Everywhere on earth, men and
women know the name Jesus. Some pray in that name, some
preach in that name, some swear by that name, many practice religion
in that name, and some cuss with that name. But very few know
who Jesus is, why this name was given to him, of what he did
while he walked on this earth, when he died at Calvary, when
he rose again. What a pity, what a pity. How many unsuspecting souls will
die before the sun rises tomorrow with the name of Jesus on their
lips. with no knowledge of Him and
no faith in Him. I want you to know the Son of
God. I want you to trust the Lord
Jesus Christ. Oh, Spirit of God, come upon
us now and cause the glory of God that shines in the face of
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Redeemer, to shine afresh
in our hearts. Make him known. Oh, make him
known this hour to eternity bound sinners for the glory of God. Why did Jesus Christ come into
this world? If you'll open your Bibles again
to Matthew chapter 1 and verse 21, God the Holy Ghost answers
that question in plain, unmistakable, one- and two-syllable words.
The angel said to Joseph, Mary's espoused husband, Thou shalt
call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. The incarnate God was called
Jesus. Now I don't commonly just speak
the word Jesus when I'm talking about the Lord Jesus. I wouldn't
call Donald Trump Don if I was shaking hands with him. I wouldn't
be so presumptuous as to speak to one who deserves honor because
of nothing but the office he holds. If that was the only reason,
I wouldn't call him on a first name basis, but rather I would
address him with reverence. And commonly through the scriptures,
except as you read in the gospel narratives, as they're writing
the history of our Lord walking upon this earth, he was never
called Jesus. He was called Lord Jesus, the
Lord Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus, speaking of him with honor. But
here the angel commands Joseph to call the infant child born
of Mary, Jesus, because it is he who saves his people from
their sins. The purpose of our Savior's incarnation,
the mission upon which he was sent into the world. The work
he came here to perform as Jehovah's righteous servant was the saving
of his people. The saving of his people. That's why he came. That's the only reason he came. That's what he has done. Thou
shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from
their sins. He did not come here to make
salvation a possibility, but a reality. He didn't come here
to make his people savable, but to save them. He didn't come
here to offer salvation to his people, but to save his people. This is the will of the Father. He came here to perform. Turn
over to John chapter 6. John chapter 6 verse 37. I want
you to look at some scripture with me. Here our Lord Jesus gives us
an explanation of this declaration in Matthew 121. He says in verse 37, all that
the father giveth me, present tense. Oh, I pray that God will
give you to his son today. If you come to him, it will be
because the father gives you to him. It will be because the
father works grace in you and brings you to him by his spirit. All that the father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in 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 which hath sent me. that of all,
now watch this, which he hath given me. That's past tense. At one time, before the world
began in eternity, all that he hath given me, he now gives to
me. They come to me. Of all which
he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it
up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me. That every one which seeth the Son, and believeth
on him, may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up
at the last day. Our Savior tells us this in those
verses. I came here to do my Father's
will. My father's will is that all
whom he gives to me in the saving operations of his grace shall
come to me. And those who come to me, those
he's given me, as they come to me, I will never cast them out. That of all my elect whom he
gave me before the world was, come to me and I lose nothing
and I will raise them up at the last day. This is the covenant
engagement he came to fulfill. The Lord God says in Isaiah 49
in verse eight, I will give thee for a covenant of the people. Jesus Christ is not just the
fulfilling of the covenant. He is the covenant. The whole
covenant of grace stands with him. I started to say stands
or falls with him. Falls is not a possibility. The
whole of that covenant of grace spoken of in Jeremiah 31, in
Ezekiel 36, in Ephesians chapter 1, in 2nd Timothy chapter 2,
or chapter 1 rather, in Romans chapter 8, the whole of that
covenant is Jesus Christ our Redeemer. This is the Father's
commandment He gave His Son to obey. You're still hearing John,
look at chapter 10, John 10. As our Savior, as the God-man,
our mediator, as our substitute, as our surety, Jesus Christ,
who is God the Son, stood forth as the God-man mediator and voluntarily
subjected himself to be Jehovah's servant, to be obedient to his
Father. And the Lord God gave his servant
a commandment. And here it is, John 10, verse
15. As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And
other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I
must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be
one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love
me. Now these words can only be understood
in relationship to our Savior as God's servant, as our mediator,
as he enters into a covenant on our behalf, struck hands with
the Father, and became responsible for his obedience to the Father
as Jehovah's servant. Therefore doth my Father love
me, because I earned it. because I earned it, because
I laid down my life that I might take it again. No man taketh
it from me, but I lay it down in myself. I have power to lay
it down and I have power to take it again. This commandment have
I received of my father. I turn back to Isaiah chapter
42, Isaiah 42. All of these things written in
the New Testament were prophesied of, promised and spoken of in
the Old Testament. The whole of the Old Testament
is but the foreshadowing of that which is accomplished in the
New Testament. We sang just a little bit ago
about the saints falling down before the altar in the temple
of the Lord, waiting for our Savior. That's what they did
when they came to the Holy of Holies, waiting for Jehovah to
appear in his temple. Isaiah 42, verse what? This is
what our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, undertakes to accomplish. And that which he undertakes
to accomplish, he shall surely accomplish without fail. Isaiah
42, verse one. Behold, my servant, whom I uphold,
mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth, I have put my spirit upon him.
