Genesis chapter 4 in verse 25,
if you would read with me. It says, and Adam knew his wife
again, and she bare a son and called his name Seth. And this
is why she gave her son that name. For God, said she, hath
appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. So Seth's name means God has
given me another seed instead of Abel whom Cain slew. In other
words, Seth was a substitute for Abel. That's what his name
means, substitute, which helps us to understand the significance
of the next verse. And to Seth, to him also, there
was born a son, the son of the substitute. and he called his
name Enos. Then began men to call upon the
name of the Lord. I've entitled this message, Calling
on Christ. Now Robert Hawker and John Gill,
according to them, the name Enos means weak, feeble, frail, miserable,
mortal. I think that's very interesting.
Doesn't that describe all of the people the Lord saves? Weak,
frail, feeble, poor, and miserable. We're weak because we're diseased
by sin. We're unable to clear ourselves
before God. We're unable to do what God requires. In ourselves, we're ignorant,
blind, deserving God's wrath, helpless to do one thing about
it. Perhaps Enos had some evident weakness. I don't know what it
was, if he did. Scripture doesn't say. But in
Scripture, a person's name is who they are. It's what they
are and what they do. It says in 1 Samuel 25, 25, as
is his name, so is he. So this man's name, Enos, was
who he was. He was weak, poor, miserable,
frail, mortal. Whatever the thorn in his flesh
was, the name Enos described who he was in himself. He was
weak and frail, and that's the important thing about his name.
We know that the Lord doesn't write anything by accident. We
know that God put this here to teach us something. What I see
here is that the children of the substitute call on the name
of the Lord, because they're weak and poor and miserable.
and frail and mortal. In themselves they are sinners.
In themselves they are unprofitable to God. They are nothing, because
they are taught that by God they call upon the name of the Lord.
I want to consider this very simple and yet very profound
thing from Scripture, very comforting thing, that men here, beginning
with this weak, frail man, began to call upon the name of the
Lord. Notice, God draws attention to
Enos for three reasons. First, because of his relation
to Seth, the substitute. Second, because in himself he
was weak and miserable, feeble and mortal. He was all of these
things because of sin. There's no weakness or feebleness
or mortality without the cause of sin. And third, because God
taught him and brought him to call on the name of the Lord.
That's why God speaks of Enos, his relation to the substitute,
that he was weak and feeble, and that God taught him to call
on the name of the Lord. Doesn't that sum up everything
about the child of God, his relation to the Lord Jesus Christ, the
substitute? That we're weak and feeble, we
have nothing in ourselves, and that God has taught us to call
upon the name of the Lord. This is the first place scripture
mentions that men called upon the name of the Lord. And yet,
there can be no doubt that Abel called. Remember, Seth was a
substitute for Abel. Remember, Abel offered unto God
a more excellent sacrifice than Cain by the witch. God said he
was righteous. God testified of his gift, his
sacrifice. It was because of the one Abel
looked to in the sacrifice that God said he was righteous. Not
because Abel did anything, not because it was a lamb, but because
of who Abel looked to in the sacrifice. God said, he's looking
to my son. That's the one I look to for
my people. Now we're aligned. God did that. Abel looked upon the Lord Jesus
Christ as the only propitiation to God for his sins. In his sacrifice,
he looked to the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified as all of his
acceptance, his only access to God, salvation from his sin,
and the curse of God in his law. And in his offering, Abel confessed
what he believed in his heart. Christ crucified is all of my
salvation and hope. And God took so much delight
in that. Because by God's testimony concerning his son, by God's
testimony, Abel saw in Christ and was persuaded of what he
saw in Christ. That's the one issue, isn't it?
