the Lord leads us. But I want
to start in Isaiah 53. I was looking and seeing and praying
what the Lord wanted me to preach on this morning. One of the biggest points or
biggest truths about the finished work
of Christ that I believe is either overlooked or unbelieved by most
people. And we talk about this all the
time. I mean, it's nothing new to all
of us here. that we believe in the particular
nature of Christ's death. We believe that Christ was given
a people, and he died for those people and those people alone.
And to us, that isn't harsh. To a lot of people, that is a
harsh saying, and definitely the natural man doesn't want
to believe that, and the religious zealot surely doesn't want to
believe it. But I believe one of the, most overlooked and misunderstood maybe into some
points of the gospel is the effectual nature of the death of Christ.
I mean, when Christ died, and we got into this a little bit
a few weeks ago when we talked about the love of God, the love
of God is an effectual thing. You know, I love my wife, And
I love her, yes, in a ooey gooey love type thing, you know, whenever
I look at her. I love her. I think she's beautiful. And I think, you know, I love
her characteristics and things like that. But then there is
the saying of that. And then there's the true effectualness
of that. And that is my love comes out
in an action that results in something happening, okay? And
so, in talking on the love of God,
we've seen that God demonstrated his love and that while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us and that he commended his
love for us. He demonstrated, he showed that
love by sending his son. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, so that the effectualness of
that, that whosoever believeth should not perish, but have everlasting
life. So the love of God was demonstrated
in an effect, or was demonstrated in something being brought forth
out of that love for us. Now, as we talked about in there,
that demonstration of that love is the death of Christ Jesus.
And so we can look at that objectively and say, oh, God loves us. Therefore,
he gave Christ to us. And that makes us feel good,
right? It makes our hearts all warm and fuzzy and Jesus loves
me, this I know. And so, and that's wonderful. That is the comfort of God's
people, that God loves us and he loves us to the degree that
he sent his only begotten son. That from the foundation of the
world, that everlasting love was set on us and the purpose
of God in that everlasting love and in that everlasting decree
This is going to get me in trouble with a lot of people. But. In
that purpose and decree, he purposed that man would fall into sin.
And become unrighteous and not be able to keep his laws. That was his purpose from the
very get go. That's why he planted the tree
in the garden. That's why he give Adam the command. If you want to look at Romans
5, go look at Romans 5. It tells you in clear detail
The law came in so that the offense might abound. That was God's
purpose. Well, the reason God purposed
that, the reason God plunged His loved children into sin in His purpose is so that He might
show Himself lovely to them. So that He might demonstrate
His love. God demonstrates His love towards
us. How does He demonstrate His love?
By choosing us to be the demonstration of His mercy and His grace. Romans
8, or excuse me, Romans 9 tells us that. You know, that He has
done this to demonstrate to those who are the vessels of mercy,
His grace. So God's purpose was to demonstrate
that portion or that part of his character to these people,
and then he's demonstrating the other part of his character to
these people. And so we look at that objective
side of what God has done in that, in sending his son, but
a lot of times we don't look at when Christ did what he did,
what did that do? that did something as well to
demonstrate his love for us. In the love act of Christ dying,
that effectually worked and brought forth something for all those
that was loved. And so we miss out on the effectual
nature of Christ's death. Whenever we preach the gospel,
we just think it's a cut and dry thing. Well, Christ died,
he was buried and resurrected, and then that was for me. But
yet in that, the Bible teaches us in many places that because
he died, there is something that comes forth out of that death.
And that in and of itself, and I hope I'm not getting too confused
in here, but those things that come out of that death and how
they're experienced and manifested in the children of grace, that
in and of itself puts forth and shows forth the very particular
nature of Christ's death. If we know that Christ died and
this is the effect of Christ dying, then if this effect is
not done on this person, then Christ didn't die for that person.
Or if we preach a gospel that says Christ died for this person,
but yet they end up in hell and those effects were never enacted
upon this person, then we're saying that Christ failed in
what he did because his death said it would do this, that,
or the other. Okay, you get what I'm meaning?
Let's see if we can make it a little bit clearer. Let God's word clear
this up a little bit and Redneck Mike, Get off his tangents here. Look at Isaiah 53. The Bible
says. Of course, we all know Isaiah
53, what this is all about, right? We're very clear that Isaiah
is writing here of the death of Christ and what is happening
in the death of Christ and specifically. the part of God's purpose in
the death of Christ, okay? Matter of fact, I'll just go
ahead and back up a little bit so that we can see what this
is talking about. Let's look at verse 10. It says,
yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him, Christ, He hath put him
to grief, when thou shalt make his soul a suffering, or excuse
me, an offering for sin. He shall see his seed, he shall
prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his hands. So, first and foremost, before
we move on to 11, we see the very fact that what Christ does
in this thing is pleasurable to the Lord. It pleased the Lord
to do such. That means that that was part
of his purpose and decree from the foundation of the world.
