few passages from the book of
Galatians, in the sixth chapter of the book
of Galatians, It says, If a man be overtaken
in a fault, there's always that possibility. As long as we're
flesh and blood, we can be overtaken. And we're admonished by the Lord through the Word
that we are to be careful and in everything give thanks. and
be alert and be watchful that the enemy, the chief enemy of
God and the chief enemy of man is the devil and he is going
about seeking whom he may devour. And he would like to overcome
us with the fault. He would like to get us in a
state where we are full of fretfulness and doubt and despair and get
us real anxious and try to destroy us. If he could,
we know he can't. We know he can't do it. I told
you the other day he's God's devil and he's on a string. He can only go so far. But anyhow, if a man be overtaken
in a fault. He said, ye which are spiritual,
ye which have not been overcome with a fault. You need to have
some understanding. I remember one place in the book
of 1 Corinthians, he said, Is there not a wise man among you?
You know, some of their brethren had done some things that weren't
necessarily right, I guess, and they attempted to take others
before the law. They were going to have their
case be brought up before civil government of some sort. And
Paul said, Why? Is there no wise men among you
that you can't settle your own disputes without taking a brother
before the law and settling a dispute before these ungodly people?
Wise men. Wise men. We've got some wise
men here. God has made them wise. They're
wise in the things of God. The Spirit of God has taught
them some things, and they are wise men. God has made them so. Ye which are spiritual, restore
such a one. Try to show him the hour of his
ways. Be tender, like a nurse wrapping
a bandage around your arm or something. Restore such one in the spirit
of meekness, not thinking yourself to be something when you are
nobody. Consider thyself, lest thou also
be tempted. Just remember that you are still
flesh and blood, and you can be overcome. Bury one another's
burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. If a man thinks himself
to be something, And all of us do, on occasion. Isn't that right? On occasion we get all puffed
up. Somebody. When we're nobody. For man to think himself to be
something. When he's nothing. He's nothing. That's hard on
us, nothing. You're nothing. He just deceives
himself when he thinks he's somebody and he's nothing. He deceives
himself. Do you remember over there in
the book of 1 Corinthians where it says, ìWho hath made thee
to differ?î Well, let every man prove his own worth. ìThen shall he have rejoicing
in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall
bear his own burden. Let him that is taught the word
communicate unto him that teacheth. in all good things. Be not deceived,
God is not mocked. For whatsoever man soweth, that
shall he also reap. There is a consequence to everything
we do, the result of. Things happen, they are the result
of. They are the consequence. He
that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption.
He that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life
everlasting. Let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap
if we faint not." Don't be weary. Get tired. Say, what's the use? What's the use? I was talking
to a fellow the other day, a preacher. He's a cameo. He said, what's
the use? He said, I can't see any change
in these people. He said, there's no one new ever
come. I said, I don't know what to do. I said, hang in there. It'll come. You may never live
to see it come, but it'll come. In due season we shall reap if
we faint not. As we have, therefore, opportunity,
as God gives us opportunities, as God opens up the door and
makes the way, let us do good unto all men, that is, all flesh, but especially and particularly
unto them who are the household of faith, those of the family,
the little children, the weak and feeble ones, God's people,
members of his kingdom, especially unto them. I'll quit there. Psalm 64. This seems to be a psalm of David,
and in this psalm he expresses his prayer unto God and asks Him
to help him or deliver him from
the snare of the fowler, from the enemy, that they might not
do him in. It's a prayer of safety. Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer. Preserve my life from the fear,
from fear of the enemy. It's a terrible thing to be afraid. Sometimes it's worse than the
enemy itself. It's the fear of the enemy, the
fear of something. Deliver me from that fear. Hide me from the secret counsel
of the wicked, from the insurrection of the workers of the iniquity,
who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot
their arrows, even bitter words. Their arrows are bitter words. And they shoot in secret at the
perfect. Suddenly do they shoot him, and fear not. He wants to
be delivered from the fear of these people. They encourage themselves in
an evil manner. That is, in their talk, in their
language, in their speech. They commune of laying snares,
set up traps. Privately, they say, who shall
see them? They search out iniquities. They
accomplish a diligent search. That is, they are very thorough.
