There is a statement right in
the middle of Leviticus chapter 7 and verse 7 that has been on
my mind and heart for many weeks. And I believe the Lord's given
me a message and I'm going to use this both for my text and
my subject. Leviticus chapter 7 and verse
7. Right in the middle of the verse,
There is one law. There is one law. As the sin offering is, so is
the trespass offering. There is one law for them. The
priest that maketh atonement therewith shall have it. Obviously,
Moses is here telling us that the sin offering and the trespass
offering are one law. I spent a good time, a bit of
time over the years trying to figure out the difference between
the sin offering and trespass offering. And I came to the conclusion
that there's no difference. There's no difference. There's
some folks who try to make a big difference between the two, but
it appears to me there's no distinction at all to be made. Moses is also
telling us that all that he has said from the opening of Leviticus
chapter 1 verse 1 to this point in chapter 7 is but one law. Still there's more. I've never
counted them for myself, but I'm told by those who have that
God gave the children of Israel 613 distinct laws in Genesis through
Deuteronomy, in the five books of Moses. 613 specific commandments.
613 detailed meticulous regulations
for life and worship. Men divide those commandments
into sections because we like to try to fit God into our box.
Men speak of the moral law and the 10 commandments, the Levitical
law, the ceremonial law, the dietary laws, and the civil laws
given to Israel. But God says with regard to all
the sacrifices, And all the laws given to Israel, there is one
law. We might stretch it even further.
We read in the book that the law of the Lord is perfect, converting
the soul. And that, of course, refers to
the whole revelation of God, the whole word of God. And God
says there is one law. The whole law of God given in
the Old Testament. The whole law of God given in
Holy Scripture is one in purpose, one in usefulness, and one in
message. And that purpose is to make known
to us our need of the Lord Jesus Christ as our substitute, our
redeemer, and our savior. That is the whole purpose of
the law. That is the whole purpose of
the law. It has no other function. It
has no other design. It has no other purpose. The
whole purpose of the law is to show sinners their need of Christ
as our Savior, our Redeemer, substitute. Turn to Romans chapter
3. Romans chapter 3. I could turn
to numerous passages and show you this, but let's look at Romans
3. The law makes known our need
of one sin atoning sacrifice. one by whom sinners can approach
the Holy Lord God and be accepted on the grounds of absolute righteousness
and justice revealed in the law. The law, Paul tells us in Galatians
3, was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, to shut us up to
Christ. I repeat, it has no other lawful
purpose, no other lawful function. No other lawful use. To use the law for any other
purpose is to abuse the law and use it wrongfully. To use it
for any other purpose. Romans chapter three, verse 19.
Now we know that what things whoever 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. The design
of the law is to shut you up, to shut me up, to stop us from
offering an excuse, to stop us from offering some kind of circumstances
by which we are compelled to do the things we do, to shut
your mouth before God Almighty so that you stand guilty before
God. That's the purpose of the law. Therefore, verse 20, since
that's the purpose of the law, Therefore by the deeds of the
law there shall no flesh be justified in God's sight. For by the law
is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets. The righteousness of God that
sinners have without obedience to the law is witnessed to us
by the law and prophets. Even the righteousness of God,
which is by faith of Jesus Christ, not by faith in Jesus Christ. by faith of Jesus Christ. We receive the righteousness
by faith in Christ, but Christ established the righteousness
by his faithful obedience as a man walking on this earth.
This righteousness then is by the faith of Jesus Christ. Unto all and upon all them that
believe, for there is no difference. No difference between anybody,
Jew, Gentile, black, white, bond-free, male or female. For all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. Being justified,
I love this word, freely. Justified without any cause. Justified freely just because
God would justify us. Freely in our experience. Freely in our justification. but not free by any means, because
God is dear Son, justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth in His Word,
in His Law, in the Prophets, in all the Scriptures, whom God
has set forth to be a propitiation, a justice satisfying sacrifice
through faith in His blood. to declare His righteousness
for the remission of sins that have passed through the forbearance
of God. God has set forth His Son, Christ
crucified, in the Word of God, in the Law of God, and sets Him
forth in the mind, heart, and conscience of the heaven-born
soul, when He gives you faith in Christ, so that God's righteousness
is set forth in the sacrifice of His Son. The principal thing
displayed in the sacrifice of Christ is the righteousness,
justice, and truth of God. Read on. To declare, I say at
this time, his righteousness. The whole purpose of the gospel
is to declare his righteousness, that he might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. This past week, we were down
in Sylacauga and had just a good meeting. And every now and then
you hear something that you just don't want to forget. And it
may or may not be good theology, but it's very good counsel. Brother Bruce Crabtree was preaching
one of the messages and he said, it has been said that all the
oil in America's in Texas, but all the dipsticks are in D.C.
