When you turn back to Romans
chapter five. I have entitled this message. What is sovereign grace? What is sovereign grace? Now, when I was looking over
my notes this morning, thinking about bringing this message.
Something occurred to me. Here's what it was. If I was going to die this afternoon,
if I pull out of the road and a car would hit me, that'd be
the end. The message that I'm preaching
this morning is the message I'd want to hear. Now, notice I didn't
say preach. It's the message I would want to hear. And secondly, it's the message
that I would want to preach. If this is the last message I'd
ever preach, this would be the message I'd want to preach. What
is sovereign grace? Let me say two things by way
of introduction. Sovereign grace. is the only
kind of grace there is. If it's not sovereign, it's not
grace. You see, God is sovereign. He
reigns, we read of the reign of grace, that sovereign grace. He reigns and he gives his grace
to whoever he decides to give it to. That's what is meant by
sovereign grace. He reigns in grace and he selects
as an act of his own free and sovereign will, whoever he decides
to give it to. You see, this thing is not in
your control. It's not in my control. It's
up to God completely as to whether or not you'll have his grace. Let me show you that in Scripture.
Romans chapter 9. You're there in Romans. Look at Romans chapter
9. Verse 15, for he saith to Moses,
I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I'll have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth. nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will he heartens." Now that
is the Word of God. It is up to God. as to whether
or not you or I will have grace. That's what is meant by sovereign
grace, and that's the only kind of grace there is. Sovereign
grace is the only way a sinner like me or you can be saved. If there's no sovereign grace,
none of us will be saved. Now, that's what I want to say
by way of introduction. Sovereign grace means it's up
to God. as to whether or not you or I will be saved. And sovereign
grace is the only way somebody like me or you can be saved. Romans chapter 5. What is sovereign
grace? Verse 20. The law entered. The law entered that the offense
might abound. The law. Let's simplify this. The Ten Commandments. God's holy
law. Thou shalt have no other gods
before me. The commandment against idolatry.
The commandment against taking his name in vain. The commandment
regarding the Sabbath. Honoring your father and mother. Respecting authority. Don't lie. Don't steal. Don't kill. Don't covet. Do not commit murder. I've just
given the Ten Commandments. I don't think I gave them in
the proper order, but I gave the Ten Commandments. God's holy
law. The law entered that the offense
or the trespass would abound. Overflow. The law does not restrain
sin. It causes it to abound. The law doesn't cause sin, but
it exposes it. The law does not empower us to
obey it, but it does leave us without excuse. God's holy law
entered that the offense might abound or overflow. And this
is something that I was thinking about. God's holy law, the Ten
Commandments. Yes, they show us God's requirement. Yes, they
show us our sin. But more than anything else,
the King Commandments tells me about my character. What do I
mean by that? Here's what I mean. I don't become a murderer when
I kill. I kill because I am a murderer. I don't become a liar when I
lie. I lie because I am a liar. I don't become guilty or I don't
become an adulterer when I commit adultery. I commit adultery because
I am an adulterer. You can say this with regard
to every one of these Ten Commandments. They expose our character. I am by nature one who puts anything
before God. I am by nature an idolater. I make false gods. This mind
is an idolatrous mind. I am by nature irreverent, taking
God's name in vain. By nature I can't rest. By nature,
I am a murderer, an adulterer, a thief, a liar, eaten up with
covetousness. Sin abounds in me. Are you really that bad? Yes. Yes. What about you? Well, I will admit to Probably
breaking all these commandments from time to time, at least in
my mind, I'll admit to that. But to say that that summarizes
my character. Yeah, I tell lies, but I don't
consider myself a liar. Yes, I've stole before, but I'm
not a thief. On and on. Well, OK, but what
kind of sinner are you then? What kind of sinner are you? I'm one in whom sin abounds. Look in Romans chapter 7, beginning
in verse 7. What shall we say then? Is the
law sin? The Ten Commandments? Is that
our problem? 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. You're not to covet anything
that is your neighbor's, not his wife, not his children, not
his ass, his oxen, anything that's thy neighbor's. Thou shalt not
covet. You'll be satisfied with everything
you have, not desiring anything else. Thou shalt not covet. Don't covet. What do you do? What do you do? Let's go on reading.
But sin, verse 8, taking occasion or using as a base of operations
the commandment, thou shalt not covet, wrought in me all manner
of concupiscence, evil desire, covetousness. When the Bible
says don't covet, what do I do? I covet. I got it. That's all it takes.
All I got to do is tell you not to do... All I got to do is tell
you not to think about something. What are you going to think about?