He shall bring forth judgment, that is salvation, righteous,
just salvation to the Gentiles. He shall not cry nor lift up
nor cause his voice to be heard in the streets. He'll seek no
help. He will do this work all by himself. A bruised reed shall
he not break. and the smoking flax shall he
not quench. He's a tender, sympathetic savior
who has mercy and delights in mercy upon needy sinners. He
shall bring forth judgment to truth. He will bring this salvation
in the light of divine truth, in the light of justice, righteousness,
holiness, and truth, so that in Him, God is both just and
the justifier of the ungodly. Now watch these next words. He shall not fail. What he is sent to do, what he
agreed to do, what he came to do, he will assuredly do. He shall not fail till he has
set judgment. This salvation in the earth and
the isles, the nations of the Gentiles shall wait for his law. Here in Matthew chapter one,
verse 21, The angel of God speaks of three
things to which I want to call your attention this morning.
Speaking of this one whose name shall be called Jesus, our blessed
savior. First, he speaks of his person,
and then of his people, and then of his performance. Let's look
at these together. First we're told about his person,
and this is the emphasis of the text, and this will be the emphasis
of the message. Who is this one called Jesus? Now that may appear to many to
be a very strange question. Most people in the world, if
not all people in the world, have heard about Jesus. You have
heard about him all your life. And you may think, Pastor, everyone
knows who Jesus is. If you so think, you are gravely
mistaken. The fact is very, very few people
in this world know who Jesus the Christ is. Very few people
in this world know who Jesus the Christ of God is. Very few. Very few in the bar or the brothel. And very few in the Baptist church
or any other church. Very few people in this world
know who Jesus Christ is. The Christ that's worshipped
in most churches is nothing more than the idolatrous figment of
a man's depraved imagination. Our Lord Jesus warned us and
warned us sternly in Matthew 24 of Antichrist. Men coming and saying, lo, here
is Christ and there is Christ. With the deception so great that
were it possible, the very elect of God would be deceived. Thank God that's not possible. They shall not be deluded. They
shall not be deceived. They shall not perish who are
God's elect. But the warning our Savior gives
makes this question a question of immense importance. Who is
Jesus? Who is the Christ of the Bible?
Will the real Jesus please stand up? Well, open your Bibles here
to Matthew 121 and he will. This I know. I must know, worship,
and trust this Jesus, who is the Christ of God, if I would
know God and be saved by His grace. Just saying, I trust Jesus,
just repeating what folks call the sinner's prayer, just singing,
oh how I love Jesus, ain't it. If you would be saved, you must
know this one of whom the angel spoke when he said, thou shall
call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. If I trust a false Christ, no
matter how sincere, no matter how devoted I am to that false
Christ, I'm lost. I'm under the wrath of God. I'm
deluded by Satan. and the religion of Antichrist
has seized me. We come to worship our Lord Jesus
Christ, this one who is revealed in the book of God. If you care
for your soul, give me your attention, and I'll show you from the scriptures
who he is. First, he is the eternal son. Turn to 1 John 5. 1 John 5. This Jesus, who is the Christ
of God, is God the Eternal Son. He is the second person of the
Holy Trinity. When the Bible speaks of the
Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, it is declaring that
He is Himself God. Here in 1 John 5, verse 7, For
there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, The Word
and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. Now I've said this from this
pulpit many times, it'll bear repetition. I don't care for
modern translations of scripture. I recognize that our King James
translation is a translation. I'm aware of a few things, folks,
a lot of times don't think I am, but I'm aware of a few things.
