Habakkuk chapter 2 is where we
are, and Habakkuk has received a message of destruction, yet
he's also received a message that there will be a remnant,
that the Lord will leave a remnant. It's a message of judgment, and
yet for the Lord's people, it's a message of hope. It's a message
of wrath, but it's a message of mercy for the Lord's people
as well. Habakkuk had learned of wrath.
in chapter one, and he is now asking the Lord a question in
chapter two. I'm sorry, in chapter one, he
asks a question, and now the Lord's giving him an answer in
chapter two. What a glorious thought it is that the Lord hears
his people when we pray, that the King of glory, the high King
of heaven, the sovereign creator of this universe, would bend
his ear, if I can put it that way, and hear us, hear me, hear
you when we cry out. What glory there is in thinking
about how unworthy we are and how worthy he is, and yet he
listens to our cry. As a father pitieth his children,
so the Lord pitieth his people. Isn't that glorious? What is
in me that you would hear? Nothing. I hear my son and we
have an advocate. We have one that is seated beside
the father that is interceding for his people. Isn't that glorious?
Well, the Lord heard Habakkuk when he prayed and he answered
him in his time. Now, I would remind us that in
the book of Daniel, we read that Daniel prayed for 21 days. He
earnestly prayed. prayed more fervently, I guarantee
you than any of us has ever prayed for that long. He didn't eat
any bread. He had no drink to drink as far as anything that
was pleasant, said no pleasantness to my mouth. He was, he needed
an answer from God. He was desperate. And the Lord
waited 21 days. And we see that it was all by
his purpose, all by his grace that he made Daniel wait that
long. And when he comes to him, he said, I heard you from the
very first time that you opened your mouth, the very first word
you spoke, I heard it. But now I'm come for your words.
Now I am come to give you an answer. You weren't ready. That's
what it is, is you and I aren't ready for the answer when we
first pray. If the Lord chooses to not give it to us immediately,
it's in mercy and grace that he calls us to continue to beg
unto him. We're made to see that it's God's
time. All of God's time is appointed, isn't it? It's predestined. It's purposed. It's his, it's
predetermined. It's by his determinant counsel.
It's by his determinant counsel. And in his time, he will give
an answer. James put it like this. He said, you have not because
you ask not. That's that simple. You have
not because you ask not. But if I ask and I don't receive
it, that doesn't mean the Lord didn't hear it. Sometimes the
answer is no, isn't it? Sometimes the answer is no. And
it's for our good always and for his glory. I had a man recently
tell me, well, why do you even pray? Why do you even pray if
everything God's purpose is gonna come to pass? That's an interesting
thought, isn't it? That's an interesting thought.
Christ prayed as our example. We're commanded to pray, aren't
we? The Lord said, seek, seek ye my face. The Lord said, call
upon the Lord while he is near. We're commanded to pray. We're
commanded to pray. Prayer is not to change God.
Prayer is to change us. That's one of the means the Lord
used to change our heart, to cause us to seek him, to cause
us to cry out into him and he answers in his time. The question
while pray, if God's going to do whatever he wants, it'd be
asking the same question. Why should I work? Why should
I sweat in order to have things or in order to pay my bills?
The Lord wants my bills paid. He's going to pay them, right? See
how silly that sounds. No, we, we work unto him. We work not
for salvation, but we work as we are commanded to. Scripture's
clear. If a man doesn't provide for his own, he's worse than
an infidel. So we work, not looking to ourself for salvation, but
we work because it's our curse and we pray because we're commanded
to. We cry out because we're commanded to. Why do we come
to worship? The Lord said, failing not the assembling of yourselves
together. This is why we come together. We're commanded to. Now, like what Christ said when
John six, all that the father giveth me shall come to me and
him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. We come
to him begging, don't we? We come in prayer and we come
hoping that he'll allow us to worship. Now this is how Habakkuk
was approaching the Lord was prayerful. And we heard Wednesday
night, he says, how long shall I cry and the Lord not hear me?
The Lord heard him the first time. He just didn't let him
know that he heard him until the Lord was prepared. The Lord had
purpose to answer him. Now let's read Habakkuk chapter
two. And I think it's, uh, there can
be no doubt that we could just say Habakkuk's gospel, the gospel
according to Habakkuk. Look in chapter two, verse one.
I will stand upon my watch and set me upon the tower and will
watch to see what he will say unto me, the Lord, and what I
shall answer when I am reproved. The Lord answered me and said,
write the vision and make it plain upon tables that he may
run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an
appointed time. but at the end it shall speak
and not lie, though it tarry, wait for it, because it will
surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul, which is lifted
up, is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith. Notice that word his is not in
italics. That is the original Hebrew.
