Now, we meet together this Lord's
Day morning again, as we have met together for almost,
next Sunday, 51 years. If you want to know how many
Lord's Days and Sundays that is, multiply 51 and I'm 50. 51 times 52. We meet to praise God, singing often the same songs
of which we never tire. We meet to worship our Lord,
to sit before his presence like Mary of old and hear his word
preached, to pray. to read this word that we've
read again and again and again and again. Every time I read
it I see something fresh and new, don't you? Why? Why do we do this? But I could
answer in the words of Clemmie Coleman. Who is Clemmie Coleman? 92-year-old Mother Israel at
the Madisonville Baptist Church in Madisonville, Kentucky. And
when you preach down there, she's always there, in the same pew,
every service. And somebody asked Clemmie one
day, why do you feel like you have to be in every worship service
every Sunday? And she thought a moment, and
then she replied, well, I ought to be here. And secondly, I need to be here. And thirdly, I just want to be
here. That's profound. But that's three
good reasons. I ought to be here, where the
people of God meet and worship him. One time the disciples got
together and the Lord was with them and Thomas wasn't there. And the disciples told him, we've
seen the Lord. And he said, I don't believe
it. He did. He didn't believe it because
he wasn't there. And he didn't see it. And when
they met again and the Lord came, the Lord rebuked him. And he
said, you reach out of your hand, you touch my side. And you touch
my hands and feet. Don't you be faithless, but believe."
But I want to add to Ms. Coleman's answer. I have three
reasons about which I feel real strongly. We need to worship,
number one, because we believe God. Sincerely, we believe God. David gave that reason, that
simple reason, for all he did. and all he said. He said, I believe,
therefore I speak. And the Apostle Paul thought
that was such a good answer, he repeated it. He said, David
said, I believe, and therefore I speak, and even so I believe,
and therefore I speak. And I'm going to borrow his,
I believe, therefore I'm here to speak. And all that Abraham did, for
all that he did, we have one and only one explanation for
all that he did. We have only one explanation. He believed God. That's why he left home. He believed
God. That's why he headed for the
mountains while Lot headed for the plains. He believed God.
That's why he sent Ishmael away, the son of the bondwoman. He
believed God. That's why he offered his son Isaac on the altar. He
believed God. And that's why he never owned
a foot of land, but he walked through this wilderness dwelling
in tents with Isaac and Jacob, because he believed God. The second reason that I offer
is this. We need, this is one of her reasons,
we need and we enjoy this time of meditation and study and fellowship
with our Lord. We need this and we enjoy it. David said, I was glad. I was
so happy when they said to me, let's go to the house of the
Lord. What a privilege, what a pleasure
to go to the house of the Lord. Again, he said, a day in his
courts is better than a thousand. And in fact, I'd rather be the
doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than to dwell in the tents
of the wicked. It's not the place only, it's
the person. I thank God for this place. I
remember visiting my grandmother's home. I used to love to go to
my grandmother's house in Georgia. We went every summer, we went
to my grandmother's house. I look forward to it. It's a
special place, but when she was gone I didn't go back. That says something doesn't it?
It wasn't the place, it was the person. But the person is identified
with the place. He called it my house. He ran
the thieves out and he said, my house shall be called the
house of prayer. He made it a den of thieves.
It's not the benefits only, but I thank God for them. Forget
not all his benefits, but it's the beloved. That's
it. to rejoice in and to hear of
our beloved. And you know, it's not the gifts
only, but we thank God for his gifts. It's the giver. But I'm
here and you're here because we believe God, and because we
need this fellowship, and we enjoy rejoicing in this fellowship.
But there's a third reason, and this is what Paul is talking
about in our text. He says in verse 1 of Romans
10, brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel
is that they might be saved. So this third and very important
reason why we assemble together in these worship services and
the preaching of the word is that we want so very much for
our children and our children's children to know our Lord. we want so desperately and so
much for our friends and our neighbors and our loved ones,
to know the living God and to know his mercies and his grace
in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let me read you what John said
about that. He said this, he said, that which
I've seen and that which I've heard, I declare unto you my
friends and my loved ones in my family, I preach this to you
and I'll tell you why. That you may have fellowship
with us. That you may be a part of this
fellowship in hearing and seeing and believing the Lord Jesus
Christ. I've heard him, I've seen him,
I want you to hear him and see him. I want you to be in the
body, in the family of God, in the church of the firstborn.
