Let's look at the first three
verses of Galatians chapter 3. O foolish Galatians, who have
bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose
eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth crucified among you. This only would I learn of you,
received ye the spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing
of faith. Are you so foolish, having begun
in the spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? Now last
Sunday morning we began a message and we were talking about two
things. And we got through one of them, or basically got through
one of them. We were talking about how we
feared false profession. And we know that there are many,
many who have made professions of faith in this world who are
still strangers to the true salvation that is in our Lord Jesus Christ. Now we told you last Sunday morning
that salvation was more than believing in one God. We told
you that James said that the devils also believe and they
tremble. They believe in one God, and
they believe and they tremble. But that's not salvation for
the devils. Now, we also told you that salvation
was more than making a profession. It was more than walking an aisle.
It was more than making a decision. You see, we can do all of these
things and still not have a genuine quickening by the grace of God
in our souls. We believe that the quickening
of God's grace, you remember Paul said to the Ephesians, he
said, you have he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sin. So God's people are those who
have been made alive. They've been quickened by divine
grace. You can walk an aisle and you
can make a perfection. You can agree to a proposition
made by a preacher or an evangelist and still not be saved, still
not know the Lord Jesus Christ. And also we would like to say,
and just bringing you up to where we are in this message, that
reformation is not salvation. Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to His mercy. He saved us by
the washing of regeneration and the renewal that is brought about
by the Holy Ghost. God who has 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 Christ Jesus
before the world began. Now you can say, well, I'm turning
over a new leaf, preacher. I'm changing my ways. Well, you
can do that, and hallelujah, if it's a change you need to
make, then we'll bless you for it, but that doesn't mean that
you're saved. That doesn't mean that you're
a child of God. Now, the Bible does say that
if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things are
passed away, and behold, all things become new. There is a
change that comes whenever a person is in Christ when they're born
of the Spirit quickened by divine grace there is indeed a great
change that comes but I want you to know that a person just
saying I've made up my mind preacher I'm going to be different from
now on I'm going to change my ways that is not salvation and
then there are those who are talked into what we say serving
the Lord And many, many people, their arms are twisted in various
and sundry services where they feel compelled to commit themselves
to serving the Lord. Now, beloved, serving the Lord
is a wonderful thing if you have a renewed heart. I mean, if you
have a heart that is truly the Lord's. If you have been able
to give your heart truly unto the Lord, then serving the Lord's
a wonderful thing. But there'll come a day, and
I'll remind you of this, when the Bible says that there'll
be those who think they're serving God who will kill those true
followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, thinking they're doing God's
service. And so I'm here to tell you today that salvation is more
than serving the Lord. Now you say, well preacher, if
all of this is true, then just when is a person saved? Well,
according to Galatians 1.15, if you'll look there quickly,
we see that when it pleased God, Paul said, but when it pleased
God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by
His grace, verse 16a, to reveal His Son in me. Now, what we're
saying here is that a man is saved when he pleases God. Everybody
that gets saved gets saved on God's timetable. Salvation is
of the Lord from the beginning to the end. And when you get
saved, it'll be when God pleases. when God pleases. Now, I know
that there are many, many who've been misled to believe that they
can get saved any time they want to, and that God will always,
will always save them just whenever they call. They can live their
life right up to the very end, and they can call on the Lord,
and the Lord will have to hear them, and the Lord will have
to save them. That's a lie. That's not the truth. When God
saves people, it's when He pleases to save them. Salvation is His
work. The Bible says that we're born
not of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but we're born of
the will of God. And James 1.18 says, of his own
will begat he us with the word of truth. It's God's will to
save his people from their sin, but he'll save them on his timetable. He'll save them when he pleases
to save them. that's his work salvation is
not a human project it is a divine project it's god's work and you'll
have to deal with god in your soul but you should submit yourself
