Its Importance

Introduction: The Overwhelming Importance of Justification

0:04 The following sermon was delivered at the 2003 Southeastern Family Conference, which was held at Bryan College in Dayton, Tennessee. The preacher is Pastor Edward Donnelly from Trinity Reformed Presbyterian Church in Northern Ireland. This is the first sermon in a series of four entitled, Justification. I find it difficult to believe that it is two years since my wife and I were last here with you at the conference.

0:39 The time seems to pass increasingly quickly. This is my fifth visit to this Southeastern Family Conference, the fourth visit with my wife. We look forward each year with considerable pleasure to renewing our friendships and to making new ones. And with anticipation to what God will do among us.

1:06 And I and my two colleagues who will be preaching to you this week have two great sources of assurance and comfort as we come before you. The first is that we bring to you the Word of God, which is living and powerful. And the second is that we are supported by the earnest, fervent prayer, the prayers of God's people, and such prayers are effective. So may God work among us this week.

1:43 I applaud your courage this evening.

1:48 You have not come to hear some chirpy little subject which might be taken at many conferences. I haven't been asked to speak on four simple steps to more fulfilling relationships. Or even how to lose weight. You wait the Bible's way.

2:10 You smile. But apparently there is a man who is making a living from explaining to people what Jesus would eat. No. You have come this evening face to face with a single, craggy, intimidating, five-syllable, abstract noun.

2:33 The subject given to me was justification. The subject given to me was justification. The theological term which makes it worse. Why should we spend four evenings on such a subject?

2:54 Because it is important. And that is my title this evening. Justification. Its importance.

3:03 Overwhelmingly important. Supremely important. Lastingly important. John Calvin in the Institute's Rights of Justification said, This is the main hinge on which religion turns.

3:28 Dr. J.I. Packer describes justification as the heart, hub, and essence of the whole economy of God's saving grace.

3:47 Martin Luther calls it the first and chief article. Upon which depends all that we teach and practice. Luther says we must be entirely certain of this and not doubt it. Otherwise all will be lost.

4:10 The most famous comment on justification made in his commentary in Psalm 130 verse 4 is If this article stands, the church stands. If it falls, the church falls. It is as important as that. It deserves to be a conference theme.

Reason 1: Justification is Central to the Bible's Theme and Purpose

4:44 And I want to put before you this evening some reasons justification is important. First reason is that it is central to the theme and the purpose of the Bible. It is central to the theme of the Bible and the purpose of the Bible. The theme of the Bible is how sinners can be right with God.

5:15 And the purpose of the Bible is to make sinners right with God. The Holy Scriptures are able to make us wise for salvation. And this brings us to justification. One of the great books of the Scriptures, Paul's letter to the Romans has justification as its main theme.

5:42 When Paul wants to teach the Gospel, he teaches justification. He writes in Romans 1.16 that the righteousness of God has been revealed. Again he writes in chapter 4 verse 25 that Jesus our Lord was raised for our justification.

6:03 And from chapter 1 verse 16 to the end of chapter 4 he expounds this doctrine. And the rest of the epistle is an outworking of the doctrines. But it's not only in Romans that we find justification. We find it at the beginning when the Lord God took garments of skins and clothed Adam and Eve and hid their shame and their nakedness.

6:39 When Abel brought to the Lord the firstborn from his flock an innocent sacrifice for his sin. We find it when Abraham believed God and it was imputed to him for righteousness. The whole sacrificial system of the Old Testament teaches justification by faith. David writes in Psalm 32 verse 2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord imputes no iniquity.

7:21 That's justification by faith. Isaiah tells us that by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many. Chapter 53 verse 11 Jeremiah speaks when he says this is the name by which he will be called the Lord for righteousness. Chapter 33 verse 16 And on we go into the New Testament. The Lord Jesus

7:57 comes as we shall see intimately connected with justification by faith. And on the cross he atones for sin. And on the day of Pentecost justification by faith is preached. And in the book of Acts there is a great struggle about the admission of the Gentiles to the people of God and in what basis are they to be admitted because justification by faith is true.

