I want to first start my message
out by reading this quote from William Huntington. He was born
in 1745 and lived till 1813. And I may have read this to you
all before, but I'm going to read it again. I really like
this quote. The law obeyed and disarmed of its curse is in the
heart of the mediator, who is judge of quick and dead, and
therefore keeps the keys of hell and of death. The believer is
under the law of faith to Christ, and they that are his have crucified
the flesh with the affections and lust. Such are delivered
from the law, and against such there is no law, and sin is not
imputed where there is no law. I do insist upon it that if a
believer be brought to the law of Moses to be under it in any
other sense, sin stares him in the face, wrath works in his
heart, his enmity is stirred up, bondage seizes him, and despondency
or despair will sink him unless the law of the spirit of life
makes him free from the law of sin and death. That's really
good. I just happen to like William
Huntington's stuff. So now, if you would, turn with
me to Romans 3. Romans 3. Romans 3, and I want to read
verses 24 through 27 for right now. Romans 3 verse 24, being justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission
of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God, To declare
I say at this time his righteousness, that he might be just, and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay, but by the law
of faith. We read in verse 25, it says
that God has set him forth, and that is Jesus Christ, to be a
propitiation for us. You know what that word means?
It means an atoning victim or mercy seat. We kind of went through
some of that last week. Think about this though, the
mercy seat. And that's basically the top
of the ark. That's what the mercy seat is,
the ark of the covenant. What was one thing that was under
the mercy seat? The tables of stone, the law.
The quote, moral law. I want to ask this, and it's
been said here before, but what part of God's law is immoral? All of it is a moral law. The
law is one. It is one law with many commandments.
We are told by James, for whosoever shall keep the whole law and
yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. So it all goes
together. Even those sacrifices, because
those sacrifices pointed to Jesus Christ. But back to what I was
saying. To get to the unbroken law, you
must go through the mercy seat. but still using the Old Testament
in that picture, no one was supposed to see inside of that ark. We get to the inside of the ark,
so to speak, through the mercy seat. We read in 1 Samuel that
God killed men who looked inside of the ark. I wanna go through
some things that are said here and just get an idea of what
God says about them. We can see them all right here,
but we will go to other places as well. First of all, the righteousness
of God, then faith, and then I wanna talk about our labor. I know some may say, what, is
he talking about works? Well, let's see, let's see. So
first, the righteousness of God. What do we read here in Romans
three about the righteousness of God? to declare his righteousness
for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God. There is one righteousness that
can remit sins. That is the righteousness of
God. We know man, and especially religious man, but it's not limited
to religious folks, because even the irreligious think they can
do good. But man likes to seek out his righteousness. We've
read it before in Romans 10. For they, being ignorant of God's
righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
I know Paul is specifically talking to the Jews here, or about the
Jews that are after the flesh here. But this is the state of
a man as he is born in Adam. This flesh loves its own righteousness
and it will not submit itself to the righteousness of God.
This flesh likes to do. For those outside of Christ,
it's all they know. But even for believers, this
is a struggle because all of us still have this flesh with
us. Some only have the flesh. But this flesh wants to and it
thinks it can do something worthy of praise before God. But our
righteousness is not the righteousness of God. God tells us in his word
that even our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in God's sight.
But yet this flesh says, no God, I can do. But let's look at it
a little further here in our text in verse 26. to declare,
I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Paul declares here,
and we are also to declare this, his righteousness. For what reason
is it that we declare his righteousness? Because first, he is the just
one. Do you want to see righteousness?
Look at the just one. Jesus Christ and all that he
did was just. But this is talking more about
God having to be just. He could not just let his son
die on that tree as he is. God cannot kill a just one. That is an abomination to God. He had to make Him to be sin
for us. That sin was ours. Him taking
our sin in His own body allowed God to be just. Sin must be punished,
and when God the Father saw sin in the Son, because the Son bore
our sins in His own body, He had to condemn that sin, and
it was condemned by Him forsaking Jesus Christ our Lord. in him
dying the death that we should have died. But we also see here
the second part of that statement. By doing this, he was also the
justifier. And we know the ones he justified
by that act, that great transaction, because they are the ones that
believe. Listen to me. Is there anything
in what I have said that speaks to fallen sinful man or saved
sinful man? Is it anything there that's speaking
about him doing anything? If we place boasting anywhere
on man, then we are looking at the wrong thing. Read it, verse
27. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay, but by the law
of faith. Paul was asking his readers of
this epistle, where is boasting with man? There is none. He says it is excluded. Does
this exclusion come from the keeping of the law? No, it is
not excluded by this. That's what he says. It is excluded
by law though. What law? By the law of faith. So think about it. Any boasting
is excluded and it is excluded by law, but it is excluded by
the law of faith. So let's talk about faith a little
bit. Faith that is spoken of here
in this passage is a faith that is the righteousness of God.
