Okay, now turn back to John chapter
16 one more time. John chapter 16, one more time. Verse 7, nevertheless, I tell
you what you need to hear. You know what we need to hear?
The truth. The truth. The truth of who God
is, absolute, holy, sovereign. The truth of who we are, what
we are by nature. We're going to talk about that
today. We need to hear the truth of salvation by the free and
sovereign grace of God in Christ Jesus. Salvation is accomplished
by the Lord Jesus Christ alone. I never weary of hearing about
God's truth, how he saves sinners. And then the Lord said, it is
absolutely necessary, it is expedient for you that I go away. For if I go not away," now he's
not talking about going to another place, another city, another
town. I think that's what the apostles thought at first when
he said, I'm going away. But he's not talking about going
to another city or place. He's talking about going to Calvary,
and from Calvary going to glory, having accomplished salvation.
For if I go not away, the Comforter, notice he's talking about a person,
a person, God the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. will not, if I
do not go away, if I do not accomplish salvation and make full atonement
for your sin, the Comforter will not come unto you. But if I depart,
I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will
reprove, convict, convince the world, the world of his elect,
of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. of sin, because
they believe not on me. Verse 10, of righteousness, because
I go to my father and you see me no more. He will convince
us of sin, what I am. Of righteousness, what I need. Of judgment, what happened at
the cross. Judgment because the prince of
this world is judged. So I'm entitling the message
from this portion of scripture Conviction and comfort. Conviction and comfort. When God the Holy Spirit is pleased
to convict us and rebuke us and convince us of our sin, our sin
that is against God. He does not leave us with no
comfort or assurance of salvation. You see, true Holy Spirit conviction,
which brings repentance, which brings broken heartedness before
God. The Lord said, I am nigh them
of a broken heart, I save us such as be of a contrite spirit.
True Holy Spirit conviction continually drives us not away from the Lord,
True Holy Spirit conviction drives us to the Lord Jesus Christ,
who is indeed, He is our comfort. He is our consolation. What does
God the Holy Spirit comfort us with? Christ. The Lord Jesus
Christ. He is our comfort. He's all the comfort we have. He's all the comfort we need.
He is everything in salvation. Take your Bible here and turn
over to 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Let
me show you this verse. Christ is our comfort. Christ
is our Savior and our salvation. He is our hope. Christ in you
is a hope of salvation. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, look
at verse 16. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself
and God, even our Father, who hath loved us and hath given
us an everlasting consolation and a good hope through grace."
Comfort your hearts. Establish you in every good word
and every work in Christ Jesus. Christ is our comfort. Now, let
me ask you this question. Think with me just a minute.
How important is Holy Spirit conviction? How important is
Holy Spirit conviction? I tell you how important it is.
If you miss Holy Spirit conviction, you'll miss true repentance. True repentance. True repentance
causes us to turn from all of our idols to the true and living
God, to love Him and to serve Him. So if you miss Holy Spirit
conviction, you'll miss true repentance. If you miss true
repentance, you'll miss faith in Christ Jesus. Because true
repentance leads to faith in Christ. And if you miss true
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, well, you've missed it all. You've
missed all of salvation. You've missed salvation altogether.
