Two Journeys

Look with me at Romans chapter 6. This morning, we're going to be looking at verses 19-23, although in truth, I'm not going to be getting into verse 23 that much. It's just so rich and so deep that we're going to give attention to it more next week. We live in a complex age. We are an urban people. We are a people that watches CNN and we follow the ups and downs, perhaps of the stock market, or other things. And so we would not respond as well to agricultural illustrations as we do, perhaps, financial ones. We talk about investment more than we talk about sowing. We talk about a return on investment more than we talk about reaping. But the fact of the matter is, these same matters are facing us as faced God's people 2,000 years ago. When Paul said to the Galatian believers, he said, "Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature from that nature will reap destruction. The one who sows to please the spirit from the spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we'll reap the harvest if we do not give up. Therefore as we have opportunity, let us do good." Paul there in Galatians 6 is calling the people of God to make an investment in the Spirit, and to stop investing in the flesh. He's calling on us to stop sowing seeds to our sin nature. And it's the very same thing he's doing here in Romans chapter 6.

In Romans 6, Paul is trying to talk us out of habits and patterns of sin that do not line up with who we are in Jesus Christ. He's speaking to us in love and as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, he's reasoning with us, just as Isaiah did so long ago. Come now, let us reason together. Stop sinning. And here in this passage that we're looking at, he's taking this approach, saying, "What has sin ever done for you?" I was talking to somebody recently who was struggling with sin and wrestling with it, and it was a younger person, and the person was talking to me about it, and said, "I just can't stop. I just keep doing it over and over."

I said, "Imagine, if you would, that we lived in a neighborhood, and there were people that wanted to be your friend. And one of them came out with a big smile on his face and said, 'Come on into my house and we'll be friends together.' And so you walk by, it's a friendly looking person, you go in the house, and the person speaks harshly to you, beats you up, treats you badly and then throws you out in the street. What kind of person would you think that would be?" This child said to me, "Well, a mean person." I said, "That's right. Now, suppose you went and visited that mean person 100 days in a row. Day after day after day after day. What kind of person would you be?" This little person looked and said, "A fool."

I said, "That's right." Isn't that what we do? Has there ever been a time that you look back on your life and say, you know that thing that I did there was clearly sin, but I'm glad I did it. Has there ever been a time like that in your life? That God's word spoke against something that you did, but you are glad looking back that you did that. Has sin ever done anything good for you? And that's exactly Paul's reasoning, he's saying what benefit, what fruit has ever come to you from sin? And so he's reasoning with us. He's talking us out of sin.

Now, in context where are we? We're right after that section, which Paul has been explaining to us, the human race, about our need for justification. There is coming a Judgment Day. We will soon be standing before the judgment seat of God. And on that day, we will have to give an account for our lives. And God has a careful, accurate accounting and record of everything that we've ever said and done. And on that day, there will be no escape from the judgment of God, if it's not found in Jesus Christ. So, all of us who have sinned and done evil in His sight, all of us are in need of justification. We're in need of being declared not guilty by the judge of all the earth. There is no issue you face in your life that's more important than that.

And so, we need justification. And in Romans chapter 1, 2 and 3, he goes through, and makes it very clear that all have sinned and lack the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace. So, we've got the bad news of our sin and our need for justification right next to the good news of the fact that it's available through faith in Jesus Christ. Through faith alone, by grace alone through the blood of Jesus Christ. And so Paul works out that argument, and he culminates in chapter 5 a great statement of our total security in Christ. "Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more," so that grace reigns in your life like a king, like an emperor. Sin cannot defeat the reign of grace in your life. And so that carnal nature starts to kick up and say, "Well, if that's the case, I might as well sin, let's sin all the more so that grace may increase." And in chapter 6, Paul is dealing with the issue of sin in the life of a justified Christian. Sin in the life of somebody who's put their faith in Christ.

What role should sin have in our life? And how do you line it up with this doctrine that he's giving us of justification by faith? Romans 6:1, he says, "What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound? May it never be." That's Paul's answer. Don't you know that you have been united with Christ in His death? And united with Him also in His resurrection. You have a new life, you're a new person. You're alive to God and dead to sin forever. And he asks the same question again in Romans 6:15. "What then, shall we sin because we're not under law, but under grace?" So, we're dealing with this question.

Shall we sin? Shall we sin? He asks it twice and the answer is, "May it never be." Because we are one with Jesus Christ spiritually, and if you're not one with Jesus Christ spiritually, you're not saved. You're still under judgment. You're still under wrath, but if you have come to faith in Christ you have been united spiritually with Him, and therefore you died to sin, not you should die to sin. It would be good if you could die to sin. He's not saying that at all. He's saying, "You died to sin, once and for all." The person you were in Adam, the person you were born into in sin is dead forever. You have become a new creation in Jesus Christ. So live like it. That's how he's exhorting us toward holiness. 1 John 2:6, John writes this, "Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did." We must walk in this world as Jesus did. We must be holy. Now, justification is a judicial, a declaration like by a court of law by a judge that you are not guilty of all your sins. He has declared you on the basis of your faith in Jesus Christ that you're not guilty, but actually, nothing has changed in terms of your habit patterns or your lifestyle. Just as I am, you came to Him without one plea, you came and presented yourself to God, and He declared you not guilty because of faith in Jesus Christ.

Then, He rolls up His sleeves and gets to work on your life. It matters a great deal how you live after you have been declared not guilty. You must be holy. You must walk in holiness and the newness of life. 1 John 4:17, "In this world, we are like Him."

And so, He raises up this image of slavery, which we talked about last time. We used to be slaves to sin but we're no longer slaves to sin. Sin is not our master, but rather God has become our master. Righteousness has become our master. Jesus Christ is our Lord. Read with me along in verses 19 through 23 and let's understand what He says to us. Speaking of this analogy of slavery, He says, "I put this in human terms, because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness, leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefits did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death, but now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness and the result is eternal life, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

So, Paul raises up this picture, this image, this analogy of slavery and there's a comparison, "just as, so also." He's comparing your old way of life in slavery to sin, to your new way of life in slavery to righteousness and he's going to bring out a principle there that's going to help you in your growth in holiness. He's going to talk about that. He says in verse 16, "Don't you know that when you offer yourself to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey." So, he's got this slavery analogy, and from verse 16-18, he's been using this human analogy to explain our present status in Christ, namely, that of slavery.

Now, the Romans understood slavery. As the Roman legions advanced around the world and conquered nations, people would be brought to Rome as slaves and they would have to serve their masters. And that was their understanding. So, Paul uses and picks up this analogy, but in a way, he kind of has to apologize for it. It's not a perfect analogy and he wants to explain why he's using it. There's an aspect of it that's true, but it's not perfect, just like all illustrations and analogies. In verse 18, he says, "You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." So, just as your past life in sin was a life of slavery to sin, so now your present life in Christ is a life of slavery to righteousness.

That's the analogy. And he acknowledges that this is merely an analogy. Look at verse 19, "I put this in human terms." I speak after a human way of thinking here. I put this in human terms because you are weak in your flesh. You're weak in your natural selves." Why does Paul apologize, it seems, almost for the analogy. Not so much apologize but he wants you to know that there's a limit to the analogy. Well, he uses the analogy, first of all, because he says we are weak. We don't understand spiritual truth. We need, therefore, illustrations. We need analogies. Now, I think, in preaching that illustrations are important but they are not for the purpose of entertainment. I love to listen to stories. I think it's great to listen to one story after another, but all of you who are Christians are in a war and you're going to leave this room and you're going to go back onto the battlefield and you're going to struggle with sin, are you not? As a matter of fact, if you're not struggling with sin, you're not a Christian. You're just a slave to sin. You do the will of sin day after day. So, either you're dead in transgressions and sins and under the wrath of God or you're going to leave this room and go into warfare against your sin nature. And if you're a Christian, you know it's true.

And so, there's no point in me standing and giving a bunch of stories and illustrations that are not going to help you for your warfare, but rather, we need an illustration that's going to help us understand how we can conquer, how we can rise to live the way that God calls us to. And so, that's what He does. And so, He stoops to some degree to our weakness. He uses language we can understand, basic grammar, nouns and verbs and adjectives and participial phrases. And He puts these things together so that we can understand the mind of God. He humbles Himself to speak to us this way. And as you look across the 66 books of the Bible, He uses all different kinds of manner of speech, doesn't He? He uses historical narratives, stories about David and Goliath and Samson and Delilah, we learn those stories, the Exodus and all the events of the book of Genesis.

All of those stories and their historical narratives, and they all happened, but they teach us something about the way of God and His way of thinking. We also have laws, don't we, in which God says, "Thou shalt and thou shalt not," and makes it very clear what His will is in certain matters. He speaks to us in that way. He speaks also to us in poetry. The beautiful Song of Solomon, with its love poetry. He talks to us in Psalms through David and other psalm writers. That's poetical language, and He uses that. He speaks to us in parables, doesn't He? Jesus used parables. The parable of the rich young ruler or the parable of the pearl of great price. The parable of the prodigal son. All of these stories teaching a point. He speaks to us in these ways. He speaks to us also in prophecies that this will happen after 70 years. The people of Israel will come back from Babylon, He lays it out. He speaks to us also in apocalyptic visions that are very difficult to understand. The Book of Revelation, Book of Ezekiel. Future apocalyptic visions. All of this is God's condescending lowering Himself to communicate to us so that we can understand. The greatest form of condescension ever done was the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

"The word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. And we have seen His glory." And He walked around with us and He lived a life after the same manner of ours, yet without sin. In this way, God condescended to communicate to us in our weakness. And in the middle of that there came a time, once, when a ruler, a leader in Israel, Nicodemus, came to Him at night and wanted to know and understand His spiritual ministry. He tried to understand, he said, "We know you're a teacher come from God because nobody could do the miracles you're doing, if God were not with him." And Jesus looked at him and said, Nicodemus, "you must be born again." Now, what was Jesus doing? He was using something we all experience. We experience it once, ourselves, and then we observe it when other babies are born. The issue of birth. A little baby coming into the world. And Jesus picks up this human way of speaking and says, that just as, what happened to you then was so radical and done to you by the power of another, so also, you must be transformed like a whole new life. You must be born again if you want to go to heaven." But what did Nicodemus think He meant? "How can I get back into my mother's womb a second time and be born? I can't understand your analogy. I can't understand your illustration."

This is what Jesus said, John 3:12, "I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe, how then will you understand if I speak of heavenly things?" What is Jesus saying? He's saying, "I'm putting it in human terms. I'm using human speech so that you can understand the spiritual reality." And that's exactly what Paul is doing here with this slavery illustration. He's putting it in a way that the Romans could understand. Now, in one sense, the analogy is right on. We are servants, we are slaves of God. Paul says so, right at the beginning of this book. Romans 1:1 he says, "Paul, a bond slave of Christ Jesus," the best translation. Philippians 1:1, "Paul and Timothy, bond slaves of Christ Jesus." He states that we have been purchased with a price. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, he says, "You are not your own, you are bought at a price; therefore honor God with your body." So we're not our own. A price was paid for us. And then in Romans 14:8, "Whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord." He owns us. He is our master. In one sense we must therefore think of ourselves in that way. Jesus said, "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in heart and you'll find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." He's saying, "Come and let me be your master, but I'm not like your old master sin. I'm a whole different kind of master."

And in that way the analogy is not perfect. And so Paul is somewhat needing to explain the limitations of this analogy. In one sense we must never think of ourselves as slaves. John 15:15, Jesus said, "I no longer call you servants or slaves because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead I have called you friends, because everything that I learned from the Father, I have made known to you." So we're not any longer called servants or slaves, we're called friends because He communicates openly with us as friend to friend, like Abraham who was called God's friend. We are God's friends. And He opens His mind to us, He explains what He's doing. He's not treating us as a slave but as a friend. As a matter of fact, Jesus put the two together. In John 15:14 He says, "You are my friends if you obey my commands." So if we are His servants, we are His friends. He puts the two together. And then after the resurrection He goes even further, He says to Mary Magdalene, "Go to my brothers and tell them, I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." We're brothers, brothers of Jesus Christ. It says in Hebrews 2, He's not ashamed to call us brothers. That's an incredible thing. Adopted into the very family of God.

Paul himself limits it. He says in Romans 8:15-16, "You did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received a spirit of adoption. And by Him we cry out Abba, Father." So yes, in one sense we are slaves of Jesus Christ. In one sense we are slaves of righteousness. In another sense, it's an imperfect analogy. And that's why He's saying, "I put it in human terms so that you can understand it." And then He says, I want to describe what happened just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and ever increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. Here's the comparison; just as you used to do this thing on the negative side, bring that principle over now and use it for you. Use it to benefit you so that you can grow in holiness. You used to behave this way and grew in ever increasing wickedness. Now take that principle of presentation to a master and use it now for righteousness and grow on into holiness. That's what He's saying.

We're taking out an aspect of the way you used to live your life and we're saying, "This is right," but now use it to serve the right master. Grow in holiness just like you used to grow in wickedness. That's what He's saying, just as so also.

Well, how was that old slavery? What happened? Well, you presented yourself day after day to your master. You didn't know it. Why didn't you know it? Because sin is a deceiver. Sin is a deceiver, sin is a tricker. Con artist. And sin will come and present itself in a very favorable friendly way. But sin is a tyrant. Sin is a dominating master. And you used to come and present yourself to that dominating master and say, "Here I am, command me." Even though you didn't know that's what you were doing, that's what you did. So you offered the parts of your body to him in slavery, the members of your body. Now, we talked about that last time, the word "member" means all the physical parts of your body and also the internal parts as well. Yes, your hands, yes, your feet and your eyes and your mouth, and every part of your body and all of the natural drives that God has given us. The drive for hunger, the drive for pleasure, the sexual drive. All of these things created by God, but used in service to wickedness. Just as you used to do that, so now we're going to come over and offer them in service to righteousness leading to holiness, that's what He's saying.

Now, slavery, the word "slavery" involves complete submission. We were not employees of sin. We were slaves to sin. We could not change the relationship. A more powerful master, namely grace or Jesus Christ, had to come and break that relationship and He did. Praise God He did. So we're free from sin, but there's a principle that the way that we lived our life back then that He's trying to use now in growth to holiness. He said, "Alright, what happened? You offered parts of your body in slavery to impurity." The word "impurity" means uncleanness or internal corruption. It's the same word used in Romans 1:24, "Therefore, God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another." Impurity, it means things mixed in that shouldn't be there. Impurity. And that's what you used to do, you gave yourself over to impurity. But you know something, with sin, it doesn't stay in one place, does it? It doesn't stay where it's at.

Sin is like a malignant tumor. It's always going to get bigger and bigger and bigger. There's a principle of growth in sin, isn't there? And so it says, in slavery to impurity and to ever increasing wickedness, it's always going to grow and grow. You know how it works. Some little thing comes into your life, a thought or something and next thing you know you act on it, it has a certain effect on your character and your memory and your mind. A few days later, you act on it again. After that, a few more times with increasing regularity and next thing you know, you've picked up a habit, haven't you? And with that habit, you continue to feed it and it continues to grow. And it eventually affects who you are. It affects your heart, it affects your character. And as you continue to go on, it's almost like an accelerated... It's like a white water river, and then it just leads you down to death. That's what He's saying. That's the way sin is. It starts out small and gets ever bigger, ever stronger all the time.

The Continual Lust for More

But what He's saying is, the very same thing works in the same way for holiness and sanctification. It starts out small, you start a habit, it starts to grow, it starts to take over your life. The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast hidden in a little amount of flour and it works all the way through the dough, it starts to grow. He's just taking that same principle and using it in holiness. But there is this continual lust for more with sin. Ephesians 4:19, it says, "Having lost all sensitivity they have given themselves over to sensuality, so as to indulge in every kind of impurity with a continual lust for more." Think about maybe two young folks going out on a date. Questionable whether they should be alone, they're in a car, first date. And with hearts beating wildly, one of them reaches out and they hold hands. And wow, it's exciting, right? But the date ends, the next time, is holding hands sufficient? No, it's not. It's not going to stay in one place. It's keep growing and growing and growing.

There's a desire for more all the time. Sin is relentless, it's restless and it's not going to stay put. So it keeps pushing and pushing. And it works this way in every area of life. And so what He's saying is, in the same way that that's how you used to live your life, now we're going to bring it over into holiness and into righteousness. He talks about a new slavery, just as that so also this. Now remember that we have a new life in Christ, verse 4, "we were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life." We have a new life. We have power to live for God. Power to live in righteousness. So let's live that life. That's what he's saying. Walk in newness of life. So he says in Verse 19, "So now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness." Step by step growth in sanctification.

People say, "How can I grow as a Christian?" Well, in effect, Paul here is saying the same way you used to grow as a non-Christian. There you grew in wickedness, now you can grow in holiness. You've been set free from sin and now you can grow into Christ-like maturity. So the common theme is that of a gradual increase as you give yourself in full submission to God. Now, as we look at verse 20-21, we talk about the old master, and he asks, "What pattern was there? What benefits came and what destination?" In verse 20-21 he says, "When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death." Jesus said we can't serve two masters. Either he owns you or sin owns you, one or the other.

Well, who owns you if you're a Christian? Jesus does. And He's jealous over you. He's not going to share you with sin. And so therefore He's going to work in the power of the Spirit to get you to stop behaving like you're still a slave to sin, which you're not. And so He's saying, "No one can serve two masters." And verse 16, "Don't you know when you offer yourselves to someone to obey them as slaves, you're slaves to the one you obey." Well, Paul takes that principle, in verse 20, he says, "When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness." And what does that mean? Not absolutely free. God can command and you should have obeyed. But the point is, when you were a slave to sin you didn't think about righteousness. When you wanted to do that sin thing, whatever it was, righteousness didn't bother you. It didn't intrude on that. You didn't feel like you owed righteousness anything. Righteousness could command, and you disobeyed and disregarded it. It was like you were deaf to the call of righteousness. He's saying, "Okay, why can't we do that now on the other side?" Now, righteousness is your master. When sin calls, be deaf. Sin has no authority over you. Sin has no right to command you.

And so therefore say, "I'm not a slave to sin anymore, you have no authority over me. You can't make me sin. No." So he says, Just as in the old life, you were a slave to sin, free from the control of righteousness," that's what he said. You had one master. And what kind of life, what pattern of life did you have? Well, it has already been described. He said, "What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? What benefit came?" You lived a certain life in sin. That was the manner of life. It was a growth in impurity, and an ever increasing wickedness. Well, what fruit, the word literally means fruit, what fruit came out of it? What benefit ever came? Can you imagine somebody that committed adultery 10 years later, after having tried the best that he or she could to pick up the pieces, saying, "If I could do it over again, I'd do it so differently. Oh, how it hurts. It hurts to see my children, it hurts to see my spouse, it hurts to walk around in those old places and to realize what could've been if I hadn't done that. What benefit came, what good thing from that sin?" "Anything good? What benefit did I get at that time from those things of which I'm now ashamed?"

Or somebody who struggles with alcohol, wakes up the next morning after yet another bout with drinking. He's about to lose his job, maybe his family. What benefit? What fruit, what good thing coming from sin? Think. They say in the area of psychology and all that, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results every time. Is not sin insanity? You know what I'm talking about? That same thing. I'm going to try it again, but maybe this time a different outcome. No. There is no fruit, no benefit, nothing good from sin. That's what he's saying. What benefit did you reap from those things you're now ashamed of? Now, on this issue of shame, some people believe and say, "We're Christians. We don't need to feel ashamed, we're free forever from shame and guilt and all that." May I tell you? In heaven you'll be free forever from shame and guilt, but we're still in the battle now and we need some help, don't we? Is there still a danger of future sin? Is sin not a relentless, vicious enemy? I believe that shame for past sin is a protection from future sin, is it not? One Puritan writer, Thomas Watson on the Doctrine of Repentance, listed shame for sin as an essential element of repentance.

And I started studying in scripture and it's right there. Ezra 9:6 is what the priest said, "Oh my God I am too ashamed and disgraced to lift up my face to you, my God, because our sins are higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached to the heavens." Can't even look up at you, God. I can't lift my face. Jesus said, Matthew 5:4, "Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted." When you sin, you should mourn. What happened to Peter when he denied his Savior three times? And when Jesus walked by en route to the next stage, I believe, of his trial, and the cock crowed and he realized that he had called down curses on himself if he knew Jesus. And at that moment the cock crows and at the moment, in Luke's Gospel, Jesus looked at him. What did that look feel like? Can you imagine what it felt like to be Peter? And it was all true, Jesus always tells the truth. He said, "This very night before the rooster crows, you'll disown me three times," and Jesus just providentially walking by at that moment looks at Peter. Didn't say a word, just looked at him. What did Peter do? Went outside and wept bitterly. That weeping was such a cleansing for him. That's what it took to bring him back to repentance. He was in the upper room, the night that Jesus rose from the dead, ready for whatever God had, but he had to go through that weeping.

That sense of shame, a sense that I betrayed my master. Luke 18:13, the tax collector stood at a distance, he wouldn't even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, "God have mercy on me, a sinner." We are so prideful. Do you sense it? We don't want to say anything like this. "I've been forgiven. I don't ever need to grieve over my sin." We do need to grieve and yes, it's forgiven. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But we are ashamed of our past sins and should be. And by the way, if we shouldn't feel that, then what power or strength ever comes from spiritual discipline, when God disciplines us, why does He discipline us? So that we immediately forget the discipline? No, so that we remember and never do it again. That's the point. That we're supposed to forget immediately all our sins, that are confessed and covered and forgiven, then why would God discipline us? He wants us to remember so that we don't sin, but realize that it has not hindered our relationship with Him. We have confessed, we're restored, we're walking with Him and we're never going to do that again.

What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of, those things result in death. That's a destination. And what is this death? Well, people who aren't Christians, they live in a day after day living spiritual death. We kind of mock it or imitate it when we sin. You can sin your way out of good, healthy fellowship with God. We're alive eternally, once you came to faith in Christ, you have eternal life. But what happens to your prayer life when you sin? What happens to your fruitfulness? There's a sense or a feeling that something's not right in your relationship. Those things result in death, and for the unbeliever, ultimate death forever, eternally in hell.

Well, we have a new master instead, and what pattern, and what benefits, and what destination come there? Our new master is God. Verse 22, "But now that you've been set free from sin, and have become slaves to God," an incredible transformation, but now, we were slaves to sin, but now we're slaves to God, praise God for that.

And we have a new pattern, a pattern of presenting our members to God as instruments of righteousness. And as a result of that, ever increasing holiness, a righteousness that leads to holiness. Now, how important is this? The results is eternal life. The word in Greek, the end, the destination is eternal life. There is no other pattern of life that leads to heaven. You don't walk the aisle, pray a prayer, get baptized, and then live however you want and go to heaven. That's not the life. Rather we repent, come to faith in Christ, we have a new life, and we bring forth fruit day after day of righteousness and holiness. And so, the writer to Hebrews said, Hebrews 12:14, "Make every effort to live at peace with all men and to be holy. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord." Don't be deceived, walk in newness of life, grow in holiness, the result, the outcome of that life is eternal life. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord, for the wages of sin is death. But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Now, we're about to have a time of the Lord's supper. And before we go to the Lord's supper, we are urged by Paul in Corinthians to examine our hearts. It could be that as we've been listening to the word, we realize that we've been behaving as though we were slaves to sin, when we're not. If we're Christian, we're free forever from sin, but this is a good time to confess, to repent of that sin, to resolve that we're going to make it right. The time of the Lord's supper is a time of unity in the body of Christ, and a time of thinking about what He's done for us. But also a time of recognition that we must be pure and holy, if we are to be the people of God.

Won't you close with me in prayer? Father, we thank you for the way that Paul is teaching us that we must be holy, and the way that he lifts up this principle, and the way we used to live our lives, we used to present ourselves to sin and to ever increasing wickedness, so now we can present ourselves in slavery to righteousness, leading to holiness. Father, I pray for your people here that they might do it. Father, I pray that you would enable us, Oh Lord, to confess and to humble ourselves under your mighty hand, that you may lift us up. Father, I pray that you would break us of sin, wean us from sin, that we might not be interested in it any longer. Father, we thank you for this time to consider your word. In Jesus' name, amen.

Andy Davis preaches an expository sermon on Ephesians 4. This sermon is an ongoing study of what the Bible has to say about spiritual gifts.

Take your Bibles and open to Ephesians 4. We're going to continue looking there as a starting place in our study. To understand what the gifts are and how they are addressed, there are three major sections of scripture and then some more minor references, Ephesians 4:1-16 is one of the major sections, Romans 12 is one of those sections, and also 1 Corinthians 12-14. And we're going to be getting God willing, next into the Corinthians passage, but I want to see if we can wring all the meaning we can out of Ephesians and find out how God has put the body together.

Now, in Ephesians, he follows the same procedure that he does in most of his letters. In other words, he tells us what is true of us and then tells us how we should live, accordingly. That's the same procedure that he follows in Romans, as we've been seeing, where he tells us what's true. This morning we considered how it said in Romans 6:18 that we have been set free from sin and have become slaves of righteousness. That's just a statement of fact in which God is standing over spiritually and saying, "This is what I've done to you. This is what has happened to you spiritually." And in effect, he's going to do the same thing with spiritual gifts. He's going to tell you, "I've done this in you. I've put this spiritual gift in you, and now live accordingly." And I think that's the beauty of it.

And therefore, it all starts with good teaching. You've got to start with teaching on spiritual gifts, and then that just primes the pump and then the body just starts to move in a marvelous way. It's not that the gift of teaching is any more significant than the others. It just primes the pump. It starts with the understanding. If you know what God has put in you, if you know that he's put a spiritual gift package in you, you're going to live a different way than if you didn't know that was in you. I remember early in my Christian life, I was witnessing to a guy, I come myself from a Catholic background, and this man did too, and we were working in an engineering company, and I was witnessing to him, sharing the gospel at work. And I continue to believe that the workplace is the best place for evangelism. If you do it right, it's a phenomenal place. It's where we interact the most with non-Christians. Isn't it true? And so we have a great opportunity to witness, and there's obviously some difficulties and obstacles. Your employers, for the most part, are not going to be paying you to witness or to lead Bible studies, but there are opportunities, aren't there? There are conversations that we can have. And so I was having a conversation with this man, the Catholic man. And he came from the Catholic background as I did. Now in the Catholic Church, the priests wear different clothes, don't they? They have the different outfit. They have a collar on, and then on Sunday morning, they wear these robes. And he said, "That's the way I think of it." He was a big sports fan. He said, "The players are out in the field, and they wear uniforms on their back. And you can tell who's in the game, and we're the spectators cheering them on." Well, that's not the body of Christ, is it? Not at all. Actually, we are the ones that are ministering. We are the ones that are given a spiritual gift package. We are the ones that are on the field, and we're actually also in the audience cheering each other on. We're encouraging each other to do our ministry, but we're both players in the game and we're also encouragers along the way.

He said, "If you've got that number on your back, you should be out in the field playing. But if not, you should be in the crowd, and I'm not one of those called to do that." And I thought, “That is not the way that God has put the body together.” All of us are to be on the field playing. We all have a role to play. And that's the beauty of what Paul gets at here in Ephesians.

I'd like to begin reading in Ephesians 4 and just make a few comments on the first section, even though it doesn't have to do with spiritual gifts. They're just such wonderful verses that I think it's worth us pausing and looking at it again. Let's start at verse 1, it says, "As a prisoner for the Lord, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received." Do you wrestle with that as I do, living up to the calling you have as a Christian? What kind of calling is it? We have a very high calling, don't we? We have a calling to be perfect, just as God is perfect. We talked about that this morning. We have a calling also, and we're going to get to it later in Ephesians, to make the most of every opportunity. What does it mean to make the most of every opportunity? It means God is handing you every day unique set of circumstances, unique opportunities to serve him and where to make the most of that. So we are to be holy internally, and we are to make the most of every opportunity to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ. So we want to make the most of every opportunity, and that's the calling we have. We are urged to live a life worthy of the calling that we have received. And then it says, "Be completely humble and gentle. Be patient, bearing with one another in love." That is so beautiful, and I appreciate what you were sharing about Philippians 2, that is a great passage, and it's so important that we carry ourselves in humility toward one another. Is there any person in this room that's not a sinner saved by grace? Is there any person in this room that could see something in somebody else and not find an echo in their own soul? Isn't that true? No matter what it is, no matter what the sin is, there's something in all of us. We're all saved by grace if we're saved at all. There's nobody but one person that's ever made it through this world sinless and perfect, and it's on the basis of his sinlessness and his perfection that we hope to go to heaven. Isn't that true? And so we should be completely humble with each other and gentle too, bearing with one another in love. What did that mean? When you look at that, just think about it. What does it mean to bear with somebody? Go ahead. This is one of those open-ended things. What does it mean to bear with somebody?

[Audience speaks]

Put up with them. That's right. Has anybody ever had to bear with you? People have to bear with me, and we bear with each other. We put up with each other, and that's just because of sin. We don't have to bear with God. We don't have to bear with Jesus Christ. He has to bear with us, and he does put up with us, and so we bear up with one another. And it says, "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." This is a very interesting verse to me because later in this same section, he's going to tell us that we are to build up the unity until we all reach unity. So apparently, unity is both present and future, isn't it? We've got a unity now, and we've got a unity in the future. We've got a unity now because we've come to faith in Christ. We believe in him. We are trusting in him. We're heading to the same heaven. There's one Lord, one faith, one baptism. We know all these things, and that's the unity we experience now. We're reading the same scriptures. We're hoping for the same heaven. We want to see people come to Christ. We rejoice with the same joy when we hear someone come into faith in Christ. But the unity's not complete, is it, because the actual pattern for unity is what? What is the ultimate pattern for our unity? The Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, perfectly united in mind and thought, never a shade or shadow of difference between them. That's our future unity. And that's what we are striving toward, perfect unity. And the way that that happens is that lost people, there's no way you could say that they're one with us. They disagree with us on every significant issue. But then suddenly the gospel comes, and they come to faith in Christ. They're given that heart of flesh, not the heart of stone. They come to faith, and all of a sudden, there's some amazing agreement. We agree that Jesus is God. We agree that he died on the cross in our place and he rose from the dead. So they have been brought from disunity, as much disunity as you can ever have, into unity with us. But then there's a continual sanctification process, isn't there? We're growing up. We're understanding more and more until we all reach unity. So we maintain a present unity, and then we grow up into unity by the use of spiritual gifts. And that's what we're going to talk about tonight, how the gifts build the body of Christ. But I think it's interesting how at the beginning of this passage, we've got this unity that we maintain, and then toward the end of this section, we've got a unity that we strive toward and that we build toward. So we should make every effort or be zealous to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. "There is one body and one Spirit- just as you were called to one hope when you were called, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is overall and through all and in all." There is only one body of Christ. There is a worldwide, spiritual body of Christ, and the Holy Spirit is working worldwide to build that body. That is the project of the universe, is the building of the body of Christ. Everything else is temporary. Everything else will disappear. I praise God for the paying off the note, and we can rejoice in that this morning. And I think this is a beautiful building, and it's nice to sit here and to have the comforts here. And I praise God for it. And I think that that's one of the uses of our tithes and offerings. But realize that everything you can see with your eyes, you can touch, you can handle in any way, it's all temporary. But the building of the body of Christ, the spiritual body, now that is eternal, and that is the work that God has called us too.

So that's the unity section at the beginning. I thought it was worth going through it one more time. But then he gives us a contrast in verse 7, "But to each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it." Ephesians 4:7 is the great spiritual gift verse, I think. Jesus Christ has measured out to each one of us a portion of grace. Now, this is all part of God's saving grace. Keith just played “Amazing Grace.” Grace is a huge thing. It's not just the grace that brings us into saving faith in Jesus Christ, but it's multifaceted, isn't it? If you look for example, take a minute and look at Titus 2:11. Grace brings us to faith in Christ. But then grace continues to work, doesn't it? Grace is active and energetic. It's not some static thing or something that you just get zapped with once and then that's it. But rather, there's an abiding presence and abiding work of grace. Listen to Titus 2:11, it says, "For the grace of God that brings salvation appear to all men. It teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age while we wait for the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and savior, Jesus Christ." We'll just stop there. Now, those verses are talking about sanctification. They're talking about being holy in this present world while we wait for the appearing of Jesus Christ. But there's something in us that teaches us how to do that. According to this, what is it that teaches us how to do that? It is grace. “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared… It [namely grace] teaches us to say no to ungodliness.” Isn't that beautiful? Grace is not just to start you. Grace is to finish you. And that's exactly what Newton wrote when he wrote “Amazing Grace.” "His grace has brought me safe thus far." And what? "Grace will lead me home." Isn't that beautiful? Grace isn't finished with you yet.

