The Gospel of John chapter 1,
verses 1 through 14. It's interesting to compare the
four gospels on how they approach telling us how the Lord Jesus
came to be in this world. John's is entirely different
from the other three gospel writers. Not that any of them are wrong.
Please understand, this is exactly what God intended to be in this
book. John chapter 1, verse 1. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Jehovah's Witnesses, which
correctly spoken is Jehovah's False Witnesses, they take the
last word of verse 1 and give it a little g-o, the exact opposite. Christ is God. Verse 2, the same was in the
beginning. All things were made by Him. And without Him was not anything
made that was made. Now that sounds like you've got
to be God to do that, doesn't it? To make this universe, this
world. In Him was life. And the life
was the light of men. And the light shines in darkness. And the darkness comprehended
it not. There was a man. sent from God,
whose name was John, not John the Apostle, but John the Baptist. The same came for a witness,
to bear witness of the light that all men through him might
believe. John the Baptist was not that
light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. Why on earth do
we need somebody to tell us that Christ is the light of the world?
Because we're blind. Verse 9, that was the true light. Christ is the true light which
lights every man that comes. Every human owes its existence
to the Lord. Christ was in the world. And
the world was made by him and the world knew him not. He came
unto his own, his own nation, his own people. My goodness,
just narrowing it down to just Nazareth. He went there shortly
after beginning. Well, he went there all of his
life, but he went back shortly after beginning his public life
and ministry. And they tried to kill him. This
is a mild statement. He came unto his own, and his
own received him not. And I tell you that if you and
I would have been in that synagogue on that Saturday, we aren't any
better than they, probably worse. He came unto his own, and his
own receive. There is a sense in which even
believers have to apply verse 11 to themselves. Until God creates
divine life in our souls, we're not coming either. Now here's
the, there are many ways to read the
Bible and one of them is to read it without thinking. This immediate
passage, in my own mind, used to end at the end of verse 12.
I didn't even know verse 13 was there. But I'm trying to challenge
you that these verses must be considered in the order in which
they appear in our Bibles. And we must not leave out a single
one. All right, verse 11. He came
unto his own And his own received him not, but as many as received him. To them gave he power or authority
to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."
Well, preacher, you said that nobody received him. I did, until
there's a miracle of grace performed in the soul, in the regenerating
work of God the Holy Spirit, the new birth. And if you don't
end the statement at the end of verse 12, which is a colon
in punctuation, which requires us to attach the following statement
to what we've just read. Here's the explanation. Why the
Lord Jesus came to his own and his own received him not. But
in spite of that fact, there were some that did receive him.
And here's why. Verse 13. Which were born. Now all the categories of people
that live on this earth were born except Adam and Eve. All other human beings were born
in childbirth. So this born is not that born. Correct? What kind is it? It's the new birth. It's being
born again, regenerated. These people that receive Christ
are people who are raised from death to life in the new birth. Now we have these things attached
to this which were born. The first one, this birth is
not of blood. If we were Israelites, and in
a spiritual sense, believers are the only truth, spiritually
speaking, but if we were a part of the Jewish nation, This tells
us that it makes no difference what tribe you come under. Those 12 sons of Jacob, the name
of all the tribes of Israel, that has nothing to do with it
whatsoever. It's not of blood. It's not who
our ancestors are or were. That does not factor in. Secondly, nor, I'm going to stick
with the word not, not of the will of the flesh. Salvation,
receiving and coming to Christ, does not have anything to do,
the difference is not in us, because it is not of the will
of the flesh. Salvation is not by man's will,
it's by God's will. And thirdly, nor or not of the
will of man. Now you hear, I don't have to
hear it, I can still remember, used to be in this stuff. We
were having some revival meetings as we called them in those days,
naming them before you even know if God's even going to visit
the place. We had a 24-hour prayer chain. Back in those days, we
called this the altar. And we're going to gang up on
God and get him to do what otherwise he's not going to do. Do you
know that was utter stupidity? God's not the one that needs
to change. We're the ones that need to change.
