Romans chapter four. Romans chapter
four. God willing, I will wind up this
chapter this morning, and then week after next, because we will
be gone, Penny and I will not be here next Sunday. We will
start with chapter five, and I know I have dealt with these
verses somewhat on and off on a few occasions, but I want to
read Romans four, verses 22 through 25. I'm kind of coming in the
middle of the context, of course. But I think everyone here and
those who are normally with us live stream will remember the
context. Verse 22, and therefore it, that is his faith, Abraham's
faith, his believing God, therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now this imputation was an imputation
of God. Therefore it stands in God's
court. and therefore it was imputed
to him for righteousness. Now, it was not written for his
sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom
it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our
Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses and was raised
again for our justification. Paul the Apostle, our beloved
brother, having described the kind of faith God graciously
gives, and that's what he lets us know in verse 16. Therefore,
it is a faith that it might be by grace. It is not the other
way around. Men do not come up with faith
and God gives them grace. This is what I was taught most
all of my life from my infancy throughout Sunday schools and
revivals and preaching is if you'll come up with faith, if
you'll exercise faith, then God will give you grace. And that
is the proverbial putting the cart before the horse. Maybe
even worse, it is maybe trying to have the cart without the
horse. Paul having described the kind of faith God graciously
gives, and the kind of faith which God imputes for righteousness.
He said that over and over here, right? This kind of faith that
God imputes for righteousness. In other words, this faith, this
faith, and this is my title and subject, this kind of faith only. This kind of faith only. There
is a faith that is of no value. James makes it clear. He said
there's a faith that has no works with it, no effort with it, no
obedience with it, and it's dead faith. In other words, it is
not a flesh faith. We looked at that. What shall
we say that Abraham, our father, is pertaining to the flesh hath
found? For if Abraham were justified, and notice he doesn't say by
flesh, though he still includes by works, Because flesh works,
faith, this faith, has nothing to do with the effort of the
flesh. It is not a flesh faith, nor
is it a human works faith, nor is it a God-indebting faith. Paul kind of mentions this kind
of thing, or at least alludes to it. Now to him that worketh
is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt, but God owes
no man any debt other than the debt of sin, those wages. So it is not a flesh faith. It
is not a human works faith, nor is it God indebting faith, nor
is it a law faith. It's not a law faith. This kind
of faith is a grace faith. It is a God-believing faith. It is a God's promise-believing
faith. It is a faith that believes in
and trusts and is fully persuaded that what God has promised, God
is able to perform. It is a faith that in spite of
a hopeless situation, it trusts that God is its hope. God will fulfill his word. It
is that kind of faith that gives God the glory. It gives God the
glory. In other words, as I said, it
is this kind of faith only. And therefore, it, that is this
kind of faith, this kind of faith, was imputed to Abraham for righteousness. That's what we read. And therefore,
it was imputed to him, a singular individual. Now, there were others.
Sarah believed, Ishmael later believed, others believed. But
it says, therefore, it was imputed to him for righteousness. Therefore it this kind of faith
was imputed to Abraham for righteousness, but then Paul clearly declares
this blessing this very Abrahamic blessing to be ours as well. Abraham was no better a man than
you and I are better a man or a woman. Abraham was a sinner
saved by the grace of God just like we are. Abraham was in the
midst of idolatry and degradation, and God Almighty called him out
of that into a new way of life. And that life was a life of faith. But that life also had a walk
of faith. Now. I know, I know we believe
this, I know we understand it, but I don't think we rest in
it like we should. Now it was not written for his
sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom
it shall be imputed, what does it say? If we believe. Hmm. as it is an amazing thing. If
we believe God, if we believe God, that's the key here. But
notice Paul then definitely puts in this caveat. He's described
this kind of faith all the way through this, right? It's not
a flesh faith, it's not a works faith, it's not a God-indebting
faith, it's not a faith based upon law. Abraham had this faith
before he was even circumcised and before the law was even given.
So, and you go on down the line, but then now he brings in this
final caveat. But for us also, to whom it shall
be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our
Lord from the dead, this is the kind of faith we must have. This is the only kind of faith
wherein God imputes it as righteousness. Who? That is this Lord Jesus
Christ who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again
for our justification. Now let's consider the details.
