All right, if you take your Bibles
now and turn with me to Galatians, Galatians chapter 3, Galatians
chapter 3. Tonight we'll be looking at verse
13 and 14 in particular. I'll read from verse 10 and we'll
go down through to verse 14. The scripture says, For as many
as are of the works of the law are under the curse. For it is
written, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that
no man is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident.
For the just shall live by faith, and the law is not of faith. But the man that doeth them shall
live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written,
Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. And this is the reason
that he was cursed. This is the reason that he redeemed
us from the curse of the law. That the blessing of Abraham. might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith. And the Apostle had shown in
this previous verses that Abraham was an imminent type of every
believer. The Scripture says he believed
God and it was accounted unto him for righteousness and this
is true of every believer. Righteousness is accounted to
the believer only through faith. Righteousness was merited by
the faith of Jesus Christ and then through faith we receive
this righteousness and it is accounted of God to be ours,
to be our righteousness. We are justified. And just as
Abraham was justified without the law, before the law, even
so are we justified without the law. We are justified by Christ and
we are not under the law but under the blessing of God like
Abraham. And then in verse 10, he speaks
to all who would who would take that law, all who would try to
use that law. And he says this, as many as
desire to be under the law, listen, you are not under blessing, but
you are under its curse. You're under its curse. It's
written with indelible ink. It is written, cursed is everyone
that continueth not in all things, all things written in the book
of the law to do them. If you want to be under the law,
you're under the whole law. And seeing that we have failed
and we have sinned and none have ever continued to do what is
written in the law, we all have broken the law, nor have we done continually
the things written in the law. Therefore, the conclusion is
this, no flesh. You got that? It is evident.
That's what he's saying. It's just plain. Just simple.
Listen to the word of God. It's just evident. No man is
justified by the works of the law. No flesh. But we are justified by faith. And we who are justified by faith,
he tells us this, that we are not lawless. The just shall live. The just shall live. How shall
the just live? By faith and not by law. That's the conclusion. The just
shall live by faith. This is our law, even faith.
Our faith in no way merits this righteousness, nor is our faith
the cause of this righteousness. Faith is a gift of God's grace.
And if God gives us faith, we understand this, the just shall
live by faith. The just shall live daily, constantly,
perpetually by faith. Faith is something that always
continues. It's not a one-time event. It's
something the believer is to do daily. Believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, we have no confidence in the flesh. We look not to
the law or works in any measure to make ourselves acceptable
to God. I was talking to my pastor, Brother
David, this last week. David pledged this last week.
And, you know, we were talking about people trying to be sanctified
by obedience to the law. And he said, you know, when people
say that to me, I ask them this question, which part are you
trying to sanctify? Which part of you are you trying
to sanctify, the spirit or the flesh? The spirit has no need of your
sanctification because it is already sanctified. And what
does Christ say about the flesh? Will it get better? Will it get
sanctified? Can you sanctify the flesh? Can
you make the flesh holy? No. That which is born of flesh
is flesh. Now you can kill it, but you
can't sanctify it. So, if you're trying to sanctify
yourself, what are you sanctifying? What is your obedience sanctifying?
Well, if you're sanctifying the Spirit, you've moved over to
justification. You're saying, well, my sanctification
of Christ is just not enough. I've got to sanctify it. And
if you're trying to sanctify the flesh, you're trying to accomplish
an impossible task. The flesh will not be sanctified.
Now, listen, when you mortify it, surely, yeah, you set yourself
apart in a sense of a visual before people. But what does
that do with your acceptance with God that make you more acceptable
to God, more sanctified? No. No. So believers live by faith and
listen, he says this plainly, the law is not a faith. You're
not going to mix. Just like you can't mix grace
and works. You can't mix law and faith. The law is not of faith. If you're
going by the law, you're not going by faith. So the question remains, if all
is done, and it is, if all is done and law says do and faith
says done, are we to cease from good works? Whoever said that? Is that what we're saying? That
you could just, well you're just saying we'll go out and sin like
you want to. Oh, sometimes people make arguments
that are just so foolish. Just foolish. We are created. The scripture says that in Ephesians chapter two, for we
are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. Listen, which God ordained. You ever done a good work? Who
ordained that? Did you come up with that all
by yourself? Do you have any glory in your good works? No,
God ordained your good works. Before they were ever done. That
you should walk in them. Of course we understand good
works, but good works, what does it have to do with my sanctification?
