This is another of Paul's prison
epistles. That is, he wrote it while he
was in prison. As verse 1 tells us, I therefore,
verse 1 of chapter 4, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech
you that ye walk worthy. There were four epistles written
by the apostle while he was a prisoner at Rome to churches other than
Philemon. But besides this one, Philippians
and Galatians, with the epistle to Philemon, who was an individual,
besides those pastorial epistles that we call them, like he wrote
to Timothy, his last epistle, 2 Timothy, when he said, the
time of my departure is at hand. It reminded me of old John Bunyan,
Lord. You're probably aware. That man
sat in a prison, in a jail in Bedford, England, for many years,
simply because he refused to quit preaching the gospel. And
they would bring him out from time to time and ask him, will
you recant? That is, we'll set you free.
And he had a blind daughter that he loved very much. A large family,
but one especially dear to him was a daughter who was blind.
And they asked him, if you'll recant, agree not to preach the
gospel anymore, we'll set you free. You can go back home and
be with your family. And old Bunyan said, no, no. If you let me out today, I'll
be preaching the gospel this afternoon. Another prison epistle
of Paul reminded me of that. Old John Owen, who was a contemporary
of Bunyan, lived the same time that he did, was a renowned man
for his knowledge and education and understanding. And he made
this statement. He said, I would give all of
my learning if I could preach like that tinker in Bedford. God's grace makes all the difference. But while he was in jail in Bedford
for all those years, you know what the outcome was? He wrote
a book that has outsold more books than any other book ever
written other than the one you hold in your lap. Pilgrim's progress. Pilgrim's progress. Because as
we read in Exodus chapter 1 concerning the children of Israel, the more
that Pharaoh afflicted them, the more they multiplied and
grew. And here you have another of
Paul's prison epistles. Look what came forth. You remember
in Acts when Paul first went to Ephesus? The whole city given
to idolatry. They worshiped the image of the
goddess they called Diana. Her image fell down from us from
heaven. Everywhere Paul walked the streets,
that's what he heard. Great is Diana. Great is Diana
of the Ephesians. They built her a great shrine. And here comes this tent maker.
Reminded me of that tinker in Bedford. Here comes this tent
maker and all he has, all he has is the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's all he has, Lord. That's
the only weapon. Now Paul, are you going to confront
all that with only that one weapon? And he said, oh yes, oh yes,
it's enough. And as I said, everywhere, on
every corner, great is Diana, great is the goddess of the Athenians. And Paul came preaching the glorious
gospel of the blessed God, and his message was this, greater,
greater is the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know the outcome? As
this epistle is evidence, God was pleased by that means, the
only means He has ordained. And unless God changes His mind,
Lonnie, and if He does, that's proof that He's not God, remember
what He said, I am God, I change not, that's why you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. God's perfect. No need for Him
to change His mind. Therefore, the preaching of the
Gospel is still the one and only means God uses in calling out
His elect. You remember what Peter said?
