Would you turn back to John 3?
Tonight, I'm going to be preaching on this subject. What does the
Bible mean by imputation? That word is found 113 times
in the Old Testament, 41 times in the New Testament. What's
it mean? What does the Bible mean by imputation? John chapter 3. This is the Lord's
reply to the question Nicodemus posed when he said, how can these
things be? He said in verse 11, verily,
verily, truly, truly, amen, amen, I say unto thee. We speak that we do know and
testify that we have seen. Nicodemus asks, how can these
things be? And his answer is not an explanation
as to how they can be. But that it is, you know, the Bible doesn't so
much explain things. It proclaims things that we're
called upon to believe and to receive. The Lord was not stating an opinion.
The Lord doesn't have opinions. Everything he says is absolute
truth. I got a question. What does the Lord mean when
he says we speak that we do know who's the way who is included in this? We of
which he speaks. Well, if we said, well, he's
talking about the three persons of the Trinity, the father, the
son, and the Holy spirit, let us make man in our own image.
I sure wouldn't say that's not what he's saying, but when he
says we speak that which we do know, we testify that which we
have seen. He's speaking of himself and
every other believer, the whole company of the elect. Remember when he said, thus it
becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. When the Lord speaks, we speak
that we do know. We testify that which we have
seen. This is him and every other believer. We speak that we do know. This is not simply my opinion. Don't you hate it when somebody
states their opinions as if they were facts? I do it all the time. At least that's what Aubrey tells
me. But the Lord never speaks an
opinion. And when he says we speak that
we do know, this is every other believer speaking too. We speak
that we do know and testify that which we have seen. We're bearing personal witness
to what we ourselves have seen. Every believer can say. We know, we know this is what God's word
teaches. This is in us. We know it. This is our experience. This
is our testimony. We speak that which we know and
testify that which we have seen. Every believer knows and no unbeliever knows. I want you to meditate on that. Every believer knows, no unbeliever knows. Turn with me to first John chapter
two. 1 John 2. Verse 19. John says in 1 John 2, verse
19, they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, They
would no doubt have continued with us, but they went out that
they might be made manifest, that they were not all of us,
but you have an unction from the Holy One and you know all
things. Here's a good know-it-all. He says to every believer, you
have an unction, you have an anointing from the Holy One,
and you know all things. Look what he says in verse 21,
I've not written unto you because you know not the truth, but because
you know it. and that no lie is of the truth.
When a believer hears the truth, he knows it. He knows it's true
as soon as he hears it. He may never have heard it articulated,
but it's in him and he knows. He knows. You know all things. Verse 27 of the same chapter,
but the anointing which you have received of him, where you know
all things, it abides in you. And you need not that any man
teach you, but as the same anointing teaches you of all things and
is truth and is no lie. And even as it has taught, as
it has taught you, you shall abide in him. Now you have anointing every
believer to where you know. So when the Lord says, we speak
that which we do know and testify that which we have seen. We do. The word know is in the
perfect tense and it means to perceive with the eyes or any
other of the senses. It means to experience. It means to understand. It means to know the definite
meaning. It means to cherish. It means
to regard, you know, you cherish what you know, you regard what
you know, you experience what you know, you know all things. The Lord says, we speak that
which we do know. This is not opinions. This is fact. We speak that which
we do know and testify that which we have seen. Now there are a
lot of scriptures where we read the word, I know, and you don't,
but we're not going to look at those as important as they are. We're going to look at the scriptures
that say, we know, and this will speak to the very depths of the
heart of every believer. They'll say, yeah, I know. I
know. It's more than an agreement.
Well, I guess I agree with that. I can see that. No, we know.
