Romans chapter 5. Let's read
the text, which is verse 21 again. We read it a moment ago, but
let's read it again. This is our text. That is, sin
had reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. The subject of this message is
reigning grace. Reigning grace. We just sang
a moment ago concerning that, or listened to rather, the song,
He giveth more grace. He giveth more grace. That makes a difference. He giveth
more grace. Grace to save. Grace to call
us out of darkness. Grace to keep us from falling,
or falling away, I should say. Grace one day that is such reigning
grace, such abounding grace that it will present everyone who
is a partaker of it before the throne of a holy God without
a spot or a blemish any evidence that they were ever sinless.
No wonder old Newton called it amazing grace. Paul compares
the reign of sin, as we read the chapter, He compared the
reign of sin unto death to the reign of grace by Christ unto
eternal life. And he tells us, where grace
comes, grace reigns. In other words, God's grace that
comes to sinners through the Lord Jesus Christ always has
the upper hand. Always, always. The floods of
grace prevail. prevail above the mountains of
all of our sins." Again, I ask you, isn't that good news? It
better. It better be reigning grace.
My salvation depends on it. Where I spend eternity depends
on it. Whether I go to heaven depends
on it. The foundation of my hope, of
good hope, is through grace. It depends on God's reigning
grace because if the grace of God that is by Jesus Christ doesn't
reign. If it's not truly grace that's
greater than all of my sin, then we don't have a good hope at
all. Really, when it comes down to it, we don't have a hope.
All this religious world, now you'll bear witness to this unless
you live in a cave. I don't think nobody here does.
All this religious world talks about salvation by grace, don't
they? You drive through town, there's
a church on every corner, Everywhere you go, there's a church on every
corner, on their signs, on their marquees, they'll talk about
grace. They'll put scripture verses
up there about, by grace are you saved through faith. All
this religious world talks about the grace of God. Baptists, Catholics,
they all do. Men and women love to talk about
grace. They like to sing about grace.
They like to hear about God's amazing grace, just as long just
as long as they imagine that God's grace is in some way dependent
upon them. That's exactly right. This religious
world will talk about grace, sing about grace, hear about
grace, as long as that grace is defined as being something
that depends upon them to make it work. that make it effectual. But as soon as grace is defined
in the words of scripture, oh, their opposition soon flares
up, does it not? Nowhere in the Bible, now listen
to this, nowhere in the Bible do we read of such a thing as
universal grace. There's no such critter, no such
critter. No such thing as a universal
grace or grace bestowed upon mankind in general. The mercy
of God, yes, is over all of his works. Yes, indeed. But the grace
of God is upon his people. The mercy of God is life upon
earth. As long as we live, we're obligated
to the mercy of God. Oh, but the grace of God is more
than life. It gives everlasting life, eternal
life. The grace of God results in eternal
salvation. Eternal salvation. This is what
Mr. Pink had to say about this. He
said, divine grace is the sovereign and saving favor of God exercised
in bestowing blessings upon those who have no merit. They don't
deserve it. No merit in them and for which
no compensation is demanded from them. Grace is completely unmerited. unearned, unsought. It is altogether
unattracted by anything in us. God didn't look down and say,
hmm, there, I see what he may become. I see some good in him. No, no, no, no. All he saw was
sin. There was nothing in us that
would do anything other than repel God and repel his grace. Grace cannot be bought. Grace
can't be earned or won by anything in us or done by us. It just
can't happen. If it could, if it could. If
that's so, Billy, if you've done anything to earn God's grace,
to merit God's grace, then it's not grace anymore, is it? No,
no, you get some of the credit. It would cease to be grace. Grace
bestowed upon sinners without attraction, without condition,
without qualification. I like that. Those who are bankrupt
sinners and have nothing to pay, they like that. Self-righteous
Pharisees that think they're earning their way to heaven,
they don't like to hear that. They'd rather hear about a grace
that they make effectual. When God's saving grace comes
to a sinner, it comes as a matter of pure charity, at first unsought,
unasked, and undesired. That's exactly so. If not, It's
not the true grace of God. Peter wrote to those poor suffering
believers in his epistle, chapter five, I believe it is. He reminded
them that this is the true grace of God wherein you stand. Nothing could have been better
news to them than to be reminded of that. You're not going to
be lost. You're not going to perish. Nero
will persecute you. Nero may slaughter you by the
hundreds. Nero may even use you as candles to light his garden.
