Okay. Go to Romans chapter 7, Romans
chapter 8 with me now. Title of this message, I hope
it will be just a very simple gospel message from Romans 7
and 8. Good news for sinners. Good news
for sinner. It's no secret now that I, that
we don't watch the news. There is nothing new under the
sun. Today's news is as bad as it
was yesterday, so we just don't watch it. I've got some good
news this morning. Very good news. The gospel means
good news. And I hope this whole message
will be good news. But it's only good news to sinners. Christ came in this world to
save sinners. It's only good news to sinners.
There's an old hymn where Joseph Hart wrote it. In that hymn he
said, a sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost had made him so. Meaning that the Holy Spirit,
the first thing he does when he saves someone is convict of
sin. to convince of sin. That's what
our Lord says. When He comes, He'll convince
a people out of the whole world of sin, righteousness, judgment,
and it all has to do with crying. So, conviction of sin. I have seven points if you're
taking notes. The conviction or confession of a sinner, the
cry of a sinner, salvation of a sinner, the groanings of a
sinner, the hope of a sinner, the help of a sinner, and the
assurance of a sinner. You got that? The confession
or cry of a sinner. I just said to you that our Lord
said, when He comes, He'll convict of sin, He'll convince of sin. John said, if we confess our
sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and the
blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all of
them. Very few people know or believe that they're sinners
before God. Look at Romans chapter 7. Romans
8 follows Romans 7. Paul was a Pharisee. Paul thought
he was righteous. Paul thought he was moral. And
he was, probably, outwardly. Very sincere, very zealous, okay? He didn't know God. And salvation
is not just morality. What Paul said in verse Romans
7, He said, verse 9, I was alive without the law once, but when
the commandment came, sin revived and I died. The commandment which
was ordained to life I found to be unto death. Sin, taken
occasion by the commandment, deceived me and slew me. So the
law is holy. The commandment is just and good.
He said in verse 14, the law is spiritual. I found out I'm
just a sinner through and through. He thought he was righteous. He's like that rich young ruler.
He thought, I'm moral, I've kept the Ten Commandments, but God,
for His great love and mercy which He chose Paul, sent His
Word to convict him of his sin. That's what happened. This is
what happens to every person whom the Lord saves. He convinces
and convicts them of sin. Look at verse 15. He said, I
found out that what I That which I do, I allow not, or that is
what I do. I don't want to do. But what I
would, what I want to do, I don't do it. What I hate, what's that,
Paul? Sin. That do I. And he went on
to say, verse 17, it's just sin that dwelleth in me. in dwelling
sin. Verse 18, I know in me, in my
flesh dwelleth no good thing. This is the first thing that
God is going to show every sinner that he saves by grace. He's
going to show them that you're nothing. You're worthless. You've
sinned against God. You haven't kept God's law. broken his law, sinned against
his goodness, sinned against his mercy, sinned against his
grace, sinned against his son, rejected his son for your own
whatever. He goes on to say in verse 19,
the good that I would, I don't do. The evil which I would not,
that's what I do. Is that true? I mean, there's hope. There's
hope for a sinner. Verse 21, he said, I find a law
in me, this ruling principle in me that when I would do good,
evil is present with me. I wake up with it. I go to sleep
with it. He didn't have this trouble before.
Paul didn't have this trouble before. There was no struggle
before. He thought he was good, he thought
he was righteous, and he thought he was religious. He was religious,
and he thought he was going to heaven. But God, it's the first
thing God did, is convict him that you're a sinner through
and through. There's no, in your flesh, Lord, no good thing. And God is holy, God is righteous,
God is just, God is angry with the wicked every day, and that's
what you are. That's what God does to every
sinner, the first thing. That's a confession of a sinner.
