The Covering We Need

Good morning. I was surprised to find out it's been two years. It didn't feel that long. I am thankful to be back with you, and I am thankful for Eric for calling me and entrusting this pulpit to me. It's not a light matter. I was telling Jason before we started that I had come down to two messages. Which one was I going to bring? And, uh, Eric had sent me the picture of the order of services and I was like, well, I'll look at that and see if there's any guidance there.

And, uh, Romans 3 19 is going to be our text this morning. Romans 3 19, uh, through the end of the chapter 31 there. But, uh, So it was one of the two messages I had and I saw that as the reading and said, that's where we need to be this morning. Pray the Lord will bless it to us.

There are many things as we're growing up that are under the care of our parents that we watch and we know they're taking care of things. And it never enters our mind that one day I'm going to have to be the one responsible for taking care of this. It's mom and dad's problem. I don't need to worry about that. They've got it.

One of those things that generally comes upon you is home ownership and all the joys and all the trouble that goes with home ownership. Many of you have already experienced such realizations, and as long as we own the home, we will have more of those realizations come to us. Past couple of months, our home has been dealing with replacing the shingles and everything that comes along with that. has consumed my mind for the past couple of months. We're finally done with it, thankfully. I hope at any rate.

For those of you who have not dealt with this recently, this is what happens with home ownership. You buy your home, or you build it. You acquire it in some way. You move in with the expectation that you've got a good roof over your head for many years to come.

And you don't really consider the roof all that much. It's there, it's doing its job, life goes on. Until one day, quite unexpectedly, Quite suddenly, as a thief in the night, you find out there's water in your home where water should not be in your home. There's a hole in your roof. Your covering is not as good as you thought it was.

The thought of a hole in my roof, a hole in my covering, led me to the word propitiation. And as I thought on it, I was reminded of who I am without the Lord Jesus Christ. There was a time in my life I was satisfied that my best efforts to keep God's law, at least in the way I interpreted it, would provide for me a sufficient covering in the day that I stood before the judge of all the earth.

In my darkness, my death, my sin, my unbelief, I was among those who Peter spoke of in 2 Peter 3.16. He says, they are They that are unlearned and unstable rest. They twist, they turn awry, they pervert. I was one that was unlearned, unstable, and I did rest. I rested as they do also the other scriptures unto their own destruction.

I heard the word of God, I heard of God's free salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ, and I said, but I have to do better than the next person in order to gain his favor. I heard the gospel cry, come to the Lord Jesus Christ, rest upon him, look unto me and be ye saved. And in my heart, I said, there's a better way. But God, in his great mercy, was pleased to stop me. And many sinners like to me.

And he is pleased to reveal to us that the righteousness that we come into the world looking to and trusting in is a righteousness that is full of holes. That righteousness built upon the foundation of do and live is like a roof with a hole in it. One little, insignificant hole makes the whole roof unreliable, and in time it shall crumble and fall. The day is coming for all of us when we shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

In that day we must have a sure covering for our souls. And there's only one covering. There is only one propitiation that will be sure for us. The only covering that God accepts is the only covering that he himself has provided. And that covering is our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's read our text. Romans 3, starting in verse 19.

Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there 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 is no difference. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say at this time his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay, but by the law of faith. Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, seeing it is one God which shall justify the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcision through faith. Do we then make void the law through faith?

God forbid. Yea, we establish the law. This is the good news worthy to be declared. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the covering that we need. Verse 24 says, being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood. When you look up the word propitiation, it refers you back to the cover of the Ark of the Covenant.

Hold your place here and turn over to Exodus chapter 25. At the end of Exodus 24, Moses went into the cloud on Mount Sinai. And in verse 25, chapter 25 starts recording all that the Lord told Moses. And in verse 10, he starts giving the instruction for the ark. Exodus 25, verse 10. And they shall make an ark of Shittemwood.

Skip to verse 11. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it. and shall make upon it a crown of gold round about. Skip down to verse 16. This was such a blessing to me when I read this. And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee. Before Moses came down from the mount with the tablets of stone and broke them, God prepared the Ark of the Testimony to hold the Testament. Verse 17. And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold. Skip to verse 21.

And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark, and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. Before God gave Moses the testimony, he gave an ark that would hold the testimony, and a mercy seat which would cover the testimony. And then God said in verse 22, and there I will meet with thee and commune with thee from above the mercy seat that covered the testimony.

Do we see the picture of Christ here of what he did for us? Before the law was given, before Adam took of the fruit and died in sin, God had already prepared our propitiation. Behold, the Lamb of God, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. When our Lord came into the world, he said, a body hast thou prepared me. Just as the ark was prepared to hold the testimony, the law that God gave to Moses, and to cover that law, God the Son came into the world in a body made in the likeness of sinful flesh.

