Acts chapter 17, verse 3. Opening and alleging. Now that simply means explaining
and proving. Explaining and proving that Christ's
must needs have suffered and risen again from the dead. And
that this Jesus, this Jesus The one that we've preached, the
one that we've labored to show you, whom I preach unto you even
now, Paul said, is Christ, is Christ. Friday afternoon, I was
running some errands and there was a man standing in a high
traffic area with two signs designed to fit over his head, kind of
like a poncho. one in the front, one in the
back. The one on the front side said,
trust Jesus. And the back side said, Jesus
is coming. He had his hand raised high with
what seemed to be religious tracts to give to all who may desire
to have one. And I suppose to most people
this would seem to be a commendable thing. But I'm going to tell
you friends, I could not help but to think to myself, which
Jesus is he referring to? Which Jesus is he talking about?
Does his sign refer to? And I know that that may sound
strange to some, but which Jesus was he encouraging folks to trust
in? Which Jesus was he saying was
coming again? And some might ask, why would
you say such a thing? Well, this is the reason. If
you'll turn with me to 2 Corinthians 11, I'm going to tell you why
I ask that. Again, the Apostle Paul in 2
Corinthians 11, verse 4 says, For he that cometh preacheth
another Jesus. You see that another Jesus whom
we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit, which
you have not received, or another gospel, which you have not accepted,
bowed to and trusted. you might well bear with him."
Now Paul plainly declares here that there is another Jesus. This Jesus is different from
the one that he preached. There's also, as we see from
this verse, another spirit and another gospel. Paul wrote in
Galatians 1 to the church of Galatians. He said, I marveled
that you'd be so soon removed from Him that called you into
the grace of Christ and to another gospel. And without pausing or
taking a breath, he said, which is not another. You see, there's
really only one gospel. It's called another gospel because
it does in no way resemble the gospel of scripture. But there
be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. This is the gospel of Christ
that we preach. So there is another Jesus, there's
another spirit, another gospel, which are not the true ones.
And as Paul warned the Corinthians and the Galatians, I warn you
this morning, the other Jesus that men preach cannot and does
not compare to the one that is proclaimed in this book that
you hold this morning. He doesn't resemble Him. No more
than a piece of dried up dead wood. The message of salvation
preached by God's true messengers differs greatly from the message
of many that pervert the gospel of Christ. And they trouble many,
for many are going to hell trusting this false gospel. And we cannot receive a better
spirit than the spirit of sovereign grace and truth that is proclaimed
from these inspired pages. There are many Jesuses. And that's easily seen when you
talk to men and women about the One in whom they put their trust. You don't have to talk to people
long to find out that their Jesus is not the true one scripture
proclaims. They'll tell you that their Jesus
makes salvation possible. And if you decide to believe
it, He'll save you. But the Jesus of the Bible, dear
friends, is salvation. There's a difference. Big difference. He just didn't make salvation
possible. He is salvation. Ephesians 1,
you don't have to turn there, but Paul writes, according as
He had chosen us and Him before the foundation of the world.
God chose His people before the world was ever made, that we
should be holy and without blame before Him in love. And he says,
having predestinated or predetermined, determined beforehand is what
that means, us unto the adoption of children, by Jesus Christ
to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will. It doesn't
have a thing to do with you. It doesn't have a thing to do
with your decision, your free will, your good works. Nothing. Nothing to do with it. It's to
the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He hath made us. Made us. accepted in the Beloved. You see, we were once not accepted,
absolutely unacceptable, and He made us accepted in the Beloved,
who is the Lord Jesus Christ. In whom we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to what? The riches, the riches of His
grace. has nothing to do with me. It
doesn't say in whom we have redemption if we exercise our free will
to believe in Him. Does it say that? Ephesians 1
verses 4-7, write it down, read it. Salvation is in no way dependent
on men and women. Salvation is of the Lord. Our
Lord said in John 6-37, All that the Father giveth me shall come
to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. God gave Christ to people before
the world began, and He won't lose one of them. Every one of
them will come. Well, didn't Jesus die for the
whole world? Well, let me ask you a question. Is there hell?
Well, why do you ask that? If Christ died for everybody
in the world, there'd be no need for hell, because there'd be
nobody there. That's to say that Christ died
for someone who can be lost. That is blasphemy. The Lord Jesus
Christ effectually died, shed His blood so that all His people
might be saved. So that leads me to the conclusion
that not all are God's people. Paul proclaimed, he said he'll
have mercy on whom he'll have mercy, and he'll have compassion
on whom he'll have compassion. And whom he will, he hardened.
