In this sermon, the speaker begins by reading the well-known verses from Matthew 28:18-20, known as the Great Commission. He emphasizes the importance of making disciples and calling people to express the Lordship of Jesus Christ in every area of life. The speaker highlights the need for disciplined time in studying God's Word and encourages students to meet with God through Bible study. He also mentions the importance of discipline and commitment in being soldiers of Jesus Christ. The sermon concludes with an example of a group of doctors in Brazil who serve Jesus Christ in their joint practice.

And may I express in just a word how grateful we are to see such a fine group of congregation on this beautiful, warm, summer Sunday evening here in the People's Church. It's a delight to see you here tonight. Now in this morning service, we were greatly blessed by Mr. Tyson and Mr. Stewart, and they're going to come now to bring us their first package of numbers and songs. Stewart and Tyson. I just wanted to say something. We sing a lot. We don't usually talk. I'd just like to tell you how we got into doing what we're doing. A couple of years ago, if you'd told either one of us that we might be doing this, I'm sure we would have told you we're crazy, because we had no plans on doing this at all. Now to make a long story short, we both got somehow maneuvered down to Fort Lauderdale, where we were converted at the Coral Ridge Church. And since that time, we've been out on a faith ministry. We've been out just, oh, about a year. And we've made a tour around the United States, and this is really our first trip to Canada. And we're very happy about it. In fact, we'll be back next year. But I just wanted to tell you what we're doing and why we're here. I'd like to sing a song for you. I guess I'll use this if I can get it untangled. I'd like to sing a song. It's called Amazing Grace. Amazing grace. That was just great. Thank you very much. They'll be back in just a few minutes for their second package of numbers and songs tonight. How delighted we are to have them. Just about once a year, we have, is it Haled and Wilder? And I think they've out Haled and Wilder Haled and Wildered tonight. But it's a real joy to have them for the first time here in the People's Church. And I'm delighted to hear that they're coming back again. All right. Now, we've all heard for many, many years, I'm sure, the ministry of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, how it's extended around the world, what God has done through the ministry of InterVarsity. And here to introduce our special speaker to give a worldwide report tonight is the Canadian General Director of IVCF, Reverend Donald MacLeod. I'm going to ask him to come now to introduce the speaker, Dr. Donald MacLeod. I don't know if you're a doctor or not, but you just got one. It's my privilege tonight to introduce a man whom God is using mightily these days as the ministry of the gospel is extended throughout, I guess, over 100 countries through the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. And some of you young people will be seeing him immediately after Christmas on the platform at Urbana. And you will be aware that every year when there is an offering at Urbana, we raise money for IFES, the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. You might be interested to know how Chua Wee Han became involved in student ministry because I think it's an exciting story. He comes from a prominent business family in the city of Singapore in Southeast Asia. He went to England to study estate planning. And God laid his hands on him in a mighty way. And he received an explicit call to Christian service. For three years, he studied at London Bible College. And during that time, he established works that have continued to grow throughout the United Kingdom among expatriate Chinese. And he proved his gift as a sole winner in that environment. And God has used that work, especially in the city of Birmingham, over the years. From London Bible College, he became the Associate General Secretary of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, responsible for the eight countries in Southeast Asia, out of Singapore. Today at the university in Singapore, he'll tell you, we have almost 1,000 students involved in a university of 6,000 committed Christians dynamically involved in evangelism and outreach. In 1971, he succeeded C. Stacey Wood as the General Director, the General Secretary of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. He's based in London. He's been with us here in Canada. We're one of the 63 member movements of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. He's been with us these last 10 days. He flies home to England tomorrow. It's my privilege to introduce you to him tonight. And trust that you will pray with us that God will continue to work through his servants as he has already. Thank you, Don, for those kind words of introduction. It's a joy personally for me to be here this evening and to be able to share with you some stories, reports of what God is doing in the world of students. I'd like to begin by reading some very well-known verses and words from the Lord Jesus from Matthew 28, verse 18 through 20. Here we have the account of the missionary mandate, the Great Commission. And Jesus came and said to his disciples, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always to the close of the age. In the IFES, we seek to obey the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. It's our supreme desire to see the Lord Jesus Christ presented in all his power and