Well, we've been thinking in
recent weeks about the difference between true and false religion,
true and false Christianity. Is your religion true, or is
it the religion of what the Bible calls, and what Christ himself
called, Antichrist? Because there are many false
prophets around. There always have been, but especially
in these days, there are many false prophets Preaching one
who sounds like Christ, who looks to a certain extent like Christ,
but if you examine in detail, you will find is a false Christ,
is not the true Christ, is not a Christ who can accomplish the
salvation of his people. We looked especially at the test
that John the Apostle gave in his first epistle, chapter 4,
verses 2 and 3. The way you tell, you try the
spirits, you try the preachers, you test them, are they preaching,
is the Jesus that they preach the one who is the Old Testament
Messiah, the Christ come in the flesh? And we applied some tests
to determine what could help you to make that decision. Is
the Christ they're preaching the elect head of his elect body? Is he the one set apart by God
to accomplish the salvation of a particular people that he calls
his sheep? Is he that? Did he accomplish
salvation for them? Did he not just make it possible,
did he actually accomplish salvation for them? Such that they are
qualified for heaven. Such that they're qualified for
heaven. And did he make them what is absolutely required?
You know what we must have in order to see God? And without
it, we will not see God. The epistle to the Hebrews tells
us, chapter 12, verse 14, follow after peace with all men and
holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. If you're
not holy, you will not see God. So how are you going to be holy?
You who in the, Judgment of God according to the law of God are
a sinner, worthy of condemnation. In fact, God can do nothing other
than condemn you as you are. Now last week, we looked in some
detail at God's sovereign election of his sheep and looked in John
chapter 10. He calls his people his sheep.
This week, I want to look at the salvation that Christ accomplished
for his sheep. And I have a text which, we're
not going to spend very much time in this part of the scripture,
but the text is here because of what the words of the verse
say. In Isaiah 45 and verse 25, we read this. I love these chapters
in the middle of Isaiah. Well, I love the whole book,
but these chapters particularly are very precious to me. And
he's been talking about God being a just God and a saviour. And
there's that verse, look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends
of the earth, for I am God and there is none else. And so it
goes on. He says, every knee will bow,
and that's what Paul quotes in Philippians chapter two and verse
10. And then in verse 25, he summarises it. In the Lord shall
all the seed of Israel be justified and shall glory. In the Lord.
shall all the seed of Israel be justified and shall glory. We'll refer to many texts, but
this is so important. If you're listening for the first
time to this message, I want you to think very, very carefully
about this, because you see, eternal life is at stake. The eternal state of your soul,
your immortal soul, is at stake. This is so important. It's a
matter of heaven or hell. It's a matter of bliss or sorrow. It's a matter of, come ye blessed
of my father and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from
the foundation of the world, or depart from me, you who work
iniquity, I never knew you. It's that crucial. To enter heaven,
I must be justified. But according to Job, and other
places, Job chapter 9 verse 2. How should a man be just with
God? How can we be justified? What
is it to be justified? It's to be declared without any
sin. It's to be declared not guilty
of the crime of which I'm accused. That's what it is to be justified.
What is it to be justified? My first point. Think of the
justice of the society in which we live. I know most people that
live in Western democracies would say that their justice system
is falling apart and that more and more every day we see evidence
of the fact that this country and its authorities have forgotten
what true justice is. There is so precious little taking it from the principles
of the Word of God. But nevertheless, in principle,
society has laws. Things that, generally speaking,
that are all about not harming other people by what you do.
It has laws to prevent us to say you shouldn't do this because
it might harm somebody else. And people commit offences against
that law. And charges are brought. You are charged. There is a law
that says you must not steal, and you have stolen. This is
the charge against you. And there is a trial, and evidence
is presented before a judge and a jury, and a judgment is arrived
at where the... Twelve people on the jury assess
the evidence and with the judge's guidance they come to the conclusion,
is this person guilty or not guilty? That's the finding. Either
guilty or not guilty. Either justified or condemned. Justified and set at liberty,
you may go free. Have you seen court dramas? It
really happens. You're not guilty. How do you
find not guilty? Oh, he's justified. He's justified
from the charge that was brought against him. So what's the result
of being justified? You're set at liberty. You may
go. You're free to go. Or, guilty. You're guilty. A penalty must
be paid. Justice must be satisfied. If
you do this and you're found guilty of doing it, you must
pay the penalty. Now, justified is not the same
as pardoned. justified is not the same as
pardoned. Really? No. You can be guilty
and yet for some reason you can be pardoned. Somebody can be
guilty but because of extenuating circumstances or whatever else
it might be there can be a pardon pronounced. But that's not the
same as being justified, because you're still guilty of the crime. You've still committed the crime,
even though justice says, okay, we'll pardon you from the penalty.