Both the inward thought of every one of them and the heart is
deep. But God shall shoot at them with
an arrow, and suddenly shall they be wounded. So they shall make their own
tongue to fall upon themselves. Turn that thing around. And all
that see them shall flee away, and all men shall fear and shall
declare the work of God. for they shall wisely consider
of his doing." And he concludes this hymn, this song of praise
by way of prayer, and said, "...the righteous shall be glad in the
Lord, and shall trust in him, and all the upright in heart
shall glory." I ask you this question in light of verse 10.
The righteous shall be glad in the Lord. In what way is a man
made righteous before the Lord? The righteous shall be glad in
the Lord, shall trust him, and all the upright in heart glory. That is the question. In what
way is a man made righteous before God? In what way? How can a man
be righteous before God? Well, I'll tell you this much. He is not made so by his works. He's not made righteous by his
works. He's not made righteous by being a member of a Baptist
church, or a Methodist church, or a Presbyterian church, or
some other church of some kind. He's not made righteous that
way. I know that. I know he is not made righteous
by his prayers, his duty, his obedience, or his faith, or his
love to God. He is not made righteous that
way. He might think he is, but he is not. That is not the way
that a man is made righteous before God. The righteous shall
be glad in the Lord. How can a man be made righteous
before God? The answer is, God has made him
righteous in his own way. In his own way, not in our way. He has made us righteous in his
own way. There is a way that seems right
in the eyes of a man. There is a way, there are many
ways in the eyes of a man that seemeth right, But they're like
the blind leading the blind. They both are destroyed. They both fall and break their
legs, fall in the ditch, or are destroyed on the way. God has
made him righteous in his own way. How do you know? Well, I
know because it's revealed in the word of his grace, in the
word of truth, in God's own words. We find in His Word, by His own
revelation, by His own inspiration, we find that He, in His sovereign
mercy, His discriminating grace, has imputed to and laid upon
the beloved. by the Beloved, I mean the surety,
I mean the sent one, I mean the Lord Jesus Christ. He has in sovereign mercy and
discriminating grace imputed to and laid upon the Beloved
One. the surety of the covenant, the
prince of life, the prince of peace, the man, Christ Jesus,
the God-man. He's laid upon him all the sin
and transgression of his people. He's laid it all upon them. How is a man made righteous before
God? He's made righteous in God's
own way, and that way is that he took all of our sins and transgressions
and laid them upon the beloved Son of God and transferred to
us all of his obedience and all of the holiness of His beloved
Son. That's how we're made righteous
before God. That's God's own way. And there's no other way. No
other way. His name shall be called Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. And you could
say that that teaches He shall make His people righteous before
God. And that's the only way they
can be made righteous before God. He transfers them all the
obedience and the holiness of the Lord Jesus Christ, His beloved
Son, and places it to their account as their justification before
Him. So it is. They are righteous before God.
In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, let me read this to you. 1 Corinthians
chapter 1 and verse 30, listen to what it says. It says, "...but
of him Are ye in Christ? But of God
are ye in Christ. In Christ tonight, He's our hope. He's our hope. He's mine and
I'm His. Not by works of righteousness
that I've done, not by my prayers, not by my duties, not by my obedience,
not by my propositions, not by my intentions, good or bad. I'm in Christ because God put
me in Christ. So the Bible says. That's what
the Bible says. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us righteousness. Is that what it says? I skipped
wisdom. Are ye in Christ Jesus, who of
God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption? That according as it is written,
He that glory, let him glory in the Lord. Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus,
made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. So, if I know anything about
what this verse says, I can say honestly without fear of contradiction
from anyone, be he a scholar or be he ignorant. I fear no
contradiction by saying, so in light of what I have said thus
far, nothing Nothing belonging to you can be your righteousness. Nothing that belongs to you can
be righteousness before God. Not your prayers, or your tears,
or anything you do or don't do. Not your humility, not your prayers,
not your love, or not even your faith. Oh no. But listen. On the other hand
now, on the other side of this story, neither our fretfulness, neither
our unbelief, neither our doubts and fears or none of the devilish
workings in our hearts can ever shake or alter our righteousness
before God. Nothing can shake it. Nothing
can change it. Remember, I read to you here,
I believe this morning or a service or two ago, whatsoever God doeth,
He does forever. Whatever He does, He does forever.
