-
When you want so much
for God to do something,
-
and you're afraid even
for your own desires,
-
do you want God to do something
-
so that you can witness it?
-
Do you want God to do something
-
so that you can be a part of it?
-
Do you want God to do something
-
so that you can claim
-
that it had something to do with you?
-
With your own piety?
-
Your prayers?
-
All that is a work of the flesh.
-
Maybe the best thing that
could happen here tonight
-
would be for God to walk away;
-
to leave me here as what I am.
-
A nose full of breath.
-
Weak.
-
Graceless.
-
Powerless.
-
What is man that God would
even take thought of him?
-
Or the son of man that God
would be concerned for him?
-
There are no great men of God.
-
Only pathetic, little, disappointing men
-
of a great and a merciful God.
-
In my prayers this evening,
-
I kept thinking of the words
of Robert Murray McCheyne
-
who said, "Lord, make me as holy
-
as a pardoned sinner can be."
-
The desire for God to work in this place
-
would be a holy desire;
-
that it would be fixed upon Christ alone.
-
Oh, that God would raise up a child
-
(unintelligible).
-
That a revival would break out
-
through a little boy,
-
so that no man could
stretch forth his hand
-
and touch the ark of God
-
and claim that he had
something to do with it.
-
Oh that God would use the most ignoble,
-
the most unknown among us to do
-
something great for His name.
-
That way, we would be at least
-
a little bit more comfortable in realizing
-
that the whole thing may not be sideswiped
-
by men and their desire for glory.
-
My question to you tonight
-
is have you ever understood the Gospel?
-
You might be saying,
well, what do you mean?
-
Most of us in here are Christians.
-
But have you ever understood the Gospel?
-
"Well, I share the Gospel."
-
Many share the Gospel, but they
do not understand the Gospel.
-
Have you ever understood the Gospel?
-
Today, there is much done in the church.
-
The music is to be perfect.
-
The administration and ordering
-
of the service is to be
spectacular and quick
-
so as to not leave one dull moment.
-
So many things have to be
done to attract a crowd
-
and to keep that crowd they've attracted.
-
Why is that? Is it because the Gospel
-
no longer has power?
-
Or is it because we deceive ourselves
-
in thinking that we are
preaching the Gospel?
-
Paul said that the Gospel
was the power of God
-
for salvation to everyone who believes.
-
That is true.
-
And power is demanded
-
because men are dead in
their trespasses and sins.
-
Men are born haters of God.
-
Before they will come to Him,
-
a magnificent miracle must
be wrought in their heart.
-
And it's only through the Gospel
-
and the preaching of the Gospel
-
that such a miracle occurs.
-
Have you ever truly understood the Gospel?
-
Tonight I want to go to a passage
-
that I preach very often.
-
Every time I get one chance at a crowd,
-
apart from some special impression -
-
strong impression from the Lord -
-
I'm going to go straight to this text.
-
Why?
-
Because everything
depends upon the Gospel.
-
And most people think
that they understand it.
-
Many people think that they
have comprehended it;
-
that they've put their arms around it.
-
It's only because they do not
understand the Gospel.
-
As I always say, my dear friend,
-
the day that Jesus Christ comes back,
-
you will understand
everything you need to know
-
about eschatology and the last days.
-
But you will be an eternity in Heaven
-
and you will not even have begun
-
to comprehend the glories of God
-
in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
-
The Gospel is not Christianity 101.
-
It is not the beginning, infant,
-
baby step of Christianity,
-
which you soon master and
then go on to something else.
-
The Gospel is everything.
-
It's the first truth. It's the last one.
-
It's the truth on which you
must cut your teeth.
-
It's the truth that you will be chewing on
-
even throughout eternity.
-
The Gospel.
-
Now, let's go to one of the greatest
passages on the Gospel ever written.
-
Romans 3.
-
Romans 3:23.
-
"For all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God."
-
Then he goes on,
-
"being justified as a gift by His grace
-
through the redemption
which is in Christ Jesus,
-
whom God displayed
publicly as a propitiation
-
in His blood through faith.
-
This was to demonstrate His righteousness
-
because in the forebearance of God
-
He passed over the sins
previously committed.
-
For the demonstration
I say of His righteousness
-
at the present time
-
so that He would be just and the justifier
-
of the one who has faith in Jesus.
-
Where then is boasting? It is excluded.
-
By what kind of law? Of works?
-
No, but by a law of faith."
-
For all have sinned...
-
Does that make you afraid?
-
It should.
-
But it doesn't for primarily two reasons,
-
the first being this:
-
Few people today have a
proper knowledge of God.
-
They do not know who God is
-
nor whom they should fear.
-
Secondly, they do not have
a proper knowledge of self;
-
of how sinful we are in nature
-
and how sinful our deeds truly are
-
before a holy God.
-
For all have sinned.
-
One of the greatest reasons why we see
-
so little power in and during
supposed Gospel preaching
-
is because rarely are the
attributes of God
-
set before the sinner.
-
We walk up to people and say:
Do you know you're a sinner?
-
And sometimes with a chuckle in our voice
-
so that they not be too isolated
-
or feel too bad about themselves.
-
Do you know you're a sinner?
-
And they say, "Well, yes, I am."
-
They don't know how
terrifying their confession is
-
because they do not know God.
-
And men do not know God
-
because very few preachers
are proclaiming God -
-
at least, God in His fullness,
-
a God who is holy,
-
a God who is perfectly righteous.
-
It is only when men have something
-
of a comprehension of who God is
-
that they can tell something
about who they are
-
and how horrific the declaration is
-
that all have sinned.
-
What does it mean to sin?
-
Principally, the idea is that you deviate
-
from the law or the will of God.
-
You break God's commandments.
-
Either you do not do
what He tells you to do,
-
or you do what He prohibits you.
-
Either way, it is a trespass against God
-
and it is an offense against His glory,
-
against His holiness,
against His righteousness,
-
against His person.
-
All have sinned.
-
Now, let me put this in
perspective for you.
-
God created the world with a word.
-
He said, "Let there be light,"
and the light obeyed Him.
-
He told the sun and the stars
-
to put themselves in
certain places in the sky
-
and they all bowed in reverence.
-
He told the planets to follow the path
-
that He had marked out for them
-
and they all submitted to His will.
-
He told the mountains to be
lifted up and they obeyed.
