(pt96) Matthew

Q: What does the Bible say about God's mercy?

The Bible teaches that God's mercy endures forever, and He shows mercy to whom He wills (Psalm 106; Romans 9:15). The Bible presents God's mercy as a defining characteristic of His nature. Psalm 106 begins with a proclamation to praise the Lord and give thanks, highlighting God's enduring goodness and mercy. This mercy is not arbitrary; it is part of God's sovereign choice as emphasized in Romans 9:15, where Paul states that God has the right to show mercy to whom He wills, demonstrating His divine prerogative in the exercise of grace. Understanding God's mercy is crucial for Christians as it reveals our dependence on His grace rather than on our works.

Q: How do we know predestination is true?

Scripture affirms predestination through passages like Ephesians 1:4-5 and Romans 8:29-30, which emphasize God's sovereign choice. Predestination is a core doctrine of sovereign grace theology evidenced in numerous Biblical texts. Ephesians 1:4-5 states that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, marking our destiny in grace before we existed. Similarly, Romans 8:29-30 outlines the golden chain of salvation, indicating that those whom God foreknew, He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. This highlights not only the assurance of believers but also underscores God's sovereignty in the process of salvation. Thus, predestination rests on the firm foundation of God's intentional and active role in redeeming His elect.

Q: Why is regeneration important for Christians?

Regeneration is essential as it represents the spiritual rebirth necessary to understand and respond to God's grace (Titus 3:5). In Reformed theology, regeneration is the work of the Holy Spirit, bringing spiritual life to the dead soul. Titus 3:5 tells us that God saves us not based on our works but according to His mercy, emphasizing the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. Without regeneration, a person cannot comprehend or respond to the gospel. It leads to a transformed life marked by repentance and faith in Christ, enabling believers to fulfill God's commandments. Thus, regeneration is not merely a theological concept but a foundational reality that signifies the beginning of a believer's spiritual journey.

Q: How does God's sovereignty relate to salvation?

God's sovereignty ensures that salvation is entirely a work of His grace and not based on human effort or merit (Romans 9:16). Sovereign grace theology upholds that salvation is a divine initiative, where God, in His sovereignty, chooses to save certain individuals according to His will. Romans 9:16 articulates that it is not dependent on human desire or effort but on God’s mercy. This understanding liberates believers from the performance-based mindset and anchors their assurance in God’s unfailing grace. The acknowledgment of God’s sovereignty in salvation fosters humility and gratitude in the heart of a believer, recognizing that we are saved purely by His sovereign choice and grace, not by our own merit or works.

Q: What is the role of faith in salvation?

Faith is the means by which believers receive God's gift of salvation, as it is granted by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). In Reformed theology, faith is not a human work but a response granted by God's grace. Ephesians 2:8-9 emphasizes that we are saved by grace through faith, and this faith itself is a gift from God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. This perspective underscores the belief that even the ability to have faith is initiated by God’s sovereign grace, affirming that salvation is entirely His work from beginning to end. The role of faith, therefore, is crucial, as it is the vessel through which believers lay hold of Christ and His righteousness, resulting in eternal life.

Psalm, Psalm 106. And this goes along with our study tonight. You're going to need your Bibles. We're going to read several sections of scripture directly from the Bible. Psalm 106, beginning at verse one, we read these words. Psalm 106, verse one, praise ye the Lord. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord for he is good. for his mercy endureth forever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can show forth all his praise? Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times.

And then this next verse is what I really want you to see here, and this goes really well with our tonight's service. Remember me, O Lord, with the favor that thou bearest unto thy people. O visit me with thy salvation, that I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.

We're going to begin with the handout. Actually, no, we're going to begin with reading from Romans chapter 9. I want to set the table, as it were. So turn, if you would, in your Bibles to Romans chapter 9. Ah, Shirley was able to join us. Good to have you with us, Shirley. So, in Romans chapter 9, and again, what I want to do is I want to set the table for what we're going to study in our text. And what a better way to set that table than with God's Word. And here in Romans chapter 9, beginning at verse 11, we read these words.

For the children being not yet born. We're talking about the twins. We're talking about the two boys Jacob and Esau he says for the children being not yet born neither having done any good or evil They hadn't even been born yet They're still in their mother's womb and they had no opportunity to do any good needle that the purpose of of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said unto her, it was said unto the boy's mother, the elder shall serve the younger.

As it is written, and this is referring to over in the book of Malachi, As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid! For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth." Remember, he hardened the heart of Pharaoh, but in reality, all he had to do was remove his restraining hand. That was the Lord hardening his heart. His heart was already hardened by nature, by his nature.

