I want to ask three questions
in this message. Now the scriptures declare, I'll
just read you these scriptures, you don't need to turn to them.
The scriptures declare, first of all, the Lord reigneth. The
Lord is king, we just sang that. The Lord reigneth, let all the
people tremble. The Lord reigneth in his majesty
and power and sovereignty, let the people tremble. before the
Lord. Exalt the Lord our God, exalt
the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool, for, because
the Lord our God is holy. He is holy. And then Habakkuk
wrote this, the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth
keep silence before him. Now, this is confusing to me. I watch on television and people
preach a God that's not almighty and not majestic and not grand
and glorious and certainly not sovereign and almighty and a
Jesus that's ineffectual and not victorious and a Jesus that's
attempting to do what he's not able to do. And they preach that
kind of God, that kind of Jesus, that kind of gospel, that kind
of spirit, and everybody's waving their hands, and they've got
their eyes closed toward the sky, and they're saying, Amen,
Hallelujah, praise the Lord. Just that and the other, and
they're dancing, and they're clapping, and carrying on, and
all the confusion. speaking in tongues and all this.
Now then, I come along, or some other preacher, and we preach
the holiness of God, and the greatness of God, and the majesty
of God, and the sovereignty of God, and the God of glory, the
God of omniscience and omnipotence and omnipresent. and the Christ
of victory, and the Christ of glory, and the Christ of grace,
and the Christ of conquering mercies and atonement, and the
spirit of effectual calling, you wouldn't expect the same
response, would you? Huh? Well, of course not. You
expect the response, I'm going to show you from the Scripture
in a minute, the Lord is in His holy temple, let all the earth
keep silence before Him. The Lord is holy, the Lord is
in heaven, thou art upon earth, let thy words be few. Carefully
select what you have to say and what you do. You say, these people
hope to do, and you folks are quiet and calm and silent and
listen to the word. Oh, there's an amen occasionally,
but by and large, the average congregation who hears of the
great glory of God, they're quiet. Yeah, they're smitten and hard. Hold thy peace, Zephaniah said,
at the presence of the Lord. Hold thy peace at the presence
of the Lord, for the Lord is holy. The Lord is holy. What an awesome, awesome thing
to come into the presence of God. Holy and reverent is his
name. Now I ask this question, am I
fanatical? Am I radical? Well, I ask this
question of you tonight. Just how holy is God? Just how
holy is God? Now, could I show you a couple
of illustrations? How holy is God? I ask you to turn, first
of all, to Exodus 4. Just how holy is God? Now, you
want to throw a shoe or a songbook. If you want to get up and wave
your hands to the clouds, The publican wouldn't so much as
lift his eyes, let alone his arms. You want to rock back in
the Istok Sea with your eyes closed and carry on? Let me ask
you something if you know how holy God is. Exodus 4, let me
bring you up to date on this. Moses had left Egypt and gone
down into the mountain area, and he met Jethro and married
his daughter. And the years had passed. And
Moses had a couple of sons. And God appeared to Moses. Moses
was God's chosen servant. Moses was a man of faith. God
called Moses to send him back to Egypt to deliver Israel. Isn't that right? You know that,
to deliver Israel. Appeared to him on the mountain, told him,
I am. I am this city. And Moses left with his wife
to go down to Egypt with Aaron to lead the people out of Egypt.
And he stopped at an inn to spend the night. And God met him. And God was going to kill him.
You ever read that? God was going to kill him. Yeah,
but Moses is God's man. He's still going to kill him.
But God had already said he was going to Egypt to lead the children
out of Egypt. God was still going to kill him.
Now I'll show you. Turn to Exodus 4, verse 24. And it came to pass by the way
in the inn that the Lord met him, Moses, and sought to kill
him. And sought to kill him. Then
Zipporah, his wife, took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin
of her son and cast it at Moses' feet and said, Surely a bloody
husband art thou to me. So God let him go. Let who go? Let Moses go. He let him live. So God let him go. Then she said,
a bloody husband thou art because of the circumcision. Let me tell
you, what was the circumcision? It's a token of God's covenant.
