When we sing songs that focus
on Christ, it gets us prepared. It gets us prepared just to look
to our King. I thank you guys for having me
here again and my wife. We're just having a wonderful
time seeing everyone again and reconnecting. We think about
you often. You've been in our thoughts and
prayers over the year. Probably hasn't gone a day gone
by pretty much that we haven't thought of one of you here. And
we love you and just hope that these messages will be a blessing
to you and will encourage you and build you up in Christ. Once
again, thank you so much for having us. The text that was
read today is where, or the portion of scripture that was read today
is where our text will be in Romans chapter 15. We'll be using this scripture
verse here as a launching point into the rest of the message. Romans 15 was where the reading
was. And our verse will be found in
verse 17. Romans 15, verse 17. I have therefore whereof I may
glory through Jesus Christ and those things which pertain to
God. The name of the message is glorying
in the things that pertain to God. We don't glory in ourselves,
or we don't boast of ourselves, but we glory in Christ. Those
of us who believe, glory in Christ. We glory in what He's done for
us. And one thing that's evident
in religion, this man lacks the glory. He
lacks the glory in himself. And they just like to... You
ever notice religious folks love to tell you what they've done
for the Lord? We meet a lot of folks like that,
they like to tell you, and they just go on and on. You don't
hear anything about what God's done, but you sure hear a lot
about what they've done. God's people aren't like that. They
glory in Christ. They glory in what the Redeemer's
done for them. We have a mutual friend who bragged
about something that they'd done on Facebook, and what they'd
done was they helped a homeless man. It was wonderful. We have
a huge homeless population in Oregon, and she helped them out,
and it was wonderful what she did, but everyone was heaping
praise upon her. And she never did anything to
say what glory be to God. She received the glory. And God's people have none of
that. We don't want the glory. He did
it all. We give all glory and we give
all honor and we give all praise to our sovereign God. Because
He rules and reigns in heaven above. Turn with me if you want to Philippians
chapter 3. Now we see this as a pattern
in Scripture too, that God's people don't boast in their doing.
They don't. Because Christ did it all. Paul was a Pharisee of Pharisees.
He was in the top echelon. He was, oh, he'd made it to the
top. But let's look what he says in
Philippians, chapter 3. Finally, my brethren, rejoice
in the Lord. To write the same things to you,
to me indeed, is not grievous, but for you it is safe. Philippians
3, verse 2. Now he gives a warning. Beware
of dogs. Beware of evil workers. Beware
of the concision. Beware of those who preach a
false gospel. Beware of them. For we are the circumcision which
worship God in spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus. All God's people
rejoice in Christ. And have what? No confidence
in the flesh. None at all. Though I might, now he's going
to give a little bit of his pedigree. Though I may also have confidence
in the flesh, if any man thinketh that he hath whereof, he might
trust in the flesh, I more. Circumcised the eighth day of
the stock of Israel. He's a Jew. Tribe of Benjamin,
one of the favored tribes. A Hebrew of Hebrews. Touching
the law, a Pharisee. Concern and zeal, persecuting
the church. He went out and hauled Christians
out of their homes and took them to prison, where they died, some
of them. Touching the righteousness, which
is in the law. Now here he's going to show you
what his heart was like before the Lord saved him. That it was
full of self-righteousness. Because he says, concern in the
law, Blameless, right? He saw himself
blameless. Touching the righteousness which
is in the law, blameless. But for what things were gained
to me? All those things he had, all the riches he had too, all
the fame, the prestige, the position. He no doubt had people walk,
as he walked down the street, that's Paul. I count it loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless I count all things
but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them but dung that I may win Christ. And what? And be
found in him. and be found in Him. This is
where we want to be, found in Christ. Not having what? Not having mine own righteousness.
