Thank you, Joy. Good morning.
Let's open our Bibles together to Daniel chapter 9. Daniel chapter
9. We originally had invited Angus
Fisher from Australia to be here with us, and he wanted you to
know how much he regretted not being able to be here between
COVID and he was actually in the hospital for several days,
a couple of weeks ago. He's doing fine now, but I figured
it's about four o'clock in the morning tomorrow over there right
now. So he said he'd be watching,
so maybe he is. But we're so very thankful to
have Todd, Kevin here, and Kimberly. We're glad to have you all. I
want to open the service with this passage of Scripture from
Daniel chapter 9, verse 20. We'll begin reading there. Daniel's
name translated means God is my judge. And he's speaking prophetically
of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, whom God judged on Calvary's
cross when he found sin on him, he slew him. It pleased God to
bruise him and then God saw the travail of his soul and God was
satisfied. He was pleased with the sacrifice
that he made and he's pleased with all those who are found
in him. And so as Daniel is praying,
let us think about our Lord on the cross in verse 20. And while
I was speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin
of my people, Israel, and presenting my supplications before the Lord,
my God, for the holy mountain of my God, the Lord Jesus Christ
owned the sins of his people as his own, and he suffered all
the shame and humiliation and agony and judgment for that sin. Verse 21, Yea, while I was speaking
in prayer, and even the man Gabriel, whom I have seen in a vision
at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about
the time of the evening oblation. Now, the time of the evening
oblation is three o'clock, In the afternoon, which is exactly
the time that the Lord Jesus Christ bowed his head on Calvary's
cross and said, it is finished. Father into thy hands, I commend
my spirit. He prayed for his people on the
cross and said, father, forgive them for they know not what they
do. How true that is of each of us. We don't have any idea
what sin really is. Not like he did. And yet he intercedes
for us and asks the Lord's forgiveness. In verse 22, and he informed
me and talked with me and said, Oh Daniel, I am now come forth
to give thee skill and understanding at the beginning of thy supplications,
the commandment came forth and I have come to show thee for
thou art greatly beloved, therefore understand the matter and consider
the vision. 70 weeks are determined upon
thy people and upon thy holy city. And here's what's going
to be accomplished in 70 weeks from this time, prophetically
speaking in 70 weeks. He's going to finish the transgression.
He's going to make an end of sins and make reconciliation
for iniquity, bring in everlasting righteousness. He's going to
seal up the vision and the prophecy, and he's going to anoint the
most holy. That is our hope, and that is
our message, that the Lord Jesus Christ has put an end to sin.
And as the anointed one, he has satisfied the divine justice
of our holy God. And our prayer is that we'll
be found in him. not having our own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that righteousness, which is by the
faith and faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray
together. Our heavenly father, once again,
you have greatly blessed us and brought us to this place where
we can open thy word and where we can ask for your blessings,
and we can have the hope and confidence that where two or
three are gathered together in thy name, there you are in the
midst of them. Lord, you've promised to walk
among the candlesticks and to inhabit the praise of thy people.
And so, Lord, in faith, we believe your precious promises, and we
depend upon you to fulfill them for for our salvation. Lord,
we pray for the men that you've brought to bring your word and
ask Lord that you'd bless them and bless our ears and our hearts
and enable us to worship in spirit and to rejoice in Christ Jesus
and not to have any confidence in our flesh. For we ask it in
Christ's name. Amen. Let's stand together. Tom, you come please. 226 and
the hardback tenable number 226. I am not skilled to understand
what God hath willed, what God hath planned. I only know at
His right hand is one who is my Savior. I take him at his word indeed. Christ died for sinners, this
I read. For in my heart I find a need
of him to be my Savior. That he should leave his place
on high, And come for sinful men to die. You counted strange,
so once did I, Before I knew my Savior. And, O, that He fulfilled made
me, the travail of His soul in me, and with His work contented
me, as I with my dear Savior. ? Yea, living, dying, let me
bring ? My strength, my solace from this spring ? That he who
lives to be my king ? Once died to be my savior Please be seated. Let's just turn over a few pages
and we're gonna sing number 212 to 12 in the hardbacked hymn.