glory in every campus of the world. And right now, pooling the resources of our 64 national movements, we seek to pioneer Christian fellowships throughout the world. And together we are involved in pioneering Christian fellowships in the universities of over 30 different nations. Now in order to serve the Lord Jesus, all our students are taught to have a grasp of him as the risen conquering Lord. Here the Lord Jesus introduces himself by saying, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. This sense of the Lord's authority propelled and motivated us to start work in Eastern Europe. I remember way back in 1969, we received a letter from a student who was then studying in Prague in Czechoslovakia. He said, don't you think IFES friends and leaders, it's time to begin work in Eastern Europe. If we look at the situation from purely a human angle, we might say, but missionaries are not allowed in communist countries. That would be true. But when we realized afresh that God is in full control, that Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we wrote back to this friend and said, right, we'll begin. How do we start? Who should we invite to work among students? And this man had the audacity to write back and said, try me. So we invited him to be our traveling secretary. We co-named him Daniel. That's not his real name, but because he goes into lion's den situations so often, he's called Daniel. Now, Daniel fell in love. I believe that this is a sovereign act of God because he fell in love with a Hungarian girl. And so together they could travel in a very marvelous way in all the university centers of Eastern Europe. And God has used that couple to encourage students to gather together for Bible studies. Non-Christians have been converted. These groups have no labels. They're not called intervarsity because outside movement would not be permitted in some of these totalitarian states. But Daniel and his wife have been able to sow the vision of disciple-making to these Eastern European students. I've met some of them. It's marvelous to see how several of them have become Christians through the ministries of these groups. It's the aim of the IFES to encourage students themselves to take the initiative in witnessing to others. And today, about seven years later, there are now 45 Bible study groups that meet regularly for prayer for Bible study in Eastern Europe. And groups of committed young people in those countries were alive, burning with a passion to make Jesus Christ known to their contemporaries. Some suffered persecution, but nevertheless, they counted it a joy and a privilege to witness for the risen Lord. It's because of their vision of Christ as the reigning Lord, the Lord of Commission, that's why they could do this. The Great Commission bids us to make disciples of all nations. John McLeod had mentioned the Urbana Missionary Convention. Once in three years, students from North America and joined by their fellow students from other parts of the world would gather in the University of Urbana to see how the Great Commission applies to them. And through the years, hundreds and hundreds of men and women from intervarsity in Canada, in the States, in Britain, in some of our German and Scandinavian movements, have gone up as church planters, as pioneer evangelists, and as those who would build up God's people and God's church. One of the very exciting movements in our age, the movement of the Spirit of God, is the fact that many Asians, Latin Americans, and Africans are now serving the Lord Jesus as cross-cultural missionaries. Four months ago, we had a big missionary convention, the first ever in Latin America. Six hundred students gathered in Curitiba in Brazil to consider how they can obey the Great Commission. Some of these students and graduates are preparing themselves to work in Portuguese-speaking Africa. Others have banded together and say, we are neglecting some of the tribal people in Brazil, and they have banded together to serve Jesus Christ in different ways. For example, there are four doctors who have a joint practice in a certain town in Brazil. They've come together, and they would pool their resources, their wealth, and their time to do missionary work among a neglected group in Brazil. And they believe that they are obeying and fulfilling part of the Great Commission. In a few days' time, a Filipino girl will be leaving Manila to fly to Mexico City. In Mexico City, there are over half a million high school students who are just about to enter university. But there is no evangelistic work done among this strategic group. There is a university in the varsity chapter in Mexico City, but nothing among high school students. And this girl, Lenny Sison, is backed in prayer and in giving by Japanese students, by Filipino students, and more recently by some ISTF members in Canada. Together, they're going to pray and support this girl. And we are thankful for this sense of missionary commitment to all nations. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ directs his disciples to make disciples. That means to call men and women to own and express the Lordship of Jesus Christ in every area of life. To do this, we encourage our students to have disciplined time, studying God's Word day by day. And one of the things which we stress in IFES groups throughout the world is the need to understand, to obey, and to apply God's Word to their lives. We are a Bible movement, and students are asked repeatedly to meet with God in the study of his Word. They are taught to camp, to cell groups, to conferences, how to grapple with God's Word. But, as most of us know, the most important thing is the willingness to study it daily and to obey in every area of life. Now, one of the oldest Christian fellowships that's linked with the IFES is a group, the Christian Union, at Cambridge University. In the early days of the Christian fellowship, the Cambridge students used to nickname our members as men and women of the Bible and of the alarm clock. Now, why would they call men of the Bible and of the alarm clock? Well, the first phrase is obvious, they love God's Word, they read it. What of the alarm clock? Well, most of these students used to own huge Smith alarm clocks, not manufactured by your founder, but by another Smith. And these clocks were timed in such a way that people could get up in the morning to meet with God, day by day. There was a student, an engineering student, who found it very difficult to get up early in the morning, particularly on a cold winter morning. Like many of us, he would prefer to lie in under his warm quilt and blanket. So he determined that he would really get up to seek God's face and to meet with the Lord in the study of His Word. He went to a fishing tackle shop and he bought four fish hooks and a long piece of nylon string, fishing tackle. He got back to his room, he fixed the four hooks in the four corners of his quilts and blankets, tied them on to these nylon guts or fishing tackle. And he also had a pulley, which is suspended on top of the ceiling. And all these four strands would pass through the pulley and finally are synchronized on the huge knob of the large Smith alarm clock. And at 6.30 or 7, when the alarm clock rings and this friend doesn't get up, the blankets and the quilts would rise. And smothered by the cold of the English winter, he would get up, wash his face, get on his knees to meet with God. Now we are trying to help our students throughout the world to be disciplined. There's so much ill-discipline around in the world today, particularly amongst young people. And we want them to be soldiers of Jesus Christ, battling, fighting for Him. And the only way is to be committed Christians. In my own university in Singapore, we have over 700 members in our group. And you know they meet together every week for Bible study and evangelism. And they commit themselves not only to the Lord, but to one another. And they clearly say that unless they were dying or were suffering from some fatal disease, they would meet together. And because of such commitment, God has blessed their witness and the work is growing. In Hong Kong, it's a very exciting adventure. This is a magazine which is aimed at high school young people. And this magazine called Breakthrough addresses the unchurched teenager and young people. 25,000 copies are produced every month by a group of young graduates. And these magazines are sold not in Christian bookstores, but in the marketplace, in the side streets, in the newsstands. Where alongside magazines on sports, on television or film, or even pornography, people, young people in Hong Kong could read the good news of Jesus Christ. And those who are interested to find out more, to seek the Lord Jesus, could meet with a staff worker, a full-time worker, who in turn would seek to introduce them to Jesus Christ. Now this work has become so well known that a commercial radio station in Hong Kong had invited the editors and given them a free hour each week to answer questions from the restless seeking youth of Hong Kong. Now all these ventures are done by Chinese young Christians because they are burdened to make disciples of all nations to obey Christ's word. Then we seek to make disciples by producing good, solid books. In Latin America, we have a press called Editiones Certeza, and we produce Bible study materials and commentaries. You've read and seen books published by InterVarsity Press. Again, it is our desire to make Jesus Christ known and to disciple people through good, wholesome literature. And finally, I'd like to mention that one thing which God has been showing us in the IFES movement is a sense of total support, people working together. We enlist the help of missionaries from other societies. We ask churches to pray for us. We ask you at People's Church to really support us in prayer because this is God's work that's to be done on our knees. We are facing problems too. For example, we have a team of workers who are still stranded in Beirut in Lebanon, caught in the infighting, and yet rejoicing because they can still serve the Lord amidst gunfire and the sounds of battle in the streets. And then again, we call upon people, graduates, to work in places like the Middle East. You know that some of these all-rich countries are closing their doors to Christian missionaries. They're asking the missionaries to close their schools and hospitals. The front door seems to be closed to Christian missionary service. But I don't believe in the theology of closed doors. For every closed front door, there are lots of open back doors and side windows. True enough, because these governments are calling professional people to be lecturers, engineers, doctors. And we are recruiting these people to ask them to go in, to give us a hand, to start work in some of these countries. Today, as I look at one of our fastest-growing movements in Africa, in Uganda, in spite of President Idi Amin's tantrums, this group is flourishing and growing, and people are converted every week. And how did this group begin? Because several lecturers from Germany and Britain had the vision to go there, to gather students together, and to start a permanent