If you will, turn back with me
now to Romans chapter 8. It's a very familiar passage
of Scripture. And I preached on this last week over in Mississippi
on the first part of this. And this morning, I'd like to
preach on the second part in verses 33 and 34. Now, Romans chapter 8 is about
walking with the mind of Christ. That's how he starts out. He
goes through Romans 7. And in Romans chapter 7, he talks
about the believer wrestling with sin. Wrestling with sin. Sin within. Contrary. Contrary to the Spirit of God. Contrary to that new creation,
that old man. He is contrary. He is always
there. And then he tells us that there
is only one way to do this. There is only one way to prevail.
Who shall deliver me? Paul said, O wretched man that
I am! Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? from this spiritual dead, he
said, I thank God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so with the mind,
he said, I serve the law of God. That is the mind of Christ. And that's what chapter 8 is
about, walking with the mind of Christ, walking after the
Spirit of God, being enlightened with an understanding of how
God saves sinners. Enlightened, knowing how God
I went to church all my life and never knew how God saved
sinners. Never did. I thought God saved sinners because
they walked down an aisle. That's what I was told. I thought
God saved sinners because they asked Him to. They come up front
and repented of a few sins and asked God to save them and God
did. Or at least that's what the elder said. And we went back
and sat down. Thought we were saved. I thought
that's how God saved us. God saved sinners in Christ.
That is how God saved sinners. God saved sinners by appointing
His Son certain offices, by sending His Son into this world. The
Word, the Eternal Word, the Second Person of the Godhead was made
flesh and tabernacled among us. And in His holy obedience as
that representative man, in His sacrificial and substitutionary
death as a representative man, He put away our sins and covered
us with a perfect righteousness. And he was buried, and God raised
him on the third day, and he ascended up into heaven, and
God sat him at his right hand. And there at His right hand,
He makes sure that all that He accomplished goes to whom He
accomplished it for. Walking with the mind of Christ.
He teaches us in this chapter that the redemptive work is an
eternal work. Whom He did foreknow, He also
did predestinate. My soul. He didn't do that in
time. That's an eternal work. The election
of God. God chose a people in Christ.
This whole generation is ignorant of that. God chose a people in
Christ. He chose them to salvation, is
what the Scripture said. Not to the possibility of it,
but to salvation. It's an eternal work. It's a
divine work. It's the work of God in men.
It's a glorious work, and it's an accomplished work which cannot
fail. And he sums it all up with three
questions. Verse 33. Here's the first question. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Who in heaven, earth, and hell
can lay anything to the charge of God's elect? How in the world could he say
that? Well, he tells you in the very next sentence. It is God
that justifies. There's no court hiring him. No court hiring him. There's nowhere else to present
any accusations except before him. God himself has justified all
his elect. And then secondly, Paul asked
this question. Who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. We not only were justified when
Christ was raised from the dead, but He lives and sits at the
right hand of God interceding and pleading that priestly work
on our behalf. The one who accomplished it sits
at the right hand of God. And then the third question is
this, verse 35, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? If even our sins and rebellion,
if even Satan's influence and power, if even this wicked world
could not separate us from the love of God which is in Christ,
then nothing shall. Nothing did and nothing shall. That's what that argument there
is all about. Nothing did. He manifested His love, it tells
us over in Romans chapter 5. He manifested His love for us. in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. Rebellion ain't going to separate
us. It didn't. And it's not going
to. Not going to. I'm convinced that the death
of Christ and His glorious resurrection is the key to the believer's
assurance before God. Men and women like to look to
themselves, how much they read the Bible, how much they attend
church, how much they do this, how much they give, and how much
they do this, and how often they visit the sick, and how often
we give to those in need. We look at all them things, and
we're trying to find some evidence for assurance. Or we'll examine
our assurance itself and try to find evidence in that. Confidence
in your confidence. That's not assurance. Assurance
is in Him. In Him. It's in what He accomplished
in His coming into this world, His life, His death, and His
resurrection, and His present reign in glory. You learn who
He is, why He came, what He did, and where He is, and you'll have
assurance. You'll have assurance. We do not understand why Christ
died. We can never find any lasting
peace and comfort in this life. A very dear pastor friend of
mine gave seven things accomplished in the death of Christ. And that's
what I want to focus on this morning, on this question. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Christ that died. Seven reasons
why Christ died. Why must He die? How can I find assurance in His
death? Well, first of all, our text
reads this way. 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. Turn with me to Romans chapter
14. Jesus Christ died as God's appointed
mediator to earn the right to reign over this whole universe. He died specifically for that
cause so that he might justly reign as the mediator of God
over everything that is. Every bug that crawls, every
insect that flies, He is Lord, absolute Lord. He orders the
planets to revolve. He orders all things. All power,
He said, is given unto me. Now as God, all power was His. But that's not what this is talking
about. What I'm talking about is what He earned by His life
and death. He earned the right to rule. Listen to this, Romans chapter
14 verse 4. Now Paul is applying this to
our behavior. He is applying this into how
we talk to one another. And he says, Who art thou that
judgest another manservant? To his own master he standeth
or falleth. Yea, he shall be holding up,
for God is able to make him stand. Verse 7. For none of us liveth
to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live,
we live unto the Lord, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord.
Whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's." Are
you listening? Verse 9, For to this end Christ
both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of
the dead and the living. We say that just talking about
believers. That ain't what that said. He's Lord of the dead and the
living. You take that just as far as
you want to take it. He's Lord. He's Lord. There is a man in glory, a substitutionary
man, a representative man, a man appointed of God. to fulfill
all His redemptive purpose in the salvation of a people for
the glory of His name. And He is Lord. He is Lord. Turn with me to John chapter
17. To effect this work, He must, by His own virtue, rise to sit
upon the throne of God without compromising the character and
name of God. John chapter 17, verse 1. These words faked Jesus. Now,
this is just before He went to the cross, and that's what this
prayer is all about. These words faked Jesus and lifted
up His eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify
Thy Son that Thy Son also may glorify Thee, as Thou hast given
Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to
as many as thou hast given Him." There are three things concerning
the Lordship of Christ which He bought by virtue of His death.
First of all, as ruler over this world, He bought the right to
be the judge of it. To be the judge of it. Acts 17,
verse 31, said, God hath appointed a day in the which He will judge
this world in righteousness by that man. whom he hath ordained,
whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath
raised him from the dead. And then secondly, as Lord of
the universe, he earned the right to make all things new. All things
new. He tells us in Romans 8, verse
21, that that word creature there is creation. That creation itself
also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into
the glorious liberty of the children of God. How's that going to take
place? Because he bought the right to
do it. He bought this whole outfit. And in doing so, he bought the
right to make all things new. And then thirdly, as Lord over
all things, he bought the right to use everything to his disposal. Everything that was at his disposal,
he bought the right to use those things to effect the salvation
of his elect. Years ago, we used to drive down
the highway going to Florida and we'd go through Georgia and
had chain gangs back in the day. And they was out there with sickles
cutting the ditch. Or sometimes they was out there
with brooms and rakes. And they was out there putting
tar on the road in that hot sun and working. And there was a
chain. You could see that chain linked from one to the other
to the other. That's exactly how God uses this world. This
unbelieving world. Our Lord who sits at the right
hand of God uses rebels. to minister to his elect. Did you know that? He sure does. He uses rebels out here to keep
the peace for you. He elects rebels to the presidency
and as the county judge and all of these powers that be. These
rebels, these men and women don't know God, but he uses them just
like he uses them men on the chain gang to make this world
a peaceful place for his elect to live in. and that his gospel
might have recourse. He uses this world. He uses this
world. He'll raise a man up into prominence
and give him a thriving business so one of his elect can have
a job. That's exactly right. And I tell you this, he'll turn
right around and he'll destroy a whole nation for the same reason.
For the same reason. He lowered both of the dead and
the living. And then secondly, Christ died
under the wrath of God as our substitute that God might be
just and justifier of all that believe. In our Lord's dealings
with men or devils, with believers or unbelievers, God is always
just. He is always just. Believing
is not the cause of unjust men made righteous. It is the result
of God's justifying work in the person of Christ. No man who
was not justified in Christ will ever believe. Never believe. But all those justified in Him
when He raised from the tomb, every last one of them is going
to believe. They are going to believe. God cannot and will not save
any man at the expense of his own glory and the glory of his
own character. And then thirdly, Christ died
on the cross as the substitute of all his elect to put away
their sins. No man, no woman, no boy, no
girl shall ever enter into heaven's bliss with so much as even the
stench of sin. Even the old serpent's slime
is going to be removed before you walk into glory. You're going to have to have
a righteousness equal to God to abide with God. I live in a generation that believes
that there will be classes of men and women in heaven. Some of them will live in mansions
and some of them will live in a cabin in the corner of glory
land. They believe there's going to
be classes in heaven just like there is here on earth. Some
of them are going to have crowns. I don't know how you wear more
than one crown, but they're going to have a lot of crowns, they
say. And some of them are not going to have any. And all these classes are dependent
upon their own works. Nothing less than absolute perfection
shall be admitted into the presence of God. And if you cannot find
in Christ the full and sufficient atonement for your sin, you are
not going to heaven. You are not going to heaven.
