Boasting Excluded

He says in verse 19, that what
thing soever the law saith, that's the whole law of God. It saith
to them who are under the law. And who's under the law? Well,
every inhabitant of God's universe is under God's law. That's me,
that's you, that's every creature. We're under God's law. And what the law saith to us,
is that every mouth may be stopped, no alibi, no justification. We're sinners, we're guilty. And all the world, all the world,
it says every mouth and all the world, all have sinned and come
short of God's glory. All we like sheep have gone astray.
All the world may be guilty, guilty before God. I've heard this said on many
occasions. People say, well, you're one
of the first preachers I've ever heard admit that he's a sinner. I don't understand that. Every
son of Adam is a sinner. There's not anybody in here that's
not a sinner. How can we claim to be anything
else but a sinner? The Apostle Paul said he was
the chief of sinners. He knew his art. He said, I'm
less than the least of all the saints. I'm unworthy to be an
apostle. I'm a sinner. Guilty before God. There's none good. There's none
righteous. There's none that understand it. There's none that
seeketh after God. Guilt is universal. I've never
understood how anyone who knows even the least thing about God's
Word and is even partially honest with himself should not understand
that they're sinners. I don't understand that. Do you? Don't you know yourself? I tell you one thing, when we
come to even some understanding of the holiness of God, we'll
quit comparing ourselves with one another. And we'll cry like
Isaiah, I'm a man of unclean lips. That's where it all starts. Personal guilt, self-guilt. So
universal guilt, we know that. Alright, let's go to the next
verse. Therefore, because of universal guilt, every mouth
is stopped. I mean regardless of age. Babies
are born in sin. Granddads and grandmothers are
just as guilty of sin as anyone else. We're sinners. In the flesh
dwelleth no good thing. In the flesh no man can please
God. God looked down from heaven to
see if there's any that didn't understand, any that did do good.
He said they're all gone out of the way. Man at his best state
is altogether vanity, vanity, vanity. He remembereth our frame,
he knoweth that we're dust. Therefore, because of this condition,
by the deeds of the law, by the works of the law, there shall
no flesh be justified in God's sight. There shall no flesh be
accepted, received. There shall no flesh be without
guilt in God's sight. You see, by the law is the knowledge
of sin. The law wasn't given to put sin
away. It can't put sin away. Any more than a mirror can wash
your face. Scripture says we come to the
mirror. We see what manner of man we are, we go and quickly
forget what manner of man we are, but at least the mirror
told us. But the mirror can't cleanse, and the mirror can't
wash, and the mirror can't improve our condition. And the law, when
we look into the holy law of God, into the holy character
of God, we're made aware of what we are. The law can't do anything. You can assign people duties
and deeds and religious activities, but it can't put away sin. It
can't put away sin. And we know that, all right?
All right, thirdly, here's something else, but now, right now, here's
the good news of the gospel, We can't, verse 21 means nothing
unless we've entered into verse 19 and 20. It means nothing.
You can't give a man a pair of gloves who's got no hands. He's
not interested. People are not interested in
food who aren't hungry. People are not interested in
a coat who are not naked. People are not interested in
a doctor who are not sick. So there's no use coming to verse
21 If you cannot say, now I know, now I know, all the world's guilty
before God. Jokes that I put my hand on my
mouth. I've spoken once, yeah, twice,
things that I didn't understand. I'm not going to talk anymore.
