Let's take our Bibles. Turn to Romans 4. Romans chapter 4. I'd like to look today at verses
17 to 25. I've entitled this message why
Christ died. And I thought on that title,
and I thought, you know, everybody just about in this world thinks
that they know the answer to that. But very few, I believe, do. In verse 16 of this chapter, the Apostle Paul had set forth, spoken some truths
that every believer knows is so. The first thing that he set
forth is that salvation is revealed to the regenerate or the regenerated,
the called out of darkness sinner. Salvation is revealed to an enlightened
sinner, one born again from above, and that that salvation is revealed
by the means of faith so that that sinner might know that his
salvation is all of grace." Now, I hope that statement made sense.
Salvation is revealed to a regenerated sinner. It is done by faith,
faith from above, that that sinner might know that salvation is
of the Lord. all of grace. Therefore, that's
what Paul said, it is of faith that it might be by grace. The second thing he set forth
in that 16th verse is that God's purpose to show mercy, compassion, all of His elect know that the
Lord Jesus Christ is their surety. It says, Therefore it is of faith
that it might be by grace to the end that the promise, that
is, Christ Himself, the promised One, might be sure, established,
it stands, who? To all the seed, to all that
is found in Him, all chosen in Him. The third thing Paul set
forth is that salvation, which is all of grace, is the same
to the Jew, to the Gentile. There is no difference, not to
that only which is of the law, that is, the Jew, but to that
also which is of the faith of Abraham who was called out of
darkness Before he was ever circumcised, that circumcision was a sign
to him. It was a sign that the seal of
God's promise, Christ Himself, would remove the pollution of
sin, put it away. It was a sign. Abraham believed
that Almighty God had charged him with the righteousness of
Christ. That's what Abraham believed.
Abraham believed God, and it, that is, the righteousness of
Christ, was charged to him. Now today, I'd like to continue
with the wonderful explanation of the promise of God that was
made to Abraham, and not only to Abraham, but to all like Abraham,
objects of God's mercy. All right, verse 17, as it is
written. You know, the Word of God stands
sure. You that believe, wherein is
found your hope. How do you know? Well, what does
God say? That settles it right there.
As it is written. What saith the Scripture? You
know, the Lord said heaven and earth are going to pass away.
But you know what's not going to pass away? Yeah, you do. The Word of God. God's Word. That will never deviate. Everything I'm looking at with
this physical eye, everything that I can hear with this physical
ear, that's going to be gone. As it is written. I have made
thee a father of many nations." I ordained you. That's what he said. I constituted
you a father of many nations. Now, the Lord here calls Abraham
a father of many nations. That truth, it has really a double
meaning. Abraham did have a natural offspring
of the Jews after, you know, natural generation. He had some
kids and those kids have kids and stuff like that. But also,
there was a spiritual offspring, a spiritual family, not by Abraham's
ability, you know that, but those like Abraham, brought forth by
the power of Almighty God. a father, an instructor is what
it means, through which knowledge is bestowed. We look and we see
in this person that God Himself set forth and called him a father,
called him an instructor. We learn something. We look at
these Scriptures by faith. We read them and we see this
is how God dealt with Abraham. Well, God deals with all of His
people. like that. But Abraham was the one that
God set forth to be an example, an instructor, a teacher. Turn over on this word, Father. I want to show you something
that I think is very, very needful. 1 Timothy 5.1. 1 Timothy 5.1. Rebuke not an elder. but in treating him as a father.
And the younger man is brethren. Now that word, father, apparent, is to be an instructor,
an overseer, an example. And Paul was saying here, when
you deal with one like Abraham who was an instructor, an overseer,
taught of God. Have some respect because God
has elevated them. When He says, Rebuke not an elder
and treat him as a father, treat him with some respect. Treat
him with some dignity. I'll tell you this, I know, I'm
convinced, we are all frail creatures. I don't care how much A man knows
how much a man is taught. A parent grows up and they have
some understanding. They've gone through some stuff.