8:32 In the book of Ephesians and others Paul is dealing with this great issue and bringing it before the people. And on we go through the New Testament to the very last chapter of the scriptures where we read in Revelation 22 verse 14 Blessed are those who wash their robes so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the gate of the city. If we study it this week we are not wasting our time. But there is another compelling reason for studying justification together.

Reason 2: Widespread Ignorance of Justification in the Church

9:16 And that is because of ignorance in the church. Because of ignorance in the church. Since this doctrine is so biblically central we might expect that if Christians understood anything they would certainly understand justification. This would be one of the chief things the ABC of the Christian faith the beginning of it all.

9:51 We might expect that the whole Christian church would be passionately committed to proclaiming justification with the clarion voice of a trumpet. Sadly that is not the case. My friends we are living in an era of profound theological ignorance. The irony is that we are in the midst of an information revolution that brings more information into any household

10:34 that has a computer than any of us could ever begin to digest in a hundred lifetimes. We can find out anything we want to find out with the press of a couple of buttons. If ever people should be well informed we should be well informed. And yet we find professing believers stumbling in the most appalling confusion.

11:04 The Westminster Shorter Catechism was written 360 years ago and answer 33 contains what I think is probably the finest uninspired summary of what justification is. Let me quote it to you. I'll be referring to it again. The catechism says this justification is an act of God's free grace wherein he pardoneth all our sins and accepteth us as righteous in his sight only for the

11:48 righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. And in the preface to the Westminster Shorter Catechism the divines who drew it up apologize for it. They apologize for its childish simplicity for its brevity that it's such a superficial dumbed down version of the Christian faith. I quote they say this we thought fit to provide for such as are of weaker capacity.

12:31 They realize that there were people who weren't very intelligent. They had had no education and they decided that instead of the proper larger catechism there would be a little mini version that you could teach to even the simplest person 350 years ago. There are seminary graduates, there are men in pulpits who know far less theology than little children used to know from the catechism. People don't know. They don't want

13:08 to know. They don't even know that they don't know. They know less about justification than they do about ancient Arabic. Churches are full of people who have made a commitment they don't really mean.

13:27 To a savior they don't really know or reasons they don't really understand. Millions of people who call themselves born again are almost certainly still in their sins and have never been converted at all. People are mentally lazy. They don't want to think.

13:48 Worse than that they are impatient with accurate definition and precise thinking. They dislike clarity. They are reluctant to distinguish truth from error. They don't like you saying this means this and therefore it cannot mean this. This is true

14:09 therefore this must be false. That's antithetical to the spirit of our age. People are infatuated with what they think is practical. They want how to sermons. They have no interest

14:27 in what they call abstract theology. People are experienced centered. They want feel good religion. They want their emotions moved.

14:40 They want heat without light. And my friends it is a tragedy that among the professed people of God it's true hope. Justification is met at the best with apathy. Perhaps some of you here have only the haziest idea of what this doctrine is. And if that

15:10 is the case it's time we did something about it this week. And you see the irony of it all for those of us who do understand and appreciate the gospel. There is nothing more practical than this. If you are interested in practical sermons if you want feel good religion. There is

15:35 nothing that will make you feel better than to know that your sins have been forgiven and that you are clothed with the righteousness of Christ. My prayer is that we will go home from here understanding justification better and knowing that we are justified. The second reason then for studying it because of ignorance in the church. The third reason.

Reason 3: Justification is Under Sustained Attack

16:13 Because the doctrine of justification is under sustained attack. Because the doctrine of justification is under sustained attack. And it's startling that at this present moment this historic doctrine is being assaulted from at least three or four different directions. And surely that should make us pause. Why is Satan

16:45 so interested in attacking this doctrine? Why have all these new perspectives come about in our day? What's going on here? There's a battle waging round this doctrine.