to him you should beg god to have mercy on you and to save
you but when he does it's whenever it pleases him and another thing
you say well when is a man saved preacher if he's not saved when
he walks the aisle if he's not saved when he makes a perfection
then when is he saved Well, he's saved whenever he comes to see
truly that he's a lost sinner, that he's a lost sinner, that
he's lost before God. And whenever he can stand as
the old publican did and smite upon his breast and say with
judgment day honesty, have mercy on me because I am the sinner. I am the sinner. Now, it's not
just believing in the general sin of mankind. Now we know that
the Bible teaches that all have fallen in Adam. And that when
Adam did what he did, we did too. Romans 5 and verse 12. But
my friend, it comes down to this. Do I know that I had my part
in the fall? Do I know that I fell when Adam
did? Or do I just believe in the general
sin of mankind? No, I believe I'm a sinner. Sinner
is my name. and I know I'm lost and I know
I'm in need of the Son of God. Now until that happens then you're
not saved. You're saved when the withering
work of the Spirit of God comes and when the Spirit of God so
strips you that you have nothing to trust in and you know that
there is nothing between you and a devil's hell but the Lord
Jesus Christ and if he should fail then there's nothing to
keep you out of the jaws of hell for all eternity nothing my friend
I'll tell you we must come to see ourselves as God sees us
and that is we're sinners before him true sinners really and come
to him in our true character We're lost and undone for the
one of faith and love in the Son of God, and we need Christ. And until we know that we need
him, and until we get desperate, and until we get desperate to
have his salvation, we'll not have it. And then when does a
man save? Well, a man gets saved when he's
able, listen to me now, when he's able to call Jesus Lord
by the Holy Spirit. Paul said, I would not have you
to be ignorant. No man calls Jesus accursed by the Holy Spirit
and no man calls Jesus Lord except by the Holy Spirit. And in Romans
chapter 10, it says that a man believes in his heart unto righteousness
and confession is made by his mouth unto salvation. He says,
Lord, he calls upon the Lord. Well, you can only genuinely
call upon the Lord, God hearing that by the Holy Spirit. Only
when the Spirit of God enables you to call upon the Lord. Oh, I wish, the Bible says that
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
But it's those that call by the Spirit of God, as God enables
them to call, it's then that they're saved. Now this is so
very important that we see these things, and this is what we dealt
with last week. And the reason we have so many
false professions is that people are given the idea and the opinion
that salvation is something they do for God rather than something
God does for them. And we need to keep this straight
in our minds. Now this morning I wanted to
come to this other area, and this has been very troubling
to me, and I'm sure that many have been troubled by this. And
this idea that Paul here speaks of it in Galatians 3, and he
mentions foolish Galatians in verse 1, and then in verse 3
he says, are ye so foolish, speaking again to these Galatians. And
so I want to talk just a little bit to foolish Christians, foolish
Christians. Now, that is our inability as
children of God to find in the Lord Jesus Christ that rest and
that peace that comes through believing on Christ. Now, there
are those that have made a true profession. There are those that
are genuinely saved. but they do not have, they are
not able to come to that place where they can rest themselves,
where they have peace, and where they have security and assurance
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the false professors ought
to be rebuked, but listen to me, the man or the woman who
has had a work of grace wrought in his heart by the Holy Spirit
ought also to be rebuked who does not find in Christ that
blessedness that is spoken of in the Bible. In Psalms chapter
32 and verse 1 it says, is the man whose transgressions are
forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute or accredit sin. The scripture pronounced
a blessing on those whose sins are forgiven. Now, beloved, there
are many that are wringing their hands, even today, and saying,
am I his or am I not? Do I belong to the Lord or don't
I belong to the Lord? Am I truly saved or am I not
saved? Now, I want you to listen to
the word of God. If you think that that's a normal Christian
life, for a person to be in turmoil, for a person to have no rest,
for a person to have no peace, for a person to have no assurance,
to be mixed up, all the time mixed up and in a state of unrest,
if you think that's normal for a Christian, you listen to what
the word of God says. The Scripture says, Comfort ye
my people, tell them that their warfare is accomplished. The Bible says, Rejoice in the
Lord. And again, I say unto you, Rejoice in the Lord. The Scripture
says, Cease from your labor and enter into rest. And the Bible
says, The fruit of the Spirit is what? Peace. Jesus said, Peace
I leave With you, my peace I give unto you. This is your legacy.
