If you got to that line, leave.
Oh, leave me not alone. And my heart cries just that
this hour. This is the loneliest place in
the world. When I'm by myself. Standing
here to speak for you and to you for the glory of our God.
and the most delightful place when he's with me. Leave, oh,
leave me not alone. My text tonight is Isaiah 50,
verse 8. The title of my message is Jesus
Justified. Jesus Justified, Isaiah 50, the
eighth verse. And we'll get to that in a little
while. For right now, let's begin in Romans chapter 8. The words
justify and justified are used throughout the scriptures many,
many, many times. We are somewhat familiar with
justification. God making sinners righteous
by the sacrifice of his son, making us righteous even as he
was made sin, declaring us righteous, imputing righteousness to us
just as Christ was declared sinful and sin was imputed to him when
he hung upon the cursed tree. God transferring Christ's righteousness
to us as he transferred our sin to our Redeemer. That is justification. We are justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. Now,
that is the message of scripture. That's the doctrine of the gospel. The words justify, justified,
I repeat, are used throughout scriptures many, many times.
But in the present tense, justifieth, the word is used only four times.
I want us to look at them. Romans chapter 8, verse 33. Romans chapter 8 verse 33. Paul
raises this bold challenge of faith. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? Many would. Satan raises Moses
up in our consciences and declares our guilt to us and makes us
uneasy often. Our own minds and hearts and
consciences agree, acknowledging our sin. But who is he that shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? No one ever can. Because it is God that justifies. It is God that justifies. Present tense. Having justified
us, He continually justifies us, not in the sense that justification
is over and over again accomplished. That was done once and for all
when Christ finished the work of redemption on our behalf.
But in our consciences, in our own consciences, the Lord God
continually speaks peace, declaring us just through the sacrifice
of His Son. Romans chapter 4, verse 5. Romans chapter four, verse five. To him that worketh not. Is that language plain enough?
To him that worketh not. Well, we recognize salvation
by grace, but you've got to do your part. You're not included
here. You're not included here. Well,
I've got something to do. You're not included here. To
him that worketh not, to that man, that woman, that person
who does not bring any of his works to God, seeking any acceptance
with God, any peace with God, any hope before God on the basis
of something he does. To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. Faith comes to Christ,
trust Christ with nothing to offer Christ. You got that? Any faith that has something
to offer Christ is a blind delusion and is not faith. Faith brings
no works of her own. We believe on him that justifies
the ungodly. His faith is counted to him for
righteousness. Believing God, the Lord God justifies
us. And he continually declares God's
righteousness ours by faith in Christ Jesus. Turn back to the
book of Proverbs. Proverbs chapter 17. Here's the
third place where this word is used in the present tense. Proverbs
17, 15. And here the wise man Solomon, writes by divine inspiration
and gives us an injunction from heaven. He tells us something
that stands throughout the world for all time. He that justifieth
the wicked. He that justifieth the wicked. That person who declares a person
right who is wicked. That person who declares someone
righteous who is wicked. Whether it's in a court of law
or in the court of heaven. And he that condemneth the just
condemns as guilty one who is not wicked. Condemns as guilty
one who is righteous in a court of law on the earth or in the
court of heaven. Even they both an abomination
to the Lord. What a declaration. What a declaration. God Almighty will never declare
a wicked man righteous until he has made the wicked righteous.
God cannot in justice and truth pretend that our sin doesn't
exist. God says the soul that sinneth
it shall die and die we must. For God to declare a wicked person
just is for God to abandon his own law and his own character.
And God will not condemn the just. He will never visit his
wrath upon one who is righteous. He will never bring a curse upon
one who is just. That means that God could not,
did not, and would not punish his son and declare his son guilty,
except he make his son to be sin for us. All right, now look
at our text. Isaiah chapter 50 and verse 8.
Isaiah 50 and verse 8. The one speaking here is God
our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, our divine mediator, our covenant
surety, our representative, our substitute before God. I know
of no reputable commentator, past or present, who doesn't
recognize that fact. You read the context as we did
this morning, clearly it is Christ who is speaking here. Sometimes
when you read the Old Testament as brother Larry read in the
office back in the office a little bit ago the 18th Psalm you read
through the psalm and you Well, that's David. That was Christ.
