Look there in verse 28. Even as the Son of Man came not
to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give His life
a ransom for many. You know, our Lord Jesus Christ,
there's so much about Him and so many aspects of Him, so many
facets to His person, His character, His work, that we can never Cover
it all. We just can't do it. Just can't
do it. But I'm grateful that it's that
way. Never run out of anything to
say about it. Never run anything out to say about it. But the
Word of God never ceases to amaze me. We look at something for
years and years and quote it for years, and then all of a
sudden, we see it. Just, we see it. You say, yeah,
I see that. It comes alive. It comes with
power. The light comes on. And that's
today. That's what happened to me here
in Matthew 20, 28. And that's why we know that the
Bible is a spiritual book. Only the author can open it to
our understanding. Only the author of it can make
us see what it's actually saying and give us something from it.
You know, we can't read this like we read the newspaper. We
can't read it like we'd read a novel. We don't read it like
we read a magazine. This is a spiritual book. It
has spiritual words and spiritual messages. And so, you know, it's
like new wine. Paul says, you know, that wine
brings joy. Well, there's things about the
Lord Jesus like new wine that brings us joy. And it's like
a good meal. You have a good meal that satisfies
you, and you say, Boy, I'm full. I'm full. And it's like light
when you're sitting in darkness, and the light comes on, and the
darkness is dispelled. And what it is, the Scriptures,
is full of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Master. And I want you to
notice the first thing here in Matthew 20, 28. It says this,
Even as the Son of Man came, Not to be ministered unto. And
the first thing I want you to know is that He came. That He
came. And don't say we sin after Him. Don't say we ask for Him. But
it says He came. He came. And as the Son of Man,
He came. And for Him to come into the
world, and you know, this is the thing that most folks don't
understand, that Christ existed before He ever came. And look
with me over here in Proverbs. You keep Matthew now. Look over
here with me in Proverbs 8. One of the men read this just
the other day, read Proverbs 8. And it was such a blessing. But our Lord Jesus Christ existed
before He came when it says He came. And how many times do you
find in the Scripture it says where He came? And He was promised
to come. You know, God says that He would
send And here he comes, you know, the Lord Jesus Christ came. There
was a time that he never came. And he come into this world.
And so before he came into this world, he existed before. And
as the Word was made flesh and sent to dwell among us. Now here's
the thing about it, nobody asked for Christ. Nobody sought Christ. Nobody asked for a Savior. Nobody
asked for a Redeemer. Now, this idea that people are
perishing for the truth is not so. Men born believe in a lie. He comes forth from his womb
speaking lies. And he loves to believe lies
and will believe a lie until God comes and overwhelms him
with the truth. Now, when Adam fell, when Adam
fell in the garden, did he go to God and say, Lord, give me
a Savior, please save me? No. Did he say, please open my
heart, give me a new heart? Did He say, please give me a
new nature, please forgive me, please bring me back into fellowship
with me, please provide me a sacrifice that will put away my sin and
my rebellion? No! And man doesn't do that. And that's why it says He came.
We didn't ask for Him. But when the fullness of time
was come, God sent forth His Son, made Him a woman. And people,
listen, this idea that folks are just set and dying for the
truth, they're dying, but they're not dying for the truth. They're
dying because they believe lies. And if God don't bring the truth
and overwhelm men with the truth, they'll perish. Look here in
Proverbs 8.22 with me. Talk about Christ existed before
He came. The Lord possessed me in the
beginning of His way, before His works of old. I was set up
from everlasting, from the beginning, wherever the earth was. When
there were no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills was, I brought forth. I brought forth these things,
is what He said. While as yet He had not made
the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust
of the world, When He prepared the heavens, I was there. When He set a compass upon the
face of the deep, when He established the clouds above, when He strengthened
the fountains of the deep, when He gave to the sea His decree
that the water should not pass His commandment, when He appointed
the foundation of the earth, then I was by Him. As one brought
up with Him, I was daily His delight, always rejoicing before
Him. And oh, He came. And, beloved,
He was not driven out of heaven. He was not forced out of heaven.
