It has been our privilege, really. It really has. I'm so thankful
to Brother Drew for asking me to come and Melinda for having
me in their home. It's been so enjoyable. And I'm thankful to all of you,
all of the ladies, all the men too, all the food and the hospitality. It's never an easy task to put
on a meeting. And I'm grateful for all your
effort. I am also very thankful for my
brothers traveling with me. They'll never know what it means
to me. And if you get the opportunity, travel with your pastor. You'll
never know what it means to him. Special. But our souls have truly
been encouraged being here. It's the most encouraging thing
I know of, being with brothers and sisters. I have three biological
sisters and I love it every time I'm with them. And I can't count
how many spiritual brothers and sisters I have and I love it
every time I'm with them. And so thank you, thank you for
having us. Turn with me if you would to Romans chapter four. Romans chapter 4, we have said
so far this weekend, each night, that we only have one message. And in preaching and in hearing
the gospel, we declare and we believe this one message that
God has given to us. Others may not declare it. and others may not believe it.
But by God's grace, and that's the point I want to stress, by
God's grace, what do we have that we haven't received? There
really is no room for boasting. By God's grace, we stand for
it. We do. We support it. We promote it. By God's grace,
by Him doing something in us, for us, we learn it. We learn this one true message. And we live for it. We dogmatically,
we very emphatically declare the truth of how God saves sinners. But do you know that sometimes
in the midst of the facts, we have these facts, sometimes in
the midst of the facts and in the midst of the fight, as the
scripture calls it, the apostle Paul said, I fought a good fight. That's how he described it. He
told Timothy concerning pastoring and preaching the gospel there
in Ephesus, he said, war a good warfare. Take a stand for it,
teach it. It's not gonna be well received.
It's not gonna be widely loved, but take a stand for it. Teach
it, preach it, promote it. In spite of the opposition, faithfully
teach the truths that God has set forth in His Word. But in
doing so, in declaring the truth of how
God saves sinners, in declaring the authority of it, it comes
with so much authority, doesn't it? The sovereignty of it, the particular
exactness of it, God is going to save whom he is going to save. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. In declaring the completeness
of it, the result of it, in declaring
this truth of how God saves sinners, sometimes we lose sight of the
blessedness of it. Sometimes we do in the midst
of all these facts and in the midst of all of this stand and
all of this. Sometimes we lose sight of the
blessedness of it. Oh, the blessedness of it. May we never lose sight of the
authority of this never. And the sovereignty of this and
the exactness of this and the completeness of this and the
blessedness of this. Romans 4 verse 6 says, David
described the blessedness of it. It says, Even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without works, saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are
forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. That's blessed, isn't it? That's blessed. Grace is amazing. It really is amazing. It's marvelous. It's infinite. It's matchless. It's wonderful. It's greater
than all my sin. You all know that song, Wonderful
Grace of Jesus. It's greater than all my sin.
Where sin abounded, grace much more abounded. I used to think
that Christ paid all my debt to the penny. That's not so. Where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. This is how much I owed and He
poured an infinite amount of grace on me. How shall my tongue
describe it? Where shall its praise begin?
taking away my burden, setting my spirit free, because the wonderful
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ reaches even me. Paul right here
is quoting Psalm 32, Romans 4 verse 6, even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without works, saying, he's quoting Psalm 32, right here. Blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Oh, the blessedness of that.
