Thank you again for having us
here. It's been wonderful to share
fellowship with one and all and to sit and hear the Gospel preached
so clearly, boldly, faithfully. A Gospel that puts man in the
dust and lifts Christ up high. Let us seek the Lord's face in
prayer before we begin. O Lord God, we thank Thee for
Thy grace and Thy mercy which Thou hast shown unto sinners
through Thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, unworthy, wretched rebels
that deserve nothing but Thy wrath, but a people that Thou
hast chosen in Thy Son to show grace unto, a people whom He
loved and gave Himself for. Our Lord, we pray this morning
that thou wouldst give us hungry hearts, give us a hunger and
a thirst after righteousness. And we pray, Lord, that thou
wouldst take the bread of life and break it, and the water of
life and give us to drink. Give us Christ, Lord, we pray.
Preach him, lift him up. Bring all glory and honour to
his name. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. When we were last here, there
was a question posed to me, which is often asked by sinners, which
was, how can I believe in a God that I cannot see? How can I
believe in a God that I cannot see? Well, how can we believe in a
God that we cannot see? But is he so unseen? Or do we close our eyes and shut
our ears and turn our face and seek to flee from his presence.
Is he so unseen? We cannot see the air, but we
need the air to breathe and we would soon know if it wasn't
there. We cannot see the wind, but when the storms stir, as
they have done this week, We soon hear and feel their effects
and cannot deny their presence. So too it is with Almighty God. He is there and he makes his
presence known whether we wish to acknowledge it or not. Surely when we say, how can I
believe in a God that I cannot see? We are hiding behind an
excuse for our unbelief. Paul comes to this question in
Romans in chapter one. Turn to Romans one. We will read
of why Paul was ready to preach the gospel to those that were
at Rome also. and why today he would preach
the gospel to you who are in New Jersey also, or wherever
you may be. I am ready to preach the gospel
to you that are at Rome also. Verse 15, verse 16. For I am
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of
God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first
and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the
just shall live by faith. In the gospel, God reveals the
righteousness of God. In the gospel also, God reveals
his wrath. Verse 18. For the wrath of God
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness, who resist,
who hold back the truth in unrighteousness. God's wrath is revealed against
them. He's revealed against us as we
fight against him, as we resist, as we close our ears. Because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them, for God have showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse. The invisible things of him from
the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse. Because that when they knew God,
they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful. but became
vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened
professing themselves to be wise they became fools. We say we cannot see him and yet there is that of God
his eternal power and Godhead which are clearly seen though
invisible Their effects are all around us. There is no man upon the face
of the earth who can truly say from his heart there is no God. Oh yes as the psalmist says there
are those who say in their hearts there is no God but they are
as fools they know there's a God because his creation is all around
them. They are one of his created beings. They have a heart and a soul
and a conscience that cries out, I'm made by a living God and
I'm answerable to him. They know. You know. We know. Because the invisible
things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen. How are they seen? Chiefly in
three ways. God in creation speaks unto man. His handiwork in creation shows
forth his glory. Every day there is this in the
world that declares that God is. Whether we choose to see
it or not, it cries out. The heavens declare the glory
of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork, the psalmist writes. Day unto day uttereth speech
and night unto night showeth knowledge. Every day God's creation
says, there is a creator who created all this and created
you and I, whether we acknowledge or not. It's all around us. Is it any
wonder then that modern man chooses to hide indoors? Sat indoors
in the darkness, looking unto screens, hiding away from the
creation outside. Is it a wonder to us that this
is the world we live in today? Because man doesn't want to acknowledge
God. When he goes outside, when he
looks up to the stars, they are speaking to him. So he hides
his face. Secondly, God has sent forth
his word, his gospel from the beginning of time. He's spoken. He's spoken by the mouths of
his prophets. He's spoken by the apostles. He's spoken by his son. And all
his speech unto man has been recorded in the scriptures, remarkably
preserved through the ages. broadcast throughout all the
world, available on every bookshelf for men to read. And they declare
His eternal power and Godhead. They declare the message of Christ. But we would rather pick up a
magazine, a novel, read anything, see anything, know anything,
but read his word and know Christ. And yet it's there. Through the
ages, preserved to today, men gave their lives to give us this
word. Tyndale and others gave their
lives to bring us this word in our tongue. And we turn our backs. And lastly, There is that conscience
within each and every one of us that says, there is a God
and I am answerable unto him. We know there's a God. We know this is the truth. Men
may argue, men may contend, you may. You may say, how do I know
that the scriptures, that the Bible is the truth? How do I
know the truth isn't found in Islam, or in Hinduism, or in
some other religion? Because there's one truth. and
there's one God and only one is true and only one speaks through
the creation and only one speaks through his word and only one
truly speaks in our hearts and conscience and we know which
one. Therefore when we say how can
I believe in this God that I cannot see We are without excuse. He has made himself known unto
all men in the creation, in his word, and in our conscience. There's no such thing as an atheist. An atheist is a liar to others
and to himself. He knows there's a God. He just
will not bow to him, so he tries to pretend that there is no God. and if that's you, you are a
fool. We all know. We know. In the next two chapters, two
or three chapters in Romans, Paul goes on to describe what
we are in our unbelief, in our blindness, in our arrogance,
in our rebellion against God, in our rebellion against that
which is made known by God unto us. He's come unto us in creation. He's spoken in the creation.
