Well, I talked to Vicki last
night on the phone with my wife, and she asked me, as she always
does, how'd your message go last night? And I said, well, they
didn't run me off. And she said, well, that's good. I want to thank this church,
first of all, for not running me off. But more than that, for
treating me like somebody, treating a nobody like he's somebody.
Treat us like royalty, don't they, brothers? And it means
a lot to us to see all the work that goes into this and how you
just greet us with open arms and just make us feel special. I appreciate it so much. Romans
chapter 8, that psalm that Brother Norm preached from, the last
verse of that psalm, I quoted it in my mind last night as I
turned out the light in the motel and lay my head down on my pillow
I will both lay me down in peace and sleep, for thou, Lord, only
makest me to dwell in safety. I wasn't worried about anybody
breaking in the room and killing me in the hotel. It's my soul's
safety that I've committed to Him. And I can rest. You can't put a price on that,
can you? A good night's sleep, because we're resting in His
arms, in His hand. in His peace, the peace that
passeth all understanding. Romans 8. I will just look at
two verses. Romans 8.33. What a question. Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Now we could stop right there
and spend a week talking about that and not even come close.
It is God that justifies. But that's the result. Let's
look at the cause. Who is he that condemneth? How
can God be just and justify a wretch like you? Three words. It is Christ. It is Christ that died. Yea,
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us." Don't you love those
two words? For us. For us. He's there for us. He came for
us. He died for us. And He lives
for us. The Apostle Paul here challenges
any creature in heaven, earth, or hell to condemn or even to
attempt to make a single charge of any wrongdoing to God's chosen
people. In Christ whom he foreknew, whom
he predestinated, whom he called, whom he justified, and whom he
glorified. That's a bold challenge. Especially
considering that those whom he defends here are altogether vile
creatures. By birth, we're vile. We come
into this world. Came forth out of my mother's
womb, speaking lies, David said. I was conceived in sin and shaped
in iniquity. Who shall lay anything to his
charge? Is this not the same apostle
that wrote Romans chapter 1? Look at it with me for a minute. Romans chapter 1, verse 29. Is he describing the same folks
in this passage that he described in chapter 8? This chapter here
in chapter 1, verses 29-32, it's more inclusive. It includes more
people. But these same ones in Romans
8, God's elect, they're described here too. Being filled with all
unrighteousness. Filled. There's not any room
for anything else but sin in us. In our flesh. Fornication,
wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate,
deceit, malignity, whisperers. He's not describing a bunch of
different people here, is he? Here's the malignant people over
here and the deceivers over here and the fornicators. No, that's
every one of us. Or all of these things. Full
of envy and murder. Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful,
proud, boasters. Adam's problem in the garden
wasn't that he bit into an apple because he thought it tasted
better than the other stuff that was at his disposal. His problem
was he hated God in his heart. He despised God and wanted to
be God. And that's our problem too. Ever
since then, we all want to be God, don't we? We are haters of God. And you notice it doesn't just
say people that hate God. It's not just what we do. We
are haters of God. It's what we are. Without understanding. Anybody? Covenant breakers. God was faithful to His covenant,
the first covenant to us, wasn't He? It was us that broke it. The problem with the first covenant
wasn't the covenant, it was us. What the law could not do in
that it was what? Weep through your flesh. That's
the problem. Aren't you glad he said this
new covenant's not going to be like the old one? In what, Lord,
in what way? You didn't keep the old one.
So this one is going to be this way. I will and you shall. I will be your God. I won't write
my law on tables of stone and put them up there and say, this
do and live. I'm going to write them on your
heart. And you will obey me. You will love me. You will love
the Lord your God. You will have my nature. Who knowing the judgment of God,
That they which commit such things are worthy of death. We know
that God, we know we deserve to go to hell, and we still keep
doing the things that make us worthy of hell. We drink iniquity
like water. Who shall lay anything to their
charge? This is like saying who can find
fault with Hitler and his lunatic disregard for human life? This
is like daring us to identify a single flaw in somebody like
Charles Manson, the maniac that murdered so many in so ghastly
a fashion, and all the while claimed to be Jesus Christ while
he was doing it. It just makes you sick thinking
about it. That's us. Does it offend you
to be numbered with people like that? If it does, you don't know
what sin is. Listen to the condemnation that
the Apostle Paul and God by him imposes upon us all when he said,
There is no difference! How can Paul ask this question? We see that He's not ignorant
of the nature of sinnerhood. He described us pretty well,
didn't He? He did a pretty good job of it.
