Open your Bibles with me to the
book of Ezekiel chapter 5. Ezekiel chapter 5. The title of the message this
evening is punishment for perverting God's law. Punishment for perverting
God's law. The Lord God had commanded His
prophet, Ezekiel, to show forth God's judgment along with the
siege and the destruction of the holy city, Jerusalem, with
four signs. We read about the first three
signs in Ezekiel 4. The first one was the broken
tile, that brick, that block, you might say. where he told
Ezekiel to get that block and draw a picture of the city and
draw the mountains coming against it, the armies coming against
it. And then the second sign was the prophet's position, lying
down. You remember he was told to lie
down on his left side for 390 days and then lie down on his
right side for 40 days. A lot of speculation over what
all that means, The point that is being made in these signs
is that God was not going to spare Jerusalem. The point made for the whole
realm of it is that God is not going to spare anyone who perverts
His law. We need to talk about that. We
need to understand what that means, to pervert the law of
God. And then the third sign was the defiled bread, where
God commanded Ezekiel to make and to eat defiled bread, bread
that was not allowed under the dietary laws of the Old Covenant.
And he was showing forth there that one of the punishments,
one of the forms of punishment that Israel would come under
was the fact that they would be scattered into foreign lands
and have to eat the food of the Gentiles. They'd be forced to
do that because they had broken God's law. Well, here in chapter
5 is the fourth sign. And it's the sign of the prophet
shaving off all of his hair. Now, you know, we talked about
how sometimes God, it seems to us, the way we look at it, that
God demands extreme things from his prophets. We talked about
it in the book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah having to wear a yoke for quite
a bit of his prophecy, an actual yoke, a physical yoke around
him. I'd hate to be up here preaching
to you with a yoke on my neck. But Jeremiah had to preach like
that sometimes. And of course that was symbolizing
the bondage of Israel, the bondage of idolatry and sin that they
were in. One time he commanded his prophet
Isaiah to strip down to his undergarments and parade through the city of
Jerusalem preaching the gospel. And you say, that seems so extreme.
And we've talked about how God does work in mysterious ways. But what's being shown here is
the extremity of the problem of sin. Sin is no light matter. Many times we might find ourselves
joking about it, but it's no laughing matter. Sin is serious. Listen to me. Every problem that
we have, physically, mentally, spiritually, and ultimately,
if this problem is not taken care of, if there's no cure found,
eternally, is because of sin. Now that's it. That's the problem. We pray for people who are sick
and afflicted. The only reason any of us get
sick is a consequence of sin. That doesn't mean that sickness...
I'm not preaching this false health and wealth gospel. That
doesn't mean, well, if you're living right, then you're going
to be healthy, wealthy and wise and all that. No, the Scripture
doesn't teach that. That's a perversion of the law. That's a perversion of the Word.
Some of God's choice servants Most obedient servants suffer
greatly physically in this world. So that's not what I'm saying,
but I am saying this, that every problem that we have that ultimately
leads to death is a problem that can be traced back to sin and
its consequences. And that's why these, and we
need to see that. We need a wake-up call. We need
a slap in our face to understand that. Uh, I mentioned this last
time too, how, how we all know we're not perfect. We know there's
things that are wrong in our lives and that, uh, we can improve
here and there and everywhere and all that. But we really have
absolutely no idea how sinful we really are until God, the
Holy spirit wakes us up in conviction. as we see the law of God in Christ
and how holy and perfect and righteous He is. Man at his best
state. Vanity. Worthless. That's what
it is. All our righteousness are filthy
rags. That's an extreme term. You know
what that's talking about. The woman's menstrual rag. That's
what that means in Isaiah 64. That's literally what it is.
That's extreme, isn't it? You know, people even get embarrassed,
you know, about using terms like that because they think, that's
just, you know, how can you even say that? But that's God's Word. And that's how bad this problem
is. Well, you know, Ezekiel was a priest. Do you remember that?
