Hi, this is Josh Montez, and welcome back to the Hymn We Proclaim podcast, where we bring Christ-centered truth for everyday life. In this new batch of episodes, we're digging into some of the most foundational and soul-stabilizing truths you'll ever hear. Whether you're feeling the weight of spiritual struggle, Longing for real assurance, or wondering how to grow in faith when life is full of tension and temptation. These messages are for you. We start by looking honestly at the struggle and consolation of the Christian life.
where Pastor John reminds us that yes, we do wrestle, but never wrestle alone. From there, we explore confident expectation and hope rooted in the promises of Christ, not in our own strength. And stay tuned, we're going to move into a rich multi-part series rediscovering the five solas of the Reformation. These five gospel principles that still shape our lives today. Scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone, and to the glory of God alone.
These aren't dusty doctrines, they're a roadmap to freedom, joy, and gospel assurance. Whether you're new to these teachings or returning for a refresher, this series will encourage you to rest in what Christ has already accomplished and to live boldly in the light of His grace. Here's a message called a confident expectation and hope. To help us think about this conference, I want us to... Think about But uh the gospel that was recovered.
I want to start thinking about it. Uh today. And I thought it would be helpful to go through some of those solos that you're going to hear. And to start thinking about the gospel that was recovered to us in the 16th century. because it's so vitally important.
This is what the psalmist says in Psalm 130, verse 3, a suburban question. He says, If you, O Lord, Sure, it's market inequities. Oh Lord, who? Could stand And My life is just Shot full of iniquity. This is what we pray each week in the confession.
Thought, word, and deed. I have bad attitudes. I have unbelief. I have disobedience. I get upset.
I I was almost late for church today because My dog decided he would eat my breakfast. And I left the kitchen literally for five seconds and I came back in and there's Laker devouring my whole breakfast that I had just spent 15 minutes preparing. And I was thinking, oh my goodness, my opening verse is, oh Lord, if you should mark iniquities. I was not. And I couldn't move it at that point on Sunday morning when I got to get to church on time.
If you should mark iniquities, Lord. Who could stand? Who can survive that? How can I have a confident expectation and hope of the future, a certain future? When I see that my whole life is just Phil.
within. The answer is nobody can stand. Because here's the reality. God marks iniquity. He marks our iniquity.
He knows it all. This is what the Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 1, verse 18. He says, The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness. And godliness of men. That's us.
That's not The uh Gay Pride Parade in San Francisco. That's us. Jesus says in Matthew chapter five, verse forty-eight. That God demands that we be as perfect as His Father. You are to be perfect.
Perfect. Did you hear that? You R to B. Perfect. Perfect.
Perfect. How perfect. As perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. You're doomed. Undoomed.
That's the requirement. Paul confirms the fact that nobody's perfect in Romans chapter 3, verses 9 through 12. He says, We've charged that both Jews and Greeks. are all under sin. As it is written, there is none righteous.
Not Even One, there is no one who has done good. There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks for God. All Jew and Greek have turned aside. There's no one who does good, not Even One.
And because in this Every person is guilty before the just judgment of God. It will be called to account. I'm starting to get up in years a little bit. And it's quite shocking. to be quite honest.
I have four kids of the home. I have two left. I have two kids who are getting married, one in a month. Which I still cannot believe that in one month my baby girl is going to be married to this guy.
Okay. How can she love him and cling to him more than daddy? It's so hard to let go of these things, you know. And I see their pictures in the house and I just see 20 years. of our life like a vapor gone.
An issue. When I try, I don't do it quite every night, but I try to get close to almost every night. do the Book of Common Prayer, evening prayer, pr you know, my prayers, everything. A blanter and bet and I'm pr and everything. And I just begin to reflect upon how quick life goes.
And I'm like, golly, you know, I am past the halfway point. A decade when you're 20 is not that big of a deal. But a decade, when you get to my point, is like, whoa. You're not going to be 30, you're going to be a whole lot older than 30. And your body just doesn't quite do what it did when it's 30, but you think it can.
