Not For Anything Done by Us

The Burning Question and Man's Shameful Answers

0:04 one of the most burning questions which any man, woman, boy, or girl can ever ask is the question, how can I, a sinner, find favor and acceptance with a holy God? And perhaps in the face of this question as before no other, man shows both his glory and

0:34 and his shame. When we ask the question, how can I find favor and acceptance with God, we show on the one hand something of our glory, because no animal ever asks that question. One of the many indications that man is not a mere animal, but is indeed an image-bearer of God, is this consciousness stamped upon his humanity to change the imagery, woven into the very fabric of his humanity, that he is accountable to God, and that he must find some basis to be comfortable in the presence of that accountability. I say then, you see, the very asking of that question reveals something of man's glory as an image-bearer of God.

1:33 But when we see man answering that question, we see something of the manifestation of his shame. For perhaps in no other area is the shameful perverseness of man as sinner more clearly seen than when he begins to wrestle with that question. And then he comes up with all kinds of erroneous answers

1:59 To that burning question, how shall I find favor and acceptance with God? Now it is in the light of these facts that we ought to be deeply grateful that we have a word from God, a word embodied in a book which addresses itself to this question and gives us an unmistakably clear answer to that burning question.

Reviewing the Catechism Framework

2:30 Meditation in the Word of God this morning finds us again at the very nerve centers of that burning question. How shall we, sinners, find favor and acceptance with God, God who is our Creator, the observer of all our activities, and the Judge before whom we shall stand in the last days?

2:53 Now the answer to that question is bound up, of course, in the doctrine which has occupied our thinking for several Lord's Days now, the doctrine of justification. And it's in the course of our studying this doctrine that we have turned to the Westminster Larger Catechism for a teaching framework. And I emphasize it again and again and again and again to the point of running the risk of insulting your intelligence. I am not preaching the catechism.

3:23 we are preaching the Bible's answer to this question. How shall sinful man find acceptance with God? And we are simply using the Catechism as a framework within which to organize, unpack, lay out the teaching of the Word of God. And so I remind you very briefly, by way of review, the ground we have already covered.

3:51 We have seen, first of all, that God is the author of the grace of justification. Justification is an act of God's free grace. Romans 3, verse 33 says, It is God who justifies. The source of justification? Free grace. Being justified freely by His grace. Romans 3, verse 24.

4:19 The object of justification or the objects, sinners. It is an act of God's free grace unto sinners. And then the essence of justification, it is an act of pardon and of acceptance. It is an act of God's free grace unto sinners in which he pardoneth all their sins, accepteth and accounteth their persons righteous and

Introducing the Ground of Justification - Two Negatives

4:49 In his sight. And we have examined a number of scriptures. Which set forth these wonderful concepts. These wonderful realities. Of God's provision for guilty sinners. Now we begin this morning to address ourselves to the question. On what grounds or basis does God do this wonderful thing? If God is just.

5:18 And if God is holy, and if God will by no means clear the guilty, if God will by no means lie, how can a holy, just God declare guilty sinners totally forgiven, pardon, remit all of their sins, and then accept, account, and treat them as perfectly righteous in His sight? On what grounds does He do that?

5:49 And the ground or the basis of God's justifying act is perhaps one of the most critical issues that we can ever wrestle with. You see, God would sooner allow the world to perish in its sin as a monument to His justice than stain the glory of His justice by pardoning sinners in an unjust way. You follow me?

6:17 There's something more important to God than the sinner's well-being. It is the honor of His own name. It is the undiminished, untarnished manifestation of His glory. He cannot lie. He cannot be unjust. And so when we begin to take seriously this whole matter, of being fully pardoned and fully accepted, we cannot help but ask that question. On what basis can God still be just and yet justify guilty sinners? And the answer of the Catechism sets before us the grounds of justification in this language. Not for anything wrought in them,

7:10 or done by them, but only for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ. Now you see what the framers of the old catechism have done. They have stated the grounds of justification, first negatively and then positively. God pardons and accepts us not, and they have two negatives, Not for anything wrought in them, performed or done in them. Or not for anything done by them. There are the negatives and then the positives. But only for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ. Now in stating the grounds negatively and then positively, they are simply reflecting the mentality of the Bible. For instance...

8:06 When Paul would speak of God's mercy to sinners in Titus, he says, "...not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His own mercy He saved us." This is not the basis. This is the basis. And you'll find that negative, positive structure throughout the Scriptures...

