Frequently, Satan tempts this
preacher and many others. to be turned aside, deviated
from the message of Jesus Christ and him crucified to some other
thing. We are often told this is not
sufficient, we need to hear something else. We're often told by people
that you need this thing, you need that. And our flesh, our
sinful, silly, stupid flesh, inclined to such counsel. We
are inclined to think this message is going to get old, this message
is going to become stale, this somehow is not going to be acceptable
to even believing hearts continually. And whenever I am so tempted
to God helping me by God's grace, I am resolved all the more determinedly
to preach nothing to you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
For this reason, I know you need Him. Cut to heaven. You can't live
without Him. And I know, knowing Him, walking
with Him, Loving Him, trusting Him is the only comfort for your
soul, no matter what trouble you go through. It's the only
direction for your life, no matter how mixed up your life may seem
to be. It's the only path for you to
follow, no matter how many paths are set before you. I chatted
with a good friend going through a lot of trouble just recently.
My heart breaks for him. going through difficulties I
don't know that I could bear. And my counsel to him when all
said and done, I'm not much of a counselor, but he came seeking
my counsel. My counsel to him when all said
and done is my counsel to you now, what has been my counsel
to you throughout these many years God's given us together.
Plunge into the word of God and dive into the riches of Jesus
Christ and let your soul just be lost in him and you will find
everything you need. Everything you need. So tonight
I want us once more to just plunge into the word of God and revel
in the blessed knowledge given us in Holy Scripture of Jesus
Christ our Redeemer. Turn with me please to Romans
14 and verse 9. because of our Lord's great love
for us, in order that he might save us from our sins, in order
that he might save us from ourselves. Oh, that he might save us from
ourselves. Worst enemy you've got in this
world, Paul Wendel, is Paul Wendel. Nothing in earth or in hell so
dangerous to you as you. Nothing. Oh, that he might save
us from ourselves and that he might save us from the wrath
of God and save us to the uttermost. What is that? It is the uttermost. of His utmost ability and utmost
grace. Now when you can find a limit
to His ability and a limit to His grace, when you can put a
box around that and say this is where it is, then you've discovered
what the uttermost salvation is. In order thus to save us,
Our all-glorious Lord Jesus became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. What wonders, what astounding
wonders are implied in that statement. God Almighty, who is the Spirit,
not just a spirit, God is the Spirit. He is the Spirit from
which all things come, but the Spirit who has no body, the infinite,
incomprehensible, independent, eternal, sovereign Spirit. God
is the Spirit, and He became a man. Now, theologians want to wrangle
over those terms and want to argue and fuss over those terms
and define things and get things all figured out and presented
in a neat little package until finally, after you've understood
all their theology, you've lost all awe for God. Will you understand
this? God assumed human flesh. He became what we are, that we
might be forever what He is. He assumed our nature. and took
part of our nature that he might bring us to glory. God's dear
Son, as a man, lived on this earth in constant trial, in constant
temptation. We read about a few, but he was,
from the moment he came into this world to the moment that
he left this world, the man of sorrows, acquainted with grief,
in constant trial, and in constant temptation, and in constant trouble. And yet, amid all the trials,
all the temptations, all the troubles he endured throughout
the age of manhood, the Lord Jesus Christ lived in perfect
compliance with his Father's will. In perfect obedience to
his own holy law. Not for himself, he didn't know
the law or anything. He did it for us. He came here
as a man, going through all the struggles and trials and difficulties
we go through, sin alone accepted, and lived as a man in perfect
obedience to God to fulfill all righteousness for us. And then
at last, having fulfilled all righteousness, the Son of God,
our Lord Jesus Christ, our glorious Savior, died upon the cursed
tree in our place. How come? Why? What was the purpose of his death?
What did he intend to accomplish by his death? Why is it that
God Almighty came into this world, assumed our nature, and lived
in humility, and died in utter humility and humiliation, even
the horrid death of the cursed man upon the cursed tree, under
the wrath of God, having been made sin for us? Why did he do
it? Why did he do it? I know this. Whatever he intended to accomplish
in his death, whatever it was that he intended to accomplish,
in the act of dying by the merit and virtue of his death, by the
merit and virtue of his blood, whatever it was that he had in
mind, whatever his purpose was when he came here to die, whatever
his purpose was when he said, Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit and gave up the ghost, whatever it was, he has fully
accomplished and it shall certainly, most assuredly come to pass.
