Well, it's good to see everybody
out this morning. Remember those of Crescent Fair? Harley just
said his brother's been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, so remember
the family there. I forgot Harley's birthday last
week. Sorry about that. How old were you? 66. 66? Well, you're official. You're a route in the United
States, Route 66. But do remember those who requested
prayer, seek the Lord's help for them. Melvin's doing better,
feeling better. Kind of got a little wore out
going to Walmart, but he is feeling better, so we're thankful for
that. Perry still hasn't started his treatment yet, but maybe
in the next week or so, we'll know something more about him.
Deb's feeling better. She's up and at them. Good to
know. And Jim hadn't felt bad anyway,
so. Okay, let's begin our worship
service this morning. Hymn number 474. Only a sinner. Say, yes.
My friend Lacey and her entire family has COVID. Entire family?
Mm-hmm. There's like six of them that
live in that house. What's her name? Lacey. Lacey.
Lacey. Lacey. Or Russell. What? Russell's her last name. Russell? Yeah. OK. All right. Lacey Russell,
remember that family? Got a couple of families up in
Ashland that have that. Run through the whole family.
Him number 474. Only a sinner saved by grace. Not have I gotten, but what I
received. Grace hath bestowed it, and I
have believed. Boasting excluded, right I obey. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. This is my story to God. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Once I was foolish and sin ruled
my heart, causing my footsteps from God to depart. Jesus has found me, happy my
case. I now am a sinner, saved by grace. Only a sinner, saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace. This is my story. To God be the glory. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Tears unavailing, no merit had
I. Mercy had saved me, or else I
was nigh. Sin had alarmed me, fearing God's
face. But now I'm a sinner. Only a sinner saved by grace
Only a sinner saved by grace grace. Suffer a sinner whose
heart overflows. Loving his Savior to tell what
he knows. What's more to tell Could I embrace
I'm only a sinner Saved by grace Only a sinner Saved by grace
Only a sinner Saved by grace This is my story To God be the
glory After Scripture, your prayer
will sing hymn number 314, I am thine, O Lord. If you have your Bibles, turn to 1 John, chapter 3. Taking my text from verse five
this morning, we'll read the first five verses. Behold, what
manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should
be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God. And it doth not yet appear what
we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall
be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every man that
hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for the sin is
the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested
to take away our sins, and in him is no see our father we are thankful knowing what
we are weakness in the frailty of our play we can read such
words the joyous amazing report to know Though we see ourselves in our
wretchedness, that you see us as pure, that you see us as beloved,
as sons likened to your own son. We are thankful, Father, that
such a thing can be said by ruined sinners. We are thankful for
the shed blood of Jesus Christ, who indeed was manifested openly
displayed overtly pictured and illustrated to take away our
sins and we are equally thankful for imputation for as our sins
were imputed to him and he paid the penalty due them and even
died the death that we owe you And Father, in Him is no sin. He was the spotless and is the
spotless Lamb of God, who is without sin, who knew
no sin, who did no sin, yet was made to be sin for us. We thank
you. Pray for those of our company
who are sick and going through trials. We're thankful that Stan
came through the operation well. on to a good road to recovery.
Continue to pray for Perry as he prepares for his chemotherapy
treatments and for Melvin as he's recovering. Pray that you'll
continue to minister to him. Help us, Lord, to remember each
other in prayer and hold each other up before thee. Help us
now to worship you in spirit and in truth. We pray in Christ's
name. Amen. Hymn number 374. Excuse me, 314, excuse me. ♪ I am thine, O Lord, I have heard
thy voice ♪ ♪ And enjoyed thy love to me ♪ ♪ But I long to
rise in the arms of faith and be close to thee ♪ nearer, blessed Lord, to the
cross where Thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer,
blessed Lord, to Thy precious bleeding side. Consecrate me now to thy service,
Lord, by the power of grace divine. ♪ Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed
Lord ♪ To the cross where Thou hast died ♪ Draw me nearer, nearer,
nearer, blessed Lord ♪ To Thy precious pleading side When I kneel in prayer and with
Thee, my God, I commune and spring with praise. Draw me nearer,
nearer, blessed Lord, to Thee. I'll be nearer, nearer, nearer,
blessed Lord, to Thy precious leading side. There are depths of love that
I cannot know till I cross the narrow sea. Something fall down? I thought we were being attacked. I'll ask Steve and Fred to receive
the officer's appointment, please. Let us pray. Father, again we
approach in the name of Jesus Christ, our King, our blessed
Savior, a perfect substitutionary propitiatory sacrifice who satisfied
your law's demands and your justice for everyone for whom he died.
