The substitutionary work of Jesus, and how that then paves the way into our justification, the pronouncing of being right with God through the finished work of Jesus, is something that we need to spend time meditating upon daily.  We’ve talked in the past, many times, about brother Bridges and his book—I love that phrase he says, “We’ve got to preach the gospel to ourselves daily”; amen?  We have to preach the gospel to ourselves when we’re down, and remind ourselves that we are the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ; amen?  And then we’ve got to preach the gospel to ourselves when we’re thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought to think.  Because that gospel reminds us that Jesus had to go to a cross for you and me (amen?), that there is no good, there’s nothing we can do in our works, in our behavior that would make us righteous in the sight of that great, majestic, holy God that we serve.

So, Isaiah the prophet is speaking as he’s declaring the great works here, “The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”  Hallelujah!  We want to talk about that “all” aspect.  Satan tries to get us to think that some people in here got just a little more grace than you did; amen?  It just seems easier for them to walk in the Spirit, to hear the voice of God, to discipline this flesh.  And the Scripture makes it very clear to us that you didn’t get left out.  It’s all—we all receive the same enabling to walk in righteousness before God.  Each and every one of us here has been given all things that pertain to life and godliness.  Can you say “Amen” to that?  We’ve got all the tools.  What are we doing with them?  You see, whether we’re doing more than somebody else, whether we’re doing the best we can possibly do at this given moment, doesn’t depend, or isn’t how you were being seen or judged in God’s eyes, it’s how much we are believing in the love of God, who became that substitution for us on the cross.  Knowing His love to die for us and become sin with our sins is what motivates us to righteous living.

How do you respond to others, to men when they do something good to you or for you?  When you feel indebted to somebody, how much effort do you put into paying them back?  “I’m a man of integrity, you know I’m going to pay my debts.”  Well, you can’t pay this debt.  But it doesn’t mean we’re absent from the responsibility of recognizing the worth of what He’s done for us.  The more we believe that, the more we walk in righteousness and true holiness; praise God.  Let’s not be found responding to Jesus’ death on the cross like, “Yeah, I appreciate it.  It’s been forty years now; I really appreciate it.”  How did you respond when you first tasted of that freedom from sin?   What were you willing to do that next day after you realized you’d been justified and pronounced righteous in the eyes of God?  You would have gone beyond what Paul said.  Paul said, “I brought you this message.”  He didn’t say, “I’m the one that paid the price.”  “I brought you this message and you were willing to pluck your eyes out.  The treasure, the value of this truth, you were ready to sacrifice anything and to acknowledge how great this gift was.”