Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. All right, if you wish to follow
along, turn to Romans chapter five. God willing, this will
be my last message on chapter five. Lord willing, next Sunday
we'll move on to chapter six. Romans chapter five. Now before I read, I'll just
read verses 18 through 21. Before I read, let us remember
here that Paul in this chapter has dealt with substitution,
and representation. And these two are equal. And
it is not coincidence or luck that he mentions substitution
first. The many and the all that Adam
represented are dead. They are dead. The many and the
all that Christ represented have been reconciled. they shall be
saved by his life. And this also, verse 18, therefore,
as by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. Even so, by the righteousness
of one, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of
life. For as by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. So by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous. Now remember that lets us know
at least two things. One, it has a guaranteed but
yet future effect. Shall, that's something that's
going to come to pass. But it is absolutely going to
come to pass. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, they're not being made sinners, they
were made sinners. As a matter of fact, those that
Adam represented, the many and the all that Adam represented
were conceived and in their mother's womb, and when they were born,
they were born sinners. So by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound, and oh, how the offense abounds. I know that we do not see ourselves
to the extent that God sees us, because God sees us absolutely. He knows exactly what we are.
He knows those righteousnesses that are filthy rags in his sight.
Jack Mattis, I don't always recognize them as filthy rags in his sight. I know they're there, but Mac,
I'm not always sure which one is a God-wrought righteousness
in me. I don't always know. Is him working in me both the
will and the do is good pleasure, or whether it's my flesh rising
up in some religious self-righteousness? Granted, there are some immoral,
ungodly things that rise up, but we can recognize those for
what they are. But self-righteousness is as
God-hating, is as God-hating, I'm gonna say it, as child molestation. Child molestation. Moreover,
the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. that as sin hath reigned under
death. Now remember again, it's not
reigning under death because this reign's already taken place.
So that when an individual's even conceived, this death reigns
in that little bitty embryo. In that fetus that's in the womb.
Death reigns. That as sin hath reigned under
death. Even physically speaking, let's just think about physical
death. Does God ask any man or woman
for his permission to kill them? No, sir. No, sir. That as sin hath reigned unto
death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Adam's one disobedient act brought
utter ruin. It brought total depravity. It brought a condemned condition. It brought a state of sinnerhood. Christ's own personal righteousness
secured justification of life and righteousness for those for
whom he died. for those that he represented. And that is clearly what Paul
writes in verses 18 and 19. This is not up for debate. Somebody
says, well, I just don't understand it that way. Then you understand
it wrongly. Because again, this book is not written in code.
This book was written in Hebrew, some of it Hebrew, some of it
Chaldean, some of it in Greek. and it's been translated into
clear, plain English for us. Therefore, as by the offense
of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation. That's all
that Adam represented, that's where they are. Even so, by the
righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men, that's
all that Christ represented, unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. It's not that human beings cannot
comprehend the language. They hate the concept. They hate
the truth of it. That's the problem. Somebody
says, I can't understand election. Yes, you can. You can understand
it, you just hate it. Well, I just, predestination,
all that's over my head. No, it is not. No, you just despise
the God who did the predestinating. Man's spiritual deadness is not
an inability to physically perceive or to studiously understand is
the fact that they are so depraved and utterly ruined that we hate
the truth of God. And you are right, Joe, this
book is right. Men will not have Jesus Christ
to reign over them. But he does. Now on top of that,
God gave the law that sin might be exposed to the brim, shown
by the law's many do's and don'ts. And it's many do's and don'ts. And the law shows as to how much
sinfulness men and women have. The law exposes us for what we
are. And the law today still exposes
my flesh for what it is. For what it is. Our cups, when
it comes to this Adamic state, our cups froth over. It's not
some people are a little dead and some people are a whole lot
dead. We're all dead, dead, dead. Spiritually speaking, we're as
dead as we can be. Somebody says, but do you really
believe people are totally depraved? Yeah, totally, absolutely depraved. Absolutely depraved. But where
this sin frothed over, God's grace flash flooded the same
cup. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound, but where sin abounded. Right in
the same place, do you see what I'm saying? In the same cup,
in the same stream, if you will. I'm using metaphors, of course.
