So as you will, turning your
Bibles back to Romans chapter 4, we are in the fourth chapter
of a wonderful consideration of the grace of God. And at this
particular juncture, we are dealing with faith. And if you want an
augmentation to this study, get this morning's Sunday school
class. We learned some things about
the characteristics of faith then too. Faith is not something
that people really have a biblical understanding on. And so we will
be contemplating that in the larger scope of the author's
exhortation today. So there's some things to be
learned. The title of our message today is Abraham was justified
by faith also. Abraham was justified by faith
also. And as I said, we are with the
apostle now on the mountaintop. Remember I told you there are
Peaks and valleys in the series in the book of Romans that we
have to go through for the last several weeks We were deep in
the valley of human depravity We had to face the reality that
while God has indicted the whole world as being under sin That
we are part of that fallen world And so when we are faced with
scripture texts that show us for what we are in the eyes of
God It's very difficult for all of us to There is no human being
that stands so secure in God, in themselves, that when we have
to look at the spotlight of human corruption and fallenness and
deprivation, that we don't also, if we're honest men and women,
recognize that if it were not for the grace of God, there go
I. those deep caverns in those dark places are designed to cause
you and I who are true believers to thank God that we are no longer
in those places in our standing before God. Also to pursue God
with all of our heart because there are mountaintop experiences
that God brings us into to help us see more visibly and more
clearly the work of Christ on our behalf. In Romans chapter
3 and 4, the latter part of Romans 3, which we'll be dealing with
a bit more today, and Romans 4 moves us into another consideration
on the part of the Apostle Paul that's going to be wonderful
for us to contemplate for several weeks. We have been, for the
last week and so now, contemplating the revelation of God's righteousness
and most specifically in that which we call the masterpiece
and the centerpiece or the heart of the matter with regards to
the substance of God's glory, and that is the work of Jesus
Christ on the cross. So here's the proposition that
I want you to think about. It is the cross of Christ that
reveals to us the character and nature of God in a way by which
sinners can truly comprehend God. It is the cross of Christ
that you must study and must understand to acquire a right
understanding of the whole of God's righteous attributes. You and I can learn some things
about God apart from the cross, but they are not saving revelations. There are revelations that might
exalt God in His infinitude of creating the universe, in His
power to sustain the universe, in His providence to care for
the universe. We might even contemplate God
in the awful, awful wrath of His nature, judging sinners. But until you and I contemplate
God through the prism of the cross, that proprietary work
of redemption which he accomplished by which sinners are brought
to him. You and I do not have a right knowledge of God nor
a saving knowledge. I'm pressing this truth home.
You should spend all your life studying the crosswork of Jesus
Christ because therein is the righteousness of God revealed
in all of its full glory. for our salvation. I hope to
convince you of that a bit more today. What the Apostle Paul
at present is dealing with as he anticipated in the closing
of his words in Romans 3 verse 21, or 31 rather, is an argument
on the part of his Jewish brethren. Because Paul was such a logician,
he was such a theologian, he was such a sound exegete and
apologetist of the scriptures, he could anticipate arguments
before they came. Often in his writings he will
raise the questions that his protagonists are going to say
even before they say them. So the close of Romans chapter
3 verse 31 goes like this. Here is Paul's anticipated argument. Do we then make void the law
through faith? Do we then void out the law of
God through faith? And his answer is, God forbid. Now in the original, this is
how the word is stated. May it never be so. You see what he's doing? He's
holding the tension between his allegiance to Christ The gospel
and its impact and his love for his Jewish brethren who understand
the importance of the law He's retaining Significance of why
God gave us the law while at the same time saying faith is
essential to your salvation But when you comprehend faith, all
right, you don't conclude that the law is unnecessary That's
his argument It's gonna challenge some of you today This is what
I meant by defining faith properly. So as we go into the scriptures,
one of Paul's arguments is going to be that don't ever define
faith in such a way that it denies the significant role of God's
law. For to do so is to impugn an
aspect of God's character, since the law is a reflection of the
nature and character of God. Biblical faith will never depict
God in such a way that is contrary to the Word of God, because every
view of God that's contrary to the Word of God is nothing but
an idol. And if your understanding of
faith has you shaping and formulating a God that is all love, and not
all righteous, and all just, all merciful at the same time
your understanding of faith is flawed and your understanding
of God is flawed too what Paul is going to teach us as we grasp
it is faith to the contrary of nullifying the law faith affirms
the law it doesn't make it void it establishes it the word is
strengthened see the word established it means strengthens it What
do you mean by strengthening the law, Pastor? Faith, when
understood in the embodiment of its doctrinal truth, with
the centrality of Christ on the cross being the subject matter,
faith, therefore, strengthens the law's argument that without
the righteousness of God, that the law affirms a man will never
be right, he will never be saved. And what you and I would want
to always do is affirm the righteousness of God. What God demands, you
and I must affirm. And what Paul is going to do
is demonstrate clearly and visibly that when we call ourselves children
of faith, we are not by that statement or that title or that
particular phraseology suggesting, asserting, or teaching that we
have no relationship to the law of God whatsoever. And in fact,
if we really comprehend biblical faith, we are constantly affirming
the law. You know what we say? Oh, how
loved by thy law, it is my meditation all the day long. What we say
concerning the law of God is the law is a light and the commandment
is a lamp and reproof of instructions are the way of life. What we
say about the law of God is this, that the law works effectually
in the life of those who are chosen of God because it leads
them to Jesus. that the role of the law was
never ever to diminish any aspect of our redemption through grace,
but rather serve as a steward and handmaid to get us to where
we need to go, so long as we understand that it's on the basis
of grace alone. When we properly comprehend the
law, here's what we understand rightly, is that the law was
a tool throughout the whole of the Old Testament to those who
had eyes to see, to show us glimpses of the glory of God in Christ.
When we read the law in the Old Testament, what I mean by the
law is the whole law, the whole of the Old Testament scriptures,
we see Jesus in the law constantly, do we not? And because we see
it in the law, we say with Paul, the law is good because it shows
us what we need. That's his argument today. And so under that, the first
point is, does faith in Christ alone make the law of God irrelevant? That's our first consideration
because we're taking up his argument. Now, mind you, because Paul knows
his audience very well, he understands that religious people, and in
this context the Jews, are holding on to three false premises of
which you and I need to know. And this is what we would call
a three-legged stool, the analogy of a three-legged stool. Now,
a three-legged stool can stand. Yes, it can. When you understand
dimensions and geometry, you can set up a stool on three legs.
