Tonight, I'm going to be speaking from Ezra chapter four, and the title of the message is No Common Ground. Ezra four. John chapter 16, verse five, but now I go my way to Him that sent me." I've entitled this message, Sent. This is one of 43 times in the Gospel of John that Christ refers to Himself as being sent of God. 43 times that phrase is found in the Gospel of John. I'm going my way to him that sent me. My way is the way of him that sent me.

Now, if God sends somebody, the one he sends is qualified to do what he sent him to do. Amen. For instance, I cannot truly preach unless God himself has sent me to perform that task. How should they preach except they be sent? The fact of the matter is, if God has not sent someone to preach, they cannot preach. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. John, what are your qualifications? God sent me. Anything else needed?

No. I repeat, 43 times he refers to the fact that God sent him. And this is not unique to the Gospel of John. Remember when he said to the Syrophoenician woman, I'm not sent. but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Now, in no uncertain terms, Jesus Christ says, I'm not sent to save everybody. I'm sent only to save the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Let me give you some examples from John. John chapter four, verse 34, my meat. This is what I live on. This is my food. My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. John 3, 17, for God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world. but that the world through him might be saved. John 6, 38 through 40, I came down from heaven. I love it when he says that. If anyone else said that, you'd think they're deluded. Something's wrong with them. They're mentally touched. I'm sure people thought that about him when he said it, but he's the only one who could say this.

I came down from heaven. I had existence before I came down, but I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And this is the will of Him that sent me, that of all which He has given me, I should lose nothing." But raise it up again at the last day. This is the will of Him that sent me. that everyone that seeth the Son and believeth on him should not perish, but I'll raise him up on that last day to everlasting life. John 5, 36, the works that I do bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me. And I love to think of the works that he did when he was walking upon this earth. There was a great storm, Waves and billows were coming into the ship. He said, peace, be still. And there was a great calm. What manner of man is this that even the winds and the sea do obey him?

He raised the dead. Only God can do that. Somebody had been dead four days and already the process of decay had made his body to begin stinking. Lazarus, come forth. He that was dead came forth. Only God can do that. He created matter. When he fed 5,000 with two sardines and five biscuits, he created matter. He gave sight to the blind. He gave abundant evidence by his works that God sent him.

He even claimed the authority to be able to forgive sins. Son, be a good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. Don't you want to hear him say that to you? Be of good cheer. He has the authority to do this. Thy sins be forgiven thee. Only God can do that. John 7 20.

My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. John 6, 29, this is the work of God that you believe on him whom he hath sent. John 17, three, this is eternal life that they might know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. John 17, eight, they have known surely thou came from me and they have believed that thou hast sent. Would that describe you? You believe that God sent him.

You see, this is the stuff of faith, believing that God sent his son. Now, inherent in this, as John said in 1 John 4, 14, we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Inherent in this is we believe he was before he was sent. He was before he was sent.

In the beginning was the Word. The Word didn't begin in the beginning. The Word already was in the beginning when God created the universe. In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, face to face with God. And the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. God.

John 1 14, the Word was made flesh. He came down from heaven and was made flesh. The Word was made flesh and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Now this is a word unique to John. the only begotten of the Father. He uses this word five times. As a matter of fact, look back in John 1. Verse 14. And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Verse 18, no man has seen God at any time.

The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father. That near, dear, intimate relationship described as being in the bosom of the father. Oh, how the father loves the son, how the son loves the father. What intimate language is used. He's in the bosom of the father. He has declared him. The only one who declares who God is, is Jesus Christ, the only begotten son. Look in John chapter three, verse 16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son. Verse 18.

He that believeth not, or he that believeth on him, is not condemned. Right now, if you believe on him, you're not condemned. You have nothing to be condemned for. Your sin has been put away. He that believeth is not condemned. But he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

1 John 4, 9 says, and this was manifested, the love of God toward us, and that he sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him, the only Now, what does that mean? The only begotten Son of God, because begetting has to do with birth. He's the only begotten Son of God. Now, the Son of God is the sole representative of the being and the character of Him who sent Him.

