Thank you, Pastor. Turn with
me, if you will, to John Chapter 2. John's Gospel, Chapter 2. The title of my message this
morning, if you want to take notes, and I do encourage you
to jot down a few things, is not going to be too difficult
to remember. It's made, made, and made. Now that's made as
in done, not made as in a girl. M-A-D-E, M-A-D-E, M-A-D-E. John chapter 2, our Lord Jesus
performs his first miracle, turning the water into wine at the marriage
feast in Cana of Galilee. The Holy Spirit specifically
tells us in verse 11, that Jesus manifested forth His glory and
His disciples believed on Him. I take those words to mean that
our faith in Christ is created and sustained by Him manifesting
forth His glory. Oh, may He be pleased to do so
again now. last night and again this morning,
let's see again something of our Lord's glory. John chapter
2, let's begin reading at verse 1. The third day there was a marriage
in Cana of Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there and both Jesus
and his, was called and his disciples to the marriage. And when they
wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, they had no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman,
what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. His
mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you,
do it. And there were set there six
waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the
Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece, Jesus saith unto
them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up
to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw
out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.
And when the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was
made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the servants which
drew the water new. The governor of the feast called
the bridegroom, and saith unto him, Every man at the beginning
doth set forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then
that which is worse. But thou hast kept the good wine
until now. This beginning of miracles did
Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory and
His disciples believed on Him. O Spirit of God, give us now
grace to behold our Savior's glory and to believe on Him,
to believe on Him. The water, we're told in verse
9, was made wine. They didn't take pictures of
wine and paste it on the water pots. The water was made wine. The water was not made to look
like wine. The water was made wine. The
water was not made to taste like wine. The water was made wine. The water was not treated as
though it were wine. The water, we are told plainly,
was made wine. Now, there's much can be said
concerning our Lord performing this miracle, but I'm not here
to talk to you about water or wine, either one. I'm here to
talk to you about how God Almighty takes such wretched sinners as
we are and makes them righteous. Makes them righteous. Our Lord
took the water and the water was made wine. And he takes such
things as he finds in fallen humanity in you and me and makes
us righteous by the work of his wondrous free grace in Christ
Jesus. Now, in the New Testament, there
are three words, three distinct words. They're not in any way
related, but all three words are translated by the word made.
And you find them throughout the New Testament used in various
ways. but always translated, not always, but usually translated
made, almost always translated made. You ask, well, why would
the translators translate these words made if they're not all
the same word? They all mean, if you take a Strong's Concordance
and look it up, or if you buy his dictionary and look it up,
they all mean to create, they all mean to make, they all mean
to cause to become, they all mean to cause to be. But each
of them has various ideas. Words don't just have corollary
meanings. Words have ideas. They convey
thoughts. See if I can illustrate it for
you. I was sitting out on the front porch over at Cecil's this
morning, looking over my notes and looking out in the pasture,
and I thought, that grass is green. That's all right. If I
said to you that something is greenish, well, it might be olive
green or It might be light green, or it might be a blue-green.
It might be lots of shades of green, but you've got the idea
it's sort of green. It's got a green hue to it. And
there are many different words to describe green. This word
made has the meaning of made, create, cause to become, cause
to be, but each of these words have different shades of meaning,
and it's very important for us to understand the ideas that
they carry in their usage in the New Testament if we're to
understand what God teaches us by them. We're going to look
at three different texts this morning. We're going to look
at Romans chapter 5, verses 18 and 19, and the word made there. You need to write this down.
You need to write it down. is a legal term. It is a forensic
term, as the theologians like to say. That's another word for
legal. That means you know something other folks don't know, so you
say forensic. But it's a legal term. It's always used in a legal
sense. It's never used in any other
way. That's in Romans 5, 18, and 19. In 1 Corinthians 1, verse
30, where our Lord tells us by the
Apostle Paul that of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God
was made unto you wisdom and righteousness, sanctification
and redemption. That's the word that you hear in the text we
read in John chapter two. It means to transform. It involves
something that is experienced, something that is done to something
and transforms it. And then we're going to look
at 2 Corinthians 5.21, where our Lord Jesus, we're told, was
made sin for us. That word, too, means to create.
