I would like to read two passages
of scripture and use as a text for this message. The first one
is found in the book of Romans, chapter 5, verse 1. Now, we're
talking about peace, peace with God, peace in the heart, peace
in the conscience. We're talking about a real and
genuine and lasting peace. And here in Romans 5 verse 1,
the scripture says, therefore being justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now Paul's
talking about a real, genuine, lasting peace. Peace which is
a reality, a present possession. Peace. The people here who know
what he's talking about. the peace that passeth understanding. Thou wilt keep him in perfect
peace, whose mind is stayed on thee. But Jeremiah talks about
another kind of peace. Turn to Jeremiah chapter 6. He
talks about a false peace. He talks about a peace which
is not a reality, but a claim. He talks about a peace which
really is no peace. Jeremiah chapter 6 verse 13 and
Speaking of the false preachers and false prophets here He says
in from the least of them even to the greatest of them. Everyone
is given to covetousness Covetousness and From the prophet even unto
the priest everyone dealeth falsely falsely they deal falsely with
the people They have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people
saying, peace, peace, when there is no peace. These false prophets, because
of a covetous heart, because of a concern for materialism
and a desire for possessions, they cry, peace, peace, when
there is no peace. Now that's two kinds of peace
mentioned in the Word of God. That is a genuine peace that
God gives. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God. A genuine peace, a real peace,
a lasting peace, a true peace that passeth understanding. God
gives that. That's what I want. But there
is a false peace. that men have. You say, well
preacher, do you think that a man can really be sincere? Now listen,
do you think a man can really find assurance that he can find
temporary happiness in a false refuge, in a false peace? Now we know that the believer,
the child of God, can find happiness in a true peace, in a right relationship
with God. He can find of peace of heart
and conscience and spirit. He can find genuine confidence
and assurance in Christ and he can rest. Christ said, come to
me and I'll give you rest. But can an unsaved man, can a
man who's religious but does not know God, but he is religious,
can he find happiness and security and confidence and assurance
in a false refuge, in a false peace, in a false religion? Absolutely. Now I'll show you that from the
scripture. If you turn to Isaiah 28, I'll show you several scriptures
that teach that. That people who were in a false
refuge were nevertheless happy in that refuge. That people who
were hiding under a refuge of lies, yet they were confident. They weren't afraid. They said,
I'm alright. Now listen to Isaiah 28, 15.
Because you have said, we have made a covenant with death, and
with hell are we at agreement. We know we're going to die. We're
not afraid to die. We know there's a hell, but we're not afraid
of hell. We know there's a judgment when the overflowing scourge
shall pass through. When God judges sinners, it won't
come down to us. We're not afraid. We're not afraid
of death. We're not afraid of hell. We're not afraid of judgment.
We have a refuge. It's a refuge of lies, but it's
a refuge, and we have a place to hide. We're hiding under falsehood,
but we are nevertheless hiding. Turn to Jeremiah 14. I'm showing
you some places where people had complete confidence in a
refuge of lies. They had complete confidence
dwelling in a false peace. In Jeremiah 14, verse 13, listen
to this. Jeremiah 14, 13, then said I, O Lord God, behold the
prophets say unto them, the preachers say to the people, you shall
not see the sword, neither shall you have famine. I will give
you assured peace in this place. And then the Lord said to me,
the preachers prophesy lies in my name. I sent them not. I did not command them. I did
not speak unto them. They prophesy unto you a false
vision, divination, and a thing of naught, and the deceit of
their heart. I didn't send them. They're preaching
lies. They come to you and say, the
sword shall not come down to you. You shall not know what
it is to go through famine. Everything's all right. Peace.
When there is no peace, God said, I didn't send them. They're preaching
lies in my name. But nevertheless, people find
refuge. Look at Jeremiah 23, verse 17. Jeremiah 23, verse
17. They say still unto them that
despise me. Men who despise God in his true
attributes, in his true character, in his true revelation, they
despise him. They say still unto them that
despise me, the Lord hath said, ye shall have peace. And they
say unto everyone that walketh after the imagination of his
own heart. Huh? We know anything about that?
