Tonight, we consider Article 23 of the Belgic Confession, found on page 80 in the back of the Psalter Hymnal. It has the title, Wherein Our Justification Before God Consists. We want to read together from two portions of Scripture, Zechariah 3, and then from Romans 3, verses 9-26. Zechariah chapter 3 as we give our attention to the reading of God's Word. Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, The Lord rebuke you, Satan. The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you. Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire? Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, Take off his filthy clothes. Then he said to Joshua, See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you. Then I said, Put a clean turban on his head. So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him while the angel of the Lord stood by. The angel of the Lord gave this charge to Joshua. This is what the Lord Almighty says. If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts and I will give you a place among these standing here. Listen, O high priest Joshua and your associates seated before you who are men symbolic of things to come. I am going to bring my servant the branch. See the stone I have set in front of Joshua? There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it, says the Lord Almighty, and I will remove the sin or this land in a single day. In that day, each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree, declares the Lord Almighty. And we turn to Romans chapter 3, a familiar portion. We've read this on occasion, but again, a fitting reminder as we consider the justification. Romans 3, beginning at verse 9 through 26. What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all. We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written, there is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away. They have together become worthless. There is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves. Their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Ruin and misery mark their ways. And the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law. Rather, through the law, we become conscious of sin. But now righteousness from God apart from law has been made known to which the law and the prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. He did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have considered together, in fact, just a couple of weeks ago, I think in the previous article, we considered together what God's Word teaches us about the gift of faith. That faith is knowing what the Bible, what God's Word, the Bible says. It is believing that what it says is true. And then faith is also trusting that it's true for me too. And the catechism, the Heidelberg Catechism in answer 21, the answer to the question, what is true faith, explains what it is that I, as a believer, what it is that I trust is for me too. As the answer says, I have had my sins forgiven, have been made forever right with God, and have been granted salvation. I believe, I have faith, by God's grace, that I am justified before God, that I stand in a right relationship before God, that I have been made forever right with God. And you remember, I trust, that that's the most important question all people must ask. How can I stand before God as righteous? How can I be right with God? And we know, of course, that the Bible teaches justification by grace alone through faith alone on account of Jesus Christ. alone. But what exactly does that mean? In a sense, it means that we go from me too to not me. By faith, those truths we mentioned just a moment ago are for me too. But when it comes to accomplishing or securing those things, I must say, not me. I did not accomplish. I don't secure those blessings. The Bible teaches that there is only one way to be justified, to stand as righteous before God, and that way is outside, we might say, way outside of me and of course that's so different from our human experience isn't it in this life success depends on what we do and on how we see ourselves how we evaluate ourselves and as well on how others see or evaluate us whether whether it's job evaluations or report cards or athletic statistics or even an earthly court of law judgment depends on what we do and how our peers our parents, our teachers, our classmates, a jury in a court of law, how our peers perceive what we do. And the truth is, we like to take the credit when things go right, when things go well, don't we? We like to be applauded. We like to be patted on the back and hear the words, well done. But we don't like so much to take the blame for things when they go wrong, when they go bad. Maybe you remember the family circus cartoon that shows all kinds of mishaps in and around the house, lamps tipped over, muddy footprints on the kitchen floor, a glass of milk spilled on the carpet, and flowers pulled out of the flower garden. And when mom or dad was trying to find out whodunit, all the kids said, not me, not me. And then there was that outline of the invisible person, that extra person in the family you see, that invisible outline with those very words, not me. You see, beloved, when we stand before God, and we all do and we all will one day, it's not how we judge ourselves, how we evaluate ourselves, how we see ourselves that matters. That's not what will count. And I think there are many who simply do not understand that today. They think that it's exactly that. It's how I see myself that counts. But it's how God sees us. How God judges us. Only His point of view counts. Proverbs 16, verse 2 says, All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits or the motives. There's only one way to stand before God is righteous. and that is through Jesus Christ. He is the short road to justification. Zechariah 3 gives us a beautiful word picture of justification complete with imputation. And even you boys and girls here tonight, you can understand what this is all about. You can understand that big word justification and imputation by thinking of dirty clothes being taken off and replaced by clean clothes. But before we consider the truth of the short road to justification, let me say that in a day when the world is more concerned about being politically correct when it comes to a variety of issues, when it's more concerned about that than being right with God, again before whom we will all stand one day, we must remember our Lord's command in Matthew 6. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Our Lord urges us to seek the kingdom of heaven and there is no entrance, boys and girls, there is no door provided to the kingdom of heaven apart from the righteousness that is found with God alone. You cannot speak of righteousness apart from justification. And Scripture plainly teaches that the road to God is blocked to all who remain, every last one who remains in their sin. And therefore, as we know, justification points to man's great need, that need to be delivered from sin. Many see God as only a God of love and not a just God. The two don't mix, you see, in the thinking of some. It's only a God of love who looks the other way. He's like a kind old grandfather and who simply takes us as we are. And that's correct to a point. Jesus said, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. And in connection with that, there's the hymn, I think, that's been written, I came to Jesus as I was, weary and worn and sad. I found in Him a resting place, and He has made me glad. Notice, He doesn't say, Come to Me, you who have been weary, but you've pulled yourself up by your own bootstraps. You who were burdened, but you've taken care of it. You've now proved yourself worthy to be in My presence. No, He says, Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened. But God doesn't allow us to stay as we are. He doesn't allow us to stay in the sin that we come to Him with. And I will give you rest, Jesus says. He transforms us by the power of His Spirit, but also when we come to Him, when He draws us to Himself, it's with empty hands. Nothing in My hands I bring. And why is that? Simple. Because I have nothing to bring that's worth it for Him. I am evil, born in sin, as David says in Psalm 51. And you might wonder why we are calling this the short road to justification. And it's because there is a long road. Well, sort of. That's not really true because that long road never gets there. But there are many who are on it. And the truth is, that long road becomes a road of discouragement, frustration, and fear. And that's because it's the road of works righteousness. It's the road that says, well, I must do this, and I must do that, and I must do this, and the other thing, and so forth. But the short road says, Christ has done it all for me. Justification and the question, how do I stand before God as righteous, have been the hot-button issues throughout the history of the New Testament church, including today. Some of you are familiar with what is called the new perspective of Paul. It's not new in that it came up last week or so. It's been around a little while. But the teaching that what we've always thought Paul taught about justification is not what he really taught. that he didn't understand it the way we thought he understood it. Unfortunately, some in the reform camp are even grabbing on to this false teaching, which teaches, among other things, just one statement, that we are saved by grace, but that we stay saved by works. So it's up to us to stay saved. And as we said a couple of weeks ago at the time of the Reformation, Whether one stayed in the Roman Catholic Church or came out and became Protestant depended on one's answer to the question, how am I righteous before God? And whereas Rome taught that it's by grace through Christ, the twist was that it's only after we are changed, after our nature has been transformed, indeed by God's grace, it's only after we believe in Jesus and His work, it's only after we are actually made righteous in our inner being. In other words, sanctified. Again, only after our natures have been changed, then God sees us as worth it in a sense. As acceptable in His sight. And then God justifies us. Sanctification then comes before justification. And the degree to which we are justified depends on how sanctified we are. And, of course, that sanctification then depends on our work of repentance and striving to do good. We know, of course, it's a very difficult time of sadness for the Roman Catholic Church right now because of the death of the Pope. But just listen in the interviews and when you read in the newspaper the articles of how the Pope has described his life, of all the good that he did, the emphasis on that good. I heard something to the effect yesterday on the radio that the baptismal promise is becoming fulfilled in him because of all the good that he did. But in the end, in this way of thinking, we are only justified in proportion to our sanctification. So justified a little bit, if you're only a little bit sanctified, or justified a lot if you're a lot sanctified. And there is so much more that can be said, but the point is that's the long road, beloved. And it's so long because it depends on me, which makes it an even longer road because I cannot do it. I cannot earn even one tiny bit of my salvation. And if we're all honest here