Ephesians chapter 5. Just want to read a few verses
to us this evening from Ephesians chapter 5. And we'll begin with
verse 14 of Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians 5, 14. Our Lord says, awake thou that
sleepest and arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light. His life is the light of life,
isn't it, John said. See then that you walk circumspectly,
not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are
evil. Wherefore, be ye not unwise,
but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk
with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit,
but be being filled. It's a continuous action with
the Spirit. Speaking to yourselves in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in
your heart, where? To the Lord. giving thanks always
for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Notice there in verse 19, speaking
to yourselves. It didn't start with singing.
It started with speaking. Speaking to yourselves in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs. The words of the song are the
most important part of the song, because the words can be words
of truth, or they could be words that are lies. They could be
words that glorify and praise our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
or they could be words that belittle God. Speaking to yourselves in
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs Then he says, singing and
making melody in your heart to the Lord. The singing, the melody,
that's the conveyance, the carrier of the song. And sometimes songs
that are not true, and we have some in our hymnal, songs that
are not true have such a nice tune that sometimes we hear it
and it just keeps ringing over and over and over and over in
our minds. Singing in your heart, to whom? To the Lord. Whether therefore
you eat or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of
God. Let's pray. Our heavenly father, we come
to you in the name of your only begotten son, our redeemer, the
lover of our souls. our advocate, our intercessor,
our great God and Savior, the one who is mighty to save, and
the only one in whom we have hope, hope of glory, hope of
eternal life. We come to you as a needy people. We look within ourselves And
because the Spirit has showed us, we see no good thing. But then we see Jesus, who is
all goodness, all greatness, all righteousness. And in Him, we have this righteousness, wisdom,
sanctification, and redemption. Oh, Father. how thankful we are
for Jesus Christ and that great covenant of grace that was made
in eternity past and fulfilled by Jesus Christ when he died
on the cross for our sins. Tonight, Lord, we need you in
our service. We can't do this without you.
We don't want to do this without you. But you said where two or
three are gathered, You'd be there in the midst. And so by
faith, by the eye of faith, we can see you here with us. And
tonight, Lord, we pray that you would bless our speaker, Brother
Tom, as he preaches the gospel to us. We pray tonight that you would
make the gospel effectual in our hearts anew and afresh. and in the heart of your sheep
who have never heard or your sheep that have heard but have not bowed to our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ. Father, we pray that you would
bless those of our congregation. Some were traveling. We think
of our pastor. Oh, how we love him. How we want
him back here with us. Not that we don't like to hear
other men preach the gospel. But Lord, he's our pastor. He's
the one you said over us here. And Lord, we want to hear him.
Bless him, keep him safe. Those of our congregation who
have physical problems, sickness and trials, we pray, Father,
that you would meet the need there. We think of Jim. Continue
to help him. Thank you, Lord, for what you
have done for him. And continue to be at work in
his body, if it be your will. We pray for Peggy. We pray, Father,
that we might find a way to take easer of this pain. Lord, we
know with Jim and Peggy and others of our congregation, you could
just say the word. and it'd be done. If it be your
will, we pray, Lord, that you do so. If not, we know that your
grace is sufficient for us in our weakness. Lord, we just trust
you. You know what's best for our
lives. Sometimes we don't think so in our flesh. Sometimes we
fight against it in our flesh. But you know what's best. And
you know, and we know that all things work together for good
to them that are called according to your purpose. Loved of God. Thank you, Lord, for your everlasting
word. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Take your Bible and let's turn
to the book of Luke. The book of Luke. chapter 2, Luke chapter 2. Notice verse 49 of Luke chapter
2, and the Lord Jesus Christ said unto them, that is Mary
and Joseph, how is it that she sought me? Wished you not, know
you not that I must be about my father's business. The Lord Jesus Christ came here
among his people to do the father's business. The title of the message
this evening is what Christ must do for us. Let's go back just
a few verses there in Luke chapter two and pick up at verse 40.
The child grew. and was strong in spirit, filled
with wisdom and grace. The grace of God was upon him.
