1 00:00:41,256 --> 00:00:48,719 When you want so much for God to do something, 2 00:00:48,719 --> 00:00:54,065 and you're afraid even for your own desires, 3 00:00:54,065 --> 00:00:56,128 do you want God to do something 4 00:00:56,128 --> 00:00:58,569 so that you can witness it? 5 00:00:58,569 --> 00:01:00,147 Do you want God to do something 6 00:01:00,147 --> 00:01:02,820 so that you can be a part of it? 7 00:01:02,820 --> 00:01:04,547 Do you want God to do something 8 00:01:04,547 --> 00:01:07,279 so that you can claim 9 00:01:07,279 --> 00:01:10,535 that it had something to do with you? 10 00:01:10,535 --> 00:01:12,464 With your own piety? 11 00:01:12,464 --> 00:01:14,489 Your prayers? 12 00:01:14,489 --> 00:01:18,962 All that is a work of the flesh. 13 00:01:18,962 --> 00:01:21,515 Maybe the best thing that could happen here tonight 14 00:01:21,515 --> 00:01:26,978 would be for God to walk away; 15 00:01:26,978 --> 00:01:32,570 to leave me here as what I am. 16 00:01:32,570 --> 00:01:36,611 A nose full of breath. 17 00:01:36,611 --> 00:01:38,601 Weak. 18 00:01:38,601 --> 00:01:40,331 Graceless. 19 00:01:40,331 --> 00:01:44,327 Powerless. 20 00:01:44,327 --> 00:01:47,850 What is man that God would even take thought of him? 21 00:01:47,850 --> 00:01:52,883 Or the son of man that God would be concerned for him? 22 00:01:52,883 --> 00:01:56,110 There are no great men of God. 23 00:01:56,110 --> 00:02:01,929 Only pathetic, little, disappointing men 24 00:02:01,929 --> 00:02:07,484 of a great and a merciful God. 25 00:02:07,484 --> 00:02:11,866 In my prayers this evening, 26 00:02:11,866 --> 00:02:15,945 I kept thinking of the words of Robert Murray McCheyne 27 00:02:15,945 --> 00:02:20,020 who said, "Lord, make me as holy 28 00:02:20,020 --> 00:02:25,288 as a pardoned sinner can be." 29 00:02:25,288 --> 00:02:30,538 The desire for God to work in this place 30 00:02:30,538 --> 00:02:32,898 would be a holy desire; 31 00:02:32,898 --> 00:02:40,625 that it would be fixed upon Christ alone. 32 00:02:40,625 --> 00:02:43,820 Oh, that God would raise up a child 33 00:02:43,820 --> 00:02:49,476 (unintelligible). 34 00:02:49,476 --> 00:02:53,710 That a revival would break out 35 00:02:53,710 --> 00:02:56,173 through a little boy, 36 00:02:56,173 --> 00:02:59,153 so that no man could stretch forth his hand 37 00:02:59,153 --> 00:03:00,681 and touch the ark of God 38 00:03:00,681 --> 00:03:06,415 and claim that he had something to do with it. 39 00:03:06,415 --> 00:03:11,238 Oh that God would use the most ignoble, 40 00:03:11,238 --> 00:03:13,024 the most unknown among us to do 41 00:03:13,024 --> 00:03:14,649 something great for His name. 42 00:03:14,649 --> 00:03:16,799 That way, we would be at least 43 00:03:16,799 --> 00:03:20,608 a little bit more comfortable in realizing 44 00:03:20,608 --> 00:03:23,932 that the whole thing may not be sideswiped 45 00:03:23,932 --> 00:03:28,374 by men and their desire for glory. 46 00:03:28,374 --> 00:03:32,385 My question to you tonight 47 00:03:32,385 --> 00:03:38,359 is have you ever understood the Gospel? 48 00:03:38,359 --> 00:03:40,737 You might be saying, well, what do you mean? 49 00:03:40,737 --> 00:03:43,378 Most of us in here are Christians. 50 00:03:43,378 --> 00:03:46,286 But have you ever understood the Gospel? 51 00:03:46,286 --> 00:03:47,665 "Well, I share the Gospel." 52 00:03:47,665 --> 00:03:51,329 Many share the Gospel, but they do not understand the Gospel. 53 00:03:51,329 --> 00:03:57,259 Have you ever understood the Gospel? 54 00:03:57,259 --> 00:04:01,562 Today, there is much done in the church. 55 00:04:01,562 --> 00:04:04,611 The music is to be perfect. 56 00:04:04,611 --> 00:04:06,740 The administration and ordering 57 00:04:06,740 --> 00:04:10,788 of the service is to be spectacular and quick 58 00:04:10,788 --> 00:04:16,197 so as to not leave one dull moment. 59 00:04:16,197 --> 00:04:18,937 So many things have to be done to attract a crowd 60 00:04:18,937 --> 00:04:21,649 and to keep that crowd they've attracted. 61 00:04:21,649 --> 00:04:23,881 Why is that? Is it because the Gospel 62 00:04:23,881 --> 00:04:26,739 no longer has power? 63 00:04:26,739 --> 00:04:28,796 Or is it because we deceive ourselves 64 00:04:28,796 --> 00:04:33,542 in thinking that we are preaching the Gospel? 65 00:04:33,542 --> 00:04:38,076 Paul said that the Gospel was the power of God 66 00:04:38,076 --> 00:04:41,580 for salvation to everyone who believes. 67 00:04:41,580 --> 00:04:43,745 That is true. 68 00:04:43,745 --> 00:04:46,783 And power is demanded 69 00:04:46,783 --> 00:04:50,084 because men are dead in their trespasses and sins. 70 00:04:50,084 --> 00:04:53,530 Men are born haters of God. 71 00:04:53,530 --> 00:04:54,954 Before they will come to Him, 72 00:04:54,954 --> 00:04:59,986 a magnificent miracle must be wrought in their heart. 73 00:04:59,986 --> 00:05:01,875 And it's only through the Gospel 74 00:05:01,875 --> 00:05:04,118 and the preaching of the Gospel 75 00:05:04,118 --> 00:05:06,754 that such a miracle occurs. 76 00:05:06,754 --> 00:05:12,028 Have you ever truly understood the Gospel? 77 00:05:12,028 --> 00:05:13,741 Tonight I want to go to a passage 78 00:05:13,741 --> 00:05:15,633 that I preach very often. 79 00:05:15,633 --> 00:05:18,756 Every time I get one chance at a crowd, 80 00:05:18,756 --> 00:05:21,699 apart from some special impression - 81 00:05:21,699 --> 00:05:23,317 strong impression from the Lord - 82 00:05:23,317 --> 00:05:25,280 I'm going to go straight to this text. 83 00:05:25,280 --> 00:05:26,473 Why? 84 00:05:26,473 --> 00:05:29,399 Because everything depends upon the Gospel. 85 00:05:29,399 --> 00:05:33,302 And most people think that they understand it. 86 00:05:33,302 --> 00:05:36,553 Many people think that they have comprehended it; 87 00:05:36,553 --> 00:05:38,893 that they've put their arms around it. 88 00:05:38,893 --> 00:05:41,749 It's only because they do not understand the Gospel. 89 00:05:41,749 --> 00:05:43,910 As I always say, my dear friend, 90 00:05:43,910 --> 00:05:46,370 the day that Jesus Christ comes back, 91 00:05:46,370 --> 00:05:48,701 you will understand everything you need to know 92 00:05:48,701 --> 00:05:51,385 about eschatology and the last days. 93 00:05:51,385 --> 00:05:54,729 But you will be an eternity in Heaven 94 00:05:54,729 --> 00:05:57,139 and you will not even have begun 95 00:05:57,139 --> 00:05:59,505 to comprehend the glories of God 96 00:05:59,505 --> 00:06:05,819 in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 97 00:06:05,819 --> 00:06:09,274 The Gospel is not Christianity 101. 98 00:06:09,274 --> 00:06:11,115 It is not the beginning, infant, 99 00:06:11,115 --> 00:06:14,126 baby step of Christianity, 100 00:06:14,126 --> 00:06:19,842 which you soon master and then go on to something else. 101 00:06:19,842 --> 00:06:23,142 The Gospel is everything. 102 00:06:23,142 --> 00:06:27,071 It's the first truth. It's the last one. 103 00:06:27,071 --> 00:06:31,296 It's the truth on which you must cut your teeth. 104 00:06:31,296 --> 00:06:35,964 It's the truth that you will be chewing on 105 00:06:35,964 --> 00:06:38,955 even throughout eternity. 106 00:06:38,955 --> 00:06:40,925 The Gospel. 107 00:06:40,925 --> 00:06:46,127 Now, let's go to one of the greatest passages on the Gospel ever written. 108 00:06:46,127 --> 00:06:57,587 Romans 3. 109 00:06:57,587 --> 00:07:01,073 Romans 3:23. 110 00:07:01,073 --> 00:07:07,721 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." 111 00:07:07,721 --> 00:07:09,761 Then he goes on, 112 00:07:09,761 --> 00:07:12,025 "being justified as a gift by His grace 113 00:07:12,025 --> 00:07:14,817 through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, 114 00:07:14,817 --> 00:07:17,594 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation 115 00:07:17,594 --> 00:07:19,420 in His blood through faith. 116 00:07:19,420 --> 00:07:21,425 This was to demonstrate His righteousness 117 00:07:21,425 --> 00:07:23,599 because in the forebearance of God 118 00:07:23,599 --> 00:07:26,392 He passed over the sins previously committed. 119 00:07:26,392 --> 00:07:28,988 For the demonstration I say of His righteousness 120 00:07:28,988 --> 00:07:30,546 at the present time 121 00:07:30,546 --> 00:07:33,073 so that He would be just and the justifier 122 00:07:33,073 --> 00:07:35,815 of the one who has faith in Jesus. 123 00:07:35,815 --> 00:07:37,856 Where then is boasting? It is excluded. 124 00:07:37,856 --> 00:07:40,119 By what kind of law? Of works? 125 00:07:40,119 --> 00:07:44,554 No, but by a law of faith." 126 00:07:44,554 --> 00:07:47,929 For all have sinned... 127 00:07:47,929 --> 00:07:51,483 Does that make you afraid? 128 00:07:51,483 --> 00:07:53,796 It should. 129 00:07:53,796 --> 00:07:57,263 But it doesn't for primarily two reasons, 130 00:07:57,263 --> 00:07:58,949 the first being this: 131 00:07:58,949 --> 00:08:03,065 Few people today have a proper knowledge of God. 132 00:08:03,065 --> 00:08:05,502 They do not know who God is 133 00:08:05,502 --> 00:08:07,319 nor whom they should fear. 134 00:08:07,319 --> 00:08:12,128 Secondly, they do not have a proper knowledge of self; 135 00:08:12,128 --> 00:08:15,764 of how sinful we are in nature 136 00:08:15,764 --> 00:08:19,735 and how sinful our deeds truly are 137 00:08:19,735 --> 00:08:21,726 before a holy God. 138 00:08:21,726 --> 00:08:25,649 For all have sinned. 139 00:08:25,649 --> 00:08:27,491 One of the greatest reasons why we see 140 00:08:27,491 --> 00:08:31,718 so little power in and during supposed Gospel preaching 141 00:08:31,718 --> 00:08:36,010 is because rarely are the attributes of God 142 00:08:36,010 --> 00:08:41,361 set before the sinner. 143 00:08:41,361 --> 00:08:44,242 We walk up to people and say: Do you know you're a sinner? 144 00:08:44,242 --> 00:08:46,219 And sometimes with a chuckle in our voice 145 00:08:46,219 --> 00:08:48,462 so that they not be too isolated 146 00:08:48,462 --> 00:08:51,335 or feel too bad about themselves. 147 00:08:51,335 --> 00:08:52,793 Do you know you're a sinner? 148 00:08:52,793 --> 00:08:56,087 And they say, "Well, yes, I am." 149 00:08:56,087 --> 00:08:59,090 They don't know how terrifying their confession is 150 00:08:59,090 --> 00:09:01,568 because they do not know God. 151 00:09:01,568 --> 00:09:03,294 And men do not know God 152 00:09:03,294 --> 00:09:07,735 because very few preachers are proclaiming God - 153 00:09:07,735 --> 00:09:10,532 at least, God in His fullness, 154 00:09:10,532 --> 00:09:12,486 a God who is holy, 155 00:09:12,486 --> 00:09:17,220 a God who is perfectly righteous. 156 00:09:17,220 --> 00:09:19,755 It is only when men have something 157 00:09:19,755 --> 00:09:22,798 of a comprehension of who God is 158 00:09:22,798 --> 00:09:25,744 that they can tell something about who they are 159 00:09:25,744 --> 00:09:29,370 and how horrific the declaration is 160 00:09:29,370 --> 00:09:33,069 that all have sinned. 161 00:09:33,069 --> 00:09:37,312 What does it mean to sin? 162 00:09:37,312 --> 00:09:41,996 Principally, the idea is that you deviate 163 00:09:41,996 --> 00:09:45,244 from the law or the will of God. 164 00:09:45,244 --> 00:09:46,965 You break God's commandments. 165 00:09:46,965 --> 00:09:51,814 Either you do not do what He tells you to do, 166 00:09:51,814 --> 00:09:55,634 or you do what He prohibits you. 167 00:09:55,634 --> 00:09:59,151 Either way, it is a trespass against God 168 00:09:59,151 --> 00:10:04,102 and it is an offense against His glory, 169 00:10:04,102 --> 00:10:06,789 against His holiness, against His righteousness, 170 00:10:06,789 --> 00:10:09,294 against His person. 171 00:10:09,294 --> 00:10:12,166 All have sinned. 172 00:10:12,166 --> 00:10:16,349 Now, let me put this in perspective for you. 173 00:10:16,349 --> 00:10:21,141 God created the world with a word. 174 00:10:21,141 --> 00:10:26,860 He said, "Let there be light," and the light obeyed Him. 175 00:10:26,860 --> 00:10:29,012 He told the sun and the stars 176 00:10:29,012 --> 00:10:32,305 to put themselves in certain places in the sky 177 00:10:32,305 --> 00:10:35,696 and they all bowed in reverence. 178 00:10:35,696 --> 00:10:38,822 He told the planets to follow the path 179 00:10:38,822 --> 00:10:40,747 that He had marked out for them 180 00:10:40,747 --> 00:10:43,598 and they all submitted to His will. 181 00:10:43,598 --> 00:10:46,762 He told the mountains to be lifted up and they obeyed. 