I take your Bible and turn with
me to Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter 4. And we'll be looking at verses
9 through verse 16. 9 through verse
16. I've entitled this message, One
Savior and One Salvation. one Savior and one salvation. Now, up until verse 9 of this
chapter, the Apostle Paul has clearly, methodically laid out
the doctrine of justification by faith, which begins with the
depravity of man. He has laid out that all men
are guilty and can by no means justify themselves by works. He has laid out plainly that
all righteousness comes by the obedience of Christ, all redemption
comes by the death of Jesus Christ, and all this that Christ has
obtained, righteousness and redemption, come to the guilty sinner only
through the means of faith. Only by faith do we receive these
things that Christ has accomplished. Righteousness. Redemption. Justification. Sanctification. All of these things are received
by faith and then we begin in chapter four he gives the illustration
of Abraham. Abraham. He gives the divine
illustration because this is what God intended by Abraham,
is to testify and use him as a primary example of how God
saves all his elect. Abraham. He testifies that Abraham
was not justified by his works. But he was justified through
faith. It says Abraham believed God
in what? It was counted to him to righteousness. He was justified by faith in
the promise of Christ. The righteousness of God was
imputed to him through faith. And as we saw, The last time
we studied together, this was no contradiction of what James
said. Remember that. Always keep that in mind. James
said that Abraham was justified by his works. Paul says he was
justified without works. There's no contradiction because
James was not talking about his person. James was talking about
his faith. His faith is justified. God justifies faith. How? by works. Faith is genuine if it works. But Paul is talking about the
justification before God in his person. And so then in verses
6-8 the Apostle now gives David's view on this matter of justification
by faith. He said in verse 6, David described
the blessedness of the man to whom God imputed righteousness
without works." This blessing that David describes
here is the blessing of Abraham. God imputed righteousness without
works. And this is the blessedness of
everyone that believes. Every one of you tonight, you
are blessed. I don't feel blessed. I feel
bad. I don't feel like God's with
me. Does that have anything to do with this? It doesn't. If
you believe, you are blessed with faithful Abraham, Paul says
in Galatians 3. We are blessed with what? Imputed
righteousness. David said we are blessed with
forgiveness of iniquity. That all our iniquities are forgiven. All our sins are covered. Isaiah
says it like this, that He said, I, even I have blotted out thy
sins as a thick cloud. They're covered! They're covered! They cannot ever be seen by the
justice of God ever again. This is the blessedness of those
who believe. And God decrees this, He will
not impute sin. How is that possible? How can
God not charge me with sin? I charge me every day. Do you
look in the mirror and charge yourself? John said this, if
we say we have no sin, we make him a liar and the truth is not
in us. We confess our sin. That is necessary. We must confess
our sins. Knowing this, that he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins because of Christ. But what an
astounding thing is this, God will not charge me with sin.
Why? Because Christ has removed it. Christ has taken it out of the
way. Remember the picture of the scapegoat. What a beautiful
picture, that strong man carrying that scapegoat who had all the
sins confessed on his head. All of them, and they're gone. And this was done, friends, justly. It was done in true righteousness. This was not a... This is not how, you know, pretty
much how a lot of our legal system works. It's sleight of hand,
isn't it? Sleight of hand. Shades of gray. That's how our
human justice system works, is shades of gray. He killed somebody,
but did he really mean to And so we start debating on how much
he should be guilty. God don't deal in shades of gray. If you're guilty, you're guilty. Regardless of your excuse. Remember,
God has no respect for a person. So when God has to forgive, when
God's going to not condemn you and not impute guilt to you,
He has to do it in such a way that it's just. And he did, because
he took your sin and made Christ to be sin for us, and then charged
Christ with our sin. And as he was charged with our
sin, he actually really paid for it. All of it. So when God
can look at me, he can forgive me. God will not impute sin to us
because Christ did. In Colossians 2 it says, blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us. Listen to what he did, which
was contrary to us and took it out of the way. He took it away. Well how did he do that? Nailing it to his cross. Nailing it to his cross. So when
Jesus our representative was made sin for us who knew no sin,
the justice of God was pleased to bruise him. The justice of
God was satisfied. Therefore in Colossians he said,
having made peace. Consider the blessedness of this.
