Pray with me, please. Lord, how good it is to be with
you in your house and with your people. Gracious and merciful
Father, thank you for the mercy that you've shown us already
today. Be merciful to us, we pray. Enable me, Lord, to preach
clearly and with your power the gospel message of Christ's salvation
of sinners. And dear Father, might your people
hear it and receive it for the comfort of their hearts and souls.
I pray, Lord, that you might show us our sin, but that, Lord,
that you might not fail to draw us to Christ, even though we
resist. Use the preaching of your word,
giving us the knowledge of Christ that we might trust him for all
things. Show us your glory in Christ, Lord, so that we might
worship you in spirit and truth. And in our need, we come to you
in Christ our Savior, in whose name we pray. Amen. Open your Bibles, please, to
Romans 3.23. Romans 3.23 may be a very familiar
verse to you. I hope that it is. But it's a
very important verse. It's one of those verses that
you just can't run away from, because it's addressed to all
of us. I think probably God intends
this verse for His people because if we don't understand that we
are sinners, then we really don't need a Savior. And even if we
know Christ, we continue to know a continuing need for Christ
our Savior. When are we not needing our Savior? In Romans 8, verse 23, it says,
For all have sinned. Let me read this whole verse
to you so that I don't take it out of context. I'm going to
begin with verse 19. God is speaking through Paul,
and beginning in Romans 3, verse 19, God says, Now we know that
whatsoever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the
law. that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may
become guilty before God. 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 the righteousness of
God without the law is manifest, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets. Even the righteousness of God
which is by the faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all
them that believe. For there is no difference. And
then in verse 23 we get to our text. For all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God. For all have sinned. That word
all there, in all have sinned, I should not have to point it
out to you, but it means everybody. It just doesn't mean the other
guy. It means everybody. All includes you and me and everybody
else. We all have sinned and fallen
short of the glory of God. Now, I don't know what you think
about that. I would expect that most of you
know that you're sinners. But most of the people that I
talk to out on the street, the people that I meet in the market
in one place and another, nearly always say to me, but I'm not
a sinner. I've never been convicted of
a crime. I've never... I don't sin like
Other people do. I'm not a criminal. I'm not anything
like that. I'm not a sinner. Well, that's probably true if
you're comparing yourself to some other sinner. As you look at yourself compared
to other people, you probably consider yourself to be a pretty
good person. You're upright. You're an honest
member of society, but that's in your eyes. That's
in your own eyes as compared to somebody else. You're comparing yourself though
with other sinners. When I look at you sitting out
there this morning, I really have to agree with you. You don't
look like sinners to me. You look like a pretty nice group
of people. I like y'all. Fact is, I love
y'all. Of course, I'm your pastor. And I know something about most
of you. Even if I don't know you very
well, I know something about you. But I guess I have to say honestly
that compared to many others that I could name or that you
and I know, you all look pretty darn good
to me. But all that I or anyone else
can ever see about you is what I can see from the outside. I can't see your heart. Only
God can see your heart. Turn please to 1 Samuel 16 and
verse 7. Keep your finger in Romans because
we're going to be in Romans a lot today, but turn to 1 Samuel 16
and verse 7. It is God who looks on the heart
of a man and he says that in his eyes we're all sinners. No
matter what we look like on the outside, we're all sinners. God
says, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Because
God looks on the hidden things of the heart. He looks at all
of those things which you and I think and imagine. God knows
those things that we think and that we feel on the inside. Inside
in our hearts where we hide what we really are like from
everybody else. God sees and God knows absolutely
everything about us and He knows us from the inside as well as
from the outside. God sees what we think and what
we do and He even knows why we think and do the things that
we do. once when the prophet Samuel
was conducting a church service he saw a man in that service
named Eliab and Samuel said surely the Lord's anointed is before
him but then in first Samuel 16 verse
7 the Lord said unto Samuel look not on his countenance or on
the height of his stature Because I have refused him. For the Lord
seeth not as man seeth, for the man looks on the outward appearance,
but the Lord looks on the heart. I turn please to Jeremiah 17