We know. Now, sometimes the word is translated
knowing, but it's the same way it is in the original. When it
says knowing, it's in the plural. We know. Sometimes it says we
are sure, which is the same thing. When you know, you're sure we
know that's what I want us to look at. And I've entitled this
message. We know. And if I am a believer, when
I hear these things, I say, we know, we know. Turn with me to Romans chapter
two. Verse two, but we are sure that's the actually
the same in the original. We know, but it means the same
thing. We're sure. Are you sure? Yep. We are sure that the judgment
of God is according to truth against them. which commit such
things. Verse one. Therefore thou art inexcusable,
O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. To judge does not mean that we
should not listen to what we're seeing and see if it's according
to the word of God. You better judge in that sense. You better
find out if what you're hearing is according to the truth of
scripture, judge it in that sense. It doesn't mean we don't have
a moral opinion of right and wrong. It doesn't mean that,
but it's looking at someone, whatever they did and judging
them as if you wouldn't have done it. What it says. Therefore thou
art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest, for wherein
thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself, for thou that judgest
doest the same things. What you're judging those people
for, you do, present tense. And we're sure that the judgment
of God is according to truth against them that do such things. We know any judgment we make
against any man, we know, we know that any judgment we make
against any man is pure hypocrisy on our part. Because we commit
the same sins we're judging others for, and we believe God's judgment
is just. You know what that means? We
have no claims on God. None at all. I can't say, Lord,
you gotta do this because I did that. We have no claims on God. If God passes me by, just and holy is his name. And we know that. We know that. Do you know that? Romans three, verse 19. Now we know, there it is. There it is. Collectively, every believer
knows this. We know that what things, so
ever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law
that every mouth may be stopped and all the world
may become guilty before God. What happens when your mouth
is stopped? You don't have any excuses. You're taking personal responsibility
for your sin. My sin, my sin, not talking about
somebody else's, my sin is all my fault. I can't blame it on
God. I can't blame it on my circumstances.
I can't blame it on my environment. I can't blame it on my upbringing.
All my sin is my fault. And my mouth is stopped in justifying
myself before God. All my sin is my fault. No excuses. We stand guilty before God. We know. Do you know that as
your mouth? been stopped before God. We know, we know. Turn to Romans six, verse nine, knowing, and there,
once again, that's in the plural, it can just as easily and truthfully
be translated. We know. We know, we know that
Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more, death hath
no more dominion over him. We know that the resurrection
of Christ The fact that God raised him from the dead, he's not going
to die anymore because he rendered complete satisfaction to God. We know that. We know nothing
else is needed. Let's go on reading. We know
that Christ being raised from the dead dies no more. What he
did was successful. And you know, we know that because
we know who he is. This is really the, this is the bottom line.
We know who he is. He can't fail. He can't attempt
to do something and his will not be done. It's impossible
because who he is, we know him. Everything we believe is predicated
on who he is. For in that he died, verse 10.
He died unto sin once, but in that he liveth. God raised
him from the dead. He lives unto God. Likewise, verse 11,
reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed, truly in reality
unto sin, but alive unto God through our Lord Jesus Christ. His death was a success. I'm dead to sin. Sin has nothing to say to me.
Why? Because Christ died. Because he's raised from the
dead. He died once. He got the job done. Whatever
it was he was intending to do, he did. Reckon yourselves to
be dead and to sin for this reason. You really are dead to sin. We know because of who he is
that his work is sufficient. We don't need anything else.
You know that. I don't need to add my works
to his work. I'm complete in the Lord Jesus Christ. We know
that. Romans chapter 7 verse 14. For we know that the law is spiritual, God's perfect law. The Ten Commandments,
they're spiritual, they're holy, they're perfect, they're glorious.
They reflect the character of God. Every commandment reflects
his perfection. It's utterly spiritual, it's
utterly glorious. We know that the law is spiritual,
but I Now notice how it goes from we to I. We know that the
law is spiritual, but I, we know this too. I am carnal. Fleshly. And here's what that
means. sold under sin. We know that the law is spiritual,
glorious. I, he didn't say I used to be
carnal. He didn't say I was carnal before
God saved me. As a matter of fact, he didn't find out he was
carnal until God did save him. You see, an unbeliever cannot
understand this. You know why they can't understand this? They
don't have a holy nature. They don't know what sin is. They
can't make, they don't have this recognition of themselves. The law is spiritual. I am carnal. Sold as a slave to sin. That's what that word means.