? What can wash away my sin ? ?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus ? ? What can make me whole again
? ? Nothing but the blood of Jesus ? Oh, precious is the flow
that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. For my part, and this I see,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. For my cleansing, this my plea,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. Nothing can for sin atone, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. Not of good that I have done,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. ? This is all my hope and peace
? ? Nothing but the blood of Jesus ? ? This is all my righteousness
? ? Nothing but the blood of Jesus ? ? Oh, fresh house is
the flow ? ? That makes me white as snow ? ? No other fount I
know ? ? Nothing but the blood of Jesus ? Caleb and Lacey, gotta
bring special music now. I'd rather have Jesus, the substitute
Lamb. I'd rather have Him, the great
I Am. i'd rather have jesus because
he chose me i'd rather he died as my show then to think i'm
the king of my destiny or to believe that my will sets me
free i'd rather have jesus the sovereign
king and rest in christ completely I'd rather have the Father who
ordained before time That Christ should die for his elected bride
I'd rather have Jesus who saved his own I'd rather have his spirit
who brought them safely home Than to think I'm the king of
my destiny Or to believe that my will sets me free have Jesus the sovereign King
and rest in Christ completely. have Jesus who bore the sin of
his own, salvation secure by his blood alone. I'd rather have Jesus who really
redeemed me I'd rather be his by him choosing me than to think
I'm the king of my destiny or to believe that my will sets
me free. Thank you. I remember hearing, I think it
was Henry Mahan that made the statement that great hymns were
written back when great preaching was being done. And I don't know
of any hymns that were written back then that aren't as clearly
written today. And I'm so very thankful. Todd Nyberg needs no introduction
here. The Lord brought Todd down to
Orlando over 25 years ago to bring the gospel to us for the
first time. And he's just such a such a special,
special part of this fellowship and dear to all our hearts, Todd.
It's been a little difficult having to deal with him without
Lynn at his side. But other than that, Lynn, we
miss you. You all know that she's had surgery
recently and couldn't take the risk of traveling right now.
But Todd, we tolerate you without her. You come, brother, and bring
the message the Lord's given you. Feeling very emotional being
here. I love you all. Thank the Lord for you. Love your pastor, my dear, dear
friend. Love being with him. It love being with you and Lynn's
doing well. Thanks to her expert nurse that
is getting her along. I was telling somebody. I was
telling somebody when I first went in to see her in ICU. She looked awful. She was on
a ventilator. And I thought, is she even going
to make it? And just looked bad. And she
got conscious a little bit, and she kind of signaled to me. And
she was trying to say something to me. I didn't know what she
was saying. And she got mad at me and hit the thing. I thought,
she'll be OK. Would you turn to Genesis chapter
21? Verse 33, Genesis chapter 21. And Abraham planted
a grove in Beersheba, the well of the sevenfold oath,
is what that word means. And you can read about it earlier
in this chapter. And the only place to plant a
grove where life can come is in the oath, the oath of God. and called there on the name
of the Lord. Back in Genesis chapter 12, some
40 to 45 years before this took place, we read where he called
upon the name of the Lord. Now, I reckon that That's about
as good a definition of faith as we can find in the Bible,
really. Calling on the name of the Lord. Would to God that you
and I will right now and in five minutes and at the end of this
service and tomorrow and every day call upon the name of the
Lord. And then he uses a name for God
that had not yet been used in the scripture. He called upon the name of the
Lord, the everlasting God. There was a time when there was
no time. and all there was, was God. The everlasting God. Now, that is a concept that me
and you can't possibly understand and every one of us believe.
