Yeah. The notices for the coming week
are God willing as follows. Dr. Timothy Ramsbottom will preach
here next Lord's Day at 10.30 and 2 o'clock. Pastor will preach
here on Thursday evening at 7 o'clock. And there will be no prayer meeting
this week on Tuesday evening. The collections taken on Christmas
Day for the Mombasa mission amounted to £632.50. Collections taken
during December amounted to £3,311.08. Donations to the book fund were £100. We
sincerely thank you for your continued support of this cause
of truth. Let us commence our service today on this New Year's
Day with hymn number 700. The tune is Samuel 2, 561. Great
God, to thee we come and solemnly confess Our hearts are prone to roam
from paths of righteousness. We view the year already past
and see great cause to be abashed. Hymn 700. And solemnly confess Our hearts
are broken to and fro She knew the year already past,
and she grateful to be about. Thy sovereign love and care,
Thus Thou hath brought us all. Deep things and powers and fears,
Thy goodness is, they know. That grace must meet thee rich
and great, which makes the twelfth-less ones as free. King of Eden and here, dependent
on Thy grace, may we purchase Thy fear and often ♪ In thy face ♪ ♪ O pray, God save
thee ♪ ♪ With thy faith ♪ ♪ Triumphant over ♪ ♪ Sin and death ♪ ♪ In life I work with Thee ♪ ♪
And make us watch and pray ♪ ♪ Subdue each fateful sin ♪ ♪ And guide
us in ♪ Thy way. In Jesus' name we live and rest,
And sweetly lean upon His breast. Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in Paul's Epistle to the Romans and Chapter 3. The third chapter of the Epistle
to the Romans. What advantage then hath the
Jew? Or what profit is there of circumcision? much every way, chiefly because
that unto them were committed the oracles of God. For what
if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the
faith of God without effect? God forbid. Yea, let God be true,
but every man a liar, as it is written, that thou mightest be
justified in thy sayings. and might is overcome when thou
art judged. But if our unrighteousness commend
the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous,
who take his vengeance? I speak as a man. God forbid. For then how shall God judge
the world? For if the truth of God hath
more abounded through my lie unto his glory, why yet am I
also judged as a sinner? And not rather, as we be slanderously
reported, and as some affirm that we say, let us do evil that
good may come, whose damnation is just. What then? Are we better than they? No,
in no wise. For we have before proved, both
Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin. As it is written,
there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after
God. They are all come out of the
way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that
doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher. With their tongues have they
used deceit. The poison of asp is under their
lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their
feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in
their ways. And the way of peace have they
not known. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. Now we know that what things
soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law,
that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become
guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by
the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of
Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. For there
is no difference. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace,
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has
set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
past 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 God. In Jesus, where is boast
in them? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay, but by the law
of faith. Therefore we conclude that a
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Is he the
God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles?
Yes, of the Gentiles also. seeing it is one God which shall
justify the circumcision by faith and uncircumcision through faith. Do we then make void the law
through faith? God forbid. Yea, we establish
the law. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word. Grant unto us a spirit of real
prayer. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is an art, an art to come, we desire to bow before thy great
majesty. We desire, O Lord, a spirit of
real prayer, the grace of supplication with thanksgiving. We're thankful,
Lord, that on this New Year's Day, we're found in the house
of God. We're found among thy people.