See, our righteousness is like filthy rags before the Lord. It's nothing. The best that we
can do is tainted with sin. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is what? Through the faith,
the righteousness which is of God by faith. The righteousness
that's imputed to believers when they trust and rest in Christ
and Him alone. That I may know Him. That I may
know Him. Know Him in an intimate way.
In the power of His resurrection. In the fellowship of his suffering,
oh, that we might know Christ. Oh, that those of you who don't
know him, oh, that he might reveal himself to you. Oh, that he might
save you. In the fellowship of his sufferings,
being made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might
attain unto the resurrection of the dead. So here we see,
in this portion of Scripture, a clear example that Paul does
not boast in himself. He doesn't boast in what he did.
Even David didn't boast the fact that he slew Goliath. No, God's
people don't boast in those things. They boast in Christ, in what
He's done. Paul would not glory in himself.
He wouldn't glory in his religious heritage, or his attainments,
or his gifts. or in his labors, or in the success
that he had, supposed success then, he wouldn't glory in those
things. And in Galatians, turn with me
if you went to Galatians chapter 6, we see this too. Galatians chapter 6 verse 14
and 15. But God forbid that I should
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the
world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ
Jesus neither circumcision availeth, so being born a Jew didn't avail
him anything. Nor uncircumcision. Being born
a Gentile didn't gain a mare in favor with God. But a new
creature, you must be born again. You must be born again by the
Spirit of God. And as many as walk according
to this rule, peace beyond them and upon the Israel of God. There
we see God's elect called the Israel of God, spiritual Israel. All the apostles and those who
truly believe the gospel of God's grace, they only glory in the
things that pertain to God. God's preachers glory in the
things that pertain to God. Don't look to me, look to Christ.
Look to Him. We just are mercy beggars telling
other mercy beggars where to find bread. That's the only find
peace and comfort in Christ. Only in Him. And remember, in our natural,
unsafe state, that the things that pertain
to our sinful nature give us absolutely no motivation to come
to Christ. So in our natural state, we're
not motivated at all to come to Christ. We have no desire
to come to Christ. But if God makes you willing,
you'll flee to Him. You'll run to Him. And that's
the only way we come to Him. As a result of Adam's sin and
rebellion, we fell into condemnation, dead in trespasses and sins.
And absolutely no reason to glory in God. Instead, man, natural
man, glories in his flesh, glories in his own doings. And we still
struggle with that, don't we? We're still sinful beings. Jean-Claude
and I were talking and Jean-Claude said one of the things that we
all have to be careful of is preeminence. Christ gets the preeminence.
He gets the preeminence. And the flesh, beloved, will
always lead us down. Always lead us down. Never lead
us up to glory. So what are the works of flesh?
Turn in Galatians again. Galatians 1 chapter over chapter
5. And then put your finger in Colossians
3 where we go in there. The works of the flesh though
are in verse 19 to 21. Now the works of the flesh are
manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath,
strife, seditions, heresies, envians, murders, drunkenness,
revelings, and such of the which I tell you before, as I have
also told you in times past, that they which do such things
shall not inherit the kingdom of God. So he shows us what the
works of the flesh are here. Now turn with me if you would
to Colossians chapter 3. We are told in scripture
to put off the old man, to put off those things. Colossians chapter 3 verse 9.
It says, lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off
the old man with his deeds. So we as believers are told to
put off the old man. Now in Paul's day, now we see
the word lying there, we think, well, it's just to tell a lie.