These preachers say they know people are walking after the
imagination of their own heart. They found their own denominations,
their own religion, their own churches, their own little cult,
their own little group, their own little way of theology. This
is the way I see it. This is the way I believe it
is. People walk after their own imagination and the preachers
say to them, there in verse 17, And the preachers say, no evil
shall come unto you. You don't have to be afraid.
You don't have to worry. Just do the best you can. It
doesn't matter what you believe, just so you're sincere. You may
walk after the imagination of your own heart, but if you're
sincere, no evil shall come your way. You may not know anything
at all about the gospel of substitution, the gospel of God's grace, the
justification that Christ accomplished through his sacrifice, but that's
all right. No evil shall come now unto you. You shall have
peace. And they said the Lord said it.
Look at that whole verse 17. They say still unto them that
despise me in my true character. They say the Lord said you who
despise him shall have peace. Nobody's going to hell. They
say to them that walketh after the imagination of their own
heart. No evil shall come now you just be sincere. That's all
God required. And people find refuge in that.
They're so comfortable. Everything's alright. Everything's
alright. Look at Matthew 7. You say, how
long do they hold on to this assurance and confidence? They
hold on to it to the judgment. That's how long they hold on
to it. Well, you find assurance in religion, you find assurance
in rebellion, you'll find assurance at the judgment. Spoken by people
who are just prior to being cast into hell Here's some people
that are right on the verge of being cast into hell, and they're
just as sure and confident They're all right as they're standing
there listen to a Matthew 7 verse 22 many shall say unto me in
that day many many Why they shall say Lord Lord? Have we not prophesied
in your name? Have we not In your name cast
out devils? Have we not in your name done
many wonderful works? They're holding on to their refuge
right in the face of Christ himself at the judgment. And then shall
I profess unto them, I never knew you. I never knew you. Depart from me ye that work iniquity. Do you think that a man can be
sincere and that he can find assurance and confidence in a
false religion? Christ said many of them hold
on to it right up to the judgment death right up to the judgment
Even after spending many years from death to the judgment under
the wrath and condemnation of God They're still hanging on
to that that big leaf apron of self-righteousness Lord. Look
what I did And notice not a one of those people said Christ died
for me Now one of those people said, I'm a sinner in need of
mercy, and Lord I look to Christ for mercy, I look to his blood,
I rested and all, I did this, I preached, I cast out devils,
I did many wonderful things, I did this, they held on to that
right to the judgment. Yeah, they can find some assurance.
Look at Luke 12. Let's find some more scripture.
And what I'm dealing with is this, there's a false peace.
I'm alright, I've made my peace with God. There are millions
of people who made their peace with God. Let me tell you something.
I wouldn't shock you. I didn't make peace with God.
Christ made peace for me. I didn't have a thing to do with
it. I get so nauseated when I hear somebody lying on a deathbed
saying, I've made my peace with God. Well, I want to say to them,
it won't help you. Christ is our peace. Christ is
our peace. You don't have any peace outside
of Christ. Listen to this. Our Lord called this man a fool.
Listen to Luke 12, if you will, verse 19. Here's a man lying
on his bed, and he says in verse 18, what am I going to do? Verse
17, I don't have any room to store all my blessings. I've
been God's blessing me so much, I don't have any place to put
it. Well, he said, I know what I'll do. Verse 18, I'll just
pull down these old barns and build me some new ones, some
bigger ones, and I'll bestow all my fruits and my goods. I'm
going to store them up. I'm not going to share them.
I'm not going to give them to anybody. I'm going to keep them. I'm going to store them
up. And I'll say to my soul, now, soul, you've got many goods,
much goods laid up for many years. Just take your ease. That's a
good piece. Eat, drink, and be happy. Happy
all the time. Happy all the time. But God said,
you fool, you fool. But he was a happy fool, he was
a fool, but he was a peaceful fool. Yeah, he found peace, he
found happiness, he found assurance. How about Luke 18? Here's a man
in total, total, total assurance. Here's a man in total confidence.
