Blessed is the Man

David, king of Judah, and called
the sweet psalmist of Israel, and twice in the word of God,
a man after God's own heart, wrote in Psalms 32, verse 1 and
2, blessed is the man. Blessed is the man whose transgression
is forgiven. Blessed is the man whose sin
is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. That's what David said. And then
Paul, the apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, he said a bond
slave of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto
the gospel, writing under divine inspiration, repeats these words
in the book of Romans chapter 4 when he says this, blessed
are they whose iniquities are all forgiven, blessed are they
whose sins are covered, and blessed is the man to whom God will not
charge sin. That's my subject today, blessed
is the man. Now, neither David nor Paul deny
the fact that we're sinners. They weren't denying our sins.
They were rather acknowledging the truth that we are sinners.
We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. We have
transgressions and we have iniquities. The scripture says there's none
that doeth good and sinneth not. There's not a just man upon the
earth that doeth good. and sin if not. David said in
Psalm 51, my sins are ever before me. I'm constantly reminded that
I am a sinner. And again he said, if thou, Lord,
shouldest mark iniquity, who shall stand? And if we say, John
wrote, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves
and the truth's not in us. And again he said, if we say
that we have not sinned, We make God a liar, and his word is not
in us. So David and Paul are not denying
the fact that we're sinners. And they're not excusing sin.
And they're not claiming to live above sin. Neither of these men
claim to live above sin. Paul himself said, the things
that I would do, I do them not. And the things I would not do,
I do. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me? from this
body of death. So neither of these men deny
the fact that we're sinners, nor do they excuse sin, nor do
they claim to live above sin, but rather what they're doing
is this, they're rejoicing. They're rejoicing in the forgiveness
of sins. They're rejoicing in the covering
of sin. They're rejoicing in the putting
away of sin. That scripture I quoted a moment
ago When David said, If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquity,
who shall stand? Well, what's the next verse?
The next verse says, But there is forgiveness with thee, that
thou mightest be feared. And here's what these men are
saying, both of them. Blessed, blessed, happy, twice
happy, is the man whose sins are all forgiven. Blessed, happy,
is the man whose sins are covered. And blessed is the man whose
sins are so put away that even God will not charge him with
iniquity. Paul said in Romans 8, who can
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. And again he said, there is therefore
now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. So blessed,
happy, twice happy is the man whose transgression is forgiven. whose sin is covered. Blessed
is the man to whom God will not charge or impute iniquity. Now let me address this subject,
and this ought to be good news to honest people, real people
who are listening to this program. Let me address my subject by
asking five questions. That'll make up the outline for
the message today. I have five questions I'm going
to ask, and I'm going to answer these five questions from the
Word of God. And these, I believe, are five
great monumental questions having to do with that which concerns
you and that which concerns me. Now here's the first question.
What would it mean to you to know that every sin, every sin,
every sin of yours, every sin of word, of thought, of deed,
of imagination, Every sin past, present, and future. Every sin
of omission, commission. Every great sin. Every what we
call small sin. But every sin, what would it
mean to you to know that every sin is totally eradicated, totally
forgiven, blotted out, covered over, and cast into the depths
of the sea to be remembered No more. Now, just what would that
mean to you? Well, I'll tell you this. This is no dream. This is a reality to those who
are in Christ Jesus. This is a blessing that all who
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ enjoy to the fullest. Their sins
are blotted out. God says, I cast them into the
depths of the sea. God said, I cast them behind
my back. God said, I've forgiven them.
God said, I'll remember them no more. That's why Christ came
to the earth. That's why he left heaven's glory
and came to this earth and robed himself in human flesh to put
away our sins. When the angel announced his
birth to Joseph, he said, Mary's with child and she'll bring forth
a son and thou shall call his name Jesus. for he shall save
his people from their sins. That's why he came to the earth,
to save his people from their sins. And this is the fulfillment
of the promise made to the prophet Isaiah, when God said, a virgin
shall conceive and bring forth a child, and you call his name
Emmanuel, God with us. That's why he came to earth.
