To turn with me to Romans chapter
3 and verse 24, I'm going to endeavor to preach to you on
that which is the sweetest and at the same time the most profound
of all truths revealed in Holy Scripture. Romans chapter 3 and
verse 24. There is nothing more important
and nothing more precious in what we read in this text. The
Apostle Paul writes by divine inspiration and tells us that
we are justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus. Justified. That's my subject
this morning. Justified. We are justified,
made righteous, holy, perfect before God, made just with God,
made equal to all the demands of God's holiness, law, and justice,
justified freely. The word means without a cause,
without any cause in us, without any effort on our part. without
any work performed by us, without any decision made by us, without
anything felt by us, without anything experienced by us, justified
freely by His grace. Free justification is altogether
the work of free grace. Grace the free bestowment of
God upon sinners, the mighty operation of God by which we
are saved. All who are justified, made righteous
before God, are justified freely, justified freely by God's grace,
but now watch this, it cost him dear. Through the redemption,
through the blood atonement, Through the sacrificial work,
through the sin atoning death, through the blood deliverance
of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, we're justified freely by God's
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Deliverance, salvation by blood
is found in and only in Jesus Christ, our Lord. It is the work
altogether of Jesus Christ without our aid. What a blessed, blessed
thought. Justified. Justification and
all its blessings arise and come to sinners by the accomplishment
of Christ the Lord. Justification is accomplished
and bestowed upon sinners by our great, all-gracious God and
Savior, the three-in-one Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Now, perhaps the most important
fact revealed in Scripture is the one that men most often presumptuously
ignore, the fact that God is just. There's not a more important
fact revealed in scripture than the fact that God is just. Justice and truth, the psalmist
sings, are the habitation of his throne. It is not possible
to understand the grace of God, the judgment of God, or the work
of God in Christ until we have some understanding of this fact.
God is just. Because the Lord God is just,
he must and always does deal with all his creatures in strict
justice. The justice of God is the rectitude
of his character, his righteousness, which compels him. It is the
rectitude of his character, his righteousness, which compels
him always in all things to deal with all his creatures exactly
according to that which they deserve. God will not deal with you. God
will not deal with me. God will not deal with our sons
and daughters. God will not deal with our mothers
and fathers. God will not deal with our neighbors
and friends. God will not deal with our enemies.
except in accordance with that which is exactly what we deserve. That's the only way God deals
with me only according to just deserts. Justice and holiness
are as essential to the character of God as mercy, love and grace. God can no more cease to be just
than God can cease to be love because God is just. The only
way God can save a guilty sinner, the only way whereby he can bring
a sinner into eternal union of blessedness and happiness with
him, is if he can make that sinner completely guiltless, completely
free of sin, completely righteous before his own law and justice. Now this act of God's matchless
grace that the scriptures call justification is just plainly
revealed in scripture. When God declares a person guiltless
and sinless, perfectly righteous before him, when God declares
that you are guiltless, sinless, perfectly righteous before him,
you really are guiltless. sinless, perfectly righteous
before him. I would to God I could get the
ear of every preacher in the world and make him understand
this fact. God never plays let's pretend. God never plays let's pretend. You remember when you're the
boy used to play and you'd pretend you was a cowboy. And your buddy,
if he wasn't as big as you, he had to be the Indian. Like cowboys
and Indians, let's pretend. Let's pretend. God doesn't play
pretend. When you pretend something, you
are putting on a show. When you pretend something, you
are displaying something. When you pretend something, you
are acting as though the thing that is not really is. God never plays let's pretend. When God says that you are guiltless,
sinless, righteous, you really are. It's real. It's real. Every believer in the Lord Jesus
is truly justified, perfectly righteous in the sight of God. I must pause and call on you
who are without Christ, young and old, believe on the Son of
God and be justified. Believe on the Son of God and
go down to your house like the publican from the house of God
this day, justified. But pastor, how can this be done? How can sinners be justified? How is justification accomplished? That's the question of the ages.
