I strongly believe in the verbal
inspiration of God's Word. Holy men of God spake as they
were moved or inspired by the Holy Spirit to write these words. And we do not set one scripture
against another or make popular one and less popular another
scripture. And no scripture is in any private interpretation
but is interpreted in the light of all scripture. Romans chapter
8 is to the New Testament what Isaiah chapter 53 is to the Old
Testament. It's a Bible in miniature. It's
a summary of the grace of God, of the gospel of Christ Jesus
our Lord. It's our creed in print. What
Isaiah 53 is to the Old Testament, Romans 8 is to the New Testament,
it's a summary of the marvels of divine grace. The Apostle
Paul just keeps piling one marvelous revelation on top of another.
Starting out in verse 1, he says, there is therefore now, right
now, there is therefore right now no judgment, no condemnation
to them who are in Christ Jesus. And he develops that. No judgment,
no condemnation, sin, the curse of the law, condemnation of sin,
the penalty of the law, has all been removed by the perfect,
effectual, sufficient sacrifice and atonement of our Lord. My
sins are gone. My sins are gone. No condemnation,
no judgment, no purgatory. Christ has purged us from all
iniquity. He separated our sins from us
as far as the east is from the west. Cast into the depths of
the sea, behind the back of God. wherever that is, to be remembered
no more. No condemnation. Free. As Martin Luther King used to
say, free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty,
I'm free at last. And I am. Free from the curse,
the condemnation, the penalty of that broken law. No condemnation. Then he moves on and he says
in other verses, Christ hath freed us. totally freed us from
the bondage of the law. I'm not living in bondage. My
life is not one lived in a state where God sits around with a
hammer to mash my fingers if they stray. God sits around with
a whip to punish me if I step over here or step over there.
I'm not in bondage to the law. I'm not living in a state of
bondage. I have the liberty of Christ,
the freedom of Christ, motivated, constrained, by His love, by
His love for me and my love for Him. And what I do, I do because
I love Christ, not because I'm made to do it or forced to do
it or have a duty to perform it or a responsibility to perform
it. I do it because I love the Redeemer. Not in bondage to the law. We're
not under the law. We're under grace. We're not
in bondage to a law. We're bond slaves of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I'm here because I want to be.
That's what it's all about. Back in the Old Testament, when
a servant or a slave had lost his freedom and served under
a master, sometimes they were in places they didn't want to
be. They were serving masters that were cruel and hard. And
when that six years were up, on the seventh year they were
set free. All the slaves and servants on
the seventh year were set free. And many of them left. Boy, they
were glad to get out. They were in a hurry to get out.
But now if they had a master whom they loved, and a master
whom they respected and admired, and that six years of service
was over and performed, in the seventh year they had a right
to leave. But they'd come to their master and say, Master,
I don't want to leave you. I love you. I love your family,
and I love my family, and I love this place. My service, is a
delightful thing. My obeying your commands is a
pleasure to me and so if you don't mind, I don't want to leave."
So the master would take him down to the door of the Tabernacle
Temple or wherever it was and he would bore his ear with an
awl and put something in his ear and from then on he would
stay there as a servant. He would stay there as a servant,
but he was a bondservant now. That's a willing, loving servant. There because he wants to be
there, not because he's constrained to, or forced to, or kept under
a law. He's there because he wants to
be there. And the commandments of his master are not grievous.
He delights to serve. Now that's the believer. He's
not in slavery. He's not in bondage. He's not
following rules and regulations and statutes and commandments
because it's the rule of his life. Not at all. He walks under
a banner of love. He's ruled by a banner of love.