17:02 And that should immediately attract the attention of every Christian. We're soldiers. And if there is a fierce struggle at one part of the battlefield that concerns us, something's happening. Something important is being attacked. And during

17:24 this week, I will be referring briefly to some of these attacks on the doctrine of justification. I'd much rather not have to. And I'm not going to go into them in detail. But I want to warn you.

17:40 I want to just put up some red flags, some markers to show you danger areas so that in your Christian life, if you come across certain terms or certain words or certain writers, you will say there is danger here. The doctrine of justification is being...

Reason 4: Every Person Desperately Needs Justification

18:05 So we should study justification because of its importance in scripture, because of the ignorance in the church concerning it, because it is under sustained attack. But there is a fourth and a final reason why we should study justification. And this reason, practically and personally, is far more vital to us this evening than all the others. And it is to this last reason that we now turn.

18:46 We need to learn about justification because justification is something every one of us desperately needs. Justification is something every one of us, desperately needs. A few weeks ago I received in the post a brochure for a skiing holiday in Switzerland. It was a most attractive publication. The holiday

19:23 was in a superb skiing resort, world famous. There was a direct flight from Belfast. The accommodation was first class. It was astounding value. I couldn't believe

19:40 they did it at the price. I wasn't interested. I don't ski. I'm not going to learn now.

19:52 I will never ski. It wasn't relevant to me. But I don't need it. It doesn't matter how attractive an offer may be.

20:08 If people don't think they need it, it is absolutely no appeal to them. You can rhapsodize about it. You can set it out in glowing colors. You can seek to persuade them of its advantages if they don't need it.

20:20 They're not interested. Our Lord put it this way. They are well. Have no need of a physician for those who are sick.

20:33 If you go to a person in perfect health and say, I've met the most wonderful doctor just down the road. Fees are very low. Beautiful waiting room. Very caring man.

20:43 He's a whole lot of degrees. You can talk till you're blue in the face. But if the person's perfectly healthy, they will hear your words with indifference. That is our massive problem about education.

21:02 Most people are not convinced they need what it offers. And so they do not listen to anything we say. In fact, they actively dislike this teaching. They hate it.

21:22 It is repulsive to them. Now there's nothing new about that. From the beginning proud sinners have hated God's grace. Men and women don't want to be called to repent.

21:39 To abandon themselves. To come to Christ in humble need. The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing. But friends, if we think for a moment the spirit of our age is unusually antagonistic to this doctrine.

22:00 Because there are other scriptural realities which feed the doctrine of justification. Which strengthen it. Which make it coherent and plausible. Which put it in a convincing context.

22:22 And these realities have been almost erased from human consciousness in our day. For example, an infinitely holy and awesome God. For example, human beings who are depraved and helpless. Sin as an appalling enormity.

22:55 The reality of God's wrath. The existence of hell. There's a whole nexus of truth. And justification nestles in that truth as a hammock.

23:11 And it makes sense that these things are no longer credible in our man centered world. With its absence of absolute truth. And that is a change. In previous centuries you had unbelievers.

23:36 But generally speaking people believed in a God. And they knew that sin was something bad. And they believed in hell. And they were afraid of death and of judgement.

23:51 And they had a sense of good and evil. And a sense of right and wrong. That's changing. Which justification makes sense has been almost demolished.

24:07 And when you say to people you are a guilty lost sinner standing before the throne the judgement throne of God. They look at you as a freak or a fanatic or what medieval world have you stepped out of? Justification doesn't connect easily with modern society. There are no hooks in contemporary culture on which it may readily hang.

24:47 I've discovered to my sorrow that people have been making fun of the way I pronounce the word hooks. But I'll use it again. There are no hooks in contemporary culture on which justification may hang. It doesn't seem relevant to people.

