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Sabbath, November 13, 2004 Pastor Tom Hughes
Baptism: Jessica Irizarry Newark Seventh-Day Adventist Church

“CHRIST: OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS”

In Isaiah 64:6, it says, “…all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags…”

“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”

In Ecclesiastes 7:20, it says nobody is righteous but God. “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.”

Isaiah 55:8, 9, the same concept…
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
9For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Psalm 14 makes it clear that there is not one person on earth who is righteous and does good.

Psalms 14…

“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
2The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
3They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
4Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.
5There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.
6Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge.
7Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

In Psalm 143:2, it tells us not to put our trust in the arm of flesh…

“And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.”

And in Romans 3:23, also, it says “…all have sinned and come short of the glory of God…”

Romans 3:10-12, 23…

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
11There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

And then in Mark 10:18 and Luke 18:19, Jesus said, “Why call me good, there is no one good but…” Who? “…God.”

Mark 10:18 …
“And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.”


Luke 18:19 …

19And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.”

So even Christ himself refused to be called good because the only person who is good is God. Even Jesus bowed down.

Now, in Revelation 5, if you’ll open your Bible, and to verse 9. The whole chapter1 is wonderful! It just exalts Jesus in worship and praise.

Revelation 5:9…

9“And they sang a new song, saying, You art worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals: for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe, and tongue…”

I want you to notice that John was rather upset. If you go back a little bit in chapter five. John got upset, and in verse three and four it says, “No one in heaven, or in earth, or under the earth, was able to open the scroll, or to look at it.”

Okay, no one in heaven or on the earth was able to open it and not only could they not open it, they couldn’t even look at it. That’s how holy this scroll was. And it says, 4“I wept much, because no one was found worthy to (open or) read the scroll or to look at it.”

John started to cry because there was no one on earth who could do it.

6And I beheld, and, behold, in the midst of the throne…” he saw these spirits.
And then in verse 9, it says,

9“They sang a new song, saying, You, Lamb of God, are worthy to take the scroll…because You were slain, You have and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every kindred, tribe, and nation.”

No one is worthy, brothers and sisters. No one!

Now the people who are dealing with alcoholism, and fornication, and homosexuality and all the other things in this world that you have to deal with…you know the Bible lists a bunch of things that you have to deal with…

I’m not too worried about you folks because the Holy Spirit can impress you and you will know what’s right and wrong.

And I say to all people who have those kinds of problems:

Don’t try to change yourselves, come to Christ just as you are!

Don’t try to clean up your act or make yourself acceptable, or earn the church’s approval before your come to Christ. Just come! God loves you!

It doesn’t matter whether you’re using drugs or alcohol, or have sexual immorality, or have proclivities or tendencies to sexual immorality of any type (and one sex is not any worse than the other) it’s all sin in the Bible.

It amazes me how people try to make people out to be “bad.” It doesn’t matter. If you’re sinning, it’s bad enough to kill ya, isn’t it? You know, if I have “.38” and I put a bullet in it, and I take my own life with it, who cares whether it’s a better bullet than another bullet or it’s a worse bullet than another bullet? A bullet is a bullet: It’s gonna kill ya! Sin will kill you! Any sin – pick one – it will kill you.

Now, does God love all sinners no matter what their problems are? He loves you and He doesn’t expect you to clean up your act and change before you come to Christ. He says, “Come, just as you are without one plea but that My blood was shed for thee.”

Can anyone come to Christ? Do they have to clean their life up first? Can they come just as they are; do we really believe that?

Those folks don’t scare me. The ones that scare me are like the Pharisees who are genuinely good people. They are holy people. They are people who are trying to live right, and they don’t even realize that they, too, are sinners as bad or worse than the others.

Because self-righteousness and pride were the devil’s original sin – and pride is the king of all sins and it is the hardest to see.

Self-righteousness is the sin that none of us can see! It’s the scariest sin there is! I’ve actually gotten on my knees and said, “God, please help me not to be self-righteous! Help me, Lord!” And He says, “No problem. I’ve got lots of church members that will keep you humble, pastor. Don’t worry, you won’t become self-righteous! You won’t become lifted up with pride because I will unleash them to help you.” (!)

And lo, and behold, He was telling me the truth!

God will send people to wake us up if we start going down that self-righteous road. But it is a deadly sin. It is the hardest sin to see.