The one issue with which faith is concerned is the one alone
with whom God is concerned for sinners. That's the one issue
with what faith is concerned. is the one with whom God is concerned
for sinners. Christ offered to God for the
sins of his people. That's what God is concerned
with, and that's what faith is concerned with. Abel saw what
God saw in Christ, honor to his law, satisfaction to his justice,
salvation for sinners by his grace, and glory, the glory of
his grace, Christ crucified is all that faith sees. That's all. This is the only issue. Is Christ
by himself, by his own offering of himself to God for the sins
of his people enough? Isn't that the issue? If that's
settled, isn't everything else settled? Is his obedience of
love in his substitutionary death enough to fulfill God's law?
to satisfy God in justice for my sins, enough to honor God
for all of His people, enough to subdue my iniquities and all
my enemies, enough to establish everlasting righteousness, enough
to make reconciliation for my offenses to God by my sin, enough
to obtain eternal redemption and to make full remission for
my sins, enough to perfect me forever by His one offering to
make me holy, and to secure my eternal inheritance, to fulfill
every condition of God's everlasting covenant of grace, and to bring
upon us every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. Is Christ
enough for that? That's what God has said in his
word. Every one of those things, the
Lord Jesus Christ said. He took that cup when he was
with his disciples and he says, take this cup is the New Testament
in my blood. It was the new covenant fulfilled
in his blood, the everlasting covenant. Everything, every condition
fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ in his blood. It's enough. And
this is the one issue with which faith is concerned. Is Christ
alone enough for God? Is he all by himself enough for
me? To see Christ as my salvation
is God giving sight to the blind. He alone can save. Acts 4.12
says there's only one name under heaven given among men whereby
we must be saved. It's his. That's why faith is
concerned with him, isn't it? And so Abel definitely called
upon the name of the Lord and no doubt Adam did too. because
he would have been the one who taught Abel what God had done
for him and for Eve when God clothed them with the skins of
that animal in chapter three, verse 21. And in doing that,
God pointed to Christ, the Lamb of God, the cleansing and covering
for the sins of his people. That's what scripture's about.
It's about the Lamb of God, the Son of God, God chosen, and God's
anointed Christ slain Why? To please God. Isaiah 53, it
pleased the Lord to bruise him. And Ephesians 5 too says that
he offered himself to God for a sweet smelling sacrifice. God
was pleased with his son and he is God's Christ. God chose
him and anointed him and appointed him to honor his righteousness
and magnify his grace to save his people from their sins. So
if you miss everything else in scripture, Don't miss the Lamb
of God. Look at Revelation chapter five.
Listen to what they said there in Revelation. Myriads around
the throne, the host of heaven, gathered together, in verse nine,
and they sung a new song, saying, thou art worthy to take the book
and to open the seals thereof, for thou was slain. This is why
you're worthy, because you were slain. And you have redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and
people and nation and has made us unto our God kings and priests
and shall reign on the earth. And I beheld and I heard the
voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and
the elders and the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000
and thousands of thousands. saying with a loud voice, worthy
is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and
wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. Nothing's
left out there. It's all his because he was slain. Every creature which is in heaven
and earth under the earth, and such are as in the sea, and all
that are in them, heard I saying, blessing and honor and glory
and power be unto him that sits on the throne and unto the Lamb
forever and ever." Don't miss the Lamb of God. Abel didn't
miss it. Adam didn't miss it. Seth didn't,
and neither did his son, Enos. What a wonderful thing that is,
the Lamb of God. So men did call upon the name
of the Lord before Enos, but it's not mentioned there, but
it is mentioned here for the first time in the case of the
son of the substitute, and in the case of his name as Enos,
because all the children of the substitute call on the name of
the Lord. And what is the Lord? He's Jehovah.
And who is the Lord Jehovah? Well, isn't it the Lord Jesus
whose name means Jehovah is salvation? Doesn't his name say in Jeremiah
23 verse six, the Lord Jehovah our righteousness, that's the
Lord Jesus. And isn't he Jehovah our shepherd,
the Lord our shepherd, the Lord that healeth thee, the Lord who
sees and provides, He's the Lord. Jesus sums up his name. As is his name, so is he. Jesus is his name, because that's
who he is, the one who saves us from our sins. Enos, and all
like him who are weak, because of their relation to their substitute,
are taught by God, out of their weakness, to call on the Lord,
Jesus Christ. What a wonderful thing that is.
Now, notice at this time in history, there were no Jews, there were
no Gentiles, there were just people. Just people. And these people here called
on the name of the Lord. Doesn't that give you a ground
of assurance that you can call on the name of the Lord? Before
Abraham was called, these people called on the name of the Lord.
