Reading
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
And our God and our Father, we are thankful this morning that we can look to Thee before we open up the Word of God. We do seek a blessing from Thee. We own that. We're in a wilderness land throughout the world. There is violence and there's corruption.
There's a darkness in this world that seems to be rolling in uncontrolled.
In this wilderness land, there is nothing for the spiritual man, nothing to build us up, nothing to encourage us, nothing to bless our souls.
But we're thankful that we've been invited here this morning by our local brethren. We're thankful that we have the privilege to open up the Word of God. And we do pray that if there is any object before us that's other than Christ, if there's anything that's burdening us or weighing us down, that we might be refreshed this morning, that we might have Christ ministered to us, that there might be a freshness about it and encourages us today and throughout the next three days.
And we do pray for one another. We realize that those in this room are brothers and sisters in Christ, that we have a heavenly hope that we hope to be with the Lord Jesus, to be with thee and like thee. And we pray that as we have, that as our hope, we might realize that love, Adotus desire toward us. We pray that we might encourage one another. We pray at these this time, as we open up the word of God, that thou would encourage and those that will minister to us.
That thou would give them a word in season, a help give them to be able to look upon their brother and then they minister in love to each and every one of us. Realizing that we all have an eternal hope. We do pray for a portion. We pray for liberty of the Spirit of the Spirit of God to minister to our individual needs and that we might set our our feet on the right path and if we are misdirected.
That it might draw our feet back. So we do ask Thy help, our Father, and we ask it in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
I.
I wonder how many young people are here who never who don't know the difference between.
Sin and sins.
I remember that being a wonderful enlightenment to me. I remember writing to Jimmy Smith and saying, why do I have these thoughts? And he wrote back and on a postcard and said, you're just beginning to believe what God said about you is the truth. So I wonder, So some of these things disturb us and I know they're all hot and many people are here.
But maybe it's good to give the young people some tools and to know what's going on, how God views us. And, and I, I would suggest if somebody else doesn't, somebody else has something, that's fine. But I, I would suggest that.
Because we can't take it all up with the subject, but maybe.
Romans 5.
And and maybe get into six and we know if seven is a parenthesis and perhaps a little bit of eight, but.
What do you what do you think about that?
Good. It really helps us to know what's going on, you know? I mean, my sins are forgiven, but I still have something that wants to sin.
Romans, chapter 5.
00:05:04
Romans chapter 5 and verse one.
Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
By whom also we have access by faith into this grace, wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation work of patience and patience, experience and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
For when we were yet without strength in due time.
Christ died for the ungodly, for scarcely for a righteous man will one die yet peradventure for a Goodman. Some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than being now justified by his blood. We shall be saved from wrath through him.
For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also join God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
Wherefore as by one man centered and entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.
For until the law sin was in the world. But sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned. After the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come?
But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so was the gift. For the judgment was by 1 to condemnation. But the free gift is of many offenses unto justification.
For if by one man's offense death reigned by one much more, they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ.
Therefore, as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, Even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. Whereas by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, but 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.
If we could, we have 4 readings that we could.
Take a chapter at a time, Chapter 567 and eight. I think that would give a overview. It will have to.
Not get bogged down to try to move through a chapter.
That be suitable.
I think it is very helpful for young people, and a lot of us who are older too, to get refocused again.
You might.
The first eight chapters are divided into two parts, and.
The division part comes in this chapter 5 at the end of verse 11.
Up to that point, the first chapters deal with the question of sins, those ungodly acts or thoughts that we all have had, and how God deals with that.
Because they need to be dealt with on a just basis.
But from verse 12, and I think this is what you were referring to, Vern, it's taking.
Up the subject in general of sin, that nature that produces those ungodly acts. So you have a apple tree, you have the root and you have the fruit. So it takes up the fruit first sins and then from verse 12 forward it takes up the root. And it's important to get that. Many people don't understand that.
00:10:19
They that's why we have the struggles that you're mentioning.
Could we introduce the idea as to why the book of Romans was written at least the 1St 8 chapters?
There's many believers who don't understand the depth of the work of Christ and what it means to us in our lives.
And so this book of Romans is the gospel of God. And it's not a it's not the gospel to the lost. It's not that it couldn't be, but it's really, it's a gospel to the saved. It's a gospel to reveal the the fullness of how Christ has dealt with you so that you're standing before God. You can understand that not only did he deal with the sins, the fruit of what you've accomplished as a fallen creature.
But he's dealt with you as a fallen creature and has put you away. That's the difference between sin and sins, isn't it? It gives us the opportunity and to privilege to recognize what kind of things are going on within our body so that we can understand these struggles and see the value of Christ work. So this is the gospel of God. It's the gospel of what God has done for us through Christ.
