is Thy faithfulness, great is
Thy faithfulness. Morning by morning new mercies
I see. All I have needed Thy hand hath
provided. Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord,
I'm to Thee. Thank you. Robin and John, thank
you. Go back to 1 Corinthians 1 with
me now. 1 Corinthians 1. I told you Sunday, I believe,
that Spurgeon said it was actually Whitfield, George Whitfield.
A man greatly used by the Lord to preach the gospel in this
country and bring about a great awakening in this country. He
said that verse 30 is the most comprehensive verse in all of
God's Word. That's saying a lot. Most comprehensive. There's more to be comprehended
of the truth in this one verse than any other. Spurgeon agreed
with it. So we need not man's approval, or we don't need to
drop names, but we esteem those men highly. And I concur, this is the faith of God's elect
in this verse. This is the faith, Scripture
says, delivered to the saints. Read it with me. through 31,
no flesh should glory in His presence. But of God are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption, that according as it is written in Jeremiah
9, he that glorieth, let him glory. in the Lord. Now, who is he writing to? Well, verse 2, back there in
verse 2, it says to the church of God, in Christ, sanctified,
set apart, put in Christ, called saints, and who call on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Grace to you, peace. And of God
are you, the church, the called, the sanctified, in Jesus Christ,
who of God, is made all these things for us, all these things.
Now, we're salvations of the Lord, we're weak, we're helpless,
we can do nothing, we're totally dependent for everything. And God says, for our comfort
here and our joy, that Jesus Christ is all we need. We need all these things, these
four things. Since he says these four things are what we need.
Wisdom. It means we're ignorant. By nature we're ignorant. We
don't know God. We don't know ourselves. We don't
know the truth. Man, the natural man, just does
not know or receive the things of God. They're foolish to do. Righteousness. We're guilty. We're guilty. We need a righteousness.
Sanctification. That's holiness. It's to be set
apart. We're polluted. and redemption. We're fit for
the burning. We have no redeemable qualities. We should be destroyed, all of
us by nature, unfit, unworthy, but in Christ we're being redeemed. All right? All right, let's look
at this. So this is for those that are
in Christ. Let's examine ourselves, see
if we're in Christ. if you need for Christ to be
all these things for you. But verse 29, no flesh should
glory in His presence. Every true worshiper of God who
knows something of who God is, holy God, righteous God, just
God, who by no means cleared the guilty, who will punish sin,
and knows something about themselves, knows that we have no room for
any boasting, for any glory whatsoever. All of God's people. Our Lord
said in John 6, 45, they'll all be taught of God. All of God's
true people know these things. There are no exceptions. There
are no exceptions to this. All of God's people know these
things. They've been taught. Even though you may not be able
to articulate or explain or declare these things. Somebody asked
you, tell us what wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption
mean. You might not be able to clearly define that. You might
not be able to clearly articulate that. You might stumble all over.
But when a man like me or whoever stands up and begins to declare
these things, if God help him, you'll say, that's right. That's
what I believe, right there. God's people don't take glory,
don't take credit for anything. Not repentance, not faith, not
works, nothing. No flesh should glory. People do. People glory. This is what flesh does. All of God's people say with
Paul in Romans 7, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Is that right? There are no exceptions. All of God's people know that.
That which is flesh is what? Flesh. The flesh profiteth nothing. That's what our Lord said. All
of God's people know that. No flesh should glory in His
presence. And I'll tell you what, they don't. In His presence,
nobody is glorying save in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how
this starts. No flesh should glory in His
presence because If you get in His presence, if you get into
glory, if you get to heaven, it's because of God are you there. It's of God, 100% of the Lord,
salvations of the Lord. Verse 30, of God are you in Christ
Jesus. Salvation means to be in Christ
Jesus. Paul said that, didn't he? Philippians
3. Oh, that I might be found in Him, not having my own righteousness. In Christ. But of God. Are you in Christ Jesus? Who
of God. Of God. Of God. Salvation is
of God. It's of the Lord. It's complete.
