As I say, it's very difficult,
but I want you to listen to the words very carefully. This is
probably the best gospel, and I think about this before I say
it, but this is probably the best gospel song I've ever heard
in my life. It most clearly brings out the
gospel more than any other. song I've ever heard is written
by a man named Frank Sweeney, and the title of it is Eternal
Questions. And there's a lot of words to
it. This is what makes it difficult to sing. There's a lot of lyrics
to this song, a lot of words to it. But it's full of the gospel,
so listen to it. Listen to the words. When it's time for you to stand
before God's judgment throne Will you stand in Christ's complete
or will you stand alone? Will you stand in Christ's complete
or will you stand alone? Can you by works impure at best
wash the sin stains from your hands? Can you establish righteousness
the equal of God's demand? Can you establish righteousness
to equal God's demands? Has your life upon this earth
been perfect and complete? If not, do you stand condemned
by God, yea, worthy of his heat? If not, do you stand condemned
by God, yea, worthy of his heat? If you can your own so pardon
and also justify, why did God require that Jesus come first
and die? Why did God require that Jesus
come to this earth and die? Jesus Christ, Lord of glory,
was my substitute. He gives me perfect standing,
no one can dispute. He gives me perfect standing,
nobody can dispute. Can you see the godly wisdom
that's salvation, full and free? Trust in Christ alone forever,
praise Him evermore with me. Trust in Christ alone forever,
praise Him eternally. When it's time for you in judgment,
will you be full of fear? Will Christ stand when your name
is called? For you say, I'm here. Will Christ stand when your name
is called? For you say, I'm here. When it's time for me and judgment,
I'll not be full of fear. For Christ will stand when my
name is called, and for me say, I'm here. Christ will stand when
my name is called, and for me say, I'm here. Father, I'm here. Father, I'm here. Those are good words to that,
aren't they? Good questions. Eternal questions. Eternal questions. I wish you'd open your Bibles with me
to John, chapter 5. John, chapter 5. John chapter 5. Now, if you would ask a hundred
people their opinion of what they thought this book was all
about, you would probably get that many different answers.
A hundred different answers. Maybe I might get some varying
answers in here. I don't know. But most people
would say that this is basically a book of history, a history
of the Jews, Jewish people, and certainly the Old Testament.
They would certainly say that about the Old Testament. Most
people are ignorant of the scriptures. Paul said that over in 2 Corinthians,
chapter three, that there remains a veil upon people's eyes in
the reading of the Old Testament scripture. the reading of Moses
and so forth. People are ignorant, for the
most part, of the Old Testament and just simply dismiss it as
the old Bible as being done away with, that we only pay attention
to the new. And I've said before that you
cannot rightly understand the new without the old. And I said this also, that the
apostles, the disciples, the people in New Testament times
that were saved By hearing the gospel preached, they only had
the Old Testament Scripture. They were saved through the reading,
through the preaching of the Old Testament Scripture, weren't
they? And that's what Christ preached to those disciples on
that road to Emmaus. But most people would say, on
the whole, that the Bible is a book of morality to tell us
how we're to live. and how we're to live, if we're
to get to heaven, and if God is to be pleased with us. And
if asked about Jesus Christ, they would say He was the supreme
example of how we're to live. That's what most people would
say. I'm just certain of it. But look
here in John chapter 5. Look at John chapter 5, verse
39. Well, look at verse 38. Let's
see this. Christ is talking to some Jews
here, and he says, You have not his word abiding in you. For
whom he has sent, him you believe not. Him you believe not. He says,
Search the scriptures, or he says, You do search the scriptures.
That's what he's saying here. You do search the scriptures.
They read the scriptures. They read the scriptures. Ninety
five. I saw a. A survey that said 95 percent
of American homes have a Bible in 95 percent, and it said only
15 percent of the people that own them say that they read.
Fifteen percent, I think it's less than that, less than that,
and I believe people's idea of reading this is very, very, very
simple indeed, not searching and studying. But some do read
the Scriptures. I bear them record, as Paul would
say, I bear them record, some do read the Scriptures. But it
is for this reason, as Christ says right here, you search the
Scriptures, you do. And these Jews did, they searched
the Scriptures. Why? Verse 39, for in them you
think you have eternal life. That is, most people think this
is a book that tells us how to live. They do, don't they, Nancy? Most people feel like this book
is to tell us how to live. Now, let me give you some examples
from the scripture. Look over at Matthew, chapter
19. Matthew 19. Most people believe this is just
a rule book. This is our rule of life. I heard a woman at work one time,
where I used to work, say, well, I don't know much about the Bible. She said, but you better, a person
better live up to those Ten Commandments, I tell you. Well, they're ignorant
of the Scriptures, and they think for the most part the Bible is
just a book of morality. And look here at Matthew 19.
