Romans chapter 1. Let's read the first seven verses. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which
he had promised to for by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.
And this gospel of God concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh,
and declared, set forth to be the Son of God with power according
to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead,
by whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience
to the faith among all nations for His name. among whom ye also
are the called of Jesus Christ. To all that be in Rome, beloved
of God, called. Whom he did foreknow, he also
did predestinate. Those he did predestinate, then
he also called. Called to be saints. Grace to
you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to dispense with introductions. for the message and just go straight
to the subject. Verse 5, verse 5. This gives
us the only answer. This is God's answer. I'm not
interested in what the Baptists have to say or the Catholics
have to say or whoever has to say. I'm interested in what God
has to say. And this is God's answer as to
where grace comes from. That's the first of three questions
that I want to consider. The message consists of three
questions and the first is this, where does real grace come from? Real grace. Grace as we sometimes
sing that can pardon and cleanse within. Grace that can pardon
and cleanse within, Billy, within. That's what true grace does.
That's what real grace does. That's what the grace of God
does. Only the grace of God through
Jesus Christ can do that. within, that's where the problem's
at. Remember? Remember? That's where
the problem's at. It's in here. It's in here. That's
why it takes a miracle, a miracle of God's mighty grace. If we're
just little sinners, and most people are, ask them. Ask them. Are you a sinner? And they'll
start telling you, comparing themselves to someone else, that
they're better than them. I may not be perfect, that's
a pretty pat answer, isn't it? Oh yeah, little sinners, they
can get by with just a little religious spasm. That'll satisfy
them, that's all it takes. A decision for Jesus, there's
no more unscriptural term. It's been around for years, but
it's unscriptural. There's nothing in the word of
God about such a thing. A decision for Jesus will satisfy those.
I would call it a band-aid religion. is just cosmetic. It doesn't
reach the root of the problem. I can trot up an owl every day
of every week, and someone can instruct me to repeat after them,
put words in my mouth, and drag me down the Roman's road. It's
always interesting to me that they take a detour when it comes
to that verse that says it's not of him that runneth, nor
of him that willeth, but of God that showeth mercy. Band-aid
religion, just cosmetic, just cosmetic. It doesn't reach the
root of the problem. It can't. The heart. Sin isn't just what I do, but
what I am. Only God can teach us that. Sin
is not what I do, it's what I am. I'm not a sinner because I sin,
I sin because I am a sinner. The root comes from within, the
heart. Oh, who can know it, God said. I need more than a little religious
experience. And if that satisfies me, if
that satisfies me, God help me. God help me, if I can be content,
satisfied, with just a little religious spasm, and just about
everybody we know has one, especially when some trouble comes along,
they'll get religious, and when the trouble's gone, so is their
profession of faith. They're gone too. We've all seen
it happen. There's only one answer to the
question, where does grace come from? It's not multiple choice. There's only one answer. There
is only one that's mighty to save. Grace comes by Jesus Christ,
period. Period. Years ago, I don't know,
I may have been here two or three years, we get a visitor that's
every now and then, and most of the time they don't like what
they hear, and out the door they go, we never see them again,
but that's in God's hands as well. But a young lady wanted
to talk with me. And at the door, she told me,
and I said, well, wait till folks, I greet folks as they go out,
and then I'll talk with you. And she wanted to know, this
is what she asked me, which method do we believe God uses to save
sinners? What method do you practice here? And I told her as kindly and
as plainly as I could, we don't teach or have a method of salvation. Salvation is not in methods,
no matter what it might be. Salvation is in a person. Now
we're accustomed to hearing that. But thank God a lot of people
aren't. A lot of people don't know that.
They think salvation is in crossing every T and dotting every I.
Salvation is don't touch this and don't worry that and don't
go here and all this stuff. That's what they think salvation
is. No, salvation is in a person. He that has the Son has life. And he that has not the Son,
it doesn't make a lick of difference what else he may claim to have.
He doesn't have life. He might have religion, he may
have a decision, but he doesn't have life. And that person, that
person, By whom we receive grace is the Lord Jesus Christ, again
I emphasize, period. There is no wiggle room here. No elbow room here. No exception
to that God-ordained rule. This is my beloved son. In him
I am well pleased. Hear ye him. If you don't hear
him, God will send you to hell. It's as simple as that. You remember
in Acts 15, Barnabas and Saul have been sent out to preach
the gospel, and they were at Antioch. And God did a mighty
work there. And some of the religious elite,
Pharisees and such, they didn't like it. Because they were teaching
salvation by grace without the law of Moses. Oh, they didn't
like it. In verse 1, we read these words
of Acts 15, and certain men which came down from Judea talked to
brethren and said, except they came behind Paul and Bartimaeus.