All things, Scripture says, are of God. Mercy, grace, righteousness,
sanctification, redemption. Salvation is of God. There's
nothing of man in it. There's no contribution by man
in it. It's of God. Do you know that? All of God's people know that. Like creation. Salvation is God's
work. It's God's Word. God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God the Father is the
author of it. God the Son is the redeemer of
it. God the Holy Spirit is the applier
of it. Salvation is overboard. How of
God are you in Christ Jesus? Like Noah and his family were
found in that ark. Christ is that ark. Christ is
as Noah's ark. Noah's name even means rest.
If you are in Christ in that day, when the overflowing scourge
of God's wrath, when fire falls, if you are in Christ, you didn't
put yourself there, it's because God put you there. Like Noah. Ask Noah. How'd you get in that
ark, Noah? God said, come. God told me to come. What is this? This is election.
There you go again, preacher. That's right. That's exactly
right. That's where salvation starts.
If this doesn't bring a smile to your face, I've got to wonder
about your own election. It's God's people's glory that
God would choose anybody, let alone them. You ask Abraham. Abraham, how'd you... How did
you learn about God? Did you study Him? No, when I
was 75 years old, I was an idolater, steeped in my religion. I didn't
know God, but God, for His great mercy and love toward me, revealed
Himself to me. Why did you leave your father?
Why did you leave idolatry? Why did you start believing the
true God and leave your idols? Because God said, come out. That's Abraham's testimony. Noah,
how did you get in that ark? God said, God taught me. God brought me. Jacob, Jacob,
did you love God first? Or did He love you? Jacob would say, are you kidding
me? Simon Peter, Simon Peter, how
did you get to be one of the Lord's disciples? He said, I
was fishing. Fishing was my life. My whole
life was fishing. My boat was my life. Boats, nets. But the Lord Jesus Christ one
day, I didn't have a clue who He was, came by one day and called
me by His name. Irresistibly, powerfully called
me. And I followed Him. I'm here
today because He Because when Peter wrote his first letter,
the first thing off his pen was, elect, according to the foreknowledge
of God, and then kept by the power of God. Saul of Tarsus,
who became Paul, the apostle. Saul of Tarsus. Saul, did you
accept Jesus as your personal Savior? It's laughable, isn't
it? He hated Jesus. He hated him. But God loved him. And the Lord Jesus Christ died
for him. And the Lord Jesus Christ came
to him one day and said, Saul, Saul, get in the dust. I have chosen you. You're mine. In Christ. Of God are you in
Christ. Of God. Now, you can get in religion.
Just make your choice. Make your decision. You can get
in a church. Just find you one. Choose the
church of your choice. But you can't get in Christ but
one way. Of God. Of God. Pick your place. Join up. Make your decision, make your
choice, exercise your free will, and you can get in religion.
But it's not of him that willeth or of him that runneth. It's
of God that showeth mercy, and of God are you in Christ Jesus. We could spend another hundred
years on those first words, of God. It's all of God. To be in Christ also, is for
Christ to be in you. And there's a verse of Scripture
that talks about a bottle and smoke, and smoke in a bottle.
That's a good illustration of that. Christ in you, you in Christ. If you're in Christ, you're in
His heart, in His mind, in His thoughts, in His affection. You're
His life. since he ever lives to make intercession. That's what he lives for. Think
about that. And, there's just no exceptions
to this, if you're in Christ, Christ is in you and He is your
life. He's in your heart, He's in your mind, He is your life. He's not a part of it. If Christ
is in you, it's not part-time, it's not occasional, it's constant. Constant. It's a vital, living,
real union with a person. It's like marriage. Somebody
can be married, a husband and wife can be married and maybe
not even mention each other. Well, they're just married on
paper. They're not united. But those who are truly wedded
and married, you can't go a day without thinking about your beloved.
Even when they're gone, honey, you still think about it. That's
marriage, and that's what Christ and His church is called, a marriage. It's in your heart, it's in your
mind. You don't have to tell people to love Christ. You don't
have to beg people to come to worship Christ. It's their life. It's their life. Alright, let's
look at these four things. Of God are you in Christ. Who? Not what. It's not, if you learn
these doctrines, then you're, oh, no, no, no, no. We're talking
about a person here. Who of God is made unto us? Made, not offered. It doesn't say He's offered this
unto you if you'll accept it. Oh, no. It says He's made. Have
you ever made something? Sure you have. You made it. What
does that mean? That means it is. You made it. There it is. God says this is the way it is.
