I'll read from the sixth chapter
of the book of Romans, Romans chapter 6, and I'll read
from verse 20 down to verse 23. For when you were servants of
sin, you were free from righteousness. For what fruit had ye then in
those things whereof ye are now ashamed? For the end of those
things is death. But now, The other said, when is now? Now is now. But now being made
free from sin and become servants to God, you
have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord. right there in the book of Romans
chapter 6. I began to think on this passage. And as I read, I'm going to deal
with verses 1 to 11. And I began to think on this
thought. Why? were we chosen in Christ? I know that we were, because
the Scripture says that he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world. But looking at that truth and asking myself, Why? I'm glad we were. Thankful that
we were. Thankful that God's got an elect. But that God did elect a people. What does the scripture say why
he did? Obviously it was necessary. As I thought again on that, I
began to realize some things in this scripture concerning
what the scripture says about baptism. What do we confess when we are
baptized? I know this, that for God's people,
God's elect, God's regenerated saints, The Scripture reveals us to be
dead to sin and alive in Christ. What does that mean? These are
just some thoughts I'm throwing out there. Why did God elect
a people? Why are we chosen in him? What
do we confess when we are baptized? He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. What does that mean? In our last study in the book
of Romans, the Apostle Paul showed that man's fall into sin was
the result of one transgression against God. One man's one transgression
by one man's one sin is actually what is set forth. Mankind was
plunged into death and sin. Now, the reason that we don't
think very much of that is because we don't perceive the depth of
rebellion against God. I'll be honest with you. Before
I was converted, I didn't think anything about it. It just didn't
bother me. And the sad thing now is that
after I'm converted, because of the presence of sin with me
and my lack of understanding of rebellion against God, I still
can't perceive the depth of it. I hate that. But that's just
the way it is. There's not a person sitting
in this room this morning that perceives the depth of rebellion
against God. But I know this, the cross of
Christ set forth something, set it all forth. But what I perceive
of it, I see through a glass darkly. But I know this, by one
man's one sin, death reigned on all men. But by one act of
obedience, one act of obedience, by one man's one act of obedience,
the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary
Almighty God has forever redeemed His people and elect. Christ died for a certain group
only, those that God had purposed to show mercy to. That's who
He died for. He put away their guilt. Now,
knowing that a man is justified, that is, declared to be guiltless. Not merely just as if I had never
sinned. Justification means I haven't
sinned in Christ. I have not rebelled against God
in Him. Now, here are two natures. You
know this, there are two natures. Anyone that declares that there
are not two natures, that there is not a new man created in righteousness,
is just disputing what the Word of God says. There are two natures. All of us were born with one
of them, and Adam all died. Everybody here is sitting here
with one nature for sure, a nature of rebellion. But those that
God has called out of darkness and regenerated by His grace
and imparted, that means put in. I will give them a new heart. I will give them a new spirit,
a new mind. There is going to be a new man. You must be born
again, Nicodemus. That which is flesh is flesh.
That which is spirit is spirit. You must be born from above.
There is a new man, a new nature put in there. That new nature
does not sin. That new man does not sin. That
which is born of God Sinneth not. That's what John says. Sinneth
not. You say, do you mean actually
does not sin? I mean actually does not sin.
Now, here's two natures. One of them that doesn't do anything
but sin, and one that never sins. And that's what I'd call opposite. Contrary one to the other. Knowing
that we are justified freely by His grace, knowing in that
last Part of Paul's discourse in the 5th chapter, he was saying
that where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Now, Paul
is getting ready to answer some questions that only an unbeliever
is going to ask. His first answer, he is going
to give an answer to a question that an unbeliever is going to
ask. What shall we say? Chapter 6,
verse 1. What shall we say then? What
is the conclusion? To the truth that is set forth
that where sin abounded, and you know it did. Sin abounded
because by one man's one transgression, sin and death reigned. It abounded. There is no part
of a man's being being born in Adam that is not touched by sin. his thinking, his love, his lust,
whatever. You say whatever you want to
say. Men are sinners as being born in Adam. What shall we say
then? Shall we continue in sin that
grace may abound? Now, listen to the stupidity
of this question. One would say, well, now you
are saying that if a man is justified by God, And God is pleased with
him. And we are all sinners, and where
sin is abounding, the grace of God toward his own abounds, much
more abounds. Well, then, wouldn't reason tell
us that if you want to see the aboundingness of the grace of
God, then let's sin more? The more we sin, the more the
grace of God is shown to be grace. Paul answers that stupid question. Shall we continue in sin? Paul has spoken of the grace
of God. Much more abounding. Now that aboundingness has been
removed from reigning totally when there is only one nature.