You see, without faith, it is impossible to please God. The
same thing is saying without Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ,
it is impossible to please God. If you miss salvation in the
Lord Jesus Christ, you will miss eternal glory and experience
eternal everlasting condemnation and separation from God. Now
I pray that the Lord would be pleased to do exactly what he
says here In verse 13 of John 16, when He, the Spirit of truth,
is come, He will guide you into all truth, for He shall not speak
of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak,
and He will show you things to come. He will glorify Me, for
He shall receive of Mine and show it unto you. I want to be
taught of God the Holy Spirit, don't you? All those who are
taught of God the Holy Spirit, they skedaddle to the Lord Jesus
Christ. They lay hold upon Christ. They
rest in Him. Now the Lord Jesus Christ knew
exactly why He came, and He knew exactly what He must do. He said
early on there in the temple, just as a lad, He said, I must
be about my father's business. He came on His Father's business
to accomplish salvation for us. He said during His ministry,
my meat is to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish
His work. And then at Calvary He said,
it is done. It is finished. He says in verse
5, I go my way, I go back to Him that sent me, back to the
Father, back to glory. And He goes the way that He had
chosen, just not lately, but chosen from the foundation of
the world. Before Adam ever sinned, before
Adam ever fell, the Lord Jesus Christ stood as a surety, as
a savior, the mediator of his people. He said, now notice,
I go my way. My way is the way he had chosen. the way that God had decreed
in that covenant of grace. Turn back a few pages to John
chapter 10. We must never view the Lord Jesus
Christ crucified as a tragedy or as an accident. He dies the
appointed death at the appointed time for the appointed people
by the decree of God. Right? Not An accident. Notice in John chapter 10 verse
17, Therefore doth my father love me, because I lay down my
life, that I might take it again. He lays down his life for somebody,
doesn't he? He lays down his life for his
people. He said, I lay down my life for
the sheep in verse 15. No man takes it from me, but
I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
in my father." He dies at the command of God. Him being delivered,
do you remember in Acts chapter 2? Him being delivered by the
determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. You have taken and with
wicked hands has crucified the Lord of glory. And then he says
there, none of you asked me where are you going or rather why are
you going Now the Lord said, I must leave you. At this time
when the Lord had told them of His departing, and He had several
times, they always understood it to mean of some other place
or some other town. Later they understood what He
meant when He said, I must go away, back to heavenly glory,
back to the Father. If you'll notice in verse 28
and 29 of John 16, He says, I came forth from the
Father. And here we see the eternality
of the Lord Jesus Christ. In John 17, we're gonna see in
his prayer, Father, glorify thou me with thy own self, with the
glory which I had with thee before the world was. I came forth from
the Father, and I'm coming to the world. Again, I leave the
world and go back to the Father. having accomplished all things
for us. His disciples said unto him,
Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb to us.
Now we understand, now we believe. And the Lord said down, verse
31, Do you really, do you now really believe? They were so
slow, dull of understanding these things. You know, we're just
like them. We shouldn't be too critical
on these apostles. Although they were walking right
with the Lord and heard Him speak, they were still sinners in need
of mercy and need to be taught of God. I can identify with them,
can't you? Slow of learning, having no eyes
to see until He opens our eyes. Verse 6, He said, Because I've
said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. Because
what the Lord has said to them about them being hated, about
them being persecuted, about the Lord leaving them, they were
sorrowful of heart because of their lack of understanding fully
understanding what the Lord was doing, only thinking of the Lord
departing, therefore they were sorrowful. But he encourages
them later on, he said, your sorrow is going to be turned
into joy, and your joy no man will take from you, and your
joy shall be full. Now, having said that, look at
verse 7. Rejoice rejoice in the Lord always
and again, I say rejoice verse 7 nevertheless, I Like the way
the Lord puts this I tell you the truth You know what? There
are some things that are impossible for God to do. Did you know that? One of them is this God cannot
lie God cannot change He said, I tell you the truth. It is impossible
for him to do anything else but tell the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth. However, nevertheless, I tell
you the truth that I must go away. I must lay down my life
for you. He said this to them before.
Hold your place here and find Matthew 16. Matthew chapter 16. You remember verse 21 of Matthew
16? From that time forth, Jesus began, began Jesus to show unto
his disciples how that he must, Matthew 16, 21, he must go to
Jerusalem, suffer many things of the elders and chief priests
and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day.
And Peter took him and began to rebuke him saying, don't do
that. Don't lay down your life. Don't
die for me. Peter took him and began to rebuke
him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord. God forbid, this shall
not be. And the Lord rebuked him. Verse
23, Get thee behind me, Satan. Thou art an offense unto me.
Thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that
be of man. You see, Christ crucified is
of God. God sent him. to accomplish our
salvation. This is the truth that we must
hear. As Paul said, I'm determined
not to know anything among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now look at that word expedient
in verse 7. It's expedient. That is, he's
saying it's good for you. It is better for you, it is absolutely
necessary for you and for us that the Lord Jesus Christ come,
that the Lord Jesus Christ take our sin to Himself, and that
the Lord Jesus Christ take away all our sin from us. Is that right? You remember what
John said? John the Baptist said of the
Lord Jesus Christ, Behold the Lamb of God, behold the Lamb
of God that does what? Taketh away our sin. Aren't you glad He takes away?
