I don't know why I thought about
it, but down at the old church, there was some visitors who came. They came a couple, three times. And they went home, and they
saw the man who invited them, and he said, well, what did you
think? And he said, well, two songs and a sermon. The next Sunday, I brought a
message titled, Two Songs and a Sermon. I don't know why people think
we meet. I don't know. I don't know. I
look back on my days of religion and wonder, why? Why did I do
the things that I did? Well, I invite you to turn back
with me this morning to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. In chapter 1 of 1 Corinthians,
the Apostle Paul lays the groundwork for all that he intends to write
to the Corinthians. He carefully points out in verse
2 those to whom his remarks are directed, to them that are sanctified
in Christ Jesus, to them who make up the Church of God, And
to those called to be saints, with all that in every place
call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. That is, he's our Lord, same
as he is there. And then Paul reminds them of
how they come to enjoy these privileges. I thank my God, verse four, always
on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you by
Jesus Christ. Now I grew up in religion and
I never heard, to my recollection, I never heard the name grace
mentioned one time. Not one time. Is there more important
word in the gospel than the grace of God? It's critical. It's critical. There's only two
kinds of religion in this world, works and grace. Just two kinds of religion. They
may take on the name Catholic or Baptist or Methodist or whatever. But there's only two kinds of
religion, works and grace. Those who believe salvation is
the gift of God, every part of it, the gift of God. And those
who believe that salvation is payment for your works, it's
a reward for your works. Paul tells them that grace, it's
the grace of God. I thank my God always on your
behalf for the grace of God which he has given to you by Jesus
Christ. And grace is a critical word
in the gospel of Jesus Christ. You cannot preach to fallen sinners
without the grace of God. Religion has no need for grace
because they absolutely deny the total depravity of man. Who
needs the grace of God but those who are totally depraved? If
a man has a measure of nature in him that will seek God, if
he has the ability to do good and to do righteous works and
to do these things, if he has that ability, what need does
he have of the grace of God? But if he has no ability, if
he's stripped of all of his ability, if he's a fallen creature, a
sinful creature, then his greatest need is the grace of God. Paul said, you are what you are
by the grace of God. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? Christ did, and grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Every unbelieving person I've
ever known finds themselves somewhere on the scale of righteousness.
If you sit and have a conversation with them, it's not going to
take them very long. They're going to tell you what
they've done, something that they've done. They can all point
to something they've done or not done. some moral issue that
they stood for, some generosity they've shown in the past, some
compassionate incident in their past, church attendance, reading,
contributions, and on and on and on the list goes. One fellow
said, alcohol never touched his lips. Well, maybe you ought to
get a drink. Probably do you some good. And they offer these things as
evidence that they're not altogether sinful. The problem is their hope and
their good deeds and works that they offer is the very evidence
that condemns them. The very thing that they're offering
out here is evidence of their goodness, evidence of their righteousness,
evidence that they're on that scale somewhere, and they really
don't care where they're at on the scale as long as they're
on the scale. and it's the very evidence that
condemns them. I want you to listen to me. This
is the word of God. This is Romans chapter three.
You all know it by heart by now. I've quoted it to you so many
times, but here's how he begins. He said, before I prove to you,
both Jews and Gentiles, they're all under sin. As it is written,
now listen, there is none righteous. Huh? How you gonna get on the scale
of righteousness if there's none righteous? How you gonna do a righteous
thing if you're not righteous? The scripture said, by the deeds
of the law. That's what we're talking about.
This is where man finds his hope, in the law. The law commands
him to do certain things, the law commands him not to do certain
things. So he looks to that law, and he says, I've done this,
I've not done this, and so on, and he begins to compile his
righteousness, begins to go up the scale, and he'll find his
spot up there somewhere. But the scripture says, by the
deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his
sight. So before you, Paul said, you
that seek to be under the law, do you hear the law? The Bible goes on in Romans chapter
three to say that there's none that doeth good, no not one. You cannot hope in doing good
as a means of righteousness because there's none that doeth good.
