As I mentioned, we're going to be talking about being justified, the word justified. And the study of this word has been very precious to me as I've been examining these things. And as I mentioned last Sunday evening, afternoon, I guess it was, there's one, two, three, four, five things that are specifically spoken of, things that we are justified by. And this terminology is a very precious thing to us when you consider what that word justified is. I did somewhat of the introduction to this Sunday afternoon, but I'd like to recap some of these things just so we have this fresh in our minds going into this. We're going to begin in Acts 13. If you want to be turning there, you can turn to Acts 13. But to be justified is to be declared righteous in the eyes of God. When the Bible talks about you being justified, you are declared righteous in the eyes of God. The common thing that's used, and I love it, I use it, it perfectly fits, to be justified is to be just as if I'd never sinned. It sounds like justified, it's easy to remember. But to be declared righteous, absolutely righteous. Now when you justify yourself, you're declaring yourself righteous. And a self-righteous man, there's no good in him. It's a snare to you to be self-righteous. So to declare yourself righteous, it's a snare to you. So to be justified in the things that you do, it's wickedness. You'll justify your sin. And understanding what to be justified is, to be justified in your sin, is just ridiculous. We may talk about those things tonight, I'm not sure. But tonight I believe what we're going to be looking at is the proof of being justified. What is the proof that we've been justified? And so we'll discuss those things. But righteousness really is Jesus Christ. When you have Jesus Christ, you have righteousness, because you've been made the righteousness of God in Him. And as we dig into these things, we might see more of this, but to be righteous is to be perfectly upright, to be perfectly virtuous, to conform to the precepts of the law of God. There's not a bit of you that does not conform to the law of God. That is what it is to be righteous. Ultimately, it's to be perfectly at peace with the law of God. And that really is your greatest need, is that you be at peace with the law of God. Because you are the enemy of God until you have been made to be at peace with Him. And the reason you have no peace in your life is because you are fighting against God. That's why. That's why there's no peace, that's why there's no joy, that's why there's no comfort, that's why there's no hope, that's why there's no assurance. It's because you are not at peace with God. And your greatest need is to be at peace with God. And so therefore, your greatest need is righteousness. Because it is your unrighteousnesses that have made you the enemy of God. And so, we have these things. But coming back into this, to be justified. We're going to begin by looking at what we are not justified by, okay? We are not justified by a few things, specifically speaking, the works of the law, all right? Now, I have quite a few scriptures I want to go through. I want to just lay these things out for us. The Word of God is very quick, and it is very powerful, and it is very sharper than any two-edged sword. And as the Word of God pierces you this morning, let it do the cutting that it needs to do. Let it show you what it needs to show you. Let it give you understanding, because you'll fight against that if you're here in your carnal mind. If you're allowing your carnal mind to drive things, the very easiest way you'll be able to tell if you're in your carnal mind is if you are trying to do everything you possibly can to not listen to these verses being read. If you are drawing, if you're scribbling, if you're thinking about work that you've got to have done this week, or you've got this thing going on, you've got that thing going on, and your mind is everywhere but here, that is your carnal mind that is everywhere but here. Because the spiritual mind, the mind of Christ, desires the word of God. And so if there's any bit of you here this morning that is agitated, that is irritated, that's your carnal mind. And you've got to consider that thing dead. Don't let it rule over you this morning, all right? Listen to the Word of God. So Acts chapter 13. I want to start in verse 38. It says this, Oh, excuse me. I'll wait until we're there. Verse 38, Acts chapter 13, Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by him all that believe are justified from all things. from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." So what does this show us here? The very first verse that we're looking at here is that we are justified by Him. Now, who is the Him? Reading in this, we see that Paul is preaching about Jesus Christ. And that we are justified by Him. Ultimately, this is the capstone of the entire study that we're looking at. We are justified by Jesus. Jesus is the one that justifies us. He is the thing that justifies us. We are justified by Him. Which is why I started out here. And that we are not justified by the law of Moses. There is no justification to be found in the keeping of the law, because