Christ coming and being an offering for sin was always the purpose
of God before Adam was even created and sin. It was the purpose of
God in Christ that He be an offering for sin. And that's plain as
day right there. It was the pleasure of the Lord
to bruise him. It was the pleasure of the Lord
that everything in that death should prosper. We all know what the word prosper
means. What does the word prosper mean? Now, I know it has a couple
of meanings, and I think it's the second meaning that we're
probably thinking of in this. To prosper, if I prosper, that
means that I have gotten more out of something than I put into
it, right? Okay, if I buy something, Waylon,
he goes around to places, he watches Facebook all the time
when people are giving away free stuff. or he's driving down the
road and he sees people got stuff at the side of the road, it's
free, it looks like it's in pretty good shape. He throws it in the
back of his truck, he's got a storage shed that he rents and
he goes and puts it in there, takes pictures of it, puts it
up and sells it. So he goes around and he gets something for either
free or a little bit of nothing and then he turns around and
he sells it for more than he got it for. He prospers. from what he purchased of that,
okay? He has made a profit, okay? Now, we can definitely say that
about the Lord Jesus Christ, that whenever he died, that the
whole purpose of God profited from the death of Christ because
it redeemed his people back to him, okay? We can say that in
that sense. But yet the word prosper here can also mean another
meaning. It can mean that And the pleasure
of the Lord shall prosper or shall. Be effected or shall shall
be. What's the word that I'm looking
for here? It shall be victorious or it shall be accomplished. That was the word that I was
actually wanting. It shall be accomplished, fulfilled. OK,
it shall it shall come to pass. OK. in His hands. So everything that God has decreed
from the foundation of the world shall prosper in the work of
Christ. So there is an effect that comes
from Christ dying. All of the work of God is accomplished
in Christ Jesus. And so we see here, In verse
11, he goes on and he says, "...he shall see the travail of his
soul, the Lord shall see the travail of Christ's soul, and
shall be satisfied." So one thing that comes out of Christ's death
is that God is satisfied. Now, brethren, whenever we talk
about a holy God and we talk about a sinful people who is
unrighteousness and we talk about where the scriptures say that
the wrath of God abides upon the wicked, that the wrath of
God abides and condemnation abides upon the wicked. and that the
law of God has condemned everyone to death, that all have sinned
and fall short of that glory of God, and all have sinned and
will pay that sin debt, which the Bible says the wages of sin
is death. Whenever we look at that and
we see the magnanimous nature of God's judgment upon sin, And
we look and see God can be satisfied. A holy God can be satisfied whenever
there is sinful men involved. Brethren, that's a praise the
Lord moment right there. A holy God, there is something
that can satisfy the wrath of God. Now, I'm not talking about
a wrath of man. We see the wrath of men all the
time in this world, and great has been the wrath of man in
the world. Men have brought much destruction upon other men in
this world, and their wrath has surely... But brethren, listen.
We're not talking about... The Bible says, fear not those
who can kill the body, but can't touch the soul. Fear him who
can throw both body and soul into hell. We're talking about
when the wrath of God is poured out, the wrath of God can not
only quench you out quickly in the flesh, but it can send your
soul to hell. The wrath of God is something
that we sometimes don't even fathom. Now, as the children
of grace, we find lots of comfort that we've not ever been under
that wrath. But brethren, the wrath is there. God is a wrathful
God, no matter what the Armenians want to preach and teach you.
God is a God of wrath. That is part of his nature. He
hates sin. He is against everything that
is evil, even though he may have purposed it and even though he
may bring things about so that those things take place in this
world. According to His purpose, He has a purpose for that, and
in the end, every bit of that will be judged righteously. And to hear that God can be satisfied,
a holy God can be satisfied, Preacher, tell me, what is it
that makes this man satisfied? The travail of Christ's soul. So for whoever Christ's soul
travails over, or for, God is satisfied in that on their behalf. Now that's an effectual thing.
So whenever Christ died, therefore everyone for whom Christ died,
the wrath of God is satisfied. What's the big 50 cent word we
use for that? Propitiation. They've been propitiated. There's propitiation for all
those who are in Christ Jesus. That means the wrath of God is
not there. He has saved us from the wrath
that is to come. Not that we were ever predestined
for that. But in our nature, in Adam's
nature, that is what we were deserving of. And this body of
flesh It cannot, it's corrupt. It cannot please God. It cannot
do anything. And it cannot in all of its righteousness
that it does, can't please God. That's why the Bible says that
all of our unrighteous, or excuse me, all of our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. He didn't say righteousness,
unrighteousness. He said all of our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. That's why he said on the day,
you know, we were talking about this last night, You know, depart
from me, you doers or workers of iniquity. OK, I never knew
you. These people were doing religious
things that we see every church in every corner out here. Admonishing
their people, get out and do this. God's going to be mad at
you. God's going to turn his back
on you're going to turn his face from you if you do this or in
some of them, you're going to lose your salvation if you don't
keep up this level of holiness and righteousness. and everything. So what do they do? They get
this right here and they start looking at all the admonitions.
They start looking in the Old Testament and all the all the
laws which they pick and choose. And then they go out and they
try to do that. And they're thinking that there is a satisfaction
that's going to come to God through their law keeping, through their
righteous living, through their walking, through their religious
zealousness. And as we were talking about
last night, what did Paul say about it? It's all poop. He said, everything that I have
ever done in my life, in my flesh, as righteous as it may have been,
as zealous as I may have been, with the right motivation that
I had, it's all done. Compared to what? The righteousness
that's in Christ Jesus. See, that's the thing. You're
comparing the righteousness that's being compared is the righteousness
of Christ and what you can put forth. It's always to the standard
of Christ. It's never to the standard of
the guy down the street. It's never to the standard of
the guy in the other denomination. It's never to the standard of
your mama or your daddy or your uncle or your aunt or whoever
else. It's always to the standard of Christ Jesus. And the Bible
clearly says, all have sinned and fall short. There is none
righteous. So there is no satisfaction that
God receives because of anything you do. Nothing. He is only satisfied in the travail
of His Son. So therefore, Anyone for whom
the Lord travails, God is satisfied with. So therefore, will there
be people in hell that Christ died for? No, because the wrath
of God was satisfied for them. He shall see the travail of his
soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many. Why? For he shall bear their iniquities.