But you will never perish because you're standing in the true grace
of God. And every child of God is a witness
to that. Listen to what Paul said in Romans
chapter 11. Chapter 11 verse 5. He says,
even so at this present time, just like there was in Elijah's
time. Elijah had one of those moments of depression. Not long
after he had that great victory on Mount Carmel, there's words
sent to him from Jezebel, the evil queen, before the sun goes
down, I'm gonna have your head. My soul, Elijah proves that he
was just a man like you and I because he just ran away. Just went away. Ran away and sat down and said,
Lord, just let me die. I'd be better off dead. Let me
die. They've killed all your prophets.
They've torn down all your altars. There's no place, there's no
one that worships God. I'm the only one left and I'd
just soon die and get this over with. Ever been there? You ever feel that way? Nobody
understands. Nobody's going through what,
oh, poor pitiful me. And God said, Elijah, you don't
know what you're talking about. Elijah, I know something that
you don't know. There is at this very time 7,000,
I've reserved them. I've preserved them. They're
my elect, they're my chosen. There's 7,000 that's not bowed
their knee to Baal. And Paul makes application of
that in his day. Remember, Paul got discouraged
one time. He was in Corinth, that wicked city, and the Lord
spoke to him and said, Paul, don't be afraid. Seldom I think
of Paul as being afraid. He was such a brave man, but
he was afraid of something. Perhaps he was afraid that the
gospel would not prove to be the power of God in that wicked
city. And you know what God said to him to encourage him? Paul,
don't be afraid. Speak. Don't hold your peace
because I have much people in this city. I have an election
here, Paul, just like in Elijah's day. Yes. Even so, Paul went
on to write in Romans 11 and 6, even so, or verse 5 rather,
even so at this present time today, right now, I know we're
living in perilous time. And they're not going to get
any better. Oh no, this world won't get any better. Worse and
worse, but even so at this present time also, like in Elijah's time,
like in Paul's time, there is a remnant according to what?
The election of grace. God's purpose to save a people.
Unless he ceases to be God, unless he ceases to be the mighty God,
those people shall be saved. That's why this world exists.
That's why this world is standing. It's got nothing to do with what
the Jews do over there in Israel. No, no. God's got a people here,
and he's going to call those people. The great shepherd, after
he calls his last sheep, that last one that was committed into
his hands by the Father, The last one for whom he shed his
precious blood, thereby making atonement for their sins. When
he calls that last one, that's when time shall be done with. That's when he shall come back
just like he promised to gather all of his people unto him and
so shall they ever be with the Lord. The scriptures teach us
some very clear, specific things about the true grace of God.
And one is this. The grace of God's eternal. God's
purpose of grace wasn't an afterthought. When Adam failed, it didn't catch
God off guard. You know, he said, well, let's
just back up and think about this thing. No, the grace of
God is eternal. Listen to this. 2 Timothy verse 9 of chapter
1. God, who hath saved us and called
us with the holy calling, how Not according to our works. Not according to our works. All
around us today, people are being told, well, if you'll take the
first step, God will take the rest. If you open your heart,
Jesus will come in. If you'll make a decision, if
you'll blah, blah, blah, it all boils down to works. Paul says,
God has called us not according to our works, but according to
what then? What's it according to? According
to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began." Ouch! Whoa, what a jawbreaker
that is for the free will. God's purpose of grace was given
to us in Jesus Christ before the world was ever created. Wow,
that kind of takes us out of it as far as being the reason
of our own salvation. The grace of God is eternal.
Here's another thing about the grace of God, and this is good
news. The grace of God's free. It's
free grace. I've done nothing to earn it.
Once received, I can do nothing to lose it. It's all in and because
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to what Paul says in chapter
3 of this book of Romans, verse 24. Being justified freely, freely,
without cause in us. God had loved them freely. being
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus. The Lord said concerning that
bankrupt sinner that when he had nothing to pay, he frankly,
in Luke 7, you know what the word is? Freely. He freely forgave
them both. Don't you find that comforting?
