This Then is the Message

God has not left himself without
a witness to this generation. Somewhere there is someone who
actually speaks for God. Again and again the scripture
uses verses like these. There was a man sent from God.
There was a man sent from God. Our Lord said, as my father sent
me, so send I you. Somewhere there's someone who's
speaking today for God. Now the man who speaks for God
knows that he speaks not for himself, but for God. The man
who speaks for God knows that he speaks not for a denomination.
He speaks not for a program. He speaks for God. He knows that.
Turn to a few scriptures. First of all, Galatians 1. Now,
Paul knew that he spoke for God. He said in the book of Galatians,
chapter 1, beginning with verse 10, Galatians 1, verse 10, For
do I now persuade men, or God? Do I seek to please men? For
if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached
of me is not after man. For I neither received it of
man, neither was I taught it by man, but by the revelation
of Jesus Christ." Paul knew that he was speaking for God. He wasn't
interested in pleasing men. He was interested in glorifying
God. And he said, I certify you that
the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. I didn't
receive it from man. I wasn't taught it by man. But
I was taught it by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Turn to 1 Thessalonians
2. 1 Thessalonians 2. What I'm saying is this, that
the man who speaks for God, now many people claim to speak for
God. They claim to speak in the name of God, but the man who
actually speaks for God knows that he speaks for God. He knows
that. In 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 3,
listen. For our exhortation was not of
deceit. Deceit. Now, many of these so-called
faith healers are men who are deceiving people. They know they're
deceiving people. They know. They do it for gain,
for material gain. They do it for personal glory
and praise. They know they're deceiving people.
Many preachers today, pastors, evangelists, know they're deceiving
people. But Paul said, our exhortation
was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile, hypocrisy, but
as, watch this, as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with
the gospel, even so we speak. Not as pleasing men, but God
who trieth our hearts. Now someone were leaving town
for a week or two and left you in trust with their most precious
possession. Suppose they left one of their
children with you. You'd protect that child with
you their life. Suppose they left you a family
the family heirloom or something that had been in their family
for many years, something they treasured and prized above all
their possessions and told you to take care of it now, until
I come back. Well, you'd guard it and protect
it with your life. You'd feel honored that they
should select you to protect it, to keep it. Paul said, we
have been allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel,
His gospel, His word. I must not pervert it. It is
God's gospel. It's the most precious, prized
possession of all heaven, the gospel of His Son. And we've
been allowed to be put in trust with that gospel. So I speak,
not pleasing men, but God, who trieth our hearts. Then in Titus,
turn to the book of Titus. Paul is saying there that he
has been entrusted with the most precious possession in all the
world, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the word of God.
And I must preach it, he said. Woe is unto me if I preach not
the gospel. In Titus chapter 1, verse 2 and
3, listen to him here. In hope of eternal life, which
God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began. But now
watch this. But he hath in due times manifested
his word through preaching. Friends, don't discount preaching
because there are a lot of fools preaching. There are a lot of
people in the pulpit who are saying nothing because they haven't
prepared, they haven't studied, they haven't given themselves
to the Word of God. But don't discount preaching
for that reason. There are people who stand up
and make loud noises when they draw their breaths and tell funny
stories and spend their time entertaining sinners on their
road to hell, but don't discount all preaching for that reason.
There are those who are promoting programs and promoting themselves
and promoting everything but Christ, but don't discount all
preaching because God hath, verse 3, in due time manifested his
word through preaching, which is committed unto me, Paul said,
according to the commandment of God our Savior. We preach
not ourselves, Paul said. We preach not ourselves, we preach
Christ. And God Almighty has committed
this, this precious treasure, this glorious treasure unto me,
he said, and I know it. And the man who speaks for God
knows it. He's not preaching because his
mother called him to preach. He's not preaching because it's
a good job, he has a good salary, he's provided for by the church.
He's not preaching because he likes to be up in front of the
crowd and he likes to show his talent and his ability. The man
who speaks for God knows he got a message from God. And he's
going to deliver that message which he got from God. Not using
it as a hammer to beat people over the head, not using it as
some kind of sugar stick to woo people to his way of thinking,
not using it as doctrine and argument and logic and debate
to convince people of his position. He's got a message from God.