Throughout time, out of every kindred, tongue, people, and
nation, men have been taught of God to call on the name of
the Lord. Who are the children of the Substitute? They are known by this, in themselves
they are weak and feeble and frail and miserable because of
sin. And they are also known by this,
God has taught them to call on the name of the Lord. The children
of the Substitute are the children of our God and Father, the children
God has given to our Substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews
chapter 2 and verse 12 and 13 says, I will declare thy name
unto my brethren in the midst of the church while I sing praise
unto thee. Behold, I and the children which God has given
me. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
God has given him the children. God has chosen them, predestinated
them to adoption of sons by Jesus Christ to himself. And he gave
them to his son. And the Lord Jesus Christ said,
as many as thou hast given me, I've lost none. Lost none. And I give to them eternal life,
and none of them shall ever perish. That's the children of the substitute,
taught by God to call on his son. The Lord, God our father,
gave his son, who is also the Lord, one with the father and
with the spirit, he gave him a people to have as his own,
to have us as his own. Think about that. and then to
save us and to bring us to glory. They're his children. He's called
in Isaiah 9 verse 6, the everlasting father, the everlasting father,
because he stood like Adam did as a father to all of his people
and he acted for them and everything he did was counted theirs because
all their obligations were counted his and he fulfilled them. And
so we find great comfort in this, that the children of the substitute
call on the name of the Lord and it gives us comfort because
this is the evidence. This is the evidence that we
are the children of God. Who calls on the name of the
Lord anyway? Who causes us to call? What does it mean to call
on the Lord? Have you ever asked those questions? Why do men call on the name of
the Lord? Well, According to what we just read here, it's
because they've been taught of God. They've been taught by their
weaknesses. They've been taught from Scripture.
They've been taught by the Spirit of God to look to Christ. And
what do they say? What does it mean to call on
the Lord? Sometimes I make things too complicated
in my own mind, disorganized. But I think of people who call
to the Lord in Scripture, and it teaches me how we are to call. And one of the best examples
I can think of are those short prayers. Remember that woman
from Syrophoenicia, the Sidonian woman, naturally outside of the
nation of Israel in the cursed land? And she had a daughter
who was troubled by a devil. She came to Jesus. He didn't
answer her. All that interaction, he didn't
answer her. And you know what she said in the middle of that?
Lord, help me. That's calling, isn't it? Lord, Those are the three words we
need to remember to know what it means to call on the name
of the Lord. Remember what Peter did? Jesus
was walking on the water. It was a stormy night and he
was in the boat. They saw Jesus walking on the
water. Disciples wondered who it was and Jesus explained that
it was him. Peter said, Lord, if it's you,
call me to come to you on the water. Jesus said, come. So Peter gets out of the boat
He's actually on the water, walking on top of it. And then he looks
around and he didn't see Jesus for a moment. I don't know how
long it was, but it was a stormy night and he began to sink. And what did he say? Well, he
didn't look back to John and ask John, what do you think I
should say now? Could you read me that sinner's
prayer? No, he just said, Lord, save
me. Those are the three words. Lord,
because he's the Lord. Save, because that's why he came.
That's what he does. Me, because I'm the sinner. I'm the weak and poor and frail
one. How did God teach him this? He was drowning. He was sinking. And he knew he was the Lord.
God had taught Peter that. And so he prayed, Lord, save
me. That's what it means to call.
In Joel chapter two, there's a promise made. If you want to
look there, Joel is after Hosea, which is after Daniel. And if
you can find Daniel, then keep going until you find Hosea. And then the next book is Joel,
a small book. In the last verse of chapter
two, Joel two, verse 32, it says this. It's a promise, it's a
prophecy. What's said here is going to
happen in the future, guaranteed. It's future history. And it actually
occurred because when we read this, we know what happened and
when it happened. It happened at Pentecost. The Lord Jesus
had come from heaven. He had been born of a woman made
under the law. He lived in humiliation. He was
made in the likeness of sinful flesh. Men didn't know him. His own nation didn't know him.
They rejected his words. They accused him falsely. They
afflicted him and made him suffer. They spit in his face. They beat
him about the head and on the back, and they nailed him to
the cross. You know it. You know the story.