He sent his word which we reject. He speaks in our hearts and conscience
and we hold back the truth in our unrighteousness. We resist
it, we close our ears and over the next few chapters he goes
on, Paul goes on to show us the state of man, what we all are,
Jew and Gentile, religious or irreligious. He shows how those
who profess to be wise, profess to be knowledgeable, have become
fools. How we've changed the glory of
the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible
man and to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. How
we'd rather worship idols, whether they are physical or whether
they are idols in our heads, the idols of religion, another
gospel. another Jesus, another way of
being saved. Wherefore God has given us up
to uncleanness through the lusts of our hearts to dishonour our
own bodies between ourselves. Those who change the truth of
God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more
than the creator who is blessed forever. Amen. We go on to read of a catalogue
of sin. The way that God has given man
up to vile affections. How the women left the natural
use and went against nature. How men also, leaving the woman,
burned in their lust one towards another. How we became filled
with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness,
envy, murder, debate. deceit, malignity, whisperers,
backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of
evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant
breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful, who know
in the judgment of God that they which commit such things are
worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in
them that do them. Oh, what a catalogue. And how
that net catches every one of us. We're all in there. We're all
guilty. And the travesty of it all is
that being vile, wretched rebels against God, we all point the
finger at one another and set ourselves over one another and
find fault with our fellow man when we're the worst. Therefore
thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. For wherein thou judgest another,
thou condemnest thyself. For thou that judgest doest the
same things. But we are sure that the judgment
of God is according to truth against them which commit such
things. That's the worst of it. The vilest
sin is the self-righteousness that we have within each and
every one of us that sets ourself over our fellow man. Particularly
if we have some understanding in religion. Particularly if
we've come to hear something of the gospel and we've received
it in the flesh and we start wagging a finger at those that
don't live like we do. How we find fault with one another. And yet if God would break us
and show us what we are, how we'd find that we're the worst
of sinners. It's that self-righteousness
we need to be delivered from. It's vile, it's despicable, and
it's worthy of death. Paul goes on through chapter
2 and chapter 3 to speak of the Jew and the Gentile, the religious
and the irreligious. And he proves them all to be
under sin. We've before proved both Jews
and Gentiles that they are all under sin. As it is written,
there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after
God. They are all gone out of the
way. they are together become unprofitable. There is none that
doeth good, no, not one. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. Now we know that what things
are worth the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law,
that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become
guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, There shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by
the law is the knowledge of sin. Has God brought you there to
know that? Even if you turn from the vileness
of sin that men look upon as sinful, Even if you have never
murdered a man physically. Even if you've been faithful
to your wife or husband. Even if you've never gone into
a store and stolen that which is not yours. Even if you've
decorated the outside of your life in a manner that is moral
and upright before others. Have you seen the depravity within
your heart, your self-righteousness? That your attempts to live right
and your attempts under religion to live by the law perhaps are
vile. You've broken it every single
day in every single way. You're as guilty as anyone, you're
more guilty. because you're the one that's
sinning through and through whilst pointing the finger at others
with your pride and your arrogance. How wretched, how vile we are. Paul brings us into this point
in chapter three So bring us in guilty, needy. But only God can teach you that.