Sold. Look what he says in verse 18,
I know, Romans chapter seven, for I know that in me that is
in my flesh dwelleth what? No good thing. Do you know that? We know that the law is spiritual,
but I am carnal. Sold under sin. Look in Romans chapter eight,
verse 28. I love this verse of scripture.
And we know. Look at the confidence with which
he speaks this. And we know. You see, if you know the character
of God, you know this is what it's gotta be. This is knowing
God. Knowing God and this is the same
thing. If you know God, you know this. Somebody says, I don't
know this. Well, then you don't know God.
If you know God, you know this. And we know. This lines up with
the character of God. This lines up with the gospel.
I mean, if God is who he says he is in his word, this has got
to be so. I mean, there's no other options here. There's no
other reality. And we know. That all things
work together for good to them who love God, to them who are
thee called according to his purpose. We know God is a God
of purpose and his purpose can't be thwarted. It can't be thwarted. His will's always done. Everything
that happens in Providence, He's in absolute control of. He's
completely sovereign over the free and uncoerced actions of
men. Everything that's going on in
your mind right now, He's in control of. He's God. We know that. It couldn't be
any other way. My soul. Whom He did foreknow, then He
also did predestinate. This goes right on with it. Look
in verse 29. For, here's how we know this. 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. Whom he
called, them he also justified. Whom he justified, them he also
glorified. That's how complete his salvation
is. I'm already glorified. That's
what it says. We know. We know that all things work together
for good. Now turn to first Corinthians chapter two, verse 12. Now we have received not the
spirit of the world. The world that doesn't know God,
that doesn't love God. We've received not the spirit
of the world, but the spirit, which is of God that we might
know the things that are, what's that next word? Freely. Freely given us of God. And this is something we know,
anything we have from God, he gave it to us freely. It's got
to be that way. It's not according to my works.
He did so freely by his grace. By grace, you say, being justified
freely by his grace. He that spared not his own son,
but offered him up for us, delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not also freely give us? All things, aren't you thankful
that's the way it is? Free, free grace. Oh, if you knew the gift
of God, how free it is. And who it is that says to you,
get me to drink, you would have asked and he would have given. Free. Turn to 1 Corinthians 8. Now, like I said, these are things
we just know as soon as we hear them, we know them. We know. He's taught us, we know all things.
And so when we hear the truth, even if we haven't heard it articulated
like this, we still know it so. Verse one, now it's touching
things offered unto idols. We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but charity edifies. And if any man think he knows
anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. Now we know
we all have knowledge, we know some stuff. And we know this, knowledge puffs
up, fills with pride. I know something
you don't know. I've got an advantage over you.
Knowledge puffs up. You know the scripture in John
chapter 8 verse 32, you shall know the truth. I'm not speaking
against knowledge. There's no salvation apart from
knowledge. Amen. There's no salvation apart from
knowledge, but I love the way the Lord said, you shall know
the truth and the truth shall make you free. Not your knowledge
of the truth. I don't trust my knowledge. I
trust him who is the truth. It's the truth himself who shall
make you free. And you know that. The only way
you can be free is if the truth himself makes you free and you
realize you're not saved by your knowledge. All your knowledge
does is tend to puff you up like a dead animal. You know, it swells.
That's our knowledge. Knowledge puffs up. Charity builds
up. You know that. Look in verse four of the same
chapter. As concerning, therefore, the
eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice and idols,
we know, there it is. We know that an idol is nothing in the world, but that there
is none other God, but one. We know that an idol is nothing. We know any God that's not the
God of this book is nothing more than an idol, non-existent, the
figment of man's depraved imagination. We know the only God is the God
of this book. We know that. And we know anything
contrary to the God this book reveals is nothing more than
a non-existent idol. The God of free will, the God
of works religion, He doesn't exist. There's one God, the living God,
the living and true God. And anything else that's not
him, we know is an idol, non-existent. Turn to second Corinthians five. Verse one, for we know. That if our earthly house of
this tabernacle were dissolved, when we die, this body is destroyed. We have a building of God, a
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. We know this.