182 00:10:46,762 --> 00:10:48,989 He told the valleys to be cast down 183 00:10:48,989 --> 00:10:50,871 and they bowed in reverence. 184 00:10:50,871 --> 00:10:53,786 He told the great seas of the earth, 185 00:10:53,786 --> 00:10:56,425 "You'll come to this point and no farther," 186 00:10:56,425 --> 00:10:58,054 and they worshiped Him. 187 00:10:58,054 --> 00:11:02,640 And then He told you, "Come," and you said, "No." 188 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:04,524 No! 189 00:11:04,524 --> 00:11:08,853 I will not. 190 00:11:08,853 --> 00:11:14,715 And thus, all of creation comes together 191 00:11:14,715 --> 00:11:21,771 in agreement and applauds your condemnation; 192 00:11:21,771 --> 00:11:25,944 worships God when He comes to the earth 193 00:11:25,944 --> 00:11:28,544 to judge you. 194 00:11:28,544 --> 00:11:32,414 The smallest creatures obey His will. 195 00:11:32,414 --> 00:11:35,371 He tells the geese to fly south. 196 00:11:35,371 --> 00:11:36,503 They obey. 197 00:11:36,503 --> 00:11:39,245 He sends rain to the parched ground 198 00:11:39,245 --> 00:11:41,475 and it turns to mud. 199 00:11:41,475 --> 00:11:45,997 He sends the sun and it responds appropriately and dries up, 200 00:11:45,997 --> 00:11:51,570 but you will not. 201 00:11:51,570 --> 00:11:55,202 All have sinned. 202 00:11:55,202 --> 00:11:58,370 Now I want to look at this deeply. 203 00:11:58,370 --> 00:12:00,329 And for those of you who are preachers, 204 00:12:00,329 --> 00:12:01,832 I want you to understand this - 205 00:12:01,832 --> 00:12:04,807 street preachers and those who are witnessing on the street - 206 00:12:04,807 --> 00:12:09,058 with love, great compassion, and patience 207 00:12:09,058 --> 00:12:15,058 you must press these truths upon the souls of men. 208 00:12:15,058 --> 00:12:18,325 None of this superficial evangelism today. 209 00:12:18,325 --> 00:12:20,958 None of it. It has no power in it whatsoever. 210 00:12:20,958 --> 00:12:25,480 You must deal with the hearts of men. 211 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:28,889 And you must use the Scriptures to do so. 212 00:12:28,889 --> 00:12:31,028 I want us to just hold our place 213 00:12:31,028 --> 00:12:43,641 and I want you to run over to Genesis 6. 214 00:12:43,641 --> 00:12:46,162 Genesis 6:5. 215 00:12:46,162 --> 00:12:47,969 This text teaches us clearly 216 00:12:47,969 --> 00:12:50,264 about the corruption of men. 217 00:12:50,264 --> 00:12:53,809 You say, but Brother Paul, this was prior to the flood. Yes. 218 00:12:53,809 --> 00:12:56,816 And after the flood, the corruption continued. 219 00:12:56,816 --> 00:12:58,997 The flood only judged wicked men. 220 00:12:58,997 --> 00:13:02,166 It had no power to change them. 221 00:13:02,166 --> 00:13:04,397 So those who went into the ark corrupt, 222 00:13:04,397 --> 00:13:06,041 came out of the ark corrupt 223 00:13:06,041 --> 00:13:08,418 and continued that corruption of Adam 224 00:13:08,418 --> 00:13:11,225 even till today. 225 00:13:11,225 --> 00:13:15,734 It says this in v. 5, 226 00:13:15,734 --> 00:13:18,317 "Then the Lord saw the wickedness of man 227 00:13:18,317 --> 00:13:20,745 that it was great on the earth 228 00:13:20,745 --> 00:13:24,090 and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart 229 00:13:24,090 --> 00:13:27,815 was only evil continually." 230 00:13:27,815 --> 00:13:28,999 What is it teaching us? 231 00:13:28,999 --> 00:13:30,817 It's teaching us more than the fact 232 00:13:30,817 --> 00:13:33,214 that we have sinned with our thoughts. 233 00:13:33,214 --> 00:13:35,793 It is teaching us something about our nature. 234 00:13:35,793 --> 00:13:40,220 Those thoughts must come from some place. 235 00:13:40,220 --> 00:13:41,827 You cannot blame it on society. 236 00:13:41,827 --> 00:13:43,262 You can't blame it on culture. 237 00:13:43,262 --> 00:13:44,711 You can't blame it on someone 238 00:13:44,711 --> 00:13:50,394 who supposedly did you wrong. 239 00:13:50,394 --> 00:13:53,037 Your thoughts reveal 240 00:13:53,037 --> 00:13:56,954 the character of your nature. 241 00:13:56,954 --> 00:14:00,402 Now let's look at those thoughts for a moment. 242 00:14:00,402 --> 00:14:03,018 If I were to take out your heart 243 00:14:03,018 --> 00:14:05,840 or if I were to take every thought 244 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:07,862 you've ever had 245 00:14:07,862 --> 00:14:10,787 from the moment you first remember thinking 246 00:14:10,787 --> 00:14:13,752 until this very night, this very moment, 247 00:14:13,752 --> 00:14:16,308 if I took every thought you've ever had 248 00:14:16,308 --> 00:14:20,439 and I was able to put it on a DVD, 249 00:14:20,439 --> 00:14:25,925 and then I was able to show every thought 250 00:14:25,925 --> 00:14:30,856 and every deed that you have ever accomplished 251 00:14:30,856 --> 00:14:33,043 on this earth, I submit to you 252 00:14:33,043 --> 00:14:35,184 that you would rise up and you would run 253 00:14:35,184 --> 00:14:36,384 out of this building 254 00:14:36,384 --> 00:14:39,327 and you would never come back here again. 255 00:14:39,327 --> 00:14:42,454 You would never show your face to any of us. 256 00:14:42,454 --> 00:14:45,894 You have thought things so vile, 257 00:14:45,894 --> 00:14:48,928 so wicked, that you cannot even begin 258 00:14:48,928 --> 00:14:52,678 to share them with your closest friend. 259 00:14:52,678 --> 00:14:56,546 You have thought things against your closest friend 260 00:14:56,546 --> 00:14:58,808 that if they knew them, they would no longer 261 00:14:58,808 --> 00:15:01,817 be your friend. 262 00:15:01,817 --> 00:15:03,428 Now look at this. 263 00:15:03,428 --> 00:15:05,569 If your thoughts were laid bare here tonight, 264 00:15:05,569 --> 00:15:08,369 every one of them, you would run out of here in shame. 265 00:15:08,369 --> 00:15:11,382 And yet you know that those who are looking 266 00:15:11,382 --> 00:15:15,063 on all your evil thoughts 267 00:15:15,063 --> 00:15:17,875 have the same evil thoughts. 268 00:15:17,875 --> 00:15:21,558 Even among the wicked you cannot bear 269 00:15:21,558 --> 00:15:25,629 that they know who you are. 270 00:15:25,629 --> 00:15:29,626 Now how will you stand before a holy God? 271 00:15:29,626 --> 00:15:32,849 How will you stand before a holy Heaven 272 00:15:32,849 --> 00:15:35,743 that has no darkness? 273 00:15:35,743 --> 00:15:37,824 Has no variation? 274 00:15:37,824 --> 00:15:40,895 Has no nature subject to change? 275 00:15:40,895 --> 00:15:43,688 How will you stand on that great day? 276 00:15:43,688 --> 00:15:47,873 Do you think that your case before Him 277 00:15:47,873 --> 00:15:49,089 will be dismissed? 278 00:15:49,089 --> 00:15:53,044 If you are judged based upon your thoughts, 279 00:15:53,044 --> 00:15:57,537 if you are judged based upon your deeds, 280 00:15:57,537 --> 00:15:59,527 you yourself will have to raise your hand 281 00:15:59,527 --> 00:16:02,093 on the day of judgment and swear 282 00:16:02,093 --> 00:16:05,792 that the God of all the earth has judged you correctly 283 00:16:05,792 --> 00:16:07,373 when He condemns your soul 284 00:16:07,373 --> 00:16:12,916 to eternal punishment. 285 00:16:12,916 --> 00:16:14,515 Let's go on. 286 00:16:14,515 --> 00:16:20,578 Look in Genesis 8:21. 287 00:16:20,578 --> 00:16:24,709 "The Lord smelled the soothing aroma 288 00:16:24,709 --> 00:16:26,309 and the Lord said to Himself, 289 00:16:26,309 --> 00:16:29,047 'I will never again curse the ground on account of man, 290 00:16:29,047 --> 00:16:35,123 for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth.'" 291 00:16:35,123 --> 00:16:39,129 It's not merely going back to some supposed adolescent stage. 292 00:16:39,129 --> 00:16:42,037 The idea here that is set forth 293 00:16:42,037 --> 00:16:44,609 and what is confirmed throughout Scripture 294 00:16:44,609 --> 00:16:49,718 is this: that men - the evil they do - 295 00:16:49,718 --> 00:16:52,231 is caused by something greater 296 00:16:52,231 --> 00:16:55,168 than outside influences. 297 00:16:55,168 --> 00:17:02,655 Men do evil because men are evil. 298 00:17:02,655 --> 00:17:04,367 Let me give you an example. 299 00:17:04,367 --> 00:17:07,284 I have a two year old daughter 300 00:17:07,284 --> 00:17:08,706 whom I love, 301 00:17:08,706 --> 00:17:11,768 for whom I would give my life. 302 00:17:11,768 --> 00:17:14,358 But say that I'm holding her in my arms 303 00:17:14,358 --> 00:17:16,213 and she sees my shiny watch 304 00:17:16,213 --> 00:17:18,396 and she reaches for it. 305 00:17:18,396 --> 00:17:21,586 And I take her hand and say, "No." 306 00:17:21,586 --> 00:17:24,246 She gets angry. She reaches again for the watch. 307 00:17:24,246 --> 00:17:27,516 I say no. She begins to flail her hands in the air 308 00:17:27,516 --> 00:17:30,074 and swing them in the direction of my face. 309 00:17:30,074 --> 00:17:32,271 I grab her. I say no. 310 00:17:32,271 --> 00:17:35,924 I submit to you - theologically - 311 00:17:35,924 --> 00:17:38,440 that if at that moment, 312 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:40,262 my two year old daughter 313 00:17:40,262 --> 00:17:43,468 had the strength of an 18 year old man, 314 00:17:43,468 --> 00:17:46,225 she would slaughter me where I stood. 315 00:17:46,225 --> 00:17:48,638 She would rip the watch off my arm. 316 00:17:48,638 --> 00:17:51,247 She would walk over my bloody body, 317 00:17:51,247 --> 00:17:53,738 leaving bloody footprints on the floor, 318 00:17:53,738 --> 00:17:55,240 and walk out the door 319 00:17:55,240 --> 00:17:56,968 and rejoice in her watch 320 00:17:56,968 --> 00:18:02,477 without one feeling of remorse in her heart. 321 00:18:02,477 --> 00:18:06,200 You say, "I don't believe it." There's your problem. 322 00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:08,050 There's your problem. 323 00:18:08,050 --> 00:18:11,140 You say, but men don't act that way. 324 00:18:11,140 --> 00:18:13,097 We'll understand in a moment the reason 325 00:18:13,097 --> 00:18:15,116 why some men don't act that way 326 00:18:15,116 --> 00:18:18,125 is not because of the goodness of their own heart, 327 00:18:18,125 --> 00:18:20,935 but a good God who restrains evil men 328 00:18:20,935 --> 00:18:22,797 so that society might continue 329 00:18:22,797 --> 00:18:24,415 and the Gospel might be preached 330 00:18:24,415 --> 00:18:27,791 for the salvation of some. 331 00:18:27,791 --> 00:18:31,813 Let me ask you a question. What makes you different from Hitler? 332 00:18:31,813 --> 00:18:33,529 Have you ever wondered 333 00:18:33,529 --> 00:18:38,248 why was Hitler as bad as he was? 334 00:18:38,248 --> 00:18:39,843 Have you ever wondered this: 335 00:18:39,843 --> 00:18:42,813 Why wasn't he worse? 336 00:18:42,813 --> 00:18:44,982 Have you ever wondered this: 337 00:18:44,982 --> 00:18:49,944 Why are you not his equal in evil? 338 00:18:49,944 --> 00:18:51,948 I submit to you this, 339 00:18:51,948 --> 00:18:56,681 that all men are evil. 340 00:18:56,681 --> 00:19:00,548 And the only thing that keeps all of humanity 341 00:19:00,548 --> 00:19:04,414 running headlong into the crimes of Hitler 342 00:19:04,414 --> 00:19:07,947 is that they simply do not have the opportunity or power 343 00:19:07,947 --> 00:19:10,825 and it is because also they are restrained 344 00:19:10,825 --> 00:19:13,247 by the grace of God. 345 00:19:13,247 --> 00:19:15,266 If it were not for the grace of God 346 00:19:15,266 --> 00:19:17,949 restraining society as a whole, 347 00:19:17,949 --> 00:19:19,875 we would run after Hitler, 348 00:19:19,875 --> 00:19:21,137 we would pass Hitler, 349 00:19:21,137 --> 00:19:27,854 and we would make Hitler look like a choir boy. 350 00:19:27,854 --> 00:19:30,445 One of the greatest problems with the Gospel today 351 00:19:30,445 --> 00:19:35,119 is that men are not being told what men are. 352 00:19:35,119 --> 00:19:39,839 The Bible teaches that we are radically depraved. 353 00:19:39,839 --> 00:19:40,977 What does that mean? 354 00:19:40,977 --> 00:19:43,669 It means that our fallenness, 355 00:19:43,669 --> 00:19:48,497 evil permeates every aspect of our being. 356 00:19:48,497 --> 00:19:51,693 And apart from the grace of God, 357 00:19:51,693 --> 00:19:55,517 we are worse than brute beasts. 358 00:19:55,517 --> 00:19:58,205 We do far more damage to our own kind 359 00:19:58,205 --> 00:20:01,646 than beasts to do theirs. 360 00:20:01,646 --> 00:20:06,033 Have I said anything that is not backed up 361 00:20:06,033 --> 00:20:11,894 by the newspapers and the media and history? 