Thank you. Thank you. All right, turn with me, if you
would, to Matthew 1. Matthew 1, I'd like to read verses
18 through 21. This is a familiar passage, I
think, for most of us. Matthew 1, starting in verse
18, now, the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise, when as his
mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, Before they came together, she
was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph, her husband,
being a just man and not willing to make her a public example,
was minded to put her away privily. While he 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. Let's
pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we come
in your presence in the name of thy son. Lord, we give thee
thanks. Lord, we're thankful for this day, thankful for a
place to worship. And Lord, we're thankful you
brought us here this day. Lord, we pray for those who would
preach and teach in your name. Lord, we pray that you'd deliver
them from themselves. And Lord, give them the grace
to preach your word in a clear and simple way. Lord, we pray
that you'd give us hearts to receive it. Lord, pray that you
give us the hearts of needy sinners. Lord, we confess our sins before
thee, we ask for forgiveness and cleansing. Lord, we ask for
ourselves, we ask for our friends and our family and our children.
Lord, save us for Christ's sake, in his name we pray, amen. Whenever
we're reading the scriptures we should always be looking for
our Lord Jesus Christ. This whole book is his testament.
Now I'll admit I don't always see him in the scriptures, especially
in parts of the Old Testament, just not always obvious to me,
but I am thankful that there are some that the Lord blesses
with a special knowledge and understanding of his word. He
said in his word he's going to save sinners by the foolishness
of preaching. I think our pastor is one of those and I appreciate
that. I do pray the Lord would cause me to grow in grace and
see his son as all and in all in his word. Now, Our Lord Jesus
Christ is found fairly plainly in Matthew 121. This verse is
as clear and as powerful as any in the Bible. Unfortunately,
I don't think most of the religious world has any clue what this
verse is really about. I think most people hear this verse around
Christmas time and think of a baby in a manger, a nativity scene.
And while Matthew 1 does speak of our Lord condescending to
this earth to become a man, being born to Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem,
this verse tells us so much more. The good news of the gospel of
our Lord's grace can be seen in just a few words in this verse.
I pray the Lord gives me the grace to see his gospel in this
verse and I pray the Lord gives you the grace to see his gospel
in this verse. My outline, I hope, is straightforward. I want to
ask four questions that I think can be answered from this one
verse. First, why do we need a savior? Second, who is he? Third, who did he come to save?
Fourth, was he successful? that he accomplished what he
set out to do. So first, why do we need a savior? It's the
first question I want to consider. And I want to start with the
last word in this verse. So Matthew 121, and he shall
bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. Why do we need a savior? Quite
simply, our sins. While the word of God teaches
us that salvation starts with the forgiveness of sins, A man
or woman will not truly seek the Lord unless the Lord first
shows them what they are truly by nature. And make no mistake,
this is not a conclusion we come to on our own. This is not something
we're going to study enough or be smart enough to figure out
on our own. The Lord in his mercy must reveal to a sinner even
that he is a sinner in the first place. So what is sin? I googled
sin and the first definition that came up Sin, an immortal
act considered to be a transgression against divine law. While this
is true, I think this definition barely scratches the surface.
The Greek word translated sin in the Bible is hamartano. Don
Fortner actually mentioned this a couple of weeks ago. This word
literally means to miss the mark. So we're here in Kentucky. I
think most of you have probably shot a basketball. I know there's a few of you who
have seen me shoot a basketball. And I can tell you, this is not
a gift of mine. My jump shot is not a thing of beauty. When
I shoot a basketball, it typically flies past the goal, veers left
of the goal, veers right of the goal, or most commonly, falls
miserably short. You see, when I shoot a basketball,
I most often miss the mark. When I fail to keep God's perfect
law, I miss the mark or commit sin. Whenever I come short of
the glory of God, I miss the mark. And see, this is important. It's the Lord's perfect mark,
his perfect standard by which I am judged and by which you
are judged. It's not a man-made mark. It's
not a man-made goal or standard. I know in school, if you got
like a 90%, you got an A. That was pretty good. Again,
God's mark is 100% perfection all the time. That's the mark
we're measured by. Holiness, 100% perfection. And remember
that word holy, because we're going to come back to it later.
I think most of our friends and family, most of the religious
world, I think they would probably admit they've done some bad things.
Friends I've talked to, colleagues, they'll often say, I'm not perfect.
Nobody's perfect. And I think at the very least people admit
they've sinned in the past, maybe have some sin in their life still.
