Our text this morning will be
from Romans chapter 10. It wasn't planned this way, but
actually the message is kind of going to be a continuation
of what Brother Dale spoke of in the class. If you would just hold Romans
10 there and turn back to Acts 16. Brother Dale made the point of preaching the gospel, the
necessity of preaching the gospel. There's absolutely no question
about that. He also made the point that there's one gospel.
One gospel. And we preach that gospel. But it's not gospel just because
you say gospel. It's not preaching the gospel
just because you say you're preaching the gospel. It's not preaching
the gospel just because you mention the name Jesus. It's not preaching
the gospel just because you encourage men and women to believe. That's
not it. You know, Paul and Silas told
that jailer in verse 30, when he said, What must I do to be
saved? They said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shalt be saved in thy house. Now that's an absolute truth.
That's an absolute truth. But don't ever, don't ever leave
out verse 32 in that. It's just so vitally important.
And they spake unto him the word of the Lord. They didn't ask
him to believe on an unrevealed Christ or a wispy gospel of their
imagination. They preached to him the word
of the Lord. The word of the Lord. Now, when we preach the
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, what's the main subject of that
gospel? Well, of course, Christ is the object of the gospel.
The gospel concerns him. It concerns him. But when we
talk about the gospel, we're talking to men and women about
a righteousness which justifies before Almighty God, and how
that righteousness is obtained. And Paul here in Romans, you
know, lots of people like to open the Bible to Romans chapter
10, and they go to like to read verses 9 and 10, and from that
from that conclude that they have preached the gospel, but
that's just not so. In order to preach the gospel,
you've got to go all the way back and preach and teach everything
that Paul set forth from verse 1 of chapter 1 all the way up
to this point. You can't leave that out. We
already made mention before, and we spoke about this some
Wednesday evening. He immediately introduces the subject of this
gospel. It's the gospel of God concerning
his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. That's what it's all about. And
the main subject of that, it revolves around this gospel of
Christ, of which Paul said, I'm not ashamed, is the power of
God unto salvation. How in the world can that be?
Because therein, in this gospel of Christ, the righteousness
of God is revealed from faith to faith. as it's written, that
ye shall live by faith. You see, it centers around Christ
and this righteousness of God which is in him, and that's what
he deals with. That's what he deals with all
the way through that. It's the grace. You know, this
righteousness, this righteousness by which man can stand before
God, accepted Man's destitute of it by nature. Completely and
absolutely destitute of it. That's what Paul goes on in Romans,
beginning in chapter 1 through chapter 3, and goes on to show
that man, all mankind, Jew and Gentile encompassing the whole
world, every son and daughter of Adam, they're destitute of
this righteousness. He shows that none can be justified
by the deeds of the law. He goes on and shows that God
justifies freely one way. He freely by grace through the
redemption that's in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's through faith
in His blood whom God has set forth to be a propitiation. He
goes on and teaches us that this righteousness is not earned,
it's not merited, it's not according to our will. It is imputed to
us through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Absolutely. totally, completely, positively
excludes all creature merit. He goes on and teaches us a whole
lot more. It would take too long to go
into, but this righteousness is according to God's eternal
purpose and covenant of grace made in Christ before the world
began. Whom He foreknew, He predestinated. to be conformed to the image
of his son. Whom he predestinated, he called. Whom he called, he
justified. Whom he justified, he glorified. From beginning
to end and everything in between, it's all of God. It's all of
grace. It's all through faith. And it's
all in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that's just so. And then
he goes on in chapter 9. And he tells us that God is absolutely,
absolutely sovereign. in bestowing this salvation,
this righteousness on whom he will. Therefore he hath mercy
on whom he will and whom he will he hath. We could absolutely
in no way, positively in no way, demand or obligate God to have
mercy upon us by something we do. Cannot do it. It is totally
and completely of God's own will and God's own purpose. It's totally
and completely of His sovereign mercy, totally and completely
of His free grace. And he goes on, and he's done
the last of chapter 9. The Jews were rejected of God.