Now two men went up to the temple to pray. Two men. One of them
stayed back in the back. far off he didn't go near the
altar and we're talking about back in the days of the temple
when the altar still stood before Christ died but this man didn't
approach the altar he didn't feel worthy he stayed back in
the back he was a public that he was a sinner he was a man
defiled he was a man who knew he was a sinner he's a man who
knew he had nothing to bring to God he was a man who knew
he was unclean he'd like the leper of old unclean unclean
unclean and he wouldn't come even to the front he just stopped
back in the back And he wouldn't even lift his eyes to heaven,
much less his hands. The old Jews used to lift holy
hands in prayer. That was an emblem that their
heart was reaching out to heaven. They would raise their hand.
But he wouldn't do that. But instead he just stood back
there and beat on his chest. Just like this. And what somebody
said is that he felt so much evil in here, he was just hitting
that evil. He was just so troubled by what
came out of his heart. Christ said out of the heart
proceeds evil thoughts and murders and adulteries and blasphemy.
He just bowed his head and beat on his chest and cried, oh God,
God, be merciful to me, the sinner, the sinner. He didn't have any
peace. He didn't have any rest. He didn't
have anything. He was crying for mercy. But here was a fellow
that pressed down the aisle, proud, his head thrown back and
his chest out, all dressed up in his religious garments, and
came right up to the altar. Right up to the altar. And it
says here in Luke, verse 18, chapter 18, verse 12, and he
stood and prayed thus with himself. Now, he didn't get to God. His
prayers never got any higher than the ceiling. He just prayed
with himself. God? He didn't even call him Lord.
He called him God. He was real confident. God is
my father. God is my refuge. God is my buddy. God is my co-pilot. He didn't
even use the word Jehovah. He didn't use the word Lord.
God? I'm thankful. I thank you that
I'm not like other folks. I'm not an extortioner, and I'm
not unjust, and I'm not an adulterer." And he looked back there and
saw that old publican back there in the back, that old sinner,
beating on his chest and wouldn't even lift his eyes to heaven.
And he said, and I'm not even like that fellow. And I sure
am glad. I sure am glad. And Lord, God,
I fast twice a week. Once is not enough for me. I
do it twice, and I give 10% of everything I got. How did these fellas come out?
Well, one of them had peace. He was up here, the one, the
fella up here had perfect confidence, John. He wasn't troubled. He was perfect. The fella back
there didn't have any peace. Which one of them got to God?
The fella back there. That's when the Lord saved him.
In fact, Christ said he went home justified. Therefore, being
justified, he had peace. Being justified, he had peace.
This fella went home condemned, but happy. He went home condemned
but confident. He went home damned but determined
to brag on himself some more. So be careful. What I'm saying
is this. And I said this to a young lady
this week I visited and talked to who's troubled about this
thing of assurance. I don't encourage people to seek
assurance. Not at all. I encourage people
to seek Christ. There are a lot of folks who
have assurance who don't have Christ. I just read you illustrations
of people who had assurance that didn't have Christ. Turn to 1
Thessalonians 5. Let me show you something over
here. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Assurance is not particularly
to be coveted. Not nearly so much as a right
relationship with Christ. In 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 3,
listen to this. And when they shall say, peace
and safety, peace and safety, then sudden destruction will
come upon them like a woman having a baby, like travail upon a woman
with child, just like that, just suddenly. And they shall not
escape. At the same time, they're saying
peace and confidence and safety and assurance, I'm all right,
I'm saved, I won't go to hell, but that moment, God sweeps down
upon them suddenly like a woman who begins to have birth pains
and the child comes just like that and they shall not escape. There are people who have assurance
who do not have Christ. And they find this assurance
in several things. First, there are folks who have,
they find assurance in their heritage. I talked to a man one
time, I was in a meeting down in Georgia, down just across
the state line from Chattanooga and Rossville, Georgia. And Lee
Robertson had preached, and I was there to lead the singing. And
there was a man sitting near me who raised his hand for prayer.