362 00:20:11,894 --> 00:20:15,937 The cruelty of men against men. 363 00:20:15,937 --> 00:20:18,612 One of my favorite preachers in the whole world 364 00:20:18,612 --> 00:20:21,071 is Conrad Mbewe from Zambia. 365 00:20:21,071 --> 00:20:23,294 And this is what he said in the last sermon 366 00:20:23,294 --> 00:20:24,623 I heard him preach: 367 00:20:24,623 --> 00:20:29,748 "In Africa, we do not fear lions, 368 00:20:29,748 --> 00:20:33,667 nor do we fear elephants 369 00:20:33,667 --> 00:20:38,155 or crocodiles or leopards. 370 00:20:38,155 --> 00:20:42,982 In Africa, we fear other Africans. 371 00:20:42,982 --> 00:20:45,470 We fear other men." 372 00:20:45,470 --> 00:20:48,949 And what is said by him can be said of us all. 373 00:20:48,949 --> 00:20:50,482 When we walk out of here tonight 374 00:20:50,482 --> 00:20:51,833 we're not going to be afraid 375 00:20:51,833 --> 00:20:53,756 of some bear attacking us on the street, 376 00:20:53,756 --> 00:20:55,625 but all of us are guarded when we walk 377 00:20:55,625 --> 00:20:57,493 through a dark alley. 378 00:20:57,493 --> 00:21:00,694 For no reason at all, 379 00:21:00,694 --> 00:21:02,972 men will steal from us. 380 00:21:02,972 --> 00:21:05,568 They will kill us. They will hurt us 381 00:21:05,568 --> 00:21:09,290 just for their own pleasure. 382 00:21:09,290 --> 00:21:12,099 They're not an anomaly. 383 00:21:12,099 --> 00:21:14,730 They're not some strange phenomenon. 384 00:21:14,730 --> 00:21:17,132 As one scholar said, 385 00:21:17,132 --> 00:21:20,041 peacetime is an illusion. 386 00:21:20,041 --> 00:21:21,568 When the world is at peace, 387 00:21:21,568 --> 00:21:24,477 it's just that everyone is reloading. 388 00:21:24,477 --> 00:21:27,362 And that is true. 389 00:21:27,362 --> 00:21:28,963 It's true. 390 00:21:28,963 --> 00:21:48,401 Now, let's go on. Go to Isaiah. 391 00:21:48,401 --> 00:21:56,515 Isaiah 64:6. 392 00:21:56,515 --> 00:21:59,877 "For all of us have become like one who is unclean 393 00:21:59,877 --> 00:22:01,795 and all our righteous deeds 394 00:22:01,795 --> 00:22:04,311 are like a filthy garment, 395 00:22:04,311 --> 00:22:06,375 and all of us wither like a leaf, 396 00:22:06,375 --> 00:22:12,894 and our iniquities like the wind take us away." 397 00:22:12,894 --> 00:22:17,833 Years ago, far out on the Amazon, 398 00:22:17,833 --> 00:22:21,215 we began to work with a group of lepers. 399 00:22:21,215 --> 00:22:23,062 We built a church there among them 400 00:22:23,062 --> 00:22:26,909 in a place called San Pablo. 401 00:22:26,909 --> 00:22:30,509 Have you ever seen leprosy? 402 00:22:30,509 --> 00:22:32,520 It is an astounding thing. 403 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:35,920 It is frightful! 404 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:38,611 They tell me that there's different kinds of leprosy, 405 00:22:38,611 --> 00:22:42,377 and I by no means know the worst. 406 00:22:42,377 --> 00:22:45,037 But if I had a leper here tonight, 407 00:22:45,037 --> 00:22:46,572 you would have smelled him 408 00:22:46,572 --> 00:22:49,448 before you entered into the building. 409 00:22:49,448 --> 00:22:54,655 He would be a mass of blood, rotten flesh, 410 00:22:54,655 --> 00:23:00,102 and pus oozing from his body. 411 00:23:00,102 --> 00:23:01,808 That's the illustration God gives 412 00:23:01,808 --> 00:23:04,700 with regard to the unregenerate, 413 00:23:04,700 --> 00:23:07,462 unconverted man. 414 00:23:07,462 --> 00:23:10,040 There is nothing in that man 415 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:12,920 that could be pleasing to a holy God. 416 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:15,173 Now, you can attempt all sorts of things 417 00:23:15,173 --> 00:23:16,759 to try to clean him up. 418 00:23:16,759 --> 00:23:18,410 Let's say that we went out here 419 00:23:18,410 --> 00:23:20,264 to San Antonio or Dallas or Austin 420 00:23:20,264 --> 00:23:23,216 and we found an exquisite shop - clothing - 421 00:23:23,216 --> 00:23:25,173 and we bought the finest white silk 422 00:23:25,173 --> 00:23:27,013 and we wrapped the man in the silk 423 00:23:27,013 --> 00:23:28,622 in order to make him presentable, 424 00:23:28,622 --> 00:23:29,924 but what's going to happen? 425 00:23:29,924 --> 00:23:32,146 It won't take long before the corruption 426 00:23:32,146 --> 00:23:35,653 of the man himself bleeds over into the silk 427 00:23:35,653 --> 00:23:41,568 and the silk becomes just as defiled as the man. 428 00:23:41,568 --> 00:23:45,207 That's why good works cannot save you. 429 00:23:45,207 --> 00:23:48,135 Because you have no good works. 430 00:23:48,135 --> 00:23:50,666 You have none. 431 00:23:50,666 --> 00:23:52,634 It is the nature. 432 00:23:52,634 --> 00:23:54,884 And out of a corrupt nature 433 00:23:54,884 --> 00:24:00,004 comes forth all your deeds. 434 00:24:00,004 --> 00:24:02,988 And that is why our best deeds, 435 00:24:02,988 --> 00:24:05,402 our most righteous works 436 00:24:05,402 --> 00:24:11,144 are like filthy rags before God Almighty. 437 00:24:11,144 --> 00:24:13,526 Now let's go on to Romans. 438 00:24:13,526 --> 00:24:23,505 Back to Romans 3:9, 439 00:24:23,505 --> 00:24:25,951 "What then? Are we better than they? 440 00:24:25,951 --> 00:24:28,813 Not at all. For we have already charged 441 00:24:28,813 --> 00:24:33,813 that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin." 442 00:24:33,813 --> 00:24:38,481 Sin is a universal reality. 443 00:24:38,481 --> 00:24:44,433 I remember reading once of the Nazi war crimes. 444 00:24:44,433 --> 00:24:46,173 Many, many Nazi's were caught 445 00:24:46,173 --> 00:24:48,260 and were put on trial. 446 00:24:48,260 --> 00:24:51,344 And a Jewish man who had suffered greatly 447 00:24:51,344 --> 00:24:53,924 at the hands of the Nazi's 448 00:24:53,924 --> 00:24:55,942 was sitting there across the bench, 449 00:24:55,942 --> 00:24:58,114 across the table from a man 450 00:24:58,114 --> 00:25:01,980 who had done him great harm. 451 00:25:01,980 --> 00:25:04,395 And the Jewish man began to weep. 452 00:25:04,395 --> 00:25:07,124 And someone asked him why. 453 00:25:07,124 --> 00:25:09,620 He said it was because he saw 454 00:25:09,620 --> 00:25:13,371 so little difference between the man 455 00:25:13,371 --> 00:25:16,482 who had done such atrocities to him 456 00:25:16,482 --> 00:25:19,703 and his own heart. 457 00:25:19,703 --> 00:25:24,365 You see, sin is a universal reality 458 00:25:24,365 --> 00:25:26,520 in all stages of life. 459 00:25:26,520 --> 00:25:28,426 Look at even the infant. 460 00:25:28,426 --> 00:25:29,793 Look at the children. 461 00:25:29,793 --> 00:25:32,201 There's this poetic idea that if only 462 00:25:32,201 --> 00:25:34,006 children ruled the world - 463 00:25:34,006 --> 00:25:37,598 if children ruled the world? 464 00:25:37,598 --> 00:25:42,534 It would be hell on earth. It would be! 465 00:25:42,534 --> 00:25:44,781 Think about the violence in children. 466 00:25:44,781 --> 00:25:48,013 Think about the pecking order in children. 467 00:25:48,013 --> 00:25:50,914 Who taught the child to lie? No one. 468 00:25:50,914 --> 00:25:53,011 They learned it on their own. 469 00:25:53,011 --> 00:25:55,149 Who taught the child to be selfish 470 00:25:55,149 --> 00:25:56,992 and to scream and to demand 471 00:25:56,992 --> 00:25:59,331 and to throw toys at other children? 472 00:25:59,331 --> 00:26:02,515 No one. They learned it on their own. 473 00:26:02,515 --> 00:26:05,153 We have all this proof around us 474 00:26:05,153 --> 00:26:07,011 that the Scriptures are true 475 00:26:07,011 --> 00:26:09,639 when it speaks about man. 476 00:26:09,639 --> 00:26:11,804 But man cannot hear the Gospel 477 00:26:11,804 --> 00:26:15,552 because he will not hear the verdict against him. 478 00:26:15,552 --> 00:26:18,622 For all have sinned whether they be 479 00:26:18,622 --> 00:26:21,638 the Jew who received the testimonies 480 00:26:21,638 --> 00:26:24,112 and the law and the promises, 481 00:26:24,112 --> 00:26:26,409 or the Greek and all his intellect 482 00:26:26,409 --> 00:26:27,883 and all his scholarship. 483 00:26:27,883 --> 00:26:30,537 It doesn't matter. 484 00:26:30,537 --> 00:26:32,597 All have sinned 485 00:26:32,597 --> 00:26:34,998 and come short of the glory of God. 486 00:26:34,998 --> 00:26:38,191 Now he goes on here and he says in v. 10, 487 00:26:38,191 --> 00:26:39,932 "As it is written..." 488 00:26:39,932 --> 00:26:42,209 Now notice, he is drawing from Scripture. 489 00:26:42,209 --> 00:26:44,450 From Scripture. From Scripture. 490 00:26:44,450 --> 00:26:48,278 Paul has the authority as an apostle to speak, 491 00:26:48,278 --> 00:26:52,318 but he is making the word doubly sure 492 00:26:52,318 --> 00:26:55,279 using the Old Testament to prove 493 00:26:55,279 --> 00:26:56,693 that his doctrine is true. 494 00:26:56,693 --> 00:26:58,124 He says, "As it is written, 495 00:26:58,124 --> 00:27:00,335 there is none righteous." 496 00:27:00,335 --> 00:27:02,610 I think it is interesting that that statement 497 00:27:02,610 --> 00:27:04,519 is followed up with "no not one." 498 00:27:04,519 --> 00:27:06,455 Because if you make the broad statement 499 00:27:06,455 --> 00:27:07,713 "there is none righteous," 500 00:27:07,713 --> 00:27:10,929 someone in the crowd says, "Yes, I know, but..." 501 00:27:10,929 --> 00:27:15,172 No. None righteous. 502 00:27:15,172 --> 00:27:16,896 Now understand this, 503 00:27:16,896 --> 00:27:19,377 to dwell in Heaven with a righteous God, 504 00:27:19,377 --> 00:27:21,766 you must be more than forgiven. 505 00:27:21,766 --> 00:27:24,228 You must be more than neutral. 506 00:27:24,228 --> 00:27:28,266 You must be righteous. 507 00:27:28,266 --> 00:27:32,688 And you are not. 508 00:27:32,688 --> 00:27:33,978 In your own standing, 509 00:27:33,978 --> 00:27:35,618 by your own virtue and merit, 510 00:27:35,618 --> 00:27:38,958 you are not righteous. 511 00:27:38,958 --> 00:27:41,374 It says, "there is none righteous. 512 00:27:41,374 --> 00:27:44,030 No not one. There is none who understands, 513 00:27:44,030 --> 00:27:47,014 none who seeks for God." 514 00:27:47,014 --> 00:27:49,216 I have traveled around this world many times 515 00:27:49,216 --> 00:27:51,851 and seen many different types 516 00:27:51,851 --> 00:27:54,315 of religious societies. 517 00:27:54,315 --> 00:27:56,886 And I find that they all have something in common, 518 00:27:56,886 --> 00:27:58,643 and even in the different religions, 519 00:27:58,643 --> 00:28:04,444 we have a similar complaint. And what is it? 520 00:28:04,444 --> 00:28:07,167 That men only seek God 521 00:28:07,167 --> 00:28:10,755 when they have some need. 522 00:28:10,755 --> 00:28:12,367 You go into an evangelical church 523 00:28:12,367 --> 00:28:13,638 and then someone will say, 524 00:28:13,638 --> 00:28:15,918 well, they're seeking God at this moment. Why? 525 00:28:15,918 --> 00:28:18,544 Well, they've been diagnosed with a terrible disease 526 00:28:18,544 --> 00:28:20,075 or they've lost their job 527 00:28:20,075 --> 00:28:22,072 or this or that - they're seeking God. 528 00:28:22,072 --> 00:28:24,183 It's amazing. You go to a Catholic country. 529 00:28:24,183 --> 00:28:27,277 You see a lot of people praying and you'll hear a Catholic say, 530 00:28:27,277 --> 00:28:29,551 "Yeah, they're seeking God now. I know the guy. 531 00:28:29,551 --> 00:28:32,114 But it's just because he lost his job." 532 00:28:32,114 --> 00:28:35,461 Go to the Buddhists, it's the same thing. 533 00:28:35,461 --> 00:28:38,995 Seeking God not with sincerity, but out of need. 534 00:28:38,995 --> 00:28:40,919 Men are self-absorbed. 535 00:28:40,919 --> 00:28:44,778 Full of self-love. 536 00:28:44,778 --> 00:28:47,334 And they do not seek God 537 00:28:47,334 --> 00:28:50,035 unless God has first sought them out 538 00:28:50,035 --> 00:28:54,817 and done a great work in their heart. 539 00:28:54,817 --> 00:28:57,651 There is no one who seeks God. 540 00:28:57,651 --> 00:29:00,587 He goes on and he says this - v. 12, 541 00:29:00,587 --> 00:29:01,860 "All have turned aside. 542 00:29:01,860 --> 00:29:04,093 Together they have become useless." 543 00:29:04,093 --> 00:29:05,768 If this is not a word 544 00:29:05,768 --> 00:29:09,398 for the evangelical church in the West... 545 00:29:09,398 --> 00:29:13,543 How many people claim to be children of God? 546 00:29:13,543 --> 00:29:15,629 They claim to be regenerate. 