that is all contained in the doing. And it's not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to His mercy has He saved us. Remember, it's that mercy, Him withholding that judgment, that punishment that you rightly deserve. And all of us need that mercy. Mary herself even knew she needed a Savior in her song. That's what she said. Called Christ her Savior. So, looking at that here, we see that by Him, all that believe are justified from all things. And from which He could not be justified by the law of Moses. Now with this, I would like to go to Romans chapter 3. Turn over just a few pages over to Romans chapter 3. Again, looking at the works of the law having nothing to do with our justification. We understand this, okay? We understand this so much to the point where we will just let this one kind of skip by. And we don't even consider it anymore. Think about this. How many times have you driven, let's just say, to Olean? Alright? If you could put a numerical value on the number of times you've driven to Olean, could it be in the hundreds, probably? Thousands for most here? The things that you've done. And when you drive through toward Oligan and you get to Ceres and you turn left on 417, before you get to Portville, there's a building on the left that used to have really good donuts. Honestly, when was the last time you considered that building? When you drove past there? Amen. Hallelujah. What color is the accent color for that building? Everybody ought to know this. How many stripes are on that building? Have you ever considered it enough to even count the number of stripes on the building? I never have. But we're so familiar with the building, we drive past it, we know where it's at. We'll look at it when we drive by and say, oh man, I wish that would open back up. I heard rumors, but I don't know. We'll see. But you don't consider the thing. You never examine it. You never look at the detail of it. Because you know that thing. You've been in there. You've smelled it. Like even now, you can bring back the smell. Theron, bring it back. Bring it back to memory. The poor guy, that's all he can do. And so, that is much like what we're looking at here. The works of the law, we know. We know we're not justified by that. We know the works of the law have nothing to do with our righteousness. but we know it so well that we never consider it. And that's a dangerous thing, because there's detail in that that very well may be the key to the overcoming that you are actually looking for. There's something that has been hounding you maybe for the last four or five weeks, and God saw fit to bring out that you're not justified by the works of the law today. That very well may be the key to overcoming whatever it is you're dealing with. Keep that in mind. Never ever go into anything that we study or look at and say, oh, I know this. You can't. Don't do that. That's dangerous. You're basically stopping your ears and putting your blinders on. And so you're only gonna see that which you know of that thing. Meanwhile, God has other things out here that he wants you to see. So, Romans chapter three. I'll go to verse 20. The Bible doesn't say it any clearer than this. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. Now it's very interesting, the doing and the keeping and all of that that pertains to the flesh. There are many times where you'll see the flesh mentioned. Paul talks about David and his seed according to the flesh and all of these things. That's speaking of your flesh, your body, what you have been given here, this meat sack that carries you around. This is your flesh. What you look at your neighbor, and I'm looking out here upon flesh, And there isn't a bit of the keeping of the law according to the flesh that will ever justify the flesh. That inner man, there is righteousness in those things because, and I think we'll read this verse later on, but it says, the man that doeth these things, he shall live in them. There is righteousness to be had in the law. Why? Because the law is perfect and good. It is righteousness. It is holiness. But what you cannot do in your flesh, that's part of our opening this morning, is putting that division between the inner man and your flesh. Your flesh can do nothing but sin. It cannot keep the law. It can't. Your carnal mind is enmity against God. There's not a bit of your carnal mind that wants the law of God. Your carnal mind is still the enemy of God. That's why you have to mortify it and consider it all dead. That new man can do nothing but follow the law, but that's on the inward parts. That's not your flesh. Your flesh has not been redeemed yet. Romans 8 shows us that, that there is coming that day, that calling up, that final trump is gonna sound, and God is gonna assemble his people one final time, and he is going to call up his people. And in that, he's going to adopt that body. Remember, your inner man, as I said, is perfectly fitted for the kingdom of God. It has been born of God, but there's gonna be an adoption that takes place, which makes your flesh perfectly fitted for the kingdom of God. But until that day, we've grown within ourselves. yearning for that day, longing for that day. And it's the battle between the mind of Christ and the carnal mind that encompasses Roman chapter seven. That's what that is. I do the things that I would not, and that which I would, I do not do. That's that thing. So, by the law is the knowledge of sin. Look at verse 21, Romans chapter three. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested. being witnessed by the law and the prophets, those two witnesses. All right, those two witnesses that Jesus met with on that Mount of Transfiguration, Elijah and Moses, those two witnesses that are gonna be there during that tribulation period, Elijah and Moses, because it shows the one, it speaks of him, you know, turning water into blood and all of that, and then the other one, it gives, I can't remember what the sign is of that one, but it clearly is, oh, Was it called down fire or commanded it not to rain or whatever? It clearly describes Elijah and Moses there in Revelation, okay? The Law and the Prophets, he has always given at least those two witnesses. Those two witnesses are there. We have those two witnesses to show the righteousness of God. Now, what do those Law and Prophets always point to? Jesus Christ. Therein alone, just in that, we see that Jesus Christ is the righteousness of God. And being conformed into the image of his dear son, we are then made the righteousness of God in him. You see, it all fits. The whole thing fits together. I love how one day I was talking with the marshals and we were discussing this and looking at that verse and that verse and plugging all of these different things in, just following the wording of the word of God. And it just hit Aaliyah, wow, this, it's like a jigsaw puzzle. It all fits together. Say, yeah, that's the beauty of it. That's the majesty of this book. And how good is God to give us a book that fits? It all fits. Every place in your life where there's something missing, there's a piece of the word of God that's supposed to be there. So, let's keep going. Verse 22. Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith, of Jesus Christ. So that faith, which brings the righteousness of God, comes from Jesus Christ. You see where that it originates in Jesus Christ? Comes to you, and that faith creates righteousness. All right? That's how that all, that's the operation of God there. Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference. Go to, let's see here, verse 28. Look at verse 28. Again, looking at, we're not justified by the works of the law. Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. And we saw there in verse 22 that it is faith that originates in Jesus Christ. That is the faith that we're justified by. We're going to look at that here in just a second. But continuing on in that, therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Now, that word without, we think of it as, you know, I just don't have that. I am without coffee right now. I have no coffee here, okay? At the pulpit, there is no coffee. I drank all my coffee, so it is within. Okay, but I have no coffee without. All right, you see the difference there. There is not a single car that is within the church building right now. They are all without. Okay, so look at that again. With that in mind, look at this. Therefore, we conclude that man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Out, completely outside the deeds of the law, you are justified by faith. Why? Because you cannot do the deeds of the law. You can't. Even if you could, you would be keeping them in your own power, which is iniquity. Jesus Christ himself said that. And so, it's not the deeds of the law that we're justified by. Go to Galatians chapter 2. Very familiar verse, we've discussed it quite at length before, but it fits in the study this morning, so that's where we're going. Galatians 2, verse 16, we're only going to read the first part of this because we're going to get to the full verse here in just a second. Verse 16 of Galatians 2, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law. Right? It's something that is known. It's understood. A man is not justified by the works of the law. You cannot find peace. You cannot find righteousness. You cannot find peace with God in the works of the law. Again, we know this, but we never consider it. And so, you beat yourself up day after day after day because you do not keep the works of the law. You get so frustrated with yourself because you don't keep the works of the law. That's not where your righteousness rests. That's not where your righteousness is. It's not where your justification came from. Not in the keeping of the works of the law. That's not what keeps you in the justification of Christ. It's not keeping the works of the law. Because no flesh can keep those works. So, continuing on, go to Galatians 3, look at verse 11. Galatians 311, but that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident. Four, the just shall live by faith. So there is life in faith. That is where your life is. Your life is hid with Christ in God. Look at verse 12. And the law is not of faith. but the man that doeth them shall live in them. That's where the law rests. This is where Paul is clearly setting a division