Fourfold Mercy for Fourfold Misery

I want to read my text again,
1 Corinthians 1.30. But of him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. There is no way that a man can
enter into the riches of God's grace. Now listen to me. I know some of you think that
in my messages sometimes I'm a little harsh and hard or to
be more tender. There are times when a physician
can be tender. There are times when a physician
has to amputate a man's leg and you cannot tenderly amputate
anybody's leg. There's a time when a physician
can gently massage you with soothing balm and cooling oil. There are other times when he
must grab firmly a hold of your flesh and bear the knife and
cut deep. There are times when the dentist
can minister to the needs of your teeth in a gentle fashion.
There are times when he'll tell you, get hold of the chair. I'm
going to pull it out. And what I'm saying to you is
this. Those who have seen the depths of human ruin, those who
have seen the depths of human rebellion and human sin, the
hatred that God Almighty has for human pride, have been brought
to see the riches of his grace, and you can talk to them of the
love of Christ with those who are on the mountain of pride,
whose haughty spirits are preceding their utter fallen ruin, you've
got to deal with them in a firm and harsh manner. That's the
way our Lord dealt with them. Our Lord tenderly reached down
and lifted a woman who was an adulteress. But when he turned
to her accusers, who were religious Pharisees, he said, you're a
generation of snakes. That's what he said. You're a
generation of vipers. You're whited sepulchres. You're
like grave plots, with the grass mown beautifully short and the
flowers trimmed and pretty. On the outside you appear beautiful
to men, but on the inside you're full of dead men's bones. That's
our Lord. Our Lord sat down at the well,
and a woman came to him who was a great sinner. Everybody knew
her and what she was. And he spoke gently and kindly
and said, If you knew the gift of God, you'd ask of me and I'd
give you living water. But our Lord planted a wheel,
and he went into a temple one day where the religious hucksters
were claiming to worship God and sitting about making merchandise
of the souls of men. and using all of their whims
and all of their power and all of their abilities to profit
in this world materially. And our Lord took that whip and
laid it across their backs and drove them out of the temple,
said, get out of my house. My house shall be called the
house of prayer. the house of prayer. You've made
it a den of thieves. You've made it a place of profit. You've made it a place of entertainment.
You've made it a place where men gather to act foolishly. Get out of my house." Isn't that
what he said? That's exactly what he said. And I believe this. I believe
that ministers today have accommodated their message to the people.
And therefore, it's the blind leading the blind, and they're
both headed for an open ditch. We must be firm. We must be plain. We must deal with men in their
condition. Meet them where they are. That's
what Christ did, meet them where they are. And if a man is God
sent, and don't you be harsh with me, I won't tell you how
to do your job, don't you tell me how to do mine. If a man is God-called and God-sent,
let him meet that center where God leads him to meet that center.
It may be that God calls upon that man to meet that center
gently. It may be God calls on that man to meet that center
with a knife. That's the way the Lord did.
And that's supposed to be wisdom, not to accommodate men. And there's
no way that we're going to be able to enter into the riches
of his grace There's no way we're going to be able to enter into
the glory of his mercy in Christ until we know something, until
we know something of the mess we're in, until we know something about
the extent of Adam's fall. Do you have any idea, do you
have any conception whatsoever of what we are by nature? All
our wisdom, God says, is foolishness. All our righteousnesses are filthy
rags. In the flesh, no man can please
God. Do you realize what a condescension,
what a condescension was made when Christ came down here and
was pleased to take our place and do something for us? You
talk about an angel becoming a worm, ten million times more
wonderful is Christ becoming a man. His elective grace shines brightly
against the darkness of our corruption. His covenant mercies are magnified
by our total inability. His love in Christ is only appreciated
by those who know their natural enmity. Lord, I'll never see
your glory unless I see myself. And if I ever see your glory,
I'll see myself. What's the misery that Adam's
fall brought upon man? Well, it's fourfold. It's in
our text. You see the text, 1 Corinthians 1.30. Now look at it. But of
him are you in Christ Jesus, who is of God, is made unto us
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. You see, there's
no misery there. Now look at it. In Christ we have wisdom. In Adam we have what? Ignorance. Ignorance. That's the reason
Christ came to bring wisdom. Because in Adam we have ignorance.
We're ignorant of God. Let me show you some verses.