He said, No, man, I want you to listen to this. No man cometh
unto the Father but by me. But by me. And if we're in Him,
we're all the same. We all have the same righteousness.
We all have the same love. Huh? Oh, I tell you, don't tell
me you're not prejudiced. I know better. I know better. We won't set men up and down
and close and far away and all. We're equal in Christ. We're
one in Him. One in Him. The weakest believer,
the weakest believer, I'm trying to think of how he said it just
exactly over there in Matthew, but he said, the least of these,
the least of them, the ones you won't even look at, the ones
you won't even talk to, the least of them, He'd be greatest in
the Kingdom of God. Isn't that something? He either paid for all our sins,
or all the sins of His elect, or we still owe the debt. One
or the other. And if He paid for them, then
we received that by grace, didn't we? Not by works. By grace. You cannot, I cannot, all of
us together cannot satisfy the justice of God. But Christ can
indeed, and in so doing, He put away our sins. They're gone. Hebrews 9.24, listen to this.
Christ is not entered into holy places made with hands, which
are the figures of the truth, but into heaven itself now to
appear in the presence of God for us. nor yet that he should
offer himself often as a high priest entereth into the holy
place every year with the blood of others. For then must he have
suffered often since the foundation of the world. But now once in
the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself." He put it away. He put it away. He's not going to be offered
again. and He put it away by the sacrifice
of Himself. He didn't die to make it possible
for you to be atoned for or for you to atone for your own sins.
He died to put away our sins by the sacrifice of Himself.
And fourthly, Christ died upon the cursed tree to bring us to
God. We could not be brought to God
as we were. I could not. Enemies of God,
sinners, rebels in our hearts and minds, filthy in our natures,
ruined by the fall. Provision must be made to reconcile
the sinners. He must have a perfect righteousness. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believes it. He must have
no sin. God hath made Him to be sin for
us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. Our Lord came into this world
in union with the elect of God. And when He lived, they lived.
When He obeyed, they obeyed. When He died, they died. When
He arose, He arose. And when He sat down, When He
sat down, they were seated with Him in the heavenlies. In Christ,
He hath brought us to God. All the way. All the way. From
the cradle to the throne. All the way. He hath brought
us to God. And then, fifthly, why did Christ
die? He died to deliver us from this
present evil world. What in the world does that mean?
It means He delivered us from this evil kingdom. This world is under the curse
of God. I wish I could get that across
to folks who come to hear me. It's under the curse of God.
You're not in a vacuum. You're not waiting, you young
children, you're not waiting to reach an age of accountability.
You're under the curse of God. He came to deliver us from this
present evil world. To deliver us from this cursed
kingdom. And He came to deliver us from
the evil ways of this world. The ways of this world are evil. He came to deliver us from the
evil things of this world. Isn't that what John said over
there? Love not the world, neither the things of the world. And He came to deliver us from
the evil of this world. God gave us in Christ what no
other man or woman can ever obtain, the salvation of our souls. He chose us in Christ. He redeemed
us in Christ. He justified us in Christ. He
sanctified us in Christ. He called us in Christ. He glorified
us in Christ. But in Adam's fallen race, they're
all dead. All dead. And that ain't going
to change. That ain't going to change. They have neither the will nor
the ability in themselves to do anything about it except to
serve in rigor like Israel did down in Egypt. And the only deliverance
that there is, is that which God has brought to pass in Christ. You see what he is saying here?
He came to deliver us from this present evil world. He came to
make a difference. He came to interfere and to intervene. and to stop your course and to
turn you. If he don't, if he don't, you're
doomed with the rest of this world. That's why he came. That's why Christ died, to deliver
us from this present evil world. to be Lord of the dead and the
living, that God might be just and justifier, to put away our
sin, to bring us to God and deliver us from this present evil world.
And then, sixthly, the Scripture says, Christ died to redeem us
from all iniquity and to purify unto Himself a peculiar people,
that word means distinct, zealous of good works. That is Titus
chapter 2 verse 14. In what sense are we redeemed
from all iniquity? Well, first of all, from the
penalty of it. From the penalty of it. Well, you think about
the penalty for iniquity. Everlasting punishment. Isn't
that what the Scripture says? I don't even like to think about
it. Where the worm dieth not. It actually says we are their
worm, die not. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh
but after the spirit. There is no condemnation. The
penalty is gone. The penalty is gone. Those who
have been given the mind of Christ to see and understand His redemptive
work are free from the law of sin and death. Who is He that
condemneth? It is Christ that died. Believers
are redeemed from the penalty of all iniquity. And secondly,
they are redeemed from the dominion of it. Sin reigns in the natural
man. Listen to the prophet. The prophet
said, we are all, all of us, even the prophet, even the prophet.
