Good morning. It's good to see
all of you. I'd like to say a few words by
way of introduction before we turn to our passage this morning.
I just want to say it's a real honor and both an undeserved
privilege and pleasure to be with you this morning. I thank the Lord, for indeed, I thank him
who first loved us for your love and your for him who loved us
and washed us of all his sins with his precious blood and only
a love for him. But the love you have for his
people. And I'm so grateful and thankful
for that. But we know why we love him, right? Because he first
loved us. And you know why we love his
people. It's because you can't separate our glorious, majestic
head from his body. It's a mystery. I can't explain
it, but it's so we're vitally joined and made one with our
Lord and God, Jesus Christ. I pray the Lord would bless his
word this morning, and he would enable me to open my mouth and
preach the gospel as I ought, as I should. If you would open your Bibles
with me and turn to the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew's Gospel. I'm going to read the portion
beginning in verse 18 through to the end of that chapter, verse
25. And I pray and hope that the
Lord will enable me to Preach a message that will both honor
him and if he's pleased to he will bless his word this morning
with his spirit and comfort you and Cause you to take your eyes
off your sorry selves I'm preaching to myself and have them set afresh
on our Lord and God Jesus Christ I'm sure many of you are familiar
with the acrostic tulip and And a lot of people will say that's
Calvinism. And I really don't like that
when people say it's Calvinism, that's not Calvin's doctrine,
that's the Lord's doctrine, singular. Tulip, acrostic just means you
can spell a word and each one of the letters of that word means
something. And it truly is the Lord's doctrine. Total depravity,
our Lord said, without me, you can do nothing. The ewe and tulip,
unconditional election. What did he say to his disciples?
They didn't murmur when they heard this. You did not choose
me, but I have chosen you. Limited atonement. What did he
tell us? And more than one place. We'd
be here all morning going through all the places where this doctrine
is so clear and plain. But he tells us, I give my life
for the sheep. I pray not for the world, but
for those you've given me. limited atonement or particular
redemption. Some people like that, are more preferable to
that. And then irresistible grace, perseverance of the saints. I
think we can sum that up in John chapter 10. What did he say?
He said, my sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me.
And I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. And so I've picked a poor, I
say poor because I need that acrostic for us to go through
and look at my subject this morning, which will be the real savior
according to the scriptures, who saves real sinners according
to the scriptures. But before I give you that outline,
let's read our portion here this morning, beginning in verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ
was on this wise, when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph,
before they came together. Matthew chapter one, verse 18
through to the last verse there, verse 25. I'm hearing pages turn,
so I'll just wait a second. Everyone there? Matthew chapter
one, beginning in verse 18. I trust you're not here to hear
me. I pray the Lord will, through my poverty, he'll speak directly
to you and bless his word. If he's pleased to bless his
word this morning, we'll hear him afresh and we'll see him
afresh. That's my prayer. Verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ
was on this wise. When his, as his mother, Mary
was espoused to Joseph before they came together, she was found
with child of the Holy ghost. Then Joseph, her husband being
a just man and not willing to make her a public example was
minded to put her away. Privilege. But while he thought
on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto
him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to
take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in
her is of the Holy Ghost, and shall bring forth a son, and
thou shall call his name Jesus, Joshua. Salvation is of Jehovah. Salvation is of the Lord. Jehovah
has saved. What a glorious name. Call his
name Jesus. How come? For he shall save his
people from their sins. Now all this was done that it
might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet
saying, behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring
forth a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel. which being
interpreted is God with us. Then Joseph, being raised from
sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took
unto him his wife, and knew her not till she had brought forth
her firstborn son, and he called his name Jesus. What a wondrous,
glorious name. Something about that name. We
sing that hymn. Something about that name. What's
about that name? What we read in this scripture
is that there's no other name given among men whereby we must
be saved. And it's my hope, and I trust
it's your hope this morning, that our Lord has promised, it's
a sure hope, it's a certain hope, but he has promised where two
or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the
midst of them. And I pray he'll bless us this
morning as we consider the real savior according to the scriptures
and the real sinners he came into the world to save according
to the scriptures. I'll be using every letter of
his name, Jesus, for us to go through this subject. The first
letter is J. Let me just give it to you quickly,
or otherwise we'll be here all morning. He's a just Savior. He's an elect Savior. He's a