That's pretty good. All the dipsticks are in D.C.
So we don't expect justice in our law. The laws of our land
talk about justice. But never, never, never demonstrate
justice. God's law is just. And God is just in everything
he does. He won't take you to heaven without
his justice being satisfied. He won't save our souls without
his righteousness being satisfied. He will not be gracious at the
expense of his truth. By mercy and by truth, iniquity
is purged. The Lord God told Moses and all
the children of Israel that all he revealed concerning the sacrifices
up to this point in Leviticus 7 was one law. All that has been
stated in the preceding chapters is one law. God shows us here
that the message contained in this book is one law. Many religious people, sadly
most religious people, have a foolish, deadly enchantment with the law
of God. In many places that are called
houses of worship, the Ten Commandments are posted at some prominent
place, some conspicuous place in the building in large letters
so that everybody can read them as they come in. I know of churches
where every Sunday the congregation mournfully chants, Lord have
mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep thy law. Some
are even so foolish that they enter into a covenant as sponsors
for their children and make a vow before God saying, we shall keep
God's holy commandments and walk in them all the days of our lives. What a vow. The pulpit which
should proclaim freedom and liberty in Christ. lays a heavy yoke
upon men which no man can bear." Men and women are taught from
their youth up to groan under the heavy yoke of the law and
to labor for righteousness. Labor for righteousness where
it can never be found. I've said this to you many times.
Religion of every form that is not the gospel of God. Doesn't
matter whether you're talking about Baptist or Buddhist, Papist
or Pentecostal, Islam or Jewish. Doesn't matter. Religion of every
form except the gospel of God's free grace is designed to manipulate
and control men and women in their lives. Our Savior speaks
to his servants as he commands Lazarus to come out of the grave.
The next word is, loosen and let him go. Christianity, the
gospel of God proclaims liberty, liberty. I'm often asked by people
who are sincere, I know they are,
to give them some rules to live by. because we all like to have
rules by which to measure ourselves. God gives no such rules. Our rule of life is faith in
Jesus Christ, nothing else, nothing else. I'm not about to lay down
rules and regulations by which you can measure for yourself
and see whether or not you are godly, and really that's not
the object. That's not the object, that's
just the outward expression of modesty and humility. The real
object is to see whether you are more godly than that fellow,
or more godly than this one. Whether you are making yourself
more and more holy and accepted with God. I refuse to give such
rules and regulations. The law of God including the
Ten Commandments, was never intended by God to produce righteousness
of any kind. It was never intended to justify
sinners. It was never intended to be a
rule of life for God's people in this world. In fact, the law
was given only to convince us of the impossibility of such
things. Listen to this. As many as are of the works of
the law are under the curse Everybody who pretends to live by the law,
everybody who pretends to keep the Ten Commandments, everybody
who pretends to observe the Sabbath day, everybody is under the curse
if he pretends he keeps the law, for it is written, cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. The very rule of life,
by which you claim to live if you live under law. The very
rules and regulations you claim to keep declare that you're cursed
because you keep none of them right there, not one, not one. I know people who keep the Sabbath
strictly. No, you don't. You know people who keep a Sabbath
day the way they define it. You don't know anyone who keeps
a Sabbath day the way God defines it. No such thing. The only way
you keep that Sabbath day is by faith in Christ. I wonder
will men never learn the difference between law and grace, between
the law and the gospel. Preachers make a mixture of the
law and the gospel and serve out the deadly poison with such
regularity that people are so stupefied they don't know the
difference. In most places, for every ounce
of gospel that's preached, there's a pound of law, and that's wrong. It ought not be so. In preaching
this message, I want to turn you, I want God the Holy Ghost
to turn you entirely away from yourself. entirely away from
your goodness, your righteousness, even your godliness. Turn you
entirely away from yourself. I want to so lift up the Lord