We read earlier, how can a man be just with God? How can he
be clean that's born of woman? Job raised the question and Job
answered, if I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn
me. If I justify myself, if I say I'm perfect, my own mouth will
prove me perverse. Then how can a man be just with
God? Find the answer to that question,
and you've learned the gospel. And if you don't know the answer
to that question, you don't know the gospel. Now, I know this.
I know this. Because God is holy, just, and
true, God demands infinite satisfaction for sin. God demands infinite satisfaction
for sin. In the previous hour, Brother
Lindsey dealt with the Holy Spirit's conviction of sin, of righteousness,
and of judgment. And made a plain statement. God's judgment for sin is accomplished
in Christ the Lord. God demands satisfaction from
Bill Raleigh. This is what God says to you. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. You've got to die. There's no
escaping it. God's not going to pass by his
judgment. You must die. I must die. There is no possibility of escaping
this. Well, if a man must die, how
can he be justified? God's people, God's elect, every
sinner loved of God and chosen of God and every sinner who believes
on Christ. That's the same thing. If you
believe on Christ, you're loved of God and chosen of God. Every
sinner loved and chosen of God, every sinner who believes on
Christ died in Christ the Lord. I don't mean it's as though we
died. God never plays. Let's pretend.
I mean, we died. The scriptures are plain and
clear, but God demands more than satisfaction. God demands righteousness,
perfect righteousness. When the Holy Spirit comes in
conviction, he convinces the world of sin and of righteousness,
of sin and of righteousness, convinces the sinner, chosen
and redeemed by Christ, as he is called by God's grace, that
righteousness is done. God said walk before me and be
ye holy. Be ye holy for I the Lord your
God am holy. Be perfect for I am perfect. Turn to Matthew chapter 5. I
want you to read two verses of scripture. Both should be very
familiar to you. Matthew chapter 5 and verse 20. For I say unto you that except
your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of
heaven. That is some statement. That
is some statement. Picture if you can in your own
mind The most perfect human being you've ever known. The most perfect
human being you've ever known. How many times have you heard
someone say and maybe foolishly said yourself? If anybody gets
into heaven, he will. Best person you ever knew. The
best person you ever knew. Picture me if you can. You've
got to be better than that. And he does, too. Accept your
righteousness exceed The righteousness of the scribes and pharisees
you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven look at
verse 48 Be ye therefore Perfect as even as your father which
is in heaven is perfect Had been skipped glad felter
you got to be as perfect as God in righteousness or you can't
be saved. That's exactly what he says.
God requires total, absolute perfection. He will not accept
anything less than perfect holiness unless we render to God perfection
of heart, perfection of thought and perfection of deed all our
lives. With no deviation from absolute
holiness, we cannot see his face. If God ever accepted or delighted
in anything less, he would have to alter his own character as
God. Well, Brother Don, does that
leave us without hope? Oh, no. Oh, no. God says, I have
laid help upon one that is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people. In whom mercy and truth are met
together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other. And that
perfect one is Jesus Christ, the Lord. That's the good news
of the gospel. God set forth his son, the Lord
Jesus, as our substitute and representative. And as we lived
in him performing perfect righteousness, we died in him satisfying complete
justice so that now Christ is in us that holiness without which
no man shall see the Lord. He took on himself our nature.
living in this world as a man, rendered to God perfect obedience
and rendered to God in his death perfect satisfaction. And now
all that he did is ours for we are in him. Every true believer
has rendered to God perfect righteousness and perfect satisfaction. And
I'm here to tell you that nothing else will satisfy God And nothing
else will satisfy your conscience. Nothing else. People struggle
all the time with assurance of the knowledge of God and knowing
God and salvation, acceptance with God, because they're always
looking somewhere else for perfection. Knowing that God demands perfection,
it must be perfect to be accepted. Look away from yourself to Jesus
Christ, yonder's perfection. Perfect righteousness, perfect
satisfaction, holiness that God himself is. Righteousness that
God himself is. Perfection that God himself is. And it belongs to every sinner
who trusts his son. That's what it is to be justified. All right, now let me show you
five facts plainly revealed in Holy Scripture about this matter
of being justified. These are five things so plainly
written in the Word of God that you can't miss them unless you
choose to ignore them. Number one, turn to Romans chapter
8 and verse 28. Romans chapter 8 and verse 28.
