Amen. I've entitled the message for
this morning. A message for sinners. A message for sinners. First question is, what is a
sinner? Would you fit that description? 1 John chapter 3 verse 4 says,
sin is the transgression of the law. That is one of several definitions
of sin in the scripture, but we're just going to consider
that one for right now. Sin is the transgression of the
law, God's holy law. What is a sinner? A sinner is
someone who has been guilty of putting other gods, small g,
before God. A sinner is someone who is an
idolater, who has made other gods for their own convenience. A sinner is someone who is irreverent.
They've taken the name of God in vain. They've used his name
for wrong purposes without the proper fear and reverence of
his name. A sinner is someone who has broken
the Sabbath. They know nothing of rest. A
sinner is someone who has failed to honor his parents. A sinner
is someone who has failed to honor God's authority that he's
placed. They've been guilty of despising
authority. A sinner is a murderer. That's
what a sinner is. He's a murderer. He's murdered
people. He's murdered people's characters.
He's maligned people. A sinner is a murderer. A sinner
is an adulterer. A sinner is someone who is guilty
of sexual sin. A sinner is a thief. He takes
what doesn't belong to him. A sinner is a liar. He doesn't
tell the truth. A sinner is covetous. Now, did I describe you? If you say no, I'm sorry. I really am. It's very sad. You've been blinded. You've blinded
yourself and your own web of self-righteousness, and you're
not even being honest on any level. If I didn't describe you,
I'm sorry. You see, a sinner is someone
who really believes they have not kept one commandment one
time. Nor are they able to. Would that be you? No. I say again, I'm sorry. But you know, if you say no,
you also exclude yourself from the benefits of Christ. The scripture
says he came into the world to save sinners. If you're not a
sinner, he didn't come to save you. I repeat, this is a message
to sinners. If you're a sinner, I hope you
will listen very carefully. This message is for you. And
I'm putting myself in that group, sinners. This message is for
me, too. This is a message about how God
can accept you. You interested in that? You've
seen this foolishness of you accepting God as just a bunch
of foolishness. The issue is not, will you accept
God? Will he accept you? That is the
issue. Will God accept you in all your
sinfulness? Like I said, I'm speaking to
those who are lawbreakers. Will God accept you? Now look in verse five of Romans
chapter 10. Actually, let's read verses five
and six. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of
the law, and I just quoted the Ten Commandments in describing
what a sinner is. Moses describeth the righteousness
which is of the law, that the man which doeth those things
shall live by them. But the righteousness which is
of faith, speaketh on this wise. Now here we read of the righteousness
which is of the law and the righteousness which is of faith. What is the righteousness of
the law? What is the requirement of the
law? Now there's one very small word that summarizes the requirements
of God's holy law and the righteousness that comes from the law. It's
a two letter word. Do. That summarizes the law. Do. The doing of these things. Turn
with me for a moment to Luke chapter 10. I want you to look
at this passage of scripture with me. Luke chapter 10, verse 25. And behold, a certain lawyer
stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit
eternal life? And he said unto him, what's
written in the law? How readest thou? And he answering said,
thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with
all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind,
and thy neighbor as thyself. And he said unto him, thou hast
answered right. This do, and thou shalt live. Not understanding is what you
ought to do, not try to do, this do, and thou shalt live. What is required in law righteousness? Doing. Not admiring, not knowing
what you ought to do, but doing. A sincere effort to do is not
even an option because we've already failed. Galatians 3.10
says, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do them. The summary of the law is do.
Not talk about, but do. Perfectly keep God's holy law. It's called in Romans 2.7, a
patient continuance in well doing. That's law righteousness. God
is righteous. He will accept nothing less than
perfect righteousness. And he won't lower his terms.