-
He told the valleys to be cast down
-
and they bowed in reverence.
-
He told the great seas of the earth,
-
"You'll come to this
point and no farther,"
-
and they worshiped Him.
-
And then He told you, "Come,"
and you said, "No."
-
No!
-
I will not.
-
And thus, all of creation comes together
-
in agreement and applauds
your condemnation;
-
worships God when He comes to the earth
-
to judge you.
-
The smallest creatures obey His will.
-
He tells the geese to fly south.
-
They obey.
-
He sends rain to the parched ground
-
and it turns to mud.
-
He sends the sun and it responds
appropriately and dries up,
-
but you will not.
-
All have sinned.
-
Now I want to look at this deeply.
-
And for those of you who are preachers,
-
I want you to understand this -
-
street preachers and those who
are witnessing on the street -
-
with love, great compassion, and patience
-
you must press these truths
upon the souls of men.
-
None of this superficial evangelism today.
-
None of it. It has no
power in it whatsoever.
-
You must deal with the hearts of men.
-
And you must use the Scriptures to do so.
-
I want us to just hold our place
-
and I want you to run over to Genesis 6.
-
Genesis 6:5.
-
This text teaches us clearly
-
about the corruption of men.
-
You say, but Brother Paul,
this was prior to the flood. Yes.
-
And after the flood,
the corruption continued.
-
The flood only judged wicked men.
-
It had no power to change them.
-
So those who went into the ark corrupt,
-
came out of the ark corrupt
-
and continued that corruption of Adam
-
even till today.
-
It says this in v. 5,
-
"Then the Lord saw the wickedness of man
-
that it was great on the earth
-
and that every intent of
the thoughts of his heart
-
was only evil continually."
-
What is it teaching us?
-
It's teaching us more than the fact
-
that we have sinned with our thoughts.
-
It is teaching us something
about our nature.
-
Those thoughts must come from some place.
-
You cannot blame it on society.
-
You can't blame it on culture.
-
You can't blame it on someone
-
who supposedly did you wrong.
-
Your thoughts reveal
-
the character of your nature.
-
Now let's look at those
thoughts for a moment.
-
If I were to take out your heart
-
or if I were to take every thought
-
you've ever had
-
from the moment you
first remember thinking
-
until this very night, this very moment,
-
if I took every thought you've ever had
-
and I was able to put it on a DVD,
-
and then I was able to show every thought
-
and every deed that you
have ever accomplished
-
on this earth, I submit to you
-
that you would rise up and you would run
-
out of this building
-
and you would never come back here again.
-
You would never show
your face to any of us.
-
You have thought things so vile,
-
so wicked, that you cannot even begin
-
to share them with your closest friend.
-
You have thought things
against your closest friend
-
that if they knew them,
they would no longer
-
be your friend.
-
Now look at this.
-
If your thoughts were
laid bare here tonight,
-
every one of them, you would
run out of here in shame.
-
And yet you know that
those who are looking
-
on all your evil thoughts
-
have the same evil thoughts.
-
Even among the wicked you cannot bear
-
that they know who you are.
-
Now how will you stand before a holy God?
-
How will you stand before a holy Heaven
-
that has no darkness?
-
Has no variation?
-
Has no nature subject to change?
-
How will you stand on that great day?
-
Do you think that your case before Him
-
will be dismissed?
-
If you are judged based
upon your thoughts,
-
if you are judged based upon your deeds,
-
you yourself will have to raise your hand
-
on the day of judgment and swear
-
that the God of all the earth
has judged you correctly
-
when He condemns your soul
-
to eternal punishment.
-
Let's go on.
-
Look in Genesis 8:21.
-
"The Lord smelled the soothing aroma
-
and the Lord said to Himself,
-
'I will never again curse the
ground on account of man,
-
for the intent of man's
heart is evil from his youth.'"
-
It's not merely going back to
some supposed adolescent stage.
-
The idea here that is set forth
-
and what is confirmed throughout Scripture
-
is this: that men - the evil they do -
-
is caused by something greater
-
than outside influences.
-
Men do evil because men are evil.
-
Let me give you an example.
-
I have a two year old daughter
-
whom I love,
-
for whom I would give my life.
-
But say that I'm holding her in my arms
-
and she sees my shiny watch
-
and she reaches for it.
-
And I take her hand and say, "No."
-
She gets angry. She reaches
again for the watch.
-
I say no. She begins to flail
her hands in the air
-
and swing them in the
direction of my face.
-
I grab her. I say no.
-
I submit to you - theologically -
-
that if at that moment,
-
my two year old daughter
-
had the strength of an 18 year old man,
-
she would slaughter me where I stood.
-
She would rip the watch off my arm.
-
She would walk over my bloody body,
-
leaving bloody footprints on the floor,
-
and walk out the door
-
and rejoice in her watch
-
without one feeling of
remorse in her heart.
-
You say, "I don't believe it."
There's your problem.
-
There's your problem.
-
You say, but men don't act that way.
-
We'll understand in a moment the reason
-
why some men don't act that way
-
is not because of the
goodness of their own heart,
-
but a good God who restrains evil men
-
so that society might continue
-
and the Gospel might be preached
-
for the salvation of some.
-
Let me ask you a question.
What makes you different from Hitler?
-
Have you ever wondered
-
why was Hitler as bad as he was?
-
Have you ever wondered this:
-
Why wasn't he worse?
-
Have you ever wondered this:
-
Why are you not his equal in evil?
-
I submit to you this,
-
that all men are evil.
-
And the only thing that
keeps all of humanity
-
running headlong into the crimes of Hitler
-
is that they simply do not
have the opportunity or power
-
and it is because also
they are restrained
-
by the grace of God.
-
If it were not for the grace of God
-
restraining society as a whole,
-
we would run after Hitler,
-
we would pass Hitler,
-
and we would make Hitler
look like a choir boy.
-
One of the greatest problems
with the Gospel today
-
is that men are not being
told what men are.
-
The Bible teaches that
we are radically depraved.
-
What does that mean?
-
It means that our fallenness,
-
evil permeates every aspect of our being.
-
And apart from the grace of God,
-
we are worse than brute beasts.
-
We do far more damage to our own kind
-
than beasts to do theirs.
-
Have I said anything that is not backed up
-
by the newspapers and
the media and history?