They're not only none that are good, and that's what our Lord
said, there's none good but God. Why are you calling me good?
You calling me God? Isn't that what he told that
rich young ruler? There's none good but God. All right, preachers, so what do
you call it when men and women do these things? They read their
Bibles, they go to church, they pray, offer their compassion
that they give to the poor and so on. What do you call that
if you don't call that good deeds? What do you call it? I call it
what the Holy Ghost calls it. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. You see, that's what it is. It's
short. I wasn't very tall in high school
and I loved to play basketball. And there's nothing that I, my
absolute goal in life back then was to be able to jump up and
touch that rim. And I just couldn't do it. I
was five foot 10, and there's no way I could get up and touch
that rim. I'd hit the net every now and
then, but I couldn't hit the rim. I just couldn't do it. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. You see, God has no scale of
righteousness. Men and women would be satisfied
to find themselves on that scale, and they often talk to me about
where they're at on that scale. I'm maybe not the best person
who ever lived, but I did this and I did that. As long as you're
on the scale, somewhere on the scale. There is no scale of righteousness. There's either righteous, a work
is either altogether righteous, or it's altogether an abomination
to God. There's no in between, there's
no scale. You're either 100% righteous,
you're as righteous as God, or you're not righteous at all.
You follow what I'm saying? God has no scale of righteousness. A thing is either altogether
righteous or an abomination to God. And the Holy Ghost tells
us that all our righteousnesses, whatever that is, we compile
them over the years, we think about them. All our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. Pus-covered rags. menstrual cloths were altogether unclean, he says. You see, the gospel's not geared
to help folks reach their true potential. I'm hearing this preach
on the radio. You come and join this church,
and we'll preach to you, and we'll help you reach your full
potential. The gospel's not geared to help
folks reach their true potential, to fill in a little gap created
by bad decisions and weak moments of temptation. The gospel's geared
to save sinners, ungodly, God-hating, rebels,
unrighteous, unsaintly sinners, sinners dead in trespasses and
sin, sinners who love darkness rather than light. The gospel's a message of the
free and unmerited grace of God. Our Lord said, you go learn what
this means, he told those. Boy, if he knew who that woman
was, he wouldn't let her touch him. Huh? Oh, my soul. He said, you go learn what this
means. He said, I'll have mercy and
not sacrifice. Now listen. For I'm not come
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. My friend, when God gives faith
to a man, He brings him to terms with his sinnerhood. He causes
him to confess what he really is. He brings him to see it,
to smell it, to feel it. He despises himself. He actually
gets on God's side in his own condemnation. He agrees with
God. He deserves hell. He don't come up before God and
say, now God, I ain't always done the right thing,
but I never did steal a watermelon. No, no. He comes pleading, I'm
a sinner. I'm a sinner. I've never done
anything. I've never performed a righteous
act. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. You go learn what this means,
Christ says. By way of the revelation of Christ,
he causes that man to bow to God's testimony concerning his
sin, and he literally takes sides with God against himself. Now, I want you to think about
something. Beloved, nothing, nothing God has designed, nothing
that God has ordained, accomplished, or is yet doing from his throne
in glory would benefit a righteous man. None of it. It was all done for sinners. All done for sinners. What good
would it do a righteous man? What good would imputed righteousness
do to a righteous man? Wouldn't help him a bit, would
it? These Pharisees who hoped in
the law, who hoped in their good deeds according to the law, Paul
wrote to Timothy and he said the law was not made for a righteous
man. What need would he have of a
law? He's righteous. The law wasn't
made for righteous men. It was made for sinners. Ungodly. Sinners. Thieves. Murderers. Nothing God has designed, ordained,
accomplished, or is yet doing from his throne and glory would
be of any benefit to a righteous man. A righteous man wouldn't
know the words to the song of redemption. He'd get into heaven,
go up there in that choir and they'd start to sing the song
of redemption. He wouldn't know the words. What
are they singing? What are they singing? A righteous man could not cast