He serves a master whom he loves and keeps commandments that are
not grievous, but are a delight. You see what I'm saying? That's
what Paul deals with there. And then he goes on and just
keeps on piling these revelations one on another. He says, He has
possessed us and indwelt us and led us by His Spirit. And if
any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he's none of His. This thing of salvation isn't
an empty profession. It's not a religious creed. It's
a vital union with the Lord. It's Christ liveth in me. It's
Christ dwelleth in me. It's Christ possesses me. It's
I am not my own. I am indwelt by Him and bought
by Him and purchased by Him and filled with His presence. It's
a walk of faith, not of sight, but of faith. It's a new creation. It's a regeneration. It's a resurrection. It's a new birth. It's a new
life. It's the Spirit of God. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless,
I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. Salvation is not a decision,
it's a resurrection. It's not just an accepting of
Jesus, it's a receiving of Christ Jesus, the Lord. Receiving Him. Receiving Him. Eating His flesh
and drinking His blood and becoming one with Him. And His purpose
is my purpose. And His direction is my direction.
And then he goes on, he says, we're sons of God. We're sons
of God. We're heirs of God. We're joint
heirs with Jesus Christ. We're spiritually wealthy people. And then he goes on and says,
the day of the Lord's coming, that great day of the manifestation
of God's people, a revelation of God's purpose, when the riches
of His grace toward us in Christ Jesus shall be revealed in all
of its fullness. And not only the sons of God,
but all creation. shall be restored. Restored to
its original beauty when God made it and said it's good. It's
good. There was a day when everything
that God made was good. And I'll tell you it had the
stamp of divine approval. I ride down the road and I see
a restaurant that's approved by the AAA. I look somewhere
else and I see a restaurant approved by Good Housekeeping. I see another
place that's approved by this Travelers' Association. They've
come around and inspected it, and it's met their qualifications,
you know, and they approve it. But let me tell you this. There
was a day when God made this world, and it had the highest,
the infinite, the immutable, the eternal stamp of God's approval. He said, it's good! Well, sin
entered and corrupted it all, and defiled it all, and made
it bad. But one day He said, all creation
shall sing again. And God's going to restore it
to its original beauty. I know the cartoonists and the
artists and the preachers have sort of talked about eternity
as being up there floating around on a cloud, plucking on a harp,
you know, with a halo and wings and sort of mystic creatures. But if you'll read God's Word,
you'll find out that that when we die, and when we are raised
from the dead, and when Christ comes again, that He's going
to make a new earth, and the believer, the redeemed, are going
to enjoy this earth. We're going to have flesh and
bones. Now Christ did, when He arose from the grave, He appeared
to the disciples, they touched Him. He said, reach out and touch
me, a spirit. A misty, formless spirit doesn't
have flesh and bones as you see me have touched me." And they
touched him. And he said, you got something to eat? And he
ate with them. And he walked and talked with them and sat
down. And we're going to have a body like his. I'm going to
have a body. Oh, it'll have perfect vision
and perfect hearing. And it will be a perfect body.
It will never die. It will be without sin or pain
or sorrow or tears or darkness or anything like that. It will
be perfect. It will be just like the Lord. And I'm going to walk
on a new earth. The new Jerusalem is coming down
out of heaven. That's what he said. I saw this
holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven. I
don't know where it's going to be. But it looks like to me it's
going to be on this earth. God's going to make a new earth.
Creation. This chapter here says creation is going to be restored
to its original beauty. And you and I are going to be
restored to the place where Adam was. Never die. Perfect body.
It may be that that body shall restore itself every seven years
as it was intended to, as it does now, but because of sin
just keeps going downhill. But it's going to be new. God's
going to bestow everything. Everything. And then he goes on and he says
that the Holy Spirit helps our ignorance. We're such ignorant
creatures, aren't we? We don't even know what to pray
for. The Spirit, verse 26, helps our infirmities. We don't even
know what to pray for. We think we know about everything.