25:06 It doesn't meet any need that they feel to be pressing. The great question of the age is how can a sinner be right with God? Doesn't really mean anything to modern people. They don't admit they're sinners. They're not sure

25:24 if there's a God. If there is a God they don't see why they're not right with him already. They don't really care whether they're right with God or not. If they need to be made right it isn't a big deal. The typical

25:40 evangelical preaching of our day is not a guilty criminal standing before a judge. It's a lost son coming home to a loving father. Living in a context where the atmosphere is so toxic, so hostile to the underlying presuppositions of justification that it's difficult to win a hearing for it. And we can't imagine that we ourselves are unaffected. We're living

26:19 in this polluted atmosphere of our society. And it may well affect our view of the Christian faith. And our understanding of truth. And many of our contemporaries have no real sense of sin as an offense against a God.

26:44 And when we explain the gospel of salvation from sin, we're not telling them anything that they see as irrelevant, as relevant to their lives. They really don't feel much interest in it. And you find that out I'm sure all of you in your daily lives talking to people. They're not interested. And if people are to

27:11 come to Christ, and if we who are Christ's, if we are to appreciate our Savior and the glory and the wonder of our salvation more than we do, it is imperative that every one of us, whether we're converted or not, feel keenly our desperate need of God's righteousness to cover us. Now we could show this in several ways, but I want this evening to focus on the reality of our sin.

The Reality of Our Sin: We Have Broken God's Law

27:53 And that's going to be the subject for the remainder of our time. We need justified. We need God to justify us, to accept us as righteous because we have no righteousness of our own. As the psalmist puts it in Psalm 143 verse 2, No one living is righteous before you.

28:20 Remember those words. No one living is righteous before God. Are we unrighteous? I want to put before you three reasons. The first

28:42 an obvious reason. The second, the reason which underlies the first. And the third, a reason which is the implication of the second. It'll get clearer.

28:59 First, the obvious reason. The obvious reason. Why are we not righteous? And the obvious reason is because we have broken God's law.

29:12 Because we have broken God's law. Our Creator, the God who made us has given us laws to keep. And these laws are for our good and for His glory. And all the individual laws are part of His law.

29:32 His will for us. All the human beings to some extent is imprinted on the conscience of every human being who has ever lived on this earth. Paul puts it this way in Romans 2.14 The Gentiles who do not have the law, the written law, show that the work of the law is written on their hearts.

30:04 Conscience also bears witness. The law is written on their hearts. They have at least a rudimentary knowledge, of God's law. And then this law is revealed more clearly and fully in the scriptures and especially in the summary of the Ten Commandments.

30:26 We are all under this law. We are all under the authority of this law. We are all obligated to obey this law. And I want you to grasp where this is to you.

30:53 It is not remote. It is not abstract. It is not far away. It isn't a dusty book of statutes hidden away somewhere and perhaps sometimes I might transgress some statute from the middle ages which would make me technically guilty if ever I was to be called to account.

31:19 No. The law is like the air you are breathing in through your nostrils at this minute. God's law is here in this building. God's law is around you.

31:35 God's law is pressing on the surface of your skin. God's law is inside your brain and inside your body. God's law is the atmosphere in which every human being lives. God's law is pressing on you now.

31:55 It's pressing on you. God's law, if I can personify it, is watching you. God's law is listening to you. God's law is assessing every second you live.

32:10 You're keeping it or you're breaking it. You're keeping it or you're breaking it. Every second of your existence God's law is claiming you. It's making demands of you.

32:28 It's calling you to account you young people. God's law is with you at this moment. And to our fallen children human natures, that is an oppressive, unwelcome, frightening burden. But it's true.

32:50 It's reality. We are created beings. You're a created being. And your creator has a law.

33:01 And that law makes its demands on you and it's never going to leave you for a millisecond. Your creator is calling you to obey. It's assessing you now. At this very moment as I speak, another moment. God's

33:41 law, the record is being written. Ends writing. Every second of every day that we're on this earth. God's law is extremely demanding. It's comprehensive.

34:11 It's penetrating. It judges our thoughts. Our feelings. Our motives. Our desires.

34:21 Our imaginations. Our wants. Words and our actions. And our behavior is 100%.