We are all as an unclean thing. And all our righteousnesses are
as filthy rags. Man, if my righteousnesses are
as filthy rags, What about the other things? What about the
other things? Sin rules, rules over the unregenerate
of this world. It reigns in their thoughts and
in their hearts, in their emotions, in their affections, in their
understanding. They walk in the vanity of their
mind. They walk in darkness. They are
blind. Blind. If our gospel be hid,
it's hid to the lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded
the minds of them that what? Believe not, lest the light of
the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them. And thirdly,
he's redeemed us from the consequences of iniquity. By one man's offense,
death rang. By the offense of one judgment
came upon all men the condemnation. By one man's sin entered into
the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all
men. Our sins have separated between
us and our God. What is the consequences of sin?
Ignorance. Ignorance, darkness, blindness,
filthiness. What's the consequences of sin?
Judgment. Everlasting damnation. Go on
and on. What's the consequences of sin?
Will not. You will not come unto me that
you might have life. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God, nor foolishness to it. The preaching of the cross is
foolishness to them who are perishing, but it is the power of God to
them who are being saved. The consequences. He came to
deliver us from the consequences of sin and to purify unto Himself
a distinct people. How in the world do we purify?
Well, He purified our record is the first thing in heaven.
He purified our record. Our record, if we're in Christ,
our record's clear. You can read about it over in
2 Corinthians chapter 5. Our record's clear. Totally clear. Wouldn't that be something? You're
expecting to go to court, and you get there, and they say,
well, we don't have any record. You're not supposed to be here.
We don't even have your, your name ain't on the book. There's only one book I want
my name in. He said in another book, the
book of life. How are we purified? The way
it purifies our record. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. He purified our record in heaven
and he purified our consciences. The Holy Spirit of God sprinkles
the blood of Christ upon the consciences of the believer,
upon the consciences of those who receive Christ Jesus. And He does it through the gift
of faith. He applies that blood. He makes you to know that that
blood is sufficient. And the guilt of that conscience
is removed. It is removed. And He will one
day purify us in the perfection of His glorious resurrection
at the last day. And let me tell you something
else. In the book of John, I think it's chapter 3, I'm not sure
what verse, verse 2 or 3, but he says this, Every man that
hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. How on earth does he do that? How in the world does he do that?
Well, by faith, we're daily purified from the deceit of this fallen
world. That's what he's talking about.
We're purified from those lies that we used to believe. We're
purified from our old thoughts. Well, if the multitude says it
this way, it must be. No, that's a lie. I've been purified
from that, ain't you? He purifies himself. How does
he do that? By knowing the truth. by knowing the truth. This is
not talking about you being made holier and holier. That is not
what this Scripture is about. This Scripture is about purification
of your mind and heart before God. Now here is the last thing. Why did Christ die? He died that
He might present us to His Father and our Father in all the glory
of redemptive perfection. He is going to present us before
God. Turn with me to Colossians chapter
1 and I'll close. Colossians chapter 1 and verse
21. Now listen to this. And you, and you, I'm looking
right at all of you, and you, that were sometime alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works. Yet now hath He reconciled
in the body of His flesh through death to present you holy, unblameable,"
now listen to this, "...and unreprovable in His sight." Whew! That's absolute perfection
is what that is. Absolute perfection. Jude said
now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, but there
ain't the end of it, and to present you faultless before the presence
of his glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise God our Savior
be glory and majesty and dominion and power both now and forever. Amen. Now let me ask you this
question again. Who is he that condemneth? Huh? It's Christ that died. Christ
that died. It's Christ that reigns. Christ
that reigns. Died to be raised to the throne
of redemptive glory and died that God might be just and justify. Died that He might put away all
sins. Died to bring us to God. Died
to deliver us from the curse of this present evil world. Died
to redeem us from all iniquity and make us a distinct people
from this world. And died to present us perfectly
conformed to the image of His Son. Isn't that what He said
back there I read to you earlier? whom He did foreknow, He also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. And
that's exactly how He's going to present us to the Father.
Exactly according to the image of His Son. Fully conformed. Full perfection before Him.