But in Paul's day, lying was thought to be a virtue. Unless the liar happened to be
found out. In that case, then it was considered
wrong. But to lie thick and thin, and
to lie so skillfully as to deceive was looked upon by the culture
as an accomplishment of which one might be proud. So the apostle writes here, lie
not one to another. Don't deceive one another. And then he says in verse 10,
"...and have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge
after the image of him that created him." So there is nothing false
or untrue in God. God is true. And in Him is no
falsehood at all. If you and I have been renewed
and regenerated by the Holy Ghost, as we profess to those of us
who have believed, we profess that we are regenerated. The
Holy Ghost has is regenerate us and we're new creatures in
Christ. We shall hate the very appearance of a lie and our word
will be as good as our bond. No one likes to be lied to, no
one. Look at verse 11, this is a beautiful
verse here. Where there is neither Greek
nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor
free, but Christ is all in all. Now whenever you hear people
say, I remember when I was in dispensational circles, which
is the whole rapture thing and all that. When I was in that,
they used to say the Old Testament was for the Jews and the New
Testament was for believers. And they used to say the promises
of God were for Israel. Well, don't be misled by that. Don't be misled by that. Because
look at the text before us, there is neither Greek nor Jew. Circumcision
nor uncircumcision. Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor
free. But Christ is all in and of. We are all one in Christ. All
the promises of God, all through the Bible, are for His elect.
They're all for Him. It's wonderful. So we can look
back at the promises that God made Israel to, and know that
they're for us as well. And it brings great joy and comfort
as you read the Scriptures. And these distinctions, and think
of this too, all distinctions, all distinctions vanish in Christ.
Race distinctions vanish in Christ. Background distinctions vanish
in Christ. Because we're one in Him. We're
united in Christ. He's our general. He's our captain
of the Lord's host. And we stand shoulder to shoulder,
like we were talking about earlier. We stand shoulder to shoulder
together. Soldiers of Christ, those of
us who are believers. Soldiers united by the common
bond of Christ. And like I said, every promise
in scripture is to all the believers. Look at verse 12. Put on, therefore,
as the elect of God, as the chosen of God, holy and beloved, vows
of mercy, kindness, humbleness, of mind, meekness, long-suffering. Beloved, be ready to feel for
others. Be ready to feel for others, or to be considerate
of other folks' needs. Kindness. Look at others as if
they're your family. Because we are. We're family. In Christ. So we're to put on kindness.
Humbleness. The opposite of boastfulness. You see how believers don't boast
in themselves. We boast in Christ. Long-suffering. And these are hard for us to
do sometimes. They really are. Long-suffering. Put up with others.
Remember, this is, I got this from a commentator. Remember
the Lord's long-suffering with us. Oh, He's long-suffering with
us, isn't He? In verse 13. Forbearing one another
and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against
any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. I need to remember this when
our tempers flare up. When we have fallen out with
someone. Scripture says, let not the sun
go down upon your wrath. Remember how much Christ has
forgiven you. It makes it easy for us to forgive
others. And above all these things put
on charity, love. The love of Christ unites us, which is the bond of perfectness.
Verse 15, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts. And
this is, you know, we get tossed to and fro by different things.
All of us do. If we're really honest, we all
do. We get tossed to and fro because we're in the flesh. You've
got a war. Those of us who believe we have a war within ourselves,
a civil war, the flesh and the spirits, and it's constant. It never stops. Let the peace of God rule in
your hearts. Remember what Christ has done
for you. He'll bring us joy. He'll bring us peace. To which also ye are called in
one body, and be ye thankful. It's hard for us to be thankful
sometimes, isn't it? But oh, we have so much to be
thankful for. Think of this, believer. God has forgiven you for all
your sins. Oh, didn't leave, wanna? Makes me thankful. Oh, what a great God. Verse 16 and 17, let the word
of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing
one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Singing
with grace in your hearts to the Lord and whatsoever you do
in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
given thanks to God and the Father by Him. Now those who have been redeemed
by the precious blood of Christ find nothing in themselves to
glory about. Nothing. But we find lots to glory about
in Christ. He's our wisdom. He's our righteousness. He's our sanctification. He's
our redemption. He's our king. He's our savior. He's the mighty one of Israel. He's our protector. He's our
shield. He's everything. Everything. So we can only glory in the things
that pertain to God. Now it looks like I've got a
few points. A few points. A few things that we glory in
pertaining to God. Turn, if you would, to 1 Timothy
3, verse 16. Just a few points. The first point is we glory in
Christ incarnate as the only hope for sinners. If you're here
and don't know Christ, Christ is the only hope for you and
for me as a saved man. He's the only hope. The gospel is good news for sinners. God must reveal to you that you're
a sinner. And that's all. Those of us who are trusting
in Christ, we're to save sinners. God's revealed himself to us.