They've learned some things. But you know, I've told you before,
my kids were growing up and I'd tell them, say, I don't want
you to do this. And they'd ask me, you know, maybe they might ask
me. Not often, because often when they'd ask me, you know,
why, my answer would be, it was because I said so. That answers
it right there. Why? We're instructors, but especially
when it comes to a man being an elder, an instructor, spiritually
speaking. I do understand that we're all
frail creatures, and we can make some mistakes. Any man that thinks
that He's arrived and he can't make a mistake or something like
that. He's just deceived. He doesn't know anything about
himself, Brother Scott. What are you talking about? But
when it comes to correcting an elder, you treat him, Paul was
saying to Timothy, you treat him like a father. You treat
him with some respect. Don't you talk to him like he's
some second-class citizen. If one of my kids were to come
up to me and spoke disrespectfully or disrespectfully to their mother
or something like that, the old saying, I'm getting ready to
slap you into next week. Don't you speak with respect. Don't you rebuke an elder disrespectfully. I'm not saying they can't be
wrong, but you treat them with reverence and respect. This church
has had for 50 years a father in the faith, Brother Scott.
He's due respect. Does that mean he's never made
a mistake? Well, no. I mean, you know that.
He's just a creature, a frail creature, but he's due respect
and he's due honor and and speaking to him or about him disrespectfully
is unacceptable. Just don't do it. Abraham was
a father. He was a father. I made you a
father. I made you an example, an instructor. Does that mean that Abraham was
one that did no wrong? Absolutely not. Read of Abraham. But he was one that God gave
as an example, as an instructor, of the faith. Now this, he said,
I've made you a father of many nations before him whom he believed. That is, before or in the presence
of. Being so. I made you a father
before me is what God said. I made you who you are. That
wasn't just an idol or an empty promise that Almighty God had
given to this man Abraham. That absolutely was God's sovereign
right to do what He will with His own. God Almighty, that One
who quickeneth the dead, even God quickeneth the dead and calleth
those things which be not as though they were. who names,
that's what the word call, we looked at that last week, who
calleth those things, who names them and controls those things,
which be not as far as my sight is concerned. There's a lot of
things that I don't see. What's going to happen tomorrow?
Well, I don't know. You say, nobody knows what tomorrow
brings. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, one does. He knows the end from the beginning.
And let me ask you this, are those things that will happen
tomorrow, are those things so? Yes, sir. The Lord's counsel
shall stand. God Almighty speaks, considers
all things as they are. They exist. in His will, in His
purpose, though they may not exist in time yet, they are so. In Revelation 13, this is a scripture
that we've looked at a lot of times. Let me just read this
to you. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship Him whose
names are not that when it says worship Him, it's speaking of
the devil, not the Lord. He was talking about this Satan
himself, whose names were not written in the Book of Life of
the Lamb slain from the foundation of the earth. Now, we know that
all things that exist in time according to Almighty God have
always been. Now you understand, do you understand
what I'm saying? God Almighty does not change. Turn to Matthew 27. Let me give
you a little example here from the Scriptures. Matthew 27, 24.
When Pilate was at the trial there of the Lord Jesus
Christ and he was telling the people, he said, I don't find
any fault in this man. Matthew 27, 24, When Pilate saw
that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was
made, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude,
saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person, see
ye to it. Now, when it says he washed his
hands before, does that mean that he did it prior to, or does
it mean he did it in front of? Well, you know what it means.
