John the Baptist preached and
cried out, Behold, the Lamb of God taketh away the sin of the
world. Wonderful, merciful Savior Precious
Redeemer and Prince Who would have thought that a lamb could
rescue the souls of men? Oh, you rescued the souls of
men. Counselor, comforter, keeper,
spirit we long to embrace. You give us hope when our hearts
have hopelessly lost our way. Oh, we've hopelessly lost our
way. You are the one that we pray. You are the one gave us healing and grace. Our hearts always hum. Oh, our hearts always hum. Almighty, infinite Father, faithfully
loving your own Here in our weakness you find us falling before gave us healing and grace. Our hearts always hunger. Oh, our hearts always hunger. You are the one that we pray.
You are the one we adore. Healing and grace, our hearts
always hunger. Oh, our hearts always hunger. Well, let me say in the beginning
what an honor and a privilege it's been to be here. This is
my third trip here this year. It's like home away from home.
I eat better here than I do at home. My wife won't feed me much. And it's for my own good. But
Darvin, your hospitality, second to none, my friend. Think the
world of you, appreciate you so much. One of my favorite preachers,
I love the gospel you preach. I love the way you preach it.
We call it beans and cornbread preaching in Kentucky. You can
just lap the beans up with the cornbread. It's just get it all. It's good, isn't it? I've been blessed by the messages,
really have. It's all Christ-centered, that's
what it's about, isn't it? Thankful for you, this church. This morning, my text will be
found in the 20th chapter of the Gospel of John, John chapter
20, verse 31 will be the text, verse. While you're turning, let me
say that the public life of the Lord Jesus was brief. Few believe it to have exceeded
three and a half years. Yet in those brief years, the
Lord did so many things that if you'll turn over a page, you
may not have to, in John chapter 21, verse 24, It says, this is the disciple
which testifieth of these things and wrote these things, and we
know that his testimony is true. And there are also many other
things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written, every
one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain
the books that should be written. Now in our text here in John
chapter 20, John has come to the end of his gospel account,
and in verse 31 he writes, but these are written. These what? What's he talking
about here? What things is John speaking
of? Well, look back at verse 30. It says, and many other signs,
acts, miracles, and wonders, is what that's speaking of, truly
did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not
written in this book. But these, these signs, these
acts, these miracles, these wonders, are written. For what reason,
for what purpose were they written? That ye might believe. It all
comes down to that. Believe what? That Jesus was
a good man? That he was a gifted teacher
and preacher? That he was a strong Jewish leader? That he was a Christian reformer? That you and I might believe
a denominational creed or a confession of faith? that you might believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might
have life through his name. Did you notice that little word
the there? It's used twice in this verse. It's what we call in the English
language a definite article. And it's used twice, as I said,
in verse 31. John said, these things were
written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ. Only one Christ. He's the Christ. And he is the Son of God. And I might add, he's God the
Son. There's only one Jesus who is the Christ. And here, There
is only one Jesus who is the Son of God. Now the name Jesus
in the Hebrew called Yeshua or Joshua, it was a common name
in first century Galilee. The name appears 30 or more times
in the Old Testament in reference to Yeshua. as many as four separate
individuals. It was a well-used name. I read recently that archaeologists
have unearthed the tombs of over 71 Yeshua's or Joshua's from
that period and time frame of Christ's death. But this Jesus,
of whom John writes, is the Christ. Not a Christ. but the Christ,
the only Christ. And Christ is not just a part
of the Lord's name. The word Christ, yes, it's a
title, but it's much more than that. It means the anointed one. It
means one who anoints. This Jesus that John refers to
is the Son of God, not just a Son of God, but the only Son of God. He's the only begotten, he's
the only born Son of God. To all others who have received,
believed, and submitted to the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Father
gave them the power to become the sons of God. But Jesus is
the only born, he's the only begotten Son of God. and he's
the only anointed one of God. And John tells us very, very
plainly that all the signs, all the acts, all the miracles and
the wonders that the Lord Jesus did was that chosen lost sinners
might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. But that's not all. Look at the
rest of the verse, and that believing, you might have life through his
name. Many people talk today about
being saved. I don't run into many folks today
that aren't saved. According to them, many people
claim that they're saved, yet few have really any clue as to
what they're saved from. Matthew told us very clearly
what Christ saved his people from. The angel said, thou shall
call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from what? Their sin. Oh, that interests me, being
the sinner that I am. How about you, Larry? Yeah. Yeah, I'm a great sinner. In order to be saved from your
sin, you've got to first see that you're a sinner. This is
a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save who? Sinners. That's why
he came. And then Paul added, of whom
I am chief. Paul, God revealed to him that
he was a sinner. Has God revealed that to you?
Larry quoted this, I believe, Friday evening. He said, a sinner
is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost has made him so.
