Good morning, let's all stand
together and sing hymn number 15. Hymn number 15. Brethren, we have met to worship
and adore the Lord our God. Will you pray with all your power
while we try to preach the word? All is vain unless the Spirit
of the Holy One comes down. Brethren, pray, and holy manna
will be showered all around. Brethren see poor sinners round
you Slumbering on the brink of woe Death is coming, hell is
moving Can you bear to let them go? See our fathers and our mothers
and our children sinking down. Brethren, pray and holy manna
will be showered all around. Sisters, will you join and help
us? Moses' sister aided him. Will you help the trembling mourners
who are struggling hard with sin? Tell them all about the
Savior. Tell them that He will be found. Sisters praying, holy manna will
be showered all around. Let us love our God supremely. Let us love each other too. Let us love and pray for sinners
till our God makes all things new. Then he'll call us home
to heaven At his table we'll sit down Christ will gird himself
and serve us With sweet manna all around Be seated. We'll sing hymn number 256. 256. When beasts like a river attendeth
my way. when sorrows like seed billows
roll. Whatever, my Lord, Thou hast
taught me to say, it is well It is well with my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well with my soul. Though Satan should buffet, though
trials should come, Let this first assurance control that Christ hath regarded my
helpless estate, and hath shed his own blood for my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. bliss of this glorious thought,
my sin not in part, but the whole. is nailed to the cross. Can I bear it no more? Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. It is It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. And, Lord, haste the day when
my faith shall be sighed, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll. The trump shall resound, and
the Lord shall descend. Even so, it is well with my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with If you have your Bibles with
you this morning, I'd like to read from the book of Psalms,
Psalm 103. Psalm 103. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
all that is within me, his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits, who forgiveth all thine iniquities,
who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction,
who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies.
who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth
is renewed like the eagles. The Lord executeth righteousness
and judgment for all that are oppressed. He made known his
ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. The Lord
is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide, neither
will he keep his anger forever. He hath not dealt with us after
our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the
heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward
them that fear him. As far as the east is from the
west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like
as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that
fear him. For he knoweth our frame, he
remembereth that we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass,
as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind
passeth over it, and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know
it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting
to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness
unto children's children. To such is keep his covenant,
and to those that remember his commandments to do them. The
Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom
ruleth over all. Bless the Lord, ye his angels
that excel in strength that do his commandments, hearkening
unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye his
hosts, ye ministers of his that do his pleasure. Bless the Lord,
all his works and all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord,
O my soul. Our most high and heavenly Father,
Lord God Almighty, we come into thy presence humbled
and feeble and frail. Yet we come boldly through thy
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, we thank you that we
are privileged to come before you. A privilege I think we take for
granted. Lord, we thank you for all that
you have given us. all that you have provided us. Thank you for
our families and our friends, our dear brothers and sisters
in Christ. These buildings we gather in, we thank you for the
pastors you have sent to proclaim my word. Lord, and above all things, we
thank you for a perfect, a rich and free salvation only in Christ.
We thank you for revealing yourself unto us. We thank you for instilling that
reverence, that fear in our hearts that cause us to look to thee. Lord, we ask that you would allow
us to never stop looking to thee. Let us look unto thee until our
last breath is drawn. and let us look to thee through
all eternity. Lord, I know we can't worship
you perfectly. One day we will, in glory, be
able to worship you as you are to be worshiped. But Lord, we ask that you would
allow us to enter into worship here this morning. That as we've
read, that you would send your Holy Spirit among us. Cause your word to go forth and
nourish our hearts and souls. Lord, we ask that you would ingrain
your word on our hearts. Always keep us looking to thee.
Cause us to be prayerful. Let us pray for one another.
Pray for our brothers and sisters. Lord, I pray for our lost loved
ones who know you not. We know that you are able, if
you would be willing, cast your mercy upon them. Give them that fear of God. Cause them to look to thee. Give them a glimpse of their
sin and a glimpse of thy righteousness. Lord, we ask that you would do
what only you can do. Lord, there's been great devastation
spread abroad in the last few days. We know that that is of
thy hand. We know that that is thy will.
We ask that you would cause it to bring glory to thy name. Lord, we ask that you would have
mercy on those afflicted and those affected. Lord, we ask
that you would be with those who are unable to be here, weak
and weary, faint of heart, those who are traveling. Whatever the cause may be, Lord,
that you'd be with them. We ask that you'd cause your
word to go forth all over this world, cause a great revival
if it would be that will. Once more, we ask that you would
meet with us this morning. Let us not meet in vain. Lord, we pray thy will be done
for Christ's sake and all things. Amen. Let's stand together as we sing
the hymn of the day in the bulletin. O Him that loved the souls of
men And washed us in His blood to royal honors raised our heads
and made us priests to God. To him let every tongue be praised
and every heart be loved. A grateful heart. on earth, and nobler songs above. Thou art the first, and thou
the last time seen. We say it in We're delighted to have Brother
Fred Evans with us this morning. It's been quite some time. I'd
have to look in my book to see when it was you were here last.