We've got all the answers. If folks had just listened to
us, we'd straighten everything out, but we're ignorant. He helps
our infirmities, and our inability, and our ignorance, and thank
God the Holy Spirit intercedes for us, and Christ intercedes
for us, and He prays for us, and even my groanings are understood
by the Lord, and blessed, and received, and anointed. And then
he goes into verse 28 and 29, and he talks about from all eternity. From all eternity we have been
objects of his love, objects of his purpose, children of his
covenant. And he says all things, all deity
and all powers and all providence and all purpose works together
for our good. Not our temporal good, not our
particular fleshly good, but for our eternal good. Everything. All deity, all powers, all providence,
all purpose, all happenings, all good things and bad things
as we name them, all things work together for good to those whom
God foreordained and predestinated and was pleased to call and redeemed
by the blood of His Son and in Christ He's already glorified.
He just keeps piling one thing right on top of another. And
finally arriving by faith at the top of this great mountain
of mercy, The Apostle Paul waves the banner of Christ in total
victory. And he looks around and he boasts
with a holy boasting. And he rejoices in a complete
assurance. And he challenges heaven, earth,
and hell, and all enemies, and all principalities, and all powers,
and all spiritual wickedness in high places. He challenges
them to try to unseat him from his throne. and from His crown. And he says, if God's for me,
I want every ear in all the universe to hear me now. If God's for
me, who in heaven and who on earth and who in hell can be
against me? If God spared not His own Son
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not freely with
Him give us all things? You mean God's defeated? You
mean Christ is disappointed? You mean Christ paid a price
and did not buy the object? He set forth a redemptive price
and redeemed no one? Foolishness, Paul says. If God
gave His Son and spared not His Son and judged His Son in my
stead and in my place and in my room, He'll give me what Christ
bought. And then he says, who can lay
anything? Hear me, he said, as he stands on the mountaintop
of God's mercy and boasts with a holy boasting, resting securely
in Christ, his feet planted on the mercies of Christ, and he
says, who can lay anything to my charge? Anything, he said,
anyone who can lay anything to the charge of God's elect. And
he seems to stand there a few moments more, and then he says,
and who is he that condemneth? And then the fourth charge, he
says, who can separate me from the love of Christ? Talk about
security. Talk about confidence. Talk about
assurance. Talk about a certainty of mercy.
Near, so near to God, nearer I cannot be, for in the person
of his Son I am as near as he. And Paul could boast. With his
holy garments on, I am as spotless as God's Son. The redeemed in
Christ are as good as in heaven. They are as safe and secure as
if they were already in heaven. That's what he's talking about
here. When he goes through all of this
foundation, this basis of his hope, this foundation of his
confidence, he comes to the end of it and he just throws out
the challenges. He says, who can be against me?
Who can charge me? Who can condemn me? Who can separate
me from the love of Christ? And he challenges the powers
of hell and the powers of earth and even the powers of the universe. And that's my subject tonight
and my question. How can a mere mortal man make
such a claim? On what basis can a man like
Paul, a religious, ecclesiastical, hypocrite, fallacy, blasphemer,
who stood by and watched while they stoned the first martyr,
the first believer, held the coats of people while they dashed
stones into his head and his body and killed him and gave
his approval to it and his sanction to it. A man who sought within
himself to blot the name of Jesus Christ off the face of the earth.
A man who went out of his way to persecute Christians and even
went to the high priest and asked, let me do it. Let me put them
in prison. Let me kill their women and children.