However, I don't think most people believe deep down that they're
all that bad. And I think most people think there's someone
worse out there, right? In 1st Timothy 1, Paul calls himself
the chief of sinners, the very worst one. And this is the attitude
I should have regarding my sin and myself. Most people really
have no idea how serious this sin problem is and have no idea
of the consequences. I want to read a few verses in
God's word to see what our Lord actually says regarding this
thing of sin. So let's turn to Psalm 14. Psalm 14, I'd like to read verses
one through three. Psalm 14, one, the fool has said in his
heart, there is no God. They are corrupt. They've done
abominable works. There's none that doeth good.
The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see
if there were any that did understand and seek God. They are all gone
aside. They are all together become filthy. There's none that
doeth good. No, not one. Romans 3, 9 through
12, and I'll just read this. What then? Are we better than
they? No, in no wise. If we have proved both Jews and
Gentiles, they are all under sin. As it is written, there
is none righteous, no not one. There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of
the way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that
doeth good, no not one. Let's turn to Genesis 6, Genesis
6, 5, I think this is For me, one of the clearest verses in
the Bible regarding how God views man and how God views sin. Genesis 6-5, and God saw that
the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And
the last one, and I'll just read this, Isaiah 64, 6, we are all
as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy
rags. We all defate as a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind
have taken us away. So like some of you in this room,
I've had the privilege of growing up hearing the gospel. I've probably,
I suppose I've been hearing our pastor preach for 30 years, over
30 years. And I'm thankful for that. I
really am thankful for that. And I try not to take it for granted. I don't
know the exact moment that the Lord showed me what I am by nature,
but I know this. We just read in Psalms, there's
none that do with good, no, not one. I think we've all heard
that. We can absorb it. We hear it in our ears, in our
head. At some point, the Lord actually showed me that I'm simply
not capable of doing good. Not really. We read in Genesis,
the thoughts and imaginations of man's heart are only evil
continually. That's a verse, if you want to get in a fight
with one of your friends, read that. People do not like that. My heart doesn't
like it by nature. But at some point he actually
showed me that in my heart all I'm really capable of in his
sight is evil and that all the time. Isaiah 64, 6 tells me that
all my righteousnesses are filthy rags. At some point he showed
me that the best things I do in the world's sight are riddled
with ill will, bad motives, and selfish intentions. Altogether
filthy in God's sight. You see, at some point, these
ideas, they became more than just doctrines that I believed
in my head, but truths that I believed in my heart. I'm more and more
aware of my sin every day. And I'm thankful the Lord showed
me the truth about myself, about what I am by nature. Because
by definition, a sinner cannot come up with this on their own.
And this is important. And I'll just speak for myself here. I find
myself sometimes having sort of a condescending attitude about
unbelievers, about people who the Lord hasn't revealed themselves
to. And I think that's the wrong attitude. While we should never
take the offense out of the cross or take away man's responsibility,
we should never have a haughty attitude about this. And I think
the best way to describe the attitude that I think we should
have when we're preaching or teaching or witnessing, and our
pastor told me, he attributed this to Henry Mahan. When we
preach, teach, and witness, our attitude should always be this,
one beggar telling another beggar where they found bread. I'm going
to repeat that. When we're preaching, teaching,
or witnessing, our attitude should always be one beggar telling
another beggar where they found bread. So first question, why
do we need a savior? We need a savior because we're
sinful, completely bankrupt in God's sight by nature. Second
question, who is he? Get back to Matthew 121 here.
