An account of sin and grace. Sin and grace poles apart. Sin, man, grace, God. Sin, bondage, grace, freedom. Explorers have measured mountains fathomed the depths of seas,
deserts, and kings, soared in their ships to heaven, and traced
fountains. But they're two vast unmeasured
things, of which to measure we should
embrace, yet so very, very few understand. sin and grace. The word of the Lord came to
Ezekiel saying, son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her sins,
her abomination, her iniquities. One of the great preachers of
the past said no man living has ever exaggerated his own sins
or thought too lowly of himself. There does not live beneath heaven
one man or one woman whose understanding and sense of sin is as deep as
sin really is. You and I are ten thousand times
worse in God's sight than we can even imagine that we are. When a man or woman feels himself
defiled, depraved, lost, utterly separated from God Almighty by
birth, by nature, by choice, by practice, Driven to despair, he is somewhere near the truth
of the evil of his sins. My friends, the importance of
knowing the depth of sin, the importance of having some understanding
of what God says about sin, The importance of knowing the
depth of our iniquity is that when a man is made to be a little
sinner, he'll usually wind up with a little savior. When a man thinks himself to
be a little sinner, he invariably embraces a little gospel. But a great sinner needs a great
Savior. A great sinner needs infinite
grace, free grace, saving grace, effectual grace, persevering
grace. Verse 3 in our text says, And
say, thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem, Your birth, your
beginning, your nativity is of the land of Canaan. Thy father was an Amorite, thy
mother was a Hittite, both heathen pagans who knew not God. And as for their nativity, about
nativity, in the day you were born, your navel was not cut
nor tied. They didn't wash you, left you
in your afterbirth. They didn't supple you, didn't
care for you, didn't want you. You weren't salted. at all, nor
swaddled, nor embraced, no one to care for you or help you.
Nobody pitied you to do any of these things to you, to have
compassion upon you, but you were cast out into the open field to the loathing of your person
in the day you were born. This is a picture of our beginning
sons of Adam and Eve. We were born of sinful parents.
Scripture says, in sin my mother conceived me. I was shapen in
iniquity. I was brought forth speaking
lies. I was estranged from the womb.
We didn't come into this world as those who might stand or fall. We came into this world as those
who were already fallen. By one man, sin entered this
world, and death by sin, and so death and sin and darkness
and disease passed upon all men. Our ruin was total. We were cast
out. That's what it says. Cast out
into the open field. Our inability was total. Without
help, Paul said, without hope, without God in this world. None I pity thee. No outside
help from any quarter. The law has to condemn us. Holiness
is offended. Truth must testify against us. Justice must prepare the soul. You were cast out to the loathing
of your person, my person. The infant is not a pleasant
sight. It's a terrible sight. Unwanted, unwashed, hopeless, helpless, loathsome.
God uses the word loathsome. And we are not a pleasant sight
in God's eyes. We justify ourselves. We clean
up the outside, but God doesn't look on the outside. God looks
on the high. And what he sees is our righteousness
as filthy rags. And from the sole of our feet
to the top of our heads, no soundness. In us. In us. Nothing but wounds and bruises
and putrefying, loathsome sores. Their whole heart is faint, their
mind is sick. Men think lightly of sin, but God describes it as loathsome,
an abomination. And there in the open field,
left alone, unwanted, unwashed, uncared for, loathsome, this
baby lies. And the lion begins to stop.
