I think there probably is nothing
in the world more tormenting, more troubling, more difficult
to deal with than guilt, a guilty conscience. I don't doubt that the very fires
of hell that cannot be quenched are relentlessly fueled by an
indescribable sense of guilt tormenting the soul. The worm
that never dies in the pit of the damned, that undying worm
that forever gnaws upon the fully awakened consciences of the damned
is guilt. But even in this world, there's
nothing more tormenting to a man than a sense of guilt. I'm not
talking about a mere sense of guilt with regard to men, but
a consciousness of guilt before the infinite, holy, righteous,
and just God. Some of you, I know, struggle
with such guilt. You may try to hide it, but your
screaming conscience torments you day and night. You tried
to silence it with prayers, with religious acts, with religious
duties, with Bible reading, with moral reformation. But when you
toss on your bed at night, in the lonely watches of the night,
when you're alone before God and you try to rest, you find
your bed is too short. Your covers are too narrow. Your
refuge of lies is swept away and you find continually there
is no rest for the wicked. And some of you who are God's
people, my brothers and sisters in Christ, true believers, some
of you who are born of God still struggle with a sense of guilt. You know that Christ paid for
your sins, but you still carry the guilt. Oh, what an unbearable
weight it is. You know that the Lord Jesus
redeemed you with his precious blood from the curse of the law,
but you still carry the weight of the condemned in your soul.
You know that Christ is the Lord, your righteousness, that you're
made the righteousness of God in him. but your soul is still
filled with guilt. Why? Because you're keenly aware
of your own sin, of your inward lust, of your own corruption,
and you still bear that weight of iniquity and guilt in you. There's nothing that makes the
life of a poor, tender soul so bitter as this oppressive, unbearable
load of guilt. Satan. Oh, Satan. He knows that there's no yoke
so oppressive. No bondage so cruel to your soul
as this. Therefore, he constantly harasses
and accuses you. He constantly torments you. And your flesh says that he's
right. Your flesh says amen to his aggravations
and to his assaults. I have a dear friend who's now
with the Lord. This past week, He committed
suicide. He was an old man when God saved
him. And for as long as I've known
him, he struggled with this matter of guilt. Lack of assurance. Problem with depression all the
time. Took medication for depression. And he decided to quit cold turkey
and took his life. Some act as though they are papist
and believe that such an act is unpardonable and he must be
forever damned. That, of course, is contrary
to the revelation of God's word. True believers are capable of
anything. You too. You too. Me too. True believers are capable
of anything. If God leaves us to ourselves,
and I can think of nothing, nothing more difficult to deal with than
a sense of guilt before God. A sense of guilt that if you
believe God, you ought not have. If you believe God, it's a sense
you ought not have. If you believe God, you ought
not carry the load of your sin and your guilt. Christ took it,
made it his own, suffered all the fury of God's wrath, put
it away, and gave you his perfect righteousness. And now you're
accepted of God in his son. Cast your care on him where God
has cast it. And every time Satan would raise
up Moses and accuse you, cast your care on him. Say to him
as Bunyan of old, I won't hear you. Go yonder and take it up
with my redeemer. Now, if you carry such a load,
whether you are a believer or whether you are yet without faith
in Christ, I have a message from God for you. And if God, the
Holy Spirit, will give me the grace to preach it and give you
ears to hear and hearts to believe what I have to declare to you
this morning, what God has to declare to you this morning,
It's a message that will be more valuable to you than buckets
of gold. It's a message found in just
one sentence, written by the pen of God in Romans chapter
eight, Romans the eighth chapter. Someone said in the entire Bible,
the brightest, most lustrous and flashing collection of stones
is the epistle to the Romans. And of these, the eighth chapter
is the brightest gem in the cluster. I don't know that I would disagree.