All right. And then I began to think about. This passage that Paul says that God has Yeah. A day. In which he will judge the world in righteousness.
By a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance. He has given a guarantee that this man is going to judge the world. What is the guarantee? He has risen him from the dead. And I think about.
That day is Humming. And it's coming a lot quicker than when I was 20. And I better be prepared. This is reality.
Sometimes you just kind of go to sleep and then you wake up and you go, wow, this is reality. Standing before Christ the judge. It's not a fairy tale. The resurrection that we just sang about in the prior song. It's not a fairy tale.
It's not a such fables to help you have a better life now. He has risen Jesus from the dead, and he has fixed the day by which that Jesus will judge. Everybody. And he does it because he marks iniquities. He has marked our iniquities.
All of us stand guilty under the just judgment of God. And you can be certain of this because God requires perfect righteousness and perfect holiness. And because we're not perfectly righteous and holy, how can we answer the psalmist's question and stand before God? How can we have a confident and certain future filled with hope? and not dread.
And not fear. The answer that the Protestant reformers gave to not just us, but gave to the world. is this. Listen carefully. Grace alone.
Faith alone. Christ alone. That's what our conference is going to be about. They insisted, and listen with me as we go through this, they insisted that salvation is by grace alone. Salvation, grace, grace is our only source of our salvation.
For by grace you have been saved. Ephesians 2.8. By grace. By grace, by grace. Salvation, beginning, middle, end, it belongs to grace.
It belongs to God alone, the God of grace, revealed to us in His Son, Jesus, who is the grace of God. There's nothing that we can do. to add to the perfect work of Christ or else it's not grace. No one's justified by their works. No one's justified by cooperating with God.
Jesus, God gives me some grace and I get in and cooperate with him to finish and complete the work. We have, listen, why are we doing this conference?
Well, for a lot of reasons, but we wanted to teach people the gospel, to bring the gospel back to the church. Why? To give people a certain future and hope so they can answer the psalmist question, who can stand? There are evangelical pastors in our country, very famous with a lot of influence, who are teaching you get in by grace, but you are kept and completed by your obedience and your works, and you have no certainty of final salvation if you haven't been. Good enough.
That is exactly. Exactly to the T, exactly what the reformers railed against in the medieval church. And we have evangelical preachers preaching medieval gospel today. Let me ask you a question. Do you have a certain future and hope and confident expectation that you can stand before God if at the final salvation, at the final moment you stand before Jesus, you have to offer him your affections.
How powerful were your affections this morning when you woke up to come to church for God? Let me tell you how powerful they're supposed to be. Jesus said it, I just told you, Matthew 5, 48. Your affections must B Perfect. Perfect.
At all times, never wavering for a millisecond. Or else you're not going to make it. This is why the source of our salvation. It's by grace. Grace.
Spurgeon says, listen, is the fountain and source of salvation. Grace is the first and last moving cause of salvation. is grace alone second. The reformers insisted that salvation is through faith alone. Faith is the only means by which we are united to Christ and receive His salvation.
We receive Christ and all of His saving benefits. It is faith. Listen again to the Apostle Paul. It's very simple. Ephesians 2, verse 8.
For by grace you have been saved. Here it is. Proof faith. Mercedes. By grace, Through faith.
Say that with me. By grace, through faith. Grace is the cause. Grace is the cause. Faith is the instrument.
Works before and after conversion are never instrumental in salvation, those preachers who are preaching that your final salvation is dependent upon your obedience, your affections, your works, your good works, whatever they want to call it, your pursuit of holiness. They make your work instrumental. to replace faith. But the scriptures never anywhere at any time teach that our works are instrumental in salvation. Never.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. What is not of yourselves, the whole package. Faith, salvation, and grace, the whole thing. It is the gift of God. Why?
Not as a result of works, though our works can't be instrumental at that point. Why? So that you can't boast. You can't take the glory, the credit. Works after conversion, listen carefully, are only evidential, not instrumental.
That is vital to understand. This is what the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 10, We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. not by good works. I've told you and I'll tell you again, if you want to understand theology, it's in the prepositions. We have been saved Four.