But this faith has nothing to do with fallen sinful man. This faith does not come from
any fallen sinful son of Adam. This faith is the faith of Jesus
Christ. So if I'm going to please God,
It's going to have to come from without of myself in order to
do so. What do we read in scripture
specifically about this subject? It says, without faith, it is
impossible to please God. I have to have faith. And it
has to be the faith that is righteous before God. Faith is how we will
be justified before God. Romans 3 28 says, therefore we
conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of
the law. I just want to point this out.
When does this stop? Does God just wind us up and
then let us go? We must have the faith of Jesus
Christ and the only way we can have it is if it is given to
us by God. And it is He that must keep us
that way. We know here well, we know it
here well, the scripture says faith is the gift of God. This
gift is not a gift like we might see some folks do and call it
a gift. You know, have you ever seen
someone that'll put a chair out on the corner or a couch or whatever
and they'll put a sign on it that says free, just take it.
God does not do this. The faith of the Son of God is
too precious to God to just sit it out there hoping someone will
take it. The fact is if God did that,
then none would have faith. Because we hate God by nature
and would never come to God though he sit it right before our face.
You see, we have a heart problem. Our heart is, in Jeremiah 17,
I'm very familiar to you, the heart is deceitful above all
things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it? To change this
heart, we would have to circumcise it. I remember Walker pointing
this out, and what do we read in Deuteronomy 10, 16? Circumcise,
therefore, the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked. How do I do that? That question
is the first question that comes to man's mind, is this flesh
thinks, how can I do that? The point is, you cannot do this. Tell me how you would do it.
Even if this was only talking about that heart muscle, how
would you do that? Now this is talking about the
seed of affections, if you will, for lack of a better way to say
it. Just how are we going to do that? We cannot. God will give us a circumcised
heart. If anyone ever pays attention
that hear men like us here at chapel, they will notice one
thing. For us to have anything, it must be God that gives it
to us. He does not do this by sitting
it out in the world for us to pick it up. This is a personal
thing. He will come to us personally
to breathe life into a dead soul. Life from the Spirit has fruit,
and part of that fruit is faith. Faith is intrinsic to God, and
it is He who must give it, and He does, and He does this personally
by coming to His people and breathing into them life. Now, this faith
does one thing. It believes God. But if you never hear anything
about God, you will never believe God, because this faith believes
God. God, again, must send us someone. Who do these someones do, or
what do these someones do? They preach the faith of Jesus
Christ. If they don't, then they are
not sent of God. Where do we see the faith of
Jesus Christ? in the gospel, what he did on
that tree to be just and the justifier of them that believe.
What do we read in Romans 1, 16 and 17? For I am not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first and also to
the Greek. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the
just shall live by faith. It's not just an accompaniment
that we dangle before men so they can see us. Faith is how
we live. It is our way of life, in other
words. If I look at the law, all I will
see is bondage. But by faith, I see life. And that life is seen in a person. That person being Jesus Christ
the Lord. By faith, we see that this is
so. I mean, Jesus Christ is the life
of the believer. But in this flesh, we will not
see that. We cannot see that. We will go
about to establish our own righteousness in this flesh. Listen to me. If you are in any way and at
any time looking to the deeds of the law for righteousness
before God, if you think you can do righteousness before God
by doing the law, the moral law, the Ten Commandments, then you
must live totally and completely by that law. Turn with me to
Galatians 3. Galatians 3. Galatians 3 and verses 10 through
12. Galatians 3 verses 10 through
12. For as many as are of the works
of the law are under the curse. For it is written, Cursed is
every one that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified
by the law in the sight of God, it is evident. For the just shall
live by faith. And the law is not of faith,
but the man that doeth them shall live in them. If you are of the works of the
law, if it is your life to try to keep the Ten Commandments,
you are under a curse. That's what it says. Because
if that is where you are, you must keep them completely and
continually. We are told that anyone who is
just, and anyone who is, is made so by Jesus Christ. But anyone
who is just lives by faith. Their way of life is faith, that
is, believing God. No justification before God comes
from the doing of the law. Paul tells us this is evident.
