I want to look in the scripture
with you this morning about the Lord Jesus Christ. And I've entitled
today's message, Jesus the Christ. And I want to use as our text
Matthew chapter 1. But we're going to be looking
at a lot of different scriptures. And the first one I want to look
at is actually in Acts chapter 13. Acts chapter 13. Let's look at Acts 13 together. This was a sermon that the Apostle
Paul preached. And when he was preaching here,
he was preaching to both Jews and Gentiles. And he first addresses
the Jews, and then finally at the end of the sermon, the Gentiles. And in this sermon, He explains
much of the Old Testament, and this sermon is given for us to
see how the Bible, the Scriptures, are given to us in order for
this purpose to teach us that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is
the Christ. So here in Acts chapter 13, it
says in verse I could read the whole sermon,
but I'm going to focus on verse 23 and following, if you want
to pick up there. It says, of this man's seed,
and he's talking about here David. And when he says seed in scripture,
he means his offspring, a son born to him. At least this is
true of David. And it also means the one God
promised to be born through this man, David. So Jesus is the son
of David. And if Jesus is not the son of
David, then he has no right to the throne God promised he would
give to David's son. So it's very important that he
is the son of David. So he says in verse 23, of this
man's seed has God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel
a Savior, Jesus." Now, they knew Jesus of Nazareth. He was a man,
obviously. He grew up in the town of Nazareth. And so they knew exactly who
Paul was talking about, that Jesus of Nazareth. And he says
to them, God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a
Savior, Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth. When John had first preached
before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people
of Israel, and as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think
ye that I am? I am not he. But behold, there
comes one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to
lose, men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham." So
Paul here is addressing the children of Abraham. And he said, and
whosoever among you that feareth God, to you is the word of this
salvation sent. So Jesus of Nazareth, promised
by God, sent by God, John the Baptist told of him, and now
Paul is preaching of him, and he's saying, this is the word
of salvation sent to you. In verse 27, he says, for they
that dwell at Jerusalem and their rulers, because they knew him
not, nor yet the voices of the prophets, which are read every
Sabbath day, have fulfilled them in condemning him. So the Jews
didn't know Jesus, and they didn't know the scriptures that he was
the Christ, so they fulfilled the scriptures by putting him
to death. And though they found no cause
of death in him, yet they desired Pilate that he should be slain.
And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they
took him down from the cross, the tree, and they laid him in
a sepulcher, a tomb, but God raised him from the dead. And
he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee
to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. And we declare
to you the glad tidings, the good news, how that the promise
which was made to the fathers God has fulfilled the same to
their children, in that he raised up Jesus again, as it is also
written in the second psalm, Thou art my son, this day have
I begotten thee. Now as concerning that he raised
him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption,
he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of
David. That means he would give him
everything he promised in scripture to David because he was David's
son. Therefore, he saith also in another
psalm, thou shalt not suffer thine holy one to see corruption.
Not in the grave, he raised him up. For David, after he had served
his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep. He died
in his body, but it was just sleep. And he was laid to his
father's and saw corruption. So it couldn't have been a prophecy
of David, but he whom God raised again saw no corruption. And this is the conclusion of
his sermon. Be it known to you, therefore, men and brethren,
that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins,
and by him all that believe are justified from all things from
which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. So Jesus
Christ is Christ, the Son of God, the Savior, according to God's promise, sent
by God, the son of David and the son of Abraham, because David
was Abraham's son too, and he was sent to Israel to give to
them salvation, the forgiveness of sins, and the proof of this
is that God raised him from the dead. And he declares him, he
said, and by him, all that believe are justified. To be justified
means God has said you are righteous in his eyes. And you couldn't
be righteous by the law, you couldn't keep the law and become
righteous, so we're not righteous by what we do, but we're made
righteous before God in the very presence of God who cannot lie
or change his law or distort the truth. He says you're righteous
because of Christ, He's the one through whom we're justified.
Now, this is the first part of this that I want you to see.
