Well, there's a lot been going
on in the last, like Dave said, the
last two, three years, too, within the body. And last three, four
months, we've seen two members go home to be with the Lord. Sister Kathy, and Kelly Jo, and
then Bob passed recently, too. I know everybody's been praying
for him for years. We've seen a lot of sorrow, haven't we?
Joy with the brother and sister going into glory, or the two
sisters going to glory, but still sorrow, though, for those who
are left behind. This message was put on my heart
Turn, if you would, to Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40. The message name is For Comforting
Truths. For Comforting Truths. We need
comfort, don't we? Not just in times of sorrow and
sadness, but all the time. I find I need comfort all the
time. One of the most comforting things for me when I was a child
was crawling into my mama's arms. Just felt safe, right? Right? Just felt safe. Or when dad came
home, crawling up in his lap and just, just him giving me
a hug and just felt safe. Just felt safe. My oh my. So we need comfort,
don't we? Well, you know, we have a heavenly
father. And the scripture says His everlasting arms are underneath
us. And those everlasting arms will
never move. See, our mothers and our fathers, when they get
older, they can't hold us like they used to. And eventually,
there comes a time when they can't hold you anymore. When
they pass. But God's always holding us,
beloved. He's always got us in His grip. we who are his people
all the time. Look at this in Isaiah chapter
40. Let's read this portion here.
Starting in verse 1. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth
in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight
in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked
shall be made straight. The crooked shall be made straight,
and the rough places plain, and the glory of the Lord shall be
revealed. And all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. The voice said, Cry,
and he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is as grass, and all
the goodness thereof is a flower of the field. The grass withereth,
the flower fadeth, because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon
it. Surely the people as grass. My oh my, grass grows, gets cut,
grows back up again, gets cut. My, it's like us, living, dying,
next generation comes up, living, dying, gone. That's what's being
bought forth here. Oh Zion, that's the church. Oh, I missed verse 8. The grass
withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of God shall stand
for what? Ever. Forever. Generations have come and gone,
and this word is still here. Civilizations have rose and fallen,
and this word is still here. Isn't that amazing? Oh, Zion, that's the church that
bring us good tidings. Get thee up onto the high mountain.
Oh, Jerusalem, that's the church as well. Bring us good tidings. Lift up thy voice with strength.
Lift it up. Be not afraid. Say unto the cities
of Judah, behold your God. My oh my. These are the words
of the Lord. God's preachers are commanded
to comfort the Lord's people in verse 1. Now of myself, I
can't comfort anyone. But I can preach a gospel by
God's grace and mercy. That's the only way I could preach
this gospel. By God's grace and mercy. And
it'll comfort you when the Holy Spirit gets a hold of it. Right? And blesses his people. Thy word
shall not return unto me void. It'll accomplish something. It'll
always accomplish something, every time the gospel is preached.
And notice in our text it says, comfort ye, comfort ye my people. If you're a born-again, blood-washed
saint, you're part of that my people. God has a people. A people
that are his. My people. That's possessive,
isn't it? They're mine. They're not anyone
else's, they're mine. And think of this, we're gods
by creation, and we're gods by purchase. Because he created us, we who
are the born-again, blood-washed saints of God, just like he created
every other human being. But then he purchased us, and
he didn't purchase everybody's souls, did he? But he did purchase
my people. My people. Look at that. Comfort you, comfort you, my
people. And who says this? Saith your God. Not a God of wooden stone. The
true and living God. Says to his gospel preachers,
comfort you, my people. Comfort them. My people, not
everyone, my people. So let the redeemed of the Lord
say so. My people, God says, by choice, by purchase. Praise God for choosing a people.
If God hadn't chosen a people, then no one would be saved. And
then praise God that we're part of that number. That number that no man can number. My people, he says. My. Scripture declares that Christ
shall save his people from their sins. That's the whole reason
he came, right? He says, I lay down my life for my sheep. My people, my sheep. God the
Father says, my people. Christ the Son says, my sheep. Possessive. They're mine. Oh, it's wonderful, isn't it? Is there anything in us that
would make us his? No. Simply the good pleasure of his
will. Our God said this. Our God said
his people are my people. Mine. Remember in another part
in Isaiah, I can't remember the address, but he says, thou art
mine. You're mine. Mine, I'm not gonna get over
that, are you? That's wonderful. Thou art mine. From his own lips,
Christ said, I lay down my life for the sheep. Oh, how comforting
those words are to God's people's souls. He's laid down his life
for me. He redeemed me. And every believer
can say that. He did that because I'm his.