Aren't you glad, child of God, when you lay down tonight and
look back over this day and see how many times you've sinned
in word, in thought, in deed? Aren't you glad to know that
your salvation, your acceptance before God doesn't depend on
you? It depends on Christ, and it's
free. The grace of God is not only
eternal grace and free grace, it's sovereign grace. It's sovereign
grace. It means this, as God said to
Moses, so then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that
runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Moses, I will have mercy
on whom I will have mercy. I will be gracious. I'm determined
to be gracious. I purpose to be gracious. And
God will be gracious. But it's his grace, and he says,
I'll bestow it on who I want to bestow it. It's not determined
by thee. That's another jawbreaker. The
grace of God is also distinguishing grace, isn't it? Paul wrote to
those Corinthians, he said, you people are all puffed up. You're
all puffed up. One says, I'm of Paul, I'm of
Apollos, I'm of Peter. You've got the big head, you're
all puffed up. And Paul said, I'm gonna stick
a pin in your big balloon head and deflate you. You need to
remember, who made you to differ from another? Who distinguished
you is the word. What do you have that you didn't
receive? And if you've received it, why
do you boast? Why do you glory as though you
didn't receive it? God's grace is distinguishing. In 1752, there was a 17-year-old
man, young man, named Robert Robinson. He went, as he often
did, with some of his friends to an evangelical meeting And the reason he went was to
heckle the believers there, to disrupt the service, to make
fun of everything done. But instead, God caught his ear. A man by the name of George Whitefield
was preaching that day. And this young man, the words
burned into his heart as with a hot iron. And sometime after
that, God saved him by his grace. He became a pastor. One evening
while preparing a message, he wrote these words, this hymn.
Come, thou fount of every blessing. That's what reigning grace does.
Come, thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace.
Streams of mercy never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise. Here I raise mine Ebenezer, hither
by thy help I'm come, and I hope by thy good pleasure, safely
too, arrive at home. Oh, to grace. Oh, to grace, this
is the testimony of every child of God. Oh, to grace, how great
a debtor. Daily I'm constrained to be.
Let thy grace now like a fetter bind my wandering heart to thee. God, don't leave me alone. Don't
leave me to myself. Peter, do you want to join the
crowd, the religious crowd? I've done talked to them about
God's sovereignty, God's election, and their own depravity and helplessness,
and they've turned and walked away. They say, we won't hear
that. in John 6. We won't have that. This is too
hard. We can't bear it. You want to join in, Peter? Remember
what Peter said? Lord, I can't. I've got nowhere
else to go. I've got nowhere else to go. Why, Peter? Because
grace, grace constrained him. Grace kept him. Grace bound him
like a fetter and would not let him go. And the grace of God
in Christ Jesus, or rather the grace of God is in Christ. It's
only in Christ. We read that here in our text,
didn't we? Paul stated it plainly. You may have noticed in the reading
more than once. Look at verse 15. But now, verse
15 here in Romans 5, but now, not as the offense, so also as
the free gift. Free gift. I like that. For if
through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace
of God and the gift of grace which is by one man. The grace
of God which is by one man, the preacher man, no, Jesus Christ,
have abounded unto many. When the poor sinner is indicted
and arraigned at God's bar and judgment is made against him
and he's guilty. He can't open his mouth, because
he's guilty. He's violated God's holy law.
And accordingly, a holy God must find him guilty. And the sentence
is the everlasting death. Everlasting death. Oh, my soul. Then grace steps in and says,
oh, no. Oh, no. Deliver his soul from
going down to the pit. I found the ransom. That sinner's
not going to die. He's going to live. That's grace.
That's grace, that's the grace of God. Oh, love beyond conception
great, that found a ransom for my soul, by which God can, by
truth and grace and sovereign mercy, make me whole. In Jesus
crucified I see how grace abounds and justly reigns to save a guilty
wretch like me while God his justice yet maintains. Here's another thing about God's
grace in Jesus Christ. Grace is not something God offers
to sinners. How does that sound to you? Does that ring a bell or you
think, oh, I don't like that? Grace is not something that God
offers to sinners. Grace is not an offer from God. It's an operation of God to and
in sinners by which He affectionately saves the objects of His everlasting
love. Listen to what Paul wrote in
Ephesians chapter 1. Verse 19, And what is the exceeding
greatness of His power to usward who believe, according to the
working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, this
same power by which He grants faith to sinners? That same power
is the power He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead
and set Him at His own right hand in heavenly places. That
sounds more than an offer to me, doesn't it to you? It sounds
like a mighty operation of God's reigning, abounding grace. Sounds like God does what needs
to be done. He doesn't offer to do it. If
I do my part, He does it. He does it. Listen again. In
Colossians 2 verse 12, Paul says, Buried with him in baptism, whereunto
also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of
God. I didn't open my heart. I didn't
take the first step. Oh, no. Boy, I tell you what,
if my salvation depended upon me taking the first step to God,
I couldn't get it done any more than Lazarus could when he was
dead in the grave. Not until King Jesus, the resurrection
and the life came to him and said, Lazarus, I'm not talking
to anybody else out in this cemetery. Lazarus, I'm talking to you.
