The Grace of the Cross

The transcription is a message from Pastor Jason Booth of Redeemer Church in Piketon, Ohio. He first reads from Isaiah 53, discussing the suffering and sacrifice of Jesus. He then moves on to Colossians 2, emphasizing the grace of the cross and the importance of believing in the finished work of Jesus. He talks about the power of the Holy Spirit in bringing about salvation and warns against relying on personal works for righteousness. He encourages humility and reliance on the righteousness of Christ. The following message is brought to you by the people of Redeemer Church of Piketon, Ohio. For more information, please visit RedeemerPiketon.org. And now, here's Pastor Jason Booth with the message. First, let us draw our attention to the Word of the Lord found in Isaiah, the 53rd chapter, beginning in verse 1 and reading through verse 12. The Word of the Living God. Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground. He hath no form or comeliness. And when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment. And who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living. From the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed and he shall prolong his days. And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquity. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bear the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. And if you would, join me in Colossians chapter 2. Colossians chapter 2. And we will begin reading in verse 6. Colossians 2, verse 6, and reading through verse 15. The word of the living God. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. Rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him which is the head of all principality and power, in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he hath quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. And we trust the Lord will add his own blessing to the public reading of his infallible holy word today. For our good and for his glory, amen, amen. I want to spend some time with you today on this topic, the grace of the cross, the grace of the cross. We don't put those words together as often as we could, but I will tell you that the cross is the most vivid expression of God's grace in Christ toward us. For without the cross, we would all still be guilty. We would all still stand guilty of being lawbreakers. We would all, in God's economy, be fit for nothing but eternal separation. The grace of the cross, beloved. The cross makes the difference. The blood, the finished work, and all of the mechanics of the things that work together to give us what we preach today as the gospel. It was all built, as it were, with a couple of crisscross beams and some nails. And our Savior, oh, our Savior, who bled and died to drink damnation dry on behalf of each and every one of his elect. The grace of the cross is our theme today, and Lord, help me to do it even partial justice. As we contemplate these thoughts this afternoon, I pray that you would join me in praying for the time together, praying that the Lord would edify us through the preaching of this word, that we would leave here with hearts humbled and yet filled with joy yet again at this old, old story of how the Lord saves dead, old, wicked sinners, raises us up with life eternal and with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Hallelujah forevermore. Isaiah's prophecy asks two piercing questions right from the get-go, and those questions are simply this. You have believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? Beloved, to believe the report of the Lord, to apprehend his mercy and saving grace and the finished work of the cross is to know by faith that Jesus' blood avails for you in the full pardon of your sin. These things are spiritually discerned. A man can hear a preacher preach the gospel, faithfully preach the gospel, and unless and until the Spirit of God accompanies that message preached in convicting power, that old dead sinner will remain a dead sinner, no matter the efforts of the preacher who's preaching. A man can preach until he's blue in the face, and unless and until the Lord makes a sinner willing in the day of his power, that sinner will not discern these spiritual things, for the carnal mind is at enmity against God, and those who are in the flesh cannot please him. Oh, but thanks be to God, there is a miracle of grace. There is a miracle of grace that comes down in Holy Spirit empowerment when the preaching of the gospel goes forth in saving efficacy, when God's got an appointment with you. The gates of hell cannot prevail against him. He can take the meanest, most ornery sinner. I mean, somebody that every one of his family members would have written off. Somebody you'd look at and say, oh boy, I don't know about that. I don't know if X or Y will ever be a productive member of society, let alone a saved member of the church. And the next thing you know, they're sitting right next to you with a hymnal singing the praises of God because he did a work that no man could do. To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Well, who has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Those who believe the report. And how do you believe the report? Because the arm of the Lord has been revealed to you. Now let me break this down just a little bit. You only believe the report of the Lord because the strength, the power of God was revealed to you. This is the arm of the Lord. Jesus is sometimes referred to as the arm of the Lord. The enforcer, if you will, the power. The Spirit of God is referred to as power. We get a word that we use, dynamite. We get that word from some of the same Greek terminology. Power. You know, we've got a lot of false preachers