fellowship where nationals could take over. And finally, there is a great challenge to all of us here. If we go and make disciples, lead others to own and love the Lord Jesus, He has given us a gracious promise. He says, No, I am with you always, to the close of the age. The presence of the Lord Jesus transforms, the presence of the Lord Jesus enriches, and gives us the guts, the courage to go forth in the midst of receptivity, in the midst of resistance, to preach and proclaim His gospel of unchanging concern and love for mankind. So we pray that you and many, many others will support us, back us up, that many students will come to know and love the Lord Jesus through our united ministry. Amen. Thank you, Mr. Choa. I'm just wondering tonight how many, or are there any in the service tonight, who have been influenced spiritually, either directly or indirectly, by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship? Would you just raise your hand? Well, look at that, a great number of our people here tonight. This is just a sample of what God is doing, and we're delighted to hear this great worldwide report. Now we have just a few announcements before Ian and Tyson come back for their second package of numbers and songs. First of all, we want to remind you that this Tuesday night at 8 p.m., we will be having a sacred concert here in the church, and heading that singing will be Sherman Andrus, the well-known singer of the Imperial Quartet. And we want you to join us for a great time of blessing. To hear him is to be blessed. And then next Sunday, next Sunday, by the way, do you know what next Sunday is? Anybody remember? Well, if I was in the United States, it would be Fireworks Day. Now I'm not in the United States, but it happens to be their 200th anniversary next Sunday. And here to celebrate that is none other than the firecracker himself, Don Looney. Don Looney is going to be here to help us celebrate America's 200th birthday. No, seriously. Don Looney is going to be here. He's going to be at the ranch next week, or is it this week? But regardless, he's going to be taking the pulpit both at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Sunday, and he'll be speaking and, of course, what tremendous appeal he has to young people and older folks alike. You'll not want to miss Don Looney next week. And then, actually, back to back, in my opinion, we have the two of the finest youth speakers on the North America continent because the week from Tuesday we're having none other than Bill McKee. Bill McKee has been greatly blessed of God as a missionary and a youth speaker. We've had him here in the people's church many times, and he returns after being absent from us for several years. And that's, of course, on the Tuesday summer night Bible conference. Just very quickly, on the weeks that lie ahead for the weeks of July, all of our brochures have been given out in regard to the summer Bible conference, but every Tuesday night there is some special speaker or singer or group of singers to be with us throughout the entire summertime. On July 13th, that's two weeks from Tuesday, we're having the Continentals with us. The Continentals are a group of contemporary college-age musicians, and they'll be singing and bringing a musical concert at that time. There are some 35 to 40 of them, and we have to put them up in the homes throughout our congregation, and we had quite a number of people respond, willing to help us to put these young college-age students in their homes overnight and give them breakfast the next morning. At the close of the service tonight, as you will see Mr. Whittaker, Keith Whittaker, on the right as you go out. Is that right, Keith? Please do that, and I know they'll be delighted to have you volunteer to help us out in this regard. On July 20th, Tuesday evening at 8 p.m., Jack Hiles will be ministering to us, the pastor of the largest church in the world, as far as we know. A church that's been averaging 23,000 every Sunday the last few weeks, and it's a real delight and privilege to have him with us. And then on July 27th, we'll be seeing Bob Harrington's brand-new film. It's never been shown yet. This will be the premier showing for Canada, entitled A Day with Harrington. A Day with Harrington, and I'm sure that's one you'll not want to miss. And then I want to draw your attention tonight, as you go out, as some of you have been giving a great deal of thought, and that is to the investment agreement we want you to think about in regard to the coming school and Sunday school building that we're building out here just east of us. As you came in tonight, I'm sure you've noticed the progress that is being made, and the builders assure us that they're ahead of schedule, and all of our bills are going to come due one of these days, and we're going to have to take care of the contractor and the builder. So we're offering this plan for our people here in the People's Church, or if you're outside the People's Church and are interested, either in the Christian Day School or the furtherance of Christian education. Pick up one of these folders tonight as you go out. Some of us, as regular attendants here, have been thinking about this and thinking about it. Some of you are going to be away now, coming up the next few days, or perhaps weeks. And you've said to your wife or to yourself, well, now, I'm going to do something about that. Well, now is the time to do it. Please do not leave until you make that commitment and to get it in writing and get it into us, because we need it now. We need it right away so that the building may be built and paid for. But this is offering it as a vestment to use the money that God has given to you to put it to work for God. And I can think of no other way of investing money. There is a substantial return of 8 percent, I believe, on the investment. And, of course, that will be paid for you depending upon how you wish it to be done. But keep that in mind, pray seriously about it, and ask the Lord what he would have you to do in regard to the deposit agreement we have drawn up for the congregation here in the People's Church. Now Terry Tyson and Joe Stewart come back for their second package of numbers and songs. I'd like to do a fun song for you. It's a spiritual. It's called Joshua Fit the Battle. Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho Joshua fit the battle of Jericho and the walls come tumbling down You may talk about your king of Gideon, you may talk about your man of toil But there's none like good old Joshua and the battle of Jericho Up to the walls of Jericho he marched with spear in hand Go below them ram horns, Joshua cried, cause the battle lamb in my hand Then the lamb, ram, sheep horns begin to blow, the trumpet begin to sound Joshua commanded the children to shout and the walls come tumbling down, that's more Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, Jericho, Jericho Joshua fit the battle of Jericho and the walls come tumbling down I'd like to do another spiritual for you. This is called Let Us Break Bread Together. Let us break bread together on our knees Break bread together on my face to the right Oh, together we fall Let us break it for you Well, I have to say, I think that we've seen some of the finest accompanists we've come across right here in this church. I'd like to say that this last song was written by Philip Young. He happens to be the other member of this group that you never see. He's a Baptist from North Carolina. We'd like to do this song tonight. It's been out maybe six months now. He wrote it for us. It's called I Will Sing the Wondrous Story. I will sing the wondrous story, Lord, the days of joy Oh, I will sing the wondrous story, Lord, the days of joy Give me the glory and the praise. Amen. Shall we be seated? If you have your Bibles with you tonight, Paul's Epistles of the Romans, Paul's Epistles of the Romans, the third chapter. I want to look at one or two verses to commence with and then to go on to others that I still must deal with tonight. In the third chapter of Romans, the ninth verse, the very last statement in the verse, you have these words, They are all under sin. They are all under sin. Then in the next verse, the tenth verse, you have these words, There is none righteous, no, not one. If there's anyone here tonight in this congregation unsaved who thinks that he or she is righteous, I want to leave this verse with you. I want you to think about it. Meditate on it. For this is what God says to his servant, the Apostle Paul. There is none righteous, no, not one. Now go on to the nineteenth verse. And this is what the Apostle Paul has to say in the nineteenth verse of the third chapter. Now we know, he's not guessing, he's not hoping, he's not thinking, but he knows. Now we know that whatsoever things the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law. Of course it doesn't apply to anyone else. It only applies to those who are under the law. The law was never given to the Gentile nations of the world. I think you and I should realize that fact. The law was only given to Israel, never to the Gentiles. There isn't any suggestion anywhere in the Bible that the law was given to the Gentiles of the world. The law was only given to one nation. That one nation was Israel. In the first two chapters of Romans, Paul makes it very, very clear that every Gentile is under condemnation. Every Gentile is a sinner. Every Gentile is lost. Then when he comes to the third chapter of Romans, he makes it just as clear that every Jew is under condemnation. That every Jew is lost. Apart from accepting God's program for his or for her salvation. Now we know that whatever things the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law. It doesn't apply to anybody else. It only applies to those who are under the law, to whom the law was given. And you and I know that the law was given to Israel. And every mouth may be stopped. And all the world, all the world may become guilty before God. You see, Paul wants to bring the entire world in as guilty. He spends the first two chapters of this book proving that the Gentiles are guilty. That they stand before God guilty. Now in this chapter, he brings the Jews, his own people in as guilty. That they too stand before God as guilty. In spite of the fact that the law was given to them. The only nation ever to receive the law. It was given to Israel. And in spite of that fact, Paul makes it perfectly clear and plain. That the Jews as well as the Gentiles are guilty in the sight of God. Every mouth may be stopped. And all the world, Jew and Gentile alike, may become guilty before God. Therefore, here is one of Paul's therefores. Every time Paul uses the word therefore, he's referring to what he has just said. And all you have to do is to go back to the preceding verses. To realize that Paul is referring to the statements he has just made. For after making these statements, then he comes to us with this word in the 20th verse. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. Jew, Gentile, everyone on the face of the earth. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, by obeying the law, the Jewish law. There shall no flesh be justified. The word justified means accounted righteous. You and I would say saved. By the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be saved. There shall no flesh be accounted righteous. There shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. Now when you look in a mirror, if your face happens to be somewhat dirty, you can see the dirt on your face reflected in the mirror. But you would never dream of using the mirror to wash your face. That would never dawn upon you. Use the mirror to show you what kind of a face you have, whether it's clean or whether it's dirty. But you never use the mirror to wash it. Now the law was given to show the Jews that they were sinners. But the law was never given to remedy their condition. To cure them of their sinfulness. To take away their sin. Therefore, in spite of the fact that the Jews may have attempted to keep the law, as many of them did, that keeping of the law did not make them righteous in the sight of God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. The law lets the Jew know his condition in the sight of God. It lets him realize and makes him to realize that he's a sinner. But the law makes no attempt to cleanse him from his sin. No attempt to remedy his condition. All it does is to make it clear to him and plain to him that he's a sinner. And when you read the word of God, the one thing God's word will do, will be to cause you to know that in God's sight, you too are a sinner. The law was never given to cure man of his sin. It was given to show him that he was and is a sinner. Then Paul goes on in verse 21, But now, but now, now he's going to say something different, something new. Something now has happened. Something has taken place. Jesus Christ has died. The Son of God has come into the world. Our Lord has been crucified. And so now Paul breaks in and he says, But now, in view of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, in view of his crucifixion, but now the righteousness of God. What does that mean? The righteousness demanded by God. The standard of righteousness demanded by God for each and every individual. But now, the righteousness of God, apart from the law, altogether apart from the law, the Jews never thought of such a thing. Paul was the one who made it clear that apart from the law, there is no possible hope for the Jew because he must be made to know that he's a sinner in the sight of God. But now, the righteousness of God apart from the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ or in Jesus Christ. Now, there is a righteousness demanded by God of every man and every woman. And unless you and I attain that righteousness, we'll never be saved. The righteousness demanded by God must be realized by man. And unless man realizes in experience the righteousness of God, there's no hope for him. Even the righteousness of God, which is by the faith of Jesus Christ, and only by faith in Christ, only by faith in Jesus Christ, can man attain to God's righteousness and be acceptable by God. Even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe. No works now. No law now. Only faith. Those who believe. And now Paul ushers in this new era, the era of faith, the era of belief, in order to be right with God and to obtain God's righteousness, even faith in Jesus Christ, upon all them that believe. And the question arises, have you and I believed? Today we would use the word received. Have you and I received the Lord Jesus Christ as our own personal Savior? If we haven't, then we do not have the righteousness demanded by God. And there's no hope for us. Our only hope is in God's righteousness, which you and I must obtain, but which we cannot obtain by works. We cannot obtain it by means of religion or churchgoing. We can only obtain it by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who gave his life on Calvary's cross, that we might be saved. Have you ever had that experience? Have you ever accepted him? Have you ever received him? Have you ever obtained the righteousness that God demands? You have none of your own. Your own righteousness, your own goodness will never get you to heaven. My righteousness will never get me to heaven. I've got to obtain God's righteousness, and I can't get it by works, and I can't get it by religion. I can only get it by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Have I ever had that experience? Now notice the last part of verse 22. It ought not to be the last part. It should be the first part of the next verse. But those who divided the Bible into verses only recently put this statement in as the last part of verse 22. Let me read it now, and let me add verse 23, to which it belongs. There is no difference for all that sin. That's the way it should read. There is no difference for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But you say, Dr. Smith, there is a difference. Some men are murderers. Some men steal. Some men blaspheme. Others just covet or lie. There is a difference. Let me make this purposely clear and purposely plain. There is a difference in degree. There is a difference in degree. All sins are not the same sins. Some sins are heinous and most grievous. Other sins are not so heinous and not so grievous. There is a difference in sin so far as degree is concerned. There are great sins, humanly speaking, and little sins. A difference in degree. But there is no difference in the fact of sin. The fact of sin remains universal and is the same the world over. The fact that you and I have sinned, it's the same with each and every one of us. Whether our sins are great or small, whether or not there is a difference