That is the details of these last few phrases. I will deal
with some phrases and I will deal with some words in particular,
but I want us to see this kind of faith and this kind of faith
only is the kind of faith by which God imputes righteousness. The phrases are this. I've broken
them down into five different phrases, but I'll give them to
you. Number one, then we'll go back
and look at them. If we believe on him, And that's what it says,
if we believe on him, number two, that raised up from the
dead. You see it? That raised up Jesus
our Lord from the dead. That's the second one. The third
one is this, that raised up Jesus our Lord. You see that? That's the third one. Then here's
the fourth one, who was delivered for our offenses. And here's
the fifth one, and who was raised again for our justification. Sadly, it is sad that I must
say this, but sadly, most who profess to be Christians today,
I am afraid, I fear, because I was in the midst of false religion,
that anti-Christ, God-hating, Christ-hating religion at one
time. Most people believe they're saved because they believe in
the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's what
they're told to do. Come forward, pray this prayer,
tell God I'm a sinner, God be merciful to me the sinner. That's
all true. And then they're told, believe
that Jesus died, buried, and rose again. Maybe even ascended
to the Father's right hand. And they are told they are saved.
But that is nothing more than historical facts. We're talking
about here about God, we are to believe on him that raised
up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who, that is this Jesus, was
delivered for our offenses. He did something. He accomplished
something. He actually did the Father's
will. Now, either the Father willed
that all men be saved by Jesus if they will then do something
for Jesus, or he willed that God would save a people by Jesus
and make them willing in the day of his power. The second
is the truth. So, let's look at these phrases.
If we believe on him, And let's think about this. Some of this
may seem to be simplistic, but Earl Cochran once told me years
ago, he said, Walter, you've got to try to remember to preach
to people as if they don't understand and have never heard what you've
said before. Because when you think they already
understand what you're saying, you'll pass over some of the
most important, simple aspects of the gospel. And that has been
clearly evidenced in the past month or so. that a person could
be around the gospel for over 40 years and claim to believe
the gospel and then turn their back on that gospel. Clearly,
I am not preaching any gospel different than what I preach
from the get-go. And I'll just drop that right
there. If we believe on him, this is a singular God. We do not get to pick out what
God we want. It is, He is, no, it ain't the
right word. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. He is the almighty, sovereign
creator of heaven and earth. And He controls all of humanity
under His sovereign pleasure and can do with them as He will. Some He can show mercy, some
He can have compassion upon, others He can harden. It's His
prerogative. If we believe on Him, a singular
God, the God that raised up, Do you see it? The God that raised
up, an actual, active, powerful God. Do you see that? An actual,
active, powerful God, yea, the scriptures call him this, the
almighty God. So break that down quickly. This
is not hard. Like I said, this is simple stuff, but yet beyond
the pale of unregenerate man's grasp and love. God Almighty,
that means all might resides in Him. There is no might anywhere
else. Any other might that may reside
somewhere else, it had to come from His sovereign prerogative. Isn't that just simple old understanding? If he's the Almighty, no other
might exist other than under his sovereign power. And our
Lord illustrated this with even Pilate himself. You would have
no power over me except heaven above. God Almighty, accept the
Father, give it to you. And he illustrated before that
even took place when the mob came with Judas' betraying kiss. And they said, we seek Jesus
of Nazareth. And he said, and I don't, Mac,
I don't think it sounded any different than his normal voice,
but he said, I am. And they fell down backwards.
And he went on to even prove his power there. He said, if
you take me, you can't have these 11. Well, who was he to be dictating
to the mob? He's Almighty God. And guess
what? They didn't take the 11. Why? Because he bowed to the will
of the Father. And yet at the same time was
in sovereign control of evil, rebellious, wicked men's hearts. If we believe on Him, it is this
kind of faith only. I don't believe in a sovereign
God, then you don't believe on Him. You don't believe on Him. The next phrase is, if we believe
on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. Now I realize
there's much we could say about this, and I would have been more
in tune with this religious world at large had I preached this
last Sunday on the Resurrection Sunday. But we don't know if
it's the Resurrection Sunday or not. I figure the Eastern
Orthodox Church is probably closer to the Resurrection Sunday than
what the Roman Church is, but be that as it may, we're not
here to worship a day, we're here to worship Him. Him. if we believe on him that raised
up Jesus our Lord from the dead. We must believe in the bodily
resurrection of Jesus our Lord. And Paul says it this way, it's
this kind of faith and this kind of faith only. I'm not even going
to turn back to it, but Paul makes it clear to his letter
to Corinth in the first letter 1 Corinthians 15, if there is
no bodily resurrection, then Jesus Christ was not raised,
and if he was not raised, what we're preaching is a lie. And
somebody says that's too simple. If you think it's really that
simple, go ahead and try to get the world to believe that. I mean, they've come up with
all kinds of theories, and I'm not gonna even deal with that.
We believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead
But here is the third one that raised up Jesus our Lord First
of all he is Jesus And I'm not going to I've got this this is
like I told you about this song book I'm not trying to put which
is the best order you got to have both and Jesus our Lord. He's got to be both or he's not
the Christ of God. And it's not which one's most
important. They're both absolutely vital. The water and the blood
or the blood and the water were both absolutely vital because
God included them both in the inspired word. So away with all
of these men argued. You know what? Because they think
they're saved because of what they understand. Their salvation,
their feeling of salvation, their stand of salvation is based upon
what they know. And if they can prove from the
scripture what they know is better than you, then at least they're
more assured of themselves than they are of you. And eventually
it'll come to the point where they will call you a heretic. You don't have to call them one.
You can try to fellowship, love, and just keep on loving, but
they will finally turn on the truth because it's not truth
they're seeking after, but just facts. Just facts. If we believe, if we believe,
if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. So now we're on number three,
that raised up Jesus our Lord. His humanity is absolutely vital. I'm just gonna read just one
verse. In a very short passage, for
many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is, and most of you have
been taught this before, there are rarely any places where an
a or an an is used in the Greek. And I went back and looked, this
is a the. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. That's how
strongly this man, the Apostle John, felt about this thing of
denying Jesus Christ's actual humanity. But there are also those who,
they believe in his full humanity, but they do not believe in his
full deity. Jesus our Lord, you see it? This is one thing that just totally
stumped some of the hierarchy amongst the Jews. When our Lord
said, well, where did the Christ come from? They said, he could
be born in Bethlehem. Well, whose son is he? He's gonna
be the son of David. They were looking for the son
of David, the Christ to come. These people believed the Messiah
was coming. They weren't some heathen out
there worshiping anything and everything. But then he asked
this question, well, If he's David's son, why does David then
call him Lord? And it just stumped the bejesus
out of him. The Lord said unto my Lord, sit
thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool. So it's Jesus our Lord. In other words, Jesus is God
Almighty manifest in the flesh. Simple and yet impossible for
the unregenerate to believe and to love But he uses another word
here, and I've seen this and it just We say it jumped out
at me. I think God has opened my eyes
Jesus our Lord you see that notice he didn't say Jesus we're talking
about this kind of faith and this kind of faith only there
are a lot of people who believe in Jesus the Lord and but he's
not Jesus, my Lord. You see what I'm saying now?
Paul could have wrote Jesus the Lord and would have been completely
true and stated it. But he's talking about, but for
us also to whom it shall be imputed if we, now most people try to
emphasize if we believe, it's just if we believe. And everything's
based on if we believe. Well this is a if we believe,
don't you get that wrong. But you got to believe a certain
person and you got to believe a certain way. You got to believe
certain things about that person. That's what he saved. Jesus,
our Lord. In other words, this is personal. God Almighty brings every individual
that he saves to see Jesus as his or her Lord. But he uses the word our. So
our is an inclusive word, right? Now not everybody's Lord, though
he is Lord of all, but that's not what he's talking about here.
You see it? Jesus, our Lord. And I thought
about the word, I've read it, I've used it, it's a fine word,
and men say, well, this is collectively, it's Jesus, our Lord. And it's
certainly true, or corporately, this is Jesus, our, it's all
the body of Christ, it's all believers, and that's true. But
here's a word I like better, it is familial. You know what
familial is? Having to do with the family. That's what he's talking about.
It is Jesus, our Lord. We are owned by him, and he is
owned by us. We've laid hold of him by grace.