I leave you my peace. Now, the kingdom of God, we read
in Romans, is not meat and drink, but it's righteousness, it's
joy, and it's peace in the Holy Ghost. Now, why is it then, if
these statements of scriptures are true, and we know they are,
why is it that we have no joy? Why is it we have no peace? Why
is it we have no rest and we come into this place this morning
unsettled, we come into this place no song on our heart, no
praise on our lips, nothing in our souls to rejoice in a crucified
resurrected Redeemer. We are just simply down and we're
in a bad state of mind and heart. Why is that so? Well, our children
don't go through turmoil, they don't go through fear and doubt
concerning our love for them, do they? Surely not. Surely our
children trust us, they believe we tell them we love them, and
surely they believe that. But the children of God, oh my
soul, they cannot get it through their hearts that God loves them
in Christ and they cannot get it through their hearts that
God has made provision in the everlasting covenant for their
eternal salvation from A to Z. They cannot believe it. Neither
do they have to be reassured, our children that is, every hour
that we love them, that we're concerned about them, that we're
interested in their well-being. But how often does God have to
reassure you that he's taken charge of your situation, that
he's taken your very case, and that he's dealt with it faithfully,
and that he has secured eternally your everlasting life. If our
children ask bread, do we give them a stone? Absolutely not.
If they ask for an egg, do we give them a scorpion? No. And
we have natural affection and we all would be insulted if somebody
accused us of not having natural affection. But I'll tell you
this, surely is God better than we are and surely God is good
to his children and to his people and surely the testimony of the
Word of God is absolutely sure. Somebody said we're safe through
the blood of Jesus Christ and we're sure through the Word of
God and we're happy through the obedience of faith as we live
out our life to the glory and praise of God. Now, beloved,
you may not think this is bad for a child of God to be going
sorrowing all the day long and having no rest or no peace, but
this is bad. I'm telling you it's wrong. I'm
telling you it's bad. This is a serious problem, and
there's a serious problem at the root of this. And Galatians
3 here deals with it this morning. It's the law and the grace issue. Now, let me just say some things
here that I believe is so important that we understand. The last
verse of chapter 2, Paul said, I do not frustrate the grace
of God. I do not frustrate the grace
of God. Now, all throughout Paul's epistles, it is spelled out to
us over and over that salvation is by the free grace of God,
that it's without merit on our own, but that God, in spite of
our sin, has in grace, free grace, he has delivered our soul. And
he goes on to say, for if, righteousness come by the law then Christ is
dead in vain in verse 3 of chapter 3 he said are you so foolish
having begun in the spirit are you now made perfect by the flesh
you see these Galatians were on the verge of falling from
grace because they were going back, you see, to the law of
Moses for their sanctification. They were going back, looking,
looking, looking, always back to Moses, and they were constantly
being charged by the law that they were going back living under. They were being charged by that
law as being a sinner. Now, Paul dealt with that here
in this chapter when he made some statements, he says in verse
17 of chapter 2, he said, but if while we seek to be justified
by Christ, we also are found sinners, now he did not mean
that we were found sinners by practice, but we were going back
under the law and the law judges us and we're always, it doesn't
make any difference what day of the week the law looks at
you or what day of the week you look at the law, you're always
going to be judged a sinner by the law. The law can do nothing
else but demand perfection of you and you will never ever have
any rest as long as you keep looking at the law thinking that
it's going to judge you some other way besides being a sinner. Now then, as we take a look at
what the Word of God teaches about this, I recognize that
men are very, very much concerned. They want to be right on this
issue of law and grace. but we understand that people
are mixed up and confused and we've got where we are but what
we've heard in our day and men do not like to hear the law preached
in its holy character and the demands both external and internal
they don't like to hear the law expounded and preached the demands
of the law both i say external and internal now if a man is
going to be justified by the law We heard it this morning
from these dear ones that memorized verse 10 of Galatians 3. Cursed
is everyone that continueth not in all things that are written
in the book of the law to do them. That is the demand of the
law. You're cursed by the law if you
continue not in all things. Now you say, well, preacher,
I've done pretty good in my life. I think I've kept about three-fourths
of the law. If that be the case, my friend,
I hate to burst your bubble, but my friend, you're condemned
by the law. You're condemned by the law.
