Hebrews chapter 2, reading one verse. We read this
passage last Sunday and I want us to make along these thoughts
once again. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation? The scriptures refer to it as
the eternal salvation It's God's salvation and here he talks about
it being the great salvation which is the first began to be
spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.
I want us to think, we tried to look at last Sunday that aspect
of salvation of God saving us from the pleasure of sin and
today I want us to think about the thought salvation from the
penalty of sin. The more I think about this thought,
this word, salvation, it seems like the bigger it gets. Salvation
is the deliverance by God Almighty, delivering a sinner from themselves,
out from under the curse and the dominion of God's law, out
from under the condemnation of God's law, from back in old eternity,
if we can even use language that way, when God chose a people
in Christ before the world was made, till every one of them
that he chose shall be glorified and be just like the Lord Jesus
Christ. Because whom he did foreknow,
he did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son. That
salvation from beginning to end and everything that happens in
between. is happening for the salvation,
the saving, the delivering of those people from themselves.
Everything. It's not a one-time act. We know
when God chose, that was salvation. When the Son redeemed, that was
salvation. And when the Holy Spirit applies
it to your heart, that's salvation. But it didn't just stop when
He applied it to your heart. It's something that goes on your
entire life. It's God working in you both
to will and to do of His good. That's all salvation. Paul said,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It's the power of
God. What? To salvation. Ephesians,
it said, you believed after you heard. Heard what? The gospel
of your salvation. You know who first trusted in
Christ? God the Father did. He first trusted in Him as the
surety for His people. And then you trusted. When? After
you heard the gospel of your salvation. Salvation. I said in the Bible class, people
have used the term saved so lightly. What does that mean? God saves
His people. He has saved them, He is saving
them, and He will save them. There is not a single one for
whom God chose and Christ died that will ever be lost. When
God makes up His bride and His jewels and His house is complete,
He said, I go to the Father's house to prepare a place for
you. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. There was no empty rooms in the ark and there are
no empty rooms in the Father's house. They'll be all what? Saved. And let me tell you this. Remember this. God is the one
from beginning to end that does the saving. If I love Him, that
means He must have loved me first. Because if He didn't, I would
never love Him. It is not that I did choose thee for Lord. That
could not be. This heart would still refuse
thee if thou had not chosen me. That's salvation. The man is told you must do this
and you take the first step and God will meet you. That's not
salvation. But today let's think about if
we can. I want us to narrow it down just a little bit because
it's so big and it's so large and it's so wide and it's so
amazing and it's so great. So great, what a salvation. about the thought saving us,
delivering us from the penalty of sin. The penalty of sin. Salvation, it involves election,
predestination, and adoption. It involves regeneration or redemption,
forgiveness and justification. It involves regeneration, faith
and holiness. It involves perseverance, resurrection
and glorification. It involves all those things.
But God is a holy and a just God and God demands perfect holiness. That's what he demands. And when
Adam sinned, God told Adam, in the day that you partake of the
tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt surely die. Now we know he didn't die physically,
but he did die spiritually. And eventually he did die physically. And every one of us are dying
right now. Our bodies are dying. When you're
born, you're dying. Why? The wages of sin is death.
You know why babies die? Sin. That's right. If they were not sinners they
wouldn't die. The wages of sin, the penalty for sin is death. Death. Wages is what a man earns. Wages
is what a man deserves. Not a pain will be inflicted
on the sinner which he does not deserve. Not a sinner will die
who ought not to die. You know why we die? We deserve
to die. We ought to die. We're sinners. The wages of sin. Man cannot even stand to think
about this thought. He's going to be treated. He's
going to get exactly what he deserves. Everybody's going to
get, now that's justice. Everybody listening to me, that's
justice. Everybody's going to get exactly what they deserve.