And I want you to understand, I want you to understand because
it's necessary that you understand, that anyone in this world, any
preacher in this world who denies the glorious efficacy of Christ's
sin-atoning sacrifice, that is, any preacher who suggests, implies,
or states in any way that there is something Jesus Christ wanted
to do that he fails to do, that preacher is a false prophet.
And those who follow him do not know God. They just do not know
God. The scripture says of our Redeemer,
He shall not fail. And He shall not. He shall not. And this book, God's Word, clearly
states exactly what it was Christ intended to accomplish in His
death. I want to show you seven things this evening, beginning
here in Romans 14 verse 9. For to this end Christ both died,
that is, this is the reason why he did it, and rose and revived,
that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living. The
Lord Jesus Christ died so that he might be Lord of the entire
universe as a man, as our mediator. Obviously the text is not talking
about our Lord Jesus Christ having died, risen again, and been exalted
at the Father's right hand so that he might be Lord as God.
He was that from eternity. He made this whole shit match.
He's lord of everything by virtue of his divinity. But there sits
upon the throne of sovereign universal dominion a man in our
nature. One who is our representative,
our mediator. And he died and rose again and
is exalted so that he might hold that position of utter preeminence
and glory and exaltation as our substitute. The Lord Jesus Christ
died that he might be Lord of the dead and the living. That means that he might be Lord
of those who have already died physically and of you and I who
are living physically. That means that he might be Lord
of those who are dead spiritually and of you and I who are living
spiritually. That means that he's Lord over
everybody and Lord over everything. I preach without apology the
blessed gospel doctrine of particular effectual redemption. Jesus Christ
died to redeem and save God's elect. He did not die to save
those who perish in their sins. The Son of God did not lay down
his life for those for whom he refused even to pray. Our Lord
said twice in John 17, I pray not for the world. If he wouldn't
pray for them, do you reckon he'd die for them? That's so
ridiculous, it's beyond reasonable. It is utter folly to say such
things. If he would not pray for them, certainly he did not
die for them. You cannot separate the priestly
work of the Lord Jesus Christ and the sacrificial work of our
Lord Jesus Christ. And yet, there is a sense, having
said all that, there is a sense in which Jesus Christ as our
mediator, as the God-man, our surety, bought the whole world
and all who are in it. That's what Romans 14, 9 says.
He bought the whole world. Bought it all. Let me show you
two texts. Turn to Matthew 13 and verse
44. The Lord Jesus is speaking. And
he says, the kingdom of heaven is likened to a treasure hid
in a field, the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for
joy thereof, goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth
the field. Here's what it says. Man's out
here in a, just walking around this field out here behind our
property, and he stumbles across something. And man, he realizes
he stumbled onto something. He's found a mine of diamonds. Somebody has buried a whole sack
full of them out there. And he looks around, be sure
nobody's looking, and covers the whole thing up. And he goes
downtown, finds out who owns this property, and he says, what
do you want for it? Not for sale. Name your price. Not for sale?
Come on, name your price. And the fella named Big Price.
And the fella goes back, and he says, well, give me a little
while. I gotta go raise some money. And he sells everything he's
got. House, car, stocks, bonds, everything he's got. Because
he knows that's nothing compared to what's in that field. He comes
back the next day. He says, I got your price. He
buys the property, and he's not even interested in the property.
Not the least bit interested in raising any tobacco. Not the
least bit interested in raising corn or cattle. Only thing he
wants in that whole field is that sack full of diamonds. That's
the only thing he's after. And our Lord Jesus Christ, as
a man, brought the right to rule over and dispose of the entire
universe for the saving of his people. the kingdom of heaven,
like a treasure hidden in the field. He says, I found my treasure
and I will redeem them. And in order to redeem them and
save them, I will come into the world and sacrifice myself as
a man to take possession of everything, as a man to rule it as their
substitute for their everlasting salvation. Therefore he says
concerning himself to his father and our father and that blessed
the way He said it at John 20 later. I go to my father and
your father. He's same one. He's one with
us I go to my God and your God he was one with us and our Savior
is still one with us And now he says thou has given me power
dominion over all flesh That I should give eternal life to
as many as you've given me and he does and Look in 2 Peter chapter
2. 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 1. There were false prophets also
among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among
you. No question about that. When Paul left the saints at
Ephesus, he said, there will be false prophets rise up among
you. Peter is saying the same thing here. Folks rising up out
of your midst. who privately, sneakingly, with
cunning craftiness, speaking deceitful things, shall bring
in damnable heresies, that is, heresies that will damn your
soul if you believe them, damnable heresies, even denying the Lord
that bought them, and shall bring upon themselves swift destruction.
