verse of glory bringing praise unto him who loved us and gave himself for us tonight I invite you to turn to second Corinthians chapter five and we want to again look at verse seventeen second Corinthians chapter five verse seventeen this is the verse that we examined this morning therefore If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. Now let us pray. Our Father, we approach thy holy throne tonight with one desire, and that is to glorify our Lord Jesus Christ. for all things that transpire in the universe, ultimately glorify thee. And therefore we pray that tonight, through the preaching of the gospel, we shall have the joy of bringing glory to him who is worthy, even our Lord Jesus. And may the souls of thy people rejoice tonight. But if there are any here without Christ, we ask you to sweetly draw them to him in saving union that glorifies thy Son. We ask this giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. This morning as we examined this verse, therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away, behold all things have become new. We looked at this verse from the standpoint of exposition. What is this verse saying? And we saw this morning that the object of this saving union that exists between the believer and Christ. The object is Christ. If any man be in Christ. Then furthermore we noted that the nature of this saving union is in that word in. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. As to its nature, it is in Christ. It is nowhere else. It isn't in the church. It isn't in our experience. It is in Christ. And this is objective, beloved. And a lot of times it's difficult for people to see the objective nature of our saving union. And yet it's so important when our Lord Jesus said to Nicodemus, you must be born again. And Nicodemus said to the Savior, How can these things be? Our Lord dealt with the objective nature of the saving union that exists between himself and the believer. For he said, As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Just as the stricken Israelites were told they have to look outside of themselves. They weren't told to make anointment to cure snake bites. They weren't told to do anything but look to the brazen serpent on the pole and whosoever looked lived. And that's objective, for there wasn't anything inside of them to cure the snake bite. And, beloved, there isn't anything inside of us that can cure the problem of sin. Only God can deal with it. Therefore, the nature of this saving union, it is in Christ. Furthermore, we noted the effect of this saving union. It's a new creation. And when we think of creation, it is the making of something out of nothing. And only God can do that. And beloved, nothing short of a new creation will ever suffice to give man a saving union with Jesus Christ. And then finally, this morning, we examined the fruit of this saving union. And the fruit of this saving union is old things are passed away. The old is gone. We're no longer under the old covenant, but we're under the new, and thanks be unto God to be under the new covenant means that the law of God is written in the heart. Now there's a desire to please God. It doesn't spring from peer pressure. It doesn't spring from religious activity, but from a desire in the heart to honor him. but the more we noted that it bears fruit in the fact that God remembers no more our sins and our iniquities. Now tonight from this passage we want to notice what it means to be out and what it means to be in. Our text says, therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creation. All things are passed away. Behold, all things have become new. If I tonight had a large blackboard up there, I sort of wish I did. I really do. I tell you what I do with it. I'd put a big circle on the blackboard. In the circle, I'd like two words, in Christ. Outside of the circle, I'd write three words out of Christ. For every one of us sitting in this room tonight, we are either in or we're out. If you're out, you're not in. And thanks be to God, if you're in, you're not out. But everyone who is in at one time was out. There was a time in our lives, beloved, when we were on the outside. But that day came in our lives that we call conversion, a day when God opened our eyes to the glories that are in Christ Jesus. And we trusted Christ. We believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. And we can say from that point on, I'm no longer out. I'm in. One Sunday afternoon, the third Sunday of a month, I always went to the county prison when I lived in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. It was my Sunday to preach there. That's where I began preaching. I never wanted to be a preacher. I can tell you that, honestly. I never planned on it. I just simply loved the Lord and continued to tell sinners how to be saved. And I went to the county prison. Mr. McNeil knows this because when he came to Burlington for the first time, about thirty years ago, I mean when he came to Lebanon for the first time, about thirty years ago, I took him along to the county prison and had him preach the gospel there. You see... I remember this day very well because if a group of men would come along occasionally they were from a Grace Brethren Church in a place called Palmyra just about one mile east of Hershey and the and all from the Grace Brethren Church you know the seminary for the Grace Brethren is Grace Seminary and it's a well-known seminary some Good men have come