Gospel—R. Reeves
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I would like to turn to the.
5th chapter of the Book of Romans Tonight.
I'm so happy to see some of you.
With Bibles.
And I think if you'll turn.
In your Bible to Romans chapter 5, you'll be very glad that you did.
Romans chapter 5.
And it won't be necessary to.
Think about turning any other pages.
Because what I would like to share with you tonight.
Will be brought before us in this wonderful chapter.
Romans chapter.
5.
Therefore being justified by faith.
We have peace.
With God.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have peace.
Now in the 11 verses that we're going to consider tonight.
We're going to.
See some things that believers have.
In fact, we're going to talk about those tonight who have.
And those that have not.
Everybody in this world belongs to that one of those two classes of people.
Those who have.
And those who have not.
Sometimes we talk about countries like that. We say this is a country which is called a.
Have not country.
The people there have no refrigerators.
Most of the people do not have cars.
Many of the people do not have any money in the bank.
And we say that this is a country called have not country.
Tonight we're here to spend a few minutes talking about.
Those who have.
And those who have not.
Before this meeting.
I drove over to.
A close by town.
Because I wanted to buy a couple of candy bars.
I'm not sure what the name of the town is. Maybe at Stanford or Sanford, it's something like that. At any rate, it's close by and I went over there.
And I found a restaurant opened and.
I walked in and.
They said they, I know they all looked at me funny because I had a white shirt and tie on.
I didn't start out that way today. I wore my sport shirt, but my wife says, honey, if you're going to preach the gospel.
Since Mr. Mauer, Dr. Mauer gave such a nice little talk about the dignity of the gospel, maybe you ought to put on your white shirt and your tie. So I did. But I walked in that restaurant and they looked at me funny and I said to the lady behind the counter, do you have any candy bars?
Yes, she said. We do.
Well, I said. Do you have any Snickers?
You see, Snicker is one of my favorite candy bars.
And she said we do.
Well, I said that I'd like 2 Snickers.
So I bought 2 Snickers.
Here they are. Put them in my pocket.
Their meat candy bar. One of the best ones I know.
They're just just the right amount of chocolate and just the right amount of peanuts and just the right amount of goo to hold it all together. I think it's just about one of the finest candy bars I I know about, and they're they're especially good right out of the freezer.
There's just nothing like a snicker bar.
Now there are two classes of people in this room about on this subject, those that have snicker bars.
And those that don't have snicker bar.
Now you either have a snicker bar or you don't have a snicker bar.
00:05:02
Which which would you rather be? Would you rather be in the class of people that have snicker bars?
Or would you rather be in the class of people that have not snicker bar this boy in the red shirt? Would you rather be that one of the halves or one of the have nots?
When you come over here, I'm going to give you a snicker bar and you'll be one of the halves.
I thought he would be glad to have a Snickers.
So there are the haves.
And there are the have nots. I prefer you not eat it during the meeting because it would make me hungry to watch you.
And I have more important business.
Right now.
Now this other snicker bar is mine.
There are the haves and there are the have nots, and these are good.
These are good.
I'll tell you more about this other snicker bar later on, Lord willing tonight, but those who have and those who have not.
Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace.
With God.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, dear friend, are you a have?
Or are you a have not.
Do you have peace with God?
Do ya?
Being justified by faith we have.
Peace with God.
You know, there was a time in my life when I did not have peace with God.
Things were not settled in my heart.
Between God and me.
I did not have peace.
But I'm glad tonight to let you know that.
I have peace with God, the war is over and my soul.
All is quiet in my soul about my sins.
And I have peace.
And you know, I came here tonight because I want you to have peace too.
I wish I could have gone to the store and bought a snicker bar for everybody in this room. I really would like to have done that.
I want you to have what I have. It's so good.
It's so good to have peace with God.
Being justified by faith.
You know, when I was a boy.
I did some things that weren't right.
And I don't tell people very often a lot about my.
Boyhood.
And I seldom told my own children about my boyhood because I thought they would have enough experiences of their own and I didn't need to to tell them all of mine.
But I will share with you tonight something that happened to me when I was a boy. It didn't happen to me, but I made it happen.
We have a time of year, the end of.
October, which is called Halloween.
And when I was a boy, we used to have a special day.
When some of the kids went out and knocked on people's doors.
To try to get some good stuff to eat.
And.
When I was a boy, they didn't say trick or treat.
That's a refinement that has occurred in the last few years.
We didn't say trick or treat.
