Charles Stanley - An Introduction to Jesus
When you hear the name Jesus, what comes to mind? Well I can tell you what'll come to mind, depends upon what you think about him, how much you know about him and what kind of relationship you have with him. Now many people have a wonderful relationship with Jesus. He's their Savior, Lord and master. Many other people, when they hear his name, they're turned off. I wonder why anybody would turn off the name of Jesus when he's the Son of God: when he never made a mistake. He never sinned. And even the people who just hate his name do not say, I hate him because he did this or he did that. But it's something deep down inside of them that would cause them not to appreciate and to love the Lord Jesus Christ.
So I'd ask you this. What do you think about? What place does he have in your life? If somebody should ask you, who is this Jesus? What would you say? Would you say, well, he's the Savior of the world? He's the Lord. I trusted his as my personal Savior. I have eternal life and he's with me every day. He heals me in my sickness and answers my prayers and he's in heaven and that's who I think he is. If that's all you can say, you have a lot to learn. This morning, the primary purpose of this message is simply this: to give you an understanding of who is this Jesus? So when somebody confronts you or when somebody says, you know, I don't believe in him and, usually they can't tell you why. I want to give you some reasons why you can tell them why you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the only Savior there is, unlike any and all other religious figures. And he is the king of all kings and one day we'll all stand before him as our judge. Why do we believe that?
So I want to ask you to get your Bible out. And if you're at home, get yourself a pencil and a piece of paper or a pen and I want to encourage you to write down the headings of this message and also the scriptures. Now I'm not going to tell you to write down everything we're going to say about the scriptures, but just jot them down. And then be honest enough to ask yourself the question, who is this Jesus that I believe in? Or, who is this Jesus I have rejected all of my life? And first of all, I want to say that Jesus lived before he was conceived in his mother's womb. He lived before he, what conceived in his mother's womb. He was pre-existent. That is, before his birth he existed. So, let's go back to the very first book of the Bible and let's go back to the very first chapter in the Bible, and listen to what he says in the twenty-sixth verse, "Then God said," having described this creation, "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness: and let them rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every living, thing that creeps on the earth".
Well, let me ask you a question. Who is "Us"? Somebody says, well, angels. No, angels don't create anything. When God said, "Let us," he could not mean but one thing, God the Father, God the son, God the Holy Spirit. The three persons that make up the trinity that is one God, "Let us make man in our image". So, if you will turn to John chapter one for a moment and let's look what John says about Jesus. And notice, and I want to explain a couple of words or so here, he says, verse one of chapter one, "In the beginning was the word," and the way John said this, he said it in a very perfect way. When he uses the term "Word" here it means when he says, "In the beginning was the word," it doesn't mean something happened back there. But in the beginning of time, Jesus was there. He'd been there in eternity past. He didn't just start there. Listen to what he says, "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God". Jesus is referred to here as, "The word, and he was with God and he, was God".
So the claim here as John says, that He and the Father were one. And we'll come to that later. He was in the beginning with God. And, "All things came into being through him, and apart from him nothing came into being that has come into being. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it". Listen, when you start with Genesis one, one right here, Jesus was back there in eternity past with him. What other religious leader in the world has existed before time ever began? None whatsoever. That puts Jesus in a whole different position than any other religious leader who has ever lived, "In the beginning was the word," not a dot, but a present tense, an imperfect tense in the Greek. He was going on before that. So, the scripture says also in Luke, chapter one, the thirty-first verse, when Gabriel came to speak to Mary. The Bible says that Jesus was named by the father, given to them by the angel, Gabriel. He named Jesus: this son, it's going to be born to you is named Jesus. Then he says not only that, "His kingdom would have no end".
And so Jesus was not your normal baby. And many people still have Jesus in a crib. Listen, that's the living God. His entrance into the world was in the form of a baby. He never ceased to be God even though he was in the form of a baby. Now, one of the things that would stir up the pharisees and Sadducees and make them hate him is something like this. Look in John chapter eight for a moment and when Jesus is speaking here, and this eighth chapter. And notice if you will in this... oh, let's start with verse fifty-eight. Listen to what's happening. He's talking to the Jewish rabbis and so forth. Verse fifty-six, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. So the Jews said to him, 'you are not yet fifty years old, how have you seen Abraham?'" listen to this, "Jesus said to them, 'truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.'" not I was, but I am, because he's always been. And listen to what they did, "Therefore they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple".
