Sermon # 225          Series: Isaiah

 

Title:  JESUS CHRIST – THE MIGHTY SAVIOR

Text:  Isaiah 63:1

Subject:  Christ’s Power to Save

Date: Sunday Morning – November 5, 1995

Tape # R-91

 

Introduction:

 

When the question is raised, “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozreh?  This that is glorious in his apparel, travelling, travelling in the greatness of his strength?”  It is none other than the Son of God himself who answers, “I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” I want to talk to you today about the Lord Jesus Christ himself.  I want everyone of you to see, and hear, and know, and worship the Lord Jesus Christ this hour.  May God the Holy Spirit enable me to preach him and give you grace to know him, trust him, love him, and worship him.   My test is all about Christ and my message shall be all about Christ.  If you are taking notes, the title of my message is Jesus Christ – The Mighty Savior.

 

Proposition:  I want to show you just one thing – The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is mighty to save.  “Because he continueth even, (and) hath an unchangeable priesthood… he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come to God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”  (Heb. 7:24-25).  Ps. 89:19

 

In preaching this message, I want to raise and answer five simple questions.

 

I.  Who Is This Mighty Savior?

This One whom we trust and worship.  This One whom I delight to preach unto you, the One we call Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and Savior is a mysteriously and gloriously complex person.  He is both a man and the God by whom man was made.  One of the great mysteries of our faith is the glorious person of our Savior.

 

In the New Testament there are seven specific mysteries revealed both for the glory of God and for the comfort and edification of our souls.

 

  1. The Mystery of Israel’s Blindness (Rom. 11:25-26).
  2. The Mystery of the Resurrection (I Cor. 15:51-58).
  3. The Mystery of Christ’s Body the Church – The Mystery of the Calling of the Gentiles (Eph. 3:3-11).
  4. The Mystery of Christ and His Church (Eph. 5:32).
  5. The Mystery of Christ in You (Col. 1:26-27).
  6. The Mystery of Iniquity (II Thess. 2:7).
  7. The Mystery of Godliness (I Tim. 3:16).

 

Of all the mysteries of the gospel, none is more infinitely beyond the scope of our puny brains and at the same time more delightful to consider than this that Paul calls “the mystery of godliness.”  The mystery of our Savior’s person.  Here is the wonder and the joy of it.

 

A.  Jesus Christ, Our Savior, is Himself God.

 

He is very God of very God, in every way equal to and co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

 

1.  He possesses all the attributes of the eternal Godhead.

2.  He participated with the Father and the Spirit in all the works of the Triune God (I John 5:7).

 

Hallelujah! Let us raise

Heart and voice our God to praise!

Praise the Father! Praise the Son!

Praise the Spirit, Three in One!

 

One to work His perfect plan

Of redeeming fallen man.

Praise to the triune God be given,

Praise in earth and praise in heaven!

 

From everlasting to everlasting, Jesus Christ is God – “Over all God, blessed forever!”

 

3.  Yet, he did not cease to be God when he became a man – (John 1:14; Col. 2:9).

 

Our Savior’s deity was demonstrated in this world by many, many things.

 

 

4.  More than that – Jesus Christ is God now.

 

 

B.  This great God, who is our Savior, is also a man – The Man Christ Jesus (Isa. 9:6).

 

He is God and man in one glorious person – The God-man.  He is very man of very man, as much God as though he were not man, and as much men as though he were not God.  He is not God humanized.  He is not man deified.  He is both fully God and fully man.  The only differences between Jesus Christ and any other man are those two.

 

  1. This man knew no sin!
  2. This man is God!

 

C.  Being both God and man, he is “mighty to save”.

 

 

II.  Jesus Christ here asserts that he is “mighty to save.”  So my next question is this – What Is His Salvation?

 

Most people when they think of salvation, think of it only in terms of salvation from hell. We rejoice in the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ saves us from hell!  He saves us from the wrath of God.  But salvation is much, much more than that.  Salvation is the complete deliverance of our souls from sin and death into “the glorious liberty of the sons of God.”

