2024-02-18PM-Part 2 The Just Shall Live By Faith

The speaker starts by reading from Romans chapter 1 and Psalm 143, emphasizing the power of the gospel of Christ for salvation. He then introduces a whiteboard illustration, where each mark represents a sin committed in a person's life. He relates this to Martin Luther's experience of receiving punishment for his wrong answers in school. The speaker discusses how sin accumulates and the need for justification before God. He mentions Job and David's struggles, questioning how a person can be just with God. The speaker highlights the message of the gospel, that Jesus bore our sins and offers forgiveness and justification through His sacrifice on the cross. He emphasizes the importance of accepting Jesus to avoid eternal punishment. Hallelujah. Romans chapter 1, let's begin reading in verse 15 again. So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, the just shall live by faith. Please turn with me to Psalm 143. I'd really like you to see this as I read this. The 143rd Psalm. It is a psalm of David. Hear my prayer, O Lord. Give ear to my supplications. In Thy faithfulness answer me, and in Thy righteousness. And enter not into judgment with Thy servant. For in Thy sight shall no man living be justified. The enemy hath persecuted my soul. He hath smitten my life down to the ground. He hath made me to dwell in darkness as those that have been long dead. Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate. The word desolate means stunned, amazed, stupefied, destroyed. He said, my heart within me is desolate. Father, thank You so much tonight for our gathering. Thank You for the opportunity to be here to preach the Word of God. God, I thank You for Your mercy on every one of us here. Every one can testify that God's been good to me. And I ask You for that precious anointing. I hand this to You, Lord. Let this vessel be used for Your glory only, O God, for Your glory. For Lord, we count on You to do the work tonight, for it's not in us, Lord, but in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. Amen. I'm going to get started. Something different tonight. I brought this whiteboard here because I wanted to make an illustration. Anthony, would you come? And what I've asked Brother Anthony to do is that if he would just make a mark on this whiteboard, that if he could go past his entire life and just make one mark for each sin that he's ever committed. So you go ahead and get started there. I talked to you all this morning concerning Martin Luther. You remember that when he was a schoolboy in the 1500s, his class, if he got the answer wrong, he got a mark on the slate. And at the end of the week, he got spanked. And he took a lick for every mark at the end of the week. And the only way that those marks would ever get removed was once he got that spanked. Once he took them licks, every swat he could remove a mark. And until he went through the beating, those marks were not removed. There you go. That's a run out of board. Brother Anthony, this is a representation. It is not just of him, but it's me. Go ahead and make some more. There's still room there for mine. That's a good representation. Well, it's a cheap representation of your life without Christ. And to think that all of those sins, one after another, committed one by one, adding up all through a lifetime. You can go ahead and have a seat. Thank you very much. All through the life that that takes place, sin mounting one after another. And I want to try to preach tonight, and I'll use the same title that I used this morning, the just shall live by faith. We read there in the 143rd Psalm, David begins, hear my prayer, O Lord. Give ear to my supplications. It doesn't take us long to find out David's in trouble. Because immediately in verse 2, he pleads with God, enter into judgment with me. I mean, I'd like You to respond, but I'm really worried right now how You're going to respond because of the condition that I'm in. Lord, I need something from You. I need an answer from God. But I'm afraid the words that I'm going to hear. So he says, but enter not into judgment with Thy servant, for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified. And he begins to tell of his plight. The enemy hath persecuted my soul. He hath smitten my life down to the ground. He hath made me to dwell in darkness as those that have been long dead. Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate, amazed, destroyed, stupefied. I'm stunned and don't know how to respond because of where the enemy has taken me. His description is darkness. His description is persecuted. His description is to have a life that has been smitten down to the ground. And David says, I don't see any way out. I don't know if there's an answer for me because I just can't figure out how any man living shall be justified in the sight of God. And what it sounds like to me is that David sure could have used Paul's message. Because that's exactly, I believe, what Paul was wanting to do is to find somebody like that when he said, I want to go to Rome and as everything within me, I want to preach the Gospel. Because the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. For every soul that's been smitten down to the ground. For every soul that has been wasted. For every soul that feels dead. For every soul who feels overwhelmed and feels like he's been destroyed. The Gospel of Jesus Christ works for men like that. In the book of Job, Bildad, one of Job's friends, comes to him and he asks, does God pervert judgment? Does not the Almighty pervert justice? Bildad says, people are going to get what they've got coming to them, Job. I want you to know that God is holy. God is a righteous judge. And