Alright, brethren, if you will,
turn back over to Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter 4. I want to ask a question this evening.
Do ceremonies and ordinances or law keeping have any impact
on the saving of a sinner? keeping the ordinances that the
Lord's give us in baptism and the Lord's table, any of the
ceremonies in the Old Testament, or any of the keeping of the
Mosaic Law, does that impact salvation? Robert Hawker wrote,
it were devoutly to be wished that the Church of God in all
ages had less respect to mere shadows and more to substance. That's my hope tonight. I hope
we can look past the shadows and see the substance that casts
the shadow. There in Romans chapter 4 beginning
verse 8. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Cometh this blessedness then
upon the circumcision only or upon the uncircumcision also? For we say that faith was reckoned
to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reckoned? when
he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision,
but in uncircumcision. And he received the sign of circumcision,
a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being
uncircumcised, that he might be the father of them all that
believe. though they be not circumcised,
that righteousness might be imputed unto them also. And the father
of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only,
but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham,
which he had being yet uncircumcised. For the promise that he should
be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed
through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For
if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void,
and the promise made of none effect, because the law worketh
wrath. For where no law is, there is
no transgression. Therefore it is of faith that
it might be by grace To the end, the promise might be sure to
all the seed. Not to that only which is of
the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who
is the father of us all. As it is written, I have made
thee a father of many nations. Before him whom he believed,
even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things
which be not as though they were. It would be a great benefit if
we did not look to the ceremony but to the substance of the one
it represents. If we did not look to the ordinances
but to the declaration of what's accomplished and the work it
represents. If we didn't look to the law
of something to do, But if we looked at it as Christ is our
substance, and He's already fulfilled that law, that would be a benefit,
that would be a blessing. Paul writes in chapter 4 Romans
about the ceremony of circumcision and the law as it relates to
our Father Abraham. Now why does the Scriptures refer
to Abraham as our Father? Our Father Abraham? Well, he's
the prominent example of a sinner saved by grace, saved by Christ
alone. And Abraham sets the tone. It
sets the groundwork. It lays the foundation of how
sinners are reconciled to God. Now I'm interested to hear about
that. Are you? If he sets the tone, that's going
to affect me. That's going to affect you. So
Paul gives us two facts about Abraham and when he was saved.
Before there was ever any ceremonies given, and 430 years before the
law was given, Abraham was saved. He was declared to be righteous
before God without any ceremonial laws, any ceremonial works, or
the obeying of that Mosaic Law. He was declared righteous. We
see there in verse 8, it says, Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute, who will not account sin. That person
that the Lord looks at and says, you see them? There's no sin
in them. They're perfect. They're holy. That person's blessed. This word blessed in our day
and age is tossed around fragrantly, so easily. Well, I'm blessed
that I have a nice house. I'm blessed that my children
are healthy. I'm blessed that I have a job. Now, worldly, earthly,
yes, those things are true. We didn't deserve those things
and the Lord's gave those to us. That doesn't do us any good.
That eternal blessing, that lasting blessing, the blessing of true
worth, is the one to be found without sin in the eyes of God,
to be declared righteous, for Him to impute righteousness to
us, to count righteousness in our place. So how do we receive
this? How do we receive this true and
wonderful blessing? How is it that a person that's
sinful, they're full of sin, how are they considered to be
upright and holy before God? Is it our birthright? Is it because
of who we are? Look here in verse 9, Romans
4, 9. Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision, the
natural Jews only, or upon the uncircumcision, the Gentiles
also? For we say that faith was reckoned
to Abraham for righteousness. Now this blessing of having our
sins put away does not have anything to do with our birth. It doesn't
have anything to do with who our parents were. It doesn't
have anything to do with our lineage. hereditary. Does it come naturally? It's
not physical to the physical natural born Jews only. So who
are these blessed ones? Those that have faith in Christ
alone. That's who's blessed. Abraham
had faith in Christ. How did he get that faith? Look
there in verse 10. How was it then reckoned? When
he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision? Paul's asking
did Abraham receive this faith? Did he get this Life-saving faith. Whenever he was circumcised or
before he was circumcised? Did Abraham do something? Did
he work and then that faith came? Or did the Lord do a work in
him? Was he circumcised in the heart first and then he was circumcised
in the flesh? How do we get this faith? The
scriptures say that faith is a gift of God. We don't do anything
to merit it. It's gracious. It's a free gift.
Separate from anything of our works. Any of our doing. Turn
over to Ephesians chapter 2. There in Ephesians chapter 2. When I was typing this, I typed
in free gift and my computer said I need to be more assertive.
