If you'd like to read along with
me today, it's in the Bulletin, an article written by Charles
H. Spurgeon. And he takes his thoughts
from Galatians 5.18 where it says, If ye be led of the Spirit,
ye are not under the law. He who looks at his own character
and position from a legal point of view will not only despair
when he comes to the end of his reckoning, but if he is a wise
man, he will despair at the beginning. For if we are to be judged on
the footing of the law, there shall no flesh living be justified. How blessed to know that we dwell
in the domains of grace and not of the law. When thinking of my state before
God, the question is not, am I perfect in myself before the
law, but am I perfect in Christ Jesus? That is a very different
matter. We need not inquire, am I without
sin naturally, but have I been washed in the fountain opened
for sin and for uncleanness? Is it not, am I in myself well-pleasing
to God, but it is, am I accepted in the beloved? The Christian
views his evidences from the top of Sinai and grows alarmed
concerning his salvation. It were better far if he read
his title by the light of Calvary. Why, saith he, my faith has unbelief
in it. It is not able to save me. Suppose
he had considered the object of his faith instead of his faith,
then he would have said, there is no failure in him, and therefore
I am safe. He sighs over his hope. Ah, my
hope is marred and dimmed by an anxious carefulness about
present things. How can I be accepted? Had he
regarded the ground of his hope, he would have seen that the promise
of God stand assured. And whatever our doubts may be,
the oath of the promise never fail. Ah, believer, it is safer
always for you to be led of the spirit into gospel liberty than
to wear legal fetters. Judge yourself at what Christ
is rather than what you are. Satan will try to mar your peace
by reminding you of your sinfulness and imperfection. You can only
meet his accusations by faithfully adhering to the gospel and refusing
to wear the yoke of bondage. The yoke of bondage. The world
loves to put that yoke around our necks. We come into this world loving
the ideas of being able to work out our own salvation, don't
we? Wasn't it natural for the people to holler out, what shall
we do to be saved? That's the nature. That's man's
nature. That's what we are inside. But oh, when the Lord reveals
what we are before Him. When the Lord comes to one of
His chosen children and shows them what they truly are before
a thrice holy God. There's a word in the 11th chapter
of Romans that brings great comfort to this poor sinner who stands
before you. Romans chapter 11. There are some who may say we speak
too much of our sin. Many a man who preached the Word
of God truthfully Could be said of this of a white preacher.
Preacher, you're always talking about your sin. It's almost like
you're bragging about it. It's almost like you're proud
of it or something. Folks, I tell you here this morning, my sin plagues me every moment of every day. I ask you, does yours, does your sin plague you even the slightest? The psalmist A man after God's
own heart puts it this way, he says in Psalms 51.3, for I acknowledge
my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. First John
1.9 we read this, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now that doesn't mean that we go to some box somewhere
and tell some man who can't do anything all the details of what
we've done wrong. I'll not share with you my sins
because I'm too embarrassed of them. I'm ashamed. But I know we all have them.
If you say you have no sin, you call God a liar. Our Lord says, all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. Confessing our sins is confessing
what we are. It's confessing what we are naturally. When Adam fell, all mankind fell
with him. And women, and children, and
grandmas, and grandpas. All mankind fell in sin. It's what we are. We sin. We commit sin because that's
what we do. That's what we are. We're not
sinners because we commit sin. We commit sin because we are
sinners. Confessing our sins is confessing
what we are before a thrice holy God. One who is so perfect that
He cannot even look upon our sin. One who has true faith. You know,
there are false faiths out there. There are many who believe they
are following the truth. and yet are walking the path
of destruction. There is only one true faith,
and that is God-given faith, the gift of God that he gives
to his people. It's not something that we just
conjure up that some one day we just said, OK, I'm done living
the way I live. I'm stopped. I'm going to quit
smoking. I'm going to quit drinking. I'm going to do all these things.
I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm. No, it's God comes to His people
and in grace and mercy gives them faith to believe in Him.
The one who has this true faith, this true faith in the one who
came to save sinners, His name is Jesus. They call Him Jesus
because He came to save His people. His name is Emmanuel, which means
God with us, God in the flesh. One who has true faith believes
who this man is. He is God in the flesh. In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was made flesh, and the
Word created all things. They believe who He is. This
true faith is in the faith in the works that He accomplished.
He didn't go to the cross to try to save people. He went to
the cross to save His people. And it was done. He said, it
is finished. He didn't say, I've done my part
and now it's up to them. He said, it is finished. This
is good news to a sinner. This is good news to one who
fights their sin all day long, every moment of the day, knowing
that my Savior has won the victory for me. Has He won the victory
for you? Is your faith in what He has
done? True faith is in the works that
He has accomplished. True faith is in where He is
this very day. Death could not hold Him. The
grave could not hold Him. He's God Almighty in the flesh.