He won't lower his standards. He won't negotiate. The only
thing the law recognizes is perfect obedience. Law righteousness
is impossible for law breakers. Sin one time and you've broken
the whole law, for James 2.10 says, for whosoever shall keep
the whole law and yet offend in one point is guilty of all. Any and every sinner knows that
salvation by works, by law, is unattainable for him. You know that? Let's go on reading verse six
of our text. Turn back to Romans chapter 10, verse six. But the righteousness which is of
faith Now what is this righteousness which is of faith? We'll turn
back to Romans chapter 4, verse 5. But to him that worketh not.
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness." Now this is the righteousness which is
of faith. It has a different language.
Now the righteousness of faith is the great glorious truth of
justification. being made righteous by Jesus
Christ. That's the righteousness of faith.
It's justification. That's the theme of scripture.
And I think it's interesting. Probably almost every church
in Lexington would say, I believe in justification. Yes, we believe
in justification. We stand for justification. Most
people would say that because it's in the Bible. You see the
word all the time. It's in there a lot. Yeah, we
believe in justification, but here's the issue. How is a sinner justified? That is the issue. How is a sinner justified? Is justification God's reward
to you in response to something you've done, believed, or intended
to do? is justification God responding
to something you do. I believed, I've repented, I've
changed my life, I've straightened up, I've quit this sin and I've
started doing this thing. I'm justified because I fill
in the blank, whatever it might be. That's called justification
by works. That's all it is. If I believe
that, I'm still under law. I'm still in the law righteousness. If salvation is dependent upon
anything I do, that is justification by works. Now, when Paul speaks
of this righteousness which is of faith, look with me in verse
six. But the righteousness which is of faith, justification by
Christ, speaketh on this wise, and it begins with, say not in
thine heart. It tells you what not to say.
Now, isn't that interesting? It begins with a negative. Somebody
says, I don't want to hear negative things. I want to hear positive
things. I don't want to be told what not to do. I want to be
told the truth. Now, when we say things like
that, we're just demonstrating a lot of self-ignorance. We have
so many warped, wrong thoughts. We're born with them. We struggle
with them all the time. And when he talks about the righteousness
of faith, he begins by telling us what not to say. You know,
to build on a foundation, a lot of dirt has to be removed, doesn't
it? To get that rock, there's a lot of dirt that needs to be
removed. And he begins by telling us what not to say. I wonder if anybody in here,
beginning with this man right here, is distrustful of their
natural thoughts. The things you think, they're
wrong. They're wrong. Believe that about yourself.
Now he tells us what not to say. Now look what it says. Verse
six, but the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this
wise, say not in your heart, And this is a quotation from
Deuteronomy chapter 30 where Paul adds his comment on it.
Who shall ascend into heaven? That is to bring Christ down
from above. Don't say something like that. Or, who shall descend
into the deep, that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead?
But what sayeth it? The word is nigh thee, even in
thy mouth and the heart, that is the word of faith which we
preach. Now, what Paul is talking about in verses six and seven
is something that is unattainable. Don't say, what can I do to get
Christ to come down from heaven and do something for me? Just
get that language, that thought completely out of your head of
anything you can do to get him to respond to you. Don't even
think that way. Don't think, what can I do to
make... His resurrection worked for me.
Don't think that way. That just works. Don't get that
stuff out of your thinking. What can I do? What can I be?
What can I do to get Him to come down from heaven and do something
for me? What can I do to make what He did work for me? You
know, and that's what most people believe. They believe, well,
God loves everybody, Christ died for everybody, made salvation
available for everybody, but there's something you need to
do to make what He did work for you. Paul says, stop saying that. Stop saying that. It's called
salvation by words. That's a law of righteousness.
It's the same thing. Just quit talking like that. Don't think, what can I do to
get him to do something for me? Would to God that that would
just get out of our thinking, even right now. What can I do? What can I do? But verse eight,
but what sayeth it? You can't get up into heaven
to get Christ down here to save you. You can't descend into the
deep. These are things that are unattainable. Don't say this,
but what says it? What does the righteousness of
faith have to say? What does it say? But what sayeth
it? Verse eight. The word is nigh thee. It's real near. You know, heaven's
a long way away. The deep is a long way away.