There's nothing in His purpose, in His will, in His mind, in
anything that He does that's not honoring and exalting to
every last single one of His attributes. So what makes the
difference but of God? God is the difference. Well,
let's see. We're going to come back to Matthew
chapter 1, the first chapter. the Gospel of Matthew. I'd like to read more of this,
but I'm going to settle for just verse 21. This is our text and
our title. The angel of God is speaking
to Joseph. And in verse 21, the angel says
to Joseph, who at this point is engaged to Mary to be married. And after this conversation with
this angel, he does exactly what he is told, and he and Mary are
married. And there's no sexual contact
between them until this child is born. All right, verse 21.
and she shall bring forth a son, speaking of Mary, and you shall
call his name Jesus." Jesus. Why? Why that name? It literally means Jehovah is
salvation. Jehovah is salvation. You shall call His name Jesus
for He shall save His people from their sins. From their sins. I have four questions about the
Lord Jesus here given the name Jesus. Who is Jesus of Nazareth? Now you've heard these questions
before, but I have never, I don't think, sometimes you ought to
say never say never, but I don't think I have ever taken these
questions as an outline, but I have for this morning. Who
is Jesus of Nazareth? Now the living God is a tri- It is a trinity of persons in
the Godhead, and yet there is just one God. But He has seen fit to reveal
Himself in three. And this God is now in the person
of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, This God is becoming incarnate
so that God is taking on human flesh. And yet, in spite of two
almost opposite natures, God and humanity, The Lord Jesus
in this glorious arrangement of two natures is still but one. He's not two people. He's one.
The Bible uses many terms to describe the Lord Jesus. If you
possess Robert Hawker's dictionary, you might look under the word
Christ and he will spell out what I'm going to communicate
to you in just as briefly as I can. So while we're here in
the Gospel of Matthew, how about turning to chapter 3 and verse
16 in regard to this matter of the
Trinity of God. Oh, but preacher, the word Trinity
is not in the Bible. No, it isn't. But the very substance
and essence of it is. And I'll show it to you. Chapter
3, verse 16. Our Lord Jesus is submitting
Himself to be baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist.
John objected. Who am I to baptize the Son of
God? Succumb to our Lord's verse 16,
chapter 3, Matthew. And Jesus, when He was baptized,
went up straightway out of the water. And lo, the heavens were
opened to Him. You go out there this morning,
you might see a few clouds or you might see some pretty Carolina
blue skies. But to Him, the heavens were
opened. And He saw I assume now this
is John the Baptist. And he saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and lighting, landing upon our Lord Jesus Christ
himself. Now watch it. Verse 17, and lo,
a voice from heaven A voice from heaven saying, this is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased. Now what do we have in these
two little verses? In verse 17, we have God the
Father. In verse 16, that dove descending
upon our Savior is none other than the Holy Spirit of God.
And the person who is being baptized is none other than the Son of
God. Now if that ain't three people
in one person, I don't know what it is. God is one, and yet He's
revealed Himself in three persons. And the distinctions given in
the Scripture, I'll just ask you to remember this one, but
if you'll turn to John 6 for just I tell you, this is too
important to pass by. I just have to say this. John
chapter 6 toward the end of the chapter, and I'll be with you
in just a second when we get there. First of all, the Lord
Jesus is called in His titles and in His names. The Lord Jesus,
first of all, is called the Son of God. That's His deity, the
Son of God. So we read in John chapter 1
and verse 1, in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. Now in chapter 6, here's the
same thing given by the words of the Apostle Peter when our
Lord said to His disciples in verse 67, Then said Jesus unto the twelve,
Will you also go away? And Peter answered and said,
Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that you are that Christ,
the Son of the living God." Now that statement It does not need
to be explained. It tells us of the Godhood of
our Lord Jesus Christ. The Son of God is also called
in our Bibles the Son of Man. If you'll turn back one chapter
to John chapter 5, I can show it to you there as well as any
place in our Bibles. John chapter 5. The Lord Jesus
is called the Son of Man. the Son of Man. Let's start at
verse 24. No, 25 through verse 27. That will do it. John 5, 25. Verily, verily, amen, amen, I
say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall
live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so has He given to
the Son to have life in Himself. Now you could never have that
statement in our Bibles if it were speaking directly to Christ
as the Son of God. But these words are directed
to Him as the Son of Man. That's His human nature, not
His divine nature. Not only has the Father given
Christ as the Son of Man to have life in Himself. But verse 27
says, "...and has given Him authority to execute judgment also." On
Judgment Day, Christ is going to be the only judge we see.