out of grace. Our brother John Mike Thomas came out of grace. And we have a young man in our meeting now who attended grace seminary. But nevertheless, one of the professors came along that Sunday. And outside the prison I said to him, won't you preach today? Who was I? I didn't want to preach in front of a seminary professor. but he would not speak he said no we've all come to hear you well this is a text I had chosen that day therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creation old things are passed away behold all things are become new I'll come back to that story later in the word of god we are told here very definitely that the nature of our saving union is in christ and we are either in or out now the converse is also true not only is the child of god in this saving union in christ Christ is in the child of God. For the word of God says in Galatians, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. So not only is the believer in Christ, but Christ is in the believer. Oh, beloved, what a privilege. What a privilege. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, Now remember this blackboard that's up here. I hope you can do it. I want to talk first of all of those who are outside of Christ. And all remember this, my friend, if you're here and you're out. Every one of us who can talk about a saving union with Christ was at one time on the outside. I was out one time. Ephesians chapter two says that I was without hope and without God in the world. And there are certain things were true and are true of everybody who is out of Christ. And the first thing I'd like you to talk about tonight, if you're here and you're out of Christ, you are under condemnation. Under condemnation. the word of God declares in John three verse eighteen he that believeth not is condemned already for he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God oh may I ask you tonight a question do you realize what it means to be under condemnation to be under condemnation means that you are under the guilt of sin guilt is there and it has never been removed. You and I have an idea and a lot of sinners have an idea that they can just go through the world committing all kinds of iniquity and never having to give an account for it. But the saddest thing about the conditions that are in the world today is that sinners are going to be one day drawn up short and they're going to have to give an account if I were to take you to the mental institutions in North Carolina I could prove something to you tonight that those who are there are there basically they have one problem and the problem is a problem of guilt how can I get rid of my guilt I think of a young woman who through indulgence in sin had an unwanted pregnancy, and in the midst of it she was advised to have an abortion. And this happens today, and it happens often today, and years later after she thinks that she's gotten rid of her problem, she only realizes that the problem is far greater than just getting rid of. Just having an abortion, never got rid of the problem. For as time goes on, she wonders, what did that baby look like? I wonder, was it a boy or a girl? I wonder, and the guilt of her sin begins to gnaw, and the gnaw at the conscience, and the conscience is defiled, and no way out. the word of God says that the person outside of Christ is under condemnation I think of a man who has cheated on his wife he thought he was having a good time fulfilling the lusts of the flesh and of the mind and in cheating on his wife he thought he was getting away with it until all of a sudden the word of God begins to get hold of his heart and as a word of God gets hold of the heart and begins to reveal the condemnation that awaits the ungodly those outside of Christ are under condemnation and a man has within him no matter who you are if you're out of Christ you have the very seeds within you that can create a veritable hell for you, no matter where you would be in the universe. In the hundred thirty-nineth Psalm, the question is asked, whither shall I flee from thy presence? Where can I go that I can miss God? Do you know if it's possible for you to miss God? Within you, you have the very makeup that could create a hell for you anywhere you were. And if you don't believe it, turn to the book of Genesis. And I'm not going to turn because I don't have the time. I have a few things I want to dwell on. But I want to tell you what you have. You have a memory. And no matter where you go, you can't get rid of it. And this is why condemnation is such a grievous thing. And we're under condemnation outside of Christ. no matter where I go I have a memory and I remember this is what Joseph's brethren said no one was pointing a finger at them and they looked at each other when Joseph took Simeon away from them and they said to each other they whispered it to each other they didn't know that it was Joseph and they didn't know that he heard what they said They said, we are verily guilty for we remember the anguish of his soul. They saw what it was like when they took him and threw him into the pit. They said, we remember the anguish of his soul. We wouldn't listen. We wouldn't listen. Oh, my friend, you have a memory. You think about your memory for a moment. it never forgets. And awakened in the caverns of the lost, that memory will be greater and more effective than it ever was in time. Condemnation. Oh, the condemnation of sin. But, beloved, you not only have a memory, you have rationality. You're able to think. For David's or Joseph's brothers, they thought, and they reasoned together. And no matter where you go in the universe, you can't leave your mind behind. And say, I'm not going to take it with you. So long, you can't do it. Your mind is part of you. Your memory is part of you, and you can't get rid of it. Whither shall I flee from thy presence? Those who are outside of Christ are under condemnation. Now may I go to the inside of that circle? Those who are in Christ are forgiven. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. You're either out or you're in. If you're out, you're under condemnation. If you're in, you're forgiven. To be forgiven by God means sins have been removed, and they have been removed righteously. And the reason that God can forgive sin is is because his holy nature has been propitiated by the blood of Christ. Oh, that's a big word, propitiation. And that simply means it has been propitiated. And I like the old Puritan word that was used, satisfaction. God's holy throne has been satisfied by the work of Jesus Christ. Beloved, when we look at Calvary's cross, we see something taking place there as our blessed Savior hangs between heaven and earth. God causes an unseen cup, as it were, to pass from his hand to the lips of the Savior, containing the draggs of condemnation for our sins. We sing occasionally when we're gathered at the Lord's Supper, death and the curse were in our cup, O Christ, twas full for thee, but thou hast drained the last dark drop, tis empty now for me. That bitter cup, love drank it up, left but the love for me. Oh, in Christ there's forgiveness, and in Christ means that I am free from sin. All my sins were laid upon him. Jesus bore them on the tree. God who knew them laid them on him, and believing I am free. Let me ask you an honest question. Are you out? Or are you in? You're either in Christ, in that circle, or you're still on the outside. You see, every one of us who's in tonight at one time is out. We have to come in. And there's only one person in the universe can get us in. The Lord Jesus said, I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. Furthermore, if you're out of Christ, there's a second thing I would like to bring to your attention. There is continuance in sin. There is no way that you can stop sinning whenever you want to. Did you ever realize that? You see, the Word of God declares in the sixth chapter of Romans that we were the servants of sin. Sin is one of those subtle things. The person who commits sin has an idea, for Satan comes with all his allurements, and he says, I offer you freedom. And oh, what a word that is today. Everybody wants their freedom. Everybody wants their right. and it looks so great and sin looks so pleasant, looks so good and so pleasant. And a person begins to indulge in sin, but the sad thing about it, the very thing that offered them freedom, and they thought would there be a display of their freedom, that very thing brings them into bondage. Continuance in sin. Oh, my friend, outside of Christ, There is no power whatsoever for you to stop sinning. It's going to get worse. And sin like the tentacles of an octopus, just keep closing in and closing in until there is no way out. And multitudes cry out in despair. We're living in a generation when so much emphasis is put on natural beauty. A number of years ago, a former Miss America committed suicide in a hotel in New York City, and she left behind a note, and the note said, I would have been far better off had I been born ugly. You think it over. Sin is a dreadful thing. And there isn't a one person in the universe who has the power to stop it. Only a creative act of God whereby God comes in and he makes something out of nothing by a living union with Christ. that the power of sin can be broken. Oh, my friend, if you're out, don't you want to be in? Don't you want to be in? You see, outside of Christ, there's condemnation. Inside, in Christ, there's forgiveness. Outside of Christ is continuance in sin. Inside, in Christ, is justification from all things, from which we cannot be justified by the law of Moses. So we read in Acts thirteen, thirty-eight and thirty-nine. Think about it. To be justified means that we're declared righteous by God. God takes a believing sinner. who has nothing to give, and who simply believes in the work of our Lord Jesus Christ, that work that was done on Calvary's cross, he declares that believing sinner to be righteous were justified. It's in Christ. To him worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly His faith is counted for righteousness. Now, if you're out of Christ, and I'm going to have to skip a few of these, if you're out of Christ, there is eternal incompleteness. Eternally incomplete. I want you to think about this. You see, the cry of the American women today is, I want to be a complete person. I want to be a fulfilled person. I want to be fulfilled. And so they go out and they get a job. And instead of obeying the Word of God, many mothers today, instead of being keepers of home, and a mother to the children, The children grow up in a daycare center somewhere, and then they're shoved off to a school, and mothers are busy working so that they are a fulfilled person. And the struggle that they have shows that they are not fulfilled. They are in bondage, for they are partakers of eternal incompleteness. Out of Christ, And I'm just using that as an illustration, beloved. There's