That's all a man is going to do, is rebel against God. But then you put in a new nature,
and now there is a new nature there that doesn't rebel against
God. Should we sin that grace may
more abound? Listen, sin is not the cause
of God's grace being glorified. Shall we continue in sin that
grace may abound? is not the cause of God's grace
being glorified. Sin is the cause of God's wrath
and judgment. God's grace is magnified in the
eternal pardon of sin and the non-imputation of sin, not the
commitment of it. Committing sin does not cause
God's grace to abound. God is going to judge sin. The
non-imputation, the forgiveness of that sin is where the grace
of God is abounding. God's grace has stopped the totality
of the reign of sin. It doesn't encourage it. You
look at a believer, and I know that in every believer there
is that nature where sin is being manifested. I know that. But
I don't see in a believer the totality of sin abounding. There's
another nature in a believer. I'll tell you this, a believer
acts like a believer. Where I see total disregard for God's Word, for Christ, for
the gospel of free grace, where I see a total disregard for honor,
for respect, where I see total disregard for it. Not to say
that there is not sin in all of us. I am telling you that
there is. Paul says, I see in me. There was no good thing. Sin is in me. I will read that
in a minute. You think Paul was a believer when he said that?
Yes, he was. I am not saying that there is
not sin in a believer. I am just saying where there
is a total disregard for God's Word. Almighty God has not done
anything for that person. Total disregard. What shall we
sin? What shall we say? Shall we continue
in sin that grace may abound? God forbid, verse 2, how shall
we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? God forbid
such a disrespectful thought. That's disrespectful that men
would say it doesn't matter. Why don't we just keep on sinning?
Just let the grace of God just really shine forth. That's disrespectful. God forbid that we should think
that. How shall we that are dead to
sin live any more therein? What does it mean to be dead
to sin? Now, obviously, he says that
we are. How shall we that are dead to
sin? What does that mean? Well, let
me tell you what it doesn't mean. And then we'll consider what
it does mean. Number one, it doesn't mean that
we're free from the presence of it. Turn over a page there
and look at Romans 7, verse 18. Here's where I said I was going
to read it in a minute. For I know that in me, Paul says,
that is, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to will is
present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. Actually, if you look, the word
how is in italics. What he's saying is, but to perform
that which is good, I find that not. There is no way that a believer,
I'm talking about a believer in this world, can act in a perfect
obedience in his manifest, in his conversation, in his walk,
in his way of life. There's no way that he can. Why?
Because sin is with him. It's present with him. He just
can't do it. He says, to will is present.
I want to. I want to. Use it, believe. Don't you want to? Don't you
desire? Isn't there a desire to please
God, to walk in perfect obedience before God? If you're a believer,
that is there. I'd want to. Oh, let me ask you
this then on the other hand. Use it, believe. Are you glad
that there is a presence of sin in you? Do you have that attitude? Well, I'm just kind of glad sin's
still there so I can just keep on rebelling against God. That's
not so. To will is present with me. To be dead to sin means I'm not
free from the presence of it. Look at verse 21 in Romans 7. I find in a law that when I Would
do good, Romans 7.21. Evil is present with me. Secondly, to be dead to sin,
it doesn't mean to be free from the influence of sin. The presence
is there, still in Romans 7, verse 15. For that which I do,
I allow not. I don't know it. I don't approve
of it. For what I would, that do I not. For what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would
not, I consent unto the law that it's good. What Paul is saying,
I'm finding myself doing things that I don't approve of. And
then, therefore, since I don't approve of it, I'm saying that
the law of God is good. But then it is no more I that
doeth, but sin that dwelleth in me." And a believer doesn't
say, well, I'm just going to excuse it. That's just sin. That's just sin in me. Don't
worry about it. Oh, it's there. But Paul said,
I don't approve of it. I don't enjoy it. Dead to sin. It doesn't mean to be free from
the presence of sin. mean to be free from the influence
of it, not even from the effects of it. David said in Psalm 51.3, For
I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before thee.
