Look with me, if you will, to
the book of Romans. There in the eighth chapter of the book of
Romans. And that first verse. It says, "...there is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Now, Paul draws this conclusion
after this daily struggle that was
common to his experience and is common to the experience of
all who are in Christ Jesus. And he expresses something of
this struggle in this seventh chapter there at verse 18. He says, For I know that in me
that is in my flesh. Peter, I read to you, talked
about this tabernacle. He said, I must soon put off. He's talking about the flesh. me," Paul says, in this tabernacle
of flesh. Dwelleth no good thing. He found
that out. Very few have ever found that out. But Paul knew it, and I think to a measure I know
it. For I know that in me 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. It has to do with the opposition
of the flesh, the flesh and the spirit. engaged in the great warfare. With all this opposition of the
flesh, Paul seemed to be between a rock and a hard place.
But how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good
that I would, I do not. But the evil which I would not,
that I do." This is Paul's experience. He
mourned, if I understand this right, he mourned over his felt
distance from the Lord that he loved. He mourned over him. Now, Paul was no antinomian and could not live as he liked,
either in the lust of the flesh or in the love of the Spirit. Saying that, reading what I have
read, turn with me also to a portion of scripture that's found here
in Galatians chapter 2, verse 20. Verse 19, For I, through the
law, am dead to the law, that I might
live unto God. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless
I live, yet not I, But Christ liveth in me, and the life which
I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me. Yet, indeed, complications, struggles that the apostle had. He comes back to that particular
spot in Romans chapter 8 and verse 1, where he says, he says this in
light of this struggle. and this opposition that he has
in the flesh. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation. Now I know myself
by my own experience I know that my inability to produce anything
acceptable unto God. In myself, I cannot. It's an
impossibility for me to produce anything that's acceptable by
God Almighty. I understand that. And at the
same time, I understand that I am able to rejoice that God
in Christ provides everything that is profitable for me. Do I stand accepted before God? If I stand accepted before God,
It is woolly in Jesus Christ. And that's what Paul is rejoicing
in. He understands something of this
awful nature that he has. He understands it, knowing it's
a fact, but he also feels it. He feels it. But yet, in light
of all that, he rejoices. even though he cannot do anything
of himself or in himself or pertaining to himself that is acceptable
unto God, he knows that all that will be profitable to him, God
has provided in Jesus Christ. And where is it here? about being—is that in the book
of Philippians? Let me see there a minute. The
book of Philippians, I believe. Philippians 2, maybe it is. In the third chapter of the book
of Philippians, Paul says, in light of what I've said, Paul
said, Yea, doubtless, in that eighth verse, I count all things
but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things. And do count them but dumb, that
I may win Christ, and be found in him." No condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus. And he said, "...and to be found
in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith." In Christ, no condemnation. In Christ, no separation. In this same chapter, He that
spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all? How shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. He's saying these things in light
of the struggle that he has within himself, where he says, I know
that in me dwelleth no good thing, that is, in my flesh, for the
will is present with me. But how to perform that which
is good I find not, for the good that I would I do not, but the
evil which I would not, that I do. That's his experience. But he says, there is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation
and no separation from those that are in Christ Jesus. Those. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law. but being found in Him, to be
in Christ Jesus, in Him. We're saved, we're safe and secure
forever, out of Him, out of Christ, either in Christ or out of Christ. This world is made up of a world
of those that are in Christ and a world of those that are out
of Christ. Out of Christ we are under the
condemnation and the wrath of God, not only an enemy of God,
but enmity against God. from Christ that soul shall sever,
bound by everlasting bands, once in Him, in Him forever. Thus the eternal covenant stands. None shall pluck thee from the
strength of God's Now, there is a good biblical illustration of this glorious truth. No condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. And it is found over here in