It's not as firm and safe as four legs. Certainly not as firm
and safe as eight legs. But a three-legged stool will
stand so long as the legs are just. But if you have unjust
legs, you are setting yourself up for a fall. Now, what Israel
had done was it had set up three unjust legs to stand on. And that was their confidence
in the law, their confidence in circumcision, and their confidence
in their blood lineage to Abraham. All three of those false premises
Paul has already begun to deal with, has he not? In Romans 2,
you who say you are keepers of the law, you who say you are
circumcised, let me tell you something. Now he's getting ready
to deal with the third leg. You see, even though Paul loved
his Jewish brethren, he understood how steep they were in false
assumptions about the grounds of salvation. And he really wanted
them to be delivered. And so he is contemplating this
as we get ready to deal with the first verse of Romans chapter
4. who love the law, understand
that when you comprehend faith right, the law and all of its
objectives are strengthened. See, what they were saying was,
because all a man is called to do is to trust Christ, then the
cross of Christ therefore nullifies the moral demands of the law.
But you and I say no, do we not? The law which demands the obedience
of works for justification is not nullified through merely
trusting Christ. It's not rendered obsolete or
irrelevant or powerless because we trust in the cross work of
Christ, but rather through the cross, which is the objective
of saving faith, the cross. Through the cross, which is the
objective of saving faith for justification, the law is actually
exalted. Through the cross, the law is
actually understood. Through the cross, the law is
actually loved. Through the cross, it's right
and glorious in its objective. Why? Because of the relationship
of the one who hung on the cross to the law of his God. When I
look at Christ crucified, I understand the role of the law in the hand
of God. When I see Christ and Him crucified,
I understand I'm not getting away with anything. When the
law says the wages of sin is death, when I look to Christ
crucified, I say, that's right, look. So the goal of faith is
to take your eyes and set it on Christ and say, learn who
God is. And so when we are contemplating
this concept of the law over against faith, here's a couple
of things I want to set forth under this first point. When
you and I say that we are children of faith, and Paul used this
term advisedly back up in verse, he said this over in verse 27,
wherefore is boasting then, chapter 3 verse 27, it is excluded. By what law? The law of words? He said no, but by the law of
what? Faith. He now is introducing a law-faith
paradox or tension, not a law-faith conflict, a law-faith paradox. And when you and I talk about
believing on Christ through faith, going back to our point, I want
to share with you what you mean by that if you are biblical.
When you say, I have faith, what do you mean by I have faith?
Do you mean you have faith in faith? Because if you have faith
in faith, you don't have faith in Christ. Now, if your faith
is in believing, then you are actually still under a works
religion because you got to keep your faith pumped up. I'm going
to show you that it's still not going to get you up that hill.
So if you merely have faith and faith so that your faith does
not have a biblical definition behind it, a biblical objective
behind it, a biblical proof behind it, a biblical evidence behind
it, your faith is in vain. You know how people say, I believe
God. What you're supposed to ask is, what do you mean by belief?
Then what do you mean by God? So let me insert what we mean
when we say we have faith, we're people of faith. Watch this now,
here it is. When we say that we are people of faith, we are
saying that we have a faith that points us to whom? Christ. And
when we say we have a faith that points us to Christ, we are saying
that we have a Christ that leads us where? To Calvary. We have
a faith that points us to Christ. We have a Christ that leads us
to Calvary, and we have a Calvary that reveals the righteousness
of the law to us. That's what we mean by faith.
We have a faith that actually educates us fully in the character
of God through the crosswork of Jesus Christ. Watch this.
When we say we have faith, it means we have a faith that points
to Christ, which leads to Calvary, which reveals the righteousness
of God in Christ perfectly. We say that when we have faith,
it points to Christ, leads to Calvary, reveals the righteousness
of God in Christ perfectly, and because of it, God is comprehended
as what? Just and justifier of the ungodly. That's biblical faith. Do you
guys follow that? So that when you're talking to
people and they say, I have faith, ask them, faith in what? Faith
in what? Why? Faith in what? Why? And what's the outcome?
Because if it's merely faith, it's empty faith. Your faith
must be in a person. It must be in a person who meets
God where God must be met. It must be in a person who meets
God where God must be met. And it must be able to actually
accomplish the demands that God requires of that person. When we say we have faith in
Christ, we're saying that we have faith. We have faith in
Christ and all that he has done to obtain eternal redemption
for us. Y'all got that? It's very important for you to
comprehend and the last point under there is gonna drive me
into my analogy as we Define the concept of faith if I have
faith properly comprehended and the object of my faith is the
person and work of Jesus Christ and Through the person and work
of Jesus Christ. I have come to understand that God my Heavenly
Father is still just and also the justifier of those that come
to him by faith and What I am saying is, I have contemplated
the cross long enough to get a clear grip on the character
of God through His law. The character of God through
His law. So that's the first point you need to grasp. If you
do, here's what you understand. I don't have any conflict between
the law of God and the person of Christ. because they are friendly
adversaries to get us where we need to go. Is that true? And
so I never pit the law. As Paul said in Romans chapter
7, the law is good for if the law had not come, I had not known
I'm a sinner. And if the law had not hogtied
me in my rebellion as the schoolmaster of God and dragged me in front
of the cross and say, sinner, what's your verdict? I'd still
be on my way to hell. Thank you God for your law. Remember
John chapter 16 verse 8, the first work of the Spirit is to
convince a man of what? The first work of the Spirit
is to convince a man of what? Sin! That word the whole world
hates. Whole world hates that word.
You know why? Because God is telling us what we really are
by nature. Now if the Spirit of God is working, the first
conversation he's going to have with you is the conversation
about your standing before God. The Spirit of God is not going
to come to you and rub the back of your shoulders and say, there,
there. I know you mean well. You're
a nice person. Nope. Spirit of God is going
to say, hey, I'm here to tell you the truth. Open up the book.
Go to Romans chapter 3, verse 20. Go to Genesis chapter 2,
verse 17. Go to Exodus or Ezekiel chapter
3, verse 1. Ezekiel 18, verse 1, 2, and 3.