Nothing. Nothing. What does it have to do with
my judgment? Nothing. I mean, do we actually understand
the difference between a good work and righteousness? Does
your good works make you righteous? No. Paul said they're just reasonable. It's reasonable for you to do
good, isn't it? Isn't it reasonable? I beseech you therefore by the
mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Good works are reasonable. But listen, what is the motive
behind good works? What moves us to good works? Is it law or love? For the believer, it's love.
It's love. I beseech you because of the
mercies of Christ. If you understand the mercies
of Christ, isn't it just reasonable? Just reasonable to be that way. I'm going to skip down a few
because I need to get to my message. That's just an introduction.
I've got three things here. I've entitled this three states
of every child of God. Three states of every child of
God. Cursed, redeemed and blessed. Cursed, redeemed and blessed.
Look at this good work of our Lord Jesus Christ in verse 13.
He said this, Christ hath redeemed us from the what? Curse. of the law. He tells us how being
made a curse for it is written curses everyone that hangeth
on a tree. And then he says to us who are
redeemed that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles
through Jesus Christ. That we might receive the promise
of the spirit through faith. In these two verses we have revealed
these three states of every elect child of God, cursed, redeemed
and blessed. As we have seen, the law is holy.
The law is holy. The law is good. It demands that
all men should be holy and perfect before God, that they should
live in perfect obedience to God. The law promises all who
are continually obedient to God shall be accepted. The law promises a blessing only
to those who are holy and without sin. But as soon as one sins, as soon
as one commits his first sin, that man is forever under the
curse of the law. Cursed is everyone that continueth
not in all things written in the book of the law to do them.
The law cannot bless because of sin. It can't bless you ever
because of sin. Just a casual reading of the
law. You casually read the law, what do you feel? If you feel anything but guilt,
you've misread it. Because you have not done one
thing the law requires. Some people say, well, they think,
well, you know, well, I've done my best. The law doesn't ask
for your best. It demands perfection. It is
an unbending, impersonal thing. It demands holiness. It's impartial. That's why the scripture says
God is no respecter of persons. He doesn't care about your age,
your circumstance, your intellect, your ignorance or your intelligence. The law can do nothing but curse. It cannot bless the sinner. And
so the first state of every believer is this, cursed. Cursed. This is truly the nature of every
son of Adam. We know this. Where is by one
man's sin entered in the world and what? The curse. Death. Death. God cursed man and even
the ground for man's sake. Because of man, the ground was
even cursed. This curse, this death was passed
upon all men. Because all men are sinners. The soul that sinneth, sayeth
the law, it shall surely die. If you are holy and perfect and
without sin, or any deviation of the will and glory of God
of any kind, if you have nothing to fear then. The law has nothing to say to
you, but since there is none like that. Scripture says in Ecclesiastes
7.20, there is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. In John chapter 3, our Lord says
this, he that believeth on him is not condemned. What a glorious
statement that is. He that believeth on Him is not
condemned. But listen, did we come into
this world believing on Him? He that believeth not is condemned,
what? Already. He said, I didn't come to condemn
the world. The world is already condemned. It's already under
the curse. Because he that believeth not
on the name of the only begotten son. And this is the condemnation.
And this is the proof of it. Men love darkness rather than
light because their deeds are evil. Why do men love darkness? Because we love to hide our sin. Cover it. So no one can see it
so we can appear better than we actually are. Why religion is so popular because
it's so confusing. Men can hide in it. Kind of like
Adam, when he hid, he hid among the trees of the woods. Why? He was trying to hide his
sin. What men do in religion is they
try to hide their sin. They don't want it exposed. Men
love darkness rather than light. In John 3, 36, he that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not on the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God, the curse of God
abideth on him. By nature, we're children of
wrath, Paul says, even as others. Because Adam, our federal head,
had sinned against God, the curse was pronounced not just upon
him, but upon us all. upon us all. None escape this
evil nature, this curse. So we are born dead in trespasses
and born at enmity against God. And the evidence of our curse
is our own hatred of the light, hatred of Christ, And the result of this nature
is that you will not come to Christ. This is the result of
the natures that man will strive to obey the law rather than come
to Christ. In Christ, there's free pardon.
There's free mercy without obedience to the law. You come as a sinner with nothing. And He gives you eternal life.