verses 9 and 10. Let me ask you a very serious
question this morning. Do you know your heart? You may think that you do know
your own heart. But do you know that your heart
is deceitfully wicked, and deceitful above all things? Do you know
that out of your heart proceeds evil continually? Well, that's
what God says about all of our hearts. I don't think that most
people think about their hearts that way. I don't dwell on it
about my own heart, and yet I know somewhere down deep It's nothing
but a sinful and deceitful thing. We have a tendency, I think,
to trust in our own reasoning and our own abilities, even when
they lead us into trouble. We can justify almost anything
that we do. But in Jeremiah 17 verse 9, God
says to us, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately
wicked. Who can know it? I don't think
we can even know our own hearts. And then in verse 10 God says,
I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins even to give
every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of
his doings. And in Genesis 6 verse 5 it says,
And God saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and
that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil continually. Do you think about your heart
that way? Do you trust your heart? Your
feelings? I really hope that I'm not telling
you something that you haven't heard before. But I do wonder
if you believe these things. Most people do not live their
lives with a very deep understanding that they are sinners. But we
are. God who does not lie says we
are all sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God. Now,
I'm not asking you to confess your sin to me, but do you know that you have
broken all of the Ten Commandments? Not some of them, but all of
them. All men have stolen things. committed
murder, lusted, coveted, taken the Lord's name in vain, told
lies and worshipped idols. You know that's true of you? Which of the Ten Commandments
have you not broken? Maybe you say, well, I've never
stolen anything. I learned today that a lady that
I love very much, admitted that she had stolen
some candy when she was a little girl. Maybe you say, I've never stolen
anything. Is that really true? Well, maybe
you haven't stolen anything outwardly, I don't know, but you have inwardly. Probably every day of your life
you have looked at something that belonged to somebody else
and you imagine what it would be like if you could get it.
If you could have it. We have all had angry thoughts
towards our neighbors. We've all lusted after the possessions
of other people. Lusted after power, lusted after
things that really weren't ours. You know, you were created to
worship God. Not to live to yourself, satisfying
your own lusts and desires, but to live for God. Have you ever loved God with
your whole heart, body, mind and soul? None of us has ever worshipped
God with all of our energies and all of our time. Worshipped Him perfectly, have
you? We all seek the things which
please us, the things of this world, and let me ask you this. Through your regular day, not
on Sunday, but through your regular day, how often do you even think
of God? How often do you thank God for
the blessings that He's given you, such as life and health
and friends and family? and all of the many other blessings
that God has given you as far back as you can remember. Normally, do you consider God's
majesty, His holiness and His almighty power which is demonstrated
by the way He created the world and all the things that are in
it? He just spoke and all these things were created. God spoke
and the worlds were created and everything that was in it. God
should be worshipped continually just for the great God that He
is. But how often do you think of Him through the day? Have you considered the size
of the universe? Well, God is greater than that
universe because He created all things and you have to be greater
than what you create in order to create it. God is everywhere
and He knows everything that is happening at any time and
any moment in time. God knows everything about you
and everything that has ever happened to you and everything
that is going to happen to you. That should make God pretty important
to you, shouldn't it? God deserves our obedience. He deserves our obedience just
because of who He is. God is completely righteous and
just in all of His dealings with us, and so it's right that we
should treat Him as He treats us. And He always treats us justly,
always fairly, never lies to us. God does all that He says, everything that He promises, always keeps His word. God knows
the innermost thoughts and intentions of every man and woman on the
earth. Nothing is hidden from God and most of you, I suspect,
can look back in your life and see that God has blessed you
all of your life with blessing after blessing. God has blessed
you with many blessings, more than you can count or name. Try
falling to sleep sometime and think about all the blessings
that God has blessed you with. Have you ever really considered
these things? Have you ever really worshipped God as you should
for the great, almighty, wise and righteous God that He is?