And God, in judgment and in mercy, in judgment turned from the Jews,
and in mercy turned to the Gentiles. But the Jews were responsible
for that themselves. You know why? You know why? The one reason Paul gives here,
in chapter 9, verse 31. In verse 30, he talks about the
Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness. They weren't
seeking righteousness. They were going about worshiping
idols. But they attained to righteousness. How? It's the righteousness which
is of faith. God sent the gospel to them and
gave them faith to believe it. But Israel, that nation of Jews,
which was so highly privileged of God, Israel, which followed,
they followed after the law of righteousness. They didn't attain
to that. They didn't attain to that righteousness,
to that law of righteousness. You know why? You know why? Because they sought it not by
faith, but as it were by the works of the law. That's why. And all who seek righteousness,
all who seek to be accepted of God by their works, by the deeds
of the law, by their merit, by their They're going to stumble.
They're not going to attain to it. It's impossible. It cannot be done by any son
of man. And beloved, like the Jews of
old, you say, well, what's that have to do with us? Well, it
has everything to do with us, because we just like them. People
in our day, they get mad when they hear the gospel of God's
sovereign mercy and free grace and the Lord Jesus Christ. They
don't want anything to do with it. Well, I don't believe that,
because I won't have that. You mean there's nothing I can
do? You mean I don't have any will?
You mean I, you mean I... That's what I mean. That's exactly what I mean. And
people get mad at that. And Paul uses, he uses the Jews,
he uses his kinsmen, he uses his country, uses the example
of them to teach us. Don't take these scriptures and
say, well, that applied to the Galatians, didn't have anything
to do with it. Well, that is correct. Or these to the Jews, or this
to somebody, these to the Romans. This applies to us. It applies
to us. Now, with that said, let's look
at it a few minutes. He begins verse 1, My heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. That they might be saved. These people were Paul's kinsmen
according to the flesh. I tell you what, I've got some
kinsmen according to the flesh who fall in the same category
as these Jews. And my heart's desire and prayer
to God for them is that they might be saved. They're enemies. They're enemies. They're enemies
of God. They're enemies of Christ. They're enemies of His gospel.
They're enemies of His grace. Enemies of His righteousness.
They're enemies of His people. And these people were enemies
of Paul. They tried on various occasions to kill him. Tried
to shut him up any way they could. Did Paul return like for like?
No, sir. No, sir. He desired and prayed
for their salvation. And that's what we did. That's
what we did. I'm telling you, beloved, even
as the religious world despises the gospel we preach, and us
along with it, still our desire is that they might be saved.
Give us an opportunity, and we're going to do one thing. We're
going to preach the gospel to them. And then we're going to
pray to God and have mercy on them. And Paul goes on, he says,
I bear the record they have a zeal of God, but not according to
knowledge. As then, even so right now. People are zealous for God,
but not according to knowledge. They do not have a true knowledge
of God, a true knowledge of Christ, a true knowledge of themselves,
or of the Scriptures. Our Lord told the religious people
of His day, He said, You do err not knowing the Scriptures, nor
the power of God. It will do you no good to know
the Scriptures, to be able to quote here and there and everywhere. unless you know something about
the power of God that goes with it. He tells what the problem
is, verse 3, they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going
about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted
themselves unto the righteousness of God. The ignorance of these
people is evidenced by two things. First of all, they're ignorant
of God's righteousness. They're ignorant of God's essential
holiness, of His essential holiness. God is a thrice-holy God. God is of purer eyes than to
behold evil. God is so holy and so just that
he said, I will in no means, no wise, clear the guilty. Are
you guilty of sin? You've never been guilty of sin.
