Open your Bibles, if you would,
to the book of Luke. The name of the message is the
name of Jesus. What's in a name? You know, when a mom and dad
find out that they're going to have a baby, they sometimes find
out if it's a boy or a girl, or sometimes they don't, and
then they pick out a name, right? They choose a name. And usually
before the baby's born, they have a name picked out, And they
name their child that, or sometimes they wait until the baby's born,
and then they name the baby. So, but, what is in a name? Now, a name can identify a person,
can't it? A name can identify, a name,
our full names identify us from other people. Now, other people
can have the same name as we have too, though, right? But
it's our person who differs, right? So a name identifies someone. And again, a name is given to
us by our parents. They choose a name for us and
it identifies who we are. And we don't really have any
choice in that name, do we? But you know, ultimately who
names, puts that name on the heart of our moms and dads, isn't
this amazing? It's our great God, isn't it?
Really it is. It's our great God. He knows
His sheep by what? By name. He knows us by name. He's known us by name before
the foundation of the world. That's absolutely incredible.
So today I'd like us to look at the name Jesus. Jesus. Which was a God-given name. It was a God-given name. to the
Word of God who became incarnate. It was the God-given name to
the incarnate God. When God became a man, God the
Father had sent an angel to tell Joseph
what to call him. Thou shalt call his name Jesus. Before he was ever born. Jesus. What a name, Jesus. Do you know
what it means in Hebrew? Savior. What a fitting name. What a fitting name. Christ means
the Messiah. And Lord means he's Lord over
all. So he's Lord over all, he's the Savior, and he's the Messiah,
the Anointed One. That's all I need. Is that all
you need? That's all I need. I just need Christ. He's all
I need. Everything that this old sinner
needs to be saved is in Christ and Him alone. Nothing in myself
to save myself, but everything I need is in Christ. So for you
too, right? My. Turn, if you would, to the
book of Luke, chapter two. And we see God's divine providence
at work here before us in heaven. Joseph and Mary, now remember
this too. It was Caesar Augustus who had
said, okay, I want all people in the Roman Empire to go back
to their hometown, to be counted for a census. Now, at that time,
he was ruler over the whole Roman Empire, which stretched from,
I believe it was all the way into
Syria, all through all the way to Carthage, where Carthage used
to be, they took all that over. Right up into Spain. Italy, of
course, was all taken over there. Up into the Germanic areas, although
they never ever really defeated the Germanic tribes. They were
pretty vicious, so they never really, they got to a point where
they just stopped. All the way to Britain. Right? Where they built that Herodian's
Wall, I think it was called, to stop the Celts. The Celts
were too much for them, so they just built the wall, blocking
them in. This vast empire, this census
is called. Now this is, think of this. Think
of the providence of God. This is a heathen ruler. He says,
well, you know what? I'm going to do a census. I'm
going to require everybody to go back to where they were born.
To be counted. God moves in the hearts of kings. Their hearts are just like water
to Him. He moves it to whatever. And
see, it was prophesied that Christ would be born where? In Bethlehem. So God uses this heathen king,
because that's basically what he was, he was an emperor, but
he was basically a king, uses this heathen emperor to all of
a sudden do the census that would bring Mary back to the place
where Christ was predicted to be born. That's our God that did that,
beloved. That's our God that did that. All by the decree of
a heathen Roman emperor, But the heart of the king is
like rivers of water in the hand of the Lord, and he turneth it
whatever way he wills. There we see it right there.
To fulfill that which, remember too, that which was prophesied
about Christ, about the Messiah. So let's read verses 1 to 7 in
Luke chapter 2. And it came to pass in those
days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all
the world should be taxed. And this taxing was first made
when Cyrus was the governor of Syria. And all went to be taxed,
everyone into his own city. So they would be counted, and
then they would be taxed. Now look at this. And Joseph
also went up from Galilee. So here's Joseph and Mary, they're
in Galilee. It's prophesied that the Lord
would be born in Bethlehem. But they're living right now,
they're just living in Galilee, living their lives. Oh, Mary's
pregnant. Okay. All of a sudden, out of
nowhere, comes this taxation. Comes this census. Now they have
to go to Bethlehem. They have to. They're thinking
they're going to Bethlehem because they're getting taxed. But they're
going to Bethlehem so that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Isn't God amazing? Isn't He absolutely amazing? And Joseph also went up to Galilee
out of the city of Nazareth into Judah unto the city of David
which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage
of David. That's why he went back to Bethlehem.