If you've fallen short on any of this, then you've sinned. And you're guilty before God
because you have failed to keep the law in its entirety. Because
as God says in James 2.10, for whosoever shall keep the whole
law, And yet offend in one point, he's guilty of all. He's guilty
of breaking all of the law. Turn to Romans 3.19 please. But I'm talking here primarily
about people who are under the law. Do you know that all people
are not under the law? Jesus Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness. Romans 3.19 says, Now we know
that what thing soever the law saith, it saith to them who are
under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world
may become guilty before God. Oh, I pray that you can listen
to this carefully. If you're under the law, And all of you that are without
Christ are under God's law. And you must obey it. You must
obey it perfectly. You have to obey it perfectly
on penalty of death. If you're under the law, then
you are a debtor to keep the entire law perfectly. Already, if you're under the
law, already your sins have piled up to be a great big mound of
sin. It's a huge debt that you owe.
It's a huge debt that you can't ever repay. For the wages of
sin is death, Romans 6.23 says, but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Turn please to Romans 3
verse 20 if you're in Romans 3.19. Just look at the next verse. What I pray that you can see
and the reason I've gone into all of this is because I hope
you can see the helpless state that you're in if you're without
Christ. Because if you're without Christ,
you're under the law. If you're not trusting in Christ
for your righteousness, then you're without Christ. Even if
you attempt to keep the law, and all that the law does is
continually to condemn you. The law can't save you. All the
law can do for you is to show you just how sinful you are and
how far short you have fallen before God. For all have sinned,
and all have come short of the glory of God. Romans 3.20 says,
Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified
in God's sight. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. But you know sin is not just
breaking the law. It's not just doing what God
has told you not to do. Sin is a bigger problem to you
than that if you're under the law. Turn to Romans 5 verse 12
please. Sin is something like a disease. It's a disease which affects
our whole being. Some of you are fairly young,
but the older you get, the more you're going to see the effects
of your sin, not only on your body, but in your life. Romans 5, verse 12 says that,
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death
by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned.
Turn to Romans 8, verses 7 and 8, please. Sin entered into man, when Adam
fell in the Garden of Eden, because Adam disobeyed God. And when
Adam fell, we all became sinners in Adam, because we all have
inherited our sin natures from our father Adam. We're all descended
from Adam, and we have inherited a sin nature from him. Probably
the worst part about sin is that sin affects everything that man
does, because man in his natural state cannot please God. Romans
8 verses 7 and 8 says that because the carnal mind is enmity against
God, it struggles against God, it is separated from God, it
hates God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can it be. It can't be subject to the law
of God. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Turn to Romans 1 verse 18. The purpose of the law is not
to save us, so we can't be saved by the law.
That's not the purpose of it. We only see by the law that we're
guilty. All the law does is convict us. The purpose of the law is to
show us the sin which is within us and the utter impossibility
of our meeting the law's demands and of satisfying God's righteous
requirements. The law shows us that we're all
guilty. It shows us that we're all going
to die. It shows us the penalty. It condemns us to die. And in that, it shows us our
need for a Savior. Without a Savior, we are all
under the curse and the condemnation of the law. As Romans 1 verse
18 says, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven to heaven
against all ungodliness and all unrighteousness of men who hold
the truth in unrighteousness. Now look at verse 32, Romans
1 verse 32. But even though our consciences
may tell us that these things are true, that we are sinners
and that God's judgment awaits us, Still, sin has such a grip
on us, such a hold on our hearts, that not only do we continue
to sin, but even worse than that, we willingly sin because we love
our sin. We not only love our sin, but
we love those that will sin with us. As Romans 1.32 tells us, we who
knowing the judgment of God that they which commit such things
are worthy of death, not only do the same but have pleasure
in them that do them. Sin is only tempting to us, you
know, when it appeals to our lusts and desires. Sin is only
tempting to us when it offers us pleasure or that which we
think is going to be pleasurable. We know that the wages of sin
is death, but we love our sin, and so we continue to sin. But
God's not mocked. For all of those who continue
in this way, the day of wrath will come sooner than we think. And on that day of judgment,
all men who are under the law will have to stand before God
and give an account of themselves according to the law. And if they are found wanting,
If they have not kept the law perfectly, then justice will
be exercised and their sentence will be an eternity of separation
from God in hell. Eternal damnation. As Jesus said
in Matthew 13 verses 41 to 43, The Son of Man shall send forth
His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things
that offend, and them which do iniquity. And shall cast them
into a fiery furnace of fire, and there shall be wailing and
gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteousness
shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of the Father. Who hath
ears to hear, let him hear." I pray you can hear those words.
