I've looked forward to this time
also. My wife and I, we've longed for
time to get this done. We had a great time. My wife just gave me a signal
some time ago. What will you do without wife?
I already lost my liberty. It is an honor to be here. And
we do thank the Lord for the fellowship that he has brought
us into his family. And it is a universal language
of grace. No matter where you find God's
people, there's only one faith, one hope, one gospel. And the
Lord has his sheep all over the world. And no matter where they
are, in what country, what language, what culture, when the Lord does
the work of grace in the heart of the people, we're one with
them. And the church in Medina sends you
their greetings. And I would be wrong not to tell
you that my dad sent his greetings too. He said, tell them all good
things. You know my dad, you know. you
know that salutation. But they're doing well, they're
healthy, and he is taking over the services while I'm here in
Medina. And we do appreciate your faithfulness
and your support, your prayer for us, and your fellowship in
the gospel with us all these many years, all these many years. bring a message on things that
must be, things that must be in order for you and I, men and
women, sinners by nature, sinners by practice, sinners by choice,
in order for you and I to be, to stand before a holy God, what
things must be, what things must be. And my text is all found in John,
in the book of John. And we'll be looking at several
texts, but we'll be looking at this word, must. We'll be looking
at this word, must. You know, when the Lord says
something must be, the Lord has declared, the Lord has decreed
these things. These things are so. And he will
bring them to pass. I'm so thankful. that salvation
is not a chance. Salvation is not a venture. Let's see if it will happen.
But it's all determined by God's almighty purpose and grace in
Christ Jesus from before the foundation of the world. And
I want us to look in John chapter 9 at this first verse. Now, they're
not in order, but I'm trying put them in some kind of order.
It wouldn't matter how we looked at them. All these things must
be. In John chapter 9, our Lord is speaking to his disciples. Look in verse 1. It says, And
Jesus passed by. And as Jesus passed by, he saw
a man which was blind from birth. And his disciples asked him,
saying, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents? that
he was born blind. And Jesus answered, Neither hath
this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God should
be made manifest in him." Our Lord is not saying that this
man was not a sinner or that his parents were not a sinner,
but this is what our Lord is saying. God is going to bring
honor and glory to his name in giving this man eyes to see. And this is what is true of his
church. His church. All of man fell in
sin. We fell in sin and our father,
Adam, that God may bring honor and glory to his name in the
saving of his people. That the works of God may be
manifest. This is his greatest glory. How he may save sinners. How he may be just and justify
a sinner. This is why the fall. This is the reason of the fall.
That God may bring honor and glory to his name in showing
mercy to sinners. That's not hard. That's just
the way, that's the way it is. It says, he said, neither has
this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God should
be made manifest in him. Now here's the first must. If
a man is going to see God If a man is going to have, if his
church is going to be able to see the Lord Jesus Christ, this
is life eternal, that they may know Thee, the only true God
and Jesus Christ in that sense. If a man is going to see God,
the Lord Jesus Christ, God must do it. God must. Here's the first point. Salvation
is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord from
beginning to end. We know that salvation is of
the Lord in election. He chose a people. But election
is not salvation. It's unto salvation. If there's
any man that's going to be before God to see God, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the eternal Son of God, made flesh, must do the work. This is what he says in verse
4. I must do the works of him that
sent me while it is day. The night cometh when no man
can work. This work that he's talking about
is the work of redemption of his people, the salvation of
his people. He must do that work that he
was sent to do. What is that work that he was
sent to do? Well, in order for you and I to stand before God,
we need to have a righteousness. We need to have the righteousness
of God himself. We need to have the righteousness
of God. And the Lord Jesus Christ, the
eternal Son of God, came into this world, was made flesh. And as a man, he established
righteousness here on the earth. He established righteousness
here on the earth as a man. In John 6, verse 29, our Lord
said this. These men asked him, What shall
we do? Then say they unto him, What
shall we do, that we might work the works of God? And Jesus answered
and said unto them, This is the work of God." It's the work of God that you
believe on him whom he has sent. That is to say, or what he's
saying is, if you believe on God, that's God's work. It's
God's work that you believe on God. In other words, the Lord
gives faith. Faith, the evidence of the work
of the Holy Spirit in a person, in a new creature. It's the new
creature that believes God. But that faith that he gives
you, he doesn't believe on your part. You believe. And when you
believe, you know it's of him. We're saved by the faith of Christ. We believe in Christ to be saved
by the faith of Christ. He must establish righteousness.
