I'm not sure I'm happy to be
with you all this weekend. I trust the Lord will bless us
at this time. In 1982, we started the church.
My wife and I and her sister and her husband. And so it's
been 35 years. And I feel weird saying I've
been doing something for 35 years. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15. I'd like to read this 22nd verse
of 1 Corinthians 15. For as in Adam, all die, even so, in the precise same manner in
Christ shall all be made alive. I've been trying to preach now
for 35 years, and I've tried to calculate it. I've preached
some 8,000 times, prepared 8,000 messages, and I hope that what I'm going to be trying
to communicate tonight has been the theme of every message I've
preached. And if it hadn't been, it hadn't
been a good message. I'm going to try to preach on
this subject, death, the cross, and life. In the verse of Scripture I just
read, We find out what really happened in the garden. Death. And we find out in this verse
of scripture what really took place when Christ died on Calvary's
tree. In Christ shall all be made. I'm made to be something I was
not, wholly by what he did. Thirdly, what takes place in
a sinner when God saves him? Life. In Christ shall all be
made alive. Now some 250 years ago, a man
by the name of Roland Hill brought a message entitled, The Three
R's. And he said, no message should
ever be preached that doesn't have the three R's in it. Ruined
by the fall, redeemed by the blood, and regenerated by the
Holy Spirit. And actually, that's the outline
I just gave. Ruined by the fall. What really
happened in the garden? Ruined by the fall. What really
happened on Calvary's tree? Redeemed by the blood. And what happens in a sinner's
heart when God saves them? Regenerated by God the Holy Spirit. Now some 40 years ago, Brother
Henry Mahan brought a message entitled, Three Things the Modern
Day Religionist Does Not Know. If you can get a copy of that
message, I know you can get it over the internet, you'd benefit
from it. Three things the modern day religionist
does not know. Number one, what really happened
in the garden? Number two, what really happened
on the cross? And number three, what really
happens to a sinner when God saves him? Now this outline I've
used probably 10 or 12 times over the last 35 years, and I
hope the Lord blesses it in power tonight. What happened in the
garden? Death. What happened on the cross? Made. Made. What happens to a sinner when
God saves him? Life. In Adam, all die. Even so, in Christ, shall all
be made alive. Now, these all go together. You can't
understand what happened in the garden and not understand what
happened on Calvary's tree or what happens when God saves a
sinner. These all go together. You can't be right on one of
them and wrong on two. No, they all three go together. This first one is of such critical
importance. What really happened in the garden
of Eden? What took place? And if I don't
understand this, I'm not going to understand anything. Levi
and I were talking about people, for instance, who believe they'll
stand for what they call Calvinism, the five points of Calvinism,
but they don't really believe in total depravity. They would
fight for it. Yeah, I believe the Bible teaches
that, but they don't believe they're totally depraved. And they believe
in progressive sanctification, things of that nature, because
they really don't understand what took place in the fall.
So what took place in the Garden of Eden? Wouldn't it be a blessing
if you and I can be taught by God what actually took place
at that time? You know the story. Adam and
Eve were placed in paradise. They were put in a situation
where they could have anything they wanted. It was all good
and God created them upright. Now I wouldn't say God created
them holy. People say Adam and Eve were
holy before they fell. Holiness can't fall. Holiness cannot sin. That's the
new nature the believer has. He has a holy nature. That's
something that Adam didn't have before the fall. But he had an
innocent nature. And God placed him in the garden
And they could have everything they could wish, but there's
one thing that they were forbidden to do. To eat of the fruit of
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That's the only
thing. Everything else they could have,
but that one fruit they were forbidden. You reckon you'd do
any different? I guarantee you he wouldn't.
I guarantee I wouldn't. If we were put in that place, we would
have done the same thing Adam did. As a matter of fact, what
he did, he did as a representative. But turn with me to Genesis chapter
3 for a moment. Genesis chapter 3. Let's read
about what took place in the garden. Verse 1. Now the servant was
more subtle, deceitful than any beast of the field which the
Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, yea,
hath God said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Now notice right off the bat he adds to what God said. God
didn't say you're not to eat of every tree. He just gave that
one tree that they were forbidden to eat of. But he adds. to what God said. Verse 2, And
the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the
trees of the garden. No, God didn't say that. We may
eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden of Eden, but of
the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God
has said, Ye shall not eat it, neither shall ye touch it, lest
ye die. Now, I think it's interesting.