What a great mercy, Lord. And we thank thee that it is
so. Through thy grace, through thine everlasting mercy, we're
found here in the house of God with a hope, a sweet hope in
the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. We pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou wouldst fill each of our hearts with gratitude,
with thanksgiving, for all thy tender mercies and thy loving
kindnesses that has brought us hitherto. Here we raise our Ebenezer,
hither, by thy help we've come. And Lord, we're thankful unto
thee for thy wonderful mercies and thy great goodness. And we
sung together, O Lord, we view the year already past. And Lord,
we do. And thou hast brought us through
great trials, and through thy mercy thou hast helped us hitherto,
and we believe, O Lord, that thou wilt help us all our journey
through. We thank thee for thy covenant
faithfulness. We thank thee for thy unchangeable
word and will and purpose in the gospel, in our Lord Jesus
Christ. We come together, Lord, on this
New Year's Day to thank thee for the glories of Christ, for
the wonders of redeeming love, for the fullness of that salvation
that he has wrought out for his people, which we have read of
in thy holy word, and that glorious righteousness without the law,
even the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, we do
thank thee for the glory of his person, for the fullness of his
grace, for the power of his love, for the efficacy of his mercy,
for those things that we have tasted, handled and felt of the
good word of life. But we thank thee for the glory
of his person, Jesus, the son of God, and what he has done
and what he has accomplished. And we thank thee that in the
Lord Jesus Christ, we see the fulfilment of that lovely and
sacred and ancient promise. Yea, I have loved thee. with
an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. We thank thee for the everlasting
love of God, the everlasting love of our eternal Father, the
everlasting love of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the
Father, and the everlasting power and grace of the Spirit of our
God. O gracious God, we would render
thanksgiving unto thee, and praise unto thee. Praise waited for
thee, O God, and unto thee shall the vow be performed. And as
we enter another year of time, we feel our dependence upon thee,
O Lord, our God. And we do pray that thou would
go before us in each untrodden step. and that thou wouldst be
mouth, matter, and wisdom unto us. And we pray that in this
coming year we may see the outpouring of thy Spirit. For Lord, it is
certain that nothing can be done without thy blessed Spirit, until
the Spirit be poured upon us from on high. Oh, that there
may be such a day in this coming year, and that the Word of the
Lord that has been distributed may be richly blessed of thee,
to the good of precious souls, to the bringing forth and bringing
into the church of God, those that love thy name, those that
have been stopped in their mad career, those that have been
brought to the feet of Jesus. We long to see the prodigals
return. We long to see thy power and
thy glory as thou usest to be in the sanctuary. We long that
thou would pour upon us as a church and as a congregation the spirit
of real travail, for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought
forth her children. Oh, that we may see such a day. Dearest Lord, among us here we
do humbly beseech thee, build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
We thank thee. that through our Lord Jesus Christ,
we have access by one spirit unto the Father. We thank thee
for those lovely words of grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, whatsoever
ye ask in my name, I will do it. We thank thee for the promises,
the sweet promises of thy word. I will work, and who shall let
it? I will bring thy sons from far,
and thy daughters from the ends of the earth, and they shall
come from the north and from the south and from the east and
from the west. O Lord of hosts, O God of Israel,
O thou that dwellest between the cherubim, shine forth before
Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, and come and save us. O Lord,
we beseech thee. Let thy hand be upon the man
of thy right hand, the son of man, whom thou madest strong
for thyself. Gracious God, we do pray that
thou would let thy work appear unto thy servants and thy glory
unto their children. We pray for any that are not
able to be here today through affliction and weakness and old
age. We lovingly commend them to thee
and to the word of thy grace, which is able to build them up
and to grant them an inheritance among them that are sanctified. Let us see thy power and thy
glory as thou usest to be in the sanctuary. And that we think
of thee sacred promises to Zion, O Lord, I will abundantly bless
her provision. I will satisfy her poor with
bread. Gracious God, incline thine ear,
we humbly beseech thee for thy great namesake, grant that As
we gather round thy word today, that the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and the love of God our Father, and the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, may rest and abide upon us, we do humbly
beseech thee. We do pray. Most gracious Lord,
that thou wouldst bless our brethren, the deacons, give them grace,
wisdom, and help in all their responsibilities among us here,
but among the churches of God also. Oh, do hear us, Lord, we
humbly beseech thee, and help us to pray for one another, and
to bear one another's burdens, and give us that spirit of love,
increase our faith, increase our love, deliver us from the
temptations of Satan, that old serpent, the devil, take us to
foxes, the little foxes that do so spore the vines, for our
vines have tender grapes. Gracious God, have mercy upon
us, we do humbly beseech Thee for Thy great namesake. We pray Thy blessing upon each
one of our brethren and sisters in church fellowship, all that
Thou wouldst bless us indeed. Unite our hearts to Thee, dear
Lamb, we do humbly beseech Thee. Oh, today may we behold the Lamb
of God which taketh away the sin of the world. Gracious God,
we do pray that thou wouldst bless the little ones, the children. Oh, bless them indeed. Put thy
holy fear in their hearts, an unctuous light to all that's
right and a bar to all that's wrong. And oh, most gracious
Lord, we do pray that thou wouldst remember parents and give them
wisdom as they seek to bring up their children. May they do
so in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And remember the
dear young friends on the threshold of life journey. Remember them
in their education and give them wisdom and guidance and direction. Remember them, Lord, regarding
a partner in life journey. O gracious God, remember them
especially and chiefly that their souls may be quickened. that
they may be brought to living, vital, saving faith in Jesus
Christ. Lord, do hear us, we pray thee,
for thy great namesake. Lord, we pray, dear Lord, that
thou, in thy precious mercy, we remember all in the midst
of the journey of life, and that remember each one, O Lord. Make
us more spiritually minded, set our affections on things above,
draw my soul to thee, my Lord, Let me love thy precious word. Let thy word, O Lord, as we go
forth in this new year, be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto
our path. We do humbly beseech thee. And
we do pray, dearest Lord, for each in the evening time of life's
journey. Do be gracious and do have mercy,
O Lord. We do beseech thee. that prepare
us each for that great change which shall come. We do pray. We pray, O Lord, that Thou in
Thy precious mercy would send out the glory and light of the
gospel into this village. Many, many precious souls may
yet be gathered here. We do beseech Thee. And in the
surrounding villages and hamlets and farmsteads, precious souls
gathered unto Christ. Lord, we long to see such a day. We think of our neighbours and
pray that they may be blessed, that they may venture into the
house of God and that thou wouldst meet with them. Do hear us, Lord,
we humbly beseech thee and make us true witnesses, we do pray. Remember all thy servants as
they labour in word and doctrine upon the walls of Zion today.