And it's correction, it's suggestion was gift. Any gift is a free
gift. Ephesians 2 and verse 8. For by grace are ye saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast." If I did something to earn faith,
If it was my doing, I could boast. I would have something to brag
about from that. I would brag that I was circumcised. I would
brag that I was baptized. I'd let God save me. That I chose
Him. I made a decision for Jesus.
I could brag in those things. Because whoever the decision
maker is, that's the one that gets the glory. That's the one
that gets the credit for the decision. The Lord said He will
not share His glory with anyone else. It's his alone. He told
Isaiah in Isaiah 42, I am the Lord, that is my name, and my
glory will I not give to another. He will not share his glory for
creation. He will not share his glory for salvation or preservation
with anyone. It's his work and it's his glory.
Now look back in our text here in Romans 4. Paul asks this question
and then he answers it plainly and simply. It's Romans 4, verse
10. How was it then reckoned? When
he was in circumcision, when he was physically circumcised,
or in uncircumcision, before he was physically circumcised?
Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. That's when it was reckoned to
him. The Lord declared Abraham righteous more than 13 years
before he was ever given the ceremony of circumcision. It
was before Ishmael's birth. The Lord spoke to Abraham and
he said, I'm going to give you an heir. Abraham asked him, he
said, Lord, I have this servant in my house and he's going to
be my heir. I have no seed to give these things I have to.
And the Lord made him a promise. He said, I'm going to give you
a seed. And he was promising Christ to him. He said, through your
seed as in one, not as in many. And that's Christ. But he promised
Christ to him and he promised a son to him. And what was his
response when the Lord made that promise to Abraham? It says in
Genesis 15, and he believed the Lord and it was counted to him
for righteousness. That's whenever he was counted,
imputed righteous, is whenever he believed the Lord. And that
was way before Ishmael even came about. And then in Genesis 17
we say, And Abraham was ninety years and nine, and he was circumcised
in the flesh of his foreskin. And Ishmael, his son, was thirteen
years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
Now here in verse 11 of Romans 4, Back in our text we have a
clear understanding of what this physical circumcision was. Romans
4 11 says, and he, speaking of Abraham, received the sign of
circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he already
had before being uncircumcised. He was given the sign of circumcision
because he already had that seal of faith, the sign, the symbol
was given. Before he was given circumcision,
he already had that seal of faith in his heart. A sign is a token.
It's a reminder And that's used to instruct or represent something
else. Now a seal, a seal is used to
ratify and confirm something that's already been determined.
Just like when you go to a notary public and they seal something,
well those arrangements have already been made, you've already
signed it, it's done. They're just ratifying it like
we did the Constitution. But Abraham was given this physical
sign of circumcision to show that spiritual circumcision that's
already taken place in his heart. More than 13 years before. It
was given to show the promise of God and the work of God has
already been performed in removing that useless flesh inside of
our natures. Getting rid of that and giving
us a new heart. A new nature. Turn over to Exodus
chapter 12. Exodus 12. Now this Passover was a token,
it was a reminder and a picture of Christ's work as our substitute. Let's hear it in Exodus 12 and
verse 12. The Lord said, For I will pass
through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the
firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And against
all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you
for a token upon the houses where ye are. And when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. And the plague shall not be upon
you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt." When the
Lord was moving through Egypt that night, executing His judgment,
He passed over those houses that had the blood on the doorposts,
on the top posts and on the vertical posts. And Moses told those people
beforehand what the Lord had instructed. He told them everything
to do. Separate this lamb. This is how
you're going to slay it. This is how you're going to cook
it, how you're going to eat it. You're going to take the hyssop, dip it in water and
the blood, and you're going to sprinkle it on those doorposts.
He told them exactly what to do. And those that believed God
when they were told that, those that trusted in the Lord's promises,
those that were confident in His ability only, they put the
blood on the door. Because they knew, they said,
if the Lord will send me a Savior, if He's going to save me eternally,
He's going to keep me forever, He's going to take care of Egypt.
He's going to get me out of here. And I'm going to take that blood,
I'm going to do as He says, because I believe Him. I don't believe
in Him, I believe Him. And that blood was a sign of
the seal that had already taken place in them. That faith had
already put in them, in their hearts. And they trusted God
to provide that redemption. They trusted God to provide that
lamb. that the blood's coming from. They trusted Him to purchase
them. And how will this be used? Will
this picture of substitution be used for future generations?
Or is this something just for Israel and Egypt? Look down at
verse 26. God gave instructions there for
the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And He told them when to perform
it, how to perform it, all the things about it. We see in Exodus
12, 26, and it shall come to pass when your children shall
say unto you, what mean ye by this service? Daddy, what are
you doing? Why are you doing these things?