He has made peace. Now where were you when he made
peace? Man, that was a long time ago,
wasn't it? Over 2,000 years ago when it
was actually made. But listen, that lamb was as
a lamb slain before the foundation of the world. That piece was
already determined by God to be. He said, I'm God. I calleth those
things that be not as though they were. And so in that eternal covenant,
That peace was already made in the mind and purpose of God,
and on that day when Christ died, it was literally made. Where
were you? What did you have to do with that? What part did you
have in that making of peace with God? We didn't have any
part other than this. He was my representative. I didn't
even know it. I didn't even know it, and yet
He was my representative. By Him to reconcile all things
to Himself, even you who were alienated and sometimes alienated
in enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled."
Brought you together at peace with God. That's the blessedness
of justification by faith, peace with God. And so now by faith
we know that he will not impute sin because
he cannot. I like the justice of God. I'm
glad God's just, because if he's just and my sin has already been
paid, then he will never charge me with that sin. That's the
blessedness of justification by faith. And I want you to understand
something. When we use the word impute,
it's the word charge. You charge somebody with something.
If God charges you with something, He's not pretending. He's not
doing like a sleight of hand on an accounting error in a book. He's not seeing all your debt
and He's just going to move it over and just say, well, he don't
have any debt. God can't do that. The debt really needs to be paid.
And if He's going to impute righteousness to you, you must be righteous
for Him to do it. And so this is what happens when
we believe, is that God literally makes us righteous. He makes us righteous. Now, I
can't see it. I can't show it to you. I can't
exhibit it. I can only know that to be true
because God imputed me with it. He charged me with it. And if
He charged me with it, it must be so. I like what John says. Now listen
to what John says. John says, as he is. Now how
is he? When you talk about Christ, how
perfect is Christ? Right now, in his perfect resurrected
body, righteous, holy, without sin. Does he have any sin? No. As he is, John said, so are we
when we get to heaven. Is that what he said? No. In
this present world. Now listen, you can only grab
that by faith. You can't see it any other way. You can only
grab it by the promise of God in His Word. You can't run around
and say, look at me, I'm sinless. No, we don't ever say that. But
I know this, He has made me that. In the new man, He has made us
this. And so this is what happens when
God justifies us. And so now look at our text.
Look at our text. We come to this part now. Verse
9. Verse 9. Now in the text the
Apostle again is going to show us in detail what he alluded
to in chapter 3 in verse 29 and 30. Look at chapter 3 verse 29. It says, make sure I get the right, Yes,
chapter 3 and verse 29. He says, Is he the God of the
Jews only? Is he not also the God of the
Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, seeing it is one God which
shall justify the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcision
through faith. You see, there's one God that
justifies. And this one God justifies one
way. By faith. By faith. And so now
he's going to expound on that. That God who justifies by faith
without works is the only true God and he justifies all men,
Jew and Gentile, circumcision and uncircumcision the same way,
by faith in Christ without works. That's how man's justified, by
faith in Christ without works. Now then he asks this question,
look at this question. He said, Come at this blessedness
then on the circumcision only or upon the uncircumcision also?
For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for to righteousness. Now, he's asking this question,
does that blessedness, all that blessedness I just told you about,
all the forgiveness of sins and imputed righteousness and will
not impute guilt, All that blessedness. Does that come on just those
who are circumcised? Or does it come on those who
are uncircumcised as well? Is this salvation only for the
Jews? Consider this question this way.
