With His blood, He purchased
me. On the cross, He sealed my pardon. Take the sin and make me free. Go back with me to Matthew's
Gospel, chapter 1. We began last week studying the
book of Genesis, the first book in God's Word and also the first
book of the New Testament, Matthew's Gospel. The first book of Genesis, which means the beginning, It
ends with these words. The very last words in the book
of Genesis are, a coffin in Egypt. It began with God creating life. And it ends in a coffin in Egypt. That's what Scripture says, in
Adam all die. And Adam all died. Man fell in
the garden. He became dead in trespasses
and sin. In Malachi's book, the last words
of Malachi, if you look across the page or back, the very last
words in the book of Malachi are a curse. A curse. The law was given in Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, which says, is every one that continueth
not in all things written in the book of the law to do them."
Everything. I've heard people say things
like this, I don't know much about the word of God, but I
know you better keep those ten commandments. Well, that person
obviously doesn't know much about the word of God, because all
are guilty of breaking every law. And the law was not meant
to give life, but the law is a curse. Curse it. It ends with a curse. But then
the gospel begins with Jesus Christ. Life. The generation. The book of the
generation of Jesus Christ. Life. He says, I am come that
they might have life. He came to deliver his people
from a coffin in Egypt to the throne of glory. This story ends
in the throne of glory. Everyone under the curse, the
Lord Jesus Christ came to remove the curse by being made a curse. That's the gospel in a word.
Now, the first fifteen verses of this first chapter of Matthew
are the names of sons begotten of their fathers. It says that
Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob, and so forth. All of them
were sons of Adam. All of them were born in sin. That's what the Scripture said.
David said, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive
me. David said, I was born a sinner
because I was born of sinful parents. Everyone is born in
sin, of sinful parents. In Adam, we're all born in sin,
dead in trespasses and sins. And Scripture says, in Adam all
die. That which is flesh is flesh.
And Paul said, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. So it says that
Abraham begat Isaac and Isaac begat Jacob. We jump down to
verse 16. And it says, Jacob begat Joseph,
the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus. It does not say
Joseph begat Jesus, does it? Because he did not. The Jews
thought so. The Jews said, we know you. You're the carpenter's son, didn't
they? They also said, we're not like
you. And many, if not most, heard
of Mary becoming pregnant. And they said, we be not born
of fornication, accusing him of being born that way. Now, they did not believe he
was born of a virgin at all. They thought he was just a man.
And you know that many, if not most today, believe that he's the son of
an illegitimate birth. Most people believe that. That's
the story that's been perpetrated. Even professing believers do
not believe and see no need to believe that he was born of a
virgin. Do you know that? That's a fact.
I read it to you not long ago, a great percentage of so-called
clergymen or preachers do not really believe in the virgin
birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the fact of the matter is,
he's the only one ever born who was not born of fornication or
of sinful parents, though made in the likeness of sinful flesh,
the Scripture He was a man. He was made in the likeness of
sinful flesh. But he was not a sinner. In him
was no sin. Because that holy thing is of
God. Now, someone may say, why are
we looking at this in March, early April? Well, it's fitting,
actually, because the man, Jesus, was not really born in December
at all. That's a man-made tradition,
a pagan tradition for the sake of money, winter solstice and
all that. But he was actually born upon
this earth somewhere around the month of May. So it's fitting
that we look at this now. The Passover, we believe that
the Lord was actually crucified on the very day that the children
of Israel walked out of Egypt. That's fitting. He was on the
Passover day. But it's fitting we look at this. Now, it says in verse 18, the
birth of Jesus Christ was on this wife. And as we saw this
morning, as the Lord blessed us, as He blessed Simon and James
and John to see Him on this Y, as may He do the same here. The
birth of the Lord Jesus Christ was on this Y. When as His mother,
Mary, not His mother, but as His mother. She was actually
His daughter. The child was the father of the
mother. Oh, it's a mystery, all right.
Great is the mystery. God was manifest in the flesh.
