Matthew 1, verses 20 and 21. Here, the angel of the Lord is
speaking to Joseph. And it says, while he, that is
Joseph, thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord
appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David,
Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived
in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his
people from their sins." I begin by saying it is wrong for anyone
to accept or practice any religious teaching on the basis of just
what they've always heard without diligently looking into God's
word to learn the truth about the matter. This morning, none of us knows
what tomorrow holds. So I need to tell you this today.
And I want to speak for a few moments this morning as clearly
as I possibly can about what the Bible says and teaches as
to why Jesus Christ came into this world. You say, oh, we know
that. Do you now? Do you now? Well, according to God's word,
he came to bring glory to the triune God in redeeming a definite
number of Adam's race and reconciling them to God as if there had never
been such a thing as sin. And in the words of this text
in verse 21, Matthew 1.21, the angel said to Joseph, Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins." If you'll read
that slowly and carefully, you'll discover that not many
people nowadays actually believe it.
It does not say He came to save Adam's race. If he had, Adam's
race would be saved. But they're not. Says he came to save his people. In the old Testament, when the
high priest on the day of atonement would go into that tabernacle
and into that holy place and on into that holiest of all. that inner compartment with blood, the blood of the
sacrifice. He had, as that high priest went
in, he had upon his breastplate the names of the 12 tribes of
Israel. That's who he was representing
in there. He wasn't just going in there for himself. He was
going in there for them. But he never had Egypt written
on his breastplate or Canaan or Syria, but only
the 12 tribes of Israel. That's who he was representing.
So Jesus Christ was not and is not unsuccessful in what he came
to do. He was and is gloriously successful. So many people believe that God
sent his son into the world to respond to a dilemma that he
had not anticipated from the beginning. That's not so. God created Adam as he did and
left him to himself as he did. So he could and would do as he
did fall into sin. Now that does not charge God
with sin. Absolutely not. But all it took
for Adam to fall was for God to let him. It's all it took. And all it takes this morning
for you to do horrible and unthinkable things. All it would take for
you to be as low as any individual that ever lived is for God to
leave you alone. That's all. That's all it takes. So the fall of man was not a
surprise to God. It was not news to God when it
happened. It was certain to happen. And
it had to happen. Because from eternity past, God
had ordained that his son come into this world and die to pay
for the sins of his people. Revelation 13, 8 tells us that
in the mind and purpose of God, Christ was a lamb slain from
the foundation of the world, even then, even then. But so
many people think that Christ's death was not on God's calendar
all along, but it was. It was. They believe what they've
been told by preachers who got their information somewhere other
than God's word. They believe that Christ offered
to be Israel's king when he got here and they rejected him and
crucified him. So he had to go to plan B. and
turn to the Gentiles. That's as foreign to the teaching
of God's Word as it can possibly be. Everything that happened while
Jesus Christ walked this earth was ordained to happen exactly
as it happened. He was born to die. You and I
were born dying. Because of sin, we were born
dying. He was born and could not die
in Himself. Did you know that? You see, death
is the wages of sin. He didn't have any sin. He couldn't
die. But by imputation, by representation,
He took the sins of His people upon Himself. So He could die. So He could die. Now in this
text, we're told clearly Verse 21, Matthew 1, we're told clearly
who he died for, who he died to save. And these words came
directly from heaven before Jesus was ever born. Thou shalt call
his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. This is what God said would happen.
Now notice it doesn't say he shall offer to save his people,
or he shall try to save his people, but it says he shall save his
people. Now, did he do that? Yes. How did he do that? By satisfying
the justice of an infinitely holy God. by shedding his sinless
blood on Calvary. Our sin had to be paid for. Many
good folks think that all salvation... See, you're not talking about
when you made your decision. You're talking about when the
work was done. Christ said on the cross, he
said, I have finished the work. Thou gavest me to do. A lot of good folk think salvation
involves you coming down to the front of the church, apologize
to God, and he wipes your slate clean. No, that's your doing.
That's a work on your part. And God's not interested in what
you can do about your sin. All you can do is make it worse.
God is holy. You can do nothing to appease
the wrath of Almighty God against you because of your sin. And left to do for yourself,
you'd surely perish. You're certain to be damned. All you can do is nothing more
than an expression of that filthy, corrupt, proud, selfish heart
that we all have by nature. I'm saying the only one who ever
got God's attention concerning the putting away of sins was
His only begotten Son. When He shed His blood upon the
cross, that satisfied God. That alone satisfied God. Well, for whom did he shed his
blood? For whom did he satisfy God? Well, the text tells us
his people, his people, not his potential people. You see, Christ
did not come into this world fishing for followers. No, he
didn't come into this world and launch a membership campaign.
to try and build Him a crowd. No. He did not come to die to try
to get Him a people. He did not come to pray to the
Father that He came to give eternal life to as many as the Father
had given Him. Now this same group is referred
to in the New Testament as God's elect, referred to as those chosen
in Christ before the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1-4.