And you'll learn what your condition is. And when you have affirmed
what your condition is, come back. I'll show you another truth.
And that is the righteousness of God. He'll first show you
your sin, then he'll point you to the righteousness of God.
And when you're standing in front of the righteousness of God and
the person of Christ, he'll show you how you can agree with God
that there was a judgment that took place on the cross by which
your sins were dealt with so that you can walk away from the
cross hearing the words, there is there for now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. That's what the work of the law
does in the hand of the Spirit of God as he reveals our condition
and our need. Am I making some sense? Critical
to understand that. Critical. Point number two then.
Let's go on to our next point. Abraham was justified by faith. I'm jumping a little bit. I want
to deal with one more thing under the rubric of the law of faith. I say that the law leads us there
and I just need to demonstrate that I was listening to the Sunday
school class this morning and fundamentally we were actually
defining faith over against an argument that faith does not
produce what? Words. Biblical faith always
produces words. Biblical faith always produces
works. You will not find one of the
Old Testament progenitors who did not live by a faith that
manifested itself by what? Works. Absolutely. And so what
we say, going back to point number one, what we say concerning the
work that God requires of salvation for us was a work that Christ
himself accomplished. His work is imputed to us by
faith through grace, and thereby you and I are counted as righteous.
You guys follow that? It's still a work. It's only
a work someone else has done. Now when we're reading the scriptures,
we see this glorious, glorious picture. The law which demands
the obedience of works for justification. shows us that through the cross,
which is the object of our faith, we can see this accomplished
redemption that concludes that the law is honorable and the
law is just. Turn with me in your Bible to
Isaiah chapter 42. I'm going to read three verses, one, two,
three, four verses in Isaiah 42 to affirm this particular
point. And when we get to Romans chapter
4, around verse 15, Paul is going to bring this up again. That's
why I'm laying the foundation. Truly, here's the way Paul argues.
if you read the New Testament clearly. Paul will set out to
discuss a matter. He will begin to deal with the
salient points that he's discussing. He will, in his own mind, under
the guidance of the Spirit, draw a conclusion as to the efficacy
of his argument, and he'll move away from that argument, like
in Romans chapter 3, where he moves away from the argument
of the Jews as being those who are confident in the law. Then
he moves on into the atoning work of Jesus Christ, the latter
part of Romans three. But in Romans four, he's going to go
right back into the law issue because there's some other things
about the law issue that he needs to address. Now, what that means
is he's a teacher that thinks deeply and comprehensively, but
he gives you his arguments in part because you and I have to
be patient about learning the gospel. So what I mean, learn
last night is systematic theology. if you're going to be able to
handle the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, you need to have
a methodology that's consistent with scriptural teaching that
gives you a comprehensive enough understanding of the Word of
God so that you're not lost by the time you get to the book
of Revelation. But if you're narrowing your studies, you'll
be lost by the time you get to the Psalms. And you'll wonder
what the Psalms are about. A comprehensive coherent, clear,
competent approach to the Word of God will help you understand.
Lo, I come in the volume of the book. It's written of me to do
thy will, O God. And you'll see that running through
the scriptures. Here, Isaiah, in Isaiah chapter 42, I'm going
to read verses 1, 6, 8, and 21. Isaiah is speaking to us about
the servant of the Lord. Look at the context. Isaiah chapter
42, verse 1. Behold my servant. You guys see
that? Who is this servant? Who is his servant? That's right.
Behold my servant, whom I what? Oh, I love this. I'm going to
talk about this in the morning, in a moment, in the morning, in
a moment. Mine elect, in whom I so what? Did the father say
that a few years down the line? Watch this. I have put my spirit
upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the what? I rest my case see just Isaiah
42 verse 1 first of all gives us a clear understanding of the
triune God and then it shows us that the work that Christ
accomplished was a work of judgment on the behalf of guilty Gentiles
like you and me do you guys see that in verse 1 very clear and
God is exalting him the father is exalting the son in verse
1 but I want to show you something look with me over at verse 6
are you there I the Lord have called thee in righteousness.
Now I'm getting ready to use some technical terms in terms
of theology, but you are smart people, you can get it. When
we are contemplating the person and work of Jesus, we are contemplating
what is called his active obedience and his passive obedience. Now
you need to understand this because this is critical to just your
ability to understand language. When we talk about active obedience,
We are talking about that aspect of the work which Christ himself
is doing. When we talk about anything in
a verbal context that is active, we're saying that the subject
himself or themselves are actually doing the work, right? When we
read Isaiah or Psalm 40 verse 7, Lo, I come in the volume of
the book, the subject is Christ and he is actively leaving heaven
and coming to earth. Is that true? But there are what
we call passive obedience acts as well. When we call something
passive in its obedience, we are saying that it's not doing
the action, but it's experiencing something for which someone else
is imposing upon it. When you begin to contemplate
deeply the person and work of Jesus Christ, here is what you
must think about from here on out, that the work of Christ
for the redemption of our soul is not a one-man job. Don't ever think that the totality
of all that Christ was called to do, he did by himself. To do that is to miss the glory
of the triune God in their love relationship with one another,
to bring to pass our redemption centrally through Christ, but
not exclusively. So if you notice, verse 1 gave
the accolade of the Father to the Son. If you notice in our
text presently, the Father is talking, I, the Lord, have called
thee, that thee is Christ. Who called Christ the father
in? Righteousness watch this and
I will hold your hand hallelujah What you see in this text is
the collaborative effort of the father and the son And the whole
of the scheme of redemption on the part of christ to us In fact,
jesus would never tell you That anything that he did he did by
himself He always said, my father is with me. My father is doing
the work with me and through me. And that anything that I
do, I only do it because I am commanded of my father. Here,
you get an insight into the beauty of the love relationship between
the father and the son and the redemption of our salvation.