-
The cruelty of men against men.
-
One of my favorite preachers
in the whole world
-
is Conrad Mbewe from Zambia.
-
And this is what he said
in the last sermon
-
I heard him preach:
-
"In Africa, we do not fear lions,
-
nor do we fear elephants
-
or crocodiles or leopards.
-
In Africa, we fear other Africans.
-
We fear other men."
-
And what is said by him
can be said of us all.
-
When we walk out of here tonight
-
we're not going to be afraid
-
of some bear attacking us on the street,
-
but all of us are guarded when we walk
-
through a dark alley.
-
For no reason at all,
-
men will steal from us.
-
They will kill us. They will hurt us
-
just for their own pleasure.
-
They're not an anomaly.
-
They're not some strange phenomenon.
-
As one scholar said,
-
peacetime is an illusion.
-
When the world is at peace,
-
it's just that everyone is reloading.
-
And that is true.
-
It's true.
-
Now, let's go on. Go to Isaiah.
-
Isaiah 64:6.
-
"For all of us have become
like one who is unclean
-
and all our righteous deeds
-
are like a filthy garment,
-
and all of us wither like a leaf,
-
and our iniquities like
the wind take us away."
-
Years ago, far out on the Amazon,
-
we began to work with a group of lepers.
-
We built a church there among them
-
in a place called San Pablo.
-
Have you ever seen leprosy?
-
It is an astounding thing.
-
It is frightful!
-
They tell me that there's
different kinds of leprosy,
-
and I by no means know the worst.
-
But if I had a leper here tonight,
-
you would have smelled him
-
before you entered into the building.
-
He would be a mass of blood, rotten flesh,
-
and pus oozing from his body.
-
That's the illustration God gives
-
with regard to the unregenerate,
-
unconverted man.
-
There is nothing in that man
-
that could be pleasing to a holy God.
-
Now, you can attempt all sorts of things
-
to try to clean him up.
-
Let's say that we went out here
-
to San Antonio or Dallas or Austin
-
and we found an
exquisite shop - clothing -
-
and we bought the finest white silk
-
and we wrapped the man in the silk
-
in order to make him presentable,
-
but what's going to happen?
-
It won't take long before the corruption
-
of the man himself
bleeds over into the silk
-
and the silk becomes
just as defiled as the man.
-
That's why good works cannot save you.
-
Because you have no good works.
-
You have none.
-
It is the nature.
-
And out of a corrupt nature
-
comes forth all your deeds.
-
And that is why our best deeds,
-
our most righteous works
-
are like filthy rags before God Almighty.
-
Now let's go on to Romans.
-
Back to Romans 3:9,
-
"What then? Are we better than they?
-
Not at all. For we have already charged
-
that both Jews and Greeks
are all under sin."
-
Sin is a universal reality.
-
I remember reading once
of the Nazi war crimes.
-
Many, many Nazi's were caught
-
and were put on trial.
-
And a Jewish man who had suffered greatly
-
at the hands of the Nazi's
-
was sitting there across the bench,
-
across the table from a man
-
who had done him great harm.
-
And the Jewish man began to weep.
-
And someone asked him why.
-
He said it was because he saw
-
so little difference between the man
-
who had done such atrocities to him
-
and his own heart.
-
You see, sin is a universal reality
-
in all stages of life.
-
Look at even the infant.
-
Look at the children.
-
There's this poetic idea that if only
-
children ruled the world -
-
if children ruled the world?
-
It would be hell on earth. It would be!
-
Think about the violence in children.
-
Think about the pecking order in children.
-
Who taught the child to lie? No one.
-
They learned it on their own.
-
Who taught the child to be selfish
-
and to scream and to demand
-
and to throw toys at other children?
-
No one. They learned it on their own.
-
We have all this proof around us
-
that the Scriptures are true
-
when it speaks about man.
-
But man cannot hear the Gospel
-
because he will not hear
the verdict against him.
-
For all have sinned whether they be
-
the Jew who received the testimonies
-
and the law and the promises,
-
or the Greek and all his intellect
-
and all his scholarship.
-
It doesn't matter.
-
All have sinned
-
and come short of the glory of God.
-
Now he goes on here and he says in v. 10,
-
"As it is written..."
-
Now notice, he is drawing from Scripture.
-
From Scripture. From Scripture.
-
Paul has the authority
as an apostle to speak,
-
but he is making the word doubly sure
-
using the Old Testament to prove
-
that his doctrine is true.
-
He says, "As it is written,
-
there is none righteous."
-
I think it is interesting
that that statement
-
is followed up with "no not one."
-
Because if you make the broad statement
-
"there is none righteous,"
-
someone in the crowd says,
"Yes, I know, but..."
-
No. None righteous.
-
Now understand this,
-
to dwell in Heaven with a righteous God,
-
you must be more than forgiven.
-
You must be more than neutral.
-
You must be righteous.
-
And you are not.
-
In your own standing,
-
by your own virtue and merit,
-
you are not righteous.
-
It says, "there is none righteous.
-
No not one. There is none who understands,
-
none who seeks for God."
-
I have traveled around
this world many times
-
and seen many different types
-
of religious societies.
-
And I find that they all have
something in common,
-
and even in the different religions,
-
we have a similar complaint.
And what is it?
-
That men only seek God
-
when they have some need.
-
You go into an evangelical church
-
and then someone will say,
-
well, they're seeking God
at this moment. Why?
-
Well, they've been diagnosed
with a terrible disease
-
or they've lost their job
-
or this or that - they're seeking God.
-
It's amazing. You go
to a Catholic country.
-
You see a lot of people praying
and you'll hear a Catholic say,
-
"Yeah, they're seeking God
now. I know the guy.
-
But it's just because he lost his job."
-
Go to the Buddhists, it's the same thing.
-
Seeking God not with
sincerity, but out of need.
-
Men are self-absorbed.
-
Full of self-love.
-
And they do not seek God
-
unless God has first sought them out
-
and done a great work in their heart.
-
There is no one who seeks God.
-
He goes on and he says this - v. 12,
-
"All have turned aside.
-
Together they have become useless."
-
If this is not a word
-
for the evangelical church in the West...
-
How many people claim
to be children of God?
-
They claim to be regenerate.
-
They claim to be converted,
-
and yet when you look at their service
-
to God and God's people in the church,
-
you can only designate them as useless.