Now you'll remember a few weeks ago in our series on redemption,
I told you about three words translated redemption, or translated
bought, or purchased in scripture. One of those words is agorazo. That's the word that's used here.
It means to buy, but not to deliver. It means to pay the price. If
the word were to deliver by paying a price, it would be ek agorazo. But here the scripture speaks
of our Lord Jesus, not with the normal term used in the New Testament,
kurios, but rather despotes. And here our Lord Jesus is described
as that one who is the sovereign despot. over even the false prophets
who deny him, because he bought the right to rule them and dispose
of them as he will for the glory of his name and the good of his
people. So our Lord Jesus first died
that he might be Lord over all for the saving of his people.
This is what I'm saying, by virtue of his death upon the cross,
Christ the man is Lord of everything. He has power over all flesh and
he constantly exercises that power in absolute sovereignty
as the monarch of the universe to save his elect. Therefore,
let everybody know that God hath made that same Christ whom you
crucified, both Lord and Christ. Secondly, turn to Romans chapter
3. Lindsay handled this so well
Sunday morning, but I want you to go with me to this passage
one more time and see what the scripture says here concerning
the purpose of Christ and his death. The Lord Jesus Christ
died upon the cross under the wrath of God Almighty as our
substitute for this purpose. that God might be both just and
the justifier of all who believe on him unto life everlasting. Romans 3 verse 19. Now we know that what things
whoever the law saith, it saith to who? To those, to them who
are under the law. The law has not one word to say
to you who are not under the law. You and I live in this country,
and they pass some strange, strange laws in some countries. We have
a few ourselves, but in some countries, they pass some laws
and make it just, man, it make riots in the streets around here.
And sometimes folks get to fretting about those laws passed in China
or passed in Japan or passed in Brazil, but we're not citizens
down there. And those laws don't have any
effect on us. They have absolutely no power over us. They don't
even speak to us. We're citizens of the USA. And
this is what Paul said. The law given to Israel at Mount
Sinai. The law given to those who are
dead in trespasses and sins. The law by which men are condemned
speaks to those who are dead and condemned. Not to you who
are free from the law. Now read on. This is what the
law does. It speaks to those who are under
the law that every mouth may be stopped and all the world
become guilty before God. Toughest thing on this world,
on this earth, is to get men and women confronted with their
guilt to just shut up. Just shut up. That is quit making
any excuses. I know I did this, but you know,
I know, I know I did that, but I know, I know what I think,
and I know what, I know what goes on inside me, but, no, got
no excuse. This is what I am. Now when your
mouth stopped, and you become guilty before God, the law has
served its purpose for you. 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. In other words, the law
tells you what sin is. It identifies sin, and it condemns
you for sin, and it shuts you up in guilt without excuse before
God, so that you recognize there's an absolute impossibility of
you ever doing anything by which to justify yourself before God.
Read on. But now, the righteousness of
God, look at it, without the law. without the law. That doesn't mean the righteousness
of God that comes by violating the law. That doesn't mean the
righteousness of God that comes by ignoring the law. That doesn't
mean the righteousness of God that comes by setting aside the
law. But rather the righteousness
of God that comes to you and I without our obedience to the
law because someone has obeyed and satisfied the law in our
stead. The righteousness of God without the law is manifested
being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness
of God, look at it now, which is by faith of Jesus Christ. I'll give you a better translation
of that. Which is by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. by the faithful
obedience of Jesus Christ. The righteousness of God, which
is without the law, coming to us without our obedience, was
accomplished by the faithful obedience of Jesus Christ as
our substitute. It is that 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. Being justified
freely. What a great word. We talk often
about free and sovereign grace. Right here it is. Freely by his
grace. Freely. You know what that means? Without a cause. Why did God
justify Markians? Without any cause. Why would
God justify Bob Estes? No cause. In you. No cause in
you. They hated me without a cause. Same word right here, freely.
They hated me freely. There was no cause in me why
they should hate me. The cause was all together in
Him. And there's no cause in me why God Almighty should justify
me. The cause is all together in
Him who sits upon the throne of God. Read on. justified freely
by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. There
is no other possibility of us being justified. Whom God has
set forth in the scriptures, in the prophets, in the types
and ceremonies of the Old Testament, in the declarations of the New,
whom God has set forth from eternity, set forth to be a propitiation. A propitiation through faith
in His blood. to declare his righteousness. This religious generation knows
absolutely nothing about the character of God. They talk about
God's love, God's love, Christ died to show God's love. No,
he didn't. No he didn't. God shows his love many ways.