But they do that now. Don't the kids come to the house? Some of them dressed in funny clothes and stuff the end of October and they say trick or treat.
And you let them in maybe and they stand on their head or they say it's something funny and then you give them a cookie or a piece of candy and and off they go to the next house. They they do that quite often. Now, tricks or treat. But when I was a boy, we didn't have that. And we we did something that was a lot worse than that. We would go up to a house and we'd say so per each.
00:10:01
That's what I did. That's what they did.
Back in my days and I see Mr. Lawrence Macy laughing. I think he did the same thing, Soap or eats. Now what that means is if you don't give me something to eat, I'm going to soak your windows.
That was a naughty thing to do, wasn't That was a naughty thing to do. And we boys, I don't think the girls did it, but we boys would carry a bar soap in our pockets.
And we will go to a house and we say so for each.
And if they knew that if they didn't give us something to eat, we soaked it windows.
Well, I'll tell you what.
There was a lady lived real close to me and I think she was a grump.
Think he was a crown?
And.
I soaked her windows.
I saw her windows, the big one in the front. I really soaked it. I took that soap out of my pocket and I went round and round and round all over that front window. It looked awful. I did it.
Maybe somebody was with me, but.
I shouldn't have done that. I was naughty.
And you know what happened the next day.
Gee, there's always the next day.
People that do snotty things during the night should remember that there's going to be a next day and there was a next day.
And that Lady came to my house and she found out that I'd soaked her windows.
And she didn't forgive me.
She didn't say, Oh, that's all right. It's nice to lookout. Nice design, all that, you know.
It was awful. It was an awful.
Well, my parents saw to it that.
I went over to my neighbor's house.
And I don't know how. I don't know whether she gave us a razor blade or me. I don't know who it was with me, but.
Does it scrape off that soap?
Big bowl of water and a Bush rag and wash off the soap.
She didn't justify me.
You see, I had done wrong. I sinned against that neighbor. She may have been a Crump. It was wrong for me to do that.
And I had to go and take the soap off the windows and it was awful hard to get off.
I hope you never have to find out how hard it is to get soap off of a window.
It just would hardly come off. It was so much more fun to put it on than it was to take it off.
And I worked and worked and worked on that window. Finally got off the soap. That was naughty. I was ashamed of that. I shouldn't do things like that.
She didn't justify me, and I'm sure that that grumpy lady remembered that all the rest of her life. What a naughty little red headed boy lived next to her house. She come over and soap her window. I don't suppose she ever, really ever really forgave me for doing that. That was naughty.
Isn't this a wonderful verse therefore being justified?
By faith.
You know what it means to be justified.
To be justified about your sins means that God can't even find those sins on the record anymore.
They're all gone and the record is clear.
Now how can he do that? How can God put away sins in such a way?
That you can't even find them on the record.
How can you do that?
Oh, let me tell you how he did it.
God can justify sinners because on Calvary's cross.
Those awful dirty naughty sins.
Were laid on the Lord Jesus, and he took the blame for them.
And God punished him instead of us who believe.
And God won't expect payment twice for the same offense. And if he has judged the Lord Jesus for my sins, he can never judge me for them because the Lord Jesus took the blame for them and he suffered the penalty that they deserved.
And because I believed on the Lord Jesus as my Savior.
All my sins are gone, even the one of soap in the neighbors windows.
That's gone too. The Lord Jesus suffered for my sins and every believer.
In the Lord Jesus it says therefore being justified by faith, we have peace.
00:15:06
Every believer knows.
That their sins are gone. Why you can't even find them on the record.
That's what it means to be justified.
There's a little story I like to tell you because it helps me understand.
And we've come here tonight for justice a few minutes.
And I hope we all understand what we're talking about. Otherwise there's no reason why we should be here.
And so that's why I tell you these things.
I've asked God to help me make it so plain that we all understand. And this is a story that I tell sometimes, because it's such a good story that tells what it means to be justified.
Some years ago there was a train wreck in the state of Iowa where I live.
And in those days, they used to carry a lot of pigs.
In the trains, I don't think they do that so much anymore because the trains move so slowly.
That it would take a long time to get the pigs from the farm to the market. So I don't think they do that so much anymore. They use trucks.
But in those days they used to use trains and they had quite a few pigs in the box cars.
Especially animal cars.
And as that train was going through Iowa, something happened and it had a wreck and some of the railroad cars came off the track and some of the pigs got out-of-the-box cars.
And you know Iowa farmers, they always want to make money.
A lot of them do want to make money.