It's a picture of Christ's atonement. It's a picture of regeneration,
the circumcising of the heart. And God would not let an Israelite
come and worship who had not been circumcised. And Moses and
his wife had a debate over this thing, over circumcision, and
she wouldn't let him circumcise that boy. I knew what happened. She wouldn't let him, and Moses
gave in to his wife. That's exactly what happened.
This was a pretty good-sized boy, and Moses had given in to
it. She said he is not, she is a
heathen. She said he's not going to be
circumcised. And Moses said, well, we won't argue about it,
you know, we won't argue about it. But God argued about it,
and God met His choice man, His choice servant, at the end, and
He said to him, I'm going to kill you. I'm going to kill you. God's holy. I'm telling you,
if you try to avoid this thing of the atonement and the priestly
work of Christ and the circumcision of the heart and regeneration,
oh, I believe God will let a man go. I'm telling you, He wouldn't
let Moses go. So she took the sharp stone,
circumcised that boy, and got angry, and then God let Moses
go. How holy is your God? My God is so holy that even Moses
would not be permitted to live in any form of rebellion against
God, especially in connection with the atonement. Turn to Leviticus
chapter 10. Now listen to this. Now, there
are two men, Moses and Aaron. Moses was the prophet, and Aaron
was the priest. And they were great men, and
they were men of God, and men who led the Israelites out of
Egypt. Aaron was the high priest. And Aaron had two sons, Nadab
and Abihu, Leviticus 10. Let's look at it. And Nadab and
Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer and
put fire therein, and put incense there on. They were going about
religious duties. And they offered strange fire.
It was a different fire. It came from a different place
before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And when they did,
there went out fire from the Lord and devoured these two sons
of Avon. Just wiped them out like that.
And they died before the Lord. And Moses said to Avon, this
is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified, I am holy,
I will be revered, I will be held in the highest worship,
I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before
all the people I will be glorified." I told you that, and I'm trying
to say that, Cecil. God is holy. So Aaron held his peace, stood
right there and watched his two sons snuffed out by the fire
of God. And Moses said, you know what
God said, Avon? I'll be sanctified in all them that come nigh me.
And he kept his mouth shut. How holy is God, so holy that
Uzzah was smitten dead for touching the ark. How holy is God, so
holy that King Uzziah, here was a man that reigned 29 years in
Judah. He reigned 29 years in faithfulness. He was a man that tore down the
groves and tore down the idols and turned the people to heart
back to worshiping God. He was a man who built places
for the farmers. He was a compassionate, dedicated
king. Isaiah loved him and revered
this king Isaiah. And God killed him. God killed
him because he dared to come into the temple and offer incense
before God, which was not his place. How holy is God, so holy that
the seraphims cover their faces in his presence. How holy is
God, so holy that upon seeing his glory, Isaiah cried, I'm
cut off. How holy is God, so holy that
John, his beloved disciple, who leaned on his breast at the Last
Supper when he heard his voice and saw his form in his glory,
fell at his feet as a dead man. dead man. How holy is God, so
holy that the Apostle Paul came back from the third heaven speechless,
utterly speechless. How holy is God, and I'll show
you this, so holy that when His only begotten Son was nailed
to that cross bearing our sins, God turned His back. That's holy. How holy is God? I wish I could
answer the question. But I do know this. If any human
being was ever able to answer that question effectively in
the ears of a congregation, there would be no breath left in any
of us. How holy is God? Turn to Exodus chapter 28. When
the high priest went into the Holy of Holies, I know he had
the names of Israel on his shoulders and breastplate. But that most
prominent inscription, as he went into the presence of God,
was written on his forehead, on the mitre that was on Aaron's
forehead, in Exodus 28, 36. And thou shalt make a plate of
pure gold and engrave upon it, like the engravings of a signet,
holiness to the Lord, capitalized. Is it capitalized in your Bible?