Oh, in Romans 5, He describes us as sinners. Have you ever
looked at the definition of that word, sinner, in the Scripture?
It means literally devoted to sin. We're sold out. We're committed to it. It means
preeminently sinful, especially wicked. That's what a sinner
is. Oh, this same apostle acknowledged
in Romans 3.20, Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall
no flesh be justified in his sight. If it's left up to you
and what you do or don't do, you're a goner. That's what he
said. I believe he understands what
a sinner is, don't you, by God's grace? and describes us pretty
well. So how in the world, how can
he ask such a shocking question then? Upon what basis can he
challenge all creation to find a speck of dirt in a seething
swamp of corruption? To find a dark spot in a bottomless
pit of black rebellion and treachery? How can he ask a question like
that? He follows it with three words
that explain it all. Suppose he's talking about you.
Suppose he's talking about me this morning particularly. Put
your name there. Who shall lay anything to the charge of Milton
Howard? And as everybody that knows him
is about to raise their hand and is remembering all the things
they know about him. And the Apostle speaks these
three words, and as our mind is filling up with all the multitude
of indisputable reasons why the only place for Milton and for
me and for any of us is the blackness of darkness forever, Paul speaks
three words that drive all these reasons from our mind, clean
gone, and cause us to lower our hands. and even be ashamed that
we would even think a bad thought about Milton Howard. It is Christ. And I say three words and not
five, not because the next two are not monumentally important
and vital. That's what we talked about last
night. If there's no sin atoning death, effectual redeeming, I
like what Norm said about that. We have a Savior that saves.
We have a Redeemer that obtained eternal redemption. He didn't
take a shot at it. Oh my. But these three words. When Paul would speak these words
which give hope to the violence sinner now. And when he renders
this argument, which utterly silences all protest to the contrary
and all evidence to the contrary, he doesn't emphasize an event,
but a person. A person. That's why I say three.
As wonderful as the event is, It's the person. Forget about
what happened there until you know who did it, who accomplished
it, who performed it. Turn to John chapter 11. Let
me show that to you. The Lord is pleased to speak
to us this morning. May He impress upon us and help
me to learn what I've been trying to learn now for many, many years,
that salvation is a person. John chapter 11 and verse 20. And Martha, you
know the context here, the Lord Jesus Christ, it says He loved
Lazarus and Mary and Martha. I don't know if He loves you
for sure or not. I know He does if you're in Christ. I know that.
But I know He loved Lazarus. I know He loved Mary and Martha.
And Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, the Lord's
friend Lazarus had died, and the Lord tarried until he was
four days dead and was stinking before He came and raised him
from the dead. Is that your testimony? Were you stinking when He came
where you were? Me too. Me too. He's not going
to come until you're stinking, is He? You're going to have to
stink first. But the Lord came, and Martha,
as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him.
But Mary sat still in the house, and then said Martha unto Jesus,
Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But
I know..." Doesn't that sound like a New York? "...if Thou
hadst been here, Lazarus had not died." There's not much to
that statement, is there? If the Lord Jesus Christ had
been at the bedside of Lazarus as he was dying, and it had been
His will for Lazarus to die, what do you think would have
happened to Lazarus? And if it had not been the will
of the Son of God for Lazarus to die, does it make any difference
where he was? It doesn't make much difference,
does it? Does not He have the keys of
hell and of death? But Martha said, but I know,
I know, I know that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God,
God will give it to you. That's pretty good doctrine,
isn't it? She knew something. Jesus saith unto her, thy brother
shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know,
I know. I know that he shall rise again
in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus saith unto her, I am. Martha had pretty good doctrine,
didn't she? She believed in the resurrection. That's good. That's
good. I do too. Oh, but believe us
now this, I am the resurrection, Martha. He that liveth, I am
the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though
he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Do we believe
in the person? Do we believe that I am? He said
to the Jews, if you believe not that I am, you'll die in your
sins. Oh, do we believe that? Do we
believe in Him? Martha believed in the resurrection.