34:38 99.5% is failure. God's law requires unbroken perfect obedience for every second of our existence. The whole law. But fails

34:57 in one point. Accountable. Obey this law. We have not obeyed it perfectly.

35:19 We have broken it on countless, countless occasions. Even to take the two greatest commandments. We have not loved the Lord our God. And soul and mind and strength.

35:39 I was going to say we haven't loved him for every second of our existence. We haven't loved him like that for one second of our existence. We haven't loved our neighbor as ourselves. And this disobedience is immensely serious.

35:56 Because it is rebellion against the Creator who gives you your breath and who keeps you alive at this moment. And it is a denial of his Godhood. It's telling him that he's not God. As far as you're concerned.

36:22 That's what it is. It's an appalling blasphemy. And God must punish it. Or he must cease to be God.

36:33 And our sins will never be forgotten. They'll never be overlooked. And Lewis writes of the strange illusion that mere time can solve sin. Isn't that an illusion many people have?

36:59 Well I did that but it was a long time ago. Lewis calls it an illusion. Every sin is recorded against us for all time. And it can't be undone by us.

37:17 And ten thousand thousand years from now you're just as guilty before God for a sin committed twenty years ago as you were when it was first committed. And even if you and I could obey God perfectly and completely from this moment on our past disobedience would be more than enough to condemn us. We are not righteous before God. Because we are guilty law breakers.

37:51 We have a bad record. And there is nothing that you and I can ever do to change that. Nothing. But there's something even worse than the record of our sins.

The Reality of Our Sin: Our Human Nature is Sinful

38:16 It's the dreadful reality underlying it. The first reason you remember why we are unrighteous because we have broken God's law. The second reason because our human nature is itself sinful. Because our human nature is itself sinful.

38:43 Some years ago I was greatly struck by the title of a chapter from a book I was reading. The chapter was entitled How to avoid losing your temper at golf. This I have to say struck a chord with me right away and I thought this is something I need to know. Some of you the writer of the chapter was a man called Tommy Boat who apparently was quite well known for losing his temper at golf.

39:18 And he said the secret is this you have a wrong perception of yourself. You have a perception of yourself as a person who hits good straight shots down the middle of the fairway. And when the ball trickles along the ground or goes off to the right you are annoyed with yourself. You have fallen short of the standard of what you should be doing.

39:43 It's a fluke. It shouldn't have happened. And he said what you've got to realize is that the bad shot is your normal shot. That that is the shot you deserve to play.

39:57 And it is the good shot which is the fluke which is a happy unexpected bonus. And he said you go out on the golf course realizing you cannot play the game. And when you hit a bad shot you will not be angry. You will accept that as the reality.

40:15 That is who you are. That was his slightly tongue in cheek advice. But friends it's true spiritual sense. When you and I sin is that action typical of us or is it an exception?

40:44 Is it just a little slip from the normal good people we really are? The Bible says that when we sin that's our true shot. That's the rule. That is the true expression of who we are and what we are by nature.

41:09 We are not basically good people who uncharacteristically do wrong things sometimes. No. We are basically sinful people. And it is our acts of goodness which are untypical.

41:28 You see not only do we commit sin we've been talking about that. Not only do we commit sin but the terrible thing is we are sinners. We are sinners. Because of the fall of Adam and Eve we have all inherited from them a fallen sinful nature.

41:51 David said in Psalm 51 verse 5. Behold I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Sometimes people read that as if David was making an excuse. I admittedly oh Lord I have committed adultery and I've been guilty of murder but after all it's not my fault because I was conceived in sin.

42:25 That's not what David is saying at all. He's increasing his guilt. He's not excusing it. He's saying Lord not only have I done these things but they are absolutely typical of who I am.

42:40 I can't say that they're unnatural. I can't say they're uncharacteristic. I can't say it was a little slip and I didn't mean it because in sin my mother conceived me. And when that little embryo was growing it was a sinner.

43:00 That's my essence. That's my being. That's who I am. Not only do I do these things but they are an accurate index of who I am inside.