And for some reason, they give these invitations. And I don't
know why he raised his hand, but for some reason, I went to
him and I said, are you saved? He said, yes. Well, I said, I
noticed you raised your hand for prayer. Well, he said, I
have a problem. But I said, are you saved? He said, sure, I'm
saved. My brother's the biggest Baptist preacher in Georgia.
I said, sure enough. He said, that's right. You see,
his heritage. Some people believe they're saved
because mom and daddy were saved or they were brought up in the
church. They just always been religious. And they find peace
in that. Others find peace and safety
in their doctrine. Well, preacher, I'm a Calvinist.
I believe in total depravity, I believe in unconditional election,
I believe in particular addiction, I believe in effectual call,
I believe in the perseverance of the saints, I believe in the
old church, I believe in the local church, I believe in the
ordinances of the church, in the offices of the church, in
the discipline of the church, I believe these things. I'm right
in my doctrine, but maybe not in your heart. You can be right
in your doctrine and not be right in your heart. The old Pharisees
were orthodox. Orthodox. And then some folks
find real security and real refuge in morality. They haven't done
what other people have done. They've just never sinned to
the extent that most people have sinned. They've always been pretty
good folks. I've always gone to church. I
visited a fellow when I was pastor at the Pollard Baptist Church.
There was a man on the finance committee there who got sick
and was dying. He knew he was dying, the doctor
knew he was dying, I knew he was dying. And it was a sudden
thing, he was in his fifties and I went to see him and sat
down beside his bed in the hospital and we started talking and a
few minutes he started crying. And he said, I don't understand
this. He said, I've always gone to church. He said, I don't understand
why God's doing this to me. I've always paid my tithes. You
know that preacher. He said, I've always been there
every Sunday, and I've always done the best I can. And he just
shocked me. I just sat there and thought
to myself, hadn't he heard anything at all that we've prayed? But
he began to read his pedigree about how faithful he'd been,
and how righteous he'd been, and how clean he'd lived. He
said, I've always paid my debts. I've always treated, and here's
another thing added. He said, I've always treated my neighbor
right. And that was his refuge. And he got along fine in that
refuge till suddenly he saw it crumbling. Some people find refuge
in experience, but it's a mistake to spend our efforts trying to
find assurance. The Bible says, seek ye first
the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you.
And I know that means things to eat and drink and wear, but
it also means peace in the heart. You find Christ and you'll find
everything Christ has. that I may win Christ and be
found in Him. But that's a false peace. Let's
turn back to Romans 5. Let me spend more time on the
true peace than I have on the false peace. Here's what I'm
trying to point out to you. Because a person has assurance
does not mean they have Christ. Because a person has confidence. I know I'm saved. Everybody else
may go to hell. You know that song, if anybody
makes it Lord, surely I will. That's what I'm talking about.
You can have that kind of assurance and peace and not know Christ.
Because I've read you illustration after illustration of people
in the Word that had total peace and confidence, they had a refuge,
and they perished in their sins under the judgment of God. There
are a lot of men of God who, like John Newton, who tis a point
I long to know, oft it gives me anxious thought. Do I love
the Lord or no? Am I his or am I not? That's
not what's important. It's resting in Him, trusting
in Him, believing in Him. That's the important. But there
is a God-given, God-honoring, genuine peace to be had. And
here it is in Romans 5.1, therefore being justified by faith, we
have peace. Now we may not know we have peace,
we may not be confident we have peace, we may not be assured
that we have peace, we may not all the time have the same degree
of happiness in that peace, but we have peace. We have peace. You'd rather, had you rather
have it, or had you rather claim to have it? And this, watch this, listen
to this, this is interesting. This is a sense of peace, an
awareness of peace, that follows a genuine state of peace. Read
the text again. Therefore, being justified, we
have peace. Therefore, being justified, we
have peace. This peace we have is based on
what? A feeling? No. It's based on
a fact, that we've been justified by Christ. That's how I can have
peace, because I've been justified. If the debt's not paid, then
I'm not free. I may claim to be free, I may
feel free, but I'm not free if the debt's not. But if the debt's
paid, I'm free. And I have a foundation for feeling
free. I have a reason for feeling free.