God didn't say don't touch it. I mean, I can see where that
would be implied, but God didn't say, don't touch it. But she
interjects this. Somebody once said, this is where
touch not, taste not, and handle not religion were born. Right
here. God said you should not eat it,
neither shall you touch it. Verse four. And the servant said
unto the woman, you shall not surely die. God's holding out
on you. You shall not surely die, for
God doth know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes
shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and
evil." Now, what he is saying is, right now, there's no virtue
in your obedience to God. All you're doing is obeying your
nature. That's it. But if you eat of
this fruit, You'll know the difference between good and evil, and you
will make the choice of good over evil, and that's what's
going to make you like God. Right now, you're just obeying
your nature. There's nothing to it. But if you eat this fruit,
you're going to know the difference between good and evil, and you're
going to choose the good over the evil, and that's what will
make you like God. You'll be just like God. The temptation was free will. You'll have a free will and that's
what's going to make you like God. You'll have a free will. Now all free will is is a declaration
of independence from God's will. That's it. We will not have this
man to reign over us. That's all Free will is rebellion
against God. But that was the temptation at
this time. You'll have a glorious free will.
And this is what's going to make you like God. Now let's go and
read. Verse 6. And when the woman saw that the
tree was good for food, the lust of the flesh, and that it was
pleasant to the eyes, the lust of the eyes, and a tree to be
desired to make one wise, the pride of life, She took of the
fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave it unto her husband with
her, and he did eat, and the eyes of them both were opened. And they knew they were naked. And so they tried to hide that
nakedness. They sewed fig leaves together
in order to hide that nakedness. Their eyes were opened. Now,
somebody said they didn't die. Yeah, they did. They didn't die
physically, but they died spiritually. And that was seen in all of a
sudden their understanding that they were naked. They were naked
before this ever took place, but it wasn't an issue. Why?
Because they didn't have evil natures. But they had become
spiritually dead. They now run and hide from God's
presence wherever God is they don't want to be. They try to
lie to God. They have become spiritually
dead, just like God said, in the day you eat thereof, you
shall surely die. And that is what took place. Now, what happened? Here's the first thing that happened.
God's will was being done. Look in Genesis chapter 2, verse
15. And the Lord God took the man
and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it, to keep it.
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of
the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that
thou eatest thereof. Now notice the language. He doesn't
say, if you eat. He says, in the day you do, you
shall. Now what was happening in the
Garden of Eden? First, God's sovereign purpose
and will was being done. God's purpose for this to take
place. He didn't say, if you eat, you'll
surely die. He said, when you do, you shall
surely die. The point is, the cross of Christ was not God's
attempt to clean up the mess Adam made. The cross of Christ
was not God's response to the fall of Adam. The fall of Adam
had this one purpose, the glory of the cross of Christ. That's
why it was God's purpose. Without a cross, without the
cross, what would we ever know of the forgiveness of sins? What
would we ever know of the grace and the mercy of God? What would
we know of the beauty of His character? The cross is the most
God-like thing God ever did. when He sent His Son to die on
the cross and the reason there was a fall was for God to manifest
His glory in the cross. Now somebody's going to say,
are you saying God's the author of evil? I know He rules and reigns. And
I know whatever happens is because He's the first God behind it.
And I make no apology for that. I love it that way. God is God
and there's nothing that happens without Him being the first cause. He said, I form the light, I
create darkness, I make peace, I create evil, I the Lord do
all these things. Shall there be evil in the city
and hath not the Lord done it? This was all a part of God's
purpose for the glory of His Son. So here's the first point.