As our Lord walked in this world, a man among men, he bore the holy law of God in his flesh. And he kept that law unbroken in his flesh. He was touched with the feeling of our infirmities in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. Go back to Romans 3. The good news God has given us to proclaim is that he has provided, he has supplied of his own goodwill and purpose, the propitiation that lost, condemned sinners need as their covering, as our covering.

Romans 3.19 says, now we know that what thing soever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law. That's all of us. All of us born of Adam, we are born under the law.

To what end? To what purpose? That every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. What is the purpose of God's law? Is it to tell people, tell us how we are to conduct our lives? Yeah. If we would live as we should, we would all keep the law of God. Is the purpose of God's law to tell us how to obtain eternal life? It does that.

Leviticus 18.5 says, Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, which if a man do, he shall live. Problem is the dead are unable to do. The dead are unable to live in the statutes and judgments of God.

What is the purpose? What's the heart of the matter? What's the purpose of God's law? To reveal our true estate, guilty, condemned, The guilty are those who need a covering. We need a propitiation. The law was given to point men and women of all classes, all nations, all ages, to the only savior of sinful men, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 10.4 says, for Christ is the end of the law, for righteousness to everyone that believes. Let's examine ourselves, each individually. When the holy triune God examines you, will your covering hold true? Will you be found like himself, holy, harmless, undefiled, blameless? Do you, do I need the covering that God accepts?

Romans 3 19 and 20 tells us of our condition that we inherited from our rebellious father, being born under the law, we're guilty. Verse 19, now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin.

We enter into this world born under the law, and we try to appease it. We try to satisfy it. But all we get for that effort is, verse 23, For all, that includes me and you, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. You and I came into this world thinking that by keeping the law, we would obtain the right to enter into heaven's gates by the deeds that we did in this flesh.

We, in our dead estate, looked at our covering, and we said, well, I don't have the best roof in the neighborhood. But my roof is better than his. So when the storm comes, I'm going to be a little drier than he is. and that'll give me a good standing.

Thank God he has been pleased to tear down our covering, our refuge of filthy rags. May it please him to continue to tear down my false coverings. my false hopes, and bring us to the Lord Jesus Christ alone. A roof with a hole in it is not a suitable covering. It doesn't matter if it's a gaping hole or if it's a pinprick of a hole. If it's letting water in, your house is going to fall. Beginning at verse 20, our text clearly lays out that our righteousnesses are not suitable coverings. Verse 20, therefore, by the deeds of the law, what we call our righteousnesses, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight.

For by the law is the knowledge of sin, but now, The righteousness of God, who is Christ, without the law, that is, without the sinner's keeping of the law, is manifested. Being witnessed by the law and the prophets, they testify of Christ. even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all, and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus Christ.

That's a mouthful. So what did we just read? God, our Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, because we, his chosen elect people, were lost and undone, being condemned under the law and unable to fulfill it, he came and in our place, he fulfilled the law for us. His righteousness, Not our keeping of the law, but his keeping of the law is our hope. Our failure for not keeping the law, that cannot be just passed over.

The sin debt must be redeemed. It must be paid for. Therefore, God laid on our Savior, Christ Jesus, our sins, our iniquities, And on Calvary's cross, bearing the wages of our sin, he freely shed his blood, laid down his life, and fully paid our debt. Given all that our Lord has done alone, verse 27, where is boasting them? What could this sinner Possibly boast of. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Because of something I did? No. Nay, but by the law of faith.

Christ is our righteousness. Christ paid the ransom. Christ is all. Boasting in myself for something I did? It's excluded. There's no standing for it. The day draws near for all of us in which we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. And when that day comes, we need a cover that has no holes.

There is one. and only one covering that God has provided. Only one covering that God accepts. Verse 28, therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith. Or, just as correct, that can be read, therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by Christ without the deeds of the law. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only man that fulfilled the law. And if he did so for you or for I, then we will be given a heart that looks to him alone. Verse 31.

Do we then make void the law through faith? Do we make void the law through looking to Christ? The sinner that God has called to faith in Christ alone, looking to His fulfillment of the law, looking to the fact that His blood has paid for our transgression and has redeemed us from the curse of the law, will that sinner Then say the law is to be ignored and has no bearing. God forbid.

With David, we say, I love thy law. We have a desire for the law, seeing that the law is good, the law is perfect. We desire to be able to keep the law. that I could keep the law, not for my righteousness, but for his honor and his glory. We desire that in our hearts, but in the flesh, we know that we cannot keep his law. Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid, yea, we establish the law. Looking unto Christ alone as our propitiation, the law is established.

In his flesh, he fulfilled the law. In the flesh, he suffered, shed his blood, and laid down his life. He gave himself for our sins to pay that debt that we owe for not keeping his law. Since Adam's fall, man has invented many ways that seem right in our own eyes, but none of them can fulfill the law, redeem the soul, and provide a satisfactory cover. Only in Christ, only by Christ is the law kept in full, the sin debt paid in full, and the sinner found covered with the only covering that satisfies the holy, just God, who is our Lord Jesus Christ. To Him be all the glory.

The Covering We Need

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