You're going to get paid good, your wages. Whatever you've worked
for, that's what you've earned, and that'll be your wages. And
the wages of sin is death. If a sinner is lost, he deserves
to die. He's a sinner. He will have his reward. He will
suffer only what shall be the just due to his sin. He shall
suffer just as much, just as long enough as he ought to suffer. Had you ever thought about the
thought, why is hell eternal? Man's suffering for what? His
sin. And he that is unjust, let him be unjust still. And his
suffering, now listen to me, his suffering can never satisfy
the justice of God. That's why it's eternal. The wages of sin is death. He
will suffer as a criminal suffers in the dungeon, as the murderer
dies upon the gallows. That is the proper reward for
his sin. The wages of sin is death. People are sinners because they
are rebels. They choose to be rebels. If
you continue in sin, rebellion, and unbelief, you'll perish without
Christ. That's it. The wages of sin. And we're all by nature. There's
none exempt. We're all by nature the children
of wrath, even as others. The elect and non-elect, there's
no difference. We all have the same rebellious
nature. We weren't looking for God. God
came looking for us. But how are we to get delivered
from the penalty, this awful penalty of sin? That's the question. Eternal wrath and condemnation
is the just wages of my sin and guilt. That's the just wages. The Bible says we must all appear
before the judgment seat of Christ and every man should give an
account for every idle word. What do you think he said? Our
Lord said it's going to be more tolerable in the day of judgment
for Sodom and Gomorrah. than for Tyre and Zidon. Tyre and Zidon heard the gospel
and they rejected it. It's going to be worse for them
because they rejected it against more light. That's what they
deserve. They willfully, they willfully
rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. They said, we will not have this
man to reign over us. And you know why a man's lost?
Now listen to me. I want you to listen to me well. You know
why a man's lost? He chooses to be lost. He can't
blame God and say, well God didn't elect me and God didn't predestinate
me so that's why I'm lost. Oh no, you can't blame God. When
Adam sinned, the first thing Adam did, what did he do? He
said, that woman you gave me. What did he say? That serpent
beguiled me. Everybody wants to blame somebody
else. No, it's their fault. They deserve it. They choose
to. Man's born to rebel. He's born
with a sinful nature. But he chooses to sin. He willfully
chooses to sin. He chooses to disobey God. He
chooses to rebel against God. He chooses. The blame lays at
his own door. What does it say in Romans chapter
1? The invisible things of God from the creation of the world
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even His eternal power in Godhead, so that every man is without
excuse. Isn't that right? They didn't like what they knew
about God, so what did they do? We're going to make us out of
God that doesn't offend us. We're going to worship and serve
the creature more than the Creator who is blessed forever. Amen.
When the Gentiles who have not the law do the things in the
law that are written in the law, it becomes a law to themselves.
Every man's without excuse. Every man sins because he wants
to sin. Listen, no one will be able to
stand at the bar of God and say, I wanted to be saved, I wanted
to trust Christ, I wanted to be saved, but you predestinated
me to hell. No, the reason a man will come
and be lost is he chose to be lost. That's right. Our Lord said, me and Sandy were
talking about this coming to church this morning. The Bible
says a man cannot come, but it also says a man will not come.
He doesn't have the ability, we know that, we know he's dead
in sin. But he will not come. You will not come to me that
you'll have life. The world has no idea what sin
is. Sin is not so much what we do,
it's who we are. It's who we are. The Pharisees thought because
they didn't commit the act of adultery and murder and those
things, they thought, well, I'm a little better than somebody
else. Our Lord said, sin comes from the heart. He said if you
look on a woman with your heart and lust after her, you've committed
adultery in your heart. He said if you're angry with
your brother without a cause, you're a murderer. This is where
it's at. But let me tell you this, David
saw sin for what it was. David called evil, evil. In Psalms
5 verse 51 verses 1 through 5, he said, have mercy on me, O
God, according to thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of
thy tender mercies. Now listen, he says, blot out
my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquities. Cleanse me from my sin. I acknowledge
my transgression and my sin is ever before me. He didn't say
it's somebody else's fault. He said, it's my iniquity, my
sin, my transgression, and my sin, my sin is ever before me. That's my sin. And the wages of sin is what?
Death. You remember when David sinned
and God sent Nathan to him? And God said, thou art the man
David. And he said, thou shalt not die. You say, well, David
deserved to die. He premeditated, had Bathsheba's
husband killed deliberately. That's first degree murder. Did
he deserve to die? Yes, he did. The wages of sin is death. But
why didn't he die? That's the question. How can
a man be saved from the penalty of sin? The penalty of sin. That's what we want to try to
find out. That's what I want to find out. Because I'm still
a sinner. I still deserve to die. I know
better than anybody else. David didn't say I'm better than
somebody else. Paul said a wretched man that I am. He said I'm the
chiefest of sinners. Job said I'm vile. I deserve to die. The question
is do you think you deserve to die? Do you think God, everybody
says, well God ought to send them people to hell. Do you think
God ought to send you to hell? Do you think God ought to send
you to hell? Do you think you deserve to go
to hell? Boy, I do. I do. Because of sin. Everything I
touch I defile it. Everything. Everything. David going on said, Against
thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight.
