We often hear these words from
the pulpits of God's churches. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. That's Romans 8, verse 1. As
one who has been convicted of my own standing before God, I
have trouble seeing myself in this life. You see, my sin is
always before me. When I look into a mirror, I
will always see the weakness of the flesh that is reflected
therein. In Galatians 5.17, you don't
need to turn there, it says, For the flesh lusteth against
the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary
to one to another, so that ye cannot do the things that ye
would. How can I call myself a child
of God when I do what I should not, and even more, when I don't
do that which I should? There is a war going on inside
of me and inside of every one of God's people. And sometimes
it seems as though our spirit is losing. I want to turn from the things
of the flesh, but oh how often I do not. As I look through God's Word, I see throughout that it's not going to get any
easier. Sometimes I just cry out, Lord,
what shall I do? What do I do? But you see, that too is the
flesh crying out, what shall I do? For in truth there is nothing
I can do. What is flesh is flesh. It doesn't
get any better than the nature of flesh is sin. The truths of God are enmity
against me. That means My flesh, what's in
my flesh is against the truth of what God has put in His Word. In my flesh there is no good
thing is what the Word of the Lord says, what the Word of God
says. Yet there is also a declaration
of God that there is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus. How can this be to a sinner? Look at verses 21 and 22 of Colossians
1. And you that were sometimes alienated
in enemies in your own mind by wicked works, yet now hath he
reconciled in the body of his flesh through
death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight. My title for today's message
is Unreprovable in His Sight. And unreprovable simply means
this, it means blameless by implication. We are blameless in his sight.
Hold your place there and turn back to Ephesians, over to the
left side there, just a few pages. Ephesians chapter 5, if you would. And read verse 27 with me. 27 gives us a description of
what unreprovable means. That he might present it to himself
a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or
any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish."
What we see here is God declaring His church, His called out to
be sanctified or to be set apart as it is from the world. And
He presents His church to Himself without blemish, washed of water
by the Word. Remember the man who had leprosy
and was told to go and wash seven times in the Jordan River? That was no more than a picture
of Christ the Lord who washes us in the water of His Word. We are presented holy, having
no spot or wrinkle because of His mercy and His grace which
He bestows on His sheep. But how can that be? Could it be that if I were to
turn away from the sins that I do, could it be that? I follow
the Lord now, could it be that I've turned away from all those
things I used to do? And start doing the things that
God will see as good? Or could it be that maybe if
I were to be baptized? Is that the washing that it's
talking about? Or could it be if I were to decide
now I will follow Jesus and walk the aisle? Well, I can tell you this on
the authority of God's word. Know, know, and know. Romans 9, 16 says, so then it
is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God
that showeth mercy. In Ephesians 2 verse 8 it says,
For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,
it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. No,
no, and no. All three of those questions
I asked. Turn again to the left to the third chapter of John.
You see, dead people can't do anything. And we come into this
world dead, spiritually, dead in trespasses and sin, corrupt
from the top of our heads all the way down to the bottom of
our toes. Covered in sores and open boils. The scripture gives
us pictures of lepers. Lepers are, we don't see, I don't
know if anybody who's actually ever seen it in our day and age,
but in the way it's described in the old days, it was boils. Boils would come out in your
head and all underneath your robes and everything, and not
just boils, but open sores. Dead smelling flesh. We were born in darkness and
we will not come to the light. Are you with me and John? Look
at verse 17 through 20. John chapter 3, 17. For God sent
not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the
world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not
condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because
he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world,
and men loved darkness rather than light. Not only were we
born in darkness, we loved that darkness we were once in. Why? What was so attractive about
the darkness that we lived in? Read that, read on. Because they
would not come to the... Men loved darkness rather than
light because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth
evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his
deeds should be reproved. The light shows us our wickedness. It's like walking into a room.
