For this hour, we're gonna be in the book of Ephesians, if you would like to turn there. Ephesians chapter six. We're coming to the end of Ephesians. And as I've said many times, if you have nothing else to pray for, pray for me. Pray for my family, as we pray for you all often. but something specifically you can be praying for is where the Lord would have us go next because we're getting very close to the end.

As a matter of fact, today we'll only have, you know, a handful of verses left. So I don't know where the Lord's going to lead us. Maybe we just go around to Philippians. I don't know. But, um, pray with me on that and see if the Lord leads. So Ephesians chapter six and this morning I have a very simple text. We're only going to look at one verse. It's a very simple title and a very simple text.

And we talked about it a little bit last week, but, and I say this often, I know, but it's so true each time that I say it, it's not an exaggeration that it's life and death, life and death, meaning eternal life or eternal death. And so many people may hear something and think, well, that's really not that important. What about this? And what about that? But the entire gospel that we preach, even though we hear the same gospel over and over again, it never loses its importance. It never loses its value. It never loses its credibility. It never loses its power. It's not something new that we're looking for. This is life and death.

And in this message, it's where most people get this serious question wrong. Most people, false religion, they get this question wrong. What does God respect? What does God respect? I've titled this No Respect of Persons. No Respect of Persons. Let's read Ephesians chapter six and look at the one verse, verse nine. And ye masters, do the same thing unto them for bearing threatenings, knowing that your master also is in heaven. Neither is there respect of persons with him. Your master also is in heaven. Neither is there respect of persons with him. No respect of persons.

Men say, live better, men say do better, men say try harder, pray more, read more scripture. Are those things good things to do? Sure, but not as part or evidence of salvation because God is not a respecter of person. He's not looking at what I do or what I do not do as part of my salvation or as evidence of my salvation.

He knows them that are his. He knows them that are his. Most people that tell you to do better are the people that are trying to either justify themselves or condemn others. As a matter of fact, I think that's every single one of them. They say, do better, live better, be better, and you will have favor with God. God will bless you with material things. God will bless you with health. God will bless you with prosperity. There's no scripture that backs that, brethren. That is a man-made lie. God did not come to set up an earthly kingdom. The Lord Jesus Christ says, this kingdom is not, this world is not my kingdom.

If it were, you would fight. That's what he told Peter. He says, put your sword away. You remember whenever the high priest's servant came to take the Lord, and Peter drew his sword and lopped off the ear of the servant. He said, you ain't taking the Lord. And the Lord told him, rebuked him, put your sword away.

This isn't my kingdom. This earth is not my kingdom. And he healed the servant's ear. What was the point of all that? The point is, is that it wasn't time to fight. His time had come to be crucified. His kingdom is in the heavens. It's in heavenly. All of the Lord's blessings are spiritual blessings. Does the Lord keep his people physically? Absolutely, absolutely. Nothing can touch the Lord's people that doesn't pass through his hand first, according to his determinant counsel, according to his will. But if we do, in order to have favor with God, we're doing it for the wrong reason, because they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

He's no respecter of persons. Men say, well, if you live the Christian life, God will be pleased with you. That's a lie. That's a lie. First of all, what men call a Christian life is just a moral life. What we must establish first and foremost that's so important is sin is not what we do, sin is what we are. And I say that often because it's so true. Sin is what I am. It's not what I do that makes me bad. I do bad because of what I am.

We have dogs right now, puppies. And I didn't have to teach them to do anything like a dog. They were born a dog, and they're going to die a dog. Everything that they do, every bodily function that they do, every temperament that they have, all their attitude, everything about them is a dog. Didn't have to teach them to bark, didn't teach them to wag their tail. Didn't teach them to make messes, chew on everything. I didn't teach them to do a bunch of things I'm not gonna mention. But they do it because they're a dog.

Well brethren, we're born sinners. And everything that we do is completely based upon what we are, not what we do. Men act like changing their morality is gonna fix the sin problem. The sin problem is not skin deep. It's the root problem, it's the heart problem. God has to give us a new heart. If he's going to be pleased with me, if I'm going to have favor with God, if I'm going to be acceptable to him, he's going to have to create a new creature, because this creature is never going to be ever going to be pleasing unto him. First and foremost, he doesn't respect persons.