Now watch this, here's what David said. That you might be justified,
that you might be just when you speak us. And be clear when thou
judgest. David said, Behold I was shapen
in iniquity and in sin. And my mother couldn't see me.
He went to the root of the problem. I was born with this. Any man who is saved by the grace
of God will take sides with God against himself. He will sit
in judgment with God against himself. Like I said, he will
say, I deserve to die. I'm getting exactly what I deserve. This is what I deserve. His wrath. God's wrath. God's condemnation. I'm guilty. Everybody is born
guilty. Guilty. The verdict has been
dropped. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. That's why you have a
guilty conscience. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. That's the wages of sin. God
give every man a conscious knowledge of good and evil. Everybody. Everybody is without excuse.
And men sin because they choose to. Now listen to me. If you
think about this. If Adam sinned with a sinless
nature, didn't he? Didn't he have a sinless nature?
And he chose to sin. What about us? Didn't Adam choose to see him?
Didn't he? And it didn't happen when Adam
fell. I mean when he fell, when he partook of the fruit, nothing
happened. It was when Adam did. You know why? He was the federal
head. And when he died, both of their eyes were open and he
sinned and he chose to sin and he willed to sin and he chose
to rebel against God. That's sin right there. One thing
God told him not to do was the very thing he did do. And God kicked him out of the
garden. But the question is, Why didn't God send him to hell
right then? Isn't that what he deserved?
Isn't that the million dollar question? Why didn't God send
him to hell when he sinned? He deserved it. Look at everything
God gave him. And one thing God told him not
to do was the very thing he did. Eternal death and separation
from God is the just reward of man's sin. All men by nature
are under the sentence of death. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. Cursed is everyone that continueth
not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. God's law demands, demands perfect obedience. Have you perfectly
obeyed God's law? Do you love the Lord thy God
with all your heart so in mind and your neighbor as yourself?
No. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. That's sobering. The soul that
sinneth, it shall die. For one man sin entered into
the world, and death by sin. So death passed upon all men,
for all have sinned. Let me tell you this, and everybody
listen to me. If you are without Christ, you need to be warned.
You are hovering right now over the very brink of hell. And why
does God keep you out of hell? If your breath stopped right
now, that's it. I thought a lot about Mitch McClain
this week. That man, 54 years old, a judge
here in the county. Pauli McClain's only child. Went
to the beach, never even had the thought of death in his mind
and went to save another woman and drowned and left two sons. And where's he at this morning?
Only God knows. Why does God keep you out of
hell? God knows your very thoughts. You think nobody else knows what
you think? God does. God sees your motive. God sees
your reasoning. God sees everything. And He's
the one we must give an account to. Man deserves eternal wrath and
condemnation. You're a guilty sinner. You're
a sinner by birth, a sinner by choice, a sinner by practice.
Justice cries aloud for your punishment. The law of God can
offer no plea. It says you're guilty. And the
only reason I can think of that God keep any lost man out of
hell is his long-suffering. I'll ask you this. Why does God
put up with this country? Don't you see things on TV that's
just horrifying? Don't you see things that seem
horrible? I tell you, I know why. God's
longsuffering to us, we're not willing that any should perish
but that all should come to repentance. Some people are not appointed
unto wrath. He's going to deliver some that
deserve justice and deserve to be destroyed. He's going to save
some. Deliver him from going down to
the pit. I found a ransom. John chapter 3 verse 18, listen,
he that believeth on him is not condemned. But he that believeth
not is condemned already. Why? Because he hath not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God, he is condemned already.
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. And he
that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of
God abides on him. You want to see the wrath of
God? You want some pictures of the wrath of God? When God destroyed
this earth in the time of the flood, is that not a picture
of God's wrath? God saved Noah. He saved eight
people. What happened to the rest of
them? What happened to the rest of those people? They died and
perished under God's wrath. Perished. The Bible says every
imagination of men's heart was on evil continually. And God
destroyed it. Why did God destroy Sodom and
Gomorrah? Is that not a picture of His wrath? Remember Abraham
praying and said, Lord, if there's 50 there, will you destroy the
city for the 50, if there's 50 righteous? He said, I won't destroy
it for the 50. And he kept coming down and said, what about 40?