And here's the reason why. In Romans chapter 1, Paul said,
this is what Romans 1 says. Paul said, the Gentiles are such
sinners. They are such sinners. They are
so ruined. They're reprobate. They are so
completely lost without the law. They're lawless. In Romans chapter 2, he said
the Jews are such sinners. In Romans 1, he said those Gentiles
are all sinners. Chapter 2, he said the Jews are
such sinners. They're so ruined. They're so
self-righteous. They're so lost in the law. The Gentiles are lost and lawless. The Jews are lost under the law. In Romans chapter 3, he said,
all of mankind is so sinful, so ruined, so wicked, so destined
for destruction. Chapter 3, verse 24, he said,
But God. Look at that with me. Romans
3, we read this Friday night, but Romans 3, verse 23, it says,
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 hath 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. What
does that mean exactly? Paul said, well, David described
it back in Psalm 32, chapter four, verse six, even as David
also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth
righteousness without works. saying, Blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is
the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Blessed, blessed. You know, people
say, I'm so blessed. I'm so blessed, and here's the
reason why. It's because I'm so healthy. Just so blessed. If the Lord has given us good
health, then we're very thankful for that. We really are. That
is a wonderful thing. But good health is not the great
blessing of God on a man or a woman. Not at all. People say, I'm so
blessed because I'm so wealthy. If God provides for our needs,
then we give Him thanks for that. But wealth is not the great blessing
of God on a man or a woman. People say, I'm so blessed because
I'm so happy. And if God gives us contentment
in this life, that's wonderful. But contentment in this world
is not the great blessing of God on a man or a woman. Oh,
that God would teach more people that. I'm going after health. Forget it. All right, we only have three
score and ten. I'm going to go after wealth. Forget it. Solomon did all this, didn't
he? He said it's vanity. It's vanity. Health is vanity. Wealth is vanity. Happiness is
vanity. Well, I'm just not happy here.
What difference does it make? We're never going to be happy
here. In the world, we're going to have tribulation. He said, I'll make you perfect
after you suffer a while. The greatest blessing that God
could give to a man or a woman is a covering for his or her
sin. That's the greatest blessing. So Paul said the Gentiles are
such sinners. The Jews are such sinners. The
world is full of nothing but sinners. He said, but God has
provided a covering for man's sin. There is a place where a man
and a woman's iniquities can be forgiven. We don't see the
value in that. This flesh cannot see the importance
of that. We hear that. It goes in one
ear and out the other. Oh, my God, drop it down to the
heart. There is a place where a man
and a woman can hide under a protecting cover. When God's judgment comes down,
I was a while back, you all remember we had this solar eclipse. We were close to that main path,
but we weren't right under it. And I could not look into the
sun. Had I done that, I would have
damaged my eyes. But my sister was in the direct
path. And at that moment, they could
take those glasses off, and with plain eyes, under the cover,
Behold the glory of the sun. Safe, protected. Had I done that,
judgment's coming. It's too bright. It's too much. You cannot withstand it. There
is a place that we can hide under the cover and behold the glory
and behold the beauty of the sun and survive. and live. Where is this place? It's in the blood of Christ the
Son. In His own blood. In His own
body. God's wrath is coming down on
man's sin. It's coming down. We really are
like those old prophets, you know, crying, judgment's coming.
It's coming. It's coming. Either this, how long is the
world going to last? I don't know. Three more minutes? Three million more years? I don't
know. But either way, we're all going to meet God. Today is the
day. Men and women are going to meet
God right now. A soul just met Him right now.
Another soul just met Him right now. Somewhere. Judgment's coming. The wrath is coming down. There's
a place of safety. And it's in the person of the
Son of God. Romans 3 verse 24 says, being
justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is,
and I want to emphasize the word, in. In Christ Jesus. Sin demands the payment of wrath. Wrath demands the payment of
death. And Christ made the payment. Romans 3.25 says, God the Father
set His own Son forth to be a bloody victim for every sinner that
the Father placed inside of Him, inside of Christ. It is, it's impossible. I wrote
in my notes here, it's hard to fathom God's judgment on sin.