They could not stand the thought that he said that he lived before Abraham did, but of course he did. And then in the seventeenth chapter of John, look there for just a moment, seventeenth chapter of John and the twenty-fourth verse. Listen to what he says. "Father," this is Jesus praying, "I desire that they also, whom you have given me, be with me where I am, so that they see may see my glory which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world". You either have to believe that Jesus Christ is who he says he is or he's not. So if he's ever lied about one thing, you could absolutely discredit him. He says, "Before Abraham was," way back yonder thousands of years ago, he said, "I am". And he says, "You loved me". He says, the Father, "Loved me before the foundation of the world".
So when somebody says, who is this Jesus? Well, he's not just a baby. He was alive way long time before the virgin Mary was ever born. So Abraham was back yonder thousands of years ago. Jesus was back beyond him in eternity past. So, when somebody says, well when did Jesus begin? He had no beginning. Well how do you understand that? I don't claim to understand that, for the simple reason the Bible says that God has reserved some things for himself that he will not reveal. And so therefore, I put it this way. The Bible is very clear that Jesus existed back before Abraham, and he, listen, he, and the Father and the Holy Spirit created all of this, all the constellations and everything up yonder that go in such perfect order.
So somebody says, well I don't believe that God created us. Well sir, tell me who do you think created it? Well, I don't think anybody created it, because you can't exceed God. Well, how do you think it got there? It just happened. My friend, it takes more faith to believe that all of this just happened than to believe that God created it. Let me tell you why, because it has such absolute perfect design. Everything is perfect about what God created. And if you study, science and the skies, you think, in other words, there's no way all of this could have just happened. Because everything is perfectly designed and in order by God. So, we say he was born into the world that he created. And he said, "Apart from him nothing came into being".
Look if you will in Colossians one, and what Paul said about him. Colossians one, and just past Philippians there, and notice what he says in this first chapter of Colossians. He says, speaking of Jesus in verse fourteen, "In whom we have redemption," that's our salvation, "The forgiveness of sins". Now watch this, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation". I'm coming back to that, "For by him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him". Now what does he mean when he says, he was, "The firstborn of all creation". The first, what he's referring to here is simply this.
In the Hebrew family, the firstborn son, he managed. He was the one who received the most. And so when he says, "The firstborn of all creation". Jesus is the manager of this creation. He is head of it all. And if you'll notice also, all the way over go to Hebrews for a moment, and just that first chapter, I want you to look at a verse or two here. Verse one of Hebrews chapter one, "God, after he spoke long ago in the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days he has spoken to us in his Son," that is in Jesus, "Whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world". If you believe the Word of God, you have to believe that Jesus Christ was in the process with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, making this world, creating this world which has such absolute design. To believe that all of that was by chance has absolutely no validity whatsoever.
So you have to decide whether you're going to believe what men say and cannot prove, or what the Bible says. And all through the scriptures, listen, there are no errors. This is the living Word of God. And so when we say that he was born into a world he created, that's the way he did it. And this is a world which expresses the wisdom of God, the power of God, the beauty of God and the presence of God. The third statement I want to make is this. Jesus was born of an earthly mother and a Heavenly Father, earthly mother and a Heavenly Father. The scripture says in Luke, that first chapter when Gabriel and Mary were talking, because she said, well, "How can these things happen since I am a virgin"? Have not been with man. Because it was the work of the Heavenly Father through the Holy Spirit, which meant that Jesus was born of a virgin.
