5-10, the title of the message
is this, and this is going to be important for us to understanding
the text. A righteousness described and
a righteousness that speaks. Two different things. A righteousness described. Look at verse 5. For Moses, describeth
the righteousness which is of the law, that the man that doeth
those things shall live by them. But then you see in verse 6,
but the righteousness which is of faith speaketh, speaketh. So the righteousness of the law,
Paul is again making a distinction here between the righteousness
of the law and righteousness which is of faith. And he says of Moses, Moses describeth
the righteousness. But the righteousness which is
of faith, it is totally different. It speaks. It's a living righteousness. It's powerful. It's effectual. So Moses described it, the righteousness
which is of the law, but he describes something that no one can attain. I thought of this as I was reading
that text. If I were to attend a beautiful
place, if I were to go to the most beautiful place in the world
and see it for myself, witness it, experience it, And then I
come back home to you and I try to describe it to you. You can get a sense of what I
felt or what I saw, but really you can't feel what I felt. You can't see what I saw. It's just a description. And
so what Moses does is he describes the righteousness which is of
the law. But, it's only a description
because he himself could never attain it. But the righteousness which is
of faith is not a righteousness that's described, but a righteousness
that is felt. A righteousness that is experienced
in oneself. So those are the two distinctions
between the law and the righteousness which is of faith. The law can
only give a picture of what righteousness looks like, but it's cold. It's
indifferent. It can't make a man righteous. It can only describe it. So all that would earn their
favor by the law Anyone. Listen, this is vital, because
we live in a generation who is seeking to earn God's favor by
the law. If anyone wants to obtain righteousness
by the law, listen to the law. Do you not hear it? They spout
it, but they don't listen to it. The law describes righteousness,
but it can't help you. Do you dare touch the base of
that mount that was filled with smoke? Do you not see the sight
that Moses saw and described? And the scripture says that Moses
exceedingly feared and quaked at the sight of it. And this is what Moses said about
the law when he described it. He said, the man which doeth
those things, listen, shall live by those things. The man that doeth those things
shall live by them. Now, there is no clearer words
to describe the righteousness of the law. If a man desires
to earn righteousness, he must come Sinai. And then he must not just ascribe
honor to Sinai, he himself must live by those laws. He must live by the law. He must
do all of the law. When the Lord was talking to
those Pharisees, they believed that they can attain righteousness
by the law. Listen what He called them. He said, Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. You know what anybody desires
that righteousness by the law is? They're a hypocrite. They're a play actor. That's
what it is. They're pretending. He said, you paid tithe of men,
Addison and Coleman. They went out and picked the
leaves. They counted the leaves on their plants to make sure
that they tithe 10%. But he said, you omitted the
weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. These ought you have done. And
listen, not left out the other. You should have counted the leaves
on your plants. But you should have also honored
the other part of the law. You see, the Pharisees and scribes,
they believed, like everybody else, that the law is something
outward. That if I can just outwardly maintain the law in front of
everybody else, then I can obtain righteousness by it. No, the
law is not just outward, but God looketh on the heart, doesn't
he? The motive. the thought, the intent. And
so in the law there is no room for error. That's what Moses
is describing. He's describing a law that has
zero room for error. There's no room for transgressions. And there's no way to input religious
amendments. That's what people do with the
law, isn't it? When they can't obey portions of the law, what
do they do? Well, they either discard it
or amend it. You seen anybody offering lambs
lately? Anyone. Anywhere. Offering lambs on Passover. Why? Well, because that temple
is destroyed and there is no place to do it. There is no high
priest to administer it. God destroyed all that. And they
say, well, I can't do that, so therefore I'm free from it. No,
uh-uh. If you are to obey the Ten Commandments,
you're to obey the dietary law, you're to obey the moral law,
you're to obey the ceremonial law. The law is the law. If any man is to do them, he
shall live by them. All of them. All of them. all
613 commandments. Listen to what James said, Whosoever
shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is
guilty of all. I can't make it clearer than
that. I can write all day long, 24
hours a day and 7 days a week and never make it any more clear
than that. If any man uses the law as a
guide for his life, he is obligated to obey the whole law. These
are not 10 guides of life. That's what they want. They want
the 10 commandments to be the 10 guides of life. It's not a
guide. It's a command. And if you offend
in one, you are guilty of all. If any of the law profits your
walk with Christ or acceptance with God, then Christ profits
you nothing. Listen to what Paul said to those Galatians. In Galatians
chapter 5 he said, If you be circumcised. Now listen, that
was their hang-up. That was the law that they chose.