Our Lord said this in Hebrews chapter 10. In Hebrews chapter
10, verse 5, our Lord said, Sacrifice. Wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, he saith, Sacrifice an offering thou wouldest not. But a body hast thou prepared
me." A body. The eternal Son of God was made
flesh. This is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
And as a man, he established righteousness. He fulfilled the
law of God. Every jot and every tittle. That's
the righteousness that we're dressed in. That's the righteousness
by which every believer comes before God. He is the Lord our
righteousness. He came to fulfill. Sacrifice thou wouldest not,
a body hast thou prepared me. And burn offering and sacrifice
for sins thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come in the
volume of the book that is written of me to do thy will, O God. Above, when he said sacrifice
and offering and burn offering, and offerings for sin thou wouldst
not, neither hast pleasure therein which are offered by the law.
Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away
the first, that he may establish the second, by the which will
we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. He came to do the Father's will. He subjected himself, the eternal
Son of God subjected himself to the Father's will to establish
righteousness here on the earth as a man. That must be done or
else no man can come before God. Our God is a consuming fire.
Holy, holy, holy. And when we come before His presence,
how thankful we are that we are accepted in the beloved because
we have the righteousness of God. He who knew no sin was made
sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. So that's the first thing. Salvation
is of the Lord. And he said, I must do the works
of him that sent me while it is day. I have to do the work
while I'm here on the earth. Salvation is an accomplished
work. It's not a halfway done job and
you've got to add to it. There is no salvation. There
is no hope for someone who adds anything to that finished work.
Our Lord said it is finished. He cried on the cross, it is
finished. And the Apostle Paul said it like this in Galatians,
if you be circumcised, Christ profits you nothing. What that means is if you lift
one little finger to try to add to that finished work of the
Lord Jesus Christ, that righteousness that he has provided, then Christ
shall profit you nothing. You've fallen from grace. And
he finished it. All that God required of him,
he finished it. The Father said of him, ìThis
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.î And all those
that are in him, heís well pleased in him. Well, hereís the second
thing. If any man is going to be before
God, not only must a righteousness be established, look at John
3, verse 14. Thereís another text where the
word ìmustî shows up. Our Lord is speaking to Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a ruler that came
to the Lord by night, a ruler of the Pharisees. And he said,
our Lord told Nicodemus, Nicodemus, you must be born again. I'm jumping
the point there, but I want to look at verse 14. Here's the
second one. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. It's not enough for
the Lord Jesus Christ to live. He didn't come just to live a
perfect life to give you an example of how you must live to get to
heaven. No one can come before God except
they be in the righteousness of Christ. But it's more than
just that righteousness. We have a debt that we owe. His
people have a debt they owe that they cannot pay. And he must
put an end to sin. The Son of God must be lifted
up. The Lord Jesus Christ had to
be lifted up on the cross and there be made a curse for his
people. It is written, Cursed is everyone
that hangs on a tree. And our Lord Jesus Christ was
lifted up on the cross and he was made a curse for us. He who
knew no sin. When the sins of his people were
laid on the Lord Jesus Christ, He became the guilty one, the
one who knew no sin, who did no sin. He died in the place
of his people to put away the sins of his people. He came to
save his people from their sin by his death, by his blood. There is no forgiveness of sins
apart from the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other
way. There is no salvation apart from the shedding of the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He made a sacrifice for sins.
You know, in that story, Moses lifted up that serpent according
to the word of the Lord. He lifted up that serpent in
the wilderness and told the people, look at that serpent and live.
And this is the same commandment that is coming forth now. Look
into the Lord Jesus Christ. That serpent was made in the
fashion of those serpents who were biting all the people and
they were dying, flying, dying like flies. And Moses made that
serpent, lifted it up on a pole and he said, look and live. And the same thing is coming
forth from the gospel right now. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look to his sacrifice. Look to his payment for sin and
be saved only by the blood of Lord Jesus Christ. He must put
away the sins of his people. And bless God, he did put away
the sins of his people. He did put away the sins of his
people. You know, when somebody wrongs you, is it so that you
remember? You forgive them, but we're supposed
to forget, but I don't know if anybody can forget. Say, I forgive
you. But you know, God who knows all
things, God who knows all things, in the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ, he says this of his people. He said, there are sins and iniquities
I remember no more. Such is the power of the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ that has separated the sins of his
people as far as the east is from the west. The psalmist said this, Lord,
if thou shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But
there is forgiveness with thee. The forgiveness is found in the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He put away the sins of his people.