Paul said, this is a faithful saying, this is a saying worthy
of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ is coming to the world
to save sinners, to redeem sinners, to put away sin. The sin of those
of whom I'm the chief, he said. That's why he came to the earth.
And that's why Jesus Christ was made flesh. That's why he took
on himself the form of a servant, was made in the likeness of sinful
flesh, that he might put away our sins. Galatians 4, verse
4 says, in the fullness of time, God sent forth his Son, made
of a woman, made under the law to redeem them who were born
under the law, that we might receive the righteousness of
God in him. Romans 5, 19 says, by this one
man's obedience, many were made righteous. So that's why he came
to the earth. And that's why he was born under
the law, made under the law, and that's why he assumed our
flesh. And that's why he was crucified.
Listen to these verses. He put away sin. Once in the
end of the earth, he put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Whose sins did he put away? He
put away the sins of all who believe on him. He put them away
sufficiently. He put them away effectually.
He put them away permanently. He put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. And John wrote, the blood of
Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us, not from some of our sins,
or most of our sins, or the greater part of our sins, but the blood
of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin, past, present,
and future, every sin. Every sin, word, thought, and
deed, imagination, every sin of the mind, of the heart, of
the will, every sin. He was made sin for us, who knew
no sin. He knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of Almighty God in Him. So I say
to you, what would it mean to you personally to know that every
sin, every sin, inward, outwardly, of word, thought, or deed, every
sin, past, present, and future, every sin with which you're associated,
every sin from you, of you, about you, in you, every transgression,
every iniquity was put away, blotted out, covered over, finally,
to be remembered no more. That's what every believer in
Jesus Christ experiences and enjoys. That's what the Word
of God says. Nothing needs to be added to
what he's doing. He put away sin. by the sacrifice of himself. Now learn two words, my friends.
Learn two words and learn the gospel. And one word is substitution. Christ is our substitute. He
was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was laid on him and by his stripes we're healed. That's substitution.
He died in the stead of. He died as a substitute. He died
in the place of. He died for his people. He bore
all the judgment and wrath of God upon our sins. He was made
sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
And the second word is satisfaction. What Christ attempted, Christ
accomplished. What Christ came to do, Christ
did. The pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hands. He shall not fail. He came to
put away sin, and he put sin away. And he went back to glory
and sat down at the right hand of God. Now this is something
you need to learn. In the Old Testament tabernacle, there were
no chairs, there were no benches, because the priest who went about
the service of the sacrifices in the tabernacle never sat down.
They never sat down because their work was never finished. Their
sacrifices couldn't put away sin. But this man, Jesus Christ,
after he'd offered one sacrifice for sin forever, sat down at
the right hand of God, having perfectly sanctified all for
whom he died. Now that, isn't that good news?
All right, here's the second question. The second question
is this. What would it mean to you to
know that the holy, eternal, the holy, eternal, living God
God who dwells in a light to which no man can approach. The
incomprehensible, unapproachable, invisible God. The God of perfect
holiness and purity and truth is reconciled to you. What would
that mean to you? He's totally reconciled to you. With God you have perfect peace.
You are at peace with God. Now I'm not talking about how
in peace, peace, when there is no peace. I'm not talking about
somebody saying, well, I made my peace with God. You'll never
make your peace with God. There's no way you can make peace
with God, but Christ can. He made peace for us through
the blood of his cross. He's the only one that can please
God. He said, this is my son in whom
I'm well pleased. He's the only one who can satisfy
God's law and God's justice and God's righteousness. But how
would you like to have, with that holy God, perfect, perfect
peace? Perfect peace, all wrath, all
judgment, all condemnation is gone, gone. God is not angry. God is reconciled. Now this is
the blessing that every person enjoys who is in Christ, who
believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, Paul wrote, being
justified by faith, we have peace with God. Being justified, declared
righteous, By faith in Christ, we have, not gonna have, someday,
might have, could have, perhaps, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians
5. God was in Christ. God was in
Christ reconciling the world unto himself. And David is saying
here, happy is the man. To whom God will not charge sin,
with whom God is at perfect peace. Happy is that man. And David
is the very one, now listen to me. David is the very one who
declares God is angry with the wicked. Every day. David wrote
that. God is angry with the wicked. David is the one who wrote, God
hateth the workers of iniquity. And the Apostle Paul is the one
who talks about knowing the terror of the Lord. Knowing the terror
of the Lord. But these very men talk about
peace. Talk about reconciliation. And
that's the good news of the gospel. God is finally and completely
reconciled. His judgment and his wrath fell
on Christ. fell on Christ, our representative,
fell on Christ, our substitute. And Paul wrote in Galatians,
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law. He hath
redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for
us. And he suffered the just for
the unjust, that he might bring us to God, to a God who's reconciled,
to our God who is at peace. I tell you this, there's no way
we're coming into his presence Unless he is reconciled, unless
he is at peace. So let's learn two more words.