It means to make. It means to cause to be. It means
to cause to become. But it carries this idea. Wonderously
made. Mysteriously made. Profoundly
made. so wondrously and mysteriously
and profoundly made that it cannot be explained. It's inexplainable. It cannot be put into words.
It can't really even be described. All right, let's begin in Romans
chapter 5. Romans chapter 5. The first word is legally made. Something happened in a legal
sense. Here the Apostle Paul writes
by inspiration and tells us what happens to all men in a judicial
way by virtue of Adam's transgression. And what happened to all men
in a judicial way because of Christ's obedience. That is,
of all who are represented by Adam and all who are represented
by the Lord Jesus Christ. We were all made sinners, legally
constituted. legally declared to be sinners
when Adam died, and we were all by the obedience of Christ, that
is, all God's elect represented by him, made righteous, legally
constituted righteous by our Lord's obedience unto death.
Let's begin in Romans 5 verse 12. Wherefore, as by one man
sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned. And notice in verse 13,
you've got one of those strange little marks. It's called a parentheses
mark. A parenthetical statement is
about to ensue. My grandson was over there last
week and he was having some trouble with some sentence structure.
He's eight years old. It's been a long time since I've
been eight years old. And my daughter asked me about diagramming
a sentence. I said, honey, it's been a long
time since I've diagrammed a sentence. I can't be of any help, I'm sorry,
I'd make a mistake. But I do remember what a parenthetical
phrase is, or a parenthetical statement is. If you have a,
one of those Bibles that's been messed with, that's got dispensational
heresy all over it, they will tell you that the church age
is a parenthesis. A parenthesis, you know what
that means? It really doesn't mean anything. It could be or
not be and it wouldn't change a thing. If you take a parenthesis
or a parenthetical statement out of a sentence, it doesn't
change the structure or the meaning of the sentence at all. The parenthesis
is there simply to explain, to further illustrate what has been
stated in the sentence. Now the parenthesis goes from
verse 13 through verse 17. Now don't misunderstand me. The
parenthesis is inspired and it's good. But this is the parenthetical
explanation. The Spirit of God inspired Paul
to explain Adam's fall this way. For until the law, sin was in
the world. But sin is not imputed when there
is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from
Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the
submissitude of Adam's transgression. that is of influence, those who
didn't sin willfully, knowledgeably, not knowing the right hand from
the left, these folks didn't sin after the similitude of Adam's
transgression. Now watch this. Who is the figure
of him that was to come? Isn't that something? Not a figure,
not one type among many types, but this is the paramount picture
of him that was to come. This is the figure, the type,
the representation by which God from the beginning would teach
us about Him who was to come and what He would do. Read on.
But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. Now don't misunderstand
me. Adam's the figure, but things
aren't exactly the same. Adam made a mess, Christ fixed
it. For if, through the offense of one, many be dead, much more
the grace of God and the gift by grace, which is by one man,
Jesus Christ, hath abounded to many, and not as it was by the
one that sinned, so is the gift. For the judgment was by one to
condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. For if by one man's offense death
reigned by one, much more, much more, they which receive abundance
of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus
Christ. And now we pick up the sentence
again. Remember verse 12. Wherefore, as by one man's sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned, therefore, Therefore, since that's
the way we got in this mess, since that's the way God ordained
that things start, since that's the way God had purposed things
to be done in the beginning, therefore, as by the offense
of one, judgment came upon all men, that is all who were represented
by that one man, Adam, to condemnation, even so by the righteousness
of one, The free gift came upon all men, not all men in the world. What nonsense! No, but all who
were represented by this other one man. It came unto all represented
by him under justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. Quite literally, if you want
to write it down somewhere, there is a definite article in front
of the words many. And by one man's disobedience,
the many who were in him became sinners, were made sinners. And
by one man's obedience, the many who were in him were made righteous. And that word made is a legal
term. It means quite literally designated
and legally constituted sinners. Designated and legally constituted
righteous. By the disobedience of the first
Adam, all men The whole human race was legally constituted
sinners. Declared to be, made to be, designated
to be, and legally made sinners. And by the obedience of the last
Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, the many who are in him and represented
by him are legally designated and constituted righteous. made
righteous by Christ Jesus. Now, all human beings made sinners
in Adam's disobedience, and all God's elect made righteous by
Christ's obedience unto death. That's how we're justified. Look
over in chapter 4, back up to verse 25 of chapter 4. I want
you to see this. Christ was delivered for our
offenses. He was delivered to the hands
of justice and crucified on the cursed tree because of our offenses
and was raised again, watch it now, for our justification. Not raised again to accomplish
it, but raised again because he had accomplished it, darling.