Jesus in His redemptive saving glory that you can't help looking
away from yourself to Him. Oh, for grace to look constantly
to him, to live constantly upon him, to feed constantly upon
him, who alone is able to save us. I don't ask you to produce
obedience, any obedience whatsoever to God's law, none at all. I ask you, I call upon you to
look to the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ, the sinner's
substitute. I don't set before you the commandments
of the law, which you can never perform, and by which you must
be condemned. Rather, I set before you this
day the law of God that's one." What can those words mean? There is one law. Turn over to
1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3. I want you
to see it. God the Holy Ghost gives us the
one law to which the whole law of God points. The one law which
the whole Word of God declares. The one law that must be obeyed
by you and me or we must be forever damned. First John chapter 3
verse 23. This is His commandment. What a statement. This is His
commandment. Just one. Just one. You see that? Now, John uses
the word commandments many times. The New Testament uses the word
commandments many times. The Old Testament uses the word
commandments in the plural many times. Here, John says, there
is one law. This is His commandment. that
we should believe on the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and
love one another as he gave us commandment. Well, that looks
like two commandments. Oh, no, it's not. It's just one.
Because faith worketh by love. Wherever there is obedience of
faith to the commandment of God, there is love because the faith
itself works by love. This is what God the Holy Ghost
calls the commandment of the everlasting God in Romans 16. This is the one commandment we
must obey. And if you obey this commandment,
you will live forever. Obedience to this commandment,
again in Romans 16, is called the obedience of faith. So the
one thing God requires of every sinner is faith in His Son. The one thing God requires of
every sinner is faith in His Son. Let me show you four or
five things concerning this. Here's the first. In order to
be saved, we must believe on the Son of God. I know, I hear
folks say, we believe in sovereign grace, we believe in absolute
predestination, and to say that a man must believe on the Son
of God is to put salvation in the hands of man. God said, this
is my commandment, that you believe on my Son. Now whether that fits
your theological system or doesn't, doesn't matter to me. Whether
that fits my theological system or doesn't, doesn't matter to
me. You must believe on the Son of God or you must forever be
damned. That faith which saves the soul
is believing a person. depending upon Jesus the Christ
for eternal life. We're not saved by believing
certain religious dogma. We're not saved no matter how
true and orthodox that dogma is. We're not saved by believing
certain facts about the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ,
no matter how accurately those facts are perceived. We're saved
by believing on the Son of God. Saving faith is not consent to
a proposition, but commitment to the Christ of God. Specifically,
John tells us three things we must believe with regard to our
Savior. We must believe that Jesus Christ
is God the Son. This is his commandment, that
we should believe on the name of his Son. No one will ever
trust Christ as Lord and Savior until he's convinced that Jesus
Christ is indeed the Christ of God, and those who deny his Godhead
are infidels. The religion is blasphemy. Jesus
Christ, our Savior, is God manifest in the flesh. He is God the Son
in human flesh. No one but God Himself could
satisfy the law and justice of God. No one but God Himself can
forgive sin and save sinners. And we must believe that He who
is God, the Eternal Son, is Jesus, the Savior. That's what the word
Jesus means. Joshua, Jehovah who saves. Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
became a man, one like us, in our flesh, specifically for this
purpose, that He might save sinners from their sins. Thanks be unto
God for His unspeakable gift. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. Our Lord Jesus came here in our
nature that he might save sinners of whom I am chief and he who
is the sinner's substitute. being God and man in one person
is the Christ, the anointed one, that one spoken of and promised
throughout the Old Testament, that one of whom all the prophets
speak. I found him of whom Moses and
the prophets did speak. Here he is. He is Jesus, the
Christ, the Son of God. human flesh. He's fulfilled everything
the law spoke of concerning him. Faith, trust a person. I hear folks say, I don't believe
in the righteousness of Christ, I believe in Christ. That's not