To be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child. And now, normally, the husband
might say to the wife, well, you know, you need to stay there.
But she had to go back, too, and pay taxes as well. My, oh, my. And she's great with
child. She's near giving birth. You
think God's going to let that child be harmed? They're going to travel all the
way from Galilee to Bethlehem? God's not going to let nothing
happen to his beloved son, is he? No, not at all. Not at all, beloved. And so it
was that while they were there, the days were accomplished, that
she should be delivered. When that day was appointed,
When the fullness of time was come, I think Paul writes in
Galatians, right? Christ was born. At that exact time. Mary didn't
know she was going to have her baby in Bethlehem. She might
have thought, well, we'll go to Bethlehem and maybe by the
time we get back to Galilee, we'll have the baby. Maybe even
Joseph thought that. Look at this. And she brought
forth her firstborn son. Exactly when God had appointed
the Savior, the Messiah, to come into this world, he came in at
the exact time, the exact second, at the exact place that God had
prophesied that he would be. That God's prophets had prophesied.
My, oh, my. Born of a, you read, born of
a virgin. Emmanuel. God with us, brother. Right there. There he is. There's
the King of Kings. Right there. She bought forth
her firstborn and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid
him in a manger because there was no room for them in the end.
See, this world has no room for Christ. It wants nothing to do with Him.
Doesn't want nothing to do with Him. No room. You have family
and friends that want nothing to do with you because you're
professing Christ? It wants nothing to do with them.
The world didn't have, they wouldn't want nothing to do. Here, and
think of this. Think of how low Christ bought
himself. He's the King of Kings in glory.
He's the Word of God. Angels are saying, praise ye,
praise ye. Covering themselves because they
can't even look at his glory. And he lowers himself below the
angels and becomes a man to save us from our sins. Now he rose again, didn't he?
But oh, think of how low he came, beloved. The old timers call
it his humiliation. I know why they call it that.
He left the glories of heaven. He left the splendors of heaven.
to come to this well, and he wouldn't even accept it. Here's
the king of kings. And think of this, he didn't
come in pomp and circumstance, did he? Here he is, born in a
lowly manger. No room for him in the inn. You
go into the stable with the cattle. Oh, if that inn manager only
knew who he told to go in that. Oh, if he only knew he was the
king of kings. in the Lord of Lords. But see, our Lord didn't
come for His glory, did He? He came for the glory of the
Father. He came to glorify the Father. The Father sent Him on
a mission. Sent, like we're seeing in John
17. Continuously sent, sent, sent. Sent by the Father to redeem
His people from their sins. Now let's read the interaction
between the shepherds and the angels, which start in verse
8. One of the angels here proclaims
that there's a Savior being born, and he's the long-awaited Messiah. Now they know who he is, don't
they? These angels trumpeted this because
they know who he is. They know who, just like the
devils believe and they tremble, but it's not a saving faith,
is it? They know who he is. And here he is in a lowly manger,
in a lowly stable. It says in the, and there were
in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping
watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord
came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about
them, and they were so afraid. Now remember, there's no streetlights. They're out in a field, beloved,
and all they got is the star canopy, and all of a sudden,
it's just lit up. And they look, and they see this
angel. They'd be like dead men almost,
wouldn't they? We would. Let's be honest, we would. Boy,
and all this light shone around him, and look what the angel
of the Lord says. And the angel said unto them, we looked at
this a couple weeks ago, right? Fear not. He's a messenger. Now, they probably, I'll tell
you what, one angel killed 100,000 men. And this is the angel of the Lord
here. There's no ordinary angel. This is the angel of the Lord
here. My, oh, my. The angel said unto them, fear
not, for behold, I bring you. Notice that? I bring you good
tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Jew and Gentile,
right? For unto you is born this day
in the city of David the Savior, which is Christ the Lord, a Savior. A rescuer, that means in the
Greek. A rescuer. Do you need to be rescued? I
do too. Praise God, Christ rescued us,
didn't he? He rescued us from our sins. Oh my, he rescued us
from the law of God. He rescued us from the justice
of God. He rescued us from the wrath
of God. And this shall be a sign for you. You find the babe wrapped
in swaddling clothes, he's gonna be lying in a manger. A manger. They didn't even doubt,
though. Look at that. They didn't even say, a manger?
