If you couldn't tell, and I forgot
to mention this when introducing Richard, but if you couldn't
tell by listening to him, he's from the South. But you're not offended at that
at all, are you? He's a pastor of Grace Baptist
Church in Ruston, Louisiana, and he always wants to make sure
that you all understand that that's not where the swamp people
are from. So, whatever that is. Turn in your Bibles to 1 Peter
chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2. Now the title
of the message this morning is, The Fruit of Substitution. The Fruit of Substitution. I preached from this passage
last week, and I basically had three points. I've been talking
about the truth, the biblical truth of substitution for several
weeks, and different aspects of it, different passages of
Scripture, and what the Bible teaches about the substitutionary
death of Christ. When we talk about Christ and
His death, His death, He died as a substitute. He died for
his sheep, he said in John chapter 10. The good shepherd giveth
his life for the sheep. The passage that Brother Richard
read in John chapter 12, we'll go to it in just a few moments. And the Lord spoke that way.
He spoke as a substitute. He talked about a corn of wheat
or a seed of wheat. That's what that would be. You
put it in the ground, it dies, and out of that death, of that
seed springs forth the stalk of wheat. And he was using that
as a symbol of his death on the cross. He did not die for himself,
he died for his sheep, his people, his church. Scripture says he
redeemed his church and that's the substitutionary death of
Christ. And in last week's message, I'll
just give you the three points because I didn't, the last point
was the fruit of substitution and I didn't really get to develop
that much and I want to just develop, spend one message on
that subject. But look at, look at 1 Peter
chapter 2 and verse 21. He's speaking here of Christ,
for even unto, here unto, verse, 1 Peter 2 and verse 21. He says,
for even here unto were you called because Christ also suffered
for us, that's substitution, suffered for us. And he's talking
about the suffering of believers there as we identify with Christ. Our suffering in this world over
the gospel, and that's what Peter's talking about, is not a substitutionary
suffering, but it's an identifying. It identifies us with Christ.
We align with Him. We take sides with him against
the world. But Christ's death was an example
for us to suffer for the glory of God. But now his death was
substitutionary. His death was in the place of
a people. A people whom God gave him. We'll
see that in just a moment. But it was an example. And he
says in verse 21 that you should follow in his steps. But it was
more than an example. It was an atonement. It was a
sin bearing. It was something that was so
unique. There was nothing like it up
to that point and nothing like it has ever happened again and
never will. The Old Testament taught this
truth in type and picture and prophecy. For example, in the
lamb, the sacrificial lamb. Abel brought a lamb. Cain brought
his works. Abel brought the blood of a lamb.
And in Abel bringing the blood of the lamb, he was testifying
that he was a sinner, ruined by the fall of his father Adam,
and that he could not save himself by his best efforts to keep the
law. You see, for by deeds of law
shall no flesh be justified, be declared not guilty, be declared
righteous before God. And so what is this? Well, look,
he says in verse 22, he says, Christ who did no sin, Christ
was not a sinner ever. He did no sin. Neither was guile
found in his mouth. Guile is dishonesty. Guile is
hypocrisy. There was no guile found in his
mouth. And it says, verse 23, when he
was reviled, Reviled not again. That's what
he's hanging on the cross. That's what it's talking about
here In other words, there was no sin in him even when he was
hanging on that cross he bore our sins Well, he says that in
just a moment He bored them. What does that mean? Well, we'll
see and he says when he really when he was reviled he reviled
not again. He had no thoughts of personal
vengeance or getting back at anybody like we do by nature
and it says when he suffered he threatened not yeah I mentioned
this last week you know that song it says he could have called
10,000 angels he could have in the sense of his ability to do
so he could not have in the sense of his mission here on earth
he remember what you read there in John 12 he said for this purpose
came I into the world this is why I came to die He was set
up from the very beginning before the foundation of the world.
The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The Bible speaks
of salvation in 2 Timothy chapter 1 that was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. And that salvation given as a
free gift is based upon the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross.
So he had to die. And then it says, when he suffered,
he threatened not, but come... Now listen to this, verse 22.
Here was the first point last week. The reason of substitution. He committed himself to him that
judgeth righteously. God judges righteously. Why did
Christ have to substitute himself in the place of his people? Because
God is a righteous God. He's a holy God. He's a just
God. Yes, He's a merciful God. Yes,
He's a loving God. Yes, He's a gracious God. But
He cannot show mercy and grace and love apart from His justice
being satisfied. You see, any love from God that
doesn't respect and honor His justice is an empty love that
will not save anybody. That's right. Any mercy from
God that is not fully attuned to His righteousness will not
save anybody. That's why sometimes the word
for mercy in the New Testament is the same word propitiation.