Call His name Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father. She was not His mother, but as
His mother. He never called her mother. That's
significant. That is important. He never called
her mother. In fact, one time someone said
to Him, Your mother wants to speak to You. And He said, Who
is my mother? See, this is the everlasting
one. This is he who had no beginning
of days or end of days. The priest forever after the
order of Melchizedek. This is the eternal God. This
is Jehovah. Who is my mother? And really,
who was his father? And one time he said to her,
when she began to make demands of him, they have no wine, he
said to her, He didn't say mother. He said woman. What have I to
do with that? This is the same one who made
the woman and put her in the garden and gave her to the man.
That's who this is. She called him. She didn't call
him son. She called him God my Savior. It says she was his spouse to
Joseph. She was espoused to Joseph by
her parents, by his parents, and they thought it was a good
match, but who espoused these two? We went through these stories
of all of these, of Rahab meeting Salmon. We went through those
stories. Who made the match? The Lord
did. for his purpose. He brought these
two together. The spouse to Joseph. Now it
says, before they came together, making it certain that we know
that they did not come together as husband and wife in that marriage
act. Before they came together, Mary
was a virgin. Joseph, we suppose. And let me
say something about this to our young people. This was at that
time, years afterward and up until
a couple of generations ago. This
was the rule and not the exception. God said that fornication of
premarital sex is a sin. Now, this was the rule and not
the exception. And so they had not come together.
This is what God says for us not to do, to do. Why did they not? It was by God's
grace. It was by God's grace. At any
rate, the Lord makes it clear that she was a virgin. And it
said, look at verse 25, look down there at verse 25, and he
knew her not until She had brought forth her firstborn son, until
he did know her afterward. They did have relations afterward.
Is this important? Absolutely. Many still call her
the Virgin Mary. No, no, no. She had other children.
Do you want to look at that with me? Matthew chapter 13. with our learning. These things
are written for our learning and for others. Many worship
this woman. She's not to be worshiped. The
Son is. Worship the Son. Our Lord said
that in Hebrew, didn't He? Worship. Under the angels, He
said, worship the Son. Matthew 13, look at verse 55. They said, Is not this the carpenter's
son? Is not his mother called Mary
and his brethren James and Joseph? And Simon and James, of whom
the book in the Bible is named for, Judas or Jude, are these
not his brethren and his sisters, verse 56? Are they not all with
us? So Mary had at least six or seven
children, maybe more. A virgin, yes. A virgin. Why was she a virgin? Why is
it necessary that she be a virgin, that he be born of a virgin?
Well, the scripture said to fulfill the scripture. These things were
done, he said, that the scripture might be fulfilled. A sign shall
be given. A virgin shall conceive and bear
a son and shall call his name Immanuel, which means, which
being interpreted, God with us. This one to be born was none
other than God manifest in the flesh. He's called the Son of
God because he was born, the only begotten Son of God, or
God in the flesh. But he's called in Isaiah 9,
the mighty God, the everlasting Father. The Son of God, not Mary. He's not ever called the Son
of Mary. Though he's made of a woman.
But someone said, like that tomb that he borrowed, he borrowed
a womb. Mary did not contribute to his
birth. In our birth, both father and
mother contribute, don't they? The father's seed impregnates
the woman's egg. of both father and mother in
the child, aren't they? The mother contributes some of
her DNA, if you will, or gene, and the father also. Not so in
this case. Mary is a daughter of Adam, too. She has the sin of Adam in her. She did not contribute to his
birth one iota. She was just the vessel in whom
the Lord put His seed, which is the incorruptible seed, the
Holy Seed, the Lord Jesus Christ, His Son. He's called the Son
of Man. He calls Himself that quite often,
though not the seed of man. He's made under the law. He's the lawgiver, but He was
made under the law. Why? Now look at Matthew 21.
Go back to there. Why was He born of a virgin?