Romans chapter eight is truly one of the great chapters of
Holy Scripture. And in this great, great chapter,
nothing is sweeter, nothing is more glorious, nothing is more
cheerful to my soul than the declaration of the opening sentence. Romans chapter eight and verse
one. This is my text. There is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the spirit. No condemnation. That's the title of my message,
and that's my first point. No condemnation. What? No condemnation? No condemnation? If you are taking notes, Write
it down and underline it. No condemnation. Not one condemnation. Nothing to condemn. No possibility
of condemnation. No condemnation. Oh, what a privilege. What a blessed hope. No condemnation
means all the black and dark past is blotted out. Blessed are they of whom the
Spirit of God here declares, there is therefore now no condemnation. Remember the context in which
the statement is found. Paul has just been talking about
the horrible struggle God's people have with sin. Read again the
seventh chapter. He talks about that horrible
evil that's in us that keeps us from doing the things that
we would. That horrible evil that's in us by which we continually
perform things we despise. And yet he speaks the very next
word and says, no condemnation. Talking to men and women who
live with this constant warfare in their souls. Talking to men
and women like you and me, who day after day after day struggle
with sin, corruption, and unbelief. Struggle as Brother Lynch was
dealing with Thomas, doubt. Oh, what blasphemies arise in
our minds. We wouldn't dare utter them,
but oh, how we struggle with the sin that's in us. But Paul
speaks to many women, vexed with our sins, so vexed and troubled
that we groan within ourselves, crying, oh wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Now here
is cause for unspeakable joy and peace that passes understanding.
There is therefore, in the light of this, there is
therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.
We have a solid ground, a solid foundation for peace and joy. For peace that passes understanding. And for joy unspeakable. For assurance of absolute confidence. We have a solid basis for it.
What is it, Pastor? We are justified before God. Justified by God. God declares us just, righteous,
holy, and pure. Now, I recognize, I recognize
that we must deal with things as they are in our day by day
experience. I try to be honest with God,
honest with myself, and honest with you, and deal with what
I am and what you are in our day-by-day experience. And yet
we have a tendency to think, as we've heard all our lives,
well, when you say that we're holy and righteous and just,
that's the way God sees us. And you're right. That's the
way God sees us. That's the way God sees us. That's how God sees
things. Now let me repeat to you what
I've said to you dozens of times in the last year. However God
sees us, that's how we really are. However God sees us, that's how
we really are. Not how we see each other. We
ought to see each other as God does. Not how we see ourselves. We ought to see ourselves as
God does. He says, reckon yourselves also
dead indeed to understand, but alive unto God. Reckon yourself
the way God reckons you. Think of yourself the way God
thinks of you. That's how we ought to think. We are righteous
and just before God. Forgiven of all sin. Redeemed
by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. so that all that justice
requires for our sins, every sinner who believes on the Son
of God has given to God in the sacrifice of his Son. For when
Christ died, we died. When Christ lived, we lived.
When Christ arose from the dead, we arose from the dead in Him.
We're one with Him. We have every reason in all the
purpose and all the grace and all the will and all the work
of God to live before him with unspeakable joy, with peace that
passes understanding and with confident assurance. There is
therefore now no condemnation. Now, having said that, Paul does
not say There is nothing condemnable in us. You know better than that than
I do. There is much sin in us. And the sin in us, all the sin
in us, is both condemnable and by us is condemned. It's painful
and vexing. We despise it. We war against
it. We long to be free of it. But
all the sin that's in us cannot condemn us because we're in Christ. One with Him. in whom we died
when he died for us upon Calvary's cursed tree. One with him who
was made sin for us and by the sacrifice of himself put away
our sins. Therefore, the apostle declares
with emphatic force, there is therefore now no condemnation. Quite literally Paul is saying,
there is therefore now not one condemnation. Or there is therefore
now not one sentence of condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.
Paul's declaring that there is no legal, no justifiable, no
legitimate, no lawful, no rightful condemnation to God's people. No condemnation that can be rightfully
imposed upon those for whom Christ died. We're condemned on every
side. and condemned by many, but nothing
can condemn us. Nothing can condemn those sinners
God has justified, no matter how they try. And skip down to
verse 33 of our text here in Romans 8, verse 33. Listen to how this man speaks.
Remember, this is the same man who said, oh, wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Now listen
to what it says. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of
God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress
or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? Shall any
of these things separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus?
As it is written, for thy sake, we are killed all the day long.