Now look back at Acts chapter 3. Notice here, this was in fulfillment
of God's promise. In Acts chapter 3, there was
a man who couldn't walk, and he was lame, because he couldn't
walk, obviously he was lame, and he was in the temple, and
he sat there every day begging. And in Acts 3 verse 1, Peter
and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer,
the ninth hour, which would correspond to 3 p.m., and a certain man
lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily
at the gate of the temple, which is called Beautiful. The gate
was called Beautiful. And he laid there to ask alms. He was a beggar. He asked alms
of them that entered into the temple. who, seeing Peter and
John, when he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple,
he asked them for an alms, a handout, some money. And Peter, fastening
his eyes upon this man, who was lame, with John said, look on
us. And he gave heed to them, expecting
to receive something from them. And Peter said, silver and gold
have I none, but such as I have, give I thee, in the name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. Notice how he speaks of
Jesus. Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise
up and walk. And then Peter took him by the
right hand and lifted him up. Immediately, his feet and ankle
bones received strength. And he, leaping up, he didn't
just stand, he leaped. He leaped up like a new kid. Strong, like my grandson was
here. And he's 15 years old, he's six
foot one, and he can jump. I can't jump anymore, but he
can jump. jumps high. Anyway, this man,
like a young man, he jumped up and he walked and entered with
them into the temple, walking and leaping and praising God. It's like when I was walking
with my grandson, he would take a step, he'd jump through the
air to land on his other foot. That's what this man was doing.
He's so happy. Look, I can not only walk but
jump. And all the people saw him walking
and praising God, and they knew that it was he which sat and
begged for alms at the beautiful gate of the temple. And they
were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened to
him. And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John,
all the people ran together to them in the porch that is called
Solomon's Greatly Wondering." Now listen to this message that
Peter speaks here. When Peter saw all these people
coming around, he answered to the people, and he said, you
men of Israel, why marvel ye at us? Or why do you look so
earnestly on us, as though we, by our own power or our holiness,
we had made this man to walk? Notice. who Peter gives credit
to, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of
our fathers, has glorified his son, Jesus, now he calls him
the son of God here, before he called him Christ, whom you delivered
up and denied him in the presence of Pilate when he was determined
to let him go. Pilate wanted to let Jesus go,
but no, you wanted him to be put to death. But you denied
the Holy One and the just, and you desired a murderer to be
granted to you. That would be Barabbas. You killed
the Prince of Life, whom God raised up from the dead, whereof
we are witnesses. And his name, through faith in
his name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yea, the
faith which is by him. Faith has to be given to us,
has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. So
faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Christ. made this man
whole. And now, brethren, I know that
through ignorance you did this, as did also your rulers, but
those things which God before has showed by the mouth," notice,
by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he
has so fulfilled. Repent ye, therefore, and be
converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times
of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And
he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached to you, whom
the heavens must receive till the time of restitution of all
things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy
prophets since the world began. Okay? Now, I just want you to
see that this is what God is telling us here. If you read
it down a little bit further, he says, for Moses truly said
to the fathers of prophets, shall the Lord your God raise up unto
you of your brethren like to me. Him shall you hear in all
things whatsoever he shall say to you. It shall come to pass
that every soul which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed
from among the people. That would be Christ, the prophet.
Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel, and those that followed
after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these
days. You are the children of the prophets,
and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying
to Abraham, in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth
be blessed. To you first, God having raised up his son Jesus,
sent him to bless you, and turning away every one of you from your
iniquities, from his iniquities. Now, what is God saying through
this? Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. He is the Son of God. And he
was promised since God began to, the world began, ever since
the beginning of the world, God has promised and spoke of him
in scripture. In Genesis it said, the beginning,
the generations of the heavens and the earth. Remember that?
But in the book of Matthew, in the New Testament, it says, the
generations of Jesus Christ. The generation of Jesus Christ.
