Did what you told me. Turn, if you will, to Matthew's
Gospel, chapter 27. We're going to be working our
way to two or three places in God's Word concerning the glorious
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to this earth to do what we just
sang. Gary, one of those places we'll
look at, the last one we'll look at, I think you probably had
in mind when you wrote that hymn that we just sang in the bulletin,
Matthew 1 and 21. Call His name Jesus, for He shall
save His people from their sins. What a glorious, glorious truth
that is. Every child of God rejoices in
that. It's been within all just a little
over a week or so that the world supposedly observed the birth, celebrated
the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. So they claimed. I won't elaborate
on that. I know they did a lot of stuff.
But whether they actually in reality celebrated our Lord's
birth, I have my doubts. Because I'm sure you probably
have considered, when our Lord Jesus Christ was born in this
earth, in that manger, in that stable in Bethlehem, there were
actually very few that rejoiced in that glorious fact. Very few,
comparatively speaking. Few rejoiced at his coming into
this world. But now compare that to how they
rejoiced when he was leaving this world, as he was going out. They had a party. They, on Mount
Calvary, when they saw him suffering and dying, they mocked him. They made fun of him. And you
know who led them in doing so? The religious leaders, the builders,
our Lord referred to them as being. The builders said it not
the headstone of the corner. Here in Matthew chapter 27, let's
read about that. What a delight they took in mocking
the Son of God. Verse 35, Matthew 27. And they
crucified Him. No place for him in our world,
the religious leader said, the pilot. What will you have me
do with him? Crucify him. He just doesn't
fit in. And they crucified him and parted
his garments, casting lots that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by the prophet. They parted my garments among
them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots." That's from
Psalm 22. And setting down, they watched
him there. They watched him there. They
didn't have a clue that that one whom they were looking up
on, that one that they despised, the majority of them that day
did on the Mount, there were a few that believed, there were
a few that were saddened by the sight, but the majority only
mocked. Little did they know Little did
they comprehend that what they were observing was the greatest
event that had ever taken place. At that moment, he was obtaining
the eternal redemption of his people. My soul. Now think about that. Think about
that. He was bringing in an everlasting
righteousness. By His death, He was enabling
a just God to be just when He justifies a sinner. Being the
only meteor between God and man, Jesus Christ established a perfect
righteousness and bore all the sins of all of his people away. They observed that outwardly
and yet they didn't have a clue. Look at verse 37, "...and set
up over his head this accusation written, This is Jesus, the King
of the Jews, And there were two thieves crucified with him, one
on the right hand, the other on the left. And they that passed
by reviled him, wagging their heads and saying, Thou that destroyest
the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If
thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priest,
mocking him with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others,
himself he cannot save. If He be the King of Israel,
let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God. Let Him deliver
Him now, if He will have Him. For He said, I am the Son of
God." Imagine that. Imagine that. Have you ever heard
tell of anybody who was being executed, the vilest of the vile? If Osama Bin Laden had been executed
publicly, nobody would have treated him like they treated the Lord
of Glory. I mean, nobody would have mocked. Hey, come down from
the cross. Come on down. You claim you're
the Son of God? Come on down then if you're the
Son of God. What a despicable sight. That's
why I say, compared to his birth, unlike his death, there were
few that took notice. As John tells us in chapter 1
of his Gospel, he was in the world, that is Christ. He was
in the world. What a marvel! What a wonder! He was in the world. The world
was made by him. And the world knew him not. He came into his own. Did they
welcome Him with open arms? Did they bow before Him and pay
homage to their King? No. He came unto His own and
His own received Him not. Then, as now, the world by wisdom
knew not God. That's exactly right. The world
by wisdom knows not God. God can only be known. by a miraculous
revelation of His Son, God in Christ. Blessed art thou, Simon
Bar-Jonah. Why are you blessed? Because
God's made you healthy, Simon. No, that wasn't it. God's going
to make you wealthy, Simon. Oh, no, that wasn't it. You're
blessed, Simon, because my Father's done something for you that He's
not done for everybody. No, He's revealed to you who
I am. You're a blessed man, child of
God, brother and sisters in Christ. If you believe on Him, you're
a blessed individual. You have the riches of God's
grace. You have the true treasure of