I pray that God has given you ears that you can hear God's
word and His warning. Because I pray that you'll look
to Christ because you know that you're a sinner and you have
a need for a Savior. Let me ask you. I want you to
think in your minds. Do you have ears to hear? Well,
if you do, then I know that you're praising God even at this moment
when I talk about your sin, you're praising God for a Savior. If you don't, if you don't have
ears to hear, then maybe you'll say to me, as so many have said
to me, isn't God supposed to be a God of love? Can't He just forgive people's
sins? Maybe, maybe God can overlook
my sins. It's not all that bad anyway.
Maybe he can just overlook it. After all, I'm really not that
bad, am I? I think maybe I've done more
good in this world than I've done bad. Maybe God can overlook
that bad that I've done and give me credit for the good. Oh how I pray that we might know
the sinfulness of our sins. May God show us the sinfulness
of our sin. Yes, God is love. And yes, He
is a merciful God and He is slow to anger. But God is also righteous. God is just. He is so just that
He cannot look on sin. Sin has to be dealt with and
dealt with justly and the penalty must be paid. God cannot just
forgive and forget our sin. The broken law demands a penalty. It's a penalty which must be
met and a price must be paid for breaking God's law. How good it is to know a Savior.
I hope that's the thought that's running through your mind. How
good it is to know a Savior. Because you know that you're
a guilty sinner and you deserve Punishment in hell. If by God's
grace, if by God's mercy you can see your sin, and you can
know your need to be made righteous, then listen to this good news.
Because there is hope. There is hope that you can stand
before God and live. Not be condemned, but live. There's
hope that you can be saved and that you can escape the wrath
which is surely going to come to all of those who are under
the law without a Savior to save them. Turn please to Matthew
5 and verse 20. Oh, I pray you can hear. I pray
you can understand what I've told you. There is no hope for
those who are under the law because none of us can keep the law Certainly
we cannot keep the law perfectly, and that's the requirement. There
is no hope for the unrighteous under the law. There is no hope
for anyone who hasn't kept the law perfectly. But if you can
see the sinfulness of your sin, then I suggest there's hope for
you. There is hope that you can escape the wrath that's going
to come. There's hope that you will look
to Christ. And by the mercy of God, you
will see Jesus Christ dying for you. See it not just in the way
that the preacher says it, but see it so that it means something
down where things control your life. Only those who are righteous
are going to escape God's judgment. In Matthew 5 verse 20, Jesus
said, Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness
of the scribes and the Pharisees. Ye shall in no case enter into
the kingdom of heaven. He was saying that to people
who believed that those scribes and pharisees were the most righteous
people around. From the outside they looked
good. But Jesus said on the inside they just looked like dead bones. Whitewashed tombs they were.
Turn to Isaiah 6 and verse 5. I think it all boils down to
this one truth. It's all a question of righteousness. And so I ask you, are you truly
righteous? Think in your own mind. Are you
truly righteous? Answer yourself in your own mind.