So I'll read it again. And she shall
bring forth a son, and I shall call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. So who is he? Who is this man
Jesus? Jesus is the Greek word meaning savior. I probably heard
that in my life when I was studying for this. That seemed new to
me, but how glorious is it that the God-man was named for the
very thing he came to this earth to accomplish, to save his people
from their sins. Now, I don't pretend to completely
understand many of the mysteries in the gospel, and one that I
certainly can't wrap my head completely around is the study
of the Trinity. But in John 10, Jesus Christ says, I and my Father
are one. Who is Jesus Christ? He's the
Son of God. He is God. He's the Lord. Now our Lord has many names throughout
the scriptures and I want to go through a few of them. In
the Old Testament he's often referred to as Yahweh or Jehovah
so I think these should be familiar as well but I want to go through
a few of the names of Jehovah in the Old Testament and you
don't have to turn here I'll just go through them. In Genesis
he's called Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide. In Exodus
he's called Jehovah Rapha, the Lord that healeth. Again in Exodus,
he's called Jehovah Nissi, the Lord our banner. In Judges, he's called Jehovah
Shalom, the Lord our peace. In Psalms, he's called Jehovah
Raha, the Lord my shepherd. In Jeremiah, he's called Jehovah
Sidkenu, the Lord our righteousness. In Ezekiel, he's called Jehovah
Shammah, the Lord is present. In the New Testament he's called
Christ, Lord, Master, Rabbi, the Word, the Son of God, the
Son of Man, the Son of David, the Lamb of God, the New Adam,
the Light of the World, King of the Jews. He's called Wonderful,
Counselor, the Ever-Living God, Prophet, Priest, and King, the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Now these are all wonderful
names of our Lord, and each of these names shed light on many
of his glorious characteristics, but there's one name that I think
sums up all of his characteristics, and we discussed it briefly earlier,
but I want you to turn to Isaiah 57. Isaiah 57, I'd just like
to read verse 15. Isaiah 57, 15, for thus sayeth
the high and lofty one that inhabited the eternity whose name is holy.
I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of
a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble,
to revive the heart of the contrite ones. And then earlier in Isaiah
6, 3, we read, and one cried unto another, this is talking
of the seraphims, and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.
The whole earth is full of his glory. So what's this word holy
mean? Look this one up as well, and
I actually like this definition. Holy means exalted or worthy
of complete devotion as one perfect in goodness and righteousness.
The Hebrew word for holy means apartness, set-apartness, separateness,
sacredness and I'd add here it also could be otherness, transcendent
and totally other because God is totally above all of his creation,
all of his creatures including me and including you. Let's turn
to 1 Samuel 2.2, I want to read one more verse on this thing
of holiness. I think this speaks to the apartness,
the otherness, this verse. So 1 Samuel 2.2, there is none holy as the Lord,
for there is none beside thee, neither is there any rock like
our God. Now at this point, we've seen
what the word of God says about man, that we're only evil continually. We've also seen that the word
of God declares our Lord holy. apart, perfect in goodness and
righteousness. Quite simply, not us. Now, this
idea of the infinite gulf between man and God made me think of
another question. Who ultimately makes the difference in salvation?
A completely sinful man or a completely holy God? I think one of the
most common religious errors in our day is this idea that
salvation is an offer. That the life, death, and resurrection
of the holy God merely makes salvation possible for a man.
The man has to do his part, that he has to make a decision for
the Lord. I'm sure most of you have heard the phrase, give your
heart to Jesus. I think that's a common phrase in religion today. What did we just read in Genesis
about the heart of man? Only evil continually. Do we really
think this is the kind of thing that we want to offer to the
Holy Lord? a heart that's only evil continually. So who ultimately
makes a difference in this thing of salvation? Let's see what
the Word of God says, and I'm going to read this, Ephesians
2, 8 and 9. For by grace are you saved, through faith, and
that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. This couldn't be much plainer.
This verse tells us plainly how God saves. By grace, through
faith, not of yourself. It's the free gift of God. And
in case you missed it, the verse ends again with not of works,
lest any man should boast. Do you want to be saved? Beg
the Lord for grace. Beg the Lord for faith. I'm not
talking about making deals with the Lord. I'm not talking about
promising to do better from now on. I'm talking about completely
throwing yourself at his feet, taking sides with him against
yourself, and suing for mercy. That is how a sinner is saved.
So again, just recapping, why do we need a savior? Because
of our sin. Who is he? He's the Savior. He's God. He's
the Holy One. So third, the third question
I want to ask, who did he come to save? Back to Matthew 1.21,
we'll read it again. She shall bring forth a son,
and I shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people
from their sins. This verse boldly and clearly
proclaims that he will save his people from their sins. What
does this mean? Who are his people? How can I
be one of his people? That's something I want. Let's
start with what the verse does not say. It does not say he shall
save everyone from their sins. It does not say he shall save
the whole world from their sins. It does not say that he shall
save all of mankind from their sins. I think another common
religious error in our day is that the Lord Jesus Christ loves
every man, woman, and child without exception, that he died for every
man, woman, and child without exception. Not only is this not
biblical, this takes away my only hope as a believer. Our
pastor said this many times from the pulpit. If Christ loved Peter
and Judas the same, and Judas is spending an eternity in hell,
what does his love have to do with salvation? If the Lord Jesus
Christ came to this earth to die for every man, woman, and
child in the world, and there's even one person in hell, What
does his death have to do with salvation? Let's see what the
Word of God says on this topic. Turn to John 17. John 17, verses 8 through 10.