New life from Christ we must receive before our sin we rightly
grieve. Why is a sinner a sacred thing?
You ever thought about it? Because a true sinner's hard
to find, hard to find. Only God can reveal, only God
can cause, only God can enable a sinner to believe that Jesus
is the Christ. Only God can give that gift of
grace through faith that gives us life through his name. There
was glorious instruction in all the Lord did. All his actions
were significant. Nothing about him was ever trivial. Not only did the Lord Jesus preach
orally and verbally, but every single act that he performed
on this earth just was a message of mercy and grace and truth. And we see from our text that
the design and the purpose of all scripture is to produce faith
in Christ that you might believe. Oh. No text in the Bible was intended
to create doubt. And absolutely no part of Holy
Scripture was written for any intention to magnify the writer
or men and women in any way. What a lesson that should be
to us as preachers and to all who write and speak for God. How clearly we see here in John's
gospel account. Did you know that in the gospel
account of John, the apostle John does not mention his own
name one time? Not one time. He refers to himself
as the disciple whom Jesus loved. Not the disciple that loved Jesus,
but the disciple that Jesus loved. My, my, John didn't once speak
or mention anything that he did for Christ. I hear people today
talking about all they're doing for Christ. That's not the issue. It's all what he's done for us.
He came into the world to save sinners. Do you remember when the Lord
was transfigured up on the mountaintop? He took with him three of his
disciples, John being one of them, James, John, and Peter. But John doesn't mention that
amazing event at all in his gospel account. Except to say this,
he said, we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. That was his only
mention. John was also one of the three
that the Lord Jesus took into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray
with him. Do you know that, again, John
says absolutely nothing in this book about that experience? Not one thing. And John's omission
of these occurrences was for the purpose of not bringing any
attention to himself. I suppose the greatest compliment
I ever had in preaching was, brother, you got yourself out
of the way in that message. I heard years ago that that's
why the pulpit was originally invented, so the preacher could
hide behind it. We don't want any attention drawn
to us. We want to direct men's attention
to Christ. That's where life is. He's the
way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh to the Father
but by Him. Isn't that what he said? The
one intent of scripture is that you might believe that Jesus
is the Christ. All the miracles that our Lord
did were recorded so that chosen sinners might believe and that
in believing that they might have life through His name. Our
Lord healed the blind, you know why? To show us that we can't
see. We're spiritually blind. He's
got to give us sight. Our Lord healed the deaf because
you and I by nature, we cannot hear this gospel. He's got to
give us ears to hear. Our master healed the lame and
the impotent because we can't come to Christ that we might
have life. Like Mephibosheth, we're lame on both of our feet
because of a great fall. Christ healed lepers, for we
are completely leprous in sin. Christ made whole the withered
hand because we can't work the work of God with our hands. Christ
calmed the storm by saying, peace be still, because you and I by
nature are tossed to and fro, and we need peace in our stormy
lives. Our Lord fed the multitude with
five loaves and two fish, because we can't feed ourselves. And
we hunger, as we hunger and thirst for righteousness. The Lord Jesus
healed the woman with the issue of blood, because we have an
issue of blood. And it was inherited from our
father Adam. And our Lord cast out devils. You wanna know why? To show us
who are possessed with sin and enmity toward God without a cause
that there's yet hope for us. All that our Lord did, pictures
of what he's done for us. Christ raised the dead. I bet
you can guess why. Because we're dead. against trespasses
and sin. And the Lord Jesus did all these
things that we might believe that he is the Christ, the Son
of God, and that believing we might have life through his name. Are you interested in life? I'm
not talking about a quality of life while we're here on this
earth. I'm talking about eternal life, everlasting life, to be
in the presence of God, our Savior. Oh, I'm interested in that. And
it was the Lord that gave me that interest. The Lord Jesus
did all these things that we might believe that he's the Christ.
And that answers why we have four gospels. You know, the four
gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, they each present
the Lord Jesus with a different emphasis as to give us a full
picture of his character. Matthew represents our Lord as
the king of the Jews. Matthew speaks of Christ's heavenly
kingdom and he paints Christ as the king of kings and the
Lord of lords. Mark presents the Lord Jesus as the servant
of God and the servant of God's people. The scripture says he
made himself of no reputation and he took upon him the form
of a servant made in the likeness of man, Philippians 2.7. Christ
said himself, for even the Son of Man came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister, to serve, and to give his life a ransom
for many. And let me just throw in, not
all, many. Luke presents Christ as the son
of man. He tells us how God became a
man to do for fallen men and women what they could not do
for themselves. The gospel is all about substitution. God, as I tried to tell you yesterday,
requires perfection. The scripture's very clear, it
must be perfect to be accepted. I only know of one perfect one,
and he's got to do for me what I couldn't do for myself. But when you get to John, the
Gospel of John, John is all about showing Christ to be the Son
of God and God the Son. From the opening sentence of
his gospel narrative, he does so. In John chapter one, the
Holy Spirit tells us that the Word was with God and that the
Word was God. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Jesus Christ was
with God, but Jesus Christ was God. God the Father, God the
Son, God the Holy Spirit, God in three persons, not one inferior
to the other. all three individually God and
collectively God. Jesus Christ was God. The word
was made flesh and dwelt among us. You see, God has come to
earth as the man Christ Jesus. When you put those two things
together, the divine one, God the Son, and the fact that He
became a man, that's why our Lord is called Emmanuel, isn't
it? Is it not? Which is interpreted
what? God with us. Did you know that God's with
us this morning? Where two or three are gathered in His name.