I want you to be in fellowship with us. And listen to the second
reason. He said, I fellowship with the Father. We're sons of
God. We cry, Abba, Father. I fellowship
with the Father and we're joint heirs with the Son. I fellowship
with the Son. We want you to be a part of that.
Then he says this. These things I write unto you
and preach unto you that your joy may be full. Joy. Happy. Who's the happy person?
Who is the really happy person? Who is the truly blessed person?
Blessed above all people, who is he? Who has the greatest permanent
joy? David tells us, and Paul repeats
it. He says over here in Romans 4
verse 6, David described the happiness of the man, the blessedness
of the man, the favor of God shown unto the man To whom God
imputeth righteousness without works. Now that's a happy man.
Who has the righteousness of God. Not by what he did, but
by what Christ did. Or he don't. Romans 4, 7. Happy
is the man to whom God says, blessed are they whose iniquities
are forgiven. Now that man's happy. All of
his sins, past, present, and future. Omission, commission. secret and open and forgiven. Their sins are covered, covered
with a cloak of hypocrisy, no, with the blood of Christ. Covered
forever that God Almighty himself can't see them. He said, your
sins and iniquities I remember no more. That's a happy man.
Blessed is the man to whom God will not charge sin. When he stands before the court
of glory, court of heaven, they won't find anything in the books
under his name, but holy unto the Lord. This is what Paul is
saying here in verse 1 of Romans 10, brethren, my heart's desire
and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.
He is talking about his religious friends, his family and neighbors
and brothers and He wants them to be delivered from the kingdom
of darkness and bondage and condemnation and legalism to the glorious
liberty of the kingdom of God. I want them to be saved. Is he saying these people are
atheists? No. No, they believe there's a God.
These Israelites, these Jews about whom Paul is speaking here,
they believe God. You know, James wrote this, he
said, you believe there's one God, you do well, the devil believes
there's one God. No, he's not saying they're atheists.
What, is he saying they don't believe in God? Yeah, he's not
saying that at all. These people do believe in God.
In fact, they said to the Lord Jesus, God is our Father. We'd
be not born of fornication, we have one God. And He's our Father. Christ said, whether He were
your Father, you'd love me. I came from God. And he that's
begotten loveth him that begat. Is he saying that these people
are immoral? No, they were strict law keepers. That they were indecent? No sir, they stoned indecent
people. That they were lawless, immoral?
Oh no, not at all, not at all. They were people who prayed three
times a day. They were people who kept the
holy days. They were people who studied the law. There were people
who counted 100% on the fact that they'd be one day in glory. Verse 2 tells us that. He said,
I bear them record. And the reason he knows so much
about them, he was one of them. He said, I was born of the tribe
of Benjamin. I'm a Hebrew of Hebrews. That's
touching the law. I'm a Pharisee. He was one of them. He said,
I bear them record. They're very religious, they're
very sincere, they're very devout, they're zealous, they have a
zeal of God. But what's the problem, Bob?
Look to the next line. It's not according to knowledge. It's not according to knowledge.
I bear them record. These descendants of Moses and
these children of Abraham, they have a zeal for God, very religious. They are religious. They study
the scriptures. Christ said that to them. He
said, you search the scriptures. They keep the holy days. They
study the law. They offer their tithes, strict
tithes. But they didn't know the Lord.
They didn't know Christ. He came on his own. His own received
him not. He was in the world and they
knew him not. Paul said if they had known who he was, they would
never have crucified him. They called him a devil. They
called him a winebibber, a gluttonous man. They said, this is the carpenter.
Nothing good can come out of Nazareth. Our Lord said to these men, he
said, you neither know me nor my father, not according to knowledge. Not according to knowledge. You
don't know me or my father. Our Lord said to his disciples
before he left them, went to the cross. He said, they'll persecute
you, these religious people. will hate you, because they hated
me. And they'll persecute you. And I'll tell you why they'll
persecute you, because they don't know the Father, and they don't
know me. They talk about the Father, they
call him their Father, but they don't know him, not according
to knowledge. And he said to them that day,
he said, you search the scriptures, in them you think you have life?
