The Reason Jesus Came

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So please turn with me to the Gospel according to St.
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Matthew, St. Matthew chapter 1.
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Let me say this as you turn in there. There's only one Gospel, and it's told by four eyewitnesses.
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These four eyewitnesses, of course, are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And according to the tradition, the first that was written was
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Matthew. Matthew wrote to the Jews, to the
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Jewish people, to his own. He was once a publican until Jesus said,
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Come and follow me. But afterwards, became an apostle of Jesus Christ. And this account was prepared for the converts from Judaism.
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So, in saying that, Matthew's purpose is very clear. To demonstrate that Jesus Christ is the
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Jewish nation's long -awaited Messiah. You see this. If you notice, the theme that Matthew brings out constantly in every chapter, in every verse, is pregnant with the
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King and the Kingdom. If you keep that before you in prayer, and as you study the
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Scriptures and meditate upon it, you'll understand where Matthew is taking you from the account of the life and the works and the words of Jesus Christ.
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So, here, in one verse, the gospel is given to us in a nutshell.
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And the very reason why Jesus came. Verse 21 of chapter 1.
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Hear God's living words. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name
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Jesus. For he shall save his people from their sins.
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And there you have God's blessed word read into our ears.
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And hear what the Spirit has to say in the name of God. Take it to our hearts. Let's pray.
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Our Father in heaven, once again, we cannot thank you enough.
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We cannot thank you enough that we have your blessed word in our hands, in our language, in our time, in our day, before us right now.
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Help us not take this divine blessing for granted. And again,
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Father, I pray that you would save us from ourselves, remove ourselves from this time,
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Lord, and may our focus be solely upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Hide me behind the cross,
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Lord. Anoint myself and the hearers. And again,
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Father, apathy. Save us from apathy. Save us from being over familiar with the text that we've heard so many times.
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And we pray, Lord, that we would ask you that only you could give us fresh fire from heaven.
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As only you could do by your blessed Holy Spirit. Unless you come and walk among the candlesticks of your church, everything is in vain.
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But Lord, we know you're here. We know that you're walking among us, among the candlesticks that burn shining and bright because you,
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Father, and your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is to have all preeminence in everything.
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So now, Lord, we would ask by your sure mercies, the sure mercies of David, as Scripture says, come and meet with your people today.
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And we would pray and desire one request that we would behold your beauty.
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Your beauty. And that we would only see one. And that one is the only one who's worthy.
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Worthy of power. Worthy of riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.
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The Lamb of God that was slain before the foundation of the world. The Lord Jesus Christ.
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And we would ask this in His name. Amen and amen. Well, two of the most important questions for a person to answer are these.
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And I set these two before you. Number one, Brother Keith drove this home to us several weeks ago.
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Who is Jesus Christ? Who is Jesus Christ? And the second to that question is why did
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Jesus come to earth? Why did He come? We need to set those two questions before us as the two most important questions that you and I will ever hear.
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The reformer Martin Luther saw this when he said, and I quote,
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If anyone stands firm and right on this point that Jesus Christ is true God and true man who died and rose for us, all other articles of Christian faith will fall in place for Him and firmly sustain
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Him. So very, very true. And the
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Apostle Paul, and I paraphrase pretty much what Paul says here, that Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone.
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Peter said that. Paul alludes to it. I believe Paul says that Jesus Christ is that rock.
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He's the chief treasure, the basis, and the foundation, and the very sum total of all things.
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And he says this in Colossians, in whom and under whom all are gathered together and in Him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.
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In Jesus Christ. Thus the Christmas story is not primarily about the birth of a baby who would grow up one day to become a great moral teacher and give a great example or a great prophet, although Jesus did become those things, but rather it is the profound story that God tabernacled among us and entered into this world and became flesh.
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The second person of the Godhead. And Paul the Apostle says great is this mystery that God was made flesh.
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The greatest story ever told. The greatest story that you and I will ever hear.
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The story of the birth of the Savior. Before we go into the points and before I give you my outline, let me give you something that I read from C .S.
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Lewis, the great Christian philosopher, from a chapter called
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The Grand Miracle. The Grand Miracle. And I love this.
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I could not help but think during this time of the year as we contemplate on the incarnation of God, the second person of the
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Trinity, coming in and entering into this world. I could not help but think of the heights from heaven and the descent, how far
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He came down and descended and how low He became. And He did this voluntarily.
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Out of His great heart of love. And C .S. Lewis has a way with words and analogies
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I'd like to give before you. And it was actually a chapter on the incarnation and it draws really some riches and analogies for us that we can view the incarnation.
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C .S. Lewis approaches the incarnation as the central miracle of Christianity.
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And the most grand and wonderful of all the things that God has ever did is in the incarnation.
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How He entered into this world in the fullness of time. God sent forth His Son. Born of a woman.
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Born under the law. Let me read just a little bit from that chapter to, in my introduction here, to give you the setting of what we're looking at.
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Because this is so rich. This is so meaningful of how He, in an analogy, gives what
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Jesus did out of eternity into time. Lewis says this.
