If you would turn with me to
the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 26. It's my prayer this morning
that God may enable us to see Christ with eyes of faith, may
give us ears to hear, hearts to understand and believe the
unsearchable riches. The scripture defines His grace,
unsearchable riches. His ways are past behind me now.
these unsearchable riches that are found in His beloved Son.
Now I would have you, if you would, picture with me for a
moment our beloved Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane. Scripture says, sweating, as
it were, great drops of blood just minutes before He's betrayed. And He's not betrayed by an archenemy. but he's betrayed by one of his
closest friends. Judas, one of the Lord's 12 disciples,
betrays the Lord of glory with a kiss. And this was a sign that
Judas had given to the soldiers. If you'll look in verse 48 with
me of Matthew chapter 26, he says, Whomsoever I shall kiss,
that same as he hold him fast. Judas had given them this sign,
a signal that the one whom he kissed was the one that they
sought. Betrayed with a kiss. A kiss
in our Lord's day was a token of love, of allegiance, friendship,
sign of respect, love, allegiance. And Judas here breaks all the
laws of love and profanes this sacred sign to serve his own
purpose. That's exactly what religion
does today. Religionists say good things
about the Lord Jesus Christ. They say that he's the son of
God. They declare him to be God's
son, but they have nothing more than what the apostles said was
a form of godliness denying the power thereof. That's exactly
what religion does. It has a form of godliness, but
it denies the power of God and the salvation of His people by
grace and grace alone. It's common in our day to hear
false preaching that God wants to save, desires to save, but
cannot unless men and women let go and let God. May God enable
us never to allow that word let to ever be spoken before the
name of God. Let God. That's blasphemous. It's blasphemous. We don't let
God do anything. Our God's in the heavens. He's
done whatsoever He pleases. Not unto us, O Lord. not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. Wherefore should the heathen say, where is now their God?
Where is your God? Our God's in the heavens. And
he's not sitting up there wringing his hands, wishing and hoping
and pleading and begging for somebody to believe he's ruling
and reigning and he's done whatsoever. He has played. That's the God
of the Bible. That's the God that I trust.
That's the God that I bow to. Judas greets the Lord of Glory
in verse 49 with the words, Hail Master. And listen, that was
nothing more than just a pretense of showing Christ's honor, as
I said, to serve His own purpose and pride. To call God the Son,
Master or Lord. And there are many, as we saw
last week, that say unto Him, Lord, Lord, haven't we done this
and haven't we done that? And He says, depart from Me,
I never knew you. To call the Son of God, Master
or Lord, and then in the same breath deny His sovereign purpose
in the saving of sinners by grace alone is to do nothing more than
to portray Him with a kiss. That's all it is. It's nothing
more than having a form of godliness, but denying the power of God
and the saving of sinners. Now notice in verse 50, we read,
And Jesus said unto him, Friend, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands
on Jesus, and took him. Let me tell you something here
that I know you know. There is none that can lay hold
of God. Our Lord and Savior said in the
Gospel of John chapter 10, He said, Therefore doth my Father
love me because I lay down my life. I lay it down that I might
take it again. No man taketh it from me, but
I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down. and I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my Father." And we know the
story. Peter pulls out his sword. He
cuts off one of the high priest's servant's ear. He said, Peter,
he said, if you live by the sword, you're going to perish by it.
And then in verse 53, he says, thinkest thou that I cannot pray
to my Father? I am God. I can pray to God the
Father, and He shall presently give me more than 12 legions
of angels. All I have to do, but just say
the word. But verse 54, this is what I
want you to see. But how then shall the scriptures
be fulfilled that thus it must be? Thus it must be. I take my title this morning
from those last four words. Thus it must be. In our day to day lives, we often
make statements like, I must do this and I must do that. That
this or that is an absolute must. And what we mean is we've got
some things that we simply need to get done. I must do this. I must file my taxes. I must
go to the grocery store. But as you and I well know, a
lot of things can happen in a day's time. that alter our plans, and
often we realize that what we thought was a must was not a
must at all. Now that little word must means
necessary, binding. It means something essential
and needful. It's a must, we say. And when
you and I use that word, frankly, it can most of the time be taken
lightly. But when God says it, it's a
different story. When God Almighty says it's a
must, it is a must. Now with that said, I want you
to consider two thoughts with me this morning. First, what
Christ must do to save His people, what Christ must do. And then
second, is a question that was often asked when people were
faced with the gospel, what must I do to be saved? So if you permit
me for just a few minutes, I would have you to consider this great
subject. If you would turn with me to
Luke chapter two. Now, while you're turning there,
I want to familiarize you with the story that we have before
us. Luke chapter two and verse 41. And I'm just going to kind of
summarize here, if you want to look along as I do so, you can. Beginning in verse 41, we see
that every year at the Feast of the Passover, Mary and Joseph
went to Jerusalem to attend and to observe this Jewish holiday,
the Passover. This particular year, the Lord
Jesus Christ is 12 years old. He's a 12 year old young man,
and after they observed the Passover as was their custom, the Scripture
says. They returned to Nazareth where
they lived in that little hometown, but they didn't know that the
Lord Jesus was not with them. They supposed that He was in
the company of those that they traveled with. And they journeyed
a whole day, the scripture says. And then they looked for him,
thinking that he was with family and friends. And when they discovered
that he wasn't, they turned back to Jerusalem and frantically
looked for him three days later. Three days. Where do you suppose
they find him? They find him in the temple,
in the middle of the doctors and scholars of the law, listening
to them, and the Scripture says, asking them questions. I thought
about that. Oh, the depths of the God-man.