And we like Jacob, our brother, cry out, I will not let you go
till you bless me. that raised up Jesus our Lord
from the dead. My beloved brothers and sisters,
it is this kind of faith and it is this kind of faith only. You're gonna be a part of God's
people or you are not one of God's people. You will love believing
the same gospel that God's people believe or you don't believe
the gospel. And there ain't just one or two
of them out there on the internet talking with one another and
amening one another. There are groups of people that
are faulty and sinful and don't know it all and don't understand
it all, but they know this, they know this, they believe on Him
that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered
for our offenses and was raised again for our justification.
They all believe that. They all believe Him. So we have,
if we believe on him, that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. But here's number four, who was
delivered for our offenses. Now first of all, let me say
it is for our offenses, not our mistakes. Now there is no question
that our offenses are mistakes, but they're more than mistakes.
You see, sin is not messing up. Sin is actual rebellion against
God. That's what it is. To sin against
the law is actual rebellion against God. The law, even for believers
today, still tells us what sin is. Does it not? Because God
saved me doesn't mean I've got the right now not to love my
neighbor as myself. in spite of the fact that I can't
love my neighbor as myself. But I'm still supposed to love
my neighbor as myself. But bless God when he saves you,
at least you do love your neighbor. That's right, and I said this
before. Some people just don't get it. I pray you get it here.
The law says thou shalt not steal. And if you ever steal one thing,
no matter how small and misdemeanor, or how large and felonious it
is, in God's sight, it's still theft. Thou shalt not steal. But every one of us has stolen
something somewhere along the line. And it don't have to be
a thing. It could be a thought, or an
idea, or somebody else, you know, two people are working together
at work, and you try to take all the credit for it. Ain't
nobody ever done that. The law says, thou shalt not
steal, and there is no reprieve for that. Once you've stolen,
and I'm talking about this, you actually steal something, you
are guilty of breaking the whole law. Because if you'll steal
something, you'll steal a man's wife. If you steal a man's wife,
then you'll bear false witness against him. And if you bear
false witness against him, you certainly don't love God with
all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. You know what grace
comes along and says? Anybody remember what Grace says?
It's in the New Testament. You've been reading your Bible?
No, you're just afraid to say, ain't you? Let him that stole
steal no more. I remember Tim James just has
an uncanny way of saying things, at least for me, you know, at
least for me. He said, like he told that woman
caught in a very active adultery, he said, now, neither do I condemn
you. Now, quit that horn. Isn't that
what he was telling her? Neither do I condemn thee. Go
and sin no more. Quit doing this. Somebody says,
I can't. You can if God Almighty's in
you. You can if God, because if you can't, then God Almighty
ain't in you. And Paul ain't got to all that
yet, but he gonna get there. He gonna get there. Who was delivered
for our offenses. They are actually offenses. They are things, and we, I try
to preach it, I try to believe it. I know you try to hear it,
you try to believe it. We don't really understand how
corrupt we are in God's sight. The real stench that fallen humanity
is in God's sight. He is said to be so holy that
he cannot look upon evil and sin. But he was delivered, that
is Jesus Christ was delivered for our offenses. that Jesus
who is our Lord. You see it? Who? But he also
accomplished something. He accomplished it by an act
of God who was delivered. Now I got out my Amplified Bible
this morning, and I opened it up to that very verse. Who was
delivered for our offenses? An Amplified Bible, in many respects,
could be very helpful. But remember, it's not a translation.
It's not a translation. It says who was, there's something
along the line of not delivered. They don't use the word delivered.
It said he was betrayed. Okay, now let's stop for a moment.
Who was delivered? Does it mean that I just believe
that Judas delivered him over to that group, that mob? He did,
didn't he? Yeah, he did. Did that mob not
deliver Jesus over to the high priest and the elders in Israel?
