I do not doubt at all that the
most tormenting, difficult thing any human being deals with on
this earth is guilt. A tormenting, guilty conscience. I have spent a little time with
folks who spent time in mental institutions, a good bit of time. Everyone I've spoken to, every
one of them without exception, has confided in me that the problem
is guilt. Everyone I've spoken to. Nothing
is harder to bear than guilt. I am confident that the worm
that never dies, gnawing upon the souls of the damned in hell
forever, is guilt. The fire that cannot be quenched,
there may be other things involved, but I'm confident that the fire
that torments the damned forever is guilt. The fires of hell are
fires that won't consume the body, and they won't consume
the soul, but they torment forever. They torment forever. A fully
awakened conscience with guilt is what torments the damned now.
and forever. And some of you are struggling
with that guilt now. I'm not talking about a sense
of just having done wrong. I'm not talking about a sense
of guilt in relationship to men. I'm talking about guilt in your
conscience before God. And I know what that is. I know what that is. Guilt that
screams in your soul. Guilt that can't be silenced. Guilt that causes you to quake
with every thought of God and judgment and eternity. You try
to silence the guilt by whatever means you can. You try to silence
the guilt with greater rebellion. You try to silence the guilt
with alcohol or drugs. You try to silence the guilt
with religion. And you do what you can, but
you find that there's no place where you can find rest. There's
no bed upon which you can stretch yourself, no cover in which you
can wrap yourself. Every refuge you take is destroyed
in a moment before the awesome justice of a holy God and your
soul is terrified still. Guilt. You have found and you
find day after day and night after night there is no rest
for the wicked because of guilt. There is no rest for the wicked
because of guilt. And it is my prayer, it is my
prayer, that you will never find rest until you find rest in Christ
Jesus. It is my prayer that your conscience
will never be silenced until it's silenced by faith in the
Son of God. It is my prayer, oh it is my
prayer for you, that God will not leave you alone, but rather
will constantly harass you with your guilt until he causes you
to believe on his side. Some of you who are my brothers
and sisters in Christ, you who believe God, redeemed by the
precious blood of Christ, born again by his spirit, still have
great difficulty with an oppressive sense of guilt. Because Satan,
being the master deceiver, knowing that there is nothing more oppressive,
no yoke heavier, no bondage more cruel to your soul than a sense
of guilt, he constantly raises Moses up and shows you your sin,
shows you your corruption, shows you your depravity, shows you
your iniquity, shows you your transgressions, and there mockingly
laughs in your face and your heart agrees with him in all
his accusations. And you let Satan get the advantage,
tormenting you with guilt because you still carry about a sense
of guilt Though if you trust the Savior, you shouldn't and
there's no reason. Never forget your sin. Never
forget your sin. Never cease to mourn over your
sin. Never cease to repent of your
sin. But carry the guilt no longer if you look to Christ this day. Oh, if God enables you by his
grace to look to Christ right now, your guilt was his guilt. And you have it no more for he
has satisfied the justice of God for you. Now I've got a message
for you. A message from God specifically
for you who struggle with this matter of guilt. Specifically
for you who yet know not our God. I want to speak plainly
to your hearts. Oh may God speak to your hearts. The preacher's business is to
comfort God's elect. That's the preacher's business,
but not by making them feel comfortable. Comfort you, comfort you, my
people, saith the Lord. Our Lord Jesus said, it's expedient
for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the comforter
will not come. And then it says when he, the
spirit of truth has come, he will comfort you this way. He'll convince you of sin because
you believe not on me. He'll make you sense your guilt
because you believe not on me. If you're without Christ, I want
you to know your sin. Your sin. And He will convince
you, if He ever convinces you of your sin, He will convince
you of righteousness, because I go to the Father, convince
you that I have brought in everlasting righteousness. The work is finished. When I cried, it is finished,
upon the tree, the work was finished. And He will convince you of judgment,
of judgment because the Prince of this world is judged. Because
I, the Son of God, have crushed the serpent's head and judgment
is over. There is no judgment awaiting
you. For I have put away your sin
and made you the righteousness of God by the sacrifice of myself. Now turn with me, if you will,
to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 21. If God will enable
you, to get the message I've got for you this morning, it
will be more valuable to you than mountains of gold. Oh, Spirit
of God, set these words in our heart. 2 Corinthians 5, verse
21, right in the middle of the text, he hath made him sin. I'm going to try one more time.
to proclaim that blessed subject. He hath made him sin. No, I didn't read the text wrong.
