Now, would you open your Bibles
with me to 1 John chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2. Let me read a
portion of this that I've been dealing with in the past few
weeks, just to refresh your memory. And then we'll get to our particular
text here. But look at verse 18 again of
1 John chapter 2. Let's begin reading here. The
Apostle John is encouraging and teaching The children of God,
little children, he says. 1 John 2, 18, little children. It is the last time. It's the
time we're living in, the time since our Lord's resurrection
and ascension unto glory. And we'll conclude in the time
of his return. And as you have heard that Antichrist
shall come, even now are there many Antichrists. This is a spirit
of Antichrist that he's speaking of, not one man. Not one individual,
not one political figure, but the spirit that is pervading
or beginning in the church even at that time. And he says, whereby
for this reason we know that it's the last time. This spirit
of Antichrist is a sign that God has given under his prophecy
that we see that we know it's the last time. Verse 19, they
went out from us. but they were not of us. Now
that shows us that this spirit of Antichrist arises from within
the visible church where the truth is preached. We have opposition
from outside the church but here this is speaking of something
that arises from within the church and it begins with those who
professed to believe in Christ, to believe Jesus. They claim
him as their Lord and Savior. And that's important. That's
what this spirit of anti-Christ is now. It's not an open denial
of Christ in the sense that a man stands behind a pulpit and just
says, I don't believe in Christ. But it's one who claims to believe
in Christ, but then his denial comes in other forms. It could
be a denial of the doctrine of Christ. We're going to see that.
It could be a confusion. It could be leaving. Here they
went out from us, he says. They left the visible church.
They left the gospel. That's what he's talking about
now. Not just leaving a geographical location or a building. But they
left the gospel. They left the truth. But they
were not of us. Now that's plain in the Scriptures. This is not losing your salvation.
They were not of us, he says. They never were saved. For if
they had been of us, verse 19, they would no doubt have continued
with us, but they went out that they might be made manifest if
they were not all of us. So their leaving was just a manifestation,
an evidence that they never were saved to begin with. They'd never
been born again by the Spirit of God. So now he, in the next
two verses here, verses 20 through 21, and this is important now,
he expresses confidence of brethren. Confidence of brethren. You know,
this is not written to cause us to doubt. It's not written
to cause us to be scared. It is written to cause us to
be stirred up, to be watchful, to open our eyes, to be awake,
to be discerning, to be critical. Now listen to me about that.
Somebody said, well, I don't want to be a critic. Listen critically,
not in the sense of trying to find something wrong. Don't listen
to me just trying to find something wrong. Don't be that kind of
critic. That's a negative. That's not
what the Bible teaches. But listen critically in this
sense. Be like the noble Bereans in the book of Acts. In other
words, you want to make sure that what I'm preaching to you
is consistent with the Word of God. Now, there's nothing wrong
with that. That's a good criticism. That's a good listening critically,
you see. And I'll tell you what, isn't
this important enough to do that? You don't take any man's word
for it because it's his word. And I don't care if he's told
you the truth every time he's opened his mouth. The very last
time he tells you the truth, you still check him out with
the Word of God. And that's what I'm saying. So he is stirring
believers up here to be watchful, to be careful. But he says in
verse 20, it's an encouragement, but you have an unction from
the Holy One and you know all things. You have the power of
the Holy Spirit who has convinced you of sin. Who you are in the
light of the holiness of God, in the light of who God is. We've
been studying that in Isaiah chapter 6. When a sinner sees
his Lord, I saw the Lord high lifted up. Holy, holy, holy. And in light of that holiness,
I saw my absolute depravity and wretchedness and sinfulness,
and I became convinced that nothing that I do could ever save me
or keep me safe. And this unction is from the
Holy One. It's from Christ. Christ sends forth His Spirit
to convince His people of sin and of righteousness, that our
only hope of salvation is in Him. We rest in Him. We trust in Him. We look to Him. We follow Him. This is all about
Christ, the Holy One. And you know all things. We're
not know-it-alls. There are a lot of things we
learn. We desire the sincere milk of the Word that we may
grow thereby. But we know Christ. We know all
things concerning how God saves sinners. I know how God saves
a sinner. And you do, too, if you know God. If you know Christ,
He's saved by His grace. It's through His blood and His
righteousness, not by my works. You see, we know that because
we've been taught of God through His Word. The gospel is the good
news of salvation by what? By grace. Now, you find folks
arguing about salvation by grace and salvation by works. Somebody
doesn't know it all. Somebody hasn't been taught of
God now. Because Paul wrote in Romans 11, if it's by grace,
then it's no more works. If it's by works, it's no more
grace. The two won't mix. Cain and Abel won't mix, you
see. This is all in Christ. My whole
salvation is wrapped up in the person and work of Christ. That's
what we know. That's how we know all things.