Nothing can alter and nothing can shake the fact and reality
that it is of God that we are in Christ Jesus and made righteous
before him by imputation, by taking our sins and transgressions,
and laying upon Him the sinless One, and He's going to bear the
punishment that's due us against our sins, and He's going to transfer
unto us all of His righteousness, and all of His holiness is going
to be charged to our account. His righteousness is imputed
to us, and that's how We are righteous before God and no other
way. What a blessing then it is if
you and I, it's a blessing now, if you and I are among the righteous. Oh, listen, if we are among the
number that no man can count, that comes from every tribe and
tongue and nation under the sun. If we are among that number,
it is because we are made righteous by Jesus Christ. It is so if
we are among that number. Neither sin nor Satan can overthrow
us. That ought to be a comfort to
you. Neither sin or Satan can overthrow what God has done in
Christ for His people. All of the obedience of the Lord
Jesus Christ, all of His righteousness is charged to us, is imputed
to our account. We stand in Him and Him alone. We are joined to Him as one. As He is, so are we. How is it that a man can be righteous
before God? The Bible says in the book of
1 Corinthians, or the book of 2 Corinthians, I believe it is,
in chapter 5, maybe. Let me see. Chapter 5. No, that's not it. Maybe it is. I'm in the wrong
book. Chapter 5. What does it say? Verse 21. Listen
to this. You've heard this many times. That He there is God. For He hath made Him to be sin
for us. You know what I said? How can
a man be made righteous before God? Well, God took our sins. He took all that we owed. He took them and placed them
on His Son. His pure, sinless, perfect Son,
who was without spot or without blemish, who knew no sin. Our
sins were transferred from us and laid on Him, and He bore
the iniquity of us all. Now it says, For He hath made
Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin. He knew no sin. The man Christ Jesus, He knew
no sin. Now listen, what is the result? What is the consequence of it? It's this, that we, that's all
the believers, every believer, be he big or small, every believer, regardless of
the proportion of understanding and knowledge that he has. Every
believer, every poor soul that has been made to see by the Spirit
of God that there is nothing in him that he can give or offer
to gain favor with God, that in him dwelleth no good thing.
That fellow that stands upon that ground, and the Lord says,
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. I'll give
you rest. And that fellow comes. He comes
because he's aided and led by the Spirit of God. And every
one of them who knew no sin, the Lord Jesus Christ, made him
to be sin who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. And that is how a man is made
righteous before God, is by and through his substitute, by and
through his representative, by and through God's beloved, the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's the Lord, our righteousness,
the Bible says. He is the Lord, our righteousness. And it also says in the book
of Colossians, ye are complete in him. Nothing lacking. Well, someone says, I know, but
I think this and I do that. What's that got to do with this?
What's that got to do with this? Ye are complete in Him. What you do has nothing to do
with Him. I know, but I've got to do this
and I've got to do that. You've got to believe on Him
whom God has sent. This is the work of God, that
you might believe on Him whom God has sent. If you want righteousness,
If you want a righteousness, it will stand you in good stead
with God. He is the Lord, our righteousness. We are complete in Him, the Bible
says, and it also says we are accepted by God in Him. He does not accept us in our
own persons. How could He? A holy God. How
can God be just and justifier of him that believeth in Jesus?
