I have been so very blessed this
weekend in the preaching of the word and in the fellowship God
has been pleased to give us. I can't tell you how much I encourage
you. Do everything you can to cultivate
warm, strong fellowship with one another, pastors and churches. Get to know one another personally
and let each other know your care for one another in the cause
of our Redeemer. I'm excited with what God is
doing in our day and you ought to be. We live in a remarkable,
remarkable day. God's given us remarkable opportunities. Let's seize them and anticipate
with excitement what the Lord God will do in building his kingdom. I'm going to let you in on a
secret few people understand. The Lord still adds to his church
daily such as should be saved. He still adds to his church daily
such as should be saved. That's true here. That's true
in Danville. That's true where you are. That's
true around the world. Our business is to preach the
gospel of God's free grace using every means at our disposal,
every energy we have to further the gospel of Christ in the generation
in which he has placed us. We often think of other times
and think, boy, I sure would like to have lived in that day.
Could I choose to live in any day, in any age? I would choose
to live right now, in this generation, serving God in the place where
God has put me, for this is the day God has made for me. This is the day the Lord has
made for you. For this day He's prepared us,
and this day He's prepared for us. Let us serve Him with faithfulness,
begging grace continually to be faithful unto our God and
our Savior. Now, if you will, open your Bibles
again to 1 Corinthians 1. The title of my message this
morning is Christ Our Savior. My text is 1 Corinthians 1, verses
30 and 31. If you can remember four words,
you will remember my outline for the message this morning.
Four points, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Read our text with me. But of
him, of God, are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto
us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. And the reason he has done this
is that according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. What a magnificent word this
is in this place. The Apostle Paul has just declared
that God makes foolish the wisdom of this world and that he has
chosen insignificant, weak human beings to confound the wisdom
of the world. But of him are you in Christ
Jesus. Wonder of wonders. God has chosen
such things as you are, such things as I am, and put us in
Christ. I have been praying since early
this morning for you here who do not know our Savior, that
God may this day put you in Christ in the sweet experience of His
grace, giving you life and faith in His darling Son. And I remind
you again, my brothers and sisters, if you are in Christ, you are
in Christ because God put you in his Son. You're not in Christ
because of something you did. You're not in Christ because
of a decision you made. You're not in Christ because
you have chosen to accept Jesus as your Lord. You're not in Christ
because you were born to the right family. You're in Christ
because God, in his marvelous free grace, in his superabundant
goodness, has put you in his son. What a place to be. in Christ, in Christ eternally,
in Christ eternally. We can hardly think rightly about
eternal things. We are finite creatures of time. But one of the old writers, one
of the early American Baptist preachers in Kentucky, Brother
Thomas Dudley, made this observation back in the early 1800s. He said,
how long has Christ had being as my mediator? So long I have
had my being in him. There is no time with God our
Savior. No time with God's grace. No time with God's salvation. These things are eternal. Revealed,
made known, manifest, and experienced in time. But these things are
eternal. We are in Christ from everlasting. There's never been a time when
we were not in Him if we are in Him now in the blessed experience
of His grace. In Christ immutably. immutably, no matter what happens
in time in Christ. And our acceptance with Christ,
our union with Christ is such that it never varies. It is never
at one time stronger or weaker, at one time more sure or unsure. Our acceptance with God in Christ
is an immutable acceptance with an immutable union. We have come
to be in Christ experimentally, when God gives us faith in his
son. Manifestly, when God gives us
faith in his son. When the Lord God creates the
sinner new, giving us a new nature, a new heart, a new will, making
us new creatures in Christ Jesus. Experimentally, now it is manifest,
we are the sons of God. And being in Christ, we're accepted. I love the way the scriptures
state things. We use the word acceptable. That's
all right, but this is better. Accepted. Accepted. Sometimes we feel such a distance
from our God. Sometimes he hides his face from
us. Sometimes he appears to frown
upon us. Sometimes he chastens us with
the rod of his love, and he causes his back to appear and not his
face. Because of his love for us, he
does so. I said to our congregation Sunday
morning or Sunday night, I was dealing with this matter of chastening.
We had but one child, and I never presumed to qualify to give parental
advice. I'm not qualified. I only had
one child, and he was a girl. So I don't know what both parents
go through. But I'll tell you what I insisted
on. I never told our daughter, who is now 44 years old, to do
anything but once. If I told her the second time,
she felt it on her backside with a paddle. And if the state representatives
had come to the door, they would have felt it on their top side
with a club. Why would you do that? Why would you inflict pain
upon that child? Oh, if you could meet her now.