Verse 24, here it is, in one line, O wretched man that I am. Some people, well, Southern Baptists
say, Romans 7, Paul was writing that before he was saved. That's
not what he said, did it? Isn't that what he said? O wretched
man that I was. That's not what he said. O wretched
man that I am. Can you say that? Who? Now here's his cry. Here's
the cry of a sinner, the call of a sinner. You know, whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved? Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. Paul says, who shall deliver
me from this body of death, from this sin? Who? I need deliver
and I can't deliver myself, I'm lost. I'm sinful, through and
through. I've got this body of death I
can't get rid of. Who shall deliver me? Paul wasn't calling on the Lord
before, when he was in religion. He was just going through the
motions, wasn't he? No zealous, yet he wasn't calling
for mercy, he wasn't calling for salvation, he thought he
already was. But God, on that road to Damascus, remember? Remember
his story? Paul told it everywhere he went.
He said, suddenly Christ's light, the day spring from on high,
shined in my heart, shone around me, apprehended me, Christ came
to me, Saul, Saul. He said, I fell in the dirt before
him who I did not know. And he said, who art thou, Lord? He said, I'm Jesus, whom you
persecuted. And the scripture says he was
trembled. Paul trembled when he heard that
this Jesus whom he rejected and whom he thought he was going
to do away with was his Lord and that he was in this Lord's
hands to do with as he pleased. That his life, his breath was
in the hands of this Jesus. Paul said, trembling and astonished. He said, I didn't know this person.
And he was in the dust before him. And you know what the first
words out of his mouth were? Lord. No man calleth him Lord. John,
you were right. No man calleth... God's right.
No man calleth him Lord, but by the Spirit of God. That's
the first thing the Spirit of God will do, is convict you of
sin, of righteousness, of judgment, all concerning Jesus Christ.
If He doesn't save you, you're not going to be saved. You can't
save yourself. You've broken God's law on every
hand. You deserve for God to cast you
out. And you'll hear who Jesus Christ
is. Not God loves you, not Jesus wants to save you. He's Lord
and your life and your breath is in His hands. That's what
Peter preached at Pentecost, wasn't it? And 3,000 men, along with probably
that many women, and maybe some young people, surely, all were
scared to death. Feared. What shall we do? Fear. So he cried, Lord, what
wilt thou? What will you do with me? What
are you going to do with me, Lord? Well, here's the salvation
of a sinner. That was his cry. He called,
verse 24, Oh, who shall deliver me? Verse 25, I thank God. I found out. Paul found out. I found out. You found out. It's
through Jesus Christ. He's the Deliverer, our Lord,
that God has made Him Lord. He made Him your Lord. So then,
he said, I've got this law of sin in me, the flesh, but oh,
now the truth. Christ the true. Chapter 8, verse
1. There's therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. What's that mean? Well, Paul
kept saying this over and over and over again, didn't he? In
Ephesians, Colossians, and on and on it goes. Oh, Philippians,
he said, this one thing I want and need and desire more than
anything else is to be found in Him. And the best illustration
I know of, and I keep using it, is that Ark of Noah. I never
get tired of telling it. Alright? Noah found grace in
the eyes of the Lord. Noah was warned of God and moved
with fear. And God said, God didn't say,
Noah, I love this world so much. No, He said, Noah, I'm angry
with this world. I'm condemning this world. It's
condemned. It's unrighteous. It's unholy.
They've corrupted my way. There's no fear of God. They're
full of violence. He said, it repenteth me. I've
made man. I'm going to destroy them. Noah, build an ark. And here's the blueprints, the
exact blueprint. Noah, build this ark full of
rooms. And Noah, I'm going to save some
a life. I'm going to save you, Noah.
You found grace in my eyes. I've chosen you. I've revealed
who I am, holy, righteous judge. You've revealed my purpose. I'm
going to destroy, but I purpose to save, son. And that salvation,
Noah, is going to be in this ark, this ark. Whoever's in this
ark, Noah, with you. You go round them up, all these
clean animals and some unclean. You round them up and bring them
into the ark and bring your sons and their wives and bring them
in the ark and whoever's in this ark, Noah, I'm going to show
mercy to it. I'm going to show grace to it.
