All right, I hope you're as excited
as I am. You'll turn to Matthew chapter
23. Matthew chapter 23, we'll start
in verse one. Lord willing, tonight we're gonna
go over the weightier Matters of the law. Lady, your matters
of the law, that is judgment, mercy, and faith. And the text
is going to be in verse 23, but we're going to start in verse
1. We're going to read about these Pharisees and scribes. Then spake Jesus to the multitude
and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees
sat in Moses's seat. They were teachers of the law.
All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe
and do. But do not ye after their works,
for they say and do not. The definition of a hypocrite. And by nature, that's what we
are. We're hypocrites, pretenders,
liars. For they bind heavy burdens and
grievances to be born. And they lay them on man's shoulders,
but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. They judge merciless, unmerciful. And they tell others to do the
same things. But all their works they do for
to be seen of men. They make broad their phylacteries. Those are little pouches that
they kept the scriptures in. I made out of animal skins. and
enlarge the borders of their garments. And that's where they
would put little blue ribbons to remind and show everybody
that they were keeping the law. And love the uppermost rooms
at feast and the chief seats in the synagogues and greetings
in the markets and to be called a man, Rabbi, Rabbi. And the Lord warns his disciples
and he warns us, but be not ye called Rabbi. For one is your
master, Christ, and all ye are brethren. There's no greater,
there's only one great, and that's Christ. And call no man your
father upon the earth, for one is your father, which is in heaven.
Neither be ye called masters, for one is your master, Christ. But he that is greatest among
you shall be your servant. What did Christ do? What did
God do? Christ came. He is the greatest. And he came and humbled himself.
Humbled himself to his father to be a servant to his people. And whosoever shall exalt himself
shall be abased. And he that shall humble himself
shall be exalted. No one humbled himself. No one
has humbled himself. Christ came and he humbled himself. God manifest in the flesh humbled
himself as a man. And he was exalted among all
his creation. The Lord starts out warning his
disciples and the multitude and us of these scribes and Pharisees
and their works. The Lord uses very stern language
in this chapter. And it's directed at the scribes
and Pharisees, the hypocrites. He calls them vipers, hypocrites,
children of hell, fools, extortioners, murderers, Awful strong language. That is strong language. They
cast judgment without mercy, and they lack faith. And such
were some of you. Weren't we all? We were all born
with the same God-hating nature of fallen Adam, just like those
scribes and those Pharisees. Only God makes His elect to differ
And that difference is Christ Jesus revealed in you, the only
hope of glory that we ever will have. The Lord's hour was close at
hand. They hadn't took him up and crucified
him yet, but his hour was close at hand. And these scribes and
Pharisees sought to kill him. If you look in Acts chapter two,
verse 22, it says, ye men of Israel, Hear these words, Jesus
of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and
wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you,
as ye yourselves also know. Him, being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by wicked
hands and crucified. and slain these five scribes
and these Pharisees. God knows all, and God purposes
all. It's God's providence. But woe
unto you that do evil. Woe unto you that do the evil.
The Lord gives eight woes in this chapter. And as God permits,
we're gonna read through them. But I want to focus on the weightier
matters of the law that's given in verse 23. Judgment, mercy,
and faith, God willing. So let's go to verse 13. But
woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye shut up the
kingdom of heaven against man, for ye neither go in yourselves,
neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. They told
others not to listen to him. They denied that he was the Christ,
that he was the true Messiah. Even though the scriptures that
they had been given and been reading and been preaching from
all told of him, all pointed to him, but they denied him. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites, They preached, but they didn't preach the whole
gospel. They didn't preach the gospel.
A false prophet, a false preacher, is sometimes identified more
by what he does not say than what he does say. You may listen
to him, and you may agree with every single word he says. But there's only one God, and
there's only one gospel, and only one content of the gospel,
and that is how Christ came to redeem his people. It's how he
came to redeem his people. It's how God elected a people
in him before the foundation of the world. It's how he came
as a man in our flesh without sin. and was crucified. If Christ is not preached, the gospel is not preached, the
weightier matters of the law are not given. Judgment, mercy,
and faith. They left these out. They left
out Christ accomplished works. All according to the scriptures.
that they'd been given and been reading and studying and guiding
others in. On verse 14, woe unto you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye devour widows' houses and
for a pretense make long prayer. Therefore ye shall receive the
greater damnation. The only reward in heaven for
the believer is Christ. We all inherit Christ. There is nothing greater. But there are degrees in hell.