And there are many who believe in the crucifixion. I like the
confession. Brother Donnie did that Ethiopian
unit. I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God. That has to do with who He is,
doesn't it? If you say, I believe Jesus died
and was buried and rose again, that's not much of a confession
because who's Jesus? Who is He? But that's the confession
right there. That's what Peter said. We believe
and are sure that Thou art that Christ. And then Martha eventually,
she gets there, doesn't she? Look at the passage there. She
said, I know, I know, and then she said, I believe. After the
Lord Jesus taught her something. Believest thou this? Yea, Lord,
I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should
come into the world. Oh, he did love her, didn't he? That's proof of it right there,
because he taught her something. He taught her the truth concerning
himself. Oh, there are those who believe
in events. I believe I was justified at
the crucifixion. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
crucifixion. He is the incarnation. He is
the resurrection. He is the ascension. Christ is
all. Is our faith in an event or a
person? However wonderful the event, and you know, It is wonderful. He died for our sins according
to the scriptures. But it's Christ that died. That's
what Paul said here. It is Christ that died. He didn't
say it is death that he suffered. It is Christ that died. That's
my hope. He's my hope. He must needs have suffered.
No question about that. But it's Christ that saved me.
He did so by suffering and dying. You see the difference? There's
a great difference, my friends. If you don't know Him, you will
reduce salvation to an event, instead of a finite event that
took place in time, rather than rejoicing in an eternal person. He obtained eternal redemption
for us. And you look up that word, eternal.
It means without beginning or end. The Lord Jesus Christ died
on a Roman cross on a particular day in time, but that death is
an eternal death and that blood is eternal blood that speaks
for me. Because it's His. Because it's His, you see. It's
not Calvary. We're not interested in going
to what they call the Holy Land, are we? No, we rejoice in Him
who died there. Great difference, my friends.
Great difference. If there are no spiritual blessings
from God until the event takes place, where does that leave
Abraham? Where does that leave Job? Where
does that leave Moses? How in the world can God say
to Jeremiah, before I formed thee in your mother's belly,
I knew thee and sanctified thee? How are sinners sanctified? By
the blood of Jesus Christ. That's how. He wasn't waiting on an event
to sanctify Jeremiah. It's the person, the eternal
Son of God who stands for me. That's what Paul is saying here.
Who is He that condemneth? It is Christ! You see what he's
saying? Oh boy. I pray that the Lord
would bless us to see that. This person stood for me before
I existed. And there's nothing wrong with
glorying in the cross. Paul said, God forbid that I
should glory in the cross, because it's the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ, you see. It's His cross. It's His work. It's His sin-atoning blood that
was shed there. Christ didn't say here, Martha,
forget about the resurrection, it's not important. He said,
I am the resurrection, you see. Before I ever existed, before
the planet, before the solar system that it hangs in ever
existed, Christ stood for me. And I was safe then. In eternity, when there was only
God, in the glorious triunity of His persons, the Father purposed
to save me and chose me. That's how we're identified in
this text. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of who? The ones that God chose predestinated me to
be like His Son, which is the ultimate culmination and accomplishment
of that salvation. That's what salvation... We're
going to be sure enough saved then, aren't we? When we're like
Him. He has saved me. Saved me before
I ever was. I'm being saved right now. But
when that day comes, I'll be satisfied when I awake with thy
likeness. I will be too, David. Because
I'll be sure enough saved, David. Sure enough. When I'm just like
Christ, the Son of God, then, before I ever was, agreed and
covenanted with the Father to be my everlasting surety, my
mediator, my representative, my substitute, my sovereign,
my Savior. And the Holy Spirit covenanted
in this eternal council of grace before I ever was to come where
I was in time and reveal Christ to me and give me spiritual life
in Him and make me a partaker of His divine nature. Oh, it
is Christ. The Father chose me in Christ.
Christ came down here and personally redeemed me, and the Holy Spirit
revealed Christ to me. It is Christ! All that Paul has to do here
is to allay all of my fears. And I've got a bunch of them,
y'all. I've got a bunch of them. They come at me, don't they? We're human, aren't we? That
old nature. We get to looking at ourselves
like Peter did when he started sinking beneath the waves. Oh man, if I don't have any,
I'll make some up. I've got fears. But He allays
them all. And all He has to do here to
do it is to identify who it is who has undertaken for you, believer. It is Christ. That's all I need
to know. That's all I need to know. If
He's for me, who can be against me? Who can say a word against
me? You've got a lot of things, I'm
sure, those of you who know me, back home, they've got a lot
of things against me, but you better not bring them up. Paul
said you better not do it. He's one of God's elect. Christ
died for him. This is scriptural. This is Christ-like,
the way Paul speaks these three words to comfort us now. Having
described us as vile as we are, and painted an accurate picture
of what we are by nature, but then allays all of our fears
with those three words. It's Christlike of Him to do
that. How is it that Christ Himself comforts His people, calms our
troubles, soothes our pains and our heartaches and our worries?