Christ didn't have to die to show God's love. He died because
of God's love. Otherwise there would have been
no sacrifice. Because God loved us he sent his son into this
world to die for us. But Christ died to declare God's
righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him
that believeth. Read the text. to declare God's
righteousness for the remission of sins that have passed through
the forbearance of God. You remember when Moses said,
I beseech thee, show me thy glory? God said, all right. I will by no means clear the
guilty. I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy. He said, I
will not pardon iniquity, and I'll forgive iniquity, transgression,
and sin. That's exactly what it said. Well, that's a contradiction.
No, it's not. No, it's not. Not if you understand the gospel.
God will not, because he cannot, forgive sin without satisfaction. But justice being satisfied,
God Almighty fully, completely, freely forgives all sin, because
the sin has been paid for by another. You see that? All right,
read on. declare his righteousness for
the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God, to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness,
that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus, as just as if he had no mercy, and as merciful as
if he had no justice, as true as if he would not bend,
and as bending as if he were not true. Just and the justifier
of him which believeth in Jesus. Pastor, what does that say? That
says if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty has
in perfect consistency with his holy justice, justified. I wrote to a young man today
I've been corresponding with, I've known him a long time. He's
been a homosexual, been involved in every manner of perversity. I believe God's done something
for him. I believe God's done something for him. And I said
to him, and I wrote to him, if you believe on the Son of God,
if you believe Him, you're justified from all things. You mean, pastor,
you believe God will forgive a man like that? I know He will. He forgives me. He forgives me. Read on. Where is boasting then? excluded
by what law? Of works? Oh no. Oh no. But by the law of faith. Therefore
we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of
the law. Look at verse 31. Do we then
make void the law through faith? Well, you fellas If I had a dime
where every time somebody said it to me, I'd be a pretty rich
fella. You fellas, y'all just, y'all
set aside the law. Oh no. You yahoos who think you keep
the law, you idiots who presume that you obey God's law, you
set it aside. Because you brought it down to
your standard so you can check it off and say, I did that, I
did that. Oh no, we fulfill the law. We establish the law. How? We say to the law of God. I cannot even imagine the possibility
of making atonement to any degree for my sin. But here is everything
God Almighty can and does demand. Perfect atonement for all my
sins. Perfect righteousness. in the
person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. That's what it is to
believe. That's what it is to believe
on Him. It is simply to offer to God that which God reveals
in His Son, perfect righteousness and perfect atonement by the
sacrifice of His dear Son. Thirdly, look in Hebrews 9 verse
24. Why did Christ die? He died so that he might be Lord
of all. He died so that God might be just and the justifier. And
the Lord Jesus Christ died for us as our substitute under the
wrath of God to put away our sins by the sacrifice of himself. I just had a blessed thought. The only one who can really put
anything away, the only one who can really put anything away,
I mean put it away, is God Almighty. We hide it away. We stow it away. We bury it away. God puts it
away. Look here, Romans, Hebrews 9,
24. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with
hands. That wouldn't do any good. Which
are the figures of the truth. but into heaven itself, now to
appear in the presence of God, look at it, for us. Nor yet that
he should himself often, offer often as a high priest, as the
high priest, entereth into the holy place every year with the
blood of others. For then must he often have suffered since
the foundation of the world. But now, one time, in the end
of the world, hath he appeared to put away sin, by the sacrifice
of himself. Was it Zechariah who declared,
the Lord hath declared, I will put away the iniquity of Israel
in one day? The Lord Jesus Christ in this
great gospel day, in the end of the world, when he came to
make sacrifice of himself for us, has put away our sins for
remove them from us as far as the east is from the west. Never
to be remembered again, against us forever, for God has cast
them behind his back and sees them not. The scripture tells
us you know that he was manifested to take away our sins. Well either
he did or he didn't. There's just two ways to answer
that. Did he or didn't he? And in him
is no sin. him is no sin. Listen to this, he hath not beheld
iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel. The Lord God Almighty looks on this man who is by nature nothing but
sin, and sees no sin. Because he sees
me in his son, and that never changes. That never varies. That never shifts one side to
the other. He beholds me in his son, and
beholding me in his son, he sees his son in me. Nothing of sin,
nothing of iniquity, nothing of transgression. My sin, oh,
the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin, not in part, but the
whole, is nailed to his cross, and I bear it no more. Praise
the Lord. Praise the Lord, oh, my soul.