that fancy the word power around like it's a code word for giving me more money. It's all over the TV waves, right? But those of us who believe the report of the Lord do so because something supernatural occurred. The gospel went forth in Holy Spirit empowerment and we heard this message and we became willing. How did we do that? We were regenerated. This old dead stony heart was taken and a heart of flesh was given. And that means that God brought us to spiritual life, that we could go and run into the master. Our faith, our faith, it's a turn of phrase that really isn't theologically accurate, is it? I have strong faith, men will say. No, you don't have anything. I don't have anything. I've got a big old bundle of sand big enough to fill this room and maybe even the big conference room, as it were. I've got that. I've got kindling fit for hell. That's what I bring to the table in my strength that is in this old body. No good thing dwells, but beloved, I'm here to testify of this reality to you today that the arm of the Lord has been revealed to me, the power of God in the saving gospel has been revealed to this old sinner. And what could I do but run to the master where he has the words of eternal life? This is not just an academic exercise. And I want you to understand that there are many an unsaved Calvinist in religious societies right now by the legions around this world who do not know the gospel because their righteousness, at least in their eyes, somehow rests on something within them. Oh, I'm going to have assurance by the works that I do. And I'm going to be sanctified by the things I taste not and touch not and handle not. Vain philosophy that the Bible says is not of Christ. My, my, I don't say these things to puff us up with pride. Don't allow, don't allow the glorious gospel to become an issue of pride in your own heart. We're stubborn sheep. I don't have to tell you that you have a mirror. You also have a stubborn sheep checker system. Ready? Just put two fingers right there. Yeah, that little beep beep beep beep. That means you're an old stubborn sheep and you need to say, oh, my, yes, it is. It's the truth. But the arm of the Lord has been revealed in the preaching of the gospel. We know that our righteousness is something that comes from another. It's Jesus Christ and his righteousness imputed. That's an accounting term for being credited to us. Do you know that you're dressed in the robes of another, beloved? You're dressed in the robes of another. Oh, I know you're going to fall on your face. That's the world season. I know you're going to have trials and tribulations. I know the way forward is hard. We've lived long, we've lived life long enough. Most of us in this room to know that there are there are pitfalls in this world. There are ditches that we'll dig ourselves out of and they'll be ditches that our brothers dig us out of. Galatians talks about that. But through it all, neither height nor depth nor any other created thing shall be able to separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. And how do we know this? The arm of the Lord has been revealed to us. And how does this happen? How shall they know? Except there be a preacher. Oh, it's the grand old story of Jesus and his love for his people, how he will be called Jesus. And why? Because he shall save his people from their sins. Ephesians chapter 1, 15 through 23, I'll read it quickly, speaks of the mighty power of God working to save. And it says, Wherefore, also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, I love unto all the saints cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. This is a revelatory work, salvation. God reveals his glory to you in the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we have seen God as we see the face of Jesus. And how do we see the face of Jesus spiritually? By encountering the gospel. It's finished work. Faithfully proclaimed. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Moving on, verse 18 talks about this revelatory knowledge. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward, who believe according to the working of his mighty power. So much of what passes as gospel preaching in today's so-called church. And if you'll excuse me, I will endeavor to say religious societies from this point on, because the church is made up of people who, by God's grace, believes the biblical gospel. There are many a romper room with beautiful spires and beautiful brickwork, beautiful properties all over the world. You had to drive by many of them to get here today. That will today stand up with a Bible and endeavor to not preach the gospel. But the gospel is God's work, his mighty working power. People will accuse Baptists, I'm a Baptist by conviction, I believe in believers baptism, by immersion. Some of you might be Presbyterians, but that's OK. We can be friends. And they'll say things like, well, Baptists don't believe in the Holy Spirit. I love that one. I don't believe in the Holy, I found out just a couple of months ago that I didn't believe in the Holy Spirit. Someone came to me and said, well, we know you're a Baptist and Baptists don't believe in the Holy Spirit. And I just sort of smiled and I looked back and my only retort was, there is no gospel without the power and witness of the Holy Spirit. He is the comforter sent from God to minister in Christ's name. He is God, the Holy Spirit. Everything I have, I live and move and have my being in God. And of course I believe in the Holy Spirit. And I'll go a step further. If the Holy Spirit doesn't accompany what I preach, then what am I doing? But offering words of man's wisdom, I can entice your ears. But it takes the demonstration and power of God to do any real and saving