You know what that means? We know this is not all there is,
don't we? We know that. This is not all
there is, this life of vanity. This is not all there is. We
know that we have a building of God. I love that song, waiting
for my body that'll never sin. I'm waiting for that. And I know,
you know, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we're
all being most miserable, and that's so. But oh, we're waiting
for that body that will never sin. Look what he goes on to
say about it. For in this body we groan, verse
two, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house,
which is from heaven. If so being clothed, we shall
not be found naked for we that are in this tabernacle do groan
being burdened. Not for that we should be unclothed,
but clothed upon that mortality might be swallowed up of life. And we're groaning for that,
aren't we? groaning to be perfectly conformed to the image of Jesus
Christ. We know this is just temporary. Strangers and pilgrims in this
world and we're waiting for something much more glorious. We know. Galatians chapter two. I know I'm giving a lot that
maybe you can think about a more Galatians chapter two, verse 16, knowing. And once again,
that is the same grammatical construction as in the, as we
know it's, this is in the plural. We know same thing. We know that
this is something we have no doubt about. We're sure of this. We know that a man is not justified
by the works of the law. We know that. It's not improbable
for him to be justified by the works of the law. It's impossible.
We know that because God's word teaches it. Because no man can
be saved by his works. We're evil. We're sinful. We
know that. We can't save ourselves. We know that. We know that a
man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith
of Jesus Christ. Now, if you don't have a King
James Version, it probably says, by faith in Christ. That's a
wrong translation. We're justified by the faith
of Christ. His faithfulness, His obedience,
Somebody had to believe God perfectly, and it wasn't me or you. He did.
Oh, he did. We know that, don't we? We know
we're justified by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. And not, he repeats it again,
not by the works of the law. We know if salvation were dependent
upon us doing something before we could be saved, we would not
be saved. We know that, don't we? We know that we're justified
by the faith of Jesus Christ, not by the works of the law,
for by the works of the law, there shall no flesh be justified. We know that, and we cherish
that. We regard that, and we know it
so. I just know it so. I'm not stating
an opinion. I'm not giving my thoughts. I
know this is so. The Lord said, we know. I turned
to first Timothy chapter one. I just got a few more first Timothy
chapter one. This is, um, this is so plain. It's almost humorous. First Timothy chapter one, verse
eight. First Timothy one verse eight,
but we know there it is again, that the law is good. If a man
use it lawfully, if a man use it the right way, before I read the rest of this
back there, we've got that box. That's where people put the money.
Guess we got, guess what we got on it. A lock. Don't you trust
everybody in here? I hope I do, but I know this. I'd rather have a lock on it. What's the point? Well, would
we need a lock if everybody in here was perfectly righteous?