What about God's justice? What about God's justice? God
won't do that. Anything less than absolute moral
perfection in thought and word and action is sin. It's incompatible
with God's character, God's holy character. He is holy. He is
pure. His kingdom is absolutely pure. Nothing that defiles can enter
it. The unchangeable God, the unchangeable God, let those words
sink in. God cannot change, like we in
a fickle way change our minds. God can never tolerate sin. And his word tells us, I mean,
the chapter of Ezekiel 18, in two separate verses, verses 4
and 20, it's repeated, to underline it, the soul that sinneth, it
shall die. The soul that sins cannot be
accepted by God, and yet all have sinned and come short of
the glory of God. There is none righteous, no,
not one. What, you and me? Yes, you and
me. You and me. What, the Apostle
Paul? Yes, the Apostle Paul, who said,
the chief of sinners. He was the chief of sinners.
In everything we think and say and do, we transgress God's perfection,
and we confirm our just condemnation. It is appointed. to man, every
single one of us, every single one of us, in this room, elsewhere,
on the internet, anybody that will listen to this later, it
is appointed to man to die once, and then the judgment. To be
justified under the law of God, we must be found to be without
sin, and not just neutral, but as righteous as God is righteous.
Let me say that again. To be justified under God's law,
we must be found to be without sin, and not just neutral, but
as righteous as God is righteous. And that is alarming to any whom
the Holy Spirit has made conscious of it. That is alarming. It's an awakening that I am a
sinner before the just and holy righteousness of God. I am completely
incompatible with everything that is good, that everything
that is God, I'm completely incompatible with it. And it's alarming. You
know when... in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress,
when Christian was made aware of his sin by the Holy Spirit,
and his family thought he'd gone mad, and the people, his neighbours,
they all thought, all living in vanity fare, they all thought,
what on earth's wrong with you? Come on, shake yourself up, stop
this, this is absolute nonsense. But he was burdened, nearly crushed
with a burden, that he was a sinner, loaded with sin, and that he
was appointed to die once and then he would face God with that
sin on his back and he knew that a holy God must, could not other
than condemn him to hell. But here's the comfort. Here's
the good news. Here's the gospel. Good news,
that's what it means. God's word tells God's sheep
that in himself, in himself, the Lord, himself the Lord, all
of them, all of his sheep shall be justified. In the Lord shall
all the seed of Israel be justified and shall glory. Let's see how. Though we can never plumb the
depths. In one 35, 40 minute sermon,
how can we ever plumb the depths of this? A lifetime of reading,
of hearing, of meditating, will constantly reveal new angles. It won't reveal new truth, it
will reveal new angles on divine truth. But for now, I want to
think of three things. Firstly, the sin of Christ's
sheep. How do they get rid of it? It's
transferred to the Lord Jesus Christ, to the Lord, to our God. Secondly, the righteousness of
God is transferred to the sheep. And thirdly, The title, The Inheritance
of Eternal Life, is confirmed. So firstly then, the sin of Christ's
sheep transferred to him. We used to sing back in Arminian
circles many, many years ago, gone, gone, gone, gone, yes,
my sins are gone. Now my soul is free and in my
heart's a song. Buried in the deepest sea, yes,
that's good enough for me. I will live eternally, praise
God, my sins are gone. And you say, well, what wonderful
doctrine. Yeah, the trouble was. that the Arminian doctrine of
the circles in which we used to sing that was false doctrine. It was false Arminian theology,
which was not the theology of the book of God. And that Arminian
theology, that faulty Arminian theology, that Christ who in
actual fact would prove under scrutiny to be Antichrist, that
gave no basis for the claim that gone, gone, gone, gone, yes,
my sins are gone. You see, you can be blithely
going along thinking that you're about to inherit a fortune from
some rich benefactor. But if your name's not in the
will when it's read, you're going to be dreadfully disappointed.