Why was he made of a woman made under the law? Well, look at
verse 21. It says, She shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt
call his name Jesus. That means Savior. For he shall
save his people from their sins. Call his name Jesus. Savior,
because that's His name, and that's His work, and that's who
He is, and that's why He came, and that's what He did. You know, surnames began sometime
later after biblical days. Surnames. We all have them. That's
the last name. And people were given surnames
according to their vocation, weren't they? according to their
work that they did, like Smith. The name Smith is the black smith,
the smithy, the village smithy, or baker. That's what he did,
okay? That's what they did, and that's
their name. Call his name, God said, Jesus. That's what he did. That's why
he came. That's his vocation. Now, Jesus
is the Greek name for Joshua. Joshua, as you know, the Lord
raised up. Moses could not bring the children
of Israel into the promised land. Moses was not kept from bringing
them in because he lashed out in anger, but it was God's purpose. Moses is the law, and Moses cannot
bring his people into the promised land. By the deeds of the law,
no flesh will be justified, God said. By the works of the flesh. We can't get there by keeping
the law. But Joshua is the one who brought them in. Joshua is
the Old Testament Hebrew name for Jesus. Jesus, the new, for
the old. Joshua means God our Savior. That's what that means. Jehovah
said it. Jesus means the same. Call His name Jesus. God our
Savior. That's who He is. That's why
He came. And that's what He did. And no
one else deserves that name. There are many who are called
that today, aren't there? I have a picture downstairs of
me when I was in Mexico. It was taken, I met a young boy
down there named Jesus. Lots of Latin American boys named
Jesus. Well, I heard that his name was
Jesus, and I wanted my picture taken with him for this purpose,
so that I could tell people. When they talk about Jesus, many
people talk about Jesus, don't they? There's much said about
Jesus. Well, Paul said in Galatians 1, he said there are some who
come preaching another Jesus and another gospel, which is
not the Jesus Christ of Scripture, which is not the gospel but a
perversion of the gospel. It's not the good news at all.
It saves no one. And the Jesus that they speak
of is not the Savior. The one that most men speak of
is one who came to merely try to save. Haven't you heard this
over and over again? He wants to save you, he can't
unless you let him. That is not the Jesus Christ
of Scripture. That's a God who cannot save,
and many pray to such a one that cannot save. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. This is talking about the only
one with the power to save. This is talking about the one
who came to save that God sent to do a job, and his name is
called that because that's exactly what he did. Call his name Jesus,
for he not tried to save, might save if you let him. He shall
save his people from their sin. He shall save. To the praise
of God's Sovereign electing grace to the praise of Christ's glory
and His namesake, the great Savior, to the praise of the Holy Spirit
who regenerates us. Call His name Jesus. Because
He's God. That's who He is. Look at Isaiah
25 with me. Isaiah 25. I remember as a very
young believer when I first read this, I just memorized it. It was such a blessing to me.
Isaiah 25. Is it necessary to believe that
Jesus Christ was born of a virgin? Well, of course it is. Someone said, how much does a
person have to believe to be saved? Well, everything. Everything. He that believeth. What does
that mean? Believe everything? Paul said, Dad, he said, I believe
everything written in the Prophets and the Law. The way they called
heresy, that's the way I worship. You don't believe that old book,
do you? The Bible? Absolutely. Everything. Everything. Is it necessary to
believe that Jesus Christ is God? Absolutely. Why? Why? Well, number one, because
God says so. And to say not is to call him
a liar. Men don't take issue with James
and John and Peter and Paul and Isaiah. They're taking issue
with God. This is God's work. And to not believe him is to
call God a liar. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned." And to believe is to really trust
him, to look to him for everything. Why is it necessary? Because
if he is not God, he can't save us. If this man who came is not
God, he can't save us. If he's not God, he's not the
Christ. He's not the Christ. The Jews of old knew that the
Christ who was coming was God. They knew that. They didn't know
how. They really didn't understand how. It's a mystery, and neither
do we. But we believe it. But they did
too. And look at Isaiah 25, verse
9. Here's what they said about the
coming Christ. It shall be said in that day,
the day of the Lord, the day when the Lord came, the Lord
who shall suddenly come to his temple, Malachi said, It shall
be said in that day, Lo, this is our God." That's what Thomas said, didn't
he, when he fell at his feet? My Lord and my God. None of the
disciples called him Jesus. They called him Lord Jesus. Thomas
said, My Lord and my God. Read on. This is our God. We
have waited for Him, and He will save us. He's the only one who
came. He will save us. This is the
Lord. That means Jehovah. We have waited for Him. We will
be glad and rejoice in His salvation. If He's not God, He can't save
us. You know, the Jews taunted Him and mocked Him as He hung
on the cross, and they said those very words, didn't they? If thou
be the Christ, come, save yourself and us. And then they said He
saved others, but Himself He cannot save. Well, no truer words
can be spoken. They meant it in derision, but
it was really to His glory. He saved others. Yes, He did.