Turn to John 8. John chapter 8. Now I want you
to look at this. Men are ignorant of God. In John
chapter 8, verse 19, our Lord is talking here to the Pharisees.
And they said to him, in verse 19 of John 8, they said to him,
where is your father? Jesus said, you neither know
me nor my Father. If you had known me, you would
have known my Father also. You do not know God, he said. That was his charge, you do not
know God. They said, God is our Father. He said, you are of your
Father, the devil. God is not your Father, that's
what Christ said. Turn to John 16, 16th chapter
of John. verse 2 and 3. John 16, verse
2 and verse 3. He's talking to his disciples
here. Before he went to the cross, he's telling them that he's leaving.
And he warned them. He said, verse 2, they'll put
you out of the synagogue. And the time cometh that whosoever
killeth you will think that he's doing God a service. And these
things will they do to you, because they have not known the Father,
nor me. This world does not know God,
the living God, the true God. He was in the world, and the
world knew him not. Turn to John 17. Here's our Lord's
priestly prayer. In John 17, verse 25, he says,
O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee. But everybody knows God, preacher.
Everybody in America knows God. Christ said they don't. But all
religious people know God. These are religious people to
whom he's speaking. You don't know me nor my Father. In 2 Corinthians 4 verse 6, listen
to the Word of God here, 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 6. God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Christ Jesus. Just one place a man can know
God, and that's in Christ. Philip said, Show us the Father,
and it will suffice us. And Christ said, Philip, have
I been so long time with you, and yet thou hast not known me.
He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. That's where God's
revealed. So Christ has come to give us wisdom. a knowledge
of God. This is eternal life, that they
might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou
hast sent." What is the misery? Ignorance. Men do not know God. All right, secondly, here in
the text it says, "...of him are you in Christ Jesus, who
of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness." This misery
is fourfold. First, ignorant. Guilt. Guilt. Turn to Romans 3, verse
9. Guilt. In Romans 3, verse 9,
the Scripture says, What then? Are we better than they? No,
in no wise, for we have before proved, both Jew and Gentile,
they are all under sin. Look at verse 19. Now we know
that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are
under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world
become guilty." Guilty. I had jury duty a few days ago. People were brought in for trial.
I don't know, we're all so proud and arrogant. Sitting in the
courtroom, I tried to think about God's courtroom and God's Judgment
Hall, and God's great Hall of Justice. And I was pretty complacent
up at Cattlesburg. I was sitting there, you know,
I didn't even have a traffic ticket. I didn't even have a
parking violation. I had my tag, and I had my city
sticker, and I had my inspection sticker, and I had my taxes paid,
and the name wasn't in the news. I felt pretty law-abiding. And
then the bailiff came in and brought a prisoner, brought someone
on trial, and I thought, I wonder if he's guilty or not guilty.
And you have a tendency to kind of look down a little smugly
at that individual and say, well, I'm sure glad I'm not like him.
I'm sure glad I'm not on trial. I'm sure glad that I'm not here
guilty of a crime. But I'll tell you this. Every one of us, preacher, elder,
deacon, Sunday school teacher, every person here, we're in the
court of God's justice and we are G-U-I-L-T-Y guilty. Guilty. Guilty as charged. Guilty. That's what it says. Let every
mouth be stopped. Let every filthy rag be stripped
off. Let every alibi and excuse be
put aside. We are flat guilty. That's what
the word says, guilty. To offend in one point of the
law is to be guilty! Guilty. Galatians 3, let's look
at this a minute. Galatians 3 verse 10. Galatians
3 verse 10. As many as are of the works of
the law, Under the curse, it is written, Cursed is everyone
that continueth not in all things that are written in the book
of the law to do them. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. But you know something? The guilty in Christ are not
guilty. That's what scripture says. The
guilty in Christ are not guilty. He was made sin for us, who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Do you know that right now, in the sight of Almighty God, everyone
who is in Christ, who believes in Christ, has a perfect righteousness
just like Christ? To appreciate what he's done.
Now here's a man brought in before the judge, and he's guilty. And it's just a matter of time
till the judge will be sentencing that man to go to prison. He's
guilty. He knows he's guilty. And the
jury knows he's guilty. And the judge knows he's guilty.
And the lawyer knows he's guilty. And the people know he's guilty.
