So today, I would like to look
at a question that seems pretty settled in the Christian world,
but is it? I believe this to be an important
question because the answer each of us might give indicates how
we see Christ. I have titled this lesson, The
Right Answer to the Wrong Question. I kind of had argued with myself
back and forth about what the title would be, so I subtitled
it. we see Jesus. And we have a small group here,
but I believe it's a dedicated group, and we attend here, some
of us driving many miles and passing many churches on our
way, because we believe strongly in the message, the preaching
of Christ and Him crucified. We do We do not get off into
what a war in the Middle East might be foretelling. How many
people did we save this last week? How many, or anyway, anything
that would distract us. There's so many things out there
that could distract. But no, we come here to hear about Christ
and what He has accomplished. for His people and how that affects
all of our lives clear into eternity. We come here because we want
to hear about how Christ, as one of the Godhead in eternity,
the three in one, was chosen to come down to earth as a man
to redeem all those that God the Father had set aside from
before the foundation of the world, before the beginning of
time, identified in Scripture as the elect, the chosen children
of God. Christ Himself says this in John
chapter 6, For I have come down from heaven, not to do My will,
but to do the will of the Father who sent Me. And this is the
will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of all those
He has given Me. but raise them up at the last
day. For my Father's will is that
everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have
eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. But
in religion today, there seems to be some confusion as to how
this was accomplished. Now, we all, I believe, we all
know that Jesus alone accomplished His assignment. But there are
those that throw it all into question, preaching Jesus did
not accomplish this on His own. He did what He could do, and
the rest is now up to you. So we do see a Savior who accomplished
it all. Or do we a savior who accomplished
only some of it? Well, I again believe that this
is one of the many reasons we drive by those many churches
to get here Because we believe that scripture teaches Without
a shadow of a doubt that jesus paid it all That he did it all
and he as the captain of our salvation left nothing up to
man because there was nothing we could do or would do. He was sent to satisfy the debt,
and according to Paul, in Titus, gave Himself for us that He might
redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto Himself a peculiar
people, zealous of good works. In Ephesians 1, Paul says, to
in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
our trespasses according to the riches of His grace. He gave
Himself for us, in Him we have redemption through His blood.
This is what we are told over and over again in Scripture.
I could read verses like this until the hour was over, and
we would not exhaust them all. But the opposite is what most
Sunday school teachers will teach, what preachers will preach, seminary
professors will teach. They teach a doctrine of free
will and that man has the deciding role in salvation. Those teachings
will lead to those seeking answers to ask a question something like
this, what do I need to do to be saved? Well, that is the wrong
question, which led me to my title. To answer that question
in the way that it's offered, I might say something like this,
well, I think the only answer to that question is found in
Jude 2. But as we all know, there is
no such thing as Jude 2. But likewise, there also is no
answer to that question in God's plan of salvation when asked
in that way. But if we tweak the question
just a little bit toward ask this, what do I need to be saved? Drop the to do and make it just
read need. What do I need to be saved? Drop. What do I need to be saved? Scripture
is pretty clear that anything we try to do just messes things
up even worse. We had a pastor that one time
that came to one of our early, early, early summer camps when
we used to hold him up at Camp Cody there in Rock Creek Reservoir
that used this little saying. He says, keep your head out of
your belly button because inside us there is nothing, nothing
that we could do. In fact, Scripture tells us that
anything that we try to do pretty much messes things up even worse.
Our self-righteousness is nothing that God will accept. In fact,
He despises it. But the revised question, there
is an answer to that, and it will provide us with something
that God does accept, even requires. So if you'd like to open your
Bibles to 2 Corinthians 3, We'll start looking a little
bit at the answers that we can come up with for that question.
2 Corinthians 3, and I'm going to pick up reading in verse 7. Now, if the ministry that brought
death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory,
so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face
of Moses because of its glory, Fading though it was, will not
the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry
that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the
ministry that brings righteousness? For what was glorious has no
glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if
what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the
glory of that which lasts. And we'll read verse 12 a little
bit later. There's a whole lot in those few verses there, and
I'm going to skimp over them because there's so much you could
have several, several lessons right out of that little passage.