He saved every single person He came to save. Past, and at
that time, present, and in the future. Everyone whom Christ
hung on that tree for and died for their sin, they're saved.
Absolutely. Why? Because Christ died. But he could not save them and
save himself and deliver himself. He's made a substitute. Why is
he hanging there? He's a substitute, is why. He's not hanging there because
of his sin. He's hanging there for their sin. He will come to
save his people from their sin. That's why he came. They can't
save themselves from their sin. They can't even resist one sin
without him. If he is not God, he can't save. He couldn't even save himself.
If he is God, he can, he does, and he must save. I love all
the times in Scripture that it says he must, what he must do. Our Lord said to his disciples,
and he told them beginning at Moses and the prophets and the
Psalms, he expanded unto them all the things concerning himself.
They are they which testify of him. to Him give all the prophets
witness of the Savior that was to come. And it says these things
are written that Christ must suffer and die and rise again. He must. He must. And then another
time He said, there are other sheep I have which are not of
this fold. Them also I must bring in order
to be the Savior. In order to be called the one
that actually saves His people. He cannot lose one. He can't
lose one. And he said that in his high
priestly prayer. Them that thou hast given me,
I have kept. None of them is lost. That's
his name, Savior. He's called the son of David,
isn't he? Because he's the king. He's the king. The lion of the
tribe of Judah. The tribe of Judah. David, as
you know, is a good shepherd. David kept his father's sheep. That was what he was doing before
he was called to be king. And he was good at it. He never lost a sheep. In fact,
he went and rescued one. He left the ninety and nine,
if you will, and went to save one little lamb that was in the
paws of a lion and a bear. Is that a fable? No, it's not
a fable. It's a truth. Why is it true? Because it represents the Lord
Jesus Christ, who will not lose one of his sheep. Not one. Not
even a little lamb. Not even a weak one. And David
rescued that one, and he never lost a sheep. And neither does
our Lord Jesus Christ. That's his name. Savior. Yes, if the Lord is our shepherd,
who will never perish. Didn't he say, I give unto them
eternal life, and they shall never perish? Never. No man will
pluck them out of my hand. So if he is not God, he can't
save us. If he's not the Good Shepherd,
I'll perish. His name is Savior. And these
people there in Isaiah, they said that we have waited for
him. He'll save us. This is our God. We've waited
for Him. He will save us. Who are the
us there? Who are those people talking
there in Isaiah 25? Who are the we and the us there?
We'll look at our text here in Matthew 21. Call His name Jesus, for He shall
save His people from their sin. Those brethren that He came for.
They didn't know Him, but He knew them, didn't He? His people. He said to some in that day,
and he says it to some now still, you believe not because you're not my sheep. You believe not who he is and
why he came and what he did and where he is now because you're
not my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep hear my voice. I know them. How does he know
them? That's what we heard a while
ago. For whom he did foreknow. I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Whom he did foreknow. When did
God make this choice of these people? Before the foundation
of the world. He chose a people, elect according to the foreknowledge
of God, whom He did foreknow. I know them, He said. The foundation
of the Lord standeth sure, having this seal. The Lord knoweth them
that are His. Jesus Christ didn't come to try
and save everyone. He didn't come to try and save
anyone. He came to save His people. from their sin. And he did just
that. He did that. I know them, he said. And they
follow me. They trust me. They look to me. They depend
upon me implicitly. And he said, I give them life
because the Father gave them me to do that. And he did it.
