Turn in your Bible now to Luke
chapter 2. Look at one verse, verse 49. Luke 2, verse 49. When Joseph and Mary had been
searching for their lost child, 12 years old, they were concerned,
they were sorrowing, seeking Him. Three days searching for
the 12-year-old young child, And they find him among the doctors
of the law. They find him in the temple.
And he says, how is it that you sought me? No, you not. I must be about my father's business. I'm taking the title for the
message from what the Lord says here in verse 49, doing the father's
business. doing the Father's business. Now, I'm deeply interested in
the Lord Jesus Christ doing the Father's business, because the
Father's business is the business of salvation. The Father's business
is the business of redemption. Who needs salvation? Sinners. Who needs redemption? Those who
are guilty before God. Aren't you glad you have one
as a believer that does the business of salvation for you before God? These are the first recorded
words in Scripture that demand Christ Jesus had spoken, the
first recorded words. I must be about my father's business. And then we read in John chapter
19 verse 30 where the Lord Jesus Christ is stretched out upon
a tree, nailed there with his hands and feet, nailed to the
cross. He dies for our sin according
to the scripture and he declares upon Calvary 3 that redemption
is finished. that righteousness is finished,
that salvation is finished, that sinners are justified by the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's finished. Now be careful. I'm not trusting the finished
work of Christ. I'm trusting the Lord Jesus Christ
who finished the work of salvation for us. All the days of His life,
in His humanity, in His youth, in his early manhood, and in
his public ministry, the Lord Jesus Christ was always aware
of, and about, and accomplishing the Father's business, the work
of His Heavenly Father, accomplishing our salvation, of which it says
in Isaiah 42, verse 4, that the Lord Jesus Christ cannot fail
to do the Father's business. You see, He's our Great High
Priest who does the Father's business in representing us before
God. The work of God through Christ,
the work of salvation in the Lord Jesus. Now hold your place
here in Luke chapter 2. And I want to show you a few
places found in the book of John. Turn to the book of John where
the Lord refers to doing the Father's work. In John chapter
4, Verse 34, "...the Lord saith unto them, My meat is to do the
will of Him that sent Me." You remember the disciples were concerned
that He hadn't eaten for a while, and they went to fetch some meat,
and then He said, I have meat to eat that you know not of, My meat is to do the will of
Him that sent me, and to finish His work." Now we're talking
about the work of salvation. Talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ fulfilling all Scripture for us. Now turn to John chapter
5 verse 36. I have greater witness than that
of John, for the works which the Father hath given me to finish,
they're not unfinished, He's given me to finish the same works
that I do, and they bear witness of me that the Father hath sent
me, the same works that what I do." Salvation that we enjoy
is upon the obedience and faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ unto
God. Now turn to another place, John
chapter 9 verse 4. John chapter 9 verse 4, he said,
I must work the works of Him that sent me. The works of Him
that sent me. While it is day, the night cometh
when no man can work. For as long as I'm in the world,
I'm the light. I'm the light of the world. He
must finish the work. He must do the work of the Father. In accomplishing our salvation,
turn to John 17 in his priestly prayer. This is what he prays. In John 17 verse 2, As thou hast
given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given him, and this is life eternal,
that they might know thee the only true God, Jesus Christ,
whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the
earth. I have finished the work you gave me to do. Do you remember what we read?
I must be about my Father's business." This wasn't an option. He said,
I must be, I must be. And then in John 19 verse 30,
as we read earlier, He said, it is finished. It is finished. I must be. Now look back at Luke
2 verse 49. I must be about my Father's business. The Lord Jesus Christ came here
on a mission of mercy. The Lord Jesus Christ as a Lamb
slain before the foundation of the world in due time was manifest
in the flesh. He was manifest in the flesh
to take away our sin. In the fullness of time, the
time, God sent forth His woman, God sent forth His Savior, made
of a woman, made under the law to redeem them. God sent forth
His Son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
seek and to save the lost. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
called not the righteous, but sinners unto repentance. This is all involved in Him doing
the Father's business. I must be about my Father's business. The Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty,
manifest in the flesh, came to honor His own law for us. We read in Matthew chapter 5,
the Lord said, I didn't come to destroy the Law and the Prophets,
I came to honor the Law and the Prophets. He died for our sins
according to the Scripture. The Lord is well pleased for
His righteousness sake, He will magnify the Law and make it honorable. You say, well is that very important?