And he stands there. He knows he's guilty. I'll tell
you, if someone came in and said, Son, I'm going to take your place. And I'm going to give you my
place. I'm going to take your place charged with with every
violation with which you've been charged. As a young man writes
me from Eddyville, this is his third time in prison. They've
sentenced him to life as an habitual offender. He's never killed anyone. He's never murdered anyone or
kidnapped. He's an habitual criminal. And they've sentenced him, this
is his third time in, and they just finally gave him life because
he's just no good. There's no way that he can do
any good. What if I could step in there, and I don't even have
a traffic violation? I don't even have a record. I
don't even have a fingerprint down there. If I could step in
and take his place and give him mine, and I could become charged
with every offense with which he's ever been charged, and he
could have my position before the law, not the law of God,
but the law of the state, totally free. Just imagine. Imagine how he'd appreciate that.
And that's what Christ has done for me. Christ has come down
here, and I'm a habitual offender. I've been sentenced to eternal
death. By the law of God, as an habitual
offender, you will not come to me. There's no way you can do
any good. The leper can't change his spot,
and the Ethiopian can't change his skin, and you can't do good,
the judge would say to that boy, Gerald Pitzer is his name. That's
what he'd say. You can't do any good. I'm going
to give you life. You belong in prison because you'll never
be able to do any good. Put him in there for life. That's
what the law says to me. And yet Christ has come. And
he has given me a perfect righteousness. He has given me a perfect righteousness. And if I understand my guilt
and understand my inability, I'll appreciate his righteousness. Thirdly, back to our text again,
1 Corinthians 1, verse 30. He of God is made unto us wisdom
because we're ignorant. Ignorant. But we know God in
Christ. And he's given us righteousness
because we're guilty, habitual offenders, accustomed to doing
evil. The third thing, he's given us
sanctification. Sanctification. Why? Because
we are polluted. Paul sums up the polluted condition
of human nature when he says, In the flesh dwelleth no good
thing. Isaiah sums up the pollution
of human nature when he says, From the sole of the feet to
the top of the head there is no goodness, no soundness. Our
Lord sums up in the writings of Moses the pollution of human
nature when he says, Every imagination of the thoughts of man's heart
is evil continually. Continually. Isaiah sums up the pollution
of human nature when he says, "...even our righteousness is
filthy rags." And Romans chapter 3, Paul again sums up the pollution
of human nature when he says in verse 10, "...there is none
righteous, no, not one." None that understandeth, none
that seek after God, they're all gone out of the way. They're
together become unprofitable as none that doeth good. No,
not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre, a grave. Don't roll
away the stone. He's been dead four days. Behold,
Lord, he's stinking. With their tongues they've used
deceit. The poison of ass snakes is under their lips. Their mouths
are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
blood. Destruction and misery in their ways. The way of peace
they have not known, there is no fear of God before their eyes,
let every mouth be stopped. Pollution. Pollution. But in Christ, look at the text
again, 1 Corinthians chapter 1, he says in Christ we have
sanctification. Sanctification. Holiness. In Christ before the eyes of
the Heavenly Father. We who are so polluted, think
about this now, think about, don't think about how many watermelons
you've stolen, think how many things you've coveted in your
mind. Don't think about how many people
you've actually killed, think about those you'd like to have Don't think about how many times
you have done an outward deed of evil. Think about how many
times in your heart you have rebelled against God's way and
God's will and God's word and God's law. Think of the thoughts
of vengeance and envy and jealousy. Think of the lack of love. Think
of those things and think of your pollution. And then think
of this. Turn to Colossians, if you will,
chapter 2. Colossians. Now listen to this.
To appreciate what Christ has done, you've got to have some
understanding, some conception of what you are by nature. You'll
never rejoice in His grace or enter into His mercy until you
have some understanding of what a wretched creature I am and
you are. Look at verse 20. Or verse 21
of Colossians chapter 1. And you that were sometime alienated,
enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy, unblameable,
unreprovable in God's sight. In God's sight. Unblameable.
Unreprovable. Holy. Listen to this scripture
over here in the Old Testament. Our Lord's talking about his
covenant with his people and his grace toward them. And listen
to what he says here. He says, I'll sprinkle clean
water on you and you'll be clean. From all your filthiness and
all your idols, I'll cleanse you. A new heart, I'll give you. And a new spirit, I'll put in
you. And I'll take away the stony heart and give you a heart of
flesh. I'll put my spirit in you and
cause you to walk in my statutes. I'll save you from all your uncleanness."