8:31 because we learn more effectively in wrestling with an issue, asking the question, what is it, if we can start by excluding things and saying, well, it's not that, it's not this, it's not that, so whatever it is, it can't be those things, but it is this. And when we say, it is this, we will not be tempted to import foreign material into our understanding. And what I propose to do this morning, then, is to begin to wrestle with you concerning this burning question. On what basis does a holy, just God pardon and accept sinners as righteous in His sight? The grounds of justification. And we're going to take the first negative this morning. And for reasons that will appear evident down the line, I'm reversing the negatives.

The Bold Assertion: Nothing Done by Us at Any Time

9:23 The larger catechism says, not for anything wrought in them, nor done by them. I want to start with the second negative. Not for anything done by them. Now listen carefully, listen closely. In this statement, there is a repudiation of any human performance, of any kind, at any time, of

9:52 under any circumstances, as contributing in any way, shape, or form to the ground of our justification. Not for anything done by them. There is an exclusion of any human performance of any kind, at any time, under any circumstances, as contributing in any way, shape, or form to the ground of the sinner's acceptance. That is, there is nothing they can do before their effectual calling, which is woven into the fabric of their subsequent justifications.

10:39 There is nothing done at the time of their calling. All of their conviction, repentance, and faith, they have nothing to do. Not one single thread composed of the sinner's repentance or faith is woven into the fabric of the ground of the sinner's justification. Nothing done by them before their calling, at their calling, or at their

11:11 Think of all the things that a sinner does if he has any length of time to live after he is called. When he becomes a saved sinner, a ransomed sinner. All of his prayers, all of his loving acts of obedience, all of his pantings after God, all of his humiliation, all of his repentance, all of the things that he does.

11:36 from the time He is called to the time He goes to glory, not one iota of the totality of that has a gram of influence in the grounds of a sinner's justification. And if the Holy Ghost would come this morning and with power break in upon some of you with that truth, I frankly don't know if you'll be able to keep your seat until you leave.

12:07 For though that truth has been articulated and I trust it times thundered in your ears, it is evident that it is yet to come home with power and become the object of your trust. And so this morning I give myself to labor in the word and in doctrine to establish this one principle, the ground of our justification negatively stated, not only. For anything done by us. Now the testimony of the word of God to that fact is manifold and profuse. And it is manifold and profuse because God knows the sinner's heart. And he knows that the last place we ever flee is to Christ and Christ alone.

13:04 And so God's got to tell us again and again and in various ways the same truth. Now let's look at some of the major testimonies of the Word of God to this one fact, that the ground of our justification is not anything done by us before, at, or subsequent to our effectual calling. And I'm going to keep saying it until you go out and say something snapping in poor pastor. All the pressure getting ready to go. He was running thin at the edges, so he just kept repeating. No, no, my friends. I wanted desperately to get on the two negatives, but as I prayed over the matter and meditated and thought of how best to handle it, I said, no, I must limit myself to the one. All right, turn, please, to the book of Romans. Paul's letter to the church at Rome.

Romans 3 - No Flesh Justified by Works of the Law

13:58 letter that I trust is becoming more and more precious to all of us in these days, as many of you are studying it together in the adult class, and I have had occasion to refer to it again and again in this course of studies on justification. Having established the sinfulness of the entire human race, the Apostle summarizes in verse 19 of Romans 3 with these words, Now we know

14:25 that what things soever the law saith, it speaketh to them that are under the law, that is, to all men, those who have the written law external to them, the Jewish nation, and those to whom it is come, those who have the work of the law written in the heart, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God, because

14:52 By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for through the law cometh the knowledge of sin. But now, apart from the law, a righteousness of God hath been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Now, it's this point of contrast that I want you to see. The apostle says, when the law comes into the question of our justification, it is that instrument which comes only with this condemning element. Whatsoever things the law saith, all of its language is the language of condemnation. Through the law comes the knowledge of sin. Therefore, apart from the law, a righteousness of God has been manifested.

15:48 That is a righteousness that has to do not with our performances before, at, or subsequent to our effectual calling. In the language of verse 28 in the same chapter, we reckon therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. That is any kind of human performance with respect to divine standard. Law in this sense is divine standard of all dimensions. And when we are in hand with justification, our performance with respect to that standard has nothing to do with the grounds of our acceptance before God.

Romans 4 - Reward as Grace Not Debt

16:43 Turn over to chapter 4 and we have the same emphasis in different language. Verse 4, Now to him that worketh, here's the man that's doing something, whether before, at, or subsequent to his effectual calling, it makes no difference. To him that worketh, the reward is not reckoned of grace, but of debt. In other words, if you've got the mentality that what I do will result in something I get...