There is that which is visible and that which is invisible.
He's made the invisible facets of his Godhead, his eternal power
known in creation. We know there's a God. We know
we're created. We know that he's there. But has he taught us that we're
a sinner? Or do we think that our sins
are invisible? That nobody can see? That what
we think is hidden? Do we hide and conceal invisible
things from others? They don't know. They don't know
what I've thought. I'm okay. I'll not be found out. Well, God sees all. He looks
within, he sees the heart laid bare. There's no secrets before
a holy God. He knows within and without. We're a place to be brought. A wretched place, a desperate
place to know that there's no good in us. Even as believers,
we need to know there's no good in our flesh. We've got nothing
to boast in, nothing to glory in, except Christ, if he's our
saviour. All our salvation, if God has
made himself known unto us, all is in Christ, from beginning
to end. Our sanctification is of Christ. Our holiness, our justification,
all is of Christ. Then why do we judge our brother? Why do we set ourselves up above
others? We're wretched. We're wretched
in religion. That's the worst. It's inexcusable. But thankfully, God doesn't leave
his people there. And it would be a mercy if he
doesn't leave you there. You see, all that may be known
of God is eternal power and Godhead. All this that you may deny when
you say, I cannot believe in a God, I cannot see. All that
is known by the devils. The devils believe and tremble,
James tells us. They know there's a God. They
know he rules over all. They know he sent his son into
this world. They know the scriptures are
true. Even if you acknowledge this,
you're no better than they. And to deny it is foolishness,
for they know it's true. But we need God to come and meet
us in our blindness, our foolishness, our rebellion, and break our
hearts and melt them and cause us to see Him, to see His glory,
to see His salvation, to see His Son. And Paul doesn't leave us in Romans chapter 3 and verse
20. He goes on. He goes on in verse
21 to say, boldly, clearly, joyously, triumphantly, but now, The righteousness
of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets, even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus
Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. For there
is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God. but now. We went so far day after
day, month after month, year after year, multiplying our sins
until we were so far away from God there was no rescuing us
and then God came unto us in his gospel with a but now. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested. He made known that which was
once invisible. He revealed that which was once
hid. God was manifest in the flesh. He came in the person of his
son Jesus Christ. He entered the darkness of this
world. And the light shone forth in
the darkness. Righteousness was made known
in a world of sin and corruption. God was manifest in a world of
sinners. Christ came unto beggars, unto
the blind, unto the deaf. unto the dead. Has he come unto
you? Has he come unto you? Is there that but now in your
lifetime when God has manifested the righteousness of God in Jesus
Christ unto you? Has He opened your eyes to see
a Saviour who came into the darkness for you? Who took your sin, who took your
sins, who took your unbelief, rebellion and rejection of Him
and took it upon His back and went to the cross for you? Has God showed you His Son made
sin in your place that He might make you to be the righteousness
of God in Him? Has God led you to the foot of
the cross and shown you His Son Have you seen his blood shed? Was it shed for you? Did it wash
your sin away? Has it washed your unbelief away? Has it washed your rebellion
away? Has he made you to see? To see
the sinner you are? To see the wretchedness that
you have? To see your sins burned by your
Saviour? and to see in him in the darkness
the light of God shining, manifesting the righteousness of God. the righteousness of God. But
now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets. The law and the
prophets from the dawn of time pointed to the day when Christ
would come. It pointed to his coming, they
pointed to him. Every aspect of the law preached
Christ. from the day it was given unto
Moses and Israel. It all depicted Christ, every
offering, the priesthood, the tabernacle, the temple, the lambs,
the bulls, the sin offering, the peace offering. Every offering,
every aspect, every dictate of the law pointed unto Christ and
his glory. They witnessed of Him. The prophets,
from the dawn of time, declared the coming of Christ.