This is the story, a familiar story, rich young ruler that
came to Christ for sixteen behold one came and said unto Christ
good master teacher. What good thing. Must what good
thing shall I do that I may have eternal life. And he said unto him why call
us now me good. There's none good but one. And that is God. But if thou
will enter into life, if you want something to do to live,
if you want to know how to get to God on your own, keep the
commandments, keep the commandments. And the young man said unto him,
which, which one? I'll do it. And Jesus said, thou shalt do
no murder. Thou shalt not commit adultery,
thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, honor
thy father and thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself." And the young man said unto him, I've done it. All these things have I done,
I've kept for my youth. What am I lacking? You see anything
else I need to do? I've got that covered. If there's
something I've missed, if there's something I've missed, I'll gladly
do it. Just tell me, I'll do it. Whatever it is. This young man was seeking life
by the Word when right in front of him was the Word of Life. He was seeking life through the
written Word when right in front of him was the incarnate Word
itself. And Christ said this, He went
on to say, He said in verse 21, Well, if you'll be perfect, absolutely
perfect, Sell out. Go and sell what you have, give
to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come,
follow me." Sell out, follow me. You really want to be perfect? Follow me, he said. Follow me. And look over John chapter 6
with me. John chapter 6. And that made
the young man sorrowful because he had many riches, much wealth,
and it made him sorrowful. And he went away sad. I don't
know if he later on followed Christ or not. I don't know.
But look here at John chapter 6, verse 27. And here's some
other people. Some other people, they wanted
to know what they could do, what they were to live by. if they
were going to have, in order to have eternal life and to be
accepted by God. Verse 27, Christ said, labor
not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth
unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto
you. For him hath God the Father sealed. Him. And then they said
unto him, what shall we do? We want something to do. that
we might work the works of God. What do we do? Give us something
to do. Tell us, show us what we are to do, and we'll do it.
And Christ answered and said unto them, this is the work of
God. This is what you do, that you believe on him whom he has
sent. Believe on Christ. Look to him. And you remember
the woman at the well? The woman at the well, she was
taken up with things to do. I perceive you're a prophet.
Now, since you're a prophet, let me ask you some questions.
Our fathers say that in this mountain we're to worship. But you say in Jerusalem. Which
is it? What's the right way to worship?
I need to know this. I've got most everything else
taken. Where do we worship? Nicodemus. He came to him. Nicodemus
came to him by night, and he said, I know you're a teacher.
I know you're a teacher come from God. And I got some questions
to ask you. I need to know something from
you. I look back at the text in John chapter 5. You see, everybody
was looking for something to do. They were looking for something. They were looking for something
to do. They were looking to be righteous or self-righteous.
Things to do. In order to make themselves acceptable
to God and something to do to work the works of the law. And
look at John back to the text, John 539. Now, Christ said you
do search the Scripture. And in them, in the Scriptures,
you think you have eternal life. You think that you know what
you're supposed to do to get to God and have eternal life.
And he said this is it. They are they which testify of
me. The scriptures testify of me,
of me, Christ said. And even today, there's a great
deal of interest in the Bible, in its prophecy, in its morals,
in its how-tos. There's a lot of questions, endless
questions about genealogies, strivings about the law, questions
of how, what, where. When? People are taken up with
questions. They are. About the Bible. They're
interested in prophecy and so forth. How, what, when, and where?
When one question would suffice. Who? Who? Like, was it the ethiopian eunuch
in the chariot? He said, of whom does the prophet
speak? of himself or somebody else.