And understand this, every true believer
was eternally justified in the purpose of God. That's not quite
accurate. You can't use the word was in
connection with eternity. Every believer is eternally justified
in the purpose of God. Now you and I just can't get
our minds wrapped around that word eternal. And there's a reason
for that. We're not. When we think about
things done in eternity, we must think in the realm of time. Time doesn't exist for God. I should say God doesn't exist
in time. God's the one who made time.
We exist in time, not God. We who are gods, justified by
God, are justified by God eternally. No beginning, no end, no variation,
no mutability, no change. Romans chapter 8. Let's see if
this is what the book says. Verse 28. We know that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called. And whom he called,
them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. I have given you this before,
but it's probably worn off. So I'm going to give you a secret. This is a profound theological
revelation. Be sure you get it. When you
read the Bible, when you read any text in the Bible, whatever
it appears to mean, the first time you read it, that's just
exactly what it usually means. When you read this, you said
the apostle says, whom he did predestinate, he called and justified
and glorified. You read that. Did you think
first time you read that? Well, that means that those that
he predestinated, he is going to call and he's going to justify
and he's going to glorify. Not that somebody told you to
read it that way, you didn't. Not a chance you thought that. Well,
this is speaking prophetically. Oh, no. When God speaks prophetically,
God says, I'm going to do or I shall do or I will do. He doesn't
speak prophetically in past tense terms. When God speaks prophetically,
he speaks of things with clarity and precision. I know people
who laugh at the word of God. They'll read or hear about one
of these things on Discovery Channel or History Channel where
they're talking about, what's it fellas, was it Frenchman Nostradamus? I saw just a brief clip one time
and oh, people get all excited. They get so excited. This man
Nostradamus, he must have been a prophet. Do you know 500 years
ago? He predicted that sometime in
the year 2014, there was going to be a huge fire in some city. Wow. Isn't that amazing? Tell you what, I predict in the
year 2015, there's going to be a huge fire in some city somewhere
in the world. I predict that. But I ain't a
prophet. And he wouldn't either. When
God makes a prophecy, he makes it like this. In 250 years, I'm
going to raise up a man, and his name will be Cyrus, and he's
going to be the king of the mightiest empire in the world, and my people
are going to be in captivity to him. They will have been there
70 years to the day. And Cyrus, this pagan king who
does not know me, though I guard here, he's going to deliver my
people from bondage under his rule. And he's going to pay the
expenses for them to go back home. Now, that's prophecy. That's prophecy. Let's see if
it comes to pass. Then you'll know whether or not
Isaiah spoke for God. It came to pass. God Almighty
is not here speaking prophetically, but rather He is declaring that
which was done in eternity. He called us. called us his sons,
called us his own. And he justified us in Christ
Jesus, the Lord. And he glorified us in his son
who is described in this book as the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. That's God's work. John Gill
was right on the money when he made this statement. God's will
to elect is the election of his people. So also His will to justify
them is the justification of them. Lord God set up His Son
as our surety, our substitute, our Redeemer before the world
was. And as such, in His own mind, in His own purpose, in
His own heart, by His own decree, by His own will, He declares
Christ to be the Lamb slain before the world was. And Christ being
the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, is that one in
whom we are accepted in the beloved and blessed of God. Now, let
me give you three facts that must that compel us, that calls
us to recognize that this thing of eternal justification must
be precisely what Paul is talking about in Romans 8 30. Number
one, when God spoke to Adam in the garden, After he created
him, he said, in the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely
die. And one day, Adam reached out
and took whatever that fruit was and ate it. And then he walked around for
hundreds of years. But God said, in the day Thou
eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. But Adam's still walking
around for hundreds of years. For hundreds of years. Well,
