Today I'd like us to look at
various scriptures. We'll be in the New Testament.
We'll look at titles of Christ. Titles of Christ in the New Testament.
There's a lot in a title, isn't there? We know who the President of
the United States is by his title. In the country I'm from, Canada,
the leader is a Prime Minister. And then in each of the providence,
there's a premier, which would be like a governor here. And we know who leaders are in
the world because of their titles. So a title identifies who a person
is and what they do. We see even that in the companies
that that we work for. Some person is a CEO, he's in
charge of the whole company. And then he also has people underneath
them. And again, the title reveals
who a person is and And actually what standing they currently
have because a CEO can become a vice president down the road.
Someone else could go up and move up into the CEO position,
but they're identified again by their titles, aren't they?
By titles. What a savior we have in the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's identified by his titles.
I'd like us to look at some of the titles of who he is in the
New Testament. We're going to start right in
Matthew chapter one. Matthew chapter one. And I pray
that God, the Holy Spirit, would illuminate the scriptures as
we look through and give us comfort as we look at these wonderful
titles of our king. And may they comfort us as we
go through this world, knowing who he is, knowing the power
that he has. Knowing what he's accomplished,
our salvation, right? He's done it all. And you may want to take a pencil
and a pen, or either one, or write down the scriptural references
for further study at home. We'll be going through a lot
of verses. And each of these precious titles has a study within
itself. Each one could be a message by
themselves. because they're the wonderful
titles of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we'll go book by book in
order so that we can glean from these precious truths. And this
is not an exhaustive study. Not at all. This is just tip
of the iceberg study. Look at verse one, the book of
the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of
Abraham. So right away we see here with
this title, the son of David, we see the humanity of Christ
brought forth. He's the son of David, comes
from the lineage of David. And he's, he's God. We know that he's the second
person of the Trinity, but he's also, we see here a man from
the lineage of David. Now look at verse two. Next he
is proclaimed to be the King of the Jews, saying, where is
he? Matthew 2, 2, chapter 2, turn
one chapter over. Matthew 2, 2 says, saying, where
is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen a star
in the east, and are come to worship him. The wise men followed
the star. And they said, where is he who
is, note, born king? Well, you know he was king before
he was born? He's the king of glory, wasn't he? He's the word
of God. He's the king of glory. Now he's
born king. So while he was on this earth,
that means he was king, wasn't he? You know what he is right
now? And you know what he is still
right now? He's king right now. He's risen
up in glory. He's always been King, beloved.
Before His birth upon this earth when He's the Word of God in
eternity, and then His birth here as the Lord Jesus Christ,
He's born King of the Jews, you know? He's born the King of His
people, right? That's us, isn't it? We saw in
previous studies in Galatians chapter three that believers
are spiritual Jews. It's so plainly put in Scripture.
That's what we are. And they came to worship Him,
and now we worship Him. Look at verse 15 of chapter 2.
You know, He's proclaimed to be the Son of God. Well, that's
a Messianic title. That's a Messianic title, beloved.
So He's being proclaimed to be the Son of David. He's being
proclaimed to be King of the Jews. And now we see here in
verse 15, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might
be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
Out of Egypt have I called my son. That's God speaking. Have I called my son? He's the
son of God. That's a messianic title. That's
a messianic title. Turn, if you would, to Matthew,
chapter 9. So we see there that the Son
of God, the Word of God, the second person in the Trinity,
has become a man. has become a man. Marvel at that. Great is the mystery of godliness.
What humility. Look at this, now he's proclaimed
to be the bridegroom. You know who we are as God's
people? We're the Bride of Christ. I once belonged to a church,
oh it was, I look back now and just shake my head, they were
what called Baptist Briders. They believed that they were
the only true Bride of Christ. And everybody else was just servants.
That just never sat right with me. I read a Spurgeon sermon
one time called The Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and he talked
about how all the elect of all the ages are the bride of Christ.
And it just went click. See, again, anyone who says that
they're the one true church, they're not a church of God.