And they said, except you be circumcised after the manner
of Moses, you cannot be saved. You cannot be saved. I mean,
we're not saying salvation is not of grace, but you've got
to add the law. You've got to keep the law. Verse
2 of Acts 15, when therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small
dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul
and Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem
unto the apostles and elders about this question. Verse 6,
and the apostles and elders came together for to consider this
matter. Is salvation completely entirely
without grace apart from any works of the law or not? There
we have Paul and Bartimaeus, Peter and James is there, the
other apostles, elders, and this is what they agreed to. This
is what they concluded, what they had already been preaching,
but they lay it down once again. Whether you're a Jew or whether
you're a Gentile, they said, we believe. We believe. Oh, thank God. We believe that
through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved
even as they, period. Period. No keeping of the law,
no circumcision. Oh no, you're saved by grace
through faith from Christ. Period. And nothing else. That's a great message, isn't
it? That's worth preaching. That's
worth hearing. And that's exactly what we read
here in Romans 1. Grace comes by the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's the Son of God by whom we
have received grace. Grace, oh my, by whom we have
received grace. Grace that can pardon and cleanse
within. Grace that's greater than all
my sin. Christ Jesus must have, he does
have, their preeminence in all things, and that should be especially
true in preaching. The glorious gospel of the blessed
son of God, and that gospel concerns him. Christ makes the gospel
glorious. It's about Him. That's what makes
it good news. That's what makes it glorious.
It's about a glorious Savior and His glorious work and His
glorious gospel and His glorious grace. It's glorious that Christ
Jesus came into this world to save sinners. That's a glorious
message. That's good news. It's glorious
to proclaim and to tell others. to tell others, to tell our loved
ones, our children, that Jesus Christ is able to save to the
uttermost every sinner that comes unto God by Him. His arm's not
short, His ear's not heavy, He can save the boundless defender
that truly believes. There's no question about that.
Oh, but any message, any message, it doesn't have Christ in the
beginning, Christ in the middle, And Christ at the end is a waste
of time and preparation and a crime in delivery. It should never
be preached and it shouldn't be listened to. It was announced
one time that a certain doctor of divinity, could have been
Dr. Twiddley-Deedy, but he was to
bring a message at a local church and the pastor got up the Sunday
before and encouraged everybody to be there and to bring someone
with them. Because this was a doctor, this was a rare occasion to hear
a great speaker, and you don't want to miss it. And surely,
the place was packed the following Sunday. And the man did prove
to be a polished orator. I mean, he sprinkled his message
and peppered it with Latin and with Greek, and even used words
in English that a lot of people didn't know what they meant. And as the people were leaving
the service, the pastor that invited this theologian, stood
at the door and asking them, didn't I tell you so? Didn't
I tell you it was outstanding? What did you think of the good
doctor's message? Folks said, oh, wonderful, marvelous,
outstanding. Some that slept through the service
said, oh, best thing I ever heard. And there was an old farmer.
He came by. And the pastor pressed him. Brother,
what did you think of my friend's message? The farmer was reluctant
to answer, but he was honest, so he told the pastor the truth.
He said, I'll tell you what. There was nothing in it for me.
Nothing. There was nothing in it for me.
There was not a word that pointed my burdened heart to that one
who alone came to heal the brokenhearted. Didn't help me. Not a word to
remind me that Jesus Christ is such a high priest that is touched
with the feeling of my infirmities. I came here thirsty. I came here
this morning thirsty for a word about the water of life that
alone can quench my spiritual thirst. And all I got was dry
cisterns of intellectualism. There was nothing in it for me. Isn't that sad? Oh God, when
I remembered that story, I wrote this down. God, don't allow me
to be satisfied with anything other than a genuine saving interest
in your son. The only name given under heaven
whereby we must be saved. God, please don't allow me to
be deceived into thinking I'm saved without knowing Jesus Christ
the Savior. That's impossible. God, don't
let me. Don't let me go with the multitude. Don't let me be
one of the many that will stand before you in the last day of
judgment, trusting in what they did and what they thought, expecting
to hear you say, enter into the joy prepared for you, and to
their utter horror they will hear, depart from me, I never
knew you. That's in Matthew 7. Christ says
many, that will be the case, many. I, depart from me, oh my
soul. Depart from Christ? There's no hope anywhere else.