This is something that Paul just keeps on hitting us with because
he's already said this in Galatians 2 and verse 16. Knowing that
a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the
faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ. And not
by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. There we see it. It is not a
faith that we work up, but it is the faith of Jesus Christ. And it is that faith which God
must give to us personally for us to please him. With man, it
is impossible. But with God, all things are
possible. Now some might ask the question,
are you saying we do not do any works? No, I'm not saying that. We know we read in scripture
that it is God that both works in us to will and to do of his
good pleasure. So we do do some things. If we
do, it is by the working of him that is just and the justifier
of them that believe. But this leads me to my next
point, our labor. There are some who say, and there
are some who have said in Paul's time, so are you saying you can
live as you please? Or they might say, so you think
it's okay to break God's law? That's what they said to Paul,
Romans 3, 8, it says, and not rather, as we be so slanderously
reported and as some affirm that we say, let us do evil that good
may come, whose damnation is just. I do not think it is okay to
break God's law, yet I break it all the time. The law is that
which God has given to us to show us that we cannot do for
God. We cannot love God. In fact,
Paul goes on to say these things there in Romans 3. There is none
good, no not one. There is none that seeketh after
God. We know this, that the law was very much alive. It has gone
nowhere. But those who were in Christ,
those for whom Christ died for, are dead to the law. If I'm dead
to something, how much interaction do I have with it? None. But in Christ we are said to
be dead to the law, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ
our Lord. If I look back to the law for
anything other than what God intended for it to be, I am committing
spiritual adultery. But yet we do work. Turn with
me to Hebrews 4. Hebrews 4. Hebrews 4 verses 4, I'm gonna
read just 4 through 11. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 4, For he spake in a certain place
of the seventh day on this wise, and God did rest the seventh
day from all his works. and in this place again, if they
shall enter into my rest. Seeing, therefore, it remaineth
that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first
preached enter not in because of unbelief. Again he limiteth
a certain day, saying in David, Today, after so long a time,
as it is said, Today if you will hear his voice, harden not your
hearts. For if Jesus had given them rest,
then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There
remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that
is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own
works, as God did from his. Let us labor therefore to enter
into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of
unbelief. Verse 11 it says, let us labor
therefore to enter into that rest. To make an effort to enter
into that rest. What is this meaning? Is Paul
now saying now we must start doing the law of God so we can
enter into that rest? Paul was already said contrary
to that. So certainly that is not what
he is saying here. But we don't have to guess. The
verse itself tells us what is meant. Let us labor therefore
to enter into that rest, lest any men fall after the same example
of unbelief. Let's be clear here. The rest
of God is Jesus Christ. It is him and his works that
we rest in and not ours. If we are not laboring to enter
into that rest, it is because we are in unbelief. So that tells
me that my laboring is that labor to believe God and the record
he gave of his son, our Lord Jesus Christ, our rest. It is a labor to look to Christ
and Christ alone. But what does Christ tell us?
in Matthew 11, 28 through 30. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and
ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and
my burden is light. There is a burden there, but
it's a light burden. It's not always peaches and cream
for the children of God. This flesh loves and this flesh
will take all it can. But by the grace of God and his
gifts, he enables us to do that for which he tells us to do.
But it's not as Earl used to say that we sit on our little
stools of do nothing. But by his grace, we will labor
to enter into that rest, the rest that is in Jesus Christ
our Lord. I want to believe Him, but I
have to say, Lord, help thou mine unbelief. But faith, that
God-given faith, does not just believe out of thin air, if you
will. Faith believes the gospel, the record God gave of His Son,
when it is proclaimed to us. Because it is that, the preaching
of the gospel, that pleased God, to save them that believe. So
if you're not interested in hearing the gospel, what do you have?
So what do we conclude from all of this? In Matthew 22, Jesus
Christ, in replying to the Pharisees, who thought they were going to
do better than the Sadducees, whom it says, our Lord put to
silence, they thought they would get the better of God, these
Pharisees. That is who Jesus Christ is.
God. And these men, just like this
world does, and just like this flesh does, I'm talking about
my flesh, Paul Pendleton's flesh. My flesh thinks it cannot be
silenced by God. But Christ tells us that there
are basically two commandments that sum up all of the law of
God. Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy
mind, and the other which is likened to it, thou shalt love
thy neighbor, as I said. Does he then start to speak unto
them of how they should go about doing this? In a way he does, but they do
not understand, just as we do not understand before God opens
our eyes of one who is blind. He began to speak to them of
himself. He asked them, what think ye
of Christ? whose son is he? They knew nothing
but worldly things and thought in worldly ways. And when he
told them in such a way that it was plain that they knew nothing,
it silenced them. It says they did not ask him
any more questions after that. We see this in this world today.
You began to speak of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone as salvation
before God. The conversation and the questions
will stop. I want to go to one last passage
and then say some things and I will end, but turn with me
back to Galatians 2. Galatians 2. Galatians 2 verses 16 through
21. And we've already read this verse
16 before, 2 verses 16 through 21. Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ.
Even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified
by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law. For
by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. But if
while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also
are found sinners, is there therefore Christ the minister of sin? God
forbid. For if I build again the things
which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I, through
the law, am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I
am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live
by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself
for me. I do not frustrate the grace
of God, for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ
is dead in vain. I just want to ask as I did when
I did this message up there at Mike Walker's. Is Christ dead
in vain? Absolutely not. We see it right
here. Jesus Christ is the righteousness
of God and it is his faith which secured the salvation of his
people. It is His faith that is given
to His people, and by that faith, they live before God. They have
their way of life before God. That's how you and I have our
way of life if we are believers of Jesus Christ and in Jesus
Christ. They work to believe God. In
believing God and that by His grace, they enter into that rest. Jesus Christ the Lord. We can
stop with all of our doing and count on His doing. It is He
who is our propitiation, our atoning victim, our mercy seat,
labor, that is, believe in Jesus Christ, who is our rest. Amen. Dear Lord God, apply these
words to our heart, dear Lord. Only you can, by your power,
cause us to always seek your face, dear Lord, in all the things
that we do. May we honor you in all the things
that we do. When we fall, dear Lord, we know
you've said you will pick us back up, dear Lord. Just cause
us to continually look to you in all these things we ask in
Christ's name. Amen.