Who is he talking about? The Lord Jesus Christ. This is
the gospel according to Habakkuk. Now there's seven points that
he just made. And I have gotten away from being a points preacher
because I think it's distracting for me. So I'm not going to preach
all seven points, but I'm going to declare them unto you right
now. He says, first, make it plain.
Write on a tablet and make it plain. Second thing he says,
that he may run that readeth it. That he may run that readeth
it. The third thing is at his appointed
time, at the Lord's appointed time, it shall speak. Number
four, it shall not lie. Number five, though it tarry,
which that word tarry means linger. Though it linger, wait for it,
because it will surely come and will not tarry. And that's a
different word. It's not the same word as the first word tarry.
That second one means delay. So he's saying, though it linger,
wait for it, because it surely will come. It will not be delayed.
It will be at the appointed time, as we just heard. And the number
seven thing we saw is the just shall live by his faith. I wanna
focus this morning on make it plain. That's what I've titled
the message, make it plain. God's gospel is so plain, isn't
it? It's so simple. It's not complicated. I mean, it's hard to fathom some
of the things in the gospel, but it's a simple gospel. It
literally takes us completely out of the equation and gives
God all the glory. It's so plain and simple that
men call it foolishness. It cannot be understood by the
human mind. 1 Corinthians 1 tells us, but
God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound
the things which are mighty. And then he tells us why. So
that no flesh shall glory in his presence. He confounds the
wise with foolish things. With this simple gospel truth,
he confounds the wise. Men call the gospel weak, but
that's what he's using to confound the world. Men can't explain
it or understand it. It's the plain, clear, we can't
preach it plain enough. Did you know that? We can't preach
it clear enough. The Lord must do that. It's simple. It's plain. I had a man contact
me recently and he asked me this question. What do you have for
the youth at your church? And I said, we have the gospel.
And he said, well, every church has that. Every church has that. That was his words to me. Every
church has the gospel. See, he's confounded. He don't understand
that there is only one gospel. It's not different variations. It's not different types. There's
only one gospel and it's plain and it's simple. Well, then he
asked me, what activities, what activities do we offer? And I
said, we have the gospel. And he said, well, I know you
just said that. Well, what, what about classes to help your congregation
live the Christian life? What classes do you have to help
your congregation live the Christian life? I said, we have the gospel. That's all we have. That's it.
He quit asking me questions after that. I haven't heard from him
since. Obviously the answer I give him was not good enough. It's
plain, isn't it? It's plain. The gospel's plain.
That's all we have. That's all we're hanging our
internal hope on. Everything that we hope in is
this plain, simple gospel that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, his elected sinners, and he did. He accomplished
it. It's a plain gospel. It's simple.
Psalm 27, 11 says, teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a
plain path. Lead me in the plain path. And then he says, why? Because
of my enemies. Because of my enemies, because
of my flesh. See, my flesh wants to complicate
it. There must be something I have to do. No, no, perish the thought. It's plain, it's simple. There's
nothing for you to do, nothing for me to do. It's finished.
It's finished. Our enemies are the flesh, the
world, Satan, and all three of them wish to complicate the gospel,
don't they? All three of those wish to complicate
the gospel. But adding the flesh in any way
to the gospel is complicating. It's complicated to say that
Jesus loves everybody, yet some people die and go to hell that
he loves. That's complicated to me. The eternal God having
a sovereign love, loving people and dying for them and yet not
able to secure salvation for them. That's complicated to me.
But the gospel is clear. Whomsoever the Lord loved that
he died for, they're his. He bought them. He said to Jacob,
you are mine. I've redeemed you. I've bought
you by my own blood. You are mine. That's not complicated,
is it? That's plain. That's simple.
to say that Jesus put away the sin of everyone and everyone
doesn't go to heaven or doesn't, that's not born, that don't come
to the knowledge of the truth, that some still perish. That's
complicated. No, Christ put away the sin,
offered himself to his father. That's not complicated. He put
away the sin. He put it away and it's gone.
Cast as far as the East is from the West for his people. Men say that Jesus wants to do
something. That's complicated. If God wants
to do something, he's going to do it. God wants to do something,
he's going to do it. The gospel's plain. Whatever
the Lord had purpose to do, he accomplished. He doesn't try. See, that's not complicated,
is it? That's plain. Proverbs tells us the way of
a righteous, the way of the righteous, is made plain. Why? Because our righteousness is
seen as filthy rags and we need his righteousness. It's plain.