 

Many these days foolishly imagine that the Lord Jesus has come to put fallen men into a savable state.  But that is not the case at all.  What kind of gospel can that be which says to lost, helpless, spiritually dead sinners – “Christ has put you into a savable state?”  Oh, no!  That is not the gospel we preach.  We declare, according to the Scriptures, that the Lord Jesus Christ, who is mighty to save puts all whom he came to save into a saved state!  Matthew 1:21

 

He does not provide salvation. He performs it!  He does not offer grace.  He operates it!  He is the good Shepherd and the great Shepherd.  He laid down his life for his sheep.  He seeks his lost sheep until he finds it.  When he has found it, he lays hold of his sheep.  He lays it on his shoulders, and carries it all the way home to glory.

 

God our Savior does not begin his work of grace in us and then leave it for us to keep it and perfect it.  No, no, no!  “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it”  until he completes it (Phil. 1:6).  He who is mighty to save is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory (Jude 24 – 25).

 

III.  What Is The Might, What Is The Power, By Which He Saves?

 

I could spend a long, long time talking to you about this.  I love to talk and preach about Christ’s saving power.  But I will refrain myself.  I will say only enough to show you that the might by which the Lord Jesus Christ saves sinners involves the infinity of his character and omnipotence as God.

 

A.  Jesus Christ saves sinners by The Infinite Merit and Efficacy of His Blood and Righteousness. – That of A Man! – That of God!  Hebrews 9:12

 

B.  Christ calls out and Saves sinners by The Omnipotent Power and Grace of His Holy Spirit.

 

 

  1. He calls the dead to life.
  2. He causes the chosen to believe.
  3. He seats us in Christ.

 

C.  The instrument by which our Mighty Savior calls out and saves his elect is The Powerful Word of His Grace in The Gospel.

 

 

IV.  How Can I Prove To You That The Lord Jesus Christ Is Mighty To Save?

 

The old proverb is, “The proof is in the pudding.”  So I will simply offer this one thing as proof that Jesus Christ is “mighty to save” – He has done it!

 

 

A.  I know a wayward prodigal when he has brought home to God.

 

B.  I know a base harlot whom Christ has made a chaste virgin.

 

C.  I know life-long religionist the Lord Jesus has abased, conquered, and saved.

 

D.  I know a fine, “good” girl who has been made to see her sin and has been made to see and trust her Savior.

 

E.  I know drunks, dope heads, thieves’, robbers, and murderers who have been made the saints of God by Jesus Christ.

 

F.  And I know some men and women who foolishly imagined themselves to be saints, who have been made to taste their sin and have been made to taste God’s free, saving grace in Christ.

 

Our Savior declares, “I am mighty to save.”  And he has proved it.  I stand here, with these my brothers and sisters in Christ, as proof that it is so.

 

I was once far away from the Savior,

And as vile as a sinner could be.

I wondered if Christ the Redeemer

Could save a poor sinner like me.

 

I wondered alone in the darkness,

Not a ray of the light could I see.

And the thought filled my heart with sadness –

“There’s no hope for a sinner like me!”

 

But, then, in that dark, lonely hour,

A voice whispered sweetly to me,

Saying, “Christ the Redeemer has power

To save a poor sinner like me.”

 

I listened, and lo!  ‘Twas the Savior,

That was speaking so kindly to me.

I cried, “I’m the chief of sinners,

Will you save a poor sinner like me?’

 

I then fully trusted in Jesus.

And, oh, what a joy came to me!

My heart was filled with His praises,

For saving a poor sinner like me!

 

No longer in darkness I’m walking,

For the light is now shining on me.

And now unto others I’m talking,

How He saved a poor sinner like me!

 

And when life’s journey is over,

And I the dear Savior shall see,

I’ll praise Him forever and ever,

For saving a sinner like me!

 

G.  This great, mighty Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ can save sinners like you, too – May God give you grace to trust him.

 

V.  What Influences Are To Be Drawn From This Fact – That Jesus Christ Is The Mighty Savior?

 

A.  God’s servants have every reason to preach with confident hope – (Acts 18:10).

 

B.  You who have carried a heavy burden for a long, long time, praying for specific lost souls, have reason to go on praying with hope.

 

    Illus:  Jarius’ Daughter

               The Canaanite Woman!

                The Ruler’s Servant!

 

C.  You who need a Savior have reason to hope, you have reason to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ – He is the Mighty Savior!

 

Application:  Illus: The Disfigured Mother.