And he's going to deliver that message. The man who speaks for
God, secondly, speaks from experience. One man said one time, you can't
tell what you don't know any more than you can come back from
where you haven't been. If you will turn to the book
of 1 John, from which I read my text a few moments ago, and
let's look at this again. Now while I was reading this
back earlier in the service, I thought to myself, now I should
identify the one of whom John is speaking. In 1 John 1, one
through three. Now listen. He says, that which
was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have
seen with our eyes, which our hands have handled. What's he
talking about? I should say, who's he talking about? He's
talking about Christ. That's who he's talking about,
the Lord Jesus Christ. John is saying here, I've seen
him. I've heard him. I've touched
him of the word of life, for the life was manifested, verse
2, and I've seen it. I'm not telling you a theory.
I'm not preaching to you some experiment, but I'm preaching
to you something I have experienced. I'm preaching to you someone
I have personally met. You can't preach repentance if
you've never repented. You can't preach Holy Spirit
conviction if you've never yourself been convinced of your sins.
We hear preachers constantly saying, you, you, you. They sound
like old Isaiah in chapter 5 of Isaiah who kept saying, woe unto
you, woe unto you, woe unto you. He said that five or six times.
And then in Isaiah chapter 6 verse 1, he met God. In the year that
King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. And then what was his message?
Woe unto me. Woe is unto me. I'm a man of
unclean lips. Yes, I dwell in the midst of
a people of unclean lips, but I am a man of unclean lips. Job
saw that. He saw the Lord. He said, I repent. I hate myself. The man who speaks for God must
speak from experience. You can't preach faith in Christ
if you've never yourself been brought by the Spirit of God
to cling to Christ. Turn to Acts chapter 4. Listen
to what Peter said about this. The man who speaks for God speaks
from experience, not from books of theology, however accurate
they are. Not from doctrines handed down,
no matter how accurate they are, and we thank God for the old
landmarks and are set to defend them. But he speaks from his
heart. A message that does not go to
the heart is not worth the time to preach it, but a message which
doesn't come from the heart is not worth the time taken to preach
it either. In Acts 4 verse 18, And they
called them, and commanded them not to speak at all, nor to teach
in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and
said, Now whether it be right in the sight of God to listen
to you more than God, we'll let you be the judge of that. For
we cannot but speak the things we've seen and heard. Not the things I've read, or
the things I think, or the things that have been handed down. I
can't help but preach what I've seen and what I've heard," he
said. We can say the same thing. We
haven't seen the Lord with these natural eyes, but we've seen
him with eyes of faith. We've never heard a voice. I've
never had a vision. And most of you, if you tell
the truth, haven't either. I haven't heard any voices in
the night. I've heard God speak through
His Word. I've heard God speak through His Spirit, I've heard
God speak to my heart, and I'm going to preach those things
I've seen and those things I've heard. Now then, the man who
speaks for God, thirdly, is going to encounter some opposition.
Turn to John 16. He's going to encounter opposition.
He'll encounter opposition outside the church and inside the church.
He'll encounter opposition from enemies and from friends. But
he'll encounter opposition. Our Lord was opposed not only
by those without, but he was opposed many times by his own
disciples. Even the apostle Peter tried
to get him not to go to the cross. And he said, Get thee behind
me, Satan. Peter was the instrument of Satan. The man who speaks
for God is going to encounter opposition. Our Lord said in
John 16, verse 1, These things have I spoken unto you, that
you should not be offended. Don't be offended. Don't resign,
don't quit, don't back up, they'll put you out of the synagogue.
The time will come when whosoever killeth you will think that he
doeth God's service, and these things will they do unto you
because they've not known the Father, nor me. But the man who
speaks for God will encounter opposition from those who know
not the Father, but he'll also encounter opposition sometimes
from those who do know the Father. Turn to John chapter 15, right
across the page, verse 18. John 15, 18. But the Lord said,
If the world hate you, you know it hated me before it hated you.