I'm just not going to talk anymore. And Isaiah said, I'm a man of
unclean lips, and everybody around me's got unclean lips. Their
lips are unclean because their hearts are unclean. Out of the
heart, the lips speak. guilty, guilty, and therefore
because of this nature and condition and depravity and state, we can't
be justified by God or before God. But, here's the good news
right now, right now, the righteousness of God, the very holiness of
God. And I'll tell you this, we're
not talking here about the essential holiness of God, personal But
his essential personal holiness makes it necessary that those
with whom he associates have a personal holiness. See what
I'm saying? Two cannot walk together except
they be agreed. When our Lord cried, My God,
why hast thou forsaken me? He forsook him because Christ
was made sin and God is holiness. And holiness can have nothing
to do with sin. Can't be. Just can't be. Some people say, well, you know,
somehow I'll get to heaven, not without perfect holiness. Without
holiness, no man's going to see the Lord. That's established,
that's a fact, unchangeable. Can't be changed. God doesn't
change. He said, I'm the Lord, I don't change. Without holiness,
without holiness, no man's going to see the Lord. Who can stand
in His presence? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart. God's not going to change that. If our Lord shouldest mark iniquity,
who's going to stand? And so there is now a righteousness
without the law. Now if I'm going to have a righteousness,
it'll have to be without my obedience to the law. Because he just said,
by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified, shall
no flesh be holy. You can't establish a holiness
with a law you can't obey. But there is a righteousness
without the law, without my obedience to it. God said, Adam, do this
and live. He didn't do it, I didn't do
it, you didn't do it, so we don't live. But if we are to live,
it's got to be done. But we can't do it. But suppose
someone came who was able and capable and so identified with
us that he did it and it counted for us. Oh, that's a different
proposition. See what I'm saying? So now there
is the holiness of God, the very righteousness of God, without
the law. And it's manifested, it's revealed,
and it's no new thing. This is no new thing. It says
it's being witnessed by the law and the prophets. It's no new
thing. This is the message of the Scripture.
This is the message of God's Word. Paul said, Paul, a servant
of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the
gospel, which he promised afore by his prophets in the Holy Scripture.
This is no new gospel, Paul said. This is no new righteousness.
This is the righteousness and holiness of God, which is prophesied
and taught by the law and the prophets. Hold that right there
and turn to Romans 4. Romans chapter 4. Verse 3, it says in verse 3 of Romans
4, what sayeth the scriptures? Abraham, now this is going back
a long way. Here we are reading what Paul
wrote 2,000 years ago, and Paul looks back 2,000 years before
his day, and he said Abraham believed God, and it was counted
to him for holiness, for righteousness. You see that? So this is no new
thing. Look back at verse 21. But now, the very holiness of
God, the righteousness of God, without the law, is manifested. It's revealed. It's here. Can
you see it? Can you lay hold of it? And it's no new thing.
It's witnessed by the law and the prophets. Now watch verse
22. It is even the righteousness of God, the very holiness of
God, which is by the faith of Jesus Christ. It is by the faithfulness,
by the obedience, by the life, by the death, by the intercession,
by the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is unto all and is
upon all them that believe, for there is no difference. This
holiness of God is wrought out by another. Now let's turn to
Romans 5. Romans 5 verse 19. How did we get in the mess we're
in? Romans 5, 19. Look at the first line. For as
by one man's disobedience many were made sinners. That's how
we got in the mess we're in. By one man sin entered the world
and death by sin. As in Adam all died. But by one man's judgment, condemnation,
sin passed upon all men. That's how we got in the mess
we're in. That's how we were rendered unrighteous and guilty
before God, having no holiness. That's how we got messed up.
How are we going to get out? How are we going to get out of the
mess we're in? How are we going to get out of this fallen state,
this unrighteous state, this guilty state, this state of separation
from God? Or look at the next line. Even
so, in the same way, by identification, by imputation, by representation,
by the work of another, by the representation of another. Even
so, by the righteousness of one shall the meaning be made holy. That's the way out. That's the
way out. Do you see that? For as by one
man's disobedience, this whole thing started with Adam. This
whole thing started in the garden. This whole thing started by the
fall, by the ruin of our father. We all were in him, we're in
his loins. He's the only man God ever created.
Even the woman was taken out of him. He's the head of the
human race, the federal head, the representative. When he fell,
the whole race fell. Guilt and condemnation were imputed
and imparted. In Parestonia, an Adam would
die. Guilty, without holiness. Now there was another Adam whom
God sent, the second Adam. First Adam is of the earth, second
Adam is the Lord from heaven. As in Adam we die, in the second
Adam we're made alive. We're born in the image of the
earth and we're buried in the image of the heavens. By the disobedience
of one, the many, the many, many, many, many, many, all who were
in him, by his disobedience, they were made sinners. Even
so, by representation, as Christ came into this world, by his
obedience, we were made holy. That's what it's saying over
here in Romans 8, Romans 3, look back at it, my text. Verse 19,
we know that we're guilty. Anyone have any doubts about
that? Guilty. Stop our mouth. And because of
our condition and our inability, there's no way that we can be
justified, there's no way God can accept us, there's no way
he can embrace us, there's no way he can take us to heaven.