But where sin abounded, right there is where grace did much
more abound. This religious world doesn't
seem to comprehend that. They think that somehow sin and
grace are these totally two opposite things. But they're not. But they're not. So can I say
God's grace, right where our cups frothed over, God's grace
flash flooded that same cup. It washed all the debris away. even though I cannot comprehend
that now mentally and see that in myself physically. Nevertheless,
it did. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace will
much more abound. Is that what it says? No, it
does not, does it? Grace did. That's a past act,
do you see? That's simple enough. You don't
have to be an English scholar to understand that. But you do
have to be regenerate to love it. You do have to be regenerate
to believe it. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound. Let me tell you, when you read,
go back and read God's law. If it don't expose your flesh
to you, then you're still under that sentence of death. You're
under that sentence of death. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. The sin wrought sins, and they're
called many offenses, right? Many offenses, that's what Paul
says here in verse 16. The sin wrought sins, and oh,
if God ever begins to open a man or a woman's eyes to see that,
I don't become a sinner when I do something wrong. I do things
wrong because I am a sinner. My fountain is fouled. My fountain
is bad. You know, my whole cup is full
of the filth of the flesh. There are some good people in
this world when you compare men to men and women to women. But
compared to God's holy law, there is none good, no, not one. There is none righteous, there
is none that understandeth, there's none that seeketh after God,
not one. All these sin wrought sins, these
many offenses are flood cleansed. How? That as sin hath reigned
unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto
eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Now that's my introduction
for this morning. My title and my subject is this,
reigning grace. Reigning grace. I just have two
points. Reigning grace. But before I
begin the first point, let me say this. Many people give lip
service to this phrase. But they do not bow to and believe
the reality behind this phrase. They may quote the word and then
they go on to talk about sending away your day of grace. How can
you do that? If sin, not if, but I mean in
the sense of it's real. Since, let me put it that way.
Since sin abounded, and grace much more abounded, that is,
it superabounded. I knew that phrase, Joe, back
when I was in free will Arminianism. But they never really taught
how it superabounded. They just loved the phrase. Well,
I guess it was once saved, always saved. At least that's one way
it superabounds. Hmm, I don't wanna get off on
that. Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. So again, my subject and title,
Reigning Grace. But here's my first point. What
does reign mean? It means this, it means absolute
dominion. It means absolute control. It means absolute authority. Otherwise, it is not reigning. Men and women may partially reign
in this world, but God doesn't partially reign because God is
not a partial God. He's not God some of the time,
He is God eternally. There never was a time that he
was not reigning, is reigning, and shall reign. What does reign
mean? Absolute dominion. Absolute control. Absolute authority. Absolute
might. Sin reigned under death. How
so? I'm just gonna read it. You don't
have to turn to it. If you wish, that's fine. Here's how sin reigned
under death. Ephesians 2, verse 1, and you
have it quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. We were not dying. We were not
nighing to death. Dead. Dead, and you hath it quickened
who were dead in trespasses and in sins. Wherein in time past
ye walked, so this affected, the deadness caused the walk.
But notice, it's not a deadness in the sense of neutrality, it
is a deadness in the sense of active rebellion and disobedience
against God. You see? Wherein in time past
ye walked according to the course of this world. according to the
prince of the power of the air. We were under demonic influence. Somebody, let me tell you something.
Somebody says, which is worse, Satan or a sinner? Neither. Neither. You remember the guy
that was in the synagogue and he was possessed with a demon?
And he'd been going to that synagogue for years. When Jesus Christ
came to the synagogue, that demon cried out in that man, go away,
we'll have nothing to do with you. Was that the demon speaking
or the man? It was both. It was both. Where in time past you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit, the spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation, or as our way of life in time passed, in the lust
of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the
mind, and were by nature the children that hated God, just
like everybody else did. He's saying this even to a people
that's been quickened. Even to a people who are elected,
predestinated, and redeemed. But this is what you're like
in Adam. And we love to have it so. Oh,
we may clean up the outer part of the cup, right? But inside,
we're still full of what? Our Lord said, dead men's bones. We know that is metaphorical.
But what's he saying? Inside is nothing but a dead
corpse toward God. But very active toward self. Self. That's what it means. There's another one, I mentioned
a few of these. If you wish to look at it, Romans three. We've
looked at this recently, Romans three. Verse nine, what then? Are we better than they? Is the
Jew better than the Gentile? No, not in any way. The Jew had
advantage, but they were not better. Mac, they were not better.
What then? Are we better than they? No,
in no wise, for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles
that they are all under sin. That is sin reigns on them. Sin
reigns on them. As it is written, and this is
no new thing, as it is written, there is none righteous, no,
not one. Somebody says, well, that's before
I'm saved. Prove that. Prove that. In my flesh still dwells what? No good thing. There is none righteous, no,
not one. There is none that understandeth.
There's none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of
the way. They are together become unprofitable. That's when you lump us all together,
we still are what? Well, wouldn't you find just
all of our best deeds together, put us all together, won't there? Isn't there just something that
God looks at and adores? No. No. Though there together become
unprofitable, there's none that doeth good, no not one. As a matter of fact, one of the
writers of the Old Testament put it this way, there's not
a just man upon the face of the earth. Now he's not saying there's
no just men. There are some men who are just, justified by God,
justified in Christ, justified by faith, but there's not a just
man upon the face of the earth that doeth good and sinneth not.