Oh, we pray he would to you. Look at verse 16 of chapter 3. And without controversy, great
is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
The God of heaven, the God of glory, became a man. Fully God
and fully man, left the glories and splendor of heaven, because
he must redeem his people from their sins. There's no other
way. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up into glory. wonder of wonders, the Almighty
God, who the heavens cannot contain, became a man and dwelt among
us. Do you see, for the Greeks, why that would be foolishness,
that we looked at this morning? Because they couldn't even, natural
man can't grasp that. God would become a man? Yes. This is the wisdom of God. Destroying
the wisdom of man. And we can never understand this
unless God reveals this to us. We don't see it unless God opens
our eyes to it. God was manifest in the flesh. And we glory, we glory as believers
that Christ became a man because he's the only hope for sinners. Why was he manifest in the flesh?
And that brings us to our next point. We'll be over in 1 Peter.
1 Peter chapter 3. Sorry, I didn't give you an address there. Verse 18. Point number two, we glory in
Christ crucified as the only remedy, the only remedy to put
away our sin. We can't put away one of our
sins, not one, but Christ put them all away. for every believer,
for all the elect of all the ages, and He did it once. Oh,
because He's God, God incarnated in the flesh. For Christ also has once suffered
for sins. He really did die. And look at
this, the just, the sinless one, Absolutely sinless in thought,
mind, nothing. He never, indeed, never did any
sin at all. The sinless one. The just one. And here's you
and I, believer. Here's you and I, beloved. For the unjust. And every believer
says amen. That's me. I'm deserving. But God has mercy upon our souls.
The just for the unjust. What? And look at this. This
destroys Arminianism. Because Arminianism says you
can come to God, right? On your own. But this scripture
says that He might bring us to God. That which is impossible with
man is possible with God. That He might bring us to God.
Being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.
So Christ Jesus, our King, was crucified as the only remedy
to put away our sin. Christ the sinner's substitute.
He died in the room instead of rebels like us. I remember how I was before the
Lord saved me. I had no interest. I was Catholic. I had the badge, you know. I
didn't have a clue who Christ was, and I was a rebel to my
shame. But he had mercy on me. And why did Christ die on the
cross? To bring us to God. Not to make us savable, right?
Some folks says, well, God, Christ died on the cross to make you
savable. No, He didn't. Christ died on the cross to save
me, to save those who were born. And He did it. And He cried with
a loud voice, it is finished. I hope we never get over that,
those of us who trust in Him. Those who have no ability in
themselves to come to God, He brings you. He brings you. I remember an old preacher saying,
we're on the trail of God's sheep. He was Brother Mahan. We're on
the trail of God's sheep. We're preaching Preaching and God does the saving.
We're on the trail of God's sheep. Beloved God, if you're saved,
it's all God's work. Scripture declares salvation
is of the Lord. The third thing that we glory
in that pertains to God is found in Ephesians 1. 6 and 7. Turn with me if you would there.
I know we're turning a lot. In this point is we glory in
Christ Jesus who is our all-sufficient righteousness and acceptance
before a thrice holy God. Look at Ephesians chapter 1 verses
6 and 7. to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved."
Remember the ungodly ones? Accepted in the Beloved. In whom we have redemption. We
have it. We have it. It's not a maybe.