We can walk aisles and shake preachers' hands and be baptized
and take sacraments and read Bibles, turn over new leaves,
make our resolutions, vow we're going to do better, all these
things. We're still sinners. Our natures are still sinful. Our
heart is desperately wicked. Who can know it? Unchangeably
wicked. What are we going to do? Well,
good news. Verse 21 says there's a righteous
man. And it's the righteousness provided by God. It's the righteousness
purchased by Christ. It's the righteousness purposed
by our Father. Well, who's it for? Well, I tell
you, from whence it came, it came from Christ. And it wasn't
by hook or crook. It was by actual obedience. It
wasn't by a slight of hand or by just God wishing it or willing
it. Christ actually came down here
and did it. He was made of a woman. He was made under the law. Just
like it says to those who are under the law, he was under the
law. Right, John? He was actually under the law.
He was a man. He was born of a woman. He came
forth from a woman's womb. He didn't have an earthly father,
or he wouldn't have been the son of God. He would have been
the son of Adam. He was born without an earthly father that
he might be the holy son of God, which he is, without the fallen
nature of Adam. But in the flesh, it was necessary
that the captain of our salvation partake of our flesh and bones.
And in the flesh, he literally actually faced, under God's law,
he was born under it, lived under it, walked under it, and was
tried and tempted in every point as we are, yet he never sinned.
As a man, he never thought evil. As a man, he never hated. As
a man, he never disobeyed God. As a man, he never imagined evil. As a man, there was no guilt
in him. He was perfect! And that's how it was done. A
man did it. The requirement was upon man, and man had to do it,
and man did it. And how's that become man? Well,
look at it. It is verse 22, it is the very
holiness of God, it is the very righteousness of God, which is
by faith. It's not by my faith in Christ
that I'm made righteous, it's by Christ's faithfulness that
I'm made righteous. It's by His obedience. And it
is unto everyone and upon all that believe. There's no difference
in Jew and Gentile, male and female, old and young, white
or black. There's no difference. All have
sinned. One man said one time, if God
can furnish the Savior, I can sure furnish the sinner. All
have sinned. And what is the measurement of
sin? We've come short of the glory
of God. We've come short of the glory of God. All right, look
at verse 24. Therefore, being justified, being
made righteous and holy, and all believers are justified,
and justified means not guilty. Therefore, being justified, how? Freely. It's the gift of God.
By his grace. That's how we're justified, freely,
by his grace. And it's through the redemption
that is in Jesus Christ. That's how we're justified before
God. That's how we're declared holy.
It's freely by His grace through Christ Jesus. Now watch verse
25. Whom? You see, salvation is not a what,
it's a whom. Salvation is not a doctrine,
it's a person. Whom God. Jesus Christ. God has set Him
for us. Now let's pause right there just
a moment. Set forth. What does set forth mean? God
has set him forth. This man who is our righteousness,
this man who is our sinner, this man who is our justifier, this
representative, God set him forth. Now the first meaning of that
is right here in the margin of your Bible. Many of you have
Bibles that have a little number there and it says foreordained. See, it's just like Paul said,
this is no new thing. How old is redemption? Well,
he was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world.
God chose us in Christ before the world began. The covenant
of grace is an everlasting covenant. God said, I have loved you with
an everlasting love. So we're talking about God ordained
him, God set him forth, God anointed him, made him our surety back
before he ever made the world. That's when he set him forth
as the surety and redeemer of his people, set him forth. But
that's not all that that word means. God just didn't say, well,
back down in the council halls of eternity. Well, Christ is
the surety, Christ is the Lamb slain, Christ is the half-raised,
Christ is the sin offering. Now let folks find it out for
themselves. Oh, no. He set him forth. He
set him forth. First of all, he placed him in
public view in the Old Testament from Genesis 3 all the way to
Malachi. Our Lord Jesus Christ sat down
with his disciples and he opened the scriptures and he began back
at Moses and he preached to them from the writings of Moses, Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and so forth, to the major prophets,
to the Psalms, to the minor prophets, the things concerning himself.