I want you to turn with me to the book of Galatians, or a book
of Colossians, the book of Colossians, chapter two, hold your finger
there in Galatians three, and I want you to look at some things
here that we find in the second chapter of Colossians. Now verse
13 and 14 primarily, and you being dead in your sins and the
uncircumcision of your flesh. Paul here is speaking to these
Colossians, speaking about their condition prior to their salvation,
their condition before they had quickening grace. He said you
were dead in your sins. He said you were uncircumcised
in the flesh. They were Gentiles, and the Law
of Moses and the Knife of Moses had never circumcised their flesh.
And neither up to verse 13 have they had the circumcision that's
not made with hands that Paul speaks of in verse 11. But then
they had that circumcision that is made without hands in verse
11 when he said, hath he quickened together with him? Hath he quickened
together with him? You've been brought to life in
Christ. You've had quickening grace.
You're now a child of God. You've been regenerated by the
spirit of God and he's forgiven you all trespasses. Now let's
mark this down, that if God has quickened you by His grace, He
has forgiven you of all trespasses. He has forgiven you. Now let's
show you that in verse 14. He says, blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us. Now I want you to know that
the handwriting of ordinances that was against us is everything
that God has said in His Word that condemns a sinner. If you
want to talk about Exodus 20, that's alright, where the law
was given by Moses. If you wanna talk about where
the scripture says, the soul that sinneth, it must die, that's
all right too. You wanna talk about Romans 3,
where it says, all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. The weight of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal
life. Whatever passage you wanna talk about, the handwriting of
God against us is what he talked about. And he says that's been
plotted out. Handwriting of ordinances that
was against us, which was contrary to us. Now, I want to say this
about this because, you know, sometimes we miss what the Word
of God is teaching. We want to understand that everything
that God said in His Word about a sinner, about a rebel, about
an unbeliever, about some natural son of Adam, that all of that
is against us. Now you say, well, but there
are some things that I've tried to do, Preacher, and there's
other things that I've not done that other people have done.
Well, it may be so, but I want you to see that the handwriting
of ordinances is against us, and it was contrary to us. Everything
the Bible teaches about a sinner and his natural state, all contrary
to us, and even that part of the law that you have kept. is contrary to you. Do you know
why? Because the Bible says that if
we offend in one point of the law, we're guilty of the whole
thing. And as you're judged by the law, my friend, then you
become a guilty vile sinner before God and the handwriting of God
is against you and you've broken the law of God therefore you're
guilty of sin and that must be dealt with. Now you remember
back in the Garden of Eden when the Lord drove out when the Lord
drove out men from the Garden of Eden and there was a cherubim
and the flaming sword at the gate so that they could not get
back in, eat of the tree of life and live forever. Now my friend,
you can watch that gate 24 hours a day and you can have people
standing there to watch that gate for you if you're not able
to do it yourself, and you'll never see a son of Adam go back
through that gate. You'll never see one get through
that gate. Never will there be a son of
Adam get through that gate back into the garden to eat of the
tree of life and live forever in his state of sin. It's not
going to happen. And I want you to know that the
only one who has ever entered back in is the Lord Jesus Christ. And he went back and that flaming
sword, oh that flaming sword, it killed the body of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He was put to death, that sword
was put into his side and out came blood and water. The Lord
Jesus, the surety of his people, is the only one that ever was
able, you see, to quench that sword, the justice of that sword.
God's law is inflexible. It is inflexible. Man's law,
you can fool around with it, you can bend it, they can bend
it any way they want to, but God's law cannot be bent. It cannot be bent. It is inflexible. And when God says the soul that
sinneth it must die, when God says if you do not continue in
all the things that are written in the book of the law to do
them, then you must perish, my friend. The curse is upon you
and the law will continue to hound you until the day you die
and say, pay what thou ow'st! Pay what thou ow'st! And you
cannot escape it. That law will damn you to hell
for all eternity. Pay what thou owest. And you
owe the justice of God. You owe God's justice. And you cannot escape the curse.