So what are we going to do? Are we going to call God unfair?
That's what Paul said. Well, why does he yet find fault?
If he chooses people and they're saved, why does he find fault
with those whom he didn't choose? And the Apostle Paul said, who
are you to reply us against God? He does as he wills, how he wills,
when he wills. And friends, if you go to hell,
it's your own fault. People have the impression that
God predetermined people to hell. He didn't have to. People were
born going to hell. He just leaves them to themselves.
That's how people go to hell. He leaves you to yourself. He
that believeth not is condemned already. We're born condemned.
The psalmist said, I came forth from the womb speaking lies.
I was shaping iniquity in my mother's womb. We're born sinners,
and that's why we sin. Oh, I tell you, and you've heard
me say this many times, you don't have to teach a young child how
to be selfish. It comes as natural as breathing.
You don't have to teach a young child how to lie. It comes as
natural as breathing. Because of sin. My friends, God
will make you, if you're a child of God that's not willing, He'll
make you willing to trust Christ and the day of His power. With
the same sovereign power that God spoke the worlds into existence. That's what he did, didn't he?
He said, let there be light. And there was light. It's the
same power that God speaks into the dark, dead soul of a man
or a woman. And he says, let there be light.
And there was light. We'll never see unless God does
that. Well, what must I do to be saved?
Well, I'll tell you what you can't do. You can't give yourself
light. You can't give yourself sight. You can believe. And only
God can enable you to do that. The difference in a false Jesus
and the true Jesus is in the title that is given to the Jesus
of the scriptures. This title I refer to is Christ. Christ. The Jesus of the Bible is the
Christ. That's what we read in Acts 17. This Jesus I preach unto you
is Christ. He's Christ. We, a few weeks
ago, looked at the passage in Matthew 16 where the Lord asked
His disciples, who do men say that I am? And they began to
answer Him honestly. They said, some say you're John
the Baptist. Some say that you're Elijah.
Some say you're Jeremiah or some great prophet. And that's who
they thought He was. Many believe that today that
Jesus was a great man, a great prophet, who did great things. But do they believe He is the
Christ? That's the difference between
life and death. When our Lord asked his disciples,
who do you say that I am? Peter said, Thou art the Christ. He didn't say you're Jesus of
Nazareth. Did he? He said, Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the Living God. And the Lord called Peter
blessed, for flesh and blood didn't reveal that to him. And
flesh and blood will not reveal that to you, friends. Only God
Almighty can. If you're here this morning and
you've seen that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living
God, it was God that showed it to you. Y'all thank Him. Y'all praise
Him and worship Him. Now don't misunderstand what
I'm trying to say. I know that the blessed name
Jesus means Jehovah is salvation. I know that the angel told Mary
thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people
from their sins. But here's what I'm trying to
say. In the Old Testament And the Old Testament basically,
if you want to wrap it up in a nutshell, said there's one
coming. There's one coming anointed and
appointed of God to save His people from their sin. That's
what it basically declares. And see, the Jews weren't looking
for a man named Jesus. They were looking for the Christ. In the four Gospels, according
to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, proclaim that this Christ has
come and give witness to it by the things that he did, all the
miracles he performed. all the people that He healed. Why, He even raised people from
the dead, gave sight to blind men who had been blind since
their birth. Fed 5,000 men, not counting the
women and children, with just a few loaves and fishes. All
this was done to show that He was the Christ. The one whom
God had sent to save His people from their sin. Look real quick
with me to the Gospel of John chapter 1. They were looking
for the Christ. And in verse 19, they came to
John the Baptist. Because he came on the scene
before Him saying, prepare ye the way. And he was baptizing
people left and right. People were coming to see John
in the wilderness. And this is the record of John
when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask
him, Who art thou? Who are you? And he confessed
and denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ. That's who they were looking
for. I am not the Christ. And they asked him, what then?
Art thou Elijah? And he said, I'm not. Art thou
that prophet? And he answered, no. And they
said unto him, who art thou that we may give an answer to them
that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself? And he said, I'm just a voice,
just a messenger. Just a nobody. I'm the voice
of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the
Lord. has said the prophet Isaiah.