Oh, if you could just know her now. Brother Paul Wamsley knows
her. She attends the same worship service where his brother-in-law
is pastor. What a remarkable young lady she is. What a remarkable
mother. What a remarkable wife she is. What a remarkable adult she is. Well, what's that got to do with
correction? Read the book of God and find
out. If you love your children, you make them mind. You don't
ask them to, you make them mind. Well, I just can't make my child
mind. Give him to me for five minutes. I'll guarantee you I
can make him mind. I'll guarantee I can. Well, you
don't know what you're talking about. I've had responsibility
for a few in various periods of time. I'll guarantee you I
can. All you've got to do is make them mind. Doesn't matter
whether two or 15, just make them mine. Our God graciously
forces us to mind. But all the while he chastens,
there's no question that our acceptance is the same. I made
it a point never to correct my daughter when I was angry. Never
once. Never. I never once took the
paddle to her when I was mad at her. Well, that's over. And I never let her have the
thought that I was angry. And you know what? She may have
resented it. She may. I'm sure she did when
the pain was being administered. But she never showed me any indication
that she thought anything had interrupted in our relationship.
How much more we who are gods ought to bow to him even when
he hides his face and corrects us in chastisement, bow to him
and rejoice in our acceptance in Christ that varies not. We
who are in Christ are blessed of God in him. blessed of God
with all spiritual blessings, given us in Christ in heavenly
places before the world began. All that God can give to sinners. What a statement. All that God
can give to men. All that God will give to men,
He has given to us from everlasting in His Son. He withholds nothing
from His own. Nothing. Blessed of God with
all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. Saved in Him. Saved. What a wonderful word. I was lost. I'm found. I was lost, I'm saved. I was lost, I have life. Saved from myself. Saved from
hell. Saved from the wrath of God.
Saved from this world. Saved forever in Christ Jesus. Truly, we are one with Christ. John Kent expressed it so magnificently. twixt Jesus and the chosen race,
subsist the bond of sovereign grace, that hail with its infernal
train shall ne'er dissolve nor end in vain. Hail sacred union,
firm and strong, how sweet the grace, how sweet the song, that
worms of earth should ever be one with incarnate deity, one
in the two. one when he rose, one when he
triumphed over his foes, one when in heaven he took his seat,
while Sarah sang all hell's defeat. This sacred tie forbids our fears,
for all he is and has is ours. With Christ our head, we stand
or fall, our life, our surety, and our all. Now, let's look
at these four words given here in 1 Corinthians 1.30 and see
what God the Holy Spirit tells us it means to be in Christ. We are in Christ by the rich,
free grace and goodness of God who put us in Him in sovereign
election before the world began. In Him we are and were preserved
and blessed from everlasting. Now that secret everlasting union
with Christ is made manifest in time when God the Holy Spirit
gives us faith in Christ by the operation of his grace. Our being
in him then is altogether God's work. Salvation is of the Lord
and Christ is made of God unto us wisdom. We are all foolish creatures
by nature. It doesn't matter how smart you
are intellectually. We are all foolish creatures
by nature. By virtue of our union with him,
Christ is made of God, made of God unto us wisdom. What does
that mean? The Lord Jesus is that one who
gives us wisdom and understanding in all things spiritual. He is
the shining light that dispels darkness from our souls. And
he is our wisdom objectively as well. Hold your hands here
in 1 Corinthians and turn back to Proverbs 8. Proverbs 8. Our
highest wisdom is knowing the Lord Jesus Christ. Under the personification of
wisdom, here in Proverbs 8, our Savior says, He that findeth
me, findeth life, and shall obtain the favor of the Lord. Look at
verse 12. I, wisdom, dwell with prudence. I, wisdom, dwell with skill and
ability. And find out knowledge of witty
inventions. Skip down to verse 14. Counsel
is mine and sound wisdom. I am understanding. I have strength. By me, kings reign and princes
decree justice. By me, princes rule and nobles,
even all the judges of the earth. That's right. By me, the Lord
Jesus is speaking. The prince of heaven, the son
of God, the mediator who holds the reins of sovereign dominion
over all flesh to give eternal life to as many as the father
has given him. By me, he says, prince is reign. By me, prince is rule and nobles
even all the judges of the earth. That means there's no one in
any power anywhere who wasn't placed in that seat of power
by Christ our Savior. And there's nothing the ruler
does that is not in accordance with the directive will of God
our Savior who sits on his throne and is determined to do good
for his people. Oh, God teach me that. God teach
me that. I don't make any hesitancy in
letting anyone know, and I sure wish he was here and could hear
it, and I'd say it to him right now. I am thoroughly disgusted
with the President of the United States, and I have been since
before he was elected. Thoroughly disgusted. He's a
reproach to society, but God put him where he is. God set
him where he is. And with all the things he does
that disgust me, I pray that God will give me grace to be
patient with God's will and God's purpose for this day and for
this hour. So how can those two things be
so? Satan is God's devil. That doesn't mean I act like
him. Did you get that? He's God's devil. That doesn't
mean I have to like him, but I bow to God's purpose in everything
as he gives me grace. By me, princes rule. By me, kings decree justice. All the judges of the earth.