We're thankful that all things are ours because of your mercy
and grace. As we return to thee that which
you've given us, let us do so with joy and thanksgiving in
our hearts. We pray in Christ's name, amen. you I draw attention back to 1 John
chapter 3. John wrote these words to the
sons of God, to the daughters of God, to the children of God
who are all sinners saved by grace, blood-bought sinners. And he wrote, as we read in the
first verse, with wonder of the fact that they would one day
see that they had been made completely like their savior. And in our text is reason why
this would most surely take place. As sinners we know that sin is
the transgression of the law. And we're thankful that we also
know that Jesus Christ was manifest to take away our sin and in Him
is no sin. John the Apostle wrote of the
coming of Christ but in this particular passage he refers
to why Christ came into this world and declares that Christ
was manifested This word manifested means revealed. It speaks of Christ coming as
a revealing or an unveiling, a visible illumination or a specific
explanation. This declares in no uncertain
terms that if He was revealed it means He existed before He
was revealed. He existed before He was unveiled. Our Lord said to the Pharisees,
before Abraham was, I am. And the declaration that He was
revealed to take away our sins indicates that He was the eternal
Savior. He was revealed for this purpose.
Indeed, Scripture says He was the Lamb of God slain from the
foundation or prior to the foundation or prior to the conception of
the world. The fact that he was manifested
to John was a matter of great importance. This meant that he
was manifest in the flesh to be seen. John had a great deal
to say about that. He said, we've seen him and we've
handled him. Even the word of God, we've handled
him. John had a great deal to say
about this. Now he had to deal with some
strange folks in his day, the Gnostics. were always around. They said that Christ did not
come in the flesh but rather as a spirit or an apparition
or a specter because they believed that all matter was evil. And
therefore Christ could not have taken on flesh because that would
have made him evil. That was their human logic. John said that those who thought
and said that Christ did not come in the flesh were anti-Christs. It says that in 1 John 4, verses
1-3. John also assures the believer
that Christ's manifestation in the flesh was for a REASON, for
a PURPOSE, and that purpose for which He came was an absolute
SUCCESS. We know that. He was manifest
to take away our sin, and in Him is no sin. There is no sin. He was manifest for a reason.
He came for a reason. He didn't come so we'd have two
holidays to celebrate once a year. He's not the reason for the season. The reason He came, according
to this text and according to all the texts that reveal that
He came, is that He came to take away our sins. He was manifest
to take away the sins of His beloved. God has entered into
the realm of history. Emmanuel, God with us. Christ has come. He was born into this world without
the taint of Adam's sin as a seed of woman. He lived here about
33 years, never traveled more than 50 miles from his hometown. He died and gave his life on
the cross. He finished the salvation of
the elect and is now seated on the right hand of the Father.