And when he was done with that, he laid down in the grave. Before
he laid in the grave, he cried out, it is finished. And then
he rose from the dead and he ascended to heaven and he was
given the highest place, the place of God himself on the throne
of God. God, man on the throne of his
father. And then after that, he sent
his spirit into the world. And that's what this prophecy
is about. What the Lord Jesus would do from his throne in heaven,
sending his spirit into the world through his preachers to preach
his gospel and in so doing this prophecy would be fulfilled.
And look what it says. And it shall come to pass that
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered
or saved. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord. Whosoever, not just the Jews. not just the intellectuals, not
just the rabbis or the Pharisees or the scribes or the rulers
of the people, not just the people who were able to sit in the temple
all day, people who had to work, people who were poor, who were
nothing, who were poor, frail, miserable, and mortal. Those
people, whoever they are, that call on the name of the Lord
shall be saved. That's the promise. It's God's
word, it's his promise, and he fulfilled it. And listen how
it works, he says, they shall be delivered for in Mount Zion
and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance. Mount Zion and Jerusalem, well
first of all, Jerusalem is the place where the Lord Jesus was
condemned to die. And because he was condemned
to die, that's where our salvation is. He was crucified in order
to take away the sins of his people, to subdue our iniquities
and to cast out all of our enemies, to subdue our iniquities, the
devil, this world, death, our flesh, even the curse of God's
law, to free us, to set us free. His death is our redeeming ransom. That's why there's deliverance
in Jerusalem. Because the Lord himself was
there and worked it out. And it says, as the Lord has
said. God said it would happen, it
happened. And God is the one who would fulfill it. It all
depends on him, that's why it's certain. As the Lord has said,
and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call. As many as the Lord
calls, call. Why do men call on the Lord?
Because the Lord calls them. Look at Acts chapter 2. If you look at verse 39 of Acts
chapter 2, it says, for the promise, and this is Peter preaching.
We'll come back to this sermon in a moment. It says here, for
the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that
are far off. Which promise? We'll look back
at verse 21. It shall come to pass that whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's what
Joel said. And Peter says that's the promise
here now in his sermon that he applied and in verse 39 he says
it. He says, for the promise is unto
you and to your children and to all that are far off, even
as many as the Lord our God shall call. the remnant that the Lord
shall call. That's what Joel said. Now this
verse from Joel is also in Romans chapter 10. If you want to turn
to Romans chapter 10, it's in verse 13. Romans chapter 10. Now, don't miss the fact that
Romans chapter 10 is not in the beginning of the book of Romans.
It's way over here in chapter 10. And these words in verse
13 Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved." Follow everything that came before. Well, what came
before? Well, what first came is that
God said, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against
all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. So it follows that. God has to convince us of our
sin, of our ungodliness, of our unrighteousness, and the fact
that because of that the wrath of God is upon us. That's the
first part of Romans. And it goes on through until
the middle of chapter three. There's an unrighteous, no not
one, none that understandeth, none that seeketh after God.
It doesn't come from you. Faith is not of you. It's not
in you. You don't seek God, you don't
understand. And then he says in chapter three, verse 19, everything
the law says, it says, so that every mouth may be stopped and
all the world may become guilty before God. This follows that. And it follows a lot more, because
then he goes on and says that righteousness, not man's righteousness,
because he doesn't have any, but God's righteousness now is
revealed. That righteousness is the redeeming
work of Christ. It's the propitiation Christ
made in his blood, the satisfaction to God, and the fulfillment of
the righteousness of the law in the Lord Jesus Christ. By
his love of obedience unto death, and his satisfaction in his death,
he fulfilled the law entirely, fully to the honor of God, to
the glory of God, and the righteousness of God, which he gives to his
people a free gift. Now, that's all in Romans before
this. And he goes on in Romans. In Romans chapter 9, you know
what that's all about. It's about God's election. How
that salvation is by God's sovereign will. His mercy is up to Him
to show mercy. His prerogative. And so we think,
well, if God's going to save only some and it's His choice
and not my choice, I don't have any possibility of influencing
or manipulating God in this thing. And I certainly don't have the
understanding, I don't have the ability to come before his court
in heaven and make my case to justify myself. Well, what hope
is there for me then? That's what this verse is for.