You will notice the words to be are italicized. They were added by our translators
to make the sentence read more smoothly. In this case, I think
they should not have been added. He hath made him sin. That's the declaration of God
in this text. The Apostle Paul here writes
by divine inspiration. His reference is found clearly
in Isaiah chapter 53, where the Lord God declares, thou shalt
make his soul an offering for sin. That's the word of the prophet. And Isaiah is here quoted by
divine inspiration, not by mistake, by divine inspiration. not by
logic, by divine inspiration. He quotes Isaiah's prophecy being
fulfilled, where this prophet said, thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin. And he says, he hath made him
sin. And bless God, he adds those
two words for us. Now, let me give you the context.
In this passage, Paul is calling us to faith in Christ. He urges
us to be reconciled to God upon the basis of reconciliation already
made at the cross, promising righteousness, the very righteousness
of God to all who trust the Lord Jesus. This message he urges
us to believe and to believe now. His message is both urgent
and authoritative. For it comes to us from one who
speaks as the very ambassador of God. Indeed, it is God himself
speaking to us by his servant Paul. The very first sermon I
preached to you here 33 years ago, I preached to you from this
text of scripture. My subject is the same. It hasn't
changed one iota. My doctrine is the same. It hasn't
changed so much as a hair's breadth. And God giving me grace and a
sound mind until my dying day will not change. What I had to
say to you this morning, I say with absolute confidence and
authority. I don't say these things because
I've studied this and learned what other folks haven't learned.
I'm declaring to you what God the Holy Spirit has taught me
from his word and you will reject it to your peril and receive
it to your soul's delight. He hath made him sin. Let's begin reading in verse
17, second Corinthians chapter five. Therefore, if any man be
in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new, and all things are of God. This is
God's work. Who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation,
to wit that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself,
not imputing their trespasses unto them. and hath committed
to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you
in Christ's name. We are ambassadors for Christ,
as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's
stead. We stand before you and beseech
you as Christ himself. We pray you in Christ's stead.
Be ye reconciled to God. Be reconciled to God. Quit fighting
God. Quit resisting the Holy Ghost. Quit despising God's Word. Quit
rejecting God's Gospel. Be ye reconciled to God. For He hath made Him sin for
us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. But the entire message of these
verses we just read The entire message of Holy Scripture is
built upon and hangs upon these five words. He hath made him sin. Understand this. We cannot be
made new creatures until he hath made him sin. God cannot reconcile
himself to us until he hath made him sin. We cannot be reconciled
to God until he hath made him sin. We cannot be made the righteousness
of God in Christ until he hath made him sin. And then Paul said,
receive not the grace of God in vain. Don't hear this gospel
in vain, but we cannot receive grace until he hath made him
sin. For he hath made him sin for
us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. Now let me show you four things.
First, I want to show you what the apostle does not say in this
text. And then I want to show you what
he says. And then I want to show you the
result of this. Certain things must result from
it. And then finally, I'll show you
that which is our benefit from it. All right. First, what is
it that Paul doesn't say in this text? It is not stated here,
as most people, most preachers, most commentaries, most theologians,
like to interpret it. It does not say what most people
say it says. Most everyone says this means
he has made him a sin offering. The Holy Spirit used words deliberately
and the words he deliberately uses are used to convey to us
specific things. The reason he did not say here,
he hath made him a sin offering, is because every place in the
Old Testament, every place without exception, every place in the
Old Testament where the words sin offering are used, the meaning
is sin. Every single place, no exception. Every time the word sin offering
appears in the Old Testament, The Spirit of God is saying to
us, sin. The sin offering was burnt. consumed in fire, because God
was showing thereby that sin is consumed under the wrath of
God when Christ was made sin for us. And he consumed the wrath
of God as our substitute. Yes, the Lord Jesus is our sin
offering. Our all-glorious Christ is that
offering for sin which put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself,
and there is no offering for sin but Him. But that's not what
the text says here. It says here, He hath made him
sin. The Apostle does not tell us
here that Christ was a sacrifice for sin. That's certainly the
case. He is the one sacrifice by which
sin is put away. And by His one sacrifice, He
put away sins forever and sat down on the right hand of the
majesty on high. But here the Spirit of God says, He hath made
him sin. Again, the Holy Spirit does not
tell us here that Christ was reckoned to be a sinner by His
Father. That is certainly the case. He was reckoned a sinner. He
was dealt with as a sinner. He was looked upon as though
he were a sinner because he made him sin. In this same line of
thought, I have to say this because there's so much confusion here.