A manger. You'll find them in a manger. They were like, they're
probably frozen, aren't they? Remember the Roman soldiers at
the tomb of Christ who saw the angel? They were frozen solid.
They couldn't move. They couldn't even speak. My, oh my. And look at this. And suddenly, just like that,
beloved. Just like that, there was a multitude
of angels. Oh my goodness, I bet you their
tickers were just thumping like crazy. I'll tell you what, mine
would be, would yours? Oh yeah, a multitude of angels. Angels, just right there before
you. Created beings, just like us. Not God, but they're created
beings. But what do they do? Look at
this. praising God. That's what angels
do. They praise God. They're also
ministers to the elect of God. We know that from the book of
Hebrews. But they also, they praise God. They glorify God. Look at this. What do they say?
Glory to God in the highest. Could you imagine a choir of
angels saying that? That would probably be the most
beautiful song they ever heard. Right? Glory to God in the highest
and on earth, peace and goodwill toward man. And lastly, we'll
read in chapter 2, the portion of the shepherds going to Bethlehem
and seeing Christ, seeing Emmanuel, God with us. Seeing him face
to face, a little wee baby. But oh, who was that baby? That's the King of kings and
the Lord of lords. In the flesh. That's the Word
of God incarnates. That's the Savior. That's the
rescuer of God's people. God's elect. The one who came
to save us from all our sins. And it came to pass that as the
angels were gone away from them into heaven, so they appeared
and then they were gone. I bet you they told stories about
that to their grandkids and to anyone who would listen. I bet
you they did. And also about the Christ child. More so. And then they said one to another,
let us go even now to Bethlehem and see this thing which has
come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. Now
look at that. Isn't that amazing? which the Lord has made known
unto us. Tom, you and I have talked about
how when God reveals himself to a sinner, it's a revelation
of God. They didn't even, that night,
they were just tending their sheep. They had no idea that
the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords has become born in the
flesh. God, Emmanuel, God with us, government
on his shoulders. They had no clue, they didn't
know, but it was made known to them, didn't it? And they said,
let us go see Him. Well, Christ be made known to
us. And we said, oh, Father, let us see Him. And by faith
we do, don't we? By God-given faith, we see Christ.
We see Him by God-given faith. Oh, my. And look, did they just
stand around? No, it says, and they came with
haste. There was dust gone. They were gone. They were running. They forgot all about the sheep.
Well, who's going to protect the sheep though? God will, won't
he? Yeah, they won't lose one. No, no, there'd be no wolves
attacking that group. No, no. And they just plain forgot about
them too, didn't they? And they made haste. When the
Holy Spirit's drawn us, To Christ, we make haste, don't we? Thy
people shall be made willing in the day of God's power. Like
Rupert Reichenbach used to say, a team of wild horses couldn't
hold back one who's being drawn by the power of God the Holy
Spirit to Christ. Team of wild horses couldn't
hold, and we see this, they just took right off. They made haste.
They ran. They ran. My oh my. And they came with
haste. and found Mary and Joseph and
the babe lying in a manger, just like the angel said." Exactly
like the angel said. And when they had seen it, being
Christ the child, they made known abroad the saying which was told
them concerning this child. You couldn't keep the mouth shut. Can't keep a preacher's mouth
shut when he comes talking about Christ. I'm telling you that.
Old Scott Richardson used to say about all believers that
eventually it'll leak out what we believe. Can't hold it in,
can we? It'll leak out, beloved. It's
gonna leak out. Oh my. And all they that heard,
it wondered at these things which were told them by the shepherds.
But Mary, kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.
My, oh my. And the shepherds returned They're
not done praising. Look at this. And the shepherds
returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they
had heard and seen as it was told unto them. Do we not, after
the Lord saves us, do we not glorify God? And do we not praise
Him? I believe these shepherds were
saved, beloved. I believe they're born again. My oh my. They're going and telling others.