They're not a church of God. My oh my. All the elect of all
the ages are the bride of Christ. And
you know who our bridegroom is? The Lord Jesus Christ. Look at this, Matthew 9, 15. And Jesus said unto them, Can
the children of the bride chamber mourn as long as the bridegroom
is with them? But the days will come when the
bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then they shall fast. Well, where's our bridegroom
right now, beloved? He's in glory, isn't he? He's
in glory right now. He's our bridegroom. The Lord
Jesus Christ. Isn't that wonderful? And you
know that in Christ, the Lord sees no fault in us? Scripture in the Song of Solomon,
I remember when we went through the Song of Solomon, it was wonderful,
but there was a portion there where the bride says, I'm black
and calmly. I'm black yet calmly. Well, the
black there pictures our sin. But the word calmly there in
the Hebrew, it means beautiful. The only way we're beautiful
is in the bridegroom. In our natural state, we're black
with sin. Every one of us. But in Christ,
we're beautiful, beloved. We're beautiful. Don't feel that
way, do we? But it's true. It's true. It's
true. And you know, the believer's
married to Christ. were married to Christ. He's
the bridegroom, and we're the bridegroom. He's the bridegroom, and we're
the bride. I got that all messed up, didn't I? My, now turn, if
you would, to Mark, chapter one. You know who, I love this, you
know who he also is proclaimed to be? The Holy One of God. See, this speaks of his pre-existence.
This speaks of him from eternity. The demons knew who he was. He
said, thou art the Holy One. See, that's why James says the
demons believe and tremble. But that belief is not a saving
faith. They just know who he is. They're smarter than men,
aren't they? Because man says, I don't believe
in him. They've seen him. That's why they tremble. They've
seen him. They know him. They know his
power. They know who he is. Oh my, look what it says here
in Mark chapter 1, verses 24 and 25. He says, saying, let
us alone. What have we to do with thee,
thou Jesus, the Son of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us?
They know who he is. See, men may laugh and scoff. I did it in my ignorance. But he has all power. The demons
even say, what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us?
He has the power to destroy them. Spiritual beings that we can't
even see. He has the power to destroy them, beloved. My oh my. And look what they
say, I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. I bet you they said that trembling.
It sounds like they are trembling, aren't they? Are you coming to
destroy us? We know who you are. The Holy
One of God. And Jesus rebuked them saying,
hold thy peace and come out of him. What power, beloved. What power our King has. Even
the fallen angels acknowledge who He is. He's the Holy One
of God. This is one of His titles. Think
of that. Christ is the Holy One of God. That's one of His titles. That
describes who He is, doesn't it? Holy One of God. And notice the Holy One. No other human being that's holy
is there. The Holy One of God, the one
way, the one truth, the one life, the King of Kings and the Lord
of Lords. And look at the power, and Jesus
rebuked him saying, hold thy peace and come out of him. And
they had to come out, didn't they? At his command. And they tremble at his presence.
And what authority he has, he silences them. Come out! And out they come. Turn, if you would, to Mark 15.
Mark 15. We see here he's proclaimed to
be the King of Israel. Now these wicked men, these wicked
men at the cross, they reviled our great king. They spit in
the ground before him. They said, he saved others. Can
he save himself? Little did they know, I've mentioned
this before, that he's dying on that cross and he's saving
a multitude of people that no man can number by the giving
of his life. See, men by nature were ignorant
of the things of God. We don't understand unless God
gives us an understanding. Look at this. That Christ, verse
32, that Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the
cross that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified
with him reviled him. Look at that. Both thieves are reviling him.
Both thieves are casting words on him. But one of them's a vessel of
mercy and doesn't even know it. He's cursing Christ with the
other thief right now. But little does he know that
the Holy Spirit's gonna do a work in him. And he's gonna say, Lord,
just remember me. And he's gonna say to that other
thief, we're here justly, but this man has done nothing amiss.
Who taught him that? The Holy Spirit of God. And he's
gonna say, Lord, just remember me. The Lord's gonna say to him,
today, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. We're gonna meet
him one day. But see, he's just like us, isn't
he? In his natural state, he's just railing on the Lord till
the Holy Spirit does a mighty work in him. Oh my. My, and His enemies, Christ's
enemies in their ignorance proclaim. They actually proclaim who He
is. Look at this. That Christ the
King of Israel descend now. They're proclaiming who He is.
They don't even know. They're His enemies and they're
proclaiming who He is. He's the King of Israel, beloved.
Is He not our King? Amen. He's our King. He's our
Lord. He's the king of Israel, and
even his enemies are proclaiming that. And one day, they're all
going to bow their knee. And all these folks, all these
folks one day are going to bow their knee and say, Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. They're going to
say it one day. Every knee shall bow, every tongue
shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. He's the Messiah, beloved.