He's a prophet and a priest. He never served in the office
of a priest. But under the Old Covenant, it
was forbidden for a priest to shave his hair. That was forbidden. He'd be called cursed and he
would be not allowed to do the duties of the priesthood if he
shaved his hair. The shaving of the hair was a
practice of idolatry. It was common among the idolatrous
priest of Egypt, for example, and other places of the Gentile
world. Also, the shaving off of the
hair was a sign of sorrow and grief. So all of these things
come together in this prophet as he signifies what God is trying
to slap these people in the face. Wake them up. Listen to who you
are. Listen to the problem. What's
going on? These false preachers are telling
you you're okay. These false preachers are saying
peace when there's no peace. Don't listen to Ezekiel. Don't
listen to old Jeremiah. Remember what they called Jeremiah
the burden? Here comes the burden of the
Lord. He's just a burden to us. He's just a problem. He doesn't
have anything good to say about anybody. Like people say, I'm
tired of hearing what kind of a sinner I am. If you're talking
about my preaching, I'm going to tell you something. I haven't
even cut into the surface on that issue about me or you. I'm
telling you. So what's the first thing he
starts off with here? Well, number one, he starts off
with Judah's shame and God's judgment. Listen to verse 1,
and thou son of man, that term of subjection. Take thee a sharp
knife and take thee a barber's razor. Cause it to pass upon
thy head and upon thy beard. then take the balances to weigh
and divide the hair. Take the hair and put it on a
scale. That's weird, isn't it? What's
his point here? What's he trying to prove? Well,
he says in verse 2, Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in
the midst of the city. That's talking about destruction
within the city. Part of that third part of the
hair that came off of this prophet was to be burned And he says,
when the days of the siege are fulfilled, that's the siege of
Jerusalem. That's when the army, Nebuchadnezzar's
army surrounds it. And thou shalt take a third part
and smite about it with a knife. There's the destruction of the
city. And then a third part, thou shalt scatter in the wind
and I will draw out a sword after them. That's the scattering of
the people away from the city. Now that's what this is all signifying.
That's the symbol. And this is no mystery now because
God's uncovering it, He's revealing it. And He says in verse 3, Thou
shalt also take there a few in number, a few of the hairs, and
bind them in thy skirts, or in thy pockets, or in the wings
of your garment, like down in their robe where the hem was. He said take a few of those hairs
and put them in the wings of your garment, in your skirt.
What does that signify? Well, that's a remnant. I'm gonna
hold off on that. We'll come back to that. But
he says in verse four, then take of them again and cast them in
the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. For thereof
shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel. Total
destruction. That's what it's about. So there's the shaving of the
hair. There's the sign. Why does he say, weigh this hair
in the balance? Well, anytime you see in the
Bible God using in type, picture, symbol, or reality a balance
or a scale, what is he talking about? He is talking about judgment.
How do you measure up? That is what he is talking about.
That is the issue. You know people today. You know they will talk
about weighing their good works with their bad works. Because
they see that as a judgment. That is the scale of judgment.
The scales of justice. That's the symbol. The blind
lady holding out the scales. Well, that's an emblem from the
Bible. Blind justice. In other words,
has no prejudice. Just hears the facts. And so
what he's saying here is that Israel is going to be just like
that old king in Babylon. Israel is going to be weighed
in the balance and found wanting, found lacking. So what do we
have here? We have another vivid description
of what we are by nature, don't we? Sinners who cannot earn or
merit salvation. That if God were to mark iniquities,
or another way of saying that would be if God were to weigh
me in the balance. based upon my best works, how
would I weigh out? Would I tip the scales? No, I'd be thrown off the scale. My sin would way outweigh any. I have no goodness to recommend
me to God. I have no righteousness to plead
before God. I have no excuses. I'm just a
sinner. And that's why I pray, God, please
don't give me what I deserve. Thou art weighed in the balance
and found wanting. So there's the first lesson.