sanctified Savior. He's a universal Savior, and
He's a sovereign, successful Savior. And not only will we
be looking at Him this morning in the Word of God, we'll be
looking at principally some passages in Isaiah, but we'll also be
looking at His people, the people He came to save. Not pretended
sinners that look down their noses at other people, but those
who truly are made sinners because God has loved them and put them
into the light and countenance of his well-pleasing son. And
in the light of Christ, what will he show you from the top
of your head? to the bottom of your feet is
one big reason why God should justly send you to hell. Nevertheless,
He has taught you, in the very moment He's taught you that you're
a great sinner, in that very moment, He teaches you to look
to the Lord Jesus Christ, our great Savior, who shall not fail
to save His people. So first of all, the first letter,
J. I said, our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, He is a just Savior. That is what we read in Isaiah
53, 11, I'll turn there in a moment, but where do we get that title,
that glorious title about our Lord? You know, Stephen, when
he was speaking to those stiff-necked people, and that's speaking to
us, by nature, we're all stiff-necked. By nature, we all think we're
gonna keep the law. And what did Stephen say? You've not kept
the law. And he said, you have murdered and killed the just
one. Who is he talking about? The
only just one, our Lord and God, Jesus Christ. In Isaiah chapter
53, in verse 11, and I'll just be looking at a few passages
in Isaiah. We'll be going around a little bit. If you don't want
to take notes or you don't want to flip around, I understand
this is recorded. And if you can suffer me, you
can review those verses again. But in Isaiah chapter 53 in verse
11, listen to what it says about the gospel of our salvation,
the word of truth. It says here in verse 11, he
shall see of the travail of his soul. Our heavenly father should
see the travail of his well-pleasing son's soul and shall be satisfied. Our Lord and God Jesus Christ
satisfied his father by his knowledge, shall my righteous servant, the
just one, my righteous servant shall justify many. for he shall
bear their iniquities. Now, what is that speaking about?
It's speaking about justification, beloved, how our Lord and God,
through his doing and dying, through his precious blood, through
the righteousness he established on the earth on behalf of his
people, he has justified real sinners. Now, isn't it wonderful
to define the terms and amplify them? You know, that word justified,
it can be a little misunderstood sometimes. You see, beloved,
we're not merely forgiven. We're not merely pardoned. We are acquitted. That means cleared of all charges,
cleared of all guilt. How else could our brother Paul
write in Romans chapter eight, verse one? He says there, there
is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.
Isn't that wonderful to hear? That our Lord and God, Jesus
Christ, is a just Savior. He's the just one that came into
the world to save His people, and His people, they are justified,
acquitted. It's so much stronger than pardon
and forgiven, although we are pardoned. We certainly are. Isn't
that what Isaiah... writes there, moved by the Holy
Spirit. It says there, the Lord, well, let's turn there. Isaiah,
I don't have this. I didn't plan on go turning here, but it's
such a good portion. Let's turn there. Isaiah chapter 40, verses
one and two. It says there, comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, Savior God. I can't comfort you. but he will
comfort his people when his gospel is declared, the word of truth,
the gospel of our salvation. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. Don't speak to her head. Cry out unto her the gospel according
to Christ from the word of God, and God will bless his word,
and he will shed abroad in our hearts his love, and we will
be comforted, knowing what? Cry unto her that her warfare
is accomplished. Everything you need to be saved
has been accomplished through the doing and dying of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And what happens when warfare is accomplished?
Peace, perfect peace that you didn't have anything to do with.
Tell her that her iniquity is pardoned for she has received
the Lord's hand double for all her sins. So we're just looking
at that first letter J, he's the just savior, and he has justified
his people. They are people who have been
cleared of all sin, cleared of all guilt, they are, in a word,
acquitted. Now, this poor acrostic, it's
not poor because of the name, for sure. It's poor because I
hope this will help us to remember all these glorious attributes
about our Lord and God, that He is a just Savior. He's a just Savior. The second
letter in our Lord's name, Jesus, is E. What does that speak to? Our Lord and God is an elect
Savior. Look what it says in Isaiah chapter
42. Isaiah chapter 42 and verse one. We're going to spend a little
bit more time on this word elect. There's so many glorious verses,
I just couldn't pick a few. But here's the first one I'd
like us to look at and consider. Behold my servant whom I uphold,
mine elect." Who is that talking about? It's talking about God's
well-pleasing son, God's chosen savior that he sent into the
world to save sinners. No other adjective, it doesn't
say repentant sinners, it doesn't say sinners who turned over a
new leaf. It's those who have been made to know who and what
they are only because God has loved them and put them in the
light of his dear son. Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. You've heard that before, right?