He's born to save his people from their sins. He won't come
down from that cross, because he must finish the work that
the Father sent him to do. And what is that? To redeem our
souls, beloved. Hallelujah. What a Savior is
Jesus Christ, our Lord. And he accomplished that salvation.
Next turn, if you went to Luke, Luke chapter 1. You know, the horn is a sign
of strength in the scriptures. You know, Christ is the horn
of salvation, meaning he's our strength. What's the scripture
proclaim? In his weakness, or in our weakness,
he's what? He's strong, isn't he? And think
of what he did in his own weakness. That other thief cried out to
him, and he saved him. in his weakness. Oh how powerful is our King beloved. Look at this in Luke chapter
1 verses 68 and 69. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel.
For he hath visited and redeemed his people. Look at that. The
Lord God's done that himself. That's the word of God. That's
the Lord Jesus Christ. And hath raised up a horn of
salvation for us in the house of his servant David. Look at
that. Remember we looked at earlier that Christ is the son of David?
Well, he's raised up a horn of salvation, right? In the house
of David. That's the Lord Jesus Christ,
beloved. He's our strength. He's our strength. He's the horn
of our salvation. If he saved us, can we ever be
lost? Nope. Oh, praise God that my salvation
is not dependent upon anything I do and that your salvation
is not dependent upon anything you do. Isn't that glorious? Now, does that mean we should
go out and do whatever we want? Absolutely not. Because the love
of Christ constrains us now from sin. Oh, how our love for Christ
constrains us. Are we still sinners? Yes, to
our shame. But all our sins are forgiven, beloved. But we don't
go out and just want to go out and go wild, do we? We're not
those people anymore. Now it's Christ's love that constrains
us. You ever get convicted? You commit a sin, you get convicted,
or you're thinking of committing a sin, you get convicted? You
think, no, Lord. Thank you for restraining me.
Thank you for restraining me. Or if we fall into sin, oh Lord,
forgive me. I know my sins are forgiven,
but forgive me. Oh my. We're but flesh, aren't we? You
know, next he's proclaimed to be the consolation of Israel.
Turn, if you would, to Luke chapter 2, verse 25. Consolation means comfort. Is
Christ your comfort? Is he your comfort? I'll tell
you what, you'll find no other comfort in this world other than
Christ. You won't even find comfort like
it. I'll tell you why. This comfort
is inexplainable. This comfort can give you peace
amidst the storms of life. He's the consolation of Israel.
That means he's the consolation of his people. That means he's
the comfort of his people. Look at this, Luke chapter 2
verse 25. And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name
was Simeon. And the same man was just about
waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Ghost was
upon him. He's waiting. He's waiting for
the great comforter of Israel. The consolation of Israel. That's
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the consolation of Israel,
beloved. Is it your comfort? Try seeking
comfort in something else. You won't. I don't suggest you
try it, actually, because you won't find true comfort in anyone
but Christ and Him alone. We people, we let each other
down all the time, don't we? Christ will never let you down.
Never. Never. You'll always find comfort
in Him. Next turn, if you would, to John
chapter 1. John chapter 1. Our king, in verse 14, he's called
the only begotten of the Father. This speaks of how the Word of
God became flesh and dwelt among us. John 1, 14. I'm sorry. In a word was made flesh and
dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory. The glory is of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Christ
is full of grace and truth. He's full of grace. Don't ever
think your sins are too black to come to Christ. If you think that, think of Paul,
who was murdering Christians. Think of Paul, who was going
around murdering Christians. Think of David, who laid with another man's wife,
sent that man to the front lines, talked to one of us, whoever
the redeemed. Word tell you that your sins
are never too black to be saved, because God saved us. My, oh, my. And He's the Word,
the Word. That means the second person
of the Trinity, the Word was made flesh. He's the only begotten
Son of the Father. And we beheld His glory. They
saw Him like we see each other. The glory of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. And the one spoken
of in verse one was with God and was God. And that's the Lord
Jesus Christ. Look what it says in John 1.18.
No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. We have
never seen God the Father, but the Son has, and He declares
Him. You know, He was sent by the
Father to do a work here. You know what that work is, if
you're a believer? To save your soul. Saved my soul. Wonder of wonders. Christ came
to save a sinner like me and like you. That's amazing, isn't it? And He willingly did it. Willingly. Went to that cross. To cleanse us from every one
of our sins. So I said in Sunday school, we
remember them, right? We remember us. Oh Lord, my sin. Lord says,
I don't remember it. I don't remember your sin anymore. Let me just rest in that. Let
me just repose as the old timers said. Let me just repose in that
truth. The guilt of my sin is gone.