You know what propitiation means? It means satisfaction. Who's
got to be satisfied? God does. The soul that sinneth,
it must surely die. We quote this all the time. Romans
chapter 6 and verse 23, the first part says, for the wages of sin
is death. That's the penalty. God cannot
relax that penalty and still be God. Somebody's got to die
for sins. And either we'll have to die
eternally for our own sins or somebody whom God appoints Somebody
who is qualified and somebody who is willing must take our
place and die the death that we deserve. That's what the gospel
is all about. God must be both a righteous
judge as well as a loving Savior. He must be just and justify.
And that's why, that's the reason of substitution. The Lord showed
that at the very beginning when Adam fell, Adam and Eve fell.
And what did they do? They were ashamed of their nakedness,
symbolic of man's exposure to the wrath of God. And what did
they do? They took fig leaf aprons, sewed
them together to cover up. That's symbolic of man's efforts
to hide his sin, to hide his shame. You can't do it. God looks
on the heart. He knows the real story. God
does. That thought that just shot through
your head, God, He knows that thought. Whether it was a good
one or a bad one, He knows it. You see, God, you can't fool
God. So what did God do? He took Adam
and Eve and He removed those fig leaf aprons and what did
He do? Genesis chapter 3 and verse 21,
He slew an animal That's death, shedding of blood. Without the
shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness of sin. He slew an
animal and made them coats of skin. That was a picture. He instituted the sacrificial
system of worship right then and there to typify and prophesy
of the coming death of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.
And what did John the Baptist say when he came on the scene
announcing the coming of Christ? Behold the Lamb of God. which
beareth away the sin of the world." The sin of his people all over
the world. That's why Christ had to die as a substitute. Well,
look back at 1 Peter chapter 2. Look at verse 24. Now, here's
the work of substitution. He says, "...Christ, who his
own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree." Now, that's
the work of substitution. How did he do it? Well, to bear,
he says he bear our sins. He bore them like a burden. The
word bear or bore means to carry a massive weight or burden. Christ bore the full massive
weight of all the sins of his people, his sheep, And He bore
them in His body, in a human body, Christ God in human flesh,
that's who He is, the God-man. He bore those sins in His body
to the cross. Now how did He bear our sins? Well, look at Isaiah 53. This tells you. Now, as I've
said before and I'll say it again, sin is not a mass or a substance,
it's not something you can pick up here and place over here.
You see, I think I mentioned this last week, if I were going
to bear this pulpit, that means I'm going to carry it on my back.
Well, I can't do that. But now if I'm going to bear
your burdens, what does that mean? Does that mean I'm going
to pick them up and carry them on my back? No. It means I'm
going to enter in with you with your burdens. Now, Christ bore
our sins. How did he do that? What does
the Bible say? I don't want to know what men
speculate on or whatever. I want to know what God's Word
says, and look at verse 4 of Isaiah 53. Here's how he bore
the sins of his people. It says, "...surely he hath borne
our griefs." The griefs and sorrow. He said, "...carried our sorrows."
Think about him in the Garden of Gethsemane, sweating great
drops of blood. agonizing over the burden bearing
of the sins of his people with the cross in mind. He says, yet
we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God. He was smitten for our
sins. Afflicted. What an affliction. Verse 5, he was wounded. You
see, he was bruised. That's what that means, for our
transgressions. He actually had to... See, he
had to go under the wrath of God. That's how he bore our sins.
That's how he was made sin. And what was it all based...
In order to do that righteously and justly, what had to happen?
Our sins had to be charged to him. Had to be imputed to him. Somebody said there's more than
imputation going on at the cross. Yes! But everything that's going
on at the cross was on the ground of imputation, our sins being
charged to him. That's why he went there. And
it says he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement,
the punishment, that's what that is, of our peace was upon him. He was punished. And with his
stripes, he was beaten with stripes. We're healed. That's how he bore
our sins. That's the work of substitution. Now go back to 1 Peter 2. Look
at verse 24. And he did that in his human
body. Over in 1 Peter chapter 3 and
verse 18, listen to this. Cross the page. For Christ also
hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust. Who's
the just? Christ. Who's the unjust? That's
his people. that he might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh, in his body. He died, but quickened
by the Spirit. And his death was so intense,
leading up to this great miraculous statement, where he said, My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He was forsaken of God. Was that real? Yes, it was. But
look back here at 1 Peter 2 and verse 24. It says, "...who his
own self bear our sins in his body on the tree." Now here's
the fruit of substitution. "...in order that we..." Who's
the we there? That's his people. "...being
dead to sins," or having died to sins, literally. We having
died to sins, now how is that possible? He said, should live
unto righteousness. And what's the ground of it?
