I please Almighty God to bless
us this morning as we gather together for worship. Let us
turn to the epistle of Paul to the Romans and the third chapter
and we'll read this morning from verses 23 to verse 26 inclusive. So, the epistle of Paul to Romans
chapter 23 and from verse 23, Romans chapter 3 and from verse
23 to 26. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. whom God has
set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
passed through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say at
this time, his righteousness, that he might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Well I'm sure as we read such
verses as this and words as this and the chapter indeed we can
recognise the concern that the Apostle Paul had to those in
Rome who were trying to separate between the Jews and the Gentiles
and to separate between that which they thought was the right
faith and that which was the wrong faith. But you see Paul
comes and as he writes and he clearly sets before them this
great truth, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. That included all those to whom
he was writing all those to whom he preached, and indeed, he refers
to everyone in the world, and he refers to all of us here this
morning. We have all sinned, every single
one of us, and come short of the glory of God. So, in reality,
in that very bold and clear position, we're all guilty before God. We're all condemned before God. We've all disobeyed his righteous
law. And what a solemn position it
is, really, to be in, to recognize that we've offended the great
God, the holy God, the righteous God. We've sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Now it would be a great blessing
for every one of us if we recognize that that applies to us as individuals. We don't look around for anyone
else. We perhaps stand where David did when the Prophet came
to him and told him very clearly Thou art the man. He was the
sinner. He was the one that needed salvation. And of course we know that that
condemnation had a gracious and glorious effect in the life of
God's servant David all those years ago. And it was because
of that condemnation that he was able to write the 51st Psalm,
which explains in some depth the feelings and concerns of
his own heart, of his own soul. And it's good, therefore, if
you and I are able to compare ourselves with the truth of Scripture
and to recognise that we are wonderfully blessed to have God's
Word to be able to read and what a blessing if God's word is applied
to our soul by that I mean God speaks to us through his word
speaks to us so that as we read such a word like this this morning
for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God we
have to come and confess guilty Lord that's me What a mercy if God therefore
deals with us in that way and if he does it's because of his
love to our souls. It's because of his mercy and
it's because of his favour toward us. So as we read such a very
straightforward statement and recognise And the Apostle wrote
it so that there would be no misunderstanding. And may that
be so with us this morning. That we all come into this category
for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And then really the Apostle lays
before the Romans really the glorious way of salvation very
simply if we are to be found in heaven we cannot be found
there at last unless before God we are a just person we are a
righteous person and in and of ourselves we will never be able
to come up to that standard, to that condition. No, we are
sinners indeed, unholy, deserving the justice of Almighty God. But the Apostle tells us again,
very simply, being justified, that means made just with God,
being justified freely, freely by His grace, the free unmerited
favour of God, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Well that's a tremendous statement
and it's a wonderful truth and it will be for us today a time
of true rejoicing and gladness if by God's grace we understand
that we are justified freely not because of anything good
in ourselves Not because we deserve it. None of us deserve to be
justified. And yet here is this great statement
being justified freely by His grace. And the Apostle then tells
us how this is achieved. Through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus. That means that the Lord Jesus
Christ redeems the souls of all his people. And what a mercy
for us today if we have the application of the Word of God to us, that
we are amongst those who are redeemed. That means the price
that needed to be paid to take away our sins, to justify us,
was paid by none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the second
person in the Trinity, Almighty God. How amazing that is to think
that God himself should, because of his love toward
us, condescended to come into this sinful world and to live
that perfect life and to die upon that cross at Calvary, the
sin-atoning death of the Saviour, in order to redeem our souls. And if that is so, then we are
just before a holy God. And although we are a sinner,
although we have sinned, although we have come short of the glory
of God, but realize that in the wonderful and glorious plan of
salvation, the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, died in order to
redeem our souls. Oh, my friends, it's a wonderful
