I please Almighty God to bless
us together this evening as we meditate in His Holy Word. Let's
turn to Paul's epistle to the Romans, chapter 5, and we'll
read the last two verses, verses 20 and 21. So Romans, the epistle
of Paul to the Romans, chapter 5, and reading verses 20 and
21. Moreover, the law entered that
the offence might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound, that as sin hath reigned unto death, even
so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life
by Jesus Christ our Lord. We should be thankful for the
Epistle of Paul to the Romans. It gives us a lot of instruction
about many things and especially about the righteousness of Christ
And the free gift of this great blessing and reconciliation to
Christ, it also tells us, of course, about the sin and the
fall which needs that reconciliation. And we should remember that the
world was made in a perfect condition. there was no sin in the world
it's hard for us to realise in the current scene in which we
live but so it was the world was pure, no sin until that tragic
day that tragic occurrence when Satan came and tempted Eve and
he tempted Eve in the same way that he tempts people today by
that question, hath God said? And Eve was able to tell the
devil precisely what God had said, how they were not allowed
to eat of that tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But the devil
told her, it would be all right, she could eat, don't worry about
that. And when she looked and saw that it was a pleasant fruit
to look at and she listened to what Satan said and took it and
ate it and gave some to her husband Adam. And so sin entered into
the world. That was disobedience to God. And what a tragic event it was.
And what a tragic effect it had upon the world then and now.
and it carries through and we suffer today because of that
sin which Adam and Eve committed in that sad occasion in the Garden
of Eden. But even on that occasion we
read of God's goodness and God's mercy and favour to the Church
of God and in the third chapter of Genesis we read of God meeting
with Adam and Eve. And first of all, they were embarrassed,
ashamed, they tried to hide. They didn't want to face God.
Why? Because they knew they'd done
evil. Because remember, they'd eaten
of that fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, and therefore
they had that knowledge that they had sinned and disobeyed
God. But the fact was that God came
and talked to them and the Lord called unto Adam and said, where
art thou? And Adam said, I heard thy voice
in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid
myself. And God said, who told thee that
thou was naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof
I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat. And the man said, the
woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree,
and I did eat. And the man said, the woman whom
thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did
eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, what is this that
thou hast done? And the woman said, the serpent,
beguiled me." And we see, don't we, in those cases there, they
tried to pass the blame and didn't want to confess that they were
guilty. They wanted to pass the blame. Where the Lord said to the serpent,
because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle
and above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly shall they
go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life and then
he says and I will put enmity between thee and the woman and
between thy seed and her seed it shall bruise thy head and
thou shalt bruise his heel there in that verse that 15th verse
in the third chapter we see the promise of the gospel And what
a great and wonderful blessing it is to realize that way back
in that Garden of Eden, almost immediately after they'd sinned,
God told them of the cure and God told them of the solution. Well really, these early chapters really in
Romans encourage us this great theme and we read here in the
twelfth verse of this fifth chapter. Wherefore as by one man sin entered
into the world and death by sin there was no death before they
took of that fruit and so death passed upon all men for the all
of sin that's passed upon us, because we've sinned, we've disobeyed
the word of God. For until the law, sin was in
the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless,
death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned
after the similitude of Adam's transgression. who is the figure
of him that was to come. Because although they didn't
have the Ten Commandments until Moses, nonetheless they had a
conscience which told them what was right and what was wrong.
But as the offence so also is the free gift. For if through
the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God. And that, of course, is the free,
unmerited favor of God. Much more, the grace of God and
the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ hath abounded
unto many. And not as it was by one that
sinned, so is the gift. For the judgment was by one to
condemnation, But the free gift is of many offences unto justification. So in these, we won't go through
them all, but in these early chapters in the Romans, Paul
does point out to us very clearly the great blessing and the great
benefit of being reconciled to Christ through his righteousness. And therefore, what a mercy it
is if we realise we have such a great and glorious Saviour. We're coming down then to this
20th verse. We're told, And that's a tremendous
statement to realise that where sin abounds, which
it does, it abounds in each of our hearts, and we can't free
ourselves from it. No, we can strive against it,
and it's right to do so, but it dwells within us. It's what
we term original sin, and what a tragic scene it is, and therefore
we find that sin abounds, but, blessed be God, we find also
this great truth, grace did much more abound. What does that mean?