Underscored holiness to the Lord. Holiness to the Lord. Holiness to the Lord. Holy God,
we praise thy name. Lord of all, we bow before thee. All on earth thy scepter claim. All in heaven adore thee. Fill
the heavens with sweet accord. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. And I know it's popular today
now to say, preach it, brother, preach it, brother. Now you're
preaching, brother. Amen. Now, something about that
doesn't bring that out of me right here. Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord. Holy Father, holy Son, holy Spirit,
three in one, we name Thee. While in essence only one undivided
God, we praise Thee. Fill the heavens with one accord.
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. God's holiness. Impress upon
me, engrave upon my heart the holiness of God. Huh? The holiness
of God. I think it might be a different
matter if I thought it was genuine, but I think it's flesh. All of
this Excitement and emotionalism, I think, is turned on to create
some kind of atmosphere. And I tell you, the only atmosphere
that I need created here is the one He creates by His Holy Spirit
in a fear of the Lord, an awesome fear of God. When my heart is
being addressed by the Word of God and brought to worship, I
want to worship God. How holy is the Lord? Well, here's
my second question. And if we ever find this first,
the answer to this first one, we'll get the answer to the second
one. My second question is this, how sinful are we? How sinful
are we? I'll tell you what makes this
question difficult for us to answer. Here's what makes it
difficult for us to answer. is that we have so little understanding
of what true holiness is. And that's why it's hard to answer
how sinful are we. We have no clear understanding
of what true holiness is. A man's conception of sin, the
principle of sin, the nature of sin, the corruption of sin,
the extent of sin, The definition of sin, a man's conception of
sin is determined by his knowledge or understanding of holiness. That's when you find out what
sin is, and I'll show you that. Turn to Job 42. Job 42. I boldly declare that the average
preacher and the average church member does not have a very good
knowledge of what sin is. We somehow confine sin to acts,
especially acts of the flesh and deeds, don't we? Sin is an
outward action. But here is a man called Job.
Now, Job, according to God's own confession, was a righteous
man, that is, a man of honesty, integrity. a man of morality,
wouldn't you say that? A man that shunned evil. He was
a man who was an example in his home, in his family, in his community. But this man, Job, never truly
understood the extent of sin, and never truly understood his
own sin until he had an experience and saw the Lord in his glory. That's when he found out what
sin is, when he saw the holiness of God. In Job 42, listen. Job 42, 1. Then Job answered
the Lord and said, I know that thou canst do everything, and
that no thought can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth
counsel without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that
I understood not. Oh, we've been guilty of that,
haven't we? Things too wonderful for me I popped off about. Things
which I knew not. Oh, ho, ho, ho. Anybody guilty
of that? Oh, oh. You know, I have to reach
out and take back the words you've said in the name of God and what
you said God said and what the Word said. You just reach... That's what Job said. I've talked
about things I didn't know anything about. Here I beseech thee, and
I will speak, I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.
I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now, now mine
eye seeth the Lord in his majesty and holiness and power, the awesome
presence of God. Wherefore I hate myself, I abhor
myself, I repent in dust and ashes. Here was a man, a man
of integrity and honesty morality and influence and held up in
high esteem, but he never had any conception or understanding
of sin, his own sin and depravity, until he saw the Lord. Isaiah
went through the same thing. Turn to Isaiah 6. Isaiah 6. Isaiah was already a preacher,
already a prophet before this took place. He was already religious. Back in chapter 5, he had been
woe whenever about him. About five or six times, he hollered,
woe is you, and woe is them, and woe are they. He just woed
everybody. And when he saw the Lord, he
said, woe is me. That's right. He said in Isaiah 6, verse 1,
in the year that King Uzziah died, in the year that God killed
Uzziah for coming into the temple, I saw the Lord. How did you see
him, Isaiah? Saw him in his loving temple.
No, sir. I saw the Lord sitting on a throne.
