Turn to Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter 4. I will read just one verse this
morning. My text is Romans chapter 4 and
verse 8. The Apostle Paul is quoting from
the psalmist and he says these words, the man To whom the Lord
will not impute sin Think of that statement for a moment blessed
What a blessing indeed What a blessing indeed blessed is the man To
whom the Lord will not he does not say does not though that
would be confirmation enough. Yes But Paul's words are, blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Amen. What I want to try to dwell
on this morning is the Lord will not impute sin. Amen. Oh, that I could fully
grasp the gravity of this truth. Yes, sir. how grounded in spiritual
things I would be. I don't fully grasp that. You
know why? I know to some degree what my
life's like. I know the ways sometimes I think,
the ways I sometimes feel, all the gravity, and I mean it that
way, how grounded I would be in spiritual things. If only
I could fully embrace the immensity of this blessedness, how full
I would be. In truth, how, if I could fully
embrace the immensity of this blessedness, I would need nothing
else in this world. Oh, that I could fully fathom
the heights, the depths, the breaths of God's absolute decree,
the Lord will not impute sin. If I could just fathom that,
to grasp it, to embrace it, to fathom just how grand this is,
how calm my heart and mind would always be. If only I could fully
submit my whole being to the freedom that is embedded in this
blessed statement. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. If only I could fully submit
my whole being to the freedom embedded in this blessed state.
Think of it with me. No sin put to my account. Think about that in light of
yourselves. I don't know you like I know
me. I don't know me to the extent that I probably ought to know
me. And you're the same way. You're the same way. No sin. Think of that, even that possibility. No sin put to my account. Amen. I understand that we often
think about others. We're concerned for their souls,
and rightfully so. But oh, thank God that the scripture
says, blessed is the man, singular, to whom the Lord will not impute
sin. Because the only one that you
can have any assurance about is you. Exactly. That's it. No sin put to my account by the
thrice holy God. That God that even some of the
angels that constantly fly around His throne have these sets of
wings and with one set, what do they do? They cover their
eyes. These are unfallen angels, the
elect angels, and they still cover their eyes. Oh, that I
might be one to whom God will not put sin to my account. No sin imputed to me, but rather
if you look at the context, it's not just in a neutral state that
we're put. We are imputed the very righteousness
of God. Look at verse 22, and therefore
it was imputed to him for righteousness, that is to Abraham. But then
look at verse 23. Now it was not written for his
sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also. This book was written to give
us this assurance. but for us also, to whom it shall
be imputed that his righteousness shall be put to my account at
the same time God is refusing to put sin to my account. He's
not just taking me to a neutral state and saying, all right,
now, Walter, it's up to you to continue here on in. No. but for us also to whom it shall
be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord
from the dead who was delivered for our offenses and was raised
again for our justification. Think of it. Whose account? Whose account again? My account. My account. Blessed is the man
to whom. Now maybe you don't think this
way, but I often think of this, blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin, as though there's some great ledger
book in glory that God is writing things down or not writing things
down. But that's not what he says here.
Blessed is the man to whom. Amen. Your account dwells right
in here. Yes, sir. That's right. That's
what your account. That's where your ledger is.
I am my own ledger. You are your own ledger. And
thank God, blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute
sin. Amen. Whose account? The believer's account. Yes,
sir. Now that's the whole context.
Look at verse three. For what saith the scripture?