And everything we learn is consistent with that. Isn't that right?
You see, somebody comes along and says, well, now I've seen
something I didn't see before. Now that's okay, but be careful.
Be careful. I've seen things I haven't seen
before, but if they're not consistent with what you've already been
taught from the Word now concerning the person and the finished work
of Christ, they've learned a lie. Do you understand what I'm saying
to you now? If it confuses the glorious person and the finished
work of Christ, it's a lie. So be careful when we say that.
Yeah, we'll see things we haven't seen before. You will too, as
you read the scriptures, you listen to messages. But they've
got to be consistent with that which we've already been taught
concerning the gospel of Christ. Who he is, what he did, why he
did it, where he is now. If it's not consistent with that,
if it confuses that, then you can just mark it down. It's not
of God. And then he says in verse 21,
He says, I've not written unto you because you know not the
truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. I'm not writing to you, you see,
because I don't believe you know these things. He said, in fact,
the very reason I'm writing to you is because you do know them. That's the way the gospel is
preached. I have to hear it more than once, don't you? Line upon
line, precept upon precept. We're in this battle, and we
have to be fed. The sheep have to be fed. Now,
we can be fooled about other people. We don't perfectly know
the hearts of others. A person can profess to know
Christ and not know Him, then leave. We might even be shocked
by who it is who leaves. But here is an encouragement
for believers to continue in what they know. I'm not writing
this because you don't know it. I'm writing this because you
do know it. And I want you to continue in it. This is what
you know. This is what you've already been
convinced is true. Why would you allow anybody to
come in and question that and bring that into jeopardy, bring
it into confusion, or to bring anything that would rival it,
any doctrine, any notion? And you know better, he says,
you know that no lie is of the truth. No lie is of the truth.
Lies and truth don't mix. No lie is consistent with the
truth. You see, this is what we know. And God's people continue in
the faith by faith, by God-given faith, continuing to look to
Christ and Him crucified as the author and finisher of our faith
and by seeking to guide our lives by His word. and follow His Word. And that's why I tell you, get
into the Word. We preach the Gospel, and God
uses the weak and pitiful means of men, weak vessels, preaching
the Gospel. And that's fine, but get in the
Word. That's where we go. The Word.
No lies of the truth. The truth of the Gospel. The
truth of Christ and Him crucified. No lie is consistent with the
truth as it is in Jesus Christ and His gospel. And then He gives
us the first test of this unction. Now, you want to know if you
had this unction. I want to know if I had this
unction, this power. That's what that is, this anointing.
That's what that word unction is. It's an anointing. But it's
not just something I have and you don't. I tell you, these
fellows come and say, well, I've got it and you don't. I can't
explain it to you, but if you ever get it, you'll know it. That's not of God. There are
a lot of them like that. I mean, people even claim to
believe sovereign grace like that. Oh, I just feel it. I had
a man tell me he knew a guy was a preacher because he could see
it in his eyes. And I said, my, so, good thing he didn't wear
glasses. But that kind of stuff is not consistent with the word
of truth. Get into the word. Judge all
things by the word. This is God's word right here.
Men will come up with all kinds of crazy things. Even me. That's why we've got to stick
right here. Because everything else is going to dry up and fade
away. But this is going to be forever. The Word of God. The Word as it is in Christ.
