If you'll turn in your Bibles
to Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10. Here in verse 1. Brethren, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. For I bear them record that they
have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being
ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believes. Christ is the
end of the law. When the Lord is pleased to reveal
himself to you in his son, Jesus Christ. When he saves you, he gives you
the ability to love him. And we love our brethren. It's
not perfect. And we even are told to love
our enemies. Because God's elect are out there. And we don't know who they are.
But God does. When he gives you that love and understanding, we begin to see the urgency. The more he shows us and reveals
us who he is and what we are, We see the urgency. Look what love God had put in
Paul's heart to pray for these people, pray
for his true Israel. And he was praying for his fellow
citizens, his family, his brother. And he does, he moves us to pray.
And we pray for our family. We pray for our friends. And we pray for our enemies.
According to his will. But prayers can't save you. They can't save you. And then we look and we see As
once it was in us. So once we were. We look at him. And we see sometimes that they
have a zeal. They have a zeal of God. But
if it's not according to the knowledge of God's grace in Christ
Jesus. We know it's vanity. We know
it's no good. You think? by your own works,
by your self-righteousness, that you can obey or please or be
acceptable to God Almighty, you deceive yourself. You deceive yourself. You think
you can obey the law of God. The law is not unto salvation. Even if you could, you wouldn't. And besides that, you've already
sinned. You've already come short of
the glory of God. You've already broken every law
of God there is. And you were born speaking lies. Christ told them, he said, you
search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal
life. But they all testify of me. It's all about Christ. If you
leave out grace, you leave out Christ. You leave out him crucified. You stumble over that chief cornerstone, we watch him do it. Don't believe God. You don't
believe his gospel. You don't believe in them who
he sent. His only begotten son. You haven't repented of your
sins before him. And you haven't turned to him.
You haven't submitted. You have not submitted unto the
righteousness of God. That's in Christ Jesus. Look what Christ did. He submitted himself. He humbled
himself. He's God. He came and he humbled
himself. He trusted in God for everything. You haven't forsaken all to follow
him. Christ was brought low. He brought
himself low. You are without faith. You're
without hope if you're without Christ in this
world. And you stand guilty. That law
condemns you to death. That's the wages of sin. You
break this law. You're condemned to die an eternal
death. So what are you gonna do? What
can you do? Hmm? Don't you know? Don't you know? that Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness for everyone who believes. Over in Romans back a few pages
to Romans 3 verse 19. Now we know that what things
so ever 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 was 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. All for all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. We know because we've been there. We're only not there because
God keeps us. In Christ. By his Holy Spirit. Says, by faith, by faith of Jesus
Christ, we are all born. We're all born under that law.
We're born under the curse of the law. Born spiritually dead. Ruined by the fall of Adam, our
first represented head. Born with his sinful nature. But we see there is hope. There is hope for God's elect.
It's by the free and sovereign grace, he who delights in mercy,
God chose a people for the foundation of the world and his son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. God provided his own sacrifice
for the atonement, for all of the elect's sins. And he would
come and manifest himself in the flesh to redeem those elect. With his own blood, he'd reconcile
them to himself in Christ Jesus. The law was given by Moses, but
grace and truth They came by the Lord Jesus Christ, the elect
substitute, ordained of God. He made you righteous by his
perfect obedience to the law. Christ is the end of the law. He's the mediator of a better
covenant The covenant of grace for the
world was established on better promises. And all those promises are in
Christ Jesus. See how you don't get away from
Christ Jesus. He is the end of the law for
righteousness to everyone that believeth and as God permits.
We're going to look at that verse very closely. We're going to
break it down into three parts. First part is for Christ is the
end of the law. Matthew 5, 17, Christ tells us,
thank not that I'm come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am
come not to destroy, but to fulfill. He fulfilled the scripture. He
came, he fulfilled all the scripture, but all the scripture pointed
to Christ is about him. All those types. All those pictures were of him.