Two more words. And you'll understand what this
peace with God is and how it comes about. And one word is
atonement. All the way through the Old Testament,
we hear talk about the atonement. The atonement, I've given you
the blood upon the altar to make an atonement for your soul. And
in Romans, the Word of God says that by Christ we have now received
the atonement. And somebody said this, and I
think it's pretty good. The word atonement means at-one-ment,
A-T-O-N-E, M-E-N-T. The two who were divided by sin,
the two who were separated by sin. God who was angry is now
at one. Christ has provided a perfect
at one month, a perfect atonement. And the other word is reconciliation. Beloved, now are we sons of God. God is reconciled to us. And
that's when Paul comes along and says, now be you reconciled
with God. Christ has performed that work of reconciliation.
He's put away the calls of anger, the calls of judgment, the calls
of the curse, the calls of condemnation, which is sin. It's gone. And
God's not angry. And the Spirit of God works that
work of reconciliation in our hearts so that we become one
with God. And we have received the spirit
of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. And the Spirit
of God himself beareth witness with our spirits that we are
children of God. Well, I'm not through. There's
a lot of good news here in this book. The third question, what
would it mean to you to have a new nature, a new heart, a
heart and a nature inclined to God, a heart and a nature inclined
to God, which makes worship not a duty, but a delight. Wouldn't that be something? As
much as we have been inclined to the flesh and inclined to
our selfish ways and inclined to our sins, to have a nature
that is just so inclined to holiness and inclined to truth and inclined
to God, which makes worship not a duty, but a delight, which
can bring us into the very mysteries of God and eternal truth, bring
us into an understanding of the very mysteries of God, the ways
of God and the will of God, which enjoys this nature, this new
heart, which enjoys real peace, real rest in the midst of all
the trouble and sorrow and heartache that this world brings. We can
be at rest. My Lord said, my peace I give
unto you. Again, he said, thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee. How would
you like to have a new heart and a new nature which can say,
I know my Redeemer lives. I know whom I have believed,
and I am persuaded he's able to keep that which I've committed
to him. against that day. We know, John
said, we've passed from death unto life, which can say with
David, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not walk. I shall not
walk. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake. And yea, though I walk through
a valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil. for thou art
with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. And thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou knowest my head withal,
my cup runneth over. Surely, goodness and mercy will
follow me all the days of my life, and I'll dwell in the house
of the Lord forever. I heard a story one time about a famous actor, a famous artist,
who was attending a banquet. They had an old silver-haired
preacher at the banquet at the speaker's platform, speaker's
table. And by way of an invocation,
he got up and recited the 23rd Psalm, the Lord is my shepherd. And when he got through, the
audience was visibly moved. In fact, there was scarcely a
dry eye in the place. And a man sitting beside the
famous actor, the famous archer, turned to him and said, I've
heard you do that 23rd Psalm, but I believe the old man beat
you. I believe he does it better than you do it. To which the
actor replied, well, I suppose he does. And the reason is I
know the Psalm. He knows the shepherd. There's
a difference. How would you like to have, but
those who love Christ and who believe Christ have that new
heart. God said, I'll give them a new heart, a new nature. Any man being Christ, he's a
new creature. And true religion, my friends, not reformation.
