This is the fourth chapter of
the book of Ephesians, chapter four. I want to call to your attention, in particular, the 32nd verse
of the 4th chapter of the book of Ephesians. verse
of this fourth chapter. Paul here said, "...but ye have not so learned
Christ." It says a couple of verses prior
to this there in verse 17. He said, This I say therefore,
and testify in the Lord, that you henceforth walk not as other
Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind. He's talking about
their character and virtues that spring forth from their character. It says that they, having the
understanding darkened in that 18th verse, these Gentiles who
walk in the vanity of their mind, having their understanding darkened
being alienated from the life of God, separated from the life
of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the
blindness of their heart, who, being past feeling, have
given themselves over unto lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with
greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ."
That's not what you've learned concerning the surety of the
covenant, the Lamb of God who alone is worthy of honor and
glory and praise. If so, be that ye have heard
him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus."
That's where the truth is. It's in Him. You know, I've said
before that Brother Ralph Barnard said one time that God put all
of his eggs in one basket. That is, all truth is in the
Lord Jesus Christ. All blessings is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. There is no blessing, there is
no hope, there is no righteousness, there is no cleansing, there
is no adoption of children outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every
blessing is in Christ. But ye have not so learned Christ,
like these Gentiles, other Gentiles and other Jews, because of the
blindness of their heart. They didn't know anything about
the life of God through the ignorance that's in them. and says here, If so be that
ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is
in Jesus. That ye put off concerning the
former conversation of the old man. That when a man puts on
Christ, his character is changed and
even his reputation is changed. He turns from the vanity and
the vileness of this wicked world and submits himself unto Him
who alone is worthy of honor and glory and becomes a follower
of the Lamb, a follower of Jesus. And his example is the Lord of
life, the Lord Jesus himself. He aspires to walk pleasing unto
God in Christ. to honor the Christ of God for who He is and for what He
done. So you're alienated from the
former conversation of the old man, that deceitful one, the
carnality of the flesh. the former conversation, the
old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be
renewed in the spirit of your mind, that ye put on the new
man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness,
wherefore putting away lying, speaking every man truth with
his neighbor, Tell his neighbor the truth. Love his neighbor. If he loves his neighbor, he
is bound to tell his neighbor the truth. He doesn't hedge on
this business of who the Lord Jesus Christ is. He doesn't hedge
on that. He doesn't back down. But he
tells him about the God of salvation. put on the new man which after
God has created in righteousness and true holiness, put away lying,
speak every man truth with his neighbor. It is pretty hard to
tell your neighbor the truth as to how God saves sinners. It is pretty hard to do it because
you know what you can expect because the religion of this
twentieth century is as far removed from the truth
as heaven is from hell. They don't know what they believe,
and they know nothing for certain. That describes 20th century religion. They don't know what they believe,
and what they do believe, they don't believe there is any certainty
to it. Put away lying. Tell them the
truth. Be ye angry, and sin not. That is, don't let the sun go
down upon your wrath. Don't let it fester. Don't keep it within you. neither give place to the devil.
Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working
with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to
give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication
proceed out of your mouth. but that which is good, that's
the gospel, to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to
those that you talk to. And grieve not the Holy Spirit
of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let
all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking,
be put away from you with all malice, and be ye kind to one
another." He's talking to his children.
He's told them how they ought not to act towards their neighbors. Now he tells us how we're to
act to one another. and be ye kind to one another. Tenderhearted it would be a great
and glorious testimony of the living God of all truth and his
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, if we who are followers of him adhered
to this truth in this verse. and be kind to one another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another. Now, if we'd all aspire to live
like that, God would be honored and glorified
in our lives. We ought to make it our to consider
this that He admonished His people to do. Kind to one another. Tenderhearted. Forgiving one
another. And here's what I want to talk
about this morning. Even as God, even as God, for
Christ's sake, hath forgiven you, For Christ's sake, there is such
a thing as forgiveness of sins, and it is a full and complete
forgiveness of sins. And I have said it hundreds of
times here at this church and at other churches. The forgiveness
of sins is thorough and complete. I have said that in the infinite
wisdom of God, God has gathered all of his people's sins and
laid them on Christ and has forgiven us for Christ's sake. All of our sins have been forgiven. Those that look to him, those
that have experienced the new birth, They have been laid on Christ for Christ's sake. What meaneth
that, for Christ's sake? It means because of, or on the
account of, for Christ's sake, for His sake, because of. Now, this is the foundation.