And as far as that, every human being to ever live has believed
that God is everlasting. The scripture says the invisible
things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal,
eternal power and Godhead. Everybody is born into this world
knowing somebody made all this. and he had to be all-powerful
to do it, and nobody made him. He is eternal. Everyone, every human being is
born with that knowledge. I don't know what all this means,
but when the wise man said in Ecclesiastes 3, he had put the
world in their heart, the word is actually eternity. Every man
has eternity written in his heart. Does he understand it? No, but
he knows it intuitively. He called upon the name of the
everlasting God. Somebody says, well, that's deep. It may be, but it's so more than
deep. It's just so. He is. The everlasting God. He never began to be. He never
was. He never will be. He is. Now turn with me for a moment
to Exodus chapter three. This is when God made himself
known to Moses. Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro,
his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock
to the backside of the desert and came to the mountain of God,
even to Horeb. He'd been a shepherd for some
40 years. And the angel of the Lord appeared
unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. And he looked and behold, the
bush burned with fire and the bush was not consumed. And Moses
said, I'll go turn aside and see this great site, why the
bush is not burnt. Now, when the angel of the Lord
appeared to him in this bush, this is the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the one appearing in this bush. He speaks from the bush. And I've loved the simplicity
of the way the Lord presents himself in a bush that burned
and could not be consumed. That bush did not need the energy
of the wood to keep burning. That bush was independent. That bush is independent. That's
the independence of God. He has no needs. He didn't need
the wood for the fire to keep burning. He has no needs. You know what that means? It
means he doesn't need me or you. Men, you need him. He does not
need. He does not need me or you. He is independent. And that bush, that's the deity
of Christ. And that bush could not be consumed. That is the perfect humanity
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The wrath of God fell upon him
and he consumed that wrath. What a glorious type of Jesus
Christ. Now look what God says. Verse
13 of the same chapter. And Moses said unto God, behold,
when I come unto the children of Israel and shall say unto
them, the God of your fathers has sent me unto you. And they
shall say to me, what's his name? What shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I am
that I am. Not I was, nor I will be. I am that I am. This is his eternal name. Verse 14, and God said unto Moses,
I am that I am. And he said, thus shalt thou
say unto the children of Israel, I am, hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses,
thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, the Lord
God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you. This is my name. This is the eternal, everlasting,
I am that I am. And this is my memorial unto
all generations. Now this one who inhabits eternity,
dwells in the eternal present. Somebody says, what are you talking
about? I have no idea. I believe it. But do I understand
this? No. No, I don't. But I believe
it with all my heart. The eternity, the everlasting
nature of God. There's no yesterday. There's
no tomorrow. There's no beginning point. There's
no end. He is eternal God. From everlasting to everlasting. This word everlasting comes from
the Hebrew word, which means secret, concealed, and hidden. That's about how much we know
about this. The eternal God. Now all that can be said of God,
God, the father, the everlasting God has said of the Lord Jesus
Christ, his son, Jesus Christ, the same. Now this is the one
we're calling on Jesus Christ. The same yesterday, today, and
forever, as a matter of fact, The previous verse says, obey
them that have the rule over you. And now what that means
is be persuaded by them that preach the gospel. Believe what
they say. Whose faith follow, considering
the end of their conversation. And this is the end of every
believer's conversation. Preacher, believer, doesn't matter
what, Jesus Christ the same. Yesterday, today and forever. Now being eternal, the Lord Jesus
Christ is, I love what, I don't know the scripture that I enjoy
thinking of much more than this, where Philip said, Lord, show
us the father. And did sufficeth us? That's
one of those really dumb things they said. They said a lot of
dumb things. And I'll say a lot of dumb things,
and you'll say a lot of dumb things. And people get around
preachers and say, oh, I want to say something stupid. Well,
he already has, so you're not going to say anything dumber
than he already has. But this was a very stupid question. Show
us the Father, and we'll be satisfied. Have I been so long time with
you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen
me hath seen the father. What a glorious eternal person
Jesus Christ is. Being eternal, he's immutable. If he could change, he would
not be eternal. You know, I've heard people talk
about, well, you know, he could have sinned, Where would there
be any virtue in him not sinning if he was unable to sin? No, he couldn't sin. If he could,
he would be mutable, wouldn't he? If he could change, he would
change. He's the immutable, eternal Lord
Jesus Christ. He's not bound by time the way
we are. We have past. We got past we
can't get away from. We got a future we don't know
anything about. Not him. Not him. He's not bound by space
the way we are. We can't be two places at once.
He is. He's everywhere. He doesn't have
any limitations except for, and I don't know if you can call
this a limitation, the limitation of his attributes in the sense
that he can't lie. Is that a limitation? I don't
think so, but it's, he can't lie. He can't be unjust. He can't be anything, but who
he is. I am that I am. He has no limitations of power. He's omnipotent. He do it according
to his will. He does whatsoever the Lord pleased
that did. He has no limitations of needs. He's independent. He has no needs.