We're told there are degrees in hell. Woe unto you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye can pass sea and land and
make one proselyte, one converter. And when he is made, you make
him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. That's
strong language. Woe unto you, ye blind guides,
which say whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing.
But whoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, well, he's
a debtor. You fools and blind, for whether
is greater the gold or the temple that sanctify the gold. And whosoever
shall swear by the altar, it is nothing. But whosoever swears
by the gift, that is upon it, he is guilty. He fools and blind,
for weather is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies
the gift. Whoso therefore shall swear by
the altar, sweareth by it and by all things thereon. And whosoever
shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it and by him that dwelleth
therein. And he that shall swear by heaven,
sweareth by the throne of God. and by him that sitteth thereupon.
These all were a picture of Christ. It's God that sanctifies. It's
God that sanctifies, only he is holy. And he says swear or not. He says swear or not. Look, let me find my place here. Yes, what does God say about
it? What does God say? Let's look in Matthew 5 verse
33. Matthew 5 verse 33. Again. Ye have heard that it hath been
said by them of old time, thou shalt not forswear thyself, but
shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths. But I say unto you, swear
not at all, neither by heaven, for it's God's throne, nor by
the earth, for it's his footstool, neither by Jerusalem, for it
is the city of the great king. Neither shalt thou swear by thy
head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
But let your communication be yea, yea, nay, nay, for whatsoever
is more than these come with evil. God says swear not. He's the sanctifier. He's the
Holy One. Let's go on and read in verse
23. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, For ye
pay tithe of mint and anise, and come and have omitted the
weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. These ought ye to have done,
and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides which strain
at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Wow, we'll get back to that. Let's read on verse 25. Woe unto
you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye may clean the outside
of the cup and the platter, but within they are full of extortion
and excess. Thou blind Pharisees, cleanse
first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside
of them may be all clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites, for ye are like unto whited sepulchers or graves that
indeed appear beautiful outward but are within full of dead man's
bones and of all uncleanness. Even so, ye also outwardly appear
righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and
iniquity." Self-righteous, free will, works
religion, the religion of man, seeking the praise of man. Hiding
in a refuge of lies. Pretenders, actors. God knows
our works. God looks at the heart. God sees
things visible and invisible. He knows and sees all. Let's
read on. Verse 29, woe unto you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you build the tombs of the prophets
and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous. It's easy to get
along with the dead, man. And say, if ye had been in the
days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with
them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore, ye be witness unto
yourselves that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. They are of their
fathers, the devil. They're liars and murderers.
And he goes on and he says, ye serpents, ye generation of vipers,
how can you escape the damnation of hell? Wow. Strong language. And every, every
human born of Adam can ask the same question. How can I escape the damnation
of hell? How can you? They were murderers like their
fathers, and they shall not escape God's strict justice. He spoke
to these also over in John chapter eight, verse 42. John chapter
eight, verse 42. Jesus said unto them, if God
were your father, ye would love me. For I proceeded forth and
came from God, neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do
you not understand my speech? Even because you cannot hear
my word, ye are of your father, the devil, and the lust of your
father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning,
and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When
he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar,
and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth,
you believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of
sin? And if I say the truth, why do
you not believe me? He that is of God, heareth God's
words. Ye, therefore, hear them not,
because you are not of God. Their righteousness, just like
ours, filthy rags, and their works are evil before God. And
so are ours. God knows our works. He knows
our hearts. He knows the thoughts, the intents.
He even knows the motives behind everything you do. We have all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. How shall we escape the damnation
of hell? Who can deliver me from this
body of death? Now what Paul asked, he asked
the same question, didn't he? He asked the same question. Dearly beloved sinners, if God
had not done something for you, had not done something in you,
better way of putting it, something that we could never do ourselves,
it's impossible with me. If God had not chosen a people
in his son out of Adam's fallen race before the foundation of
the world, there would be no difference. There'd be no difference
between you, me, those scribes, and those Pharisees. We all want to be like Paul.
We all want to be like Peter. Well, I identify with Peter,
but brother, You, I, Peter, Paul, and all those beloved brethren. Who's gonna deliver you? Who's
gonna deliver you from the damnation of hell that you deserve? We
deserve God's wrath. We were born spiritually dead.