Exactly what I told you not to think about. That's the way the
law works. It causes sin to abound. But sin, taking occasion by the
commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For
without the law, sin was dead, for I was alive without the law
once. But when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment which was
ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking
occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy. And
the commandment, holy and just and good, was then that which
is good may death unto me, God forbid, but sin that it might
appear sin, working death in me by that which is good, that
sin by the commandment might become exceeding sin. The law entered that the offense
might abound. overflow to where that's all
there is, and you say with all, in full conviction from the depth
of your heart, I know that in me, that is, in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. Do you know that? Nothing but sin. and completely depraved, unable
to do anything but sin so that all that I do is sin. I cannot not sin, and I can't
look down my nose at anybody. I don't care who they are. I
have no claims on God by way of merit. No claims. If He saved all of you, and pass
me by and let me go to hell. I couldn't say that's not fair. I would be getting exactly what
I deserve. I am the place where sin abounds. Like Job said, when God made
himself known to Job, he said, behold, I am vile. Somebody says, well, I can't
honestly say that I believe that I'm that bad. I can't honestly
say that. I mean, I hear what you're saying,
but I. I can't see that about myself, OK? But you cut your
own throat. You see, this passage of Scripture
says where sin abounded, there's one place where grace abounds,
where's that? Where sin abounds. Where sin
abounded, overflowed, grace did much more abound. Now, what does the Bible mean
by the word grace? We see the law entering. The
law exposes sin. Sin is called in the Scriptures
the transgression of the law. Now, where sin abounded, Transgressions
against God's holy law. Breaking God's holy law. Let
me revisit that for just a minute. The Ten Commandments. If you
believe that you've kept one of those commandments, one time,
you are deceived. Now I want you to think about
that. You and I have not kept one commandment one time. And if we believe we have, we
have deceived ourselves. Moreover, the law entered that
sin might abound. But where sin abounded in that
place, are you that place? Are you a place where sin abounds? Where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. You know, I love that word grace.
It even sounds good. I like the way it rolls off my
tongue, grace. Grace is a charming sound, melodious to the ears. Where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. Now, what does the Bible mean
by the word grace? Listen to me. Grace means undeserved. kindness or favor given. Not offered. If all this is an
offer, it won't do you any good. It won't do me any good. I'm
not talking about something God offers, but something that God
gives. Grace means undeserved kindness
or favor given without it being earned. in any way. It is the opposite of works and
worthiness. Grace is the eternal, absolutely
free favor of God shown by His giving, not offering, not putting
it out there and it's up to you to accept or reject it. No, I'm
talking about Him giving His spiritual blessings. to guilty,
unworthy people, people where sin abounds. Now, grace is not
in any way dependent upon human worthiness. It's not in any way
dependent upon your ability to accept it or your free will.
It depends solely on God's will. Solely on God's will. not earned by merit nor lost
by guilt. Grace is absolutely free, free
of any human influence. Grace is either absolutely free
of all influence by us, or it is not grace at all. Now, in that place where sin
abounds, grace God's completely free gift abounds. Verse 21 of our text, Romans
chapter 5, verse 20 and 21. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound, overflow, but where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound, verse 21, that as sin hath reigned unto death, even
so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life
by Jesus Christ our Lord." Now here, sin is described as a tyrant
that reigns. Sin reigns. Now, that's what
sovereignty means. It reigns. Sin reigns. Sin has complete control. The one who reigns is the one
who controls, whose will is done. And here is the dominion of sin.
Sin reigns unto death. What's the one reason for death?
There's only one. Sin. You know why you're going
to die? You know why I'm going to die?
Because of sin. of sin is death. Now, regarding this thing of
death, how much control do you have over death? What can you
do to prevent it? I don't care if you never eat
another unhealthy thing or never eat an unhealthy thing in all
your life and take perfect care of yourself. How much is that
going to prevent death? Not at all. You see, you and
I cannot prove there's nothing we can do to prevent death. Now
that gives us some idea of the reign of sin. The reign of sin
is so strong that there's not a thing in the world we can do
to prevent death. It's not going to happen. Now,
in the same manner, look at verse 21 again. That as sin hath reigned
unto death, even so in the same manner might grace reign. through righteousness unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now, just as you cannot prevent
the reign of sin, you cannot prevent the reign of grace. This
is grace reigning. Just as you cannot prevent the
reign of sin, you can't prevent death. You cannot prevent the
reign of grace. Grace is portrayed as a ruling
reigning King whose will is done. Grace reigns. Grace controls. This is grace that saves. The
only kind of grace the Bible recognizes is saving grace. Grace isn't something thrown
out to you that you can accept or reject. Grace saves. It doesn't make saveable. It
saves. Grace reigns. It doesn't make
salvation available to you if you do your part. If God has
grace toward you, that means he saves you. That means he does
it all. And there's nothing you can do to prevent it. There's
nothing you can do to mess it up. Is that good news? Find me a man where sin abounds,
where sin reigns. Somebody says, well, I'm not
like that. Then I'm not talking to you then. Well, I've got a
will, but I can choose a good one. I'm not talking to you.