The God of glory. And this begetting was not an event of time. There was not a date. There was not a time when he was begotten and he was not before then. This begetting is an eternal fact. Irrespective of time. He always says, as Psalm 2, 7 states, thou art my son. He says, I declare the decree. Thou art my son this day have I begotten thee. Now this is way above my head and your head, but we believe it.

Jesus Christ is the only begotten son of God. This only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, expresses the eternal union between the Father and the Son and the love that they have one for another. He is the full revelation of God's character and God's will, the only begotten, the begetting, the eternal begetting of the Son. Now, I love, before he came into the world, it was said that he was appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down. at the right hand of the majesty on high. He was with God, face to face with God, and he was God. The same was in his eternal isness in the beginning with God.

Now, obviously, we have a feeble view of this. I feel very much like David when he says, Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It's high. I cannot attain into it, but before creation, we have the fellowship between the father and the son. And we can be abundantly sure of this, that whatever the father sent his son to do, he did. Amen? Think about that.

Whatever it was the Father sent His Son to do, and like I said 43 times in the book of John alone, He refers to Him that sent me. Whatever it was the Father sent Him to do, we can be assured of this, He did because He is incapable of failure. It would be a thing impossible for him to come to do what the Father sent him to do and to fail to do it. Isaiah chapter 42 verse 4 says, with regard to this prophecy concerning his coming, he shall not fail.

He can't fail. How easy is it for me and you to fail? I mean, it just comes natural, doesn't it? failure. He cannot fail. He cannot be discouraged. He shall not be discouraged till he hath set judgment upon the earth. Now, let's consider this for a few moments. The Father sent him, and whatever it was the Father sent him to do, he did. He cannot fail. Now the notion that he could come into the world with an intention and that intention not be met is repugnant. It's offensive to think he could intend to do something and what it was he intended to do did not come to pass.

Now that is the teaching of universal redemption. It's what is preached from most pulpits in Lexington, Kentucky this morning. Jesus Christ shed his blood for all men without exception with the intention of saving them and forgiving them if they will just accept him as their personal savior and ask him into their heart and all the other foolish things that preachers say with regard to him. His intention was to save all men.

And if there's anyone that's not saved, his intention is frustrated. His will's not being done. The teaching of universal redemption makes him a failure. It makes his father guilty of double jeopardy. He punished the same sin twice. Once in his son, and then again in the sinner. That's double jeopardy. That's unjust. It makes the father unjust. And it makes this scripture, which is one of my favorites, meaningless. Who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died.

I need no other argument. I need no other plea, it is enough that Jesus died, and that he died for me. Bold shall I stand in that great day, for who ought to my charge to lay, fully absolved from these I am, from sin's tremendous curse and shame. When from the dust of death I rise to take my mansions in the sky, even then shall this be all my plea, that Jesus lived and died for me. Now the hope of the gospel is that who is he that can condemn?

It's Christ that died, and by His death, He made it to where there's nothing to condemn me for. I have no sin. It's all been paid for. It's all been washed away by the blood of Christ. I stand before God as one who has never sinned. I don't have anything to feel guilty about. I please God perfectly. That is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ did for His people.

And if you would tell me that a man can be punished, For sin, even after Christ died for that sin, there's no gospel in that message. None at all. Somebody that preaches that doesn't know God, doesn't know the gospel. Somebody that believes that doesn't know God, doesn't know the gospel.

Our hope is that Jesus Christ did what he came to do. Well, what did he come to do? Look in John 17, across the page, Verse four. Here's a summary of what he did. This John chapter 17 is an amazing chapter. It's the son praying to the father. right before he dies, this is the Lord's prayer. I love Matthew chapter six when he teaches us to pray, we're looking at that, but this is the Lord's prayer. And if there's a place that is holy ground in the scripture, this is it. The Lord praying to his father right before his death, And he says, this is a summary of why the father sent him and what he did.

I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work thou gavest me to do. what the Father sent him to this earth for? He said, I have glorified thee on the earth. That's why God sent him, to glorify God, to make known God, to exalt and glorify his Father. I have glorified thee on the earth. He glorified God by his obedience. He obeyed God perfectly. How he glorified God on the cross. Though he slay me. Now here's faith. Though he slay me.