547 00:29:15,629 --> 00:29:17,419 They claim to be converted, 548 00:29:17,419 --> 00:29:19,714 and yet when you look at their service 549 00:29:19,714 --> 00:29:22,360 to God and God's people in the church, 550 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:26,176 you can only designate them as useless. 551 00:29:26,176 --> 00:29:28,114 They claim salvation for themselves, 552 00:29:28,114 --> 00:29:32,971 but they are not useful servants of God. 553 00:29:32,971 --> 00:29:35,163 They do not think on the will of God. 554 00:29:35,163 --> 00:29:37,154 They do not obey the will of God. 555 00:29:37,154 --> 00:29:39,866 They do not mourn when they break the will of God. 556 00:29:39,866 --> 00:29:41,605 They're not about giving their life 557 00:29:41,605 --> 00:29:43,570 totally to the things of God. 558 00:29:43,570 --> 00:29:48,150 They're only about getting their best life now. 559 00:29:48,150 --> 00:29:51,761 Useless servants 560 00:29:51,761 --> 00:29:56,206 prove themselves to be unconverted men. 561 00:29:56,206 --> 00:30:00,270 He goes on and he says this, 562 00:30:00,270 --> 00:30:02,611 "There is none who does good. 563 00:30:02,611 --> 00:30:06,032 There is not even one." 564 00:30:06,032 --> 00:30:07,824 Good. 565 00:30:07,824 --> 00:30:11,334 There's a wholesome sound to that word. 566 00:30:11,334 --> 00:30:13,514 Good. 567 00:30:13,514 --> 00:30:16,166 But how can anything good 568 00:30:16,166 --> 00:30:20,819 come out of a heart that has dislocated 569 00:30:20,819 --> 00:30:23,972 and twisted itself away from God 570 00:30:23,972 --> 00:30:26,890 the fountain of all virtue? 571 00:30:26,890 --> 00:30:29,015 Good. 572 00:30:29,015 --> 00:30:30,525 Good. 573 00:30:30,525 --> 00:30:33,832 Show me your goodness. 574 00:30:33,832 --> 00:30:39,133 Stand before God with your boast. 575 00:30:39,133 --> 00:30:40,992 No man can. 576 00:30:40,992 --> 00:30:42,856 There is none good. 577 00:30:42,856 --> 00:30:44,020 Isn't it amazing? 578 00:30:44,020 --> 00:30:46,229 We can go all throughout this city, 579 00:30:46,229 --> 00:30:47,773 all throughout this country, 580 00:30:47,773 --> 00:30:49,498 we can go all throughout this world, 581 00:30:49,498 --> 00:30:51,326 and if you ask men with regard 582 00:30:51,326 --> 00:30:53,234 to some eternal hope, 583 00:30:53,234 --> 00:30:54,637 the great majority of them 584 00:30:54,637 --> 00:30:57,074 will point back to their own goodness - 585 00:30:57,074 --> 00:31:01,392 even some of them who claim to know Christ. 586 00:31:01,392 --> 00:31:03,561 Do you know Jesus? Yes, I'm a Christian. 587 00:31:03,561 --> 00:31:05,573 If you died right now, where would you go? 588 00:31:05,573 --> 00:31:07,014 I would go to Heaven. Why? 589 00:31:07,014 --> 00:31:10,834 Well, I try to keep the Ten Commandments. 590 00:31:10,834 --> 00:31:13,485 I try to do good. 591 00:31:13,485 --> 00:31:16,889 I take care of my sick mother. 592 00:31:16,889 --> 00:31:20,568 But the Bible says no. 593 00:31:20,568 --> 00:31:23,611 There are none good. 594 00:31:23,611 --> 00:31:25,674 There's not even one. 595 00:31:25,674 --> 00:31:27,498 Now let's go down to v. 19, it says, 596 00:31:27,498 --> 00:31:29,480 "Now we know that whatever the law says, 597 00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:31,638 it speaks to those who are under the law, 598 00:31:31,638 --> 00:31:34,114 so that every mouth may be closed 599 00:31:34,114 --> 00:31:38,544 and all the world may become accountable to God." 600 00:31:38,544 --> 00:31:41,654 What is the purpose of the law? 601 00:31:41,654 --> 00:31:43,888 Is it to save? No. 602 00:31:43,888 --> 00:31:45,970 But that does not make the law unholy 603 00:31:45,970 --> 00:31:49,480 or unrighteous or unworthy. 604 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:52,379 The problem is this: the law is holy. 605 00:31:52,379 --> 00:31:56,315 It is good. But men are not. 606 00:31:56,315 --> 00:32:02,521 Men cannot, will not obey the law. 607 00:32:02,521 --> 00:32:05,282 Because obedience to the law 608 00:32:05,282 --> 00:32:09,440 requires perfect obedience to the law 609 00:32:09,440 --> 00:32:13,725 in every law and in every degree. 610 00:32:13,725 --> 00:32:16,245 But we have not obeyed the law. 611 00:32:16,245 --> 00:32:18,723 Rather, we are law breakers. 612 00:32:18,723 --> 00:32:21,138 Covenant breakers. 613 00:32:21,138 --> 00:32:28,423 Faithless children who do not follow their God. 614 00:32:28,423 --> 00:32:31,110 For all have sinned. 615 00:32:31,110 --> 00:32:33,616 Look in v. 23. 616 00:32:33,616 --> 00:32:38,063 "...And fall short of the glory of God." 617 00:32:38,063 --> 00:32:41,004 What does that mean? 618 00:32:41,004 --> 00:32:43,056 Well, the most popular teaching on this 619 00:32:43,056 --> 00:32:46,509 is that God has a glorious purpose for your life 620 00:32:46,509 --> 00:32:47,899 and because of sin, 621 00:32:47,899 --> 00:32:51,561 you have missed your glorious purpose. 622 00:32:51,561 --> 00:32:54,210 There may be something of that in the text, 623 00:32:54,210 --> 00:32:56,595 but the primary idea is this: 624 00:32:56,595 --> 00:33:01,878 You were made for the glory of God. 625 00:33:01,878 --> 00:33:04,940 You were made for Him. For Him. 626 00:33:04,940 --> 00:33:06,818 Only for Him. 627 00:33:06,818 --> 00:33:08,660 You were not made for you. 628 00:33:08,660 --> 00:33:11,344 You were not even made for your spouse. 629 00:33:11,344 --> 00:33:13,726 You were not made for a job. 630 00:33:13,726 --> 00:33:17,363 And you were not made for some purpose 631 00:33:17,363 --> 00:33:20,131 distinct from Him. 632 00:33:20,131 --> 00:33:22,476 You were made for Him. 633 00:33:22,476 --> 00:33:23,594 For Him. 634 00:33:23,594 --> 00:33:25,872 It is one thing to turn away 635 00:33:25,872 --> 00:33:27,767 from the law of your God. 636 00:33:27,767 --> 00:33:31,604 It is quite another thing to turn away from your God completely. 637 00:33:31,604 --> 00:33:35,931 Follow this rule: "I will not." "Live for Me." 638 00:33:35,931 --> 00:33:39,081 "I would rather have another." 639 00:33:39,081 --> 00:33:41,307 If you speak of an offense, 640 00:33:41,307 --> 00:33:43,551 that is a great offense. 641 00:33:43,551 --> 00:33:45,960 When God addresses a man and says, 642 00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:47,393 "You were made for Me," 643 00:33:47,393 --> 00:33:51,592 and man says, "I'll not have any of it." 644 00:33:51,592 --> 00:33:55,117 "I will take sovereignty over my own life." 645 00:33:55,117 --> 00:33:58,719 "I will claim lordship of my beating heart." 646 00:33:58,719 --> 00:34:02,709 "I will do for me." 647 00:34:02,709 --> 00:34:04,335 That's why men are so miserable 648 00:34:04,335 --> 00:34:07,739 in this secular, materialistic age. 649 00:34:07,739 --> 00:34:09,848 They live for them, 650 00:34:09,848 --> 00:34:14,183 thinking that what they need is material, 651 00:34:14,183 --> 00:34:17,726 economical, physical. 652 00:34:17,726 --> 00:34:20,035 When the fact is, dear friend, 653 00:34:20,035 --> 00:34:25,603 you were made for Him. 654 00:34:25,603 --> 00:34:28,301 At times when I have a bit of time, 655 00:34:28,301 --> 00:34:31,232 I make long bows out of wood. 656 00:34:31,232 --> 00:34:33,290 And they can shoot an arrow very straight. 657 00:34:33,290 --> 00:34:34,446 Very strong. 658 00:34:34,446 --> 00:34:36,866 You can take the largest animal in North America 659 00:34:36,866 --> 00:34:38,569 with one of my bows. 660 00:34:38,569 --> 00:34:40,286 They're made for shooting arrows. 661 00:34:40,286 --> 00:34:42,948 You cannot play a song on them. 662 00:34:42,948 --> 00:34:44,882 Try to play a song on one of my bows, 663 00:34:44,882 --> 00:34:46,607 you'll look absolutely ridiculous. 664 00:34:46,607 --> 00:34:48,111 You'll end up frustrated. 665 00:34:48,111 --> 00:34:49,913 In the same way, you cannot shoot 666 00:34:49,913 --> 00:34:52,326 an arrow with a guitar. 667 00:34:52,328 --> 00:34:56,746 Things are made for reasons. 668 00:34:56,746 --> 00:35:00,758 You were made for God. 669 00:35:00,758 --> 00:35:03,232 The only reason you are given breath 670 00:35:03,232 --> 00:35:06,608 is so that your breath might return to Him in praise. 671 00:35:06,608 --> 00:35:10,728 The only reason why your heart beats 672 00:35:10,728 --> 00:35:13,428 is so that it might beat quicker 673 00:35:13,428 --> 00:35:15,480 at greater and greater knowledge 674 00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:17,540 and experience of Him. 675 00:35:17,540 --> 00:35:20,546 The only reason your mind was given an intellect 676 00:35:20,546 --> 00:35:22,704 to think great thoughts about Him. 677 00:35:22,704 --> 00:35:25,338 Your ears to hear Him. Your eyes to see Him. 678 00:35:25,338 --> 00:35:28,699 Your mouth, your tongue, to praise Him. 679 00:35:28,699 --> 00:35:30,962 But we would not. 680 00:35:30,962 --> 00:35:33,746 We would not. 681 00:35:33,746 --> 00:35:37,104 All have sinned and fall short 682 00:35:37,104 --> 00:35:44,596 of the glory of God. 683 00:35:44,596 --> 00:35:48,072 That's the verdict about all men, 684 00:35:48,072 --> 00:35:50,926 about everyone here 685 00:35:50,926 --> 00:35:54,577 who does not know Jesus Christ. 686 00:35:54,577 --> 00:35:57,230 All have sinned and fall short 687 00:35:57,230 --> 00:36:00,823 of the glory of God. 688 00:36:00,823 --> 00:36:03,235 Now, let's go on. 689 00:36:03,235 --> 00:36:07,820 "...Being justified as a gift." 690 00:36:07,820 --> 00:36:13,897 Being justified as a gift. 691 00:36:13,897 --> 00:36:19,085 What does it mean to be justified? 692 00:36:19,085 --> 00:36:22,833 It does not mean that the moment 693 00:36:22,833 --> 00:36:25,076 you believe in Jesus Christ, 694 00:36:25,076 --> 00:36:27,806 God does some supernatural work 695 00:36:27,806 --> 00:36:31,029 in your nature and infuses you with such grace 696 00:36:31,029 --> 00:36:34,565 that you become a totally, completely righteous being 697 00:36:34,565 --> 00:36:36,481 who from then on completely 698 00:36:36,481 --> 00:36:38,620 and perfectly obeys the law of God. 699 00:36:38,620 --> 00:36:40,115 That's not what it means. 700 00:36:40,115 --> 00:36:42,415 What does it mean to be justified? 701 00:36:42,415 --> 00:36:46,811 It means the moment you believe in Jesus Christ 702 00:36:46,811 --> 00:36:50,260 you are forensically or legally declared 703 00:36:50,260 --> 00:36:52,431 right with God. 704 00:36:52,431 --> 00:36:53,657 Do you understand that? 705 00:36:53,657 --> 00:36:55,933 It is a legal declaration 706 00:36:55,933 --> 00:36:58,207 from the throne of God 707 00:36:58,207 --> 00:37:03,250 that you are right with Him. 708 00:37:03,250 --> 00:37:05,347 Now let's go on. This is very important. 709 00:37:05,347 --> 00:37:08,797 Being justified as a gift by His grace. 710 00:37:08,797 --> 00:37:11,024 How can a man be right with God? 711 00:37:11,024 --> 00:37:12,969 That is the question of the ages. 712 00:37:12,969 --> 00:37:15,215 It is the question of most religions. 713 00:37:15,215 --> 00:37:17,814 It is the question of almost every beating heart. 714 00:37:17,814 --> 00:37:21,512 How can man be right with God? 715 00:37:21,512 --> 00:37:23,266 That's the question. 716 00:37:23,266 --> 00:37:24,698 Now, I want you to understand, 717 00:37:24,698 --> 00:37:27,371 if you do a study of comparative religions, 718 00:37:27,371 --> 00:37:29,839 there's really only two types of religions. 719 00:37:29,839 --> 00:37:31,622 Seriously. 720 00:37:31,622 --> 00:37:36,906 Religion of works and human merit 721 00:37:36,906 --> 00:37:40,104 and a religion of grace. 722 00:37:40,104 --> 00:37:42,189 Unmerited favor. 723 00:37:42,189 --> 00:37:44,822 There is only Christianity 724 00:37:44,822 --> 00:37:50,017 and all the other religions of the world. 725 00:37:50,017 --> 00:37:55,200 And what sets a Christian apart from everyone else? This: 726 00:37:55,200 --> 00:37:59,584 You interview the orthodox Jewish man. 727 00:37:59,584 --> 00:38:01,936 Sir, if you died right now where would you go? 728 00:38:01,936 --> 00:38:04,471 I would go the way of the righteous. 729 00:38:04,471 --> 00:38:06,882 I would go to paradise. I would go to Heaven. 