He came of His own blessed good will. He came of His own free
will, if I can say it that way. He came because He willed to
come. He came because He delighted
to come. He came for the joy that was set before Him. He came
to save His people. And here, beloved, is our Lord's
preexistence, His infinite love and power. He came! And then
look what it says again over here in Matthew 20, 28. And it
says, as the son of man, he came as the son of man. And what does
that mean? That means, beloved, that he became identified with
us. He became one with us. He was
and is the son of God, always was the God, the son. He was
God from all eternity. He was the Son of God. He is
as old as the Father, as eternal as the Father, as equal as the
Father, with the power of the Father. Never was a time when
He wasn't. But here, there was a time that
He became something He never had been before, and that was
a man. That's why it's called the Son
of Man. And beloved, great, and this is the greatest mystery
that anybody can ever conceive. I said and thought of it again
this morning. That great is the mystery of
godliness. God! God, who dwells in eternity. God, who inhabits eternity. God,
who made the heavens and the earth. God, who is high and holy
and lifted up. God, himself, who measures the
waters in the hall of his heaven. He became man. God, who inhabits eternity, became
a man. And, oh, beloved, great is the
mystery of God. God was spent in the flesh. God was seen of angels. He was
justified in the Spirit. And, oh, here's a great mystery
He has believed on in this world, and then He is received back
up into glory. Oh, listen, You think about this, the moment
that he was conceived in Mary's womb by the Holy Ghost, he was
God. And yet he became, when that
seed of God was put in her womb by the Holy Ghost, he, rat, fin
and dire, became something he never had been before. And as
he growed in her womb, he was still God. When he hung on her
breast, he was God. But here he was a child, an infant,
a baby, the creator of the world, the one that gives us our life
and upholds our life, derived his life from a woman as a boy,
as a man. And he appeared as the son of
humanity. He was joined to God, he was
God, but he came and joined himself to man. You know why it says
that he can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities?
Because he bore our infirmities. He was acquainted with grief
and sorrow. And he can be touched with our
feelings of our infirmities. I mean, you think you've got
an infirmity that people just can't understand, you don't know
what I'm going through. He can be touched with them because
he was touched with them. And oh beloved, here's the thing,
take upon himself the likeness of sinful flesh. The likeness
of it. When you seen, he was a man.
When you taste him, he was a man. When you looked at him, he shed
tears of water actually flowed out of his eyes. When he sat
down to eat, he ate real food. But beloved, his flesh was not
sinful like yours and mine. And oh, there's lots of gods
of mythology. Oh, lots of gods in this world.
But every one of them is part god and part man. Some of them
are so pitiful that they can't do anything unless man helps
them. But oh, you know, there's Achilles,
Zeus, Thor, Jupiter, Mercury, All of those were part man and
part God. Jesus is part God, but they always
had a weakness about Him. Our Lord Jesus Christ was holy
God, completely and entirely God. And when He became a man,
He was completely and entirely a man. There was no weakness about Him
in any way, shape, form, or fashion. Oh my! He was man as if he was
not God. I've heard Scott Ritchie say
this so many times. And when I said it, you know,
you all have heard me say this probably a thousand times. And
he was man as if he were not God, and God as if he were not
man. And when he came into the world, he never ceased to be
what he was from eternity, a man, a God. And now that he became
a man, he will never ever cease being a man. That's why I heard
a message one time about a man. There's a man in glory. There's
a man sitting at the right hand of God. A man, when we get to
glory, we'll see a man, the Lord Jesus Christ. We'll see scars
in his hands. We'll see scars in his feet.
We'll see prints around his head where they stuck on the crown
of thorns. And we'll know that it's the Lord Jesus Christ because
we'll identify Him by the marks of His body and the glory of
His person. And now He's a man at God's right
hand. And then as God, He's there able
to say to the uttermost, thereby comes unto God. Amen. Oh, mystery
of mysteries, bless His holy name. He came as the Son of Man. Look what else it says here about
Him. He came as the Son of Man. He came not to be ministered
unto. Ministered unto. You know, we
love to be forced to wait on us. When somebody comes to your
house, you love to wait on them. What do you want to drink? What
do you want to eat? What can I get you? Man likes to be waited on. In
fact, what it says here, In verse 25, look what it said here. You know, when those James and
John wanted to be sitting on his right hand and his left,
all the other ten said, boy, oh boy, you all really think
you're something, don't you? You think you're better than
the rest of us? You think you know more than the rest of us?
You think you're holier than the rest of us? You think you deserve
to be at Christ's right hand. You think you deserve to be at
God's left hand. And oh my, and the ten herded,
they got upset against those two brethren. You think that
those fellows got along all the time? Oh me, but listen. But Jesus called him unto them
and says, You know that the princes, that means the people that's
in positions of power, of the Gentiles, exercised dominion
over them. I mean the boss is your boss.