You know, think about that. You can think, oh yes, it's all
going to be all right. No, if your name's not on the will,
it doesn't matter what you think and what you hope, it isn't coming
to pass. We need to be found to really
have no sin when examined by the law of God under his justice. Think about it. You and me who
are sinners, we know we know that we're sinners if we say
we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us says
john yes in the flesh undoubtedly we're sinners and when we're
examined under the justice of god what will it say what will
it say will it say no he's not a sinner he's justified let him
go how shall Our text be true. How shall it be true that in
the Lord all the seed of Israel shall be justified and shall
glory? There is the key. The answer's
there. In the Lord. In the Lord. It's by divine decree. God is almighty God over all. By divine decree, God has done
what human justice cannot do and accused can only be justified
in human justice in our courts of law an accused of a crime
can only be justified that they didn't commit that crime that
they don't bear that crime they're not responsible for it they haven't
a penalty to pay you can only be justified by being found that
according to the evidence you didn't commit the crime you're
not guilty somebody might be found guilty And his penalty,
under the law, might be paid by someone else. I might commit
a speeding offence, let's say, and I might be fined £100. And
it's never happened, don't worry, and I don't think it's likely
to, but some benefactor might come along and say, oh, do you
know, I feel sorry for him. There's the £100, I'll clear
that. The debt is gone, the debt is paid, but I'm still the speeder. I still committed the offence.
It's still on my driving record that I committed that offence.
But God decreed that the sins of his people, who are his people?
His elect, his sheep, his body. He is the head of the body. his
church, his people chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world, a multitude that no man can number from every
tribe and tongue and kindred, a multitude that John in Revelation
7 and verse 9 looked, he looked, he'd seen all the tribes in their
earthly the 144,000, then he looks in heaven and there's a
multitude that no man can number. This is the people of God. And God has decreed that the
sins of that multitude should be placed on his Son. And that
justice, divine justice, what divine justice demanded that
the soul that sins, it shall die, that penalty should be paid
by him, their substitute. What does the scripture say?
Turn over a few pages to Isaiah chapter 53. Now, I'm not going
to seek to preach a sermon on Isaiah 53, but just point one
or two things out. But I'll tell you what I would
do. Our brother Peter Mennie preached on Isaiah 53 last week. What a splendid sermon. What
an excellent sermon. If you get a chance, go back
on sermon audio and look at his preaching on Isaiah 53. But I
just want to bring out one or two things. In Isaiah 53 and
verse 4, look what it says there. He's talking about the Lamb of
God. He's talking about the Messiah.
He's talking about God's... elect servant. Behold my servant,
says verse 13 of the previous chapter. This is Christ, the
second person of the Trinity, the God-man, coming, God becoming
man, that by death he might save his people from their sins. And
it says in verse four, surely he hath borne our griefs. Griefs are not sins. Griefs are the effects of sin.
Yeah? He has borne our griefs and carried
our sorrows. Sorrows are not sins, but they
are the effects of sin. Yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. Ah, there. He was wounded for
our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace, the chastisement that brings
about our peace with God, the penalty that had to be paid to
make our peace with God was upon Him. He paid it. And with His
stripes, the stripes of beating that were laid upon Him, by those
stripes that He bore, we, His people, are healed. All we, all
we, all of his people, like sheep, that's why he calls us his sheep
in John 10, all we like sheep have gone astray. We've gone
astray from the justice and righteousness and holiness of God. All we like
sheep have gone astray. We all have hearts that are desperately
wicked. Who can know them? God knows
them. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone
to his own way. and this is it, look, the Lord
hath laid on him the iniquity of us all, of all his people,
of his church, of his body, of his sheep. All of the iniquity
that is the iniquity of the sheep has been laid on him. Who did
it? The Lord hath laid on him. On whom? On the Lord. The Lord
said unto my Lord. You'll read that in the scriptures.
This is the second person of the Trinity bearing the sins
of his people under the justice of God. He was oppressed and
he was afflicted. Let's jump down to verse 11 for
the sake of time. He, God, shall see of the travail
of his soul, the burden, the work of his soul, and shall be
satisfied. God, in his justice, shall be
satisfied with what Christ has done in bearing the punishment
of the sins of his people. He shall be satisfied by his
knowledge, by knowing him. Shall my righteous servant justify
many? Do you know him? Do you know
the Lord Jesus Christ? Because if you do, you are justified
in him. He shall justify many. How can
he justify many sinners? How can he make many sinners,
who are really in the flesh sinners, under the justice of God, under
the searching eye of God, how can it be said they haven't got
any sin? They're not guilty of any sin.