As He is, so are you, so are we. Of God are you in Christ,
who of God is made of you, not proposed to you. No, no, no,
no. Aren't you glad? Made unto, made
to be, created, declared. This is the way it is. Wisdom.
Wisdom. This tells us that we're ignorant,
doesn't it? Christ is our wisdom. He is our wisdom. Now, here's
what worldly wisdom says, and we looked at the first part of
this chapter. It says, Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of
this world? And we talked about what the world thinks is the
truth and what they think is wisdom and so forth. But how
foolish? Only a fool says, No, God. Only
a fool says, All of this just happened. But here's what worldly
wisdom is. Here's worldly philosophy. This is what they think, okay?
Just to keep that. Worldly wisdom is this. There's
only one life to live. You need to get everything you
can get. You need to get everything you can accumulate before you
die. We used to have this saying that he that dies with the most
toys wins. People actually believe that.
I didn't actually believe that. This is it. It's all there is.
That's the wisdom of the world, isn't it? Get all you can get
while you can. How foolish. The Lord says, you fool, it says
it's appointed unto man once to die. And here's wisdom after
that. In our lives of vapor, it goes
by like that, doesn't it? Man's an absolute fool. He doesn't
see how quickly this life is going. Then what? Moses said,
oh, that they were wise and would consider their ladder in. That
is, all of this, there have been trillions of human beings on
this planet that are gone. Just like us. What does it matter? What they
had. What they did. Here's wisdom
of the world. Accomplishments. Leave your legacy. Leave your mark. Do something
good. Do something memorable. Oh, really? That doesn't amount to nothing. And I've used poor grammar on
purpose, for emphasis. The only thing that matters is
if you're in Christ. I told you about the Titanic,
didn't I? The Titanic represents this world. Who's who of people were on board
that Titanic? The builder of that ship. There
were bankers and lawyers and politicians and who's who. And then there were galley cooks
and servants and all of that. When it was all over, they put
a list on the board And two headings. And it didn't tell what anybody
had accomplished, what anybody knew, what anybody had attained,
what anybody owned. One of two things. Saved. Lost. That's it. As worldly wisdom is, make your
mark on this world. That's foolishness. That's utter
foolishness. The place, Psalm 103 says, you're
going to live here and it's going to be six months after you're
gone and the world's not even going to know you existed. Who was the twelfth president
of the United States? Somebody. Anybody. Quick. Who was last
year's vice president? You don't even know who he is
now. Proverbs 1. Highest office in
the land. Doesn't matter. What matters
are you in Christ. Wisdom. See, He has made unto
us wisdom. The world doesn't care about
Jesus Christ. The world doesn't get to study Jesus Christ. The
world doesn't seek Christ. The Lord looked down from heaven
to see if there were any that didn't understand. Psalm 14.
Any that didn't understand. Any that didn't seek God. He
said, there's none. There's none. And you didn't either. And I
didn't either. And I can't preach without saying
this. But God one day said, you're a fool and I'm going to teach
you wisdom. I'm going to show you my Son.
You see that ball in the sky? That represents my Son. You can't
even see it. That's why I put it there. The
heavens declare His glory. The firmament showeth His handiwork.