And so grace is going to be working on you internally to bring you to holiness. It's teaching you to say no to ungodliness, but grace is also going to give you work to do. Grace is giving you work to do. You've got work to do here. And it's a good work, isn't it? It's a work of lasting, eternal value. It's a work you can throw yourself into and know that it's not going to go to waste. There's nothing more tragic than working on a project that goes to waste. Have you ever had that experience? Throw yourself into some labor. Maybe you made a cake, and then one of the kids runs in and slams the door. And there it goes. And how do you feel? And that's just a cake. But you look in and it's flat, and you must throw it away. Or you can eat it if you want, but have you ever eaten a cake like that? It just isn't worth eating. And you've wasted your effort. God has saved us from the tragedy of a wasted life. Isn't that beautiful? He gives us time. He gives us a Monday and a Tuesday and a Wednesday. He gives us month after month, year after year, and for what? For a purpose. And what is that purpose? To build the church of Jesus Christ. And how? With wisdom with your spiritual gifts. And so the grace of God comes, and it does teach us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions. But it also teaches us to get busy and to work hard and to work for his kingdom and to do it in a certain patterned way by these spiritual gifts. And so it says in Ephesians 4:7 that “to each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.” As we continue to read in verse 8 it says, "This is why it says: 'When He ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.'" The image there is of a triumphant general having won a victory. And he's going through the city, and he's just throwing the spoils of the victory off. And that's what we get. We get the spoils of the victory. We get the Holy Spirit. We get the indwelling Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit. And it says he's ascending on high. He's ascending the heaven and giving these gifts. And it says, "(What does He ascended mean except that he also descended the lower earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe.)" Who is that talking about? Who ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe? It is Jesus Christ. I'm amazed by that. You just stop and think about that.

Have you ever heard of Carl Sagan? I've been thinking about him recently. He was an unbeliever. He wrote the book Cosmos. You remember he had a television program on PBS about that? The kids and I just went to an exhibit at the Museum of Natural Science on Friday out in Raleigh, and it's in reference to the Hubble Space Telescope. Have you seen the exhibit advertised? Do you know what the Hubble is? It's a telescope out in space, so it's outside the atmosphere. And it can get incredibly clear views of the universe, and it can just peer deeper into space than anything we've ever been able to do before. And it just sends back these incredible pictures. And there's this one thing, this nebula, which is this huge, gaseous cloud from which stars are being formed. And it pointed to one of them that was just on the tip of one of these clouds, and it said, "This is a newborn star." And it just looked dwarfed by the rest of the cloud. And I thought, If that star is anything like the size of our sun, how big is that cloud? The immensity of God and the power of God, and yet, there's this materialist philosophy being taught over there that we are children of stardust; they called us, children of stardust. We're just an accumulation of stardust through the unbelievable processes of evolution. That's what we are. And I stood with my kids, and I said, "Isn't that interesting? We've been demoted from children of God to children of stardust." No, we're children of God, and God has put us together in an amazing way. In an amazing way. And then this quote from Carl Sagan, and he's talking about this. And I had read this before, and I'm amazed by it. He's talking about the ascension of Jesus Christ. He was reading it, and he was scoffing at it. You know how Jesus ascended from the hill and they're looking as he goes and then the cloud hides Him from their sight? You know what Carl Sagan said about that? He said, "If Jesus traveled at the speed of light, he still hasn't left our galaxy yet." What blasphemy. Look at what this verse says again, “It was he who ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe.” Could there be something out there in the spiritual realm that Carl Sagan knew nothing about? And Jesus, as soon as that cloud hid him from their sight, filled the spiritual universe with his presence. It's a mystery to me. I don't understand it. I just know it speaks of his immensity and his power. That is the one who has given you your spiritual gift. Isn't that amazing? This is the one who thought about you and apportioned out to you grace that you should use. And guess what? At the end of time, he's going to want that gift back, and he's going to ask you what you did with it. He's going to demand an accounting. There's a stewardship here. It's his. It doesn't belong to you. "What do you have that you didn't receive?" That's what it says in 1 Corinthians 4. And so we have these gifts from Jesus Christ apportioned out to us, this one who fills the whole universe and, “It was he [Jesus] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists and some to be pastors and teachers to prepare God's people for works of service so that the body of Christ might be built up.” That's what we're doing tonight. I'm trying to get all of you ready and myself, too, for the works of service that God has in mind this week, this month, this year, this decade.

We're getting ready for works of service. What are those works of service? The very thing he talked about earlier in Ephesians 2:10. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace are you saved through faith, and this not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast." we're not saved by our works, but we're saved to do good works, aren't we? For we are Christ's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has laid out ahead of time that we should walk in them. So he's laid out ahead of time for you some good works this week, and he wants you to walk in them. And I believe that for the most part, he organizes your good works along the lines of your spiritual gifts. It doesn't mean that you're not going to do other good works that are not specifically your gifts. We're all called to give financially. We're all called to pray. We're all called to be witnesses. We're all called to give a word of encouragement to a brother or sister when needed. These are things they're all called. But then there's special gift, and you're going to find yourself doing that again and again. And so he's organized for you this week even some good works, and he wants you to walk in them. He doesn't want you to miss one. And so he gives these apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers to get the word of God into you. If you look at that listing, that's all word-based gifting, isn't it? Apostles, evangelist, prophesy, those are all people who get the word to you. Now, there's other gifts like administration and helps and faith and all that, those are just as valuable, but this primes the pump. It “prepares God's people for works of service so that the whole body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature attaining to whole measure the fullness of Christ.” Now, that's that future unity that I was referring to earlier. We've got the present unity through our faith in Christ, the one Lord, one faith, one baptism. And then we've got a future unity measured by the Trinity, and it has to do with perfectly united in mind and thought, not disagreeing about anything. There's not a single point of doctrine that they disagree with in heaven. They all get along perfectly. Isn't that beautiful? Aren't you looking forward to it? I am.

But this is the process that we're working for, and the spiritual gifts are given to bring us to that maturity, that unity, that maturity, even doctrinal maturity. Look what it says next. It says, "Then we will no longer be infants," okay, "infants tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of," what? "Doctrine," teaching. It's talking about spiritual infancy through bad doctrine. When bad doctrine comes in, it tosses you left. And then you get some other doctrine, and it tosses you right. And you're moving here, and you're moving there. And you don't know where to stand and what's true and what's not. That's not maturity. You can be a Christian and be that way, but you can't be mature and be that way. And so he's given these gifts to people to build the church up into maturity so that we're not tossed back and forth. We can discern true from false doctrine. We're solid and mature. “We'll no longer be infants tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the head, that is, Christ.” We're growing up into Christ. We're thinking more like Jesus. We have the mind of Christ already. We just don't use it the way we should. We don't think his thoughts after him the way... We don't have his attitude the way we should. Philippians 2, "Have this mind which was also in Christ Jesus." We don't, though, do we? We could. We could defer to others and consider others better than ourselves. There's nothing hindering. We just don't. But we're growing up into the head. We're growing up into Christ. That's the goal, speaking the truth in love, that's how it happens, that participle the -ing words. By speaking the truth and love, that's how we grow up. You see how it works? Right doctrine spoken with the purpose of building. Later in Ephesians, he's going to say, "Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Is that not an incredible filter on the things you say? “Nothing comes out of my mouth except what may build the body of Christ.” Let that be a filter on all of our mouths now. We need that, don't we? We're only going to speak what's going to build up the church. And what builds up the church the most? Now, a word of encouragement will build up. I love you. I'm praying for you. I care about you. It does build us up. But what builds us up more than anything? Right doctrine. Right doctrine builds up the church, the word of God. You can't do any better. And so speaking right doctrine in love, that's how we grow up into unity, into him who is the head, that is, Christ.

Verse 16, "From him, the whole body joined and held together by every supporting ligament grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work." And so verse 16 is pointing to an intensive work of the body of Christ so that we are building ourselves up in love as each part does its work. Each spiritual gift person, each spiritual gift, is needed to grow up into full maturity. You don't just need one or the other. We're going to get to that in Corinthians, but just thinking ahead to that, where would the body be if the whole body were a foot? We would be able to walk well, but we couldn't see or hear or smell. What if the whole body were an eye? We'd be able to see, but there would sense of hearing be, for example? And Paul uses this kind of argumentation. No, we need the whole body in all of its diversity, in all of its gifting to do its work. And in that way, the whole body grows up. And I think it's very interesting how he stresses here in this verse that it is the body that builds itself up. Do you think he's thinking that Christ doesn't build His own body? Oh, he knows very well. He knows that. Jesus said to Peter, "I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." So who is really building the church? Is it Christ, or is it the church? The answer is yes. They are both. Jesus Christ is building his own church through us as we use spiritual gifts by the power of the Spirit. We are building up the church. He is building up his church, and he's doing it through us. So that's the force of verse 16.

So if I can summarize all of this passage says about spiritual gifts, spiritual gifts are, number one, universal but not uniform, but to each one of us, grace has been given. So every one of you who's sitting and listening to me tonight who is a Christian, you've come to faith in Christ, you have a spiritual gift package. I keep saying that because it's not just one. “Well, I found mine. It's this.” I think there's usually a cluster of them that go together so that you can minister effectively. But every one of you has been thought of personally by God and given a gift. So the gifts are universal, but they're not uniform. We have different gifts, different gifts according to the moving of the Spirit. 1 Corinthians teaches us that. So we're not all the same. Now, the gifts are called grace from God. It's gracious from God to include us in this work, isn't it? Now we might quibble with him. We shouldn't. But we might quibble and say, "How inefficient has this been? You've been at this now for 2,000 years. Wouldn't it be more efficient if you did it through angels? Get the evangelism and the discipleship done through angels? They say, “Yes, sir,” and they go do it. And there's no hesitation. There's no inefficiency. There's no disobedience. There's no rebellion. There's no strife and conflict." It is not God's way. It is God's way to use us, sheep that we are, to build the church. And so he challenges us to live up the calling we have received and do a better job of building the church. He's not going to fire us. He's not going to say, "Forget it. You've done such a bad job. I'm going to take over and do it myself. Angels, let's go. Let's get building here." He's not going to do it. He's calling on us to live up to what he has given us. He's given us grace. He's given us the gospel. He's given us spiritual gifts. He's given us everything we need. And then he's commanding us, "Get up and get busy. Stop sinning. Stop being this way. Stop being carnal and fleshly. Get on your feet and start walking and start living like Christians." That's the way he is doing it and not just with our local body, but all over the world.

So the gifts are gracious. It's grace from God. It's grace from God to know that your life is not a waste. There is a purpose to decade after decade of your time here on earth. The question is, are you living according to your purpose? Are you using your gifts? Now, that's the question, but it's grace from God. They are given by Christ. They're Christ-given. And now the last one I want to focus and zero in on is that they are bodybuilding. They build up the body of Christ. Take a minute and look at 1 Peter 4:10. 1 Peter 4:10 speaks about this. Beginning at verse 7, I'm going to start. It says, "The end of all things is near." Isn't that interesting? "The end of all things is near." When did Peter write those words? 2,000 years ago, approximately. It's nearer now than when we first believed, isn't it? It's getting near all the time. If it was near then, it's near now, capital N-E-A-R near. Okay, “The end of all things is near.” The end of the world is coming, folks. I'm not saying that because I'm reading something in the newspaper or there's something we're seeing happening in Jerusalem or whatever. That's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying as I read Scripture, the end of all things is near. It will not be long before we stand before God and give an account. It's not going to be long. The end of all things is near. Okay. If that's true, then how should I live? All right. “The end of all things is near. Therefore, be clear-minded and self-controlled so that you can pray." By the way, if you're not clear minded and you're not self-controlled, you'll have a hard time praying. That's just what that's teaching. So if you're having struggles in your prayer life, look to these issues, and then verse 8, "Above all, love each other deeply because love covers over a multitude of sins." Somebody say amen.           

[Audience speaks]

“Love covers over a multitude of sins.” Hasn't God's love covered over a multitude of your sins? We're going to have to give account for every careless word we've ever spoken, and it's all covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. We have to cover each other's sins too. Love covers over a multitude of sins. And then it says in verse 9, "Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling." This is one of the greatest verses to prove that human nature hasn't changed. Have you ever had folks over your house to stay for three or four weeks? All right. Have you ever been tempted to grumble? Now, maybe you don't, but you know after a little while, you're feeling crowded. "Offer hospitality one another without grumbling." And then it says, "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." We should use our gifts to serve others. Our gift is given for the benefit of somebody else. Isn't that interesting? My gift is for you. Your gifts are for me. As each part does its work, the body of Christ gets built up. And so we are administering these gifts for one another.

Look at Romans 12. Turn over there. Romans 12:3 and following. It says, "For by the grace given me," stop right there. What does he mean by that? "For the grace given me, I say to all of you…” What is he saying? “By my spiritual gift package and ministry, I'm going to say some things to you.” That's what he's saying. "For by the grace given me, I say to every one of you do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather, think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." We're going to go through this more carefully in the future, but I want to zero in on the next few verses. "Just as each of us has one body with many members and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ, we who are many form one body." Now look at the next phrase. "And each member belongs to all the others." Boy, that's strong, isn't it? Every single member belongs to all the others. Every single gift package belongs to the body, not to you personally, privately. You see how it works? So basically, you have this gift package for the benefit of the whole body. It's not just yours. And then he says in Ephesians 3:2... Go back there. "Each gift belongs to all the others," that is powerful. In Ephesians 3:2, he says... 3:1 says, "For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles." And then verse 2, "Surely you've heard about the administration" or the stewardship, "of God's grace that was given to me." What are the next two words? "For you." “My gifts, my spiritual gift package is for you. It's for you. He gave it to me for you.” So what does that mean? How does that affect our body life? Well, let me speak plainly. Suppose God gives all of us gifts and 20% of the church use their gifts and 80% don't use them at all. I mean not at all. Can the body under those circumstances grow to full maturity? According to Ephesians 4:16, it happens as each part does its work. Can the church grow up to maturity in that condition? Have you ever heard of the 20/80 rule in church work? 20% of the people do 80% of the work. Is it any wonder that the body does not grow to full maturity? That's inefficient. It means that he has put spiritual gift packages out there in amazing way, in a wise way, but it's misfiring because not everybody's doing their work. It's nothing you can pay for. It's not a matter of putting more money in the plate. If your gift is giving, then it would be that. But it's a matter of what? It's a matter of the most precious stewardship matter you have in this world. Time. It's a matter of putting time in to the church. You have to convert the minutes and the hours into spiritual gold like spinning straw into gold. You have to turn these days into something eternal by using your spiritual gift. And if you don't, the body won't grow up to full maturity. You'll be hindering the body. So that means your gifts belong to all of us.

Let me use an analogy. I thought of this a while ago, and I thought it was interesting. In 1 Corinthians 7, you don't have to turn there, but I'm just going to read. This is just an analogy. I'm not getting into teaching about marital relations, but I think it's an interesting analogy. 1 Corinthians 7, it says, "The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife and likewise the wife to her husband." It's talking about marital relations together. And then it says, "The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. And the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife." That's a picture of unity, isn't it, marital unity? And so you don't have full say over your body in this matter, but your spouse does. Male or female. Whether you're a husband, you don't have full say over your body, but your wife has say over it too and vice versa. Well, let's rephrase that in terms of spiritual gifts, the individual Christians should fulfill his or her spiritual gift duty to the church. And likewise, the church should administer to the individual Christian. The individual Christian's spiritual gift does not belong to him or her alone but also to the church. In the same way, the church's spiritual gifts are meant to minister to each individual Christian. Isn't that the same analogy? Your gifts don't belong to you but to the whole body, and the whole body's gifts don't belong to them alone but to you as an individual member. That's why I want us to read the church covenant together and remind us what it means to be a member here. There's a covenant relationship. It's not just a matter of showing up and voting at key times. It's a matter of full body life, 365 days a year, where we are receiving the benefits of each individual person's spiritual gifts and they are receiving the benefit of the whole body's ministry. That's a true relationship between individual and body. And apart from that, it's a false relationship, a skewed one. So whether that analogy works for you or not, think of it this way. Each of you should say, "My gifts don't belong to me, but they belong to the whole body of Christ. And I want to use them." And you can see how it works. If your gift is encouraging and you hold it back, you missed a chance, didn't you, when there was a brother or sister who needed it? But when you give it, all of a sudden, you can see, “Wait a second, my gift was for them.” Do you get any benefit out of using your gift? You get the joy. Isn't that a joy to use your gift? Somebody walks away that you prayed with them, and they feel strengthened. You shared some scripture with them, and they feel empowered to go do some things. Maybe somebody had a financial need, and you gave. You contributed. And you just walk away feeling great. You feel, “God, you used me today. I feel useful,” and you've built somebody up through me. But also, how do they feel? They feel loved too. They feel like they're part of a body that's caring for them.

And so I guess the final fourth point I make out of Ephesians is that the gifts are given to build the body. They're body gifts. They're for everybody together. Speaking negatively, if we don't use them, we can't grow up into full maturity. So what am I doing? I'm saying please find out what your gifts are and use them. Let's banish the 20/80 rule here at First Baptist Church. Let's banish it. There's a lot of people who are doing ministries, and they're struggling. They're right at the edge. They're saying, "We need help, and we're not sure that this ministry's going to survive," valid ministry. And if people who are gifted in that way and called but are being resistant are not growing in their own personal walk with God enough to hear his voice because they're not... We'll get to Romans 12, but they have not presented their bodies. They're not being renewed in their mind, and therefore, they're delinquent. They're not using their gifts. Well, guess what? That ministry might dry up at this church. We might not do it anymore because that person didn't grow up into maturity.

So that's how the whole thing works together. We need to use our gifts to build the full body of Jesus Christ. So I challenge you this week, just continue to be asking God. Say, "God, show me what my gifts are. I want to use them fully." Realize that the one who ascended higher than all the heavens who created that Crab Nebula out there, I mean the immense, mighty powerful God, soon, very soon, you're going to stand in front of Him. Very soon, he's going to ask for an account of these stewardship matters. And on that day, you'll stand alone and give an account for your spiritual gifts and what you did. My job is to tell you about that and to use my own gifts too. All right? Your job is to say, "God, what are my gifts," and get out there and use them. Let's close in prayer.

Please take your Bibles and open to Romans 6. This morning, we're going to continue looking at Romans. We're going to be looking at Romans 6:15-18. But I want to begin by taking you back in time a long time ago to a synagogue in Nazareth when Jesus began his public ministry there. He appeared one Sabbath morning and walked forward and took the Scripture. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him, unrolling it he found the place where it is written, "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners."

But when the people heard what Jesus said namely, "Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing," they rejected him. They drove him out of the synagogue and drove him to the cliff and went to push him off, but yet the message stands, doesn't it? Is there not in Jesus freedom from sin? Has not the year of the Lord's favor been declared? Are not all of us who are called by his name, who have trusted in Jesus as our Lord and savior free from sin? Is this not our Emancipation Proclamation, that Jesus has freed us forever from rebellion and from sin?

In that same spirit, Paul wrote, in Romans 6:14, he said, "Sin shall not be your master, for you're not under law, but under grace." And he continues in verse 15, "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey them as slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed that form of teaching to which you are entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves of righteousness."

This is the victory message that Jesus came to proclaim, and he came to buy that victory with his own blood. I've already referred to the Emancipation Proclamation. That's a statement made by President Lincoln in the middle of the Civil War. He made it on September 22, 1862, an interesting document, interesting statement. But this is what he said, "All persons held as slaves within any state or designated part of a state, the people whereof shall be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward and forever free." That's what the statement made. And it laid the ground work for the later 13th Amendment, which freed our country forever from slavery, from the scourge of slavery.

Now the Emancipation Proclamation was an odd statement. Did the president have the authority to make that statement? People questioned that. And then it said, "It's only to be enacted in those parts of the country that are in rebellion against the United States." Will they listen to this? Of course not. But here's how it worked. As the armies advanced through the rebelling territories, the proclamation came with them. And everywhere that that victory went, freedom came.

Now here's my question. Suppose at the end of the war, you're in a part of a formerly rebelling state, 13th Amendment has been passed. There is no longer slavery, but the news hasn't reached that part of the country yet, and you're serving as a field hand, and you've got those tools in your hand and you work in the fields just like you always have.  Now your master knows about all these things, knows about the Emancipation Proclamation, knows about the 13th Amendment, but is not interested whatsoever in those things. And why? Because he wants to keep you as a slave in his field. He wants to fight against your knowledge of this freedom, this truth. And so, he does not want you to find out that you are truly free. This is the devil. And this message is a messenger coming down that dusty road saying you're free. Your master no longer has any legal right or authority over you whatsoever. You don't have to work in this field anymore. Throw down your tools and come out of the fields. And so, it is with us and sin.

Formerly we were slaves to sin, but Jesus has set us free, and we're free forever. Jesus said, "If the son makes you free you'll be truly free, free indeed." But what happens? What happens is somewhere along the line in our Christian life, we wander back into the old field. We pick up the old tools and we begin to work the field. Then why? Because the master commands it, sin. And what is it that resists? Authority, law, rule, he is not your master anymore and you have the authority to say no. You're free forever from sin. That's my message.

Now we just want to unfold it from the Scripture. Now where are we in the study of Romans? Understand that Paul is preaching the gospel. He says, "I'm not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, first to the Jew then to the Gentile." So, what is he saying? He's proclaiming salvation. Salvation from what? Salvation from sin. The very thing that Jesus claimed that first day in Nazareth. Free from sin. But why do we need to be freed from sin? Because we are slaves to sin, even worse we're dead in transgressions and sins and so we need liberation, we need a savior. And why is that? Because our own righteousness can't save, our own righteousness cannot save us on Judgment Day.

And so, we must have a righteousness that comes from Jesus Christ and that righteousness is there. Formally, we were under law, we were under sin, we're under the dominion of sin, but suddenly grace has broken in, that powerful message. And it says in Romans 5:20 and 21, "The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." We are formally under the dominion of sin and death, and the devil.

We've been transferred over into the dominion of grace, and grace reigns. Therefore, right in the middle of that is an incredible statement, "Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more." What does that mean? No matter how much you sin, grace is always greater than your sin. You can't sin your way out of God's grace. It's impossible to sin more than grace can cover. Well, if that's the gospel, what does it lead you to think? It leads you to think what it says in Romans 6:1, "What then, if that's the case, shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? No way. May it never be." That's what he says, "may it never be." Why? Because you died with Christ, you're united with him by faith. Christ's death has become your death. Christ's resurrection is your resurrection. And therefore, he says in Romans 6:11 that you should think of yourself this way. Count yourself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Last week, we talked about how that worked itself out practically. Your body is different than you. You inhabit your body. He calls it, The body of sin," "the body of death," this "clay, " this "jar of clay" in which this spiritual treasure, our new nature is inhabiting. And this body of sin has habits, doesn't it? Sinful tendencies that pull you towards sin. You must not present your members, your hands, your eyes, your stomach, your body, any part of yourself, to sin as an instrument of wickedness to sin. But rather, present yourself to God as those who've been brought from death to life. And present the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. And why? For sin shall not be your master because you're not under law but under grace.

Major Point: You Demonstrate Whose You Are by Whom You Obey!

The purpose of this message, the purpose of this section is to ask, "Who is your master?" And to say that, according to Scripture, you demonstrate who your master is by how you live. You show who your master is by the way you live your life. Has Jesus truly set you free from sin? And that is the point that he's dealing with here.

Now in verse 15, we hear the beckon, the call of the former master. "What then? Shall we sin," it says. "Let's sin." There's a pull, there's a call, come on back to the field, pick up those tools and begin to serve me again. Shall we continue to sin? Shall we go on sinning because we're not under law but under grace?

The Party of the Legalists

Now realize that Paul is dealing on opposite sides where people were attacking his doctrine. On one side, he's got the legalists. On the other side, he's got what we call the libertines. Legalists are people who say, that you are saved by your good works, by obeying the law, by living a good life, being a good person, you're saved that way. And they would say, you would never want to sin so that grace might increase. That's just not the way we're saved. And so Paul, therefore, your doctrine leads us away from salvation. People need to do good works, they need to be good people. And your doctrine leads away from that, Paul. So, he's got to answer that, doesn't he? He's got to prove that his doctrine does not lead to a godless life.

The Party of the Libertines

But then on the other side, he's got libertines. What are they? They are people who live for "freedom, " and they define freedom as the ability to give in to any sinful lust, or tendency that they have. A desire to live for sinful tendencies and lust that we all have. They want to give into it. They think that grace means a total freedom from restraint. They want to use therefore, a doctrine or grace as a cover up for sin. We got to forgive, got to forgive, it doesn't matter. We can sin all we want because grace is always going to be there to cover it up.

So, he's got to deal with both sides. Of this second category, Jude says, "They're godless men who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality." And 1 Peter 2:16, Peter commands, "live as free men but do not use your freedom as a cover up for evil, live as servants of God." And so, there's this desire to take grace and use it as a cover up for evil, or that grace is 2 or 3 million dollars deposited into the account of an alcoholic, or somebody addicted to a drug. And you just keep drawing on it, and drawing on it as you live in that sin. That is not what grace is for.

We're going to find how deep and how powerful is grace. But just stop a minute and think about the relentless wickedness of sin. That sin, this principle of rebellion can take grace and turn it around so that we sin all the more. Isn’t that terrible? But yet, we have that principle in us, don't we? We have that sin. If we understand the gospel right, if we understand Paul's doctrine properly, this attack will come up, "Well then, we can sin all we want." But if we understand Paul's doctrine right, it can be refuted and answered. And so he does.

Look at Verse 16. First of all, he gives a passionate answer. "Shall we continue in sin?" He says, "No way!" "By no means!" "Absolutely not, it can't be, may it never be, God forbid." This kind of passionate answer. "No way! We can't see this." So he answers with passion. But then he answers with doctrine. The very next thing he says, look at it. "Don't you know that…" stop right there. The battle for holiness, the battle for sanctification is in the mind. How you think is how you live. How you understand doctrine is how you will live. Doctrine is all important in how you live. I can trace back in my life any faulty behavior pattern to a faulty understanding.

It all starts in the mind. And so he says, "Don't you know that…" And he gives us a basic principle of life. Slaves need only obey their legal master. You don't have to obey somebody who's not your master. Look what it says, "Don't you know that when you offer yourself to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you actually obey." This is a basic principle. It's impossible to serve two masters. You can't have two legal owners if you're a slave.

Jesus said this in Matthew 6:24, "No one can serve two masters. Either you'll love the one and hate the other, or you'll be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." Jesus said there, it's impossible to serve two masters. Imagine, a servant or a slave with two masters going to the marketplace. And one master says, "Go and buy this for tonight's feast." And the other master says, "Go and do this." It doesn't work. It's impossible. You can't serve two masters. And it says that, "Don't you know that when you present yourself to someone to obey them as slaves," this is the same word we just saw in verse 12 and 13. "Present yourselves to God as those who've been brought from death to life. And present the members of your body to him as instruments or tools of righteousness." Present.

Remember last week, how we learned about that word. Jesus was about to be arrested. And one of his disciples, Peter, drew the sword and Jesus said, "Put your sword away." And then he said, "Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal…" That's a good way to say it. "More than 12 legions of angels, but how then would the Scripture be fulfilled? But say, it must happen in this way." So I urge you to think and imagine as 72,000 angels came down from heaven, ready to obey. "Yes sir," they would say, whatever he commanded they would do. Can you imagine if at that moment, the Roman commander said, "Oh, could I have a detachment of 50 angels come over and fight against Christ?" What would they say? Impossible. "Christ is our Lord, and we will follow the instructions of no one else. No one else, for he alone is our master and our Lord." And so, we must be just like the angels. "May your will be done on earth as it is heaven." Those angels would never follow another, but only the word of God so must we be.

And so, when you present yourself to Christ, this is what you're doing. You're saying, "I am yours to command. You are my master. You are my Lord. And I want to follow you." Now, there's two different servants or masters out there. You've got sin as one master, and then interestingly, you've got obedience as the other master. Whether you are slave to sin, which leads to death or a slave to obedience which leads to righteousness. So first, he personifies sin like the wicked master. Simon Legree in Uncle Tom's Cabin, this evil man who seeks only to kill, and steal, and destroy.

Simon Legree, this wicked master's sin is far worse than that, devastating force. All the problems in your life come from sin. Did you realize that? Everything you struggle with comes from sin, not from the devil or the world, but from sin. Jesus made it through this world and never sinned once. All the struggles and problems you have in your life come from sin. And so, sin is this wicked master, this evil master. And then on the other side, you've got a different master. You've got in this case, in this verse, obedience as a master. So, just as he personifies sin, that principle of rebellion, he personifies obedience, that principle of submission to God. And so, obedience is your master.

Now, we think of the gospel as something to be believed. Isn't that true? We should believe the gospel, and it's true. But interestingly enough, the Scripture says that we should also obey the gospel. Did you realize, the gospel is something to be obeyed? Listen to what it says in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9. It speaks of the time when the Lord Jesus will come back, the second coming of Jesus Christ. You read about it in the Book of Revelation. A terrifying time at the end of the earth, and Jesus Christ comes. It says, "The Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God, and do not listen, do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." Did you hear that? "Obey the gospel." The gospel is something to be obeyed.

1 Peter 4:17, "It is time for judgment to begin with the family of God. And if it begins with us, what will the outcome be, for those who do not obey the gospel of God?" Obey the gospel. Or then it says at the beginning of this book, Romans, speaking of his apostleship he says, "Through him and for his name's sake, we receive grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to," listen, "the obedience that comes from faith." If you have saving faith, it will result in obedient life every time. It doesn't mean you'll obey every single time. I'm saying, in every case, if you are justified, declared not guilty by faith, it will lead you into a righteous obedient life, and obedience to Jesus Christ. The gospel is to be obeyed.

And then finally in 1 Peter 1. It speaks of God's elect to have been "chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ, and sprinkling by his blood." Do you want to be sprinkled by the blood of Jesus? There is no other cleansing for sin. Well, it's coupled together with obedience. Obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood. That's why you've been chosen. That's why God's working in you. Obedience and sprinkling. So, here it is. Sin was personified.

Sin Leads to Death

You had an old master named sin, and you have now a new master, which he calls in this verse, obedience. Well, these two different masters lead to two different lifestyles. And those two different lifestyles lead to two different destinations. "Sin… leads to death," It says. "Obedience… leads to righteousness." Now, this is very interesting. We know what it means, "Sin leads to death." It leads to spiritual death now, no relationship with God, but ultimately leads to the second death, eternity and hell apart from God. That's what sin leads to.

Sin, it says in the Book of James, when it is fully born... When it's fully grown, gives birth to death, second death judgment. But then you've got this other thing, obedience which leads to righteousness. Now that's interesting. Up to this point, in Paul's gospel, in Romans, righteousness has been a gift from God. A cloak of righteousness has been draped on you through the blood of Jesus Christ. You don't have any righteousness of your own. You're not going to be able to stand before God on Judgment Day. You've got nothing to show him.

And so, just from grace, he gives you the righteousness of Jesus Christ, cloaked around you, but that's not the righteousness described here. This is speaking of a practical daily obedience in righteousness in your life. Obedience, your obedience leads to a practical righteousness in this world. In this world, we are like Christ. We think like him. We act like him. We move like him. We speak the word of God like he did. We are like Christ. Now, the moment of justification, you are declared not guilty of sin, but nothing has changed within you except you've been regenerated by the Holy Spirit. But you have not changed your lifestyle, not yet. Then he begins to work out obedience in your life, which leads to a practical daily righteousness.

That is the true Christian faith. And why is this? Because Jesus is working it out in you. Only he can do this. Have you ever heard that saying, "Only one life will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last?" Can I change it a little bit? Only one life will soon be past. Only what's done by Christ will last. What's the difference? "Apart from me, you can do nothing," Jesus said. But if Jesus works righteousness in you, it will last for eternity. That is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And so Paul can say in Verse 17, okay, if obedience is our master, where did the obedience come from? We used to be rebels. Where did it come from? Look at verse 17, one of the most stunning verses in the entire Bible. Perhaps you didn't even realize it, but look at it. In verse 17 it says, "But thanks be to God that though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed that form of teaching to which you were entrusted." Look at the cover of your bulletin. You take all the words out and just boil it down to this. See the bulletin? What does it say? "Thanks be to God that you obeyed." Thanks be to God that you obey?