For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and
they have received them, and have known surely that I came
out of thee, and they believe that thou didst send me. I pray
for them, I pray not for the world, but for them which thou
hast given me, for they are thine, and all mine are thine, and thine
are mine, and I am glorified in them." Again, this couldn't
be much plainer if we read the word of God here. The Lord says,
I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given
me, for they are thine. So who are his people? There's
four things I want to say about his people. And I won't have
you turn to these, I'll read them. Who are his people? Four points I want to make here.
First, his people are chosen people. Ephesians 1, 3-5 reads,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places,
in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love, having predestinated us into the adoption of children,
by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will.
Who are his people? They're chosen people. Second, who are his people? They're renewed people. Titus
3 verses 4 through 6, the wrath of the kindness and love of God
our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by
the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which
he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. Who
are his people? They're renewed people. Third,
who are His people? They are people of faith. Hebrews
11, 1, we read, Now faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen. And skipping down to verse
13, we read, These all died in faith, not having received the
promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded
of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth. Who are His people? They are
people of faith. Fourth, who are His people? They are justified
people. Galatians 2.16, knowing that a man is not justified by
the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even
we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by
the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law, for by
the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. So again,
who are his people? They're a chosen people, a renewed
people, a people of faith, and they're justified people. But
this still doesn't answer the question I want to know, how
can I be one of his people? How can I be one of those? How can
I be saved? Let's turn to Romans 10. Romans 10 verse 13. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. Do you want to be one
of his people? Do you want to be saved? Call
on his name. Confess your sins. Truly call on his name and the
word of God says you will be saved. In Acts 16, the Philippian
jailer directly asked this very question and the Apostle Paul
gives him a simple and glorious answer. And I'll just read this.
This is, I think, another familiar passage. Acts 16, verses 30 through
34, and brought them out and said, sirs, What must I do to
be saved? And they said, believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in thy house. And they
spake unto him the word of the Lord and to all that were in
his house. And he took them the same hour
of the night and washed their stripes and was baptized. And
he and all his straight away. And when he had brought them
into his house, he set meat before them and rejoiced, believing
in God with all his house. That's my desire. that the Lord
would save me. The Lord saved my wife, my children,
my family, my house. That's my desire. So again, just
recapping a little here, why do we need a savior? Because
we're completely sinful. Who is he? He's the savior. He's God. He's holy. Who did
he come to save? He came to save his people, a particular people.
And the fourth question I want to ask, finishing up here, was
he successful? Did he accomplish what he set
out to do? Did he actually save his people? So back to Matthew
1, we'll read it. I think this will be the last
time. Matthew 121, and she shall bring
forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. I thought about how to say this.
I initially had in my notes that my favorite word in this verse
is shall. I think my favorite word is probably
Jesus, but shall is very close. It's a glorious verse, and all
the words in this verse are wonderful, but I really do like the word
shall here. It's actually mentioned three times, but the last one,
for he shall save his people from their sins. You see, He
is God and he must be successful and in eternity he did save his
people. He was successful before the world ever was, before I
even came into this world. If the Lord sees fit to show
you what you truly are by nature, a bankrupt sinner, you will know
that your only hope of salvation lies in his ability to successfully
save you. So again, I want to ask the question
again, how does he save a sinner? How can a just, holy God justify
an ungodly sinner? This is one of the great mysteries
of the gospel. This will be the last verse.
Let's turn to 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2, let's read verses 22
through 24. I'll give you a second to get there. So again, this is an answer to
this question, how can a just God justify an ungodly sinner?
1 Peter 2.22-24, well that's actually starting in verse 21. For even here unto were you called,
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example
that you should follow his steps. Who did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth. Who when he was reviled, reviled
not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not. but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously,
who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree,
that we, being dead to sin, should live unto righteousness, by whose
stripes you were healed." You see, our Lord and Savior actually
did come to this earth and became a man. He lived a perfect life,
not sinning even once. And at Calvary, he became sin. He died a perfect death. for
all those he chose before the foundation of the world. And
when he became sin, all of his people actually became righteous.
They became holy and perfect in God's sight. My prayer for
myself this morning is that the Lord will reveal himself to me
and save me. My prayer for you this morning is that the Lord
will reveal himself to you and save you. Amen.