Well, look at John chapter 20. This is the third. John chapter
20. He must establish righteousness
here on the earth. He must go to the cross and die. in the place, in the room of
his people, a sacrifice for the sins of his people. And also in verse 20, it says
of John 9, for as yet they knew not the scriptures that he must
rise again from the grave. He must rise again from the dead. It was necessary that we serve
a true living God. He is risen from the dead. He
must be risen from the dead. There is no salvation apart from
the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The Apostle Paul said
if Christ be not risen, forget about it. There is no salvation.
If Christ be not risen from the dead, then we are found to be
liars. You are still in your sins and
there is no hope. But the Lord Jesus Christ was
raised from the dead on the third day. God was satisfied with the
sacrifice. Substitution and satisfaction. God was satisfied with the payment
the Lord Jesus Christ made for His people. When the same justice
of God that demanded His death also demanded His release. It
was impossible, it says in the Psalms, that death should behold
Him. It was impossible that death
should hold Him. Why? because he paid in full. The reason why separation from
God, hell, is forever is because God's justice never cries, I
have enough. God's justice never cries, I
have enough. If you and I were to pay for
one sin in eternity, our justice would never cry, I have enough.
But in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, when the Lord died
on the cross and was buried three days in the grave, in the ground,
and the Lord said, I have enough, deliver him. All blessed. You know what? When he rose again,
all those for whom he died rose with him. It must be. It must be. This is our salvation. He rose again. He is seated right
now at the right hand of the majesty on high. living forever
to make intercession to those that come to God by him. He must
be risen from the dead. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. Well, satisfaction is rendered. He justified his people from
all their sins. Well, these things are true. They must be. They must be. The
Lord Jesus Christ must do this work. Now, in order for you and
I to stand before God, His people must be made new creatures. Must be made new creatures. Look
at John chapter 3. John chapter 3. Flesh and blood cannot inherit
eternal life. What's born of the flesh is flesh. It'll always be flesh. What was
born of our parents is always going to be the same. But only
those who are born of the Spirit of God will be in God's presence,
enjoying His presence forever. We must be born again. Nicodemus. We're going back to Nicodemus
in John chapter 3. He was coming to the Lord by
night and he was going to discuss some theological point, and the
Lord stopped him right away and said, ìNicodemus, Nicodemus,
you must be born again.î The Lordís answer in verse 3, ìHe
said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.î It must
be that his people are made new creatures. We must be born of the Holy Spirit. No one who is not born of the
Holy Spirit, who has a nature, a holy nature, will be able to
stand before God. You must be born again. And then
the Lord said, in verse 5, and answered, Verily, I say unto
thee, Except a man be born of water and of spirit, he cannot
enter the kingdom of God. This is the sovereign work of
God in giving life to His people, whoever He will. He says, I'll
have mercy on whom I'll have mercy, and I'll have compassion
on whom I'll have compassion. He gives life sovereignly, mysteriously,
by the water and the Spirit, by the preaching of the gospel,
and the Holy Spirit blesses it and makes that person a new creature.
That's not hard to illustrate. I'm here. You're here. I usually like to pick out a
child. But I don't want to pick out a child. But I usually like
to pick out a child. There's a child right here. And I asked
him, did you decide to be born when you were going to be born?