So that sin and sins might have been dealt with and that it would help us in our pathway down here. There are many believers who sin and then feel that they're lost again. That's because they don't understand the fullness of the work of Christ. Understanding these two things will give you peace, won't they? They'll give you peace and enjoyment and enjoying the love that has been extended to you through the finished work of God's beloved Son.
So we learned from these chapters that we are more than forgiven sinners. That's true. We are forgiven sinners. But as you say, at the cross God not only took up the question of my sins, but the nature that produced those sins. John the Baptist said the axe is laid at the root of the tree, and it's really the root of man that is bad. Man is rotten through and through when he sinned in the Garden of Eden, when Adam acted in disobedience and aid of the forbidden fruit.
He became a Sinner, that is, he received a fallen nature, and everyone of us have inherited that fallen nature. We sin because we are sinners. Sin, as you say, is the fruit of the fact that we have this nature that's rotten through and through. And we learn in these chapters that the that nature that that we're born with, it never improves that sinful nature. And so that which is born of the flesh is flesh. The Lord said to Nicodemus in John 3.
It never improves.
It doesn't get any worse either.
Interesting, isn't it? The fallen nature never gets worse. The manifestation of it may get worse. We see more open sin and rebellion today. But it's not that that the the sinful nature, the old man has got worse. No, he's always been rotten through and through, nor does he improve. And so in these chapters we have something brought in before God that brings us into a position that is more than just a forgiven Sinner.
That's why this chapter opens with the thought of justification, and we have it in three different ways here. In the first few chapters of Romans, we find that if we were to go back to the third chapter, we find there that he says in verse 24. Therefore being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, because this is the way that we're brought into blessing, into this standing. It's through the great, it's through his grace.
And then we find in the 28th verse of that third chapter, therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. And we can develop that later. And that introduces to us what we have in the first verse of our chapter. Again, he speaks of being justified by faith. And then, and so that's the means. But then notice verse 9. And we'll get to this a little later, but just to complete the thought, verse nine of chapter 5, much more.
Then being now justified by his blood, that's the basis of it, isn't it? It's the blood of Jesus Christ. And so justification is far, far more than just the fact that we're forgiven sinners. And I think it would be helpful if we develop a little on that subject. It's a subject that I don't believe is well understood amongst many Christians and perhaps amongst us as well.
00:15:21
So if you go back to the end verses of chapter 4, it helps to get the context.
Verse 23 It was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed. That's righteousness, but for us also to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him. That raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification, so that when the Lord Jesus was on the cross, He answered to God fully.
About the question of sin. And he died, He paid the ultimate price. Not only did he die, but he was raised again. And that showed that God was fully satisfied. His righteous character was completely vindicated in the work of Christ. So that now when you and I put our faith in the Lord Jesus, then God not only forgives us like you've been mentioning, but he justifies us. In other words, he.
Counts.
As righteous, we have imputed to us God's righteousness. It's it's a wonderful thing that.
It's not anything that we attain to on our own, but it is what God imputes to the believer. Now that we have put our faith in the Lord Jesus and the result of that is peace, can there be any question about it if you go back to the cross?
If there is any question, it directly reflects.
On the work of the Lord Jesus at the cross. Can you call that in question?
People often have doubts and fears when they're looking inside themselves and they don't feel quite right.
It's not a question of feelings, it's a question of facts. What was taken? What took place at the cross? The work of the Lord Jesus, the work of redemption and his resurrection showed that God was fully satisfied.
It's often said that salvation is in three tenses, isn't it? And I think it's so helpful to get a hold of that. First, there's a present tense of salvation, that is, we're saved from the penalty of sin. And that really goes along with forgiveness, doesn't it? And then because of the work the Lord Jesus did, it's the basis for us being saved from the power of sin, which is really what we're speaking about, isn't it? Forgiveness is a one time thing, really.
Because all of our sins are future at the cross. But then to be saved from the power of sin is a great thing. And that's really the subject of these chapters, starting with verse 12, isn't it? And then there is 1/3 and we get that in the 8th chapter. We're going to be saved from the very presence of sin. And that's a wonderful thing. So we have salvation past, present, and future. I think it's helpful to get a hold of that.
So there are many Christians today who do not have real rest of soul and Peace of Mind.
Because they don't understand the position that Brother Bob was Speaking of that we've been brought into. And I remember one time, I don't know if the younger generation here read the works of John Bunyan, but John Bunyan wrote a number of books. I suppose his most well known was Pilgrim's Progress. He also wrote an allegory called The Holy War. But one time my wife had picked up another one of his books called Grace Abounding, and she had, she read it, I read it years before.
And it's really his autobiography and the struggles he had as a believer. And as my wife was reading the book, she commented on a number of occasions as to how unhappy a man John Bunyan was. And so I picked up the book after she was done and I reread it, and I realized that he had struggles and what never had settled peace because he saw at the cross the end of his sins, but he never saw the end of John Bunyan. He never understood what God had done with the old man.