The seed of woman is Christ. The ark floating on that water
is Christ. The Passover lamb slain is Christ. Abel's sacrifice is Christ. The
priest going into the Holy of Holies is Christ. The blood that
he puts on the mercy seat is Christ. The brazen serpent lifted
up is Christ. The rock smitten is Christ. The
kinsman redeemed were of Ruth is Christ. He's in every page
of the Old Testament. God has set him forward. God
has set Christ forward. He said that this Redeemer, this
Messiah, will be a prophet like Moses and a priest like Melchizedek
and a king like David, all the way through the Old Testament.
God placed him in public view in the most conspicuous manner
so that when he came they should have recognized him. But they
didn't. But he not only set him forth
in public view in the Old Testament pictures and types and sacrifices,
and priesthood, but God revealed him in a most conspicuous manner
when he came to this earth. So that Paul said to the heathen
king, he said, these things were not done in a corner. When he
witnessed to this man about Christ, he said, this wasn't done in
a corner. The king's aware of these things. When our Lord was
born in, he was born in Bethlehem of Judea, that's where the Messiah
was supposed to be born, in the city of David. And his mother,
expecting him, was down in another town. And a heathen king called
Herod issued a decree that all the world should be taxed. And
so Mary, heavy with child, nine months along, had to ride a donkey
all the way to Bethlehem, because that was her home city. She was
of this tribe or the city of David. That's the providence
of God. And then when she brought forth
her son, God hung a star up in the sky right over his birthplace.
And God sent the angels down here to earth and said to the
shepherds, under you is born this day in the city of David
a Savior, Christ the Lord. And God brought wise men. They
even came by Herod's policy. We're looking for him, the born
king of the Jews. And then our Lord not only announced
His birth, but at His baptism, the heavens opened, and the Holy
Spirit descended on Him, and the Father said, This is My Son,
in whom I am well pleased. And the works that He did bore
witness of Him, and John the Baptist bore witness of Him,
and the Word of God bears witness of Him, and then when He died
on the cross, God hung a drape over the Son, and the whole world
rocked and shook, and people came out of the graves, And then
they buried him and put a rock in front of the grave, but he
came out of the grave in three days and appeared to 500 people. God has set him forth, you see
that? God has set him forth, foreordained
him, publicly displayed him, and set him forth in a most conspicuous
manner to be what? Look at the next slide, to be
a propitiation. to be a propitiation. I wish
we, we're not going to learn Bible words as long as we're
listening to what we're listening to in this day. We've been entertained
with what we call that good gospel singing and we've been entertained
with all kind of orchestras and bands and drums and everything
else and we don't know anything about the words of this book. And we need somebody in some
measure of simplicity and sincerity to take us to the Word and find
out what God said, because this Word is going to judge us. Christ
said, My Word will judge you. You say, I don't understand this.
Well, it's time you got started trying to find out. You can't
plead ignorance before a holy God. Now we know this law condemns
us, and we know we can't be redeemed by the deeds of the law. We know
there is a righteousness because God's going to have a people.
