One Thing Everybody Ought to Know

I was stunned reading recently about how many things are printed in the United States every day. Did you know that every second 3,000 pages of material are printed in the United States? Think about that. Every second 3,000 pages. One thousand books are published every day.

Did you know that if you took all of the knowledge from the time of recorded history to 1845 and it equate an inch; then from 1845 to l945 it would equal 3 inches; but from 1945 to the present it would be longer than the Washington Monument. That is how many facts we are learning. That is how knowledge is increasing, pulling in on us like a tidal wave.

One thing all of this knowledge has taught us, however, is, that nobody can know everything. A census taker knocked on the door of an old backwoods shack up in West Virginia. An old timer came to the door and asked the man what he wanted.

“The President has sent us across the country to find out exactly how many people live in the United States” the man said. The hillbilly said, “Well, I’m sorry you came all the way out here to ask me because I ain’t got the faintest idea.”

Well there is much that we cannot know, but there is one thing that everybody ought to know, that is “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinner”.

A Reliable Statement:

Paul says, “This is a faithful saying”. Notice, it’s not that IT WAS a faithful saying, IT IS a faithful saying. It is authentic. It is up-to-date. It is always true. You know today’s scientific truth will be tomorrow’s superstitious myth. But that is not true of the Word of God. Every statement from the lips of our God is always reliable.

Paul wants us to know that this is not a figment of his imagination. It is not some fancy tale. Peter said in

2 Peter 1:16 MEV

16 For we have not followed cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.

, “For we do not follow cunningly divised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.”

A Valuable Statement:

It is a worthy statement. It is a commendable statement. It is worth your attention. It is worth your allegiance. It is a statement that is a worthy today as it was yesterday and will be as worthy tomorrow as it is today.

An Acceptable Statement:

Paul says, “it is worthy of all acceptance.” This is a statement for everyone in every time at every place. You have here the entire Scripture in a sentence. All of the Bible is meant to convey this one truth that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”. That single, simple sentence is pregnant with meaning and literally bursting with truth.

I. THE PROOF THAT JESUS CAME TO SAVE

The first part of this statement that is worthy of you hearing and believing is this, “Christ Jesus came”. Now, how do we know that there really was a man who came, who walked the face of this earth by the name of Jesus Christ?

A. Historical Proof…

Well, first of all we have 27 books of the New Testament; and speaking in a strictly secular sense, the Bible is a history book. It is one of the most valuable historical pieces that have ever been written. But it’s not just ordinary history. This history is about His-Story.

But even if we did not have these books of the New Testament, we would know that there was a man by the name of Jesus Christ who lived 2,000 years ago. Secular historians all the way back to the time of Jesus Himself give us accounts of this man named Jesus.

Cornelius Tasetus, a Roman historian who was born 20 years after the death of Jesus, speaks about a Christ who was put to death by Pontius Pilot of Judea.

Josephus, a Jewish historian who was born about the time that Christ died, speaks about a man named Jesus who he called a “wise man…a doer of wonderful works…(who) was the Christ whom Pilot condemned to cross”.

Now there are many other secular historians who refer to this historical figure named Jesus, though one of the recent editions of the Encyclopedia Britannica uses 20,000 words in it’s article on Jesus Christ, an article that takes up more space than was given to Aristotle, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed or Napoleon Bonaparte.

There is more proof of the existence of Jesus Christ than there is of the existence of Julius Caesar.

But notice the two names,

Christ Jesus.

Jesus was his domestic name.

Many people do not realize that Jesus was a common name 2,000 years ago, much like the name John or Charles is today. But you know the Lord Jesus had a way of turning the common into the uncommon. Of turning the natural into the supernatural.

He was born in a common city, but His birth turned Bethlehem into a city of glory. He was crucified on a common cross, but His death turned it into a cross of grace. He was given a common name, but His life turned it into a name of greatness.

But His other name,

Christ, is His divine name.

The name Christ literally means anointed one. You see, He had to have two names because He had two natures.

Jesus was His human name, Christ was His heavenly name.

Jesus refers to His humanity, Christ refers to His deity.

He was Jesus because He was the Son of Man, He was Christ because He was the Son of God.

Jesus referred to his human identity, Christ referred to His heavenly purity.

God wanted to save man, but He could not do it just as God, in a sense. He had to take on a human body and become a man to die for man because only a man could die for man. But He had to be the God Man in order to die for all Man, if he just been another man He could only have died for one man. So He came and lived and died as the God Man.

There is no reputable historian who denies the historicity of the person of Jesus Christ. You may deny His identity, but you cannot deny His reality.

B. Heavenly Proof…

Another reason we know that Jesus came is because the Bible tells us He came. In the Old Testament alone there are over 300 prophecies that have been fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.

But beyond that, four books in the New Testament are devoted strictly to the birth, the life, the death and the resurrection of this man called Jesus Christ. Some of the manuscripts which support this New Testament go all the way back to the first century A.D.

C. Human Proof…

Every day, when we simply write down a date, it is a subtle reminder of the person of Jesus Christ. Our entire dating system revolves around this Man of Galilee.

We live in 2021 A.D. Those two letters come from the Latin words “Anno Domini”, which literally means “in the year of our Lord”. B.C. means before Christ.

But beyond that, there is the reality of the person of Jesus Christ in the lives and souls of multiplied millions of people around the world. Beyond what I’ve just told you if you asked me how I know He’s real, He’s real within my heart.