There's no hope in anyone else. And he said, depart from me,
and the door is shut. As they're cast out into outer
darkness, Lord, please don't allow me to be satisfied with
religion without Christ. Multitudes are. And please forgive
me. Lord, help me to be sincere here.
Please forgive me that I far too often take for granted the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's horrible, but it's true. Take your mercy and grace for
granted. By whom, our text says, by whom
we have received grace. Oh, thanks be unto God for his
unspeakable gift. Do these words, I want to quote
a few stanzas of an old hymn. Do these words ring a bell in
your heart and memory? If they do, raise your heart
to thanks to God. All my life long, I had panicked. for a drink from some clear spring
that I hoped would quench the burning of the thirst I felt
within. Do you remember that? Do you
remember that? Feeding on the husk around me,
like the old farmer said, there was nothing in it for me. Feeding
on the husk around me till my strength was nearly gone. Longed
my soul for something better, only still to hunger on. Do you
remember that? Remember that? Poor I was and
sought for riches, something that would satisfy, but the dust
I gathered round me only mocked my soul's sad cry. I remember
that. I remember that. Oh, but bless
his holy name, I remember this too. Hallelujah, I found it. Whom my soul so long has craved,
Jesus satisfied my longings. Oh, through his blood, I now
am saved. Here's the second question. So
closely related to the other that you can't separate them,
but what have we received? Not earthly riches, not perfect
health. That's not my greatest need.
We have received grace. Grace. the only thing that brings
salvation. The grace of God, Paul wrote
to Titus, the grace of God that brings salvation. It doesn't
offer salvation, but it brings salvation. It bestows salvation. It actually saves with a great
and everlasting salvation. No wonder Paul said, blessed,
happy is the man whose sins are forgiven. One of the best loved
and most often sung hymns is a hymn that expresses John Newton's
personal experience. And you know the one. The experience
of God's grace. At the end of his life, Newton
said, I've forgotten a lot of things. My memory's not as good
as it used to be. But he said, two things I remember that I'm that I'm a great sinner and Jesus
Christ is a great savior. This hymn is old Newton's spiritual
autobiography in song. It's mine too. Amazing grace. Remember when God first spoke
peace to your heart, how amazing it was to him. You thought, this is too good
to be true. He saved me. Remember that? Amazing
grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I was
lost, but now, now I'm found. I was blind, oh, but now I see. It was grace that taught my heart
to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious, how precious did
that grace appear the hour I first believed. Remember, child of
God, you were as sheep going astray, but are now returned
unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls. Wherefore, remember,
remember, that ye being in times past Gentiles in the flesh, who
are called uncircumcised by that which is called the circumcision
in the flesh made by hands, that at that time ye were without
Christ, you remember that, without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope and without God in the world. Oh, how horrible
it would be if the story ended there. But now, but now, but
now, in Christ Jesus, you who sometimes were far off are made
nigh by the blood of Christ. May the Lord be pleased to stir
our memory to recall what grace and mercy he has bestowed upon
us, and he keeps doing it, doesn't he? He just keeps giving and
giving and giving more grace. Hearken to me, ye that follow
after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord, look unto the
rock from whence ye were hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence
ye are digged. Look what grace has done now,
being justified freely, freely, without any cost or cost from
us, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus. It is just, it's just that the
debt should be discharged now that it's been paid by the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's just and right that we should
be declared free since the ransom has been found. that we should
no longer be under condemnation since the guilt that condemned
us has been carried away by our glorious substitute and it cannot
be found. If Christ took my load, that
load cannot be placed back upon me. Oh no, that would be unjust
of God. If Christ paid your debts, they're paid. Jesus Christ paid
it all. It stands to reason. If your
substitute has taken your sin and put it away, your sin no
more lays on you. God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven
you. Mr. Spurgeon said this, get hold
of that, this glorious truth of substitution. Get hold of
that grand truth and hold it, though all the devils in hell
should roar against you. Hold it with a hand of steel,
grip it as for life, God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven me. May each of us be able, he said,
to say that. We shall not feel the divine
sweetness and force of the text unless we can make a personal
matter of it by the Holy Spirit. This hymn came across my desk
while I was preparing this message from Pastor Joe Terrell's bulletin.