Raised his head because justification is done. When he cried, it is
finished, we were justified. We stood before God made righteous
when his obedience was done. where therefore being justified,
by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein
we stand permanently, everlastingly, and rejoice in hope of the glory
of God. Now without question, without
question, I'll repeat it because some fools like to pretend I
don't believe it, without question Redemption is a legal matter.
It is a legal matter. There is no redemption but by
the satisfaction of justice. Had Christ not died in our stead
as our substitute, as our brother has just declared, and died before
the law of God satisfying the justice of God, there would be
no redemption for us. To deny that is to deny what's
plainly revealed in the scripture and to deny the very core of
the gospel. But, but, those who make rediction,
nothing but a legal transfer of a debt, a legal transfer of
a guilt. I have been hearing, fellows,
They say it's just like in the Old Testament when Aaron ceremonially
transferred the sins of Israel to the head of the Lord's goat,
and that goat was punished because of the ceremonial transfer of
sins. That's interpreting the New Testament by the Old, and
that's ignorance. We don't interpret the New Testament
by the Old, we interpret the Old Testament by the New. And
that was just a picture of the transfer that is here declared.
Those who make redemption nothing but a legal transfer, who make
justification nothing but a legal declaration, make salvation nothing
but doctrinal facts to which we now, with our much brilliant
learning, have decided these facts must be so until we give
our assent to them. Deny the joy of faith and the
blessed experience of grace. So let's look at the next word
made, 1 Corinthians 1. The second word made throughout
the New Testament is a word that speaks of that which is experienced.
It is never, it is never used in any legal sense at all. It's
not a legal word. It's not a legal term. There
are those who ignorantly rant and rave and say this is a legal
matter, a legal transfer. That's all it is. No, sir. This
word talks about experience. Back in John 2, 9, when the water
was made wine, this is the word that was used. It made wine. I'll give you another place where
it's used. John 1, verse 14. The word was
made flesh and dwelt among us. Our Lord Jesus, at some point
in time, ordained of God, called the due time, was made flesh. When the water was made wine,
it didn't cease to be water. It didn't cease to be water.
The water wasn't changed at all. It was still water. It was still
water. But it was made something that it was not before. It was
made now wine, and it could never again just be water. Did you
get that? I don't remember when they assigned
first science projects in school, but I remember, the first one
I remember, I was about 11 or 12 years old. And being the fellow
I was, I made some wine. Now it wasn't very good, but
you couldn't tell any of us it wasn't. Do you know how you make
it? All you got to do is drop some
grapes in a jar, sit the lid on there and loosen it up and
let it work. Let it work long enough that you can't hardly
swallow it. But it makes wine. It makes wine. And when you make
the water wine, it is forever wine and forever water. You can't have wine without water.
Try it. You just got powder. You can't
have it. When the Word was made flesh,
God the Son did not cease to be God. He was not in any way
and is not in any way less God than he was before. But he was
made flesh. And the theologians tell us we
don't dare say that God became a man. God assumed our nature. God took our nature into union
with himself. Don't say God became a man. He did. He did. And he can never again just be
God. The one sitting on the throne,
you read about in Revelation 5 earlier, that's God in the
flesh. That's the Word made flesh. Jesus Christ, God's darling Son,
is forever one of us, made flesh, that he might redeem us from
all iniquity. Now, look here, 1 Corinthians
1, verse 30. and see what the Lord God has
made Christ to be to us and has made us to be in Christ. And this he has done and continually
does in the sweet experience of grace. Okay, 1 Corinthians
1.30. Of him, of him, this is God's
work. Doesn't have anything to do with
your will. Doesn't have anything to do with your brilliance. Doesn't
have anything to do with your learning. Doesn't have anything
to do with how smart you are, or how educated you are, or how
ignorant you are of things in an academic sense, how literate
or illiterate you are. It's not anything to do with
your works, your worth, your will. Nothing to do with you.