The penalty of my sin is gone. Soon the presence of my sin will
be gone when I breathe my last breath and go home to be with
the Lord, and same with you, beloved." Look at verse 29 of the same
text. What a title here. What a title
here. He's proclaimed to be the Lamb of God. Now Christ is God's
Passover Lamb. All those lambs of the Old Testament
that were slaughtered were all pointing to Him. They all, they were shadows,
and they find the substance in Christ. And look what it says
here in 29 of John chapter one. The next day, John seeth Jesus
coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world. Look at that, takes away. Takes
away what? Our sin. Doesn't he? Takes it away. Well, where is
it? It's gone. The scapegoats carried
it away. To where? To a place where it
won't be remembered anymore. In illustration, the scriptures
uses God's cast behind his back. The only way we can see things
behind our back is to turn around, right? gone. We are the most blessed people
in this world, beloved. We are the most blessed people
in this world. We have all our sins forgiven.
They've been taken away. The perfect, spotless Lamb of
God, sinless in thought, word, and deed, in action, has taken
away our sins. Taken them away. Look at verse
36. And looking upon Jesus, as He
walked, He saith, Behold the Lamb of God. That's what I say
to you right now. Behold the Lamb of God. Behold the sinless
one. Behold God incarnate in the flesh. Behold the Lord Jesus Christ. God's Passover Lamb, whose blood
was shed to take away the sins of His people. Take them away! They're gone! They're all gone! What's that old song say? He
paid a debt he didn't owe. I had a debt I couldn't pay.
Jesus Christ took all my sins away. Hallelujah. Oh, think about these things.
Think about these things during the week. Meditate upon these
things during the week. Think upon these titles. If he's
called the Lamb of God, which he is, then he's God's Passover
Lamb. If he took away my sins, then
they're gone. And God himself says, I don't
remember them, Wayne. My, isn't that wonderful? It's
enough to make me hop and skip and jump all the way down the
aisle here. My goodness. It's wonderful. Turn if you want to John chapter
6. Now we're going to see some titles here that are being brought
forth again of who he is. He's called here, and in this
next section, the bread of life. Do you know everyone, all humans
eat bread. As far as I know, we eat bread.
were sustained by bread. Now I'll tell you what, I can
do without some food, but I like my toast with lots of butter
on it. And I've always eaten, ever since
I was a little tyke, we always had bread. Every time my mom
made a meal, there was bread on the table. Every single time, whether
it be Breakfast, lunch, or dinner, there always was a plate of bread
sitting right in the middle of the table. Stacked up there for us. The
Roman legions lived on bread. That was their staple. As a matter
of fact, one time when they were stationed somewhere, they revolted
against their generals because they wouldn't let them go out
and gather wheat to make their bread. They would much rather eat bread
with oil, olive oil, than eat meat. My oh my. So bread is something
that sustains us. Look at John 6, 35. And Jesus
said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me
shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
Look at that. Now he's speaking spiritual things here, isn't
he? Have you come to Jesus? Have you tasted that He's gracious?
Every believer will tell you, we've tasted that He's gracious,
haven't we? We have. Oh, He's so gracious to us. He's
so wonderful. And look at that. What are we
hungry and thirst after? Righteousness. Who's the Lord
Our Righteousness is the name of the title of the Lord Jesus
Christ, isn't it? He's the Lord Our Righteousness. So we're to
hunger and thirst after him. And if you eat of this bread,
which is believing on him, you'll never hunger. You'll never be
spiritually hungry again, and you'll never be spiritually thirsty
again for eternal life. Now you're gonna still wanna
keep learning about him and keep feasting on the word and feasting
on him through gospel sermons But oh my, he who has the son
hath eternal life. Do you have the son? Do you have
the Lord Jesus Christ? Is he your savior? Oh, if you
have him, you have eternal life. Rejoice, rejoice. And then he proclaims to be the
light of the world. Turn off your word over to John chapter
eight. He proclaims to be the light of the world. Now this world we know is in
darkness, isn't it? Spiritual darkness. I know the light, the
sun rises and the moon comes up, but the moon don't do nothing. It
sits there in the same spot, doesn't it? The sun rises and
the sun sets. But you know who the true light
of this world is? It's Christ. It's Christ. Look what it says
here. Verse 12, Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am
the light of the world. There's another one of those
I am statements. I am the light of the world. He that followeth
me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Look at that. There was a time when every one
of us who believe right now walked in darkness. I remember that
time. I thought I was happy, but I
was so messed up. My, drinking sin like water.