Look at Matthew chapter 14 with me. This is how he does it. This is an illustration of the
spiritual comfort that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew
14, 23. And when he had sent the multitudes
away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray. And when the evening
was come, he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst
of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary. And
in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them walking
on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him
walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It's a spirit. And they cried out for fear.
But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer. Why? How? What is it that He
says to them that come In a dire situation now and being the fools
that they are they see the Lord Jesus Christ and say it's a ghost
And they were scared of it It's a superstitious fools like us The three words it is I That's enough it It is Christ
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Oh, I
begin to think about it. All of the blackness that's recorded
against me. Oh, my. We was reading in Revelation
back home the other day where the books were opened. The books. Oh, the record books. God doesn't
miss anything, does He? Thank God there was another book
opened. The book was opened. The Lamb's book. And it wasn't
those that measured up in the books that were safe. We're told that the ones that
are condemned and judged for their own sin are the ones not
found in the book. The books, they record everything
against us. But if your name is in the book,
there's nothing recorded anywhere against you. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It is Christ. No, it's Christ
that did some things for us. He did some things for us, doesn't
He? His love in the Scriptures is always active. How is it that
He speaks? He loved us and gave Himself
for us. I can say that I love you, but
if I never show it, then what does it mean? What does it mean?
And I love to hear people say, I love you, Chris. I love you.
That blesses my heart. I'd much rather see that they
love me, wouldn't you? And I do, I see that a lot by
God's grace. A lot of folks love me and I'm
thankful for it. But His love is always active. What did John say in Revelation?
Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His precious
blood. That's love right there. His
love. And because he did, he died.
It is Christ that died. The wages of sin is death. That condemnation that Paul challenges
anybody to lay to your charge, the reason they can't is because
he bore it for you. He bore the wages of your sin.
What you deserved. Isaiah 53, one of the brethren
read it last night, I believe. Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions.
He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. And with his stripes we're healed.
Oh, we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Aren't you glad that he died? It is Christ that died. He was cut off out of the land
of the living. Why? For the transgression of
my people was he stricken. Oh. He made his grave with the
wicked. And the rich is death, because
he hath done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth,
yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief, and
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. Oh, the only offering
that God will accept for sin. What was it the prophet said?
Shall I give my children the fruit of my body for the sins
of my soul? God won't take that. The most
precious thing in the world to you, your precious children,
if you could give them up, it wouldn't pay for one sin. But
God made His soul an offering for sin. And now who shall lay
anything to my charge? Anybody? And then it says, Yea, rather
he rose. Rather, not because one event
is more important than another. I've heard men debate that. That's
foolishness, isn't it? If our Lord Jesus Christ didn't
dot every I and cross every T from the day He was born to the day
He died, then I have no Savior. You can't exalt one event over
another. At Easter time they like to say
that the resurrection is the most important thing because
if he hadn't rose then he'd just be dead sooner like nonsense. Not rather because one event
is more important than another, but rather because the one reveals
the success of the other. We know his death, his offering
unto God is accepted. That sin offering that his soul
was made, it's accepted by God. How do you know? Because he rose.
How did the Old Testament Israelites know that the offering was accepted
and that God wouldn't strike them all dead and send them to
hell that day? Because the high priest came out of the tabernacle. having offered that offer and
that sweet smelling incense, and God was pleased with him
because it glorified his son. It glorified his son. He was
pleased with his son when those things were offered by faith
in him. Just pictures of the one offering
for sin that God will accept. Yea, rather, he is risen. Oh,
and then he's sitting down At the right hand of God, right
now, there's a man in glory on the throne of heaven and he's
there for me. My forerunner, my brother, my
Joseph, my representative, my Adam, the last Adam. Colossians
3.1, listen to it now. If ye then be risen with Christ,
If, and there's a proposition made here, if you are risen with
Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth
on the right hand of God. Let this truth govern all of
your earthly pursuits. Let this truth govern what's
precious to you, what your priorities are, how you act, what you do,
what's important to you. Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the earth. For you are dead and your life
is hid with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory."