Remember? So, the New Testament is the
fulfillment of the Old Testament. And the Old Testament and the
New Testament speak of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And here,
he tells us that he was not only, as we read in the first chapter,
the son of David, but he was the son of Abraham, and there's
a great significance to these things. Okay, now look at Matthew,
chapter 1. So in Acts 13, where we first
read, remember those words, he said in Acts 13 and 38, he says,
I'll read it, he says, be it known to you, therefore, men
and brethren, that through this man is preached to you the forgiveness
of sins. The forgiveness of sins. There's
nothing we need more than that God would forgive us our sins. If we have sin, we cannot come
to God. If we have sin, we cannot know
God. We cannot have life if we're
sinners. We have to have our sins taken
away. And the only one who can do it
is this man. Now, who is this man? That's
the first question. Who is this man? It's Jesus of
Nazareth, but who is he? How can he take away our sins?
And the answer is, because he is the Christ. The Christ. Who is Christ? Who is Christ? Let's read this. This is the
angel coming at the birth of Jesus Christ in verse 18. Matthew
1, verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ
was on this wise. This is the way it happened.
When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, she was promised and
committed to be the wife of Joseph. And in those days when you were
promised, when you were engaged to be married, as we say in our
day, it was as if you are already married, but they hadn't yet
come together. He says, when as his mother,
Mary, was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she
was found with child of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost. She was
a virgin, she had never been married, she had never known
a man, and yet she has a child. But it's not by a man, it's by
God, the Holy Spirit. Verse 19, 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, let's see, how can I remove the shame from Mary? How can
I remove the shame from me? I'm wondering what I'm going
to do. While he was thinking, behold, the angel of the Lord
appeared to 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. Now, these are the angel's words.
Notice, God sent the angel. God gave the angel these words.
These are the words of God telling what would happen Here the angel
tells Joseph, when he's in a dream, wondering what to do about Mary,
because she's expecting, she's pregnant, and he knows it wasn't
him, and he doesn't know how it happened, the angel says,
she is pregnant because of the Holy Spirit. Verse 21, she shall
bring forth a son. And thou shalt call his name
Jesus, for, this is what his name means, he shall save his
people from their sins. Now, all this was done that it
might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the Lord, by the prophet,
saying, Behold, a virgin, that's in Isaiah 714, a virgin shall
be with child, and she shall bring forth a son, they shall
call his name Emmanuel. What does that mean? Well, it
means God with us. Okay. Now, notice in these three
verses here. Who is Jesus? Well, he's the
son that was born, so he was a man, wasn't he? A man who was
born to a woman. but not born in any ordinary
way, but born in a way that was a miracle. Because the Holy Spirit
made Jesus in the womb of Mary without a man helping. Just a woman. So he was called
the seed of the woman, but he was a son born. So he was a real
man. But notice, he says, He will
call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.
Only one can save, and that's God. Salvation is of the Lord. But, he says, and in verse 23,
his name shall be called Emmanuel, which is God with us. So he's not just a man born to
a woman, what is he? He's also God. And this helps
us to understand, because in scripture, The name or the title
actually given to Jesus is what? Christ. In fact, when we refer
to the Lord Jesus, we most often call him Christ. And Christ is
a term, it's a title that has a meaning, and the meaning of
that title is that he is the one, the only one, in all of
heaven and in all of earth, over all of eternity. that is both
God and man. Christ means He is both God and
man. He is God the Son. He is equal
with God, one with God. He is God and He is the Son of
Man. He was born. He was not born
in an ordinary way, but he was promised. He was born of a virgin
who had never known a man, and he himself, therefore, had no
sin as a man. He was a perfect man, no sin,
and he was God. Now, why is it that God would
send his son to be born of a woman to be a man. Why couldn't God
just accomplish the salvation that he would accomplish by himself
as God? Because Jesus had to do something. He had to be both God and man
because what he would do required that he was both God and man. Now, look at this other verse.
