If you take your Bibles and turn
with me to Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter 4. We'll be looking
at the first five verses of this chapter this morning. Romans
chapter 4. And the title of the message
is, To work or not to work. To work or not to work. Romans chapter 4 and verse 1
says, What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining
to the flesh, hath found. For if Abraham were justified
by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. For what saith the Scripture?
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the
reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness." Now, religion. Religion in our
day is so large and diverse that many people feel overwhelmed. Overwhelmed either because of
the complexity of the arguments of religion or because men are
put off by their own ignorance of religion. I thought about
the IRS. Now, I'll tell you what, you
may pay or you may get money, but one thing you don't want
is you don't want them to visit you. You don't want them to come
out and visit you because we're ignorant of the laws. That's
just true. They're ignorant of the laws,
We're more ignorant than they are. So if they were to come
out and try to talk to you about this, we would not want to talk
to them because we don't understand. Usually we don't want to talk
about things we don't understand. Nobody does. And even so it is
with religion. Men have polluted religion. They have added so much to religion,
so many laws and rules that people don't know or understand what
they're saying. They are taught that men cannot,
that the Bible cannot be understood, that God's will cannot be known. They're taught that everyone's
opinion is valid. And that's just plain confusing.
If you have two people who totally disagree with one another, both
of them can't be right. But yet in religion, it seems
like that everybody's opinion seems to be valid. They claim God's love is upon
all men without exception. Religion claims that Jesus died
for all men without exception. And unless the sinner does something,
his soul cannot be saved. This is the idea of modern religion. If God loved Judas, who went
to hell, and Peter, if He loved them both the same, then what
does the love of God have to do with salvation? Nothing. If Jesus died for Judas, who
went to hell, and Jesus died for Peter, who went to heaven,
what does the blood of Christ have to do with salvation? Nothing. If the Holy Spirit draws on two
men with the same power, the same affection, and one man rejects
and one man receives, what does the Holy Spirit have to do with
salvation? Nothing. If there are two different Gospels
being preached and both men claim to receive Christ by two different
Gospels, then what does the Gospel have to do with it? Nothing. No wonder men are confused. No
wonder men are confused. No wonder why men do not desire
to speak of Jesus Christ, because the God of this age is loveless. The Christ of this age died in
vain. The Holy Spirit of this age is
powerless. The gospel of this age changes
constantly. But that's not our God. That's
not our Christ. And that's not our gospel. Our
God is sovereign. Our God rules over all things,
and our God saves whomsoever He will. Jesus Christ was not
a failure, but a successful Savior. For everyone He died for, the
Holy Spirit will come in time and in power, and He will resurrect
the souls of those people only. and He will keep them until the
end and bring them to Himself. Our God is powerful. Our God is sovereign. Our God
does whatsoever He pleases in the armies of heaven and among
the inhabitants of men. He does whatsoever He pleases. May God be our teacher this morning,
because I want to make this as simple as I possibly can. If
you can count to two, you should be able to get this message.
Two. If you can count to two, you
know how many religions there are in this world. Two. If you
can count to two, you know how many gods there are in this world.
Two. If you can count to two, you
know how many Jesuses are in this world. Two. And if you can
count to two, you know how many Gospels there are. Two. There are two religions, works
and grace. Got that? Two religions, works
and grace. Two gods, a false god who does
not exist, and the God, the living God, who is revealed in His holy
book. There are two Christs. One is
a failure. The other is a successful, triumphant
Savior. There are two Gospels. One is
a Gospel of salvation by the sovereign grace of God, and the
other is a Gospel of salvation by works. The Gospel of works
is the false Gospel, and the Gospel of grace is the true Gospel.
And we can see that in these five short verses here. in Romans
chapter 4. What shall we say then that Abraham
our father pertaining to the flesh hath found? For if Abraham
were justified by works, he hath whereof the glory, but not before
God. For what saith the Scriptures? Now I really don't care what
men say. There's a lot of opinions of men. But what we say here,
the end of the argument is thus saith
the Lord. What saith the Scriptures? Is
salvation of works or is it salvation of grace? It can't be of both.
It's either one or the other. God is either sovereign or He's
not God at all. Christ is either successful or
He's a failure and there's no hope for any of us. Now, there
are two religions. Two religions. There are many
denominations. Don't confuse that. There are
many denominations. You can put anything on the door.
We can go out here and change our sign tomorrow. We can change
it to anything we want to. Change it to any words you want
to. Put Baptist, Methodist, Catholic. I don't care what you put on
the door. Because there are only two religions in all the world. Works. and grace. Men try to
distinguish themselves by denominations. And therefore, they try to differ
themselves one for another and separate themselves. So, they may be different in their
manner of worship. We're different in our manner
of worship than some other of God's churches. I know that.
Some people are more formal and some are less. Some use musical
instruments, some don't. Some use things that excite the
flesh like candles and smells and all sorts of wonderful things.