730 00:38:06,882 --> 00:38:09,219 Why? Because I love the law of God. 731 00:38:09,219 --> 00:38:11,034 I seek to obey the law of God. 732 00:38:11,034 --> 00:38:12,798 I seek to keep the law of God. 733 00:38:12,798 --> 00:38:14,510 I am a righteous man. 734 00:38:14,510 --> 00:38:16,126 You interview the Muslim: 735 00:38:16,126 --> 00:38:18,393 Sir, if you died right now, where would you go? 736 00:38:18,393 --> 00:38:19,959 I would go to paradise. Why? 737 00:38:19,959 --> 00:38:21,652 I love the Koran. 738 00:38:21,652 --> 00:38:23,537 I obey the Koran. 739 00:38:23,537 --> 00:38:25,426 I have made the pilgrimages. 740 00:38:25,426 --> 00:38:27,755 I give the alms. I say the prayers. 741 00:38:27,755 --> 00:38:30,808 I am a righteous man. 742 00:38:30,808 --> 00:38:32,641 Then you come to the Christian. 743 00:38:32,641 --> 00:38:34,868 Sir, if you died right now, where would you go? 744 00:38:34,868 --> 00:38:36,289 To Heaven. 745 00:38:36,289 --> 00:38:38,552 Why? 746 00:38:38,552 --> 00:38:42,105 And he begins to tell you something you don't understand. 747 00:38:42,105 --> 00:38:44,498 He says I was born in sin. 748 00:38:44,498 --> 00:38:47,270 In sin did my mother conceive me. 749 00:38:47,270 --> 00:38:52,861 I have broken every law of my God, 750 00:38:52,861 --> 00:38:55,316 and I deserve nothing before Him 751 00:38:55,316 --> 00:38:58,188 but His wrath, His justice. 752 00:38:58,188 --> 00:39:00,853 And you stop him and you say, "Sir, I don't understand." 753 00:39:00,853 --> 00:39:02,555 The other two men I understand. 754 00:39:02,555 --> 00:39:04,593 They are righteous men by their own deeds 755 00:39:04,593 --> 00:39:06,900 and thus they have earned Heaven for themselves. 756 00:39:06,900 --> 00:39:08,538 But you are contradictory. 757 00:39:08,538 --> 00:39:10,642 How are you going to get to Heaven 758 00:39:10,642 --> 00:39:13,592 if you claim no virtue or merit for yourself? 759 00:39:13,592 --> 00:39:15,585 And the Christian smiles and says, 760 00:39:15,585 --> 00:39:17,729 "I will go to Heaven based upon 761 00:39:17,729 --> 00:39:20,752 the virtue and the merit of Another, 762 00:39:20,752 --> 00:39:25,849 Jesus Christ my Lord." 763 00:39:25,849 --> 00:39:30,108 Now that's the doctrine of justification. 764 00:39:30,108 --> 00:39:32,639 But let me say this, those who have been justified 765 00:39:32,639 --> 00:39:34,514 have also been regenerated. 766 00:39:34,514 --> 00:39:36,240 And those who have been regenerated 767 00:39:36,240 --> 00:39:37,778 have been given new hearts, 768 00:39:37,778 --> 00:39:39,225 and with those new hearts, 769 00:39:39,225 --> 00:39:42,572 they will live a different life. 770 00:39:42,572 --> 00:39:46,386 As a matter of fact, the evidence of justification, 771 00:39:46,386 --> 00:39:48,421 that you have been declared right with God 772 00:39:48,421 --> 00:39:51,481 is that your heart has been so changed 773 00:39:51,481 --> 00:39:53,155 by the power of the Holy Spirit 774 00:39:53,155 --> 00:39:59,184 that you begin to live in a newness of life. 775 00:39:59,184 --> 00:40:00,766 Now, we go on. He says, 776 00:40:00,766 --> 00:40:04,719 "Being justified as a gift by His grace..." 777 00:40:04,719 --> 00:40:09,053 Being justified as a gift by His grace - that's redundant. 778 00:40:09,053 --> 00:40:11,071 It's the same thing in a sense. 779 00:40:11,071 --> 00:40:13,307 Being justified as a gift. 780 00:40:13,307 --> 00:40:15,851 As a gift. Why say it twice? 781 00:40:15,851 --> 00:40:19,893 Because men hate grace. 782 00:40:19,893 --> 00:40:21,596 That's why. 783 00:40:21,596 --> 00:40:24,271 Why would anyone hate grace? 784 00:40:24,271 --> 00:40:26,917 Pride. 785 00:40:26,917 --> 00:40:29,394 A desire of men to exalt themselves, 786 00:40:29,394 --> 00:40:31,981 even to exalt themselves over God 787 00:40:31,981 --> 00:40:36,769 so that they make God their debtor. 788 00:40:36,769 --> 00:40:40,660 I am so righteous. My deeds are so worthy. 789 00:40:40,660 --> 00:40:44,901 God owes me Heaven. 790 00:40:44,901 --> 00:40:46,431 But grace comes to the man 791 00:40:46,431 --> 00:40:48,732 who recognizes he has no deeds, 792 00:40:48,732 --> 00:40:51,455 he has no merit, he has no virtue, 793 00:40:51,455 --> 00:40:57,303 and he falls upon the unmerited favor of God. 794 00:40:57,303 --> 00:40:59,434 Now I want you to look at something here. 795 00:40:59,434 --> 00:41:01,280 It's very important. 796 00:41:01,280 --> 00:41:05,955 "Being justified as a gift..." 797 00:41:05,955 --> 00:41:08,561 The New Testament, the Gospels quote 798 00:41:08,561 --> 00:41:10,700 a very important passage in the Old Testament 799 00:41:10,700 --> 00:41:12,692 speaking of Jesus Christ. 800 00:41:12,692 --> 00:41:17,755 It says, "they hated Him without a cause." 801 00:41:17,755 --> 00:41:19,411 They hated Him without a cause. 802 00:41:19,411 --> 00:41:23,608 Did anyone ever have cause to hate Jesus? 803 00:41:23,608 --> 00:41:26,315 Did Jesus ever sin against someone 804 00:41:26,315 --> 00:41:29,196 so that they were armed to argue 805 00:41:29,196 --> 00:41:31,136 that they could hate Him with a cause? 806 00:41:31,136 --> 00:41:32,997 No. Never. 807 00:41:32,997 --> 00:41:36,136 That's the same word used here. 808 00:41:36,136 --> 00:41:40,376 You were justified without a cause. 809 00:41:40,376 --> 00:41:42,796 Now what does that mean? 810 00:41:42,796 --> 00:41:48,731 The sinner gives God no reason to save him. 811 00:41:48,731 --> 00:41:51,905 When a holy God, a righteous God 812 00:41:51,905 --> 00:41:54,731 comes into contact with sinful man, 813 00:41:54,731 --> 00:41:57,259 the only motivation that sinful man 814 00:41:57,259 --> 00:42:02,007 can give a righteous God is to condemn him. 815 00:42:02,007 --> 00:42:05,771 God did not save you because of you. 816 00:42:05,771 --> 00:42:08,686 He saved you because of Him. 817 00:42:08,686 --> 00:42:10,443 When He explained to Israel 818 00:42:10,443 --> 00:42:12,613 the reason for His love for Israel 819 00:42:12,613 --> 00:42:15,915 He said, "Israel, I have loved you 820 00:42:15,915 --> 00:42:20,517 because I loved you." 821 00:42:20,517 --> 00:42:23,328 It had nothing to do with you 822 00:42:23,328 --> 00:42:27,279 and everything to do with Him. 823 00:42:27,279 --> 00:42:29,162 It's an act of grace. 824 00:42:29,162 --> 00:42:31,117 Now let's go on. 825 00:42:31,117 --> 00:42:34,916 "...By His grace through the redemption 826 00:42:34,916 --> 00:42:36,258 which is in Christ Jesus." 827 00:42:36,258 --> 00:42:40,430 Through the redemption. 828 00:42:40,430 --> 00:42:43,470 I believe it was Vance Havner or Tozer - 829 00:42:43,470 --> 00:42:45,107 one of the two, who said 830 00:42:45,107 --> 00:42:50,894 that Christians have become so brutish, 831 00:42:50,894 --> 00:42:52,640 so to speak, that we are prone 832 00:42:52,640 --> 00:42:58,715 to playing marbles with the diamonds of God. 833 00:42:58,715 --> 00:43:02,668 We don't know how to appreciate. 834 00:43:02,668 --> 00:43:04,877 We handle roughly and rudely 835 00:43:04,877 --> 00:43:06,945 the most precious things that God 836 00:43:06,945 --> 00:43:09,300 tells us and gives us. 837 00:43:09,300 --> 00:43:12,574 I believe that the word "redemption" 838 00:43:12,574 --> 00:43:16,992 is one of those things that we handle rudely. 839 00:43:16,992 --> 00:43:19,051 "I've been redeemed," they say, 840 00:43:19,051 --> 00:43:22,374 and everyone laughs. 841 00:43:22,374 --> 00:43:24,769 Every time you use that word 842 00:43:24,769 --> 00:43:29,662 your lips should tremble. 843 00:43:29,662 --> 00:43:31,505 What does it mean? Redemption. 844 00:43:31,505 --> 00:43:34,849 To be redeemed? 845 00:43:34,849 --> 00:43:39,042 It means to be set free from prison, 846 00:43:39,042 --> 00:43:42,092 from slavery, from captivity 847 00:43:42,092 --> 00:43:47,665 because a price has been paid. 848 00:43:47,665 --> 00:43:49,657 So if you have been redeemed, 849 00:43:49,657 --> 00:43:53,594 it is because a price has been paid. 850 00:43:53,594 --> 00:43:55,831 Now, if it was just a small price; 851 00:43:55,831 --> 00:43:58,624 if it was just some earthly trinket 852 00:43:58,624 --> 00:44:00,814 that was given so that you might be set free, 853 00:44:00,814 --> 00:44:02,568 that would be quite another thing, 854 00:44:02,568 --> 00:44:04,138 but you have been redeemed 855 00:44:04,138 --> 00:44:07,781 by the blood of God's own Son. 856 00:44:07,781 --> 00:44:10,367 You need motivation for the Christian life? 857 00:44:10,367 --> 00:44:12,421 You need motivation to walk in godliness? 858 00:44:12,421 --> 00:44:15,252 You need motivation to say no to the world? 859 00:44:15,252 --> 00:44:16,734 I'll give it to you. 860 00:44:16,734 --> 00:44:20,581 Christ shed His own blood for your soul. 861 00:44:20,581 --> 00:44:23,246 What more do you need? 862 00:44:23,246 --> 00:44:25,232 Meditate upon that. 863 00:44:25,232 --> 00:44:26,819 Think deeply on that. 864 00:44:26,819 --> 00:44:30,664 Christ shed His own blood for you. 865 00:44:30,664 --> 00:44:33,615 That's the motivation of the Christian life. 866 00:44:33,615 --> 00:44:39,935 To do it for any other reason is idolatry. 867 00:44:39,935 --> 00:44:42,347 It's because He died for you, 868 00:44:42,347 --> 00:44:45,759 and in dying for you, He doubly owns you. 869 00:44:45,759 --> 00:44:47,503 You say, Pastor, what do you mean? 870 00:44:47,503 --> 00:44:49,457 I mean this. 871 00:44:49,457 --> 00:44:52,848 God has a claim upon you by right of creation. 872 00:44:52,848 --> 00:44:55,424 He made you. 873 00:44:55,424 --> 00:44:57,819 He owns what He makes. 874 00:44:57,819 --> 00:45:00,255 But God has a double ownership upon you 875 00:45:00,255 --> 00:45:02,086 in that not only did He make you, 876 00:45:02,086 --> 00:45:05,181 He redeemed you. 877 00:45:05,181 --> 00:45:07,008 He bought you. 878 00:45:07,008 --> 00:45:11,092 And He bought you with His own Son - 879 00:45:11,092 --> 00:45:14,430 the blood of His Son. 880 00:45:14,430 --> 00:45:15,827 Oh, to grasp that! 881 00:45:15,827 --> 00:45:18,302 For that to become a reality in our lives, 882 00:45:18,302 --> 00:45:20,995 it will be the only power, 883 00:45:20,995 --> 00:45:24,043 the only fuel we need to propel us 884 00:45:24,043 --> 00:45:26,947 to godliness and to true Christian service 885 00:45:26,947 --> 00:45:30,298 knowing the great price that was paid for us. 886 00:45:30,298 --> 00:45:31,428 Now let's go on. 887 00:45:31,428 --> 00:45:34,206 He says this, 888 00:45:34,206 --> 00:45:39,473 "...The redemption which is in Christ Jesus." 889 00:45:39,473 --> 00:45:44,055 Exclusively in Christ Jesus. 890 00:45:44,055 --> 00:45:45,811 Exclusively. 891 00:45:45,811 --> 00:45:50,519 Not in anyone or anything else. 892 00:45:50,519 --> 00:45:53,473 One time a young man, he said this, 893 00:45:53,473 --> 00:45:55,112 he came up to me so full of zeal 894 00:45:55,112 --> 00:45:57,083 and he said, "You're right, Brother Paul, 895 00:45:57,083 --> 00:45:58,285 Jesus is all we need." 896 00:45:58,285 --> 00:46:01,686 I said, "Young man, Jesus is all we have." 897 00:46:01,686 --> 00:46:04,675 He is all we have. 898 00:46:04,675 --> 00:46:08,844 Outside of Him, there is nothing. 899 00:46:08,844 --> 00:46:11,777 We come before God in the name of Jesus 900 00:46:11,777 --> 00:46:13,447 because apart from Jesus, 901 00:46:13,447 --> 00:46:17,272 we have no part with God. 902 00:46:17,272 --> 00:46:18,782 He's everything. 903 00:46:18,782 --> 00:46:24,856 Our entire life is found within the sphere 904 00:46:24,856 --> 00:46:27,663 of the Person and work of Jesus Christ. 905 00:46:27,663 --> 00:46:32,730 Outside of Him, there is nothing! 906 00:46:32,730 --> 00:46:33,833 Nothing! 907 00:46:33,833 --> 00:46:36,537 Why do you hold so dearly to the Christian life? 908 00:46:36,537 --> 00:46:38,943 Because outside of it there is nothing! 909 00:46:38,943 --> 00:46:42,125 Why do you hold so dearly to this Christ, this Messiah? 910 00:46:42,125 --> 00:46:47,757 Outside of Him, there is nothing. 911 00:46:47,757 --> 00:46:50,856 We go on. 912 00:46:50,856 --> 00:46:53,143 "Whom God displayed publicly 913 00:46:53,143 --> 00:46:56,481 as a propitiation." 914 00:46:56,481 --> 00:46:58,873 I would agree with many theologians 915 00:46:58,873 --> 00:47:01,705 who say that propitiation is the most important word 916 00:47:01,705 --> 00:47:05,307 in the entire Bible. 917 00:47:05,307 --> 00:47:08,676 Do you understand it? 918 00:47:08,676 --> 00:47:10,586 You say, "I'm a preacher of the Gospel." 919 00:47:10,586 --> 00:47:15,359 Do you understand propitiation? 