Go ahead and turn with me to John chapter 6 and verse 38 and hold your place there, please. John 6, 38. The gospel message is not a complicated message. It's a simple message. It really is. Not hard to understand. But it's impossible, absolutely impossible to believe unless God gives you life, unless God gives you eyes to see, ears to hear, hearts to believe. You'll never believe it.

Now, our Lord Jesus, though fully God, was fully man. He was the God-man. He wasn't half God and half man, 50% God, 50% man. He was all God. and he was all man. As a man, he experienced fear. As a man, he encountered dread. As a man, he underwent the real burden of suffering. Why must the Lord become a man? You ever thought about that? That's a good question. Why did God become a man? Why must the Lord become a man?

Well, first, Christ must become a man to fulfill the law. Humanity had broken God's law. You and I had broken God's law in a representative, that being Adam, and also by our own practice. Justice demanded a perfect obedience. not keeping half of the 10 commandments, not keeping nine of them, but keeping all of them, not just the 10, but all the law of God perfectly. You offend in one point, you're guilty of the whole law, guilty. Only a man, only a human could justify, justly justify. Let me put that in there. Only a perfect man could justly justify men and women.

So Christ came as a man and he lived a sinless life, never committed sin, never had a sinful thought, never said a sinful word, never had a sinful motive in anything that he did. He went about doing good, nothing but good, perfectly good. in order to redeem fallen man. The writer of Hebrews said, for we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, and here's the difference, yet without sin. You and I are tempted and we sin. Secondly, Christ must become a man to die for chosen sinners. God's justice required payment for sin. The wages of sin is what? Death. That's the penalty. That's the price. A mere human, sinful men and women, could not satisfy infinite punishment. The God-man could both. represent humanity, and also bear the full weight of God's divine wrath.

This was the only way, no other way, only way, that a sinner can be reconciled to God. Our sin separated us from God. Only Christ can reconcile us back to Him. God's justice demands I reiterate that sin be punished. It can't be overlooked. Now, men today preach the gospel as if God just, God loves everybody so much that He just overlooks sin. No. A resounding no. That is not true. Sin has to be dealt with.

God would cease to be just if it wasn't. Christ, thirdly, must become a man to reconcile us to God. And only one is qualified to do that, the Lord Jesus Christ. And his death could satisfy God's demands of justice completely. God is satisfied. Without his sacrifice, without his substitution, the justice of God would remain unsatisfied and no sinner could be reconciled to God.

You and I can't fix ourselves. People would like to think they could, but we can't fix ourselves. Men still try, but they always fail. Men claim God's universal love as to why God saves, but the love of God does not cancel His justice. I'm thankful that that God loves his people in Christ, but it don't cancel his justice. Sin still gotta be dealt with.

He cannot, God cannot, there's some things God cannot do. And I say that very reverently because he can't do them because he would cease to be God if he did. He cannot in love simply overlook sin without compromising his perfect holiness. You see, God is at a standard we can't fathom.

As I said earlier, we compare ourselves with one another and I'm usually consider myself good compared to somebody that's bad. And I usually consider myself as bad when I'm compared to somebody morally superior than me. But his standard of holiness and goodness and perfection, we can't understand, we can't fathom.

So considering these things, God the Son came in human flesh and he lived a perfect life and he died the death that we deserve. Do you believe that? Do you believe that you deserve death? If you ever see, if God ever shows you, if God ever reveals to you who and what you are, you'll see that you deserve death and condemnation.

And you won't be asking for what's fair. We don't want what's fair, believe it or not. We don't want what we deserve. We want mercy, and we don't deserve it. Our Lord and Savior experienced the full separation of God, the very punishment that we earned, that we merited, and that we deserve, so that we don't have to.

Somebody does something nice for you, you're appreciative, but nobody can do for you what Christ did. So, without the incarnation of God the Son, without God coming into this world, without God becoming a man, salvation would not be possible for us. When the time of our Lord's death came, in Luke chapter 22, verse 42, the Lord cried out to His Father these words.