this desire for fulfillment. There's this desire for completeness. And yet man ever searching is never satisfied. The sinner is never satisfied. For sin, you can never get enough of it. You always need more. the pleasures of sin do not satisfy eternally incomplete and beloved let me dwell on that word eternally incomplete for a moment when you think of being eternally incomplete I think of the horrors of the lake of fire and I believe that the worst part of hell is going to be desire without fulfillment. I want you to think that through. Desire without fulfillment. All the passions that burn in the body of a man who has lived for the lusts of the flesh. And there he is in the eternal torments of a lost eternity. The passion's burning, but never fulfilled. You think about a drunkard who is continuously going for the bottle and reaching for a bottle throughout eternity and never to get a hold of it, always to escape the grasp. Out of Christ, eternally incomplete. In Christ, eternal satisfaction. Eternally satisfied. Colossians two, verses nine and ten say, In him, in Christ, dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and we are complete in him. Oh, the child of God finds his joy, his peace, continuous satisfaction in the knowledge that it is well with a soul. Oh, the peace we sang tonight at the Lord's Supper. Oh, the peace forever flowing from God's thoughts of his own Son. Oh, the peace of simply knowing on the cross that all was done. in the Bible class the other morning, we were discussing the thirteenth chapter of Acts, where Paul in his first full-length recorded sermon tells the people in the synagogue in Pasidia of Antioch. He tells, as he speaks of the, as he reviews Israel's history, and then as he reviews the history of the Messiah, He speaks of man putting Christ on a cross, on a tree, whom they crucified and hanged on a tree and was buried. And the Word of God says that the gospel is how that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried. Did you ever hear a sermon on the burial of Christ? It's part of the gospel. It's part of the gospel, beloved, that he was buried and that he arose again the third day according to the scriptures. What does it mean as part of the gospel that Christ was buried? Beloved number one, he shared the common end of all men. Man's hopes, man's dreams all come to an end at the grave. But furthermore, the burial of Jesus Christ marked the end of his humiliation. And may I say, the burial of a child of God marks the end of their humiliation as well. No one ever saw the Savior again as they did there, for when he came forth from the grave, he came forth in glory. And beloved, when you place a child of God in the grave, He goes down in humiliation, but when the next time you see him, you're going to see him in glory. Why? He's in Christ. There's a saving union between Christ and that soul. And glory, eternal satisfaction, is a portion of those who are in Christ. Let me ask you, are you in or are you out? You're either in or you're out. Two more. If you're out, you're the subject of eternal ruin. Eternal ruin. Someone has written, to lose your wealth is much. To lose your health is more. But to lose your soul is such a cost that no man can restore. To be out of Christ means that you're without hope and without God. Eternal ruin without hope. But on the other hand, beloved, if you're in Christ, if you're in Christ, you're glorified. in the economy of God already Romans eight says for whom he did for no he also did predestinate whom he predestinated he called whom he called he justified and whom he justified he also glorified are you among those that are in Christ now beloved every one of us who's on the inside was at one time on the offside. How did we get in? Let's dwell on this for a moment. How did we get in? Our Lord said to the people of his day, Strive to enter in at the straight gate. Straight is a gate, the narrow is a way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that go in thereat. Because wide is the gate, and broad is the way that lead us to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat. How do we get in Christ? Well, now we can't put ourselves in. We've got to come by the door. The Lord Jesus said, I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, He shall be saved. Christ said, I'm the door. There's a friend of mine in Myers Town, Pennsylvania. He's up in his eighties now. My wife and I stopped to see him two summers ago. And I did a lot of work in his home. I sold him a lot of appliances. His name is Jack Nebius. He made a lot of money in South Rye Gate, Vermont in the granite business. And Jack, he said to me, I'm not going to come to Christ. I'm going to come through the side door. He said, just you wait for me, Phil. I'll be there. I'm coming through the side door. You see, Jack thinks his own goodness is good enough. After all, his uncle was a great Presbyterian missionary to Korea. And he said, I'm coming through the side door. I'm not coming through Christ. A little heart that was aching for his salvation. I said to him, I said, Jack, you're not going in. The Lord Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. When God told Noah, judgment was coming. He said, Noah built an ark. And in that ark, there was one door of entrance. There was one door of entrance, and that door of entrance speaks of Christ. No one got into the ark except through the door. Those who were in the ark were safe. those