Thank God for such grace as that,
that she just sang about. And I'd like to continue the
same thought, the same theme, God's great grace. Will you look
with me again in Romans chapter 5? Our text will be the last
two verses, but especially verse 21. In verse 20, Paul writes,
moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. The
law made our sin apparent to us, but it didn't cause it. It didn't cause it, but it did
expose it. That's the law's purpose. Paul
in Galatians 4, I think it is, says the law was our schoolmaster.
This is how God's Holy Spirit uses the law, as our schoolmaster
to bring us to Christ. But he didn't stop there, did
he? He said, after that, we're no longer under a schoolmaster. If words mean anything, Paul
says the believer is not under the law anymore. Why? Because Christ has delivered
us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us. The law's purpose was to expose
our sin. Look what Paul says in chapter
3. He tells us this in Romans chapter 3 verse 19. The problem's not with God's
law. It's holy and just and good.
The problem is with the helpless sinner. Verse 19 of Romans 3,
Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith
to them that are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped,
and all the world may become guilty before God. If you hear
someone speaking about keeping the law, that they're keeping
the law, they've not experienced the purpose of the law. Because
if they had, they'd shut their mouth. They'd shut their mouth.
This is what the law does. It pronounces us all guilty before
God. And when the Holy Spirit uses
it, it convinces us that we're guilty. We'll never know it otherwise. Oh, we might give some lip service
to it, but that won't mean anything. Verse 20, therefore by the deeds
of the law there shall no flesh. Now that's you and that's me.
There shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law
is the knowledge of sin. Now look, if you will, in chapter
7 of Romans. Paul says the very same thing
pretty much here. Romans 7 verse 7. What shall we say then? Is the
law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known
sin, but by the law. For I had not known lust, except
the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. Look down at verse
13. Was then that which is good made
death unto me? Referring to the law. God forbid. But seeing that it might appear
sin, working death in me by that which is good, that sin by the
commandment might become exceedingly sinful. The law shows us our
need of God's grace. One hymn writer expressed it
this way. Run, run and work, the law demands. It gives me neither feet nor
hands. But sweet good news the gospel
brings. It bids me fly and gives me wings. And when it does so, It brings
me to Jesus Christ. We fly to Christ. This is what
Paul says in the second sentence of verse 20 in Romans 5. But. But. Do I ever come across such a
verse as that that I don't make this statement? Isn't that marvelous?
But. But where sin abounded, and it
did. As we read the chapter earlier,
we're told plainly, it abounded in death, and Adam all died. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. We fly to Christ. In verse 20
you have a plain statement. a fact. And in verse 21, you
have the illustration of that fact. There's no question about
the abounding nature of sin. It results in death. No question
about that. There's no exemptions from that.
But it's also true of God's mighty grace. But where sin abounded,
grace did much more. Super abounded. Grace that reaches
deeper. This is what Paul's saying here.
What Bobby just sang. He's telling us about that grace
that did much more abound. It reaches deeper than the stain
has gone. Is that the kind of grace you
need? Is that the kind of grace you need? Do you know that you
are such a sinner, that you're without strength, that you're
dead in sin, except the King of glory come to where you are
and reach down and lift you up by the mighty, omnipotent hand
of His grace, that there's no hope for you? Do you know that?
Have you ever been made to feel it? Or will a little religion
soothe your conscience? with just a little dose, a religious
spasm. Just about everybody, before
they've lived in this world for very long, will have a religious
spasm. Some folks have one every other
month. But that's not what Paul's talking about. If that's all
you need, if that's all that it takes, then you've not experienced
the purpose of God's law. But if you've ever been stripped,
If you've ever been brought down to the footstool of God's sovereign
grace, then this grace that he speaks of here will be good news
to you. And when you hear this, but where
sin abounded, oh yes it abounds. Sin is mingled with everything
I do, and I hope I'm sincere in what I'm about to say. There's
enough sin in the message that I'm trying to preach to send
me to hell. There is so much pride mixed
with this. Oh, if it weren't for God's grace,
what hope would this sinner have? But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. And Paul exemplifies that. He
illustrates that in verse 21 and tells us what this great
abounding grace has done. That as sin had reigned unto
death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ our Lord. The reign of sin brings death. That's the certain outcome. But
there's also the certain outcome of grace. We see it much more
abounding. We see it reigning. Reigning. Ruling. Oh, that's the kind of
grace I need. Don't you? Don't you? I need powerful grace. I need mighty grace. I need grace
that overcomes this sinful nature. I need grace that reigns. And
Paul tells us that's the kind of grace God has. That's the
definition of God's grace or a characteristic of it. It reigns
unto eternal life. And that's the title of my message,
Grace Reigning. Doesn't that have a nice sound?