Now, if you were of the world, the world would love you. But
because you're not of the world, I've chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hate you. But remember the word I said
unto you, The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they
persecuted me, they'll persecute you. If they keep my sayings,
they'll keep your sayings also." Now, he can expect opposition.
Opposition. One time, Hugh Latimer. Hugh
Latimer was finally, I think, martyred for his faith, and he
was a courageous minister of the gospel, and it was his lot
to minister to King Henry VIII, and I guess that's the most difficult
task God's ever given a man. But Hugh Latimer came before
the court of Henry VIII one large day morning to bring the message.
And he brought a message which was not pleasing to the king
at all. King Henry was a terrible man.
He was a hateful man. He was a treacherous man. He
was a man who could seal your doom by just speaking. Cut his
head off, and they cut it off. Hugh Latimer faithfully delivered
his message that Sunday morning, went back to his quarters, and
it wasn't long until one of the king's messengers was knocking
at the door. And Hugh Latimer admitted the
messenger, and the messenger said, Chaplain, the king was
most displeased with your message, and he has sent word that you
are to speak again next Sunday morning, and he will be expecting
you to do something about the message you preach today. warning you that when you stand
to speak, you are standing before one who has the power to let
you live or commit you to death. They left him. Well, the next
Sunday morning, Hugh Latimer came before the court of Henry,
and, of course, the word had been passed around. Everybody
knew there was the king. Here were all of his trusted
servants and lieutenants and yes-men, and there were all the
ladies and lords and princes and captains of the kingdom,
and there stood the preacher. And everybody knew the king had
reprimanded him for his sermon last Sunday morning. They'd all
heard it. They were displeased with it. And they waited. His words, everything was stone
quiet. These were the words he said,
if I can remember them. Not verbatim, of course, but
I can remember having read the story. But Hugh Latimer stood
and said, it has been called to my attention that my message
last Sunday morning displeased this court and his majesty. And I have been told that I stand
before him who has the power to take my life or to let me
live. But I am also aware that I stand
before him who has the power to redeem my soul or to damn
my soul. I may stand before him who has
the power to kill my body, but after that nothing more that
he can do. But I also stand before him who has the power to cast
me body and soul into hell. And therefore, knowing before
whom I stand, the King of kings and Lord of lords, I repeat the
message I preached last Sunday," and he preached the whole thing
over again, word for word. The man who speaks for God knows
he speaks for God. In his heart he knows it. He's
aware of it. He's confident of it. He's not
afraid because he speaks for God. He stands before the King
of kings, not the king, before the Lord of lords, not some earthly
lord. And he speaks from experience.
He knows what the gospel will do. It's no secret what God can
do. What he's done for others, he can do for you. But before
you can tell others, he's got to do it for you. And he knows
he's going to encounter opposition. He may encounter opposition from
his own wife. John Wesley had a wife that hated
the gospel and him who preached it. He may encounter opposition
from his children. David said, although my house
be not so with God. And it certainly wasn't. His
son Absalom even tried to throw his father off the throne. He
had one son who murdered the other son. Although my house
be not so with God, yet God hath made with me an everlasting covenant,
order in all things ensure, and this is my salvation and my desire,
though he make it not to grow." A man may encounter opposition
from his most trusted friends, from his enemies, but if he speaks
for God, no one can sway him or turn him or persuade him from
delivering that message. And then he knows he has but
one message. Turn to Galatians 1, if you will.
Galatians chapter 1. He has only one message. Just
one message. One gospel. There are not many
gospels. There are not many messages.
There's one gospel. There's one message. Paul said
in Galatians 1 verse 6, I marvel, writing to the church at Galatia,
I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called
you into the grace of Christ to another gospel. I'm amazed,
he said. Which is not another, there's
no other gospel, but there be some that trouble you and would
pervert the gospel of Christ. But I say unto you, though we
are an angel from heaven, it doesn't matter how important
his personage or how educated he is. It doesn't matter how
powerful he is. It doesn't matter if it be an
angel from heaven. If they preach any other gospel
unto you than that which we have preached, let him be accursed. That's a terrible sentence. But
Paul knew there was one message and one gospel. If you turn to
1 Corinthians 1, you'll hear him almost saying the same thing.
1 Corinthians 1, verse 17. Christ sent me not to baptize.
We do baptize. Baptized by immersion, those
who confess faith in Christ. But that's not our primary purpose,
to go out and make proselytes and win converts and get members
to our church. That's not our primary purpose.