We've got more than that here. God's with us and Jesus Christ
is God. Every true child of God will
proclaim what Thomas proclaimed. He said, my Lord and my God. When the Lord Jesus asked his
disciples, whom do you say that I am? Peter said, thou art the
Christ, the son of the living God. And the Lord said, oh Peter,
you're a blessed man. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to you, but my Father which is in heaven. You see, the gospel
is by divine revelation, isn't it? God's got to reveal it to
us. He's got to open these blind
eyes. He's got to open these deaf ears. He's got to cause
this cold, dead hearts of ours to believe. And you'll never see this blessed
truth apart from divine revelation. You'll never see it unless the
Holy Spirit reveals it to you. In Acts 2, verse 36, Peter said,
God hath made this same Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord
and Christ. Who is this Christ that they're
talking about? Well, he's the prophet that Moses
said God would raise up among the brethren. He's the priest
like unto Melchizedek, and he's that king who is the son of David. He's David's son and David's
Lord. John says that believing, do you believe? That believing
you might have life, eternal life, everlasting life, through
his name. And Peter, full of the Holy Ghost,
stood and he said, neither is there salvation in any other.
For there is none other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved. There's something about that
name. Wherefore God hath highly exalted him and given him a name
which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow at 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. At his name sickness
left. At his name demons and devils
fled. Sin is forgiven for His name's
sake. Beloved, God, for Christ's sake,
has forgiven you. There's no other reason. For
Christ's sake. In Genesis chapter 2, verse 14,
our Lord's name by whom we have life is called Jehovah Jireh. The Lord shall provide. The Lord will provide. In Exodus
chapter 15 verse 26, the Lord's name by whom we're saved is Jehovah
Rapha, for he is the Lord that healeth thee. Men come to today's
modern day religious, Jesus is seeking healing for anything
and everything. Everything from headaches to
hangnails. But this other Jesus can heal
no one But Jehovah Rapha can. He can
heal the diseases of our heart and the leprosy of our soul.
And it's by his stripes that we're healed. He provides the
kind of healing that we need so that we'll never die. Men and women today put too much
emphasis on the body and have little concern for the soul.
We spend way too much time and too much effort trying to live
on the wrong side of life. We try to live longer on the
physical side of life, not on the eternal side of it. It's not to die again. For the
child of God it is. To be absent from this body is
to be what? present with the Lord. We're
trying too hard to stay here. I think of that old saying and
it's so true. Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants
to die. In Exodus chapter 17 verse 15,
our Lord's name in whom we have life is called Jehovah Nisi,
the Lord our banner. The battle is the Lord's, it's
not ours. Aren't you glad of that? This
is the Lord's battle, not ours. And he's won the war. He's on his throne and he's working
all things together for the believer's good and for his glory. The victory
is the Lord's, it's not ours. The captain of our salvation
is in command and he's in control. In Judges chapter six, verse
24, the Lord's name by which we have life is called Jehovah
Shalom, the Lord our peace. Man, I sought all my life for
peace, and then peace found me. He provides that peace for us
that scripture says that passes all understanding. We can't understand
this peace. It's a peace that keeps our hearts
and keeps our minds through Christ Jesus. Dear sinner, these things
are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, and the believing that you might have life through
his name. In Psalm 23, Christ is Jehovah-Raha,
the Lord our shepherd, and we shall not want. When you read that the other
day, and Larry, you commented on it, the Lord is my shepherd. Isn't that an amazing thought?
He laid down his life for the sheep. Those that seek the Lord shall
not want any good thing. Christ is a good shepherd. He
has other sheep. Maybe one of you here this morning
that he must bring. and he will bring. In Jeremiah chapter 23, the Lord's
name by whom we are saved is called Jehovah to Sidcanu, the
Lord our righteousness. Our righteousness is as filthy
rags. Filthy rags. Let's just, let's
just call it like it is. What a blessed truth that the
child of God has a righteousness, has a holiness, and a sanctification
that's not measured by man's rules but God's. Christ has presented
us holy and unblameable and unreprovable, above blame,
above reproof, in His sight, in God's sight, and that's all
that matters. We're made the righteousness
of God, where? In him. In Ezekiel chapter 28, he's called
Jehovah Shammal, the Lord is present. Christ is our ever-present
one. That's why Christ is the great
I am. You know, he never was I was,
and he never was I will be. He's always I am, the ever-present
one. He's the eternal Christ. We have
life by believing who He is. We have life through His name. He's the Lord that provides.