Louie, doesn't that have a nice ring to it? Grace reigning, grace
abounding, grace that reaches down deeper than the stain has
gone. Doesn't that have a nice sound?
Oh, to God be the glory. First of all, let's consider
what this grace is exactly that Paul speaks of, and what grace
does. And I know that I will intermix
these two, because to define what grace is, it's best defined
by considering what grace does. And then last of all, where is
this grace to be found? Where can a sinner receive such
grace. First of all, what grace is?
We're told in verse 20 that it abounds over sin. Now that's
no small thing. If you have experienced something
of the sinfulness of sin, and when I say that, I don't mean
things out here. Oh, that's sin too. But I mean
the cause of sin. Why there are sins here is because
of the root that's inside. God saved me. Saved me from what
I am. Not just what I do, the sins
I commit. Oh, but this sinful nature saved
me from what I am. This is what made the apostle
cry out, Oh wretched man that I am. Now pay attention to that. Because I hear preachers and
Christians talk about, oh wretched man that I used to be. I went
there and I did that and I thought those things when I was a sinner.
You're in for a rude awakening. You are still a sinner. And the
Apostle Paul, after being an apostle for many years, said,
oh wretched man that I am, right now. And he was doing something
that you and I will never do. When he wrote those words, he
was writing under divine inspiration of God's Holy Spirit. And he
said, even so, I'm a wretched man at this very moment. Who
shall deliver me? And the answer is here. Grace
that is stronger than sin. A mere offer A mere offer of
grace doesn't reign, does it? It doesn't need to, does it,
Joe? If the grace of God is only an
offer to do something for sinners, then it's not reigning grace,
and it doesn't need to reign. Grace doesn't need to be powerful. It doesn't need to overcome.
It doesn't need to abound. If all that it is is an offer,
But no, the text doesn't say that, does it? It's not an offer
to save, but it's God saving sinners. Grace is what God does. For example, in Ephesians chapter
1, Paul tells us there what God does for sinners. He chose you
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy
and without blame before Him. Not before one another, all but
before Him. thrice holy God, how in this
world, and in the world to come, can any sinner, can any fallen
son or daughter of Adam, how can they stand before the holy
God without blame? How can that be? in Christ Jesus. Paul said, it went on to say
in verse 5 of Ephesians 1, having predestinated us, ooh, there's
that bad word, predestinated us unto the adoption of children,
how? By Jesus Christ. To the praise
of the glory of his grace wherein he has made us accepted in to
be loved. Now how could all of that depend
upon an offer? Especially when it was done before
the foundation of the world, when you weren't there to receive
an offer had it been made. Before the world was. On what
does it rest? On what does this depend? My
acceptance before God? My being blameless before the
throne of His glory? What can do such a work as that?
What can accomplish such a mighty miracle as that? Nothing less
than God's reigning grace. Grace that reigns. In Ephesians
chapter 2, Paul tells us what God's grace does in the sinner. Chapter 1, for the sinner. Chapter
2, what God's grace does in the sinner. You had he quickened. That takes place in time. Chosen
before the world began. But in time, you had he quickened
who were what? Dead in trespasses and sin. to the praise of the glory of
His grace. Paul went on to write, for by
grace are ye saved. I think sometimes we rush over
those verses because we're so familiar with them. But he said,
for by grace are you saved. Not by grace you might be saved. Or by grace God will try to save
you. Or by grace He will help you
to save yourself. That's not what the text says.
That's not what the verse says. But by grace are you saved. Salvation to the uttermost. All that that word includes,
from God's purpose in election, You know God does things on purpose. He's God. He doesn't have a new
idea. He's God. Whatever God does today,
since He changes not, He must have purpose to do it before
today, hence before the foundation of the world. He's God. He's
God. And if your concept, if your
idea about God doesn't include that, your God's too small. He's
too little. Oh, but the God of all grace,
the God of glory, a contemplation of His counsel, His wisdom, His
knowledge past finding out, it brings a sinner to the footstool
where he looks up and says, of Him, and through Him, and back
to Him are all things to whom be glory now and forever. Hallelujah! What a great God is our God. Is that your God? Oh, you can
trust Him, because His grace reigns. From the raising of dead
sinners to life, to bringing them all to glory, and everything
in between. What if I fall? There's no if
about it. Grace will raise you up. What
if I sin? There's no if about that either.