Whosoever shall call. You see, God's will in election
is revealed to us when he shows us Christ and our need for him
and we call. We shouldn't be concerned, first
of all, whether we're the elect of God. We need to be concerned
with Christ and him crucified, because that's whom God has said,
the Lord Jesus himself said, Isaiah 45, 22, look unto me and
be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there
is none else. Whosoever shall call on that
God, that Lord, the Lord Jesus, the only name under heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved. Whosoever. Why do we call then? Look at
verse 14 of Romans 10. How then shall they call on him
in whom they have not believed? If we call on the Lord, it's
because we believe on the Lord. You don't call on the Lord Jesus
Christ if you don't believe on him. Every man calls on his own
God. Every man calls on the God he
trusts. Remember when Jonah was in the
ship going to Tarshish? He's trying to get out of going
to Nineveh. And the sea became tempestuous
and the sailors, the mariners were all afraid. And the captain
of the boat said, let everyone call on his God. Just call on whoever your God
is, call on him. Maybe we'll get the right one.
because every man calls on the God he trusts. Remember the prophets
of Baal? They called on Baal. Elijah called
on the Lord. And the God of glory answered
him by fire from heaven. You see, you can call on a lot
of gods, but there's salvation in only one God, and that's the
one whose name is the Lord Jesus Christ. And so in Romans chapter
10, in fact in verse 31 of chapter 9, listen to this, in chapter
9 verse 31 it says, but Israel which followed after the law
of righteousness have not attained to the law of righteousness.
They followed after the righteousness which comes by the law. What
is that kind of righteousness? Well, it's the righteousness
that a man gets by keeping the entire law of God continuously
and perfectly. Deuteronomy 6.25 says, it shall
be for our righteousness if we do all the Lord has commanded
us. That's what they said. That's what it would have been
if they could have done it. No one has ever done it. No one ever can except the Lord
Jesus. But these people, the Israelite,
the nation, the Jews who didn't believe Christ but held tenaciously
thinking that God could accept them by what they could do or
what they were in themselves by their birth to Abraham, something
about themselves, maybe someday, somehow, I'll get good enough
and then God will accept me. The rich young ruler asked Jesus,
good master, what shall I do that I might have eternal life?
That's what these men were like. What shall I do? They followed
after the righteousness which is called the law of righteousness.
But they, it says here, they have not attained. They haven't
reached it. They have not attained to the
law of righteousness. Why? Wherefore? Because they
sought it not by faith. but as it were by the works of
the law, for they stumbled at that stumbling stone, which is
Christ. They didn't seek righteousness by faith. And what is faith?
What is faith? It is a gift. But Bartimaeus
is an example of what faith is. Blind Bartimaeus, he sat by the
wayside begging, and then he heard that Jesus was coming by.
He couldn't see. But he heard that he was coming
by. People were talking, some of them talking about him, no
doubt. And he heard, and when he came close enough, he cried
out, Lord, Jesus, son of David! And I could tell he was listening
between the words. Have mercy on me! That's calling, isn't it? And
the people said, be quiet. And he cried all the louder. And Jesus stood still and he
called the blind man and he asked Bartimaeus in Mark chapter 10,
he says, what do you want me to do to you? What do you want
me to do for you? Bartimaeus said, Lord, that I
might receive my sight. That's what faith is. It's sight. It's a sight of Christ, an understanding,
a spiritual perception. It's a realization that he is
who God said he is. He's God, the Lord, the only
mediator between God and man, the one who saved his people
from their sins, the one who could save me. Bartimaeus said,
Lord, that I might receive my sight. He already had eyes in
his soul at that point because he called. And you don't call
unless you believe. So he already believed him, but
he didn't have eyes in his head yet working. Jesus said, be it
unto you according to your faith. Your faith has made, how did
he say it? In Mark 10 verse 52, Jesus said to him, go thy way,
thy faith hath made thee whole. What was Bartholomeus' faith? It was his eyes to see Christ.