What was going on in the Garden of Eden? God's will was being
done. Isn't that comforting? God rules. He's in control of
every event, everything, and everybody. Now, in the Garden
of Eden, Adam really did die on that very day. God said, in
the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die. Now, we know
he didn't die physically, but he died spiritually. You can
see that in his conduct. the way he runs from God's presence
and thinks he can hide himself from omniscience and omnipotence.
He all of a sudden has a lower view of God. He thinks he can
cover himself with his own covering. He died spiritually. Now you
think of this thing of death. Death means something, doesn't
it? If a body's dead, the lungs can't
heave to get oxygen in the air to get to the blood. The blood
can't be pumped because the heart's dead. You take a dead man, show
him a beautiful picture. He can't see it. He's dead. Play
him a beautiful piece of music. He can't hear it. He's dead.
Let him smell the sweet fragrance of a rose. He can't smell it. He's dead. Give him the best
thing there is to eat. Put it in his mouth. He can't
taste it. He's dead. Let him feel the softest
fabric in the world. He can't feel it. He's dead.
Hit him with a baseball bat. He can't feel it. He's dead.
Dead in trespasses and sins. He can't perform the functions
of physical life. Now, when someone is spiritually
dead, they're spiritually dead. They can't believe. Any more
than a dead man can breathe. They can't repent. It's beyond
them. They can't hear the Gospel as
Gospel. They can't see the beauty of
Christ. They can't taste of His grace.
They can't feel of His mercy. They're dead. They cannot. What
can a dead man do? One thing. He can stink. That's
it. He can't do anything to contribute
to His salvation. Now that's what happened in the
Garden of Edom. Adam Now many say in the garden
Adam was impaired, but that's not the case. He wasn't just
put in a worse state. Dead. D-E-A-D. Dead. In trespasses and sins. Now what that means is, the way
I am, if God doesn't intervene and do something for me, I'm
going to hell. If God doesn't reach down and do something for
me, I cannot be saved. I can't believe. I can't repent.
I can't love God? Dead in trespasses and sins. Now, this manifests itself, this
total depravity and total inability, and this is what we're talking
about. When we're talking about what happened in the fall, man
became dead, he became totally depraved and unable to do anything
to change that. Totally dependent upon God. Now, this manifests itself by
a hatred of the living God. Now, this is what is interesting.
Nobody knows they hate God until they hear the gospel. No one knows they hate God. Do
you love God? Of course I love Him. Of course
I do. That hatred is not manifest until
they hear the gospel of God who ordained the fall for His own
glory. I don't love that God. That's
not fair. That's not right. How can I be held responsible?
They'll complain about that. They don't love that God. They
find out they don't love God at all. That's what the fall
manifests itself. For in Adam, all died. This is what took place in the
garden. For in Adam, all died. I think of that scripture, Romans
5.12. For by one man, sin entered the
world and death by sin, so that death passed upon all men in
that all Now, hear this very carefully. God did not charge
you with somebody else's sins. When Adam sinned, you sinned. In your head. When Adam disobeyed
God, I disobeyed God. By one man, sin entered the world
and death by sin, so death passed upon all men. in that all have
sinned. When Adam sinned, I sinned. So what really took place in
the Garden of Eden? Spiritual death. And understand this, like one
man said, if you're wrong on the fall, you're wrong on it
all. You can't have a wrong starting
place and end up in the right place. It can't be done. This
is so vitally important. And let me say this. You say,
well, I see the scripture teaches that. Good. You should. I should
too. It's one thing to believe that
the Bible teaches total depravity, and it's an altogether different
thing for you to believe that you yourself are totally depraved.
Big difference. Infinite difference. What really
happened in the garden? Spiritual death. Now, if you really believe total
depravity, you're not gonna have any problem with the rest of
the gospel. If you believe that you yourself are totally depraved,
unable to do anything to bring about your own salvation. Now, second question is, what
really happened on the cross? In Adam, all die. That's the
first point. In Adam, all die. What happened?