You've got a problem. You've got a problem. And they're
ignorant of God's holiness. And that's why, based on that,
because they're ignorant of God's holiness, they're going about
to establish their own righteousness. They think they can do their
own. The result is, because they think they can establish their
own, they have not submitted themselves to the righteousness
of God, which is in and by and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the very essence of this, beloved, is this. They refuse
salvation on God's terms. They refuse salvation on God's
terms. You know, people in our day are
always saying, well, you need to repent and believe. Well,
that's true. You do. You know, most people
in our day, when they talk about repentance, you know what they
mean. You need to be sorry for your sins. Well, that's an element
of true repentance, but that's not the heart of it. You know
what true repentance consists of? It's a change of mind. And you know what it's a change
of mind about? A change of mind about how God saves sinners.
Not by our righteousness. Oh, no. Not by our works. Oh, no. Not by our will. Oh,
no. He saves sinners by Christ. By Christ. And these people refuse
the gospel of Christ, which is the power of God unto salvation.
They refuse the gospel of Christ which reveals the righteousness
of God in him. They refuse the gospel which
shows how God can be just, and yet justify the ungodly. Do you
know what most people, what most people in our generation, I'm
talking about our generation, do you know what their faith
consists of? What they really think faith consists of. From everything except the true
gospel, what people sit on, they look at faith this way. They think that when they give
mental assent to some facts, there's one God, God's son, came
into the world, he did something or other, he was crucified, he
was buried, he rose again. But believing that, they count
that as a starting point from which they are enabled to render
some kind of service by which they obtain a righteousness which
satisfies God. That's why you see people bustling
and bustling about and working their fingers to the bone trying
to please God and can never have any peace and contentment and
joy because they know in their heart. They know in their heart. If they just stop and think about
it. They have to know in their heart.
It ain't good enough. It ain't good enough. Oh, but
listen, beloved. Verse 4, Christ is the end of
the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it. He is the goal or the object
of the law for righteousness. He is the fulfillment of the
law for righteousness because He honored the law in every jot
and He is the termination of the law as a curse or a covenant. I tell you right now, every single
one in this building, and let's just confine it to this building,
all right? We're either under the curse of the law, or we're
either under the covenant of His grace. One or the other. One or the other. And this righteousness
that Christ is the end of is to everyone that but that believe. Oh, I believe Jesus. Well, I'm
glad you do. But that's not the gospel. That's
not the gospel. It's to everyone that believeth,
to believeth on him as he is revealed in the scriptures. God
does not require you to produce a righteousness in order to be
saved. Well, what does he require? He
requires you to receive a righteousness in order to be saved. And the
righteousness which justifies is the righteousness of God,
the very righteousness of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
that righteousness which is revealed in the gospel, and it is imputed
to all who believe. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets. It's even the righteousness of
God which is unto all, and upon all them that believe, for there
is no difference. For all have sinned, and come
short of the glory of God. And this righteousness is to
all who believe. It is imputed." I know that word
gets bounced around a lot, misused, like everything else concerning
the gospel. But, oh, listen, it's a glorious
truth of the gospel. the imputation of righteousness
through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. How blessed it is. It's
the very heart of the Gospel. The very heart of the Gospel. It's the way Abraham was justified. And that wasn't written for his
sake alone, but for us also, to whom that righteousness shall
be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord
from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses and raised again
for our justification. Because some people abuse it.
I'm not giving it up. I'm telling you that if you ever,
ever justify before God, it'll be through the righteousness
of Christ imputed to you. And that word imputed, I want
to tell you this, it's not a noun, it's a verb. I'll let you figure that one
out because I don't want to take the time on it. Let's go on, all
right? Verse 5, Moses described the
righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth
those things shall live by it. Now, I'm telling you, that doesn't
have anything to do with salvation. Verse 5 doesn't have anything
to do with salvation. If you can do the law, you don't
need to be saved. You hear what I'm saying? If I get in the car after this
service and drive home and obey the speed limit and all the other
driving laws which apply to me between here and there, I don't
have to worry. Hey, listen, I fulfilled the
law, didn't I? I don't need to be delivered
from the offense of that law because I fulfilled it. And that's
what he's saying. Moses described the righteousness
which is on the law. What is it? Do and live. Do and live. Take a minute to turn over to
Galatians chapter 3, will you? Galatians chapter 3. Look at verse 10. Galatians 3.10. This law of God requires a perfect
and continual obedience from the cradle to the grave. if we're
going to live by it. Paul declares in verse 10 of
Galatians 3, as many as are of the works of the law are under
the curse. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do, do, do, do them. But that no man is justified
by the law in the sight of God. He may claim to be justified
by the law in the sight of men, but not in the sight of God.