Of God are you in Christ by a work of supernatural, wondrous, free,
and sovereign grace. Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus. Who of God, by the wondrous work
of God, is made unto us? Us who? Every sinner who trusts
Him. Frank, do you trust Him? I can't
say much for sure, but that's all I trust. I don't know much,
but I know I trust Him. Of Him, are you in Christ Jesus? Who of God is made unto us? Wisdom. and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. Now Paul's talking to us here
about what we experience in Christ. He's talking about what every
believer knows in the blessed experience of grace. All true
believers, all who are born again by the Spirit of God, are in
Christ Vitally joined to Christ. That's a poor illustration. Vitally
joined to Christ. Just like his fingers joined
to his hand. Vitally. Cut the finger off of his hand
and it's dead. We're vitally joined to Christ in the experience
of grace, God giving us faith and life in Jesus Christ. As
branches are in divine and draw life from divine, so you and
I are in Christ. and draw vital life from Christ. We're in Christ, again, not by
an act of our will, by an act of God's will. Meditate often,
children of God, on what it means to be in Christ. I'm in Christ,
one with Christ. Then that means whatever Christ
is, whatever Christ has done, I am. And I've done. I'm in Christ. He never breathed a breath of
God's air on this earth. I didn't breathe in him. He never
performed a work, a work of simply subjecting himself to his parents
that I didn't perform in him. He never performed a work of
obedience to the law. I didn't perform in Him. He never
walked in holiness without guile, in perfection, that I didn't
walk in Him. I'm in Christ. Oh, if that doesn't
ring your bell, your clock is broke. I'm in Christ. To be in Christ is to be blessed
of God. Brother Todd and I were talking
a few months ago. We chat at least once or twice a week by
some point of scripture. And he said to me, he said, as
long as Christ has had being as my substitute, I've had being
in him. That's it. I've had being, I'm
in him. I was blessed in him and with
him. with all spiritual blessings
and heavenly places in Christ before the world was. But do
you know I lived in this world for nearly 17 years and did nothing
about it? Blessed? If you'd ask me if there's
any human being ever drew breath on God's earth that was reprobate
and cursed, I'd say it's me. I knew nothing about blessing.
Knew nothing about it. The blessedness wasn't mine in
experience until Christ was in me. And now I know I'm blessed
of God, blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.
I know it by the gift of life and faith. To be in Christ is
to be favored of God, highly favored of God, as Christ himself
is favored of God, pleasing to God. pleasing to God all the time. My experience before I was converted,
my experience when I was converted, and my experience after I was
converted doesn't change that at all. I'm pleasing to God. This is my beloved Son in whom
I'm well pleased. That doesn't change. That doesn't
change in Christ. But I didn't know anything about
it until God gave me life and faith in Him. To be in Christ
is to be complete. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in Him. Complete. What does that mean? That means
there's no lack, no need, and no room. There's no lack of anything,
no need for anything, and no room for anything. Complete.
To be in Christ is to be free. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God,
before ever sin entered into the world, freed me from sin,
the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Jesus Christ, the
Lamb of God, in the fullness of time, when He cried, It is
finished, and He was justified in the Spirit, I was justified
in the Spirit. And now He that is dead to sin
is free. I'm free from sin, free from
the law, free from obligation, free from debt, free from the
curse, free, free, free in Christ, free. But I know what it is to be in
the very bondage of hell itself. And I didn't have an idea of
what freedom was until Christ came by his spirit and gave me
life and faith, and I was made to experience freedom. I remember years ago, I visited
a lot of jails and prisons. Shelby and I went to visit a
fellow God has saved. He and his wife and I was on radio out
in California, on radio stations out there. He was in Folsom Prison. Been in prison since he was 16
years old. Bank robber. Last time killed a trooper. Gonna
spend the rest of his life in prison. We went to visit him.