And so he gives us the first test of this unction, this anointing,
that every believer has. If you're a believer, you have
this unction. You've been convinced of sin, of righteousness, of
judgment. You've been convinced of Christ and who He is and what
He did and why He did it, where He is now. You know who He is. Now, what's the first test that
He gives? Doctrine. Doctrine. Now, look at verse
22. Issues of truth. Who is a liar but he that denieth
that Jesus is the Christ? He is Antichrist that denieth
the Father and the Son." Now, there are several important things
there. What does it mean that Jesus is the Christ? And it shows
us there that you cannot deny the Son without denying the Father. You cannot deny the Father without
denying the Son. They come together. You can't
know God as Father apart from Christ. In verse 23, he says,
Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. That's
clear, isn't it? Now, you might notice in verse
23, the rest of that verse is in italics, which means that
it was not in the original manuscript, but added by the translator. But that's okay, because what
it says here is true. It says, But he that acknowledgeth
the Son hath the Father. What they did is they took the
negative and just put the positive on it. Well, if whosoever denieth
the Son, the same hath not the Father. Well, it just stands
the reason, though. Well, if you believe and acknowledge the
Son, then you have the Father. And that's so. So he says in
verse 24, now listen to this, let that therefore abide in you. Now he's talking about something
abiding in you, in me. What does abide mean? It means
continue. It means it stays there. It doesn't
leave. It's set, it's immovable. So
let that therefore abide in you. Now what's he talking about abide
in you? Now look at it. Which you have heard from the
beginning. Now what is that? That's the
Word, that's the Gospel of Christ. The Word of God implanted indelibly
in the heart of God's people by the Holy Spirit. That's what
that unction is all about. You're convinced of the truth.
You're convicted of the truth. That truth is a part of you. That truth is what God used by
the power of the Spirit to bring you to Christ. What truth? That Jesus is the Christ. Well,
now we know that a lot of people can make that statement and not
know what they're even talking about. Not mean it. It's more
than just saying with the mouth, Jesus is Lord. or Jesus is the
Christ, it's more than just saying with the mouth, praise the Lord. Isn't it? People can make that
statement. We've seen that in Matthew chapter
7 where those who said, Lord, Lord, haven't we prophesied in
your name? Haven't we done many wonderful
works? And he said, depart from me ye that work iniquity. I never
knew you. There are many who say, Lord, Lord, with their mouth,
who say Jesus is the Christ, But in truth, denying. So he says in verse 24, let that
therefore abide in you which you have heard from the beginning.
Now what did you hear from the beginning? What did you all hear,
hear from the beginning? I want you to think about this.
When you first came under the preaching of the gospel, whoever was preaching, whether
it was Brother Mayhem, whether it was another preacher, whoever it
was that first preached the gospel, told you who God is. in His sovereignty,
in His holiness, in His greatness, in His glory. Told you what we
are, what man is. A sinner, a Jacob, who doesn't
know God, who's religious by nature but don't know God. Whose
best is not good enough to offer it before God. Filthy rags. Never
forget when I heard the first message on Isaiah 64 about our
filthy rags. I was offended highly. Because
I thought my filthy rags were something to be seen. I thought
I really had something to appear before God. But I came under
the preaching of the gospel. That was the beginning for me.
The beginning for you. You say, well, I came gradually.
Well, we do. But God brings us under the preaching
of the gospel. When we first heard of Christ,
the true Christ, the God-Man, who He is in His glory, the first
message I heard about how He didn't come to try to save anybody,
but that He saves His people from their sins, that salvation
is conditioned on Him and He fulfills the conditions. It's
by His blood alone that my sins are forgiven. It's by His righteousness
imputed alone that I have a right standing before God. I can remember
when I heard that in several messages. How God can be just
and justify the ungodly. Now here's what he's saying.
Let that therefore abide in you which you have heard from the
beginning. Don't let anything take that away from you. Don't
let anyone rival that in your mind, in your heart. Don't let
anyone confuse that. Do you hear what I'm saying to
you? Saying to myself, don't let anybody come along with some
new light that will take away from that which you heard from
the beginning in the gospel of Christ. He says, if that, verse
24, if that which you have heard from the beginning shall remain
in you. What is he saying there? He says,
you also shall continue in the Son and in the Father. In other
words, it's by the power of God that it remains in me and that
I stay with it. Isn't that right? If it were
up to me and my power and my goodness, I'd leave it tomorrow,
leave it today. But it's by the power of God.