They're coming back, they're praising God for what they've
been able to see and who they've been able to see. And they praise
God for all the things which they had heard and seen. Who
had they seen too? Who was the main person they
seen? Christ Jesus. By God-given faith, they were
glorifying God for that which they've been able to see now.
Now we see some things now that we never saw before, don't we?
We see Christ. We see our sin. But then we look
to Christ, who is the balm of Gilead. And oh my, all my sins
are forgiven in Christ Jesus my Lord. Praise his mighty name. Sent by God to save me, a sinner,
from all my sins. And if you're one of God's people,
if you're one of the elect of God, if you believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, that's you too. My oh my. And when eight days were accomplished
for the circumcision of the child, his name was called what? Jesus. Name already chosen by God. A
name that the angel had told Joseph, you're going to call
his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.
Absolutely wonderful. Which was so named of the angel
of which was so named to the angel before, look at this, he
was conceived in the womb. Before he was even conceived,
the angel said, thou shall call his name Jesus. So he's already given, God has
already given comfort to Joseph, and he's saying, Mary's gonna
be with child. Now what's the first thing Joseph's
gonna wonder? Who was she with? So what does God do? He sends
an angel to Joseph and he says, fear not, that thing which is
conceived is of the Holy Ghost. A child is of the Holy Ghost.
And then tells him what he should name it before he's even conceived. How great is our God? How amazing
is our God, beloved? I just look at these scriptures,
and I'm just amazed. It just leaves me in awe. And note the name that they called
the child Jesus. And then, because of the angel
that appeared to Joseph and told him, you need to call his name
Jesus. And the name of Jesus we see
was God-given. God-given, before he was conceived
in the womb. What a name, what a title. Lord,
ruler of over all, Jesus, Savior, Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed
One. The Word of God incarnate, beloved. The second person of the Trinity
in the flesh. What a name. Do you know he's
king before he came to this earth? He's king while he's born on
this earth, and he's king right now, beloved. He never stopped
ruling. He set aside his glory, didn't
he? But he never stopped being king. So there's the king dying
for his servants. Lowly sinners like me. What a Savior! What a Redeemer
is Jesus Christ our Lord! First point I'd like us to consider
is that the name of the Lord, the name of Jesus, is a name
prized by His people. It's God-given name. It's prized
by the people of God. The first angel who appeared
to the shepherds gave this message. Fear not, for behold, I will
bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you this day is born
in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And again, that word Savior means,
it means rescuer. He saved us, beloved. He rescued
us. He rescued us. And Joseph was told, Fear not
to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in
her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his
people from their sins. That's Matthew 121. And the condition of Joseph when
he heard this name for the first time is not altogether without
instruction. The angel appeared to him in
a dream, and think of this, the name of Jesus is so, so wonderful
to his people. So caring. When I hear the name
of Jesus, and when I praise him, it's because he's so wonderful.
He's loved me with an everlasting love. He's loved every one of
his people with an everlasting love. My, oh my. And it yields peace, doesn't
it? The name of the Lord Jesus Christ yields peace. Because
in and through Christ Jesus our Lord, we now have peace with
God. We're reconciled with God. We were at one time enemies in
our minds with God. Now we weren't children of wrath
because God's people, God's people, have always been God's people.
But we were enemies in our minds, weren't we? With God. And we appeared just as children
of wrath, didn't we? Couldn't tell any difference
between us and a sheep and a goat, could you? No difference at all,
he couldn't tell. My, oh my. Spurgeon brings forth
with such a dream Joseph's sleep was even more blessed than his
waking. My, oh my. The name of Jesus. What power
that name has. All power has been given to him.
And for we who know him, that name is precious. That name is
precious. I'll tell you why. It is precious. You know why?