Every human that's ever existed is a person. You say, well, we know that. I know that. Yeah, but if he's no respecter of persons, and every single person that's ever existed as a person, every single human that's existed as a person, he hasn't had respect to any of them except one, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ, the triune Godhead bodily, the fullness of the Godhead, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was satisfied with his darling son. He's never respected anyone in themselves but the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I want us to look at what the Lord respects versus what he doesn't respect.

And I use this allegory a lot, this story that we're going to turn to, Genesis chapter four. But a lot of times I just tell you about it. Today I want to look at it. So turn with me to Genesis chapter four, if you would. In this hour, I hope the Lord allows us to answer, what does God respect? The word respect I would mention to you as you're turning means that he notices or he takes notice of. He notices, he respects it. It's pleasing unto Him.

That's the word, that's the word. You know, right now there's Olympic games going on. Everybody wants to be on that platform. Why else would they be doing it? They want to be recognized for their efforts. They want to be recognized for their abilities. They want to be the best at whatever they're doing. They want to say, look at me. God doesn't notice that. God doesn't have respect to that. That doesn't please Him. And so this hour I hope that I'm able to answer by His grace what does God respect.

So let's read verses one through seven of Genesis chapter four. Very familiar. Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bare Cain. And said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of the sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought the fruit of the ground and offered unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof, and the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering.

But unto Cain and his offering he had not respect, and Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, why art thou wroth, and why is thy countenance falling? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted, and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door, and unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. Why was Cain wroth, very wroth?

Because he was rejected. When men hear and women hear, you're not good enough. They become wroth. They become angry. They become frustrated. They say, away with this man. Away with this gospel. We don't like that gospel. No, give us something to do. We are good enough.

We are in a society right now, and I suppose it's always been this way, but more so than ever because of social media and different things like that. When I was a kid, there was no such thing as participation trophies. And what I mean by that is it doesn't matter whether you win or you lose, you get a trophy. When I was a kid, there's winners and losers. Now, why does that matter?

Well, because society is saying, you're good enough the way you are. You just try, and then you get the same reward as the people that do better than you. And that's the mentality that people have established in our society. And they're saying, if you do this, you'll be accepted.

If you do that, you won't. And what the Lord's telling to Cain is, is this is what I require. If you want to be accepted, this is the requirement. And Cain was angry because he brought the very best that he could possibly produce, the very best that he could possibly bring, and he thought he would be accepted. How many people are gonna be there on judgment day with the same mentality? They're not gonna bring their worst. They're not gonna bring what's bad in their eyes. They're gonna bring their very, very, very best.

Lord, we cast out demons in your name. Lord, we prophesied in your name. Lord, we did all these wonderful works in your name. We did this for you. No, you didn't. You did it so God would notice you. If I do that, it's because I want God to notice me.

And the Lord does not respect persons. doesn't respect our works, doesn't respect our attempts, doesn't respect our actions, he respects his son. Notice the respect God had towards Abel. And notice it says, verse four, and Abel, he also brought to the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof, and the Lord had respect, he took notice. of Abel and his offering.

What does it say in the fat thereof? You ever wondered that before? In the fat thereof. Well, that's the best part, the most What's the word I'm looking for here? The most prized, the best portion, the best portion, the most savory, with the most flavor, whenever you, some people don't like fat on their meat, I get that, okay. But when it comes down to it, some people do, and the reason they do is because it's the most savory portion, it has the most flavor to it, it has, it's considered to be the best part. And the Lord demanded the very, very best.

More than that, The scripture says clearly without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. What Cain was saying is I can fix my sin problem by what I have done with my hands. Do we see how simple that is? And yet how bad that is in God's eyes if he's not a respecter of person? Abel said, I can't produce anything God's gonna be satisfied with.

I'm gonna bring a lamb just like my dad and my father, Adam, taught me. Remember in the garden whenever Adam sinned against the Lord and he brought forth fig leaves and covered himself, him and Eve. And the Lord called for them in the cool of the evening. He said, Adam, where art thou? And he said, here we are. They were hiding. They were hiding from the Lord. Why? They were guilty. They were guilty. And that guilt drove them to do something. Whenever men hear that they're a sinner and God is holy, if the Lord doesn't reveal the truth to them, that's what they'll do by nature is they'll try to fix the problem.