If we sin, we have an advocate with the Father. and he successfully
intercedes on the behalf of his own. Peter, I prayed for you
that your faith fail not. All that's included in that great
word salvation, from the raising of dead sinners to life, to bringing
them all to glory without fault before the throne of God. I've not lost my place. I want
you to think about that. Think about that. Where you were,
child of God, when God called you, you were not seeking Him. No, you weren't. Or you came
to seek Him, but not at the first. You're seeking Him. Your wanting
mercy was the result of the Great Shepherd coming to where you
were. and saying, live, live. What happened? You had thoughts
you never had in your life before. Things that you once loved, that
consumed all your thoughts, all your energy, all your time, was
this world. I'm going to get all I can get. And then suddenly, suddenly,
it didn't mean anything. It became distasteful. And you
wondered why? What for? What difference does
it make? I'm going to live and I'm going
to die and leave it all behind and I'm going to stand before
God Almighty. And you never thought that before.
You never gave it a serious thought before. But then suddenly, that's
all you could think about. You couldn't get away from it.
You lie down at night. Oh, how? How can God have mercy
on this sinner? You tossed and you turned. How
can I be just with God? Nothing else seemed important. All that mattered to you. Do
you remember? Do you remember? All that mattered. I must have Christ. I must have
mercy. Oh, that I knew where I might
find him. I've told you before. I remember
walking those railroad tracks through the mountains, some of
the mountains of West Virginia, that was everywhere. Seeking peace and finding none.
God, as old Barnard said, Lord, had gotten me lost. Lost. And I wasn't just giving lip
service to it to get some preacher off my back. I knew it. Every railroad tie that I put
my foot on seemed to shout back in my face, you're lost. You're
lost. And there was nothing I could
do. Nothing I could do. That's what the law does. It
strips us. Brings us down. Exposes our sin. Shows us our need of a Savior.
Oh, but grace, it doesn't leave us there. Did it, Lester? Yes,
it was grace that taught my heart to fear. But bless His dear name,
it was grace, that same grace that relieved my fear. It came
to where I was. the great shepherd arose with
healing in his wings and he came to where this rebel was. I thought in those days I can
understand. I wouldn't be shocked that he
would have mercy upon anybody. My four brothers. my rebel friends,
my companions, but not me. How can God have mercy on me? But He did. But He did. Oh, Larry, shame on me. Shame on me that I think of that
so little. When He came to me, And I fell
before him like that leper. You don't have to. It's all up
to you. But if you will, if you will,
you can make me clean. And he said, I will. And he touched me and made me whole. And I thought, my soul. What
a miracle. What a wonder. What a savior. He saved me. He showed mercy
on this rebel. I wanted to tell the whole world. And now, so much of the time,
it just is a common thing. God forgive me. God forgive me. Oh, Robert Hawker wrote, grace
acts from itself to itself. Nothing of human power or merit
disposing to it, that is attracting it, and nothing of unworthiness
keeping from it. God says, I will be gracious. And this grace that Paul describes
as abounding, as reigning over sin, It's nothing if it's not
that, is it not? Grace is nothing if it's not
reigning grace. Grace is worthless if it's not
reigning grace. Grace is worthless if it's not
reigning grace. And child of God, we know God's
grace is not worthless. God's grace is not worthless. O'er weary pilgrim, broken-hearted
Christian, hear me, God's grace is not worthless. He's able to
keep that which you've committed unto Him against that day. He's able to keep you. He's able
to raise you up when you fall. He's able to speak peace to your
conscience. He's able to sustain you. And
He's able, by that same grace, to present you without a fault
before the throne of God. That must be reigning grace. And it's not worthless. Man-made
methods to obtain God's grace and favor, those are worthless.
And he goes on all around us. Sinners are exhorted to come
up to an altar. What's up there? What's up there
at that altar? Are we going to offer up an animal
this morning? I mean, what is that? It's religious
tradition. There's nothing in the Bible
that speaks about that except the altar in the holy place. Decisions, confessions to men. Oh Father forgive me I've sinned.