The lesson is the problem of sin. This is it. Jerusalem's
going to be destroyed. Why? Well, here's the second
thing. He gives the reason for God's
judgment upon them. Look at verse 5. He says, thus
saith the Lord God, this is Jerusalem. Now understand who I am talking
about. This is not the heathen Babylon. This is not Assyria. This is Jerusalem. This is the
holy city. This is where the king lived.
This is where the temple was. You see, this thing has nothing
to do with place or geography Somebody said, well, you know,
if God hits that city, they deserve it, but not us. Oh, wait a minute,
this is Jerusalem. And he says, I've said it in
the midst of the nations and countries that are round about
her. She's in a prominent place. You know, this country of Israel,
it was in a very prominent place, that fertile crescent near the
land of milk and honey, very prominent. God did that for a reason. But
look at verse 6. Now here's what happened. It
says, And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness. The
law of God. That's His judgments. The Old
Covenant. She changed those judgments into
wickedness more than the nations. The Gentiles didn't even have
the law. That didn't mean they weren't sinners. That doesn't
mean they weren't in need of God's grace and mercy. But here's
sin against the light. We've talked about that, the
greatness of sin against the light. The best thing for any of us
is to be sitting under the preaching of the gospel like you are, like
I am. But the worst thing that could
ever happen to any of us is to sit there unaffected, without
being brought to faith in Christ and repent. That'd be the worst
thing in the world for you. Because you'd be sinning against
the light. Isn't that right? Do you understand
what I'm saying? Remember what Christ said? It'll be better
for Sodom in the day of judgment. Think about Sodom. Sodom, they
deserve damnation, don't they? Well, if you sin against the
light, if you sit there unaffected by the gospel that's preached,
it'll be better for Sodom in the day of judgment than for
you. That's an awesome thought, isn't it? So he says, you've
changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, more responsible,
to whom much is given, much is required. And my statutes more
than the countries that are round about her, for they have refused
my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them.
That's talking about Jerusalem. You see, he says, therefore,
thus saith the Lord God, because you multiplied more than the
nations. That's not multiplying in population,
that's multiplying in sin. That's what he's talking about.
Your sin multiplied more than the nations that are round about
you. And have not walked in my statues, neither have kept my
judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of
the nations that are round about you. You've broken even man's
law. That's what he's saying there.
Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, behold, I, even I, am against
thee. Oh, my soul, what a statement.
God is against thee. You know, it's tough when the
whole world's against you. But it doesn't even compare when
God's against you. And he says, and will execute
judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations.
The nations are going to see this judgment. Now, why? Well, we'll see in a minute.
And I will do in thee that which I have not done and whereunto
I will not do any more the like because of all thine abominations.
Now, this was unique. It's not that God hadn't brought
destruction down before. Remember the flood of Noah, for
example. Remember his destruction of Sodom
and Gomorrah, all of that. But this way? against those who
God had brought out of Egypt and established a covenant with
on Mount Sinai, brought them through the wilderness, established
them in the promised land? That kind of judgment had never
been seen before in the annals of human history. And he said,
I'm doing it now and I'll not do it again. In other words,
in this way, oh, God's going to bring destruction upon the
wicked. Don't ever think He won't. You
see, this is not just the mean God of the Old Testament doing
this and now we're under the loving God of the New Testament.
Listen, any preacher who tells you that is a liar. He's a liar
now. He doesn't know God. Look at
verse 9. in thee, that which I have not
done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because
of all thine abominations. Therefore the father shall eat
the sons in the midst of thee, and sons shall eat their fathers."
Most commentators say that what he's talking about there is just
exactly what you're thinking, cannibalism. Most historians even would agree
that that's the extreme conditions when a city is besieged, they're
starving to death. So what do they do? They reduce
to cannibalism. Extreme, isn't it? He said, I
will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee
will I scatter into all the winds. What's left under the judgment
now. Now there's a remnant, there's another remnant we're going to
talk about. But what he's talking about here is that when the siege
happens, when the destruction in the city happens, and when
they're scattered, what's left of them is going to be destroyed
too. So verse 11, wherefore, or because of this, as I live,
saith the Lord God surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary. Now that's the temple. How had
they defiled it? With their idolatry. With all
thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore
will I also diminish thee, neither shall mine eye spare. The eye
there, when it speaks of God's eye, being on someone, that's usually
talking about his care and his provision. His eye is on the
sparrow, for example. But here he says, my eye will
not spare you. You will not be under God's care
or God's provision. Neither will I have any pity.