When he was cut off and forsaken and felt nothing of God's presence. You know, Michael's reading that passage of scripture in Hebrews chapter four, where he was tempted at all points, like as we are, yet without sin. And I remember I used to think about that when I'd read that. Well, how can it be so, how can he experience what I've experienced and be sympathetic toward me if he never sinned? He never experienced anything like that. And listen to me.

He experienced everything about sin, but the commission of it. He experienced being cut off. He experienced the separation, the shame, the guilt of sin much more acutely than you or I have. And when we feel that way, he's touched by it because he's felt that way much more acutely than we have. He experienced that. But oh, he believed God perfectly even when he was cut off by his father, though he slay me, yet will I trust him.

He glorified every attribute of God by his death on the cross. Now remember, He's the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He is God's eternal purpose for Him to come and die on a cross. And in Him dying on a cross, oh, how He glorified His Father.

He glorified His justice. God is never gonna let one sin go unpunished. He's a just God. He glorified His righteousness. He glorified His power. He actually made sin not to be. It's no longer for everybody that He died for. He glorified God's wisdom and how God is so wise He could make a way to be just and justify the ungodly.

Every attribute of God is fully displayed in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I have glorified Thee on the earth. I have finished the work. thou gavest me to do. Now, what is the work God gave him to do? Matthew 121, thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Did he do it? That's what I'm asking you right now. Did he do it? Yes, he did.

Does he get all the glory in your salvation? Let's forget everybody else right now. Just talk about you, your salvation. Does he get all the glory in your salvation? Did he do it all? Yes. Assuredly, thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.

And what I need to be saved from is my sins. That's my big problem, my sins. Not your sins, my sins. Oh, to be saved from my sins. When he said it is finished, I was saved from my sins. I was saved from the condemnation of my sins. He bore the condemnation, He bore the punishment.

I'm saved from that. There's therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. I love that hymn. No condemnation now I dread. I am my Lord's and He is mine, alive in Him my living head, and clothed in righteousness divine. I'm saved from the power of sin. Sin's not my Lord. That word, sin shall not have dominion over you is actually the word lordship. Sin shall not have lordship over you for you're not under law, but under grace. Now there was a time when sin was my lord.

I had to do what he told me to do. I couldn't believe. I couldn't. It was beyond my power because sin was my lord. I couldn't repent. Sin was my Lord. I was dead in sin. Sin exercised absolute Lordship over me. That's what a man dead in sin is. Sin's his Lord, sin's his master. Satan's his master. Dead in sins. Under the Lordship of sin. But when the Lord saves a man, he gives him a new heart. can repent, that can and does love God, delivered from the lordship, the dominion of sin.

Now somebody says, well, I've been delivered from the dominion of sin. I'm different. I don't sin the way I used to. I'm a better person. You're under swordship right now. You're blind as a bat. That's what you think. You're just plum blind, dead in sins. If God gives you any sign of who you are, you'll know better than that. But that's when you're delivered from the Lordship. and dominion of sin.

And one of these days, bless God, although I already am glorified according to Romans chapter 830, whom he justified, then he also glorified. I'm already glorified, but when Anne was singing that song, when I'm saved from sinning, I can't remember exactly the word, I loved it when she said that. One of these days, I'm not gonna be a sinner anymore. Isn't that a blessed thought? I'm not going to be a sinner anymore.

I'm going to be perfectly conformed to the image of his son. Now, I've already quoted this, but let me quote it again because we're talking about sin. He said, I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the will of him that sent me, that of all which he hath given me, the elect. That's all that means, the elect. That of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing. I won't lose one of them. They're gonna be raised on the last day perfectly conformed to my image. Every single one of them. That's God's will. God's will is for all of his elect to be saved.

Now if I stopped there, I wouldn't really be giving God's will. I'd be giving part of it. But if I don't quote verse 40, I haven't given all of God's will. Now it's His will for the elect to be safe. Thank God for that. I love the God of election. But we don't stop there. Verse 40, and this is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone that seeth the Son and believeth on Him should have everlasting life, and I'll raise Him up, at the last day. Now here's, thank God for the fact that he's going to save the elect. I'm so thankful for that.