You think there's life in the In the priesthood, in the sacrifices,
in the Sabbath days, in keeping the law, you think there's life
in those traditions? The scriptures testify of me
and you won't come to me that you might have life. You search
the scriptures and all these types and shadows and pictures
and you think in them you have life. In these traditions and
offerings and rituals you have life. But they testify of me. And you won't come to me that
you might have lies. He said in Matthew 11, he said,
No man knows the Father, save the Son, and him he to whom the
Son will reveal. Neither knoweth any man the Son,
but the Father, and he to whom the Father will reveal. No man can come to me except
my Father which sent me drawing. And they shall all be taught
of God. Every man that hath learned of the Father, taught of God,
comes to me." Thank God we can say with John,
the Son of God has come and given us an understanding, that we
may know him that is true. This is the true God, this is
eternal life, and that we are in him that is true. In his Son,
Jesus Christ, this is the true God. This is eternal life. The Son of God has come and given
us an understanding. He's not only our priest and
king, he's our prophet. God said, I raise up a prophet
from among you, born of a woman, made of a woman, made under the
law, and he'll teach you. These people didn't know God,
they were religious. Paul says, my heart is broken
for my friends and my brethren, according to the flesh. I want
them to be saved. I bear them record, they're religious,
zealous, sincere, devout in their religion. But it's not according
to knowledge. My generation, people I preach
to over television, radio, they don't know God. They go, hey,
God, but they don't know the true character of God. The Lord
God omnipotent reigneth. He reigneth in the armies of
heaven. He reigneth among the inhabitants of the earth. He
giveth it to whomsoever he will. None can stay his hand. None
can say unto him, What doest thou? He said to Moses, I'll
be merciful to whom I will be merciful. I'll be gracious to
whom I will be gracious. So then it's not of him that
willeth. It's not of him that runneth. It's not of him that
showeth activities. It's of God that shows mercy.
Salvation is of the Lord. My generation doesn't know that
God. They've got a lesser God. They've got a God who wills and
can't, who wants to and is not able, who dies for everybody
but who can't save them, who calls all men but they won't
open the door. He knocks, but nobody opens the
door. I'll tell you this, if his hand
ever touches your door, it'll open. It'll fall like the walls
of Jericho. It'll part like the Red Sea.
And he'll march through on dry land, and his flag will be raised
on the flagpole of your soul as high as it'll go. Jesus Christ
is King. Praise the Lord. My generation
doesn't know the character of God. They don't know what happened
in the garden. What happened in the garden? By one man, Adam,
sin entered this world. And death, spiritual death. and
death to everything, and finally physical death, death. Sin entered
this world and death came to all men, upon all men, for all
sin in him. And we die, especially today.
My generation, they don't know what happened at the cross. What
happened at the cross? God set forth his Son. He set
him forth in promise, in picture, in pattern, and then in person. and nailed him to the cross.
It pleased God to bruise him. The Jews crucified Christ, the
Romans crucified Christ. They did what God determined
before to be done. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He put him to grief. He made his soul an offering
for sin, and he did it. He set him forth on the cross
as a propitiation, as a complete and effectual and sufficient
atonement, and a cleansing, and a sin offering. that he might
be just and justify folks like you and me. That's right. I know
him. You know him. But this generation
does not know what happened on the cross. They don't know what
happened in the garden. They don't know what happened
on the cross. And they don't know what happens in the heart of
a sinner when God saves him. When God Almighty, but God, who
is rich in mercy for his great love wherever he loved us, even
when we were dead in sin, quickened us to gather with Christ, quickened
us, by grace you say, and with Christ raised us, and exalted
us, and seated us with Christ in the heavenlies, for by grace
so you say, through faith in that part of yourselves, it's
the gift of God. I know what happens when God
saves a man. I know what happens when a man
tries to save himself. I know what happens when the
preacher tries to save him, nothing. I know what happens when his
mama tries to save him, nothing. I know what happens when the
song winner tries to save him, nothing. But I know what happens
when God, all things, become new. He's a new creature, created
by the hand of him that said, let there be light. That's right. And here's the clear proof that
men do not know God. Look at verse 3. I'll bear them
record. Verse 2 says they have a zeal,
they've got religion, but they don't know God, they don't know
Christ, they don't know what salvation is. Here's clear proof. For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness. What's that? His own essential
holiness. They don't know the God of the
Bible. He's a holy God. Holy is his
chief attribute. Holiness unto the Lord. God can
do nothing contrary to his holiness. That's the reason Christ had
to come to the earth and work out a righteousness for us, because
God demands righteousness. That's why he had to go to the
cross and die for our sins, because God's justice demands satisfaction.