If you believe that other Jesus, you're yet in your sin. If you call upon that other Jesus,
you may perish. But whosoever calleth on the
name of the Lord Jesus shall not perish." That's His name. That's who He is. That's what
He did. He came to save. Look at verse 21. His people. That's who He came for. God's
people. God's elect. Given to Him before
the world began. He came to save His people from
what? What did he come to save them
from? Roman tyranny? Well, they were in Roman tyranny,
all right. They were under a despot a little
while later, Nero, Paul called a lion. My, my. And they were under this Roman
tyranny. And the Jews wrongly thought
that when the Christ came, that he would save them from Roman
tyranny. That's what they thought. You
remember even the disciples when they were walking on the road
to Emmaus. And our Lord came to them and hid himself from
them. And he said, what are you talking
about? He knew what they were talking
about. But they were sad and they said, are you a stranger
here? Have you not heard of the things
that have taken place in these days? Of Jesus of Nazareth, a
man mighty in word and so forth. They really didn't understand
why he came yet, did they? They really didn't. They really
didn't know who he was yet. They went. And they said, we trusted that
it was him who would have delivered Israel. It was him who would
have set up the kingdom. It was him who would sit on the
throne of David. He did. All Israel shall be saved,
Paul wrote in Romans 11. All Israel shall be saved. But
he's not a Jew which is one outwardly. Neither are they children because
they're the sons of Abraham, but the children of promise,
God's elect. That's who he came to save. He
didn't come to try to save anybody, he came to save. He didn't come
to try to save everybody, he came to save his people. And
he did just that. What did he save them from? Well,
what did he save them from? Well, today, men and women talk
about a Jesus who'll save you from financial ruin. Financial
ruin. Well, H&R Block will help you
on that. They say, well, maybe he'll save
you from a bad marriage. Well, Dr. Phil will do that.
That's what he's for. This Jesus Christ came into the
world to save his people from what? They're sins. They're sin. That's why I came. That's the problem. These other
things are symptoms. Covetousness and failed marriages
are symptoms. Sin is a disease. He came to save His people from
their sin. Who are His people? We looked
at it in these first fifteen verses. We looked at this. In
the previous verses are listed all manner of sinners and sins. We looked at some of these stories
Wednesday night. Oh, the great trouble and grief
and sorrow and the consequences. And the ultimate consequence
was death that came upon every one of them. Why? Sin. Men make light of it today. Don't they? And it's the source of all the
pain and the sorrow and the trouble and the heartache and everything.
The sadness and ultimately the death that's in there. It's not
a light matter. We're all going to die. Babies
die because of sin. By one man's sin entered into
the world, and death by sin. Condemnation. Wrath. Moses said in Psalm 90, we spend
our years as a tail at his toe, and all our days are spent in
wrath. Wrath of God. It's not a light matter at all.
And the remedy that it took to put it away is not light. Certainly
not man's silly little decision. He came. Save them. All manner of sins. And Scripture
lists them, and there are too many to list. I was going to
read to you from Romans 1 and Romans 3. You know. Murder and wrath and idolatry
and hatred. And listed in all of these stories
in the first 15 verses are people just like us who committed all
manner of sins like that. And yet these were people in
his family. That's who he was numbered with.
That's what Isaiah said. He was numbered with the transgressors.
Yes, this is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation,
that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, not good
people. Our Lord said, I didn't come
to save the righteous. I came to call sinners. This
man received sinners. That should be the best news
that men and women could hear. And the reason they don't hear
it, the reason we didn't hear it at first, is because we weren't
centered. But God has to show us. The first thing He has to
show us, like Peter, is that we're sinners. Peter fell down
at the Lord's knees, didn't he? Realizing who he was, he said,
depart from me. I'm a sinful man. No. That's the very one he came
for. He can't depart. This is why
he came. He's not going to depart now.
He's not going to leave now. He came for Peter, and he came
for all of his children. And our Lord said, Bless the
Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy
name. If you're a sinner, listen to this. He said, All manner
of sin shall be forgiven. Abraham blessed him, didn't he?
Isaac, Jacob, all these sinners. Rahab. Oh, thank you. All manner
of sin, because Christ came to save sinners from their sin. There was a woman one time, one
of the many, who came to the Lord and was at His feet, weeping
profusely, weeping uncontrollably, weeping. Why was she weeping? Because she had lived a life
in absolute shame and wickedness. And she couldn't get out of it.
And she had hurt herself. She had hurt everyone she loved.
She had hurt everyone. And there's nothing she can do
about it. And she lived with such utter
guilt and shame and misery and sorrow And she heard of this
Jesus Christ, who they said was the Christ, the Savior. And she
came where He was. Our Lord said, Come unto Me.