I'm going to save them. When my overflowing scourge of
my wrath comes nigh and destroys everything in this world, there's
not going to be one thing left in this world but that ark and
everyone in it. Now, what is that ark? That ark
is Jesus Christ. Do you understand that? Do you know how few people understand
that? I do. Paul did. That's what he meant, I want
to be found in Christ. You know, the only thing that
mattered when God sent that flood and destroyed everything in the
world, it didn't matter what you have, what you've done, what
you've accumulated, it's all gone. is, are you in that ark? Or yes
or no? Everyone in that ark was saved,
and they all reached the promised land. How'd they get there? The ark. And that ark took all the judgment
and wrath of God upon the world, The lightning, the thunder, the
wrath, the judgment of God fell on that ark. Ark. It took it all. But not one drop
of rain fell on Noah's head. Not one. Why? It had pitch all over it. It
had pitch all over it. It was the ugliest ship you've
ever seen. But Noah thought it was the most
beautiful. That's a picture of Christ, that bloody sacrifice
hanging on Calvary's tree. It's the blood that maketh atonement
for the soul. There will not be one sin held
to God's people's account. Why? Jesus Christ paid it off. All the wrath, all the judgment,
there's no condemnation. to them that are in Christ. Not
one drop of rain fell on Noah. Look at verse... Let's just go
way ahead, okay, shall we? Verse 33. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? Not one charge will be brought
to the account of God's people. Not one. Why? Because God charged Christ with
it. Christ died. Who is he that condemneth? Christ. There's no condemnation
to them that are in Christ. Well, how do you get in Christ?
You put yourself in there? Then those animals put themselves
in that ark? Did they? No. How'd they get
there? Noah brought them in there. Noah
brought them. The Spirit of God moved them
to follow Noah and go into that ark. Who's that? That's Christ. His name means rest. Noah. He's
the one. He said, I'm the good shepherd.
I know my sheep. I've known of them. He said,
I leave the ninety and nine, go after every one of them, singly,
and put them on my shoulder and bring them all the way home.
And they're in me, let's say. But what does this mean? Look
at the, here's the salvation of a sinner. Look at verse, look
at verse three and four. What the law could not do is
weep through the flesh, my flesh. God sending his own son in the
likeness of sinful flesh for sin, a sacrifice for sin, condemned
sin in the flesh. He bore our sins in his body
on the tree. That's what the scripture says,
that he was made sin. And it's a mystery, and we can't
rightly understand it, but it's so. That God made him to be sin. Verse 4, that we might be righteous. In verse 4, the righteousness
of the law fulfilled in us. But wait a minute. I've broken
every jot and till of the law. The law is spiritual, Paul said.
It demands perfection in thought, in word, as well as deed. But I'm guilty of all of it. Of breaking it all. Christ wasn't. He lived according to love, perfectly. And in God's mystery of mystery, this is what
happened. Christ came, the righteous and
holy Son of God, here I am unrighteous and unholy and sinful through
and through. And God laid on Him the iniquity, the sin of
us all, God's people. All right? He made Him to be
me. And somehow or another, God made
me to be Him. And so God, I am holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable in God's sight. Wait a minute, you're nothing
but a sinner. I know that. But it's not me. It's Christ
in me. I don't understand. That's the
best I can do with that. I believe it. That's what the
Scripture said. Faith. The righteousness of the
law fulfilled in us. What does it mean to walk after
the Spirit? It means the Spirit of God is
called the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit of Christ. He's
called the Spirit of Truth. In John 14 through 16, our Lord
spoke a great deal about Him, didn't He? And He said when He
has come, He's going to convince of sin, That's the first thing
he does, convicts us of sin. You're a sinner through and through.
Number one of the reasons, you don't trust, believe God, you
don't believe Christ. You have no need for the Son
of God. And he'll convict you of that. That's what convicted
me. And I spent years in vanity and
pride, caring not my Lord was crucified. Knowing not that it
was for me he died on Calvary. And the second thing, it will
convince you of righteousness. If you don't have one, you've
got to have one. The only way you're going to
get to a righteous God who loves righteousness is by God making
you righteous. How? I can't do it. Christ in. He's Jehovah's seeking
the Lord your righteousness. And judgment. There's a judgment
to face. There's a judgment to face. And
even every idle word shall be held accountable. What's my hope? Jesus Christ. He stands in the
judgment for me. He did. He judged for me. That's the salvation of a sinner. It's found in Jesus Christ. Look
at verse 29 and 30. Don't you love these verses?