Now, his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the
Passover. And when he was 12 years old,
they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And
when they had fulfilled the days as they returned, the child,
Jesus, tarried behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and his mother knew
it not. But they supposing him to be,
to have been in the company, went a day's journey, and they
sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they
found him not, They turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him,
and it came to pass that after three days, searching in that
large city, among many people, it's the Feast of the Passover,
there's a lot of people there. They found him in the temple,
Solomon's temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, the
doctors, the scribes, the lawyers, the law, doctors of the law,
both hearing them and asking them questions. And all that
heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were
amazed. And his mother said unto him,
Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold thy father, speaking
of Joseph, and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto
them, How is it that you sought me? I'm not lost. I must be about my father's business. And they understood not the saying
which he spake unto them. And he came down with them and
came to Nazareth and was subject unto them. But his mother kept
all these sayings in her heart. Now you look at this statement
here. And Jesus, the man, the God man, 12 years old, increased
in wisdom and stature. and in favor with God and with
man. A real man, a real man-child,
yet God Almighty. The Lord Jesus Christ must be
about His Father's business. The principal part of that business
was to work out salvation for His covenant people and bring
all, in doing so, bring all honor and glory to God alone. You remember the Lord prayed
in John 17? Father, I've glorified thee on
the earth. I finished the work you gave
me to do. He finished it well, didn't he?
He came to do the Father's business. He did not fail to honor God. He did not fail to accomplish
redemption for his people. Isaiah 42 tells us about the
one who cannot fail. because he's God Almighty. The
Lord Jesus Christ honored all of God's holy law for us. He came to establish salvation
for us and to work out salvation for us by fulfilling the law
of God for his covenant people. The Lord said, I didn't come
to destroy the law. Remember Matthew 5? I came to
honor the law of God. And he did. The Lord is well
pleased for his righteousness sake. He will magnify the law
and honor it. Isaiah 42 21 the Lord Jesus Christ
came making Reconciliation for the sin of his covenant people
God was in Christ Reconciling us unto himself the Lord Jesus
Christ also came doing the father's business by completing and making
perfect complete and eternal atonement for the sin of his
people He appeared once in the end of the age and put away sin
by the sacrifice of himself. And the Lord Jesus Christ did
not fail to do the Father's business. These are the things that he
must do for us. honoring the law and precept
and penalty, making reconciliation for the sin of his people, completing
atonement, making complete atonement here in his love, not that we
love God, but that he loved us. And he sent his son to me to
propitiation. The mercy seat, the sin offering
for our sin, the Lord Jesus Christ brought in eternal redemption,
and the Lord Jesus Christ brought in everlasting righteousness,
which he freely gives unto us, a justifying righteousness. You
remember what Brother Scott used to say about that righteousness,
Scott Richardson? He said that righteousness that
he imputes to his people is not something pasted on. It's not
something just stuck to you, Bruce. It's what God does in
you. Christ in you is a hope of glory. The Lord Jesus Christ came. He said, I must be about, I must. I must. It's not maybe. It's
not could be. It must be. It must be. I must do the Father's business
in accomplishing salvation. This was His business, or we
might say this was His redeeming work, or His job, which neither
angels nor men could do. This was His special business
the Father gave the Son to accomplish, of which He was engaged from
all eternity. that must be accomplished in
time. Everything that God has purposed
and decreed in eternity shall be brought to pass in time. You remember the scripture from
Galatians 4, in the fullness of the time, the time, God's
time. In the fullness of the time,
God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law
to redeem them that were under that law. He redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. The Lord Jesus Christ must accomplish
salvation for us, or we have no hope. There's salvation in
no other. Right there in Luke 2 49, I realize
that all scripture is given of God, but these are the first
recorded words in scripture of the Lord Jesus Christ that he
spoke while in the flesh as the God-man mediator. The first words
he said that's recorded in his book is, I must be about my father's
business. Remember what he said on Calvary's
tree as he accomplished salvation for us? He said, it is done. Well done. Accomplished. And that's exactly what the Lord
Jesus Christ has done for us. This is what he must do for us
because we cannot do anything for ourselves, can we? He must
come, he must accomplish salvation, and he must give that unto us
as the free gift of God. You see, this is the Lord's doing. I love that Psalm, Psalm 118.