That ye shall say it is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover who passed
over the houses of the children of Israel and Egypt when he smote
the Egyptians and delivered our houses. And the people bowed
the head and worshiped. You're going to go tell your
children when they ask you, why do you have this feast? That
God provided a land. He made a promise to His people. He put forth the plan. He executed
it. He provided for everything through
it. And He preserved it afterwards. He secured it. He kept it. Now
back to our text there in Romans 4, verse 11. Romans 4, 11. And he, Abraham, received the
sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith
which he had yet being uncircumcised, that he might be the father of
them all that believe." Father of them that believe. Though
they be not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed
unto them also. He's saying it's not just those
Jews, those uncircumcised, all that believe. Remember whenever
the Pharisees were speaking to our Lord and they said, well,
we have Abraham. And Christ told them, He said,
if you were Abraham's seed, you'd believe in me. Those Gentiles
that believe, they'll have righteousness counted to them the same as Abraham. Same way, without works, without
the ceremonial law, and without the physical law, the mosaic
law. They'll receive that same seal of believing in their hearts. children of Israel had, and when
they obeyed, same as those children of Israel in Egypt, when they
obeyed and they put that blood on the doorpost. It won't be
any different. They'll declare that God saved us through the
Lamb, Christ Jesus. That's what they'll say. And
Christ is victorious. They'll say He did it, He did
it all, and He finished it. It's completed. Now in verse
12 there it says, And the father of circumcision to them who are
not of the circumcision only, not of the circumcision only,
but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham,
which he had yet being uncircumcised." Those Jews that have not only
physical circumcision only. There's some Jews that were circumcised
the eighth day and they were born with that heritage, but
the Lord saved them also. They had that same faith of our
Father Abraham, that same seal has been put in them. They also
work in their hearts and Abraham was that pattern of which they
were saved also. They were given life and faith
in Christ freely, without works. And it doesn't matter if they
were circumcised already when they received that faith, or
they were uncircumcised when they received that faith in Christ.
Paul's shown us there's no difference between sinners that are saved.
None are special, none are above the other. All the children of
God are saved by Christ alone. It says in Galatians 3, there
is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there
is neither male nor female, for you all are one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ, then are
you Abraham's seed. Then are you Abraham's seed and
heirs according to the promise. According to the promise of God.
If you're in Christ, then you're Abraham's seed and you're in
that promise. So what's this promise he's talking
about? It's a promise of salvation. The Lord made a lot of promises
in the Bible, didn't He? But this one here, this is the
promise of salvation, the promise of Christ coming. We just saw
that salvation is not through the ceremony, but the ceremony
was a sign of the salvation already accomplished. Now we will see
that law that we're talking about. Does law have something to do
with it? This work of circumcision doesn't. Does this law have something?
So look there in verse 13. For the promise that he should
be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed
through the law, but through the righteousness of faith."
It says there that Abraham is going to be the heir of the world.
Whenever the scriptures refer to Abraham inheriting the world,
it's not referring to this physical ball that we live on. It's not
referring to this physical earth or the physical people in this
earth. It directly means he's going to inherit life. through
Christ. He's going to be made a member
of that church of Christ. He'll be made a living body of
Christ. That's what He's going to inherit. Many people, without
understanding, they think that Christ died for everyone on earth.
There are several texts that are taken out of context and
they're read without understanding, without discernment. And they
abuse these texts. But our Master was clear in praying
for His elect children only. Not for the world, for His. Turn
over to John 17. John chapter 17. There in verse 6, Christ is speaking. He says, I have manifested thy
name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and thou gavest
them me, and they have kept thy word. Verse 9, I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. And verse
14, I have given them thy word. That seal has been put in them.
And the world has hated them. There's a sign from that seal,
isn't it? This world that we're in, it hated the Lord's people.