his crown at Jesus' feet, could he? No, he'd wear that crown,
put them fingers in them suspenders, sit there and look. Nothing would benefit a righteous
man. Paul said, I do not frustrate
the grace of God if righteousness come by the law. Christ is dead
in vain. The gospel is geared for sinners,
and it's good news to the sinner. It's light shining in a dark
place. It's food in a famine and drink
in a drought. It's pardon for the guilty. It's treasure for a beggar. And
self-righteous men and women just don't get it. They just
don't get it. You can preach to them until
you're blue in the face. They just don't get it. But it's
good news to a sinner. Good news to a sinner. And as
we talk about these things this morning, I hope we can all receive
these things as they are directed for sinners, chosen sinners,
being called out of darkness into His marvelous light. If you can, I have four things
to give you this morning that can turn your sorrow into hope. Four things that I believe sum
up the preaching of Christ, who is the gospel incarnate. So what does a sinner hear? You
hear me talk about, the Lord said, blessed are your ears where
they hear, blessed are your eyes where they see. How shall you
call on him of whom you've not heard? What does a sinner hear
when he hears the preaching of Christ? What on earth is this
book talking about when it says, he that hath ears to hear, let
him hear? Well, first of all, he hears
Christ preached in the glory of his person. I've seen baby
Jesus in the manger. We, as children around Christmas
time and on Easter and different things, we put on plays and religion
and we were given words to memorize and we'd go up there and talk
about baby Jesus and all of these things. My friend Jesus Christ
is God. He's God. Without Him, nothing that was
made was made. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Jesus Christ
is God, our Savior. If He's our Savior, He's God,
our Savior. Does that make a difference?
It makes all the difference. It makes all the difference.
There's none good but God. But he's good. He's righteous. He loved righteousness and hated
iniquity. And therefore God crowned him
with a glory above everything else. He's not like God. He is God. He is God in person. In Colossians chapter 2 verse
9 Paul tells us that in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. All the fullness of the Father
is in Christ. All the fullness of the Holy
Ghost is in Christ. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily in this man. Scripture says, thou madest him
a little lower than the angels. Oh, my soul. God and man in one glorious person,
the creator himself taking into union with himself the form of
a man. Paul said in 1 Timothy 3.16,
without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. No matter how you view him in
this union, it's equally glorious as man in union with God or God
in union with man. Either way you want to look at
him, he's one glorious person. One glorious person. As man in
union with God, here's hope for the chief of sinners, a salvation
by representation. He took not on him the nature
of angels, but he was made the seed of Abraham, that promised
seed. A salvation by representation. One who's truly man and yet able
to please God in every aspect of his being. Satan couldn't tempt him. Satan
sought to find something in him, something in him that he could
use. He found nothing. He found nothing. As God our Savior, he's able
to save to the uttermost them who come unto God by him. He's
the God-man. Men talk about men falling away
and men Departing from Christ and all this kind of stuff. God
can't fail. If God does a thing, he does
it. He don't try to do it. He don't
attempt to do it. He don't hope he can do it. He
does it. He doeth his will. That's what
scripture said. In the armies of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth. We preach Christ, we preach him
in the glory of his person, one mediator between God and me and
the man, Christ Jesus. Eternal in his existence, his
appointments, and his power, yet manifested in this glorious
union in time. Listen to the scriptures. 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 children. When the sinner sees him by faith
with his spiritual eyes given to him by the grace of God, they
see him in the glory of his person, then he cannot help but trust
him. You can't know God and not trust him. That's an impossibility. Men don't trust Him because they
don't know Him. To know God is eternal life. Isn't that what Scripture says?
It's eternal life, to know Him. And when the sinner sees Him
by faith in the glory of His person, he can't help but trust
Him. It's not just the fact that He's
God and man and one glorious person, but the reason for it. You see, God can judge from his
throne. He don't have to come down here
and be made of a woman to judge. He can judge from his throne.