exactly right. To believe on the Son of God
is to trust His righteousness, forsaking your own. By the obedience
of one, we are made righteous. We look not to our obedience,
but to Christ's obedience for righteousness. To believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ is to trust his blood. Through faith in his
blood, we're told in Hebrews chapter nine. Through faith in
his blood, we have acceptance with God. Through faith in his
blood, we have reconciliation and peace with God. So that we
trust the obedience of Christ in his life and the sacrifice
of Christ in his death for the full satisfaction of all the
demands of God. And much more can be said, but
we trust the intercession of Christ. He who is our Savior,
He who is God the Son, He who is God in our nature, who obeyed
God unto death for us, now is seated at the right hand of the
majesty on high and makes intercession for us. Brother Linwood preached
to you Sunday twice, John 17, particularly about our Lord's
intercession. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me. I pray for them which shall
believe on me through their word. The Lord Jesus Christ makes intercession. for the very same people he came
here to save, for whom we obeyed the law, for whom he satisfied
justice. Now he makes intercession for
us according to the will of God, constantly pleading our cause
in heaven. Faith is something more than
just believing the truthfulness of these things. Faith is acting
upon God's revelation. Looking to him. Look unto me, he says. And be
you saved all the ends of the earth. I'm God. Beside me there
is none else. What does that mean? You remember
the illustration that he gives in John 3? Back in the book of
Numbers, the children of Israel were bitten of fiery serpents.
And they were perishing, just falling like flies. And God told
Moses to make a serpent of brass and hold it up on a pole. And
everyone who looked to that serpent of brass would be healed. And
Moses made that serpent and held it up. And everybody in Israel
who looked away from themselves, away from the serpents, away
from their wounds, away from their weakness, away from their
perishing conditions, just look to the serpents, they were healed
in their bodies. And our Savior in John chapter
three tells us that's how sinners are healed in their souls, by
looking to Christ. By looking to Christ. I'll say
something more about this faith in a minute, but I want you to
understand, our Savior requires faith. He requires faith. You must believe on the Son of
God. I know that men and women who
are born of God find themselves believing before they realize
it, but they choose to believe. You who believe on Him now, believe
on Him with willing hearts. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. We come to Him willingly and
gladly because He is our Savior. We look away from self to Him. And when we do, our Lord Jesus
makes a remarkable statement. He repeats it then numerous times
in the Gospels. Thy faith hath saved thee. Thy faith hath saved thee. But
this is God's gift. It is, but it's mine. Thy faith
hath saved thee. Thy faith hath made thee whole.
Those are his words. Those are his words. Faith is
absolutely essential. Here's the second thing. I've
already hinted at it, but I wanna state it clearly. Faith in Christ. is the gift of God. It is that
which is wrought in us, according to Colossians 2.12, by the operation
of God the Holy Spirit. It is that which is the gift
of God, we are told in Ephesians 2, verses 8 and 9. It is that
which we have by the power of God the Holy Ghost, that same
power by which He raised Christ up from the dead. Because you
see, the new birth is a resurrection. And the only way we can have
faith is by the gift of resurrection life that given us by the Spirit
of God. We are raised from the dead. And being raised from the dead,
we live before God in faith. In order for a sinner to trust
Christ, these things have got to happen. No one will ever trust the Son
of God until he hears the preached gospel, the preached gospel in
the power of God the Holy Ghost. We live in a generation of religious
fools who relegate preaching to nothing. And some, who would not dream
of making any statements disparaging of the preaching of the gospel,
who by acts seem to despise it. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by the word of God. I cannot imagine anyone willingly
absenting themselves from the preaching of the gospel. I cannot
imagine any husband, any father, any wife, any mother, willingly,
willingly absenting their children from the hearing of the gospel.
It would be less cruel, less inhumane, less barbaric to starve
them to death. This is necessary for life. This is necessary for faith.