Sure, it's over you if he stops you. Senators, presidents, all of
these, you know, they have this great power. And they that are
great exercise authority on them. I mean, you know, they tell you
where to go, when to go, when to come, when to go, you know,
how much you're going to pay and all that. But he said, it's
not going to be that way among you all. You're not going to
be like these heathens. You're not going to be like people
who love to exercise authority over somebody else. If you're
great, you're going to be a minister. And whoever who's chief among
you, whoever, everybody says you're the main piston rock,
that's the fellow that's going to be a minister. And look what
our Lord said, I came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. Now, you know how many things,
you know, he could have had plenty of ministers while he was in
this world. The ladies followed him around to minister to his
needs. The sisters did. The women did. But he could have
had plenty of ministers had he desired them. All the angels
in heaven would have been there just like that. Look over here
at Matthew 26 with me just a moment. Matthew 26. Verse 53. He's talking to Simon Peter here
and the rest of the brethren that's there with him, James
and John. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father,
and He shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels,
ten thousand angels. Don't you know He could give
me that many angels? All I've got to do is just pray
to my Father. Father, I need help! I need defense! I need angels around the angels
that camped around Elisha, you know, and all of them. People
came to destroy Elisha because he was telling everybody where
the enemy's camp was and all that. And they just come, and
this great army come around him, and that young fellow come out
and said, Oh, Master, Master, look at this army coming. He
says, Well, the Lord opened his eyes. He opened his eyes, and
there was angels and angels and thousands and millions of angels
gathered around him. And he says, There's more of
them than there are of them. That's what our Lord said, I
can add a minister unto you, you know, God. And that's what
happened here. But our Lord Jesus Christ said,
I didn't come to call, to be ministered unto. You know, all
the laws and powers of nature were at His disposal. I mean
the laws of nature, the laws and powers of nature at his disposal. He could have used them to bid
us run to him. That's why the devil says, command
this stone to be made into bread. He could have done that. Anybody
that can take two loaves of bread and five fishes and feed over
5,000 people with them, you know good and well they can turn the
stone into bread. He said, I can raise up children
under Abraham out of these stones. If you don't praise me, these
stones will do it. And when He told those children,
you know, have you any bread? And they come over there and
there's a fire and fish on the... fire with fish on it. Where did
those fish and fire come from? You think you can have nature
serve Him? When He was thirsty on the cross,
when He said, I thirst, He, out of the water in the heart of
His hands, you know good and well, He was there when God said,
set the decrees on the deep. Don't you know? But He didn't do that. Oh, no,
no. Oh, beloved, man wants to be
preeminent, but our Lord Jesus Christ, He wasn't. He didn't
come to be ministered unto. But look what else it says here.
Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to
minister. To minister. Come to serve. Come to do for
us. You know, what in the world could
we have given Him? Huh? What could we have given
to Him? He wasn't in need. We were. We
are. And He came to minister. And
He had all the riches of the Godhead. Anything a person needs, He had. Anything a child of God would
need in this world, He had it to give. You need grace? He's rich in grace. You need
wisdom and knowledge of God and the Scriptures in yourself? The
treasures of wisdom and knowledge is in Him. You need strength? He said, As your days be, so
shall your strength be. And you know, He came to minister. You know, He came to minister.
Look with me over here in Luke 4. You keep Matthew now. Look
in Luke 4. He came to minister. This is
the kind of people that came to minister. He came to minister
to the poor. Now, when he talks about the
poor, he's not talking about people who are materially poor. Materially poor. Oh, you know, they have these
bumper stickers and have them on their windows of their trucks
and all that. I'm poor but proud. But he talks about the poor.
Blessed are the poor. And he talks about the poor.
He's talking, look what he says here now. And he came to Nazareth, where
he had been brought up, and as his custom was, he went into
the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read.
And that was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah.
And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it is
written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor. Are you poor? And that's who the gospel goes
to. It goes to the poor. People poor in spirit, poor in
their relationship with God, have nothing to give. Absolutely
have nothing. All they've got is sin and rebellion. Have nothing to offer God. This
idea that God has no hands but your hands, no feet but your
feet, and He can't do nothing in this world without you is
a lie hatched right out of the pit of hell itself. Then we're poor. What are we
going to give Him? We can't give Him any merit.
We don't have any. We can't give Him any works.
Our works are... We can't give Him any righteousness.