in the degree of sin, there is no difference in the fact of sin. The fact remains that we have sinned and that therefore we're guilty in the sight of God. Now, you may make very, very little of your sin. It may not seem a great sin to you. And that may be true because there is a difference in the degree of sin. But when it comes to the fact of sin, there is no difference. God says here, For there is no difference, for all have sinned. All have sinned. Old and young, men and women, children who have come to the age of accountability. All have sinned. Every one in the sight of God. There is no difference so far as the fact of sin is concerned. All have sinned and come short of the glory or the standard of God. Now, God has a standard. God demands that you and I reach up to that standard. And God will never be satisfied until we have reached the standard that he himself has established. A standard for each and every one of us to reach. Not one of us has ever reached that standard. We have fallen short. We have never yet attained to the standard to which God wants us to attain. That's something you and I must know. And that's something we should understand. We have not reached God's standard. And it says here very, very clearly, All have sinned and come short of the standard or the glory of God. I don't know whether it's so or not. But suppose there's a deafness height that a man must be before he can go on the Toronto police force. And suppose that height is six feet. And suppose the law is that no man can become a policeman in Toronto until he is at least six feet in height. Can you imagine men applying for the position? Here is one who says, Well, I have a chance. I'm a tall man. I'm five foot ten. Therefore I stand a chance. And he applies. And he's measured. And he's five foot ten. That means that he's two inches short. And he's rejected. He set aside. Here comes another man. He says, I have a better chance. I stand five foot ten and a half. I know this first man has been rejected. But I'm a little taller. And I've applied. And so he applies for the position. He's measured. Five foot ten and a half. Rejected. He's not six feet. Here comes a third man. He's five foot eleven. He thinks he has a chance. He's measured. He's tried. He too must set aside. Because he's one inch short. He's only five foot eleven. And then here is one, five foot eleven and a half. And with real encouragement, he goes forward and he measures. And it's found that he's just five foot eleven and a half. And he too must take his place with the others who have been rejected. He is not six foot. Now all these men were tall men. One was five foot ten inches tall. Another was five foot ten and a half. Another five foot eleven. Another five foot eleven and a half. But every man was rejected. Because the law was that he must be six feet in height or else he could not be accepted as a policeman in the city of Toronto. All of them measured and all of them rejected. My friends, you may measure yourself by others. You may stand up to the measurement of God. And if God demands that you stand six foot in height and you're only five foot eleven and a half or five foot eleven and three quarters, you're rejected. God cannot accept you. Because you must be six feet in height. That's the law. That's the rule. And if that should be so in your connection and in connection with salvation, you would not have reached the goal. You would have fallen short. Now that's what the Apostle Paul says here in this verse. He says, for there is no difference. I know some of you are very, very good. And I know that some of you are bad. Not very bad, but bad. The fact of the matter is you fall short of the standards decreed by God. For there is no difference. All have sin. And that little word of all with three letters describes it perfectly. Isaiah uses it in the 53rd chapter in the 6th verse where he says, all have sinned. All have sinned. All we like sheep, he puts it. All we like sheep have gone astray. And the Apostle Paul uses the same expression. All have sinned and come short of the glory or the standard of God. So, my friends, there's no use measuring yourself by others or by any standard. God has decreed that you and I must reach his standard. And unless we reach his standard, if we fall short, if we fail to reach that standard, we're lost. And there's absolutely no hope for us. Paul makes it perfectly clear that all have sinned. Now we come to the remedy, verse 24. Being justified, accounted righteous, saved, being justified freely. What's the meaning of the word freely? Well, back in John's gospel, you have the word. For Jesus says, they hated me without a cause. And the word in the Greek, for the word without a cause, is the word used here and translated freely. Exactly the same word. When it was used by Jesus, it was translated without a cause. They hated me without a cause. No reason for their hatred. When Paul uses the word, he uses the same Greek word, but he translates it freely. And here it is, being justified without a cause. No cause for our justification. Why should God justify us? Why should God have mercy upon us? Why should God forgive us? He's not going to forgive the angels. They sinned. And for some reason, God is not going to forgive them. He's not going to forgive Satan. Satan sinned. One of the highest of all the angels. And God is never going to forgive him. Why not? But when it comes to man, Paul says, being justified, being saved freely without any cause, without any reason in us. No reason that God should save us by his grace. The reason is with God, not with man. And it's