920 00:47:15,359 --> 00:47:19,612 Propitiation is a sacrifice that is given 921 00:47:19,612 --> 00:47:25,668 to satisfy justice and to appease wrath 922 00:47:25,668 --> 00:47:29,686 that a just God might pardon wicked men 923 00:47:29,686 --> 00:47:32,238 and still be just. 924 00:47:32,238 --> 00:47:39,996 Now we get to the center of the cross. 925 00:47:39,996 --> 00:47:43,415 I want you to look at something. V. 23. 926 00:47:43,415 --> 00:47:46,815 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." 927 00:47:46,815 --> 00:47:49,288 V. 24, speaking of Christians who have sinned 928 00:47:49,288 --> 00:47:51,573 and fallen short of the glory of God, it says, 929 00:47:51,573 --> 00:47:53,302 "being justified." 930 00:47:53,302 --> 00:47:55,627 That presents one of the greatest problems 931 00:47:55,627 --> 00:47:57,233 in the entire Bible. 932 00:47:57,233 --> 00:47:58,668 Did you know that? 933 00:47:58,668 --> 00:48:01,544 This presents possibly the greatest 934 00:48:01,544 --> 00:48:03,928 theological, philosophical problem 935 00:48:03,928 --> 00:48:05,290 in the entire Bible. 936 00:48:05,290 --> 00:48:06,991 And if you don't understand this, 937 00:48:06,991 --> 00:48:10,345 you're not understanding the Gospel. 938 00:48:10,345 --> 00:48:11,997 Here's the problem: 939 00:48:11,997 --> 00:48:21,060 If God is just, He cannot forgive you. 940 00:48:21,060 --> 00:48:27,486 If God is just, He cannot forgive you. 941 00:48:27,486 --> 00:48:42,445 Go with me for just a moment to Proverbs 17. 942 00:48:42,445 --> 00:48:46,666 Proverbs 17:15 says this: 943 00:48:46,678 --> 00:48:48,662 "He who justifies the wicked 944 00:48:48,662 --> 00:48:50,363 and he who condemns the righteous, 945 00:48:50,363 --> 00:48:52,315 both of them alike are an abomination 946 00:48:52,315 --> 00:48:53,380 to the Lord." 947 00:48:53,380 --> 00:48:55,738 Now, let's put those two phrases together. 948 00:48:55,738 --> 00:48:58,214 "He who justifies the wicked" 949 00:48:58,214 --> 00:49:00,461 "is an abomination to the Lord." 950 00:49:00,461 --> 00:49:06,125 An abomination - there's no word 951 00:49:06,125 --> 00:49:09,220 that goes further in describing 952 00:49:09,220 --> 00:49:11,475 the vileness of something 953 00:49:11,475 --> 00:49:13,526 than the word "abomination." 954 00:49:13,526 --> 00:49:18,139 The Scriptures say whoever justifies the wicked 955 00:49:18,139 --> 00:49:20,946 is an abomination before the Lord, 956 00:49:20,946 --> 00:49:22,607 and yet in Romans 3, 957 00:49:22,607 --> 00:49:25,208 we understand that's what God did. 958 00:49:25,208 --> 00:49:28,389 He justified the wicked. 959 00:49:28,389 --> 00:49:31,502 The greatest question in all the Scripture is this: 960 00:49:31,502 --> 00:49:35,041 How can God be just 961 00:49:35,041 --> 00:49:39,217 and at the same time justify wicked men? 962 00:49:39,217 --> 00:49:40,738 Especially when the Scriptures 963 00:49:40,738 --> 00:49:42,418 which cannot be broken say, 964 00:49:42,418 --> 00:49:46,604 "He who justifies the wicked... is an abomination." 965 00:49:46,604 --> 00:49:49,095 Do you want to know what the whole Bible's about? 966 00:49:49,095 --> 00:49:51,894 Sacrificial system? Everything? 967 00:49:51,894 --> 00:49:55,395 One question: How can God be just 968 00:49:55,395 --> 00:49:58,349 and the justifier of wicked men? 969 00:49:58,349 --> 00:50:00,012 Many of you have never heard that 970 00:50:00,012 --> 00:50:06,058 and yet that's the center of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 971 00:50:06,058 --> 00:50:07,637 Let me give you an illustration. 972 00:50:07,637 --> 00:50:09,741 Let's say that one of you goes home tonight 973 00:50:09,741 --> 00:50:12,149 and you find your family slaughtered on the floor. 974 00:50:12,149 --> 00:50:13,575 And you see the murderer 975 00:50:13,575 --> 00:50:15,383 standing over your family 976 00:50:15,383 --> 00:50:17,670 with blood on his hands. 977 00:50:17,670 --> 00:50:19,588 And you run to the man, you grab him, 978 00:50:19,588 --> 00:50:21,419 you knock him down and you tie him up, 979 00:50:21,419 --> 00:50:22,607 and you call the police. 980 00:50:22,607 --> 00:50:24,468 The police take this man to prison. 981 00:50:24,468 --> 00:50:28,154 In time, the man is brought for trial. 982 00:50:28,154 --> 00:50:32,373 He stands before a judge here in this town 983 00:50:32,373 --> 00:50:34,269 and the judge looks down on the man 984 00:50:34,269 --> 00:50:36,366 who has slaughtered your entire family 985 00:50:36,366 --> 00:50:41,223 and says this: "I am a very loving judge. 986 00:50:41,223 --> 00:50:43,249 I pardon you. 987 00:50:43,249 --> 00:50:45,278 You're free." 988 00:50:45,278 --> 00:50:46,873 What would you do? 989 00:50:46,873 --> 00:50:48,379 You would write the newspapers. 990 00:50:48,379 --> 00:50:49,623 You would call the media. 991 00:50:49,623 --> 00:50:50,985 You would be on television. 992 00:50:50,985 --> 00:50:53,755 You would write the Congress. You'd write the President. 993 00:50:53,755 --> 00:50:55,685 You'd do everything to make it known 994 00:50:55,685 --> 00:50:57,269 that there's a judge on the bench 995 00:50:57,269 --> 00:50:58,850 that's far more wicked 996 00:50:58,850 --> 00:51:01,227 than the criminals he pardons. 997 00:51:01,227 --> 00:51:08,163 Judges must do justice. 998 00:51:08,163 --> 00:51:13,750 If God is just, and you are wicked, 999 00:51:13,750 --> 00:51:16,905 then how can He pardon you 1000 00:51:16,905 --> 00:51:20,161 without becoming an unjust judge? 1001 00:51:20,161 --> 00:51:24,870 Without becoming an abomination? 1002 00:51:24,870 --> 00:51:28,619 That is the question of the Gospel. 1003 00:51:28,619 --> 00:51:31,146 And that is the reason for which 1004 00:51:31,146 --> 00:51:34,112 Jesus Christ died. 1005 00:51:34,112 --> 00:51:36,612 Now I want us to look here. 1006 00:51:36,612 --> 00:51:40,970 "Whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation." 1007 00:51:40,970 --> 00:51:43,076 Martyn Lloyd-Jones said in this text 1008 00:51:43,076 --> 00:51:46,332 that God placarded His Son. 1009 00:51:46,332 --> 00:51:48,307 Do you know as you drive around town 1010 00:51:48,307 --> 00:51:49,919 or you go down a country highway, 1011 00:51:49,919 --> 00:51:51,668 and you see all these billboards, 1012 00:51:51,668 --> 00:51:54,124 these placards, all these advertisements. 1013 00:51:54,124 --> 00:51:55,914 They're put in a place not hidden, 1014 00:51:55,914 --> 00:51:57,230 but they're put in a place 1015 00:51:57,230 --> 00:52:01,418 where they can be seen by everyone. 1016 00:52:01,418 --> 00:52:06,640 God placarded His Son on that tree. 1017 00:52:06,640 --> 00:52:09,327 Why? 1018 00:52:09,327 --> 00:52:12,142 To demonstrate something. 1019 00:52:12,142 --> 00:52:14,221 To demonstrate something. 1020 00:52:14,221 --> 00:52:16,728 Let's look at our text. 1021 00:52:16,728 --> 00:52:19,896 "God displayed (or placarded) Him publicly 1022 00:52:19,896 --> 00:52:23,347 as a propitiation in His blood through faith..." 1023 00:52:23,347 --> 00:52:25,976 Why? "This was to demonstrate 1024 00:52:25,976 --> 00:52:29,014 His righteousness" - God's righteousness. 1025 00:52:29,014 --> 00:52:31,327 "Because in the forbearance of God, 1026 00:52:31,327 --> 00:52:34,930 He passed over the sins previously committed, 1027 00:52:34,930 --> 00:52:37,637 for the demonstration I say of His righteousness 1028 00:52:37,637 --> 00:52:39,040 at the present time." 1029 00:52:39,040 --> 00:52:43,750 What is going on? 1030 00:52:43,750 --> 00:52:46,331 All throughout the ages 1031 00:52:46,331 --> 00:52:49,337 since the first man, first woman, 1032 00:52:49,337 --> 00:52:53,511 God has been merciful to men. 1033 00:52:53,511 --> 00:52:58,492 He has pardoned men in their sin. 1034 00:52:58,492 --> 00:53:02,148 He took to Himself a Noah 1035 00:53:02,148 --> 00:53:04,159 and spared the life of Noah. 1036 00:53:04,159 --> 00:53:07,598 Do you not realize Noah should have died with the rest of them? 1037 00:53:07,598 --> 00:53:09,136 Was not Noah a sinner? 1038 00:53:09,136 --> 00:53:10,487 Was not Noah guilty? Yes. 1039 00:53:10,487 --> 00:53:13,015 Do you think honestly he was spared from the flood 1040 00:53:13,015 --> 00:53:16,883 because of his good deeds or righteousness? 1041 00:53:16,883 --> 00:53:19,595 Noah should have died. 1042 00:53:19,595 --> 00:53:22,057 Noah's family should have died. 1043 00:53:22,057 --> 00:53:27,050 Abraham was made God's friend. 1044 00:53:27,050 --> 00:53:29,019 In many ways, he did not believe God. 1045 00:53:29,019 --> 00:53:31,425 He put his wife's life in jeopardy. He lied. 1046 00:53:31,425 --> 00:53:34,333 David was a man after God's own heart? 1047 00:53:34,333 --> 00:53:35,846 How so? He was an adulterer, 1048 00:53:35,846 --> 00:53:40,231 a murderer, and a liar. 1049 00:53:40,231 --> 00:53:42,044 The accusation is railed against God: 1050 00:53:42,044 --> 00:53:44,553 "God, where is Your justice?" 1051 00:53:44,553 --> 00:53:47,077 "God, how can You save Noah from the flood?" 1052 00:53:47,077 --> 00:53:49,197 "God, how can You make Abraham Your friend?" 1053 00:53:49,197 --> 00:53:50,832 "How can You call forth a people 1054 00:53:50,832 --> 00:53:52,409 from a group of idolaters? 1055 00:53:52,409 --> 00:53:56,098 And how can David be brought close 1056 00:53:56,098 --> 00:53:59,285 to Your presence?" 1057 00:53:59,285 --> 00:54:01,252 On the day that Christ died on Calvary, 1058 00:54:01,252 --> 00:54:04,142 God answered every one of those objections. 1059 00:54:04,142 --> 00:54:07,022 "I could pardon Noah by My sovereign grace. 1060 00:54:07,022 --> 00:54:09,056 I could make Abraham a friend. 1061 00:54:09,056 --> 00:54:11,195 I could adopt David as a son, 1062 00:54:11,195 --> 00:54:14,483 because this Son died for them all. 1063 00:54:14,483 --> 00:54:15,863 Look to Him! 1064 00:54:15,863 --> 00:54:18,238 You do not believe I'm just? Know this, 1065 00:54:18,238 --> 00:54:20,582 every man who's ever been spared 1066 00:54:20,582 --> 00:54:22,849 has been spared for only one reason, 1067 00:54:22,849 --> 00:54:26,207 because My Son died for them on the tree, 1068 00:54:26,207 --> 00:54:28,246 and in His dying for them, 1069 00:54:28,246 --> 00:54:30,534 He satisfied My justice 1070 00:54:30,534 --> 00:54:32,436 and now I can be just 1071 00:54:32,436 --> 00:54:34,696 and the justifier of wicked men 1072 00:54:34,696 --> 00:54:37,506 who believe in My Son." 1073 00:54:37,506 --> 00:54:42,006 Do you see that? 1074 00:54:42,006 --> 00:54:45,849 So you understand so much about the Gospel, eh? 1075 00:54:45,849 --> 00:54:50,023 There's a whole lot more than we think, isn't there? 1076 00:54:50,023 --> 00:54:51,525 Now let's talk for a moment 1077 00:54:51,525 --> 00:54:55,113 about the death of Christ. 1078 00:54:55,113 --> 00:54:58,609 He's hanging on a tree. 1079 00:54:58,609 --> 00:55:01,187 And He cries out, "My God, My God, 1080 00:55:01,187 --> 00:55:05,229 why have You forsaken Me?" 1081 00:55:05,229 --> 00:55:08,245 "Why have You forsaken Me?" 1082 00:55:08,245 --> 00:55:10,279 Now, I have heard preachers say this, 1083 00:55:10,279 --> 00:55:11,898 that God looked down from Heaven 1084 00:55:11,898 --> 00:55:13,421 at the suffering of His own Son 1085 00:55:13,421 --> 00:55:16,742 and could not bear to witness that suffering 1086 00:55:16,742 --> 00:55:18,702 and God turned away. 1087 00:55:18,702 --> 00:55:20,939 That's not what the text says. 1088 00:55:20,939 --> 00:55:22,591 The text says on that tree 1089 00:55:22,591 --> 00:55:26,554 God forsook His only begotten Son. 1090 00:55:26,554 --> 00:55:35,638 "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" 1091 00:55:35,638 --> 00:55:50,935 The answer - let's go to Psalm 22 for a moment. 1092 00:55:50,935 --> 00:55:54,664 V. 1, "My God, My God, 1093 00:55:54,664 --> 00:55:57,468 why have You forsaken Me? 1094 00:55:57,468 --> 00:56:00,516 Far from My deliverance are the words of My groaning. 1095 00:56:00,516 --> 00:56:03,614 Oh my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer, 1096 00:56:03,614 --> 00:56:07,626 and by night, but I have no rest." 1097 00:56:07,626 --> 00:56:09,537 There's the Messiah's complaint 1098 00:56:09,537 --> 00:56:11,991 on that cross. 1099 00:56:11,991 --> 00:56:13,815 And then we find an argument. 1100 00:56:13,815 --> 00:56:15,885 Look in v. 4. 1101 00:56:15,885 --> 00:56:17,259 "In You our fathers trusted; 1102 00:56:17,259 --> 00:56:19,035 they trusted and You delivered them. 1103 00:56:19,035 --> 00:56:21,047 To You they cried out and were delivered. 1104 00:56:21,047 --> 00:56:23,523 In You they trusted and were not disappointed." 