And some people say, well, I don't think that's all that important. Let me tell you why it's all important. Jesus came into this world in order to forgive us of our sins, to cleanse us of our sins, and, watch this carefully. All those sacrifices in the Old Testament were foreshadows of the ultimate sacrifice that would come. So, all that killing of goats and bulls and so forth, that didn't make anybody saved. But it was a foreshadowing: and theirs was a faith in the coming Messiah. And so when you ask the question, well, why did Jesus have to die? Because when Adam and eve sinned, every single person born after them had an old sin nature. Every single one of us has a sin nature. That is, every single one of us is possessed with a little bit of a, or a very strong desire for things that are not right, things that don't fit with God's plan for our life: things that are sinful and idolatrous and all the rest.
Everybody was born with it. This is why your little two-year-old that you think God sent you just straight from heaven, sometimes he can be as obnoxious as he can be because you say, do not touch that vase. You turn your head, crash! So what would make a two-year-old child who doesn't even know what sin's all about? Because he has a sinful nature. Now watch this. Watch this carefully. This is why Jesus had to be born of a virgin. Had to be born of a virgin because in being born without man seed, he had no sin nature. If Jesus had been born naturally and normally, he would have had a sin nature. And therefore, he couldn't die for your sins and mine. He'd-a had to die for his own sin. The fact that he was virgin-born and absolutely sinless. And somebody says, well how do you know he was sinless?
Well let me ask you a question. What did he do wrong? What sin did he commit? What mistake did he make? His life was perfect because it was God in human flesh. That's how God came to this earth, in human flesh. Jesus had to be the perfect Son of God, sinless in order to die for your sins and mine. God sent him for that purpose. He was the ultimate, final divine sacrifice that would be taking place at the cross, on the cross. And when he died, he paid your sin debt and mine and the sins of the whole world. He was the only acceptable sacrifice because he was the only sinless sacrifice. Animals didn't do it. It was the life of the Lord Jesus. And remember Jesus is God in the human flesh, so he was absolutely perfect. He was absolutely sinless. And therefore that made him an acceptable sacrifice in the eyes of the Father. And he died, crucified, and we think well the Romans did it. No, God did it. God sent him to die. The Romans were simply the ones who nailed him and who were the tools to, for crucifying him, but it was God the Father who crucified him because he came into this world for that specific reason.
So when somebody says, well I don't believe in the virgin birth. Well you don't believe in the real Jesus then. And secondly, you don't believe in the virgin birth because you don't believe the Word of God. You don't believe in the virgin birth, listen, if there were no virgin birth, you wouldn't be saved. The Son of God came in order to save us from our sins, and the virgin birth was a part of that. Now. Unbelief in the virgin birth, somebody says, is that important? And you know, you can go to colleges and seminaries and schools, well the virgin birth's not important. You remember this. If Jesus Christ was not sinless, he would have had to die for his own sin and he couldn't die for your sin, my sin, and his sin. He, listen, that would have been like sacrificing a sheep that was sick, had been sick for six months. They would never do that. Had to be a perfect animal in those days with a spotless as the Bible says. And Jesus had to be the perfect sacrifice for us. Very important that he was virgin born.
Now. Another thing I want you to notice here is this. Jesus was both God and the Son of God. Now people say, well how could that possibly be? Well I want you to turn to John chapter ten for a moment. Look in John chapter ten. Let's go to twenty, verse twenty-seven: Jesus speaking to those who were with him, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish: and no one will be able to snatch them out of my Father's hand". Once you're a child of God, eternally a child of God. The devil can't get-take you out of God's hand. Nothing and nobody can. Then he says, "My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all: and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand". Look at this next verse, "I and the Father are one". Did you get that? "I and the father are one". Jesus is the visible, living God.
And notice what happened. The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. They could not stand the idea that Jesus would claim to be, God. It was beyond their comprehension. Then, move on over to the twelfth chapter of John for a moment, and I want you to look if you will in verse forty-two, "Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in him, but because of the pharisees they were not confessing him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue". Now let me just say this to you. You should never be ashamed of Jesus Christ: never, under any condition, be ashamed of him or deny him. Listen, "For they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God".
