Solomon, under the inspiration
of God's Spirit, penned these words. It is not, it is not,
saith the buyer. But when he's gone his way, then
he boasteth. Now this is what was being said. This is talking about a man that
wants to buy something. And he's doing whatever man by
nature does. He wants to pay less than what
an article is priced for. That's what he says. Somebody has something for sale,
we'd like to have it, but we want it at our price. And if we can convince the seller
to reconsider, then we've made a deal. That's, you know, convince
a man that what he's selling is negotiable. As soon as we
hear the price, doesn't matter what it is, as soon as we hear
the price, it's what we're going to say. What? No. No, that's out of line. You're way over. I could probably
get that, one just like it, maybe better. Over here, considerably
cheaper. I mean, I don't mind having yours.
He really wants it, but he wants to get a better deal. And since the buyer who believes
himself to be shrewd enough to get the item at his cost, if
he can convince the seller to sell it at a cheaper price when
he's gone his way, then he boasts it. Calls his friends together
and says, I want you to take a look at this. Now you look
at what I got here. You're not going to believe what
I got this for. They were asking so and so, but this is what I
got it for. I made the buy of buys. Now,
humanly speaking, now that's the way we all are. Don't say
you're not like that, because that's the way we are. We're
going to go buy a car. We're going to go buy a boat.
We're going to buy something. It doesn't matter what they ask.
It doesn't matter what they're asking. I just want it less than
what you're asking for. Make me feel like I got a deal. Now, when it comes to the things
of this world, that's the way that every man thinks in temporal
matters, but here's the sad part. When it comes to the matter of
a man's eternal soul, and salvation is the issue, man wants to buy
it. at a cheaper price. Man by nature thinks that salvation
is a negotiable item, a negotiable blessing from Almighty God that
is available to man who is willing to submit to some religious activity
on man's part. I'll do something. I'll do my
part, you do your part. Both people, God and man, both
persons, has their part. Now here's my first point. There
is a price for salvation. And Almighty God has set the
price. Now here's the price. Obedience
to the law. Now you know that's right. This
is the price of salvation. Listen to Leviticus 18.5. You
shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, which if a
man do, he shall live in them. I am The Lord. Here's the terms. Now, if you
want to know what the terms are, what's the price of salvation
and acceptance of God? Psalm 24, 3 to 5. Who shall ascend into the hill
of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath
clean hands and a pure heart who hath not lifted up his soul
unto vanity or sworn deceitfully, he shall receive the blessing
from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation."
A man hears that, and here's the first thing he thinks. How
strict is those terms? How strict are those terms? Again, considering the price,
what does the Lord say? Leviticus 11, 44 and 45, for
I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore sanctify
yourselves and you shall be holy. For I am holy. Neither shall
ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that
creepeth upon the earth, for I am the Lord that bringeth you
up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. Ye shall therefore
be holy, for I am holy." In other words, here's the price. If a
man would be accepted before God, all he has to do is obey
God perfectly. in every point of God's law. Do not have one infraction in
thought, in word, in deed. I mean, don't deviate. Not only in what you do, but
in what you should have done, what was required of you, maybe
that most people wouldn't even think about. But whatever Almighty
God demands for righteousness and obedience and holiness before
God and acceptance with Him, this is the price. James 2.10 says, For whosoever
shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he's
guilty of all. So if you want to know the price,
of salvation by your works, which is the law. Here's the prize. You're going
to have to be perfect before God. No infraction. And oh, by the
way, no infraction, you could have never had an infraction.
You better never had done anything wrong, ever. You better not have
ever thought anything wrong. If you're going to present something
before God that you've done, now listen to me, it's going
to have to be presented not only in what you have done, but in
what you've thought before and since, and forevermore, to the
end of your life. Don't let there be one infraction. But remember this now, while
you're going to present your works before God, when you realize
the price, when Adam disobeyed God in the garden, here's what
the scripture says happened. Man died spiritually. And the whole human race was
plunged into immeasurable depravity and despair. Now just remember
now, while you're considering the price, of salvation before
God, and wanting to present something before God that you've done.