-
They claim salvation for themselves,
-
but they are not useful servants of God.
-
They do not think on the will of God.
-
They do not obey the will of God.
-
They do not mourn when
they break the will of God.
-
They're not about giving their life
-
totally to the things of God.
-
They're only about
getting their best life now.
-
Useless servants
-
prove themselves to be unconverted men.
-
He goes on and he says this,
-
"There is none who does good.
-
There is not even one."
-
Good.
-
There's a wholesome sound to that word.
-
Good.
-
But how can anything good
-
come out of a heart that has dislocated
-
and twisted itself away from God
-
the fountain of all virtue?
-
Good.
-
Good.
-
Show me your goodness.
-
Stand before God with your boast.
-
No man can.
-
There is none good.
-
Isn't it amazing?
-
We can go all throughout this city,
-
all throughout this country,
-
we can go all throughout this world,
-
and if you ask men with regard
-
to some eternal hope,
-
the great majority of them
-
will point back to their own goodness -
-
even some of them who
claim to know Christ.
-
Do you know Jesus? Yes, I'm a Christian.
-
If you died right now, where would you go?
-
I would go to Heaven. Why?
-
Well, I try to keep the Ten Commandments.
-
I try to do good.
-
I take care of my sick mother.
-
But the Bible says no.
-
There are none good.
-
There's not even one.
-
Now let's go down to v. 19, it says,
-
"Now we know that whatever the law says,
-
it speaks to those who are under the law,
-
so that every mouth may be closed
-
and all the world may
become accountable to God."
-
What is the purpose of the law?
-
Is it to save? No.
-
But that does not make the law unholy
-
or unrighteous or unworthy.
-
The problem is this: the law is holy.
-
It is good. But men are not.
-
Men cannot, will not obey the law.
-
Because obedience to the law
-
requires perfect obedience to the law
-
in every law and in every degree.
-
But we have not obeyed the law.
-
Rather, we are law breakers.
-
Covenant breakers.
-
Faithless children who
do not follow their God.
-
For all have sinned.
-
Look in v. 23.
-
"...And fall short of the glory of God."
-
What does that mean?
-
Well, the most popular teaching on this
-
is that God has a glorious
purpose for your life
-
and because of sin,
-
you have missed your glorious purpose.
-
There may be something
of that in the text,
-
but the primary idea is this:
-
You were made for the glory of God.
-
You were made for Him. For Him.
-
Only for Him.
-
You were not made for you.
-
You were not even made for your spouse.
-
You were not made for a job.
-
And you were not made for some purpose
-
distinct from Him.
-
You were made for Him.
-
For Him.
-
It is one thing to turn away
-
from the law of your God.
-
It is quite another thing to turn
away from your God completely.
-
Follow this rule: "I will not."
"Live for Me."
-
"I would rather have another."
-
If you speak of an offense,
-
that is a great offense.
-
When God addresses a man and says,
-
"You were made for Me,"
-
and man says, "I'll not have any of it."
-
"I will take sovereignty
over my own life."
-
"I will claim lordship
of my beating heart."
-
"I will do for me."
-
That's why men are so miserable
-
in this secular, materialistic age.
-
They live for them,
-
thinking that what they need is material,
-
economical, physical.
-
When the fact is, dear friend,
-
you were made for Him.
-
At times when I have a bit of time,
-
I make long bows out of wood.
-
And they can shoot an arrow very straight.
-
Very strong.
-
You can take the largest
animal in North America
-
with one of my bows.
-
They're made for shooting arrows.
-
You cannot play a song on them.
-
Try to play a song on one of my bows,
-
you'll look absolutely ridiculous.
-
You'll end up frustrated.
-
In the same way, you cannot shoot
-
an arrow with a guitar.
-
Things are made for reasons.
-
You were made for God.
-
The only reason you are given breath
-
is so that your breath might
return to Him in praise.
-
The only reason why your heart beats
-
is so that it might beat quicker
-
at greater and greater knowledge
-
and experience of Him.
-
The only reason your mind
was given an intellect
-
to think great thoughts about Him.
-
Your ears to hear Him.
Your eyes to see Him.
-
Your mouth, your tongue, to praise Him.
-
But we would not.
-
We would not.
-
All have sinned and fall short
-
of the glory of God.
-
That's the verdict about all men,
-
about everyone here
-
who does not know Jesus Christ.
-
All have sinned and fall short
-
of the glory of God.
-
Now, let's go on.
-
"...Being justified as a gift."
-
Being justified as a gift.
-
What does it mean to be justified?
-
It does not mean that the moment
-
you believe in Jesus Christ,
-
God does some supernatural work
-
in your nature and infuses
you with such grace
-
that you become a totally,
completely righteous being
-
who from then on completely
-
and perfectly obeys the law of God.
-
That's not what it means.
-
What does it mean to be justified?
-
It means the moment you
believe in Jesus Christ
-
you are forensically or legally declared
-
right with God.
-
Do you understand that?
-
It is a legal declaration
-
from the throne of God
-
that you are right with Him.
-
Now let's go on. This is very important.
-
Being justified as a gift by His grace.
-
How can a man be right with God?
-
That is the question of the ages.
-
It is the question of most religions.
-
It is the question of almost
every beating heart.
-
How can man be right with God?
-
That's the question.
-
Now, I want you to understand,
-
if you do a study of
comparative religions,
-
there's really only two
types of religions.
-
Seriously.
-
Religion of works and human merit
-
and a religion of grace.
-
Unmerited favor.
-
There is only Christianity
-
and all the other religions of the world.
-
And what sets a Christian apart
from everyone else? This:
-
You interview the orthodox Jewish man.
-
Sir, if you died right now
where would you go?
-
I would go the way of the righteous.
-
I would go to paradise.
I would go to Heaven.
-
Why? Because I love the law of God.
-
I seek to obey the law of God.
-
I seek to keep the law of God.
-
I am a righteous man.
-
You interview the Muslim:
-
Sir, if you died right now,
where would you go?
-
I would go to paradise. Why?
-
I love the Koran.
-
I obey the Koran.
-
I have made the pilgrimages.
-
I give the alms. I say the prayers.
-
I am a righteous man.
-
Then you come to the Christian.
-
Sir, if you died right now,
where would you go?