Is it only for the Jews? Or is it for the Gentiles also? And I think why he didn't use
Jew and Gentile, and I've thought about this, why did he just use
Jew and Gentile? Why did he use circumcised, uncircumcised? Because
many at that time of the Gentiles were duped to be circumcised. So he couldn't say just Jew and
Gentile, because not only Jews were circumcised, they had duped
so many of the Gentiles to be circumcised. So he had to use
it this way. Then in the end of this verse,
he restates his previous truth, the previous truth that
faith was reckoned to Abraham to righteousness. He's saying, this is my statement
of truth, just in case you've gotten off track. So he's putting
us back on track here. He's asked a question. Is this
for the circumcised only or is it for the uncircumcised also?
Now listen to my statement. I've told you that a man is justified
by faith. Abraham was justified by faith.
That's my premise, my conclusion. So now in verse 10, look at this.
He says, how was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision or
uncircumcision. So he's asking this question,
when was Abraham justified? Was he justified before circumcision
or after? Well the answer is, it was before. It was before he was justified. Therefore, Paul is saying this,
what in the world did Abraham's circumcision have to do with
his justification? Nothing. Nothing. He was justified before his circumcision. So if circumcision has no part
in the justification of Abraham, it has no part in the justification
of any sinner. Nor is it meant of God for any
special blessing. Now listen, I know that this
is not a great debate today regarding circumcision. I've seen a lot of debates in
the church and none of them have to do with circumcision. Nobody's
running around saying every male needs to be circumcised. If there
is, I haven't met that whack job yet, but he's out there somewhere
probably. I understand, but this was a
great conflict during this day, during this time. It was a subject of great confusion
in the early church. Because the Jews believed you
needed it in order to be saved. That's what they were telling
all the Gentiles. They said, you believe in Christ, so do
I. We both believe in Christ. But if you really want to be
justified, you have to be circumcised. That's what the whole book of
Galatians is about. The whole book. Now today, It's not circumcision. In fact, it's even more. Today, men seek to add the Law
of Moses to faith in Christ. They seek to add the Ten Commandments
to faith in Christ. Yet in both cases, in circumcision
and obedience to the law, Paul states it very clearly, Christ
shall profit you nothing. I don't care if you add circumcision
or you add tithing. I don't care if you add tithing
or the Ten Commandments. I don't care if you add the Ten
Commandments or Passover. It doesn't matter which part
of the law you add. If you add any of the law to
faith in Christ, listen, Christ will profit you nothing. This
is plain. It's simple language. Everybody
can understand it, but I'll tell you there's a lot of people angry
at it. A lot of people mad about it. Can't help you. I'm sorry. Just the way it is. I'm not here
to win friends, influence people. That's not my position. I'm not
here to do that. I'm here to declare something to you. If
you want to be under the law, you're under the whole law and
your soul is damned. That's how serious it is. But what was circumcision given
for if it had no part in Abraham's justification? And it didn't.
Paul just said it. He was justified before he was
circumcised. So it didn't have any part in
it. So what is the purpose, then, of circumcision? This circumcision,
you don't have to turn there, but Genesis 17 is where God gave
this commandment to Abraham. You remember it was Genesis 15
and verse 6 where the scripture says Abraham believed God and
it was counted to him for righteousness. But now we come several years
later down the road and then in chapter 17 verse 11 God says
this, and you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin. And
it don't give you room to speculate why. I love the Word of God. If you just read it, it doesn't
give you room to reason about it. Guess. You don't have to guess why God
gave circumcision to Abraham. If you just read it, listen,
and it shall be a token of the covenant. What is circumcision? It is just a token. Now what
do I mean by token? Paul says it in verse 11 of our
text, look, he received the sign of circumcision. So what is it? It's a sign. I like to use this word often,
a picture. A picture. This same word, token, is used
in Genesis chapter 9 when God talking to Noah after the flood.
You remember, God made a covenant, I will not destroy the world
by water ever again. And then the scripture says,
He gave him a token and set a bow in the sky. So today, every time
you see it rain, you can look up and then you see a rainbow. What is that? It's a token. It's a sign. Do I have to worry
about God flooding the world again with water? No. So every time it began to rain,
you imagine Noah. You imagine Noah every time it
began to rain. Don't you think he'd look up and say, man, oh
yeah, he said it. He said it. Did that have anything
to do with the covenant? Nothing at all. It's just a token.
