From: "JIMMY CHAPMAN" <chapmanjimmy@hotmail.com>
To: <PREACHINGTHEWORD@ .NET>; <Dayspring_Bap@yahoo.com>;
<OutlineSharing@yahoogroups.com>;
Date: Friday, July 27, 2001 5:30 PM
HOW BIG IS JESUS
August 19. 01
Isaiah 45:22
This is the text verse that a Primitive Methodist layman preached
from the
day Charles Haddon Spurgeon was saved. Listen as Spurgeon recounts
that day
the layman preached,
It is a text that encourages and exhorts us to look to Christ.
I want to do just that this morning.
The Saviour many people believe in is far too small. Many of us
need a
gain a larger perception of Jesus Christ in relation to our personal
lives.
Jesus Christ is all sufficient. Nothing is above Him, and nothing
is beyond
Him.
Isaiah calls all the world to look to one (HIM). No need to look
to anyone
else. He is big enough!
How big is Jesus?
I. Jesus is big enough to be the lone SUBSTITUTE for all iniquity.
Isaiah 53:6 "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned every one
to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of
us All."
A. All are sinners - the universality of sin...in Adam positionally
and in
life actually.
B. All are self-willed. All sinners are alike. They are all self-willed.
Every sin is an act of the will.
C. All are provided for.
All we are included in the problem of sin, and we all are included
in the
provision of a substitute.
An old English preacher had been in a meeting. He boarded the
train and
was about to leave. A young lady who was without the Saviour ran
to the
side of the train and yelled, "Please sir, I w ant to be
saved. Tell me how
to be saved." The train was beginning to leave the station,
and looking out
the window he said, "Young lady, go home and read Isaiah
53:6. Go in on the
first 'all' and come out on the second 'all' and you will be all
right."
I Timothy 2:5,6 "For there is one God, and one mediator
between God and
men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for ALL."
Jesus is big enough to bear the sins of the whole world. He is
big enough
to be the one substitute for all the sin of the world. I John
2:2 "And he
is the propitiation for our sins; and not for our's only, but
also for the
sins of the whole world." The provision for sin is as extensive
as the
extent of sin.
When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865 they placed his
body in the
rotunda of the capitol and allowed people to view the body of
their slain
president. In the long, somber line of people there was a rather
large
black woman clutching her son to her bosom. As she approached
the body of
her late president, she was her to say to that little boy, "Look
a long time
laddie, that man died for you."
Hebrews 2:9 says, "But we see Jesus, who was made a little
lower than the
angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour;
that he by
the grace of God should taste death for EVERY man."
Romans 8:32 "He that spared not his own son, but delivered
him up for us
ALL."
II. Jesus is big enough to be the only SAVIOUR of all humanity.
"Look unto ME, and be ye saved"
Jesus is the complete Saviour. He is only Saviour. He needs no
one else to
help Him.
"I am THE way, THE truth, THE life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by
ME."
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none
other name
under heaven given among me, whereby we must be saved."
A Saviour is
NEEDED BY ALL
OFFERED TO ALL
SUPPLIED BY ONE
I John 4:1 "And we have seen and do testify that the Father
sent the
Son to be the Saviour of the world."
John 3:17 "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn
the
world; but that the world through him might be saved."
Simply put-IT IS JESUS CHRIST OR ETERNAL DAMNATION.
Peter testfied on one occassion, "Lord, to whom shall we
go? Thou hast the
words of eternal life." THERE IS ABOSOLETELY NO ONE TO GO
TO FOR SALVATION
BUT JESUS!
III. Jesus is big enough to be the SUFFICIENCY in all difficulty.
Come
what may, Jesus is big enough to sustain all his children in the
storm.
II Corinthians 9:8 "And God is able to make all grace abound
toward you;
that ye always having all sufficiency in all things." Sustain
in any and
all circumstance. Can't name one situation or circumstance where
he cannot
sustain His own.
He is more than up to any situation that may arise. He can handle
the fire,
the lions, the winds and waves. He is big enough to sustain you
through all
your tears and trials
With Jesus you can undergo anything, perform anything, face
anything, and
endure anything.
"In all these things [tribulation, distress, persecution,
famine,
nakedness, peril, or sword] we are more than conquerors through
him that
loved us."
Big enough to sustain in any time, thing, or tense!
Jesus is the all sufficient one!
IV. Jesus is big enough claim the SUPREMACY for all your loyalty.
Luke 14:25-33 Here are some of the most demanding words in all
the Bible.
They are penetrating, exacting, and frankly - tough. Here is a
contract for
Christian commitment.
A. Terms for which Jesus demanded
1. Loyalty to His person
a. Put Jesus above all personal affiliations or associations (26)
Our love for Him must outshine all other loves, even the love
we feel
for our families. See Matthew 10:37
b. Put Jesus above all personal assets and amusements (33)
There is only one way of being a disciple, and that is by being
devoted to Jesus
2. Identity to His purpose ("bear his cross")
Christ must be followed and imitated in his devotion to the will
of God
even to the extremity of suffering. There needs to be a daily
identification
with Christ in shame, suffering, and surrender to God's will.
B. Task to which Jesus designated
1. Building
2. Battling
C. Truths of which Jesus declared
1. He spoke of what they would reject
There must be a rejection self and our own plans and a willingness
to
serve Him as He directs.
2. He spoke of what they must renounce
Everything must go on the altar!
In verse 34,35 Jesus declares that if we gloss over what He has
just said,
then we will become useless. Are you willing to accept his challenge?
V. Jesus is big enough to be SHARED with all locality.
He expects the Christian to be His witnesses to all the world.
"Ye shall
be witnesses nto me both in Jersualem, and in all Judea, and in
Samaria, and
unto the uttermost part of the earth." His death is sufficient
for all but
only efficient for those who believe.
No place where he cannot be shared. No person whom He is not to
b shared.
"Into all the world" means:
A. Every climate
B. Every color
C. Every circumstance
D. Every character
E. Every class
Jesus is the only HOPE of the world!
Whoever on the Son believeth,
Everlasting life receiveth.
Conclusion:
How big is Jesus? He is big enough to invite the world to look
to HIM.
Jesus is more than adequate. Jesus is more than enough. No need
to look to
anyone else.
Bro. Jimmy
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