The curse is upon you. But look here in verse 14. So
this was against us. It was contrary to us. And he took it out of the way.
The Lord Jesus took it out of the way. Now he's the one that
did it. He took it out of the way. There
was no way you could take it out of the way. Nobody else could
take it out of the way. The Lord Jesus took it out of
the way. First of all, he blotted out
the handwriting of ordinances that was against us. Isaiah 43,
25 says that he blotted out our transgressions for his own namesake. Isaiah 44 and verse 22 says he
blotted out our transgressions as with a thick cloud. He blotted
them out. And the second thing he did,
he took them out of the way, took it out of the way. So my
friend, if your sins have been taken out of the way, if they've
been put on the scapegoat and he's been sent away into the
wilderness, never, never to be found again. If God's taken your
sin, cast it behind his back and said, I'll never remember
them against you anymore. How come you cannot believe that
and rejoice in your soul? Your sins have been dealt with. The Lord Jesus has quenched that
sword of justice, and he died our death in our place. Now then,
notice he nailed it to his cross. He took these handwriting of
ordinances, everything that was against us, and he nailed it
to his cross. Now this is an old Roman simile,
which back in those days when there was somebody hauled into
court, and there was an indictment against them, or there was a
debt that they owed, and one way or another that situation
was taken care of. They would take that bill that
this person owed and they would nail it up someplace so that
anybody that would afterward might come and reproach them
and say, oh, you that guy that's been hauled into court. Once
that debt is settled, once it's wiped out, Why then it's hung
up there and it's proclaimed that this person, that he's no
longer in debt. He no longer owes an obligation.
It's all settled. And that's what that means. Our
Lord Jesus Christ nailed it to his cross. And what that says
is, these people for whom I died, it's forever settled. They're
justified and their sins are blotted out. They're put away
and their sins cannot be held up against them anymore. And
let Satan, the accuser of the brethren, let him say what he
will. There's no charge to the elect
of God. They have been completely justified
on the basis of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Entirely
justified on the basis of Christ. And so you see that partial obedience
to the law is never going to help you, my friend. The law
is contrary to you. And the law demands, pay what
thou ow'st. Pay what thou ow'st. And only
Jesus can pay what we owe. And He's paid it! And that's
what Colossians 3 verse 14 is telling us here. And so now,
if you would, turn back there to Galatians chapter 3. And,
you know, most preachers want to mix. People do not like to
hear the gospel preached in its purity. They don't like to hear
it. They don't like to hear the law preached and expounded and
the truth told about the law. That it's a one-way street. That
it condemns everything it touches. And if your obedience to the
law is all you have, Scripture plainly spells it out. If there's
a law that could have given righteousness, then Christ would not have died. now righteousness would have
come by the law if there could have been a law that would help
you but you're a fallen sinner you're a fallen sinner and nothing
could help you but the true grace of God now then most people don't
like to hear the gospel preached in its purity they don't like
to be told that the only safety net under a sinner is Jesus Christ
and that if he should fail It's to spend eternity in the lake
of fire. Do you trust Christ? Are you
believing on Him? Are you resting in Him? If you
are, then you're secure. You're secure in Him. Now, that's
the pure gospel, that salvation is through Christ and through
Christ alone, and that it's through His righteousness, which we have
imputed to us by faith, that we have acceptance with God and
right standing with God. And you cannot have right standing
with God except through the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now most people want the preacher
to mix the law and the gospel, which in my opinion spoils both. It spoils both and only makes
men rest in a fatal security. It sets them up, you see, it
deceives them. It dooms them for a life of misery. Here they are supposedly, they've
begun in the spirit and now they must be made perfect by the flesh. Now we have heard people speak
of sanctification as being a progressive work. For years I heard that
sanctification of a believer, that it was a progressive work.