of Scripture in Acts chapter 4. In Acts chapter 4. I want you to see these things
so that we know the certainty that Jesus of Nazareth is the
Christ of God. In Acts chapter 4, he says in
verse 10, Be it known unto you all and to all the people of
Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Notice, he
didn't just say Jesus of Nazareth, but Jesus the Christ, or Jesus
Christ of Nazareth. Christ is not a last name. We would say John Smith, because
John was born to a man whose last name was Smith. But Christ
is not his last name. Christ is the title. It's like
you would say, King whatever. We don't have
kings in our day. You might say, President Eisenhower. or President Washington, or whatever. The name Washington is his name,
but President is his title. Jesus is his name, but Christ
is his title. But it's a title that identifies
who he is, and so it becomes his name and his title. So here we say, Know this, in
other words, be it known to you, God is declaring this through
me, to all the people of Israel, that by the name, you see, the
name, this one name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you
crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him does this
man stand here before you whole. This man that they raised up,
who was lame, This is the stone which was set at Nod of Ye Builders.
It's like you're building a building of stones, and you were laying
the foundation, and you picked up this stone. You said, ah,
that's no good, and you threw it away. That's who Jesus Christ
is. You saw him. God is going to
build the temple of his people. And he's the foundation, the
cornerstone. And you looked at him. You said,
no, I don't want him. And you rejected him. He said,
This stone, which was set at nought of you builders, it was
rejected, which has become the head of the corner, neither,
notice this, is there salvation in any other? For there is none
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved. There is only one Who can save
us? One God has appointed to this. One God has anointed to this.
One God has sent to this. One God has given the work to
save. It's Jesus the Christ, because
he's both God and man. You see, there's no salvation
in any except the one who is both God and man. Now back at
Matthew chapter 1, And I would look at this with you and read
this with you, but you can do this yourself. But if you read
the first part of chapter one, He lists 42 generations. 42 generations. We have generations. I had a grandfather. He had a
son. That was my father. And now here
I am. And I have a son. And he had
a son. So those are different generations.
My grandfather is one, his son. My father was another generation,
and now I'm alive, and my son is another, and so on down the
line. My grandson is another generation.
Well, here's 42 generations. And the Jewish people were very,
very careful about genealogies. They wanted to keep track of
who was my dad, and who was my dad's dad, and who was my grandfather's
father, and so on, all the way back. They wanted to be able
to trace their birth all the way back to who? Who did they
want to trace their birth back to? Well, I would like to be
the son of, let's say, David. Well, you can't just make yourself
the son of David, you have to be born to David, or at least
one of his children. What about Abraham? Yes, that's
who we want to be the son of. Why would the Jews want to be
the son of Abraham? Well, because God made all the
promises to Abraham. He said, to Abraham and to his
seed were the promises made. He made a covenant with Abraham. There was no covenant made with
Goliath of Philistine or with Nebuchadnezzar, the people of
Babylon. He didn't make any covenant with
the Babylonians. He didn't make a covenant with
the Persians. He didn't make a covenant with
the English. He made a covenant with the Jews
through Abraham. The Israelites, not the Jews,
the Israelites. So if you were born to Abraham,
you would think, I've got the same promises that he made to
Abraham. And that's why they were careful
to keep their genealogies. But that was never God's intention
that God would make the promise to Abraham and to his physical
children. There's only one way we could
have the promises that God made to Abraham. We had to be born
to the seed that was born to Abraham, which is Christ. And
so these 42 generations given here, why were they given then?
Were they given so that the people could say, I was born to David,
I was born to Abraham. Look, no, they weren't given
for that reason. There's only one reason why the
genealogies were given. So that we who believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ would know with certainty that Jesus of
Nazareth was the Christ of God. The one to whom the promises
were made. The one with whom God made an
eternal covenant. The sure mercies of David. The
one God promised to David to sit on the throne forever. He
would give him the rule over the entire kingdom of God. And he would save his people
by him from their sins. That's why this genealogy is
given here and in the book of Luke. So we would know Jesus
of Nazareth is the Christ. And the Christ is the Son of
God, the Lamb of God. And so the New Testament Gospels,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are all given to prove to us
that the one who was called Jesus of Nazareth was God's Son, the
Christ, the Anointed One, who would save his people from their
sins. And he's the only one who can
save us, because he's both God and man. You see? So now when we read this in scripture,
what we find is, is that everywhere God speaks about Christ, he's
talking about this one person. In all of heaven, in all of earth,
in all of time, in all of eternity, the only one who is both God
and man. And because He is both God and
man, or the reason God made Him man, who is God, the reason God
made the Son of God man is to save His people from their sins.