Ever before me. I know, I know, I know it's there. I see sin and I don't approve
of it. I don't love it. My new man doesn't
love it. My old man serves it. Bond to
it. Bond slave. I mean, a slave to it. Servant. That's what you read, Scott.
Servant of sin. You were servants of sin. And
there's a nature that's right there. But I don't like it. But to be dead to sin. Shall
we that are dead to sin? What does it mean? It means to
be dead to the penalty and the guilt of it. All sin is going to be punished.
All sin is going to be punished. But here is what the Scriptures
reveal for God's people. When He died under the penalty
of God's wrath, being made sin, He was made, if I be one of His
elect, The penalty of what I have done before God was paid for
in Calvary. The penalty of it. The presence
of it is still there. The influence of it is still
there. And I don't like it. But the
penalty of it is gone. Now that's good news to me. I
don't even like the presence of it being there. I don't like
the stench of it being there. It stinks. I don't like it. I've
got a bad attitude. do something to me and I'm going
to get mad at you. I wish I wouldn't. I wish I wouldn't, but I do.
And then I have to come back and I have to tell you I'm sorry.
I didn't mean I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done it. I look
at you and I can pass judgment on you. I don't know why you're
doing that. I'll tell you what, if you were smart, you'd do things
like I do. In my mind, I wish I didn't think
that, but I do. But the penalty of that, the
debt of that, the guilt of that, I'm dead to that. How shall we
that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Christ made sin,
paid the debt, the penalty of all that God had chosen Him. Romans 8 says, "...therefore
now..." Brother Scott says, "...now..." When is now? Now! When was now? Before the foundation of the
world. That's now. That's now to God who is eternal.
He said, I don't change. When is now? Eternity. How shall we that are dead to
sins, penalty, and guilt live any longer therein? That is to
say, how shall we live in an unchecked or an uncaring manner? How is it possible? For one who
possesses a heart that is dead to sins, penalty by the blood
of Christ, live any more indifferently toward him." How can a man or
a woman say, how is it possible? That's what Paul is asking. How
are we that are dead to sins, penalty and guilt, how can we
live any longer in it in an unchecked manner? We can. You can't. That's why I say a believer acts
like a believer. A person that lives in an unchecked
attitude toward God, that sin's there. I know that. But the penalty and the guilt
of that sin that's been put away, and God's taught you that in
regeneration. How can a man live any longer
indifferently toward that? He just cannot do it. No, you're
not. Verse 3, that so many of us as
were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death. Now, here, the apostle reveals
that there was and is an absolute union with the Lord Jesus Christ
and his people. I'm getting back to that question
that I started thinking on a while ago. Why were we chosen in Christ? Why? Why? Well, I know this,
that this union is from eternity. And that is a union that can
never be dissolved. I know that. We are one with
Christ as He is one with the Father. The Lord prayed in John
17, Lord, I will that they which are one with me, that we might
be one as you and I are one. I know this. This is an eternal
union. You know, if you're like me in
my little silly thinking, I begin to think how the Scripture says
we were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world,
and still, even though I say eternity, I still kind of in
my mind, I kind of think of a starting point. I know it was before the
world was made. I know it was before that. But
somehow I think of God choosing. There has never been a starting
point of God choosing His people in Him. They have always been
in Christ. You mean to tell me that there
has never been a beginning of God electing a people, choosing
a people in Christ? No. How could there be a beginning? It would have to have been a
beginning with God in God's eternal. We just went way over our heads
in our understanding. But God has always considered,
found, looked upon, chose His people in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That choosing, that election
right there, is what Paul is talking about when he talks about
being baptized into Jesus Christ. Put into. You see what I'm saying? Baptism means to immerse. We
talk about baptism in water, and we understand that. But think on it as being baptized
into Christ. He's talking about that. Knowing
or not that so many of us as were baptized, if you look, if
the Bible has a translation in the middle, that word, as were
baptized, it means are. So many of us as are baptized
into Christ. So the phrase, being baptized
into Jesus Christ, that means that we were chosen in Him, the
property of Him, bound to Him, eternally, always being baptized
in Christ. So many of us, I know you're
not, but so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were
baptized into His death. I'll look at that phrase in just
a minute. I want you to turn over to Mark. Here is a verse
of Scripture that is Mark 16, 16. Mark 16, 16. Here is a verse
of Scripture that I think has been greatly misunderstood. The
Lord Jesus Christ said to His apostles in Mark 16, 16. Let's look at verse 15. Mark
16, 15. He said unto them, Go into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature. That's what we're doing right
now. We're going to preach the gospel. I'm going to tell you, this is
what God has got to say. I don't want to make anything
up. I don't want to add to or take away from. Let me just tell
you what God has said, and then we'll just end it right there.