Now, doesn’t the Bible say that no one was worthy to open the seal but Jesus? How can we ever think that we can, somehow, attain some sort of perfection apart from Him in any way? Even with His help: If it’s us,
that’s defective. If it’s human, it’s defective.

There is only one perfect human; that’s Christ. Our only hope is to throw ourselves on the mercy of Christ and His righteousness! We need to be as holy and as good as we can be. But, in the end, we all have to acknowledge (even though we are trying our best to be righteous and holy) we are sinners come short of the glory of God. And it’s only through blood of Christ that we can be saved.

I like this statement in Signs of the Times: “We cannot say ‘I am sinless’ till this vile body is fashioned like unto his glorious body”

“Those who would be true to God. . .Their only hope is in the mercy of God. . . They are fully conscious of the sinfulness of their lives, they see their weakness and unworthiness…”

“… The followers of Christ have sinned . . .He who has been most abused by their ingratitude, who knows their sin . . .They may have imperfections of character; they may have failed in their endeavors; but they have repented, and I have forgiven and accepted them.”

That’s why, brothers and sisters, I don’t accept that excuse that some give:

“Oh, I was born that way,”

“Oh, I can’t help myself, that’s the way I am.”

“My father was Irish.”

“My mother was Irish…”

You know? And they excuse every kind of sin – sexual sin, temper, whatever.

“Oh, I was born that way.”

“God made me that way.”

Guess what? We are all born with a carnal nature. God didn’t make us carnal, sin made us carnal. That’s why you have to be born again.

And whether you’re struggling against:

a sexually immoral lifestyle or behavior

pride

alcoholism

whatever it is you’re struggling with, you have to come to Christ just as you are and say to Jesus:

“Yes, God, I was born this way, but I don’t want to live an immoral life! Forgive me for my sin, accept me as I am. And if you want to change me, God, you’re gonna have to do it ‘cause I can’t! I’m too weak to change myself. I’ve tried and I’ve failed for years.

I’ve tried to be a true Christian but the harder I try, the more I sin. Help me, God! I come to you just as I am without one plea but that I’m a sinner.

I have an immoral lifestyle.
I have immoral, impure motives.
I admit that I’m in life for what I can get out of it.

I’m not out to help or serve others, I’m a self-centered person, but God, I don’t want to be like that. Change me, God! Save me, God!”

Like Peter sinking in the water, “Save me, Jesus!”

Do you think He’ll do it?

Do you think He’ll answer that prayer?

Is there any sin or lifestyle He can’t give you victory over?

The Bible is true! All the psychologists are liars. I shouldn’t say “all,” because there’s probably one out there out of 1,484; the 1,485th one is honest and truthful, and he will come and get me after the church service!

But if they’re telling you your problem is your guilty conscience, and
“If you get rid of that you’ll be better off and forget about all that stupid religion makin’ you feel guilty,” you just forget that! The Bible tells you what’s right and wrong.

If you see you’re doing something wrong, don’t change the Bible, change yourself through Christ. Come to Jesus just as you are and let Him change you. He will answer that prayer every single time.

“Oh, well, I don’t wanna change.”

I had one guy tell me, “I don’t wanna quit drinkin’ beer.”

Another guy said, “I don’t wanna quit chasin’ women.”

“I don’t wanna quit goin’ to the bars.”

“Fine, don’t.”

“What?”

“Don’t. Come to Christ. Give your heart to Jesus. Let’s kneel down right now and ask Jesus to come into your heart. Get up every morning, read your Bible for twenty minutes and pray, and ask Christ to come into your heart every day, and then if you wanna to go to bars, go to all the bars you want to.”

“I never had a preacher tell me that!”

These Seventh-Day Adventists today (are) serving the Lord!

He got a little taste of Jesus! He got a little taste – he let Jesus in! Jesus came in! He got a little taste! Then he tried to go back to that bar. J Once you’ve known Jesus, all that garbage that you used to think made you happy is not going make you happy anymore! And he tasted the heavenly manna and then that earthly moldy bread just didn’t satisfy anymore!

“Come, taste and see…”

We are saved by grace alone, through faith, to work. Only the finished work of Christ completed two thousand years ago on Calvary is sufficient to save us.

He is our only righteousness. We have none to add. He is all we will ever need! We can’t improve on Jesus.

Galatians 2:16…

6“knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”

Amen!

Some Adventists get confused. They think that text is putting the law down or saying that the law isn’t any good. Don’t misread it! It’s not lowering the law, it’s exalting the law! It’s saying you’re not justified by the law, you’re justified by Christ; His works, His righteousness.

