Would you turn with me to the
book of Matthew, chapter 12? I'd like to begin reading in verse
14. I've entitled this message, The
Gentile Gospel. The Gentile gospel. Beginning in verse 14. Then the
Pharisees. Went out. And held a council
against him, how they might destroy him. But when Jesus knew he withdrew
himself from Vince. And great multitudes followed
him. And he healed them all, and charged
them that they should not make him known that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet. Now this is that passage
of scripture we open with from Isaiah 42, saying, verse 18,
Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my
soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him,
and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive nor cry,
neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised
reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench. till he send forth judgment unto
victory, and in his name shall the Gentiles trust." The Gentile
gospel. And just what is a Gentile? It is usually translated in the
scriptures, the heathen. Whenever you read the heathen,
that is a reference to a Gentile. A Gentile is a non-Jew, an unbeliever. Most of us in this room are Gentiles. We're not Jews. And part of the
great mystery of the gospel is that it's preached to the Gentiles.
I think it's interesting that we don't much think that's a
mystery, do we? But it is. It's amazing. God was manifest
in the flesh, just in the five spirits, seen of angels, preached
to the Gentiles. That was a thing of amazement.
You know, you and I ought to be amazed right now that the
gospel is being preached to us. The gospel to the Gentiles. I looked the word Gentile up
in the Hebrew dictionary, and here's the meaning. The heathen,
a herd of animals, a flight of locusts. That is the meaning
of a Gentile. It certainly was not a good thing
in the scriptures to be a Gentile. Look what Paul, the apostle,
had to say regarding the Gentiles. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
10, and Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles. 1 Corinthians
chapter 10. This is the non-Jew. It's not
God's physical chosen people. 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse
20. He is speaking to the Corinthians,
but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they
sacrifice to devils and not to God. I would not that you should
have fellowship with devils. He is saying that the Gentiles
are actually sacrificing to devils. Look in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 11. He says to the Ephesians
who were Gentiles that the Lord had saved, wherefore, remember
that being that you being in times past Gentiles in the flesh,
this is what you were, who were called uncircumcision by that
which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that
at that time you being Gentiles, you were without Christ, being
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from
the covenants of promise. having no hope and without God
in the world. Now that's what it means to be
a Gentile. Look in chapter four of Ephesians,
verse 17. This I say, therefore, and testify
to the Lord that you henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk
in the vanity of their mind. Having the understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance
that is in them because of the blindness of their heart, who,
being past feeling, have given themselves over into lasciviousness
to work all uncleanness with greediness." Now that is the
description of a Gentile. Look in 1 Thessalonians chapter
4, verse 5. He'd been telling them how to
walk in these first few verses. And he says in verse five, not
in the lust of concupiscence or evil desire, even as the Gentiles,
which know not God. One other scripture turned to
first Peter. Chapter four. Verse three. For the time past
of our life, before the Lord had done something for us, before
he revealed himself to us and revealed his gospel to us, for
the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the
will of the Gentiles. And here's what the will of the
Gentiles was when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excesses
of wine, revelings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries. Now
that is his description of the life of the Gentiles. The non-Jew. Now, the Gentile gospel. Turn back to Matthew chapter. Well, first of all, I want to
look one other before we get back to Matthew. Turn to Acts chapter
13. Verse 44. And the next Sabbath day came
almost the whole city together to hear the Word of God. Can
you imagine what that must have been like? The entire city coming
there to hear the Word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes,
they were filled with envy. And they spake against those
things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed
bold and said it was necessary that the word of God should first
have been spoken to you, but seeing you put it from you and
judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn
to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded
us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles. that
thou shouldst be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And
when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and they glorified
the word of the Lord. And as many as were ordained
to eternal life believed." Which of these Gentiles believed? Those
who were ordained to eternal life. Now let's go back to Matthew
chapter 12 now. The Gentile gospel. I'm a Gentile. And those descriptions are me
by nature. Those descriptions are you by nature. In verse 14,
we read what the Jews thought about the Lord Jesus. Then the
Pharisees, the Jewish leaders, the strictest sect of Judaism,
then the Pharisees went out and held a council against him, how
they might destroy him. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew
himself from them. Some great multitudes followed
him, and he healed them all. I love to think about that. You
know, people have what they call healing services. Why don't they
go into hospitals and do it? You want me to tell you why?