You can't imagine what it's like. Now, I know prisons are treated
too good in prisons, but man, this place is something else.
We walked in. Shelby had to cut the wires out
of her undergarments. Couldn't get in. Walk in there,
and they slam a door shut behind you and lock it. And then they
open one in front of you. Walk through that door, they
slam it behind you and lock it. After going through that process,
get on a bus, go over to this other building, went to visit
them in this room about this size. and prisoners walking around
the whole time you're there. A fellow said last week, a fellow
killed right there. These fellows walking around, they weren't
looking me over, they were looking my wife over. The tension, the pressure. And
when we walked out of that place, I had never breathed such free
air in my life. I walked out free, free. Forty-three years ago, I walked
out of hell free. Free. Forever free. That's what it is to be in Christ.
In the experience of grace. Free. Well brother God, you weren't
a prisoner. Nobody was in that prison. And
I was in that prison helpless. I was in that prison subject
to everything those prisoners were subject to. Difference was
I was a free man and I was getting ready to walk out. Now, that's
what it is to experience grace. Now, hear me well. Please hear
me well. Our experience of grace, our
coming to know and experience that Christ is our wisdom, our
righteousness, our sanctification, our redemption, contributes nothing
to making him our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification,
our redemption. It adds nothing to it. Contributes
nothing. He was all that before, but we don't know it until we're
made of God in Christ, in the experience of grace. And he has
made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. Let me illustrate it for you. John Bunyan describes himself
in Pilgrim's Progress And he's got this horrible, heavy load
on his back. This horrible, heavy load of
guilt and sin on his back. And he goes to the house of these
sisters, Charity and Prudence, and they tell him, we can't tell
you where to go. He's looked everywhere for some
relief. Go over to Evangelist, and he can tell you. I've been
to Bedford, and I've been over there where Evangelist lived.
It was John Gifford, the man who was the preacher there. And
Bunyan went to Evangelist and he told him to go to Calvary.
And behold, the one crucified on Calvary. And Bunyan describes
how Pilgrim goes to Calvary with that heavy burden, crushing him
down to hell. Guilt and sin and guilt and sin
and guilt and sin. And he got to Calvary and lifted
up his eyes and he saw the Lamb of God. And the burden, he said,
fell off my back and rolled into the abyss of everlasting forgiveness. That's called the experience
of grace. Well, we don't like talking about
experience around here. Get used to it and learn to enjoy it. Life is an experience. And the
life of the believer is something we experience in the grace of
God. It's not just theory. It's not
just head. It's not just doctrine. It's
heart and it's experience. And make a mental note of this.
When you run across the words reckon, account, counted, charge,
conclude, and impute in the scriptures. All of those words are different
translations of the very same word. And they are never used. Are you listening to me? They
are never used to speak of Christ being made sin. Never. As our Lord Jesus was numbered
with the transgressors, he experienced what it was to be made sin for
us. And we are numbered with Him when we experience being
made the righteousness of God in Him. Look at Romans chapter
3, verse 24. When you read the Scriptures,
always read it slow and be careful to mark verb tenses especially. Being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus, whom
God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to
declare his righteousness, God's righteousness, for the remission
of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. To declare,
I say at this time, God's righteousness, that he might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth on Jesus. Look at verse 3, chapter
4. For what saith the scripture,
Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Did Abraham's believing God cause
God to justify him? Not on your life. Did Abraham's
believing God take away his sin? No. Did Abraham, believing God,
reconcile God to him and him to God? No! Did Abraham, believing
God, in any way contribute to anything with regard to his standing
before God in righteousness and in pre-justification? No! Well,
how then was Abraham, believing God, imputed to him? It was imputed
to his own conscience. So that Abraham now says, I'm
justified. I'm righteous. I stand before
God free. Read on. Verse four. Now to him
that worketh is the reward not reckoned, imputed, charged of
grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth. What a strange word. I thought
justification was accomplished from eternity. It was. But then
I thought it was finished at Calvary. It was. But there it
is in the present linear tense. Is God still in the business
of justifying man? Every day. Every day. You may go down to your house
today who came in here guilty, justified. You just might if
God gives you faith in Christ. If God causes you to believe
on His Son. He justifieth the ungodly. His faith is counted
for righteousness. His faith is counted for righteousness. Christ, the object of his faith,
as he looks to him, his conscience says, enough! Enough! I did, like you, when first I
began to have some sense of guilt, some sense of hell filling my
soul, some sense of my sin, I started trying to do better. I started
going to church. I started trying to read my Bible.