He did it in front. He washed His hands before, in
front of. Now, when the Scriptures set
forth that the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world,
the word before, when He washed His hands before them and Christ
was slain from the foundation, same word. Christ was slain in
full view. of the Father." When? From the
foundation of the world. It was done before God. So just as Christ was slain in
the presence of God Almighty, the I Am, from the foundation
of the world, God commands and controls all things, though they
are not yet revealed. These things are so, as it is
written. I have made thee a father of
many nations before him, in the very presence of him, in full
view of him." Who? God who quickens the dead and
calls those things which be not as though they are. Who? Verse
18, against hope. It is Abraham. Abraham who believed
God, who against hope, believed in hope. that he might become
the father of many nations according to that which was spoken, so
shall thy seed be." Now, Paul, as I said a moment ago, had spoken
over in verse 16 of the promise being sure. That is, the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself, who would come absolutely in time, call
His people out literally in time But that promise was sure to
the seed. It was done, finished, set forth
in God's will and purpose eternally. So against all hope, when God
promised Abraham, when He told him back in Genesis 15, I am
your shield. I am your shield. I am your exceeding
great reward. I am. Abraham believed that. He believed God Almighty so against
all hope. When it says against hope, against
all the human frailty and expectation to understand and perceive what
was actually being said against everything. I've got doubts. I hate that. I hate it. A nature in me that doubts God,
that always doubts God, that always disloves God, doesn't
love God. That old nature in me does not
believe God. Paul says, in me, that is in
my flesh, there dwells no good thing. He said, in my flesh I
serve, I bow to, I love the law of sin. And that old nature was
in Abraham too. but against all human ability
or expectation to understand what God Almighty said, to understand
it. Brother Scott just read. He said,
I believe or I understand not those things that I hear. I don't
understand this. You tell me to explain to you
the depth of what I'm setting forth. I can't explain to you
how all these things... They're so! They're just so! How did God see? God said that
He did against all hope. He believed in hope. Against all of the frailty of
this flesh, Abraham believed God. He believed that not only
would a lineage truly come from his loins, physically speaking. But he also believed that Almighty
God would call into being a spiritual family from which Abraham was
called a father, the father of the faithful. He believed that. Here was Abraham on the backside
of nowhere, and God said, I made you an example. I made you a
father. I made you. to be the example
of that which I'm going to do, physically and spiritually, through
you. But it was God that did it. And
Abraham believed it. That's what made Abraham's obedience
in bringing Isaac up there and was going to sacrifice it. God
told him, He said, from your loins, there's going to come
a people. I'm going to cause a people to
come out of your loins, not only a physical family, but a spiritual
family. And Abraham believed God. Then
God told him, He said, I want you to take your son, your only
son, not Ishmael. I want you to take the son I
gave you, your only son. And now you go up and sacrifice
him to Me. Abraham believed God. What's
God going to do? God's going to do what He says
He's going to do. Almighty God's going to call out a physical
and a spiritual people. That's what He's going to do.
But God told Him to kill His only Son. He only had one Son.
Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is by the grace of
God. Salvation is by the power of God. How is God going to do
that? If I kill my only Son, if I kill
the only One, that has the ability to carry on this thing. For me,
how is God going to do that? He told those fellows, he said,
the lad and I are going to go up yonder and we're going to
worship God and we'll be back. We'll be back in a bit. What
was he going to do? He was going to do whatever God
was going to do. But he believed God. Verse 19,
Oh, and being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body
now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, yet neither the deadness
of Sarah's womb. And oh, verse 18, it just said
that Abraham, against hope, believed, that is, against the natural
strivings of his inward conflicts and doubts. Against those strivings,
Neal, he believed God. And you that believe, do too.
Against the natural strivings of your old nature that says,
how can these things be? Against hope, he believed God. Contrary to what he saw in himself,
what he saw in Sarah, contrary to all of those things, contrary
to, you know, I'm getting up here, you know, I'm getting pretty
old. I'm old, Sarah's old. And she's
passed the ways of a woman to be able to have a child against
all the negative things. He believed God. I know that
Scripture says that when we die, to be absent from this body is
to be present with the Lord. And man, I'm telling you, you
know all of those Scriptures that we've read concerning leaving
this world and being with the Lord are wonderful. until that man finds himself
right at a point where he thinks he's going to die. But at that
time, I'm convinced that Almighty God grants His people an understanding. They believe God. Against hope,
against the strivings of their old nature, in hope, they believe
Him. I'm going to leave this world
and never lose consciousness. Never lose consciousness. The
world will look at me and say, Well, they're dead. Their eyes
are closed. Nothing there. Well, they may not be in that
body right there, but I'll tell you that they're with the Lord.