-
To Heaven.
-
Why?
-
And he begins to tell you
something you don't understand.
-
He says I was born in sin.
-
In sin did my mother conceive me.
-
I have broken every law of my God,
-
and I deserve nothing before Him
-
but His wrath, His justice.
-
And you stop him and you say,
"Sir, I don't understand."
-
The other two men I understand.
-
They are righteous men
by their own deeds
-
and thus they have earned
Heaven for themselves.
-
But you are contradictory.
-
How are you going to get to Heaven
-
if you claim no virtue
or merit for yourself?
-
And the Christian smiles and says,
-
"I will go to Heaven based upon
-
the virtue and the merit of Another,
-
Jesus Christ my Lord."
-
Now that's the doctrine of justification.
-
But let me say this, those
who have been justified
-
have also been regenerated.
-
And those who have been regenerated
-
have been given new hearts,
-
and with those new hearts,
-
they will live a different life.
-
As a matter of fact, the
evidence of justification,
-
that you have been declared right with God
-
is that your heart has been so changed
-
by the power of the Holy Spirit
-
that you begin to live
in a newness of life.
-
Now, we go on. He says,
-
"Being justified as a
gift by His grace..."
-
Being justified as a gift by
His grace - that's redundant.
-
It's the same thing in a sense.
-
Being justified as a gift.
-
As a gift. Why say it twice?
-
Because men hate grace.
-
That's why.
-
Why would anyone hate grace?
-
Pride.
-
A desire of men to exalt themselves,
-
even to exalt themselves over God
-
so that they make God their debtor.
-
I am so righteous. My deeds are so worthy.
-
God owes me Heaven.
-
But grace comes to the man
-
who recognizes he has no deeds,
-
he has no merit, he has no virtue,
-
and he falls upon the
unmerited favor of God.
-
Now I want you to look at something here.
-
It's very important.
-
"Being justified as a gift..."
-
The New Testament, the Gospels quote
-
a very important passage
in the Old Testament
-
speaking of Jesus Christ.
-
It says, "they hated Him without a cause."
-
They hated Him without a cause.
-
Did anyone ever have cause to hate Jesus?
-
Did Jesus ever sin against someone
-
so that they were armed to argue
-
that they could hate Him with a cause?
-
No. Never.
-
That's the same word used here.
-
You were justified without a cause.
-
Now what does that mean?
-
The sinner gives God
no reason to save him.
-
When a holy God, a righteous God
-
comes into contact with sinful man,
-
the only motivation that sinful man
-
can give a righteous
God is to condemn him.
-
God did not save you because of you.
-
He saved you because of Him.
-
When He explained to Israel
-
the reason for His love for Israel
-
He said, "Israel, I have loved you
-
because I loved you."
-
It had nothing to do with you
-
and everything to do with Him.
-
It's an act of grace.
-
Now let's go on.
-
"...By His grace through the redemption
-
which is in Christ Jesus."
-
Through the redemption.
-
I believe it was Vance Havner or Tozer -
-
one of the two, who said
-
that Christians have become so brutish,
-
so to speak, that we are prone
-
to playing marbles with
the diamonds of God.
-
We don't know how to appreciate.
-
We handle roughly and rudely
-
the most precious things that God
-
tells us and gives us.
-
I believe that the word "redemption"
-
is one of those things
that we handle rudely.
-
"I've been redeemed," they say,
-
and everyone laughs.
-
Every time you use that word
-
your lips should tremble.
-
What does it mean? Redemption.
-
To be redeemed?
-
It means to be set free from prison,
-
from slavery, from captivity
-
because a price has been paid.
-
So if you have been redeemed,
-
it is because a price has been paid.
-
Now, if it was just a small price;
-
if it was just some earthly trinket
-
that was given so that
you might be set free,
-
that would be quite another thing,
-
but you have been redeemed
-
by the blood of God's own Son.
-
You need motivation
for the Christian life?
-
You need motivation to walk in godliness?
-
You need motivation
to say no to the world?
-
I'll give it to you.
-
Christ shed His own blood for your soul.
-
What more do you need?
-
Meditate upon that.
-
Think deeply on that.
-
Christ shed His own blood for you.
-
That's the motivation
of the Christian life.
-
To do it for any other reason is idolatry.
-
It's because He died for you,
-
and in dying for you, He doubly owns you.
-
You say, Pastor, what do you mean?
-
I mean this.
-
God has a claim upon
you by right of creation.
-
He made you.
-
He owns what He makes.
-
But God has a double ownership upon you
-
in that not only did He make you,
-
He redeemed you.
-
He bought you.
-
And He bought you with His own Son -
-
the blood of His Son.
-
Oh, to grasp that!
-
For that to become a reality in our lives,
-
it will be the only power,
-
the only fuel we need to propel us
-
to godliness and to true Christian service
-
knowing the great price
that was paid for us.
-
Now let's go on.
-
He says this,
-
"...The redemption which
is in Christ Jesus."
-
Exclusively in Christ Jesus.
-
Exclusively.
-
Not in anyone or anything else.
-
One time a young man, he said this,
-
he came up to me so full of zeal
-
and he said, "You're right, Brother Paul,
-
Jesus is all we need."
-
I said, "Young man, Jesus is all we have."
-
He is all we have.
-
Outside of Him, there is nothing.
-
We come before God in the name of Jesus
-
because apart from Jesus,
-
we have no part with God.
-
He's everything.
-
Our entire life is found within the sphere
-
of the Person and work of Jesus Christ.
-
Outside of Him, there is nothing!
-
Nothing!
-
Why do you hold so
dearly to the Christian life?
-
Because outside of it there is nothing!
-
Why do you hold so dearly
to this Christ, this Messiah?
-
Outside of Him, there is nothing.
-
We go on.
-
"Whom God displayed publicly
-
as a propitiation."
-
I would agree with many theologians
-
who say that propitiation
is the most important word
-
in the entire Bible.
-
Do you understand it?
-
You say, "I'm a preacher of the Gospel."
-
Do you understand propitiation?
-
Propitiation is a sacrifice that is given
-
to satisfy justice and to appease wrath
-
that a just God might pardon wicked men
-
and still be just.
-
Now we get to the center of the cross.
-
I want you to look at something. V. 23.
-
"For all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God."
