STANDING IN GRACE Romans 5:1-11 April 19, 2015 Providence INTRODUCTION: As a high school and college student during the 60 s and 70 s, my generation witnessed a series of cultural movements that introduced a wave of images that remain to this day. The language of most of the hippie and antiestablishment movements spoke often of peace and love most of the time meaning pacifism and sex. ILLUS. The prophet of the 60s, John Lennon said, If someone thinks that peace and love are just a cliché that must have been left behind in the 60s, that s a problem. Peace and love are eternal. True as stated not true in the pursuit of either apart from the God of peace and love. The present state of affairs in the nation demonstrates that the counter-cultural revolution had a good idea about what to pursue, but no idea of how to go about that pursuit. So we have inherited Love without God = conditional, selfish, sentimentalism Peace without God = occasional retreats from the front lines only to regroup for the next staging area for conflict. Why did the movement fail? Why have subsequent attempts to right the wrongs of cultural devaluation proven to be futile for the past 50 years? Yes, some excesses were abandoned, but were replaced by excesses of equal if not worse consequences. Love is still misunderstood and peace is still an illusion personal peace as well as global peace are rare if they can be found at all. Why, we ask? Paul s letter to the Romans provides the answer: Hearts in the grip of sin are helpless to produce and sustain any semblance of either love or peace. Only God can do that! THESIS: Through Jesus Christ, we take our stand and run the race of life trusting in Him and His grace alone and there we find the richness of His joy and great, great love! Now that Paul has explained the problem of sin in the first three chapters, and the provision for salvation in the next, he begins to unfold for us a way to set our sights on a life that is bigger and better than any we have very known. Having been justified by faith, through Jesus Christ we are now offered lives filled with peace and love to which He also adds joy! We have obtained access by faith to this grace in which we stand and our lives now have been radically transformed as a result. Because we have been Justified by faith 5:1 by His blood 5:9 Therefore, three blessings become ours by His great grace: I. WE HAVE PEACE WITH GOD --In our natural condition as sinful people, our lives are in a state of perpetual conflict with God and hostility towards Him we are His enemies in both our attitudes and actions. Heb. 12:3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. --God has put up with so much antagonism from us as sinners that it is amazing that He would make any provision on His part to do anything that make the relationship right! --We have insulted and mocked Him, defied and denied Him, attacked and fought Him yet He still endured such hostility against Himself without taking revenge, but instead offering an olive branch of healing and reconciliation.
2 ILLUS. This week marks the 150 th anniversary of the end of the War between the States with the surrender of Lee s 30,000 troops to Grant at Appomattox, VA on April 9 and the surrender of Johnston s 90,000 troops to Sherman at Bennett Place in Durham on April 17. Between those surrenders, Lincoln was shot on April 14, died on April 15. The hostility and violent warfare that had been fought since 1861 came to a merciful end. Ther terms of surrender could have been harsh and punitive, but weariness of war and a touch of compassion made the terms acceptable, and in some cases, generous to those who fought with the Confederate army. My own great-grandfather was involved in the battle fought at Bentonville, March 19-21, less than 4 weeks before the surrender at Bennett Place in Durham. The terms of peace were gracious as set by Grant and gladly welcomed by Lee the army of the Confederacy was to be paroled, officers could keep their horses or mules (unofficially and no one would ask) and their guns were to be handed in back in their home states. Tougher days were to follow, but the initial terms were for a healthy return to peace the enmity which had separated one from another was now put in the past. --We who have lived in a war our sin had declared on God were given far greater and more profound, lasting terms. A. PEACE WITH GOD Rom. 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. --In the battle for control of our souls, when we surrender to Jesus Christ we are declared righteous as far as God is concerned the war against Him had pitted our will against His and now we are no longer interested in antagonizing the God who created us for His glory. --What a sweet thing it is to be at peace with the One who loves you and have all that separated you taken out of the way entirely! --Then once that peace has been declared with Him, instead of fighting against Him and His ways, we join Him in the same direction and all the fight goes out of all our thoughts of Him replaced now not just with peace with God, but accompanied by the peace of God. Phil. 4:7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ILLUS. Worry and anxiety come along with uncertainty. If we know that we are not trusting the Lord and are actually trying to do life on our own terms, we have reason to get up tight we are not sure we are willing to follow Christ, but we aren t that confident that our way will end well! When we are no longer fighting against, but walking in peace with God, there is a gentle settling down of our hearts as the peace of God calms us, assures us and comforts us. B. RECONCILED WITH HIM Rom. 5:11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation --The justification which declares us to be righteous in the eyes of God also serves to reconcile us to Him restoring the relationship and rebuilding the trust as His love for us becomes very real and personal once more. ILLUS. When I have been held at arms length by a friend because of some misunderstanding between us, to be reconciled with that friend brings relief to the heart and renews the relationship in a way that is sometimes stronger than it was before it went through stormy times. Once the conflict is resolved, reconciliation has been restored you just want to exhale real deeply and just let out all the pent up anxiety that came when peace had been lost. The storms of our sinfulness put a distance between us and God and the grace of Jesus not only justifies us, but brings back our peace with Him, reconciles our relationship with Him and guards our hearts and minds with a peace that can only come from God Himself the peace of God for the reconciled!