And I've sometimes illustrated it this way. You remember in Pilgrims Progress that the man Christian came to the wicked gate and there was the cross, and he had this great bundle of sins on him that represented his sins on his back. And as he stood there at the cross, that bundle of that represented his sins in John Bunyan's dream, it rolled into the tomb and he went on his way to the Celestial City.
00:20:16
But it would have been better if he had rolled into the tomb with his bundle of sins and come out a Newman, if John Bunyan, who wrote that, had understood that he would have had settled peace in his soul. And so we need to realize that in being justified, we're brought into a position before God where we are seen in all the perfection and righteousness of Christ. We've been made the righteousness of God in in him. And I've sometimes illustrated it this way from the Old Testament, and it may fall a little short.
But you remember in the Tabernacle, there were boards that were raised to build the Tabernacle, and together they were a habitation for God in the wilderness. But I believe individually those boards represent to us individual believers, and there were two things that characterized those boards.
One, they were set in two sockets of silver, and we know that silver is almost invariably, if not invariably a picture of redemption in Scripture. And so we have forgiveness through his blood, even the redemption of our sins and so on. What a wonderful thing that is. But there was something else that characterized those boards. They were covered completely with pure gold and gold in Scripture so often speaks of of divine righteousness. In other words, for our illustration when the eye of God rested on those boards.
What did he see? Not that rough cut lumber that was underneath, but he saw that which spoke in type in anticipation of believers being brought into a position where they are seen in all the perfection and righteousness of Christ. And brethren, that's the position. Do I sin? Yes I do, but I'm thankful that he doesn't see me in the old light. He doesn't see me as the the old Jim Highland. I'm crucified with Christ.
The old man is dead. It was put to death at the cross. And yes, I have the sinful flesh. I stand before God as justified. One more comment about justification. That's important. Sometimes I've heard people say, and it's not accurate. I've heard people say justification is just as if I'd never sinned. That is not an accurate statement, brethren, because if I say justification is just as if I'd never sinned, that puts me back in innocence.
Adam had never sinned before. He ate the forbidden fruit, but he wasn't justified. He was innocent, but to be justified is to be brought into a position that's seen in that light, but it is a position that is far, far greater than anything that Adam ever enjoyed in innocence.
Another point I think is important, Jim, is that many people believe that when a believer accepts the Lord as his savior.
Then the righteousness that Christ had as a perfect man in this world is imputed to him. That is not right. We are clothed in the righteousness of God in Christ, but it never really uses the term the righteousness of Christ in the Scripture as to the what the believer is clothed in. It's the righteousness of God in Christ. And and that's an important point because if that were the case, then the righteousness we had would be a righteousness based on works.
And that's not the case. It's a righteousness completely different based on faith in the Lord Jesus and His finished work.
Just to go on here in this chapter, because we want to move along, brethren, so perfect is that place we've been brought into.
That we in verse 2.
Rejoice.
In the glory, in hope of the glory of God. And then notice verse 3. Not only so, but we glory in tribulations also.
Is that right?
Do you Glory and tribulations, Brother Vern.
No, it's the result of them.
But isn't this amazing?
That even in tribulations we can glory. I amazed that the apostle Paul who when he got that thorn in the flesh.
He said I will glory in tribulations knowing that when that is the case, the power of Christ rests upon me. And this is a tremendous thing, brother, and when things that are negative according to our viewpoint happened to us in life.
00:25:21
We can glory in that. How is that?
Knowing that tribulation works, patience.
Patients experience and experience hope, and that hope is not a shame because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. So God is working through every single circumstance, even the ones that we esteem to be negative, to bring about His purposes a blessing that are formed in that past eternity.
I say sometimes, brethren, I'm kind of hard headed, kind of stiff necked, but who is going to win in the end? God in his eternal purposes or this little piece of humanity? It's God, Thank God.
Might mention from the Old Testament we have illustrations of what we have here, and that is that when the Israelites were coming out of Egypt, we know that the basis was the Passover.
But that wasn't the proof.
But the basis was the Passover. That's where the Lamb was slain, and that was what we call propitiation.
The work was complete there, but they were still in fear of their lives, weren't they? And so as we the verses Bob red in the end of Roar, go on to the Red Sea. Because the Red Sea is not only a picture of the death of Christ, it's also a picture of His resurrection, which we don't have at the Passover. Why is the resurrection so important?
I'll just put it this way.
Every man who started a religion, with one exception, is still in the grave. Why would I trust that man's religion? He's never overcome sin and death. He's still in the grave. But one person is risen, and that's the Lord Jesus. He has defeated the powers of sin and Satan and hell. And that's the picture of the Red Sea we have here in verse 25 of chapter 4.