He has no limitations of indecisiveness. His will's always done. He never
has to think about it or scratch his head. He never responds to
anything. He is the great I am that I am. He doesn't do something because
it's right. He doesn't have any law over his head that tells
him how he's got to act. Whatever he does is right, and
it's right because he does it. I am that I am. We read in Isaiah 46, verses
9 through 11, remember the former things of old? And that's eternity. For I am God and there is none
else. I am God and there's none like
me. Or there isn't, is there? You
can't compare him to anyone or anything. He said, I declare
the end from the beginning and from ancient times, the things
that are not yet done. Say, my counsel shall stand and
I will do all my pleasure. You know, when he's called the
wonderful counselor, that's not talking about the way folks go to counselors
to get advice. He doesn't give advice. He counsels
and it's done. He's the wonderful counselor. His counsel is always done. I love the way the father says
to the son, thy throne. Oh, God is forever, the everlasting
God. He is called a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek, who had no beginning and no end,
who even right now abideth a high priest continually, the continual
nature of his glorious eternal priesthood. His name shall endure
forever. His salvation is called an everlasting
salvation, an eternal salvation. Christ is called the lamb having
been slain, not just slain, having been slain from the very foundation
of the world. And all of history can only be
understood. Everything, the present, the
past, the future. Listen, the world was created
for the lamb slain. The fall took place for the lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. All the works, the
writer of the Hebrews said in Hebrews chapter four, verse three,
all the works were finished from the foundation of the world. You know, let me tell you one
of the reasons why I love that so much. There's a lot of reasons why
you just bow before who he is, but that lets me know that my
salvation was finished. It didn't have anything to do
with anything I did. He saved us and he called us. What came first, the saving or
the calling? The saving. He saved us, then
he called us. Not according to our works. but
according to his own purpose and grace which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. Behold, I have loved you
with an everlasting love. Explain that. Come on, man. I can't explain that. I sure
believe it though. There was never a time when he
began to love me. That song, I'd rather, I'd rather
be that way, wouldn't you? I like what one lady said to
Charles Spurgeon. She said, I'm glad the Lord loved me before
I was born because if he waited till after I was born, he couldn't
love me. And I kind of understand somebody thinking that. But oh,
the everlasting nature. We're calling on the everlasting
God. Moses said in Psalm 90, before
the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou had formed the earth
and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. A thousand years are but as yesterday
when it's passed and as a watch in the night. The glorious God. The everlasting God. The preacher said in Ecclesiastes
3.14, I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. It's eternal. It didn't have
a beginning. It'll never have an end. Anything
God does, it's eternal. Nothing can be added to it. You
can't add anything to this. Nothing can be taken from it.
You can't mess it up. This is how glorious this complete
work of God is. It is eternal. And the only response
to that is worship. This is who he is. Abraham called upon the name
of the everlasting God. And if you and I are saved, here's
what we will do. We will call upon the name of
the everlasting God. What's that mean? Turn with me
to Romans chapter 10. We're going to spend the remainder
of our time here. Romans chapter 10. Now you can read through the
history of Abraham, and this is something he was doing all
the time, calling upon the name of the Lord. And really, that
is what distinguishes child of God and one who's not a child
of God there in Genesis chapter 4 verse 26 I think it is it says
then began men to call upon the name of the Lord that was the
distinction there were those who called upon his name and
those who did not call upon his name and if you and I are saved
it will be through calling upon his name now what does that mean? Well, look in verse 13 of Romans
chapter 10. And I want to say this the proper
way, but I think this is, this is
my go-to verse. It's my go-to verse. This is
something that I don't know how many times I thought, well, if
I've never done it before, I want to do it now. This is a go-to
verse. Whosoever. Are you a whosoever? I'm not
asking you if you're elect. I'm not asking you if you know
that Jesus Christ died for your sins. I'm not asking you if you
know that you've been born again. I'm asking you this. Are you
a whosoever? Would that describe you? Good word, isn't it? whosoever
shall call. I hope we're going to know what
that means. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord. There's the important word, the
name of the Lord, the everlasting God, the God we've just been
describing, the Christ we've just been describing. or that
the word is described. It's not our description. It's
the Bible's description. God's description of himself.
I am that I am. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall, do you hear that? Shall be saved. Now, when were you saved? Well, I know I was saved before
time began. And I know I was saved when Christ accomplished
my salvation. But as far as time goes, the
only thing I know about time is before time and right now.
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord right now shall
be saved. Now, what led him to make this
statement? Let's back up to verse one. Romans
chapter 10. Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer
to God for Israel is that they might be saved. Now, Paul says two things. about these people in this statement.
Number one, they were not saved. But number two, Paul wanted them
to be saved. Don't you want to have that attitude?
They were not saved. Paul knew that, but Paul greatly
desired their salvation. He says, my heart's desire. It's
my prayer to God for Israelis, that they might be saved. Are you interested in being saved?