He said, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me, nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. We hear a lot today about man's will. Don't give me my will. Don't give me my way, Lord. What's the significance of the Lord's statement? Not my will, but thine be done.

Well, it's the perfect example of surrender of self. I surrender all. And yet we wouldn't surrender anything if God didn't give us a contrite heart in order to do so and to see ourselves as we really are. The significance of not my will, but his being done is not only the perfect surrender of self, but it's the setting aside of our own personal desires.

It's acknowledging God's wisdom over ours. It reveals our trust in God's sovereign salvation. And I say sovereign salvation because God does the saving. What'd we do? The sinning. We did the sinning, God does the saving. As simple a doctrine as that is, and as true as it is, most people today really don't believe that. Well, you know, I'm not, I'm a sinner. I know I'm a sinner, but, and I know I'm not perfect. Oh, you're far from it.

It displays our submission to His means of redemption. It shows us the heart and the humility and the trust and reliance upon the purpose of God, not upon what we think to be best for us. It's bowing to God's will over our will. It's aligning our will with God's will. Our Lord Jesus established this pattern for submission, His willing submission to death. Now listen, this is good. Opens the way for us to have our sins forgiven and to be reconciled to God.

Is that of any interest to you? I would say it is. He wouldn't be here. And without His submission of not my will, our redemption wouldn't exist. We can be confident that our submission to God's will for us is certain. Why? Glad you asked. Because Christ himself submitted his will as a man to the very one that you and I must submit our will to. He did it for us. And the reason being is the topic of my message this morning, and that's the will of God.

We don't, our will's nothing to talk about, certainly nothing to brag about, not even worthy of talking about. You're in John chapter six, look at verse 38. And when our Lord here said, not my will, but thine be done, what was the will of the Father that the Lord Jesus desired to be done? Let's read it together, verse 38.

He said, for I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the father's will, so we see it was the father that sent him, which had sent me, that of all which he had given me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day." What did God the father give him? Gave him a people. And this is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life.

And I'll raise Him up at the last day. He said that two different times. I'll raise Him up at the last day. You know what that means? That means He's gonna raise us up. That means when we lay these bodies down in that grave, we're not gonna stay there. And God's not only gonna raise us up, but He's gonna give us new bodies. Without sin. Sign me up. Sign me up. God's will was to save sinners.

Now the question is, are you a sinner? Do you see what you are? Not every sinner in the world, but he says right here, all that the father gave to me, gave to Christ, verse 39. Everyone that seeth the son. A lot of people claim to see Jesus. Some even claim to have seen him, you know, in the spirit. God's gotta give us eyes to see. Everyone that believes on Him, verse 40, God has to give us hearts to believe. He's gotta give us eyes to see, He's gotta give us hearts to believe, and if He doesn't, we won't see Him and we won't believe Him. Everyone that sees Him and everyone that believes on Him has everlasting life, and they will be raised up on the last day, that day of judgment. What a day that'll be, huh? When my Savior I shall see. When He takes me by the hand and leads me to the Promised Land.

Man, I can't wait. Thought about that a lot this last week in the passing of Sister Judy Harmon. It's a departure. It's a relocation, isn't it? Not death. Real death is eternal separation from God forever. And real life is eternal reconciliation and fellowship with God forever, eternal. That's a word we don't know much about. We're so bound by time, aren't we? And this is my title this morning.

Why Does God Save Sinners? You'd be surprised how few people really know why. Why does God save sinners? It's not because He loves everyone in the world. God's love never overrides His holiness and His justice. So the short answer, if you said, give that to me in less than 10 words, my answer would be because He wills to do so. When it really comes down to that, there's no other reason outside of God's own will and purpose.

