Let me once more say I am determined not to know anything among you
save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Jesus Christ crucified is all
to be known, all to be preached, all to be trusted, all to be
worshipped, all to be served. In the incarnate God, our crucified,
exalted, enthroned God, man, Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All spiritual
wisdom, all spiritual knowledge, is in Jesus Christ, found in
Christ, received from Christ. Christ crucified is the cup of
salvation of which I hope to drink deeper and deeper. Christ
crucified is the grace, the faith, the knowledge in which I long
to grow. Christ crucified is the essence
of all true godliness. Christ crucified, the essence
of all true faith, all the duties, all the ordinances, all the practices
of religion, even in its purest form, are rich to my soul only
as they are enriched with the blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb
of God. Everything in this book is about
that lamb. Everything in this book is about
that lamb. Many, many years ago, when the
mayhem was preaching and I got a call from a fella, this man
had been reading the scriptures, young man and his wife, and he
kept telling his wife, we've got to have a lamb. We've got
to have a lamb. God requires a lamb. And one
day, He flipped on the television, and Brother Mahan said, I'm going
to preach to you this morning from John 1, 29. Behold, the
Lamb of God. And the fellow just screamed
at his wife. He said, come here. This man's going to tell us about
that lamb. And he did. The whole of this book is about
Christ, the Lamb of God. In Genesis chapter 4, the first
two brothers after the fall come to worship when men began to
call on the name of the Lord. One of them brought the works
of his hands. The other one brought the firstling,
or the firstborn lamb of the flock, picturing Jesus Christ,
our Redeemer. And God accepted Abel and his
offering. And God rejected Cain and his
offering. Not because Abel was a better
man than Cain, but because he offered the sacrifice God required,
the Lamb of God. In Genesis 22, Abraham and Isaac
are going up to Mount Moriah and there Isaac has the fire
in the wood and said daddy We got the fire and we got the wood
for burn over. But where is the lamb? I know
because you've taught me we can't come to God without a lamb and
Abraham said my son God will provide himself a lamb for a
burnt offering and he has done that in the person of his son
and Exodus chapter 12 God passed through the children the nation
of his Egypt slaying all the firstborn in the in the land
of Egypt but he told the children of Israel each one to take a
lamb and offer that lamb as a sacrifice put the blood on the doorpost
and the lentil and He when I see the blood said will pass over
you God looks on the blood of the Lamb. God looks on the blood
of Christ and passes by his people in judgment. Does not inflict
any wrath or judgment or death or condemnation upon those who
are hidden under the blood of the Lamb. The center of worship
in the Old Testament, the center of worship in the Old Testament
was that one day every year when the High priest on the day of
atonement would take the blood of the lamb and slay the sacrifice
take the blood and Sprinkle it on the mercy seat and he'd come
out and bless the people in the name of the Lord in Leviticus
22 We're told that that lamb must be perfect without spot
without blemish. It must be perfect to be accepted
That's Christ, the Lamb of God. He is a Lamb of sacrifice. He is a Lamb who is God. He is
a Lamb who's perfect, holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from
sinners. In Isaiah 53, we're told about that Lamb being our
substitute, our sin offering, our offering for sin. Thou shalt
make his soul an offering for sin. He shall see of the his
seed He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied
when God the Holy Spirit translates Paul Isaiah's words and Interprets
Isaiah's words in second Corinthians 521 when God made his soul an
offering for sin the Spirit of God says I He hath made Him sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. So that Jesus Christ, the Lamb,
who is God, the perfect sacrifice, the perfect man, is one who has
made sin for us to die in our room instead, as our substitute,
that sinners in Him might be made the righteousness of God.
In Acts chapter 8, Philip came to the eunuch and he saw him
reading Isaiah, that portion of scripture. When he, like a
sheep before her shearers is done, opened out his mouth, Philip
said, let me tell you about him. He is the willing, voluntary
sacrifice, who is God, the perfect sacrifice, by whom alone sinners
can come to God, by whom sinners come to God and find acceptance
with Him. If you would come to God, you must come by this Lamb. This lamb, John the Baptist said,
is that one whose blood has effectually taken away the sin of the world. Not all people in the world,
obviously, that's ludicrous. But he has effectually taken
away the sins of all for whom he died. God's elect, wherever
they're found in all the world, his blood has put away their
sin. And first Peter, we're told that that lamb, this lamb who
is the only way of access to God, this Lamb. who is himself
God in the flesh, this lamb, the perfect one, the perfect
one, the holy, heartless, undefiled one, this lamb who was made sin
for us, this lamb by whom we come to God, the willing sacrifice
who gave himself for us, this lamb, this lamb whose blood is
effectual in the accomplishment of redemption, this lamb is the
lamb who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the
world. Foreordained. This is the purpose. The purpose
for which God made the world is that the Lamb might redeem
His people for the glory of God. This Lamb, John tells us in Revelation
5, is exalted. He's exalted to the right hand
of God. Here is a Lamb rising up out of the midst of the altar.