It's evident. Why? Because God said that just
shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith. But the man that doeth, doeth,
doeth them shall live in them. But let me warn you, it's impossible
for you and me, and every son and daughter of Adam, because
the slightest infraction, the slightest infraction mars the
whole thing. To offend at one point of the
law is to be guilty of the whole. It can't be perfect if it has
a flaw, can it? No. One sin makes it to cease to
be righteousness. And there's no possibility of
us keeping it because we start wrong. We start wrong. We have sin imputed to us through
the fall of our federal head, our first Adam. And we have sin
imparted to us in natural generation because we all sprang from Adam. And we're all guilty of personal
transgression. They go astray as soon as they
be born, speaking lies. Not one single person born of
a mere man can keep the law. If that were possible to do,
it wouldn't have been necessary for Christ to die. And what Paul
said, I do not frustrate the grace of God. If righteousness
come by law, then Christ is dead in vain. It wasn't necessary
for him to die. And all beloved, listen, the
law is spiritual. It's spiritual. It reaches not
only the outward action, it reaches to the heart, the mind, the voice,
the soul, the inner being. I know a lot of people claim
that they can keep the law. Paul claimed he kept it. Maybe
he did outwardly. He said in Philippians 3, 6,
he said, concerning the righteousness which is of the law, I was blameless. And none of us can say that.
Not naturally. But one commandment, one simple
commandment in the Word and power of God, when it came home to
his soul, convinced him that he was without hope in that righteousness. That's all it took. Romans 7. You remember,
don't you? Romans 7, verse 7. What shall we say then? Is the
law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known
sin, but by the law. For I had not known lust, except
the law hath said, Thou shalt not covet. Look at verse 9. I was alive without the law once,
though I thought I had it made. I was a true Jew, a Pharisee,
and as good as you could get in the flesh. I was alive without
the law once, but when the law came, when the commandment came,
sin revived. And you know what the result
was? It killed me. I died. I lost all hope of ever
obtaining favor with God by anything that I do under the law. You
ever been there? Many of you have, haven't you?
Sure you have. All, all, all whom God saves
have been there. You see, that way of righteousness
is just, it's out. It's out. Just throw it out.
Forget about it. by the deeds of the law shall
no flinch be justified in God's sight." That fellow used to come here
on occasion, those high holy days of the year, mainly. He
was here one time, and I was preaching about man's The depravity
of man, how sinful he was, it kind of got to him. I could tell
he was squirming a little bit during the message. After the
service, I was standing back there and she came out and this
way said to me, looked at me, gritted his teeth and said, my mom and my dad ain't that
bad. He was too cowardly to say, I'm
not that bad. But he said, my mom and my dad's
not that bad. They're good people. Well, they
may be inside of men about what they do. And they are. There
are people like that. And I'm thankful for those people.