Because they're phonies. Because they're hucksters. That's
why. If someone could really heal,
they'd be going into a hospital, and they would be healing people.
That's what they'd be doing. But our Lord, He healed every
single one of these people that followed Him. Oh, the healing
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 16, this is unusual, and
He charged them that they should not make him known. Now, how
many times do you read throughout the New Testament when the Lord
healed somebody or when the Lord did something for somebody? He
said, don't tell anybody about it. Don't tell anybody about
it. He said that over and over again.
You'd think he'd want everybody to know, but he would always
say, don't tell anybody about it. Why? Well, the Lord's not trying to
prove something. He's not trying to gain a following.
He's not seeking man's approval. This has nothing to do with the
political kingdom. I had somebody call me just this
morning, and it was from the Coral Ridge Ministry is what
it was. And they called and they wanted
me to listen to a message about why we need to vote against all
the tax, not tax, the health care reform. And why we shouldn't
do it and how it's against scriptures and everything. And they've waited
for me to get back on the line. And they said, well, can you
sign us up? I mean, can we be part of this
petition against this health care reform? I said, well, whether
I'm for it or against it, I'm not going to do what you're doing
because this is not right. You see, this is political activism
in the name of religion. And that's just not right. Our Lord was not trying to do
something politically, wasn't trying to get a game of following.
He wasn't trying to do anything like that. And that's why he
said he charged him that they should not make him known. Now, our Lord was here to do
what his father commissioned him to do. That's why he was
here. He said, I must be about my father's
business. And what did the Lord commission
him to do? What did his father commission him to do? To save
his people from their sins. That's why he was here. He wasn't
trying to gain a following. He wasn't trying to impress people.
He wasn't trying to prove anything. He came here to save his people
from their sins. And bless God, I just thought
of this. He came here to save me. He came here with me on his
heart, with me on his mind. If you're a believer, he came
after you. Isn't that a glorious thing to
think about? Oh, he doesn't want a following. He said, don't tell
anybody about it. Verse 17, that it might be fulfilled,
which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet. That passage of scripture
we just read, saying, behold, my servant. Now this is a glorious title
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He who is God. He who created
the universe, he who upholds all things by the word of his
power is the servant. Isn't that glorious? One man said, you don't have
to have a good education to be great. You don't have to have
wealth, influence, and power to be great. You don't have to
have great abilities to be great. You just have to be a servant. What did our Lord say? Whosoever
will be great among you, let him be your minister. And whosoever
will be chief among you, let him be your servant. All you have to be to be great.
is to be a servant. And he is the servant. He is the foot washer, the blessed
and only potentate, the king of kings and the Lord of lords
is the servant. And notice how it says in verse
18, behold, my servant, whom I have chosen. And in that passage
of scripture in Isaiah chapter 42, it says, behold, mine elect. Same thing. Behold, mine elect. the one I have chosen in whom
my soul delighted." Now, if you would understand the lecture,
and we ain't going to understand it, I don't know how else to
say it. There's so much we can't understand. But understand this. God chose who would be saved
before time began. Now, Scripture teaches that unquestionably. He selected who would be saved
before time began. And it wasn't just some kind
of arbitrary choice on his part. He didn't say, well, I'm going
to save Brandon, I'm going to pass Bob Mangan. Nothing like
that. It wasn't. All of God's people were chosen
in Christ. Ephesians 1, 4 says, according
as he hath chosen us in him. before the foundation of the
world that we should be holy and without blame before him. Now, the only way God could choose
me is as I am viewed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, do I understand
this? No. Do I believe it? Yes. God chose
me as he saw me in his son. Christ be my first elect, he
said, and then chose us in him our living head. Thank God for
election. Election cannot be understood
apart from union with the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God's elect. He's the chosen of God, and everybody
in him is the chosen of God. And you know, I was thinking
about this. It's sad that men Kick around the doctrine of election
like a football, arguing about it. It's glorious that God chose
a people to be saved, for Christ's sake, before time began. It's
a mercy. Folks say, well, how come he
didn't save everybody? Well, I don't know, but whatever he
does is best. I really believe that whatever he does is best.