And sometimes we get confused about faith I think the one thing
that helps me is this verse in Hebrews 11, verse three, where
it says, by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by
the word of God so that things which are seen were not made
of things which do appear. Did faith create the world? Of
course not. But faith does something. It
helps me, it enables me to see that God did it, to understand
God did this. Faith causes me to see and perceive
God's word is true about what he said about creating the world.
And so faith doesn't add to creation, doesn't change creation, doesn't
modify God at all, does it? But it does something for me,
doesn't it? Faith brings to me the understanding of what's true
about God. And faith in Christ, the faith
that Jesus said made him perfectly whole, was that Barthimaeus saw
Christ. And that he was his savior who
could heal him. The Lord who healeth thee, opened
his eyes. Thy faith, the Lord Jesus Christ,
hath made thee whole. The one that you believe, Elijah
believed on the Lord. The prophets of Baal believed
the prophets of Baal. Guess what? Baal didn't hear
them. But Christ heard Elijah. The
mariners on the ship in Jonah's day cried to their God. Their
gods couldn't hear them. If you call on a God who isn't
there, guess what he's gonna say? Nothing. If you call on
the Lord Jesus Christ according to what God has said and God
has given you sight to see him, he's going to say, your faith
has made you whole, the one you believe, the object of your faith,
because that's what faith is. You see this microphone here.
I'll probably mess it all up by touching it. You can see that,
can't you? You're not modifying it by looking
at it, are you? You didn't make it appear, did
you? Do you change it by looking at it? No. But does it change
your perception of it by looking at it? You see, faith changes
us, but it doesn't change God. Faith doesn't move the books
in heaven to change the account from condemned to justified.
It doesn't influence God, but it does change us, doesn't it?
It causes us to think and see like God thinks and sees. and
that is the gift of God. That is the understanding of
persuasion that causes us, like those in Hebrews 11, 13, they
saw it afar off and they were persuaded of it, and they embraced
it, and they confessed, we're strangers and pilgrims on the
earth. And so in Romans chapter 10, these people didn't seek
righteousness by faith, they sought it by their works because
they couldn't see what? righteousness in Christ. They
had no need for it. That's why Enos called, he had
a need. And he saw where his need was
met. It was in the Lord, Jesus Christ. These people, these Jews
described here, they went about to establish a righteousness
of their own. They had no righteousness, they couldn't produce any, yet
they continued blindly beating their heads against the wall,
thinking God was somehow gonna look at their effort to meet
his requirements and then bless them. And then in verse 1 of
chapter 10, Paul says, brethren, my heart's desire and prayer
to God for Israel is that they might be saved. Clearly they
weren't. Otherwise he wouldn't have had
that desire. For I bear them record that they have a zeal
of God. They're very zealous, but what was wrong? Object of
their faith was not right. They saw something, but it was
not the Lord Jesus and his righteousness. They saw a law they could fulfill,
and they trusted in Moses' law, their own obedience to it. They
thought they could fulfill the requirements of God's law. So
their zeal was not according to knowledge, not according to
the truth, And the Lord Jesus is that truth. For they being
ignorant of God's righteousness, what God requires and what God
has provided, and going about to establish their own righteousness. You know what that's called?
What does it mean if you say, God in heaven has sent his son
into the world in order to establish a righteousness by his own personal
obedience unto death, in satisfaction of God's law, in the nature of
his people, under humiliation and willing and voluntary submission
of love. What does it mean for you to
say, well, you know, I think I can do that, okay. I can meet
that, I can do that. You just have to keep at it.
Someday I'll be able to accept, I'll be sincere enough. I'll
just get sincere enough. I really just gotta lay aside
all these sins and I gotta get things right. I gotta set things
right with me and God. No, that's called blindness,
and it's called pride, because it's a refusal to acknowledge
that God cannot accept you. You're a sinner, and I'm a sinner.
So is Enos. But the difference here is that
these people were blind to it, like the Pharisee. God, I thank
thee. I'm not like other men are, like
this adulterer, this embezzler, this publican. I fast twice a
week. All that I do in Matthew 7, 21
and 23 says all that we did, we did in Jesus' name. That's
why we should be accepted here. No, no, that's called blasphemy. That's called idolatry. That's
called putting yourself and your obedience in the place of Christ.