And some of those Iowa farmers, they said, hey, there's some pigs, let's grab them.
And some of those Iowa farmers got ahold of those pigs and they took them home. They took them home and said, hey, pigs, that's what we want, pigs. And they took them home and they put them in their barns.
But you know, there was a next day to the VAT, just like I told you. There was a next day about SOAP and windows.
There was a next day about the train wreck.
And you know, the policeman came out and investigated and they found out that some of the pigs got out-of-the-box cars.
And some of the Iowa farmers took them home.
And they got those pigs back again and they found out who the farmers were that did it. And they told those farmers, you got to come to the court and see the judge.
Well, those Iowa farmers knew they had their backs through the wall. They were caught.
And they paid back for the pigs.
Before they had their trial.
And when these farmers came to the judge and had their trial, they were sitting right before the judge and the judge read the charges to those men and he said, man, you have stolen pig.
You men are guilty. You stole pigs that belong to the railroad.
And that's wrong. That's a crime to steal pigs.
And you men are guilty of stealing pigs.
But then the judge said to these men, men I see on the record.
That you have paid back for all of the losses.
That came from You're stealing the pig I see you've paid back for all the losses, and the railroad isn't out any money at all. And the judge says that's good.
So he said because you've paid back all the money and you've given back all the pigs, I am not going to put you in jail.
But that judge stood up in front of those men and he said listen man.
I am not going to send you to jail for stealing the pigs.
But I want to tell you men something. You.
Men have established a criminal record.
And I can't blot out that record.
You boys on this front row have sinned against God.
You have established the record of sinners.
Now that judge could not justify those farmers. He could not wipe the record clean. They never were justified. They didn't have to go to jail. But they were not justified because their sin and their crime was always on the record.
00:20:15
Oh, do you know what it means to be justified? It means to be cleared from your sins in such a way that you can't even find the sins on the record.
That's what it means to be justified.
Oh, wouldn't you like to be justified? Wouldn't you like to be among the halves tonight? Those that can say, Oh yes, I've got justification, I believed on the Lord Jesus and you can't find any of my sins on the record. I'm justified because Jesus died for those sins. And folks, that's what it means to be justified that the sins are gone from the record.
And the records clear today, for he washed my sins away. That's what it means to be justified. Who has this justification? Who has this peace that comes from being justified? Those that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the ones that have are the ones that believe on the Lord Jesus.
And those that have not.
They're the ones that don't believe so. In this room tonight, there are two classes of people.
Those that have snicker bars and those that have not.
There are those in this room that have justification by faith and those that don't have it. And let me tell you, let me tell you folks.
If you don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ tonight, you don't have the justification of your sins, and your sins are still on the record and they'll be there.
Until you accept the Lord Jesus as your savior.
But just as though I told you, I'd like to have you all have sticker bars, or I'd like to have all of you know what this piece is about. I wish you all could know that you're justified before God. I wish you could all know that you have peace with God. And that's what this meeting is about. I've come to tell you how you can know that your sins are forgiven. How can you know? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved.
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
The Lord Jesus said him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.
If you shall confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believing your heart that God raised him from the dead, you'll be saved. That's how you can know that you're justified, and that's how you can know that you have peace with God. You want to be one of the halves, or I want you to be one of the halves. I don't want anybody in this room to be one of the have knowledge.
Now if we read the second version of this chapter, it says by whom we have access.
By faith.
You and I live in a time of superhighways.
When I was growing up as a child, we didn't have freeways.
And you could just turn off the road almost anytime you wanted to, and you could get back on the road the same way.
But you see, you can't do it on the Interstate.
There's only certain places where you have access to the road.
And that's the place which has been designed by the maker of the road.
Oh, those that believe on the Lord Jesus have access to the road that leads to God. Do you have access to the road that leads to God? How can you get it? By faith, By faith? By whom we have access, by faith into this grace wherein we stand or we stand? Oh, let me tell you that one of the things that a believer in the Lord Jesus has, he has a standing.
Before God.
You and I who believe on the Lord Jesus, we stand before God.
In all the acceptance of his beloved Son, the Lord Jesus.
And when God looks down on a believer.
He sees Christ 1St and then the believer because the believer is in Christ.
Oh, what a wonderful thing to be in Christ.
And those who believe in Christ have a standing of God. I want you to have a standing before God.
00:25:08
Into this grace, when we stand all grace. I like to talk about grace. You know what grace is? Grace is God's favor and mercy to us.
Even if we don't deserve it. He loves us even when we don't deserve his love.
