Good Morning Family,
I'm so grateful to have you here with us today.
Thank you for joining us
Heavenly Father,
I pray for everyone here gathered here today,
that You would protect each and every of them from sin and evil
evil thoughts and negative attitudes would be left outside these doors,
along with petty arguments and resentments
That we may worship You and serve You joyfully
Praise You willingly
Pray for one another faithfully
Lord, prepare every heart joining us today, for worship
allow Your love to be present in every handshake,
and every eye contact made throughout
Make our hearts, as Your children, ready, eagerly awaiting Your return
Fill us with Your presence O Lord
that the world around will see You in each of us here today
And that as we leave here today, help us to share our talents and gifts creatively
that You would receive the glory
All for the furtherance of Your Kingdom
Amen
So, I'm sure some of you are wondering about today's message title...
(laughing)
That was the point..
Let get right to it, shall we?
"Bring out the blind people who have eyes,
And the deaf who have ears.
Let all the nations be gathered together,
And let the people be assembled.
Who among them can declare this,
And show us former things?
Let them bring out their witnesses, that they may be justified;
Or let them hear and say, “It is truth.”
“You are My witnesses,” says the Lord,
“And My servant whom I have chosen,
That you may know and believe Me,
And understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God formed,
Nor shall there be after Me.
I, even I, am the Lord,
And besides Me there is no savior.
I have declared and saved,
I have proclaimed,
And there was no foreign god among you;
Therefore you are My witnesses,”
Says the Lord, “that I am God.
Indeed before the day was, I am He;
And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand;
I work, and who will reverse it?"
Isaiah 43:8-13
One of the most highly influential preachers of all time, Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said:
“It is well for us that as sin lives, and the flesh lives, and the devil lives, so Jesus lives; and it is also well that whatever might these may have to ruin us, Jesus has still greater power to save us.”
"And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet."
Matthew 1:21-22
"Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins."
Acts 5:31
So why did the savior of the world come?
First of all to give repentance.
Second to give forgiveness.
Please understand today the marvelous gift that God has given us is the ability to repent of our sins.
The ability to stand before a Holy God and ask for forgiveness.
Who could dare stand before this Holy God?
Who would risk the death the proceeds death to go before Him?
You and I.
Because of the Death of Jesus Christ, You and I can stand before God.
"Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
Hebrews 4:14-16
Are you paying attention to this?
"For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses"
He can sympathize with our weaknesses!
He feels in His heart, what we're feeling when we come to Him.
He feels our pain.
He feels our weaknesses.
He feels our inadequacies.
He feels our suffering.
He feels our sorrow.
Jesus understands how we feel when we come to Him with our problems.
The feeling of despair.
The feeling of disappointment.
The feeling of discouragement.
The feeling of failure.
The feeling of sin.
Not only does He feel what we feel, He is moved with compassion by our weaknesses.
Was Tempted In All Points:
He knows what it is to be tempted!
He knows what it is to have the Devil put temptation in front of your eyes.
He knows what it is to have satan offer you the world on a silver platter if you would only bow down and worship him rather than God.
He knows what it is to look the devil in the eye and be tempted by every evil known to man.
Trust me, He Knows!
We think that we are the only ones tempted the way we are.
We think that God has no idea what it’s like to be harassed by satan's temptations.
News Flash People:
He knows!
He knows!!
He knows!!!
"Yet Without Sin"
And there is the difference between Jesus Christ and you and me!
I was tempted to sin and I did.
He was tempted to sin and He didn’t.
I was tempted to lie and steal and hurt other people and I did it.
I was tempted to drink, do drugs, and guess what... I did it, I sinned
I failed
Without God I lost out!
I gave a piece of my soul to the devil the very first time I told a lie!
I became a sinner.
And guess what else...
It wasn’t just a one time thing either.
I have sinned over and over in my life.
I have failed God over and over and over.
Time and time again, I have in the past fallen to satan’s temptations!
AND SO HAVE YOU!!!
We only deceive ourselves when we try to convince ourselves that we are perfect, without sin!
Here that is the problem with many Christians today….
That means YOU and I, that's right, we all have …..every single sorry one of us…
From the preacher to the greeter at the front door and all the pews in between.
Not a single one of us deserves to sit in this Holy Place today.
But thanks be to God for the savior!
I’m so grateful for the last part of that scripture…
“come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”But I needed His help last week.
I needed His help Yesterday.
I needed His help this morning.
I Need His Help Right Now.
And I can guarantee you this, if I'm still alive, I'll need His help next week and the week after that!
"But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken."
That was the chastisement of my peace.
Those were my stripes!
That was my oppression
That was my affliction
But it was placed upon HIM
AND he opened not His mouth …. to bring accusation against me!!!
He could have said “Hey stop beating me….. I tried to do this for him, but Brian Monzon is the sinner here!
That would mean I was not forgiven!
But I have forgiveness today!!!
I don't deserve it!
But I have a savior!
I have someone who loves me so much, that He said, "I'll stand in Brian Monzons' place.
I'll take all the punishment that he has coming to him, give it to me.
And guess what?
He did the same for YOU.
Accept that He loves you and was willing to stand in your place.
Accept that He paid the price in full for every last rotten thing you have ever done or will do!
Accept that He died in your place.
I am grateful I have Jesus…. Who can save His people from their sins.
Are you grateful for Jesus today?
Are you grateful for forgiveness?
Are you grateful there is repentance!?
Are you grateful for the alter?!
Are you grateful for the cross of Calvary???!
"Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors."
Isaiah 53:10-12
If you don't yet know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, won't you consider it today?
It's the single best decision you will ever make and you will be so glad you did!
I know I am!
Everyday day of my life, I am so grateful to My Savior for all He had already done for Me!
With knowing all of my mistakes, all my faults, and He knows them every one!
And He still loves me!
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
John 3:16
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Brian Monzon Ministries