Fill them with thy spirit. We especially remember James
Burgess as he commences his pastorate today at Trowbridge. Do bless
him, Lord, we do humbly pray thee. Grant that they may have
a special day in the sanctuary. And that we do pray that thou,
the great Lord of the harvest, would send true labourers into
the harvest and would build the walls of Jerusalem. Oh, do hear
us, Lord, we pray thee. Remember the little causes of
truth up and down the land, and return unto Jerusalem with mercies
we humbly beseech thee. Send out thy light and thy truth,
and grant the settlement of pastors. We do humbly pray thee. We pray,
most gracious Lord, for our little group of churches, that thy blessing
may rest upon us, that thy power and thy love may be seen among
us. that they may be a turning again unto thee, a bring into
real repentance and godly sorrow for sin and faith in our Lord
Jesus Christ. We pray most gracious Lord for
our royal household, the king and each of the royal household.
May they know thy rich blessing and thy divine guidance. Oh Lord,
we do beseech thee and all those that have authority over us give
wisdom and guidance and direction. We live in the midst, O Lord,
of a most wicked day, when iniquity abounds on every hand and the
power of Antichrist is seen in high places. Gracious God, hear
the cries of thy little remnant. We do beseech of thee for thy
great name's sake. Remember those that labour in
word and doctrine among the nations of the earth. We think of our
dear brother Ian Sadler and pray that that will supply all his
needs as he labours around the globe, in India and Pakistan
and Burma and Africa, grant good success. Remember the Mombasa
mission and grant thy blessing upon thy servant there, and signs
to follow the preaching of the word. Remember the Savannah Education
Trust and that great work that they've been given to do in Ghana,
Lord, gird them with all sufficient grace and supply all their many
returning needs and that these things may redound to the great
honour, glory and praise of thy holy name. Gracious God, we do
pray that thou would fill our hearts with gratitude today for
the wonderful glories of Christ. for the law fulfilled and honoured
and magnified in his glorious person, everlasting righteousness
brought in. We thank thee. Oh, for the sacred
fullness that is in him. We thank thee for Calvary, where
the lamb was slain, where sin was put away, where divine justice
is satisfied. We thank thee that he died for
our sins and rose again for our justification and has now ascended
and sitteth at thy right hand, and we have an advocate with
the Father. Gracious God, hear us now, make
up in giving where we do so fail in asking, as we ask all for
Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us continue our worship by
singing together hymn number 145. The tune is University College
515. Christ exalted is our song, Hymn by all the blood-brought
throng, to his throne our shout shall rise, God with us by sacred
ties. Hymn 145. God with us by sacred
ties. Hymn 145. God with us by sacred ties. ♪ And if I fall and the world
falls apart ♪ ♪ To it the passion shall rise ♪ ♪ God with us by
His sacred hand ♪ ♪ Give ye up to thy God ♪ ♪ He
hath watched thou by Christ's cross ♪ ♪ He's brok'n thine and
mine ♪ ♪ That shall hold a tender mind
♪ ♪ Here I weep for darlin' ♪ ♪ Safe from death now ♪ God of Israel,
raise her in worship and praise, Christ with us now. ♪ Of thy children that were there
♪ ♪ Darkness filled this beautiful day ♪ ♪ Still did Jesus stand
by thy side ♪ Israel's command shall prevail. In thy choosing, thou art free. ♪ This dear patchwork is for thee
♪ ♪ With this song let's bless your heart ♪ ♪ Glory and splendor
evermore ♪ O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? ♪ Still the splendor now is new
♪ ♪ Stately in its beauty and grace so true ♪ In a kingdom shall obtain Heav'nly
prizes of tenderness greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to the chapter
that we read, the third chapter in Paul's epistle to the Romans,
and we will read verses 23 and 24 for our text. Romans chapter
3, verses 23 and 24. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. For all have sinned, every one
of us, as the word of God declares, David does in the book of Psalms.