We're sinners. God is holy. The wages of sin
is death. Romans 6, 23 tells us. His judgment
is right. We are made sin, we were made
sin in a substitute. We were. And praise God, we have
hope. The elect of God have hope of
being, a good hope of being righteous in a substitute. That's the only
way you're gonna be righteous is in a substitute. God made
it that way. He purposed it that way, it's
his providence. And a preacher, sin of God, is
gonna declare that gospel. to you because God's going to
send him and he's going to speak through him. That's how he calls
you out of your darkness. He don't need us. He don't need
a man. But that's the way God purposed
it. The only hope we have is in Jesus
Christ and his finished works of redemption. Judgment is accomplished. Mercy is given. Faith is received. It's all the work of God. The
faithfulness of Jesus Christ alone. But these five scribes
and Pharisees left out these weightier matters of the law. The law was not given to justify
you. Law was not given. There's no
mercy in it. There's no mercy in the law. And faith didn't come by the
law. Uh-uh. No, no, no. How are we gonna
be delivered? Let's go on and read. Verse 34. Wherefore, behold, I send unto
you prophets and wise men and scribes, and some of them you
shall kill and crucify. And some of them shall ye scourge
in your synagogues and persecute them from city to city." It's
God's purpose. It's God's providence. He purposes all things. But he says, woe unto you who
do these evil. You're only doing what your human
nature He tells you to do. That upon you may come, listen
to this, that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed
upon the earth from the blood of righteous Abel, unto the blood
of Zacharias, son of Barakas, I'm gonna pronounce it wrong,
sorry, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily
I say unto you, he's talking to these scribes and these Pharisees,
all these things shall come upon this generation. Woe to them
that do this evil. You're not going to escape. You're not going to escape the
judgment of God. They did exactly what they wanted
to do by nature. Exactly. what they wanted to
do, and we would have done the same thing. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou
that killest the prophets, stonest them which are sent unto thee,
how often I would I have gathered thy children together, even as
a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings. And you would
not. Isn't it wonderful that God delights
in mercy? But his justice, his justice
has to be satisfied before he can show mercy. God is good and he only does
good. And he does exactly what's right. Behold, your house is left unto
you desolate. We get exactly what we deserve,
and it's just, and it's right. For I say unto you, ye shall
not see me henceforth till you shall say, blessed is he that
cometh in the name of the Lord. He's going to do that because
he's called you out of your darkness. Are you going to do it in the
day of judgment? And that door shut then. Because
he's coming again, then the judgment and he will do what is right. God is a righteous judge. All
will be judged according to their works. And all will receive exactly
what they deserve and what is right by God's hand. And every knee shall bow. And
every tongue shall confess. Jesus is Lord of all. God's revealed that to you. How
thankful you should be. Huh? How thankful? We don't deserve
to know that. Judgment, mercy and faith, the
weightier matters of the law. Christ came, Christ manifest
in the flesh. He redeemed his elect with his
own blood and his body prepared for him. He put away the elect
sins. He borns us again by his Holy
Spirit and he is coming again and when he does, that Christ
Jesus whom we crucify will come in judgment in every
knee and will bow and every tongue shall confess that he is Lord
of all. The wicked shall perish and those who are made righteous
by the doing and the dying and yea the raising again of the
Lord Jesus Christ already has life everlasting. It's God's
purpose, it's God's providence, but woe unto you who do evil. So let's refer back to verse
23. Let's read that one more time. Woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye pay tithe of mint and anise in
common and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment,
mercy, and faith. These ought ye to have done and
not to leave the other undone. It's not talking about tithing. Let's look and see what the Lord
says about that. Look in 2 Corinthians chapter
nine. 2 Corinthians chapter nine. I got it right here. But this I
say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and
he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every
man according as he purposes in his heart, the Lord looks
at the heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of a necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver. That's what he says about tithing. So let's move on. All we have,
everything we have materially and spiritually is from God. He says, take up your cross,
follow me. Deny yourself. Everything belongs
to God. Yet these scribes and these Pharisees
would spend countless hours debating on how much to tithe from the
herbs that they get from their garden. Do we do it on the net? Do we
do it on the... And not preach the gospel. They're
worried about the tithing. Even on the herbs that they gather
from the garden. Yet, they neglected the weightier
matters of the law. The law. We know the law was
given, Romans 3. Romans 3 verse 19. Romans 3 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. The law was given to shut our
mouths. Shut up. You're guilty. You're guilty before God. We are guilty of sinning against
God, God only. You and you alone are
guilty. Your sins are yours. And you are only at fault. You
fell in Adam, you fell in a substitute, you did. But your sins are yours. and you're guilty. You have offended God's holy