Because there's no rest outside of Christ. There's no peace with
God outside of Christ. There's no justification before
God outside of Christ. There's no righteousness that
we have outside of Christ. So as Paul said, he's my all
in all. And we know that he was totally successful at that which
he had come to accomplish, because at Calvary's cross, he cried,
it is finished. In the Greek, it is perfect. You can't add any works to perfect. If something's perfect, we can't
add anything to it, can we? Nothing. We can't add anything
to it. Christ's work is perfect. And this name brings before us
a vision of glory. Oh my, our Lord's reigning right
now. Ruling and reigning. Above all
the things that are going on in this world, He's above it
all. My oh my. And we're going to
one day be with Him. We're going to one day be with
Him. Now the name of Jesus was comforting at the first mention. Because he came to save his people
from their sins. What comfort we can glean from
that. And the angels, the angels said
to Joseph, fear not. Even to those shepherds, fear
not. I bring you glad tidings. I bring you glad tidings. My, no name can banish fear like
the name of Jesus. Who do we cry out to when we're
in our lowest of low? Jesus, please help me. Please
help me. My, oh my. Jesus, the name for
the saved sinner, he's the beginning of hope and the end of despair,
isn't he? Oh my, I'm saved from all my sins in Christ Jesus,
my Lord. So it's worthy to note that the
angel commenced his message to the shepherds in a similar way.
He said, fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great
joy. And it's good tidings to God's
people, isn't it? And it brings us great joy. It
brought them shepherds great joy, didn't it? My, not only
after they went and saw Christ, then they went and told others
about it, and then they came back and they praised him even more. I see a pattern there, do you? Oh my! Oh, the name of Jesus
is infinitely precious to God's people. And it's infinitely precious
because of who He is. He's God. He's God. And the reason He's precious
to me is He came to save me. Someone says, well, my sins are
so black, Wayne, I don't think He'd ever save me. Go to Him. He's not turned anyone away who's
come to him, has he? He didn't turn us away. By God's
grace and mercy. My, oh my. He's so good. And
think of this. He bore our nature. He's a baby,
right? He's a human. But with no corruption. He's the seed of the woman. Born of a virgin. Brother Tom
Rave. Born of a virgin. My, oh, my. No corruption. No corruption at all. Oh, how He's precious. Oh, how
He's precious to you and I. And we don't have a common Savior.
He's not common at all, is He? He's God. He's God. My oh my. Could heaven or earth
ever produce his equal? The answer's no, right? So he's
not common, is he? No. He's the God-man. Set by the Father. To save his
people from their sins. That's why thou shall call his
name Jesus for he shall save his people and I'm gonna say
it Modern religion don't like saying this from their sins because
we're sinners Christ saved me from my sins because I'm a sinner
and I'm gonna praise him for the rest of my life For what
he's done for me. I'm gonna give him all the glory
and honor and praise and He bore our nature with no corruption.
He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, yet without sin.
And He alone is the perfect, spotless Lamb of God. He alone,
the Lord Jesus Christ, is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners. And His Holy One is the Son of
God. He's the Son of Man. He's Emmanuel,
God in the flesh. And He surpasses all human excellence. I'll tell you, you're thinking
the most wisest person in the world, Solomon, right? His wisdom
surpasses Solomon's. He's the one who gave Solomon
wisdom. See, sometimes I think we think
too little of who Christ is. I think, well, I'm guilty of
it. We think too little. He's God. He's the ancient of
days become a man. I mean like there is not a molecule
that moves and we can't see them things. And an atom that moves
that he's not in control of. He's in full control of it. That's who our Savior is. He
surpasses all human excellence. And to God's people, His name
is so precious. The name of Jesus, it's prized
by His people. Prized by His people. We praise
God through Christ. We pray to God
through Christ. And He's our mediator, beloved. His name is the name above all
names. Therefore, we heartily praise
Him, don't we? We praise Him for what He's done
for us. All of us, all of God's people,
if we really know Him, we are resolved to publish His name,
aren't we? As long as we live. Let the name
of Jesus be praised. Let the name of Jesus be magnified. My, that's all we desire, isn't
it? And we desire it from ourselves. And by God-given faith, we do
praise Him, don't we? And we do worship Him. It's amazing. And as Immanuel, God with us,
His very incarnation made Him Jesus, which means Savior. Christ
alone is the only Savior of sinners. There's salvation in no other,
is there, but Christ. So what shall we say of Him?
Now, in addition to His incarnation, we have His atonement. Perfect, sin-atoning work done
by Christ and Christ alone. And if we are believers, we have
that in Christ. God is fully satisfied. This is my beloved Son in whom
I'm well pleased. And if you're in Christ, God's
well pleased with you and me. Praise His name! Hey! Oh my! How can we not get excited,
right? How can we not? How can we not
praise His name and publish His name? Publish how grand our Savior
is. My oh my. We also praise Him
for His ascension because He's raised for our justification.