High and lifted up, his train filled the temple. Above it stood
the seraphims. Each one had six wings. With
two he covered his face in the presence of God. With two he
covered his feet, acknowledging his own imperfections." These
are seraphims, not us. We rush into the presence of
God like we were on first-name basis. And with two he did fly
to hasten to do the will of God. And they cried one to another,
saying, Holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth full
of his glory, and the post of the door moved at the voice of
him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then,
then said I, woe is me. I am what? The word is cut off. I am cut
off. There's no hope for me. I'm cut
off. Excommunicated. Because I'm a man of unclean
lips. He didn't know that before. He
never talked that way. He talked about woe is you, but
he never said woe is me. But when he saw, when is a man
going to discover the extent of sin and the depth of sin and
the principle of sin when he sees God? God in his holiness. And my generation, I tell you,
I know what I'm talking about. You don't want to think about
this. Turn to Romans. I'll show you one other fellow,
Paul, Saul of Tarsus, whom God saved. This is Paul speaking
now. Listen to this. Romans chapter
7. I'm simply saying, and if you
can get this, how sinful are we? Sin is only understood in
the light of God's holiness. That's where sin is understood.
in the light of God's holiness. And Paul said in Romans 7, now
listen to this, verse 9, I was alive without the law. What does
he mean without the law once? Did he not know the law? Did
he not know it? He told it. He was a man of the
law. He was a man of, he said concerning
the law, blameless, strict law man. He meant he hadn't seen
or heard the law in its spiritual content, as it is revealed by
the Spirit of God. But when the commandment came,
when the Holy Spirit brought to me the holiness of God, sin
revived, and I died. I died. And the commandment,
which was ordained to life, do this and live, I found to be
unto death. For sin, taken occasion by the
commandment, deceived me and slew me. Wherefore the law is
holy, and the commandment is holy, just and good. But I, what
am I? O wretched man that I am." I
tell you this, you're not going to discover sin by comparing
yourselves with yourselves. That's our problem. Turn to 2
Corinthians 10. We're not going to discover this
thing of sin by comparing ourselves with ourselves. Paul really rebukes
this here in 2 Corinthians 10. In 2 Corinthians 10, 12, he said,
we dare not, listen, we dare not make ourselves of that number,
of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves,
but they measuring themselves by themselves. Isn't that what
we're guilty of? Measuring ourselves by ourselves.
And read on, "...and comparing themselves among themselves."
They're not wise. If we want to do any comparison,
comparing, let's look at God in His holiness, in His perfection,
and we'll discover what we are. But we're people who not only
compare ourselves with ourselves, but we justify ourselves. There's
not a person here tonight that would dare reveal your heart
to the person sitting next to you. Wouldn't I? And yet, why do we
go on justifying ourselves while God has clearly revealed our
sins? Let's just run through the word a moment. Turn to Genesis
chapter 6. And this thing of sin here is
sin in the light of God's holiness. This is not comparing ourselves
with ourselves. This is sin in the light of God's
holiness. You see, God is spirit and we're
flesh. Everything that God is, we're
not. In Genesis 6, 5, listen, and
God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and
that every imagination, every imagination, the whole imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Continually. God is light, we're
darkness, continually. God is truth, we're lies. God
is life, we're death. God is good, we're evil. God
is love, we're hate. Yes, we are. God is just and
we're unjust. Turn to Psalm 14. Listen to this. Psalm 14, reading verse 2 and
3. Now listen to the word. Psalm
14, verse 2 and 3. The Lord looked down from heaven.
The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see
if there were any, any, that did understand and seek God.
They're all gone aside. They're all together become...
What's the word there? The word in the margin is stinking.
Filthy stinking. There's none that doeth good,
no, not one. Not one. Even our righteousness
is a filthy rag. He said man in his best state
is altogether vanity. Brother Shepherd brought a message
one time here on no man's land. Did you hear it? No man's land.
No man can look upon God and live. No man hath seen God. No man knoweth the Father. No
man can come to me except my Father which sent me. And he
dwells in a light to which no man can approach. I'll tell you
this, how holy is God, how sinful is man, you can be sure of one
thing in the things that I've said, I have understated both
of them. I've understated them. When all that I can muster in
my heart and thoughts and minds to elevate your understanding
of God's majesty and holiness and power and greatness and omnipotence
and perfection incomprehensible, unapproachable holiness. I've understated it tragically.
I haven't even touched it. I've understated it tragically. And when I put man, when I put
me and you at our best state in the barnyard, in the hog waller, in the deepest
cesspool of corruption, with all the vows of the dirtiest
thing that anybody can do, and from the sole of the feet to
the top of the head, I've understated it. You know what God called Jacob?