3 II. WE CAN REJOICE IN THE LORD --Think of it for a moment: We had scorn for God s glory in Romans 1-2 We fell short of God s glory in Romans 3 Justification comes when we believe God in Romans 4 We now rejoice in the hope we have of sharing that glory, a hope and boast that rests entirely on the grace in which we now stand that assures us of this astounding turn of events! --Peace and love were the pursuits of the 60 s, but God promises and provides both of them, plus a healthy dose of joy! --We exult, or rejoice, in three situations because of what Jesus Christ has done to anchor our feet on the rock of His grace: A. REJOICE IN HOPE Rom 5:2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness, I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus name On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand! Edward Mote, 1834. --Because of what Christ has done, I have been justified by faith in His name and have every reason to rejoice that I now have a hope where once I knew only despair a hope that is certain, guaranteed by Jesus! --Faith has gained us access to a place we had no hope of ever finding, much last a place upon which to build our future that grace in which we stand! ILLUS. At the women s conference yesterday, Cathy and I led a seminar on Strengthening Your Marriage. Every time we teach it, I come away with a more profound appreciation and gratitude for the wife God has given me! But the Lord has extended that now to three other incredible women who have joined our family as the wives of our three sons. Yes, we had dreams of the kind of women they would marry hopes for what their wives would be like. But we could not have asked for more grace first that God would take a desperate boy like me and build a future hope for me with Cathy, but that He did the same for our sons. To rejoice in hope is to see the reality of what our prospects are apart from the hand of the Lord acting on our behalf and then to see how much more He has done for us than we could have hoped to God be the glory for the grace in which we stand! B. REJOICE IN SUFFERING --However, just as there is reason to get excited about the hope I have of sharing the glory of the Lord, I can be equally joyful even as I face suffering for the sake of Christ. Rom 5:3-5 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character,and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame --Each pang of suffering produces endurance as long as I depend on Christ to see me through because endurance produces godly character and proves that Christ is transforming me from the inside out and that character reinforces the hope that all will be made well again, no fear of being put to shame any longer because Christ is the source of our rejoicing!