Watch this, watch this. And when we're talking about glorifying
God in our salvation, we are always talking about glorifying
all three persons, always. The act of obedience is that
which Christ does in and of himself that he's called to. The passive
obedience is the work that the Father does to the Son or through
the Son or upon the Son to execute the totality of the will. Am
I making some sense? Let me go on and develop my point
further in this text and you'll see the beauty of this through
an analogy. He says in verse 6, I the Lord
have called thee in righteousness, I will hold your hand, I will
keep you, and I will give you for a covenant of the people
and a light of the Gentiles. Who's talking here? The Father? What is He saying? Because of
his work with the Son, he will bring to Gentiles like you and
me the finished work of Christ by which we can enjoy the whole
of the triune Godhead. Am I making some sense? And in
that sense, there is a passivity on the part of Christ where he
is yielding to the will of God so that the Father joins the
Son in the work. See, when we're done, the goal
of the Son is to point us to the Father. Watch what it goes
on to say here, if you're following what I'm saying. Now go with
me to verse 8. Here it is. Here's another one. And I can give you
50 verses in Isaiah along these lines. Verse 8, here it is. I
am the Lord. That's my name. Our Lord boasting
himself, doesn't he? I'm the Lord. That's my name,
Yahweh, Jehovah, a glorious name, rich with meaning and implication.
He says in verse 8, I am the Lord, that's my name, and my
glory will I not give to another. Neither praise to graven images.
Implication, if the father is working for his own glory through
his son, his son then therefore cannot be anything else but God,
because he will not share his glory with idols. Am I making
some sense? This is glorious. This is glorious. I am the Lord that's my name
and my glory will I not give to another neither my praise
the graven images well therefore Christ must be God himself in
order for God to reveal God to us without it being an idol another
verse I want to show you in terms of finally closing out the argument
of the role of the law being revealed to God's people God's
elect in a way in which we rejoice in the law we will never ever
belittle the law diminish the law Treat the law as irrelevant
verse 21. Are you there? Watch this The
Lord is well pleased for his righteousness whose righteousness
Christ Did you even have to hesitate on that Do you understand when
Paul said in Romans chapter 3 verse 10, there's none righteous that
if God the Father is rejoicing in somebody's righteousness is
gonna have to be his sons and Hurry up and give credit to the
son There's none righteous on planet earth by Jesus and mark.
The father is rejoicing in his righteousness. Is he not? Now
ladies and gentlemen, what do you mean rejoicing in his righteousness?
Rejoicing in the work that his son did to honor the father by
keeping God's law because righteousness is obedience to God's law I'm
trying to show you how important it is for you to hold in tension
the law of God with the work of the cross so that you don't
unjustly, as it were, pick them against each other. This is beautiful. Now watch this. Beautiful. Now
here's what he says over in verse 21. This is a wonderful contemplation. The Lord is well pleased for
his righteousness sake. He will diminish the law, magnify
the law. Watch this now. And he will dishonor
the law, honor the law. You and I comprehend the beauty,
the splendor, the righteousness, and perfections of the law only
in Jesus. When you see Jesus, you see the
righteousness of the law. When you see Jesus, you see the
perfections of the law. When you see Jesus, you see the
goodness of the law. Now watch this, watch this. And
when you don't see Jesus, you're going to bring that law down
so that it becomes a standard of performance that you can achieve,
because after all, if you don't, that law is going to send you
to hell. So in order to preserve the honor of the law, God placed
the law in Christ for us. Stay with me now. Remember last
week I led us to the Holy of Holies? And in the Holy of Holies,
we were forced to contemplate the mercy seat that was on the
Ark of the Covenant. And I told you that in Romans
chapter 3 verse 25, when God says he has set forth Christ
a propitiation for our sin, that he was pointing back to the mercy
seat. You guys remember that? He's forcing us by faith then
to go into the temple, go into the Holy of Holies and observe
the mercy seat because that's where God is. God is contemplating
the blood atoning work of Jesus Christ as the only basis of my
forgiveness. God cannot look at me directly.
He must look at me through the atonement of Christ. That's why
those two cherubim cover their faces and say, holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God almighty. What do we mean by that? We mean
this. God is so holy that when he saw
sin on his son, His wrath was poured out, unmitigated, as if
it were me. Are you hearing me? For it was
precisely the same as if it were me. I am instructed thereby,
that is by the cross, by the proprietary work of Christ, by
the ark of the covenant, by the blood on that ark, that the law
is good and God will never ever compromise his law for sinners,
He will never compromise his law for sinners one more contemplation
along the lines of having to understand the passive and active
obedience of christ It really is helping you comprehend the
inclusive nature of the father in the spirit Do you understand
that not only was the father involved? in the work of christ
active obedience to lead him to calvary, but the spirit was
to For it was the Spirit of God that led Jesus in his humanness
through obedience of faith to the Father all the way to Calvary.
Hebrews chapter 9 verse 15 tells us that Christ offered himself
up to God through the Spirit. This is why when we read in Matthew
chapter 3 verse 16, when John the Baptist was about to baptize
Jesus, or he had baptized him, the heavens opened up, remember?
And the Father spoke from heaven, this is my beloved son. whom
I am what Isaiah 42 1 and then immediately the Holy Ghost descended
as a dove did it not and Remained upon Christ there you have the
revelation of all three persons involved in the ministry of Jesus
Christ because the salvation of sinners through Christ is
is of the Father and is by the Holy Ghost. Meaning all three
persons are so utterly committed to the salvation of God's people
that they are completely and totally invested in the work
that gets done. My point, don't ever think that
when we say the person and work of Jesus Christ, we are excluding
the person and work of the Father or the person and work of the
Spirit. Give you another example of what I mean by the passive
and active obedience of Christ. Go with me in your Bible to Isaiah
53. Isaiah 53. This is a beautiful contemplation
too, because in Isaiah chapter 53, we are forced as well to
contemplate the beauties of the collaborative work of Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit in their salvation. Most theologians have
called the 53rd chapter of Isaiah the gospel. We would say, no,
no, no, sorry. Chapter 1 through chapter 66
of Isaiah is the gospel. Chapter 53 is the atonement This
is the rich work of the atoning work of Christ accomplished here
in chapter 53 and most vivid illustration Isaiah chapter 53
Mark verse 4. Are you ready? I'm getting ready
to show you some of the passive Obediences of Jesus Christ, of
course, the context is talking about Christ. Is it not? I Verse
two, for he shall grow up, who is he? Christ. Before him, who
is he? The Father. As a tender plant
and as a root out of dry ground, he hath no form nor comeliness,
and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire
him. By the way, as I'm exhorting us in this text, notice how Jesus
is always Coram Deo with the Father. Verse four, surely he
hath what? Born our grace. And what? Carried our sorrows. Yet we did
esteem Him, what? Stricken and smitten of God.