So there we see another effect of the work of Christ in His
death. That whenever Christ dies, He
bears their iniquities. That means every one of their
sins have been paid for. Is there going to be somebody
in hell for whom all their iniquity has been paid for? Well, you
were just saying the deal a while ago, uh, uh, and I always forget
it. Can't charge it twice to, I always
forget it. I love that thing, but I always
forget it. See God, double jeopardy is what we would call it. Double
jeopardy. See, God's not going to charge Christ with our, death,
or with our sin, and kill his only begotten son, and then turn
around and hold us accountable for our sin that was paid for,
in which he said he was satisfied with. He was satisfied with the
debt payment that Christ made. And then turn around and say,
oh, well you didn't quite live up to my standard, you're going
to hell. Because again, like I said a
while ago, in that hymn that we just sang, it's not just about
the sin debt being paid and now we're guiltless because we've
been forgiven and justified. It's also about the righteous
life that he lived. See, I don't live a righteous
life, but yet Christ, that was the purpose of him coming and
living a certain time. God Christ could have came down
out of heaven and ascended down. And then soon as he ascended,
told the leaders what he wanted them to hear and allow them to
crucify him for the blasphemy that they thought he was saying,
which was he was God. And could have been killed on
the same day that he came down. But he didn't do that. He chose
to be born of a virgin and to live from conception all the
way until death. That's what we are. The Bible
says that we are estranged from the womb. That in sin did my
mother conceive me. When did our sinfulness begin? From the moment that we were
conceived. Christ to be our perfect substitution had to begin where
we do, at conception. Because the sinfulness of us
began in there and it ends when? When we die. So He had to come
from the conception. He had to go to the death to
be our substitute to live righteously from there to here on our behalf. And that life of perfect law-keeping
Perfect righteousness is what God accounts as your walking,
and your obeying, and your doing, and your keeping, and your fulfilling. Even though you don't, He did. And His doing is counted as your
doing. Just as He didn't sin, you did,
but it was accounted to Him as His doing. See, brethren, you can't have
one and not the other. The gospel is both. His death and his life
is both. Some say it was his active obedience
and his passive obedience. His active obedience being his
life and his passive obedience, his death, that was accounted
for that. Y'all want to break all that
up with those words? However you want to do that. I think
it was active all the way through because the Bible says that in
his death, He chose to go to the cross and he didn't give
up his life by somebody else taking it, he gave it up willingly.
So he was active in his death. It says right here, it was the
pleasure of the Lord to bruise him. He was actively doing the
will of God by going to the cross. So it wasn't just a passive thing,
that something was done to him that couldn't be avoided, you
know. It was intentional because of
his love for us. So active, passive, whatever
you want to do. But I will say this. There are some that says
that his active life, his active obedience isn't what saved us. It was his actual passive obedience
that saved us, that he died, that he was buried, that he was
rose again. And they leave it there. They say the Bible only
says that the gospel is his death, burial and resurrection. It's
not his life. We weren't justified by his life.
Well, brethren, if we weren't justified by his life, his death
can't justify us because if his life ain't righteous, then I
don't have anything to be imputed to me. If there was no living
on my behalf, there's nothing to be imputed to me. So there
has to be a life lived for me on my behalf so that his righteousness
can be imputed. God can't justify, meaning count
me without guilt and to count me righteous without there being
a substitute who lived righteous for me. So yes, his life was
just as important as his death. I think you'll find that throughout
the scripture as well and everything. So we see that there's some effects
here. that come out of Christ's death. So it's to justify us,
to bring us to God, to cleanse us from our iniquity. Look if
you would at Romans 8. Excuse me. Oh man, I coughed
right in the microphone. It's going to be loud. Romans 8. Verse 28, And we know that all
things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called. That's a particular group of
people, by the way, who are the called, not just who are called. If you look at some of the corrupted
versions of the scripture, you'll see they leave the definite article
the out, but it's there in the original Greek. Therefore, it's
there in our English Bibles if they're translated correctly,
those guys that take it out lose that meaning. They just say to
those who are called, and as Protestants say, there is this
call that goes out to everybody. You know, everybody's called.
You know, as an Armenian, I thought that God calls everybody. He
gives everybody a chance. He doesn't ever give anybody
a promise of a second chance, but he always gives them at least
one chance because he calls everybody. Well, see, We use this verse
right here to prove that. Because we say that God wants
everybody saved, and because Jesus died for everybody, and
the gospel is to be for everybody, therefore the ones who are in
view here is everybody who's called. You know, God, everything
works together for good to them that love God to them who are
called according to His purpose. But brethren, the definite article
thee means that that is a definite group of people to thee called,
which I would go back to 2 Timothy 1, 9, and 10. Those who he has
saved us and called us. Who are the ones who are called?
Those who have been given to Christ Jesus. It says, for whom He did foreknow,
He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His
Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover,
whom He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called,
them He also justified, and whom He justified, them He also glorified. What shall we say then to these
things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared
not his own son. Now, did you get why he asked
that question there? What shall we say to these things
if God before us, who can be against us? Because he just showed
that salvation in its full spectrum from the calling to the glorification
is all an eternal work of God to the call. Therefore, if God
be for us, who's the us? The call. Okay, not everybody. People use that. If God be for
us, who can be against us? They use that for America. Oh,
we're God's nation. You know, one nation under God. If God be for us, then who can
be against us? Well, I'm sad to say, brethren,
God's against this nation because God is not their God. God is
not against. It's for this nation. You know,
all this patriotism towards a country country I'm not going to get into that.