Remember, man is separated from God because of sin, and the Lord
Jesus Christ revealed, no man, that means no body, no man, no
woman, nobody, can come unto Me except it were given unto
Him of My Father. And why is that? Because Isaiah
1,6 says, from the sole of the foot even unto the head there's
no soundness in it. But wounds and bruises and putrefying
sores, they've not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified
with ointment. From the foot to the head, there's
no part of man, no part of him, no part of his being that is
unaffected, no part that's sound. All of them is just wounds and
bruises and dripping sores and nothing can be done about it
in himself. Concerning our approaching God,
now we're going to present something to God. We're going to do something
for God. We're trying to approach Him.
Habakkuk 1.13 says, Thou art of pure eyes than to behold evil,
and canst not look on iniquity. So now you start talking about
approaching God. If you want to know what the
price is of keeping the law, that's it. That's the price.
Right there. Here's my second point. Man thinks
the price is too high. He hears the Word of God declaring
that he's a sinner. He hears that we are all as an
unclean thing, that all of our righteousnesses, the things that
we do, The things that we think we've done for God? This is what
God says. All of your righteousnesses are
as filthy rags and we do all fade as a leaf and our iniquities
like the wind have taken us away. Man, man, here's the price. How good does a man have to be
to approach God by his own works? Perfect! Holy! And man says,
not! No! No! That price is just ridiculous. You're asking way more than is
reasonable. That can be had at a cheaper
price. Man reads in the Bible that he
claims to believe from cover to cover. Not! by works of righteousness, which
we have done. But according to His mercy, He
saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.
Man reads that scripture, not by works of righteousness that
we have done. And man in the next breath says
this, I do not believe in salvation by works. I believe in salvation totally
by grace. And therefore, I'm going to exercise
my free will and accept God's gracious offer to be saved. And all the while, ignorantly
believing in salvation by works. He says, I don't believe in salvation
by works, I believe in salvation by grace. But I accepted the
Lord as my personal savior. and while he's saying that he
does not believe in salvation by works, and I'm going to exercise
my free will, he reads this scripture, which were born not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God. Man believes this because he
has, without spiritual ears, He has listened to the lies of
Satan through the mouths of a false prophet that has told him, you
can please God by your obedience. You can be saved by something
that you can do. That's what a false prophet has
told him. And it's the same lie that Satan
told Eve concerning disobedience before God, you shall not surely
die. All you have to do is be sincere. Get in the right church. Keep the Ten Commandments as
best you can. Do the best you can. Walk down the aisle. Treat others
like you want to be treated, be baptized, pray through, do
many wonderful works in His name, and you're going to be like gods.
You'll be saved. You won't die. Believing Satan's lie, man thinks
that God will now accept A negotiated price. A lower price. I've prophesied in your name. That wasn't a price though, Mike. I've cast out devils in your
name. That wasn't a price. I've done
many wonderful works in your name. That wasn't a price. Depart from me, you workers of
iniquity. I never knew you. The price is
absolutely purity, holiness, righteousness. You're going to
approach God? Man thinks that he has negotiated
a better deal. And when he's gone his way, merely
going to church, He boasteth. He boasteth. I'm right before God because
I have whatever. The reason he says this is he
sees no beauty in salvation totally by the grace of God. He has no
regard for God's holiness. He has no regard for God's justice
or God's will. or God's purpose, or God's choice. He has no regard. He believes
himself to be the great negotiator of his salvation by works, by
choice, by his will. And he has wisely procured life
eternal before God by striking a good deal. Me and the Lord got a good thing
going. He takes pride in boasting of
his decision. And I'm telling you, but for
the grace of God, we would all die in our sins. Standing at
the bar of God's judgment and declaring our own righteousness. Galatians 6.3 says, for if a
man think himself to be something when he is nothing, He deceiveth
himself. The Lord said in Luke 13, 3,
I tell you nay, but except you repent. Know what that means?
Except you think differently. You shall all likewise perish. But for all made to see themselves
helpless and hopeless, sinners, in need of a Savior, One that
can do something for man that man cannot, cannot do for himself. I've got some good news for you.