outside the ark perished tonight beloved those who are in the ark in Christ are safe those outside the ark out of Christ are under condemnation you're already there and if you die in your sin it's too late today is a day of salvation and God calls you come in tonight I began with a story of jail that Sunday afternoon at the county prison I told a story I told a story of what took place the first year after my wife and I were married. We lived in an apartment on New Street in Lebanon. I rented a garage down the alley from our apartment. I think it cost me a dollar and a half a month for a place to keep my car. On New Year's Eve, I went to get my car, but lying in front of the garage was a young boy of thirteen or fourteen years of age. The snow was falling on him. It already had snowed about four inches of snow, and it was covering him. And I went to get him up, but he was drunken. Oh, he was drunken, that boy. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't get my car off. I thought, boy, if this boy, if I were to touch him and pull him aside, I'm going to get in trouble. What am I going to do? I didn't like to see a young boy that age get in trouble with the police. It wasn't long until another young kid came by. I said, do you know this fellow? Yeah, I know him, but he didn't know his name. And I finally learned who he was. We just worked at it for a while, and I knew his dad, his stepfather. So I went to the telephone, and I called the home, and I said to them, I'm bringing your brother home. I got a sister on the line. I said, he's inebriated. That means he's drunken. So I got... going over to his home, which was in the nice section of town. On the other side of town, we had a stop in front of a church and just shove him out the back door of the car so he could get rid of some of the contents of his stomach. While people were walking by going to church. Can you imagine? I got to his home. And his mother, when we got into the door, we both had a leading, you know, he couldn't walk. And when we got him inside the door, his mother took him by the back of the neck and gave him a shove, and she didn't know that he couldn't walk. He just sprawled all over that living room floor. The snow flew everywhere. It really looked funny, believe it or not. And then the mother's guests came. And she invited us to wait outside. She didn't want her guests to see us. And she grabbed that boy, and she just drugged him to the bedroom and got him in bed. Oh, I don't want anybody to see that my boy is in this kind of a condition. And then she came outside and talked to us. And I wished. that I would have had the nerve then that I do now to talk to that mother. But I called that boy the next day. And that boy the next day said, Oh, I'm so sick. I'm so sick. I'll never do this again. I guarantee you I'm never going to touch that stuff again. And I was there in the honey prison. I said, fellas, I want to tell you who that fellow is. He's sitting right there. There he is. Take a look at him. You see, you can't stop sinning when you think. Man is not his own boss. He's either under the control and dominion of sin, or he's under a new master by virtue of a new creation, by being linked with Christ in a new life. May I ask you one serious question. Are you in or out? If you're out, you're not in. But everyone who's in was at one time out. And I want to tell you something tonight. I'm so glad I'm forgiven. I'm so glad I'm justified. I'll never meet my sins. They're gone. I'm linked to that life in Christ. I'm a new creation in Him. This is mine. It's mine. And you know what? It can be yours. Or if you're here tonight without Christ, will you not bow the knee to him and receive him as your own so that you can sing with us? It is well with my soul. Let's sing together again tonight. Two hundred fifty-six. The third stand only. For that third stanza tells us how it is well with our soul. My sin, oh the bliss of his glorious thought. My sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to his cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul. Is it well with your soul? Are you in or are you out? Oh, friend, don't be ashamed to own the fact that you're out. If we can help you, we'll make your need known. Trust Christ. Don't put it off. Let's stand together and sing as Bobby leads us. My sin, oh the bliss of this glory absolve. My sin, not in part, but the whole is nailed to the cross. And I bear it no more, praise the Lord. Graise the Lord, O my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. as we come to the close of this service tonight. We thank you that it's possible to be linked with our Lord Jesus Christ in saving union because all the work was accomplished by the Savior. And tonight you invite men and women, boys and girls to come in. Come in to the ark of safety. And now, our Father, we commend these people to thee. Go with us each one to our separate homes. May thy grace, thy mercy, and thy peace abide upon thine own that have truly believed in thee, with a new sense of what it means to be in Christ. But if there are those among us who have not believed in thee, accompany them with divine restlessness. May they know no rest. May they know no peace until they rest in Christ. We ask this, for the honor and glory of him who makes something out of nothing and takes wretched sinners and makes them into a new creation. Grant our God that the reality of this may continually grip our souls. For Jesus' sake, amen.