This is the foundation of every blessing. It is the foundation
of the fountain of grace. No sinner has ever or ever shall
be forgiven his sins because of anything in him or anything
done by him but wholly, solely, because of the Lord Jesus Christ,
for Christ's sake, forgiving one another, even as
God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you, on the account
of the person of Christ and the work of Christ in our behalf. Forgiveness of sins, that is
a great and glorious thing. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is Christ that died. Yea,
rather, God hath justified. Wonderful isn't it? Good news
to a hopeless, helpless sinner. A sinner whose conscience has
been pierced. when the light shines and the
scales come off of his eyes and he is able to ascertain that
he is forgiven. All of his sins are forgiven,
not because of who he is, not because of anything that he has
ever done or will do, but it is all for Christ's sake on the
account of Christ of God. Every sinner, notwithstanding
how moral or religious he is, is guilty, condemned, undeserving,
and hell-deserving. Every sinner. Over here in the second chapter
of the book of Ephesians and verse number 1. It describes the sinner and his
nature before his sins are forgiven for Christ's sake. It says, And
you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and in sins. In times past you walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in
times passed in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of wrath even as others. But God, thank God for that but,
but God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith
he loved us, even when we were dead in sin, quickened us together
with Christ, by grace are you saved, and hath raised us up
together, and made us to sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus. Then turn with me over here to
the book of Romans, I think the eighth chapter of the book of
Romans, verses 5 through 8. For they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit,
the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is
death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because
the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are
in the flesh cannot please God. There is not one single solitary
human being on the face of the earth that ever or will ever
please God apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. So we are not saved
because we please God, because we are unpleasing to God. We
are saved on the account of Jesus. We are accepted in behalf of
the Lord Jesus on His account. Well, dead in trespasses and
in sin cannot do one single solitary thing that pleases God or is
acceptable to God. Not one thing. Christ is the appointed one. He's the appointed substitute
and surety of his people and satisfied God on our behalf. For Christ's sake, we are saved
by the grace of God based on the person and the work. of the
Lord Jesus Christ, satisfied to ever claim against us. The Bible says that in the book
of 1 Peter, chapter 1, chapter 2 of the book of 1 Peter, and verse 24, it says, who his own self, the person,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the man, that blind man said in response
to the question that the Pharisees asked. He said, Who hath opened
your eyes? He said, A man called Jesus. He, his own self, bear our sins
in his own body on the tree that we, being dead to sins, should
live under righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed. Already it took place. 2,000
years ago. Well, He bore our sins and purged them
over in the book of Hebrews. Turn with me there to the first
chapter of the book of Hebrews, if you will. Hebrews chapter 1 and the third verse. Who being the brightness of His
glory, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. Who being the brightness of His glory, the express image
of His person, and upholding all things by the word of his
power. And when he had by himself purged
our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high,
being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance
obtained a more excellent name than they. So he bore their sins, the Bible
says, his people's sins, and purged them and rendered unto
God a life of perfect obedience to make them righteous. before
the throne of God. He suffered what they deserved. He paid what they owed. He justified
them freely by his free grace. And even there, this faith is
a gift of God for Christ's sake. over here in the book of Romans
one more time to chapter 3. Chapter 3, verse 24. It says this. It says, well,
first the 23rd verse says, For all sin comes short of the glory
of God. We are accepted for His sake. When you pray, pray in His name. Whatsoever you do in word or
deed, do all to the glory of God. Do not in this world ever
be deceived and give yourself to some other name except this
name who hath purged us from our sins. being justified, acquitted
as though we had never seen it, being justified freely by His
grace for Jesus' sake. Notice, through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in His blood, faith is a gift of God, to declare
His righteousness for the remissions of sins that are passed through
the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at this time, His righteousness,
that He might be just and the justifier of him that believeth
in Jesus. and purged us of our sins and
give us faith to lay hold of him who is none other than the
Lord Jesus Christ. I ask you this question in light
of what I have said thus far. Can you think of a single solitary
reason why God would save Can you just think of one reason,
maybe a little reason, maybe just something no bigger than
the head of an ape? Can you find or think of any
reason why God would save you or why God would save me? think of any reason why God would
save me. But I can think how He can and
does save the vilest of sinners for Christ's sake. I can see that, can't you, Pat?
For Christ's sake. For Christ's sake. And I read
to you over there in Revelation chapter 5 about the Lamb. And let me just
talk a little bit here to you this morning from that fifth
chapter of the book of Revelation. It says here that When he had taken the book and
the four beasts and the twenty elders fell down before the Lamb,
that is verse 8. They had taken the book and the four
beasts and the four and twenty elders fell down. Now what made them fall down? It was because of the brightness
of the glory. of this Lamb, and what they had
found out about this Lamb. They fell down before the Lamb,
having every one of them hearts and golden vials full of odors,
which are the prayers of the saints, incense, sweet-smelling
savor. And they sung a new song. They
sang a new song. And this is what they said in
their hymn. They said, Thou art worthy to
take the book and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast
slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every
kindred and tongue and people and nation, and hast made us
unto our God-kings and priests. and we shall reign on the earth.