And then when God reveals the light, reveals himself, we see
we're such sinners in such desperate need of Christ, because he's
the light of the world. We groped around in darkness
before the Lord saved us, but now the believer walks in light.
He's lighted our path, hasn't he? We're on a journey to go
home. Well, he's lighted the path for us, beloved. He is the
light that carries us home. My, now look at John. John 8, 12, again, we see here,
he uses the great I am. And he said it there in the bread. He said, I am the bread of life.
Look at again, he says in verse 12 again, then speak Jesus again
unto them saying, I am. He's the I am, beloved. I am
the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have light, the light of life. And
you know he's the door of the sheep? Turn if you would to John
chapter 10. Do you know he's the door of the sheep? Do you
know he's the only way to the Father? You know all other religions
are false religions that will lead to the damnation of the
people who are trusting in them? And I mean all of them. All of
them. They're false religions. They're
false refuges. People who trust in these false
religions. And you know what a false religion
is, right? Anything that adds something
man has to do to be saved. Well, wait, Wayne. Are you saying
that some of these other churches that they say, well, you've got
to walk an aisle to be saved, or you've got to pray a prayer
to be saved, or you've got to speak in tongues to be saved?
You're saying they're false churches? Yep. For by grace are we saved, what?
through faith, and that not of ourselves. It is a gift of God,
not of works, lest any man should boast." Right? Salvation is in Christ
and Him alone. Churches that are preaching that?
Amen. Right? Churches that preach anything
you've got to do, you can mark them. That's why, see, That's
why that study in Sunday school has been so wonderful, because
Paul is marking out how, and it's Paul writing that, but it's
really the author of it is the Holy Spirit of God. And he says
that any gospel that adds anything you or I have to do to be saved,
right, is diametrically opposed to the real gospel. Diametrically
opposed. So how much poison does it take
to kill us? A whole bottle? If somebody has
a bottle of poison, does it take a whole bottle to kill us? Just
a drop, doesn't it? A little leaven, leaven is what?
The whole loaf. A little poison, a little works,
a little, well you got to do this, just this little thing
right here, just this little thing you got to do to be saved.
Nope. My salvation's in Christ and him alone. There's no one
else. No other way. That's scriptural. Now, folks might get mad. They
get mad and say, well, how can you say that? I'm just saying
what the Word says. I was in works-based religion.
I thought it was me. I prayed this prayer, and I thought,
now I'm saved. And some preacher said to me,
well, now you're saved. I was lost as a white goose in
a snowstorm. I did not know Christ. I didn't know him. Some man had
given me false assurance, and I believed him. But it wasn't true. It wasn't
true. And by the grace of God, I heard
the gospel. I heard the gospel. And the Lord saved my soul. He saved my soul. And that's
what he does for his people because he's the door of the sheep. Look
at this in John chapter 10 verses 7 and 9. He's the only way. It's
not by anything we do. Tom, you said at one time when
we were having breakfast that the reason people don't like
the gospel of God's free grace in Christ is because we bring
absolutely nothing to the table. We have our sin, don't we? But
there's nothing we can do to save ourselves. This is what
makes salvation so incredible. That God would have mercy on
us. That he would have mercy on us.
We who try to work our way to salvation. Because man, we're
wired that way. When we fell, we fell. We fell into depravity. And so now man thinks, well,
I just got to do this. No, just look to Christ. Look
and live. Cast aside any of that workspace
stuff. Just look to Him. Look what He
says here. This is His own words. Look at
this. Then said Jesus unto them, verse 7, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, I am the door of the sheep. I'm the door. I'm the way to God. I am the
door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved." Look at that! That's the Word of God saying
that. He's saying, if you enter into me, if you enter to God
through me, you shall be saved. Not through something you do.