Think about this for a minute. Let's say you're sitting and it's Christmastime, and you're enjoying Christmas with your family. And let's say the husband gets up and gets a big gift for the wife, brings it over to her and says, "Here hon." And she looks at the tag. It's from him and all that, and big beautiful gift. She unwraps this incredible thing. It's something she always wanted and then she looks over at her son and says, "Thanks hon for this." What would you think if you're in that room? Wouldn't you have an urge to correct her? It's not from him. It's from your husband. Thank the one who deserves the credit. We give thanks to the one who deserves the credit. Is that not the case? Isn't that how we thank? Isn't it kind of insanity to thank somebody who doesn't deserve credit for it?

Well, who should be thanked for your obedience? You tell me. Thanks be to God that you obeyed. This is fascinating. Do you realize that if God hadn't worked obedience in you, you would not obey. You'd still be a slave to sin. Thanks be to God that though you used to be slave to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed that form of teaching. God has done something in you. He's working something in you, if you're a child of God.

It doesn't say by the way, thanks be to God that though you used to be an employee of sin. What's the difference between an employee of sin and a slave of sin? Well, can you terminate the relationship if you're an employee? Yes, you can. Can you terminate this other relationship? No, you cannot. Somebody more powerful has to come liberate you. This is the view that we have, I think, of salvation. We're just average Joe or Joann Pagan walking down Worldly Street. One day we look over, we hear a voice calling out. We look over and there's somebody selling salvation over there free of charge. You don't have to pay for it. It's a Salvation Store.

And then you listen for a while and you say, "I want to get some of that," and you walk over and you go in and you hear, and you obey, and you follow, and you believe. Jesus made it possible, but you're the one that walked in there and procured it for yourself. Your obedience is your work, right? That's not what this verse says. "Thanks be to God that you obeyed."

Augustine’s Confessions

Augustin wrestled with this. He was struggling with lust in his life, struggling with sin.

And he realized no matter how hard he fought he could not obey. He kept trying and trying and trying, and he could not obey and finally, he came to understand the grace of God. That the grace of God is a transforming power inside the heart of a sinner, and this is what he wrote in his confessions. "My whole hope is only in your exceeding great mercy. Give what you command, and command what you will."

Do you hear that? Give to me sexual purity. You command it, give it to me, because if you don't, it won't happen. God has put over us a standard, hasn't He? Matthew 5:48, "You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." Can your obedience get you there? No, but the work of Jesus Christ within in you can. So let's unfold the truth in this verse.

First, a Christian is someone who has undergone a great transformation, a tremendous change. It's not a matter of I needed a little brushing up in my life, things were mostly alright but I just needed a little help. No, Christian is somebody who has undergone a great transformation. A change of heart and a change of ownership. A change of heart is what we call regeneration, a new creation, as radical as what happened when God spoke into the darkness and said let there be light, that's what he does into the heart of a Christian. He creates something that wasn't there before. Now you speak about free will, every sinner does have a free will, there's no question about that. You have a free will to choose how and when you will sin. But you do not have the free will to stop sinning because you can't change your nature. This is the way that Jeremiah put it. Jeremiah 13:23, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots, neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil." You can't change yourself.

And therefore the joy of the gospel is that it reaches into our inner being and transforms us from within. Listen to the promise of the New Covenant in Ezekiel 36, this is a great verse. Ezekiel 36:26-27, "I will give you a new heart and I will put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and I will give you a heart of flesh and I will put my spirit in you and I will move you to follow my decrees and to make you careful to obey my laws." Do you see that? I will move you to obey. What does that mean? "I will move you to obey, my grace is going to change you from inside. I'm going to give you a new heart and I'm going to move you to obey my commands."

Jeremiah spoke of it this way, the New Covenant, Jeremiah 31:33, "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the Lord. "I will put my laws in their minds and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people." That is salvation folks. He gives you a new heart. He changes you from within. Sin owns you, sin was your master, and God came in and changed it all. Thanks be to God for your obedience. Change of heart and also a change of ownership, you have a new owner, a new master. Formerly a slave to sin, now a slave to Jesus Christ. A slave to righteousness.

Now how did the change happen? It happened by the gospel. It says "You obeyed from the heart that form of teaching to which you were entrusted." What is that form of teaching? It's doctrine. You were entrusted to a form of teaching. What is this word entrust mean? You're handed over to it by God. God handed you over to a form of teaching. Any of you who have children, you entrust your children to a babysitter when you go out for the evening, right? "Please take care of them." Or if you have a youth leader like Andy, you entrust your children to him for the retreat, and he takes good care of them, right? How many of them come back from the trip 95%? 100% come back right? Andy's got a good track record, 98% of the kids that are entrusted to him come back safely.

100%, nothing less. Alright, well what did God do with your soul? He entrusted your soul to a form of teaching. He handed your soul over to doctrine for safekeeping. That's what the verse says, look at it again. "Thanks be to God that though you used to be slaves of sin you wholeheartedly obeyed that form of teaching to which you were handed over, entrusted, committed. You were handed over to a form of teaching."

And that doctrine is going to get you home, it's this gospel, it's this whole Book of Romans, not just the simple message of the cross and empty tomb, it's more than that. It includes sanctification, holiness, righteousness, growth, obedience, fruitfulness, death, resurrection, and eternity in heaven. It's the whole message. And God has committed you for safekeeping into the hands of the gospel message. Isn’t that amazing? We already said it's the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, it's sufficient to get the job done and that's why we're going through it carefully.

And it's interesting this word handed over, Romans 1:24, it says there he handed over sinners in the depravity of their hearts to sin, handed over to sin as the biggest judgment God can ever do in your life. Say go ahead do it, "I'm handing you over to what you want." He also used the word in Romans 8, "He who did not spare his own son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also along with him graciously give us all things." Here's how it works. The person he hands over under Judgment he hands over to his sin, the one he's saving he hands over to doctrine and to a righteousness that Jesus earned by being handed over to death.

That's how it works. You were entrusted to a form of teaching. And who did it? God did it. That's why he's getting credit for your salvation. And what is the outcome of this change? This new person that you are, you obey from the heart gladly. Glad submission is the result of salvation and therefore you cannot sin so that grace may increase and you cannot sin because law is no longer over you. You don't want to, you're done with it, you hate it, and you would love to have it out.

And so Verse 18 stands as your Emancipation Proclamation. Look at it again verse 18, "You have been set free from sin, and you have become slaves to righteousness." Notice that this is simply a statement of fact, he's not exhorting you to become free from sin, he's telling you that you are free from sin. You're free, drop the tools, come out of the field. He's not your master anymore you don't have to obey him anymore. You're free. Stop sinning, count yourself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus, same teaching. Your former status has changed and now you have a new master, and you do have a new master. I know we think of ourselves as totally free, right? We don't have anyone over us. We'll have no one ruling over us, you're born for servanthood. You're born for it. You're either going to serve sin and the devil or you're going to serve God, there's no third option, no third option. But the beauty of it is that Jesus is a perfect master, is he not?

Think again about these famous verses, Matthew 11:28-30, "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest." What's the next part? Think about it. "Take my yoke upon you." What does that word "yoke" mean? You look it up, in every case it refers to slavery. "Let me be your master," he says. "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Jesus is a wonderful master, but he is a master. "You call me teacher and Lord and rightly so for that is what I am." Jesus is a master and he calls you to obedience, but he's a good master and all of his commands lead to holiness and righteousness and health and joy for you. Sin is a wicked master and all of his commands seek to plunder you of everything good.

Paul put it this way, Romans 1:1, he says, "Paul a bond-slave of Jesus Christ." I'm happy to say I'm a bond-slave of Jesus Christ." He's glad to proclaim that he's in servitude to Christ. And then he's saying that you are too. 1 Corinthians 6, 19, and 20, he says, "You are not your own, you were bought at a price, therefore honor God with your body." It's the same teaching as here. You don't belong to yourself. Sin is not your master, you have a new master and he commands holiness, he commands righteousness. You're bought at a price. Well, then what? Work it out in your life. I have discovered that the greatest lie, the greatest lie that Satan teaches us is in the moment of temptation don't bother resisting because sooner or later you're mine. Have you ever heard that?

Maybe you're trying to change some habit pattern. Maybe feel like you eat too much, maybe some people struggle with smoking or some other thing and you want to get rid of it and you start to step out to make a change to grow on holiness and godliness and then that voice comes in, "Why bother? You can't keep this up the rest of your life. Sooner or later you're mine." Is that true? Is it true? Sooner or later, we've got to go back and sin? The message here is you're free. You never need to do that sin ever again. It's a matter of authority.

So, what is our conclusion? Well, sin is monstrous. Why serve it? Serve instead righteousness. Charles Wesley wrote it this way, and the closing hymn that we're going to sing in a minute. Charles Wesley and over a thousand tongues who sing he says this, "He brakes the power of cancelled sin. He sets the prisoner free." Sin is cancelled in your life if you come to faith in Christ, but it's still got that power. It's a power of deception, of lying that you must sin. This message here frees you from that lie. I'm not a slave to sin anymore. I never need to do that again. I have power to say no to temptation. Please close with me in prayer.

Oh, God, we come humbly before you and we acknowledge that you are master, you are Lord. That before you the angels with six wings fly and serve. With two wings they cover their faces because of your radiance and brilliance and holiness. With two wings they cover their feet because of your holiness and with two wings they fly and serve. Oh, God, I pray that we would be in the same way, stricken by your holiness, a sense of your power and majesty and also of your incredible love to us in Christ. That you freed us forever from sin and it made us slaves to righteousness.

Oh, I pray if there's any here who have not come to faith in Christ, who do not know this freedom from sin that they would come to Jesus Christ. "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you'll find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Oh, bring them, God, bring them. Make them obey by your power. Give them a new heart that they might follow your ways and obey your commands. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

This morning as we continue in our look at the Book of Romans, we're going to be looking at some remarkable verses, Verses 12-14 in Romans Chapter 6. If you have a Bible, I'd urge you to open it up. It's really the best way for you to follow along as you read, as you look with your eyes and see the things that are on the page. All I'm going to be doing this morning is explaining these verses, that's all. And so, as you look and follow along with me, you'll be able to go home later this afternoon or five years from now and see that it's still there on the page. It hasn't changed. Isn’t that the beauty of the Word of God. It never changes. It's always the same and so we can read. And so if you haven't brought a Bible today we have few Bibles in front of you, you can open up to Romans Chapter 6, and we'll be looking this morning at verses 12-14.

Now, almost 60 years ago, as America entered World War II. There was a surprise attack by the Japanese forces and in the days and weeks that followed December 7, 1941, many American men reported for duty. They presented themselves to enlistment agencies around the country, and if they were physically able, they enlisted, and they became warriors for the cause. And soon they reported for duty at basic training.

Now, I myself have never been through that, but I've heard that it's quite an experience, and some of you know what that's all about. You know what it's like to have a drill instructor waking you up at... Is it 5:00? I don't know or maybe 4:30, getting you going in the morning and then barking out commands and preparing you for the rigors of service in the army. Sometimes, I think we forget that when it comes to spiritual matters, when it comes to sanctification, that the church is more of a barracks than it is a clinic. That we are not sickly people who need therapy and who need comfort and who need gentle nurses, and who need skillful doctors spiritually. Now I know we have physical issues, but I'm talking spiritually.

Jesus Christ rather comes to us, in this case through the Apostle Paul and gives us commands. He commands us to be holy as God is holy. He commands us to walk in obedience and to fight sin and put it to death. He commands us to stand up on our feet spiritually and to walk in righteousness and newness of life. And the beauty is, that he doesn't command except that he gives you the power to obey. And so, we come to these verses, which are just one command after another, relevant to the issue of sanctification, growth, and holiness, and I want you to think of yourselves as healthy and complete, and alive, and having been brought from death to life in Jesus Christ spiritually. And that every command that we're looking at today you are well able to carry out through faith in Jesus Christ. For it's exactly that way that God commands us to follow him in holiness.

Now, as we've been looking in Romans, we come in Romans 6 to the central section and all the Bible on sanctification, and what is sanctification? It is growth and holiness, so that in your life you are imitating Christ. You're putting sin to death, you're growing in holiness, you're walking in this world as Jesus walked.

Justification by Faith Alone: Romans 3-5

Now justification's different than sanctification, isn't it? Justification is the mere declaration by the judge of all the earth that you are not guilty of all your sins. That through faith in Jesus Christ, you have been clothed with the righteousness of Christ, and so therefore that lengthy record of all your sins has been removed from you. It no longer stands against you, isn’t that beautiful? To know that you have been freed from all your sins. Declared righteous in Jesus Christ. That's justification by faith. And it culminates beautifully in Chapter 5.

At the end of Chapter 5, it says, the law was added so that the trespass might increase, but where sin increased, grace increased all the more. This power, this dynamo called grace. It's more powerful than any sin in your life. It's more powerful than death. This power of grace, and this dynamo, this emperor really, this ruler grace comes into your life and takes over. And so it says, where sin increased, grace increased all the more. No matter how high sin gets, grace gets ever higher. Where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that just as sin reigned in death, like a king, like a tyrant, a wicked emperor ruling over us, we had no power to break death, no power to break its authority and dominion. We have no power over death, and just in the same way that sin reigned over us, and death reigned over us, so now grace reigns over us to bring us to eternal life. What a beautiful note of confidence, what a beautiful statement at the end of Chapter 5, but it raises up a question, doesn't it?

Refuting Key Question

Well, if this is the situation, if it's true that no matter how high sin rises in my life, grace will always overcome it and conquer. Well, why don't I sin as much as I want then? Why do I have to struggle with sin? Why don't I just give in? If it feels good do it, why resist? Why do I have to fight this battle? This war of holiness in my life, why? Why not rather sin all the more so that grace can increase all the more? Let's put grace on display. I'm going to be a great display or demonstration of grace. I'm going to sin all the more. I'm going to sin as much as I can so that God will have that triumph of grace in my life. That seems to follow doesn't it from Paul's logic. From that incredible security we have in Christ, that justification by faith alone, doesn't matter what we do it's simply believing and receiving.

Well then, can we sin all we want? He says absolutely not. Chapter 6 then brings us into this issue of how we should live after we've been justified. And that if we've been truly justified, some things have radically changed in our lives and we can't live that way any longer. Look what it says in Verses 1 and 2, what should we say then? Should we go on sinning so that grace may increase? And then he says, by no means! Absolutely not! And then he gives you that doctrine. We died to sin. We died to sin, how can we live in it any longer. "Or don't you know that all of us who are baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. We may walk in newness of life." So he's talking about this beautiful union that we have between us and Jesus Christ. We're united with Jesus in his death. United with him also in his resurrection to newness of life.

Well, as he unfolds that doctrine, he gets to the point in verse 11, which we covered last week that he says, "This is the first application in your life. You want to be holy? This is where you begin. This is the start to it all." Romans 6:11 is the beginning of it all. You are to "count yourself dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus." Think of yourself that way. It begins in the mind. That incredibly complex tangle of neurons in there, that way of... That brain that God has given you, it begins in there. The thinking, as the mind goes, so goes everything else. And as you understand this doctrine so you will live. So count yourself, reckon yourself, consider yourself dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

We've therefore come to somewhat of a new subsection in this Chapter 6. Verses 1-10, he just lays out the truths, doesn't he? He tells you what is. And then in Verse 11, 12, 13, and 14, he begins to unfold how you should then live as a result of these truths. How should you live if these things are true. And the first step was to win the battle for the mind, count yourself dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus, and then he gives you your marching orders. You're in the army now. You're in the spiritual army. You're in the army of Jesus Christ. And your warfare is against sin itself. That relentless power, that wicked tyrant, sin. Your warfare is therefore deadly serious, and you are to follow these commands that God has given you.

The commands laid out in Verses 12-14, listen to them please. It says in Verse 12, "Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and offer the parts of your body to him, as instruments of righteousness, for sin shall not be your master, because you're not under law, but under grace." These are our marching orders and it works this way. The command is stated negatively first, and then the command is stated positively, and then in verse 14, it's grounded again in doctrine.

You've got the negative side, and when you've got the positive side. And both on the negative side and the positive side, he begins speaking generally to you and then applying specifically. So generally, negatively, and then specifically negatively, then generally positively, and specifically positively and then he grounds the whole thing again in doctrine, that's how it lays out. Let's start with the negative command. Do not do these things. Do not do such-and-such, that's a negative side. Therefore it says, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. He begins with the word therefore, and whenever you see that word, you want to go back up to what you just read. In which he says, count yourself dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus as a result of the fact that you're dead to sin but alive in Christ Jesus, as a result of that therefore do not do these things. He starts with the mind again, the word therefore because this is true, do not do the following things.

And the beauty of this is that our sanctification, our whole struggle for holiness, is a battle for the mind and therefore the best weapon you have is right doctrine, is it not? Right teaching. You've got to understand the gospel. This gospel is more than just trust in Jesus and you'll be safe. There's all kinds of unfolding that brings you from dead in transgressions and sins through many years of life in this world up into heaven with God himself face to face. And this message is suitable for all of the aspects of the journey, and here we are in Chapter 6, now how shall I live my life? And so you've got to have right doctrine. And Jesus said, if you want to be sanctified, you want to be holy in your life, you've got to have the truth, John 17:17. Jesus in his prayer, he says, "sanctify them by the truth, your word is truth." It's God's word that sets you apart from the world as holy and it's God's truth that brings you the rest of the way that makes you holy in your life.

He also said in John Chapter 8, he was talking to the Jews, he said "you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." They said, "We've never been slaves to anyone." "We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves to anyone, how can you say that we shall be free." Jesus said this, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin." Sin has a kind of a domineering kind of attitude, doesn't it? It seeks to dominate you, and everyone who sins comes under its sway or under its domination. Everyone who sins is slave to sin. We'll talk more about that as we go on in Chapter 6. Now, a slave, Jesus said, has no permanent place in the family, but a son remains forever. "So, if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed." if Jesus sets you free, you'll be truly free. Now if you're a slave, you've got no permanent place in the family, but if you're adopted into the family you're permanently there. Isn't that beautiful? What is Jesus saying? He's saying the truth of Jesus Christ, the truth of the gospel sets you free from slavery to sin.

Now, sometimes when you interact with authority, all you need to do is hear the command and you just got to obey. Now, people in the military know, you're not given an explanation. You're just given a command, and you're expected to obey. And children in the home are given a command and do they say, "Why? Why should I?" Well, do you answer? "Because I'm the mommy, that's why." "Because I'm the daddy, that's why." Well, that's just sheer authority and it's appropriate in some cases. But it's interesting how God doesn't do that with us here. He explains things to us. He's treating us not as a slave, but as a son. He's explaining the truth and the truth makes us free. And so, the doctrine flows in. Therefore, because of these truths, do not do these things. You see how he's working. He's working on the truth. Now, one of the key truths in sanctification is a distinction between you, as newly alive in Christ, and your mortal body. There's a difference between the two of you.

Now, you're well familiar with your body. You've been together for a long time, haven't you? You know your body well. But the Bible makes a distinction between you and what this verse calls the body of death. A body subject to corruption and to death. The mortal body. The word mortal means able to die. And there is a distinction therefore between you, this new person you are in Christ, it says, "If anyone's in Christ, he's a new creation." There's a distinction between you and your mortal body. He's addressing you and telling you what to do about your mortal body.

You see what's going on here? He's telling you to take charge, be in charge, don't let your mortal body rule. Don't let sin reign over your mortal body, but you, newly alive in Christ, this new person that you are, be in charge of what happens with your mortal body. See how it works. There's a distinction between you and mortal body. We have this treasure it says in jars of clay. Do you feel that? Do you feel the clay-ish-ness around you? You're kind of in a house of clay, aren't you, this body of yours? But Paul says later in Romans 7, he says, "What a wretched man I am. Who'll rescue me from this body of death." There's a jar of clay surrounding this new treasure, this new person that you are in Christ. And you know something? You've got to be separated from it, don't you?

1 Corinthians 15 says, "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." You've got to die physically. Now, if the Lord comes back in our life, he'll separate you a different way. But for the most part, throughout church history, it's been simply that you die and your spirit goes to be with God and that mortal body lies in the grave. Now, there will be a great resurrection, a mystery for the future, we'll talk about that another time. But there is a distinction between you and your mortal body. You must understand that. And so, the central issue here is a massive struggle for control over that mortal body. Who is going to be in charge of it? And so, what's happening here is there's a chain of command. God gives a message to Paul. Paul gives the message to you.  You are new creation in Christ, and you are to order your body accordingly. You see how it works? There's a chain of command. From God, through Paul, to you as a new created being in Christ to your mortal body you take charge. That's how it works.

Now, the enemy is sin. And sin is relentless. Sin is vicious. Sin is destructive. One Puritan theologian said, "Sin is the second most powerful force in the universe behind God and his grace." Have you felt sin's power in your life? Have you felt the devastation that sin brings to you day after day? Wouldn't you love to feel what it'll be like to just go through one day without a sin nature, or temptation, or sin at all? Wouldn't that just be like breathing mountain air? Wouldn't that be so sweet? This oppressive force called sin.

And the odd thing here is, that we're in active warfare and basically what Paul is commanding you to do is, alright, you're on one side and then sin is on the other, could you please not take part of yourself and send it over to the enemy for a day of battle? Could you please not do that? Don't send the members of your body over to fire back at your new nature. That doesn't make any sense, does it? Why would you take 20% of your troops in the middle of the battle and say, "Okay, you guys go over and serve them. Let them fire back at us just for today, okay, just for today, and then tomorrow we'll have you again." Would you ever do that? "Go ahead, shoot at me, throw grenades at me, destroy me and ruin me…" But that's what we do when we surrender control of our bodies to sin.

"Please come and make my Christian life miserable. Please come and attack me and make it hard for me to pray, and make it hard for me to read the Bible, make it hard for me to do everything. Please come and attack and destroy me, please." Now, you can't be destroyed, but you can be hurt. And that's what happens where Paul's saying. Don't surrender over or present the members of your body or yourself, your mortal body to sin. So, that's negative in general.

And it's interesting, that... He does not say, "Do not let sin reign over you." He says, "Do not let sin reign over your mortal body." That's very interesting. You know why it's interesting? Because sin can't reign over you. Why is that true that sin can't reign over you? Because you're dead to sin. You died... Isn't that beautiful? You can't have sin reign over you. It's impossible. He says it again in Verse 14, "Sin shall not be your master, you newly created person in Christ." But it can reign over that mortal body of yours, can't it? And you've felt that. So, that's the negative in general, don't let sin reign over your mortal body.

The second part is the specific negatively. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness. The parts means the members, the individual parts of your body. Piece by piece. Your arms, your legs, your hands, your feet, your eyes, and your mouth, goes deeper than that. Your mental powers, your intellect, your mind, your thinking process, your imagination. You see? Your ability to think, your passions, your emotions, and also, your natural bodily drives, your desire for hunger, for love and for comfort. All of these things are good and created by God, even the sexual drive. All of these things, given by God, don't surrender them to sin, is what he's saying. Don't present them. Now, we'll talk more about that word present in a moment.

But notice how he personalized the sin. And basically, you're supposed to go over piece by piece and saying, "God, is my mouth being used for the enemy, right now? Are my hands being used for sin? How about my feet, are they being used for sin right now? How about my stomach? Is it being used to lead me into sin? Or my imagination?" Any part of me, you're going over and you're thinking, "Are these parts of my body being used as weapons?" The word says, "or instruments of unrighteousness or wickedness." So that's a negative side. Negative generally, is don't let sin reign over your mortal body generally. And then specifically, don't let it reign over the parts of your body particularly. That's the negative side.

But then we've got to go to the positive side. There's always a negative and a positive in sanctification, you're dead to sin, alive to God. Negative and positive.

And so, not just, don't do all these things, but rather get busy doing these things. And really have to do both. You can't just say, "Well, I'm just not going to do that anymore." And you just sit there and wait. How long is it going to be before you cave in? Idle hands are the devil's workshop. Also the sin starts to get to be busy. You've got to get busy doing righteousness, you've got to get busy in Christ. And so he gives us the positive side. And he says, "But rather, present yourselves to God." Now, let's zero in on that word present, because it is the key to the whole sermon. It's the key to the whole thing. You're presenting yourself to a commanding officer, that's what's happening. You're saying, "Here I am for service, I'm yours. I'm yours to command."

The same word is used beautifully in Matthew 26:53. This is the same word we've already had, do not offer the part or present the parts of your body to sin but rather present yourselves to God and present the parts of your body. That's the key word. What does it mean? In Matthew 26:53, Jesus is being arrested. He's about to be carried away into captivity and he's going to be tried and he's going to be executed by crucifixion. And there's a detachment of about 600 Roman soldiers there to arrest him with torches and lanterns, weapons, they're ready to go.

And they're waiting. And they're there to arrest. Judas has already betrayed Jesus, they know who it is, and at that moment, Peter reaches down for his sword. What was Peter thinking? Do you ever wonder about that? Peter, what were you thinking? Did you just lose your mind? He drew out that sword and he wanted to fight. And he cut off somebody's ear. You remember the story. And then Jesus said, "Peter put your sword away." And then he made this statement. In effect, he's saying, "If I wanted to be delivered from this, do you think I'd be using your sword? Don't you think that I have the power to call on my Father and he will at once," now here's the word, "put at my disposal," same word, "put at my disposal more than 12 legions of angels?"

Now let's imagine for a minute that he had done that. With what spirit or what attitude would those 72,000 angels come down from heaven? How would they be? They'd have those flaming swords drawn, say, "Just tell us what to do and we'll do it. We are ready. We are ready to obey." Do you understand the nature of the obedience the angels render to God in heaven? Do you know what it's like? We talked about it before, all the way, right away with a happy spirit, they present themselves, "Anything you want, we will do. Righteous you are, oh Lord, holy and true for this." And off they go. Glad to do it. They have been presented. And Jesus said, "The angels will come down and they'd present themselves to me and say, 'aye, aye sir, whatever you say,' and off they do it. They don't care. Anything God says they will obey."

Now suppose he just had done that, where would we be? We would be on our way to hell. And so he said, "Peter, put your sword away and I'm not going to call on the angels, I'm going to go die instead." Oh, praise God for his goodness and his mercy that he didn't call on those angels. But if he had, think about the attitude that they would've come and present yourself to God the same way, that's what he's saying. Don't we pray in the Lord's prayer, "May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." What part of you is on earth? These members, aren't they? Your feet walk the earth. Your eyes see the earth. You're living in the earth. You want God's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, then present yourself to God and present your members... That's what this word means. You understand the word present, you get the whole sermon. That's what he's calling us to do. I'm totally yours to command.

And you do it as somebody resurrected from death to life. You wouldn't be able to do this if you hadn't been resurrected to life. But you're presenting yourself to God as one who's been raised. Oh, what joy, what was Lazarus like when he was raised from the dead? "I'm alive. I'm alive. I'm ready to go". And Jesus had asked him, "Lazarus, would you mind going and buying some things for the feast we're going to have?" Would he have gone? Yes. Anything. He's thrilled, he's alive to God. And so, we also are alive to God, we're presented to him, ready to go, ready to serve. Note again the lack of balance. Do not let sin reign over your mortal bodies. Don't present your mortal body to sin. But do present yourselves to God. You see the difference? Sin can't reign over you, but you can present yourself to God, because that's what it's there for. That new creation person is meant to be presented to God. Created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. That's what you are. And so you present yourself to God.

And then specifically, Verse 13, "Offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness." Again, same word. Instruments, weapons, tools for righteousness. The physical body therefore becomes not a battleground or something that drags you down, but a beautiful instrument in the hands of God for the advance of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. We are his hands, we are his feet, we do his work in this world. The feet carry the missionary across the mountains. Beautiful feet to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. And once the missionary gets there, it's the mouth that speaks the message or the mouth builds up a brother or sister. You see somebody in need and you use your mouth to speak the word of God and build them up. Your stomach is used to digest nourishment for the Kingdom of God. Do you think of it that way? Nourishment for the Kingdom of God and some extra things too that we like very well. Your stomach instead is used to nourish you to do God's work.

Jonathan Edwards actually made a study of what kind of foods made him best suitable to do God's work that day. That's his nature by the way. Scientific about spiritual things. But he analyzed and he said "What kinds of things do I eat that make me best ready to serve God?" The stomach then is a servant to God rather than to inordinate desires. Rather than to lust. And all lusts are... They're just natural good things that God's given that have been pushed beyond the boundaries that God set up. So rather than that, we're going to be within God's boundaries using each member for the Kingdom of God. The eyes will take in the beauty of the kingdom, the beauty of this creation that God's made. Even better, the beauty of the Word of God. We read the Scripture with our eyes. And then our minds instead of letting your mind wander into all kinds of things, the things we do in our imagination that we would never do in real life.

Don't imagine yourself doing something you would never do in real life. Don't give over your imagination to those things that are wicked. But rather use your imagination for God. Hudson Taylor did that. He saw a map of China and he imagined inland churches made up of Chinese people from the inland regions. He used his imagination for the Kingdom of God by faith. So each of these attributes, your intellect, chewing on the deep things of the Scriptures, your mind, your passions. You'd weep over the things that grieve God, you weep over sin, you cry over it and over the plight of the lost. That's what your emotions are for. Not weeping for some of the worldly things we weep over. All of these things are used as instruments of righteousness.

And then finally, he grounds this command in doctrine and he extends it a little bit. Verse 14, "For sin shall not be your master, because you're not under law, but under grace." Again, he grounds it in doctrine, "for sin shall not... " He wants you to know why you should do this and not do that and don't do this. He wants you to know why. So doctrine at the beginning, doctrine at the end and then the commands in the middle. This is the way he is. He wants you to understand the reason. Sin shall not rule over you. Sin is not your master. And here we get into that slavery analogy that we're going to understand in the second half of Romans 6. Sin is not your master. Now he could say sin should not be your master or would that sin weren't your master. He didn't say that at all. He says, "Sin will not be your master." That new creation person free from sin forever. You're free.

You never need to sin again. Sin shall not be your master, because your whole status has changed. You used to be under law in Adam under death, under the wrath of God. Now you've been moved over to the kingdom of Jesus Christ. You're not under law now but you're under grace. You're under grace. Now we're going to talk more about what it means to be under law and what it means to be under grace and what it means to be freed from law and under grace. Law could never have gotten you to heaven. As a matter of fact, if law abiding could've gotten you to heaven, Galatians 2:21, "I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained by the law, Christ died for nothing."

Why did Jesus come and die on the cross if you could work your way to heaven by the law. But you're not under law anymore. Instead you're under grace and therefore sin shall not be your master. So how shall we apply this? Well, the whole sermon's been application. Do you see that? You've been told what to do. As persons, we're done with sin's dominion forever. We're free from it. Now our mortal bodies are still going to wrestle with sin. Do you feel it? Do you feel that wrestle, that pull every day as your inordinate desires seek to push you or pull you into sin?

Okay, you're going to wrestle with that, but you yourself are done with sin. This new creation person. Therefore the command comes, don't let sin dominate or go unchecked in your mortal body. And so, he lays out the steps. Verse 11 is the first step. "Think of yourself dead to sin, alive to God in Christ Jesus." Step two, do not present your mortal body to sin. Don't say "Here sin, have me for the day." You've already done that. Haven't you? How was it? How was that day? Was it a good day? Don't do it anymore. Don't present your mortal body to sin and don't present the members of your body, any part of your body to sin, but rather present yourself to God and present the individual portions or parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.

Now, I think it's important for you to assess your own personal life. Think about where you're at right now. A few moments we're going to have a closing hymn and what a closing hymn it is. As a matter of fact, in all the years I've been preaching here, I've never found a closing hymn that fits so well to what I just preached. And that's, Take My Life and Let It Be.

Now, Frances Havergal, she was a poet. She lived in the 19th century in England. She was a brilliant pianist, singer, and poet. She was sickly, confined to a wheelchair much of her life, but she gave herself to service to Jesus Christ, to service to the poor. Basically, she took this concept and just unfolded it beautifully in poetry. You're familiar with the words. Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord to Thee. Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise. Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of thy love. Take my feet and let them be, swift and beautiful for Thee. Take my voice and let me sing, always only for my king. Take my lips and let them be, filled with messages for Thee. Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold. Take my intellect and use every power as Thou shalt choose. Take my will and make it Thine, it shall be no longer mine. Take my heart, it is Thine own, it shall be Thy royal throne. Isn't that beautiful? For Jesus to reign over the internal part of you. Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store. Then she finishes up where we should begin. Take myself and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.

It could be that God has spoken to your heart today. It could be that you feel that you have not been living a life of holiness and obedience to God's commands. In the past, people have come up and knelt and prayed and it maybe that just the simple act of walking forward and kneeling down and saying, "Lord, I just want to commit myself to you again. I want to walk with you, Jesus. I want to give every portion of my body to you." It could be that that'll help underscore the seriousness of it or perhaps just to bow your head and say, "Lord, I've not lived the way I need to live." Or perhaps you realize you've never come to Christ. You don't know what it means that sin is not your master, you don't know what it is to have Jesus as your savior. Let today be for you the day of salvation. Won't you close with me in prayer.