They're righteous, they're justified. How can he do that? Answer, he
shall bear their iniquities. Verse 12, therefore will I divide
him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil
with the strong because he has poured out his soul unto death. And he poured out his soul unto
death. He was numbered with the transgressors
as he hung on that cross between two criminals. He was numbered
with the transgressors. And listen, he bare the sins
of many and made intercession for the transgressors. He bore
the effects of his people's sins and their sins only. by bearing
the sins themselves. He actually bore the sins of
his people, is what it said. Here's a word that you might
not have heard before, but it's vicarious. It was a vicarious
act. He acted and did it for another,
or for many others, his sheep. He did it in their place, so
that under the justice and decree of Almighty God, it was counted,
it is counted, as though those sheep had done it themselves.
It was vicarious, it was in their place. The guilt of it he bore. The penalty of it he bore. He
made payment for it. He suffered the pain of it as
the substitute of his people, exactly as the New Testament
confirms. Paul writing to the Corinthians.
2 Corinthians 5 verse 21, you ought to know this off by heart.
For he, God, made him, Jesus, who knew no sin, the sinless
Lamb of God, he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us. Why? That we might be made the
righteousness of God in him. What a mysterious transaction. What a marvellous work that the
holy God should make the people he loved, who are sinners and
guilty under his law by nature, he should justify them. He should
make them the righteousness of God in him. What does it say
about cursed in Galatians chapter 3? Cursed is everyone that doesn't
continue in all things written in the book of the law to do
them. And then in verse 13 of chapter 3. But Christ has redeemed
us from the curse of the law. That curse of the law that says
the soul that sins it shall die. He has redeemed us from the curse
of the law. How? by himself being made a
curse for us. He bore our sin and therefore
cursed was he. And he was hung on that tree,
that cross of Calvary. In 1 Peter chapter 2. And verse
24, Peter says this, well, verse 22, he says, he did no sin, neither
was any guile found in his mouth. Verse 21 even, go back to there.
Here unto where ye call, because Christ also suffered for us,
leaving us an example that ye should follow in his steps. Him
who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. Who when
he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he'd threaten
not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously.
Who his own self bear our sins. in his own body on the tree,
that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness.
By whose stripes ye are healed. Glorious words, glorious words
of scriptural truth. It was foreshadowed in the day
of atonement, which was given in the law of Moses in Leviticus
16. And if you're able to turn there,
turn to verse 20 of Leviticus 16. It talks about the priest
getting things prepared for the day of atonement and a bullet
was to be slain for the sins of the priest that the priest
might be then regarded as a sinless intercessor on behalf of the
people all of this picturing that which is actually accomplished
by Christ and in verse 20 when he had made an end of reconciling
the holy place and the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar
He shall bring the live goat. This is the scapegoat. There
were two goats. One's been killed in the place
for the people. And Aaron shall lay both his
hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over him all
the iniquities of the children of Israel. and all their transgressions
in all their sins, putting them, putting them, putting the sins.
It was simple. It didn't really happen, but
it was simple. He put them on the head of the
goat and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into
the wilderness. You know who that fit man is
that takes away our sins. That's our Lord Jesus Christ,
who alone is the fit man. and the goat shall bear upon
him the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto
a land not inhabited and he shall let the goat go in the wilderness
never to be found the scapegoat it's there in that that the animal
symbolically bore the sins of the congregation the animals
are made to be the sin of the congregation of Israel, to bear
the sin of the congregation of Israel, and note it was the congregation
of Israel that it was done for. It wasn't done for mankind in
general. It was the congregation of Israel. What does Isaiah say
in that verse, our text, verse 25 of chapter 44? In the Lord
shall all the seed of Israel be justified. And who is Israel? The New Testament tells us, Galatians
6 verse 16, the Israel of God. The Jacob's made, the cheats,
the swindlers, the sinners, Jacob made Israel princes with God. It's for Israel. He actually
bore the sins of his people. Did he actually bear them? Look at Psalm 69. Look at Psalm
69. I cause some controversy. many,
many years ago, probably about 12 or 14 years ago now, something
like that, and I preached on Psalm 69, and there were people
who fell out with me quite seriously and said they weren't going to
listen to me anymore, because when it came to verse 5, that
verse there in Psalm 69 says, O God, thou knowest my foolishness,
and my sins are not hid from thee. And I asked the question,
whose sins, whose sins are they? And I said, they're Christ's
sins. Ah, said many. He's calling Christ
a sinner. No, I wasn't. I'm saying that
when he was on the cross, he bore the sins of his people. On the cross. Look, it's clearly
Christ. If you look at verse 20 and 21
of that same psalm, Reproach hath broken my heart, I am full
of heaviness. Who's this speaking? It's Christ.