And how important is the scripture? The scripture's not most important,
it's all important. The scripture is not the final
authority, the scripture is the only authority. For what saith the scripture,
Abraham, and now notice what Paul writes, how he writes it,
Abraham believed God. Not just on him and in him, though
on him and in him is a part of it. Don't misunderstand me. Those who believe, they believe
in God. And those who believe, they believe
on God. But those who believe also believe
God. For what saith the scripture,
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
That's an amazing statement. Now to him that worketh is the
reward not reckoned of grace, but of what? But of debt. But
to him that worketh not. But believeth on him that justifies. Now it doesn't say the believer,
though that's true. But justifies who? The ungodly. There's the amazing statement
in blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. I still know sin is down in here. In me, that is in my flesh, Paul
will go on to say, dwelleth no good thing. And yet, it may be,
Joe, it may be that I could be one to whom the Lord will not
impute sin. but to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. Even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without work, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are
forgiven. It's not because we don't have any. It's because
they've been dealt with fully and wholly in Jesus Christ. Amen. Yes, sir. Saying, blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Amen. I see sin in me. Yes, sir. But God says if I'm
a believer, I will not account sin to you. Amen. But even more, I will impute
to you righteousness. Amen. Righteousness. I don't
stand in a neutral state. Exactly. I stand in the righteousness
of God that's in Christ Jesus, my Lord. Think of it. Whose account again? The believer's
account. Yeah. Blessed indeed. Is it not? Yes, sir. Blessed
indeed. You know, I know, I understand,
I understand this. I can relate to the man when
he said, Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief. But I also
know this, by God's grace, I cannot help but believe. I just can't. God, by His resurrection power,
by the very power that He used when Christ was raised from the
dead, is the very power that brought me and you to believe,
if we believe. By light of this, have you ever
thought, oh, that I could fully grasp the gravity of this truth? You ever thought that? If only
I could fully embrace the immensity of this blessedness. Oh, that
I could fully fathom how wide and tall and deep this really
is. Oh, if I could fully submit my
whole being. I'd never have trouble in my
walk ever again. You ever thought that way? Light of this! Have you ever
thought that? Oh, I could do that! But are you not rejoiced
to know that this blessed state is not based upon these four
things? It's not based upon the fact
that you're fully grasping, you're fully embracing, you're fully
fathoming, you're fully submitting. It's based upon the fact that
you believe that what God has promised, He is able to perform. It's not believing something
about yourself, it's believing about Him. A lot of people believe
in their believing. But it's not about your believing,
it's about believing Him. Mm, what a blessed state. Look at it, verse 16, therefore
it is of faith that it might be by grace. Well that lets me
know faith is not something I work up. Faith is what God freely
gives. Faith is the gift of God. Faith,
it is called the operation of God. Therefore it is of faith
that it might be by grace. Why? Because grace comes before
faith. For by grace are you saved through
faith and that not of yourselves. Any of it is the gift of God,
not of human effort, not of works. You don't work up faith. Faith
ain't what you come up with for God so that God will do this
for you. Faith is what God gives you so
that you will know you stand in this righteousness and sin
will not be imputed to you. Therefore it is of faith that
it might be by grace to the end that is for this purpose To the
end, the promise might be sure to all the seed. We're talking
about absolute sure, dear. Yes, sir. That's right. If God
says about me, if God says about you, I will not impute your sin
to you. Amen. And I have imputed righteousness
to you. Amen. Your salvation, your acceptance
before God is absolutely sure. Therefore it is of faith that
it might be by grace to the end the promise might be sure to
all the seed Somebody said but what about the law ask Abraham? He didn't know of any law Did
he and yet Abraham walked what by faith There was no law then
and yet being today or preaching. Well, yeah, you're saved by grace
through faith But then you need to keep the law after that Abraham
didn't He didn't know what the law was, but Joe, he still knew
God was to be honored. And he could not help himself.
Even in spite of all the failures of his flesh, he believed God. He believed God. That's why he
says, therefore, it is a faith that it might be by grace to
the end. The promise might be sure to all the seed, not to
that only, which is of the law, because the law is honored in
this name, but to that, but to that also which is of the faith
of Abraham, who is the father of us all. It has nothing to
do with our flesh, verse one. Nothing to do with our flesh.