We're counted as sheep for the slaughter. Men count us nothing,
just sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things, in
all these woes, in all these troubles, in all these things
that oppose us, we're more than conquerors through Him that loved
us. For I am persuaded that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Our hearts condemn
us. Often they do. Often they do. Anytime we start to look to ourselves
for hope, Anytime we start to look within ourselves for peace,
anytime we start to look within ourselves, our good works, our
religious reformation, our spirituality, anytime Don starts looking inside
Don for something to give him hope before God, my heart condemns
me. Thank God it does. But if our
heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart. And he says no
condemnation. Though Satan constantly tries
to raise Moses up against us, the Lord Jesus stands by to plead
our cause. Turn back to the book of Zechariah.
I've got to preach on this again soon. Zechariah chapter three. Zechariah chapter three. Here's
a marvelous picture of God's grace applied to the soul. Zechariah chapter 3 verse 1.
He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel
of the Lord, standing before the Lord Jesus Christ, the angel
of the Lord. Jude 9 tells us that's what it's
talking about. And Satan standing at his right hand, standing right
beside Joshua to resist him. Satan standing, here's Joshua,
this priest who's come out of Babylon, this priest who's married
a Babylonian woman who's unclean. He's standing as God's priest
and the angel of the Lord's there and Satan's standing by to resist
Joshua. And the Lord, that is the Lord
Jesus, said unto Satan, the Lord rebuke thee, O Satan. Even the
Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuked thee. Is not this a brand
plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy
garments and stood before the angel. And he, the Lord Jesus,
answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying,
Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him, he, the
Lord Jesus, said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass
from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.
And I said, here the prophet speaks, I said, because I've
heard Christ speak, I said, because of what Christ has done, I said,
by inspiration of God, let them set a fair miter on his head.
So they set a fair mitre on his head and clothed him with garments,
and the angel of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, stood by. The world, secular and religious,
condemns, persecutes, imprisons, and even slaughters God's saints.
We don't experience it much in our society other than just the
innuendos and the You hear from the philosophers and the news
media and the politicians, but as far as real persecution is
concerned, we know little of it in our society. But don't
imagine things have changed. Don't imagine things have changed.
The very same people who burned our forefathers at the stake,
would do so today. Your neighbors and your relatives
and mine would do so today if they could do it and get by with
it. Don't imagine otherwise. The world, secular and religious,
condemns and persecutes, imprisons and slaughters God's saints,
accusing them of every imaginable evil. but none can bring saved
sinners into condemnation because God the Father justifies us.
God the Son redeemed us and brought in everlasting righteousness
for us. And God the Holy Spirit has sprinkled our consciences,
sprinkled our hearts with the blood of his dear Son and tells
us our sins are forgiven and bears witness with our spirits
that we're the sons of God. Yes. I repeat, our sins are many,
countless sins, original and actual. All our sins, thought,
word, and deed deserve condemnation, but not one, not all shall bring
us into condemnation. How can I say this? There is not so much as a whisper in all the book of God to say
condemned to die for it. Not so much as a whisper in all
the Word of God to condemn those for whom Christ has died. Those
who believe on the Son of God, God says to them, no condemnation. Why? The Spirit of God tells
us there's no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.
Now that's wonderful to read and wonderful to hear, but how
can that be? How can sinners so thoroughly
and completely guilty of sin as we are not be condemned? I
know this is precisely the point that causes many so much trouble. The very point Satan throws in
your face. He says you can never be saved. The fiend of hell says you're
too sinful, too guilty, too vile to hope for God to save you.
He's such a wily, crafty foe. First he tells you you're too
good to need grace, then he tells you you're too bad to get it.
You're too wicked. God will save you. God will save
such a thing as you are. God will forgive. He might forgive
Bill Rodney's sin, but not your sin. He might forgive Don Fortner's
sin, but not your sin. No, no. God would never save
somebody like you. God never saves somebody like
you. And your heart and your mind agrees with Satan's accusations. Everything in you agrees with
the Prince of Darkness. So how is it possible How is
it possible for the most vile, the most abominable, the most
wretched, the most corrupt, the most sinful sinner ever to walk
on God's earth to be not condemned? How is that possible? That's
my second point. Why is there no condemnation
to this sinner in Christ Jesus? Take special notice of that word,
therefore. Therefore. It tells us why there's no condemnation
to them that are in Christ. We won't look all through the
scriptures, just turn back a couple of pages to chapter three, and
let's see what Paul tells us right here in the book of Romans
is the reason why there's no condemnation to any who believe
on the Son of God. No condemnation to any who believe
on the Son of God. Believe on Christ. Oh, may God
be pleased right now to give you faith in His Son. Believe
on the Son of God and go home today without the possibility
of condemnation, without the possibility of sin being charged
to you, without the possibility of God's wrath falling upon you.