it follows in the next chapter, Job begins. He answers and says, I know, I know it is so of a truth, but how should man be just with God? If he will contend with Him, he cannot answer Him one of a thousand. If God was to ask a thousand questions, man couldn't answer one of them. He looks back at Bildad and he says, I know you're right. God is a righteous judge. And the justice that He meets out is not going to be perverted. It's not going to be swayed. It's not going to be watered down. God is a righteous judge. And Job is bewildered and he says, but how should man be just with God? Chapter 25. Many conversations go on in the book of Job. Chapter 25. Bildad steps up again and he asks, how then can man be justified with God? How can He be clean that is born of a woman? Behold, even to the moon it shineth not, yea, the stars are not pure in His sight, how much less man that is a worm of the Son of Man, which is a worm. You know, sometimes it's easy for us to look at God and the concept that man has of God and all we see is His holiness. And it's easy to look upon that holiness and then get to the place where all we see is judgment, the wrath of Almighty God. And it puts men into a place like this where they begin to ask those questions. How can man be just with God? How can everything work out? But in our text in Romans chapter 1, we know that Paul... I just want to get to Rome. I want to get to Rome. Because I know that if I get to Rome, I'll preach the gospel there. And surely I'm going to find somebody in that condition. Surely somebody's going to be there feeling like David felt. Somebody I'm going to find in Rome feels like Job and Bildad did, saying that we're hopeless, smitten to the ground, dwelling in darkness, dead, overwhelmed, desolate. Paul knew that the power of God unto salvation is the gospel of Christ. And if Paul would have been there, he'd have said, Bildad, how shall man be just with God? There is a God in heaven that not only pours out judgment, but He's merciful! He is gracious! He will abundantly pardon, the Bible says. The gospel of Jesus Christ lets us know that we should look to Jesus Christ for this reason. Isaiah 53 verse 4 says, Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, but He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. Listen here. And the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, for the transgression of My people was He stricken. Be assured, the Bible still says that every transgression and disobedience receives a just recompense of reward. There is still a punishment, an eternal punishment for sinfulness and denying Jesus Christ. But look at what happened to Jesus Christ. It pleased the Lord to bruise Him. He hath put on Him grief when He shall make His soul an offering for sin. He shall see the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied. By His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. Colossians 2 and verse 13, And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross. Every sin must be paid for. Many people are going to get to the judgment holding it like this. This is me. That's my life right there. Sin after sin after sin. And like Martin Luther, the sin must be accounted for. Every recompense of disobedience must receive its due reward. And the Bible says that those who are found without God, those who are found with all of their sins, at the judgment shall be cast into the lake of fire, which burneth with fire and brimstone. But Isaiah said, there's someone that was willing to take your place. There is someone who was willing to take your licks. There was somebody who stepped up and took your spankings. And when Jesus Christ went to Calvary, listen to me, your sins were not left out. Okay? He did not carry many sins to Calvary's hill. He carried all sins up that hill. And while it's difficult for you and me to imagine that the sins of the entire population of the world from the creation of Adam all the way to the judgment that He took it all to Golgotha all by Himself. It's hard to fathom that in one giant act of divine love, every sin of every human being was shouldered upon the battered body of Jesus Christ. And the Bible says that when the Father saw the Son, we can go to the day when John the Baptist baptized Jesus. He's coming up out of the water. The Spirit descended on Him like a dove. And there was a voice that sounded from Heaven that said, This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Fast forward to the Mount of Transfiguration. Those men are up there with Jesus. Once again, the heavens are parted by the thundering voice of the Father who says, This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. But when the Father looked down on Golgotha's hill and the Son of God hung there on that cross, He saw the travail of His soul and the divine judgment of Almighty God against sin was satisfied. This is My beloved Son. And in this one mighty act of love, I am satisfied. I am satisfied. He shall see the travail of His soul and He shall be satisfied. It pleased the Lord to bruise Him for you. It pleased Him to take all of the punishment that your sins deserved and put it on Him. And hanging on that cross, the famous words of the Savior was this, Yet He is finished. Every sin at that point was paid for. This literally means that an end was made. It was accomplished. And the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ, Hebrews chapter 10 says, it was once for all. Hallelujah! Every sin was accounted for on that day. Every transgression was considered at Calvary. And the hands and the feet of Jesus were not the only thing that was nailed to that cross. But the Bible says the handwriting of the ordinances that was against Me, the handwriting of the ordinances, brother Michael, for you, it was nailed to His cross. The law had truly been fulfilled. It's not a foreign story to anybody in this house tonight. But if we go back to Isaiah chapter 53, it begins this way, Who hath believed our report? Because that's what really matters. Who hath believed our report? To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? 