How? In Christ. All right, the fourth
condition. Ignorance, guilt, pollution,
and now redemption. Lossness, lossness, misery, fourfold
misery, ignorance, guilt, pollution, and lossness. Oh, we like sheep
have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. If our gospel be hid, it is hid
to them that are lost. What's the condition of natural
man? What's the condition of men out
of Christ? What's the actual condition and
state of every person who is not redeemed by Christ and regenerated
by the Holy Spirit and brought into a living, vital union with
the Son of God? What is it? The best definition
is found in Ephesians 2, verse 12. Ephesians 2, verse 12. Everybody
in this congregation who is without a vital union with Christ, without
faith in the Son of God, Without a real communion and vital union
with the living Christ, this is your condition. Now listen
to it, Ephesians 2.12. At that time, you were without
Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers
from the covenant of promise, having no hope, and without God. Without God. Without God in this
world. But now in Christ, oh my, in
Christ, Jesus, you who were far off, lost, he said, I came to
seek and to save the lost, far off, without hope, without God
in this world, without hope, without God. And yet you, in
Christ Jesus, who were far off, are brought nigh. Everybody in
this world is not in the bosom of Abraham. They're not in the
bosom of God Almighty. They're not in the bosom of Christ
Jesus. They're lost. They're far off. And in Christ
we have redemption. Now, let's go to the second thing
quickly, and I won't keep you much longer, but what I'm saying
is this. You're not going to enter into
the thrill, the joy, the glory of his grace, of his mercy, of
his condescension, and of the gift of his love, till you realize
just how far down you were when he found you. Until you have
some conception of the pit out of which he lifted you, and the
utter out of darkness from which he brought you, and the kingdom
of evil from which he saved ignorant, guilty, polluted, lost. Now watch this. But of him are
you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification. This is the work of God, not
of men. There are two words on which
all of these mercies hang and swing and hinge. of Him, of Him. It's of God that you're in Christ. It's of God that Christ is made
unto you all that you need. Now the second thing, and the
most important thing to remember in this whole message is this,
that Christ and His benefits are inseparable. You cannot have
this wisdom, this righteousness, this sanctification, this without
having Christ. Turn to 1 John, chapter 5. Now
listen to this. 1 John, chapter 5, verse 11. What are you saying? I'm saying
this, that this human race, fallen mankind, does not know God, is
steeped in ignorance or they're religious and they go through
the motions of religion but they don't know God. They're guilty,
polluted, lost. But in Christ, God has been pleased
to make Christ unto us all that we need, wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification and redemption. But these gifts and these benefits
and these blessings are inseparably joined to Christ. You cannot
have them without having Him. Now listen to 1 John 5, this
is the record, God has given us eternal life, this life. Now we're dead with all the stench
and the odor of death, with all of the inability of death, with
all of the finality of death. with all of the hopelessness
of death. Now, in the hospital all of a
pulse is just faintly beating this hope, but when a man's down
there at John's team on the slab, he's dead. And nobody's making
any plans for a party for him. He's dead. Nobody has any idea
at all that he'll ever move again. He's dead. And that's the way
the sinner is dead. God has given to us who were
dead life. Life. Now watch it. And this
life is in his Son. And that's where it is. It's in his Son. And he that
hath the Son of God hath life. Life brings with it wisdom. This
spiritual life brings with it righteousness. This spiritual
life brings with it holiness. This spiritual life brings with
it union with God. But this spiritual life is in
Christ. It's not in the baptismal pool,
or in the Lord's table, or in the altar, or in the church,
or in the law, or even in the Bible. It's in Christ. It's inseparably
united with Christ. Look at this in our text again. But of Him are you in Christ,
who of God, He has made unto us wisdom. Not my wisdom. You know, a fellow comes to learn
a little bit about God's Word and he gets proud of it. He comes
to know the gospel, the mystery of the gospel. He gets a little
arrogant. Nothing worse than religious pride. This wisdom,
if I know God, it's not my wisdom, it's Christ's wisdom. This righteousness
is not mine, it's Christ's righteousness. This holiness is not mine. Don't
be proud and lifted up and look down your nose at the person
who is less pious than you. Your piety is not yours, it's
his. Your strength is not yours, it's
his. Your ability is not yours, it's
his. Your standing before the Father
is not yours, it's his. Your right to approach God in
prayer is not your right, it's his. Without Christ, God would
kick you out of his presence. Without Christ interceding for
you, God would not even look your way. I hope you remember
that, that so I may offend you but want to tell you it's true.