It was for him as a sign, as a picture. Exodus chapter 12
and verse 13 talking about the Passover blood. When they put
that Passover blood on the door, God said this shall be a token,
a sign, a picture of what? The gospel of Jesus Christ. Isn't
that what it is? I could preach the gospel from the rainbow.
I could preach that. how Noah was in the ark, a picture
of Christ, how he endured the wrath of God, and you could preach
how God saved him and He delivered him and his family and all that
were in the ark, and God gave him a sign, a picture. Look, here's my rainbow right
here. Here's my rainbow. How do I know that God's not
going to bring that sin back on me? I've got a token. It's
called the Gospel. I got evidence right here that's
all I need. And I believe it. And so this
circumcision was nothing but a token, a picture of something.
And that, again, everything in the Old Testament was a picture,
wasn't it? All of the law was a picture. The tabernacle, the altar, the
high priest, the Ark of the Covenant, the showbread, the candlestick,
the laver. All of it was a picture of Christ,
wasn't it? Well, circumcision was no different. It's just a
gospel message. That's all it is. And Paul reveals this in, go
to Colossians, look over a couple pages in Colossians and see what
Paul says about circumcision. Look at Colossians chapter 2 and verse 10. Oh, this is a good verse, isn't
it? You are complete in Him. Isn't that a good verse? Now,
when something is complete, what does that mean? Does it need
anything? Does it need to slip one thing
in there? No, it's complete. You are complete
in Him. which is the head of all principality
and power, in whom you are circumcised." What in the world? How's that? "...with the circumcision made
without hands, in putting off of the body of
sins the flesh by the circumcision of Christ." When Christ died,
He cut off the flesh. cut off our sins, didn't he? That's what circumcision did.
When they cut off the flesh of the man, you threw it out. It
was gone. That's what Christ did with our
sins. What Christ did with our flesh. He cut it off. And we were buried with him at
baptism, risen with him through faith in the operation of God,
which raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins,
in the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together
with him, having forgiven you all your trespasses." Isn't this
true? What happened to us? We were
covered with nothing but flesh. And when the Spirit of God came,
what did He do? Cut that off. made us sensitive
to our sin, our need of Christ. You see, circumcision was nothing
but a picture of a spiritual thing. It was a physical act
that represented a spiritual thing, just like everything else
in the Old Testament. Just like all the lambs and and
the bulls and the goats. Paul said, you realize none of
those took away any sin. Cheryl and I were talking about
this this week. It's astounding that people somehow,
and I'm going to get to this because this is the whole point
of where Paul is going, is some people believe the Jews were
saved in a different way. That somehow that law and their
obedience to that law had some meritorious virtue. to their salvation. Everything
Paul is saying here is saying just the opposite. So everyone who is born again,
and then at the end of this Paul says this, look at verse Chapter
3 and verse 11, look what Paul says concerning this salvation.
You that have been circumcised in Christ, having the flesh cut
off, our sins cut off. What does he say now? Where there
is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision. Does it really
matter now? Does it have any bearing at all? No. Because it, like all the
sacrifices, was only a type, only a picture of something spiritual. But here it is, there is neither
Greek nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian or
Scythian, bond or free, but listen, Christ is all. To you that believe, isn't this
so? Christ is all. Now, this is an honest question,
is there anything you want to add? Is there anything you want to
take from your miserable, weak efforts at righteousness,
and you want to add that to His? Every believer in Christ desires
to add nothing to His righteousness. Why? Christ is all. And listen
to this. in all. Now can you grasp a hold to that?
Now that's by faith we have to see that because that's true.