And if he only saved one, it would be glorious. But he saved
10,000 times 10,000 and thousands and thousands. The number of
God's elect is a big number, bigger number than you and I
can deal with. But if he didn't elect the people, nobody would
be saved. Let me repeat this. Election doesn't keep anybody
from being saved. Election saves people who most
certainly would have been damned if God didn't choose them. Behold
my elect. And notice he says in whom. Look
what it says next in verse 18. Behold my chosen. My beloved in whom my soul is
well pleased. All of God's pleasure. All of
God's love. All of God's delight. All of
God's favor is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you want God to
be pleased with you, you're going to have to be in Christ. Somebody
says, how do I get there? Well, the only way you can get
there is if God puts you in there. You can't just up and get in Christ.
Of Him are you in Christ Jesus? The only way you can get in Christ
is if God puts you there. And I also know this, in Christ
cannot be known apart from faith. Faith is the evidence of being
in Christ, believing the gospel, believing that Jesus Christ is
all you need to make you perfectly accepted before God. Here's what
faith is. Faith is a conscious desire. This is one definition, there
are other definitions, but this is a good definition of faith.
Faith is a conscious desire to be found in Christ, knowing God's
salvation is only there. Paul put it this way, he said,
oh, that I may win Christ and be found in him. When God comes
looking for me, I simply want to be found in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, he says, you know, God speaks
from heaven. What's he say? This is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased. Verse 18, Matthew 12, Behold
my servant whom I've chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is
well pleased. And get this, if you're in him,
his soul is well pleased with you. I want you to think about
that. God looks at me and he's well
pleased. In Christ, he's well pleased. And that's reality. Now he says,
I'll put my spirit upon him, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You see, he had the spirit without measure. I have a measure of
the spirit. He had the spirit without measure.
Everything he said was divine because he's God. He had the
spirit without measure. Now, I've got a measure of the
spirit in preaching the gospel and believing the gospel, but
I've also got flesh. But he's perfect in Christ Jesus,
filled with the Spirit of God. God said, I'll put my spirit
upon him and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. Oh, Gentile
dogs. He shall show judgment. I wish
that we could enter into being amazed by the fact that the gospel
has ever preached to us in the first place. That's part of the
mystery of godliness. Preach to the Gentiles. What
a mystery. What an amazing thing that God's
gospel is preached to me right now. He shall show forth judgment
to the Gentiles. What's that mean? That means
he will show how a sinful Gentile, without God, without hope, can
be just before him. That's what that means. Now,
how can you How can I stand before God and be just when we are so
sinful in and of ourselves? That is what he is going to teach
the Gentiles. Turn to Romans chapter 3. Verse
9. Better than they, us Jews, are
we better than the Gentiles? No, in no wise, for we have before
proved, both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin. As it is written, there is none
righteous. No, not one Jew or Gentile. There's none that understands.
There's none that seeks after God. They're all gone out of
the way. They're together become unprofitable.
There's none that do it good. No, not one. Their throat is
an open sepulcher. With their tongues they've used
to see the poison of Aspices under their lips, whose mouth
is full of cursing and bitterness, their feet are swift to shed
blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way
of peace they've not known, there's no fear of God before their eyes.
Now we know that what things soever the law saith, that saith
them that are under the law, that every mouth, Jew or Gentile,
may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty." before God,
guilty as charged. Therefore by the deeds of the
law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law
is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of
Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all them that believe. But there
is no difference for all that sin and come short of the glory
of God being justified." That one who has sinned and come short
of the glory of God. This is what God does for these
sinful, helpless Gentiles being justified. That means made not
guilty freely. Oh, I love that word freely with
no payment from you simply because he would, by his grace, through
the redemption that's in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth to
be a propitiation, a sin atonement, a sin appeasement. He put away
sin by what he did through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness,
not merely his mercy, but his righteousness for the remission
of sins that are past through the forbearance of God. To declare,
I say at this time, his righteousness that he might be just. and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. He shows judgment to
the Gentiles, how God can be just and yet justify somebody
who's unjust. I hope that never, I hope we
never lose the sense of wonderment and amazement at that glorious
truth. I hope it becomes more precious to us every single day. He shall bring forth judgment.