2 Corinthians 5 and 21 says, For He hath made Him to be sin for us. Who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. We were guilty. There is absolutely no arguing about it. We were guilty. Guilty. Guilty. But Anthony, on that night, June 6th, I was there. You're guilty when you came. Junior, you were there that night. You were there that night. You watched it happen. And now, you saw this. That's because of that. You knew that man before that night. You knew what he was capable of. You knew what he looked like carrying around this full of his own sins. But you watched as he laid his burdens on an altar and received the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, because he took upon himself all the punishment for all our sins. And Paul said, he quoted the prophet Habakkuk, he wrote it in Galatians, and it's written in Romans, and it's written in Hebrews, the just shall live by faith. How are you going to get right with God? Bill Dadd couldn't figure it out. David, he was baffled by it all. Job didn't know what to do. But along comes the apostle Paul. Let me preach the Gospel to you! It is the power of God unto salvation. It was Jesus who died for our sins according to the Scriptures. It was Jesus who was buried and after three days rose from the dead according to the Scriptures. It is the Gospel that guarantees eternal life for whosoever will. And when he said the just shall live by faith, he didn't say the just shall live by if he can do enough to make up for all of this. He didn't say the just shall live if he can give enough to the church. He didn't say the just shall live if he'll just stop his sinning right here and start doing the best he can. No, the just shall live because he puts his faith in Jesus Christ. Michelle, would you come to the piano tonight please? The apostle Paul wrote to his young protege Titus, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. By the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, this Gospel is still for us. And there's just as much power in the blood today as there has ever been. And sin can be all taken away in less than a moment. Would you all stand with me tonight? Father, thank You so much tonight for giving me this opportunity to preach this message. Thank You, Lord, for laying it on my heart many days ago. Thank You for saving it for tonight. My Lord, I ask You tonight to do what's been talked about in this service. Bring conviction for every sin on little ones that need to be saved. God, by those who've had a lifetime to make hash marks on a board representative of sin, I know, Lord, that You're willing to clean the slate tonight. I am absolutely convinced of the power of the Gospel to save. So I'm praying tonight that You'll do just that in the name of Jesus. Gently, the Savior calls. Wondrously, it's a mystery. It's a mystery. But God is willing to save. And if you're willing to be saved, God's willing to save. I'm amazed. I'm amazed. I'm amazed. God brought all of us together tonight. I don't preach like this on Sunday night. It's a Sunday morning message. Struggled with it this morning. Maybe I should preach it Sunday morning. And I didn't feel like I ought to. So I kept it. And here we are. God wants to save you, Junior. You know He does. He wants to wash away all your sin. And there ain't a soul in this place that's looking back at you and saying, I wonder what He's done. I wonder how far. No, because every one of us remember the hash marks of our own lives. All of us remember there's not room on that board nor ink in that pen to make up. And He'll do the work tonight. He'll make all the changes. He's not asking you to do it. He doesn't get it. He's already gone to Calvary and He already bore every sin. The worst of them. The lightest of them. The smallest of them. And the ones that nobody wants to talk about. He pulled it all up that hill with Him and He paid the full price for every one of them. I love this song. When you were a little boy, you probably looked to your daddy for a lot. Things are different now. Daddy's more dependent on you now. But if you'll put your trust in Jesus Christ, there will never be a day that He cannot help you. Anybody, anybody that's got sin in your life tonight, this is the place. This is the place. I mean, that's why we put it in this place. They carried the cigarettes out. They carried the lottery tickets out. They carried out all the snacks and the sodas. And they brought in an altar. And we've already found that it works. Isn't that right, Haley? It works. It works, doesn't it? Hallelujah. This altar works, praise God. It's a place where God will meet with you if you're willing. I implore you to come. Any soul tonight that's ready to lay it all down. Any soul that's ready to say, I believe you took my sins there. It's hard for me to accept. It's hard for me to lay it on you. But He said He'll take it if you'll let it go. Believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Would you come? He's made opportunity. There's so many times that He could have said, right now, this is it. You're coming with me. That's why David said, don't enter into judgment with me. Not right now. But God gave opportunity. And He put judgment off a little bit longer. Would you come on in here? You'll find people that are sympathetic because we've been where you are. You