God's law describes a righteousness for a man under the law. In which if he was able to keep
the law perfectly, he would live and not die. But we're all utterly incapable
of keeping the law at all. We're incapable because of our
sinful natures and because of our love for sin. And no matter
how hard we try to live a life that's pleasing to God, no matter
how religious we try to be, or how good we try to be, we will
always fail to come up to God's standard of righteousness, which
is perfection. Everything that we do, everything
is tainted with sin. Your best thoughts are tainted
with sin. Everything that we do is tainted with sin. When
the prophet of God saw the glory of a holy God, he said in Isaiah
6 verse 5, Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of
unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean
lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." I've
seen the righteousness of God. I've seen His glory. It was like
a marvelous robe, a marvelous train
that just filled heaven, His glory and His righteousness. And then again in Isaiah 64,
verse 6, the prophet of God, who had seen the sinfulness of
his sin and the holiness of God, because that's what we compare
ourselves to. He said that we are all as an unclean thing,
and all of our righteousness are as filthy rags, and we all
do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities like the wind have taken us away. Even our righteousness is like
filthy rags. And as Paul says in Romans 3.23,
for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. I pray that each one of you can
see your helpless condition. As a sinner, you can see your
helpless condition, unable to do anything at all to save yourself,
even to keep the law at the simplest points. If you can see that,
then let me tell you where your hope is. Let me show you where
you can find peace for your troubled soul, if your soul is troubled
by your sin. This is where your hope is. Your
only hope Your only hope is in Jesus Christ. There is a possibility
that sinners can be made righteous in a substitute. A substitute
who is righteous himself. If we have no righteousness of
our own, then our only hope is that we can be made righteous
in another's righteousness. We need the righteousness of
someone else. if we are not going to die for
our sin. Turn please to Psalm 51 verse
10 that I read as our call to worship. We need, all of us desperately
need a righteous substitute because the demands of the law or the
penalty of the law must be paid. It will be paid. A ransom must
be paid by a surety who is righteous. God's justice needs to be satisfied
either by our death or by someone's righteousness who is qualified
to be our surety and die in our place. We need to have a Savior
who pays the debt that we owe. And if we're going to live, then
our sin needs to be washed away. We need to be born again. We
need our sinful nature to be dealt with. What we really need
is a brand new heart. A heart not made of stone, but
a heart made out of flesh. It would be something like starting
all over again if we could just be born again without sin. Born
again with a clean heart and a new spirit and a spirit of
righteousness and a heart that really wanted not to sin. When
David saw how sinful he was before God, he cried out to God in Psalm
51, verse 10, and he said, Created me, O Lord, a clean heart, and
renew a right spirit within me. Praise God. There is hope for sinners. If
you're a sinner, there's hope for you. God has made a way for
sinners to come to Him in Christ. In Christ, who is qualified to
be the sinner's substitute, because Christ is righteous, in Him there
is no sin at all. Our hope is in Christ alone. Because as Acts 4 verse 12 says,
Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none
other name under heaven given among men, whereby ye must be
saved. You see, God sent his only begotten
son into the world. He sent him in here to the world
to die for sinners. To die in the place of sinners. Jesus Christ was sent by God
to suffer the punishment that sinners deserve to suffer. Jesus
Christ died as the sinner's substitute to appease God's wrath and to
provide a way for sinners to come and be justified before
a holy God. As John 3.16 says, For God so
loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever,
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. Oh, what love this shows to needy
sinners, wretched and guilty sinners. It shows the most marvelous
love that I can imagine. But God should give His Son to
suffer in their place, in the place of sinners. And don't you
love that word, whosoever? I like that word. Whosoever believeth
in Christ. Whosoever includes you, and it
includes me. Aren't you glad? Whosoever. It includes you if you need a
Savior. Turn please to Hebrews 4 verse
15. God in the person of his Son, who is co-equal with the Father,
took upon himself human flesh Jesus Christ humbled himself
to the point of becoming a man. Like unto us, except without
sin. Being born of a virgin, Jesus took human nature into
union with his divine nature. Jesus Christ was completely human
just as we are. He knew our state and what it
felt like to hunger and to thirst and to be weary and to suffer
and to be tempted as we are. But with his one exception. Jesus
Christ was without sin. In Hebrews 4, verse 15, Paul
says, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he's talking about
Jesus Christ, and he says, For we have not a high priest which
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was at
all points tested like we are, yet without sin. Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
our great high priest, knew no sin. He lived under the law,
but he kept the law perfectly and he was living a life that
was completely sinless Jesus Christ was perfect in any way
and so our great high priest was able to make the only sacrifice
that was acceptable unto God to pay the price or the penalty
of his people's sin as the Lamb of God Jesus Christ was qualified
to die in the place of sinners because he had no sin. And so
he could die for the sins of his people, he didn't have to
die for his own sin. If Christ had sinned as we have, he would have had to die for
his own sin. But Christ was without sin, and so he was qualified
to die for the sins of his people. No amount of sacrificial lambs