He's the Lord that heals. He's the Lord our banner. He's
the Lord our peace. He's the Lord our shepherd. He's
the Lord our righteousness. He's the Lord our ever-present
one. Truly, He's all in all. Now I want you to listen to me
very closely and carefully to what I'm going to say here. I
was told these things all my life. You don't make Jesus Lord. I'm sorry, but you don't. God
made him Lord before time ever was. He's the lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. We don't make him Lord. God beat
us to it. Let me say something else. You
don't give Jesus your heart. God does not want your heart,
did you know that? While our hearts are deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked, and only God can know
them. And he knows them so well that
he doesn't want those wretched things. He's gotta give us a
new heart. You don't let Jesus have his
way in your life. I'm sorry, you just don't. The
Lord has his way in the whirlwind. The Lord has his way in the storm,
and the clouds are the dust of his feet. This is the God of
the Bible, friends. Our God's in the heavens, and
he's done what? Whatsoever he's pleased. The
psalmist said, whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he. In
heaven and in earth and in the seas and in all deep places.
You know, you think about that, that covers it all, doesn't it?
God does his will in the heavens. God does his will here on earth.
God does his will in the seas. God does his will in hell. That means that God does his
will everywhere. There's no place that God does
not rule. Is that not right, Larry? There's
no place that he doesn't rule. Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ
is not an option. Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ,
it's not an invitation. Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ
is a command. This is his commandment that
we should believe on the name of the Son of God and that we
should love one another as he gave us commandment, 1 John 3,
23. I think about old Lazarus so
much. You know, he had been dead for
four days. Stinking dead. What a picture
he was of our deadness and sin. When Christ came to Lazarus'
tomb, they didn't play soft music. And Christ didn't bid Lazarus
to come forth. Lazarus, won't you give your
heart to Jesus and make him Lord and walk out of the tomb right
down here in front of the Lord Jesus? You might say, preacher,
don't be ridiculous. Good question, good statement. Is it not ridiculous for modern
day religion to do such? Lazarus was dead and so are we. Dead in trespasses and sin and
Christ had to give him life and Christ has to give us life. Lazarus, Lazarus come forth. And the scripture's saying he
that was dead came forth. With the command comes the power
to do what he commands. Did they sing another verse?
Did they plead a little longer? No, he that was dead came forth. When did Lazarus receive life?
You ever think about that? Did he receive life when he walked
out of the tomb? No, how can a dead man take the
first step? I believe it was Brother Mahan
that said, you know what, if a man can take the first step,
then he can walk all the way to glory. But it's taking that
first step that a dead man has a problem with. We can't take
it. God's gotta give us life. That
impotent man at the pool at Bethesda, you remember him? He was pathetically
laid waiting for an angel to stir the water. Now whether or
not an angel did or not, I don't know. I kind of doubt it, really. I think it's probably just superstition. But when Christ saw that man
laying there, he commanded him, he said, rise, take up your bed,
and walk. Did the Lord Jesus softly and
tenderly plead for him to get up? No, no, no, immediately the
man was made whole, the scripture says, and he took up his bed
and he walked. Christ came into the world to
save sinners. Christ came to seek and to save
that which was lost. The question is, are you lost? Are you a sinner? Are you the
sinner like that publican who said, God, be merciful to me,
the sinner. If you are that sinner, that's
a pretty good authority that you can be saved, because that's
who Christ came to save. He didn't come to save good people.
He came to save sinners. That's why he came, and that's
why he died, and it's on this authority that I believe. And
it's on this authority that I have eternal life. And after he died,
he rose again and he went back to heaven. Do you know why? Because
he, the Lord Jesus Christ, was the Christ. Because he, Jesus
Christ, was the Son of God. He, Jesus Christ, was God the
Son. And that by believing who he
is, you might have life through his name. If you have yet to
believe and trust in the Lord Jesus to be the Christ, to be
the Son of God and God the Son, may God be pleased right now
to make it so. This is not a free will that
you exercise. Our will's in bondage to our
nature. Our will is in bondage to sin.
This is not a decision you make. This is a decision that God made
before the foundation of the world. This is not a walk, a decision
you make. It's not a walk that you take.
There's no salvation down here at the front of the church, front
of the altar. No salvation there. Salvation
is in Christ. Life is found in one place, friend,
just one place. Salvation is of the Lord. May God enable you to believe
on Christ. Thank you.