say, oh no, you haven't. Oh, you don't know me. Oh, you've ever known that that guy, he's been preaching all since I've known him. You don't know. You don't know. You don't know. You don't know. Praise God, you don't know. There ain't nobody going to think bad of a man who comes down and says, I want to be saved. I don't want to pay for these sins because I simply cannot afford them. Father, one more time I ask You, settle in this place and do what needs to be done. Whatever nudge. Oh, there's that tug-of-war that's been talked about. Father, I'm asking You tonight, Lord, pull a little harder for me. I know You'll not force anybody, but You sure will swing wide the door and welcome us all in. In Jesus' name, God, do it again. Hallelujah. Would you come and pray? Church, while we wait, let's all come. Let's all come. This is a critical time. This isn't just another Sunday night rejoicing meeting. We're in a critical time right now. This is the very reason that God called us here. Because He knew there's people in need all around the earth. On that cross was crucified no greater love by mortal man has ever been known. Oh, praise the dear name He loves me so. Now I am His, He's mine, I know. He suffered it all because He loved me. Oh, because He loved me, my Savior died. On that cross was crucified no greater love by mortal man has ever been known. Oh, praise the dear name He loves me so. When a person is bound... We've done prison service. We've done jail services. And if we ever went in there, Brother Michael, and if we ever was given the authority to set that person free, they would run at that? There's no way. I mean, if we went in there and said, we're here to set you free. They gave us the key. We have the authority. And we are here to unlock that gate. And you can walk out and go free. There ain't a woman in Pee Wee Valley. There ain't a man in La Grange. Not a one would say, no, I believe I'll stay a little longer. It's become home to me. I'll just stay a little longer. But they would run! Run! You couldn't say it fast enough! You couldn't get the gate open fast enough! And they would run out the gate! And tonight, I feel like, maybe they'll play a little more. We're going to close them in. We won't tarry, tarry long. But I feel like tonight, I don't have that authority. I don't have that key. But I know the one! I know the one who has the key to death, hell, and the grave! I know the one who has the key to your freedom! I know the one who said, if you'll come unto me, I will set you free! You've carried a burden, it's laden. But he said tonight, I'm here to set the captive free! I don't have that authority. But He does! And He will! For whoever the Son has set free is free indeed! All that you've got to do is come to Him! That's all you've got to do! Because that is His Word! That's His Word, Jason! That's His Word! And He is a man of His Word! His promises are in Him, yea! And in Him, amen! And He said, all that burden and heavy laden, come unto Me, and I will give you rest. I'm not trying to steal the man's message. But I'm telling you, I believe there's a tug-of-war going on right here tonight. There is a tug-of-war going on right now! And all that you've got to do is get up from where you're at and come to a Savior! And He's got the key to set you free tonight! You don't have to leave bound. You don't have to go home. Amen! Sorrowful! You don't got to walk away like that rich young ruler walked away! Amen! When he was offered eternal life, and he didn't want to sell it all, and he walked away sorrowful! But tonight, you can leave this house victorious! You can leave set free! You can leave different! You can leave changed! And it's up to you. I don't have that key. If I did, I would. But I know the One. And I'm trying to lead you to Him. David also wrote these famous words. And you've heard them before. I'd say you've heard your daddy say these words. You've heard him preached a lot of times. When David said those famous words, when my heart is overwhelmed, I may not get there on my own, but when my heart is overwhelmed, he said, Lead me! Lead me to the Rock! Do you remember that night? If you don't, I do. When I was sitting back there in Liberty Holy Church, I was sitting right next to you. Alpha Scott. And I'm telling you, there wasn't a soul in that church that didn't know who I was. And I remember picking myself up off that pew. Brother Quentin, of course, the enemy is all over you. They know what you've done. They know where you've been. They know what kind of life you've been living. Amen. And I got down to that pew, and I wouldn't embarrass him for nothing in the world. But that man sitting right there on that back pew, Brother Michael, your daddy, amen, I'm something else now. And he came up, amen, with tears in his eyes and a broken voice. And he laid his hand on my back, and he said, I'm here for you, Anthony. You know what you've got to do. There wasn't a one that night who pointed a finger at me. But they all came and laid their hand on me. And they loved me. And they welcomed me into the family. And I'm telling you tonight, there ain't a one tonight that'll turn their back on you. There ain't a one tonight that'll point a finger. But if you'll come to an altar, if you'll come to the Lord, we're here to lay our hand on you. We're here to help you. But He's here with a key to set you free. What about it? What about it? If I can see that right, it looks like it's about 735 back there. Hallelujah. But I'm going to tell you what, we'll be here all night long for you if you want us to. Amen. But God is here! And He said, Come unto Me! My kind of man I would reach down My kind of man And do this for me I'm worthy to live I would not fear