But it's a fascinating passage, and I do want to make a couple
comments that are somewhat off the main track here. But it speaks
to the glory of the old ministry, the law, the covenant that brought,
well, as it says, it was the ministry of death. Moses' face
reflected the glory of the old ministry, and his face shone
in such a way that the Israelites would have to turn their eyes
away whenever he came into their presence. Moses would put a veil
over his face while speaking with them until the shine would
fade away. But in the end, Moses reveals
to us that as glorious as that old ministry was, it was transitory,
in other words, temporary, it would soon fade away and by necessity
be replaced. And its glory would be seen as
nothing when compared to the surpassing glory of the new ministry,
one that is not transitory, but the new eternal ministry of Christ
that will have replaced the old. The writer of Hebrews tells us
that, in fact, the ministry has received as superior to theirs
as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old
one, since the new covenant is established on better promises. That's in Hebrews 8, verse 6.
And then Moses goes on to say, If that which was transitory
came with such glory, how much greater would the glory be in
the one that is not transitory, but it is eternal. It is the
glory of God the Father through His Son, Christ Jesus. It brings
to mind for me a passage in Philippians 2, Do everything without grumbling
or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure children of
God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then
you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold
firmly to the word of life." I heard a message once from a
pastor up in the Portland area that claimed In order to shine
like the stars in the sky that this passage refers to, we must
always have such pure thoughts in our minds, no matter where
we are, at work, at play. We must have pure minds, be constant
in our good works, and he just went on and on, turning it into
a whole works exercise. But in reality, we are like stars
in the universe because we reflect. we project the light of Christ
that's in us. Just as Moses did nothing in
and of himself to produce that shine on his face, as he was
reflecting the glory of God and the former ministry, we likewise
do nothing of our own to create a light that shines. But we do
have Christ in us, and in him there is that light. Now we look
back at 2nd Corinthians 3 in verse 12, Therefore, since we
have such a hope, we are very bold. So why this hope, this
boldness? It's because we see Jesus. Hebrews
chapter 2 tells us, But we do see Jesus, who was made lower
than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory
and honor, because he suffered death, so that by the grace of
God he might taste death for everyone. We do have hope in
him, because he is our hope. Because of his willing sacrifice,
he has been crowned with glory and honor, and his sacrifice,
we know, brought life brought hope through eternal life in
Him. And Hebrews 12 tells us, Therefore, since we are surrounded
by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that
hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with
perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on
Jesus, the author, the finisher of our faith. It is He who is
the source of that hope and that confidence, We once were blind,
but now we see. We see Jesus, the author and
the finisher, the perfecter of our faith. What hope and confidence
that gives us. Now we can say we know him as
we have never, never known him before. And we see him as we
have never seen him before. And the good news is, Jesus enables
us to see so many things that when we were blind, we would
have never been able to see. And He enables us to know so
many things that when we were lost, we would never have been
able to know. But not only does He enable us,
He teaches us and He guides us. In this lesson, we'll be looking
at just a few of the things that we are now made able to know
and see in Christ. As we already mentioned, we are
now able to see Christ in His surpassing glory. We see it in
Him. We see it in His work. Let's
turn in our Bibles to John 1 and see how it speaks to us about
this glory of Christ. John 1. First, I'm going to read just
verse 14. The Word became flesh. John 1, verse 14. The Word became
flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the
glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace
and truth. given us that's just full of
grace and truth, which gives us confidence and hope in everything
that the Lord has promised. We now see that this newfound
glory at the ministry that Moses spoke of, and the writer of Hebrews
helps connect the dots for us. And if we read down just a little
farther in John chapter one, we see him as the son of God
himself. Verses 17 and 18. For the law was given through
Moses. Grace and truth came through
Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God but
the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father's
side and has made Him known." So as we continue to look at
what we can see because of the work that Christ has done on
our behalf, we see that He is truly God Himself. In John 14, when Philip says,