work. And that's why the Bible says this is the working of his mighty power toward us, not as an invitation to a bunch of people. And God's in heaven wringing out his hands, hoping against hope that you'll make the right decision. The Bible says this is the exceeding greatness of his power to us, word who believe. Whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? Who has believed his report? One question will always answer the other, beloved. Salvation by and through the righteousness of Christ alone, imputed to sinners, is revelatory knowledge wrought by the accompanying power of the Holy Spirit of God. I'm not afraid to say Holy Spirit. Yes, I'm a Baptist and I believe in the Holy Spirit of God. Now, a lot of what people blame on the Holy Spirit today in modern religion is a farce. It's foolishness, and we ought to be bold enough to call it out. Many of you have family members trapped in false religions of mysticism, Eastern meditation and chant, exuberant emotionalism, I'm sorry, Pentecostalism. We'll call it by its colloquial name. Charismania runs wild on this world, like a nonstop, unstoppable flesh-eating virus of biblical illiteracy, where you have all of this emotional, charged nothingness charging into people's lives and filling their heads full of lies about God and leaving destruction in its wake. What do you mean, destruction, preacher? Most of the time, those people clean up pretty good. The women have their long hair and their long dresses and the men have their suits and ties on and they look very respectable. And I'm telling you that under the facade of all that legalistic self-righteousness, there is no gospel. It's all works, righteousness and fear. But the Bible tells me that perfect love casteth away fear. I'm going to digress for just a few seconds. Aren't you glad that the gospel of free and sovereign grace has brought liberty to your soul? That's enough to make a sovereign grace person say amen. I'm excited to know that greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world. I'm excited to know that my name is written down in the Lamb's book of life. And why? He's revealed his glory to us in the preaching of the gospel. Jesus took my place on Calvary's tree and he showed grace upon grace, favor upon favor as he took every one of those steps for his people. What love he showed us to drink damnation dry. Beloved, the redeeming work is done. He said it himself on Calvary's tree. He said it is finished. He didn't say, I hope this works. He said it is finished. He said it is finished. I'm going to talk about the arm of the Lord, the power, the strength of my God. The Bible says that he took the very ordinances and nailed them to that cross. The handwriting of requirements that was against everyone in this room. How do I know you're a law-breaking sinner? Everybody, remember the test. There is none that doeth good. There is none righteous, none that want. There is none who understands. So how is it that we who do not know to do good, cannot see God, cannot please God, do not love God. How is it that he does this work? The word is simple. He does this work by a miracle of grace. Unmerited favor. You do not deserve the goodness of my Father's house. I do not deserve the goodness of my Father's house. Oh, but blessed is the man whom you choose to draw near. Hallelujah forevermore. Isaiah 52 and 6. Therefore, my people shall know my name. What does it say? Therefore, my people shall know my name. Beloved, will there be a chance that anyone for whom Christ died will not be in his eternal home with God one day? Is he going to lose any? Or does the Bible tell us, even in Isaiah, that his people shall know? His people shall know. God says, my people are going to know my name. They shall know that in that day, I am he that doth speak. Behold, it is I. You want to talk about Holy Ghost power. I see that all the time. All the blue haired people on all of the TV cable channels that want to talk about stealing my money to build more networks to steal more money are always talking about Holy Ghost power. Let me tell you about Holy Ghost power. Holy Ghost power is when a man stands at an old desk like this or he's sitting at a coffee shop and he opens the book and he begins to share about Christ and his righteousness to another old wicked sinner. Someone who didn't even know what was coming. Oh, God was on his way and he didn't even know it. It was happening. Next thing you know, that cup of coffee turns into two, maybe turns into three and the gospel being shared and all of the strongholds of the enemy. You want to talk about spiritual warfare? Here's how it works. God wins when the gospel is on the scene. There is no ifs, ands, or buts. The Lord doesn't contend with the devil like he's some equal adversary. The enemy of our soul is a lapdog and he can go to heel when the Lord of Glory comes in on the scene. It's just like he said to the waters, peace be still. It's like he said to death itself. Lazarus comes forth. When the gospel goes forth in saving efficacy, nothing can withstand the power of God. Hallelujah. This is revelatory knowledge. This, beloved, is Holy Ghost power. And notice, the Holy Spirit doesn't testify of himself. He's not on the scene to draw up a bunch of attention to all of these so-called manifestations you see in the world today. You see people knocking people on the forehead and knocking them on the floor. You see other people acting the fool, flopping around on the floor, running around churches and all this stuff. The Holy Spirit has nothing to do with any of that. The Spirit of God, his mission is to not speak of himself. How do I know that? Jesus said he will not speak of himself, but he'll speak of me. He'll testify of me. So how do you