justice and you have no one to blame
but yourself. I have no one to blame for my
sins but me. We've sinned against God. And there is not one thing we
can do, not one thing that a spiritually dead person
can do to appease the holy justice of God. We can't pay for one
sin. It's impossible with man. Now the weightier matters of
the law. We are solely at God's mercy. Number one is judgment. You are guilty of sin, and God
says the wages of sin is death. No sin shall go unpunished, not
even one. These scribes and Pharisees would
have you believe that some sins are okay. Not that bad, it's
horrible. Oh, you did that though. That,
you're going to hell. No. Well, I'm going to excuse
that one because I did that the other day. You see how foolish
that is? Man going to sit there and judge
by the law of God. You. But we do that, don't we? Oh,
we do. That's one of the hardest things
in the world is not to be a judge. They judged others by the law,
but didn't look at their selves, didn't point the finger at their
selves, but they was quick to point it at you. Unmerciful. God says no sin shall go unpunished. Every sin is worthy of death. Every sin is worthy of death. You broke one law, you've broken
them all. James 2 verse 10, for whosoever
shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point is guilty
of the whole law. And we were born guilty of the
whole law. Lord, where you gonna start? Who's gonna deliver us from this? We were born with a nature that
hates God. We deserve eternal damnation,
eternal death, eternal separation from God. That's what we deserve. You wanna see judgment accomplished? You want to see God's holy justice
satisfied? Because that's what's going to
have to happen. Look to the cross. Look to Christ. Look to Him crucified. That's
the only hope we got. Look at Him. God give you the eyes to see.
Look at Him. Look upon Him. Crucified on that cross at Calvary. He came and bore God's wrath
you deserve The God man God Manifest in flesh
came in Christ Jesus to reconcile you to himself You became sin in a substitute,
Adam. You can only be made righteous
in a substitute, in the substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. There
is no other way. Romans 5, verse 19. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. Many. as many as each one of
these represented. Adam represented us all. Christ
Jesus represented his elect, his chosen. Born of the will of God, born
of his spirit. Before God created, before sin
entered the world, God chose a people and his son. and not
by their merits. He chose his sacrifice for the
remission of sins, and he chose his elected people and his son
to save. Let's go to Romans chapter nine
and verse 11. Romans chapter nine, verse 11. For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand not of works, but
of him that calleth. That gospel of God. It was said
unto her, the elder shall serve the younger, as it is written,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say
then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose
have I raised thee up that I might show my power in you. and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth, therefore hath he mercy on whom he will
have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. God is sovereign. God is sovereign. God does all
these things for his glory, that Christ, his son, have preeminence
over all, and all the glory It goes to Him. That's God's purpose. That's God's providence. God
delights in mercy. Thank God He does. Thank God
you and I aren't the judge. But His justice must be satisfied. There's no getting around that.
Sin must not go unpunished, not even one. God is the righteous
judge of all. The Father and the Son are one.
The triune God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit are one God. God is the great judge, but he
doesn't judge without his Son. Look in John 5 verse 19. John
5 verse 19. Then answered Jesus and said
unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing
of himself but what he saith the Father do. For what things
soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father
loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth. He's the Son of God. He's the
Son of Man. He's the God-Man, always has
been, is now and always will be. And he will show him greater
works than these that ye may marvel. For as the father raises
up the dead and quickens them, even so the son quickeneth whom
he will. For the father judges no man,
but hath committed all judgment unto the son. That all men should
honor the son, even as they honor the father. We just went over
that. It's for his glory. It's for
his son to get the glory. He that honoreth not the son
honors not the father, which hath sent him. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him
that sent me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall
live. For as the Father hath life in
himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself,
and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because
he is the Son of Man. Marvel not at this, for the hour
is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear
his voice and shall come forth, they that have done good, unto
the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto
the resurrection of damnation. I can of my own self do nothing
as I hear, I judge, And my judgment is just because I seek not my
own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. God is good. God is just. God is righteous. He's holy. He only does good. It's all for
his glory and for the saving of his elect. His ways are not
our ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts, and ours are
not his. He's sovereign, he's right, and
he has every right to do with his creation as he has already
purposed in his providence for his glory. God is not the author of sin.