There'll be no compassion. There'll be no mercy. Now, what
was the reason of God's judgment upon them? Well, it's because
they perverted the law. They perverted God's covenant.
Verse five tells us something about Jerusalem. Tells us something
about Israel as a nation. Look back at it again. Thus saith
the Lord God, this is Jerusalem. I've set it in the midst of the
nations and countries that are round about her. Now, that speaks
of what Jerusalem, what Israel should have been. A witness of
the glory of God to the nation. That's what the church is to
be here on earth today. We're to be a witness to the
glory of God and the salvation of sinners by Jesus Christ to
the whole world, to our community, to the surrounding communities,
wherever we have opportunity. We have the capabilities that
God has given us to get the gospel out all over the world. And so
we as 13th Street Baptist Church, we're to be a witness to anyone
who will listen of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. That's what we're to do. We exist
here for that purpose, the glory of God. We're not here for any
man. We're not here to memorialize any man or to promote any man
or any group. We're here for the glory of God
in Christ. We're here to preach the gospel.
Our goals are the glory of God, the preeminence of Christ, the
salvation of sinners, and the edification and growth of the
people of God. That's what we're here for. That's
why God put us here. And the moment that we stop seeing
those goals, we stop being a church. Now, that doesn't mean we lose
our salvation. It means we just never did know God. Isn't that
right? It means we were just always
a false church. Well, I hope that's not the case.
What are we here for? Why was Jerusalem? Everything. Now think about it. What were
they to witness to the nations? Well, turn back over to Deuteronomy.
Turn over to Deuteronomy chapter 4. You remember God spoke to
them of bringing them together. He said, I chose you. It wasn't
because you were the greatest in number or the best. No, you
were the least. You were the worst. All of that. In other words, God's choosing
this nation of Israel had absolutely nothing to do with their persons,
their personalities, their works, or anything. It was just simply
a sovereign act of God. That's it. And God really doesn't
give us any other answer. He chose this nation. Why didn't
He choose the Amorites? I don't know. The Israelites
were no... In fact, when God chose them,
they weren't even a nation. Chosen in Abraham. Now, I know
that was from eternity. I know that was God's sovereign
will from eternity. But I'm talking about as he reveals
it to us, he chose them in Abraham. And they weren't even a nation
yet. They didn't even become a nation until Sinai. They were the Hebrew
children in Egypt. They weren't formed as a government,
as a nation. They come together under Sinai. God brought them
together under that covenant. And that existed for 1,500 years.
But why didn't God choose someone? Well, he just didn't want to.
God chose them. And he brought them together.
And there are several reasons he brought them together. And
we can talk about them. But why did God choose, form,
and deliver them as a nation? Why did he set them under the
old covenant law? Why did he do that? Well, you
know, the main reason, you know the main reason for all of it
was to set forth his glory. in the salvation of sinners by
His grace through Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah. Now that
was the main reason. All that, listen, everything
that they went through and everything that God gave them in that covenant
had something to do as a type or a picture or a prophecy or
a foreshadowing of the gospel, did it? Of Christ, His person,
His glorious person, who is Jesus Christ. Right there he is. Look for example at that Ark
of the Covenant. Shittim wood overlaid with gold.
