Paul says, Brethren, believers, congregation of the
sheep, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for Israel,
for my people, my neighbors, my friends, my loved ones, Our heart's desire and prayer
to God for them is that they might be saved. Now we've met here together each
Lord's Day for a long, long time. I was thinking this morning as
I drove in and pulled into the pastor's parking space and opened the door and walked
into this building and into this auditorium and waited for you to come and
gather at this time. I was thinking how many, many
times we've done this. Forty-five years. We've met together for all these
years. We meet here and we praise the
Lord, not like we'd like to, not like we will someday, but
we do praise Him and we read His words. We've read a chapter
in God's Word, every service for all these years. And we make our requests known
to God with thanksgiving. We pray. We pray. And we preach the gospel, as
I shall again. And we worship God in spirit
and truth. Why? Well, I'll give you three reasons,
three basic, personal, I believe, scriptural reasons why. And we intend to continue to
do this till God calls us home, where then we'll praise Him and
love Him and worship Him in a manner, a way of which He's worthy. But I'll tell you why. First
reason is this, because we believe God. I believe God, and so do
you. David gave that simple reason
for all that he wrote and all that he spoke. He said, I believe
God, therefore I speak. That's why I speak. That's why
I preach, he said. That's why I write. I believe
God, therefore I speak. I believe God." That's the reason Abraham did
all that he did. He believed God. He left his
home and family in Kindred and went, he didn't know where, because
he believed God. He gave Lot the best land and
went to the mountains because he believed God. He refused the
riches of the kings of Sodom. He said, I've lifted my hand
to God. I believe God. He'll meet my needs. He took
his son up on the mountain to sacrifice him because I believe
God. And Paul, in 2 Corinthians 4,
borrowed that statement of David. And he said, it's written, I
believe God, therefore I've spoken. And Paul said, those are my sentiments. I believe God, therefore I've
spoken. And you have it on the front
of your bulletin there. I put this on our bulletin many
years ago to sum up what we believe. It says, to the one God of heaven
and earth, in the trinity of his sacred person, be all honor
and glory to the glorious Father as the covenant God, to the gracious
Son, the Redeemer of his people, to the Holy Ghost, the author
of sanctification, the everlasting praise for that gospel of the
free grace of God. That's why I believe God. And the Lord willing, I intend
to be here to meet with you next Wednesday, basically because
I believe God. I believe God. I feel like the
Apostle Peter who said, to whom shall we go? Our Lord said, will you also
go away? He said, to whom? Tell me where to go. Thou hast
the words of life, and we believe and are sure that you're the
Christ, the Son of the living God. That's why I'm here. And
the second reason why I'm here is because I rejoice in His presence. I rejoice in the fact that He's
God. And I enjoy his fellowship and
the fellowship of his people. Don't you? Peter said, let me just read
it to you, 1 Peter chapter 1. He says in 1 Peter chapter 1
verse 8, Whom having not seen, you love. In whom though now
you see him not, yet you believe. and you rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory." It's not the place, it's the person. I went in Notre Dame Cathedral
one time many years ago, and I was impressed. Impressed with
what? Well, the beauty, the architecture,
the awesomeness. But it's not the place, it's
the person. And it's not the pardon. That's
what Satan said about Job, when the Lord said, Satan, have
you considered my servant Job, a righteous man who loves truth
and hates evil? Ah, he said, he follows you because
of what you give him. Take away what he has and he'll
curse you. It's not the pardon, it's the
peace of his presence. Not altogether, I do rejoice
in the pardon. I rejoice in the gifts, but I
love the giver. Don't you? It's not the place,
it's the person. It's not just the pardon, it's
the peace that he gives. It's not just the gifts, it's
the giver. And it's not just the benefits,
it's the beloved. Solomon said, I am my beloved's
and he's mine. Have you considered my beloved?
He's altogether lovely. They said, what is your beloved
more than any other beloved? My beloved is altogether lovely. Oh, it hasn't always been that way.
There was a time, and most of you can identify with this, hasn't
always been the case. And along with many of you, I
was in religion. I was raised in religion. I adopted
the religion of my parents because I respected my parents and loved
my parents, and I just sort of followed along the way they went
in religion as well as in other things. And I was in religion. But my religion was a bondage,
a bondage of duties and ceremonies and ties and days and responsibilities
and all these things, service, had no joy in believing. The songwriter put it this way.