Because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. If a man or woman is saved from
eternal damnation, it is solely due to Christ performing a work
in them and for them. That is the only reason. Him
praying for those people, Him living for those people, Him
dying for those people, and especially Him being resurrected for those
people. That's our only hope. It's a heart work that's performed
by the Lord only, for His people only, for His glory only. It's
for His glory and our benefit. And that's a great benefit. That's
blessed. The Lord's died for us and took our sin from us as
far as east is from the west. That's blessed. No matter what
kind of car you have. Alright, back to our text here
in Romans 4. Verse 13. So it's for the promise
that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham
or to his seed through faith, I'm sorry, for Abraham or to
his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of
faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is
made void, and the promise made of none effect. If people are
saved, they're made heirs through Christ, And through that law,
that's how they're made heirs, then faith's void. And the promise
of salvation has no effect whatsoever. That promise means nothing. It
does no good for God to promise something if accomplishing of
it depends on man's ability. A promise is only good as a person
that can keep it. A promise from somebody that
lies all the time, you wouldn't account that for anything. The
Lord said, I'm God, I lie not. He's unable to lie. Robert Hawker
wrote this, it is of no use to hold forth any blessings if those
blessings depend upon a man's taking them when they are out
of his reach. We can't keep the law of God,
it's out of our reach. But the purpose of the law is
not to give us life. It's to condemn us. And it convicts
Christ's sheep of their sin. It brings us to Christ. There
in verse 15, it says, "...because the law worketh wrath. For where
no law is, there is no transgression." We are given the law to make
us aware of our transgressions against God Almighty. It brings
it to light. It makes us aware of our inability
to keep it. We look at that law, if we're honest with ourselves,
the Lord gives us a heart to be honest. We see that law and
say, I can't keep that. It reveals our sin. We're forced
to look for that substitute. Say, Lord, I can't keep it. Someone's
got to keep it for me. We're brought to Christ for all
of our redemption and all of our holiness. We're brought to
see Christ fulfill that law on our behalf, and that law declares
who He was. He's the one that could fulfill
it. Romans 3.20 says, For by the deeds of the law there shall
no flesh be justified in his sight. For by the law is the
knowledge of sin. It's how we know what we are. Galatians 3, it says, Wherefore
the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that
we might be justified by faith. It walked us by the hand, showed
us what we are, took us straight to Christ. The one that could
do something. The one that could fulfill it.
The one that could keep it. Christ said in Matthew 5, "...think
not that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets. I have
not come to destroy, but to fulfill." What is the means of a man's
salvation? It can't be the law. Abraham
was saved. He was made righteous. That was way before the law was
ever given. How do we receive that promise
of salvation? We're not saved by the ceremony
of circumcision. That won't do us any good. Not
by the ordinances of baptism or the Lord's table. None of
these are sacraments. It's not a means to receive grace. Christ is a source of our grace.
That's the only source. We're not saved by hearing that
law of Moses because it's been fulfilled. Christ has fulfilled
it. What else can I do for that law?
What then? Look at verse 16, Romans 4, 16.
Therefore it is, what is, salvation is of faith that it might be
by grace to the end, that means for this cause or so, the promise
might be sure to all the seed. By grace so the entire body of
Christ is secure in that promise of God. It depends on Him, not
on us. Not to that only which is of
the law, to the physical Jews, but to that also which is of
the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all." Those
Gentiles too who believed the same way Abraham believed. They
believed God. Verse 17, as it is written, I
have made thee a father of many nations. before Him whom He believed,
even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things
which be not as though they were." Our Father Abraham, our model
of salvation, the pattern of salvation, was saved by the grace
of God through faith in and of Christ. That's how Abraham was
saved. That's how Abraham was declared
righteous, with the work that Christ did for him. That promise
of salvation in Christ, it originates with God, it's performed by God,
and it's insured by God. He insures it. It says there,
"...who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which
be not as though they were." What does that mean? The Lord
declares what will happen. Those things that are not, He
speaks to these things as though they had already happened. Abraham
was saved by Christ and Christ hadn't entered the world yet.
I don't have that ability to say something's going to happen
and it happened that way. I can't tell my children that
all things work together for their good. I can't control that. The Lord can. He speaks to these
things. This is what's going to happen.
He says it and it is. That's the difference. Therefore,
all the seed All the elect of Christ, they receive that promise. That's how. He does it. They're
saved. And I ask you, has God quickened
you? Has He made you alive? Were you dead? Were you unable? Did He give you life? Has He
given you faith in Christ? Has He given you that seal in
the heart? There will be a sign from it. The Lord will have something
exterior. That faith acts. There's a work
that happens after. He'll motivate you. If so, if
He's done that work in you, He calls you righteous. He says
you are righteous. That's blessed. That's truly
blessed. Praise be to God. Salvation is
dependent on Him. I don't want me to have anything
to do with it. I don't want to have a hand in it. If I have
some responsibility, I'm going to mess it up. I want the Lord
to control all these things. I want Him to protect it and
preserve it. Preserve me to the end. And I
know He will. Alright, I pray that's a blessing
to you. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we're so thankful. We're so unworthy, and You found
us and come to us, done a work in us. How thankful we are that
You preserve us. Lord, keep us till the end. Give
us the grace to look to Your Son. Give us the grace to praise
Him. Give Him all the glory. Keep
us always, Lord. Be with our brethren everywhere
as they gather, as they go through trials, and comfort them, Bless
them to know that you've sent that Lamb and you won't impute
sin to them. What a true blessing, Lord. It's
a cross thing that we ask it. Amen.