A wiggling maggot. Now, I don't know anything that's
more It causes me to almost throw up than to see a dead carcass
and maggots moving about in it. That's awful how I thought I'd
preach like that. But that's what he called Jacob,
a wiggling maggot. I've understated him. Well, here's
my third question. Now, boy, I've got one to handle
here now. then how can man be just with God? That's something,
isn't it? And we're studying the book of
Job in our Sunday morning Bible class. Well, let's dash through
it a moment. Turn to Job 4. And I'll tell
you this, if that question's never puzzled you, if that question's never occurred
to you, how can man be just with God, then you know what? I'll
tell you the truth. I'm not compromising telling
you the truth. You've never really seen the holiness of God, nor
the sinfulness of man. If that question never entered
your mind and never troubled you and never caused you any
anxiety, how can I, the wiggling maggot, be accepted by the holy,
perfect God? And you've never seen either
one of those truths, how holy is God and how sinful is man. Job 4, look at verse 17. Job 4, got it? I'll just run
through the Book of Job. Shall mortal man be more just
than God? Shall a man be more pure than
his Maker? Behold, he puts no trust in his servants. Showed
that to Moses a while ago, didn't he? His angels, his angels, he's
charged with folly. How much less in them that dwell
in houses of clay. whose foundation is in the dust,
which are crushed before the moth. How about Job 9? Job 9, turn over there a moment,
verse 2. Job answered and said, Job 9, 2, I know it's so, I know
it's so. Preacher, I know what you said
so. God is holy, me and a son. I know it's so. How should man
be just with God? How are we going to do this?
Pretty good question, isn't it? Well, let's look at Job 15. Here
it is again. Job 15, you might mark these.
Job 15, 14. Listen, what is man that he should
be clean? Clean. And he that's born of
a woman, that he should be righteous. You ever hear somebody say, well,
he's a good, clean-cut boy. He's lived a clean life. We don't
believe these things. I'm telling you, my generation
does not believe God is holy and that we're sinners. Here
are these great men of God back there sitting around asking the
question, how can he be clean that's born of a woman or righteous?
Behold, verse 15, God puts no trust in his saints. The heavens
are not clean, and God's got to purge the heavens someday
with fire. How much more abominable and
filthy Healthy is man, mankind, which drinks iniquity like they
drink water. We have an unquenchable thirst
for evil. Did you know that? Job 25, listen
to this. Job 25, verse 4. Now here is how, he keeps asking
how. How can, how then, Job 25, 4,
can man be justified with God. Justified means clean, wholesome
and holy, sanctified and pure, free from the curse and condemnation
of the law, and with a perfect righteousness. How can that be?
How can man be justified with God? How can he be clean as born
of a woman? Behold, even the moon it shineth
not, the stars are not pure in God's sight, how much less man
that is a worm. And you know what that word is,
I told you a while ago, it's a wiggling maggot, thy worm, Now, some people have turned
to sacrifices, ceremonies, and religious days to accomplish
this miracle. They've turned to sacrifices.
They've put on uniforms of religion. They observe certain days. They
keep Sabbath days and holy days and Christmas and Easter and
First Day of the Week and other days. They go to church. They've
tried ceremonies. And others have turned to the
law, but they find by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be
justified. Some have turned to their works
of righteousness, and yet the scripture says, in the flesh
no man can please God. Some have turned to religious
heritage. Some have turned to duties of
religion. There was a—and you'd be amazed at how ingrained this
is in our religious works. There was a fellow on television.
that on his way to work one day, this was on television a few
days ago, on his way to work, and he passed a street person,
a down-and-outer, and he had his lunch, and I believe that's
right, he gave him his sandwich. And the fellow just was so glad
to get it, it impressed this man, so next day he brought some
more sandwiches, passed them out to people. After a while,
he had his whole family making sandwiches, and every day he
was going down the street, people taking, what, a hundred, a hundred
and fifty sandwiches, and giving them out to people. Isn't that
wonderful? That's good. That's good. Wonderful. It is. But here was his mistake. They bragged on him and interviewed
him, and he told the interviewer, he said, now when I get up to
that gate, up to heaven, The good Lord's going to say, when
He hears my name, is that the fellow with the sandwiches? Yeah,
well, let him in. Have you got any of that in you?
