We will be looking in Lamentations
again, chapter five this time, if you'd like to be turning there. There is two gospels and only
two, the true gospel and the false gospel, the gospel of self-righteousness
and the gospel that Christ is our righteousness. It's the gospel
of law. and it's the gospel of grace.
The gospel of law is not good news, but the gospel of grace
is good news to sinners. The gospel of the law is good
news to those who don't see themselves as sinners, that have self-righteousness,
but to us who see ourselves as being the chief of sinners, we
get no hope. in preaching the law. We can't
keep God's law, it's holy and we are not holy. We can't do
the things contained in the law. It was given forth to show us
our incapabilities of pleasing God. Thanks be to God, there
is a gospel, a true good news gospel. It is the gospel of God's
free and sovereign grace for his people, his accomplished
salvation. Now, in chapter five of Lamentations,
and I would remind us that lamentations means to lament, it's to grieve
sorrowfully and passionately. Jeremiah is looking over the
desolation of Jerusalem. He's seeing the destruction that's
happened because of the wrath of God that the Lord gave forth
through the nation Babylon, according to the Lord's purpose. He's seeing
that God has destroyed it utterly. Now this message of destruction,
this message of wrath was preached in Jeremiah, we know that. And
only two people, two, are recorded to have believed what Jeremiah
said. But then it came to pass, didn't
it? What Jeremiah's word was, he was God's prophet and it came
to pass. And so now we see judgment has been executed. Now I want
us to understand something very clearly, everyone, Everyone that's
been born on the face of the earth, without exception, will
endure the wrath of God, whether it be in Christ or whether it
be out of Christ. And that is the only two ways
that there are, in Christ or out of Christ. Hope is that we
were in Christ when he absorbed the wrath of God. That's our
only hope. Because if it's up to me to endure the wrath of
God, I'll go to a place called hell and my soul will be there
forever in eternal torment and separation from God, never paying
the debt that I owe, never being sufficient to satisfy his wrath.
Christ Jesus was sufficient to satisfy his wrath, wasn't he?
So my hope is that I was in Christ when Christ died. Christ absorb
all of the eternal wrath of God and separation from his father.
Now, just as Jeremiah was no longer doubted anymore, that
he was the prophet of the Lord, that he was speaking truth. Once
everybody saw the destruction, nobody said, well, Jeremiah may
be wrong. It was completely destroyed.
Everybody was, they knew. They knew that Jeremiah was telling
the truth. They believed Jeremiah at that
point, didn't they? They didn't look to Christ. They
didn't look to God for salvation or for mercy. They made justification
of themselves and their own self-righteousness still. And that's why they were
carried away to Babylonian captivity. But there wasn't a single one
of them that could say, well, Jeremiah lied. Jeremiah didn't
tell the truth. Everybody believed Jeremiah at
that point, didn't they? They believed that what he said
about the judgment and wrath of God coming from the nation
Babylon, when it came to pass, there was no denying it because
they saw it with their own eyes. And it's the same in hell. Did
you know there's not a single atheist in hell? There's not.
That might sound funny to say, and I'm certainly not poking
fun at anyone, but I'm telling us the truth. There's not a single
atheist in hell. Everyone that dies faces God. And just as they did not cry
out unto the Lord, Jerusalem did not cry out unto the Lord.
Hell itself is not sufficient to cause a man or a woman to
cry out for mercy. See, it must be faith that is
given of God and faith does not exist in eternity. Once we die,
our faith is made sight. And once everyone that is outside
of Christ dies, they see him face to face, and they know that
he is God, confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God the Father. And therefore faith can no longer
exist, can it? Sight is there. It does take repentance and it
does take faith to please the Lord. Aren't you glad he gives that
to his people, that we don't supply that for ourselves? See,
it's not my faith that the Lord looks. It's not what I produce.
It's not the merits of myself. It's his merits. We are saved
by the faith of Christ. This is our hope. Now, just as we see Jerusalem,
everything that happened to them, they deserved it. Everything
that happens in wrath, is because the individual... I was reading a news article about Mr. Rogers, and I think I've used
this example and told you before, you can look it up. On Mr. Rogers'
deathbed, his intention, they call his work a ministry, is
what they called it, for children. He was trying to bring good into
children. He said that he was a Well, I
can't remember if it was a Methodist preacher or something like that,
but anyways, he was trying to get children saved, if you will.