Does the Law of God have to be honored? Absolutely. There's
no other way for God to be just and holy, and yet justify the
ungodly, but through Jesus Christ and Him crucified. You see, He
honored not only the precept of the law, but He honored also
the penalty of the law. The penalty of the law says the
guilty must die. The Lord Jesus Christ died for
His people. God made Him to be sin for us
who knew no sin, that we might be made to righteousness of God
in Him. The Lord Jesus Christ, this is
a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that the
Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners, came to seek and to
save the lost. He came to bring in and establish
for His people an everlasting righteousness. Now how good does
this sinner need to be to stand before God? I need to be just
as holy as God. You say, well, that's impossible.
Yes, in the flesh it's impossible, but not with God. With God, all
things are possible. You see, the righteousness we
enjoy as believers is that righteousness that's freely imputed and reckoned
and charged unto us. Blessed is the man whom the Lord
imputes righteousness without works. Romans 4, verse 6. The Lord Jesus Christ came in,
came to establish an everlasting righteousness for us. The Lord
Jesus was manifested to take away our sin. He came to redeem
His people from their sin, and that's exactly what He did. As
our great high priest, He didn't bring a typical animal sacrifice,
did He? He brought His own blood and
obtained for us eternal redemption with His own blood. And the Lord
Jesus Christ came to glorify and magnify and honor God in
all things. We just read it in John 17, I've
glorified thee on the earth, I've finished the work the Father
hath given me to do. How is it that you sought me?
Know ye not I must, I must. This is not an option. I must
be about my Father's Business. The Lord Jesus Christ knew exactly
why He came and what He would accomplish. Even though He was
a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, He was in time
the Lamb that was appointed and the Lamb that was slain, the
Lamb that was glorified. Behold, the Lamb of God that
taketh away our sin. Now, what must the Lord Jesus
Christ do for us? What must he do for us to accomplish
our salvation? Must he do everything for us
or some things for us? Must he do most things for us
and leaving us something to do? Or must the Lord Jesus Christ
accomplish everything for us? Well, you know the answer, don't
you? Because you've been taught of God. Everything that God requires
of the sinner, the Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished. Everything. But of Him, are you in Christ?
Who God has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. He is our salvation that we might
glory only in the Lord Jesus Christ. What must the Lord Jesus
Christ do for us that we cannot possibly do for ourselves? Everything. Everything. In Him dwells all
the fullness of a Godhead bodily and in Christ we stand complete
in Him. No mere angel, no mere man can
accomplish the work of redemption for us. But He who is the God-Man,
our Mediator, accomplished the impossible. You see, with God,
all things are possible. Now hold your place here in Luke
2. You remember back in Luke chapter 1, when the angel came
declaring the good news of the gospel, says to Mary that you're
going to have a special child. And you're going to call his
name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin. In
Luke chapter 1 verse 34, Then said Mary unto the angel, How
shall this be, saying, I don't know a man? And the angel said to her, verse
35, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the
highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing
which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And
behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son
in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her who was
called barren, for with God nothing, with God nothing, Nothing shall
be impossible. With God, all things are possible.
We do not limit His power, His glory, His holiness, His strength,
His dominion, His sovereignty. He has no limit. He's almighty,
sovereign. With God, all things are possible. Again, if you'll turn to Luke 18, turn over there, Luke
18. There was a rich young man who
approached the Lord Jesus Christ, seeking justification by the
deeds of the law. And the Lord exposed his false
refuge by telling him to sell out everything and to follow
Him. Luke 18, verse 24. And when Jesus saw that he was
very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches
enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel
to go through the needle's eye than for a rich man to enter
into the kingdom of God. And they that heard it said,
Who then can be saved? That's a pretty good question.