He's a complete savior. Do you see the son? Now I'm not talking about a physical sight. I've never seen him. Do you see who he is according to the scripture? Forget about yourself just for a moment. Forget about your experience. Forget about whether you think you're saved or not.

Do you see who He is? He is God the Son, God manifest in the flesh. Do you see, do you believe that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God? Do you see that? Do you believe that? Now notice the order, he that seeth the Son and believeth on him. If you see, you believe. It's believing who he is. That's what saving faith is. It's believing who he is.

What hinders me from being baptized? The Ethiopian eunuch asked Philip, see, here's water. What hinders me from being baptized? Give me a reason as to why I should not be baptized. And when he asked that question, it's because he was paranoid. Maybe I shouldn't do it. Maybe something's wrong with me. Maybe there's something else I need. Some further experience, some further knowledge, some further fill in the blank. What hinders me from being baptized? If you believe with all your heart, you may. And he replied, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. Do you believe that he's the son of God?

And let me tell you what is included in that. You believe he's the creator. You believe he's the sovereign of the universe. You believe He's all that God requires. God the Son. You believe Him. You believe He's the Christ. You believe He's God's prophet, like no other prophet. He is the Word of God. You believe He's God's priest. If He presents you, you must be saved. You believe He's God's King. He's the King who can cause you to believe on Him. If you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, Well, what did he do? He confessed him in baptism. I'm not asking, do you believe you're saved? Do you believe he's the savior? Do you believe he's the only way of salvation? That is saving faith.

He said in Luke chapter 19, verse 10, for the son of man is come, remember the father sent him, The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. You're lost. You can't find your way back to God. You're in the darkness, lost. That's who he came to seek and to save. He came to seek you out. and he came to save you. The father sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned.

John chapter 10, verse 10, I am come that they might have life. Now that's not talking about longevity of life, that's talking about life, everlasting life, eternal life, the life of God in the soul. Peter called it partakers of the divine nature, a life you never had before he gave it to you. Eternal life. I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. He said in John chapter nine, for judgment I'm coming to this world.

That they would see, not might see. And that they would see, might be made blind. Now if you say, I see why God would save me, because I, you're blind. You're blind. This could be the judicial reprobation of God on you. I see why God would save me. Well, you're blind. Blinded in your own self-righteousness. But if you're one who say, I can't see why God would save me because of who I am, you've been given sight.

And you will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. John 6, 29, this is the work of God that you believe. on him whom he hath sent." Not just that you believe, but you believe on him whom he has sent. You believe God sent him. You believe he did what God sent him to do. And all of your hope is in the fact that he did what God sent him to do.

1 Timothy 1.15, this is a faithful saying. and worthy of all acceptation. You can rely on this saying. It's true. It's worthy of you gratefully embracing this and holding on to it. It's the best thing you've ever heard in your life. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. That Christ Jesus came into the world. Remember the Father sent him. This is what he sent him to do.

Christ Jesus came into the world to save, who? Sinners. I'm so thankful for the absence of an adjective before that word sinners. Doesn't say he came to save repentant sinners. It doesn't say he came to save elect sinners. It doesn't say he came to save believing sinners. It says he came to save sinners.

Are you a sinner? Are you like Peter? When the Lord made himself known to him, you know what the scripture says he did? When he found out who Christ really was, he fell at the knees of Christ and said, depart from me, Lord. I am a sinful man. Full of sin to where that's all that is there. Is that you? Christ Jesus came into this world having been sent by His Father to save you. You. Now, if you're not a sinner, I can't make that claim. But if you are a sinner, full of sin, he came, having been sent by his father, he came to save you.

And when he said, it is finished, Remember, he said, I've glorified thee on the work. I've finished the work thou gavest me to do. When he said it is finished, your salvation was finished. There's nothing for you to do but rest in him. And this is God's command to you. Believe. on the Lord Jesus Christ. And thou shall be saved, you are saved, and you always will be saved. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name that those who have believed on you will continue to do so. And that those who have not believed might, by your grace, believe the gospel. In Christ's name we pray, amen.