What's the cause of it? By whose stripes you were healed.
That's the fruit of substitution right there. Verse 25, he says,
for you were as sheep going astray. We were lost sheep. That's taken
that last phrase of verse 24 and this in verse 25 goes back
to Isaiah 53. All we like sheep have gone astray. Lost. That's man by nature. That's man fallen in Adam, ruined
in Adam. Lost. What is it to be lost? It means you don't know the way.
What is it to be saved? It means you know the way. Who is the way? Christ said in
John 14 verse 6, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. So we were a sheep going astray,
but are now returned. Now in grammar, that's called
the passive voice. What does that mean? That means
whoever the object is here, they don't do the action. The action
is being done upon them. In other words, he didn't say,
but now you return unto the shepherd. No, he says, now you are returned. Somebody, if you're, listen,
if you're with Christ, somebody returned you. Who? God did, by His grace. And you
returned unto the shepherd, Christ the Good Shepherd, who gave His
life for the sheep, Christ the Chief Shepherd, who guides his
sheep, shows us the way, and Christ, the great shepherd, by
whose blood we're saved. And he says, under the shepherd
and bishop, that's the overseer of your souls. He's our savior,
he's our advocate, he's our overseer. Now there's the fruit of substitution. Based on the death of Christ,
all for whom he died shall be returned to the shepherd. and the bishop of their souls."
That's what he's saying. Here's the question when we talk
about the fruit of substitution. We know, the Bible teaches, Christ
died for somebody. Did he die for me? Well, the
world says, well, didn't he die for everybody? Well, not according
to the scriptures. Did he die for me? That's the
question you need to answer, is did he die for you? Did he
die for me? He's a substitute. He's a successful
substitute. He's a real substitute. He's an actual substitute. There was nothing fake or fictional
or false going on there. He really died for his people. He's a substitute. Now here's
the question. Is he my substitute? Well, Are
you dead to sins? Are you living under righteousness?
Have you been returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your soul?
What's he talking about here? What is this fruit? Well, look
back at Romans chapter 6 with me. Let me give you just a few
thoughts here. First of all, he says that he bore our sins
in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins. Now
look at Romans chapter 6, dead to sin. Now many people believe what
that means, that when you're saved, you stop being a sinner. And I would put to you this,
if that's the case, then I've never met anybody who's saved. And I'm not saved either, if
that's the case. If we stop sinning, being dead
to sin, what does dead mean there? That doesn't mean being half
alive. I've heard people say, well, the old nature is not dead,
but it's dying. Now, you who know Christ, is
that the way you feel? Don't you feel as you grow in
grace and knowledge that the battle is getting even stronger?
That you're having to wage it even more? I do. Oh, I have a time with it. How
about you? What is it to be dead to sins? What's he talking about?
Well, he's talking about substitution here. When Christ died, he died
as a representative. He was representing some people.
When he died, he died in the place of a people. There's a
picture of it in the Old Testament, the high priest. He went in with
the blood of a lamb into the holiest of all, and he had 12
names on his breastplate, the names of the tribes of Israel. That was a picture of the church. And he represented in his substitutionary
work that when he died, they died. How? Well, look at Romans
6, look at verse 3. Now listen to this. He says,
No ye not. that so many of us as were baptized
into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death. Now when you
see that word baptized I know probably in many of you your
minds go to water baptism or the ordinance of baptism. But
that's not what this is talking about. That word baptized literally,
you know what it literally means? Some people say immersion and
that's okay. It can mean immersion. What it
means literally is placed into. Placed into. And it speaks of
a union. A union of persons. Now who's
united here? Who's in union here? Christ those who were baptized into
Christ Christ and his people the ones whom he represented
the ones for whom he he died as a substitute and Literally,
he's saying no you not that so many of us as were placed into
Christ were placed into his death What's he talking about? He's
talking about substitution here in other words when he's what
he's talking about is Christ died for a His people, His sheep,
His church. And what does that mean? Well,
they were baptized with Him. They were placed into His death.