Thou art worthy. Thou art worthy for thou was
slain and has redeemed us to God out of every nation, kindred,
tribe, and tongue. This lamb, this lamb, this lamb
who is worthy and accepted of God, the only means by which
sinners can come to God, Jesus Christ the Lord, this lamb is
the lamb who verily was slain from the foundation of the world,
we're told in Revelation 13, 8. So that God, the triune Jehovah,
looked upon and accepted Christ the Lamb as our sacrifice before
ever we went astray from God in the sin and fall of our father
Adam. This work was done from the foundation of the world.
And then in Revelation 21 and 22, You read about this Lamb over
and over again, this Lamb, when everything's done, when God's
made all things new, when judgment's over, when death and hell are
swallowed up in the wrath of God and all the saints of God
are gathered with Christ around the throne, the Lamb is the light
of the city. The Lamb of God is there. The
Lamb of God is their tabernacle. There, with all his elect, gathered
with him in the perfection of his glorious righteousness, the
Lamb of God is fully satisfied. Now hear me, this is the Lamb
by whom alone we are accepted of God. If you would know God,
if you would be saved, if you would escape the wrath of God,
you must be found in the Lamb, trusting the Lamb of God. Oh,
may God reveal Christ in you by his grace. May God, the Holy
Ghost, wash you this day in the precious blood of the Lamb. And
may he grant to you who believe, to you who are washed in his
precious blood, and to me, grace. Never to grow one iota above
being mercy beggars at the throne of God. trusting Christ the Lamb. As you therefore have received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. Our only access to
God, our only acceptance with God, our only approval by God
is Jesus Christ the Lord. Oh God give you grace to trust
him. Turn with me now to Romans chapter
8 one more time. He's opening verses of Romans
8. Romans chapter 8. Let me see if I can, by the Spirit
of God and the Word of God, persuade you to believe on the Son of
God, the Lamb of God. The title of my message today
is Faith, Freedom, Failure, Fulfillment. Faith, Freedom, Failure, Fulfillment. That's my outline too. Romans
chapter 8, verse 1. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus who walked not after the flesh
but after the spirit. For the law of the spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. For what the law could not do
in that it was weak through the flesh God sending his own son
in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin because of sin condemned
sin in the flesh that the righteousness of the law the righteousness
required by the law the righteousness demanded by the law the righteousness
revealed by the law might be fulfilled in us not righteousness
accomplished by the law The righteousness declared in the law, required
by the law, demanded by the law, this righteousness might be fulfilled
in us. How on this earth can the righteousness
of the law be ye perfect as I am perfect? Be ye holy for I am
holy. It must be perfect to be accepted. That's going to be fulfilled
in you. That's going to be fulfilled in me. How? Who walk not after
the flesh, but after the spirit. For they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit,
the things of the spirit. Now here is Paul's doctrine and
the doctrine of this book. Salvation is obtained by faith
alone without works. by faith in Christ without works
of any kind contributed by us. Most people have the idea, as
in the bulletin article this morning by James Haldane at the
bottom of the front page of your bulletin, they have the idea
that the gospel of God's grace is a scheme, a system of religion
by which we can make up our deficiencies. We can't perfectly obey God. Nobody's perfect. You hear that
from everybody. Well, nobody's perfect as if
that's an excuse for what you are. Nobody's perfect. We can't expect to be saved just
by the things we do. Oh, no. We believe in Jesus and
we do the best we can. We believe in Jesus and we make
up the deficiencies. Oh, no. No, no, no. Salvation. is to be had by faith alone,
in Christ alone, without any contribution from you, without
any works of any kind performed by you. Complete, full, everlasting
salvation is to be had by faith alone. All right, now let's look
at what the Apostle tells us in these five verses. First,
the Apostle Paul speaks to us in verse one, about faith in
Christ. And it tells us that the life
we have in the Spirit, the life given us in the new birth, the
life we have by union with Christ in faith is a life of faith in
Christ. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, in Christ. Oh, what a blessed
place to be, to be in Christ is to be accepted of God, wrapped
up in the center of God's purpose, the focal point of God's heart,