All man as if he were not God at all, and all God as if he
were not man. He's not 50% God and 50% man. He's all God and He's all man.
What a great mystery. We just, we can't fathom that
with our finite mind. We're told even in this chapter
that in verse 52, that as a young man, he grew in wisdom and stature. And yet it's important to know
as God in the flesh, our Lord never asked a question in order
to receive information. He's God. He wasn't asking them
questions about the Scriptures because He didn't know. He is
the Word. Isn't that what John 1 tells
us? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. He is God. Our Lord was asking
these doctors of the law, these scholars, questions to provoke
their thoughts and to show them that the Old Testament Scriptures,
which was all they had, beginning at Moses and all the prophets,
all of them foretold. the things concerning Himself. And in verse 46 it tells us that
Christ was both hearing them and asking them questions. First,
He heard them. He listened to them. He listened
to what they taught. Then upon hearing them, He asked
them questions to challenge them. We know that, but what's said
in the next verse? Look at verse 47. And all that heard Him were
astonished at His understanding and answers. His wisdom and understanding
appeared and was apparent as much in the questions that he
asked as in the answers he gave. In Psalm 119.99, we're told that
David, King David, the psalmist David, the shepherd boy David,
had more understanding than all his teachers. And friends, there's
a greater than David before them in the temple this day. I'm trying
to set the groundwork here in verse 48. And when they, that
being his mother and Joseph, saw him, they were amazed. And
his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with
us? Behold, thy father and I have
sought thee sorrowing. And I'm sure they had. And he
said unto them, notice these words, the first words ever recorded
of our Lord Jesus in the scriptures. Wist ye not that I must, I must,
be about my Father's business? Beloved, in order for you and
I to be forgiven, Christ must be about His Father's business. I thought about that. What business
is God the Father in? Well, that may be a foolish question,
but I know this. He's in the sheep business. He's
in the sheep business. And His Son is the good shepherd
that gives His life for the sheep. Aren't you glad? God the Father
entrusts all His sheep with His beloved Son. And He gave His
sheep to His Son before the world began. And He said, all that
the Father giveth Me shall come to Me. I won't lose a one. As
the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father. And I, there
it is again, lay down my life for the sheep. I must be about my Father's business. Thus it must be. Now listen to me, this is serious
business. God's business is serious business. If God purposes something, anything,
thus it must be. Our Lord at the age of 12 said,
I must be about my Father's business. I must. I must. Oh, do you see the power in that
word? God is a God of purpose. God
purposed it, so thus it must be. Now, turn with me to Matthew
chapter 16. Matthew 16. I want to read a
few verses here. Matthew 16, beginning in verse
13. You know this story well. Matthew
16, beginning in verse 13. When Jesus came into the coast
of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, whom do
men say that I, the Son of Man, am? Who do men say that I am? And they said, some say that
thou art John the Baptist. Some say that you're Elijah,
and others say you're Jeremiah or one of the prophets. And then
He, oh, I can just see Him. He looks at His disciples and
He asks them this most solemn question. He says, but whom say
ye that I am? Let me ask you, who do you say
that He is? That's a very important question.
What think ye of Christ? Who do you say that He is? And
Simon Peter answered in verse 16, and he said, Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said
unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah. Flesh and blood hath
not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
And look at verse 21, From that time forth, From that time forth
began Jesus to show unto His disciples how that He must go. He must go to Jerusalem and suffer
many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes and
be killed and be raised again the third day. Christ must go
to Jerusalem. Christ must suffer many things
of the religious elders, chief priests, and scribes. He must
be killed. He must be raised from the dead. Why? Thus it must be. This is the will and purpose
of God for the redemption of His people. Thus it must be. Oh, I think of the words of Isaiah
in chapter 53. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, as a sheep before her shearers is dumbed, so He
openeth not His mouth." That's the glorious gospel right there. The Good Shepherd became what
His people were. Do you see it? He must be afflicted. He must
be brought as a lamb to the slaughter. How could one so excellent be
so oppressed and so afflicted? How could one so innocent and
so perfect be so harshly treated? How could one so holy be brought
as a lamb to the slaughter? Why did he open not his mouth? Have you ever thought about that?
Because those for whom he died were guilty. He didn't open His
mouth because we were guilty. And He was standing in our place.