This is my son in whom I am well pleased. And the gospel is so
glorious, you need a miracle to believe it. Because in the
first chapter of the gospel of John, the evangelist is writing
the account of John the Baptist. And John the Baptist beholds
our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. And he says,
behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. And
in that very chapter, the Lamb of God beholds one of his precious
sheep. And he says, behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is
no guile. That's what he said of Nathaniel,
was it not? He said, behold, an Israelite
indeed, in whom is no guile. How can that be? I mean, if you
know yourself like you know me, you know you're nothing but guile.
Our Lord and God is beholding one of his precious sheep, truly
and completely washed by his sin-cleansing blood. You know,
we were singing that hymn by Philip Bliss, is it? The last
hymn, Philip Bliss. He has a stanza. I like answering
it for myself. Maybe you can answer it this
morning, too, by God's spirit, God-given faith. He writes this
stanza, full atonement Can it be? Oh, yes, it be, beloved. He has fully and completely saved
us, and we'll look at that in a moment. I put my spirit upon
him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. He shall bring forth righteousness
to the Gentiles. He is the elect Savior, and who
is he the elect for? He is the Savior sent into the
world to save his elect people. That is a people that he has
chosen from before the foundation of the world. We read it in so
many places, Ephesians chapter one, before the foundation of
the world. Second Timothy chapter one, verse nine, what does it
say? First it says, God who saved us and called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began. You see, in Psalm 2, we're gonna
look at a brief portion in Psalm 2. Again, we're talking about
the elect Savior. We just talked about the just
Savior, now the elect Savior. What about his elect chosen people? Look what it says here in Psalm
2. I believe it's verse eight, if memory serves. Psalm chapter 2 verse 8. No,
verse 6. Listen to our Heavenly Father
speak of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ. Yet have I set my king
upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree the
Lord hath said of unto me, Thou art my son. This day I have begotten
thee. Ask of me. We can hear in the covenant exchange
between the father and the son. The Father and the Son have chosen
a people to save. Ask of me, and I shall give thee
the heathen, the nations for thy inheritance, and the uttermost
parts of the earth for thy possession. He is the elect Savior who has
an elect people. In other words, he has chosen
a people to save. And I'm so thankful that he describes
who those people are. What does Paul write to young
Timothy? It's good to repeat these things.
You know, we can say with the Apostle Paul, for me to write
the same things to you, to preach the same things to you, it's
not grievous for me, but for you, it's safe. He wrote to Timothy
a faithful saying worthy of all expectation, that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners. Because when we hear about election
and God's elect, we can get a little nervous, like, is that talking
about me? It most certainly is if that's
what you know yourself to be, a real sinner looking to the
real savior for all your salvation. You know, I was shown a book,
I'm thankful for the hospitality we've been shown. I was shown
a book, John Newton. I was reminded of what John Newton
said about his hope, his sure hope, towards the end of his
time stayed upon this earth. His brethren came around and
asked him, how are you doing, John? Everything okay? And John
Newton said, I don't remember many things, but two things I
know. I'm a great sinner, and my Lord and God, Jesus Christ,
is my great savior, my great savior. I'll probably forget
some verses to look at, but I do want to stay a little bit more
on this word elect. God has chosen us. We are his adopted children. Just a few more passages on this
glorious truth about God's elect. Let's turn to Acts chapter 13,
if you would. I'll just read a couple of portions
there. Acts chapter 13. And then beginning there in verse
38. although the Lord would bless his word this morning mightily.