That's, in a nutshell, what he was saying. He looked at his
wife, his dying breath, as he's laying there on the bed, last
few breaths that he had, and he says to his wife, have I done
enough? Have I done enough? And do you know what his wife
says? Yes. Yes, you have done enough. Heaven will be your home. That's
what his wife told him. Did you know that there isn't
one thing that we can do that pleases God? Not one thing that
we produce. So the answer to the question
from Mr. Rogers, have I done enough? No, Mr. Rogers, you can
never do enough. In thinking that we do enough,
we are saying Christ was not sufficient. If there's one thing
left for us to do, we're saying Christ's blood didn't put away
sin. I have to make a choice. And
then Christ's blood put away sin. Aren't you glad that it's
not up to you, but it's up to God? And he put away the sin
of his people successfully. He did enough. He did enough. And his father rewarded him with
his perfect bride and resurrected him from the dead. And she's
been presented already. As far as God's concerned, we're
already in glory with him. He tells us we've already been
glorified. I don't understand that. I say that every time that
I use those words, but that's what he tells us. Then he did
foreknow, he predestinated to be conformed to the image of
his son. Then he did predestinate, he called. Then he called, he
justified. Whom he justified, he glorified.
It's already done. The Lord's already redeemed his
people. and brought them back to his father. He did enough.
Now, my great grandmother passed away back in the 90s, and she
believed in something called progressive sanctification. She
believed that she was getting better. and she was getting better,
I would remind us what sanctification is, is holiness. To be sanctified
means to be holy. So what she thought is that she
was getting more and more holy until the very last breath that
she took, okay, now she's holy enough to go to heaven. That
is a lie from the pit of hell. That's exactly what that is.
Nobody gets better. If anything, we get worse, don't
we? And only the chief of sinners can see that we get worse. But
as she was on her deathbed, she said these words, I have not
sinned in two months. I have not sinned in two months.
Did you know there's not a second that goes by that you and I don't
sin? Do you know why? Because of what we are, not because
of what we do. The scale that the Lord uses
is a just scale, and he sees us as utterly sinful, not just
a little bit. thanks be to God, the payment
was sufficient to put away our utter sinfulness by his precious
blood. He has redeemed his people. He
has put away our sin. And now when we see the sin that
we are and we think I've sinned now and I've sinned now, Christ
says, no, perfectly righteous, perfectly righteous, perfectly
righteous. Isn't that glorious? He sees
us in his darling son. He does not see the sin that
we are. Brethren, neither abstinence
nor performance can equal justification. No flesh can be justified by
the deeds of the law. Meaning, if whether we abstain
from something or whether we perform something, it is not
our justification. Christ, Jesus, the Lamb of God
is our justification before God alone. The law was given to show
sin. And he said, then the law, no
flesh shall be justified in his sight. The law shows us that all we
can produce, the only thing, the only thing we can produce
is what God hates. He hates the workers of iniquity.
He hates, he's angry with the wicked daily, the scripture says.
God doesn't love everybody. Jesus didn't die for everybody,
but those for whom he died, he successfully redeemed back to
his father. It says in 1 John 3, 4, whosoever
committed sin transgresses also the law, for sin is the transgression
of the law. Now, what we do and what we don't
do does it fix that we've transgressed God's law? We've transgressed
it in thought. We've transgressed it in deed.
We've transgressed it in when we speak. We've transgressed
God's law in every way. So atonement has to be made.
And the scripture says, without the shedding of blood, there
is no remission of sin. So whose blood are we going to offer for
the remission of our sin because of our trespass? It must be the
Lord Jesus Christ's blood alone. Do we see that? It has to be.
It can't be my blood. I can't offer up myself. I can't
offer up my children. There's there's heathen countries
still off doing children's sacrifice, thinking that that's going to
merit them favor with God. Can't offer up our children as they
have the same pollution in them that we do, don't they? They're
our seed. Oh, we need the Lord Jesus Christ
and his perfect, sinless blood to wash us clean and cleanse
us from all unrighteousness. Aren't you glad he did that for
his people? Before time ever began, he was
the lamb slain. And in time, he became the God-man,
Christ Jesus, and he successfully redeemed his people by putting
away their sin. They that are in the flesh cannot
please God. Are you in the flesh? Yes. I'm born in the flesh. I'm born
in sin. I'm shaping an iniquity. I am
in the flesh. Then you can't please God, period.