He said he had that experience. He was in religion, like Saul
of Tarsus was in religion, and God delivered him out of religion
into Christ. It was the place, the temple,
then it became the person. It was seeking gifts. instead of the giver. And this
songwriter wrote this, he said, once it was the blessing, but
now it's the Lord. Once it was the feeling, now
it's his word. Once his gifts I wanted, and
now the giver I own. Once I sought for healing, now
for grace alone. Once it was my working, His now
it shall be. Once I tried to use him, now
he uses me. Once the power I wanted, now
the mighty one. Once for self I labored, now
for him alone. I believe, therefore have I spoken. And this faith and this relationship
with God is not grievous. It's not a labor. It's not a
duty. It's a joy. I love him. I love his presence, don't you?
I love his people. I love to be where he is worshipped
and adored. I love his word. I love to be
preached. No greater joy. But there's a
third reason. why we come here, why we do what
we're doing, and that is the reason Paul gave us here in verse
1 of Romans 10. We want our friends and our loved
ones and our neighbors to know this Lord, to know His mercies
and His grace in Christ. We want them, we want our children
to know Him. We want our family and friends
to know Him. That's what John said. If I could
read it to you from 1 John 1, maybe you'd like to turn over
there and look at it. 1 John 1, he said in verse 1, that which
was from the beginning, this is the Apostle John writing here,
that which was from the beginning, which we've heard, which we've
seen with our eyes." He's talking about the Lord Jesus here now.
"...which we've looked upon, our hands have handled of the
word of life. For the life was manifested,
and we've seen Him, and we bear witness and show unto you that
eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to
us. And that which we've seen and
heard declare we unto you." Why? That you also may believe, that you also may
have fellowship with us." It's a fellowship. Somebody said,
what's a fellowship? It's fellows in the same ship.
Shipmates. There's a bond between shipmates.
Fellows in the same... He said, I want... I've seen
the Lord. I've heard Him. The life was
manifested, dwelt among us, and that's which we've seen and heard.
You can't tell what you don't know. What's a witness? Somebody's
seen something, or someone heard someone. The best witness is
a fellow who tells what God's done for him. Experienced it. Can't tell what you don't know
anymore, you can come back where you hadn't been. But John said,
I've seen him, I've heard him. And I'm preaching to you that
one that I've seen and heard that your fellowship, you might
have fellowship with us and truly our fellowships with the Father
and with His Son. Paul had a threefold request
for himself. In Philippians chapter 3, he
said, Oh, that I may win Christ and be found in Him. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that righteousness which is by the
faith of Christ. Secondly, that I may know him
and the power, power and the fellowship of his sufferings,
of his fellowship. And thirdly, that I may attain
unto the resurrection of the dead. That when I die and they
put me out here in my plot, my body, That one day when Christ
comes again, he'll raise that body, that vile body, and make
it like unto his glorious body, that I may attain unto the resurrection
of the dead. Not that I've already attained
or apprehended. I haven't. But I want it. And
I want that for you. I want that for you. And that's
what he's saying right here. Brethren, my heart's desire. And my prayer to God for you
is, for Israel, for my people, for my neighbors, my friends,
my loved ones, my family, that they might be saved. For he said
in verse 2, he says, I bear them record. I know these people.
I bear them record. They have a zeal of God, but
not according to knowledge. Paul, are you saying these people
are atheists? No, no, no, no, no. I'm not saying that. I'm
not saying that. Are you saying that these people don't believe in God? No, I'm
not saying that. They have a zeal of God. They
do believe there's a God. Are you saying that these people
are immoral? That these people are lawless?
I'm not saying that. That they're not doing any good
things? I'm not saying that. That's not
what he says. He says, I bear them record.
They have a zeal of God. They have an enthusiasm for God. They have an interest in Moses.
They have an interest in the Word. They read the Word. They study the Word. They profess to love the law.
There are people who count it wrong to get drunk and murder
and kill and do all these things that a lot of folks do. They're
devout people, religious people. Israel, I pray Israel might be
saved. Israel, the folks that built
the temple, the folks that are carrying on the business of the
temple, the priests, the Sadducees, the Bible teachers, the Pharisees,
the scribes, the fellows that are translating it. They take
the Hebrew and translate it, and the Greek and translate it.
That's the folks I'm talking about. They have a zeal of God, they're
moral people, they're devout people, they're sincere people,
many of them. But he says it's not according
to knowledge. It's not according to knowledge.