George W. Truett was the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. A cynic, a skeptic, an atheist, came up to Dr. Truett after one service, looked him in the eye and said “Dr. Truett I want to ask you a question and I want you to tell me the truth.” He said, “Is Jesus Christ real to you?” Dr. Truett looked at him with that square jaw and said, “Sir, Jesus is more real to me than the air that I breathe and the skin of my flesh.”

Without question, Jesus Christ came. Now, quite frankly, the world gives a big yawn at that statement and says, “Big Deal”. Much of the world thinks that Jesus was just another person. They believe that He was a great teacher, a great philosopher, a great moralist, a great man; but He was just another person.

To others, He was just another prophet.

The Moslem teach that.

The Mormons teach that.

The Jehovah’s Witness teach that.

To others still, He is just another phony.

There are those who look upon Jesus the way they look upon some TV evangelist, as just another religious charlatan who came trying to get up a following. Another cultic leader who wanted his name etched in the history books.

Well I’ll tell you what the big deal is about the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are at least five things that separate Jesus from any other person or prophet or phony who ever lived.

His virgin birth…His virtuous life…His vicarious death…His victorious resurrection and His visible return.

I tell you that the Lord Jesus Christ was born like nobody else was born, lived like nobody has lived, died like nobody else has died, was raised from the dead as no one else has been raised from the dead and one day is going to return and rule and reign over this earth.

I believe without question the greatest statement ever uttered in all of the world that every person had best, for his own eternal good, investigate and decide upon, are these words “CHRIST JESUS CAME”.

II. THE PROBLEM THAT JESUS CAME TO SOLVE

Paul goes on to tell us “Christ Jesus came into the world to save.” That is exactly what the Lord Jesus Himself said.

Luke 19:10 MEV

10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).

Jesus came into this world specifically to save sinners.

Now just think about that statement.

If Jesus came to save sinners that tells us two things:

number one, we’re sinners; and

number two, we need to be saved.

If we were not sinners we would not need to be saved; and if we did not need to be saved, Jesus would never have come.

Do you understand that the only reason Jesus came was to SAVE you and TAKE you to heaven?

He did not come to build an empire. He did not come to become a part of the “rich and famous”. He did not come to raise money. More books have been written about Him than any other figure in human history. Yet He never even wrote one page.

But the reason why He came, the reason why He was sent, was to save sinners.

If our problem had been knowledge, God would have sent a teacher.

If our problem had been technology, God would have sent a scientist.

If our problem had been money, God would have sent a philanthropist.

If our problem had been peace, God would have sent a diplomat.

If our problem had been health, God would have sent a doctor. But our problem was sin and God sent us a Savior.

He came to save and He is all we need to be saved.

There is one religious group that says the Church saves. There is another that says Baptism saves. There are billions in this world who believe that Religion saves. America is full of people who believe Clean Living saves.

But we need to waft it on the rolling tide, Jesus saves, Jesus saves. Tell to sinners far and wide, Jesus saves, Jesus saves.

Jesus did not come to show us the way to heaven, He is the Way. Jesus did not come to tell us the truth, He is the Truth. Jesus did not come to lead us to life, He is the Life. He is all that we need and everything we need to be saved.

III. THE PEOPLE JESUS CAME TO SAVE

Listen to the saying again, “Christ Jesus came to save sinner”. That is the only kind of people that Jesus will bother to save. That is the only kind of people who can be saved, sinners. Jesus Himself said,

Luke 5:31–32 MEV

31 Jesus answered them, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but those who are sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

“Those who are well do not need a physician but those who are sick. I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:31-32).

I’ve got some good news for you tonight, if you are a sinner, you are qualified and eligible for salvation.

Did you know that the only people eligible to go to heaven are sinners?

Did you know that the only people Jesus came to save are sinners?

Did you know that the only people that can be forgiven are sinners?

Did you know that the only people who can receive eternal life are sinners?

Romans 5:8 MEV

8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

“God commended His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

I get amused at these people who say, “Well, I don’t go to church because there are hypocrites down at the church”. Well, I hope there are hypocrites in the church, because that’s exactly where the hypocrites belong.

Let me tell you some something,

The church is not a SHOWCASE for SAINTS;

it is a HOSPITAL for SINNERS.

I believe we ought to put up a sign over the front door of the church that says, “For sinners only…No one else need apply”.

Has it ever occurred to you that if you tried to come to the Savior as a saint, He will reject you as a sinner, but if you come to the Savior as a sinner, He will receive you as a saint?

If the Prodigal Son had waited until he had taken a bath, put one some clean clothes, got the pig smell off of his body, brushed the slop out of his mouth before he came home, he would have never come home. But when he came home, looked at his father and simply said one thing, “I have sinned”, that’s all the father needed to hear. The father washed his feet, gave him a new robe and a new ring, a new pair of shoes and a feast to boot. You see, he did not change so his father would accept him; the father accepted him like he was and the father changed him.

God does not CHANGE us so He can LOVE us;

He LOVES us in order to CHANGE us.

There are two types of people that I have never met in my life. I have never met a person so good that he needed not be saved and I have never met a person so bad that he could not be saved.

There are some people who have this idea that before they can get saved, they’ve go to clean up their life. They have it backwards. You don’t clean up your life so you can get saved, you get saved and then God cleans up your life. But you’ve got to come to God just as you are, a sinner in need of salvation

And

If you’re going to come to Jesus, that’s how you’ll have to come, as a sinner. Just as you are!!

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