We're a kept people. Now, notice he says, which you
have heard from the beginning shall remain in you. Now, what's
going to remain in you by the power of God? By the power of
the Holy Spirit who indwells the people of God. The Word of
God. That's what remains. That's what the new birth is
all about. It's the remaining presence and power of the Holy
Spirit through the Word. That's how Christ is in His people. By His Spirit and by His Word.
As John puts it in 1 John 3, that is the seed that remaineth. The seed of the Word that is
sown in the heart that God has prepared by His Spirit. And he says, now you let that
remain in you. Don't you get sidetracked. Don't you get complicated
here. The simplicity that's in Christ.
And he says in verse 25, he says, and this is the promise that
he has promised us eternal life. Now, what's he talking about?
Well, go back up to verse 22. Who's a liar then? He that denieth
that Jesus is the Christ. Here's the test of doctrine.
Think about this. Think about these questions when
you hear anything preached. Does it glorify both the Father
and the Son? Does it tell the truth on who
God is, and who man is, and who Christ is? If it does, it is
preached in the power of the Spirit. Secondly, does it humble
sinners? Does it bring me down where I
need to be? Where do I need to be? I need
to be. in the dust where I have no hope
for salvation or any part of it except in Christ and Him crucified."
Now, that's where I need to be. Where do you need to be? Thirdly,
does it lead sinners to look to Christ and Him alone? Or does
it cause you to look elsewhere, even within? Now, let me tell
you something about self-examination. Self-examination is commanded
in the Scripture. Commune with your own heart upon
your bed, the psalmist said. 2 Corinthians 13. Examine yourselves. But you know,
in all those passages, especially there in 2 Corinthians 13, it
doesn't say examine yourself to find righteousness within,
to find peace within. It says examine yourselves to
see whether you be in the faith. What is it to be in the faith?
It means looking to Christ. Resting in Him. Following Him. Finding my peace and my wisdom,
my righteousness, my holiness, and my redemption in Him. That's
what it is to be in the faith. That's what John's talking about
here. Does it lead me to look to Christ? And then fourthly,
does it inspire faith in Him, worship of Him, and obedience
to Him in the way of grace? In the way of gratitude? In the
way of love? So here we're saying, look here,
two things. This is more than just saying Jesus is the Christ.
It's knowing Him as He is revealed in the Word. Who is Jesus Christ? Somebody says, well, I just love
Jesus. Well, who is Jesus? Who is He to you? It means knowing
Him as He's revealed in this Word. It means trusting Him as
your whole salvation. It means resting in Him. as your
Sabbath. It means loving Him as your Redeemer. It means following Him as your
Shepherd, as He's revealed in the Word. Look back over at 2
John. We read this a few weeks back. But this is the doctrinal test.
He says in verse 7 of 2 John, he speaks of antichrist again
here. He says, for many deceivers, are entered into the world who
confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh." There
he's speaking of those who claim that they believe that the flesh,
this human body, was inherently sinful. Now, let me tell you
something. I'm not getting philosophical
up here on your... There's nothing inherently sinful
about the flesh, the human body, these hands, these eyes, you
see. Christ had hands. He had eyes,
didn't he? He had ears just like you. He
had a physical heart, liver, all of those organs. But he was
sinless. So it's not that there's sin
in materials. There's no sin in this wood.
There's no sin in this glass or this water. You see, that's
not of the Scripture. Sin is a principle. Sin is something
you can't put your finger on as far as a... It's not a glass
of something or a vial of something or a lump of something. Sin is
transgression of the law. Sin is upon the conscience. Sin
is in the heart, you see. But they determined, well, because
this flesh is sinful, this human body, therefore Christ could
not have had a human body. And therefore they denied that
he's come in the flesh. He didn't have a flesh. He was
a phantom. He was a spirit. And John says here, for many
deceivers are in the world who confess not that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh. Jesus Christ came in the flesh.