I have a reason to be happy if the debt's paid. Therefore, being
justified, we have peace. If the law is honored in the
presence of God, if the law is thoroughly and completely honored
by someone in my place, then I have a right to have peace.
But if the law has not been honored, if the law has not been sufficiently
magnified and honored to the satisfaction of God himself,
I don't have any reason to have peace. I may claim it, I may
pursue it, I may tell others I have it, but I have no basis
for it. If justice has been satisfied,
if my debt's been paid, if my sin has been counseled, if my
sin has been dealt with justly and righteously to the satisfaction
of God, then I have a right to have peace. This peace is based
on justification. Being justified, we have peace. I may not have the degree of
peace that Cecil had, But I have just as much peace as he has. I may not have the degree of
feeling that he has, but I have the same peace if I'm justified. I may not enjoy it as much. I
may walk the floor. But when that blood was on the
door, watch this. When God said, kill the animal,
kill the lamb, put the blood on the door. When I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. Here's a man sitting. He's already
put the blood on the door out there in Egypt. The Israelite
put the blood on the door. He went in and sat down. And
he sat there in perfect calm spirit, not even troubled. God
passed through, he was safe. But down the road from him is
a timid, shy, anxious type person. He's put the blood on the door.
He believes God. But he's in there walking the
floor and wringing his hands. Oh, is it going to be all right?
God's coming through. You reckon I'm all right? Which
one of those men's the safest? Which one? Both just the same.
Because it's not the walk on the floor or sitting in the seat,
it's the blood on the door. You see what I'm saying? One
fellow may have his children, one fellow may be sitting down
after his first born son, and he pats him on the head and says,
I thank God, son, you're not going to die. I sure praise the
Lord. That blood's all right out there,
son. You don't have a thing to worry about, not a thing in the
world. Everybody's firstborn may die where there's no blood,
but the blood's on the door, son. You're all right. Here's
another man who's got his firstborn son. Just hold him to him like
this. Oh, I'm just concerned and anxious. Which one of them's
the safest? Got nothing to do with the anxiety.
It's got nothing to do with the floor walking. It's got nothing
to do with the sitting. It's got nothing to do with assurance.
It's that blood. being justified. Look at the last line in that
scripture. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, I have peace. Peace with God. And I may go
through my whole life with an anxiety. I may go through the
whole life with God. How could you save a fellow like
me? I just don't have the assurance.
I don't have the peace. I don't have the joy that I want.
I have some at times and not much. Here's another fellow that
goes through life just praising the Lord. I'm thankful that God
saved me. I'm resting in Christ. Well,
which one's the most secure? Well, one's just as secure as
the other because We cannot have peace before we're justified. A man does not have peace because
he does anything. He has peace because Christ has
justified him before God. Now let me show you two or three
things briefly. There are some discoveries that
a man makes before he gets peace with God. There's some discoveries
a man makes. before he gets peace with God.
First of all, he discovers this. This is the first thing he discovers.
He discovers that to be just before men is not to be just
before God. Now turn to Luke 16, verse 15. To be just before men is not
to be just before God. I told my Sunday school class
this morning that comparing myself with others does not help me. If I'm going to see what I really
am, I've got to compare myself with the holy law of God, with
the holy person of his son. That's the comparison. And he
says here in Luke 16, 15, he said unto them, ye are they which
justify yourselves before men. But God knows your hearts. And
that which is highly esteemed among men, is an abomination
in the sight of God. This comparing ourselves with
others say, well, I'm not as bad as so-and-so. I'm not as
bad as so-and-so. I talked to a man on the phone
Wednesday night in another state. And his daughter was here in
town and his two little granddaughters, twin granddaughters, and they
were broke, didn't have any money, and trying to get back home.