Of whom? And Christ was revealed to that man. Not what, when,
where. People are taken up with prophecies and things of this
sort. What do we do? We need to know something. We're
interested in this and that and the other. Where'd King get his
wife? Or who's that on the white horse? What about the abomination
of desolation and so forth? Who is the question? would suffice. Who? And Christ
said, the scriptures of day which testify of me. The Bible is a book of history,
yes. It's his story. It's his story. The Bible is a book of prophecy,
yes. But the testimony of Jesus is
the spirit of prophecy, the scripture says in Revelation. The Bible
is a book of what to do, yes. But it's more a book of what
he's done, what he has done. The Bible is a book of life,
yes, but it's the book of his life, him who is life. Somebody said it's a hymn book. It's all about him, all about
him. And the Old Testament says this, the Old Testament scriptures
say somebody's coming. That's what the whole book of
the Old Testament's about. It's not just a book of of old
Jewish fables and laws and so forth, it tells that somebody
is coming, the Messiah, the Redeemer, the Savior. God, Emmanuel, is
coming to save his people. Somebody's coming, the Old Testament
says. The Gospels say, He's here. This is the one of whom the prophets
spake. This is He. He's right here.
He's with us. And the epistles say, He's coming
back. He's coming back. That one the
Old Testament spoke of, the one the apostles saw and touched
and handled and so forth, he's coming back again. Now look over
at Matthew chapter 21 with me. Matthew chapter 21. Well, if
the Bible is all about Jesus Christ, if it's all about this
man, this God-man, Jesus Christ, this would be a good question
to ask, wouldn't it? Who is He? Who is this Jesus
Christ? This is a very redundant, that is, I'm repeating
myself over and over again, but we only have one message, Christ,
one message, His gospel. Who is He? I answered all these
things this morning. I asked the same questions, asked
the same questions and gave the same answers. I'm going to do
it again tonight. If the Bible is all about Jesus Christ, Who
is it? And that's what, look here in
Matthew 21, verse 9. And the multitudes that went
before, this is when Christ came riding into Jerusalem on the
colt, the foal of an ass. And the multitudes that went
before and that followed cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of
David. Blessed is he that cometh in
the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. And when he was coming to Jerusalem,
when he came into town, riding on that donkey, All the city
was moved, everybody saying, Who is this? Who is this? Just who is this? Well, the multitude, verse eleven,
said, This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth, of Gamaliel. You know, the same You ask the
same question today, and you'll get a similar answer. Yes, you
will. Who is Christ? What think ye
of Christ? Well, he was a mighty prophet,
mighty in deed and word and so forth. Jesus of Nazareth, a prophet,
a teacher, a miracle worker. Turn back to Matthew chapter
one with me. Matthew chapter one. They'll
say he's a prophet, a miracle worker, a teacher, a martyr. Some will even say he's a savior. But I don't know why, because
they say he tried to save, and men won't let him. So you can't
rightly call him a savior if he didn't save anybody. If it's
up to men to finish the work, he wasn't much of a savior, was
he? And some will call him Lord.
They do. Some will call him Jesus, old
Kenneth Copeland, you know. Jesus is Lord. That's the way
he ends up. His program every time. Jesus
is Lord. This people draweth near to me
with their lips, Christ said. Their heart is far from me. They
say they call me Lord, Lord. Call me Lord, Lord. But their
hearts are far from believing that He's the sovereign Lord
of the universe. Far from believing that. Far from believing that
He is the controller and the decider of men's fates, of their
destiny. Far from believing that. Well,
who is He then? Who is it? Look at verse 23, Matthew 1. Behold, a virgin shall be with
child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his
name Immanuel, which being interpreted is God. Who is it? He's God. God Almighty. That's who Christ is. That's
who he is. Jesus Christ was and is none
other than God Almighty in human flesh. The scripture says, unto
us a child is born, a son is given, and a government shall
be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace, the Mighty God. Under the sun, he saith, Thy
throne, O God, is for ever and ever. And I take issue, strong
issue, with these denominations and these people that contend
with and will not have the Deity of Jesus Christ. Oh, my, I take
issue with them. He is none other than God Almighty.
Moses asked God, Moses asked God, Whom shall I say has sent
me? You remember there on the mountain?
And Moses asked God, whom shall I tell the people have sent me?