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In the Christian story, God descends to re -ascend. He comes down, down from the heights of absolute being into time and space.
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Down into humanity. Down further still. Down to the very roots and the seabed of the nature
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He had created. But He goes down to come up again. And bring the ruined world up with Him.
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One has the picture of a strong man stooping lower and lower to get himself underneath some great complicated burden.
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He must stoop in order to lift. He must disappear under the load before he can incredibly straightens his back and marches off with the whole mass swaying on his shoulders.
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One may think of a diver. First reducing himself to nakedness.
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Then glancing into mid -air. Then gone with a splash. Vanished.
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Rushing down through green and warm water into black cold water.
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Down through the increasing pressure into the death -like region of ooze and slime and old decay.
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Then up again. Back to color and light. His lungs almost bursting until suddenly he breaks surface again.
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Holding in his hand the dripping precious thing that he went down to recover.
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He and it are both colored now that they have come up into the light.
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Down below where it lay colorless into the dark.
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This is what Jesus did. Into the dark He lost
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His color. Into this descent and reassent.
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Everyone will recognize a familiar pattern. A thing written all over the world.
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It is a pattern of all vegetable life. I think it's an analogy of vegetable life.
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It goes on. It littles itself into something hard, small and death -like.
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It must fall into the ground. Thence the new life reassents.
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It is the pattern of all animal generation too. There is a descent from the full and perfect organisms into the spermatosome and oval and into the dark womb.
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Now listen, I love that. The dark womb. A life at first inferior and kind to that of the species which is being reproduced.
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Then the slow ascent to the perfect embryo, to the living conscience baby and finally to the adult.
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So it is in our moral and emotional life. The first innocent and spontaneous desires have to submit to the death -like process of control or total denial.
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But from there is a reassent to fully formed character into which the strength of the original material all operates but in a new way.
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And listen to this. Death and rebirth go down to go up.
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It is a key principle. It's a key principle. Through this bottleneck, he calls it, this belittlement, the high road nearly always lies.
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End quote. That pretty much in essence is exactly, beloved, what our
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Lord did in the incarnation. That Jesus made himself of no reputation.
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Let me give you scripture here. You can find this and read it in Philippians chapter 2 about the humiliation of Jesus Christ.
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And took upon himself the form of a bond slave and was made in the likeness of men.
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Being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself. He became obedient unto what?
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Death. And then he says this. And the death, that death was the death of a cross.
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Wherefore God, notice the descent and the ascent. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name.
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That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is
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Lord to the glory of God the Father. This is going to happen. Now did you notice where Jesus begins in time when he entered into time.
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Where he goes. It's a complete life of solitude, suffering, of serving, of recovering the lost.
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He takes it to the cross. He's the Lamb of God. And he goes to the cross.
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But yet it doesn't stop there. They put him in the tomb and he ascends.
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And God the Father raised him up to glory. And then he goes and he ascends and in his ascension he goes to glory.
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Now, right now, he's at the right hand of the Father forever making intercession for his saints. Beloved, that's the gospel.
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You see, this is the ultimate end in which we just read from Philippians. And this is the greatest story ever told.
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Our text this morning gives the gospel in a nutshell. Chapter 1, verse 21.
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Let me read it again. And she, speaking of Mary, shall bring forth a son that shall call his name
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Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins. Here we see why
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Jesus came, the reason he came, the purpose he came, and thus his purpose of coming is to save his people from their sins.
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Now, there's a question that we should set before us. Why does God save us? To save us from our sins.
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Now, the Hebrew name Jesus means really Joshua or Joshua.
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Yahweh, meaning Jehovah saves, or Yahweh saves, or Jehovah is salvation.
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The Lord is salvation. It is Jesus, and I repeat, only
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Jesus, that is the only Savior. He's not just the best way, he is the only way.
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Acts 4 .12, Peter said it in a sermon. Neither is there salvation in any other.
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For there's none other, none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
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There's underscore the must. We must be saved. And I would like for us to examine this awesome verse of scripture by asking and answering four important questions.
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I'll give you my outline. Number one, the first question we will look at is, who came?
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Who came? Second, very simple questions, but very profound. What was his purpose in coming?
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What was his purpose in coming? Third, whom did his purpose to save?
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Whom did he purpose to save? Whom did he purpose to save? And fourth, and last, what did
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Jesus actually do? What did Jesus actually do? So then we will look at some personal applications afterwards.
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But first, the first question we will answer for us in the series of questions, the first is basically speaks of Jesus' identity.
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Who is Jesus? Then the last three tells us pretty much why and the main reason why
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Jesus came to earth. Let's look at the first. Who came? Who came?
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Well, the context shows us in the scriptures that the birth of Jesus was no ordinary birth.
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A lot of people would put Jesus in that kind of category like other men, but we know as God's children revealed to us by the
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Holy Spirit through regeneration, the things, the spiritual things that are discerned by God given to us, that the birth of Jesus was a supernatural birth.
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It was very supernatural. Mary was with child by the Holy Spirit apart from relations with a man.
