Turn with me, if you would, to
Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5. We'll begin
reading in verse 19 through the end of the chapter. Verse 19
through the end of the chapter. It says, as by one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners. So by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense may abound. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. That as sin hath reign unto death,
even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life
by Christ our Lord, by Jesus Christ our Lord. I suppose if
I were to state in perhaps one phrase what we believe here in
this place, this would come close to summarizing it. Verse 20 in
the second part, but where sin abounded, grace did much more
abound. Let's take a deeper dive into
this extraordinary phrase uttered by Paul through the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit. He says, where sin abounded,
verse 19, he says, as by one man's disobedience, many were
made sinners. Herein is our universal issue. This is our issue, man, woman,
boy and girl. It's our issue, it's our problem,
it's our natural nature reality. It's our natural reality. We're
born in Adam Adam fell totally and completely. We fell in him
totally and completely. There wasn't one thing, wasn't
one person, and we're talking about humankind, that wasn't
affected, that wasn't affected by the fall. We, from birth,
nature, and practice, are sinners, are sinners. Fool sinners, utter
sinners, absolute, concluded, transgressors of God's law, but
even before the law, before the law was given, in Adam, we fell. As Paul states in Ephesians chapter
two, we were dead in trespasses and sins. Now, sin is abounding
in us, through us. It sticks closer to us than our
own skin. This result, as it states in
verse 21, rains onto death. Spiritual, which is the most
important thing, but you want to know why people die? Because
Adam fell in the garden. That's why people die. That's
why people get sick. That's why, as we say, bad things. It's a result of sin. Depravity does not change. Depravity is the same in 70 AD even BC, it doesn't change now. Now it may show itself because
of the media and there's more availability to such things.
See the stuff that's going on around us. But sin has always
been sin. Sin has always been sin. But why is this so important
in the declaration of the gospel of grace? Why is sin so important? One, Spurgeon lists a few things,
I think these are good. There can be no grace where there's
no guilt. There can be no grace where there's
no guilt. No mercy where no sin is. No help in time of need where
no criminality is owned. No criminality is owned. It is
a misuse of words to talk about forgiveness where no wrong has
occurred. Why do we talk forgiveness? If
I don't need forgiveness, I haven't sinned. Spurgeon says it's an
insult to innocence to proclaim mercy towards it. It's an insult
to innocence. You must therefore have sin or
you cannot have grace. Therefore, our text, where sin
abounded, And it does, grace did much more abound. That's
our hope and that hope is through Christ. As he says, grace reigns
through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see, you and I, we see
sin abounding. And perhaps this morning we can
see grace abounding to ourselves. We'll look at a few things, but
our text says, verse 20 in the latter part, but where sin abounded,
grace did much more bound, did much more bound. This then is
noted, it's seen, and I trust felt and experienced that where
sin abounded, grace did much more bound. You think about this.
The whole and entire work of sovereign grace or the grace
of God to sinners is found in that verse. Everything dealing
with sinners regarding the grace of God through the Lord Jesus
Christ is found in this phrase. Mr. Spurgeon once said, sin is
the wolf which has devoured the flocks of men. We could turn
to Romans chapter three and see there's none righteous, no not
one. They've all gone astray. From the top of the head to the
bottom of the foot, it's open sores. Yet in Romans 5 verse
16 he says, and not as by one that sin, so is the gift for
the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many
offenses unto justification, unto justification. The second
Adam, Christ, has repaired and that much more, because he says,
where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. So where the
second Adam, Christ, has repaired, and much more, that which the
first Adam ruined. He ruined by the fall. They used
to say the three R's, ruin, redemption, and regeneration, the old writers
would say. Ruined by the fall, redeemed
by the blood, and regenerated by the Holy Spirit. He, Christ,
by himself, made restitution and then some for all the sins
of all his elect from time onward. We're gonna look at just six
or seven examples, eight, I don't know, I've got them written down
here, but I'm not gonna exhaust this. This goes on and on. And
some of this stuff we're gonna get into deep water, but the
believer's not afraid. Let's just open up the scriptures
and let's see what God has for us this morning. First, think
with me. of the whole aggregate, the combined
corruptions of all the people of God, of all the elect, they
were swiped clean by his single act on Calvary's tree. That's
amazing in itself. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more about it. One act And we could see this
very plainly in Isaiah 53. You don't have to turn there,
I'll read it to you, Isaiah 53, verse four, five, and six. Surely
Christ hath borne, which is the he, our griefs, and carried our
sorrows. We did esteem him stricken, smitten
of God, and afflicted, but he was wounded for our transgressions. That word wounded, if you got
a marginal reading, is tormented. When I read that, looked at that,
I was looking over this morning's message again, and I just, I
looked at that, I thought that, how, how horrible was his death? How terrible, how. astonishing
he was tormented for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities
the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes
we are healed all we like sheep have gone astray we have turned
everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity
of us all all the elect throughout all time before birth after birth
present future and were laid on him. That's the first thing
to consider. Second thing to consider, notice also that sin
utterly destroyed humanity. Sin utterly destroyed humanity. And David says right well in
Psalms 69 in verse five, O God, thou knowest my foolishness and
my sins are not hid from thee. Our sins were not hid from God
any time ever. It's sin also utterly destroyed
humanity. Adam could not eat of every tree.