There is a righteousness. It's not found up here in this
pool. It's not found down at a mourner's bench. Well, I went
to an old-fashioned altar prayer, and I had an experience. Did
you come to the mercy seat? The only place God ever met a
man was at the mercy seat. The only place a man ever met
God was at the mercy seat. Not at a mourner's bench, but
at the mercy seat. I'm telling you the truth. And
you can play around, you can do what you want to, but this
scripture says God Almighty set him forth to be a propitiation. Preacher, what is a propitiation? A propitiation is a mercy seed,
a mercy seed, a mercy seed. Well, what's a mercy seed? Don't
tell me you're 50 years old and don't know what a mercy seed
is. Back yonder in the tabernacle
in the wilderness, you know how the tabernacle was set up. There
was an outer court, there was the altar, the laver, fresh water,
and then the tabernacle. And out here was the holy place
with the candlestick and the table to show bread and the altar
of incense. And then there was a veil. And
out here they went through the various ceremonies. They kept
the bread fresh every day and the light burning and the incense
burning. But behind that veil, and that's the veil that said
God tore it in two from top to bottom when Christ died. But
behind that veil was the Holy of Holies, the most holy place. And in that most holy place there
was one piece of furniture, two parts. That one piece of furniture
was an ark, A-R-K, two and a half feet long, eighteen inches wide,
18 inches deep. That's all. And in that ark of
Shittam Wood, the tables of stone, the Ten Commandments that God
wrote with His finger, that's where they were. That's awesome,
isn't it? That's where they were. They
were in that ark. And on top of that ark was a
gold cover, a gold, beaten gold, right over the top. Under that gold cover was the
broken law, and a couple of other articles, but the broken law,
the law of God, I shall have no other God, I shall not take
the name of the Lord, on and on, is in that covenant, in that
ark. Over the top of that ark was
a beaten gold cover. You know what it's called? Here
it is now, here it is. It's called what, John? The Mercy
Seat. The Mercy Seat. That's what it
was called. The Mercy Seat. And on either
end of the Mercy Seat were cherubims. One over here, one over there.
Winged creatures like this over that Mercy Seat. And between
the cherubims... Now I know God, the heavens can't
contain God. The heaven of heavens can't contain
God. God is everywhere. If I send
in the heavens out there, if I make my bed in hell out there,
I'll take the wings and dwell in the uttermost parts of the
sea. Even there. God's everywhere. He said, you
don't build me a house, I'm everywhere. But, between the cherubims, over
the mercy seat, was the Shekinah glory of God. Did you know that?
God said, I will dwell between the cherubims, on the mercy seat. I never heard this when I was
going to church then. I was a boy. Never, never, never.
I heard the so-called most popular, I guess, outstanding preachers
in the South, they never told me anything about a mercy seat. But there's no other place that
you can meet God. God dwells. He said, I will dwell
between the cherubim over the mercy seat. And once a year,
and only once a year the high priest and nobody else would
bring the blood of the slain bullet under the veil into the
Holy of Holies and stand there and stand there before that mercy
seat with the cloud of God's glory right there and he would
take that blood and sprinkle it On that mercy seat. Once a year. And God called it
a what? An atonement. Atonement. Agreement. Acceptance. And he'd go out. And it wouldn't
be repeated again until the next year. And it kept on being repeated. Until. Until. Our great high priest. The Lord
Jesus Christ. came to this earth and didn't
slay a bullock or a lamb, he was slain. He was slain. He didn't take the blood of an
animal, took his blood. And he didn't go into this holy
of holies, he went into heaven itself, into the presence of
God, one time! And by one offering, he perfected
forever them that are sanctified, because he himself is the lamb,
is the blood, is the priest, and is the mercy thief. And he's
the God to whom it's offered. That's a pretty certain redemption,
isn't it? That's what that's saying. That's what that's saying. We're justified freely, no charge. by His grace, through the redemption
that's in Christ Jesus, whom God Himself ordained from all
eternity, and whom He placed in public view with His patterns,
pictures, and promises, and whom He conspicuously, conspicuously
revealed in His life on this earth. He said, He's the Mercy
Seeker. And it's through faith in His
blood, to declare God's righteousness for the remission of sins that
have passed through the forbearance of God. Come over that slowly
now, all right? Watch it. Verse 25, speaking,
Christ is the whom whom God hath long before set him forth, ordained
him publicly to space to be a mercy seeker through faith in his blood. That's how we are in Christ,
by faith. We believe Christ. We look to
Christ. to declare God's righteousness. What God is saying in Christ,
He's saying, I'm holy. God is love, but God's holy.