And then I mentioned that because we're going to get to the Red Sea again beginning in verse 12 of chapter 5. But what we have in verse first 11 verses of chapter 5 is the wilderness. And that's, that's the truth. We're we're saved now. And remember, once they got on the other side of the Red Sea back in Exodus, that's when they first sang a song. They didn't sing any songs in Egypt, but they sang a song then and they used the word salvation for the first time.
Miriam led the ladies in singing the song and we have salvation. So we have those two things. We have the basis of salvation in the in the Passover. We have the proof of it in the resurrection, that's the Red Sea. The Lord Jesus not only died, he rose again and he ascended on high as we well know. And then again, the 1St 11 verses of chapter 5 are the wilderness and then we're going to get back to the work of Christ.
Beginning with verse 12 again, which frankly again is the Red Sea. It's important to see we have the Red Sea twice in these chapters. That's confused a lot of people, but I believe that's really the secret. We have the Red Sea in the end of chapter 4. In fact, that confused the early brethren and they wrestled with that for a long time and then finally resolved this very thing. So as to the question of sins, we have both the Passover and the Red Sea. The Red Sea again is the evidence.
The proof that the work is complete, not only did the Lord Jesus say it is finished on the cross, He rose from the dead. That's when He ascended back up on high. God never would have received him if he hadn't been perfect. He was perfect after those 40 days. But then we have in the 1St 11 verses the results of that, the introduction into the wilderness.
There's a reason He never repeats something just for the sake of repeating something. You don't get the Red Sea twice just for the sake of doing it. On the one side, you see that God is satisfied with the work of Christ, so it brings out that aspect. Why is that so important to us? It's because it brings before us what God has done through Christ for us. But then we have up to 11 as was brought out, or at the end of 11, the Red Sea is brought out in connection with what it is done for us.
00:30:13
In his resurrection. And so there are two different aspects of something that we might enjoy, not only what God has, not only what was in the heart of God, but what has been done for us through the work of Christ.
Just like to comment a little further on verse.
Two and three and four, rather than because I think it is so beautiful to grasp this, the word patience might be used. Endurance.
Tribulations are hard to take. We all experience them in different ways, but to realize that tribulation works endurance, and that's where it takes faith. When there's that faith, the faith that God has put into you as a believer is a faith that overcomes. It endures. And so in the midst of tribulation.
We realize that it's God's working and so endurance, or I should say patience or endurance.
Works, experience, and through the experiences of life we come to realize that God is working His sovereign purposes so different than maybe what we had thought. And then experience brings hope.
I must say I've gone through some hard trials in life.
I at the time could not figure out what was happening.
But as life has gone on, I look back now and see that it was God that was working in that. And so now there is hope.
And when the Lord allows me perhaps to go through another hard trial.
I have hope. And what is that hope based on?
It's not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Why does God love us?
I like to ask that question when we go into prison to preach the gospel.
And generally speaking, the first answer I get from the men is.
Because we're his children. Well, I say, if you're not a believer, you're not his child. But he still loves you. Why?
So they stop and think, and then sometimes they say because we're his creatures. Okay, I can accept that. But I said there's another answer. God loves us because God is love. And as he looks at you, you cannot change who He is.
Looks at you with a love that cannot change at all for all eternity. It is the same. It's a love that depends on Him.
We're so geared in our humanistic culture to love people that love us. You'd be nice to me and I'll be nice to you.
With people that talk that way don't understand God's love. God's love is a love that loves in spite of all and so it goes on to confirm that in verse 6 for when we were yet without strength in due time Christ died for the ungodly. He didn't die for people, he died for the ungodly and then it further.
Confirms that in verse eight, God commands His love toward us in that while we were yet signed for us, ultimate proof of God's love is the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. What a wonderful thing.
Got one more word though and then 10th is when we were enemies.
It has something.
And you read of the word boast the last time in the 11Th verse of the 5th chapter. You have it mentioned seven times in the first part of Romans boasting.
00:35:05
We boast in God.
Is the are you saying that these experiences that we go through?
Takes our mind off all but Christ and so this the love of God.
Is shed abroad in our heart. That's really the result of these things, right?
Yes. And the difficulty in our Christian experience is that we lose sight of one of two things, the love of God in what he's done for us in providing A Savior and the position that he's brought us into, or we lose sight of that which is ahead. We we lose sight of our hope. And that really was the difficulty with the children of Israel in the wilderness, wasn't it, when they failed it under the experiences that God passed them through.
When sin came in, when they murmured and complained, they had forgotten first of all what God had done for them in delivering them from Egypt, redeeming them by the blood of the Passover lamb, delivering them through the Red Sea, and bringing them out from under the authority of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, under the authority of Moses, God's man, a picture of the Lord Jesus. They forgot that. But I believe too, they also lost sight of what was ahead. They lost sight of their hope.