And yet men are so depraved to think that they might have some
glory in it. Some glory. They hate Him so
much that they would rob Him of what is His glory. Because the curse of the law,
the curse of God is upon all men by nature, the law is justice,
strict, blind justice. It shows no pity, extends no
mercy, has no compassion, gives no consideration of any of your
circumstances or abilities. It is cold, passionless, unfeeling,
blind justice. Soul that sinneth, it shall die. I don't care who it is. Wages of sin is death to whoever
earns it. You sin, that's your wage. When God told Adam, he said,
in the day thou eatest thereof, thou shall surely die. What happened?
He surely died. What is this death? What is this
curse that is passed upon all men because we have sinned? What is this death which the
law of God coldly without passion or feeling pronounces? This death
is nothing less than the full wrath of God. I don't like to
talk about that. I understand why. There's terror
in this. This death involves shame. They don't like to feel shame. That's what it is, this curse
brings shame and bondage. You see a man out there sinning,
he thinks he's free. He thinks he's free. But he's
not, he's bound. He's bound to the justice of
God. This death shuts us out, makes
us unacceptable before God. This curse banishes us, exiles
us, deprives us of all good and happiness and life. That's what
this curse has brought. It's brought spiritual death.
Spiritual death. Death with reference to the things
of God. Isn't it astounding that you
can have the most intellectual man upon the earth and yet he
cannot learn the things of God? Cannot know them by learning
them. No matter how he try he may,
he still can't come to Christ. except God draw him. This is what it is to be cursed. It is to have physical death.
We just buried our sister, our friend. This is a result of the
curse. We are going to die, friends. It is a solemn thing. It is a
final thing. He that is righteous, let him
be righteous still. And he that is filthy, let him
be filthy still. However you live this life is
exactly how you will spend eternity. It is a very serious thing, this
curse. And this curse brings eternal
death. Oh, my friends, what is hell?
What is it? One man said this, hell is the
very presence of God in wrath without Christ. No wonder Luther said, I will
have nothing to do with an absolute God. in myself. This is what we were brought
to, the curse. And because of this curse, no
amount of work or religious deeds can reverse it. It is an incurable
disease. It is a spiritual leprosy that
can only be cleansed by God himself. It cannot be merited. You cannot
earn your way out of this. This is what we are. By nature
we are cursed. But here is the glorious truth. That is a dark truth. That is a terror to behold. It's just so. I'm so thankful God did not leave
us without hope. There is hope. Look what it says
in our text. What did Christ do? Christ redeemed
us from. The curse. Of the law. Redeemed us from
the curse of the law. God in grace reveals the only
means of deliverance of this curse and that is redemption. Redemption is the only means. The debt of the curse must be
paid. The law that cursed us must be
satisfied. A price must be paid in order
for us to be redeemed from the curse of the law. Listen, all
of the elect of God as every man of Adam's race was cursed. But now we see the love and the
grace of God and the wisdom of God as to how he's going to deliver
his elect from this curse. Look around you with your friends
and your family and see that there was no difference. They're
cursed, but so were you. You were born under this curse
just like they were. But herein is the love of God
as to how He will deliver His elect and yet in some miraculous
way maintain His holy character. How can God be just and justify
the ungodly? And I'll tell you, no religion
can answer that except this one. Consider all the religions. I
mean, when I went to college, I studied mythology classes and,
you know, you put them all together, they're saying exactly the same
thing. Whoever their God is, they gotta work and they gotta
earn his favor. They gotta appease him somehow.
And every one of them's got you doing different things to appease
God. What's the difference between
that, the mythology and heathen religions, than modern Christianity?