He's a holy God. That's his chief attribute. This
is his holy word. He's in his holy temple. Those
are his holy angels. And when the high priest went
unto the holy of holies, he had on his miser holiness to the
Lord. That's the reason I need cleansing
and saving and redeeming, because I'm not holy. That's right. Holy. And they're ignorant of
God's righteousness, what he demands and what he must have.
And what are they doing? They're going about to establish
their own righteousness. And they won't submit themselves
to the righteousness of God. which he worked out in the person
of his son, which he imputed to us by the obedience of Christ. They're going about to establish
their own righteousness. You know, any person here or
anywhere else who supposes that an immaculate, infinitely holy
God, righteous God, can be pleased with anything I do in the flesh. If he can be in the flesh, no
man can please God. In the flesh let us know good
things, that none good but God. And any man who supposes a woman
or thinks that in the flesh doing, duties and deeds pleases God,
and that he can accept us as being righteous and holy based
on our works and our deeds and our morality and our duties,
that man does not know God. He does not know God. He does
not know himself. He does not know what righteousness
is. And he does not know why Jesus
Christ came into the world. He doesn't know. He's ignorant. of God, his righteousness, his
character, his holiness, what he demands, what he must have,
for heaven is a holy place prepared for an immaculately holy people,
just like Christ. And there's nothing you can do
that pleases God in any shape, form, or fashion. Here's the answer, verse 4, Christ,
Jesus the Lord, I'm talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. I didn't
call him just Jesus. I called him the Lord Jesus.
He said, you call me Lord and you say, well, so I am. Call
him Master. He's God in human flesh. The Lord Jesus Christ. Eternal
God. He's named Wonderful Counselor
of the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
The government's on his shoulders. He is, he was, he always will
be the same yesterday, today, and forever. God Almighty came
to this earth in human flesh, born of a woman, made under the
law. And as a man, just like Adam
was my representative, Christ was my spiritual representative.
Adam in the flesh, Christ in the spirit. Adam made of dirt,
Christ Jesus, Son of God. Adam of the earth, earthly, Christ
the Lord from heaven. He came down, and by his perfect
life, perfection, holiness, immaculate holiness, I always do those things
that please my Father. I've glorified thee on the earth.
I've honored and glorified you on this earth in human flesh.
Now you glorify me and all my people, for I will that those
whom you gave me be with me where I am. And he can demand that because
he purchased that. And they'll be there. They'll
be there. And then he went to that cross,
and he bore our sins in his body on the tree, and his righteousness
is mine as if I did it myself, and his death is mine as if I
died myself under the wrath of God. He was made sin for us that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. And he says here
he's the end of the law. What does that mean? He's the
goal of the law. That's why the law was given. It wasn't given
to save. It was given as a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. To teach
us Christ. To shut our big mouths and open
our hearts to Christ. That's why the law was given.
To shut our mouths. Shut us up to Christ. That's
why it was given. For no other purpose. And he's
the end of it. He's accomplished that purpose.
