With that scripture reading and
that song, I feel like we can go ahead and close the service.
That was a blessing. Turn with me to Galatians chapter
3. I've entitled this message, It's
Always Been by Faith. It's always been by faith. Salvation by faith as opposed
to salvation by works. While I was sitting here before
the service, I thought, I wonder if anybody in this room feels
as sinful as I feel myself to be. And I imagine I would get
a bunch of yeses, but if you do, I feel sorry for you. I feel
sorry for you. But only a sinner can appreciate
the gospel. It's the only way you can appreciate
that it's always been by faith and that it's never been by works. Works puts the ultimate burden
of salvation on you. That's a burden I cannot bear. Faith puts the ultimate burden
of salvation on Christ. It's not merely belief in the
truthfulness of a proposition that would define what saving
faith is, but it's a reliance, a complete reliance upon that
truth. I'm relying on this, that Christ
really is all in salvation. I'm relying on this. Salvation has always been by
faith, and Paul immediately uses Abraham as the example of this. He says in verse 7, know ye therefore
that they which are of faith, they, we consider just that phrase
last week, where are you from? I'm from faith. Of or from? I'm
from faith. They which be of faith, they
the same are the children of Abraham. Now, Abraham is just
a beautiful illustration of faith. The scripture says when God spoke
to him and said you're going to have a seed, and in thee shall
all the nations of the earth be blessed, the scripture says
Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief.
But he was strong in faith, giving glory to God, being fully persuaded
that what God had promised He was able also to perform. I love it when the Lord said
regarding Abraham, Abraham rejoiced to see my day. Can you imagine
how much he rejoiced when that ram was offered up in the stead
of his son? Can you imagine how happy he
was? I love to think of him floating down that mountain, Mount Moriah. I like to think of Isaac floating
down that mountain. I reckon he might have been happier
than Abraham. But Abraham rejoiced, the scripture said, to see my
day. And he saw it and was glad. You know, the most explicit promises
regarding Messiah were given to Abraham. Look at verse 8.
And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen
through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying,
In thee shall all nations be blessed. Now, that's the scriptural
gospel. That's what the scripture says
the gospel is, and it gives this simple statement, In thee. It
was said to Abraham three times, it was said to Jacob once, it
was said to Isaac once. In thee shall all the nations
of the earth be blessed. And that is what the Bible calls
the gospel. And don't you love the way it
says in verse 8, for the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify
the heathen through faith. Preach before the gospel unto
Abraham. The scripture was the preacher.
Preaching the gospel unto Abraham saying, in thee shall all nations
be blessed. Now, the scriptures, the given
personality. The Scripture foresaw that God
would justify the heathen through faith. The Scripture preached
the gospel to Abraham. The Scripture did this. This
is very much like Romans 9, 17, For the Scripture saith unto Pharaoh,
Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might
show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth. Now the Scripture had been written
I hadn't been written. This is Abraham, hundreds of
years before the first written word had ever taken place. But
yet the scripture is said to speak at this time. You see,
the scripture is nothing less than the very word of God, even
though it hadn't been written yet, it had already been written. It was already the eternal word
of God. You see, the scripture has always
been. The Scripture is the Word of
God. 2 Timothy 3.16 says, All Scripture
is given by inspiration of God. Don't you love this book? I'm
so thankful for the Scripture. You're not dependent on somebody
like me to know God. He's given us the Scripture.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. And the Scriptures alone
are our only rule of faith and practice. We actually worship
the words of this book as the very Word of God. I'm very, you
know, I've said this before, and somebody will think this
is superstitious. You may think it's superstitious, but you know,
I never put a Bible or a book on top of the Bible. Never do.
I don't have my Bible and then stick something on it. No, the
Bible is always by itself. I don't want another book even
touching it. Somebody says, that's superstitious. It may be, but
I revere the Word of God. I really do. This is the very
Word of God, and we dare not go to the Word of God to find
out if it agrees with what we believe. We go to the Word of
God to find out what to believe. The Bible is over us. This is
the religion of this book, the Scripture. the scripture foreseeing
that God would justify the heathen through faith. Thank God for
the Bible. We dare not add a word to it.
We dare not subtract a word from it. We love the book of God. Now, I love this language, the
scriptures foreseeing. That's a powerful thought, isn't
it? The scriptures foreseeing. The scriptures could foresee
everything. It could see everything beforehand,
before it took place. Now this is a reference to God's
purpose. Known unto God are all of his
works from the beginning. God knows everything that's going
to take place. I love that song we just read. God moves in mysterious
ways. We just heard it, rather, his
wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps on the
sea and rides upon the storm. Lord knows what he's doing. He
always does. And it was so comforting to think
that the Lord knows what he's doing. And he's already determined
everything that's going to take place. It kind of makes it exciting.