And he fulfilled the law. He made it honorable. Magnified
it. The law condemns. The law is
the knowledge of sin. God created Adam, our first representative
head. He created him in his own image.
In our own image, let us create man. So therefore he was upright
and he was without sin. But Adam fell. Adam fell in the
garden. He disobeyed God. One command, that one act. And we were in him. We're in
his loins. So the day that you eat of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall surely die. He willingly ate of it. And he
died spiritually. And death reigned up to Moses. Look at Romans 5. Romans 5 verse 12. It says, wherefore is by one man
sin entered into the world? That's Adam. and death by sin. And so death passed upon all
men for that all have sinned. 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 all them that had not
sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression. Who is
the figure of him that was to come? Adam was our first representative,
head. What he did, we did, and him. There's no getting away from
that. We don't want to get away from that. And the law was given. to Moses on Mount Sinai to the
children of Israel. They said, Moses, you go talk
to God for us, because we're scared of him. Tell him whatever
he says, we'll do it. And they were down there sinning
while the law was being given to Moses. Paul describes the law. Look
in over here and flip back to Romans 7. Romans 7, verse 7. What shall we say then? Is the
law sin? Oh, God forbid. Nay, I had not
known sin, but by the law. For I had not known lust, except
the law had said thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion
by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence.
For without the law, sin was dead. For I was alive without
the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. In the commandment, which was
ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking
occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and
the commandment holy, and just and good. Was then that which
is made good death unto me? Oh, God forbid! But sin, that it might appear
sin, working death in me, by that which is good, That sin
by the commandment might become exceeding sinful, for we know
that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. We are nothing but sin, we do
nothing but sin. Total depravity, total ruin. Where is our hope? Galatians 3. Let's turn over
to Galatians 3, 22. Galatians 3, 22. But the scripture hath concluded
all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law, shut up unto faith, which should afterwards
be revealed. Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster,
and if you'll notice that's italicized to bring us unto Christ. It would be better read, the
law was our schoolmaster till Christ came. that we might be justified by
faith, but after that faith has come, we're no longer under the
schoolmaster. The faith of Jesus Christ, that
God-given faith, that true faith, faith that believes on Jesus
Christ That faith that looks to the object of our faith. The
Lord Jesus Christ. The faith of Jesus Christ in
his righteousness. Spiritual life in him. Faith
to believe on the Son of God. Whom he sent to be our propitiation. The faith of Jesus Christ. He trusted Christ. He believed
that Christ, that God Almighty, God the Father would raise him
up. God the Father. He trusted, he
believed that Christ. Would do all his will, he would
save his elect. Laying down his own life and
shedding his blood for his elect. And he'd save every one of us
to the uttermost. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness. Abraham believed God, and it
was counted unto him for righteousness. Are we gonna boast in Abraham
and his faith? No, it's given of God. God preached
the gospel to him. Look at Romans 4, 17. Romans 4, 17. As it is written, I have made
thee a father of many nations, talking to Abraham. Before him,
whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead and calleth
those things which be not. as though they were. That's what
we are. We're not what we are gonna be. Praise God. Who against hope
believed in hope that he might become the father of many nations.