He says, I love them that love me. He's not suggesting I love
them because they love me. We love him because he first
loved us. But you know his love for you
when he causes you to love him. And those that seek me early
shall find me. Riches and honor are with me.
Yea, durable riches and righteousness. Not riches of a material kind. Not honor of an earthly kind. Those things may or may not be
given. but durable riches, durable riches, all the riches of His
grace with which we are blessed. He's talking about honor before
God, righteousness. That's with me too. Verse 19,
my fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold, and my revenue
than choice silver. I lead in the way of righteousness. in the midst of the paths of
judgment, discernment, and justice, that I may cause those that love
me to inherit substance, and I will fill their treasures.
Verse 22, the Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way. Before his works of old, I was
set up from everlasting, from the beginning, wherever the earth
was. This is the Son of God speaking. How is he talking about being
set up? Set up as our covenant surety, set up as our mediator,
set up as the Word of God, the wisdom of God on our behalf.
I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or wherever
the earth was. Verse 24, When there were no depths, I was brought
forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills was I brought forth. While as yet He had not made
the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust
of the world, when He prepared the heavens, I was there. When
He set a compass upon the face of the depth, when He established
the clouds above, when He strengthened the fountains of the deep, when
He gave to the sea His decree that the water should not pass
His commandment, when He appointed the foundations of the earth.
Then was I by Him, as one brought up with Him, and I was daily
His delight, rejoicing always before Him." Now watch this,
before wherever the earth was, rejoicing in the habitable part
of His earth. And my delights were with the
sons of men, his delights with us, his people, rejoicing in
the habitable parts of the earth that were yet to be made, delighting
with us in himself from eternity. Verse 35, for whoso findeth me
findeth life and shall obtain the favor of the Lord. Christ
is our wisdom, then, objectively. And he is the head of his body,
the church. And as the body is in the head,
all our wisdom is in him. Our Lord Jesus acts for us in
wisdom, representatively. speaking for us in the everlasting
covenant of grace and peace, and he's our advocate in heaven,
pleading our cause with the Father today in wisdom. It's Christ
that the triune God, in whom the triune God is made known
to us, so that he is the revealer of God. He is the Word by whom
God shows Himself to men. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. He has opened Him up and showed
Him to you. In Him, this man who lived and
died for us, this man who sits in glory now, in Him, dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead in a body." Bodily. What? All the incomprehensible
God. All that God is, that's in Him. So that all of God, you and I
will ever see. All of God we can ever know. All of God who speaks to us and
all of God to whom we speak is in the person of Jesus Christ
our Lord. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily and you are complete in Him. It is Christ
Jesus who taking on himself our nature, coming into this world,
living in our nature, walking on this earth in our nature,
dying in our nature, rising to glory in our nature, coming again
in our nature, in whom God shows himself to his people and makes
himself known. And this union with Christ makes
the heaven-born soul truly wise. Turn to 1 Corinthians 2. When Christ is formed within, we are given the mind of Christ. Can you imagine that? The mind
of Christ. Now, I've never been the smartest
fellow in the room. I recognize that. But in Christ
I have been given the very mind of Christ. Look what scripture
says, 1 Corinthians 2 verse 14. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the spirit of God for they are foolishness to him.
Neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. You try your best to explain
the things of God to a natural man, and we declare the truth
of God, and we make it as simple as we possibly can, and when
you're witnessing the folks, you try to explain to them the
things of God, and they just can't get it. They just can't
get it, and you get a little upset. and you start to argue,
and you start to beat the table, and you get angry, you get mad
because, don't you understand? Don't you understand? No, they
don't. They don't. There's no need to be terribly
upset with a blind man because he can't see. There's no need
to be terribly upset with a deaf man because he can't hear. The
natural man cannot be taught the things of the Spirit of God.
We teach our children doctrine. We teach them the scriptures.
We teach them the letter of the scripture. We teach them the
principles of scripture. But all we can do is give them
facts. We can't give them the mind of
the Spirit. Only God can do that. Read on.
But he that is spiritual, that is the man who is a spiritual
man, the woman who is a spiritual woman, those who have been born
again, that's what it means to be spiritual. It doesn't mean
that, you know, you Live such a good life that folks just look
at you and say, my, isn't he spiritual? No, that's not it
at all. To be spiritual is to live by
faith in Christ. It is to walk in the Spirit,
believing the Son of God. The spiritual person, the believer,
that person judgeth all things. He discerns everything. He has
understanding in everything, yet he himself is judged of no
man. That is to say nobody understands
him. Nobody understands him. Why on
earth? Would you folks travel such distance
to meet in a rented hall like this with a few folks, listen
to some fellow, you know, sound like he's talking to folks out
in the field somewhere a mile away from him, just thunderous
voice. Why would you sit and listen to this stuff when you
could be over yonder in that big cathedral with all those
pretty windows and nice comfortable views? Why would you do that?
There's no way to explain that. There's just no way to explain
it so that family and friends understand. They don't understand,
and they don't understand you. They don't understand what causes
believers to sacrifice and give and devote their lives to a cause
that they can't understand. Believers understand, but the
unbeliever doesn't. He's judged of no man. For who hath known
the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? Now watch this.
But we have The mind of Christ. There's much more there than
I have said or can say. But if John Graham is born of
God, he has the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ. If you're
born of God, you have the mind of Christ. So that we, walking
with God, in the light of his word, instructed by his word,
know God's will and walk in it. We know God's will and walk in
it. All true spiritual knowledge
is derived from our Redeemer. Only those who are taught of
God are made wise unto salvation. And Christ is our wisdom within
to direct our paths, to guide us in his way, and to order our
steps day by day. I don't know how to discern what
God's will is for me tomorrow. I don't know that. I don't pretend
to know that. But day by day, I know God's will. And I know
that I know God's will. And as God gives me grace, I
obey His will. As I rebel against Him, I don't.
But His will is obvious. His will is obvious. I went to
Danville, Kentucky to preach for the first time in 1979. And when I went there and preached,
Shelby was at home at the place where we lived in Lookout, West
Virginia. And I was actually on my way to Florida. They just
asked me if I'd come by and preach one day. And I preached for them
that morning and didn't discuss anything with any of the men
or folks in the congregation, just had lunch together. And
I went back to the room and I called my wife and I said, this is the
place God has for me. We'll be moving to Danville.
And I knew immediately that's what God had for me. I've never
had a question about it since. That's the place where God put
me. That's the place where God put me. How can you know that?
We have the mind of Christ. Both to understand the word of
God and the things of God. So we understand free grace. We understand the gospel of God's
grace. We understand that which is contrary
to it. And we know the way He would
have us to go. Now let me ask you, children
of God, when have you ever not known the way He would have you
to go? When have you ever not known
the way He would have you to go? Our problem is not that we
don't know the way. Our problem is our rebellion
against God's manifest will continually. All right? We don't. Of Him are
ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness. Righteousness. Now many use the
words righteousness and holiness interchangeably as if they were
synonyms. They are not. Righteousness is
primarily a legal term. Though it may be and is often
used to refer to one's character, it primarily refers to his deeds. Righteousness refers to that
which is right before the law, or right in the eyes of the law. You've probably seen on the news
we've had problems in the states, folks upset about what they consider
police brutality, and somebody got shot that fell out in Ferguson,
Missouri, and so many protests and all. But it was deemed after
thorough investigation that his shooting of the man in the streets
was a righteous shooting. That's the very word they used,
a righteous shooting. What does that mean? It was right
before the law. And Christ is He who is our rightness
before God's law. We are made the righteousness
of God in Him. Being right in the eyes of the
law, we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Holiness,
on the other hand, is a word that's used to describe a person's
character. And yet the word of God makes
it abundantly clear that our Lord Jesus Christ is both our
righteousness and our holiness. He is that one who justifies
us and he is that one who sanctifies us, as we'll see in a moment.