What's the Lord going to do today? Everything is according to God's
will. He's the first cause behind everything
and how we love it being that way. God knows the future because
he has determined the future. Now, faith has to do with a confident
expectation regarding the future. The Lord said in John chapter
16, verse 13, how be it he, the spirit of truth, when he has
come, he will guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak
of himself, whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak. He'll
show you things to come. Now, beloved, I know things to
come. I know what it's going to be like on judgment day. I'm
going to be brought before God in judgment, and I already know
I'm going to be justified. I already know the end. I know
that my sin has been put away. I know that Christ put it away.
I know I have nothing less than the very righteousness of Christ.
I know the things to come. And I know everything that's
going to happen between now and then is going to work together
for my good and God's glory. That's the heritage of every
believer. We know things to come. We're
not in the dark. Somebody says, well, your faith
is blind. No, it's not. It sees real clearly. It sees real clearly. God's on the throne, and we rest
in that. And the scripture foresaw something.
The scripture foresaw, foreseeing, that God would justify the heathen
through faith. Now, the thing foreseen is that
God would justify the heathen through faith. Now, everything
that is, has already been. That's what the wise man said
in the book of Ecclesiastes. And as far as that goes, all
of our salvation, if we're saved, our salvation is already history. History. It's already been done.
Whom He did foreknow, them He also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of His Son. Moreover, whom He did predestinate,
them He also called, past tense. Whom He called, them He also
justified, past tense. Whom He justified, them He also
glorified, past tense. Can't change history. Can't change
history. Now, God foreseeing because it
was all his purpose and plan that he would justify the heathen
through faith. Now justification, what does
it mean? You know, I realize that I probably
sound like a broken record, but I want to deal with justification
every time I preach. It's thrilling to me. It's not
old. It's not old news. It's not doctrine. It's the very hope of the gospel
that God would justify the heathen through faith. And I was trying
to ask myself, why is it? Why is it that you want to hear
about justification so much? Because I always see my need
of it. Because like I said, when I was sitting there, I said,
I wonder if anybody in here feels as sinful as I do. I don't see how they could.
I need to be justified by God. I can't justify myself. Job said,
if I justify myself, my whole mouth would condemn me. I need
justification. It's the very heart and soul
of the gospel, and I need to be justified. I need God to do
it. Did you notice how it said God would justify the heathen
by faith? This is God's work. It's not
something me or you can do. It's something God must declare
me to be. And what is justification? Justification
is a perfect standing before God's holy law. If I'm justified, that means
God's law looks at me and says, he's never put in God before
God. He's never done it. He's never created some kind
of idol that fits along with his lifestyle. He's never been
irreverent. He's always rested. He's always
honored his parents and all God given authority. He's never murdered
anybody. He never murdered the characters.
He's never gossiped. He's always been right. He doesn't
have any sexual sin whatsoever, not in his mind. He's never stolen,
he's never told a lie, and he's never coveted. And that's what
justification is. It's a perfect standing before
God's holy law. And this is just so amazing that
God can take somebody like me and justify me to where I have
no guilt. I only know that by faith. I
sure can't see it by sight, but by faith I know I have no guilt. God justified me. The scripture
foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith. You
see, the Old Testament saints, they were saved by faith, just
like me and you are. Abel? He looked at that coming Lamb
of God. He knew that was his only hope. Noah? By faith, Noah
entered the ark. He knew that salvation was only
in the ark. Outside of the ark, there was nothing but wrath.
He understood salvation was in Christ. David? Even David describeth
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without their works, saying, Blessed are they whose sins are
forgiven, whose iniquities are covered, Blessed is the man to
whom the Lord will not impute sin, and in whose spirit there
is no guile, no deceit. They're honest before God in
this sense. You know, the closest way I can
come to honesty is by reading Romans 7. Reading Romans 7, as close as
I'm ever going to come to honesty, just reading it, what Paul says
about himself. That's the spirit in whom there
is no guile, but bless God, they're saved in the Old Testament the
same way the New Testament saints are saved. God taking the righteousness
of His Son and imputing it to them, taking their sin and putting
it on Christ and putting it away. That's the way sin has always
been dealt with in the Old Testament. Believers were saved the same
way the New Testament believers were, by faith through grace,
at public and in the temple. God, be merciful to me, the sinner. And look what Christ said about
him. He said, I tell you, that man went down to his house. What? Justified. without guilt, without sin, having
a perfect standing before God's holy law. Now, how is it that
a sinner can be justified? That man said, I'm a sinner.