I looked for some to take pity, but there was none, and for comforters,
but I found none. They gave me also gall for my
meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. It's Christ
on the cross who's saying O God, thou knowest my foolishness,
my guiltiness, and my sins are not hid from thee. Whose sins? His sins, because the sins of
his people were made his very own. They were made his sins. In Hebrews 9, And verse 28, just
after that verse, appointed to man to die once and then the
judgment, verse 28, so Christ was once offered to bear the
sins of many. And unto them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without salvation. When he was
on the cross, he was bearing the sins of many, but he's coming
again the second time and there won't be any sin on him that
time, because he's coming in judgment to end all things. So
where are the sins of his people? Psalm 103 verse 12 says, You
know why it doesn't say, as far as the north is from the south? I'll tell you why. You start
at the North Pole and you travel all the way to the South Pole
and keep going, and where do you get to? You get back to the
North Pole and so on. But if you start anywhere else
on the equator and go east or west, you keep going, you can
never ever find what's called the West, because relatively
everywhere is either west or east of wherever you are. As
far as the East is from the West, so far hath he removed our transgressions
from us. With this doctrine, this true
scriptural doctrine, we can sing, gone, gone, gone, gone, yes my
sins are gone. My sin, we sang it in the third
verse of that hymn, It is well with my soul. My sin, not in
part, but the whole. the bliss of this glorious thought,
my sin not in part, but the whole is nailed to his cross and I
bear it no more. I'm justified in the Lord, I
am justified. So that when it comes to judgment,
here's two verses. One is one of the oracles of
Balaam, that false prophet, nevertheless he spoke true words because God
gave them to him. Numbers 23 and verse 21. when
Balak tried to get Balaam to curse Israel, and he said, I
can only do what the Lord tells me. And these are the words that
the Lord put in his mouth. that God has not beheld iniquity
in Jacob, neither has he seen perverseness in Israel. In Jeremiah
50 and verse 20, the day of judgment comes, the iniquity of Israel.
We'll all stand before the judgment seat of Christ to receive the
things done in the body. The iniquity of Israel shall
be sought for. The iniquity of the sheep of
God, the church of God, the people of God shall be sought for, and
there shall be none. And the sins of Judah, and they
shall not be found. because he will have taken them
away. In Isaiah, again, Isaiah chapter 44, Isaiah chapter 44
and verses 22 and 23. We read there God saying to his
people, remember these, O Jacob and Israel. Then verse 22, I
have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a
cloud thy sins. Return unto me, for I have redeemed
thee. Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord
hath done it. Shout, ye lower parts of the
earth. Break forth into singing, ye mountains. O forest and every
tree therein. Why? For the Lord hath redeemed
Jacob and glorified himself in Israel. He's redeemed Israel
and glorified himself in Israel. It says in Acts chapter three,
I think it's Peter preaching, verse 19, he calls on them to
repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted
out, taken away. This is God's marvellous work. In Isaiah 29 and verse 14, we
read this, Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous
work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder.
For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding
of their prudent men shall be hid. Human logic won't apply
to it. And then it's quoted. It's quoted
in 1 Corinthians. Chapter 1 and verses 18 and 19,
where we read this, for the preaching of the cross is to them that
perish foolishness, the wisdom of the wise. Where was it? Oh, foolishness.
But unto us which are saved it is the power of God, for it is
written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to
nothing the understanding of the prudent. We just read it
in Isaiah. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is
the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world in the gospel of his grace? He's a just God
and a savior. Christ was made the sin of his
sheep, and only them. He didn't die for the sins of
the whole world. If you hear anybody saying that
under any title of any... preacher or denomination or whatever
it is, it is not true, because it is not taught by God's world.
Christ was made the sin of his sheep and his sheep alone, and
for them and them alone he paid the divine penalty. It says in
Isaiah, comfort ye, comfort ye my people, they have received
of their sins the double, meaning the exact reflection. He has
paid for their sins, one for one, exactly what justice required.