I don't have in my hand no price I bring simply to Christ. I must
cling. This is our only hope, Lord,
this plain gospel. If you don't reveal it and you
don't shut me up to it, I'm going to complicate it. I'm going to
complicate what I believe. I'm going to think that I've
done enough to please you or I'm offered myself unto you and you
were pleased with the work or my keeping of the law or whatever
it may be. That's complicated. No, this
is a plain gospel. Everything required by the Lord
Christ Jesus, Christ Jesus accomplished everything required for our salvation.
Christ Jesus fulfilled. We know this to be true from
Matthew. We quote this all the time, but He says, call his name
Jesus. Doesn't say he's gonna try. Doesn't
say he wants to, if you'll let him. He says, he shall save his
people from their sin. He shall. And did he? He did. He did. That's good news to me
and you, isn't it? It's finished. It's finished.
That's the plain simplicity of the gospel. All those for whom
he died, he made perfect by his blood. Luke chapter 10 tells
us, in that hour, Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank thee,
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these
things from the wise and prudent and has revealed them unto babes.
Even so, Father, for it seemed good in thy sight. God only saves
babes. Did you know that? He only saves
babes. He only came to save sinners
who are babes and he only calls babes. What does babes need?
What does baby need? has to have the life giving milk,
doesn't it? The nutritional value that's
in that is what sustains its life. It can't eat anything else.
It has to have the milk. And you and I, we have to have
the milk. It's what the mother produces for the baby. Whatever
the child need, the mother produces. Everything we need, our heavenly
father has produced for us in this plain gospel. We're not
looking for chocolate milk. We don't need it to taste a certain
way to make us happy or strawberry milk. We want the plain milk,
the sincere milk of the word, Paul said, that we may grow thereby.
No, don't water it down. Don't add flavoring to it to
make it more pleasing to my palate. Tell me it plain. Tell me like
it is. Tell me the truth about how God
saves sinners. That's my only hope. He said,
Habakkuk, I want you to make it plain. Don't complicate it. Don't add anything to it. Don't
take anything away from it. Make it plain. That's what we
try to do every time we come here, isn't it? We try to make
it plain. 1 Corinthians 1 says, for it is
written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to
nothing the understanding of the proven. See, if it's about
me having an understanding before the Lord calls me, before the
Lord saves me, if it's based on my understanding, that's complicated.
How much do I have to know then? There's only one thing that a
man or a woman must know. Well, it's two really. The first
thing is, is I'm the sinner and he's the savior. That's what
you have to know. That's the qualification. The
Lord has to show you, give you repentance, calls me to see that
I'm the sinner and then give me the faith, give you the faith
to look to Christ. That's what has to happen. It's
plain and simple. There doesn't have to be understanding
of theology. There doesn't even have to be
understanding of doctrine. You'll have some understanding
of doctrine whenever you hear that you're the sinner and he's
the savior, It's not complicated. It's not based upon my understanding.
It's not based upon my choice. It's not based upon my doing
of anything. Thank God it's based upon Jesus
Christ and what he done. That's all. That's it. What he
done. If we're looking to self, that's
complicated, isn't it? Have I done enough? Have I prayed
enough? Have I? Oh, don't look to self. Look to Christ. It's
plain and it's simple. It's not based upon our confession.
It's based on his confession, isn't it? He confessed his people
before the father. Isn't that glorious? He confessed
his people. The Lord knows our name. We were
written in the Lamb's book of life. He knows his people's name
and he confessed his people unto his father. He owned their sin. Now, I don't understand all of
that, but it's not complicated, is it? It's plain and simple.
I believe it. That's my only hope. We're made to confess that we
know nothing. We're made to know that it's
not our belief at all. It's His faith given to us. Lord
calls me to believe. I believe, help my unbelief.
I have no confidence in my own belief. You're going to have
to make me. Now, I have this question written down.