That's going to take me down a rabbit hole that I don't want to walk
down right now. He says, if God be for us, who
can be against us? He that spared not his own son. Here it is again. How did he
demonstrate his love toward us? Because he spared not his own
son. Whenever he spared not his own son, it was the pleasure
to bruise him for the purpose that he might be satisfied. Right?
We just read that. So let's take that theology that
we learned back in Isaiah 53 and move it into the New Testament
here and let the New Testament open up some more light on it.
He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. Oh, who's the us all again? The
called. How shall he not with him also
freely give us all, who's the us all, the called, all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? If you didn't, if you didn't
have any doubt, or if you didn't, if there was anything there that
you didn't know, if you didn't believe us about the us in the
previous statements, There's no doubt about it now. Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Now, let me ask a few questions
here, and I've asked this in the past before when I've preached
on these verses. Can your fellow man bring any
charge against you before God? Whenever we get to heaven, and
the sheep are on this side, and the goats are on this side, and
the sheep are on this side, and the sheep are on the right hand.
I had to switch my hands. Whenever the sheep are on this
side, and the goats are on this side, and God comes down and
declares these people righteous, and these people are over here
looking, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, best friends, lovers,
acquaintances, people that knew you, people that knew you intimately,
people that knew all about you, your buddies that you ran around
with and did things that you shouldn't have, that your parents
never found out about, but you knew about and they knew about,
are standing there and they're looking at you on this side,
and you're looking at them on this side, and they're coming
and they're saying, wait a minute, what about this guy? I got something
on this guy. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Is there going to be anybody
that's going to be able to stand up and say anything about the elect of God?
Let me ask you this. Is Satan going to be able to
come before the throne of God? He's the accuser of the brethren,
right? Is he going to be able to come before the throne of
God? And he said, listen, I can tell you everything that this
guy did in secret. I can tell you one thing. He thought that
he was going to be right before you because he kept all your
laws. He thought because he went to church and tithed and because
he did all these things, that he was going to be justified
in your sight. Now that right there is the very
essence of unbelief. That's the very essence of sin.
To think that I can perform a righteousness equal to God's. And that's what
he was doing. Satan's going to come and accuse
us. And he's going to come and he's going to say, not to mention,
As He was doing all that on the outside to all you guys over
here in this crowd, you should have seen what He was doing over
here with this crowd. Is He going to be able to lay
any charge to us? But let me ask you this, even
further than that. Is there anything that God Himself
is going to be able to come down and accuse us of? Whenever God comes and looks
upon us, He looks upon us in Christ Jesus. Whoever lives to
intercede for us, brethren. Whenever we're standing on this
side, and they're standing on this side, and anything would
be brought up to the charge of God's elect, that charge is going
to fall flat, because the Lord of glory, who died in my stead,
is going to step forward and say, my blood has covered it
all. It is God that justifies. Meaning that Christ's death satisfied
the justice and the judgment of God. So no, nothing can be
changed. They're innocent. They're free
and clear. There's no charge there because
it's all been erased. Because that debt that I required
of them, just like I require of you guys over here, that debt
was paid. And you know what this group
over here is going to say? Well, that's not fair. You died
for them. How come you made us this way
and not like them? And that's what a lot of people are going
to wonder. Matter of fact, that's what's being preached in most
churches today. Well, that ain't fair. You mean to tell me you're
what was your elect? You think you're one of them
elect? Oh, I hope that that's my hope. What are they going to say? What's
going to be said whenever these people over here say, well that's
not fair that they got it and we didn't? What's God going to
say? Who art thou, O man? Who replies
unto God? Shall the thing formed say to
him which formed it? Why hast thou made me thus? Hath
not the potter the power over the clay to make one a vessel
of wrath and one a vessel of glory? And what are they going
to say? Who's going to reply back to
God? What are they going to say? Who's going to give him counsel
and say, well, you should have done it this way. That would
have made you look more loving. As some of the things that I've
heard in my past, they're going to say, well, even Paul himself
said he would have given himself for his brethren. So does Paul
have more love than you, God? See, we don't understand God.
We can't understand God. But we don't understand that
because God is love, He is not required to show that love to
every person. God in His sovereignty has the
right to do whatever He wants to do with His creation. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect as God has justified? Who is He that
condemneth? It is Christ that died. See,
it keeps going back to the death of Christ. You can't lay anything
to Christ. If Christ died for you, there
is no charge against you. If Christ died for you, there
is no condemnation over your head. Sinners in the hand of
an angry God is a book that you just need to throw in the trash.
There's a few good things in there, but for the most part,
throw it in the trash. Okay? He got it wrong. Who is he that condemneth, it
is Christ that died, yea rather that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for,
there's that word again, us, who's Christ in heaven right
now, interceding for. Not the whole world, the called,
right? Then he says, Who shall separate
us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake
we are killed all the day long, we are counted as sheep for the
slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor hieth, nor death,
nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the
love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Brethren, you
see the effect of not only God's love, but the effect of Christ
dying. Christ dying not only demonstrated
God's love, but it also bought for you no condemnation, and
it bought for you no wrath. No charge can be brought against
you, therefore no wrath can be brought against you. It's good
news. It's great news. Why people don't love that is
because they are not born of God. You do not hear my words
because you are not of my sheep. The words that I say, they don't
resonate in you as truth, because you believe your father, who
is of the devil. His truth, which is lies, you
believe. So, we see that Christ's death
affects our justification. But brethren, listen, there's
so much more effects that come out of this. If you have been,
if Christ has died for you, look in Ephesians chapter 5. If Christ
has died for you, Here's another effect. Chapter 5, look with me if you
would at verse 25. Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that
he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word. We were discussing this last
night, too. We discussed a lot of things
last night. We discussed this last night.