Think of your birthday. No. Did you decide what parents
you were going to be born of? No. You decide what country. No, no, no. But here you are. But here you are. This physical
life we have, God gave it to us. We didn't have anything to
do in this physical life. Even so, in the spiritual life,
men have nothing to do with it. It's the work of God. But a man
must be born again, born of the Spirit born by the Word of God. Well, here's the next thing. If a man is going to be born
of the Spirit, born of the Word of God, how is he going to hear
the Word of God? Look at John chapter 4 and verse
4. Here's another must. The Lord
Jesus Christ must needs go There's another must. Everywhere
one of God's children are found in this world. You know, we're
all in this world, sheep scattered about. And it really doesn't
matter if that sheep is in Timbuktu. You know why that sheep is in
Timbuktu? The Lord put him in Timbuktu. Isn't that right? The Lord put him there. And if
the Lord put him there, he knows he's there. And he's going to
send the gospel. He is the good shepherd that's
going to go out looking for his lost sheep. It's his sheep. The
Lord Father gave it to him. And he's going to go find him.
And this Samaritan woman, she wasn't looking for the Lord.
She wasn't looking to know she had a religion. She was happy
in her religion. But the Lord Jesus Christ crossed
her path. And the same happens everywhere
a person is born of the Spirit of God, the Lord sends a messenger. And it really doesn't matter
if the person comes to this place right here or the Lord sends
a messenger to Mexico. He's got a sheep. He's got sheep
here in Ashland. And the Lord has sent his church
saying, go ye and preach the gospel to every nation. And we
have nothing to do with the salvation of God's people as far as, we
can't give them life, we can't give them faith, we can't give
them eyes to see, but we preach Jesus Christ and him crucified. We preach the word and the Holy
Spirit takes it and mysteriously, sovereignly gives life. And that
person lives. The evidence of that life, he
believes. The evidence of that life, he believes God. He believes
the Lord Jesus Christ. So there must be the Lord Jesus
Christ going forth to find his sheep. You know, when we go and
preach, we try to preach to every person. But if they hear our
voice, that's not going to help them any. Isn't that right? The Lord Jesus Christ said that
the hour is coming and now is. The dead shall hear the voice
of the Son of God, and they that hear will live." We must hear
God's voice. We must hear the Son of God,
the Lord Jesus Christ in the gospel. The Apostle Paul gives
thanks for that same thing. He said, I thank God that when
you heard the gospel, you heard the message, you heard it from
these lips. But you didn't say, that's Paul preaching, that's
God speaking to me. Only the Lord Jesus Christ can
do that. You must hear Him. He must come
seeking His sheep. And He will find His sheep. Not
one will be lost. He must go to Samaria and find
His sheep. And it's not just those that
were right there, the Jews. He said in John chapter 10, in
verse 16, He said, Other sheep I have which are not of this
folk. must bring. The reason this world keeps spinning
around is because he must have his people. He must have his
people. Our Lord is not frustrated. He's
not going to be defeated. He is satisfied. He shall see
the travail of his soul and be satisfied. All those that the
Father has given him, not one will be lost. And he must go
find them. I think, and it may be so, that
in this day, the gospel is going forth into places we have no
way of knowing where they're going. With this broadcast and
the internet, we have no way of knowing how far it's going. But the Lord blesses it. The
Lord blesses it. Other sheep I have which are
not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my
voice, and they shall be one fold and one shepherd." He's
still talking about the things that must be. You know, all these
things are things that he does. He's not talking about a man
making a decision. These are the things that must
be. These are things that God has ordained. These are things
that are happening right now. And they're going to happen until
the end of the world. All right, here's another thing
that must be if you and I are going to stand in God's presence.
In John 3, verse 30. He must go find his sheep. He will find every one of them.
And here's another thing. John the Baptist said this, ìHe
must increase, and I must decrease.î All of us, by nature, are proud.
All of us, by nature, think weíre somebody. But thereís only one,
the only one who receives all the honor and glory. The song
of praise in heaven is, ìAnd to him who loved us, and to him
who washed us in his own blood, and made us kings in prison,
all praise and honor and glorious to him." There is nobody competing
with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord has given him a name
which is above every name. He has the preeminence in all
things. He must increase. When a person understands and
sees the Lord Jesus Christ, he knows himself to be nothing.
and knows Christ to be everything, knows Christ to be all, all my
hope, all my righteousness, all my sanctification, all my wisdom. He's everything and I'm nothing,
all my hope. As you sang, you sang, all my
hope is in thee. These things must be in order
for a man or a woman to be in God's presence. I thank the Lord for this purpose
that these things must be, and they're happening. Well, I pray
the Lord blesses you. I thank the Lord for you. Thank
the Lord for this time. God bless you.