Spirits of death. But what really took place on
Calvary's tree? Our text says, in Christ, in
Christ, that's where I want to be. How about you? I want God
to only see Christ. I don't want Him to look at my
preaching. I don't want Him to look at my conduct. I don't want Him to
look at my motives. I don't want to have anything
to do with God looking at me. All I want is to be found in
the Lord Jesus Christ, just like Paul did. Oh, that I may win
Christ and be found in Him. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faithfulness
of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith in Christ. When Christ was on the cross,
somebody was in Him. Just like when Adam died, somebody
was in him, me and you. When Christ was on the cross,
somebody was in him. In Christ shall all be made. Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of
Mary, the Son of God, lived for 33 years on this earth and he
never sinned. He never put anything before
his father. He never committed any form of idolatry. He's the
only one to never take the Lord's name in vain. Every time you
and I even use the Lord's name, we take it in vain. There's not
the proper reverence and worship in our attitude. The Lord Jesus
Christ kept the Sabbath perfectly. He honored his mother and father
in all authority. Nobody honored like he did. He
never killed anybody, never murdered, never murdered anyone's character
by gossip and innuendo. He never committed sexual sin,
not even in his mind. He didn't even think it. He never
lied. He never stole anything. You
know, I was thinking about this. It'd be hard to steal something
if it belongs to you anyway. Everything belongs to him. But
he never stole anything. And he never coveted. He found
perfect contentment in his father. The only holy man to ever live. You know what's interesting about
that? Nobody got it. His brothers and sisters didn't
realize it. That lets me know that what the natural man understands
of holiness is zero. Because the one time holiness
was here, they didn't get it. The only holy man to ever live. So the Lord Jesus Christ never
committed a sin of any kind. And yet, he was betrayed, violently
nailed to a cross, forsaken by God, forsaken by me and his disciples
all forsook him and fled. And he died a horrible, grievous
death. This one who never sinned, yet
was nailed to a cross and died this horrible, grievous death. Now, what really happened? What was the first point of the
first point? You remember? God's will being done. God's
will being done. When Christ Jesus the Lord died
on Calvary's tree, was forsaken by God, and suffered that horrible
death that who can properly describe it? What was going on? God's will was being done. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. you have taken, and with
wicked hands have crucified and slain." God's will was being
done. Both Herod and Pontius Pilate
with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. Everything that took place was
God's will being done. You see Christ is the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. And now he comes in time to be
slain. Before there was ever a sinner,
there was a Savior. You see, this is God's purpose.
The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ is the most God-like thing God
ever did. when he put away the sins of his people through what
Christ did on the cross. So number one, this is so important.
There's no understanding of the cross without this. This is God's
purpose and God's will being done. It pleads the Lord to bruise
him. Number two, what was happening
on the cross? Paul said in Acts chapter 13,
when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took
him down. What was going on? Scripture
being fulfilled. You know, if you read the accounts
of the four writers of the Gospels, it's almost, you know, everything
happened that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. They parted
by garments that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. He was pierced
through that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. It's almost like
the guys that were killing Christ and murdering him had to read,
what are we supposed to do next? You know, I mean, it was so exactly
as the Scriptures said it would be. So what was going on on Calvary's
tree? And these are kind of the same
points in a way, but it was God's purpose going on. It was God's
purpose being fulfilled and it was God's scriptures being fulfilled. What was going on on the cross? The execution of absolute justice. Now I want you to stay with me
on this point. What was going on on the cross? The execution
of absolute justice. Now what do I mean by that? How
many times have you heard preachers present the cross like this? The innocent was being punished
that the guilty might go free. Christ the innocent one was being
punished so that the guilty might go free. And I think of that
scripture in Peter where it actually says the just for the unjust.
It kind of sounds like that. But this gave me such comfort
to try to enter into what's being said. Well, if you were punished
for my sins, let's say you love me a whole lot and you said,
I'm going to take his place. I'd appreciate it. I'd let you
do it. I'd stand back and watch you take it for me. But let me
ask you this, would it be right? Would it be just for you to be
punished for my sins? You see, the only just thing
is to be punished for your own sins. Turn with me to Proverbs chapter
17. Let me show you this principle in scripture. Proverbs 17. Verse 15, he that justifieth the wicked
and he that condemneth the just, even they both are an abomination
to the Lord. For someone to condemn somebody
who's innocent, that's an abomination to the Lord. For someone to justify
somebody who's wicked, that's an abomination to the Lord. Now
remember, we're asking what actually took place on Calvary Street.