When He died, He died for them. That's what He's saying. And
He says in verse 4, look at it, Romans 6 and verse 4, He says,
Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death. In
other words, when He died, I died. I didn't die personally. I wasn't
there personally, but I was in the person of Christ as my substitute. And so were all that the Father
had given him. And when he was buried, I was
buried. I wasn't buried personally. I
wasn't there. I was in the person of Christ.
He was my substitute. My name was on his heart. And when he arose again, I rose
with him as my substitute. You see, he says, therefore we're
buried with him by baptism into death that like as Christ was
raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life. There's the fruit of it. What
is it to walk in newness of life? It means to walk in the grace
of God. Resting in Christ. Look at verse 5. For if we've
been planted together in the likeness of his death, Now, you
remember Brother Richard read there in John 12. Christ said,
if a seed of wheat fall into the ground, that's the analogy,
the symbol of planting, isn't it? Plant it into the ground.
And that seed of wheat dies, it brings forth the wheat. There's
the fruit. And here's what he's saying.
If we've been planted together in the likeness of his death,
his death as our substitute, we shall be also in the likeness
of his resurrection. In other words, if Christ died
for me as my substitute, I'll be resurrected with him. Verse
6, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him. Now
the old man there is that state in Adam. That condemnation in
Adam. And that crucified there doesn't
mean dying in a digressive way. It means dead. Dead, dead, dead. It's dead. What does he mean? What does he mean? Same thing
he said in Romans 8.1. There is therefore now no condemnation
in Christ. In Christ I'm not condemned.
In Christ I'm justified. In Christ I'm not guilty. In
Christ, listen, I'm righteous in Christ. He was made sin. Christ who knew no sin for us
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. And he said that
the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not
serve sin. Verse 7, for he that is dead
is freed. Now, if you have a concordance
in your Bible, look at it. It probably says the word justified. For he that is dead, died with
Christ, is justified from sin. Sin is no longer charged to your
account. Blessed is he to whom the Lord
imputeth not iniquity, whose sins are covered. That's what
it is. That's what it is to know Christ.
That's what it is to be dead to sin. Now, if you've been dead
to sin, if you've been made dead to sin by the death of Christ,
Christ, and what's that mean? That means Christ fulfilled the
full penalty of death. He died so that I wouldn't have
to die. Now, I have to die physically
because this body is the body of death. But we won't die eternally. And before we come to death,
we'll have spiritual life. Look down at verse 17 of Romans
6. He says, but God be thanked that
you were the servants of sin. Now, to be a servant of sin there
is to be an unbeliever. But you have obeyed from the
heart. Now, there's the fruit of substitution. Obedience from
the heart. What's he talking about? He's
talking about regeneration and conversion. He's talking about
the new birth here. You must be born again, Christ said. Or
you cannot see the kingdom of heaven. You must be born again.
Or you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. You must be made new. You must be resurrected from
the dead spiritually. Men by nature are dead and trespassers. You must be resurrected. He says
you've obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was
delivered you. Literally, which you were delivered
to. And verse 18 says, being then made free from sin. Now,
the word free there is not justified. The word free there is liberated.
Having been justified by the death of Christ as your substitute,
the fruit of that is what? You'll be liberated. Now, how
will you be liberated? Well, I no longer sin. If that's
the case, well, none of us are liberated. How will you be liberated? You'll be free from death and
condemnation. You'll be free from the power
of sin to keep you from seeing reality because God the Holy
Spirit will give you life. He'll give you ears to hear things
you've never heard before. The gospel, which is the power
of God and the salvation. He'll show you yourself like
you've never seen yourself before. I'm a sinner. And if God ever
gave me what I've deserved and what I've earned, what would
it be? Death and hell. At my best. You know, we spend
a lot of time in our lives, if we ever get religious or even
consider God or anything like this or salvation or the afterlife,
we spend a lot of time beating ourselves up and dwelling on
our worst moments in life. Don't we? Oh, how awful I was. But here's what happens when
you're liberated by the Holy Spirit, when He sets you free
in your mind, your affections, your will, in your heart. Think
about your best moments. And if you're ever liberated
and see what God sees, you'll understand that God cannot save
you or bless you based upon your best moments. Man at his best state is altogether
what? Vanity. You cannot make yourself
righteous even in your best moments. In fact, if you think your best
moments in life make you righteous before God, they, in God's sight,
become your worst moments. And if you're ever liberated,
you'll see that. That which is highly esteemed among men is
what? An abomination to God. Think
about the Pharisee who lifts himself up and says, I thank
God I'm not like other men. That I'm not an extortioner,
that I'm not a liar, that I do this, that I do that. Now notice
he said, I thank God that I'm not this or that. What's the
problem? He doesn't see that at his best
he still deserves death and hell. You say, well, preacher, that
just doesn't make sense to me. Well, you haven't been liberated
yet. You haven't believed from the heart that form of doctrine.