But watch how that statement ends. The Father has constituted
all authority to execute judgment into the hands of the Lord Jesus,
the Son of Man, because He He is the Son of Man, not because
He's the Son of God. Neither person in the Holy Trinity
can give anything to the other as God, but for the Lord Jesus
to take on human flesh, which the Father has not done, nor
the Holy Spirit. That's a different story. And
this tells us that Christ is our judge because He is the Son
of God. Now, I know how we are accustomed
to reading the Bible. We don't pay stuff like that
any attention. You know, we're trying to say
we read the Bible through in a year, and so all we're doing
is making time. I knew like a preacher, I knew
when he and his wife would challenge their church to everybody to
read the Bible through in a year. He was too honest to just not
even try to do it himself. So he put on Alexander Scorby
when they laid down to him to read. I believe I'd have liked
him better if he'd have just said I didn't. Thirdly, we ain't going to get
through if you all don't hurry up. Thirdly, Christ is the Messiah. He's the anointed. He is, according to our Bibles,
the God-man mediator. There's one God and one mediator
between God and men, the man, the God-man, Christ Jesus. That's the only source of communication
between heaven and earth, our blessed Redeemer. And Christ
is indeed Do you remember in Exodus 3 when Moses had seen
the burning bush and God was communicating to him? He tells
Moses he wants to send him back to Egypt to lead the children
of Israel out of slavery. And Moses, you know, begins to
tell the Lord he's not a good speaker and he can't do this.
But when he finally finds out he's going anyway, he said, When
I tell these people that you've sent me to Egypt to deliver them
and they want to know what your name is, what am I going to tell
them? Do you remember that? God, in essence, said, tell them,
I Am has sent you. And three times in the Gospel
account, in fact, it's three times in the Gospel of John if
I remember right, chapter 8. Verse 24, where Christ said,
if you do not believe that I am, you shall perish in your sins.
And in verse 58 of chapter 8, I don't remember what that one
is, but I'll get it to you in just a second. I've got too many
markers in my Bible this morning. Verse 58, now remember it has
to do with Abraham. Our Lord said, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. And in John chapter
18, when all those five or six hundred soldiers and so forth
came to arrest Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, and he
went up to meet them and he said, whom do you believe? And they
said, Jesus of Nazareth. And he said, I am. And all five
or six hundred fell flat on their backs. Just the power of two
knew that's who Jesus of Nazareth is. All right, the second question. What did Jesus of Nazareth do? He did what no other man has
ever done before or since, nor will ever do. It plainly tells
us that Christ pleased God. And we're told in our Bibles
that we cannot please God. We need someone to stand in our
room and place Bless Your name. That's what our Savior does.
What else did He do? The Lord Jesus came into the
world to do what? To shed His blood. Not because
of weakness. He did not go to the cross as
an example. Nor did He die as a martyr. He
died as our substitute. Let me read you two verses out
of Isaiah 53. And I won't wait for you if you
turn, so you may be faster than me. But I don't know about that. Isaiah 53, 10 and 11, Yet it
pleased the Lord, the Lord God Jehovah, to bruise Him, the Lord
Jesus. God has put Christ to grief.
When you shall make His soul an offering for sin, Not His
body, dear friends, though that was included. But the emphasis
is decidedly upon His soul. It's the soul sufferings of Christ. Religion makes everything to
do with His physical sufferings and knows absolutely nothing
about His spiritual suffering. When you shall make His soul
an offering for sin, He shall see his seed. He shall prolong
his days. He will not remain dead three
days and he comes out of that grave. And the pleasure of the
Lord shall prosper in his hand. Here it is. He shall see of the
travail of his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge, fully understanding
what he was accomplishing, The Lord Jesus, my righteous servant,
shall justify many, for He shall bear their sin, not the iniquity
of all." Alright, third question. Why did the Lord Jesus do what
He did? Why did He choose such an awful
to receive His people. You mean there wasn't a better
way? Less suffering? I'll wait for you this time.