What shall we say then that Abraham our father is pertaining to the
flesh hath found? The answer is rhetorical, nothing
to do. All well, I need to bring my
flesh in line with God's holiness. You can't do it You can't do
it. I need to honor God's law in
my flesh. You can't do it and neither can
I When it comes to the flesh we pertained we pertain nothing
from God by our flesh Mmm, it's not even by our effort
For if Abraham were justified by works. Now most people, when
they read that, they think of singing in the choir, soul winning,
giving your tithes, and certainly those things would apply, but
it means effort of any kind. For if Abraham were justified
by works, by his own effort, he hath whereof to glory, but
not before God. Then he says, as we've already
said, for what saith the scripture, Abraham believed God. But wasn't
that an effort? Not when God gives it to you, it ain't an
effort. I don't have to struggle and fight to believe God. I just
find myself believing God. And at the times when my unbelief
rises up, I still know, Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief. I can't even deal with my own
unbelief. Lord, you gotta do it. Lord, you gotta do it. So it has nothing to do with
our flesh. It has nothing to do with human effort. What hope
do you have in your own fully grasping? What hope do you have
in your own fully embracing? What hope do you have in your
own fully fathoming? What hope do you have in your
full submission? Those things are sometimes just
like trying to grab ahold of the wind and hold it still. And
yet we have the answer here. Look at it, verse 18, speaking
of Abraham, who against hope, what hope do you have in what
you do? What hope did Abraham have of bringing forth a son
from his own loins and his wife's own womb? What hope did he have
of that? He was right at 100 years old.
Look at it. Who against hope believed in
hope. What's he talking about there?
That's kind of fluffy language and oh no, oh no. Not if God
Almighty showed you what you really are. Even our best efforts
fall far short. Who against hope believed in
hope that he might become the father of many nations according
to that which was spoken, so shall. Do you see it? So shall
thy seed be. What, based upon what Abraham
could do? Based upon his flesh, his effort? He tried to put an effort forth
on this, didn't he? Sarah even tried to help him.
How many of you women would do that today for your husband?
And we ain't even gonna go back and see what she did. Huh? Didn't
work. Didn't work, did it? Look, and
being not weak in faith. What? Then most people think,
well, that means you can just do this and do that, and you've
got the ability to, what? Fully grasp, fully embrace, fully
fathom, fully submit. No, you don't. You don't have
that power. Mm-mm, what is it? And being
not weak in faith. Our Lord said, if you had faith
as a grain of mustard seed, You could say to this sycamine tree,
be thou cast up by the root, plucked up by the roots and cast
into the sea. I don't believe he was being
metaphorical. And it's not, well, a bit of mustard seed can grow
into a great bush. He didn't say the bush, he said
the seed, right? He had faith as a grain of mustard.
So what is strong faith? And being not weak in faith,
what? He considered not his own body now dead when he was about
100 years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb. She
was barren from the get-go. He staggered not at the promise
of God. Do you see it? It wasn't, God
didn't say to Abraham, Abraham, if you'll believe me, then you'll
be able to have a son. He said, this time next year,
Sarah shall have a son. Abraham believed God's promise.
Look at it, he staggered not at the promise of God through
unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and here
it is, here's faith defined, and being fully persuaded that
what he, God, had promised, he was able to perform, and therefore,
It was imputed to him for righteousness. You see, faith is all about believing
God. It ain't about having confidence
at all in yourself. Who against hope believed in
hope. No hope in myself. I have no
hope in myself. Right now, even today, I have
no hope in myself. But preacher, you've experienced
a lot of great things and miraculous things and seen things, no hope
in myself. Nothing I've ever done, no faithfulness
on my part. But it's all faithfulness on
God's part that faith lays hold of. Faith is being is. Faith is being fully persuaded
in God and His promises. Being fully persuaded in God
and His ability. That's where faith's at. And
sadly, most who profess to be Christians in this day and age
do not have that kind of faith. They don't have that kind. They got a faith to say, I gave
my heart to Jesus. I accepted Him. That ain't it.