God is merciful, but God's just. God is gracious, but God is righteous. He will by no means clear the
guilty. And in order to save a people,
His justice and law must be satisfied. They must be honored. You see
that? God can't just pronounce a man
clean. He has to be cleansed. God can't
just pronounce a man holy. He has to have an obedience that
earns holiness and that pronouncement. We have that in Christ. But these,
and what's this? For the remission of sins of
the past. What's that talking about? My past sins? No, that's
talking about the sins of people who lived before Christ ever
died. See, Christ died 2,000 years
ago according to Scripture. But there were people before
Christ They weren't saved by offering lambs and rams, they
were saved by looking to Christ. Those lambs and rams simply revealed
their faith in the coming Savior. And Jesus Christ in His blood
at Calvary, not only for the sins of people on this side of
the cross, but for the sins of people on the other side of the
cross, whom God, in His long suffering and patience, forbearance, waiting for Christ
to come. Verse 26, what's this now? To
declare, I say at this time, God's righteousness, that he
might be just and holy and the justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus Christ. Now here's a question. Where
is boasting then? How can any of us, how can any
of us have any pride at all concerning this thing of redemption? Where
is any room for a haughty spirit on the part of Jew or Gentile?
Where is there room for any personal glory or personal pride when
you talk about this gospel here? What we were, our inability,
God's everlasting grace, free justification, setting forth
his sons, his son fully satisfied the law and honored justice,
where is your room for boasting? Well, he said it's excluded.
Well, by what law? By the law of works? No, sir.
Works will not destroy pride. Works will not destroy boasting
and self-righteousness. Works will cultivate self-righteousness. Did you know that? Works cultivate
pride. It promotes pride. Well, how
is pride put down then? How is boasting excluded? Watch
this now. I'll give you something and then
I'll wind it up. by the law of faith, the principle of faith,
the principle of faith in Christ, that principle which receives
all from God and claims nothing from the flesh, will utterly
and absolutely destroy pride. And I'll give you four reasons.
Be patient with me. Let me show you this. Take these
down if you want to. My boasting and pride is excluded,
not by the law of works. Works promotes pride, but by
the law of faith. Now watch this. This faith that
saves, the very nature and essence of faith. What is the nature
and essence of faith? Well, it's to receive, not give. Faith doesn't give anything.
Faith receives everything. Faith doesn't give anything,
John. It receives everything. The scripture says, to as many
as received him, To them gave you the privilege, as you have
received Christ, so walk in him. He says come unto me and I'll
give you rest. Faith is the baker that holds
out his hand, and even that faith is the gift of God. All right? Secondly, the very principle
nature of faith is to receive. It's not to give. Secondly, as
a mere receiver then faith can receive nothing except that which
is freely given. Freely given. If you offer anything
to the sinner as a trade, he's got to turn you down because
he doesn't have anything to pay. If you offer anything to the
sinner as a reward, he's got to turn it down because he's
got nothing to plead. Does he? What can a man plead
who is, as God said, what's it now, wretched? miserable, poor,
blind, and naked. Now you'll see, let's hear a
plea. What can I plead? That sinner which is, he said,
you know not that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. What can I plead? All the world
I can plead is his free grace. Now watch the third thing. True
faith. will stand before no throne but
a throne of grace. Absolutely no throne. Bring a
sinner before a throne of holiness and he'll back up like Israel
at Sinai. Bring a sinner before a throne
of holiness and like Isaiah he'll cry, I'm cut off. Bring a sinner
before a throne of justice and he'll cry, O Lord, who can stand?