He took our sins into that grave and He left them there and He
sits on His throne right now. He says, I laid down my life,
I raised it up again. That's the power of God. He sits on His throne this very
moment working everything out according to the counsel of His
will. One who has this true faith,
not a false faith, but a true faith, will as long as they walk
this earth, shiver, shiver what this flesh is before
our thrice holy God. We see our faults as plain as
the day, and because of that we see His mercy and His grace
like a diamond on a black sheet. You're going down, you're going
to marry the woman you love, or the man you love. You're going
to go to the jewelry store. What does the jeweler do? They
bring out that beautiful diamond, that grace, and they set it on
a black sheet so it shines. The more I see my sin, the more
my Lord's grace for me shines. We love Him because He first
loved us, right? Isn't that what the scripture
says? Oh, how I love my Lord and Savior because He first loved
me. Because of His grace, because
of His mercy. In Isaiah 40 verse 1 we read
this, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, sayeth your God, speak
ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare
is accomplished, that her iniquity, her sin is pardoned, for she
hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. That's good news. Folks, our sins are great, but
there is one greater than all our sin, and his name is Jesus,
for he shall save his people. This is my story. This is the
story I love to tell. The one from glory who gave himself
for me. Are you with me in Romans? Let's
start at chapter 10, shall we? Look at chapter 10 of Romans,
looking at verse 13. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. Saved from what? Well, how are you going to know
what you're going to be saved from if we don't tell you about what sin is? If
you don't see the blackness of what we are. You know how many
people walk through this world thinking, I'm not such a bad
person. Don't you tell me my grandmother's
a sinner. Don't you tell me my mother's
a sinner. Yes, they are. That's what God says. And if they don't know it, how
are they going to be saved? Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Verse 14. How then shall they call on Him
in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe on
Him in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? Oh, how are you going to call upon the true and living
God if all you've heard is about a Jesus who is trying but can't
get it done? That's what the pulpits of most
churches are today. They may say, oh, we do this
in the name of Jesus, but you've got to do this. You have to accept
His offer. He's offering you salvation,
but it's up to you. No, it's not. If it's left up
to John Reeves, he will go the wrong way. He'll go the way of
his nature which is of sin and darkness. Only by the grace of God are
we turned from what we are. And how shall they preach, except
they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings
of good things. But be careful and listen to
what it says next. But they have not all obeyed
the gospel. For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath
believed our report? You see, folks, not all who hear
the truths of God hear with the ears of the heart. Many will
go a way that seems right to men. And that is the way of destruction. Does it not seem right in the
eyes of man that we have a free will? Does it not seem right that we
have a choice? We're not robots. The will is bound by the nature. Our Lord says this in Romans
9, 16. Listen carefully. So then it
is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God
that showeth mercy. Many will go the way that seems
right to men, and that is the way of destruction. Read on,
verse 17. So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. True faith must come through
the word of truth. But only those who have been
born again, quickened, given life, will hear these words of
truth. Lazarus had to be given life,
so that when he heard the Lord Jesus Christ say, Lazarus, come
forth, he was able to come forth. The very one who said, come forth,
had the power to say that. If he wanted to, every grave
would have opened up, and every dead soul would have come forth.
Yet he called one. There was one lady at the well. There was one man in the tombs. There was one blind man. There
was one lame man. There was only two lepers. Verses 18 through 21. But I say,
have they not heard? Yes, verily their sound went
into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
But I say, did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke
you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by foolish
nation I will anger you. But Isaiah is very bold, and
saith, I have found of them that sought me not. I was made manifest
unto them that asked not after me. But to Israel he saith, all
day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and
gainsaying people. Now continue on with me in verses
1 of chapter 11. Paul says, I say then, hath God
cast away his people? God forbid. For I also, he says,
am an Israelite, the seed of Abraham, the tribe of Benjamin.
God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. What ye not,
what the Scripture saith to Elias, how he maketh intercession to
God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets,
and dig down thine altars, and I am left alone, and they seek
my life. And here's what I want you to
see this morning. But what saith the answer of God unto him? What saith the Lord? I, he says, have reserved to
myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to the
image of Bill. Did you notice our Lord speaks
in past tense when stating that he had reserved 7,000 unto himself? This is a word that gives great
comfort to this bankrupt sinner who stands before you. My title
is reserved. God has reserved a people unto
himself. That means that He has put them
aside. That they will not go as natural
men will go, for they have been reserved unto Himself. How? What has kept them? If all have
sinned and come short of His glory, how have they been reserved? I'm glad you asked. There's a
really, really good answer to that. And it's a blessing. In Numbers 23-21 we read this,
He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob. Now anybody who knows
Jacob can say, what? The same guy who put fur on him
so his dad would be mistaken? So he could deceive his own father
of his brother's inheritance? You see no iniquity in Jacob?
