Psalm 90:1-4

Everything in this world is vain without Christ. This world is nothing more than a pretty painted coffin in which to go to Hell. It mocks your soul. It is an illusion, a mirage in a desert. There is no joy here. Possessions are nothing more than anxiety and worry. "Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity." In this world there is nothing that comforts, nothing that satisfies, nothing that makes you happy. Everything here passes away. All religion is nothing more than the makeup that is put on a corpse. Even repentance, if it does not lead you to Christ, must be repented of. Faith that does not look to Christ, and is not based on His atoning sacrifice, is not the faith of God's elect.

Pastor Milton Howard

Christ, All Our Righteousness

When we review the fall of man in the garden, we discover how great was that fall and how infinite was our loss. We became corrupt, dying creatures; once strong, now weak; once healthy, now sick; once always living, now always dying. Pain, sorrow, sickness, and death is our lot. We lost happiness and became creatures of fear, shame, hate, and greed.

We can’t live alone and we can’t live together. We lost fellowship with God; our sins have separated us from His presence and His favor. We are not dying men spiritually; we are dead men!

But underlying the whole matter is the sobering truth that in the fall man lost his righteous nature. God made man upright; but man became a sinner, a transgressor, a rebel, and an ungodly creature.

We have changed; oh, how we have changed; but God has not changed. The Lord is still the same in holiness, justice, and truth. What he HAS required, He STILL requires. He demands of the creature what He must demand. He commands what men cannot produce – A PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS! Who shall stand in His presence? “He that hath clean hands and a pure heart.” What doth the Lord require of us? What He has always required – to fear God, to walk in ALL His ways, to love God and to serve Him in perfection with all thy heart and soul!

This is impossible! Of course it is, with you and me, but not with Christ. The Lord Jesus in the flesh fulfilled all that the Father required and satisfied His holy justice perfectly for all who believe. Jeremiah called Him “The Lord our Righteousness.” Righteousness cannot be found in us, nor in our works, nor in the law; but it is found in Christ. “I find no fault in Him” declares heaven, earth, and hell.

Oh, that I may win Christ and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is but filthy rags; but, with His spotless garment on, I am as holy as His dear Son!

Pastor Henry T. Mahan (bulletin 1987)

WHAT OUR LORD MUST DO FOR US

“From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day” (Matt. 16:21).

We hear much preaching in the realm of false religion that puts the whole emphasis upon the sinner, what he must do to be justified before God, always making salvation conditioned upon the performance of the sinner. However, when the Lord Jesus Christ plainly stated the way of salvation, He put the emphasis upon His performance not ours (Psa. 57:2; John 4:34; 2Tim. 1:9). Notice in the text the Lord states three things He must do to purchase, guarantee and secure the salvation of God's elect (2Thes.2:13).

1). He must suffer at Jerusalem. It is true that our blessed Lord suffered at the hands of godless men, "elders and chief priests and scribes." But the work wicked men performed is not the reason of our salvation. The Lord Jesus suffers not only at the hands of sinners, but also and most importantly at the hands and under the wrath of our holy God (Acts 2:23; 4:26-28). As our Substitute, bearing our sin in His own body (1Peter 2:24; 3:18), His soul was made an offering for sin (Isa. 53:10) and the Lord Jesus Christ suffers the penalty for sin (2Cor. 5:21). God's wrath is His holiness stirred into activity against sin (Hab. 1:13).

2). He must be killed. Because God is Holy and His justice uncompromising where sin is found, the guilty must die (Ezk.18:4; Rom.6:23). The penalty of God's broken law demands death (Rom.5:12). Salvation and deliverance from the penalty of sin demands the absolute necessity for Jesus Christ to die in our room and stead as our blessed Surety, Sin Offering and Substitute for our sin (Lam. 1:12; Rom 8:32-35). The Lamb must be slain upon the altar of God's holiness to secure our salvation (Zech.13:7; Jn. 1:29; Isa. 53:8; Matt. 1:21).

3). He must be raised again. Our Lord's resurrection from the dead declares all that He said as God's prophet to be true (Deut.18:18; John 12:49-50), all that He performed as God's Christ to be satisfying and accepted (John 17:2-5; Rom. 1:1-4). Our Lord Jesus Christ being raised from the dead declares His victory over sin by putting it away (Heb.1:3; 10:14-17; Psalm 103:12), over death by conquering the grave (1Cor.15:57; Rev.1:18), over Satan by crushing his kingdom of darkness (Gen.3:15; Heb.2:14; 1John 3:8). His resurrection guarantees the absolute certainty of all of God's elect to be raised up and glorified with Him (John 6:37-39; 1Cor. 15:17-24).