17:13 You are in the debt consciousness. When a man goes out and puts in so many hours and receives so much pay, the pay is a debt owed to him by the employer. He's performed so much in the way of service for such a length of time, he has now placed his employer in debt to him. And until he receives his pay, the employer is his debtor. Now the apostle says, if our doings, enters in any way to our justification. Justification is a matter of God's debt to the doer. And the miniature in the realm of debt to a doer, you've thrown grace out the window. Isn't that what he says? They are utterly incompatible. To him that worketh, the reward is not reckoned as a grace, but as a debt. But to him that worketh,

18:08 God believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. His faith is reckoned for righteousness. You see, when it comes into the realm of that faith which is involved in the reception of righteousness, justifying faith, it is a faith which utterly excludes anything done by the sinner. And I want to emphasize, done by him before at or subsequent to his calling. You see, the ground of the sinner's justification does not change after he's justified and regenerated and made a holy man. It's the same. It doesn't change. Well, then we move over to the book of Galatians. The book of Galatians, chapter 2,

19:09 Here were people again, you see, who were trying to add to the ground of justification as announced in the gospel, something done by them. Jewish ceremonies, circumcision, and other dimensions of the old ceremonial law. And they were doing it, not just a matter of Jewish custom, but to make themselves complete in their standing before God. That was the great issue, you see.

19:37 When a man is simply carrying on some customs, Paul has something else to say about it. But when they are trying to add some threads of human doing to the completed fabric of a righteousness already perfect, based on the doings of another, listen to the words of the apostle. Galatians 2.16 Yet knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, But through faith in Jesus Christ, even we believed on Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

20:27 Here again, you see, Paul almost seems to be doing what I'm doing this morning. Well, Paul, we got the point. You already said it, knowing that we're not justified by the works of the law. And two breaths later, he's saying the same things again. Not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. He keeps piling up the language, emphasizing the same thing again and again. Verse 21 of the same chapter says, I do not make void the grace of God if righteousness is through the law. If the ground of our acceptance has anything to do with human performance, then Christ died for naught. And then, of course, the very familiar passage in Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus. Many of you could quote this from memory, I'm sure.

Ephesians 2 and Philippians 3 - Not of Works, All Refuse

21:19 Describing the greatness of salvation in Christ, he comes to his summary statement in verses 8 through 10. For by grace have ye been saved through faith. And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Well, shouldn't that be sufficient? Gift is entire contrast to debt. But Paul knows how slow the human heart is to grasp this. So he states the obvious.

21:47 By grace have you been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Then he adds the negative. Not of works that no man should glory. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus on two good works, which God aforeprepared not to be a part of the grounds of our justification. He aforeprepared to other ends, But one of the ends is nowhere stated to be that of adding something to the grounds on which he justifies a sinner. Well, from these very authoritative didactic, that is teaching statements, listen to the language of a heart that understands this. Here is the theology bursting out in the form of personal testimony in Philippians chapter 3. Remember now, we're just trying to establish this.

22:44 from the Scriptures, that the ground of justification is not for anything done by us. And here in the third chapter of Philippians, Paul describes the true people of God in this language, verse 3. For we are the circumcision, we are the true people of God, who worship by the Spirit of God, now notice, Glory in Christ Jesus. And if you indeed glory in Christ, here will be one of the evidence, have no confidence in the flesh. That is, in anything I am, hope to be, can be, or do. And then he goes on to elaborate. And he speaks of his great heritage as to flesh.

23:30 He speaks of his performances. And what does he say concerning all of these things? Verse 8. Yea, verily I count all things to be lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse.

23:48 that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own, even that which is of the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. You see what he is saying? He is saying that in his own judgment, if he clings to, rest upon, puts confidence in anything he is or can do, he'll miss Christ.

Titus 3 - Not by Works Done in Righteousness

24:18 He says, I count all of this but refuse in order that I may be in Christ. And then the statement in Titus chapter 3, to which reference has already been made this morning. And I'm going through all of these passages again with a specific end in view. I want you, many of whom are new believers who do not come from a background in which you were made familiar with the Scriptures, to I want you to note these at least mentally, if not on a piece of paper, and to pour over them, to pray them in, to make them your own. In Titus chapter 3, speaking of what he and his fellow believers once were in verse 3, he then says a transformation has occurred, verse 4, but when the kindness of God our Savior and His love toward man appeared, not by work,

25:14 done in righteousness which we did ourselves. But according to His mercy He saved us through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, which He poured upon us richly through Christ Jesus our Savior, that being justified by His grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Now notice the parallel. Justified by His grace.