blessing, isn't it? It's a glorious gospel. It's something that you and I
should rejoice in. To think that it wasn't anything
that we deserve because it's here justified freely. There was no charge to us. There was a charge to the Saviour. No charge to us. We were justified
freely. An unworthy sinner, a great sinner,
freely justified. And why? Why should it be? Why should God have looked upon
you and looked upon me to have freely justified us? Well, we're told how it was,
by His grace. A free, unmerited favour. The favour of God. And that,
of course, directs us immediately to that favour which was centralised
in His love toward us. And it's good sometimes to just
ponder these things, to realize that here we have a God who has
loved us so much. And we read, as you know, that
familiar verse, for God so loved the world that he sent his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish
but have eternal life. Well, that's surely what each
one of us needs, the glorious gift of eternal life. You see, you and I live in this
world and we must receive freely His grace, this wonderful favour
of this redemption that is in Christ Jesus. What a blessing
for you and me today, therefore, if we can thank God for it, you
know. And yet, how few there are that
believe the great truth of God. How few there are. You can remember,
perhaps, those glorious words in the 53rd chapter of Isaiah,
where the prophet says, and asks the question, who hath believed
our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? It's a question written, it's
a question for you and me today, to have the revelation that by
God's grace we have believed the glorious truth of God and
that the Lord has wonderfully revealed these truths to us. So this morning it'll be a wonderful
blessing if you and I, as we stand before God, and we do stand
before God, and all of us stand before God, to be able to confirm
that because of his amazing love we have believed the truth of
the gospel. and that the Lord has revealed
to our souls his great and wonderful work and as you know this 53rd
of Isaiah directs us so gloriously to the Saviour, to his finished
work and what he's done and how few there are today who believe
in the great plan of salvation and how wonderfully it was completed
and worked out by the Saviour when he was on the earth. We
won't go through it this morning but it's a familiar chapter. I hope it's familiar to you and
you can read it and recognise that it gives very incisive and
clear details of the cost it was for our salvation. What the Lord Jesus Christ bore
in that work which his Father gave him to do and to be justified
freely by his grace through redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Well what a blessing it is if
you and I can enter in to that great and wonderful truth and
so he tells us then about the Lord Jesus in this third chapter.
He says, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, that means
one who was the conciliator between us and God the Father, the propitiation
through faith in his blood, to declare His righteousness for
the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God. Well, it'll be a blessing if
you and I understand how wonderful it is that God the Father hasn't
cut us off. It's His forbearance to ward
us. Do we deserve forbearance? Of
course not. We never did. We never will. But to think that God forbears
with us. What a mercy. And sets before
us the glorious truth of the Gospel. whom God hath set forth. He set these truths before us. And my friends, it's a great
mercy when God, in his wonderful love to our souls, applies these
great and glorious truths to our soul so that they are made
precious to us and we rely upon them because our hope is based
upon these great truths, the great transaction that the Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ carried out. And so we can recognise
they're set forth, God has set forth to be this propitiation
through faith in his blood. We read a lot about blood in
the Bible right from the earliest days in Genesis right through
to the end in Revelation without shedding of blood there is no
remission there is no forgiveness and my friends you and I have
to be forgiven We have to be forgiven of our
sins and so just take on board that great truth without shedding
a blood. Our blood shed would have been
valueless. Our blood would not have removed
our sin. So how therefore was our sin
to be removed? was removed through the shedding
of blood of the great and glorious Saviour. And the truth is that
that was prophesied and set forth right from the beginning without
shedding of blood. There's no remission. Ancient
Israel realized they'd sinned. Ancient Israel realized they
needed to be forgiven. And so there was the glorious
picture of shed blood brought forth wonderfully, really, in
that occasion of the Passover. We should never pass over ourselves
these great truths, but recognize the significance of it You will
remember, I'm sure, that there was Israel in bondage, in Egypt,
been there for some 400 years. And how were they to be freed? Pharaoh wouldn't let them go. There were plagues sent. It didn't
affect Pharaoh. He wouldn't let them go until
that last plague which came upon them. And that was that the firstborn
of every person, every animal, was slain at midnight. God showed his amazing power