But you can put any law there you want to. Paul said, I say
unto you, if any of you desire to obey the Ten Commandments
for righteousness, Christ shall profit you nothing. If you desire
to keep the Passover, Christ shall profit you nothing. Whatever
law you want. Dietary law. Well man, I ain't
going to eat no pork. Or Sabbath worship. Everybody
wants to worship on the Sabbath day. That was yesterday. Everybody's talking about worshiping
Sabbath on Sunday. That's not Sabbath. It was Saturday. Listen to what he said. Christ
has become of no effect. Isn't that strong language? If
you desire to obey one portion of the law for your righteousness,
Christ is of no effect to you. Listen to this. Whosoever you
are. It just doesn't matter if you're a deacon in the church.
if you've been in the church for decades. It doesn't matter. Why? Because the righteousness
which is of the law can only be described. It can't be attained. And anybody who wants to live
in them, they've got to live by the whole law. Those men in Galatia, they contended
for circumcision was necessary along with faith in Christ. So
today, what is necessary? Besides faith in Christ, is there
anything necessary? I'll tell you this, you've got
to be baptized. That's a religion. You believe
in Jesus, that's good. But it's necessary that you be
baptized. It's necessary that you join
the church. It's necessary that you do this or do that. Listen, if that's your righteousness,
Christ shall profit you nothing. I thought of that priest. Remember Uzzah. David carried
that ark back on that cart. He wasn't supposed to. He broke
the law in doing that. But you remember, he did all
that pomp and ceremony, and they were all dancing, and they were
praising the Lord, their hands raised. They was having a religious
revival. And you remember that ox stumbled
and that Ark of the Covenant, which is a picture of Jesus Christ,
it was falling. And that priest put his hand
on the Ark and God killed him. Now why is that? It's a picture
for us. It's a very vivid picture. If
you put your hand to his work, God will kill you. God will kill you. So Moses' description is very
clear. I think Moses' description is
very clear. But just because it's clear doesn't
make it possible. The righteousness described in
the law has one purpose, to show guilt. Now if you want to know
the purpose of the law, that's it. It has one purpose. It has
one purpose alone, to shut our mouths. That's it. We've already been over this
in Romans 3. Romans 3.19, he said, We know that whatsoever
thing the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law,
that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty
before God. You see the purpose of the law? See, then the righteousness which
is of the law is only something that can be described. It can't
be attained. Moses describes the law. But that law was not kept by
Moses, was it? Nor is it kept by any of the
sons of Adam. It's only a description of the
righteousness that God requires. So when Paul says that, Moses
described it, the law. He describes the righteousness
by the law. That if a man is to do them,
he has to live in all of them. Secondly, a righteousness that
speaks. A righteousness that's living.
A righteousness that can be attained. That's what I need. I need a
righteousness not described. I need a righteousness that speaks
to me. I need a righteousness that can
be imputed to me, imparted to me. This is the righteousness
Paul says in verse 6, but the righteousness which is of faith. You see, he sets those two in
opposition again. How many times have we been over
this in Romans? He has set these two in opposition
from the beginning. The righteousness of the law
or the righteousness which is of faith. He tells us over and over again
that the righteousness of the law can never be attained. And
he tells us that the righteousness which is of faith can. It can. And so, Moses described the law
of righteousness, but this righteousness can never be obtained. Now, we
know that the law of God is good. Now, when I talk about the law,
I want you to understand, I am not in any way putting any evil
toward the law. The law is not evil. You are. I am. So the law, we understand
this, is not the problem, is it? It's not the problem. Paul, in chapter 8, remember
what he said in verse 2. He said, For the law of the Spirit
of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of
sin and death. Why is the law the law of sin and death? Why
do we name it that? For what the law could not do,
in that it was weak through the flesh. See the problem? We're the problem. So when I
talk about the law, I do not want to discourage or diminish
the righteousness of the law. You want to see righteousness,
what it really is? Look at the law. But what does that do? Does that
help you? No. It only describes something
you can't have. It describes something you need,
but it also testifies this, you can't get it by the law. You
can't get it by your works. But God who is rich in mercy,
I'm thankful for a merciful God. God who is rich in mercy not
only plainly tell us, he tells us to repent from our righteousness. To turn from our righteousness
and our thoughts as to how we can have it. We got to repent from our thoughts