That's the God man. That's what that's about. He's
God in human flesh. And there are other types like
that. What was he going to accomplish according to God? The glory of
God and the salvation of God's elect. We can talk about the
brazen altar, the blood of the Lamb. We can talk about the mercy
seat, the broken law that He fulfilled. All of that was a
picture of Christ. And God chose this nation to
set forth His eternal, redemptive, universal plan. Universal in
the sense that God has a people out of every tribe, kindred,
tongue, and nation. An elect people out of every
nation. His electing Christ. And he gave them the law to do
what? Well, we're told in several passages he gave them the law
to reveal their sin, to expose their sin, to bring them in guilty,
to show them that we're all sinners. And it's utterly impossible for
any of us to be saved or recommended to God or be blessed based on
our works. By deeds of law shall no flesh
be justified. He gave them that law to show
them that the conditional aspects of the old covenant, what does
that prove? It proves sinfulness. It proves hopelessness of man
by his works. They failed. We would too. And then God chose them to be
the human instruments through which the Messiah would come
according to the flesh. He was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh. In his humanity, what was he?
He was a Jew. He was an Israelite. And this is why they were to
keep the line pure. That's why they were not to intermingle
with the heathen. It wasn't because of any pride
of the flesh. We want to keep our bloodline
pure because look at who we are. No, it had nothing to do with
pride of the flesh. We be Abraham's seed. What John
the Baptist say about it, don't say that again, he said. Don't
even bring that up again. Because that means nothing in
the kingdom of God. It was because of their faith in the God of
grace to send the Messiah. That's why they were to keep
the line pure. That's the only reason. To keep that line pure. And I want to tell you something.
You know as well as I do. They didn't keep the line pure. God did. Isn't
that right? God kept it pure. Also, look
at Deuteronomy 4. Look at verse 6. Here's another
reason. Talking about the law here. He says, keep, therefore,
and do them. That's the statutes. That's the
law of the Old Covenant. Now listen, when he commands
them to do that, he's not just simply saying, keep the Ten Commandments.
First of all, they couldn't keep the Ten Commandments. Neither
could you, and neither could I. We're sinners. Are we to try
to be obedient to God? Yes, we are. But we're still
sinners. to keep the law was to look at
the law, use the law, serve the law for the purposes it was given. And you can sum it up as Paul
summed it up in Galatians chapter three and four, it was a schoolmaster
to do what? To lead them unto Christ as willing,
loving bond slaves. But so he says in verse 6, keep
therefore and do them for this is your wisdom and your understanding
in the sight of the nations. Alright, there's a witness to
the nations. We shall hear all these statutes and say surely
this great nation is a wise and understanding people. Now there
was a time that the nations did that. But it was very brief,
wasn't it? I always think when I read passages
like I tell you to think of, I think about the Queen of Sheba
traveling to talk to Solomon and to hear the wisdom of Solomon. That was the time of that, time
of David. We could talk about a few other
times, maybe some during the time of Hezekiah, some during
the time of Josiah, but there was very, very few, wasn't it?
But he says in verse seven, he says, for what nation is there
so great who hath God so nigh unto them? You see? In other
words, their greatness wasn't in themselves, but it was in
the nearness of God. to them, and he says, as the
Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for, and
what nation is there so great that hath statutes and judgments
so righteous as all this law which I sit before you this day?
Now that's one reason God brought him and put him where he is,
so they'd be a prominent witness of his glory, of his wisdom,
of his justice, of his grace. But what happened? What happened? Well, look over at Ezekiel chapter,
let's go to chapter 37 for example, or 36 rather. And this kind of sums it up here.
What happened? It says here, talking to Ezekiel
about preaching to the house of Israel, he says in verse 20,
It says, when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went,
that is when they come into the promised land. You know who occupied
the promised land before Israel got there, don't you? The heathen.
Joshua fit the battle of Jericho. That's what happened. It says,
when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, what did they
do? They profaned my holy name. They made God's name a profanity. You know what profanity is, don't
you? They made God's name a profanity. And when they said to them, these
are the people of the Lord and are gone forth out of his land.