They preached Him. Messiah will come. He will suffer
for His people. He will take away their sins. He will bring in the righteousness
of God. He will bring in and establish
his kingdom. He will come. Have you read them? Did you believe them? They pointed unto him. But there
came that day when there was no more need for prophets. to point forwards, for Christ
came. He was manifested, the prophet,
the priest, the law keeper, the sacrifice, the servant of God, the preacher,
came and walked amongst men. Never man spake like this man. There was none like him. Here
in the darkness, the light of God shone amongst men. Here was
a man unlike any other, God in the person of his son. fully God and fully man with
human flesh and a human soul. He lived and breathed. He suffered
what we suffer. He felt how we felt. He felt
the frailty of our human frame. He know what it was to be tired,
to hunger, to thirst, to feel the pain when he was beaten and
bruised. He can empathize with us. He
knows how weak we are as humans and yet he never once sinned. He manifested the righteousness
of God. Here is righteousness. Light shining in the darkness. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested. without the law in any manner.
The law pointed and witnessed to him. He was the fulfillment
of the law. He came and was made under the
law. He fulfilled it in every jot
and every tittle. But he just was righteous. He
was the righteousness of God. He didn't have to strive to keep
that law. He just lived. And the law measured
him. and the law could find no fault
in him. Here the righteousness of God was manifested. But truly, in the truest sense,
the righteousness of God was manifested in Christ, at the
cross, in the darkness, when by faith, He offered himself
up as a sacrifice for the sins of his people. In the cross, in the darkness,
the darkness hid from the sight of men the light of God. And to that day they'd seen the
person of Christ physically. But upon the cross they could
not see. And that darkness depicted how
he bore his people's sins, how he was made sin that they in
him should be made the righteousness of God. For three hours, the
light of the day was taken away. He'd looked to this moment In
Gethsemane, he'd been in turmoil, knowing what would come. If it
be possible, take this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will,
but thine be done. He knew what he would suffer.
He knew that he who knew no sin would be made sin for his people. that he who had never sinned
would bear their sins in his own body on the tree. He knew
the horror of that moment. And in that moment, God laid
upon his own son the iniquity of all his people. Their vileness,
their wretchedness, their unbelief, he laid it all upon him. And
in the darkness, he suffered for that sin. He suffered for
every one, every transgression, every unbelief, past, present,
and future. He suffered an eternity of hell
in the darkness until he could cry out, it is finished. It is finished. And when it was
finished, the light shone. In that time, the righteousness
of God was manifest where it was not previously seen. This
righteousness always was in Christ. But as he suffered by faith on
the cross, he took the darkness of his people's sins, and he
took it away. and made them in him to be the
light of God. He manifested this righteousness
where it never was. Just as in the day of creation,
God said, let there be light, and there was light, and God
called the light day, and the darkness he called night. God saw the light, that it was
good, And God divided the light from the darkness. He took our
sin. He divided it from the light.
He took it away and blotted it out, never to be seen again.
And all that was seen was the righteousness of God in Jesus
Christ. The righteousness of God without
the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the
prophets, even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus
Christ unto all and upon all them that believe, for there
is no difference. He believed that when he went
into the abyss of that darkness that his father would lay upon
him their sins. He believed that he would have
the wrath of God poured down upon him. He believed that he
would take that away. He believed that at the end that
sin would be blotted out. He believed that he would rise
up victorious with every one of his children. He believed
that that righteousness would be made theirs. He believed that
everyone that the Father gave him from before the dawn of time
would be saved. His faith manifested this righteousness. This is why in Romans 10 Paul
contrasts the righteousness of the law with the righteousness
of faith. His life was a life of faith. He walked by faith. He looked
unto God throughout every day. When the Jews rose up in opposition,
when men rose up in opposition against him and sought to stone
him and sought to put him to death, he looked alone to his
Father. He never flinched. Every word
that flowed from his lips were the words of faith. He trusted
God. He believed God. He believed God, which is the very opposite of
man by nature. The nature of our sin, of our
rejection, for which there is no excuse, is that we make God
a liar. We say in our hearts there is
no God. Christ manifested God in the
flesh. He made Him known. He believed
His God. He believed the Father. He trusted
His Father. He loved His Father. He made
Him known. He made this righteousness known. He brought forth that which was
hidden, shone the righteousness of God, shone in the darkness. Oh has God given you a glimpse
a glimpse of Christ a glimpse of his righteousness has he given
you the faith of Jesus Christ to believe on Christ the righteousness of God which