Behold the Lamb of God that takes away our sin. You remember what
Job said after God had taken all of his livestock, killed
all of his children? He said, The Lord taketh away
The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of
the Lord. Aren't you glad that the Lord
gives and the Lord takes away? What did the Lord God Almighty
give us? Salvation in Christ. God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Who is this world
that He loves? Whoever this world is that He
loves, they cannot perish. Has to be the world of His elect.
Cannot mean all men everywhere without exception. Just cannot
be. He loves His own, having loved
His own. Remember John 13, 1? Having loved
His own, He loved them unto the end. Aren't you glad that God
gave? And aren't you glad that God
takes away? He takes away our sin in Christ
Jesus. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. If the
Lord Jesus Christ does not effectually and eternally put away our sin,
the sin of God's sheep, His church, His elect, we'll have no salvation
and we'll have no comfort, will we? will have no eternal life,
and will have no salvation, and will have no comfort. You see, it's His death that
made full atonement for our sin. His death made full atonement
for all our sin. He obtained for us eternal redemption
with His own blood. His death removed the curse of
the law. that was against us, that was
contrary to us. He took it out of the way and
nailed it to His cross. I quote this verse all the time,
but it bears repeating. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law being made a curse for us. Dying in our place, in
our room, and in our stead. If the Lord Jesus Christ does
not successfully obtain eternal redemption for His church, For
he loved the church and gave himself for it. He bought the
church with his own blood. There would be no reason for
God the Holy Spirit to come. That's what he's saying here.
Look what it says in verse 7. Nevertheless, I tell you the
truth, it is expedient for you that I go away. For if I go not
away, if I don't go to Calvary and accomplish your salvation
and bring in everlasting righteousness, the Comforter will not come unto
you. But if I depart, I will send
him unto you. If the Lord Jesus Christ did
not successfully obtain redemption for His people, there would be
no reason for God the Holy Spirit to come, for He would have nothing
to do." Now listen to me. There would be no redeemed by
the blood of Christ to call out, would there? There'd be no sheep
of Christ to regenerate. There would be no revelation
of the gospel, the glory of God that shines in the face of Jesus
Christ. There would be no good news,
the gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, for God
the Holy Spirit to reveal unto us, to show us. Thank God that
our blessed Savior came and accomplished salvation for us. He did it all himself. Turn over
here to Galatians chapter 4, just a moment. Galatians chapter
4. Look at verse 4. Galatians 4, 4, but
when the fullness of thee time was come, Galatians 4, 4, God
sent forth his Son, made of a woman, He's a seed of woman made under
the law to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive
the adoption of sons. And because you are sons, sons
of God by His choice, sons of God by eternal electing love. Because you are sons of God,
behold what manner of love the Father bestowed upon us that
we should be called sons of God. Because you are sons, God has
sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying,
we cry unto Him, Abba, Father, Father, Father. And because you
are sons, wherefore thou art no more a servant a slave to
sin, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ." An heir of God and a joint heir in Christ. We have an inheritance that's
incorruptible, undefiled, that fades not away, that's reserved
in heaven for you. You see how necessary it is for
the Lord Jesus Christ to die for our sin according to the
Scripture? Now, let's read on, and when He is come, verse 8,
John 16, verse 8, when He is come, now this is going to happen,
and it did, and it does. When He is come, He will, that
is God, the Holy Spirit, will overwhelm, convince, convict
the world. That's the world for whom He
died for. the world of his elect, of sin, of righteousness, and
of judgment. Of sin, and righteousness, and
of judgment. The Lord instructs us in the
way of salvation that's revealed unto us in the Word of God by
the Spirit of truth. God the Holy Spirit, when he
comes, unto the elect through the preaching of the gospel.
He will convict us, reprove us, and teach us, and convince us
of these three essential things." This is his work. This is his
work. These three essential things.
Sin, righteousness, and judgment. Now remember this. This is his
work. This is His work, not our work. This is His work. We're not to
tread upon His work. I can't convict you of your sin. I can tell you you're a sinner.
I can't teach you the truth. I can preach the truth, but I
can't reveal it unto your heart. That's not my business. That's
his business. I preach the gospel as I'm instructed
in the Word of God to do, to preach Christ. And I leave sinners
in the hands of Almighty God. Because He'll teach His elect.
He'll convict His elect. He'll reveal Christ unto their
heart. That's why we don't stand down
here at the end of the service and sing 20 verses of Just As
I Am and beg sinners to come forward and make a decision for
Jesus. Show me that in the Word of God.