but bring a sinner before a throne of grace, free grace, which has
righteousness fulfilled and justice satisfied, and that sinner will
cry, let's all come boldly before the throne of grace, that we
may find mercy. Fourthly, faith will have no praise or
glory to itself. but gives all the glory to God
and God alone. Faith says, not unto us, O Lord,
not unto us, but unto thy name be glory. It is true that I have
a righteousness, but it's not mine, and no part of it's mine,
it's His. It is true that I have forgiveness,
but it's not based on my deeds, it is by His blood. It is true
that I love Christ, I do, I do. but it's because he first loved
me. It is true that I'm an heir of God, but I'm a joint heir
with Christ. It is true that I have a title
to glory, but he suffered the just for the unjust to bring
me to God. When I pastored in Chattanooga,
Tennessee, Actually, before I ever knew
the gospel, before I ever heard the gospel, before I ever knew
Christ in His glory, a man came there and preached who was a
missionary to Africa. And he gave an illustration that
later on I learned the meaning of that illustration. I came
to really appreciate it. He said that one Sunday afternoon,
that he and some of the natives were going to a village to preach. And he said he got all of his
equipment together and he, they carried that stuff on their head
like they still do in Mexico. And he had a, they went through
the jungle, just had a pair weaving through the, from one village
to another village. And so they started on this journey
to the next village, and the natives were running ahead of
him. He was here, and there was some behind him, and some of
his friends were with him. They were making their way through
the path in the jungle. And he said as they ran along,
far ahead, he heard a cry, a faint cry. He heard someone saying
in the native language, help me, won't somebody please help
me? And he said he told the natives,
let's move quickly, somebody's in distress. And so they started
running faster and they ran through the jungle and down the path
as they made their way ahead, their voice got louder, help
me, won't somebody help me, somebody help me. And he said they rounded
this into the clearing, came out of the jungle into the clearing.
And he said it was such a horrible sight that it just made him made
him fall back in nausea. There sitting on the ground was
something almost indescribable. What was left of a human being.
The man had leprosy. It was literally all over him.
He said his face, he stood there and looked at him, he said the
man's face was nothing but just an ulcer, just an open sore.
with flies all over, he had slits for eyes and a nose wasn't even
left, hardly a slit for a mouth. And the scales were all over
him, he was sitting there cross-legged on the ground trying to look
out of sightless eyes and he had fingers weren't even left,
they were eaten off with the disease. Just bones. And he had those old bony arms
and what was left of hands. through the slits of his eyes,
trying to look, and that mouth was saying, somebody help me. Somebody help me. And Paris told me, he said, I
stood there, and he said, I knew that's what God sees when He
sees me. Because the Bible says leprosy.
Sin is leprosy, leprosy, leprosy. That's what it is, sin. That's
not me. Okay, that's fine, but that's
me. By nature, by imagination, by birth, that's me. Unclean,
unclean, unclean. And he said, I saw what God sees
when He sees me. And I thought, here I stood.
Paris was a big, big fellow. Remember Doris? Handsome fellow.
Healthy. He thought, oh, you know, if
I could go down there, if I could stand by him and take what's
left of those hands in my hands and lift him up and pull that
old diseased body next to mine and put that ulcerated rotten
face right against mine and bring him into myself and let my life
flow into him and his disease into me. Let my help just flow
into Him and His death into me. His hell into me and my life
into Him. That's what Christ did for me.
He came down to this earth. That's right. He took my place
and gave me His place. He took my sin in His body on
the tree and paid for it. He took my hell and gave me heaven.
He took my death and gave me life. He took my disease and
gave me holiness. Am I telling the truth? That's
the gospel. That's the gospel. And God, let
me tell you this. Everybody here is religious,
so you wouldn't be here. But I'm telling you this. If
God Almighty, ever by His grace, I don't know whether He will
or not, He doesn't have to. He can leave you where you are. He doesn't
have to. He doesn't have to save you.
He got along without you a long time. And heaven will be heaven
without you. Christ makes heaven what it is.
But if God's ever pleased, maybe He will, maybe He won't, but
if God's ever pleased to bring you from your Mount Sinai to
Mount Calvary, if He ever does, I hope He does, but He doesn't
have to, if He ever brings you from the law and shuts your mouth
and lays you at the foot of the cross, if He ever brings you
from your religion and your little old empty, idle, foolish religious
profession to love and respect and receive the death of his
son in your place and state. If he ever brings you from your
righteousness to his, from your religious bondage to his liberty,
from your labor to his rest, then you'll say with Christ what
we'll say with Paul. Those things that I once counted
so important. I count them but done, that I
may win Christ and be found in Him.

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