It says and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. You know what a believer in Jesus has? A believer in Jesus has the hope of heaven.
Everyone in this room is going into eternity just as fast as the clock can take you.
What is your hope? Where are you going? Are you going to heaven?
Or are you going to hell? My dear friend, all you boys and girls, listen. You're on a road that leads either to heaven or to hell.
If you have accepted the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
If you have neglected the salvation of God and if you are not saved yet.
You are on a road that leads down down.
Down and ends in the flames of hell forever in the dark.
Oh, I don't want you to go there. I don't want you to go there. I want you to have what I have. That's where I came tonight. I want you to have what I have.
Verse three says not only so, but we glory in tribulations. Oh, there's another thing a Christian has. He's got the victory even in his troubles.
It's the most wonderful thing in the world to be a Christian, because anything that happens to you.
God makes something good out of it. We even glory and tribulations. And that's what you got.
If you belong to Christ, you got victory even in your troubles.
Knowing that tribulation worketh patience and patience, experience and experience, hope.
Hope. Believers in the Lord Jesus have hope. They know that someday they will be with Christ. And you know what the hope of the believer is? When we read about hope in the Bible, it's not just like.
Some of the kids here tonight may say. I hope Mr. Reeves gives me that other candy bar.
Now some of you will be disappointed because I only bought 2.
Just bought 2.
And I'm going to give this other snicker bar.
I'm going to give this another sticker for Snicker Bar to the first girl that comes up to me and asks me for it after this meeting.
The first girl that comes up to me after this meeting gets this other snicker bar, so.
Some people have hopes that don't work, but you know what the hope of the believer is?
All for the one that believes in Jesus, hope is delayed certainty.
And that's something hope is delayed certainty for those that know Jesus.
And if you believe in Jesus.
You're going to be in heaven you can't miss. You've already got a reserved seat there and nobody can take it but you. Your name's on it.
Oh, it's delayed. Certainty is the hope of the We rejoice in the hope.
Of the glory of God.
And verse five says hope makes not ashamed because the love of God.
Is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us.
Another thing a believer has.
A believer has God's love in his heart.
I used to sing a song when I was a boy that says the old time. Religion makes me love everybody.
It's true. If you've really got Christ in your heart, you love all of God's people, and not only that, but the believers have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them, and He is their private teacher to show them what the Word of God means and comfort their hearts all the way home to Him.
Those are the halves.
Would you want to be a have not.
I wouldn't want to be 1/2 naughty. I wouldn't want to have all of this and all. Let me tell you folks, you can have it all and even more than I'm able to tell you about tonight. You can have it all. So just receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior to as many as received him to them gave he the right to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.
00:30:04
This fellow in the red shirt.
Red striped shirt. There was number problem for him to stick out his hand and get that snicker.
He just received it.
And you can receive Christ just as simply just by saying in the deep parts of your heart, Lord Jesus, I want you as my Savior.
He would never say no to a boy. He would never say no to a girl. That said, please accept the Lord Jesus. I want to be saved tonight. The Lord Jesus would never, never say no to somebody like that, he said. The one that comes to me I will never.
And no wise cast out. Well, just think of all the things a believer has. It says for when we were yet without strength in verse six. In due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Why? Listen, folks.
How could you have any strength when you weren't even born?
I remember when our last granddaughter was born.
And she just weighed a little more than 5 lbs.
And my wife and I went up to the hospital and they said to me, they said, Mr. Reeves, if you're going to hold this baby, you're going to have to put on one of these white gowns.
I don't like to put on white gowns.
But boy, I put on that white gown so I could hold that baby and we used 5 lbs. Just a little dinky thing. Did that baby have any strength? No.
And nobody had any strength when Jesus died because they're not a person in this room that we're born yet. We weren't even born. How could we do anything about God's salvation when God took up the issue of salvation with the Lord Jesus before we were ever born? What could you do about it?
Well, you say, Mr. Roos, is it? Is it like that? And I say it's just like that. It's all been worked out for you long before you were born. And God says here, this is what I've got for you. You just come and take it from me and then you'll be one that has.
I want you to be one of the halves, and you can have tonight all of this if you accept the Lord Jesus says in verse 7. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die. Yet peradventure for a good man somewhat even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Oh, just think of that bad boy that soaked the windows.
Just think of those naughty farmers that stole the pigs.
And folks, I'm telling you this, they're a lot worse things than those. And yet God loves us.