Not there, is it? Not there at all. Preach the
gospel of the grace of God and leave folks alone. God will bless His Word. It will
not return to Him void. This is the work of God. I tell
you, we get in big trouble, and that's been part of the trouble
in this country for the last 200 years. We get in big trouble
when we try to interfere in God's business. preach the gospel. That's our business. God's commanded
us to go preach the gospel, but he didn't command us to go convict
sinners. I can't do that. And those who
try to do the work of the Holy Spirit, they just mess up. That's
all they do. They just cause a mess. I can expose you to the
truth, and I can preach the truth to you, but God the Holy Spirit
has to be your teacher. teach you the truth and cause
you to experience the truth in your heart. Experience it in
your heart. Taste to see that the Lord is
gracious. And if He doesn't teach you,
God doesn't reveal this truth into your heart, you'll never
savingly believe the gospel of the grace of God. Never rest
in Christ alone. Always looking for something
else, something more. Never resting. When you're taught of God that
salvation's all in Christ, you know what you do? You rest in
Him. Rest in Him. When Paul talked about those
Thessalonians, knowing your election of God, he said, for our gospel
came not unto you in word only. It did come that way. Faith comes
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But it came unto
you also in a power of God the Holy Spirit. That's the invincible call of
God. The invincible, effectual call
of God the Holy Spirit that cannot be successfully resisted. Now you may buck for a while,
but one time you're gonna bow. If you're His, you're gonna bow.
And He convinces us of these three things, of sin, You see
that in verse 9? Of sin, what I am. Of righteousness,
what I need. And of judgment, what happened
at the cross. Now let's look at these three
things. Three things here found in John 16, verse 9, 10, and
11. Of sin. Of sin, he said, because
they believe not on me. What a sinful thing it is not
to believe God. He said, because they do not
believe on me, the true and living God. You'll never seek mercy
in Christ Jesus, never, until you have experienced in your
heart the reality of S-I-N, sin. What we are by birth, born in
sin, shaped in iniquity. We have a sinful nature, a fallen,
depraved nature. We are sinners by birth, nature,
practice, and choice. I cannot not sin. I cannot not
sin. Those who think they cannot sin
or have a difficult time sinning have no idea what sin is and
the key is sin is against God. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. All have sinned that
come short of the glory of God. God the Holy Spirit takes the
word of truth the Gospel, the Word of Truth, and reveals and
teaches us several things about sin. He teaches us the fact of
it, the fact of sin, what happened in the garden, what happened
in Adam. Teaches us that in Adam all died. Teaches us that there was none
righteous, no not one, that we have an inherent guilt and sinful
nature inherited from our father, Adam. And Adam all died, and
Adam all sinned. The fact of sin. Secondly, the
filth of sin. The filth of sin. All of our
righteousnesses in God's sight are filthy rags, and there is
none righteous, no, not one. He teaches us the fountain of
sin. What is the fountain of sin? The fountain of sin is not down
there at the dive. Not down there at the bar. That's not the fountain of sin.
Not the honky-tonk. That's not the fountain of sin.
You know what it is? Look no further than your own
wicked heart. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately
wicked. Our Lord says, Out of your heart
proceeds all manner of evil. Out of your own heart. You see
what's in the well of the heart comes out through the bucket
of the mouth. And that's so. That's so. The fact of sin, the
filth of sin, the fountain of sin, the reward of sin. What is the reward of sin? The
wages of sin is death. The soul that sinneth must surely
die. If the Lord... Now we often say,
well, that man, that convict, that criminal, that guilty man,
that child molester, he ought to go to hell. What he deserves. Okay? Good and well. Let's point
the finger right back here. Is that what you deserve? Oh,
now wait a minute. See, you've never been convinced
of sin if you can't point the finger right back at yourself
and say this, if God sent me to hell, that's exactly what
I deserve. That's being taught of God. That's
being convicted and convinced in your own heart of what you
are and what you deserve. Well, I don't think I'm that
bad. Oh, you're in big trouble. If you think that about yourself,
you're in big trouble. Don't think I'm quite that bad.
Well, that's not what God said. We've all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. And then He teaches us the fruit
of sin. The fruit of sin. Sin is all I do. What can a sinner
produce? A sinner can't produce righteousness.