25:43 Now he says, not by works done in righteousness which we did ourselves. See the antithesis? What we do in and by ourselves and what God does in grace are mutually exclusive as to the grounds of our justification. Now why is this so? Well let me suggest three very simple reasons. First of all,

Why? Our Works Cannot Satisfy the Broken Law

26:10 Because none of our performances could satisfy the demands of the law with respect to our sins. You see, the law knows no mercy. The law says, do this and live. Fail to do this and die. The reward of perfect obedience is life. The wages of disobedience is what? Death. Death.

26:40 The wages of sin is death. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. Now, I quoted last week an old writer who said, Most people are indifferent to the Bible doctrine of justification for one of two reasons. They either doubt the severity of the law or the sincerity of the gospel. You see, if we doubt the severity of the law, this will make no sense to us. But if we take serious God's holy law, which says, Perfect.

27:09 perpetual obedience is essential if we're to have life from the law. And if we fail to render anything but perfect, perpetual obedience to the law, we are liable to death. And you see, no matter what a condemned criminal may do in conformity to the law, it never has power to make amends for the law that he previously broke. Let me illustrate. And it's a crime that we can no longer illustrate from our own society. We have moved so far from biblical concepts. There are a lot of areas where you can't preach the gospel in the roots of your own society anymore. Let's go to a society where they have kings and where those kings consciously or unconsciously are setting up a structure of law and a punishment that reflects the norms of the Bible. One of them is this.

28:03 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made he him. Genesis 9, 6. And here is a king who has made it known to all of his subjects that any murderer, not someone who commits involuntary manslaughter, the Bible makes a difference, not someone who kills in war, not someone who kills executing another criminal, the Bible makes full allowance for the taking of human life under those circumstances.

28:32 But in this situation there is a law for the willful murderer who destroys the life of another out of passion and anger and for selfish reasons. Now imagine with me a man who has a heart full of venom and hatred to the king, to his laws, to his subjects. And one day that attitude of hatred breaks out when he grabs a fellow man. citizen of that kingdom by the throat and plunges a knife into his heart and he kills him. The witnesses see him. He's brought to court. He's judged. He's condemned. And he is sentenced to die and to be executed within a matter of a few days. Now suppose, for the sake of illustration, suppose the king could work in that man a marvelous transformation whereby from a vicious, bitter, rebellious,

29:26 recalcitrant individual, he suddenly felt himself very much at home with the laws of the Lamb and very desirous of honoring his king by obeying him and very much desirous of honoring the king by loving and treating all of his subjects with respect and all of his laws. He now sees that they are just and wise and good and he peers before the king to make his appeal and he says, O king, I'm not going through a ruse. I'm not fooling you. But something has happened to me. I find myself now thoroughly ashamed of my attitude to you. Thoroughly ashamed and filled with a sense of remorse that I had such a negative attitude to your law, to your subjects, and all that pertains to your kingdom. And, O King, with all my heart, I want to love you.

30:17 I want to obey your laws. I want to honor your laws. I want to honor the subjects of your kingdom. And for the few days between that confession and the time of his execution, he actually does that. From his prison, he writes letters to former people confessing his wrongs, acknowledging all the nasty things he did. He writes letters expressing his affection for others in whose presence he never expressed any affection whatsoever. And the day of his execution comes.

30:48 And he calls in all the witnesses who've received his letters. Fellow prisoners who've seen him, a totally transformed individual. And then he makes an appeal to the king and says, now look, I'm a different man. I do different things. I perform differently. I think differently. Oh, king, on that basis, please stay the execution. Now, if the king is acting according to strict justice, what will he say? He'd say, my friend...

31:17 I'm delighted that you're no longer a vicious murderer at heart. I'm pleased that you no longer hate me and my laws. I'm thrilled to know that here are dozens of witnesses who can bear witness to your transformed life. But sir, the law says murderers must die. You murdered a life and that life has been snuck out. The law demands

31:47 that you be put to death and executed. How can I uphold the law and let you go free? See the point? No amount of his good deeds has any power to satisfy the demands of the law that he previously broke. Now granted, the illustration breaks down as all human illustrations do. The king may want to magnify mercy,

32:14 by granting a pardon. But if He does so, it is a pardon based on sheer mercy. The law has not been satisfied, and God will not do that! He must uphold His law in a manner that does not call any question about the validity and the inflexibility of His justice. Now do you see why then God says, if we are ever to be justified, It cannot be on the basis of anything done by us because none of our performances can satisfy the law we have previously broken. And if we could serve God perfectly for a million years, that obedience is what we owe to Him. We have no power to go back and make up the past.