the book of Genesis, chapter 1. or chapter 7, verse 1. Noah and the chosen few with him are
in the ark, while the waters of judgment
raise without. Verse 1 of the seventh chapter,
And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into
the ark. Come! The Lord said unto Noah,
Come thou and all thy The Lord did not say, Go, for the Lord
took him inside the house, inside the ark, and the Lord shut him
in. The Lord took him in. The Lord
shut him in. The Lord took him in. But of
God are ye in Christ Jesus. But of God, not of Paul, not
of Apollos, not of Cephas, not of the church, not of mother
and father, not of religion, but of God are ye in Christ Jesus. I said that the Lord took him
in and the Lord shut him in and the Lord kept him in until all
danger was passed and gone. The Lord took him in, the Lord
shut him in, and the Lord kept him in. And the Lord went in
with Noah, and Noah was shut in with the Lord. The Lord being
shut out of the world, the world that he made. And that that he
was shut out of, there was nothing there but death and judgment. Noah was shut in with the Lord,
and so Noah was secure in the Lord. It's been asked many times, whatever
happened to the carpenters of Noah that worked for Noah and
built the ark. Well, certainly these men that
were made useful to Noah to build the ark were useful
certainly in their own way. God used them for the benefit
of Noah and those eight souls. God made them to serve Noah,
whatever happened to them. Well, I'll tell you what happened
to them, in order to emphasize that there's no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. Now, what happened to Noah's
workmen? What happened to Noah's carpenters? Well, they were eating and drinking,
the Bible says, marrying and given in marriage until the day
that Noah entered into the ark, and they knew not until the flood
came and took them away. They knew not until the flood came and finished
them off. But Noah was in the ark, and
God was in the ark with Noah. And God shut the door, and those inside, were safe and
secure, and those on the outside were under the judgment of God. Now, they had no part whatsoever
in Noah's salvation or Noah's security. They were not in the ark, and
the ark typifies those that are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation to those that
are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation to them that
are in the ark. Those outside the ark had no
part in Noah's salvation or Noah's security. They worked for him. but yet they were all destroyed. The judgment of God fell upon
them, and they were all destroyed. No condemnation to them that
were in the ark. No condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus. Look at Lot. Not many kind words said about
Lot in our day, maybe never have been. But when the fire of eternal
vengeance fell upon the cities in the plains, the fire of eternal
love was quick to fall and to defend. the object of God's choice,
which was Lot. Magnified mercy carried Lot safely
to Zor. The little city of Zor was the
place of safety. It was a city of refuge. It was a house of defense. And
it carried a lot there. All of this now is secured in
those who are in Christ Jesus, where no condemnation is found,
where the sword of vengeance, the sword of the wrath of God
and the justice of God can never be unsheathed to those that are
in the arms to those that are in little Zor, the house of defense. Security in Christ Jesus is a
wonderful thing. And not many people know about
it. Not many people are interested. But I'm interested. And the more
I hear about it, the more I enjoy it. to know that I am in the
ark, that I'm in Christ by faith, and that I'm safe in Christ,
safe everlasting and saved everlasting, called and justified freely. And I enjoy it, don't you? I
enjoy my safety and my security in him, and I enjoy those scriptures
that says nothing can separate us from the love of God which
is in Christ Jesus. This security is illustrated
in Noah and the building of the ark and those that rode out the
storm in the ark, those that were taken in. and shut in and kept in until
all the danger was passed, typified in Lot and the city of Zor. It's wonderfully typified. But the nation Israel in the
land of Goshen, where the blood of the paschal lamb was sprinkled
on the doorpost, and that was a sign of immunity from the sword
of vengeance, the sword of that avenging angel. All in this blood-sprinkled
house was securely preserved and cared for. All of that speaks
of the no condemnation. to them that are in Christ Jesus. How can you enjoy a salvation that is not safe, is not according
to the wisdom of God, a salvation where the justice of God is not
understood, is not seen and plainly told? A salvation that does not
justify a man from all things. A salvation that does not do
away with all of his sins, sins of yesterday, sins of today,
and sins of tomorrow. The salvation that I'm talking
about and the salvation that's involved in the no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus is a salvation that delivers
us from every charge and every liability that's against us.