How can God show mercy to the poor sinner? At the expense of
his justice, he can't do it. Justice has got to be satisfied,
and the Lord Jesus Christ satisfies justice, pays all our debts,
discharges all our liabilities, and makes us accepted in his
own person. We ever live before God in him. Those that are righteous before
God are freely justified by His grace through the redemption,
the Bible says, which is in Christ Jesus. Oh, they are justified
and completely acquitted in Him. Completely acquitted. There is
no doubt. So that no charge. the Bible
says, can be brought against them. They are so righteous in
the Lord Jesus Christ that neither fallen angels and the devil and
all the wicked, evil elements of this world combined as one
can ever, ever lay a charge against Him whom God has made righteous. And that's the truth. So help
me God. Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's election? Who is it? Who is it? Oh, people can charge you down
here. They can lay charges against
you down here where it don't count. It don't count down here. It's up there that counts. And
who up there could lay any charge against God's elect. Oh, no. Well, so those that are righteous
in Him before God are made so in the Lord Jesus Christ. They
are members of His own body. They are in union with Him as
the vine and the branches. In union with Him, vital union
with Him. And all that He is, and all that
he has as the head of the church is charged to and put upon them
that God makes righteous before the throne. Oh, when a man's
soul is brought to know that he is righteous before God in
Christ, his substitute, When he's brought to know that now,
listen, when he's brought to know beyond the shadow of a doubt,
when the Spirit of God shows him and teaches him from the
Word that he is righteous before God forever and forever, it's
an everlasting righteousness. It cannot be altered. It cannot
be shaken. When he's brought to know this,
he does not want to be justified before God in any other way. Now, you take that home with
you. You believe that. When a man sees this truth that
I'm talking about, how a man can be righteous before God,
when he sees it, when God teaches it to him, then ask him if he
wants to be justified before God some other way. And he'll
say, No. Oh, no. There is no other way. All is left up to me. God could
never dwell in this black heart of mine. Oh, no, my soul. All right, one more thing then
about this and I will quit. What is it that proves beyond
a shadow of a doubt that a man is righteous before God? What is the proof of it? You've
done a lot of talk about it. How can you prove this? Well,
I've already proved it. But let me say this, though,
in light of that. What proves a man to be righteous
before God is whenever the Holy Spirit of God, the third person
of the Trinity, God, God the Holy Spirit. Now, when God the
Holy Spirit dwells in the heart of a poor sinner, and He takes
possession of the affections of his soul, When he does that,
such a person, that he does that to the Holy Spirit who dwells
in him, takes possession of his affections, that person is a
righteous man. That person is a righteous man.
For the Spirit of God never works contrary to the Father, and He
never works contrary to the Son. They are in complete harmony
and unity. And whenever he enters the heart,
he causes the soul to see its barrenness, its wretchedness,
its weakness, and its nothingness. When the Holy Spirit takes possession
of a man's soul, he causes him to see his nothingness before
God, nothingness in himself. Now, if a man knows nothing,
of what I've already mentioned here, of this nothingness, of
this barrenness, this wretchedness, this corruption, this pollution.
If he knows nothing of this, he has no more proof of God dwelling
in his heart than a beast does in the open field. When spiritual light begins to
shine on the Word, and into the heart of a poor sinner. It is
only then when that poor sinner discovers what human nature is. And that's the problem with the
majority religion of our day. They do not know the depravity
of human nature. If someone shoots three or four
people or something awful happens, the question is, The question
arises, and it arises from and is produced by human nature. And the question is, why did
a man do a thing like that? I didn't think anybody was capable.
Well, he does not know anything about human nature. Human nature
can do anything. Did you know it was human nature
that drove the spikes in the arms of the Lord Jesus Christ?
That's human nature. If human nature will kill God,
it will do anything. That's how bad we are. Do you
ever get to know how bad you are, what you really are, what
you are in your heart, how black and corrupted it is? And you
discover what human nature is, and you'll only discover that
as the Holy Spirit takes the Word. The Spirit of God shines
on that Word upon your heart and reveals unto you how bad
human nature is. Instead of seeing any evidence
in a man's being as to whether he's a righteous man, he'll cry
out, How can God dwell in such a heart as mine? Such a dark
place. Such a damp place, such a place
where God is not revered and not reverenced, and God is not
spoke and thought of in a godly way. How could God dwell in a
heart like mine? Oh, listen, a man whom the Holy Spirit has
taken up His dwelling place in, he sees so much of what there
is in flesh and blood, that he's astonished by all of it. He says,
Oh, I can't believe that. I can't believe that. The only
way I could believe it is to hear God say that's the way it
is. That's what God says. That's the way it is. He's astonished.
He sees himself from the top of his head to the soles of his
feet. a mass of corruption and pollution,
and a mass of sin, and this is what he finds out. And this is
what the majority of the religious in our day have not found out.