So we praise Him for that. We praise Him for His incarnation. We praise Him for His life, His
perfect life in our room and place. We praise Him for His
sin-atoning death on Calvary's cross. We praise Him for His
ascension. We praise Him that He's our mediator
right now between God and man. My. Do you know he was in the arms
of Mary and he was her Savior? He was her Savior. Oh my, my oh my. And wrapped in those swaddling
bands, he was our Savior. In a lowly manger, he's our Savior. As he grew to two and three, he's our Savior.
When he was 10 years old and he's in the temple talking with
the doctors and they're amazed at his doctrine, he's our Savior. When he was working away in Joseph's
shop as a carpenter, he's our Savior. when he first opened the books
of the scriptures and read them in the temple, and he said, in
this day, these scriptures are fulfilled in your ears. He's
our Savior. When he died upon that cross,
he's our Savior. Before he even came to earth,
he's our Savior. But now he's the God-man, right?
When he died, when he bled and died to purchase our eternal
souls, he's our Savior. When he was buried, he's dead. And he rose again. He's our Savior. Right now, he's seated at the
right hand of the Father, and he's what? Our mediator and our
Savior. And one day, our faith will be
made sight. And who will we see? Our Savior. Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus
Christ. Oh, what a day that'll be! No
wonder his name is praised and precious to the redeemed sinner. My. My. And there's our King. There he is, presenting himself
as an offering for our sin, for my sin. for yours, if you're
a believer, presented himself before God as an offering for
our sin. That one sacrifice, that one
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfect God-man. He purchases us with his precious,
precious blood. No wonder the name of Jesus is
precious to we who believe. No wonder. Jesus, name of all
names above. Jesus, best and nearest. Jesus,
fount of perfect love. Holiest, tenderest, dearest. Jesus, source of grace completed.
Jesus, holiest, sweetest. Jesus, savior all divine. Thine's
the name and thine only. Jesus, the name above all names. We see then why he's prized among
his people. Why his name is precious among
the born-again, blood-washed people of God. Now, the name of Jesus, common
yet unique. Now, during the times when Christ
was born, people would name their son Jesus. Hoping that they were the Redeemer.
Hoping that they were the Messiah. Yeah, I didn't know that until
I started reading about this message. And that some would
call their name, their children's names. Salvation of a certain
kind was so longed for by the Jews that they would name, some
of them would name their sons, Jesus. My oh my. So how common are nominal
saviors of man? Saviors who can't save. Scripture
declares there's another Jesus, right? And another gospel. And another spirit. But this name, this God-given
name, given to the one true Emmanuel. God incarnate in the
flesh. This title has been claimed exclusively
by the Father for the Son. Because He is the one true Savior
of God's people. He's the one true Savior. There's
no other Savior but Christ. And all those other ones who
were named that, they had that name but not the power. He didn't have the power that
Christ had. How much power does that Christ have? All power has
been given unto him. All power. And I mean all power.
Who are men and women going to face at the great white judgment
throne? The Lord Jesus Christ. That's who they're going to face. Oh my. This is a name given to him by
the Father. He alone is a prince and a savior. He's royalty already, isn't he?
When he comes into this world. He's already king. He's already
royalty. And Herod there, he thought,
oh, he's come to take my crown. They're going to crown him king
of the Jews. Little did they know that his kingdom was not
of this world. His kingdom included Jews and
Gentiles. chosen by God the Father in eternity
past. My, other saviors, other so-called
saviors, they just, they just mock the hopes of mankind. They promise grandiose things,
but then they utterly deceive all who rely upon them. Think
of that, all those false religions, they give these grandiose things.
saying that you can get to God by doing this, or you can get
to God by doing that, or heaven or van, or whatever they call
it. All this peace and stuff, it just leads to the doom of
all those who follow them. It just dashes their hopes. And
when they breathe their last breath without Christ, they go
into a Christless eternity to inhale. My, oh my. And if it wasn't for the grace
of God, That's right where I would have went. My, oh, and I know you feel the
same way, beloved of God. God had just left us alone if
he hadn't chosen us. My, oh, my. But this holy child, this blessed,
glorious God with us has truly brought us salvation. He said,
look unto me and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth. Jew
and Gentile, look unto me. And then he has in Matthew, and
I mentioned it Sunday school, come unto me all you that labor
in our heavy laden. Same kind of thing, isn't it?