You think about this, in the garden, God said you could eat
of every tree. Fruit, fruit, fruit, nourishment,
sustenance. But don't eat of this one. That's
the one I want. That's the one I want. Those trees and the fruit gave
life and sustenance and wholesomeness. But now, because they ate of
that fruit, Death, now we return to the dust. Now we earn a living
by the sweat of our brow. Once there were tender herbs
and wonderful gardens were there, now thorns and thistles because
of the fall. All our faculties are out of
gear, out of the way, inconsistent
with our creator. But in Christ, We have a higher
reach, a nobler pursuit than even Adam or Eve. We have fellowship
and union with the Son of God, and He, it says, delights in
us. Why? We're sin abounded. Grace
did much more abound. Simply put, our paradise regain
is far more glorious than our paradise lost. And I was reading
about something in Augustine, you know, 300, 360 AD, so he's
way back then, way back when. He spoke, and in the Latin, and
I think I may have mentioned this, in the Latin it's called
felix cupus, C, I'm sorry, G-U-L-P-A, which is Latin for blessed fault,
or happy fall. So did God ordain the fall? where
sin abounded. Grace was going to much more
abound. They discussed these things, the early church. It's
like, well, if Adam hadn't have fallen, there would be no scheme,
no model, no need for redemption, full and free. So the next time
you think about Felix Culpa, happy fall. It was a happy fall. It was terrible, but it set up
the backdrop for that most glorious thing which we see throughout
the whole scriptures, substitutionary redemption for God's people. Thirdly, sin dishonored our God,
but our God is more honored in our redemption than if there
had never been a fall. The angels in glory wonder At
one center repenting, they glory and they rejoice in this whole
scheme to rescue fallen men, women, boys, and girls. They
wouldn't have to if there was no fall, if there was no sin,
but they rejoice. Principalities and powers all
shout glory to God in the highest, not only at the Savior's birth,
but because they knew what lie ahead. They knew what was coming. The fall is horrible and tragic
as that was. plummeted the whole human race
in sin, death, and separation from God. And the day you eat
of it, you're gonna die. Well, they ate of it, and they
didn't die spiritually, they died. But because of that, and
they knew, the angels knew, that we are now the children of God
by propitiation and rescue. Wouldn't have been possible if
there had not been a fall. Yes, where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. Fourthly, Man or the elect, we
are now born again. We are now capable of virtues
that he perhaps could not have reached before the fall. New
joys, there's no need to repent if you haven't fallen, if you
don't have sin. Conquering grace realized and
experienced. Fifthly, observe, this is beautiful. The law was given, as he says,
moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. The
law. But if you didn't have the law,
if you didn't have Exodus and Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy,
we're studying Deuteronomy all Wednesday. If you didn't have
that fall, there would be no need for the law. And the law
talks about a high priest, that's a picture of Christ. It talks
about the tabernacle, that's a picture of Christ. Christ tabernacling
among men, God with us. That word is tabernacle. The
showbread, he's the bread of life. The altar, Christ is our
altar, and so on and so forth. Every one of these, we see and
behold beautiful types and shadows of him who is all grace himself. Without that, there would be
no pictures. So sin abounded, but grace did
much more abound. Sixthly, also, you look at the
history of Israel. As we're looking at in Deuteronomy,
everything points as a type of Israel to the church and God's
care through Christ for us. We would not have that. We would
not see that. We see the types of the elect and their care through
grace. And also in the New Testament, we were grafted into the root
by the Jews' rejection of the Messiah Oh, sin, where is your
sting? You just, every time you look
at sin, don't stop there. See, in Christ, grace abounding. Seventhly, we behold the crucifixion
of our king. Perhaps the greatest display
of both sin and grace. And yet grace, at the end, raised
its arms up in total and complete victory. Dying love, we sing
that hymn, shall ever be our theme and our song. Oh, happy
day, when he arose from the grave, he guarantees that we shall raise
with him. Grace, much more abounding in
resurrection glory. Well, sin abounded, yes, but
grace, grace, oh, through the Lord Jesus Christ. And lastly,
this is the eighth point, and certainly I'm not gonna exhaust
this subject, you can just get your imagination and just start
thinking about these things, Old, New Testament, and see where
sin, sin, the early New Testament church, I just thought about
this, the sin of man towards man, inhumanity of man towards
man, the persecution, the hate of the gospel early on, what
had happened, that caused the message to spread. to America, to here, to Gentiles
like you and I. So it's, it's, it's just, it
applies. It's like I said, perhaps the
single most phrase that would describe what we gather here
together to hear of his grace, abounding grace. This is the
last thought. I thought this was good. Where
will you and I, where can we look and see grace abounding?