It's often been mentioned, but we'll repeat it because I think it's helpful. You find in the 16th chapter of Exodus that very quickly after they were in the wilderness, they murmured and complained, and Moses cried to the Lord. And the Lord told Moses, tell the children of Israel to turn around. They're looking in the wrong direction. They're looking back. And when they turned around and looked out over the wilderness, what did they see? Was it the rocks and the sand and all the things that were in front of them between them and the Promised Land?
And believe me, those things are very real. I've experienced them on more than one occasion. But when they looked out over the wilderness, they saw the glory of the Lord in the cloud. In some way, Jehovah was pleased to reveal himself to them. And with that in view, then they could press on toward, towards the the goal. But so often in their experience, they lost sight of the promises. They lost sight of what was ahead. And brethren, if we lose sight of those two things, we're going to not learn from the experiences.
That God is passing us through in this wilderness journey. And the experiences, we don't want to undermine them. They're very real. As we had in our prayer meeting this morning. Those experiences are very real. What do we need to keep in view? We need to keep in view the love that provided the the Savior and the position we've been brought into. And we need to keep in view the hope that is set before us.
Or to be results from these different things, aren't there What what's the result of the tribulation ending in hope? Well, it brings us closer it says in verse five it says and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us so so through our trials in our life, it should bring us closer to God. We should understand more about his love to us, shouldn't we?
What's the next thing we find? Well, it says, for when we were yet without strength and due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet her adventure. For a good man some would even dare to die. What's the end result?
But God commendeth his love toward us, and in this, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So now we learn something more about the love of God to us. And then what's the end of this year? We find that we're reconciled back to God.
Through the work of Christ. Again, that's another aspect of what God has done. He's desiring to bring us to Him, to understand we're back on speaking terms with Him. All of this is connected with His love. So these are three different areas in this little portion that bring the love of God before us and make Him more real and precious as we understand all that He has done.
The experiences of life and the trials and tribulations that he passes us through.
Are not because he's a hard God, it's not because he wants to discourage us and cast us down. He wants to prove himself in those experiences. I'd like to read a verse in Psalm 4 that has become very real and precious to me in the past year or so of my life.
00:40:01
You know, again, experience, maybe I just say a little word about experience as a little parenthesis. You know, those of us who are older here have something that the young people don't have and can't have at this point in their life, and that's experience. You've had some experience, but not the experiences that the Lord has passed some of us who are older through. And as we look back on those experiences, it's wonderful to see the Lord's hand.
And I just want to encourage those who are younger, don't chafe under the experiences and trials that the Lord passes you through. He passes you through them in his infinite love and to deepen your appreciation of that love and of Himself. And in that regard, I just like to read the first verse of Psalm 4. Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness. Now the next part of the verse I'm going to read in Mr. Darby's translation.
In pressure thou hast enlarged me. I believe as we go through the experiences of life, if we really accept them and take them from His hand of love, it enlarges and expands our souls as to many things concerning His purposes, His love, who He is, even the work of Calvary, all that He's doing for us, as well as it deepens our appreciation.
And understanding of what is ahead as to our hope and that day of glory.
And brethren, as I look back on my life, I am so thankful for those experiences because I can say, and it's only by the grace of God that it has enlarged my soul as to many of the of these things. And maybe there's someone here and you're saying, but Jim, it's all right for you to talk about that, but I just don't see how God is acting in love in my circumstances. Well, and maybe we better take time to go back to it. We could quote it, but in Exodus 15, I believe we have a beautiful little example here.
That again has become perhaps more precious to my own soul in recent time, and I don't want to get away from our chapter. Things are very practical. Exodus 15, you find that the children of Israel, they're in the wilderness now. They have sung this wonderful song that has been mentioned, the song of redemption. First time you have singing in the scripture. They're just rejoicing as they realize they have not just redemption, but full deliverance from the power of Pharaoh and the Egyptians in Egypt, a picture of Satan in this world.
But then notice what happens in the 23rd verse. And when they came to Mara, they could not drink of the waters of Mara, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Mara. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? I'll stop there for a moment. Here they come to this bitter experience. And maybe there's someone here this morning and you say, I've come to America in my life, and I just don't understand how God can in His love bring me to this bitter experience.
But notice what he goes on to say, verse 24. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the Lord. And the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet there. He made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them. Well. I think we see very quickly that the tree would remind us of Calvary, the one who bore our sins in his own body on the tree. And maybe you can't see God's love in your circumstances this morning.
But you can always see it at the cross. And I want to encourage you, if you've come to this point in your life, as it were, cast the tree into the water, look to the cross. Can you doubt His love when you look at what God paid to bring you into this position we've talked about? Can you doubt the love of the Lord Jesus when you see that mighty sacrifice and the fact that He gave His life and shed His precious blood? He gave up everything. He sold all that He had. He was that merchant man. He sold all that He had that he might purchase the Pearl of great price.