Verse 19, that was saying to me, then why does he find fault? For who hath resisted his will? And Paul's answer to that question is this, Nay, but, O man, who art thou? Who are you that replies against God? Who are you that would question God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

Hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel into honor and another to dishonor? Is it not God's right? Is he not right in all that he does? Does he not have the right to make one into honor and one to dishonor? What if God, willing to show his wrath, to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction? that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had afford prepared unto glory, even us whom he hath called not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles." Isn't that good stuff? Isn't that wonderful? Our Lord, by his own sovereign power, chooses whom he will have mercy upon and whom he will not.

Now, in our handout, you'll notice I have Titus 3 verses 4 through 6 at the top. Let's read that together, shall we? But after that kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, But according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Titus 3, verses 4 through 6. Another one, if you wouldn't mind, here, right below that. Ephesians 2, verses 4 and 5. But God, who is rich in mercy, For his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us, made alive, together with Christ, by grace ye are saved.

Now I pray that the Lord has set, and this is the third paragraph there on page one. I pray the Lord has set the tables for us with these verses as it made in the reading of these verses before we read our text. And our text is over in Matthew chapter 27, verses 39 through 44. So turn over to Matthew chapter 27. And once again, we'll read these verses. We read these last week and considered it. the angle, a different angle to the diamond of our Lord's glory. This week, we're going to consider just a little bit of this. Let's begin at verse 39, Matthew 27, verse 39.

And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priest, mocking him with scribes and elders, said, He saved others, himself he cannot save. If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God, let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him, for He said, I am the Son of God. And then verse 44, the thieves also, which were crucified with Him, cast the same in His teeth.

This is what I want to talk to you about this evening. We want to focus a little bit on these two thieves that were on each side of the Lord Jesus. But in Matthew, we don't get a lot of detail. Over in Mark chapter 15, verses 27 through 28, we get a little bit. And then another brief mention about it, John gives in 19 verse 18. But I want to look at Luke, if you would. Turn over to the 23rd chapter of Luke. We'll read 10 verses there which give us a better description of the scene, the table as it were, of these two thieves on each side of our Lord Jesus. Luke chapter 23. Beginning at verse 33, we read these words, and when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

And they parted his remnant and cast lots. And the people stood beholding, and the rulers also with them, deriding him, saying, he saved others. Let him save himself, if he be the Christ, the chosen of God. And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar, and saying, if thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. And the subscription also, which was written over him in the letters Greek and Latin and Hebrew, this is the king of the Jews. And one of the malefactors, which were hanged, railed on him, saying, If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us. But the other, the other answering, rebuked him, rebuked the first one, saying, Dost thou fear God, seeing that thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly For we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me. See how that song went with us? Lord, remember me.

Now we'll spend the rest of our time in the handout. So if you'll go back to our handout now, and we're looking at that short paragraph right underneath the reading of scriptures there. A man once said, any message that does not include the three R's is no message at all. And that's exactly what we have here. Ruin of men, regeneration, and redemption. the ruin of man, as we read in verse 39-41. Let's read that again.

And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us. Here they both are, hanging on their own cross, ready for death. Here they are, ready to be crucified alongside of our Lord, and they're railing on Him as if He was not God. He says, If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost thou not fear God, seeing that thou art in the same condemnation?

And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, but this man hath done nothing amiss." So we see here the ruin of man in verses 39-41. Look back at the handout there. It says, we indeed justly. He's admitting that they're receiving exactly what their just reward is.

Those self-righteous, unbelieving Jewish leaders had no idea who that man was that was hanging on that cross before them. They had no need of a Savior because they thought that by doing their religious deeds, They were doing, they were saving, that was their proof of salvation. Before one can call, it's back in the handout, before one can call upon the holy God-man for redemption, one must see their need of Him. We must see the fall of man.

God came not for the righteous, but for sinners. The whole have no need of a physician. We indeed justly deserve the wrath of God. By God's mercy and grace, we see our complete lack of righteousness. There's not even a molecule drop of righteousness moisture in this flesh.

In fact, we are as the dry bones in the valley of bones spoken of in Ezekiel 37. I remember a message, Pastor Gene, I think was the one who brought it. There's a word that's used in the description there in Ezekiel 37 describing the bones that were in that valley. So dry, so parched. They used this as an example. Have you ever been out in the desert and come across an animal bone and it was just so dried out that if you picked it up, it would almost turn to dust? That's how lacking of moisture We're in those bones.

That's the lacking of righteousness in any man or woman or child or anybody who's walked this earth outside of Christ Jesus the Lord. Sin is not what I do. It is what I am. I am a sinner because I sin. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Page two. There are none good, no not one. Ye all, ye will not come, that ye may have life." Listen to these words, Ephesians 2, verse 2-3.

Where in times past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others."

We were by nature. This man knew he was deserving of God's wrath. He knew he was deserving of death. He knew that he was a child of wrath, even as others. Second paragraph, page 2. The wages of sin is death. Sin is what we all are by nature, and sin is all that we do in a state of rebellion against God. It is as impossible for a sinner to do good as it is for water to be dry. Huh? Yeah. I know, that made sense when I wrote it.