I realize it is a translation. But in my opinion, it is absolutely
the best translation. And every modern translation
beginning with first revised translation back in the late
1800s has been an attempt to translate God out of his word. He said, well, we need something
in our language. Nobody talks like that anymore.
Try persuading a literature professor that you need to translate Shakespeare
into modern English. You attempt that with a literature
professor. They'd laugh in your face. You can understand it,
that's not the problem. The problem is you do understand
it. But this text in 1 John 5, 7. is the one text. Now the doctrine of the Trinity
is taught throughout this book. I'll be glad to sit down and
show you anytime you want me to. But this is the one passage,
the one statement, the only one in the entire volume that states
emphatically and clearly the doctrine of the Trinity. And
every modern translation has taken it out. Not supposed to
be in there. Well, I got news for you. It
should be in there, it is in there, and it's rightfully in
there. No one ever dreamed of taking it out of there until
many years after this was written. There are three that bear record
in heaven. The Father, the Word, and the
Holy Ghost. And these three are one. When we say that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God, we're simply declaring that he is, overall,
God-blessed forever. Now that's not a creed, that's
not a confession, that's not something written by men, that's
exactly what God says in Romans chapter 9 and verse 5. In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. Now, if you have some of those
fellows who come around on Saturdays and carry their little black
satchels and wanna have a Bible study with you, they'll go to
John chapter one, and they'll say that really ought to read
like this. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was a God. No, it really reads more emphatically
than that. In the beginning was the Word.
the Word was with God, face to face with, equal with, one with
God, and God was the Word. He who is the revelation of God
is himself God. He who is God the Son is God
the Eternal Son, possessing all the attributes of divinity. He's
the creator, sustainer, ruler, and disposer of all things. And
it is He and He alone who is the revelation of God. No man
has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. Our Lord Jesus Christ is that
one who is the Word by whom God makes himself known. He is the
embodiment of the Word. The incarnation of our Lord is
one of the greatest wonders revealed in this book. In him, the God-man, dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. So that that child who
came down here through Mary's womb, that child born of the
Virgin is God the Son given. And all that the incomprehensible
eternal God is, is in that flesh. And he who died at Calvary and
now is seated in glory in our flesh, in him resides the totality
of the triune God. and it's only in him that God
is known. None but God could satisfy the
wrath and justice of God and make atonement for sin. None
but God could offer an infinitely meritorious sacrifice. This one
who is Jesus of Nazareth, he is the eternal God. Second, he
is the everlasting substitute. God in human flesh is God our
substitute. He is the daisman, the representative,
the surety, the mediator, the substitute, by whose obedience
unto death chosen sinners are redeemed and reconciled to God,
without whom we could never be accepted of God. God Almighty
can't come to you, and you can't come to God. God Almighty will
not approach to you and will not allow you to approach unto
him, but by a mediator, one who is himself God and man in one
glorious person so that he can bring God and man together as
the God-man mediator. The key to understanding this
book understanding the Gospel doctrine of substitution. Substitution,
what a wonderful subject, substitution. This is what it means. Christ
Jesus stood before God, the triune Jehovah, in the covenant of grace
as our substitute before the world began. As the Lamb of God,
He was slain from the foundation of the world. Now I'm not speculating
about this. I'm not giving you things that
I have logically come up with as I study. I'm not giving you
things that other men have come up with. I'm telling you what
God says in His Word. So I can't understand that. No,
you can understand it. That's not the problem. That's
not the problem. He is the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. You see, He's God eternal. And God has done everything God
will do in our experience before the world began. God's eternal. He was the Lamb, chosen of God,
ordained of God, set forth by God, predestined by God, given
by God, slain by God, and accepted by God before the world began.