God sanctifies us by the washing of the word. What does that mean?
What is God talking about when he says sanctify them in the
truth? Thy word is truth. And it says
here that they are sanctified and cleansed with the washing
of water by the word. Well, that's that temporal salvation
that we talk about. That's that experiential salvation
that we talk about. That whenever we are born of
God and we are quickened to spiritual things, then we begin to hear
the Word of God. And as He illuminates these things
to us, the Word of God saves us or sets us apart from the
wrong thinking the wrong doctrine, the wrong thinking about salvation
and about righteousness. It's about how we can't do nothing
and God has done everything. It's about how we can't perform
and Christ did perform. It's all about that. It's to
bring us out of the thinking of the world, which thinks that
righteousness comes from self-righteousness. into the kingdom of God where
we kneel before the throne of God and we say, behold the Lamb of God who has
taken away the sins of the world. It's all of Him. Holy, holy,
holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is filled with
His glory. And what is His glory? The glory of Christ Jesus who
was slain. That's the holiness of God. The
righteousness of God. is Christ. The glory of God is
Christ. The Bible says very plainly that
the glory of God is found in the face of Jesus Christ. If
you want to know anything about the gloriousness of God, it's
the gloriousness of God in Christ Jesus. But what specifically
about Christ Jesus? Is it the bright illumination
that comes off of that glorified body that he has? Well, that's
obviously because he is light. But the glory of God in the face
of Christ Jesus is the righteous work that He has done and the
keeping of the covenant that He made. That's the gloriousness
of God. And so if Christ died for you, He has sanctified you and he
has cleansed you that he might present it to himself, a glorious
church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it
should be holy and without blemish. Does that mean that we're getting
better and better, less sinful and less sinful so that on that
day he comes, he's going to say, well done, good and faithful
servant. No, brethren, we're going to
be presented without spot or wrinkle because Christ took his
robe of righteousness and wrapped it around me. It is because Christ
has gone before me in the heavenlies, interceding for me and took that
blood that was shed from his body that was broken, and he
sprinkled that upon the mercy seat so that there is propitiation
on our behalf and that ever is in view before God. There's never
a time that the blood is not evident. Nobody's come in with
the garden hose and washed it off. Because he said that he
went in and he died once for all. That Christ's death had an effect
on there. It redeemed us, cleansed us from our sin. Look at 2 Timothy
2.14. I'm sorry, not Timothy. I can't
read my own business over here. Titus, Titus 214. Second Titus. Second Titus. Well, when I got to second Timothy
214, I could obviously know that wasn't what I wanted to go to. Titus 214. I'll start with 13 there so we
can get an idea of who we're talking about. Looking for that
blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and
our Savior, Jesus Christ. Notice that it said the great
God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. It's not making two persons there.
He's talking about one person and he's naming him in two ways.
The great God and our Lord or and our Savior, Jesus Christ.
who gave himself for us, see he wasn't forced to do this,
he gave himself freely, who gave himself for us that he might
redeem us from all iniquity. That's wonderful. There's that
guiltless before God thing, you know, that he might redeem us
from all iniquity, you know, my sins have been paid for, But
what about my righteousness? And purify unto himself a peculiar
people zealous of good works. To purify for himself a people
zealous for good works. The fruit of the Spirit are the
good works that God works within us. That God works in us. Not that you get your list and
go out and try to perform these works. Okay? Good works aren't
the things that you determine that you're going to do. Good
works are the things that God, in His purpose time, you're not
going to know when they're going to manifest. You're not going
to know when they're going to come forth. But God works them
in you. He is to do that to will and
to do His good pleasure, right? And so, He is purifying for Himself
of peculiar people, zealous, for good works. They're zealous
for God to perform these things. They're going before God and
they're asking God, may these things be in me. May you perform
these things in me. Give me faith. Give me love.
Give me hope. You know, all the fruits of the
Spirit of God, those aren't things that we do. Those are things
that we are worked in. We are His workmanship. See,
we're not the ones who are the workers. that doing the work.
He's the one who's doing the work in us. The works are being
done in us. These things speak in exhort
and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee. Of course, we talked already about
this a little bit, but I want you to read these verses with
me. Turn if you would over to 1 John chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2 verse 1 says, My little children,
these things write unto you that you sin not. And if any man sin,
we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous,
and he is the propitiation for our sin and not of ours only,
but also for the sins of the whole world. Remember, John was
writing to a Jewish audience. OK. and so he was once again
making clear salvation isn't only for the Jews that Christ
has a people that is the seed has been spread across the whole
entire world he just began gathering it in the Jews okay he began
to gather his elect from the four corners of the world and
he began with the Jews now he is bringing men in through the
Gentiles that salvation is for the Jew and the Gentile, that
because of Christ Jesus, the wall of separation has been broken
down. He's made one man out of the two, Jew and Gentile, has
now become one man. We are brought together in one
family. We're one bride before him. And so there is no distinction.
