Romans chapter 7, and we'll be
looking at the last two verses of this chapter this morning.
Romans chapter 7, verse 24 and 25. The title of the message
this morning is Deliverance by Grace. Deliverance by Grace. The apostle here says, O wretched
man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. So then with the mind I myself
serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. I thank God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. The apostle here in verse 25
is answering the question that he had posed in verse 24. He said, O wretched man that
I am. That's a statement. He's making
a statement. of his wretchedness. And then
he asks the question in his agony, Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? And he gives the answer to himself
in verse 25, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. He's answering
the question here. He was in agony. He was in suffering
in this statement, O wretched man that I am. You see, after
the apostle was contemplating here his own experience of grace,
he was contemplating that he was once alive, or supposed to
be alive, without the Law, supposed himself to be alive by his own
obedience to the Law, but as soon as Christ revealed Himself,
as soon as the holiness of God was revealed to him, he said,
That when sin revived, I died. The apostle thought he was alive
with the law once. But when the law revealed to
him the holiness of God, he said sin stirred, sin revived, sin
was exposed, and I died. Let me ask you a question. Have you ever been dead? Have you ever been dead? I'll
tell you, if you've never been dead, you've never been made
alive. You must be dead in order to
be raised. And only God can reveal this
to a man. Only God can expose this, that
we are by nature dead. If you've been dead, have you
been quickened to see that all you are by nature is full of
sin? That's what it is to realize
the deadness of our nature. That's what it is to be dead
in sin. It is to be full of sin. It is to be completely unrighteous
and full of wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. That's
what it is to be dead. To be dead is to have all your
righteousness as filthy rags. This was the purpose of the law,
friends. This is the sole purpose of the
law, is to expose sin. The purpose of the law is to
expose sin. It was never meant to save anyone. It was only meant as a mirror
to reflect what was naturally there already. Galatians 3, 21
and 22 tells us this. If there was salvation that would
come by law, Paul said, then surely that law should have been
given instead of Christ. But because all men are sinners,
because all men have sinned against God, there is no law by which
man can be saved. That's why Christ must have come. And as soon as we are made to
see our unrighteousness, we confess that the law is good. Isn't that
what happened when we were exposed? Isn't that what happened when
we were made to see the deadness of our nature? We began to see
that the law is good. There's nothing wrong with the
law. The law is perfect. The law is holy. The law is righteous. I'm sinful. I'm sinful. Full of sin. Sold. Paul says that I am carnal in
verse 14. For we know that the law is spiritual. For but I am carnal, sold under
sin. This is true of all believers
in Christ. And we confess it. I. The apostle didn't say you were
sold under sin. He said I. Carnal I am sold under
sin Every believer confesses that we in our fleshly nature
are sold under sin There is no way that the flesh can be changed
Therefore it must be subdued it must be conquered and it must
be killed, but it cannot be changed It cannot be bribed Cannot be
bribed. I don't have this, but I thought
of it in a study before when the children of Israel were dividing
out the land and Manasseh said, well, we don't have enough. We've
got two tribes and we're dividing one piece of land. And he said,
well, the problem is you need to kick out the Canaanites. God
said kick them out. You've been receiving tribute
from them. Well, that's what we do with
the flesh, isn't it? We pay tribute. No, we don't need to pay tribute.
We need to kill it. The flesh is nothing but sin.
It cannot be changed. It cannot be bribed. It must
be killed. And therefore, this flesh is
said to be sold under sin. Yet, by the grace of God, we
are not left there. I'm thankful that God did not
expose my sin and leave me there. And leave me there. but rather
God in great mercy created within us a new heart, a new nature,
something that was not there before. He created in us a new
nature. Believers are not made by decision,
by arguments of men. Believers are made by God. If
you're a believer in Christ, you were made by God. made by
God, for we are His workmanship. Skilled craftsmanship. Created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. 2 Corinthians 5, 17. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new what? Creature. That word means creation. You who believe on Christ. You
who were dead, but are raised from the dead by the grace of
God. You are a new creation. A new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. In Galatians 6.15 it says, For
Jesus Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth anything
but what? A new creation. A new creation. When Christ by the Holy Spirit
comes and creates a new heart in us, everything changes. Is
that not right? Everything changes. Now you may
not know what in the world has happened. You may believe on
Christ and you don't have a clue as to what this is fully entailing,
but I'll tell you this. When God saved us, either I changed
or the world changed, but something changed. Something changed. Everything began to be turned
upside down. And really, right side up. Everything
began to be clearer as to what's going on because of a new creation. New creation, a new heart. That's
what He promises in the covenant, Ezekiel 36 and 26. He said, I
will give you a new heart and a new spirit will I put within
them. This is a covenant promise to
God's people. The sin we loved, we now see
to be death. We hate it. And the way we thought was good,
we count as dumb. And we live our life in service
to Jesus Christ. And I'll tell you this, we won't
be satisfied until we be like Him. Is that not right? The Scripture
says, He said, I shall not be satisfied until I awake in thy
likeness. When that new nature comes into
a man, he's not ever satisfied with his old. He's not ever satisfied
until he awakes in the likeness of Jesus Christ. So then, I mean,
this change. There's no change in the old
man. That old man is flesh, and it's still flesh. It's full of
sin, sold under sin. But now, there is something that
takes place inside of a regenerated man. A conflict begins. A struggle begins. A warfare that causes us great
sorrow. When a man believes on Christ,
it's not like the world says. The world says you should just
be smiles and giggles and laughing and happy all the time. We know
that's not the experience, is it? No. Our life is full of trouble. Our life is full of grief and
sorrow and the greatest trouble we face in this world is right
here, in our own self. This is where the greatest conflict
is, within our own self. It causes us great sorrow and
agony in our own breast. The flesh lusteth against the
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these two are
contrary one to another, so that you cannot do what you would. The flesh, what would the flesh
do? The flesh would live in sin. What would the new man do? He
would live in righteousness. So that you can't do either.