I bear it no more. Bless God, that's one burden
I don't have to carry. That's one, that's one heaviness
of guilt and fear and dread I never have to deal with. Christ took
my sins away. He took them away. He was made
to be sin for us. And he put away our sins. And now, in Him, we have no sin. Fourthly, look at 1 Peter 3,
18. Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust. Look at it now. that he might
bring us to God. Why did he die? He died so that
he might be Lord to give life to God's elect. Why did he die? The Son of God died so that he
might cause God to be just and the justifier of all who believe.
Why did he die? He died to put away our sins.
And he died that he might bring us to God. He might bring us
to God. We are far off from God, and God could not come to us
in His holiness, and we could not come to Him
in our sin. God had no ability in himself. And I speak with all the reverence
of my heart for my God. He had no ability in himself
to approach a man, and we had no ability in ourselves to come
to him. But the God-man brings God. He died the just for the unjust
so that he might bring us to God. And the word might does
not mean might by a possibility, but now he has made it certain
that there is a way for man to be brought to God and he brings
us to him. We were far off from God. Christ
brought us nigh to God. We were alienated from God. Christ
reconciled us to God. We were enemies to God. Christ
brought us peace with God. We were separated from God. Christ
gives us access to God. We could never have come to God,
but the Lord Jesus brought us to God and will yet bring us
to God, is now bringing us to God. and shall presently present
us faultless before the presence of God our Father and his Father. Fifthly, look in Galatians chapter
1 verse 4. Here the Holy Spirit tells us
that Christ gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver
us from this present world according to the will of God and our Father. I want to make a few statements
while you're turning to Psalm 37. I want you to look at it. The Lord Jesus Christ, according
to the will of God, gave himself to die as a substitute, satisfying
the justice of God, offended because of our sins. He did it
that he might deliver us from this present evil world. And let me tell you something. Everything about this present
world is evil. I'm not talking about the creation. I'm talking about the whole world
system. I'm talking about everything
invented and done by man. Everything exchanged by man. Everything accomplished by man. Everything promoted by man. Everything in this world is evil. And Christ came to deliver us
from it. the evil kingdom of this world, the evil ways of
this world, the evil things of this world, the evil religion
of this world, and the evil end of this world. Now with those facts, Set plainly
before us, let us give all the more earnest heed to Psalm 37. Children of God, fret not thyself
because of evildoers. Neither be envious against the
workers of iniquity. Don't fret yourself by what the
Democrats are going to do or the Republicans. They're all
evildoers. They're all evildoers. Now they're
just, I'm sorry. No, I'm not sorry, I'm just telling
you the truth. They're all evildoers. The political system of this
world's evil. Both Democratic, Republican,
and Communist. It's all evil. It's all evil. They shall soon be cut down like
grass and wither like the green herb. So don't pay too much attention
to him. Trust in the Lord and do good.
So shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily shalt thou be fed.
Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires
of thine heart. You hear these religious hucksters
on television, radio, they Say, delight yourself in the Lord,
and if you want to wear meat coats and fine jewelry and alligator
shoes and live in a mansion, He'll give you the desires of
your heart. And I'm telling you, if those are the desires of your
heart, you don't even know who God is to delight in Him. You
don't have any idea who He is. Delight yourself in the Lord,
and He'll give you what you want. What do you want, really? I mean
really, what do you want? Now preacher, speak carefully
before God. I want Him. And that's all. That's all. That's all. Now I tell you what, I fully
expect to have Him. All of it. Forever. Read on. Commit thy way to the Lord. Trust
also in him. I talked to a friend recently.
The kid's giving him just heartache. And I said to him, there's not
but one thing you can do and bless God for the privilege of
doing this. Commit your way to him. including
them. He won't do wrong. He won't do
wrong. He'll bring it to pass. He shall
bring forth thy righteousness as the light and thy judgment
as the noonday. You don't have to defend yourself
but promote yourself. God'll take care of that. Oh God, teach me to do that.
Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. Fret not thyself because
of him who prospereth in his way. Because of the man who bringeth
wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger. All you do
when you fret about things in this world, get angry. Stop it.