In my last point, the just and holy God has revealed that He
is pleased to save sinners by grace. But based upon all that's been
revealed concerning God's demand for righteousness and man's inability
to obey and satisfy God on man's terms, how can God be just and justify
a sinner? How? God set forth the price Man, by nature, says it's not
fair. Too high. But you're telling
me that God can be just and can save a sinner? Yes. Tell me one more time how that
is. God Almighty, according to His
everlasting covenant of grace, chose to show mercy and compassion
to whomsoever he would. Now, you know that's so. That's
Exodus 33, 19. Moses asked the Lord, show me
your glory. And the Lord declared this to
be his glory. He said, I will be gracious to
whom I will be gracious. And I will show mercy on whom
I will show mercy. Almighty God, for the safekeeping
of all of the recipients of His mercy and compassion, He, who
doesn't change, and absolutely could not, according to justice,
He could not lower the price of redemption. The price of a
man's soul is not negotiable There will be no negotiating
concerning this price. What is demanded of you, or me,
to stand before God, absolutely saved. I'll tell you what it
is. Obedience, holiness, righteousness, no infraction, and for the safe keeping of His
people. He chose us, His elect, in Him,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the everlasting surety of the sheep, the one
in whom the Father first trusted. For the safekeeping of His elect,
He put us in Christ from before the foundation of the world that
we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. He
put us in Him and preserved us in Him. If you put some strawberries,
you're going to make strawberry preserves. And you put some strawberries
in a jar and you seal it up. Let me ask you something. What
is the most important part of the preservation of those strawberries? The jar. If the jar leaks, what's
going to happen to the strawberries? They ain't going to be no good. The jar. If the jar is secure,
the fruit is secure. He put us in Christ before the
foundation of the world. everlastingly and that's where
we were preserved right there and in the fullness of time God
Almighty created man that he eternally knew he made man out
of the dust and that man Adam by one act of disobedience Now
you listen to me, by one act of disobedience, that God Almighty,
who is not, who was not the author of, He's not the author of sin,
but Almighty God was not on vacation. when Adam rebelled in the garden.
God Almighty was in control. He was on the throne, ruling
in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
which was Adam and Eve. And no man stayed his hand, no
devil, nobody. He did as He pleased and in His
permissive will. He wasn't the author of it, but
He allowed Adam to do it. He left man to do exactly what
man wanted to do. That the greatest exhibition
of grace and mercy might be beheld in the redemption of His people. Man fell, and therefore, all
that Almighty God eternally loved and chose in Adam, or came forth
from Adam, fell too. But those who were born in Adam,
though they did fall in Adam's transgression, did not fall from
the safety of being in Christ. They were still in Christ. Born
in Adam, but they were still in the surety. They were still
in He who is preserving His people. God's elect are born sinners. And they're in Christ. They never
have been out of Christ. They're born sinners by Adam's
transgression. They're sinners by birth. They're
sinners by choice. They're sinners by practice.
Spiritually dead, now, to their knowledge. They're dead to their
knowledge of the need of a Savior. Oblivious to the One who eternally
loved them and betrothed them to Himself in righteousness,
in judgment, in loving kindness, in mercies. Yes, they fell in
sin. They did, but they never fell
out of Christ. Never! And now, for Almighty God to
be just and to justify those that fell in Adam's transgression,
this is what it's going to take. What's the price? What is the
price? Absolute holiness! Obedience,
righteousness before God, that's what it's going to take. Who?
From me and you. What's going to have to happen?
A man who knows the price of man's redemption. One who can
satisfy the law's demand for justice. One who can obey God
Almighty in every jot and tittle of the law for righteousness.