That's what that means. So in union with him, his sheep
are judged to be without sin. So who can bring any charge against
God's elect, says Romans 8? Christ has died. He's taken it
away. My sin, not the part in but the
whole, is nailed to his cross and I bear it no more. Do you
believe this? Are you knighted with him? Then
you can sing, as we sang, bold shall I stand in that great day.
Oh, I think we're going to sing it as our final hymn. That's
right, verse three of our final hymn. Bold shall I stand in that
great day, for who ought to my charge shall lay, while through
thy blood absolved I am from sin's tremendous curse and shame.
But then, quickly, the righteousness of God is transferred to the
sheep. I read it in 2 Corinthians 5.21. He made him who knew no
sin to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Sin removed is half the story. But we must be made the righteousness
of God in Christ. For without it, without holiness,
without righteousness, we shall not see the Lord. To enter God's
eternal kingdom, you must be judged holy. Where sin once was,
there must be holiness to fill the gap. It can't just be left
empty. As Jesus said about getting rid
of the demon, he said, beware that you cast out the demon and
leave the house empty for the devil to come back with seven
other spirits worse than the first one. You've got to fill
the gap. As sin was transferred to Christ
and paid for, God's righteousness must really be transferred to
his sheep. The righteousness of God, says
Romans 3.23, unto all and upon all them that believe. That's
the only identifying mark, that you believe the gospel. But there
we have the Word of God telling us the righteousness of God is
upon us. in Isaiah 54 verse 17. This is the heritage of the servants
of the Lord. And, listen, their righteousness
is of me, saith the Lord. The righteousness of God, by
virtue of his divine triune Father, Son, Holy Spirit, by virtue of
his divine holy being. Not legal obedience of Jesus
in this life. Yes, of course, Jesus obeyed
the law perfectly. But if we're justified by the
legal obedience of Jesus, why would Jesus need to die? If righteousness
come by the works of the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
No, the obedience of Christ that justifies the sheep is his obedience,
as it says in Philippians 2 verse 8, he was obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Thus, the sheep are actually
clothed with the qualifying wedding garment. I will greatly rejoice,
says Isaiah 61. You remember it. He's clothed
me with the garments of salvation. In Revelation 19 verse 8, it
was granted to the bride. the people of God in heaven at
the marriage supper of the Lamb, that she should be arrayed in
white. And the white, that is the righteousness
of the saints, not the righteous works they've done for the righteousnesses.
All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, the works we do
in the flesh. However well we try, it's the
righteousness of Christ. The robe of Christ is ever new. I think that hymn's gonna say
it again. Yes, the robe of Christ is ever new. And looking on his
bride, Christ sees his bride, his people, his sheep. Look at
the descriptions, just scratching the surface. Ephesians 5, 27,
speaking of his church. Husbands, love your wives as
Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might
present it to himself a glorious church. not having spot or this
bunch of sinners yes made the righteousness of God in him a
glorious church not having spot or wrinkle but holy and without
blemish in the song of Solomon chapter 4 and verse 7 thou art
all fair my love there is no spot in thee this is Christ speaking
to his people In chapter 5 of Song of Solomon, verse 2, my
sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled, thus God's sheep are
made, in the final minutes or so, heirs of eternal life, heirs
of eternal life, entitled to it. The deed is written, it's
signed in blood. The seed of Israel only are justified
in the Lord. The seed of God's chosen people
only are justified in the Lord. The seed of the Church of Jesus
Christ, which is the Israel of God, are justified in the Lord. justified by the transfer of
their sin to Christ. It's taken away. When God's justice,
which cannot lie, looks for the sins of his people, it's not
there. It was blotted out in his death. And by the transfer
of God's righteousness to them, by virtue of eternal union with
Christ, eternal union, for he is the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world, says Revelation 13.8, the sheep The sinners who
are worthy of eternal death are those who, as John says, 1 John
3, 14, they have passed from death unto life. Entry into eternal
bliss is certain, for Jesus prayed it. Jesus, on the night he was
betrayed, he prayed this, Father, I will that they also whom thou
hast given me be with me where I am. that they may behold my
glory. Are you amongst the sheep of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the great shepherd of the sheep? Well,
God cannot deny his son's prayer. You will be there and you will
behold his glory. You will be with him. God can't
deny that. What a glorious gospel. The seed
of Israel justified in the Lord and glory in him. There's a verse
that I love in Psalm 85 verse 10. It says, mercy and truth
are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed. What a glorious gospel.