Was He? Yes. Was He afflicted? Yes. Do you know what we call
that? Passive obedience. Passive obedience. Who's doing
the work? The Father. Who's bearing the work? The Son.
What is the work that He's bearing? The judgment of God. The judgment
of God. See, if we're going to let language
mean anything, You and I are watching a story that has at
least three persons constantly involved in it. Don't ever then
contemplate the gospel as being a story or a message where it
is only about the son. The son would reject you. And
the spirit would reject you. Because the goal of the spirit
is to point to the son. And the goal of the son is to
point to whom? They all go like this. guess who gets the ultimate
glory the father for God so loved the world that he gave who's
doing the work his only begotten son that whosoever believes on
him should not perish but have everlasting life let me continue
let me continue I want you to see how this works this is so
critical look at verse 5 are you there But he was wounded. Who was wounded? Our Savior.
For our transgressions. He was what? Bruised for our
iniquity. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him and with his stripes we are healed. Here we see Christ
once again in his passive obedience. Is that true? Look at verse 6.
I'm sorry, verse 7. He was oppressed and he was afflicted. Yet he opened out his mouth.
Passive obedience. He's brought as a lamb to the
slaughter. He didn't go as a lamb, he was brought as a lamb to the
slaughter. Do you see it? He's brought as
a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep before his shearers
is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. Passive obedience, glorious. Who's he standing before? His
father. What's he doing? He's bearing
the iniquity of his people. What's his father doing? Saving. all of the woolly righteousness
off of Jesus Christ. So he stands there as a naked
lamb, as a naked sinner's substitute, as he was on Calvary, a naked
lamb. The Father had taken off of him
his righteousness and put on him my sin. Hallelujah. What did he do with all of that
woolly hair on the ground? Clothed me in it so that the
righteousness of Christ is mine. He covers my naked sin in his
righteousness. Do you see it? This is the work
of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. He would have
never got the Calvary without the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost
got him there because as a real man, he had to submit to his
father to help him in order that his obedience would merit being
a vicarious and substitutionary work. Am I making some sense
to you guys? Good. This is very important.
Then notice then there's one more verse I want you to see,
because what we have been given insight into by Isaiah is the
passive active dynamic between Christ and his father, but his
father has not been yet clearly identified as the one imposing
upon Christ the consequences. But he's clearly identified in
verse 10. Look at verse 10. Yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. Do you see it? The father is
actively bruising the son. The son is passively enduring
the bruising. The Son is passively enduring
the bruising. This is what we mean by passive
obedience. By the way, every time a person is baptized, they
are executing the rule of passive obedience. If I say that I am
going to baptize coach, pastor baptize coach, coach was passively
obedient, I was actively obedient. So the scripture says, and John
baptized Jesus, and straightway he went forth, the Spirit leading
him into the wilderness. Baptism is a perfect picture
of passive obedience, since baptism represents the wrath of God poured
upon us in Christ. Am I making some sense? We never
say that the subject baptizes itself or the object baptizes
itself. You cannot baptize yourself and
be legitimately baptized. You are always passive in your
obedience. Submitting yourself to another's control, which is
the work that Jesus did. This is what we mean by passive
and active obedience. Can I use one more analogy before
I go back and build on my argument? One of the marquee passages that
we use to underscore the collaborative work between the Father and the
Son in the salvation of God's people that is a clear illustration
in the Old Testament is the Genesis 22 account. We were there a few
weeks ago. Now that you guys have been given
the rule of passive and active, can you see it? The father, Abraham,
takes Isaac, the son, and they both actively walk up to Mount
Moriah. As they're both actively walking
up Mount Moriah, remember, I will take your hand, I will guide
you, I will keep you, I will preserve you. The son is bearing
the wood. Bearing the wood. The wood represents
our sins. He bore our sins. He bore our
griefs. He bore our iniquities. Here
the Son is actively going to the place of judgment, but He's
passively bearing the judgment because the Lord laid upon Him
the iniquity of us all. Father Abraham lays upon Him
the wood. He takes it to the top of Mount
Moriah, plops it down and says, Daddy, what's next? He says,
Son, lay down. And the Son lays down in passive
obedience. while the Father actively plunges
the knife through his heart demonstrating it was our God and Father who
put Christ to death ultimately for the redemption of our souls
by the satisfaction of the law. Now the law here is playing a
co-star role because the Father is honoring his law and his law
says you must punish sin. Sin must be punished. Are you
guys hearing what I'm saying? And the son bears it in his passive
obedience to the father. You remember in the garden, father,
if it be thy will, let this cup pass. The father said nothing
and the son passively yielded to being taken to the cross.
The passive, active obedience of the son to the father by the
work of the spirit of God. All to fulfill God's law. You guys got a glorious picture
there. Go back to our text. Point number three. Point number
three. It's important to get this. Point
number two, rather. Abraham was our model. Now, all that I have
shared with you under this particular consideration of the nature of
faith is what Paul knew that he had to try to get across to
his Jewish brethren. who were still blinded. Remember
what 2 Corinthians 3 says? To this day, the veil is not
removed from their eyes so they can't see the glory of God. They're
still blinded by works religion, blinded by the law. They can't
see the glory of the cross. They can't see it. So Paul is
laboring to help them understand. Listen, you can only comprehend
God through the crossword. Point number two, Abraham, our
model before the law. I love this. I love his argument.
These are going to be fairly quick points to run through. Not because they are shallow
in their understanding or trite, but it's because they're relatively
vivid and clear in terms of Paul's point. Watch this. Remember I
told you earlier, that the Jews trusted in the law and their
obedience to the law as the basis of their salvation. Then I also
told you earlier, they trusted in their physical circumcision
as the basis of their salvation. That's Romans 2, right? Guess
what else they trusted in? They trusted in their lineage
to Abraham as the grounds of their salvation. Remember John
chapter 8? We be Abraham's seed and are in bondage to no man.
Jesus said, you're not Abraham's seed. You're not his children. You're his sperm. Point one. We be Abraham's seed John 8 37
says yeah, I know you his sperm. I know you his physical seed.