Now he says in verse 21, I had pity for mine holy name. God's
not going to allow his name to go on that way. He says, which
the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen. Instead of
being a witness to his glory and his honor and his justice
and his grace, they profaned it. Wherever they
went, he said, therefore saying to the house of Israel, thus
saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes. In other
words, whatever God's going to do here, and what he's going
to be talking about here is the new covenant. He said, whatever
he's going to do, he's not doing it because of Israel. It's not
because they deserved it or anything. It's because of His glory. And he says, I do not this for
your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake,
which you have profaned among the heathen, whether you win. What happened? Got back here
in Ezekiel 5. You multiplied sin more than
the nations round about you. You profaned the temple. defiled
the sanctuary. They rebelled against God's law,
both with idolatry, with immorality, and they did it also with religion. They did more abominations than
the heathen nations. How so? False religion. They defiled the temple. They
did not glorify the Lord, but used all his blessings to promote
sin. Now let me ask you this question.
I want you to turn to Romans chapter 3 with me. Now I'm a sinner just like them.
How about you? I'm no better than the least
of them or the worst of them. By nature and by practice I'm
no better. The hope of my salvation has
nothing to do with me being a better person, or having a better will,
or easier to get along with, or less rebellious or less optimistic. It has nothing to do with that. And I know anybody who perverts
God's law and profanes His name is going to be punished. So here's
what I want to ask myself. Am I a perverter of His law?
I know I'm a sinner now. There's no question about that.
How about you? Would you question that? I know I'm a sinner. But am I a perverter of His law?
Am I a profaner of His name? That's what I want to know. Well,
look with me at Romans chapter 3. This is that passage. You remember we've talked about
it quite a bit here of late. He talks about Jew and Gentile
under sin. Are we better than they? No and
no wise. Look at verse 19. He says, Now we know that what
thing soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the
law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may
become guilty before God, become guilty before God, not just the
Jews, but all the world. The law brings us all in guilty
based on our works. So he says, therefore, by the
deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in God's sight.
By the law is the knowledge of sin. The law cannot save you.
The law cannot forgive you. The law cannot provide you a
way out. It cannot cure the problem. Law can tell you what righteousness
is, but it cannot make you righteous. It cannot do it. So he says,
but now, verse 21, now look at it, but now the righteousness
of God without the law is manifested. What? The righteousness of God? That's what it says, isn't it?
Without the law? In other words, that's without
our obedience to the law. And it's manifested being witnessed
by the law. The law itself spoke of this. Didn't it? And the prophets preached
on it. Ezekiel is preaching on it. And
it is even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus
Christ. There is your key now. The faith
of Jesus Christ. There is the key. There is the
ground. There is the way. Listen to it now. The faith of
Jesus Christ. Did He have faith? Did Jesus
Christ have faith? Oh my soul, He had perfect faith. Do you have faith? Do I have
faith? If we do, it's the gift of God,
but it's always mingled with what? Complaining, doubting,
ignorance, selfishness. Always mingled. And he says it's
unto all, not just the Jews now. You can preach this message to
everybody. There's no limitations here. And upon all them that
believe. In other words, upon all, I believe
that's another word for imputation. That is, we who believe stand
in Christ. There's no difference. He says,
for all sinning comes short of the glory of God. Now, we all
need it. There's nobody here that doesn't need what I'm saying
tonight. Nobody here doesn't need the blood of Christ. I'm
telling you, you need the blood of Christ. for the forgiveness
of your sins. You need his righteousness for
your justification. And if you don't have his blood
and his righteousness, then you're doomed. We go on, he says, now being
justified freely, that's unconditionally without a cause, by his grace,
that's unearned and unmerited. How did it happen? Through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Through Christ doing the
work, paying the debt. the redemption price. Now there
it is. Now look on, verse 25. Whom God has set forth to be
a propitiation, a sin bearing sacrifice that brings satisfaction
to the law through faith in his what? His blood, that's his death,
that's his cross work. He put away sin, he brought in
righteousness to declare his righteousness for the remission
of sins that are past. That's the Old Testament saints.