A few weeks back in our men's meeting, one of the men, I can't remember now who it was, I'm getting old, and one of the men read a passage out of Isaiah, and when they finished, It was one of those, Pat, maybe chapter 48, because that's one of them. Clayton made the comment, he said, boy, there was sure a lot of I wills by God in that. You men remember that?

You see, when God says I will, it's never wishful thinking. When God says I will, it's not just good intentions. We've got good intentions that usually pass pretty quickly. Things get in the way and boom, our good intentions, My mother used to say, good intentions pave the road to hell. That's true. There's plenty of blacktop to do that. When God says, I will, it's a declaration of His sovereign purpose to act according to His nature and His power and His faithfulness and His goodness and His mercy. When God saves sinners, it's not because they deserve it. It's not because they seek Him first. There's none that seeketh after God. We don't seek Him first. It's not because they improved themselves.

Okay, Lord, been working on this. I've turned right. I'm going straight. I'm getting these things straight in my life, and I've come through a little bit of standstill. Can you help me now? No, sir. No, sir. When God's I will guarantees that His word will come to pass. He said, I thought it was gonna come to pass. I purposed it, so shall it be.

When God says, I will, he's taking the sovereign initiative. Each I will of God reveals his character, his holiness, his faithfulness, his love, and his justice. When God says, I will forgive, it shows his mercy, grace, and love for those that Christ died for. When God says, I will punish, It displays His righteousness and His justice. And in short, God's I will is His signature guarantee that acts decisively and faithfully. It's a call to trust Him. It's a promise for us to cling to. My Heavenly Father, who created all things, said He would. What hope have you got of being saved? God said He'd save me if I trusted and believed in His Son.

You know, I have to mention that old bumper sticker. I've seen them all my life. Don't see them so much anymore. God said it. I believe it, that settles it. Well, you can believe that, but I believe it. It don't matter if you believe it or not. God said it, that settles it. That's exactly right. It's a promise for us to cling to. It's a reminder that the world is under his control, whether they know it or not.

So why does God save sinners? That's the question. Not why should he, not why do we need it, but why does he actually do so? Why would God save rebels, idolaters, the spiritually wicked and dead? There's nothing in us that obligates God to rescue us from our sins, so why does he do it? Well, I want you to turn now with me to Ezekiel. Old Testament book of Ezekiel.

Right after, I think it's Lamentations. Ezekiel chapter 36. Right before the book of Daniel. Ezekiel chapter 36. And I'll begin in verse 22. Ezekiel 36. Verse 22. Let me mention that the phrase, I will, it occurs 21 times across 15 verses in this chapter, and it's the most in any chapter or book of the Bible. I will, God says, I will, I will, I will. We won't have time to look at all of them, but look here in verse 22.

Why does God save sinners? That's the question. Therefore, saying to the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord, I do not this for your sake. O house of Israel, but for mine own holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the heathen, whither you went?" God saves sinners, first and foremost. He said, I do this not for your sakes, but for mine. God saves sinners for his own name's sake. Verse 23, and I'll sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which you have profaned in the midst of them. And the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. Now, Israel had profaned his name among the nations.

We've studied through Genesis and Exodus and Numbers and Joshua and Judges. And what we see over and over and over, the hard-headedness and the rebellion and the idolatry of God's chosen nation. And you know, our mouths drop open when we see how they just time and time and time again, God would deliver them and they'd fall right back into idolatry and right back into serving idols. They were faithless. They were stubborn.

God says, I'll sanctify my great name. Now, as you know, the word sanctify means to be set apart as holy. God was already holy. He's not saying he's gonna become holy. The word sanctify here means to publicly vindicate or set apart and demonstrate his holiness so that everyone sees it. Whether they believe it or not, they're gonna see it and they're gonna acknowledge it. God is saying, I'm going to act in such a way that the world is going to know really who I am.

Why did he raise up Pharaoh? To show his power in him. Same thing here. That his name, God's name might be declared throughout all the earth. That's why God raised up Pharaoh. to show that this what seemed to be powerful monarch and potentate had no power at all, only the power that God gave him. And God stripped it all away so that you and I would see that he's in control, that his name would be declared throughout the earth.