Born in sin. Shapen in iniquity. That is each
one of us. There's only one holy child and
only one holy life that has ever been lived. And that is the life
of the man Christ Jesus. And he was born without sin.
You and I are all born with sin. Indeed, we're born in sin and
this is such a universal and complete word for all have sinned. There's no exception. Some worldly
people who do not understand the truth they take great exception
to such things being said but it doesn't alter the truth of
it that we all have sinned. You know the apostle here in
this third chapter he goes through the book of Psalms and especially
Psalm 14 and from verse 10 he says, as it is written, and then
he gives us the quotations from the book of the Psalms, as it
is written, there is none righteous. No, not one. Not one of us is. Not one of us ever has been.
Not one of us ever will be. We believe in that fundamental
doctrine of our faith. That is the complete depravity
of man. Man sinned. Man fell. That's the state and condition
every one of us is born in. Here in the Epistle to the Romans,
the Apostle, he opens it up. But just here in this chapter
that we read together, that there is none that understand it, there
is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the
way, they are all together become unprofitable. There is none that
doeth good, no not one. And so the dear man of God goes
on and hence this word that is before us, all have sinned. It's so comprehensive, all have
sinned. There's no exception whatsoever. We're born like that. We sin
because we're sinners. That is our nature. And indeed,
in the fifth chapter here of Romans, the apostle, he goes
into that and he speaks of it. And he speaks of the wonderful
glory of God in Christ and in that salvation that is in Christ
Jesus. and he goes to verse 12 and he
says, wherefore, as by one man, that of course is Adam, sin entered
into the world, and death by sin. And so death passed upon
all men, for they all have sinned. All have sinned. We're a sinner. We're sinners
by nature. For until the law Sin was in
the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless,
death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned
after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure
of him that was to come." Adam is a figure of Christ. That's
what he means, a figure of him that was to come. He was the
federal head of the human race. Our Father, Every one of us spring
from Adam. Then he goes on here, he speaks
of the wonderful glory of Christ, but not as the offence, so also
is the free gift. For if through the offence of
one many be dead, much more the grace of God and the gift by
grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by One that
sinned, so is the gift, for the judgment was by one to condemnation,
that is our sin in Adam, but the free gift is of many offenses
unto justification. For if by one man's offense death
reign by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace
and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus
Christ. And he says in verse 19, for
as by one man's obedience, disobedience, many were made sinners, so by
the obedience of one that of course is Christ, shall many
be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did
much more about that wonderful grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. God is offended with us. He is. He's offended with our sin. It is an affront to him. You
find throughout the Word of God This teaching that God is offended
by sin. God punishes for sin. God damns
souls forever because of sin. You won't be condemned for someone
else's sin. No, the judgment of God is just
and righteous. You will only be condemned for
your own sin. Not for somebody else's. You
see, my beloved friends, we must all appear at the judgment seat
of Jesus Christ. God hath appointed a day wherein
he will judge the world in righteousness. And we must all appear at the
judgment seat of Jesus Christ. Are you prepared? Are you prepared? Are you being prepared for that
great day? There's a lovely hymn out of
the old ancient and modern that dear Mr. Wood used to quote and
apparently it was made very special to him when he sang it at school.
And now my God prepare my soul for that great day and wash me
in thy precious blood. Take all my sins away. How vital is the knowledge of
sin. It's the whole need not a physician,
but then that are sick. They're the words of Christ.
The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. In the fall of Adam, in our own
sin, he came to deliver us from sin. For all have sinned. We read in that lovely discourse
of our Lord Jesus Christ in John 14 15 and 16 how the Lord Jesus
Christ sets before us the divine work of the Holy Ghost and that
he promises the Holy Ghost to the church of the New Testament
Church and it says when he has come he will reprove the world
of sin as a divine work of the Spirit
of our God The margin reads, he will convince the world of
sin. It's a very strong word. And
that is the divine work of the spirit in the heart. To awaken
us. To awaken us. It's only when
we're awakened by the Holy Ghost, when we begin to see our lost
condition, Through the light and power of the Holy Ghost,
we begin to see our darkness. We see light in thy light, the
Word of God says. And it's as the Holy Spirit shines
into the heart with the light of the Word of God that we then
become enlightened or we're awakened. It's that word, isn't there?
Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead. that that can only come as the
Spirit is poured upon us from on high. Awake thou that sleepest
and arise from the dead. It's vital. You must be born
again, that is what is meant. Awake thou that sleepest, you
must be born again. Your soul must be quickened,
you must be given spiritual life because you're spiritually dead
and the dead know not anything. It's only as the Holy Ghost quickens
the soul, and then we become to realize and to understand
that we're sinners. And when you come to realize
and you understand that you're a sinner, just as the Lord Jesus
Christ tells us in that chapter in John, when He is come, He
will convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.
He will convince that sinner that God is righteous altogether. and he will not at all acquit
the guilty he will awaken you to the words that we find in
holy scripture that cursed is every man that doeth not all
things that is written in the book of the law to do them and
then you're brought to feel your lost condition the apostle here in this chapter
he speaks of the law verse 19 and 20 Now we know that whatsoever
things the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law,
that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become
guilty before God. When the holy law of God, under
the divine power of the Spirit, is brought into your heart and
conscience, then you're convinced of sin. You don't think you're a sinner,
you know you're a sinner. You feel it. You feel it. Is it Joseph Hart in the hymn,
to see sin smarts but slightly? To own with lip confession is
easier still, but oh to feel cuts deep beyond expression. Convinced of sin. We all have
sinned. Now we know that what things
whoever the law saith it saith to them who are under the law
that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become
guilty before God therefore by the deeds of the law there shall
no flesh be justified in his sight for by the law is the knowledge
of sin and that is the extent of the law by the law is the
knowledge of sin the law cannot do anything for you The law cannot
give you anything. It cannot give you the ability
to keep its holy commandments. That's what the apostle means
here in the eighth chapter. And he says that the law is weak because of the flesh, because
of our inability to keep it and to fulfill its holy commandments. But there's something else revealed
here, my beloved friends. You see, there is the law, and
there is the condemnation of the law, and if you live and
die under the law, you live and die under its curse. And you'll live forever under
its curse, in the eternal confines of despair and damnation. That's very clear from the word
of God. The Lord Jesus Christ says in
his own teachings concerning hell, where the worm dieth not,
And the fire is not quenched. It's a place of eternal punishment. And God is just and righteous
in consigning us to that place of eternal punishment because
we have sinned. But here we have something else
revealed. But before we come to that, it's
rested much upon my spirit in the first epistle of John. and how he outlines there in
the first chapter he speaks of the new man sinneth not and many
have been very stumbled by that because they feel that sin which
is within you and that is a great trial to the living soul to the
true child of God indwelling sin is a great problem it's a
great trial it's a great perplexity It will trouble you. It troubled
the dear apostle. O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? You see, but here
in 1 John chapter 1, you look at verse 5, this then is the
message which we have heard of him and declare unto you that
God is light and in him is no darkness at all. Throughout scripture,
light and darkness are used between the devil is the prince of darkness
and god is the king of light and that light and darkness is
metaphorically used for that purpose in holy scripture and if we say that we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness we lie and do not the truth But
if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses
us from all sin. That's the only way that you'll
get relief from your sin. It's in and through the precious
blood of the Lamb. That alone can cleanse away all
your sin. That alone can wash you clean.
The precious blood of Jesus Christ. If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves. See how the word of God is very
clear here. We deceive ourselves. You've
often heard me say it. I couldn't give you anything
for your religion if it doesn't have sin in it. You might say,
well, that's a strange thing for a minister to say. My dear
beloved friends, if you and I are quickened by the Holy Ghost,
and that divine and blessed Spirit of God dwells in our hearts,
we will know by His divine teaching, and we'll know it continually,
that we're a sinner. One of the names given to the
Holy Ghost is the Witness. The Witness. One hymn writer
says, Concerning the true believer the witness in himself he has
And what does he witness? He'll witness every time you
sin He'll witness every time that use deceit and guile in
your conversation He'll witness in your very soul and you'll
feel guilt in your spirit because of it When he has come he will
convince of sin No, don't run away with the idea that this
conviction of sin is just at the beginning of Christian experience.
It will continue. All the time the Spirit dwells
in your heart. He will witness every time you
sin. We all have sinned. If we say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not
in us. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned,
we make him a liar and his word is not in us. Solemn thought,
isn't it? And his word is not in us. The
problem with the Pharisees' religion is that it was self-righteous.
The Pharisee in his own eyes was righteous and nobody can convince him otherwise. He thought he was righteous.