You've been begotten again. How? What did God use? The Word of God being born again
by the Word of God which liveth and abideth forever. So let me
ask you, I wonder where those temples, those shrines that were
built to the great goddess Diana, where are they today? There's
not one left, not one monument to that false goddess. But the
head of the church, Jesus Christ Himself that Paul preached upon
His head are many crowns. And there's many monuments of
grace, living monuments, not false things in stone, but living
epistles. You and I, every believer is
a trophy of His grace that He has written upon their heart
the word of the living God, the word himself made flesh. What a redeemer. What a victor. Christ, the triumphs of his grace,
will be a multitude that none can number. In the first three
chapters of this epistle, as is common with Paul's epistles,
you have his doctrinal teaching. The last three chapters, chapter
4 being one that we read from, you have his practical exhortations
to duty and so forth. The practice of those truths
that he's mentioned in the first three chapters. He does the same
thing in 1 Corinthians. He lays this down first. You're
not your own, you're bought with a price. So what, Paul? Therefore, therefore, in light
of that, could He have given a more or greater reason to do
what He says? Present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service. The truth of God's Word, the
living Word, abides within us, and our practices and outgrowth
are a fruit of what we've been taught. It's true, as Paul wrote
in this epistle in chapter 2. By grace are you saved through
faith, and that's not of yourselves, just in case you might be tempted
to boast. That faith by which you embrace
Christ is itself a gift of God. So don't brag. You have nothing
to brag about. But James turns around and he
says, faith without works is dead. Is there a contradiction
there? Of course not. James talks about
the evidence of true faith. Paul says faith alone saves,
but James says the kind of faith that does save is never alone. It has fruit as the evidence. You see how Abraham's faith wrought
with his works? the works being the evidence
of his faith. And the same principle holds
true here in Ephesians chapter 4. After Paul speaks about the
great doctrines of God's grace and mercy in Christ, he lays
down these principles. Grace is the foundation for both,
every one. Remember, I remember rather being
told by someone years ago, many years ago, You have to have the
law as the believer's rule of faith and practice. This preacher
told me. He said, if we don't have the
law, you won't know how to live. You won't know how to act. And
I thought, a man that has the grace of God in his heart, does
it know how to live? Does it know how to act? The
grace of God that bring us salvation teaches us those things. A true
child of God doesn't need the threat of the law to live for
God's glory. No grace does that. This is exactly
what Paul said in Titus chapter 2. The grace of God hath appeared
unto all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly
lust, we should live righteously, soberly, and godly in this present
world. And it does. Grace is the foundation
of both. The little girl, you perhaps
have heard the story, upon hearing her pastor's message, as she
said in church with her parents one morning, and the text was
from Galatians 1, Christ in you, the hope of glory. And she asked
her father afterwards what that meant. And he said, well, when
a person believes on Christ, Christ by His Spirit comes in,
indwells them. That's what it means, Christ
in you, the hope of glory. And she said, well, Daddy, if
Christ is in you, won't He stick out? Yes. Yes, he will, and that's
what Paul speaks of here in these last three chapters by the precepts
that he lays down. The first three chapters, especially
chapter 2, Paul uses these words in Christ, by Christ, through
Christ, and throughout the six chapters of this epistle, 55
times he uses those words. You're chosen in Him, He tells
us in chapter 1, justified in Him, called in Him, sanctified
by Him, and accepted in Him. All of that in Him. Well, my
soul, it sounds like Paul was teaching, if I have Christ, if
I have Christ, if I'm in him, then I have everything that I
need today and tomorrow, in time, and for eternity. You reckon
that's what Paul meant? That's exactly what he meant.
That's exactly what he meant, and we should rejoice in it.
a hymn in our book. Augustus Toplady wrote a few
verses of it, and Philip Doddridge wrote a couple more, but on page
219, he expresses this very well. These two verses were written
by Toplady. "'Twas grace that wrote my name
in life's eternal book. "'Twas grace that gave me to
the Lamb who all my sorrows took. The title of the hymn, by the
way, is Grace Tis a Charming Sound. The fourth verse says,
grace taught my soul to pray and made my eyes overflow towards
grace which kept me to this day and will not, and will not let
me go. Don't you like that? Don't you
like that? Because there beats within your
breast the same thing that beats within mine, a heart, a heart
that's deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can
know it? A heart that's prone to wonder. A heart with this principle within
that Paul cried out from, O wretched man, who shall deliver me? T'was grace was grace that gave
me to the land. And His grace will not, will
not let me go. You're in my hand, little sheep,
and no man can pluck you out. That brings us down to verse
32. I want you to look at it together
with me. Verse 32. Paul says, And be ye
kind one to another, and tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as
God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you." For Christ's sake. That's the title of my message.