33:11 begin to get hold of that, then you see you will never, never, no matter how advanced you may be in grace, you will never mix one thread of your own performance in the matter of the ground of your justification. No, none of our performances can satisfy the demands of the law. We've broken the law. The wages of sin is death.

Why? Our Works Could Not Earn Acceptance Even If Sinless

33:37 And that demand of law must be satisfied by our death or by the death of an appointed and a competent substitute. And of course, that's the great glory of the positive statement, only for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ. You see, the strictness of the law is the answer to Calvary. There is no answer to the shrouded heavens.

34:08 There is no answer to the piercing cry, my God, my God, why have you abandoned me? There is no answer to that cry of dereliction. But that God is strict in the implementation of His law. So you see, our performances can't add anything because it's against the whole nature of law. Secondly, because none of our performances partake of that perfection which is necessary unto life.

34:37 You see, the law says, if you keep me perfectly, I will reward you with life. But who among us would dare claim that he has kept the law of God perfectly? Take the first commandment. The essence of it is, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, soul, and strength. The second is like unto it. Love thy neighbor as thyself. Failure to love God with the whole heart, mind, soul, and strength For one second of a hundred year life renders one guilty of law breaking. And all the other obedience has no power to cancel the command of God or the demand of God. The wages of sin is death.

35:33 Heard it said, almost counts only in hand grenades and horseshoes. Almost counts only in hand grenades and horseshoes. And with God's law, almost doesn't count. Whosoever shall keep the whole law and offend in one point, James says, is guilty of what? Guilty of all. The law is a unit.

35:58 of revelation of God's mind and will. Failure at one point means we have broken the law of God. So you see, since our performances cannot cancel or negate the demands of the broken law in the past, and since none of our performances measure up to the perfection demanded by the law, nothing done by us can form the grounds of our justification. And the third reason is this.

36:27 righteousness on the basis of our own works would undermine the whole end of redemption. What's the whole end of redemption? Well, in the language of Ephesians 1.6, it is this, that we should be to the praise of the glory of His grace. Or in the language of 1 Corinthians 1.31, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

36:51 You see, if anything done by us formed any part of the ground of our justification, it would mean that the end of God's grace would be to glory in the Lord, plus ourselves, plus our performance, plus something. But God says, no, I reserve all the glory to myself. That's why the Lord said of that Pharisee in Luke 18, you know, he stood before the Lord, patted himself on the chest or on the back, And said, oh, I'm so glad I'm not like other people. God, you must accept me for what I am and what I've done. Jesus says, that man did not go down to his house justified. Of course not. Forever he would be a sour note in the song of heaven, which is praise to God in terms of the salvation freely offered in his Son. And there is no sharing of that praise with another. Now I hope I've sufficiently established...

Application #1: To Those With Damning Confidence in Their Works

37:48 The basis then of the assertion of the old catechism. Not for anything done by them. And in the time that remains I want to speak very pointedly this morning to two groups of people who are here. And I pray and earnestly yearn that God will give you ears to hear. First of all I want to speak to those who have what I am calling a damning confidence in your own works. A damning confidence.

38:17 confidence in your own works. Will you turn to Romans chapter 10? And I've chosen the word carefully. I wondered, is that too strong a word, a damning confidence? And the more I meditated on this passage, the more I was convinced the language is not too strong.

38:40 Paul says in Romans 10, 1, Brethren, my heart's desire and my supplication to God is for them, that is, his fellow Jews, that they may be saved. Obviously, he regards them as lost. They are under the wrath and curse of Almighty God. In their present condition, they are doomed to destruction. Now, what was that condition? Was it one of total irreligion?

39:07 Total ignorance of who God was and His revealed way of worship. No, no. Listen to the description. I bear them witness. They have a zeal for God. These are people that are zealous in religion. Their works are manifold. They have a zeal for God. But now notice. But not according to knowledge. For being ignorant of God.

39:37 That is, God's way of justifying sinners and seeking to establish their own implied righteousness. That is, their own way of acceptance and pardon and justification. They did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. Now, you see what he's saying? He's saying, if a man is ignorant...

40:06 of God's grounds of justifying sinners, and being ignorant of God's grounds, does not submit himself to that ground, but states out his own, it matters not how sincere he may be, how zealous he may be. He is an unsaved man under the wrath and curse of God.

40:35 I fear that I speak this morning to some who are within the orbit of a damning confidence in their own works. You are in that position not quite so blatantly expressed as the Pharisee in Luke chapter 18 who said, I thank thee I am not as other men. And he boasts of his higher refinement of character

41:03 And then he boasts of his religious activities. I fast, I give tithes. And really felt that that was sufficient ground on which God would declare him pardoned and accepted. God says of that man, he did not go down to his house justified. Oh, dear deluded Pharisee, sitting here in Trinity Church this morning, bring all your deeds out of the shop.