That's not it, it's not in this book. The faith that God gives
causes a person to be fully persuaded that what God's promised, God's
able to perform. He doesn't rely on you. And Joe,
if he's purposed for something to take place in you or through
you, he'll be the one that supplies the power, the ability, the everything. Yes, Abraham and Sarah had a
son the way all men and women have sons and daughters. You
know what I'm talking about. But who enabled them to do that?
This was a work of God, not a work of Abraham, not a work of Sarah. God and his abilities. Consider
this. Since God, I didn't say if. Since
God will not impute sin to me if I believe. And don't turn
that around. Don't say, If God will not impute
sin to me since I believe, that's not it, no. Mason, that's getting
the cart before the horse. That's switching it right around,
just like people do. For by grace are you saved through
faith. They'll quote it that way, then
they teach, for by faith are you saved through grace. They
quote the verse correctly, they explain it in a lie. Consider
this, since God will not impute sin to me if I believe, and that
is the question, if I believe. I can't tell you for sure if
you believe or not. I can't do that. I can try to
encourage you in it as much as possible, but the only one that
I can ever have any assurance at all is in here. His spirit
bears witness with our spirit. That's individual. He don't let
me know about yours. He only lets me know about me.
Consider this, again, since God will not impute sin to me. Think
about it again. God will not impute your sin
to you if you're a believer. Now look back at what you are.
Look back at what you used to be. Look back at what you still
are today. You remember the filthy, vile
thoughts you had even this very morning that you were gathering
together to worship the living God? And you know what men do? Well, that's not me thinking
that. The devil put that there. You don't have that power. Men
are tempted and drawn away of their own lust and enticed. All
of those evil thoughts come from in here, in me. even right now today as I'm standing
here preaching to you, full of iniquity and filth and corruption
and foulness. But since God will not impute
sin to me if I believe, then what is tribulation? What is
tribulation to me? Those general everyday troubles
that come against us. Oh, how they make you cringe,
don't they? how they make you wonder, how they make you doubt
this and that. What's going to happen? I have
no idea. What about this trouble that's
come upon me, preacher? What's God's purpose in it? I don't know other than this,
to teach you who you are and to teach you who God is. I know
those two things. But since God will not impute
my sin to me if I believe that, what is that tribulation? What
does it really matter? What is distress? Is this sounding
familiar to you? You'll find it in this same epistle,
Romans chapter eight. What is distress? It's those
things that press on you. Those things that press on you.
What is distress? God will not impute my sin to
me. What does it matter? What does it matter? What is
persecution? since God will not impute my
sin to me. What is it to me if someone don't
like me because of who I believe, what I hold to, holding to the
promise of God? What does it matter? And I say
this with all humility as God is my witness. And I know you
have to say this as well. If my spouse forsakes me, so
be it. If my father or mother forsake
me, if they persecute me, so be it. If my sons or daughters
or cousins, if they forsake me, if they persecute me, if they
balk me, so what? Paul made this statement one
time, and I may preach about it sometime, but none of these
things move me. Have you ever thought about that?
Go back and look at the, none of these things move me. Somebody
says, well, I don't believe what you believe. I'm not asking anybody
that's born to believe what I believe. I'm just telling you how it is.
That's all it is. I'm just telling you how it is.
I'm not trying to tell you, oh, you ought to believe like me,
everything will be fine. Oh no, you believe like me? If you do,
you're gonna find yourself as a lamb for the slaughter. That's
what you're gonna find yourself for. Since God will not impute
sin to me, if I believe, then what is nakedness to me? What
is it? Now, we're not talking about
going out and acting like a fool and throwing your clothes off. No. What are we talking? In other
words, what if I, what if Joe, all of a sudden, I don't even
have money to buy clothes to put on my back? God'll take care
of it. He clothes the lilies of the
field. Look at the beauty, look at that beauty in a field full
of flowers. And Neil, he clothes them. And
they come up and the sun bakes them and they're gone in no time.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. God
will take care of all that other stuff. That's exactly right.