Well, first thing, Look to yourself. Sinner, a worm. He says, I'm
a worm and no man. That's what we are. We're sinners
saved by grace. It's not of us. We didn't do
anything. We weren't born privileged. We weren't born special. There
was nothing in us to promote his grace. It's unmerited favor,
unasked for mercy. So first, look at us. That's
grace abounding, because sin abounds. Look to other sinners,
your friends, neighbors, parents. Oh, that they would experience
the grace of God as we have. Look to a fallen David. Grace
repaired him. How about a wayward Manasseh?
How about a dying thief? How about miserable Saul of Tarsus? Turn with me to Luke 15. How
about the lonely, sinful, prodigal son? Now, I'm going to try to
read this. When I was studying, when I was writing this up, I
couldn't hardly get through this because it's just emotional.
I love this story, but this is you and me. This is you and I. We're sin abounds. Grace did
much more abound. Here we are, starting in verse
11. And Christ said, a certain man
had two sons. The younger of them said to his
father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me. And
he divided unto him and his living. And not many days after the younger
son gathered all together, he took his journey into a far country,
into the world, into the world scheme of things. He was sold
on the world's doctrine. He was sold on the false gospel. He was sold on the sin nature. And he wasted his substance with
riotous living. And when he had spent all, there
arose a famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Now
certainly, certainly some good church people are going to help
him. Neighbors are going to help him. No, nobody. God's going to separate for himself
you and him. You're going to look to your
wallet, that dries up. You're going to look to your
friends, that dries up. You're going to look to this, look at
that, and it all dries up. He's going to get you where you
can't back out. He'd spent all, began to be in
want. He went and joined himself to
a citizen of that country, and he sent unto him, they sent him
in fields to feed the swine. And he would feign and filled
his belly with the husk that the swine did eat. No man gave
unto him, no. No man gave unto him. And when
he came to himself, all that we know that's Holy Spirit conviction,
remembered what his father said, remember what his father had,
remember the love of his father, remember the bounding grace of
his father. How many hired servants my fathers
have, bready enough to spare, and I perish with hunger? I will
arise and go to my father and say unto him, Father, here's
repentance. I have sinned against heaven
and before thee. I am no more worthy to be called thy son.
You don't hear language like this. But this is what happens
when God convicts, seals a sinner to himself. It's like Job, I
abhor myself. I'm no more worthy to be called
to make me as one of your servants. He went to his father. He came
to say went to his father. But when he was a great way off,
his father saw him, had compassion on him, ran and fell on his neck
and kissed him. He didn't deserve it. He spent
everything he had. You know, you hear in the oriental
countries, you are dead to me. This is what the father should
have said. You're dead to me. Sin abound. You spent everything. Get out of my sight. But what
do we see? What do we see? What do we see
of our sovereign, holy, just God? Because the justice was
met on his son. He can't require it twice. It's
already been met. Christ satisfied everything,
every jot and tittle against us. And his father says, he saw him and he had compassion
and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And then he says
it again, I have sinned against heaven before in thy sight. I'm
no more worthy to be called thy son. But what did the father
do? Just satisfying grace? No, multiplied
grace. His benefits were multiplied
towards this one. No, I'm not going to restore,
I'm going to give you more. Bring the best robe, put it on
him, and the ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. Bring
the fatted calf, kill it, let us eat and be merry. For my son
was dead, but is now alive. Sin abounded. Oh, it did, and
it does. And when you read this, you realize
it still does. So the amount of light that we
have been given and we still sin, it upsets. It's upsetting me. It should
upset you. He was dead, but he's alive. He was lost, he's found. And
they began to be merry. They began to be merry. See how
sin ruined, and there was none to help? But God's grace, it
not only found a way, it is the way. It is the way. I close here
tonight, I say, are there any sinners here? Are there any sinners
here? Any lost here, I tell you, where
sin abounds, grace does much more abound in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Flee, flee to Him, and be rescued. Would you close this? Lord, Heavenly Father, we come
unto you in Christ's name. I ask you for the mercy and power
of your grace.