See, it's his word that has power. It's not my outline or my poor
acrostic or manuscript or anything to do with those things. It's
the word that he'll bless to the saving of his people. It
pleased God through the foolishness of preaching. It's not foolishness
for us, beloved, is it? It is foolishness to those who
perish. The preaching of the cross, the preaching of his blood,
the preaching of his righteousness, that he is the surety of the
covenant, that he has done all things for us, that's foolishness
to those who perish. But for us who believe, it's
the power of God unto salvation. Now listen to here in Acts chapter
13, beginning in verse 38. Be it known unto you therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man, Through the God-man,
our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, is preached unto you the forgiveness
of sins. And by him, all that believe
are justified, acquitted, cleared of all guilt, from all things
which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. And then
verse 44. And the next Sabbath day came
almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. But
when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy and
spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting
and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed
bold." This is not Paul and Barnabas. This is the Spirit of God and
Paul and Barnabas. and said, it was necessary that
the word of God should first have been spoken to you, but
seeing you put it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of
everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath
the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light
of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends
of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad. and glorify the word of the Lord,
and as many as were ordained to eternal life, believe. Time does not allow us to look
at all of the glorious portions of God's word that speak about
election, that he has chosen a people, but let's look at a
few more passages, and then we'll get on to the next letter, S,
in our Lord's matchless name. Turn to Deuteronomy chapter seven,
if you would. In the covenant of God's grace,
we hear Moses begging Jehovah God, show me your glory. And
he said, this is my glory. I'll have mercy on whom I have
mercy and I'll have compassion on whom I have compassion. He
has a chosen people, beloved. And it says here in verse six,
for thou art and holy people under the Lord, thy God. The
Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself
above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord
did not set his love, his eternal, unchanging, never failing love
upon you, nor choose you because you were more in number than
any people, for you were the fewest of all people. And then
one more portion of scripture. This is in, I love this. This
really talks about adoption, beloved, and why it is you believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ this morning. Look what it says in
Galatians chapter four. Galatians chapter four. I trust this is much a blessing
for you as it is for me to trace all these verses where we see
the gospel of our salvation set forth ever so plainly and clearly.
In Galatians chapter four, it says here, I'll begin in verse
four. But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth
his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them
that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons. Verse six, and because ye are sons, God hath sent forth
the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. You could not believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ this morning. as not some of your salvation,
but ever so blessedly all of it, unless you were his son or
daughter, adopted in the covenant of God's grace. You know, we
were listening to a conference last night, and the Lord has
an adopted people, they're his children, and we read in, it's
in Hebrews, if you turn there with me as well, Hebrews chapter
two, And we'll look at this wonderful
Christ-honoring verse, speaking about how our Lord and God, Jesus
Christ, my last point will be our sovereign, successful Savior,
but let's look at this early, shall we? In Hebrews chapter
two, it says there, in the latter part, in Hebrews chapter two
of that verse, it says, behold, heavenly Father, I do no damage
to the text to say that, Behold, Heavenly Father, I and the children
which you have given me." So our Lord and God, He's a just
Savior. He's an elect Savior. He justifies His people. He clears
them of all guilt. They're acquitted and they are
adopted children, adopted in the covenant of God's grace,
a chosen people. And further, our Lord and God,
He's our sanctified Savior, our sanctified Savior. Listen to
what our Lord and God says of Himself in John chapter 10. He is the sanctified, sent Savior
to come into this world and glorify His heavenly Father, our heavenly
Father in gospel commandment and saving His people. In John
chapter 10, in verse 36, it says there, these are the words of
our Lord and God, Jesus Christ. Say ye of him whom the Father
hath sanctified, he sanctified of the Father, he set apart to
be our Savior, and sent into the world thou blasphemous, because
I said I am the Son of God. And also in our Lord and God's
great priestly prayer, when he's praying, He also says in verse
17 of John chapter 17, sanctify them through thy truth, thy word
is truth. And in verse 19, he says, and
for their sakes, I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified
through the truth. Our Lord and God, Jesus Christ
is our sanctified savior, but so too, he has a sanctified people,
a people that he has made accepted in the beloved son of God. Look
what it says with me in the Gospel of Isaiah. I said we've been
looking at a few verses in Isaiah. This can be found in Isaiah chapter
62. In Isaiah chapter 62, we read there in the last verse, verse 12,
and they shall call them, speaking now about God's chosen elect
people, his sanctified people, they shall call them the holy
people, the redeemed of the Lord, and thou shalt be called sought
out, a city not forsaken. Isn't it a comfort to know this
morning that our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, he said he came
to seek and save that which is lost. And at the end of time,
every single one of his precious sheep will be found. He tells
us afresh this morning the Father's will. This is recorded for us
in John chapter six, verse 39. He said, this is the Father's
will. He who sent me, that of all that he has given me, I shall
lose nothing. He is a sovereign, successful
Savior, beloved. Now, this business of sanctification
is speaking about how through the doing and dying of the Lord
Jesus Christ, We have been washed throughly and completely of all
our sins with his precious blood. And in the life he lived on the
earth, as a real life flesh and blood man, he established a perfect
righteousness on behalf of his people. You know, I try as best
I can with poor, homely analogies to explain the gospel, but we
don't need to explain it, do we? We just need to declare it.