Doing the same thing. They say, oh, you gotta please
God. You got to earn it. You got to
merit it either by will or works or religious deeds or baptism
or the Lord's Supper or bowing to an altar or coming to a priest. They're always got you doing
something. And so we conclude this that
man by his devising could never come up with this. You just couldn't
come up with it. And even the believer struggles
with this because we still have that flesh pulling us toward
law, pulling us toward to looking at some evidence of something
we've done. We're we still struggle with
that. Look now to Jesus Christ. He
was appointed of God to redeem Christ hath redeemed. Now why
did Christ redeem? Because God appointed Him to
be the Redeemer. Listen to what it says in Isaiah
42. Behold My servant. And that Christ came. He came
as a servant. God said this. You look at Him. You behold Him. My servant. Whom I uphold. You consider that? That just
baffles the mind. Christ deity himself. And yet
God must have upheld him. He surrendered everything to
God. He would not even make those
stones bread without God doing it for him. He could have. But then he would
have forfeited what it meant to be a servant of God. whom my soul delighted. I have
put my spirit upon him, and he shall bring forth judgment unto
the Gentiles. How's he gonna do it? Well, he's
not gonna cry, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
He'll be meek and lowly, a bruised reed shall he not break, smoking
flax shall he not quench. He shall bring forth judgment
unto truth. That's the second time he talked
about judgment. What's he gonna do with judgment? He's gonna
satisfy. He's gonna take that law of judgment
and justice and make it honorable. He's gonna fulfill the law. You
see, I'm not saved apart from the law in this, that I'm saved
through it. Christ being my representative,
right through the law. And me being in him, went through
it with him. I have satisfied the law in every part in him, in him. He voluntarily agreed then to
be our redeemer and come down and listen, he shall not fail.
My servant won't fail and he won't be discouraged. Was there
ever a time Christ was discouraged? If you think of one in scripture
he was discouraged. Disciples were discouraged. He wasn't. Never. He came down from heaven
and took our nature and in the stead of his elect people he
obeyed the law of God and then offered himself upon the cross
as a sacrifice for sin. This is where the price was paid. It was paid at Calvary's tree
where Christ offered himself. offered himself to redeem us
and by his death, listen what Paul said, Christ, Christ hath redeemed us. Christ hath. He did it. He did it. Christ hath, not Christ
possibly redeemed us, not that He perhaps redeemed us, not that
He may have redeemed us, He hath done it. He has redeemed us. Has done it. He actually redeemed. What good is a Redeemer that
don't redeem? What good is a Redeemer that
partially redeems? He's not a Redeemer at all. No,
Christ is an actual Redeemer. He actually redeemed someone
upon the cross. So who did He redeem? Us. What is this? He hath redeemed us. Now by this we know that Jesus
Christ redeemed those, did not redeem those who are not redeemed.
Isn't that right? Christ did not redeem those who
are not redeemed. Those who are in hell right now,
Christ never redeemed them. Never. He never intended to and
He didn't. He only redeemed those that are
what? Redeemed. Redeemed them. Who are the us then? If I want
to know, am I redeemed? I understand I'm cursed by nature.
How can I know if I'm redeemed? Well, these redeemed are simply
the elect of God. We are bound always, 2 Thessalonians
2.13, we're bound always to give thanks unto God for you, brethren,
beloved of the Lord. What does that mean? Because God hath from the beginning
chosen you. Well, how do you know he chose
you? Listen, to what? Salvation. Through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. Where into he called you by our
gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The elect. That's the us. How about this? The redeemed
are those that Christ prayed for. Go to John 17. They're the elect. They're the ones chosen of God.
Look at John 17. They're the ones Christ prays
for. Look at verse 9. Jesus said, I pray for them. I pray not for the world. And let me be very specific who
the them are. He says, I pray for them that
thou hast given me. Who are the redeemed? Those that
he prayed for. Who are they? The ones the Father
gave him. Verse 20, look at that. Neither
pray I for these alone. but for them also which shall
believe on me through their word. Those the father gave Christ
to redeem, he gave them from before the world began. And those
whom the father gives to Christ in a saving operation of his
grace, listen, every one of them will come to Christ. This is
a solid truth. I long, I do, I long to see every
chair in this place full. I do. But I don't long to see every
chair full of the world in here. I long to see God's people come
and worship with me. But you know what? You're all I know that he's cold.
So this church is full. It's as full as God wants it
to be. And if He wants it fuller, He'll get it fuller. And if He
wants to remain the same, He will. What's the evidence of our election
then? What's the evidence that we were
given to Christ and redeemed by Christ? Listen, all that the
Father giveth me shall come to me. And this is the hope of everyone
who desires to come. Anyone want to come? Anyone want
to come? This is it. And whosoever cometh
to me, I will in no wise cast out. Is that not the most gracious
thing you ever heard? I will by no means cast him out.
