Schwartz, J Eddie: Romans 5:12-21 ~ Ministry From Romans

Morning. Surely you are thankful for your brothers and sisters in Christ, and for those who participate in any way in this meeting. But before this day is over, thank the Lord for your musicians. I was commenting bef- right before the service start, it's not, uh, the first day on the job for these ladies. Thank you so very much, ladies. We were singing at the outset of this service concerning the Savior. He left his Father's throne above, so free, so infinite his grace. I want us to think about the grace of God this morning. Let's open our Bibles to the book of Romans chapter five. Romans chapter five and verse twelve. Romans chapter five and verse twelve. Wherefore, as by one man, that is Adam, sin 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 or reckoned over to your account, where 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 is the gift, for the judgment was by one 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. For as 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. Over to Ephesians chapter two. Ephesians chapter two. It was the latter part of nineteen fifty four in my hometown of Richmond, Virginia. I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior, and I began memorizing scripture right after that. And I can't remember whether Philippians one and six was the first verse that I memorized, or Ephesians two verses eight and nine, but it, it doesn't matter. Chapter two, verses eight and nine of Ephesians. For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Now, we don't have to understand all the workings of God's grace to be saved, any more than we would have to understand all of the workings of medicine compounded together to be efficacious, uh, to us in our sickness. We have to avail ourselves of it. And even so it is with the grace of God. We don't have to understand all the workings of God's grace, but know this, we are not saved apart from God's grace. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not or this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. I want us to think about the grace of God this morning. What do we mean by grace? It is a large word. It is a, a great word. It is an all-inclusive word, and perhaps it is the greatest word in the Bible because it is the, uh, word most expressive of God's character and attitude in relation to man. This word grace comes from two or three roots in the Hebrew and the Greek. That doesn't impress you at all. But in the Greek, we find words and derivatives meaning grace, gift, to give, or to give freely, to forgive, to bestow graciously, joy, to rejoice, thanksgiving, to give thanks, or thankful. In English, derived from the Latin, we have grace, or gratis, gratitude, graceful, gracious, gratuity. But what does this word grace mean? The root seems to mean to give pleasure, and then it branches out comprehensively in two directions, one in relation to the giver, and the other in relation to the receiver of the pleasure. Grace is first a quality of graciousness in the giver, and then a quality of gratitude in the recipient, which in turn make him or her gracious to those around. W. H. Griffith Thomas points out that in God, grace is God's mercy pitying. God's mercy pitying. We were reminded, just briefly, a reference, uh, made to Noah and his day. And God saw that the wickedness of mankind was so great as to bring about God's judgment upon the whole earth. And yet we read, Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And so we think of God in his mercy pitying. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God will have, or he desires to have all men to be saved. But grace is God's mercy pitying. Grace is God's wisdom planning. It's simply amazing to me. I have been saved since nineteen fifty four, latter part of fifty four, which is what, about forty eight years, somewhere in there. And over the years in my study of the scriptures, uh, we were singing I Stand Amazed in the Presence of Jesus the Nazarene. And I stand amazed in the presence of this blessed book, God's book, which is all about the Lord Jesus Christ. And to consider as best as I'm able, this, uh, plan of redemption that God determined from eternity past. Grace is God's mercy pitying. Grace is God's wisdom planning. But grace is God's power preparing. I was sharing with our brother who brought the lesson this morning that, uh, I remember reading an article, how authoritative the writer was, I don't know, but he, he told how many kilowatts of power, uh, that Niagara Falls produces, uh, in a year's time to provide electricity for a large area, uh, there in and around Niagara Falls. And the writer said it would take one million Niagara Falls flowing for one million years to produce enough energy to turn the Earth on its axis for one second. And God made it all. And it's just the work of his fingers. And when it comes to the work of redemption, God had to make bare his arm. And so grace is God's power preparing. And, uh, Griffith Thomas says grace is God's love providing. God in his grace has moved out to us to provide for us salvation, full and free, in and through his well-beloved son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And salvation is free, not because it's cheap, but because it's paid for at an infinite price. So grace