I Don't well, that was David or Christ, but it's hard hard
to know exactly which Specific word is falling from the lips
of our Savior sometimes but here there's no question These are
the words of Jesus Christ our Redeemer He says concerning the
triune Jehovah He is near that justifies me Jesus justified He is near that
justifies me now listen to what it says as a result of that who
will contend with me? Who will challenge me? Who will lay anything against
me? Who will now charge me with sin? He is near that justifies me. Who will contend with me? Let
us stand together. Bring him on. Bring him on. What adversary
dare deny that I'm just. Let him come on. Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. Now,
hold your hands here for a little while and turn over to the book
of First Corinthians. I'll just put you a piece of
paper or a mark or something here in Isaiah 50. Turn to First
Corinthians chapter 1. The church at Corinth, above
all churches to whom epistles of the New Testament are addressed,
was full of men and women who required reproof, strong, firm
reproof. Shelby and I, when we drive out
west to go out and preach for Brother Darwin and folks out
in Woodstock Falls, I don't even know where it is. Every time
we go by, Day or night, I see a sign, there's a place Corinth
Baptist Church. Believe me, if I pastored in
a city the size of New York City, and the name of the city was
Corinth, and I was pastor of First Baptist Church, it would
not be called the First Baptist Church of Corinth. That'd be
the last name I'd want to put on church building, Corinth Baptist
Church. The Corinthians, that congregation,
endured sharper reproof for strife, carnal division, ungodly behavior,
pride, selfishness than any congregation. They were dirty sheep like you
and me. Dirty sheep like you and me.
Now watch how Paul opens his first epistle to them. Paul called
to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God and Sosthenes,
our brother. Under the church of God, which
is at Corinth. To them that are sanctified,
made holy in Christ Jesus. Called to be saints. Notice they
were sanctified before they were called to be saints. Made holy
in God's decree. made holy by the finished work
of the Redeemer, and then called by His Spirit into this blessed
experience of being God's saints. With all that in every place
called upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs
and ours, grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and
from the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank my God always on your behalf
for the grace of God, which is given you by Jesus Christ That
in everything ye are enriched by him in all utterance and in
all knowledge Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed to you
the testimony of Christ Confirmed to you when God gives you faith
in his son When the glory of God is revealed in the face of
Jesus Christ, the testimony of Christ is confirmed in you. God
Almighty declares to you, Christ's work is your work. We don't so
that you come behind in no gift waiting for the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what's this promise? Who
shall also confirm you unto the end that you may be blameless
in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I've been praying for
you. I've been praying for you since first you and I became
acquainted. And I'm telling you that you
sanctified by God called to be saints redeemed by the blood
of Jesus Christ. You shall be confirmed to the
end that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Now that's, Ron, how he begins
the letter by which he begins some scathing rebukes. I mean,
he doesn't even wait till he gets to the next chapter. He
starts talking to them about their divisions and their strife
and their carnality. But it begins with this assurance.
You who are sanctified by God, God's going to confirm you to
the end and present you blameless before Jesus Christ throne. Is it possible for such people
as these Corinthians, such people as you and me, to have confidence
concerning these things? Is it possible for such weak,
frail, sinful men and women as we know ourselves to be to truly
expect, to truly expect. I'm not just talking about words
now. I'm not I'm not just talking about a religious confession. Is it possible for somebody like
you to truly expect to stand before God blameless forever? Is that possible? Is that reasonable? Can that possibly be? If it depends
on you to any degree, at any point,
the answer is no. If you claim to have such a hope
and you still look within for something to give you such peace
before God, your hope is a vain delusion. It's a lie and your
conscience tells you so. Did you hear it? I'm David Peterson. I'm talking to you and to Don
Fortner, your pastor. If you have a hope, And you say,
I have hope of eternal life in Jesus Christ. And you somewhere
in the back of your mind make something you do with the finished
work of Christ. Your hope's a lie. You know it
and God knows it. That's the reason you don't have
any peace. That's the reason you have no confidence before
God. That's the reason you live in constant dread of that hour
when you draw your last breath and go to meet God in judgment.
But bless God, nothing of this hope depends on me. Read the next verse. God is faithful. By whom ye were
called unto the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord,
called unto the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. What does that mean? Fellowship. Fellowship. Turn over to the
book of Acts chapter 4. To have fellowship with Christ
means that we who believe, sinners like you and I, who trust Christ
the Lord, Sinners like you and me who believe the gospel To
have fellowship with Christ means that we have all things common
with Christ I Would suggest you write that
down somewhere and before you go to bed tonight you you read
it over a thousand times Do you believe on the Son of God? Do
you trust Jesus Christ the Lord? If so, you have fellowship with
God's Son. That means, Oscar Bailey, you
and the Son of God have all things common. Now, I've said more than I could
possibly get preached already. All things common? To have fellowship
with one another? is to have things in common.