Why make it plain? Why? Why did the Lord tell him
to make it plain? Why do we preach it plain? It's
because only a plain gospel gives the Lord all the glory. First
Corinthians tells us, Paul speaking, my speech and my preaching was
not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration
of the spirit and of power that your face should not stand in
the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. So you understand
if we complicate it, if we add one thing to it, we're glorifying
man at that point. If we add one thing to it, if
we attempt to add our words of wisdom, as Paul was talking about
here, our enticing words, we're giving glory to man. We're saying,
look what I know, or look at my understanding. No, we just
declare it simply and plain, just as Paul's describing. And
the more plain we make it, The more plain we make it, the more
powerful it becomes if the Lord blesses it. You can't preach
it plain enough, simple enough. The more plain we make it, the
more powerful it becomes because it draws no attention to us whatsoever. It doesn't cause anybody to see
us, but it glorifies Him. That's what the Lord honors,
is glorifying the Son. We're not preaching to impress,
are we? We're not bragging about what we know. bragging on him,
bragging on the Lord Jesus Christ as our only hope of salvation.
But we don't brag on us, do we? Now look in verse two. This is that's why we make it
plain is so he gets all the glory. But the second question I have
here is what does this plain message do? The Lord answered
and said, write the vision and make it plain upon the table
that he may run that readeth it. Where are we running? If we're running, we're running
from something and we're running to something. That's just how
it has to be, isn't it? No matter where we're running,
we're running to something and we're running away from something.
So whenever you hear this plain message, it causes us to do one
of two things. Either we're running from the
truth, or we're running to the truth. If we're running to the
truth, then we're running from self. We're running from our
sin. We're saying, no, Lord, I see
myself as the sinner. You are the savior. I must have
you. And we flee to Christ. That's what this plain gospel
message does. causes us to flee to Christ.
It's the only thing that does that. This gospel is the only
thing that causes men and women to flee to Christ as all their
hope and salvation. Everything else, men hang something
on that they're puffed up about and don't even realize they are,
but they think they've done something that pleases God in some way,
shape, or form. They get some form of glory. No, this plain
gospel empties us completely. And it strips us naked and it
causes us to flee to Christ. Lord, I didn't see myself as
naked. I saw myself as robed in my own righteousness, thinking
that I was good enough, thinking that I had something to offer
you. And I didn't know I was dead and I was polluted and I
was wicked. And it's not just what I do,
it's what I am. That's what this plain gospel
does. And as soon as we see that, we see the Savior with arms wide
open saying, coming to me, coming to me, all you that labor and
heavy laden, I will give you rest. Rest from yourself, rest
from your sin, rest from the world, rest from Satan. They
don't have any power over you. I've bought you, you are mine. That's what this message does.
This is the only message that gives life. to dead dog centers,
live. It's the only message that gives
ears, gives hearing to the deaf, sight to the blind, strength
to the lame to walk again, new legs, new legs. Only message that gives speech
to the dumb, I think about what we used to say in false religion
and what we say now. What do we say now? Well, David
said, he brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the
Miracle and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings.
And he put a new song in my mouth. I don't sing the same song I
used to. I don't preach the same message that I used to. There's
no hope in that message. No, we preach the gospel now.
We don't confess what we used to confess as our hope. He gave
us a new song in our mouth, even praising to God. There's a song
in our hymn book, and it says, I have decided to follow Jesus. Have you ever heard that song?
I've decided to follow Jesus. That's the old song, isn't it?
It's what we used to sing. We don't sing that anymore. No,
now our song says he decided to save his people from their
sin, and he did so. And then in time, he sends his
spirit, and it calls his people unto himself, and he gets all
the glory. David said, I have a new psalm.
Even praise unto God. What praises God? What praises
God? This plain gospel wherein he
gets all the glory, all the glory. We now speak plainly because
of the faith that he's given us. Hold your place in the back. We're gonna turn right back there,
but turn with me to Mark chapter seven. Look at verse 31. And again, departing from the
coast of Tyre and Sidon, he came into the Sea of Galilee through
the midst of the coast of Decapolis. And they bring into him one that
was deaf and had an impotent impendment in his speech. And
they beseeched him to put his hand upon him. So this man is
deaf and he's dumb. He can't speak. And he took him
aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears,
and spit, and touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he
sighed, and said unto him, Ephetha, and that is, be opened. And straightway his ears were
opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed. And he spake,
you see that word right there? He spake plain. He spake plain. And he charged them that they
should tell no man, but the more he charged them, so much the
more a great deal. They published it, and were beyond
measure astonished, saying, he hath done all things well. He
maketh both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak. That word
ephphatha means be open. Lord spoke one thing to this
man, something so simple, but having the power and authority
that he did demanded the response that it got. Be open, be opened. This is our hope. He didn't tell
the man to do this. He didn't tell the man to do
that. He didn't tell the man, you must choose me first. You
must take the first step. That's not what happened. He
said, be opened. And the man's ears were open. His tongue was then loosed, wasn't
it? That's what he does. That's what
this gospel does, is it opens up, it opens the tongue. And
what do we say? We speak plainly. We confess
his gospel is all. That's what we're talking about.
