only Savior sent of God. To miss the person and work of
Christ is to come short of the grace of God. that is only found in the face
of Jesus Christ. If you miss Him, you miss the
whole thing. Don't tell me what you know.
Tell me who you know. Who you know. Because to not know Him is to
not have life. Do you know this? Jesus. So then let's cast out all the
sentimental thoughts of what our families have told us. Cast
out all the things that grandma taught you. Don't do you no good. You know, I run into a lot of
resistance when I preach the gospel or witness to someone.
They don't want to believe it. And they used this excuse because
their mother didn't believe it. Or their grandmother taught them
something different. Well, if their grandmother believed
in another Jesus, their grandmother, like mine, is in hell. I'm not
being sentimental about this. The truth is not sentimental.
Truth is truth. And it's my heart's desire that
God reveal Himself to each and every one of us. That God would reveal Himself.
Because you can't know God unless you know Christ. And you can't
know Christ unless God reveals it to you. No man can come unto
Me except it were given Him of my Father." So then, I want to ask questions.
Who is this Jesus? Well, first of all, this Jesus
is the eternal Son of God. What does that mean? The eternal
Son of God. Well, there is only one God. We worship only one God who is
manifest in three distinct persons. Can you understand that? No.
Can I? No. This is how God reveals Himself. He is one God, yet three persons,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. At His baptism,
we see all three of them there. We see the Son being baptized. We see the Spirit of God descending
on the Son. And we hear the voice of the
Father saying, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Three distinct persons, yet one
God. One in will, one in power, one
in purpose. But not three gods. One God. And only those who are born of
God may overcome this world by faith,
and faith in that Jesus Christ who is the Son of God. John calls Him the Word. There
are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word,
and the Spirit. And these three are one. This Jesus is God manifest in
the flesh. Jesus is not made. Now, you hear me say that and
that sounds foreign to you because it's not taught here, not believed
here. I don't know of anyone here that's even spoken such
things as Jesus was created. But yet there are people who
believe that Jesus was created. I'm not talking about that Jesus.
I don't know who He is. Jesus was not made, but He made
all things. And He made all things for His
own glory, for Himself. Anyone who believes in a created
Son of God does not believe in the same Jesus that God has made
both Lord and Christ. Now, Jesus was not always a man.
In the beginning, He was a spirit as the Father and as the Holy
Spirit. But yet, from eternity, He was
purposed to be the Son of God and the Son of Man. Behold the beauty of this, that
God did not just possess a human body. He united Himself with
a human body. Do you realize that there is
no religion in this world that has ever said that? None. Now, there are gods that
come in the form of men. There are gods that come in the
likenesses of men. They come in shadows of men. But not one of them ever became
a man. Only this Jesus became a man.
Only this Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, united to a body
made by the Holy Spirit so that He would be born of the seed
of the woman and not the seed of Adam. Why not? Because Adam's race is cursed. He was born of the seed of the
woman. This was all determined of God
to save His elect people. The Lord Jesus Christ, we are
made accepted in the Beloved. When were we made accepted? When
was I accepted of God? Was I accepted of God when I
accepted Jesus? No. Nowhere in the Scripture
does it teach we are to accept Jesus. Nowhere. But I know this, I am accepted
of Jesus. I'm accepted in him before the
foundation of the world. I was accepted. I was accepted. My accepting of him does not
matter. God had made him both Lord and Christ, whether I accepted
it or not. But I know this, I was accepted
of him. He is accepted. I was accepted
in the son. And just as he was anointed to
be the surety of his people, even so he was appointed to be
made flesh that he might be a faithful high priest. What is a high priest?
A high priest is somebody who represents people to God in things
pertaining to God. Sacrifices, offerings for sin. That's what a high priest does.
He mediates. Jesus Christ was to be the mediator,
the one to stand between us and God, the one to offer the sacrifice
that God would accept. What sacrifice have you offered
that God would accept? What could you give to please
God's justice? Nothing. Nothing. That's why hell is eternal,
because we could never pay for our sins. Therefore, if God was to save
His people, it must be by Him becoming a representative man. My Jesus is a representative.