God's people are. Never lose consciousness of Him. Almighty God had taught Abraham
In all things, Abraham believed that God was his shield. Scripture says, in all these
things, we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. Believers
go through this life. Their faith is tried. Their faith
is definitely shown to be so. God reveals that what He gives,
He maintains. Satan, Peter, wants to sift you as wheat, wants
to halve you, but I pray for you that your faith fail not. Why? That faith is of God. That
which God gives, God maintains. Abraham, against hope, believed
God. That weakness was not an issue,
being not weak in faith. You say, yeah, but my faith is
weak. Scripture here says that Abraham,
being not weak in faith, means that that faith was not impotent. Now, I know the Lord told His
disciples, Oh, yield little faith. Be little faith, but it's not
impotent faith. It wasn't weak. It wasn't impotent. It was alive. It was real. God's people. Little faith? Yeah. But weak faith? Impotent
faith? No. They believed God. It's real. A lie. Abraham was not weak in
faith, and he considered not his own body now dead. That is, he didn't fix his eyes
on it. I'm 90-something years old. I'm
almost 100 years old." But he didn't fix his eyes on that.
God's people go through this life and they consider not their
own body, the weakness of their own flesh. He believed God. He staggered not, verse 20, at
the promise of God through unbelief. but was strong in faith, giving
glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what he had promised
he was able also to perform." Now, there's some comfort there. Here's the peace of a believer.
They believe God. They believe Him. What's going
to happen today? But I can tell you this, He's
never going to leave me. He's never going to forsake me. Yeah,
but what if your job gives you... He's never going to leave me.
He's never going to forsake me. But what if you go to the doctor
and they tell you that you've got cancer? Well, He's never
going to leave me. He's never going to forsake me.
Almighty God is my hope. Yeah, but isn't that the... the
worst thing that could possibly happen. Somebody gets sick, sick
unto death. I heard a believer say to me
one time, just before they died, had cancer, getting ready to
leave this world. They said, this cancer has been
my friend. It's been the best friend I've had in this world.
It's going to usher me right into the presence of God. Abraham was not weak. He wasn't impotent in faith. I agree with saying a faith seems
so little, but not weak. Strong in faith, made strong
by faith is what it means. He wasn't weak. He was considered
not when he was about 100 years old. He staggered not at the
promise of God, giving glory to God. That is, by faith, Abraham took God's opinion, gave glory
unto God. What the Lord says, that's so. God's able to do that which He
said He's able to do. And I believe it. And a believer
will walk in this life with some confidence, some peace, some
purity. Verse 22, And therefore it was
imputed to him from righteousness through the evidence of believing
God's Word. The mark of Almighty God giving
a man faith is that that man believes that God's justified. What is the evidence that God
has justified a man? Now, we talk about God justifying
a man, a woman. What is the evidence that God
has justified them? They believe God. They believe
God. Abraham believed God and it,
the imputed righteousness of Christ, was charged to him. He wasn't justified because he
believed. He believed because he was justified. God justified him. Now, verse
23, it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed
to him. God's record concerning Abraham. was not given for Abraham's sake
only. That is to say that justification
before God was by the imputed righteousness of Christ. That
wasn't written for just Abraham. He's the father of the faithful.
He's the example. He's the one that God set up
that said, this is how I deal with my people. You look at Abraham,
look at the record I gave of Abraham. This is how I deal.
with all of my people, just like I did. God's not a respecter
of persons. God Almighty did not sit down
and love Abraham more than He loves any of His other people.
He loves them all in Christ. How much does He love His Son?
Oh my goodness, I don't even know how to say that. That's
how much He loves His people. He loves them. He loves them.
He loves them. But for us also, It wasn't written
for His sake alone that it was imputed to Him, but for us also,
to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on Him that raised
up Jesus our Lord from the dead." Now, this record was given also
to us. Now, the wording of that last
Scripture does not say that the righteousness of Christ, the
imputed righteousness of Christ, is dependent upon our belief. It does not say that God Almighty
will justify us if we believe. Let me give you the literal reading
of that verse. But for us also, to whom it is
certainly imputed, those that are believing on Him that raised
up Jesus our Lord from the dead. God Himself justifies His people
freely by grace, declares them righteous based on the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ charged to their account. And that eternally,
what God purposed to do in eternity He brings about in time. Now, when I read this last verse
that we'll deal with this morning, I started this message off with
the title, Why Christ Died. Why did He die? I could have
named it, Does a believer have faith? Now,
we know that we do. It's given unto you to believe.