According to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. And being
not weak in the faith, he considered not his own body now dead when
he was in a hundred years old, neither yet of the deadness of
Sarah's womb. He staggered not at the promise of God through
unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God and being
fully persuaded that what God had promised him, he was able,
God is able to perform. And therefore it was imputed
to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his
sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom
it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our
Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses, and he was
raised again for our justification. Let God give him faith. the only one who can give it. By the free and sovereign grace
of our holy God and his son, Lord Jesus Christ. Look what Christ has done for
his elect. Look what he's done for us. He
has made you fellow heirs with him. made us children of God
in him. He's made us partakers of his
divine nature. If you look over in Galatians
four, verse one. Now I say that in the air, as
long as he is a child, differs nothing from a servant, though
he be Lord of all, but is under tutors and governors until the
time appointed of the father. Even so, we, when we were children,
were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness
of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman,
made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law. that we might receive the adoption
of sons. And because you're sons, God
has sent forth his spirit of his son into your hearts. That's how you can cry, Abba,
Father. There is no other way. Christ
Jesus did it all. Just flip over and hold your
place there in Galatians 3. Verse six. Even as Abraham believed
God and it was accounted to him for righteousness, know ye therefore
that they which are of faith and the same are the children
of Abraham. And the scripture foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen through faith preached before
the gospel unto Abraham. Same gospel that we are preached. And these shall all nations be
blessed. So then they which be of faith
are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works
of the law are under the curse, for it's written, cursed is everyone
that continues not in all things which are written in the book
of the law to do them. But that no man is justified
by the law in the sight of God, it is evident. For the just shall
live by faith. And the law is not of faith,
but the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us. For it's written, cursed is everyone
that hangs on a tree. that the blessings of Abraham
might come on to the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we
might receive the promise, here's the promise, of the Spirit through
faith. His Spirit, that same Spirit,
the Holy Spirit of God Almighty, He gives to us in Christ. Oh, God, remember your covenant
of grace. Grace of God before the foundation
of the world. Grace of God, that eternal, unchangeable
grace chosen in Christ Jesus unto salvation, who is the power
of God unto salvation. He made him our surety and our
mediator and our substitute and our redeemer. It's to His glory. For by grace ye are saved, through
faith. And that not of yourselves, it's
a gift of God. It's not of works, lest any man
should boast. He's the just, and He's the justifier. Christ is the end of the law,
for righteousness to everyone who believeth. He came, manifest
in the flesh, born of a virgin, brought low, brought low. The King of Kings, the Lord of
Lord, the God Almighty came in the flesh as a baby. Can you imagine? In a woman's womb, in His creation's
womb. He was born of the Spirit of
God, he never ceased to be God. He didn't blink his eyes, he
didn't wave his hand like you see on TV. God Almighty, he called
down a, he was a baby. He trusted God the Father for everything. Can't wrap your mind, I can't
wrap my mind around that. But I believe it. Through faith. He's God. Firstborn among many
brethren. He suffered. No one ever has. No one ever will suffer. Like the Lord Jesus Christ. That King. That Creator of all
things came down to this earth. He who is life eternal came in our flesh, sinless, to die. Made a little lower than the
angels to die. Because the wages of sin are
death. We're all guilty. His elect were guilty. Born guilty,
born spiritually dead. He did for you what you could
never do for yourself. He suffered. He bled and he died. And he was buried. Oh. And he put them away. He put those sins away because
he rose again. He justified you. That's where
your righteousness is, that perfect obedience to God unto death.
He rose that third day according to the scripture. Victorious. Victorious over death, over Satan. He crushed his head. Look what he did for you. And we ran him. So you could have life, he died. So we could have life, he died
for us. And it ain't all. He's a just. He was just and holy. Just for the unjust. Laid down
his life for his elect. It's why we were yet in our sins.
It's why we still hated God. Before we were even born. And he raised himself up again.
Got the power to lay life, lay it down, and I got the power
to raise it up again. There's nothing impossible with
him. His blood shed for those mission
of sins is perfect. obedience to the law, the law that you couldn't keep.
He came as a man, as one of us, no without sin. And he perfectly
fulfilled that law. Perfect. That's what God demanded. That's what he required. He demands
it of you. He demands it of me. I couldn't
do it. There's no way I could do it. And there's no way you can do
it. He came. He did it for us. God Almighty. His perfect righteousness. His
perfect righteousness. Holy, just, sinless, blameless,
spotless Lamb of God. That sacrifice that God chose. as our, he became voluntary as
our substitute. It's the joy. Hating the shame,
but oh for the joy of saving his elect. He gets joy from this.
From all the suffering, all the temptations. And he never sinned. God made
him to be sinned. God might don't understand it,
but praise God, we believe it by faith. He made him to be sin
for us who do no sin, that we might have that righteousness.