And he said, tell them, I am. That I am. I sent you. Tell them that. And you remember
when the soldiers came to get Christ in the garden and he said,
whom do you seek? And they said, Jesus, we're looking
for Jesus. And he said, I am. And they fell
backward to the He uttered that name, the name of God, the same
God, the same Jesus Christ, the same yesterday when Moses was
on that mountain, he was talking to Jesus Christ, the I Am. Yesterday, today and forever,
he's the same, the same God, Jehovah, God, our Savior, I Am. And like many people, these men,
these soldiers came and they only saw Jesus. They didn't see
God, didn't they? They didn't see God. Those men
came to see Him, and they said, Sirs, we would see Jesus. Oh,
my. He's God. He's God. And most
do not believe that He's God. As I said this morning, the whole
denomination, they call themselves Jehovah's Witnesses, but they're
not the sort. They're nothing of the sort. Jehovah's Witnesses. Jehovah means God our Savior.
And that's Jesus Christ. He's God. And he's our Savior.
He's a just God and a Savior. He's Jehovah, God our Savior. And people have built denominations
on it. Now, listen to me. These are
important questions. Most people don't see the necessity
of Him being God. Now, let me ask you a question.
Let me ask you this. Why is it necessary for Jesus
Christ to be God? Why can't He be just the Son
of God? It's a good question now. Can
you answer this question? Why is it necessary for Christ
to be God himself? Christ said, if you believe not
that I am he, you shall die in your sin. It's that important
that we must believe and know, be firmly persuaded that Jesus
Christ is none other than God Almighty. Let me show you from
the Old Testament, Isaiah chapter 25. Our first question was, who
is he? He's God. That's who he is. He's
God. My second question, why did he
come? Why did God have to come? Why
did he come? If he was only a mere man, if
Christ was only a mere man, then perhaps we didn't need him after
all. And that's what they're saying, aren't they? That's exactly
what people are saying. He came and did some great things,
yes. He showed us the way, and he showed us how to live, and
we'll just follow him, get in line behind him, and try to do
like he did, and do the best we can. God will accept us. Well,
if he was just a mere man, then perhaps we didn't need him after
all. But look at Isaiah 25. I love this verse of Scripture.
Isaiah 25, let's look up at verse 6. And in this mountain, I believe
that's speaking of Mount Calvary, in this mountain shall the Lord
of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast
of wine on the leaves. What's that? We feast on His
body and His blood. A feast of wine on the leaves,
of fat things full of marrow. That's His flesh and His blood.
Wine on the leaves, well refined, well pure that is, pure, spotless,
good wine. And he will destroy in this mountain
the face of the covering cast over all people, that veil, that
middle wall of partition between us that separates us between
us and our God. The veil that's spread over all
nations, over all people, that enmity between God and men. He'll
destroy that enmity. He'll swallow up death and victory,
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces, and
the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the
earth, for the Lord has spoken." Verse 9, "...and it shall be
said in that day," when this comes to pass, it'll be said,
Lo, this is our God! We've waited on him, and he'll
save us. This is the Lord. We've waited
for him, and we'll be glad. and rejoice in his salvation.
Why is it necessary that Christ be God? Because only God can
save sin. Even the Pharisees said that.
Who can forgive sins but God? Do you remember when he said
that to the impotent man? Was it the impotent man? I believe
it was. But he said, instead of first
telling him to take up his bed and walk, he said, your sins
be forgiven me. And it was. It's blasphemy. Who can forgive sins but God?
That's the first and needful thing, forgiveness of sin. And
to show you who I really am, forgiveness of sin, that's what
I'm granted. I'm God. Now, he said, now take
up your bed and walk. Take up your bed and walk. But
they might know that it's the Son of Man, that Christ is God,
that He forgives sins, that He forgives sins. Christ came not
to show the way to God, but to be the way to God. Christ came
not to show us the truth of how to live. He is the truth, the
only way to God. He came not to show us how to
live, but to be life itself. He said, I'm come that they might
have life, that in me they might have life and have it more abundantly. Not show them how to live. Oh,
there's a sense in which he's our example, yes. But he came
down here to establish a righteousness, which we're going to get into
here in a moment. He came down here to establish a righteousness
in order that we might have life, or be accepted, or life, in order
that we might be accepted by God Almighty. Accepted by Him,
because the soul that sinneth must surely die. Now listen,
I repeat myself over and over, but this is the gospel. Listen
very carefully. God is holy. He's just. God will by no means clear the
guilty. He cannot do it. He cannot just up and say, I
forgive you. He can't do it. He must pay for those things.