But why does a believer have faith? Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. Does that mean that you're not
going to please God unless God looks and sees that you have
faith, that you're not going to be able to please Him? Without
faith, it's impossible to please God. Now, my question is this.
Who pleased the Father? Now you know the answer to this.
This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. So I know
this, that all of the pleasing of God is found in Christ. Now I know that, I can establish
that one, I can take that one to the bank. My question is,
why did Christ die and why do we have faith? Why? The Scripture
says concerning the Lord Jesus Christ who was delivered for
our offenses and was raised again for our justification. Now, the understanding of why
Christ died and also why we have faith is found and understood
in a little word that's used two times. in this scripture
right here, the word for, F-O-R, for. Christ, the scripture says, was
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God because of. He was delivered for or because
of. That's what the word for means.
He was delivered because of our offenses. God's people fell in
Adam. And you know that. By one man's
transgression, this whole world was plunged in darkness. For
all that God Almighty everlastingly loved, those offenses of His
elect must be paid for. God is a just God. He does not
sweep them under the rug. He doesn't say, well, I just
won't consider them. I'll just forgive you. God is
just. The justice of God demanded that
our sins be paid paid for the blood of Christ. He was delivered. Who was delivered? Because of
our offenses. Now, we understand that. Understand
that well. But when He was raised again
for our justification, same word. He was raised again because of
our justification. He was delivered because of our
offenses and was raised again because of our justification.
God Almighty justified us, adopted us, called us, named us in one
everlasting, eternal covenant of grace in Christ. When Almighty
God delivered Him by the determinate counsel of His will and purpose,
He did that because We were sinners before God Almighty, guilty sinners,
and our guilt and sin demanded death. That's why God forsook
Him that He would not forsake you. But somebody is going to
be forsaken. Somebody is going to have God's
back turned on, and it was Christ for His people. He was delivered
for our offenses. And he was raised again. God
accepted what he did. And three days after he died,
God Almighty raised him. Christ said he raised himself.
Why? Because he's God. He said, I
have power to lay down my life. I have power to take it again.
He raised himself by his own might and power. raised himself. Why? Because the law was satisfied. The law was satisfied and God
accepted what he did. But I'll tell you this, he was
raised again because God had justified us. And when he came
out of that grave, we came out of that grave. When God was satisfied
with him, God was satisfied with his people. He was raised again
because God had justified us. There's no condemnation to them
that be in Christ Jesus. And as I've asked the question,
how long have we been in Christ? We've been in Him from the foundation
of the world. He was slain in clear view in
the very presence of the Father. The Lamb slain before. the foundation
of the world. Why does a man believe? I said,
why did Christ die? He died because God had imputed,
charged Him, our guilt to Him. Why did He die? He died because
we were guilty. He died because who was who was
slain for our offenses. Why did he die? He died to put
away, to pay the debt of his people's sin. Why was he raised? He was raised because God had
justified us. God accepted him. Now, why do
you believe? Why do you have faith? Because
God Almighty has purposed to tell you about it by faith. That's why you believe, not that
you can have any pride. By grace, and you know about
it through faith. God has justified graciously
his people, and he's told them one way, through the means of
faith. Now without that faith, Without
the presence of that faith, you can rest assured of this, God's
not pleased. God's not pleased. Lest a man
evidence that God Almighty's done something for him, by faith
he knows it, and if that faith be not found, I rest assured,
you can rest assured of this, God's not pleased. God Almighty
is pleased with His Son. He dealt with his people's sin
in his Son. God Almighty raised him from
the dead, accepted him, accepted in the beloved. God raised him
because he accepted what he performed. Well done! Well done! You've redeemed my justified. And he gave him faith to believe.
Why does a man believe? It's because God justified and
told him. And he knows it. And like Abraham,
he believes God. He believes God, not by works
of righteousness that I've done, but according to his mercy. He
saved me. All right, Gary.