You can go on in your religious games. But you find me somebody
where sin abounds, where it overflows. That's the place where grace
reigns. Grace that you cannot prevent.
Grace that you cannot merit. Grace that will not take no for
an answer. Sovereign. Saving. Grace. By grace, ye are saved. Reigning grace, that's what sovereign
grace is, it's reigning grace. Did God know you'd be this bad? Sure he did. He knows a whole
lot more than you as to how bad you are and how bad I am. You know, we don't even know
the tenth or the millionth, but he does. But you know, although
he foresaw exactly how bad you and I would be, that does not
in any way hinder his grace. Here's why. Romans 9-11 says
for the children, talking about Jacob and Esau, being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God, according to election, might stand not of works. There's the purpose of God according
to election. That salvation might not be of works, but of him that
calleth. It was said unto her, the elder
shall serve the younger, as it's written, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. What should we say then, Paul
said? Is there unrighteousness with God? Is God unfair in loving
one and hating the other? God forbid, for he saith to Moses,
I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy. Remember, it's up
to him as to whether or not you're going to have mercy. Now, if
I don't have any control of this, how can you hold me responsible?
How can I be held responsible for that which I have no power
in? You are. That's the only way I know to
say it. And it's not like you're a victim.
All your sin, all my sin is all my fault. I'm responsible. And
I'm totally in the hands of a sovereign God. My salvation is up to Him. Now, what do I do about that?
Say, well, there's nothing I can do. No, I say, Lord, have mercy on me.
Save me. Grace reigns in the choice of
the sinner. You know this thing of election.
Somebody says, well, what if I'm not chosen? Well, what if
you are? What if you are? And I know this, election never
prevented anybody from being saved. Election doesn't keep
people from being saved who would have been. Election saves people
who would have been dead. It opens up wide the gate of
mercy. Thank God for election. This
is where his salvation begins. Grace reigns in election. Grace
reigns in the justification of the sinner. The Bible teaches that God justifies
the ungodly. He justifies the ungodly. He makes it to where they're
not guilty. Grace reigns in this being justified. freely by His grace through the
redemption that's in Christ Jesus. Oh, how grace reigns in my justification. Not guilty. My sin became Christ's. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says, For
He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin. My sin became
Christ's. So He became guilty of it. And He didn't commit a
sin. When He was made sin, He did not commit a sin. Worse,
he was made sin. And just as truly as he was made
sin, I've made the righteousness of God so that I am justified
and have grace reigns in the justification of the believer. Grace reigns in the sin payment.
Now, what about this sinner could possibly merit God sending his
son to die for me? Nothing. God does it because
He's gracious. Being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. How grace reigns in forgiveness. His pardon, now listen real carefully.
His pardon is full. It's free. It's everlasting. and it's irreversible. His forgiveness
is not like ours. Narrow, difficult, half-hearted,
with strings attached. Now, that's our forgiveness.
But not His. His is full, free, bottomless,
boundless, and absolute. No waiting period. No holding
us off to see how we do. He says there are sins and iniquities
I will remember no more. He doesn't look at me and say,
well, he might do it again. No, it's a full, free, absolute
forgiveness in the Lord Jesus Christ. How grace reigns in our calling. Whom he did predestinate, then
he also called. And how his grace reigns in our
calling. And I think the best illustration is Lazarus. Lazarus
is in the grave. Lazarus is dead. He's been dead
four days. His body has already begun to
stink through the process of decay. I mean, he's dead. And
Christ says, Lazarus, come forth. Could Lazarus have said no? Absolutely not. When he said,
come forth, he that was dead came forth. If God calls you
by his irresistible grace, you will be raised from spiritual
death. And you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins. Now, how much in a resurrection
from the dead? How much power do you have in this thing? Let's
say if you die physically, how much power do you have to give
yourself life? Absolutely none. And it's the
same in the new birth. If you're erased from being dead
in sins, it doesn't have anything to do with something you've done.