Again, not by anything in me. There is absolutely nothing in
me to even recommend myself to God. Nothing. I'm just a sinner. The scripture says from the top
of my feet, or the top of my feet, the bottom of my feet to
the top of my head. If I said the top of my feet,
I'm forgetting about the bottom of my feet, eh? Oh my. But isn't it true? We don't believe
that. Before we're saved, we think
we're good. But then after, we are like that publican, aren't
we? Oh God, just be merciful to me. And he has been merciful
to us in Christ. He has shown us great mercy,
great grace in Christ. You can't measure the mercy and
grace that he's showing to us in Christ. God said this of God's people.
He says, you're God. Think of that, too. He's telling
us that he is our God. And he is, isn't he? Jehovah
is my savior. Jehovah is my God. Jehovah is my redeemer. Jehovah
is my all in all. All because of the grace and
mercy of God. And if you're a believer, that's true for you. It's absolutely wonderful. What comfort that brings to our
souls to know that we are His and He is mine. He's my God. Your God. Oh. And how do we know that? Through
the preaching of the gospel, right? We know that through the preaching
of the gospel. Our God says to his people, you're mine and I'm
your God. You talk about warm the heart
of the believer. In a gospel preacher, we have
one message to proclaim. Just one. I like what Henry Mahan
said, we play a one-string fiddle. It's Christ. Right? That's what it is. Christ. Paul wrote this, he said, and
I, brethren, when I come to you, came not with excellency of speech
or of wisdom. Now remember Paul, he could have
spoke real eloquently with them. He could have spoke just with
wisdom, but he says, I didn't come with eloquence, excellency
of speech, or wisdom declaring unto you the testimony of God,
for I am determined not to know anything among you save Jesus
Christ and him crucified. He said, warn to me if I preach
not Christ. That's what he's sent to do.
That's what every gospel preacher, I'm not sent up here to Tell you how to live a good Christian
life, a perfect Christian life? I'm not. I'm here to preach Christ. Now, will God work in us and
have us live a Christian life? Absolutely. Will God work in
us where we hate sin and we love him and love his gospel? Absolutely. I'll tell you what, I'm more
in love with Christ now than I was when he first saved me.
Is it true for you? The more you learn about them, the more
you fall in love with them. The more grateful you are for
his great sacrifice in saving our souls. It's absolutely incredible. Absolutely incredible. And that's
the Spirit working on us. We can't even claim that, which
we wouldn't want to. That's the Holy Spirit working
in us, so beloved. And the more we get an understanding
of who Christ is, the more we fall in love with him. the more
he becomes the lily of the valley to my soul. My, he's absolutely
wonderful. He's beautiful. My. And only the gospel of God's
free grace in Christ brings comfort to God's people. That's the only
thing that can comfort us. is the gospel. The preaching
of sinners saved by the grace of God in and through Christ
by his shed blood. That's the only thing that can
bring peace to our souls. And I was thinking about this
this morning. We never get tired of it. We never get tired of
hearing it, do we? We just want to hear it again
and again and again. And we might hear a message and
we go, oh, that's one of the best messages I've ever heard.
And then a month later we go, man, that's one of the best messages
I've ever heard. It's always new, isn't it? It's always wonderful
to us because it speaks of He who is the lover of our soul,
the Lord Jesus Christ, of He who gave His life for us willingly
at Calvary's cross. So it just fills our hearts with
joy. with joy. And no amount of money or riches
in this world can redeem one soul of one sinner. For what
shall profit a man if he gain the whole world but lose his
own soul? What shall man give in exchange for his soul? There's
nothing. All the silver and gold heaped
up in a pile cannot redeem one soul. All the silver and gold
in this whole world cannot redeem one soul. Nothing we can offer
up can pay for our sins. So sinners will find no comfort
in works-based religion, right? Things that preach something
you got to do. There's no comfort in there, is there? That's why
Paul says it's no gospel at all in Galatians chapter 1, because
there's no comfort in it. You know something, too? When
I was in religion, it was always what, you know, you get to the
point where you thought, oh, I did it, and then you'd fail. And it was never good enough.