I'm not asking if you got saved. I hate that kind of language.
I wish nobody'd ever say anything like that again. You don't get
saved, the Lord saves you. But are you interested in being
saved? Being saved by God, being saved
by Christ. Verse two, Paul speaks of these
people. He says, for I bear them record
that they have a zeal of God. They're very religious. They're
very zealous about their religion. They're very sincere. They have
a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. Your knowledge doesn't save you. You know that there is such a thing as saving
knowledge. Salvation is described as coming to the knowledge of
the truth by Paul and first Timothy two. Um, what about those who
are ever learning and they never able to come to the knowledge
of the truth? Faith is the faith of God's elect,
the acknowledging of the truth, which is after godliness. Repentance
is called the acknowledgement of the truth. There is such a thing as saving
knowledge. What is it? Now, I don't want to, I want
to put the right, there is no salvation apart from knowledge.
Your knowledge doesn't save you. When the Lord said, you shall
know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Who's the
truth? Christ. I'm the truth that makes
you free. He doesn't say your knowledge
of the truth will make you free. I'll make you free. You know me, you'll
be free. I'll make you free. You should
know the truth and the truth shall make you free. So it's
not my knowledge that saves me, but there's no salvation apart
from knowledge. There is a content to the gospel
that must be preached, that must be believed, or there is no salvation. And look what Paul says it is. He said, I bear them record.
They have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge for
they being ignorant of God's righteousness. Ignorant of the righteousness
of his character. Ignorant of the righteousness
of his law. They think they can keep it.
Do you know if you think you can keep one commandment one
time of the Ten Commandments, you're totally ignorant of the
law. You have no understanding of it. Ignorant of God's righteousness
in their damnation. Now, if I have any understanding
of God's righteousness, I'm going to know that he's just and right
to pass me by and send me to hell, not save me. Amen. Would
God be just and righteous if he sent you to hell right now? And they're ignorant of God's
righteousness in saving them. You see God, when he saves somebody,
he saves them in a way that magnifies his righteousness. The righteousness
of God demands the salvation of everybody Jesus Christ died
for. Their sins are paid for, they're saved. And the righteousness
of God demands it. Now these people are ignorant
of God's righteousness. They're ignorant of his righteous
character. They're ignorant of his righteous law. They're ignorant
of his righteousness in their damnation. And they're ignorant
of his righteousness in salvation. And what demonstrates that? They
go about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted
themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the, what's that
say? The end of the law for righteousness. When you finish a book and it
says the end, what's that mean? The story's over. Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness. You come to understand that the
only righteousness you have is the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. His righteousness is the only
righteousness. And you believe that. For Moses, verse five, describeth
the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth
those things shall live by them, in them. The righteousness the
law requires, and listen to me, the righteousness the law requires
is perfect, continual obedience. perfect, nonstop, continual obedience. And you know that requirement
never produces love. It just makes you think God's
too strict, too harsh, too much. That's unreasonable. Nobody ever
loved God from the law. They never did. Never will. It's
impossible. If I put you under law, all it's
going to do is create resentment. Nothing else. By the law is the
knowledge of sin. The strength of sin is the law. And here's what the law requires.
Perfect continual obedience. That's what Moses said. He described
the righteousness, which is the law that the man that Doeth those
things shall live by them. Just do, do. There's an example
of a good summary of what the law says. Do, do, do. But the righteousness, which
is of faith, This is a righteousness that
has something to do with or that doesn't have anything to do with
your personal law keeping. But the glorious thing about
the righteousness of faith, it makes it to where the personal
law keeping of the Lord Jesus Christ is your personal righteousness
and obedience. That's why I can stand with boldness
before God in Judgment Day. I've got a righteousness. The
righteousness. I don't even want to call it
a righteousness. There's only one righteousness. That's the righteousness
of Jesus Christ. And I have the righteousness
of God in Jesus Christ. And I can come boldly into God's
presence because I know I'm accepted for Christ's sake and I'm righteous
in him. I'm not treated as if I'm righteous. I'm righteous. I love that scripture. Reckon yourselves to be dead
indeed to sin. Well, how are you supposed to
do that? Because you are dead to sin. Reckon yourselves to
be dead indeed into sin. This is the righteousness of
faith. Look what it says. If you are struggling with assurance. If you're wondering whether or
not you are a believer or if you can be or you're looking
for something that would make you think you are, I hope you'll
just dump everything out and listen to this. Just forget all
the stuff that you naturally think because it's all wrong.