Good works. Not Baha'i Good works. You see the difference? Which God prepared beforehand so that we didn't walk in them. They're His works that we walk in.
That is another way to say that all of our good works are what? Grace. This grace. The Apostle Paul emphasizes that faith alone is the instrument of salvation. Romans chapter 3, verse 28.
We maintain, listen to this. That a man is justified By faith, Apart from works in the law. You sit in the juxtaposition. Listen to what he says in Romans chapter 4, verse 5. He says to no.
to the one who does not work. All right. But And here's a contrast, boot leaves. You see that to the one who does not work, but what does he do? He believes.
So he's contrasting work with faith. He's saying faith cannot be a work. Because he's just said to the one who does not work but believes.
So whatever belief is, whatever faith is, it's not your working. But believes him who justifies the ungodly, I'll come back to that. His faith is credited, imputed to him as righteousness. The imputation that that accounting, that accounting, that the the the the Idea where you have nothing in your bank account, but it's credited fully to you as if it is yours, because it does become yours. Through faith.
Faith is not a work that we can just conjure up and go, oh, yes, I will believe in Jesus. I have decided to follow Jesus. I've walked the aisle a hundred times. Right. Made that decision.
Faith is not a decision. It's not a decision. What is faith? Faith is a gift. Faith isn't instrument, an instrumental gift that the Holy Spirit gives to me when I hear the gospel.
Romans chapter 10, verse 17. You've heard this a thousand times. But we have to keep hearing it. Faith comes from... Hearing.
Faith comes from hearing. That's why I always tell you: why do you come to church? What is the chief organ of your spiritual health? It is your ears, it is hearing. You have To hear the gospel.
You have to hear it. Why? Because faith comes from hearing. And hearing by, how do you hear? The word of Christ.
You hear by the gospel. The Holy Spirit. Takes the gospel and he opens up your mind and your soul, and he gives you faith. If you don't Hear gospel, you don't Get Faith. Faith comes problem Hearing.
And hearing by the word of Christ, which is the gospel. Third, the reformers insisted that salvation is based on Christ alone. Christ is the only ground of our salvation. Grace is the only cause of our salvation. Faith is the only instrument of our salvation.
Christ is the only ground, object of our salvation. Your faith is only good as the object in which it is placed. And you're not saved because your faith is great. Because your faith is strong. Because your faith is huge.
You're saved because your Savior is great. and strong and huge. God's law contains both precepts and penalties. Precepts are to be obeyed perfectly, as Jesus says it in the Sermon on the Mount. Penalties are enacted for the least failure to give perfect obedience to those precepts.
And as we have already seen, we have miserably failed to obey God's laws as we pray in the prayer of confession in the book of Common Prayer. Listen to this prayer. Oh Lord. Have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Try that for church growth.
Because some have objected to this two-word phrase, miserable offenders, and they think that when you come to church in this language of miserable, I'm a miserable offender. That shouldn't be changed because it's too heavy, it's too gloomy, it's too severe. Yes. Off-putting, it's not inviting. I come to church and I want to be uplifted and positive and There's nothing wrong with positive thinking.
That's a very good, helpful thing. But what is about this two-phrase? Oh Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders? It just makes people feel bad. And I don't want to, because the church should feel bad.
Listen to what C.S. Lewis said. He argued that if we would see the fatal flaw in each of us, we would not be so offended by calling ourselves miserable offenders. He argued that the problem is that we don't know ourselves very well, and we're uncomfortable with naming our sin because we don't see our sin. Yes, forgiven, but in order to be forgiven, we need to see what needs to be forgiven.
We not only have to see it, we need to feel it. We have disobeyed, I have disobeyed God's precepts. Every day of my life. And therefore, I stand condemned as a miserable offender. Fully accountable to God's laws of precepts and penalties.
which must be satisfied. And here's the good news of the Reformation that we're going to preach at our conference. The good news is that through by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, without any merit of my own. Out of just Pure goodness, grace. God the Father imputes to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ as if I never had sin nor committed sin and as if I have myself accomplished all the obedience and both precepts and penalties that Christ has accomplished for me and all of that is given to me through faith.