the object of God's most tender affection to be in Christ. We have no condemnation who walk
not after the flesh, but after the spirit. What's he talking
about? Walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. I didn't learn a whole lot about
things when I was in school, but I learned a few things that
stayed with me. I remember early, about seventh grade, an English
teacher used the word gobbledygook, and I latched on to it. Gobbledygook. You know what that is? That's
words that don't mean a frazzling thing. Gobbledygook. That's the kind of words you
hear politicians talk. Gobbledygook. meaningless words. Well, you read commentaries on
this statement at the end of verse one, repeated in the end
of verse four, who walk not after the flesh. And all you hear is
gobbledygook. They said what that means is
that God's people don't live in godless, vile way. They don't live after the lust
of the flesh. And if you live after the lust of the flesh,
you're not born of God, you're not in Christ, and you're still
under condemnation. And if you don't live after the
lust of the flesh, if you don't live by the corruption that's in you, if
you don't live in ungodliness, then, now, now, you sure enough
have faith in Christ because you're a holy fella. You're a
good fella. Well, every devil in hell knows
that folks who live like hell are going to hell. That's not
what he's talking about. What's he talking about? Walk
not after the flesh. Do you know how the scriptures,
how the Spirit of God refers to the law? Refers to it as carnal
ordinances. It refers to it as the elements
of the world. To walk after the flesh You may
be or you may not be a harlot, a whoremonger, a pimp, or a pusher. You may or may not be those things. But as long as you seek to make
yourself righteous before God by what you do, you walk after
the flesh. That's the natural bent of humanity. Man says, surely we got to do
something. That just stands for reason,
only to fall in reason. Surely we got to do something
to have acceptance with God. To walk after the flesh is to
live in hope of salvation by legal obedience, by legal works,
being baptized, joining the church, taking the Lord's Supper, singing
with the congregation, living in moral righteousness. The fact
is the whole nation of Israel was shut up under the wrath of
God in blindness because they refused to give up the ordinances
of the law and trust Christ and sought righteousness by what
they did. And that's true of the whole
nation of Israel today, but not just the Jews. as true of every
human being walking topside of God's earth outside Christ Jesus. Turn to Romans chapter 9. Just
turn over a page to Romans chapter 9. To walk after the flesh is to
try to make yourself righteous. To walk after the flesh is to
try to make yourself righteous. would flagellate themselves.
Monks go in their monasteries and beat themselves, not too
hard, you know, but they'd take a little whip and beat themselves
and make themselves, they'd punish themselves with a sin, make them
holy. We're living in what they call Lent season. I don't keep
up with things much and I didn't know it had happened. I was down
in Dallas, I was telling kids the other day, I was down in
Dallas at the airport Standing outside on the sidewalk smoking
my pipe, and I saw a fellow walking up to me, a well-dressed fellow.
And he looked at me like he had something dirty on his forehead.
I didn't know what it was. And he walked up. I said, you
got something on your head? He said, it's Ash Wednesday.
Oh. Now I'm holy. I can cuss and
drink and chew all I want to, but now I'm holy. I'm going to give up turnip greens
for 40 days, now I'm holy. You laugh, but do you realize
folks are going to hell believing that stuff. But not just the
papist, folks right across the street, folks right down the
road. Oh, but I wouldn't put ashes
on my head and call that holiness. No, but you'd go to church and
call it holiness. You'd quit going to the picture show and
call it holiness. You'd change the way you dress and call it
holiness. To walk after the flesh is to seek to make yourself holy
by what you do. And as long as you do, you don't
trust Christ, no matter what you say about trusting him. Look
at Romans chapter 9, verse 31. Israel, which followed after
the law of righteousness, in every synagogue they had the
Ten Commandments posted, hanging behind every pulpit in the Baptist
church, hanging in the steps of the courthouse. I'm posting
on it in every school room and I've grown up with 10 commandments
posted. They've fallen after the law of righteousness. Hath
not attained to the law of righteousness. They hadn't come close. Wherefore? Why not? Because they sought
it not by faith. They sought not the righteousness
of the law by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law.