God's gonna prove that he's God. God's gonna prove that he's holy, that he's faithful to his covenant, that he's sovereign over the nations. that He's the only true God and He sanctifies His name by saving His people. A remarkable thing is how He sanctifies His name. And He tells us in verse 24, look at this. Pay particular attention to the two words that we're talking about, I will.

For I will take you from among the heathen. God's glorified in that. And I'll gather you out of all countries and I'll bring you into your own land. then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall be clean from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you." Who's doing the cleansing?

God is. A new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take out the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. Who will? God will. It's His promise. Verse 27, and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments and do them. Listen, when God says concerning us, I will, we shall. The Lord Jesus said that very often. I will, you shall. I will, you shall. Because He's sovereign. Who's gonna resist His will? Huh? Nobody. And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

How does God sanctify His name? He says, I'll take you from the heathen, verse 24. I'll sprinkle clean water upon you, verse 25. I'll give you a new heart, verse 26. I'll put my spirit within. God does the same. This is a sovereign gathering, verse 24.

He said, I will take you. I will gather you. I will bring you. He takes us, He gathers us, He brings us. God does sovereign gathering. You're gonna come. They were scattered by sin. God gathers them by His grace. He brings His people out of death. He brings them into fellowship with Himself. God does it.

What did I do? Enjoy the ride. This is a complete cleansing, verse 25. I will sprinkle clean water upon you. This isn't partial cleansing. This is not just improvement. This is a complete cleansing. Clean from all filthiness. Delivered from all idols. All of them. This is not reformation. This is a divine cleansing. God didn't polish the old and make it look new. God washes the sinner in the blood of His Son. Are you talking about clean?

I remember, I believe it was in Arlington one day, I was coming back from Arlington, and there was an old house that they were remodeling. It was pretty dilapidated, and the wood was all, the paint was all gone, the boards were beginning to rot, and they had started putting new siding on it. In the front of the house looked like a new house and then on the side of the house where they only gone about halfway up on the side, you could see. They were still just an old house and they were covering up the bones of it.

That's not what God does. That's not what God does to us. Not a reformation, it's not a remodel. It's a new creation. He tears down and builds a new one. This is a new heart, verse 26. A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. The problem is not external behavior, friends. It's the heart. That's the problem.

Stone can't respond to God. You ever talk to a stone? I remember one time they had these pet rocks. I thought, well, that ain't much a pet. I know my dog can't talk, but he can do more than a stone can, a rock can. God removes the heart of stone. God gives a heart of flesh. That's regeneration. It's not a remodel. It's not reformation. It's a new creation.

Religion says try harder. Well, you gotta try harder. Don't do that. Do this, don't do that. God says you need a new heart. And then God says the most amazing thing. And I'm going to give you one in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm going to give you a new one. Any man be in Christ, he's what? A new creature. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. It's a new power within us.

Verse 27. God causes us to walk in His statues. This is the result of God's Spirit within. Holiness is not self-generated. It's Spirit produced. It's a restored fellowship, verse 28. You shall be my people, and I will be your God. You see, we were separated by sin. Our sin is what separated us, but we've been reconciled by grace.

I love the thought of the almighty, sovereign, omnipotent God being my Father. And when God says, I will be your God, that means everything to one that has nothing. Anything that God promises me, He's able to give. So God vindicates His name by sovereignly saving a sinful people that could not save themselves. And He makes it clear why He does. You remember why? for His own holy name's sake. Not gonna share His glory with another. You and I don't get any glory. You and I don't want any. We want Him to have it all. He deserves it all. We don't deserve any.