Let me destroy this man's name. Let me do all I can. I'll stay up, I'll work overtime. If you'll let me be the spokesman
and the leader and the authority to destroy every church off the
face of this earth, I'll give myself to it." And here this
same man is standing here saying, who can lay anything to my charge? Who can condemn me? Who can separate
me from the love of Christ? Well, I'll tell you, if some
folks issued a challenge like that, if some folks issued a
challenge like that, they'd get a real speedy answer. Who is
he that condemns me? Well, the answer would come back,
your own conscience condemns you. Your own conscience. If I justify myself, my own mouth
would condemn me, my own conscience would condemn me, my own heart
would condemn me. And then the Word of God would
condemn me. If an unbeliever, if a person
who know not Christ would stand and say, well, who can condemn
me? The Word of God would condemn him, for the Word of God says,
let every mouth be stopped. All the world become guilty,
guilty, guilty before God. The books of heaven would condemn
me. For he said the books were opened and they were judged out
of those things written in the book. Satan and the fallen angels
would condemn me. Why, they'd say we did no more
than he's done. We offended no more than he's
offended. We're no more guilty than he's guilty. But this challenge
doesn't come from an unbeliever, an unregenerate man. This challenge
here comes from a man who knew Christ. This comes from a man
who rested in Christ, who committed his soul to Christ and all things
to Christ. This challenge comes from a man
who said, he was made sin, who knew no sin, that I might be
made the righteousness of God in him. This challenge comes
from a man who says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. It's the
power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. to the
Jew first and also to the Greek. This challenge comes from a man
who said, I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded that
he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against
that day. This challenge comes from a man
who said, all things that were gained to me I count but loss,
yea, I count them but dung that I may win Christ and be found
in him. Oh, to know him and the power
of his resurrection, to be found in him. To attain unto the resurrection
of the dead, this challenge comes from a man who knew Christ. He
didn't just boast of knowing Him, he knew Him. He didn't just
talk of committing himself, he had committed himself. His life
was Christ. His soul was Christ. His heart was Christ. His thoughts
were Christ. His object was Christ. His goal
was Christ. His ambition was Christ. Everything
was Christ to the Apostle Paul. He says, I'm determined to know
nothing among you but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I'll tell you, this is a
solemn question. As we look at it, verse 34, verse
34 of Romans 8, who is He that condemneth? Look hard at that. Who is He that condemns? It's
a solemn question. Do you know what makes it so
great and so solemn? Because it deals with a great
and solemn issue, a great and solemn theme. It deals with my
sins. My sins. My sins. David said, "...are ever before
me." My sins. Oh, Paul said, "...the exceeding
sinfulness of my sins." My sins. My sins, they make my beauty
to be corruption, my righteousness to be filthy rags. My sins, my
sins. That's what it deals with. Can
we say, who is he that condemneth I have not sinned? Oh, my soul,
how we've sinned! How we've sinned! In Adam, how
we've sinned! Sin passed upon all men, and
all sinned! In word, in thought, in deed,
all have sinned and come short of God's glory. Oh, we like sheep
have gone astray. In our flesh dwelleth no good
thing. When we get weary of comparing
ourselves with ourselves, and start seeing ourselves in
the light of God's holiness, we're going to be shocked to
discover how wretched and corrupt we are. And we'll be led to say
with Paul and mean it, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me from this body of death? And that's not Paul the blasphemer
talking. It's Paul the believer. That's
not Paul the injurious talking. That's Paul the regenerated. That's not Paul the hounder of
believers talking. That's Paul the preacher of the
gospel talking. Oh, the wretched man that I am.
When we stop comparing ourselves with others, the most nauseating
God said I'll spew you out of my mouth the most nauseating
thing I ever hear people say Is I'm as good as the folks down
at that church Let me tell you something You can be as good
as the best man who ever walked on this earth other than our
Lord You can be as good as the but
you can be you women as good as as Florence Nightingale And
you men, as good as any great minister, Whitfield, Edwards,
Brainerd, you can give your goods to feed the poor and your body
to be burned. You can be an orator speaking
with the tongues of men and of angels. You can have knowledge,
and you can have understanding, and you can have some kind of
faith that accomplishes great things, and have not Christ. And you are as corrupt and as
vile as any creature that's ever been
under the judgment and wrath of a holy God. Now, you may not
see that, but when I talk about love, the measurement of love
is not Do I love as much as you, but do I love like God? That's
different. The basis of holy motive and unselfish works and deeds
and a holy moral life, the basis of it is not what the church
rules and decides and prints in its constitutions and bylaws
and what's acceptable in our generation. It's God's holiness. It's God's motive of love and
grace and goodness. And I'll tell you, when we set
ourselves down beside God's righteousness, we have to cry, oh, wretched
man that I am. Everything about me is touched
with self and sin and evil, and you too. And in the flesh, no
man can please God. Oh, we can't say, who can condemn
me? I've never sinned because I don't
do anything but sin. Is that too hard? But that's
so. And then we cannot say, who is
he that condemns me? Well, I've repented and I have
believed. You know, some folks have this
idea that if a man repents, if he's sorry for his sin, And if
he professes to believe the gospel, then that does away with his
guilt. Now let me tell you something, don't misunderstand me and don't
jump to conclusions too quickly. But repentance does not put away
sin. Confession does not put away
sin. Faith does not put away sin. No, sir, without the shedding
of blood, there's no remission of sin. Repentance is the gift
of God. Faith is the gift of God. Repentance
and faith bring us into contact with Him who can put away sin. But now you can weep till your
eyes run dry and still be just as lost as when you started.