Now I do not understand how God did this, but He did it. He took my sins and He lifted
them off of me and placed them in His Son. He can do that. I can't do it. You can't do it.
He can. He's God. With God, nothing shall
be impossible. He took my sin. My sin. You know, when the Lord was in
the Garden of Gethsemane, and He said, if it be possible, let
this cup pass from me. What was in that cup? The sins
of the elect. He looked at that cup. He got
just a brief look at it. And it about killed Him even
then. He started sweating great drops of blood. Even then, that's
how he felt about this thing of, he knows what sin means,
you don't much know what sin is, he does. And finally he said
in John chapter 18, after Gethsemane, the cup which my father had given
me to drink, shall I not drink it? And so when he drank that
cup, it was the sins of all of his people, and here's the point,
my sin became his sin. When He took my sins and my sorrows,
and made them His very own, and bore the burden to Calvary, and
suffered and died alone, when my sins became His sins, He didn't
pray. Turn with me to Psalm 40. Let
me show you this. Psalm 40. I want you to see that this is
what the Bible teaches. Verse 6, Sacrifice and offering
thou didst not desire. Mine ears hast thou not opened.
Burnt offerings and sin offerings hast thou not required. Thim
said I, Lo, I come in the volume of the book. It's written of
me. I delight to do thy will. O my God, yea, thy law is within
my heart. Who's speaking? What's quoted
in Hebrews chapter 10 is the very words of Christ. Now remember
when you read the Psalms, read first as the words of Christ,
every single one of them. read first as the words of Christ
and then read them as the words of David or Asaph or whoever
but read them first as the words of Christ and there's no question
whatsoever that this is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking in Psalm
40 now look in verse 12 for innumerable evils have compassed me about
Todd's iniquities that were counted to me and taken hold upon me
so that I'm not able to look up." It doesn't say that, does
it? It doesn't say Todd's iniquities
that were counted to me are too heavy for me so that I can't
look up. He said, my iniquities. And there's so much comfort here
if I can get a hold of this. was dying for his own sins. He never sinned. He never sinned. Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners, made higher than the heavens. He never sinned.
But when God forsook him, there's one reason for death. There's
one reason. Sin. How God did this, I don't
know, but He took my sins and made them the sins of His Son
so that Christ was actually guilty of them. And God was acting in
absolute justice in killing His Son. He was getting exactly what
He deserved. And when I see that, I know that's
what I deserve. But as I said, like the songwriter said, he
took my sins and my sorrows. He made them his very own. He
bore the burden to Calvary. He suffered. He died alone. But just as truly, and listen
to this, just as truly as my sin became his sin so that he
actually became guilty of it and owned it as his sin, my iniquities
have taken hold of me so that I'm not able to look up. just
as truly as my sin became his sin listen to this his righteousness
becomes my personal righteousness that I actually did for he hath made him to be sin
for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Now, when you're looking at me
right now, you're looking, and it's scary to say something like
this, but it's true. You're looking at the righteousness of God.
You say, I don't see where you could say something like that.