Day after day after speech, what? Jesus Christ, the Son of Righteousness
reigns. You can't even see Him. You're
never given a thought. You're going to now. Of God as
He made unto you wisdom. You finally come to your senses
by the grace of God and see that I've been a fool, didn't know
God, didn't know Christ, didn't know myself. God reveals Christ to you. Oh
my, the world says, here's wisdom, the wisdom of the intellect,
you know, get all the knowledge you can attain to, of all subjects,
science, astronomy, medicine, psychology, physiology, technology. This is wisdom, because it's
going to save the planet. Oh man, how foolish can you get? I'll tell you the meaning of
life. I'm going to tell you the meaning of life right now in one word. If you want to be wise, if you
want to know the meaning of life, I'm going to tell it to you in
one word. It was found in John chapter 1. Christ, in Him is
life. In Him we live and move and have
our being. Oh, may God be pleased to show
us. Christ is life. And only if God reveals to us
the Lord Jesus Christ will we be wise. He's made unto us. He
who knows Christ knows the end from the beginning. I can tell
you the end from the beginning, people. I know Greek perfectly. I do. I know Greek. I know Alpha
and I know Omega. I'm not being smart Alec, please
don't despise me for this, but this is what Jesus Christ said. He said, I'm the beginning and
I'm the end. I'm the Alpha and Omega and I'm
everything in between. I'm all you need to know. This
is what Scripture said. I am all you need to know. He
has made unto us wisdom. You need to know Him. And you
can't know Him unless He reveals Himself to you. Christ is the wisdom of God. Proverbs, just read Proverbs.
Proverbs 4, Proverbs 8, just read Proverbs. All through that.
Do people, wise people of this world, bother to look at Proverbs?
Eight hundred and some odd Proverbs. Does anybody bother to look at
one of them? Nah. Solomon wrote 3,000 songs,
1,500 proverbs. Does anybody bother to look at
one of them? No. There's infinite wisdom found
in one line. The reason you bother to is because
the Lord chose you and showed you true wisdom. The wisdom of
this world is foolishness. And our Lord says in Proverbs,
He said, He that understands Me understands it all. Understands it all. He's made
unto us wisdom. And you know something? Christ
is our wisdom before God, and Isaiah 53, it says, by His knowledge
we're justified. Next thing, He has made unto
us righteousness. Righteousness. Go over to Romans
10. I'm determined to make this short,
but my, my. I got stuff right there. Romans
10. Romans 10. Righteousness. Oh
my, this is a sad fact, people, but most religious people, no,
irreligious people, but most religious people can't tell you
what righteousness is. Most religious people don't know
and don't care. And if you ask them what righteousness
is, they will tell you it's living right. And that's what Paul is writing
about here. It's like the Jews who go about to establish their
own righteousness. They're ignorant of what God
requires. Look at Romans 10, verse 1 through
4. Brethren, now Paul used to be
a Pharisee, remember? Thought he knew the law, but
oh my. Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel
is that they might be saved, not get saved, be saved by God. I bear them record. They have
a zeal of God, zealous but not according to knowledge. They
being ignorant of God's righteousness. That's God's essential, His person. And also, the righteousness He
demands for us to get into heaven. And they're going about to establish
their own righteousness. And have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God. There's the word three times
in one verse. You know it's in the Bible more than 500 times. Must be important, isn't it? Verse 4. Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. There's
just not enough time to deal with this. So many in here, you know what
this means. Let's look at this. Genesis 3.
Real quickly. Genesis 3. I had this written
down. I knew you'd be blessed by it. Let's look at it. Genesis chapter
3. Genesis chapter 3. It all started in the Garden.
Everything this world is and man and who God is and who Christ
is and what salvation is started in the Garden. The first three
chapters. Chapter 4 explains all of religion,
two religions, two men. Well, chapter 3, the serpent
was settled. This is Satan. Said to the woman,
half God said? He put a question mark on God's
Word. That's what he does. That's what false religion does.
Verse 2. The woman said, we may eat of the fruit of the trees
of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst
of the garden, God hath said you shall not eat of it, neither
shall you touch it. She added something there. God
didn't say that. Verse 4, the serpent said, you
won't die. He flat out lied to her. He flat
out said, God, it's not right. What God says is not true. Here's
what he said, God doth know, verse 5, in the day you eat thereof
your eyes will be opened, you'll be as gods, knowing good and
evil. You have free will, exercise it. You can be as gods. And now what he convinced human
beings of today? You're little gods. You're in
charge of your own destiny. A woman saw the tree was good
for food, pleasant the eyes, desired to make one wise. That's
lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, pride of life. She took
the fruit and they died. Look at it, verse 7. The eyes
were opened and they knew they were naked. Naked? Exposed, guilty as charged. Now look how ignorant they had
become. They heard the voice of the Lord God. This is Christ.