Who then can be saved? And he said, These things which
are impossible with men, are only possible with God. Only
possible with God. Who then can be saved? With God all things are possible.
Jeremiah, the Lord, says this to the prophet, Behold, I am
the Lord, the God of all flesh. Anything too hard for me? I mean,
you bring your difficulty, I don't care what it is. It's not bigger
than God. He's the God of all things. All
things. Now, I want to show you several
places in Scripture where the Lord says here, He must be about
the Father's business. Now, here's the first one, Luke
4, verse 43. Here's what the Lord Jesus Christ
must do to accomplish salvation, to honor the law of God, and
to fulfill all Scripture. In Luke chapter 4 verse 43, he
said unto them, I must preach. It was not an option. The Father
raised him up and sent him to declare the gospel unto us. He
said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities
also, for therefore am I sent. And he preached in the synagogue
of Galilee. The Lord Jesus Christ was a preacher
of the gospel of the kingdom. God as God in His kingdom on
a throne of absolute dominion and all authority, He went preaching
the gospel of the King. God is King of all the earth. God on the throne. It says in
Matthew chapter 4 that the Lord Jesus Christ went about preaching
the gospel. of the kingdom. Deuteronomy 18,
the Lord said, I'll raise up a prophet from among the brethren,
and he shall declare all my will and all my testimony, and they
must hear it. And those who will not hear this
prophet said of God, God said, I'm going to require that at
your hand. What did the Lord Jesus Christ preach about the
gospel of the kingdom? Turn back in Luke chapter 4,
a few verses back, In verse 24, in Luke 4, remember he said,
I must preach the gospel of the kingdom. God on the throne in
his kingdom. God having mercy on whom he will
have mercy in his kingdom. In Luke 4, 24, verily, verily,
I say unto you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.
But I tell you the truth, many widows were in Israel in the
day of Elijah. When the heavens were shut up
three years and six months, when a great famine was throughout
all the land. And God sent Elijah to one Gentile
woman and had mercy on her. Verse 26, but unto none of them
was Elijah sent. save unto Sarepta, a city of
Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow." She was a Gentile sinner,
and God had mercy on her. Now, this is his first sermon
that he preaches in his hometown of Nazareth, and he takes the
book of Isaiah and he says in verse 18, "...the Spirit of the
Lord is upon me, Because He has anointed me to preach the gospel
to the poor, He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach
deliverance to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty them that are bruised, and to preach the acceptable
year of the Lord." The Lord Jesus Christ was a preacher. Now look
down at verse 27. And in showing how he is going
to set the captive free, he sets forth the sovereignty of God
in salvation. And many lepers were in Israel
in the time of Elisha. Elisha is the prophet. And none
of them was cleansed save Naaman the Syrian. Again, God had mercy
on a Gentile sinner. He passed by the Jews. and saved
the Gentiles. What was the response to the
Lord's preaching? Look at verse 28. Oh, they just
fell in love with Him. Everybody was so happy when they
heard, God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy. And
all day in the synagogue. Now these were the religious
somebodies of the day. They were all they in the synagogue
when they heard these things were filled with wrath." Think
of it. So much so they rose up and thrust
him out of the city and led him into the brow of the hill wherein
the city was built that they might cast him down headlong.
But he, passing through the midst of them, went his way, and came
down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the
Sabbath days. And they were astonished at his
doctrine, for his word was with power." The Lord Jesus Christ
was a preacher of the gospel of God's sovereign grace. What was the response of the
natural man to the Lord Jesus Christ preaching? Sovereign mercy, sovereign grace,
rejection, wrath, anger. All they in the synagogue, when
they heard these things, they were filled with wrath against
God. You see, the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ has not changed. It's the same message. God will
have mercy on whom He will. Moses said, Lord, show me your
glory. He said, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. The
gospel has not changed. Sinners have not changed. The gospel of the grace of God
is still offensive to the natural man. Because the gospel is so
offensive to the natural man, should we stop preaching the
gospel? I know we live in a day when
nobody wants to offend anybody, do they? Everybody wants to be
politically correct. They're afraid of saying anything
lest somebody would be offended. Isn't that the day we live in?