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Notice verse 18 through 20. Now the birth of Jesus was on this wise. When as his mother
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Mary was a spouse to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the
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Holy Ghost. Verse 19 says, and Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privately.
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He wrestled with this. And verse 20 says, but while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the
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Lord appeared. A messenger of God came. That's pretty much what angels do.
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They're messengers from God. The Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying,
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Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee
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Mary thy wife. For that which is conceived in her is of the
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Holy Ghost. You see, this is a supernatural birth. This is, of course, the doctrine of the virgin birth is absolutely critical to the doctrines of faith, of Christianity.
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Matthew was one of the twelve and had direct access to Jesus and Mary.
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Luke, who probably interviewed Mary, states that he carefully researched his gospel.
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And you can look at Luke's account, chapter 1, verse 3, but both men affirms the miraculous virgin birth of our
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Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So to reject this doctrine, first of all,
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I want to say this, is actually history, is actual history to reject the testimony of two witnesses that is of truth, of Scripture.
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And that's why there are so many witnesses, but specifically, Matthew and Luke. Which gives the record.
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The two independent historians who lived at the same time and whose writings have been accepted as factual history by thousands of scholars.
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So why is it so important? Let me ask this question here. Why is it so important doctrinally in our teaching to affirm
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Jesus' virgin birth? It's absolutely critical, beloved.
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And you know where I'm going with this. And I'm going to give you two reasons, and then you can build upon that.
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But first of all, the virgin birth, the answer to that is absolutely essential.
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Number one, to affirm the deity of Jesus Christ. That He is
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God in the flesh. Beloved, anybody that teaches otherwise is false in the cult.
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And we know this. Anybody that teaches otherwise, let them be anathema.
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And you know this was an important doctrine. Even to the Apostle John. You read the book of 1
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John. That's what that whole letter is all about. That Jesus Christ came in the flesh. And if you don't believe it, you're not born again.
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You're not born of God. That's what He said. So if Jesus was born, let's look at the flip side of it.
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If Jesus was born of a human father and mother through natural biological processes, then
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He's not God in human flesh. And under those circumstances,
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He might be a man upon whom God's Spirit rested upon in an unusual sense.
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But He still would only have been a man. But we know
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He's more than just a man. What manner of man is this? What manner of man is this?
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He's God in the flesh. He's God. His existence would have been begun at conception and thus
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He could not have been the eternal God in human flesh. But yet, Jesus claimed time and time again, and you can read this through the gospel and through different eyewitnesses that He was sent into this world from His heavenly
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Father. The Father gave Him that command to go and die on that cross.
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He knew it. Jesus knew His mission. And we're going to look at that. For God so loved the world that He what?
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He gave His one and only begotten Son. His begotten Son. That's His beloved
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Son. His one and only Son. That scripture is just full of such divine warmth.
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But here, Jesus claimed, like I said, time and time again, that He was sent from the Father to this world.
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Now, He told the Jews this in John 8, 58.
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And by the way, if you read that, in John 8, 58, it says,
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Before Abraham was born, I am. That's what
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He said. This is the great I am. And what was the reaction of the
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Jews? You know, beloved, they took up stones to stone because of His claim.
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He said, that's the reason why they crucified Him. If you look at the latter part of John, it's because they said, they said they accused
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Jesus of blasphemy because He claimed equality with God. That's the reason they crucified
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Him. Because of His claim, He's equal with God.
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Absolutely, He's equal with God. He is God. They had no idea that they were crucifying
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God in flesh. But also belief in the virgin birth is also, let me say this, essential, this is the next important reason, not only because it affirms
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His deity, that He is God, but it's essential to affirm the sinless humanity of Jesus.
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This is critical. Very critical. Because He was not born with the
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Adamic nature. He's outside of that. He was actually, if He was born of a natural parent, let me put this before you, then
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He was born a sinner. Like all other human beings since the fall, and since Adam fell,
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He would have needed a Savior for Himself. If He had sin of His own,
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He could not have died as the substitute for others. To be born as a man who fully shared our humanity,
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Jesus had to have human parents. And that's the way
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He entered in this world. And how did He do it? The text tells us.
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It was through the supernatural means and the aid of the third person, of the
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Trinity, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit did this. It was divine intervention.
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It was a supernatural miracle. And as of the virgin birth is.
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And Jesus was born as fully human, fully God, yet without sin.
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God had this all put together and planned before time started.
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Think of that. Jesus was born as fully human yet sinless and the angel told
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Mary that because of the Holy Spirit would come upon her and the power of the
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Most High would overshadow her. And for that reason, and I love the way it says.
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One translation says that holy thing. I like another translation. That holy offspring.
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That holy offspring shall be called the Son of God.
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He entered into this world. Even though Mary herself was not immaculately conceived.
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She needed a savior. She needed a savior. Jesus was kept from her sin and her womb and born as fully human yet without sin as He entered into this world.
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Completely sinless. That's critical, beloved. Critical. And we're going to look at that, why it's critical.
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Now, as a sinless man, Jesus, Jesus could represent the human race as the sin bearer.