He said to Habakkuk, make it plain. That's what this man said. What do you think? He just told
us what, uh, what they were going around publishing. What was that
man's confession? Christ is all, Christ is all, all glory to him. I couldn't do anything about
my condition, but he did. He did. No, I was, I was dumb
and I was deaf and I couldn't hear or talk. And now I, now
I can hear his voice. Now I can speak his praise because
of what he has done. He gets all the glory. What we
believe will come out plainly. It will come out plainly. What
we believe, what we speak will be evidence of what the Lord
has done. Now, we don't see it as our evidence
of our salvation, but others can see it. I know whenever we
have conversations together and we're talking about the gospel,
The confession's the same, isn't it? See, Abraham believed God. How do we know? Because we have
the record of it, but God said Abraham believed God. That's
the hope, isn't it? That the Lord would say, you
believe God, because it's not my choice, it's his. And if he
says, you're going to believe me, I rest in that. That's the plain gospel, isn't
it? That's where we rest, all our hope. Now back to Habakkuk chapter
two. Look at verse two again. The
Lord answered me. I want to say that what mercy
there is in the Lord answering Habakkuk. He didn't, God was
not obligated. God is not obligated to give
us an answer. Men think too highly of themselves.
If you pray more fervently, you'll obligate God to do something
for you. That's not true. God doesn't have to respond to
us. He chooses to do so. What mercy
that he hears us and that he answers us. He answers his people. Now it may not be the answer
we want, but he answers his people. What mercy, what grace there
is in that. The Lord answered me and said,
write the vision and make it plain upon tables that he may
run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an
appointed time, but at the end it shall speak and not lie. Though
it tarry, wait for it because it will surely come. It will
not tarry. At his appointed time, that's
when he answered. At his appointed time is when
he speaks. At his appointed time, this plain
vision will be revealed. At his appointed time. and then
it won't lie. It'll tell the truth. When God
reveals, he reveals the truth. That's all he reveals, isn't
it? He don't reveal a lie. It's not complicated. It's not
there's something you can do. What is it that I must do then?
Nothing. There's nothing we can do. That's the truth, isn't it?
That's the rest we have in Christ. Cannot lie. The truth cannot
lie. Though it tarry, which means
linger, wait for it. because it will surely come,
it will not tarry, it will not be delayed. According to his
purpose, according to his time that he has created, it will
come, the truth will come to everyone that the Lord has purpose
for it to come to. Even though it seems like it's
delayed, even though it seems like it's delayed, it cannot
be delayed. Even though it may seem to linger,
Even though it seems to linger for our loved ones that we care
for, that we pray for, even though it seems to linger, it cannot
be delayed. We can't slow it down. We can't prevent it. We
can't help it. We can't help it along to go
faster. No, the Lord's time, in the Lord's time, the gospel
will go forth according to his will and the spirit will go right
to that person and say, live. He'll say, be opened, be opened. I love the thought that it cannot
be stopped. It cannot be prevented. He cannot
be challenged in any way in his time. He's going to do it. He's
going to do that which he purposed in calling his people. Jews often would come to Christ
and try to trick him, try to trap him. They wanted him to
blaspheme, but him acknowledging that he was Christ was not blaspheme
because that's who he was, who he is. And they were trying to
trick him. They said, if you be Christ,
if you be Christ, tell us plainly. Tell us, that's what he does,
isn't it? He comes to his people and he tells them plainly, I
am Christ. I am. And he says, live. The
Jews came to Christ and said, if you be Christ, tell us plainly.
And Jesus said to them, I told you and you believe not. I told you and you believe not.
The works that I do in my father's name, they bear witness of me.
But you believe not because, tells us why they don't believe,
because you are not my sheep. You're not my sheep. My sheep
hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. And what
does the Lord, what does the Lord speak? He said, my sheep
hear my voice. So he's speaking. What does he
speak? The plain truth of his gospel. He doesn't change what
he speaks. He speaks the truth. And the
Lord does everything with this gospel that needs to be done.
Everything that's going to be accomplished is going to be accomplished
through the preaching of the gospel. The Lord, somebody said,
you preaching on how righteous living is what he was referring
to. And he said, you tell them how to live right up there. And
I said, no, I'm preaching the gospel, I'm trying. And the Lord's
gonna, we know how to live, don't we? The Lord's gonna do everything
that needs to be done through the preaching of the gospel.