Would you destroy it for the 40? I won't destroy it if we
can find 40. And he kept coming down. He said,
well, what if we find just 10? He said, if you can find 10 righteous
people, I won't destroy it. And there wasn't 10 there. Then God destroyed those cities. It's a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of a living God. This world knows nothing of a
holy and just and righteous God. He's a just God and a Savior. Justice means a man gets exactly
what's coming to him. Isn't that justice? You say,
man, Corton, you know he's guilty and he's caught red-handed standing
there with a gun in his hand just blowing a man's brains out
and then he gets off. You say, man, that ain't justice. That ain't justice. Men don't just get off. Before I'm going to get to the
remedy in a minute, I'm just building up. Don't you see how bad it
really is? I'm to give you the bad news first, and it's bad. We're all sinners. We all deserve
to die. We're under His wrath, under
His judgment. Like I've already said, we are
by nature the children of wrath even as others. What made you
any different? You deserve just like what Sodom
and Gomorrah got. You deserve just like what they
all got in the time of the flood. And Noah wasn't standing out
there in the door that day saying, God loves everybody. God loves everybody. No he doesn't.
God's angry with the wicked every day. He's angry with the wicked
every day. And this is the dumbest cliche
they ever come up with. God hates the sin but loves the
sinner. Can you separate yourself from
sin? Can you separate yourself from sin? Does God not hate sin? The thought of foolishness is
sin. And can you separate yourself from sin? God hates your sin. God is angry with you and your
sin. And God is going to punish you
and your sin. That's right. But the world knows
nothing about that. They have no fear of God. Because
the idea they have of God is no God. He's no God. God will punish sin. That's exactly
right. But they've heard about a God
of love and he wasn't hurt in that and can't save a flea. That's
exactly right. All men by nature are sinners,
and we have a great debt. Every soul that truly puts his
trust in the Lord Jesus Christ is then and there saved from
the penalty, the guilt, the wages, and the punishment of sin. Now
we get to the good news. Listen to me. I'm still a sinner.
I sin every day. How am I to deal with my guilty
conscience? Where do I run to? What's my
hope? I know when I sin, I know I've
done it. I know what I deserve. I deserve
for God to leave me alone and never speak to me again. I deserve
that. I know that. What's my remorse? Where do I run to? God did something with my sin. God did something with my sin. How can God be a just God? Which
he is. He will not bend his law for
anybody. Nobody. He wouldn't even bend
it for his son. How can God show forgiveness to a sinner? How
can God forgive a man's sins? It's not like Catholicism. You go get in a booth somewhere
with some man and take you a little bit of money and you start confessing
your sins and you give him a little money and he says, well, everything's
OK. No, it's not all right. And it's no different than people
coming down to the front of a Baptist church They say, well if I say
enough prayers, surely I've atoned for my sin and God's satisfied
now. Me and God, we're back on speaking
terms. No you ain't. You can't remove sin. You can't
wash the stain out. It's such a deep stain. I mean
Sandy was talking about it this morning coming to church. Julie's
got on what I call a white dress. And it's probably pretty white.
If you held it to pure white, you would see it's not real white.
Ain't that right? We were running some water the
other day and that water looked as clear as it did in that glass.
But when we run it out in a white Styrofoam cup, you wouldn't have
wanted to drink it. That's us. That's us. How can God forgive me? How can God forgive you? How
can God save you from the penalty of sin which you deserve? Everybody
in this building this morning, everybody, everybody upon this
earth deserves to go to hell. They are sinners. They are sinners
by choice. They are sinners because they
want to sin. They rebel against God. They hate God. They disobey
God. They don't want God reigning
over them. Everybody, everybody deserves it. But why does God
show mercy to some? That's mercy. You know what mercy
is? Listen to me. Mercy is God not
giving you exactly what you deserve. You know what I need? I need
some mercy. I gotta have some mercy. When
I sin and come to God, I come to God's mercy seat. I beg for
mercy. Mercy. I pray God show you mercy. Mercy. You know where that mercy
seat was at? It was over the broken law of
God. Inside that ark of the covenant,
that's the only place the law could be kept. And Moses' hands
will throw it down and break it. But God put it in that ark,
in Christ, that's where it's kept. Christ kept God's law perfectly. He never sinned, never had a
wrong thought, never even thought a wrong thought, never had a
wrong idea, wrong plan. He was born under the law, lived
under the law, and died under the law as a man. As God's representative for man. He didn't take on him the nature
of angels. Now listen to me. He could have
taken on him the nature of angels and died for fallen angels and
redeemed fallen angels, but he didn't. He came to this earth and clothed
himself in human flesh. And when he was tempted, he was
tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin. And he
became the captain of our salvation through suffering. Now listen
to me. You know why He went to the cross?
There's a lot of reasons, but first of all, God's law has to
be satisfied. The soul that sinneth has got
to die. Sin has to be paid for. Somebody's got to pay for it.