Father, as we bow before the healing, and empowering and just convicting power of your word, we ask, oh Lord, that you would enable us to walk in newness of life today. That we would dedicate ourselves to you fully, that we would give ourselves to you reporting for duty the way that the angels would have if you had called on them. The way that they do whenever you give them a command. Oh God, I pray for my brothers and sisters here, if there's any that are under the burden of sin, be set in sin that they would throw off those chains that have already been broken as Wesley put it. To break the power of cancelled sin and set the prisoner free. Father, work that in us today. And if there's any who don't know you as Lord and savior that they would today give their lives to you, Lord Jesus, we pray in your name. Amen.

Please if you would, take your Bibles and turn to Romans chapter 6. We're continuing our look in Romans 6. This morning we'll be looking at a tremendous section of scripture, Romans 6:5-11. And as we come into Romans 6, we come into Paul's teaching on the doctrine of sanctification. Sanctification is a big word to describe the rest of your life after you come to faith in Christ. Growth and holiness, that you may grow step by step into the image of Christ, that you may be godly in this world. In justification, God simply sees your faith and declares you not guilty of all your sins before His judgment seat. You're declared not guilty. You're clothed positionally with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, but you yourself haven't been transformed at all. That's the work of sanctification. That's the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit. And it's a hard work, isn't it?

All of you who know Jesus Christ and know yourselves, know how difficult it is to grow in grace. What a terrible, terrible thing is sin. That it takes the full work of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit to save us from it. The Father, in working out His plan and the Son in effecting it and bringing it to bear, and the Holy Spirit in applying it to each one of us, it takes all of that, that we may be saved from sin. And so, if you're a Christian now, if you're walking with Jesus, you may have a feeling well up inside you, as Paul voices in Romans 7, "What a wretched man," or, "What a wretched woman I am. Who will rescue me from this body of death?"

Have you ever felt that way? You read the commands of God and you just can't seem to live them out. You just can't seem to love Him with all of your heart, to think about Him, to walk with Him moment by moment. You're so easily led astray, and you stumble over the same things again and again. Have you ever felt that? The power of sin that remains in your life and you wonder, you say, "How can it be that I'm declared righteous? Not guilty of all of my sins and yet I struggle this much with sin? Could it be that I'm not a Christian? What's happening to me? How can I grow in godliness? How can I grow to be like Jesus?" You have, if you're a Christian, a yearning desire to be like Jesus in this world. And yet it just doesn't seem to work out.

It doesn't seem to go that way. Sin seems so strong, doesn't it? Well, now, in Romans 6 and in Romans 7 and in Romans 8, we come to the center of how it is that Paul teaches sanctification. And you know something, it's so different from the way we would've done it. It's so different from the way we would've done it. He zeros in on the mind first. He zeros in on the thinking, on what you know to be true of yourself and then goes out from there. Now, in the bulletin there, it says "the power of positive thinking," and if you think I'm going to stand up before you today and preach a gospel of positive thinking, you haven't been here long. But I think it's a beginning place. You know where that phrase comes from, "the power of positive thinking comes from," Norman Vincent Peale, a minister in the 20th century, he died in 1984. Many people knew him, his church was huge in New York City. For 54 years he was on a radio program, The Art of Living, it was called. Perhaps you've heard of, or maybe have even subscribed to the book, Guide Posts, that comes from... It came originally from his ministry.

In 1952 he wrote a book called The Power of Positive Thinking. It was translated into 41 languages. Over 20 million people bought that book, maybe some of you have one. Peale is a very interesting guy and we're not going to go into his theology this morning, we're not going to talk about it. I repudiate a lot of it. He uses the same terms that we do, but in a different way. But he zeros in on this idea of positive thinking and he was speaking to some Merrill Lynch executives, you see his message transferred very easily from the church to business. It worked everywhere. And this is what he said,

"There is a deep tendency in human nature ultimately to become precisely what you visualize yourself as being. If you see yourself as tense and nervous and frustrated, if that is your image of yourself, than assuredly that is what you will be. If you see yourself as inferior in any way, and you hold that image in your conscious mind, it will presently, by the process of intellectual osmosis sink into the unconscious, and you will be what you visualize. If on the contrary, you see yourself as organized, controlled, studious, a thinker, a worker, believing in your talent and your ability and yourself [that's the kernel of the message there], over a period of time that is what you will become. Now, you may believe that all this is theoretical, but I believe and I've tested it out in so many cases that I'm sure of its validity. That if a person has a business, for example, and images that business at a certain level and fights off his doubts, it will come out that way all because of the power of the positive image.

Now, that's very interesting isn't it? There's no Jesus Christ in there, of course. And the whole thing is a focus for zeroing in on getting you to believe in yourself. That's not the Christian message. But you know something, as with many issues of false teaching, there is a kernel of truth here, isn't there? And that is the tremendous power of the mind. There's a tremendous amount of power in how you think, isn't there? And the Apostle Paul wants to zero in on how you think about yourself, and that is going to be the solid basis on which he's going to give you commands. Now, we would do it the other way, wouldn't we? If we ever really did get to talking about how you think about yourself, we are very practical people, aren't we? We want to be told what to do. Give me 10 easy steps on how to defeat this problem in my life. And if you write a book, 10 Easy Steps on Defeating Sin in Your Life, how well do you think it will sell? That's what people want. They want the 10 easy steps, we're very practical, very pragmatic. Don't give me doctrine. Don't give me ideas. Don't give me thoughts. I want to know what I can do. Give me some helpful hints, some things I can put up with a magnet on my refrigerator to help me defeat this sin issue in my life.

Paul Teaches a Different Approach

This is not the way Paul teaches, Paul has a very different approach, doesn't he? He approaches the mind, he approaches the thinking first and then he tells you how you should live. He zeros in on how you think about yourself, and then he commands you to live accordingly. Now, in my study in the Book of Romans, as I have gone through now halfway through Chapter 6, five-and-a-half chapters, I looked very carefully through Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, halfway through 6, and I have not found one single command yet. Isn't that interesting? There is not one command in those first five chapters and 10 Verses, not one. He just tells you what is. He just tells you that the Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. He just tells you that the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. He just tells you that apart from Christ you're storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed.

He just tells you that everyone has sinned, that there is no one righteous, no, not one. He just tells you that Jesus Christ is the propitiation, the sacrifice that takes away the wrath of God through His blood. He just tells you that Abraham was justified or declared righteous by faith alone. He just tells you these things. He brings you in Romans Chapter 5 and gives you assurance of salvation and then tells you these very deep things that you still haven't quite figured out, nor have I, about our relationship to Adam, how we were originally sinful in him and now our relationship in Christ. He just tells you, he hasn't told you a thing to do yet, he just tells you what is. And now in the first 10 verses in Romans 6, he does the same, more of the same, he just tells you things about yourself, tells you things that are true, and then finally, in Verse 11, you get first command in the Book of Romans.

The First Command in Romans

Look at it, Romans 6:11, the first command and we're going to read the whole section, but I want to center this out. "In the same way, count yourselves or reckon yourselves or consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus." That's the first command in the Book of Romans. Think of yourself this way. Does that surprise you? You pragmatic Americans, you want to be told what to do, just tell me what to do. Tell me where to go, tell me what to buy, tell me what to eat or what to wear or what not to wear. Give me a set of dos and don'ts. That's the very thing Paul does not do. Instead, he gives you doctrine. Now, listen, Romans 6, I'm going to read verses 1-11, we're gonna center in or begin our study at Verse 5.

"What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning, so that grace may increase? By no means. We died to sin, how can we live in it any longer or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death. We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life. [Verse 5], If we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly be united with Him in His resurrection, for we know that our old self was crucified with Him, so that the body of sin might be done away with that we should no longer be slaves to sin. Because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now, if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him, for we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again, death no longer has mastery over Him, the death He died, he died to sin, once for all. But the life He lives He lives to God. In the same way count yourselves, dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus."

This is the way that Paul approaches, teaching you sanctification. Now, the immediate context of this section in Romans 6, is the great statement that he made at the end of Romans Chapter 5, about the nature of grace. If you look at the end there, 5:20, it says, "The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased grace increased all the more, so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." What an incredible statement. And he's saying basically that that grace is undefeatable, grace reigns like a conqueror. Grace is an emperor, it is impossible for you to sin more than grace can cover. Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more, so that if you're under grace rather than under law or under sin, you're completely free forever from sin.

You're free forever, as we're going to find out, from the law and its condemning power; you're free forever from these things, you're in a new realm now, a new regime, a new nation almost. You've been transferred into a new kingdom, this kingdom of grace through Jesus Christ. And that causes questions to rise in your mind, doesn't it? Well, if that's the case, then why don't we just sin? Why don't we just sin, then? Why don't we sin all the more so that grace may increase? Let's just give in to our lust, let's just give in to our sinful tendencies, so that we can see grace go ever higher, so that God can get the praise for saving even more. And that's the question he asks in 6:1, and that's what he's dealing with here. What then will be our relationship to sin, then, if we're justified? What about the sin in our lives, what then? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? He says, may it never be. And then he harkens back to the doctrine that we learned in Romans 5, of union with Christ. You were born united with Adam. Every single person on the face of the earth, every human being, it doesn't matter what nation, doesn't matter what language, doesn't matter what culture, every single person on the face of the earth is born in Adam.

They're united with Adam. And so, they stand under Adam's condemnation. They stand under the death penalty. They stand under the sin nature that came. All of that in Adam. Now, by faith in Jesus Christ, we've been transferred into this new kingdom, the kingdom of Jesus Christ, also called the kingdom of righteousness, the kingdom of grace, the kingdom of God. It's all the same. There are two kingdoms. And we have been united with Christ in the same way, but different, we went through that, that we were united with Adam. Actually, our union with Jesus Christ is far more powerful, far stronger, far greater than our union with Adam ever was. But there is this union. And so, we talked about that with the baptism analogy, remember? In verses 3-4, he says, "Don't you know that all of us who are baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?" Into His death, there's a union. Christ's death is our death. And then he goes on from there. "We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." In the NIV I like "walk in newness of life," it's closer to the Greek. There's a walking in the newness of life here. That's the context.

And now we go into Romans 6:5. And there in verse 5, we have this one verse, power for sanctification. He gets all the elements together in one verse, and this is Paul's way. Paul is just an amazing teacher, and he brings so much truth together in just one verse. Look at verse 5. "If we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection." He's zeroing in on this idea of union with Christ. So we have the full doctrine of sanctification in one verse. We have the negative side, death, and we have the positive side, resurrection. And both are needed for sanctification, you have to understand both. You have to understand the death and you have to understand the resurrection. And if you understand them, and if you reckon yourself dead and alive, you will grow in holiness. That's how it works. So he's got both of the elements here. And so, the first half, the death half, he expounds in verses 6-7. And the life half and the resurrection half, he expounds in verses 8-10, and then in Verse 11 he says, "Think of yourself this way." You see how it works?

So we've got the negative side, death. We've got the positive side, resurrection. He expounds on each of them, and then he says, "Now, consider yourself this way. This is the kind of person you are. This is who you are in Christ." That's how he teaches sanctification. Now, as he looks about it, there's no if about it, there's no uncertainty. I know it says, "If we have been united," but it really should be translated "since." There's a sense of certainty here. "Since we have been united with Him like this in His death." If I can just stop and say right now, if you are not united with Christ in His death, you are not a Christian… Putting it negatively, if you are not united with Christ in His death, you are not a Christian. If you are a Christian, you have been united with Him in His death, putting it positively. So there's no doubt about this at all. This is a completed action in the past. We have been united with Him. And this is a massive change, isn't it? It's a tremendous change. Never stop being amazed at what God has done in your life. "He has rescued you," it says, in Colossians, "from the dominion of darkness, and has transferred you or brought you over into the kingdom of the Son He loves."

Isn't that incredible? There's a real power struggle going on, but God's power is so much greater than that of Satan. He's the one who binds up the strong man and plunders you from the strong man's house. You're rescued, you're free. You're free forever from the devil and from sin and law and death and all those terrible things. You are rescued by someone more powerful, Jesus Christ. How does that make you feel? Isn't that a joyous truth? We were rescued. And we've been united with Him like this in His death. Now, the word "united" in the Greek means "grown together" or "planted together." We were planted down together. I tell you, Paul is never going to get far away from the idea of fruit-bearing. In this whole chapter, he's always looking ahead to fruit. We'll get there later in the chapter, and then in chapter 7:1-6 again, there's a sense of fruit. He wants fruit, he wants to see fruit. And the idea that you can sin all the more so that grace may increase is totally contrary to the fruit that God wants out of your life. He wants fruit.

And so, we're planted together with Christ, and then we're going to grow up with Him to bear fruit for God. That's the idea. I love this... The exact same concept is in John 12:24. Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and... " What? "Dies, it remains by itself, a single seed. But if it dies, it bears many seeds." Much fruit comes from there, this principle of death. So, there's a sense of planting down into Christ. His death. And then out of that comes new life. Now, the NASB has it better in verse 5. It says, "If we have been united with Him in the likeness of His death," that's better. Because our death with Christ is different that Christ's death, isn't it? Christ's death is utterly unique in the history of the world. Jesus Christ was sinless. He had no sin of His own. The law did not stand to condemn Him. And yet He died as a sin bearer. He drank the wrath of God in for us. And so, Paul's very careful, a little meticulous here, to say we have been united with Him in the likeness of His death, not exactly like Him. But in this way, we have been united spiritually with Him.

His stands alone and is utterly unique. And it says, "We will be, certainly will be united with Him also in His resurrection." Now, don't be misled. It's very important that you not be misled on the verb tense. This is not speaking of the future glorious resurrection of the body, is it? It can't be. Because what is Paul dealing with in Romans 6? He's dealing with here and now, isn't he? He's dealing with your life now. Sin in your life now. So he's talking about a resurrection that affects your life now. Not the future resurrection that will finish the job. That's the finish of salvation. We're talking about a spiritual resurrection that happened the moment you came to Christ. You've been united with Him also or will be united with Him also in His resurrection, it happens the moment you came to Christ.

I think he refers to it better in Verse 4, "As Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life." That's the resurrection life we have now as Christians. Okay, so there we have it. In one verse, you have the sanctification doctrine. There is a death side and there is a life side.

Let's understand the death side a little bit better. Look at verse 6. "For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin." Now, translating a little more accurately, it says, "Knowing this, that our old self is crucified…" Knowing this, again what is Paul reaching out to? What part of you is he reaching out to? Your mind, isn't he? He's reaching out to your thinking. He wants you to know something. He actually is referring to something you should already know.

"Knowing this," he says. So he's trying to change your thinking. As you think so you will live. You can't have ten steps to get rid of the sin habit that you don’t want to get rid of. If you're not thinking properly, you won't live properly. So we've got to have a right thinking. So he zeros in on this. And this is not a knowledge we can experience. Did you know that? You can't experience it, this knowledge that we're talking about, that your old self was crucified with Him. You can't experience it. It is not experiential knowledge. Henry Blackaby be put it this way in experiencing God. I love this. Did Abraham experience anything when he heard God's promise, "so shall your offspring be"? Abraham considered that his body was a 99-year-old body and it still felt like a 99-year-old body, didn't it? There's no change. It's not an experiential knowledge. It's a faith knowledge. You can't feel anything. And so I'm going to tell you that your old self is dead and you'll say, "I don't feel like that." But it's true, whether you feel it or not.

So what is the thing he wants you to know? He wants you to know that the person you were in Adam is dead forever. That old self is dead and gone forever. There is no resurrection for that old man in Adam. And as a matter of fact, people are very slurrish I think about these doctrines sometimes, if that's a word. They're not clear in defining. We are not to crucify the old man, are we? Why? He's already dead. He died the moment you trusted Christ. He's dead. The person you were in Adam, that person is dead. That identity. And with it all the condemnation, the wrath, all of those things, dead forever. Now, you can say, "I don't feel like that. I feel like sin has power in my life." We'll talk about that in a minute and why that is. But the person you were in Adam is dead forever. The old man is dead and will never come alive again. I think this is an incredible truth and if you understand this, this will give you power for Christian living, power for godly living in your life.

Now, I've been trying to think of different ways to illustrate this, and all illustrations are imperfect. But the illustration I came up with here is that of a witness protection program. You ever heard of a witness protection program? If you're going to testify against organized crime, you're going to run into some problems, aren't you? And what's the problem? They say the mob never forgets. And so one day, it could be five years down the road, it could be five months, you're going to get in your car and turn the ignition key and your car is going to blow up. Well, the federal government knows that and they want your testimony. So what do they have? They have this thing called the witness protection program. Well, what is it? Well, basically your old identity is gone forever. Your whole history is gone, your education, your degrees, where you live, your address, social security number, all that's gone. They may even fake a death to help protect you even more. And then you've got this new identity some other place like Tucson, Arizona or something like that. Selling golf equipment or some other thing that you never imagined you would be doing, and all of this to protect you. Okay, can you ever go back to that old life? Not and remain safe. That old identity's gone. Gone forever. Now, it's not a perfect analogy but that's about like what happened when you came to Christ.

You had an identity in Adam, didn't you? Under the law, under sin, under death, and that old man is dead and died the moment you trusted Christ and troubles you no longer. Isn't that beautiful? That's incredible. And therefore it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is gone. The new is come." Everything's new. Isn't that incredible? So that old person you were is dead. Now, what's the result of this? He continues, "So that the body of sin might be done away with that we should no longer be slaves to sin." Now what is this, this body of sin? Well, you're well acquainted with your body of sin. You and your body are actually very well acquainted. Day after day you wrestle with one another. Day after day you struggle with sin. And why? Because we've got this thing called the body of sin.

The Body of Sin

Now, what is the body of sin? It's your physical body, and all of the capabilities that come. And that includes your brain and therefore your thinking, your imagination, your planning, your passions and emotions, your hands, your feet, your eyes, your stomach, every part of you. Your mouth, your body and all that you are. And Paul calls it here the body of sin. Now, what is this body issue? It ends up being huge in Paul's theology. It ends up being huge in the Book of Romans. You've got this body and there are members to it, like hands and feet and capabilities. Next week we're going to talk about very practical things. You're going to be called to present the parts of your body no longer as slaves to sin but now slaves to righteousness. The body will just go; whoever's in charge it'll follow. Right? That's the way it is with the body. But yet, you know something? Your body's been under Adam so long it is very well trained in sin, isn't it? You're actually experts in it. Ever heard of a black belt karate expert? That person goes through all this kind of training and all these motions, whatever, so that they just come naturally. There's just this flowing that comes from that training in karate. And the person's a black belt, that means they've reached the highest level of training. You're all black belt sinners and so am I.

Every last one of us thoroughly trained in sin, we're good at it. And it's a tragedy, too, isn't it? Think about it. We just have sinful instincts at every turn in the road. Selfish instincts, prideful instincts, lustful instincts, covetous instincts. They're just there, it's almost like our body was kind of radiated, we've got this radiation poisoning and it just pulls us down to sin all the time. And so Paul says, the old man died so that as a result the body of sin might be rendered null and void. That takes time. That takes your whole life. And that's why you're struggling with sin. Because we have this treasure in jars of clay, don't we? And what is this treasure? This new identity in Christ. And what is this jar of clay? Well, it's what you're looking at right now, a jar of clay, it's what we all are. It's this mortal body, this mortal life that we have. And of that Paul cries out in Romans 7, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from... " What? "This body of death." And what's the answer? "Thanks be to God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." There is a rescue from the body of death, isn't there?

Meanwhile, what are you going to do with your body? Well, you're going to beat it and make it your slave, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9. So that after you have preached to others you yourself will not be disqualified from the prize. You've got to subject your body, keep it under, be suspicious of the motions and directions of your body at all times. That's the negative side, dead to sin. And ultimately, the result is freedom from sin. That we should no longer be slaves to sin. And then in verse 7 he simply restates, "Because he who has died, has been freed from sin." Now, basically, he's just simply telling you what you are, you're dead to sin. Dead forever. And you can say, "How does this help?"

Well, basically, the way that the New Testament teaches sanctification, it speaks to you in this way, kind of like, let's say, a 14 or 15 year old boy who skins his knee, comes running to his mama, and she looks and says, "It doesn't even need a band aid and you're crying? Don't be a baby." Now, is a 15 year old boy a baby? What is the mom saying there? "You're not a baby, stop acting like one." And that's in effect what the New Testament does with sanctification. You're not a sinner, stop acting like one. Stop giving in to those old habits and tendencies that were part of your old person in Adam. You're done with that now, you're dead to sin. That's the negative side.

The positive side is in verses 8-10. Paul says, "Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, He cannot die again. Death no longer has mastery over Him. The death He died He died to sin once for all but the life He lives, He lives to God." Jesus Christ died on the cross, but God did not leave Him in a grave, did he? He raised Him from the dead on the third day and, according to this doctrine, you were raised that day too. You were raised to a new life, you were raised to walk in newness of life. And death no longer has any power over Jesus. Jesus submitted to death, didn't He? He yielded, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. He yielded to death, He submitted to it.

Philippians 2 says that, Jesus "being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and... " What? "Became obedient to death. Even death on the cross."  Obedient to His father but yielding to death and that's the way it was. But never again. Once for all that happened. And so you also died once for all to sin, forever free, forever free from sin. So it is with you as a believer in Christ. The old man in Adam is gone forever, you have a new identity. You have a new purpose, new plans, a new name, even. The Book of Revelations speaks about a new name. Everything's new because you have a new life in Jesus Christ. And you're free forever from death, death is the final domain, the final dominion, the wages of sin is death.

James 1:15 says, "After desire is conceived it gives birth to sin and sin, when it is full grown gives birth to death." But death no longer has mastery over Jesus, and in the same way, sin no longer has mastery over you.

But what is the application of this? Well, the application is Verse 11. I started with the application. Consider yourselves this way. Think of yourself as dead to sin. Think of yourself as alive to God in Christ Jesus, we'll talk more about that life. But that's what he's saying. Think of yourself that way. You want to see sin disappear in your life?

You're struggling with sin? Start with this. Consider yourself dead to it. I'll get really practical. Maybe you're struggling with anxiety. Maybe some of you are looking for a job. And that old nature pulls you down toward anxiety. There's a feeling in the stomach, it's a feeling of disbelief. You know how you begin? Say I'm dead to anxiety, I don't ever need to be anxious again. Never. I'm free forever from anxiety. Isn't that wonderful? Realize you never need to be anxious again. You're free. You say, "But, I get anxious a lot." You're behaving like you're still a slave to sin. You don't need to do that. Say, "I'm dead to anxiety, God will provide, I'm going to pray instead of be anxious," that's how you start. Or maybe covetousness. Maybe you're in the habit of looking at your neighbor's goods or his position, or his family, or something that belongs to him. And there's a pull there, and it starts with discontent; you're not satisfied with what God's given you.

Start this way, say, "I'm dead to covetousness, I'm dead to discontent, I don't ever need to be covetous again, I don't ever need to be discontent again. I'm free forever from that. Thank you, God, for the things I do have, thank you, God, for the things you've given me". Or pride. Somebody insults you, somebody opposes you in some way, and that prideful response starts coming up. You say, "No, uh-huh, that's the old body of sin, that's that old way; I'm dead to pride. I don't ever need to be prideful again. I'm free forever from that, and then I'll humble myself. Humble myself." Or irritability? Any of you are ever irritable? Do you ever come home from work irritable? I want to say a word to your spouses, those of you that are nodding. You should say to your spouse, "You never need to be irritable again, did you know that? You're free forever from irritability. And do you know how good that is for me? That I don't need to see you be irritable ever again?" But you need to be careful, because it's not going to be long the shoe's on the other foot.

You don't ever need to be irritable again. Jesus was never irritable, and you're united with Him in His life. Or lust, suppose you're struggling with that, I'm speaking to the men, and you see things that lead your mind astray. You can stop right there and say, "I am dead to that sin. I don't ever need to do that again, ever. I'm free forever. My mind is for Christ. My mind is for thinking about pure and righteous things. That's what I'm made for, not for that." Or laziness, procrastination. Any of you put off things that you should be doing? That you should have done it a while ago? You think, "I'll have time tomorrow," and you never do? You can say, "I don't need to do that, I can work hard. I don't need to be lazy, I can live for the service of another. I'm free forever of the sin of laziness and procrastination" This is how the New Testament teaches sanctification. Consider yourself dead, and consider yourself alive in Jesus Christ.

Close with me in prayer, please. Father, we thank you for the time we've had to study your word today. We thank you for the way that it teaches us. And Father, I ask in Jesus' name that you would help us to consider ourselves, what we truly are, that we died when we believed in Jesus; that old person, that old man and Adam is dead forever, and now we have a new identity in Christ. Help us to live up to that new identity, that we would live up to the calling we've received in Jesus Christ. We pray in His name, amen.

Take your Bibles if you would and open to Romans chapter six, we're going to be looking this morning at the topic of Christian baptism. We're going to be starting in Romans 6:1-4, but actually our journey is going to take us in many different places today. A little bit more unusual approach to preaching than I usually do. But I think it's important for us to understand water baptism and what the Scripture says, and there's no better place in my opinion to begin than in Romans 6:1-4. One of the things that I'd like to accomplish this morning is to give you a sense of just what people in the past have suffered for this doctrine, the doctrine namely of believers' baptism. In 1526, two men, Conrad Grebel and George Blaurock baptized each other in a house in Zurich. In doing so, they immediately became outlaws. It wasn't long before the order went out from the city council that anyone that received what they considered to be re-baptism or Anabaptism would be drowned, executed by drowning. The idea was that the baptizer should be baptized themselves. "If they want water, let's give it to them." And so they were put under a death sentence, and yet these two were willing to stand up for what they believed, namely that the church should be comprised of believers. The church should be made up of regenerate people, and that baptism was not to be given to infants, but rather to those who have heard the Gospel and have made a creditable profession of faith.

The whole incident started when Grebel refused to baptize his newborn child. And pretty soon we are going to have a newborn child and we will not be baptizing that child. I was raised in the Catholic tradition myself. And I have come to Baptistic convictions by searching scriptures. And that's the way it was also for Conrad Grebel and for Manz and a number of others that we call Swiss Anabaptists. And they were persecuted from pillar to post. Everybody persecuted them: The Roman Catholics did, the Lutherans did, the Reformed did. Everybody persecuted these believers, but they stood up for what they believed because they knew it was scriptural, namely that baptism, water baptism, was to be given to regenerate people, to born again people.

And so we've come to that conviction that we are a Baptist church and we testify in the line of that conviction that it is believers, it is those who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, who have believed the Gospel, who are to be the proper subjects of baptism. But it's not just the Anabaptists of the 1600s or 16th century, it also is the English Baptists of the 17th century and on that did the same things. And time and time again, we're seeing the same thing, namely that people troubled by the issue of baptism would open up the scriptures and the New Testaments and they'd search and they would find no evidence whatsoever for infant baptism, but rather for believer baptism. And they came to understand what baptism was all about, water baptism.

Two of my heroes from church history, Adoniram Judson and Ann Judson, got on a boat in 1812 along with Luther Rice and some others, and they were sailing over to the part of the world where God's work was being carried out by William Carey. William Carey was the first modern missionary from the Protestant world. Going to that part of the world, he was a Baptist and he had set up shop there and was ministering. And the news of his work had reached the shores of the new formed nation of the United States and the Judson’s were our first missionaries. They set sail from Salem…When Christi and I lived up there, we went and looked at the area, the pier where they took off from, and there's a little plaque there. And Adoniram and Judson set sail. Now, it's a long voyage to Burma, isn't it? And you've got all kinds of hours to spend on the ship, and what are you going to do with that time? There were no in-flight movies at that point such as we enjoyed recently on a long flight to the other side of the world. There was nothing but the books to read and prayer and fellowship together. And so as they were sailing, they began to investigate the scripture specifically on the issue of baptism. And the reason why is that they were congregationalists. They were sailing as congregationalists, they were sent out by congregational churches in New England and they were all infant baptizers. And so when they got on that boat, they believed in infant baptism.

Well, they had time to begin to investigate and their whole purpose is that they wanted to prove William Carey wrong. And so they were searching through the scriptures so that they could prove that William Carey was wrong. Well, the opposite happened. As they were searching through scriptures, they came to realize that the preponderance of evidence is clear that it is only believers who are to be baptized in the water, not infants. Well as it went on, Adoniram Judson became more and more convinced of this, and Ann Judson became more and more anxious. So what are we going to do? Once we come baptist, they're going to cut off our support. We're going to be left all alone, none of our other missionaries are going with us, will fellowship with us. We'll be totally alone. And Adoniram Judson said that we have to follow the Scripture wherever it leads. And so he was willing at that point to be cut off from all financial support, missionary support. And Ann Judson, though she didn't really believe in infant baptism, she was willing to argue with him and fight against him until finally, she said, "I've got to read the scriptures myself." And so she searched it and she came to those same convictions. And so also did Luther Rice, and when they arrived there the three of them were baptized as well.

Now, nowadays, I wonder sometimes if baptists still have those same strong convictions. If we be willing like Conrad Grebel to die for our beliefs on baptism or willing like the Judson's were to be cut off from all financial support, missionaries in a distant land with no network or support because of a doctrine. I wonder that sometimes I've been reading a book entitled, "Why I'm a Baptist," and in it, it talks about some attitudes toward baptism that have crept in even to the Baptist church. Harry Emerson Fosdick who was a liberal at the beginning part of the 20th century, said this about baptism, he said, "Why should baptism divide? If I had my way, baptism would be all together an individual affair. Anyone who wanted to be immersed, I would gladly immerse. Anyone who wanted to be sprinkled, I would gladly sprinkle. If anyone was a quaker and had conscientious scruples against any ritual, I would gladly without baptism welcome him into the church on confession of his faith, why not?

Well that's what Fosdick said, why not? Because scripture says that's why. And that's why we will continue to uphold believer baptism despite what people are saying. Meanwhile Will Campbell who is a liberal Baptist wrote this, it's a testimony about his baptism of his infant grandson. This is what he said.

"My daughter Bonnie asked me if I would baptize her three-year-old son Harlan on Christmas. My daddy was here, at that point he had been a Baptist Deacon for 60 years and I was afraid because in Baptists circles, infant baptism is quite a scandal particularly if not by immersion. So I asked in deference to him "Daddy do you believe in infant baptism?" And he said "Believe in it son? I've actually seen it." That was his way of saying, "Don't be silly, baptize your grandson." So we did at the breakfast table. Harlan got to giggling while we were doing this and when we got finished he said, (he called me Papa) "Papa what did you put on my head?" I said "Water." And he said "Why?" Bonnie was squirming she didn't want her three-year-old son traumatized by her daddy's horse and buggy theology, but it was a fair question I was glad to answer it. I talked about guilt and forgiveness. He said "What is guilt?" I said "You know that big lump you get in your throat when you and your mama quarrel." Well when I got through with the little homily he jumped down from the table wiped off the last of the runny egg with his biscuit and started off toward the door with the television room, then he came back and grabbed me around the knees and looked up and in the throes of a deep belly laugh said "Well well Papa thank you then." "

Is that all baptism is? A little three-year-old who doesn't have the first idea about conviction of sin, doesn't know what Jesus did. Is that all baptism is meant to be? I think not. But in Romans chapter 6:1-4, baptism is held up as a symbol of a union with Christ in his death and also in his resurrection.

Look with me at that text, Romans 6:1-4. "What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means. We died to sin how can we live in it any longer. Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." Now Romans 6:1-4 is perhaps the chief doctrinal basis that many Baptists have for believer baptism, but I think it goes far deeper than that. I believe in context of Romans that what's being discussed here is an attitude that some may have toward the doctrine of justification by faith alone apart from works. Now we talked about that last time, but our gospel is the gospel of free grace is it not? It's a gospel in which God reaches down to us in our need there is nothing we can do for our salvation. There is no hope for us to be justified before a holy and righteous God, who has a full record of all of our sins and who for one sin cast Adam and Eve out of the garden (that is the holiness of God), and we have no hope before such a holy God for salvation, if God doesn't work it. And because God is looking for righteousness on Judgment Day and we have none we must receive an alien righteousness, a gift of righteousness coming to us through Jesus Christ.

A righteousness purchased for us on the cross where Jesus took on our sins and suffered the wrath of God and died that death penalty that we might have eternal life. And Jesus stood in our place and the sins that we had were given to him, and the righteousness that he had was given to us. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God, and on the basis of that we will stand. And so therefore it is impossible to sin your way out of righteousness, sin your way out of God's justification, for where sin abounds grace abounds all the more. Well if that's the true gospel, what's the natural thing that pops in your mind? Well then let's sin all we want. What difference does it make if we're saved by grace, justified by something that someone else did, we can sin as much as we want right? And that's what Paul brings up here in Romans 6. He says: "What then, shall we go on sinning or continue to sin so that grace may abound, may it never be." he says. And then he says in effect, he puts it in question form but he says: "We died to sin, how can we live in it any longer?" We died to sin how can we live it in any longer, and then he brings up this image or this picture of baptism.