It means God's free unmerited favor comes to his people, comes
upon them. And that's a gift of forgiveness. That's a gift to receive the
righteousness of Christ. Indeed, the great truth and it's
an amazing truth to think that Your sin, my sin, the sin of
all the church of God is put upon. The word used in scripture
is imputed to the Lord Jesus Christ. And in exchange, he gives
us his righteousness. What a wonderful exchange that
is. Now, my friends, you and I don't
deserve it. We can't deserve it. We can't
work for it. We can't do anything that warrants
it. But it is the great and wonderful
blessing of grace. That is the knowledge of the
Saviour. That is the righteousness of
the Saviour, which is placed upon us imputed to us. What an exchange. And we have
no ability to do anything ourselves. It's all of grace. And that's
why we have such a grand statement as this. But where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. Well I wonder whether we can
really rejoice in that wonderful truth. The Apostle Spells it
out really, that whole concept, clearly, when he wrote to the
Ephesians. It's a well-known, lots of the
Ephesian epistle is well known, but the opening verses in the
second chapter are really very relevant. And we're told, and
you, and that refers to every true believer, and you, hath
he quickened that means made spiritually alive who were dead
in trespasses and sins who were born spiritually dead because
of our sin dead in trespasses and sins and he goes on wherein
in time past we all have a time past wherein time passed, ye
walked according to the course of this world." Everyone, all
of us. None can say we didn't. We're all guilty. We all walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience. And so he then confirms, among
whom also we all had our conversation in times past, our conversation
with our lips, perhaps the conversation in our minds, in the lusts of
our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. We're all guilty before God. We can't claim to be anything
but sinners of the earth, deserving to be eternally cut off from
God, to bear the eternal punishment for our sins. And so the Apostle
goes on and tells us, But God, who is rich in mercy, for his
great love wherewith he loved us. Again, that's such a glorious
truth, isn't it? And when you and I look at ourselves,
and I hope we do sometimes, we're encouraged to examine ourselves,
whether we are in the faith or not. We're not just to ignore
it, we're to examine ourselves. It's a good thing to do. Sometimes
we can think we're self-righteous. Sometimes we can think we're
not too bad. Sometimes we can think there
are other people far worse than us. But we must remember, a single
sin is enough to condemn us to endless punishment in hell. And so, let us realise how merciful
God is, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened, made
us alive, together with Christ, united with Christ, our Saviour,
our glorious God. And then he says, by grace ye
are saved. Well, do we tonight rejoice in
the grace of God? That free, unmerited favor. We were never able to obtain
it ourselves. We could never justify ourselves. We're sinners of the earth, deserving
endless punishment. But God, who is rich in mercy,
For His great love wherewith He loved us. Unworthy sinners. Why should we be loved? Why should
we be loved? Because of His eternal purpose. He loved us with everlasting
love. What a great and wonderful truth
that is. You may remember in the third
chapter of Jeremiah, we read that great statement and how
wonderful it is to recognize the truth of it. And we come
in the third chapter and we're told this. And it's so wonderful
to think that God is so kind and gracious and merciful toward
us. What a great blessing it is to
have such a kind and gracious God who deals with us, not according
to our sins, but according to his love and mercy toward us,
his loving kindness. Oh, how great. What a blessing
it is then to have a God who displays his loving-kindness
and to think that that was in eternity past it's not something
which has just occurred in eternity past and that again really magnifies
the grace of God to think that Before we were conceived, before
we lived on the earth, before anyone lived on the earth, God
in eternity past, Father, Son and Holy Spirit chose a people
whom he would love with everlasting love and with loving kindness
would draw us. Will says these great truths
and wonderful It is. And so here we have this statement. Even when we were dead in sins,
have quickened, made alive us together with Christ. By grace
you are saved and have raised us up together and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages
to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness
toward us through Jesus Christ. How kind and gracious almighty
God is and it's good to try and think of the greatness of God
and the compassion of God that we as unworthy sinners have turned
our back upon God on many occasions. We've pleased ourselves rather
than please God. We've done what we want to do
and have not followed the way that God directs us in. Well
then, we come to that wonderful eighth verse in the second of
Ephesians. For by grace are ye saved, through
faith, God-given faith, not something that you and I can hatch up ourselves.