1105 00:56:23,523 --> 00:56:26,698 Father, there's never been a time in the history of Your people - 1106 00:56:26,698 --> 00:56:28,151 Your covenant people Israel - 1107 00:56:28,151 --> 00:56:29,578 that a man cried out to You 1108 00:56:29,578 --> 00:56:32,492 and You did not answer him. 1109 00:56:32,492 --> 00:56:33,937 Even among the faithless, 1110 00:56:33,937 --> 00:56:35,345 even in their idolatry, 1111 00:56:35,345 --> 00:56:36,874 when they turned back to You 1112 00:56:36,874 --> 00:56:38,308 and they cried out to You, 1113 00:56:38,308 --> 00:56:39,923 You answered them. 1114 00:56:39,923 --> 00:56:42,591 But I, Your only begotten Son, 1115 00:56:42,591 --> 00:56:44,365 I hang from this tree. 1116 00:56:44,365 --> 00:56:47,139 I call out to You all day long, 1117 00:56:47,139 --> 00:56:50,938 "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" 1118 00:56:50,938 --> 00:56:52,445 You do not help Me. 1119 00:56:52,445 --> 00:56:54,778 You are far from the words of My groaning. 1120 00:56:54,778 --> 00:56:56,319 Why? 1121 00:56:56,319 --> 00:57:00,076 He gives us the answer. 1122 00:57:00,076 --> 00:57:03,984 V. 3, "Yet You are holy..." 1123 00:57:03,984 --> 00:57:10,408 V. 6, "...but I am a worm and not a man." 1124 00:57:10,408 --> 00:57:13,336 Why? 1125 00:57:13,336 --> 00:57:15,947 Because on that tree, 1126 00:57:15,947 --> 00:57:20,331 the sins of all of God's people 1127 00:57:20,331 --> 00:57:23,154 were placed upon the Son of God. 1128 00:57:23,154 --> 00:57:27,673 They were imputed to Him. 1129 00:57:27,673 --> 00:57:32,273 He was considered guilty now 1130 00:57:32,273 --> 00:57:34,286 before the bar of God 1131 00:57:34,286 --> 00:57:38,361 and He was treated by His Father as guilty. 1132 00:57:38,361 --> 00:57:41,386 He stood in your law place 1133 00:57:41,386 --> 00:57:48,786 and He was treated as you ought to be treated. 1134 00:57:48,786 --> 00:57:52,846 "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" 1135 00:57:52,846 --> 00:57:56,717 And Heaven's door is slammed shut 1136 00:57:56,717 --> 00:58:01,127 by the hand of God and God cries out, 1137 00:58:01,127 --> 00:58:09,335 "The Lord Your God damns You." 1138 00:58:09,335 --> 00:58:12,208 Someone had to die 1139 00:58:12,208 --> 00:58:15,243 bearing the sins of God's people, 1140 00:58:15,243 --> 00:58:18,711 standing in the law place of God's people 1141 00:58:18,711 --> 00:58:26,725 and condemned by God for all their crimes. 1142 00:58:26,725 --> 00:58:28,721 Cursed is every man who does not abide 1143 00:58:28,721 --> 00:58:31,064 by all the things written in the book of the law 1144 00:58:31,064 --> 00:58:32,785 to perform them. 1145 00:58:32,785 --> 00:58:36,028 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law 1146 00:58:36,028 --> 00:58:40,858 becoming a curse for us. 1147 00:58:40,858 --> 00:58:44,026 Separated from God. 1148 00:58:44,026 --> 00:58:45,732 Dying on a tree. 1149 00:58:45,732 --> 00:58:53,137 Bearing the sins of God's people. 1150 00:58:53,137 --> 00:58:55,224 He's in the garden. He cries out, 1151 00:58:55,224 --> 00:58:57,260 "Let this cup pass from Me." 1152 00:58:57,260 --> 00:58:59,255 Let this cup pass from Me. 1153 00:58:59,255 --> 00:59:02,883 Let this cup pass from Me. 1154 00:59:02,883 --> 00:59:04,599 What was in the cup? 1155 00:59:04,599 --> 00:59:06,851 I hear these preachers say, 1156 00:59:06,851 --> 00:59:10,437 "Christ dreaded the Roman cross. 1157 00:59:10,437 --> 00:59:12,393 He foresaw the cat of nine tails 1158 00:59:12,393 --> 00:59:13,860 coming down on His back. 1159 00:59:13,860 --> 00:59:16,540 The cruel cross, the nails, the crown of thorns, 1160 00:59:16,540 --> 00:59:17,763 the spear in His side." 1161 00:59:17,763 --> 00:59:22,182 Absolutely absurd! 1162 00:59:22,182 --> 00:59:25,414 I can prove it. 1163 00:59:25,414 --> 00:59:28,191 After the death and resurrection and ascension of Christ, 1164 00:59:28,191 --> 00:59:30,227 for several centuries many Christians, 1165 00:59:30,227 --> 00:59:33,196 thousands of Christians died on crosses. 1166 00:59:33,196 --> 00:59:35,929 They were nailed to crosses upside down. 1167 00:59:35,929 --> 00:59:37,458 They were covered with pitch. 1168 00:59:37,458 --> 00:59:40,020 They were set on fire to provide lights 1169 00:59:40,020 --> 00:59:42,191 for the streets of Rome. 1170 00:59:42,191 --> 00:59:45,554 And the history tells us that many of them, 1171 00:59:45,554 --> 00:59:47,910 most of them went to the cross 1172 00:59:47,910 --> 00:59:50,974 singing hymns and joyfully praising God 1173 00:59:50,974 --> 00:59:53,938 for the opportunity to die for their Master. 1174 00:59:53,938 --> 00:59:57,120 Now are you going to tell me that the Captain of their salvation 1175 00:59:57,120 --> 00:59:59,318 is not as strong as His disciples? 1176 00:59:59,318 --> 01:00:01,164 That He's cowering in a garden 1177 01:00:01,164 --> 01:00:02,990 because He's afraid of a cross 1178 01:00:02,990 --> 01:00:06,441 that they willingly take upon themselves? 1179 01:00:06,441 --> 01:00:12,229 What kind of preaching madness is that? 1180 01:00:12,229 --> 01:00:14,349 What was in the cup? 1181 01:00:14,349 --> 01:00:16,394 I'll tell you what was in the cup. 1182 01:00:16,394 --> 01:00:20,090 The wrath of Almighty God was in the cup. 1183 01:00:20,090 --> 01:00:22,840 He feared no Roman. He feared no cross. 1184 01:00:22,840 --> 01:00:24,764 He feared no nails. 1185 01:00:24,764 --> 01:00:27,517 Yes, that was part of His dying. 1186 01:00:27,517 --> 01:00:31,485 Yes, it was necessary for it to be a bloody death. 1187 01:00:31,485 --> 01:00:33,392 By His blood we are saved, 1188 01:00:33,392 --> 01:00:38,126 but know this, it was the wrath of Almighty God - 1189 01:00:38,126 --> 01:00:43,224 the holy hatred of God against our evil 1190 01:00:43,224 --> 01:00:45,439 that had to fall upon His head, 1191 01:00:45,439 --> 01:00:47,077 and not only fall upon His head, 1192 01:00:47,077 --> 01:00:50,196 but crush Him. 1193 01:00:50,196 --> 01:00:51,820 Have you never read, 1194 01:00:51,820 --> 01:00:54,283 "it pleased the Lord..." 1195 01:00:54,283 --> 01:00:56,709 it pleased Yahweh; 1196 01:00:56,709 --> 01:01:08,105 it pleased God to crush the Messiah. 1197 01:01:08,105 --> 01:01:10,559 I've heard evangelists say, 1198 01:01:10,559 --> 01:01:14,206 "instead of being just with you, God was loving." 1199 01:01:14,206 --> 01:01:16,077 Now there's a problem. 1200 01:01:16,077 --> 01:01:20,194 Are you trying to tell me that God's love is unjust? 1201 01:01:20,194 --> 01:01:24,569 You must understand that God must be just. 1202 01:01:24,569 --> 01:01:27,526 He is love. 1203 01:01:27,526 --> 01:01:30,207 He can freely and sovereignly exercise that love. 1204 01:01:30,207 --> 01:01:31,933 He is love. 1205 01:01:31,933 --> 01:01:35,076 But He cannot be love at the expense of His justice. 1206 01:01:35,076 --> 01:01:36,967 He is perfect in all His attributes. 1207 01:01:36,967 --> 01:01:39,301 He is consistent in absolutely everything. 1208 01:01:39,301 --> 01:01:41,941 In order to demonstrate His love toward man 1209 01:01:41,941 --> 01:01:45,567 in salvation, pardon, justification, 1210 01:01:45,567 --> 01:01:47,894 He had to first satisfy His own justice. 1211 01:01:47,894 --> 01:01:54,295 And how did He do that? Through His Son. 1212 01:01:54,295 --> 01:01:56,790 You've heard in many places I suppose 1213 01:01:56,790 --> 01:01:59,050 these songs that say things like 1214 01:01:59,050 --> 01:02:01,613 God looked all over Heaven and couldn't find an angel 1215 01:02:01,613 --> 01:02:05,240 willing or able to die. 1216 01:02:05,240 --> 01:02:06,662 God looked all over the earth 1217 01:02:06,662 --> 01:02:09,343 and couldn't find a man willing. 1218 01:02:09,343 --> 01:02:11,893 My dear friend, if God had found 1219 01:02:11,893 --> 01:02:14,795 a trillion angels who were spotless 1220 01:02:14,795 --> 01:02:17,615 and willing to die, they could not have purchased us. 1221 01:02:17,615 --> 01:02:20,260 If God had found a million men without sin 1222 01:02:20,260 --> 01:02:22,327 and they had all gone to crosses and died, 1223 01:02:22,327 --> 01:02:25,415 it would not be enough. 1224 01:02:25,415 --> 01:02:28,576 There is only One who can make that payment. 1225 01:02:28,576 --> 01:02:30,800 He must be man. Man has sinned. 1226 01:02:30,800 --> 01:02:33,460 Man must die. A man must pay. 1227 01:02:33,460 --> 01:02:35,105 But He must not only be man, 1228 01:02:35,105 --> 01:02:38,724 He must be God. 1229 01:02:38,724 --> 01:02:40,165 A student asked me one time 1230 01:02:40,165 --> 01:02:41,353 from the auditorium - 1231 01:02:41,353 --> 01:02:44,124 he wasn't very pleased with the preaching of the Gospel, 1232 01:02:44,124 --> 01:02:46,107 and he stood up and he asked me, he says, 1233 01:02:46,107 --> 01:02:47,971 "I've got a question for you. 1234 01:02:47,971 --> 01:02:50,936 How can one man 1235 01:02:50,936 --> 01:02:54,475 suffering a few short hours on a tree 1236 01:02:54,475 --> 01:02:56,474 under the wrath of God 1237 01:02:56,474 --> 01:02:58,637 save a multitude of men 1238 01:02:58,637 --> 01:03:02,381 or make payment for a multitude of men 1239 01:03:02,381 --> 01:03:04,877 and save them from an eternity in hell? 1240 01:03:04,877 --> 01:03:07,214 How can that be?" 1241 01:03:07,214 --> 01:03:09,251 I said, "Oh, young man, 1242 01:03:09,251 --> 01:03:11,154 it is for this reason. 1243 01:03:11,154 --> 01:03:13,016 Because the One who died on that tree 1244 01:03:13,016 --> 01:03:16,754 was worth more than the rest of them put together." 1245 01:03:16,754 --> 01:03:18,530 You take everything that is. 1246 01:03:18,530 --> 01:03:20,345 You take mountains, mole hills; 1247 01:03:20,345 --> 01:03:22,325 you take clowns and universes 1248 01:03:22,325 --> 01:03:24,435 and suns and moons and stars - 1249 01:03:24,435 --> 01:03:26,884 everything that was, everything that will be, 1250 01:03:26,884 --> 01:03:29,057 everything that currently dwells - 1251 01:03:29,057 --> 01:03:30,713 you put it all on the scale, 1252 01:03:30,713 --> 01:03:32,551 and you put Jesus on the other side, 1253 01:03:32,551 --> 01:03:35,116 and He outweighs them all. 1254 01:03:35,116 --> 01:03:36,940 It was His worth. 1255 01:03:36,940 --> 01:03:39,457 When theologians talk 1256 01:03:39,457 --> 01:03:41,314 about the perfect sacrifice of Christ, 1257 01:03:41,314 --> 01:03:44,298 it's not just saying that He was without sin 1258 01:03:44,298 --> 01:03:45,735 though He was without sin. 1259 01:03:45,735 --> 01:03:50,127 It is also speaking of His infinite value. 1260 01:03:50,127 --> 01:03:53,847 Christ and Christ alone 1261 01:03:53,847 --> 01:03:58,610 had sufficient merit, virtue, worth 1262 01:03:58,610 --> 01:04:03,402 to pay for the crimes of a multitude of people. 1263 01:04:03,402 --> 01:04:10,141 He died on that tree. He died. Death. 1264 01:04:10,141 --> 01:04:19,093 He was swallowed up by it. 1265 01:04:19,093 --> 01:04:26,776 But up from the grave He arose 1266 01:04:26,776 --> 01:04:29,985 with a mighty triumph o'er His foes. 1267 01:04:29,985 --> 01:04:34,718 He arose a Victor from that dark domain, 1268 01:04:34,718 --> 01:04:38,204 and He lives forever with His saints to reign. 1269 01:04:38,204 --> 01:04:40,134 He rose. 1270 01:04:40,134 --> 01:04:44,006 Sure, mock a prophet from Nazareth 1271 01:04:44,006 --> 01:04:46,084 standing out in the middle of the square 1272 01:04:46,084 --> 01:04:48,868 screaming out, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." 1273 01:04:48,868 --> 01:04:53,049 But it's another thing to mock Him when He comes out of the ground. 1274 01:04:53,049 --> 01:04:55,702 And God testifies publicly, 1275 01:04:55,702 --> 01:04:58,519 declares with great power in the Holy Spirit, 1276 01:04:58,519 --> 01:05:02,317 "This is My beloved Son 1277 01:05:02,317 --> 01:05:05,303 in whom I am well pleased." 1278 01:05:05,303 --> 01:05:07,632 He shows Himself with many proofs 1279 01:05:07,632 --> 01:05:11,158 and then He ascends up. 1280 01:05:11,158 --> 01:05:14,213 He ascends to where no man 1281 01:05:14,213 --> 01:05:16,498 has ever gone before. 1282 01:05:16,498 --> 01:05:18,717 You see, He was God in the flesh. 1283 01:05:18,717 --> 01:05:20,735 Take note of that. Never lose that. 1284 01:05:20,735 --> 01:05:22,230 That is an essential truth. 1285 01:05:22,230 --> 01:05:24,821 He is God in the flesh or He is no Savior. 1286 01:05:24,821 --> 01:05:29,429 But never forget this, He is the Man Christ Jesus. 