Watch this. You go to work tomorrow: you start talking about Jesus or you would like to but you don't because you're afraid of being rejected. What you, watch this. Are you listening? Say amen. You join up with those who love approval of others than the approval of God. That's exactly what they did. And "Jesus cried out and said, 'he who believes in me, does not believe in me but in him who sent me.'" That is, I'm representing God, "He who sees me sees the one who sent me. He who sees me sees the one who sent me". And if you go on over let's see the fourteenth chapter, look at the fourteenth chapter for a moment. And this is a wonderful chapter about Jesus coming and heaven and so forth, and then, when you come down to this seventh verse, he says, "If you had known me, you would have known my Father also". And now he says, "From now on you know him, and have seen him. Philip said to him, 'Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.' and Jesus said to him, 'have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father: how can you say, "Show us the Father"?'" Because listen to this. Jesus is the living God, the living person of the invisible Father, the Lord God Almighty, whom he sent for that reason.
Then if you'll move all the way over to Colossians again and I want you to just notice a verse here, very important. We're talking about who he is and why you ought to believe in him without any question in your mind. In this first chapter, look if you will in the fifteenth verse because here it says it clearly. Listen to this, "He, Jesus, is the image," physical, living, male image, "Of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation". Now why does he say, "Firstborn of all creation"? Here's the reason. Because in the Hebrew family, the firstborn son, for example, he was sort of the maintainer. And so that's the image that he's speaking of here, that Jesus is supreme in this life. He manages this world and he's the one to whom we pay allegiance. And so, "He is the image of the invisible God".
So when people say, well, I don't believe in that Jesus. Then you don't believe in Almighty God, because he and the Father are one. If you've seen him, you've seen the Father. And if you believe in him, you believe in the Father. And so he says, "He is the image of the invisible God". Now think for just a moment how blessed we are, that you and I, we could have been born three thousand years ago. And all of those saints of God who believed in God and trusted God and they sacrificed animals and the shedding of their blood, all of that was a foreshadowing of what was to come. But suppose you took your Bible and you turned to Malachi, the last chapter and the last verse, sliced your Bible at that point and threw away the New Testament.
Think about how foreign God would be to you. But, listen, the fact that Jesus came in the living visible presence of a man, he was still God but he was man. He was the God-man. God sent him in order to give us a view of the Heavenly Father like we would never have known before. As wise and as good and as godly and as natural in many ways as those Old Testament prophets and saints, they were always looking forward to something: looking forward to the coming of the Messiah. You and I had the privilege of living in the time when Jesus Christ was born, crucified, resurrected. And now for these two thousand years, we've been sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ that has been transforming lives everywhere. It's all wrapped up in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and his personhood. He is not just another man. He is God, the living God in visible form so we could have even a better relationship with him.
Now. Jesus' teaching often, oftentimes was perplexing. People couldn't figure out, well what in the world does that mean? So let me just give you a few examples, in the fifth chapter, which is the Sermon on the Mount, of Matthew, turn there for just a moment and I want us to look at a couple of things. He says something right here that even we oftentimes probably have to wrestle with. Matthew chapter five, eleven and twelve. And you know, once in a while I'll hear somebody say, well, I don't believe the Bible except I do believe the Sermon on the Mount, it's so beautiful, and I believe the Ten Commandments.
Well listen. Are you listening carefully? Watch this. There are no two passages of scripture in the whole Bible that demand the most of us than these two. So, look at this fifth chapter, and eleventh and twelfth verse. So these are things that were difficult for those folks to accept, and us today. Verse eleven, "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great: for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you".
Now let me ask you a question. How many of you are just tickled pink when somebody persecutes you? You just love it. You just can't wait to get some more of it. Or do you pout and want to go home from your job because you've had your feelings hurt? And they don't appreciate you and they've insulted you and they've hurt your feelings. Do you know why you're to rejoice? This is what he says. He says, "Rejoice, be glad," when they do these things to you. So, why would you want to rejoice and be glad? Do you know why? I'll tell you why. Because listen to what he says. Paul said, listen, he said, "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love him and to called according to his purpose".