I'll give you four reasons. Four reasons. Number one, the
Lord Jesus Christ is our effectual, sin-atoning, justice-satisfying,
propitiatory sacrifice. Now, Brother Dunn, that's an
awful lot to comprehend. It is, isn't it? It is. What's all that mean? Jesus Christ
has made it right for God to forgive your sin. Did you hear that? Jesus Christ,
by His obedience unto death, has made it right for God in
strict justice to forgive your sin, if you believe on His Son. Let's see what it says, Romans
3 verse 19. And we know that whatsoever things
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law. And here's
the reason. that every mouth may be stopped
and all the world may become guilty before God. Have you heard
God's law? Have you heard God's law? Then
quit excusing your sin. Have you heard God's law? Then
quit trying to justify yourself. Have you heard God's law? Shut
your mouth and fall on your face before God. You've got no excuse.
Therefore, therefore, by the deeds of the law shall no flesh
be justified in his sight. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. You read the law and you say,
well, I need to start doing better. That's not what the law said.
The law said quit trying to do better. Quit trying to do better. Quit trying to please God. Just
shut up and haul on to God for mercy and grace. Verse 21. But
now the righteousness of God without the law is manifest. That is, it's crystal clear.
The righteousness of God without you doing anything to satisfy
the law. The righteousness of God without
you doing anything to fulfill the law is manifested. It is
crystal clear. It is crystal clear being witnessed
by the law and the prophets. That is Paul saying by inspiration. God, the Holy Spirit is saying
everything written in the Old Testament, all the law and all
the prophets are clearly fulfilled in this one thing. even the righteousness
of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, by the faithful
obedience of Jesus Christ as God's Son, our substitute, the
righteousness of God by the faith of Jesus Christ unto all and
upon all them that believe, for there is no difference, no difference,
no difference. Jew or Gentile, black or white,
male or female, bond or free, brilliant or ignorant, doesn't
matter, there's no difference. For all has sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Now watch verse 24. Being justified
freely. What a word. Justified without
any cause in you. By his grace, through the redemption
that's in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation. A justice satisfying sacrifice. A propitiation. A propitiation. That which pacifies God. That which satisfies God's rage,
God's fury, and God's justice. Through faith in his blood. That is Christ's propitiatory
sacrifice. is brought home to your soul
by faith in his blood. Our faith in his blood doesn't
make his blood propitiatory, but his propitiation brought
home to our hearts by faith in his blood declares the remission
of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. to declare,
I say at this time, God's righteousness, that he may be just and the justifier
of him which believeth in Jesus. Most all of us grumble and gripe
every time we turn on television. Some fellow who's raped and murdered
somebody, got sent to prison, and he got off on good behavior
in a year or two or five or 10, and you say, he needs to pay.
He needs to pay. That's not right. That's not
right. That's just not right. He's gotten
off without satisfying law and justice. And you're right. Because
the law in our day bends. Bends over backwards to accommodate
ungodliness and rebellion. The law in our day doesn't require
justice. Not in our land, not in our day.
God's law does. Let's suppose, let's suppose
the man's on trial and he's sentenced for rape. and murder, and is
put to death. Now, justice is satisfied. Justice is satisfied. But you
decide you want to go out and try to punish his son because
of what he did. The law won't allow it. Justice
is satisfied. But that's not enough to suit
me. Justice is satisfied. The law can require no more. The man has died under a sentence
of the law. Will you hear me? I have died
under the sentence of God's holy law. Justice is satisfied. How do you know? I believe on
the son of God, and faith in him fetches home to my soul his
perpetuatory sacrifice. Here's the second thing. Here's
another reason why we're not condemned. Having died with Christ,
we're dead to sin and freed from sin because Christ has put away
our sins, abolished our sins, annihilated our sins by the sacrifice
of himself. That's what it tells us in Romans
chapter 6. He says in verse one, what shall we say then? Shall
we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall
we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? This is what
we confess in believers baptism. Now look at verse 11. Likewise,
I'm sorry, verse seven. He that is dead is freed from
sin. Now look at verse 11. Likewise,
reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but
alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Dead to sin. I don't have any idea how to
expound that. Dead to sin. Dead to see. Except to say this. Out yonder
in that cemetery, you can walk out there today and if you know
somebody under the ground out there who has been really vile,
go out there this afternoon and talk to them. And bring it all
up. Tell that whoremonger what a
vile wretch he is, how many houses he's, how many homes he destroyed.