in doing this. And how were the Israelites to
be freed from that situation. Well, it was then that God, in
his love to the Church of God, instituted the shed blood and
the lamb slain in that very particular way. There had been, of course,
sacrifices and shed blood before, but when the Passover was instituted,
It was set forth so wonderfully and so clearly as representing
the Lord Jesus Christ giving His life and it was represented
as a lamb. The perfect lamb it had to be,
as perfect as possible, without any blemish. And we know how
true that was of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what had to occur? The lamb was killed. The blood
was taken in a basin, and the blood was then taken and put
upon the doorpost and the lintels. And what was that for? That indicated
that everyone who went into the houses passed under the blood. And that was the only place of
safety They had to pass under the blood, otherwise there was
no safety. And this was instituted, and
then Israel were commanded to keep this institution every year,
to remember the glorious way of salvation was through shed
blood. And of course the position was
the Lamb typified the Lord Jesus Christ. And that, no doubt, is
why John the Baptist, when he baptised the Lord Jesus Christ,
spoke those beautiful words. To the people, behold the Lamb
of God that taketh away the sin of the world. My friends, they
were spoken in those days They're spoken today. They're spoken
to us today. To behold the Lamb of God that
taketh away the sin of the world. And we see there then in the
glorious death of the Saviour. He shed his most precious blood,
invaluable blood. in order to deliver us from the
wrath to come, to free us from the condemnation of the law of
God and to set us free. Well, it's a glorious picture. And here we have this set before
the Church of God by the Apostle, writing to the Romans in a very
clear testimony, whom God, none else, whom God hath set forth,
set forth. There it was. There Christ had
died. It was set forth. The people
had observed it. It had been seen. And Christ
rose, of course, from the dead, whom God has set forth to be
a propitiation through faith in his blood. That means that
you and I, my friends, today are blessed. with God-given faith
to believe these great and wonderful truths. Israel, on that Passover
night, had to believe that that which had been set before them
was important, was relevant, unless they carried it out carefully
and precisely as they'd been directed and were in safety,
having passed under the blood they would have been taken, the
firstborn, like that which had been spoken. Well, what a mercy
to realise there was freedom in that wonderful obedience as
they partook of that ceremony. Well, my friends, today we have
a wonderful account of the Lord Jesus Christ. You think today
we have the Bible, the details it concerns. It gives us very
clearly, doesn't it, the picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. It
shows us very clearly his sufferings. It tells us exactly what occurred,
what had to occur in order to redeem your soul and my soul. Redemption whom God has set forth There it is for us to see, to
behold, to rejoice in, through faith in his blood, to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
passed through the forbearance of God. It's a good thing to
remember God's forbearance with you and me. You and me. Sinners indeed. We've disobeyed
the law of God. We've offended God. His righteous
law. You and I have walked contrary
to it. We deserve to be cut off. But
what a blessing it is to realise that we have such a wonderful
Saviour. And so God has set this forth
to declare His righteousness. You and I, my friends, are unrighteous. The glorious saviour was righteous
and he died in order to give us, to give us his righteousness
and to have that wonderful blessing of remission, forgiveness of
our sins. what a wonderful Gospel it is
how relevant it is how important it is to each one of us none
of us here this morning can say well this is not relevant to
me it is because as we read for all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God and so God has set forth this wonderful
way of salvation, this wonderful way of being justified, this
wonderful way of being made righteous. And so he says, to declare, I
say, at this time, his righteousness, his righteousness of the Savior,
that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus." Well, we see, don't we, here, the significance and
the relevance and the importance of being one of those who receives
faith to believe in that great and glorious finished work of
the Saviour. how many times in the Scriptures
we read about the need to believe when the Apostle wrote to the
Philippians and he spoke to the... he had that account of the jailer
You may remember in the Acts we read on the 16th chapter the
conversion of the Jonah, when he was convinced, convicted of
his sins, when he came and cried to Paul and Silas, what must
I do to be saved? What must I do to be saved? And what did they say? Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Well, what
an infinite blessing for you and me today. if God has given
us faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. What a wonderful
blessing it is. You know, we read, don't we,