It doesn't seem that long ago until you stop and think about
it. Time has flown. Time has flown
by. So when you get up here, you'll
see a few new faces. I've got to introduce you properly. I've known you as long as I can
remember. Proud to know you. Glad to know you. Thankful you're
here. You come on and bring forth the
message. It is good to be here, and what
an honor It is that your pastor asked me to preach the gospel
to you, who he probably loves, I know
he loves more than himself. He loves you. And to be entrusted
with this is a great honor and privilege, and I'm very thankful
that God has allowed us to be together again. If you would, take your Bibles
and turn with me to Romans, Romans chapter 4. Studying through the
book of Romans in our congregation, it's been a blessing to go through
this book. I think there's a book in the scripture
that is more thorough in the doctrine of justification by
faith than this book of Romans. Very clear, very thorough. If
you look at verse 16, it'll be my text, and I've entitled this
message, Assure Salvation in an Uncertain World. Assure Salvation
in an Uncertain World. The Apostle says, Therefore,
therefore, it is of faith that By grace, ignore those words
in italics to the end. Here's the purpose that the promise
might be sure to all the seed, not, not to that only, which
is of the law, but to that, which is also of the faith of Abraham,
who is the father of us all here. The apostle begins. His conclusion
in this matter of justification by faith. The Apostle had set
forth very plainly the guilt of all men. Jew and Gentile alike,
all are guilty. He says there's none righteous,
no not one. There's none that understandeth.
There's none that seeketh after God. They are all together become
unprofitable. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one. Therefore what? By the deeds
of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight. The law
is only the knowledge of sin. It cannot help us to be justified
before God in any measure. Then he explains how justification
is accomplished by Jesus Christ. By the faithfulness of Jesus
Christ, by the obedience of Jesus Christ, by the blood of Jesus
Christ, God justified us. And then, by a work of grace,
he sanctified us, and therefore, he's concluding here, therefore,
it is a faith. What is he talking about, justification? Therefore,
it's a faith. Accomplished by the faith of
Christ, applied by faith in Christ. And what, that by grace. That
by grace. Where does faith come from? Does
faith come from the man or God? This divides all religion in
our day, doesn't it? Where does faith come from? Is
it a work of man's will or is it a mixture of man's will and
works? No. He says that by grace. Why? Why are we justified by
faith? Why is it? for this reason, that
the promise might be sure. There is no other way that it
could be sure. There is no other way that we could be justified
and it be sure. But this way, the promise is
sure to all the seed, to all the elect of God. And we know this because faith
is of grace He said, thy people shall be willing. This morning,
are you willing to believe? Anybody not willing? Is it a
struggle for you to believe? No. You must believe, right? I remember this woman came into
our congregation one time, and I think she gave the greatest
definition of faith I'd ever heard. She said, when I started
listening to that message, I would not believe. But somewhere along
the message, I could not help but believe. You that believe,
you can't do anything else but believe. And you say this, Lord,
help my unbelief. I know, my faith is mixed with
unbelief. Yet, I know this, I believe. And I don't believe what, I believe
who. I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded that He is
able. to keep that which I've committed
to Him. My soul, my life, my all is committed
to His trust. And so faith is a gift of God's
grace and we know that. And to this end that it might
be sure. This morning, it is my desire
by God the Holy Spirit to comfort you. Isn't that the command of
God to all His preachers? Not whip you. I'm not here to
whip you. I'm not here to beat you. I know
this, your conscience does that all by itself. I'm here to comfort you. I'm
here to give you peace. I want to preach to you the promise
of God. Listen to me is sure to all the
seed. It's sure. The promise being
justification by faith. Listen, it is immutable. unchangeable and cannot be disannulled
by anything in time. That's how sure it is. And the first thing I want to
bring up is this. We do live in an uncertain world. We do
live in an uncertain world. Uh, when I was going through
this message, I read through the book of Ecclesiastes. Y'all do that. That's a, it's a very, It keep
you grounded. It'll keep you settled and not
be. If you're way up here, don't worry. You breathe this book,
you'll be right on the earth. Everything under the sun. Listen
to what he says in Ecclesiastes eight. He said, whoso keepeth
the commandment shall feel no evil thing. And the wise man's
heart discerneth both time and judgment because every purpose,
there is a time and a judgment. Therefore. The misery of man
is great upon the earth. Why? We're neither discerner
of time and judgment. We just, wise man is, but we
always seem to miss it. It's a misery to man. Why? For he knoweth not what shall
be. Isn't this a misery? I know this,
everybody's all concerned about what's gonna happen to our country
and our government and everything else. Why are you so miserable?