Even our courts of law, we try to maintain some sense of justice. That is, we feel like crime should
be paid for. When somebody comes in the courtroom
having committed a robbery or theft or murder, And what if
he were to come up before that judge, and that judge would say,
you look like, you look all right, are you sorry? Yeah, judge, I'm
sorry, I'll never happen again. Okay, go on, it's all right,
don't do it again. Why, people would rise in uproar.
He can't do it, he's got to be paid for, especially the victims. The victims of that crime, those
crimes he committed. They would rise up in anger.
No, he's got to pay for his crimes. And every sin is against God
Almighty, against His holiness. We've come short of His glory.
David said it in Psalm 51, against me and thee only have I sinned
and none have sinned. Every sin is a breach of God's holiness. And it's a breach of God's peace. Let me say, I've used this illustration
before, but for the sake of someone who didn't hear it. When I was
in England, I was looking at some things, some literature,
and it said Interestingly, it said this, that every crime,
every crime, whether it be a misdemeanor or a felony or whatever it may
be, every single one was considered to be a breach of the Queen's
peace. That means that the Queen has
determined, has established, has ordained that there will
be peace under her rule and her kingdom. There must be peace.
No one is to disturb the peace of the kingdom. No one is to
do anything to trespass, to cause problems, to mess up things in
her kingdom, or else you're disturbing peace. That's where we've got
that law in our land. So whether you spit on a sidewalk
or kill somebody, it's a breach of the Queen. Sin, my babe, it's a breach of
God's peace. God made this world holy, perfect,
pure, and he's holy. and perfect and pure, and anybody
that messes that piece up that causes problems has caused a
breach, and they sinned against God, against the King. It's a
breach against the King's peace, and he'll not have it, and it
will be paid for in full. The soul that sinned will die,
die. And God is just. He will not
acquit the guilty, and he is righteous, but we are unholy.
We're all together. But the scripture says, from
the sole of our feet to the top of our head, there's no sound
of sin. There's nothing to do with good.
Nobody's ever done any good. We don't do good now. We haven't
done good in the past. And we'll not do any good, that
is, in the true sense of the word. Holy. Remember when Christ
said to the rich young ruler, why do you call me good? There's
none good but God. And you hear people all over
say he's a good man. I don't know. Wait a minute.
Good in whose estimation? Good under whose standards? Man's?
Yeah, he probably matches up to man's standards. But the Bible
doesn't measure men by man's standards. He comparing himself
with others is not wise, the Scripture says. The Bible compares
us with God's perfect standard, Jesus Christ. The Scripture says
he'll judge in that day, he'll judge all men by that man whom
he hath ordained, Jesus Christ. And if we don't meet up to the
standard of God's perfect holiness that Jesus Christ lived up to,
we've come short and we must pay. OK? And we've come short. And the
Scripture says because of that, God has hid his face from us.
God, who is life, has hid his face, has turned his back on
us. That means we're dead. We're in darkness by nature.
We're in dead and trespassing sin. We're cut off from God's
presence. Natural man is enmity against
God. He's breached God's peace. He
cannot come to where God is. There's a flaming sword like
in front of Adam and Eve in that garden. Couldn't come back into
that garden. And that flaming sword is indicative or illustrative
of God's holiness, of God's justice, of God's law. Can't get past
it. And neither do we want to, by nature. Like Adam, or just
like Adam, we hide. We hide from God. But the Scripture
says, God who is rich in mercy, for his great love, he set his
love on a people, he chose a remnant to save, he decided to do for
some people what they couldn't do for themselves. Only God could
do this. Only God could do that. Only
God could do for men what they could not do for themselves.