You haven't seen the need of Christ. If you think you can
make yourself righteous before God by anything, by your best
efforts in life, then you haven't seen your need of a substitute.
You haven't seen your need of Christ. You see verse 18 of Romans
6, being then made free from sin, you became the servants
of righteousness. What is that? That's a believer.
That's one who submitted to Christ for all salvation, for all forgiveness,
for all righteousness, for all eternal life and glory. That's
what that is. Look over at 1 John with me.
Turn to this passage, 1 John chapter 2. And look at the very last verse
of 1 John chapter 2. You see, this is why the gospel
is so offensive to me by nature. You mean to tell me that God
is not pleased with me and doesn't accept me based on my best moments
in life, my best efforts to do right? And I'm telling you, that's
exactly what I mean to tell you. You know why? Because that's
what God's Word tells you. That's why you need mercy. That's
why that old publican, he didn't have very many best moments in
life. He beat upon his breast and said, God, be merciful to
me, the sinner. Look at 1 John chapter 2 and
verse 29. He says, if you know that he
is righteous, who's the he there? That's Christ. Do you know that
he's righteous? He's perfect in every way. He
says, you know that everyone that doeth righteousness... Now
what is it to do righteousness? It's to believe in Christ and
rest in him for all righteousness. Doing righteousness in the Bible
does not describe a sinner who's trying to make himself acceptable
by his works. Now, should we do the best that
we can do in every way that is right? Yes. But that's not what
makes us righteous, you see. That's not what makes us saved.
That's not what forgives our sins. If you know that He is
righteous, you know that He that doeth... everyone that doeth
righteousness is what? Born of Him. That's the new birth. If you believe in Christ and
rest in Him for all salvation, For all righteousness, what does
that say? It means you've been born of Him. And if you've been
born of Him, what does that mean? Well, back here in 1 Peter chapter
2, let me just read it. That means you live unto righteousness. You live for His glory. That's
what that means. It means that you were a lost
sheep, but you've been returned to the shepherd and bishop of
your soul. You've been brought to God through Christ. Look there at John chapter 12. John chapter 12 that Brother
Richard read. Remember what he said there,
talking about his death. Look at verse 31 of John chapter
12. He says in John chapter 12 and
verse 31, now is the judgment of this world, now shall the
prince of this world be cast out. Now you know who the prince
of this world is, that's Satan. Satan in the Bible, when it when
it comes to his relationship as an enemy of the church. I
mean, we can talk a lot about Satan. There are many people
who don't even believe Satan is a real being, but he is. He's
not the equal counterpart to God, as many people seem to think.
But Satan, in his relationship as an enemy of the church, you
know what he's called in the Bible more than any of them?
He's called the accuser of the brethren. He'll accuse you. And what does he accuse us of?
Sin. Remember, he accused Job. We've been studying the book
of Job. And when the Lord announced how Job was a just and upright
man, one that feared God and eschewed or ran away, avoided
evil, what did Satan say? Well, the only reason Job does
that is because he's a mercenary and you give him what he works
for. He's just a hireling. He's a
hypocrite. He accused Job. And then God
put it to the test, put his grace to the test, and who wins out?
God's grace does. But Satan is the accuser of the
brethren. Well, when he accuses, he says, now look at old Bill
Parker. He's a sinner! His charge doesn't stick. Am
I a sinner? Yes. So how does the charge not
stick? Well, Romans 8. Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who can condemn us? It's Christ
that died. Yea, rather, is risen again.
God's electing grace based on the substitutionary work of Christ.
So Christ on that cross is the judgment of the world and the
prince of the world is cast out. Now look at verse 32 of John
12. He says, And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw
all unto me. That's what it literally says.
And this he says signifying what death he should die. You know
that word draw there? It's the same word that's used
in the parable of the dragnet. He casts out the net and he catches
the fishes and he drags them up into the boat. He doesn't
stand over the banister of the boat just begging them, singing
Just As I Am 50 times. He casts the net out, that's
the gospel being preached in the power of the Holy Spirit,
and he brings them in. Just like the shepherd. The lost
sheep doesn't find its way home. The shepherd goes out and gets
the lost sheep. He finds it, picks it up, puts
it on his shoulder, and brings it back into the fold. And he's going to draw all unto
him, all for whom he died. Look at John chapter 6. Look
over here. Verse 37. This is the fruit of substitution. He says in John chapter 6 and
verse 37, he says, all that the Father giveth me shall come to
me. When were they given to him?