Now in the Christian life there are two different ways of understanding baptism, there is water baptism and there is the baptism by the spirit. And it's so important for us to understand as Baptists, (those who believe in believer baptism that it is the baptism with the spirit), the union, the spiritual union we have with Jesus Christ that saves us, not the water. But that must come first. The public testimony that we have been justified through faith in Jesus Christ comes first and then the water comes next. So he says in verse 3: "Don't you know that all of us who are baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father we too may live a new life."

John the Baptizer

Now in order to understand baptism we have to kind of go back in New Testament history. The first time that water baptism enters the scriptures with John the Baptizer. Now you know him as John the Baptist but I don't want you to misunderstand, he wasn't a Baptist the way we understand. He was a Baptizer, he was someone who came under command from God to baptize in water. And so it says in Mark 1:4-5, "And so John came baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him confessing their sins. They were baptized by him in the Jordan river."

And so this man John was sent by God. It says at the beginning of that verse, "And so John came." What does that mean? "And so John came." Well, he came in the direct fulfillment of prophecy. "It is written in the book of Isaiah the prophet, 'I will send my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way' -  'a voice of one calling in the desert "prepare the way for the Lord, make straight path for Him."' And so John came baptizing." You see the water baptism came to prepare the way for the Lord Jesus Christ who was sent by God. The testimony in John 1 is clear that God sent John to baptize. John 1:29 and following it says this: "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward Him and said, 'Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.' This is the one I meant when I said a man who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me. I myself did not know Him but the reason I came baptizing with water was that He might be revealed to Israel." Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the spirit, descend like a dove and remain on Him. I would not have known Him except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me the man on who you see the spirit come down to remain He is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. I have seen and I testify that this is the son of God."

A Baptism of Repentance

And so John came baptizing with water and he preached it says, "A baptism of repentance." John preached day after day and people came out to hear him; people from all Jerusalem and Judea and all the whole countryside would come out to hear John the Baptist and he would preach and he would preach boldly, and he would preach a baptism of repentance. Now, this was rather shocking to the Jewish establishment, and why is that? Because up to that point baptism had only been done to gentile converts to Judaism. That's what it was used for. It's not a ceremony or commandment given in the Old Testament, but it's something that they had established that if a gentile wanted to come into Israel and become a Jew they would of course, if a male, had to be circumcised but also would have to go through this baptism to kind of purify them from sin. And so this was picked up by John the baptizer and he was saying you Jews have to be purified you're not truly Jewish. You're not living according to the commands of the law of Moses you were treated like gentiles you must come in in the same way. And so he was baptizing Jewish people, and it was shocking to people. They were very surprised. But it was a baptism of repentance. Now what is repentance?

Repentance is a change of mind, a change of heart about sin. It's the very issue that Paul's dealing with in our passage in Romans 6. We're going to have a new attitude, a new relationship with sin, In Christ we died to sin. How can we live in it any longer. There's a new way of thinking about it. And so John was calling the people to a new way of thinking about sin; that they would hate sin; that they would fight against sin; that they would yearn to be righteous and free from sin forever. And so he preached the baptism of repentance and confessing their sins they were baptized. It was their way of saying, I want to be done with sin. I come with sin into the river. I want to leave the sin behind and come out pure and clean. And so it was he preached a baptism of repentance. Now true repentance always leads to a change life, doesn't it? Isn't that Paul's point here in Romans 6?

If you died to sin you can't live in it any longer. You're going to live a changed life. Things will be different for you from now on. And so John preached the same way in John 3:7-9. Luke wrote, "John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, 'You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit and keeping with repentance and do not begin to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father. For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. He axe is already at the root of the trees and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.'"

And so he was calling on them to change their lives whether they were soldiers or tax collectors or any member of society that they were to live differently. There was to be a new life, a change of heart. They were to prove their repentance by their deeds. Now John's baptism, ultimately, was simply to prepare the way for Christ, to reveal Christ to Israel. And John 1:31, we already read. He said, "I myself did not know Him. But the reason I came baptizing with water was that Jesus Christ might be revealed to Israel." It was to get the people ready for Christ to come. And so in the midst of his preaching, in the midst of his baptism, he said, "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." It isn't this water baptism that takes away the sin of the world. It is Jesus and his blood and his ministry that takes away the sins of the world. And so therefore, he consistently denigrated. He considered his water baptism to be inferior to that which Jesus came to do. Said it over and over. He compared himself to Christ, and he said, "I am not worthy to stoop down and untie his sandals."

That's what he said. "I'm not worthy to touch his feet." I just stop there and think about that. Sometimes I just think we're too familiar with Jesus. I think Jesus loves us with the love we just can't imagine, but John the Baptist said I don't even deserve to touch his feet. Jesus said John the Baptist was the greatest man that had ever lived up to that point. "I don't deserve to untie his sandals." And people were wondering about John. They were waiting expectantly. They were wondering in their hearts if John might be the Christ Luke 3:15-17, John answered them all. "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I is coming who's sandals I do not deserve to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering the wheat into his barn but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire."

So Jesus comes bringing two baptisms. Doesn't he? The baptism of the Spirit and the baptism of fire. One of them for salvation and one of them for judgment. Water baptism is just a symbol. Jesus brings the real baptism. Baptism of the spirit and fire. Now it's amazing each of these four gospels underscores this very strongly. The water baptism of John was inferior to the baptism that Jesus brought; the baptism with the spirit. Now Jesus Christ himself submitted to water baptism. In Matthew chapter three we have the account Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. John tried to stop him and said, "I don't deserve to baptize you. " "'I need to be baptized by you and you come to me?' And Jesus said, 'Let it be so now. It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness,' and then John consented. And as soon as Jesus came up out of the water…" And by the way every time it says that, I keep thinking about immersion but you don't need all this water if you're just going to be sprinkling...

And so Jesus came up out of the water and at that moment heaven was opened and the spirit descended on him like a dove and a voice came from heaven saying, "This is my son whom I love." And so we believe Jesus received water baptism. And so Baptist tend to speak this way. We follow the Lord in baptism. Jesus was baptized with water. We follow him. And he was baptized with water too. Now, Jesus had no sins to repent from, did he? But he was showing his unity with us, and with John's message. Total identification with the purposes of God. We must fulfill all righteousness. And now it's reasonable for us to understand what baptism is. Baptism, the word literally means immersion. It means a complete immersion into something. It was a word used by someone who is dying wool or some kind of cloth. You're going to immerse it in the dye. If you're going to dye it purple or dye it blue, you would completely immerse it in the vat where the dye was. And so that's the word used. Baptism. Baptidzo. It's a total immersion. And so, Jesus in effect was immersing himself in righteousness. He was immersing himself in John's message. He was immersing himself in unity with us though he had no sin. And so in that same way, he spoke of his crucifixion as a baptism.

In Luke 12:49-50, he says, "I have come to bring fire on the earth and how I wish it were already kindled. But I have a baptism to undergo and how distressed I am until it is completed." What is he referring to there? It's his crucifixion, his death. He would be completely immersed in the wrath of God. He would drink totally the cup of God's wrath for us so that we would not have to. Jesus was immersed in that. There was a time also in Mark chapter 10 when James and John, the sons of Zebedee came up to Jesus and they had a request. And Jesus said, "What is it you want me to do for you?" And they said, "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and one on your left." The mother made the request and then Jesus turned to the sons, James and John and says, "You don't know what you're asking." "Can you drink the cup that I'm going to drink or  be baptized with the baptism I'm going to be baptized with?" "We can," they said, not knowing what they were speaking of. "Yes, we can be baptized with your baptism." Jesus said, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I'm baptized with. But to sit on my right or left is not for me to grant. Those places belong to those for whom they're prepared."

Now how did James and John get baptized with Jesus's future baptism? Our text answers that question I believe. We are united with Christ in his death and we are united with him also in his resurrection. A total union between us and Jesus Christ. Paul put it this way, Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live." That's total identification. I've been immersed in Jesus's death. Totally one with it. His death is my death. And so also his resurrection is my resurrection. So just as I died with Christ to sin. So now I have been raised with Christ to a whole new life. And the water baptism is just a symbol of that, just a picture of that. But the real baptism is being baptized with the baptism with which Jesus was baptized. That death on the cross and also his resurrection. But Jesus also commanded not just did he receive water baptism himself and not just did he speak of his crucifixion as a baptism, but he wanted his disciples to do water baptism, to pick up with this symbol from John the Baptist and carried on into his ministry, into their ministry. In John chapter 3, this is recorded after this Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside where he spent some time with them and baptized, it says.

John 3:26, some people came to John and said, "Rabbi, that man who is with you on the other side of the Jordan, the one you testified about. Well, he is baptizing and everyone's going out to him." And so the whole countryside was going and so baptism is being carried on around Jesus. Now I speak of it that way because we learn in John chapter 4 that Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were. Jesus didn't do the water baptism. He had a greater baptism to give, the baptism of the spirit and he would give that. But the disciples were to do the water baptizing and so they did. They baptized with water, John 4:1-2. And so he had it started early in his ministry. I assume it continued right on through and then he gave the command in the great commission. He said, "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and the son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I've commanded. And surely, I am with you always, to the end of the age." So water baptism was going to be part of the great commission. That the disciple-making would come alongside this symbol, this water baptism. Baptism into the name of the father and the son and the Holy Spirit. And then, finally, Jesus baptized his disciples with the Holy Spirit.

In Acts 1:4-5, "On one occasion," it says, "while he was eating with them, he gave them this command, 'Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my father promised, which you have heard me speak about, for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." And so it happened. On the day of Pentecost (Acts chapter 2), the Holy Spirit descended on that assembled body, 120 of them there. And the Holy Spirit came and they were baptized with the Holy Spirit. After the Holy Spirit came, they were filled with the spirit and they went out on the streets and Peter preached to a huge throng there. And this is what Peter said, "God has raised this Jesus to life and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God he has received from the father, the promised Holy Spirit, and has poured out, which you now see in here." The Holy Spirit has been poured out. And so Jesus in baptism. And then the apostles continued that baptism in their ministry right that same day of Pentecost. Acts 2:37 and following, "when the people heard this [the message of the Gospel], they were cut to the heart." They were convicted, there was a conviction of sin, and they said, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

There was a cry from the heart saying, "I want to be saved. The wrath of God is against me. I'm under my sins. Is there a refuge for me? Is there a place where I can go?" Yes there is, the blood of Jesus Christ has been shed for you. And he said, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you also will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, for all of whom the Lord our God will call. With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, 'Save yourselves from this corrupt generation'." And, "Those who accepted his message were baptized." Just a moment. What did I just say? Those who accepted the message were baptized. No infants. Those who accepted the message, those who believed the message were baptized. And the number of disciples grew to about 3000 that day. So it was also with Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. "Here's water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" And so he was baptized. And Paul and Silas with the Philippian jailer. Water baptism. But yet the apostles consistently considered the baptism of the spirit more significant. That's what mattered more than anything else. In Acts chapter 10, Peter is speaking to the first Gentile convert, Cornelius.

"While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, 'Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the gift of the Holy Spirit just as we have.'" They'd already been united with Christ. They'd already believed, it had already happened. Let's do the water baptism because God's commanded it for us. You see the order? And so it was. Now, what do we learn from this survey? Well, first, water baptism is significant, isn't it? It's important. If it weren't important, Jesus wouldn't have been baptized. If it weren't important, Jesus wouldn't have commanded us to baptize in water. But it's not ultimately important. The baptism of the Spirit, the union that we have with Jesus Christ in his death and in his resurrection by the spirit, now that saves. That saves you from sin. So what is baptism, then?

Baptism is a Symbol of Union with Christ

Baptism is, number one, a symbol of union with Christ. A symbol. It's not reality. The Catholic church teaches that there is a reality about their sacraments. Something really happens to you when you go through their sacraments. So they believed that I, when I was baptized as a two-week-old infant or however old I was, I don't remember it, but I was baptized, that something happened to me. I became a Christian that day, so they teach. But we believe that water baptism is just a symbol. It's a symbol of an internal, spiritual union, isn't it? And what really matters is that internal spiritual union, it must come first. It's prior, it's more important. It's an immersion. We're baptized into the name of the father and the son and the Holy Spirit. We are united with him through faith. That's what it is. And water baptism is a symbol of that union. Romans 6:3-4. "Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the father, we too may walk in newness of life." So if you're a Christian, you are united with Christ in death and united with him now in a new life. And therefore, you cannot sin that grace may increase. It's impossible for you. Water baptism, therefore, a symbol of union with his death, union in his resurrection, union by the Holy Spirit. But it's also a symbol of union with the body of Christ, with the church.

Baptism is a Symbol of Union with Christ’s Body, the Church

You don't baptize yourself, do you? Did any of you baptize yourselves? I need to talk to you afterwards. Baptism is done by someone else, isn't it? Someone baptizes you. And why is that? Well, it's because it's a symbol that you're coming into a community, into a fellowship of faith. There's a continuity, a sense of a growing church of Jesus Christ. And so it's a symbol of union with Christ's body. You're being baptized into a body, is what's happening. 1 Corinthians 12:13. Write that one down. It's an important verse. 1 Corinthians 12:13, it says in verse 12, "The body is a unit though it is made up of many parts, and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one spirit into one body." Did you hear that? "We were all baptized by one spirit into one body, whether Jew or Greeks, slave or free. And we were all given the one spirit to drink." What's really going on is the spirit baptism, a spirit drink. And by the spirit we are made into one body worldwide. Jew or Greeks, slave or free. It doesn't matter what nation you're from, it doesn't matter your national origin, it doesn't matter your gender. None of that matters, you are baptized all into one body by one spirit. There is "one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all, who is overall, and through all and in all," Ephesians 4:5. So we are baptized into a body, the church.

Pledge of a Good Conscience

And then finally water baptism is the pledge of a good conscience. Now, in the days of John the Baptist, you came and you were saying, "I repent from sin. I'm turning away from sin. I hate it. I don't want to live in it any longer." Well, the same thing happens here, isn't it? When you come up to this baptismal font, in this baptistery here, you're coming in, you're saying, "I want to be done with sin. I want to live a new life. I repent, and this is a symbol of my repentance." It's the pledge of a good conscience toward God. 1 Peter 3:21-22, "Water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also, not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand with angels, authorities and submission to him." So you're making a pledge of a good conscience toward God who rules over all things. Not the removal of dirt from the body.

Not for Unregenerate

But what is baptism not? Well, baptism is not for the unregenerate. It's not for the unbeliever. And so, Baptists have always had a procedure you have to go through before they'll baptize you. They want to know for sure whether you're born again or not.

The point is not the water, the point is your eternal soul before God. That's what matters, want to be sure that you're saved, want to be sure that you're justified by faith in Christ alone, and that you will not have to bear the wrath of God on judgment day, but rather that you're free forever from sin through faith in Christ. And so, we are seeking, reaching out for believers, not for the unregenerate. Do you realize folks, you Baptists, that we're in the minority on this one? Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, on and on. Are you also sure of this now? Are you so sure about believer baptism? Can you stand up and give a testimony for what you believe? We're in the minority, but we believe that the scripture is teaching that you hear the message, you repent and believe and then receive water baptism as a symbol of what's already happened in your life. But behind this is a larger ideal, isn't it? And that's what we call a regenerate church membership. What do I mean by regenerate church membership? I mean that the church, the local church should as much as possible be comprised of believers in Jesus Christ. You don't seem shocked. The church is meant to be made up of believers. And so we desire to see regenerate born-again people to be believers of this church and no others. That's our goal.

But why is that? Because of the ultimate issues that we're facing here. We're facing the fact that apart from Christ, we're under the wrath of God, but furthermore because unregenerate church members affect the church life, don't they? They affect the way that things go around here and in other churches too. And so we seek only regenerate church members and believer baptism is the front door of that. So we're seeking people who have made a creditable profession of faith. Basically, the ideal is that no one should have a voice or a vote in this church if they're not born-again. That's a regenerate church membership. Believer baptism is the front door of that. Now these days, we have a kind of a problem in the Baptist circles. It's called baptizing children. We're always baptizing, it seems earlier and earlier and earlier all the time. I know actually of a southern Baptist church, this is not a joke. Southern Baptist church that has a red fire engine baptistery that children can use. And it's got little cannons on either side that shoot off confetti when the child gets lowered under the water and brought back up. Some of those kids are lining up to do it again and again. It looks like fun. This is tragic. Baptism is too serious for that.

What are we saying we go into that water that we have been united with Christ in his death. We're done with sin forever. Does a child understand that? Does a child understand what it cost to be raised up out of that water? Raised up to newness of life in Christ. Does he understand the price that was paid? But what's happening is there is a pressure always to baptize earlier and earlier. And then guess what happens to these little ones? They grow up to bigger ones, don't they? And then what? They're still members of the church, and what's happening then? Unregenerate church membership, and it's affecting the life of the church. We don't want a red fire engine baptistery for children here. We want to be sure that everyone that we baptize is truly born-again. So baptism is not for the unregenerate.

Not a Guarantee of Salvation

It's also not a guarantee of salvation. Just because you've been baptized, doesn't mean that you're going to heaven. Just because you've received water baptism. There needed to be a life lived. There needed to be engrafting into the vine and then fruit flowing from that life. That's what Romans 6 is all about, we're going to keep talking about it. You show who's your master by how you live. So water baptism alone doesn't guarantee that you're going to heaven. Thirdly, it's not required for salvation.

Not Required for Salvation

There are groups out here that teach that baptism is required for salvation. They teach that you must be water baptized to be saved. As a matter of fact, they say it is the moment of salvation. The moment that you receive that water baptism, that you are saved, is that true? Absolutely not, we believe that regeneration precedes baptism. And that water baptism is simply a symbol of it. Was the thief on the cross baptized? And Jesus said, "Truly I say to you today, you'll be with me in paradise." And then Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:17, "Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." You put works like that on top of, you've emptied the cross of Christ of its power. "I didn't get sent," Paul said, "to baptize, but to preach the gospel." Let me ask you a question. Would Paul ever have said that if water baptism was required for salvation? No way. "Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel." He wouldn't have made a division. What he's saying is that water baptism does not save you.

Not to be Disregarded

And then finally water baptism is not to be disregarded. The great commission says that we are to teach them to obey what? Everything that I have commanded. What happens is somebody comes to faith in Christ, we say, "Praise God, you're saved. You now have a new lord, a new master, he's going to be asking many things of you." People say to me, we're talking about water baptism, "Do I have to get up on front of all those people and give my testimony?" I say, "Yeah you do, but you know something, God is strong and powerful and he's going to give you the ability to do that. As a matter of fact, he's going to ask many hard things of you in your Christian life, isn't he?" That's just the first. By the way, if you had known just how hard the journey was, would you have ever come to Christ? He doesn't show you right up front but we know that through many hardships we enter the kingdom of heaven. It is a difficult journey we're called on, but it's a journey of obedience to a lord and master who gives us commands and we obey. This is a simple one, isn't it? Just stand up and give a credible profession of your faith in Christ and go into the water and come back up. That's pretty easy, anybody can do that. But if you're not willing to do that, what does it say about you? There's something amiss you don't understand. It's not to be disregarded. Jesus said, "If you love me, you'll obey what I command." And he commanded that we baptize the nations as we make disciples.

Spurgeon said this, "If our congregations were what they ought to be, it would be a very simple matter to preach. For a sermon would then only need to be like the orders given by a commanding officer to his troops, short, sharp, plain, clear, distinct. Our hearers would not want illustrations and metaphors. They would simply ask to be told what they must do to be saved. And the more plainly they could be told, the better pleased they would be."

So it's a simple command. Repent, be baptized, trust in Christ and walk with him. And so water baptism is really the first step of obedience. Can I apply it to you? Have you taken that step? Have you come to personal faith in Christ and received water baptism as a symbol of that? There are some people even in our midst that have paid a price to be baptized, even in front of all of you. Perhaps they were holding an office in the church, at some point they recognized that they weren't really saved. And they repented, and they stood up in front of you, and gave a testimony that they have now come to faith in Christ. Was that hard to do? Yeah it was. But they received the water baptism as a testimony of what God had done in their lives. Have you received baptism after you repented and believed? Have you received this?

If he is calling you, if today you hear his voice, don't harden your heart, but come and follow and receive this ordinance, this symbol of water baptism. But for those of you who have been baptized as believers, but you're just not living up to it. It's kind of like a husband and wife. They stand up in front of God and each other, and they make promises to each other. If they're not living up to the promises the way they should, should they get married again? Should they stand up and do it all again? No, they need to live up to what they promised, that's all. The beauty of Romans 6, is that any moment a true Christian can repent and start walking with Jesus and stop sinning, because we're not under the authority of sin any longer. We're free from it forever. So if you are a Christian who is not living up to the promise you made to follow Christ and to obey him, live up to it, that's all. Walk by the power of the spirit. We're not going to sin all the more so that grace may increase, but rather we died to sin. We're going to never live in it any longer. God has raised you up to a newness of life, walk in it.

Now we have had the opportunity today to hear from God's word. Our desire is that you hear and obey. If God has spoken to your heart, come and talk to me after the service. If you don't know for certain whether you've ever been saved, if you don't know for sure whether you're free from the guilt of your sin, come and talk to me. It's too important to put off. Won't you close with me in prayer?

Lord Jesus, we thank you for the commands that you have given us, that they are clear and understandable. Father I pray in Jesus name, that you would enable us to hear and to obey. Thank you o Lord, for the doctrine of water baptism. We thank you for the symbol that it is of dying to an old life, dying to sin and rising again to newness of life. Help us to walk oh Lord, in that newness of life. We pray in Jesus name, Amen.

I would like to ask that you take your scriptures and open to Romans Chapter 6. We're going to continue in our study in Romans, and we come this morning to a whole new subsection of this incredible epistle. Romans is a letter from the Apostle Paul, in which he's explaining the Gospel of our salvation. I think we could divide the Gospel into two main sections that we've seen so far. Romans chapters 1-5 lay out very plainly and very clearly the doctrine of justification by faith alone, apart from works of the law. But as we come now to Romans chapters 6-8, we come to a new section in which the Apostle Paul seeks to describe how we are sanctified. He teaches how we are carried on in our Christian life, how we are made gradually, little by little, by the power of the Spirit to be like Jesus. We are to walk as He walked, to think as He thought, to feel as He felt, to be in this world as He was. And this is a tremendous work, because we struggle with sin so mightily.

But the Gospel, the message in Romans Chapter 6 and the entire Gospel of Romans is sufficient for all of our needs. I titled the first section of this sermon Dangerous Doctrine, you know that doctrine is dangerous. It says that a preacher has to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. So sitting in front of me now are both afflicted and comfortable people. Now, I'm not sure which each of you is, you can apply that to yourself. Am I comfortable in sin? Am I ill at ease in my sinful life? And do I need to be afflicted out of that and convicted so that my life might be transformed? Or am I afflicted and harassed and do I need a message of comfort? And how can one mouth speaking into one microphone give both sufficient for all needs? But the Gospel message is able to do that. The Gospel message is sufficient for all of our needs.

The Power of the Gospel

We have seen that Paul is unfolding the only message of salvation that there is in this world. He says in Romans 1:16, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes." And so this Gospel message is sufficient to take you on an incredible journey. A journey from being dead in transgressions and sins, all the way to seeing Jesus face to face in His glory. Jesus prayed in John 17, He said, "I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, he glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world." So all of you who are called by His name, who are justified by faith, you will most certainly see the glory of Jesus Christ. You will see Him face to face.

And so this Gospel message is sufficient to take you from dead in transgressions and sins all the way to face to face glory with Jesus Christ. And what kind of message is that? But as we have looked at it we've seen unfolded our need for justification. You look in Roman 1 through 5, the first thing that Paul addresses is our need for justification.

The Universality of Human Sin and Depravity and the Consequent Wrath of God

In Romans 1:18 he says, "The wrath of God is being revealed from Heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." And so we have a tendency to take the truth and suppress it, to push it down. We don't want to hear it. We don't want to know who we really are. It's somewhat like we're cancer patients and we go to the doctor and we want him to lie to us. We want him to tell us that we're fine, that we're well. But we are not well, and so we need to be cured. And so the Gospel message comes right straight at it and tells us that we are dead in transgressions and sins, that we're under the wrath of God, and that we must have a saving message.

And so in Romans Chapter 1 he describes Gentile pagans as under the wrath of God and he says, that because they have turned away from the truth, they have exchanged the truth of God for a lie. He says at the end of Romans 1 that they are "filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful. They invent ways of doing evil, disobedient to their parents, senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless." Now, that describes a gentile apart from the grace of God. But then in Romans Chapter 2, he describes self-righteous moral people, even Jews who have received the law of God, but don't obey it. And so he says in Romans 2:13, "It is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who keep or obey the law who will be declared righteous."

And no one does it, there's no one on the face of the earth that can perfectly keep the law of God. And so it is not only the pagans, the Gentiles, who are apart from God and who don't have the written word, and who sin against that light of knowledge and their conscience, just as they are under the wrath of God. But so are also the Jews or the moralists who seeks to live a righteous or upright life, but does not see the need for Jesus Christ are also under the wrath of God. And so in Romans Chapter 3, Paul takes it all and summarizes it, says that every single solitary person on the face of the earth, whether Jew or Gentile, all of us have sinned and lacked the glory of God, every last one of us. And he describes our situation in Romans 3:9 and following, he says, "What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all. We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin."

Now, that is a very important phrase, under sin, under the dominion of sin. Sin is the emperor, sin is the ruler, sin is the king of that lost person, and sin will lead that lost person to death and to eternity, and judgement in hell. All of us, Jews and Gentiles alike, are under sin. As it is written, "There is no one righteous, no, not one. There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they've together become worthless. There is no one who does good, no, not one." And you say, "Surely, Paul, this is an extreme statement. This must be an exaggeration. I know that I do many good things, and I hope on the basis of these good things to stand before you, to stand before God and to give an account for myself on the basis of my good works. I know that I commit sins, but I'm sorry for my sins and I would like to present all of these many good works." How far will those good works get you on Judgement Day?

Recently I was in a distant country and we went through the streets and there were people selling things. And they were looking to sell us many, many things. And some of them, they had made with their hands and some of them we bought. Actually, many of them we bought. But after a while, I was getting a little bit fatigued with buying things. My luggage was getting heavy and there wasn't any more room, and I was just done with buying things. And I came down one particularly run down street, and there was somebody there trying to sell these trinkets that they had made and I noted that they were of a relatively low quality and that they also were dirty. And furthermore, the mannerism of the salesman bothered me. He was very arrogant. He stood up and started forcing them into my face, "Take them. Take them." He couldn't speak a word of English but, "Take them." And it was just a sense of revulsion in me. There was nothing about those trinkets that interested me. And his whole manner put me off as well.

And it was at that moment that I began to think that this is how it will be for the person trusting in good works on Judgement Day. They'll stand before God and say, "Here are my trinkets, take them in payment for all of my sins and let me into heaven, I demand." What will that person find on that day? God demands a broken and contrite spirit, a yearning heart, being a spiritual beggar, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, not this kind of confidence in works. But Paul already told us in Romans Chapter 3, "There is no one who does good." No, one not one, even our righteous acts are like filthy rags in His sight. So we have no foundation. We have no basis. We're under the wrath of God.

The Gospel: Christ as Propitiation

But then, right there, in the middle of Romans Chapter 3, comes a brilliant light. Those walking in darkness have seen a great light and those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned, and that light is Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ and Him crucified, for it says right there in the middle of Romans Chapter 3, "But now righteousness from God has been made known apart from the law to which the law and the prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and lack the glory of God and are justified freely." That means as a free gift, "are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood." Now, what is a propitiation? It's a sacrifice that absorbs that wrath of God. Jesus got up on the cross and just, He absorbed our wrath for us. He took it into Himself like a lightning rod, He absorbed it. The wrath of God. And so we can stand free and clear of the wrath of God on Judgement Day. We will be free of it forever.

Appropriating Redemption: Justification by Faith Alone

And then in Romans Chapter 4, he gives us the example of Abraham. He'd already told us that justification, that is where the judge declares us not guilty of all of our sins. Oh, how valuable and precious is that? That the judge of all the earth should look at you on Judgement Day and declare you not guilty of all of your sins. What would you give in exchange for that? What would you trade of all your trinkets for that? Would you give the whole world that the judge would look at you on Judgement Day with the court seated and the books opened of all your records, everything you've ever done and said, all the things you haven't done and haven't said, all of it right there, and for the judge to declare you not guilty of all of your sins, what would you give? Well, you can't give anything. You must simply receive it as a gift, justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus whom God presented as a propitiation, one who absorbs the wrath of God.

And so therefore it says in Romans 3:28, "We maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law." No good deeds could ever do this, but simply by receiving it by faith. And in Romans 4, he gives us the example of Abraham. We've talked about it before, but I want to burn it into your mind, that night, that starry night that God took Abraham out and said, "Look at the stars. I know, Abraham, that you don't have a child. I know you're 99 years old. I know your wife Sarah is 90 and she's barren. But look at the stars." And then He made him a promise, "So shall your offspring be." And Abraham heard that promise in words and believed it in his heart, and God saw his faith and declared him at that moment not guilty of all of his sins. That's all it is. You hear a promise, a promise from God. A promise of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. You hear it and you acknowledge that apart from that promise, you're lost. You have no good works. You have no hope, no standing, you're lost. If it weren't for Jesus, you'd be going to hell, no question about it.

But there is Jesus. He has come. He has died on the cross. His blood is sufficient for you. It's enough. And you hear, and you believe and it's credited to you as righteousness. You're justified by faith. Oh, how beautiful. How joyous is that message of justification by faith alone apart from works of the law?

The Results: Peace with God and Assurance of Salvation

And so in Romans 5:1-11 we get this incredible string of verses giving us incredible assurance. One chain and then a link after another. Romans 5:1, "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Peace with God, God is at peace with you forever. And nothing can take that away. Justified by faith alone, declared not guilty and now you have peace. An access by faith, an introduction by faith into this grace in which you stand. Remember, we used to be under sin, and now we're standing in grace. We're in a whole new country, and that's going to be important for understanding Romans 6. You've been transferred into a whole new region, a whole new country.

And he goes on through one chain after another, one link after another of assurance in Romans Chapter 5. We're assured in the middle of our sufferings and our trials, that even our trials produce a greater hope. And hope does not disappoint, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by that indwelling Holy Spirit that we have. And we have this act in history. Jesus Christ and Him crucified up on the cross, and no one can take Him off there. No one can say it didn't happen. No one can say the resurrection never occurred. It's an act in history. God demonstrated His love, and He demonstrates it now through the preaching of the word that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The Difficult Doctrine of Original Sin

And then in the rest of Romans 5, we see a very difficult doctrine. But if we understand it, we see the assurance that we have. That every single person on the face of the earth, whether American, or French, or Canadian, or Latin American, or Chinese, it doesn't matter where they are from. Every single solitary person on the face of the earth is born naturally in Adam. And that we all are condemned in Adam, that when Adam stood at that tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we stood there with him. And when Adam sinned, we sinned with him. When Adam was condemned and judged by God, we were condemned and judged with him. And that explains how sin covers the earth. How it is that a child grows up out of innocence and as soon as they understand right from wrong, as soon as the law comes, they die. They understand right from wrong, and they sin.

The Glorious Doctrine of Union with Christ

And so we're born in Adam, but now, by justification, by faith alone, we are now born again in Christ. He's our covenant head now. He represented us at a different tree, the tree of Calvary. And Jesus Christ is our head. And so where we once were dominated and tyrannized by sin and death, so now we have the reign of life. It says in Romans Chapter 5:20-21, "Where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that just as sin reigned in death, that wicked tyrant sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord."

And so now we come to this dangerous doctrine. Somebody is going to say, "Now, wait a minute. What you're saying to me is that no matter how much I sin, I'm going to heaven? Is that what you're saying to me?" Well, if you're justified by faith that's exactly what I'm saying. You cannot out-sin the grace of God. It is impossible for you to do so.

Where sin abounds, where it's even a river, God has an ocean to cover the river. Where sin abounds, Amen. Where sin abounds, say it again, "Praise God." Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. Give Him your highest mountain of sin, and He'll cover it to a depth of 20 feet. That's the way it is. Well, that's kind of dangerous, that doctrine, isn't it? What is it making you think? "Well, then, let's have a sin party. We'll all come on Friday evening, and you all bring your favorite sins, and we'll have a sin party." Now, you all know what's your favorite sins are. They're all different, but they follow the same kind of pattern, lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, boastful pride of life. Whatever you want to bring, you bring, and we'll have a sin party on Friday evening. It'll probably be a first here, at First Baptist Church, but we're into new things from time to time. We'll have a sin party.