Nothing was ever good enough. Always had to strive for more.
Well, I'll tell you what. I am at such rest, just trusting
Christ now. Just trust. I get to go around
and tell people about Christ. What he's done for me. The amazing
things he's done for me. He's done it. It's done. It's
finished. We're redeemed by Christ Jesus,
our Lord, 2,000 years ago. And we just find out about that,
don't we, when we're born again? We find out, oh, Christ died
for me, when we never knew it before. Remember what we looked
at in Sunday school? God sends the Spirit of his Son
into our hearts, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. Right? We never did that before. Now
we cry, Abba, Father. He's our King. He's our Lord.
He's our Savior. So no sinner will find comfort
in their works or comfort in possessions. There's no comfort
in the fleeting things of this world. They're here today and
gone tomorrow. You know, you get a job, it gets
old, doesn't it? You get a car, it gets old. You
get a house, you love living in your house, but it gets old
too. It starts to need some repairs. And man, oh my, it's become a
muddy bit. But the gospel never gets old.
Never. In fact, it becomes more precious
to the believers as the years go on. And it becomes more comforting,
doesn't it? More comforting to hear about
Christ and him crucified. So how do we find comfort from
our text? Look at our text here. It says,
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare
is accomplished. That means it's finished. See,
we were at enmity with God in our minds. That's what scripture
says. I told that to someone one time
who claimed to be a born again Christian. He said, well, I've
never been an enemy of God. I said, well, if you're not an
enemy of God in your mind before the Lord saves you, then you
don't know the gospel. Because the scripture, it's not
my words, it's what the scripture says. We were enemies in our
minds. By wicked works, it says. That was our natural state. Even
though we were an heir in our minds, we said, we're going to
have this man rule over us. But look at that, the warfare's
accomplished. We're no longer at enmity with
God, are we? Now we love him. That enmity
has been turned into love by the power of God, the Holy Spirit.
That's the mighty work. What a mighty work to take someone
who's an enemy in their minds. Well, we might not have said
out loud, I'm an enemy of God. But again, by wicked works, that
was bought forth, okay? And that's true for everybody. But now, the Holy Spirit's done
such a work in us, that enmity is turned into love. Well, actually,
the enmity is gone, isn't it? Because we have a new heart now,
that hungers and thirsts after righteousness. Who's the righteousness? Christ is our righteousness.
That heart, that new heart now, hungers and thirsts after Christ
Jesus, our Lord. Tell me more about him. Don't
tell me what I gotta do. Tell me about him who's done
it all. And then I'll spend the rest of my days looking to him. I'm doing a little, reading this
book by Thomas More, and constantly, he was a deacon at Spurgeon's
Church, constantly in this book, constantly he's saying, just
look to Christ, in all circumstances, just look to Christ. Where'd
he hear that from? is preaching. Just look to Christ,
beloved. That's the key. That's the key. Paul said, set your mind on things
above. That's Christ. Right? Oh, that's the key for
us. It's hard for us to do that,
though. It is hard for us to do that. That's why we keep having
to look to him. My. Now in response to this command
here, speaking comfortably to Jerusalem, cry unto her that
her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is what? Pardoned.
That means her wickedness is pardoned. Pardoned. Gone. Gone. Paid in full. It's gone. The warfare is gone. The enmity that we have towards
God is gone. The iniquity, our weakness is
all pardon. I mean, every single one, that
means all our sin. For she has received of the Lord's
hand double for all our sins. Grace and mercy, grace and mercy,
overflowing grace and mercy. Oh my. And in response to the
command for the comfort of God's elect, it is the gospel preacher's
joy to constantly declare Christ in him. It's a joy for me to
stand up and preach Christ. It's a joy for me when I'm out
talking to folks and the Lord opens the door and I get to talk
to them about Christ. It's a joy. It's an absolute
joy. So I hope and pray, my prayer
is that this message would be a blessing to you, that the Lord
would bless you through this message. And how can we who proclaim the
Bible comfort God's people if we've not been comforted ourselves? I've been comforted by the Lord.
Because he saved my soul, just like he did for you. It's wonderful. My oh my. We preach what we know. We preach what we know. We preach
about a Savior who is mighty to save because He saved us.
I'm not surprised when the Lord saves anyone since He saved me.