of how to attain righteousness. Now there is a way that seemeth
right unto man, isn't it? And that way is always earning
righteousness. That's the way. But in order
to obtain righteousness, which is of faith, you must repent
from that thinking. You have to turn from that. and
believe on the only way that God has provided righteousness,
and that is by the faith of Jesus Christ. Listen, by the faith
of Jesus Christ. That's how righteousness was
made. Now righteousness had to be earned,
but it couldn't be earned by you. This is why God sent His
only Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemn sin
in the flesh, that the law might be fulfilled, listen, in us. In us. This is the mercy of God,
that righteousness is by the faith of Jesus Christ. And the
righteousness of the law is described, but the righteousness of faith
speaks. It's powerful. This righteousness is a living
righteousness that may be obtained and understood. In these verses, look back at
verse 6. He says, But the righteousness
which is of faith speaketh. And what does it say? What does
it say? Now, it's going to give you a
negative and it's going to give you then a positive. He said,
Righteousness which is of faith doesn't say this. He's going
to tell you. He said, Look it, The righteousness
which of faith speaketh on this wide say not in thine heart who
shall ascend into heaven. That is to bring Christ down
from above. Or, don't say this, who shall descend into the deep? That is to bring up Christ again. Now Paul borrows this text as
a quotation from Deuteronomy chapter 30 and verse 11 through
14. Deuteronomy 30, he's just quoting
this from the law. Now, in this quote in Deuteronomy,
Moses is telling the people, look, you don't have to go to
heaven to understand this law. You don't have to go down to
the depths of the sea and go across the sea in order to get
the law. I just gave it to you. Here it
is. Isn't that what people who want
to be under the law do? The law is right here. This is
what it says. And they will try to go anywhere
to find a reason why they can't do it. He said, no, it's plain. It's right here. It's not hidden from you. Moses
described that righteousness. So as Moses said the law was
not hidden from your view, how much more is the gospel not hidden
from your view? Didn't God plainly reveal the
gospel when he sent Christ into the world? The gospel. You don't have to go to heaven
to understand the gospel. It's plainly simple. You don't
have to plumb the depths of knowledge in order to understand it. Paul is saying that the gospel
is just as plain and clear as the law was. Can anyone deny that Jesus Christ
came in the flesh? People look like idiots when
they try to deny this. It's so clear. Can anyone deny
His miracles? They do, but they look like idiots. Because it's so plain. They can't
deny these things. They can't deny His death. They
can't deny His burial. They can't deny His resurrection
and ascension into heaven, being seen of over 500 people at one
time after He was raised from the dead. And just as the law is from God
and clearly revealed, even so the gospel of God is clearly
seen in this, that Christ came into the world and accomplished
the salvation of his people. This cannot be denied. This cannot
be denied. And the righteousness which is
of faith is plain in its speech. And it says this, don't say in
your heart who shall ascend into heaven or who shall descend into
the deep. When a man comes to be awakened
of his sinful state, to see he is devoid of righteousness, his heart will then despair. When he's exposed, his heart
despairs and he says these words, What must I do? There's the righteousness
of the law described to me and I can't attain it. I need righteousness,
so what do I do? How can I obtain it? But the
righteousness which is of faith speaks comfort to such a person.
Is anyone despairing of righteousness? Do you need righteousness? Well,
the righteousness of the law doesn't condemn, it speaks comfort
to you. It forbids you to do anything. The righteousness which is of
the law is described Whatever is written in the law, live by
them. That leads to despair. The only place the law can bring
a man is despair. But the righteousness which is
of faith forbids despair. It tells us, don't say in your
heart, who shall ascend into heaven? That's what the law says. The law says you should work
to ascend into heaven. Righteousness, which is of faith,
says you don't need any work. Don't say in your heart, what
must I do to ascend to heaven? Don't say this, what sacrifices
must I make in order to pay for my sins? That is to descend into
the depths. Why? Because your works will
never reach heaven. And your sacrifices will never be enough. Don't say in your heart, shall
I ascend to the heights of heaven by my joys and emotions? Or shall I descend into the depths
of hell and despair over my sin? Don't say in your foolish heart,
I must know a great deal in order to receive righteousness. You
see, righteousness then is what Paul is saying is this. Righteousness
is not dependent upon your work or your sacrifice. That's what
righteousness, which is a faith, says. Righteousness is not dependent
on your work or your sacrifice. Why? Because your work is never
enough. You ever figure that out? Your work is never enough.