But we do sometimes try to help our listeners' understanding.
Now, some of you have gainful employment or career employment,
and you would have been interviewed, and you would have had a background
check. And they would have said, you know what? We can hire this
man. He's a good man. He's passed our background check.
Well, the Bible warns every one of us that God's background check
is so thorough, so comprehensive, that not a one of us would enter
into the kingdom of heaven on our own record. Our record is
ruined. Our record is soiled. But we
must have the record of someone else, the one who's lived the
life that we want to live, but we can't. Nevertheless, he's
lived that life for us, that we might be accepted through
his righteousness, the righteousness he established on the earth as
a real life flesh and blood man. If you can rejoice this morning
in what Paul writes in Colossians 2, verse 10, you're a miracle
of God's grace, because you could not believe this unless God had
given you faith. It's not something that we work
up in ourselves. It's God's gift to his people.
What does it say right there in Colossians 2, verse 10? Ye,
beloved, are complete in him. Everything you need to be saved,
a complete pardon, of all your sins, of all your ruin, washed
truly and completely by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that's a half a gospel. The other thing we need is not
your best life. We don't have our best life,
do we? If the Lord has taught it, you know, it's, it's, you
don't want to bring that life before the Lord. And the good
news is he's given us a refuge in his son that he has lived
the perfect life of a perfect man. And that life is now my
life. He has taught me to hate my life.
Isn't that what our Lord said? He said, you cannot be my disciple
unless you hate your life. By God's grace, every one of
us can say that I hate my life. I hate my record. I hate the
ruin of it. And I thank the Lord that he
sent his son into the world to live a life for me that I can't
live for myself. And he's like, How do I say it
better than what has already been said? Ye are complete in
him, lacking nothing. And if you don't hear that, you'll
never rest. If God doesn't bless his word with his spirit and
teach you, not not me teaching you now, isn't that what our
Lord and God Jesus Christ declared? He said, as it's written in the
prophets, they shall all be taught of God. And all who hear the
Father and learn of him become five-point Calvinists. Did he
say that? No. He said, come to me. I'm so thankful for that. He
has sanctified us. And we don't have pretended holiness
now, do we? We have his true holiness, his
true holiness. So we've looked at Our Lord and
God, Jesus Christ, being our just Savior, He's justified His
people. We're acquitted, beloved. We're
cleared of all charges. He is our elect Savior. He has
a chosen people. They're adopted into His family. And He is sanctified by the Father. The Father has set Him apart
and said, this is my King, this is my Savior that I've sent into
the world to save sinners. And now, let's spend a little
more time for the time we have remaining on the last two letters.
We've already gone through J, right? And E and S. Let's spend
a little time on U. And I gotta tell you, I'm so
happy to say universal in front of something and be so glad about
it. And you know I'm not talking
about universal redemption, that Roman Catholic heresy. We know
better, God's taught us. Beloved our Lord and God, Jesus
Christ, he's our universal savior. What am I saying by that? Turn
with me to Isaiah chapter 45, and look there with me in verse 22. We were looking at this passage
the other day, were we at that mark? I had the reference wrong. I
thought it was another passage that the Lord used to save Spurgeon,
but it was this verse. the Lord used to save him. His word is living and active,
beloved. It's powerful. And if he's pleased
to, he'll bless his word mightily and give life like that. It's
not something you figure out. See, by nature, we're all in
our own tomb of unbelief, like Lazarus. And we're dead. And you don't know you're dead.
But when you hear the voice of your Lord and God, he'll just
say, Lazarus, come forth. And you'll lay down your grave
clothes. Well, your brothers and sisters
will help you with that a little bit. But you'll give up all your
arms. You won't be, I mean, let me
just say it like this. If we ask Lazarus what happened,
All he could say was, I don't know what happened. All I know
is I heard his voice. And I pray that he will bless his word this
morning to the hearts of his people. Maybe you're here this
morning and you're lost and you've not yet has been found by him.
But I pray that if you are such a one of those lost sheep, be
encouraged. He will seek and find every last
one of his sheep. Not a one of them will perish.