You can't doubt His love there, and maybe that's the only thing that will bring sweetness into the circumstance. But I say again, from experience, it's a wonderful thing. So you look at those bitter waters. You say I don't understand God's love. Look at the cross. And if you cannot doubt His love and what you see at the cross, then how can you doubt His love in the circumstances of your life?
Proved Himself to be for us unquestionably. And brethren, I I find that in many times in Latin America where people are not maybe so well educated, they trust the Lord more easily than we do, we have the tendency to analyze things. We're taught to do that, and it's all right to do that, but don't let that keep you from trusting God.
00:45:20
Trust Him, He has proved himself. Sometimes when people call in question what God's allowing, I say to them.
Just a minute here.
How much of all the information that is available to be read?
Do you know what percentage of all the information out there do you know? And if they're honest, they say .00001, maybe percent.
I say, OK, you're being honest, but here's a God that knows everything and you think you can enter into judgment with Him when you have so little knowledge and he has all knowledge. Trust Him, brethren. That's Christianity. Trust him. He's proved himself unquestionably.
And when I'm dealing with people on the streets.
They asked me, well, if the love of God is his character and what he is, how could he allow somebody to go through a lost eternity?
And so the forgiveness of God is there, but it's like when we go to Brighton Morningstar and we are going on the whitewater rafting.
You have to have a life fit.
And it doesn't do much good just to hold that life desk in your hands. You have to put the life vest on. The life vest is there. It's a good life vest. And it might save your life and you might know all about the, the safety features of that life vest. But if you don't put that life vest on, it really doesn't do you much good going down the Rapids. And so in in this life that we're living.
As we go through this life.
There are many who don't have gods like this, and God has a life desk for each and every one of us. It's the forgiveness of God. But we cannot, God cannot apply that to us unless there's repentance.
Of our sins, we have to acknowledge and confess that we are lost, guilty, hellbound, hell deserving sinners. And that's where Acts 20 comes in faith towards God and repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus. And so we first must have come to the realization that we need that life as that God has for us. We must first acknowledge that we are lost, guilty sinners and then receive Christ into our hearts. Then God can apply that forgiveness.
He has that is there. We don't ask for forgiveness, we don't pray for forgiveness because it's already there.
But the forgiveness never comes into play.
Or cut, or is applied to us, or we can never come into the good of it unless there is repentance, unless there's acknowledging that we are lost, guilty sinners, and then we receive Christ in our hearts, and then he applies to that blood to us that washes us from us.
The second-half of the chapter I read a comment Mr. Darby made recently and I appreciated it so much I jotted it down in front of my Bible. I think it's really the a summary of what we have. In the second-half of the chapter it says this is the universal order of God's ways to set up blessing first under the responsibility of man, to be accomplished afterwards according to his council's.
By his power and grace.
And so we have what's sometimes been referred to as the two federal heads in the second part of the chapter, don't we? We have the first Adam.
And we have the Lord Jesus, who's the last Adam, and we were born under the first Adam, but the work of Christ in his death and resurrection, which again is the Red Sea that we mentioned. When we have faith in Christ, we're identified with Christ in that new position, we're dead as to the original position, aren't we? We're no longer under the first Adam, but we're under Christ. And so we have the.
00:50:02
Two head ships, sometimes called the two federal head ships. We are under either the first atom or we're under the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the last Adam in new creation.
It's the second atom is it is He was the 2nd man, but he's the last Adam. Because this is the answer, God's ultimate answer. I'd just like to comment before we go on to that second part there, Erica. I think we need to keep on going like you say. But in verse 10, it says if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more.
Being reconciled.
We shall be saved by his life, and that's his life of intercession for us at God's right hand. So because of the position we occupy, there is a man at God's right hand who is interceding our 'cause even when we don't understand the dangers we're passing through.
He's interceding for us. It relates to the verse in.
Hebrews 725 I'll read it and it says wherefore.
He is able. I love it. In the Spanish it says he is powerful.
Also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever limit to make intercession for us. Isn't that wonderful, brother? Sometimes we feel weak. Sometimes perhaps we're so confused we don't even know how to pray.
But there's one that ever lives to make intercession for us at God's right hand and verse 11 here, which is really the end of the first section of Romans. Not only so that we also joy or boast. Like Ernie was saying in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received and it should be as in the margin of your Bible. Perhaps the reconciliation.
The atonement isn't really in the New Testament. The atonement means a covering. And in the New Testament, sin has not merely been covered, brethren, it has been completely put away by the sacrifice of himself. Wonderful to realize.
So it's the reconciliation there. And that concludes this first section of the book of Romans. Define reconciliation.