Well get down and give me two push-ups and you'll be on your
way and everything will be alright. No. No, no preacher, no priest. All of that is worthless. It's
all like Adam's fig leaves. And men will cling to those fig
leaves. Some of you may be doing it right now. Right now. You're
clinging to those fig leaves. That decision. or something. And you know in your heart of
hearts it didn't change a thing. It didn't change what I am. That's where the problem's at.
But we'll cling to those fig leaves of self-righteousness
until we're forced, forced by God's grace to let them go. We'll
cling to them until we're made to fall down before Him. Forced
by His sweet constraining grace, His reigning grace. or were forced
by God's justice, but we'll let them go. I perhaps told you years
ago, I went to visit an old woman who was dying. I knew this woman
very well, had known her for years, had tried to speak to
her about her soul numerous times. Every time she opened her mouth,
it was self-righteousness. What she did, John. What she
had done. What she was doing. What she
had sacrificed. Nothing about grace. Nothing
about Christ. It was all her. And they sent
her home from the hospital to die. And I thought, well, perhaps
God's got her attention now. Maybe God's got her attention.
I'll go see. And I went in and took my Bible.
I said, Granny, can I talk to you? Oh, yeah. Yeah. And I turned
to Luke 18. And I read her this story that
our Lord spoke to certain people who trusted in themselves that
they were righteous. The Pharisee and the public.
And Joe, I read that and commented on each verse as I did, like
I was talking to a six-year-old. Because I thought, I can't be
too simple, Lonnie. You can't be too plain. This
woman's ready to step into eternity. This woman's going to go stand
before God Almighty. And she doesn't have a mediator.
She's holding on to fig leaves. And when I got through, I said,
Granny, did you hear that? And she looked
at me and she said, that Pharisee was a good man, wasn't he? And that poor woman went out
a day or two later She took her last breath and she was standing
before God Almighty with those self-righteous fig leaves. And
that's all. That's heartbreaking, isn't it?
Heartbreaking. What does grace do? Secondly,
we see grace reigning by its conquest, do we not? Like the
rain we hear descending down. Hear that? Do you hear that?
A nice sound. I love to hear it. It makes me
sleepy, but not now. Not now. Oh, but God's grace
reigns. God's grace reigns. He giveth
and He giveth and He never stops giving. He giveth and He giveth
and He giveth more grace. Oh, thank God for that. the power
of God's grace by its conquest. Look what it does. It conquers. It overcomes the stubborn sinner's
will. It overcomes those who say, I
will not come to Him. But the grace of Jesus Christ
comes to them and says, Oh, you will? Oh, yes, you will. Oh,
no, I won't. Oh, you will. Because all that
the Father giveth me, they'll come to me. Oh, I don't want
to come. Well, you will. You will. You mean God saves people against
their will? No, no. You've never heard me
say that. But they become willing in the
day of God's power. See where grace begins as far
as our experience of it in time. Look at what it has to work with.
Paul says we were without strength in verse 6. We died in Adam. Death. Could anything be more
helpless than that? Without life, without strength,
without hope. And the only hope we have is
if God's grace abounds much more. You see what's required? You
see what's required? life. Spiritual life must be
given first. This is what our Lord told Nicodemus.
Nicodemus came, dressed up in all of his fig leaves, and our
Lord said, Nicodemus, you're a lost man. You can't even see
the kingdom of God. You'll never enter the kingdom
of God unless you're born again. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. It is a spirit that quickeneth,
our Lord said in John 6, the flesh profits nothing. Nothing. So why persuade the
flesh to come forward or to decide for Jesus if it profits nothing? I need more than that. I need
life. Our Lord said, with men, this
is impossible, but not with God. See grace come to that valley
of death, where sin has abounded and reigned unto death. Can these
bones live? Can they live? My children are dead in sins. They're amongst that valley of
dead, dry bones. They have no life. They have
no interest. They have no faith. They have
no will. How can they live? What hope
do I have for them? Because they have the same nature
that came from their father. Can they live? How? How? And religion answers, it's
easy. It's easy. It's easy as moving
from one place to another. It's easy as repeating after
me. That's easy. And our Lord said, no it's not. He said, it's impossible. Oh,
but the hour has come. The hour is coming that all that
are in the graves will hear the voice of the Son of Man, and
they that shall hear shall live. Because as the Father hath power
in Himself, so He has given the Son to have power in Himself.