In virtue of which the old nature is to be made gradually better. And their teaching is that until
this process has reached its climax, that is until fallen
and corrupt humanity has become completely sanctified or set
apart into God, we're not ready, we're not fit, and we're not
ripe for heaven. Now I want you to look at the
fix that puts a person in. If God were to demand of you
one holy thought, if he was to demand of you that you live 24
hours without having one sin go through your mind, one sinful
thought go through your mind, where would it put everyone in
this room? Do you suppose there's anybody on the face of the earth
that can live 24 hours that's not in a coma and not have a
sinful thought go through their mind? I tell you, none can do
that. Whatever God demands of you,
you're going to fail. Wherever man is found, he's found
to failure. He's a sinner and he has a fallen
and a ruined nature. Well, I have only this to say
about this doctrine or teaching that people in the flesh are
made progressively better until they get so holy that they're
ready to enter into heaven. They're ripe for the picking.
That is this, that both the scripture and the truthful experience of
all God's people are absolutely against it. Absolutely against
it. Now you turn back with me to
the book of 1 Corinthians. To the book of 1 Corinthians,
chapter 15 if you have your Bible. Now we don't preach sermonettes
here. Been here a long time, 29 years. And we've been preaching
the Word of God, and we don't preach sermonettes. And so if
you're in a hurry, then you're free to leave anytime. But if
you will listen, I believe that you'll get something from what
we're saying, because we're telling you what the Word of God truly,
really teaches about this subject. Now then, here in 1 Corinthians
chapter 15, I want us to look at this verse of scripture, verse
46, how be it that was not first which is spiritual but that which
is natural and afterward that which is spiritual now we know
that there is a there is a natural body and there is a spiritual
body verse 44 says it is so in a natural body it is raised a
spiritual body there is a natural body And there is a spiritual
body. There is a natural body. There
is a spiritual body. Now all of us here today are
in a natural body. Not anybody here in a spiritual
body today. Nobody. We all got these natural
bodies. Now look, if you will, at verse
50. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God. Flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God. Notice this, neither doth corruption
inherit incorruption. Now there it is, it's spelled
out plainly. Corruption, and that's what we all are in this
natural body, it does not inherit in corruption. And flesh and
blood will not walk the streets of gold in eternal glory. We
must have a spiritual body, and thank God There is one. There
is one that is made for us. We have a building, not made
with hands, that is eternal in the heavens. We have a body that
the Lord is going to give us, and our souls will live eternally
in that body. Now then, the Bible never once
teaches us that the Holy Spirit has for His object the improvement,
either gradual or otherwise, of our own nature, that nature
which we inherit by natural birth from fallen Adam. Look, if you
will, here at verse 51. Behold, I show you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet
shall sound, the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we
shall be changed. for this corruptible must put
on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. I call
to your mind and to your attention that when this takes place in
verse 53 is not until the last trump, when the trump shall sound. That's when this corruptible
will put on incorruption and this mortal would put on immortality. That's when it changes, brethren.
from corruption to incorruption, from us being mortal to us being
immortal, is when the last trump blows. In a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, there's a change coming, hallelujah, and that change will
come for all of God's people, and it will come at that time.
But what I'm telling you now is, don't be expecting perfection
from this flesh. We have, thank God, a perfect
sacrifice, in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have a perfect salvation
in the Lord Jesus Christ. But we're waiting the time. Look
at verse 57. But thanks be to God, which gives
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. And that's the
only victory there is. is through our Lord Jesus Christ. You keep looking to Him, looking
up to Him, believing what the Word of God says, and I'm sure,
as sure as I'm speaking to you this morning, that the Lord will
begin to work some peace into your heart. Notice further. 1
Corinthians 2 and 14, Paul tells us that the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned. Now this verse is clear and it's
conclusive on this point. If the natural man can neither
know or receive the things of the Spirit of God, then how can
the natural man be sanctified by the Holy Spirit. He cannot
know the things of the Spirit of God. He cannot understand
the things of the Spirit of God. I'm talking about your old flesh
nature. So it's plain that the talk of
sanctification of our old nature is directly opposed to the Word
of God. Are you so foolish having begun
in the Spirit? Are you now made perfect by the
flesh? Well, an utterly ruined thing
can never be sanctified. Now you say, well that's a trite
statement, but it's a profound statement in the light of what
we're talking about. An utterly ruined thing can never
be sanctified. Where's your body going, my friend?