know the Holy Spirit is at work in the preaching of the gospel? When souls are edified. When you and I are uplifted by hearing this truth all over again. Do you know the Holy Spirit, beloved, is at work right now? Edifying you in the preaching of this gospel truth. Fortifying you for the days ahead. Strengthening you for this journey. This is fellowship. Sweet fellowship with people who know the gospel. And we ought not take this for granted. But also, the Holy Spirit goes to work on unsaved hearts. What's he do? Well, first thing he does, he rips the whole thing out of there and gives them something they can believe with. Oh, this isn't a decision you make. Let's get over that. Oh, if you'll just come to Jesus. No. Your old dead heart can't do it. But his heart of flesh could and can. And if it pleases him, it shall happen. Why? Because God's people shall know his name. Christians are those people who have been called to believe the report of the Lord. The strength of the Lord has been revealed to us. The arm of the Lord has been revealed to us. We believe the report of our sinless Savior come down to earth. Taking on human flesh. Born of a virgin. Fulfilling all righteousness. Sinlessly offering up himself a perfect sacrifice. Without spot or blemish. And drinking damnation dry as he completely satisfied the righteous requirements of the law on behalf of the elect. Raising bodily from the dead on the third day. Conquering death, hell, and the grave. We believe by the Spirit's convicting power. We believe the report of the Lord. Praise the Lord forevermore. This is God's work. This is God's work. This is the work of God. I'm so glad that he has worked in my life. He has taken me through the mountaintops. He's taken me through the valleys. My life has been shattered to pieces at times. Maybe yours has as well. But he has never left me or forsaken me. There have been many a times when looking in my own life, I know I failed God. I failed God this morning. None of us are offering up anything that's awesome in God's economy. If we could do that, the law would have been sufficient. I'm a great sinner, beloved. Oh, but I know an all-sufficient Savior with healing in his wings. I know a Savior who has kept me in perfect peace. I know a Savior who's revealed himself to me in the gospel. Who has died on Calvary's tree in my place. Who will never leave me or forsake me. The arm of the Lord, the strength, the virtue, the power of the Lord has been revealed to me in the preaching of the gospel. And I know that we are not saved because we saw the error of our sin-cursed ways. Neither are we children of God because we offered up a litany of good works. Whatever those happen to be. You know, every church has their own idea of what a good work might be. People will say, no, salvation's by grace through faith alone. And most of the time, they'll even butcher the fact that faith is a gift from God. They'll even say things like, well, you bring your faith to the table. You bring your faith. You put your faith in Jesus. As though you've got a faith factory in the backyard of your house and you're just churning this stuff out. You know, just take a few units of that and bring it with you. And then make the best decision for you and your family. Well, this church has a water slide. And this church has a, you know, a really, really swinging coffee bar out front. And I think we're going to go there. I'm going to give my heart to Jesus right after my third latte. And it's all going to be roses. Well, beloved, sadly, that's American churchianity. That's where we stand right now. Churches will advertise by saying, it's all happening here. Now, I'm in marketing as a profession. And believe you me, there's always the temptation to put a spin on your church. Like, hey, it's like Club Med with Bibles, you know. Come on out. Come see it. And the fleshwood part of you that wants to see a larger crowd in your fellowship. And don't let a preacher lie to you. We want to see more people in church. We do. But there's always, you know, in this world, the idea of success is what? Numbers, you know, backsides and seats, right? That's how we count success in this old world. And it creeps into the church. And it can even creep into gospel preaching churches if we're not vigilant. But the idea there is that, well, the modern churchianity has their idea of what salvation is. You give your heart to God. I ain't talking about now if the arm of the Lord's been revealed to you, if you believe the report of the Lord. No, no. It's Jesus died for everyone. Make him the Lord of your life right now. He really, really super duper pinky promise loves you. And he wants to love you back so very bad. And if you don't love him back, he's going to send you to hell forever. This is the jack chick evangelism explosion. You know, friendship, evangelism, evangelical fish, garbage, rot of American churchianity. We've made the whole Bible about us. God help us as a people. God help us. Believe me, beloved. If he doesn't help us, there is no hope. For we have come to realize that our hope doesn't lie in the fact that we trust in chariots or horses, right? What's the scripture say? Some trust in chariots, some in horses. But we will remember the name of the Lord our God. You're not saved by taste, not touch, not handle. That's what Colossians dealt with. Those were the vain deceits of human philosophy. They were saying, well, you've got to keep the law in order to maintain grace. Well, that sounds a lot like modern day Presbyterianism. That sounds a lot like a lot of Reformed Baptist confessions. You've got to keep the law to maintain grace. Now, how is it that we can begin something in grace and finish it by works? The Bible calls that an