Let me tell you what God says. Go into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. But he that believes not shall
be damned. He that believeth and is baptized." Well, we think,
well, you know, he that believeth. Well, I can tell you this. The
Scripture says, Paul speaking to the Philippian jailer, what
must I do to be saved? He said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
But that same word, as I told you a week or so ago, that same
word, believe, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, when it says
the devils believe, that's the same word. It means to give a
consent to a mental assent. You see, we understand something. God gives us a new heart and
we perceive it and believe it. As I said, I believe I'm standing
right here. I'm giving a mental assent to
believing something. But what I believe is all the
difference in the world. But here's the key to this. He
that believeth and is baptized Men have always tried to associate,
and we do confess the Lord in baptism. And that's not a suggestion. If God Almighty has called you
out of darkness and revealed Himself to you, be baptized. That's not up for debate. That's
not up for, you know, well, I don't know. I don't know if it's that
important. It's obedience to Almighty God. Confess Him in
believer's baptism. But this Scripture is setting
forth something that I think we may have missed. He that believeth
and is baptized, that is, he that believeth, the devils believe. But were they baptized into Jesus
Christ before the foundation of the world? Were they chosen
and immersed in Him from the foundation of the world? No.
Who were all of God's elect? There's a lot of people that
believe stuff. He that believeth and is baptized. But believes what? Well, believes
the gospel that God's going to, you know, Teach them. But those that have been chosen
in Christ, baptized in Christ, and the effect of those that
don't, he says, he that believeth not shall be damned. That is
to say, those that don't believe were never baptized in Christ.
They were never chosen in Him. Water baptism does not save anybody. Water baptism is a confession
of our faith. that we have been baptized into
Christ. It's symbolic. It's what it is. Baptism is not salvation. Salvation is by grace. And it's torture by faith. Why? So that you can't boast. No boasting
in that. Baptized, placed into Jesus Christ. Why? so that we would be united
with Him in His death. Now, the reason I said a while
ago, I asked this question, why did God elect a people? Why did
He choose? Well, He had purpose to show
mercy to whomsoever He would. You know that. God is a just
God. How can Almighty God be just
in the condemnation of sin and still be justifier? How can He? One way. One must pay my debt. And when I was baptized, chosen
in Christ before the foundation of the world, He alone could
suffer the penalty that was due me and satisfy the law of God
by dying. The penalty, the wages of sin
is what? Death. I am a sinner against
God. I fell in Adam. But God Almighty
had baptized me in Christ before the foundation was laid, placed
me in Him. And everything that He did, He
did in obedience to Almighty God for His elect. Baptized in
Him. He died under the penalty of
God, and we died, and God was just. in putting away my guilt
in a substitute. He was just, Bob. But found in Him, He who satisfied
God and was raised from the dead to no more bear the guilt of
their sins, I was raised in Him. Why did God choose me? Because
God was going to show mercy to me. Because God is a just God. Why did He choose me? Because
God was going to put away my guilt in a substitute. Baptized. Know ye not that so many of us
as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? God has eternally justified,
adopted, forgiven His people in order that that crime be paid
for. He is not going to sweep it under
the rug. Christ had to be made what I
am by nature. As an actual baptism, I was actually
baptized into Christ, put in Him. Safety, security, haven. You are my hiding place. That's
what David said. You are. God was just in putting
away my guilt. Why? Because I'm a sinner. He's
fair. He's right. Verse 4, we are buried
with Him by baptism into death. that like as Christ was raised
up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life. We are vitally joined to him,
you know this, in election from all eternity. And the effect
of that union is that as he died for sin, being made sin, the
effect of being chosen in Him is that when He died, I died. Here again, now, here I am a
creature of time. I understand that. And I'm thinking
to myself, that was over 2,000 years ago. And can His death
truly have vital union with me being there? Me being there.