The Bible does. For He hath made Him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. In Revelation 19-8 when it talks
about the church being clothed in the fine linen, clean and
white, the righteousness of the saints, does that mean they're
righteous deeds that they have done? And the good works they've
done? Of course not! The righteousness of the saints
is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And that's what took
place on the cross. I was made something. I was not before. You see, on the cross, and this
is so glorious, this is my hope. On the cross, Christ made complete
satisfaction to God. So that now, God is completely
satisfied with me. He sees nothing but that which
is pleasing to Him. Colossians 1.22 says He's made
us holy. Well, let's turn with you there
just so you see it yourself. I can quote it, but I just want
you to see this. Colossians 1. Verse 22. Well, let's start in
verse 20. and having made peace, here's
what he did, Colossians 1.20, and having made peace through
the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto
himself. By him I say, whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were sometimes
alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now
hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to
present you. And look at these next three
words. Unblameable. There's nothing
to blame me for. Unreprovable. There's nothing
to reprove me for in His sight. And I want us to realize how
God sees things is how they are. If He sees me as holy and unblameable
and unreprovable, there's only one reason. I'm holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable. That is the heritage of every
child of God. That is what Christ accomplished
on Calvary's tree. He made me something I was not. He made me holy, He made me unblameable,
and He made me unreprovable in His sight. Now, I love to think
about this. You know, when Christ died, His
body didn't go through decay. Thou shalt not suffer thy Holy
One to see corruption. His body never went through the
process of decay, not even for one second. Because the moment
He died, complete satisfaction to God was made. So that God
is completely satisfied with everybody Christ died for. That's
glorious. What happened on the cross? Well, for one thing, he said
it is finished, and it was finished. That means all the elect were
saved. All the elect were saved. But listen to this, I like this
even better. Every sinner was saved. Every sinner was saved. Now, I guess the only way I can
understand that is if I understand what the Bible means by being
a sinner. First Timothy 1.15 says Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners of whom I am chief. What's a sinner?
Well, number one, the sinner is the one who commits the sins.
God doesn't put sins into hell. He puts the ones who commit them
into hell. A sinner, listen to this definition. See how you
fit in. A sinner is somebody who all they do is sin. How do you fit in there? A sinner is someone who cannot
not sin. They cannot not sin. That's a sinner. A sinner is
someone who can't look down his nose on anybody. He can't sit
in judgment upon anybody because he knows that if he judges anybody,
it's pure hypocrisy. He knows what he is. And a sinner
is someone who has no claims on God. I can't say, you need
to save me because I did this. No claims on God. Whatever God
does is just. Now let me tell you something.
Every sinner, everybody that fits that description, was saved
when Christ died on Calvary Street. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sin. I've been saved
from God. He was my problem. I've been
saved from God. I've been saved from myself.
I'm my problem. It's not out there. I'm the problem. Saved from my sins. Okay? In the garden, death. On the cross, made. Now what happens when God saves
a sinner? What happens when God saves a
sinner? Well, number one, same first point
as the other two points. It's God's will being done. Of His own will, of His own will
begat He us through the Word of Truth. When a sinner is saved
by the grace of God. Here's the first thing that's
going on. It's God's will being done. Jesus Christ the Lord said,
even as the Father raises the dead and quickens them, even
so the Son quickens whom He will. It's God's will being done. Now may the Lord give me the
grace to say this second point as it ought to be said. When
you hear preachers talking or religious people talking, The
main emphasis they give is in the evidence of salvation if
you've got a changed life. I'm looking for changed lives.
I'm looking for fruit. I'm looking for a changed life. That's what I want to see, a
changed life. A changed life is the evidence that God has
done something for you. My old man. has not changed a bit. I'm just as sinful. I'm just
as evil. I have the same appetite and
propensity of sin that ever did. And if I made some other claim,
it'd be a lie. I'm just as sinful as ever was. Somebody says, Has your life
changed? Well, as far as as far as I'm just bad as ever was. I've been a believer a pretty
long time. And I know I'm saved. And I'm just as sinful as I was
before God saved me. Now somebody's thinking, what
are you out doing? You're missing the point. You're
missing the point. I'm not out robbing any banks.
Don't worry. You don't have to worry about me getting up and
flashing. Well, apart from grace of God, you would. But the point
is, When God saves someone, He doesn't change the heart. And this is very scriptural,
what I'm saying. This is not just my slang on
things. Didn't Paul say Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners, of whom I, what's the next word?