is God's mercy pitying, grace is God's wisdom planning, grace is God's power preparing, and grace is God's love providing. I appreciated that from Griffith Thomas. But grace means more, far more than we can put into words, because it means nothing less than the infinite character of God himself. God's grace includes mercy for the undeserving and unmerciful, redemption for the renegade and repulsive. Help for the helpless and the hopeless. Love for the unloving and unlovely. Kindness for the unkind and unthankful. And all of this in full measure and overflowing abundance because of nothing in the object and because of everything in the giver, God himself. Grace is the character of God, including mercy and truth, righteousness and peace. Grace is the union, love, and holiness, the very foundation of the nature of God in Christ. I remember some years ago running across an acrostic. You know what an acrostic is? This is where you spell the word vertically, and then you come out to the side with, uh, additional thoughts with each letter. So I ran across this acrostic some years ago. Great. God's riches at Christ's expense. And I like that. That is good. God's riches at Christ's expense. It was Laman Strauss who gave this simple definition of the grace of God. He said, it is everything for nothing. I want to use an acrostic this morning as we think of grace. Let's put these letters downward, GRACE, and I want you to look back at Ephesians chapter two verses eight and nine: For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not or this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, and I believe the it there refers to the salvation that grace brings. It is the gift of God, for by grace are you saved through faith, because it is in and through God's grace that he extends to us a wonderful gift. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Paul said, where sin did abound, grace did much more abound. But let us spell it out this morning. We take the letter G. Giving is the principle of grace. Say it with me. Giving is the principle of grace. Don't be afraid. Say it with me. Giving is the principle of grace. I appreciated the illustration that Bill McDonald used in his, uh, little booklet on the grace of God. He said, suppose you had a six-year-old son who was the joy and delight of your life. Suppose, too, that this son was cruelly murdered. What attitude would you take toward the killer? If you used every means in your own power to kill him for his crime, that would be vengeance. If you were satisfied to allow the authorities to apprehend the killer, convict him, and execute him, that would be justice. But, says Brother Bill McDonald, suppose it were in your power to pardon the murderer. And not only so, but suppose you were to invite him into your home to live there, and then you adopted him as your son. What word would you use to describe that? It's grace. It's grace. As I understand, as the Greeks used this particular word, charis, it meant primarily a favor one would bestow upon a friend. But in the New Testament usage of this word grace, it takes a tremendous leap forward because we're thinking of what God does not on behalf of his friends, but on behalf of his enemies. Now, as Bill McDonald says in this illustration that I have shared with you thus far, he said, maybe you are saying that the illustration is artificial, and it's far removed from reality. All right. Let's think further then. Suppose you had sinned against God. Suppose too that by the law of God you are sentenced to hell, to eternal separation from God, to eternal damnation because of your sin. If God allowed the sentence to be carried out, you could not complain because you would be receiving exactly what you deserve, according to God's divine law. But what would you think if God sent his unique son, his only son, to die as your substitute, paying the penalty that you deserve? And what would you think if God offered you everlasting life as a free gift, and God expressed to you his willingness to receive you into his family and to declare you as his son or his child? What word would you use to describe such action? You would use the word that God uses. Grace. Grace. So giving is the principle of grace. Now let's go to Ephesians, I'm sorry, to Galatians. I'm looking at Ephesians here. Let's go to Galatians chapter four. Galatians chapter four And verse four. But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Now, what is the G? Do you remember, class? Giving is the principle of grace. All right, we come to the R. Redemption is the purpose of grace. Say it with me. Redemption is the purpose of grace. One more time. Redemption is the purpose of grace. Why would God give his son? To accomplish this great plan of redemption that God thought about in eternity past. Man cannot redeem himself. And God, in his sovereignty, as we were hearing this morning, and in his foreknowledge, knew what man would do. God is never taken by surprise. God knew that after making man, man would plunge himself and all of his posterity into sin and under its consequences. And if man were going to be saved, God would have to do it. This is the reason Peter tells us in his first epistle, verses eighteen through twenty, For as much as you know, you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world. So why would