Could you you know?
You know, so we have something to pin it to. Go ahead, brother.
I'd like to hear you put on speaking terms with God, but that you can put it better than that. Reconciliation is to be brought back into a position where we're perfectly comfortable in the presence of God. And it's interesting that you never read of God needing to be reconciled to man. It says in First Corinthians, second Corinthians 5, be reconciled to God.
Because it was man that put himself at a distance. Sin separated from God. When Adam sinned in the garden, it separated him from God, and he received a conscience. He was no longer comfortable in the presence of God, and he hid himself, having sewed fig leaves together the work of his hands. But now we have been brought into a position. It was us that needed to be reconciled, not God. And so we have been brought back now on the grounds of the blood of Christ.
Were justified, as it says in verse 9, by the by his blood. We've been brought into a position where we're perfectly comfortable. Now, brother, not to belabor this, but I I think it's an important concept because again we're in in this chapter. It's more than the forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness of sins is a wonderful thing and we don't want we preach that in the gospel. We tell souls they need to have their sins forgiven, but we learn after we are saved that we are brought into a place being justified where we are perfectly comfortable.
In the presence of God and the presence of the Lord Jesus.
Now this is not an original illustration, but, and I'll repeat it, but I'll repeat it. I've used it many times. We'll suppose that I go to Lawrenceville, IL. I break into Brother Bob's home and I steal a lot of things. And Brother Bob calls the police and they come after me and they catch me. He doesn't know who the thief is. And so they call Brother Bob and they, Bob, Tony, come down to the police station. We've caught your thief red handed with the goods. And so Bob comes down to the police station and he's about to go to the counter to make it a charge.
00:55:00
And he looks over on the bench and he sees me handcuffed to the bench. And he comes over and he sits down beside me. And he says, now, Brother Jim, what you did was wrong. And your guilt, I know you're guilty, but I'm not going to press charges. I'm going to completely forgive you for what you did. And not only that, but I'd like you, just as you always do when you're in Lawrenceville, come on over to our house for dinner, sit down and spend the evening with us. And we'll just let bygones be bygones.
If he did that, and if I went to his house, would I ever be completely comfortable in his presence again? I know I'm forgiven, but I'd always feel like a forgiven thief. You know, my grandmother had an expression. She said I forgive and forget, but I always remember. And that's human nature. You know, God doesn't forget. That's human weakness. I forget the things I want to remember, and I remember the things I want to forget, but only a divine person can choose to forget.
And one of the things God chooses to forget are my sins when they're washed in the blood of Jesus. And because I'm brought into this perfect standing now, I'm more than just a forgiven Sinner. I can be perfectly comfortable in his presence. And brethren, I say again, we need to get ahold of this in our souls or we will never have settled peace. Like I say, John Bunyan spent his whole life fighting what he called the holy war, fighting with the old man and not realizing what God had done with it. And as we go on to these next verses, it's a tremendous thing to realize.
That not only did Christ die for me, but I died with Christ. I'm dead and risen with Christ and seen in this completely new position.
Can I give a definition in in Colossians one, we have reconciliation here as well. You get reconciled, have your sins washed away by the blood of Christ, but you're reconciled by the death of Christ, aren't you? So here in Colossians chapter one, I think this this is kind of gives a definition in verse 21 it says and you that were sometimes alienated in enemies.
In your mind by wicked works. Yet now hath He reconciled in the body of his flesh through death. To do what?
To present you wholly and unblameable and unruh provable in his sight. That's what it is to be reconciled, isn't it? That's a definition. Now if we want to go to Ephesians chapter one, we find that we stand before God, who the one that we were enemies to please have before God.
Holy and without blame before him and love. What's the value of that? That's what God has done for himself. This is what he's done for us. But there it's what God has done for his pleasure. His desire was that we would be holy and without blame before him, in love for all eternity. And reconciliation in business or politics or in the world is always on the grounds of compromise.
But we've been reconciled to God through the death of His Son on the basis of the blood of Christ. Any of us who've been in business know that you try to keep the warehouse staff happy with the office staff and the salesman happy with the customer and so on. And to do that, you usually arbitrate and sit two parties down and bring them to a common denominator. But there's usually compromise either on both parties or at least on the side of one. But God has not compromised His Holiness or His position.
To reconcile us to God, to himself. It's on the base a righteous basis, the death and the shedding of blood, the blood of his son in the illustration, Jim.
I can forgive, but I can just if I can. But it's the realization of what God has done in Christ that gives us a basis for reconciliation with God, first of all with one another.
Mutual of the light in God's presence. That's reconciliation. Mutual delight in God's presence. Not only his delight in us because of our new standing, but our delight in Him as well.
What did you say? Would you repeat that again? I have a note in my Bible, I don't remember where I got it, but it says mutual delight in God's presence. That's what reconciliation is.