He is just as much in you as he was in Abraham, as he is in
me. Christ who is all our salvation
has also taken up dwelling residence. in every believer. He is in all. Go back to your text and look
at verse 12. He said, And the father of circumcision,
to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the
steps of faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet
uncircumcised. Now listen to what he's saying
here. He said, And the father of circumcision,
Now he's talking about spiritual circumcision. He is the eminent
type. Now, Paul has set him up as the
eminent type of all who are justified, all who are really circumcised
in the heart. And he says Abraham is the father
of the circumcision too. To them who are not of the
circumcision only. He is saying He is the Father
of both Jews and Greeks. To you who have been circumcised
and to you who have not. He is saying Abraham is the Father
of us all. And notice the purpose then of
the text. Look at this, the purpose. In verse 12. who also walk in the steps of
that faith. Who walk in the steps of that
faith of our father, Abraham. The apostle here again destroys
any thought of ever seeking to walk by the law. If Abraham is the eminent type
of all of us and he was justified before the law was given, the
law of circumcision or the law of Moses, he was justified. How
did he walk during that time? By what law did Abraham walk? If we are to follow the steps
of Abraham, who is the father of us all, then what did he do? Listen. The scripture says that
he is the father of all who walk in the steps of that faith. Abraham walked by faith. That's
how he walked. That's how he lived. He lived
by faith. God said go that way. By faith he went that way. That's
how he went. God said, offer your son. By
faith, he offered his son. Wherever God told him to go,
he went. And he did it by faith, not knowing where he went, didn't
know, didn't care. Because he knew he had a promise. For we who believe are also to
walk in the steps of that faith of Abraham. Before ever the law
of circumcision was given, or the law of Moses, he walked
by faith. And we are instructed then to
walk not by the law, but by faith in the promise of God. Which
is what? Salvation by grace through faith.
We are to constantly walk by that. that all our salvation
is in Christ, constantly looking to Jesus Christ, the author and
finisher of what? Our faith. We don't have faith
in our faith. Do you have faith in your faith? Will you trust in your faith?
Will you take your faith to God and say, look at my faith? No, by no means. Faith has an
object, and it's the object that's glorious. It's the object that
saves me. It's Christ. Christ is always
the object of our faith. He is the promise of God. Look
at verse 13. He said, For the promise, the
promise, Abraham walked by faith in what? The promise. What are
you walking by? How are you living through this
world? We're looking to the promise. Look, we are bound for glory
based on a promise. My whole soul is resting on this
promise. My whole soul. My whole life
is resting on this promise. That God is satisfied with Jesus
Christ in my state. That's my hope. That's my promise. And with everything in me, I'm
clinging to that promise, because I have nothing else but that
promise. That's how Abraham walked. That's
how we walk. We walk based on the promise.
And this is the promise. He said, for the promise that
he should be heir of the world, listen, was not to Abraham or
to his seed through the law. He was not promised the law based
on his obedience. I like this, Robert Haldane said
the word heir there has to do with sonship. It has to do with sonship. He
was an heir because he was a son. Listen, my son does not need
to do anything to inherit what I have. He's my son. He don't
need to do anything. by virtue of being my son. Now,
if it was somebody that wasn't my son, they would have to do
something. But not my son. And this is what it is with the
elect. We are sons of God. And that's what Paul says in
chapter 8 later on. He's going to say this. If sons,
then what? Heirs. Heirs of what? God. Can you inherit? God made everything. Can you have any greater reward
than God who made it all? No. God is our reward. We are joint
heirs with Jesus Christ. And so it is with all who walk
by faith. We are heirs even as Abraham
was. How? By law? Was he an heir by
law? Neither are you. You're not an
heir by law. It was not by law. This is true. And I want you
to understand this. This was true of the Jews in
the Old Testament. Consider everybody before Christ. All of those before Christ came
into the world. If they were to inherit heaven,
it must have been by faith and not by law. Why? Because Abraham
is the eminent type. He inherited the world through
faith and not law. How then should all the people
after him inherit? The same way, by faith, not by
law. And so this is true of everyone
after Christ. We inherited the same way they
did, through faith in Christ. And so then no one is an heir
of heaven by law because no one is justified by the law. He said,
by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in the
sight. Now how am I so sure that it
is of faith without the law? How am I so
sure? Because in Galatians, look at
this. I've quoted this in the conference, but look at this
in Galatians 3. I want you to see, this is exactly
what Paul is saying here, is what he said in Galatians 3.