but he died spiritually. Yeah, but he's still walking
around. But he's under the sentence of eternal death. Yeah, but he's
still walking around. He didn't die. He didn't die. We died in him spiritually. We
died in him under the sentence of eternal condemnation. But
Adam's still walking and breathing on God's earth. Why didn't he
die? Because in Adam's loins, God
had put a seed out of which would come all the nations of the earth,
including his elect, who must be redeemed and justified and
called and glorified in Christ the Lord. And so preserving Adam
in life, he preserved Adam in life until he had begun to scatter
his seed through the world, his seed whom he had chosen and redeemed
and accepted in Christ before the world began. And there was
no possibility that Adam would stop breathing until God had
scattered his seed in the earth. You have a picture of it in Lot. The Lord God spoke concerning
lots in his angel to bring lot out of Sodom. And the angel,
as lot kept arguing, the angel said lot, I can't destroy this
city until I bring you out. How come? Because God won't destroy
the righteous with the wicked. And there was in Adam a seed
righteous before God. He would not destroy in Adam. because they were in the last
Adam before they were in the first Adam. We were in Christ
before we were in Adam, in Christ from everlasting. And our Lord
Jesus Christ is that one in and by whom we are saved from eternity. Second, turn to Romans chapter
three. Romans chapter three. Look at
our text again, Romans 3, 24. All gods elect justified by Christ eternally
and all God's elect were justified by Christ at Calvary brother
Allen just saying it is finished when Jesus therefore had received
the vinegar he said it is finished here is what he finished Romans
324 being justified we are justified and freely by his grace through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth
to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare
his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through
the forbearance of God. To declare, I say at this time,
God's righteousness. And notice how Paul emphasizes
this. By divine inspiration, he's describing for us how God
saves sinners. He's explaining to us the work
of God's grace. He's telling us of how it is
that God can save sinners without marring his law, without marring
his justice, without marring his character, without lowering
himself at all. How God can save and still be
God. How God can be just and yet the
justifier of the ungodly. He says, it's by righteousness.
It's by righteousness. It's by righteousness. It's by
righteousness. Read on. To declare, I say it
this time, his righteousness. And this is the reason for the
whole thing, that God might be just and the justifier of him
which believeth in Jesus. Mr. Spurgeon commenting on this
made this observation I thought was just outstanding. In the
moment when Jesus Christ paid my debts, my debts were canceled. In the hour when he worked out
for me a perfect righteousness, it was imputed to me. And therefore,
I may, as a believer, say I was complete in Christ before I was
born, accepted in Jesus, even as Levi was blessed in the loins
of Abraham. Done at Calvary. But pastor,
some people, some people, whose brains are addled with whatever
position theologically they have assumed, they will hear you say,
well, this was done from eternity. It's done from eternity. That
means it wasn't necessary to be done in time. That's kind
of absurd. No, the fact that it's done from
eternity necessitates and makes certain that it shall be accomplished
in time. I was in the Louisville airport
Three or four years ago, flying out, going somewhere to preach,
and one of the security officers noticed as he opened my briefcase,
I had a Bible in there. He said, you're a preacher? I
said, yes, sir. He said, you're going somewhere to preach? I
said, yes, sir. He said, where are you from? I said, Danville. He said, what do you
think about that predestination stuff? I said, I think it's wonderful. He said, well, if that's so,
why are you going to preach? I said, because it's so. Because it's
so. I don't preach with the hope
that maybe, maybe somehow you or somebody somewhere will pretty
please let God save them. Oh no, oh no. I preach with the
absolute confidence that every sinner chosen of God from eternity
is going to hear the word preached and as you hear it you'll believe.
Why? Because it was done from eternity. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 3 the
Apostle writes concerning that rest That awaits us in eternity
So we're talking about Frank What there remaineth therefore
a rest to the people of God? That's what's talking about.