The problem is this nature cannot fix the problem. This heart cannot fix the problem. These hands cannot fix the problem. This mouth cannot fix the problem. Only the Lord can give a new heart. Only the Lord can fix the problem. And the problem is a sin problem in the heart. And so the Lord told Or Adam told the Lord, he said, where art thou? And he says, here we are. And he said, why did you hide yourself? He said, because we were naked. And he said, who told you you were naked? Did you take of the fruit? Don't you love the Lord's questions? I mean, come on. He knew the answer to that question before he asked. And he knows the answer to the questions before he asked you. He was drawing a confession. He was drawing a confession. And that's what he does to his people. He draws the confession, I'm a sinner. I'm the sinner, I'm the chief sinner.

And Adam says, the woman that you gave me, it's her fault, she gave it to me. It wasn't even me, Lord, it was her. It's your fault for giving me the woman. That's just us by nature, isn't it? We're gonna blame somebody else, not take responsibility. So here we are, a cult, like our father Adam. Now we're gonna do something about it. We're gonna put our hands to it and try to fix it by covering ourself, by working, by doing. And then whenever that doesn't work, we're to blame somebody else. Well, how'd that work out? Well, it didn't.

Lord said, cursed is the ground for your sake. It's going to bring forth thorns and thistles and you're going to eat bread, but the sweat of your face for the rest of your life. That's the curse. And Eve, her curse was in conception. Her, uh, having labor is hard. Having children is difficult. It's painful. And that's the curse. That's the curse, plain and simple.

What'd the Lord do? Well, the Lord took a lamb, a kid, and he killed it. And he covered them with that. What does that signify? He demanded blood for atonement. He demanded a sacrifice that he was pleased with, that Adam did not produce with his hands. But it came from the Lord. Abel could not sit there and say, look at this great lamb that I have created. Abel did not give the lamb life. Abel did not sustain the lamb by what he did necessarily.

He didn't force feed it. He gave it food. Sure. He's actually, when he's called the keeper of the sheep is actually referred to as the, um, a feeder, a feeder of the sheep. But he couldn't say, I fed that sheep good. You ever been to a fair? They have all these animals everywhere and everybody wanting a blue ribbon. They're like, look at my cow or look at my chicken or look at my goat. Look what I did.

No, you didn't. No, I didn't. I might've gave it some corn, but the Lord's the one that made that thing grow. We understand that, right? But people, So Abel couldn't take credit for what the Lord had did in this creature. Lord gave the creature completely by his grace. And so Abel was looking to the lamb, just like Adam and Eve were made to look to the lamb back before Abel and Cain were even conceived.

And you know Adam would have told him, son, if you want favor with God, if you want God to be pleased with you, if you want to be accepted of the Lord, it's going to take a blood sacrifice. Don't do it by the works of your hands. He would have told both of his sons that because worship would have been taught by the fathers. That's just how it was all throughout the Old Testament.

And Abel knew this and Abel said, I'm going to bring a lamb. I know the Lord will be pleased with the lamb, not me. See, Abel wasn't trying to earn favor with God necessarily. He was trying to do that which God is pleased with. He was trying to look to what God is pleased with, not himself, not what he did necessarily, but the object of that. It's faith that the Lord gave to Abel, to see the Lamb afar off, to see the Lord Jesus Christ. It's all a type and picture. So in Abel's sacrifice, we see the picture of the Lord Jesus Christ.

What did Abraham tell his son? Isaac said, well, here's the fire. And here's the wood, but where is the sacrifice for the burnt offering? How are we gonna worship God without a sacrifice, Father? He said, God will provide himself a sacrifice. And he did in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, why was that necessary? He's not a respecter of person. If he's going to be satisfied, if he's going to be pleased, he's going to have to provide that which he is pleased with because he's not pleased with me and he's not pleased with you from birth. He's pleased with his son.

God did not respect Abel because of what Abel did, but what God respected Abel because of what Abel was looking to. Do you see the difference? Looking, it wasn't the action, it was the faith. The Lord was pleased that Abel would look to the Lamb. And looking is passive, brethren. If we find ourself looking, if we find ourself believing, that's because the Lord's the doer of it. Can't choose to look at something if you're blind. Can't choose to believe something if you're dead. Lord has to give life, Lord has to give sight. And those two things are passive, they're not a work. Looking to Christ is a gift of faith by grace alone. So the only way we can do, now notice what he says, that's important.

Verse seven, if thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted. If thou doest well. Well, men say, okay, well, I'll do well then. Well, how do we do well? What does he mean by that? Well, if I am to do well and you are to do well, then the Lord has given me three things that fall under that category.