It says, in looking through my tears one day, I saw Mount Calvary. Beneath the cross that followed
there flowed a stream of grace enough for me. While standing
there, my trembling heart, once full of agony, could scarce believe
the sight I saw of grace enough for me. When I beheld my every
sin nailed to the cruel tree, I felt a flood go through my
soul of grace enough for me. When I am safe within the veil,
my portion there will be to sing through all the years to come
of grace enough for me. The third question. The third
question. If we have received grace by
Jesus Christ, so what? So what? Please, please, let's
consider that. The last question. So if we have
received grace by Jesus Christ, so what of it? Oh, there's so
much we could say here, but just two things. If we have received
grace by Jesus Christ, how thankful we should be. Oh, of all people
in this world, how thankful a child of God should be. Can we ever
be too thankful to God for all the grace for sending His Son
into this world to save His people from their sins? David. He was looking back over his
life one time, thinking about God's mercy, God's
grace. And he asked himself this question
in Psalm 116. He said, what shall I render
unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? What shall I render
unto the Lord? Consider the context of David's
question. Let me read it to you. Prior
to that verse, prior to David asking himself this question,
he wrote in Psalm 116, I love the Lord because he hath heard
my voice. He didn't take that for granted.
God didn't have to hear David. Because he had inclined his ear
to me. Imagine that. The God of heaven,
the God from everlasting to everlasting, the God without beginning or
end, stooped to hear the cry of David. David said, the sorrows
of death come past me, and the pains of hell get hold upon me.
I found trouble and sorrow, then I called upon the name of the
Lord. Oh, Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is
the Lord and righteous, yea, God is merciful. The Lord preserveth
the simple. I was brought low and he helped
me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt
bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul
from death, my eyes from tears and my feet from bawling." That's
what he's done for every child of God. And David answered his
question, what shall I render unto the Lord? In verse 17 of
the psalm, he says, I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and will call upon the name of the Lord. I'll be thankful. David says, I'll be thankful
and worship you with a thankful heart. Having received spiritual
blessings from God's hands, I won't offer a bullock or a goat or
a sheep. No, I will bring that which is
most suitable. The thanksgiving of my heart,
my heart. My inmost soul shall adore you
in gratitude and will call upon the name of the Lord. Another
example from the New Testament. Remember the backdrop of these
words that I'm about to read. Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2 describes
a time, I tell you, it fits our day to a tee, when it seems like
the whole world is following the lie, being deceived by that other gospel that exalts
man's will over God's will, that calls the God who has grace
on whom he will as a tyrant and unjust. And God allows them,
Paul said, to believe that lie. Are you listening to me? God
sent them strong delusion because they turned away their ears from
this truth. And God said, so be it. So be
it. Allowed them to believe the lie
and be damned for doing so. That's the backdrop. Terrible,
terrible. But the story didn't end. But,
but, listen. Well, I tell you what, when this
epistle was read to the church at Thessalonica, they must have
shouted hallelujah. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, the love of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. Or until he called you
by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast. Just stay where you at. and hold
the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word
or our epistle. Now the Lord Jesus Christ himself,
and God even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given
us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort
your hearts, and establish you in every good word and work."
A dear, dear lady whom God had stripped, brought her down, during
those nights, sleepless nights, those days where sin laid heavy
upon her. She said, Oh Lord, if you'll
have mercy on me, if you'll be gracious to me, if you save me,
I promise you, you'll never hear the end of it. You'll never hear the end of
it. James Smith, You've heard me mention him before. He was
a predecessor of Charles Spurgeon at New Park Street. He pastored
there from 1841 to 1850. He wrote this. He said, my aim
is to humble the sinner and to exalt the Savior, to strip the
creature and to place the crown on the head of God's free grace.
I cannot ascribe too much to Jesus and too little to man. He told this story. He said,
I was passing through a country great graveyard the other day.
I saw an inscription on a headstone. It struck my eye. The stone was
made, was by the side rather, the stone was by the side of
the path where everyone could see it. It was placed there in
memory of a young man who died at the age of 17. It said, read
her one moment, stop and think, that I am in eternity and you
are on the brink. I'm in eternity and you are on
the brink. Eternity, Smith said, a young
man only 17 years of age, in eternity, in a fixed, a changeless,
eternal state, in heaven or in hell, saved with an everlasting
salvation or damned forever. Oh, yes indeed, Lord, yes indeed.
