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.
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.
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.
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.