Good morning everyone turn with
in your Bibles, please to the book of Job chapter 33 the book
of Job chapter 33 We'll begin with verse 21 Job 33 verse 21 His flesh is consumed away that
it cannot be seen, and his bones that were not seen stick out. Yea, his soul draweth near unto
the grave, and his life to the destroyers. If there be a messenger
with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto
man his uprightness, then he is gracious unto him, and saith,
Deliver him from going down to the pit. I have found a ransom. His flesh shall be fresher than
a child's. He shall return to the days of
his youth. He shall pray unto God, and he
shall be favorable unto him. And he shall see his face with
joy, for he will render unto man his righteousness. He looketh upon men, and of any
say I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it
profiteth me not. He will deliver his soul from
going down to the pit, and his life shall see the light. Our Heavenly Father, we thank
you for the privilege you have given to us, the grace of God
that's been to us, that we have a place to meet with brothers
and sisters, fellowship, worship our God and Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And oh, how we want to worship
Him this day. Praise His name for all the wonderful
works He's done among the children of men. We pray, Father, that You would
bless this service this morning. May Your Spirit have complete
control O Spirit of God, I pray that you would be upon us. And
as the Word is spoken, we pray that you would take that Word
and reveal it to our minds and our hearts, our lives. We pray, Father, for anyone who's
never put their trust in you, that this morning you might reveal
to them the Lord Jesus Christ and who they are and that he
has accomplished salvation for his people bless us in our worship
we thank you Lord that you said where two or three are gathered
you'd meet here with us in the midst Lord we're by faith believing
that you're here with us we know it Then, Lord, when it comes
to the preaching of the gospel this morning, in my heart I say
who is sufficient for these things. I realize, Lord, that I'm not,
but that you are. You can do the job. You can do
the work. You can and you will, and we
trust in you for it. Many of our folk are sick. physical
problems, other kinds of problems. And I pray, Father, that you
would be a comfort and a strength to each one and to those who
are their caregivers. We pray, Father, that again,
that you would bless this service, bless our pastors as he's away
from us, and surely keep them safe, bring them back to us safely.
We acknowledge, Lord, that we cannot do anything without you
but with you all things are possible thank you our Savior in Jesus
name Amen in your bulletin the hymn of the day Glory to God on high Letter to
Henry Blunt by, Praise to his name. Angels his love adore,
Who all our sorrow bore, And saints cry, All they around thy throne cheerfully
join in one, praising his name. Ye who have known his blood,
sealing our peace with God, found his dear name. Though we must change our place
Yet we will never cease Praising His name To Him we'll tribute
bring Turn with me in your Bibles again this time to Matthew chapter
28 Matthew chapter 28 this morning The Lord allowing me and working
hopefully through me. I want to talk about the many. The many. Matthew chapter 20
and verse 28. the sons of Zebedee's mom has
asked for a place for them, one on the right, one on the left
of the Lord Jesus. He said, it's not mine to give.
Are you willing to drink the cup that I'm going to drink of? They said, yes, we are. He said,
well, you will. And then he says these words in verse 28. I'll get there here in just a
minute. Matthew 28. 20 verse 28 He says Actually verse
27 and whosoever will be chief among you let him be your servant
even as the son of man came not to be ministered unto but to
minister and to give his life a ransom for many not all but
for many And we ought to be thankful for those who are of the many
because He's chosen you and if He's chosen you, it's dead set
sure that you're going to be with Him for all eternity. What
a blessing election is. What a comfort it gives to our
hearts. And it's because that he gave
himself a ransom for many. He said he came not to call the
righteous to repentance, but sinners. He came to call sinners. Not everybody is a sinner. some
will confess that they have sinned some but when you get right down
to it with talking with people about the fact that they are
sinners before a holy God without Christ without hope without ability
to do anything about it they just don't believe it they just
can't see it and you know it's only the grace of God that shows
us that we are sinners. When you look at Jesus Christ
who is perfect, pure, righteous, holy, and you set yourself beside
of Him, you and I see how crooked we are. No wonder we have to
say there's no hope within us. What can you do about sin? How
could you pay for even one of them? You see, the scripture says all
are sinners. All are guilty before God. He
will by no means clear the guilty. All we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. And the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all. All of us, because we're sinners,
deserve the wrath of God. There's not one here that does
not deserve it. You hear people say from time
to time, well I'll take my chances on what I deserve. You'll go right straight to hell.