Absolutely. Now, can I perceive that I was
actually there only by faith? Freddie, that's the only way
I can know that. I mean, I live over on Dockard Mill Run. Was I there? God said I was. How do you know that? God told
me. You believe that? Yes, I do. You actually believe
that when Christ died, that the penalty, me, the guilt of, the
sinner, the sinner, was actually there? Paul said, I was crucified
with him. Was Paul there in his physical
body? Paul was born a long time after
Christ. You see what I'm saying? The
Lord Jesus Christ came and revealed Himself to Paul on the road to
Damascus a long time after the Lord had ascended. Paul said,
I was there. And you believe you were too.
I was there. I was there at the crucifixion
and died in Him. Therefore, we are buried with
Him by baptism. We are buried with Him and in
Him by baptism into His death. And like as Christ was raised
from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also should
walk in newness of life. We confess this belief. by believers' baptism. We believe
that we were baptized. When we go into the water, and
I understand that when He died, we died. We look at that as being
His death. But that symbolic going into the water, what you're
saying is, I believe what God said, that before the foundation
of the world, He baptized me in Christ. And as He lives, I
live. That's what you're saying. I
mean, the whole scope of God's redemption and glory in calling
out and saving His people. You see, believers' baptism,
actually, believers' baptism, what that confesses, I believe
this gospel of sovereign grace. That's what it says. I believe
when a believer is baptized, now anybody can go in the water.
Anybody can get in the water, but a believer, When they're
truly baptized, they believe the gospel of God's electing,
sovereign, saving grace. What they're saying is, I believe
that God chose a people before the foundation of the world.
Neal, that's what he's saying. That's what he's saying. Believer's
baptism confesses the gospel of Christ to be so. Someone says,
I was baptized, but I don't believe all that sovereign grace stuff.
I believe that man has a free will. That's not spiritual baptism.
Baptism is the confession of faith that what God Almighty
has said is so concerning election, predestination, calling out,
sovereign, saving, irresistible grace. That is what believer's
baptism confesses. I was baptized in Christ by immersion. What a baptism! We confess by
faith. that God has united us to Christ. And what He did, He did for me. And the result of what we confess
is that we walk, Paul says here, in newness of life. That is,
in a new state of walking. We have a new state of living. We have a new state of obeying.
We now believe God Almighty. Believe what he has said concerning
his Son, the eternal surety of the sheep. That's what Believer's
Baptism confesses. Verse 5, For if we have been
planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also
in the likeness of his resurrection. This is a confirmation of what
Paul had just said. Since we have been planted together
since we have been united, since we have been joined, since we
have been baptized into Jesus Christ eternally in God's electing
grace, since we were planted together and were crucified with
Him at Calvary. We believe that. We believe that
when He died, we died. When He went into that grave,
He was in the tomb and all of God's elect In God's electing
grace and mercy and compassion, we were in the tomb with Him.