He said in John 16 written by the same man who wrote this book,
I came forth from my father and I'm coming to the world and again
I leave the world and go to my father. I came, I did what I
was supposed to do, and now I'm going back to heaven. He sits
now, sits now having finished the work at the right hand of
the majesty on high as Lord over all, having purged our sins,
he sits down on the right hand of the majesty on high. The Eternal
God has split the sky, you might say, and condescended to visit
this planet full of wretched beings, and the consequences
of that manifestation are of eternal consequence. Humanity cannot be blasé, nor
can it be indifferent about this. You see, God has entered into
the picture. God has come, and every creature
relates to Him. Why did He come? John says He
was manifesting to take away our sin. John has already said
that He came to take away the sins of the beloved sons of God. That's who He's talking about
here. Our Lord was not silent on this matter. He spake along
these lines many times Himself. Often when our Lord gave the
reasons for His coming into this world, He did so by prefacing
them with words with a reason why He did NOT come into this
world. This was a tool of language designed to reveal the error
of human beings concerning His coming which are manifold. Men
have ideas and opinions about Christ and why He came. You have
but to listen to the pitiful prattle of pulpiteers in this
day. Some suggest that He came as
some kind of lame expression of God's unrequited love and
it is unrequited according to them because His love didn't
save anybody. Just made salvation possible
and it's up to you. So his love really had nothing
to do with salvation. They talk of his love as some
kind of hallmark card from above. Some think that he came to bring
world peace. No, he didn't. Some politicians
think that he came to give them license to legislate morality
or bolster their polling stats. You usually hear his name mentioned.
around election time a lot more than any other time during the
seasons. Our Lord shut down this idiocy that men have. In Matthew
5, verse 17, He says, ìThink not that I am come to destroy
the law, or the prophets I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill,
to fulfill. Because our Lord and His servants
preach salvation by grace alone, those who heard the gospel uh,
but, but believed instead they had a, had a part, believed that
they had a part in their salvation, accused him of destroying the
law. That's what they always do. And know this well, that
the enemies, the antichrist of this world are not these clowns
in these various religions that are so obviously idiotic. It's those who are very close
to the truth, those who call Christ Lord. Some who even say
that He came to save only His people, that God loves only His
people. Some that set forth what we call
sovereign grace doctrine, but must add the law to it. That's the counterfeit. That's
the ones that are through Antichrist. by saying that you had something
to do with your religion, with your salvation, and you're saying
that Christ destroyed the law. By doing so, they reveal their
ignorance of the law. The believer knows this, that
they believe that by keeping the precepts of the law, they
could be justified before God. But the law was never designed
to be kept except in death. He was designed to reveal the
depth and nature of sin. The law entered that sin might
be exceedingly sinful. The law entered because of transgression,
it says. It was added because of transgression.
Christ came to fulfill the law. How did He do that? Well, He
fulfilled the law by being the perfect Great High Priest. by
being the perfect sacrifice by being the perfect altar he did
all that but he fulfilled the law or kept the law the way you're
going to keep the law and I'm going to keep the law we're gonna
die it was his death that we celebrate we're thankful that
he lived a perfect life because that made him a perfect sacrifice
but it's his death we celebrate you're not saved by his life
you're saved by his death you're saved by his death And how did
he keep the law? Finely and fully and honestly
and soberly, how did he keep the law? He kept the law by paying
the debt that was owed to the law, which was death for sin. When he was made to be sin for
us, he knew no sin. He was without sin. He was not
a sinner on the cross. when he died in a room instead
of his people he gave his life he answered what the law required
that you die for sin the soul that sinneth it shall die that
was our curse and he was made a curse for us for it's written cursed is everyone
that hangeth on a tree he fulfilled the law he said I didn't come
to destroy it I'm the only one that's ever actually kept it
It actually, actually fulfilled it. In Matthew 10, 34 it says,
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to
send peace, but a sword. Our Lord here is not only referring
to intent, but consequence. Everywhere He went there was
a division because of Him. It says that many times in Scripture.
Men think that when Christ spoke of peace as the Prince of Peace,
that He was referring to peace between men or peace between
nations. He wasn't speaking about that.