You can go to the mourner's bench and weep and cry and mourn and
repent and cry for help and mercy. But health and mercy and grace
is always forthcoming on the basis of justice and righteousness
on the part of God. God cannot put away sin without
sin being punished. That's so. And so I can't say,
well, who can condemn me? I've repented. I hope that I
have. I trust that I have. If I have,
I still am, and I still will be. Well, who can condemn me? I believed on Jesus. Have you
now? Well, I hope that I have. I believe
that I have. I trust that I have. I'm going
to continue to believe on Him. I'm going to continue to look
to Him, but my believing doesn't save me. My believing does not
put away my sin. My believing does not put away
the condemnation. The condemnation remains there
until there is a transaction between somebody and God to put
away the enmity and the wrath and the judgment and the justice
and the righteousness that God requires. The crime is still
on the books until somebody pays for it. Still on the books to somebody.
And I can't say, well, who is he that condemned? I lived a
good life and I've gone to church and I've served God and I've
given my money. Oh, what pride! Oh, what sin! Oh, what evil is in the best
deeds of the best man! Take your Bibles and turn to
Psalm 39. The last line of verse 5 in Psalm
39 says, Every man at his best state is altogether vanity. You just pick the best five minutes
of your life. Go through your whole 50 years
and pick the best five minutes. That time maybe when you're down
front telling everybody you're believing on Jesus. And you're
just going to straighten up and walk the straight and narrow
and live for God O'Glory right then. You're altogether vanity,
altogether vanity. In the flesh, oh, he said, our
righteousness is a filthy rag. Romans, look across the page
from our text in Romans 7, 21. Paul, this is Paul the preacher,
the man of God, the apostle. This is Paul, the man of great
revelation, Paul who was taken to the third heaven. Paul says
in verse 21 of Romans 7, I found in a law when I would do good,
evil is present with me. Do you know anything about that?
Every honest person here knows something about that. Every honest person here, evil. When I would do good, evil is
present with me. I never get away from evil. This
old body of death, body of sin. They used to say when they really
wanted to punish a man, I don't know how much truth's in this,
but when he was in prison with a companion and one of them died,
they'd chain the body of the dead man to the body of the living
man, just chain them face to face. And he carried that old
body around with him all the time until it rotted and he died
from shock or something. But that old body of death would
be tied to him, he'd be carrying it around, that old corpse, that
old rotten flesh, those old bones. And that's what Paul is saying,
I'm carrying around with me a body of death. Verse 24, O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
I've got a new nature and I've got an old one. You don't like
that? It's so. It's so. I don't know where folks
get that the old nature has been eradicated when they deal with
that gentleman every day and even dealing with him right now.
I don't know where we get the idea that God has eradicated
that old nature when we deal with it every moment. Every moment
in despair and disappointment and in doubting and in anger
and in envy and in jealousy and in pride and in lust and in selfishness
and in covetousness and in exaggeration and in foolishness and in frivolity
and in all of these things, that old man is there. He drags you
down. When you would pray, oh how we
would ascend the heights of glory in prayer! And we can't do it.