When is enough enough? When would you ever be able to
sacrifice enough? What could you offer to God as
an acceptable sacrifice for righteousness? We sing that hymn, Could my tears
forever flow? Could my zeal no longer know? These four sins could not atone. Listen to what Righteousness,
Witch of Faith says, Thou must save, and thou alone. Righteousness, Witch of Faith
does not lie in our dreams, in our visions, in our delusions,
and in our depressions. It lies in the full reliance
upon the finished work of Jesus Christ. Just what Paul said in
verse 4, Christ is the end, the fulfillment of the law for righteousness,
to who? Everyone that believeth. Listen
to what Spurgeon said about this verse. He said, go not to the
loom to weave a righteousness. The garment is woven already. Put it on. Put it on. Christ gives it to you. Dig not
into the bowels of the earth to find the gold of salvation.
Christ holds it out to you. Take it freely. Take it freely
and be rich forever. You see, the sinner has to abandon
his thoughts about righteousness. If a man is ever going to be
saved by the righteousness of faith, He has to abandon what
he thought. When I think about that, I think
about old Naaman the leper. Remember him? He was a great
man, and yet he had leprosy. And he heard this little servant
girl told him there was a prophet in Israel that could help him. And he got all of his big entourage,
and they left Samaria and went down to the prophet. Elijah. You remember, Elijah
didn't even come on out. He didn't even come on out. He
sent his servant out to tell him. He said, go wash in Jordan
seven times. And he was mad. He was upset. He didn't recognize who he was. And he left. You know what he
said? He said, I thought that He would
come out unto me and put His hand over the spot, and then
I would be healed. He said, That's how I thought
it should be. You remember what His servant said? He said, Master,
if He had asked you to do something hard, would you have done it? He said, All He did was ask you
to bathe seven times in the river. I thought. This is the greatest
hindrance to faith in Christ, isn't it? I thought. I thought
it should be this way! Well, see, in order to obtain
righteousness, which is the faith, you have to abandon what you
think. It doesn't matter what you think. It doesn't matter
about opinions. You know why we don't hold opinion
groups? Because it don't matter. What
does God say? What does God say? What does the righteousness of
faith say? Well, it says, first of all,
don't try to ascend to heaven by your works. Don't descend
into the deep trying to sacrifice for your sins. Why? Because Christ
has already done that. You see, if you do that, what
you are doing is bringing Christ down. Listen, if Christ's righteousness
is only 90%, what do you do? You brought Him down. And you
have to make up the other 10. If Christ's sacrifice was only
90% successful, or 99% successful, and you had to make up, that's
to bring Him up from the dead again. He needs to do it again.
If He wasn't successful. What does it say? Listen. The
Word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thine heart. That
is the Word of faith. which we preach. The gospel we
preach is very clear. Salvation is not in works. It's
in a person. And that person is not you. That person is Jesus Christ. Salvation is in Jesus Christ. Listen to this word. Alone. Alone. And this is what it says. When
you hear that message, listen to what it says. shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. The righteous witch of faith
does not lead to despair, but it makes a statement of truth
The word of faith is not to be searched for, it's nigh you.
The gospel, the good news that we preach to men, we preach to
all sinners, that you are devoid of any ability. And we plead
with you that you should believe on Jesus Christ. I plead with
you this morning that you should believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Why? That God raised Him from the
dead. Now why is that important? Why did Paul say, if thou will
confess with thy mouth and believe in thine heart that God raised
Him from the dead? Why didn't he say, believe in thine heart
that He was crucified? Or believe in thine heart that
He had come into the world? Why? Because the resurrection
is proof of the success of His righteousness. See, many people believe that
He came into the world. Many people believe He died for
sins. But what's the problem? They
don't believe He's successful. Paul said, in order to believe
on Him, you must believe this, He's successful. And listen, everyone who believes
shall be saved. You understand that? Everyone
who believes on Him shall be saved. I wouldn't dare say a
thing unless God said it. What is it then to believe? Listen
to me. It is this simply. It is to fully
trust on Him alone. It is to fully rest and fall
and put all the weight of your salvation on Jesus Christ. It
is to recognize your inability in any part. And it is to bow
to Him as Lord. Thou shalt confess with thy mouth,
listen, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is to bow before Him, abandoning
all hopes of contributing. And I hope everyone in this building,
everyone that's listening to me, you have abandoned all hopes
of ever earning His favor. I hope you have cast off... I
remember when Paul was on that ship, remember? And the Lord
told him, except you abide in the ship, all of you will perish. You know what those soldiers
did? They cut all the lifeboats. In other words, they abandoned
all hope outside of this ship. That's what a believer does.