Aren't you? But I'm telling you, before God, out of Christ, they're
like an open, running sword. That's how pretty they are. It
hasn't been bound up, neither mollified with ointment. From
the sole of the foot to the top of the heel. Leprous. Leprous. A fountain of poison. A fountain
of poison. Well, let's go on. Verse 6. Verse 6. The righteousness which is of
faith, speaketh on this wise. Now say not in your heart, who
shall ascend into heaven? That is, to bring Christ down
from above. Or who shall descend into the deep? That is, to bring
up Christ again from the deep." These two verses are a little
bit difficult to understand. Let me see if I can help you
with them. Now, I want you to turn back
to Deuteronomy chapter 30. Deuteronomy chapter 30. That's
where these words are recorded. And Paul uses these words that
were spoken by Moses concerning the law. Moses was speaking about
the law. And Paul takes these same words
and applies it to the preaching of the gospel. Same words. Now, Deuteronomy chapter 30,
look at verse 11. Moses said, this commandment
which I command thee this day, it's not hidden from you, neither
is it far off. It's not in heaven. You know,
God came down and gave that law, wrote it on those two tables
of stone. Moses broke the first ones. God called Moses back upon
the mountain again and gave him another set, wrote with his own
finger in those tables of stone. These, he said, now, you take
care of these, you put them in the ark. where they won't be
broken. That's a picture of Christ keeping
the law, isn't it? And that's where they remain.
And this law was published to all these people. They heard
God speaking. He said, this commandment which I command thee this day,
it's not hidden from me. It's not far off. It's not in
heaven that thou shouldst say, who shall go up to us, for us
up to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do
it. Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldst say,
Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that
we may hear it, and do it." The Word is nigh you. It's near you,
near unto you. It's in your mouth and in your
heart. Talk about the law, that you
may do it, that you may do it. They knew what the law said.
It wasn't far off. Didn't have to go to get it.
Didn't have to bring it down, bring it up. It was right there.
They knew it. They knew it. Now, Paul takes
these same words and applies them to the gospel. He's saying
this. He said, there's no need for
you to go up to heaven to bring Christ down. What shall I do
to be saved? Well, you don't have to go up
to heaven to bring Christ down. He's already come. Well, what shall I do to be saved?
Well, you don't have to descend into the deep to bring him up
from the dead. He's risen. He's risen. That's what the gospel
says. That's what the gospel says. Paul said, I told Corinthians,
I declared unto you the gospel by which you are saved, to keep
in memory what I told you. For I delivered unto you that
which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures. He was buried and rose again
the third day according to the scriptures. That's what the gospel
tells us. You don't have to descend into the deep to bring him up
from the dead. He's risen. He's ascended. And beloved, just
as God came down and gave the Word of the Law, He came down
in Christ and gave the Word of the Gospel. The Law was given
through Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The Gospel came when Christ came. Paul told Timothy, don't you
be ashamed of the Gospel of God, nor of me as that you be a partaker
of the afflictions of the gospel of God, who hath saved us, and
called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us
in the Lord Jesus Christ before the world began, but is now made
manifest, how is that? By the appearing of Jesus Christ
our Savior. who has abolished death and brought
immortality to light through the gospel. Huh? The gospel of justification through
faith does not require us to do anything to make it effectual.
Don't you get so sick of hearing that? God's got all He can do.
Rest up to you. God loves you. Jesus loves you.
I love you. Oh, that's just sickening. You've got the wrong God. The
Gospel declares that Christ has finished the work of redemption
and salvation. He said, Father, I've glorified
you on the earth. I finished the work you gave
me to do. That's what the Bible says. Don't let men put this nonsense
in your head. See what God says. Weigh all
things in the light of God's Word. Pray for God's Spirit that
you might discern truth and worship Him. Verse 8. What does it say? What does this Gospel that we
preach say? Well, the Word is nigh you. It's
even in your mouth and in your heart. That is the Word of faith
which we preach. This Word of the Gospel, it's
near. It's even in your mouth and heart.
It's the Word of faith. It's the Gospel of righteousness
and justification through faith that's in the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's what we preach. It's not do but believe. Folks came to our Lord one day
and thought, what shall we do that we might do the work of
God? He said, this is the work of God, that you believe on him
whom he hath sent. That's what the gospel says.
The word of the law was not unknown to the Jews. It was near them.