A sinner, all he can do is sin. All I can produce is sin, unbelief. That's a product of this fallen
nature. Turn back over here to John chapter 3. That's why we
must be born again, begotten of God, made new creatures, raised
up from the dead, given a new divine nature, one that loves
God, one that believes God. Look over here in John chapter
3. Look at verse 18, "...he that believeth on him is not condemned,
but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he
hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
That's the deity of Christ. And this is condemnation, that
light is coming to the world, and men love darkness rather
than light. because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil
hates the light. The carnal mind is in enmity
against God, is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be Romans 8. Neither cometh to the light,
lest its deeds be reproved. But he that doeth truth, believes
the truth, comes to the light, comes to Christ. Those who are
convicted of God, they come to Christ to light, that their deeds
may be manifest, that they are wrought in God, or that our salvation
is of the Lord and of Him only. Back to the text. He convicts
us and convinces us of the fact of sin, the filth of sin, the
fruit of sin, the fountain of sin, the reward of sin, but thank
God He doesn't leave us there. He shows us the atonement for
sin. There is an atonement for sin. The atonement for sin is in the
Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanses us from all our sin. Let's turn over there and
read that one more time. 1 John. Turn over to 1 John. Now, over by the Revelation.
1 John chapter 1. 1 John chapter 1. Verse 7, if we walk in the light
as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all
our sin. What cleanses us? The blood of
Jesus Christ, redeemed with His precious blood. If we say, look
at verse 8 now, if we say we have no sin, you see that singular? It doesn't say sins. He's talking
about our sin nature, what we are. If we say we have no sin
nature, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned,
we make Him a liar and we show that the Word is not in us, the
truth is not in us. So, Holy Spirit conviction. If the Lord ever convicts us
that we are sinners, you know what'll happen? We'll sue for
mercy. We'll sue for mercy. Lord, you
remember what that publican prayed? Lord, have mercy upon me, the
sinner. I'm the guilty one. Apostle Paul
was brought to that place, wasn't he? Saul of Tarsus, oh, he thought
he was, we're going to read in a minute from Philippians chapter
3, he thought at one time when he was old Saul the Pharisee,
he said, I was blameless. Blameless. Concerning the law,
no one can charge you, charge me with an outward offense, but
when God taught him the gospel, This is what he said, this is
a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation, that the Lord
Jesus Christ came to save sinners, and I'm the chief one. I'm the
chief sinner. I'm the sinful, sinful one. You
see, the Lord Jesus Christ came to save the lost. If you've never
been lost, you've never been saved. God's going to get us,
as old Barnard used to say, God's got to get us plum lost. before
He ever saves us. God's got to strip us before
He clothes us. God's got to put us in the dust
before He raises us up. As I said a moment ago, the Lord
is nigh unto them of a broken heart. He saveth such as be of
a contrite spirit. There's the first thing He convinces
us of, of sin, because of what we are, manifested by our unbelief. Verse 10. Secondly, he says,
of righteousness, because I go to my Father. Now,
here's what, we just talked about what we are. Here's what we need. Righteousness, righteousness,
righteousness before God. A justifying righteousness. Because,
he says, of righteousness, because I go to the Father." Now what
does this tell us here? When the Lord Jesus Christ died
for our sins according to Scripture, He didn't stay dead. When He
by Himself purged our sin, He sat down on the right hand of
the Majesty on high. That's pretty high, isn't it?
a place of approval, a place of love, a place of satisfaction,
having satisfied the Father. He was delivered, the Lord Jesus
Christ was delivered for our offenses and raised again for
our justification. God the Holy Spirit, when He
teaches us that we are sinners, what we are, and then He secondly
shows us what we need, We need Christ, the Lord, our righteousness. We need a justifying righteousness
before God. That's why the psalmist said,
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without
works. Because I'm a sinner, I cannot
produce a justifying righteousness satisfying unto God. I cannot. I cannot. That is one that he
will accept. That is one that will be satisfying
to God. Those who try have never been
convicted by God the Holy Spirit of the righteousness revealed
and provided in the gospel. Those who are always going about
to establish a righteousness by what they do or do not do,
They've never been convicted and convinced of the heart of
the righteousness that's revealed in the gospel. What is that righteousness
revealed in the gospel? Okay, let's see if we can find
out. Turn to Roman chapter one. The righteousness revealed in
the gospel. Now what is this righteousness
revealed in the gospel? It's not our morality. It's not how moral we should
be. Now I'm not against morality, but I'm dead set against morality
in saying that that is how a sinner is justified before God by his
works or by his deeds because the scripture condemns that.