between the keeping of the law and the walking in righteousness. You keeping of all of those things and doing of all of those things and maintaining of all of those things, there is no righteousness in that because it is not of faith. But when it is of faith, You believe that God has declared you righteous because his word says so, and so therefore you walk in that righteousness, and it naturally comes out. When you walk in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Galatians chapter five clearly says that. Shall not. So, if you're fulfilling the lust of the flesh, it is a clear-cut sign you are not walking in the Spirit. We don't like that, though, because we consider ourselves good people. Even though we don't work to keep the law, we consider ourselves good people. But yet, you continually fulfill the lust of the flesh. And it doesn't always have to be sexual of nature. Goodness, your lust is covetousness, coveting what other people have. The Lord has just shown us an awful lot on this thing of covetousness lately, and bringing out what covetousness is and all of the things that pertain there. It's a vile, wretched thing, and it leads to a multitude of sin. Covetousness is one of those root things. If you get to the bottom of the fruit of everything that's in your life and you follow it down, there's a few little, and they're not little, but they're big roots that lead to all of those sins. One of those main roots is covetousness. Another one is rebellion. Many, many things are bred out of rebellion. The sad thing is, you grow up in rebellion in your home, and you're rebellious against your mother and your father, and you don't listen to their instruction, you don't care about their law, you then live your life according to that rebellion. And then as soon as you're out of the house, and you're out from underneath the authority of your parents, and you're out on your own, Women, young girls, you're then going to rebel against your husband. And you're not going to follow his leading, which is going to lead to a whole slew of other things. And your children, and your grandchildren, and your great-grandchildren will carry on in that iniquity. Men, it's the same way. You will rebel, if you're willing to rebel against your earthly father, how much more are you going to rebel against the heavenly father? And here you think, as soon as I get out of the house, I can finally, finally live my life the way I know is right. You get out there, you have no concern for the Word of God, you have no consideration for the things of God, and all of a sudden, there's this thing that's all of a sudden come in your life, and this thing's come in your life, and that thing is falling apart, and that thing is falling apart, and I just can't get ahead, and everything is just imploding upon me. It's because you're rebellion. It's one of those roots. But God has got to take you on that trail from the fruit of what you're seeing down to the root of the thing. Remember, most roots on trees are way below the dirt. You can't see them. It takes God to dig those things up. You know how he digs those up? This plow right here. And it takes the foolishness of preaching to dig those things up. That's why there'll be things that just kind of glance over, and there are things that just kind of gloss over. But God just dropped this plow in this room because there is rebellion in here. And there are some children in here that are this close, this close to destroying your life. And it's you who you think are right. You're this close. Mark my words a year from now, father's day, a year from now, God, bring it to the remembrance a year from now, look at your life and where you're at and see if there was wisdom in your thoughts. There's foolishness bound up in the heart of a child and the rod of correction drive it that far from him. You're a fool. You're a fool because there's foolishness in your heart. God desires that to be driven from you. Why? So that you can know him. But your foolishness is gonna one day lead to atheism. Don't think it won't. There are those that have grown up in so-called Christian homes and grown up in so-called Christian schools prayed a prayer when they were young, followed the Word of God, sat in church every Sunday, followed all of these things, and now that they are on their own, they are in their own foolishness. And a fool saith in his heart, there is no God. You're this close to being there. Don't think it won't happen to you. Don't think it won't happen to any of these three boys. Because it could. It could. There's not a child in here this morning that isn't that close. It's because of the foolishness in your heart. Galatians 5, look at Galatians 5, look at verse 4. Galatians 5, 4, Christ has become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law. You're fallen from grace. If you think you're justified by the law, that makes Christ of none effect to you. There's no effect. Christ has no effect in your life if you are justified by the law, because it's a completely different thing. Christ justifies you on the inward parts. The law can only moderately justify in the outward parts, and there is no justification in that