He had a human body without sin. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. And he says, this is a deceiver
and an antichrist. So he says, look to yourselves
that we lose not the things which we have worked. You say, gained,
but that we receive a full reward. Let that therefore which you
heard from the beginning remain in you. John is saying here,
when I preached the gospel to you at first, or when Paul preached
it at first, or when you first heard, you didn't hear this crazy
stuff about Jesus Christ didn't come in the flesh. You see what I'm saying? This
stuff that's going around today that people are trying to promote,
you didn't hear that from the beginning, did you? No. And that's what he's saying.
Look to yourselves. Be careful here. That you lose not the things
which you have gained. How did you gain them? By the
work of God. But that you receive a full reward. What's that? That's
final glory. So verse 9, whosoever transgresseth
and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, the doctrine of his
person, the doctrine of his finished work, the one who abideth not
in that doctrine, in that truth, hath not God. And he that abideth
in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the
Son." You see there? You have Christ, you have both
the Father and the Son, his person and his work. 1 John
2 now, they deny the faith. What is the lie? The lie is that
Christ is not who He claimed to be, and that He did not accomplish
what He set out to accomplish. They deny both the Son and the
Father. Anyone who denies the Son denies the Father. They deny
either His humanity, or His deity, or His finished work, His person
as God-man. Look at Matthew chapter 22 with
me. Now, this is the test now. Do
you know Christ? Who is He? Over in Matthew 22,
you know the setting of this. They were asking the Lord questions,
trying to trap Him. Just like religious people do.
They get involved with questions that don't mean anything and
don't amount to anything, and they're trying to trap Him. But
down here in verse 41 of Matthew 22, look what happens here. It
says, while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked
them. Now, He had a question for them.
They had questions for Him, but now He had one for them. Their
questions were useless, but now His question is important. It's
vital. It's saying, verse 42, What think
ye of Christ, whose Son is He? What do you think of the Messiah?
What are your thoughts on the Messiah? Whose son is it? Well, they say unto him, the
son of David. Now, question, did they speak
the truth? Yes, they did. He is the son
of David. But he went on, Christ went on.
He didn't just leave it at that. Verse 43, he saith unto them,
How then doth David in spirit call him Lord? Saying, the Lord
said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine
enemy thy footstool. If David didn't call him Lord,
how is he his son? Now you understand what he's
asking here. If he's a descendant of David,
according to the flesh, the Messiah, how could David call him Lord,
recognizing him to be God? Because you don't call anybody
Lord in this sense unless he's God. How could David actually
say that a descendant of him, according to the flesh, is God?
How could he be both God and man? That's what he's asking.
Well, look at verse 46. And no man was able to answer
him a word. They didn't know. What think ye of Christ? If that
question were put to you, Or to me? How would we answer? How
can he be both David's descendant, David's offshoot, and David's
God? David called him in spirit. That
means David wrote that in the Psalms by inspiration of the
Spirit. So David by the Spirit made that statement. He's both
God and he's man. What's the answer? Well, the
answer is just that. He is both. He is God and he
is man in one person. That's what the Scripture teaches,
isn't it? He's God and man in one person. Look at Romans, chapter
1. Now, if somebody ever asks you that
question, take them right here to Romans, chapter 1. And I'll
show you some other passages, too. Who is Jesus Christ? Verse 1 of Romans, chapter 1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle, separated under the gospel of God, which
he had promised to for by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.
It's the gospel of God, verse 3, concerning his son, Jesus
Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David, according
to the flesh. That speaks of his humanity.
He had a human body and soul. Now, he's a descendant of David
in the sense that he came through the royal line of Judah through
Mary. Joseph and Mary both were part
of the tribe of Judah. He wasn't made of the seed of
man because he had no sin in him or of him or about him. He
was perfected. Ron read it in Luke chapter 1.