This is the Lord's doing, and it's marvelous. It's marvelous
in our eyes. It's the Lord's doing. Now this
morning, or this evening, I want us to look at several places
here in the book of Luke where this word must is used and consider
what the Lord Jesus Christ must do for us. The Father's business. Turn just a few pages to Luke
chapter four, verse 43. Luke four, verse 43. And he said
unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities
also, for therefore am I sent. Did you know the Lord Jesus Christ
was a preacher of the gospel? He must come and he must declare
the truth of God unto us, the testimony of God unto us. Look back in Luke chapter 4,
verse 18. You remember when the Lord went
to his hometown in Nazareth and he asked for the book of Isaiah
and he found the place where he had written, verse 18, the
spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives. to preach, to preach
the gospel, to preach deliverance to the captives, recovering of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, that's the year
of Jubilee. And he closed the book, gave
it to the minister, And sat down, and the eyes of all them that
were in the synagogue were fastened upon him. And he said unto them,
this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ear. The Lord Jesus Christ
was the preacher of the gospel of the kingdom of God. Look at
verse 22. All bare him witness and wondered
at the gracious word which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said,
well, this guy's a carpenter's kid. It's Joseph's son. And then he gave them the gospel
of God's sovereign grace. In the example of the widow,
there were many widows, verse 25, in the land of Israel, in
the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years
and six months. But God didn't send mercy to
any. But that widow woman in Sarepta,
she was a Gentile. God had mercy on a Gentile woman,
passed the others by. He brings up another example
of a leper in the days of Elias, the prophet. And none of them
were cleansed, say Naaman the Syrian, Elisha. The Lord Jesus
Christ was a preacher of the gospel. He's that prophet that
God said to Moses that he would raise up from among men that
would declare the truth of God. Now, what was the response? This
was his home church in his hometown where he grew up in Nazareth
and he declared unto them the gospel of the kingdom and then
he told them that God will have mercy on whom he will. What was
the response? Look at verse 29, and he rose
up, they rose up, When they all heard him, they were filled with
wrath, verse 28. They rose up and thrust him out
of the city and led him under the brow of the hill whereon
the city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
But he, passing through the midst of them, went his way, and he
came down to Capernaum, the city of Galilee, and he taught them.
He's preaching the gospel again. They just sought to kill him.
They just sought to throw him over the hill, and yet he goes
right about the father's business, preaching the gospel of the kingdom. And they were astonished at his
word, for his word was with power. The Lord Jesus Christ was the
preacher of the gospel, and through the preaching of the gospel,
he set sinners free and healed them. Look at Luke 9. Turn over
there, Luke 9, verse 11. The people, when they knew it,
that he was there, followed him, and he received them and spake
unto them the kingdom of God. There again, he's preaching the
gospel of God concerning salvation that's of the Lord, and he healed
them that had need of healing. Through the preaching of the
gospel, he healed needy sinners. I'm a needy sinner. I need him. I need him. You see, the Lord
Jesus Christ was a preacher of the gospel. God has ordained
the preaching of the gospel to the calling out of his sheep,
to the feeding of his sheep. We must hear the preaching of
the gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Not the
sad stories of mama and daddy and not the ceremonies of men. We must hear the preaching of
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, we can say with
the apostle, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it
is the power of God and the salvation to everyone that believe it.
The gospel of Christ. the Lord Jesus Christ. We too,
as God's people. Remember his last words there
in the book of Mark, when he gave that commission unto his
church, go into all the world and do what? Entertain folks,
make folks feel good, have a great fellowship. No, he said, go into
all the world and preach the gospel, the gospel to every creature. Preach the gospel. The Lord Jesus
Christ stood up in the synagogue that day and he declared unto
them the salvation of the Lord, God's sovereign mercy. And the
folks got angry, got mad. Don't know we read of anybody
there in Nazareth that was converted with that sermon. They got mad
and wanted to kill him, throw him over the hill. You reckon
he ought to stop? Reckon he ought to change or
alter his message? Maybe let's just take the offense
out. Let's just preach the gospel where we won't offend anybody.