Oh, He loves us. He doesn't love our sins. No, no, no. He doesn't love our sins. But he loves us. When we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Isn't it wonderful? Does God love us that much? Yes, He loves us that much and He loves us. He wants us to have what he has bought for us through the precious blood of his Son, the Lord Jesus. Well, folks, let me tell you, it was a tremendous, mighty transaction.
That happened at Calvary's cross when the Lord Jesus died, when all the sins of all believers of all ages were heaped upon that holy spotless head of the eternal Son of God. And it was dark then so that man couldn't see what was happening. The question of sin was gone into what Calvary's cross and settled forever. And when the Lord Jesus bowed his precious head and said it is finished.
The work was done so that you could be one of those at halves what God wants you to have.
Oh, does God love us that much that he has got this all done for us even before we were born yet?
How can anybody want to be one of the have nots?
That's the dumbest thing you can think about to be one of the have nots.
When God's got everything, so you can be one of the halves.
You can have all of this by believing in the Lord Jesus.
Verse 9 says much more than being justified by his blood. Don't forget, folks, that the price of salvation was paid in full by the precious blood of Christ.
And those that believe in the Lord Jesus, they can say the blood of Jesus Christ.
His Son cleanses me from all sin. The value of the precious blood of Christ is all God needed.
00:35:08
Salvation and that has been paid at Calvary's cross, being much more being justified by his blood. We shall be saved from wrath through him. Why? There's no hell for the ones that have faith in Christ. It says we shall be saved from wrath through Him. You can never be lost.
If you're saved, you can never go to hell. If you're saved, which shall be saved from wrath through him, and God will never punish you for your sammies. If you believe in Jesus, wouldn't it be a mistake? Wouldn't it be a mistake not to believe in Jesus? Wouldn't it be an awful mistake? It'd be the worst mistake that anybody could make.
Justified by his blood.
His Precious Blood has done such a good job.
As to the payment of sins, that the record for every believer is clear and you can't find those sins on the record.
Because every believer is justified, he has justification.
Verse 10 says, for if we 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. Just think of it. Not only does a believer in the Lord Jesus have the salvation of his soul, the forgiveness of his sins has the joy of God, and the love of God in his heart has the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. But not only that.
We have the Lord Jesus who lives in heaven, taking care of us every step of the way home. We shall be saved by His life. That means his present life in heaven. Oh, there's a man on the throne. Don't forget it folks. There's a real live man sitting on the throne of God tonight.
Or I wish I could just see him, really see him. There's a real live man.
Sitting on the throne of God tonight, a real live man. His name is Jesus.
And he's taking care of every believer every step of the way home. We shall be saved by his life.
He said. Because I live, you shall live also.
Verse 11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the Atonement. I like that word Atonement.
It's an interesting word because you can you can break it into 3 words 80.
ONEMENT the at.
One mint.
The at one mint.
It used to be that I didn't want to be in God's presence. It used to be I didn't enjoy.
Being with God.
But now, since I've been saved, we've been brought into oneness together and joy and happiness, and we're made one. And everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus has received the at one mint.
Oh, he has brought us together and we're not afraid of him anymore.
We're not afraid of him. He's never been mad at us. Oh no, But those who believe have the at one meant. That is, we have been reconciled. We have been brought back into the enjoyment of God's favor because of the precious blood of Christ and his work on the cross. Now folks, I've told you some of the things that believers have.
Good, isn't it?
Some of the things that believers have.
All I want you to have these things too, and I hope there's no one in this room but be one of the have nots.
But listen, you're either a have or you're a have not.
You either have a snicker bar or you don't have a snicker bar. You either have Christ or you have not Christ.
There's no way in between.
I want you to have Christ. I want you to have all these good things I've been telling you and folks, listen, you can have them tonight.
If you'll believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior.
If there's someone here tonight that said, oh, Mr. Reeves sure sounds good. I wish I could be one of those that has, but I got so many doubts sometime during these meetings. Maybe tonight.
00:40:13
Let me let me share with you more.
About what it means to believe in the Lord Jesus, and if you're not sure, or if you say I came to Mr. Reeves meeting tonight.
And I was one of the have nots.
But I want to be one of the half. I'll be so glad to talk to you after this meeting and we'll find a place to pray so that instead of being one of the have nots.
You'll be one of the halves. That's what I want and that's what God wants. Now we're going to sing another song. And you girls, don't forget that the 1St girl up after this meeting and asked me for this snicker bar. She gets it. Let's sing #9. Come. Every soul by sin oppressed. There's mercy with the Lord. He will surely give you rest by trusting.
In his word.
Come every.