-
V. 24, speaking of Christians
who have sinned
-
and fallen short of the
glory of God, it says,
-
"being justified."
-
That presents one of the greatest problems
-
in the entire Bible.
-
Did you know that?
-
This presents possibly the greatest
-
theological, philosophical problem
-
in the entire Bible.
-
And if you don't understand this,
-
you're not understanding the Gospel.
-
Here's the problem:
-
If God is just, He cannot forgive you.
-
If God is just, He cannot forgive you.
-
Go with me for just a
moment to Proverbs 17.
-
Proverbs 17:15 says this:
-
"He who justifies the wicked
-
and he who condemns the righteous,
-
both of them alike are an abomination
-
to the Lord."
-
Now, let's put those two phrases together.
-
"He who justifies the wicked"
-
"is an abomination to the Lord."
-
An abomination - there's no word
-
that goes further in describing
-
the vileness of something
-
than the word "abomination."
-
The Scriptures say whoever
justifies the wicked
-
is an abomination before the Lord,
-
and yet in Romans 3,
-
we understand that's what God did.
-
He justified the wicked.
-
The greatest question in
all the Scripture is this:
-
How can God be just
-
and at the same time justify wicked men?
-
Especially when the Scriptures
-
which cannot be broken say,
-
"He who justifies the wicked...
is an abomination."
-
Do you want to know what
the whole Bible's about?
-
Sacrificial system? Everything?
-
One question: How can God be just
-
and the justifier of wicked men?
-
Many of you have never heard that
-
and yet that's the center of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
-
Let me give you an illustration.
-
Let's say that one of you
goes home tonight
-
and you find your family
slaughtered on the floor.
-
And you see the murderer
-
standing over your family
-
with blood on his hands.
-
And you run to the man, you grab him,
-
you knock him down and you tie him up,
-
and you call the police.
-
The police take this man to prison.
-
In time, the man is brought for trial.
-
He stands before a judge here in this town
-
and the judge looks down on the man
-
who has slaughtered your entire family
-
and says this: "I am a very loving judge.
-
I pardon you.
-
You're free."
-
What would you do?
-
You would write the newspapers.
-
You would call the media.
-
You would be on television.
-
You would write the Congress.
You'd write the President.
-
You'd do everything to make it known
-
that there's a judge on the bench
-
that's far more wicked
-
than the criminals he pardons.
-
Judges must do justice.
-
If God is just, and you are wicked,
-
then how can He pardon you
-
without becoming an unjust judge?
-
Without becoming an abomination?
-
That is the question of the Gospel.
-
And that is the reason for which
-
Jesus Christ died.
-
Now I want us to look here.
-
"Whom God displayed
publicly as a propitiation."
-
Martyn Lloyd-Jones said in this text
-
that God placarded His Son.
-
Do you know as you drive around town
-
or you go down a country highway,
-
and you see all these billboards,
-
these placards, all these advertisements.
-
They're put in a place not hidden,
-
but they're put in a place
-
where they can be seen by everyone.
-
God placarded His Son on that tree.
-
Why?
-
To demonstrate something.
-
To demonstrate something.
-
Let's look at our text.
-
"God displayed (or placarded) Him publicly
-
as a propitiation in His
blood through faith..."
-
Why? "This was to demonstrate
-
His righteousness" - God's righteousness.
-
"Because in the forbearance of God,
-
He passed over the sins
previously committed,
-
for the demonstration I
say of His righteousness
-
at the present time."
-
What is going on?
-
All throughout the ages
-
since the first man, first woman,
-
God has been merciful to men.
-
He has pardoned men in their sin.
-
He took to Himself a Noah
-
and spared the life of Noah.
-
Do you not realize Noah should
have died with the rest of them?
-
Was not Noah a sinner?
-
Was not Noah guilty? Yes.
-
Do you think honestly he
was spared from the flood
-
because of his good deeds
or righteousness?
-
Noah should have died.
-
Noah's family should have died.
-
Abraham was made God's friend.
-
In many ways, he did not believe God.
-
He put his wife's life
in jeopardy. He lied.
-
David was a man after God's own heart?
-
How so? He was an adulterer,
-
a murderer, and a liar.
-
The accusation is railed against God:
-
"God, where is Your justice?"
-
"God, how can You save
Noah from the flood?"
-
"God, how can You make
Abraham Your friend?"
-
"How can You call forth a people
-
from a group of idolaters?
-
And how can David be brought close
-
to Your presence?"
-
On the day that Christ died on Calvary,
-
God answered every
one of those objections.
-
"I could pardon Noah
by My sovereign grace.
-
I could make Abraham a friend.
-
I could adopt David as a son,
-
because this Son died for them all.
-
Look to Him!
-
You do not believe I'm just? Know this,
-
every man who's ever been spared
-
has been spared for only one reason,
-
because My Son died for them on the tree,
-
and in His dying for them,
-
He satisfied My justice
-
and now I can be just
-
and the justifier of wicked men
-
who believe in My Son."
-
Do you see that?
-
So you understand so much
about the Gospel, eh?
-
There's a whole lot more
than we think, isn't there?
-
Now let's talk for a moment
-
about the death of Christ.
-
He's hanging on a tree.
-
And He cries out, "My God, My God,
-
why have You forsaken Me?"
-
"Why have You forsaken Me?"
-
Now, I have heard preachers say this,
-
that God looked down from Heaven
-
at the suffering of His own Son
-
and could not bear to
witness that suffering
-
and God turned away.
-
That's not what the text says.
-
The text says on that tree
-
God forsook His only begotten Son.
-
"My God, My God, why
have You forsaken Me?"
-
The answer - let's go to
Psalm 22 for a moment.
-
V. 1, "My God, My God,
-
why have You forsaken Me?
-
Far from My deliverance are
the words of My groaning.
-
Oh my God, I cry by day,
but You do not answer,
-
and by night, but I have no rest."
-
There's the Messiah's complaint
-
on that cross.
-
And then we find an argument.
-
Look in v. 4.
-
"In You our fathers trusted;
-
they trusted and You delivered them.
-
To You they cried out and were delivered.
-
In You they trusted and
were not disappointed."
-
Father, there's never been a time
in the history of Your people -
-
Your covenant people Israel -
-
that a man cried out to You
-
and You did not answer him.