The only way you’ll keep the Ten Commandments is to accept Christ as your Savior, be born again, and be changed from the inside out! Then you’ll want to keep God’s law. Then the things you used to love you’ll start to hate. The things you used to hate you’ll start to love! God will get inside you and He’ll start changing your heart, He’ll make you born again, He’ll recreate you in His image, and you’re gonna start becoming a happy person!

What did Ally say? “Jessica looked so miserable I had to tell her about Jesus!” Does she look miserable today? You see that big smile on her face? Jesus put it there! Because the world didn’t satisfy!

“I don’t wanna give up my…blah, blah, blah.”

“Fine! Don’t give it up! Come to Jesus. Let Him make you born again. Let Him change you. Go back to it if you want to. Go ahead…if you can.” J

Could you ever go back to that lifestyle after knowing Jesus and having that peace you have? You would never want to do that, would you? Is it better now? You happier now? Can I hear an “Amen?” All right! Amen and a “Halleluia!”

Christ’s character alone is perfect, and we cannot attain it by works.

In that baptistery, there was no works! Jessica’s works didn’t save her in that baptistery! (It) wasn’t the spirit of Pastor Hughes or the spirit of Jessica, or the spirit of Ali that saved her soul, and transformed her! It was Jesus in that tank! It was all Jesus! When the Holy Spirit came down and baptized her with fire and power, and recreated her in the image of God – when that caterpillar was transformed into a butterfly – it had nothing to do with Pastor Tom! It was all Jesus!

Christ is wonderful and our best efforts earn nothing as far as being saved. But they are valuable to God as an outward demonstration of our inward acceptance of Christ’s free gift. Righteousness is love! We receive righteousness by receiving Him! When you receive Jesus, you receive His righteousness and His love.

You have to love Jesus for what He accomplished today. You have to love Jesus when you look out over this congregation and you see the lives that have been changed because Jesus loved us so much He came here to die for us! You gotta love him, don’t you?

I’m excited this morning because I’m not saved because of what I do, I’m saved because of what Jesus did. And because I love Him so much, I’m gonna have to serve Him.

I just want you to know how happy I am to be here; how much I love each and every one of you. It has been a full six months. The plate has been full. There have been some heavy, heavy, heavy things that we’ve been dealing with as a congregation. Boy! God is good, isn’t He? Wow! Wasn’t that great today? Phew! Jess, I’m so proud of you and so happy for you. I’m proud of Ally, too. I’m so happy that God loves us!

I don’t want to play, “Church,” people! I don’t want to just come here and be Pastor “blah, blah, blah” and go out the door, and have you shake my hand and forget everything I said, and just live your life, you know, in some kind of little religious routine where nothing ever changes. I want you to be disciples, to be soul-winners, to be people who love the Lord! People who don’t just come to church to “come to church,” but you’re really living the Christian experience! That’s what I want. I want that for my church (!) and my people.

I know I can’t have it; I can’t do it myself. I’m just part of the team here, but that’s what I want: I want you to really love the Lord. And I want you to read your Bible, and pray, and be a true Christian—I do!

I know some of you have some terrible sins you’re wrestling with, and some problems, and depression, and all sorts of things that you’re struggling against. But I have to believe that Jesus is the answer!

We’re not saved because of what we do. We’ve got to be able to come to Christ just as we are and know that He’ll forgive us; fill us with His Spirit, and He can change our life, and we can live different lives because Christ means something! He’s real! And we’re not just playing “Church!”

There is a life-changing God in this sanctuary this morning, and our lives are going to be different because we were here in this church today. I have to believe that or I wouldn’t even get in this pulpit.

So, God bless you. Have a happy Sabbath, and walk close with your God who loves you more than I ever could. He loves you more even that your own mother does! So love Him back!

Father in heaven, bless these people. Make Your face to shine upon them. Especially anoint our dear new member and her spiritual guardian who will watch over her. We thank You, Lord, that this dear sister loves You, has put You first in her life. Watch over this lamb and keep her safe, Lord, and help her to grow in grace. And be with her and Ally and they share the word of God with our congregation in a month from now. And may You truly bless them in their first attempt at ministry; may it be successful and many souls be touched. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.

_______________________________

All Scriptural References: King James/New King James Version

www.BibleGateway.com, and www.StudyLight.org


Ellen G. White References: www.whiteestate.org


Transcription: Wendy J. Riebel

This sermon also available on cassette tape.

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