There's neither Jew nor Gentile. That's what John is meaning whenever
he says that he is the Savior, not only of us, but for the whole
world. This salvation wasn't just seclusive
for just the national Jew. There is a remnant among the
national Jew that is a part of that true Israel. But yet there
is Gentiles out there who there is a remnant of also who is part
of that true Israel. And he is the propitiation for
our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the
whole world. So the effect of Christ's death
on our behalf is that propitiation. I won't go much further on that
because I already talked a lot about propitiation. But the last
thing I really want us to kind of look at is this other aspect
of the effect of Christ's death. Look with me if you would at
2 Corinthians. Look at verse, we're going to start reading here. Verse 13, or 14, 2 Corinthians
5, sorry. Verse 14, for the love of Christ constraineth us. Because we thus judge that if
one died for all, then all are dead. And that he died for all, that
they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto
him which died for them and rose again. That we have died and that we live. Paul said that I've been crucified
with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I. But Christ liveth in me. And what do you say after that?
Anybody know? And the life I now live in the
flesh, I live by the what? faith of the Son of God. He lives by the faith of the
Son of God. So, if I'm dead to myself, if
I'm dead, yet I live, I'm dead to what? What did I die to? What does the Bible say that
we died to? Trusting in myself. Specifically, died to the law. See, our old husband is dead.
If we be dead, we're dead to the law. That's our old husband. That's what frees us up to be
married to the other. Because as long as this one is
still alive, I can't be married to this one without being an
adulterer. If this one is alive, and I'm married to this one,
then I can't be married to this one. But if this one has died,
and I am dead to the law, then I'm free in this one. And now I'm no longer under this
one's law, but I'm under this one over here. This is my husband. And this is what we see here.
Paul was saying that I've died to trying to make righteousness
for myself, because that's what the whole law was about. Do this
and live. And he said, I've died to that.
My whole mentality now is not righteousness by law keeping.
It is not righteousness by me doing something. It is me living
to my husband who I look to, and his righteousness is my righteousness. Back full circle to where we
started with Abraham. Abraham looked unto Jesus, and
he said, He is the author and the finisher of my faith, and
it is He who is the recipient of all the blessings of God,
and He is my shield and my exceeding great reward. And if there is
salvation, it's salvation in him and not in me. So I don't
look to what I'm doing. I look to what he is doing. And
I count his righteousness as my righteousness. And that's
what Paul is saying in the other passage. That's what he's saying
here. If one died, then all are dead. And that he died for all
that we which are they that which live should not henceforth live
unto themselves. Building a righteousness for
yourself but live unto Him which died for them and rose again."
Live for Him which died for them. Don't discard what I did for
you. There's a word I want to use,
but I probably shouldn't because it wouldn't be nice. Don't walk
on my love. Okay? Don't scully my love. I loved you with an everlasting
love and I demonstrated in it by dying for you. And in dying
for you, I secured everything for you. Don't walk on that by
being going back to your old husband. If you're dead to your
old husband, then be dead. Because you're not going to find
rest. Just think about that, brethren. Think about someone
who is in the acts of committing adultery. Okay? You have your
spouse over here, and then you have your lover over here. Well,
every time you're over here with your lover, what are you thinking
about? I hope I don't get caught by
my spouse. I hope I don't get caught by my spouse. But then
when you're over here, and you're with your spouse, what are you
thinking about? Oh, the good time that I have with my lover.
When am I going to be able to get with my lover? I need to
be very careful not to say or do or anything that might let
on that I have a lover. So there's this mixed emotion.
There's this mixed feeling. There's this mixed devotion between
my lover and my spouse. And there's this constant upheaval.
There's this constant unrest because I might get caught here.
I might get caught here. I might get caught by both. I
might be, you know, found out for who I am. If you're dead to one, go to
the other because that's where you're going to find rest. You're
not going to find rest over here in two ways. Number one, you're
not going to find rest because you're never going to accomplish
what that requires. That husbandman has no forgiveness. That husband has no justification. By the deeds of
the law shall no flesh be justified. That husband is not going to
justify you by how well you live beforehand. You go there, there's
no rest. But there's also no rest whenever
you go to him because there's always this other thing over
here that's drawing you away. You're always being tugged by
this other thing. And listen, brethren, that's
what happens whenever God's sheep is sitting in churches where
men are preaching law and grace alongside of each other and preaching
law unlawfully. They're being tugged because
this husband over here is saying freedom in Christ. This one over
here is saying I have paid it all. And this one over here is
saying do, do, do, do. And Paul said all that is do,
do. He says we are died. If we died, then we are dead.
Keep looking to Christ. Don't trample what Christ has
done for you. I've went quite a while here. Let me go one last verse in 1
Peter 3.18. For Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God."
Oh, there you go, preacher. There's that universal gospel
that you say that doesn't exist. Christ died for the unjust. All
men are unjust. Therefore, Christ died for all
men. You could say that, couldn't
you? Or as I used to say, I can see where they're coming from,
but I firmly disagree. I used to say that. I used to
preach that. I used to contend for that, saying that's the proof
that there's a universal salvation and a universal love because
Christ died for the unjust. All people are unjust. Therefore,
Christ died for all people. But yet, when you take the rest
of Scripture, the us, the called, the brethren, those who have
been given, those are the ones that we Those overwhelmingly
point to what this is meaning. Not to mention, brethren, remember,
this is written not to the reprobate. It's written to the children
of God. They're in view whenever these
things are being talked about. For Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust. What's the effect? That he might
bring us to God Therefore, if Christ died for you, He's bringing
you to Him, right? Why is there people in hell?