Yeah, he did. Well, we believe that too. Did
not the high priest and the elders of Israel send him over and deliver
him over to Pilate? Yeah, they did. Did not Pilate then deliver him
to be crucified? Even though he tried to wash
his hands and say, I'm free from the blood of this man, you see
to it. Those Jews couldn't hang that man on that cross, let's
Pilate, and his government gave him say so. But it's much more
than that. God Almighty, the Father himself
delivered him. Now somebody says, well I don't
believe that. Well then you don't have this
kind of faith. Now let me find it, you just bear with me for
a moment. It's what Peter preached one
time. Ye men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth,
a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs
which God did by him in the midst of you. As ye yourselves also know, they
could not deny what he did. All they could do was try to
accuse him of doing it on the wrong day or in the wrong way,
maybe on the Sabbath day or something. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday, and Sunday, they couldn't do much. But boy, when he did
something good on the Sabbath day, on a Friday evening to a
Saturday evening, boy, they were ready to pounce, weren't they?
Him being delivered. Do you see it right there? There
you go. Now, let me tell you something.
If you don't start with God, if you try to start with man,
you're going to mess up. If all you got is man delivering,
Judas delivering him to the hands of the mob, the mob delivering
him to the high priests and the elders, and the elders delivering
him to Pilate, and Pilate delivering him to be crucified, all you
still have are just physical facts. Here is a spiritual fact. God the Father delivered him.
God was doing something here. Do you see that? God was acting
here. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain. You did exactly what God Almighty
ordained to be done, but you are guilty for what you did.
And God raised him up. So it says, whom God hath raised. You see, brothers and sisters,
the kind of faith which God declares as righteousness before Him is
a kind that believes that God Almighty is in absolute sovereign
control of all things that happen in this world. God is not partially
sovereign. He's not partially all-powerful.
He's not partially in control. He's either in absolute control
or He has no control whatsoever. As I've said before, and I'm
not trying to be funny, although I guess it is a little, he don't
have spurts of sovereignty and lordship. God don't have little
acts of God, he is God. And he does according to his
will and his purpose among the armies of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth. And even an old heathen king
understood that much, but you know why he understood that much? Because God put him on his face
before God. This is why most people cannot
acknowledge God for who he is. God's never done him like he
did Nebuchadnezzar and drive him to total despair and madness
spiritually. Who was delivered for our offenses. In other words, he was delivered,
and I gotta give you this. It is not like the wannabe Baptists. They're actually just Arminian
Baptists. They're Campbellites, Church of Christ folk, them kind
of folks. They love that passage in Acts which says, be baptized
for the remission of sins. And I said, see, if you'll be
baptized, then your sins will be remitted. All right, let's
apply that here. It was delivered so we would
have offenses. How well does that fit? We had offenses whether
he would deliver or not. We had offenses. It means here
on account of. or because of our offenses. And
that's what Peter was saying. You'd be baptized on account
of the fact that Jesus Christ remitted sins when he died on
that tree. Now you acknowledge him for who
he is, God's Christ and God's Lord. You acknowledge him for
who he is. He was raised again, what? Who
was raised again, I'm sorry, who was delivered on account
of our offenses. But it was much more than our
offenses was over here in us and that he was just delivered
up. He was delivered up to become our very offenses. He was made
a curse, Paul dealt with a couple of these. He was made a curse,
he was made sin, he was made flesh. Do you imagine, this is
the holy sovereign God. God of heaven and earth before
whom even the holy angels that are around his throne daily have
to cover their faces with two of their six wounds, correct?
They got to cover their faces. This is that very God, and yet
he came down and dealt with the stink of human sweat on himself. He dealt with the excrement of
the human body on himself. That's just physical things.
Then he had to deal with the father turning his back on him.
And you think this was just Jesus trying to make something possible?
Preposterous. He was accomplishing something.
Who was delivered on account of our offenses. And when God
seen our sin in him, well this says he bore our sins where?
Not just on him. Now you can say they're on him,
that's fine. But it's more that he bore our sins in his own body
on the tree. And when God seen our sins there,
God turned his back on the son. God poured out his wrath and
justice against the son. And we best pray God and believe
God that we will never experience that ever. Because even the lake
of fire will not satisfy God's justice, for the smoke of the
devils and of fallen men and women will rise up forever and
ever, and God's holiness and justice will never be satisfied
by their condemnation. Why? It's not even because sin
is eternal, it's because God is eternal. And God was offended
by what we are in Adam's fall even before we fail. But yet he created us anyway,
didn't he? And he, this is what he did.