That can just bring us condemnation. But in Christ, in Him alone,
He's the way, the truth, and the life. He's the only way to
the Father. And he's proclaimed to be the
good shepherd. Look at verse 11. Look at this. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. He gave his life for me. I'm
a sheep of God. You're a sheep of God. He gave
his life for us, beloved, willingly. And you know, a shepherd, I read
some stuff about shepherds, and they really maintain their flock
and look after their flock. They protect them. Dave, you
mentioned that they leave them to water. They take full care
of them, protecting them. Would not our good shepherd take
care of us in a far better way? protecting us, bringing us to
water, bringing us to the green pastures of His Word, giving
us an understanding as we feast upon this beautiful, beautiful
grass. Oh my. He says, I am the Good
Shepherd, the Good Shepherd given His life for the sheep. And then
He's proclaimed to be the resurrection and the life. I'll tell you what,
who are you trusting in? Are you trusting in yourself?
That'll just lead to the damnation of your soul. Are you trusting
something you do to be saved? That'll just lead to the damnation
of your soul. Spend eternity in hell. But I'll tell you what, there's
only one who's the resurrection and the life. You've heard me
say many times that all these religions of the world, you can
trace them back to a man in a grave. Christ's tomb's empty. It's empty. He's risen. He's risen, beloved. Where is
he? See it at the right hand of the Father right now? Right
now? Ruling and reigning over this
whole world. I turned the news on the other
day. I don't turn the news on very much anymore, because it's
just all fear. It's just all fear. That's all.
I'll tell you what. They make money off of fear. Oh my, this guy, one guy saying
robots are going to take over in 20 something da da da, and
all this, and you know, and then another guy comes up, oh there's
going to be a crisis here, click. My king's in control. I'm not going to be controlled by
fear. Nope. Now there was a time when I'd
be glued to that. Not anymore. I don't got time for that. I
don't got time for that stuff. I pray for our country. Pray
for our president. Pray for our leaders. Pray about
the violence that's going on in this world. Pray for people
to be saved. But I'm not going to get caught
up in all that fear mongering. Because you know what scripture
says? God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of
love and of a sound mind. And how can we have a sound mind?
Look to Christ. Look to Christ. Amidst all the
swirls of this world, just look to Christ. My oh my. Look in John 11, verses 25 to
26. Here he's proclaiming to be the resurrection and the life.
That's what our King is. He's the resurrection and the
life. He's my life. Is He yours? Is He yours? Look at this. Jesus say unto
her, verse 25 and 26, Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection
of life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet
shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall
never die. Believeth thou this? I ask you, do you believe that?
Do you believe what Christ just said? Or do you say, well, you
know, I think that maybe there's something I can do. Or I'm not
quite ready to trust Christ. I'm just not quite ready. You
know, I'm just, I'll just wait till tomorrow. What if tomorrow
doesn't come? People say, well, that's a scare
tactic. No, no, really, it's not scare
tactics. Because there's kids dying nowadays, right? There's young people, young adults
dying nowadays. There's middle-aged people dying.
There's elderly people dying. It happens every day, doesn't
it? And every one of us in this room has an appointment with
death. And we don't know what day that is. That's why Scripture
says now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation.
Trust Christ now. Flee to Him right now. He's the
only Savior of sinners. There's no other Savior than
Him. And now, what comfort that can
bring you and I who believe on Christ. He's the resurrection
and the life. Because He rose, I'm going to
rise too. Because He has life, I'm going
to have life too. My life's in Him. It's in Him. Now look at John 14, verse 6,
very famous verse. And this is so, people say, when
we say, well, salvation's in Christ alone, they say, well,
that's so very narrow-minded. Okay. I'm just repeating the words
of God. Okay? I'm repeating the words of the
God-man. If he says this, this is true,
isn't it? Whether people believe it or
not, this is the words of the God-man. Listen to what he says. It's
another I am statement. I am the way, The truth and the
life. No man cometh unto the Father,
but by me. So it says no man there, right?
No man, no woman, no child, right? Comes unto God, comes unto the
Father, but by me. So that excludes all our works,
doesn't it? We can only come to the Father
by His work. By His perfect, sin atoning work on Calvary's
cross. That's what He's saying here. Let's read it again. Jesus
saith unto him, I am the way. So that means there's only one
way. I am the truth. He's the epitome of truth. He's
truth incarnate. He doesn't lie. And I am the
life. In him is eternal life. There's
nowhere else. You can't find eternal life anywhere else but
Christ. And then he says, no man cometh unto the Father but
by me. The only way to get to heaven
is through Christ. And by His grace and mercy. That's
why it's amazing grace, beloved. That's why we're amazed that
He bestowed this grace upon you and I. Because we're just a bunch
of sinners. In John 15, verse 1, He says,
He's the true vine. You know, we're just branches. Where does those apple trees
out here? Those branches come out and in the spring there's
beautiful flowers and blossoms. Where does all the nutrients
for that come from? Right up the vine, doesn't it? And then
it goes out to the branches. And then the fruit is actually
the fruit of the vine, isn't it? Christ in us, the hope of glory,
beloved. See the fruit of the spirit is something that God
works in us. It's the fruit of the spirit. It's not the fruit
of my doing. It's the fruit of the spirit. You want more peace? Set your
mind on Christ. I guarantee you'll get more peace.