He didn't die for them. Because if He died for them,
it says right here, the reason He died is that they might bring
Him to God. Someone would say, oh yeah, He died for them and
He wants to bring them to God, but yet they have to choose that.
Well, wait a minute, I thought we just read a while ago that
He took on all of our iniquities. He didn't live or die for them.
Therefore it leaves them to live for themselves. That's what walking in the flesh
is. Walking in the flesh isn't me walking in a debaucherous
lifestyle, although it may include that. Walking in the flesh means
walking in my righteousness. Walking in the Spirit doesn't
mean that I'm walking holy and righteous and perfect before
the Lord. Walking in righteousness or walking in the Spirit means
walking by faith in Christ Jesus in what He did for me. That's
what walking in the Spirit is. People got those mixed up. That
walking in the flesh means I'm out there doing bad deeds and
doing, you know, sinful things that are against the Ten Commandments
or whatever. And that walking in the Spirit is me obeying those
things. No, that's not it. It's me walking
in my own righteousness or me walking in Christ's righteousness.
That's what that is in the simplistic form. But anyway, he says here,
he died the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,
that's one effect, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened
by the Spirit, by which also he went and preached unto the
Spirit. I won't go into the rest of that, but here I just want
you to see that the effect of that is that we might be brought
to God. And Christ told us that very
plainly in John 6, whenever he said, all that the Father giveth
me shall come to me. And all that come to me I will
in no wise cast out. Why? Because I died for them.
Why? Because I secured for them the
belief, that faith, that they have, that received that righteousness. Alright, brethren. That's all
I got. Anybody got any questions? Comments? It's also made clear, I just kind of thought of that,
where it says, for all who sin and fall short of the glory of
God. That's in Romans, right? That in Romans 3 Romans 3 23. Yes. Romans 3 verse 20 it says, Therefore
by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in
his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now
the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being
witnessed by the law and the prophets. So even the Old Testament
was preaching this New Testament reality, right? even the righteousness
of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all
them that believe for there is no difference for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God. But if you go up through
there, you'll see where he's talking about Jew and Gentile.
In chapter two. Prove to you. the brethren, the beloved. Yeah, it's all particular. Yeah,
yeah, yeah, the call, the call. Exactly, the world of the elect.
That's why we say the context bears out the meaning of all
that. Words have many meanings and we have to let the context
decide what is being said. All right, anybody else got anything
in corrections? There we go. God has not appointed us to wrath. When did God appoint all things? Me and Chase talk about this
all the time. I know we talk about it quite a bit too. But
whether it's together or whether it's whenever we're talking,
it's hard for me to not see eternal justification. It's hard for
me to see that. I just... Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not sin. That means there is a group of
people who have never been imputed sin. They've committed it, surely,
but it wasn't ever imputed to them because Christ has stood
on their behalf. But yet his death, his life and death is
what was counted to them. even though it not been god calls
those things that aren't as though they are okay um absolutely in
the lamb's book of in the lamb's book of life well it said blessed earth uh
we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings is justification
not a spiritual blessing or is that a different category i mean
we're blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
2 Timothy said he has saved us and called us with a holy calling
not according to our works but according to his purpose and
grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began
but is now made manifest see that's the thing that's what's
coming to Christ and his death was that was the foundation upon
which we were justified yes but it was made manifest in time
at God's appointed time but it's not as though God had not already
declared that Just because it hadn't happened yet doesn't mean
that God hasn't declared it as such. You know, Wilson Thompson,
we were talking about Wilson Thompson a while ago, I think
he's got a very good illustration and I've shared that with you
before in his writing of justification. And he said, you know, whenever
that sinner who's bound up in jail and awaiting his death sentence,
his advocate goes before the court on his behalf and Presents
himself as the substitution for that sinner down there in that
jail cell. It's about to die and the just judge declares that
this man's death on his behalf will satisfy my justice and Everything
so he declares that sinner not guilty and declares this man
guilty take this man bound him hand and foot and take him out
to kill him and Everything that guy in that jail cell don't know
what happened And it isn't until someone brings him the news that
somebody has advocated on your behalf and has taken your place
in your death. Is God any more satisfied with
the man in the jail cell? Whenever he believes? No. He was satisfied whenever this
man satisfied that justice. Whenever he said, I will be their
surety. This man said, okay, and he appointed
a time for this man to pay that penalty. And in the meantime,
he said, jailor, go down and let that man go. And he went
down and he told that man, guess what? You're free to go. Someone's
taking your place. This guy right here, he may not
even believe it. He may say, I don't know about
this. As soon as I walk out this jail cell, you may shoot me for
trying to escape. He may not believe it. And he
may sit in that jail cell for months not believing that he
has been let go. That he's been deemed not guilty.
Because I know my sin. I know what I did. There's no
way that that judge let me go. And he may be in disbelief, but
is he any more justified or less justified? No. Why? Because the covenant that this
man made, I will go and take all the wrath that you have for
his sin, I will take it upon myself. And this just says, that
satisfies my justice. Now who can lay any charge to
that? No one can say what you have declared to do and what
God has declared is determined, and what God has declared to
be paid, that this man over here, even though it has not yet happened,
is not under all the benefits of what that is. Listen, whenever
Eve was in Adam, before she was ever brought out, the Bible says
that he blessed Adam, and he blessed them and called their
name Adam. She wasn't even come out yet. But she was the recipient of
everything that Adam was blessed with. Who's the second Adam? Christ
Jesus. Who's his bride? We are in Him
before the foundation of the world. And we were blessed, Ephesians
1 tells us, we are blessed with all spiritual blessings and heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. So we are blessed with all those
blessings before we're ever manifested and before they're ever manifested.