I'm just sure that I know that from experience. Whatever you
think, just chuck it right now and listen to this passage of
scripture. May God give us hearing ears. The righteousness which
is of faith speaketh on this wise, say not in your heart,
who shall ascend into heaven that is to bring Christ down
from above. Do not say in your heart, what
can I do to get Christ to come down and do something for me?
Don't say that in your heart. You've said it. You thought it. What can I do to get him to come
down here and do something for me? What do I need to do? What
do I need to experience? What do I need to feel that'll
make him respond to me? What can I do? Paul says, don't
say that. Don't say it in your heart. Get
rid of that thinking. It's wrong. Or verse seven. who shall descend
into the deep. That is to bring Christ again
from the dead, bring up Christ. Don't say in your heart, what
can I do to make what he did work for me? What can I do to
make his saving benefits of death work for me? Don't say that,
that is salvation by works. You believe that? That is salvation by works. Ain't nobody gonna be saved by
salvation by works. Don't think it. Don't say it in your heart. It's wrong. You said it a million
times. You probably said it today. I guarantee you, I've said it
today. I don't know how many times I've thought sometime during
it, but just about every day, I thought at one point, how could
I be saved? How could I be saved? I mean,
the math doesn't add up. When do I say that? When I'm
looking within, saying the things Paul is saying not to say. Verse eight, but what saith it,
now listen here, oh, this is glorious. What saith it? The
word is nigh thee. You don't have to go on a long
journey. This is not a long trip. This is not a bunch of, Boxes,
you've got to check. I've got to check this box and
that box. I've done this. I've experienced that. I felt this.
I haven't felt that. No. This is not a long journey. It's an ivy. Even in thy heart and in thy
mouth, in thy mouth and in thy heart, that's how close it is
right now. I, you know, somebody says, explain
that. What if I'm not saved? Well, you know, um, the word's
an ivy. That's what the Bible says. The
word's an ivy. It's real close right now. Don't
think I'm far away. This is too far for me to get.
It's new. It's very near. It's in your
mouth and it's in your heart. That is the word of faith. Oh, don't you love the word of
faith? Faith in Christ, not words. the word of faith, which we preach
that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus, and
shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved. Now, We have a tendency to think of
this thing of confessing with the mouth. The first thing we
think of is our courage to get up in front of people and confess
what we believe. And I'm not going to discuss,
I'm sure that is included in this, a public confession of
which I believe baptism is our public confession of faith. But
let's don't miss what confess means. Confess means to speak
the same thing. It's agreement. You agree with
what God says with regard to his son. He is Lord. You confess
with your mouth, the Lord Jesus. You see, he's the sole cause
of creation because he's the Lord. He's the sole cause of
providence. Everything that takes place,
he's the cause of. He's the first cause of. Somebody
says, what about the secondary cause? Who cares? All I care
about is first cause. He is the first. He's the cause of causes.
And he is Lord of salvation. He's the cause of salvation.
That means your salvation is up to him. You have no control. It's up to him as to whether
or not you be saved. You better be happy about that.
I love that song. I'd rather, you know, that I'd
rather this. I'd rather too. I'd rather him be in control
of salvation than me. You know, if I'm in control of
it, I know what's going to happen. I'd rather it be that way. If you'll
confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus. And you believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead. And that's more than just
believing the event. I love when he said to Martha,
I am the resurrection and the life. The resurrection is not
an event. I'm it. I meant you believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved. Now you believe that God is completely
satisfied with him. That's why he raised him from
the dead. Are you satisfied with that? Are you satisfied with
what God is satisfied with? God is satisfied with his son. He raised him from the dead because
he was satisfied with what he did. Me too. It doesn't matter
whether I am or not, but I'm, I'm, I'm mighty satisfied with
that. Aren't you? I'm satisfied to think that everything God
requires of me, he looks to his son for, and I'm satisfied. Plumb
satisfied with that. I ain't looking anywhere else. Verse 10, for with the heart
man believeth under righteousness and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. Now let's talk about this thing
of believing with the heart. What in the world does that mean?