Well, God gave up on it. It's going back to the grave,
back to the dust of the earth. It's going through the sieve
of the worms. That's where it's going. Your old body, you keep
looking at it. You keep thinking, oh, something
good is going to come out of this thing. No, it's going back
under the grave. Now, the Holy Spirit did not
come down to sanctify a ruin. but to lead ruined ones to the
Lord Jesus Christ and complete victory in Him. Now hear me now,
the flesh in a believer is no wise better than the flesh in
an unbeliever. It's no better than the flesh
of an unbeliever. Now I didn't say that the flesh
of a believer is let run and do as it pleases, I didn't say
that. I'm saying that the flesh Flesh, and it's just like Jesus
said in John 3, that which is born of flesh is flesh. That
which is born of the flesh, that's all it is. Now most people are
looking for what then they never will find. They're looking for
a ground of peace and blessing and rest in a sanctified flesh
nature instead of the perfect sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. In a progressive work of holiness
instead of the finished work of the atonement. And seeing
that this end is never reached and they have no settled assurance
or pardon, the result is that they're miserable all the time.
They're entirely miserable. They're seeking a foundation
totally different From that which God has said that has been laid,
the result again is that they have no certainty whatsoever.
1 Corinthians 3 and 11 says, For other foundation can no man
lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now the
only thing that seems to bring any relief to them is for them
to have a little success. in the effort of personal holiness. If they have a good day, if they
seem to enjoy a peaceful time of devotion, then they're ready
to shout victory. Well, I want to just call your
attention, and I'm going to close, to one more verse. It's in 1
Corinthians 1 and verse 30, where it says, But of him are you in
Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. Now here we see our spiritual
wealth. When God puts us into Christ,
There is given to us a precious box of gems. A precious box of
gems. And when we open that box with
the key of faith, the first gem that catches our eye, the glittering
gem that catches our eye, is that Christ is the wisdom of
God. The next is the righteousness
of God. Christ is the righteousness of
God. And then thirdly, He's our sanctification. And then fourthly, our redemption.
These are the gems that are in this box. So we see then that
in Christ we have our sanctification. We have them all in Christ. As
we get one, so we get all. And how do we get one and all?
It's by faith. We trust Christ. We're relying
on Him, and He is made unto us by God. Wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. Beloved, I'm here to say that
the sanctification The Bible says in Hebrews that by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified, those that
are set apart unto God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now if we do not have a perfect
sanctification already in the Lord Jesus Christ, then we do
not have a perfect righteousness. And you cannot go around crowing
about having a perfect righteousness and not having a perfect sanctification. Stop the foolishness, either
one or the other. We're sanctified by God the Father
and preserved in Christ Jesus. But we're sanctified. This sanctification
takes place once and for all. Well, there's so many other things
that we might say. on this subject but the time
has gotten away and even though we speak quite rapidly time has
gotten away and maybe we can say some more on it later but
remember this as you leave that as a believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ you have a perfect righteousness a perfect sanctification and
that you're set apart unto God in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ and that your old flesh nature, God has give up on it,
quit looking at it It is true that we're to keep it under,
we're to beat it black and blue, we're to submit ourselves to
God, and we're to count ourselves to be alive from the dead, we're
to reckon ourselves to be dead indeed and to sin, and alive
unto God, to bring forth fruit unto Him. We're to reckon all
of that. and where there's to be an obedience
of faith in our hearts toward the Lord Jesus, and there will
be if we love Him. But my friend, quit looking at
this old flesh, and trust God, and trust Christ, and believe
what the Word of God says. Well, I trust that there's some
clarity to that anyway. Well, let's have a word of prayer,
and we'll have a song and be dismissed. Our Father, in the
name of our lovely Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord,
bless the preaching of your word this morning and use it to, Father,
to confirm in the hearts of your people how that you have done
all of the work. and that we're complete in thee.
No work of ours can complete. No work of ours is greater than
your work. No work of ours is going to take
the place of your work. Your work is that which we look
to, that which we trust in, that which we, our Father, anchor
our souls to. Thank you for our completeness
and our perfection in Christ. Bless, we pray, this message
and use it to the honor and glory and praise of your name. We ask
it in Jesus' name. Amen.