Our corrupt nature corrupts all of our thoughts, our feelings, our words, and deeds. As a corrupt fountain only brings forth corrupt water, so a corrupt heart only brings forth corruption. That means that the very plowing of the wicked is an abomination to God, and even our righteousnesses are filthy rags in His sight. And here's the verses to back that up, Proverbs 21, verse 4, and a high look and a proud heart and a plowing of the wicked is sin.

If you're out in the field and you're plowing and you're thinking you're doing good, you're raising food for your family, but you're not doing it for the glory of God. You're not doing it because you're doing it for the glory of men. You're just as wicked as anything else. There's one who's done a murderer. You've taken the glory away from God.

Listen to these words from Isaiah 64 verse six, but we are all as an unclean thing. And all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away. Sin is also our choice. We drink it like iniquity, like water, as stated in Job 15, 16.

And that which sin deserves is death. eternal death, which is eternal separation from God, and eternal vengeance of His holy wrath. Death is the debt God owes to sin, and God always pays His debts. The one thief went to hell because he ate of the fruit of his own way. The other, for by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest man should boast.

Next we see regenerated man in verse 42. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, he called him Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. Lord, remember me when thou comest. What an example. Last paragraph, page two. What an example specimen of God's elect we are given here.

All we know about him is that he was a thief, sent to the gallows for execution of his crimes, a condemned one who was loved and chosen of God. crying out for mercy from the one who has mercy upon whom he will have mercy, as we read in Romans chapter 9, page 3.

He called him Lord. Only one whom God has given a new heart truly calls Christ Lord. In Ezekiel 13 verse 23, For I will deliver my people out of your hand, and ye shall know that I am what? The Lord. That's right. Ezekiel 39 verse 7, so will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people. He will make his holy name. He will make us to know him as Lord. He is Lord. There's no question about that. He's Lord of everything. But to know that he is my Lord comes from him.

See folks, we come into this world rebelling against the Lord. We come into this world saying, I'll do it my way. We come into this world saying, I'm not such a bad person. I'm okay. I have some righteousness of my own. I can do this. No, God tells us that we don't. He tells us that there are none that do good. No, not one. It takes God to bring his people to that point of understanding their death, their sin.

That's the ruin that we just spent some time looking at. It takes God to show us that so that we would see him as our only Lord, as the Lord over me, over my will, over my body, over my soul, over everything. So I will make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let them pollute my holy name anymore. And the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel." Listen to these words. Read along with me from Ezekiel 36, 22 in the handout here, page 3. Therefore saith unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God. Go out and tell the people of Israel. Go out and tell my elect. Go out and tell the world that this is who I am. I do not this for your sakes. He does not come to save his people for their sakes. He saves them for his son's sake.

O house of Israel, but for my holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither you went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye 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. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then, then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh, and I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes. And ye shall keep my judgments and do them, and ye shall dwell in the land that I gave your fathers, and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. He called him Lord. He said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me.

This regeneration, this bringing a person to life. That's what regeneration means. Regenerated means to be given life, to be re-given the life that we once had back before Adam, back in our daddy Adam. The life that we all gave up at that point when sin came into the world. And you have the quickened, made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sin. That's regeneration.

Lastly, we have redeemed. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. The hour had come. All that the Lord had prophesied of the coming of the Deliverer, the Messiah, the Redeemer of Israel, was being fulfilled in this man, the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our Lord Jesus Christ put away the guilt of sin by his atoning sacrifice. He put away the punishment of it by his sufferings in the death, as our substitute, page four. The incarnate Son of God put away the penalty of the law by his satisfaction of divine justice. What was the penalty? It was death. That was why our Lord had to become a man, why Christ, the Son of God, had to become flesh, to die in our stead to satisfy divine justice.

He put away the consequences of sin by His obedience unto death. He puts away the dominion of sin in His people by the power of His grace in the new birth. He puts away the filth of sin by His sanctifying grace, and He shall put away the very being of sin in resurrection glory. This work of putting away sin was accomplished by Him bearing our sin in His own body upon the cursed tree.

He took it, He carried it, and took it away. This is what was pictured in the Old Testament type of a scapegoat, a substitute. The Lord Jesus has removed sin from us as far as the East is from the West by finishing and making an end of it. He disannulled and abolished it. Insofar as the law and justice of God is concerned, He paid our debt by His one sacrifice. In one great day, the whole work was done.

Listen to these words from Zechariah 3, 9. For behold, the stone that I have laid before Joshua, upon one stone shall be seven eyes. Behold, I engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

Our sin being forever. Effectually put away by the sacrifice of Christ shall never be found and can never be charged to us again. Listen to this from Jeremiah 50, 20. In those days and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none. And the sin of Judah, and there shall not, and they shall not be found. for I will pardon them who I reserve."

