Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. Psalm 115.1. Turn with me, if
you would, to Romans chapter 11 and look at verse six, if
you would. Romans 11. Verse six. Speaking here of salvation,
the apostle Paul writes in verse six, and if by grace, then it's
no more of works, not by our effort, not by our doing. Otherwise,
or else, grace is no more grace. Grace ceases to be grace if work
is in any way involved. And Paul continues, he says,
but if it, speaking of salvation, be of works, then it's no more
grace. Again, if any work is required on the sinner's part,
any work, then salvation's not of grace. And otherwise, work
is no more work. If salvation is by the grace
of God, and it is, that grace which springs from God's love
for us in Christ, then it cannot be earned, it cannot be merited
or deserved by the keeping of God's law. To earn something
is to obtain something in return for labor or a service rendered.
You know that. And to merit something is to
be praised and rewarded for something that you yourself did. To deserve
something is to have or show qualities worthy of reward or
punishment. So this is what the Apostle Paul
is saying. If grace in Christ is earned,
then it's not a gift given. And if you're saved and if you
obtain salvation in return for some work that you do, then salvation
is not at all of grace. If you merit salvation because
of something praiseworthy or commendable in you, then salvation
is not by grace. And if you deserve redemption
and are saved because of some quality or some excellence you
possess that's worthy of a reward, then salvation is not of grace. And salvation is not of the Lord,
if those things are true. If you earn salvation, if you
merit salvation, if you deserve salvation, then salvation is
by the work of the sinner, and salvation is of man and not of
the Lord. Do you agree with me so far?
Okay. If a sinner, by their work, their
merit, their worthiness are saved, then it's just right that the
sinner should receive all the credit and all the glory for
their salvation. If I worked out my own salvation,
then I should receive all the glory for it, right? And God would justly have to
give me all the glory for it. But the word of God is clear.
This glory is not unto us. He repeats it twice, not unto
us, O Lord, not unto us, just in case you didn't get it the
first time. It's not of us. Not of us. If salvation is dependent
or caused by anything done by us, God is too holy, God is too
just, God is too right to take any glory for Himself. Shall not the judge of the earth
do right? Every time. Yet, according to the Scriptures,
according to this book that you hold in your lap right now, God
gets all the glory. And not only does He deserve
all the glory, the Scriptures are very clear, He will not share
His glory with another. If God will not share His glory
with man, then you can be assured that man does not earn, merit,
or deserve salvation. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us. That's what God said. He said, I'm the Lord, that is
my name, and my glory I will not give to another, neither
my praise to graven images. He is the rock, His work is perfect,
for all His ways are judgment, a God of truth and without iniquity,
just and right is He. We just looked at it last Sunday.
David said, Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and
the glory and the victory and the majesty for all that is in
heaven and in earth is Thine. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord,
and Thou art exalted as head above all. You get all the glory. How much glory do we get? None. Not a none. Not a bit. All greatness and
power is His. All glory and victory is His.
All majesty is His. He is exalted above all. Well,
what about us? We're inferior and weak. All
shame and defeat is ours. Just the opposite. Just the opposite
of everything that God is, is what we are. All inadequacies
belong to us. We're humiliated and humbled
above all. He's exalted above all. We're
humiliated above all. So, I have to ask, what do we
have the glory in? Can you think of one thing? Not
unto us, O Lord. In teaching His disciples in
what manner to pray, the Lord Jesus told us that we should
end our prayers this way. I mean, with this attitude anyway. For thine is the kingdom and
the power and the glory forever. Amen. It's all yours. Paul told the church at Corinth,
no flesh should glory in His, God's presence. Why? Because
Christ has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. That according as it is written
right here in this book, let him that glory, glory in the
Lord. It's all through this book. Not
unto us, O Lord, not unto us. For all, every one of us, every
man and woman born of woman have sinned and come what? Short. Come short of what? The glory
of God. Paul said, for though I preach
the gospel, I have nothing to glory of. Preachers have nothing
to glory about. Paul said, I plant, I water,
but God gives the increase. He that plants is nothing, nobody. He that waters Nobody, but God
who causes the increase. He's everything. Nothing prospers
without His purpose and will. God's servants simply point sinners
to Jesus Christ. The one who gets all the glory
for the sinner's salvation. Not unto us. Salvation is of
the Lord. The Lord gets all the glory.