He was speaking about peace with God, which was successively accomplished
by His substitutionary sacrifice, the blood of His cross. He made
peace through the blood of His cross, it says in Colossians
2.20. I know because the Bible says it and
because I hear men, they preach peace, peace when there is no
peace. Preachers lie to men all the
time by telling them that God loves them and has a wonderful
plan for their lives. That is simply not true. It may
be true of some. God does have a plan for everybody
and a purpose for everybody, and they will walk in that plan
and fulfill that purpose, but that purpose may not be to save
them at all. may be to bring them to utter
perdition. Preachers tell men that they
have the power to save themselves by declaring that they have but
to exercise their free will, and all will be well with God.
No such language is that in Scripture. Our Lord came and told men the
truth, and it enters into their bosom not as a dove of peace,
but as a sword of division, piercing even to the dividing asunder
of the soul and the spirit. and the joints and the marrow,
and is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." And
if you know anything about your heart, you know that is not necessarily
a peaceful situation going on right there when the thoughts
and the intents of your heart are discerned. The gospel is offensive
to men because it reveals that salvation has nothing to do with
them except as a recipient. Salvation is an act of God for
His elect, and that they had nothing to do with the accomplishment
of it. Simply said, in the matter of salvation, men, women, bring
NOTHING to the table. Christ said in Mark chapter 2
and verse 17, when Jesus heard it, He said unto them, They that
are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. I came
not to call the righteous, but bring sinners to repentance.
I came not. Here are some reasons He came not. Our Lord spoke these
words to the morally upright who believed that because they
were not as other men, they obligated God to take account of their
goodness and usher them into heaven. This is the natural belief
of men. How many times have you told
folks of Christ and invited them to hear the gospel and they said
something like, Well, I've done such bad things that it's too
late for me, or I'll come as soon as I straighten out my life.
What do they believe? They are saying that Christ came
to save good people. I've got to get good so He'll
save me. Christ came into this world to save sinners. He says,
I came not to call the righteous, but bring sinners to repentance.
He came to call sinners and no other kind of folk. He will have
or show mercy and not accept your paltry sacrifices by which
you think you get His favorable attention. Mark 10, 45 says,
for even the Son of Man came not to be ministered to, but
to minister. and to give his life a ransom for many. What
will you do for Jesus? He came not to be ministered
to, but to minister. The God of its
age is a sad invention. Preachers say things like the
only hands God's hands are your hands, or God wants to save you
but his hands are tied, or God wants to show mercy but you must
let him, or put feet to your prayers. Men speak of God needing the
assistance of his creatures. I remember many years ago, I
was listening to some clown on TV, I think it was on WLOS, they
were talking about Ridgecrest and the great Southern Baptist
institution on the side of the mountain up there outside of
Swannanoa, Ridgecrest. And they had this preacher there,
he was finishing up, And he said, what God needs in this generation
is more Southern Baptists. God needs Southern Baptists like
he needs a hole in his head. Christ said, I came not to be
ministered to, but to minister and to give my life a ransom
for many. He is the sovereign Lord, has
need of nothing. He said, if I was hungry, I wouldn't
ask you for bread. he does not he does exactly what
he wants to do and what he does the reason for it he finds solely
in himself and he will use you he will employ you he will manipulate you he will
mold you he will direct your steps as he sees fit all to accomplish
his sovereign purpose and you won't even know that
he's done it. Why? Because he didn't come to
be a minister, he came to minister and give his life a ransom for
many. The ministry that he has undertaken and accomplished is
to give his life and thereby ransom many. In John 12, verse 47 he says,
If any man hear my word and believe not, I judge him not. For I came
not to judge the world, but to save the world. Our Lord here
is not speaking of intent to save all men or to judge all
men. He is speaking of the present time and to those who hear the
gospel from His own lips. If a man does not believe the
gospel, Christ will not judge him at that time. I don't get
mad at folks who don't believe, and you shouldn't either. You
shouldn't either. However, there will be a time
when those who hear the gospel and do not believe will be judged,
and the thing they will be judged by is the word of God which they
have heard preached, according to John 12, 48. The gospel is
designed to call out those whom God has given to Christ. I don't
know how that works. I know you preach it, you tell
it out, and it does its business, but you have nothing to do with
the business being done. calls out those God has given
to Christ. They will hear according to the word of God. Christ said,
My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me, and I give to them
eternal life. Don't get all worked up when men refuse the truth.