Here in Acts chapter 4, verse 32, we're told that the first
disciples in this gospel age were people of one heart and
of one mind. Now watch this. Neither said
any that all of the things which he possessed were his own, but
they had all things in common. That's what it means to have
fellowship. My wife and I have fellowship. We have all things common. I don't have anything. Well,
sorta I do, but she can't wear this coat. That's mine, but she
can do with what she wants to. I can't wear that outfit she's
wearing tonight, but I can do with what I want to. We have
all things common. No private property. No private hour. No private life. No private strength. No private
business. We have fellowship. That means we have all things
common. Oh, my soul. Is it possible? Do I have all things common with
God's darling son? All things? So that all that
he is is mine? And all that he has is mine? And all that he does is mine? And all that he receives is mine? Let's see what the book says.
John says, truly our fellowship is with the father and with his
son, Jesus Christ. This is the expression Paul speaks
of. He said, you are called into the fellowship of his son. Oh, what boundless grace. Let me see if I can make three
or four applications of that. Our Lord Jesus came down here.
took on himself flesh and blood, made our sins his own, took all
that we had, all our guilt, that we might have him and all that
he has as the God-man, our mediator. What does that mean? Is he loved
of God? Perfectly loved of God? completely,
eternally, immutably loved of God? Indeed He is. We have fellowship with Him in
that love. We have fellowship with Him in
that love. When our Savior was about to leave this world, He
said to His disciples, listen to this, I go to my Father. When He died, He cried, Father,
into thy hands I commend my spirit. When he entered into heaven and
passed through the opening ranks of angels adoring him, the father
said, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. What an
exchange. He left the frowns and curses
of the world for the embrace of his father's arms. He came
from under the outpoured wrath of God into the eternal bliss
of God's presence and to God's smile. He left the crown of thorns
for the crown of glory. Do you trust him? Do you believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of the living God? Have you
fled to him for refuge? If so, this is yours in him. Listen, he said, I ascend to
my father and your father, to my God and to your God. Murlhart God the father is no
more his father than he's your father He is no more his God
that he's your God Turn to John 17 John chapter
17 The father loves you with the
same full, unchanging, soul satisfying, delightful love with which he
loves his son, the Lord Jesus. Look at verse 5, our Savior's
great high priestly prayer. Now, O Father, glorify thou me
with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before
the world was. The glory you gave me as the
covenant surety of my people, the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. When I stood before you as their surety, struck heads
with you and you gave all things to me. Now manifestly give me
that glory. Look at verse 22. And the glory
which thou gavest me. What a word. What a word. The glory you gave me before
the worlds were made. the glory thou gavest me I have
given them that they may be one even as we are one I in them
thou in me that they may be made perfect in one that the world
may know that thou hast sent me that the world may know that
thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me verse 26 I declare
unto them thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith
thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." Oh, what
a blessed exchange we have. I was an heir of hell. In Christ,
I've become an heir of God, a joint heir with Jesus Christ. I was
lost in the pit of destruction. I'm a son of God. Eternity alone
can reveal the full meaning of this word, heir of God and joint
heir with Jesus Christ. Loved of God as God loves his
son. Loved of God as one with his
son. Can the father cease his son
to love? Can the father cease his son
to cherish? Can the father cease his son
to embrace? Then the father cannot cease
this son to cherish, this son to love, this son to embrace. Here's another thought. Is the Lord God faithful to Christ? Be assured. He is faithful to
you who are in Christ. Paul says God is faithful. By
whom you're called into the fellowship of his son. How often we think
the Lord's forsaken me. God's forgotten me. I never say it. Not to you. I've been married to this lady
for 43 years. I've never said it once to her. Don't think I
have. Not once. Oh, how often I've
cried in my soul. Oh, my God, why have you forsaken
me? We often think such. We often
think God's forgotten us. Here is the soft pillow he gives
for our aching heads and our broken hearts. I will never leave
thee nor forsake thee. The good shepherd says, my sheep
hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. I give unto them eternal life
and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My father which gave them me
is greater than all. No man is able to pluck them
out of my father's hand. Oh, Satan wants you. He roars
as a lion to devour you, but all he can do is roar. He could
never have you. The world lays its snares before you, but can
never take you. Your own wicked heart would sometimes
be for leaving the hand that saved you. But even your own wicked heart
cannot remove you from his hand who are kept by the power of
God. None can pluck you from the Savior's hand. None can pluck
you from the Father's hand. None can ever break the grip
of God's grace. None, none. Brother Don, you
just can't. You can't say that to people
and not warn them about stuff. None can break the grip of grace. Not all of hell. and not you. None can break the grip of God's
grace. Did the father say to his son,
thou art my servant. I have chosen thee and not cast
thee away. That's his word to you. Even in old age, you shall bear
fruit and be full of sap and flourishing. We are not compared
to grass that withers, dies, and is blown away, but to trees
planted by living waters, full of life, even in old age, to
show that the Lord is upright. He is my rock, and there is no
unrighteousness in Him. At the very time in Isaiah 49,
when Zion was saying, my God hath forgotten me, God says your
walls are engraved on the palms of my hands. Ever look to Christ. Ever trust Christ. Oh, my soul,
ever lean on Christ. Our acceptance with God, our
blessedness, our salvation, our security, our peace, our joy,
our hope is not found in us. It's found in Him. Found in Him. And then we read of God's promises.