They're filthy rags. We can't give Him any works because
our works are just nothing but... He can't accept the work of us. So we're poor and needy. Oh my, he has sin made to heal
the brokenhearted. Oh my. How many times has he
ministered to you when your heart was broke? He came to minister
when your heart was broke. When a child was sick, a husband
was in the hospital, or a wife was in the hospital. Or a child
was driving you, you know, just fixing to drive you around the
bend, and you just, you know, and you just, you're in a non-plus,
and your heart's broke. We're in a world, and you're
confused. Who, and did he minister to you then? Has he ministered
to you? Oh, when you're sinful, has he
ministered to you? And oh, he came, look what he
says, the priest delivers to the captives. Us captives. And He come and told me, He said,
Whom the Son sets free is free indeed. Know ye the truth, the
truth is set you free. He comes and sets us free from
error and sin and confusion and darkness and deadness. And the
law of God that held us captive. Oh my. And He said, I tell you
what, I'm going to give sight to the blind. Amen. And to set at liberty them
that prove to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. This is the
year. This is God's year. Acceptable year of the Lord.
This is where God accepted everything that Christ come to do. And oh,
let me show you something else over in John 13. You know, our Lord Jesus Christ,
how many times did he minister to his disciples? I done told
you there, when you know they're out there laboring, they went
back fishing. They said, well, you know, we just quit the ministry.
The Lord's gone. Let's just go fishing. Let's go back to working what
we done, doing what we did. They went back fishing. And the Lord Jesus Christ, He
said, children, have you caught anything? Nothing, nothing. Got
anything to eat? No, nothing. And he ministered
to them. He said, they got there and there
was fire. And there was fish on the fire. And he took bread
and gave them bread. Where'd that fire and that fishing
have come from? When they were asleep in that
ship, and that great, he was asleep in that ship, and that
great storm came. And those fellows were scared to death. Christ
got up and ministered to them. Great storm coming around. He
just told that storm, be still. When a storm comes your way,
you know what he'll do? Be still. Be still. Just wait. Just be
still. Look here, John 13, 13. You call me master and Lord,
and you say, well, for so am I. So I am. Then you take the
soul out of there. That's how Thalassize showed
you that. It's put in there by the translators. He said, you
call me Master and Lord, and you say, well, for I am. You know what that means, don't
you? If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet,
you ought also to wash one another's feet. You know our Lord Jesus
Christ got down and washed sinners' feet. Simon Peter is going to
deny him three times. John is going to flee. They're
all going to leave him in the Garden of Gethsemane, fall asleep,
and leave him to suffer alone. And he's going to be left absolutely
alone. Alone. to the justice of God, the anger
of God, the wrath of God, the mobs, the screaming. That's what,
what did he tell his disciples? He told them, he set them aside
and says, you know, I'm going up to Jerusalem and I'm going
to be delivered into the hands. The scribes and Pharisees, they're
going to deliver, condemn me to death. And he said, they're
going to turn me over to the Romans, to the Gentiles. And
you know what they're going to do? They're going to scourge
me. They're going to beat me. They're going to mock me. They're
going to abuse me. That's what they're going to
do to me. And yet, Simon, do you love me? I do. Oh, how he ministered to his children. Oh, my, my, my. He girded himself with lowliness
to minister to such poor creatures. You know, there's people that's
hungry one time. They partied him around for three days. And
he looked at them as sheep having no shepherd. He said, tell them
to sit down. Just sit down. He said, we're going to feed
them. He said, well, we ain't got no
money. We can't go to town and buy enough food for five thousand
people. We ain't got but a few pennies. He said, well, feed
them. How are we going to feed them?
He said, how many loaves have you got? Two. How many fish have
you got? Five. Start passing them out. Sheep
without a shepherd, people that was hungry, he ministered unto
them. Storms, he ministered unto them.
Unbelief, he ministered unto them. Coldness, he ministered
unto them. Ah, does He take care of us? Does He take care of us? And
then look what else it says back over here in our text, Matthew
20, 28. Look what else it says here. He came to minister. He is the Son of Man, and He
came. And then it says, even as the Son of Man came not to
be ministered unto, but to minister, and watch this, He came to give
His life. You can't minister unto anybody
more than that right there, than to give your life. You know, if we give our life,
we ain't give much, have we? Man had no life worth giving
to do anything for anybody else. Just giving our life ain't going
to do anybody any good as far as putting away a sin. Keeping somebody else from dying? Let me show you that. Look over
in Romans 5 with me. Let me show you something here,
just a minute. Romans 5. Man had no life to give. He's
dead in sin. And even if we did give our life
for somebody else, you know, throw ourselves in somebody's
way and die. And there's been lots of people
do that. Lots of soldiers. you know, throw themselves on
grenades to save everybody else, lost their life. There's been
parents that lost their lives saving their children. There's
been people that's laid down their life for other people,
but all they've done is just prolonged their other person's
life for a while. But their drive did not them from their sin,
did not save them from any suffering they're going to go through,
did not save them from any pain or anxiety, did not save them
from what they're going to go through the rest of their life.