And somebody says, well how could it be good that somebody's insulted me? I'm going to tell you why. Do you want to know why? Some of you do. Do you want to know why you should rejoice when people abuse you, misuse you? Do you really want to know why? All right, this side wants to know why this time. Come on, tell me. Do you want to know or not? Yes! Here's a reason. Because when you respond in a joyful way or a forgiving way, here's what happens. The Bible says first of all, God's going to reward you greatly for it. And secondly, here's the other reason. More than likely you're going to be in the presence of more than one person. And, or other people will hear about it. And when somebody sees you very, very highly insulted: hurt your feelings and just demeans you in all kind of ways: and you said, well, I appreciate you expressing your opinion, thank you very much. Here's what the lost person says.
Wait a minute. That can't be true. Cause if they'd-a done that to me, I'd-a wanted to sock them one. And so what happens? He says, we're to rejoice. Why? Because God has given us the opportunity to be in a position to be a wonderful testimony. And I can look back at some times in my life I have to admit as a pastor, folks have done certain things to me. I didn't rejoice at the moment. I'll admit that. But I got over it and I got on my knees when I got home. I said, okay, Lord. You know what I'm thinking and I don't want that in my life. I'm asking you to forgive me for that and let's just move on. So I like to think I've gotten over all of that in my life. But I think those are the kind of things we have to deal with. Now look if you will in verse forty-three of this fifth chapter also. He says, "You have heard that it was said, 'you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you".
You say, now wait a minute. God doesn't expect me to love my enemies. Well let me tell you how he does. That doesn't mean I'm to like my enemies. I don't like anything about them. I don't like what they do. I don't like what they believe. I don't like what they stand for. And I would, I would not like that in my life at all. I can separate everything they represent from them as a lost person who needs to be saved. That's what I love. I don't love the maybe the way they dress. I don't love what they drink. I don't love any of that kind of stuff or their religion or whatever it might be. I can love the person because here's somebody who needs Jesus Christ as their Savior. Otherwise, what did he mean? And I'm sure Jesus was dealing with them in a way because the Sadducees and the pharisees, they were just obnoxious, putting burdens on people. And so they had to deal with that, and so that's why he said it.
Now he says something else here that people have a hard time with, in Matthew chapter twenty, and that is he says, you really want to be great? Look in the twentieth chapter of Matthew, and look if you will in the twenty-seventh verse. He says, twenty-seventh verse, "Whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave". Now it's interesting the word he used for slave is doulos which means the most humble of the slaves: he is the slave who met you at the door and washed your feet. He says, he that's greatest among you will be your slave.
And you think about people today, got to be first: got to be first: got to have high priority: they have got to have recognition: got to have this: got to have that. Jesus said, "Whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave". He says it's the attitude, listen. Those who conquer have the attitude of humility. And wanting, desiring to be used in a way that pleases and honors God. And you may have a job, for example, in your industry, whatever that may be. And you think, well I will never be a superintendent. I'll never be the boss. I'll never be this, that or the other. Well you don't know whether you will or not. It may be you change your attitude and change your spirit, no telling what God may be with you, but it's the attitude. That is, I'm willing to be a servant.
And when we think about servants, we all have negative attitudes. Jesus was the servant of all servants. And he said from his perspective, "He who ever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave". God is honored when you and I submit ourselves to serving other people, whatever that may require of us. Then if you will turn to Mark chapter eight for a moment. And here is another passage that's demanding of us and why I say passages of scripture that were very difficult for them to accept. Mark chapter eight, verse thirty-five. And verse thirty-four says, "He summoned the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, 'if anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.'"
What does he mean by deny himself? That simply means this. I deny myself of anything and everything that keeps me from being what God wants me to be. It doesn't work in my life. And he says, "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul"? And you see, they didn't understand all that. And people today say, well you know what? That's just gibberish. No it's not. It's a sense of humility: a sense of giving ourselves away to the Lord Jesus Christ to use us any way he sees fit to do so.
And let's go back to Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount again, that fifth chapter, because here is something that had to be very, very difficult for them to accept in those days, when he says in Matthew chapter five, verse five, "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth". Gentle in a roman empire? Where swords was what life was all about and warfare and slavery and poverty. And this thing of being gentle, "For they shall inherit the earth". A gentle heart is a humble heart. A gentle heart is an easy heart. A gentle heart is looking out for someone else. A gentle heart is not rash and defensive. A gentle heart.