impossibility. It's a detestable offense in the face of God. You're telling lies on the sufficiency of Jesus' work You say you're going to offer up some sort of your own obedience as evidence or as a buttress to your own personal sanctification. Whatever lie you think that is. Personal holiness. What is that? If you could drum up one scintilla of personal holiness, what would you need the sanctifying power of the Lord for? You're going to drum it up. I'm going to do a TV evangelist move and take my coat off. There's nothing special about this. It's just getting a little warm. Now, people would say, he's doing that for effect. Yes, the effect is I'm getting warm. What are you going to do for God? Maybe I'm dumbing it down a little bit. That's okay. What are you going to do for God? What can you do that would commend you to God? Isaiah's prophecy would have looked a lot different if it said something like this. Come, let us reason together. If you work really diligently at the spiritual disciplines and taking advantage of all the sacraments and all of the social faux pas warnings, then maybe you'll have assurance of faith. Well, friends, that sounded a lot more like the Westminster Confession than it did the Bible. God help us. You can't save yourself. You can't make yourself sanctified. Listen, He has become my wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. And it's high time sovereign grace people grow a little bit of a backbone about this issue. Stand up and boldly say, He's my sanctification. Christ, my righteousness. God, the Son, is my shield, my buckler, my fortress. Oh, He's the cleft and the rock that I hide in. He is my all in all. And no, I'm not sanctified by the works that I can do any more than I was saved by the works of my hands. What I do now, I offer to the Lord by faith and say, Oh God, take these old sinners' works and sanctify them for your good use. If you could use the jawbone of an ass. If you could use the widow's stores, that little bit of meal and little bit of oil. You can use an old piece of leather and a few smooth stones. You can use an old shepherd's crook as the Red Sea was part of it. You can use all these meaningless, powerless things for your glory and do great things with them. Then how much more can the Lord do through His people as He sanctifies the works He calls us to do? Oh, there was a great debate years ago about whether or not any of us could do anything good. And the simple answer from my perspective is, No, I can't do a thing that's good. But the Lord has called me to do good works. And how do we do that? We do these things as we work in Christ's name. He is the sanctifier. You're going to offer prayers to God that are going to sound beautiful to your friends. But the problem is, in your heart while you're praying in front of people, you might start thinking, Man, I'm doing a great job. Oh, this prayer is really ringing the bells of heaven. I'm zinging them now. Oh, here comes a zag. Here comes a dip. Oh, I've got a good theological word I'm going to throw in here right now to give them that extra oomph, right? Next thing you know, in your mind, you've got this whole prideful, puffed-up mess going on. We're wayward sinners. We need a Savior. And guess what? We've got one. And His name is Jesus. Hallelujah forevermore. God help your children, your stubborn, wayward, off-time, stiff-necked sheep, never to forget the work of Christ's grace wrought on a hill called Calvary. Lord, help us never shy away from the bedrock truth that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. May we ever tell the old story of Jesus and His love fully expressed by His obedience unto death, even the death of the cross. We stand today because of the grace of God wrought in the crosswork of Jesus and Jesus' work alone. I'm not going to come here to tell a lie on Jesus. He finished the work. And then He says, if we believe on Him, we will not lose our reward. How do we believe on Him? We've been given to Him by the Father, says the Gospel of John. It's the work of God that you believe on Him whom He has sent. And hallelujah, how does this happen? Through the preaching of the cross. It's to those who perish, foolishness. But to those who are being saved, it is what? The power of God. The power of God. As we've already discussed, Christians are those who have had the power or the arm of the Lord revealed to them. For the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. They turn, they believe the report of the Lord, as Isaiah said, trusting in the finished Gospel work of Christ alone for all righteousness before God. Now, to be sure, the grace of the cross is attacked on all sides every single day. You've got your wicked evil doers who are blatantly opposed to all things spiritual, living their lives in ignorant bliss. They're the kind of people that would come up on the streets to a faithful preacher who's maybe on the street corner preaching the Gospel and just shout in their face and hate them and revile them and try to shut them down, right? And on the other side of the aisle, you have the more socially respectable yet equally vile self-righteous religionists. These aren't the types who might scream you down at the street or shout profanities at you and hate you to your face. But instead, they will preach the poison of works religion. They'll dress up nicer than you. They'll own buildings nicer than your buildings. They'll have a greater social media reach than you will. They'll have all the trappings of religiosity. They might even be wearing fine flowing robes and have a great theological history and rich tradition buttressing everything they claim to say. They'll have organized choirs and bands and orchestras and programs, maybe even Bible colleges