That's just beyond us. The scripture tells us that Abraham
received Isaac as one risen from the dead. God said to Abraham, said, you've
not withheld your son, you own the son Isaac. Well, he didn't
kill him. Yes, he did. Yes, he did. Isaac was dead when
Abraham started up the mount with him. In his heart, he was
slain. And if God accepts Abraham's
heart sacrifice of his son, though he didn't really shed his blood,
God Almighty accepts his own heart sacrifice of his son. Before
the world was, God set his heart to crucify his son at Calvary
and accepted him as our substitute. As our mediator, in whom we were
chosen, we are accepted and blessed of God, we're told in Ephesians
1. As our surety, our Lord Jesus was trusted by God, we're told
in that same first chapter of Ephesians. Trusted by the triune
God as our mediator and surety, accepting him and giving him
all responsibility for us. The Lord Jesus Christ, as our
substitute, lived in obedience to God in this world. Not for himself. He owed nothing
to the law. He owed nothing to God. He is
himself God. But he came here to do the will
of God, by the which will we're sanctified through the offering
of the body of Jesus Christ at Calvary. He came here to obey
God for somebody. You see, God requires of Mark
Medley perfect righteousness. Absolute righteousness. Obedience. Obedience in heart, in mind,
in word, in deed, without a fail, perfectly to the end of the age
of a man's life. And the Lord Jesus became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. That by his obedience,
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. That's exactly
what we're told in Romans chapter five. I want you to look at it.
Romans chapter five, verse 19. Actually, let's begin in verse
12. Romans five, verse 12. Wherefore
as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin and
so death passed upon all men For that all have sinned and
then beginning in verse 13. You have a parenthetical statement
it goes all the way to the end of verse 17 and Now the parentheses
is emphasized, I don't mean to suggest otherwise. But a parenthetical
statement simply gives explanation to what's being said. So when
you read Romans 5, 12, you wanna get to the rest of the sentence,
get to verse 18. Therefore, since we died in Adam,
therefore, as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all
men to condemnation. Even so, by the obedience of
one, the free gift came upon all men under justification of
life. Adam was given to be a type of
the Lord Jesus. And we all, the human race, died
by the doing of Adam in the garden when he sinned against God. The
Lord Jesus Christ, the last Adam, was given to be the representative
of a covenant race. All God's elect in Him are made
righteous by His doing, by His obedience. Look at verse 19.
For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, the many
who were in Adam, so by the obedience of one shall many, the many who
are in him, by the obedience of Christ shall many be made
righteous. Substitution means that the Lord
Jesus Christ died in the place of his people under the curse
of God's holy law, bearing all the fury and wrath of divine
justice as our substitute at Mount Calvary. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for
it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. The law being satisfied, cannot,
cannot, cannot demand any more punishment. It can't do it. It can't do it. I chose the word
deliberately. Justice will never allow the
same crime to be punished twice. I've never been a notorious criminal,
I'm thankful for that, no reason in myself, just God kept me from
it. But I used to have a pretty heavy foot. I found out about
the time I got to be about 64, 65 years old, that flying down
the road didn't get you any quicker, you still gotta stop at stoplights
and stop signs, and all it's gonna do is cause your insurance
to go up and pay fines. The last ticket I got, The last one I
got, I think this might be another one, was shortly after I came
here. I was coming in on 34 out there,
and there's a 45 mile an hour speed zone right there in front
of Greenleaf Shopping Center, and right there in that Camberlite
Church parking lot, There was a police officer. That's a good
place for a police officer to be, a Camberlite Church parking
lot. And he's sitting there, and as I crossed over the 35
mile an hour zone line, I realized he's got me, and he did. And
I had to pay a ticket. I had to go up to the courthouse
and pay a fine. He did that. But you know, I've
driven by that same parking lot a number of times and seen that
same officer there. I think he's retired now. But
I've never been the least bit afraid of him. Never been concerned
about him stopping me again. How come? Because the fine has
been paid. The record is at the courthouse.
Come with me and I'll show you. He has no reason, no reason to
stop me again. Justice is satisfied. Now hear
me, hear me, children of God. If Jesus Christ died in your
stead, Mark Henson, God has no reason ever to be angry with
you again. That's called redemption, and
nothing shorter than that is. No sinner for whom Christ died
shall ever perish under the wrath of God. Justice won't allow it. What does substitution mean?