God give his son, who willingly gave himself, for the purpose of accomplishing eternal redemption for the likes of you and me. Redemption is the purpose of grace. And this, uh, word redemption, or this theme redemption, is, uh, very fascinating. It makes for a spiritually rewarding study to go through, and I'm thinking particularly of the New Testament, but you find it throughout, uh, the entire Bible. Uh, for example, when we go back to the Old Testament law, God had said that if a person owed debts and was not able to pay, that person would be taken into servitude. You might remember the, is it in second Kings chapter four? I- I'll stand corrected on the reference, uh, the widow woman who had the two sons, and uh, she owed some debts but was not able to pay, and she knew the creditor was going to come and take her two sons. That was according to Jewish law. So if a person were taken into servitude, that person would be a servant to the creditor for up to seven years, or until the year of Jubilee, if that came before, but up to seven years, at which time they would be free. But now, during that time of servitude, they could be redeemed. And to be redeemed, the redeemer had to meet three qualifications. You're familiar with them. The redeemer had to be a near kinsman. The redeemer had to be in the family. And then the redeemer would have to have sufficiency. The redeemer would have to be able to pay whatever price was involved. And thirdly, the redeemer had to be willing. You might remember in the case of, uh, Ruth being redeemed, there was one who was a nearer kinsman than Boaz, but he refused. He was not willing. And so Ruth removed his shoe from off of his foot and spat in his face, according to Jewish law, to shame him, not willing to redeem. But Boaz redeemed her, and she became the, what is it, the great-grandmother of David. So the redeemer had to meet those three qualifications in the family, sufficiency, and willingness. The writer of Hebrews chapter two tells us that our Lord Jesus Christ did not take on him the nature of angels, but human form to be our representative and to be our redeemer. And he had sufficiency because it takes an infinite price to redeem us, an infinite price. And because the Lord Jesus Christ is the God-man, he was able to pay an infinite price, and he was willing. But this is a, a fascinating study. When you search out the New Testament scriptures, you will find about, um, I'm gonna say about five words. They're all connected, but they each have a different shade of meaning. Redeem, redeemed, redemption. Uh, one word refers to the price that is paid. The price that is paid, redemption price. And there is yet another word that carries the thought that the one who is in the slave market of sin, and keep in mind, back in those days, when, uh, one people conquered another people, uh, slaves were taken and sold on the auction block. And so, if you wanted to buy a slave, you would go into the marketplace and look the slaves over, and then, if you were able to pay the price, you would get a slave. Well, in the New Testament, uh, studying out this theme of redemption, there is one word that refers to the price that's paid. And there is, uh, another word that carries the thought that the one who is redeemed, the one for whom a price has been paid, is brought out of the slave market of sin. And there is yet another word, all connected, keep in mind, but with a different shade of meaning, that the one for whom a price was paid in the slave market of sin and taken out of the slave market of sin will never go back into the slave market again. In Hebrews chapter seven and verse twenty five, we read that our Lord Jesus Christ is able to save to the uttermost. Now, we are inclined to think of guttermost when we read that. Well, he's able to save to the guttermost, but that's not what Hebrews seven twenty five means. He's able to save to the uttermost. It means he's able to save through and through to redemption, completely. And we are redeemed, those of us who are saved, we are redeemed with an infinite price, and we have been bought with a price and brought out of the slave market of sin, never to go back into the slave market again. We are saved through and through to glory. So redemption is the purpose of grace. Look at Romans chapter five once again. Romans chapter five. mhm 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. You remember what the G was? Giving is the principle of grace. You remember what the R was? Redemption is the purpose of grace. We come to the A. Access is the privilege of grace. Say it with me. Access is the privilege of grace. One more time. Access is the privilege of grace. I remember reading one of Harry Ironside's books some time ago. I believe it was his expository book on Ephesians. He was telling about the time that he was in a little town, Roosevelt, Washington. Roosevelt in the state of Washington. And he was the guest of some sheep raisers, I guess would be the term. And he said one morning he was, uh, taking a walk, getting a little exercise, and he saw something very strange looking. He looked up ahead of him, and he saw a ewe go loping across the path, and behind the ewe was, well, it looked to be a lamb, but it had six legs, four touching the ground and two dangling in the back. And he looked, and one of the, uh, workers