There's a way, I'm a Gentile, and there's a way I can stand
before God without guilt through what the Lord Jesus Christ did
in my behalf. Now look what it says in verse
19. He shall not strive, quarrel,
and fight to win an argument. The kingdom of God is not advanced
like this. He shall not strive, nor cry,
that word is also translated a clamor, a tumult over a controversy. The kingdom of heaven is without
controversy in this sense. You believe these things aren't
up for debate. God doesn't debate the sinners.
These things are not up for controversy. He's not going to cry and cause
his voice to be heard in the streets trying to gain a following,
trying to gain followers and trying to impress people, trying
to shout above others to shout his ideas. No, nothing like that. That's not the way the kingdom
of God has advanced. He doesn't operate like that. He shall not
strive nor cry. Neither shall any man hear his
voice in the streets. Now we see the tenderness of
the Savior, verse 20. A bruised reed. Now, what is
more weak than a hollow, crushed reed? It can't hold up anything. It has no strength. Do you feel like one? Look at
his promise. A bruised reed shall he not break? The tender compassion of the
Savior. A smoking flax. When the candle
goes out and the smell of the smoke, it doesn't smell good,
does it? It's a dying ember that has no, it doesn't give anybody
light, it doesn't give any warmth, it's useless. dying ember, he says, I won't
quench it. Now, that's the Lord Jesus. Spurgeon suggested that the Bruce
Reed was a new believer, so weak and the smoking flax is what
he called a backslidden believer who has just got off track. And
they feel they're so alone and so sinful, so isolated. The Lord promises the bruised
reed at weak, weak. It's good to be weak at that. In the sense that when I'm weak,
then I'm strong. This is who the Lord saves. The
smoking flax that is actually offensive. He says, I won't quench
it. But look what he says next. Verse
20, a bruised reed shall he not break, and a smoking flax shall
he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. You remember that passage that
we read in Isaiah 42 where it says, he shall not fail or be
discouraged. In this passage of scripture,
he shall not fail or he shall not be discouraged. Let me tell
you this about the Lord Jesus Christ. He's not going to fail. He's not going to be frustrated.
He's not going to be discouraged. Whatever he intended to do, that
is precisely what he did. Now, when he died on Calvary
3, what did he intend to do? Well, Matthew chapter 1, verse
21, we're told, Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins." Now, that is what he intended
to do. And when he said, It is finished,
every one of his people were plumb saved. My salvation was
accomplished completely outside of my personal subjective experience. And here's my personal subjective
experience. Hallelujah for that. Praise the
Lord for that. Salvation. This is my victory. You know what I want? I'm a winner.
I'm a winner. So is every other one. There's
no such thing as a defeated Christian. We're more than conquerors. through him that loved us. Here's a Gentile gospel. Judgment unto victory. Every Gentile believer that he
saves, they have this victory. Every Jewish believer has the
same victory. You know, I love there in Acts chapter 15 where
they had that big row about whether or not you had to be circumcised
or keep the law along with faith in Christ to be saved. And they
had a bunch of dissension about it. And Peter said, we believe
that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we, Jews,
shall be saved just like those Gentiles. Notice he didn't say
the Gentiles will be saved like us. No. He says, us Jews will
be saved just like those Gentile dogs by the grace, the free grace
of God. He sends forth judgment unto
victory. And look in verse 21, And in his name shall the Gentiles
trust. In his name shall the Gentiles
hope. In his name shall the Gentiles
rely. Now, hope means a confident expectation. Trust is reliance. In his name
do the Gentiles hope and trust. Now, how many names does the
Lord have in the scripture? A whole lot. I couldn't go. I
don't know if I'm pronouncing any of these right. Hebrew, I don't know how to pronounce
Hebrew, but the name I am that I am is Iya. I don't know if
I'm pronouncing it right, but that's one of the names of the
Lord. E-J-A-H is the English spelling of it, but that's his
name. There is El, the mighty God. Shaddai, God all sufficient. The God of hosts. Adonai, the
Lord. Jah, he which is right. But perhaps I could name others,