-
Even among the faithless,
-
even in their idolatry,
-
when they turned back to You
-
and they cried out to You,
-
You answered them.
-
But I, Your only begotten Son,
-
I hang from this tree.
-
I call out to You all day long,
-
"My God, My God, why
have You forsaken Me?"
-
You do not help Me.
-
You are far from the words of My groaning.
-
Why?
-
He gives us the answer.
-
V. 3, "Yet You are holy..."
-
V. 6, "...but I am a worm and not a man."
-
Why?
-
Because on that tree,
-
the sins of all of God's people
-
were placed upon the Son of God.
-
They were imputed to Him.
-
He was considered guilty now
-
before the bar of God
-
and He was treated by
His Father as guilty.
-
He stood in your law place
-
and He was treated as
you ought to be treated.
-
"My God, My God, why
have You forsaken Me?"
-
And Heaven's door is slammed shut
-
by the hand of God and God cries out,
-
"The Lord Your God damns You."
-
Someone had to die
-
bearing the sins of God's people,
-
standing in the law place of God's people
-
and condemned by God for all their crimes.
-
Cursed is every man
who does not abide
-
by all the things written
in the book of the law
-
to perform them.
-
Christ redeemed us from
the curse of the law
-
becoming a curse for us.
-
Separated from God.
-
Dying on a tree.
-
Bearing the sins of God's people.
-
He's in the garden. He cries out,
-
"Let this cup pass from Me."
-
Let this cup pass from Me.
-
Let this cup pass from Me.
-
What was in the cup?
-
I hear these preachers say,
-
"Christ dreaded the Roman cross.
-
He foresaw the cat of nine tails
-
coming down on His back.
-
The cruel cross, the nails,
the crown of thorns,
-
the spear in His side."
-
Absolutely absurd!
-
I can prove it.
-
After the death and resurrection
and ascension of Christ,
-
for several centuries many Christians,
-
thousands of Christians died on crosses.
-
They were nailed to crosses upside down.
-
They were covered with pitch.
-
They were set on fire to provide lights
-
for the streets of Rome.
-
And the history tells
us that many of them,
-
most of them went to the cross
-
singing hymns and joyfully praising God
-
for the opportunity to
die for their Master.
-
Now are you going to tell me
that the Captain of their salvation
-
is not as strong as His disciples?
-
That He's cowering in a garden
-
because He's afraid of a cross
-
that they willingly take upon themselves?
-
What kind of preaching madness is that?
-
What was in the cup?
-
I'll tell you what was in the cup.
-
The wrath of Almighty God was in the cup.
-
He feared no Roman. He feared no cross.
-
He feared no nails.
-
Yes, that was part of His dying.
-
Yes, it was necessary for
it to be a bloody death.
-
By His blood we are saved,
-
but know this, it was the
wrath of Almighty God -
-
the holy hatred of God against our evil
-
that had to fall upon His head,
-
and not only fall upon His head,
-
but crush Him.
-
Have you never read,
-
"it pleased the Lord..."
-
it pleased Yahweh;
-
it pleased God to crush the Messiah.
-
I've heard evangelists say,
-
"instead of being just with you,
God was loving."
-
Now there's a problem.
-
Are you trying to tell me
that God's love is unjust?
-
You must understand that God must be just.
-
He is love.
-
He can freely and sovereignly
exercise that love.
-
He is love.
-
But He cannot be love at
the expense of His justice.
-
He is perfect in all His attributes.
-
He is consistent in absolutely everything.
-
In order to demonstrate
His love toward man
-
in salvation, pardon, justification,
-
He had to first satisfy His own justice.
-
And how did He do that? Through His Son.
-
You've heard in many places I suppose
-
these songs that say things like
-
God looked all over Heaven
and couldn't find an angel
-
willing or able to die.
-
God looked all over the earth
-
and couldn't find a man willing.
-
My dear friend, if God had found
-
a trillion angels who were spotless
-
and willing to die, they could
not have purchased us.
-
If God had found a million men without sin
-
and they had all gone to crosses and died,
-
it would not be enough.
-
There is only One who
can make that payment.
-
He must be man. Man has sinned.
-
Man must die. A man must pay.
-
But He must not only be man,
-
He must be God.
-
A student asked me one time
-
from the auditorium -
-
he wasn't very pleased with
the preaching of the Gospel,
-
and he stood up and he asked me, he says,
-
"I've got a question for you.
-
How can one man
-
suffering a few short hours on a tree
-
under the wrath of God
-
save a multitude of men
-
or make payment for a multitude of men
-
and save them from an eternity in hell?
-
How can that be?"
-
I said, "Oh, young man,
-
it is for this reason.
-
Because the One who died on that tree
-
was worth more than the
rest of them put together."
-
You take everything that is.
-
You take mountains, mole hills;
-
you take clowns and universes
-
and suns and moons and stars -
-
everything that was,
everything that will be,
-
everything that currently dwells -
-
you put it all on the scale,
-
and you put Jesus on the other side,
-
and He outweighs them all.
-
It was His worth.
-
When theologians talk
-
about the perfect sacrifice of Christ,
-
it's not just saying that
He was without sin
-
though He was without sin.
-
It is also speaking of His infinite value.
-
Christ and Christ alone
-
had sufficient merit, virtue, worth
-
to pay for the crimes of
a multitude of people.
-
He died on that tree. He died. Death.
-
He was swallowed up by it.
-
But up from the grave He arose
-
with a mighty triumph o'er His foes.
-
He arose a Victor from that dark domain,
-
and He lives forever with
His saints to reign.
-
He rose.
-
Sure, mock a prophet from Nazareth
-
standing out in the middle of the square
-
screaming out, "I am the
way, the truth, and the life."
-
But it's another thing to mock Him
when He comes out of the ground.
-
And God testifies publicly,
-
declares with great power
in the Holy Spirit,
-
"This is My beloved Son
-
in whom I am well pleased."
-
He shows Himself with many proofs
-
and then He ascends up.
-
He ascends to where no man
-
has ever gone before.
-
You see, He was God in the flesh.
-
Take note of that. Never lose that.
-
That is an essential truth.
-
He is God in the flesh or He is no Savior.
-
But never forget this,
He is the Man Christ Jesus.
-
It was man who sinned.
-
It was a man who had to die.
-
And it was a man who had to go up.
-
Go up.