Why? Because He's sitting there on
the right hand of God for you right now, today. And therefore,
all of these blessings are ours in Him. He makes intercession
for us. It's a simple word. It just means
to pray, to entreat. You want Mary to pray for you?
The Virgin Mary? Would that do anything for you?
One of the apostles maybe? If you're interested in that,
then you don't have Christ praying for you. Because when He prays
for you... In John 11 there where we read,
there's another verse there nearby, verse 41. It says, When they
took the stone away from the place where the dead was laid,
and Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, Father, I thank You
that You've heard me. And I knew that you hear me always. If He's praying for me, I don't
need anybody else praying for me. I covet the prayers of His
people. Now, don't misunderstand me, but nobody, no other intercessor,
no other mediator anywhere but Him. If He's praying for me,
I'll be alright. I'll be alright. This is the
one praying for us, the one who cannot be denied. He prays upon
the basis of righteousness wrought and upon sin paid for, justice
satisfied. That's the basis upon which He
prays for me. And He gets what He prays for.
Oh, He's interceding for me. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.
Who was he praying for when he said that? I don't know specifically,
but I know this, their sins are forgiven. Aren't they? They're forgiven. What is Christ
praying for us now as he sits on the right hand of the throne
of the majesty on high? What's he praying for? Well,
he never changes. I reckon he's praying what he's
always prayed. Father, forgive them, don't you think? Forgive
them on the basis of my righteousness. And shed blood. Forgive them. Forgive them. They don't know
what they're doing. Forgive them. In spite of them, forgive them. And He hung on the very cross
when He prayed this. And it was by virtue and upon
the basis of who He is. It is Christ. And that blood
that He shed there, that he prayed this for us. Are you forgiven
this morning? If he was praying for you when
he said this, you are. If he was praying for you. He
told Peter, Satan hath desired you, Peter, that he may sift
you as wheat. He did sift Judas as wheat, didn't
he? And they's both guilty of the same sin. And Satan got a
hold of Judas. It says Satan entered into Judas
Iscariot. And he tore him up. And he tore
him up. He said, I have betrayed the
innocent blood. And went out and hanged himself and dropped
straight into hell. What's the difference? Peter,
Satan hath desired thee, that he might sift thee as wheat,
but I have prayed for you. That thy faith fail not. What would happen to my faith
if He wasn't praying for me? He just told us, didn't He? He just told us. What is He praying
for? What is He praying for this morning
for us? What He's always prayed for us.
John 17, 15, I pray not that thou shouldest take them out
of the world. but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. Hadn't
He been gracious to do that for us? The Father has answered that
prayer. He's kept our every step. When
we're determined to fall, He won't let us fall. 1 Peter 1.3 Blessed be the God
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His
abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved
in heaven for you who are Kept. That's what he prayed. The Father
would keep us. And we are kept. We are kept. What is he praying for us this
morning? You know, the Scripture says
in Psalm 37.4, Delight yourself also in the Lord, and he shall
give thee the desires of thy heart. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ
delighted Himself in His Father, didn't He? He said, I always
do those things that please Him. I must be about my Father's business.
And the Father grants Him the desires of His heart. He said,
ask Me and I'll give you the heathen. And we're His. We're
His. But what is the desire of Christ's
heart? That pure, loving, gracious,
divine heart. John 17, 24. What's He praying for us this
morning as we sit here in this place? He's interceding for us. What's He saying? Father, I will. I will. There is the free will
expressing itself right there. And as He does, all of nature,
every creature in heaven, earth, or hell, stands by and waits
to hear what His will is so they can conform to it immediately. Peace, be still. Yes, Lord. We lay down at Your feet. And
so He says, I will, and every creature and everything that
He's created waits to hear what He'll say. I will that they also
whom you've given me." Don't you love the way he identifies
us over and over in that high priestly prayer? They're the
ones you gave me. They're the gift of my Father.
And I will that those whom thou hast given me be with me where
I am. Paul said, I have a desire to
depart and do what? Be with Christ. His will is our will in that
end. I want what he wants. I want to be with him. Don't
you? That's what he's praying. That's how he intercedes for
us now. He hasn't changed. He's praying what he's always
prayed for us. He's waiting for the day that we'll be with Him.
You remember the last supper that He observed with His disciples?
He said, I have longed to observe, to eat this supper with you. The Savior wills that we be with
Him. And I want that too. Amen.