We might be made the righteousness of God that we just talked about
in Romans 10, that we be made the righteousness of God in him. Imputed righteousness. Imputed
justification. Imparted. We're sanctified in
Him. And He'll never take it away.
And He's made Him to be everything to us. Our wisdom. We don't have
any knowledge apart from God. Heard from Jesus Christ. We have
no righteousness. He made Him to be our righteousness,
our sanctification. Are you any holier now than you
were before you were saved, Brother Mark? I'm not. Sometimes I think
I'm worse. But it's Him in us. It's we in
Him. It's not you. You can't do it. He couldn't do it. He came. He did it for you. and all that
redemption. He made him to be redemption
for us. To put away our sins. And there's
more. He predestinated us to be conformed
to Christ's image. Predestinated us unto the adoption
of children of God in him. Made us one with God in him. That unity. And he calls us He's gonna call
each and every one of his elect. He's gonna do it through his
gospel, through his word, through Christ crucified being preached
to you, what he has done for you. He's gonna do it through a foul,
vile creature, a preacher that he's gonna send. And that word better be from
him. It better be from God. It better be Christ speaking
through him. Because if not, it's just a bunch
of vain jangling. Worthless. Oh, and that God, the Holy Spirit. It's the work of God. God, the
Holy Spirit quickens you. Borns you again. You must be
born again. Born again creates a new creature
in you. Christ revealed in you that hope
of glory. There's your hope. God, by his
grace, gives us a new heart. Holy Spirit applies the blood
of Christ to it. And he sprinkles. And he sprinkles
our conscience that we can serve the true and living God. It's Christ's blood. He's the
mercy seat. It's his blood that's sprinkled
on it. Makes us a new creature in him
and gives us his spirit. It testifies of him. We're taught
of God. He is so near. He seals us just like an ark. He seals us. He seals us from
the evil of this world and he seals us from the wrath of God
that we so justly deserve. We've earned the wages of sin. We've earned that death, that
eternal death. But we had a substitute. His own people. God has made
us his own people in Christ Jesus because it pleased him to do
it. It pleases him to do it. That's his mercy and his love
toward us. And Christ hung on that tree,
he hung on that cross at Calvary and he bore all the sins of all
the elect, all their guilt. in all their shame. And he put it away. Voluntarily
became our substitute. And he willingly obeyed God. He humbled himself before him. Took on our sins and made them
his own and put them away, perfectly obeying the law of God. Died in our room instead because
that was the penalty. That's the penalty of sin is
to die. There's gotta be a death. He
came and died for us. It's his atoning blood that was
shed. He alone appeased the holy justice
of God. He alone. He died, we died in him. When
he arose, our lives hid in him. Let's look over to Romans 6, verse 9. Knowing that Christ, being raised
from the dead, dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over
him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once, but in that
he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise, look here, look what
he's done for you. Reckon ye also yourselves to
be dead indeed unto sin. but alive unto God through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in
your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lust thereof,
neither yield ye members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin,
but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from
the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness
unto God. For sin shall not have dominion
over you. Look here. For you're not under
the law. You're under grace. In Christ Jesus, you are under
grace. A new creature in him. Salvation is all of God. You
see that? God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit. It's all of God. And they reside in Him in Christ
Jesus bodily. The whole Godhead does. Look
to Him. Who else have we got to look
to? He's the revelation of God. He's the manifestation of God
in the flesh. And thirdly, Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. Who
believes? Who believes? Let's quickly read in chapter
10 of Romans, starting in five. For Moses described
the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth
those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is
of faith speaketh on this wise. Say not in thine heart who shall
ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down from above.