named after them. Who knows? Legions of followers and millions upon millions of dollars backing up their lives. And then they'll take to a desk like this every Sunday and they will dismantle the Gospel of Grace and tell everyone under the sound of their burdensome message that the work, the onus of assurance is upon them. You're saved if you are doing these things. Here's a 25-point checklist of all the things you've got to be doing or you'll have no joy, you'll have no salvation. They're not preaching the finished work. They're barely preaching a work of Christ because they're busy looking at their own navels, trying to find out what they're doing to please God. God help us. And both sides, whether it be the vile, wicked, open, you know, hater of God or the vile, wicked, deceived self-religionist, they're getting to the same place, which is they're both telling vicious lies on Christ. They're both standing against the Gospel of free and sovereign grace. Oh, I hear a lot of times people say, I believe that God predestines. And then they'll say this nonsense. But he doesn't predestinate the reprobate. He actively is involved in electing his people, but the rest he's just passively leaving. What does that mean? You know, you can take off your theological hat every once in a while because sometimes I think it causes mental illness. Some of these guys are able to write volumes and not say anything. Oh, now God's passively reprobating the reprobate. Is he passively sending them to eternal perdition? There's nothing passive about the works of God. He's God. If a man has the power to rescue your child from playing in the middle of the road and certain death, and he does not exercise that power, you would call him what? Seckless? Inattentive? A monster? But with God, it's like, no, no, no, I'm just passively letting them get run over by a Mack truck. It's just silly. Let's just cut all the theological jargon and say it like it is. Everyone deserves, everyone deserves to be separated from God forever. Everyone deserves that. If this thing was about justice and justice alone, pure, naked justice, there'd be no hope for any of us. None at all. Now, thank God that God made a way. He made the way, the truth, and the life. He is still just. You know, God didn't just wink at our sin and say, alright, I choose you guys. I'm going to reveal the arm of the Lord to you guys, and you're going to believe my report. Now, rest of you, I've got nothing for you, just live, have some baked goods, eat some carbs, you'll be alright. That's, that's in many places, that passes as some kind of a Calvinistic message. And then they say, oh, but wait a minute. Don't forget these 600 and some odd commandments. We're going to pick through them and decide which ones of them were ceremonial and which ones of them were moral and all this other stuff. And the third use and the second use of this law and that law. We're going to take all this baggage and foist it upon you. Yes, you believe in Jesus, but do you really super duper believe on Jesus? So let me give you a little magnifying glass. It's a 35 point checklist that's going to help you peer into your own heart to really discern whether or not you're growing in holiness, growing in sanctification. How's your prayer life? And you end up with people who have nothing but bondage. They know some good theological terms, but they don't know the Lord of glory in the full pardon of their sins. Where is the freedom wherein Christ has made them free if they are not free? Did he save them to put them under a bondage again under a yoke of fear? Of course not. It's because the greatest deception is to take ninety nine percent water and add one percent arsenic. Most of that water could probably be all right, but a little leaven leaven is the whole lump. All right. Let's let's get on down the road a little bit here. All right. So we have to be careful that we don't countenance false gospels. When your family member comes to you and says, hey, I'm going down to first what's happening now, church, and we're having a Holy Ghost yard sale and spring water dipathon or whatever foolishness are coming up with nowadays. You know, had your own whatever you think you could come up with something crazy, but you can't. I saw a preacher swinging on a wrecking ball to a rock and roll song the other day on TikTok. And it was supposed to be like an Easter service or something. Don't even I don't know that you think it's crazy. Whatever you can think of, somebody out there is trying to put it together right now to do. And your family tells you this. Don't be so quick to grab ahold of him and say, all right, brother. Don't countenance false gospels. Don't do it. I can't imagine that someone could tell an outright lie upon your wife and you'd grab ahold and say, well, they're telling a bunch of lies about my wife. They're they're they're cool. I'm a little for chilly tomorrow night. No, no, no. If they're not believing the gospel, they're not believing the gospel. This is not hard. Now, you're going to be called intolerant. You're going to be called a bunch of really awful names by people that would rather make friends with Armenians and free will folks so they can sell their books and go to their mega conferences and have all of their fanboys and all the stuff and all the trappings of the religiosity, churchy complex. Right. But I want my family to know the truth of the gospel. I want my friends to know Christ in the full pardon of their sins, unencumbered by human vain philosophy and deceit, which is what all of these formulations are. Arminianism, Pelagianism, if you want to go back even further than Arminianism. It's all just a way of the man and his evil wickedness sticking his head up going, what about me? So it is. And I say we put our own pride in the dust. We put our so-called wills, our corrupted, sin-cursed wills into the dust. And we say, oh, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And guess what he does for his people? The Bible says he gives us more grace. Hallelujah. So Paul wrote to the Corinthians or to the Colossians, a powerful letter extolling the supremacy of Christ. And this is where we were. We've been talking about this. We talked about how Christ would bear the iniquities of many, says Isaiah, that he revealed the arm of the Lord to those of us who believe the report, which is that Christ, the suffering servant, would be wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquity. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And by his stripes, we are healed. We talked about how he would be numbered with the transgressors. He'd be buried with the rich, but his soul would not see corruption. We talked about that verse earlier today, I think, in the first session. So Paul then says, beware lest any man spoil you, Colossians 2 and 8, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. So what did we learn from this verse? Well, there's a million things. You can unpack a verse linguistically, as we've done this morning in the first set. You can unpack a verse culturally. You can unpack a verse contextually. But simply put, if I could just be very, very simple about the verse today in this latter part of the sermon, there are philosophies that are not after Christ. And if such a thing is true, then we must be willing to call them out when they are not after Christ. It is not unloving for you to look at a family member and say, no, I don't want a big old mess of ashes rubbed on my forehead. And then tell them why. It's not unloving to look at someone and say, oh, you go to church and you think that's the righteousness. Well, yeah, I go to church as much as anybody, and I know if anybody's going to heaven I am because I go to Sunday school and morning worship. I've had people tell me such things. Or, my dad was a preacher. Well, okay, your mom could have been a plumber. I don't know why that matters. But think about it. People will tell you their spiritual pedigree, and they'll start counting on the works that other people might do, or the deeds that they have done. Others will say, well, I mowed the grass down at St. Mary's every single Sunday for 40 years. And God's given me credit for that. No. There are deceitful philosophies that are not after Christ. And if you love your neighbor, you will tell the truth on Jesus. You will tell the truth on Jesus. You're not going to make friends by telling the truth on Jesus. Sad to say, people would rather trust in mowing the grass down at the churchyard than hear this offensive gospel, because this gospel cuts to the quick. It basically lays bare all of the lies that you've built, that you've called your self-righteousness tower, your own personal tower of Babel, is cut down to nothing in the face of the gospel and His finished work. You don't offer anything to God. You're just a sinner, like the rest of mankind. The Bible says we are children of wrath. By nature, children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. If anybody tells you that we're somehow better from the start than everyone else, then they've denied the book of Ephesians right off the bat. By nature, we're children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God is rich in mercy. And beloved, some 2,000 years ago, that mercy took the form of our suffering servants, who carried that old crisscross beam up Golgotha. And while I know that there are mystics in this world that make a big deal of the physical sufferings of Christ in an unhealthy and superstitious way, people go around saying, I have a piece of the real cross of Christ, and we've embedded it into our pulpits, our altars, and our fancy churches. Believe me, Martin Luther said once, if he had every piece of the real cross of Christ, he could have built a cathedral. Because everybody around in his time and before were talking about all these relics and superstitious things. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm telling you that he who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. I don't know all the things that transpired spiritually on that dark day when our Lord made it up to that hill, and he was nailed to that old crisscross beam, big old spikes right through the base of the hands there. I mean, they were built different in Roman days, friends. You and I think we're tough birds. We don't. No, we're not. We are lilies in a very calm pond. These people were built differently. By our standards, they could do monstrous things and then go have a sandwich. They were built different than we are. He was already beaten to within an edge of his life. The Bible says his visage was marred. So all sorts of physical things were happening to him. But, beloved, the Bible tells us that Jesus cried out with a loud voice, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Fulfilling the prophecy found in the Psalms. And you can read it. It's eerie how accurate the prophecies of God are. And how do you know they're true prophecies? Because they come to pass. They're real. It's not like some of the stuff you see on today's television and in today's media. These so-called prophets, they're hit and miss. They ought to all be stoned if they're going to follow the old adage. I mean, if you don't do it right, you should probably be stoned in accordance with the Old Testament regulations. If you want to go Old Testament, let's go Old Testament. But the work of Christ is a miracle. I don't understand all the mechanics, but I know what the Bible tells