And so he says here, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believeth. And then he goes on, Moses, now
you who trust in Moses, listen, and when I say Moses and when
God says Moses, he just doesn't mean the 10 commandments, he
means that principle of coming to God on the basis of what you
do. And so he says, Moses described
the righteousness, which is of the law, that the man which doeth
those things shall live by them. In other words, if you want to
live before God by trying to keep his requirements, then any
failure is going to be on your head. And guess what? You're
going to stand before God in his court and you're going to
give an answer for yourself to God. And you will not be able
to give an answer. But verse six goes on. To add
to this, that's what Moses said, but listen to what faith says.
The righteousness of faith, he says. The righteousness which
is of faith speaks on this wise. This is what it says. Say not.
This seems like a funny way to start explaining what something
is by saying what it isn't. But God has to beat us on the
head sometimes because we naturally think the wrong way. Let me tell
you what the righteousness of faith is not. because I know
that you're clinging to something of your own. Let me take it to
the extreme. This is what it amounts to if
you trust in your own righteousness. Say not in your heart, who shall
ascend into heaven? That is to bring Christ down
from above. What does it mean to ascend to
heaven? Well, it's kind of complicated just reading this, but Jesus
explained it to Nicodemus when he said, No man has ascended
up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son
of Man which is in heaven. And what he means is that Jesus
takes the whole history of redemption and condenses it into that one
verse. He that is in heaven, the son
of God, descended first as man, the son of man, and having accomplished
our redemption, ascended to heaven, and there the son of man sits
where he was before. That's what it means. And here
he's saying, don't say that in your heart. Because to say that
you can do what God requires is equivalent to saying we don't
need a mediator. We don't need Christ. We can
actually ascend to heaven ourselves. We can accomplish our own salvation. What an affront to God. What
an affront to his justice. What an affront to his righteousness
and to his grace. And then in verse seven he continues,
he says, or who shall descend into the deep? That is to bring
up Christ again from the dead. Don't say that, don't think it
in your heart. To descend into the deep means
to come and make satisfaction for sin, as the Lord Jesus did
in his humiliation. But what sayeth it? Verse eight.
The word is nigh thee in thy mouth and in thy heart. That
is the word of faith which we preach, which is the gospel.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and
believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead,
thou shalt be saved. Now, he puts it in a reverse
order. First we believe, then we confess. But confession is
the evidence of faith, so he says that first. If thou shalt
confess with thy mouth And what do we confess with our mouth?
This is a summary of all the book of Romans. The Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus. Remember his
name? Jesus, which means Jehovah is
salvation. The Lord Jesus. We don't appreciate
it, but remember what happened in the book of Acts in chapter
two where we read a moment ago? These men actually crucified
the Lord Jesus. And having crucified him, they
were verily guilty, weren't they? Of crucifying the Lord of glory. They killed the prince of life.
Peter tells them, you didn't do it out of God's purpose, but
according to God's predeterminate counsel, you took him. And by
wicked hands, you crucified and slew him. And then he goes on
and he preaches about how he's the Christ. And you can imagine
what they felt because God was working in them. And some of
them, not all of them, God was calling them. And what he was
pressing down upon them was as the one you crucify is the Lord
of glory on whom you must call. And so he says here, if you shall
confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, come
down from heaven, made satisfaction for our sins, now seated, exalted
and reigning to give that salvation to his people. Confess the Lord
Jesus. and shall believe in your heart,
God has raised him from the dead. He actually accomplished it.
He overcame death. He put away sin. He answered
God fully for our sins and honored his law in keeping it. And so
God raised him from the dead. This, this satisfies. This is the fulfillment. This
brought glory and honor to God's law and justice. and made known
and saved his people. This fulfilled his everlasting
covenant. It established righteousness for his people. The Lord Jesus. That's what we confess. That's
what we believe. And when we believe in the Lord
Jesus in our hearts, then we confess him. Why? What else are
you gonna say? You only say what's in your heart,
don't you? Jesus said in Matthew chapter 12, he says, out of the
abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. Whatever you really
believe, that's what you're gonna say. And what do we say? I'm weak, poor, I'm miserable,
I'm wretched. I'm calling on Christ to save
me. Lord, save me. And some people say, well, I
did that. I remember I did that as a kid. I said the sinner's
prayer. I read it off of a track one
time. I repeated it. Lord, Lord, I know I'm a sinner. I know I'm a sinner. I remember
I did that. I was like so old when I did
it. It was several years ago, but
I remember doing that. You see, there's something wrong
with that. Because Enos said men began to
call on the name of the Lord. In Job chapter 27, verse 8 through
10, it says, the hypocrite will not always call on the Lord. You know why? Because he believes
his own righteousness is a good enough facade. He's okay. People say I'm okay, I must be
okay. He's satisfied with the evaluation that people give.