He cuts all lifeboats. And he's fully resting on Christ
alone as all his salvation. That's what we do. That's what
it is to believe. It is to cut the losses, cut
every hope, every anchor, every life vest, and to fall on Jesus Christ.
And listen, how often do you do this? Every day. Every day
we fall on Him. Every day we rest on Him. The
just shall live by faith. And the Law, listen to me, is
not a faith. If you say, I'm resting on Christ,
but you have a lifeboat of the Law still hanging out there, you've not cut all losses. Here in this text, look at this,
there are two parts of salvation. Confession and belief in the
heart. The belief of the heart and confession
of the mouth. Listen, both are necessary. You won't have one without the
other. If you say you believe in your
heart, but you do not confess Him, uh-uh, uh-uh. I remember this lady, she, a
long time ago, this was a story, and it's a wonderful one, it
kind of illustrates it. Brother Ralph Barner was preaching,
and I don't know if you ever heard of him, but he, very wonderful
preacher a long time ago, and he was, when he preached, he,
oh my goodness, I would get exhausted listening to him, because he
just put everything he had into it. And he preached the message,
and this woman, was come up after the service to him. He said,
Brother Rolfe, the Lord saved me. And he said, what do I do? I
want to do something. What do I need to do? He's so exhausted, he said, don't
worry about it. It'll get out on you. It'll get
out on you. It will. If God works a work
of grace in the heart, it'll get out. It'll get out. But how many people confess Him
with their mouth, constantly, but have no real faith in their
heart? If one claims to believe in his
heart, but refuses to confess the Lord with his mouth, his
life, his actions, then that faith is no good. Faith is no good. When the Spirit
of God comes in power and quickens a dead soul to life and faith,
that person believes from the heart and that comes out. The religion of this world wants
confession to be it. All you need to do is just confess.
Acknowledge some truths. Listen, salvation is not a creed. I have read many creeds. A creed is not salvation. Acknowledging
election is not salvation. Acknowledging Christ's success
is not salvation. Listen to me. Christ is salvation. He is salvation. Do you believe on Him? So who may be saved? Preacher,
I know that I'm a sinner. I need a Savior. Listen, who
may be saved? That's a good question, isn't
it? Look what verse 13 tells us. For whosoever shall call on the name of the
Lord shall be saved." Now this word, whosoever, means this,
anyone and everyone. This is a broad word that encompasses
any and every type of man. Does it matter your race? your
creed, your gender, wherever you're from, if you're a great
sinner or a moral man, listen, doesn't matter, whosoever, whosoever. You know if the scripture put
your name there, there would be no comfort? Listen to this,
for Fred Evans, if Fred Evans shall confess with his mouth
and believe in his heart, he shall be saved. He shall call
the name, Wait a second, my dad had the same name I do. Now is
that talking to me or is it talking to my dad? But for the comfort
of everyone, it says, whosoever. That could be anyone. Couldn't
it? Could be anyone. I don't know.
It's whosoever. Whosoever. Listen to the next
phrase. It narrows it down. Whosoever shall call. on the name of the Lord shall
be saved. God commands all men everywhere
to repent and believe. That's a command. But only those
that call upon the name of the Lord, those are the only ones
that have this promise. They alone shall be saved. Well, preacher, I thought you
believed in election. I do. Most surely I do. And this text does nothing to
go against that. Matter of fact, we spent months
going over this sovereign election of God in chapter 9, and now
Paul says, whosoever. Why? Because Paul doesn't know
who they are. He knows they're out there, and
they're going to hear that. Whosoever. Oh, that gives me
hope. That gives me hope. I know God's
got an elect. Man, how do I know if I'm one? Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. You see, I believe this. I believe
that Christ died for whosoever will call upon the name of the
Lord. What I don't believe is He died for those whosoever won't. And the only reason we call upon
the name of the Lord is election, isn't it? We would have never called on
the name of the Lord had He not chosen us. Had He not died for
us. Had He not sent His Spirit to
us, we would have never called. But now that we called, we can
rejoice. All who call upon Him, you may
know you are elected of God. Now you're not elected because
you called, you called because you were elected. You weren't redeemed because
you called on Him, you called on Him because you were redeemed.
And now then by the grace of God you've experienced this.