You can't get there. These things are unattainable
to you. Just unattainable. But here's
what the Word of Faith does say. The Word is very near. It's nigh thee, even in thy mouth
and in thy heart. That is the Word of Faith which
we preach. You don't have to ascend into
heaven or descend into the deep to have it, the Word. the Word
from God regarding how you can be saved, how you can be justified,
how you can be cleared of all guilt, how you can stand without
guilt before God, even though you're so sinful in and of yourself.
This Word is nigh you. It's in your heart right now.
It's in your mouth. It's the Word of faith which
we preach. Timothy, preach the Word! I love that scripture. Timothy,
preach the word. Whatever the word says, preach
it. This word is very near. It's very near to everybody in
this room. If you're under the sound of the gospel, and you
are right now, this word is very close to you. And what is it? And remember, this is a message
for sinners. If you're a sinner, If you're
a lawbreaker, if you're a transgressor, this will interest you greatly.
Here it is, the word of faith which we preach, verse nine,
that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and
shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved. And do you hear that? If you confess with your mouth
the Lord Jesus, and if you believe in your heart that God hath raised
Him from the dead, you shall be saved. And do you hear that? What's it mean? If you'll confess with your mouth
the Lord Jesus. Now, what you believe in your
heart, it'll come out in your speech. You'll confess it with
your mouth. Now, this word confession, if
I said confess with your mouth, this word confess, it means literally
to speak the same thing. It means to agree. If I confess,
I agree with what God says. Now, that's what I do when I
confess. I agree with what God says. I agree with what every
believer says. Do you know believers all believe
the same thing? I mean, there's no difference in your belief.
They believe the same thing. If you will confess, and you
know, you confess to plead, you plead guilty. I really believe
this. I confess. Paul said, after the
way this I confess unto thee, after the way which they call
heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all
things which are written. I'm confessing this. I really
believe this. You know what I really believe?
I really believe, and I'm confessing it, the Lord Jesus. I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Lord. Now, the word Lord means, the
Greek word means having power. I believe that the Lord Jesus
Christ has all power. Another way of saying that is
I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the absolute sovereign
of the universe. He's the Creator. He can control
creation. He's the one who created. He
controls everything that happens in Providence. You know everything
that happens is His will being done. Whatever happened to you
yesterday, it was His will being done. Whatever's going to happen
to you today, it's His will being done. What happens to you tomorrow
is His will being done. He's the Lord. He's in control.
He's in absolute control. He's all-powerful. He has the
power to make His will come to pass. And He does make His will
come to pass. He's the Lord Jesus. You know,
the thief understood that. He said, Lord. Lord, he saw that one hanging
on a cross. All kinds of other people saw
him Lord. I bet people snickered when the
thief said that. If he's Lord, what's he doing
hanging there on the cross? But the thief knew he's the Lord.
Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. I know you're
not going to stay on the cross. You're going to be successful
when you come back as a mighty reigning king. Oh, Lord, remember
me. The leper understood this. Lord,
if you will, you can make me clean. You ever come to the Lord
like that? Just like that leper did. Lord,
you're the Lord. Everything's in your hands. Whatever
you do is right. If you will, you can make me
clean. You know, the Apostle Paul understood
this. He didn't understand it until the Lord revealed it to
him. But when he was on the road to Damascus and the Lord knocked
him off his horse with a blinding light, he said, Who art thou,
Lord? He said, I'm Jesus whom thou persecutes. And when he
found out who he was, he said, Lord, What will you have me do? You see, He is Lord. Do you confess that? Do you really
believe it? Is it something? This is who you believe. This
is who you confess. He's Lord. He's Jesus. I love
His name. Thou shalt call His name Jesus. For He shall save His people
from their sins. He's the Savior. And He's exactly