Tell that harlot what a wretch she is, how many lives she's
destroyed. Go out there and tell that rebel what a wretch he is,
how many causes of pain he has been in this world. Talk to him.
Talk to him as mean as you can and see if you get any reaction.
Oh, brother Don, that's foolish. They're dead. Merle Hart, if you're in Christ,
you're dead to sin. God says, you reckon that to
be so. Dead to sin. Not only are we dead to sin,
Romans 7, 4 says, we're dead to the law. Dead to the law. So that neither sin nor the law
can ever be brought up against us. The law has no sin to bring
against us, and we satisfy the justice of the law in the sacrifice
of God's Son. And fourth, There's no possibility
of condemnation to the heaven-born soul because we live in Christ. That's the whole of Romans chapter
seven. In our baptism, we confess, I
died with Christ. I'm buried with Christ. I've
risen with Christ to walk in the newness of life. In Romans
chapter seven, the whole chapter is taken up with this new life,
this new life. This new life that looks to God,
trust in Christ. This new life that's put in us,
the life of grace, the life of God, the life of Christ put in
us in the new birth, causing a constant warfare and struggle
in our souls so that we live continually with this horrible
warfare in us. People say, well, it's a struggle
between good and evil. Everybody experiences that. That's
true. Everybody experiences a struggle between good and evil. The most
reprobate, vile person walking on this earth struggles in his
conscience with good and evil. I have no question about that.
But only the heaven-born soul delights in the law of God after
the inward man. Only the heaven-born soul loves
God. Only the heaven-born soul longs
to be free from this body of sin and death and set at liberty
in Christ Jesus the Lord. Blessed and holy is he that hath
part in the first resurrection. We've been raised from the dead.
On such, the second death hath no power. Now, let me ring this
bell one more time. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. When? When is there no condemnation? Right now. Right now. That's
the third thing I want you to see. This state of condemnation,
of non-condemnation, is a present, perpetual blessing of justice
and grace. There is therefore now, No condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. Some time ago, I knew a young lady who had had
a, let's say a checkered past. It wasn't checkered, it was all
black. And God saved her. After a while, someone suggested
that she do something in the service of Christ in the church. And one of the ladies said, well,
she hasn't lived down her past yet. No, I haven't lived down my past,
but Christ has. does not say there shall be after
some period of probation no condemnation. God said there is therefore now
no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. The fact
that Paul says there is now no condemnation does not imply that
there was once a time when we were condemned. That is not the
doctrine of Holy Scripture. You know that. We're under a
sentence of condemnation by nature in Adam. We were under a sense
of condemnation when convicted of sin because of our unbelief.
And we have in our own consciences a screaming, tormenting guilt
of sin in our consciences by nature that held the sentence
of condemnation over us. But there never was a time when
God's people were condemned by God. Read the Word of God one
more time. It says we were justified in
Christ from eternity. It declares we were sanctified
in Christ before the world was. The Word of God declares that
we were saved in Christ before the world was. You can read it
in Jude 1, Romans 8, and in 2 Timothy chapter 1. Ephesians 1 tells
us that we were blessed of God with all spiritual blessings
in Jesus Christ from eternity, accepted in the beloved. No, there was never a time when
God's people were condemned by him. God doesn't change. I don't
know why this is so hard for some folks to get hold of. God
doesn't change. God doesn't change. If he accepts
me now, he always has, and he always will. So Paul's words
when he says, there is therefore now no condemnation, do not imply
that there's some possibility maybe out yonder in the future,
if Don really messes up real bad, he might be condemned. I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish. If they prove themselves good,
if they remain faithful, they shall never perish. If they become
more and more holy, they shall never perish. If they don't sin
anymore, they shall never perish. If they don't commit certain
sins, they shall never perish. If they never murder anybody,
if they never commit adultery, if they never blaspheme, if they
never deny anything true concerning the gospel of God's grace, if
they never commit any great evil, they shall never perish. You
know better. Oh, I pray you know better. I
give unto them eternal life, and they shall Never perish. Never perish. Now, let me add
a Fortner commentary to that word. No matter what. No matter what. No matter what. I'm corresponding with a friend
of mine right now. I knew him before God saved him.