They didn't actually go save them. May save their life temporarily,
but when Christ gave His life, His life had an effect, an incredible
effect, a powerful effect. But look what it says here in
Romans 5, in Verse 7. Verse 6. For when we were yet without
strength, in due time, now watch this,
Christ died for the ungodly. Ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die. Well, he's a righteous fellow.
Why would anybody need to die for him? You know, he was a righteous
man. You know, he's getting ready
to die. Well, I'd take his place if I
could. But, you know, why would I take the place of a righteous
man? Everything's all right with him. He's going to go to be with
Christ. And then watch what happens. Maybe even a good man some would
even dare to do. He's a pretty good fellow, but
I just don't know that I'd lay down my life for him. He's a
good man. I thank an awful lot of him. But now, listen, God's just exactly
the opposite of that. But God commended his love for
us in that while we were yet sinners, neither righteous nor
good, no strength. But God commended his love for
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. No righteousness, no goodness. Sinners. And all beloved, as
sinners before God, We was already condemned, already forfeited
life. But when it's said here that
He came to give His life, His life, what was His life? What kind of life did He have?
What was His life? Well, I'll tell you what it was.
It was holy. Ain't that right? It was harmless. Did He harm anybody? Did He miscreant
anybody? Did he do anything harmful, or
cruel, or malicious, or malignant? Did he ever utter a word that
shouldn't have been uttered? Did he ever act a deed that shouldn't
have been done? Listen, this, harmless, sinless, pure, full. His father said,
this is my beloved son. whom I'm well pleased, the Lord
Jesus looked up and said, I do always the things that pleases
my Father. And, oh, beloved, his was a full
life, a full life, an obedient life,
obedient to everyone who was in positions of power and authority. He gave His life. They did not
take it from Him. He had the power to lay it down.
He had the power to take it up again. And when He was on that
cross, what made His life, that holy, sinless, perfect, God-honored,
Holy Ghost-filled life, that Pilate came out and said four
times, why do you want Him to die? There's no fault in this
man. I've examined him. I've looked
him from top to bottom. What in the world has he ever
done worthy of death?" And yet he says, He told his disciples before
it ever happened, he said, I must be crucified. I must die. Oh, master, be it far from thee. But when he hung on that cross,
the scripture says he yielded up. Yielded. You know, you see these signs
say yield. That means you wait He yelled. Something else, but
he yelled it. Gave it up. Gave it up. All that he was, all that he
was as God and man, he gave up. Gave his life. And look what
else he said he'd done about his life. What his life was,
that's what he gave. Then it says this thing also.
It says here that he'd come to give his life a ransom. To give
it, to give Him as a ransom. Everybody knows what a ransom
is, don't you? You've watched enough TV shows and seen enough
things in the news. He come to give His life. Why
a ransom? Because a ransom was what needed. You know, whenever
somebody's taken in bondage and held a captive, they say, if
you'll give this ransom here, if you'll pay this here, He said,
we'll let them go. We'll let them go. Well, God,
Christ, came to give His life a ransom. And what is a ransom? A means of loosing. It's the
redemption price of a slave. It's the price of a captive.