He took our sin and our sorrow and He made them His very own,
the songwriter, the hymn writer wrote. And He suffered the judgment
and the justice that should have been mine. Thus it must be for
His sheep. God tells us through the prophet
Isaiah, surely, surely he hath borne our griefs and carried
our sorrows. He was stricken. That word in
the original language means punished. He was punished. He was smitten,
murdered, killed, slaughtered by the sword of divine justice
as our substitute. Can you hear the Savior say,
listen, can you hear him say, is it nothing to you? All you
that pass by. Behold, and see if there be any
sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the
Lord hath afflicted me in the day of His fierce anger." Who
afflicted him? The Lord did. This is the unfathomable
truth of the Gospel. Listen, His own Father killed
Him. Surely not. God so loves. Oh, he that loved him most spared
him not. Paul tells us that plainly in
Romans 8, doesn't he? Verse 32, he that spared not
his own son. What did he do, Paul? He delivered
him up for us all, and all there being his sheep, his elect, how
shall he not with him freely give us all things? He spared
not his own son. Acts 2.23, you know this passage,
Him, being Christ, being delivered by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God. You've taken. You've taken and
by wicked hands have crucified and slain. It was wicked hands.
It was wicked hands that blindfolded our Lord and struck Him in the
face and then said, You're a prophet? Prophesy. Tell us who it was
that hit you. It was wicked hands that did
that. It was the wicked hands of men who beat Him beyond recognition,
thrust a crown of thorns into His head, and put a reed in His
hand as if it were a king's scepter. It was the wicked hands of men
who hated Him without a cause, that put a purple robe over His
shoulders, and they mocked Him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! But the first cause The first
cause of all these things was a determined counsel and foreknowledge,
divine foreknowledge, and the sovereign purpose of God. For thus it must be." What had
he done? What had he done? He had all
the days of his life done nothing but good. He never thought, as
I said a moment ago, an evil thought, never said an evil word.
Why? Thus it must be, in order for
his people to be reconciled to God. There's a hymn in our song
book that says, why? Why? Why did they nail him to
Calvary's tree? Why? Tell me, why was he there?
Jesus, the helper, the healer, the friend. Why? Tell me why
was he there? Why? All my iniquities on him
were laid. He nailed them all to the tree.
Jesus, the debt of my sin fully paid. He paid the ransom for
me. You remember in John chapter
four, he must needs go through Samaria. Why? There were chosen sinners there
that he must preach the kingdom of God to. In Luke chapter 9,
Christ passed through Jericho one day. He looked up in a tree
and we're told that there was a publican there in that tree,
little in stature, named Zacchaeus. And the Lord told him, he said,
I must abide at thy house. I must abide at thy house. Oh,
bless his holy name. One day he must pass my way and
tell me the same, for thus it must be. I ask you that knowing,
was it not the same with you? Was it not the same with you?
He must, he must. He must be about his father's
business. That was his first words. You
know what his last words were? It is finished. It's finished. He who said, I
must be about my Father's business, and also said in John 9, I must
work the works of Him that sent me, thus it must be. And before
He died in the place of those that the Father gave Him before
the foundation of the world, He says it's finished. It's done. It's complete. I have glorified
Thee on earth, O Father. I have finished the work which
Thou gavest Me to do. What must I do to be saved? Absolutely
nothing. There's absolutely nothing that
I can do apart from Him. He must increase. He must increase. I must decrease. More of His
saving fool in the sea, more of His love who died for me,
He must increase. I've got to decrease. What must
I do? Nothing I can do. That's what
our Lord said, without Me, you can do nothing. Nothing. Yet, I must be born again. That's
what our Lord told Nicodemus in John chapter 3. He said, marvel
not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. Now listen, our Lord wasn't saying
to Nicodemus, you really should be born again. He wasn't saying,
you need to be born again, or I urge you to be born again.
Our Savior said to Nicodemus, you must be. You must be born
again. And the death of our Lord Jesus
Christ was no accident. Had we not established that,
it was no accident. It was not something which came
to pass because of man's free will, or because the Jews wouldn't
let him be king. The Lord Jesus Christ died at
Calvary because He must die at Calvary. Thus it must be. Well, I close with, and I borrow,
the words of the Apostle Paul from 1 Corinthians chapter 15.
Would you turn there with me? 1 Corinthians chapter 15. beginning in verse 1. Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have
received and wherein you stand, by which also you are saved if
you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed
in vain. For I delivered unto you first
of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that
He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. No, no man
took His life. He laid it down voluntarily that
the Scriptures might be fulfilled. Thus it must be. Hey Dale, isn't that your hope? Linda, is that your hope? Thus
it must be. And the Spirit and the Bride
say, Come, and let him that heareth say, Come, and let him that is
athirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life
freely." Now listen to me. Whether you bow or whether you
rebel, thus it must be. All ye that labor and are heavy
laden because of your sin, come unto me. And I will give you
rest, for thus it must be.