tonight, we all have to admit this is true. That was Chad's testimony when we had the privilege to speak with him. I always enjoy asking people like Chad and others who come from a profession of faith, you know, what did you do that God should save you? Nothing. Is there anything that you can do that would make God happy with you? And most often, like Chad, they smile a little bit because they know themselves pretty well. No, I can't do anything. And each honest believer here tonight can think back over this very day and remember even one sin, whether it was a sin of omission, something that you should have done and failed to do, or a sin of commission that you did but you should not have done. One sin for each one of us that disqualifies each and every one of us from standing before God as righteous in and of ourselves. We need the righteousness of another. Sin separates from God. Did you hear that? Sin. Not ignorance. Not our human nature in and of itself. Not being Jew or Gentile or red or yellow or black or white. Sin separates from God and earns us the condemnation of eternal death. And the chasm of separation, boys and girls, that grand canyon of separation we might say, that is uncrossable by us, It can only be bridged from one side to the other one way. If you've got page, open to page 80, at the first paragraph of article 23 says, We believe that our salvation consists in the remission of our sins for Jesus Christ's sake, and that therein our righteousness before God is implied, as David and Paul teach us, declaring this to be the blessedness of man, that God imputes righteousness to him apart from works. And the same Apostle says that we are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. And Dr. P.Y. DeYoung, as I've quoted from him before in this series on the Belgic Confession, he writes, that which alone renders us acceptable to God is so perfect that it will be impossible to find it in fallen man. Now, Zechariah 3 is a beautiful teaching of the truth of justification. Fortunately, we do not have time to consider it in detail, but just a few highlights. Joshua the high priest, dressed in filthy clothes, represents our sinful depravity, the garments of sin we are born with and wear, and sometimes wear proudly. He also represented a sinful people who had been sent into captivity in Babylon because they had rejected God and they had been deeply engrossed in idol worship and paganism. By this time, many had returned from captivity and as well, the temple of the Lord was being rebuilt. It had started and it was stopped for a number of years and then started again. And this Joshua also represented the priesthood that we know represented the people before God. Now, boys and girls, these are not worn out or old clothes, but filthy, dirty clothes that represent the stain of sin and guilt compared to clean, spotless clothes that represent the perfect righteousness of Christ. And these filthy clothes point to the fact that He, Joshua, and we are sinful through and through. There's none righteous and there is nothing about us that is righteous. And notice Satan is there standing at his right side to accuse him. And you see, beloved, Satan's accusation of us, apart from Christ, is not wrong. Apart from Christ, it's not wrong. He's quite correct. We are guilty sinners. We are enemies of God, and apart from Christ, we are friends of the devil. Satan and the sinner's conscience accused the sinner of having violated God's law, saying, as Heidelberg Catechism answers 60, that beautiful question and answer on justification, he reminds us that I have grievously sinned against all of God's commandments, that I have never kept any of them, and that I am still inclined to all evil. And here in Zechariah 3, if Satan's accusation can stand against Joshua the high priest, remember, he's the only one who could go into the Holy of Holies on the Day of Atonement, Therefore, the only one who can make the required sacrifice for the sin of the people, if Satan can disqualify the high priest, then there is no one to mediate for the people. No one to stand before God in the place of the people. There would be no one to intercede for the people because no man is without sin. And therefore, they would be lost in hopelessness with no means of reconciliation with God. But the angel of the Lord does the most marvelous thing with Joshua. Verses 4 and 5, The angel said to those who were standing before him, Take off his filthy clothes. Then he said to Joshua, See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you. Then I said, Put a clean turban on his head. So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him while the angel of the Lord stood by. This is a beautiful picture of imputation. Of forgiveness of sin. Sin taken away. through Jesus Christ and giving the righteousness, clothing in the robes of Christ's righteousness. God took our sin and its curse from us as He made Him who had no sin to be sin for us and He replaced our sin with that one's righteousness so that as Paul continues, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. And notice, beloved, it wasn't because of anything Joshua the high priest did or could do that his filthy clothes were removed and replaced with rich garments and a clean turban. It was in spite of his filthy garments. It was only because of God's grace. I have taken away your sin. He wasn't told to walk in God's ways and keep God's requirements and then if he did that sufficiently, then he would be given those rich garments. But already dressed in those rich garments, he was then called to walk in God's ways and to keep His requirements. You see, beloved, justification itself is not a change