Yes, indeed, if you will have mercy on me, and be gracious
to me, and save me, you'll never hear the end of it. God having been and being, continuing
to be so gracious to us, not only should it elicit a thankful
heart, it should enable us to be gracious to others, to be
tenderhearted to others. I remember years ago, Miss Bobby,
we were having lunch. Me and I guess Bess and you and
Lester, I think, was at that batter up. And someone mentioned
a certain young lady and the heartache she was causing her
grandparents and stuff. And I said, well, maybe I spoke
without thinking. I said, well, maybe the best
thing they could do is just boot her out. Bobby looked at me and
said, Larry, it's not easy for a grandparent to boot out their
child. And you were exactly right. You were exactly right. My experience
before preaching one time at a church I hadn't been to
before, but the pastor asked me to go. And a young man stood
up to teach the Bible class. I don't know when I've ever heard
a more cold-hearted, cold-hearted lesson in my life. He talked
about a lady who came to him crying tears running down her
face and said, oh brother, please pray for my son. Pray for my
son that God will save him. And he said, I told her, and
this is how he said it. I told her, listen, quit crying.
If God's going to save your son, he'll save me. If not, there's
nothing you can do about it. Just be quiet. I had to preach
behind that. I prayed, God, please, it was
like stepping into an icebox. My soul, what did Paul write? Be ye kind-hearted, tender-hearted
to one another, forgiving one another. Listen to this now.
Even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. Be gracious, be gracious. Remember
what our Lord said in Matthew 24. He was talking to his disciples. They were included. He said,
because iniquity shall abound, the love of many will wax cold. We're not touched. When we live
in a society, we've got to pray, I do. God, please don't let me
become cold. God, keep me tenderhearted, keep
me sympathetic. Mr. Spurgeon preached the message
from that text. He called it forgiveness made
easy. Even as God rather has for Christ's
sake forgiven you, be tenderhearted to one another, forgiving one
another. Forgiveness made easy. How soon
we seem to forget. God for Christ's sake forgave
us when we didn't deserve it, and we still don't. When we didn't
even ask him for it, until he did the work in our hearts. When
we were content without His mercy, everything under the sun was
more important to me than God's mercy. And how many times since
God saved us has He continued to forgive us again and again
and again. Because the sinless Savior died,
my sinful soul was counted free. For God did just as satisfy to
look on Him and pardon me. Peter came one time to the Lord
and said, Lord, how many times shall my brother sin against
me and I forgive him? The rabbis of the day said seven
times. After that, you can ignore him,
kick him out, do whatever you want. Lord, what do you say? How many times should I forgive
my brother that sinned against me? Jesus said, I say unto thee,
not until just seven times, but until 70 times seven. just like he's forgiven us, over
and over and over again. My little children, these things
write unto you that you sin not. If any man sin, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. When we sin, God
doesn't disown us. He doesn't kick us out. He doesn't
say, I'll never bless you again. No, we have an advocate with
the Father who pleads his blood on behalf of his on the behalf
of his people, and no one can be condemned that Jesus Christ's
precious blood was shed for them. That's the only place a believer
can find comfort. What should I not forgive in
others when I remember how much God has forgiven me? That's something
to consider. That's what the text said in
Ephesians 4 and 22. The wondering child is reconciled
by God's beloved Son. The aching soul again made whole,
and priceless, pardoned one. Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is of God. And everyone that loveth is born
of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not
God, for God is love. And this was manifested, the
love of God toward us, because that God's Son is the only begotten
Son in the world, that we might live through him. hearing his
love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent
his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God
so loved us, we ought also to love one another. I read this
the other evening by a man named J.R. Milder. He said, we can
never do amiss in showing gentleness. It's never wrong. There is no
day when it will be untimely There is no place where it will
not find welcome. It will harm no one, and it may
save someone from despair. Kindness might save a life from
self-destruction. Tenderhearted kindness. Could
we with ink the oceans fill, and were the skies of parchment
made, were every stalk on earth a quill, and every scribe or
I'm sorry, everyone a scribe by trade, to write the love of
God above would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll contain
the whole, though stretched from sky to sky. Lord Jesus, by the
grace I've received from you, may I be gracious to others.
By the love that you've had for me, may I love others. And by
the blessed forgiveness you've showed to me, May I be forgiving
to others. Amen. Amen. God bless you.