That's a secondary purpose. Our primary purpose is what?
To preach the gospel. We have good music here, and
I hope we can always have good music, but that's not our primary
purpose. It's to preach the gospel. We have meetings for our young
people. I hope we can continue to have
that. We have social activities for adults. I hope we can continue
to have that. But our primary purpose is to
preach the gospel. That's what God builds his church
upon. That's what he builds it around. And not with wisdom of
words. Not trying to impress people
with our education or oratorical ability or knowledge. Lest the
cross of Christ be made of non-effect. Look at verse 23. We preach Christ. That's our message. Christ crucified. Under the religious, a stumbling
block. Under the Gentile's foolishness, sheer nonsense. Look at chapter
2, verse 1. When I came to you, I came not
with excellency of speech or wisdom, declaring unto you the
testimony of God. I determined, I determined, and
here Paul is speaking before the Corinthians. These were the
educated, artistic people of that day. Pagan, yes, barbarian,
yes, but educated, artistic, worldly wise. But he said, I
determined to know, not to know anything among you. Jesus Christ
and him crucified. There was a preacher one time
visiting Stuttgart, Germany, after Martin Luther had died,
several years after Luther had died. And there was a man by
the name of John Brentz, who had succeeded Luther as one of
the church leaders in Germany. And he was preaching at this
important church where Luther used to minister. John Brentz
was now pastor. And a man went to hear him, and
he got there on Sunday morning and went in, and Mr. Brents was
up preaching. But to this man's amazement,
the church was only about half filled. It was almost empty.
And after the service, he expressed to John Brents his amazement
at seeing the church almost half empty. And on the way home, this
preacher by the name of John Brents took the friend through
the woods. They walked through the woods
going back to his home, and they stopped by a clear, beautiful,
flowing spring coming right out of the rocks. There, that beautiful,
clear, flowing spring, refreshing. And John Brents turned to the
visiting minister and he said, What would you say is the chief
excellence or glory of that spring. The chief excellence. And the
preacher looked at it and he thought a moment. He said, I
really don't know. I don't know what I would say
is the chief excellence of that little spring. And John Brent
said, I'll tell you what it is. The chief excellence of that
little spring is this. It'll keep flowing in its cool,
clear, refreshing, life-giving way, if a few drink or many drink,
but it will keep flowing. And he said, my friend, even
so, even so, the preacher must do the same. He must continue
to hold forth in the same way with the same message if a few
drink or a thousand drink, the same gospel. And the man who
speaks for God He's not going to alter his message to manipulate
people. He's not going to alter his message
to promote a program. He's not going to alter his message
if important people are in his congregation. Kings, presidents,
rulers, senators. He's not going to alter his message
if he's threatened. He has one message, one gospel,
and he's going to preach it. Now John wrote, this is the message. That's our text this morning.
This is the message. What is the message? Whatever
it is, whatever it is, it's the same for every generation. What
is our message? We know this is a sinful world.
It always has been. There's nothing new under the
sun. That's what Scripture says. Oh,
this is a wicked day. It's always been a wicked day. perversions and evil and wickedness
of our day, no more than the evil wickedness of Rome or Greece
or Babylon or Egypt or any of those other places. It's always
been wicked. Well, this is a religious world.
It's always been religious. It can be said of every generation,
these people call me Lord with their lips, but their hearts
are far from me. That's always been true. This is a dying world.
Well, it always has been a dying world. It's appointed unto men
once to die. Well, what's the message? Well,
somebody says, there is a God. I think most men know that, don't
you? Somebody says, preach the law, the law of God. The law
of God is holy and good. I think most men know that. Well,
man's a sinner. Tell him what a sinner he is.