Those who believe have redemption. This is why we tell you, sinner
friend, flee to Christ. In whom we have redemption. Through His blood, it's not through
our doing. The forgiveness of sins, all
trespasses and sins, past, present and future. Folks often, you
know, you get people ask you questions and through the years
I've had folks ask me this and they say, well I can see how
God can forgive your past sins and your present sins, but your
future ones? I don't know if I've mentioned this here, forgive
me if I have before, but all my sins were future at Calvary's
Cross. Every single one of them. And
He forgave them all. He forgave them all. The forgiveness
of sins, and look at this, beloved, according to the riches of His
grace. If you are saved, it is according
to the riches of His grace. See, this is why we have no room
to boast. And this is why we glory in the
things pertaining to God, because He gets all the glory, and He
gets all the honor, and He gets all the praise, and the believer
would have it no other way. No other way. God is satisfied. He's satisfied. with the work of Christ. He's
satisfied in what Christ has done on the cross. He gives us His righteousness.
And the believer stands before God, the ungodly one that scripture
declares, he stands before God clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. So that God looks upon him and
sees him in Christ. There's no room for us to boast
there, is there? None at all. None at all. Accepted in the Beloved. Loved by God with an everlasting
love. Let's just dwell on that. We're
redeemed because He's loved us with an everlasting love. Our love is but temporal in this
world, right? Now we continue to love those
who have passed on, but God's love, God's everlasting. So his love is everlasting. And
he's loved us with an everlasting love. Great comfort this gives
to believers. All our sins are forgiven, and
it's all according to the riches of God's grace in Christ Jesus
our Lord. And this is again, it leaves
no room for boasting, does it? Because scripture says we're
to give all glory to God. All glory to Him. And this just shuts us right
up to Christ. And to give Him all the glory.
And this is why man hates the preaching of sovereign grace.
free grace, because they can't do anything. And they want to do something. We come into this world naturally
wired to work, thinking that we can gain merit and favor with
God. But scripture says you can't gain any merit and favor with
God. I'll only accept Christ. This
is what God says. God's satisfied with Christ.
So this is why Christ is the ark of safety. He's the refuge
for our soul. We find comfort under His wings.
This is where our safety is. This is where our hope is, is
in Christ and Him alone. Which leads to our next point,
Romans 4.25. We glory Point four, we glory in Christ
Jesus exalted and seated at God's right hand as all our justification
before God. Now some might ask, how can God
forgive you for all your sins, all of them? How can he just
say they're gone as far as the east is from the west? Well,
Romans 4.25 says this, who was delivered for our offenses and
was raised again for our justification. Christ is absolutely sinless,
absolutely sinless, no sin at all. And we are absolutely sinful. But the text here before us says,
look at this, it says, who was delivered for our offenses, our
offenses, our sins, and raised again for our justification. He paid all that God demanded.
Everything that God demanded for every one of His elect, Christ
paid it all. There's nothing left to be paid. And as I said earlier, we're
all sinners by nature and by choice and by practice. I once
met a guy who told me he didn't sin anymore, and I said, you're
a liar. I said, Scripture says every
man's a liar if he says it's true. So being in the sinful state
that we are, we need a savior, desperately. And as I said earlier,
we can't save ourselves. And the text says that Christ
was raised for our justification. who is delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification." Now the Greek word for justification
means the act of God declaring man free from guilt. That's good
news. And acceptable to him. We're
acceptable, we are accepted what? In the beloved. This is wonderful news. God is
satisfied with the sacrifice of Christ in the room instead
of his people and they are free from the guilt and punishment
of their sins. Free. There is therefore now no condemnation. But scripture said we're ungodly.