That's my subject. For Christ's sake. If I'm not
mistaken, Mr. Spurgeon, either in a comment
he made or in a message, looked at that verse of Scripture and
said, well, that's forgiveness made easy. Forgive one another
even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you." If that's
the standard I use, if I forgive those who wrong me by the same
degree that Christ forgave me, oh, I shouldn't have a problem
with forgiving anybody of anything that's ever done. And Paul says,
do it for Christ's sake. God hath, for Christ's sake,
forgiven you. These three words. These three
words should not be difficult to occupy the time that we have
for this message. They should be enough, for Christ's
sake. That jumped out at me the other
evening, and I've rolled it over in my mind ever since. Oh, sweet,
for Christ's sake, looking at these words, I don't hear one
thing thou likest. Do you? If all that I hope, all
that I have, all that God requires, all that God does, all His dealings
with me are not based upon myself, but for Christ's sake, then I
shall lack nothing. I'll never hear the words like
that rich young ruler heard when Christ said, yet one thing thou
lackest. Oh, no. With the psalmist I can
sing, I'll lack nothing at all. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall
not want. I shall not lack. Turn, if you
will, back to Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah speaks the
same thing, or rather God speaks to him with the command to comfort
his people. And he bases it up on the same
thing that Paul does here, for Christ's sake. He uses the word
twice. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people.
Oh, how often we need comfort, do we not? Comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, saith your God. speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem
and cry unto her that her warfare, that her warfare is accomplished. I'm beginning to feel comfortable
with that, aren't you? That her warfare is accomplished
and that her iniquity is pardoned. It's done. For she hath received
of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Oh, be of sin to
double cure. Another old top lady hymn. Cleanse
from guilt and make me pure. And this is what Paul says in
our text. God hath forgiven us for Christ's
sake. All that he does, that's the
principle of it, for Christ's sake. First, consider this. Recall
that that one whom God Himself considers, that God Himself,
we need to use a stronger word there. First, recall that one
whom God Himself doesn't consider, but knows to be worthy enough
worthy enough to merit the forgiveness of all the sins of all his people. That's what Paul's telling us
here. It's for Christ's sake. And there's only one, only one. If you can imagine that man or
woman the most moral, upright individual that you know, that
you've ever known. And those are good qualities.
But the most morally upright person that you can think of.
But now in the light of what God requires, hear what he says. It's not enough. It's not enough. It falls short. It misses the
mark. Because the most morally upright
person on earth is still in this category with everyone else.
They're sinners. They're all sinners. Picture
the most religious individual that you know. And there's a
whole lot of them. hear them pray, give, sacrifice,
like that poor Catholic nun, I suppose she was, Mother Teresa,
devoted her life, where was it, in Calcutta, taking care of orphans
and leopards, That was a good thing to do. But it did not lay
a foundation of acceptance before a holy God. Because God Almighty
looks down and says, it's not enough. It's not enough. As far as it being a foundation
of acceptance before Him, He says, it's filthy rags. It'll never get the job done.
The Lord Himself said, Except your righteousness exceed the
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no
wise enter the kingdom of heaven. The psalmist said, Who shall
ascend to the throne of God and stand in the presence of the
Almighty? The stars are not pure in his
sight. Now hear the question from the
throne of God itself. Who is worthy? Who is worthy? Remember what
the heading was here? First, recall who it is that
God knows to be worthy enough to merit the forgiveness of all
the sins of all His people. And the question is asked, who
is worthy? Indeed, who? And we read in that
chapter of Revelation, chapter 5, no man in heaven. The question is sounded forth. Who's worthy? Who's worthy to
satisfy God's just claims? Who's worthy to bring to pass
His decrees and purposes? Who's worthy to approach the
throne of God and take from His hand that book that represents
His purposes and decrees? Who's worthy to bring it to pass? Are you listening? Nothing. No
answer. We're told no man in heaven or
earth was found worthy. No man was worthy enough, had
enough merit, had enough value, had enough approval in the eyes
of a holy God to do that mighty work. None was worthy in heaven
or earth except. But, there it is again, Louie,
but, But that one who was God, and with God in heaven, and was
himself God, was made flesh and dwelt among us. He was God in
glory, but he became man and dwelt upon the earth. Who is
worthy? that one who was made like unto
his brethren, the God-man, the man who is himself God. Now, looking at him, not looking
at Gabriel, not looking at Moses, Joshua, Peter, Paul, not looking
at them individually, not looking at them collectively. No mere
man, no angel, no seraph, no cherubim, no look away from them. Because when you look to them,
all you hear, they're not worthy. They're not worthy. Oh, but look
to Him. By God's grace, look again to
him and hear the question asked, who is worthy? Who is worthy? And look at the Lamb. Look at
that one who declared, I come to do thy will, O my God. Look at that one who said to
the father, when the fullness of time had come, that time,
when the father had decreed that his son should come forth made
of a woman. Why? Because his brethren were
made of a woman. because they were flesh and blood.