Does that mean that we should stop preaching the offense of
the cross? Does that mean that we should
compromise and curtail our message and try to take the offense off
so we wouldn't offend anybody? God forbid. The gospel of the
grace of God, if it's preached as it ought to be preached, is
offensive to the natural man. But we can't stop preaching the
gospel because we must hear the preaching of the gospel. The
Lord Jesus Christ must be about His Father's business. There
must be a preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom of God. That's
how God's going to call out His people, through the preaching
of the gospel, is He not? It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to call out those who believe, and we believe only
according to the grace of God and the power of God. The Lord
Jesus Christ must preach the gospel, and he said to his church,
go and preach the gospel to every creature. We must also be about
our Father's business in preaching the gospel of God's grace. It's the truth of the gospel
that sets us free. Now, here's another thing that
the Lord must do for us. There must be declaration of
this message, and there must be the Lord Jesus Christ coming
and dying in our room and in our stead. Turn to Luke chapter
9 verse 18. Luke 9, 18. Luke 9, 18. It came to pass, As he was alone praying, his
disciples were with him, and he asked them, saying, Whom say
ye? Whom say the people that I am?
Luke 9, 18. They answered, said, John the
Baptist. Some say Elijah. Others say that one of the old
prophets is risen again. And he said unto them, But whom
say ye that I am? Peter, answering, said, The Christ
of God. And he straightly charged them
and commanded them to tell no man that thing, saying, The Son
of Man must suffer. He must preach the gospel. The
Son of Man, who is the Son of God, must suffer many things. be rejected of the elders and
the chief priests and scribes, and be slain, he must be slain,
and he must be raised the third day. These are the things that
he must do for us. Why must he suffer like no other?
Why is he called a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and
sorrow? Turn to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53. Why must he suffer so? that we
might never suffer. Why must He suffer so? To put
away our sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Isaiah 53, verse
3, He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, acquainted
with grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from Him. He
was despised and we esteemed Him not. Surely He hath borne
our griefs carried our sorrows. We did esteem him stricken, smitten
of God, and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgression. He must suffer for our transgression. He was bruised for our iniquity. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him and with his stripes. We are healed. The only way that
we can have atonement for our sin is that the Lord Jesus Christ
come in our place as our substitute and take our sin and take our
sorrow and take our suffering and pay the debt that we owe.
I know this, the Lord Jesus Christ as a God-man never deserved to
suffer. He never harmed anyone. He went
about doing good, and the Scripture says of Him that He never sinned. Knew no sin, did no sin, and
had no sin. But yet the Lord suffers like
no one else. He not only suffers at the hands
of men, stay right here in Isaiah 53, but more importantly, He
suffers at the hands of God. He must suffer at the hands of
God Almighty. Look at Isaiah 53. When God laid
on Him our iniquity, as it says down here in verse 6, the Lord
laid on Him the iniquity of us all. What happened at Calvary
When our sin was laid upon Him, the wrath of God was poured out
upon the Lord Jesus. Look at Isaiah 53. And it pleased
the Lord to bruise Him, He hath put him to grief, when thou shalt
make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, his
elect, he shall prolong his days, we have eternal life, and the
pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand, he shall see the
travail of his soul and shall be satisfied, by his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their
iniquities. We must have a substitute. We
must have a Savior. We must have one to suffer in
our room and in our stead to put away our sin. Now, think
about this. It was not what men did at Calvary. They did wicked things to Him,
didn't they? They did awful things to Him,
didn't they? They said awful things about
Him. But it wasn't what men did that day, that is our hope. It's what God was doing at the
cross, that's our hope. God made Him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. He suffers like no one ever did.