It means that the Christ of God, this one Jesus Christ, that man
who is God, intercedes as our advocate in heaven, as our great
high priest, as our substitute before the throne of God. My
little children, John, said these things right out unto you that
you said not. And if any man said, If any man sin, you're
going to. I don't want you to. If you're
God, you don't want to, but sin you are and sin you do. Even
as we talk like this, there's sin involved in it. If any man
sin, well, all hope is gone. No, no, no, no, no. If any man
sin, we have an advocate, a paraclete, one who's at our side in heaven. One who pleads our calls in heaven,
Jesus Christ the righteous. Some folks say, I'm not afraid
of God, I've got a friend in the court. As if to imply that
God can be bought off. As if to imply there can be a
little tilting of the scales of justice in heaven. Oh, no,
no, no, no, no, no. Our advocate is Jesus who is
the Christ. the savior who is the anointed
promised one of God. And he is the propitiation for
our sins. He pleads our calls in glory
by spreading five wounds in his body in our stead. He pleads
our calls because he satisfies the justice of God. And in the
last day, This substitute is that one who
will stand in our stead and in whom we will stand before the
bar of divine justice when according to Jeremiah 15 verse 20, the
Lord God in strict justice looks through the books. There's Lindsay
Campbell and Satan would accuse. And the Lord God just doesn't
pay attention. And he keeps looking. Lindsay Campbell. Lindsay Campbell. I can't find any transgression.
I can't find an iniquity he ever committed. I can't find any sin. Oh, here he is. His name is Jehovah
Sikinyu, the Lord, our righteousness. And the Lord God Almighty looks
upon Lindsay Campbell and says, well done, thou good and faithful
servant. That's called substitution. And
any Jesus who is not such a substitute is a fake, is a fake. This one who is called Jesus,
he is the eternal son. He is the everlasting substitute.
He is the effectual savior of his people. Christ alone is our
savior. He alone is competent and able
to save. He alone is made of God unto
us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
He alone is able to save to the uttermost all who come to God
by him. That means me. And that means
you, able to save to the uttermost, then to come to God by him. And
this one who is our Savior is effectual in all his work. When
he suffered and died at Calvary, his last word before he said,
Father, into thy hand I commend my spirit, was it is finished. Justice is satisfied, laws fulfilled,
sins put away, God's honored. The law is magnified and made
honorable and with his own blood he obtained eternal redemption. This one who is called Jesus
is the enthroned sovereign. Thou hast given him power over
all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou
hast given him. The Lord Jesus Christ sits yonder
in glory. God in our flesh like Aaron in
the Holy of Holies, bearing our names on his heart. But he sits
there like David on his throne, having in his hands the reigns
of absolute monarchy. And everything he does, he does
for the saving of his people. Now, listen to me. Oh, God, help
you to hear me. that is, He does. Everything that is, He does. We're not fools who believe God. We trace everything to its original
source. And here's the original source,
2 Corinthians 5, 18, all things are of God. beginning God. Why does He do all this to give
eternal life to as many as thou hast given Him? God teach me to believe what
I'm preaching to you, and God teach you to believe it. I don't understand the intricacies
of God's providence. I don't pretend to. Our friends here go through difficulty. If I could, if I, Trisha, you
go home this afternoon and you see your husband play the piano
and sing a lattern he ever sang, if I could do it. If I could, if I could, I'd take
care of them right now. I've got friends in doing heartbreaking
trouble. If I could, I'd make them sing
and dance, if I could. But he who loves you infinitely
more than I can imagine has done this for you, not just for you. but for the saving of his elect
everywhere. What does it take to save one
of God's elect? Everything that is, everything
that has been, and everything that shall be. My family tree,
I'm told is German. I don't pay much attention to
that. That would be true of Augustine too, wouldn't it? We don't have
a good history if that's true. Germans were barbaric bunch of
folks. Usually, except for the one standing
in front of you, Bree, and I understand, but barbaric nonetheless. Raiding, marauding people, warring
people. Second World War's just a little
tip of the history. But why would God raise up that
nation and preserve that nation and preserve my family in the
midst of all the marauding and warring and butchery. Why? Why would God do that? Why would
God send my ancestors over here and preserve this family? And
I don't search my family tree. Every time I bump into it, Adam
falls out in big bunches. I quit looking. But I don't know anybody in the whole
family, generations back. Who knew God? Why on this earth would God preserve
that one family? through all that history. Because
before the world was, he set his heart on me and accepted
me and said, I'll be his God and he'll be my son. And that's
why God our Savior does everything he does. So children of God,
learn to rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in his providence, rejoice
in his goodness. All right, here's the second
thing in the text, just briefly. As I said, the primary emphasis
is upon the person of our Savior. But the text speaks of His people.