but what's his most famous name in the scripture? His most famous
name in scripture is Jehovah. Jehovah. Matter of fact, quite
often when you see the Lord in the Old Testament, it's Jehovah,
and they thought his name was too holy to say. And they'd say,
Lord, Jehovah. He said in Isaiah 42.8, I am
Jehovah. That is my name, and my glory
will I not give to another. Now, in this name shall these
Gentiles who have no hope in themselves, they're sinful, they're
evil, they can't save themselves. If God leaves them to himself,
they won't be saved. In his name, Jehovah, shall these
Gentiles trust. Now, in his name, He gives seven
predicates which show how it is that the Gentiles trust his
name. You've probably heard these before,
but it'll be a blessing to hear them again. First, there's Jehovah
Jireh. You know what that means? The
Lord will provide. Isaac's walking up the mountain
with his father. He says, Father, Here's the wood. Here's the fire. But where is
the lamb for a burnt sacrifice? And Abraham answered, My son,
God will provide himself a lamb. You can't provide one, but he's
the one who provides and he provides for himself. That's why he's
doing this. For God to do something for me,
He first had to do something for Himself. He provides this
Lamb for Himself, and He Himself is the Lamb. Behold, the Lamb
of God. Now, it's Jehovah-Jireh. The
Lord will provide Himself a Lamb. That's at the Gentiles' trust.
I'm relying on Him to provide the sacrifice for me. And then
there's Jehovah Rapha, Exodus 15, 22 through 26, I am the Lord
that healeth thee. I need healed. I'm talking about a sin disease.
Now, I'm thankful for physical healing. I like health. Sometimes
the Lord takes it away. All of you know that I'm all
for health. If the Lord grants me health,
I'd rather be healthy than sick. But that's really not what he's
talking about. He's talking about the disease of sin. I am the
Lord that healeth thee. Lord, Luke 9,11 says, He healed
them that had need of healing. Lord, I'm one of them. Heal me. His name. I am the Lord that
healeth thee, the Gentiles trust. And then in Exodus chapter 17,
there's Jehovah Nissi, the Lord, our banner. Now a banner tells
whose army you're in. I'm on the Lord's side. Here's
our message. Jesus Christ and him crucified. The Lord, our banner, Jehovah
Nissi. And then there is in Judges 6,
24, Jehovah Shalom, the Lord, our peace. Ephesians 2.14 puts
it this way, He is our peace. I have peace right now while
I'm talking to you because I know that God is totally at peace
with me through what His Son did. Therefore, I have peace. All that's required for my peace
I have in the Beloved. People say, have you made your
peace with God? No, I've not made my peace with God. Christ
made my peace with God, and he is my peace. Oh, what peace I
have in knowing that my sins are paid for, they're gone, they're
put away, that I stand before God perfectly righteous. He is
our peace. And next, Psalm 23, 1, Jehovah-Raha,
the Lord is my shepherd. I love the way David says, the
Lord, Jehovah, is my shepherd. I shall not want. Now, if Jehovah
is your shepherd, you don't lack anything. You are complete in
the Lord Jesus Christ. On this name, on his name, the
Gentiles trust. And then there's Jehovah Tidkenu.
Jeremiah 23, six, the Lord, our righteousness. I can't tell you how happy it
makes me that Jesus Christ's righteousness, his perfect obedience
is my personal righteousness. I just I can rest his righteousness. If you want to know the truth
about me, You read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The life of Christ
is the life of every believer. That is my righteousness before
God. That's why I'm not afraid of judgment. And that's why I
am so sickened by the idea of somebody thinking you can earn
some kind of higher reward by something you do. You mean you
can add something to His righteousness and make it better? Why, that's
the most offensive thing I've ever heard. No, He is my righteousness
before God. This is the name the Gentiles
trust in. And Jehovah Shammah, Ezekiel 48, 35, the Lord is present all the time. You are never alone. Even though you may feel alone,
you're not alone, because He is present. He said, I will,
that they whom you've given me be with me where I am. Not where I will be, but where
I am right now. And you know what? He's with
me right now, and I'm in Him. The Lord is present. And He's present all the time. In His name, shall the Gentiles
trust, hope in, rely on. The Gentile gospel. The Gentile
gospel is the same for the Jews. It's the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Let's pray together.