And so they didn't understand that in those days, and I think a lot of people don't today either, "Blessed are the gentle," he says, "For they shall inherit the earth". And you see, we think, well, you never get anywhere in life unless you get tough and just, you know, be it over someone else and Lord it over them. That's what the world thinks. That's not what God thinks. That's not the way he operates. Then he says, for example, in Matthew ten, thirty-four. Watch this carefully. Do listen, this is Jesus now, "Do not think that I came to bring peace," oops! What? "Do not think that I came to bring peace," don't we call him the prince of peace? Yes. "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth: I did not come to bring peace, but a sword".
Now what in the world could that mean? That he's going to bring a sword when he's a prince of peace? Here's what it means. For example, whenever there's group, and that group is unsaved, and somebody gets saved, he says it's like a sword in their relationship, shut them out. He says, I came to bring a sword, not peace. The peace that comes, comes to all of us who trust him as our Savior and walk in his Spirit. It does not mean we will not be a weapon or a sword as he says, in somebody else's life that changes their way of living. And so he gets the wife saved and the sword comes in. And she lives a godly life, next thing you know, the husband gets saved. Then the kids get saved and I could just tell you a lot of stories of people, that's exactly what happened.
The sword came, but listen. It was a sword of the Word of God dipped in the love of God in the heart of that person who received Christ. Makes all the difference in the world. So, then, let's look at couple of other things. Jesus' name is like no other name. There's no name like his. And if you'll look in Philippians two for a moment, and let's start with verse nine. For this reason also, God highly exalted him," that's Jesus, and look, "Bestowed on him the name which is above every name," that is, God the Father gave Jesus his name. God the Father, "Bestowed on him the name," Jesus. Gabriel told Mary that's to be his name. Look at this, "Bestowed on him the name," of Jesus, "Which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee," not might, every knee, "Will bow, of those who are in heaven, on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God".
Now what does that say? You may not like him. But I'm going to tell you this. You can Mark this down because God said it. One of these days you're going to confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord no matter what you've said about him here and now. One of these days you will bow your knees before the Lord Jesus Christ as your judge. How foolish to live without him. You will confess him. You say, well, I'll die before I confess him. You'll die before you confess him and go to hell on your own choice. It will only be because you chose to deny. You chose to reject the Son of God, who is God in the flesh, who came in visible form so you and I could understand better who God is and what he's like and all the rest, "Every knee will bow, "Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God".
He says it will happen and indeed it will happen. And, for example, he says, when he sent the disciples out preaching the gospel, made it very clear what that gospel was about. And here's what he said in that twenty-fourth chapter of Luke, he said, "And that repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name, Jesus, to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem". And, let's think about this. For example, when you were baptized, how were you baptized? They baptized you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. You were baptized in the trinity, baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit.
Listen, the name of Jesus isn't just a name: it is the name of the living God. It is the name of the visible God here on earth when he walked this earth. And so, when you think about, for example, when you pray in this fourteenth chapter of John, and he says, "Whatever you ask in my name," that is you're asking according to his will: according to his purpose: according to what pleases and honors him. He says he's going to answer it. So, when we pray he's there. We give thanks in his name. We're baptized in his name. And then in the eighteenth chapter of Matthew, something that's going on right now, in this service. He, listen to what he says. In verse twenty of Matthew eighteen, "For where two or three have gathered together in my name, I am there in their midst".
So you and I could say, good morning, Jesus, because he's here. How many times is he's here? He's here in every single one of our hearts who's saved. This is why we give an invitation. We give an invitation to invite you to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior so when you step out of this place, Christ is in your heart to be everything he is and will be in the life of a believer. Now, to some people he's just a figure. What I want you to see is this. Everything we've said up to this point. He's not just a figure, he's God. He is God in the flesh: who died on the cross for our sins: who died and was buried and resurrected. And I would say to all these other religions who claim this and claim that and claim the other, where is your leader? Dead, in the grave. Where is Jesus? Resurrected, seated at the Father's right hand making intercession for us. That is the testimony of the Word of God.