By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his
sight. That's the problem. Romans chapter
1, here's the righteousness revealed in the gospel that I must have,
and that I'm convinced of that I must have. Verse 16, for I'm
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of
God unto salvation to everyone that believes. Faith is a gift
of God to the Jew and also to the Gentile, to the Greek, for
therein is that gospel that the power of God unto salvation is
the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is
written, the just shall live by faith. Faith that looks to,
unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Find Roman chapter 10. Turn over
there just a minute, Roman chapter 10. This is the righteousness
revealed in the gospel. Romans 10 verse 1, Brethren,
my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they
might be saved. Paul here is concerned about
his Jewish brethren, who are always going about to establish
their own righteousness, of which the Lord said, it's an abomination
in his sight. For I bear them record they are
zealous of God, but not according to knowledge. They're ignorant
of the true and living God. For they, being ignorant of God's
righteousness, now that here is talking about his essential
character, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. Read verse 4. For Christ, the
Lord Jesus Christ, is the end of the law for righteousness,
Everyone that believes the gospel of God. Now turn back to the
text. Human morality, good works, is
a very poor substitute for a justifying righteousness before God, is
it not? Our Lord said of those Pharisees, you are they that
justify yourselves before men. But God knows your heart. That
which is highly esteemed among men, He says, is an abomination
in my sight. Those who choose to stand on
that ground of good works, will worship, doing the best you can,
everything will work out. Those who choose to stand on
that ground will be condemned forever. You remember those in
Matthew 7? where they said, Lord, we preached
in your name. Lord, we've done many good works in your name.
Lord, we've even cast out demons in your name. We've done all
these things and we've done them in your name. What did the Lord say? Depart
from me, I never knew you, you workers of iniquity. Workers of iniquity. You see, the problem was, I did
this, I did that, I did this. It's not Him, Him, Him, Christ,
and Christ alone. Thanks be unto God who has given
us the victory in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have the victory,
we have righteousness in Christ Jesus. Now let me show you a
good example what I'm talking about. A good scriptural example
of what I'm talking about of a sinner, turn to Philippians
chapter 3, of a sinner who one time thought his good work recommended
him to God, Philippians chapter 3. This is the story of Saul
of Tarsus. the Pharisee who met the Lord
Jesus Christ. And after he met the Lord Jesus
Christ, boy, he sang a different tune. Didn't he? Look what it
says here, Philippians chapter 3. He says, anybody in verse
4 might have any confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh
that he have whereof he might trust in the flesh, he said,
I've got more reason than anybody. I've got more. Verse 5, circumcised
the eighth day, the stock of Israel, considered the most valid
circumcision of the tribe of Benjamin, the beloved son of
Jacob. A Hebrew of Hebrews, his daddy
and mama, he wasn't a half-breed, his mama was a Hebrew, his daddy
was a Hebrew. A touching law or concerning
law, he was a strict moralist, a Pharisee, a legalist, self-righteous
man. Concerning zeal, no one could
touch him. He persecuted believers unto
death. This is Saul of Tarsus. Touching
righteousness which is in the law, he says here, before the
law came and killed him, he said, I was blameless. I was blameless. You see, he hadn't been convicted
and convinced of sin yet, had he? But what things were gained
to me, now those I count all things lost for Christ." All
things lost for Christ. Yea, doubtless, I count all things
but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord. Look at verse 8. For whom I've
suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but done that
I may win Christ. You see that? Look at verse 9,
and be found in him, be found in him, not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. You see that? The righteousness which is of
God by faith. You see in the gospel, turn to
1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 30. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 30,
But of him, but of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is
made unto us, he's our wisdom, he's our righteousness, he's
our sanctification, and he's our redemption. You see, we have
everything in Christ. He is called in Scripture the
Lord our Righteousness. Remember those seven names of
Jehovah? Jehovah Jireh? One of those seven names is Jehovah
Sid Canu. He's the Lord our Righteousness. Now, do you see your need of
the Lord Jesus Christ to be your righteousness before God? Do
you see your need? Have you been convinced in your
heart of a righteousness that you must have to stand in His
presence, and has He convinced you and convicted you in your
heart that that only righteousness that God will accept is that
righteousness that God has provided, and that is Christ, the Lord
Jesus Christ alone, His person. He is the Lord, our righteousness. Now, if you have, turn with me
to Psalm 71, and here's what we say. Those who have been convinced
of that justifying righteousness in Christ Jesus, Psalm 71, look
at verse 14. Psalm 71 verse 14. This whole
Psalm here is about righteousness. Righteousness. The believer's
righteousness. But I will hope continually and
will yet praise thee more and more. Verse 15. My mouth shall
show forth thy righteousness. Oh, whose righteousness? Oh,
that I may win Christ and be found in him, not having my own
righteousness, but through his faithfulness. My mouth shall
shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day.