For they stumble to that stumbling stone. As it is written, Behold,
I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense, and whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. To the unbeliever, Christ
is a stumbling stone over which men and women stumble into hell. A stumbling stone, the same rock,
is a sure foundation to those who are built on it. But the
folks who trip over him, he's a stumbling stone. Those who
believe on him shall never be ashamed. What's he talking about?
Verse 1, chapter 10. Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear
them record, they have a zeal of God. They're zealous. They're
zealous, but not according to knowledge. Most of the religious
people I know are pretty zealous. I went to school with folks who
spent the rest of their lives serving as missionaries in various
foreign countries. They're zealous. They're zealous.
But not according to knowledge. They don't have any idea who
God is. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness. What? Who is ignorant of God's righteousness? Who is? Every man born of woman
knows that God is righteous. There's no escape in that. Every
man born of woman knows that God's righteous. It's stamped
on his heart, he cannot erase it. It's God's voice in him,
he cannot silence it. Everybody knows God's righteous.
Well, what's he talking about here? Ignorant of God's righteousness.
Ignorant of the righteousness of God brought in and established
by Christ, the Son of God, that righteousness by which God is
satisfied. being ignorant of God's righteousness,
and going about to establish their own righteousness, have
not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For
Christ, for Christ, for Christ is the,
E-N-D, of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believe it. Christ is the finishing point
of the law. Christ is the termination of
the law. Christ is the fulfillment of
the law to everyone who believes. Well, what kind of righteousness?
Whatever kind there is. Whether you're talking about
justification or sanctification or glorification, the righteousness
God requires, Christ is the end of it. He's the fulfilling of
it. He's the finishing of it. He has brought in everlasting
righteousness by his obedience unto death for everyone who believes. Read Romans 8 with me again.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. God, the
Holy Spirit, gives us life. He brings sinners to Christ. He reveals Christ in us. He gives
us faith in Christ. And to walk after the Spirit
is to live by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him, there's
no condemnation. The Holy Ghost here declares,
there's no condemnation to them who are in Christ, because Christ,
our surety, who was once condemned for sin is now justified from
sin and so we in him are as fully and completely and permanently
justified from sin as he is. Oh, would to God we could halfway
get hold of that. Yonder sits the Son of God who
was made sin for us. Can you see him? seated at the
throne of God, seated on the right hand of the majesty on
high, having obtained eternal redemption for us, he has no
sin. And until he can be made sin
again, I shall have no sin before God. You got that? Until he can
be condemned to death again, I cannot be condemned, for I
am in him, being born of God and taught of God. Walking in
the spirit, we live by faith in Christ and have no confidence
in the flesh. We live under the abiding influence
of the spirit, looking to Christ alone for all our hope and all
our salvation. And we. Keep. Wiping off the cobwebs
of our own righteousness, finding acceptance with God in Christ.
Turn to Philippians chapter 3. Philippians 3. Let me show you. Look at verse 3. For we are the circumcision,
we who believe God. Every sinner who trusts Christ
has been circumcised in the heart by the circumcision of Christ,
the circumcising of God, the Holy Spirit. He's been born again.
That's what circumcision in the Old Testament portrayed. We are
the circumcision, that is, we are God's covenant people. We
are the true Israel of God. Oh, I'm interested in that. Who
are these who truly are God's people? Those who worship God
in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus. The word rejoice
means to trust in, to boast in and have no confidence in the
flesh. No confidence in the flesh. None. None. No confidence in
who we are. No confidence in where we came
from. No confidence in what we do. No confidence in what we
feel. No confidence in our experience.
No confidence in our goodness. No confidence in our superiority
to others. No confidence in the way we behave.
No confidence in the flesh. But rather, our confidence is
Christ. Can you let go your righteousness
and trust the son of God? Will you turn loose of your filthy
rags and lay hold on Christ, the Lord, our righteousness,
that and that alone is acceptance with God. The apostle goes on
and says, if anybody has something to trust in the flesh, man, you
got nothing to compare with me. You got nothing to compare with
me. I was in Sunday school before
I was born. I was on the cradle roll. I've been a Jew all my
life. I've gone to church all my life.