me. I can be found wearing the righteous robes of another. I can be found in Him. I can be clothed with the righteousness of Christ. My sins, my sins can be forgiven, swallowed up in victory, as it were, nailed to the cross with Christ, along with all the handwritings and requirements and ordinances and all the things that convicted me, rightfully so. The grace of the cross affords God's people circumcision made without hands. Forgiveness of sins based on the merits of Christ's work. In fact, the Scripture firmly declares that it is this very gospel which makes us complete in Him. Because through it, God puts off the body of sins of the flesh. So, all the sin, I know a place, a wonderful place, where accused and condemned find mercy and grace. Where the wrongs we have done and the wrongs done to us were nailed there with Him. Nailed to His cross. At the cross, He died for my sins. At the cross, new life begins. Hallelujah forevermore. What about the requirements of the law of God? Well, as Isaiah taught us, our suffering servant would justify many. And Paul goes into great detail teaching us this blessed truth. Christ blotted out the requirements against us as law-breaking sinners. Settling them forever, nailing them to the cross. Romans 5, 9 says much more then, now having been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. Justified by His blood, saved from wrath. Not through our works, not through our worth, not through anything we try to commend to God on our behalf. But by the commendation of Jesus Christ and His righteousness alone. His blood avails for us. Let's wrap this thing up real quick. We are saved because of the finished work of Christ alone. He is our only righteous plea before the Father in heaven. In our Scripture lesson, Isaiah wrote of a Savior who would bear the iniquities of many. And we saw that to believe this report, this good news, requires the very power of the Lord to be revealed to us. The gospel, the power of God unto salvation wrought by the shed blood of Christ on Calvary's hill. His blood shed is a ransom for many. The just dying for the unjust is the only way to be reconciled to God. And it is through the faithful preaching of this gospel work, the faithful telling of this story, that God is pleased to call His people into a right relationship with Himself through and by the grace of the cross. Christian friend, in light of this glorious truth, be thankful. Love one another as Christ has loved you. The arm of the Lord has been revealed to you. Walk in that truth. Oh, you're going to fall. You're going to falter. But your brothers are going to be there to grab hold of you and say, hey, get over here. And when they're all kiltered, you're going to be there to say, hey, get over here. And we're going to tend to one another. We're going to love one another. We're going to be patient with one another. We should endeavor to be long-suffering with one another, willing to carry our brothers' burdens alongside them. Why? Because we have been forgiven in Christ. Oh, sovereign grace folks should be loving, should be gracious. Social media, remember that. Be gracious one to the other. Oh, sometimes we're real good at getting the cutting knives out, aren't we? Man, we get to going and next thing you know, it's this huge, big old argument. Look, stand up for truth, but don't be mean. You know what you were before the Lord found you, and you know what you are right now. If the Lord put His hand off of you, you'd be in miserable shape. Be gracious one to the other. Walk in Christ. That's what the Bible says in Colossians. That's what we ought to do. And He's given us the freedom to realize and confess our sins. You know, I'm standing in a church telling people that I am a sinner saved by grace. You know how liberating that is? You know what people think of church? They think of it as this place where all the do-gooders hang out. Let me tell you something, I've never met a do-gooder at a gospel assembly. I've met a bunch of sinners that confess it. I'm here to tell you that without the Lord, I'm a miserable sinner and I don't deserve anything. But thanks be to God who gives the victory to the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you thankful for the cross? I'm thankful for the cross. May God be pleased to remind us daily of the grace freely given us through the crosswork of Christ the Lord. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You, Lord. I know that eye hasn't seen, ear hasn't heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, the joys that You've prepared for us who love You. But Lord, we know that we only love You because You first loved us. Thank You for Calvary. Thank You for the grace of the cross, oh God. Oh Lord, help us to walk in light of this grace. Help us to love our neighbor. But Lord, never let us assume that the works that we do gladly in Your name commend us to You for righteousness. For Lord, Christ is our righteousness. Thank You for closing us in the robes of another. Thank You for taking our sins by imputation, by accrediting them to Christ. And thank You, God, for nailing the righteous requirements of the law to the cross. Thank You, Jesus, for the blood. Thank You, thank You, thank You, thank You for salvation full and free. And Lord, I pray that You would bless each and every person who hears this message. Edify us, cause us, oh God, to do the things You would have us do to reach others and to remain humble in the sight of our God. For Christ's sake, for Your glory, for our good, I pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. You have just heard a message from Pastor Jason Booth of Redeemer Church of Piketon, Ohio. To learn more about the good news of Jesus, please visit RedeemerPiketon.org.