heaven in the person of His dear Son. But then as now, I repeat,
the world by wisdom knew not God, but there were still Then,
as now, exceptions to that rule. Exceptions that only God makes
by His marvelous grace. I believe your pastor has an
article, Who Made You the Different, along that very line in your
bulletin today. There were exceptions then, and
praise His name, there are exceptions now. Again, reading from John
chapter 1, but, verse 11, Yes, He came unto His own, His own
received Him not. He came into the world that He
created and the world knew Him not, but there were some exceptions
to that. But as many as received Him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name. O my soul, John wrote in his
epistle, behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed
upon this, that we should be called, think about this, the
sons of God. You mean there are people in
this world that God makes to be His sons? His sons? One with His Son? One with His
only begotten Son? That's right. How did that happen? We just read there in John that
the world received Him not. His own received Him not. They
didn't believe on Him, but some did. What made the difference? Read on. Which were born? Now check that out. Check that
out. Here's the reason some believed. Here's the reason some embraced
the Son of God. Here's the reason some believed
on Him and were saved. Which were born, not of blood. It doesn't come through Mama
and Papa. Not of the will of the flesh. Uh-oh. Well, that
sure cuts against the grain of about 9 out of 10 churches what
they're teaching today, doesn't it? The will, the will of man
is exalted above the will of God. But this verse says that's
not why a person receives the Lord Jesus Christ. Not by the
will of man, not by the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man. Then what did it? What's the
cause? Bud of God. Salvation's of the Lord. Salvation
is all of the Lord. And then, as now, this is also
true. 1 Corinthians 1 and 26. You see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh Not many mighty, not
many noble are called but God. There's those blessed, blessed
interventions. But God has chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise. And God has chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty. and things which are despised have God chosen,
yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that
are." God's choice is the choice that matters. God's choice makes
all the difference. God hath chosen, and those two
verses, we read that three times. God hath chosen. God determined. God called. Preacher, you're
trying to say God does it all. No, God says that He does it
all. And aren't you glad that it's
so? Aren't you glad that every aspect, every facet, every piece
and part of salvation is entirely of the Lord? It's not up to you. And a believer rejoices to hear
that. Thank God it's not of him that
willeth. Now there are self-righteous
religionists, they'll grit their teeth at that. They despise that. When they hear it's not of him
that willeth, that's exactly right. And it's not of him that
runneth. How is a man saved? It's of God
that showeth mercy. Ooh, I can wrap up in that, can't
you? Oh, that's warm. Let the snow
fall. Oh, that's warm, wrapped in the
perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. There was
that night. Oh, my soul. There was that time,
that moment for which the Son of God created this world, when
He came into this world that He created. When God was made
like unto His brethren, the Son of God. A few rejoiced in that
mystery of God being made manifest in the flesh. There were a few
that God revealed that glorious truth to. Let me read it to you
here in Luke 2, verse 7. This was read many times a week
or so ago, but in Luke 2, verse 7, And she brought forth her
firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid
him in a manger because there was no room for them in the end. And there were in the same country
shepherds abiding in the field." That was common. There was nothing
unusual about that. Shepherds watching over their
flock. Keeping watch over their flock by night. That was such
a common thing. I seriously doubt that anybody
much noticed, Jeff. I doubt if anybody paid much
attention to those lowly shepherds. What's so special about that?
No one much noticed except God Almighty. God noticed. God took notice. God took notice. God did more than that. God did
more than notice His people. He loved His people with an everlasting
love. Oh yeah, He committed all of
His chosen into the hands of His Son. And His Son became responsible
to do all that God Almighty demanded to secure their everlasting salvation. Yes, God noticed. He saw those
lowly shepherds. We read on in Luke 2, And lo,
the angel of the Lord came unto them, and the glory of the Lord
shone round about them. And the angel said to them, Fear
not, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be
to all people. For unto you, unto you is born
this day in the city of David a Savior, a Savior. which is Christ the Lord. God
sent his angel to them. Not to Herod, sitting upon the
throne, not to Caiaphas, the high priest in the temple, but
to a few lowly shepherds God revealed this glorious truth.