God raises up these wicked as he did Pharaoh to show his power
in him. There's no darkness in him. He
is light. First Corinthians 14.33 tells
us, for God is not the author of
confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
And then we turn over to James Verse 1. James 1 chapter 1 verse 12. Blessed is the man that endure
temptation for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of
life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no
man say when he is tempted I'm tempted of God for God cannot
be tempted with evil Neither tempteth he any man, but every
man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then, when lust hath conceived,
it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth
forth death. So do not err, my beloved brethren.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh
down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning. God, in his wisdom, purposes
all things for his good pleasure. But woe unto them, woe unto them
who do evil as Satan and his demons, as Pharaoh, as Shimei,
as Judas Iscariot, bless you, and as the false prophets and
these wicked Scribes and Pharisees, woe unto you who do the evil. But God's elect are sanctified
in Christ Jesus, and he chose us in him before the foundation
of the world. He came as a man, he came as
the God-man, and he alone accomplished redemption with his own blood
on the cross at Calvary. He bore the judgment. of God
in his body in our room instead. The body prepared by God for
him. And he was made sin for us and
he made us the righteousness of God in him. Our sins he's
put completely away by himself forever. And he's made us new
creatures in him. Christ revealed in us the hope
of glory. Old things are passed away. We're new creatures in
him. God made a way. To be just. And to justify the ungodly. Because
he will show mercy. But not at the expense of his
judgment. His judgment has to be satisfied. Romans 3. If you turn to Romans
3. Verse 23. 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 has
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. He's the just and he's the justifier. God's justice must be satisfied.
Sins must be paid for. God sent his only son to be that
propitiation, the propitiation for our sins. The only perfect
chosen of God sacrifice for the atonement for sin, the effectual
the only effectual sacrifice that appeased, pacified the holy
justice of God in our room instead. The only one sacrifice, that
propitiation that put all the sins of all of God's elect away
forever. It took the Son of God, the Son
of Man, the God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, God manifest in
the flesh, perfect without sin, blameless, spotless Lamb of God,
the Lord Jesus Christ and Him only. There was never another. This was done before the foundation
of the world. This was done before he created.
This was done before sin entered the world. It is his perfect
righteousness. It is Christ's perfect obedience. Who followed that law perfectly
in the flesh? It took the God-man. Only he
could do it. Someone who was not born sin. He was not born sin. There was
no sin in him, he never sinned. The Spirit of God impregnated
Mary. He wasn't born a man. He was in the flesh. He was in
our flesh. But no sin was in him. He born
of God. The first, the firstborn among
many brethren. The only begotten, the only begotten
Son of God. It's his perfect obedience to
God's law as he walked on this earth. Him, the son of God, came,
sent voluntarily to be our kinsman redeemer, to shed his own blood
for the forgiveness of sins, to lay down his life for his
elect people, to suffer, die, be buried, and praise God, rose
again. Delivered for our offenses raised
again for our justification He made him to be sent for us who
knew no sin that we might be made to righteousness of God
in him It's the only way you can be righteous isn't that substitute
the substitute that God chose that God sent It took God in
manifest in flesh. It took the God-man to enter
into the holy of holies as our high priest to offer what God
required. All those Old Testaments were
pictures of Christ. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness. He came, it's all over. He is God revealed to us. to offer his blood, his one-time
sacrifice of himself to atone for our sins. He took the curse
away from the law being made a curse. He hanged on a tree.
It took his ordained sacrifice of himself to appease the holy
justice of God that we offended. God accepts his son. He accepts
his sacrifice, the only sacrifice he chose to accept. And he bore all the wrath of
God for us. All that wrath that we deserved,
he bore in his body. The fiery wrath of God burned
him till there was nothing left to burn. He said his insides melted like
wax, his heart burned. piece of consuming fire, he burned
it and took it all away. It's gone. It's gone. The judgment of God, he took
and he bore, yet it did not consume him, because he's the fire. That
God prepared for him, and he alone, that strong man, that
strong man that took that goat, that scapegoat, and took him
away to a far country, where it was an old inhabitants, where
it'd never be seen again. He put away our guilt, our shame,
and our sin, and it's gone forever. Now God can be just and holy
and look upon us, be propitious to us. He can be propitious to you,
merciful. Because he put away our sins
forever in Christ Jesus, his son. It is done. It's according
to the scripture and it is finished. And he did it all. He did it
all. For the glory of God, for the
saving of his brethren. And he is exalted. God exalted
him. And he sits right now upon the
throne of God's right hand. Till all of his enemies be made
his footstool, and he is that consuming fire that had took
captivity captive. And one day, it's all gonna burn
away. Only he and those in him can't
be moved. and will not burn. It's all the
wood, hay, and stubble. Even the gold and silver have
a melting point. And he lives forever to intercede
for us. He is God's son. He's equal with God. He is God.