He says the works were finished from the foundation of the world
Well, there's no point no point in taking place in death. I'm
looking forward to it taking place in time, aren't you? I'm
looking forward to the experience of it. And the experience of
it is guaranteed by God's accomplishment of it from eternity. The life
of our Redeemer was as necessary for our redemption and justification
as his death. We must have a righteousness
to be declared and made ours. And our Lord Jesus, while he
walked on this earth, was spinning a garment of perfect righteousness. You see the saints of God around
the throne in Revelation chapter seven, dressed in linen garments,
virgins all dressed in white. What's that? What's that? What's
that? John said. Why? That's the righteousness
of the saints. That's what that is. That linen
garment made by our redeemer, by his obedience, is the righteousness
that is ours before God. And our savior must die. His death at Calvary must be
executed in time because justice must be satisfied if we would
be made free from the law. Turn to Galatians chapter 2.
Galatians chapter 2. Verse 19. I, through the law, am dead to
the law. Well, now, wait a minute. Wait
a minute. Paul is still walking around. He was the one who wrote
this, and as he wrote it, he said, I, through the law, am
presently dead to the law. Well, how can that be? In Christ. When Christ died, I died in him. Well, are you sure that's what
it means? Read the next verse. I am crucified with Christ. Quite literally, I was crucified
with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in
the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, by his faithful
obedience unto death as my substitute, who loved me and gave himself
for me. So that now I, through the law,
in perfect consistency with every letter of God's holy law, through
the law, I'm dead to the law. I died in my redeemer. Come back
to Romans 6. Let's see if that's not what
Paul says. Romans 6. He's talking about our baptism.
That which is the public beginning of spiritual life by our baptism. We identify ourselves with Christ
Confess God has saved me by his grace. I'm born again. I now
live with God live with Christ in units of life We do so, we're
buried with him in baptism, raised with him from the watery grave,
knowing this, that our old man, Romans 6, 6, is crucified with
him, that the body of sin might be destroyed. Our old man was
crucified when he was crucified, that the body of sin, this present
body of flesh, this present nature of ours shall be destroyed. that
the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not
serve sin. For he that is dead, he that
is dead, what's this next word, is freed. If you've got a concordance and
it gives you a translation of the word, the word freed is justified. He that is dead is justified
from sin. Now look at verse 11. You say,
well, that's how God sees things. That's how they really are then.
However God sees them, that's how they really are. And God
would have us to see things as he sees things. He would have
us living by faith to look upon all things exactly as he does. Well, did you hear that? God
would have you, living by faith, always to look upon all things
exactly as he does. Look at verse 11. Likewise reckon
ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto
God through Jesus Christ our Lord, always child of God, looking
away to Christ, regardless of feeling, regardless of experience,
regardless of what you've just done. Reckon yourselves dead
indeed to sin and alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We were justified at Calvary. We have in him. Obtained eternal
redemption For he has perfected forever them that are sanctified. That means that the believer
Seeing what God sees Seeing as God sees with reference to himself Can sing with confidence near
So very near to God nearer I cannot be. For in the person of his
son, I am as near as he dear. So very dear to God. Dearer I
cannot be. For in the person of his son,
I am as dear as he. We have in Christ by his accomplishments
at Calvary, complete, perfect justification. We are accepted
in the beloved. We have been from eternity long
before we were born, accepted of God, blessed of God, smiled
upon by God from everlasting. Here's the third thing. Look
at Romans chapter four, Romans chapter four. Every believer receives complete
free justification by faith in Jesus Christ, the Lord. Faith
does not justify us. Understand that. Christ did that.
Faith is not the instrument by which we are justified. Christ
justified us. Faith does not make us just.
Christ made us just. But faith receives Christ. And receiving the whole Christ,
we receive all that Christ is. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. Faith receives the atonement. It didn't make atonement. Faith
receives justification. It didn't make justification.