The Son of God, this very night, is born in Bethlehem, the city
of David. Bethlehem. You know what that
means? House of bread. That's what the word means. And
that night, the bread of life was born. The bread of life came
into this world. Bread came down from heaven.
God was pleased to reveal that blessed truth to these shepherds. And they said, oh now, let's
go. They looked at one another and said, oh my soul, let's go
see this wondrous truth. Let's go see this wondrous thing
that God's revealed to us. And they went to Bethlehem and
saw, oh my, they saw that looking into that stable, at that young
mother holding that newborn infant, he didn't look any different
than any other Jewish boy. He didn't look any different.
He was made like unto his brethren. Isn't that something? And they
peered in. Oh my soul, they thought. There
He is. There He is. That's the One. That's the Savior. That's the
Savior of His people. God's made known that to us.
They wouldn't have known it any other way. And neither would
you. And neither would me. Or I, rather. Had God not been
pleased to reveal His Son to us, may we once again May we
once again do as these shepherds did. We've told that they left
after seeing the Son of God, glorifying and praising God for
all the things that they had seen and heard. May God enable
us to do likewise. I would like to read in three
places in God's Word, and I'll be brief with each. And the first
is in Galatians chapter 4. Just a few verses here. The title
of my message is this. You may recognize it as the title
of a hymn in your hymn book. Page 127. Hallelujah, what a
Savior. Hallelujah, what a Savior. Man of sorrows, verse 1 of that
hymn. Man of sorrows, what a name.
For the Son of God who came, ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah. What a Savior. Guilty, vile,
and helpless we, spotless Lamb of God was He. Full atonement. Full atonement. Can it be? Hallelujah! What a Savior! Are you in Galatians 4, verse
4? But when the fullness of the
time was come... Oh, this is the hinge on which
eternity past and eternity to come revolves. When the fullness
of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman,
made under the law, to do what? To redeem them. Not to make a
stab at it. Not to make it possible. Not
to make it contingent upon what someone might do in time. No,
he redeemed them that were under the law. Then and there on the
cross he redeemed his people from their sins that we might
receive the adoption of son. Oh yes indeed. Hallelujah. What a Savior. I love that verse
in Hebrews 9. I think I've already referred
to it. He obtained eternal redemption for us. In chapter 1 of that
same epistle, when He had by Himself... Oh, hallelujah, what
does that say here? When He had by Himself purged
our sins, He sat down. He got the job done. He did everything
God Almighty sent him into this world to do, and he didn't leave
anything undone. Mr. Spurgeon made this comment. The birth of Jesus is the grandest
light of history, the sun in the heavens of time. It is the
pole star of human destiny, the hinge of chronology, the meeting
place of the waters of the past and the future. The prophet said
700 years before the birth of Christ, Therefore, the Lord himself
shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son, and that shall call his name Immanuel." God
with us. God with us. His name is God
with us. The Lord Jesus Christ is God
with us, Gary. God with us in His incarnation. He was made like unto His brethren.