or goats, which were offered up by the human priests, those
sinful priests, could never atone for sin because they were tainted
by sin of sinful priests. But Jesus Christ, who was the
perfect Lamb of God from the foundation of the world, lay
down His life on the cross once, for all, shedding His blood,
the just for the unjust. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was brought as a lamb to the
slaughter. And when Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, was crucified on the cross, He laid down His life
for His people. He died in the place of sinners
to suffer for them in their place. Jesus Christ actually took the
punishment that was rightfully ours and so the innocent died
in the place of the guilty. Praise God. There's hope for
sinners like you and me. There's hope for sinners in Jesus
Christ. In Luke 5 verse 32 Jesus said,
I came to call the righteous. I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repent." If you're a sinner, then there's hope for
you. Because Jesus Christ came into
this world not to save the righteous, but to save sinners from their
sin. Turn to Romans 5, verses 6-9. Oh, how I pray that the Holy
Spirit might do a work in the heart of every man, woman, and
child here today. I pray that the Holy Spirit might
reveal to all of us the sinfulness of our sin and our helplessness
to save ourselves. If God could do that, we all
would leave this place today praising God because there is
hope in Christ Jesus. His name shall be called Jesus
for he shall save his people from their sin. That's the hope
of every believer. As Romans 5, verses 6-9 says,
For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ
died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet perhaps, peradventure, for a good man
some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love towards
us, and that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Much
more than being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved
from wrath through Him. Christ died to pay the price
of His people's sin while they were all still sinners. Isn't
that love? Isn't that a marvelous love?
To take the punishment that was lawfully theirs, Christ died
for them. to suffer the curse of the law
and deliver them from it, Christ died for them. God poured out
His wrath on His only begotten Son. What agonies Christ must
have suffered, the separation of the Son from His Father and
an awful torment of God's just punishment of sin in His body
show us a love that, to my mind, passes all understanding. All
such wonderful love that Christ should die for sinners. And so
I ask you, did Christ die for you? The righteous died in the place
of the unrighteous. Christ's blood was shed to wash
sinners from their sins. To make them clean before God,
to make them righteous, Jesus Christ died. Did he die for you? Christ died to make sinners righteous.
Righteous before God. They see their sins and so they
don't see themselves as righteous, but in Christ, sinners are made
perfectly righteous because Christ died for them. Did He die for
your sin? Pay attention to me, I'm saying
something very important. Do you see Christ dying for you? Do you see yourself as a sinner
in need of Christ? All that I pray you do. Turn
please to Isaiah 61 and verse 10. People who are such sinners,
that they are incapable of worshipping God, as they should, are made
righteous not through their own efforts or merits, but they are
made righteous by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross
and by His blood that was shed for them. God makes sinners righteous,
by clothing them with the robe of Christ's righteousness, which
God in His mercy gives them through the shed blood of His beloved
Son. As the prophet said in Isaiah 61 verse 10, I will greatly rejoice
in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God, for he hath
clothed me with the garments of salvation. He hath covered
me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself
with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels."
Now turn to 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 21. It's by the death of Christ,
the death of Christ as the Savior of His people, that God is just
and the justifier of the ungodly. Sin has been dealt with justly. Sin isn't overlooked. Sin isn't
ignored. But sin is punished and removed
by the death of Jesus Christ. The penalty was paid by Christ's
blood. As 2 Corinthians 5.21 says, Jesus
Christ was made sin that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. Think about that. the righteousness
of God. In turn, please, Romans 3, verses
21 and 22. Not only are the sinners' sins
punished in Christ, and they receive the forgiveness of sins
through His blood, through Christ's blood, but sinners are made the
righteousness of God in Him. Can you hear that? Can you believe
that? Can you understand that? Sinners
are made the righteousness of God in Christ. Perfectly righteous. Perfectly complained. Totally
without sin so far as God sees them. As Romans 3 verses 21 and
22 tells us, but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifest,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets. even the righteousness
of God which is by the faith of Christ unto all men upon all
them that believe, for there is no difference. God has brought
in a righteousness for sinners, even the righteousness of God,
to all that believe on his Son. There is no other way to find
forgiveness for your sins or to escape the wrath to come and
eternity of separation from God and hell except for you to turn
from yourself for you to turn from your sin and look to God. Believe on God's Son. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And as Romans
10, verse 13 says, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. Do you need a Savior? Then call
on the name of the Lord. Think of what love God has shown
to sinners in Christ. Think of what grace He shows
to sinners. What unmerited, what undeserved
favor God has shown towards sinners that hate Him and are currently
at enmity with Him. When you're lost in your sin,
everything may seem hopeless to you. If you see yourself as
a sinner, you may think that there's really no hope, but there
is hope. There's hope for sinners in Jesus Christ. I don't care
what you're involved in or how deeply you're involved in it.