Am. Present tense. The chief. That was his experience. Did he say, O wretched man that
I was, who shall deliver me from the body? No, he said, O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
You want assurance that Christ died for you? Romans 5, 6 says,
for when we were yet without strength, in due time, Christ
died for the ungodly. Well, I used to be that way,
but I'm not anymore. You don't have any assurance
that Christ died for you, because the only ones who it says He
died for are those who are without strength and ungodly. What happens to a sinner when
God saves him? Something is put there that was
not there before. It's called life. Life from the
dead. A new heart. The new man. The inner man. The new creation. Now here is how this is seen. There was a time when I had no
idea what it meant to believe. And then I found myself believing. There was a time when the preacher
would talk about repentance. I was clueless. What does that
mean? And then I found myself in a state of repentance, a change
of mind about myself. You know when you hear preachers
say, repent of your sins. You need to repent of your sins. I reckon you should, but you
know that's not found in the Bible. Repent of your sins. Repentance
is toward God. It's a change of mind about yourself.
It's a change of mind about the forgiveness of sins. You know,
religion presents the forgiveness of sins as the end of a formula.
If you do this, this, this, this, and this, you'll have the forgiveness
of sins. The gospel begins with the full, complete forgiveness
of sins without you doing anything for it. It's what God does for
you. Now, I can now hear the gospel.
There was a time when I couldn't. I can now see the beauty of being
saved by Christ. There was a time when I couldn't.
I can now smell the sweet, savory fragrance of the gospel. It smells
good to me. There was a time when I couldn't.
You can now perform the functions of life. Now, let me close with
this thought. What is the evidence that I have
life? I see what happened in the garden,
death. I see what happened on the cross,
in Christ made. I see what happens in a sinner's
heart, a new heart, a new heart, a new spirit. You know what,
when preachers say, give Jesus your heart, do you really think
he'd want that thing? What would he do with it? It's
evil. He'll give you a new heart though.
That's what you need, a new heart. Now what is the evidence that
God has done something for me? Turn with me to 1 John chapter
5. Whosoever believeth that he has
a changed life, whosoever believeth that he's
a let, whosoever believeth that Christ
died for him, whosoever believeth that you've
been born again. Doesn't say anything, does it? Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ. God's prophet. The Word of God. God's priest. God's king. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. And that's how you can know if
you're born of God. Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ? God's
anointed Messiah. Truly the Word of God. God's
prophet. God's priest. If He represents
you, you must be saved. God's King and you need Him as
such to cause you to believe and to continue in the faith.
You need Him to rule and reign in you. You know if He doesn't
reign in you as King. A King is somebody whose will
is done. You need His will to be done in you and to cause you
to believe. Who so believeth that Jesus is the Christ? It
doesn't say anything about what you believe about yourself, does
it? There's not a word in there about what you believe about
yourself. Who so believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of
God. Look in verse 4. For whatsoever
is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory
that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is He that overcometh
the world? But He that believeth that Jesus
is the Son of God. Do you believe that Jesus is
the eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity,
the Creator of the universe, the Sovereign of the universe,
the only Savior of sinners? Do you believe that? Well, if
you do, you've overcome the world. You have saving faith. Now once again, he didn't say
whosoever knows he's elect or knows Christ died for him. You
don't even enter the picture in this thing of faith. It's
not what you believe about yourself. Forget yourself completely. But just for a moment, forget
yourself completely. What do you believe about him?
That's the issue. Not what you believe about yourself. What do you believe about him?
When the Ethiopian eunuch heard Philip preach, he asked a very
sincere question. He said, what hinders me from
being baptized? If there's a reason I shouldn't,
I want to know. Very sincere. And Philip answered
him, if you believe with all your heart, you may. And his answer was, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Now, if you start looking for
things in yourself, all it's going to do is mess you up. Forget about yourself. What do
you think of Him? What do you think of Him as Prophet,
of Him as Priest, of Him as King, of Him as the Son of God, of
Him as the only and all-sufficient Savior of sinners? Do you believe that He is able
to make you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight
with no help from you. No contribution from you. Let's pray together. Lord, we ask in Christ's name that you would create saving
faith in thy blessed son. in each heart here. Lord, give
us the grace to look away from ourselves, to look totally away
from ourselves, to be like the children of Israel who were bitten,
looking only at the serpent. May we be found in thy son. In
his name we pray. Amen.