It's His grace reigns in this. He says live, and you live. His grace reigns in a sinner
being preserved. I don't know how long. that I've
been a believer most of my life, I think, a long time. Humanly speaking, I mean, not
long in the grand scheme of things, but ever since I was a teenager. And the fact that I've been preserved
to this point, There's only one reason for it. Grace. Kept by the power of God. Through faith. Unto salvation. How grace reigns in my preservation. The fact that I haven't left.
The fact that I haven't fallen away. Grace reigns. And I'll tell you when grace,
I'm going to see that grace reigns. I'm talking about stuff that
I believe, but I'll tell you when I really am going to see
when grace reigns. When my name is called in judgment
and the Lord Jesus Christ answers for me, present and accounted
for, and God's going to look at me with the spotlight of His
holiness and He's going to find no sin. And I'm going to understand
at that time, grace reigns. Oh, how clearly. When I stand
before thy throne, dressed in beauty not my own, when I see
thee as thou art, love thee with unsinning heart, then, Lord,
shall I fully know, not till then, how much I owe. Grace reigns. And don't miss
this, verse 21, that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might
grace reign, what's it say next? Through righteousness. Through righteousness. Now, this reigning grace, it
doesn't excuse sin. It doesn't overlook sin. It doesn't
minimize sin. That's the way an unbeliever
looks at the reign of grace. They're saying, well. Seems inconsequential then. No,
it's not. This reign of grace is an absolute
righteousness, the righteousness of God. There's no winking at
sin, no passing over sin, no. All sin is punished. And I'm
saved in such a way as exalts and glorifies the very righteousness
of God. I'm saved with perfect righteousness,
the righteousness of Jesus Christ given to me. And it's mine. It
reigns through righteousness. unto eternal life. That's not
just talking about the length of eternal life. It's talking
about the quality of eternal life. This is eternal life that
they might know me, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent. I know God and he knows me. That's
eternal life. I know the living God and he
knows me. That's eternal life, isn't it?
Even so, might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life
by Jesus Christ, our Lord. I love the way that sounds. By
Jesus Christ. Our Lord. You know, he's my Lord. He's my Lord. Willingly, he's
my Lord. I'm glad he's my Lord. And I
need him to reign and rule over me, don't you? I need him as
my king, as my Lord. And I love his reign. Jesus Christ,
our Lord. Now, it may be that he's not
your Lord right now in the sense of a willingness. But he's your
Lord in the sense that you're in his hands. And do you know
every knee is going to bow? Believers and unbelievers alike.
Some willingly, some forced to bow by almighty power. Every
knee is going to bow and every tongue is going to confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That as sin hath reigned unto
death, even so, in the same manner, just as I can't prevent sin,
I can't prevent the reign of grace. that it sitteth reigned
unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto
eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord." Sovereign grace. Now, that's what's meant by sovereign
grace. Reigning grace. Now, I want to close by looking
at a passage of scripture in Hebrews chapter 4, if you'll
turn with me there. Now, the kind of grace I've described
is the only kind of grace there is. Anything that's done just
like what I've said, it's not the grace of God. The only kind
of grace there is, is sovereign grace. Now, sovereign grace,
grace that reigns, that means it sits on a throne. In Hebrews
chapter 4, we read in verse 16, Let us, therefore, convultly
under the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and
find grace to help in time of need. Let us come boldly. Who's the us? Does that mean
me? Can I put my name in here? Well,
here's the only fair and honest way to answer that question.
Let us come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy. Are you someone who needs mercy? If you are, you're one of the
us's. Are you someone who needs grace? I don't mean you agree with the
doctrine of grace. I mean you need grace. You can't be saved without this
grace I'm talking about. That's what I'm talking about.
You need grace. Well, if you're someone who needs
mercy, if you're someone who needs grace, this is for you. Let us therefore come how? Boldly. How can I come boldly? Because it's the throne of grace.
If it had anything to do with your works, you couldn't come
boldly. But because it's the throne of pure, free, absolute,
sovereign grace, you and me, we can come boldly. Let us come boldly to the throne
of grace for what? That we may obtain mercy and
find grace to heal. I need grace to help me, don't
you? I need grace to help me believe. I need grace to help
me repent. I need grace to help me love. I need grace to help me with
everything. Now let's come boldly to this throne of grace that
we may obtain mercy. That's what I need. I'm guilty.
I need mercy. And find grace to help win. in time of need. When's that? Right now. Every time is a time of need. That's what sovereign grace is. Moreover, the law entered that
the offense might abound. Where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound. That as sin hath reigned unto
death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Let's pray.