That ought to be preached too. I think most men know that. where
death awaits all men, and after death judgment, and then there's
a heaven to gain and a hell to avoid. I think most men know
that. These are serious issues. They
must be preached. But there is a message There is a message, there is
a vital message, a burning message, a controversial message, there
is a message of good news, there is a message of glad tidings,
there is a message from God of which John said, this is it! This is it. And it's a message that will
save if it's believed, it's a message that will damn if it's rejected. And I think that message is summed
up under three headings. Number one, who is Jesus Christ? Who is Jesus Christ? Number two,
what did Jesus Christ do? Number three, why did he do it?
That's the message. Who is Jesus Christ? Who is Jesus
Christ? Turn to Matthew 22. You think
you know the answer to that question. Who is Jesus Christ? Matthew
22, 41. While the Pharisees were gathered
together, Jesus asked them, here's the Lord asking the question,
saying, what think ye of Christ? Who is he? Who is he? Whose son is he? What think ye
of Christ? Now the Pharisees had gathered
around him, they'd ask all these other questions. One said, is
it lawful to give tribute to Caesar? You can get more religious
arguments over unimportant questions. Another one asking this, now
here's a woman who's been married five, six, seven times, and she
dies, who's going to be her husband in the resurrection? Another
one asked him, well, which is the greatest commandment? Which
is the greatest sin? If I break this commandment,
that's the greatest sin. Which one of the commandments
is the greatest? And after they'd answered all
these questions, or after the Lord had dealt with all these
questions, he looked at them and said, I have a question. Are we going to preach their
questions or his? Are we going to deal with the
things that they wanted the Lord to deal with, and which he did
deal with briefly, but are we going to deal in our messages
with what he spoke about and what these Pharisees spoke about?
What think ye of Christ? Who is he? Well, the Bible says
he's very God of their God. In Matthew 1.23 the scripture
says, And a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a son, and thou
shalt call his name Immanuel, which is being interpreted God
with us. John 1 verse 2 says, In the beginning
was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God. The Word
what? Was God. The Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father. 1 Timothy 3.16 says, This great
is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. 1 John 5.20 says, And the Son
of God hath come, and given us an understanding, that we may
know him that is true, and we are in him, and this is the true
God, and eternal life. The Father said he was God. The
Father said in Hebrews 1.8, Thy throne, O God, is forever. He
said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. The
disciples said he was God, the very God of their God. Peter
said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Thomas
said, My Lord and my God. Paul said to the elders at Antioch,
Feed the church of God which he purchased with his own blood. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15,
the second man is the Lord from heaven. He said, I'm God. He said, I and my Father are
one. He said, he that hath seen me hath seen the Father. He said,
all authority is given unto me in heaven and earth. The demons,
I want you to turn to this, Luke chapter 4. Even the demons, the
devils, which possess people, They said he was God. Turn to
Luke chapter 4, verse 41, and the devils also came out of many. And the devils also came out
of many, crying out, Luke 4, 41, Thou art Christ, the Son
of God. Brethren, let me tell you something.
God pity the preacher from his pulpit that won't preach as much
as a devil preaches. God pitied the preacher from
his pulpit, governed by high society and filthy lucre, pressures
of men, who won't declare from his pulpit at least what the
devils preached. Thou art Christ, the Son of God! And he rebuking them suffered
them not to speak. They knew he was Christ. They knew it. The demons knew
it. I tell you this, he's either
God in the flesh, Jesus Christ is either God in the flesh, or
he's the greatest imposter this world's ever put up with. Jesus
Christ is either the Creator, the Sovereign, the Living God,
or he's the world's biggest liar. Jesus Christ is either our Savior,
our only Savior, our only Redeemer, or he is the greatest deceiver
of men. And the Pharisees were right,
and they ought to have crucified him on a cross. He is either
at the right hand of God as our mediator, which he claimed to
be, or his soul is in hell right now and his body is in the grave
in Jerusalem. Joy to the world, the Lord has
come. Let earth receive her King, let
every heart prepare him room in heaven and nature sing. He
rules the world. with truth and grace and makes
the nations prove the glories of his righteousness and the
wonders of his law. Secondly, what did Jesus Christ
do? Who is he? The very God of the
very God. What did he do? What did he do? Well, briefly,
let me give it to you. First of all, in eternity he
became our surety. Turn to Hebrews chapter 7. Hebrews
7, in eternity he became our surety. You say, what's a surety? I'll illustrate it. In Hebrews
7 verse 22, by so much was Jesus made a surety of a better covenant. A surety. And they truly were
many priests because they were not suffered to continue by reason
of death, but this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable
priesthood after the order of Melchizedek without beginning
or end. Back in eternity he assumed the
responsibility of surety. Now here's the illustration.