There is therefore now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus. Oh, good news for sinners. And our hope is God would show
you you're a sinner, because we all know we're sinners. Folks
often say, do you ever get folks say to you, well, you folks,
you think you're holier than thou. No, we don't. Not at all. We all think we're the chief
of sinners. And the chief of sinners has
no room to look down on anyone, no room at all. So God is satisfied with the
sacrifice of Christ. And another definition in the
Greek for justification is to be righteous. Christ is our righteousness. We're made righteous by Christ. The unrighteous are made righteous. So there's Christ dying on the
cross, and the wrath and justice of God is being poured out upon
Him in our room instead. And He cries, it's finished. And He dies, because Scripture
says the soul that sinneth it must die. He dies in the room
instead of sinners. And then scripture says here,
he was raised again for our justification. To show us that God is satisfied
with the sacrifice of Christ. It's accepted. And this is yet another reason
for us to glory in the things that pertain to God. The last
point I'd like to look at Is we glory in Christ Jesus coming
again? Is our hope throughout all eternity? Now, some scoff, and I had some
friends of mine on Facebook who live in Canada, back where I
used to be. And they were waiting these,
you know, the last blood moons and all that stuff. And they
said, mockingly, waiting for the apocalypse. And I thought
to myself, well, I remember what an old preacher
said to me one time. He says, if man sets a date or
sets a time, you can be sure that God won't come back on that
day. You just be positive. He'll come back when it's his
time. But he's coming back. And it's not going to be some
secret, private thing. It's going to be very public. Turn with me, if you would, to
Psalm 17. or sorry, Psalm 34, I'm sorry. Psalm 34. And I'll read a couple verses
as we're going there. Psalm 17, 15 says this. As for
me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied
when I awake with thy likeness. And in 1 John 3, 1 and 2 says
this. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the
sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew
him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, oh, when we
get the glory, oh, when we get home to be with the Lord, sinless. When he shall appear, we shall
be like him, for we shall see him as he is. For behold Christ, Ugh. Psalm 34. Every believer can say this with
David. Psalm 34, verse 1. So when folks mock and say, oh,
when is the Lord coming? He's coming back when it's his
time. He's king. Here, make his appearance. Psalm
34, verses 1 to 4. Every believer
can say this. I will bless the Lord at all
times. His praise shall continually
be in my mouth. And remember we talked about
boasting and how God's people don't boast in themselves? Look
what David says here. My soul shall make her boast
in the Lord. Why? Because He's done everything
for me. He saved me. He took me out of
the miry pit that I was in. And He rescued me. I was drowning
in the sea of sinfulness, and He rescued me. Brother John,
you've been on the sea, you can get on there, and it's just,
it's just, you can't, all you can see is water. And that's
what we're drowning in, in a sea of sinfulness, and Christ rescues
us. My soul shall make, and this
is why, my soul shall make her boast in the Lord. The humble
shall thereof and be glad. Now we're not humbled by nature,
but the Lord humbles his people. And they lay down their arms. When God says them, they lay
down their arms and they take sides with God against themselves. Oh, he humbles the proud, doesn't
he? My soul shall make her boast
in the Lord, the humble shall hear thereof and be glad." And
notice it says, "...shall hear." We don't hear by natural means.
Oh, He makes us, He gives us hearing ears. Oh, magnify the
Lord with me and let us exalt His name together. Let us exalt
the name of the Lord and the great things that He's done for
us. When life's troubles come, and
they will, when the waves of tribulation
and trouble crash against us, and they will. Oh, magnify the Lord with me. Let us just look to Christ. I
know it's not always easy, but let us do that. And let us exalt His name together,
beloved. And look at this, I sought the
Lord. Thy people shall be made willing
in the day of His power, right? I sought the Lord and He heard
me. He heard me. Is it so with you? Oh, seek the Lord. Flee to Him. I sought the Lord and he heard
me and he delivered me from all my fears. And this is, beloved, is something
he does continuously, isn't it? He continuously does this for
us. May God build us up in him. And may He be glorified and magnified. And may we set our eyes upon
Him. And for those of you who are
here and haven't heard the Savior's voice, may He call your name,
if He so pleases. May He grant you faith to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, may He draw you to Him. May
He make you willing. This is our prayer. And may He give us unity in Christ. May He unite our hearts and knit
our hearts together. This is what all believers hope,
all. May we find our hope and our
refuge in Christ and Him alone.