It's his suffering. Or who shall descend into the
deep, that is to bring Christ up from the dead. But what sayeth
it? The word is near thee, even in
thy mouth, even in thy heart. That is the word of faith, which
we preach. That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture
saith, whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For
there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek. For the
same Lord is over all, is rich unto all that call upon him.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not
believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things. Who believes? Who believes? It's those that God chose in
Christ for the foundation of the world. It's his elect, because
every one of those, he says, who he foreknow, he's going to
call. You can't call on the name of
the Lord unless he draws you, gives you faith to believe him. You can't believe in somebody
you don't know. He gives you the knowledge in
Christ Jesus. Knows he calls by his gospel.
He said that's the way he's going to do it. God doesn't need you.
He doesn't need me. He doesn't need anybody or anything. He created all, he's sovereign. But he uses his means. He uses
his means. Everything belongs to him and
he uses everything. Everything works to the good
of them that believe on him that are called. It all works because it's all
of God. He uses it all for his own glory
and for the salvation of his elect. That's why we preach Christ
crucified. Those born of God by the will
of God, not of man. Those that were predestined unto
salvation by the grace of God in Christ Jesus. Those that are
washed in his blood and robed in his righteousness. He loves
you in his son, whom he sent to redeem you. You're in him. God's elect people. There is
now no condemnation of them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh but after the spirit. For the law of the
spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law
of sin and death. You're freed through Christ's
suffering, through his bloodshed, through his death, through his
life, through the finished works of the Lord Jesus Christ. that
God the Father sent him to do, that just shall live by faith
in him. What he did for us on that cross at Calvary, you behold
the Lamb of God who was slain before the foundation of the
world. It was done in eternity. Because God thought it. God purposed
it. God decreed it to be done. But Christ came. He had to come. He had to accomplish. he had
to accomplish. Done in eternity, accomplished
on the cross at Calvary. Behold, Jesus Christ on the cross
at Calvary. And look what he's done for you.
Look what he's done for you. In conclusion, do you believe that Christ Jesus'
righteousness Is your only righteousness before God? Do you believe that? He alone
is your hope and your only acceptance to God. If you do, only God revealed
it to you. Because it's true. There's no other way. And he
will raise us up at the last day. He promised it, and he will
do it. He shall not fail. Do you believe
that when he chastens you, when he tries that faith that he gives
you, it is for your good and for his glory? Well, we know
that to be true. We can glory in our infirmities
because when we're weak, we're strong in him. His grace is sufficient
for us. He's all we need. Everything
he did is enough. There's no more to
be done. There's no more to add. You only
pollute it. He is just. And that faith. His love never changes. And our faith looks to his faith. He's the object of that faith.
Because he is faithful. He is our prophet. He is our priest. He is our king.
He sits on his throne. He humbled himself. He was brought
low. But he was exalted. He was exalted
when he died and when he rose again he ascended back up into
heaven. Exalted highly exalted above
all. He sits on that throne on the
right hand of the throne of God and he rules and he reigns And
he's sovereign over all his creation. Till all his enemies be made
his footstool. And he is holy and he intercedes
for us as our high priest. He's holy. And he's just. Because of what he did on Calvary.
His obedience to God. His righteousness. He's just
to forgive you of all your sins and your unrighteousness. You're going to sin because you
got those two natures. The Lord takes it away from you. The sin has no more dominion
over you. It's not. God's already put those sins
away. In Christ Jesus. They're gone. But we confess. And he's faithful to forgive.
Bring us in back in remembrance of what he has done for us. And putting those sins away.
It took him coming as a man. Suffering and laying down his
life, shedding his blood. And dying for you. That you may
have life in him. He's all you need. He's all that
God requires. There's no more requirement.
Nothing left to do. You never did anything. You certainly
can't do it now and you never will. Salvation is God. It's all of God from eternity
to eternity. And when you stray, he remains
faithful. That good shepherd He leads you
and He carries you in the paths of righteousness. He's not going to fail. He will
not lose one. You're right where you were ordained
to be. And it's all for the good. All for your good and all for
the glory of God. By faith, we submit to Him. And we believe on him through faith, that God-given
true faith that looks to Christ and Christ alone. For he is the
end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. May God bless his work.