We're bogged down, held down, we're conscious of what we say
and to whom we say it and who witnesses it and who understands
it and who likes it and who doesn't like it. And we would preach,
we would preach the stars down and glorify God, but we're bound
by the flesh. We would hold on to something
and a person needs it and we'd say, well, I should give it to
him and yet I need it for myself. If we had faith in God, we'd
give it to him and God would give it back to us. We'd cast
our bread on the waters hoping for nothing in return, but we
establish our security. We don't live by faith, we live
by sight, not by faith. A bird in the hand is worth two
in the bush, not to the believer. He turns the bird loose knowing
who directs its flight and who will bring it home. Oh no, don't
tell me. Don't try to tell me your old
nature. It ain't even sick. It's still
alive. It's not even subdued. It's still the tragic thing,
the horribly tragic thing. Is it so much healthier than
some of your spiritual natures? That's evident. It hasn't even been wounded,
I'm afraid, sometimes. But oh, it's there. Oh, who's
going to deliver me? So I can't say I'm not condemned
because I'm a good man and lived a good life and went to church.
I've turned my church going into sin. Oh, what sin! Well, my soul,
how in the world can a man make such a charge? Well, let's look
at it quickly in verse 34. He stands here on the mountain
of mercy. Here's some good news. I've taken
us down into, boy, I've tried to make us see us like we are.
I wish I could see myself like God sees me. I'd cling to Christ
more tenaciously. I'd look to Christ more effectively.
I'd be humble. Oh, how humble I'd be. How broken
I'd be. God would take away that proud
heart and give me a broken heart. He'd take away that proud spirit
and give me a contrite spirit. I'd be willing to be walked on
for Christ's sake. I'd be willing to wash the saints'
feet. And I'm not talking about in
an ordinance. I'm talking about in an attitude.
I'd be willing to give everything I've got to preach the gospel. But here's my foundation, take
me like I am, looking at me where I am, whatever I am. Paul says, who is he that condemneth? Here's my hope, here's my confidence,
not founded upon myself or my works or my good life. My confidence,
my assurance, my boldness has four great pillars. Number one,
you can't condemn me, whoever you are, whoever would. Because
Christ died. He died. Who died? Christ died.
The Son of God died. Who died? Christ, the anointed,
the Messiah, the sent one, the surety, Christ who was equal
with the Father, the brightness of his glory, the express image
of his person, Christ, the incarnate Son of God. He died. How did
he die? He died on a cross. He died on
a cross of shame. He died on a cross of ridicule,
on a cross of humiliation. Why did He die on a cross? He
died on a cross as a criminal under the law of God. Why, He
never broke the law of God, but He died under the judgment of
that law. How did He die on that cross? He died under the wrath
of His Father. Well, He never offended the Father.
The Father said, I'm always pleased with what He says and does and
thinks. He was wounded for my transgressions.
He was bruised for my iniquities. The chastisement of my peace
was on Him. He died for me. Oh! Who died? Christ died. How did He die? On a cross. Why did He die on
a cross? He died that God might be just
and justify me. That God might be righteous and
holy and set me free. that God Almighty might have
in His hand a full payment for my sins, that the law of God
might not be compromised, but be honored, and the justice of
God might be satisfied, and God can say, ìLet him go free!î His
debts are paid. Who paid them? My son paid them.
And my son was numbered with that transgressor, identified
with that transgressor, and was one with that transgressor, and
was made sins for that transgressor, and bore that transgressor's
sins in his body. And I extracted from my son every
drop of his blood for that transgressor. And my son drank the very bitter
dregs of the cup of my wrath for that transgressor. Let him
go. The debt's paid. I have no claim. Who can lay anything to my charge?
Lord God, step forward. What have you got to say? The
law says I've got nothing to say. I've been honored. Justice of God, come on. Here
I am. What have you got to say, justice
of God? I've got nothing to say. I'm
satisfied. I was reconciled to God in the
body of His Son. I was brought to God from darkness,
from enmity. I was brought to God from rebellion
by the death of His Son. You can mealy-mouth around and
play tiddly-winks with it and try to appease this ungodly religious
world with it. You can try to make it acceptable
to unregenerate minds. But the atonement was particular.