What? He goes on to say, neither hath
he seen perverseness in Israel, the people of God. How is it
the Lord can say that to these people? He says, for the Lord
his God is with him. And the shout of the King is
among them. The shout of the King is sitting
on His throne right now. The Lord Jesus Christ speaking
for each and every one of us. His children. His people. Those that He bled and died for
on the cross. Oh! Does that not bless your
heart? To know that your sins were laid
on Him and paid for in full? How does He not see iniquity
in these? The same way He sees no iniquity
in you and I. He sees the blood of His Son,
our Savior. In Psalms 25 11 we read it this
way, For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it
is great. And then we read in Isaiah 53
verses 2 through 7, I think it is, 6. For He shall grow up before
Him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He
hath no form nor comeliness. And when we shall see Him, there
is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we
hid, as it were, our faces from Him, He was despised and we esteemed
him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. But, but he was wounded for our
transgressions. The Lord Jesus Christ never had
a sin in Him. He was made sin, yes. Do I understand
that? No. But that's okay. God's Word says
He was made sin, that I would be made righteous in Him. I understand
that. There was no sin in Him, but
yet He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep,
have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way, and the Lord hath laid on Him, on our Savior, the iniquity
of us all. One more verse, Jeremiah 33.8,
and I will cleanse them from all their iniquity whereby they
have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities whereby
they have sinned and whereby they have transgressed against
Me. Now hold your place here in Romans
for a moment and turn to the right just a few pages to the
book of Ephesians. If all have sinned against our
Maker, How were a people seen as not bending their knee to
Baal? How are our sins and our iniquities
hidden from God who sees all things and knows all things? The answer to that question is
right here in verse 7 of Ephesians chapter 1. In whom? In whom? If you look back at
verse 6, at the end of verse 6 you see who it's in. In the
Beloved. Who is the Beloved? The Beloved is the Lord Jesus
Christ. In whom? We have redemption through
His blood. The forgiveness of sins. God looks upon you and I just
as He does those 7,000. Completely sinless. Now you tell
me that's not amazing grace. Whew! He looks upon me and sees
no sin. Because He sees the blood of
His Son in my stead. to the riches of His grace. Grace, grace, grace. I love to hear about grace. I love to tell you about the
grace of God for His people. Look at verses 4-9 of chapter
2. But God But God who is rich in mercy
for His great love wherewith He loved us. Let me ask you something
before we go any further with that. If God loved us, who can
be against us? If you believe in a God who would
let somebody go to hell, one that God loves, then that God
that you believe in is weak and unworthy of being called God.
The God of Scriptures has loved a people and is rich in mercy
for His great love wherewith He loved them even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened, made us alive together with Christ
by grace ye are saved and has raised us up together and made
us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. that in the ages to come He might
show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards
us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast." Grace. That's what it's all about, folks.
Sovereign grace. It's the diamond that sits on
the black sheet of sin. For by grace are we saved. The
good news. The comforting word. We are reserved
in grace. By God's grace we were chosen
in His Son before the world was ever created. Our names were
written down in the Lamb's Book of Life before any star ever
twinkled in the sky. were on the breastplate of God
Himself. Just as the twelve tribes of
Israel were written on the breastplate of the High Priest, our High
Priest is Jesus Christ Himself. He has entered into the holiest
of holies there to prepare a place for us. His blood was shed on the mercy
seat. He is the mercy seat. It was by God's grace that the
Son of God was manifest in the flesh. He didn't have to become
flesh. He could have just destroyed everything, created everything
the way He wanted it. No, our Lord loves to be merciful. Do we get that? He loves to be
merciful to us. His children. He prepares everything
for us like you brought out in your study, Mike. Everything
is there for us exactly when we need it. By God's grace, Christ the Lord
laid down His life, taking all of our iniquity upon Himself,
shedding His own blood for our cause, standing in our stead,
taking what we deserve, representing us as a scapegoat, as our substitute. By His grace, we are made righteous
in Him, as though we had never sinned. By God's grace, our iniquities
are seen no more. Look again back in our text in
Romans, and I'll bring this to a close. Chapter 11, verse 4, once again,
but what saith the answer of God unto him, speaking to Isaiah,
I have reserved to myself seven thousand men who have not bowed
the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then, at this present
time, also there is a remnant according to the election of
grace. By grace we are saved. Read on, verse 6. You see, grace and works cannot
mix. That's what this is telling us
right here in verse 6. And if by grace, then it is no
more of works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace.
Grace means unmerited favor. That means the Lord Jesus Christ
did not look down to time and say, this one's going to do that
so I'm going to be gracious to him. No, the Lord looked down
to time and He said, I'll be gracious to that one no matter
what. And I'll be gracious to this one because he's mine. And
I'll purchase this one with my own blood. And that's what our
Lord has done. That's grace. Not giving us what
we deserve. Unmerited favor. If by grace,
then it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace.
But if it be of works, then it is no more grace, otherwise work
is no more work. Those who have the true faith
of God, those who have been given life, Those who were dead in
trespasses and sin, and being given life, put all our trust
in the works of our Savior, in His grace. Are you working your
way to heaven? I tell you this morning, if so,
you are doomed. This is what our Lord says in
His own words. Come unto Me. Come unto the Lord Jesus Christ. All ye that labor and are heavy
laden. Have you ever stopped to think
how sad it is that those who work for their own righteousness,
their own thoughts of righteousness, how they can never rest. Oh, the rest that we have in
our Lord and Savior. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Amen.