Because His brethren were flesh and blood, He likewise took part
of the same. My soul, I can't understand that. I can't understand that. Oh,
but I, by God's grace, I believe it. And I bow before it in wonders,
adoration, and say hallelujah. What a Savior. God with us by
His Spirit to protect us, guide us, and comfort us. God with
us is the terror of hell. God with us in His suffering. God with us in the suffering
of believers. He's their consolation. God with
us is the song of the redeemed on earth and the redeemed in
heaven. God with us. Brother Henry Mahan, let me share
this with you. On John 1 verse 14, "...and the
Word was made flesh." Brother Henry wrote this. I think it's
very good. He said, my friends, if you will carefully consider
this, this is the most extraordinary fact ever declared in human language. God became a man and took upon
Him the likeness of sinful flesh. The ancient of days became an
infant of days. The son of the Most High God
became a man of sorrows. He made the world, but as a man
he had no place to lay his head. He who made the rivers asked
the woman to give him a drink of water. He who cast out devils
was tempted of the devil, and the author of life died and lay
in a tomb. And Henry had these few lines
of a poem attached to it. The sun that hid from him its
face by his own hand was hung in space. The sky which darkened
o'er his head by him above the world was spread. The spirit
that shed his precious blood was tempered in the fires of
God. The grave in which his form was laid was hewn in rocks his
own hands had made. That's amazing. At the end of
that, I'll put, wow. Wow. What else can you say? Turn, if you will, to the second
place, the second text in Luke chapter 1. Luke chapter 1. Our Lord, it seems, appeared
first to Mary with the news that she should bring forth a son.
Afterward, he appeared to Joseph to set his mind at ease. But
first he appeared to Mary. Chapter 1, verse 26. And in the six months, the angel
Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
to a virgin and spouse to a man whose name was Joseph, of the
house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And an angel came
in unto her and said, Hail thou that are highly favored. The
Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women.
And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast
in her mind what matter of salutation this should be. And Daniel said
unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God.
And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth
a son, and shalt call his name JESUS, all capital letters. He shall be great, and shall
be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David." Gary read this in 2 Samuel
earlier. And he shall reign over the house
of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there shall
be no end. Jesus, he shall be great. He was always the mighty God,
the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace as Isaiah prophesied
700 years before. But now He became unto us a Child
born and a Son given. And in doing so, in doing so,
He became our great God and Savior. He must be great to fulfill all
righteousness, mustn't he? He must be great to satisfy all
the requirements of God's holy law. Nobody else could. I remember years ago hearing
a silly little... No, that's being too kind. A
stupid. A stupid little song about suppose
God searched over heaven and couldn't find someone willing
to be. as if to insinuate that there
was more than one that might accomplish the salvation of His
people. No, there was no search over
heaven. No, He's the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
No one else could do what God put into His hands. Nobody else
could be the Savior of His people. No one else was perfect God and
perfect man. The God-man Jesus Christ is the
only one. that could do such a thing. He
must be great, is he not? To perfectly keep every precept
of God's holy law. From the moment he drew his first
breath in Bethlehem that night, until He expired His last breath
upon the cross. And every step He ever took in
between those two events, every thought, every word, every action,
every deed, everything He ever did, pleased God 100%. Oh, He
must be great. He must be great. Hallelujah,
what a Savior. And that's what the angel told
Mary. Called His name Jesus. He shall be great. Great. Oh, how great He must
be to die as a substitute in the place of His people. How
great He must be for God Almighty to lay upon Him all the iniquity,
all the sins of all of His people, and Jesus Christ to successfully
bear them all away where they cannot be found. Oh, He must
be great. He must be great, for Christ
also had once suffered for sins, just for the unjust, that He
might bring us to God, being put to the death in the flesh,
but quickened by the Spirit. Indeed, He must be great to bring in an everlasting salvation. Oh, it's such a cost to such
a great God for such great sinners. Left it up, the hymn went on
the right, hymn writer rather. Left it up was he to die. It
is finished. Don't you love that? Oh child
of God, don't you love that? Left it up was he to die. It
is finished was his cry. It sure was. It is finished.
Now in heaven exalted high. Hallelujah. What a Savior. When I was a young boy at home,
Y'all know I lived up to holler, I'm sure. I've revealed that
fact to you more than once. Back in West Virginia, my father,
he was old-fashioned. Me and my brothers were expected
to do chores. We'd better do them, Darryl,
we'd better do them. And sometimes he would say to me, Larry, you've
not finished the job I gave you to do. You're not done. You're not done. Now go finish
what I told you to do. Oh God the Father, he never said
that to his son, did he? No. He said he does always those
things that please me. Behold my righteous servant.