41:34 Shadows of delusive self-confidence. Put them in the light of God's burning holiness, which searches to the very depths of the heart and touches the motives and the intents of the heart. Can you stand to face those things that you do, which you think will gain acceptance with God? Can you face them not in the murky, dim shadows of spiritual ignorance,

42:03 in the light of God's holy law, which says that for a deed to be a good deed, it must be done by a right standard out of a right motive to a right end. And the only right standard is the revealed will of God. The only right motive is love to His Son. The only right end is His glory. Why, my friend, if that's true, then your best works appear in the language of Isaiah as...

42:33 All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags as polluted garments. Whether it's your confidence in your religious acts of prayer and vows and baptism or attendance on the means of grace, whether it is your doings in terms of refinement of character and performance of noble deeds,

43:00 Whatever it is, the Scripture says, as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. Whether they're moral works, religious works, benevolent works, anything you do that becomes anything upon which you stand to be acceptable with God puts you under a curse. As many as are under the works of the law are under a curse. And oh, if God would this morning, I know He won't. And I know there are wise reasons why He won't. But I could wish that He would materialize before our very eyes that condition. And over every man, woman, boy, or girl who's sitting here this morning has some subtle confidence in his own doings, his own performance, if God were to allow a little black cloud to rest upon your head. I wonder how many black clouds would be here this morning.

44:09 all my performances and all my attainments and all my refinements as done, that I may be in Christ not having mine own righteousness. It's a sad thing to know that one preaches to people held in the grip of a damning confidence in their own works, In the language of Romans 10, until you submit to the righteousness of God, that is a righteousness, a ground of acceptance that is made up completely of the doing and the dying of another, until you venture solely upon Christ, repudiating all your own performances, you have no grounds to believe you are saved.

Application #2: True Christians and the Conflicting Witnesses

45:09 Then in closing, I want to speak to another major group. I said there were two. Having addressed myself to those whom I fear are in the posture of a damning confidence in their own works, I want to speak to those who are in the position of what I'm going to call a crippling preoccupation with your own works. Here I speak to those who have at one time repudiated all works,

45:38 You've known what it is to come empty-handed, stripped and naked before a holy God and say, O God, if ever I'm to find pardon and acceptance, it must be on the basis of the doings, the dying of another. Nothing in my hands I bring simply to Thy cross, I claim. But now what happened? Because you came sincerely by the effectual call of God, And God planted in you a new heart and gave you longings to serve Him and honor Him and pray and be with His people. And He began to work in you those things well-pleasing in His sight. He began to work in you to will and to do of His good pleasure. He began to manifest in you those works unto which He had created you anew in Christ. And you've begun to work from faith. You've begun to work as a new man in Christ. A new woman, a new boy, a new girl. You know what's happened?

46:38 As there has been the outworking of your new life in Christ, as the fruit of your regeneration, your incorporation into Christ, those good works have begun to follow. But you know what's happened? You've begun to take those good works and you've begun to weave them into the fabric of the grounds of your acceptance. Oh, you didn't do it there. You had nothing. When you looked for any threads to weave in, all the spools were empty.

47:08 to weave in. So you had sense enough to say, Oh God, as far as the ground of my peace, nothing in my hands I bring. But now what's happened? There are some good works. They are called in the Bible good works. He has created us in Christ unto good works. Tell them that believe that they be zealous to maintain good works. So we must not be afraid of the term good works. But you know what you've done? Those works that are the fruit of God's regenerating grace, the fruit of His work in you, you have begun to transfer them to the ground of your peace, your pardon, and your acceptance. And the result is you are utterly crippled. You have a crippling preoccupation with your own works. You no longer rest in Christ and Christ alone as you did in your first actings of faith

48:08 This is because you've encountered the great problem that every true Christian will encounter. It's the problem that I call the problem of the conflicting witnesses. On the one hand, since you've been called to faith, your conscience accuses you that you still sin. When you blow your cork with your wife, your conscience says, that's as much sin now as it was before I was converted. When you think a lustful thought, when you speak an unkind word, when you're insensitive...

48:38 When you don't hunger after God, your conscience says that's sin, that's sin, that's sin. And as sin, it displeases God. In itself, as sin, it deserves the wrath of God. The testimony of conscience regarding sin, if it hasn't been perverted, is the same after salvation begun as before. Because sin is the same. The law of God is the same. The nature of sin has not changed. So what happened? As a new man or woman in Christ...