No matter what we do, we cannot please God. And this is why we
are utterly rejected. The second thing that Jeremiah
notices, we're utterly rejected. The law has showed that we are
the unclean thing. Did you know you can take something
dirty and you can clean it up? It doesn't change what it is
though. You can wash a car, it's still a car. You can wash a house,
it's still a house. And there may be some exception
to what I'm talking about, but I think you understand exactly
what I mean. No matter what you do to something, physically washing
it doesn't change what it is. And it's the same with us. Cleaning ourselves up doesn't
change what we are. Physical change doesn't merit
spiritual salvation. It doesn't. Physical doing doesn't
merit salvation at all. Anything that we do in the flesh
doesn't change anything spiritually. Our eternal God demands both
physical and spiritual perfection. You know what the law does? It
shows us that we're physically incapable and we're spiritually
dead. That's what the law does. We're
physically incapable. It reveals to us we're physically
incapable to please God and that we're dead. We are dead because
of our trespass. That trespass is called sin.
And the scripture says, the wages of sin is death. That doesn't
give me a lot of comfort, does it you? But the next part does,
because he didn't stop. He would be right in stopping
there, but he didn't just stop and say, the wages of sin is
death. He said, but the gift of God
is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. That's our
hope, isn't it? Not our works, what we are, what
Christ has done successfully. When we see that we are this
sin, we will cry out with Jeremiah with these words, turn us. and
we shall be turned. That's our only hope, Lord. I
see myself as dead. I see myself as incapable. I
see myself as unable. I see myself as lame, as blind,
as miserable, as leprous. Lord, if salvation is gonna come
to this sinner, it's gonna have to be all on you. Turn us, Lord. We're begging you to turn us
and we shall be turned. We know that we deserve eternal
damnation. Have mercy upon me, the sinner. The good news is, for sin shall
not have dominion over you. You who are in Christ, sin shall
not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but
under grace. Oh, to grace, how great a debtor.
If I could have thought, I would have picked that song for us
to sing. Oh, to grace, how great a debtor. Amazing grace, how
sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. It's by grace alone
that we're saved, not by works of righteousness, which we have
done, but according to his mercy hath he saved us. It's all by
what he's done. It's only because the Lord said
in Jeremiah three, verse 31. For the Lord will not cast off
forever, but though he calls grief, you know how the Lord
calls his grief. He makes us to see our sin. He
reveals unto us that we are utterly sinful. And even though He causes
us to grief, yet He will have compassion according to the multitude
of His mercy. Our God delights in showing mercy
to sinners. Our God delights in showing mercy
to sinners. To His dead dog sinners, His
elect, given to Christ before the foundation of the world. I like what Romans chapter 10
and verse 4 says, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believeth. How do we believe? Lord, if I'm
to believe, how am I to believe? By the faith of Christ that he
bestows upon his people. If he's looking for my It's the faith of Christ given
to his people, isn't it? And faith just looks to Christ
for everything in salvation. So that it is not of him that
willeth. It's not of him that runneth, but it's God that showeth
mercy. Because of grace and will turn
with me to Romans chapter 8. Because of grace and mercy alone,
we have these precious words found in Romans chapter 8. I've
quoted this several times since being here, but I want us to
see this this morning. This is our hope and our comfort. Romans
chapter eight, verse one. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. For the law of the spirit of
the life in Christ hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. For what the law could not do,
the law could not redeem, could it? For what the law could not
do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Now someone would hear this,
And they would say, okay, so he's saying I need to walk after
the spirit and there'll be no condemnation. Now understand
something, those who are called by grace, They do not mind the
things of the flesh anymore. They look to Christ for all their
salvation. To walk after the flesh means
that you're trying to do something to please God. You're trying
to do something to merit salvation. It means that we're trying to
present our own work to please God. That's what walking after
the flesh is. But to the child of God, we do not offer up anything
unto him. We look at Christ, who is the
end of the law for righteousness sake, as all of our hope. We
no longer walk to fulfill the law. Do you know why? We see
the law is satisfied in the person of Christ. God's law has been
satisfied. The law has nothing to say against
the elect of God because there's no more sin. There's no more
condemnation because the law has been fulfilled. The punishment
has been paid. The blood has been shed. Christ
Jesus successfully redeemed. The father was pleased. And you
and I are perfectly righteous in his eyes. walking in the spirit is very
simply looking to Christ as all for your salvation. Is that what
you do? If you look to Christ as all in your salvation and
you're walking in the spirit, isn't that glorious? It's not.