within us. Like regeneration, conversion, or sanctification, the Holy Spirit transforms. And for those of you who are taking notes, That's the key word for the second point. Sometimes I'm not always so clear. But justification transforms our state, our legal position, our standing before God. From guilty, transformed to not guilty. Indeed, the short road to justification is to look to Jesus Christ alone. In the midst of all that God teaches us in His Word, the Bible, there is a golden thread. And that golden thread joyfully announces that there is forgiveness in Christ alone. David makes it clear in Psalm 32 that this is the highest prize God gives when he says, Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. Jesus Christ alone, our advocate, answers those very same accusations of Satan and the sinner's conscience. Again, that I have grievously sinned against all of God's commandments, that I have never kept any of them, that I am still inclined to all evil. Jesus answers them in essence as He says, I have fulfilled all of God's commandments. I have borne the full punishment for the transgressions. I cover his or her depravity with my holiness. See, God will not simply pass over sins. But for His elect, He remembers them no more for the sake of the perfect sacrifice of His Son. And with His justice satisfied against our death-deserving sin and sinful nature, God Himself clothes us in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is ours by faith. And He judges us, beloved, according to the standard of Jesus. And He declares us to be not guilty. As if I had no sin, nor had I ever committed any sin. Not guilty. Not partially not guilty, but fully not guilty. Either one is justified fully, or one is not justified at all. You see, beloved, that's a legal transaction that takes place. we might say, outside of us, yet it takes place for us on our behalf by God Himself. But not only is our standing before God, our position before God transformed in justification, we must also speak of a transformation that takes place in those who receive these benefits through faith. Because understanding the truth of justification in Christ Jesus by faith can't help but to deeply affect the believer. Although justification is distinct from regeneration, conversion, and sanctification, again, it happens outside of us. Those things, we might say, happen inside of us and to us. Yet justification is never divorced from those things. Salvation is indeed a complete package. Those whom God justifies, the Holy Spirit sanctifies. And although Article 24 speaks of sanctification, Article 23 begins to introduce it somewhat as it talks about the believer's transformation because of the truth of justification. Follow along the second and final paragraph of Article 23. And therefore we always hold fast this foundation, ascribing all the glory to God, humbling ourselves before Him, and acknowledging ourselves to be such as we really are without presuming to trust in anything in ourselves or in any merit of ours, relying and resting upon the obedience of Christ crucified alone, which becomes ours when we believe in Him, this is sufficient to cover all our iniquities and to give us confidence in approaching to God, freeing the conscience of fear, terror, and dread without following the example of our first father, Adam, who trembling attempted to cover himself with fig leaves. And verily, if we should appear before God relying on ourselves or on any other creature, though ever so little, we should, alas, be consumed. And therefore, everyone must pray with David, O Jehovah, enter not into judgment with thy servant, for in thy sight no man living is righteous. The justified sinner, beloved, undergoes a transformation from pride to humility. Recognizing the truth of himself, that he is dead in transgression and sin, and apart from Christ, he can do nothing. He is humbled because of his sin and misery and the fact that he has offended God. And the justified sinner is humbled not only as he sees and understands the truth of himself in comparison to the truth of the majesty and the holiness of God, but also as he understands the truth of what God has done for him in justification for Jesus' sake. Sins forgiven. Righteousness given. We do not deserve God's mercy and grace. That's why it's called grace. What we deserve is that God should leave us condemned to hell for all eternity. But by God's grace alone, we claim the merits of Jesus Christ and not our own merits. That was Paul's claim in Philippians 3 that he be found in Christ, not having a righteousness of his own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ. The righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. The justified sinner understands by the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit that his only hope is to be found outside of himself in Jesus Christ alone. And what a life-changing experience that is when one is brought to understand the truth that all of my sins are forgiven because of Christ's one sacrifice. Indeed, we still sin daily. And we are called to repent and ask for forgiveness and the assurance of forgiveness daily as our Lord taught us to pray. And God gives that assurance to those who sincerely come to Him. And those who enjoy the certainty of a right standing before God for Jesus' sake also enjoy a transformed life, a life stirred to spiritual activity. Believers are to cling to this firm foundation for time and eternity because Christ is our only hope and heart's desire. And as well, we are to give glory to God in worship for who He is and for what He has done. And our lives, that can be a general term, but our lives, listen to it. Boys