When Joseph was in Egypt, his father and brothers were in their
homeland. They had made one trip to Egypt.
Joseph didn't tell them who he was. He concealed his identity. But he kept one of the brothers
there. He accused them of being thieves, but they really weren't.
And he knew it. They were his brothers. But he wanted to see
his little brother Benjamin. So he told the brothers, he said,
you go back to your home, to your father, and you bring your
little brother. What did you say his name was?
Benjamin? Yeah, Benjamin. Well, bring Benjamin up here
and prove you're not thieves. Prove you're telling the truth.
Well, they left Simeon, and they went on home, and they got there,
and they told their father what this emperor of Egypt had said. Father said, You'll never go.
I'll never send Benjamin up there. Joseph is dead. Simeon is not. Now you would take Benjamin too?
One of the brothers Judah, whose tribe was the tribe of Christ,
from whose tribe Christ came. Judah stepped forward, and this
is what he said in Genesis 43, if you want to mark it in your
Bibles and refer to it later or study it later. Judah stepped
forward, Genesis 43, verse 8, and Judah said unto Israel his
father, Send the lad with me, and we'll arise and go, that
we may live and not die, both we and thou, and also our little
ones. I'll be surety for him. of my hand shalt thou require
him. If I bring him not unto thee,
and set him before thee, I'll bear the blame for ever." That's
a surety. And back yonder in the council
halls of eternity, our Lord Jesus Christ became surety, guarantor,
for you and me. And he said, I'll bring them
home, I'll redeem them, and if I don't redeem every one of them,
I'll bear the blame forever. In time he came down here and
took our flesh. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. Because the children partook
of flesh and blood, even so must their Redeemer. In the flesh
he lived a perfect life. He was tested, tried, tempted
in all points as we are, yet without sin. He was a man, but
he was a perfect man. He was God-man, God in the flesh. And as God He was able to satisfy
the law as man, he was able to suffer under the punishment and
wrath of the law. He lived a perfect life. By Adam's
disobedience we were made sinners, Romans 5, 19, by the obedience
of Christ we were made righteous. And then he went to the cross
and in his flesh he bore our sins, in his body he bore our
sins, in his soul he bore our sins, for he made his soul an
offering for sins. He bore our hell, he bore the
judgment of God, the wrath of God, he paid our debt. And he
was buried and rose again and he ascended to heaven where he
is right now at the right hand of the majesty on high interceding
for us. What did he do? Back before the
world began he became our surety, our covenant head, our representative,
our federal head. He has always stood for us even
before the world was made. Christ is the surety of an eternal
covenant. His blood is the blood of an
eternal covenant. His is an eternal priesthood. All of the others are but types.
All of the others are but representatives. He is our Redeemer, and always
has been. And in time, He came down here
and took our flesh and performed actively and passively all that
the law required of us and all that the justice of God demanded
of us. He met the law and honored it.
He met the justice of God and it damned him. Right. And slew him in our place. And he was buried and rose again,
triumphant, victorious. and ascended to the right hand
of God, where he is our intercessor, from which we look for him to
come again. And he said, If I go away, I'll
come again and receive you unto myself. Now the third question.