God gives faith, for by grace are you saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. If you and I could put our hand
towards our salvation, saving our souls, ourselves, We would
pat ourselves on the back and say, well, of course, I did this
and I did that. We have to come and stand before
God and confess none of ourselves, nothing in selves. It is the
gift of God. That's the grace. Free unmerited
favor, the gift of God. Well, tell me, do we rejoice? in such a great truth to realize
that God has not dealt with us as our sins deserve. And here we have then this statement
in this 20th verse, but where sin abounded, which it does,
grace did much more abound. It super abounds over our sin. what a blessing that is what
a mercy it is to know that we have such a kind and such a gracious
God who deals with us in love to our souls when the Apostle
wrote to the Corinthians he tells us in the 8th chapter and the
9th verse he tells us this truth for ye know he says writing to
the Corinthians For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
remember that little truth, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though he was rich, possessed all things, created the world, created the
universe, though he was rich, yet for your sakes, unworthy
sinners, he became poor didn't possess
anything apart from the clothes that he stood up in when he was
on this earth couldn't be more poor than that could you be he
became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich and of
course the Apostle there is referring to that eternal state of bliss
to be found with Christ in glory forever and ever, to enjoy the
glories of heaven for something that we've never worked for,
we've never deserved, and yet we've been given it, the free
grace of God. Oh, what a wonderful, wonderful
blessing it is to think of these things and to praise God for
it. And I hope we do praise God for
these things. We're very backward, you know,
generally speaking, in praising God, aren't we? Very backward
in praising God. Very backward in thanking God. And it should be uppermost in
our minds to thank Him for His great grace. But where sin abounded,
which it does in our hearts, grace did much more abound. Oh,
my friends, What a Saviour we have that grants this wonderful,
wonderful blessing. It is a great infinite mercy. And again the Apostle, when he
wrote to the Corinthians in the 15th chapter, and the Apostle
Paul tells us, For I am the least of the apostles that are not
meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church
of God, where none of us are meet to be called a child of
God, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. And that's each
one of us, if we are called by God's grace. I am what I am,
and his grace, which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain, but
I laboured more abundantly than they all, yet Not I, but the
grace of God which was with me. Well, what a mercy if God gives
us that grace in our hearts and that desire to do his will, to
do his work. God knows what he would have
you and me to do. And it may be that God's told
you and me what to do and we haven't liked it very much. and
we've turned away from it and ignored it. Well, you and I will
not be able to ignore God's word. We won't be able to turn away
from it because what God has spoken remains. It is an indelible
word in our soul and how important it is that we truly don't rebel
against what God says to us. Don't rebel against his leadings,
but be made willing in the day of his power. Power belongeth
unto God. Oh, what a blessing that is. And so the apostle tells us,
but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. He goes on and says, that as
sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ. It's important that you and I
are blessed with that desire to look ahead, to look beyond
our little life on this earth. And it is little by time. It's very short. And then eternity. And then eternity. And what a
great blessing if God has given you and me the gift through grace
of eternal life. And what a blessing if you and
I have the evidence of it in our own hearts, in our own soul.