That's the greek word sperma I know that you actually have
the dna of abraham in you, but you're not his children. That's
verse 39 It's the greek term techno Because if you were abraham's
children you do what faithful abraham did you believe on me?
There's a radical difference then than being a blood descendant
to abraham and then being a child of abraham by faith. Is that
true? So Paul is going to argue that Abraham, our model before
the law, in what way were they the children of Abraham? According
to John chapter 8, 39, they were flesh. And so we have to ask
the question, spirit in, flesh out. What's your argument, pastor?
If you are trusting in your lineage, your blood lineage to Abraham,
you're out of the promises of God. If you are trusting in Christ
because Abraham trusted in Christ by faith, you're inside the promises
of God. Let me show you that in Romans
chapter 4. This is Paul's argument over in Romans 4, verse 13 through
15. This is a fascinating argument on this part. Look at verse 13
through 15 of Romans chapter 4. Are you there? For, now watch
this, for the promise that Abraham should be the heir of Palestine.
Is that what your Bible say? Man, I wish I had time. I ain't
got time. I wish I had time. So like a lot of you guys, you
know, you hear me talking on the radio, right? And I demolish
this notion that somehow Palestine over in the Middle East is some
holy ground, some special holy ground where God himself walks. And remember, you got to go to
the holy land before you die. Make your pilgrimage to the holy
land. I'm here to tell you that the
only holy land there is, is in heaven. Everything else is jacked
up by sin. Right now, if you go over there,
there's more sin going on than anything. Nothing holy about
that land. It's not the holy land. You're
not going to see angels with... How many of you guys have been
to Jerusalem? Raise your hand. Look around, folks. Got quite
a few. You didn't see no angels? You know what you saw? You saw
a lot of conflict. You saw a lot of duplicity. You
saw a lot of religion. You saw a lot of contemporary
props to deceive shallow-minded Christians. Is that true? You
saw places where Jesus was supposed to have walked, and Mary was
supposed to have did this, and John the Baptist. All of that
stuff is hypothetical. And so people think when they
get to Jerusalem, they're going to float and get insights and revelations. It's a delusion! It's a delusion! Stay with me. This is why Jesus
said in John chapter 4, the Jews completely missed it, Christians
who are carnal today completely missed it. Jesus says, woman,
the hour is coming and now is when they that worship God neither
worship Him in Jerusalem nor in this place, that is in that
mountain. But they that worship God worship Him how? In spirit
and in truth. That's where the holiness is.
In other words, the ground I'm standing on is just as holy as
Mount Calvary was 2,000 years ago when Jesus died on it. Because
by faith, I see the Son of God. It's important for you to know.
Now watch Paul's argument here. He says, for the promise. You
see the word promise? Can I do some teaching today?
That's our word for the gospel. In the Greek, the word gospel
is euangelion. This is the Greek word epangelion.
And what it is really saying is the deeper message. For the
promise, which is the deeper message. When men and women understand
the promises that are given us in the Bible, and they take all
the promises and put them together, you can go to 2 Corinthians 1,
verse 20, and sum up all the promises in one person. You know
who that person is? All the promises are yes and
amen in him. We call it the deeper message.
And unless God opens your eyes and reveals the gospel to you,
you see the law, but you don't see the promise. So the promise
is given to God's elect. The law is given to the flesh.
Now watch this. For the promise that he should
be the heir of the world. Who's the heir? Abraham. He's
the heir of what? The world. See, Palestine was
just a temporary prop to bring Jesus in. After Jesus did his
work, what God is not only giving Abraham, but he's giving all
the meek of the world, the world. The meek shall inherit the what?
Are y'all following me? If you settle in for just that
60 miles circumference of real estate and most of it is nothing
but stone there in Palestine, you're missing glory. God's given
us the whole universe. And Abraham, not to Abraham or
to his seed, Through the what? Ah, but through the righteousness
of what? Oh, this is glorious. He's just
hit his Jewish brethren upside the head again. He said to them,
get rid of the law in terms of it being the grounds of your
hope, because your only hope is through faith. Next verse,
watch this, watch this. For if they which are of the
law, who is that? The fleshly seed, be heirs, then
faith is made what? I love his argument. I have jumped
the gun, but I love his argument. The Jewish brethren are saying
that the law is made void if we hold faith. What Paul is saying,
if you hold to faith as the grounds for getting to God, you have
made faith void. If you hold to the law as the
grounds for getting to God, you have made faith void. Watch this. And the promise made of what?
Non-effect. Look at verse 15. I love this.
Here it is. Ah, sorry. Go back. I don't want
to deal with that till next week. Sorry. Sorry. I don't want to
deal with that till next week. So what he argues is this. He
argues, I'm sorry, jump verse 15 and go to 16. Therefore, it
is of faith. You guys see that? That it might
be by what? To the end that the promise might
be sure to what? All the seed. And to make sure
he clears it up, he says, not to only they which are of the
law, but to those also which are of the faith of Abraham,
who is the father of us all. See, the gospel secures the salvation
of God's elect, whether Jew or Gentile. Do you guys get that?
The gospel secures the salvation of God's elect, whether it be
Jew or whether it be Gentile. Now going back to our point,
this is what we have discovered. When he's arguing about Abraham,
he's plainly saying that Abraham himself obtained the righteousness
of God apart from works. Look at verse 3 through 5. of
chapter 4. For what said the scriptures?
Abraham what? Believed God and it was what?
Counted to him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the
reward not reckoned of grace but of what? There are a number
of important practical principles you need to derive from that.
As we had stated last week and you had also heard this morning,
if you define faith the wrong way you turn it into a work.
If faith is not biblically comprehended, it turns into a work. If you
have faith in your faith, it's a work. If you have faith in
anything you do, it's a work. If you don't have faith that
points you to Christ, that leads you to Calvary, that accomplishes
a redemption, which honors the law, you don't have saving faith. Am I making some sense? So you
can examine yourself whether or not you have biblical gospel
faith by asking your faith a question. Talk to him like a person. Say,
faith? Faith. Who you want me to look
to? And if your faith says, look
to yourself, it's not saving faith. If your faith says, look
to Christ, you're good to go. You're good to go. See, what
Paul is actually dealing with are the two hypothetical ways
the law of faith and the law of works. And just to close out
on this point, I'm going to wrap it up here. This is the analogy
that I want you to grasp. I love what Paul is doing. He
is not going to let his Jewish brethren get away with diminishing
the cross. He's not going to say, OK, OK,
OK, you can have the cross and you can have the law too. That's
religion. Here's what he's saying. OK, you've got the path that's
called law. It's called the law of works. And then you've got
the path that's called faith. It's called the law of faith,
right? These are two paths. Now, the law of works and the
law of faith is pointing to the same goal. You know what that
is? Righteousness. The law of faith points to righteousness.