She came where He was. Why did she come? Because the
Lord brought her. All that the Father hath given
me shall come. She came where He was. And she fell at his feet
and she wept. And it says that she was weeping
so uncontrollably that she bathed his feet with her tears. Scripture
says how beautiful on the mountain are the feet of him that bringeth
the gospel of peace, forgiveness of sin. And her hair that was her glory,
a woman's glory, a woman's covering. She was so ashamed of herself,
she used it to dry his feet with the hair of her head. And our
Lord said this to her. Woman, thy sins be forgiven. Let the Word. Talking about the
voice of the Lord having power. Who can forgive sins but God? Who can forgive sins against
breaking the law except the one who wrote it? Another woman they
brought in, guilty as charged. Caught in the very act. They
said, Moses says, stoner, what do you say? He said, I say, she
goes free. And all of you are guilty. He's
got that power. So the thing for us to do is
follow His feet like that woman. That's why He came. That's why
He came. He came. Who did He come for?
Sinners. He came to save them from sins.
He came to save us from the penalty of sin. And men and women make light
of hell. People say things like that,
don't they? I went through hell. You don't know what you're talking
about. Men are so ignorant. We all were
ignorant. The Lord Jesus Christ really
did go through hell. Hell is separation from God.
We all know something about hell, and we don't know much about
it except what our Lord told us about it. Hell is very real
because our Lord spoke of it. And to mock it and make light
of it is to call Him a liar, isn't it? But our Lord spoke
of it, and it is separation from God. And the best I can do with
this, I understand this, is that God is love. God is love. And any sense of love in this
world, if anybody has any love whatsoever, it comes from God.
That God is still in this world. Yes, He is. And working through
people. Or else it would be hell on earth. God is mercy. God is mercy. The God of all grace. God is
grace. If there's any mercy in the world
in anybody, it didn't come from them. It came from God. If there's
any grace in the world, if anybody is generous or whatever, it didn't
come from them. That's not man. That's not of
the flesh. It comes from God. God did that. God gets all the
glory. And so separation from God. Hell
is to be where God is not. Well, there is no love, there
is no mercy, there is no grace, there is no kindness, there is
no peace. I can't describe that, we can't
enter into it, can we? But when our Lord hung on the
cross, when the Lord Jesus Christ hung on the cross, do you remember
at first He said, My Father, My Father, My Father, didn't
it? My Father, didn't it? But then finally at one point
He said, My God! Why hast thou forsaken me? He's in hell. He's in hell. That's what it means to be cast
out of God's presence. He said there will be sheep and
goats, and he'll say to the sheep on his right hand, Come, ye blessed
of my Father, into the kingdom prepared for you. He'll say to
the goats, cast them out into outer darkness. Separated from God. When Christ said that, when Christ
was hanging on the tree, God, you see, had made Him to be sin
for His people. This is more than a doctrine,
but this is what had to happen. This is what God thinks of sin.
This is what God will do to sin and sinner. God made Him to be
sin for us. Who's us? His people. And God laid on Him the iniquity
of them all. He made the soul that sinneth
must surely die, the Scripture says. That doesn't mean physical
death, that means the soul. And God made His soul an offering
for sin. Why was Jesus Christ hanging
on a cross? A helpless martyr? A substitute. A sin offering. A substitute before God. Christ. We preach Christ and Him crucified. This is sinner's only hope. He was made sin for us, His people. God laid on Him the iniquity
of them all. He was made sin. The chastisement
of our peace was laid on Him. By His stripes we are healed. He died. Now why? Why will God not hold His people
accountable for their sin? Why will God not make us pay
for our sin? Why will those that Christ died
for not go to hell or suffer for their sin, be punished for
their sin? Why? Because Christ died. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Why? He is well pleased with His Son
for His righteousness. Who is he that condemned him?
Christ died. That woman that was forgiven,
she wasn't just forgiven. She was absolutely pardoned.
The law says she must go free because Christ is the Lamb slain
before the foundations of the world. He had not yet gone to
Calvary, but in God's mind he had. And soon he will go. And he knew who he was going
for and knew what he was doing. And he did it. And he said, your
sins are forgiven. And I'm going to pay for them.