It says here in Isaiah chapter 45 verse 22, look unto me, not
look unto yourself, quit your navel-gazing. We all do that
from time to time. We start looking at ourselves.
Don't do that, beloved. By God given faith, take your
eyes off of your sorry self and look to God's well-pleasing son
who's done everything for you, everything for you. Is that biblical? Isn't that what our brother David
wrote? Psalm 57 verse two, I shall cry out unto the Lord God who
performeth all things for me. Not some things, all things.
So we're looking at the universal savior. I love it when a man
is behind a pulpit and he declares Jesus Christ died for all men. That's our gospel, beloved. But
we do need to define our terms, don't we? What am I saying by
that? None other than this, that the
Lord Jesus Christ has been given a people out from every nation,
tribe, people and tongue on this earth. And so he is the savior
of all men without distinction. Not without exception, but without
distinction. He is the Savior. If we stay
on that letter U a little bit, I said he's the universal Savior. Beloved, he is the Savior who
saves us to the uttermost. What does it say in Hebrews chapter
seven? Oh, God give you faith. It says there in Ephesians chapter
two, verses eight and nine, by grace are ye saved. Through faith. and that not of
yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. Wouldn't it be glorious if this
morning God blessed his own word this morning and gave life? Gave life. And you hear the gas
of new spiritual birth, just breathing for the first time.
In Hebrews chapter seven, beginning there in verse 25. Now remember, this is speaking
about our just Savior, our elect Savior, our sanctified Savior,
the universal Savior that God sent into the world to save his
people. Wherefore, he is able. Let's begin a few passages before
that. says there in verse 22, by so
much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. Now, we
have some time. The word surety is more commonly
known in our contemporary English as guarantor. A guarantor. And some of you are young men
and some of you are older men. But suppose your son wanted to buy a house. And it's really difficult nowadays,
you know, the price of houses, they're very expensive. And so
he comes to you and says, dad, the bank won't give me the money.
There's all these clauses, there's all these stipulations, they
won't give me the money. But I need a guarantor to execute
on all these clauses that I, the bank's concerned I'll fail
at. and you sign, you say, I will perform for my son what he can't
do for himself, should that happen. That word surety means, none
other than this, the Lord Jesus Christ is the surety of the covenant.
And every clause that is a curse outside of Christ, turns into
a blessing because he will perform every clause of the covenant
of grace. There's a law of God require full and complete payment
for sin. It certainly does. I don't have
anything to pay with. He's paid in full beloved by
his precious blood. He's paid in full. The law of
God requires not your best effort, but it demands holiness, perfection,
God perfection. And I know Every one of those
clauses are cursed. The law is a cursed thing out
of Christ, but in Christ, you can look to him who performs
all things for you. He is the surety of the covenant.
We don't have time, but if you have a smartphone, look up that
word surety, and I pray the Lord will bless you as you meditate
and consider our Lord and God, the universal Savior, who's the
surety of his covenant people. So he is the universal savior,
and he came to this world to die for all men, without distinction,
without distinction. He is the savior who saves a
people who have no choice. He is the one who must save us.
Isn't that what we read in God's word? In Acts chapter four, verse
12, it says there, there's no other name given among men whereby
we must be saved. There's no other choice. He must
save me or I perish. And we also learn that about
our Lord and God, Jesus Christ. He is the savior who must go
through Samaria. Why does he speak to us in such
language? Because he's not a wannabe Savior.
He's not the Savior who would like to save his people from
their sins. He's the Savior who shall save
his people from their sins. It's so glorious, this gospel.
we've been given faith to believe. And I trust you know what I mean
by gospel. I'm not talking about a systematic
theology. I'm talking about a person, and
his name is Jesus Christ, our Lord and God. This is the gospel
that Paul writes about in Romans chapter one. In the first part
there, doesn't he say, he defines the gospel very clearly, does
he not? He says, it's the gospel of God. Skip verse two, that's
the parenthesis there. It's the gospel of God concerning
his son, Christ Jesus, our Lord. That's the gospel. So he is the
universal savior who leaves his people with no choice. He shows
us our desperate need to be saved by him alone. So we spent a little
bit of time looking at those Blessed letters of our Lord and
God, Jesus Christ. He's a just Savior who justifies
his people. They're acquitted, cleared of
all charges. He's our elect Savior, and he
has elect people, a chosen people that he's adopted, made his own
children. And he's sanctified Savior, universal
Savior. And then lastly, a sovereign,
successful Savior. I would like to speak a little
bit about this sovereign, successful Savior. It simply means that
in the covenant of God's grace, we learn that He's not a failure. He's a successful Savior. Indeed,
in Hebrews chapter 42, if you go back there, we were looking
at that earlier. Hebrews, or rather, Isaiah, excuse
me, Isaiah chapter 42. It says there in verse four,
in the first part there, he shall not fail. He shall not fail. All those given to him in the
covenant of grace, he will truly and actually say. I might be
repeating some verses, but it does me good, and I trust you
good, to hear the same verses again and again. This is what
our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, tells us in John chapter six. If you'll turn there with me.