Oh, friends, as I said earlier, there are many who describe Jesus
much differently and to be much less than God declares Him to
be from the pages of this Bible that you hold in your hand. But when He's known as the Christ,
the child of God sees who was ordained of God to be and confirmed
to have done what God sent Him to do. Do you see Him as the
Christ? Now that's not Jesus' last name.
That's the glorious title that God gave Him. Remember the time
that the Lord Jesus went back into His hometown? He had already
started His public ministry. He had done some mighty works
in different parts of the country, but he was coming to his own
country and he taught into the synagogue. And the people were
just astonished at his words and his wisdom and his understanding. And they said, whence hath this
man this wisdom? You see, they didn't see him
any more than just a man. You know how I know that? Because
the next question they ask, is this not the carpenter's son?
You know him, John. He's a boy that worked with his
daddy Joseph down there at the carpenter shop. His mother named
Mary. And his brethren. He's got James
and Joseph and Simon and Judas. We know all them. Who is this? Man, or who does he think he
is? And his sisters, are they not all with us? They never saw
him as any more than the man Jesus. The carpenter, the son
of Mary, the brother of James and Joseph, Simon and Judas,
and the sisters that were there that day. They never saw him
as any more than that. The title Christ means anointed. He was the anointed one sent
by God. God's beloved Son in whom He
was well pleased. The Greek translation of the
Hebrew word Christ means Messiah. He's the Messiah, which was the
official title of our Lord. And this title occurs 514 times
in the New Testament. 514 times. That means it's important. Paul said, if anyone come and
preach another Jesus, But Paul preached the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Messiah. I want you to see the difference.
It designates and distinguishes that He, the Jesus of whom the
Bible declares was anointed and consecrated by God to this great
redemptive work as prophet, priest, and king. You have to see Him
as the Lord Jesus Christ. Not just as the carpenter's son.
Not just as the son of Mary. Not the brother of Jack, Joe,
and Jim, and Fred. The Jesus that I preach to you
according to the inspired volume of scripture is Christ. Do you hear me? This is Christ
of whom I speak. Paul told Timothy, there's one
God, one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. I'm not saying he's not a man.
He's 100% man and he's 100% God. He's all man and he's all God. The only one of His kind. The
one mediated between God and men. The Jesus in whom you trust. The Christ. The Son of the Living
God. John, who penned the Gospel of
John, said in his epistle in 1 John, Who is a liar but he
that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? A man that denies Jesus
is the Christ is a liar. He's antichrist. that denieth
the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the
same hath not the Father." If you don't see Him any more than
just Jesus, you don't know the Father. Oh, when Lazarus died,
Martha heard that Jesus had finally arrived, and she went out to
meet Him, and she said these words. She said, Lord, if you'd
been here, He wouldn't have died. Now, you know what? That's faith.
What she was saying, Lord, if you'd have made it before He
died, He wouldn't have died. You are the Son of God. You have
the power. You have the power to keep Him
from dying. But you know what? She didn't stop there. And she
shows even greater faith than that. Because she then went on
to say, but even now, but even now, He's been dead for four
days. Even now, whatsoever you will
ask of God, God will give it to you. Now that's faith. That's faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And Jesus said to Martha, your
brother shall rise again. He's going to rise again. Martha
said, I know that he shall rise again in resurrection at the
last day. And he said, Martha, listen to
me. I am the resurrection. I am the
resurrection and the life, and he that believeth in Me, though
he were dead, he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet
shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in Me shall never die. Believest thou this? Do you believe
this? Do you believe it? I ask you
this morning." Marth said, "'Yea, Lord, I believe that Thou art
the Christ.'" the Son of God which hath come into the world."
Our Lord said, where is he? Where is he? And some of them there around
about begin to murmur and say, Could not this man, could not
this man which opened the eyes of the blind have caused that
even this man Lazarus should not have died? And those that
made those comments had not seen him as the Christ, but only as
a man. They confessed by their words.
Could not this man who gave sight to the blind have kept Lazarus
from dying? The One before them this day
was much more than just a man. As I said a moment ago, He was
the unique God-Man, the Christ, the Son of the Living God, as
Peter and Martha both had confessed. And when He gives great witness
to being Christ the Messiah, the Anointed of God, He said,
Roll away the stone. Martha says it's been four days,
he thinks, and our Lord said, didn't I tell you that if you
would believe, you should see the glory of God. Friends, if
you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you're going to see the
glory of God. You're going to see it. You're going to experience
it. They took away the stone from
the place where the dead was laid and the Lord lifted up His
eyes and He said, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard me.