-
The ancient writers - the patristics -
-
go to Psalm 24 for a moment.
-
They use this text
-
in a most intriguing,
beautiful, and powerful way.
-
That Jesus Christ the resurrected Man,
-
God in the flesh,
-
the Son of glory ascends up,
-
and He comes to the gates of Heaven,
-
and He cries out, in v. 7,
-
"Lift up your heads, O gates,
-
and be lifted up, O ancient doors,
-
that the King of Glory may come in."
-
And He answered back,
-
"Who is this King of Glory?"
-
Can you imagine?
-
All of Heaven in silence.
-
Who's knocking on these gates?
-
What man would dare lay his hand
-
to the latch of these doors?
-
And then comes back the answer,
-
"The Lord, strong and mighty,
-
the Lord mighty in battle.
-
Lift up your heads, O gates,
-
and lift them up, O ancient doors,
-
that the King of Glory may come in."
-
And for the first time in all of time,
-
Heaven's gates open for a Man.
-
When He walks through those doors,
-
everything in Heaven is laying prostrate.
-
All hail the power of Jesus' name,
-
let angels prostrate fall.
-
Bring forth the royal diadem,
-
and crown Him Lord of all.
-
And He walks up to the place
-
where angels and men cannot stand,
-
to the very throne of God the Father.
-
He ascends the steps and He sits down
-
at the right hand of Majesty on High.
-
His Father, I suppose,
looks at Him and says,
-
"Son, it is finished."
-
"Father, it is finished indeed."
-
Crowned King.
-
King.
-
Let all the nations beware.
-
Let every man who lifts himself up
-
as king, or governor, or mayor,
-
or providence understand this.
-
Let the mightiest men in the world tremble
-
because in reality, there
is only one Government.
-
In reality, there is only one King.
-
Everyone else who wears
a little crown in his head
-
is nothing more than a cut flower.
-
Every nation that marches with its army,
-
its strength, if they
were to oppose Christ,
-
their strength would be nothing more
-
than a tiny gnat beating its
head against a world of granite.
-
He is King of kings
-
and Lord of lords.
-
And all the governors
and kings and princes
-
and presidents are warned
-
to do homage to the Son,
-
to worship Him because His wrath
-
is quickly kindled.
-
Yet at the same time,
-
there is a Fountain opened up
-
in the house of David,
-
and the humble hear it and they are glad.
-
For the Word has gone
out through all the earth,
-
there is a Savior.
-
There is a balm in Gilead
-
and His name is Jesus.
-
It doesn't matter what you have done,
-
what you have become;
-
it doesn't matter how great
you think your sin may be,
-
there is nothing mightier than the Christ.
-
With His blood, He can wipe away your sin;
-
make you spotless before the throne of God
-
and grant you an inheritance
-
that will last forever.
-
But also know this,
-
He is coming
-
and He will judge the earth.
-
And every knee will bow
-
and every tongue will confess
-
that He is Lord.
-
If you are Christian - truly Christian -
-
that is you bring forth fruits
-
worthy of repentance and faith,
-
you are trusting in Christ alone,
-
your salvation is by faith,
-
but there is evidence of that faith
-
in God's reality in your life,
-
in your bearing of fruit,
-
then meditate upon this.
-
You don't need some great conference.
-
You don't need some great speaker.
-
You don't need some
new technique in Christianity.
-
You just need a greater and greater vision
-
of what God has done
for you in Jesus Christ.
-
If you're outside of Christ
-
and you do not fear,
-
let me just share this with you.
-
Do you want to know
how much God hates sin?
-
Do you want to know
-
how much God hates sin?
-
When His own Son bore sin,
-
God crushed His own Son.
-
Sinner, what do you think He'll do to you?
-
You say, are you trying to make me afraid?
-
My dear friend, there
are reasons to be afraid.
-
And love demands that
I tell you to be afraid.
-
Love demands that I beg you
to seek a remedy quickly.
-
That you run away from the law
-
that chases and condemns you
-
and you run to Christ,
-
to that city of refuge.
-
The name of the Lord is a strong tower.
-
The righteous man runs
into it and he is safe.
-
Come to Christ.
-
You say what must I do to be saved?
-
Repent and believe the Gospel.
-
Repent and believe the Gospel.
-
Brother Paul, what does it mean to repent?
-
Let me say this,
-
are you here tonight,
-
you know you're outside of Christ,
-
and yet all you can think about
-
is he's gone on long enough
-
and I need to get out of this building?
-
I do not care for my sin or his God.
-
It's a nice thing.
-
It's a pleasant thing to hear,
-
but I've got more important things to do.
-
My dear friend, if that's the
attitude of your heart,
-
you cannot be saved.
-
Not this moment.
-
You have no repentance.
-
But if you're here tonight,
and maybe you came
-
just because someone drug you here,
-
but as you were listening to the message
-
you said to yourself,
-
I had no idea God was like that.
-
But I know it's true.
-
I had no idea my sin was so vile.
-
I feel so ugly, so wretched.
-
I had no idea that I was so lost,
-
that my goodness is like filthy rags.
-
Oh, how I hate my sin!
-
Oh, how I wish I was clean from it!
-
Those are the kernels of repentance.
-
Those are some of the characteristics
-
of a genuine sorrow over sin.
-
Now you lack one thing: run to Christ.
-
Run to Christ! Throw yourself upon Christ.
-
Trust in Christ alone.
-
You're not only to turn
away from your sin,
-
you're to turn away from every hope
-
you might have ever had
in your own good works.
-
Flee from your righteousness!
-
Flee from your filthy rags
that cannot save you
-
and throw yourself upon Christ.
-
If this preacher died
in this pulpit tonight,
-
I would go to Heaven and
stand before God
-
sound in glory. Why?
-
Because 2,000 years ago, the
Son of God died for me.
-
That is my only hope.
-
But that is the scarlet thread,
-
and I expect to swing
out into eternity on it
-
with the greatest amount of confidence.
-
Trust in Christ and Christ alone!
-
Christ alone.
-
Christ alone.
-
Christ.
-
You begin with Christ alone.
-
You continue in the Christian faith
-
with Christ alone.
-
And you end with Christ alone.
-
Let's pray.
-
Father, I come before You
-
and I pray that You would use Your Word
-
in the hearts of men.
-
In Jesus' name and for His sake, Amen.