For whom God did foreknow, He did predestinate. predetermined, their end, to
be conformed to the image of His Son, that He, Christ, might
be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate,
He called, the call of the gospel. Oh, we're bound to give thanks,
aren't we, brethren, beloved of the Lord? God hath chosen
us to salvation through sanctification of spirit, belief of the truth,
whereunto He called us by the gospel of Christ. And whom He
called, verse 30 says, He justified. Whosoever calleth on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. They've got to believe, or He
gives that faith. He is repentant. We call on the
Lord. Lord save me or I perish. And
what we find out is, that's why we're calling. He's already saved
us. We just find out that Christ
came to save us. And we call, and it says whom
He called, He justified. Freely, completely, from all
things, by which you cannot be justified
by none. Everything. Completely. Every
single charge, everything, single transgression blotted out. Completely. Under the blood. Justified. And
whom He justified, He glorified. Now, all that sounds past tense,
doesn't it? In God's purpose, it is. It's what? It's the purpose
of God given us in Christ before the world began. Well, here's the groanings, the
groanings and struggle of a sinner. Look at verses 22 and 23. It says, We know the whole creation
groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. Look around
us. Remember me talking about those
sparrows this morning. Every now and then you'll go
out and find one lying there dead, you know. The whole creation
groaneth, travaileth in pain together, because verse 20 says
that the creation was made subject to this thing called sin and
vanity. By reason of God, by God's purpose,
the fall of man, He has subjected the same in hope, says the whole
creation will be delivered from this corruption called sin. And
the whole creation groaneth, travaileth in pain together.
It's like the whole earth groans. In verse 23, and here's
what I'm asking you. Do you groan? We ourselves, we've grown within
ourselves, waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. We've
got this thing called sin just ever before us, with us, and
all the consequences of it. My, my. Creation, when sin came
in this world, the fear of man came over it. There was no fear
of man in the garden. None. They all came up to Adam.
licked his hand. They all came up and paraded
before Adam to see what he would name them. There was no fear. There's no sin. There's no fear
of man. When sin came in, what happened? They all gonna die at the hands
of man. Man became their chief predator. All right? And then sin, the consequences
of sin, they began to eat and devour one another. That never
happened before. And brethren, that's what happens
in us when a new creature is formed. A new creature is formed in God's
people. They have the fear of God. It
wasn't there before. They now have the fear of God
in them. And they hate and grown because of the consequences of
sin. Are you with me? We didn't have
that before. What he's talking about all the way through here,
to be led by the Spirit of God, for the Spirit of God to lead
and guide and direct and walk according to the Spirit, the
Spirit of life in Christ. He takes the things of God and
shows them to us, and they have a new heart, a new mind, a new
desire, a new will after these things, but they've got this
old flesh that now Now they love the things of God they didn't
before. Now they hate sin and this world, even themselves. It's these two creatures dwelling
in this one. And it grows. This new creature
is grown. It's like a fish out of water.
It's just like the Son of God who was down here in this place
and everything in it was repulsive to Him. And that's this new creature. I want out! want sin out of me
and I want out of this sinful place. And it wasn't there before. Do you groan? We all do, don't we? Every now
and then, many of us groan, won't we? And she'll say, what's wrong?
I say, just sin. It's this world. Oh, I want out. I want it out
of me. Is that true? Is that true? Well, here's the hope of a sinner.