That's why Paul said, but God forbid that I should glory, save,
or accept in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the
world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. And there's
only one thing for us to glory in or about, and that is what
Christ Himself did to save us. If you want to glory in something,
you glory in that. You glory in Him. You glory in
what He's done for wretches like you. In 1 Corinthians chapter 6, Paul
said, your glorying is not good. You know, it took me a long time
to see that. My glorying is not good. You
know why? Because it's always in me. By
nature, it's always in me. Lord, Lord, haven't we done?
Haven't we done many wonderful works? Look what we've done. Your glorying is not good. What
do we have that we didn't receive? Just one thing. Sin. That's it. You're going to glory
in that? A little leaven, just a little
sin, leavens, corrupts the whole bean, the whole lump. You know,
my dad used to call me Lumphead. And I thought he was teasing,
maybe he wasn't. I am a leavened lumphead. Is our sin something that we
glory in? No, not unto us. Not unto us. One day Herod, arrayed in royal
apparel, he sat upon his throne. I want you to picture this. And
he made an oration unto the people. That word means a beautiful,
eloquent speech. Try to picture this. One set
day, it's set and appointed by God Almighty. You know all days
are. And Herod addresses the people. He's got on his royal
apparel. He's sitting upon his throne
and he makes this elaborate speech. And the people respond and the
Scriptures say they shout, saying, wow, this is the voice of the
God! Not of a man. And I can just see here, can't
you? His chest is all puffed out,
his head is lifted high, and immediately we're told the angel
of the Lord smote him because he gave not God the glory. And he was eaten with worms and
gave up the goats. God killed him right there. Eat
him up with worms. will not share His glory with
another. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us. And one who knows God will desire
no glory. God's people want Christ to receive
all the glory. Why? Because He deserves it all. He did it all for us. Everything
God requires, He did for us. for His mercy and His true sake
it says. That's why the Lord Jesus, who
was God in the flesh, glorified God in His flesh. Our Lord said,
He that speaketh of Himself, seeketh His own glory. But He that seeketh His glory
that sent Him, the same is true and no unrighteousness is in
Him. When you hear people talk about
themselves, They're seeking self-glory. But when we talk about Him, we're
seeking His glory. He deserves it all. That's why
the preaching of the gospel is not about what we do. If I hear
another preacher or another church talk about all they're doing
for God, I'm like a lumphead. If we were saved by something
that we do, we'd have a right to glory. But we didn't and we
don't. Not unto us, O Lord. At the end of the Lord's physical
life, He prayed to His Father and He said, I've glorified Thee
on earth. I've finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do. And
now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self. With the
glory which I had with Thee before the world was. And here in Romans 11 verse 1,
Paul asks this question, hath God cast away his people? God
forbid. He said, for I also am an Israelite
of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not
cast away his people, which he foreknew. What ye not, or know
ye not what the scriptures say of Elijah? how he maketh intercession
to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they've killed thy prophets,
they've digged down thine altars, and I am left alone, and they
seek my life. But what saith the answer of
God unto him? Verse four, I have reserved to
myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to the image of
Baal. And even so, Then, at this present
time, also there is a remnant according to the election of
grace. In 1 Kings chapter 19, Elijah
said to the Lord, he said, I've been very zealous, I've been
very passionate over You, Lord, the Lord God of hosts, because
the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, they've thrown
down Your altars, They've slain your prophets with the sword.
And then he said, and I, I only am left and they seek my life
to take it away. And the Lord told Elijah, he
said, no, that's not right. He said, I have reserved to myself. Pay attention to the language
of Scripture, friends. He said, I have reserved to myself
7,000 men that have not bowed their knee to the image of Baal.
And Paul tells the church here at Rome, even so at this present
time, also there's a remnant according to the election of
grace. And dear friends, it is even so today. It's called the
election of grace. It's not called the election
of works. Election is God in grace, reserving, choosing certain
sinners to Himself. Salvation's of the Lord. It's
always been of the Lord. It will always be of the Lord. How are sinners saved? Well, Paul says, for by grace
are you saved through faith, and that grace, that faith's
not of yourselves. Not, not, not. It's a gift of
God. It's a gift. Not of works. Lest any man should
boast, that word means glory. If I'm saved by my works, you
can be assured that I'm going to glory in it. I'm going to
take the credit and I'm going to talk about me. Look what I've
done. But Paul didn't stop there, he
said, for we are His workmanship. Who's His? Created in Christ
Jesus unto good works. Not by good works, but unto good
works. And every good work that you
and I do, was ordained by God that we should walk in them.