Before the foundation of the world, the Bible says. Somebody
says, well, I don't believe that. I say, well, you've got one big
problem. What? The Bible. Because that's what
the Bible says. I know what you say. I know what
the Bible says. I believe the Bible. So he says,
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Christ will never turn
anyone away. He says in verse 38, For I came
down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him
that sent me. And this is the Father's will which has sent
me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing,
but should raise it up again at the last day. That's glory. That's the fruit of substitution.
He says in verse 40, and this is the will of him that sent
me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on him
may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up in the last
day. That's the fruit of substitution right there. Faith in Christ
is the fruit of substitution. Look at verse 44. He says, no
man can come to me except the Father which has sent me draw
him, and I will raise him up at the last day. That's the fruit
of substitution. God's going to bring his people
in. One more verse and I'll close. Turn to John chapter 16. And one more, the fruit of substitution. And I'll tell you what, when you think about the blood
of Christ, the righteousness of Christ, and all that he accomplished
on Calvary, this shows that it's a reality, isn't it? Look at
John 16. Look at verse 7. He's talking
to his disciples. And they were sad because they
thought about him going to Jerusalem, they knew what would happen.
Remember Thomas, I think he made a statement one time, he said,
well, it's kind of like what he says is this, well, if you're
determined to go there, let's go and we'll all die. We'll just
all be killed. And they were sorrowful because
he was going, they knew he was going to be killed. And he says
in verse 7, look at John 16, he says, nevertheless I tell
you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away. The word expedient means it's
necessary. It's needed for you that I do this. That I go away. Where's he going away to? Not
on vacation, was he? He was going to the cross. And
ultimately to his father. As a victor. And He says, it's
expedient for you that I go away. If I go not away, if I don't
do this, if I don't suffer and bleed and die on that cross and
be resurrected the third day and ascend unto my Father, the
Comforter, that's the Holy Spirit, the Comforter will not come unto
you. In other words, if He didn't
die, there'd be no fruit of substitution. If that seed of wheat doesn't
fall into the ground and die, there's no wheat to come up.
You see, it's got to go through that process. So he's saying,
if I don't go and die for you, there'll be no work of the Holy
Spirit. Is the work of the Holy Spirit in our salvation necessary? Yes, sir, it is. But not because
the work of Christ is not enough. And it's not to complete what
Christ started and didn't finish on the cross. The work of the
Holy Spirit is necessary because of what Christ completed and
finished on that cross. It's the fruit of substitution.
And so he says, if I don't go away, the Comforter will not
come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And
when he has come, here's the fruit, he will reprove, that's
conviction, convince the world of sin and of righteousness and
of judgment. Who's the world there? Everybody
who's convinced of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.
And what does he say in verse 9? Of sin because they believe
not on me. What's the Holy Spirit as the
fruit of what Christ accomplished on Calvary? What does he convince
a sinner of when he liberates us? He convinces us that without
Christ, without his blood, without his righteousness imputed, I
am nothing but sin. All I do is sin. My only hope
of salvation from sin is Christ. There's no other hope. Religion
won't do it. Reformation won't do it. Revivalism
won't do it. Prayer won't do it. Only Christ
on that cross can deliver me from sin. And then verse 10,
of righteousness because I go to my father and you see me no
more. Now how did he go to his father? He went to his father. He ascended unto his father as
the one who finished the work. What was the work? Daniel chapter
9 and verse 24 prophesies of it. He will finish the transgression,
make an end of sin, and bring in everlasting righteousness,
seal up the vision and the prophecy, and enter the most holy. You
see, what he's going to, the Holy Spirit convinces us that
Christ is our only righteousness. And we have no other. And then
verse 11, of judgment because the prince of this world is cast
out. That goes back to Satan being
the accuser of the brethren. You know why I don't have to
fear judgment? Do you fear judgment? Maybe you do, maybe you don't.
I don't know. But I don't fear judgment. You know why? Is it
because I've preached for 30 years? No. Is it because I've
tried to be a good boy? No. Why do I not fear Jesus? I'll tell you. One reason. Because
I stand before God in Christ. I stand before God washed in
the blood of Christ and clothed in His righteousness. And 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 solid rock I stand. And all other ground is sinking
sand. All right. Let's sing as our closing hymn,
hymn number 208, Are You Washed in the Blood, 208.