Christ didn't. When men didn't believe Him,
He just told them, Well, somebody's going to. All the Father gave
me is going to. All my sheep's going to. In fact,
when people tell me they don't believe, I just tell them, I'm
not worried about that and God's not losing His sleep over it. He'll save His vengeance for
another day. Vengeance is in my heart. The day of vengeance
is in my heart, He says. The day of my redeeming has come.
This is the acceptable year of the Lord. This is the age of
the gospel. But there is a day when vengeance will be released
according to Isaiah 63. He came as the Savior and those
who will not own their lost condition will be simply left to themselves. That's all God has to do, leave
you to yourself. Just as He made clear that He
didn't come for the reasons why men think He came, He also declared
why He did come into this world. In Luke 12, verse 49, He says,
I am come to send fire on the earth, and what will I if it
already be kindled? Our Lord says that He came to
send forth fire. What is fire? Fire is the Word
of God. Fire is the Gospel. The Holy Spirit is compared to
fire. He gives men zealous hearts for the truth and likewise zeal
itself. He himself is compared to the
fire. Men talk about it. Sending fire down from heaven.
Enthusiasm is what they're talking about. But the fire sent forth
in this world is the gospel and it sets things on fire. Sets things on fire. God says
my word is a fire. It's like a hammer. It's like
a fire. It's all-consuming. Our God is a consuming fire,
Scripture says. This fire is best understood
by the context which follows in that text. The same language
would apply when our Lord said He came not to bring peace but
a sword. He said, I came to bring a sign, bring a fire. The Gospel
has a two-fold effect. It will serve to warm the heart.
It will serve to decimate and destroy. Our Lord has sent this
fire to earth and it's destroying and saving at the same time it's
already here. The fire is ablazing. John 9.39, our Lord said, For
judgment I am coming to this world, that they which see not
might see, and they which see might be made blind. He said that. There are those
who are in the world at the time of our Lord as well as in this
day who claim to see, to understand truth, Yet they reject the Christ
of God as He is revealed in this book. The men to whom our Lord
speaks have just cast a man who is blind out of the temple because
Christ has made him to see. That is why they threw him out,
because Christ made him to see. These men believed that they
were authorities on Scripture. They had little phylacteries
on their robes and things that had verses of Scripture in They
lined up with the scribes who copied the scriptures over and
over and over again. They were theologians, every
one of them. And they believed. They knew
this about themselves. We see. We see. Our Lord says, you know,
for judgment I've come into this world that you who say you see
will be made blind. They believed that they could
see, perceive, understand the things of God, yet they despised
whom God had sent us. He stood right before them. Our
Lord said He came to heal the blind, but also to blind those
who thought they saw. There is no knowing God apart
from knowing Christ. He came to cut the light OFF
on some and cut the light ON for some. when he thanked his father in
Matthew chapter 11 he said I thank thee oh father Lord of heaven
and earth for thou hast hid these things from the wise and the
prudent and has revealed them unto babes even so father for
it seemed good in your sight it seemed good in your sight
no man knoweth the father but the son and no man knoweth the
son but the father he to whomsoever the son will reveal him what
can you say to that? Christ said are you labored? are you heavy laden? come unto me I'll give you rest
take my yoke upon you and learn of me you shall find rest unto
you so my yoke is easy my burden is light who's he saying that
to? the babes to whom God has revealed the gospel John 10, 10 said, The thief cometh
not, but for to steal and to kill. I am come that they might
have life. He's talking about his sheep,
that they might have it more abundantly. That's why he came,
that his sheep might have life, and not only that, have abundant
life. This chapter, John 10, is in the word of God, and it
reveals Christ as the good shepherd. We looked at that. The good shepherd
knows his sheep. They know him. He gives them
life. He gives his life for the sheep. He contrasts himself to
the hireling who is a thief and does not know the sheep, no care
for them. That's the fake preachers. Preaching a fake savior who can't
save unless you let it. Such make merchandise of the
sheep and gain the filthy lucre of false religion and faith ministry.