I have. Now, come on. Be honest. I tell you. It won't work, I tell you. Sacrifices,
ceremonies, days, sinee, law, works of righteousness, religious
heritage, duty. I don't care. It's got to count
for something. See? But I never have lived like other
people live. I've always tried to do what's
right. I've gone to church all my life. I've supported the church.
I've supported the missionaries. I've prayed. See? Haven't you
not done many wonderful works in thine name, O Lord, and cast
out devils and preached? Lord, I preached for forty years.
I never knew you. I never knew you. How can man
be just with God? Well, is there not a way? Yup.
And I'll give you just four statements. Turn to Matthew 19. Now listen
to me. And I'll be honest with you.
I'll tell you the truth. Ain't no use coming down here
and shaking hands. Joining the church again, you've
done that. That doesn't work. Making a profession, you've done
that, and it didn't work. In fact, actually, I'm bold to
declare that this thing, how can man be just with God? Man
can't do anything about it. Not anything. Matthew 19, listen,
verse 25. Well, verse 23. Matthew 19, 23, then Jesus said
to his disciples, Verily, I say unto you, that a rich man shall
hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again, I say unto
you, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. And when
his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, and
they said, Who then can be saved? And Jesus beheld them and said
unto them, Will you please listen to this? With men this is impossible. Can I answer it? What can man
do to justify himself, to lift himself, to save himself, to
redeem his sin? Nothing. With men it's impossible. Is that all right? That's what
the Master said. Here's the second thing. How
can man be just with God? With me it's impossible, but
God can do something about it. Look at the next line. But, he
said, but, thank God. The Lord didn't stop there. He
said, but with God all things are possible. John, you and I can be saved.
You know why? Because it's possible with God. That's right. Sinners like you.
and me. We can be saved, you know, because
it's possible with God. Christ said, with God all things
are possible. God said, my ear's not heavy
that I can't hear. My arm's not short that I can't
save. I can save. My God can take a
wiggling maggot and make him a prince. My God can take a filthy
sinner and make him a justified saint. My God can take a son
of Adam and make him a son of God, because he's able. Have
you ever traced the times in the Bible where it says God's
able? It's interesting. It says over in Romans that Abraham
believed God that he was able to do all that he promised. And
Paul said, he said, I know whom I have believed. I'm persuaded
he's able to keep that. He's what? He's able to keep
that which I committed him. He's able. And again he said,
he is able to keep you from falling. And again it says he is able
to present you faultless and holy and unblameable. And again
it says he is able to raise your vile, v-i-l-e, vile body and
make it likened to his glorious body. He is able. All right,
how can man be just with God? Well, he can't do anything about
it. God's able to do something about it, but thirdly, God can
only justify the sinner in a way that's consistent with his character. Now, is that right? God can never
act outside of his character. Turn to Isaiah 45. Isaiah chapter
45. God can never act outside of
his character. And this has been the theme of
my message for many years. In fact, actually, do you know
something? In 1954, 1954, back when you could have counted
the sovereign grace preachers in this country on that hand
right there, or maybe two of them. In 1954, I was invited
by Clarence Walker, pastor of Ashland Avenue Baptist Church,
down to Ashland Avenue Baptist Church to preach in a May Bible
conference. I wasn't but 28 years old then.
And he had some illustrious gray-haired older men coming from other places
to preach, and I was caught, stuck into the conference somewhere
on a morning service because I helped support the school.
And the students were exhorted by the faculty to listen to certain
of these preachers that had come from other places, you know,
the older men, so forth and so on. And at that school was Scott
Richardson. I didn't know him and never met
him. and two or three other men were at that school at that time.