Now that we have finally understood justification by faith alone apart from works and law, we can have a sin party. Is that the case? Well, that's what Paul's adversaries thought he was teaching. They said, "Your doctrine leads to lawlessness. Your doctrine leads to sin. Paul, if what you're saying is true, if the whole point is the glory of God's grace, if it's true that where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more, then by that same logic, God will get even more glory if we sin even more, right?" And so that's what he says.

Now, listen. Read along in Romans 6:1-4, and we'll see how he answers this question. "What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means, we died to sin. How can we live in it any longer, for don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death. We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." So we have this question, and it's interesting how Paul, as he unfolds his doctrine, he brings against the doctrine, the very question that you want to ask. He's going to do it again and again. He's going to do it later in Chapter 6. He's going to do it in Chapter 7. He's going to do it again in Chapter 9. He's going to bring questions against the doctrine, and then answer them.

And so I think it is, when you're preaching the right Gospel, when you're preaching the Gospel of free grace, of justification by faith alone apart from works of law, you must answer this question. It will come up every time. "Well, then, let's sin all we want." It's amazing how this doctrine produces this question. And it's really a test of the doctrine that we're teaching to see if this question comes. Suppose Paul were teaching a works righteousness, suppose he were teaching that you need to walk the aisle, sign the card, be a part of a committee, come in to a church again, and again, be a deacon or whatever good works you want to do. And on the basis of that, you're going to stand before God on Judgement Day. Would he ever have to face this question?

Well, Paul, I guess, based on all you're saying that we can sin lots and lots, and that wouldn't make any sense. If Paul were teaching a works righteousness, this question would never come up. But instead, Paul is teaching a grace righteousness, a righteousness given to us just as a free gift. And so he must answer this question that comes up. But the beauty of the Gospel is not only does it produce this question, it also answers this question. It refutes this whole mentality, so that we can understand it properly. And, I don't know if you heard, we are not going to have a bring-your-own-sin party on Friday. Don't misunderstand me; that was just rhetoric. We must not sin that grace may increase. And that's how Paul answers. This is the wickedness of the human heart.

We take the grace of God and what do we do with it? We turn it around into a license for immorality. We turn it around so that we can sin as much as we want. Sin is always seeking an opportunity. Sin is a relentless force. Sin did not let you go lightly. Sin was overcome by a greater force. The strong man, when he's powerful, he binds up his possessions and keeps them in his power, but when someone more powerful than him overtakes him, the possessions are taken out of his house. That's what Jesus did to the devil. And he stole you from the devil's kingdom. He didn't let you go lightly, and he wants you back. And he's going to be calling out commands to you. Sin is going to be calling out like you're still under sin, but you're not under sin anymore, you're free. Jesus has set you free. You're a new person.

But sin is still relentless; it's seeking an opportunity. There are even false teachers who will teach this. They'll say, "We are totally forgiven in Jesus Christ. So therefore, it doesn't matter how you live. It doesn't matter. You can't lose your salvation," that's true, "So therefore, you can live as you please." Jude Chapter 4 speaks of these false teachers, it says there are godless men who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and deny Jesus Christ, our only Sovereign and Lord. So these false teachers change the grace of God into a license. Here's a certificate, go sin as much as you want. And whenever conviction comes and bothers your heart, show the certificate, like an indulgence; "I've paid for this. I can sin as much as I want." Changing the grace of God into a license for immorality. But this isn't so distant from us, is it? Have you ever been tempted by the devil? Tempted to sin? And then along with the temptation comes this word, you can always confess it later, God will forgive. Has that ever happened to you? Or am I alone the one that's faced that? God will forgive. You've confessed that before and He forgave it that time. God is gracious, so go ahead. It's the voice of the devil. And it's the very same thing that Paul is dealing with us here.

That evil philosopher, that French philosopher Voltaire said this of God. He said, "God will forgive, it's His trade." That's what He does, His métier. It's kind of His... Like somebody makes shoes, has got a little sign out with the shoes. You want to go buy some leather shoes, that's the shop you go to for the shoes. Or you want some furniture, there's a sign hanging outside that shop, and you know that you can buy a stool or a table there. The tradesman makes a good table there. Or maybe some ceramics; you can go over here and you see the sign hanging outside that shop, and you can go and buy some high quality ceramics there. But here's God's shop, and He's got grace hanging outside, and what He does, it's His trade, He forgives sin. So just go in there and get your sins forgiven and go on in your life. And when you need to come back, you come and buy some more forgiveness. That was Voltaire's attitude.  WH Auden said this, "I like committing crimes. God likes forgiving them. Really, the world is admirably arranged." Shall we sin all the more so that grace may increase?

And then there's that man, Grigori Rasputin, that famous depraved monk. Do you remember the story Anastasia? It was made popular by Disney recently. Well, Rasputin was a counselor to that final Romanov family, the last Tsars. And he was a deranged man, a debauched and sinful man, who had lived a debauched life. And then he stumbled across some doctrine, a branch of the Orthodox faith in Russia that taught that you must sin to expel sin. That the more you sin, the weaker sin gets in your life. Is that true? Absolutely not, but that's what he did and that's what he taught. Sin to expel sin. So he was a depraved and debauched man, and he died that way.

But all of these are manifestations, and we can multiply it. It's taking the grace of God and turning it into a license for sin, giving yourself permission.

Well, what is Paul's answer? Look at Verse 2. He says, first of all, "May it never be." How can we sin? He says, "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase? May it never be." The first answer is one from the heart, it's one from the gut, really. It's a passionate answer. There's emotion involved in Paul's response, isn't there? He's almost angry about it. It just comes out passionately, "May it never be." One translation says, "God forbid." Now, the word God isn't in the Greek, but there's a sense of that urgency. God forbid that you think that way. Absolutely not. We will not think that way. If I can just stop and give you an application right here in the middle of this sermon.

Not all the applications are at the end; sometimes, they're right in the middle. Do you have a passionate, almost heated response to temptation? You should. How does God feel about sin? When I used to work as an engineer, I had a little piece of paper up on my wall with a Scripture verse. It wasn't John 3:16 or Psalm 23. It was a little off the beaten path. It was Psalm 97:10. It says, "Let those who love the Lord hate evil." And so you'd see people looking and the wheels would be turning. They'd be thinking as they looked at that verse. It was so brief that it got in before they could do anything about it. And then they'd start thinking and they couldn't stop themselves, so they'd start thinking about it. And it was beautiful to see the look on their faces as they would mull on this. "Let those who love the Lord hate evil." Because God hates it. And so Paul has a passionate response. There's a sense of unthinkability to the sin. Is sin unthinkable in your life? Or is it just something you deal with, something you tolerate?

In Habakkuk 1:13 it says of God, "Your eyes are too pure to look on evil, you cannot tolerate wrong." God will not tolerate it. Do we tolerate it? And so Paul has a passionate response, and then he makes a declaration, it's in question form, but it's really a declaration, "How shall we who died to sin live in it?" But NIV breaks it into a statement, and then a question, the statement being, "We died to sin, how can we live in it any longer?" So the key fact is, if you are a Christian, you died to sin, you're dead to sin, you have a new identity in Jesus Christ.

The doctrine of sanctification is not that you must progressively die to sin, the doctrine of sanctification is you are dead to sin so live like it. And there is a world of difference between being dead in sin and being dead to sin. It's the difference between hell and heaven, being dead in sin is where you were, being dead to sin is what you are in Christ. You died to sin once and for all, the old man, the old person that you were in Adam is dead, and therefore, sin has no authority over you whatsoever. We're going to be talking about this in Romans 6. But this is the first foundational doctrine to sanctification. You are dead to sin, how can we live in it any longer?

And then he says in verse 3-4, "Don't you know that all of us who are baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death. We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death." So he's saying that the moment that Jesus Christ died, if you're justified by faith, you died too. You know that African spiritual, "Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?" What is the answer? If you're a Christian, yeah, you were there. That was you nailed to the cross, you died with Jesus spiritually. You're united with Him in the same way that you were united with Adam when he sinned at the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Yes, you were there. Paul says it this way in Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ." I have been crucified with Christ, that was me on the cross. That's what I deserve, all of the beatings and the spitting and the scorning, and the nails, and the blood, the crown of thorns, all of it is what I deserve. And now by faith, I'm united with Jesus and His death has become my death. Yes, I was there. "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me."

Now, Paul is very eager that you understand this doctrine. As a matter of fact, it's not going to be for another 10 verses that he finally tells you to do anything. It's one of the things I've noticed, it's very interesting. You go through Romans Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, all that doctrine that I covered at the beginning of the message today, you go on into Chapter 6, the teaching of sanctification, it's not until you get to Verse 11 that Paul tells you to do anything. Up to that point, he's only been telling you what is, what is true about the wrath of God and about the Gospel being a power of salvation, and about Jesus being propitiation and about Abraham looking at the stars and about your assurance in Adam and Christ, all of this and he didn't tell you to do anything.

He just told you what's true. And then in Chapter 6, he tells you 10 more verses of what's true before he finally gets in verse 11, go ahead and look at it. What's the first thing he tells you to do in verse 11? In 6:11, he tells you in the same way, "Count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus." Think of yourselves a certain way. And so therefore he's going to teach you to live based on your doctrine. In Verse 3, he says, "Don't you know, don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?" You were united with Him in baptism, united with Him at the cross, and also united with Him in His glorious resurrection.

Now, at this moment, I want to stop and say a word about baptism. Next week, I'm going to preach a whole message on baptism, water baptism. I know that we're Baptists, that means we believe in believer baptism. And so Romans 6:1-4 will be one of our key doctrines to teach, believer baptism, but I actually don't believe that this is about water baptism. I think that the verses say too much for that. According to the baptism that happens here, we are, in this baptism, united with Jesus in His death, and in this baptism united with Him also in His resurrection.

Does that happen at the water baptism? That's just an outward symbol of something that's already happened to you. Well, remember what John the Baptist said about water baptism, "I baptize with water, but after me will come one who's more powerful than I, His sandals, I'm not worthy to untie, He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." And so that baptism, I believe, is in view here, that union with Jesus, by the power of the Spirit where you are united with Him in His death, and then you are raised to a whole new life.

And so we go to Paul's question, "Shall we continue to live in sin so that grace may abound?" Absolutely not, because we have a new life in Jesus Christ. Christ died forever to sin and so, also, must we. Now, as I mentioned next week, we're going to talk more about water baptism. It's important to understand it, but you say, "Why are you doing that here?" Well, just because you think that these verses talk about water baptism, so it's a good time to stop and talk about water baptism. We'll do that next week. But I believe that instead this is talking about a deeper union, a union with us by the Holy Spirit, where we died with Jesus Christ, and we were raised to newness of life.

Now, how can we apply this to ourselves? Well, first I want to speak to the unbeliever. Now, what is an unbeliever? I believe an unbeliever is somebody that's never come to understand that their good works aren't going to save them. They've never come to understand what it means to worship by the spirit of God, to glory in Christ Jesus and to put no confidence in your natural abilities.

That's what an unbeliever is, it's somebody who's never come to personal faith in Christ but rather is trusting in their own good works. To you may I say that you're still under sin. You're under the dominion of sin and none of the things that we're going to talk about over the next number of weeks in Romans 6 apply to you. You're still a slave to sin and you can't stop, you can change the flavor of sin from day to day, but you can't stop sinning. It's impossible, because sin is still your master. But if you come to personal faith in Jesus Christ, Jesus will free you forever from the power of sin and you'll be able to tell sin, "Absolutely not, you have no authority over me. I'm free forever from sin. I'm going to walk in newness of life because Jesus has raised me from the dead." So come to faith in Christ. That's all I can say to you if you're not a believer. You have only one thing to do, and that's come to the cross. Come to Jesus Christ.

But if you are a Christian, I want to say five things to you.

First, begin by understanding your total security in Christ. Realize as I've told you this question would never come up if you didn't understand salvation by grace alone. You cannot out-sin the grace of God. No matter how much you sin, God's grace is sufficient to cover all your sins. But I want to urge you if you have an attitude or a thought that I can sin all I want, it may be that you've never been justified by faith. Be concerned about that. Be concerned. If you can live in sin comfortably, if sin is your friend and you don't see any real problem with the sins in your life, be very afraid that you have never been justified and you're still in your sins.

And so I urge you, secondly, to grow to hate sin more passionately than you do. Paul said, "May it never be." Can you say that with every temptation? John Bunyan put it this way, "Sin is the dare of God's justice. It is the rape of His mercy. It is the jeer of His patience. It is the slight of His power and the contempt of His love."

Aren't you done with sin? Don't you want to be done forever with sin? Grow to hate sin more and more. It is a bitter, implacable foe. It will be pursuing you to the day you die. You must fight it and hate it with all of your heart.

And thirdly, especially beware of Satan using grace to stimulate you to sin presumptuously, to say, "Because I'm a Christian, I'm okay. I can sin as much as I want." Beware of this. This is a lie from the devil. Thomas Adams put it this way, "Despair is assurance stark dead, presumption is assurance stark mad." It's assurance gone insane. To take assurance and turn it around is a license for sin, is a form of insanity. It's not what God meant to give you Romans 5 for. Romans 5 is meant to make you realize you're going to heaven so therefore fight sin the rest of your life. That's what Romans 5 is for.

And number four, realize that the issue here is not a matter of perfection. We're going to be talking more about that in Romans 6. It's not a matter of you must be sinless and perfect the rest of your life, but rather that sin shall not have dominion over you. You're going to make excursions into the old place where you used to live, but you're going to hate every moment and there's a principle of turning inside you saying immediately, "I want to come back. I hate that place where I lived so long." William Gurnall put it this way, "A sheep may fall into a ditch, but it is the swine who wallows in it." So, you grow quickly to come out of it and say, "This isn't my home. I want to live under the grace of God."

And then finally, take Paul's practical advice. I'm just going to read it, we'll unfold it more later, in Romans 11-14. Read along with me, if you would, in your text. It says in Romans 6:11, "In the same way count yourselves or think of yourselves as dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus." Verse 12, "Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness, for sin shall not be your master because you are not under law, but under grace." Please close with me in prayer.

Father, what can we say in response to these things? We thank you so much for the final word in verse 14, "Sin shall not be your master." And then in V\verse 2, "We died to sin." Oh, we praise you that we've been freed forever from that tyranny of sin and we thank you that we never have to sin again ever for the rest of our lives. Sin has no authority to compel us, but rather we're free forever. Everyone who sins, Jesus said, is a slave to sin, but if the Son makes you free you will be free indeed. Oh, Jesus, thank you for making us free indeed. Help us to walk in that freedom, in that newness of life. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

This is the second sermon in the series about Spiritual Gifts. 

Maybe someday we'll have dual preaching. We'll have two people standing up and kind of back and forth be one way to do it. Thank you so much. Why don't you join with me in prayer? Father, we thank you for this evening, for the time that we have to study your Word now. We thank you for the worship we've experienced in the fellowship already. Father, I just really enjoy these times of testimony, Lord, to hear what you're doing in the lives of the members of our church. Father, we thank you for your goodness to us. We thank you that you have not left us as orphans, but Lord, that you meet all of our needs. We thank you that you hear our prayers. We thank you that you see each of the issues of our lives. In fact you have even brought them to us, oh Lord, and that you use the trials and the struggles that we go through to help us to grow in grace and the knowledge of Christ. Father, I pray that you would continue to sustain and strengthen those that are trusting you for things, Father, whether for healing, maybe there's chronic illness, maybe a job search as mentioned. Thank you that one was successfully completed but still waiting for others Lord. And we just pray for your faithfulness to be shown as we know you will. But Father, more than anything, our desire and our yearning is to glorify you in our lives in the way we walk with you Father. And we know that we can't do that unless we understand your Word. So I pray, Father, that you'd be with me tonight as I teach and all of us as we listen to your word and seek to put it into practice in our lives. Father, we pray that you'd be with us by the power of the Spirit and help us, oh Lord, to grow in this knowledge of this understanding of spiritual gifts so that we can grow to full maturity in Christ we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Now last week as we began to look at spiritual gifts, what I did was I just went through a kind of survey of Ephesians 1, 2, and 3 to set the context for Ephesians 4. Everything should be taken in context, especially in Paul's epistles. Paul had a very logical mind and he unfolded his doctrines. There was a reason why this paragraph followed that one and why this statement followed that. And so we sought to set it in context and we saw that God was doing a great work in this world, namely building a spiritual temple which is rising little by little into full maturity, into full completion in Christ. And we also saw in the passage we're focusing on tonight, Ephesians 4, we saw this body image, namely that the church is a body. So these two great images of a spiritual temple rising to completion according to the blueprints and then the body rising up into full maturity according to the maturity that God gives. And this is what God is doing in us and through us and spiritual gifts part of that.

Tonight we're going to focus in more on Ephesians 4 and I'd like to just read Ephesians 4:1-16 and then begin to look a little more carefully at it. Beginning at verse 1, it says:

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you've received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit- just as you were called to one hope when you were called- one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is overall and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.” (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth and love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

So that last phrase, “as each part does its work.” that's so vital isn't it? As every part of the body does its work, the body will grow up into what? What does it say? What's the word? Maturity. As each part does its work, the body grows up into full maturity. And so we're looking at spiritual gifts. Now the idea that Ephesians 4 is addressing spiritual gifts comes right in this section in the middle, in verses 7-8. “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says when he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.”

Now, in order to understand the reason behind the spiritual gifts, we have to understand the two reasons, the two primary reasons that God has left the church on earth. Why has he left us here on earth? I think number one, that we might live in a manner worthy of the calling we have received. You look at verse 1, he says, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you've received.” Another way to put it is that we may “grow in grace in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ,” that's in 2 Peter, but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. So he's left the church on earth, that it might grow in grace and knowledge of Christ, that it might live a life worthy of the calling that it has received, that it might grow into full maturity in Christ. And so another verse that focuses on that is in Matthew 5:48 in which Jesus says "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." So that is a challenge, isn't it? As a matter of fact, it's somewhat of an infinite challenge that we might be in this world as Jesus was. That we might walk as he walked, that we might think as he thought that we might feel what he felt, that we might have his mind and his actions, that his motives would be ours. This is what we call sanctification, is it not? That we grow in godliness, that we grow into maturity. That is one of the reasons he's left you on earth. Now, along with that come all kinds of things, events and opportunities, good works that God has ordained, that we should walk in them as Jesus would, character traits, a whole slew of things that God is doing in your life. And it happens little by little. You're growing up, you're more like Christ now than you were 10 years ago. If you're a Christian, you're walking with Jesus and you're seeing the process of growth into maturity.

So that's one of the two great reasons that God's left us here. What is the other? Well, it's that we help others to do the same. That we make disciples of all nations, that we bring them into the church, that we see them grow up into maturity. It's not just that we make converts, but that we make mature disciples. That we continue to teach them to obey everything that he has commanded. We don't want to stop short of having people pray a prayer or become a convert. That's not the great commission. The great commission is make disciples, baptizing as we spoke about this morning, but also teaching them to obey everything, not just teaching but teaching them to obey everything. And so you see how the two really do fit together, don't they? In one case, we are seeking to obey everything that God has commanded and in another sense we're seeking to help others to obey everything that Christ has commanded and the two go together. Another name for these are evangelism and discipleship. Are they not? And I've found in the Christian life and in the church, the two are totally meshed together, aren't they? You can't separate them. You can't say, “Well, we're going to be an evangelistic church. Our desire is to do evangelism. That's all we care about. We're not interested in discipleship, but there's just such an urgent need to get people saved so that they would not go to hell. There's such an urgent need that we might see people justified.” Is that God's way? Not at all. First of all, it's not in Christ's command. We are to make disciples, so we can just be seeking to get people to prayer, but that's not the fact. The fact of the matter is: if we're going to be maximally effective evangelistically, we're going to have to be mature disciples, aren't we? Who is it that has the courage to go across the room at the office and to share the gospel with a coworker or with a boss, let's say even more, or with just somebody else there or who will speak up in the neighborhood or at the supermarket will witness, who's going to do that? It's going to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, isn't it? And we're going to do it all the more as we grow up in maturity. Now on the other hand, could we be completely focused on discipleship and not care whatsoever whether people come to faith in Christ? Could we say, “Well, we just want to get all our doctrinal Ps and Qs and Ts and everything lined up and what happens outside the walls is really of no concern to us.” Can we do that? Well, no. We'd be violating the commands of God again. We are to continue to reach out, to continue to move out.

I mentioned this morning the Anabaptists and there's some of my great heroes in the faith. These people suffered greatly. But then there's started to be certain groups of Anabaptists and some of them I think because of the persecution just focused inward and sought to be pure in an ungodly world. They wanted nothing from the world and they wanted the world just to leave them alone. Perhaps you've driven through some of the counties in Pennsylvania and seen some of these groups. They are the descendants of the Anabaptists and they have no evangelistic concern. Those groups, not all of them, they're some that really have a lovely concern and a great outreach. But some of these groups have just become inward focused and they had no interest whatsoever. They have no world vision. They just want to get through the world and then go to heaven having maintained their doctrinal purity, so they believe. But it becomes inward focused and it really withers, doesn't it at that point? It really becomes irrelevant in the world and it's off to the side. The two really go together. So God has left us for these two great purposes: to grow into maturity and Christ-likeness, godliness, holiness, and the second that we should reach out with the gospel and seek to make disciples of all nations.

Now, spiritual gifts enables both of those things to go on. As a matter of fact, it is the key to the whole thing. It is as the church is using its spiritual gifts that both of them occur. It is as teachers teach, it is as encouragers encourage, as administrators do their work of administration, as people with the gifts of generosity give generously, as people with the gift of faith, use that vision to challenge the body that the church grows up into full maturity as each part does its work. But that's why they're given. They're given for those two great works and we're going to continue on them. They are a challenge are they not? "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect, make disciples of all nations." Jesus said, we're not finished, are we not by a long shot? Look inward at the truth, look outward and you can see it also. There's still work to be done and therefore we need to grow in our understanding of these spiritual gifts. We need to know what God is calling us to do.

Now, so the church we desire to see grow in spiritual maturity. We desire also that the church would grow in numbers. The church is immature and the church is too small, isn't it? The church is immature. It's not like Christ the way it should be. We're not where we need to be. And so we need to grow up. We need to grow up doctrinally; we need to grow up in our understanding of Christ. We need to grow in the way we live our Christian faith, right? We need to grow up. But the church isn't where it needs to be numerically either, is it? We want to see more and more and more people saved. Why? Because God wants to see that. As a matter of fact, if you look in the book of Acts, we're not overly concerned with numbers, but you look at Acts 2:47 for example, it says, “The Lord added to their number daily those who are being saved.” Daily. Wouldn't you like to be part of a church like that? “The Lord added to their number daily.” I think as we start really by the power of the Spirit using our gifts, we may see something just like that. If God blesses, it's up to the Lord, but he may lavish that kind of thing. I want to be part of a church like that. The Lord adding to their number daily, those who are being saved or Acts 4:4, “The number of men grew to about 5,000,” keeps getting bigger and bigger. I don't know the timeframe, but I think the fact is that these accountings are in the book of Acts so that we can see there's an interest in this, a concern because those aren't numbers, are they? Those are people. Those are people that Christ has won by his blood. And then Acts 6:1, it says, "The word of God spread and the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly." And I love this. "And a large number of priests became obedient to the faith." Isn't that interesting? Acts 6:1. I'd like to talk to one of those priests; maybe they gave some insight into the book of Hebrews into how Jesus fulfilled all of the temple regulations and all that. I don't really know, I’m speculating, but it's just beautiful to see and it's exciting, isn't it, to see people come to Christ. Layton Ford said that, “Evangelism is the fizz in the Coca-Cola of the Christian life.” Have you ever drunk flat coke? You know what I'm talking about? I don't care how cold it is, it's just flat. And so also is a church that's not reaching out with the gospel. There's just a flatness to it. But conversely, how exciting is it when we hear testimonies about this or that or the other person coming to Christ or the baptism of the different things that are happening? Boy that's thrilling and I want to be part of that. So spiritual gifts are given to accomplish both types of growth.

Now, what is a spiritual gift? What are we talking about in this evening series? Well, here's a definition, it's not biblical, but as I put the doctrines together this is what I think a spiritual gift is: A spiritual gift is a special ability given by Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit to an individual Christian for the purpose of building up the church, which is the body of Christ. Let me read that again, spiritual gift is a special ability, a special ability given by Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit to an individual Christian for the purpose of building up the church, which is the body of Christ. Now as we use our spiritual gifts, we're going to see that growth occurring and there's a lot of joy in that, isn't there? I want to get to the point where you all know what your gifts are and you just are regularly using them and you receive joy from it. There's just a delight in using that gift or that gift package. And you also, meanwhile you're going to be getting the benefits from other people's gifts, aren't you? Don’t you just love the people with the gift of encouragement? Isn't that great to be around people like that? Barnabas, the son of encouragement come alongside and say, just give you the word that keeps you growing in your Christian life. That's just wonderful. Or somebody that hears that you're going on a mission trip and comes alongside and contributes financially because they've got that gift and that yearning, they're just generous, they're lavish with their money. All of us should be generous with our money, but there's some just with that gift, you know what I'm saying? And they use it and the church benefits and there are other people that just have the gift of prayer. Have you ever prayed with somebody like that? They just seem to be able to just coast in the power of the Spirit. And I just love to listen to people like that pray. And then there are the people that I love maybe the most in my church work here, the gift of administration, the people that can figure out all the nuts and bolts and details of a ministry and how it's all going to work out and plan it and see how it works. And then the people with the gift of faith, which I think is a gift of vision where you're able to see things that God is doing and to kind of step in and say, “I believe that God's leading us to do this,” and we come to respect that and take it serious when an individual like that speaks and we to make it a matter of prayer, but they've already seen something that others didn't see and the church moves out. Boy that's exciting. And all of these things help to build the spiritual gifts. But the thing that primes the pump that gets the whole thing going is good, solid biblical teaching on the issue. That's what gets the whole thing started is for somebody with a gift of teaching to just unfold what the texts say, in Ephesians 4, in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12-14. So we understand what they are and that's our purpose tonight.

Now we've already looked at God's passion for his glory and his desire to see the church grow. As we zero in on Ephesians 4:7-16 there are some principles that flow out of here concerning spiritual gifts, the first is that each Christian has been spiritually gifted, but not all in the same way. Everybody's got a gift, but not everybody's got the same gift. All right? Number two: spiritual gifts are gracious gifts so they're given by God's grace. Number three: Jesus Christ does the gifting according to his own will, through the Holy Spirit. We get that out of Ephesians 4. And also gifts are given to build the body of Christ. So if we're going to put this whole thing together, gifting is universal, but not uniform. Universal but not uniform, gracious, Christ given and body building, let me say those again: gifting is universal but not uniform, it is gracious, it is Christ given, and it is body building.

Let's look at the first one: gifting is universal but not uniform. Each Christian has been specifically pondered by Christ and had a gift package; I think is the best way to put it, measured out by Jesus Christ and handed to you. We touched on this last week, but it's so remarkable that it bears repeating. “But to each one of us,” verse 7, “grace has been given according to the measure of Christ as Christ measures it out.” Boy, that's something I think it's marvelous that Jesus knows us by name. Isn't that something? We read this morning, the resurrection account in John 20. Now it was after the account in which Jesus appears to Mary. But you remember how Mary didn't recognize him at first? She didn't know who it was. She thought he was what? Yeah, the gardener. She thought the resurrected Lord was the gardener and she's weeping and weeping on the happiest day in the history of the world. Isn't that funny? Aren't our emotions just like unruly children sometimes, just out of whack or out of step with reality? And so her emotions are just... And both the angels and Jesus ask her the same question, "Woman, why are you crying?" What is going on? This is resurrection day. Mary, if you could realize how many generations of Christians after you would wish they could be here on resurrection day and you get to be here and you're crying. You get to be here and you- you're crying, why are you crying? Well, what is it that pierces the fog? It is when Jesus says her name, “Mary,” and she just knows it's the Lord. Well I think what's so powerful there is just that personal knowledge isn't it? It's that our Savior knows us, he knows us well. “My sheep know my voice and I know their names. I call them by name and they follow me and they're not going to follow another.” There's this intimate, passionate relationship between us and our master, our shepherd. He's our good shepherd. We know him. Well, this spiritual gift teaching kind of adds to that, doesn't it? That not only does he know our name, but he knows our capabilities. He knows who we are, who he's put us together to be. And he's put us together in a special way with this spiritual gift package. He's thought about you personally and he's given you this gift arrangement straight from Jesus Christ. And I think it's marvelous.

So every Christian gets a gift, but they're not all the same gift. We get that out of one word in verse 7, the word “but,” you remember we talked about that. Verses 1-6 talk about the unity of the church, “There's one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and Father of all who's over all and through all and in all.” so there's all this oneness. But to each one of us, grace has been given. So the point is that it's not a unity issue there. The gifts are given to build unity, yes, but we don't all get the same thing. So I would say that the gifts are universal, but they're not uniform. Now what I mean uniform, I mean all the same. Now we live in a kind of mass-producing age don't we? I mean I guess we can thank Henry Ford for that. He was the one that perceived that things work better if you had everyone specialized and kind of at a certain place on the assembly line and you're just dealing with the same parts over and over, putting them in the same place over and over, so that the car can be built in maximum speed. And the goal of that approach is that every single car be identical to every other car. And in which situations that they're not identical, there's inevitably problems. When this part is not like that it doesn't fit where it's supposed to, that's uniformity. Every single part like every other part, and you're on the assembly line and you're just cranking out. That is not the case with spiritual gifts. So we all have gifts of some sort, but they're all different, aren't they? There's variety involved here. They're universal but they're not uniform.

So in 1 Corinthians 12 it says, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit, the body is a unit though it is made up of many parts and though all its parts are many, they form one body.” So that's talking about a diversity within the body. And then in Romans 12 it says, “Just as each of us has one body with many members and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body and each member belongs to all the others.” So unity in Christ does not mean uniformity. There is specialization. So some of you have a different role than others in the body. Now one thing that we've really got to stress, we've talked about this before, but it's important: your function in the body is completely unrelated to your value and worth in God's sight. In other words, if you have this or that or the other function or role, he does not think of this or that or the other as more or less important than the others. Paul very much stresses this. And when we get to 1 Corinthians, we'll talk about this, but that no part of the body can say to the other, “I have no need of you.” And all the more that basically I think what God is looking for is that you take your gift package and be maximally fruitful with it. It's on the basis of what you do with what you're given, that you are assessed and judged in terms of your works on judgment day. It's not because you have this gift, you are therefore thought of more highly than someone else. It just doesn't work that way. And folks, as Americans, we really need to hear that don’t we? We really tend to be resume type people. I think it's especially true of men, but I think it's also increasingly true of women that men, two men will get together and you say, “So, what do you do?” Well, what do you ask them when you say, “what do you do?” How do you earn your money? And if you're unemployed, it makes you feel like you're less of a person or something like that, you're less valuable. That couldn't be farther from the truth. But that's the way we tend to be. “Tell me things you've accomplished, I want to know what you've done,” kind of thing. And I understand why that is. We are a nation of independent pioneer achiever types. We're able to clear the land and make a harvest field work and pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. And that's the American dream and ideal. And we like to talk about what we've accomplished. It's what we call a meritocracy. It's ruled by those who deserve to rule by their accomplishments. And there's some things to be said for that, but one of the things that it tends to do is it tends to lead to this resume mentality where you think, “my value and worth in God's sight is equal to what I am able to accomplish or what my role is in the body.” And nothing could be further from the truth. We really got to get that figured out because if we don't understand that, then we're going to have certain gift packages thought of more highly than others and people will be jealous for those and maybe seek them, those particular gifts and maybe not do the gifts they really were given. But all of them are needed, aren't they? Every single one of them. So I guess basically if you're an ear, rejoice in being an ear. If you're an eye, be glad you're an eye don't wish you were something else. Be delighted in what God's made you to be. Each of us should know what that is.

So gifts are not uniform, but they are universally distributed. Ephesians 4:7, “to each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned.” 1 Corinthians 12:7, “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” 1 Corinthians 12:11, “All these are the work of one in the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one just as he determines.” And then 1 Peter 4:10, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others faithfully, administering God's grace in its various forms.” Now in those four verses, we get a repeated phrase. Each one, don't we? I mean four times God said each one, each one, each one, each one. You can't escape. That's four verses. You only need one. God's word is sufficient, just one is enough. But he's given us four verses that say each one, all of you who are believers sitting in front of me tonight, all of you have a gift package. You all do. Each one has received something from God. So no Christian can say, “I have no ministry,” no Christian can say, “I have no place in the body.” Now, it may be literally true that some Christians have no ministry, but there's no need for that. As a matter of fact, they will regret that they had no ministry because this is a matter of stewardship. We have to give an account for these gifts. So we have to have a ministry. But what I'm saying just from the outset is you do have a ministry, you have a gift, a spiritually gifted ministry waiting for you. You may already be doing it in full. Praise God for that. But I don't think so. I don't think all of you are, because I think we need to grow in this area and we see each one using their gifts.