And I called her daddy, the granddaddy. I talked to him, he's a barber
out in Arizona, and I talked to him about the fact his daughter
was here with nothing in her pocket, nothing to eat, no place
to stay, no place to go, and had his only daughter and only
two grandchildren. And I said, I want to verify
her story because our church is going to help her get home.
He said, what are you, a reverend? I said, well, I'm a pastor. He
said, I'm good as most reverends. I said, I'm just quite sure you
are. But he found some refuge in there. A real smart aleck,
you know. He didn't help us any. But he's good as most reverends. I'm sure you are. That's all
right. But you're not good as God. And
no reverend is either. And the thing that a man discovers
before he comes to be justified before God or finds any peace
is that God's not going to judge him on the basis of the reverend,
but on the basis of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's Christ. It's Christ. It's God's holy
law. And we discover before God, I've sinned against God. I've
done this evil in His side. His holiness condemns me. His
love condemns me. His righteousness and purity
and truth condemn me. And here's the second thing a
man discovers is this. He discovers that his past is
marred by sin, his present is full of sin, and his future holds
little hope for anything better. In other words, what I'm saying
is this, when the Spirit of God brings a man to see himself,
you know what he sees? He sees that he's as full of
sin as an egg is full of meat. That's how full of sin he is.
Just how full is an egg? Boy, there's not a bubble in
it. From shell to shell, it's pure gum. That's right. Shell-to-shell all the way through
there's nothing in there. Just nothing won't even shake
you can't it's so full it won't shake and From the sole of our
feet to the top of our heads. We're nothing but seeing that's
what scripture said There's no goodness in you. God said there's
no truth in you from the sole of your feet to the top of your
head That's what a man discovers. He discovers That he's full of
sin And he's not full of righteousness. He's full of sin And I'll tell
you something else he discovers. He discovers that it's impossible
for him to be just before God by anything he does. He can't
be justified by his words. If I justify myself, my own mouth
will condemn me. He can't be justified by his
works. Man is not justified by works
because our righteousness is filthy rags. Let me tell you
something. I love to get letters like this. I got a letter from
a lady up in West Virginia. listens to the television program
this week, and she said, wrote a good letter, good testimony,
and she said, I want to ask you a question. She said, when Isaiah
said, your righteousnesses are filthy rags, she said, is he
talking to everybody, believers and unbelievers? Your righteousness
is filthy rags. What would you answer? Is he
talking to unbelievers? and believers. Yes, he's talking
to you too, me too. So some of you know that's right.
My righteousness is filthy rag. The righteousness that I have
in Christ is not, but mine is. Mine is. Huh? That's what he's
saying. Your righteousnesses are filthy
rag. Mine are. Whether I'm saved or
unsaved, my righteousness, but now Christ's righteousness, is
acceptable. I can't be, I can't be saved
or kept saved by anything I do. Because in the flesh no man can
please God. No man can please God. My righteousness
is a filthy race. I told a Sunday school class
a while ago, and I think this is good to pass on right here.
The preacher friend that I preached for recently said that he admired,
he admired an older man in the community, in the church. He
admired him greatly. And he'd always go to him for
advice and go to him for counsel and go to him for teaching. And
one day he went to him. He'd been having trouble with,
you know, what will a saved man do? What's a believer capable of? What's a believer not capable
of or capable of? And he went to this old gentleman
who was a member of the church, and he loved him and believed
in him. And he said, brother, so-and-so, he said, what will
a saved man do? And that old gentleman looked
at him and said, anything an unsaved man will do except for
the grace of God. He said, you got some math? He
just said, I turned and I just stomped off. He said, I didn't
even speak to him. I didn't say thank you. He didn't say goodbye.