because He's suffering for all the sin of His elect laid upon
Him. He suffers the hell of God's wrath to put away our sin. He
suffered unto death, even the death of the cross. As we read
in our text back here in Luke chapter 9, He said, I must be
slain. There's no other way. There's
no other way for God to be just and justify the ungodly. He said,
I must suffer many things. I must be slain. You see that in Luke 9, 22? I
must be slain. Sin demands death. The Lord Jesus
Christ died our death. The wages of sin is death. The
Lord Jesus Christ died our death, took God's wrath, For us, there
is no other way for atonement to be made, no other way for
God's justice to be satisfied, but in Christ and Him crucified.
Do you see your need of Christ and Him crucified? This is a
must. He must suffer that we might
never suffer. Christ also once suffered for
our sins, the just for the unjust that He might bring us unto God.
But look at our text, it says, Look what our text says here
in Luke 9, 22. The Son of Man must suffer many
things, be rejected of the elders and the chief priests and scribes,
and be slain, and He must be raised the third day. Now, what if He suffers? What if He dies? What if He's
laid in the tomb? And what if His body is still
there? we would have no salvation. He
was delivered for our offenses and raised again because He justified
us with His blood. He must be raised up. The Lord
said, I am He that liveth and was dead. Behold, I am alive
forevermore, and I have the keys of hell and of death. If there
be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen? And
if Christ be not risen, We have no hope. If Christ be not risen,
we are yet in our sin. If Christ be not risen, our preaching
is in vain. We preach the Lord Jesus Christ,
delivered for our offenses, and raised again for our justification,
seated at the right hand of God, victorious over sin, death, hell,
and the grave. That's our hope. Yes, He must
suffer. Yes, He must preach the gospel.
Yes, He must be killed. Yes, He must be raised up. And yes, He must sit at the right
hand of the throne of God. When He by Himself purged our
sin, He sat down at the right hand of God. He must be about
the Father's business. Thirdly is this. Turn to Luke
24. Luke chapter 24. Here's another thing that the
Lord must do for us. Luke 24, verse 44. And He said unto them, this is
the risen Savior, before He ascended to glory, these are the words
which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all
things must be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses,
remember, The Lord said, Moses wrote about him, and in the Prophets,
to him give all the Prophets witness, and in the Psalms, the
Psalms are all about the Lord Jesus Christ, and he said everything
in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, in the Psalms concerning
me, all these things must be fulfilled. Then he opened their
understanding that they might understand the Scriptures. and
said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoove Christ to
suffer, to rise from the dead the third day, that repentant
and remission of sin should be preached in his name among all
nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these
things." The Lord Jesus Christ. I've quoted this several times,
but let's read it. Turn over to 1 Corinthians 15.
1 Corinthians 15. We read in John
chapter 19, I pointed out how many times it says, they did
this, they did that, he thirsted, they parted, or they cast lots
for his garments, all these things, not a bone of him was broken,
all these things were done that the Scriptures might be fulfilled,
Turn over here to 1 Corinthians 15 verse 1. Moreover, brethren,
I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which
you also received, and wherein you stand, by which also you
are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless
you have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you, first
of all, that which I received... Now underscore this word, how?
How that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. Old Testament Scriptures, that
He was buried, that He rose again the third day according to the
Scripture. You see, the Scriptures must
be fulfilled. There's no salvation apart from
the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilling all Scripture. All the Old Testament
Scriptures pictured the way of salvation through Christ. The
Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled all those types and pictures, shadows
under the Law. The Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled
that Passover lamb. Christ our Passover is sacrificed
for us. The Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled
that type and picture of the smitten rock where it came water
out of that rock. He was smitten of God and afflicted.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of that manna that
fell from heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
bread of life. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up."