No man will ever trust the Lord Jesus Christ until he hears the
gospel. And no one will ever trust the
Son of God until he is born again. Faith in Christ is not something
that's gotten by heredity. It is not something that is brought
about by logic and religious persuasion. It is not something
that's produced by setting the right tone and striking when
the iron's hot and having everything work to a crescendo so that just
the right time you put pressure on folks mentally and psychologically
and they believe in Jesus before they realize what they've done.
That sounds ridiculous. Those are the very words with
which I was taught evangelism when I was 18 years old. You
want to sneak up on folks and get them to make a profession
of faith before they realize what they've done. What stupidity. What stupidity. What deceit. What corruption. No, no. I'm
calling on you to give up your life to the Son of God. Totally! At no full will. That's what
you're doing. That's called faith. But it'll never happen to a person
born again. This is our Lord's language to
Nicodemus. Except a man be born again, he
cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Except a man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. If I would just halfway learn
that, If I was just halfway to learn that, I might give you
an example to follow as I try to tell you all the time. Don't
argue with folks about religion. Don't do it. They're not going
to hear you. They're not going to hear you. Which of you ever
did anything worthwhile by arguing with somebody about religion?
Whoever can this anybody of truth argue with? It just doesn't happen.
Folks can't see who are blind. Folks can't see who are blind.
You can't see the kingdom of God until you're born again.
Our Lord spoke it plainly. And no sinner will ever trust
the Lord Jesus Christ until Christ is revealed in his heart by God
the Holy Ghost. God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Job said, I've heard of you with
the hearing of the ear. Now mine eye seeth thee. Now mine eye seeth thee. Now, understand this third thing.
There are no prerequisites, no conditions, no qualifications
to be met before a sinner can trust Christ. I could spend a
lot of time here. I hope there's not any need in
this congregation for me to spend a lot of time here. But there
are multitudes who have the idea that somehow you've got to meet
certain conditions. before you can believe in the
Savior. Satan is a crafty, crafty foe. He'll first convince you
that you're so good you don't need a Savior. And then he'll
convince you that you're so bad you can't have a Savior. And
if that doesn't work, he'll convince you that you've got to at least
see how bad you are and feel how bad you are and go through
this experience and that. You've got to go through darkness
and trouble and trial or you can't believe. One of the things
that I find very dangerous about what's commonly called testimony
meetings is that we all look for folks to mock and humiliate. That's just our nature. And the
better a story sounds, the more likely you are to adapt it as
your own. And people hear a fellow talk about what he experienced
in conversion, what he experienced in God's grace, and they begin
to think this is what you must experience. I'll give you an
illustration. Many, many years ago, Brother Ralph Barnard was
called to go preach for a fella in the deep south who was well
known for conditional He claimed to be a sovereign grace preacher,
but you had to go through certain experiences. You gotta go through
a long time feeling that you're a lost sinner. You gotta feel
darkness, and you gotta mourn for sin. You gotta be heavy laden. You got to hunger and thirst
after righteousness. And you got to seek the Lord
in despairing. All those dark gloomy things. And Barnard was aware of it.
arrived at the church building, and the pastor was tied up doing
something, and the pastor's secretary, who was one of those ladies who
liked to express herself, she said, well, Brother Barnard,
it's good to have you with us. Would you tell me about your
experience? And Barnard looked down at those
glasses, and he said, well, I would. I thought it was any of your
business. He understood exactly where she
was going with it. Faith in Christ. is not faith that comes from
deep remorse and deep repentance. I don't know if I've repented
enough. I don't know if I'm sorry enough for my sin. I don't know
if I've gone through enough contrition. I don't know if I'm hungry enough.
I don't know if I really thirst after righteousness. I don't
know. I've got all these questions
because it's all focused on me. It's all focused on me. Read Zechariah 12, verse 10. Read John 16, verses 7 through
14. Those things do not come before
faith. They're the fruit of faith. They're
the fruit of faith. When you look on me, you'll mourn
for me. Understand that? All of us have
different experiences in the experience of grace. All of us
do. You come from one background,
I come from another. Brother Lindsey Campbell and
I are close to the same age and raised in totally different circumstances. Totally different circumstances.