He's a representative man of all the Father gave Him. By the blood of bulls and goats,
sin could not be atoned for. And it was by Adam that all were
made dead in trespasses and sin. Therefore, it must be by a righteous
man, a righteous, sinless blood offering, in order to save his
people from their sins. And so then the Son of God was
made flesh. and dwelt among us. This is the
Jesus we worship, the God-Man Mediator. He is God and He is man. Just as much God as if He was
not man, and just as much man as if He was not God. The God-Man. He is both my King and my Brother. You know the scripture says this,
he's not ashamed to call me his brother. He's not ashamed to call us his
brethren. He took upon himself our flesh. He knows what it is
to be a man. And everyone who does not believe
that he is God of every God and man of every man, does not believe
in this Jesus. Second of all, what did this
Jesus come to do? Now, the Father chose and elect
people and made Christ to be their guarantee. And it was not
because of any good in them. His love was not set upon them
based on anything they would do for Him. But in eternity,
by free and sovereign grace, God determined to save His beloved
people, His people that He chose. And it's not because of any good
they've done. Look at Romans 9. Read it with me. Very vital
chapter in Scripture, this Romans chapter 9. It declares a lot
concerning God's salvation. Verse 11, speaking of Jacob and
Esau, it says, for the children being not yet born, neither having
done good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said
unto her, the elder shall serve the younger, as it is written,
Jacob, have I loved? But Esau have I hated." Hated. What are you going to say? Verse
14, what are you going to say about that? What will you say? Is there unrighteousness with
God? Is that not fair? I hate that
word, fair. I don't know who's teaching my
children life is fair, but I wish they'd stop. You see, sinners don't want fair. We want mercy. I want mercy. Do you need mercy
or do you need fair? Fair gets you to hell. Fair is
that God sends us all to hell. That's just right. But praise God that He did love
some of Adam's race. Now, there was no difference
between Jacob and Esau. No difference. They were born
of the same father, had the same mother. They were born sinners. No difference. Both were unworthy of mercy.
And if you read on down further, he said, Hath not the potter
power over the clay of the same lump? to make one vessel of honor
and another dishonor. He didn't take from two different
lumps. Jacob was not a lump that loved God, that was good. And
Esau was a bad lump. No, they were all bad. They were
all wicked. We're all wicked. Yet God from
the same lump made one vessel to honor and another to dishonor.
And who are we to reply against God? Who are we? The difference was the sovereign
love of God, and this same Jesus was sent for this purpose, to
be the righteousness and the atonement for those people alone. A righteousness that we could
never provide for ourselves. Never. No matter what you give
up, no matter what you sacrifice, you still cannot pay for your
sins. God sent this same Jesus to do this, and He did this by
obedience to the law. The law of God. I'll tell you
what, you read the law. What do you read? When I go to
the law, you know what I read? Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. That's all I can read. I have sinned against God. But Jesus Christ came to fulfill
the law of God. The law of God is important.
The law of God is good. There's nothing wrong with the
law. What was wrong is us. We could not obey the law. But
He did. This Jesus I'm talking about
is a righteous man. A man who completely, with every
thought... Now don't tell me. Be honest
with yourself. Have you thought of Christ this
whole time you've sat here? Or is your mind wandering? Because
I'm preaching and my mind wanders. So, no. Have you always thought of God
Continually? Without ever thinking about yourself?
Always thinking of others? Always loving others more than
yourself? Absolutely not! If any man says
that, he's an arrogant liar. That's what he is. We could not obey the law, but
this man did. In every thought and action.
How beautiful is that to see a righteous man? He was completely righteous and
God said of him, he said, this is my beloved son in whom I am
well pleased. There's no other Jesus than the
one that God was well pleased. In Isaiah chapter 42, it says
this, who is blind, but my servant. or death, as my messenger that
I sent, who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the
Lord's servant, seeing many things. But thou observest not, opening
the ears, but he heareth not. The Lord is well pleased for
his righteousness' sake, for he will magnify the law and make
it honorable. But this people robbed and spoiled."
That's us. We robbed and spoiled, but this
man made the law of God honorable. Jesus said, I came not to destroy
the law, but to fulfill it. And He has filled it full. This
Jesus came to fulfill the law and make a righteousness, not
for Himself, but for His people, even the righteousness of God.
Jesus came into the world to do the will of the Father, to
do what no child of Adam could, love God with all of his heart,
soul, and mind. and love his neighbor as himself. Who did that but Jesus? Jesus came for the express purpose
to reconcile us to God by his death. You remember what Peter
said. You remember what Peter said.