Forsake wrath. Fret not thyself in any way to
do evil. For the evildoers shall be cut
off. But those that wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the
earth. Now look to Titus 2.14 for a
moment. Christ gave himself for us, that
he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar
people, zealous of good works. Every word in that text is so
precious, so full of instruction. Don't let a single syllable slip
by your eyes or by your ears. Christ has redeemed us from all
iniquity. The Son of God by His blood delivered
us from the penalty of all iniquity, having taken away by satisfying
it the curse of the law. The Lord Jesus Christ, by his
grace, has delivered us who are born of his Spirit from the reigning
power of iniquity, and he has delivered us. Ultimately, it
shall come to pass in our experience, but it has already been done.
He has delivered us from all the consequences of all iniquity. I just, I keep beginning, imagine
what all that includes. He's delivered us from every
evil that comes to pass because of sin. All of it. The Lord Jesus
purifies his people. Those people whom he has redeemed
as his peculiar, distinct people, he purifies. He has imputed his
righteousness to us. That's what justification is.
That is, the righteousness of Christ has been laid to our account
before God. But more than that, In regenerating
grace, he imparts to his children a righteous nature so that the
believer is a man, a woman, who is given a new nature in Christ,
a holy nature. And that doesn't mean that the
believer no longer sins. Oh no! It doesn't mean the believer
even comes close to not sinning in anything. The believer knows
that he sins in everything. But it does mean that the believer
is a person who in his heart seeks after, longs for, and loves
righteousness. He's zealous of good works. His
heart is set in the right place. He's set for God's glory and
God's will. And he constantly has a warfare
in his soul because his evil nature of flesh will never, never
be in agreement with that new nature. All who are redeemed
by the blood of Christ and saved by His grace are His peculiar,
distinct, special people. We belong to Him like nobody
else does. How can I illustrate it? The
whole world belongs to God, but we belong to Him. You got some property over there
in Garrett County. It's yours, but she belongs to
you. Different thing altogether. I've got a car sitting out there
in the garage. It's mine, got a cat. That's
Shelby's, but I'll claim it. But I got a cat too. They're
my property. They're my property, by law,
I'm doing what I want to. But I got a daughter over in
Lexington. She belongs to me. She belongs to me like nothing
else does. That lady, she belongs to me
like nothing else does. And we belong to God like nothing
else does. Like nobody else does. We're
his blood bought, mercy sought, grace caught, And spirit taught
people. Zealous of good works. Now let
me show you one more thing. You, let's see, where do I want
you to turn? So many places. Go to Ephesians
5. Ephesians 5. Our most glorious Christ died
for us that he might present us to his father. our Father
before wandering worlds in the beauty of perfect holiness to
the praise of the glory of his grace. Husbands, verse 25, love your
wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for
it. Why'd he do that? Why'd he do that? Why on this
earth, buddy darling, did he love us, give himself for us? But here it is, that he might
cleanse it with the washing of water by
the word, that he might present it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and
without blemish. Now look here. We are covered head to toe with
sin. Christ gave himself for us. that he might thoroughly purge
and cleanse us from every spot of sin. We are by nature in this flesh weaker
than the frailest, most feeble, helpless, old woman laying over
in the hospital or laying over the rest home waiting to die.
Spiritually, we're utterly, utterly wrinkled with infirmity. The Lord Jesus is determined
by virtue of his death to deliver us from every wrinkle of infirmity
caused by sin. Oh, I wish I was strong to do
His will always. Oh, I wish I was strong to obey
Him always. Oh, I wish I was strong to honor
Him always. Hang on, my soul. Won't be long. And He's determined to present
us holy, unflammable. You know, that's utterly impossible
for a man to grasp this side of eternity. No matter what Lindsay or Diane
might do to me or to one another, no matter what it might be. And they do everything they can
make up for it to me or to one another, or I to you. We can have the forgiveness of
one another, but it's impossible for us to do away with blame. Can't do it. Just can't do it.
No law on the land can do away with blame. No man in his heart
can do away with blame. Can't do it. The Son of God does
away with blame. All together holy. All together
without blame shall be every sinner for whom Jesus Christ
died when he's finished with this time world. And therefore
we confidently say, dear dying lamb, thy precious blood shall
never lose its power till all the ransomed church of God be
saved to sin no more. I pray for you who do not know
our Savior, I go places to preach and pray
that God will be pleased to call out chosen redeemed sinners by
his grace. And I pray with absolute confidence
that it shall be done. It shall be done. Every sinner
bought by blood shall at last be brought to God. clothed in
Jesus Christ complete, spotless, holy, perfect. I pray God you'll be named among
them. Amen.