And I got up that morning, it was on Tuesday morning, and God,
see, God uses the foolish. God uses the things that are
not. God uses the base. God uses the things that are
despised. That's right. God will discard
the thing that you whittle out and polish and paint and fix
up and say, God's got to use this. No, he won't. He's going
to use that which you cast aside. And I got up that morning and
I preached about what I'm preaching tonight, 33 years later. How
can man be just with God? And some of those students had
never heard that dealt with in their life. And Scott Richardson
left that service and went and told a fella, He said, I don't
know about these other fellows, but we heard the sermon this
morning. That's what it's all about. That's what it's all about. This has been the theme of my
message for many years, John. How can man be just with God?
And here in Isaiah 45, listen. Verse 21, tell ye, as I read
it this morning, 45, 21, tell ye, bring them near, yea, let
them take counsel together, who hath declared this from ancient
time, who hath told it from that time, have not I the Lord? And
there's no God else beside me, I'm a just God and a Savior. I'm a just God and a Savior.
Now one other scripture, turn to Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter
3. We need to get a crank. God is
just and holy. And he says here in Romans chapter
3, verse 26, listen, verse 25 and 26, whom God hath set forth
to be a propitiation, Romans 3, 25, through faith in his blood,
to declare his righteousness, God's righteousness, for the
remission of sins of the past, that's Old Testament believers'
sins, through the forbearance, long-suffering of God. Verse
26, to declare, I say, at this time, God's righteousness. He
set forth Christ to be a propitiation, to declare His righteousness,
that He might be just and justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.
God's going to be just. And He has set forth His Son.
Now here's the... God can only justify sinners
in a way consistent with His holiness, and that way only is
Christ. I want you to read one other
verse now in Jeremiah chapter 23. And I've dealt faithfully
with you, and I've dealt honestly with you, and I've tried to deal
faithfully and honestly with people to whom I've preached
through these 30 some odd years. How holy is God? I wish I could
tell you, but he'll have to show you. How sinful is man? I'll never persuade you. You've
got to see His holiness, and when you do, you'll see your
sins. They'll overwhelm you. And it won't be because you stole
a watermelon. That ain't got a whole lot to do with it. You
did that because of what you are. And what you are is what
God's disturbed about, not what you do. Did you understand what
I'm saying? It's not what you did God's upset
about, it's what we are. That's right, it's what we are.
Christ said this, You've heard it said by them of old time,
thou shalt not commit adultery. I say unto you, to think it is
to be guilty of it. I've heard it said by them of
old time, thou shalt not kill. I say unto you, to hate, to dislike
a person is to be guilty already of murder. It's not what you
did, because you never have done what you could do. This different hedge has been
put about you. and restraints that have held
you back from doing all that you'd like to do or say. That's right. All of us. And
when we understand that in the light of God's holiness, God
cannot lie. The only thing that keeps us
from lying all the time is certain restraints. That's right. God cannot do evil. The only
thing that restrains us from doing evil all the time is the
restraints God's put on us. I'm telling the truth, ladies
and gentlemen. And the only way we can be justified with God
is the way in which His holiness can be honored. Now look at Jeremiah
23, 5. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, the days coming, and thank God it has come, that I'll
raise up unto David a righteous branch. And a king shall reign
and prosper, and he shall execute judgment and justice in the name
of the Father, in the name of God. Christ executed it. He fulfilled
it. He accomplished it. He did it.
In his days, Judas shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely.
He's not talking about the natural seed of Abraham. He's talking
about all Israel. spiritual history, and they're
going to be saved and dwell safely. And this is His name, whereby
He shall be called, in capital letters, the Lord, our righteousness. That's it. How can man be—how
holy is God? How sinful and wicked is man?
I can't answer that. Well, how can man be just with
God? I can answer that. in Christ, through Christ and
by Christ. I can answer that. And that's,
you need to know that more than you do the answer to the first
two. Am I right, Terry? That's the one to know the answer
to. It's Christ. However holy God is, Christ is
able to meet His holiness. Though it's not understandable
by me or discernible, His holiness, yet Christ can reach, as God
is. How far down have I gone? Well,
I don't even know. But I know this, He's able to
save to the uttermost them that come to God by Him. So how can
man be just with God? In, of, through, and by Christ
Jesus. That's the gospel. That's it. That's save a man if he believes
it.