Behold him. Look where I look at my precious
Son. He finished the work. He did
everything I committed into His hands to do. If He hadn't, if
He had enough, if He hadn't finished everything, and if God His Father
wasn't satisfied with everything His Son did, He wouldn't have
raised Him from the dead. But He did. and gave Him a name
above every name. Instead, He made His own right
hand exalted high. How high? Above everything and
everybody. He couldn't be any higher. Here's
the last place, Matthew chapter 1. Matthew chapter 1. We'll just read the one verse.
This is what the angel was sent by God to tell Joseph to ease
his troubled mind concerning to put to rest his needless fears. And the truth of our glorious
Savior puts to rest our fears as well. He says to Joseph in
verse 21, And she shall bring forth a son, and that shall call
his name Jesus again, capital letters, for he shall save his
people from their sins. In God's Word, people are often given a name
because it signifies something about them. It means something. Adam means he's created from
the dust of the earth. Abraham means the father of many. or father exalted. Moses means
drawn out because he was drawn out of the water when Pharaoh's
daughter saw him. And this name Jesus, as you know,
is the same Greek word from the Hebrew Joshua. And it means the
salvation of Jehovah or Jehovah saves. That's what old Simeon said,
didn't he? When he came in the temple that
day and God whispered in his ear and said, you see that baby? You see that baby in that mother's
arms? That's Him. That's God's salvation. And Simeon
looked at Him and took Him in his arms and embraced Him. Oh,
that's a picture of faith, isn't it? Thanks be unto God for his
unspeakable gift. Thank you, Lord, that you gave
us faith to see your Son. When I was a young boy, back in, again, West Virginia,
before the days of electronic devices, isn't that what they
call them, devices? They just mesmerize our children,
don't they? And adults. It's a pet peeve of mine when
I'm talking to somebody and they won't raise their face up out
of their telephone. That's rude. It's a common practice
today. But when I was a boy, we didn't
have all those devices to occupy our time. So I did something
that's, I think, sort of old-fashioned. I read books. Man, I'd get me
a book, James, about an adventurer, or an explorer, or an inventor,
and man, I would find me a quiet place away from my brothers and
sisters and I would just read those books. Davy Crockett, Daniel
Boone. Man, I was right there. I'm going
to get me a Coonskins cap and kill me a bear. I'd love to read. I've never read anything. by anyone that compares to this. Have you? Everything ever done
by every man who ever lived pales into insignificance compared
to this. Jesus, he shall save his people
from their sins. He shall. He shall. Not that He'll attempt to do
it. He shall do it. He shall save His people from
their sins. Thank God for such a Savior. Again, when I was a boy, I got
two older brothers, two younger brothers, four sisters. There's
a bunch of us. But sometimes when I was a boy,
my mouth would get me in trouble. So somebody convinced me that
I was tough, Gary. So I was ready to fight. Always scrapping because I thought
I was tough. I wasn't as tough as I thought
I was. Because sometimes when I would get in a tussle with
someone, or was about to, that I thought, well, I'm in trouble,
I can't whip him. You know what I'd tell him? You
better not mess with me. You know Jimmy. You know Jimmy
Chris. That's my big brother. That's
my big brother. You don't mess with me or you'll
have to deal with my big brother. Brothers and sisters in Christ,
we've got a big brother, don't we? We've got an elder brother
that's able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him.
Sometimes Jim wasn't around, and then I was really in trouble.
My big brother wasn't there when I needed him. Oh, but Jesus Christ
always is. He's always there. He says, I'll
never leave you. I'll never forsake you. Even
when you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will
be with you." Oh, what a Savior. Isaiah chapter 45, you know this
verse by heart. The Lord says, look unto Me.
Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful if God
would allow that to stay. We that have belief, that have
a fresh glimpse of Him, and any that haven't ever believed on
the Son of God, God would open their eyes. Look unto me and
be ye saved, God says, all the ends of the earth, for I am God
and there is none else. Look unto me. They have no knowledge
that set up the wood of their grave in image, and pray unto
a God that cannot save." That sounds familiar, doesn't it?