You'll be without God for all eternity. You die a sinner, you
remain a sinner. There's no way to pay for it.
other than one person Jesus Christ our Lord Ezekiel said it twice
in the same chapter he wanted us to make sure we understood
this the soul that sinneth it shall die the wages of sin is
death is what Paul said we deserve this death in Adam all die but
in Christ shall all be made alive aren't you glad for that the
wages of sin is death and then he goes on to say but the gift
of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord all of
us deserve the righteous justice of God the wrath of God and all
must bear their sins eternally those sins cannot be Removed,
covered, forgiven by any individual person. Do we have any hope? We sure
do. Jesus Christ our Lord. He's the
one who is our surety, the surety of a better covenant. He's the
one who struck hands in eternity with God the Father and the Spirit
and said, I will be the surety of those people. God chose a
people. Gave them to His Son. And His
Son said, I will be the surety. I will make sure that I bring
them here with me. He was God's satisfaction. Since all we like sheep have
gone astray, something had to be done for us. Something had to be done. We
have broken the law. There's none good, no not one,
none righteous, not one, none that understandeth, none that
seeketh God. But Jesus Christ our Savior,
satisfied the justice of God when he died upon the cross he
not only was his blood shed to cover our sins but when he died
there he died and took the very wrath that justice could call
upon took the very wrath of God and bore that wrath for his people
he was made a curse for us The Bible says, He took that for
you and me. And He was that great sacrifice.
That sacrifice that I need. That sacrifice that you need.
He bore that penalty of death as He was sacrificed there on
the cross. And no wonder Isaiah could say
that He is a just God and a Savior. Now when you can reconcile those
two phrases, you know exactly what the gospel is. The gospel
is a matter of substitution. Our representative, the last
Adam, took our place. He represented us in sacrifice,
in death, and now he represents us before God the Father. He's the advocate. And isn't
it interesting to think about our advocate, the lawyer? He requires that we admit we're
guilty before he takes our case. Lawyers here don't do that. They
want to try to prove you're innocent. And if they can't prove you're
innocent, at least reduce your sentence. Reduce the judgment. But our Savior, as he stands
before God as our advocate, desires that we admit that we're guilty. My little children, sin not. But if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who's the
propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also the
sins of the whole world. Our advocate stands there for
us. Now we're talking about the many
in verse 28. the many or ransomed for many
many does means not all not all let me
show you that turn back in Matthew to chapter 7 Matthew chapter
7 look at verses 13 and 14 of Matthew
chapter 7 Our Lord said, enter ye in at
the straight gate. For wide is the gate, and broad
is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in
thereat. Because straight is the gate,
and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there
be that find it. A straight gate, a broad gate,
a narrow gate, a broad way and many are on that broad way and
few enter in at that narrow straight gate as a matter of fact he says
few there be that find it he's a ransom for many but there are
few that find it do you know that the straight narrow gate
to me is a person it's the Lord Jesus Christ He's the straight
and narrow gate. He said in John chapter 10, I
am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved. He'll go in and out and find
pasture. I am the door. By me. He's the gate. He's the gate that we need. In Acts chapter 3, Peter and
John were going up to the temple and there was a man begging a
lame man begging at the gate called beautiful the beautiful
gate and that's the gate I'm talking about that man said looked
at him and was seeking some alms some help in his beggarly position
please help me remember what Peter said silver and gold have
I none but such as I have give I thee in the name of Jesus Christ
rise up and walk and guess what he rose up and walked and they
walked right through that beautiful gate right into the temple there's
only one gate there's only one way and Jesus Christ is that
way the straight and the narrow gate no wonder the psalmist David
said open to me the gates of righteousness that's where I
want to go that's where I want to go And if you look down just
a few verses farther in Matthew chapter 7, since we're talking
about many, not all, look what it says here. Matthew 7 verse
21. Not everyone that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Not everyone
who says, Lord, Lord, is going to enter in. Only those that
do the will of the Father. And what's the will of the Father?
John chapter 6 tells us the will of the Father is that you believe
on Jesus Christ whom he has sent. That's the will of the Father.
Verse 22, Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have
we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils,
and in thy name done many wonderful works, and the religionists of
our day are doing that? time and time again every time
they meet together they're building their big edifices they're building
their big congregations and they're telling them you are the one
who decides whether you're saved or not no sir nowhere in the scriptures
is that word decision used with salvation God does the saving God does,
He's already done the work. He's already accomplished salvation. It is already finished. And if the Spirit of God shows
you that, then He'll give you grace to believe that Jesus Christ
is your only way, your only hope, your only life. But notice what
else it says here, verse 23. Our Lord says, and then will
I profess unto them, I never knew you. What a pronouncement. I never knew you. Depart from me. Ye that work
iniquity. Many are ransomed. Not all. Not all. Many are ransomed. Look at Matthew
22. Matthew 22. Matthew 22 verse 14 he says many are called few are
chosen many are called Few are chosen, but those chosen ones
are ransomed. The Lord Jesus Christ did pay
the price for their sin. He did shed his blood for them.