My soul, tell you what, you take the offense out of the gospel
and you take the power out of the gospel. That's right. You water down the gospel and
preach it where it doesn't offend the sinner and you've got no
gospel. I would much rather tell the truth and offend men than
tell a lie and to offend God. I don't wanna do that, I wanna
declare the truth. You see, my friend, it is the
truth of God's word, of God's salvation, that liberates the
sinner and sets him free. Not the lies of Satan, it's the
truth of God that we must hear. Faith come by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. We too must be about our Father's
business, preaching the gospel. It's pleased God to ordain that. to call out his people. Aren't
you glad the Lord sent you a gospel preacher? I know you are. We're blessed. Oh, we've been
so blessed. Brother Scott Richardson, Brother
Henry Mahan, those old-timers that blazed away for us, preaching
the gospel of God's grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. We must,
too, in this day. The Lord's given us so many means
in this day, so many avenues to preach the gospel over the
radio, internet, sermon audio. I think the only reason the internet
exists I know people misuse and abuse it, but people misuse and
abuse guns too. I'm not going to take their guns
away from them. Don't take the internet away from me. Don't
take the internet away from God's people. The only reason that
internet exists is so we can preach the gospel. I'm convinced
of it. That's the only reason it's there. That's the only why
God let's us have it. We've been doing Brother Henry
Mahan's media ministry for about 10 years. And through that Sermon
Audio, we've been able to take all of his old cassette tapes
and through a process of putting them in a digital format, took
us three years to do that. But we've been up on Sermon Audio
now with Brother Henry's messages for about 10 years. You know,
there's over, over now, over a million downloads that have
gone out all over this world, over a million sermons. Brother
Henry now is preaching to more folks than he ever has. There
was some months when we started doing sermons in Chinese that
there was a thousand downloads a day into China. People over there listening to
the gospel of Christ. My soul, God has given us such
blessed means. Let's be about our father's business,
preaching the gospel. I know your pastor is faithful
to do that. Faithful to do that. Now, here's
the second thing. So the Lord must be about his
business, the Father's business, preaching the gospel. We need
to hear the gospel. Now, here's another one. Turn
to Luke 9. Luke 9, verse 18. Luke 9, 18. And it came to pass, as he was
alone praying, his disciples were with him, and he asked them,
saying, whom say ye, whom say the people that I am? They answering
said, John the Baptist, but some say Elias or Elijah, and others
say that one of the old prophets, Jeremiah or another that has
risen again. And he said, and then, but whom
say ye that I am? And Peter answering said, the
Christ of God. And he straightly charged them
and commanded them to tell, at this time, he said, to tell no
man that thing. Now, he had a purpose in that.
Verse 22, saying, the son of man must suffer many things. He must suffer many things and
he must be rejected. He came into his own, his own
received him not. These things must be of the elders
and chief scribes. The chief priests and scribes,
the Pharisees, and be slain, he must suffer, he must be rejected,
he must be slain, and oh, by the way, not gonna stay dead. He must be raised the third day
according to the scripture. Now, the Lord must suffer many
things. Why must he suffer? I mean, isn't
there some other way? Can't we get this business, the
Father's business, done some other way than the Lord Jesus
Christ to suffer like no other? Why is he called the man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief? There in Lamentations chapter
1 we read, Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by, behold and
see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow? Wherewith I've
been afflicted by the hand of God Almighty. Please the Lord
to bruise him in our stead, in our room. Why is he called the
man of sorrows? Why did he suffer like no other?
I know this. He's the only one who never deserved
to suffer. He never deserved to be slain.
He never harmed anyone. He healed all those who had need
of healing. He never harmed anyone. He went
about doing the Father's business. He went about doing good. He
never sinned. He had no sin, knew no sin, and
did no sin. But yet this man suffers like
no other person has ever suffered. He suffers like no one else.
Not only did he suffer at the hands of wicked men, he suffered
at their hands. They beat him, brutalized him,
whipped him, spit in his face, mocked him as prophet, priest,
and king. He suffers at the hands of men. The Roman soldiers who nailed
him, the man who thrust the spear through his side, he suffers
like no other. But we must look past the sufferings
that he suffers at the hands of men and look at the suffering
and how he suffers at the hand of God. The hand of God. He suffers at the hand of his
heavenly father. It said in Isaiah 53 that it
pleased the Lord to bruise him. It pleased God to do so. We know
it pleased the Roman soldiers to crucify him. We know it pleased
Pilate to turn him over to the Jews, but what we must see that
his sufferings were his soul suffering, and he suffers like
no other, and he suffers at the hand of God, his father. You
see, he bear our sin in his own body on the tree. The just one
suffered for the unjust that he might bring us unto God. You
see, this is the Father's business too. There's no other way. There's
no other way that we enjoy salvation but at the hands of his suffering.
