Alright, let's look in Romans
chapter 5. Now, I'm going to tell you what I want you to get
from this in the first sentence. So if you can get this, this
is the message. The trust and the confidence
of the believer's heart, the trust and the confidence that
our salvation is absolutely secure is because of what Christ has
done for us by His death and because of what Christ continues
to do for us by His life. It's because of what He's done
for us by His death and what He continues to do for us by
His life. Let's read Romans 5 verse 6. For when we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die. You might find somebody that
would die for a righteous man, yet perventure for a good man,
some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him for if
when we were enemies now if when we were enemies we were reconciled
to God by the death of his son if when we were enemies we were
reconciled to God by the death of his son much more than being
reconciled having been reconciled we shall be saved by his life,
by his life. Now, the title of the message
is Enemies Reconciled and Friends Saved. And I want you to see
three things here. First of all, what every believer
was, what we were. Secondly, what God did for us
when we were in that condition. And then thirdly, what shall
happen to us now. All right, first of all, what
were we? You sitting here that's born of the Spirit of God, what
were we? What were we? Verse 6 tells us, we were yet
without strength. I want to show you Ephesians
2. Go to Ephesians 2. Hold your
place here. I want to show you what it is to be without strength.
Ephesians 2, verse 12. Ephesians 2, 12. At that time,
you were without Christ. That's what it is to be without
strength. You were without Christ. You were aliens from the common
wealth of Israel. You were without the common riches
of fellow believers. and strangers from the covenants
of promise. You were without the covenants
of God's promise. You didn't know about that covenant
of works that God gave, whereby He said, if you can do this,
you can live. You didn't know what that meant. And you didn't
know anything at all about the covenant of grace. You had no
idea what those covenants meant at all. You were without them.
Having no hope, absolutely without a hope, and without God in the
world. That's what we were, without
strength. Alright, go back to our text then. Here's the next
thing we were. Verse 6 says, When we were yet
without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
We were ungodly. We were the un of everything
God is. God is holy, we were unholy. God is just, we were unjust. God is righteous, we were unrighteous. God is altogether lovely, we
were altogether unlovely. We're the un of everything God
is, ungodly. Verse 8 tells us that God committed
His love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, while we
were yet sinners, not righteous, not even good, while we were
yet sinners. Now, that means we were only
sin and we loved to think and do and speak only sin. In other words, we were everything
God hates. We were sin. And we love to think
and do and say everything God hates, which is sin. That's what
we loved. That's where our heart was. What
else were we? Verse 9 says, God commendeth
His love toward us in that, I'm sorry, verse 9, much more than,
let me see, I'm sorry, verse 10.
When we were enemies, when we were enemies, that's what we
were, we were enemies. We were not only without strength,
we were not only the un of everything God is, we were not only delighting
in sin to do sin because we were sin, everything God hates, but
we were thoroughly against God, absolutely against God, enemies
in our minds by wicked works. That's what we were. Just like
we saw Cain hated his brother because God testified that Abel
was righteous and Cain was not, Any time we heard the gospel,
and this is so, it doesn't matter how long a man's been in religion,
any time we heard the gospel, we hated God because God's righteous
and we weren't. Any time that we heard that God
makes his people the righteousness of Christ, that Christ made up
his people the righteousness of God in him, we hated his saints
because they were made the righteousness of God in Christ and our works
were wicked. All our works were wicked. The works that we would
admit were wicked, they were wicked. And the works that we
thought was righteous and committed us to God, they were wicked.
All our works were wicked. We were enemies against God.
We hated God and we hated God's people. Somebody will say, well,
I never have been that way. You might think you weren't because
you see yourself as moral or you see yourself as not being
rebellious or being nice to folks, but your heart has deceived you
because unbelief and self-righteousness has made a liar of you. Because
the fact of the matter is, We may think we've never been God's
enemy because we were just not against Christ, not outwardly
rebellious and kicking and screaming, you know, make it so obvious
that we're against Christ. But the Lord said this, He said,
He that is not with me is against me. And He said, He that gathereth
not with me scattereth abroad. You could be in the finest building
with the finest people, with the finest robes, or without
the finest robes. You could be wherever you are
and be claiming to worship God. If we're not with Christ, we're
scattering, we're destroying, we're wreaking havoc. J.C. Philpott said, neutrality in
this warfare is enmity. Not to be on Christ's side is
to be against Christ. Not to be separate from God's
enemies is to be God's enemy. Not to love Him is to hate Him.