Romans 4.25 Christ was delivered for because of our offenses. He was raised again for our justification. Therefore, since Christ has justified
us, since he was raised because of our justification accomplished
by him, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with
God. Down in verse 11, by faith, we've
received the atonement. We've received it. Faith receives
Christ. And receiving Christ, we receive
all that he is and all that he's done. Now watch this. Watch this. I don't know a better
way to illustrate it. Y'all got a good look? Would
you like to have some of this? You can come up after service
and have all you want. Watch this now. I'm going to
receive some water. It's mine. But it was mine an
hour ago when she put it in the glass for me. It was mine an
hour ago, but it didn't quench any thirst. It didn't do me any
good in my experience until right now. I'm so glad it's mine now. Christ was mine and I was his
from everlasting. But I didn't know anything about
it until God gave me faith and I received him and receiving
Christ. We receive justification and
are justified in our consciences. Let me see if I can make good
on that from the book. Hebrews chapter nine, Hebrews chapter
nine. Verse 11. We're justified by faith in Christ
Jesus, in our consciences, in the sweet and blessed experience
of God's saving grace. This is not just theory. This
is not just academics. This is not just religious jargon
and religious talk. This is not just a creed This
is the experience of every heaven-born soul Hebrews chapter 9 verse
11 Christ being come and high priest of good things to come
By a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands
that is to say not of this building Neither by the blood of goats
and calves But by his own blood, he entered it once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. It was done
then. Verse 13. For if the blood of
bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean
sanctify through the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to
serve the living God. What an argument. What an argument.
Aaron, God's high priest. Believed God. He believed God. Aaron never trusted. That Passover
lamb that he sacrificed. To do that would be an idolater.
Oh, no, no, no. He trusted the Passover, that
Passover lamb portrayed. You understand that? And Aaron,
Aaron was present when he saw Moses go into the Holy of Holies,
into the tabernacle, when God finished the tabernacle and Moses
come running out because he couldn't stay there in the presence of
God. And so Aaron is commanded of God on the day of atonement
once a year to go back into that holy place. How dare he do so? How dare he do so? How dare he
do so? God told him, you bring the blood
of the lamb and I will meet you on the mercy seat. And Aaron dared. No, he didn't
dare. He walked in with complete confidence
that it was right for him to do so because he carried the
blood that God required into that holy place and sprinkled
it on the mercy seat. Now you've heard preachers try
to illustrate the garments that Aaron wore, that gorgeous robe
he had as priesthood garments that everybody saw had a bell
and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate,
all around the bottom of that garment, around the hem. And
preachers will tell you that was so that as long as he was
in there and the sacrifice was accepted, they could hear the
bells ring and everything was all right. And as the bells quit
ringing, that meant Aaron was killed. God killed him. And they
had to reach in there with something and pull him out. Now that may
make for exciting preaching, but it's just not so. Because
Aaron pulled that garment off before he ever went in there.
He never wore that garment in there. He wore only white linen
garments into the holy place. And it didn't have to be pulled
out or go in with fear. God said, bring the blood and
come in. And he did so because his flesh
was sanctified by that physical blood. You got that? How much more shall the blood
of Jesus Christ, sprinkled on your heart, your mind, your conscience,
give you confidence to go into the holy place and find acceptance
with God? To lift your heart and cry, Abba,
Father, the blood of Christ purges away my guilt from my conscience,
so that I'm no longer terrified of God. 47 years ago, I spent months and
months and months terrified of God. Terrified of God. I was, Mark, I was scared to
death to go to sleep at night and scared to death to open my
eyes in the morning. I made every kind of promise
I could make. I did all kinds of reforming, at least for a
little while. I just, I quit doing stuff I used to do and
started doing better stuff. And I still terrified of God.
I'd never been interested in reading my Bible, started reading
my Bible, still terrified of God. I went to church only when
I had reason to go and meet a pretty girl, or one of my buddies was
going, or when I was a boy, when I was forced to occasionally
when I got too mean. Otherwise, I wouldn't go with no interest
in going. But suddenly, I was terrified of God, and I started
going to church, and I was still terrified of God, still terrified
of God. And the one Sunday morning, I
was sitting back about where Susan is, and I had come because this
girl I was dating was there, and that's the only way I could
see her. So I said, suddenly, I wasn't interested in her anymore.