John chapter six. John chapter six and beginning
of verse 37. He said he tells us here in this portion. All that the father giveth me
shall come to me and him that cometh to me, I will no wise
cast out. 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." I love that. He's gonna tell
us what the Father's will. He who does not lie. He who is
truth itself. He said, I'm the way, the truth,
and the life, and no one comes to the Father except by me. Except by His blood. his sin-cleansing
blood, except by his righteousness that's made us accepted in God's
beloved Son. He said, this is the Father's
will with which has sent me, that of all which he hath given
me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last
day. Beloved, this morning, as God has given you faith to do
so, as you look at the Lord Jesus Christ, you're beholding him
who will and shall save you. He shall not fail. He's not a
wannabe savior who's trying to save everybody if you'll just
give him his permission. He says, my sheep hear my voice,
I know them, and they follow me. And I love that he's not
a car salesman. He doesn't say, I offer them eternal life if
they let me. No, he says, I give them, I sovereignly
give them life to undeserving, damned, dirty sinners. I give
them eternal life and they shall never perish. How come? Because
he's the author and finisher of our faith, because he's the
captain of our salvation, because he's the Alpha and Omega of everything
we need to be saved. Now in this last point, the sovereign
successful Savior, see if I can go through those points again,
that his people are cleared, they are chosen, they're complete,
they are of people that don't have a choice. He leaves us with
no choice. We must be saved by the Lord
Jesus Christ, else we perish. This idea that it's your decision
to make, how absurd. There is no other name given
among men whereby we must be saved. That's Acts chapter 4,
verse 12, is it not? I would like us to look at this
last point. Not only do we not have a choice,
but we are people who are calling and crying out to be saved. He has saved us, and we continue
to have reverent language. I like the old hymns, don't you?
The reverent language where you hear an Augustus top lady write
that stanza, let, please, Lord, If you would be pleased, let
the water and the blood from thy wounded side which flowed
be of sin the double cure. Save from wrath and make me pure. That's speaking about Christ
and him crucified. That's speaking about substitution and satisfaction.
Save from wrath, how can that be? When I see the blood, I'll
pass over you. Saved from wrath by that precious
blood of our Lord and God, the sinless, precious blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And make me pure? How can that
be? It's what the old writers used to talk about, the great
exchange. And I know many of you are familiar
with it, but that's that portion in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21.
And I trust it'll be all right if I amplify it a little bit.
Our Heavenly Father made His dear, darling Son He who knew
no sin, did no sin, thought no sin, His well-pleasing Son, He
made Him to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him, in His well-pleasing Son. And unless God puts you
into the light of His Son, unless He sheds abroad His love in your
heart, you'll never understand this. You'll never understand
a man saying, I'm a sinner, and I'm a saint. I'm poor, but I'm
the richest man in the world. That's what John wrote in his
first epistle, right? In 1 John 5, verse 12, he said,
he who has the son has life, and he who does not have the
son of God has absolutely nothing. So this crying out, this calling,
let's look at our brother from Ethiopia. And we'll just conclude
here on a few more passages. I always say it's the last passage
we'll look at. There's always one more, but maybe two or three
more. In Acts chapter eight, I love
this record that the Holy Spirit has preserved for us of Philip,
this faithful minister of the gospel. Everywhere he went, he
went preaching Christ and Him crucified. He would begin at
the text, open his mouth, and preach Jesus. And in Acts chapter
eight, there in the verse 35, we'll begin there. Then Philip
opened his mouth and began at the same scripture and preached
unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto
a certain water. And the eunuch said, see, here
is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized?