who I need. He's the Lord Jesus. He's the Sovereign Savior. Saying the same thing. The Sovereign
Savior. He's the Lord. That means He's
got the ability to save. He's Jesus. He does save. That's
who He is. He saves. Do you confess the
Lord Jesus? Do you believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead? Look in our text in Romans
chapter 10. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God
hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. You publicly confess what you
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. Now
do you believe that in your heart? Why look ye for the living among
the dead? He's not here. He's risen. And beloved, it's not simply
believing in the fact of his resurrection, but you have some
understanding of why he was raised from the dead. Look back in Romans
chapter 4. who was delivered for our offenses. That's why he died. And he was
raised again for or because of our justification. Now, do you
believe that in your heart? Do you believe that when he was
raised from the dead, it's because God was satisfied with what he
did, and all sin was put away, and everybody he died for was
justified? Do you believe that in your heart? He's the Lord Jesus. You confess
that with your mouth and you believe in your heart that God
raised Him from the dead. Well, if that's the case, you're going to be saved. If you believe in your heart,
the Lord Jesus. If you confess with your mouth,
the Lord Jesus. If you believe in your heart,
God raised Him from the dead. You're saved. All that salvation
is, you possess. You have God for you. If God
be for us, who can be against us? You have nothing that can
prevent your salvation. He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely
give us all things? There's nothing about you that
can prevent you being saved. You can't be condemned. Who is
He that condemneth? You can't be accused. No accusation. You're saved. Right now, beloved,
don't think, what do I need to do? Nothing. You confess with
your mouth the Lord Jesus, and you confess with your mouth what
you believe in your heart. Thou shalt be saved. Verse 10. Four. Here's Paul's comment on
this. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God
hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. Now, before I comment as to what
that verse means, let me make a couple of statements that I
hope will be helpful to you, helpful to me. I want to ask
a question. Is it possible to believe in
your heart what you do not believe in your head? Is that possible? No. You can't believe in your heart
what you don't believe in your head. It's absolutely impossible. Now here's another question.
Can you believe in your head what you do not believe in your
heart? No. No. It is impossible. Does that mean anybody who believes
what we call the Doctrine of Grace, if they really believe
the Doctrine of Grace, they're saved? Doesn't mean that at all,
because someone that's not saved doesn't really believe the Doctrine
of Grace in the first place. Or they might give lip service to
it, but they don't really believe they're totally depraved. Not
really. If you really believe you're
totally depraved, God's taught you, and you will see the necessity
of all of what we call the Doctrine of Grace. You will without question. But there is a notion that you
can really believe something in your head, but it's head knowledge
only and not in your heart. That's not really true either. So what's he talking about when
he's talking about with the heart man believing? Because I don't
know how many times I've stressed out over this. I'm afraid I believe
in my head and I don't believe in my heart. I've stressed over
that many times. Is what I believe, is it just
knowledge? Is it just a scent? Or has it really done something
for me? Do I really believe the truth?
Do I really believe the gospel? Now let me give you a hint. You
can tell whether your knowledge is saving knowledge by what it
makes you do. Does it make you cry for mercy? The knowledge you have, does
it make you cry for mercy? Does it make you say, oh, that
I may win Christ and be found in Him? Now that's saving knowledge.
If your knowledge doesn't make you, just begin right there.
If your knowledge doesn't make you see you're a sinner and you're
utter need of Christ, it's not saving knowledge. If your knowledge
makes you see that you're nothing but a sinner and you absolutely
need the Lord Jesus Christ, now that's saving knowledge. Now
what is this thing of believing with the heart? What's it mean?
Because like I said, many times I thought, I'm afraid to only
believe with my head, not with my heart. So what's it mean to
believe with your heart? I want to do that, don't you?