Because you don't know. Misery, isn't it? This is under
the sun, it's uncertain. We have no clue what's next.
And so it is a misery. So then under the sun, nothing
is certain. Therefore it brings doubts, fears,
I don't know, maybe I'm the only one. I think me and Solomon maybe. I don't know. Maybe you don't
have doubts and fears and troubles, but I do. I'm filled with them. Why? Because we don't know. But
we do know something. I know this. In this uncertain
world, our God is in the heavens and hath done whatsoever he had
pleased. I know that. Even though I don't
know what's next, I know who's doing it. God is doing whatsoever. He pleased. He said, I am God. And there is none else. I am
God. And I, he said, uh, I have, uh, read the text. I don't miss
it. Remember the former things of old. I am God. There's none
else. I am God. And there's none like me declaring the end. When did he do that? From the
beginning. From ancient times of things
that were not yet done. The things that are causing you
and I so much fear and trouble. The things that are not yet done.
Saying my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. What is he doing? He's doing
all his pleasure. Doing all his pleasure. So we
know that even in uncertain times that God is still sovereign.
Now, this truth of God's sovereignty does bring us a sense of comfort,
a sense of joy. But in matters of circumstance
and providence, we are often overcome with fear. Nobody wants to fear. You don't
want to fear. It just comes all by itself.
It just overwhelms you. And so then we know this for
certain that there's nothing certain in this life. God's sovereign,
that's certain, but anything else in Providence, I don't have
a clue what he's going to do. I don't have a clue. So there's
no certainty in your health. There's no certainty in your
family. There's no certainty in your
jobs or your finances. I like what Solomon said in Ecclesiastes. He says, uh, I returned and saw
under the sun that the race is not to the swift. And that's
something you got a fast guy. And he said, doesn't mean he's
going to win. The battle's not for the strong. You have a strong
army. That's not a guarantee. It's going to win. Neither is bread to the wise
or riches to them with understanding, yet favor to the men of skill,
but chance happeneth to them all. What does this? He means
chance. It means this. I don't know.
That's what it means for me. It seems as though it's chance.
I have no clue to God. It's not to God. It's not. But to us, it is. So in these uncertain times,
let us remember what David said and hold fast to this. My times
are in thine hand. Now what does that mean? Not
just the length of my life, that's in his hand. But everything in
between is in his hand. It just is. It's in his hand. All my sickness and health, all
my poverty and wealth, all my sorrows and tears, all my joys
and my fears are in His hands. And all these things being certain
to God. They're certain to God. Known
unto God are all His ways from the beginning. But you know what
I know? Nothing. No, nothing. I don't know what's next. And so we are uncertain of these
things. And as we view divine providence
of God unfolding every hour, often we are confused. Again,
I'm speaking for myself. Now, I don't know if you're confused,
but I am. I get thoroughly confused. I like what Newton wrote, and
I got this written down for you, but Newton, he felt many of the
things that I feel. He said in this poem, he said,
I asked the Lord that I might grow in faith and love and every
grace. Might more his salvation know
and seek more earnestly his face. Now that's a prayer I can have
a hope. That's a prayer I can hang on to. That's what I, that's
my prayer. In these uncertain times, is
it not that I want to know Him who is controlling all things?
I want to know more His love, more His grace, more His power. T'was He who taught me thus to
pray and He who I trusted answered prayer. But it has been in such
a way as almost drove me to despair. I'd hoped in some favored hour
at once He'd answer my request And by his love's constraining
power, subdue my sins and give me rest. And that's how I think
it should be. I pray and I think you should come right now and
subdue whatever it is that's troubling me. I think that's
the way it should be. And then I would be so thankful
and praise you and instead of this. He made me feel
the hidden evils of my heart. He let every angry power of hell
assault my soul in every part. Yes, more with his own hand he
seemed intent to aggravate my woe. Crossed all the fair designs
I schemed, humbled my heart and laid me low. Is that how you
feel? I feel so many times as though
God himself is intent to destroy me. I feel as though God by the
use of providence is not helping me, but hurting me. That's how
I feel. That's how you feel. We are in
these uncertain times brought into such darkness And I like
what he said in Isaiah. I can't remember exactly the
text right now. He said to my servant that fears me, listen,
that walks in darkness and there is no light. That seems more
of my walk than any other thing. My experience. I seem to walk
more in darkness than I do in the light. I don't seem to have
a clue what God's doing to me. Listen to what God says to you
in darkness. Don't try to make your own light. Hear that power of positive thinking.