Paul does not say, the Spirit of God does not say that sin
was imputed to Christ. Imputation is a legal term. There
are other words like it in scriptures, reckon, account, impute. But none of those words, none
of those words, no legal term, speaking of imputation, reckoning,
accounting, is used in the Word of God anywhere to refer to Christ
being made sin. Now, David, there's a reason
for that. There's a reason for that. It is true that sin was
imputed to him. It is true sin was reckoned to
him. It is true sin was accounted
his. But those words are never used
anywhere in the scripture with reference to Christ being made
sin. In the fourth chapter of Romans, they're used numerous
times. But in those places, it's talking
about sin being imputed to us and righteousness being imputed
to us. Us being accounted righteous
in Christ. Adam's sin being reckoned to
us and accounted ours in our father Adam. But nowhere are
those terms used with reference to Christ being made sin. Well,
Brother Don, why not? If Christ is reckoned to be sin,
if he is accounted as sin, if he is dealt with as though he
were sin, why are the words not used? Because he was not made
sin by imputation. He was not made sin by imputation. That would be totally unjust,
Skip. If I impute to you, if I reckon
you, if I treat you as though you were a murderer and a thief,
I have done you an injustice. That's wrong. That's wrong. That fellow who, he and his brother
set off that bomb two weeks ago in Boston, he's reckoned to be
a murderer. You know why? Does anybody know
why? He murdered some folks. And it
is just to reckon him a murderer because he murdered somebody. To reckon him such otherwise
is illegal, unrighteous, and not just. Understand that? Christ has sin imputed to him. The Lord Jesus had our guilt
imputed to him. He was dealt with as though he
were a sinner because he was made sin. Who can grasp that? Who can grasp
that? Now secondly, let me show you
what the text does say. He hath made him sin. I'm fully aware that natural
reason opposes this. And many have endeavored to make
the word of God say something else. I've taken a little flack
over this for the past 40 years, 45 years. First time I preached
in this text of scripture, preaching a Bible conference in Winston-Salem,
North Carolina, my hometown, and dealt with it just as I'm
dealing with it now, I hope with a little more knowledge and experience
now. but dealt with it precisely the
same way doctrinally when I was 21 years old. And a fellow came
up to me and said, you will be answered for that. And I said,
well, do the best you can. Just have at it. What do you
do with something? I ignore them. I ignore them.
But I want you to understand the message of the book. Many
endeavor to make the word of God say that Christ had sin imputed
to him, that he bore the guilt of sin, that he was charged with
the debt of our sins, that he became accountable for our sins,
that he bore the effects of our sins, that he was treated as
though he were a sinner. But the straightforward, plain,
blessed statement of Scripture is almost universally denied
by men. He hath made him sin. But there it stands. How can
this be? What does it mean? In human law,
by human reason, among men, I fully acknowledge that guilt cannot
be transferred. You can't transfer guilt. That's
not possible. You can only transfer the consequences
of guilt. You cannot transfer guilt. Among
the sons of men, a third person may cancel my debts, but not
my crimes. He may pay my debt, but he can't
be punished. He can't be punished. He may
endure the pain. He may endure the consequences.
But his sacrifice is not a penal sacrifice. His sacrifice is not
a just punishment. Only the person who is guilty
can be justly punished. And the Lord Jesus was made sin. The psalmist said, thou knowest
my foolishness. We read it in Psalm 69. The word
is, thou knowest my guiltiness, and my sins are not hid from
thee. Don Lanieri, Jesus Christ, God's
Son, was made guilt for you, made sin for you. So that horrible and painful, repugnant,
obnoxious, vile, hateful as your sin is to you, that's nothing
compared to what he experienced when he was made sin for us. Consequently, what we're talking
about this morning can have no parallel in human actions among
mortal men. who hath declared this from ancient
time, who hath told it from that time, have not I the Lord? And there is no God else beside
me, a just God and the Savior. Were our sins transferred to
Christ and made his? Or was our Savior only treated
as if he were a sinner? What do the scriptures say? I'm
not even slightly concerned about what men say concerning this
or what they may say concerning you or me for believing this. I only want to know what does
God say in his word. What does the word of God teach? He hath made him sin. The word translated made here
is very significant. I repeat, it is not a legal term.