Whatever it is to believe with the heart, that's exactly what
I want to do. With the heart, man believeth unto righteousness,
the scripture says. And with the mouth, confession
is made unto salvation. Now, righteousness. With the heart, man believeth
unto righteousness. I'll tell you what, I know there's
only one righteousness. I know I'm a lawbreaker. And
the only righteousness there is, is the righteousness of Jesus
Christ. Now that's what Paul means by righteousness,
with the heart man believing unto righteousness. David said
in Psalm 71, 16, I've made mention of thy righteousness, even of
thine only. Righteousness is the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. His law-keeping, He kept the
law, didn't He? He never sinned. You really believe
His righteousness is the only righteousness. You really believe
your only hope of salvation is for your sin becoming His, Him
putting it away on Calvary's tree, and His perfect righteousness,
His law-keeping, being yours. Now that is righteousness. That's
what With the heart, man believeth unto righteousness. Now the heart
simply means the whole man. That's all it means. It's not
talking about something anti, ooey-gooey, nebulous, you can't
really tell, some kind of, it just means the whole man. It
means the understanding, it means the affections, and it means
the will. That's the whole man. Now false
religion, error, never appeals to the heart. Arminianism, for
instance, appeals to the will. Reform doctrine appeals to the
intellect. Pentecostalism and all that kind
of stuff, it appeals to the emotions. But the gospel addresses the
whole heart. It addresses the understanding.
It addresses the affections. It addresses the will. And here's
what this means. With my understanding, I understand that the righteousness
of Jesus Christ is the only righteousness that I have. I understand that. And not only do I understand
that, I love it. I love this. I love having his
righteousness. And you know what? This is what
I desire. I really desire to have only
His righteousness. There's my will. That's what
I want. His righteousness only. Now, with your heart, do you
believe unto righteousness? Well, if you do, with your mouth,
confession is made. This is not something I remain
quiet about. With my mouth, I confess it. I plead guilty to really believing
that the only righteousness there is, is the righteousness of my
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That's my only righteousness
before God. I plead guilty. I'm publicly
confessing it right now. I plead guilty. This really is
what I believe. This is the only message I want
to be identified with. With the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. Do you confess this? Do you believe? Brother, sister, God saved you. Isn't that wonderful? God has
saved you. He's done something for you.
He's reached down into the depths to do something for you. So much so that verse 11 says,
for the scripture says, whosoever believeth on him shall not be
ashamed. Now I want to save that one for
next week, but let's put it this way. You, Don't have anything
to be ashamed of because you have his righteousness. The whole story on you is good. You have nothing to be ashamed
of. You know what? You're not ashamed
of this. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel. For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believeth. You don't have anything to be
ashamed of. And that blows my mind because there's so much
I do have to be ashamed of. Shame, oh my, you know, but I
got his righteousness. I don't have anything to be ashamed
of. And I'm not ashamed of my hope. I love my hope. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. I hope everybody
in this room doesn't walk out of here not saved. If you walk
out of here not saved, it's because you do not believe what I just
preached. That's the only reason you don't
believe it. You don't believe in his righteousness, you trust
your own. But oh, if you believe this message,
you're walking out of here a saved individual. May God make it so
for all of us. Let's pray together. Lord, we have nothing else but
this. The Lord Jesus, the sovereign
savior. Lord, we confess him. He's the
Lord Jesus. And Lord, we believe in our hearts
that you raised him from the dead. And you raised him from
the dead because you were completely satisfied with what he did. and
that all sin was washed away, put away, and that all your people
were justified by what he did. Lord, truly with our heart, we
believe under righteousness. We really believe his righteousness
is our personal righteousness before you. And Lord, this is
what we confess. Lord, by grace, make it so. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. One last statement. I was thinking
about confessing, and I'm up here publicly confessing. I'm
the one getting to do the talking. What a blessing that is. But
somebody said, well, how do I confess Christ? I'm not the preacher.
I can't get up in front of everybody. Well, you speak Him. You speak Him. He's your message.
But the believer's public confession of Him is baptism. That's how
I confess him publicly, by baptism. When the scripture says they
were baptized confessing their sins, that doesn't mean they
got up in front of everybody and confessed all their sins
and then they were baptized. No, don't ever do that. Save
us, save us, don't do that. It means you confess that you're
so sinful that the only way you can be saved is by the life of
Christ and you being in Him. When He kept the law, you did.
When He died, you died. When He was raised from the dead,
you were raised from the dead. Now that's what it is to confess
Christ. I confess Him by believer's baptism. Mitch, come lead us