I started praying in the mornings and praying at night. I tried,
and I tried, and I couldn't get any relief. No relief. Just couldn't get
any. I couldn't get nothing, nothing. One day, I walked into a church
building and sat down with a friend of mine. He and I spent our lives
together until God saved me. Whatever I got into, he got into.
And when I started going to church, he started going just because
I did. And I saw Christ crucified. And you know what my heart said?
You know what my conscience said? Enough. What does God require? That's enough. What does God
demand? Christ is enough. That's all. And it was counted to me, in
me, for righteousness. And I walked out of that place
that day convinced. Now you talk about dumber than
a box of rocks. I didn't know which end of the
Bible was the front. I didn't have a clue. I simply
trusted the Son of God. I couldn't have, if you'd asked
me about imputed righteousness, I wouldn't have, I don't know. What's that word impute mean?
I don't have any idea what you're talking about. If you'd asked
me about election, I told somebody the other day, I have a friend
down in Fort Worth, Texas, some years ago, he was out working
in his yard on Saturday, and one of these religious fools
came around trying to get him to come to church, and he said,
y'all don't want to be down there. Oh, yeah. Why wouldn't we want you
down there?" He said, well, what do y'all believe down there about
election? And the fellow looked at him like, why would you ask
that? He said, I'm not sure, but I
believe almost everybody down there is Republicans. And that's just not what I knew.
But I'll tell you what I did know. I walked into that building
that morning with hell in my soul. And I walked out with hell
gone. Justified. in Christ. Read on. Read on. Look at verse 6. Even
as David describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth
righteousness. God, are you still doing it?
He's doing it. I'm still having this righteousness imputed to
me. I heard you. My conscience said, I'm free. Read on. Read
on. He imputeth righteousness. without
works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven
and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Come with this blessedness then,
upon the circumcision only or upon the uncircumcision? For
we say that faith was reckoned, that's the word again, reckoned
to him for righteousness. Now look down at chapter 6, Romans
6, verse 11. All this time, through this whole
chapter, the whole rest of Romans 5, chapter 6, the apostle has
been describing for us our freedom in Christ. God reckons us righteous. God declares us righteous. God
charges us with righteousness. God accounts us righteousness.
God numbers us righteous. Look at verse 11. Likewise, reckon
ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto
God. Eighteen months ago, Well, Todd
Nyberg came over to visit me in the hospital, and I'd been
through a tough time. And God didn't speak to me, and
he wouldn't let me speak to him for weeks, for weeks. And I said, well, how are things
there? I reckon God's right. God says
I'm dead to sin. I reckon that's right. God says
I'm free. I reckon that's right. God says
I'm righteous. I reckon that's right. God says
I'm justified. But where are your evidences?
Don't have any. But where are your feelings?
Don't have any. But what can you point to? Him! And that's our hope. When we
feel saved, and when we feel as dark as hell, that's our hope. God's right. And he says, Bruce,
reckon yourself right. That's what faith does. Faith
doesn't walk by sight. No. Well, buddy, I've read my
Bible today, and I hadn't lost my temper today, and I've been
a pretty good boy today. My grandson has done. A couple
of weeks ago, praying for him before he went to bed. Will's
eight. They got done praying. He said, Daddy, can I ask you
something? He said, yes, son. He said, why
when you pray do you always ask for God to forgive us of our
sins? Doug said, why do you ask, son? He said, well, some days
I'm a pretty good boy. And we think just like that.
I've been a pretty good boy today. I haven't gotten into trouble.