And it's probably true for you, too, right? John Newton said
that, and I totally agree with him. He said, somebody came in
and said, oh, the Lord saved this drunkard. You'd never believe
who the Lord saved. He saved this drunkard. And he goes, no, I believe once
the Lord saved me, He can save anybody. Because we know who
we are. We know what we are. He can save to the uttermost
those who come to Him. Right? Oh my. And we preach about our wonderful
merciful Savior who's redeemed us from all our sins. We preach
a full forgiveness. I mean full. There's not one
sin left behind. It's covered in the blood of
Christ. So much so that God says, when
I see the blood, I'm gonna pass right over you. I don't even remember your sin. I pass right over you. I see
the blood of the Lamb. I see the blood of my beloved
Son. Pass right over you. Your iniquity is pardoned. Now, when a man's pardoned by
a governor or by a king, they can never be charged for that
crime again, can they? Tell her that her iniquity is
pardoned. Never to be charged again. Because
the wrath due for that was poured out on Christ. And he bore it
all. Tell the church, tell Jerusalem,
tell the church of God, the blood-washed church of God, that her iniquity
is pardoned, that her warfare is accomplished,
it's finished. We now have what? Peace with
God. Through who? Our Lord Jesus Christ. That's wonderful. We preach Christ and Him crucified,
and God's people are comforted. And we see here, God's preachers
are commanded to preach Christ. Because the only way you can
be comforted, the only way I can be comforted is through the preaching
of the gospel. That's the only real way. And every preacher is comforted
by the gospel just as you're comforted by it. I rejoice just like everybody
else. When I hear, for in Him dwells all the fullness of the
Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him. Oh, how my heart soars. Complete in Christ. Oh my. What a Savior. When I hear in being made perfect,
he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that
obey him. Call of God and high priest after
the order of Melchizedek. He's perfect. He's absolutely our redeemer
is perfect. Our savior is perfect. He's the
Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot save ourselves. We
lack any ability to save ourselves. But by the power of God, the
Holy Spirit, it's been revealed to us our sinfulness. And we
fled Christ by His power, by His almighty power. My, oh my. God's people, the
church, the elect of God, those given to Christ before the foundation
of the world, The preachers decry unto them that her warfare is
accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received
the Lord's hand double for all her sins. My, what a wonderful
message. What a wonderful message of grace
and mercy. And how is this accomplished?
How is our warfare accomplished? How is our iniquity pardoned? How? How does she receive of
the Lord's hand double for all her sins? Only through the perfect,
spotless Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is fully God
and fully man, who died upon that cross, at Calvary's cross,
to redeem our eternal souls, shed in His precious, precious
blood. The perfect Savior, the only Savior of sinners, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Cry unto her, cry unto the church,
that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned,
for she hath received the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Now let's look at four comforting
truths. Four comforting truths. The first comforting truth is
a perfect atonement. A perfect atonement. Not God
making it possible for you to be saved, but a perfect atonement. accomplished by a perfect man,
accomplished by He who is God incarnate in the flesh, a perfect
atonement. You can't find any fault in it,
and neither can I, and we wouldn't want to. When the Lord Jesus
Christ died on Calvary's cross, He took our sins. They were imputed
to Him. They were imputed to Him. the
sins, think of this, the sins of all the elect of all the ages,
we hadn't even been born, and those who he's gonna save until
the end, or those, you know, till it's all done, when the
last sheep, all their, our sins and their sins, and all the people
up to his, after his death, and all the people before his death,
that were his elect, all of our sins were laid upon him. He's the great Passover lamb.