What is the message? Who is Jesus Christ? What did
he do? Now here's just as important as anything I've said. Why did
he do it? Now if Jesus Christ didn't come
down here into this world to enable God to love sinners, he
came because God already loved sinners. The scripture says,
for God so loved the world that he gave his son. That's why Christ
came. That's why God gave him, because
he loved sinners, not in order to get God in the notion of loving
them. God already loved them. Christ didn't come to this world
to get God in the notion of saving sinners. He came because God
purposed to save sinners. God had decreed, God had purposed
to save sinners. He didn't come to condemn the
world. He said, didn't come to condemn the world, but to save
it. He didn't come to set an example only, primarily, or to
die as a reformer or a martyr. Why did he die? Why did he obey
the law? Why did he do this? Turn to Romans
3, and this is important. Jesus Christ lived on this earth
in the flesh and died on the cross and was buried in order
that God might be just and justify the ungodly. In Romans 3, verse
25, whom God, talking about Christ, hath set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for
the remission of sins that have passed 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." Now, you and I have broken the law of God. We are
spiritual criminals. We are guilty, guilty, guilty. We have been condemned, we have
been sentenced to die. Now, God Almighty cannot set
us free and be just. The judge of the earth shall
do right. God Almighty cannot show his mercy and love at the
expense of his justice and righteousness. A judge who sits behind a bench
must be righteous. He must punish that criminal.
If the man's guilty, he can't set him free and be just. Neither can God. So Christ came
and took my place, and took my sentence, and took my crimes,
and took my death, and paid my debt. Now then, God can be just
and set me free. You see that? God can be just
and the justifier of all who believe in Christ. Because I
have found a ransom. He died that he might be Lord.
It says in Romans 14.9, turn over there and I won't keep you
much longer, but let's see, why did he die? Why did he die? He died that God might be just. That God might still sit on the
throne of righteousness and justice and truth. and put folks like
me and you, set us free and take us to glory. And he died that
he might be Lord, Romans 14, 9. For to this end, Christ both
died and rose and revived, that he might be Lord of the dead
and the living. Now brethren, he is Lord by creative
rights. He made everything, therefore
it's his. He said, can I not do with my own what I will? He's
the Lord by creative rights. He's the Lord by divine appointment.
Wherefore the Father hath highly exalted him, and given him a
name above every name. That's what it says, that it's
the name of Jesus every knee shall bow. That in all things
he might have preeminence. God the Father made him Lord.
He's Lord by purchase rights. Scripture says you're not your
own, you're bought. You bought with a price. And
that's what he did. He died that he might, by purchase
rights, might be your Lord and my Lord. The gateway to the Kingdom
of God is the Lordship of Jesus Christ. You follow that all the
way through the Bible. Those who owned him and recognized
him and received him, how? Not as a doormat. Not as a fire
escape from hell, but as Lord. Lord. To them gave he the right,
the privilege, to become the sons of God. He died that he
might redeem us from sin. One other scripture, Titus chapter
2. Titus chapter 2. Look, if you
will, at verse, Titus 2 verse 14. Titus 2, 14. Now listen. Who gave himself for us, that
Now we've read that word, that, two or three times. That God
might be just and justifier, that he might be Lord, and he
gave himself, that he might redeem us from all iniquity. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth
us from all sin. And that he might purify unto
himself a people, a peculiar people, a different people, a
holy people, zealous of good works, not zealous of personal
glory, but zealous of good works. That's their goal, that's their
aim, that's their attitude. And he died that he might open
for us into the presence of God by his blood a new and living
way. That's why he died. What is the
message? This is the message. This is
it. Who is Jesus Christ? What did
he do? Why did he do it? Why did he
do it? That God might be just and justify
the ungodly. That he might be Lord of the
dead and the living. that he might redeem us from
all iniquity, that he might open for us into the presence of God
a new and living way so that we can do what I'm about to do,
pray to God. Let's bow our heads. Our Father,
because Christ died for our sins, because he is our living mediator
and our great high priest, we can boldly come into thy holy
presence and not be turned away and not be consumed by thy holiness. But in Christ we are holy, with
his spotless garments on, we are as holy as the Holy One. Take the message and use it for
thy glory, the glory, the greater glory of Jesus Christ. Use it,
O Lord, for the good of the individuals who are here this morning, this
preacher, O how we need thee. The leaders of this church, the
members of this church, the visitors here, each individual, each person,
meet the need through thy word. And O Lord, use thy word, the
message preached, to strengthen this body, this

This Then is the Message

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This Then is the Message

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