Now in Romans chapter 5 verse
1, Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by
faith unto the grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in the
hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory
in tribulation also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience,
and patience experience, and experience hope. And hope maketh
not a shame, because the love of God is shed abroad in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we
were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the
ungodly. for scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet preadventure for a good man some would even
dare to die. But God commended 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 the wrath through him. This
afternoon, for a few minutes, I would like to speak to you
from Romans chapter five and verse number eight. I will read
the verse once more. But God commended his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. This verse is a tremendous text
in all the Bible. Every child of God has this verse
tacked upon his heart. It's a verse that means so much
to every one of us because it speaks of the love that God has
for his people. And I look at that verse this
morning and I see that this love that our Lord and Paul speaks
of consists of giving without getting in return. This is the
love that God has shed abroad in the hearts of all of his people. He is giving and has purpose
of giving something without getting anything in return. It also consists of giving what
is not owed. A sinner is a sinner before God. As we have been told even in
this day, we are dead and trespasses and sins. We have nothing in
this life that we are owed. We have nothing at all. But what
God has purpose to give me, what God has purpose to give you,
What God has a purpose to give his people is something that
is not owed, something that is a gift of God, something that
God has made a bond with himself to you. This is called the love
of Almighty God. It is also giving what is not
owed. It is also something that is
not due. In this life that we're now living,
it would seem like that every person is on the part of entitlement. Everyone is entitled to something. We're entitled to this particular
program or we're entitled to this discount because we belong
to this association. Well, we're not entitled to the
love and the grace of Almighty God. We're outside of the arc
of safety, apart from the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. But if we be found in Christ
this morning, we have the love that this verse speaks of today. But God But God, in spite of
all, has contributed, has rendered, has given the love that we speak
of this morning. It is a love that has been committed
to us by the work and the purpose of Almighty God. In that while
we were yet sinners, we can never forget. And the child of God
never forgets. that he, number one, and forever
and ever, is a sinner. A sinner in his own right. But
we have no claim to the grace of God apart from the shed blood
of our Lord. Jesus Christ. A sinner is always
willing to lay himself into the dust and to proclaim himself
as those of the old time that had leprosy, would walk into
a village and holler out in a loud voice, unclean, unclean. Every Child of God is willing
to proclaim that I am unclean. This body is unclean. My heart
is unclean apart from the washing of the blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Something we have this morning
in this verse, in verse number eight, is the Lord who was concerned. Our Heavenly Father had a love
within himself for a people. Now, how could I describe the
love that God has for his people? How would you describe the purpose
that is found within God himself to render, to give, to commend
his love to you? There is no words. I have no
words this morning to describe the purpose of Almighty God. As one man said in the last few
years, it's above my pay grade. It's not in me to be able to
put in words, to fashion a phrase that speaks of the purpose of
Almighty God to love the unlovable, to care for the ungodly, and
to raise up those that have no right even to stand. Ephesians 2 verse 4 says, But
God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherein he loved
us. Write that one down. Maybe that's
how we could describe today the love of Almighty God saving sinners. But God, who is rich in mercy
We all would like to think this morning that we're filled with
compassion, that we just love everybody and we've never met
a stranger and we're just the top of the community. Our so-called
righteousness does not compare to this righteousness, this goodness,
this graciousness of almighty God that he has shown for his
people. But God, who is rich in mercy. That word rich in Spanish is
rico, rico, rich. Rich, having value, having quantity,
having unmeasurable amount of love and grace toward us. I think sometimes about those
dogs of mine. Those dogs are the most wonderful
things in the world to me in my house. But sometimes they
disfavor me. Sometimes they're aggravating.
There's days that I can't get enough of those dogs. But you
know, that's not the way it is for God. His love is constant. It's constant. It never changes. It's an everlasting love. when God looks upon us he sees
none other than the righteousness of Jesus Christ himself how could
you how could you look and find someone this morning that you
find no flaw in this I can look at you and I can pick a hundred
flaws out, but when God looks at you, he sees no flaw because
there is no flaw in his son. There is no flaw in the work
that Christ has performed for us on Calvary. This is the attitude. This is the look of God upon
his people. It's an everlasting love. We were unlovable, but God loved
us anyway. We were ungodly, but God desired
to make us His people. We were unspiritual, but God
sent His Holy Spirit that we might be born again and know
the things of God. We were unthinkable, but God
purposed to give us everlasting life. I'm thinking there is no
value within us There is no goodness within us, but here we have a
Christ Holy God desiring to discount all that we are and to give us
and present to us and to impute into us the same glorious blessing
of God, of His own Son, willing to share Jesus Christ with us,
and to make us His Son like He is own Son, and to look upon
us and to cherish us like He does, the Lord Jesus Christ. We're still in our sins. But
we're in this line, but in the mind and the heart and the purpose
of God, we are like Christ. We are. We have the value of
Christ. We have the graciousness of Christ
in the presence of almighty God. And then we see the second thing
this morning about this verse, the love that was commended,
but God commended his love toward us. 1 John 3, verse 16 says,
Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his
life for us. And we ought to lay down our
lives for our brethren. And then in John 15, verse 13,
the scripture says, Greater love hath no man than this, that a
man lay down his life for his friends. It was the love of a
sovereign God for His chosen people. We are a special, a peculiar
people before God. He has separated us from the
masses and He has entitled us to the grace of Almighty God. In this life there is no entitlement. But in the grace of God, there
is entitlement. There is entitlement because
of the work of our Lord Jesus Christ dying for our sins. We are his people. We are his
people. We are his and he will do just
of us and he will never cast us away because it is his purpose
to love us, to care for us, and to bring us safely to his side
in heaven. It is the love this morning of
God like that of the potter over the potter. We find in Jeremiah
how the description of a person standing maybe in a chair or
a stool and he's working clay and he's fashioning this clay
into an image that's only known of his own mind. That's what
God is doing this morning in the lives of his people. He's
fashioning us. He is making us ready to be in
his very presence. This love that I speak of this
morning is like the love of the shepherd or the sheep. The word
of God describes our relationship to him as one of the sheep and
the shepherd. He came to seek and to save the
sheep. This is the Word. This is a beautiful
picture of Almighty God bringing the flock into safety, a safe
place. It is like a shepherd herding
his sheep. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the work
of Almighty God today is our shepherd. and he's hurting us,
he's caring for us, he's providing for us, keeping the wolves of
this world away from our heart, he's protecting us, making us
safe in this life. The scripture says in John 10
in verse 11, I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd given his life
for the sheep. We think of a wonderful pastor,
We think of a faithful pastor. We think of a person who gives
his life for the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we
think of the very best pastor. We're thinking of the very most
faithful who has been tried throughout the years as being a faithful
man of God, standing for the truth of God. not being carried
away in one way or another, but faithfully executing the word
of God to his flock. But I then take that faithful
pastor and I put him up against our Lord Jesus Christ, the Great
Shepherd. Our Heavenly Shepherd is not
to be compared this morning with the Great Shepherd of the sheep. It is the great shepherd of the
sheep that is guiding the pastor. It is the great shepherd of the
sheep that gives us his word, gives us our word day in and
day out, every Sunday, ministering to the hearts of his people.