And when he heard the voice of the Son of God with that voice,
with that word, went power. Power! And Lazarus was given
life, and here he comes shuffling out of that tomb. And Paul said,
even so, you who were dead in trespasses and sins, had he quickened,
given life to the praise of the glory of his grace. Grace is
a provision for men who are so fallen, so fallen, that they
can't lift the acts of justice. So corrupt that they cannot change
their own natures. So adverse to God that they cannot
turn to him. They want and they won't. They're
not willing or able. So blind that they cannot see
him. So deaf that they cannot hear
him. And so dead that he himself must open their graves and lift
them into resurrection life. And that's exactly what reigning
grace does. Grace does what needs done. Gives
us life and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul, writing to
the church at Thessalonica, said in 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 13,
he said, For this cause also thank we God. Thank we God without
ceasing because when ye received the word of God, which ye heard
of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is
in truth the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you
that believe. God's grace works. God's grace
does what's necessary. As the old hymn writer, and I
know I quote it often, Philip Doddridge wrote, grace taught
my heart to pray and made my eyes overflow. It's grace that's
kept me to this day and will not let me go. Amen. God's grace will not let
me go. This chapter begins with grace.
Romans 5 here. And it ends with grace. Like
the life of every believer, it begins in grace and it ends in
grace. Look at verse 1 here in Romans
5. Verse 1. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God. Peace with God? How can that
be? We have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our peace. By whom also
we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and
rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. This grace wherein we
stand before the thrice holy God. Believers stand before God
at this moment. Accept it. Justify it. They stand,
as Paul wrote here, rejoicing in the hope of glory. Again,
I ask you, how can that be? Because of that one in whom we
stand, in the Lord Jesus Christ. God would have to reject Christ
before he rejects any of those that are in Christ. Christ is
the foundation believers are built on, the only foundation,
and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ himself, Ephesians 2 and 20. being the chief cornerstone,
in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto
a holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are builded together
for habitation of God through the Spirit. Jesus Christ himself
is the church's one foundation. And because that's so, we can
be sure of this when Christ himself tells us that upon this rock,
that's what he said to Peter, Upon this rock I will build my
church." Now the Catholic Church grabs that and says, he was talking
to Peter. Right there is when he made Peter the first pope,
and all the other little popes are descendants of Peter. They're
the head of the church. They're God's voice on earth.
That crippled little doddering old man in Rome, I sure hope
he's not the foundation of the church. We're all in trouble
if he is. No, Jesus Christ was talking about himself. Peter
just said, I know that you're the Christ. You're the Son of
God. And the Lord said, Peter, on the truth of what you just
said, Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it. Christ is both the founder and
the foundation of his church. 1 Corinthians 3 and 11, for other
foundation no man can lay than that which is laid, which is
Jesus Christ. Oh, how sweet it is to sing.
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest strain, but wholly lean on Jesus'
name, on Christ the solid rock I stand. The wind blows, the
storms howl, the rain beats down, oh but those that are founded
upon this rock, they'll never fall, they'll never perish. On
Christ the solid rock I stand, all of the ground is sinking
sand. The security of the church doesn't
rest on the Pope, on the priest, on the preacher, or upon the
sinner. What a sorry foundation, that's
all sand. Christ says that upon this rock
I will build my church, and that's the reason the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it. The Lord God many years before
this, 700 years or so, made this prophecy concerning his son.
Therefore thus saith the Lord God, behold, this is in Isaiah
chapter 28, verse 16. God says, behold, I lay in Zion
for a foundation of stone, a tried stone. a precious cornerstone,
a sure foundation. And he that believeth in him
shall not make haste. Just calm down. It's all well. It's well with my soul. The psalmist
said this, Hear my cry, O God, attend unto my prayer. From the
end of the earth will I cry unto thee when my heart is overwhelmed. Does your memory, is that jogging
your memory right now? Because we've all had those times.
When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher
than I. I need someone mightier than
myself. Lead me to that rock. Again,
Psalm 18, verse 2, the Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and
my deliverer, my God, my strength, in whom I trust, my buckler,
and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. Written by Augustus Toplady,
it expresses this well, doesn't it? Rock of Ages, probably one
of the best well-known hymns there are. It expresses the desire
and hope of every believer. Did you know that Toplady died?