4 ILLUS. Any man who dares to tread on the subject of the pain of childbirth better be careful! But if there is ever any earthly likeness to the concept of rejoicing in suffering, it would be the agonizing pain of labor prior to the delivery of a baby. As a birth coach for Cathy at the birth of all three of our sons, I have been amazed at how much she had to endure the lengths to which her body was forced to go as a new life entered the world. But moments after the labor and delivery were over, the joy of holding that little one in her arms overcame most not all! recollections of what had threatened to be her undoing shortly before! 2Cor. 4:17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, --And that is reason to rejoice the joy of gaining that eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison makes it all worthwhile! C. REJOICE IN GOD HIMSELF Rom. 5:11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation --God Himself is the reward of the new life we have been given through faith in Christ and in Him we rejoice for there is no higher or greater delight, no more wonderful gain than to know and be known by the God who embraces me as His own and allows me to do the same! ILLUS. At the Gospel Coalition conference this week, the theme was Coming Home a look at our future home in the glorious presence of God Himself. Sometimes when we speak of heaven, I get concerned. The idea of no more death, pain or tears is amazing the anticipation of seeing loved ones who got there first stirs our emotions seeing the incredible sights of streets of gold, gates made from single giant pearls, gems of all sorts in the walls of the city of the new Jerusalem all those things excite us, as they should! But what sometimes concerns me is that those things overshadow the greatest reason to rejoice that the new heaven and earth can promise that we will see Him, the Lord of Hosts, King of Glory, Radiant and Holy Lamb. We will enter into His presence never to be separated from Him ever again and He will be enough to satisfy every longing, excite every affection and fulfill every hope. We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ! Therefore, having been justified by faith we have peace with God we rejoice in the Lord, and III. WE ARE FLOODED WITH HIS LOVE --The full expression of this newfound relationship that brings both peace and joy to transformed hearts is that we now get to experience and know in full measure the true love that only comes from God, the only source of genuine love! --Paul answers two questions about God s love in this portion of Romans 5 how will we recognize it, and how much of it will He share with us? A. DEMONSTRATION OF LOVE --Once in a while, I hear someone ask how they can know that God loves them what evidence is there that would help us recognize that it is from Him and that it is the real thing? --Using a phrase, while we were three times in these verses, Paul points out how the love of God has been made known so clearly that everyone can recognize it:
5 While we were weak Rom. 5:6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. --That was the right time for Christ to die for ungodly, when our weakness left us most vulnerable and our perceived strength proved to be exhausted. --He had nothing to gain from weaklings who could give nothing in return so at that time, His unconditional love was demonstrated in that Christ died for us. While we were sinners Rom 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us --Much as we would like to think that perhaps we could take on a self-improvement program to be worth His attention, it was while we were still in rebellion, still defiant and sassy, still disgustingly soiled inside and out by the defiling character of our sin that was when God chose to show what His version of love looks like! --The demonstration of true love took place on a cross, love for the very ones whose sin put Him there! While we were enemies Rom 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. --Enemies of God now reconciled to God by the death of His Son so that we have peace with God (5:1). --But listen, Much more is now available to those who have been reconciled by His death we are saved by His life, the powerful life of the resurrected Savior saved to sin no more saved to share His glory saved to enter and abide forever with the Lord God Himself! B. FLOODED WITH LOVE --So how much before that kind of love is used up wears out exhausts the supply? Rom 5:5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Unmeasured, inexhaustible, love is so bountiful that He can never run out no matter how much He pours it out, how liberally He lavishes it on us His love never fails! --He has that capacity because His love is infinite, eternal and free to pour out as He chooses, available for all who having been justified by faith in Jesus Christ now belong to Him and enjoy the full measure of His boundless love. ILLUS. One thought that has occurred to me in the past can be put to rest. With everyone else who has become His through Christ, will He have enough time for me to love me personally, to talk with me personally, to be with me as much as I want Him to be with me? Two things answer my question: 1) There is no problem with time since it will no longer exist and eternity stretches out in a never-ending life of joy in His presence; and 2) There is no chance He will get busy pouring out His love on others and run out before it s my turn since His eternal love never ceases, never fails and never is withheld from His children! CONCLUSION: So as we consider Romans 5, Paul allows us to catch our breath consolidate all that we have learned so far and see the implications of all that Jesus has done for us and what an extraordinary thing is this grace in which we stand. The songs of peace and love from the 60 s still are sung today. The empty hopes of finding peace and love apart from Jesus Christ display their futility more with each passing year. But God promises much more for all who will believe Him and His promises for all who will trust in the saving death of Jesus Christ on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin.
Rom. 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ we rejoice in the Lord always we are flooded with His love, now and forever! What does this mean for you? 6 1. You must see this and long to come to Jesus Christ and put your trust in Him so that you too can be justified by faith through His saving grace. 2. You can decide that you will refuse to settle for empty promises and washed up hopes, and live by faith to embrace His peace, joy and love in full measure! 3. You will want those you love to discover the bountiful blessings that come to those who know God through faith in Jesus Christ. Yes, purse peace and love put flowers in your hair if you like! But don t settle for skeletal ideals that leave God out seek Christ and He will gve you peace like no other peace love like nothing you could have imagined and oh, the joy, joy that floods the heart and soul and overflows with life-changing gladness you cannot, and will not want to, contain! February 9, 2014 Providence Baptist Church David Horner, 2015 Sermon outlines are copyrighted in the event of future publication. They may be used for preaching and teaching purposes but may not be published or sold.