Pastor Gene's used this many, many times. You walk into a room,
it's totally dark, you can't even see anything before your
face. You turn the light on and you see all that stuff out before
you. We loved the darkness that we
walked in. We won't come to the light, for
it shines and it reproves the sin that is in each and every
one of us. So how is it then, how is it that I am made clean
when I, well, I'm glad you asked. Look again at our text in Colossians
1. There is only one light of the
world, and that is Christ Jesus the Lord. He says in the 8th
chapter of John, verse 12, I am the light of the world, he that
followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the
light of life. By his stripes we are healed,
his elect that is, for as God in the flesh, when he shed his
blood, it was effectual. If he had wanted to save the
world, he most definitely could have, and most assuredly would
have, for all things are of him, and by him, and for him. He chose
a particular people to be the recipients of his love, and they
will be the recipients of his love. And in the day of his power,
he comes to his chosen, and by his spirit, he circumcises the
heart. That's what circumcision is a
picture of. of the circumcision of the heart. We are born with
a stony heart that says, I will not have this man to rule over
me. I remember the days when I said
that. And if you'd have told me that when I was thinking those
things, I would have said, you're crazy. I don't even know who
he is. But yet, that's what I was doing. I will not have this man
to rule over me. And in a day of His power, by
His Spirit, He came. Just as He came to each and every
one of His people. Just as He will come to each
and every one of His elect that are yet to come. He comes to us and He cuts away
that stony heart. Circumcises it. Cutting away
the heart of stone and giving His sheep a new heart. New eyes. New ears. A new spirit. One that will come to Him willingly,
willingly in the day of His power. We look to Him as our all in
all. As we were talking about in our Bible study this morning,
David stands before the giant of Goliath. This little guy,
maybe 20 years old at the most, maybe a little more. His three
brothers, valiant men of war, fighting with Saul, their king.
ran afraid of this giant, yet David stands before this giant
and he says, who are you? Who are you to mock the living
God? Who are you to challenge us,
the people of God? Where does he get his bravery
from? Because God has made Jesus David's all in all. Christ must be made our all in
all. Is He your all in all today?
Is He the one you look to for strength when you know you're
weak? We must be born again, He says. Born of the Spirit. Born of the
water and of the Word. Are you with me back in Colossians
chapter 1? Look at verses 12 and 13. Giving
thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet. Made us fit. made us unapprovable. To be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
Son. By his redeeming love, we who
were chosen in him and delivered from the darkness that we were
born into Why? Because He laid down His life.
Because He was made to be sin. Because He shed His own blood.
Because He provided Himself a sacrifice for His people. We are made clean
in Him. We are unreprovable in His sight
because of our Lord and Savior. And only because of our Lord
and Savior. Is that not God's Word? Can we who know our deserving
reward not wonder at the love that is in Christ Jesus our Lord
and Savior? Oh, oh how I am amazed that my
Lord would love me. As we walk this path the Lord
has laid out for us. Can we not see the greatness
of his grace towards us? This is the love of God, folks.
He spared not his only begotten son, but delivered him up for
us. Well, then how shall he not give us all things? Is it not a most honorable thing
when we see a story about one who gave their life for another?