There is hope for sinners in Jesus Christ. Turn please to
Romans 5, verses 20 and 21. I did already ask you to turn
there. You might wonder, how could God
have any mercy on you? How could He possibly have any
mercy for you? Because the more you try to please
Him, the more you fall into sin. But I'm here to tell you it isn't
hopeless. God has brought in a full and free salvation through
Jesus Christ the Lord through faith in His sacrifice on the
cross for sinners like you and me. As Romans 5 verses 20 and
21 says, Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound
But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound, that as
sin hath reigned unto death, even so my grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." That's
the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's the good news of salvation
in Jesus Christ. Salvation through Jesus Christ
as we read about it in Matthew 1 verse 21. The angel of God
says, Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his
people from their sins. And in John 19 verse 30, we read
that on the cross, when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar,
he said, It is finished. And he bowed his head, and he
gave up the ghost, he died. Christ died to save His people
from their sin. Did Christ die for you? Do you,
by God's given faith, believe that Christ is your Savior? Do
you believe that He died for you? Yes, the work of salvation
was finished that night on the cross. When Christ died on the
cross, Christ had done all that was necessary, absolutely everything
that was necessary to save His people. And there's nothing left
to do. Nothing left for us to do but
to look to Him and believe. And I tell you, God enables you
to do that. He draws us by His Word, He gives
us the faith of Christ to believe, and He provided us a Savior to
die for our sins, which completely and fully accomplished our salvation.
Nothing left for us to do. What love. What grace, what marvelous
grace, what a Savior is Jesus Christ our Lord. Then in 1 Corinthians
15 verse 4 tells us about Christ who died for sinners, that he
was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the
scriptures. And that's the assurance of our faith. Death had no power
over him. He rose again and is even now
seated on the right hand of God the Father, having made His enemies
of sin and death His footstool." Praise God for His salvation
in Christ Jesus. Is He your Savior too? Now do you remember that verse
that is our text? You might want to go back to
it. It's Romans 3 verse 23. Do you remember it? It says, for all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. All have sinned. All but
one. And that Holy One who is without
sin is Jesus Christ the righteous who died to save sinners from
their sins. And so I ask you, are you a sinner? But more important, did Christ
die for your sin? Are you still lost in your sin
and under the law? You're under the law if you're
without Christ. You're under the law if you don't know Christ
as your Savior. Because then the Bible says that
you're still under the law. That you need to be, that you
need a Savior. Because all have sinned and fallen
short of the glory of God. Oh, it's my prayer for you today.
That you might call on the name of the Lord. I pray that in confessing
that you're a sinner, that you might call on Jesus Christ to
save you from your sin. Because as Acts 2 verse 21 says,
whoever shall call on the name of the Lord, whoever shall call
on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Repent of your sins. And repent means to turn from
yourself and turn to God. To stop trusting in yourself
and turn to Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Trust Jesus Christ who alone can make you just and grant you
eternal life. Plead for His mercy. Seek Him
while He may be found. Turn to Him who alone is able
to forgive sin and set you free from the law of sin and death.
Turn to Christ for He saith, I have heard thee in time accepted
and in the day of salvation have I succored thee. Behold now is
the accepted time. Today is the accepted time before
Behold, now is the day of salvation. May God hear my prayers for you,
you who are without Christ, and may you look to Christ. By the
power of the Holy Spirit, may you look to Christ, seeing by
the faith of Christ that Christ died to save you from your sin.
Amen. Turn in your hymnals, please.
to hymn number 41. Let's stand as we sing