How sad. None can ever be saved by looking
to anyone, anything, except the Lord Jesus Christ. Young Spurgeon,
15 years old. When God got him lost, when he
was under conviction of sin, He looked for salvation from
preachers, from doctrine, from living a moral life, and found
no peace. Until one cold winter day, he
was on his way to a Baptist church. You've probably heard this story,
but I just love it. But the snow was falling so heavily
that he couldn't make it. So he ducked down an alley to
a primitive Methodist church. He went in and sat down. I think
he said there couldn't have been any more than a dozen people.
And he slipped in the back and sat down. The band, the pastor,
didn't even get there that day. It snowed in. And a man stood
up, opened his Bible to Isaiah 45. Look unto me and be ye saved
all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is none else. And Spurgeon said at that moment,
God opened his eye and he saw the Son of God who bore all his
sins away. And the burden of his heart rolled
away. Old Spurgeon said when he left
the service that day, left that church, He said he wanted to
tell every snowflake falling from the sky what God had done
for his soul. He got home. He was standing
by the fireplace. He said he could hear his parents
in the next room talking and his mother was telling his father,
something's come over Charles. He's different. He's changed. He's not the melancholy, depressed
young man he was before. And as Spurgeon said, he was
glad to tell him all about it. about that one who had made him
a new creature in Christ Jesus. Oh, what a sweet, sweet word.
Look unto me and be ye saved. As my dear friend, Brother Dave
Coleman, that God took home to be with the Lord, used to sing,
I am so glad. God saves old sinners. Aren't
you? I'm surprised and amazed how
He sets them free. Oh, but the biggest surprise
in God saving old sinners is that He would save an old sinner
like me. God, don't let me get over that. Don't let me get over the wonder,
the amazement of Your amazing grace. He shall save His people. Let me wrap this up. Jesus will save all of His people
from all of their sins. From sin's penalty, sin's power,
sin's presence. You know in heaven, when we behold
the Lamb of God, when we see Him as He is, with unsinning
hearts, can't do that now. No matter how hard we want to,
how hard we try, we just can't do it. Oh, but then, when we're
created in the image of Christ completely, body, soul, and spirit,
and we see Him with an unsinning heart, oh, what a view! Nothing. Nothing in between. I won't be
distracted. Now I'm distracted. Oh, this
world, look, look, look. And I'm tempted to look away.
Oh, but then I'll have a perfect vision. And I'll behold a perfect
Savior. Altogether lovely. Hallelujah,
what a Savior. I'll be satisfied when I awaken
His likeness. But you know what? Isn't this
amazing? He'll be satisfied too. He'll
see the travail of His soul. He'll see all those He suffered
for. All those whose sins He bore
away. He'll bring them all around the
throne of God. And He'll be satisfied when He
says, Father, here they are, here they are. I've lost none. And we'll say, hallelujah, what
a Savior. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. You know, William Cooper. He wrote many good hymns. My favorite is, There is a Fountain.
You know that. You know that man wrote that
when he was in an insane asylum? That's where God saved him. He had tried to commit suicide.
He was committed. He had a friend, came and talked
to him, witnessed to him, a believer. God opened his eyes. And that's
what he wrote. He based it upon this verse from
Zechariah 13 verse 1. In that day there shall be a
fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleansing. And he wrote, there
is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins and
sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains. And I love this one. Dear dying
lamb, thy precious blood shall never lose its power till all
the ransomed church of God be saved, the sin no more." And
these two verses of that old hymn are engraved on the monument
where Spurgeon is buried on the tomb. E'er since by faith I saw
the stream, Thy flowing wounds supply, Redeeming love has been
my theme, And shall be till I die. Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
I'll sing Thy power to save, When this poor lisping, stammering
tongue Lies silent in the grave. Hallelujah. What a Savior. God bless you. Thank you for
your attention. Let's sing that song, number
127. Hallelujah. What a Savior.