He is the righteousness and the holiness of his people. He is
made of God unto us righteousness. How so? As I have tried to state
to you these last two days, and these other men have as well,
our Lord Jesus came into this world to fulfill all righteousness,
to bring in an everlasting righteousness. I had a letter just last week
from a pastor friend of mine out in California, a younger
man, and he was studying Matthew chapter 3 where our Lord said
to John the Baptist, suffer to be so now for thus it becometh
us to fulfill all righteousness. And he said to me, how could
the Savior's baptism fulfill all righteousness? How could
that be? It symbolically fulfilled all
righteousness. You who are born again, if God's
given you faith in Christ, I urge you, confess Christ in believer's
baptism. Confess Christ in believer's
baptism. Somebody said, Brother Harry
said yesterday, they were baptized the right way. There's not but
one way to baptize. Everything else is an imitation.
Everything else is fake. Everything else is a remnant
of papacy. Baptism means to bury. And believers are buried with
Christ in the watery grave and rise up with Christ out of the
watery grave to walk with Christ in the newness of life. Romans
chapter 6 describes it just that way. Well, how does that fulfill
righteousness? Every believer publicly confesses
to God and to the world. When Christ died, I died with
Him. When He arose, I arose with Him. And now I walk with God in new
life belonging to Him. That's what baptism's all about.
And our Lord Jesus said, this is necessary, my life of obedience
unto death and my resurrection from the dead for the fulfillment
of all righteousness. By fulfilling righteousness,
or in order to fulfill righteousness, our Lord Jesus obeyed God's law
perfectly. And we obeyed God's law perfectly
in Him. And He satisfied God's justice
entirely. And we satisfied God's justice
in Him. And when He died under the penalty
of our sins, we died in Him. And when He was justified in
the Spirit, we were justified in Him, raised up with Him forever
to live in newness of life. Turn back to Jeremiah 23. I want
you to see two texts. Jeremiah 23, verse 6. When you get that, fold
your page over and look at verse chapter 33. Christ is made of God unto us
righteousness by virtue of our union with him. And we are made
the righteousness of God in him. Jeremiah 23, verse 6. Well, Brother
Don, how far do you carry that? Let's see how far God carries
it. In his days, Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell
safely. And this is the name whereby
he, talking about our Savior, shall be called, the Lord our
righteousness. You see that? Now look at chapter
33, verse 16. In those days shall Judah be
saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. And this is the name
wherewith she shall be called, the Lord our righteousness."
Wait a minute. Did I read that right? This is
the name whereby he shall be called, the Lord our righteousness. And this is the name whereby
she, his church, shall be called the Lord our righteousness. Brother Angus was preaching to
us from the Song of Solomon yesterday. Go back and read the Song of
Solomon and hear how the Savior describes us. He says, Thou art
all fair, my love. There is no spot in thee. All fair. No spot in thee. Well, but Brother Don, that's
the way God sees things. Come here. Let me, I'm going
to tell you a secret. Not many folks know this. Are
you listening? However God sees things, that's how they really
are. However God sees things, that's
how they really are. The Savior says, there's no spot That means there's no spot in
you, no blemish in you, nothing corrupt in you. Oh, but I know
my sin, but we're in Christ, and he has put away our sin,
even while we're compelled, living on this earth, to struggle with
our sin. No spot in you. He who was made sin, was thoroughly
made sin. And when it was made sin for
us, God dealt with his son in strict justice. You know what
he gave his son? He gave him death. Pouring out
all the fury of his wrath on his son, because when he was
made sin, he fully deserved the wrath of God. And when God deals
with his elect in his son, he deals with us in strict justice.
And soon, He's going to reward us, as our brother just prayed
a little bit ago, with the kingdom of His glory, prepared for us
before the world was, giving us all the fullness of the glory
He possesses as the God-man, our mediator. Now listen, because
that's exactly what we deserve in Him by His grace. The reward
of heaven is not the reward of our works. The reward of heaven
is the reward of His grace. Jesus Christ is made of God unto
us righteousness. Turn to 1 Peter chapter 4. I
want you to see this. 1 Peter chapter 4. Look at verse 1. For as much then as Christ hath
suffered for us in the flesh, Arm yourselves likewise with
the same mind, for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased
from sin." The Lord Jesus, our Savior, having suffered in the
flesh, has ceased from sin because he put away sin. But read the
next verse, that he should no longer live the rest of his time
in the flesh to the lust of men, but to the will of God. Well,
wait a minute. That's not talking about Christ.