The law of works points to righteousness. Problem is, when you come across
the law of works, guess what the law of works says? You got
to get there on your own, buddy. The mountaintop, the high mountaintop
upon which the law of God sits in the presence of God requires
us having the capacity to get there. The law of work says,
do you want to get there, sinner? Start walking. By the way, there
ain't no guarantees you're going to get there. And be careful,
as you make your way up that hill, there are nooks and crannies
and crevices. And if you fall off, you're going
to hell. Oh, you better keep every jot and tittle. You better
stop at those signs. Oh, by the way, the signs aren't
always obvious. They're covered up by bushes. But if you don't
find those signs, see, his point is, If you attempt to get to
that high mountain of God's righteousness by the works of the law, you
will never make it. He said, now go, but there's
no guarantee. But then the law of faith comes along in the trolley
of grace. And the law of faith says to
you, you want that righteousness? And the sinner says, yes. And
the trolley says, hop in. I'll take you there. I'll take
you there. Jump in. And the trolley starts
taking you up the hill. And it says, by the way, everyone
that has come this way has made it safe. I've not lost a one. Are you hearing me? Now, the
ride up is a little bit shaky. Have you ever been on one of
those rides that take you waiting? You look, oh, Lord. Oh, let me. At that point, you trust in Jesus. You pray it. Lord, keep up, brother. In a lot of ways, that's how
faith is. Am I telling the truth? Now, I know I'm getting there
by grace, because I'm not doing it under my own steam. But every
time I look over, it gets a little bit shaky. And that's why the
just shall live by what? Close your eyes and enjoy the
ride and trust that God will get you there. Let's deal with our last couple
of points. Point number three. So Paul is arguing with his Jewish
brethren that if you're going to depend upon Abraham, you better
learn a lesson from Abraham because Abraham didn't get this thing
by the law. Four points under this particular rubric. Abraham
is a history lesson on the righteousness of faith that was given to him
before the law. Point number B, the law was not
yet given. Was it given? In fact, Galatians
chapter 3, 17, don't go there. But Paul is arguing this point
again with the Judaizers in Galatia, because the Judaizers are coming
in again, telling the Gentiles that unless you be circumcised
and keep the law, even your trust and faith in Christ won't work.
And what Paul said was, well, how was Abraham saved? Because
the law didn't even come in until 430 years later. Do you know
Abraham didn't go to a temple? He didn't pay tithe. week in
and week out. He didn't keep Sabbath days. Abraham lived by a full and free
grace. where he walked with God, worshiped
God in the Spirit, and was led by the Spirit everywhere God
wanted him to go. Him and his family. The law didn't
come in until the days of Moses, 430 years later. How on earth
then was Abraham saved? And then do you know what Paul
does? First he says the law had nothing to do with his salvation,
and then he gets them again on that other peg of the leg. Because
you see, religious folk just can't let go of human works.
So Paul brings the subject of circumcision back up, doesn't
he? He says, oh by the way, if you think that Abraham was a
Jew, you got another thing coming too. When God saved Abraham,
he was just like the rest of those knucklehead Gentiles. Look
at it. Verse 10. How was then the righteousness
of God reckoned to Abraham? Romans chapter 4 verse 10. When
he was in circumcision or in circumcision? What's the answer,
saints? On circumcision. He was not circumcised. That
means technically he was not a Jew. He was a Hebrew. He was
not a Jew. God saved Abraham as a Gentile
Hebrew. He was not a Jew. That's in order
to give you and me confidence that salvation does not cut,
does not require cutting off some of your body parts. Hallelujah. But that's a work, isn't it?
You have to be diminished in your body parts to be saved.
Watch this now. He received the sign of circumcision,
a seal of the righteousness of the faith, which he had yet being
what? Uncircumcised. Here it is. Here's
the objective. In order that he might be the
father of all them that merely what? Though they be not circumcised. Gentiles. Gentiles. He's the father of all that believe,
though they be not circumcised. Gentiles. He's the father of
all them that believe, though they be not circumcised. Gentiles.
Isn't that a clear argument? Logical in his syllogism, clear
in his conclusion. Watch this now. Almost done.
Watch it. He says, the father of them that
believe, even though they be not circumcised, that righteousness
might be imputed unto them also. and the father of the circumcision
to them which are not of the circumcision only, but also who
walk in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham. which
he had being yet uncircumcised. For the promise that he should
be heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through
the law, but through the righteousness of faith. Isn't that glorious?
But through the righteousness of faith. Now there's one more
thing I want to call your attention to. This is brief. Point number
three, underscored by history lesson and righteousness, the
law was not yet given. the faith of Abraham was the same faith
described above in John's gospel chapter 8 when Christ defended
being saved apart from blood lineage to Abraham. Here's my
fourth point and my final point, and I love this. Paul throws
this piece of caveat in just to get you worshiping. Because
he was a worshiper of God. He loved the gospel. He decided
to throw David into the hopper right here. Now Israel didn't
really take a whole lot of stock in David. Do you know why? Because
David's life was not a real model life. David had his issues. So the legalists would shrink
away from David because he was a polygamist, as we learned this
morning, and didn't raise his kids right, as we learned this
morning, kind of like us. David was just a sinner saved
by grace. Not a whole lot we can look at with David other
than the Lord loved him, just like us. You understand what
I'm saying? But what what what what paul
does is throws david into the hopper just to give us a foundation
for praise That's why my title is david shouts. Hallelujah.
Amen Because david's listening to the conversation He's listening
to the argument of the apostle about the grounds upon which
abraham is saved and he jumps in and says hallelujah Amen,
let me give you my piece of information as to what I found Just as my
father Abraham found, verse six, even as David also described
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputes righteousness
apart from works, saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are
what? And whose sins are what? Blessed
is the man whom the Lord will not impute his sins. David's worshiping. Give you
four points under that. Three points. Go to my PowerPoint.