In His name we see His holiness. Sin must be judged. We see His justice. Christ bore the penalty of sin. We see His mercy. Sinners are saved. His sovereign grace we see, only He can give a new heart. The little man upstairs who's wringing his hands on the portals of heaven's glory, He don't save anybody, not unless they let Him or help Him, but not my God. He saves whom He wills, how He wills, when He wills. And when He saves sinners, His name sanctified before the world. The greatest display of God's glory, friends, is the redemption of the undeserving. And it's here that we see the result of God's saving grace. It's humility and our humility and fruitfulness.

Look at verse 29, I'll finish up. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses and I'll call for the corn and will increase it and lay no famine upon you and I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field that you shall receive no more reproach or famine among the heathen. Who is it that promised that? The one that can fulfill it.

God delivers and provides. He saves us from our uncleanness. Sin is our greatest and deepest problem, and God puts it away. Christ shall save his people from their sin. Thou shalt call his name Jesus. Why? Because he will save his people from their sin.

He saves us. He keeps us. God does not save and then abandon us. He sustains. He keeps. He provides. He caused the corn to increase. He removes famine and reproach. He multiplies His fruit unto us. He increases us in the knowledge of Christ. He does not merely forgive. He completely restores by making us new. God brings deep repentance. Look at verse 31.

Then shall you remember your own evil ways and your doings that were not good, and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abomination. And that's the only thing that any of us, I say this all the time, it's the truth. That's the only thing that believers would really disagree on. Who's the chief of sinners? You'd say you were, I'd say I was. And we just have to agree to disagree.

God says, you're gonna remember your own evil ways. Oh, I wish, God forgets what we can't. We don't, we can't, we don't forget our own evil ways. I can still remember things from my past. Oh, I'd give anything to forgive them, but I can't. But God has. Things that weren't good. And I loathe myself, I abhor myself, I hate myself for those things. Those iniquities and those abominations. And notice the order.

God first cleanses, then his people loathe themselves. True repentance follows the revelation of our sin and causes the sinner to hate themselves. And that, my friends, is grace. When a sinner sees that God saved them freely by the righteous and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, they see their sin more clearly than ever. They look at the cross and they say, evil dwells within me.

I don't have anything to get puffed up about. Grace, grace, that produces humility. And then we're again reminded why God saves sinners, verse 32. Not for your sakes do I do this, saith the Lord God, let it be known unto you. Be ashamed and confound it for your own ways, O house of Israel. You see, we gotta be told over and over and time and time again, because we're slow to believe it.

Salvation is not a reward, it's mercy for God's holy namesake. Nevertheless, He saved them for His name's sake, that He might make known His mighty power. He restored my soul. He leadeth me in the path of righteousness. Why? For His name's sake. Psalm 23. For my name's sake will I defer mine anger. For my own sake, even for my own sake will I do it, and will not give my glory unto another. For the Lord will not forsake His people for His great name's sake, because it hath pleased the Lord to make you His people." It's pleased the Lord to make you His. 1 Samuel 12.

So, did God save sinners because they deserved it? Did God save sinners because they sought Him? Did God save certain sinners because they were bettered? No, no, and no. Salvation is not a reward for the worthy, it's mercy for the unworthy. Salvation is not grace for those with strength, it's for those who have no strength.

It's given so that God's great name might be honored. And when a sinner by divine revelation truly sees what God has done, boasting dies, Not by works, as any man should boast. Pride falls. God hates a proud look. He gives grace to the humble. And all that's left to say is, all glory be to God. And that's what God's people say. He gets all the glory. God saves sinners. For His mercy, His power, and His Son, who's the epitome of all those things, And they'll forever and ever praise Him. So again, why does God save sinners? For His name's sake. For His glory. According to His mercy.

Through Christ's justifying finished work. And that's the believer's only security. We have no security anywhere else. Have no hope anywhere. Christ in you is the hope of glory. And the response is never ever pride. What is it? Worship. That's the result. Every time, worship. Oh, Lord. You're so good to me. Your mercy endures forever. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name. Give glory for Thy mercy and Thy truth.