Some use plays and programs. Others are emotionless, solemn. But none of these things define
true or false religion. You can have any of your service
to do any one of those, but none of those define true religion. What separates true religion
is this matter of salvation. How is a sinner saved? How is it that God can be just
and justify the ungodly? How is that possible? How is it that you are guilty?
How can you be made innocent before God? This defines true
religion. is salvation by works or by grace. The false religion is one who
preaches either directly or indirectly. Now, I say that very importantly
because it's not just what men are saying, but what men are
not saying that's important. You can hear a man say a lot
of good things. Marriage is good. Keeping your bank account is
good. All these things in your life that they deal with, your
tragedies, all that is good. There's nothing wrong with that.
But it's what they're not saying. Anyone who preaches either directly
or indirectly that a man is saved by works, by something he does,
that is false religion. That is false religion. These
false preachers will teach that God loves everybody, Jesus died
for everybody, and then the work is up to you. The decision rests
in your hand. This is what false preachers
teach. They teach that men are the deciding factors in salvation. that God is some weak, pathetic
old man wringing his hands, wondering who in the world will love him.
That is a false God. That is a false gospel. If men have to do anything for
their salvation, it is false religion. Now, there are false
prophets, may differ. on how much work needs to be
done, right? Some people say, well, you just have to do a little
work. And some people say, you have to do a lot of work. But
it doesn't matter. They're all lumped into the same
false religion. Works. Works. Some people say,
well, Jesus died for your sins, but you need to be baptized. And once you're baptized, then
you'll be saved. Wrong. You've added a work to
His work. Some people say, just eat the
Lord's Supper. Do some good. Get out there in the community.
Bang on the doors. Witness. Then, when you've done
enough, you'll be saved. When is enough enough? When? When is it over? When have you done enough to
please God? I'm not talking about pleasing
me. I'm easy to please. Not very difficult. But I'm not
your judge. God is. God is. If any man tries to add anything
to the work, the person and work of Jesus Christ, which is salvation,
that is blasphemy. It is the blasphemy of God's
truth. This type of religion tries to
rob God of His glory. And anyone who preaches this
gospel of free will works religion, makes the love of God, the blood
of Christ, only powerful if man allows it. It's blasphemy. Any religion
that tells you to do something for your salvation is works religion. False religion. For what saith the Scriptures,
Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.
Now to him that worketh is the reward, not reckoned of grace,
but debt. To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
as righteousness. Here's true religion. True religion
is salvation that worketh not. that is not by the works of man. Not by any work of man. The truth is that salvation of
sinners is completely the work of God. If you will be saved, God must
do it. If you are to be saved, God must
do it. Not part of it, all of it. If you leave anything for yourself
to do, you do not have the righteousness of Christ. Ephesians 2 verse 8 says, For
by grace you are saved through faith. Men interrupt and they say, See,
you must believe. So it's got to be a work. It's
got to be something you do. There's no doubt you must believe.
Nobody argues that. You must believe. The problem
is you have no power to believe. You are not only not willing
to believe, you are not able to believe. For by grace you
are saved through faith, and that faith is not of yourself. It, faith, is the gift of God,
not of what? Works. Why? lest any man should boast. If it's of one work, if your
faith merits salvation, you'll boast in it. Well, look at me. Look what I've done. I've believed
and you didn't. I'm better than you. You'll boast. It's our nature. So God made
it so it's by grace, so that it is not of any work that man
can do. Our faith is not of ourselves,
it's not our work, but it is the fruit, the gift of the Holy
Spirit. Paul asked the simple question,
how was Abraham justified? Now, if we're able to answer
this question, if you're able this morning to answer this question,
how was Abraham justified, then you can answer the question concerning
everyone that's justified. How was Abraham justified? works or grace? Which one? Which one? How was Abraham justified? Was
it that this how was it this man who was 75 years old and lived his life as a pagan? Worshipping little statues all
of his life until he was 70. JD, you complain about being
66 when the Lord revealed the gospel? This man was older. And he was in much worse condition.
He is bowing down to little idols. And God, out of His own mercy
and grace, called this man Abraham out. How then is this man who
was a pagan now righteous? How is it that God could call
him righteous? I love the Scriptures. They're
wonderful because they reveal all the sins of God's people. They just lay them out there.
Lay them out there. Abraham was a sinner. He committed adultery with his
wife's servant. He lied to the Egyptian king
to save his own hide, not caring about his wife. Abraham sinned. What was it that saved Abraham? Was Abraham saved by his works? Verse 2, For if Abraham were
justified by works, he have whereof the glory. If that were so, if
men are saved, if Abraham was saved by works, he'd have a lot
to glory in, wouldn't he? He did a lot of good things.
A lot of amazing things. He left his home and followed
God in obedience. Hearing the voice of God, he left everything and went out
into the desert. Who would do that? Who would
have such faith as to go out and leave your family and your
home? just at the voice of God. Who among us would have faith
to take your servants? He had slaves and he defeated
five kings with their veteran armies. He did amazing things.