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This is why it's critical. He was our sin bearer. He was the
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Lamb of God. And as God the Son, His sacrifice was acceptable before God the
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Father. And the angel tells Joseph that he is to name this miraculous child
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Jesus. And again, Jehovah's salvation. For He will or shall save His people from their sins.
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Now, since for the Jews, excuse me, for the
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Jews, a person's name has significance. If you look at that throughout the biblical account, as you well know, the 66 books here is of Jewish heritage.
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It's a Jewish book. Jesus was a Jewish man. Since for the
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Jewish person, the name had significance, the name of Jesus points to the very essence of His being, namely that He is the
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Savior. I like what Charles Spurgeon says here. And no one can quite say it like Spurgeon.
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That since the Father knows Jesus perfectly, when He directed that He be named
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Jesus, He was given Him the best, most appropriate name possible.
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By giving Jesus that name, the Father commissioned Him to save sinners.
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And this constitutes the ground of our appeal to God for salvation.
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Praise God. Therefore, the answer to the question who came is that Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior, born of the
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Virgin Mary, is none other than the second person of the Godhead, the eternal
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God, made human flesh, and that He came to earth primarily as the
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Savior of the world and the mission was to seek and save the lost and as the
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Lamb of God to take the sin of the world upon Him to the cross as our substitute and altar.
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That was His altar, if you be. The cross, as He hung there before two thieves, but mainly before the face of His Father to endure the wrath.
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Now, let's go further. The second question is this. What was the purpose of His coming? What was the purpose of Jesus' coming?
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Well, let's look at that. Our text says it. Notice what it says. For He shall...
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Don't you love that? He shall save His people from their sins.
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Now, first of all, let's look at this right here. We can break this down and neatly look at it. But to fully understand that phrase, we must understand the meaning of the word save.
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What does it mean to save? Now, this is good. It means to rescue. It means to deliver.
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It's a radical word. It's still radical, even in the English language. A very potent, a very powerful word.
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Now, let me say this. You do not save someone who just needs a little help.
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Right? You save someone who is unable to do anything about their condition.
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They are unable to save themselves. A person who is at lost or lost at sea needs to be saved and needs to be rescued.
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They can't save themselves if they're afloat and out in sea for days and days and months, sometimes months.
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A person who is at lost at sea needs saving. A person who has stopped breathing.
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That's critical, isn't it? If somebody stops breathing, it's urgent. He needs breath.
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He needs someone to accelerate his heart, to revive him. He needs saving.
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And he can't do it himself. Well, a person completely trapped in a burning building.
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Trapped. The building's burning. The building's coming down. He's trapped.
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He can't get out. He could suffocate from the smoke. Somebody needs to go in and rescue them.
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He needs saving. Beloved, that's the way this world is. This means that prior to Jesus saving them,
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His people were hopelessly, helplessly lost in their sins. And that's the way the world is.
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They cannot save themselves. They cannot pull themselves up and help themselves.
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They are totally helpless and hopeless until the gospel comes.
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This means that the gospel comes and only the gospel can rescue them.
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Why? Because they are alienated from a holy God, as we once were.
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Alienated. Completely cut off. Okay, what else? Under the holy righteous judgment of God because of the sins.
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And God is angry with the sins or the wicked every day. Unable.
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They're unable and unwilling. And I'm going to say that. Unwilling to free themselves from this awful condition.
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Sometimes I don't think we really realize how awful it really is. But we need to be realized.
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We need a jolt, don't we? We need to be sober about people's lost condition.
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The Savior is one who has the power, by the way, the Savior. And He alone has the power, the authority to rescue people who could not rescue themselves.
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Jesus and Jesus alone only has the
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God -given authority to save His people from their sins. Only He does.
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If you look at Matthew, turn with me very quickly to Matthew chapter 9. Here's an illustration.
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There's many. I just happen to choose this particular one. Look at Matthew chapter 9.
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This is where Jesus heals a crippled man. Verse 1,
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I'll read it to verse 8. And He entered into His ship, speaking of Jesus, and passed over and came into His own city.
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And behold, they brought to Him a man sick of the palsy. What's his condition?
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Here he is. He's lying on a bed. And Jesus seeing their faith. There it is.
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That's very key. Jesus seeing their faith. He said unto the sick of the palsy.
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Don't you love what He says? The first thing He says, Son. He's a son.
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Be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven. Notice that's the first thing He says.
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He has the authority to forgive the sins. And then, verse 3, and behold, certainly the scribe says within themselves.
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Isn't it interesting they said this within themselves? This man blasphemeth.
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And Jesus knowing their thoughts. Yeah, Jesus knows our thoughts, doesn't He? Said, wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
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That's interesting. What is entered into the thought life comes from the heart.
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That's the soul. That's who we really are. So Jesus says, wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
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For where there is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise and walk.
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But that you may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins.
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Then saith He to the sick of the palsy. First He forgave his sins. Now He says to him,
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Arise, take up thy bed and go into thy house. What happened? Verse 7, And he arose and departed to his house.