and that is to bring them, accept them. God's Son, now listen to
me carefully, God's Son can't accept for God what only God
can accept. God is the only one. He must
decide who he accepts, right? So God must be in Christ, reconciling
the world to himself. God had to come in Christ. God
is holy. We are sinful. God is just. We
deserve justice. Turn over to Jeremiah chapter
23 with me. Jeremiah 23. Let me sum this all up by saying
this. How can God then, who is just and who is holy, how can
he be just or stay just and justify or accept or allow or approve
ungodly sinners such as we are. How can he take us? And this,
John, this question is not being asked anywhere. I don't hear
people preaching this or asking this question. How can God, who
is holy and just, have anything to do with sinful men? Men just
say he up and says, oh, come on in, boy. Don't let it happen
again. I forgive you. I love you. I forgive you. Come on in. They
talk about something about Jesus' blood and putting away sins and
all that. They really don't define it. Why? Why did he have to shed
his blood? Why? Why did Christ have to come? Why is it necessary that Christ
be God? And let me say this. Barbara
and I were talking this afternoon. We need to study to show ourselves
approved, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing
the word of truth. People, we're going to run into
people all over, and we need to be able, be ready to give
a reason for the hope that's within us and not to be ashamed. and only from the scriptures,
only from the scriptures, not, I think, or this is where I believe
it says somewhere, no, we need to know the scripture. We need
to study to show ourselves approved so we can give people a reason
from this book to tell them why we believe what we believe, where
it's found. This is a reproof to all of us. We need to study, study to give
it a reason, give people a reason. Not just based upon feeling,
but most people are just doing that. I just, you know, I feel
saved or whatever. But how can God be just and justify
or accept sinful men? How can He? That's the question
of all questions. The question of all questions.
And you sum it up right here in Jeremiah, chapter 23, verse
5. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch A king
shall reign and prosper and shall execute judgment and justice. He will live a just and holy
and righteous life. A man, a branch of the tribe
of Judah, of the lineage of David, and in his days, verse Judah
shall be saved," that is, God's people, and Israel shall dwell
safely. And this is His name. This is
it. Look at it. "...whereby he shall
be called Jehovah Sidkeniah, the Lord our Righteousness."
Is Jesus Christ Jehovah? You better believe it. Right
there He is, the Lord our Righteousness, Jesus Christ our Righteousness.
And what does Romans 10 say? is the righteousness of God.
He's the end of the law for righteousness. Jehovah Sidkenu, this is his
name whereby he shall be called Jehovah, Jesus Christ, our righteousness. Why did God have to come down
and become a man? It's not being asked today. It's not being asked. He had
to come down to establish righteousness as a man because all our righteousnesses
are filthy rags, tainted with sins. And it must be, God said,
it must be perfect to be accepted. It must be perfect. So the Lord
himself came down, the only one capable of living perfectly. He came down to do for us what
we could not do for ourselves. Somebody says, you want something
done right, do it yourself. You want something that I'm that
way, are any of you all that way? I have the hardest time
delegating people to do things because they don't always do
it the way I want it done. What about God? He's perfect. Nancy said he must be perfect
to be accepted. Perfect. Well, who is perfect?
There's nothing good. Christ said there's nothing good.
But God, nothing perfect but the Lord. Then he's got to come
down and do it for himself. He'd get out of the way. I'll
come. You tried, didn't you? Adam,
you tried, didn't you? Miserably failed, didn't you?
Yep. Yeah, I did. Even so, come, Lord. Come. And
he came. who is dead, God must come to
his tomb, just like old Lazarus, and call him, God who is life.
Only God can give life. Man is blind, only God can open
his eyes. Man is lame, only God can fetch
him, God the King. You know, if you are merely sick,
if you've just got a sickness like my wife has got, I don't
know what she has, but she can get around a little bit, but
she's got a temperature, And we just gave her some aspirin.
Gave her a little medication. She was just sick. She was lying
on her deathbed. I'd be calling for a physician.
I'd be calling for an ambulance. Come get her. And the scripture
says we're dead. We're dead. We need the great
physician to come make a house call. Don't we? We need him to
come to us. We can't go to him. We're dead.
We're dead. And for man to live with God
and be accepted by God, he must be holy. So Christ came down
here to establish a righteousness that God would accept and transfer
that righteousness to the account of those people. And man must
be declared innocent. He has to pay for those sins,
those crimes that he committed. And Christ came down here to
take those crimes in his body and punish those crimes. You
see? God's holiness is satisfying.
And God's justice against broken law is satisfied. He's satisfied
in Christ. Satisfied. There's a man, a man
has lived like God said a man must live, and a man has been
punished for the sins that God said a man must be punished for
committing. You see? That's the reason why he, and
men are not asking that question. It needs to be, it's a necessity
that these questions be answered. No man can rightly understand
and appreciate what Christ has done and know him as Lord and
Savior unless they understand these things to some degree.