You can't do either. What a sad condition. What an
agonizing condition! The warfare that goes on in the
heart of every believer so that we are constantly brought low.
Isn't that our case? That we are constantly brought
down to the dust and humiliated. Constantly we would serve God,
love our brethren, and yet sin is mixed with all we do. This
morning, you who worship God, you who come to worship God,
is that not true of you that everything we have done this
morning is mixed with sin? Everything. Are we happy about that? Absolutely
not. It brings us great sorrow that
we cannot serve our Master as we should. It breaks our hearts. So then we are constantly brought
low brought to where Paul in our text has come, O wretched
man that I am. Aren't you glad that he said
I am and not was? I wouldn't have any hope. I wouldn't
have any comfort in this text at all if he said, O wretched
man that I was. But now I'm alright. Now I'm
doing great. No, O wretched man that I am
right now. I'm a wretched man now. Oh, wretched man that I am! Oh, would to God we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly in this present world. Is that your desire?
That's my desire. I want to live soberly, righteously,
and godly in this present world. I want to serve my God with gladness
and joy and peace. I want to honor Him in all I
say and do. Would to God there were strings
from heaven holding each one of my hands and fingers to do
exactly as He pleases. Yet this body of death is still
wrapped around my neck, dragging me to the ground, weighing me
down. And so Paul asked, Who shall
deliver us? Who shall deliver us from the
body of this death? Who shall deliver us from this
warfare? Look at verse 25. I thank God. In other words,
yes, there is deliverance. Who shall deliver us? And I like
that he said shall. He didn't say has. He said shall. In other words, this deliverance
that he is talking about is not yet come. It's not yet come. The deliverance from this old
man is not yet come. So it's yet future. This is our
hope. Our hope for the future is that
we shall be delivered. How? How can we have such confidence
when we live in such sorrow? How can we have such confidence
when all the circumstances and things we see are totally against
what we know to be true? How shall we have confidence
in this? I like this. One translation of the Scriptures
renders this instead of, I thank God, it renders it rather by
the grace of God. So Paul asked the question, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? By the grace of
God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. By the grace of God through
Jesus Christ, our Lord. Here is the answer to the weary
and faint believer. And I'll tell you what, if you're
not weary today, just wait. You can use this later. If you
don't feel weary right now, just give it a minute. Just give it
some time. You'll feel weary enough in a
minute. And you can use this anytime you want to for your
benefit. The answer to the weary and faint
believer that is weighed down in sin by the flesh, how shall
we be able to endure this life to continue one step further
because of the suffering and grief we feel? When all stands against us and
the world seems to crumble around us, Satan tempts us by his accusations
of our sin and guilt. How then shall we be delivered
from this flesh? By the grace of God. By the grace
of God is the answer to everything. Every trouble you have, the grace
of God is the answer. the grace of God. You who believe
on Christ, you believe, why? By the grace of God. You believe
by the grace of God. Believer, it was the grace of
God the Father that chose you. If you are regenerated, if you
have a new nature, it is because God has chosen you for himself. God has chosen us according to
His free, sovereign, immutable, unchangeable grace. I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. Have you been drawn? Why is it
that you've been drawn? Because He's loved thee with
an everlasting love. He's loved us not because we
were lovable. I love my children because I
believe they're lovable. I do. I love them. But I'll tell you what, I was
the most unlovable. There was nothing in me to love. And God did it anyway. God did
it anyway. He loved me by His free grace
and unmerited favor. There was no cause in us for
the election of God. We only deserve the wrath of
God. We only deserve the hail of God.
We only deserve the justice of God. But God in mercy chose us
not only to be His servants, but to be His children. His children. Why would He do such a thing?
Scripture says, according to the praise of the glory of His
grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. Number
two, we shall be delivered because of the grace of Jesus Christ. We shall be delivered because
of the grace of Jesus Christ. Despairing child of God, your
deliverance is not in your flesh. but in the person and work of
Jesus Christ. Your deliverance is based on
the work of Christ. Based on the work of Christ.