We died with Him. Crucified with Him. Died with
Him. When He came out, we came out. Sin had no more hold over
us as far as condemnation. Presence, yes. Influence, yes. But no more guilt of it. No more
penalty of it. We have died already in Christ. God Almighty is a just God. Where the penalty has been spewed
out, God Almighty won't do it again. We died in a substitute. God Almighty, in that day of
judgment, will cast all those left to themselves into the lake
of fire. And they will go through eternity
under the judgment of Almighty God. A man or a woman dies without
Christ. They died without Christ. They
died without a hope. In one act, in one act of obedience,
the eternal judgment of God that would have been, I know it wouldn't
have been, but this is the only way I know how to say it. What
was due? Let me say it like that. What was due? The eternal due
of judgment. that was due me at being found
in Adam. What was due me? The eternal
judgment. And not only for me, but for
all that Christ redeemed. The eternal judgment of God that
would have been spewed out eternally for every one that Christ redeemed. All of that at Calvary. The eternal judgment of God. Can you enter in? I can't. To
what He bore. My God, my God, why hast Thou
forsaken me? We say those words, and I mean
they just flow off our lips just like we perceive them and stuff,
and we have no earthly idea. No understanding. If you have
been planted together in the likeness of death, we shall be
also in the likeness of His resurrection. The evidence of this truth, or
that new state of life, is that a believer walks in newness of
life. What do they do? They believe
God. You never believed God before God gave you a new heart. You
didn't believe Him. Verse 6, Knowing this, that our old man
is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve sin. That old man, that
old corrupt nature received from our father Adam, that opposes
God. It's never going to be improved
on. It's never reformed. It's never fixed up. It has no
ability to understand. It has no ability to love or
seek God. It can never be dealt with in
any way but destruction. That's the only way it can be
done. That's what happened. God destroyed the guilt of, the
penalty of, for the elect of God to have any hope. of eternal life, they had to
be baptized into Christ. They had to be baptized into
Jesus Christ. They had to be united to Him
in order to be a partaker of His death and resurrection. That's
the only way. Why did God choose a sinner in
Christ? Why did God choose a people in
Christ? So that they could be partakers
of His death. Death is going to be there, either
in a substitute or in me. But for God to show mercy, we
had to be chosen in Him. God Almighty had to put it away.
So now by faith, a believer perceives the truth. We know that though
our old nature remains, it is there with us and we strive against
it. We know this, that the dead of
that was crucified. with the Lord Jesus Christ. What
we owed, what was owed was dealt with, paid for at Calvary in
our substitute. The body of sin. Knowing this, that our old man
is crucified, that the body of sin, that is that nature that
belongs to and is ruled by the power of sin. That old man that
is a slave to sin, That old man that is only going to be dealt
with in absolute judgment must have been dealt with in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That henceforth, we should not
serve sin. That is to say that we should
not be in bondage to sin. By the new nature, we are not.
Now, by the old nature, Paul says, I do serve sin. But that
old nature of which I was born, here's the difference. For God's
elect, what that old nature owed, Christ paid. But to be found
with that old nature, and He didn't lay down His life for
any but the sheep, if He didn't pay the debt of it, you still
owe it. And if God Almighty spewed out
His judgment on His Son, What do you think he'll do for one
found with sin? You see what I'm saying? You
say, well, what must I do? I'd cast myself upon the mercy
of God. You say, how can I do that? If
you want to, you will. Do you want to? Do you desire
to? I would say to you, come to Christ.
You come to Christ. If the Lord God has given you
a heart to come, you'll come. That inward principle of sin
is not going to be controlled. It's going to have to be destroyed.
That is, it's going to have to be rendered useless. Verse 7,
For he that is dead is freed from sin. That word freed there
means actually justified. You know, we think of justification
as actually meaning that a man to be justified, he has to have
some kind of inherit holiness about Him. Note the Scripture
reveals that God Almighty has justified the ungodly. He has
dealt with those who were sinners and has justified them. God justifies
the elect ungodly by destroying the penalty of the old man. That is how we must have been
baptized into Christ. The elect are justified are declared
innocent because the penalty of sin was destroyed at Calvary. Now, if we be dead, verse 8,
with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.