Think about this. It wasn't what wicked men that
day did at Calvary that accomplished salvation, is it? Was it what
wicked men did that day to the Lord Jesus Christ that accomplished
salvation? Oh, no. It's what God was doing
at the cross. You see, this is His lamb. This
is His sacrifice. He's bruised as a father, wounded
as a father because of our sin that was laid upon Him. He suffers
like no one ever did. because he's suffering for all
the sins of a certain people laid upon him. He suffers the
hell of God's wrath to put away our sin. He suffered unto death,
being put to death in the flesh. He died a real death, even the
death of the cross. You see, it says there that he
must suffer and that he must be slain. And think about this. No man
took his life, he laid down his life for us. You remember he
said in John 10, no man takes my life from me. I have the power
to lay it down. I have the power to take it again.
This commandment have I received from my father. He must be slain. because he stands as our substitute
with the guilt of our sin being reckoned unto him. The Lord laid
on him. God made him sin for us who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
There's no other way for atonement to be made. There's no other
way for God's justice to be satisfied. There's no other way for God
to justify the ungodly, but through the Lord Jesus Christ suffering
for my sin and the sin of God's people. Oh, how he suffers like
no one else suffers. He suffers that we might never
suffer the hell of God's wrath. He died that we might live forever
in his presence. He died that he might bring us
unto God. But this text also says the son
of man, who's the son of God, must suffer many things and be
rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes and be slain,
be killed, and be raised again the third day. Now how important
is his resurrection? It's vital to everything he said
and everything he did. If the Lord Jesus Christ, if
his body is still in the ground somewhere, we have no hope of
salvation. If Christ be not raised up, our
preaching is vain and your faith is vain and we are yet in our
sins. Thank God, the messenger said,
oh, he's not here, he's risen. He's risen, not only risen from
the dead, but he ascended to glory and he's seated at the
right hand of God, having accomplished the Father's business for us.
See yonder, see him sit yonder, there's a man in glory with nail
print in his hand. What does his presence there
mean to me? Salvation. Accomplishment. He's the forerunner.
When he entered in, we entered in in him. He's a representative
man. What he did, we did. When he
died, we died. When he came out of that tomb,
we came out with him. And when he ascended to glory,
we ascended with him. Union with him, vital union with
him. And when he sat down, we sat
down in him. This is the Lord's doing, and
it's marvelous in our eyes. This is the Father's business
that he must be about. Aren't you thankful? delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. I love
that scripture in Revelation where it said, I am he that liveth
and was dead. Behold, I'm alive forevermore,
and I have the keys of hell and death. He's in charge. Salvation's in his hand. I want
it there, and it is there. Here's another scripture, couple
more. Turn over to Luke 24, Luke 24. Then we'll look at one more in
Luke 19. These are the things the Lord
must do for us. Luke 24. This is the resurrected
Lord now in Luke 24, 44. You got it? Luke 24, 44. And
the Lord said unto them, these are the words which I spake unto
you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled,
which are written in the law of Moses and in the prophets
and in the Psalms concerning me." Remember he said to those
men earlier, beginning of Moses, verse 27, not Christ to have
suffered these things and to enter into his glory, O fool's
slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken,
and beginning of Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto
them in all the Scriptures a thing concerning himself. Now look
back at verse 45, then he opened their understanding that they
might understand the scripture and said to them, thus it is
written, thus it must be, it must, thus it behoove Christ
to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day that repentance
and remission of sin should be preached in his name beginning
at Jerusalem, in his name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem
and you are witnesses of these things. All things must be fulfilled
by the Lord Jesus Christ. He left nothing undone. You see,
he dies for our sin according to the scriptures. How many times
do we read through the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
all this was done that the scripture might be fulfilled? How many
times do we read that? I mean, it's numerous times.