43:15 This is radical men and women. We are fundamentally anti-God by the fall. ...set on the flesh is hostile

43:29 to God. It is enmity towards God for it does not submit to God's law nor can it do so. We've got to grasp this. This is who we are by nature.

43:46 Even if all our past sins could somehow be wiped out and that was all. It would make no difference. We are unrighteous. We are unrighteous.

43:58 In the very fiber in the very warp and woof of our being we can't exist in the presence of a holy God. That's just, it's not possible. That isn't who we are. We're fallen sinful human beings.

44:17 And to that extent what we do or don't do isn't particularly relevant. We're still fallen sinful human beings. Now could there be any truth more unpopular than that? More politically incorrect?

44:38 You've got this incredible fantastic dogma in our day of the basic goodness of human nature. Hitler, Mao, the bloodiest, wickedest, most cruel century in human history. I haven't enough faith to be an atheist. I haven't enough faith to, these people come on television and prate and chatter away about the goodness of human nature.

45:13 Where have you been men? Open your eyes. What sort of a word, what are you talking about? The goodness of human nature?

45:21 We need justification. Not just because of our sins. But because we are sinners. No one living is righteous before you. And that brings

The Reality of Our Sin: At Our Best, We Still Fall Short

45:42 us to the final reason why we need justification. The implication which follows. We need justification we said firstly because we have broken God's law. Secondly because our human nature itself is sinful.

46:03 But thirdly, we need justification because at our best we still fall short. At our best, at our best we still fall short. I want you to imagine a very good well trained cook. A woman who has passed through all the colleges and obtained all the diplomas and had all the experience you want and she is coming towards a strange kitchen. And she has been

46:38 asked to produce a meal in 30 minutes. And the person who is employing her says everything is in there, all the utensils are there, the food has been bought do you think you can go into that kitchen and produce a meal in 30 minutes? The cook says of course. She opens the door and goes into the kitchen. She has never seen

47:00 such disgusting filth in her life. The floor is covered in dirt. Shiny black cockroaches are scurrying up the walls. Mouse droppings are all over the counter.

47:17 The utensils are covered with grease and traces of congealed food. There is no hot water. Germs are multiplying with incredible speed. The food is rotten and rancid and she has no time for a clean up.

47:39 She does her best. Would you like to eat the end product? Job puts it this way. Job 14.4

47:55 Who can bring a clean thing unclean? Nothing clean nothing clean can come from us. Even when we try our best we still sin and fall short. Our most efforts at obedience are imperfect.

48:40 Our prayers are less than they should be. Our sincerest praises are spoiled. They are all tainted. They come from a tainted source. Who can bring a

48:55 clean thing out of an unclean? Not one. Our actions are never perfect. Our motives are never 100% pure.

49:05 Our love for God is never wholehearted. Our love for other people is never unselfish. One of my elders, a man gone now to glory, used to use a phrase in his praying. He said, Lord, on the holiest things we leave the print of unclean hands. The print

49:32 of unclean hands. If you could see that the if you could see into the studies of the pastors who are here after they have preached and if you could see us on our knees crying and saying Lord Jesus, and I was telling people about you there was a little demon of self-awareness in my heart saying, aren't you

50:13 doing this well? I can't even preach your gospel without my rotten stinking selfish awareness and pride coming into it. Isn't that true, man? We leave the prints unclean hands.