He did redeem them under the curse of the law. He did do these
things for them. Many are called, few are chosen,
but those few are ransomed by Jesus Christ. Look at Romans
chapter 5. We're going to look at several
scriptures as we go through here. Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5 verse 15. but not as the offense, so also
as the free gift. For through the offense of one,
many be dead, much more the grace of God and the gift by grace,
which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many." There's the many. His grace abounded
unto many. As a matter of fact, the writer
of Hebrews in chapter 2 says it this way, and verse 10 we begin with verse 9 but we
see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the
suffering of death crowned with glory and honor that he by the
grace of God should taste death for every man for it became him
for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing
many sons to glory That's his purpose. That's the purpose of
our God. To bring many sons to glory. Many sons to glory. Are you one
of those sons? Many sons to glory. To make the
captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings for both he
that sanctifyeth and they who are sanctified are all one for
which cause he's not ashamed to call him Brother, saying, I will declare thy name
unto my brethren in the midst of the church, will I sing praise
unto thee, and again, I will put my trust in him, and again,
behold, I and the children which God hath given me. According to Revelation chapter
5, we're talking about the many, there's 10,000 times 10,000 and
thousands and thousands of them. As a matter of fact, it says
in another place in Revelation, a great multitude which no man
can number. In other places it says there
will be some from every tribe, every tongue, every people, every
kindred, some from every one of them will be there. Many,
but not all. And the promise was to Abraham
if you remember, your seed shall be as the stars of the heaven
and as the sand on the seashore. That's what it's going to be
like there. Now who are these people? Who are these many? Look at Revelation chapter 7
with me. We're in the heavenlies here
in chapter 7 and go down to verse 13 and one of the elders answers
saying unto me what are these which are arrayed in white robes
and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou
knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great
tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white
in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the
throne, and serve him day and night in his temple. And he that
sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger
no more, neither thirst any more. Neither shall the sun light on
them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the
midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto
living fountains of water. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes. These are they who have washed
their robes in the blood of the Lamb. They made them white. They stand righteous before God. Let me tell you a little more
who they are. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. We're
talking about the many. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. And we'll
begin in verse 21. For after that in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews
require sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach
Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the
Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom
of God. Because the foolishness of God
is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise, but some. Not many wise men after the flesh,
not many mighty, but some. Not many noble are called, but
some. But God hath chosen, here's who
they are. Here's who they are. But God
hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise. That's me. And God hath chosen the weak
things of the world to confound the things which are mighty,
that's me. And the base things of the world
which are despised, that's me. Hath God chosen yea things which
are not, that's me, nothing. Nothing to bring to naught things
that are and why did he do this? That no flesh should glory in
his sight If we are not giving God the glory in our lives In
our in the preaching in our church Then we are not Doing what God
wants us to do It must, this must, we must glorify Him. And He chose these kind of people.
And people don't like to hear that about themselves. I don't
particularly like to hear it about myself. But I know it's
true, don't you? I know it's true. That's where
I fit in. That's who he called. That's
the many that the Lord has called. He said, my sheep hear my voice. That's who he called. We're a
sheep. We're a sheep. When he said, all we like sheep. have gone astray. Many are called, not all. Why are not all called? Why does the world, the religious
world, try to say to us that God loves everybody, God has
called everybody? When in reality, He has not. He's only called the sinner.