That's the good news. Jesus' perfect righteousness is set in opposition to my imperfect righteousness.
So here's the question: What is righteousness? What is this righteousness?
Well, I just told you, God's law has precepts and it has penalties. And the good news is that God the Father sent Christ, who is the ground of our salvation, to fulfill all righteousness. For us. What does that mean? That means he gave perfect obedience to the precepts.
Perfect. He gave perfect obedience to the penalties and he satisfied them perfectly. Not for himself, but for us. God the Father sent Christ didn't live for us, his active obedience. And again in the evangelical church.
As I speak, this comforting doctrine of the active obedience of Christ is being denied and challenged. A pastor from a big even Jaguar Sintanary just blew up the X sphere of social media sphere a couple weeks ago because he gave a whole big lecture on how you should not believe in the active obedience of Christ. It's insane. Yeah. Because there are precepts and penalties, precepts that must be kept perfectly, penalties that must be satisfied perfectly.
You either do that or Christ does it. You choose. Which isn't ground by which you stand before God. Jesus has lived the kind for us the kind of life that we should live but can't and haven't He came to do for us. What we, because of our sinful nature, cannot do.
As our representative, Christ assumed our obligation to perfectly fulfill the precepts of God's law in our place. The culmination of the law, it's the ultimate command, is what? Repent. Repent. This command to repent is actually a law of God that must be fulfilled.
And Jesus himself in Matthew chapter 5, verses 17 through 18 said, Not in the oda. not a dot, which is the smallest letter. And I oughta was a marking dot. Not even that will pass from the Until it is all accomplished. None of it.
So when John the Baptist was calling on everyone to repent. Matthew chapter 3. He was commanding them, he was commanding all those people at the Jordan River. You must fulfill the law of God. You must repent.
You must fulfill this command. But they're not able to. Not a single person, including John the Baptist, at the Jordan River, when he was calling sinners to repent, could do it. They could not do it perfectly. And then Christ came to John.
That is unbelievable. He came to John in the midst of this call to repentance. He came to John not for himself because he wasn't sinful. He was a spotless Lamb of God, John had just said, who takes away the sins of the world. And John looks at him and says, Why are you coming to me to be baptized?
There's nothing for you to repent of. You're not a sinner. And Jesus looks at John, he says, John, permit this. For I must fulfill Oh. righteousness.
Christ admitted to John's baptism. Why? So that the righteous requirement of God's law might be fulfilled for us and in our place and for every single person standing at the Jordan River that day. These people were shocked that he was doing this. He was walking into the baptismal waters of repentance.
in their place. In order that every last righteous requirement of God's law, which includes the command to repent, might be fulfilled for us, so Jesus submitted to John's baptism. And so he identified with himself that day, all those sinners. standing there and with us sitting here today. And in John's baptism, Jesus offers to God.
A perfect repentance. Aren't you grateful for that? His active obedience. Jesus' obedience went beyond just his actions. It encompassed his thoughts and motives.
That's why we pray thought, word, and deed. Listen to Hebrews chapter 10, verses 5 through 9. The author attributes the words of Psalm 40, verses 6 through 8 to Jesus, where Jesus in Psalm 40 says this. I delight to do your will. There's your affections that are perfect.
There's your affections that justify you. I delight to do your will, oh my God. Your law is within my heart. Jesus didn't just desire to do his Father's will, he delighted in doing it. Which, as we're going to see in just a moment when he satisfied the penalty going to the cross, he delighted in that.
His obedience was not a forced compliance like the little kid, like perhaps maybe one of our kids growing up, who, when told by the mother, clean up your room, clean up the kitchen, responds like this, fine, I'll clean up my room, but in my heart, I'm not cleaning up my room. Jesus didn't know Bay like that. Jesus came as a true and obedient human servant. On our behalf. It is Christ's perfect obedience to God's will for us that constitutes our righteousness before God.