That's not talking about Christ. He never lived in the time of
His flesh to the lust of men. He always lived to the will of
God. What's He talking about? This is what He's saying. I suffered in the flesh when
Christ died. And when He put away my sin,
I have now ceased from sin in Him. And the reason for this
is that I should no longer live the rest of my days on this earth
in the flesh to fill the lust of men, but to the will of God. Jesus Christ is made unto us
righteousness. Righteousness. When God the Holy
Spirit gives the sinner faith in Christ, giving us faith in
Christ, He comes and declares Our testimony from God, righteous. Enoch walked with God, and he
was not. And before he was translated,
he had this testimony that he was righteous. Now, if you read
the commentaries, as I generally do when I'm studying, you will
have a hard time finding anyone who says anything other than
this about Enoch and his walk with God. Enoch walked with God
and he lived such a good life. He lived such an upright life
that people looked at him and said, my, there's a godly man. Oh, he's such a holy man. That's
not the believer's testimony. Read this book and find it for
me. That is not the believer's testimony. Anything that you
do that men think is godly is just a show. And that's just
fact. Quit trying to impress me and
it's not going to work. Anything that you do that men
look at and say, oh, now I know he's a holy man. Look what he
does. That's just a show. That's not godliness. That's
not godliness. Enoch had testimony from God that he was righteous. And every believer does. The
Lord God sprinkles the conscience with the blood of Christ and
declares to the sinner, you're righteous. You're righteous.
And that gives us peace with God. Back years ago, I used to write
the bulletin articles, and Shelby would type them out on paper
back when we had those mimeograph machines, and then we'd have
to type stencils. Some of you all remember them. But when she'd
type them out, all the sides over here would be jagged, and
she'd take a straight edge and mark them. And then she'd count
the spaces on each line that she had to make to make them
justified over here. And she'd go back and retype
the stencil and justify the right-hand margin. Today we have computers
and we just hit the command justify and it's justified. This is what
that means. Here's your right-hand margin. Everything right in line. Here's the left-hand margin.
And if you justify it, it's right in line with the right-hand margin.
Now listen, children of God, you young people, you want to
know what justification means? Here is God in all his holiness, in all his
perfection, in all his righteousness, in all his law, in all his revelation,
in all his commands. Here he is. Here he is. And Brother
Michael, By nature, here we are a mess. A mess. Until God comes by His grace
and sprinkles the conscience with the blood of Christ. And
you know what my conscience says now? There's God. There's Don Fortner and his son. Equal to everything God is. Equal to everything God requires. Equal to everything God demands. Equal to everything that pleases
God. That's my soul in his son, for
that's what his son is. Righteousness. Read on. Of him
are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom and
righteousness and sanctification. Sanctification. The Lord God
demands that we walk before him and be perfect. He says, be ye
holy for I am holy. There is a holiness without which
no man shall see the Lord. But that holiness without which
no man shall see the Lord is not something you do. It is sanctification. And that sanctification is not
something you do. It is the gift of God. God has
made his son unto us sanctification. Perfection requires perfect obedience,
and Christ obeyed the law for us. Perfection requires complete
atonement for sin, complete satisfaction, and Christ is our atonement.
And perfection requires a holy nature. a holy nature. It must be perfect to be accepted. Perfect. And the Apostle Paul
declares by the Spirit of God that you and I who are in Christ,
who have Christ made of God unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification. He says you are meat to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in light. We're going to be. No, we are.
Right now, fit to enter heaven. Nothing more to be done for us.
I will not be one whit more righteous, one whit more justified, one
whit more sinless, one whit more holy in the day when I stand
before God in resurrection glory than I am right now. I am right
now in Christ fit for glory. That's it. Sanctified. Sanctified. He is that holiness formed in
me, that new nature formed in you, without which no man shall
see the Lord. That holiness, that sanctification
is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Now, there's a lot of
argument, folks. I don't want you to argue about
words. Progressive sanctification. People talk about a great deal,
especially reform fellows. You know, the Holy Spirit gives
you a new nature, plants a new principle in you, and then if
you read your Bible enough and pray enough and you don't eat
too much salt and you don't eat pork and you don't drink any
liquor and don't smoke any cigarettes and don't go to the wrong movies
and you wear the right kind of clothes and you cut your hair
the right way and, you know, stuff. Then you just get holier
and holier and holier until you just write for heaven. Barnyards are full of that stuff. Barnyards are full of that stuff.