law. All you can do is show forth, hey, I'm doing this, I'm doing this, I'm doing this, I'm maintaining this, I haven't done that. Look at that rich young ruler. All these things have I kept for my youth up. What lack I yet? Go and sell all that you have. And give the proceeds to the poor. Go get rid of it, sell it, and don't profit anything. And he went away sad because he had great riches. He wasn't covetous of his things until presented with the possibility of not gaining anything from them. And then all of a sudden, he was covetous. Many of us in here have a root of covetousness in us. And the only reason that it's not made manifest is because we've never been proposed with the idea of giving it all away and not profiting from it. Don't you think God can't pay you back? He that, how does that go? I just heard it yesterday. He giveth to the poor, lendeth to the Lord. Don't you think that God is going to pay you back? If you lend something to someone, you expect to get it back. You're not giving it to them, you're lending it to them. And if you're giving something to the poor, don't you think God is going to give it back? You say, well, that person is definitely not going to pay me back. Well, that's fine. God didn't say that person was going to pay you back. You may never see that thing ever again, but God promised. You give that thing to the poor, God is going to give that thing back to you. But we're covetous over our stuff because it's our stuff. I worked hard for this stuff. My grandfather gave me this stuff. That stuff's gonna burn anyways. It's all gonna burn. Paper burns real quick. You say, well, what about gold dollars? Gold, well, yeah. But what about when the money fails? Right, brother back? When the money fails. The money failed in Egypt. It wasn't worth anything. Why? Because there was nothing left to buy. The money failed. What then? Let's go on now. I'm not justified by the works of the law. It's not where our justification comes from. It's now what keeps us justified. Stop thinking of the works of the law. That law is there as a schoolmaster to bring you unto Christ. That is the purpose of the law. If you have never been brought under the law, though, you have never been put under grace. And so you are still the enemy of God. Let's go now, Romans chapter 3 again. We're going to look at verse 28. One more time. Romans 3, 28. We saw this. They were justified by faith. Look at this. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Completely outside of the deeds of the law, a man is justified by faith. faith justifies. It declares, it makes it so you are declared righteous in the eyes of God. Remember, Abraham was justified before circumcision because his faith was counted under righteousness before circumcision, before the deeds of the law. Carry on with this. Romans 5, chapter 5, verse 1, Therefore, being justified by faith, what comes with being justified? Because we are justified by faith, therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. That is your greatest need, is you need to be at peace with God. That is your greatest need before you leave this earth, is that you are at peace with God. Are you at peace with God and why do you claim to be? If it's anything outside of the word of God, you are not at peace with God. This is what he gave you to show you that you're not at peace with God, that you are the enemy of God. And I don't know if you know anything about enemies, but enemies don't help each other. Enemies fight against each other, which makes the mercy of God so precious. You're his enemy, he is your enemy, the wrath of God abideth on you, but yet God commendeth his love toward us. And that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Go to Galatians chapter two again. We're gonna look at that verse in its fullness now. We're justified by faith without the works of the law. The works of the law cannot justify. It's placed in chapter two. And now we have a little more clarity in this verse, looking at where faith comes from, looking at what justifies us, what declares us righteous in the eyes of God. Look at this. knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by what? The faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Now you all know how precious this verse is to me and my family, specifically my wife and I. This was where God first showed me that I did not believe the Word of God. I didn't believe every word of this Bible. Every time I'd heard this preached, it was read, the faith of Christ, then it was explained that it's actually our faith in Christ. But you will not find that wording anywhere. What you find is us believing in Christ, and then you go to John 6, 29, and Philippians 1, 29, and you see that even belief is a work of God and a gift of God. It's given unto you not only that you believe, Philippians 129. God gives you that. How? Through his word. He has given you every single thing that you need in order for any soul on this earth that has ever lived or will ever live, he's given you everything that you need to believe in order to be born again. It's right here in this book. But there are certain things you don't believe on the inward parts. You'll make a