Romans chapter 3. Doug quoted this verse in the
Bible class this morning and I just knew he was going to camp
out on it. Here it is again. Romans chapter 3 verse 26. Here's the best statement that
I know of anywhere in the Scriptures to tell us why Christ died. Verse 26. To declare, I say at
this time, His righteousness. It's a matter of declaring God's
holiness and righteousness. That He, God, might be just,
holy, and justify those who believe in the Lord Jesus. There's no
shortcut here. This is how it has to be. It
cannot be done any other way. Sin must be punished either in
us or in ourselves. And substitution is taught throughout
our Bibles, Old and New Testament. This book also tells us that
God is love, but God's love will not be expressed at the expense
of His disciples. You see whole denominations and
congregations who put a message in the newspaper or on a sign
We believe in the love and mercy of God. We promise you if you'll
come here, you won't be offended by anything we have to say. I
got that in print. A huge Methodist church in the
middle of Denver. What are they saying? Well, the parts of the
Bible that you'll find offensive, you ain't going to hear it from
our lips. Well, what are they going to preach? They're going
to preach a God who's not God. You can make people religious,
but you can't make people righteous. God is merciful. Indeed, He is. But He is not merciful at the
expense of His righteousness and His holiness. If God accepts
me or you, we must have a purpose. And none of us have any righteousness. All we have is sin. So where
are we going to get it? If God receives us sinners, our
sins must be justified. God does not sweep them. He must
be just when He justifies the ungodly. Sin must be punished. It has to be. Oh, I'm going to skip this scripture. I had Colossians 1, 19-22, but
let me get to this last question. You can look that up on your
own. Colossians 1, 19-22. How about turning to the book
of Acts? I'll try to make this the last,
well, maybe one more, but Acts chapter 5. This question is too important
to leave it off. Where is the Lord Jesus right
now? Acts chapter 5, verses 29 through
33. The apostles have been brought
up on charges by the Jewish religious hierarchy in Jerusalem. They
tell them in verse 28, now listen, we told you fellas, You can't
ever preach in this name Jesus of Nazareth ever again in this
city." And of course, they ignored it and didn't. So now Peter says
in verse 29, they're threatening now to do more than just, you
know, give these guys a light punishment. Then Peter and the
other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than
men, the God of our fathers. raised up Jesus, whom you killed
and hanged on a tree. Him has God exalted with his
right hand to be a prince and a savior and to give repentance
to Israel, spiritual Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And
we are his witnesses of these things. And so is also the Holy
Ghost, or the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to them that obey
Him. When they heard that, Peter's
hearers and the other apostles' hearers were cut to the heart
and took counsel to slavery. They killed their Master, their
Savior, their Redeemer. Now they're going to kill them
so they can take care of business. Where is Christ now? He's at
God's right hand. in a throne of glory. Let me read you this statement
out of Hebrews. But this man, Christ, this God-man, after he
had offered one sacrifice for sins, one sacrifice for sins
forever, sat down on the right hand. All he has to do is say, Give me the soul of this person.
Now you know, I know you know this. When you talk about God,
there ain't no talk about trying and wanting. You know better
than that, don't you? I know you do. Now I have one more just little,
little, tiny, little, some of you might find this interesting.
People who believe in what is generally called by that hated
word Calvinism have attached the essence of the truth of God's
grace in what is called an acrostic, you know, letters that represent
certain things. And the word that that acrostic
spells is tulip, T-U-L-I-P. And that T represents, these
are called the five doctrines of grace or sovereign grace or
whatever kind of denomination that is put on it. The T represents
total depravity. All descendants of Adam and Eve
except Christ who was born not of Adam's seed but of Eve's.
Right? That's the only exception. Every
other birth since the beginning of time to the end of time, we
are born fallen creatures. When Adam fell in the garden,
he was acting as our federal representative and we fell in
him. So we are born into this world spiritually dead and at
the earliest possible moment, we express our rejection of God. And if you think it's different,
you're bad. We are totally different. Oh, we ain't near as bad as we
could be. But that's not because we sometimes don't think we would
like to. It's because of certain circumstances that God providentially
has put in our lives. And it keeps us from doing a
lot of things that otherwise we might The worst thing you've
ever heard that a human being has done to another, we're all
capable of that. Thank God. He does it often. But we are totally, in all the
faculties of our being, we're totally capable of that. The
second letter is U. That stands for unconditioned. Now, the general run of the religious
community is those that even want to claim their election.
They say that God looks ahead of time to see what He chooses
you. You chose Him because now He's going to choose you because
you chose Him. No, it ain't. It's exactly backwards. We choose
Him because He first chose us. And He don't take no for an answer.
As Brother Richardson used to say, He saves us against our
will and with our full consent. And I don't think you can say
it any better than that. By the way, depravity is represented
in Matthew 1.21 as their sins. An unconditional election, He
shall save who? Who is Christ going to save?
His people. His elect people that God chose
in old eternity. The third letter in the word
TULIP is L. That represents limited atonement. If Christ died for everybody
and everybody is not saved, then something else makes the difference
besides his death. His death must not be any good
at all. Oh, but the scripture says exactly opposite of that.
He'll have everyone for whom he died. There won't be a one
missing. It says he'll save his people. Then we have an eye. T-U-L-I,
and that's irresistible grace. So you have the language in Matthew
121, he shall save his. And finally, the letter P. This
represents the perseverance of the saint because it says he
shall save his people from their sin.