To walk in them is to do them. If you and I do a good work,
it's because God enabled us to do it. So he still gets all the
credit, all the glory. Not unto us. Not unto us means not unto us. God is the cause and the reason
for any good work that we do. Should we receive any glory for
that? No, no, not enough. Now listen to me, this is life
and death important. If a man, if a woman can be saved
by works, by something that they themselves do, it will have to
be by the keeping of God's law. It's difficult for me to fathom
how any sinner could think that they could keep the law of God.
It's difficult for me to fathom that any sinner would think that
they could keep the law and keep it perfectly. Are we so disillusioned? Are
we so dead to think that we can keep God's law? Sadly, yes. There are many who are trusting
today in their works. Just ask them what their hope
of being saved is. And they'll tell you, well, I
walked an aisle one day and I made a decision and I chose Jesus. I gave Jesus my heart. I let
go and I let God, I let Jesus have His way in my life. That's
all that you've done. You're not saved by any of that. Not unto us. They don't even, you know, men
and women say they can keep the law and what they think and what
they mean is that they can keep it to some degree. They can keep
it better than most. That's why people say things
like, I'm not perfect. You know, we've said this somewhere.
I'm not perfect, but I'm as good as the next person. Well, you
don't even have that part right. because you're as bad and as
evil and as unrighteous as the next person. We all have come
short of the glory of God. That's why David sung not unto
us, O Lord. For whosoever shall keep the
whole law and yet offend in one point, he's guilty of all. For he that
said, do not commit adultery, said also, do not kill. Now if
thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become
a transgressor of the law. You're guilty of the whole law.
When people say stupid things like, I'm in pretty good shape
as far as the 10 commandments go, I'm still working on a couple
of them. I've had people tell me that.
To say such a thing is to condemn yourself. It makes you guilty
of the whole law. If God is going to accept your
keeping of the law, then you've got to keep it all, and you've
got to keep it all perfectly. You can't offend in one point,
not one. To offend in one point is to
be guilty of all of it. And then to make it even more
difficult, the Lord said, if you look at a woman in lust,
you've committed adultery. You've committed adultery with
her in her heart. The Lord said, whoever's angry with a brother
without a cause shall be in danger of hell fire. To hate one in
your heart without a cause is to murder them. And people act
like they take such pride in the fact, well, I never killed
anyone. Yeah, you have. Yes, you have, because you've
hated in your heart. Well, I've never committed adultery.
I've been faithful to my wife. No, you haven't. You looked at
a woman in love. Your keeping of the law has to
be kept perfectly in order for God to accept it. That's why
Paul said in Galatians 4.21, Tell me, ye that desire to be
under the law, Do you not hear the law? Have you not read the law? Have
you not seen what the law of God requires of you? Perfection. Do you desire to be judged by a
law that you cannot keep? I don't. The law was never given for us
to keep it in order to be saved. I'm going to say that again.
The law was never given for us to keep it in order to be saved.
The law was given to show us, to reveal to us, to convince
us that we couldn't keep it. It was given to show us our inability
to keep it. To show us our deadness and trespasses
and sin. And to reveal to us that we need
one who can keep it for us. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
10. Hebrews chapter 10. Verse 1. Verse 3 words of verse 1. For
the law. For the law. What law are we
talking about here? Talking about the ceremonial
law. The whole Old Testament contains the ceremonial law.
God gave it to Moses on Mount Sinai. God gave Moses all the
descriptions, the blueprints for the tabernacle, for the furniture,
for the holy of holies, and the priesthood. We studied that in
Exodus and Leviticus. all the sacrifices and washings,
the holy days, the feast days, the rules, all the regulations,
all the do's and don'ts of the law. And he says, this law, for
the law, this law, having or being a shadow of good things
to come. Now, what is a shadow? It's a picture, it's a image,
it's a blueprint. I was walking the other day and
just the way the sun hit this big oak tree, it outlined that
oak tree near perfectly on the ground. And then I turned around
and looked at the tree itself. Oh, it was much, I was just seeing
the shadow, but then I saw the tree, and I walked up to that
tree, and I could see the bark on the tree, and I could see
the branches on the tree, and I could see the leaves on the
tree. I could even see those little cicadas, is that what
they're called? Them little yelping things? I'd
be glad when they're gone. The blueprint that God gave Moses
is a picture, it's an image, it's a shadow, it's an example
of the real tabernacle, the real mercy seat, the real priesthood,
the real atonement for the real sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Not just a shadow, not just a
picture. The law of God was a shadow,
a picture, a blueprint of the real which was to come. And it
says, not the very image of the things, it was just a shadow. Colossians 2 16 says, let no
man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of
any holy day or any of the new moon or of the Sabbath days,
which are a shadow, a picture of things to come. But the body
is of Christ. When God gave Moses a ceremonial
law, he gave it for a purpose. And when that purpose was completed,
he took it away. It's just a picture of good things
to come. What are these good things to come? Redemption in
Christ. Putting away sin in Him. The
giving of His perfect righteousness to me who is unrighteous. Conforming us to His perfect
image. It's a picture of a lot of good
things. The law was not the very image of the good things, just
a picture of them. And then the last part of verse one says,
this law can never with those sacrifices, which they offered
year by year continually. Now look at this, make the comers
there unto perfect. Old Testament believers were
not saved by the law while New Testament believers are saved
by grace. That's what a lot of people think.