Here's the hope of a sinner. Look at verse, let's see, verse
24. We're saved by hope. But hope
that's seen is not hope. If a man seeth it, he doesn't
need to hope for it. We hope for that, we see not. What's
that? It's a person. It's a person. We've come to know a person,
God. We've come to know a person,
Christ, okay? We've fallen in love with a person
who is bright. And we're separated now from
Him. We want to be with Him. We love
Him. We talk to Him. We walk with
Him. This person, okay? Christ is our hope. We hope to
be with Him. Christ is our hope that we'll
be with God. A hope, a sure hope within the
veil. Christ, our hope. And we hope
for Him, like Hebrews 11. Faith is a substance of things
hoped for. Here's the difference between
just a religious person and one who knows Christ. A religious
person wants to go to heaven. A religious person wants to go
to heaven, be with mama, and be with... sweep by and by, and
all of that. A person that knows Christ wants
to go be with Christ. That's the difference. Our hope is all in Him, but He's
unseen. He's with the Father now. He's
at the right hand of the Majesty on high, but we have got a good
hope, don't we? It's in Him. So, we with patience
wait for... You notice the word, it's, in
Italian. Verse 25. We with patience wait for...
We're not waiting for it. We're not waiting for our ship
to come in. We're in the ship, Christ. We're waiting for Him
to come get us. There He is, the Bridegroom.
Like those ten virgins, remember? The difference would be, behold,
the Bridegroom cometh. Five of them had oil, that's
the Spirit of God. Five of them were looking forward
to being with Him. Here He is, my Beloved. I am
my Beloved's and He is mine. Glad to see you, Lord, my husband."
The other five, in darkness. Most people don't want this world
to end. It's the hope of a sinner. It's in Christ. Point number
six, the help of a sinner. Look at verse 26. It says, the
Spirit helps our infirmities. We don't know what we should
pray for as we ought. The Spirit maketh intercession
for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. He that searches
the heart knows what's the mind of the Spirit, that's God. And
He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will
of God. Brother John Cheesley, Sr., always prayed. Have you
ever noticed he always prayed, not our will, Lord, but Thy will? He sure doesn't believe in free
will, does he? We don't want our will. All that has to happen to us
for God to damn us is to leave us alone. And that's what God
does to most people, leaves them alone, lets them have their will,
okay? But when He saves His people,
Like Paul saw, what will you have me to do? Not my will, but
thy will be. Lord, you who works all things
at the counsel of your own will, thy kingdom come, thy will be
done in me. Don't let me have my will. Don't
leave me alone. And so, we don't know what to
ask for, do we? We want things, and we don't
know if it's good for us or not. We want this, we want that, we'll
go here and do that, we just don't know. But God does, and
you know what He does? He gives us what is according
to His will. That's our help. Here's our assurance. Look at
verse 31 to the end. What shall we then say to these
things? And on that point of we don't know what things to
pray for, Paul said, I have a desire to part and be with the Lord,
which is far better. But he said, to stay here for
you, it's needful. And you know, so he says, I'm
in a straight betwixt the two. I don't know, but he does. So we just leave it there. Should
I do this? Should I do that? Teach me thy will. Alright? Here's
the assurance of a sinner. Verse 31. What should we say
to these things? If God be for it, who can be
against us? Huh? Look at verse 32, "...he that
spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all." Who's he
talking to? He's talking to these believers, these sinners that
believe Christ. The Spirit of God revealed Christ
to them, in them. He says, "...he that spared not
his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not
with Christ also freely give us all things?" Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? Oh, I'm afraid my sins
are going to find me out. No, God laid on Christ your sins. It is God that justifies. Don't
you love that story? That woman caught in the act
of adultery and they brought her in and cast her at Christ's
feet. How did she get there at His
feet? Christ had them bring her. Christ had the law. All those
law fellows bring her to Christ and cast her at His feet. The
only one that could forgive her. And she's condemned by the law.
There she sits at the feet of the law giver. And what does
he say? Forget it. Completely forgiven. Woman. And when it was all over, she
looked around. He said, where are thy accusers?
Does anybody here lay anything to your charge? She stood up,
incredulously, unbelievably. I don't see anybody here that's
condemning me. Christ said, I don't. Justify. Who will see that condemneth? Christ died. Yea, rather, verse
34, is risen again. All this is true because Christ
lives. He's at the right hand of God.