You just, you need to just make your own light. You know, you
feel depressed, but you just make your own self. Pick yourself
up and just, you know, God said, don't do that. In the darkness,
trust me. Trust in the name of the Lord. That was God's command to those
who walk in darkness. So I want to give you something
that's sure. We have an uncertain world. That's
certain. It's uncertain. God's sovereign
in it. I don't know what he's doing.
I'm in fear, often in misery and in darkness. I need something
that's sure when everything else around me is not. Where am I to receive such a
sure word? Let me tell you this. First of
all, the word of God is the source of all that's sure. It's a source
of everything that is sure. Go to first Peter. Look at this.
So everything I'm going to give you this morning, that sure is
going to come from this word. Look at first Peter chapter one,
look at verse 24. Here's something sure. All flesh
is as grass. There's something sure. And the glory of man is as the
flower of the grass. What's that going to do? The
grass withereth, the flower there fadeth away. But here's something
that stands. The word of the Lord endureth
forever and this is the word by which the gospel is preached
Unto you make no mistake what takes place in time. It doesn't
matter. The only thing that's going to
endure is the word of God. The word of God. As we have it
is the infallible, immutable, unchangeable, undefiled word
of the living God. You have it in your hand. What
a wonderful gift you've been given that many generations had
not had. They relied on others to read
it to them. They didn't have it in their
possession. You have it right there in front of you. The word
of God. So let men rage if they will. Let them kick. Why? They're grass. All the men that hate this word
are nothing but grass. They are soon to perish. And this word will endure forever. Hasn't that been so in the past
centuries? It will be true in this century.
I don't believe that word. I don't care. It's going to endure
whether you believe in it or not. You're grass. You're nothing but a flower blooms
for a minute and dies. This word will endure forever. And so the word of God that endures
forever. No, this it's not passive. This
is not a passive book. It's a very active and living
book. Paul said it's living and sharper than any two edged sword
dividing asunder of soul and spirit. Soul and spirit, wow.
Can't even grab a hold of that in my mind. Much less divide
it. So as we preach the gospel, and
what's the sum of this book, man? What's the sum? What's the
theme of the whole thing? Sixty six books written by totally
different men in different civilizations under different kings and different
continents. Most of them never even knew
each other or met each other. And yet the book has one theme,
Jesus Christ and him crucified. You can't get two men to agree
in the same room, much less this. And here we have an infallible
word of God and it speaks only of Jesus Christ and it is by
this word we preach to you the gospel. The gospel. How sure is the word of God?
God said, go to Isaiah 55 just a second. I don't have a clock,
so raise your hand, I guess, if you think I've gone too far.
I don't know. I just, I hope that I don't,
I don't want to wear you out. I'd much rather you go saying,
man, I wish you'd have said more than you stopped 15 minutes ago.
So Isaiah 55, you know, we as preachers, we preach to those
that are thirsty, those sinners who need who need thirst, God
says, I'll give you water that's free. Christ is the water of
life. He said, let the wicked forsake
his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts, let him return
to the Lord and he shall abundantly pardon. Anybody need pardon from
God? God said, return unto me and
I'll pardon you freely. Now, how sure is that? Look what he says in verse 10.
He says, for as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven. Where's this word come from?
Same place as the rain and the snow comes from God, from heaven. It returneth not thither, but
watereth the earth and bringeth forth in bud. so that it may
give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall my word
be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return to
me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please. and it shall prosper in the thing
wherein I sent it." This morning, I have no idea what's going on
with you. Didn't read your mail. Don't look at your... Forgive
me if I don't remember your name, because it's been a long time,
and I'm forgetful, and I'm... This word's gonna do exactly
what God intends for it to do for you. He's given seed to the
sower, and He'll give bread to the eater. That's what this word
does. It's not going to fail. It's
immutable. He said, my counsel shall stand
and I will do all my pleasure. What is this? What's it doing
to you? What does the word do to you? Does it affect you at
all? Well, if it doesn't, guess who
did that? That's God's intention. Didn't
affect you at all. Bounced right off your heart because your heart's
hard, stony. Has any relation to you? Then that's work of God. That's
not my work. It's not even your work. And
so what does this word teach us? And I got seven things, seven
things that this word teaches us regarding this matter of justification
by faith, because this is the most important thing. Am I justified
before God? Nothing else really matters. And that book of Ecclesiastes
is one thing, one recurring theme. We're all going to die. That's
a recurring theme through that whole book and brings him such
misery. He said, I worked so hard. I had all this stuff. And
you know what? That fool over there is going
to die just like me. That brought him misery. The
only thing that matters is how may a sinner be justified before
God? And this word teaches us concerning
some sure things. This gospel, first of all, go
back, you can go back to your text over there. Go to Romans
again. The first thing this gospel teach
me, I am so sure of is this, that every man born in this world
is absolutely depraved. I am certain of that. Why? According to the immutable,
unchangeable word of God, as he says in chapter 3 and verse
10, as it is written. Now, why does he say that? Because
that settles all debate. If you don't want to hear that,
I don't want to talk to you anymore. This is what he's saying. I don't
care to debate this subject with you anymore. It is written. God
wrote it. Now you deal with it. Here it
is. There is none righteous. Now, how many is righteous? None. There's none that understandeth.