Since we died at Calvary, we have a dogmatic belief that we
shall not only live with him in glory, but also that there
is a manifestation of that life right now. This new life that
has been imparted, that is the new life that you will possess
in glory. There is a new life. I know that
right now it is struggling with sin. I understand that. But I
am telling you, that new imparted life, that new man, Job says,
These eyes, I am going to see Him. These new eyes, these new
ears, I am going to hear Him. I am going to behold Him. that
we are going to live with Him, knowing that Christ, verse 9,
being raised from the dead, dies no more. Death has no more dominion
over Him. The assurance that we possess
that life right now, the assurance that we have is this, because
when Christ came out, I have to believe this by faith. If
I believe that I was baptized into it, If I believe that when
He died on that cross, I died with Him. If I believe that all
of my penalty, the guilt of what I owed the law of God, was dealt
with at Calvary. If I believe that, then when
He came out of that ground three days later, I believe this, I've
got some hope. He came out of that ground, and
I believe this, that Christ being raised from the dead, He dies
no more. Death has no more dominion over
him, and he doesn't have any more dominion over me. That's
all of my hope. Verse 10, For in that he died,
he died unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto
God. The Lord Jesus died one time
for all that the Father gave him. He died one time. made sin
by one sacrifice. After that one death, he is now
separated. He bore our guilt. He made sin
at Calvary, but no more. He paid it, and he does not bear
it anymore, the guilt of it anymore, the penalty of it that he bore,
being made it. That's why God killed him. Because
sin was found there. He hath made him sin. After that, he died. He died unto sin once, but that
he liveth, he liveth unto God. He liveth as our Mediator, as
our High Priest. Likewise, verse 11, this is the
last verse, Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but
alive unto God through Jesus Christ. Our Lord. Believer, I
know, I know, I know you are struggling. I know you hate,
I know you hate the presence of sin. I know that. I know that
in you, that is in your flesh, there dwells no good thing. I
know that. I know, as Job said, I loathe myself. I know that. I know that we are going through
this world right now and the burdens of this life and the
burdens of this flesh I know that. I know that. But reckon
yourself. Call yourself what God says you
are. Reckon yourself to be truly freed
from the penalty and the dominion of sin. You know, a man can lie
down at night and close his eyes and realize, you know, if this
is the last time I ever close my eyes in this life, It's okay. It's okay. Why? He put away my
guilt. If a doctor tells me you've got
a disease and it's going to take you, well, I'm going to die with
something. I'm going to go some way. If
the Lord Jesus doesn't return and I meet Him in the air, I'm
going to die. I know that. But I can tell you
this, if I can reckon myself, as Paul says here, to be dead
in deed unto sin to its penalty and guilt, when I close my eyes
in this life, when I fall asleep in Him, I will awaken at that
moment, beholding Him who has eternally loved me and gave Himself
for me, the One in whom I was baptized, The one that God placed
me in, chose me in, put me in. Why? That He could put away my
guilt. That God could be merciful to
me and compassionate to me. If we've been baptized in Him,
if we died with Him, we're dead to sin, but we're alive unto
God through Jesus Christ our Lord. If God is for us, who can be against us? If He's
put away my guilt, what do I have to fear? If Almighty God, before
the foundation of the world, said, I'm going to show mercy
to you, He chose you and my son. My son paid your debt, put away
the guilt of your debt. He died, and you died with Him.
He was raised, and you were raised with Him. He was ascended into
heaven, and so were you. And he sits right now in the
heavenlies, reigning. And so do you. That's some good
news. As you said, Bill Scott, since
you heard that good news, I haven't heard any bad news. Never heard anything bad since
then. These light afflictions, Paul, light afflictions. Yeah,
but I've got an incurable disease. Yeah, but he's for you. He's
for you. Let's pray together in closing. Our Father, we thank
you. for another day. And Lord, if
this is the last time we ever hear the gospel of God's grace
preached this side of glory, make it to our hearts to be a
wonderful, affectionate, effectual, burning, pleasurable message
of hope. We pray that you would honor
yourself in honoring yourself You call your people out of darkness
and tell them what you've done for them. And Lord, for that
we're thankful. And we praise you in the name
of the Lord Jesus. Amen. Amen. You're dismissed.