only because of the grace of God, the unmerited favor of God, that you and I can be saved. Being justified, saved, accounted righteous, freely, without a cause, without any reason, by his grace, his unmerited favor, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. That's why we're saved. Because he redeemed us. What's the meaning of the word redemption? The best explanation and the best illustration is that of a slave. Here is a slave in the slave market. And a man comes along and bids for him. And bids high enough to get him. And now the slave becomes this man's property. He has been bought. But he is still in the slave market, even though he is now the slave of another man, the man who purchased him, the man who bought him. That is exactly the situation with you and with me. We are in the slave market of sin. Jesus Christ comes along, and Jesus Christ pays the price of our sin in his own body on the tree. And when we are willing to own him as master and lord, willing to become his property, he buys us. And the price he pays is his blood, the blood that he shed on Calvary's cross. And with that blood, he buys us in the slave market. But redemption means more than that. He doesn't only buy us in the slave market, but he takes us out of the slave market so that we can never again be sold. That's what Jesus does for us when he saves us. He buys us with his own blood. Then he takes us out of the slave market so that we can never be put up for sale again. But that isn't all. There's a third thing he does. After he buys us, after he gets us out of the slave market, then he sets us free. And from that moment, we are no longer slaves. We are free men and free women. We can never again be put up for sale. We're bought in the slave market of sin. We're taken out of that slave market of sin. And then we're released. Then we're set free. Then the shackles are broken. The chains are thrown off. And we're free men and women and can never again be in bondage. What a salvation! What a salvation! God's salvation for you and for me through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation. Another big word, propitiation. What's it mean? It means the mercy seat. In the Old Testament scriptures, it's called a mercy seat. What's a mercy seat? A place where man and God meet. A place where you and God meet each other. That place is called a mercy seat. And Jesus Christ becomes our mercy seat for we meet in Christ. The propitiation through faith in his blood. The only way we ever can be saved is by exercising faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that have passed through the forbearance of God. Now why doesn't God brought out the race? Why didn't he brought out the Old Testament Israelites? How was it that he had mercy upon them? It wasn't their sacrifices. Their sacrifices typified the sacrifice that was to be made by Jesus Christ. God did not forgive an Israelite because he made a sacrifice. God forgave him and had mercy upon him because God looked forward to the sacrifice that was to be made on Calvary's cross by his only begotten son hundreds of years later in many cases. A sacrifice typified by the animal sacrifices offered by the Jews on their altars. And that's exactly what happened. God forgave them in view of the sacrifice of his son who was to be offered on Calvary's cross to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him who believeth in Jesus. How can God be just? How can God be the justifier? Because you and I believe in Jesus, we see Jesus as our Savior. And that satisfies God. Where is boasting then? It is excluded by what law? Of works? Notice how Paul strikes at works so far as salvation is concerned. Every opportunity he gets. Of works? Nay. No, but by the law of faith. No salvation by works. Salvation alone is by faith and by faith alone. And yet there are thousands, tens of thousands all over the world who belong to the Christian church who are depending today upon their works and the kind of a life they live for salvation. And Paul takes time in his different epistles to make it clear that salvation is not by works but by faith. And he summarizes it in the 28th verse. Therefore, here's another of Paul's therefores referring to what is preceded. Therefore, we conclude, a man is justified by faith apart from without the deeds of the law. Now the Jews have never seen that. The unsaved Jews do not realize that fact. They still depend upon their works. They still depend upon the law of Moses. God is through with that law. God is finished with that law. That law has been cast aside and is of no value today so far as salvation is concerned. And yet men still believe that if they live a certain kind of life and perform certain good deeds, they'll be saved. Paul says, no, away with the law so far as salvation is concerned. It's not for salvation. That's not its purpose. It's to reveal man's sin, let him know that man is a sinner, but it's not to cleanse him from his sin. Man is forgiven as he puts his trust in Jesus Christ and is saved by faith. Now in the next chapter he mentions two men, Abraham and David. Abraham lived before the law was given. How is he saved? The same way you and I are. Notice verse 3 in the fourth chapter. Abraham believed God. Abraham believed God. And it was counted or reckoned unto him for righteousness, for salvation. You and I are saved as Abraham was saved by receiving Jesus Christ, by believing God. And it's counted for righteousness. David lived under the law. And this is what it says about David in verse 6. God imputeth, or bestoweth, or reckoneth. God imputeth righteousness, or salvation.