Okay. Who understands? None. There's none that seeketh
after God. What good is freewill works religion
if none seek after God? Well, if you'll just seek God,
wait a second, none seek after God. So if you're leaving it
to me to seek, I'm doomed. They are altogether become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good.
In case you don't understand none, he said no, not one. He
gave the definition of none. No, not one. And what's the conclusion
of that? Why do you have to know this?
Because everyone by nature seeks to be justified by works. That's
our nature. Even the believer has to continually
put that away. Because it's the nature of man
to seek to be justified by law. He said, therefore, by the deeds
of the law, because that's true by the deeds of the law shall
listen. No flesh. Now, how many? No flesh shall
be justified by the law in the sight of God. He said, that's
just evident. That's clear. That's plain. If
you're depraved, there's no law that you can honor to be justified. And so the second thing is this.
I am sure that God will judge all men with the same judgment.
Paul makes this clear in the second chapter. And he says this
in verse 11, that God is no respecter of persons. Chapter two in verse
11 of Romans, he says, God is no respecter of persons. What
does that mean? God does not look at who you
are or the circumstances of your life when he judges you. That's
what we judge by circumstance, and we pity, and oh, he was a
poor guy, and I know he killed this other fella, and we're just
gonna give him a lighter sentence, because God don't do that. He's
no respecter of persons. When God judges man, you will
judge in strict holiness. Every one of us, every one of
us, every one of us, he will judge in strict holiness and
you will not enter heaven unless you're as holy as God. Just according to the word of
God, the soul that sinneth, it shall surely die. And saying God, then that these
two things are sure that God will judge all men without respect
to persons. That all men are guilty and there
is no hope of us obeying the law of God. No hope in being
justified by our obedience. Is there any hope at all? Yes. Yes. Oh, because I'm sure of
this next thing. Is that God has chosen the people
to save. I am sure of it, just as sure
as I was depraved, born dead in sins, a product of my father,
Adam, just as sure as I had no hope of ever justifying myself.
I know those things to be true. And I know this is true as well.
According to the word of God, that does not change. God chose
a people to save. I am sure before the foundation
of the world, God in love set his heart to save an elect people
for himself. I do not know who they are. That's
not, they're not my elect people. They're his. He chose them. He loved them. He determined
to save them. Listen to what he said in Ephesians.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ, according as he had chosen us in Christ before the
foundation of the world. Why? That we should be holy. Isn't that what we needed? That's
what a sinner needs. He needs to be made holy. Well,
God purposed that some should be holy. and without blame before
him. Why would he do that in love?
There's his motive, love. Having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children, and he did not leave it to them to
do it by himself. Jesus Christ, he's going to do
it. He's going to do it by Jesus
Christ. So what is this election? It
is nothing more or less than a covenant. We call it the covenant
of grace because that's what grace is. That is the cause of
this covenant, the covenant itself. Listen, God purposed a covenant
that should be sure. When God decreed that His people
should be holy, He did it in a covenant for them with His
Son. In the sacred trinity of His
persons, God made a covenant with Himself for us. How sure is this covenant? How
sure is it? Look at what David said in 2
Samuel. Look over in 2 Samuel and see
what David thought about this eternal covenant. 2 Samuel 20,
uh, 23. 2 Samuel 23. Now you got to see
this. David is dying. Scripture says these be the last
words of David. The son of Jesse said, and the
man who was raised up on high, anointed of the God of Jacob
and the sweet psalmist of Israel said, this is his words. The
spirit of the Lord spake by me and his word was in my tongue.