And look at verse 12. He said in verse 11, just what
I just told you, no man is justified by the law and sight of God as
evident. For the just shall live by faith. Isn't that just what
I said? That's what he just said. Abraham lived how? By faith.
That's how we live. Look, and why? The law is not
of faith. In other words, these two things
cannot be mixed. You cannot be justified by faith
and by the law. You are either justified by faith
or you are justified by the law. Why? Because the law is not a
faith. No matter how men want it to be. Now this is just so. Religious men want the law to
be part of their faith. Now listen. You can hold your
breath and jump up and down and scream and yell and get mad all
you want to. The law is not a faith. The law
is not a faith. And so the promises of God come
through the righteousness of faith, merited by the faith of
Christ and given to us by faith in Christ. Now again, to speak
to any man who seeks to abide under the law, look at verse
14. Go back to your text, verse 14. He said, for if they which
are of the law be heirs, what happens to faith? It's made void. You see, he's telling you the
same thing he said in Galatians. The law is not of faith. These
two things, if you desire to be under the law, stop believing. Faith is useless to you if you
want to be under the law. It's void. It's void. Faith is of no effect. So he
makes a distinction of law and faith. They cannot coexist. It
is either of faith or it is of law. If it is of faith, then
it is no... If it is of law, then it is no
more of faith. And to those who desire, I've
said this many times, I don't understand why anybody wants
to be under the law. Now, in all honesty, when I was lost,
I did. When you were lost, you did.
So in that sense, I do understand. But now that your eyes are open,
it's just, it's clear. Why would you ever want to be
putting yourself back under the law that you can't keep? I don't understand anyone trying
to honor the law because they've never honored
it. And what they're doing now is not honoring it. And they'll
never honor it. I've asked men that desire to
be under the law, have you established it? Have you fulfilled it? And the answer is no. If they're
honest, if they're honest, what does the law say? To you that
want to be under the law, what does the law say? Cursed is everyone
that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law,
listen to these words, to do them. to do them. I hear men
give lip service to the law. Oh, the law is so wonderful.
It's so great. It's so glorious. And it is.
There's nothing wrong with the law. The law is perfect in every
single way. I would not disparage anyone
from saying anything bad about the law. The law is not the problem.
We are. And so if you want to be under
the law, you need to go take the whole law and do all of it,
which you won't and you can't. And I tell you, anybody who wants
to be under the law needs to stop believing. Why? The law
is not a faith. Paul said that in our text. If
it is of the law, then faith is void. Faith is void. Why? Look at verse 15. Because
the law worketh wrath. That's all it can do. The only thing the law can do
is condemn you. That's it. And Paul keeps saying
these things over and over again because, why? Our flesh is constantly
looking over there. It has to be continually cut
off, even in the believer, doesn't it? How many want assurance? You
want assurance? At times, you even doubt we're
saved. They're just... Circumstances come in, divine,
dark providences roll in, and it would consume our faith like
that, just like it did the disciples. When they were out on that sea,
he said, how is it that you had no faith? I understand that. I understand what they're going
through. I've been there. And in that dark season, when
there is no evidence, what do you look for? You start groping
in the dark, looking for evidence, looking for something that you've
done, something that you can hang on to. So what do we have
to do with that? Cut it off. Cut it off. Why? Because that's not a faith. I can't remember exactly where
it's at in Isaiah, but he says, you that are servants of the
Lord that walk in darkness and have no light. You been there?
The servant of the Lord, you that fear the Lord, you that
worship Christ, you that believe on Christ. Do you walk in the
dark? Where there is no light? This is the only command given
to us. Trust. Trust in the name of the Lord
thy God. And I like that, when he starts
talking about those trying to make their own light, sparks,
he's got some guy over there in the darkness and he's trying
to hit a couple of rocks together, trying to make a spark. He said,
you know what they're going to have? Sorrow. Don't try to make a spark. If
there's no light, then there's no light. Trust Christ. Walk
by faith. Isn't that what Abraham did?