is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all his people And upon all them
that believe, it was brought forth at the cross for every
one of his people. And when God comes in the gospel
and preaches unto them and the Spirit of God brings them to
life, that's theirs. As Clay preached earlier, they
become partakers of the nature of God. They have a new life
quickened in them. When God in the Spirit comes
and makes them hear this Gospel, they're brought to life and the
righteousness of God in Christ is theirs within. There's this
new life within. It's unto them and upon all them
that believe. There's no difference being justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus. Yes, this is revealed. revealed. Those hidden things, those invisible
things of God, his righteousness, his character in his Son are
made known, are revealed unto us in his gospel. Colossians
Chapter 1 talks of this. It talks of Him who has delivered
us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the
kingdom of His dear Son, in whom we have redemption through His
blood, even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. Christ is
the image of the invisible God. God has made Himself known in
Christ. For by Him were all things created
that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers,
all things were created by Him and for Him. And He is before
all things, and by Him all things consist. As God made known, himself,
the invisible God, by bringing you to see his son, Jesus Christ. Well, we read before the meeting
of one who was brought to see, Job. Job, through all the trials and
all the sufferings that Job was brought into, God used it to make him see in
a way he'd never seen. Job 42, then Job answered the
Lord and said, I know that thou canst do everything and that
no thought can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth
counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that
I understood not. Things too wonderful for me which
I knew not. He knew things. But you only
really know when God brings you to know. And you only really
see when God gives you faith to see. You can hear of Christ
and never know him. Here I beseech thee and I will
speak. I will demand of thee and declare
thou unto me. I have heard of Thee by the hearing
of the ear, but now mine eyes see of Thee, wherefore I abhor
myself and repent in dust and ashes. Is that you? You've heard of Christ by the
hearing of the ear, but has God by His Spirit opened your eyes,
given you faith to see Him? But now mine eyes seeth thee,
wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. There's a huge difference between
hearing with the ear, having a knowledge, and seeing by faith. Job saw. Job saw and the effect
of him seeing was that he abhorred himself in dust and ashes. He
felt vile before a righteous and a holy God. Later on in time God met with
his servant Moses who was brought to see invisible things. Hebrews 11, 24, by faith Moses,
when he was come to yours, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's
daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people
of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming
the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in
Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, Not
fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him
who is invisible. God opened Moses' eyes by faith
to see the invisible God. He looked through time to Christ
his Saviour. He saw his sins blotted out upon
the cross. How do you know? Because through
faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest
heat that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith they
passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, which the Egyptians
are saying to do, were drowned. He looked at that Passover lamb
and he saw the Lamb of God. He saw in that lamb in that blood
his sins washed away. He saw the invisible God in Jesus
Christ and Christ was his all. And God delivered Moses and delivered
the Hebrews and led them through the Red Sea by dry land which
the Egyptians are saying to do were drowning. There are those
who try to come into heaven, into glory, unto God by their
own will, their own wisdom, their own strength, their own works,
and they're drowned. But God took Moses, he appeared
unto him, and he gave him faith to look unto his son, and he
led him and the people through dry shot. Lastly, turning Acts, Chapter
7, where we will read of another character in the scriptures who
was given to see that which was hitherto invisible. In Chapter 7 of Acts, we read
of Stephen, who was brought to suffer unimaginable suffering
as they stoned him to death for preaching the gospel. He declared
unto the Jews Christ. He made known unto them whom
they had crucified, just who they had put to death upon the
cross. He declared plainly, this is
Christ the Son of God, the Saviour. I know Him. I trust him and I
stoned him. We read in verse 50 We read from verse 47 how he
says Solomon built God and house. Howbeit the most high dwelleth
not in temples made with hands as saith the prophet. Heaven
is my throne and earth is my footstool. What house will ye
build me? saith the Lord. What is the place
of my rest? Hath not my hand made all these
things? God is greater than this world.
He's greater than any house you can build to contain Him. He's
the Creator. O ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised
in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost. As your
fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not
your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which
showed before of the coming of the just one, of whom ye have
been now the betrayers and murderers. Oh, how we've done the same.