Abraham was so... He believed God so much that
he took his only son he loved and he was about to kill him
for God. Which one of us would have that
faith? Abraham had a lot of faith. But does he have any faith to
glory in? Before us? Yes. What about before
God? No. But not before God. None of these works could have
ever saved Abraham. He most definitely was a better
man than we are, But none of His works could give Him glory
before God, how much less our works. If you were to take all the good
works of men and put them together, the best, the choicest works,
if you could do that, if we could take the best of what you've
done and put it together with all of the best that men have
done over the centuries, How much would that affect them and
their relationship to God? Nothing would be counted for
righteousness. All of it would be counted as
sin and hell would be our just reward. Our faith Our faith, if it is
true faith, trusts only in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Trusts only in the Son of God
and the Son of Man. We do not believe in some creed.
We do not believe in some ceremony. We do not believe in our works.
Commend us to God. Our faith is in the person and
work of Jesus Christ alone. The truth is that our faith does
not rest in our faith. Does your faith rest in your
faith? Does it stand? Can you stand
on it? Is your faith good enough to
stand on? No, and neither is mine. But
my faith does not rest in my faith. My faith rests in a person. Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
a real man who is really in heaven, who really died for my sins and
rose again for my justification. All my faith rests in that one
person. And all my faith rests in all
His works and none of mine. None of mine. To say that salvation can be
earned by your works is so far from the truth. Now to him that worketh, the
scripture says, it is the reward, is the reward not reckoned of
grace, but of debt. So if you're working to earn
your salvation, and you say that God saves you based on what you
do, then you are demanding God to give you what He owes you. You are saying God is indebted
to you to give you salvation because of the good person you
are. You are lost and in your sins
and have no idea who God is. If that's your condition, if
that's what you believe, then you don't know who God is. Sinners, there is no hope in
your works. There is no goodness in you.
There is nothing that you can do to satisfy God. What can you
offer God? What can you offer God? God's going to demand of you
perfection. And anything less than perfection
will not be accepted. Do you have perfection in your
works? Any honest person, any person
with the least bit of integrity would say, No, I'm a sinner. That's true, you are. What then will you offer God? What will God accept? The Scripture says all your righteousness
is ours menstrual cloths. When a woman has a menstruation,
the lining of the womb pours out in blood. What is that signifying? There's no life. There's no life in that womb.
Friends, what he's saying is there's no life in your righteousness.
Your righteousness are dead. They have no life. What can save me? What can give
me righteousness before God? Only the free grace of God. Only
if God Himself comes down and gives it to you. You and I are helpless in this
matter. Absolutely helpless. There's
not one thing you can do to move God or make God save you. Not
one. If God saves you, He'll do it
because He wills to do it. I'm saved not because of what
I've done. I'm saved because God willed
it so. I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
because the Holy Spirit gave me life and faith to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. I didn't have that. I raised
in church all my life. Didn't have it. You see, it's the Lord Jesus
Christ who obtained my righteousness for me. He did it. He did it. He came in this world
as a man and He actually worked righteousness. He did righteous
in every thought of His imagination, in every intent of His heart,
every motive that He did. It was perfect. It was beautiful. It was glorious. We've never
seen anything like it. Jesus Christ did all my righteousness
and He's given me faith to believe it. Jesus Christ, by His death on
the cross, paid for all my sins before God. You see, my sins
did deserve to be punished. And they were punished. My sins
were punished 2,000 years ago by a man that hung on a cross
when God poured out without mercy His wrath on His only beloved
Son, and my sins are eradicated. They're nowhere to be found. Blessed is the man, happy is
the man to whom God will not impute sin. That's happy. God's not going to charge me
with sin. Because he charged his son and
he cannot twice demand payment, can he? Can't twice demand payment. Oh, the love that drew salvation's
plan. Oh, the grace that brought it
down to man. Oh, the mighty gulf that God
did span at Calvary. At Calvary. Jesus, the Son of
God, came to make a perfect salvation as a perfect substitute. And
He accomplished that work. All that the Father chose in
eternity, the Son died for. And their sins have been gone,
eradicated. Some of them have not been made
aware of this yet. Some of them are still lost. But that's okay, because the
shepherd will find his sheep. And this message, this gospel,
is the gospel that He will use to save His people from their
sins. He will deliver them, He will
give them a new heart, and they will believe that salvation is
not by their works, but by the grace of God. I am what I am. Saved. Saved. By the grace of God. not by any works of righteousness. Jesus didn't come to make my
salvation possible. He came to finish it, to accomplish
it. And He has. Do you believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you still trusting in what
you know or what you've done? May God, by His grace, quicken
your heart to believe. And if you believe, find rest
in this. This is our comfort and rest. Is that our religion that's of
grace is the only true religion that serves the only true God
that worships the only true Christ who accomplished our salvation.
And we're kept by the only true spirit who has power to keep
us until the end. Now to him that worketh the reward
is not reckoned of grace but debt, but to him that worketh
not. But believeth on him that justifieth
the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. I pray that God would bless this
to your hearts.