It's not true knowledge. Is this unusual? No. The Scripture
says in John 1, 10, He was in the world. He was in the world. He was in the temple. The Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
and He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and
the world didn't know Him. They didn't know Him. He came
into his own. He came down to Nazareth and
the synagogue was packed. Here was the young prophet, 30
years of age, who had been out preaching and done many wonders
and miracles and turned the water into wine and all this sort of
thing. And they packed the place out that Sabbath morning, Saturday
morning. Early meeting. Packed down. He came in as his custom was. Our Lord grew up in a Jewish
home. He was circumcised when he was eight days old. His name
was called Jesus. His mother offered a sacrifice
of turtle doves because they were poor people. Couldn't bring
a lamb, but you could bring a turtle dove. He went to the temple when
he was 12 years old to be confirmed and so forth. Like all Jewish
boys, he would get all these things. He was brought up under
the law. They tithed, they kept the holy
days, kept the Sabbath day, Jesus of Nazareth kept the Sabbath
day. And he went there that morning, God Almighty in human flesh,
and he stood up to read, and they gave him the book, Isaiah,
open to chapter 61, a Messianic prophecy. And he
stood up to read, and there every eye was fastened on him. These
are people, this is Israel, this is God's so-called nation, religious,
zeal, law keepers, tithers, Sabbath keepers, there they are. He said,
the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed
me, the Christ, the Messiah, to preach the gospel, the good
news to the poor, to set at liberty the captives, to give sight to
the blind, to restore the lost, to preach the acceptable year
of the Lord, the Jubilee. This day is this scripture fulfilled
in your ears. There he is. What did they do? They took him and chased him
out of that building. As he walked down the road, they
powdered him, harassing screaming obscenities and all this to him,
and took him out on the brow of the hill and would have killed
him. But my time has not yet come.
He's going to die, but not by their hands, on a cross, not
on a cliff. And he walked through. They didn't
know him. He was in the world. This is
what Paul said here, they have a zeal of God. They have the law, but not according
to knowledge. They don't know who he is. He
came into his own, and his own didn't know him. And Paul said,
if the princes of this world, the leaders, the word princes,
leaders, spiritual leaders, political leaders, social leaders, educators,
if the leaders of this world had known who he is, they would
never have crucified him. They didn't know who he was. That's the problem with 1996
and religion. I don't know who he is. He said
in John 8, you neither know me nor my father. Oh, they have
a zeal of God. Are you saying they're atheists?
No, sir. That they don't believe in God? No, sir. That they're
immoral? No, sir. I'm saying they don't
know who he is. This generation, just like that
one, does not know the character of God. God is almighty. Let God be God. The Lord reigneth. Say to Israel, the Lord thy God
reigneth, king and sovereign and almighty, and none can stay
his hand or stay unto him. What doest thou? He said, Jeremiah,
come down to the potter's house, and I'll show you something.
And he took me down to the potter's house, and I watched the potter
as he molded the clay. And as he molded the clay, it
was marred in the potter's hands. And he took the clay and made
a new vessel. Now he said, Jeremiah, I'm the
potter, you're the clay. You're in my hands like the clay's
in the hands of the potter. Hath not God the power to make
of the same lump a vessel under honor and a vessel under dishonor? They were twins in Rebekah's
womb, Jacob and Esau, conceived by
the same father at the same moment and born the same day. Jacob have a love, Esau have
hate. That's not fair! What God does
is right because God does it. God doesn't do anything because
you think it's right. It's right because He does it.
And His reasons, the judge of the earth does right, and we
don't question what God does. Not if you're wise. My generation
doesn't. They're God's impotent. I hear
the preacher say, now God wants to if you'll let Him. And God's
got a wonderful plan if you'll just Untie God's hands. I've heard a preacher say that.
Untie God's hands. God, untie my hands. Take the
fetters off my hands and my feet. Take the chains off my heart.
Set me free. I don't have any. God's not in
bondage. I am. God's not a sinner. I am. God's not lost. I found
the Lord. Where was He lost? He found me. He found me. I was lost. I was the
lost sheep. And He willingly, deliberately
came after me. He came down here. My generation doesn't know God,
the character of God. They don't know the results of
the fall. In Adam, all die. That's our problem. We're born
without life. How can a man be born without
life? He's born with fleshly life, natural life, carnal life. He's born without spiritual life. I've told you again and again,
there's several forms of life. There's mineral life, there's
plant life, there's animal life, there's human life. There's divine life, the life
of God. That's what Adam had when God
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. He became a living
soul. He died. He sinned and died. He was naked and didn't know
it. He didn't know it. He didn't know what sin was.
He never experienced it. But when he disobeyed God, his
eyes were opened. He lost life. He lost the life
of God. He became naked. He became ashamed. He became fearful. He became
a fool. He became self-centered. He blamed Eve. He said, it's
her fault. What happened to this gentleman?
He died. He lost the life of God, the
holy life. And you've got to be born again.