God had given our brother from Ethiopia faith. And he wanted
to confess that faith. God's people, the people that
our sovereign, successful Savior came into the world to save,
they are a confessing people. They are a people who call out
and cry out. As I mentioned earlier, the psalmist,
Psalm 57 verse 2, I will cry out unto the Lord God who performeth,
not some things for me, all things for me." It's so remarkable the
difference we see in the scripture with what you see in religion.
In religion, they'll say, open your heart. Well, you can't open
your heart, just as sure as I can't open your heart, but the Lord
can open your heart. Isn't that what we read about
Lydia in Acts chapter 16, verse 14? The Lord opened her heart
that she might give attendance to the things that Paul was preaching.
And we know he was preaching Christ and Him crucified. And
here, Quite different than what you see in the religious world
around us. Philip wasn't gonna invite him to a discipleship
Bible study. He wasn't gonna say, we're gonna
have a baptismal weekend. Why don't you come and we got
the tank already for you? No, it was the eunuch, our brother
from Ethiopia. He said, there's water. What
hinders me to be baptized? And our brother, Philip, this
faithful minister of the gospel, he said, if you believe with
all your heart, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, you may. And
on that subject of the eunuch's heart, turn with me to Romans
chapter 10. This is the second last verse,
and then I have one more verse, and then I'll thank you for your
time. We've been so welcomed here by
our hosts. You probably know they have certainly
the gift of hospitality. Mark and Regina, they've suffered
us pretty good. In Romans chapter 10, and look with me, beginning in
verse nine. We're talking about that last
letter S of our Lord's name. He's a sovereign, successful
savior. And his people, they are, Not
only are people left with no choice, they cry out, save me,
Lord, else I perish. They call out to the Lord, save
me. You're my only hope. Right now, where I am, behind
this pulpit, I can say, Lord, if I'm not saved, save me right
now. It's in his hands to give, not
mine. I can enter into that feelingly
with the top lady, let the water and the blood from thy wounded
side which flowed. Be of sin the double cure. Save from wrath
and make me pure. If I'm not saved right now, Lord,
save me. I'm looking to him and him alone.
I'm not looking to something I did or will do. I'm looking
to everything he's done. And he's so gracious and merciful
and kind to us to repeat things in the word so that we can read
them again and again, so that he understands our frame. Why
else would our brother be there, that man who said, Lord, I believe?
Help my unbelief. Or just all the wonderful places,
just Ephesians chapter two, how many times did it say there,
by grace you are saved? Is it two times, I think, yeah?
Why is it repeated? Because we're so prone to take
our eyes off of our Lord and God and set it somewhere else
where it ought not be. And God grant us this morning to take
our eyes off of other things, other things going on around
us, circumstances, trials, troubles, and have them set on Him. What
did they say about Him? What kind of man is this that
even the winds and the seas obey Him? He can calm the storms of
our life, the trials and the troubles. And God grant us this
morning that we can have a refuge when we leave this place this
morning. Look at what it says here. If thou will confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thy heart that
God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For
with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture
saith, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. I'm
not gonna be found in my life. I'm gonna be found in his sinless,
righteous life. For there's no difference between
the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto
all them that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. Don't you love all those
shalls in scripture? I know you do, I do too. And
then lastly, to conclude, let's go back to where we started in
Isaiah chapter 53. God gave you faith this morning,
unfeigned faith to say this from the heart with our brother Enoch. Nothing's recorded about what's
in his heart. It just says he responded to Philip that he believed
that Jesus Christ is the son of God. But I know this is in
the heart of every believer here this morning. You can say, when you read that scripture
in 1 Timothy 1, verse 15, you know, where Paul writes a faithful
saying, worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save me. You can say that if you know
yourself in truth, that all you are is sin, all you are is a
sinner, all you are is one big just reason why God should justly
send you to hell. And the only reason why you can
know that is because you have a savior who shall and will and
has saved you. Isaiah chapter 53, he was wounded for my transgressions. He was bruised for my iniquities. The chastisement of my peace
was upon him and with his stripes I am healed. Every child of God
can say that from the heart this morning. And you can do so because
our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, He's mighty to save. And He saves
His people, not almost, but He saves His people to the uttermost.
He's able to save all those who come unto God through Him and
save them to the uttermost. Amen. Oh, I pray the Lord will
bless His word to the hearts of His people. He's gathered
here this morning. Amen.