So it's easy for me to see that, brethren. I don't know why others
don't. I pray the Lord gives them the sight to see it. And
I don't think it does any harm to the death of Jesus Christ.
They say that we're belittling Christ's death when we preach
eternal justification. I think it's even more so. I
think it's even more so. The death of Christ was not only
in the actual physical actions that took place, but the very
promise of God is yea and amen in him. Right? And his promise
is true. He's going to come and do it.
He said, with joy I've come, set my face like a flint. That's
exactly. He is righteous. and he performed his righteousness
so that the Bible says that we have become the righteousness
of God in him. He is our righteous. Jehovah
said, Canoe, the Lord our righteousness. That's right. Yeah, yeah. He
did. Every jot and tittle, not one
thing. Every jot, tittle and I was there to say he couldn't
declare his people righteous until he did that. It's almost to say that he had
to become righteous. That's the only place I can take
that. That's what he demonstrated. We talked a little bit about
that last week. All of our sins were in the future. Whenever Christ died for sins,
I hadn't committed any of them. So I'm just as in the same spot
as all those in the Old Testament was. All their sins, Christ hadn't
died yet. Okay, well, I hadn't sinned yet.
So his death, it took care of all the sins that I haven't yet
done. And these over here, all their sins that they had done,
they were all taken care of whenever he died. So theirs was taken
care of before the foundation of the world in the Christ that
was slain because he was the surety. Well, here's the other thing.
Romans says that it wasn't anything that they
had done good or bad. Okay. So our justification doesn't
determine, and our standing before God isn't determined by anything
that we do, good or bad. So if my standing before God
is in Christ Jesus, well, when was I in Christ Jesus? See, my
standing isn't in me doing good or bad. Jacob's standing was
just as bad as Esau's standing. But yet God chose Esau. Well, what did he choose him
to? That's what we kind of started after this. What did God's love
do? God's love set a person apart. Malachi, how have you shown your
love to us as I chose Jacob and not Esau? I showed my love to
you in this and the effect of my love is gonna be this. is
going to be this, but it starts with the purpose of God according
to election. God's purpose is full decree. That big old scroll
that only Christ can open and bring forth, the purpose of that
is election. God demonstrating His love or
not demonstrating His love. That's why I say, yeah, it was
before the foundation of the world that it was purpose. His
love was set upon us. He counted us not guilty. He
plunged us into the sin of Adam by putting us in Adam physically. And we surely sin in those sins.
But brethren, they have not been accounted unto me if I'm his. Christ stood as that lamb slain
before the foundation of the world. I'm not saying he was
actually physically slain before the foundation of the world.
He stood as the lamb slain before the foundation of the world,
meaning that God has always accounted his people in that slain land. He has always been the king.
Would bleed and die for. That's a good song. If you're a good coach, you're
going to be angry at the person. It's like a good coach shows
don't do it. Because how can I get mad if
I get what I deserve? That's why we're the sheep. We're
thankful it's not fair. We don't want what's fair. It's like, what if it gets on
my nerves and I go to heaven and I go to hell? What's your
response to that? Get angry. it goes to show self-righteousness
where we don't that's not grace and don't understand grace because
if uh the sheep are thankful that we don't give them a reserve
if we don't serve which is the righteousness of christ by the
archangel forget the only reason we are not standing with the ghost is
his grace. The more we understand grace,
the more humble we become. It's humble from what
we've been taught. We've talked about it before.
The battleground is depravity. Nobody really believes in depravity,
what the Bible says about our depravity. If they believed depravity,
they would surely praise God for sovereign grace. All right, anybody else got anything?
Anybody else got another song or anything you'd like to sing? All right, let's pray. Gracious
Heavenly Father, we once again thank you for all that you've
done and for all that you are. Thank you for the grace and mercy
in the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for the good news
that has brought the message of our salvation to our ears.
We thank you for the Spirit who's brought the message of the gospel
to our heart. Lord, we just thank you that you have died for us
and through that death that you have brought forth these effectual
works on our behalf. And Lord, we are so grateful
that in and of ourselves, we can do no good thing, but yet
you have done it on our behalf. And Lord, we just praise your
name for the glorious message of this gospel. And we do pray
for our friends and our family who despise these teachings.
Lord, if they be your children, We pray that by your grace, that
you would grant unto them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.
And Lord, we just pray that you would help us, that we would,
in meekness and lowliness of mind, be patient and long-suffering
with them, speaking the word of truth to them as you enable
us. And Father, Lord, we just pray
that, again, that if they be your children, that you would
draw them to yourself by your Spirit. Lord, we just ask that
you would be with all those that are here. We're grateful for
those who have come. We're thankful for Brother Chase being with
us today, for the traveling mercies that you give him as he came
up here, that you might be with him whenever he leaves home tomorrow.
And Lord, we just thank you for all that you have done. We continue
to pray for Brother Lynn Terry and for my stepmom. Lord, we
pray that you would just minister to them in their infirmities
and in their healing. And Lord, we just ask that you
would keep us as we leave this place. We also pray, Lord, for
the fellowship that's to come. We ask you to bless the food
that we're about to partake of, and may you bless it to the nourishment
of our bodies. For it's in Christ's name that
we pray, amen.