The Old Testament sacrifices could never put away sin or make
the one who offered them perfect. The law cannot put sin away. The law can reveal sin. The law
can expose sin. The law can reveal to us that
we need someone to keep it for us, but the law cannot put away
sin. Why are people trying to keep
the law to be saved when you can't be saved by keeping the
law? You know, I looked in the mirror this morning
to shave. I tried to grow a beard once
and it didn't work out too well, but I do have to shave a couple
times a week. Can a mirror wash your face? A man looks in a mirror, the
mirror reveals and exposes his filthiness. His face needs washing,
his face needs shaving, but that's all that the mirror can do. The
mirror can't wash and cleanse you. The mirror can't shave you. The mirror only exposes our filth. The law can't wash us or cleanse
us. It can only reveal and expose that we need washing. The law
is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. The law teaches
us who and what we are. The law exposes our need of a
substitute, our need of a sacrifice, our need of a Savior. The law
points us to Christ who cleanses us. It was our schoolmaster to
do what? To bring us to Him. Verse 2, if the law could have
washed us clean, if the law could have made us perfect, if the
law could put away sin, then those sacrifices that they offered
over and over and over again, they would have ceased to be
offered. They couldn't put it away. They
had to be offered over and over and over again. If the law could
put away sin, we would have no more conscience of sin. Verse
3, but in those sacrifices, there is a remembrance, again, made
of sins every year. God accepted the blood sacrifice
and offering of Abel. It was more acceptable than the
work of Cain's hands. You know that story very well.
But if Abel had lived, if Cain hadn't killed him, he would have
had to offer another sacrifice just like that first one the
very next year. Why? Because he couldn't put
away sin. These yearly sacrifices reminds
us that sin is still there. You can keep taking medicine.
When you take medicine that the doctor prescribed, you keep taking
it because you're still sick. But when you're over that, that
the medicine was prescribed for, you quit taking it. You quit
taking the medicine when you're well. That's what the Lord meant
when He said those that are well, those that are righteous in their
own eyes, have no need of a physician. The Passover. You ever think
about the Passover? It was observed every year. Every
year. God said you're still under the
curse of sin. You need to apply the blood again. Again this year. Apply the blood
and God will pass over you. If you don't, you'll die in your
sin. And under the ceremonial law, sin was never put away. It only pictured how sin would
be put away. Are you following me? It was
a shadow, a blueprint, our schoolmaster to show us, to teach us, to expose
us, to reveal to us that we need Christ. Verse 4, for it's not possible
that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. The blood
of an animal cannot put away man's sin. It's not the same
blood. This is only a picture. Man sinned
and man had to die. Man disobeyed God. And to receive
a perfect righteousness, man had to obey God. We can't do
it. We can't obey God in and of ourselves.
Everything we do is mixed with sin and therefore imperfect.
And it's got to be perfect to be accepted. Man couldn't obey
God. Not perfectly, not completely.
So that's the reason that the man from heaven had to come.
The perfect man, the righteous man must come. God sent forth
His Son, made of a woman, made under the law. Why? To redeem
His people who were under the law. Galatians 4, verses 4 and
5. The ceremonial law was only a
picture. It couldn't make the sinner perfect. It only reminded the sinner of
their sin. And we can't be saved by the works
of the law. So what's the sinner going to do? No. What's God going to do for the
sinner? That's the question. That's the question of all questions.