And I'm speaking very respectfully of it. Full of that stuff. But what is sanctification then?
It's Christ in you, the hope of glory. It's Christ in you. Believers are made new creatures
in Christ. And God in sovereign grace doesn't
repair the old man. He puts a new man in you. A new man that can not sin. Let me show you 1 John 3. 1 John
3. Be sure to get there now. 1 John 3. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed on 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. But we know that when he shall
appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even
as he is pure. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth
also the law. For sin is the transgression
of the law. And you know that he was manifest to take away
our sins. And in him is no sin. Now watch
verse six. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth
not. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen
him, neither known him. Somebody said, well, that means
that if you're born again, you don't habitually sin. You what? Which one of you doesn't? Anybody here who doesn't habitually
sin? I'll sit down and be glad to
listen to you talk. Every breath you take is full of sin. Every
high, lofty imagination you have about holiness is full of sin.
God sent you to hell rightly for the very best thing you ever
thought, let alone what you've done. Well, what's his name? Senator, he doesn't say it. Born
of God, he doesn't sin. Doesn't sin. Whosoever sinneth,
hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no
man deceive you. He that doeth righteousness is
righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of
the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this
purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works
of the devil. Whosoever is born of God, now watch the language
of Scripture. doth not sin. For his seed remaineth in him,
and he can not sin." Because he's born of God. He's born of
God. Christ in you is that new man
created in righteousness and true holiness that cannot sin. You see, the believer, every
believer is a person with two natures. Our old Adamic fallen
nature, that does nothing but sin, and the new nature, Christ
Jesus, that cannot sin. That which does righteousness
is of God, that old Adamic nature, that sin. It does unrighteousness
all the time. Look at verse 10. Look at verse
10. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children
of the devil. Whosoever doeth not righteousness
is not of God. That old man in me is not of
God. Neither he that loveth not his
brother. The believer, he who is born
of God, doesn't sin and can't sin. So there's a constant warfare
going on, a constant struggle in our soul. What do you see
in me? It is, as it were, two armies,
one fighting against another, light and darkness, good and
evil, righteousness and sin, constantly in opposition with
one another, flesh and spirit, constantly opposing one another.
That's the way God fixed it for us to live in this world, so
that we may ever be compelled to look out of ourselves to Christ
our Redeemer for all our wisdom and righteousness and sanctification. You got that? Look out of yourself
to Christ the Lord and to teach us to be gracious with our brethren. So many people get so caught
up in this haughty arrogant, self-righteous, bigoted, vile
behavior of judging one another and condemning one another for
what they do or don't do. And they pretend they're defending
godliness. They pretend they're defending
righteousness. But the strange thing is, Peter,
they always make the measure by which they judge others themselves. They always make that the standard,
and that's a pretty poor standard. That's a pretty poor standard.
We ought rather, if our brother is fallen, to help him, pick
him up, considering yourself, knowing you're just like him.
Oh, children of God, ever look out of yourselves to Christ for
all hope. and look at your brother in Christ,
each esteeming other better than themselves. God forgive me for my failure
in this. There sits my brother, Alangelic.
One thing I know about him, he's in Christ. That one thing I know
about him, he's in Christ. Being in Christ. How can you
know that? He professes faith in Christ,
and I am required of God to treat him as one of God's saints. I
just read 1 Corinthians again this morning, back over in chapter
1. He's writing to these Corinthians. Paul is writing to folks he's
never seen. And he's writing to folks who've got a problem
with division and strife. They've got a problem with incest
and adultery. They've got a problem with folks
getting drunk at the Lord's table. You talk about church trouble.
Let's return to New Testament Christianity. God saved me from
that stuff. But that's what he's writing.