mental ascension to them because you mentally can rationalize it in your head, but on the inward parts, there's, I just don't know. God has to work that out. God has to show you that thing, whatever it is that's hindering your belief, God's got to bring that out to you. But we are not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. And I'm telling you, for the first two years after I found that, I had no idea what the faith of Christ was. I knew that I was justified by it, and that it wasn't my faith, but I had no idea what the faith of Christ was. Until you see the very words of Christ by the mouth of Peter, that thou will not leave my soul in hell. neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. This he spake of Jesus, not of David, but of Jesus. Why? Because David's sepulcher was with them until this day. They could go and see the corruption of the body of David. Acts chapter two, verses 22 to 31-ish. Oh no, but this he spoke, that his soul was not left in hell, and that his flesh did not see corruption. God keeps his promises. Jesus Christ himself, the Son of God, submitted himself to the will of God the Father. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done, he said. He submitted himself to that will. You do not submit yourself to the will of somebody that you do not believe. I'm not gonna submit myself fully to somebody that I don't trust and that I don't believe and that I have zero faith in. Listen, if I was to take some spaghetti noodles, weird analogy, but here we go, and I was to build an extension for this platform on single spaghetti noodles, and I were to just lay paper on top of that, maybe wrap it with some duct tape at the corners. Duct tape fixes everything, right? If it doesn't move, WD-40. If it does move, duct tape fixes everything. That'll come to you later. I would have zero faith in that, that it would hold me. It's spaghetti noodles and paper. Why? Because I know the character of paper, and I know the character of spaghetti noodles. I can take an entire one-inch tube of spaghetti noodles, and I am so strong that I can just shatter those things and break them right in half. Abomination to Italians, but I do it, and we do it when we make spaghetti. But I have no faith in that. But Jesus Christ submitted himself to the will of the Father because he had faith that when he died and his soul was made an offering for sin, that his Father was not going to leave him there, but was going to bring him out. And how good is it that he knew that he was not going to be able to stay there, but his Father was going to bring him out? It's a knowing. That's what faith is, it's a knowing. How much more do you think it's important to have the knowledge of the holy? Where do you think faith comes from? The knowledge of the holy. Where's the knowledge of the holy come from? The word of God. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Brethren, come, let us reason together. Isn't it a reasonable thing that if Jesus Christ had the faith that his father was not gonna leave his soul in hell, and that his flesh was not gonna see corruption, that he himself giving you that faith would be enough that you wouldn't have to go to hell? And that there is coming a day when there will be no corruption for you? How precious. How precious this faith is that He offers to us. Now, I want you to go to, let's see, look at verse 17, look at this. Galatians 2, 17, but if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves are also, are also our found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I, through the law, am dead to the law, that I might live unto God." He says, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God. who loved me and gave himself for me." So we are not only justified by the faith of Christ, but our life now fully is encompassed in the faith of Christ. It's the life that we now live. We live by the faith of the Son of God. It is the life in you. Your life is hid with Christ in God. The life of the flesh is in the blood. But consider this. If your life is hid with Christ in God, your life is no longer in your blood. Your life is in the faith of Jesus Christ. What you see keeping this body going, or what you don't see on the inward part, this is the blood, that is no longer, that's just what's keeping my flesh animated. But that's not me being alive. Because my life is hid with Christ in God. That doesn't make sense to you. Ask God to make it clear. That your life is no longer in your flesh if you're born of God. Because consider this, if your life is in your flesh and you die, your life is done. But if your life is hid with Christ in God and your body dies, you're already in God. You're already there. You're already seated with him together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Absent from the body, present with the Lord. Why? Listen, angels no longer come down and carry you away, okay? They don't do that anymore. Because your life is hid with Christ in God. That's already where you're at. What are you gonna do? Ascend up into heaven and pull your life down out of Christ? Go ahead and try. Go ahead and try that. I wouldn't even know where to begin to start. And anybody