Not to be His is to be Satan's. We were enemies against God.
God said, the carnal mind's enmity against God. And that's, God
knows the heart. He knows the heart and he knows
what he says about the carnal unregenerate heart. That's what
it was. Not, no love for God, no love for godliness, no love
for heaven, no love for holiness, no love for truth, no love for
the saints of God, only enmity and rebellion and pride and self-righteousness. The carnal heart hates what God
loves and loves what God hates. That's where we were. That's
exactly where we were. Now, be sure we get this. There's
no way a sinner can be a friend of God. There's no way a sinner
can be reconciled to God until, in some degree, we learn something
about where we were and what we are by nature. It just can't
happen. Until then, we won't have any
need for reconciliation. Until then, we won't even value
the way God brings about reconciliation. Until then, we don't even know
the power and wisdom of God that works this reconciliation in
the heart. All right, that's where we were. All right, here's
the second thing to see about this. Yet what did God do for
us? You sitting here right now that
believe God, what did God do for us when we were yet sinners
and enemies against Him? Well, verse 6 says, when we were
yet sinners, He died for us. Verse 6, when we were yet without
strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. This is
what we were, and Christ died for us. All right, look at this. He says, when we were yet sinners,
God proved to us that His love toward us is beyond change of
any kind. How do you know that? Verse 8,
God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us. You see, the love of God in Christ
for each individual beloved child that He put in Christ, it passes
knowledge. It's so high and deep and wide
and broad this love of God in Christ is. Not even our deplorable
condition could alter the love of God for us. It couldn't change
it. He loved us when we were polluted in our own blood. He
loved us when none eye pitied us and we didn't even pity ourselves.
He loved us when we were wrapped up tight in the arms of rebellion
against God. He loved us in Christ. How does
that so? Because before we sinned in Adam,
He put us in Christ. He loved us and put us in Christ
before we ever sinned in Adam. And Christ promised to lay down
His life and bring us to God. And from then on, God has loved
us in Christ. Always. God loved us with everlasting
love. That's what the scripture said.
God doesn't love His children because Christ died for us. That's
not why He loves us. He doesn't love us because we
believe on Him. That's not why God loves us.
It was because God loved us. He loved us that He gave us to
His Son. It was His love that gave us
to His Son. It was His love that sent forth
His Son. It was His love that it says
here that God commended His love toward us and that while we were
yet sinners, Christ came and died for us. You think of the
amazement of that love that He suffered so for us who considered
Him our enemy. Do you love your enemies? I guarantee
everybody that's ever heard me preach loves me. They love me. Every one of them. You think
that's so? and probably leave here boasting
about their love, boasting about their love. Do you love your
enemies? I'm talking about love those
that rear back and punch you in your nose, rear back and spit
in your face, force blood out of your body. I'm talking about
love, love, perfectly love them. That's what he, he laid down
his life for the ungodly. You know, we don't realize, we
don't have any idea how horrible our sin is. We go off on our
little, we just don't know. We don't
know. It was because he loved us that
he gave us faith to believe his son. It's so that, in this love,
it's the envy of devils. It is. It's the envy of devils. And angels are amazed at it.
Are we amazed at this love? This is amazing. He commendeth. He proved his love to us. When he says, I have loved you
with an everlasting love, do you see how everlasting it is? Nothing can change it. Nothing
can turn it back. It's sovereign, unchanging, unchangeable
love. What did He do for us when we
were yet sinners? He justified us. Look at verse
10. When we were enemies, I'm sorry,
verse 9, much more than being now justified by His blood, that's
what He did when He died for us. That's what He did when He
died for us. He justified us by His blood.
That's what happened when he died. To be justified is to be
pardoned of all sin, is to have all your sin answered for under
the justice of God, and is to be made perfectly righteous before
God. And all of that's done through
the blood of Jesus Christ. This is our acceptance with God.
It's not our works. It's not our faith. It's not
our obedience performed by us after faith is given. None of
that's our acceptance with God. Our acceptance with God is we're
accepted by what Christ has done for us when He shed His blood. He justified us. He made us just
when He laid down His life in answer to the penalty of sin.