There's no reason I cast you out. Why? Because you're coming
because the father gave you. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that of all he hath given me, I should lose nothing. Raise it up again at the last
day. And this is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone
that seeth the Son and believeth on Him may have everlasting life. And I will raise Him up at the
last day. Who are these elect? They are
those that believe on Him. You believe on Him? Then you
may take this text and embrace it with all your heart. Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law. As many as received
Him. To them gave He the right, the
power to become the sons of God. Which were born, you see, you
can't receive Him. You can't believe on Him unless
you're born. And you're not born because of
blood. You're not born because of the
will of your flesh. You're not born because of the
will of some other man. You are born and you have received
Him by the will of God. That's an astounding thing. You
who were cursed and had no ability to please God, yet God purposed
that Christ redeem you. The evidence of our redemption
then is faith. Coming to Him, receiving Him,
believing Him. Do you believe on your own? Have you received Him? hath received Him." Listen, you
have a right. You have a right to something.
Right to be called the sons of God. Because God gave you life. Therefore we rejoice for Christ
hath redeemed us, His chosen sons by grace and by power We
have believed on Him. Now, the question then is how
did Christ redeem us? Go back to your text. How? God
says He hath redeemed us, His elect, those that were given
to Him, those who believe on Him. How hath He redeemed us
from this curse? Being made a curse for us. Being made a curse God who had pronounced the curse
upon us has also pronounced that Christ should deliver us by being
made a curse. We who believe are redeemed by
Jesus Christ who was made a curse. And see that Christ, Jesus' redemption
accomplished, is accomplished. So as to release us from the
curse of the law. So effectual was his death that
the law has nothing to say to you. You got that? Nothing. It
can say not one curse against you. I always think about that
high priest, Joshua. Remember how he appeared before
God in those filthy garments? High priest wasn't supposed to
come in filthy garments. Supposed to have a robe of linen. Supposed
to be white and pure. And yet he came with these filthy
garments before God. And Satan standing at his right
hand, ready to accuse him. Can you not imagine him having
the law in his hand? Ready to read it. God? This is what you said, and look,
he was ready to do that. But before he could say a word,
you remember the Lord Jesus stood in that place and he says, who
are you to lay a charge against this one? Is this not a brand
plucked from the burden? He had not a right to accuse. Satan cannot accuse us before
God. Isn't that astounding? You know
why? Because I accuse me. My conscience condemns me. Yet before God there is no condemnation. There is therefore now no condemnation. And that's an eternal now. That's
a perpetual right now. No condemnation to those who
are in Christ Jesus. None. He redeemed us from the
curse of the law by being made a curse. He bore our sins. He was made sin for us. Bore our sins in His own body
on the tree. Now listen, when something is
redeemed, I think I've said this before, it has two parts, or
it's not redemption. Two parts of redemption. First
of all, a price had to be paid. And secondly, deliverance must
come to the redeemed. Without these, if the price is
not paid and someone is delivered, that's not redemption. If the
price is paid and someone is not delivered, that's unjust. You see, to be redeemed, those
two things must have necessity. We, by nature, were bound under
the curse and sentence of death. Jesus, in order to redeem us,
must pay the sufficient price. And so, as we were given to Christ,
he came as our substitute and out of love. Have you asked that, why would
Christ die for me? The only answer is his love. Fear in his love. Not that you
love God, but that he loved us and gave his son. In love, our substitute died
as a curse. He paid the price. He became
a curse. What does that mean? He bore
the full measure of God's wrath. Consider this, a man in hell
could pay for an eternity and never redeem himself. And in just three hours, Jesus
Christ did it for every one of his elect. In three hours. He bore our sins
and suffered under the justice of God. And when justice could
ask no more, when wrath was extinguished and justice was satisfied, he
cried in victory, it is finished. Redemption price paid. And he gave up the goat. Christ has been paid and God
was satisfied. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down. He did what no other
high priest could do. He sat down. Done. He redeemed us. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law. He did it by being made a curse
for us. And when he was made a curse,
God poured on Him the justice and wrath due our sins, and now
it is complete. Redemption is paid. Therefore,
now God demands the second part of redemption. Deliverance. God said, I have found a ransom. I have found a ransom for Him. Deliver Him from going down to
the pit. You see, both have been satisfied.
Because the price is paid, God then demands satisfaction. I like that picture of Gomer
and Hosea. You know when he bought her,
you know what he did? He redeemed her. He did, he redeemed her. But
you remember, after he redeemed that harlot, what did she do?