What does it mean to believe with the heart? I don't know
how much time I've stressed over, I'm afraid I believe something
in my head that I don't believe in my heart. What's it mean to
believe with the heart? Now, let me first say that it
is impossible to believe in your head what you do not believe
in your heart. That can't be done. The reason most people have what
they call a head knowledge only is that they don't believe in
their head what they say they do. If you believe you're totally depraved,
you believe everything else, don't you? If you really believe
that about yourself, it's one thing to believe in the doctrine
of total depravity. It's quite another thing to believe
that you yourself are totally depraved. And if you believe
that about yourself, you believe that in your head, you believe
it in your heart too. You do. Now, with the heart, man believeth
unto righteousness. Now, the heart is the understanding,
it's the affections, it's the will. It's the whole man. The understanding, the affections,
and the will. Now, I do understand right now
that Jesus Christ is the only righteousness I have. I understand
that, do you? I understand I don't have any
other righteousness. And not only do I understand that, I
love having him as my righteousness. I mean, and you know, the perfect
example is when I'd rather, that's all, I'd rather have his righteousness
than stand on my own righteousness, wouldn't you? I'd rather be that
way. With the heart, man believeth
unto righteousness. And with the mouth, what you
believe in your heart is going to come out in your confession.
With the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. Four, scripture saith, whosoever
believeth on him, there's that word whosoever, whosoever believeth
on him shall not be ashamed. I think it's interesting. I've
read, uh, 15 or 16 different English, the English versions
of that verse. Five of them say they'll not
be ashamed. Nine of them say they won't be
put to shame. Both are truth. I'm not ashamed
of the gospel and I'm never going to be put to shame because Christ
is my righteousness. And the other version says, shall
not be disappointed. And I think that means both of
them. So the point is whosoever believeth in him, shall not be
ashamed, shall not be put to shame, for there's no difference
between the Jew and the Greek. There's no difference between
me and you. Did you know that? No difference between me and
you. No difference. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. There's no difference between
me and you. There's no difference between the most moral man and
the most immoral man on God's side. You believe that? You believe
that? There's no difference. There's
no difference, all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. Somebody, you know, you can get
around people that you sure think they think they're better than
you, but they're not. They just think that. They're just like
you. You're just like they are. You can't look down your nose
at anybody when it comes right down to it. You can't sit in
judgment on anybody for anything. There is no difference. I love
that scripture. Therefore thou art inexcusable,
O man, whosoever thou art, the judge is for you, the judge doest. the same things. Doest. Not yet. Well, I've done that in the past.
No, right now, doest. There's no difference. But the
same Lord, the one who is everlasting, the
same Lord overall, and he's everybody's Lord. He's For this end, Christ
both died and revived that he might be Lord, both of the dead
and the living. That man dead in sins, he's their Lord. They
might not know it, but he's their Lord. And he's the Lord of the
believer. He's everybody's Lord. They're
his sheep, but they're his goats too. He's Lord. He's Lord over
all. The same Lord over all, listen
to this, is rich unto all that call upon him. He's rich to all
that call upon Him. If you call upon Him, you will
find Him to be rich toward you. You know, one of the glorious
things about the Lord is He will meet you on the ground you come.
You come on the ground of pure, free grace, He'll meet you there.
You come on the ground of works, He'll meet you there. He'll meet
you there. If that's the way you wanna go,
go for it. He'll meet you there. But if you come on the ground
of pure, free grace, that's where He's gonna meet you. Now, verse
13, four, whosoever. That's better than if it had
my name in it, because there might be a different Todd and
Ivor. This is, you're a whosoever. Anybody here not a whosoever?
I want you all to hear this, whosoever. Are you a whosoever? Quit worrying about whether or
not you're the elect. That's none of your business
right now. Quit worrying whether you have a good enough experience.
I ought to feel more, I ought to see more, I ought to understand. Whosoever, let's take it for
what it says, whosoever shall call, shall call. Give me an example of what you're
talking about calling. The Lord said to the Syrophoenician
woman, I'm not sent, but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. I have only come to save the
elect. You know what she did? Lord, help
me. If you don't help me, I won't
be helped. That's calling on the Lord. Help
me. Help me. I can't help myself.
I can't do anything for myself. I will go to hell if you don't
help me. Now here's the important word,
the name of the Lord. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord, the one who's everlasting. When I'm calling
on the name of the Lord, I'm calling upon his attributes.
Lord, save me by your justice. Lord, save me by your grace.
Lord, save me by an act of your sovereign will. Save me by your
mercy. Save me by your independent power.
You're calling on every one of us that, Lord, save me by who
you are. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. May the Lord enable me and you,
even now, to call upon His name.