You see, Peter told us it's through the righteousness of God that
faith was given to us. You understand that? The very
first sinner in the garden was given faith. Adam was given faith
in the garden. You know why that faith was given
to him? It was through the righteousness
of God. The righteousness of God the Father had already entered
covenant with the Son and He said that they were just in His
Son. You mean even before Christ shed
His blood? Yeah. Abraham was given faith through
the righteousness of God. Every sinner, after Christ dies,
is given faith through the righteousness of God. He's right. He speaks
only that which is right. And He's going to give faith
because it's righteous and only righteous for Him to give faith
to every one of those for whom Christ died. And through that
faith, when we lay hold of Christ, that righteousness that our Lord
is, is imputed to us by Him. So that faith has no reason to
boast. Boasting is excluded by faith.
Any faith that boasts is not faith. Any faith that boasts
in man don't know who God is or what God has done. Because
when we have faith, we see, I got this through the righteousness
of God and it's God's own righteousness that I'm robed in and clothed
in. So that's what faith is laying
hold of. It's everything God's done for
us. What did He do when we were enemies? God reconciled us to
Himself by the death of His Son. Look at verse 10. He says, if
when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death
of His Son, When we were enemies, I couldn't be reconciled to Him
if I hadn't been justified. Michelle, my sins got to be put
away and answered for before God's going to have me reconciled
to Himself. He's not going to receive me
if I'm not justified. When did that happen? We were
enemies. We were reconciled to God by
the death of His Son. Sin had caused the breach, the
breach of His law had caused, and He reconciled His justice
on one side, and He reconciled His mercy on the others together,
so they kissed each other. And in what He did with Christ,
He reconciled every one of His elect unto Himself, while we
were yet enemies to Him. It had already happened. And
therefore, by the death of his son, when full satisfaction was
made, when sin was atoned for, when sin was put away, when it
was blotted out, when it was cast behind God's back, reconciliation
was done. I want to make sure you understand
this. How could he do that with Abraham when as yet Christ had
him come and die? All this was already done from
the foundation of the world. It was already done because Christ
was his surety. That didn't mean in case Abraham
couldn't live up to his end of some deal that Christ would pay
the rest. It meant from the beginning Christ said, it's done. I'm paying.
It's all done. And God knows the end from the
beginning. It's done with God. He came forth and did it then.
We know it from this side of the cross. Abraham knew it from
that side of the cross. Same thing. It was done when
he said it's finished. That's when it was actually done
in time. Alright, so that's what he did for while we were still
enemies, while we were these ungodly wretches, everything
God's not and just hating God. That's what he did for us. Now
then, What shall happen to us now that God did this for us
through the death of His Son? Now get this phrase in verse
9. Much more. Much more than. Much more than. Being now justified by His blood,
we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we
were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son,
if He did all that for us when we were enemies, much more. Now
that we're reconciled to God, we're going to be saved by His
life. Not His death, His life. His life. We saw last week that
He's raised again for our justification, and one aspect of that means
God gave the reins to Christ. to grant repentance and forgiveness
of sins to Israel. And He's working everything. He has been doing that from the
beginning. We've seen that before. He's been the high priest from
the beginning. He's been the king from the beginning. He's
been working this from the beginning. And it's all given to Him. It
says we'll be saved from wrath through Him. Now you understand
all this is done while we're still enemies. All this is done
while we're still dead. All this is done while we don't
even know who He is. Much more then, being now reconciled,
we'll be saved from wrath through him." What does that mean? Look
at Ephesians chapter 2. Look at verse 3. Ephesians 2 verse 3. Among whom
also, You know the verse. Verse 1 says, We were dead in
trespasses and sins. In time past you walked according
to the course of this world, the prince of the power of the
air, the spirit now worketh in the children of disobedience,
among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in
the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind. And look at this, we were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others. But we've been justified already.
We've been reconciled to God already. And Christ is risen. And now by His life, you know
what we're going to be saved from? Wrath. And so you know
what He did? Verse 4, But God, who is rich
in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when
we were dead in sin, He quickened us together with Christ. You
see, the Gospel don't just go out helter-skelter and say, let's
just hope it lands on somebody. With us, it goes that way, because
we don't know who the elect of God are. But it don't go that
way with God. God's sending it. He said, He
sends the raindrop. Just one raindrop falls out there.