And the first one is offer what pleases him. Number two, obey his commandment. And number three, look to the Lamb to provide everything God requires. So it's offer what pleases him, obey his commandment, and look to the lamb. So what pleases the Lord?

Well, Abel did not offer up himself and say, look what I have done. I have given a lamb. No. He said, look to the lamb. See the difference? Cain, on the other hand, said, look at what I have done. I have created this fruit, these vegetables, which is ironic because all he could do is just water it. prune the trees. That's us, isn't it? Look at this. They also have a pumpkin. I use this example sometimes. We also have a pumpkin competition. How big can your pumpkin get? The biggest pumpkin gets a prize. It's like, look what I grew. Did you, though? You might have watered it, put some Miracle-Gro on it, but who gave the increase? I mean, Might've come from your garden, but the Lord's the one that grew that. The sun shines His, the rain is His, all the water's His.

Do we see what I'm saying here? Cain was saying, look what I've done. Lord said, no, no unto you and your offering. I have no respect. I have no respect because you're offering self. That's the problem. That's the issue with all false religion. It doesn't point to Christ. It doesn't say, look to him alone. It doesn't say you're saved by grace through faith alone. It says, look at me, look at me. Abel didn't offer himself or the works of his hands in any way. He didn't create life for the lamb. He didn't make the lamb himself. He didn't receive any glory for the lamb.

The Lord was the one that gave all the increase. It was him offering the thing that God was pleased with. He offered that which God is pleased with. Somebody said, well, how do I offer that which God is pleased with? Well, if you are to offer anything, it's going to come through and by him giving it to you because he only accepts what he provides. If I'm going to offer something to Him, it's going to be what pleases Him. And what is it that pleases Him?

It's the Lord Jesus Christ. You're saying I offer the Lord Jesus Christ? No, I look to the Lord Jesus Christ who was offered up once. Do you see that? I look to Him by faith alone. I say He's the one that the Lord's pleased with. I know not to offer anything of myself or what I have done, but my desire is Him. He pleased the Lord. He pleased the Lord. Can't offer myself, can't offer my works, can't offer my choice, can't offer my prayer, can't offer my sacrifice. I can't offer my service. I can't offer anything. Because the Lord is not a respecter of person.

He will not see my works and look, and that's what false religion does is it makes one person look like they sit a little bit higher than everybody else so the Lord will take notice of their person. The Lord says no. No, every person is the same in his eyes. We're born in sin, we're shaped in iniquity. Our heart's deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.

No, I've got to have a substitute. I've got to have what pleased him and that's the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Why would Abel offer up a lamb and not something that he produced? Well, he was given the one thing needful. If the Lord ever makes you a sinner, that means he's given you repentance. If he ever makes me a sinner, it means he's given me repentance. And in doing so, he gives faith that looks to Christ. Abel was given repentance and faith to believe.

So he brought forth what God required. If God requires me to have faith, he's gonna have to give it. He's gonna have to give it. If God requires me to have eternal life, He's gonna have to give it. If God requires me to be perfectly righteous, He's gonna have to be the doer of it.

If God's gonna require my sanctification, my justification, God's gonna require me to have Christ as all my wisdom, righteousness, He's gonna have to be the one to do it. And that's exactly what He does. Now this is where mankind has it wrong. The message of all false religion is that of Cain. Do in earned favor. When in truth, what the law says is do and you're gonna die. The law can't justify anybody. The law can't save anybody. The law can only point out sin. Can't redeem. It can't redeem.

You remember, we looked at this a few weeks ago, I think, Ruth and Boaz. Boaz was going to redeem and he had to go to the nearer kinsman redeemer and said unto him, will you redeem the field of Naomi? And he says, yes, I'll redeem the field. That's not a problem. But as soon as he said, well, the day that you do that, you'll have to marry Ruth as well. And he said, I can't do that. It'll mar my inheritance. Well, that's the picture of the law. The law can't redeem. The law can't save. The law can't bring us back into acceptance with God. And keeping the law just adds to the mountain of iniquity that's already against us.

So what's the hope? The kinsman redeemer would do all of the redeeming. that Christ Jesus would do it all in the salvation of his people, not leave anything to chance or circumstance, not leave anything to your choice or my choice or my will, which is bound by my nature, which means I'm going to choose what's best for me every single time. He's gonna have to give me a new heart. He's gonna have to give me faith. He's gonna have to cause me to believe and look to him alone. And that's what our kinsman redeemer does.