We do want to have the evidence of it. We don't want to go out
of life without the knowledge that we are born again. We want
to know. We need to know. We must know
that we are amongst those who are born again of the Spirit
of God. and those who have received this
great and wonderful gift of eternal life. Well, it's a great blessing,
is it not, to be favoured like that? You know, in the sixth
chapter, again the apostle tells us in the very last verse, for
the wages of sin is death. And that's what you and I deserve.
The payment for our sin. and one sin deserves death, eternal
death. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God, the gift of God, the free gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Well, does that not
make the Saviour very real, very precious, very necessary. There's no eternal life outside
of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a blessing then to have
union with him, union with the Lamb from condemnation free. Yes, we're freed from that condemnation
that tells us the soul that sinneth it shall die. That's where we
are by nature. What a blessing it is, therefore,
if God comes and touches our heart and shows us we're going
on that broad way to destruction and sets our feet upon the rock
himself. and establishes us in the truth
of God. What a blessing that is to be
established in the truth of God. Many people want to be established
in knowledge of this and knowledge of that, but the great mercy
is to be established in the truth of God so that we can rejoice
in this great statement. Even so, might grace reign through
righteousness Christ's righteousness which he imputes to every true
believer. No one arrives at the gates of
glory without possessing this great gift of imputed righteousness. We won't be looking around for
it. We shall be possessors of it and we shall be welcomed into
glory for Jesus' sake. Even so, might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ. Well, what a
blessing it is. You know, we have many examples,
don't we, in the Word of God of those who received the grace
of God. Those who didn't deserve to receive
it. You think of God's servant Jonah
in the Old Testament. Jonah was told by God to go to
Nineveh and preach the gospel what did he do? he ran away he ran away and he found
a boat going to Tarshish and he got in and thought he would
be alright and obviously he was at peace in his mind which was
so sad he went to sleep but God knew where Jonah was and God
sent a storm and the storm was so great the mariners thought
the ship would be lost and they woke up Jonah and asked him if
he realized what the problem was and he knew and he told them he was the problem cast him overboard
well eventually that's just what happened and then we see so clearly
the grace of God remember here was a disobedient man running
away from God God knew where he was and so there he was thrown overboard
and then God had prepared a great fish we're told in the New Testament
it was a whale a great fish to swallow Jonah And so it did. And Jonah, as you probably remember,
was three days and three nights in the whale's belly until, as
it were, he came to his senses and he prayed to God. I will
look again unto thy holy temple. And God heard his prayer. God
looked upon him, brought the whale towards the shore, and
the whale vomited Jonah out onto the dry land. And then God told
him, again, the second time, to go to Nineveh. Well, did he
do it? Yes, he did. And God blessed
his preaching, and Nineveh was delivered. You see, don't we,
in the wonderful grace of God. You see, sin abounded, and it
did abound, didn't it? Grace did much more abound. It's wonderful, isn't it? To
have accounts like that and we can think, go back again in the
Old Testament to David and his, the things that he did were so
wrong. He committed adultery with Bathsheba
and then arranged for her husband to be killed. So if possible,
the deed would be hidden and people wouldn't know, but of
course God knew. God knew all about it. And God
sent Nathan, the prophet, to give a parable about a man with
a little ewe lamb. And there was that occasion when
somebody came and took the little ewe lamb. There were plenty of
lambs himself, but he took the ewe lamb. And David was very
wrathful when he heard that story. But what did Nathan the prophet
say to him? Thou art the man. The finger was pointed at David. And David, of course, recognised
the truth of that. And he fell under it. And he
acknowledged it. And that's why we have the 51st
Psalm which explains to us the situation. We hear David's plea,
David's crying. And as it starts, it's a good
beginning. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy lovingkindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender
mercies. Blot out my transgressions, wash me throughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me. Yes, you see, David may have
tried to get rid of his sin as it were, but you see his conscience
clearly kept pricking him. And it came out before him, his
sin. He wasn't able to rid himself of it. We may sometimes think
that we've done things which are hidden and no one will know