Bilateral, isn't it?
Verses 12 Through 14, then, are the first band, right, the first Adam. Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. And so it rained even before the law, because we're all sinners by nature. That's the inheritance from the first man.
01:00:15
Sinned in Adam if the president of the United States, this is a federal government. And if the president of the United States, if he declares war, all the states are involved in that. We, the state declares war because the president has done it. And so we become sinners because we sinned in Adam. So it's true of all that are under that head and remain righteous.
Through Christ, because he is the federal head of that race. It's the root here, not the fruit, isn't it? Yeah, it's the root.
We inherited a fallen nature from our first parents, didn't we?
And the law didn't come in until Moses, but there was sin in the world before Moses, and that's why there was death in this world, because sin brings death.
It has to do with race, doesn't it?
We sinned in Adam, so where that race, we didn't do it, he did it.
We're under that head and we're condemned. But.
Federal means it means that.
Like in the United States, there's many states, but there is a head, a federal government, and what that they do up there is true of all of us.
This has sometimes been called the much more chapter and it's beautiful to see brethren in verses 9 in verses 10 we have that expression much more and when God steps in over other than how can we limit what he does verse 15 for if through the offense of many.
The one many be dead much more. Here we have the grace of God brought in, and the gift by grace, which is by one man. Jesus Christ hath abounded into many. And then it is repeated in verse 20 again. Moreover, the law entered that the fence might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did much more about.
Oh, what a God we have.
A God of all grace. Is there anything they can call in question? I mean, when we think of the awfulness of the sin that was perpetrated against God's beloved Son and taking him outside the city of Jerusalem and nailing him to that cross, there's nothing that equals that crime in all history. God turns around now, says that's the mean by which I can extend.
Forgiveness and justification to all mankind when there is repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus. What a tremendous work when he says, when you were talking about the, the 1St 11 verses and you talked about forgiveness, but he never forgives. He doesn't forgive the nature. He condemns it. It's like a meat inspector. He goes into the, the place and he looks at these, these slabs of cows and he, he says, well, there's something there. Well, it's something this whole thing is.
Not edible. We condemn it. And that's what he's done to the old nature hadn't forgiven it, he's condemned it.
You're talking about Romans 8 verse three, brother. Yeah, yeah. Let me read it because it it's exactly what you're saying, what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh because he was holy humanity.
And for sin about the sin question, condemned sin in the flesh, if there was anything.
That was to God's approval in man in the flesh. Surely the presence of the Lord Jesus would have brought it out. And what was man's answer? Crucify him. Crucify him. God says the test is over. Man in the flesh is not forgiven. He's condemned.
01:05:09
There's a.
That brings us back to what the brothers just beginning to believe. What God said about you is the truth. Instead of trying to improve that old nature, where to reckon it dead.
And so it's the only way to get if God couldn't do anything with it, if Christ couldn't do anything with it, what makes you think you can? So it's not fighting the old nature.
It's realizing that's been put away in the death of Christ and.
To reckon it that way.
That's what we'll get later, isn't it?
At the operative figure in the earlier chapters up through 511 is the Passover, isn't it? It's the blood of Christ. We're redeemed by the blood of Christ.
Now it's all one work, of course, but we're getting distinctions here. The operative figure in this second-half, starting with verse 12 of our chapter, then through verse 817 at least of chapter 8 is baptism. It's the end of what I was in the first man. And really I might just say in the Romans 8, no doubt get to it. But the 1St 3 verses of Roman 8 give a summary of the previous three chapters. Verse one actually of Romans 8 gives a summary of of chapter 512 Through 21.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. That's the new standing belong there as we all know what we have. We were in Adam, now we're in Christ Jesus by faith in Christ. But the operative figure here of the work of Christ is baptism, and we get that in the 6th chapter. We're looked at as dead and alive through Christ.
Before we close, go ahead, Rod.
Best to him so finish your thoughts.
I missed one much more, brother, let me give it to you. Verse 17. If by one man's offense death reign by one much more. They that receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ.
Doesn't get any better than that.
Perhaps we could think 27 in the back of the book.
Summarizes nicely some of what has been touched on 27 the back of the book.
Our God and our Father, we thank Thee for this portion. We thank Thee for this opportunity to be together in Thy word. We think of that verse where sin abounded, grace did super abound, much more abound. Our God and our Father. What the truth is that we know in such a small measure the awfulness of sin, that we've been justified.
We've been freed from the penalty of sin and Lord, as we look in the next chapter as to sanctification.
Being freed from the power of sin, that we might choose to live for thee because of the power of the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives. We pray for help that we might make these things real in our lives. And we thank Thee, as our dear brother mentioned, that our good God commendeth His love toward us.
In that cross we just thank you and bless you and praise you in Jesus mighty name, Amen.