Now, I would think that, I remember Bruce Crabtree saying he thinks
he commits more than this, but Augustus Toplady figured mathematically,
he was a mathematical genius, the one who wrote Rock of Ages,
and he figured out that if a man lives or a woman lives to 80,
we commit a billion sins. Because, you know, there's sins
of thought, sins of, that we don't even know we commit. There's,
but over a billion, so think of that, a billion sins just
for, just for me and for you. My oh my. And all that was laid
upon Christ, imputed to Christ. And he paid it all. He paid for
it. God, God, don't look. God, don't
look away and say, I see a billion sins on you, Wayne. I don't even remember your sins. That's who I preach. A God ready to pardon. A God
who's merciful. A God of love. Think of this, all the sins of
the elect were laid upon him. All who lived before he died,
all who lived after he died. Scripture declares, for the transgression
of my people was he stricken. Again, my people. My people. Second Corinthians
521, for he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, the great transaction. Our sins imputed to him and his
perfect righteousness imputed to us. And there he is, the sinless,
spotless lamb of God, dying in our room and place. Isn't that incredible? And he bore it all. All that
wrath that was due my billion sins fell upon him. All the wrath that was due for
your sins fell upon him. Fell on him. And he bore it all. That justice
of God, Spurgeon says, that sword was unseathed and plunged into
the chest of Christ. The sword of God's justice, right
to the hilt. My. And scripture says, he put away
our sins. He put them away. He put them
away so far that he says, I don't even remember. They're washed
under the blood, right? See that blood, that blood of
Christ, it cleanses from all sin. That's why the hymn writer wrote,
victory in Jesus. What victory we have in Christ. Oh my, it's wonderful. The Lord
Jesus Christ himself put away the sins of all his people, took
our sins upon himself, and completely paid for them, completely satisfied
God's justice, completely fulfilled God's holy law. He put away the
sins of God's people, and I'll tell you, I know we remember
him, but let this ring in your heart, he put away our sins forever. So next time our sins come back
on us, God, you put them away forever. You paid it all. You paid it all. My. Scripture says, neither by
the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. The second point we will look
at in these four precious truths,
four comforting truths, is perfect forgiveness. Perfect forgiveness. Now we say we forgive people
sometimes, but you know what? It don't take long for us to not
forgive them anymore, does it? Someone's wronged us. It's not
hard for us to remember that, is it? And we can say, oh, I've
forgiven you. But back in the recesses of the
mind, we're in the heart. Chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp,
chomp. You know, and if we don't get
a hold of that, that thing gets bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. They say, and the scripture says,
the bitterness is like a tree. It starts off real small. And
it starts to grow. Soon it's this great big, big,
huge tree. And scripture says, just take
the ax to it, right at the root. Now, I'm not saying we can't
forgive, because we do. We let a lot go, don't we? But sometimes
there's times, and I've had it in my life, where I think, okay,
I've forgiven the person, I've moved on, and then something
will happen, they'll pop back in, and you're like, oh gosh,
I just wish they would be done. Right? My, oh my. But this forgiveness,
look at, let's read Isaiah 40 verses one and two again. It
says, comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. So
we're his people, and he's our God. Speak ye comfortably to
Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished,
and that her iniquity is pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all our sins. Our text here in Isaiah
proclaims the preacher is to comfort God's people, the believer
in Christ, by proclaiming that her iniquity is pardoned. It's pardoned. God's dealt with it. Now again, that doesn't give
us a license to go out and commit whatever sin we want, because
we won't want to do that as God's people. But this text is proclaiming
that our sins are forgiven. Oh my, our sins are totally forgiven.
Scripture says in Romans 4-7, blessed are they whose iniquities
are forgiven and whose sins are covered. How is one's sins covered? By the blood of the Lamb. By
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are covered. Covered. See, that blood is cleansing
blood. That blood is pardoning blood. And it's not the blood
of just a human, is it? That's the blood of God in the
flesh. One who's fully God and fully
man. the perfect man who never ever sinned, offering himself
up as the perfect spotless lamb. And remember, the lamb had to
be slain, right? He used to slit his throat. The blood had to
flow, right? Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission for sins. So Christ's blood is shed for
you and I, beloved, to redeem us, to purchase us,
to purchase us. Why are our sins forgiven? For
His sake. For His sake. Those who are forgiven are blessed
because our sins are covered. They're absolutely covered by
the precious blood of Christ. We, who are God's people, have
perfect forgiveness in Christ. Perfect forgiveness. Perfect. Now it's been revealed to us
as we've looked at in Sunday school, we can't keep the law,
right? But the law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. It's a
child conductor, isn't it? It brings us to Christ. And it
says this. See, the law says do this or
die, right? But grace says look to Christ
and live. Scripture says this, for as many as are of the works
of the law are under the curse, for it is written, Cursed is
everyone that continueth, not unto the things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. My, but here's good news
for the believer. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law. He's redeemed us. He's redeemed
us, believer. Be made a curse for us, for it
is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Galatians
3.13. Turn if you would to Romans chapter 3. Now the law demands
perfection. Absolute perfection. But we're
imperfect. We're imperfect, but Christ has
done this as our representative. The perfect man fulfilled the
law. Christ lived in perfect obedience
to the law. is our representative. Look at
this, Romans chapter 3, verses 19 to 22. This is wonderful. Now we know that whatsoever things
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law. Well,
that's everyone in our natural state. that every mouth may be
stopped and all the world become guilty before God. Therefore,
by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his
sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the
righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being
witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness
of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon
all them that believe, for there's no difference. My, what comfort that brings
us. And in Romans 5, 19, it says, for by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. So by the obedience of one, shall
many be made righteous. So by Adam's disobedience, we
all fell. But by Christ's obedience, we're
made righteous. That's why the scripture says,
he's the Lord, our righteousness. Jehovah's akin to, he's the Lord,
our righteousness. God's people, we're clothed.