He's God's prophet, priest, and king. He's our only advocate
to the Father. He's our only righteousness before
God. He's our only acceptance before
God. He has made him unto us. He is
our wisdom. He is our righteousness. He is
our sanctification. Because he's holy, we're holy.
That's the only way you're holy. The only way you're righteous
is in him. And he's our redemption. He's
our all. Our only hope of glory. Mercy. And since our sins he has put
away forever in his own body, we have mercy. He is just, God is just to call
us his children. You're never going to get away
from this. Let's go to Romans eight. And I don't want to get away
from it. I can't hear it enough. Romans 8, 28. And we all do know
that all things work together for good of them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose. All before he
created everything. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brothers More of whom he
did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called by
his gospel preached, them he also justified, and whom he justified,
them he also glorified. There ain't nothing to say. God's
for you. There's no greater. There's no
greater. Nothing's gonna hurt his elect.
Not that inward. Not that inward man, not that
new man that he's created in him. God has called us his sons
in Christ Jesus. He has justified us by his grace.
We have peace through his blood. We have peace with God that we
can come to him. He says you can come boldly to
the throne and cry Abba father. And we can confess our sins,
and as Brother Niber told us the other day, what is that?
What is that? That's agreeing with God that
you're sinning, and all you do is sin, and that he is holy.
He is holy, and he is our only, only, only one who can save you. We're powerless, we're helpless.
Only he can make the dead live. And he is faithful, forever faithful,
to forgive us and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. He puts your sins away in his
own body. He bore God's wrath for his elect. What love, what mercy. You don't have to be afraid of
judgment. The judgment of God's not on your head anymore if you're
in Christ. He took it away. He only sees
his son. He sees his blood. He sees his
righteousness. And he sees your sins no more. When that day comes, they will
be solved. they will be sought for, they won't be found. And thirdly, faith. By his electing grace in Christ
Jesus, by Christ faithfulness to the Father to death on the
cross, by his accomplishments as the God-man on the cross crucified, According to scripture, on the
third day, risen again, he has accomplished, for every one of
his elect, full salvation. And there is nothing left to
do but believe on him. And that's a gift of God, that we can trust in him Because
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. We know that in John,
first chapter of John tells us that. Gave us the power to become the
sons of God in him. He came, God manifests in our
flesh. Reconciled us to himself. Borns
us again, makes a new creation in us, a new creature. That seed,
that gospel seed's implanted in you. That seed of God, seed of Christ. And he makes it alive. And it
grows. He makes it to grow. One day, gonna rip this flesh
wide open. It gonna change. Sown in corruption, raised in
incorruption. An incorruptible seed, Christ
Jesus, Christ revealed in you the hope of glory. Ephesians 2, let's go, let's
read that. Ephesians 2, verse 1. And you hath he quickened
who were dead in trespasses and sins wherein in time past you
walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience. Just like those scribes and Pharisees,
those hypocrites, among whom also we all had our conversation
in times past. We're all born spiritually dead
in Adam. the lust of our flesh fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
the children of wrath even as others. But God, who is rich
in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, always before the foundation of the world, hath
quickened us together with Christ by grace, ye are saved and hath
raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. You know, this is true. This
is the word of God. Listen to that in the ages to
come, it might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace, you are saved through
faith. That not of yourself, it's the
gift of God. Not of works lest any man should
boast. And there it is, for we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God
hath before ordained that we should walk in him. He's made
you a new creature in Christ. Christ in you, the hope of glory.
A new creature. And we'll wrap this up. He's given us a faith. Gift of
faith. And that faith that he gives
us, it looks to the faith of Jesus Christ on that cross. A faith. It's a working faith. It works by love. A faith that looks to the faith of Jesus
Christ alone. And what he and how. He accomplished
our salvation. All by himself. And he keeps us and he's going
to raise us up. At the last day, as he promised. So you want to
see judgment. Accomplished. You look to Christ
crucified. You want to see God's justice
satisfied? You look to Christ crucified
on the cross. You want to see the love of God? You want to see the mercy that
he delights in? You look to Christ crucified
on that cross. There's no greater love or mercy You want to see faith? You look
to him who's faithful unto death. You look to Christ Jesus. Crucified
on that cross. Preach the whole gospel of God,
the whole counsel of God. And do not leave the weighty
matters of the law out. Preach Christ crucified. Preach
him risen again. Preach judgment accomplished,
mercy given, faith that without, no man can see God. Gift to his saints. And leave nothing out. Preach Christ is all. And woe to them who do not. Woe to them that do not. Pray
God to bless His word.