Until you find this out, you'll never be sick of yourself. But
when you discover and find out that there is no good thing in
this flesh, when you find that out, that there's no good thing
that dwelleth in this flesh, When a man finds that out, that
is the result of the Spirit of God working in him, and he becomes
sick of himself. And he'll flee to Him, whom to
know is life eternal. And that's how a man can prove
he is righteous before God. In the knowledge of who he is, that he's far off from God, that
he's lost before God for the lack of a righteousness conformable
to the demands of God. In the knowledge of this, he
will be led all the days of his life. He'll always find that
in the flesh dwelleth no good thing. He can't go beyond that
stage. He cannot make such remarkable
growth and improvement in himself that he can find any good thing
in his flesh. And he becomes sick of himself.
And it's at this point when God is pleased to display his glory. The Bible says, He that humbleth
himself shalt be exalted. He that humbleth himself, the
Bible says, the Lord resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to
the lowly. When the soul is cast down, then grace raises it up. I say this, a full Christ, for
an empty center, a full Christ for an empty center. When you're
empty of self, then you're a fit vessel for a full Christ, a Christ
that is so full that He's done all that's needful and necessary
and all that's required. He's your All in All. He's your
Good Shepherd. He's your friend that's sticking
closer than a brother. He's your justification before
God. He's your sin-bearer. He's your
Lamb that taketh away the sin of the world. And He's your righteousness
before God. That's all you've got. It's in
Him, and it's before God. The full Christ for an empty
sinner. The Holy Spirit dwelling in such
a righteous soul will teach him and show him that all his prayers
and all of his tears, with all the energy that he can muster
up, can never produce one good thing in him that would cause
God to look in his direction or cause God to show him favor. Huh? Not one good thing in him
that would merit God's sovereign, discriminating grace and God's
sovereign mercy. Have you ever found out about
that commandment that Paul talks about? He says this commandment,
he said, that was ordained to life, he said, I found it to
be unto death. That's what Paul said. Have you
found it to be so? Has God ever killed you yet? God ever laid you low? The Bible
says the latter killeth. The law kills, but the Spirit
giveth life. Has He ever killed you? He'll
have to kill you in the process of time. If you're ever going to stand
before Him clothed in His righteousness, you'll have to be sick as death.
The Bible says, Cursed is everything that continueth not in all things
that are written in the book of the law to do them. Did that
ever ever kill you? When it kills a man, it kills
a man, he finds out he can do nothing. Have you ever found
out you can't do nothing? When you find that out, when
you find that out, you're on the road to death. You can't
do nothing. You can't do nothing. Oh, when
a man finds that out, he'll be completely cured. of going about
to establish his own righteousness, which is of the law, not faith. That will cure him of that disease.
He will quit it. He will be shown that there is
no righteousness nor ability to save in any other but in him
and him alone. And when the text here that I
read to you in Psalm 64, verse 10, where it says, that they
will always be glad. You know what it says? Read that one. The righteous shall be glad in
the Lord. Well, it doesn't say that they'll
always be glad in the Lord, does it? It doesn't say that they'll
always be happy. It doesn't say that they'll always
rejoice in the Lord. It doesn't say that. Listen,
the Bible says many are the afflictions of the righteous. Doesn't it
say that? It also says, but the Lord delivereth
them out of the moth. You have down days. You're not
always going to be happy. When your children die, you won't
be happy. When your husband dies, well,
some of you will be happy, maybe. I don't think you will be, but you'll be down. Be by yourself. Thinking about the nursing home.
Thinking about, well, who's going to do the work now? What am I
going to do? How am I going to get around?
My children are far off. All that. You won't be so happy. But I'll tell you this, many
are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord, He has a way of
delivering us out of them all. He knows the way we take, and
when we come forth, we shall use it. How can a man be righteous
before God? Only through the Lord Jesus Christ,
the sent one, coming, establishing righteousness by His obedience,
and satisfying holiness and justice, and becoming our sin bearer and
bearer of punishment that is rightly due to us. Bearing it
away and imputing to us all of His righteousness and all of
His holiness, charging that to our account. And He ever lives. He ever lives before God to intercede
for us. And we stand in Him. We stand
in Him now. We're joined to Him in this vital
union that cannot be severed. We're there in Him. And He's
blessed us with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in
Christ, and we're in Him. We're safe as God can make us
safe. He can't make us any safer than
this. We're in the ark. We're in Christ. Unshakable. Can't be altered. We're Thine forever. Blessed
be His name. Thank God for this so great salvation. It's not of us. It's all of you. And unto Him be glory and honor,
world without end.