I've lived good all my life. And all those things I thought
were goodness and righteousness, I found out they're just horse
manure. And that's what he calls it,
Rex. All legal righteousness. All religious righteousness,
all your imaginary goodness is just dumb. Take it and offer
it to God. And you'll go to hell. Throw
it away and lay hold of Christ and you find acceptance with
God. All right. Look at Colossians chapter two,
Colossians chapter two. Hear how this man speaks about
walking in the spirit. It's clinging to Christ, clinging
to Christ. Verse six. As you have therefore received
Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk in him. As you came to Christ,
a bankrupt, helpless, dirty, vile, wretched sinner with nothing
to offer God. except Christ's blood and his
righteousness, except Jesus Christ himself. Go on living just like
that. Rooted and built up in him and
established in the faith as you have been taught abounding there
in with thanksgiving. Beware. Beware. Watch out for
this. Lest any man spoil you through
philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men. Watch this
now after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ. For
in him, that is in Christ, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily and you are complete in him. Oh, wondrous word of grace,
which is the head of all principality and power. In whom also you're
circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, putting off
the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ,
buried with him in baptism. This is what we professed. Wherein
also you were risen with him through the faith of the operation
of God, who hath raised him from the dead, and you being dead
in your sins. And in the uncircumcision of
your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven
you all trespasses. Now watch this. Blotting out
the handwriting of the ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his
cross, having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of
them openly, triumphing over them in his death on the cross.
Let no man, therefore, judge you. Let no man condemn you because
you like to eat pork or drink a glass of wine or in respect
of a holy day. That's exactly what I said. Don't
let a man condemn you or bring you into a sense of condemnation.
Don't let anybody make you feel guilty about eating meat or drinking
what you drink or in observing or not observing a holy day or
the new moon or the Sabbath days. What? What? Now wait a minute, Brother Don,
that can't be what he said. That's what he said. That's what
he said. We don't observe holy days. We
don't observe Sabbath days. We just don't do it. Now, I personally,
and this congregation, we come together, we worship on Sundays,
and we, this is the Lord's day, the day our Lord arose, and it's
altogether proper that we set it aside for worshiping him,
but this ain't a Sabbath day. If it were, Fred, you couldn't
be here. That's right. Some of you folks
drive an hour and 45 minutes to get here. If this was a Sabbath
day, you couldn't be here. You couldn't be here. Oh, no,
you can't. You can't travel that far. In
fact, you're not allowed to pick up sticks on Sabbath day. God
will kill you for it. You mean God killed people for
picking up sticks on the Sabbath day? He required that the mom
and dad take up the stones and do the job themselves. And he
still does. He still does. You remember when
Uzzah stuck out his hand to steady the ark? God killed him. Why do you reckon? Because the
Sabbath day pointed to Christ and accomplished redemption by
Christ. That ark pointed to Christ and accomplished redemption by
Christ. And if you pick up sticks on the Sabbath day, you violate
everything with regard to the sacrifice of Christ. you declare
that he is not our rest. If you put your hand to God's
salvation, God's going to send you to hell for it. So we don't
keep these holy days, these Sabbath days. Now watch what it says,
verse 17, which are a shadow of things to come, but the body
is of Christ. Let no man beguile you of your
reward in a voluntary humility and worshiping of angels. intruding
into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up in
his fleshly mind, and not holding the head, from which all the
body, by joints and bands, having nourishment, ministered, and
knit together, increaseth with the increase of God. Wherefore,
if ye be dead with Christ... Now look how he speaks of the
Sabbath days, and holy days, and new moons, and all the regulations
of the law. If you be dead with Christ from
the rudiments of the world. Oh, but that's not talking about
the commandments. I beg your pardon. Those ordinances, those
commandments that were written against us, God blotted them
out. He nailed them to the cross.
If you be dead, if you be dead from the rudiments of the world
with Christ. Why, as though living in the
world, are you subject to ordinances, subject to religious laws and
taboos? Touch not, taste not, handle
not. Don't do this, don't do that.
Be sure you do the other thing. Which are all to perish with
the using, after the commandments and doctrines of men. Now watch
this. Which things have indeed a show of wisdom I wish somehow
you could write that in six-inch letters in will-worship. Will-worship. That's all religious
legalism is. It's will-worship. And a show
of humility. And the neglecting of the body.
The neglecting of the body. Not in any honor. It's all... What does it say here? Have you
got it in front of you? It's all done to the satisfying of
the flesh. Boy, I haven't arrived, but I'm
getting there. I haven't attained yet, but I'm getting better.
I don't I don't I don't live as good as art, too, but man,
I'm making progress. Burlhart, if you dream you're
making progress in holiness, you don't know God. That's exactly
right. That's exactly all that is, is
the satisfying of the flesh. Well, where is our hope then?