And I can't even do that. And you can't even do that on
our own. It's the faith that he gives us that causes us to do that. We are doers of the law. As the
scripture says, you must be a doer of the law. You remember that
verse in Romans? We're doers of the law because
it has been by grace established. He says that the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us. The righteousness of the
law is fulfilled in God's people. This is why we don't preach the
law anymore. We would cause men to walk in the flesh, wouldn't
we? We would cause men and women to think that they can do something
to please God. This is what walking in the flesh is. We don't preach
the law anymore. We preach salvation by grace alone. Now you'll probably
see what I'm about to read to you in next Sunday's bulletin,
but the law exposes and grace covers. The law condemns, but
grace justifies. The law demands, grace says it
is finished. The law requires, grace supplies
everything required. Preaching the law, you get two
results from preaching the law. Did you know that? Just two.
You'll either get a rebel, or you'll get a Pharisee, but you
will not see a man that has been justified. If I raise my children
under the law, they will either become rebels, or they will become
Pharisees. That's the only two possibilities.
The law, preaching the law makes a rebel, but preaching grace
makes a servant of love, doesn't it? Not a rebel. A slave to the
master in love, a bond servant unto him. Preaching the law creates
Pharisees, but grace saves the chief sinner. The law cannot
bring life, but grace makes alive. The law reveals that our righteousness
are as filthy rags. Grace reveals Christ is our righteousness. The law says that we're lost.
We're lost. That's what the law says. Grace
says found and kept by the power of God. The law declares that
we're unclean. Grace says perfectly righteous. The law loudly announces that
we're leprous. Grace says cleansed. And lastly,
the law says do. You know what grace says? Done. This is what we hope in. Salvation according to grace
alone, that Christ kept the law on our behalf. Salvation by grace. In closing, turn back to Romans
3. Romans chapter 3, verse 21. But
now, the righteousness of God without
the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the
prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of
Jesus Christ, 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 by his grace, the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation
through the faith in his blood to 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. Where is boasting then? Well,
you'll never hear a sinner bragging about how good they are. Did
you know that? They will not go around saying, yes, I have
done good in this salvation. You'll never hear them say that
because there is no boasting to them. We boast in Christ alone,
don't we? There is no boasting in this
flesh, nothing good, nothing that we merit. Where is boasting
then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works, nay, but by the law
of faith. Therefore, we conclude that a
man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the law. Is he the
God of the Jews only? Is he not also the God of the
Gentiles? Yes, the Gentiles also. Seeing
it as one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith and
the uncircumcision through faith. Do we then make void the law
through faith? God forbid. Yea, we establish
the law. Understand something. We don't
despise God's law. We see that Christ Jesus fulfilled
God's law and all those that are in him. Establish establishes
God's law looking on to Christ. This is our hope. We have been
justified freely by his grace. Now understand something. It
wasn't free that it didn't cost anything. It's free to you and
I because it's been paid for. It costs the father, his son,
and it costs the son, his life, his life's blood had to be shed.
He had to endure the wrath of God, but by his own blood, he
hath perfected us, his people and made us holy. It is his righteousness. that merited the remission of
our sin. He is the remedy for the death
sentence. And He is just and the justifier.
I love that. You and I are not just and could
not, He would not have been just. He could not justify you and
I untruthfully. And He could not have been just
with you and I except He put us to death. So understand that
when Christ Jesus died, we were in Him. The Lord's seen us in
him. He punished us in his darling
son. His son took the wrath of his
father so that you and I might be made the righteousness of
God in him." Where's boasting then? Where's boasting then? I will boast in Christ alone.
The Lord gets all the glory. This is what Jeremiah concluded.
Christ established the law by faith. by the faith of Christ
given to his people. And this is what Jeremiah concluded
with what he was saying. God is holy. Christ has made
us holy as he is. Number two, we are utterly rejected. Christ hath made us accepted
in the beloved. And lastly, we've been made to
cry, been made to see, Lord, you're gonna have to be the one
to turn us. Turn us and we shall be turned. Give us grace and
mercy found only in the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn us to Christ
from self and we shall be turned. Turn us from the works of the
law. Give us faith and we shall be turned. Turn our heart from
dead works to serve the living God. Make us alive in Christ. Make Him to be our only hope,
our only confession in righteousness, and we shall be turned. Turn
us unto Thee. Turn us unto Thee, O Lord. We
never stopped saying that. Did you know that? We spend every
minute, we spend every second, as often as the Lord reminds
us, saying, turn us, Lord, turn us, Lord. And did you know that
for every sinner that has come unto Christ, we preach a whosoever
will salvation, but men will not come to Christ, that they
might have life. They would rather keep the law
and think themselves good enough. It takes the faith of God being
bestowed for them to turn to him. But every sinner that comes
to Christ begging for mercy, he has never, never, never cast
out. Never. That's our hope, isn't
it?