I know that Thou always hear me. But because of these people,
because of these that are standing by this day, that they might
believe that Thou hast sent me. In other words, that they might
see that I am the Christ. I say these things. And when
he had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And the scriptures say, and he
that was dead came forth. Now you know those words thrill
my soul. You know why? Because even when
we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. with
Christ. That's the words that the Apostle
uses. By grace are you saved and have
raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places.
Where? In Christ Jesus. What do you
think of this Christ? Whose Son is He? It's God that
raised us up and made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ. John 20 verse 30 that I read to you in the scripture,
you don't have to turn there, it said, and many other signs
truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not
written in this book. In other places it says that
if all the things that he did was written in the book, the
world wouldn't be enough room in the world to contain the books. of all the good things that He
did. But these are written. These things that we have before
us are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ. He's the Christ. the Son of God,
and the believing you might have life through His name." Oh, I
tell you friends, I'm running out of time. I could go on and
on. The Jewish leaders came to him
at one point and said, Are thou the Christ? They just asked him.
They said, Tell us. And he said unto them, If I tell
you, you will not believe. Our Lord is saying, if I asked
you if you thought I was the Christ, you wouldn't answer me
and you wouldn't let me go. This is as he stood in the judgment
hall of Pallet. Why wouldn't they let him go?
Because they didn't believe that he was Jesus the Christ. That's
why. And also because in the providence
and predetermined counsel of God, he was going to go to Calvary
and pay the debt of his people's sin. You see, he goes on to say
this in that passage. He says, Hereafter shall the
Son of Man sit on the right hand of the power of God. You know
the place on the right hand of God is reserved for the Christ. Never forget that. Who is He
that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Yea, brethren,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. Colossians 3.1, If ye then
be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where
Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. It's Christ that sits
there. Not some mealy-mouthed Jesus
who is trying and willing and wanting to, if you let Him. God
the Son became flesh and dwelt among sinful men and women to
take away the sin of all who trust in Him. And He's the Christ,
the anointed and appointed One of God. Some believed and some
didn't. And it's the same today. Whosoever
believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. 1 John 5, 1. And everyone that loveth him
that beget loveth him also that is begotten of him. Isn't that
what you read in the men's meeting? Now let me ask you in closing,
do you believe that Jesus is the Christ? The Son of the living
God? Acts 2.36 says, Therefore let
all the house of Israel know assuredly, with confidence, that
God hath made that same Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord
and Christ." Which Jesus do you serve? Which Jesus do you serve? Our Lord was talking to that
woman at the well and he began to tell her all things about
herself. And then you know what she tried to do? She tried to
do exactly what we try to do. Men try to do today. They try
to change the subject. When confessed with her sin and
her condition before God, she started talking religion. Didn't
she? She said, our fathers worshiped
in this mountain, and you folks, you Jews, you worship in Jerusalem. And the Lord looked at her and
He said, you don't know what you worship. You don't have a
clue what you worship. Those that worship God, the true
worshipers, that indicates that they're false worshipers. He
distinguishes the difference. must worship God in spirit and
truth. And then she says, when the Messiah
comes, who is called the Christ, He'll tell us everything. And
the Lord Jesus Christ looked her in the eye and He said, I
that speak to you, I am He. Let me tell you something, in
those three little words, the Old Testament was fulfilled.
I am He. There's one coming. I am He. Now the question is, what do
you think of him? What do you think of him? I am
he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive forevermore
and have the keys of hell and of death. So again I ask, which
Jesus do you trust? Do you trust in Jesus who wants
to save everybody if sinners would just let Him? Or do you
trust Christ Jesus who lives forevermore as abolished sin,
put it away as though it never existed? You're perfect. Those
of you that trust in Christ Jesus right now, when the Lord looks
at you, He sees no sin. You know why? You don't have
any. You don't have any. It's been put away and punished
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He has the keys of hell and death.
When our Lord spoke with that Samaritan woman, these are my
last words, and He revealed Himself to that woman. You know what
she did? She ran and told everybody she
knew. And these were her words, Gary. She said, Come see a man,
not just any man. This man is all man and all God,
which told me all things that ever I did. Is this not the Christ? Is this not the Christ? Friends,
Jesus that we proclaim is not just any Jesus. He's Jesus Christ,
the Son of the Living God. And your life depends on what
you think of Him.