He's the fulfillment of that brazen serpent that was lifted
up. You remember the story? When those who were bitten with
serpents looked upon that brazen serpent, they lived. And that's
a picture of Christ being lifted up and made sin for us. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
died for our sin according to the Scripture. The Scripture
must be fulfilled. There is no salvation for any
sinner apart from the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilling all things
for us according to the Scripture. Now here's the last one. In Luke
chapter 19, there's another must. In Luke chapter 19, you remember the story of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus, the chief among the
publicans. He was a rich man because he
cheated so many people. And the Lord Jesus passed through
Jericho in Luke 19. And Zacchaeus, he sought to see
the Lord Jesus, verse 3, who he was, for he could not. He
could not for the press, because he was of little stature. And he ran before and climbed
up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for the Lord was to pass
that way. And when Jesus came to the place,
he looked up and saw Him, and said unto Him, Zacchaeus, make
haste, come down, for today I must. You see, he must be about his
father's business. I must abide at thy house. The Lord Jesus Christ is a good
shepherd of the sheep, right? David said, the Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want. What does a good shepherd do?
He lays down his life for the sheep. He also searches out the
sheep. The Lord Jesus Christ, as the
great shepherd of the sheep, is on the trail of his sheep.
and will cross their path, he must do so. or we'll never know
Him in saving grace. The Lord Jesus Christ must cross
our path with the gospel and call us out of darkness into
His marvelous light. Zacchaeus must meet the Lord
Jesus Christ. And for any sinner to have salvation,
the Lord must cross our path with the gospel and do a work
of grace not only for us, but in our heart. in our life. He must do that work of grace
in us. Salvation is Christ in you, the
hope of glory. Notice he said to Zacchaeus,
I must abide at thy house. And he said, verse 6, The Lord called Zacchaeus, make
haste and come down, I must abide at thy house. And he made haste,
and he came down, and he received him joyfully. Joyfully. Our salvation, in our salvation
this is a must. Christ must abide, and he does
in the believer's heart. Christ must do a work of salvation
for us. And He has by putting away our
sin. But the Lord Jesus Christ must also do a work of grace
in our heart. Being confident of this very
thing that God who has begun a good work in you, He will finish
it. He has done a work for us. But
there must be the application of God to our heart in regenerating
grace, in regenerating mercy. You see, over here, one of the
Scriptures here, give me just a minute here, in Philippians
chapter 1, Philippians chapter 1 verse 6, "...being confident
of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you,
in you..." I'm confident, Paul said, of this very thing. If
God has begun a good work, the good work of salvation in you,
Whose work is it? It's His work. If He begins a
good work of salvation in you, what kind of work is it? It's
a good work. Why is it a good work? Because it's of God, salvation
of the Lord. In you, He will perform it. He will finish it. You see that
word? He will finish it until the day
the Lord Jesus Christ comes back to take us home. We are kept by His abiding power. He said, I'll never leave you,
I'll never forsake you. We are kept by His abiding presence. He said, Lo, I am with you always.
We're kept by the power of God. One other scripture. I'll let
you go. Turn to Acts chapter 4. These are the things that
the Lord must do for us. We must hear the Gospel. He must
cross our path with the Gospel. The Lord must fulfill all Scripture. And the Lord must die for our
sins according to the Scripture. This is our hope. Salvation is
not what I have done for God. Salvation is what He has done
for us. Do you understand that? Do you
see the difference? In Acts chapter 4, when this
impotent man was healed, this cripple, in verse 8 of Acts 4. Then Peter, filled with the Holy
Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel,
if we this day be examined of the good deed done to this impotent
man by what means he is made whole, Be it known unto you,
and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead,
even by him doth this man stand before you whole." Even by him. What means by him? This is a
stone which was set at Naudiveu builders, which has become the
head of the corner. neither is there salvation in any other,
for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby
we..." What's that word? "...we must be saved." There
is salvation in no other. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I
must be about my Father's business. That is the Gospel message, and
that is our message. Not what you must do for Him,
but rather what He must do for us. And may God, by His grace,
help us to lay hold upon the Lord Jesus Christ, who finished
the Father's business for us. and accomplished all things for
us. May God grant us saving faith
to lay hold upon the Lord Jesus Christ. There is salvation in
no