Now, this is one of the strongest, clearest, most obvious doctrines,
or most obvious revelations of the doctrine of eternal election
to be found in Scripture. He shall save His people from
their sins. It doesn't read, He shall save
those who shall be His people from their sins. It doesn't read,
He shall save those who decide to be His people from their sins.
The text reads, He shall save His people from their sins. So that before He came into the
world to save them, they were already His people chosen in
Him, accepted in Him. He shall save his people from
their sins. Election. Oh, what a sweet, blessed,
blessed word. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and calls us to approach unto thee. He who is the Christ
of God came here to redeem and save a particular specific people. They're called his people, his
sheep, his church, his elect, his chosen, his beloved, his
bride, his people he came to save. If Christ came to save
everyone in the world, if he died to save everyone in the
world, where then is the love of God? Where is the justice
of God? Where is the immutability of
God? Where is the divinity of Christ?
If he came to save folks who are in hell now, that's absurd
beyond imagination. Jesus Christ did not come here
to fail. He came here as a successful
savior to save his people from their sins. He knows who they
are. He knows where they are. He knows
all that they are and all that they've done. He knows when he
will save them and where, and he knows how. He shall save his people from
their sins. He uses gospel preaching to do
it. So we give ourselves to this
work of making the gospel known. But compromise, bend, back up,
bow and scrape to men, never. God help us, never. There's
not a reason. There's not a reason. Compromise
never does any good in spiritual matters. That might be the way
folks get along in Washington. Might be the way they get along
in state houses. That's not the way God does his work. God's
servants and God's people don't have to do anything to get God's
people saved except preach the word. That's all. That's all. The plainer the better. Preach
the word. and wait for God to work. What
do you do? I preach, I pray, and I wait. That's all. Preach, pray, and
wait. God does the work. God our Savior. Now, our text also speaks of
his purpose. Our Lord Jesus is identified
by his purpose. It is the purpose of the triune
God in all things to save His people from their sins and save
them He will. He saved us by His redemption
at Calvary. He didn't just make it possible,
He actually redeemed us. He saves us by His omnipotent
grace in free regeneration when it comes by His Spirit and gives dead sinners life. We try to do things to hurry
up God's work. And we try to do things sometimes
to convince ourselves God's working. The wind bloweth where it listeth. Thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth. So
is everyone that is born of the Spirit. We want to take young children
and, oh, I want to see our children saved. Is your little baby saved? Well, he's not out of diapers
yet. We want to get him to make a profession of faith to soothe
our minds and to ease our own consciences. When God gives you faith in Christ,
let me tell you what you'll find out. You'll find out you can't
help believing him. You just can't help it. You just
can't help it. I prayed and read and tried to
believe and read and prayed and tried to believe and had folks
try to talk me into believing and I couldn't believe God. Then
one day, I was sitting in a church pew just like you are, and God
spoke to my heart by His Word. And what I couldn't do for the
life of me, skip just a minute before, I could not believe Him. Suddenly, I found myself believing
on the Son of God. I couldn't help it. I couldn't
help it. because He gives life to whom
He will, when He will, by His sovereign will. He says, Lazarus,
come forth, and the dead come to Him. He speaks to the valley
of bones, and the bones live. He passes by the deserted infant
and says, live! And the infant, polluted and
rotting in his blood, in the open field, suddenly lives! That's because salvation is of
the Lord, and the Lord is this one whose name is called Jesus. Oh, may God help you now to believe
him. Oh, God give you faith in Him. Amen.