I haven't lost my temper with anybody. Oh, I'm not sure nothing's
saved. That's your hope you've got now.
Our hope is Christ alone. It is in this experience of grace,
as the sinner believes on the Lord Jesus, that all that Christ
is, is consciously imputed to him. Joseph Hart put it this
way, the moment a sinner believes and trusts in his crucified God,
His pardon that once he receives, redemption in full through his
blood. The faith that unites to the
Lamb and brings such salvation as this is more than a notion
or name, the work of God's Spirit it is. A principle, active and
young, that lives under pressure and loathe, that makes out of
weakness more strong and draws the soul upward to God. It treads
on the world and on hell. It vanquishes death and despair.
And what is still stranger to tell? It overcomes heaven with
prayer. Permits a vile worm of the dust
with God to commune as a friend, to hope His forgiveness is just,
and look for His love to the end. It says to the mountains,
depart. that stand betwixt God and the
soul, it binds up the broken in heart and makes wounded consciences
whole. It bids sins of crimson like
dye be spotless as snow and as white, and makes such a sinner
as I as spotless as an angel of light. That's what it is to be justified
in your soul, all right? We were made sinners in a legal
sense by Adam's transgression, and made righteous in a legal
sense by Christ's obedience. Second, we are made righteousness
in God, or by God in Christ, experimentally in the experience
of grace. Christ comes in, and a child
of God is born again, made a new creature in Christ. Nothing,
was it you there with that old man last night? Nothing changes.
Nothing changes. But something new has happened.
Christ is in man. He made partakers of the divine
nature. And that's as necessary. That's
as necessary as the blood of Christ shed at Calvary. Just
as necessary. Christ dying for Bruce Crabtree
is not your hope of glory. That's the basis of the hope.
What does the book say? Anybody know? Christ in you,
the hope of glory. And until Christ is in you, you've
got no reason to think you've got any hope. And now when Christ
is in you and Christ died for you, you've made a new creature
in Christ. You're one with Christ. You have
that holiness in you without which no man shall see the Lord.
That's Christ Jesus in you, made partakers of the divine nature.
You believe you've made little gods. Well, take it with you,
go to hell with it if you want to. We're made partakers of divine
nature. Is that what the book says? Made
partakers of divine nature. As our Lord took part of humanity,
we take part of Him. What's that mean? He became what
we were. And He made us what He is. Now, you're made meat. to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in life. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
5. Here's the third word. We could never have obtained
righteousness. We could never have been made
the righteousness of God in Christ had not the Lord Jesus been made
sin for us. I don't normally read trash. I do read good stuff. I quit
reading bad stuff a long time ago. Unless somebody calls up
and says, you need to listen to this, you need to read this.
I don't listen to garbage on radio, television, on tapes.
Somebody says, sends tapes in, this and this. Somebody I have
some respect for says, you need to listen to this. I was at a
sermon a couple weeks ago. Thought of preaching on 2 Corinthians
5, 21. And this is what he said. Exact quote. Exact quote. Talking about Christ being made
sin. I see nothing mysterious about it. It's a legal matter.
It's exactly what it says. I see nothing mysterious about
it. It's a legal matter. Is it nothing to you? All ye
that pass by, behold and see that there is any sorrow like
unto my sorrow wherewith the Lord God hath afflicted me. Nothing mysterious. Look at this,
2 Corinthians 5.21. The word translated made here.
For he hath made him to be, those words are in italics, you'll
notice. He hath made him sin for us who
knew no sin. That we might be made, that's
a different word. That's the word talking about
experience. That's the word talking about experience. That we might
be made, not that we were made, that we might be in time made
righteous by Him. Look here. God made Him to be
sin for us. Donny, that word carries this
meaning. Constituted, not constituted,
created, made, caused to become in a wondrous profile. mysterious way that baffles explanation. That's exactly what it means.
Mysteriously made. Mysteriously. Would you like
to tell me how God can die? Well, God can't die. He did.
Read Acts 20, 28. Read it. Died and never died. He has made Him sin for us. Traditionally, it is said that
Christ was made sin by imputation. Now, I'm not telling you what
I've just thought of this morning. I've been studying this a while.