The Word. Walking in the garden in the
cool of day, and Adam and Eve hid themselves from the presence
of the Lord God. You can't hide from God. How
ignorant has this brilliant man become? All of Adam's posterity
to this day thinks he's hiding from God. How does he know this? How does
he say, darkness is covering my evil deeds? Oh no, darkness
and light are both the light of the Lord. And he hid. It says they sewed together,
look at this, fig leaves together to cover their nakedness. Fig
leaves cover our nakedness before God. One tree God cursed. One tree Jesus Christ cursed.
What was it? A fig tree to show us that if
you try to sew together, do anything to cover your sin, it won't cover
it. He that covereth his sins shall
not prosper, but he that confesseth them. Now Adam and Eve hid, and
now look at this. This is the gospel right here.
Verse 9, the Lord God called. He called them. He loved Adam. He loved Eve.
They're dead now. They're dead and trespassed and
sinned. But He called them by His grace. Where art thou? Oh
my, He called them. Look down at verse 15. And the
Lord said, preach the gospel to them. He said, here it is
in verse 15, I'll put enmity between thee and the woman, thy
seed and her seed, the woman's seed. And it shall bruise thy
head. That is, the woman's seed will
crush the serpent's head. Satan's power. But you'll bruise
his heel. That's Christ and Him crucified. That's exactly it. And the Lord
preached the gospel right there. He called us Adam by the gospel. And Adam and Eve heard that.
But hold on, that's not it. That's not all. Look down at
verse 21. And to Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God
make coats of skin." He made coats of skin and clothed them,
covered them. They're standing there naked.
First thing it is, well, take away those fig leaves. And they're
shivering and naked and cold and guilty and unrighteous before
God. They've broken God's law, they've
sinned against God, but God. Killed an innocent animal, I
believe it was a lamb, I'm quite sure it was, and took that lamb's
skin, shed that blood first thing to pay for their sins. That animal
died for the guilty. That's Christ crucified. And
he took the skin of that lamb and didn't offer it to them.
He didn't say, would you like to have this? He made that skin
and put it around them. That's righteousness. That's
the robe of righteousness. The dress code of heaven. The
garment, the robe of saints in heaven is the righteousness of
Jesus Christ. Do you know why Jesus Christ
was stripped? On that cross? That wasn't necessarily
the custom of being crucified, but the Scriptures is very clear
to let us know that they stripped Him naked. Why? Where raring
is gold, so that we won't be found naked. What's the first thing that the
returning prodigal, that the father did for the returning
prodigal, the guilty son? What's the first thing the father
said? Bring the best robe. Not offer it to him, put it on
him. Of God are you in Jesus Christ,
who of God is made unto us. Wisdom. Do you see you need a
righteousness to get the glory in? You need a righteousness
to get to heaven? You can't produce one. You can't do it no matter
not the righteousness of the law or the deeds of the law.
No flesh will be justified. There's only one way. Christ
is righteous. He's the end of the law for righteousness. You just believe and trust Christ,
you're righteous. Isn't that a good move? I can't preach this in any other
way, but excited? I tell you, people in glory,
everybody in glory right now, singing at the top of their lungs
unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins, unto Him, unto
Him, unto Him. Of God are you in Christ. Of God is made unto us. All these
things. Sanctification. Sanctification. That means set
apart. for God's use. That's what that
means. Holiness means to be set apart by God, unto God, for God. It means to be consecrated to
God. You can't sanctify yourself. You can't do anything to set
yourself apart. You're a sinner. I'm a sinner.
We're just flesh. I was going to have you turn
to Hebrews 10, but I don't have time. But, you know, man thinks
there are certain things that make us holy, set us apart, certain
dress, certain ceremony, certain sacrifice. And that changes with
generations. It changes with cultures, doesn't
it? It changes. But God's sanctification doesn't
change. Who maketh me to differ? Who
sets us apart? Not what? He's made unto us sanctification. Our Lord said in his prayer to
the Father in John 17, for their sakes I sanctify myself that
they also might be sanctified. By one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. For he that sanctifieth and they
that are sanctified are all of one, of God, who is made unto
you, sanctification." You know what sets you apart, John? Here's
what it is. In glory. There's going to be
sheep, there's going to be goats. There's going to be sheep, there's
going to be goats. He's going to separate the sheep
from the goats. He entered, you blessed of my Father, get out
of here, you goats. Who are they? What have they
done? Nothing! Of God! You say, but preacher, but preacher,
that excludes all boasting. None of them deserve to be there.