He suffered the fall. I don't know of any other way
to put it. Maybe you might like a better word, but I'm just,
he suffered the fall. And yet he redeemed some of those
fallen. Now folks, that's grace. Who
was delivered for our offenses? Here's the question, do you believe
this? and was raised again for our justification. Now, as I
told you before, we sing a song. Living, he loved me. Dying, he
saved me. Buried, he carried my sins far
away. Rising, he justified. That's still true because the
resurrection of Christ is evidence that God Almighty was satisfied
with what Christ did. But this word again is forward,
not in order for us to be justified, because as Paul will go on to
say, and I'll read it in a moment, we're justified by his blood
when we were yet enemies. That's what we'll read here in
a moment. No, it is he was raised again on account of our justification. God's very accepting him back
in the glory in a human body. Do you hear me? In a glorified
human body, grant you. But a human body lets us know
he's the forerunner. Everybody he stood for is coming
later. They're coming later. We're raised again for justification. This Lord Jesus was raised again. Yes, he died, was buried, and
was raised again, but it's on account of the fact that he has
secured for every believer justification. Amen. I'll give you the illustration. I'll give it again. Maybe somebody
didn't get it last time. You see the old wanted posters.
You don't see them much anymore. You used to see them kind of
in the post office and stuff, but you've seen them on TV, especially
old westerns. Jesse James wanted for bankruptcy. It does not mean Jesse James
wanted so he can get and do or be a bank robber. He's already
done the robbery. Jesse James wanted on account
of the fact that he's already committed bank robbery. That's
what this is talking about. And it's a little word like that,
because we're not talking here about what men think about something,
we're talking about who Jesus Christ is and what he accomplished
when he came to this world. Somebody said, preacher, you
gotta believe that Jesus Christ died only for the elect? No,
you don't have to believe he died only for the elect. That's
not what, this book never says that. But you got to believe
that what he died to do, he accomplished. because what God has promised,
he's able to perform. We believe him. It is this kind
of faith, and it is this kind of faith only, and that's why
Paul says, now here we are, closing down, therefore, now we'll go
back later, Lord willing, and look at this in more detail,
therefore, being justified by faith. Now he says justified
by faith. What is it, blood? Faith, are
there different kinds of justification? No, there's only one kind of
justification. God purposed that justification
before the world began. That is being justified by His
grace. God sent his son into the world to die and shed his
blood under the wrath of God. That's being justified by his
blood. He sends his spirit and his gospel to call men out of
darkness into light and to believe the Christ preached in the gospel.
That's justification by faith. And it's still all the same justification. I don't believe in progressive
justification anymore than I believe in progressive sanctification.
I believe in continual justification. I believe in continual sanctification,
but I don't believe any of it is progressive. Now you might
feel like you've progressed because at one time you were nothing
but an unbeliever and you came or brought by God to be, but
you didn't progress. That's a free sovereign gift.
The first one, unbelief, was all evil, all wicked. Belief is not a progression.
It's a whole different realm, folks. Therefore, being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And there is what it's all about. Justification by faith is for
our benefit, not for God's benefit. God's already benefited himself
through the sacrifice of his son. And the proof of it is he
raised him from the dead. And then he set him down at his
own right hand. Therefore be justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. I think
I said it a Sunday or two ago, God's never been at war with
his people. God's never been at war with the elect. But the
elect have been at war with him. The elect have been at war with
him. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace where
we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not
only so, not just that, but we glory in tribulations. Now I
don't, I know we say these things, I don't think we always know
it or feel it while it's going on. Because this is not a, well
I glory in tribulations and, well, how many times did you
say thank you God for all this trouble you brought on me? Huh? I don't know that I've ever did
that. Until maybe after the fact. Do you understand what I'm saying?
But you can't isolate these statements out. This is what religion does. It's what the natural mind does.
It tries to break these things down in such a way that we can
deal with one phrase and leave the other behind or beside. Look,
by whom we have access, by faith, and to this grace wherein we
stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Remember, hope
that is seen is not hope. And not only that, but we glory
in tribulations, knowing that tribulation worketh patience. And patience, experience. And experience, hope. And hope
maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in
our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. And men
want to argue, well, is that our love for God or God's love
for him? As Joe used to say, yes. Yes. First and foremost, God gives
us a little inkling of what His love is to us. Now, if all you've
got is your love toward God, you ain't got much to stand on.