Does that make sense? Now let's look at some reasons,
some of the verses of Scripture that show this to us. Look at
Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1. He says
in verse 12, we should, the Apostle Paul is giving thanks and we
also should give thanks. He says, giving thanks to the
Father. God the Father, which has made us meet, he made us
acceptable to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints,
the holy ones in light, those who are in heaven. People God
has made holy. He says, God the Father has made
us also accepted or meet to be partakers of that same inheritance. What God has given to them as
his inheritance, he's given to us also. Maybe you have someone
who is going to leave you an inheritance. You know an inheritance
is if I had something, let's say I have a house, and when
I die, I want my house to be given to my children. So I write
it down, I say, when I die, make sure you give my house to my
kids. That's my inheritance to them. And then when I die, they
receive it. Well, here, God the Father, has
given to his children an inheritance, and he made them suitable, he
made them acceptable to be partakers of that inheritance with the
saints in light." Verse 13. God the Father has delivered
us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the
kingdom of his dear son. To be translated, Enoch was a
man who lived a long time ago. At 65 years old, God translated
him. He was walking around, living
on earth, and God said, was it 65? Oh, 365. I can't remember. I think he had a son at 65, and
when he was 365, he was translated. In any case, he went from earth
to heaven. Just like that. Bam! Never died,
went right to heaven. Now, the Lord here says he has
translated his people from one kingdom, the kingdom of Satan,
which is called the kingdom of darkness, to the kingdom of his
dear son, the kingdom of light. And notice, who is the Son? The Son of God is God, right? He's talking about the Son of
God who is God. Verse 14, in whom, the Son, in
whom, we have what? Redemption through His blood.
Well, right away we say, well, how can that be? Because the
Son of God doesn't have blood, He's a spirit. He's God. And
God is a spirit, but he has blood because the blood is what redeems
us, so he had to be a man. In whom we have redemption through
his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Remember Acts 13.38,
by this man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins. Who
is the image of the invisible God? That would be the son of
man, Jesus Christ, the man. the firstborn of every creature,
because in the purpose of God, Jesus the man was set up as the
second and last Adam. And all the people, all the things
that God ever created and would create were given to him, to
Jesus Christ as man. It says in verse 16, for by Him
were all things created. As man? No, as God. All things
were created by Him because He's God. All things in heaven, all
things in earth, visible and invisible, it doesn't matter
if they're spirits, it doesn't matter if they're people or animals
or fish or birds, whales or oceans or lands or trees. Everything
was created by Him, Jesus Christ, as God, the Son. Things invisible
or visible, thrones or dominions, principalities or powers. It
doesn't matter if it's the devil or if it's the archangel. Jesus
Christ created them. Notice, all things were created
by him and for him. You see that? This is the Son
of God who created it all, but not just as the Son, but as the
Son who is man. He is before all things, and
by Him all things consist. Not only did He create all things
as God the Son, but everything is upheld. This paper is held
together. It exists because the Son of
God keeps it together. I'm able to breathe. My heart
is beating because the Son of God has given me every breath,
every heartbeat. You can see, you can hear, because
the Son of God is enabling you to see and to hear. So he's before
all things, and all things consist. And he, notice in verse 18, he
is the head of the body, the church. In other words, all of
God's people are called the church. And they are actually part of
Jesus Christ, who is both God and man, so closely connected
to him that they are part of his body. They are considered
his body, and he is the head. Now this can't be with God, but
it can be with man. We couldn't be joined to God
apart from being joined to Jesus Christ. But because we're joined
to Jesus Christ so intimately that we're part of His body and
He's the head of us, Then now we understand He's the Son of
God and the Son of Man. He's the Christ of God. Do you
see this, how wonderful it is? This is why the Bible says His
name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Prince of Peace, the Everlasting Father. Everything is in Him,
God and man. He's the head of the body of
the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.