And, beloved, what was we held captive by? First and foremost,
we was held captive by sin. We were sold under sin. Sin held
us captive. You ever know anybody, and everybody
says, well, I'm going to quit my sin. You can't quit sin. Sin
is part and parcel of it. How many times you say, oh God,
please don't let that thought come in my mind again. Next thing
you know, there's that thought. We can't even keep thoughts out
of our brain. And sin held us captive. Christ
paid the ransom. Huh? Being then now made free
from what? Sin? Then we're held captive
by the justice of God. God's holy law and justice said,
I will not let him go free until his sins paid for, either by
a substitute, or they paid him himself by death. Christ came
and gave his life for ransom. Take me! Let them go free. Take my life. Take my sinlessness. Take my
obedience. Take my righteousness. Take my
love. Take me. And then give me their
sin. Give me their disobedience. Give
me their rebellion. Give me everything that's against
them in your holy sight. Give them to me. and then slay me in their stead. No wonder Job said, deliver him
from going down to the pit. Why? I found a ransom. His death delivered was for substitution,
and I led my life a ransom. You think you can pay for one
sin, one act of disobedience? Christ not only paid for one,
but He paid for all His people, for all time, for all eternity,
till God Himself said, I will not remember their sins against
Me. Now, people say, well, you know,
we're taking captive to religion. God didn't pay the ransom, it
wasn't paid to the devil. It wasn't paid to man. It wasn't
even paid to death. It wasn't paid to angels for
angels. But it was paid to God. Let me show you. You keep that
and look in Isaiah 53.10. You know, I'll tell you, beloved,
God's got to do something for Himself before He can ever do
anything for us. The first thing about the death
of Christ was for God. That's why it's called the Lamb
of God. That's why He said, I do always the things that please
my Father. Look what it said in Isaiah 53.10. To whom was this Ray Davies life
a ransom? Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him." Oh my God, the priest bruised
him. That means he's satisfied. He
hath put him, God put him to grieve. And watch this, when
God shall make his soul an offering for sin. God the Father shall
see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of
the Lord shall prosper in his hands. He shall see of the tremendous
soul and be satisfied. And now watch this, and buy his
knowledge. By the knowledge that he gives
us of himself, by the knowledge that he brings to us of what
he did, shall my righteous servant justify many. Why? How's he going
to do it? For he shall bear their iniquities.
Bear them. And it's where? In his own body,
on the tree. God spared not his own son. Oh,
bless his holy name. When the devil comes, or my conscience
comes, or anything else comes and says, you know, yo, yo, yo,
I said, no, no, no. Death's been paid. The ransom's
been paid. And then let me show you that.
Let me tell you something. If my death's been paid, if my ransom's
been paid, and God is a just God, is He not just? Could He
possibly come and charge me again for something Christ has been
charged for? If it pleased the Lord to bruise
Him, would it please Him to bruise me? If God was satisfied with him,
does he have to come back and get satisfaction from me? Well,
he couldn't get it from me. The only place he could get it
was from his son. That's why it pleased him to
bruise him. And then look what else it says
here about him. Back in verse 28 here, just a minute. Give
his life, and watch this. He came to give his life a ransom.
I love this, for many. Now, you know, I wonder what
a freewheeler Arminio would do with that. He'd read that and
say, come to give his life for ransom for many. And Arminio,
that many's everybody. No, you can't put everybody where
it says many. You know. Oh, my. His death was in the place of
many. Many? Huh? Oh, my. He shall bring many sons unto
glory. I'm going to give you something.
This is a whole message in itself. I got a message. Him and me sitting
in Alpine here a while back. He said, he put a little note
and said, this will preach. Donnie said, this will preach.
And it was about who should be saved. And this is one of the
points of it. As many as? As many as! received Him, to them gave He
the power to become the Son of God, which were born. You know
why you receive Him? You know why it's as many as?
Because they were born, not of blood, not of the will of man,
not of flesh, but of God. And oh, listen, our Lord Jesus
Christ in John 17, 2 says, Father, Thou hast given him power over
all flesh, that he should give eternal life to who? As many
as thou hast given him. Acts 13, 48 says, As many as
were ordained to eternal life, believed. Oh, blessed. His blessed coming,
His giving His life is effectual. There's no failure. He paid the
price, and justice demands now that the just go free, go free. There is therefore right now,
right now, no condemnation at the end of your time. Huh? Did His death put away sin? Did those He died for, did it
actually put away their sin? As many as the Lord thy God shall
call. Have you heard the call? Are
you one of those as many as? Have you heard that call, as
many as the Lord thy God shall call? Did Christ give His life
at ransom for you? You say, I trust Him. I believe
Him. My conscience has been purged. I don't feel any more guilt.
I feel like God looks at me and accepts me in Christ. Well, you're
one of his many aunts. All right. Our Father, in the blessed, glorious,
holy name of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for allowing
us this time together. Thank you for teaching us the
gospel, giving us the gospel, giving us the truth as it is
in Christ. God bless this message to the
hearts and minds and souls and faith of your dear people here.
Oh, may some soul find such rest and assurance in you today. We
bless you in Christ's holy name. Amen. Amen.