And I'll give you rest. And what rest we have found is
the people of God. What rest in this glorious Savior
named Jesus Christ our Lord. what rest we have in Him, what
peace we have in Him. In this Holy Child, this Jesus
of Nazareth, who is the King of kings and the Lord of lords,
He's the only Savior, the one true Savior of sinners. And He
shall save His people. He and no one else. He and no one else. He don't
need anyone's help. I heard again, you know, I was watching the
news and on comes this, I don't even know what preacher it is.
He says, well, God wants to save you. Click. My God doesn't want to do anything. He does it. The God of the Bible
has no need for wanting to do things. He does all that He's
planned and purposed. That's our God, beloved. That's
our Savior. He planned and purposed our salvation. He executed our salvation. And
one day we will see the full fruit of that salvation when
we get the glory to be with Him forever. All because of what
Christ done. All because of who He is. God
incarnate in the flesh come to save His people from their sins. He gave himself for our sins
beloved and we're made righteous in him Sins a horrible evil a
deadly poison And yet it is this which gives Jesus his title when
he overcomes it in our room in place He's our Savior. He's overcome it. He's overcome
our sin That which we could never overcome he overcome it It was laid upon him. He bore
it before God's wrath and justice. That wrath and justice fell upon
him in our place. And our sin is
gone, beloved. What's the scripture say? As
far as the east is from the west, so far hath thy transgressions
been removed from thee. They're gone. And we remember
things, don't we? Our sins, God won't remember.
He says, I won't remember them anymore. We remember our sins. He don't remember them. They're
bought and paid for in Christ Jesus our Lord. Beloved, we are
100% paid in full, pardoned, just
as if I never sinned. in Christ Jesus, in Him alone. What a Savior! Oh, what a Savior! The last point I'd like to make
is the name of Jesus indicates His work. Thou shalt call His
name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. Why
did He come to this earth? To save us from our sins. And
in doing that, what did He do? He glorified God in fulfilling
the law, He glorified God in saving us. He said, not my will,
but thy will be done. And it was the Father, think
of this too. It was the Father's will from eternity. It was His
will. It was God the Father, Jehovah's
will, along with God the Holy Spirit, along with God the Son.
It was their will that Christ should come to this world, sent
by the Father, to save us from our sins. That was a will. People say, what's the will of
God in my life? He came to save me. He came. And now I'm just going to glorify
Him for the rest of my life. People say, I'm trying to figure
out the will of God for my life. He saved me. Now I'm going to
publish it. Now I'm going to talk about it. That's what, that's,
right? Let's do what the shepherds did.
Let's go tell others and then let's come back and keep praising
them. We do that every Sunday, don't we? Yeah. Oh my, get tanked
up for another week and out we go, don't we? Oh my, it's wonderful,
it's absolutely wonderful. He's not our example, he's God
in the flesh. And his name defines why he came,
he's the Savior. Jesus means Savior, he's Savior.
And he's called that because he came to seek and to save that
which was lost. That's me, that's you if you're
a believer. We were lost, we were dead in
trespasses and sins. And he's the anointed Messiah
because he's Christ. Oh my, he came into this world
to do a work which his name applies as he alone is the only
Savior of sinners. Call him Jesus, Savior, call
him Savior. His very name implies why he
came. Isn't that wonderful? It's absolutely incredible. My
oh my. And he's anointed to this very
end. If we'd never sinned, then we never would have required
a savior. But we're sinners, aren't we? Adam fell, and we
fell in Adam. And now all we do is produce
sinners. My children are sinners, just like I'm a sinner. My oh
my. My dad and mom were sinners.
I'm a sinner. My brothers are sinners. They might not think
they are, but they are. Right? Oh, my. See, that's the difference
between God's people. We know we're sinners. That's
been revealed to us, beloved. And we know we need a Savior.