Because you cannot get into the eternal kingdom of God just by having your sins forgiven, because that gives you a blank slate. God does not accept a blank slate. He accepts perfect righteousness. God the Father sent Christ to die for us, his passive obedience. Why?
Because, as I said, there's not just precepts. There are penalties. Christ's entire life was one of obedient suffering. His suffering began at the At the moment of his miraculous conception by the Holy Spirit in Mary's womb. And his suffering came to a culmination at the cross.
Listen to what the Apostle Paul says, Philippians 2, verse 8. Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient. You see that? An obedient servant. to the point of death.
Even death on the cross. And if you connect that to Psalm 40, which is Hebrews 10. He delighted. and becoming obedient. To the point of death.
There was nothing in him that was saying, oh, no, I don't want to do this, but okay. I'll help them. How he delighted. His obedience was perfect. It was a perfect satisfaction of the penalty.
Colossians chapter 2 verse 14 Paul says that Christ has canceled out the debt of the canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us. God's law, you must be perfect. It's been canceled out. There's no more certificate of debt in my hand. It says the certificate has been stamped.
Satisfied. Satisfied. My whole life. Satisfying. Why?
Because he kept the precepts and he satisfied the penalties. Satisfied. These decrees are hostile to us. He has taken it out of the way. He has nailed it to the cross.
Satisfied. I have too much to say, so I'll stop there. I'll maybe come back next week, because there's just too much. Let me just skip ahead about 20 minutes. Yeah.
Uh oh. In reply to the psalmist's question. How, if, oh Lord, if you mark iniquities, how? Could we stand? This is what we're going to teach people at the conference.
This is what we teach people here. It's where we teach you all the time. What is the answer? How do we answer? What is the answer?
Ask people when you invite them to come to our conference these two questions. How can you stand before God when He calls you to account, when He calls you to be perfect? Perfect. I'm not sure. Tell him this.
Grayson Lone. Fate alone. Christ alone. It's that simple. And then they go, man, that just seems so simple.
I'm not sure I've heard about that, or I don't know about that. Great. We've got a conference and I want you to come with me for three days to hear all about it. In depth. To have your socks blown off by the best news you could have ever possibly heard in your life.
It's so simple.
Now, as we finish this morning, I want to offer you words of hope and confidence, of what you can expect when you stand before Christ the judge, when he comes to mark the iniquity. What is the answer in response to the psalmist, Lord, if you mark iniquities, who could stand? What is the expectation for us who, by grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone, what is the result? Listen, commendation. Commendation.
The first thing you can expect when you stand before Jesus the judge, Christ the judge, is this. Commendation. Because Jesus is your Savior, it's a good thing that He's also your judge. Commendation, have you ever thought about the wonderful truth that Christ has fully satisfied the law's precepts for you?
So you don't have to perform. That He lived His perfect life in your place and on your behalf. Think about your life this past week. Go there. Look at your thoughts, look at your words, look at your deeds, look at your attitudes.
And hear in Christ, find in Christ this wonderful truth that He has fully satisfied the precepts for you. Have you ever thought about the wonderful truth that Christ has fully satisfied the penalties of the law for you? That he died on the cross in your place and on your behalf, and because of Christ's satisfaction, you can say this. God's justice towards me is satisfied. His justice.
towards me. is satisfied. Because by grace alone, through faith alone, you can have the assurance that Christ alone has fully satisfied God's justice for you, both in the precepts, what is required. and the penalties, what is required for breaking those precepts. It's all Satisfying.
Therefore, you never again have to fear the retributive justice of God, even in those moments when you're painfully aware. of your sin and failures. You can repent. You can confess your sin. You can come back and say, Lord, have mercy upon me.
A most miserable offender. And he does every time. Every time. And so this realization that My daily relationship with God is based on the infinite merit and performance of Christ instead of my own performance. It's very freeing and it's very joyous.
Because of this imputed righteousness. Jesus. Because of Jesus' imputed righteousness, God the Father, like he said to Jesus at the Jordan River, says, this is my beloved Son. and whom I'm well pleased. He's well pleased with you today.
because of Christ. only because of Christ. Because Christ is the ground. That's the commendation that you can expect to receive. Second, vindication.