She went back a whoring. Though she was redeemed. She
belonged to Hosea. No matter where she went, no
matter what she did, she was redeemed. She was bought with
a price. She was healed. That same thing
happened to us. We were redeemed, but we were
cursed. We went after our own gods and
our own lusts. And for a time, God supplied
us, just like Hosea supplied her with all of her food and
all of her clothes and all that she had need of. And what did
she say? My lovers have given this to
me. What did we say? Oh, it was, oh, my God gave it
to me. My God, we didn't even know God.
We made our own God. We worshipped our own God. We
worshipped self. I got this for myself. not knowing
it was God, until one day God at the appointed time started
taking that stuff away from us. He took away our mirth, He took
away our love for sinning, He showed us the the depravity of
our nature. And listen what he said to Hosea. He said in Hosea 2 in verse 14,
Therefore, behold, at this appointed time of love, he says, I will
allure her and bring her into the wilderness. What does he
got to do? You got to get her alone. What
do you do with you? What do you do with you? Got
you alone. In a wilderness. The world was barren, Her soul
was barren. And did he speak law to you then? No, he said, I'll speak comfortably
to her. I'm going to give her her inheritance.
I redeemed her. She's got an inheritance. I'm
going to give it to her. You know how I'm going to give
it to her? He said, I'll give the valley of Achar for a door
of hope. You remember, that's Achan. Old
Achan who stole that gold in the raiment. And old Israel could
not defeat that little town of Ai because of Achan. But after
Achan died, they were then able to win the victory. Oh, Achan,
he was a sinner, but I'm telling you this. He was a picture of
Christ. The valley of Achar is where
he died. The valley of Achar is the door
of hope. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law
by being made a curse for us. And she shall sing there as in
the days of her youth. You know, you should sing for
the redemption of Christ, because God, who purposed Christ pay
the ransom, also purposed your deliverance. Why do you believe? Why are you now able to enjoy
and know of his redemption? Because God has delivered you. He has delivered you. And what
has he delivered you from, friends? What did he deliver us from? Why in the world then would believers
desire to go back under it? How foolish, how thoughtless,
it's just thoughtless. If Christ redeemed us from the
curse of the law, why would you even think of wanting to return
to it? And listen, because He has redeemed you, He has also
blessed you. Look at your text one more time,
I'll close. That, this is the reason he did. That the blessing
of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ. That we might receive the promise
of the Spirit through faith. The blessing of Abraham, what
is that? It was the righteousness of God. That was the blessing
of Abraham, wasn't it? He had the righteousness of God
given to him. It was his. Don't you see that
the righteousness of God is yours? He gave it to you. What do you
think that new nature is made up of? Righteousness. The righteousness of Christ,
both imputed and imparted to us. Abraham believed God, it was
counted to him a righteousness. Now, to him that worketh, it
is a reward, not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But of him
that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly.
His faith is counted for righteousness. Romans 4, 3 through 5. Faith,
the object of our faith is the righteousness of Christ. And
this righteousness then is imputed to us. What a blessing. What
a blessing. Abraham believed in Christ and
it was counted to him. So it is with us. We believe
in Christ. We are blessed that God has imputed
to us the righteousness of Christ and will never ever in any measure
charge us with sin. Never. Paul says in Romans 4
16, therefore, it is of faith. That by grace. To this end, that the promise
might be sure. To all to see. This promise of
God, this righteousness that is of God forgiven to us. It's
sure. It's a faith. And that's of grace. So that it might be sure. If
it was if it was of merit, would there be anything sure about
it? No, it's sure because it's by
grace through faith. We who believe. We have been
redeemed. We were cursed. But now we're
redeemed. Redeemed from the curse of the
law so that God might give us the blessing of righteousness
through Christ alone. I pray God will comfort this,
your hearts with this, and settle you in that Christ is our righteousness,
Christ is our redemption, Christ is our sanctification, Christ
is our wisdom, Christ is all. I pray God will help us. Let's
stand and be dismissed in prayer. Scott, would you dismiss this? It's a community that's southeast
of where we're supposed to be. And everybody has a great sense
of belonging. To grow that faith, to remember us, to be who we
are, to be who we want to be, to explain ourselves, to be who
we are, as those who have called us to be who we are now. And
we're going to help you. And then you'll be up to your
faith, you'll be up to your faith. The people of Florida are here
to help you get back to your life. In this land of darkness,
the people of Florida are with you.