That's who His people are. So for whom did He die? He died
for all that the Father had given Him. John 17-9, in that same
prayer, He said, I pray not for the world, but for them which
Thou hast given Me out of the world. John 10.10, the good shepherd
giveth his life for the sheep. A shepherd don't go out there
and fight the wolves and the wild beasts and all to protect
the two or three wild goats over here. Uh-uh. No, he's doing it. He's putting his life on the
line for one reason. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. So I repeat, Christ did not shed
His blood unsuccessfully. The Good Shepherd did not lay
down His life for anyone that will wind up in hell. No way. He laid down His life for the
sheep. The sheep. That's who. That's who. Do you think God would look at
the awful condition this world's in today and say, Oh, I sent
my son to fix all that. I sent my son to die for all
that. I sent my son to save all those rebels. That's blasphemous. That's blasphemous. The good
shepherd giveth his life. For the sheep. Well, who are
the sheep? He tells us. John 10, 27. My sheep, hear my
voice. And that's the difference. He's
not talking about hearing with the physical ear. He's talking
about hearing with the heart. Hearing by the work of the spirit. Hearing from a holy God. Talking to my wicked heart. My
sheep hear my voice. That's what the Lord meant when
He so often said, let him that hath ears to hear. Hear. Nobody else is going to. Nobody
else can. But He said, My sheep hear my
voice. A stranger they will not follow.
This morning, if you can hear God's Word, week in, week out,
year in, year out, And it go in one ear and out the other.
You're as blind and as dead spiritually as you can possibly be. And you're
as certain for hell as if you were already there. I'm telling
you, this book has an effect in the hearts and lives of God's
elect children. It does. If all you look for in a preacher
is personality, a good speaking voice, you're
messed up. You're really messed up. If all
you're looking for in a church is entertainment, you're messed
up. You're messed up. What does a preacher say about
what God says? That's the issue. That's the
issue. All right, he says, my sheep
hear my voice, and I know them. That is, I beget them. I quicken
them to life. And when I do, they follow me. They follow me. Follow me in perfection? No. Never get off the path? No. Like
we preached last time about Simon Peter. They get off the track. Boy, they go out and weep bitterly.
And they're right back in there. Jesus said to one crowd, John
10, 26, But ye believe not, because You
are not of my sheep, as I said unto you." Mark it down. You'll never hear
in your lifetime, 95% of the preachers you'll ever hear, you'll
never hear them touch that verse because it goes against the grain.
John 10, 26, mark it. John 10, 26, Jesus Christ did
not say to that crowd, you're not my sheep because you don't
believe. What he said was, you don't believe
because you're not my sheep. Believing is not the cause of
belonging to him. It's the effect of belonging
to him. You say, well, now what does
that do with a man's free will? Well, does a goat have a free
will to become a sheep? No, he enjoys being a goat too
much. Does a sinner have the free will
to become a child of God? No, he enjoys his hellishness
too much. It don't happen. Nature, nature. Men like to hoot
about having a free will to come to the Lord. But you see, it's
part of sinful nature to run the other direction. You see, this world is in bondage
to sin. and Satan and wouldn't have it
any other way. It takes the quickening power
of the spirit of God to bring any sinner to trust Christ. So this free will idea is a lie
straight out of hell. People say, well, I believe if
we could just get so-and-so in church, they'd get saved. Wait
a minute. Don't God have to do the saving? Sure he does. This fallen, sinful nature in you and in me is selfish,
self-centered, self-sufficient, proud. And we're in a religious generation
that's got God on the little end. He can only do what we let
Him do, hogwash. He can leave you alone and hell
will be your lot. That's the truth. You'll not
do anything about the matter. You'll live out all your days,
maybe playing religion and maybe not. It makes no difference.
But in your heart, You've pulled God off the throne, put yourself
on it. Romans 3, 11 and 12, there is
none that seeketh after God. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. The whole bunch of Adam's race
is perishing willingly, will not and cannot come to God. Lost sheep don't find the shepherd.
They don't know how to find the shepherd. The shepherd has to
go into the wild and find the sheep. What we're talking about
from this text, Matthew 1 21, is that he finds every single
one of his own and not one for whom Christ died shall perish. A lot of people have trouble
with that. But now listen to me. God wouldn't demand double
payment for sin. If Christ paid for your sins,
you're not going to have to. And if you do, he didn't. That's
the deal. God don't demand double payment. If Christ died for all men, all
men would be saved. Not one could possibly perish,
but we all know multitudes have perished already and multitudes
more are perishing today. Why? Only because they were not
represented in and by the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross. You say that's offensive. It's
not nearly as offensive as accusing my Redeemer of being a failure,
trying to save everybody in Caint. That's what's offensive. That's what's declaring the Lord
Jesus Christ to be the biggest failure this world ever saw.