Even when we do good, being wrought upon by God, it is still mixed
with sin. Because it's coming from us. Their throat is an open sepulcher. Now I know in our day and age,
I don't know that we can relate to this like people back then
probably could. Today we embalm bodies, or we
cremate bodies, or whatever, you know. and you don't really
smell the effect. And we get them in the ground,
if we do it, Bob, we get them in the ground before the real
effect starts to take place. I am told within 24 hours, the
body is beginning to rot and stink. Now I don't know how,
that may vary at times, I don't know. But their throat is what,
an open sepulcher. That is, what we say is full
of rot and filth. You see, even when we read the
Bible, even when we read the Bible, everything done apart
from faith is what? Sin. Even the plowing of the
wicked is what? Sin. Now how could that be? He's
feeding his family. That's gotta be good. It is among
men. But not before God. It brings no merit before God.
Their throat is an open sepulcher, with their tongues they have
used deceit. The poison of Asp is under their lips, why? Because
it's all flowing from down in here, the real us. That desperately
wicked heart. The poison of Asp is under their
lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their
feet are swift to shed blood. Now listen to me, I'm not a prophet,
but I do know this. 36, 37 years of experience in trying
to preach the gospel and almost 60 years of experience of being
in this flesh. God is lifting his restraint
in this country. He's lifting his restraint in
this country and rebellion and self-will rules amongst men in
their hearts. Destruction and misery are in
their ways. And the way of peace have they
not known, and that way of peace is a person. There is no, oh
here it is. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. We're not talking about just
the fear of hell. Now there are a lot of people
who don't believe that hell exists. They're just very badly misinformed
in their own imaginations. But this ain't fear and hail,
this is fearing God. I mean, even Christ told his
disciples, don't fear men. All they can do is kill your
body, but you better fear God, because he can destroy both your
body and your soul in hail. Hail ain't the thing to be feared.
God is to be feared. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of knowledge and of wisdom. The fear of the Lord. So look
at it. Now we know that what things whoever the law saith,
it saith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may
be stopped and all the world become guilty before God. And
I remember Earl said it, and he's probably the first person
I ever heard say it. If somebody else said it, I was blind to
it. If I heard somebody else say it before Earl said it, he
said, what the law tells us to do is shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Sin reigned, and that's
how it reigns, completely, absolutely. But now see the channel. Even
so, grace reigns. And it does so in a super abounding
way. It hinges on, it is hinged upon,
and is still hinged upon one man. One man, not your decisions,
not my decisions, not our will, His will. His will. Our will will take us to hell.
That's where our will will lead us. The scripture doesn't call
it free will, it calls it self will. And I'm gonna tell you
something, I'm not encouraging you to watch all these other
people on TV, but if you watch these other people on TV, they
rarely ever mention self will. Because somehow that would have
to be different from free will. So a man must have two wills.
And they don't even want to deal with that, do they? No, man's
so-called free will is nothing but self will. It is self will
wrapped up in emotional language and in religious phrases. No,
even so might grace reign. How? Look, that as sin hath reigned
unto death, even so might grace reign. And here's what it hinges
upon. You wanna talk about the word might? But it hinges upon
this. Through righteousness unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Either you believe Jesus Christ
came and did what God sent him to do, or you believe he's a
failure. It's one or the other. It's one or the other. And I'm
gonna put it this way. And if there's better words,
I understand that. It's just my lack of vocabulary
and mental capacity. I want us to see the channel.
I want us to see the goal. And I want us to see the only
reason or merit or cause of Grace Reigning. First of all, the channel
is what? Through righteousness. But it
has nothing to do with our righteousness. That's the context. Nothing to
do with our righteousness. Well, don't we have to receive
it? Yeah, but you will if Christ reconciled you when he died.
You will. Don't we receive the free gift?
Yes, we do receive. And that's good. Physically, that's good. But God's people love to receive
the truth. God's people enjoy receiving
Jesus Christ. When I was in religion, it's
like, well, I'm supposed to do this. You ever been there? And
you knew down in here you wanted to be somewhere else and you
wanted to be doing something else, but I got to put on a good
show. And they're all like that. And
we were just like that outside of Jesus Christ. We might have
even been under Calvinism. But it's still Calvinism don't
save you. Even so might grace reign through righteousness unto
eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. That's the channel
through righteousness. But it is always his righteousness. But see the goal, unto eternal
life. Through righteousness unto eternal
life, that's the goal. But eternal life is not just
getting to go to heaven. Christ said, and this is life
eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. But nobody today, other
than an individual here or there that God breathes life upon,
nobody today wants to know who the true and living God is. They
think they already know. They know enough about God to
be a theologian when it comes to God. But none of us know God,
the true and living God, by nature. Eternal life is knowing the only
true God, but it's more than that, and Jesus Christ, whom
the eternal living God sent. Eternal life is not just about
getting to go to heaven one day. When you talk to religious people,
this happened to Penny the other day, and I won't go into the
details, and you talk about you might die before something takes
place. We hope to see you here. Well, I will if I'm alive. Oh,
don't say that. If you're a believer, why not?
if God killed me dead right now. And I have to be honest with
you, I'd rather die, just fall over with a heart attack dead
in a doornail, sitting here preaching the glory of Christ, than I would
be sitting at home watching TV and be thinking some kind of
stupid stuff sometimes I think about. Wouldn't you?