It is not a legal term. It is a word that carries the
idea of create. By one act together, he has caused
him to be seen, Paul's telling us. God the Father, by one great,
mysterious, act that cannot be comprehended or explained, gathered
together all the sins of all his elect throughout all the
ages of time, and caused his people's sins to be made his
son's sins, so that his son is made sin for us. Turn back to
Isaiah chapter 53. Isaiah 53. I want us to look
at some scripture this morning. Verse six, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way and the Lord hath laid on him, made to meet on him the
iniquity of us all. The Lord Jehovah, the triune
God, has made to meet on Christ, our God-man Redeemer, all the
sins of all his elect at all times. He made them to meet at
once upon his son. Look at verse 12. Therefore will
I divide him a portion with the great. He shall divide the spoil
with the strong. Because he hath poured out his
soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he
bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. This is what Peter says concerning
that. Christ, his own self, bare our sins in his own body on the
tree, that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness,
by whose stripes we are healed. Now, the Apostle Paul, writing
in 1 Corinthians 15, says, I delivered unto you, first of all, the gospel,
H-O-W, H-O-W, how that Christ died for our sins according to
the Scriptures, according to the prophecies, the promises,
and the types, the pictures given in Holy Scripture. Let's look
at some Mosaic types and see how Christ died. how he died
according to the scriptures. This transfer of sin from the
sinner to the sinner's surety was clearly set forth in the
types given under the Mosaic law. It's typified, prefigured
by the sinner laying his hands upon the head of the sacrifice
that was brought. Turn to Leviticus chapter 16.
Leviticus 16. You'll remember when Aaron and
his sons were consecrated to be priests unto God, they were
commanded to put their hands on the head of the bullock. The
bullock, which represented typically the transfer of sins from them
to the bullock when they laid their hands on it. That bullock
was counted worthy of death because their sins had been ceremonially,
symbolically transferred to the bullock. Now, their laying their
hands on the head of that bullock did not really make the bullock
Become saying that didn't really happen obviously it is a ceremonial
Typical picture, but when the book had the sins of those men
Transferred to him then they were commanded to slay the book
Because now the innocent victim is counted worthy of death and
must be slain and so thou shalt kill the bullet before the Lord
and by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. The clearest
picture of this perhaps is given in the Passover sacrifice and
the scapegoat that was offered. You remember on the Day of Atonement
they brought two lambs, two goats to the Lord. One for the Lord
and one to be the scapegoat. The one, Abram would transfer
the sins of Israel upon him. Symbolically, lay his hands upon
the head of the goat. And as he's there, confessing
over the head of that goat all the sins of the people. Pressing hard on that goat's
head. When he finished confessing the
sins of the people, he'd take a knife and slit the goat's throat. Because the goat was counted
worthy of death. And he'd go in and make atonement,
sprinkling the blood upon the mercy seat. And then he would
come back out and he would take another goat, a scapegoat, and
lay his hands on that goat. Look at it, verse 20. And when
he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place in the tabernacle
of the congregation in the altar, he shall bring the live goat.
Leviticus 16, 21 now. And Aaron shall lay both his
hands upon the head of the live goat. and confess over him all
the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions,
and all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat." Wow. He didn't just lay his hands
there, but symbolically, Mark, he's putting them on that goat.
He's transferring them symbolically from the people to the goat.