Verse five, wherefore, when he, Christ, cometh into the world,
when the true tabernacles come, when the true sacrifice, the
true priest, the true atonement, on the true mercy seat is come,
he saith, sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body
hast thou prepared me. None of the Old Testament sacrifices
ever satisfied the demands of God's holy law and justice. So what did God do? God prepared
Himself a body. God became a man. He looked like us, but He wasn't
nothing like us. They said, Jesus, He's a carpenter. He says that he's the Son of
God. He's a carpenter. He's Joseph
and Mary's son. We know his brothers. We know
his sisters. They didn't know anything. This is Emmanuel, God
with us. And this sacrifice God accepted,
and we're accepted in Christ the Beloved. Sacrifice and offering,
God wouldn't have it anymore. It's only a picture, a shadow
of good things to come. Good things. I like good things. A body has God prepared. God
will provide Himself a sacrifice and God will provide Himself
as the sacrifice. God was in Christ reconciling
Himself unto us. Christ in you is the hope of
glory. That's a good thing. That's a
good thing. We have no hope of glory apart
from Christ in us, not unto us. Verse 6, And burn offerings and
sacrifices for sin. Thou hast no pleasure. Thou hast
had no pleasure. God didn't have any pleasure
in it. Looking at a picture of my children and my grandchildren
satisfies me only for a little while. It's seeing the real thing that
brings me pleasure. God finds no pleasure in a picture.
The blood of an animal brought him no satisfaction, no real
pleasure. Christ must come in the flesh. Verse 7, Then said I, Lo, I come,
in the volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will,
O God. The volume of this book is written
of Him. Our Lord said, These are the
words and the things that must be fulfilled that were written
in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning
me. Concerning me, beginning at Moses
and all the prophets, He expounded, He preached unto them in all
the scriptures, the things concerning Himself. Christ is the seed of
the woman. Christ is able sacrifice. Christ
is Noah's ark. Christ is the Passover. Christ
is the brazen serpent. Christ is the bread from heaven.
Christ is the high priest and the holy of holies. Christ is
the mercy seed. It's His blood that was shed
upon the altar. It's all Christ's. Verse 8, above,
when He said, Sacrifice and offering, and burnt offerings, and offering
for sin, thou wouldst not, neither hath pleasure therein, which
are offered by the law. Then said He, Lo, I come to do
Thy will, O God. And that, my friends, He did. As he stood in the water there
next to John the Baptist when John baptized him, a voice from
heaven came and said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well
pleased. And well pleased God he is. Not
with me, but with him. God the Father had pleasure in
His well-beloved Son, and the pleasure of the Lord shall, it
shall prosper in His hand. And the last part of verse 9
says, He taketh away the first, that He may establish the second.
What's that talking about? He's talking about that first
covenant. The covenant of works, which Christ took away. He fulfilled
it. He fulfilled the law, and the
covenant of grace reigns. There's no other way to be saved.
The first tabernacle was a picture, just a blueprint. It was replaced
by the real tabernacle. Jesus Christ. The veil is rent
in two. Christ is our peace with God.
He's made both one. God and the believer are one.
Because He has broken down the middle wall partition. We meet
God in Christ, and God meets us in Christ. Isn't that a good
thing? The first Adam who brought death
is gone. The second Adam is the Lord from
heaven. He has brought to us life. He is the light and the
life. The first nature of sin damned
us. Christ gave us a new nature,
which is holiness. The first heaven and earth shall
pass away. There's going to be a new heaven
and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Don't hang your trust. Don't
trust your salvation to those first shadows, pictures, and
types. They can never make you perfect.
For when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in
part shall be done away. And let me tell you, this is
my message to you this morning, that which is perfect has come. with Emmanuel, God, with us. Verse 10, and I'll finish. By
the witch will we are sanctified, set apart, made holy through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Not what
we've done. Not unto us. Not unto us. But unto you, O God, for your
mercy and for your truth's sake. It says, by the witch will. Whose
will? Our will? No. God's will. By God's will,
we're sanctified, made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. It's finished. Finished means
done. Once for all. Accomplished. Nothing
else to be done. Nothing for you to do, nothing
for me to do, but to rest. In our flesh dwells no good thing.
In our flesh will never dwell a good thing. In the flesh, no
man can please God. But in Christ, God is pleased,
satisfied, and finds great pleasure. Now, will you dare stand before
God in the judgment, claiming and holding to your filthy ragged
righteousness? You better not. Or will you declare
His righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through
the forbearance of God? God is long-suffering to us.
Why? Because of Christ. That's the
only reason. Beloved, His righteousness remaineth
forever. 2 Corinthians 9. So, how do you sum this up, Brother
David? Not unto us, O Lord. Not unto
us, but unto your name. Give glory because of your mercy
and your truth saying.