about it and it will soon be forgotten God doesn't forget. God doesn't allow us to forget
until we're brought to this place like David was of confession
and able to come and say where sin abounded, grace did much
more abound And so it abounded in the case
of David. And he comes as though he were
standing only before God. Against thee the only have I
sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest
be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. And then he said, behold, I was
shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Again,
going back, you see, to the case of Adam and Eve and all are born
like that. And then he tells us, and it's
worth just noting this, behold, thou desirest truth in the inward
parts and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. God looks, you see. deeply into
our hearts that which is hidden from the outside people don't
know God knows and he causes us to realize that he desires
truth in the inward part we come before God we can't pretend before
God that we don't have any guilt when we do. What a mercy it is
to be able to come and plead with God. That's what he comes,
and he pleads, he says, purge me with hyssop, and I shall be
clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter
than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness,
that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. creating me a clean heart. A
clean heart. O God, renew a right spirit within
me. Well, we won't go through it
all, but you see the great and glorious truths it contains. Just perhaps the last couple
of verses. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken
and a contrite heart. O God, thou wilt not despise. It's a blessing, isn't it, when
God gives us a broken and a contrite heart. What a mercy, then, to
realise that we have a God who's kind and gracious. Do good in
thy good pleasure unto Zion. Build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness.
with burnt offering and a whole burnt offering, then shall they
offer bullocks upon thine altar." Well, there we are, we see the
effect of God's grace in the life of David, how he was convicted
and how he had confession and how he pleaded with God to pass
on that we do well to emulate, set forth in that 51st Psalm. What a mercy it is. Well, not
only David of course, but we can think of many others. We
can perhaps just think of Peter, that gracious character, and
yet we see how easily he was sidetracked He told the Lord
he would never deny him. In fact, he would be willing
to die for him. Just a few hours later, there
he is denying the Lord with oaths and curses. We must never think
that you and I are strong in and of ourselves. Again, Paul
tells us the secret. I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me. That's the secret. What a blessing it is if we remember
that. We have a great and glorious
Saviour. What a blessing if we can come
to Him, confessing our sins, seeking for that blessed condition
of forgiveness, that blessed condition of reconciliation to
Christ, that blessed robe of his righteousness placed upon
us. What a great mercy to have all
our sins forever washed away in the precious blood of Christ. Again Peter, who we just mentioned,
tells us in that first chapter in the first epistle, you're
not redeemed with corruptible things, with silver and gold,
from your vain conversation received by tradition from the elders,
but with the precious blood of Christ. Tonight, as we think of God's
grace, we can think of his love and mercy. He will rejoice in
what he's done, given his life upon that cross at Calvary to
utterly undeserving sinners. And it's all because he's loved
us with everlasting love. What a blessing if therefore
he's drawn us to himself. Well, we should be thankful for
the epistle of Paul to the Romans and be grateful that we have
such a statement as this. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound and find that true in our own life. Amen. Our final hymn this evening is
number 23, hymn number 23. The tune is 172. A man there is, a real man, with
wounds still gaping wide, from which rich streams of blood once
ran, in hands and feet and side. And verse three, this wondrous
man of whom we tell is true almighty God, he bought our souls from
death and hell, the price, his own heart's blood. Hymn number
23. you ? With peace to keep him by ? ?
The rich rich lands of love and joy ? ? Great lands that we love
so dearly ? praise. Lord, let the glories
be. Thou sendeth man to defend the
ways. Thou dost ? Which from the sky ? ? Of blue waves fell ?
? The ancient rock lies behind ? ? Behold the sword ? ? From
death ? ? Christ with us was born ? ? And
to the world he came ? ? God is praise, God is praise
? ? With Israel my God, my God. ? ? And so my prayers go to you. ? He will raise us from the dead. He will raise us from the dead. He will raise us from the dead. Now may the grace of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ, and the love of God our Father, and
the fellowship and communion of the Eternal Spirit, rest and
abide with us each, now and for evermore. Amen.