He also maketh intercession. He ever lives to make intercession
for His people. Lay that not to His charge. The
accuser of the brethren. Say, look, see, look. God says,
I don't see a thing. I don't see one sin. Under the blood. Who shall separate
us? Look at all of this in closing.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? You know, we
love our own, don't we? We love them. We love our children.
We love our grandchildren. We love our spouses, don't we? Something's going to separate
us. Death. That's one of the reasons we
don't look forward to dying, because of those we love. Right? That's the main reason why believers
don't want to leave, because there's somebody here we love. And it's going to be a sad day.
I was talking to Jeanette the other day. Ed is in his 80s.
John is in his 80s. Somebody is going to pass away
real soon. Nancy. Somebody in here, it might
be me. It's got to happen. It's going
to temporarily separate us. It's not going to separate us
from Christ. It's going to join us. Nothing. Tribulation? He said it. It's
not going to separate it. He sent it to cement this relationship. Distress? What does distress
make you do? When you get distressed, what
does it make you do? Run to Christ! Persecution? Persecution? Great adversary, what do you
do? Run to Christ. Persecution. Famine? Oh, God's
people are never in a famine. We're eating fat things. Why?
There's a famine going on right now. The hearing of the Word.
Not us. Eating Christ's body and drinking His blood. Nakedness?
No, no, I'm not naked. I came into this world naked.
Job said, naked I shall return. Well, physically yes, but not
spiritually. We've got a robe. We're wearing
a robe. Parallel? Are we in parallel? These are
perilous times, all right. Brothers and sisters, not a hair in your head will
fall. Sword? Hmm. Welcome it. As it is written,
thy sake we're killed all the day long. We're counted as sheep
for the slaughter. That's what sheep are for. For
the shepherd. Yeah, and all these things, whether
it be tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness,
and you read in Hebrews 11 of all those people that went through
all those things, and the Lord gave them such peace and comfort,
and they refused deliverance. He said, no, I'll gladly go to
the stake. And it was over. And there's
no more they could do, ever again. More than conquerors, what is
it that overcomes this world? What is it that overcomes fear? What is it that overcomes everything,
the noisome pestilence? Faith. You believe Him. He's the only one that's not
lying. You hear me? He's the only one that's not
lying. The only one you can trust. Him that loved us. Brothers and sisters, false religion
tells me that God loves you. Do you know what it means for
God to love you? It means He will always love
you. It means you're saved forever. He will never stop loving you.
It means that no one and nothing can hurt you in any way, shape,
form or fashion if He loves you. It's all going to be absolutely
for your good. That's what it means for God
to love you. So these things were Him that loved us. Because
He loves us, He sends these things to take the love of the world
out of us, the love of sin out of us. Now read on. He said, I'm persuaded. I'm persuaded.
What are you persuaded of, Paul? I know whom I have believed.
And I'm persuaded. He's able. That neither death,
no, He's the one that sends it. Nor life, anything. I go through
in this life. No angels, that's any kind of
spirit or false preachers. No principalities, no, because
Christ is ahead of them all. No powers, there's not one thing
has any power of itself. Christ said, all power is given
unto men. Not a germ in this universe that
Jesus Christ is not in absolute control of. Not a germ. Did you hear me? I didn't say
that, he said. Powers. Are things present? Look at this present evil world.
Isn't it awful? It's still God's Word. It's going
exactly according to His purpose. Exactly. It's not chaotic. He's reigning and ruling everything. Things to come. What's coming?
He is! With clouds to get us and take
us home. Height, depth, any other creature. Oh, that we might know, Paul
said, the height, the depth, the length, and breadth of the
love of God. Nothing will separate us from
the love of God. Where is it? in Christ Jesus
the Lord. You know, there was a sign, there
was a bumper sticker on that ark. It said, Smile, God Loves
You. But it wasn't on the outside.
It's on the inside. It's on the inside. How do you
know, how do you know God loves you? Are you in Christ? Do you
believe Christ? Are you a sinner through and
through? Do you hate your sin? Do you
call on Him? Do you cry unto Him? Do you hope
in Him? Is He all your hope of salvation? Smile! God loves you. Good news for sinners. Okay, John, you come lead us
in closing here.