Everything the Lord Jesus Christ did Accomplishing our salvation
was prophesied of beginning all the way back in Genesis, the
woman's seed that was crushed the serpent's head. The Lord
Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of all scripture, every type
and picture and pattern in the Old Testament, the Lord Jesus
Christ fulfilled all things. The Old Testament pictured the
way of salvation in Christ, didn't it? But the Lord Jesus Christ
fulfilled all those types. For example, the Passover lamb,
the Lord Jesus Christ, he is our Passover that is sacrificed
for us. That Passover lamb pictured the
shedding of blood, pictured substitution. God said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. But all that is a picture of
what the Lord Jesus Christ actually fulfilled. He is our Passover. When God sees us in Christ, the
wrath of God passes over us. There is no condemnation to those
who are in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is a fulfillment
of that smitten rock there in the wilderness. When Moses took
that rod and smoked that rock and the water came out, the Lord
Jesus Christ is the water of life. He's the water of life. The man that fell from heaven
there in the wilderness, the Lord Jesus Christ is the fulfillment
of that. Read John chapter 5. The Lord
said, I'm the bread of life. He that believeth in me shall
never hunger. He that cometh to me shall never
thirst, shall never hunger. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so, what's that word, must the Son of Man
be lifted up. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
fulfillment of that brazen serpent. You remember the story from Numbers
21? When the people murmured against God, God sent fiery serpents
among them. And those who were bitten, if
they did not look to that brazen serpent lifted up, picturing
Christ being lifted up for us, those who looked to the serpent,
that brazen serpent lifted up, they were healed, weren't they?
Even so must the Lord Jesus Christ be lifted up. And he was, for
us, putting away our sin. You see, he must come to do the
Father's business, and he must fulfill all things for us. He must. He must. Now, here's
another one. Turn back now to Luke 19. Luke 19. Remember the story of
Zacchaeus? Zacchaeus, he was a rich tax
collector, he was chief among the publicans, and he was a rich
man. He gained riches through his
thievery, through cheating people. Verse 3 says, in Luke 19, he
sought to see Jesus, who he was, and he could not for the press
because he was little of stature. And he ran before and climbed
up into a sycamore tree to see the Lord, for he was to pass
that way. Now, remember what God does,
he does on purpose. He must needs go to Samaria to
save that woman at the well, and he must needs go through
Jericho to meet Zacchaeus. And when Jesus came to the place. He looked up and saw him. You
know, this is not the first time he saw him. That's right. He saw him in that eternal covenant
of grace. He saw the foundation of God
standing sure the Lord knoweth them that are his. When the Lord came to the place,
he looked up and he saw him. And he said unto Zacchaeus, this
notable sinner, make haste and come down for today I must. You see that? I must abide at
thy house. There's that irresistible effectual
call of God. I must abide at that house. at
thy house. And you know what happened? He
made haste, and he came down, and he received them joyfully. I must abide at thy house." The
Lord Jesus Christ must cross our path with the gospel and
call us out. He said, my sheep hear my voice,
I know them, I give them eternal life, and they shall follow me. The Lord will cross the path
of his elect that he has chosen from all eternity, and he will
cross their path with the true gospel, and he will call them
out, and he must abide at their house. You know why? Look what
it said down in verse 9, Luke 19, verse 9. And the Lord Jesus Christ said,
this day is salvation come to this house. You see, The Lord
Jesus Christ himself is salvation. For as much as also, as much
as he also is the son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to
seek and to save that which was lost. Now all those people in
Jericho, that they were all natural sons of Abraham, but Ozaki was
a spiritual son of Abraham, made an heir of God and a joint heir
with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ must needs
go through Jericho to meet one of his elect. And my friend,
God will cross the path of his covenant children with the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ and he will call them out and he
won't leave us alone. He doesn't save us and then shove
us out there and say, okay, you're on your own. No, he must abide
in our house. Christ in you is a hope of glory. He must abide with us, and he
does. He said, I'll never leave you,
I'll never forsake you. The Lord Jesus Christ must do
a work of salvation for us, and he has, by putting away our sin,
by bringing in everlasting righteousness, by justifying us before God. He said, my need is to do the
will of him that sent me and to finish his work. But in the
application of salvation, there is a work of God, a work of grace
that's done in us, Christ in you. You see, salvation is not
only what he's done for us, but in our experience of grace. And I'm not telling you to seek
an experience, but salvation by the grace of God is certainly
something we experience, isn't it? Well, I mean, we know when
it's taking place, that conviction of sin. of judgment, of righteousness,
of seeing what I am, of judgment what happened at Calvary, and
of righteousness that I need in Christ. That's something we
experience. God who has begun the good work
in you. He will get it done. He will
finish it. You see, this is all part of
the Lord Jesus Christ going about to do the Father's business. We are kept by his abiding presence. I'll never leave you. I'll never
forsake you. We are kept by his abiding power. I can't keep myself. We're kept by the power of God.
I love what Peter said, Lord, to whom shall we go? You remember
those folks walked away from him? And the Lord said, well,
if you want to leave, now's the time. Follow the crowd. Peter
said, Lord, to whom shall we go? We believe and you are sure. You have the words of eternal
life. We believe and we're sure you're that Christ. We have nowhere
else to go. Christ is everything to the believer.