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And verse 8, And when the multitude saw it, they marvelled and glorified God, who had given such power unto men.
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There you have that Jesus has the power not only to heal, but He has the power to forgive the sins.
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Now that's critical. Matthew 121, it says, That He shall save His people from their sins.
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Note that our text does not say, For He hopes that somehow He will respond to the offer of true salvation and somehow save them.
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No, He didn't say that. He did not say He's going to give it His best shot and His best try and say the sinner's prayer.
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No, He didn't say that. But that it all depends on your ability and your choice and your willpower.
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No, He didn't say that. No. Praise be to God, the text says,
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For He shall save His people from their sins. That's the text.
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That's the Word of God. He shall do it. He does a complete job. Actually, the writer of Hebrews says,
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He saves to the uttermost. There isn't any human condition of willpower about it.
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Nobody can save themselves. Scripture says, and Jonah said it after he was in the whale's belly, the belly of the sea monster in the original, that salvation is from the
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Lord. Psalm 3, 8. That's not the only one. Salvation belongeth unto the
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Lord. Thy blessing is upon thy people. Isaiah 43, 11.
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I, even I, am the Lord, and beside me there is no Savior. Isaiah 45, 17.
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But Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation, and you shall not be established nor confounded, world without end.
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That's the Word of God. Brother Keith sent a wonderful paraphrase, and Matthew Henry, one of the greatest commentators of his time, and even today, a
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Puritan commentator, this is what he said about this text. Christ came to save His people, not in their sins, but from their sins.
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To purchase for them. Not a liberty to sin, but a liberty from sins.
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To redeem them from all iniquity. That's pretty much the mission of what
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Jesus comes to do. So when Almighty God purposes to save His people, He saves to the uttermost.
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Well, there's other verses here. Real quickly, you can turn with me there. Isaiah 46. There's a lot in Isaiah about God being the
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Savior. There's so many verses, I'm not going to have time to get to all of them.
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But I just picked out a few. But notice in Isaiah 46, look at verse 8.
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Remember this, and show yourselves, men. Bring it again to mind, O you transgressors.
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Verse 9. Remember the former things of old.
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For I am God, and there's none else. I am God, and there's none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times, the things that are not yet done.
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Saying, my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executed my counsel from a far country.
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Yea, I have spoken it, and I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it, I will also do it.
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Hearken unto me, you stout hearted, that are far from righteousness.
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And notice what he says. I bring near my righteousness, and it shall not be far off.
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My salvation, my salvation shall not tarry, and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel, my glory.
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That's God. That's God speaking. Well, there's other verses, but actually,
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Matthew 121 is actually a fulfillment of the promise of Psalm 138. He shall redeem
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Israel from all iniquities. And to suggest that God's sovereign purpose, by the way, to save a people for himself, for his glory, that is conditioned on feeble will of man, of fallen man, goes against all scripture.
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How do you know that? Well, jump with me to Ephesians chapter 1.
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Now here's some familiar verses, but there's some great verses here. Notice in chapter 1 verse 3,
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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.
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And here it gets, a lot of people don't like this, but this is the word of God. Having predestinated.
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Now that's a wonderful word, because if you look at that word, it literally means marked out.
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God has selected who is going to be his people.
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He has marked them out. He's put a mark on them. He predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself.
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There's the reconciliation, see it? According to the good pleasure of his will.
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Isn't that wonderful? That's what Jesus told his apostles. It's the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
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God is pleased to do this. Isn't that wonderful? And then he says in verse 6, to the praise of the glory of his grace, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
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And then he doesn't stop there, he goes on. In whom we have redemption through his blood. The forgiveness of sins.
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According to the riches of his grace. God's rich in grace. He's rich in mercy. Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, once again, which he hath purposed in himself.
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And I'll stop right there. But you see the goodness of God. You see the riches of his grace.
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To the praise of his glory of his grace. That's salvation. He didn't have to do it actually.
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If we got fairness and justice from God, he'd send us all to hell. MacArthur said it right.
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You don't want justice. You want mercy. You want mercy. That's what you want.
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So, salvation belongs to our God, which siteth upon the throne and to the
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Lamb. That's Revelation 7, 10. It goes on. This Jesus, the Christ, Lord and Savior who is
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God in human flesh, came for the sole purpose of saving his people from their sins. Well, let's go to the third point.
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Whom did he purpose to save? It's very clear. Whom did he purpose to save?
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The text back to Matthew 1, 21. That question is answered. He came to save his people.
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His people. Now, let's look at that. The context of Matthew, some may say this, that his people only refers to the
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Jews, the Jewish people, God's chosen people, in which the
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Scripture does say clearly that he came unto his own, and his own received him not. But we know the story.
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His own people rejected him. And we know that through that, through that rejection, the gospel came to the
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Gentiles, other nations. So his own people rejected him. And here in this verse,
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Psalm 130, verse 8, puts it, he will redeem Israel from all their iniquities.
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But let me say this, but if this means that all Jews will be saved, then we must come to the conclusion that God has failed in his purpose.