You've heard me say this many times. We're clothed in the perfect
spotless righteousness of Christ. It's being imputed to us. His life of perfect obedience
and the righteousness that He wove, that coat of righteousness,
is now ours. Oh my. The third point we'll
look at, out of four comforting truths, His perfect imputation
and perfect righteousness. Perfect imputation and perfect
righteousness. Again, let's read Isaiah 40 verses
1 and 2. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for
all her sins. Now, The Lord's given us light,
hasn't he? He's given us life. We were dead
in trespasses and sins. He's given us life, and he's
given us light. We were groping around in the
darkness spiritually. We have life and light, and now
we have an understanding, too, don't we, of the gospel, all
because God revealed it to us. God the Holy Spirit's teaching
us the things of Christ, isn't he? in enabling us to see and to
receive the fact of imputation of his righteousness to us. You
know, before I was saved, I had no clue what this was. I'd never
even heard of imputation. I was, what in the world is that?
You had asked me when I was 24, I said, what do you even, I don't
even know what you're talking about. It's probably the same
for you. We just never thought about that.
Righteousness, what's that? You know, there used to be a,
wasn't there in the 80s when the surfers would say righteous
and all that? Now I know they were using it
in the wrong way. But that was the saying back
then that some of them used. Bet you they don't even know
what it really means. See, God teaches us these things,
doesn't he? And now, this is comforting. That by Perfect imputation? We have a perfect righteousness?
That's not ours? The old timers called it an alien
righteousness because it comes from God. It's not ours. Turn if you would to Romans chapter
one and then put your finger in Romans chapter four. Romans
chapter one. And then Romans chapter four,
first portion we're looking at is verse 16 and 17. You know, the preaching of the
gospel reveals the righteousness of God. God in Christ reveals
the righteousness of God. We don't even know about it until
he reveals it to us. Look what Paul says here. In
Romans chapter 1 verses 16 and 17, it says, for I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, for it's the power of God unto salvation.
And every believer says amen. It's the power of God unto salvation. To what? To everyone that believe
it. So it's not everybody, is it? But it's all who believe
on Christ. All who've been given true God-given
faith. Right? To the Jew first, and
also to the Greeks. Both to the Jew and the Gentile.
For therein, look at this, what does the gospel do? It reveals
the righteousness of Christ. Look at this. For therein is
the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it's
written, the just shall live by faith. So the only way that
the righteousness of God is revealed is through the preaching of the
gospel. That's why I said we didn't really know what righteousness
was, true righteousness, until God revealed it to us. Now turn,
if you would, Romans chapter 4. This is so comforting here.
Look at this. Oh my. This is so comforting. Do you
know Abraham believed God, right? And it was counted to him for
righteousness. Do we have faith different than
Abraham? Or do we have the same faith? We have the same faith. Amen sister. We got the same
faith. God given faith. Look at this, it says there,
Romans chapter 4 verses 3 to verse 8. This is just wonderful. For what sayeth the scripture,
Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
He just believed God. Didn't do no works, just believed
God. This was 400 years before the law was even given. He believed
God. That's why Paul says, does a
promise make the law of no effect? No, the law is still there. But
see, The law doesn't void the promise
of God, and that's what Paul was dealing with in Galatians.