God forgives us, but He made Christ pay for them. Christ died. He came to deliver
His people from the penalty of sin and from the power of sin. I had a whole message prepared
from verse 17 on Babylon, from Babylon to Christ, Babylon to
Christ, and all of that, and I just tossed it aside. Babylon. They were in captivity. Babylon.
They were in captivity. All of God's people. Well, we
heard on the radio this morning that He came to set the captives
free. To deliver them. The prisoners. Didn't we? He said, I am come. The Spirit of God has anointed
me. I set at liberty them that are bruised. To release the captives.
Set the captives free. All of them. Every single one. I like some of these action movies. I'm sorry, I do. Of men, you
know, who were super fellows, heroes, you know. Like Clint
Eastwood, John Wayne, you know. I do, I'm sorry. But you and
I were talking about this the other day, Steve. There's a movie,
and Brother Greg's the one who told me to watch it. He said,
if you have an only daughter, watch this movie. It's the story
of a man whose daughter was taken captive. And this man was one
you just don't mess with. And he found out who it was. And he finally got a hold of
him on the phone and he said, and I love this, he said, I will get my daughter
back. And I will find you." And he
said, I will kill you. And that's what he did. Now that's
fiction. That's a movie. But this is no
fiction here. Whoever are his daughters, whoever
are his children, our Lord said, touch not mine anointed. And they're held captive. This
is not a fable. This is not some cunningly devised
fable, Peter said. This is a fact. They're all held
captive by the God of this world. They don't know it. They're so
captive, they don't even know it, thinking they're free. But
they're held captive. And the Lord Jesus Christ came
into this world to take His captives, to lead captivity captive. Like
the story of David who went down to Ziklag and recovered all. He didn't lose one of them. Not
hoof nor hair was left behind. This is a true story. The Lord
Jesus Christ came into this world to save His people and His glory
and His honors at stake. His people's salvation. If He
loves them. If you had the power to save
who you love. You love your children? You love
your daughter? I have an only daughter. And I
would lay down my life for her. I wouldn't think a thing about
it. And if I had the power, nobody would touch her or harm her.
And wherever she went, no matter how far away she got, I would
come find her. Daddy would come get you. But
I don't have that power. I'll tell you who does. Call
His name Jesus. It means Savior. That's it. It must save us from
our sin. And He'll save us from the presence
of sin someday. He saves His people from the
penalty of sin. He was made sin, brother. He
saves His people from the power of sin, the captivity of sin.
Oh, we feel like we're under the power of it now. We're still
captives of Satan. He said, no, no. It's the Lord. He only allows what is for our
good and for us to keep looking to Him, to keep calling to Him.
If we weren't tempted, if we didn't fall into sin, we wouldn't
call on Him anymore, would we? We don't need a Savior. I need
saving every day. We'll need saving until the day
we die. We'll be sinners until the day we die. Well, who's the
Savior? That's why it says, whosoever shall call, call, call, call. Not a one-time thing. It's a
lifelong thing. Call, like repentance. And he'll
save his people from the very presence of sin someday. He said, I go to prepare a place
for you. When our Lord said that, he said,
I go to prepare a place for you. He went to the cross. to be made
sin so you can go and have a place. But he said, I go to prepare
a place for you. In my Father's house are many
mansions, dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I wouldn't have told you. If you're pleased to kill,
you wouldn't have told me. He said, if I go, I will come
again to receive you unto myself, that where I am you may be also.
Where is that? Well, eye hasn't seen and ear
hasn't heard. But the closest we can get to
understanding that is right here. If you like who you're hearing,
wait till you see Him. If you like what you're doing,
praising Him and worshiping Him, wait till then. If you like these
people you're doing it with, if you like this is the salt
of the earth, imagine a place where everybody's like that.
Everybody's like Jesus Christ. Wherein dwelleth righteousness. He's going to save her from the
presence of sin sometime. There's only one that can do
it. And that's His name. That's His name. That's why I
carry it. Brother Gabe, you come and lead us. Let's turn to hymn number 199
and stand together. I'll sing first and last verse, 199.