It falls exactly where He sent it to fall and did exactly what
He sent it to accomplish. And He said, My words, just like
that rain that comes down, it don't return void. It goes right
where He's going to have it to go and accomplish exactly what
He's going to have it to accomplish. He said, it's going out of my
mouth in righteousness, and it won't return to me, boy. It's
going to accomplish the thing whereunto I sent it. Look back
at Romans 8, verse 1. You see, we had to be brought
into the understanding of all this and be given the faith to
enter into what all He had done for us, didn't we? How did that
happen? You see, it's not only that Christ
receives all the glory for our justification and for our reconciliation,
that all was done before we ever knew anything about it. But Christ
also receives the glory for our salvation, for us being brought
into the understanding of what He has done. Salvation here means
salvation in addition to justification and reconciliation. It includes
the blessings that God freely gives us by His grace because
of what Christ has done for us. We've got justification, reconciliation,
and salvation all listed here. So by His life, He sends the
Gospel right to us. He sends forth the Holy Spirit
to make us alive. He plants the truth of the Word
in our hearts. He gives us faith to believe
on Christ. And therefore, through faith in Christ, we believe.
And we know now, we have been saved from wrath and we will
be. Look at verse 1. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh
but after the Spirit. That's another way of saying
those that have been born of the Spirit of God. Look down
at verse 15. For you've not received the Spirit
of bondage again to fear, but you receive the Spirit of adoption.
whereby we cry, Abba, Father. When that Spirit came in, He
made you to see God's not your enemy anymore. You've been reconciled
to God. He's justified you, and he made
you to see he's your father. God in heaven is my father. So
that by that spirit we cry out, Abba, Father. How do we know
that? Verse 16, because the spirit itself beareth witness with our
spirit that we're the children of God. And if children, then
heirs, heirs of God, join heirs with Christ, if so be that we
suffer with him. Now if we make a claim that we
are, then we go on joining with all whatever and religion that
renounces all this that he's done. We're liars. We ain't fooling
nobody but ourselves. But if we suffer with him and
confess him and can suffer with him, if not, if we don't and
we won't confess him before men, he won't confess us before his
father. but if we suffer with Him, we'll
be glorified together when He's glorified. We'll be glorified
with Him together, us together with Him when He's glorified
before everybody. Alright, look down at Romans
8, 26. By Christ's life through the Holy Spirit, He saves us
from our infirmities. By His life, He sent forth the
Spirit into our hearts. God the Father did it. Christ
the Son did it. The Spirit of God enters in,
and He saves us from our own infirmities, even after we get
this salvation. We got a lot of salvation that
we got to be saved from. We got a lot to be saved from.
And so first thing is, is all the infirmities in this body
of death. You see, the biggest portion
of the cursed ground and the biggest portion of thorns and
briars and everything that we got to continue with in this
life, It's not even outside of this body right here. It's right
here. So likewise, just like the Spirit
came in the first place and He saved us by His life by giving
us that Spirit to see that we're saved from wrath, likewise, the
Spirit also helped with our infirmities. For we don't even know how to
pray as we ought to pray. But the Spirit itself maketh
intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And
he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the
Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the
will of God." I'm going to put that in the simplest terms I
can. Christ is a friend in glory that knows you, believer, better
than you know yourself. Scripture says He puts our tears
in a bottle. And He sends forth His Spirit,
and He'll draw from us prayers that can't even be uttered. And
He makes intercession for us with God. He's doing everything.
I talked to a brother the other day. His son was in a car accident. And it just, I mean, for a week,
they did surgery after surgery, starting with his brain, surgery
after surgery, and every time they'd do a surgery, they'd find
some new thing wrong with him. Some new bone broken, or some
part of his colon needed to be taken out, or just different
things over and over. And I was talking to my friend,
and he said, Clay, I can't even pray. He said, but what I normally
would say is prayer. He said, but I've just been praying.
He said, I just been all the time. He said, I'm just crying.
And he said, and the amazing thing is, is he said, God's just
comforting my heart. He said, it just, he said, I
can't tell you how comforting it's been. And he said, I hadn't
even uttered a word. I tried to and he said, I can't
even do it. That's what we're talking about here. We're talking
about here. He saves us from ourselves when
we can't even speak. And then by Christ's life, we're
preserved because He works everything together for us in heaven and
in earth. Look at verse 28. Romans 8, 28. We know that all
things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to His purpose. You see, He did
all that by His death. Now He's doing all this by His
life. Why? Because God purposed for him
to be the firstborn among many brethren. God entrusted his whole
house to him. And he's going to seek to it
that everything is done for his father. For whom the father foreknew,
he predestinated to be conformed to the image of his son. That
his son might be the firstborn among many brethren. moreover
whom He did predestinate, then He also called, and whom He called,
then He also justified, and whom He justified, then He also glorified. What are we going to say to that?
If God's for us, nobody can be against us. Do you see? If He
did all that for us when we were dead and ungodly and enemies
to Him, now that we're a friend of God, who can be against us?