For I know not the numbers thereof. I will go in the strength of
the Lord. I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of
thine only. Look at verse 24, Psalm 71. My tongue also shall talk of
thy righteousness all the day. For they are confounded, for
they are brought unto shame that seek my hurt." We talk about
His righteousness, don't we? His righteousness. Now, do you
see your need of Christ our righteousness? That's our comfort, isn't it?
Thirdly is this, of judgment because the prince of this world
is judged. Because the prince of this world
is judged. Look back at the text again, verse 11. Of sin, what I am. Of righteousness,
what I need. Of judgment, because the Prince
of this world is judged. He shows us what happened at
the cross. What happened at the cross. The
Prince of this world, Satan himself, has been judged, as was promised
in the garden, the seed of the woman would crush his head. And this is what happened at
Calvary. The Prince of the power of the air has been defeated
As Martin Luther said in his hymn, his doom is sure. Now don't turn, let me just get
this for you. Colossians chapter 2, Verse 13, being dead in your
sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened
together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting
out the handwriting of ordinance that was against us, that was
contrary to us, took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross.
Verse 15, having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of
them openly, triumphing over them in Himself. He's defeated
all our enemies. Satan, defeated. Sin is put away. The Lord Jesus Christ has conquered
sin, death, hell, and the grave. He said, I'm He that liveth and
was dead. Behold, I'm alive forevermore. God the Holy Spirit will convince
us of this blessed fact that Satan can no longer accuse us
He's accuser of the brethren who has been cast out. The law
of God cannot condemn us who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect. The blessed fact that at Calvary,
in Christ crucified, our sins have already been judged and
fully atoned for. You see, I'm crucified with Christ.
God made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. There is therefore
now in Christ Jesus, Romans 8, 1, no condemnation to those who
are in the Lord Jesus Christ. Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who
can condemn me? It's Christ who has already died,
ye rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God. In Romans 8 we see no condemnation, we see no accusation
against us, and we see no separation. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in
closing, let me give you this. True repentance, conviction of
sin, is the fruit and the gift of God. True godly sorrow over
our sin always drives us not to despair, it drives us unto
Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a godly sorrow that works
as repentance to salvation, not to be repented of. This true
experience of repentance in the heart of a believer is not an
isolated experience. It is an everyday, ongoing life
experience. We have repented, we are repenting,
and by His grace, we continue to repent and believe Christ
and come unto Him. You see, it's not the wrath of
God that brings a sinner to repentance, is it? We studied that in the
Revelation, didn't we? Those who were scorched with
heat, they repented not to give God the glory. It's the goodness
of God that leads us to repentance. Romans 2 verse 4. This true repentance
is not an isolated experience, but the experience of the believer
every day. Every day I'm convicted that
I'm a sinner. And I'm comforted in the fact
that the Lord Jesus Christ put away my sin. Every day I'm convicted
of the fact that I cannot produce a righteousness, but my comfort
is this. The Lord Jesus Christ is my righteousness. He is my righteousness. You see,
I have comfort from sin, and that's Christ. I have comfort
that the Lord Jesus Christ obeyed the law of God for me and brought
in everlasting righteousness for me. I have comfort from judgment. My sins have already been judged
and in Christ there is no condemnation. This is why Isaiah penned these
words, by God the Holy Spirit, regarding Christ our comfort.
He said, "...Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to the church
of God, crying to her that her warfare is accomplished, that
her iniquity is pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sin." This is our comfort. This is our comfort. You see,
when the Comforter has come, He'll convict us and then He'll
comfort us. He'll convict us and then He'll
comfort us. He'll convict us and then He'll
comfort us. Comfort us with Christ. He'll
take the things of Christ and show them unto us.