In other words, one who can please God. Came into this world the Word
in whom all God's sheep have eternally been found. The Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us and all of God's people were
in Him. And He came into this world to
accomplish the Father's will. What was that? That none of His
sheep be lost. That's the Father's will. And that's what happened. And
then, when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His
Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that
were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And he who came into this world
to save his people from their sins, obeyed as God's servant
and all of his people in him. He obeyed the law perfectly. establishing the righteousness
that is imputed to God's people called out of darkness who believe
on Him. He met God's demand for holiness
for them and they in Him did too. And because God's demand for
justice and judgment can't change, price is not negotiable. Because
of what we've done, sinned and come short of the glory of God,
deserving in ourselves wrath, deserving judgment. He as the
absolute substitute. Now you have to understand now,
substitute means He was made us. He was made us. He was made sin. He as our absolute
Redeemer. bore our sins. They were His
now. They were His. Mine iniquities. I've quoted that so many times.
Mine iniquities. Psalm 40. Mine iniquities. For whose sins was he dying?
He said he was dying for his people. I'll go along with you
on that. But let me tell you what the
scripture says. They were his. They were his. And being absolutely
made sin, was he made the guiltiness himself? Yes. Because if Almighty
God killed him and he was not absolutely the guiltiness, if
he was not sin and God killed him, then God killed an innocent
man. You better understand now what's
going on here. What happened at Calvary? The Lord Jesus Christ
died being made the sin. He was made sin for us. There He is. Bearing our guilt? Yes. It's His guilt. His guilt. Mine iniquity. He who knew no
sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
This is what Scripture says. He hath once suffered for sins,
the just for the unjust. that he might bring us to God
being put to death in the flesh but quickened by the Spirit.
Now let me tell you what's happened. He came into this world and absolutely
met the demand for righteousness. What does that mean? He obeyed
God's law. This is my beloved son whom I'm
well pleased. You hear him. He met the demand
for righteousness. And that righteousness is imputed
to us. Are we really righteous? We're
really righteous. Was he really made sin? He really
made sin. And no play locks with God. If
he was not absolutely made sin and God killed him again, God
wasn't just. He killed an innocent man. But
I'm telling you, His brother Scott told me, I will never,
never, while I live on this earth, I know, unless the Lord takes
my mind away from me. Remember that finger pointing
to me. He said, I know you want to be
honorable, but don't you ever try to tiptoe through the tulips.
Don't you ever try to sidestep what God Almighty did at Calvary.
If he wasn't made what I am, That wasn't me hanging there
on that cross, in Him. And He said that I don't have
any hope. Almighty God, who never lowered the standard, the price
for man's salvation, redemption, Christ came into this world and
met that demand. For life and in death, and now
justice, for the sin that I committed, justice, has been satisfied. And when it pleases God, He's
going to take everyone, He's going to draw everyone that He's
everlastingly loved, every one of them, that He's everlastingly
loved in Christ, and that Christ died for. He's going to draw
and put them unto the sound of the gospel. And He's going to
make them willing in the day of His power You know what they're
going to do? He's going to open their heart
just like he did Lydia's. And he's going to give them faith
to believe. And they're going to believe it. They're going
to believe it. And once God gives them a heart to believe, that's
all they can do is believe. They're going to call on the
Lord Jesus Christ now as their salvation, and they will not
look back at what they formerly trusted in. They won't do it.
They will not do it. They have no confidence in the
flesh. And Almighty God is going to
keep them by His power through faith unto salvation ready to
be revealed in the last time. The price of their salvation
and redemption never changed. God doesn't change. It wasn't
negotiated. It wasn't lessened. That price was paid by the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what the sheep couldn't afford,
I'll tell you what a goat will do. A goat will think that he's
negotiated the price and he's made a better deal. And he'll,
but for the grace of God, man's going to die in his sins. But
for a sheep, it's what he's going to admit. I know I couldn't pay. I know something of what the
price was. And now, they wouldn't have it to change for anything. because it gives all the honor,
the glory, and the praise for their salvation to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Lord, you're worthy. You're worthy. The payment for their salvation
has eternally been paid. By one offering, He has perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Here's what happened. Christ
paid their debt. Christ bore the debt that his
people couldn't pay. Non-negotiable. And he wrought out righteousness
and justice, judgment, satisfying. And then gave them what they
couldn't afford, what another man will think he buys cheaply. To the believers, to his people,
he gives them salvation. Listen to this, Ephesians 2,
8 and 9, last verse. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. Lord, bless this word to our
hearts for Christ's sake. Amen.