whose life is there, it wouldn't even make sense that you would want that. Anybody gets to the point where they say, I no longer want Christ, I don't want any part of this thing, I'm walking away from this thing, they never had him in the first place. They never had him in the first place. And I'll contend to my dying day over that. You can't lose something that you don't possess anymore. Isn't it interesting that Jesus Christ commended to the Father his spirit? And there's that law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, hath made me free from the law of sin and death. The law of sin and death is pertaining to the flesh. The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus is pertaining to that new man in Christ. And in those things, he commended his spirit to the hands of the Father. That's where his life is at. Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. On the cross, Christ said, it is finished. The only two places that phrase is at in your Bible. Sin was finished. It killed him. He was made sin for us. Who knew no sin? All these verses are in this message today. We're only gonna get through the first point this morning. Hallelujah. Well, listen. Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. And then it says, and he gave up the ghost. Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And he yielded up the ghost. A ghost is a soul and spirit without a body. His body went in the grave. His spirit went into the hands of the Father. Where'd the soul go? The soul was made an offering for sin. Isaiah 53.10 clearly says that, in verse 11 as well. You would have to cut those verses out. Or either that or just not believe them as they're written. Those are only two options. And you have perfect liberty to do that. You have perfect liberty to not believe the words of your Bible. But I found it a very helpful thing to believe this Bible exactly as it's written. Because I have begun seeing Jesus Christ in the volume of the book where I didn't know he was before. Is it a dangerous thing to see more of Jesus? Only to your carnal mind. The Lord just brought Jonah chapter 2 into my mind, so I want to read one verse out of there, and then I think we're going to maybe close it off. We'll see. I'm just taking my time because I know that Jonah is hard to find, so... There it is. Okay. Jonah chapter 2. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. Jonah 2, 8. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. Now, mercy is found in the person of Jesus Christ. Mercy is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ, in the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ according to the scriptures. According to the scriptures, Jesus Christ Now the scriptures being the law and the prophets and the Psalms, those are the things that he expounded unto his disciples and that it's no wonder that the very first message that Peter preached and the first recorded message that Paul preached encompasses this thing that we're talking about today, the faith of Jesus Christ and the offering of his soul. Now, we're not going to go into Leviticus. We're not going to look at the sin offering and how that a sin offering was not a sin offering until it was burned by fire, and how the inward parts of that animal are pictured in that soul, and the removing of the inward parts, and burning in a separate place, and when Solomon dedicated the temple, and all the things that were going on there, and the singers sang into the finishing of that burning offering. We won't go into all of that. But I'm telling you what, Jesus Christ either fulfilled all of it or none of it. Either fulfilled all of it or none of it. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. And if all scripture is not given by inspiration of God and profitable, which if you're gonna cut something out, you are considering it unprofitable to you. So either the whole thing is profitable or none of it. What do we do with that? Reasonably, we believe every word of the Bible. Not because I said so, not because I can make a really good argument, which I'm really not great at, but because God said so. And God desires you to know Jesus Christ intimately, everything about him. When that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. And now we see in part, we prophesy in part, we know in part, but then we shall know even as I am known. Well, that which is perfect is here, it's come. Jesus Christ had already come. He'd already come and gone, so that can't be that thing that he's speaking of. What he's speaking of is Jesus Christ in print, in a volume. This is an entire, an entire encyclopedia. This is an entire, not encyclopedia, this is an entire library in one volume. It's a volume of the book. Lo, I come in the volume of the book it is written of me. The very first thing that we see, we are not justified by the works of the law, but we are justified by the faith of Christ. And that faith, when you begin looking for it, is in the volume of the book. Now, don't take this because I said so. Look at these verses and look at what they are actually saying to you. Because this is the voice of God from these pages. Fair enough, I think we're done.