He thought he was the keeper of God's law. The Lord Jesus in his teachings,
he exposes the fallacy. and the nonsense of the Pharisees'
religion. It's a very solemn and sad thing
if we're walking in self-righteousness and we believe that we're righteous
and good and proper. It's very wrong. We're not, we're
sinners. And the more we know of the divine
work and power of the Holy Ghost in the heart and the more he
convinces us of our sin, the more that we feel our need of
a saviour, the more that we feel our need of salvation, of redemption,
of deliverance from it. If we say that we have not sinned,
we make him a liar and his word is not in us. For all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. You might say, what is the
glory of God? Holiness, righteousness, perfection. That's the glory of God. He's
great and glorious. The Word of God, we read on more
than one occasion, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. He's the Holy One, the Holy Father,
the Holy Son, The Holy Spirit. These three are one. This is
that almighty Lord Jehovah. Now, what else does the apostle
then speak of here? For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. This is the
way of salvation. This is the deliverance from
sin and Satan's power. It's in Jesus Christ being justified. You see, made free from sin. That's what it is to be justified. To be declared just and righteous
in the eyes of God. It says here, doesn't it, in
the epistle to the Romans, how that he rose again, the last
verse of chapter four, who was delivered for our offenses and
was raised again for our justification. Christ has freed us from sin,
all that believe in his name. all that believe on the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ, they receive a righteousness, a glorious
everlasting righteousness, which they can never produce themselves.
And when the Divine Spirit awakens us to our unrighteousness, it's
then that he will give us an appetite, just as the Lord Jesus
Christ said, blessed are they that hunger and thirst after
righteousness. Because they can't find it in
themselves. So they hunger and thirst after
righteousness. When Philip was sent to the Ethiopian
eunuch, he was reading in Isaiah chapter 53. And he didn't understand
what he read. He said, of whom speaketh the
prophet? Of himself or some other man? Speaking of the sufferings
of Christ. And Philip, beginning at the
same scripture, preached unto him Jesus. He preached unto him
Jesus. Being justified freely. Bring no money, price or ought. Think of those lovely promises
in the Old Testament, my mind it just goes to that lovely word
in Isaiah chapter 55. How every one that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters, come by. without money, without price.
You know, this gospel, my beloved friends, it's for bankrupts.
It's for those that have nothing to pay. It's for those that are
empty. They're void of all that's good
and they feel it and they know it. And they're utterly lost
and ruined in the fall. They feel the burden of their
sin. They feel their inability to keep God's holy righteous
law. They feel utterly lost and ruined. by that sense of sin, but listen
to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Ho, everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters, the waters of his grace, the waters of his
love, the waters of his mercy. That's what it is. Come ye to
the waters. Come by without money. You can't buy this. You can't
purchase this. It's described in the Word of
God as an inheritance. An inheritance incorruptible
and that faded not away reserved in heaven for you who are kept
by the power of God through faith. It's through faith in Jesus Christ. It says here in the context here
verse 21, but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested
being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness
of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon
all them that believe. For there is no difference. What
does he mean? He said there's no difference
between Jew and Greek, bond and free, rich and poor, that they're
all the same in the eyes of the eternal God. There is no difference. For all have sinned. Whether
you're a Jew or whether you're a Gentile, whether you're bond,
whether you're free, whether you're rich, whether you're poor,
all have sin. Whether you think you're holy
and righteous, all have sin. That's what we need to be convinced
of. But to be freed from that sin. Being justified freely. Freely. in and through the person
and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Think of what Jesus has done.
Think how Jesus justified his people. He set them free from sin. He
set them free from the law. He set them free from the curse.
How did he do it? Because he himself was holy. Last Lord's Day morning, from
that lovely word, the Holy Child Jesus. The Holy Child Jesus. He was holy in his birth. He
was holy in his life. He never committed any sin. As the Word of God says, he did
no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. There's your righteousness. It's by faith in Jesus Christ. In his holy, pure, and righteous
person. He that did no sin, neither was
guile found in his mouth. That's our righteousness. Daniel
says, I love that expression, to the bringing in of everlasting
righteousness. That's what Christ has done.