And you know how he addressed them? Saints. Sanctified. How could he do so? He takes
them upon their professed faith, believe in the gospel of God's
grace, and says, these are my brethren. That means they're
saints. Now, this I know about that man by his profession. He's
in Christ. And I don't know much else about
him. That means that man is perfect
and righteous and holy and God smiles on you. Let me tell you what I know about
myself. I know the corruption and depravity of my heart. That ought to compel me always
to esteem you better than me. Always. No matter what I see
him do or hear him say. No matter what I think about
what he says or what he does. That's my brother in Christ.
He's to be esteemed by me better than Christ. Well, I'm not going
to approve of his action. I don't either, but I don't approve
mine either. But I have to live with me. And we as believers
live with one another. Folks, I can't go to church with
him. Do you know the Lord Jesus went
to church with Judas for three years? And served the Lord's
supper to him, knowing full well who he was? How come? Because Judas professed to be
his. And that's exactly how we're
to treat God's people. I gotta quit. There's one more
thing. Of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. That word redemption is a big,
big word. It's like the word salvation.
We tend to limit them. Redemption means the complete
deliverance of God's elect, the complete deliverance of sinners
from all the ruin of Adam's fall by the precious blood of Christ,
by the power of God's grace, and at last by resurrection glory. And the day's coming soon when
our Savior shall appear again without sin to salvage you. And
He's going to redeem these bodies. In my flesh shall I see God. In my flesh shall I see God. Sitting on Brother Allen's back
porch this morning, I was watching all the birds around, and it
reminded me of the time when our grandchildren were young.
We had a boxwood elder tree that was just high enough over our
patio. You could look right down in
the top of it. And a robin built her nest there and laid her eggs
there. I think there were three blue eggs in the nest. And the
grandchildren would come over and saw those eggs there, and
every time they came, they'd run out to see those eggs. Oh,
just excited to see those eggs. They came and ran out the back
door to look in the nest, and the shells were all broken, laying
on the ground, some in the nest. And our granddaughter was a little
upset. She was a little disturbed. And
I said to her, nothing to be upset about. Those eggs, that
just means the birds have hatched out and flown away. They're soaring
in the sky now, singing like Mama did. One of these days,
this body is going to the dust. And I shall rise in glory. And the days coming, unlike those
robin's eggs, when my Savior shall come again and put all
this back together in resurrection glory, and this mortal shall
put on immortality. This corruption in corruption. and we shall be raised in glory
with Christ our Redeemer. All of this Christ has made unto
us, wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption
for this reason, that according as it is written, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. We have nothing to glory of but
Christ and everything to glory of in Christ. Christ is ours. We're his and he's made of God
into us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Sometime back, I read about a
man who lived in Chicago, a very wealthy man. Back during the
Vietnam War, his son felt compelled to join the United States Army,
and he went to Vietnam. He and his father, being wealthy,
had a huge art collection. They both loved art, like some
of you love music. And they collected all the art they could, and they
would often sit and look at the paintings and discuss them. And
the boy was killed in Vietnam while he was saving another man's
life. Some months went on after the boy's death, And the father
got a knock at the door. The man standing there had a
package under his arm, and he said to him, he said, sir, you
don't know me, but your son, called him by name, and I were
good friends. In fact, I'm the man he was carrying
to his life when he was killed. And he discussed with me many
times your love of art. And he said, this isn't much,
and started unwrapping it. This is a painting I've done,
as crude as it is, of your son who saved my life. And the father
just, tears running down his cheeks, he could hardly contain
himself. He took it right inside and pulled off whatever he had
hanging over the fireplace mantel and hung that picture up and
hung there. Folks come see, it's our first thing to do is show
them his son. Show them his son. And the old man died. Had no
other heirs. And so it had everything sold
at public auction. And people came from all over
to buy that man's art, get a good buy on a rich collection of art.
Sitting right up on the platform was one painting covered up. The auction began and the auctioneer
pulled off that and said, the first thing to be auctioned is
this painting of the sun. And folks cheered and laughed
and mocked. Who wants that? Finally, the
auctioneer said, I'm required to sell this first. And nobody
bid on it. Finally, an old man in the back
bid $10 and took it, and that was his. He was a gardener for
the family. Had been for years and years and years. And the
other folks said, now let's get on with the auction. And the
auctioneer said to them, I have one other thing I wasn't allowed
to reveal till now, just one other stipulation to the auction.
The auction's closed because I'm here ordered that whoever
takes the son gets all. Oh, may God give you grace now
to take the sword, to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and go home with everything. Whoever gets the sword gets everything,
wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Amen.