Now, do you? But we do love Him. Now, if you don't love Him, don't
stand here and lie to us and tell us, go on, leave with the
rest of them. You understand what I'm saying? Don't take 40
years to do it. Just go now. Leave us alone. Because we're not going to quit.
We're not going to stop. No. What does it say? Go on.
Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Ghost, which is given unto us. I just tell you folks, by God's
grace, I can't help but love him. I can't help but love him,
even though I know he is severe. Right? Yes, he's merciful, compassionate,
gracious, but he's also severe. I remember Henry Mahan, the accountant,
recounting the time. I didn't hear it, of course.
But he said a guy walked up to Ralph Barton and said, your God's
a monster. He said, well, prepare to meet a monster then. And I
tell you what, I've said that here. I've said that a lot lately.
There was one individual I could see his teeth grip when I said
it. God to fallen humanity is a monster
because he's absolutely holy and won't put up with our filth.
It took him killing his son on the cross to even save one sinner. Because the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
And here we go, this is that faith, this kind of faith. For
when we were yet without strength, so how much strength did we have? Come on, zero. Goose egg. Nada. It don't exist. When we
were yet without strength, in due time, Christ died for who? Who did he die for? Ungodly people. Has God ever brought you to see
yourself as that? Have you progressed from being
that? No. Now something new's been given
to you. Something different's been given to you. But that ungodliness
is still ungodliness. And if you try to remember that
all the time, maybe when you get into chapter five and chapter
six, it won't scare you so much. Being dead to sin, it doesn't
say sin's dead to me. It doesn't say sin's dead in
me, but I'm dead to sin. I now hate the very things my
flesh does. when at one time, I totally enjoyed
the things my flip. My only concern was I didn't
want anybody to ever catch me. That was pretty much it for me.
Let's go on. For when we were yet without
strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Can you
take your place there? For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die. Yet peradventure 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. Now who's us? Ungodly people.
People who believe. people who have access by faith
into this grace where they stand, people that had Jesus Christ
raised from the dead for them, people had Jesus Christ delivered
for their offenses, but God committed his love towards them, while
yet sinners Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Now folks,
I was always taught years ago, that's wrath out there in the
future. Now that's certainly true. But I've been saved from
my wrath toward God. Have you? Huh? Ephesians, Paul tells us, not
only were we dead in sins, but we were the children of wrath.
That is, we possessed the wrath. We were children of wrath, even
like everybody else. God's delivered me from wrath,
my wrath. Much more than being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Somebody
says, I don't believe that. Well, it's because you don't
want to bow because he's going to explain. For if, do you see
it? For if when we were what? Enemies. Now enemies, if you're
really an enemy, it means you have wrath towards somebody.
Right? You dislike somebody immensely.
Matter of fact, if you're honest, you call it hate. Hate. For if when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God by the death of his son. So I was
reconciled, if I was reconciled, when his son died on that tree. Is that what this says or not?
That's what you believe or you don't have the right kind of
faith. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by
the death of his son, much more than being reconciled, we shall
be saved by his life. In other words, everybody he
died for will be saved. Now that you better believe. Well, pre-trap means the same
thing as he died only for lack. Well, okay, I'll give you that
one, but you don't start with the second one. You start with
this. Jesus Christ accomplished what God sent him to do. If he
didn't, he wasn't the Christ. And Jesus of Nazareth is an imposter
and we are preaching lies. Isn't that what Paul says in
1 Corinthians 15? And not only that, not only so,
but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom
we have now received the atonement. That's Paul's summary of this
kind of faith. That's where it's at. Now what I pray God gives me
grace to do is to not look at myself, that's
not what I'm talking about, but to look within and ask this question,
has God given me this kind of faith? That's the question. Father, I pray you bless your
word. May you receive all the glory
and honor by and through our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we thank
you for the food and the time that we'll have together. Be
with those that weren't able to be here, some who cannot be
here. Lord, some are sick, just in faraway places. Lord, be with
them and comfort them in that way that only you can comfort.
In Christ's name, amen.