Lord, show us the Father, Christ responds, if you have seen me,
you have seen the Father. In John 10, verse 30, he says,
I and the Father are one. So we see Him as Lord, as God,
and as Savior. He is also the Son of God, and
we see Him as the perfectly obedient Son. We see Him as one who was
made like us, suffered temptations like us, yet remained without
sin. Hebrews 2.18 says this about
His temptations, because He Himself suffered when He was tempted,
He is able to help those who are being tempted. And what greater
help to brothers and sisters can there be than for one to
reach down and deliver them from the grasp of sin and death? In
Romans 5-8, we see Christ doing this for us. He has rescued His
brothers and sisters from that grasp. But God demonstrates His
own love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us. While we were yet sinners, he
died for us. Such great news. I heard a sermon from a pastor
in Georgia one time that I hope maybe we'll all get to meet together
sometime. But he said something that has
really stuck with me. He said, it is impossible for
you to understand just how good the good news is until you know
how bad the bad news is. In Ezekiel 36, a very well-known
passage that tells us a whole lot about ourselves and about
how God goes about making us a new creation. We are told among
other things that he will remove our old heart of stone and give
us a new heart of flesh. He will sprinkle and cleanse
us from all our impurities and he will put a new spirit in us,
a spirit of obedience. And there are other things that
are said there, but then after he tells us all these things
that are good, he acquaints us with the bad news. When he says,
then we will remember all our evil ways and wicked deeds, and
you will loathe yourselves for your detestable ways. Now that's
a jolt to who we thought we were. Now we know something about the
bad news, and without him, We are forever lost and in need
of a Savior. We are truly a valley of dry
bones. And while we wrestle with all
that, when we deal with the knowledge of how evil and wicked our deeds
truly are, we see the results of all the bad news. We see what
happens to our Savior as He's led up the hill of Calvary with
a crown of thorns upon His head. then hung on the cross with nails
through his palms and his feet. We see him hanging there in our
stead for our sins, our guilt, persecuted, mocked, prodded,
a sword pierced through his side, releasing a flood of blood and
water, taking all the pain and agony that was meant for us,
shedding his blood for us. But he did it all willingly,
being obedient to the Father, even unto death. He cried out
in agony, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Then with
his last breath he said, It is finished. Christ, the one who
knew no sin, who had no sin in him, took upon himself our guilt,
our punishment, faced God's wrath so that we would not have to.
While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. How good the good
news is as we see this one act cancel out all our bad news.
For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might
become the righteousness of God in Him. From sinners to saints,
how good the good news is. There's a hymn called His Robes
for Mine, which I'd never heard before, but I heard another preacher
use it in one of his messages. It talks about this very moment
and what it means. For the sake of time, I'll just
read the first stanza, which goes like this. His robes for
mine, oh, wonderful exchange. Clothed in my sin, Christ suffered
neath God's rage. Draped in his righteousness,
I'm justified. In Christ I live, for in my place
he died. Christ's righteousness was imputed
to us at the same exact time as our sin and guilt was imputed
to Him. He then took that sin and guilt
and buried it in the grave with Him, canceling out all our sins
and iniquities. all of them, past, present, and
future. Oh, wretched man that I am, who
will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. And then, and then there's the
third day. The third day where we are enabled
to see the gospel fully fulfilled in him. How? Because on that
day, the grave, the tomb was found to be empty. When looking
inside, all that was there was a bundle of grave clothes on
a cold stone bed. There was an angel there saying
to those who came to visit the grave site, why look you for
the living among the dead? He is not here. He has risen. Wow, that was such glorious news
because the truth of the truth is this. If when he died and
was then buried, If on the third day He had not risen, we would
not have that Savior who was promised and whom all we believed
was Him. If you would like to turn your
Bibles to 1 Corinthians 15, we're going to look at verses 17 and
19 and follow along with what Paul says regarding the importance
of this resurrection. Pick up reading there in verse
17. It's hard to pick a place because
this whole passage just deals about the resurrection of the
dead and those who are denying it. And so Paul says, if there
is no resurrection, what about this? So pick in verse 17. And
if Christ had not been raised, your faith is futile. You are
still in your sin. Then those who have fallen asleep