1287 01:05:29,429 --> 01:05:30,949 It was man who sinned. 1288 01:05:30,949 --> 01:05:33,756 It was a man who had to die. 1289 01:05:33,756 --> 01:05:37,281 And it was a man who had to go up. 1290 01:05:37,281 --> 01:05:38,828 Go up. 1291 01:05:38,828 --> 01:05:41,744 The ancient writers - the patristics - 1292 01:05:41,744 --> 01:05:47,664 go to Psalm 24 for a moment. 1293 01:05:47,664 --> 01:05:50,265 They use this text 1294 01:05:50,265 --> 01:05:57,618 in a most intriguing, beautiful, and powerful way. 1295 01:05:57,618 --> 01:06:03,567 That Jesus Christ the resurrected Man, 1296 01:06:03,567 --> 01:06:05,617 God in the flesh, 1297 01:06:05,617 --> 01:06:09,279 the Son of glory ascends up, 1298 01:06:09,279 --> 01:06:15,083 and He comes to the gates of Heaven, 1299 01:06:15,083 --> 01:06:17,784 and He cries out, in v. 7, 1300 01:06:17,784 --> 01:06:19,942 "Lift up your heads, O gates, 1301 01:06:19,942 --> 01:06:22,872 and be lifted up, O ancient doors, 1302 01:06:22,872 --> 01:06:26,132 that the King of Glory may come in." 1303 01:06:26,132 --> 01:06:27,162 And He answered back, 1304 01:06:27,162 --> 01:06:31,897 "Who is this King of Glory?" 1305 01:06:31,897 --> 01:06:33,387 Can you imagine? 1306 01:06:33,387 --> 01:06:35,795 All of Heaven in silence. 1307 01:06:35,795 --> 01:06:38,442 Who's knocking on these gates? 1308 01:06:38,442 --> 01:06:42,492 What man would dare lay his hand 1309 01:06:42,492 --> 01:06:47,029 to the latch of these doors? 1310 01:06:47,029 --> 01:06:49,458 And then comes back the answer, 1311 01:06:49,458 --> 01:06:51,061 "The Lord, strong and mighty, 1312 01:06:51,061 --> 01:06:52,550 the Lord mighty in battle. 1313 01:06:52,550 --> 01:06:54,545 Lift up your heads, O gates, 1314 01:06:54,545 --> 01:06:57,150 and lift them up, O ancient doors, 1315 01:06:57,150 --> 01:06:59,844 that the King of Glory may come in." 1316 01:06:59,844 --> 01:07:01,912 And for the first time in all of time, 1317 01:07:01,912 --> 01:07:06,429 Heaven's gates open for a Man. 1318 01:07:06,429 --> 01:07:10,000 When He walks through those doors, 1319 01:07:10,000 --> 01:07:18,188 everything in Heaven is laying prostrate. 1320 01:07:18,188 --> 01:07:20,614 All hail the power of Jesus' name, 1321 01:07:20,614 --> 01:07:22,794 let angels prostrate fall. 1322 01:07:22,794 --> 01:07:25,180 Bring forth the royal diadem, 1323 01:07:25,180 --> 01:07:26,914 and crown Him Lord of all. 1324 01:07:26,914 --> 01:07:29,314 And He walks up to the place 1325 01:07:29,314 --> 01:07:32,492 where angels and men cannot stand, 1326 01:07:32,492 --> 01:07:35,140 to the very throne of God the Father. 1327 01:07:35,140 --> 01:07:37,887 He ascends the steps and He sits down 1328 01:07:37,887 --> 01:07:41,124 at the right hand of Majesty on High. 1329 01:07:41,124 --> 01:07:43,376 His Father, I suppose, looks at Him and says, 1330 01:07:43,376 --> 01:07:46,292 "Son, it is finished." 1331 01:07:46,292 --> 01:07:52,140 "Father, it is finished indeed." 1332 01:07:52,140 --> 01:07:54,328 Crowned King. 1333 01:07:54,328 --> 01:07:55,292 King. 1334 01:07:55,292 --> 01:07:58,196 Let all the nations beware. 1335 01:07:58,196 --> 01:08:00,110 Let every man who lifts himself up 1336 01:08:00,110 --> 01:08:02,275 as king, or governor, or mayor, 1337 01:08:02,275 --> 01:08:06,107 or providence understand this. 1338 01:08:06,107 --> 01:08:09,035 Let the mightiest men in the world tremble 1339 01:08:09,035 --> 01:08:13,484 because in reality, there is only one Government. 1340 01:08:13,484 --> 01:08:16,955 In reality, there is only one King. 1341 01:08:16,955 --> 01:08:19,572 Everyone else who wears a little crown in his head 1342 01:08:19,572 --> 01:08:22,569 is nothing more than a cut flower. 1343 01:08:22,569 --> 01:08:25,163 Every nation that marches with its army, 1344 01:08:25,163 --> 01:08:27,766 its strength, if they were to oppose Christ, 1345 01:08:27,766 --> 01:08:29,926 their strength would be nothing more 1346 01:08:29,926 --> 01:08:33,096 than a tiny gnat beating its head against a world of granite. 1347 01:08:33,096 --> 01:08:35,607 He is King of kings 1348 01:08:35,607 --> 01:08:37,536 and Lord of lords. 1349 01:08:37,536 --> 01:08:39,916 And all the governors and kings and princes 1350 01:08:39,916 --> 01:08:42,153 and presidents are warned 1351 01:08:42,153 --> 01:08:43,701 to do homage to the Son, 1352 01:08:43,701 --> 01:08:46,027 to worship Him because His wrath 1353 01:08:46,027 --> 01:08:49,763 is quickly kindled. 1354 01:08:49,763 --> 01:08:51,532 Yet at the same time, 1355 01:08:51,532 --> 01:08:53,587 there is a Fountain opened up 1356 01:08:53,587 --> 01:08:55,227 in the house of David, 1357 01:08:55,227 --> 01:08:59,454 and the humble hear it and they are glad. 1358 01:08:59,454 --> 01:09:04,114 For the Word has gone out through all the earth, 1359 01:09:04,114 --> 01:09:05,807 there is a Savior. 1360 01:09:05,807 --> 01:09:07,775 There is a balm in Gilead 1361 01:09:07,775 --> 01:09:10,772 and His name is Jesus. 1362 01:09:10,772 --> 01:09:12,792 It doesn't matter what you have done, 1363 01:09:12,792 --> 01:09:14,178 what you have become; 1364 01:09:14,178 --> 01:09:17,394 it doesn't matter how great you think your sin may be, 1365 01:09:17,394 --> 01:09:22,928 there is nothing mightier than the Christ. 1366 01:09:22,928 --> 01:09:26,819 With His blood, He can wipe away your sin; 1367 01:09:26,819 --> 01:09:30,467 make you spotless before the throne of God 1368 01:09:30,467 --> 01:09:32,479 and grant you an inheritance 1369 01:09:32,479 --> 01:09:37,441 that will last forever. 1370 01:09:37,441 --> 01:09:40,097 But also know this, 1371 01:09:40,097 --> 01:09:42,121 He is coming 1372 01:09:42,121 --> 01:09:44,790 and He will judge the earth. 1373 01:09:44,790 --> 01:09:46,671 And every knee will bow 1374 01:09:46,671 --> 01:09:49,408 and every tongue will confess 1375 01:09:49,408 --> 01:09:53,616 that He is Lord. 1376 01:09:53,616 --> 01:09:57,206 If you are Christian - truly Christian - 1377 01:09:57,206 --> 01:09:59,058 that is you bring forth fruits 1378 01:09:59,058 --> 01:10:01,866 worthy of repentance and faith, 1379 01:10:01,866 --> 01:10:03,685 you are trusting in Christ alone, 1380 01:10:03,685 --> 01:10:06,088 your salvation is by faith, 1381 01:10:06,088 --> 01:10:09,118 but there is evidence of that faith 1382 01:10:09,118 --> 01:10:11,265 in God's reality in your life, 1383 01:10:11,265 --> 01:10:12,806 in your bearing of fruit, 1384 01:10:12,806 --> 01:10:15,796 then meditate upon this. 1385 01:10:15,796 --> 01:10:17,992 You don't need some great conference. 1386 01:10:17,992 --> 01:10:19,693 You don't need some great speaker. 1387 01:10:19,693 --> 01:10:22,975 You don't need some new technique in Christianity. 1388 01:10:22,975 --> 01:10:25,386 You just need a greater and greater vision 1389 01:10:25,386 --> 01:10:30,920 of what God has done for you in Jesus Christ. 1390 01:10:30,920 --> 01:10:34,922 If you're outside of Christ 1391 01:10:34,922 --> 01:10:37,332 and you do not fear, 1392 01:10:37,332 --> 01:10:39,657 let me just share this with you. 1393 01:10:39,657 --> 01:10:46,693 Do you want to know how much God hates sin? 1394 01:10:46,693 --> 01:10:48,007 Do you want to know 1395 01:10:48,007 --> 01:10:51,789 how much God hates sin? 1396 01:10:51,789 --> 01:10:55,011 When His own Son bore sin, 1397 01:10:55,011 --> 01:10:59,643 God crushed His own Son. 1398 01:10:59,643 --> 01:11:04,411 Sinner, what do you think He'll do to you? 1399 01:11:04,411 --> 01:11:07,287 You say, are you trying to make me afraid? 1400 01:11:07,287 --> 01:11:15,968 My dear friend, there are reasons to be afraid. 1401 01:11:15,968 --> 01:11:20,167 And love demands that I tell you to be afraid. 1402 01:11:20,167 --> 01:11:25,379 Love demands that I beg you to seek a remedy quickly. 1403 01:11:25,379 --> 01:11:27,753 That you run away from the law 1404 01:11:27,753 --> 01:11:29,335 that chases and condemns you 1405 01:11:29,335 --> 01:11:31,355 and you run to Christ, 1406 01:11:31,355 --> 01:11:32,890 to that city of refuge. 1407 01:11:32,890 --> 01:11:35,955 The name of the Lord is a strong tower. 1408 01:11:35,955 --> 01:11:39,072 The righteous man runs into it and he is safe. 1409 01:11:39,072 --> 01:11:40,292 Come to Christ. 1410 01:11:40,292 --> 01:11:42,541 You say what must I do to be saved? 1411 01:11:42,541 --> 01:11:45,272 Repent and believe the Gospel. 1412 01:11:45,272 --> 01:11:52,300 Repent and believe the Gospel. 1413 01:11:52,300 --> 01:11:55,791 Brother Paul, what does it mean to repent? 1414 01:11:55,791 --> 01:11:58,000 Let me say this, 1415 01:11:58,000 --> 01:11:59,571 are you here tonight, 1416 01:11:59,571 --> 01:12:01,300 you know you're outside of Christ, 1417 01:12:01,300 --> 01:12:03,288 and yet all you can think about 1418 01:12:03,288 --> 01:12:04,708 is he's gone on long enough 1419 01:12:04,708 --> 01:12:06,959 and I need to get out of this building? 1420 01:12:06,959 --> 01:12:10,911 I do not care for my sin or his God. 1421 01:12:10,911 --> 01:12:12,356 It's a nice thing. 1422 01:12:12,356 --> 01:12:13,992 It's a pleasant thing to hear, 1423 01:12:13,992 --> 01:12:16,514 but I've got more important things to do. 1424 01:12:16,514 --> 01:12:19,302 My dear friend, if that's the attitude of your heart, 1425 01:12:19,302 --> 01:12:21,552 you cannot be saved. 1426 01:12:21,552 --> 01:12:23,535 Not this moment. 1427 01:12:23,535 --> 01:12:26,618 You have no repentance. 1428 01:12:26,618 --> 01:12:28,859 But if you're here tonight, and maybe you came 1429 01:12:28,859 --> 01:12:31,867 just because someone drug you here, 1430 01:12:31,867 --> 01:12:33,886 but as you were listening to the message 1431 01:12:33,886 --> 01:12:35,010 you said to yourself, 1432 01:12:35,010 --> 01:12:37,542 I had no idea God was like that. 1433 01:12:37,542 --> 01:12:39,286 But I know it's true. 1434 01:12:39,286 --> 01:12:42,451 I had no idea my sin was so vile. 1435 01:12:42,451 --> 01:12:45,533 I feel so ugly, so wretched. 1436 01:12:45,533 --> 01:12:48,090 I had no idea that I was so lost, 1437 01:12:48,090 --> 01:12:50,622 that my goodness is like filthy rags. 1438 01:12:50,622 --> 01:12:52,155 Oh, how I hate my sin! 1439 01:12:52,155 --> 01:12:55,830 Oh, how I wish I was clean from it! 1440 01:12:55,830 --> 01:12:59,208 Those are the kernels of repentance. 1441 01:12:59,208 --> 01:13:00,991 Those are some of the characteristics 1442 01:13:00,991 --> 01:13:02,951 of a genuine sorrow over sin. 1443 01:13:02,951 --> 01:13:05,839 Now you lack one thing: run to Christ. 1444 01:13:05,839 --> 01:13:08,755 Run to Christ! Throw yourself upon Christ. 1445 01:13:08,755 --> 01:13:11,188 Trust in Christ alone. 1446 01:13:11,188 --> 01:13:13,706 You're not only to turn away from your sin, 1447 01:13:13,706 --> 01:13:15,791 you're to turn away from every hope 1448 01:13:15,791 --> 01:13:18,612 you might have ever had in your own good works. 1449 01:13:18,612 --> 01:13:20,636 Flee from your righteousness! 1450 01:13:20,636 --> 01:13:23,423 Flee from your filthy rags that cannot save you 1451 01:13:23,423 --> 01:13:25,327 and throw yourself upon Christ. 1452 01:13:25,327 --> 01:13:28,168 If this preacher died in this pulpit tonight, 1453 01:13:28,168 --> 01:13:30,507 I would go to Heaven and stand before God 1454 01:13:30,507 --> 01:13:32,561 sound in glory. Why? 1455 01:13:32,561 --> 01:13:36,004 Because 2,000 years ago, the Son of God died for me. 1456 01:13:36,004 --> 01:13:37,237 That is my only hope. 1457 01:13:37,237 --> 01:13:39,325 But that is the scarlet thread, 1458 01:13:39,325 --> 01:13:42,018 and I expect to swing out into eternity on it 1459 01:13:42,018 --> 01:13:45,423 with the greatest amount of confidence. 1460 01:13:45,423 --> 01:13:51,332 Trust in Christ and Christ alone! 1461 01:13:51,332 --> 01:13:53,604 Christ alone. 1462 01:13:53,604 --> 01:13:55,664 Christ alone. 1463 01:13:55,664 --> 01:13:57,550 Christ. 1464 01:13:57,550 --> 01:14:00,736 You begin with Christ alone. 1465 01:14:00,736 --> 01:14:02,951 You continue in the Christian faith 1466 01:14:02,951 --> 01:14:04,918 with Christ alone. 1467 01:14:04,918 --> 01:14:10,512 And you end with Christ alone. 1468 01:14:10,512 --> 01:14:14,607 Let's pray. 1469 01:14:14,607 --> 01:14:17,541 Father, I come before You 1470 01:14:17,541 --> 01:14:21,961 and I pray that You would use Your Word 1471 01:14:21,961 --> 01:14:24,293 in the hearts of men. 1472 01:14:24,293 --> 01:14:29,746 In Jesus' name and for His sake, Amen.