I like reading those stories on Facebook. It kind of makes
you feel good about the world, about people in the world. It
makes you remind you that not all are liars. Well, they all
are liars, but some of them you just can't see as much as others,
like the ones that are in the news in today's world. Is it
not most honorable to see those kinds of stories? Do we not shed
a tear? For one who is treated in a most
terrible way so that another might go in peace. I have such a great respect for
the men and women in blue and green who have fought for this
country in wars and who have fought in this country right
here on our own streets. The wickedness and the evilness
of the people. They lay their lives on the line every day for me. I love to go to the military
bases and make a delivery, shake every hand of every man or woman
that crosses my path with a uniform on. I've never had the honor of serving, so my My thankfulness to them
cannot be expressed. So the best I can do is I can
say my grandchildren walk free in this country because of you
and because of men and women like you. And then when one loses their
life, especially when one loses their
life in trying to save another. First responders, do we not shed
a tear for them? Do we not raise them up as heroes? That's what God has done for
his people. He laid down his life and shed
Willingly, His own blood. Willingly. So that His people
can stand unapprovable in His sight. And you are. No matter what you see in the
mirror. No matter what you see in this flesh. If you are in
Christ, the perfect blood of Christ was shed and God sees
the blood of His Son. He was made sin that we would
be made righteous in Him. Turn over to Ephesians chapter
6. We are made unreprovable in His
sight, for He seized the blood of the Lamb, the spotless lamb,
the lamb that was seen as slain before the world was. I began
this message by declaring the difficulty of looking past oneself
and looking to what Christ has done, a difficulty that will
not go away till the spirit puts off the flesh. A battle that
will continue till the Lord of glory calls me home. So how can
I fight this fight? How can I turn away from what
I see every day with my own eyes and look to the one that I can't
see at all? How? How, oh Lord, can I do this? Turn to the one who has fought
the battle for us. Not only has He fought it, He
has won it. Look at verse 10 of chapter 6,
will you? Ephesians chapter 6 verse 10. Finally, brethren, be strong
in the Lord and in the power of His might. All you have to
do is look. You don't have to do anything
else. Just look to the Lord. You see, it's His power that
will draw you to look to Him. I will never leave you nor forsake
you. I will keep them, is what we read a few moments ago in
Jeremiah, is it not? He will keep us. Even when our
faith is as small as a mustard seed, it's still the faith that
God gave us. And it's exactly what the Lord
will use to bring us back to look to Him, our Savior. Finally, my brethren, be strong
in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole
armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles
of the devil. That devil that goes around roaring
like a lion. But notice it said roaring, because
that's all it is. With God on our side, that's
all that lion can do. You see, God has that dog on
a leash. And nothing, and no one can separate
you from the love that is in Christ Jesus, your Lord. Verse 12, for we wrestle not
against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world. against
spiritual wickedness in high places. Our battle is within
our own hearts. Because that's where our most
high place is. What of this world do you think
more highly than of yourself? And I'm not talking about pride,
I'm talking about putting yourself before anything else. It's natural,
it's what we all do. That's why pride is such a wicked
thing because that is our high place. It's something of us. Our will. And yes, our lusts. We fight
the battle within, but there is hope, for in our weakness
God is made strong. We looked at that very thing
in our Bible study. In the weakness of God's people, this little
man, David, young man, 20 years old, standing up against Goliath,
this 11 foot giant, God will show his strength in that weak
little man. Verse 13, Wherefore take unto
you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand the
evil day, and having done all, to stand. Our Savior is our armor. As we look to Him, He fights
the war for us. Verse 14, Stand therefore, having
your loins girded, gird about with truth, and having on the
breastplate of righteousness. Wrap yourself in God's Word.
Wrap it around your loins. Cover yourself in the truths
of Scripture. The truths of who Christ is.
He's not just a mere man. He is man, 100%. But He is also
God, 100%. What He says is truth. What He
has done is efficient. It's effective. His purpose shall
come to be. The truths of what Christ has done.