49:07 There was the testimony of your conscience. Though I've begun to produce some good works out of love to Christ by the power of the Spirit, I still sin. And when I sin, conscience accuses me. Sin is sin. Sin deserves wrath. Sin brings the frown of God. But then there was another witness. The witness of God in the Gospel saying, There is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus.

49:34 He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me is passed from death unto life, shall not come into condemnation. And there was the voice of God speaking in the gospel, saying, yes, your sin is real, but my grace is real. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin. And so you have to live with these two testimonies. Now, what do you do with them? Now, listen closely. There are some who say, well, just live with the equal validity of both testimonies.

50:02 Regard yourself as being completely guilty, completely innocent. Regard yourself as being in a state of condemnation and justification. And they say, just learn to live with the tension. My friend, that's totally unscriptural. That makes the testimony of natural conscience to be of equal value to the testimony of God in the Gospel. And it's biblical nonsense or nonsense in the light of the Bibles.

50:30 For the Bible says there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. So someone comes along and says, exactly right, preacher. So you know what you do? You deny the first testimony. After you've been called to faith and repentance and union with Christ, and you sin and your conscience condemns you, you know what you do to your conscience? You stick your tongue out at it. And you say, yeah, yeah, I ain't going to listen to you. You've got nothing to say to me. The only voice I listen to is the voice of God in the Gospel. I'm accepted in the Beloved.

50:58 He doesn't see my sins. I'm so wrapped up in Christ. God doesn't even see those sins. And you know what they tell? And this has happened in the history of the church. Listen to me. This is not theoretical. And it's happened to some in this congregation. They say, deny the testimony of conscience. Since God doesn't condemn you for the sins, the testimony of God in the gospel is that He's blotted out your sins. Just stick your tongue out at conscience. Well, you know what that results in? Hardness of heart.

51:28 My Bible says, Beware lest there be in any of you an evil heart. Exhort one another lest you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. It results in hardness of heart. Furthermore, it contradicts what Jesus said ought to be our daily consciousness. He said, When ye pray, after this manner pray ye, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. The great concerns of the kingdom are to be with us daily.

51:56 Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. The great concerns of the will of God are to be with us daily. Give us day by day our daily bread. There is to be daily dependence upon God for material provision. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Jesus said that daily consciousness of sin, breaking out in daily prayers for forgiveness, is to be part and parcel of everything.

52:25 disciples experience. Well, then what do we do? If we're not to live with both as of equal validity, we're not to deny the former in the case of the latter. Now, here's what some of you have done, and here's your fatal error. You've said, oh, I dare not do that and have a hard heart. So you know what you've done? You've let the testimony of conscience take precedence over the testimony of God in the gospel. So when you become conscious of your sins and they're real and conscience's testimony is based on fact, you know what you do? You say, well, if conscience tells me I've sinned and the Bible says the wages of sin is death, how can I ever be a justified person going on like this? There, that besetting sin that I thought would be part of the grave clause that I left when I was called out of

53:21 who cling to me for a year, two years, five years, ten years. What hope can there be? I must be a condemned sinner, a stranger to the grace of God. And yet when you try to convince yourself you are, you find desires in you for holiness and prayer and the people of God. You can't turn your back on God. You can't turn your back on His Word. You can't turn your back on His worship.

53:49 That you come into this place week after week, halt and maim and lame, with a spirit bowed down, unable to go back into the world, but no strength to walk with joy in the Holy Ghost, in the way of obedience, and you're crippled. And what are you crippled with? You're crippled. with a preoccupation with your own works as the ground of your peace. Now, what are you to do? Oh, hear me this morning. What are you to do? If you're not to live with equal validity to both testimonies, if you're not to ignore the testimony of conscience, if you're not to allow conscience to drown out the testimony of God in the Gospel, what are you to do? What am I to do? Let's get it down to the very practical issue.

54:43 On your way to have your devotions in the morning. And as you do, your wife or your husband or your kids do something that ruffle your spirit and you haven't been up five minutes and you've sinned. On your way to have your devotions. Alright, what are you going to do? Alright, there's the moment of truth. What are you going to do? You've got to do one of two things.

55:09 You've either got to find a reason not to pray because you feel uncomfortable in the presence of God with your sin, or you've got to find a way to come to God in spite of and in the full light of your sin. And it's at that point that you don't stick your tongue out at conscience and tell Him to shut up. You embrace what conscience says that you've sinned. You've violated the law of your God, and that sin in itself is heinous and wrath-deserving. Ah, but faith triumphs.