50:36 That's horrifying. It's horrifying. Not only do we sin when we're at our worst not only do we sin when we're average we sin at our very best all our righteous deeds filthy rags. In other words, friends at our best we're piling up more guilt we're getting deeper into trouble at our best we're becoming more unrighteous at our best

51:19 we're encouraging fear judgment we say in our stupidity I'll make up for it we can't make up for it we can only make it worse like the man in the parable who owed millions of pounds and he said, have patience with me and I will repay you all oh yeah and the only thing we can do is to keep digging deeper and deeper it's a grim

51:58 grim diagnosis but it's accurate. No one living before you unrighteous in ourselves we have brought guilt upon ourselves in innumerable ways and we can never do anything but increase our guilt in the future that's the most you and I can hope to achieve to become even more guilty. Now you tell me we approach an infinitely holy

The Grim Diagnosis and the Call to Conviction

52:41 God. Behold evil can't look right with God. We'll use that as a almost a glib little phrase

53:21 an easy thing. Write about it we shouldn't hurry over this we should take time somebody might say to me you've got four nights to teach about justification and you spent the whole first night you've hardly mentioned it, you've just said we need it well my answer would be that's what Paul did from Romans 1.18 to Romans 3.20 he had only one subject, we need justification

54:06 he spent far longer telling people they needed it than he did explaining what it was we've got to take time to let our helplessness and our sin make full impression on us no one is righteous says Paul, no not one, not one person in this building is righteous comes to us he says with convicting force so that every mouth may be stopped

54:51 is your mouth I speak to you young people not because it's an easy thing to pick on the young people, but because my guess is that most of the adults here are probably Christians, not all perhaps but some of the young people here who have been brought by parents and friends and so on, some of you may not be Christians, and you've come here

55:36 for a holiday to enjoy being with your friends perhaps you already have plans for later this evening, but this isn't later this evening, this is now, and you've come to a very serious righteous I was talking to any of you, could you say

56:19 you were righteous you couldn't, it stopped you couldn't say it, and your friends know it, brothers and sisters know it I hope when you go out here this evening, and you meet together

57:02 there'll be if you like another presence, awareness in your mind, not righteous you fellows may brag and talk and flirt with the girls and act the big man listen men, your mouth stopped, you're not righteous when you look in the eyes of the other young people, I want you to be thinking, is he righteous is he righteous

57:44 and you can't make yourself righteous and if you're not righteous, God is angry with you now, very very angry with you

57:57 step away from falling into hell, there's nothing in yourself that you can do about it, ever, I plead with you, I plead with you, are you willing to face up to it, are you willing to face up to the truth about yourself, as you sit in this chair this evening I'm not righteous Lord, I'm not right with you, are you willing to admit it, spoil your evening

58:40 I want you to go out and have fun this evening if you're not righteous I don't want you to have a happy time with your friends if you're not righteous I don't want you to push these things away and go out and have a wonderful group time together, I want to ruin your evening, so that I can save your life, so that Christ can save your life and that you receive his righteousness the rest of your life and on forever more, you'll have the righteousness

The Hope of Justification in Christ

59:17 of Christ, righteous my friends we have to face that fact, and when we do, justification is of absorbing interest, for we suddenly hear that in the gospel a righteousness is revealed a righteousness from God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe there is someone who is righteous and he will give you his righteousness so that it becomes your righteousness

60:00 and you will be righteous you will be righteous in Christ, if you will seek him and I urge you this moment, this night to seek Jesus Christ and tell him that you're unrighteous and that he's righteous and that you want to trust in him and of his righteousness as yours I've been trying tonight to set the scene to show the need have I succeeded, are you convinced

60:44 carried your judgement with the word are you convinced that you're not righteous in yourself and you can never be righteous never, never never, so that you're saying to yourself whatever this justification means, I need it I need it more than anything else in the world

61:10 we'll tell you of the righteousness of Christ tomorrow night God willing we'll see exactly what God has provided and how it has been made possible

Prayer for Conviction and Trust in Christ

61:47 let us bow in prayer you who dwell in the light infinitely righteous can we take your name upon our lips we are truly ruined

62:30 to be self-righteous what a pathetic, empty thing may your Holy Spirit convict us all of our sin of our helplessness and may he lead us to look to the Lord Jesus Christ the righteous one to confess our sin and to call on him that we may be clothed

63:12 with his righteousness and stand before you oh God we pray we pray with all our hearts that there may be men and women and young men and young women boys and girls who will come to you this very night and confess their unrighteousness their glorious dress in his name we pray