He likewise took part of the same that he might take hold
of the seed singular of Abraham. And he declares, I come to do
thy will, O my God. Who is worthy? And he responds,
in sacrifices and burnt offerings and offerings for sin, you have
had no pleasure. Why? Because they were mere pictures
and types of me. It's not possible that they should
ever take away sin. They weren't intended to. Oh,
but when He cometh into the world, The Hebrew writer tells us, or
in the epistle of Hebrews rather, he taketh away the first that
he may establish the second. Who's worthy to take the book?
John pointed him out to us, didn't he? It's not me the Baptist said. Are you the Messiah? Oh no, no,
I'm not the Messiah. Don't start that rumor. And I'm not even worthy to unloose
his sandals. No, he's coming after me and
he's mightier than me. He's preferred before me. He
ranks higher than I do. And when he came on the scene,
John answered that question, who's worthy? John said, behold,
the Lamb of God. You want to see merit? You want
to see value? You want to see why God forgives
sins? For Christ's sake, period. That's comfortable, huh? Isn't
that comfortable? I come to do thy will, O my God. God made him. to be sin for us,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. And upon doing so, upon doing
so, he cried, it's done. It's finished. Perfect, he said. And God the Father responded,
enough. It's enough. I'm satisfied. My law has been honored in life
and by His death. It's satisfied. It's enough. And now, for Christ's sake, For
Christ's sake, Lord, not yours, my soul. If I thought that my
acceptance before God depended upon anything I've ever done,
I mean my faith. I don't mean false faith, I mean
genuine faith. The gift of God to my soul, regeneration
itself, none of those things are a ground of acceptance before
God. Oh no, that's for Christ's sake. And that is a blessing and a
comfort to his people. Because as I said, if I thought
for a moment that my acceptance before God, depending upon anything
I've done, or have experienced, even by the God's Holy Spirit,
how could I rest? How could I lie down at night
and sleep in peace? Oh no! But when I read these
words, that God hath forgiven me for Christ's sake, then the
only way that that can cease to please God, or satisfy God,
is if He becomes dissatisfied, not with me, but with Christ. That's impossible. That's impossible. Because He said, this is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased. And He proved His utmost, complete,
eternal satisfaction with the work of His Son by raising Him
from the dead. He said, that's enough. That's
enough. For Christ's sake, God forgives
the sins of His people. Not that God may forgive sin. We're told that He will forgive
sin for Christ's sake. He's faithful and just to forgive
your sins for Christ's sake. Turn, if you will, to Romans
chapter 3. This is what Paul tells us there. In Romans chapter
3, verse 20 and 21, Paul says in verse 20, Therefore, by the
deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his
sight. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. But now, now, the righteousness
of God without the law was manifest, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets. That law that demanded satisfaction,
that law that demanded perfection, that law that was once contrary
to us, Christ took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross,
satisfying it, and now instead of the law being an argument
why God should not forgive our sins, it's a reason why He should
and why He is faithful and just to do so because Christ had delivered
us from the curse of the law by being made a curse for us. He does it for Christ's sake. This is what Paul says at verse
23 here in Romans 3. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God, being justified freely, freely by his grace, freely. That is, without cause in you. 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, his righteousness,
that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus. Forgiveness for Christ's sake. I like that, don't you? For Christ's
sake means because of or on account of. Because of Him, on account
of what He's done, according to what He worked out. This is
the sure and solid foundation for every blessing, every mercy,
every grace. The more God enables me to see
of that, the more peace I'll have, the more assurance I'll
have in this world, the more I can take my eyes off of myself. and see Christ, the more comfort,
the more peace, the more assurance I'll have. I wasn't forgiven
on account of anything in myself or done by myself, but I was
forgiven by the Holy God for Christ's sake. That can't change. That's no shifting sand, is it? Now, You want comfort and assurance
and hope, a good hope for grace now and glory hereafter? You want to go home tonight and
lie down in peace because He giveth His beloved sleep? Do you want that? Here's how. Look where God looks for satisfaction. Look at verse 1 of chapter 5
in Ephesians, just below where we took our text. Paul continues
this same line. And he says, Be ye therefore
followers of God as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also
had loved us, and had given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice
to God. I hear preachers talk about the
atonement like it was made to man. And if it meets man's approval,
it'll be effectual. No. The atonement was made on
the behalf of his people, but he offered himself to God. And God was satisfied with it.
An offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor. I perhaps have told you about
a dear old brother that was in the church I pastored back in
West Virginia many years ago. But if I would call on him to
pray, when we would observe the Lord's table, he would always
use this expression in his prayer concerning the sacrifice of Christ
represented by the bread and the wine. He would say, you feast
on the sacrifice, and we feast on the sacrifice, and we're both
satisfied." I thought, that's pretty good. Oh, lie down tonight,
brothers and sisters in Christ, remembering these words for Christ's
sake. When you go out into the world,
a world that hates your Redeemer, Or remember, God has forgiven
you for Christ's sake. Sleep with the sweet assurance
that this alone can give. That my relationship with God
is based upon Him. It's not dependent upon me. And
it's not determined by me. Rest right here. Just rest. There's no rest anywhere else.
We look anywhere else and we toss and turn. Oh, but if we
rest here, blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. I'm His and nothing. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. You know why? For Christ's
sake. Look, if you will, in chapter
2. Chapter 2 of Ephesians, verse 11. Ephesians 2 and 11. Wherefore remember, Paul writes,
Paul never forgot what he was and where he was apart from God's
grace, did he? and he exhorts us to do likewise.
Wherefore, remember that at that time, that in time past rather,
you were Gentiles in the flesh, you are called uncircumcision,
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that
at that time you were without Christ. with being aliens from
the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants
of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But
now, but now, maybe you're sitting here with a heavy heart, but
now, physical pain, but now, a burden that only you are aware
of, but now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off,
are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For Christ's sake, look
at verse 19. You are no more strangers and
foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and the household
of God, and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and
prophets. And what foundation was that?
The same one. Jesus Christ, himself being the
chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly framed together
groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are
builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit, even
as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Without him, all
else is sinking sand. It must be. It has to be. Oh,
but on Christ the solid rock I stand. If I do, I'm dressed
in his righteousness alone. Faultless to stand before the
throne. How can that be? I look at that
verse sometimes in Revelation 14. Fault without fault before
the throne of God. And Louis, how can that be? That is just beyond me, Lonnie.
To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you
faultless before the throne of God, And I think, I just can't
get a hold of that. I can't grasp that until I come
to this. For Christ's sake. I see how
that can be, for Christ's sake, if I'm accepted in Him. First,
as the hymn writer said, first God. God sees Jesus. And then He sees me in Him. And I see how that can be. One
hymn in our book says, turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in
His wonderful face. And the things of earth will
grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace until
with Him in glory we stand with him and hear him speak on our
behalf as the great shepherd always, as our substitute always,
Father, I and the children that thou has given me. And we shall
enter that place where we're told God himself shall wipe away
all tears from our eyes. We cry here. We shed a lot of
tears. We have a lot of heartache. be
something wrong with us if we didn't hurt. But God says, I'm
going to wipe all tears from the eyes of my people. And there
shall be no more death, and no more sorrow, and no more crying. Neither shall there be any more
pain, for the former things are passed away. And he's going to
do that for us. for Christ's sake. God bless
you. Thank you for your attention.