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Since many Jews still go to the grave today, rejecting Jesus as the Messiah. So has
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God failed in his purpose? Well, you know where I'm going. Look with me very quickly to Romans 9.
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You know, all these questions are answered right in Scripture. All of it is there.
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If you go to Romans 9, this great book, Theology, here from the
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Apostle Paul, Paul makes it very clear, notice in verse 6 through 7, as though the word of God had not taken effect, no, for they are not all
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Israel, which are of Israel. Notice what he says, neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
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But notice what he says, that is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
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Then he says, for this is the word of promise, at this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.
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And not only this, but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by her father Isaac, for the children being not yet being born, before they were born, they couldn't choose.
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Neither have done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to what?
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Election. Might stand. And it still stands. And nothing is going to change it.
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No one can change it. And I like the way Paul gets right down to it.
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Not of works, but of Him that calleth. You see, there is the gospel.
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God does the saving. God does the selecting. God does the whole nine yards.
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The only thing we do is present our sin and come before. Even the repenting is
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God's gift. People say, yeah, but that's your faith. No, not. Hey, not of works, not of works, lest any man should boast.
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But by grace, what? Through faith. And if you look in the original there, that through faith, it's the gift of God.
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Right. Just not the grace. The faith is the gift of God. God grants the faith.
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God grants the repentance. God does it all. Praise God. What a wonderful Savior we serve.
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Some would say, well, what about the whole world? This refers to the whole world. In Matthew 1 .21.
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Well, since Jesus is the Savior of the world, and by the way, there are several texts that says Jesus, and one of them is
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John 4 .42. And he said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying.
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This is the Samaritan woman. She went back after she met Jesus. The Samaritan woman.
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Then what happened? She told the whole city. She was a great evangelist. But notice what they said.
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For we have heard him ourselves. Because Jesus went. She broke up the ground.
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Then Jesus came to Samaritan. And then they said,
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And know that he is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.
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Now it's interesting, isn't it? So while there is a sense in which he is the
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Savior of the world, not of the Jews only, but of the world, because in Revelation 5 .9
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says, And they sung a new song, saying that thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof, and thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, and every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.
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So there's going to be other people there, right? Of the world. But does that mean the whole world believes?
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Does that mean a universal salvation? Absolutely not. Because Jesus made it clear that broad is the way that leads to death, and narrow is the way that leads to life.
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And he says that way that's broad, he said many go there in and out. But few find the way in the straight gate.
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The gate. So that doesn't mean a universal salvation, but the offer is to the world.
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But only God knows the elect, right? Only he knows those who will believe.
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So if his purpose in coming was to save every person who has ever lived, then again we conclude that God has failed in his purpose.
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But we know better than that, right? God hasn't failed. But since it is inconceivable, inconceivable that God would fail, he doesn't fail in his eternal purpose.
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His people, his people cannot refer to every person of the world.
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And let me ask an important question right here. So why do these people believe in Jesus? Why? Let me ask another question.
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What enabled these people to believe in Jesus? Or should
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I say, who enabled them? Scripture is very clear that the only reason anyone believes in Jesus is because God has chosen them.
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We just read some verses on that. Hey, there's so many verses. Go with me real quickly to John 6.
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Oh, I wish I had more time. My goodness. We'll be here all day, brother.
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John 6. Can I read just a few? Listen here. Look at verse 44.
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No man can come to me, no man can come to me except the Father, except the
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Father which hath sent me draw him. And I will raise him up at the last day.
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That's the resurrection. Hey, that's the promise. If you're born once and born twice, you've got nothing to worry about.
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You don't have to die twice. You die once. He says,
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I will raise him up at the last day. You're going to be raised up. It is written in the prophets that they shall be all taught of God.
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This is Jesus speaking. Every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the
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Father cometh unto thee. So there's a knowledge. You've got to learn about the Father. The knowledge of the truth. Before it enters the heart, it's got to go through the mind.
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So that any man hath seen the Father. He says, not that any man hath seen the
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Father, save he which is of God. And notice what he says.
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He hath seen the Father. And then here Jesus brings on the verily, verily. Remember what I said about that?
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Amen, amen. Truly, truly. Jesus is giving an amen and an amen before he says it.
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So that statement is so important. Verily, verily I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
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He gets right to it. You've got everlasting life if you truly believe on Him. And we can go to a whole series of sermons on what it means to believe.
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But it's just not talking about knowing it in your mind. It is a heart belief. Jesus says in verse 48,
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I am that bread of life. Well, he gets right to it. I'm the bread of life. Your fathers did...
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Now, listen to this. Now, he's talking about these people that are bragging about eating the manna and they're referring to the law that brings condemnation.
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Jesus is bringing life. He says, your fathers did eat manna and the wilderness and are dead.
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Listen to what he says. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die.
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I am the living bread which came down from heaven. And if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever.
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And the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
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It's available for all to believe. Now, there are so many more scriptures about this, but this is
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God drawing people to faith. And even that faith is a gift from Him.
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Well, the Spirit of God has to quicken us. That's another one. Ephesians 2.