It was in their mouth and heart that they might do it. But the
word of the gospel, the word of faith, is not unknown to us. It's near us. It's in our mouths
and in our hearts that we might believe it. Preacher, why are
you always preaching this gospel? Seems like every time I come,
you're harping on the same note. I am. You heard me right. I want
you to believe this gospel. I really do. My heart's desire
and prayer to God for you is that you might be saved. And
if you are, you're going to have to believe this gospel. Is that
right, Dan? Chris? Is that right? Sonny? All you
men. You women have been. You know
to. As they say, been there, done that. Still do it? Are we? These words, these words, in
your mouth and in your heart, they are descriptive of the faith
which receives and believes. Not just in the head. Not just
in the head. Now, I know there's a head knowledge
involved. But it goes deeper than that. It goes to the heart. Read on. He says in verse 9,
If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt
believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead,
thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. True faith and public confession
always go together. Always. And you can't have one
without the other. A faith that does not confess
Christ, that's not true faith. Now you can forget this thing
about secret disciples. It ain't so. It ain't so. If you don't confess him before
me, I tell you right now, he's not going to confess you before
his Father which is in heaven. He said that. True heart faith
produces the fruit of confession. And we are to confess with our
mouths. What? What are we to confess? The Lord Jesus, or better, Jesus
to be Lord. That eunuch-ass Phil. What hinders
me from being baptized? Well, if you believe with all
your heart, you can. Remember what he said? Sunset
up now. Listen. Jesus Christ is the Son
of God. That's it. But now listen, I'll
tell you this right now. If Jesus of Nazareth is the Son
of God, then He is also God the Son. That's so. That's so. We believe Him to
be not a mere man. We do believe Him to be a man.
He's bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh. But he's more than
that. He's God manifest in the flesh. And many confess Jesus, but they
don't confess the Lord Jesus. And if he be not Lord, I'll tell
you this right now, he can't save you. He said to the disciples, you
call me Master and Lord, and you say, well, so I am. And he
said to those religious Jews, if you believe not that I am,
I am. That God that spoke to Moses
out of the burning bush and said that I am that I am. If you believe
not that I am, you will die in your sins. And believe in the heart. Believe
in the heart that God raised him from the dead. Raised him
from the dead here means all that is contained in his work.
God raised him from the dead, well then he must have died.
If He died, He must have lived in the flesh. If He lived in
the flesh, then He must have become incarnate. If He became
incarnate, then He must have existed before. If you believe
in your heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, to believe
that is to believe that God accepted all that He did and all for whom
He did it. Because you can't separate the
two. Now, you cannot separate the
sacrifice of the people for whom it's offered. You can't do that. Don't you separate, don't you
put asunder what God's joined together. Oh, no, don't do that. Don't do that. By our Lord, the
precepts of the law was honored by his obedience. And sin was
atoned for by sacrifice. And when God accepted the sacrifice,
He also accepted all for whom it was offered. Just like that
high priest of old on the Day of Atonement. He took the blood
of that goat of the sin offering, and he went beyond the veil before
the mercy seat. And there he offered it. For
what? Remember what it said? For the sins of the people. Look,
Hebrews 9. Hebrews 9. these great momentous things.
I always like to read in the Word of God, don't you? Oh, I
do, I do, I do. In Hebrews 9, Paul begins talking
about that tabernacle and the furniture and the priesthood
and so forth. And he said in verse 6, Now when
these things were thus ordained, the priest went always into the
first tabernacle accomplishing the service of God. They went
into that first compartment of the tabernacle. The priest was
ministered about the temple. But, verse 7, into the second,
that second compartment, that holy of holies, went the high
priest alone. He went one time every year,
and he did not go without blood, which he offered. Now watch this.
This high priest is a typical high priest, but he's a man.