God's elect are made to know not to touch it, and I've used that canning example more times than I need to probably, but that's a good example. Every time you touch it, you're canning something, you bring it out, you leave it alone until it seals. If you touch it before it seals, you're probably not gonna seal. I found that out the hard way. But we're made to know not to touch it like Uzzah, when you see Uzzah.

You remember whenever the children of Israel were bringing back the Ark of the Covenant? back to Jerusalem was the idea. And they didn't do it in the manner that God said it was supposed to be with the Levitical priests. On staves, they were supposed to put through it, and it was supposed to be carried back, but they put it on a cart. That's a picture of how men prop up the gospel to make it easier and more palatable for people. And whenever that gospel starts to fall, they try to put their hand upon it, and when they do that, they've ruined it.

But in this particular case, when Uzzah wretched up to try to stabilize the cart from falling or try to stabilize the ark, the Lord had already spoken and said, if you touch it, you're dead. And what did the Lord do? The Lord killed him on the spot. And they left the ark there. For three months, I believe it was. They were afraid. And the Lord blessed the home of the man that it was in so much that word passed around. It's like, you can leave this here as long as you want to. Everything he did was successful. But the point is, is if we touch it, we'll surely die. Because you can't add to or take away one thing from the finished work of Christ. We can't. We can't. Why?

Because God's not a respecter of person. Second Chronicles 19 tells us, wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you, take heed and do it. For there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts. Meaning you can't bribe God with what we bring in our hands. I can't bribe him. A lot of men believe we can constrain God, meaning we can make him do something based upon what we do. Or we can restrain him, we prevent him from doing something based upon what we do. Neither is true.

You know, he's seated in the heavens as the successful redeemer of his people. He's sovereign and holy and just and good. None can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? He's God. He demands perfection, absolute perfection. He's not a respecter of persons and he will not receive anything I produce. Job 37 says, men do therefore fear him. He respecteth not any that are wise of heart. meaning my wisdom isn't gonna help me either in myself.

No matter what I know, how much scripture I've memorized, have the entire Bible memorized and still miss Christ. He's not a respecter of person. I can know every single doctrine, theology, the catechisms, the isms, all of them, everything. I can know it all and still miss the person of salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not in what we do, brethren. I know whom I have believed.

If I am to be accepted with God, then the only thing I can offer is what He has provided. And I don't even say an offer is not even a good way to put it. I don't offer me in any way. We look to what God was pleased with. We look to the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't offer anything of ourself. We look to what He has offered. If I am to have favor with God, I must believe on the substitute of His chosen people, the Lord Jesus Christ, which brings us to our second point. We must obey His commandment. That's very important. And somebody says, oh boy, here we go. This is legalism. No, it's not. I promise you, I promise you it's not. The Lord gave us a few commandments, but the one I want to talk about that's very important.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Nowhere in scripture, and I wrote this in an article, nowhere in scripture would you find Christ being offered to a man. He commands all men everywhere to believe. That's true. There is a general gospel that goes forth. a general calling, but it's not effectual. The only ones that believe are the ones given faith to believe. That's why we preach a whosoever salvation. It'd be a lot easier if everybody had a mark on the back of their head that was a sheep. You know what I mean?

You wouldn't have to waste time with people, but we don't have that. So the Lord says, go to the disciples. He said, go and preach the gospel to every creature, baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, the Holy ghost. That's what he told them.

Why do we do it? Because we don't know who his sheep is. The only ones that are going to believe are those that are enabled to believe. So obey his commandment, which is what? Come unto me. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Take of the water of life freely. That is the commandment.

Only those that are given life, only those that are made alive and made a sinner will need the fountain of living water. Only those, you know, they say you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. No, but you can give him a salt block and he'll wanna drink pretty quick. If anybody's ever raised cattle or been around horses, you know that's very true.

What the Lord does is his gospel comes through and it makes us thirsty for his righteousness. desperately thirsty for his righteousness. Lord, I need that fountain. I need a drink of living water. Give me this water, Lord. Give me this water. That's what the Samaritan woman, she, at the well, he said, if you'd known who would ask you for water, you'd ask him, and he would've gave you living water. It would've sprung up in you, fountained into everlasting life. She said, well, give me this water. He said, well, go and fetch your husband.