What about peril? You know what peril is. Danger.
What would be seeming to us imminent, dang peril. Peril. But what is it to me? Nothing.
Since God will not impute my sin to me. Exactly. What is sword? What if somebody
really wants my life? I've not been there yet. I've not yet resisted unto blood.
I've not had anybody stick a literal sword or a gun to my head and
said, if you don't recant what you believe now, I'm gonna cut
your head off. Could happen one day. Don't you kid yourself. What's the only thing that's
gonna get me through? God. If I believe today, it'll take
that same kind of faith that I believe God with today with
all the ease I experience. It's gonna take the same God,
the same grace, and the same faith that if somebody puts a
sword to my throat, said, I'm gonna cut your head off if you
don't recant believing in that God. It ain't gonna take more. We always thought more. What
about dying grace? Where's that in the book? He
gave you grace in Christ before the world began. That's all the
kind of grace you need. I don't find there's living grace
and dying grace and this and grace. Come on now. God has already given me all
I need. You know where he's at? He's
seated at the right hand of God the Father. And he says, I will
not impute sin to you. And I have declared you righteous
in my sight. What else do I need? And then
he says this, and note the order, it amazed me, it just struck
me when Paul wrote it. Romans chapter eight, go back
and read it. What is death or life? Now my mind would have
switched that around, right? Because we always consider life
before death, don't we? For us, naturally speaking, ah,
maybe there's the problem. For us, naturally speaking, death
always precedes life. And yet Paul says, neither this
nor that, but he says death nor life. Death ain't got no teeth
no more for you if you're a believer. It's sting is removed. Death
is not the problem. My sin's the problem. And God
said, I won't impute that to you. So what is death? They say, well, preacher, you
don't know that by experience. None of us knows it by experience.
Because once you die, that's it, you're gone. We can't ask
you no more. How'd it feel for you, brother?
How'd it feel for you, sister? I mean, once you die, then you're
gone. We can't ask nobody that. But I have this. I have this. And Paul first says, Problem
death that's first because let me tell you sometimes life is
more perilous than death That's right Life is more perilous than
death death will get me out of this hole Death will release
me from this Huh? No, I don't mean I got a death
wish. Chad, I don't got no death wish. I know you don't got no
death wish. But death is not my problem. My sin is my problem. And God dealt with that in Jesus
Christ. And life, sometimes living in
this world scares me. I have had a life of ease, folks. Look at yourselves. Most of us have had not only
everything we needed, but even when we were young, our parents
provided us a lot of the things we even wanted. And we've been
fed for the most part. We've been clothed for the most
part. Even when we shook our fist in God's face. But death nor life, it doesn't matter. They can't separate me from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. Now here's the question.
Do I fully grasp that? No, I do not. Do I fully embrace
that? No, because there's a part of
me that wants that out of the way. I want to be my own man. I want to make my own way. I
want to do my own thing, but that ain't the way it works.
I've tried. And God will stomp that right
in the dirt if you're a believer. Think about it. And then, what
about the enemies imputed by sin to me? You got anybody that
don't like you and wants to point out every fault you got? I'm
like a great old big target when it comes to that. You know, hit
the bullseye. You don't have to hit the bullseye.
Just anywhere in the circle. You hit Walker Pendleton, you're
going to find a flaw. You're going to find corruption.
You're going to find sin. It's still there. And the enemy
rejoices to try to point it out. Well, I know what you really
are. No, you really don't. You think I'm worse than you
and you try to make yourself feel pretty good about yourself
because you see me. But I ain't the standard. I ain't
the standard. But my enemy's putting sin to
my account. What does it matter if he says,
I will not put it to your account? Huh? He knows my sin better than
I do. I know my sin better than they
do, so what in the world am I worried about they for? Especially when
he says, I will not impute your sin to you. Oh boy. Go back now and read Romans 8,
28 through 39 in light of that, because Paul is coming to this
great crescendo. Chapter three tells us what we
really are by nature. Right? Chapter four honors faith,
faith, a God-given faith. Chapter five talks about now
the foundation of why we are, like, he just keeps going back
and forth. Chapter 6 then answers, gives God's answer to that. Chapter
7 then goes back to what you are, even after God saved you. Then chapter 8 crescendos with
the glory of God in Christ Jesus. Look at it, go back and look
at it. One chapter right to another. Here's what we are, but here's
what God's done. Here's what you are, but here's what God's
done. Here's what you are even now, but here's what God's doing.