Now watch this. and shall send him, the goat,
away by the hand of the fit man into the wilderness, and the
goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land
not inhabited. Isn't that a good word? And he shall let go of the goat
in the wilderness. So too Christ Jesus has taken
our sins unto a land not inhabited. into the wilderness of God's
forgetfulness. Put away our sins so that they're
remembered against us no more again forever. Now notice what
the Lord sets before us in this picture. Here is a transfer of
sin from the people to the goat, from us to Christ. It is a transfer
of the sins of a particular people, not all people, but a particular
people. And our Lord Jesus did not die
bearing the sins of all men, but of a particular people. Men
chosen of God, women chosen of God through all the nations of
the earth, in every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue, but a distinct
and particular people. And this goat bears all the sins
of all that particular people. That particular people whose
sins were transferred to the goat are Israel, God's Israel
represented. Aaron bore the names of all men
on his breastplate, didn't he? No, he didn't. He bore the names
of the 12 tribes and the children of Israel because they're the
only ones for whom he was a high priest. They're the only ones
for whom he did business in the holy place. They're the only
ones for whom he made intercession. They're the only ones for whom
he offered sacrifice. And he offers the sacrifice distinctly
for Israel and Israel alone. And our Lord Jesus, when he came
into the world, took not on him the nature of angels, but he
took hold on the seed of Abraham. He laid hold on the seed of Abraham,
God's Israel, God's elect, a particular people, people scattered through
all the earth, Jew and Gentile, all who are in Christ are God's
Israel. And here we see the sins transferred
from the people to the goat are taken away. Taken away. I can't begin to put into words
what I want to declare here, what I know the book of God declares
here. As far as the East is from the West, so far hath He removed
our transgressions from us. He was manifested to take away
our sins. Can you finish it? And in Him It is no sin. Oh, glorious grace. Christ, who
was made sin, has put sin away. The sin offering, I've already
told you, refers to sin. When the priest ate the sin offering
in Hosea and were thereby punished by God, The Lord God says they
set their heart on their iniquity. Rather than burning the sin offering,
they ate the sin offering. God says they ate their sin because
they loved iniquity. And the sin offering, the sin
offering is brought to God and must be burnt without the camp.
Our Lord Jesus suffered without the camp. who was made sin for
us. And as the wrath of God fell
on him, he who was made sin for us consumed the fire of God's
wrath. Moses spoke again in Leviticus
chapter four. He shall carry forth the bullock
without the cap and burn him as he burned the first bullock.
It is the sin of the congregation. It is the sin of the congregation. Isaiah 53. Turn there again if
you will. Isaiah 53. When you read through
this chapter, you'll read one line and it sounds
like it was already done. In another line it speaks of
that which he shall make his soul an offering for sin. Why
is that? Because it was already done and it was going to be done.
It was done from eternity and it must be done in time. Now
look here in verse 6. The Lord hath laid on him past
tense. the iniquity of us all. Before
the world was, the Lord God laid on him the iniquity of his sheep.
Look at verse 8. He was taken from prison and
from judgment. And who should declare his generation?
For he was cut off out of the land of the living. For the transgression
of my people he shall be stricken. Mark, that's not what it says.
For the transgression of my people was he stricken. Look at verse
10. Yet it pleased the Lord. to bruise
him, though he was innocent. He did no sin, could not sin,
had no sin, yet it pleased the Lord. It pleased the Lord. The word is satisfied. Satisfied. Now, people will tell you when
you speak to them about God's free grace, his sovereign grace,
they'll say, well, God has no pleasure in the death of the
wicked. Who ever dreamed that God stands around and laughs
at folks because they suffer his wrath in hell? Who ever dreamed
such nonsense? But that's utterly ridiculous.
It's utterly ridiculous. The word pleased is satisfied. Satisfied. The Lord God didn't
laugh because his son had made sin, Alan, but he was pleased
with it. He was pleased, satisfied with
it. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see of the
travail of his soul and the pleasure of the Lord. He shall prolong
his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
head. Again, Isaiah uses the very word
that is used throughout the scriptures, sin, guiltiness. When he speaks
of sin offering, he shall see the travail of his soul and shall
be satisfied by his knowledge. shall my righteous servant justify
many, for he shall bear their iniquities. To this day, every
time I read that, I want to read it, by knowledge of him shall
my righteous servant justify many. But that's not what it
says. It says by his knowledge. Oscar Bailey, God justified you
by his knowledge of what he did at Calvary. By His knowledge of the worth
of the sacrifice, by His knowledge of the efficacy of the blood,
by His knowledge of the transfer of guilt, He justifies us. Verse 12, Therefore will I divide
him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil
with the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death.
He was numbered with the transgressors and he bear he received he accepted
he took he carried the sin of many and made intercession for
the transgressors now turn quickly to the book of Psalms Psalm 40
We read the 69th Psalm As you look at Psalm 40 in Psalm 22
briefly David understood that he was
writing by inspiration And he was writing prophetically concerning
the Lord Jesus. We know that because the Holy
Spirit tells us this 40th Psalm is Christ speaking. You can read
it in Hebrews chapter 10. He said, Lo, I come in the volume
of a book. I delight to do thy will, O my
God. Now look what it says in verse 11. Psalm 40 verse 11. Withhold not thou thy tender
mercies from me, O Lord. Let thy loving kindness and thy
truth continually preserve me. for innumerable evils have come
past me about. Mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me, so that I am not able to look up. They are more than
the hairs of mine head. Therefore, my heart faileth me."