We rest in Christ. He is our Sabbath and being one
with Christ, we are free forever from all possibility of condemnation. We walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. Now, secondly, Look at the freedom
Paul speaks of in verse 2. This freedom, this hour is in
Christ. I'll have to come back to this another day, but let
me rush through this. For the law of the spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. The gospel of God is the law
of the spirit of life. Because the gospel is the instrument
by which God, the Holy Spirit, brings life to sinners. The gospel
is the law of the spirit of life. This is the means by which God
conveys life to sinners, the preaching of the word. Therefore
we go everywhere preaching the gospel and God the Holy Spirit
Causes sinners to hear the word the word takes root in their
hearts and buds forth in life The Holy Spirit gives life to
chosen redeemed sinners through the preaching of the word and
notice the word for at the beginning of verse 2 It connects this statement
with the preceding one we live by faith in Christ and Walking
in the spirit because the gospel has made us free from the law
the law of sin and death The law of sin and death I Know what it is To try to be
good and make yourself good. I Know what it is to try to make
a bargain with God. I know what it is to try to make
yourself be in a position where that you can say, now I'm a sinner
who can believe on Christ. Isn't that amazing what fools
we are? Brother Don, I'm too vile. If I just weren't so bad,
I believe I could trust him. If I just were if I just were
so corrupt, if it wasn't such a bad center, I believe I could
trust Christ. But God comes by the gospel.
And reveals Christ. Crucified the center substitute. And you drop your filthy rags. And trust the son of God. and
find life and peace in him. The law of sin and death from
which we've been made free is the law of Moses. That which
God the Holy Ghost tells us in second Corinthians chapter three
is administration of death. God the Holy Spirit is a spirit
of life. He comes to dead sinners and
gives us life. We're born of the spirits, the
spirit that quickeneth the flesh profiteth nothing. Look at verse
three. Here, the apostle speaks of the
failure of the law. What's wrong with the law? For
what the law could not do in that it was weak through the
flesh, nothing's wrong with the law. The inability of the law
is our flesh in that it was weak through the flesh. Therefore,
God sending his own son. in the likeness of sinful flesh
and for sin, condemn sin in the flesh. The law is holy and just
and good. The law is pure and perfect. The law of God reveals sin and
exposes sin. It stirs up sin by condemning
sin and condemns all because of sin. The law of God. when
made by the Spirit of God to penetrate the conscience. Demands
righteousness and satisfaction and shows you guilt and your
helplessness and points you to Christ alone. And now, God sending
his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh for sin, did what
the law could not do. He condemned sin in the flesh.
Jesus Christ came into this world in order to put away sin. by
the sacrifice of himself. He came in our flesh, in our
nature, died in our flesh, in our nature. This one who is God,
the Holy One, made sin for us, suffers all the fury of God's
wrath, and with one tremendous draft of love, drank damnation
dry, because his sacrifice is of infinite merit before God. Now, look at the fourth thing.
Verse 4 and 5. Here we're told that the blessed
work of Christ for us was that righteousness of the law might
be fulfilled in us by faith in Christ. That the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us. In us. Not for us, but in us. It was
fulfilled for us by our Savior. By His obedience unto death as
our substitute. Now it is fulfilled in us when
God gives us faith in Christ. What are you going to bring to
God? What are you going to bring to God? Cain says, I'm going
to bring him the best I've got. I'm going to bring him the best
I've got. I'm going to bring God that which
has cost me labor and toil, that which has cost me the sweat of
my brow. I'm going to bring to God the
very best I've got. And the Lord God just passed
him by. Abel, what are you going to bring
to God? I'm going to bring to God the firstborn. That one that
opens the womb, the virgin born son of God, I'm going to bring
to God him whom God has given him who is himself God. human flesh. I'm going to bring
to God this one, this spotless Holy Lamb, this spotless Holy
Lamb who had my sin laid on Him, who was made sin for me, whose
throat was slit by the knife of God's judgment. whose blood
God accepted on the mercy seat. This one lamb who has for sinners
obtained eternal redemption. I'm going to bring God. Him whom
God says is a sweet smelling savor. I'm going to bring God. Him whom God cannot reject. I'm going to bring God. him whom God has promised he
will never reject. I'm going to bring him of whom
God says he that believeth on the Son of God shall not be put
to shame. Bring God his son and you'll
never be condemned. You'll never be put to shame.
Amen.