He was just 37 years old. A short time before his death,
he asked his physician that was there tending to him what he
thought of his condition, and the physician said to him this. that his pulse showed that his
heart was beating weaker and weaker every day. You know what
Top Lady said to him? Why, that's a good sign that
my death is fast approaching. And he smiled. and said, blessed
be God, I can add that my heart beats stronger and stronger every
day for glory. Oh, while I draw this fleeting
breath, when mine eyes shall close in death, when I soar to
worlds unknown and behold thee on thy throne, rock of ages,
cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee. Another proof that God's
grace must reign, look at those to whom he gives it to. You see
your calling, brethren. how that not many wise men after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God
hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
things which are wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of
the world to confound the things which are mighty, and base things
of the world, that's us, and things which are despised, that's
me, hath God chosen, yea, and the things which are not, the
brained and not, the things that are, that no flesh should glory
in his presence. The first time we hear of the
man who wrote these words, Concerning God's reigning grace, the first
glimpse we ever get of him, he's a young man standing, holding
the coats, the ring of those men that were stoning Stephen.
Talk about first impression. That was Saul. That was the man
who talks about God's great and reigning grace. Not soon after
that we read that Saul was consenting unto his death. That word consent
doesn't really convey the meaning of it, it means that he gloryed
in it. He agreed with it. He relished in it. He gave his full support to it. Then afterwards we read, and
Saul was consenting unto his death, and he made havoc of the
church, entering into every house. Shortly after that, helly men
and women committed them to prison. Saul hadn't gotten any better. He'd gotten worse. He said in
his testimony before Agrippa, Verily I thought within myself
that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus
Christ, which thing I did in Jerusalem. And many of the saints
did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief
priest. And when they were put to death,
I gave my voice against them. And so Saul would have continued
doing this his whole life and think the whole time that he
was doing God's service. He thought God was pleased with
that. How blind, how lost, but he was religious. And he would
have continued down that road except for this, that one, that
one, by whom grace reigns said of Saul of Tarsus, that's enough. Oh, that's enough. Saul, you've
gone far enough. You're going to proceed no further.
And that one who sits upon the throne of grace brought that
self-righteous Pharisee to fall down in the dust before him.
Robert Hawker said this, Who that heard the blasphemy of the
man saw and beheld the bitter cruelties he exercised on the
Lord's redeemed, compelling them to blaspheme, could have conceived
that the very mouth which breathed out threatenings and slaughter
against the disciples of the Lord should soon preach Christ
in all of his fullness and glory. He that had tried to stomp the
name of Jesus from the face of the earth would then stand up
and say, I'm determined to know nothing among you. I don't want
to hear anything or talk about anything but Jesus Christ and
him crucified. This is how it happened. Paul
said, you've heard of my conversation in times past in the Jews' religion. Held that beyond measure, I persecuted
the Church of God and wasted it, and profited in the Jews'
religion above many of my equals in my own nation, being more
exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my father's royal religious
tradition. Against the God who rules the
sky, I fought with hand uplifted high, despised the mention of
his grace, too proud to seek a hiding place, but when it pleased
God. But when it pleased God who separated
me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace to reveal
his Son in me, that I might preach him. But thus the eternal counsel
ran, O mighty love, arrest that man, and Saul of Tarsus became
a new creature in Jesus Christ. He would never be the same after
that. He would never be the same, and no sinner, no sinner, I'm
not talking about folks that make a profession, but no sinner
who truly experiences the reigning grace of Christ will ever be
the same after they die. Never will. Never get over it.
Never want to. Paul said, but by the grace of
God, I am what I am. And His grace which was bestowed
upon me was not in vain. It wasn't futile. It wasn't useless. But I labored more abundantly
than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was in
me. A few more rolling suns at most
will land me safe on Canaan's coast, where I shall sing the
song of grace and see my glorious hiding place." Let me be brief.
Here's the last thing. The conclusion of grace, the
outcome of grace, proves that it must be reigning grace. In
life and death, we stand in the reigning grace of God that's
in Christ Jesus, the captain of our salvation. The great shepherd
of the sheep has gone before us as the mighty conqueror to
vanquish all of our enemies, to swallow up death in victory,
and to raise us up with him to reign in life eternal in immortal
glory. The psalmist said, the Lord giveth
grace and glory. Never been a sinner that tasted
the grace of God that won't be in glory. Grace is the evidence,
the proof of glory. God gives both. as his free gift. They go from strength to strength,
again the psalmist wrote, every one of them, you hear that? Every one of them, in Zion, appeareth
before God. The reason is because, not them,
but God's reigning grace. These are they which were not
defiled with women, Revelation 14, for they are virgins. These are they which follow the
Lamb, whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among
men, being the firstfruits unto God and into the land. And in
their mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before
the throne of God. What proof, what evidence that
His grace must reign. Grace all the works shall crown,
through everlasting days it lays in heaven the topmost stone,
and well deserves the praise. And he shall bring forth the
headstone thereof with shoutings, crying grace, grace unto it. Thank God for grace that reigns. Amen. Amen. God bless you.