That's what God said. And what we studied in the lesson
this morning, when God saves a sinner, when He comes and redeems
a person, He doesn't change this natural life, it goes on. I'm still Henry Mahan with the
genes of John Mahan and with the nature of John Mahan and
his daddy Adam. Unfortunately. But I have a new life. Divine
life. The life of God. The life Adam
lost. And people don't know what happened
in the fall. When Adam fell, he died. And we died in him. By one man's disobedience, we
were made sinners. As in, Adam all died. By one
man's sin into this world. And death by sin. Spiritual death. We have physical life and natural
life and carnal life. filthy life, dying life. But God gives us
a living hope, new life. I have everything restored that
Adam lost and more because I can't fall. He could, I can't. And one day all this other will
be done away in that divine life in the image of Christ to live
forever. My generation doesn't know that. They don't know what
the new birth is. They don't know the new Old Testament. Christ
said, search the Scriptures. The Scriptures are the Old Testament.
What's the Old Testament all about? Well, it's about laws
and duties and deeds and tithing and Sabbath keeping and sacrifice.
The Old Testament is about Christ. You search the Scriptures, in
them you think you have life. They are they which testify of
me. All these things are pictures of redemption in Christ. The
high priest, he's our high priest. Tabernacle, he's our tabernacle. Mercy seat, he's our mercy seat. The sin offering, he's our sin
offering. The atonement, he's our atonement. That's right. Do not know why he died on the
cross. Why did Christ die on the cross?
Well, let's set an example. No, I can't die on the cross. He died on the cross to redeem
sinners. He died that God may be just
and justify us. That's why he died. Read verse
3. And they're ignorant of God's
righteousness. They're ignorant of God's character.
They're ignorant of God's Son. They're ignorant of the fall.
And they're ignorant of God's righteousness. And they're going
about to establish their own righteousness. will not submit
to the righteousness of God. Let me ask you a question. Paul's talking about these religious
people who have all the duties of religion,
zeal for God, laws, and all these things. And they're going about,
going through the motions. What's proved that they're wrong,
that they don't really know God? Well, here it is right here.
When a person thinks that by his works and by his deeds and
by his religion and by his duties that he can find favor with God,
that he can find acceptance with God, that God will open the gates
of heaven and give him a place in the kingdom of God by his
duties and deeds and religion and work, that man doesn't know
God. Adam, when he fell, what's the
first thing he did? First thing he did, besides hiding himself,
he tried to cover his nakedness so God couldn't see it. That's
the first thing he did. The all-seeing eye of God, the
omnipresent, omnipotent eye of God couldn't see his nakedness. He covered himself with pig legs,
and that he didn't know God. If he had known God, he just
stood out there in the open and said, I'm in a mess. Would you
come and help me? I've been a fool. I've fallen.
I've sinned. God, help me. Here I am, naked,
rotten, all tied to cupboards. And that's just perfect. That's
perfect news that a man doesn't know God, when he thinks that
God's going to... what he puts in the offering
plate, or he reads the Bible, And he gives, and he abstains
from certain things, and he says, now I'm kind of getting better
and better. I believe God's going to take
a liking to me now. He doesn't know God. God's holy,
perfectly holy. You see, I told my clerics this
morning, God is holy, essentially perfectly holy, without sin. He dwelleth in a life to which
no man can approach. If we're going to approach God,
have any fellowship with a living God, we've got to be just like
Him, holy, just like Him. Our Lord said to the best men
of His day, humanly speaking, Pharisees, He said this about
them, told His disciples. He said, if your righteousness
does not exceed theirs, exceed theirs, you won't enter the kingdom
of God. That's how perfect it has to
be. There is a righteousness God has provided, and that's
in Christ. Our Lord came down and obeyed
the law, and that's what he says here in the next verse. For Christ,
He's the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. That's
how man is accepted, that's how man is forgiven, that's how man
approaches God. He has opened for us into the
presence of God by a new and living way, that is to say, his
flesh, whereby we can come bold into the presence of God with
full assurance, our hearts sprinkled with pure water, and our conscience
is washed with his precious blood. Come. Christ is the end of the
law. Priest, what does that mean,
end? Well, the word end here Number one, it means it's the
fulfillment. Christ fulfilled the Levitical
law. The law of the tabernacle and
the sacrifices and the priesthood and the Sabbath days and the
tithes and all of these things, Christ fulfilled all of that
and put an end to it. Put an end to it. That Levitical
law. Also, Christ is the end of the
law, the moral law. The law has a curse on us, and
the law charges us, and the law has sentenced us to death. Well, he's the end of that. He's
the end of that. He's the end of that curse, and
that condemnation, and that sentence. It's done. And he's the end of the ceremonial
law as far as doing is concerned. But he's not the end of the moral
law as far as our loving it. Now, listen to this. The ceremonial
law is fulfilled and taken away. The moral law is satisfied fully,
but it's not taken away. It's not obsolete. Paul said,
I delight in thy law. What changed it? Well, let me
read you a scripture over here in 1 John 5. 1 John chapter 5. 1 John chapter 5. I'd like for you to turn here
to this, and let me read the first three verses. 1 John chapter 5. Now, whosoever believeth that
Jesus is the Christ is born of God. The life of God, the nature
of God, And every one that loveth him that begat, loveth him that's
begotten of him. He loves Christ, the only begotten
Son, and he loves the people of God who are begotten of him.