Isn't that glorious? Isn't that glorious? So let me
sum it up with these things. In the very teeth of my circumstances,
and I mean all of them. Folks, I'm not talking about,
oh boy, we're gonna believe God together, we're gonna get over
every hurdle together. No, I ain't talking about that. You are gonna
have to face your own hurdle by yourself. Your spouse might
be facing it with you, but they don't know. If it's happening
to you, they don't know what you're going through. Unless
they're going through the exact same thing. But in the very teeth
of my circumstances, and I mean all of them, all of them, oh
God, God help me. Make me believe you. Make me to trust that you're
able to do what you promised. Joe, you quoted, he'll keep us
by faith. I trust him to do that because
I can't keep myself by faith. Secondly, in the very teeth of
my enemies, they're out there, folks. They're out there. In the very teeth of my enemies,
they're out there. We got these enemies out there,
but in the teeth of my enemies, in here. Right in here is my
worst enemy, my most dangerous enemy. That's me. That's me by
nature. But in the very teeth of my enemies,
outward and inward both, oh God, oh God, continue to enable me
to believe your promise. And thirdly, In the very teeth
of my sin and sins, because God has dealt with both. He's dealt
with both. Go back and read this whole epistle.
He's dealt with both. In the very teeth of my sin and
sins, because that's my real problem. And how easy we forget
that, don't we? Because we think our problems
are boss at work. He or she ain't your problem. We think about
the neighbor down the street. It can be very vexing, taxing,
perilous. But what do those things really
matter if God ain't gonna impute my sin to me? If God says I will
not impute your sin to you, you believe me, I've imputed you
by very righteousness. In the very teeth of my sin and
sin, and I mean all of them, the ones I'm gonna commit this
evening if I live that long. Yeah, oh I know there's some
people that don't think like that. They say, oh, on occasion I sin.
No, every breath I take is sin against God if it's taken apart
from faith. Apart from faith, everything's
a sin. Anything's a sin. Let me put it that way. Even my worship of God, Joe,
apart from faith, is sin in God's sight. So in the very teeth of
my circumstances, in the very teeth of my enemies, in the very
teeth of my sin and sins. Oh God, I believe. Help thou my unbelief. Truly, truly, is it not? And remember, you're not fully
grasping it. I know you're not. You're not
gonna be able to fully embrace it. You're not gonna be able
to fully fathom it. You're not gonna be able to fully submit
yourself to it like you wish you could. It's just not meant
for this world. But nevertheless, it says this,
even in light of all that fact, blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Thank God. Because when all of
this is over, that's the only thing that's gonna matter. Your job, your things, your pleasures,
your difficult, none of that will matter. The only thing that's
gonna matter is God will put sin to your account. And either
he's not putting it to you now already, or you're gonna give
an account for it when you stand before him, and you'll go to
hell. What a blessed is the man to
whom the Lord will not impute sin. Aren't you glad that's in
the book of God? There's some people that that's
true for, Joe. And who is it? Those that believe. That's all it says about it,
Mason. Those that believe. Thank you, God. Oh, Father, comfort
us even when we're so uncomfortable. and unable to be comforted. Comfort us by the truth of thy
word, by your promises. Lord, strengthen us by that faith
that you give, and may it be that it redounds to the honor
and the glory of Christ. For it's in his name I ask it,
amen. We're welcome, Bill.