He's called that holy thing conceived in the womb of the virgin by
the Holy Spirit, not by the aid of man. He didn't come into the
world. He wasn't conceived and come
into the world like you and me. We came in through Adam's line,
you see, with sin. We were born in sin, born to
pray. But our sovereign Lord and Savior came as the seed of
woman without the aid of man. But he is called the seed of
David in the sense that he came through that royal tribe, Judah,
and he came through Mary who was of that tribe. So this speaks
of his sinless humanity, born of a virgin, conceived in the
womb by the Spirit. Now, verse 4. Now notice it said
he was made of the seed of David. He was made that way. His humanity
was created. It had a beginning. It's always
in the mind and purpose of God, but it came on a given day. We
don't know what day. In verse 4 it says, "...and declared
the Son of God with power." He wasn't made the Son of God. You
see that? He was always the Son of God.
He's the second person of the Trinity. He's the eternal Son,
the Alpha and the Omega, without beginning, without end. This
speaks of His deity. He was declared to be what He
always was and always will be, God in human flesh, with power. How? According to the Spirit
of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. The resurrection
of the dead didn't make Him the Son of God. It just simply declared
Him to be so. He's God-man. God-man. That's the doctrine of Christ.
Now, anyone who comes along and denies either his deity or his
humanity, that's antichrist. That's what John is saying. And
then there's the doctrine of his finished work. His person
and his work are connected. What did he accomplish at Calvary?
Did he save his people from their sins, or did he just make a statement?
Did He try to save some people if they'd let Him? Is that what
He did? Is that what the Bible teaches now concerning His death? Did He redeem His people? Did He pay the price? Did He
accomplish salvation at the cross? Or did He just try to do so? Alright, now let's go to the
Scripture. I want you to first turn back to Isaiah chapter 9.
I want you to follow along here and mark these Scriptures down. This is His work. Everything
He came to do. Everything He did. Everything
He accomplished in His obedience unto death. Everything He will
do. I want you to look at this, and
I want you to notice in these verses that I'm going to read
to you, that His person, who He is, and His finished work
are connected. You cannot separate them. And
that's why Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 2, he said,
I strive not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. Who He is and what He did. Now
anybody that comes along and preaches anything contrary to
what the scripture says on who He is and what He did is anti-Christ. I don't care how much you like
them. I don't care how much truth they've told you before. I don't
care whatever they say. Read the Word. Now look at Isaiah
chapter 9 and look at verse 6. This is a prophecy of Christ.
He says, for unto us a child is born. That's speaking of Christ's
humanity. He was born in the Christmas
story that they speak of. And all of that scriptural, not
the term Christmas and not all the junk that revolves around
it, but the fact that He was born, the Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us. He was made of woman, the scripture
says in Galatians chapter 4. For unto us a child is born,
a holy thing, a holy child, a seed of woman. And then unto us a
son is given. The son wasn't born. He has no
beginning. That's his deity. That's who
he is. He's God's man. And the government
shall be upon his shoulder. What's that government? That's
the government of God's grace. In other words, the welfare,
the well-being, The working out, the accomplishment of salvation
is placed squarely upon the shoulders of the God-man. Now, where would
you want it to be? I want it right there, don't
you? Right up on His shoulder. Don't place it on mine. If you
do, we're all goners. But this place squarely upon
His, all of salvation, conditioned on him. Everything that God requires
of me to be saved is placed squarely upon the shoulders of the God-man.
And then he says, his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
That's who he is. That's what he came to do. Verse
7 though. Now look here. Here's his finished work. Of
the increase of his government and peace, no end. It means it's not going to fail.
He didn't fail to save any sinner for whom he died. If his blood
was shed for you and his righteousness was wrought out for you, that's
salvation and you will experience it by the power of the Spirit
when you're born again. No end. Upon the throne of David,
that's not talking about Jerusalem, the physical city. upon His kingdom
to order it, to establish it with judgment and with justice.