God sent his gospel unto us. He sent us preachers. And in
our hearts We put them to death. We silence them. We don't want
to hear. We don't want to know. And in
putting them to death, we stone also the just one. We crucify
him. We become a betrayer and a murderer. who have received the law by
the disposition of angels and have not kept it. You Jews, you
were given so much. God sent his word. He sent you
his law. He sent you the scriptures. And
you disobeyed. You broke his every word. You
went away seeking your own glory. You took his things and used
them for your own glory and your own ends. And when they heard
these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on
him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy
Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory
of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said,
Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on
the right hand of God. And they cried out with a loud
voice and stopped Darius and ran upon him with one accord
and cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses
laid down their clothes at a young man's feet whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling
upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. He called
upon his God as they stoned him to death. He looked up in faith
and saw his Saviour. in glory, risen, glorified, having
taken away all his sins, he saw eternal life, he saw the righteousness
of God. And Stephen cried out, Lord Jesus,
receive my spirit. And he kneeled down and cried
with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he
fell asleep. Oh what grace God showed unto
Stephen and what grace we see in his dying words that he looked
upon those who stoned him as Christ looked upon those who
crucified him. When Christ was crucified he
cried out forgive them they know not what they do. And Stephen
here, stoned to death by these murderous, idolatrous, religious sinners. Sinners like you and
I. When we shut our ears to the
gospel and say away with this man, Stephen looked upon sinners
like you and I. When we were in our unbelief,
and said, Lord lay not this sin to their charge. Well I'm glad
that there was a day when God laid not my unbelief to my charge. For in spirit I was in that crowd
stoning Stephen to death. And in spirit I was in that crowd
nailing the nails into Christ's hand
and his feet, and crying out, crucify him. I would not believe. And yet God said, in a day, but
now, Ian, but now the righteousness of God is manifest, not just
to sinners, not just before the world upon the cross, but unto
you, and your sins are washed away. as he manifests himself unto
you. What brought Job through his
sufferings? What brought Moses through the
great opposition he faced every step of the way? What brought Stephen through
the hatred of those who stoned him? They all saw Christ. They all beheld their Saviour
crucified for them. They all looked up beyond time
and sense and physical things and saw their Saviour in glory. They all saw the Saviour stood
as Stephen saw Him. They all saw their glorified Son of God, the Son of God, Jesus
Christ. They saw him, as we read in Hebrews
2.9, but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the
angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor,
that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every
man. We see Jesus. Have you? Have you? When Stephen was stoned, what
did the people see? What did they see? Nothing but
a fool, a bloodied man, a rebellious man to them and their religion.
They thought they did God's service. They were defending the faith. They were being very zealous
for the Lord God. There was Saul who would become
the Apostle Paul and he consented to his death. There he was doing
what he thought he should do before God. And they put one
of God's children for whom Christ died unto death. Such was the
blindness of their religion. They saw nothing but a bloodied
man, a figure of derision. They saw nothing but victory
for their own position, their own hatred of the truth, their
own defence of the faith. But Stephen saw the invisible
God, his saviour standing in glory. He saw Jesus. His life, his righteousness is
all. And Christ looked down upon him,
and Christ saw one of his faithful servants whom he loved, for whom
he gave himself. He loved him and gave himself
for him. What does God see when he looks
upon you? And what is your confession?
Oh that God would teach us through his gospel what he taught one
poor sinner who used to say, I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all. Jesus Christ is my all in all. I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all. Jesus Christ is my all in all. I've nothing but Him. It is His grace, grace, grace
that found me. It is His grace that sought me. It is His grace that turned me. It is His grace that saved me. I am nothing. Once I was blind,
but now I see. Once I was in the darkness. Once
I denied all the revelation of the invisible God that He had
made known unto me. There He was in creation and
I denied Him. There He was in the scriptures
and I closed my ears to Him. There He was in my conscience
and I shut my conscience down and wallowed in my sin. But He
made Himself known unto me. He broke me. He came unto me
in grace. And He revealed my Saviour unto
me. I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all. Jesus Christ is my all in all. Paul writes in 1 Timothy, now
unto the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God,
be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.