No, it's not reformation. It's not association. Not what
church you belong to. It's not even education. It's
not how smart you are in the Bible. Regeneration. Christ in
you, that's the hope of glory. Christ in you. It's to know God,
the true and living God in Jesus Christ whom he has sent. And
here's the fourth question. What would it mean to you to
know that every trial, and there are plenty of them, and all the
trouble and the sorrow and the disappointment in this life,
that all of it, now listen to me, is designed and purposed
by your Heavenly Father. Everything that comes your way,
good or bad, is designed by your Heavenly Father and will serve
His eternal good and your, His eternal glory and your eternal
good. How would you like to know that? I hear preachers talk about
Satan did this and Satan did that. Let me tell you something.
Satan, demons, all the powers of heaven and earth cannot touch
a believer without God's permission. Now you write that down. That's
certain. And if you're God's child, you
have no fear from Satan or demons or anybody else unless your heavenly
father permits it. And if he permits it, then we'll
endure it. And it'll be for our good and
his glory. Now, so, Job. Read the book of Job. And you'll
find that Satan couldn't touch Job without God's permission.
Everything that Satan did to Job, God permitted it. You remember
Peter? When the Lord Jesus turned to
Peter and said to him, Satan hath desired thee, that he might
sift thee as wheat. He couldn't sift Peter. He couldn't
tempt Peter. He couldn't touch Peter without
the permission of the Son of God. Peter's Lord. Our Lord is
the shepherd of the sheep. He's the good shepherd. He's
the great shepherd. He's the chief shepherd. Do you
think that he's going to neglect his sheep? You think he's going
to leave his sheep prey to the beast and the monsters and the
demons of principalities and powers? No one can touch his
sheep without his permission. It's not right to tell people
of God that they shall not have trials and troubles in this world.
They'll have them. They'll have them. We're not
immune from them. We're subject to the infirmities of this flesh
just like anyone else. Our Lord said, in this world
you'll have tribulation, you'll have trouble, you'll have trials.
Peter wrote in 1 Peter 4, Beloved, think it not strange concerning
the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing
has happened to you. When you have a disappointment,
you're a believer. You have a trial. You have trouble. Don't think
that's some strange thing. That's no strange thing. That's
expected. That's part of this world. That's
part of life. That's part of this flesh. That's
part of the decay and the corruption left by sin. But rejoice. Rejoice. These trials are to try your
faith, to strengthen you, to comfort you, to bring you to
be more established on Christ. Rejoice in as much as your partakers
of his suffering. I'm saying this that all things
All things I don't care what they are how they come or when
they come all things work together for good To them who love God
to those who are the called according to his purpose. That's what my
God said My God's Almighty Satan's not Almighty. He's not omnipresent. He's not omnipotent He's not
omniscient. He doesn't know everything. And
he's under the control of Almighty God. And God gives his angels
charge over you. And his angels are sent to be
ministers to you who are heirs of salvation. Now, last of all,
let me close with this. What would it mean to you to
know that old age and even death will serve your good and your
gain and your glory? Did not Paul say, for me to live
is Christ, and for me to die is gain? Well, he said, I'm in
a straight betwixt the two. I'm just not certain which I
want right now. He said, I'd like to depart and
be with Christ, which is far better. But he said, I'm concerned
about you, my friends here on the earth. I'm to minister to
you and preach to you and help you, but I still want to go home
and be with the Lord. And for me to die is gain. Romans 8.18
says, I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed
in us. For I tell you this corruptible
shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality,
and our weakness shall be turned into strength, and our shame
into glory. We're gonna wake in his likeness
and David said that's when I'll be satisfied That's when I'll
be satisfied. Well, this is the blessing For
all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you see why David and
Paul both rise to the occasion They said blessed is the man
whose transgression is forgiven Blessed is the man whose sin
is covered Blessed is the man to whom God will not charge sin

Blessed is the Man

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Blessed is the Man

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