He's brought in everlasting righteousness for his people, being justified
freely. Freely. That's the emphasis here,
isn't it? Freely. You can't buy it, you can't purchase
it. It's priceless. It's the eternal son of the eternal
father coming to this sinker's world, living as a man, as the
Apostle says, made of a woman, made under the law that he might
redeem them that are under the law. That holy child, that holy life,
that perfect obedience. You know, the life of Christ
was just as substitutionary as the death of Christ and the sacrifice
of Christ. We often speak of the vicarious
sacrifice. The word vicarious means substitute
in the room and place of. And what Christ did, he did it
in the room and place of his people. He knew that they couldn't
do it. so he he came from heaven and
lived here upon earth as a man to to do what his people could
not do and that was to fulfill the law and to live a righteous
life jesus has done it christ is the end of the law
for righteousness being justified freely by his grace justified
freely by his grace by his holy life by his perfect obedience. In the following chapter, in
chapter four, the dear apostle, he says in verse six, even as
David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth
righteousness without works, saying, blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is
the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. He does something
far greater. Not only does he not impute his
sin unto him, but he imputes the righteousness of his Son
unto him. Do you ever meditate and think
upon the love of our Eternal Father? And you think what he
has done. It was he that took the sin of
the church and he laid it on his son. God manifest in the
flesh. He laid upon him the iniquities
of us all. Oh, the love of our eternal father. The infinite grace and mercy
of our eternal father. God so loved the world, he gave
his only begotten son. What wonderful grace, what wonderful
love, what wonderful mercy, infinite love, infinite mercy, infinite
grace, being justified freely, being made free from sin by the blood of Christ, by the
righteousness of Christ. Justified, gained. That simple way that dear Mr. Wood used to put it, just as
if I had not sinned. It's a wonderful way, a simple
way. That's what justification means, just as if I had not sinned. It's spoken of in words like
these, you look into the Old Testament and the prophets, their
sins and their iniquities, well I remember no more. You see, There again in Psalm
103. The mercy of the Lord. And he
says there that the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting
to everlasting upon them that fear him. But it goes on to say, as far
as the East is from the West, so far have I removed thy sins
from thee, O Israel. We have that beautiful type in
the Levitical dispensation on the Day of Atonement when two
kid goats were brought to the sanctuary. One was to be sacrificed. It's a beautiful type of Christ,
to be sacrificed. To be slain, its blood was to
be taken, sprinkled seven times before the golden mercy seat. And the Lord had said, there
will I meet with thee. That blood of that goat represents
the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son that cleanseth us from all
sin. There will I meet with thee.
How? In the blood of Christ, through
the blood of Christ. The blood of Christ, a precious
blood. It is. The apostle speaks of
it, the apostle Peter. For as much as you are not redeemed
with corruptible things such as silver and gold, but with
the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb slain from before
the foundation of the world. This is your salvation. Your
salvation is not in yourself. Your salvation is not in what
you can do. Your salvation is not because
you can pray or you can do this or you can do that. It's in Christ
and in Christ alone. That's where your salvation is.
I had an experience, friends, probably about five years before
I was sent into the ministry, and in great affliction, greatly
weakened physically, with a long affliction, it greatly weakened
me. And I'd just been through a period
of two years of gospel liberty, it was a most remarkable two
years, when the love of Christ was so shed abroad in my heart,
my sins were forgiven, I was clothed in that glorious everlasting
robe. I could say I'm blessed, I'm
blessed, forever blessed. You see, they're wonderful times. But then in that affliction,
I came into utter darkness in my soul. Bondage in my soul. Until one afternoon when my beloved
drew near. And when I was reading the words,
And it was those words in Solomon's song, my beloved is as a cluster
of campfire in the vineyards of Engidae. And the effect of
those words was just as if the Lord Jesus come and put his arms
around me. I was sinking. That's how I felt.
I was sinking. There was nothing to hold on
to. And you know, in that little while that I sat reading the
word, meditating in the word, there were some wonderful things
that were indelibly pressed upon my mind. As soon as those words,
my beloved is a cluster of campfire, those words followed in. The
eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the everlasting
arms. And I fell into those everlasting arms. One thing I was taught,
you can never fall through those arms. They're always there. It's
only when you come into these great trials perplexing circumstances,
you fall into them. You fall into them. They're there,
they're there all the time. They're the everlasting arms. And you know friends, as I sat
meditating, I looked back over the previous two years, and that
wonderful time of blessing, and it was just as if The Lord
said to me, that was real. That was real. But then he showed
me, one, I'd become very proud of my experience, wonderful experience
of the love, mercy and grace of God. And number two, he showed
me that I was resting entirely on my experience and on my feelings. So what did he do? He took them
all away. All those feelings of the love, mercy, and grace
of God, the light, the peace that I felt in my soul, he took
it all away. And then I came into darkness
and bondage. But when that experience of his
everlasting arms, you see, it was as if he said to me, this
is what you're to build on, Christ, the eternal salvation. And you
know, friends, this all happened within a short period as I sat
meditating, and it was as if the Lord turned my eyes forward.
And when you go to preach, not to preach frames and feelings,
but Christ, Christ the only Saviour, Christ the only Redeemer, Christ
the only Deliverer, and you're to rest upon Him and upon Jesus
Christ the same yesterday and today and forever, for this never
changes and never will change, And this is a solid hope. My
hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. That's what we're to build on.
That's what we're to look to. That's what we're to cleave to.