there, uh, on this, uh, ranch must have noticed his surprised look, and he said to him, do you, do you know what you're looking at? And he said, no, I don't. It looks like a lamb, but I've never seen a lamb with six legs. Well, he said, let me tell you about it. What you're looking at is a, is an orphan lamb. The, the ewe of that lamb died, and we, we tried to get this other ewe to accept this orphan lamb, and she would not. But her lamb died. And so we took the skin of that dead lamb, and we tied it around this orphan lamb. And the ewe is now smelling her own. And we will leave that skin of her lamb on this orphan lamb until the time that we can remove it, and she will go on accepting that orphan lamb as her own. And Harry and Ernst, I thought, what a wonderful illustration. When we call to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, God wants us to know that the price has been paid because the Son of God came for the purpose of going to Calvary and paying that infinite price for our redemption. He shed his blood, he died, he dealt with sin to God's eternal satisfaction. God raised him from the dead, a proof of the acceptance of the price that he paid. And now all who receive by faith the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior have imputed, reckoned over to their account, the price that he paid. And when we by faith receive Jesus Christ as Savior, we are accepted in the beloved. We are accepted as the Lord Jesus himself, so that we can say and sing, so near, so very near to God, nearer I cannot be, for in the person of his son, I'm as near as he. So dear, so very dear to God, more dear I cannot be, for the love wherewith he loves the son, the same is his love to me. Have you by faith received Jesus Christ as your savior? Dear friend, there is no salvation for you, there is no forgiveness of sins, there is no going to heaven apart from trusting Jesus Christ as your Savior. And when you receive him, God accepts you in Christ. You're clothed upon with the very righteousness of God. So access is the privilege of grace. I must hurry. We come to the C. Character is the pr- uh, product of grace. Say it with me. Character is the product of grace. One more time. Character is the product of grace. Look at Acts chapter eleven. Acts chapter eleven. m We read of Barnabas coming to Antioch. Acts chapter eleven and verse twenty three. Something was going on there. People were being saved. And so Barnabas came to Antioch, and we read in verse twenty three, who, when he came and had seen the grace of God, had seen the grace of God. Let me ask you, how do you see the grace of God? Now, some of you are able to quote from Titus chapter two, and I- I'll read that for you. Titus chapter two and verse eleven: for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. That is, the grace of God brings salvation to us, but what else does it do? Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly, that is, sober-mindedly, righteously and godly in this present world. That's what the grace of God does. The grace of God changes. It transforms us. We're new creatures in Christ Jesus. And the grace of God is seen in our lives by a transformed life. You know, the psalmist in Psalm forty said, I cried unto the Lord, and he heard my cry, and he brought me up also out of an horrible pit, and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings, and hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God, and many shall... What? What's the rest of it? Many shall... Come on, students. Many shall see it. You know, if we were writing that, we would say, and he hath put a new song in, in my mouth, even praise unto our God, and many shall hear it. That's not what he said. Many shall see it. Because the Holy Spirit of God works in us and with us to reveal Christ in us and this new life in Christ. And so character is the product of grace. Well, I must close with this. We come to the E. Eternity with Christ is the prospect of grace. Say it with me. Eternity with Christ is the prospect of grace. Second Corinthians eight and nine: for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. And when we know the Lord Jesus Christ is our Savior, we have the, the blessed hope. It's a living hope that one day we're going to see him face to face and be with him for all eternity. We who are saved have an inheritance in heaven that's incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away. It's reserved for us, and we are kept by the power of God until we get there. And so eternity with Christ is the prospect of grace. Giving is the principle, redemption is the purpose, access is the privilege, character is the product, and eternity with Christ is the prospect of grace. Aren't you thankful for God and his grace? Let's sing acapella. Join in with me. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind, but now I see. Father, we are indeed thankful for everyone here who can testify in their own experience of the grace of God. We pray for those who are not saved. Father, they don't fully understand just what we're talking about, but they know this, that they are sinners, and they need a savior, and we pray they will call upon the Lord Jesus Christ even today and experience the grace of God. We pray it will be so for the honor and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.