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That word quicken means to make alive, to actually just make alive.
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Raised from the dead. From spiritual death to spiritual life. You can read that in Ephesians 2, 1 -5.
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He has to open their blind eyes for us to see Him. There's people that are blind in darkness.
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No more blindness when Jesus touches you. No more blindness when Jesus speaks light to you.
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Because He's the light of life. It's the gospel. So both saving faith and repentance from sins are gifts that God grants to His people, that they may believe and be saved from their sins.
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They believe the gospel only because God has granted it to them. This, we must conclude, that His people refers to those whom the
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Father has given the Son. That's who He's talking about. And you can also read, if you're out there in the gospel of John, notice in John 17.
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Notice what he says. Jesus is praying this great, wonderful, high priestly prayer. These words spake
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Jesus and lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify Thy Son, and Thy Son also may glorify
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Thee. As Thou has given Him power. In other words, You've given the
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Son all authority. Over all flesh. Did you get that?
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Over all flesh. Every single person that ever lived. In past, present, future, all.
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All flesh. That He should give eternal life. Notice what
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He says. To as many as Thou has given Him. The Father selects them.
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Elects them. And I love verse 3. And this is life eternal. That they might know
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Thee. The only true God. And Jesus Christ, whom
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Thou hast sent. The Father sent Him. And only Jesus has the power to save.
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He has all authority. There's no... Let me say this. There's one other thing to be noted about His people.
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His people were sinners. Luke 19 .10, Jesus said this. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.
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Hey, don't you love that? He seeks and He saves. He's the seeker.
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We're not the seeker. None seek God. If it was left to us, we'd all end up in hell.
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I'm sure of that. But God, who's rich in mercy, reaches out and He seeks.
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His treasures. His elect. He knows. And He takes them and He rescues them.
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Oh, what a wonderful Savior we serve. Jesus came to seek and save the lost.
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Well, fourth, what did He do? What did He do? Let me see how much time. Oh my,
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I've got to hurry. The answer is this. He actually saves His people from their sins.
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In other words, Jesus' death on a bloody, cruel cross was the substitutionary sacrifice.
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And only the sacrifice that pleased God. The only sacrifice.
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Well, pastor, what about all those animals? No. Let me say this.
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That didn't really please God. The only sweet aroma was Jesus Christ.
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Now, God accepted those sacrifices because of the blood sacrifice. But all that was a type of Jesus.
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Take it all the way back to Genesis. Abel was one of the very first ones that offered up blood sacrifice.
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And it says right there, he's in the hall of fame of faith. Because of that sacrifice, he offered in faith alone.
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You see that and then you know. And we can talk about that beautiful scarlet thread that goes all the way through those books and it takes it right to the cross.
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Where there's a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, sinners plunge.
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And I love that. Don't you plunge? Plunge underneath that fountain and lose all your guilty stains.
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Well, that's the Savior we have. He's willing. He's willing and He's able to save us to the uttermost.
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Don't you love when John the Baptist cried out and said, Behold the Lamb of God which takes away, what the sins of the world.
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Now let me say this. He did not offer
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Himself potentially for anyone who would later decide to believe in Him.
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Rather, He actually purchased His elect people.
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It's not potentially, it's actual. From the slave market of sin.
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He makes it the real thing by interposing
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His precious blood by faith so that they do not have to pay for their own sins. And those whom
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He purchased to save, He saves to the uttermost. And all whom the Father has given to the
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Son will come. And those who come to Jesus, Scripture says very clearly,
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He will lose none. You know, this changed my life when I truly understood who
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I was in Jesus Christ. You know, your identity with Jesus Christ is huge.
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That you're adopted, you had nothing to do with your salvation, but also knowing that God's people, that I realized, and I believe the
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Holy Spirit is through the Scriptures, that I was a love gift to God, the Father. Isn't that wonderful to know?
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That you are God's love gift. The Father has selected you out as a love gift and gives you to the
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Son, and the Son gives you right back to the Father. It's beautiful. It's beautiful.
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So when He says that He shall save His people from their sins, the meaning is twofold. First, Jesus saves or delivers them from the penalty of our sins, which is eternal punishment in hell.
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Make no mistake about it. And it doesn't mean just annihilation, where there is no punishment.
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Right now in hell, there's people suffering under the punishment of their sins, beloved. Because they did not place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
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That took their sins. Well, come to find out, they're not elect. Yeah, but is it
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God charged to be responsible? Nope. Man's damnation will be charged because he chose that path.
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Because of his sin, God passed him over. Do you get that? God's not responsible, but God passes him over and He can select, and He has the right to select whom
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He so desires to select. A lot of people can't get that because they think, well,
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God should choose everybody. Who is people to say things like that? Who is the clay to say that to the potter?
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Why do you make me like this? It's rebellion. We should be following in our faces.
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People should be following in our faces. Oh God, thank you, there is a way. And that there's mercy in Jesus.
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Well, like I said, that Jesus saves or delivers them from the penalty of their sins is from the eternal punishment of hell and God's wrath.