I can't make any higher claim than that. God be merciful to
me, the sinner. And God himself said, I'll by
no means clear the guilty. Now, how can a sinner be justified? Well, here's the first reason,
because justification is by grace. It's completely outside of any merit
in me or you. It's because God graciously decided
to do it. It's because justification is
by His blood. Now, it's a way that honors God's
holy law. All sin is punished through the blood of Christ,
and His righteousness is given to us. We're justified by grace,
we're justified by blood, and what's the evidence? We believe
the gospel. Are you relying on Jesus Christ
as your justification before God? That's what faith is. Now God foreseeing, or the scriptures
foreseeing that God would justify the heathen by faith. Now what's
it say in verse 8? The Scriptures preach before
the Gospel unto Abraham. This is before the New Testament.
This is before the writing of the Old Testament. The Scriptures,
foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preach
before the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, and here's what the Scripture
says the Gospel is. I love this definition of the
Gospel. I mean, God tells us this is
what the Scripture calls the Gospel. Here it is. Here it is
in this simple little statement, in thee shall all the nations
of the earth be blessed. Now that is what the scripture
calls the gospel. In thee, in thee. Now he's talking about the seed
that was in Abraham, isn't he? In thee, Christ is called the
seed of Abraham. In thee, in that one that's going
to come through thy loins, in thee, the seed, shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed. Now, what does it mean to be
in Christ? What's it mean? I know this,
I want to be in Christ, whatever that means. I think of that passage
of scripture where Paul says, of Him are you in Christ Jesus? So I can't tell you how to get
in Christ. I can just say the only way you're in Christ is
if God puts you there. And you know what I do when I hear something
like that? Lord, put me in Christ. Put me in Christ. Let me be found
in Him. That's where I want to be found,
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what does it mean to be
in Christ? Hebrews 7. Verse 8, and here men that die
receive tithes, but there he receiveth them of whom it's witnessed
that he liveth, the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't have any doubt
that Christ was Melchizedek. He liveth. He liveth then, he
liveth now. And as I may so say, Levi also,
who received tithes, remember the Levitical priesthood? They're
the ones you paid the tithes to. The Levitical priesthood. He had not yet been born. This
I may so say, Levi also who received tithes, paid tithes in Abraham,
for he was yet in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met
him. Now, I want us to think about Levi at this time. He wasn't
born. He was in the loins of his granddaddy,
Abraham. He was in his loins. Actually,
it was his great-grandfather. This happened a long time before
he was ever born. But the scripture says, when Abraham paid those
tithes to Melchizedek, Levi paid tithes. That means when Jesus
Christ kept God's holy law. I did too. Me. I did it. I was in Him. When He kept the law, I did too. That's what it means to be in
the Lord Jesus Christ. And oh, that's the place to be
in Christ. What's in Christ? Well, Colossians
2.9 says, In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead and
the body. That's an amazing statement, isn't it? Oh, the riches that
is in Him. We read in 1 Corinthians 1.30,
of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us. Wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption in Christ. I'm
all those things. I'm so wise in Christ that God
will have fellowship with me. I say this reverently. But is Christ a peer of God? Is he? Is he a peer of God? Yes. Those in him are peers of
God, in that sense, whom God can actually have fellowship
with, and communion with, and embrace, friend to friend, fellowship
with the living God. In Christ, I have righteousness,
perfect righteousness, sanctification, complete holiness, redemption,
deliverance. Ephesians 1.3 says, God hath
blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ. Every spiritual blessing God has to give to the sinner
is found in Christ. And if I'm in Him, that means
I have them all. That means there's not any I
don't have. According as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him, in love, having predestinated us under the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ unto Himself, to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. in
whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness
of sins." Oh, what is in Christ? Everything. Everything God has
for the sinner is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 3 verse
12 says, "...in whom we have access." I'm welcome. I'm welcome to come and crawl
up into His lap through the Lord Jesus Christ. "...in whom we
have access with confidence." Do you have confidence in Christ?
Can Christ crawl up into the Father's lap, so to speak? So
can you, by the faith of Him. First John 3, 5 says, in him
is no sin. There's something that's in Christ,
no sin. That means if you're in Christ,
you have no sin. Paul spoke of the nothing shall
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus,
our Lord. The Lord said in John 16, 33,
these things have I spoken unto you that in me, you might have
peace. Peace. In the world, you'll have
tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. Oh, the peace that's simply been
found in Christ. That's what, you know, Paul,
do you ever get tired of praying this prayer with Paul? Oh, that
I may win Christ and be found in him so that all I want God
to ever see of me is his son, Jesus Christ. In thee, That's where the blessing
is. In thee shall all the nations
of the earth be blessed. This is not a conditional promise.