Has the Lord God made special promises to His Son? Special
promises. He has indeed. And all the promises
made by God to our blessed surety are ours in Him. They're the
promises of God to us in Christ. And the promises of God in Christ
Jesus are yea and amen. He promised to be with him. He
promised to uphold him. He promised to raise him up from
the dead. He promised to make him triumphant
over all his enemies. He promised to be with you. He
promised to raise you from the dead. He promised to cause you
to be upheld by His mighty hand. And He promised to make you triumphant
over all your enemies. One of these days I'm going to
come back to that text in Isaiah 49. God says concerning the kings
of the earth, they shall be your nursing fathers. and the queens
of the earth, your nursing mothers. Oh God, I wish I could believe
Him. Oh God, give me grace to believe Him. He shall make you
His own, triumphant over all things. Indeed, He has. Behold Christ on His throne. Seated expecting till all his
foes be made his footstool and when they are Bob Duff to be
made your footstool Everything now come back to our text in
Isaiah 50 verse 8 As the Lord God was ever near
Christ to justify him Justified every word he spoke Made it obvious
that what he said was so. Justified every work he performed. Made it obvious that the son's
work was the father's work. Justified him in all things. Always near to justify him. So he is near that justifieth
me. Here's one of the sweetest and
most profound things revealed in Holy Scripture. None more
important, none more precious. He is near that justifieth me. Who will contend with me? Let
us stand together. Who is my adversary? Let him
come near to me. What a blessed thought. Justification
and all that comes with it arises and comes from the finished work
of the Lord Jesus accomplished by Him and bestowed by our Savior. three-in-one Jehovah has justified
us father son and Holy Spirit it's God's work and God's work
alone it is all together a benefit a boon of his boundless free
grace we have fellowship with our blessed Savior in this justification
once our Redeemer was unjustified once he was unjustified he was
made see countless millions of sins. All the sins of God's elect gathered
as one massive heap of hideous, obnoxious evil and made to be
his. That's too mysterious a wonder
to explain and too great a wonder to debate about. He bear our sins in his own body
on the tree. God's darling was made sin. He who did no sin and knew no
sin, in whose mouth was no guile, he was made sin for us when he
hung upon the cursed tree as our substitute. And when he was
made sin, God said he must be punished. Justice demands it. And God slaughtered his son in
the fury of his wrath and justice, executing him for the sin made
his. This was our Savior's agony in
the garden. His agony when he hung upon the
cross before the bar of God's holiness. He was numbered with
the transgressors unjustified and now risen from the dead.
He says he is near that justifies me. He knew his trial would be
short-lived, and he would vanquish death, hell, and the grave, being
justified. He is near that justifies me. Yes, as our Savior anticipates
his death on the cursed tree, he says, who's my adversary?
Bring him near. Let him contend with me. He is
near that justifies me. And our Savior emptied his life
upon the altar of God's justice to put away our sins for us.
All the vials of God's infinite wrath poured upon him at once
until there was not a drop left. Is this Christ yours? Do you
trust him? If so, you have fellowship with
him in his justification. You live with Him. You obey God
with Him. Brother John, I don't understand
that. I don't come close to understanding
most of what I preach to you. I just rejoice in it. I don't
have a clue how Levi could pay tithes in the loins of Abraham,
but he did. The book says he did. And that's
good enough. Levi paid tithes when Abraham
paid tithes to Melchizedek. How can that be? Abraham was
his father. Abraham was his representative. Abraham was his covenant head.
Christ is our everlasting father. Christ is our representative.