We're going to be saved by the life of Christ. Look at by His
life, this is what He does too. He saves us by giving us all
things. All things spiritual and temporal
that's needed for our salvation. Look at verse 32. 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? God gives it to
us. He gave his son to us. And now
His Son is risen with Him, one, they're one, they're together
with the glory they had before the world began, and they're
together giving us all things that we need in this life. He
saves us. He gives, He's given us all things
spiritual we need, continues to do that, and He gives us all
things temporal we need, that we need. How else does He save
us by His life? Nobody's gonna be able to charge
us. with anything. Verse 33, Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is He that condemneth? It's Christ that died, yea rather
that's risen again. You see this is all by His risen
life. He who is at the right hand of God to make intercession
for us. That means no accusation of Satan, no curse or condemnation
of the law, natural guilty conscience, nothing is going to be able to
condemn you. Nothing can put a charge against you. Well, What
else do we need to be saved from? He's going to save us by His
life from anything and everything in this world, in heaven and
earth and hell that would separate us from Him. Look at verse 35.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation,
or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril,
or sword? As it is written, for thy sake
we're killed all the day long. We're as counted as sheep for
the slaughter. But no, in all these things, in all these tribulations,
and trials, and distresses, and persecutions, and all these things,
we're more than conquerors through Him that loved us. When did He
love us? When we were enemies, when we
were sinners, when we were without strength. He did all that. Do
you feel like you're without strength now? You feel like there's
absolutely no way you can do anything to deliver yourself
out of this trial, out of this distress, out of this persecution,
out of this famine, out of this peril, out of this sword, out
of this nakedness, whatever it is they took you under. You think
there's no, you got no strength to deliver you out of it. maybe
you're right where that was given to you to bring you then because
that's he's showing us you were without strength when i did all
that for you when you were my enemy now you're without strength
too but i'm gonna do everything for you by my life i'm gonna
keep you look Verse 38, from persuaded, Paul said. By how? By his life working in, Paul.
By him being reconciled in his heart, made new. That's what
the persuasion of God's grace does. It makes us persuaded.
Persuaded of what? That neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature
shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord. Did you see that? All right,
now let's go back to our text, and I want to show you one more
thing. And I just want to close with this. The purpose for every
trial is to teach us these very things right here. Let me show
you that. Back in Romans 5 verse 2, when
we've been justified by faith, we have peace with God, we enter
into all this, we have access to grace. Verse 2 at the end
it says, we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. The believer,
all of us, this is what we rejoice in. We joy in hope that one of
these days in God's time, We're gonna be with God in heaven's
glory, with Him, see His glory that He had with the Father from
the beginning. We're gonna see His glory and be with Him in
that glory. We have a hope in that. We joy in that hope. That's
our hope. Well, look at the next word.
Verse 3, and not only so, that's not the only thing we joy in.
What else do we joy in? We joy in tribulations. Wait
a minute, preacher, now. I ain't never had a trial come
on me that made me jump up down and say, man, I'm glad this has
happened. We don't have the time. We don't have the time. But what
happens through that, that tribulation works patience. When God puts
us in a trial, He just makes us wait. He's going to make us
wait. He's going to teach us patience to wait on it, so that
patience will have its perfect work. What's that perfect work?
Verse 4, we learn by experience that God has done all that for
us when we're enemies, and He's going to do it now for us by
His life. Now that He's saved, He's saving
us still. We learn that by experience, this thing we've been looking
at. And when that happens, you know what happens? And experience
makes more of that hope. You know why? Because hope maketh
not ashamed because the love of God should have brought in
our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. We have
the assurance all the more. We glory and rejoice more and
more in that hope. We're just a little more sure
of it that I know I'm gonna be with him in glory. Because he's
done all this for me by his death, he's gonna do all this for me
by his life. I see it a little bit more, a little more clearly
now. All that, we have all that love bubbling over in our hearts,
and you know what that's tended to? Here's where it, this is
where it all began with God, and you know where all that,
you know what it all has its end for? Look down at verse 11. And
not only so, we're not only rejoicing that hope, we're not only rejoicing
that trial, when it's over we think, oh, you know who else
we rejoice in? We rejoice in God Himself. Through
who? Not only so, we join God through
our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement,
reconciliation. We know I am at one with God. He's at one with me. Nothing's
going to be able to separate us. Thank you, God. Thank you,
Lord. That's where we're brought every
time, over and over and over. Amen.