Totally different walk of life. Totally different. Totally different.
for me to speak to you about what I experienced as God was
pleased graciously to reveal Christ in me. And then to speak of His experience. If we were to talk very much
about the experience and you listen and you say, I wonder
which one saved? Wonder which one knows God. They don't know
about the same thing at all. One of them must be lost. That's
wrong. That's wrong. We don't compare
ourselves with ourselves or with one another. The scriptures teach
us to look away from self and look to Christ. This notion of
conditional faith, you've got to meet certain criteria, certain
prerequisites, certain conditions before you can believe. You've
got to go through this, go through that, you've got to feel this,
you've got to experience that, is absolutely wrong because it
makes us set ourselves up as judges of others and we dare
not do so. Because when we start to judge
another, we only have two measurements by which to judge, either Christ
in whom we should see all who believe, or ourselves. And if we use ourselves for the
measuring stick, we puff ourselves up in self-righteousness and
become harsh, mean, and judgmental with regard to God's people.
We must not do so. Conditional faith is altogether
contrary to the scriptures. It keeps sinners from trusting
Christ, keeps sinners from real confident hope. Another thing
about faith. You and I who are born and taught
of God come to the Lord Jesus Christ trusting him and him alone
as our savior. And God commands us to do it. There is one law. This is His
commandment. This is His commandment. His
commandment? God commands people to believe? Yes. The gospel is not an offer. The gospel is not even an invitation. The preaching of the gospel is
God's command. Now, that means this. If God
commands me to believe, it's my responsibility to believe. If God commands you to believe,
it's your responsibility to believe. And this is his commandment,
that we believe on his side. If God commands me to believe,
it's alright for me to believe. God commands me to come to his
son. God commands me to cast my care on his son. God commands
me to believe on his son. God commands me to look away
from self to his son. It's all right to do that. It's
all right to do that. Muriel, God commanded the children
of Israel to borrow all the silver from their Egyptian neighbors.
Now, I don't know what all's involved in that, but God commanded
them to do it. and they, borrowing that silver,
are gonna take it with them out of Egypt. Looks like they stole
that. If God commanded them to do it,
it's all right to do it. By that silver, God provided
for his children all through the wilderness, provided for
his children in the building of the tabernacle. God commanded
it. If God commands you to believe,
you have his permission to believe. He said, come and drink. That means it's all right. That
means it's all right. Believe on the Son of God. And
God commanding me to believe tells me that not to believe
is the most hideous evil in the world. I'm more and more overwhelmed
this Word from our Savior. When He, the Spirit of Truth,
is come, He will convince the world of sin, because they believe
not on Me." Because they believe not on Me. To hear the gospel and not believe
Christ is to call God a liar. To hear the gospel and not trust
the Son of God is to spit in God's face. To hear the gospel
and not believe on the Son of God. is to court the deepest,
darkest, hottest, most tormenting pit in outer darkness. For to believe not is to make
God a liar. Now one more thing. By faith in Christ, we fulfill
the law, the whole law. There is one law, not 10, just
one. Not 613, just one. When we trust
Christ, we fulfill the law's purpose. The whole requirement
of the law. Trust in Christ, we bring to
God. By faith in Christ, I bring God,
oh God let me speak with absolute liberty, with absolute confidence
and not a word beyond your word. Believing God, trusting his son,
right now for the cause I bring God everything God requires of
men. Righteousness and satisfaction,
I bring in his son. And I bring him what God cannot
turn away. What God cannot turn away. Not
my feelings. Not my experience. Not my repentance. Not my deeds. Not my service. Not my Bible reading. Not my
prayer. Not my goodness. Not my passing
through this or passing through that. I bring God! His Son. My God. I come to You. With Your Son. In Your Son. believing your son
and my conscience hears God speak, I'm well pleased. I'm well pleased. I'm well pleased. This is my
beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. Oh, God, give you faith
in his son. Give us grace. Oh, God, give
us grace ever to look away from ourselves, to look to your son. We bring to you our friends,
particularly Brother Dave and Teresa, your family. God sustain them, comfort and
rejoice their hearts for Christ's sake. Only you can. Give them the blessed joy of
faith in the midst of trial and difficulty. I ask for Christ's
sake. Amen. All right.