and girls, young people, brothers and sisters, our lives, every bit of it, our lives are to glorify Him by living openly for Him and obediently to Him. You see, that was the call that was given to the forgiven and justified Joshua the high priest in verses 6 and 7. The angel of the Lord gave this charge to Joshua. This is what the Lord Almighty says. If you will walk in My ways and keep My requirements, then you will govern My house and have charge of My courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here. This is a call to new obedience. To reflect the goodness of God in holiness and uprightness demonstrating for the people as the priests were called to do and you and I as believers we are priests, the kingdom of priests we are to demonstrate for the world the keeping of God's commandments every aspect of the priest's lives and our lives must demonstrate obedience and love to God for His cleansing work now we know that our obedience isn't perfect We struggle, as the saying goes, we're not perfect, just forgiven. Yet as redeemed people, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to strive to live for Him. And when we fail, beloved, our comfort is that Christ's blood is sufficient to cover all of our sins. And our further comfort is that the Holy Spirit gives us confidence to approach God. Confidence. And He frees our consciences, as the article says, of fear, terror, and dread. Adam fled from God and tried to cover his nakedness with fig leaves. Remember at Mount Sinai, the people said to Moses, don't let the Lord speak to us. We can't handle that, but you speak to us. You talk to Him, and then you tell us what He says. And that will be good for us. And one day when Jesus Christ comes again, we know that those who rejected Him will cry out for the mountains and the rocks to cover them. that beloved we may have confidence before God confidence to approach Him not the false confidence of the Pharisee who brought his own checklist of good deeds and expected God to find favor with him because of what he had done but for those who like the tax collector plead for mercy because of their sin and plead for the sake of Jesus we may have confidence that God will not turn away our prayers but He will hear us because Jesus Christ is the branch spoken of in Zechariah 3, who indeed removed our sin in a single day. But we must also beware of false piety. And what I mean, beloved, is not having the confidence and the assurance that God means for His redeemed and justified children to have. In some Reformed circles, it is more honorable to not have assurance of salvation, Because how can anyone really be sure they are saved? That isn't until they get to the other side. Especially if we take inventory of our daily sins, how can anyone have confidence? And if you ask them, as I have some of them, if they are going to go to heaven when they die, they answer, oh, I hope so. I hope so. But how could God ever love and accept a sinner like me? And they truly believe, ignorantly so, They believe that that's what it means to be pious. That that's true piety. But beloved, that dishonors God who says everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. That is to discredit the Lord Jesus Christ who said all the Father has given to me shall come to me. I lose none of them. When God gives us the assurance of pardon, we must take it at face value. And indeed, as we consider our sin and God's remedy for it, we must say with Paul, oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable His judgments and His paths beyond tracing out. But at the same time, with Paul, we can shout with confidence, I know whom I have believed and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day. And as we face death one day, we can also confidently say, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day and not only to me but also to all who have longed for His appearing. And why can we be so confident of this as believers? Because it is no longer we who live but Christ lives in us and we live by faith in Him. And therefore, beloved, may we remember daily what it is we have been saved from, who we were before, and what we are becoming in Christ Jesus. Beloved, to live apart from God is death eternally. But there is eternal life for all who look to Him in faith and receive by faith the assurance of forgiveness and the blessing of His perfect righteousness. And what a blessing that we don't have to waste our time on the long road trying to earn an unearnable salvation. But that we can devote our lives, there's that word again, our lives, our work, our ambitions, our love, all of it, to serving God, who has already declared our salvation to be signed, sealed, and delivered in Christ Jesus. To God be the glory. Great things He has done. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, we pray that You would lift each one of us up higher in the joy of such a great salvation. The amazing truth of justification that You have said, You have declared, based on the work of Your Son and His work alone that Your people are perfect in Your sight, that our sins are forgiven, and You see us as righteous. Father, that is beyond our comprehension. Oh, we like to willingly accept such good things, O Lord, but help us truly understand what this means and indeed what a great salvation that is. And may we not be able to keep silent about it. May it be something that we would desire to share with all those with whom we have contact. that for those who are out there working so hard on that long road, that through us you would give to them that message of that blessed short road through Jesus Christ. In his name alone we pray these things. Amen.