Now as we're using these gifts, we're going to see the temple rising in the Lord. I love that image, don't you? The idea that we are a spiritual temple. I would really like to have you think of that when you come in here on Sunday mornings, to have you think of that when you come in. Let me read Ephesians 2:21-22 again. It says, "In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." And then a parallel passage, 1 Peter 2:4-5, "As you come to him, the living stone rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him, you also like living stones are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." Now if you put these two together, you get actually a very complicated image, don't you? In one sense, we are living stones in the walls of a spiritual temple aren’t we? So we are the building, we are the temple and it's rising to completion. But in the 1 Peter 2 passage we're also the royal priesthood doing ministry in the temple. Isn't that interesting? So you're kind of both a living stone in the wall and a priest down on the floor doing ministry and everyone's like that. It is out of that passage I believe that Luther and others got this idea of the priesthood of all believers. Also in Revelation where it says we are a kingdom of priests. What that means is each one of us has a priestly gift to offer. And so I think every single Christian should look at their spiritual gift as kind of an offering to God. You're really offering it up to Christ, you're offering it up to God, you're using it in glory to him. And the beauty of it is as you use it and as that, you can imagine the smoke rising from the sacrifice, a fragrant offering to God, it kind of wafts and then next thing you know, there's more living stones around up at the top. It's a beautiful image, isn't it? And so as you're using your gift, guess what? The temple just got bigger. People are coming to Christ, people are growing up, the body is growing in maturity. It's happening and it's exciting as you use your gifts.

Now, before the reformation, the laity really had no role. Actually before Vatican two in the Roman Catholic Church you wouldn't understand a word that was said. It was all in Latin. And that's why I studied Latin in high school. I remember, and I'm glad I did, but there was just a holdover, there was a need to study it if you wanted to understand a word that was said in Catholic mass. And the idea was you don't need to understand. You just need to come. We'll do the ministry. That's our job. And so the priest would actually turn his back to the people and minister between the people up to God. And so he was doing the spiritual offerings and all that, and the people were just being ministered on behalf of kind of thing. But that's not a biblical image is it? All of us have that priestly ministry to offer. And it is, as we do these things, we're going to see the temple rising in Christ.

Now the first thing, therefore we've looked at is that gifting is universal but not uniform. The second aspect is that gifting is gracious or called grace from God. And this is a beautiful truth. Now we touched on it, but what I'm saying here is that every single one of these gifts that we've given have been given to us directly by God's grace. They're manifestations of the grace of God. Now, what is God's grace? Well, we've talked about this before, but I think it's wonderful to talk about it as much as we can. God's grace is more than just God's riches at Christ's expense. G-R-A-C-E. Don't you love those acronyms? God’s riches at Christ's expense, every time you do an acronym, you leave something important out. I've noticed that. Okay, what's missing from that? It's our lack of merit. It's who we really are. That's what's missing from that definition. It is God's riches at Christ expense. It's rich gifts lavished on us. But the thing about grace is kind of, it's not just that, but also who we are as we receive it. That we are sinners, that we are lost. Apart from him, we deserve nothing. But in the face of all that he's given us every spiritual gift in the heavenly realms. Isn't that incredible? And so every one of us that's received these gifts, we have received them by God's grace. It's grace from God that you have the gifts you do and it's not just grace to you, but it's grace to others. Therefore, you can't lobby for a gift. You can't hope to get a better one or something like that. They're given to you by God's grace it. It's not like he looked at you and because you deserve this, you got this gift, but others didn't deserve as much and they got a different gift. We get them simply as a result of God's grace. Look again with me if you would, at Ephesians 3 Ephesians 3:2, 7-8 touches on this. Verse 2, it says, "Surely you have heard of the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you." Do you see that? "The administration of the stewardship of God's grace was given to me for you." That's the first time he says it, "The administration of God's grace that was given to me for you. That is a mystery made known to me by revelation. As I've already written briefly in reading this, then you'll be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ." Skipping down a little bit, it says, "I became a servant of this gospel" What does it say? "By a gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power." So what Paul's saying is that you've heard about my administration of God's grace, okay, because of God's grace, I have this stewardship, this task, this responsibility as apostle to the Gentiles. And then he says later, "I became a servant of this gospel as a gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power. Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me." You see how Paul talked about his lack of merit? "I don't deserve this." he said, "I don't know why he chose me. I mean, based on my own merits, I did not deserve this. Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me, namely to preach to the Gentiles, the unsearchable riches of Christ and to make plain to everyone, the administration of this mystery." So Paul's call was apostle to the Gentiles. His attitude concerning that was that he is a steward of God's grace. His ministry was called grace, and he talks about it a lot. Turn, if you will, to Romans chapter 12, and we're going to talk at a later time about Romans 12. It's a very important passage on spiritual gifts. But I just want to make this point about grace, that Paul considered his ministry to be a gift of God's grace. Romans 12:1-2, you know that, don't you? "Therefore, I urge you in view of God's mercy to present your bodies as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship. Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you'll be able to test and approve a God's will as his good, pleasing and perfect will. For" read verse 3, "For by the grace given me, I say to every one of you, do not think of yourselves more highly than you ought." But he goes on into teaching about spiritual gifts.

Now, what does he mean, “by the grace given to me, I say to every one of you”? He's talking about his spiritual gift package. “This is my stewardship, my job, the thing I get to do in the body. And by that grace, I'm going to tell you some things.” Turn to Romans 15:15. Romans 15:15 picks up on this as well, Paul says there, “I have written to you quite boldly on some points as if to remind you of them again [why?] because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty." Isn't that beautiful? “The priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God.” He sees himself as a priest in a temple doing a work, right? Isn't that the same thing we were talking about earlier? Paul saw his spiritual call as apostle to the Gentiles that he had a priestly duty of ministering to the Gentiles. But look what he says. He says, "I've written you quite boldly on some points as if to remind you of them again because of the grace God gave me to be a minister to you." So he repeatedly talks this way. His role in the body was given to him by grace. It was a gift of God's grace given to him for them. Look at 1 Corinthians 3:10. 1 Corinthians 3:10; there Paul is talking about, that's the famous wood, hay and straw passage, gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay and straw. The thing that's so amazing about that passage, and I just am so excited about this, one of the beauties of the Christian life is that God has given us a work of eternal value.

We are free from working on stuff that will be lost forever on judgment day. Isn't that great? You're not in your Christian life building a sandcastle that the incoming waves of time will sweep out to sea and no trace left. But rather, God has by his grace, given you work to do that's going to last for eternity. Isn't that incredible? The things we do for Christ by the power of the Spirit, they're going to last forever. I'd like to have as many of them as possible. And Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:10, "By the grace given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder. Now someone else's building on it." What is he saying there? Well, we're starting to learn what he's saying there. He's saying, “By the role I have in the body of Christ to be a teacher of the word, a preacher, an apostle to the Gentiles. By that grace I laid a foundation in your minds Corinthians, that foundation is Jesus Christ. I preached the gospel to you. I laid a foundation, but I did it by the grace God gave me to do that job.” And look at finally 1 Corinthians 15:9. 1 Corinthians 15:9, I love this passage, so powerful. 1 Corinthians 15:9 and following says, "For I am the least of the apostles." again, that sense of personal unworthiness. “I don't deserve this. I don't deserve what I have.” "I am the least of the apostles. And I do not even deserve to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God, I am what I am." Boy, it just brings goose bumps. “By the grace of God, I get to be an apostle. I sure don't deserve it. But God chose me and he gave me this role.” “By the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them, yet not I but the grace of God, which was in me." Boy, that's a deep passage. The grace of God gave Paul his ministry, the grace of God empowered and energized Paul in his ministry, and yet the grace of God did not make Paul sit in a rocking chair and let God do his ministry. The grace of God actually energized him in his ministry. He was not in a rocking chair letting the sovereign God do what he would by his grace. He got active, he was energetic, he was involved. He used his gift by the grace of God. "By the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect." Can I stop right for a minute and just out of context tell you, God's grace is never without effect. God's grace always has the effect he intends always. And so he gives us this grace. And so the grace was given to him. There are some other passages, Galatians 2:9, James, Peter, and John. It says, "Those reputed to be pillars gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognize" what? "The grace given to me." In context, what he's talking about that he would be ministered to the Gentiles just like Peter was to the Jews. And then 1 Peter 4:10, "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.” How many times do we need it? We've got about 10 different verses that say that these spiritual gifts should be called grace from God and they are so every one of you has a special gift package and you've received it the same way Paul did. By grace. We don't deserve it and it brings us joy and delight to use it. All of God's grace is a delightful thing, something that produces fruit and good things. It produces hard work and energy. It produces fruit for eternity.

So, so far we have seen two points. Spiritual gifts are universal but not uniform. Everybody has one, but they're not all the same. And number two, they are called grace from God. Aren't they? Gracious or given to us by God's grace. I think that's enough for this evening. Continue to seek and ask. And if you're not really sure what your gifts may be, if you don't know what they are, I would urge you to get active in ministry. Begin to ask God, say, “Lord, I'm not sure what my gifts are,” but I think the best way to determine what your gifts are, I'll use this in this illustration again so that you can understand it, but it's like that airplane that's set up, that balsa wood airplane that's set up to do a loop the loop or a left turn or a right turn, remember those 99 cent airplanes with a clip in the front? I've used this analogy before with the red... Some of them were biplanes and some of them single… Did you ever play with those or was it was just me. All right. Anyway, so you set them up. If you arrange the wings a certain way, they will do this or that or the other. You have been arranged a certain way by God, but you don't know what the plane could do until what? You flew it through the air. Once it gets moving and gets some wind under its wings, then it starts to do what it's programmed or designed to do. You can't determine your spiritual gift by sitting, you know, down on a... I think you're all where you need to be right now, but I mean just by sitting and doing nothing you can't determine. So you have to get up and act and move and do your ministry. And as you do, you're going to see how God's put you together and you're going to feel that wind in your wings. You're going to feel that moving and you're going to say, “Praise God. I have the gift of administration or the gift of generosity,” or something. And it's exciting. Why don't you close with me in prayer?

In this sermon, Pastor Andy Davis surveys Ephesians 1-3 to give context for the study of spiritual gifts.

Tonight we're going to begin a new study. There's a lot more we could have been doing in Proverbs, there's more topics, but I felt led by the Lord at this point to change and to zero in on this topic of spiritual gifts because I think they're so vital. It's so vital for us to understand what these gifts are. We see the doctrine of spiritual gifts laid out in various places in the New Testament, and we're going to be going to each one of them in turn, not all tonight. We're going to begin in Ephesians tonight. You can turn to Ephesians 4, and that's where we're going to focus our attention tonight. But the doctrine of spiritual gifts is also laid out very plainly in Romans 12. We also see it in 1 Corinthians 12-14, in 1 Peter 4, and in James as well.

In various places, we see the doctrine of spiritual gifts and because it's so widespread through the New Testament, we can believe and understand how significant this doctrine is. Not just that, but also because of how it's positioned in these key texts. For example, in the book of Ephesians, after three chapters of doctrine, which I'm going to go through a little bit tonight, we get to the doctrine of spiritual gifts. It's not long after Paul says that we should live up to the calling that we have received as Christians, that we're taught about spiritual gifts. We get the same thing in Romans chapter 12. After 11 chapters, and by the way, when do you think we'll get to it Romans 12 on Sunday morning? Just guess. At our present pace, it could be a while. But at any rate, you'll see that we've got 11 chapters of doctrine in terms of what the gospel is, followed by a tremendous doxology in which the Apostle Paul says, "Oh, the depths of the riches, the wisdom and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable his judgments and his past beyond tracing out. Who has known the mind of the Lord and who has been his counselor?" And he goes on with this incredible doxology of praise to God for all of this doctrine. And then chapter 12, he goes immediately into spiritual gifts. It's a remarkable thing. And so, you can see that this is an important doctrine, not just because it's mentioned in various places or because there's extended treatment, but because of where they are in these key epistles in Ephesians and in Romans. And so, I think it's important for us to understand.

Also, I believe it's important for me as your pastor, to prepare you for judgment day. I desire to prepare you as if you're an unbeliever for judgment day in that you may escape the wrath to come. That you may know salvation through faith in Jesus Christ and not have to bear the wrath that is due to all sin, but would find salvation through faith in Christ. But then, as believers in Jesus Christ, "We still must appear," it says in 1 Corinthians or in 2 Corinthians 5, "before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may give an account for the things done in the body, whether good or bad." And I believe that our spiritual gifts is going to be a big part of that accounting. And so, I can't be there with you at that time. I'm going to be occupied. I'm going to be giving my own account for what I did with my gifts. You'll stand alone to give an account to Jesus for these matters of stewardship. And the spiritual gift that God has given you, what I call, a gift package. It's never just one gift, but an arrangement, I believe, of gifts that he's given to you, he's going to want it back and he's going to want it back with interest. And so, we're going to be talking about that. And so, for me, I'm using my gift tonight in teaching and preparing you, but each one of you has a gift. And I think as we use our gifts, we're going to see incredible things happen in this church. We're already using them. It's not like we've never heard of this topic and that we're starting from zero. You're already, many of you, using your gifts in a marvelous way. But I think it's still good for us to return to the roots, to the scripture, to try to understand what God has given us.

Now, I would like to begin in Ephesians 1 and go quickly through one, two, and three before we get to chapter four, I'd like to do everything in context. Ephesians is a marvelous book and it begins for me tonight, in Ephesians 1:3, where it says, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." Let's stop there. Isn't that incredible? That God has given us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus? He's withheld nothing from us. Now, this makes sense because in Romans 8 he says, "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also along with him, graciously give us all things?" And so, he's lavished on us, it says in Ephesians 1:3, "...every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms." You lack nothing. There's nothing you lack. Everything you need is provided for you. And you have 10,000 other blessings of grace yet to come. For a Christian, always, the best is yet to come. Landis' mother knows what I'm talking about right now. The best is yet to come. You're going to see Jesus face to face, but there's things to be done in the meantime, isn't there? There's work to be done. You're not there yet. Our wise and gracious God has left you here on earth for a purpose and you've got some things to do, and spiritual gifts is a big part of that. But you don't lack anything. You have everything you need. Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms is yours in Christ Jesus.

Now, look down also in verse 13-14. It says, "You also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; having believed you were marked in him with the seal, the promised Holy Spirit who is a deposit, guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession to the praise of his glory." So you have also received this down payment, the Holy Spirit. You have received the indwelling Holy Spirit and he is a deposit guaranteeing you a future inheritance, the full amount. And we have by this Holy Spirit, I believe, this gift package, the spiritual gifts- they're given to us by Jesus Christ, but they're mediated directly to us by the indwelling Holy Spirit, this down payment, this deposit, guaranteeing our inheritance.

Now, if you look at the end of chapter one, we want to try to understand what God's purposes are. He's given us this spiritual gift package or he's gifted the church for a reason. He's trying to accomplish something in this world. And what is he seeking to accomplish? Well, if you look at the beginning of verse 18, it's hard to know where to start with Paul since the entire book of Ephesians is one sentence. Well, actually that's not true, but it seems that way. So, where do you jump in? At what point do you find a place to start? But at verse 18, I'm going to jump in, right in the middle of a thought. It says,

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age, but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

What incredible words these are and it gives you a picture: Jesus Christ is going to fill the whole universe. Jesus Christ is buying back and redeeming to himself, all of the universe. The whole universe is going to be wrapped up and given to God the Father by God the Son, it says in Corinthians. We're going to learn more about that. But the whole thing is a redemptive plan of God. And he is doing all of this work to the praise of his glory. And he likens, the beginning of a thought here, he likens what's going on in you, the work of power inside you, to what he did in his own Son when he raised him from the dead. There's a comparison being worked here in which he says, you should know what kind of power is at work in the church, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead and had him travel up to the highest place to sit at the right hand of God at the highest place of authority, from the lowest place, the grave, all the way up to the highest place that very same power is at work in you. Isn't that incredible? And we talked about that a little this morning in the union of Jesus Christ, you died with Christ and you've also been raised with Christ. And so also, he says in Ephesians 2, as you continue, it says, "You also, were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world." And remember we said this morning, isn't there an infinity of difference between being dead in sin and being dead to sin? I mean, that's just the biggest difference in the world. From negative infinity to positive infinity, from hell to heaven. Dead in sin means chartered for hell, on your way to hell. You're on that wide road that leads to destruction, "dead in sins and transgressions," it says in Ephesians 2. Dead to sin means you're in Christ now. Isn't that beautiful? And so, all the authority and power that sin had over you, it's gone now. It's broken. You're free. And so you've been raised with Christ spiritually. Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms is granted to you. You were dead in your transgressions and sins, but now you're alive. So you should know this kind of power that is at work in you. And as he continues, he talks about it in verse 6. He says, "God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus in order that in the coming ages, he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus." What are we going to be talking about in heaven? Is it not grace? Is it not the grace of God given to us freely in Jesus Christ? Is there any other theme or topic in heaven than that? The grace of God, what God did to us and through us by grace?

Now that is the theme of heaven, isn't it? And so, in the coming ages, He's going to demonstrate, he's going to show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. "For it is by grace you have been saved through faith and this, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works." “Not by works, so that no one can boast.” We talked about that this morning, but you've got to keep reading, "Not by works, but for works." There's a big difference there too, isn't there? You have to be careful about these little words. We're not saved by works, but we're saved for good works. Look at verse 10. It says, "For we are God's workmanship." just stop right there. You're God's masterpiece. God is working in you, amazing things. Raising you up from dead in transgressions and sins and now he's working in you, he's working on you; he's working through you. And not just you, but all of your brothers and sisters in Christ around the world. He's working marvelous things in us, isn't he? We are his masterpiece; we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them.

And so, what does that mean? He has charted out a course for each one of you, a course of good works. I've talked about this many times before, but I guess I'm going to keep talking about it as long as I read it in the Bible. Ephesians 2:10 says that God has laid out a track of good works for you to do, that you should walk in those good works. He's apportioned, I believe, just as he said, "Sufficient unto the day is the evil therein. Each day has enough trouble of its own." So also, I believe, on the other side, each day has enough good works of its own, right? He's not given it to you to save the whole world in one day. That's beyond you anyway. He's given a field for you to work. And so, within that, there are some good works he's wisely laid out for you to walk in them. And each day has, I believe, an apportionment of good works. And I've often challenged people to think about what's your batting average? How many of those good works that God has laid out ahead of you, have you walked in today? How many did you do or how many did you miss because of selfishness or sin? I don't want to miss any of them. I want to feel when I lay down my head at night, that I walked in all the good works God had for me to do today. All of them.

But this is what I'm saying. I believe that so many of the good works that he's laid out for us to do are laid out along the tracks of our spiritual gifts. In other words, he has arranged us in a certain way to do a certain kind of ministry, primarily. I think, the other ministries we're going to be doing, we're going to be involved in relief for the poor, we're all of us, going to be involved in prayer and evangelism, Bible intake in some way. We're all going to be involved in certain things collectively, isn't that true? But we've also got these spiritual gifts and God has in a very wise way, ordained, laid out before you, a track of gifted ministry that he wants you to do. And as you do that ministry, the body of Christ is going to grow. I'm getting ahead of myself, but that's what's going to happen. He's got these good works laid out for you to do.

Now, what is his purpose? What is he seeking to accomplish? Well, he goes on from there to talk to the Gentiles. He says, "Remember, you were Gentiles by birth and called uncircumcised. At one time, you were aliens and strangers to the household of God. You weren't welcome here." You weren't part of us, speaking as a Jew. He said, "But now in Christ Jesus," 2:13, "you who were once far away, have been brought near through the blood of Christ." And now I’m down in verse 19, he says, "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people," excuse me, "and members of God's household built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets." Oh, what kind of truth there is there. Built on the foundation. What is the apostles and prophets? Is it not this book? I believe it is. Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, the scriptures, the truth that God has revealed to the world through the apostles and the prophets. The church is built on those revealed truths, isn't it? Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. And then it says this, look at 2:21, I'm sorry, "In him, the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." This is one of the two great metaphors of the two great images of the work of God on earth that he gives us in Ephesians. One of them is this rising cathedral, this rising building, this temple that is being built up, living stone by living stone it says in 1 Peter 2. Each of you are like living stones and you're set into the walls. And as he builds this structure, little by little, he's got a blueprint, doesn't he? He's got a plan. He knows what it's going to look like. And it's not until every single living stone is set in place that he'll say, "It's finished. My masterpiece is done. The temple is built." We are going to be indwelt perfectly by the Spirit. But that's what he's doing in this world, isn't he? He's building His church. Remember what Jesus said to Peter? He said, "On this rock, I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prove stronger than it.” “I'm going to build my church." And so, Paul talks about that here. It's built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. And verse 21, it says, "In him, the whole building has joined together and rises." It's in the presence of rising. It's not done yet, is it? Is this spiritual temple completed? No, it isn't. How do you know the spiritual temple's not completed? How can you tell? Because we're still here. That's right. You woke up this morning, you weren't in heaven yet. And so, there's still work to be done. And it's work on that temple, isn't it? It's temple work. We're going to be building that temple. We're going to be seeing new living stones set in place and we're going to be offering up sacrifices of praise to God, spiritual sacrifices, spiritual offerings to God. We're going to offer to him. And I think again, so much of that offering that you're going to do, you're going to do along the tracks of your spiritual gifts. You're going to use your gifts to offer up to God every day, a sacrifice of labor and praise, and it's going to be for a purpose. Isn't that beautiful that God has given you an eternal purpose? He didn't just save you and say, "Now, just sit over there and stay out of my way. You're going to cause me nothing but trouble. You're going to get in my way. Just wait and I'm going to go do it myself." No, he said, "I'm going to do it through you. I'm going to do it in you and through you. I'm going to use you. You're strategic, you are important in my plan and I'm going to use you." How inefficient of God. Think about it. The church has been rising for 2000 years. How efficient are we at using our gifts? How efficient are we at doing those good works that God has ordained, that we should walk in them? But God seems to be willing to put up with that inefficiency that he may accomplish his ends, his wise ends. But look, that spiritual temple, look at the verb tense, it rises. It's rising now. It's going on now all over the world. Can you see that structure? Only by eyes of faith? But it's rising here, isn't it? Do you feel it? Do you feel the spirit moving here? Do you feel living stones getting set in place? Do you feel people using their gifts? I feel it. I'm encouraged by that and I'm glad to be part of it. But you know, we're going to be part of it no matter where we are geographically located because that's what God is doing in the world. He's building up this temple.

Now, one last thing that I want to say before we get to chapter four and that's in chapter three Paul talks about his ministry and his own personal gift. In 3:1, he says, "For this reason, I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus..." By the way, when he begins, "For this reason," you should always look back, for what reason? Well, for the reason of this rising, invisible spiritual temple. For that reason. "I do everything for that," he says. For that rising spiritual temple, for that reason, “I Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, for the sake of you Gentiles-" and then typical of Paul, he interrupts himself, big parenthesis here, right in the middle of a thought. He says, "Surely [by the way] you've heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me." Just stop there. That is a spiritual gift. Read it again. Look at it. “I have been apportioned out and there's been an administration of God's grace measured out to me. I'm the apostle to the Gentiles. I've been given a job to do and I'm going to carry that ministry until I die. That's the ministry. Have you heard about it? Surely you've heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you.” That is a spiritual gift.

And Paul had a very defined clear sense of what God had given him. He knew what his field was. He knew what his call was. He knew where he was to be working and how he was to be working. I believe that that's possible for each one of you as well. Each one of you should have a clear sense of calling, a sense of the field that you are to work, a sense of how you are to work it. “Surely, you've heard about the administration of God's grace that was given to me for you?” That's how it works. Now, we receive benefit from using your spiritual... We receive the joy, but really it's for others, isn't it? We're using our spiritual gift that others may grow, that the temple may rise. But he's speaking about a spiritual gift.

Now look down, he says in verse 7, "I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power." What is Paul talking about there? Spiritual gift. He said, "I've been given this gift, this gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power." Ephesians 3:7, "Although I am less than least of all God's people, this grace was given to me." We're going to talk more about this word, grace; “charis” is what it is in the Greek. “This grace was given me to preach to the Gentiles, the unsearchable riches of Christ and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God who created all things.” Paul says, "I was given a preaching ministry and my job is to make plain to everyone, the administration of a mystery that was hidden for generations." Do you think that sounds like milk? "I'm into the meat," says Paul, "I'm going to make it plain to you." I'm going to unfold the deep mysteries to you. And there's a lot of deep mysteries in Paul's writings, aren't there? But he says, "I'm going to make it plain to everyone. The administration of God's grace that was given to me for you is hidden." Now look at verse 10. This is so powerful. “His intent [God's intent] was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose, which he accomplished in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” Stop there. What is he saying? This word, manifold, “poikilos” in the Greek, is a very interesting word. It's the incredibly, richly varied aspects of God's wisdom seen in the church. There's a sense of variety in this word. Now, I don't know what a manifold is. I think it's something where a lot of things come in and go out, like that kind of thing. We use that word in English. There's a sense of variety mixing together, I guess. I don't know how to get the Greek word across except that there's a sense of an amazingly varied wisdom in the way the church is set up. The church is complex. The church is remarkable. The church is amazing. And in effect, God is saying, "I want all of the rulers in the heavenly realms to see what I've done in the church. I want to put you on display." That's what he's doing. He said, "I'm here to preach. I'm using my spiritual gifts so that you will know who you are so that the wisdom of God in all of the apportionment of the church may be made plain to everyone." And it's an incredible wisdom, a varied wisdom. And then at the end of chapter 3, he talks about his eternal purpose again. “Now to him, who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power, that is at work within us,” And by the way, do you see what a big theme that is? He wants you to know how much power there is in you, how much power there is in the church. It's an eternal power, a power to transform this world. It's an incredible thing. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in the church and it's at work in the church in a varied, wise way. An incredible way that you may know what kind of power's at work in you. "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to his power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church." just stop right there. He wants to demonstrate his glory in us. He wants to put us on display so that he's really putting himself on display. Isn't that the way it is? He wants to show what he's done in the church. He's going to display this. "To him, be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout..." What does it say? "all generations." That includes you, doesn't it? We're a generation, aren't we? We're included in that. And he wants to display his glory in the church in this generation, and he's going to do that through the spiritual gifts.

So now we're ready. We're in Ephesians 4. That's all introduction. We've used up two thirds of our time on introduction, but I'm not in any major hurry. I want you to understand this doctrine, understand the roots of it, that you can see, it's not just, "oh, I think I'll... What should we do with them while they're kind of being saved? Why don't we do the spiritual?" It's not like that. He's got this whole thing worked out. The salvation plan of the world includes your labor, it includes your gifts. He's got it all worked out. And so he says in 4:1, "As a prisoner for the Lord, then," what does the word "then" mean or "therefore" mean? It means you should do what? Look up, look backward. “Well, based on all of what I've been saying as a prisoner for the Lord, based on all of that,” “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” What calling have you received? Well, to be a Christian, yes. To be holy, to be like Jesus. But I think it goes deeper than that. To walk in the good works that God has ordained, that you should walk in them. That calling. And to walk in the way that he has apportioned, according to his wise ways, according to the manifold wisdom of God that you walk in a manner worthy of the calling you've received. And then he tells you character-wise, what that's going to be like. "Be completely humble and gentle. Be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called, the one hope when you were called. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." Now, recently in the teacher training, many of you have been there and you've heard this. What is the big theme of these verses here, verse 1-6 of chapter 4? If you could sum it into one word, what one word would you choose? One. Thank you. Oneness, unity, that we are one.

There aren't many different spiritual temples rising in the Lord, are there? How many are there? There's one spiritual temple. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one temple. One spiritual temple that's rising and you are all one. Okay? “One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all." And verse 7, there's that key word. What's the beginning? “But-“ what does that tell you? It tells you we're going in a different direction, right? We were heading in one way, now we're going in a different direction. We were talking about unity, now we're talking about diversity within the unity. “But to each one, grace has been given, as Christ apportioned it.” Or, it says in the Greek, “according to the measure of Christ.” Isn't that beautiful? To each one of whom? Well, to each Christian, to each individual Christian. Jesus Christ has measured out grace to you. To each one of you, he has measured out a certain amount of grace. Now, is he talking here about the grace which saves you? No, that's not according to measure, is it? We already talked about that in Romans five. There is no measure to that grace. Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more, right? Well, this is a different kind of measured grace handed to you. This, I believe, is your spiritual gift package. This is what I think he's talking about here. To each one. Now who receives it? Well, justified believers, right? Anybody who's justified by faith in Christ, you receive this gift of grace measured to you, according to the measurement of Christ. And by the way, just stop there. Doesn't that just blow you away? That Jesus Christ, the ruler of the universe, thought about you individually and measured out a package and handed it to you? Isn't that something? I mean, individually, handed each one of you a grace package? And how precious is that? And what's it going to be like when he wants it back and asks for the interest? What's it going to be like when you ask for the package back and say, "Well, tell me what did you do with it? How did you use it? I want to hear all about it. I want to hear all the stories. Tell me." "Well, I gave my tithe, and my pastor used his gifts." No, that's not going to work. You've got your gift package. He's going to want it back and he's going to want the stories. He's going to want the interest. He's going to want what you did with it because He's measured it out to you. It's yours to use here in this world. "But to each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: ‘When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men.’ (What does, "he ascended," mean except that he also descended to the lower earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe.) He puts that in there that you may know the greatness and the majesty and the power of the gift giver. He's an incredibly great gift giver. It's God who has filled the whole universe. It's Jesus Christ who has been raised higher than the highest heavens. He's the one who's measured out this gift. And therefore it says in verse 11, "It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers." All right, well, those are all kind of gifted ministries. I think they're of a certain type, and I'll talk about that, probably, next time, God willing. But he's given these specific gifts in these verses, verse 11. And for what purpose? It says in verse 12, "To prepare God's people for works of service." What does that remind you of? Well, it should remind you of Ephesians 2:10, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, works of service." So in other words, the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers are given to the body to prepare each of you for works of service. And what will come out of those works of service? We'll keep reading, "In order that or for the purpose of the building up of the body of Christ." Now we have the second great image of what God is doing in the world. It's not a different image. It's not like he's doing the spiritual temple over here and he's doing the body of Christ over here. It's the same thing. It's an assembly he's bringing together. But now he shifts the metaphor a little, and he's talking about the body. And this is the same analogy he's going to use in 1 Corinthians 12-14. The body analogy. So we have one body with different members, different parts you see, but he's building the body. It's not different than the spiritual temple. It's the same thing. It's a rising, growing project that God is working on in a unity.

So he says, "It was he gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." Stop there. So the reason that the gifts are given, is so that, at least those five gift packages, so that the body may know what their gifts are so that they can do good works and what is the result of their good works? The building up of the whole body of Christ. All right. So, the teachers of the word prime the pump, we get the thing going, and then the body of Christ uses their spiritual gifts. And as the body, each part does its work, the whole thing grows up into perfection and maturity. Do you see how it works? “Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature.”

And so, what is God about? Well, he's about growth. He wants church growth. He really does. Now, I'm not talking about the church growth movement, I'm talking about growth. I'm talking about growth in numbers through evangelism, and I'm talking about growth in maturity through discipleship. I'm talking about these two working together and spiritual gifts are given to accomplish both forms of growth. And both forms of growth are intrinsically related to one another. And so, in this way, the body grows to maturity. The temple rises until it meets its full completion in the Lord. I'm going to finish tonight by just reading the rest of this little section, and God willing, next time we'll continue looking at it. Verse 14, it says,

Then we will no longer be infants tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men and their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the head, that is Christ. From him, the whole body joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work.

Do you see how vital these spiritual gifts are? Every single part has to do its work or we will not reach maturity in Christ. We need all of you. We need everybody doing what they do, everybody doing the gift that they've been given. And in this way, the final end is maturity in Christ.

Now, my prayer, as we end, I'm going to be praying in a minute, is that each of you would begin saying, if you don't know what your gifts are saying, "Lord, what are they? What are my gifts?" If you do know what your gifts are, that you would use them all the more for the building of the body of Christ. We're going to be talking, I think as the weeks go on, God willing, we're going to be talking about practical ways that you can determine what your gifts are. But if you're not sure yet, if you don't know what your gifts may be, that you would begin at least asking the giver, "Tell me what you gave me. Tell me what it is and how I can find out that I may bring you glory by using them for the building of the body of Christ." Won't you join with me in prayer?