Would we need a law? No. You see, that lock is for
thieves, not for righteous people. Keep the lock on the box. I like what Joe McSherry once
said, we want to keep people honest. That's why we put those
locks there. That'll keep them honest. Good
advice, Joe. Now let's go on reading with
that in mind, verse nine. Knowing, there's that word again,
knowing this. that the law was not made for
a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for
the ungodly, for sinners, for unholy, for profane, for murderers
of fathers, murderers of mothers, manslayers, whoremongers, for
them that defile themselves with mankind, for men-stealers, for
liars, for perjured person, if there be any other thing that's
contrary to sound doctrine. If I need law, all I expose myself as is a criminal. Law never produces love. Only resentment that I'm not
measuring up. Oh, but his perfect love to me,
that produces love. The lawful use of the law. Hebrews 10. Now, I'm looking at every one
of these verses. I hope I haven't overwhelmed everybody with too
much information, but Hebrews 10, verse 30, for we know him
that said, vengeance belongeth unto me. I will recompense, saith
the Lord. And again, the Lord should judge
his people. He said in verse 28, he that
despised Moses law died without mercy. under two or three witnesses
of how much sore punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought
worthy who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted
the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy,
a common thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace. We know him that said, vengeance
belongeth to me. We know him. Finally turn to 1st John 3, I've
got several verses in 1st John chapter three, but I want us
to not going to make a lot of comment on them. Verse two. Beloved, now are we
the sons of God and it does not yet appear what we shall be,
but we know that when he shall appear, we know, we know. Such is the glory and excellency
of his person. We know that when he shall appear,
we shall be like him. For we shall see him as he is. One view of him as he is will
conform us to his image. That is the glory of his person. Once again, this is knowing who
he is. When he shall appear, when he shall come with trumpet
sound, oh, may I then in him be found. When he appears, we
know we'll be just like him. Look in verse 14 of the same
chapter. We know that we have passed from death to life because
we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother
abides in death. Now, we know if we're believers. We know that we can be totally
different from somebody in every other respect, opinions, thought,
but if that person loves Christ, we love them, don't we? We love
them. And we pass from death to life.
We love the brethren. Somebody, oh, may I, forget all
the other differences. I mean, there's people here that
are just different, different, different thoughts, different
opinions, different, But everybody that loves Christ loves each
other because they love him. And anybody that loves Christ,
they're number one in my book. I love that person that loves
the Lord Jesus Christ. I esteem them highly. I love
them. They're great. Great. Chapter five, we have three we
knows, and this is what we'll end with. Verse 18. We know that whosoever is born
of God, sinneth not. We know that. Whosoever is born
of God, sinneth not, but he that's begotten of God keepeth himself
and that wicked one touches him not. Is Jesus Christ incapable of
sin? Is Jesus Christ impeccable? You
know, I've heard people say, well, maybe he wasn't because
where would there be any moral virtue in his obedience if he
just was not able to sin? That's plumb-dumb. I mean, it really is. You ought
not even think there's no moral virtue in his obedience because
he's obeying his nature? Well, that's ridiculous, isn't
it? Christ is impeccable. He couldn't sin. He knew no sin. He was not capable of sin. God's
not capable of sin. And that which is born of him,
the new birth, as Christ is impeccable, the new birth is impeccable because
it comes from him. And we know that anything that
comes from him must be holy. Amen. We know that. Verse 19,
here's the second we know, and we know. That we are of God and
the whole world lieth in wickedness. Now we know if we know him, it's
because of him. We're of him. Of him are you
in Christ Jesus. We are of God. I know that if
I believe the gospel, there's only one reason. It's because
I'm of God. He did something for me. And
anything that's contrary to that lies in wickedness. We know that,
don't we? And then the final verse 20, and we know this is not merely an opinion.
We know that the son of God has come and has given us an understanding
that we may know him. That's true. And we are in him. That's true. Even in his son,
Jesus Christ, this is the true God. and eternal life. Now listen
to this. We know him that's true. This
is eternal life. They might know thee, the only
true God, Jesus Christ, whom thou sent. We know him that's
true. And if you know him that's true,
here's all you want. You're in him that's true. That's
the very desire of your heart. If you know him, here's your
desire that you might be in him. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in him. When God comes looking for me,
may I only be found in Jesus Christ so that all God sees is
Jesus Christ. This is the true God. This is
eternal life. We speak that we do know. and testify that which we have
seen. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for our
Redeemer. How we thank you for him whom
we know. And that we speak that which
we know because you've made it known and testify what we've
seen. Lord, we pray for your blessing
on us that you'd speak to us, that you'd keep us. We pray for
your blessing on our homes, on our, on this church, wherever
your people meet together, we pray for your blessing. Bless
this word for Christ's sake. In his name we pray. Amen.