Is if he came to do a lot more than he's able to get done, that's
offensive to me. The Lord Jesus Christ was not
while he was in this world, and he is not today the loser that
religion makes him out to be. No. He has satisfied the just
demands of a holy God for all whom he died for. And the Holy Spirit, God the
Spirit, is faithful to search out, to convict, to affectionately
call everyone for whom Christ died. I didn't say plead with
them and do his best, trying to get them for the hell, go
out and have a car wreck and go to hell. No, if Christ died for
them, they ain't going to have no car wreck and go to hell.
If Christ died for them, The Holy Spirit will affectionately,
you know what that word means, don't you? Affectionately call
and change the hearts of every single one of His sheep, every
one for whom Christ died. You say, well, what about John
3.16? What about John 3.16? John 3.16 is a very blessed promise
to believers that we shall not perish. We shall not perish. It does not say. And I'm talking
about, I'm not talking about some of this modern stuff. Now
I'm talking about the King James version that we've used all our
lives. It was good enough for my grandma. It's good enough
for your grandma. It's good enough for us. It does not say for God so loved
the world that he gave his only begotten son. that whosoever
decides to believe in him shall not perish. No, he's not talking
about deciding, making the decision, making a profession. He does
not leave the ball in our court. What Jesus said was, for God
so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever
believeth, that is, Them that do, that's who shall not perish,
but have everlasting life. If you've heard John 3 16 as
a proposition, and I know you have a proposition addressed
to your unbelief, you've heard it wrong. It's not a proposition
to unbelievers at all. It's a promise. A precious promise
to believers, whosoever believe it, that is them that do not
by our own efforts. Of course, that cannot be Philippians
one 29 says it's the gift of God to believe. Unbelief comes natural. Believing
God is supernatural. Believing a religious lie comes
natural. Believing God's truth is supernatural. So I want to say this morning,
God is running right on schedule. This world is on the fast track
to hell and one by one rebels against God. are dropping off
into eternity. Pick up your newspaper any morning
and there will be two or three or four or five or six going
out into eternity. This world is nothing but one
huge graveyard. That's all it is. Going out to meet God, young
and old, poor and wealthy, learned and unlearned, makes no difference. But here's the deal. Not one,
not a single one for whom Christ died shall perish. Isn't that good news? Why? They accepted Jesus as a personal
Savior. No, that's not it. That's not
it. It's because our text said, He
shall save His people from their sins. And on the cross, He saved us from the penalty
of our sins. We're not going to hell. And by his indwelling spirit,
he saves us from the power of sin in this life. The spirit of God helps the Lord's
people to avoid some things. We don't have to give in to the
devil all the time. we're being saved in this life. But there's coming a day when he's coming to save his
people from the very presence of sin or any remembrance of
it or any effects of it forever, forever. And that's the message
of Christmas, folks. I wanted to give you this Christmas
message before Christmas thou shalt call his name Jesus for
he shall save his people from their sins now Santa Claus says you be good
and you'll get gifts you get lots of presents if you'll
be good Now, sad to say, that's most
people's religious thinking, but that's heresy. That's heresy
because you can't be good enough. There's nothing but sin in our
nature. How good is good? The only good God accepts is
perfection. And none of Adam's race is perfect.
But yet I am accepted with God this morning in his beloved son,
who was and is perfect. Christ came and he was good,
perfectly good. In behalf of his people. He bore the sin of his people
on the cross. And his people are accepted with
God. In him. In the beloved. Ephesians 1.6. We're made accepted in the beloved,
not made acceptable. For us to add our two cents worth
to, but no made accepted in the beloved. And can I say something
to you this morning? And I don't say this arrogantly. I don't say this to be a smart
aleck. But I say this honestly. I make no effort to be accepted
with God. I am accepted. Rebels and God-haters
into the church. No. Christ's flock is a little flock.
And I'm here to worship Him. Worship Him. Well, let me find a stopping
place here. Thank God. Worship Him. Jesus paid it all. All to Him
I owe. All the glory belongs to Him. You can have all the crowns and
all the mansions. You can have that materialistic
mindset about heaven, the competitive religious thinking
that some are going to earn greater honor than others. No, all the
honor and all the glory. belongs to God in Christ Jesus
our Lord. My heaven is going to be to be
with Him and to be like Him forever, forever. You can have a little
cabin over in the corner if that's what you want. You can have a
mansion on Maine if that's what you want. But I'll tell you this
much, you better have it here. You better have it here. Because the redeemed of the Lord,
His people, His elect are all one in Christ. Matter of fact, His people are
His body. And He's the head of the body. That's how close the connection
is. One, he's the head. What part
of the body wears a crown anyhow? Is it the knee or the elbow?
No, it's the head. Christ is our head. And thank
God this morning, he was totally successful. And I repeat, he
is not the loser that religion makes him out to be. He came
to save His people from their sins. He got it done, and He's
getting it done, and He shall complete it. Bless His holy name. Stand with us.