But the publican wasn't satisfied with that at all. God, be merciful
to me, the sinner. And Bartimaeus wasn't satisfied
when Jesus gave him sight, he followed the Lord Jesus. He followed
him. And so Job asked the question,
will you always call upon God? Will you always call upon God?
And you know what I say? As long as he's calling on me. Because in Isaiah 9.13 it says,
the people do not turn to him that smiteth them. That's a people
left to themselves. but those the Lord saves when
he smites them, when he afflicts their conscience and arranges
in the providence of their lives so that he hedges them in and
they realize, I am a bankrupt, poor, ruined sinner deserving
of hell and I have nowhere else to go. And they hear then the
truth of how God has received his people for the sake of what
his son has done entirely without any contribution from them. And
they're given eyes to see that God's satisfied with Christ.
That's faith. And they begin to call. This
is amazing. God accepts me for what Christ
has done. And they're rejoicing, and they
begin to tell the wonderful works of God. This is completely outside
of my character. I would never have thought of
this. Who would have known it had it not been revealed? Look
at Psalm 107. This is the way God does it,
though. Look at the last verse of Psalm
107. who so is wise and will observe these things, everything
that had just been spoken before, even they shall understand the
lovingkindness of the Lord. The lovingkindness. What is the
lovingkindness of God? Remember Jeremiah 31 three, we
quoted a lot. I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Therefore, with lovingkindness
have I drawn thee. Remember that verse? I love that
verse, don't you? What does God do for all those
that he has loved with an everlasting love? He draws them. Jesus said,
all of the Father giveth me, shall come to me. He draws them. How? In loving kindness. How
does that loving kindness work? Well, I explained it here. Whoever
understands these things will understand the loving kindness
of the Lord. So tell me about it. Well, let's go back then
and look at a couple of verses. We're not going to read the whole
thing, but look at verse 17. This describes me to a T. Fools,
because of their transgression and because of their iniquity,
are afflicted. That's mercy. Whatever makes
you call on Christ is mercy. Hosea 13.9 says, O Israel, thou
hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thy helper. So he says,
fools, because of their transgression and because of their iniquity,
are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth all manner
of meat, and they draw near to the gates of death. Then they
cry unto the Lord in their trouble. That's God's work. and he saveth
them out of their distresses. Whosoever shall call, who calls? The people the Lord calls, the
ones on whom he has put his name, that's his promise. And here
he describes the loving kindness of God, that everlasting love
that drew us from eternity, or in time, that love that was ours
from God from eternity. He says, then they cried to the
Lord, verse 20. What did He do? He sent His Word
and healed them and delivered them from their destructions.
Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness. Where's
my part in this? You're the one the Lord saved.
You're the one the Lord called and put you under affliction
and taught you and pointed you to Christ and said, look, look.
And you said, Lord, save me, sinking, My foot had nigh well
slipped. I said, Lord, my foot slippeth.
Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up. And so he says here, he sent
his word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions.
Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for
his wonderful works to the children of men. And listen to verse 32. This is the rest of it. This
is what else we do besides calling for salvation. Let them sacrifice
the sacrifices of thanksgiving. and declare his works with rejoicing. That's what we're doing. We're
doing that. And whoever understands this,
understands the loving kindness of the Lord. He draws us to Christ. He causes us to call. He teaches
us from his word, whoever calls shall be saved. Whoever calls,
believes on the Lord Jesus Christ in his heart. God put that there. It's not our work, it is. What
a wonderful God we serve, weak and poor and frail, the children
of the substitute made to call, and God saving them for their
relation to Him and their need in God's revelation of Christ.
Amen.