Martha, your brother's gonna rise again. I'm the resurrection
and the life. And my hope is He's the same
yesterday, today, and forever. And He who is the resurrection
and the life, if He's pleased to do so, if He's pleased to
do so, He can go to the tomb of my dead children and say,
live. And you know what's going to
happen? They'll live. They'll live. They'll receive
spiritual life. That must be first. People say,
believe and you'll be born again. That's exactly the opposite of
what the scripture says. You must be born again in order
to believe, in order to repent. You must have life first before
you're willing to even come to Christ. But He says, live, and
they live. See grace reigning? You have
He quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. Oh, the
triumph, the victories of God's great grace. Our Lord said, when
a strong man keeps his house, his goods are in order. But when
a stronger than he has come, he enters in. and He takes possession. Oh, see the captain of our salvation
reigning in glorious grace. Oh, for a thousand tongues to
sing my great Redeemer's praise, the glories of my God and King,
the triumphs of His grace. Look again at our text. It says
grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life. Yes, God's
children possess eternal life now, but one day when I drop
this robe of flesh and rise, I shall see him as he is and
be like him. Behold, by faith a multitude
around the throne with Him. They surround the throne and
hear them sing. Hear them sing. Salvation to
our God that setteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb. Oh, what sinners they were. Great
sinners, every one of them. All great sinners. all the chief
of sinners, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Be not deceived. God's not mocked. No adulterous, no infeminate,
no abusers of himself with mankind shall inherit the kingdom of
God. And Paul says and puts the hammer down, and such were some
of you. Such was I. I was in that class. But see reigning grace, but ye
are washed, but ye are justified, but ye are sanctified by the
Lord Jesus and the Spirit of His grace. Is it any wonder our
best hens chose this as their theme? Amazing grace. Grace that's greater than all
my sin. Grace taught my soul to pray
and made my eyes overflow. It's grace that's kept me to
this day and will not let me go. God's great grace. Through righteousness, our text
says, salvation required righteousness. Established by Christ. God's
righteousness honored, brought in. God's righteousness maintained,
and Christ did it. By fulfilling the law in his
life, satisfying its just claims in his death, he's satisfied. Both are mine in Christ Jesus. He earned them for his own. Think about that, child of God.
God will reward his son with the everlasting salvation of
all those for whom he lived and died. God made him to be sin
for us. who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. Christ received the
wages of our sin, which is death. Death. And we received the reward
of His righteousness. Perfect, perfect acceptance before
the throne of God, last of all. Where is this grace to be found?
Grace reigned through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ
our Lord. The law was given by Moses, but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Grace can only be received
from Him. God has made Christ the only
one by whom grace is given to needy sinners. Nobody else has
grace. Nobody else does. You can't receive
it from me. or any other preacher, mom or
dad can't give it to you. Oh, to receive grace, Christ
says, come unto me, all ye that labor and heavy laden, and I
will give you rest. Does anybody here need grace? I mean real grace for real sin. Look, look, there he sits. upon the throne of grace, the
very embodiment of grace. There he sits and says, look
unto me and be ye saved for I am God and there is none else. Each of us here right now are only a step, a heartbeat
from eternity. Every one of us from the youngest
to the oldest. are standing on the very brink
of eternity. Perhaps next Sunday when we gather
here, some of us will be absent, won't be here, have been called
out to stand before a holy God. What will be your hope? Turn
with me and we'll wrap this up in 1 John. Turn with me to 1
John chapter 5. Look what he says. The prophet
exclaimed, prepare to meet thy God. How can a sinner, a guilty
sinner, prepare to meet God? In chapter 5 of 1 John verse
11, and this is the record that God has given to us eternal life,
and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life.
And he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. The Son. Oh, if I have the Son,
I have life. These things, verse 13, these
things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the
Son of God that ye may doubt, no, that ye may know that ye
have eternal life and that ye may believe on the name of the
Son of God. In a moment, We'll observe the
Lord's Supper, and when we do that, we're declaring, celebrating
redemption accomplished. We celebrate the finished work
of our substitute. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law. What a joy. What a blessing.
Being made a curse for us. Mission accomplished. Mission accomplished by our glorious
Redeemer. Let's sing to His praise as we
close the service.