55:39 as faith lays hold of the testimony of God in the gospel of justifying grace. While we say, O Lord, I acknowledge that that was sin, and I put my amen to the testimony of conscience that I have sinned, and I acknowledge and confess it, O Lord, I will put my amen to the testimony of God in the gospel of God. that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. And so faith directed to the testimony of God in the Gospel triumphs over the condemning testimony of conscience. That's why the Apostle can say, this is the victory that overcomes even our faith. This is why the Apostle John says,

56:38 Fear hath torment. That's the kind of fear that has torment. Crippling, carting fear. But he says perfect love casteth out that kind of fear. For where sin abounds, what does Paul say? Grace superabounds. And I remind you that the statement of Romans 8, 1, as we saw last week, comes in a context where a man has been very honest with conscience.

57:08 In the latter part of Romans 7, he says, yes, the good that I would, I do not. The evil that I would not, that I do. He's not telling his conscience, be quiet. He's not sticking his tongue out of his conscience saying, well, it's really not sin. I'm so in Christ, so wrapped up in His righteousness. No, no, he's not playing games. He's listening to conscience. He's letting conscience thunder all of its accusations. But then he says, wretched man, who?

57:37 shall deliver me from the body of this death. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. And dear Christian, if you do not learn how to handle those two witnesses, you will make no bona fide progress in the Christian life. You will either go down the path of self-deception as we've seen some from this assembly go

58:08 who got tired of conscience accusing, who got tired of conscience burning in upon them, and grew weary of the sense of sin. And so came by their testimony to a wonderful discovery that they are so wrapped up in Christ that since all God sees is the righteousness of His Son imputed to them, that's all they'll see, that's all they'll consider. I say that is putting yourself on the high road

58:36 the worst forms of deception and even apostasy itself. But it's tragic that I see some of you on the other end of the spectrum. Every time conscience barks, you not only listen, you bow down and you come into bondage again. Now, my friend, you've got to stop that. The old prophet said, if you will not believe, you shall not be established.

59:04 And you have got to begin to reckon with the wickedness of the unbelief that says the testimony of conscience is of greater worth than the testimony of God in the Gospel of His Son. We never magnify God more than with conscience screaming in our ears. We say, O Lord, I believe the testimony You've made in the Gospel. And then you dare to face conscience with that testimony

59:34 Not to argue conscience down. Not to get him to change his witness. You say your witness is true. But I have another witness that cancels yours. I don't know how to make it any plainer, dear people. May God by the Holy Ghost, with everything in me as your pastor, I yearn, I yearn that some of you give yourself no rest until the Holy Ghost has enabled you to take hold of this

60:04 Then go on your way rejoicing. Ah, but someone says, Pastor, won't that lead to license? No, never does. None is so zealous in serving Christ than he who can serve Him with light heart, knowing his sins are pardoned. Some of you are so wrapped up with this problem of your conscience...

60:31 You're no good to God. All your time in prayer is spent groaning and moaning about yourself. All your time talking to people is giving a transcript of your latest agony of soul. You have no outgoing, joyous testimony to the unconverted. You're one mess. And you're going to continue to be a mess until you learn that the ground of your pardon and acceptance is

61:00 is not any works done by you, but the works done by another. And in love to the Savior who pardons our sins, your zeal for His name and His kingdom will far exceed the blind zeal of one who hopes that by doing enough he'll gain acceptance. I don't know how to make it any plainer I haven't seen any of you get up out of your seat and jump. I've seen some of you actually falling asleep on me, and it's broken my heart this morning. It's times like this, dear people, that I wonder if some of us haven't heard too much. I've looked out and seen no fewer than four or five people this morning, with their heads nodding and their eyes closing, going off into the land of naught.

Closing Prayer

62:06 O Lord, what can we say? Lord, You know the heart of Your servant breathes. Though there may be extenuating circumstances, and in love we would think no evil, there may be some who have worked through the night and have made the effort to come, and we thank You for that. Others who may have been up with sick children and made the effort to come, and we thank You for that.

62:36 And yet, Lord, we are grieved to think that there would be any who would find these things so dull, so detached from the world in which they live, that they could drift off into slumber. O God, have mercy upon us. Take your word. Seal it to our hearts. Help those, help those who struggle with this world.

63:04 battle of the two witnesses. Give them grace. Oh, give them grace to believe the testimony that you make in the Gospel. We pray for those who may be held in the damning delusion of their own works, trusting in them. God, drive them in grace from that false resting place. Bring them to rest in your dear Son.

63:32 Lord, we feel our helplessness in treating these issues that touch the very nerve centers of our life before you. We can only pray.