None of them! None of them! And the ones that
are getting there are praising Him to high heaven for choosing
them and putting them in Christ. For calling them all black sheep,
he went and found them all, to the praise of the glory of his
grace." Job, God, he's made under sanctification. Exodus chapter
11, look at it for yourself sometime. Verse 7, it says, the Lord, He
says, you're going to know. In Exodus 11-7, he said, you're
going to know that the Lord doth put a difference between the
Israelites and the Egyptians. You know who made the difference?
The Lord made the difference. I've gotten. You know, all the
old preachers, you'd say, if you preach the truth clear enough,
justification clear enough, salvation of the Lord clear enough, somebody's
going to accuse you of everything. So be it. But if you just look to Christ,
you'll be saved. Don't look to yourself. Sanctification. It's imputed and it's imparted. Yes, it is. A new man, new creature,
but you didn't have anything to do with it. Where His creation,
His workmanship, no flesh should go. And the last thing is redemption. And I want you to turn to Romans
8. Romans 8. He's made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. You and I aren't worth redeeming.
There's not a human being worth redeeming. We don't have any
redeeming quality. I've already quoted Psalm 14
to you, and Romans 1, Romans, well, Romans 3, doesn't it? Paul
says the Jew, Gentile, doesn't matter who it is, are we better
than they? He says that before it proves
they're all in the same. There's none righteous. No, there's
none. And he spent a whole book, John, didn't he, talking about
how God's people are justified by Jesus Christ and Him alone,
by His righteousness. He spent a whole book talking
about that. Redemption. Redemption means to pay for it,
to buy something. And buddy, whatever Jesus Christ,
whoever Jesus Christ paid for, He's going to have it. Whoever
Jesus Christ died for, they're saved. They're saved. The blood of Jesus
Christ wasn't shed in vain. Oh no, it wasn't even offered.
It was applied by the Spirit of God to the souls of all of
His elect, and they are redeemed by His blood. They are redeemed
from among men, and they are ransomed from the power of the
kaptor, But this redemption is going to be only a final thing
when He redeems, when He brings our body, soul, and spirit together. Look at Romans 8 verse 22, Now
we know the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together
until now, not only they, but ourselves also, which have the
firstfruits of the Spirit. We groan within ourselves. Do
you groan? If you're of God in Christ, a sinner saved by grace,
He's revealed Himself to you and yourself to you, you've grown
over sin, don't you? And you're waiting, waiting on
the Lord. Look at it, waiting for the adoption,
to wit, of the redemption of our body. Paul said, Oh, who shall deliver
me from this body of death? He says He shall change our vile
bodies and redeem us from the power of the grave and the power
of sin. He's going to get what He paid
for. Redemption. Redemption. That
according as it is written in our text, according as it is
written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Because
of God. If you're in Christ, God put
you there, who's made unto you everything you need-wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. All glory be to the Son of God
for His great salvation. Is that what you can say? Is
that what you say? If you're in Christ, you do.
That's your whole-all of your salvation right there. Okay, stand with me. Our Lord, we thank You for
the Lord Jesus Christ. God in heaven, thank You for
the Lord Jesus Christ, for revealing Him to Your people and in Your
people, for calling them by Your grace, by Your gospel, by Your
Word, by Your truth. This is the truth as it is in
Jesus and the Lord Jesus. Oh, how we thank You that You
revealed Him in us. Oh, Lord, we're like Paul. Your
people, all those in Christ, like Paul, say, Oh, that I might
win Christ and be found in Him. Oh, that I might know Him, the
power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings,
and be found in Him on that great day. Oh, Lord, put us in Christ. Put more people in Christ, we
pray. Use this message, we pray, for your glory. To you be the
glory and honor and praise, wisdom, power, all things. In Christ's
name, amen.