He has and does and will judge from his throne. He cast those
angels out. He didn't come down made of a
woman to cast Satan out of heaven, did he? Nope, cast him out from
his throne. And he can judge and curse sinners
from his throne. He can rule everything that is
from his throne. He is and does. He can gather all his enemies
before his throne without leaving his throne. But to save sinners, he must
come down. and take upon himself the form
of a man, be made of a woman. Why? Because salvation is through
a representative man, and that is the God-man. He must come
down and be made under the law to redeem them that were under
the law. Now the glory of his person takes in the eternality
of him. He's the lamb slain before the
foundation of the world. He said to those Pharisees, he
said before Abraham was, I am. I am. He said to John on the
Isle of Patmos, he said I'm Alpha and Omega. I'm the beginning
and the ending. I'm the first and the last. I'm
he which is and which was and which is to come. And when Paul began to talk about
God's wisdom in Christ, he said, oh, the depth of the riches of
the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments
and his ways past finding out. Jesus Christ is revealed to chosen
sinners in the glory of his person. His name is Emmanuel, God with
us. Is that your hope? You're gonna
go out and meet God. I don't care who you are or what
you believe, you're gonna go out and stand before God. Might
be today. Might be 70 years from now. But
you're gonna go, and you're gonna stand before God. What's your
hope? Huh? Well, I just hope I can
keep the law. That's not much of a hope. No
hope in that. Well, I just believe in Jesus.
Which one? Mexico's full of them, call them
Jesus. Which Jesus? Paul said they'll
come preaching another Jesus. Which Jesus do I believe? I believe
in the Jesus whose God come into the flesh. Why did he come? He came to save sinners. Paul
said this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am
chief. And secondly, I'll tell you this,
you hear him. That's sinners. When I'm talking
about spiritual ears, I'm talking about hearing him and spiritual
eyes, seeing him in the glory of his person. This is God. God,
our Savior. God with us, God for us. If God be for us, Paul wrote
to the Romans, he said, who can be against us? And then secondly, we preach
Christ and he's revealed to poor sinners as God the Holy Spirit
has set him forth in the word of God. I don't have to make
things up about Christ. I don't have to come up with
some new invention, some new word. All I have to do is tell
you what God said. Just read it to you. Paul said,
let God be true and every man a liar. Preach the word, Paul told Timothy. Don't preach your opinions. Don't
get on the national soapbox with whatever issues are coming to
pass. Don't preach church confessions.
Don't preach tradition. Preach Christ. Preach the word. And give needy sinners the gospel
as God the Holy Ghost has instructed us. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians
15, he wrote to that church. And he said, I declare unto you
the gospel. The gospel which I preached unto
you, which also you have received and wherein you stand, by which
also you shall be saved if you keep in memory what I preached
unto you, unless you have believed in vain. Now I want you to listen. First Corinthians chapter 15,
verse three. For I delivered unto you, first
of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures. Well, you say he died for his
elect, and we say he died for everybody. Who cares what I say
and what he said? What God say? You see what Paul's telling them?
It's not my opinion, I'm telling you what God said. He died for
our sins according to the scriptures. Not according to how you think,
not according to popular opinion, not according to church doctrine.
According to the scriptures, he died for our sins. The good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Thou shalt call his
name Jesus, he shall save his people from their sins. Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect, it's God that justifieth. Justifieth who? His elect. Who is he that condemns? Christ
has died, who did he die for? His elect. And he said, I preach not only
that. He died according to the scriptures and that he was buried
and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.