I'm done here. Watch this. David's worshiping. Here it is. PowerPoint number four. PowerPoint
number four. Here we go. David found God to
be a justifier of sinners. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. Do you remember? Stay
with me. Do you remember? The day that David acted a fool.
Living large had won many battles, testosterone levels out the roof. He decides to sleep in, goes
out on the banister in his sweats, chest all out, got his six-pack
showing. You know how you do. Looks down
the road, sees this beautiful girl and he loses his mind, doesn't
he? Did he lose his mind? Man, go
get that girl for me. Go get her. I'm the king. I can
have whatever I want to. You know how some of you knuckleheads
think like that? I'm the king. I can have whatever I want to.
He was the king. He could have whatever he wanted
to. Under God, they did what he said. That's the danger of
absolute authority. Am I making some sense? So he
went and took Bathsheba, didn't he? And when he took Bathsheba,
he did the most horrible thing, slept with her, then killed her
husband. Are you hearing me? Sinners are
depraved by nature. God has stepped back. That's
another doctrine. We don't have time to teach it.
God stepped back. And God will step back on you and let you
know how hell bound you are. If you don't depend upon Christ
to keep you, he'll let you go. See, some folks actually think
they have a free will. You're deluded. Your will is
not free. It's bit one way or the other.
Either you're a slave of righteousness or you're a slave of sin. Am
I making some sense? And when God wants to prove that you're
a slave of sin, you know what he does? He backs up and lets you go.
And you and I will make the wrong decision every time. David made
the wrong decision. And David had to live for a whole
year with that woman being pregnant. And because he was saved, the
Holy Ghost was beating him upside his head every day. Psalm 32. And finally one day God says,
okay, my servant is ready. Because he ain't going to let
you out of the doghouse till he's ready. Can I keep talking
to you? He's not going to let you out
of the doghouse till he's ready. You can argue with God all you want,
but he knows whether or not you are ready to change your ways.
So about a year later, Nathan comes in, 2 Samuel chapter 12,
and Nathan gives him a parable. Now see, hard-headed people who
are not ready to repent have to be given parables. Can I keep preaching? I'm almost
done. I'm almost done. Nathan is a great type of Christ.
Without a parable, he did not speak, because Israel was hard-headed. So you can talk plainly to people
who are ready. The people that are not ready, you've got to
use analogies and metaphors and long roundabout arguments and
parables. Hey, sis, I've got to tell you
a story about something that happened in Africa. Then we're
going to go from Africa to Europe. I'm going to let you figure out
the rest getting back to California. That's what Nathan did. And David,
in his self-righteous indignation, said, we're going to kill that
man. Nathan said, you're the man. Pull up 2 Samuel chapter
3, chapter 12. Let me show you this. 2 Samuel
chapter 12. Nathan is sitting there with
David. David is now apprehended in all of his hypocrisy and self-righteous
indignation. Watch this. Nathan said to David
you are the man that said the Lord God of Israel I anointed
the king over Israel and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul
verse 8 we should be at verse 11 or 12 but go to verse 8 watch
this verse 8 verse 8 and I gave thee thy master's house your
master's wives in your bosom and gave the house of Israel
and Judah and if it had been too little I would have given
you much more than that I'm not gonna go there Verse 9, that
just goes to show you how good God is. Keep going, verse 9.
Wherefore, you have despised the commandment of the Lord to
do evil in God's sight. You have killed Uriah the Hittite
with the sword. You've taken his wife to be your wife, and
you slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Verse
10. This is the law heaping down on the head of David, is it not?
The law heaping down on the head of David. Now, therefore, the
sword shall never depart from your house. because you have
despised me and you've taken the wife of Uriah, the Hittite,
to be your wife. By the way, when you go to the
Gospel of Matthew, do you know what Matthew calls Bathsheba,
the wife of Uriah, whom David married, just to let us know
how heinous sin is. Verse 11, Thus said the Lord,
Behold, I will raise up evil against you, These folks be falling
out all over the place when they call me on my Monday show cuz
I say God is in control of evil Got your text right there You
know what the text is Behold I create evil and I create good
I create the darkness I create the light I the Lord do all these
things read it got brothers looking at me like I wrote that I didn't
write that Look, look, I did not write that look at it. I
Behold, I will raise up evil against you and your house, and
I will take your wives before your eyes and give them unto
your neighbors, and he shall lie with them in the sight of
the sun." That's the God of the Bible. You know what we call
that? The law of reciprocity. Tenfold. See, for those of you who play
games with God, understand this. God is the same yesterday, today,
and forevermore. This is why you don't play with
grace. This is why you don't play with grace. Watch the next
verse. Verse 12. For thou did it secretly,
but I will do this thing openly before Israel and the Son. David
had shame on his house all the rest of his days. Verse 13. Watch
it. And David said unto Nathan, what?
Well, you know, I couldn't help myself. My wife, you remember
Micah, she was tripping, man. He didn't say that. This is what
I love about David. This is the truth right here.
This is actually a compendium of what I've been saying for
the last two weeks. When it comes to the law of God, when it comes
to the revelation of God, the only thing you and I are called
to do is repent and immediately confess we're guilty. Don't try
to justify your sin. David didn't hesitate one second
under the conviction of the Holy Ghost and the preaching of the
Word to simply say, I have sinned. Do you see it? And watch this. Against the Lord. Against the Lord. And immediately
Nathan said to David, the Lord has already put away your sin.
You will not die if you confess your sin. He is just and faithful
to forgive you for your sin and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. But you got to come real with
God. You got to come real with God. That's why David is shouting,
hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, because the Lord is able to not
impute sin where sin should be imputed. And that's all on the
grounds of the propitiation of Christ. How did he put away David's
sin? In Christ. He put away David's
sin, not arbitrarily, in Christ. But he let the Holy Ghost work
to get a confession of his rebellion because God must be honored for
honored by his children We've always got to tell the truth
to God Christ David always had a Savior but the merits of Christ
were not attributed to David until he confessed his sin and
That's why David wrote Psalm 32 horrible life until the Holy Ghost brought
him before the Lord, told him you're guilty, confess your sin,
confess your rebellion, and I'll tell you, before you even get
it out of your mouth, God will say, no condemnation. No condemnation. Amen.