Understand these things. His blood and his death. Man
must be changed. Here's another thing. Man must
be changed and he must be made holy, must be fitted, must have
the right wedding garment put on him. in order to dwell with
God, and the Holy Spirit comes and conforms his people to the
image of Christ. Until finally, someday, he takes
us into glory, and he must keep us. So my first question was,
who is it? Who is it? He's God. He's God. What did he do? He came to save
us. He came to establish a righteousness
that only God would accept. Only God would accept what he
himself provides, right? You'll only accept what he provides,
like Cain and Abel. Cain brought the works of his
own hands, and Abel brought what God had provided, the Lamb, what
God had given. And that's a title of two different
religions in the world today. Who is he? He's God. It's necessity
that Jesus Christ be God. Because only God can forgive
sins. Only God can establish righteousness. Why did He come?
To save us. To do for us what we couldn't
do for ourselves. To get the job done. To get the
job done. Well, that brings me to my third
question. And I'll quit. Was He successful? Did He do it? And our salvation
hinges right here, folks. It doesn't hinge on It doesn't
depend on our decision. Oh, no. Like that high priest
of old that went into the Holy of Holies. What determined, what
determined if those people, if God would recognize that sacrifice
or not? What determined to those people's
hearts and minds, what determined the people who were standing
out in the courtyard watching that high priest go in to the
Holy of Holies? What determined to them, what
comforted their hearts and their minds and determined to them
that God had accepted and had forgiven their sins for a time? What determined that? The sacrifice,
the blood, right? The high priest himself going
into that Holy of Holies with that blood. That and that only
is what determined. It wasn't them feeling real good,
them standing out there and saying, well, I believe it's going to
work. You believe so? I don't know. I've got my doubts.
Well, how do you feel? Well, I believe. I believe. That's
not what determines it at all. It's whether or not God accepted
that blood or not. And that high priest went in
there with that blood before the Lord and poured it out upon
that altar, upon that mercy seat. And the smoke went up and God
accepted it. He accepted it, and the high
priest came back out, and that's a picture of Christ raising from
the grave. He went into the Holy of Holies with his blood and
poured it out before God, and he arose from the grave, symbolizing
that God accepted the sacrifice. And like that high priest, he
had bells on his garment, you know. If he went in there and
they heard those bells stop, then they knew that God didn't
accept it. But his bells kept a-ringing. And then he came back
out of there a little later on. The cry went up, praise the Lord.
The sacrifice has been made. It's been accepted. We're accepted
in the sacrifice. And you and I are accepted in
the Beloved, Christ Jesus. Was He successful? Many people
say that God's done all He can do. Now it's up to you. Many
people say that Christ did all that can be done. Many people
say that God did His part. Now you do yours. But that's
not what God's Word says. Thank God His Word says it's
finished. It's finished. All that's required
of me, every jot and every tittle of God's law. And turn over to
Isaiah chapter 45 and I'll quit. This is the last passage I'll
have you turn to. Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45. If he was just a man,
as most people think, And that's all he could do was try to save.
That's all he could do. That's all he could do is make
an attempt. And we, because we as men, that's
all we do is make an attempt. We can't do it. We can't do it. But because he's God, he does
according to his will. He does what he sets out to do.
God never fails. He never fails. And Jesus Christ,
God in human flesh, he did not fail. till he established judgment
and justice and righteousness in the earth. Look here at Isaiah
45. Let's read a few scriptures, beginning with verse 11, and
this is where we'll quit. Verse 11. Thus saith the Lord,
now pay attention, the Holy One of Israel and His Maker, ask
me, of the things to come concerning my sons." Listen to this now,
this will be a blessing. Ask me concerning the work of
my hands. Ask me, command ye me. He says,
I've made the earth and I've created man upon it. I, even my hands, have stretched
out the heavens and all their hosts have I commanded. What
did Colossians say? By him were all things created
and without him was not anything made. John 1 and Colossians.
By Him and for Him all things were created. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God. The Word was God, and
all things were created by Him. He said, I, my hands have stretched
out to heavens. This is speaking of Christ. And
He said, I have raised Him up, verse 13. I have raised a man
up in righteousness. And I will direct all his way.
I will be in him. God is in Christ reconciling
the world to Himself. He shall build my city, that's
the church, and he shall let go my captives, those that have
been captivated by sin and the pit of woe, not for price nor
reward. No, it's free. Free. He's going to do it for free.