What's the scriptures say about that? It says he was delivered
for our offenses and raised again for our justification. To him give all the prophets
witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall
receive remission of sins. And then in Romans 3, 24, he
tells us we're justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that's in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth. Where'd he
do that? In the Old Testament. Set him
forth as a propitiation for our sins through faith in his blood. Every sacrifice pointed to Christ
and him crucified. The law, Paul said, was a shadow
of good things to come. And the word of God, both Old
and New Testaments, set forth Christ as the sinner's substitute
and the sinner's representative, and it sets him forth according
to his accomplished redemption at Calvary and his present rule
in glory. And then thirdly, to preach Christ
and to truly hear what's being preached is to hear Christ preached
in the full sufficiency of His work. What did He do? Did He just do the best He could
and then went on back to glory? What did Christ do? He said He came to save. What did
He do? You see what I'm saying? There's no other way to preach
Christ crucified except to preach Him in the full sufficiency of
His work. Jesus Christ has fully redeemed
His people from their sins. They're redeemed. What's He gonna tell them when
He calls them into this glorious light? He's gonna tell them,
you're redeemed. Boy, I tell you, that's good news for a sinner. You mean I have a redemption?
Oh yeah. Of God as he made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. We're fully redeemed. He has satisfied fully the justice
of God on our behalf, fully paid what was owed, so that a holy
God has justified them from all their sins. I can't imagine. I can't imagine. Knowing what I am, knowing a little bit about this
nature of mine, to be fully justified of God. You think about it. Ain't no other way it could be
except in Him. Has to be in Him. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Christ
that died, yea, rather that's risen again, who's even at the
right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. The very
evidence and surety of our justification is seated at the right hand of
God. And God hath made him to be unto us righteousness. He's
my righteousness. Paul said he took everything
that he trusted in as a righteousness and he took it out and threw
it on the donkey. Took it out to the landfill, threw it in
the garbage. He said, oh, that I might find
Christ, that I might win Christ and be found in Him. Listen,
not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
righteousness which is of God, that righteousness by faith. very evidence and surety of our
justification seated at the right hand of God. And except we were
made righteous in Him, we could never be justified. And except
He be made our sanctification, we could not be justified or
accepted or able to walk with God or to draw near in full assurance
of faith. truly hear Christ preached, Christ
and Him crucified is to hear Him preached in the full sufficiency
of His work. And then lastly, what is it these
spiritual ears and these spiritual eyes see and hear? What does
He hear when the gospel is preached in purity? It's to hear Him preached in
the sovereignty of His reign. My friend Jesus Christ, God our
Savior, has ascended back up to the Father and took his rightful
place at the Father's right hand. And he's Lord. He's Lord of the
dead and Lord of the living. There's nothing in this world,
not a sparrow, not anything that's going on here that's not under
this reign. He reigns over everything. There's a man in glory who's
seated upon the throne of omnipotence, and his reign is a reign of grace,
and his reign is a guarantee to all God's elect that they
will receive the full blessings of salvation as God has purposed
it for them before the world was. And every moment of his
providence, the preservation of creation, His power and rule
over world government and world religion and even the wicked
activities of Antichrist religion is being arranged and used for
our good and His glory. He reigns. He reigns. He's Lord, that's what Paul said.
He's our Lord and He's your Lord, He's Lord. You say, I don't believe
that. He Lord over you too? He's Lord
over you. There was one that came down
from heaven and took a chain and went over there and slapped
that chain around the neck of Satan. And he's holding the chain. The devil is his devil. He can't
do anything that the Lord don't permit him to do. Can you find hope in that? My
soul, I find so much hope in that. He reigns. He's Lord. And I'm glad he is. I'm glad he is. Ain't you glad
his will was prominent over yours? My soul. I'm glad he's on the throne.
I'll tell you, if I thought these idiots today in government was
ruling and making things I'll go crawl in a hole somewhere. He's on the throne. He's ruling. He's reigning. Sometimes it don't
appear like it, but he is. He is. He is, and I'm glad that
he is. Our Father, we thank you for
this special time that we can gather ourselves together in
your name. I pray that I've said some things
here today and that you'll be pleased to take them Use them. Use them in the minds
and hearts of those gathered here today for thy glory and
for our good. We ask it for Christ's sake.