Concerning this, when the Lord revealed that he
was going to die, Peter said, Be it far from you, Lord, that
this should happen to you. And what did he say? Get thee
behind me, Satan, for thy savers not the things of God. For this
purpose came I into the world. This is the reason he came to
die. That's why he became a man, so
that he could die. Die for sin, die as a sinner's
substitute. This Jesus was lifted up as the
Lamb of God and he died for sin. Jesus Christ. When He hung upon that cross
was the spotless Lamb of God. There is no doubt about that. His flesh was perfect. His blood
was perfect. His words were perfect. His thoughts
were perfect. He was still the righteous Son
of God. And yet God took our sin and
imputed it. He charged it to Him. So much so that it became His
own. And God poured out. God shed
the wrath and vengeance that was due unto us and put it on
His Son. And He died under the wrath of
God. And His final words were this,
It is finished. What was finished? Sin was finished. Done. Daniel chapter 9. I love this. He said that he
should put away sin. I'm going to write close by.
I'm going to read it. Daniel chapter 9, verse 24. Seventy weeks are determined
upon thy people and upon the holy city to finish the transgression. To make an end of sin. To make reconciliation for an
end. This is what Jesus did. He put
an end to my sin. He bore it away. Now, how far is my sin gone? Scripture says as far as the
east is from the west. So far hath He removed our sin
from us, our iniquities from us. It's so gone, my sin is so gone
that God can't find it. God can't find my sin. I seem to see it every day. By faith, I know that Christ
has already taken it away. And the last question, was he
successful? Most of what I said, people will
nod their head in agreement, say, yeah, I believe Jesus is
God. I believe He's the Son of God. I believe He came and died
for sin. I believe He came and died for the sin of all men without
exception. You're saying He died for the
elect, but I say He died for all men. We're not talking about
the same Jesus then, because your Jesus was not successful.
If Jesus Christ died for all the sins of all men, then all
men would be saved. Without a doubt, no, assuredly,
that this same Jesus God hath made Lord and Christ. And if
he had desired to save everyone, he would have saved everyone. Did Jesus accomplish the righteousness
of God? Did he? Did Jesus put away sin forever? Scripture says that in the grave
He rose from the dead because He was not holding of it. You can't hold a man in the grave
who has sin that has no sin. If a man has sin, that's why
he's in the grave. But if a man has no sin, how
can death hold him? It can't. Why was he risen? Because he had no sin. put it
away. Jesus Christ, this is the point of so great a hatred for Christ,
is this beloved point that Jesus Christ actually accomplished
salvation. that His blood actually atoned
for all the sins of all His people. This same Jesus did not make
salvation possible. If your Jesus made salvation
possible and left it up to you, we're not talking about the same
Jesus. My salvation was not made possible. My salvation was accomplished,
finished, done. When? Well, it was from eternity
it was purposed. It was finished when Christ died
and rose again from the dead. Now, it was made manifest to
me in the process of time. God revealed it to me. through the preaching of the
gospel, just like he does every one of his elect. You see, by my believing in Jesus
Christ, that added nothing to the righteousness of Christ.
That added nothing to the work of Christ. Matter of fact, my
faith is a work of Christ. He is both the author and finisher
of our faith. Jesus said, All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. And this is the Father's will
which has sent me, that of all he hath given me I should lose nothing. I'm glad for that. I should lose
not one of them. And he won't. Because when I convey the message
to you, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved. If that is accompanied by the
power of the Holy Spirit, you will be saved. You will. This is the promise. This is
the Jesus we worship. Jesus, who is God and man, Jesus,
who is my righteousness and my atonement. Jesus who actually
accomplished my salvation and one day I'll see it fully Right
now I see it through a glass dark way through faith But I
know this one day face to face and all be made plain to me Which
Jesus do you serve? Who is your Jesus because if
you don't know this Jesus You don't know God. How precious is this Jesus to
us? Do we not count all things but
loss for the excellency of the knowledge of this Jesus? I pray that that's so. I pray that your heart, if it is, know assuredly. I like
that. I'm sure of this. I'm sure of
my salvation because my salvation does not rest in me. It rests
in Christ alone. May God bless this to your hearts.
and have the men come forward. We'll prepare the memorial service
for the Lord's Supper.