The law doesn't void the promise of God. It's still there. Because
every believer is saved the same way Abraham was, by faith, looking
to Christ. By God-given faith. It's amazing. Abraham believed God and was
counted unto him for righteousness. Now the hymn that worketh is
the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justify the ungodly,
his faith is counted for unrighteousness. We don't work for salvation,
do we? That's what that scripture is saying right there. We don't
work. But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him, that's Christ, that justifies the ungodly,
that's us, his faith is counted for righteousness. That's magnificent. Look at this, even as David described
it, the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputed righteousness,
what? Without works. I'm looking at
a bunch of people who've been blessed by God and have righteousness imputed
to them without works. Isn't that magnificent? That's
what it says right there. Now look at this, look at verse
7, saying, blessed are they. Oh, we're so blessed, beloved. Whose iniquities are what? Forgiven.
And whose sins are what? Covered. Covered. They're covered by the blood,
beloved. Lord, let me live in that fact. Hey, covered. We can rejoice. We can rejoice, beloved. All
our sins are forgiven. All our sins are covered, it
says right there. Look at this. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Why not? Because our sins were
imputed to Christ. And his righteousness was imputed
to us. Men, hallelujah! I'll make you shout! That's wonderful. So righteousness
is not imputed upon the basis of our faith, but upon the basis
of Christ's faithfulness as our representative. And this imputed
righteousness is received by faith. By faith, we receive it.
Christ forgave me, paid for all my sins. I believe it. By God-given
faith. It's wonderful. Look at that again, verses 6
to 8. I'm going to read that again. Righteousness imputed
without works. Even as David also described
it, the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputed righteousness
without works. Without works. Can't be much
plainer, can it? But I never seen that until the
Lord saved me. Saying, blessed, that's you and
I, beloved. Are they whose iniquities are
forgiven? What does it say in our text?
Speaking comfortably to Jerusalem and crying to her that her warfare
is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. Gone. Blessed are they whose iniquities
are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Notice that, sins, not
just sin, sins, that means all of them. Every single one. every single
one. Blessed is the man whom the Lord
will not impute sin. This imputation of the righteousness
of Christ to the believer is an unconditional and irrevocable
imputation. God will never take it away.
Never. Once you're clothed in that wedding
garment, because that's what that is. The righteousness of Christ
is actually the wedding garment. It's also the bring forth the
best robe, remember? When the prodigal came home,
bring forth the best robe. The best robe is the righteousness
of Christ. The wedding garment, pure spotless white, is the righteousness
of Christ. Remember there was a fellow that
didn't have that coat? What's he doing in here? Cast him out. My oh my. It's amazing. Blessed is the man whom the Lord
will not impute sin. The last point I'd like us to
look for and look at in these four comforting truths is the
fact of perfect liberty. Perfect liberty. We live in the
land of the free because of the brave, right? I like that saying. Land of the
free because of the brave. And, you know, it's God who has,
by his providence, placed those people in the forces. Isn't that
amazing? My, oh, my. We got perfect liberty. Like, I mean, perfect liberty. Total freedom. Now, you start
saying that, and people say, oh, you're an antinomian. No,
I'm not at all. Nope. Nope. I never heard a grace preacher
say you can do whatever you want and I'll never say it either.
But we do have perfect freedom in Christ. In Christ. Always in Christ. Always goes
back to Christ. Let's read our text again. Comfort
ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably
to Jerusalem. And cry unto her that her warfare
is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned. For she hath received
the Lord's hand double for all her sins. My oh my, God's people
have perfect liberty because of a perfect atonement, right? Because of a perfect forgiveness
of all our sins, because of a perfect righteousness and perfect imputation,
we have perfect liberty. And it's only in Christ. It's
only in him. Think upon this, since justice
of God has been satisfied by Christ in our room and place,
since the law has been fully honored and fulfilled by Christ
in our place, and since Christ's perfect righteousness has been
imputed to us, God's elect are completely free from all possibility
of condemnation. See, when you say perfect liberty,
people think, well, you're saying you can do whatever. No, I'm
saying we are perfectly free from any condemnation by God. The law can't condemn us. The
justice of God can't afflict us. We have been set free from
the condemnation that others shall receive for their sins.