But it is the Lord Jesus Christ that has all of the word, all
of the encouragement for his people. He is the one that cares
for us. when the pastor is no longer
with us, when the shepherd of this life lays his mantle down,
the Lord Jesus Christ never lays his mantle down. His life, his
life of service continues for all eternity. And when we step
into the presence of Almighty God, our Lord shall still be
ministering unto us as His own. The songwriter had it right when
he said, I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene
and wonder how he could love me, a sinner condemned, unclean. How marvelous, how wonderful,
and the song shall ever be. This is the Savior's love for
me the faithful and faithful ministering of the lord jesus
christ is the compassion that we feel within our heart today
and our love that we have for him thirdly this afternoon let
me speak about the lost people who were cherished but god committed
his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners. If you're
a person that has a business and you have employees, you have
the very best employees and you have those that are good and
you have those that are somewhat average, it's so easy to care
and to appreciate the very best that you have in your company.
Because those people are the ones that really carry that company
to its greatness, to bring it to success. And it's easy to
really praise that person, but is it easy to praise the person
that is just an average employee? This is what life is. It's easy
to see how you care for the best, but the very least of the company
sometimes gets passed over. But in the eyes and the purpose
of God, the least in the kingdom of God is never cast away. He's never passed away. He's
never set aside. He's never missed. He's never
been displaced. because the love of Almighty
God is the same for you, for you and for me. His love is continual,
it never ends. There is no length, there is
no stoppage when it comes to the love of Almighty God. This is a faithful saying, the
scripture says in 1 Timothy 1.15, This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all expectation that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. This is the purpose. This is
the work of God. This should make us shine inside. This should make us smile inside. This should bring us great hope
inside, knowing that Almighty God, our Lord Jesus Christ, is
with us and that He cares and loves us. These sinners that our Lord Jesus
Christ loves, these sinners that God commends this love to, are
real. They are the ones that God has
overlooked their sins and cast upon them the grace of Almighty
God. Isaiah 64, verse 6 says, But
we are all unclean things and all unrighteous. All of our righteousness
are as filthy rags, and we all do fade as a leaf, and our iniquities,
like the wind, have been taken away. This is a picture. This
is a picture of us before our God. But God doesn't look upon
us in that regard. He looks upon us with an eye
of love and mercy toward us. And then in John 3 in verse 18,
he that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth
not is condemned already because he hath not believed on the name
of the only begotten Son of God. We have believed, we have trusted,
and we have trusted because we have felt, we have seen the love
that God has for us in our Lord. Jesus Christ. And then lastly,
I'd like to say a few words about this. The love that was contributed
for us. The life that was contributed
for us. But God commended this love toward us in that while
we were sinners, Christ died for us. This life is a unique
life that he has given to us. It is an undefiled life that
he has given to us. It is an unselfish life that
our God has given to us, and it is an unconquered life that
he has given to us. He has defeated all things in
our behalf. Our Lord Jesus Christ on earth
defeated all disease. He defeated all evil spirits. He defeated the devil. He defeated
death, hell, and the grave because after three days and nights in
the heart of the earth, He rose again bodily from the grave,
providing that we, that He was and is the very Son of God. All of these things gives us
the emphasis this afternoon that our Lord Jesus Christ, our Heavenly
Father loves us. If He defeated all of those things
in this life, contributing from our Lord, He has repeated all
of those things in our life too. May God bless us today. May God
bless us as we think of His love. May God bless us as we think
about the love that God has commended toward us in Jesus Christ. It was brought to my attention
this week and my mind how thankful we should be how thankful we
should be as a people, how God has blessed us, how God has blessed
our homes, how God has blessed our families, how God has blessed
our children, how God has blessed you that you might bless your
children. Some children in this life do
not have the home that you have provided for your children. And I was thinking this week
how we should be so thankful for the blessings of Almighty
God. Now to conclude, how much more
so should we be thankful that God has commended his love for
us? It has not been so for all men,
but God in his own purpose, has commended that love for us, his
people.