He said, I didn't say I'll see you later. He said, I got some
ant. He said, I was a young Pharisee is what I was. I was full of
my self-righteousness, you know. I'd been saved, trusted the Lord,
and I was going to take the world on single-handedly. And he said,
I just went to him and said, what will a saved man do? He
said, anything an unsaved man will do without the grace of
God. And he said, I just stomped off. But he said, I thought about
it and thought about it. and thought about it. A few weeks
later, I came back and told him I understood what he was saying.
Brethren, there's no justification by anything we do. I'll tell
you something else the man discovered. He discovers, first of all, that
to be just before men is not to be just before God. Paul's
solitarsis had that. He said, concerning the law,
I was blameless, a Pharisee of Pharisee. But he wasn't justified. He discovers that his life is
full of sin, he discovers it's impossible for him to be just
before God. Now watch this. This ought to
shake us up, those who know not Christ. He discovers that right
now he's under the condemnation of God, under the wrath of God.
Not going to be. You know this is what most people
think. that we're gonna be under the wrath of God? Did you know
anybody who's not in Christ is right now under the wrath of
God? Right now. Listen to the scripture. Brethren,
we're either accepted in Christ or we're condemned by the law.
There's no vacuum here. There's no neutral zone. They
talked about being at war with North Vietnam or North Korea
and South Korea in a neutral zone. And in here, there wasn't
any fighting going on. There's no neutral zone with
God. He that believeth on the Son hath life. He that believeth
not is what? Condemned already. He that believeth
not on the Son, the wrath of God abideth on him. Isn't that
what scripture says? I hear preachers say this. Here's
man coming down the road. And he comes to a crossroad.
And to believe on Christ is to go that way, and not to believe
on Christ goes that way. If you believe on Christ, you're
under God's love. If you turn Christ down, you're under God's
wrath. What about back here? What was he under? What was he
under here? Nothing? Was he in a state of neutrality
here? All these 30 or 40 years before he got to the crossroads,
what was he under here? Under probation, or suspension,
or something like that? I beg your pardon. Man's whole
career from the garden to right now is under the wrath of God.
The scripture says we're children of wrath even as others. Children
of wrath. We're walking the road of wrath.
We're walking the road of condemnation. A man is under the judgment of
God until he comes to know Christ and he's removed from that wrath.
That wrath is removed from him. There's no crossroads. That's foolishness. But that's
what preachers are preaching. They're preaching a man's in
a state of probation, neutrality with God. He's neither saved
nor lost. He's neither under the mercy
or the wrath of God. He's just in a state of, in a
parenthesis or something. No, sir, I beg your pardon. He
that believeth not on Christ, whether he's 20 years old or
100 years old, he's under the wrath of God right now, condemned
already. And only those who are in Christ,
under the mercy of God. The love of God's in Christ.
That's what the scripture says. You do with it what you want
to. But that's what a man discovers
when he comes under Holy Spirit conviction. He discovers that
he's in trouble. He's in trouble right now. And
that's the reason folks sit around and say, well, I'll get saved
tomorrow or two or three years from now. I'll make my peace
with God. He doesn't see the cloud of God's
wrath hanging over his head right now. right now. Or flee to Christ, flee to the
refuge. That's where happiness and joy
and love and mercy is in Christ. Therefore being justified by
faith, we have peace through our Lord Jesus Christ. If you're
not justified by faith, you don't have peace. You're at war. God's
angry with the wicked. There's trouble. And God says,
I can't bless you for your sake, but I can bless you for Christ's
sake. I can't receive you in yourself, but I can receive you
in him. Turn back to the text again.
Let's look at it. And I'll close. I've dealt with
several things here, false peace and a true peace. True peace
is based on true justification, and that's through Christ. That's
through the Lord Jesus Christ. He died that we might live. He
obeyed the law that we might have a perfect righteousness.