You see, God must be just when He justifies. He's a merciful
God, but He must be just. He's a loving God, but He must
be truthful. He's a compassionate God, a gracious
God, but He must be just in all that He does. Holy. Justice from
henceforth forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts
will perform this. Christ is going to do this. Alright,
look over at Daniel. Turn to Daniel chapter 9. You see, the Scripture says that
he died for our sins according to the Scriptures. He was buried
and raised again according to the Scriptures. Well, here's
what the Scriptures say. And I'm just giving you just
a few. You know that. There's many, many more we could
go to. We just don't have time this
morning. But look at Daniel chapter 9 and verse 24. Now, don't get bogged down in
the numbers here. They're just indicative of the time that our
Lord spent here on this earth in his ministry, in his redeeming
purpose and work. Verse 24, 70 weeks are determined
upon thy people and upon thy holy city. And look what he did.
Now, here's the work of Christ to finish the transgression,
to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity.
to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up the vision and prophecy,
and to anoint the most holy." That's his finished word. There's
not one thing that we need for salvation that is not included
in that verse. He made an end of sin. He finished
the transgression. He made reconciliation for iniquity. He brought in everlasting righteousness.
Christ did. Salvation is by His righteousness,
not mine, not yours. He's the one who fulfilled it.
He's the one who completed it. Then turn to Matthew 1 that Ron
read for us. Matthew chapter 1. It says there
in verse 21. He's talking to Joseph here,
the angel. Matthew 1, 21. She shall bring forth a son.
Thou shalt call his name Jesus. God named him, not Mary, not
Joseph. He belonged to God. He's the
son of the Father. He's the Savior whom God sent.
He's the Son of God. God named Him. What does that
name Jesus mean? If you look in your concordance,
it says Savior probably, but it's more than that. It's more
than just Savior. It means God our Savior. That's what Jesus means. It's
a New Testament Greek form of the Old Testament name. Yeshua,
Joshua, Jehovah saves. You see, if it just meant Savior,
we wouldn't be sure, would we? I need to know not only that
He intends to save, but that He's able to save. Well, He's
God, our Savior. He did not fail. He'll prosper,
Isaiah said. All of it. For He shall save
His people from their sin. And then over there it says,
His name shall be called Immanuel, which being interpreted, God
with us. That's what that means. Look
over at Luke chapter 1. Did you notice there? It says,
His name in verse 31 shall be called Jesus. Same as Matthew
121. Verse 32 of Luke 1 says, He'll
be great. He shall be called the Son of
the Highest. This is the only language that could refer to
God. And the Lord shall give unto him the throne of his father
David. He's not talking about a physical throne on earth. He's
talking about the kingdom of heaven. The government shall
be upon his shoulders. And look at verse 33. Now don't
miss this. He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever. Who's
Jacob? He's a sinner saved by the grace
of God. That's a symbol there. The house
of Jacob. God's elect, Christ's sheep,
His church, sinners say, I am the Lord, I change not, therefore
you sons of Jacob are not consigned. Are you a son of Jacob? Are you
a sinner who needs salvation by the grace of God? And He says
forever. He's going to say that He's going
to reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of His kingdom there
shall be no end. It will never fail. Never fail. We could go on and on reading.
But listen, anyone who denies this, no matter what high office
he holds, what position he holds, or praise he gives to Jesus Christ
with his lips, if he denies it or confuses it, he's a liar,
an antichrist, and does not know the Father or the Son. That's
what John is saying over here in 1 John 2. Let that therefore abide in you
which you've heard from the beginning. Listen to me. I'll change in
myself. I hope I grow in grace and in
knowledge. There may be some things that
I don't see as clearly today. I'll see them better tomorrow.
I hope so. But now listen to me. Now, this
gospel is never going to change. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday,
today, and forever. Now, I may be able to express
some things better. But let me tell you something,
if my better expressions leave you walking out the door confused,
you better think a little critically now. You see what I'm saying? You say, well, I just don't understand. Well, maybe that's not what he
means. It's time for men to stand up and say what they mean and
mean what they say. Isn't it? We're living in the
last days here. He says, if that which you have
heard from the beginning shall remain in you, You also shall
continue in the Son and in the Father." You won't leave it.
John says, I'm sure that you won't leave it. Christ is either
who he says he is, what God says he is, or he's not. And that's
our only hope of salvation. All right, let's sing Amazing
Grace as our closing hymn. Haven't sung that for a while.
Amazing Grace, hymn number 236.