He didn't know where he was going. He was walking in darkness. East,
west, north, south, just walk that way. OK. Didn't know where
he was going. That's how I feel right now.
I don't know where I'm going. I got things that I might want
to do, and none of that's sure, is it? How do I walk? Every step. Every movement we have should
be done looking to Christ. The law can only work wrath,
it can't help me. It can't give me any life. But here is light. Look back
at your text. For where no law is, there is
no transgression. When he took the law and he nailed
it to the cross, the law was established. It was satisfied
for every one of his elect. So where's the law of Moses to
us? Satisfied. Is that law perfect? You bet it is. And I've established
it in my substitute. That's my hold. That's my standing. And see then that we were made
the righteousness of God in him and the new man. And therefore, God says this,
there is no sin. In that day and at that time
shall the sin of Judah be sought for, and there shall be none. The sins of Israel, and they
shall not be found, for I will pardon whom I reserve. And so then, it is, look now
at verse 16. Therefore, the apostle now concludes
this, therefore, it is of faith. That's a conclusion, isn't it?
How is one justified? How does one receive forgiveness?
How is one made righteous? How is one made to stand before
God? Therefore, it is of faith. It was by the faith of Christ
my righteousness was earned, and it was by faith in Christ
that I received that righteousness. Well, how in the world did I
have any faith at all? Look, that by grace, take those
words out, it might be, take them out, they're not in the
original. It is a faith and that by what? Grace. Man, why do you believe? Have
you often thought why you believe? You don't see all of the things
and providences of God moving everything in your world to bring
you under the sound of the gospel and then hearing a gospel you've
heard so many times before, but now you really hear it. Why do you believe? That by grace. Now listen, can we exalt ourselves
above the workmongers? Can we promote ourselves because
we believe? No. That by grace. We were chosen by grace, we were
redeemed by grace, we were called by grace, we were quickened by
grace, and the faith we have now is of grace. Well, how long? To the end. How long are you going to believe?
To the end. To the end. Listen. To the end, the promise should
be sure to all the seed. I'm going to close with this. Again, I'll ask you, is there
anything sure in this world? Can you name one thing that's
sure? And we play the odds, right?
We say, well, you know what? I say it's pretty sure this chair
is not going to collapse. Really? I mean, there is a possibility
that it would. It may be very small, but it
could. So it's not really sure. Anything could happen at any
moment and we could take away our whole world. Our family,
anything sure about your family? Sure is not sure about my family.
I have no clue what's going to happen next. Jobs? Finances? Any of that sure? No, nothing in this world is
sure. But to you that believe, listen
to me, there is one thing sure. That is the salvation that is
in Christ. That is the salvation that is
in Christ. There's only one Savior, isn't there? I'm sure
of that. Are you sure of that? I'm sure.
There's only one Savior. How does he save? He saves everyone
the same way. By grace, through faith in Christ
alone. And then everyone he saves, he
keeps. And everyone he saves walks the
same way. You don't have a different law
than I have. I have the same law you have. The same law Abraham
had, which was what? The law of faith. We walk by
faith, for the just shall live by faith. One Savior, one way. I pray that Christ be magnified
and honored through the preaching of this, his gospel. Let's stand
and be disciplined. Let's do prayer. Father, dismiss us with your
mercy and pour out your grace upon us. Make the word effectual
to our hearts. Give us grace to remember these
things, to constantly read them. Look at what great example our
father Abraham was. See how it is that we are to
walk and see that you're the only Savior. You said, I am God
and there is none else. There is none beside me. You
said, look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.
And I pray that you would give grace, even tonight, to cause
one soul to look to you. I pray for many souls. Oh, Father,
that they would all look and be saved. And give us grace who
are saved to continue to look, not trusting in the uncertain
riches of things of the world, but the certainty of our salvation
in Christ. Let us cling to this by faith
we pray in Christ's name. Amen.