And by God-given faith, we look to the Savior and rest in Him
and trust in Him. My, oh, my. So the first link
between my soul and Christ is not my goodness, but my sinfulness. Right? Oh yeah. Another link between my soul
and Christ is not my merit, but my misery. I don't have any merit
before God, except in Christ. And before the Lord saved me,
that made me miserable. Did it make you miserable? Why
do you think we didn't want to talk to Christians? Because we
didn't want to be reminded that we're a bunch of sinners. Oh
my. And another link before Christ
is not my standing, but my falling. My falling. Not my riches, but
my need. My need. That's another link
between Christ and us. Not to reward one's supposed
goodness, no, no, not at all, but to purchase forgiveness of
all our sins. By his perfect sinatonian death
and the shedding of his blood, he purchased us with his precious
blood 2,000 years ago at Calvary's grounds. And I'll sinner friend,
I mean real sinners. Not one who calls themselves
that by name simply because they were told to, but we who really
feel that we're sinners. We who feel our guilt. This is
good news. This is the most wonderful news.
Jesus is the savior of sinners. He's the savior of sinners. And
do not doubt that he will fulfill his own name. See, people who say, well, I
got too much sin, I can't come. They're just doubting the fact
that He's a Savior, aren't they? There may be one time when we
would doubt, we doubted that too. But we find out that His
name is real, isn't it? Jesus, Savior, the only Savior
of sinners. That's why He came into this
world. That's why he came into this world, to save us from the
punishment of sin, save us from the wrath of God, save us from
the law of God, to save us from our sin being
laid as a charge against us. Scripture says, who shall lay
anything, any charge to God's elect? Who? If God doesn't remember
my sin anymore, who's going to lay a charge against one of God's
elect? You know why? Not because I can
justify myself or you can justify yourself, but because God justifies
us. God justifies us in Christ. Oh,
marvel then. Marvel at His name, Jesus, Savior.
This is what He came in the world to do, to save sinners. Oh my. And this This was a great work
for him to accomplish. Yet Jesus came to do even more
than that. He comes by his spirit next to
regenerate us, doesn't he? He sends the Holy Spirit of God
to regenerate we who are dead in trespasses and sins and grants
us life. What comes first, faith or regeneration? Regeneration, regeneration, regeneration. One will never believe unless
they're born again by the Holy Spirit of God. And then we're
granted faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And he gives
us grace and mercy to trust Christ, doesn't he, through all our trials
and temptations. And Jesus came to save his people
from apostasy. He came into this world to save
sinners. We would have just been like anyone else if the Father
hadn't chose us. You've heard me say many times,
what would happen to us if Christ just let us go? Oh my Lord. I'm thankful that
He keeps us in His grip, beloved. He said, no man is going to pluck
you from my hand or the Father's hand. That's good news for sinners,
isn't it? That's good news. Oh my. Now some, some start in the flesh,
but they don't end very good, do they? But God starts a work in us,
and He completes a work in us, and He keeps us till the very
end, and then He takes us home. What a Savior. What a Savior. Christ came into this world not
to half-save sinners, not to say, well now I've made it, I've
opened up the door, now it's up to you. That's half-saving. You ever hear somebody say God's
done all He can do, now the rest is up to you? That's a half-Savior.
That's not the Savior of Scripture. Christ came to save His people
from their sins, and He cried with a loud voice, it is finished. And we rest and trust in Him,
don't we? And we glorify Him for this wondrous salvation that
we have. All by the grace and mercy of God in Christ Jesus
our Lord. My oh my, this is a glorious
truth. Jesus came into the world to
save sinners. And Paul said, of whom I'm chief.
And every believer says, amen, Paul, I'm right there with you. Oh my, is he not able to save? Is he not just the savior that
we need? Yes. God, he's God and yet man
and one adorable person. fairest of ten thousand to my
soul." My! And he's able to sympathize with
us too, beloved. He's bone of our bone and flesh
of our flesh, but why did he come? Oh He came to save his
people from their sins and he shall not fail and he cried it
is finished and you know what right now he's in heaven waiting
for us until that time when he calls us home beloved and then
he's gonna embrace us and we're gonna worship him for the rest
of eternity All because of the grace and
mercy of God. And what do we say? Hallelujah.
Praise the name of Jesus, right? Praise this mighty name. I'll
tell you why.