The final judgment is not a test for the believer. But it's a vindication. Listen carefully to what Paul says. Romans chapter 5, verse 9. Having now.
Say that with me. Having now. Now, now, now, now, now, now.
Now, having now been justified. By his blood, what is that? His death on the cross. We shall be saved. From the wrath of God through him.
There's no doubt, there's no uncertainty that is full of hope with a confident expectation that now and forever, because of his full satisfaction, I have been justified.
Now and forever, and I shall be saved from the wrath that is coming. That's confidence. That's hope. That's a certain expectation of a glorious future. My final salvation is secure now because God the judge now has declared it to be so now.
You've seen the end time verdict. What is justification? It's eschatology, it's end times. It's Christ the judge's end time verdict then given to me now. Justified.
Why? Because the ground, my ground, is Christ. His blood, that is his death on the cross, his obedient death on the cross. I'm forever justified. I'm walking forever in favor with God now and forever.
Vindication.
So when Jesus returns and we stand before him in the answer to the psalmist's question, who can stand? We stand, listen, when you stand before Christ on that day, you'll already be glorified. Why? Because whom he justified, he has what? He's done it.
He's glorified you. We're just waiting. We're just waiting for the final day. The resurrection. The hope of the gospel.
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. And does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. You don't pass back into death. But What can you expect? Listen to this presentation.
Rewards. Presentation. The final judgment. What is the final judgment? It's not an uncertainty, but based upon your affections, the level of your affections, how much you've progressed in holiness.
None of that. What is it? The final judgment isn't only. award ceremony. And everybody's going to stand on the gold metal stand.
Everybody. There's no silver, and there's no bronze. Everybody is at the top. We'll receive Christ's presentation, His reward based on our service, but listen carefully. The service that we've been given hasn't merited anything.
Nothing. His rewards are not given on the basis of what we do, but on the basis of his grace. And so it's God's will to reward our good works both in this life and in the life to come. And as Calvin, quoting Augustine, says, Christ's rewards are simply this: God's crowning his own GIF Listen to this as we finish. Calvin says this, I do not say to the Lord, despise not the work of my hands.
But I do not commend the work of my hands, for I fear lest when you look upon them, you might find more sins than merits. But this only I say. This I ask, this I desire. Despise not the works of your hands. Fee and me, your work.
Not mine. For if you see my works, you will condemn them. But if you see your works, you will crown them. For whatever good works are mine, are from you. Grace alone.
Faith alone. Christ Oh no. Based on the testimony of scripture. Scripture as our final authority. Oh.
to the glory of God. Oh no. To him be the glory in the church now and forever. Amen. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this.
Incredible gift. don't know how to respond adequately, so we just say thank you. We come in just a moment to receive the Eucharist, which is Thanksgiving. This is how we express our gratitude.
So help us to come. It was needy. bagging centers. miserable offenders. Looking outside of ourselves and our righteousness to Christ by grace through faith.
Oh well. Have mercy upon us. and comfort our hearts. As the author of Hebrew says, it is good. for our hearts to be strengthened.
By grave. It is good. And we thank you. In Jesus' name. Amen.
John Fawnville sends his thanks for listening today. And before we wrap up, can I tell you about an encouraging book you might want to get soon? It's called Hope and Holiness: How the Gospel Enables and Empowers Sexual Purity. You're not alone if you've tried to conquer sexual temptations and tried all the methods available. only to find yourself feeling defeated again.
This book may be just what you're looking for. With his shepherding heart, John shows that the gospel, not practical steps or more self-discipline, is God's provision for the power to live a life of sexual purity. and it's available to every Christian. What I like is the book is available in three convenient ways. paperback, audiobook, or Kindle.
The links are in our podcast descriptions or check out. Just search for Hope and Holiness by John Fonville on Amazon. to get a copy for you and it's a wonderful book to go through with a small group. Him We Proclaim is a ministry of Paramount Church in Jacksonville, Florida. You can find us at Paramountchurch.com.
We'll talk again soon.