Christ is our covenant head. And when he walked on this earth
in obedience to God, I walked on this earth in obedience to
God. Really did. Really did. That's not a supposition. Fact.
And when he suffered the wrath of God and all the fury of divine
judgment, Bill Raleigh, I suffered it all in him. I am crucified
with Christ, Paul said. When he died, I died. And then
he arose. He arose from the dead justified. He was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. justified in the Spirit, raised
up to glory without sin. See him yonder. He who knew no
sin, but was made sin, now sits in heaven without sin. And to
them that look for him, he shall appear a second time without
sin unto salvation. How come? Because he's justified. He's justified. That's what it
means to be justified. Without sin. Hold that. You got that? Without sin. Hold that. I repeat what I've
said to you many times the last several years. We like cliches
about everything. We like clever little sayings.
Justified means just as if I'd never sinned. No, it doesn't.
It means I'd never sinned. Never sinned. Well, that can't
be. Ask God about that. Ask God about
that. Go ahead, ask him. Ask him where
Don Fortner's sin is. Ask him to find it. Ask him to
find one sin against this man. God says it's not there. It's not there. He sees no sin
in Jacob. No perverseness in Israel. No
iniquity in his own. How come? Because Christ put
it away. Put it away for us as our surety
before the world began. Put it away for us when it died
in our stead at Calvary. Put it away when it comes in
His grace and sprinkles our conscience with His blood by His Spirit
and says you're justified. He was manifested to take away
our sin. Is that what it said, Mark? He was manifested to take away
our sin. Either He did or He didn't. There's
no in-between ground. Either he did or he didn't. Oh,
but Brother Dodd, you remind us of our sin all the time. That's
because you need to be reminded of it. And reminded that by Him,
all that believe are justified from all things. This is an ongoing
work. He is near that justifies me. He who is God, our Savior, justifieth
the ungodly. It is God that justifies. From eternity at Calvary, when
the Lord Jesus rose from the dead was accepted in heaven,
justified with him in his resurrection. He's justified and we're justified. God was manifest in the flesh. justified in the Spirit. He who was made sin, justified
in the Spirit in his resurrection, has no sin. None. He sits on the throne of glory.
Robert Murray McShane, the Scottish preacher who died very young,
made this observation, and he was exactly right. He said, the
body of our Savior who had been made sin for us, laid in an unjustified
state under the sentence of death for three days. But on the third
day, the spirit of life came again to his body. And by the
resurrection from the dead, he was justified in the spirit. And when he was justified, we
were justified in him. The top lady said, when the son
of righteousness arose from his sad but short eclipse, he arose
to set no more. He was justified in the spirit.
From all this over, he is near that justifies me. Contemplate
on it and rejoice in it. And learn to sing as Paul did
in the eighth chapter of Romans. Turn over there again, if you
will. Romans chapter eight. Verse 31. What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared
not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. Yea, rather, that is risen again,
who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us. God the Father, gave his darling
son up to death to justify us. God, the son, our ever-blessed
Christ, was delivered to death because our offenses were made
his. And God, the Spirit, raised him from the dead, justifying
him. But over and above these things,
as the foundation of every poor believer's hope, mark this down. As God, the Father, who justified
Christ, our sheriff, was always near him, So he who justifies
us is always near us. He is near that justifies me. When Satan raises Moses up and
would accuse and condemn, he is near that justifies me. He
is near at the throne of God to make intercession as my great
advocate. He pleads my cause continually.
He is here near me all the time. And if we confess our sins, he's
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. So that God, the judge will never
deal with us for our sins. He dealt with us for our sins
in Christ. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. With his stripes, we are healed
and God will never punish his own for sin. He punished our
sins and our surety. Here's pardon for transgressions
past. It matters not how black they're
cast. And oh my soul with wonder view
for sin to come. Here's pardon too. He is near
that justifies me. Would you be justified with God? I mean, would you like to go
home tonight free of sin before God Almighty? Free of sin in
your own conscience, so that your conscience, your conscience,
all that guilty, damning, cursing, screaming, tormenting conscience,
that conscience that drives you near insane. would never again
have reason to condemn you, never again have cause to curse you,
never again be able to scream against you. Would you go home
justified? Then like that publican in the
temple, bow before this great God and Savior and cry, God,
be merciful to me, the sinner, and go down to your house justified. justified forever. Right with
God, righteous before God, without sin before God, forever. Jesus justified is Don justified. Jesus justified is Don justified. He is near that justifies me. Amen.