The blood of Christ was shed for those who believed. He died
for his elect. I don't know who they are. God
knows who they are. And when Christ died on the cross,
He knew who they were. He knew who they were. But the
death of Christ was not an offer. It was not an example. It was
a sacrifice. He paid my debt. He paid it,
I don't owe it. It's just that plain. He took
my sins and if He died for them, they're not on me. And they're
not on Him. Where are they? They're gone.
My sins are gone. Who can condemn me? The very
foundation of my assurance in the first pillar is that Christ
died. Now, if he died for Judas, then I got no foundation because
Judas is not where he ought to be. I got no foundation. My foundation can't be my faith.
It's too shaky, Chuck. It's too shaky. I wish I did. I wish I could say it. I have
strong faith. I wish I could say it. But I
got a strong Lord. And this weak, tender vine, it
doesn't matter how strong this vine is or how big this vine
is, it's how big is the pole it's wrapped around. How strong
is that pole? And He's infinitely strong. But
my foundation is Christ died. In my confidence, secondly, the
second pillar of this foundation is Christ. Rather, He's risen
again. Look at that rather. We don't
put enough emphasis on that rather. Rather, He's risen again. Bear
in mind that if Christ be not risen, you're yet in your sins.
You're yet in your sins. That's what Paul said. We're
false prophets, false witnesses of God, but Christ is risen. And his resurrection denotes
the acceptance of his work. His resurrection denotes that
the Father has received him and all that he did. If he were still
in the tomb, we'd be still in our sins. But Christ is risen. Now, our whole hope of liberty
and salvation is based on the person of Christ and the work
of Christ. Not on faith or repentance or church membership or baptism
or anything else. It's on Christ. And then he said,
who is also, watch this, who is even at the right hand of
God. Now bear in mind where Christ is, his people are. Well, where
is Christ? He's seated on the right hand
of the majesty on high. The right hand is the place of
love. It's Father Beloved. The right hand is the place of
honor. To which of the angels said he at any time, sit thou
on my right hand? The right hand is the place of
power. All authority is given unto me in heaven and earth.
The right hand is the place of acceptance. What's he doing? Who also maketh intercession
for us. Here's our answer. Who is he
that condemneth? Who can lay anything to my charge?
Who can separate me from the love of Christ? Who can be against
me? Well, I made a profession, and I joined the church. That's
not it. And I've tried to do right, and
I've tried to walk the straight and narrow, and I've tried to
live up to the expectations of my church. That's not it. Well,
I've repented, and I've confessed my sins, and I've believed on
Jesus. That's not it. That may change tomorrow, but
this won't ever change. Who can condemn me? Christ died
for me. And Christ is risen. And Christ
is seated on the right hand of God. And Christ prays for me. You say, does he use words? He
doesn't have to. His very presence there assures
me of a mediator. He's the man, Christ Jesus. He's
the man. There's one God and one mediator
between God and men. And that's, now watch this, quote
that verse right, it doesn't say there's one Mediator between
God and man, as a race, but God and men say
so. God and men, believing men, regenerated
men. There's one Mediator between
God and men, and that's the man, Christ Jesus. And the very presence
of Christ there means I'm there because I'm in Him. I've been
chosen in Him, loved in Him, accepted in Him, redeemed in
Him, I'm seated in Him. He doesn't have to say anything.
And His wounds in His hands and feet say this, my debt's been
paid. Payment God's justice cannot
twice demand. First at my bleeding, sure at
His hand, and then again at mine. What kind of God do you have?
That's not even human justice, let alone divine justice. Christ
holds out his hands and there's the marks. There's the stripes
by which I was healed. There's the reasons for my justification. There are no other reasons. There
are no other reasons for God saving me or justifying me or
taking me to glory. The only reasons for my justification
is those wounds in his hands and feet.