Mine iniquities. Mine iniquities are more than
the hairs of my head. I'm not able to look up. Therefore,
my heart faileth me. This is what the Savior said,
as he knelt in Gethsemane, now is my soul troubled. What shall
I say? Father, save me from this hour,
but for this cause came I into this hour. Father, glorify thy
name. I said to you earlier, that justice
cannot impute guilt where there is none. Justice can't do it. And God Almighty acts justly
in everything. Listen to this word from God.
He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just,
even they both are an abomination to God. Proverbs 17, 15. That means if God Almighty takes
Joe Blakely to glory, You've got to be perfectly righteous.
No sin, perfect obedience, perfectly righteous. God will not justify
the wicked. He says, I will by no means clear
the guilty. Moses said, show me your glory.
God said, here it is. I will by no means clear the
guilty. I will not do it. I will not do it. I will not
do it. But he turns right around in
the next breath and says, who forgiveth iniquity, transgression
and sin. What a contradiction. Oh, no. Oh no! Oh no! He forgives iniquity, transgression,
and sin justly, so that the law itself is in full agreement with
free grace. How can that be? God, when He
made His Son sin, made His Son worthy of hell. And the Son of God cried, Psalm
22, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And he answers his own question.
He says, you're of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. And the Lord God drew forth his
sword and said, Awake, O sword, against the man that is my fellow.
Smite and slay the shepherd. David understood this when he
wrote the Psalms, and this is what's attested to throughout
all the New Testament, so that our Savior makes this observation. Since he voluntarily became responsible
for our souls and was made sin for us, he said, ought not Christ
to have suffered these things? Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things? When God made His Son sin, and He draws forth His sword, in the hand of the unbending
God who cannot change, slew his son because justice demanded
that his son be slain when he had made him sin. This is not
a pretense. This is not fake. This is a real
transfer of sin, a real transfer of guilt. Now third, here's the
importance of this. When Paul says he hath made him
sin for us, either the Lord Jesus was made sin for us, and our
sins were transferred to him, or he did not put away our sins,
and they're still upon us. Either he would have made sin
for us, and our sins were made his sins, or he did not bear
the punishment of our sin to the satisfaction of justice in
his body on the tree. And justice still finds sin on
you and me. Here's the glory of his righteousness.
Not only that he removed the curse from us, but he removed
the cause of the curse. Oh God, help you now to hear
me. Hear me now, hear me. If ever there was a man who drew
breath on God's earth, who deserves eternal damnation in hell, it's
this man talking to you. But I'm not done yet. If ever
there was a man who drew breath on this earth, who deserves eternal
life. It's this man talking to you. Because Christ put away my sin! And here's the result. He has
made me the righteousness of God in Him. How thorough is this? How complete is this? Turn to
Jeremiah 50 and I'll wrap this up. This is the consequence. We are
made the righteousness of God in his son, having no sin. Eric Wall, have I got your attention
today? Listen to me now. If God put away our sin, if he
did, if he did, and God can't find our sin, if that's the case,
If God can't find it, do you reckon that means it's gone? Jeremiah 50 verse 20. In those
days and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel
shall be sought for and there shall be none. And the sins of Judah, that's
the whole multitude of God's elect, all 144,000, all 12 tribes,
the whole Israel of God. The sins of Judah, they shall
not be found. For I will pardon them whom I
reserve. I will pardon them whom I reserve. We pardon things. We write out
a pardon, and when we make a pardon by law, that means we're going
to pretend it didn't happen. Is that what it means? We're
just going to pretend it didn't happen. President issues pardons. Every outgoing president signs
pardons for folks. We just pretend it didn't happen.
I remember when Richard Nixon resigned as president, Jerry
Ford took office, and he became president. Before ever a trial
came up, he pardoned him. We're going to pretend nothing
ever happened. Nothing ever happened. Whatever you think of the circumstances,
that's what the pardon does. It doesn't change anything that
happened. But when God pardons sin, old things are passed away. And God says the day's coming
when, before wandering worlds, I'm going to call Merle Hart,
Larry Brown, and Don Fortner to stand before my bar, and I'm
going to look through every page of history, through every record
of heaven. I'm going to search every line. What I'm looking for is some
sin, some iniquity, some transgression. And God says, come on home, there's
none. Believe on the Son of God now. and go home free from sin. Amen.