And here we go with the confession again. I have no husband. Oh, that was well-spoken. You've had five and the one you have now is not your own. Oh, you're a prophet, I perceive. Okay, well, we worship in this mountain. Now she's getting religious. That's just how it was.

But until the Lord told her I am and opened up her eyes, she thought it was all about what she had done or what she had not done. But once the Lord showed her No, this is about the gospel. This is about me as the savior and you're the sinner, not because of what you're doing right now in your adultery or whatever else that she was doing, because of what we are. She said, come see a man that told me all things ever I did. Is this not Christ? She left her water pot behind everything that she'd cling to everything that she had hoped in. She left it all behind.

Romans chapter 10 tells us clearly for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How shall they call on him whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear, or how shall they believe on him have they not heard? How shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall he preach except he be sent? If I find myself believing, God's the doer of it. God's the doer of it.

If I find myself looking to anything If I find myself looking to Christ and not myself in any way, God's the doer of that. We are so prone to examine ourself. We are so prone to look at ourself and our circumstances. We're so prone to be fruit inspectors, aren't we? But no, if the Lord is gracious, he causes us just to look to Christ alone as all our wisdom, all our righteousness, all our sanctification, and all our redemption.

He causes us to obey his commandment, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. I find myself believing God is the doer of it, not because of my choice, but because of his choice to elect. His choice to redeem, to save. His choice to call His people. His choice to keep His people.

Everything God requires, if He requires my obedience in salvation, which is believing on the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation, He's gonna have to give me the faith to do it. He's gonna have to give me the grace to do it. He's gonna have to be the doer of it. And you know what He promised? Just to do that. To do exactly that.

None of these works that I'm describing, looking, believing, trusting, hoping, none of these things are because of who I am, but they're because of gift of grace. They're because of what's been bestowed freely by his grace. Because of what he is and who he is, he's gracious and he's merciful. I love that his name is called faithful and true. That's his name. I love that, don't you? Well, brethren, I must believe him over opinion, over self, over works, over whatever I thought before God's going to give me repentance.

I've got to come confessing, I'm the chief sinner. I am the chief sinner. I'm not just a sinner. I'm not the sinner. I'm the chief sinner. The worst of the worst. And in doing so, if he causes that, he said, I'll know I's cast you out. I'll know I's cast you out. must come begging for him alone. And if I find myself begging, he's the doer of it.

Listen to what Peter said in Acts chapter 10. Then Peter opened his mouth and said, of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. Well, who fears him and works righteousness? Only those that are looking to Christ. That's working righteousness, looking to Christ. He is righteousness.

Everything in this scripture is not to tell us what we should be doing and what we shouldn't be doing. If you want to sum it up, what should we be doing? Looking to Christ all the time. That's the best way you can put it. But because of the warfare that's happening, we drift away for a moment, our minds wonder, whatever else it may be, but at no point in time does that new man created in righteousness ever take his eyes off of Christ. He's always resting in the Lord Jesus Christ, always being obedient unto the Father because it's in the Lord Jesus Christ by his spirit. Only those made to look to Christ fear God and work righteousness by looking to Christ. Which brings us to our last point. God is not a respecter of persons.

So if I'm to have favor with him, I must look to the Lamb. The Lamb. The Lamb was the only thing that ever provided that which God required. The Lamb of God, John the Baptist saw the Lord afar off and he said, behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. If I am to have peace with God, if God is to have respect towards me, If God is going to be pleased with me, if I'm to have favor with God, it's going to be through and by the lamb, the lamb alone. In the book of Exodus, the Lord told nation Israel, he said, take a lamb of the first year and kill it and put the blood upon the doorpost and the lintel. For tonight, I will pass through the land of Egypt. And if you don't have the blood on the doorpost and lintel, I'll smite the firstborn. But if you have the blood, when I see the blood, I'll pass by you. I'll pass by you.

The Lord's not looking for our works. The Lord's not looking at our belief and justifying us. The Lord's not looking to our faithfulness and sanctifying us. The Lord's not looking to our good deeds and calling it righteousness. He's looking to the Lamb who is our sanctification, who is our justification, who is our righteousness, who is our wisdom, who's all our hope.