That's Satan, the roaring lion. The vultures, demons, circle
overhead. Worms begin to crawl toward that
deserted body. Insects descend upon it. What a terrible sight. But Romans
7 verse 13 says that sin, by the word of God, might be shown
to be exceeding sinful. That sin, by the word of God,
might be shown to be what it is. exceeding immeasurable sinfulness
of sin. Well, the next word is grace. And I can't begin to fathom the
depth of sin. Could I ever reach the top of
the Everest of grace? But he says, when I passed by
you, We didn't come where He is, He
came where we are. When I passed by you, you were
not even mindful of me. But I was mindful of you. You
didn't choose me. I chose you. And I passed by
you. I came where you are. And I saw
you. I saw you. How did I see you? I saw you polluted in your own
blood. The ugliness of this infant is
in his own condition. The ugliness of this infant is
not what his parents did. That was ugly. But he's ugly
in himself. The ugliness of this infant is
in his own blood, his own condition, his own putrefaction. And that's
our ugliness. And we go to the counselors and
they comfort us and tell us, we're beautiful, somebody else
was ugly. And that's the reason we're in bad shape is somebody
else was ugly. We're in bad shape because we're
ugly. I saw you polluted in your blood, many times worse than
you think. Polluted in your sin and your
shame and your ugliness. And I said to you, when you were
in your blood, I said to you, live. Live! Our Lord stood outside
the grave of Lazarus and told him to roll away the stone. And
Martha said, Lord, don't do that. Don't roll away the stone. He
smells. He's been dead four days and
he stinks. He stinks. Lazarus is dead, but I said live. Lazarus stinks, but I said live. You were polluted in your blood,
and I said live. Our Lord passed by us, not by
chance. Chance had nothing to do with
it. Purpose. Knowing where we were, He came
by us in the ministry of the word, one Sunday morning, Sunday
night, Wednesday night. He came by us in the ministry
of the word. He saw us, sees us as we are. He looks upon us in our sinfulness. But God, who is rich in mercy
for his great love, wherewith he loved us even when we were
dead in sin, committed his love for us. Christ
died for us. He saw us. He said, I saw you.
But not merely with the eye of omniscience, the eye of scorn
and judgment, but an eye of mercy and grace. And he said, live. He speaks life into us. He quickens
us by his word, by his spirit. And death gives way to life.
Darkness gives way to light. Inability becomes strength. Blindness,
sight. Deafness, hearing. Pollution. Holiness. In verse 8, he said, I passed
by you. I did. I looked on you. I looked upon you. And thy time was the time of
love. He loved us from the foundation
of the world. He said, I have loved you with
an everlasting love, therefore the loving kindness hath drawn
you. But there was a set time. There
was a time for the manifestation of that love. And he said this
was the time. When I passed by you, I came
in contact with you and saw you in your blood. It was your time. Time of love. Our Lord was the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, but in the fullness
of time, He sent forth His Son into the
world. In the fullness of time, mine hour has not yet come. Now,
Father, the hour has come. the fullness of time. It's time.
Redemption is an everlasting covenant, but it's time to redeem. And there's a set time for the
calling and salvation and revelation of Christ to God's elect. We are called according to his
purpose, not chance, purpose. And the Lord said, of this infant,
I pass by you. I pass by you. I pass by the
woman at the well. It was her time, the time of
love. I pass by the eunuch. It was
his time, the time of love. I pass by you. It's your time,
the time of love. Time to manifest my love. Time
to reveal my love. He loves us from eternity, but
his love is manifested in time. His love in Christ for them is
revealed to them the first time they've heard of it. His love, or the ability to love,
is shared abroad in their hearts the first time they've been able
to really love anybody besides themselves. The grace of love to God, to
Christ, to His Word, to His people, to worship, which they despised. To ordinances, which before the
time of love had no place in them. My Word has no place in
you. But the time of love, it takes up its abode in you. I
passed by you and I said, live! And when I passed by you and
saw you polluted in your blood and said, live, it was your time. of love. Nobody can do that but Him. And then He said, I spread my
skirt over you. I covered your ugliness. I covered
your nakedness. Could this be talking about what
Isaiah said in Isaiah 61? Verse 10, I will greatly rejoice
in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my
God, for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He
hath covered me with the robe of his righteousness. As a bridegroom decketh himself
with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
That's speaking of Christ and His Church. His garment of righteousness
covers our nakedness, which our fig leaves could never do. And
being clothed, we shall not be found naked. It's the time, it's
your time. And more than that, I swear unto
you, I swear by myself, I can swear by no greater, and I entered
a covenant with you, saith the Lord God, and you became mine. We were chosen in Christ, we
read a moment ago, from eternity. But that covenant is manifested
at our calling when the Lord makes known himself to us as
the covenant God. When the Lord reveals to us Christ,
our priest, our mediator, our advocate. When the Lord sends
his Spirit into our hearts to make us partakers of his grace. When the Lord seals us. in the
blessed promises of His Word, and we become His, actually. In covenant theology, in covenant
promises, in covenant grace, I've always been His. But now I am His. Time of love. I reckon the dear wife sitting
beside you in God's covenant has always been your wife. in God's purpose, but there was
a day she became yours. She knew it, and you knew it,
and you entered into the experience of love. And that's what he's
talking about here. When I passed by you, I came to you. You didn't come to me, I came
to you. You turned that around at your
destruction, but I came to you. And I said to you, Leo, and it
was your time. of love. And I put my skirt over
you, covered your nakedness, and I swore to you and entered
a covenant with you, and you became mine. And you'll never
cease to be mine. You'll never leave me. To whom shall we go? I'll never
leave you. Read on. And I washed you. I washed you. Verse 9, "...I
throughly washed away your blood, anointed you with the oil of
the Holy Spirit." This washing is the blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ. With His blood, men are washed
and cleansed from all sin, throughly, inwardly, outwardly. Hereby a
person is throughly washed, and no sin can be found in him, on
him, about him. Every whip Christ set clean. Every whit clean. In Christ there
is no sin. There is no judgment. There is
no condemnation. Clean. I washed you. I'm glad my mother didn't wash
me so he could. So he could. Because she washed
me again and again and again. And I kept having to be washed
all over again. He washed me, and I'm clean. I clothed you with the priest's
garment. I clothed you with broadered
work, shod your feet with badger skin, girded you about with fine
linen, covered you with silk. You are a priest. I passed by
you, I said live, I spread my skirt over you, I swore unto
you, I entered the covenant, I washed you and I clothed you,
and listen, I decked you. with ornaments, with gifts, with
fruit, with works. I decked you. I put bracelets on your hands.