And he offered that blood for himself and the sins of the people. See that? See that? All right,
and I'll drop down to verse 11. Christ being come, and high priesthood
of good things to come, by greater and more perfect tabernacle,
not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood
he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption His sacrifice was effectual. When God accepted
the sacrifice, He accepted those for whom it was offered. You
see that? You can't, you don't separate
the two. They're not separated. In good news, beloved, when Christ
had by Himself purged our sins, it done. He set Bethany to ride
ahead of the majesty on high. You see that? To believe in the
heart that God raised him from the dead. It's not just merely
to believe that there was a resurrection. The whole world believes that.
What that resurrection entailed. What it means. What it means. And all with the heart. I mentioned
this already. Not just the head. Yes, it does
include head knowledge. We're not saved ignorantly. Paul
said, I know whom I have believed. Well, I do too. I do too. But I believe it with the heart.
The heart. The understanding. Not just the
understanding alone, but with the will. My will's been made
willing in the day of His birth. And with the affections. I love
this Lord whom I believe. Peter! Do you love me? Lord, you know all things. You
know that I love you. The affections involved. And
they believe unto righteousness. They believe unto righteousness.
Through faith, through believing in Christ and on Christ, the
very righteousness of Christ is imputed, its charge is accounted
to us. And when we thus believe, when
we thus believe, we'll confess it. I guarantee it. I guarantee
it. If we have the opportunity, unless
we're like that thief nailed to a cross, we'll confess it.
We'll confess Him. We'll confess Him with the mouth.
And you don't have to pressure people into making a profession
of faith. Uh-uh. Uh-uh. Paul said, I came to you
not with enticing words of man's wisdom. Oh, no, no, no. I don't
want that to be the ground of your confidence, but in the power
of God. If I convince you to believe,
somebody else will convince you not to. And I tell you this,
if the Spirit of God Gives you life in the soul. Creates that
new man within you. And God gives you faith to believe
ain't nobody going to change your mind. If Christ was formed
in you and for you to change your mind, Christ would have
to abdicate the throne. And He ain't going to do it.
He ain't going to do it. And then those that confess with
the mouth, they make a public confession. Same reason. We don't pressure people to be
baptized. No, no, no, I don't want to do that. I don't want to do that talk. But their conscience won't let
them do otherwise. It's not putting away the filth
of the flesh, it's the answer and the good conscience before
God. With the heart man believeth
unto righteousness. Do you believe Christ according
to his gospel? Then let me tell you that in
the sight of God, you are as holy as God's own dear Son. And if that be not so, what hope
do we have? None. Bless God according to His Word,
it is so. And I'm thankful, aren't you? That's why, like the psalmist,
I'm going to speak of thy righteousness even as thine only. Though I
don't know of the extent of it. But that's my concern. That's
the subject of my preaching. That's the desire of my heart.
The Lord Jesus Christ. Our Father, once again, we thank
you for your word. Oh, we thank you, Lord, that
we don't have to ascend up to bring Christ down, nor do we
have to go into the deep to bring him up from the dead. We thank
you, our Father, that you sent him into the world, that he came,
and that he's risen from the grave. And, Lord, we rejoice
in all that that entails and all that it implies, all that
is revealed in your word concerning his resurrection from the dead.
Lord, we thank you. Oh, the grace, the grace that
you've shown unto miserable sinners such as we are in revealing to
us our state and in revealing to us our Savior. And, oh, we
thank you, Lord, for the grace by which you've given us faith
to believe in him. for the grace that created us
anew in Christ Jesus. How shall we ever be able to
thank you for the grace you've bestowed upon your people? But
Lord, we do thank you. We ask once again, our Father,
that you'd be pleased to send your word forth in power, that
you give glory unto yourself, that the Lord Jesus Christ might
be exalted above all exaltation in the eyes of thy people. And
if our people might be comforted, might be brought to faith in
Him, and edified and comforted in joy in the Lord Jesus Christ. We ask it in His great namesake. Amen. All right, Brother Chris,
if you would come and lead us up closer here.