You or somebody else. God just can't let you go free.
He just can't just forgive you of your sin. It just can't be. He's a just God. But the Lord
Jesus Christ took upon Himself the form of a servant and became
obedient unto what? Death. Even the death of the
cross. Why? Listen to me. How does God save people from
the penalty of sin? Here it is. The Lord Jesus Christ
became sin for us who knew no sin. The spotless, perfect Lamb
of God died in the place of guilty, hell-deserving sinners and all
the wrath, all the anger that should have came upon me fell
on Him. My friend, that's called substitution.
And when he died, you know what he did? He satisfied the justice
of God. Somebody told the illustration
one time, they said years ago when people were going out west,
they were a whole train load of people, they were going out
in their wagons and they looked out and they see this fire coming
in the desert and they get scared to death. And they know they're
going to be consumed just like those men that died in that forest
fire. And once somebody had an idea, they said, we're going
to burn us a piece of ground. And they began to set a piece
of ground afire. And then after it consumed that
piece, that circle, they got their wagons in that ground where
the fire had done burnt. And here the fire is getting
closer. And the fire is getting closer and closer. And the little
boy looks up to his daddy and said, Daddy, you think we're
safe? He said, We're standing on ground that's already been
burnt. We stand on ground that's already been burnt and we're
saved in Christ. God poured out His wrath on His
Son. And listen to me. If Jesus Christ
died in the stead of all fallen sons of Adam, nobody would go
to hell. That's right. If he died for
everybody, nobody's going to hell because everybody sinned
that fate. And that would be unjust for
Jesus Christ to die for Bariatr's sins and then send Bariatr to
hell. That's demanding payment of the
same sin twice. And that's unjust. And listen to me, I'm glad this
morning he's a just God. Oh, and this thrills my soul.
If Jesus Christ died for me, if He died for me, my debt is
paid. Fully. Completely. satisfied all the demands of
God and the justice of God, and now justice says to me, turn
that man loose. How does God say from the penalty
of sin? Somebody's got to take the penalty. Somebody's got to
endure the wrath. We can't even imagine. God who
cannot sin became sin. And listen to me. I don't understand
this. And I can't explain it. I just
believe it. When Christ was made sin, it
doesn't mean that my sins were just pasted onto Him. They became
His. You ever read Psalms 22? He said,
My sin. He called it My sin. And when
they were on Him, they became His. And he took the punishment for
my sin. He died. Why did he say on the cross,
my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? I'll tell you why.
God cannot look upon sin. And this is what makes me angry. Listen to me. When I hear this
world talking about a Jesus who died for everybody, loves everybody,
wants to save everybody and can't save nobody. And they say, well
He died for everybody and He just can't save them. No, all
for whom He died, He's going to save every one of them. Why?
He paid their debt. It's paid. It's paid. What is there for you to do,
Bubba? It's paid. It's paid. But the world says
that God, Jesus, paid part of it. Now He left a little bit
up to you. Now if you'll just believe, that's going to make
what He's done effectual. Now hold on now. He's God. He made an atonement for our
souls. He made His soul an offering
for sin. He poured out His soul unto death. He died. He died. Why? The wages of sin is death. The soul that sinneth, it must
die. It must die. No man took his
life from Him. He said, I'll lay it down on
my own self and I have the power to lay it down, I have power
to take it again. And when he said, it is finished, let me
tell you this morning, it is done. If you're a child of God, you
sin, you know it. But let me remind you of this.
There is therefore, now, no condemnation. No condemnation to them who are
in Christ Jesus, who walk not unto the flesh, but unto the
Spirit. That's the best news the sinner's
ever heard. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
It's God that justifies. That's what we're talking about.
Justified. He was delivered for our offenses. He died, but listen to me. That's
only part of the story. He didn't stay dead. You know why Christ didn't stay
dead? God accepted His sacrifice. God raised Him from the dead.
For our justification, God declares me. Now listen to me, I want
you to get this. How am I to be saved from the
penalty of sin? I've tried to lay it out and
make it plain that we all deserve to die. But when we sin, why
don't we die? Why didn't Adam die? Because
Jesus Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Before Adam sinned, God had provided a Redeemer. That's why. That's why. God raised Him from the dead. as the perfect man. What did he tell Thomas? He said,
Thomas, reach hither thy hand and touch my hands and put your
hand into my side. He still has the marks. And when
we see Him in glory, you know what we're going to worship Him
as? The Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world.