And then these words from Romans 4, verse 8, blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. We sing this song, my sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to his cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, it is well with my soul.

Horatio Gates Spafford wrote that. Page 5. Our Savior came here to do a work. In Matthew 121, and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin. a work appointed to him and purposed by him from everlasting, as it states in Psalms 40 and Hebrews 10. And he was determined to accomplish it, straightened as he put it, until it was accomplished. It shall be accomplished. It shall be finished. He had come here to accomplish death, and it shall be accomplished.

Listen to Luke 9, verses 30 through 31. And behold, there talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias. And they were talking about that very thing, about his accomplished death, who appeared in glory. And they spake of his decease, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. Redemption for the elect of God was about to be finished.

This child of the Most High was forgiven, not by anything he had done, but for what his blessed Redeemer was doing right then next to him. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in the fashion of the man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2, 5-11.

How will he do it? By what means shall the Holy Lamb of God be sacrificed? The altar shall be built, built by man's enmity. The sacrifice shall be slain, slain by man's hatred. The work shall be done, done by man's will. It shall be done exactly according to the purpose of God.

Acts 2 verse 23, Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. Remember what we read back in early Matthew? I just was thinking about this, that the will of man, Pilate turned Jesus over to the will of the people.

Last statement here on page five, the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God, and you know, as I read that just now, here's what goes through my butt, God. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Page six. Eternal life comes to guilty sinners, not as a debt or a reward for something we have done. but as the free grace gift of God. The new birth, which is the beginning of eternal life in the soul, is the gift of God. Faith in Christ is the gift of God. Heavenly glory, which is the consummation of eternal life, is also the gift of God.

Death, hell, and judgment are things we earn by sin, but grace, life, and heaven are things freely given to sinners through Jesus Christ our Lord. Ephesians 2 verse 7. Christ having paid the debt of sin for his people by his death upon the cross has made it right and just for the Holy Lord God who must punish sin to give eternal life to all for whom he died. Through the merits of Christ, through his blood and righteousness, God gives eternal life to everyone who believes on him.

Even the faith by which we receive is the gift of God and a result of his operation of grace. Listen to Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, for by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves is the gift of God, not of works, lest men should boast. And then in Colossians 1, verse 12, giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet, made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in life. Faith in Christ is not the cause of God's gift, but the result of it.

If you now believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, God has given you eternal life. It is altogether His work. Salvation is of the Lord. Listen to Ephesians 1, 3-7. We're talking about redemption, the third R, redemption in our Lord Savior, Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he has chosen us in him. Before the foundation of the Lord, we should be holy and without blame before him. in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. All men, and I'm talking about all mankind, have been ruined by the fall of Adam. The elect have been regenerated, given life, quickened as it is used there in Ephesians and Colossians, by the Holy Spirit. The loved of God have been redeemed by the blood of the Holy One of Israel, Christ Jesus the Lord. Page seven. A closing thought. In The Saved Thief, we see the marvelous power of God's sovereign grace. Here is a reveler, changed into a suppliant. What caused the change?

Let every proud notion of self-righteousness, self-worth, and free will forever perish. Fall down before the Son of God and adore His distinguishing grace. One malefactor was left to himself and went to hell, blaspheming the other, died in faith, trusting Christ and praying. Brother Don Fortner wrote this. He said he was snatched by omnipotent grace from the jaws of hell. As a brand, our Savior would not allow him to be burned.

Do you see your nature to be as wicked and your state as desperate as this thief? If so, your soul is humbled before God. Do you see that nothing but the same grace of Christ can save you? If so, you will exalt the free grace of God in Christ. O my soul, exalt the mercy, love, and grace of Christ. May God, the Holy Spirit, teach us to pray as he taught this man to pray, Lord, remember me. There is no savior but you, no salvation but by you. I am hopeless. I am a hopeless, helpless sinner. And unless you save me, I must be damned forever. You are the king. Yours is the kingdom. Oh, bring me with you into your kingdom. If God will grant you such faith in the Savior Christ Jesus, you will soon be in glory with the same Lord, who is rich in mercy unto all who call upon Him."

Romans 10, 12. Again, I quote from Brother Don in closing, Oh, what a great magnet the crucified Christ is to poor, needy, helpless sinners. In John 12, 32-33, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die. Let every member of Emmanuel's bride cry as we are taught of God, draw me, and we will run after the song of Solomon. 1, 2, 4.

(pt96) Matthew

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about God's mercy?

How do we know predestination is true?

Why is regeneration important for Christians?

How does God's sovereignty relate to salvation?

What is the role of faith in salvation?

Sermon Transcript

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(pt96) Matthew

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about God's mercy?

How do we know predestination is true?

Why is regeneration important for Christians?

How does God's sovereignty relate to salvation?

What is the role of faith in salvation?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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