I knew after God saved him and I still correspond with him.
One day he went home, took out his pistol, murdered his wife. Well, you reckon men like that
can be saved? Here I stand, saved by God's free grace. a murdering
wretch. There you sit, saved by God's
free grace, murdering adulterous, vile wretches that you are. How dare we? How dare we sit
in judgment over another? How dare we? If a man believes
on the Son of God, he's God's. And if God cares to explain it
to us when eternity comes, I'll be happy to hear the explanation.
And if God never explains it, I'll be happy never to have it.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.
You mean, Brother Dodd? You mean, if I believe on the
Son of God, there's no possibility of me ever doing anything that will cause God to turn against
me in His fury and cast me into hell. I mean, if you believe
on the Son of God, there is no possibility, no possibility, no possibility
that Lindsay Campbell can do anything cause God to cast you
into hell. You just heard him talk about
Thomas, didn't you? Brother Thomas, the women came to, we went to
the tomb and the angel said, the Lord's risen. Another one
said, I saw it. The disciple said, we've seen
the Lord, he's risen. And Thomas, it ain't so. It ain't
so. I won't believe, I won't believe
till I see the print of the nails in his hands. I won't believe
until I put my head in the hole in his side." And the Lord Jesus
walked into the room. And he said, Thomas, you scandal,
you're going to hell. Did he? He said, Thomas, come
here, son. Put your finger right there. Thomas, give me your hand. Put
it right there. And Thomas said, my Lord and
my God. And the Lord Jesus never said
another word about it. No condemnation, no condemnation. This great boon of grace is a
blessing enjoyed in this present life. A blessing to be enjoyed
with the full assurance of faith in the teeth of all my sin. Believing
on the Lord Jesus, we have every reason to walk through this world
of sin and sadness with assurance that our sins are forgiven. We're
justified and there's no condemnation. Because sin, the cause of condemnation,
had been removed. The condemnation we deserve,
our Savior endured. Our union with Christ is an indissoluble
union. Until He can be condemned, we
can't be condemned. Well, where is this found? There
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. In Christ. In Christ. In Christ. our refuge, like Moses
or like Noah in the ark, brought into the ark and shut in by God. Oh, may God now bring you into
Christ and shut you in. God said, no, come into the ark.
And Noah came in the ark. God says to sinners, come to
Christ. Come to Christ. You come to Christ. Right where you are right now,
come to Christ, and God shuts you in. No condemnation. Sam Houston led a battle that
defeated Santa Ana and the Mexican army, San Jacinto, in 1836. And later he became president
of Texas. And the law provided that land
be given freely to any soldier who served with Houston at San
Jacinto. The story is told of one man
on one occasion by the name of Nobby Horsham. Nobby was accused
of stealing another man's land. And when the farmer who accused
Nobby Horsham of fraud appeared in court, he was very surprised
and taken back to see that President Sam Houston had appeared to defend
this rogue, Nobby Horsham. He was considered a man of ill
repute. Many of the jurors seated on
the jury had been defrauded by such rascals as this man. But
when the trial began, Judge Leander Phinnessy, asked Sam Houston
if he had any witnesses. Houston said, just one, your
honor. And limping up to the witness box, because he just
had to drag a leg behind him that was nearly blown off during
the battle, Navi Horsham walked up. And Sam Houston walked up
to the witness box and asked him just one question. He said,
Navi, you've heard the serious charges made against you. Where
were you on the afternoon of April 21st, 1836? And Navi Horsham
looked up and kindly said in a low voice, with you, Mr. Houston, on the front lines of
San Jacinto. And Sam Houston sat down, and
the judge struck the gavel, and he said, case dismissed. So it is with every sinner who
believes on the Son of God. You were there with Christ at
Calvary. Justice is satisfied. Sin is
put away. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. Amen.