It's impossible. It's impossible. Mankind is never
going to be able to do that until he's under the judgment. Man thinks that everything in
this life is going to be fine. You know, he's just going to
go on about his business and go on about his life. One day he'll
lay down in peace. He has no idea what's coming
right on the other side. He does not realize that God's
judgment is going to fall on him, a horrible judgment that
cannot be described. All because of man's sin. God's judgment will come down
on all sin. Therefore, God's judgment will
come down on every man and woman on this earth. All have sinned. All have sinned. But let's see
if we can enter into the blessedness of what David described that
a man or a woman has if God the Father has put him or her in
Christ. All of the souls that the Father
chose to save, they had to have judgment come down on them. You
had to have judgment come down on you. All souls. No soul could be excused. Not one soul. God is holy and
He must punish sin. He doesn't sweep anything under
the rug. Well, we get a free pass because
we're the elect. It's not how it works. God must punish all sin. So God punished every single
one of His people. individually. For all of their
individual sins, God poured out the fury of His wrath to the
point of death on every single one of His people. God killed
each one of His people. That's a shocking way to say
it. God killed every single one of
His people for their sin. All of His people stood before
Him in the judgment. None of them made it. None of
them. Not one soul. God's holy judgment
demanded perfection. Absolute perfection. But even
though God killed His people, they live. And the reason is
because God in mercy chose to slay them in the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. They were all crucified with
Christ. Their sin was forgiven. That word actually means removed. Their sin was dealt with and
removed in the person of God the Son. God put them in Him
and looked at Him on that cross and saw them in Him and slew
them. God hid them in the covering
of Christ Himself. for the sake of His people, because
they were dwelling in the secret place of the Most High. Christ
was oppressed. Christ was afflicted. And this is the most amazing
thing, yet He opened not His mouth. All those railing accusations
came against Him and He opened not His mouth. You know why He
didn't open His mouth? I had done them. He was standing there with me
inside Him. And for my sake, He opened not
His mouth. They said, this is what you've
done. Christ was brought as a lamb
to the slaughter and He was wounded for our transgressions. He was
bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement that was owed
to us was upon Him And it's because we were inside Him. And in Him,
with His stripes, because blow after blow after blow, everything
we deserved, we got it. God poured out His wrath on us. And with His stripes, we are
healed. Now this is a glorious thing,
but this is the absolute truth. God's judgment comes down on
sin once. One time. The judgment is so
full. It is so complete. It is so devastating. It's so destructive. It only
needs to and it only can come down one time because it accomplishes
the punishment. There's nothing left to punish.
It only comes one time. And for all of God's people,
that one time, it's appointed unto every man once to die. And
for all of God's people, that one time was in the Lord Jesus
Christ on the cross of Calvary. If a sinner would like to see
what is waiting for them outside of Christ, All they have to do
is look to the cross. Everything that God poured out
on Christ is coming down on each one of us if we stand before
Him outside of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. But if a sinner
fears God, you know the fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. Seeing holiness, seeing judgment, seeing strictness,
being afraid, knowing what you are, knowing what you've done,
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And if a sinner fears
God and fears His judgment on sin and fears standing before
Him outside of the blood of Christ, do you fear standing before the
judgment throne outside of the blood of Christ? Could you imagine
standing before the throne of God outside of the covering of
Christ? If any sinner needs a covering,
If any sinner needs a hiding place, look to the cross. Look
to the cross. If God has caused you to see
Christ to be your only hope, and I would, you know, the scripture
says examine yourselves. I am right now examining myself.
As I'm saying this, examine yourselves. What is your hope before God? If what Christ endured on that
cross is your only hope before the judgment throne of God, if
that's the only thing you'll have to say, my lamb slain, the
lamb you provided for me, the blood that was shed, this is
all I have. If God has caused you to see
that to be your only hope, then that is faith. That's called
faith. That faith is not of yourself.
God gave it to you. If you see Christ to be your
only hope, then God gave that to you, and that faith is your
evidence that the blood was spilled for you. All who need Christ, all who
must have Christ, are in Christ. Every soul who needs Christ is
in Christ. Religion doesn't need Christ.
They have their own good works. Religion doesn't need His will.
They have their own will. They don't need His decision.
They have their own decision. But if a soul needs Christ, that
soul is in Christ. You cannot need Him until you're
in Him. Sin does not need Christ. Sinners
do not need Christ. God has to remove that first.