I have made that statement many times myself, and truly, sin
was imputed to Christ, but he was not made sin by imputation.
Couldn't be. Justice cannot impute sin where
there is none. Proverbs 17, 15. Justice can't
do that. It happens in courts of law by
mistake all the time. Justice cannot impute sin where
there is none. Cannot be done. Sin was imputed
to him because he was made sin. Nowhere in this book, Don Fortner
said it, I'll give you $100 if you can find me a place where
it's otherwise. Nowhere in this book is a legal term used with
reference to Christ being made sin. Not in the Old Testament,
not in the New Testament. It's not there. It's not there. It's always that which is wondrous
and mysterious and baffles explanation. Always. So I said, well, this
doesn't mean he's made sin, made a sin offering. Well, that will
help a fellow who doesn't understand the scriptures. Do you know what
the word sin offering is? Do you know what it is? When
you go home, get your concordance down and look it up. Every single
place in all the Old Testament. Every place it is used. What
word is it? It's sin. Every place it's used. Every place it's used. Made sin.
You mean Christ was made sin for us? Our sins were justly
imputed to him, just as his righteousness is justly imputed to us because
we are made righteous. Righteousness could not be imputed
to my conscience until Christ is in me, the hope of glory.
And our sins could not be imputed to Christ until he was made sin
for us. You remember what we read about
the water? It was made wine. Our sins were
not pasted on Christ. He was made sin. Our sins were
not just ceremonially laid on Christ. He was made sin. Our
sins were not put on him in such a way that he was treated as
though he were a sinner. He was made sin. Our sins were
not such that God accounted him a transgressor. He was made sin. The Holy Spirit doesn't say he
was made to sin offering. He was made sin. Here he manifested
forth his glory. And when you see Him made sin
for you, you believe on Him. You trust Him. You can't help
it. You just can't help it. Years
ago, Brother Mayhem preaching for me, and he was always a great storyteller,
most of the time told true stories. And I remember him telling about
a missionary he knew, I never knew him, in India. Said the
missionary came and preached for them. They'd been 13th Street.
I don't have any idea. And said he told about coming through
some jungle area and came to a brush area. Could hear a faint,
raspy cry. Couldn't really make it out.
Just a faint, raspy cry. He was a human voice. He didn't know
what it was. And they started looking for him. And finally,
they walked up on a man who was just covered with leprosy. set out there to die. The man was crying, Help me. Help me. Won't somebody please
help me? But the man said, the missionary
said, I thought to myself, if somehow I could go over and put
my mouth on his mouth and Breathe in all his corruption. And breathe into him again all
my health. That's what Christ did for me. That's what Christ did for me. He was made sin. And when he
was made sin, God forsook him. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Why art thou so far from the
words of my roaring? And he answered his own question.
Behold, thou art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. Mine iniquities, he said, are
more than the hairs of my head. God forsook him. God drew forth the dreadful sword
of His justice and shoved it into His Holy Son, who was made
sin, and the Son of God grabbed it with both hands and poured it into Himself until
just His sword is swallowed up and gone. And God says to Jacob,
fury is not in me. Fury is not in me. Because Christ took it away. When he was made sin, he justified us and made certain
that every sinner for whom he died would be made. Would be made. But God, he did
it. Yes, he did it. He guaranteed
that they would be made in the sweet experience of grace by
the transforming wondrous power of God's Spirit dropping Christ
into his soul. The righteousness of God in him. Amen. Our Father, O God, our
Father, what a wonder that this sinner
can lift his heart to heaven, knowing God's holiness, righteousness,
justice, and truth, knowing God's infinite glory. Lift my heart to heaven and with
confidence say, My Father. Thank you for Christ our Redeemer. Thank you for the sweet knowledge
of your grace in Him. I ask your blessings upon this
assembly, this pastor, as they labor together in the cause of
your glory. Lord Jesus, pour out your Spirit
upon them. Bless them. Use them in a manifest
way for your glory and the furtherance of the gospel. These brethren
who labor in other places, our friends around the world preaching
the gospel of your grace, God bless them. Thank you for them. Amen.