Obviously, that could only be true of a man, that in him, that
in all things, he might have the preeminence. In other words,
the reason for creation, the reason for our lives now, is
that Jesus Christ would be exalted by God the Father to the highest
place. He as God and as man and everything
would be put in subjection to Him. And He would save His people
from their very sins. He was born for that purpose.
You see how God blends these things together here in scripture?
How He melds them together into the one person? Look at Hebrews
chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1, just a few
pages over. He says in verse 1, God, who
at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past to
the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken
to us by His, what? His Son. His Son. The Son of God. God over all. God who created all things. He's
spoken to us by or in His Son. Notice, whom he has appointed
heir, the inheritor of all things. Everything is given to him. But
wait a minute. He's God. It's already his. But
not as man was it. No, God has appointed him to
be the heir of all things as the God-man mediator. That's why he blends these things
together in scripture. And people get tripped up by
this. Well, is he the son? Is he the man? Who is he? He's
the Christ. God made him heir of all things,
he says, and he is the brightness of God's glory, that's as God,
and the express image of his person, there's no difference
between God the Father and God the Son, upholding all things
by the word of his power, that's God, when he had by himself purged
our sins, that's as Christ. He sat down at the right hand
of the majesty on high as Christ, the Son of God, the Son of Man. being made so much better than
the angels. Because he is Christ, he couldn't
be made better as the son of God, but as Christ, he was made
better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained
a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels
said he at any time, thou art my son, this day have I begotten
thee, and again, I will be to him a father, and he shall be
to me a son, and again, notice, When he brings the first begotten
into the world, the son of God, the first begotten is brought
into the world when he was birthed. He said, let all the angels of
God worship him, the man who is God. You see? That's why the
angels at his birth said, glory to God in the highest and on
earth, peace, goodwill towards man. Now this is the God-man,
isn't it? Look at 1st Timothy, 1st Timothy
chapter 3. Do we believe that Jesus is the
Christ? Do we, the Christ, the God-man,
who alone can save us from our sins, who was given this to do
by God and actually accomplished it? Look at 1st Timothy chapter
3. Paul says to Timothy, if I tarry
long, if I'm a long time coming, that thou mayest know First Timothy
3.15, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself
in the house of God. Now, when we think of the house
of God, I've had all my kids and my grandkids at my house
this last week, and they were all running around, making noise,
and playing, and talking, and it was loud, and there was lots
of food and everything, right? That was my household. That was my house. God has a
house. And we need to behave properly
in his house. And that's what he's saying here.
If I'm a long time coming, Paul tells Timothy, you need to know
how you should behave in the house of God. Well, where is
that? Well, it's a spiritual house.
It's distributed across the globe and in heaven, but it's made
up of the people of God, the sons, the children of God. The
household of God is the people, the children of God, those who
are in his house. And who else is in that house
besides the people who are the children of God? There's one
who is most preeminent, one who has the chief place, one who
is lifted up and exalted and given this place by God the Father,
even to his son as Christ, Notice, he says here, you need to know
how to behave yourself in the church of God, which is the church.
The house of God is the church of the living God, the pillar
and ground of the truth. This is where God's truth is.