He humbled Himself as God Almighty in glory and became flesh. That
He might fulfill the law perfectly where we could not. And He did. And in doing so, He was also
made sin. He who had no sin was made to
be sin for us, that we would be made righteous in Him. These
are truths that we stand in every day, especially when the lies
of the world are surrounding us. All you gotta do, all you
gotta do is walk down the aisle and say this prayer and you too
will be saved. You see it on TV all around us,
even in the shows that we watch. Wrap yourselves in the truth
of what Christ has done for His people, the truth of where He
is now. He paid the price. His blood
was shed and then He rose again on the third day and now He sits
on His throne doing everything that He has purposed to do. Save His people. These are truths that if we wrap
ourselves around, that we wrap, yeah, yeah, that was right. It will help us. It will help
us when we look in that mirror and see our flesh. And I'm not talking about a real
mirror. If I look in the mirror, I see
something that I don't want to look at either. But I'm talking
about what we see in our hearts, the mirror of our hearts. When
we see the doubt in ourselves, well, wait a minute, you take
that doubt and what's the truth that I can think of in that? My doubt doesn't matter. What
my Lord did matters. What Christ has done for me matters. Put on the breastplate of His
righteousness, for there is none that we can wear of our own,
for we have no righteousness other than His to claim. Don't look at those wonderful
works that you do. Please go out and do them all
that you can. Do it for the glory of God. Do your work for the
glory of God. Help the poor for the glory of
God, but don't ever look at it for your own righteousness. If you do, it'll drag you down. Look at it this way. God has given me the ability
to help this poor man. To God be the glory. Walk away. Put it behind you. Go on to see
what the Lord leads you to do next. Look to the righteousness of
Christ. Perfect. Because He is God. Not to anything
of your own. Verse 15, And your feet shod
with the preparation of the gospel of peace, Be prepared in season and out
of season to share this good news of a Savior that God sent
to redeem a people unto Himself. A Savior who has loved His people
before the world was. This Savior who is named Jesus,
for He shall save His people. Why are you such a happy person,
Donna? Because of the Lord. Because of the Lord. We could
be miserable, and I know a few who are. Especially in today's world,
but why? What brings the happiness into our lives? My Lord does.
I don't have to worry about the lies and stuff that are going
on in my work. Those things don't bother me anymore. I wish I could
get to feel that way about traffic. The Lord's working on me there.
It's a work in progress. I've been driving trucks for
40 years and it's still working on me there. If I could just
get to that point in traffic, you know? People say to me, John, you're
a different person now. What makes you different? Why? You used to be one who loved
to drink and party and have a ball. Do whatever. But you're also bossy, angry,
not happy very much. What's making you so happy? My
lord. He's got it all worked out for
me. I don't have to worry about it anymore. And the more I come
along, the more he shows me I have nothing to worry about. It's
all in his hands. What's the most they can do to
me? Take me out of this life and I'll be with the Lord the
rest of eternity. That's where we want to be anyway,
isn't it? I don't want to go sooner than
I'm supposed to. I'm not saying I do. But I can't
wait until I get there and I don't have to worry about that mirror
showing me the flesh that is me anymore. All my eyes will
be just turned towards Him and Him alone. Be prepared. Shod your feet with the preparation
of the gospel of peace. Verse 16, and above all, above
all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to
quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. The gift of faith,
God's gift to those who he gave to his son. When the trials are
rolling over our heads, the shield of faith will bring us through.
Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. Verse 17. And take the helmet
of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word
of God. We can always turn to the Word, to see the promises
of our Lord, and the promises that He has given through His
Word, and that is what strengthens our faith. In Romans 10, 17,
you don't need to turn there, so then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God. That's what makes coming to Sunday
service so wonderful for me. I'm in the Word of God and I'm
hearing more about my Savior. I'm hearing more about what He's
got in store for me. I'm hearing more about how He
will protect me and how He will keep me and how He won't leave
me. I'm hearing more about how He is in control of everything.
And I'm hearing it by reading His Word or hearing someone preach
His Word. Are you struggling with the weakness
of your flesh today? Turn to Christ. Do you feel reprovable
due to some weakness of the flesh or mind? Turn to the Word of
God. Seek the Lord Jesus Christ and
you shall find Him in His Word of Truth. And when He has brought
you through the stormy seas, bow down. Thank our Lord and
praise Him for showing us once again our need of Him. If we are unreprovable in his
sight, it is because what he has made us so by hiding our
souls in the cleft of the rock, the rock of our salvation, the
son of the living God, Jesus Christ, my Lord. Stand with me if you would.