He's not going to take anybody's sacrifices. Sacrifice and offering
thou wouldst not, but a body he prepared. Not for price of
reward, said the Lord of Hosts. Thus saith the Lord," verse 14,
"'the labor of Egypt, the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabians,
men of stature, they'll come over unto thee, and they shall
be thine, and they shall come after thee. In chains they'll
come over.'" Remember old Lazarus coming out of that tomb, still
bound up? "'They shall fall down unto thee. Every knee shall bow.
They shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God's
in thee. And there is none else, there
is no God. Verily, verse 15, thou art a
God that hidest thyself. And it's a mystery. It's been
hidden from the foundation of the world. Great is the mystery
of Godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. It's a mystery. They shall be
ashamed, verse 16, and confounded, all of them. They shall go to
confusion together that are makers of idols that have come up with
some other Jesus, another gospel, another God. But Israel, God's
chosen, his remnant, shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting
salvation. Once in grace, always in grace.
You better believe it. What the Lord does is forever. And you'll
not be ashamed nor confounded, world without end. Verse 18,
Thus saith the Lord that created the heaven, God himself that
formed the earth and made it. He hath established it. He created
it, not in vain. He formed it to be inhabited.
I am the Lord, there is none else. I have not spoken in secret
in the dark place of the earth. I said not under the seat of
Jacob, seek ye him in vain. I, the Lord, speak righteousness.
I declare things that are right." Now, listen. Pay attention. Assemble
yourselves. Come, draw near together, you
that are escaped. Anybody that has heard just the
inkling of this gospel? If you've heard him, if you've
got ears to hear, who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Under
whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Who hath believed our report?
Well, come and listen to this. That's what he's saying here,
verse 20. They don't have any knowledge
that set up the wood of their graven image and pray unto a
God that cannot save. People are ignorant to pray unto
a Jesus that can't save. He's done all he can do. They're
ignorant. Well, tell them, he says in verse 21, bring them
near and let, we'll tell them, bring them, let them take counsel
together. He who hath declared this from ancient times, who
hath told this from that time, have not I the Lord, there's
no God else beside me, a just God and a Savior. There's none
beside me. Now look, he says, unto me and
be ye saved. All the ends of the earth. of
people from every tribe, kindred, and nation under heaven. I'm
God, there's one God, and I'm God. I'm God, there's none else,
and I've sworn by a covenant, by an oath, and he's sealed it
in blood. I've sworn by myself, and he can swear by no greater.
The word has gone out of my mouth, that's Christ come out of the
bosom of the Father, in righteousness, and he shall not return, shall
not return until he's established righteousness in the earth. that
unto me, unto Christ, every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall
swear." And what are they going to say? Surely, shall one say,
in the Lord have I righteousness. I make sense of it. In the Beloved,
in the Lord. And even to him shall men come. And all that are incensed against
him shall be ashamed. And that day, men will be ashamed. They'll be standing before this
God, this God who has eyes, this Jesus Christ whose eyes are as
the sun, his face as the sun that shineth in all its strength.
And they'll be ashamed. And one will say, in the Lord,
by God's grace and by God's mercy, and perhaps you in here, you'll
be able to say, in the Lord, I'm justified. In the Lord Jesus
Christ, I'm accepted. Will Christ stand when your name
is called, that song I sang? Old Martin Luther, I gave that
illustration before, but he went up to heaven and they were calling
the roll. calling different names, and
he was shaking in his boots. And he said they finally called
his name. Martin Luther. Martin Luther. And he said just as he started
to answer, he couldn't hardly get the words out, but somebody
else said, I'm here. And he looked over and it was
Christ. Will Christ stand when your name is called, and for
you say, I am here? Or will you be forced to say?
Will you be forced to give an account of yourself? Oh, my. I hope not. You don't want to
stand before this holy God in and of yourself. You don't want
to do it. I don't want to do it. My, my, my. My, my, my. Well, let's sing this song. My hope is built on nothing less. 272. 272. Solid rock. My hope is built,
verse 1, on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, that is, I dare not trust
my feelings or anything else, but simply or wholly lean upon
that name. What's Jesus' name? Anybody remember? What's that name? Jeremiah 6. Huh? Jehovah Sidkenu. That's Christ's name. The Lord,
our righteousness. I wholly lean on his name. His
name. on Christ the solid rock I stand."
Let's stand and sing this, and you'll be dismissed. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the Son and Rock
I stand, all of the ground is shaking sand. Mother ground with
sinking sand. Dear Discman.