That's why David wrote, blessed is the man to whom the Lord will
not impute sin. Turn, if you would, to Romans
Chapter 8. Romans Chapter 8. And I'm also going to turn to
Galatians, if you want to put your finger in Galatians Chapter
5. I'm going to read that portion again, Brother Travis read last
week for us. Before the message. Look at this in Romans Chapter
8. You've heard me. You've heard me read this before.
I'm going to read it again. It's so wonderful. Right. There is therefore now no condemnation,
no judgment in the Greek, no judgment. OK, Romans eight one.
There is therefore now no condemnation, none. For who? For who? To them which are in Christ Jesus. If you're in Christ, there's
no condemnation. That's what it says. No judgment. There won't be like that whole
rewards thing where you'll be judged for all your suffering.
That means no judgment. That means absolutely none. And
Christ is our reward, isn't He? I don't need anything other than
Christ. He's the reward. But that means absolutely no
judgment. None. Not a drop of God's wrath
will touch you because it already fell on Christ in your place.
There's no condemnation to who? To them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. We're guided
by the Holy Spirit of God now. For the law of the spirit of
life in Christ hath made me, what? Free. Free from condemnation. Free from the law of sin and
death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through
the flesh, God sent in his own Son in the likeness of sinful
flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit. Let us live in that. There is
therefore no judgment for those who are in Christ Jesus. None,
absolutely none. Perfect freedom from condemnation. And then let's go over to Galatians
chapter 5, where again Brother Travis read last week for us.
Starting in verse 1. Look at this. We'll read to verse
6. Stand fast. That's just stand
in place. Stand fast. Stand firm. Therefore,
in the liberty, in the Greek that's freedom. In the Greek
it actually means to be emancipated. Set free. We're no longer slaves
of sin. We're set free. We're emancipated. In the liberty wherewith Christ
hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke
of bondage, behold, I, Paul, say unto you, that if you be
circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. So he's saying to
the Judaizers, and to those who are starting to lean towards
the Judaizers, if you mix law and grace, if you mix Christ
and the law, If you're circumcised, right, and say that it has something
to do with your salvation, Christ doesn't profit you at all. For I testify again to every
man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole
law. You want to live by the law? You've got to live by the
whole law. You can't pick and choose. You've got to live by
the whole thing. Look at this. Christ has become of no effect
unto you. Whosoever you are justified by the law, you are fallen from
grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness
by faith. Notice here again, in Jesus Christ. That's a theme we saw on Sunday
School. In Christ, right? That's what we've seen here.
We're His people in Christ. For in Jesus Christ, neither
circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but faith
which worketh by love. But there, that first verse,
stand fast in the freedom. We've been emancipated. We've
been set free. We were shackled with sin. As
Brother Norman said, we were sold on the slave block of sin. Set free, shackles are gone.
So it's not my chains are gone, I've been set free. It's wonderful. We have perfect liberty in Christ.
Perfect liberty from any condemnation. Where there's no debt, there's
no liability. Christ paid it all. We don't
owe anything. It's all paid for and taken care
of. It's like you get, you ever had somebody buy your lunch for
you, some other person on another table, when you're out, you're
out for lunch or something, and it happened with a friend of
mine, we were out for breakfast, and one of his friends came in,
one of his nephews came in, it was brother Steve, one of his
nephews came in, and we're sitting there, and we get the end talking
and everything, and the waitress says, your bill's being paid
by someone else. Our debt has been paid by someone
else. And his name is the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he paid it in full. There ain't nothing left. You
remember, you remember, you remember the good Samaritan? Charge it
to my account. Paul with Onesimus. If Onesimus
has done you wrong, charge it to my account. When he was writing Philemon, The son says, charge it to my
account. Isn't that wonderful? And we receive that perfect righteousness,
perfect forgiveness, done by a perfect man, the man
Christ Jesus. We've been redeemed. We've been
redeemed. Yeah, Philemon 118 says about,
about Onesimus, Paul's writing to Philemon, he says, if he hath
wronged thee or owed thee aught, put that on mine account. That's
what the Lord did for you and I, beloved. Put it on my account. My, and where there's no sin,
there's no curse. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law. No curse of the law anymore. He redeemed us from the curse
of law, being made a curse for us, for as written, Cursed is
everyone that hangeth on the tree, that the blessing of Abraham
might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive
the promise of the Spirit through faith. And therefore there is
now no condemnation. For those who are in Christ Jesus.
That's comforting, isn't it? That's comforting. My, the Lord
is so good to us. Brother Dave,