Now look at the text again. Of him, of God are you in Christ? Who of God is made unto us. He is made unto me wisdom. It's not mine, it's his. Righteousness,
sanctification and redemption. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
4 verse 7. Look at it. Who made you to differ? Who made you to differ? What
do you have that you didn't receive? Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
redemption. What do you have you didn't receive?
Now, if you received it, why do you gloat? Ah, we can't help it, can we?
Ah, we just can't help it. We're sure glad we're not like
other people. Yes, so we Lord, you know I did
something. I contributed something to this.
You contributed the pollution that God cleansed. You contributed
the filth that he mopped up. You contributed the death that
he overcame. You contributed the nails that
pierced his hands. You contributed the nails that
pierced his feet, and the thorns that pierced his brow, and the
spear that pierced his side. That's your contribution. That's
right. But the wisdom he gave, and the
righteousness he gave, and the sanctification he gave, and the
redemption is of his origin. That's right. You don't have
anything but what you receive. Now, I've got to close, but I've
got to say this. As I look at this, this wisdom,
this righteousness, this sanctification, this redemption that is in Christ
and of Christ and through Christ and for Christ's glory and is
given to me. There must be a response. Somebody
said a body cannot be warmed by the most costly garment unless
it's put on. A wound cannot be healed by the
most effective medicine unless it's applied. And hunger cannot
be satisfied by the finest food unless it's eaten. So Christ,
the effectual, all-sufficient Savior, avails you nothing unless
he's received. Unless he's received. You see
what I'm saying? Adam's sin doesn't hurt anyone except those in Adam. And Christ's righteousness and
blood profits no one except those who are in Christ. Turn to 1
Thessalonians 1, and I'll let you go. 1 Thessalonians 1, verse
4. Now listen to what Paul says
here. And what I'm saying to you is
this. As God Almighty speaks to you through the Word, tells
you the truth about yourself, and the truth about your need,
the truth about your condition, and the only one who can meet
that need, flee to him. Be like the woman. Be like the
woman of Canaan who came and cried out, Lord, have mercy.
Be like the publican who came to the temple and cried, Lord,
be merciful. Be like the thief who hung on
the cross and cried, Lord, remember me. Be like the leper who came
and worshipped him and said, Lord, if you will, you can make
me whole. Be like the centurion who said,
Lord, my son is near death, help me. You have not because you
ask not. It's there. 1 Thessalonians 1
verse 4, Paul said, Knowing, brethren, your election of God
for our gospel, our gospel came not to you in word only, so that
you could wallow it around your intellectual vacuum. Because
that's what it is if you don't have Christ. It's a vacuum. Ignorance. It's not words to be debated.
The gospel is not to be debated, it's to be believed. The gospel is not to be argued,
it's to be believed. The gospel is not to be decided upon whether I'll accept
it or refuse it, it's to be believed. Our gospel came to you not in
word only, but in power! Stripping power, humbling power,
revealing power, killing power. came to you in the Holy Ghost
in much assurance, as you know what manner of men you were,
we were among you, and you became followers of us and of the Lord,
having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy
Ghost." Look down here at verse 9. You turn from your idols to
serve the living God. You've made a move. So listen
to me. The most costly garment of Christ's
righteousness will cover no man's guilt unless it's put on. And
the bread of life and the water of life will satisfy no man's
hunger or thirst until it's taken or received. Of God he's made unto you all
you need. Our Father, bless the word. How
thrilling, how blessed is the word of the living God. How convicting,
but how comforting. Oh Lord, deal with us sharply.
Deal with us sharply. Break us, humble us. Bring us
down in the dust at thy feet. Deal with us sharply. Cut away
all of the flesh. Cut away the pride and cut away
the self-righteousness. Strip us like you did Adam in
the Garden of Eden of our self-righteous fig leaf aprons. And Lord, do
for us what we can't do for ourselves. Clothe us in the beauty and holiness
and righteousness of our blessed Lord. Speak to hearts through
this word and let it bear fruit in days to come. For Christ's
sake we pray, amen.

Fourfold Mercy for Fourfold Misery

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Fourfold Mercy for Fourfold Misery

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