Now, he reminds us and warns us in this tenth chapter of Matthew, he warns us of what people's attitudes are going to be. He says, we will be hated by all men for his sake. So everything that's going on these days, it's just exactly what he said would do. These things will happen, but you and I are to take a stand. Listen, if you believe the Son of God, you believe in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you and I should never be ashamed of him. And when somebody uses Jesus' name as a curse word or a phrase, I'm here to tell you, they're in for it. Aw, that's not who God is. Yes he is. He says he bestowed on him the name Jesus. That makes it the number one name, with all the high priorities that could be given to Jesus, he gave it to him.
And then he says, when his disciples, you will recall in this fourth chapter of acts, his disciples had been preaching the gospel and they healed this man at the temple gate. And the scripture says, and he began to ask them about money: and in this third chapter of acts, in the fourth, fifth verse, Peter along with John, fixed his gaze on him and said, look at us, "And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive some," money. "But Peter said, 'i do not possess silver and gold, but what i, have I give to you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!' and seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up," he began to walk. Went into the synagogue and praising the Lord and Sadducees and pharisees about to have a fit because they could not do anything about it whatsoever.
And they finally had them arrested, which was a good thing in a way because what it did, it gave them an audience with the leadership they wouldn't have had that otherwise. And so here's what happens. They imprison them and they all get together to hear what they've got to say. So they at least gave Peter a moment to speak and here's what he said, "Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised up from the dead, by his name this man stands here before you in good health". He, listen, "He," Jesus, "Is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone. And there is salvation in no one else: for there is only one name, no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved". But the name of Jesus Christ. No other name that'll bring salvation, but the name of Jesus Christ, himself.
Then I'd say the last thing this: and that is Jesus came into the world the first time as a baby. He will return as reigning king and judge of all mankind. And you can look in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew, that long passage there about Jesus coming and separating the sheep from the goats: and the fact that he is the judge of all mankind. Now, who is this Jesus? This Jesus is everything we've said this morning because I've given you a text of scripture about every single one of them. The next time somebody challenges you about Jesus and says, who do you think he is? Pull out your notes. Now what you ought to do is take these notes home this afternoon: write them in the back of your Bible and sort of abbreviate, whatever you want to abbreviate. Get them in your mind and every one of these points is very important because it says this is who Jesus is. This is the person you accepted. This is the Savior who is your Savior. He is the only Savior and it's by his name and his name alone we get to heaven.
And here's what he said. No one comes to the Father but by me. And listen, the same thing that stirred up the Sadducees in those days and made them wanted to stone him to death. That very statement stirs up people today. You mean to tell me there's only one way? Only one way. Well that's selfish. That's a greedy God or that's a prejudiced God. No it's not. He sent his son, the Lord Jesus, to die on the cross to save you from your sins. There is no other way, no other place and no other person. You say, well I'm not so bad. You need to get another look. You have an old sin nature, and that old sin nature's going to take you straight down and away, separated from God for all eternity. You have no other choice. You say, well I'm a good person. That's good in your eyes. But the Bible says, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The wages of sin is death. Every knee shall bow: every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord. He is God. It is appointed unto man once to die: and after this the judgment.
Think! If you don't trust Jesus as your Savior, think! What is your alternative when you face death? If you're wise, you'll ask the Lord to forgive you of your sins, forgive you for demeaning his name and put your life into his hands. And you can do that right where you are. You ask him to forgive you of your sins, and maybe the things you've said about him, sins that you've committed in your life. Tell him that today you're trusting his death at calvary as full payment for your sin. You're surrendering you life to Jesus, who is God in the flesh, who came for the purpose of saving you. Putting your life in his hands and from this point on, by his help and his guidance and his strength through the Holy Spirit, you choose to live a godly life through the last moment of your life. I pray that you'll be wise enough to do just that.
And Father, how grateful we are today, you sent us the Savior and you have made it crystal clear in the word who he is, why he came and why he deserves our allegiance, our submission, our total surrender. We bless you today, Father, and we bless Jesus, your son. Amen.