The salvation that I'm talking about is the salvation wrought
by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself in His own person, in His own
body, alone on the tree. A salvation, a salvation that
delivers those that are the objects of this salvation from all that
was laid against it. A salvation that ensures and
guarantees that there can be no separation whatsoever. Let me read some more of that
particular chapter. For our edification, for our
comfort, for our enjoyment, My soul, what else do you have to
enjoy in this life? What can you take comfort in
if you cannot take comfort in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb
of God whom God sent, whom God commissioned, whom God authorized,
whose only business is to glorify God and to save His people from
their sins? If we cannot understand that
to a measure, We cannot worship Him aright and we cannot enjoy
the salvation of God. I enjoy that. It makes the hair
on the back of my neck to stand when I am brought and confronted
with the scriptures that teach that I'm safe evermore in Him. regardless of the struggles within
and the struggles without, regardless of the fact that I know that
in me dwelleth no good thing, that I cannot do anything in
myself pertaining to myself that is acceptable unto God. But when
I hear that what God's required of me, He has provided for me
in the Lord Jesus Christ, and I am rendered at the judgment
bar of God, no condemnation. Now, that helps me. That helps
me day in and day out. I know the world, they don't
see us like that. They see all your faults and
your blots and all your blemishes and all your They see all of
that. But God does not see that in
the salvation that I'm talking about. He sees us as our Lord
Jesus Christ said, Thou in them and I in them. We're in them. And as we are. As His, so are we in this world. Oh, this security, this no condemnation,
if it cannot be seen here this morning in the case of Noah and
his wife and his sons and their wives, getting into that ark
and God taking them in and shutting them in and keeping them in until
all danger is passed. If you can't see that there,
certainly you'll be able to see it here with the Israelites there
in the land of Goshen when God said, I'll kill the firstborn
of every family in all of Egypt. I'm going to kill the firstborn.
And He said to the He said to the Israelites, he said, take
the lamb, take a lamb, a spotless lamb, and keep him up and watch
him. And if there's any defects in
that lamb, they said, reject him. Keep him up and if there's
no defects, slay the lamb. Catch his blood and paint the
blood. on the side post and on the door
post of the door of the hut of the house. And he said, paint
it there and get in the house. And he said, when I come over,
when the death angel comes over, when I see the blood, when I
see the blood, I'll pass over you. It's the difference of life
and death, wasn't it? The blood was sprinkled upon
the doorpost. That was the sign of immunity from the avenging angel that
was to come over in the midnight hour. And all in that blood-sprinkled
house, all of it was securely preserved. and cared for by God
Himself. And that's what it means when
it says, There is therefore now. You know, many times I've said,
What is now? Where is now? He said, There is therefore now. is now. That's what it is. Now is now, right now. As I stand here before you, as
you sit there listening to me, it is now. There is no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. And if you and I are in Christ
Jesus, we're in Christ Jesus because we have been brought
to Christ Jesus. with bringing grace. But of Him,
but of God are ye in Christ Jesus. And if we see a smattering of
that, well, then we'll have reason to thank God, won't we? We'll
have reason to take heart and continue on in serving and loving
and praising and worship Him and live for Him. And that's
what it's all about, whether we get any recognition or not.
Whether anyone ever recognizes anything you ever do in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ, it will not make any difference. We don't do things in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ to be seen of others or to have someone
affectionately tell us what good people we are, whether they tell
us or whether they don't, whether they just tell us the opposite,
it is of no matter whatsoever to the individual whose conscience
has been awakened by the Spirit of God and God has been made
unto him wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. For he knows that there's no
condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Those outside
of the ark, carpenters, all of those that worked for forty years,
day and night, in the service of Noah, building that ark, They didn't know the flood was
coming, didn't care about it. And the flood of the wrath of
God fell upon them all. But those that were in the ark
were preserved and cared for by Christ. I worship Him. I worship God
in Christ. I'm comforted this morning. to
know that I'm in Him. Not in myself, not in religion,
but I'm in Him. And the way I got there was God
put me in Christ. I didn't have a thing to do with
it. God did it. Well, let's stand
and we'll be dismissed