in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have
hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. So as we look at that, is there
any question as to why the two on the road to Emmaus held their
heads down in sadness? The one they saw as their Messiah,
their Redeemer, was dead. All hope was vanquished. They
thought their faith had turned out to be useless, futile. They thought, but what does Paul
exclaim when we read verse 20 of the same chapter? He reassures
us in saying, but now Christ is risen from the dead and has
become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. The good
news is, yes, He arose. And for all those promised redemption,
it is here. Now we see by the grace of God
that we truly do serve a risen Savior. So now we see Him risen
and ascended into the heavens and seated at the right hand
of the Father. Just as Hebrew 1 tells us, the Son is the radiance
of God's glory We go back to the beginning reading. The sun
is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation
of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purifications
for sin, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty in heaven. So now how do we see Jesus? We
see him in heaven, sitting at the right hand of the Father,
ruling and reigning over all his creation. We see him as our
mediator and how he is ever living, making intercession for us. Who
is He who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore,
is also risen. Who is even at the right hand
of God, who also makes intercession for us? And that office of intercession
includes so many things. We can see Christ now as our
advocate. That is part of His intercession
for us. In 1 John, we hear this from
the apostle. My little children, I am writing
these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins,
we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Well, we all know that we do
sin, and we all are in need of that constant advocate. As John
says in chapter one of 1 John, if we say that we have no sin,
We deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. As much as
we wish it would not be, sin will be a constant with us until,
by the grace of God, we are absent from the body and present with
the Lord. Until then, we will always be
in constant need of Christ as our advocate. Well, time is running out, and
there's so much more that we could look at here. But the more
time, for sure, the more time that we get to walk with Christ
on this earth, the more we will grow in His grace and the knowledge
of Him. And we'll see even more than
we do now. But we must wind things up, so
I will say this, there is a right answer to that question of what
do we need to be saved. In Acts 4.12, we are told that
salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name
under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. When
you look at that, there is no, what must I do to be saved? There is no to-do there. There
is no man's decisions or free will mentioned there. There is
no raising of the hand, no walking down the aisle, no saying a sinner's
prayer. There's no rules about church
attendance, about man's baptism, about communion. Throw in there
what you might. but it tells us plainly it's
Jesus and Jesus alone. What do we need to be saved?
It's Christ. He's it. He's all there is. He's all we've got, but he's
all we need. We are poor sinners and nothing
at all, but Jesus Christ is our all in all. So with a few minutes, actually
it's going a little quicker than I thought, but with the few minutes
that are left, I would like to conclude with this. Earlier,
I mentioned that we are a small group, but you know, we're big
enough because we are where God has us. Also, when we take into
account all the people we are privileged to have join us on
Zoom every Sunday and even more on Wednesday nights, You all
come from several states and even foreign countries like Japan
and yes, and even Canada. And then there's sermon audio. When you look at the analytics,
our message is getting out. We have downloads from all around
the world and across the United States. Then I find it a real blessing
when I think about all the preachers we've had at special meetings
stand in this pulpit preaching the gospel of Christ. We've had
one who spent many years as a missionary in Mexico. We've had one from
the Caribbean. Lance Heller was just here from
New Guinea. We also had a former pastor who spent 10 years as
a missionary in the Amazon in Brazil with his family, who of
course, my mother-in-law Adeline and my wife and her siblings.
Then we can look at all the states that have been represented by
speakers from places like Florida, West Virginia, North Carolina,
Iowa, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia,
Louisiana, Texas, Michigan, California, and probably some that I've missed.
It has been wonderful getting to know them all. And when you
stop to think about it, what is the tie that binds us all? What is it that we all have in
common That gives us such sweet fellowship. What is it that we
need? It's Christ. He is truly all
we need. So I thank you for your time.
And we look forward to the 11 o'clock hour when Brother Michael
be up here and bring in the next message. And I gotta remember
to turn this off.