The election of the Father was always in Christ. And the salvation
of the elect was always to be by and through Jesus Christ. That's what He said, by the grace
of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The elect of God were
never to be saved by their own righteousness. Praise God. Praise God for that. You were
never to be saved by your righteousness. For we were chosen in Him before
we had done anything good or bad. Before any good or evil
that the purpose of God, according to election, might stand, we
were chosen in Christ, put in union with Christ before the
world began. Therefore, all your righteousness,
all your standing before God, is in Jesus Christ alone. The purpose of God, the purpose
of God that should be fulfilled in Christ. We must see that Christ,
therefore, must be made flesh. This is why the Son of God came
into the world, to provide, to procure your righteousness Himself. I'm very thankful He did not
leave this to the work of any other but Himself. He did it
Himself. You know, you always tell your
children, go do something, and you know you're going to get
back and you're going to have to fix it. You know, it's probably more
work to tell them to go do it, but you've got to do it to trade
them. So, you know you've got to fix it. But I tell you this,
when God sent His Son, there was nothing left to fix. He did
it. He did it Himself. He did it Himself. The seed of
the woman, God said, shall crush. This was not an if. It didn't
say maybe. He said He will crush the head
of the serpent. How? By the serpent bruising
His heel by the cross. In Jeremiah 31, 22, God says,
I'm going to show you a new thing. A woman shall compass a man.
A virgin shall conceive and bear a son. And behold this man, this
morning, by faith, you who are weary, look to him. Look and
behold him. In Isaiah 32 it says, Behold,
a king shall reign in righteousness. Princes shall rule in judgment.
And a man shall be as a hiding place. A man. A man shall be
as a hiding place. A covert from the wind. a tempest,
as rivers of water in a desert, as a shadow of a rock in a weary
land. Who's all that? A man, Jesus
Christ, our Savior, our King. He came to provide righteousness. How? Who shall deliver us? This man, Jesus Christ, who is
the only mediator between God and men. Every elect soul, therefore,
will flee to Him. Have you fled to Him? Have you found refuge in a man? The man, not just any man, Jesus
Christ, the righteous. He alone provided righteousness. I like Isaiah 32, 17, it says,
And the work of righteousness shall be peace. Jesus was sent
to fulfill the law of God and bring in everlasting righteousness. May God, by grace, cast out every
evil thought of self-righteousness. You see, the struggle in your
flesh contributes nothing to this righteousness. You know
that? The struggle in your flesh contributes
absolutely nothing to this righteousness. This righteousness was made by
another, by Jesus Christ Himself. And the crowning work of righteousness
is peace with God. When He was crucified, when Christ
was made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we should be made
the righteousness of God in Him. He was made sin for us. He bore
our sins in His own body on the tree. Consider His affliction.
I know you consider your affliction. We do consider our affliction
quite often, don't we? But consider His. You have one
old man. Our Lord Jesus Christ, all the
old natures of all His people were laid on Him. Consider His
suffering. And know this, you accomplish
nothing with your suffering. With His suffering, He accomplished
redemption forever. Forever. Knowing this, that our
old man is crucified with Christ. That our old man is crucified
with Christ. Consider the body of this death
that we despair about. Consider His sufferings. how
he bore our guilt and shame under the justice of God. So then,
let us give thanks to God for all our burdens of death and
hell have been lifted at Calvary. All the guilt of our sins are
gone. Why feel guilty? Doesn't matter. That has nothing to do, our feelings
have nothing to do with this matter. This matter has everything
to do with the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. And thirdly,
thank God that we shall be delivered by the Holy Spirit of grace. I know the burdens of our old
man are great. The world and its prince press
in hard on us in every angle. They hate us, they hate our gospel,
and they especially hate our Lord. But consider the grace of God,
the Holy Spirit, in giving you the new nature. Before, you only
had one. Now you have two. Because you
have two, you have a struggle. Now tell me, is the struggle
a blessing or a curse? It's a blessing. The struggle
you feel is a blessing. For if there's no struggle, there's
no life. Only when there's a struggle,
there's life. And only when there's life, there's hope. There's hope. For it is given by grace in the
behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer
for His namesake. This battle we face is no curse,
but a blessing and a gift of grace. Because if there was no
struggle, there would be no deliverance. But because there is a struggle,
we have this promise, we shall be delivered. We shall be delivered. And let me remind us of this.
because I know this casts us down quite often. The mortification of the old
man does not make the new man any holier. Do you hear that? The mortification of the old
man does not make the new man any holier. Now, the old man
must be mortified. The old man must be put down. We must flee from the very appearance
of evil. We must use our members as instruments
of righteousness unto God. We should be faithful in worship
to pray. We should be faithful in our
witness of Christ. We should desire to be used of
God for His glory with no promotion to self. And yet, when you've
done all that, We confess that we are unprofitable servants. We confess that all this struggle
we face every day is unprofitable. It adds nothing to the holiness
of the new nature. There is no such thing as progressive
sanctification. Not anything like it. Not anything
like it. The old man does not get better. He must be killed. He must be
mortified. But in all your mortification,
we do not rest our deliverance on our mortification, but on
His grace. I will be delivered, how? By the grace of God through the
Lord Jesus Christ. May God cause us to think on
these things as we struggle with this old man. As we fight, and
we should. You should struggle. But in all our struggling, grace
is what will deliver us. And I thank God. Thank God. May the Lord bless it to your
hearts.