They shall be blessed. Ah, how I love the I will and
you shall of the Bible. When God says I will, we shall. They shall be blessed. Blessed
because the Father purposed it. Blessed because the Son purchased
it. Blessed because God the Holy
Spirit applies it. In thee shall all the nations
of the earth be blessed. Now when Christ willingly agreed
to be my surety, my salvation became past tense. How secure are you? Your salvation. past tense. All God requires
of you, he looks to his Son for, and it's past tense to this extent
the scripture says we're seated together in the heavenlies in
Christ Jesus. I'm already in heaven. Near,
so near to God, nearer I cannot be. In the person of his dear
son, I'm as near to God as he. Dear, so dear to God, dearer
I cannot be. In the person of his dear son,
I'm as dear to God as he. Now in thee shall all the nations
of the earth be blessed. He hath redeemed us by His blood
out of every kindred, tribe, tongue, and nation. All the nations
of the earth will be blessed. Now you know that doesn't mean
every individual. If it meant every individual,
there wouldn't be a hell. And you know there is a hell. But it
does mean He has redeemed for Himself a people out of every
kindred, tribe, tongue, and nation. And this is what I love about
the Gospel. The Gospel may not be for everybody, but it's for
anybody. It's for anybody. Whosoever will,
let him come and take the water of life freely. Whosoever will. You all like that. Someone says,
is that teaching free will? Well, no, but it's teaching whosoever
will. Are you willing to be made whole? I love what the Lord said
to that man in John chapter five. Wilt thou be made whole? Yes,
Lord, make me whole. Make me whole. That's what we
want. The gospel is for anybody. If any man thirst, let him come
to me and drink. God commandeth all men everywhere
to repent. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me and him that cometh to me. I will in no wise
cast out. There's no reason why you'd be
cast away if you come to Christ. That's a gospel promise. Now,
we open up the doors wide for anybody who wants to come. Whosoever
will. Don't you love that? Whosoever
will. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. This is God's promise. This blessing
is to all nations. We open up the door wide and
look at this promise. They shall be blessed. Blessed by him that hath the
power to bless. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Now, I think
of the blessedness of the scripture Blessed is that man who walks
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the seat of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is
in the law of God. And in his law does he meditate
continually day and night. Now I only know one person that
that describes. You know who it is? Jesus Christ
the Lord. He is the blessed man. And if
you're in him, that describes you. You're someone who delights
in the law of the Lord and meditates in it day and night. Listen to
this scripture. Blessed are all they that put
their trust in him. Is that where all your trust
is in him? Oh, you've been blessed by God.
Oh, what power he has to bless too. David said, blessed is he
whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute iniquity. What a blessed thing it is. Any
bad thing you think about yourself is true, but here is our blessedness. God doesn't charge it to us.
He charged it to his blessed son and gave you his righteousness. Blessed is the man thou choosest. and causest to approach to thee. Blessed is the man whose hope
is in thee. Blessed is the man whom thou
chasteneth. Now, I don't want to be chastened,
but I want to be chastened. I don't want to be, you know,
the scripture says, whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourges every
son he receives. I want the chasing hand of the
Lord in that sense. I don't want to be left to myself.
It'd scare me to death if I was just left to myself. Blessed
is he whom thou chasteneth. Come ye, blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. Now that's the gospel in thee. Shall all the nations
of the earth be blessed. So then, verse 9, they which
be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. That's the
same blessing he does. Do you know that if you're of
faith, is that where you're from? Remember that word of has to
do with origins. It's where you're from. You're
either from works or you're from faith. What's your address? Where
are you from? What's your hometown? Well, I'm
not of the world. The Lord said regarding all of
his people, they are not of the world, even as I am not of the
world. I'm a faith. And they which are
of faith, the same are blessed with faithful Abraham. Know ye,
he said in verse seven, therefore, that they which are of faith,
the same are the children of Abraham. Now, the people Paul
was writing to were putting their hope in having Abraham's genes.
But it's not Abraham's genes that we want, it's Abraham's
faith, believing God. Let's close by looking at verse
26 of chapter three. For you are all the children
of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There's neither Jew
nor Greek, there's neither bond nor free, there's neither male
nor female, for you're all one in Christ Jesus, and if you be
Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to
the promise. So then we can conclude that
they which are of faith, would that be you. Are you somebody
who really does trust Christ only? You don't look anywhere
else. You trust Christ only as everything
in your salvation. Now, if you are, beloved, you're
a faith, and you have been blessed by God. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
gospel of thy dear son. How we thank you for the scriptures.
Telling us that salvation. Justification. Is in Christ. And that. Believers have always
been saved by faith in the blessed son. Lord, once again, we thank
you for the gospel. Lord, give us the grace to be
like Abraham, to stagger not at your promise through unbelief,
but to be strong in faith, giving you glory, being fully persuaded
that what you have promised, you're able also to perform.
Bless us for Christ's sake, in his name we pray, amen.