I read recently of a very famous preacher nowadays, kind of a
sissy fellow. got wavy hair, stands on the
pulpit, actually jerked the Bible out of a man's hand because a
man opened up his Bible while he was preaching. He didn't want
to be looking at the Bible while he was preaching. Some plumber
was doing some plumbing in the church building, found thousands
and thousands of dollars stuffed behind the wall. And he's got
a church with 12,000 people. He's a big dude on TV. They make merchandise. They shear
the sheep but they don't feed them. They cry, send me money. Send me money. They cry, this
is a faith ministry, send money. Wait, wait, isn't that an oxymoron?
This is faith, I believe that the Lord will provide. Send me
money. Something's wrong with that,
folks. Their desire is not to help or edify, but to destroy
and kill. They are like those daughters
of the horse leeches who only say give, give. They're like the horse standing
at the door in one of, I can't think of his name's song, maybe
Bob Dylan, I can't remember. She's a harlot standing at the
door crying more, more. Christ came that his sheep might
have life. And not life in general, but
abundant life filled with spiritual knowledge and joy. Fear not,
little flock, it's the pleasure of the Lord to give you the kingdom.
Abundant life. I know some of God's children
are poor as gully dirt. I know that. Some of them are
rich. It just covers a whole spectrum.
Some of them are really smart, some of them are like me. Some
of them are real pretty, some of them are like me. the whole spectrum of people.
This I know about every one of them, they're a child of God,
no matter their circumstance. They've got joy, joy, joy, down
deep in their hearts. John 6.38, Our Lord said, For
I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the
will of him that sent me. and this is my father's will
which is sent me that of all he's given me I should lose nothing
but raise it up again in the last day. That's why I came,
he said. That's why I came. This is that
fire he sent into the world. Christ came to do the will of
the father. What is the will of the father?
Hebrew chapter 10 said the will of the father is that his children
be sanctified and that Christ died for all those whom he had
set apart, sanctified. Perfected forever them that are
sanctified. he came to do, to accomplish,
to fulfill the will of God, his father, the whole of human history. And I love history. Hannah told me one of her courses
she's getting ready to take is a history course. Keep in the
back of your mind while that teacher, I don't know what kind
of history he teaches, but he may want to be one of these history
nullifiers that go around today. You remember this, history. is
His story. It's Christ's story. His will will be done. This is
the desire in the heart of every believer. It is the Lord. Let Him do what seemeth good
in His sight. We need not dig down deep or ascend to some higher
spiritual plane to know the will of God as useless religion tells
its adherents to do. The will of God is plainly declared
in the words of Christ. This is the will of God which
is sent me, that of all He has given me, I should lose nothing,
but raise it up again in the last day. Everyone whom the Father
has given to Christ will come to Christ, and not one of them
will ever be cast out. Everyone whom the Father has
given to Christ will be reconciled to God by the blood of His cross.
Not one for whom Christ died shall ever be lost. Ever. This is the Father's will that
sent Christ into the world. This is why He said, This is
why I came. His will shall be accomplished
because He will do all His pleasure. This is why Christ came. Finally,
Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 1.15, this is a faithful saying, worthy
of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners of whom I am chief. We just sang it. Only a sinner
saved by grace. Only a sinner saved by grace.
Here is the inspired saved sinners testimony, Saul of Tarsus, Paul
the Apostle. Here is a word that is suited
for repetition and a word that never grows old, an acceptable
thing. Christ came into the world to
save sinners. This is why Christ came. This is why He came. I'm so glad He did. John said
He was manifested. We know. He was manifested to
take away our sins, and in Him is no sin. Father, bless us to
understand and pray in Christ's name. Amen.