The Lord just speaks the plain truth, not a lie. And in his
time, according to his will, according to the determinant
counsel of God, It is not delayed, it is appointed. It accomplishes
that which he has purposed. Now, the last thing I want us
to look at is in verse four. Behold, his soul, which is lifted
up, is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith. Now, this is a contrast between
someone exalting themselves in their own soul and someone looking
to Christ as all in salvation. This is a contrast. On one hand,
You have those that complicate the gospel and they exalt themselves
by their own works. They exalt themselves by what
they do or what they say or how they live. That's complicated.
That's not plain. And on the other hand, you have
those who look to Christ by his faith alone as all their hope
of salvation. I wrote an article about this
and you'll see it, Lord willing, next Sunday in the bulletin,
but whether we believe something, or not doesn't make it real. Whether I believe it or not doesn't
change the truth, does it? If I don't believe the truth,
that doesn't mean it's not the truth. And if I believe the truth, it
doesn't mean it's not the truth or is the truth. No, it's the
Lord that reveals the truth, isn't it? It's not my belief
at all in it that saves me. No, it's the faith that he gives
that makes me believe it. I love the thought that the Lord
doesn't allow us to make a choice to believe. He shows us we're
dead and we can't. Men rest their hope in the choice
that they've made, in the prayer that they've prayed, in the life
that they live, in the things that they do, but that's complicated. No, it's not plain. No, Christ
Jesus put away the sin of his people. My believing or not believing
is not relevant in what I do in me and of myself. Yes, the
believer is going to believe because it's the faith of Christ
that's given. The just shall live by his faith. It's very simple. It's very plain.
It's not my faith at all. It's his faith. He doesn't let
us make a choice. He shows us we're dead and he
calls us into himself. Shows us that he must make us
alive. He must give us faith to believe
him. What do we pray for more than
everything else? Lord, I confess I'm a sinner. I need Christ. Give me Christ
lest I die. Give me Christ lest I die. Is
that not what we pray often? Lord, I need Christ. Lord, I
need to be saved again. It wasn't a one-time ordeal where
I marked it down and checked it off. No, that's complicated
because I need to be saved every single moment of every single
day. Save me now. Save me now. Save me from myself.
Save me from my sin. Now, as far as the Lord's concerned,
he already has, but to you and I, when we see it, do we not
cry out, Lord, I need to hear this gospel one more time. It's
plain. I know I have nothing to do with
it. And that gives me comfort that I had no part of it whatsoever.
Lord, I don't need you to. I don't need you to use a defibrillator
and cause my heart to beat a little bit and give me a choice in the
matter. That's silly. That's what men are saying. It's
silly, isn't it? No, I need a new heart. I need to be made alive.
I need Christ. I need Christ and his plain gospel. You'll notice that it says, I've
already said this, but the just shall live by his faith. Now
that's the original Hebrew. There's not a lot of times we
see words in italics that's added in. No, this was original. The
just shall live by his faith. That's the faith of Christ. This
is quoted in the New Testament by many. And it's so true, isn't
it? The just, the just shall live
by his faith. Now that word just means the
lawful. The ones that are right before
the law shall live by his faith. The ones that are perfect, that's
what the word just means, perfect. The ones that are perfect shall
live by his faith. Another definition of just means
righteous. Those that are righteous will
live by his faith. They live by his faith because
they've been made lawful in God's eyes by him keeping the law.
His people have been made perfect in God's eyes because he had
put away their sin. They've been made righteous in
the Lord's eyes because he took our unrighteousness and robed
us in his own righteousness. That's the plain simplicity of
the gospel. And that is all our hope. He
did all the work. And now because of that, we live
by his faith. It is in him. It is in Him that
we live, we move, and we have our being. It's a plain gospel. Christ bore the sin of His people,
and He put them away by His own blood, securing their salvation
by His death. The Father resurrected Him and
all those who were in Him when He died. And in time, the spirit
regenerates his people and bestows the faith of Christ. And what
does faith always look to? Well, we have to realize who
it comes from. It comes from Christ. So it always
looks to Christ as all of our hope. If we're looking to anything
else, it's not a faith that we're looking. We're looking to self. That's not faith. Faith looks
to Christ. Faith looks to Christ. And in him, by his faith, that's
exactly how it is. By his faith, that's how we live,
move, and have our being. It's not complicated, is it?
It's simple. It's plain. We must make it plain.
He gets all the glory in this plain gospel. And the Lord's
people say amen.