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That happens instantaneously. At the moment a sinner is awakened in regeneration and justified.
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Now, to believe in Jesus is Lord and Savior. Then second, He saves them from the power of sin in their daily lives.
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This is called sanctification. And let me make this very clear. This is gradual, not instantaneous.
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Have you noticed? It takes a little time. God's still working on me. And Sister Lillian's laughing.
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She's got us beat on age. But I want to tell you, this beloved sister knows even at her age that God's still working on her.
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Not finished until we see Jesus face to face in glory, until we are glorified, beloved.
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Well, that sanctification takes work. It's the power of God in you, but you've got to do the discipline and the cutting away.
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This happens gradually, progressively, as the believer learns to walk in trust and dependence on the
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Holy Spirit of God. And it's not going to be perfected in just a moment, right?
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It takes time. And God's patient too. He wants to see us like His Son.
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Well, I've got to close this out. So if a person's not growing in holiness and striving against sin, and hating sin, and beloved, that's something we've got to learn to do more.
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It's to hate sin more, and love righteousness more. That's my prayer every day.
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How about yours? Lord, give me a hatred towards sin, and give me a love toward righteousness.
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We need to, actually, if that's not happening, that needs to seriously question whether He has been saved.
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Let me conclude with this. The most important question is, are you one of His people? Oh, the
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Lord knows those are His, right? Do you know Him? As I quoted earlier, that Jesus said it, this is life eternal, that they might know
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Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. That's the purpose of our redemption. Tozer said that God is to take rebels, and cleanse them, and sanctify them, and redeem them from the slave market of sin, and make them worshippers.
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Isn't that glorious? God makes worshippers from being a rebel.
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That's glorious. So do you know Him today? Do you know Him personally?
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Just not knowing about Him, but do you really know Him? Are you fully trusting in the blood of Jesus, by faith alone, every hour, every day?
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Jesus said this, Come unto me all you weary and heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Rest for your souls.
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Jesus said, The one who comes to me I will no wise cast out. Isaiah 55, back to Isaiah, isn't the gospel of Isaiah wonderful?
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Isaiah 55, 1, again the invitation is given. What does
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He say? What does He say? Ho! Ho! Everyone that thirsteth, are you thirsty?
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Come ye to the waters. And then He says this, And he that hath no money, come ye, buy, and eat.
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Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. It's already been bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus.
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All you got to do is come. Just come unto Him. Come unto Him. Well, there's a wonderful song that goes like this,
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Come ye sinners poor and wretched, weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus ready, stands to save you.
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Full of pity, I love these words, love and power. Come ye thirsty, come and welcome,
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God's free bounty, glorify, true belief, and true repentance, every grace that brings you nigh.
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Come ye weary, heavy laden, lost and ruined by the fall. If you tarry till you're better, you will never come at all.
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Let not conscience make you linger, not fitness fondly dream.
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All the fitness He requires, is to fill your need of Him. View Him postrate in the garden, on the ground your maker lies.
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Isn't that humbling? On the bloody tree He suffered, sinner will this not suffice?
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Lo, the incarnate God ascendeth, pleads the merit of His blood. Venture on Him, venture wholly, let no other trust intrude.
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And I love this last one, because it's like a desire and an urgency to go to Jesus, to run to Jesus, to fly to Jesus, to throw yourself on Jesus.
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I will arise and go to Jesus. He will embrace me in His arms, in the arms of my dear
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Savior. Oh, there are ten thousand charms. Isn't that great?
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Beloved, our God's rich in mercy. And if you have in your heart, says, oh, pastor, but you don't know.
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Look, I don't need to know. God knows. That God is more than willing, and desires, and He's able, to save to the uttermost.
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Praise God. John Newton said it, my memory's almost gone. But there's two things
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I know. There's two things I know. I'm a great sinner. Christ is a great
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Savior. Let's pray. Praise God.
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Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Thank you,
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Father, for your unspeakable gift. Father in heaven, all we can say from our hearts,
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Lord, who is so deserving of hell, and undeserving of all your riches, and your grace. Oh, what a
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Savior, is Jesus our Lord. Hallelujah. Lord, we worship you, and we thank you for this time together.
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And we can just take this time, just to behold the Lamb of God, which took away the sins of the world, which you,
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Father, have provided so gracefully, and so abundantly. Oh, how rich you are in your mercy.
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You have taken away the sins of the world, by laying it all on your Son. Lord, it just absolutely staggers our imagination today, that it pleased you to bruise your
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Son, for our sake. That should tell us one thing, how much you hate sin, and how much you love us.
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How much you love your own. Father, thank you for the substitutionary sacrifice of your
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Son. He pleased you, from the time he was born, to the time, all the way his whole life, to the cross, and then buried, and then risen again.
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Hallelujah, what a Savior. And has satisfied your justice forever, and given mercy, to those who believe in faith.
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So Father, for this we thank you, and we praise you, and we glorify you, for it's in the mighty name of Jesus we pray,
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Amen and Amen. Praise God. Well, I went over, but I guess that's it.