I made your hands so beautiful. Put bracelets and rings. Made
your hands so pretty. Our hands are the instruments
of works and action. And what I have, and the beauty
of the work, To share or to give or to perform is what he made
my hands. I have nothing to give of what
he gave me. I made your hands beautiful. Hands of service and
work for my glory. Made them pretty. And I put a
chain on your neck. Round your neck a chain with
many links. Those links were love, joy, peace,
faith, gentleness, meekness, kindness, fruits of the Spirit. I displayed upon you and through
you. And I put a jewel on your forehead. You know, you see these ladies
from India and other places in airports, you always recognize
whose they are and where they're from. Well, Revelation 14 says this. Let me read it to you. And I
looked, and lo, a lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him
a hundred and forty-four thousand, having his father's name written
in their foreheads. You became mine, and I let everybody
else know you're mine. I wrote my name on your forehead.
I put a jewel right there. And then I put earrings in your
ears. I think earrings are beautiful.
Don't need but one in each ear, believe me. You fellas don't need them either. But I fixed your ears so you
could hear. Hear me. Your hands so you could
give. Your neck so that you could live
out the gifts, fruits of the Spirit. Your forehead prominently
so you're known for whose you are. And I fixed your ears so
you could hear me. And then I put a crown beautiful
on your head. a crown of righteousness, which
the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me in that day,
and not to me only, but to all them that love his appearing."
Revelation 3 says this, verse 10 and 11. Revelation 3, verse
10 says, "...because thou hast kept the word of my patience,
I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation." which shall
come upon all the world, to try them that dwell on the earth.
Behold, I come quickly, and ye hold fast that which ye have,
that no man take your crown." You're the king's son, daughter,
your princess, your prince. I give you a beautiful crown,
a crown of righteousness. Verse 13, And thou wast decked
with gold and silver, your raiment was of fine linen, silk, and
brooded work, and you did feed, eat fine flour and honey and
all. And you were. What did I read
while ago in Rome was excess, and the word, the commandment
came that sin might appear to be exceeding sinful? That sin might be exceeding sinful,
loathsome, abomination, polluted in your blood. And now, I have
made you to be just the opposite, exceeding beautiful. What grace! You talk about extremes. And you prospered in their kingdom.
And your renown went forth among the heathen for your beauty.
It was perfect. Perfect holiness. Not just put
on. Exterior, veneer, professed holiness. You were
really holy. Perfect. Through my comeliness. which I put upon you." My work,
not yours. Where his workmanship created
Christ Jesus, I put upon you, saith the Lord. John Newton wrote
about this scripture in a hymn. Oh, t'was grace beyond all measure
When he did bid, such sinners lived, laid aside his just displeasure
and determined them to forgive. Now may the Lord reveal his face
and teach our stammering tongues to make his sovereign reigning
grace the subject of our song. Grace reigns to pardon loathsome
sins, to melt the hardest heart, and from the work that grace
begins, grace will never divide. It was grace that called our souls
at first. By grace thus far we've come,
and His grace will take us through the worst, His grace to lead
us home. Amazing grace, how sweet to sound,
that saved a wretch like me. I was lost. I was lost. Now I'm found. I was exceeding
sinful. Now I'm exceeding beautiful. Isn't that something?