Thou hast redeemed us unto God by thy blood from every kindred,
tongue, tribe, and nation. That's the good news. That's
good news for a sinner. Let me tell you this, if Jesus
Christ died for everybody that's ever lived, and that man goes
to hell and Jesus died for him, where's the hope that I won't
go to hell? You got any hope? Say that man
went to hell and Jesus died for him, he wanted to save him and
he couldn't save him, he willed to save him and he couldn't save
him, where's the hope you'll be saved? I'll ask you this one, do you
need any hope? Sinners need hope. I think so. It's in Christ. My hope is built
on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. And listen
to me, He not only declares me righteous. Everybody hold on
to your seat. He not only declares me to be
righteous, He makes me righteous. Be ye holy for I am holy. Ain't that what the book says?
You know what the book says? How can you that drank iniquity
like water? That's how we drink sin. Satisfies
our thirst. Give me some more. That's us! How can we that drank iniquity
like water be declared holy? Because God declares me to be
holy. You ever thought about when you read the story in the
Old Testament how it seems to contradict in the New Testament?
You ever read the story about Lot and everything that Lot did? If you just read the Old Testament
you'd say, that man's a lost man. But what did God say about
him? God said, righteous Lot vexed
his righteous soul. Because the way God sees things
is how things are. All you see and all I see is
sin. But God sees me as righteous. And I am accepted in the beloved. I'm not trying to pay for my
sin. I'm trying to remove them. I
can't. My faith is in Christ. When we
take of the Lord's table, that our worthiness is looking to
Him. There ain't nobody ever worthy to take of the Lord's
table. If you're looking to yourself, you can forget it. It's in Christ. How are we to be delivered from
the penalty of sin? Somebody's got to bear the penalty. Deliver that man from going down
into the pit. I have found a ransom. That's good news. Good news. It's not you trying. Now we're going to stand and
sing about 10 verses of Just As I Am. If we can get somebody
to come up here and we'll gather and meet with you and pray, then
God will be so pleased. And God will look down and smile
and say, everything's fine. No, He won't. Can I tell you a little secret?
It's not you moving a muscle. It's done. It's done. The great transaction's done. Is that not some good news? Boy,
to me it is. And when you sin, here's where
it's at. If any man sin, does that include
anybody in here? If any man sin, and we do every
day, if any man sin, what are you to do? Run to the preacher? Run to make an atonement. Run
to say, well if I feel bad enough or if I do this or I better read
my Bible. Listen to me. If any man sin, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He's like my lawyer.
I have an advocate with Jesus Christ the righteous, who is
the propitiation, who is the satisfaction, who is the mercy
seat for my sins. That's who I look to. I didn't
just look to him In religion, you're supposed
to remember your date when you get saved. That's foolishness. I need to be saved right now. Don't you? Do you need to be
liberated from yourself right now? Can you do it? Can you save yourself? Is there
anything you can do to save yourself? Not only yesterday, but today.
What about tomorrow? Is it going to change? Is it
going to be any different tomorrow? Are you going to get any better?
No, you're going to get worse. Your old man is not improving. That's what we looked at last
week. He ain't getting any better. I hope you read the article by
Joe Terrell on the back of the, it's excellent, isn't it? It's
like two people living in a complex. And they can't get along. And
about the time this one, which is the new man, goes out and
mows the grass and he weeds the grass and everything's fine,
here comes the old man and goes out there and dumps a bag of
garbage. And about the time the new man wants to sit down and
try to meditate on God's Word, the old man's over and he turns
up the volume of old vain thoughts. And they never get along. That's us. O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? I'll tell you
who. I'll tell you the answer to that question. Jesus Christ,
our Lord. What is salvation? It's in a
person. It's in what he did. And when I sin, I come to him
like I've always come, as a sinner, begging for mercy. How am I to remove the guilt?
and the stain and the pain and the condemnation. I feel condemned. We condemn ourselves. Satan condemns
us. Everybody else condemns us. But
he said there's no condemnation. Do you know this? Listen to me.
There has never been a time that God has not loved me. How did He love me? In Christ.
You see, when Peter was denying God and when David was laying
in the arms of Bathsheba, it never altered the love of God.
That's grace. You say, well, I feel condemned. Yeah, we do. That's us condemning
ourselves. But if you're a child of God,
you're not condemned. If you feel condemned this morning,
saved or lost man, my advice to you is, you look to Christ. And as long as you look to yourself,
you're going to stay condemned. You're going to stay depressed.
Depressed. What did Job say? Though He slayed
me, yet will I serve Him.