And that's what we're to preach and to set before the people,
being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus. So that the glorious person of
Christ becomes the very center of all your religion. Not your
frames, not your feelings. If you have a living soul, you'll
always have frames and feelings. But they change. But he never
changes. He's eternally the same. You know, there's no doubt in
my mind that the experience of a preacher always colours his
preaching. Because the Lord has led him
in that particular way, because that is what he's got to go and
preach. That was a very trying pathway. Oh, the wonderful deliverance
that the Lord gave me and what he taught me in that pathway. Being justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. In that suffering saviour. In Gethsemane, our sins and our
iniquities were laid on Christ, imputed to him. They became his,
they were taken away from us. This is the wonderful doctrine
of imputation, the very heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Why will he not remember their sins and their iniquities anymore?
Because he suffered and bled and died for our sins. Payment he cannot twice demand. First at my bleeding, short his
hand, and then again at mine. being justified, being set free
from sin and from the curse of the law, being justified freely
by His grace. That's the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ through the redemption. He's paid the redemption price.
He suffered, He bled, He died for our sins and He rose again
for our justification. You see, He goes on here, he
said, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation. The word
propitiation is a very similar word to atonement. But what it means, it's the wrath
ending sacrifice of Jesus, the son of God on the cross of Calvary. He was made a propitiation for
our sins. through faith in His blood. You
see, that precious blood and righteousness of Christ. Through
faith in His blood to declare His righteousness for the remission
of sins that have passed through the forbearance of God. To declare,
I say, it's always here as if the Apostle, he's got to emphasize
it. It's something so wonderful, he's got to speak of it again.
To declare, I say, at this time, His righteousness. that he might
be just and the justifier of him that believeth on Jesus Christ. The Philippian jailer, he cried
out in the very anguish of his soul, what must I do to be saved? And the apostle gave him the
immediate answer, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shalt be saved. Oh my beloved friends, there
is salvation in none other. He goes on here, he says, where
is boasting then? It is excluded by what law of
works? Nay, but by the law of faith.
We boast in the glorious person and work of Christ, not by works
of righteousness that we have done, but according to his abundant
mercy. Therefore we conclude that a
man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Is he the
God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles?
Yes, of the Gentiles also. Seeing it is one God that shall
justify the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcision through
faith. Do we then make void the law
through faith? God forbid. Yea, we establish
the law. The law is established in Christ. The law is fulfilled in Christ.
The law is honoured in Christ. The law is magnified in Christ. And in Christ alone. That's what
the apostle here is driving at. He goes on, you know, in the
fourth chapter, he speaks of the great trial that Abraham
had, but also the great faith he had. And he says in verse 19, and
being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when
he was about 100 years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb,
he staggered not 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. Christ
has performed it, it's finished, it's done, it's accomplished.
And therefore, this is through his faith, Therefore it is imputed
to him for righteousness. Now it was not 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 who was delivered for our offenses and was raised
again for our justification. Therefore being justified by
faith we have peace with God through Our Lord Jesus Christ,
for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus. May the Lord add his peace. Let us now sing together hymn
number 103 to the tune Justification 360. Jesus, thy blood and righteousness,
my beauty are my glorious dress. Midst flaming worlds in these
arrayed, with joy shall I lift up my head. Hymn 103. ♪ Jesus,
Lord our God, ♪ ♪ On glorious hills ♪ ♪ This we
proclaim to thee, our Alma Mater ♪ Lift up my head. With joy shall
I lift up my head. Heav'n on the dust of death I
rise, Day take my voucher in the skies, ♪ In heaven's peace ♪ ♪ O my King
♪ ♪ Jesus has taken ♪ ♪ Thy folly ♪ Jesus has lived and died for me. Thou shalt stand ♪ In that great
day ♪ ♪ O'er the roads we've trod ♪ ♪
In search and in doubt ♪ ♪ But still thy God abides ♪ From spirits prevailed, And souls
vanished away. From spirits prevailed, ♪ Bless and change ♪ ♪ Last day, remember ♪ ♪ Friend of God ♪ ♪ That holy hour is
near ♪ Sinner of sinners, we proclaim. Sinner of sinners, The deep I have. Sinners from
hell, the deep I have. This wondrous road, the same
of years, when through it ages seen, ♪ The rich and stately face glorious
view ♪ ♪ The globe of Christ is ever new ♪ O'er the land of Christ is ever
new. O let the dead now be his joys,
Lift up thy banished bones with joys, ♪ Glorious rest ♪ ♪ Jesus, the
hope ♪ ♪ And righteousness ♪ ♪ Jesus, the hope ♪ Now, may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us each. Amen. I'm sorry.