He's the fulfillment of it. He was made a curse for us and
delivered us from the curse of the law. He's the conclusion
of the law. I'm not under the law. No more. I'm under grace. I'm not under
the law as a way of salvation, as a covenant, as a means to
honor God. I'm under grace. God is honored
in his son. Now here, you know, a hymn writer
said this about that verse. Now my heart condemns me not,
Holy before the law I stand, He who cleansed me from all spots,
Satisfied is life's demand." With his spotless garments on,
we are as holy as God's Son. Nearer, so nearer to God, nearer
you cannot be, and the person of his Son, you are as near as
he. That's true. If you don't know
that, you don't know the gospel. And this verse says you're ignorant,
and your zeal for God is without knowledge. Now Moses describes
the righteousness of the law. You know what he says? The man
that wants to live by the law has got to do it. He's got to
do it. And I'll tell you how well he
has to do it. As well as Christ. His life, from cradle to grave,
he's got to duplicate his Lord. But wait a minute, before the
cradle, He can't be born of a man. He can't be born of a man, because
he'd have sin in him. So it's just, can't be done. But the righteousness of faith,
it says, speaketh on this wise. Don't say in your heart, well,
who's going to, we're going to have to go to heaven to bring
Messiah down. No, he's already come. But we're going to have
to go into the deep and bring Messiah up to the dead. No, he's
already risen. Old John Brown wrote this. Do not think that
divine justice and righteousness depends on anything to be done
by you or anyone else. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification
and redemption are all accomplished and finished by our crucified,
risen Lord. And there's no need to say, who
shall ascend to heaven to bring the Messiah down? He's already
come. He has performed the Father's work given him to do. He has fulfilled our righteousness
and our redemption. There's no need to say who shall
descend into the deep to bring the Messiah from the grave. He's
risen. He's exalted. He's accepted. And we are risen,
exalted, and accepted in him. He needs nothing from us to make
himself and us accepted. What does the righteousness of
faith say? Look at it here, and I'll quit. What sayeth it? What says the righteousness of
faith? The word is near you, it's even in your mouth. You
sang it while ago. You sang the word, the gospel
is in your mouth, on your lips. And when you read the words and
you thought about them, it was in your heart. It's the word
I'm preaching. The word of faith is the word
that's in your mouth, on your heart, and preached by your pastor. That, here it is. Now this word
of salvation is not in the temple or in the tables of stone or
in the hands of man, it's in your mouth and heart. That if
I shall confess with my mouth, Jesus to be Lord, to be who he is. Now not just
an ordinary man, not just a good man, not just a prophet, but
Lord. Everything I've said about the
Lord Jesus Christ here this morning is valid and vital. He's God. In the beginning with God, He
was God, all things were made by Him. He's God. He's the God-man. I'm such a great sinner, it took
God to save me. God in human flesh. And I confess
that He is the Son of God. And I believe that in my heart.
That God raised Him from the dead. Well, you can't raise Him
from the dead unless He dies. And if he died, he died the death
of death for sinners. That's why he died. And I believe
God raised him from the dead and exalted him at his right
hand. And with the heart man believes
unto righteousness and with mouth confession made unto salvation. Now what do I do? I preach the
truth to you. Now do we close this service
and ask you to, I told you you don't do anything to be saved,
God did it. Now what do I do, close this service and tell you
what, start doing something? Come down here and shake my hand
and do something and then go ahead and be baptized and then
let the secretary put your name on the roll and then start giving
your offerings? No. Right where you are, don't
move a hand or a hair, don't take a step, because coming to
Christ is not An act of the body is an act of the heart. With
the heart, man believes unto righteousness. And that man who believes will
confess it. You can't confess what hasn't
happened. We've got a new baby at our house. Is he born? No,
he's not born yet, but you don't confess what hasn't happened.
You confess what's happened. Glory, it happened. God saved
me. I've come down here to tell you about it. If you don't give
an altar call, nobody's going to be saved. I tell you, nobody's
going to be saved by me or you or anybody else. But when God
saves a man, you don't have to tell him what to do. He'll tell
you. He'll tell you with his mouth. God's done something for me and
I pray to you if he would I'd like for you to baptize me so
I can confess him to the congregation and he's pray to you he'll be
glad to do it but my work's done when I finish that message and
close that book my work's done I told you about him now he's
got to make it effective he's got to reveal it to you he's
got to give you a new heart a new life and a love for him and a
love for his word my work's done I get a lot of criticism for
that, but my work's done. Salvation's of the Lord. And
He'll save you, and He'll keep you. He'll keep you. And He'll raise you someday,
and He'll make you like Christ. It's all of the Lord. You understand
that, don't you? I do. I believe that 51 years ago,
and I believe it right now, just exactly. I believe it now. It doesn't change, and His preacher
doesn't change. The message doesn't change and we don't change our
methods, we don't change our message, we don't change our
means, we don't change our music. He changes you and makes you
love it. Alright, let's sing our closing
hymn. Let's sing My Redeemer. I love this, 488. I'll sing of
My Redeemer. You will if He's your Redeemer.
You'll sing of Him.