in the Hebrews, that wonderful 11th chapter about faith, and
perhaps it's very familiar to us. Well, it's good to be familiar. We're told what faith is. We're
told faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen, for by it the elders obtained a good report. Well, it's a wonderful blessing
to realise that we have faith, and this chapter tells us all
about faith, through faith. We understand that the worlds
were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen
were not made of things which do appear. And then he goes on
to give us a list of Abel and Enoch, and we're told, for without
faith it is impossible to please God, for he that cometh to God
must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him. This is a very clear statement,
isn't it? And what a mercy if you and I are blessed with the
wonderful gift of God, that wonderful desire to be diligent in our
seeking for this faith, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It's important to note the wording
of Scripture. It's encouraging to us. And it
says, without faith it is impossible to please Him. You see the relevance
of it. When you and I come to God, when
we pray to God, we can't just pray in an abstract form. We are to pray, believing that
we're coming to God, the Almighty God, the Ruler of the Universe. And we can only come through
the merits of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's
why we have a very clear statement, for he that cometh to God, that
means praying to God, must believe That he is. That he is God. And that he is a rewarder. That
means we must believe we are coming to a God who does hear,
who does answer prayer. We're not coming like the Athenians
to the unknown God. What a blessing when God therefore
gives you and me faith to believe. that this is the way the great
and glorious way and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek him and my friends the blessing is you and I today have the Word
of God which you and I can plead before
God we can plead His promises. It's a wonderful encouragement,
isn't it? It's not something which is abstract. You and I
can, before God, humbly and with living faith, plead that God
will indeed grant us that wonderful blessing of faith to believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And of course we can read through
this wonderful and glorious chapter which we're told these all died
in faith. Yes, every true believer dies
in faith. We're blessed with faith to believe. What a wonderful blessing, what
a wonderful favour it is to therefore come and to Rejoice in that and
it may be you know, we have we have many encouraging words in
the scripture in in this situation Because the devil will tell you
you can't believe anyway, there's no point in you doing it. We
just remember we have an occasion where there was this father who
had a child and needed to be healed and And he was asked whether
he believed. And you know what his answer
was? Father the Child cried out in
answer to that question. And he said this, Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief. Very simply, that means He wanted
to believe, but he had an evil heart of unbelief. He didn't
want that to come in and crowd out his faith to believe. And that's why it was worded
like this, Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief. and all graciously
has given us such accounts to encourage us so that none may
think well I'm not a believer I've got such an unbelieving
heart well you can come in with a prayer like this Lord I believe
help thou my unbelief don't let me turn away from the simplicity
which is in the gospel, in the glorious word of God, to declare,
I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just, and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. You see the wonderful
truth there? If God gives you and me faith
to believe in the atonement, the justifying work of the Lord
Jesus Christ, in order to redeem our souls, we are, by faith,
made just. justifier, to declare, I say
at this time, his righteousness. Christ was righteous, perfect
before God. He was able to occupy this station
that he might be just and the justifier of him which believing
in Jesus. Well, how vital it is. for you and me to believe in
the Lord Jesus Christ, to believe that he came into this sinful
world to redeem your soul, to redeem my soul, to have all our
sins forever washed away in the precious blood of the Saviour. Those words are so glorious,
aren't they? Redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. No other way of redemption. No
other way of being freed from our sin. But that is the divine
ordained way by Almighty God that sinners shall be saved,
shall be justified, shall be made righteous. It's through
the shed blood of the Saviour who stood in our place. He bore
the punishment instead? Do we not say? Can we not say? Should we not say? What a Saviour who gave his life so willingly
for such an unworthy sinner. Well, may we meditate, ponder
these great and glorious words and realise the great truth of
them for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,
being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for
the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance
of God, to declare I say, this time, his righteousness, that
he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Amen.