There wasn't any more preacher pointing me to the crucified
Christ. And God gave me grace to trust
his son and I quit being afraid of God. Because the blood of
Jesus Christ has purged my conscience from dead works to serve the
living and true God. Every believer is justified in
the experience of grace by faith in Christ. Now you don't have
to look at these next two texts or these next two points. I'll
give them to you very briefly. Fourthly, every true believer is justified
by his works. Every true believer is justified
by his works. And it is not just that Grace changes a man and he's
forced to do things he doesn't want to do. No, that's not the
case. That's not the case. Every believer makes it his life's
ambition to glorify God. That's just fact. That's just
fact. James said, you talk about your
faith. Let me tell you how I'm going to talk about my faith.
I will show you, not me, not God, you. I will show you my
faith by my works. He said, I profess to believe
God. I profess to be the servant of
God. I profess to be the child of God. I profess to be righteous
before God. I profess that Christ is my all
in all. Watch how I live and you're going
to find out whether or not it's so. Well, you don't dare say
that. James did take up the argument
with him. Take up the argument with him.
I'm going to walk in this world with deliberate effort of honoring
God. And you do that by serving his
people, serving one another by works of love and devotion. Read the book of God. Read the
book of God. I, uh, I hope to, uh, start preaching
for the book of James soon. I'll deal with it more fully,
but every believer, every believer by the grace of God is determined
bring Philippians chapter three to honor God in his life, to
honor God. I watch what I say. Skip, I don't
say everything I think, and you better be thankful you wouldn't
want to hear it. I don't say everything that comes into my
mind. I don't do everything that comes into my mind. I was talking
to a friend of mine, Brother Jeff Vandal. Got a lot of stress
with his job, as most men do, have responsibilities, a lot
of stress. And he had some difficulties
health-wise. I said, Jeff, let me tell you
what'll help you. I learned years ago to write
mean, nasty, biting letters. Oh, man, I can take your hat
off. And I've written a bunch of them. I get angry, and I say,
oh! And then I file them in the draft
box and I just let them sit there for two or three days and I delete
them, never send one of them. What good does that do? It felt
so good to beat the fool out of that fellow while he wasn't
around. It just, it felt good to get out. I might not ought
to do it, but that's my release button. And I just delete it
and let it go. Well, why don't you say it to him? Wouldn't do
any good. Wouldn't do any good. Wouldn't help anybody, wouldn't
profit anybody. So I just live with it, live
with it. Believers seek in their lives
to honor God in word and in deed and in behavior, in dealing with
men and in dealing with God and with dealing with God's people.
Then fifthly, every child of God is continually being justified
by Christ, our God and savior. Do look at one text in this regard.
Isaiah chapter four, chapter 50. Look at this. I'll quit. I'll quit. I just
can't, I can't leave this off. Isaiah 50 verse eight. He is near that justifies me. Isn't that a wonderful word?
It was done from eternity. It was done at Calvary. It's
a done deal. Justification is not continually
being accomplished. It's done by faith. But here
it's in the present tense. The present, linear, continual
tense. He is near who continually, relentlessly
justifies me. He justifies me. How is that? As my advocate in heaven, He
continually pleads for me as he did for Joshua in Zechariah
chapter three. By his spirit in my soul, he
continually speaks peace to my soul by his precious blood sprinkled
on my conscience, so that when Satan accuses me, when doubts
arise, he is near that justifies me. When men like Job's miserable
comforters, Make you stop and think about
yourself. Well, maybe, maybe Bill Dad's
right. Maybe so far as right. Maybe those fellows are right.
Wait a minute. No, no. I will hold on to my
righteousness. He is near that justifies me. Watch this. Who will contend with me? Who will contend with me? This
is about what Job said to those three miserable comforters. All
right, go ahead and bring your arguments. I'll hold my righteousness. I know my Redeemer lives. Go
ahead and say what you want to. Who will contend with me? Let
us stand together. Who is my adversary? Let him
come near to me. In other words, it doesn't matter
what Satan says, or what men think, or even what old Don Fortner
thinks. He is near that justifies me. He is Jehovah's Echidna, the
Lord my righteousness. Amen.