You see, we're kept by his abiding presence. We're kept by his abiding
power. These are the things that must be. Now, one more, I'll
let you go. Acts chapter four. Acts chapter
4. You remember the impotent man there
at the temple that was healed? Peter and John said, in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ, rise up and walk. They got in trouble. You remember? Acts chapter 4.
They were arraigned before this council. And Peter said unto
them in verse 8 of Acts 4, Then Peter filled with the Holy Ghost
said unto them, You men, you rulers of Israel and elders of
Israel, if we this day be examined the good deed done to this impotent
man by what means he's made whole, Be it known unto you and all
the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
the one you crucified, the one God raised from the dead, even
by him, that this man stand here before you whole. This is that
stone, that foundation, which was set at Nod of you builders,
which has become the head of the corner. Neither is there
salvation than any other, for there is none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Salvation is the Lord Jesus Christ
accomplishing the Father's business. This is the name, that name which
is above every name, the name, the Lord Jesus Christ of which
name every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord. Christ must be our Savior because
there is no other Savior, is there? No other name under heaven,
given among men, whereby we must be saved. You see, the Lord Jesus
Christ accomplishing the Father's business demands our salvation. Think of it. Demands our salvation. Those for whom he died, he's
going to have. They cannot perish. The Lord
said, I give them eternal life and they shall never perish.
Christ must be our Savior because there's no other. The Lord Jesus
Christ must save us because he's the only mediator. One God and
one mediator between God and men, that is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ must be
our Savior, must be our salvation because he's the only advocate
with the Father. Who is our advocate? You better
have one. You can't do business with God. You need a advocate and a mediator,
and that is none other than Jesus Christ the righteous. You see,
his advocacy on the part of his people demands their salvation.
They must be set free. This is a name that's above every
name. Christ must be our savior because
he's the only one. He's the only mediator. He's
the only advocate. How about he's the only redeemer?
I mean, he's a savior who saves his people. He is the redeemer
that actually redeems his people. He's a justifier that actually
justifies the ungodly. Think of it. Justified before
God, declared not guilty, cleared of all guilt. That's what we
have in Christ, no condemnation in him. And he's our intercessor. What's he doing right now? Where's
he at right now? He ever lives, he's able to save
to the uttermost all that come to God by him, seeing he ever
liveth to make intercession for us. He right now intercedes for
us before the Father, and he doesn't plead our righteousness,
our work, our merit, he pleads his. And it's accepted. You see, we are accepted in the
beloved. And the Lord Jesus Christ must save us because he's the
only foundation. There is no other foundation,
is there? Behold, I lay in Zion, Isaiah
28. Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation
of stone, a tri-stone, a precious cornerstone. He that believeth
on him shall never make haste, be never forced out, never be
ashamed. This is the only foundation we
have. You see, salvation is not what we do for God. It's what God in Christ has done
for us. You see, he must come. That's
why it says over here, I must be about my father's business. And the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished
the father's business, and in doing so, honored God and saved
us in a way that's honorable, that he might be a just God and
savior, that he might be just and the justifier. Okay, well,
Lord bless you. You have an open invitation.
to come and visit us in Pikeville, Kentucky. Okay? You're invited. Everyone, I'm an open invitation.
Someone asked me, when's your Bible conference? I said, every
Sunday. We have a Bible conference every Sunday. So, you come be
with us. God bless you. Thank you. Let's stand and dismiss with
song number 125 in your hymnal. I hear the Savior say, thy strength
indeed is small. Child of weakness, watch and
pray. Bind in me thine all in all. Jesus paid it all, all to Him
I owe. And left a crimson stain, He
washed it white as snow. Lord, now indeed I find Thy power
and Thine alone Can change the leper's spot And melt the heart
of stone Jesus paid it all All to Him I owe Left a crimson stain, he washed
it white as snow. ? For nothing good have I ? Whereby
thy grace to claim ? I'll wash my garments white ? In the blood
of Calvary's lamb ? Jesus paid it all ? All to him I owe And left a crimson stain, he
washed it white as gold. And when before the throne I
stand in Him complete Jesus died my soul to save My lips shall
still repeat Jesus paid it all All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain,
He'd washed it white as snow.