He has to do something about that first. And once that rebellion
is gone and once that desire to run from Him is gone, we're
just saying prone to wander, once God does something about
that, all that's left is a desire to run to Christ. And that's faith. And that faith
in Him, that's the evidence of being in Him. Every soul who
just has to have Christ is already in Him. Now what makes the work
of Christ's salvation for His people so blessed is His willingness
of it. The selflessness of it. Think
about how selfless that was. We can't add anything to Him.
He did not get anything in return. This was a one-way gift. The
completeness of it, the result of it, it's so blessed. What
He does to His people is so blessed. Paul said in our text, David
described the blessedness of it by describing the result of
it. He used a word two times right
here. And the word is impute, and if the Lord will open this
up to us, I'm telling you, this blessed my heart like I just
can't describe. David described it, but I can't.
But if the Lord will open this up, ask the Lord to open this
up to you. This is so glorious, all right? In understanding what
this word impute means, we'll see the blessedness of this.
Romans 4, verse 6, it says, Even as David also describeth the
blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are
forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Impute does not mean give to. It does not mean transfer to. It does not mean put it there. That's what it sounds like it
means. At first glance, at first reading, that's what it sounds
like it means. That's not what it means. God does not put sin
in man. He does not give to or transfer
sin to man. Man is conceived in sin. Sin is not something that is
separate from the flesh of man and then can be added to man.
The flesh of man is sin. Would you like to see what sin
looks like? There it is. There it is. That's sin. Alright? The flesh is sin. So impute does not mean put it
there or transfer it to. Impute means to acknowledge the
current condition of something. It means to take an inventory
of. Now, when we looked at this text
in Kingsport, I gave this illustration, and I'm gonna give it to you
now, because this is the best way I know to describe the blessedness
of it. If a hardware store took an inventory
of their merchandise, all right, They do that every six months
or every year. They'll take an inventory of
their merchandise to see what the current condition of their
stock is. What do we need to order? What
are we down on? If they took an inventory and they counted
25 shovels, they would impute that they have
25 shovels. They would not impute 26 shovels. Because they don't have 26 shovels.
They have 25 shovels. So they cannot impute. Not if
they want to be accurate. They cannot and they will not
impute 26 shovels. They will not acknowledge their
current condition. as having 26 shovels, they just
don't. You impute the reality of a matter,
what it actually is. I right now impute, now this
is just me, I know that ladies have different, they can be technical
on this. My wife is always saying, no,
that's not what it is. Okay, but I impute these walls to be
green. That's what I impute them to
be. In saying that, I'm not saying
that I am going to add green paint to these walls. I'm saying these walls already
have green paint on them. That's their current condition. Let's read these three verses
one more time. Even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness." After taking an inventory of,
after calculating the current condition of the man as he stands
in Christ, this is what God sees and this is what God acknowledges
him to be. righteousness. Even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are
forgiven. That means removed, gone. And whose sins are covered, atoned,
paid for. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. He will not acknowledge
it to be so. He will not declare it to be
the reality of the condition because it is not the reality
of the condition. If our sin was put in Christ
and dealt with in Christ and covered and forgiven, removed
in His blood, then it's gone. It's gone. And God will not acknowledge
it to be there because it's not there. It's not there. That's
blessed. That's blessed. That's true. That's factual. And it's blessed. Now I want to close with David's
exact wording. Paul has been quoting David.
Let's read his exact words in Psalm 32. Psalm 32, verse 1 says, Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth, not iniquity. David adds, and in whose spirit
there is no God. That's why God imputes it to
be that way. It's because in the blood of
Christ, that's the way it is. Christ put it away. It's gone.
There is no God. The last verse in this Psalm,
Psalm 32, verse 11 says, Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, ye righteous,
and shout for joy, all ye that are. In Christ, all ye that are upright
in heart. That's blessed, isn't it? In
Christ, as He is, so are you. That's what God says. That's
amazing. That's blessed. Well, I pray
the Lord will bless that. Thank you again for having me.
The Lord be with you.