He calls the sinner to repentance, not the righteous. Why? Because of God's eternal covenant
of grace. It's his choice. It's his purpose. It's his will. It's his good
pleasure. And whatever he does is always
right. No matter what man might say
about it. No matter how I might feel about
it from time to time. You see, it's the Father's sovereign
election. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious. I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy. I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. It's the Father's will. It's
the Father's purpose. In the book of Acts, it says,
as many as were ordained unto eternal life, they believed. the ones that were elected the
Lord added added to the church the Lord himself added to the
church daily such as should be saved What a day! At the day of Pentecost, 3,000
people trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior. A few weeks
later, 5,000 people trusted in the Lord. And many multitudes
from day to day were trusting in the Lord because of the preaching
of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. as a matter of fact it says in
one place in the book of Acts and many priests you remember
it was the priest who went through the crowd and got the crowd boiled
up to the mob yelling out crucify him crucify him it was the priest
who said his blood be upon us But when the Spirit of God came,
and when the Spirit of God revealed to them the truth, many priests
trusted Jesus Christ. Not all, but many did. As many as heard the word, believed. They were like Jeremiah, as God
was speaking, as God had spoken to him, Jeremiah said, Turn me,
and I shall be turned. It's up to God. It's God doing
it. I pray for them which thou hast
given me, the Lord said. I pray not for the world. I pray for those that the Lord
has given. I have chosen you out of this
world, our Lord said. As a matter of fact, we read
it many, many times in our services, but I want you to look at it
again with me in John chapter 6. John chapter 6 verse 37 our Lord said all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will
unknowwise cast out. For I came down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me.
And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all
which He hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise
it up again at the last day. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth
on Him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up.
at the last day. Whose will? God's will. Not man's will. Man's will is
tainted. Tainted with sin. Everything
he wills to do is tainted with sin. But God's will. Now that's a different matter
altogether. Because when he's willing, the
day of his power, something's going to happen. Something's
gonna happen and I'm remember and you do too those that time
when something happened When God spoke to our hearts when
he revealed the gospel to us when we knew exactly what God
was doing when we knew the purpose of God and God pointed the finger
to us and said you're one of mine and Today is the day of
salvation. Now is the accepted time when
he pointed that finger. Do you remember what happened? You trusted him, didn't you?
You trusted him as your only hope, your only salvation. You
trusted him with all that you are. You see, not only the Father's
sovereign election is involved here, but the particular redemption
of God's people by the Son of God. Christ shed his blood for
many. When he instituted the Lord's
Table, the Lord's Supper, in Matthew chapter 26, he said,
this cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed abroad
for many. For many. That's the ones we're talking
about. He bore the sins of many, who his own self bear our sins
in his body on the tree. And those he sanctified, he glorified,
he purified, he set them apart for that salvation. And he's
the only one who can give it. He died once for all. once for
you and me no wonder Paul said there is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus do you realize do I realize that
one of these days right now we're standing before God but one of
these days we'll stand at the judgment throw and our advocate who required
us to admit that we're guilty covered our sins, bore our sins,
gave us His righteousness, and He stands there before God the
Father with us, His children, and says, I can't find anything
wrong with them. Like they said about Him, I find
no fault in Him. Wow! Wow! before God we are just and pure
in Jesus Christ not in and of ourselves Christ was given the
power to give eternal life to as many as the father had given
him and he obtained that eternal redemption for his people no
wonder David said in Psalm 71 verse 3 thou has commanded my
salvation He did it. He did it. And when the Lord
chooses to open your eyes, guess what? They'll be opened. When He chooses for you to hear
the gospel, guess what? You'll hear it. He gives, the
Spirit of God gives the new heart, new life. And it's not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy
He saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing
of the Holy Ghost. Our Lord said it this way, or
John said it this way as he was writing about our Lord. As many
as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name. Turn with me to the book of Daniel. In the book of Daniel, you find
Isaiah, then Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and then comes Daniel. Go to Daniel chapter 12. A little bit more about the many. Daniel chapter 12, verse 1. And at that time shall Michael
stand up, the prince, The great prince withstandeth for the children
of thy people, and there shall be a time of trouble such as
never was since there was a nation even to that same time. And at
that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall
be found written in the book of life. And many of them that
sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting
life. and some to shame and everlasting
contempt. Do you believe that Jesus Christ
is your only hope? Do you believe that Jesus Christ
is the only way to God who said of himself, I am the way, the
truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Do you believe on the name of
the Son of God Now if you don't, John said, the Lord said, in
John chapter 3, you're already condemned. Then later on in that
chapter, John says, if you don't believe in the Son of God, you're
under the wrath of God. You can't be in both places at
the same time. It's either one or the other. And God said, and I close with
this verse, Neither is there salvation than any other. For there is none other name
under heaven given among men, whereby ye must be saved. Heavenly Father, thank you for
your word this morning. Thank you for what you have done
for us. how you accomplished our salvation and you made us accepted in the
beloved. Thank you Lord that there is
therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus
and thank you Lord that you're the door that by you, you caused
us to enter in. Thank you for your message to
us this morning. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Jesus Christ is all I need. need, all I need. He alone is all my plea. He is all my need. Wisdom, righteousness, and power,
holiness forever. Good day. We'll see you again, Lord willing,
at 6 o'clock.