It's in the hearts of his people, by his word, preached and believed,
he says in verse 16. And this house, there's no controversy. Great is the mystery The hidden
truth that God has made known, the mystery of godliness. God
was manifest in the flesh. God doesn't have a body, but
Christ does, doesn't he? God was manifest in the flesh,
justified by God in the spirit, because he has the divine spirit,
the Son of God, the divine spirit. offered his blood in heaven itself
before God and it was accepted because he is God. He could approach
God as God in his whole, his own nature as the Son of God
with his blood as man and it would be accepted by God and
would be received by God as the eternal redeeming blood for his
people to take away their sins. He was justified in the Spirit,
seen of angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the
world, and received up into glory as Christ. And so we know this
is the truth because this is what the church, the household
of God, believe. This is how we're saved. What
a wonder of salvation this is, isn't it? Jesus Christ is God
and He is man, the only one who can save us from our sins. Let
me read these two verses with you. The last verses I'll read
and then we'll quit. Look at 1 John chapter 4. 1 John
chapter 4. He says in verse 2. Well, verse 1, he says, Beloved,
you that are loved of God and loved by me, he says, Beloved,
believe not every spirit, and he's not talking about spirits
floating through the air that we can't see. He's talking about
people who teach or preach as if they were sent of God and
claim to have the spirit of God, but are not. Don't believe every
spirit, but try the spirits, whether they be, whether they
are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the
world. Hereby, this is the way we know the Spirit of God, every
spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is
of God. Of course, Jesus Christ is the
Son of God. Christ had to come in the flesh.
He is of God, and every spirit that confesses not that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. It means that He
was before, He came, He was the Son of God, He came, now He's
Not, he who is God is also man. And he did what God gave him
to do, and having finished that work, he rose again, and he's
seated at the right hand of God. Everyone who confesses that Jesus,
who is God, came in the flesh, accomplished God's will, that
spirit is of God. But if not, he's not of God.
Look at 1 John 5. He said, verse one, whosoever
believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. If we believe
that Jesus of Nazareth is both God and man, the one who could
and did save his people from their sins, then we're born of
God. And everyone that loves him,
that begat, loves him also, that is begotten of him, we're the
children of God. We love the children of God.
By this we know that we love the children of God when we love
God and keep His commandments, which is to believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. And he says in verse 5, verse
3, sorry, for this is the love of God that we keep His commandments
and His commandments are not grievous for whatsoever, notice,
whatsoever is born of God, if we're children of God, we overcome
the world. And this is the victory that
overcomes the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcomes
the world? But he that believes that Jesus
is, what? The Son of God. There you have
it. Son of God, come in the flesh,
born of God. If the Son of God came in the
flesh, He accomplished what He came to do. He finished that
work. And those people for whom He
died shall be saved from their sins. Because that's why He came. Can God command and it not happen? Can God say that it's so and
it not be so? Only if He fails to be God. But He is God. And we believe
it. We believe that Jesus of Nazareth
is the Christ of God. What a blessing it is. We could
go on and on, but we're going to stop for now. Let's pray.
Father, thank You for Your Word that assures us that Jesus of
Nazareth is your only begotten son, come according to your eternal
will to do your eternal work to save your people from their
sins, and he having accomplished that work is exalted to heaven's
throne. We see our Savior as our captain.
He did the work. He overcame our enemies. And
by faith, we now enter into His victory. We don't overcome them
ourselves, but we trust He has and shall yet save us to the
uttermost. We ourselves have no strength.
We are foolish and ignorant and sinful and helpless people. only able to come to you through
the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who is both God and man, who
came according to your will and according to his own love and
his own will to save a people for himself and to call them
so intimately as his own people that they would be his body,
his bride, his wife. his church, his flock, those
he gave his life, his blood to have for himself and to purchase,
to buy them out of the bondage they put themselves under by
sin, to bring them out from under the curse, to make them the children
of God, to give them his spirit, to give them eternal life, and
to show himself to them and make them know him as they are known. What a blessing! This eternal
inheritance promised by God and given to his people. Lord, we
want this. We want to know Jesus. We want
to know him unto eternal life and we can only have it if you
give it to us. Uphold us in this faith and this desire. Put your
spirit in us and cause us to walk in your ways. Save our children,
save our grandchildren, save our friends and our moms and
dads and our grandparents and all of those we know, Lord. And
we know, Lord, that your will is good and everything you do
is right, so we pray that you would do whatever you want and
help us to trust in everything you do that it's right. In Jesus'
name we pray, amen.