If I'm to have peace with God, it'll be because of what the Lamb has accomplished. God demands perfection in so much that the perfect Lamb of God bore the elect sin upon the tree And when God saw sin upon his darling son, he executed his full wrath and judgment upon him. And if God spared not his own son, what makes me think that I could offer anything to remit or to cancel out or to fix the sin problem that I have? There's nothing I can do, especially since the scripture clearly declares there's none good but God. None. Oh, I need the Lamb. The Lamb.

Only the Lord Jesus Christ was made to be sin who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. You and I don't have to be made anything sinful. We are utterly sinful. But we're gonna have to be made righteous if we're gonna be righteous. It's gonna have to come from a source that's not us. We can't work righteousness as it does say here. Working righteousness just simply means looking to Christ, looking to Christ. He's the one that wrought righteousness. He's the one that works righteousness in his people.

Nothing else is sufficient but the Lord's perfect life, His perfect sacrifice, His perfect offering, His one-time offering, the only time the Lord ever offered Himself to anyone or anything, He offered Himself to God and God was satisfied. He said, I shall be satisfied. Satisfied. Satisfied to what?

To justify his people. To save them from their sin. To make them the righteousness of God in Christ. To sanctify them, set them apart, make them holy. To give them a new heart that looks unto him through eyes of faith. To make them brand new creatures. Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new. To make them his own. He said, you're not your own. You've been bought with a price. What was the price? It was blood. It was the blood.

He alone, the Lord Jesus Christ alone produced everything God requires. No wonder the writer said, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him? How shall we escape? There is no escape. There is no escape. This is God's gospel, his salvation, his lamb. He will not hold back. He did not hold back his wrath from his son. What makes me think he would hold his wrath back from me?

Our problem is Cain, the way of Cain. We think too highly of ourself. We think too highly of ourselves. Thank the Lord that the scripture tells us clearly the elder shall serve the younger. The new man created in righteousness, he's in charge because he's created in Christ Jesus. It's Christ in you, the hope of glory. It's the spirit that dwelleth in you. That's good news if you are a sinner and you see yourself as a sinner because what God requires, he's placed in his people. What did he say? I in them and thou in me and all them are thine and thine are mine.

Brethren, the Lord has made us perfect in Christ alone. What pleases God? Well, there's only one, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb. I must be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but the righteousness, which is by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

If I have Christ, it means I'm in him, and he's in me. And if I have Christ, that means he has me first. He has me first. I like saying that a little bit better. We don't exactly get Christ. He got us. Do we see the difference there? People make it a choice, they make it an action, something you must do, like you have to get saved. No, God saved us.

When we were dead in trespasses and sin, we were sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. Then he calls us. and our dead state out of darkness into his glorious light, shining the gospel forth, allowing us to see what we are and who he is, and we believe by God-given faith. Christ is the only one that pleases God, and I must have that faith that he produced in order to look to God, in order to look to the sacrifice of Christ.

I must believe on him as all my wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. I must trust in his finished work alone. Do you know why? Why must I trust in His finished work alone and not myself or what I work or what I do? Why must I trust Him?

He's not a respecter of persons. He's not a respecter of persons. He will not have any respect unto me for what I produce or bring to Him. He respects Christ alone. I must look to Him. I must believe on Him. I must be trusting in Him. And if I find myself trusting and believing and looking to, God is the doer of it.

Our hope is not that God would see us and have respect, but that the Lord Jesus Christ provided everything God is pleased with and he freely bestows it by his grace to his people. And he says unto his people, well pleased, just like his son. Well pleased.

Why? He sees the blood. He sees the blood. Don't you love the fact that he placed me and you in him? before the foundation of the world, so that when he sees the blood, he passes by us. He says, I have loved you. Why would he do it? Because of his love for his people, for his own namesake. I've loved you with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you.

Brethren, he doesn't see this anymore. He doesn't see this flesh, this dust. Do you ever see yourself as dust and clay? Do you ever get cut and realize how frail you really are? If the Lord ever allows you to do that, then try to remember this, that when you see yourself as all that, the Lord don't see that. He don't see your blood.

He sees the blood of his son on the doorpost and the lintel of the heart, the new heart he gave. He sees righteousness. He sees perfection. He says, you're going to look to my son and live. And guess what we find ourselves doing? Looking to his son and living.

And if we do, the Lord's the doer of it. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we ask that you would take these words and you would bless it to our understanding for your glory. Cause us not to look at what we do or produce, but cause us to look at what Christ has done and accomplished, and cause us to believe on him. In Christ's name, amen. Let's take a break.