The God of Israel said the rock of Israel spake to me. Now, I'll
tell you what, that's awesome. None of us have ever had this,
what David had. He, he heard from God directly
and recorded the very word of God, wrote it down. I got a bunch of stuff written.
No. All my writings should say, refer
to thus saith the Lord. That's my writing. So I don't
have what David had. He was a prophet. And notice
this, he that ruleth over men must be just. This is what God
told him. He must be just ruling in the fear of God. And it shall
be as a light of the morning when the sun rises, even morning
without clouds, as a tender grass springeth out of the earth. By
clear and shining after the rain, he's saying, oh, this is what
a just man looks like. God spoke to David and said,
this is what a just king looks like. He's like a sunrise. Majestic. He's like the glimmer
of the rain on the grass as it shimmers in the sun, beautiful. And then David looked at himself
as he lay there dying and he said, although my house be not
so with God. He said, God, this is how you
said I should be. David's house was a mess. His
family was a wreck. But what was David's dying hope? Yet he hath made with me An everlasting
covenant, listen to these words, ordered in all things and sure. You that believe that are justified
by faith, what is your hope? God said we should be good, love
one another. God says we should, we should
be as a bright and morning sunrise. We should, we should be witnesses
of him. in his service, we should, we
should be honorable. What do you see when you look
in? I don't see that. So what's the believer's hope? He hath made with me an everlasting
covenant. He ordered it in all things necessary
for it. Therefore it's what? Sure. That's
exactly what our, our, this, the, the writer of, uh, our,
of Romans was saying, Paul was saying that the promise might
be sure to who the seed, the elect. So there is hope for sinners. I'm telling you, there's only
hope for the elect. And this brings me to the second
thing that's that's sure. The next thing that's sure. That God ordained that Jesus
Christ should be all my holiness. And he was successful. See the one thing that differs
from the Christ that we preach and most of Christ that are being
preached. Is this matter of success? They
all say the same words, grace, justification, faith. They use
the same words. There's no difference in the
words they use. Meanings are totally different,
but the words are similar. The words are the same. He was
crucified, died, rose again on the third day, ascended into
heaven. Yeah, but was he successful? Did he actually accomplish what
God ordered him to do? According to the word of God,
I am sure that Jesus Christ accomplished salvation for all of his elect.
I am sure of it. Again, according to the immutable
word of God. Now the promises of Christ. Consider
this. The seed of the woman should
crush the head of the serpent. Was there any possibility that
Christ should not be the seed of the woman? Now there's a lot
of time went on from the time that God said that to the time
he was brought into the world. Was there anything in that area
of time that would alter him from coming from the sea of the
womb? No. Matter of fact, everything in
time moved to that. He should be born of a virgin.
Was there any chance that that would not take place, that it
would be unsuccessful? Nope. Not in the least. Why? God ordered it. And behold,
whatever God ordained concerning his son come to pass. He was
born of the seed of woman. He was born of the virgin's womb,
according to God's ordained plan, purpose. And as he became a man,
he became our high priest and offered a gift, a sacrifice unto
God for his elect. What was his gift? What was his
offering? What was he ordered to do? To obtain righteousness by his
obedience and satisfy God's justice by his death. That's what his
work was about. Back over in your text, if you
read Romans three, you see this in verse 22, it says, even the
righteousness of God, which is by the faith of Jesus Christ.
And how was your righteousness made? Mine was made by the faith
of Jesus Christ. That's how mine was made. How
was yours made? When Christ came, he made my
righteousness. Everything he did, he did for my righteousness. He wasn't, when he was doing
something, did that make him righteous? No, he was doing something
because he was righteous. But in doing that, he was making
my righteousness. And then look in verse 24, being
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be the 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
for this reason, he might be just and the justifier of him
that believeth in Jesus. So behold, then, the whole scheme
of this covenant is centered in Christ Jesus. Everything is
anchored in Christ Jesus. The whole thing depends upon
the success of Christ Jesus. That if he failed in any way,
there's no hope for the elect. If he left anything for you to
do, it's not sure. Is there anything you can be
sure of that you've done in perfect righteousness? And I've asked
this, people wanna be under the law, and I've discussed this
many times, people wanna say, well, I believe in Christ, but
I think we need to live by the law. Okay, name one thing in
the law you've done that you'll hand out to God and say, okay,
here. One thing, just anything. What is it? What are you gonna
hold out? Even when you think you would, you know you're not
sure. You're not quite sure that that's totally enough. This is the only way it's sure.
Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. Listen
to these words. And the kingdom, the government,
shall be on his shoulders. What does that mean? It means
he bears the full responsibility of the kingdom of God of his
people. He bore the full responsibility. He's that surety. Remember in Genesis, when you
see the surety, when Judas said, I'll be surety for him, what
he said, if I bring not the lad again to thee, let me bear the
blame. That's what Christ said in this
covenant. If I don't bring them, let me bear the blame. And so
when Christ came into the world and he accomplished this, what
did he say when it was done? When he was hanging on the tree,
what were his words? His words were not words of defeat.
His words were not words of uncertainty. His words were sure it is finished. And I am sure it is finished.
He finished it. And God raised him from the dead. And this fifth thing that I know
is this. I am sure according to the word of God, that all
Christ died for all that the father chose shall be called
without exception. He will not miss one of them.
Don't get confused at why things are where they are. Don't worry
about this. It is the way it is for God to
call his people. That's what he's doing. He's
calling his people. Look at John chapter six. I'll
move quickly on these last one, John chapter six. Look what our Lord said, he just
fed those 5,000, man, a big miracle that happened. Do you think faith
comes from miracles? Do you think anybody believes
because of a miracle? No. He said, you've seen me. Man, I haven't seen him. They did. They saw him. And he said this. Let's look at verse 35. Let's
try to start there. He said, Jesus said to them,
I'm the bread of life. And he that cometh to me shall
never hunger. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. But I said unto you that you have also seen me
and believe not. Isn't that astounding? The very
son of God working miracles in front of their face, and yet
they still would not believe. But he explains why. Look at
this. He says this, all that the Father giveth me shall come
to me. Not one more and not one less. All that the Father giveth
me shall come to me. Look what he's going to do when
they come. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. Isn't that sweet? Isn't that
special? When I came to Christ, I did not expect him to act that
way. I came as a sinner worthy of
death. I expected him to chide me. That's not what he did. He said, come and welcome. He drew me to himself and embraced
me. As I by faith looked to him,
he did not cast me out. Why? For I came down from heaven,
not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
And this is the father will which I sent me. Speaking of his success,
that of all which he had given me, I should lose. How many?
How many will they lose? How many will be in hell for
whom Christ died? How many? Nothing. Any religion that believes that
is a lie. That's easy to see. We don't
even have to debate him. You don't have to talk to him.
It's a lie. This is sure. That's not. This is. He's successful. He's not going to lose any of
them. But what is he going to do? Raise him up again at the
last day. And this is the will of him that sent me that everyone
that seeth the son and believeth on him. How do you see him? I
see him. I see him by faith. I've not
seen him in person. He's more real than you are. I can't trust my mind or my senses. But I know that he's real. I
know his salvation is real. It's all my hope. He that believeth on the Son
may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last
day. So who's gonna be missing? And all this chaos is going on,
all this misery that we see. All of this sickness and trials
and poverty and pain. See, I don't know what God's
going to do. But you can be sure what he's doing. I don't know
what he's gonna do and I don't know how he's gonna do it. He's
going to call his people. And the only means he's gonna
use is preaching. One rejected by the world. This
thing we're doing is rejected. It's meaningless, it has no value.
It's the only way God's gonna save his people. Why? Because
the preacher and the hearer get no glory in it. That's why it's
chosen because it is the most worthless means it is the most
feeble means. God's going to do it and not
one of them is going to miss it. They should give you comfort. You know, the church is always
full. Name one person in the church
that, that it's not in the church right now. Now, there's some
that haven't yet come. They will come in to the church,
but it's always at capacity. It's always full. And when one needs to be added,
well, guess what? It's going to be added. It'll still be what?
Full. It's always full. Why? Because this is sure God
will call his people. The sixth thing is this. I am
sure that none of those who are born again shall fail to receive
the promise of God. Again, what are we talking about?
Justification by faith. That's the intent of the Apostle
in Romans. Justification by faith. That
is the promise that is sure to all the seed. None who are born
again of the Spirit of God shall fail to receive the fullness
of that promise. Now, right now, we just have
a down payment. We have a down payment. We have a new nature.
God gave us faith, and why? God created in us a new nature
that is after the image of his son. And yet I know this, I still
struggle with this old man of sin. I know you're trying to worship
God. I know it was your heart when you came here. Can you say
you're successful? I'm sitting up here preaching,
I'm not successful. I just, I don't have any, I know
that I've struggled within myself preaching this message and you've
struggled within yourself listening to it. Oftentimes we're cast down with
fear and trouble and doubt that I'm ever gonna make it. But according to the word of
God, listen, you shall endure in faith till the end. You shall endure. Now what makes
me so sure that you will endure in faith? Because everyone who
has real faith are kept. Know what Peter said? He said
in chapter one, verse five, that we are kept by the power of God
unto salvation, ready to be revealed. It's not yet fully revealed what
we shall be in it. I don't know what it's like to
be holy, uh, experimentally. I, I am, God has made me that
in the new man, but tell you the truth. I don't know what
that looks like. But one day it's going to be
revealed. And one day I won't need to believe anymore. And
that's strange to us, isn't it? We have to endure by faith all
the way to the end. But in the end, faith is going
to be gone. Faith will be lost in sight.