You will, you will. Oh, look what he says here. He
says, I am, another I am statement, the true vine. And my father
is the husband man. See, he's the vine, and we're
just the branches. He's the head, and we're what? The body. Oh,
my. My, oh, my. Turn, if you would, to Acts chapter
3. I'm going to have to finish up here. Acts chapter 3. You know, he's
the prince of life. Oh, just think of that. Christ
is the prince of life. In Him is life. Outside of Him
is death. Death. Look at this in Acts chapter
3, verses 14 and 15. But ye denied the Holy One. Do
you remember the demons called Him the Holy One of God? It's
one of His titles. Look at this. Here's another
title. And the just. That's the sinless one. and desired
a murderer to be granted unto you, and killed the prince of
life. There's one of his titles. Whom God hath raised up from
the dead, wherever we are witnesses. Do you know he alone is the author
of life? He alone is the author of our
salvation, isn't he? How can that be? Because he alone
has wrought out our salvation. Right? He did it for us. He did
it for us, beloved. Have you ever, have you ever
heard a greater love than that? That Christ would give His life for a sinner such as we? That He'd do it willingly? You
know why? Because He loved us with an everlasting,
eternal love. His love has been set upon us
from eternity. And if He's the same yesterday,
today, and forever, right, which He is, the scripture says, that
means that love is unchanging. And did He not prove His love
by coming and dying for us? Did He not prove His love for
each one of us who are His people by dying for us on the cross?
He proved His love. I know He died for all the elect
of all the ages, but if I'm one of the elect, that means He died
for me. My! Wonder of wonders. What a Savior. And He shed His
blood. He gave His life. His blood was
poured out. Shed for us. They took Him. And them Roman soldiers, they
took him and they went around in a circle around him. And they
beat him. These are hardened soldiers,
they just beat him. He didn't say a word. Silent. Because he's the suffering
substitute, you see? They planted a crowd of thorns
on his head, so blood was pouring from his head. You get a head
wound. I'll tell you what, head wounds bleed more than any other
wounds. Unless you get an artery severed. And that blood's just pouring
down. And after they'd whipped him
with a cat-of-nine-tails, which digs right into your skin, they
threw a purple robe over him, which started to cauterize against
that, those wounds. And then they ripped it off. which would cause the agony.
Still he's silent. Then the walk to the cross. It's not over yet, is it? Walking
to the cross. He looks at those women. I love
that portion of Scripture when it says, weep not for me, but
weep for yourselves. The reason I love that is he's telling sinners,
don't weep for me. I'm going to redeem sinners.
for yourselves. We weep over our sin, don't we?
We do. And He goes on that cross and
they nail those nails through His hands and His feet. The agony
of that alone. In all that time we're on His
mind. Because He's dying for His people. all the sin I committed and he's
dying there for me and for you too if you're a believer." And they mocked him, they walked
in front of him and they said, oh, look at that guy. They didn't
speak kindly, they cussed at him. They hated him, beloved,
without a cause. And he cries out, When it's all
done, it is finished. It's finished. He rises from the grave three
days later. What a Savior. And all that He did for you and
I, if you're a believer. And He did it because He loves
us. with an eternal, everlasting, unchanging love. Meditate upon
that this week. Think upon that. God loves me
despite my sinfulness. God loves me with an everlasting,
unchangeable love. It doesn't change. My circumstances
don't change it. My sins don't change it. Again,
it doesn't give us a license to go crazy. But my sins don't
change His love for us. If that was the case, we'd be
in a lot of trouble, wouldn't we? But He loves us with an unchanging
love. Just meditate upon that and give glory to God this week. As you think about these wonderful
titles of our King, because they describe who He is, don't they?
He's the Holy One. He's the resurrection and the
life, because He lives, I'm going to live too. He's my King. He's my Lord. He's my Savior. He's my Redeemer. Hallelujah. To the name of Jesus.