Andy highlights the gospel as seen in the book of Proverbs from calling out to the sinner, to locating Christ, to the need for evangelism. 

… Some of them are green, and some of them are white. The ones with the green ones don’t mean that we love you more or less; there's no difference. It's just that that's where we're at in the paper thing, so... Did you all get one? What it is, our topic tonight is the Gospel in the book of Proverbs. Now, there are many, many other topics we could have finished up with in the book of Proverbs. We're not finished with Proverbs, but I've kind of laid out a methodology for you. You ought to think of a topic and then just read the whole book of Proverbs. I've done it now six or seven times in preparing these messages. It doesn't take that long to read through Proverbs, especially if you're kind of skimming, looking for keywords.

For example, one of the themes I wanted to cover is just the issue of rich and poor - how we should deal with issues of social justice, issues of the poor. That's a big theme in the book of Proverbs. Just go through and find out everything the book of Proverbs has to say about poor people and about how the Lord deals with them, et cetera. That's a big theme. There are others as well. Now, we've talked about relationships. We've talked about words; we've talked about money. So, you can go through the book of Proverbs and find all kinds of things. But I wanted to finish up with just what the book of Proverbs has to say about the Gospel, and what we can find in there.

Now, what I've done is I've organized it into major headings - one, two, three, four, five of them. The first is just in the book of Proverbs. There's a sense of God calling out to the sinner, and we're going to talk about that. It's just God calling, beckoning to sinful humanity, reaching His hands out. We'll talk about that. And then we're going to go through various aspects that I kind of coupled together under the issue of the essence of the Gospel message. These are various things that we could actually put in a Gospel presentation - Proverbs that you could use as you're witnessing with somebody on various headings.

And then brief, very briefly, the issue of sanctification. And really, I just touched on it because I really think that the book of Proverbs - the whole book, all the wisdom that's found - that's what God brings you back to once you start walking in the way of righteousness. So really, the whole book is about sanctification, I think but there's a couple that I found that were really important. Then there's the topic of where is Christ in the book of Proverbs? Can you find Christ in the book of Proverbs? Can you find, for example, substitutionary atonement, which is the center? Can you find the cross in the book of Proverbs? We're going to talk about that. And then finally, our responsibility as evangelists. What does the book of Proverbs have to say about that? Okay? So, let's start with the first one, and that is God calling out to the sinner.

You know, it says in Isaiah 65:2, it says, "All day long, I've held up my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations, a people who continually provoke me to my very face." Boy, that's powerful, isn't it? He's talking about the Jews there. Prophet Isaiah is talking about the Jews, and he's saying, “I'm holding out my hands to you all day long. I'm reaching out to you and you're walking in ways of rebellion against me.” Well, we see that also in the book of Proverbs. The first that we see is this call of wisdom, in Chapter 1, Verse 20-22. Turn there, if you would and look. There's a sense of wisdom calling out.

We get it in three places. We get it in chapter 1, we get it in chapter 8, and we get it in chapter 9. In all three places, we have a sense of wisdom walking through the streets of the city or sitting on the gates of the city, calling down to simple people saying, "How long will you love your simple or foolish ways? When will you turn?" And so, there's a sense of God reaching out to the city, reaching out to the people. Look at Chapter 1:20-22, it says, "Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares. At the head of the noisy street she cries out, in the gateways of the city, she makes her speech. How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you." And it goes on from there.

So, here's Wisdom kind of walking through the streets. Wisdom is God personified, I think, in this case. It's God reaching out; it's God's wisdom, His ways, His word reaching out to people. And it's down in the streets, very earthy. It's involved in everyday life. At every moment, there's God's way, and then there's the way of sin. There's the way of righteousness and the way of unrighteousness; the way of wisdom, the way of folly, and we're seeing that all the time. And all you need to do is pick up the newspaper, and you can see how people are following the ways of folly, the ways of wickedness. And yet Wisdom's out there, beckoning. Wisdom is out there calling.

And, you know, it's so important for us to listen to that call, isn't it? For us to listen to the call of God, not just let events wash over us. To think, what is the significance of what it is that we're seeing and that we're hearing? What is the message? If we see that the crime rate has increased or that this or that event happened, or just to trace out back to the roots what those issues are, that we can learn and not continue in simple ways. But, I think, at the root of it, what I'm getting here in the book of Proverbs is God holding out His hands to a rebellious and obstinate people, just like in Isaiah 65.

Look at chapter 8, verse 1-13. Chapter 8. And it says, "Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice on the heights along the way where paths meet she takes her stand. Beside the gates leading into the city at the entrances she cries aloud. To you, o men, I call out. I raise my voice to all mankind. You who are simple, gain prudence. You who are foolish, gain understanding. Listen, for I have worthy things to say. I open my lips to speak what is right. My mouth speaks for what is true. My lips detest wickedness, all the words of my mouth are just, none of them is crooked or perverse. To the discerning, all of them are right. They are faultless to those who have knowledge. Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is more precious than rubies. And nothing you desire can compare with her. I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence. I possess knowledge and discretion. To fear the Lord is to hate evil. I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech."

And so, here is Wisdom calling out in the streets. And so, we also have is... We're going to discuss more in a few moments, the idea that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and to fear the Lord is to hate evil. So, you're going to be forced to make a choice. You're going to be forced to turn to the ways of righteousness and away from wickedness. You can't have both. You can't serve both masters, and so Wisdom is calling out. Again, I don't think it's a stretch to see that this is God calling out. This is God reaching out through His word.

One thing that I find is interesting is to call. It's very, very interesting to me. We get most of our information through what sense? What sense, of your five senses, what gives you the most information every day? Your eyesight. Think of it this way. If you are forced to part with one of your senses, don't you think eyesight would be the last one you parted with, I think? But yet, how often in Scripture is it the ears, the hearing that God appeals to? Isn't that interesting? How often it's hearing the word that transforms the life. I think that's very interesting. Faith comes from hearing, not from seeing. And so frequently, those two are actually contrasted. We walk by faith, not by what? Sight. And so, there's a contrast. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things of what? Not seen. But yet heard about. Isn't that true? We're hearing about things that we've never seen. Like Jesus, for example. Though you have not seen him, you believe in Him, right?

You've never seen Jesus, but you've heard about Him. You've heard people speaking about Him. And so, God is appealing, it seems, primarily through the hearing. And Wisdom is calling out, beckoning so that we would listen. And so, she says - Wisdom says - "Listen, for I have worthy things to say. I have things to say that are worth listening to.”

And we get the third one in chapter 9. Turn, if you will. Chapter 9, verse 1-10. It says, "Wisdom has built her house. She's hewn out her seven pillars. She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine. She's also set her table. She has sent out her maids and she calls from the highest point of the city. Let all who are simple come in here, she says, to those who lack judgment. Come eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and you will live. Walk in the way of understanding. Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult. Whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse. Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you. Rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Instruct a wise man, and he will be wiser still. Teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

So again, this time, the image is of Wisdom spreading out a banquet. It's the best of meats and the finest of wines, it says in Isaiah. The same idea here in the book of Proverbs - a sense that wisdom wants to spread a banquet for you, if you'd only eat. The things of the Lord are good; the ways of the Lord are good. And the ways of folly, of foolishness, lead to an empty table, to death and starvation and barrenness. It's the very same thing we've been seeing in Romans. You've got Adam, and you've got Christ. You've got the desert; you've got death. You've got sin and condemnation. And then you've got eternal life; you've got a banquet. You’ve got the wedding feast of the Lamb; you've got all the beauty of Jesus Christ. And that's the contrast here.

Okay, so the first major theme is the idea of God calling out to the sinner. Do you see it? God reaching out to the rebel, reaching out to the unrighteous and calling them into a way of wisdom.

Now, let's look at the essence of the Gospel message, according to the book of Proverbs and see. The first is the idea that Judgment Day is coming. There's a judgment day coming. Look at 10:25, if you would. 10:25, it says, "When the storm is swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever." Now, what is this referring to? Well, you could allegorize it and say, “This is talking about the storms of life.” And that's not far amiss in wisdom literature. There are storms in life. But it's not the storm, is it?

Do you remember at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus spoke and He said, "Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rains came down, the streams rose and the winds blew and beat against that house. Yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice, is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rains came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash" (Matthew 7:24-29). I think that's the same message we're getting here in 10:25. Do you see it? When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever.

There is a storm coming, and it's called Judgment Day. And the storm is going to test everything that you've built. It's going to test you to your core. And there's only one way to survive, and we'll get to that, but the storm is coming. Judgment Day is coming. And I think the key word here that helps me to understand this is this idea “forever.” The righteous stand firm forever. How do you know you'll stand firm forever except by the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Is there any other way for you to stand forever? Isn't death itself a kind of storm that's coming? And there's no way to protect yourself, is there? There's no refuge except the Gospel. And so, the judgment is coming, and the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever.

Look at 11:4. We looked at this when we talked about money, but now we'll look at it in a slightly different light. 11:4, "Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death." That's powerful, isn't it? Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. What is the day of wrath? Isn't Judgment Day? Isn't there going to be, according to Romans chapter 2, a day of God's righteous indignation when He will pour out on all sinners those things that they have stored up? He said, "Because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you're storing up wrath against yourself. For the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed, God will give to each person according to what he has done." So, there is a judgment day coming, and your wealth will avail nothing on that day. Remember what Jesus said, "What would it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?" (Mark 8:36). Or what would a man give in exchange for his soul? You can't exchange material possessions for your soul, but you would try. If you could do it, you would give it all, wouldn't you, on Judgment Day, that your soul may be preserved? But He's already warning us, here in 11:4, wealth will do nothing for you on the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.

Now, somebody tell me what righteousness that is? Is it your righteousness? Well, we know from another book that your righteousness is like filthy rags. And the one thing about the book of Proverbs is that it's not a strong theme, that this is an imputed righteousness from Jesus Christ. The idea of the righteous and the wicked is big in Proverbs, but it's not until you get to other books, you find out how you genuinely become righteous, righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Now, look at 16:4. We talked about this one when we covered the sovereignty of God. It says, "The Lord works out everything for His own ends, even the wicked for a day of disaster." Again, I believe this is referring to Judgment Day, not just a temporal disaster in this earth, but a final judgment in which the wicked will receive his just deserves, those things that we have done, which are not according to His ways. 

Now, the next major theme is, you are on the way of destruction, or you may be on the way of destruction, despite what you may think. Despite what you may think. Is this something that we should say when preaching the Gospel? Oh, absolutely. We're supposed to warn people, aren't we? We're supposed to tell them to flee the wrath to come. Remember it said in Acts chapter 2, the Apostle Peter, “With many words he warned them and he pleaded with them, save yourselves from the coming wrath.” So, there is a coming wrath. And when you're dealing with an unbeliever, it's your job to leave them, either in Christ - not that that's your responsibility - but that they are left in Christ or left unsettled with their sin. That there's something amiss, something distressing, something that they should be concerned about, not that it's okay where they're at. Jesus said that there are two roads, aren't there? There's a wide road that leads to what? What does a wide road lead to? Destruction. And then there's that narrow road that leads to life and only a few find it.

So, if only a few find it, the odds are that the person you're talking to does not know the Lord, has not ever come into the way of righteousness. Look at 12:15. Proverbs 12:15. It says, "The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice." The first wisdom that God gives the soul is the wisdom to listen to some good advice called the Gospel. Isn't that the first glimmer of wisdom that that fool ever had? And we're all fools. None of us are different. We're all born in Adam, and we're all born foolish. The first wisdom is listening to the Gospel. That's the first wisdom that ever comes. And it is a form of advice; it's so much more. Repent and turn... Why will you die? That's a form of advice.

But the thing is, up to that point, the way seemed pretty good, didn't it? The way that you are on, what's wrong with how I'm living? Have you ever tried to share the Gospel with somebody who's very satisfied with how they're living their life? And it's one of your jobs - uncomfortable job - to disabuse them of that notion. It's not okay. It's not okay how you're going. It's not okay to not cling to the cross of Jesus Christ. It's not okay to speak of imputed righteousness and that your righteousness is as of nothing. That's not okay. And if I hear you start telling me about how your good works are going to outweigh your bad, or on Judgment Day, that basically God grades on the curve, it's my job to leave you uncomfortable with that, that you may know that that will never cut it on Judgment Day.

Look at 14:12, 14:12. 14:12 says, "There is a way that seems right to a man. But in the end, it leads to death." Physical death, yes, but how much worse? Eternal death. Now, what is the way that seems right to a man when it comes to eternal death? Isn't it works righteousness? Isn't that the basic way that seems right to a person? To basically do your best, to be a good person, to try and fulfill the law? That religion that we put together this morning, remember? Where you acknowledge that you do some wrong things and that you try to do better in the future? That's a comfortable religion, but it's not Christianity.

There is a way that seems right. And that is: be a good person, try to help with civic things, get involved in clubs and other things, try to help and do good things, be a chairman of this or that committee at church. “Boy, all the hours I put in you wouldn't believe. And all the things I had to put up with, you wouldn't believe. I must have earned at least some time out of purgatory.” And no one would ever speak that way. We, Baptists know better than that, but there's still that way of thinking. It's a works-righteousness thinking, isn't it? “If I can just crank out enough time, if I can just come and endure that boring preacher week after week… When will you ever tell some stories?” Hey, I love stories, I really do. I love to tell stories. There's a time for it, though, and the pulpit is not it, brothers and sisters. Okay? There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of it is death. 

Alright, so we've got judgment day is coming. You're on the way of destruction, despite what you may think. Well, guess what? Next part, you better take refuge. You better take refuge. Look at 27:12. "The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it." Isn't that powerful?

See, the Gospel comes, and it tells you of things that aren't here yet. Right? Good and bad. It tells you of a heaven that's not here yet. What some people dismiss as pie in the sky, by and by. It's not here yet. We can't enjoy it now; it's just future. It's deferred. But it also speaks of a judgment that's coming; it's not here yet. But it says in 1 Thessalonians, 1:10, "Because of thee," it says, "the wrath of God is coming." Jesus Christ rescues us from the coming wrath. Colossians says, "Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming” (Colossians 3:6). There's a coming wrath.

Well, the first step of prudence is to believe that that's true. Remember in Pilgrim's Progress - what is it that made Christian run out of the City of Destruction? He was afraid to live there anymore. He didn't want judgment coming down on him. And so, he wanted to take refuge; he just didn't know where that was. And it took Evangelist telling him, and he began the journey, but he wanted to take refuge. He must take refuge.

The next one - the fear of the Lord is the beginning of that journey toward refuge, isn't it? It's the beginning of the journey, the fear of the Lord. 1:7, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." And 8:13, it says, "To fear the Lord is to hate evil." Isn't that strong? Just meditate on that for a minute. To fear the Lord is to hate evil. Now, I've been teaching before... Spiritual maturity is a matter of knowledge, faith, character, actions. Character, I believe... I got this from Jonathan Edwards. I think it's true. Character has to do with what you love and what you hate. What kinds of things do you love? What are you attracted to? What do you yearn for? What is beautiful to you? What do you want in your character? What do you want in your soul? What is your hunger and your thirst, right? And then conversely, what repulses you? What repels you? What do you despise? What causes you to push away? I think that is who you are - love and hate.

Well, we think of Christians it's only a matter of love. It is not only a matter of love. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. And so, you know you feel the Lord when you start to hate evil. And there's all kinds of evil around. The book of Proverbs opens up so much of it to us. And then the fear of the Lord then is to hate evil. And then 9:10 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." That is powerful. That is powerful. I have to tell you, I just saw something I hadn't seen before as I was putting this together, what is eternal life? What is eternal life?

Now, this is eternal life, that they may what? Know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. So here it is in 9:10. Eternal life, although it isn't called that, but that's what it is. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One. Didn't A.W. Tozer write a book The Knowledge of the Holy? Maybe he got it right out of here - knowledge of the holy. Knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. It's also eternal life, isn't it? Okay, fear of the Lord is the beginning of that journey.

Now, the next issue with Judgment Day is that God sees everything. God sees everything. He sees it all. Now, in the middle of Chapter 5, there's numerous warnings in the book of Proverbs against adultery, aren't there? That could have been one of the major themes that we took up on an evening like this - sexual purity. Well, look at 5:21 and 22. In the middle of the warnings, 5:21-22 says, "For a man's ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all his paths. The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him, the cords of his sin hold him fast." So, God is staring at your way. He's watching your life, carefully.

Remember, with the Lord, a day is like a thousand years. Wow. He is really zeroed in on you. Remember Job called Him a watcher of men. He said, "Turn your gaze away from me, you watcher of men” (Job 7:20). “You're staring at me too closely.” He's watching us, carefully. Every moment. Can we survive a judgment like that? I think... Remember that popular song, was it Bette Midler? “God is watching us, God is watching us from a distance?” Uh-uh. He knows the wicked from afar, but He is intimately aware of every little look of the eye, every inclination of the heart. He's on it. And it says in Hebrews 4, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything's uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account." So, the book of Proverbs tells us that about judgment day.

And the next aspect of Judgment Day is that God tests the heart. He's looking at the motives. Motives are crucial. Look at 16:2. "All of man's ways seem innocent to him but motives are weighed by the Lord." So, we always think well of ourselves, don't we? Did you ever notice that about yourself? “My motives are good; my intentions were pure.” Really? But God is looking minutely at the inclinations of the heart. And I don't really even think we know ourselves on these matters, do we? I don't even think we really know why we do what we do. But all a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the heart. 17:3, "The crucible for silver and furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart." He's looking at the heart, isn't He? He's zeroed in the heart. Now, what is the heart? We've talked about this before.

It's the part of you that thinks, the part of you that feels, the part of you that decides and chooses. It's the part of you that has passions and inclinations. It's the part of you that loves and hates. It's that internal invisible part of you, and God is weighing it all and testing at all, looking at it carefully. 20:27. 20:27 says, "The lamp of the Lord searches the spirit of a man. It searches out his inmost being." I believe that God actually leads us into circumstances so that the thoughts of the heart are revealed. I really feel that way. I feel that we're kind of navigated into a situation where what we really are, who we really are, just comes out - especially for Christians because then we can see ourselves and we know ourselves. A non-Christian really isn't being self-reflective, but God is probing the heart. And then 21:2 similarly, it says, "All a man's ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart."

Why is it true? Why do you think it's true that we naturally think so well and highly of ourselves? I'm talking about unbelievers, even. Why is that? What do you think? Yeah, we can always compare ourselves to someone else, and it's not hard to find somebody who's not doing that well. I actually think it's one of the reasons we have such a morbid interest in negative news. I think it's a way of justifying yourself. It's a way of saying, "Well, I'm not that bad. I would never have done that." You know what I'm talking about? "I would never have done something like that." And so, you feel good about yourself. And we don't see the sin within until we start staring into the law of God. I think the law is what shows it to us. That's the purpose of it, so we understand the sin in our heart. 

Okay. Next part, sacrificing. Good works mean nothing. 21:3, very next verse, right there. "To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice." Well, you say, "How does this fit under the heading? It seems like God here in 21:3 is urging us to do what is right and just." Well, we also know from other places that we can't obey the law. But what this is removing from us is the idea that I can always sacrifice to God. I can always tell God I'm sorry for the bad things that I've done. And He says, “I would rather you hadn't done the bad things.” That's what He's getting at here. “It's better that you hadn't disobeyed than that you pull out a sacrifice and try to cover it up at that point.”

And then 21:27, "The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable. How much more so when brought with evil intent?" So, you try to do good works, even religious works. And what does God think about them according to 21:27? “Detestable,” He says. “I hate them. I don't want your good works. You try to bring me good works on Judgement Day; I'll throw them out with a vengeance. Don't bring me good works. Bring your broken and contrite heart while there's still time. That's what I want. I don't want your good works; I want repentance and faith.” And so 21:27 removes the idea of good works or sacrifice being able to atone for sin.

Alright, perfect righteousness alone saves. We've already looked at... Well, 10:2, if you look back, it says, "Ill-gotten treasures are of no value, but righteousness delivers from death." Is that true? Does righteousness deliver, not just from death in this life, but from eternal death? Is righteousness going to get you through Judgment Day? Well, you've been listening to Romans. What's the answer? Yes. Yes, righteousness enables you to survive Judgment Day. But you don't have any. Where are you going to get it? Through Christ alone - all that righteous life, 33 years of perfect righteousness credited to you. Isn't that amazing? All of that given to you. It's all yours. It's been put into your number to count, and God will open it up on Judgment Day, and there it is. Isn't that something? Righteousness delivers from death.

11:4, we've already looked at, "Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death." And then 11:19 - look at 11:19. "The truly righteous man attains life, but he who pursues evil goes to his death." Truly righteous. And what does it say in 11:19? What happens to the truly righteous man? He attains life. He gets something he didn't have. We're talking about eternal life here. Truly righteous. So, it's hinting. You see, it's hinting at the Gospel; it's not there openly, but the idea that righteousness alone delivers from death, a perfect righteousness. And then 12:28, it says, "In the way of righteousness, there is life. Along that path is…” What? “Immortality." Isn’t that interesting? Little glimmers of the Gospel here. Along that path is immortality.

Okay, next part. Humility prepares the heart for salvation. We already learned that God opposes the proud. He detests the arrogance of the wicked, the pride. Alright, that has got to be removed. 15:33 says, "The fear of the Lord teaches a man wisdom and humility comes before honor." Humility comes before heaven. Humility comes before eternal life. Jesus said, "Enter through the... " What kind of gate? The narrow gate. It's a humbling gate, isn't it? When you come in there, you come in stripped. You've got nothing. You're a spiritual beggar. You have literally nothing of your own, and you're basically throwing yourself on the mercy of God, and you're begging Him for forgiveness through Christ. That's humility, isn't it? That's ultimate humility. 16:5, "The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this, they will not go unpunished.” And then very interestingly, 26:12. Take a minute and look at that one.

I like this verse. I thought about it, it hit me in a different kind of way. 26:12, "Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There's more hope for a fool than for him." You know, it's funny. Paul called himself a fool for Christ's sake. I'd rather be a fool and go to heaven, than a wise man and be going to hell. 1 Corinthians 1 talks about the wisdom of this world. The cross is foolishness, isn't it? It's foolish that a dead Jewish carpenter pouring out His blood can get you to Heaven; that's foolishness. But I want to be that kind of a fool, the kind of fool that believes that. But if I'm wise in my own eyes, there's no hope for me. No hope at all.

And the next is trust in the Lord alone. This is probably the most familiar to you. Three, five and seven... Five through seven, "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord and shun evil." There's so much truth in there. Come to God, repent, turn away from your own wisdom. Turn away from your own understanding, and He will direct your paths. And the next, 18:10, it says, "Take refuge in God's name." Take refuge in God's name. 18:10 says, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are safe." Isn't that beautiful?

Were you here last week when I baptized John Ming into the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit? What was going on there? He was being immersed in the name of God. Is there safety in the name of God? Everyone who calls in the name of the Lord, what? Will be saved. There's safety there. There is no other refuge. We've been talking about a storm that's coming. We're talking about Judgment Day. There is a refuge; there is a sure and certain refuge. It's as sure and certain as Noah's Ark. If you come on that ark, you come on that place of refuge. You will be safe from the wrath of God. There's a place of safety.

Well, what do we do? We confess and repent. 28:13. 28:13 says, "He who conceals his sins, does not prosper. But whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy." That's phenomenal, isn't it? If you try to hide your sins... Remember when I was preaching through Romans 4 - maybe you don't - but in Romans 4, verse 8, it says, "Blessed is the man whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are…” What? “Covered." You remember that? Covered. And I said, the Gospel presents you with a choice. You can either cover your own sins, or you can let God cover them through the blood of Christ. Someone will cover them. Either you will cover them and push them down and pretend they're not there, like Adam and Eve tried to do in the garden. You know what I'm talking about. Or you will expose them and give them to God, and He will cover them with the blood of Christ.

And so, 28:13 says, "Whoever confesses... " That means brings out,  "and renounces his sin finds mercy. But whoever covers it, whoever conceals his sin... " The same word - we get the same word of covering in the original language. "He who covers his sin does not prosper." So, you try to hide your sin; you're not going to prosper. If you bring it out and say, "God, here it is," He'll cover it with the blood of Christ.

And then don't wait. Look at 6:15. It says in 6:15, "Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant. He will be suddenly destroyed without remedy." So, in other words, just like that, you're gone. Even while you go about your business, just like that. Just like that. I remember I was at a funeral recently of a man who was a motorcycle rider, and he was killed instantly. And there were no skid marks in the road. I remember that distinctly. No skid marks. What does that mean that there were no skid marks? He hit a tree that had fallen down across the road, and there were no skid marks. It was night time. He never saw it. Just literally never saw it. 39 years old. Just came around the corner, and that was it.

And I guess what I'm saying is, as we're proclaiming the Gospel, is it a serious thing if they listen and say, "Well, I'm interested but I'm not ready?" Let them know that God has not promised them tomorrow. Look at 27:1. 27:1 says, "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth." 27:1 says, “Don't wait. You don't know if you'll even be alive tomorrow. You don't even know.” Okay?

And then finally, 29:1, don't be stubborn. "A man who remains stiff necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed without remedy." Don't stiffen your heart. If today you hear His voice, don't harden your heart. Don't stiffen your neck - same thing. Hardened heart and stiff neck, the same thing, I think. Don't resist, but follow Christ. Now, those are all just different aspects of the Gospel. I'm going to skip the sanctification ones. You've got them on your sheet; you can look them up. I want to talk about Jesus Christ. 

I think it's very, very interesting that we do not openly have an atoning sacrifice in the book of Proverbs. I find that very interesting. Look at Chapter 30, however, at the very end. I think this is really interesting to me. Chapter 30, Verse 1, it says, "The sayings of Agur, son of Jakeh... " - I don't know how to pronounce these things - "An oracle. This man declared to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal. And this is what he said, I am the most ignorant of men... " This is Agur talking. "I am the most ignorant of men. I do not have a man's understanding. I have not learned wisdom nor have I knowledge of the Holy One." Now look at Verse 4, "Who has gone up to Heaven and come down?"

Now, if you look in Ephesians 4 and Deuteronomy, it speaks about - and Romans 10 also - about somebody who goes up to heaven and comes down. Or comes down from heaven and goes back up, and that's only one person. That's the Son of God; that's Jesus Christ. Very interesting what he says. "Who has gone up to Heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in the hollow of his hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name and the name of his son?" Isn't that interesting? Right in the middle of the book of Proverbs - what is His name? This can only be God that does these things. And the name of His son. In effect Proverbs is saying, "We're ready. We want to know how to live like this, we just don't... We can't do it." What is His name? I feel like that's what Proverbs is saying when it comes to the person of Jesus Christ. What is His name? We're ready. We want to know what is his name? And we'll believe in Him. Who is He, Lord?

Remember the man - John chapter 9, Jesus healed him. "Who is he, Lord that I may believe in him?" They're ready. Book of Proverbs gets you ready but doesn't proclaim. It doesn't preach the Gospel; that has not been given to the book of Proverbs. I like 1 Corinthians 1:30. It says, "It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God." Think about that. Jesus Christ is wisdom from God; that is our righteousness, holiness and redemption. There is a man who has perfectly lived the book of Proverbs, isn't that amazing? Jesus Christ perfectly lived all the wisdom in the book of Proverbs in His 30-some odd years of life. And if you trust in Him, you'll have eternal life. He will come and live within you, and He's going to start living out that same wisdom in your life. Jesus Christ is our wisdom, our holiness, and our redemption.

I want to finish with our responsibility as evangelists. Just four quick verses, and then we'll be done. The first is the willingness to speak hard truths. Look at 27:6. Be willing to speak hard truths. I guess we're coming full circle because we started with God reaching out and appealing. He's reaching out. He's beckoning to the foolish ones and to the unlearned and to the wicked, and now He's calling us to do the same, isn't He? We are basically like Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. Be reconciled to Christ. You see? And so, He's calling us to take part in the calling out to those who haven't come to Christ yet. So, what does he say here in 27:6? Be willing to speak hard truths. It says, "Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses."

Be willing to hurt a little bit. Be willing to say, "You know, I fear for your soul. I'm afraid for you. I'm afraid that you don't know Christ. And then on Judgement Day, you're going to have to give an account for everything you've done. I'm afraid for you." Allow there to be an awkwardness and a separation, almost, in the relationship. Not that you want it, you don't, but you still want to speak the truth. Wounds from a friend can be trusted. Be willing to do the wounding. It's not literal wounding, but it's a healing wound, so that they might come to Christ.

And then rescue the perishing. Look at 24:11-12. It says, "Rescue those being led away to death, hold back those staggering towards slaughter. If you say, ‘but we knew nothing about this...’ Does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?" You can't say I didn't know they were going to hell. You can't say, “I didn't know. I didn't know that my co-worker, that my relative or that my friend didn't know Christ.” You knew. You did know. You do know. Do you know any unbelievers in your life? Have you ever said anything to them about Christ? Don't just bring them to church. You are the friend that... This is wounds from a stranger. You're wounds from a friend. They know you. And God can use you in a mighty way to witness to your friend, your relative. Rescue the perishing.

And then don't fear man. Look at 29:25, "Fear of man," it says, "will prove to be a snare. But whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe." Don't be afraid of men. Don't be afraid what people will think of you because you open your mouth and testify to the grace of God. What do you think they'll think of you? Well, some of them will reject you, but some of them will be saved. Some of them will listen and be saved. So, fear of man is a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe. Trust in the Lord to make you a witness.

And then finally, 11:30. Proverbs 11:30 says, "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life." Have you ever heard of the tree of life? What is the tree of life? Don't you remember there were two special trees in the garden of Eden? We've been talking a lot about that other tree, tree of the knowledge of good and evil. By the way, about that, did Adam and Eve know good before they ate from that fruit? Oh, yeah. Nothing but good. It was good. That was good, the other was good, they're all... Everything was good. Good, good, good. Very good, even. They knew good. What didn't they know? They didn't know evil. Do they know now? Oh, yeah. Adam and Eve had almost a thousand years... Or at least Adam, I don't know how old Eve... But Adam had almost a thousand years of evil.

I hope he's in heaven. I mean, really, I think it would be wonderful. What a trophy of God's grace if Adam ended up being redeemed. But what I'm saying is that we have a long history with evil, don't we? We know evil, alright? But there was another tree, wasn't there? And what was the name of that tree? It's the tree of life, and that was cut off from us. Okay, the fruit... Now, it says here, "The fruit of the righteous is the tree of life." Now, I don't want to take this out of context because I frankly don't know what it meant to Solomon to win a soul. I've been wondering about that. But look at the second half of the verse, "And he who wins souls is wise."

What did it mean to Solomon to win a soul? I don't know. That's interesting. That's a Wednesday night teacher kind of context question. What did Solomon mean by winning a soul? But within this context, could it... I don't think it's too far amiss to talk about eternal life and to talk about persuasion into eternal life. Even the preaching of the Gospel. Wouldn't you love to be a soul winner, somebody who wins somebody to Christ? I want our church full of soul winners. I want a multiplication ministry in this church. I want to be a soul winner, it's true, but I want you to be as well.

So, we've seen in the book of Proverbs, we've seen some fascinating things. We've seen a wisdom and a righteousness described here, but we've not had that, the bleeding sacrifice, the atonement that we get in Romans chapter 3: Jesus Christ, the propitiation for our sins. But we know who He is. And Jesus has become for us our wisdom, wisdom from God.

Why don't we close in prayer? And I would like to ask you, if you would, to remember to pray for me. I'll be gone for two weeks starting on Fourth of July. So be praying for me and for my family while I'm gone. And just pray that God would bless what we do - Jack and Rita as well, Jack Evans and Rita Evans, that God would anoint us with His Spirit, protect us, and also that seeds could be sown that will bear fruit for eternal life. Will you pray with me for that? Thank you, I see all those. I see that nodding head, I see you. Alright, so you can pray for me. Please, I need it.

Let's close in prayer. Father, we do thank You for the time we've had tonight to study your word and for the wisdom we've gotten from Proverbs. And I pray now, Lord, as we go on from here, that we would win souls for you, Lord. Whatever Solomon meant, we know what you mean as you speak to us, Lord, that we might rescue the perishing, that we might reach out with the Gospel and that we might see eternal soul, just see people repenting and coming to Christ and then built up in their faith until they reach full maturity. Father, we want to see that, and I pray that You would do it. We thank You for the day we've had in Your house, and we thank You for the words that we've heard from You. Be with us now as we go into our week. Make us fruitful for you in Jesus’ name. Amen.