I will then be able to experience what it's like to be holy. what
it's like to receive what justification really feels like. I am justified,
I just don't know fully what it feels like. But until then,
no matter what happens in time, nothing can move that justification,
nothing can change it, nothing can alter it, nothing can move
me from Him. Listen, what David said in Psalm
46, he said, God is our refuge and strength, the very present
help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth
be removed, though the mountains be carried in the midst of the
sea, though the waters thereof roar and are troubled, though
the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. What are you
saying? I don't care what happens in
time. God is my refuge, and that will not change, though the earth
itself be removed. Sure, friends, and listen to
this, even when you don't feel it's sure, how does that have
anything to do with it? When you're in the depths of
depression and doubts and fears, what does your fear have to do
with it? What does your doubt have to
do with it? Will that change the immutable fact that God has
justified you? Isn't this what Paul deals with
in Romans 8? He says, Who is he that condemneth? Who is he?
Who can lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that
justified it. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died, yea rather is risen again. Who then shall
separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus? I'm persuaded the need of life,
nor death, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth. Listen, in case I
missed something, any other creature shall be able. Now listen, not
like they ain't trying. They shall not be able to separate
us from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus. So the last
thing I want to do is this. Seeing we're all depraved by
nature and God's going to judge all men in the same judgment.
Seeing God has an elect people and he's going to make them holy.
Seeing that Jesus Christ has accomplished that salvation and
the spirit of God is now being sent into the world and they
are being called to life and faith that's sure. By the grace
and power of God, he's given me life. He's given me faith
in Christ. And I've got that promise that
I'm going to endure to the end. But often I ask God, why all
the trouble? Why the confusion? Why, though you've made my salvation
sure, why do I live in such an uncertain world? Look there with Peter one more
time and here's the end of it. Look at that in verse five again,
who are kept by the power of God through faith, the salvation
ready to be revealed at the last time, wherein you greatly rejoice. I tell you, I do. Though now. for a season, I like these words,
if need be. God's not going to do it if it's
not necessary. What you're going through is necessary. Otherwise
it wouldn't be. You are in heaviness through
manifold temptations. Now I'm going to give you the
sure reason why God's doing this to you. That the trial of your
faith being much more precious than gold, it perisheth, though
it be tried with fire, might be found to the praise and honor
and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. So what's he doing
to you? He's trying your faith. Is there anything more important,
since justification is by faith, is there anything more important
to know that your faith is of God? A lot of people wandering
around saying, I believe, right? Isn't it simple to say? It just
you just say it. You rolled off the tongue. You
could lie. You could, you know, deceive yourself. You say, I
believe. When he brings all men before
him. I do not want to be deceived
that my faith was not real. I want to know. My faith in that
what Newton was praying. Newton asked, he says. You know,
I prayed for grace and faith. And at the end of that poem,
he said, the Lord answered him and said, this is the way I answer
prayer for grace and faith. To remove your pride. And that
you might find your all in me. Why are you being tried? It is
your faith being tried so that you might know it's real. And
when you know it's real, is there anything more joyful? That I know Him who rules all
things and ordained them for my good. A sure salvation in a very uncertain
world. You may be sure God's word is
true. And you may be sure Christ is
the only hope for sinners. I'm sure of that. Are you? I pray God bless you. Let's have a word of prayer. God Almighty, we come once more
through your blessed son, one we've just heard of. We thank you for a sure salvation. So rich and so free. for a number
that no man can number and elect chosen before time. Lord, thank you for your mercy
and your grace. Thank you for the message we've heard. I ask that you would cause us to
rejoice in thy word as the day goes on. Allow us to gather again
this evening to hear your word once more. Lord, we ask that you'd cause
your word to go forth and flourish where you see fit. Lord, we thank you for that perfect
faithfulness. We ask that thou will be done
for Christ's sake. Amen. Thank you, Lord, for saving my
soul. Thank you, Lord, For making me
whole, thank you, Lord, for giving to me thy great salvation, so
rich and free. We're dismissed. We'll meet again
this evening at 6 o'clock, Lord willing. Brother, if you wouldn't mind
to go stand up there so people can talk to you and hug you and
shake your hand.