He intercedes for us. Our peace is in Christ. He is
our peace. But you know there's two words
here I want to look at. By faith. Therefore, being justified
by faith. Not by tears. Not by prayers. Not by works. not by Bible reading,
not by church going, not by sacraments, not by ceremony, by faith. Our Lord said, if you can believe,
all things are possible to them that believe. I want you to look
right up above you there at Romans 420. It talked about a man called
Abraham. And every one of us know who
Abraham was. Abraham was a friend of God.
That's what it says. Abraham was a man who found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. Abraham was a man who was called
the father of the faithful. What was the basis of his relationship
with God? What was the basis of his righteousness? What was the basis of his acceptance?
You know what it was? Faith. He believed God. That's
what it says. Look at verse Verse 20, he staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief, but he was strong in
faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what
God had promised, God could do. Now notice this, brethren, it's
not faith in a personal Savior, it's personal faith in the only
Savior. It's personal faith in the only
Savior. I'm not saying that Abraham believed
that God was obligated to him in any way. Abraham believed
that what God said, God could do. Abraham believed if he was
included in what God promised, fine, but he still believed that
God could do what he said. Do you believe God like that?
Now some people believe God if they're included in the mercy.
But brethren, God is still God, and Christ is still the only
Savior, and His blood's the only way of justification if I go
to hell or you go to hell. Now God is God. I believe God.
I believe God. I believe this is His Word. I
believe Christ is the only Savior. I believe Christ is the only
Redeemer of sinners, whether I live or perish. I still believe
that. So it's not my putting my faith
in a personal benefactor. It's not my putting my confidence
in a personal servant whom I believe if he agrees with me, whom I
believe if he helps me, whom I believe if he gives goodness
to me, whom I believe whatever he does with me. That's important. You may not now see the importance
of it, but it is. I believe God. And it says here,
verse 22, he believed that God was able to do what he said.
And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now, verse 23, it was not written
for his sake alone that it was imputed to him. This is not just
written for Abraham's sake, good news for Abraham, but for us
also to whom this righteousness shall be imputed if we believe
on him that raised up our Lord Jesus from the dead. We believe
God who raised up Christ from the dead. I believe God, who was delivered
for our offenses and raised for our justification. Do you believe?
Lord, give me faith. Two things. Lord, show me myself. Because grace is always preceded
by judgment. God always strips before he clothes. God always slays before he makes
alive. God always humbles before he
exhausts. God always shuts a man's mouth
before he fills his heart. Always. God always empties a
man's hands before he fills them. And so, here's what we pray,
Lord, show me myself. Strip me, humble me, break me,
show me my need of Christ. Show me the glory and beauty
of Christ, and show me the mercies and benefits of knowing Christ.
Strip me, and then show me thyself. Show me your grace and mercy,
and give me faith to believe. Faith to believe. Peace will
follow. Peace will follow. If I have Christ, I'll have peace,
because He is peace. If I have Christ, I'll have mercy,
because mercy is in Christ. If I have Christ, I'll have grace,
because grace proceeds, flows abundantly from His lips. But
I've got to come to Him. And I've been as, tried to be
as honest with you as I possibly can. And I know that a lot of
preachers, they get a fellow under conviction, and get him
troubled, and get him taught, and get him down the aisle, and
get him converted, and get him saved all in one, in just one
shot. That's all you need. Come lost,
get a shot of religion, and go out saved, happy, secure, sanctified,
and all these things. But I don't find that in here.
I don't find salvation down here at all. It's in Christ. And I
know this, before man will ever cling to Christ, he's going to
turn loose of other things. He's going to turn loose. Before
a man ever sees Christ as his only hope, he's going to see
himself sinking. He's going to see himself lost.
And he's going to be led to push everybody out of the way. Just
move the church and the preachers and all these soul winners and
all this stuff out of my way. I've got to get to Christ. And
I want this thing to be settled between me and him. If you give
me religion, you'll have to help me keep