And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about
the throne, and the beasts, and the elders, and the number of
them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands upon
thousands. And they were singing a song,
and the song that they sang was worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive power. God raised Him from the dead. Redemption was made. God was
satisfied. The law was honored. And He bore
the curse of the law. made us accepted in Himself. And the theme, the song that
they sang, the angels and the saints of God in heaven, they
sang, worthy is the Lamb of God. That was it. And has redeemed
us to God. Made us kings and priests. Worthy
is the Lamb. Oh, the song which is the glory
of the angels and redeemed sinners in heaven. To know and to believe
in and to love supremely and to follow the Lamb, to follow
the Lamb, to love the Lamb, this is our heaven on earth. Sin is
our hell. but the Lamb of God that taketh
away our sin, and that is heaven to our souls. That the Lamb of
God hath taken away our sins by himself, by his person, by
his work. Well, here's what I wanted to
say. Why is the dear Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the only begotten of the Father. Why is he called
the Lamb? Well, I'll try to tell you. First
off, he's called the Lamb because of his immaculate purity. Because he was holy, harmless,
and undefiled, separate from sinners, without spot and without
blemish. And they called him a lamb. And
they understood that he was a lamb that was slain. It was the Lamb
of God that John the Baptist spoke about
when he looked in that direction and said, the Lamb of God that
taketh away our sins. All right? Why was He called
the Lamb? Because He was harmless and undefiled,
separate from sinners. Why? Because He was meek. He was inoffensive. That is, he was like a lamb.
A lamb has no weapon of hostility. Now, a horse would not be called
a lamb and does not have any lamb-like qualities or features. A horse will bite you. A horse
will run over you. A horse will kick you and hurt
you. But he is called a lamb. He has no weapon of hostility
about him. A lamb never hurts anyone. Did you ever hear of anyone being
hurt by a lamb? A lamb cannot defend itself. All this the Lord Jesus Christ
was in his life. He was like the lamb when he
was taken to the slough and slain with wicked hands to take away
our sins by his blood. You remember that he was the
paschal lamb, and God had told Moses to take a lamb and catch him
up for 14 days to observe with scrutiny this lamb, that he had
no spot or he had no blemish, because the lamb's blood, innocent,
perfect blood of the Son of God. It's going to be on the doorpost. And the avenging angel, which
was God Himself, said, When I come over and I see the blood, for
Christ's sake, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. That's the reason why He's called
the Lamb. because he was slain to take
away our sin by his blood. A slain lamb is precious for
food. It's a delicacy. It's not every
day that you have lamb chops. A lamb is precious for food and
is very useful for clothing. All the garments that are made, that are worthwhile and lasting,
is made of wool and clothes, useful for clothing. So is God's
Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. His flesh is meat indeed. His blood is drink indeed. We are justified by his righteousness. Our sins are washed away by his
blood and our souls are made perfect before God in the glorious
perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. We are accepted in Jesus' name. for Jesus' sake. So I close this
morning by admonishing myself and you as well to honor Him
by believing in Him. That is the way you honor God.
You honor the testimony of God in Christ. You believe that this
Lamb, this God-man, stood in your stead, in your place, and
in your room, and bore your sins, made an end of them, and they
are gone as far as the east is from the west. And he hath clothed
you in his righteousness, and hath forgiven you of all your
sins." You are called upon to believe in that person. who is the Lamb of God. And I
tell you here this morning, you will never go where He is in
God's heaven, in God's righteous kingdom, unless you believe and
trust in this man who is referred to as the Lamb of God. He atoned for our sins. He made
an end of our sins. You look at yourself here this
morning as a sinner, as black as hell. You say, well, is your heart
black? My heart is as black as hell by nature. I am deformed
as the devil is deformed. But I'm not going to look at
myself. I'm going to look at Him who took my place. A hell-deserving sinner. I deserved hell. But He took my place. He made
an end to my sins and has forgiven me for Christ's sake on His account. He stood in my place. He's my
substitute. He's my Savior. That's what it's
all about. That's what it's all about, that Christ is the Savior
from the penalty that's due you. He's your righteousness which
God demands. He bore the curse that hung upon
your head, the curse of the broken law. We're saved. on the basis of
who he is and the basis of what he's done. So I tell you this,
have nothing to do with any other name under heaven except his
name, the Lamb of God. Do business with him. But I'll
quit there.