So to call, what is it to call upon the name of the Lord? It's
to plead for mercy. Our Lord, remember the two men,
the Pharisee and the Publican? You got one man calling on God,
right? Pharisee, he's calling on God
and he said, I thank you God, I'm calling on you and I'm thanking
you that I'm a good man. I thank you that I'm not like
that guy over there, that Publican. He called. What was he depending on? He
was depending on his own righteousness. But you see, the other man, the
publican, he would not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven,
and he said, Lord, be merciful to me, this is these words, the
sinner. Now one man knew that everybody
was a sinner but him. Now that man didn't know anybody
else was a sinner but himself. I'm the sinner. Are you the sinner? You're not a sinner. Are you
THE sinner? Do you need an offering that
you can't provide? Do you need a righteousness that
you can't deliver? What does the righteousness of
faith say? Righteousness of faith says this, whosoever shall call
on Him for mercy, for grace, for pardon, for forgiveness, whosoever shall believe on Him. That's what it is to call on
Him. It is to believe on Him. What is it to believe? That He
was and is successful. I believe in a successful Savior. Whosoever shall call. I tell you, only a sinner's gonna
call. That's it. The only person that's
going to call. Everybody else is going to be
like those that say, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy
name, and in thy name cast out devils, and in thy name done
many wonderful works? And I shall say unto them, depart
from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. Why? They tried
to attain righteousness of the law. What does He say to those on
His right hand? He said, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from before the foundation of
the world. Why? You're righteous. What do we say? When were we
ever righteous? We were only made righteous by
Him. That's where my righteousness
come from. Where's yours come from? That's what it is to call upon
the name, and listen to this promise. They shall be saved. That is a sure thing. That's a sure thing. They shall be saved. In closing, I want to with these thoughts in mind,
knowing that the law can only describe righteousness. It can't
help you. But the righteousness which is
of faith, merited by Christ, given to us by faith in Christ. Now what is faith? Faith is simply
the open hand, the empty hand receiving. It has nothing to
boast in. It just simply receives it. Like Spurgeon said, he made the
garment, put it on. He is the gold. He offers it
freely taken. That's what it is to call on
Him. And so with these in mind, whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. I want to talk and exhort those
of us who confess Him, who rest in His righteousness, that we should proclaim His gospel
to every creature. Is God not good? Has He not been
good to you? You that are saved, has He not
been good to you? Was that message not sweet to
you? I desire that we would not try
to get men to assent to our doctrine
or theology, but rather to Christ. And believe me, when they assent
to Christ, all that other just comes with it. Salvation is not
a doctrine, it's not a theology, it is a person. How do we know
that? By the doctrine. We know that
by the teaching, by the Word. Let us preach the gospel and
compel men to come. Compel men to come. That was
the heart of the apostle, wasn't it, in this text? His heart was
that men should be saved. He knew that God was sovereign
in the election. He just didn't know who they
were. So what did he do? He desired all his people to
be saved. And if we have been saved, should
we not desire others to be saved? We should. So what's our message? Listen
to this. Not law. Don't tell me, you start
doing this, stop doing this. What do we say? Ours is Christ, Christ is the
end of the law. Listen to this. For righteousness.
To who? Everyone that believe it. To
everyone that believe it. Righteousness described. I don't
want righteousness described. I need righteousness that's already
accomplished and a righteousness that speaks to me that's living. And that righteousness is a person.
That righteousness is Christ. He is all my righteousness. And everyone believes on Him.
This is it. They're saved. They're saved. I pray that God
bless this to your hearts. Let's stand and be dismissed
in prayer. Our gracious Father in Heaven,
we bow again before You seeking mercies. Tender mercies. gracious mercies, thank you for
letting us hear the gospel. I pray that you would make it
powerful and effectual to the hearts of everyone who hears
it. I pray, Father, for sinners, that you would, by the law, shut
them up to Christ, and that by Christ they might have righteousness
and be saved. I beg you for forgiveness of
our sins. That you'd go with us this week and carry this word
in our minds and hearts, and that we might take it and be
able, that you'd give us opportunity to tell others of what great
things God has done for us in Christ. And help us to give you
the glory for it, in Jesus' name. I love you. I love you too. Chuck, I love you. Oh, I love you so much. Oh. They were able to hear, so.
What's that? Oh, OK. OK, so it did work. OK,
like halfway through the message. Maybe, OK. She had to restart
when I, she restarted it and came back up. And I was going
from mom and Sherry to you. OK. OK. Thank you for, thank
you for doing that. That is, that's huge. OK. No, no, no. No. You, no,
no, no, no. You say it. If y'all get texts
like that, and y'all know, we need to try to correct something. Yes. Oh, that was really, really
good. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks for watching!