His blood covered them. His righteousness was imputed
to them. And it's through the forbearance of God. You see,
God justified them because of his forbearance, knowing that
the blood would be shed. Somebody told me one time that
the reason that God's wrath was held back from the Old Testament
saints was because of the blood of animals. Not so. It was because
of the blood of Christ, which had yet to be shed. Now that
was pictured in the blood of animals, but it was still the
blood of Christ. There's power in the blood. You
know what? Always has been and always will
be. Listen, the power of the blood didn't start at the cross.
It was shed at the cross. Redemption price was paid at
the cross, but the power of the blood was always there. But look at verse 26, to declare,
I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just in the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. God is just to justify
the ungodly. Now where's boasting? It's excluded.
There's no boasting in ourselves. And what law excludes boasting? Is it the law of works? In other
words, does salvation by works in any way, shape, form, or fashion
exclude boasting? No. But by the law of faith. What's the law of faith? That's
the gospel. of God's grace in Christ. Verse 28, Therefore we conclude
that a man is justified, declared not guilty, and declared righteous
by faith without the deeds of the law, by faith meaning through
Jesus Christ. Is he the God of the Jews only?
Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also. Seen,
it is one God which shall justify the circumcision by faith and
uncircumcision through faith. Jew and Gentile justified the
same way through the blood and righteousness of Christ. Look
at verse 31 now. Do we then make void the law through faith? Do
we cancel the law through faith? By our believing in Jesus Christ,
do we cancel the law? Do we deny the law? Do we pervert
the law? God forbid. Now look at it. Look
at this last line. We, yea, we establish the law. How do I establish the law? I establish the law by looking
to and resting in Christ. Yes, I'm a sinner, but I'm not
a profaner of God's name. I'm not a perverter of the law.
I know what the law says. I know it condemns me based on
my best. But in Jesus Christ there is
therefore now no condemnation. Do we make void the law because
we believe in Christ? God forbid. We establish it.
We honor it. Every jot and tittle. We plead
the righteousness of God in Christ. And there's no more honor. Listen,
you take the best obedience of the best of sinners that have
ever lived on this earth, they can't even come close to the
honor and glory we give to the law of God by pleading the blood
and righteousness of Christ. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believes. You see that?
We don't have to fear the law. We're not under the law. We're
under grace. It's not even our rule of life.
In that sense, oh, we have, somebody said, well, we don't have any
rules and regulations. Well, how do you know to take
the Lord's Supper? How do you know to do that? Is that just,
I mean, when you're saved, does that just click in your head?
No, God commanded it. Christ commanded it, didn't he? We don't even have to fear rules
and regulations. Because we have a righteousness
that answers the demands of God's law and justice. And anytime
a sinner comes before God in Christ, resting in Christ, honoring
Christ, pleading Christ, you don't profane His name, you honor
His name. And anytime a sinner comes any
other way, Even at his best, he profanes the name of God and
perverts the law of God. Now you know who's going to do
that? There's a remnant back here in verse 3. He says, Thou
shalt also take thereof a few in number and bind them in thy
skirts. That literally refers to the small number of Jews left
in Judea and Jerusalem after the final destruction. But I'll
tell you what they symbolize, what they typify. They typify
and symbolize God's elect remnant according to the election of
grace. Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small
remnant, Isaiah said, we should have been a Sodom and should
have been like unto Gomorrah. You know what he's going to do
with this remnant? He said he's going to take thereof a few in
number. There are few in number. I don't
know how many. It doesn't matter. He says it's
few in number. A remnant, that's a piece, you
know that. And He's going to bind them in His skirts. That's where we need to be. That's
bound in Christ. That's safe in His arms, safe
in His bosoms, safe in His skirts. He'll spread His skirt over us
and we'll be hidden in the under the grace of God in the blood
of the Lamb through the righteousness of the Son of God incarnate.
And we have nothing to fear from our Father. He's not against
us. You remember He said, I'm against you. Oh, He's not against
any of His remnant. He's not against any of His people
in Christ. He's for us. If God be for us,
who can be against us? All right.