And by this we know that we love the children of God when we love
God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God,
that we keep His commandments, and His commandments, they're
not grievous. Oh, no, they're not grievous.
They're delighted. I delight in the law. Love God's
law. So this verse here, verse 4,
it says Christ is the end. He's the end. He's the consummation. He's the fulfillment of that
Levitical law. Don't turn to the Old Testament
and put the people of God under a Sabbath day or holy days or
sacrifices. Don't do that. Christ is the
end. He's the fulfillment of that Levitical law. And Christ
is the end, as far as the moral law is concerned, of the curse,
and the judgment, and the condemnation on us. But he certainly did not
make obsolete that law which says, love thy neighbor as thyself,
and love God with all your heart. And that's what we long to do.
All right, I've got to give you this before I dismiss you. Verse
5. Moses describes the righteousness
which is of the law. In other words, if you want to
have acceptance with God by what you do, then here's what you
do. Here's what you do. This is what the law says. That
the man which doeth those things shall live by them. From cradle
to grave. The law of God perfectly. Not
only in action and attitude. Not only in acts. but in spirit. Not only in manners, motive. Well, that's out, isn't it? All
right. But the righteousness, the holiness
of God, which is the gift of God by the faithfulness of Christ,
speaks on this wise. Don't say in your heart, who
shall ascend into heaven? That is, bring Christ down. He's
already come. He's already come. We don't need to have mass this
morning. We don't need to re-crucify Him.
We don't need to go through that again. He's already died. He's already suffered. The sacrifice
is already made. Don't make it again. It's not
something you do. I'll go up to heaven and bring
Christ down. He's already come. And don't say in your heart,
well, who's going to descend into the deep and raise Christ
from the dead? He's risen! He has come, he has suffered,
he has obeyed, he has died, he's been buried, he's risen, God
raised him, he's ascended to the right hand of God, he's exalted,
he's seated at the right hand of God. But what does it say
then? The word is nigh thee. So simple,
it's the most profound thing in the world. So obvious, it's
hidden to the natural man. So manifested. Folks can't find
it. It's in your mouth. It's in your
heart. It's the word of faith, which
I'm preaching right now. That is, if you shall confess
with your mouth, this is true. I'm a sinner. I'm lost. I'm helpless under the judgment
of God. But God, in grace and mercy,
sent his son. The Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man,
my representative, my federal head, what I lost in Adam, He
restored in Christ. And He did all that God required,
all that the law required, all that justice demanded, He fulfilled
it completely and victoriously rose again and went to the right
hand of God. Now if you confess with your mouth, He's Lord. He's Lord. My God and my Lord. And really believe in your heart. God did raise him from the dead. Well, in order to raise him from
the dead, he's got to die. And if God raised him from the
dead, then God's satisfied with what he did. Buddha's still in
the grave. Mohammed's still in the grave.
Confucius is still in the grave. All the gods of dying are still
in the grave. All the gods of this world are
in the grave. Why seek ye the living among
the dead? He's risen. And God said, when I raised him,
I let the whole world know I'm satisfied with him. Took him
to his right hand. Now, if you believe that, thou
shalt be saved. But with the heart, man believes
to righteousness. With the mouth, confessions made
unto salvation. Scripture says, whosoever believes
shall never be put to shame. Never be ashamed. I'm going to be ashamed of my
works. The best of them is filthy rags. I'll be ashamed of my fig
leaves if I stand before God. If the books are open, God help
us. But if I'm in Christ, in Christ
alone, and God sees me in Him, I'll never be ashamed. whosoever believeth in him shall
never be ashamed." That's all I know. That's the gospel. And just don't complicate it
now. It's so simple, it's profound. And they will not submit themselves
unto it. Paul says they have a zeal of
God, but they're ignorant of his righteousness. And I know
that because they're going about to establish their own. Don't
do that. Rest. All right, let's sing a
closing hymn. 228. My faith has found a resting
place, not in device or creed. I trust the everliving one. For
him, his wounds for me shall please.