[0:00] Let us resume the public worship of God by singing to his praise in Psalm 95. Psalm 95, and we are reading from the beginning of the psalm.
[0:12] O come, let us sing to the Lord. Come, let us everyone make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us before his presence come with praise and thankful voice.
[0:25] Let us sing psalms to him with grace and make a joyful noise. For God, a great God and great King, above all gods he is. Depths of the earth are in his hand, the strength of hills is whose.
[0:39] To him the spacious sea belongs, for he the same did make. The dry land also from his hands, which God might first did take. O come, and let us worship him.
[0:50] Let us bow down with all, and on our knees before the Lord, our Maker, let us fall. Psalm 95, verses 1 to 6, saying to God's praise.
[1:00] O come, let us sing to the Lord. Come, let us everyone. O come, let us sing to the Lord.
[1:14] Come, let us everyone. A joyful noise made to the roar of our salvation.
[1:37] Let us sing to the Lord.
[2:07] And make a joyful noise. For God, our great God and great King, above all gods he is.
[2:33] Depths of the earth are in his hand. The strength of hell is his.
[2:51] To him the spacious sea beyond, for he the same did make.
[3:08] The dry land also from his hand. His form at first day take.
[3:26] O come, let us worship him. Let us bow down with all, and on our knees before the Lord.
[3:54] Our maker, our maker, let us fall. Let us stand and call for the name of God.
[4:06] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[4:17] Amen. Amen. Calls us to come and let us worship and let us bow down with all. On our knees before the Lord, our Maker, let us fall.
[4:28] O that we would come with due reverence and godly fear. Before the one of whom we were singing. For God, a great God and great King. Above all gods he is.
[4:41] Depths of the earth are in his hand. The strength of hills is his. O that we would bow the knees of our souls before thee this evening. Having a right appreciation of who it is who we come before.
[4:56] One who is transcendent. One who is holy. One who is without spot, without blemish. One who is of pure eyes than to behold evil.
[5:07] Who cannot look upon iniquity. The one who is the King, eternal, immortal, invisible. The only wise God. O Lord, we come expressing our worship and our praise.
[5:23] But mindful that even as we offer the calves of our lips. That we are a people of unclean lips. And that even our praise is polluted by sin.
[5:35] And Lord, we need even our worship to be cleansed. To arise up to thee through the golden censer. That is Jesus Christ. And it is in his name that we offer all of our praise.
[5:48] He is the divine presenter. He is the one who leads us in our worship. And it is through his merits, through his worthiness, through his finished work alone.
[6:00] That we are able to approach through that new and living way. Unto a throne of grace. That we might obtain mercy. And find grace to help us in time of need.
[6:12] We come, Lord, expressing our weakness. But thankful that thy strength is made perfect in weakness. And that it is when we are weak that we are strong.
[6:26] And when we recognise that we are sinners. That we look to the Saviour. That we look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
[6:37] And so, Lord, help us to come with all sincerity this evening. Knowing that we are laid bare before the one with whom we have to do. Who sees all things and who knows all things.
[6:50] So that the psalmist could say, O Lord, thou hast researched unknown. Thou knowest my sitting down and rising up. Yea, all my thoughts and heart to thee are known.
[7:03] Gracious one, we pray thee this evening to comfort our hearts. To delight us with the truth of scripture. And with the meat of doctrine that we find therein.
[7:16] That it would be indeed manna to our souls. That we would be refreshed and encouraged and nourished by it. We pray that it might be blessed to us.
[7:28] That it might be opened up to us. And that our eyes might be opened. That we might behold wondrous things in thy law. We pray for those who are seeking the Lord and yet who are unable to find him.
[7:43] We pray that they might get grace. And that they might get strength.
[7:54] To let go of all of their own righteousness. And to cast out all unbelief. And to cast themselves upon the one who is the saviour of sinners.
[8:08] Even if it is saying, Lord I believe, help thou mine unbelief. Lord be gracious to them and give them to lay hold of that promise.
[8:19] That those that seek shall find. Those that ask shall receive. And those that knock shall have the door open to them. We pray for those who are careless about their souls.
[8:34] Who are yet in their sins. Without any desire to be in Christ. Oh Lord we pray for the young of this community. We know that in many ways.
[8:46] Compared to many of the other communities of our island. It is a vibrant community. Where houses are being built. Where young families are settling. Where children are being reared.
[8:58] We pray that it might be spiritually vibrant. With these young families. As has been the case in days and generations gone by. Giving themselves to the work of the gospel.
[9:12] Trusting themselves to the one. Who promises. Never to leave nor to forsake his own people. That we might see them.
[9:24] Wondering the one. Who is worthy of all honour. And all praise and all glory. Denying themselves. Taking up their cross. And following after Jesus Christ.
[9:35] Oh Lord we pray for the gospel. In this district. And throughout our island. That thou wouldst revive thy work. In the midst of the years.
[9:46] And in wrath remember mercy. Oh Lord we see ourselves. As sorely in need. We see the cause of Christ. Declining. We see fewer and fewer.
[9:57] Attending prayer meetings. Fewer attending Sabbath evening services. And we mourn the decline of vital religion. In our midst.
[10:09] Knowing that we are what we are. As a people. As communities. Because of the leaven of the gospel. Throughout our islands.
[10:20] In our homes. In our families. And in our. In our. In the homes of our neighbours. Lord we pray that that would continue. To be the case.
[10:32] That we might not as an island. Lose our soul. Through the love. Of the things of this world. Which will deceive us. And which will.
[10:43] Promise many things. But return. Few things. And so Lord. We pray. For this place. And we pray for its people. Its young.
[10:54] And its old. And we ask thy blessing. To be upon them. And upon the congregation here. Which sounds forth the truth of the gospel. Week by week. Bless all who come to preach in their midst.
[11:05] And grant that they might see fruit. For their labour. And provide for them one. Who would be a pastor to them. And who would minister to them. Week by week. From the word. Who would hold to the truth.
[11:16] And who would not be distracted from it. For the evil one. Seeks to distract from that. Which truly brings life.
[11:29] From the word of life. And we need to be kept. But Lord. Keep us. Thou art able to do so. Though the devil himself is strong. Thou art stronger still.
[11:41] And so protect us. And be gracious to us. Lead us and guide us. Towards. Fountains of living waters. That we might find.
[11:51] Refreshment. For our own souls. Even this evening. And bless the singing of the praise. And he who leads us in the singing. That all might be done to thy glory. And forgive all sin.
[12:02] For Christ's sake. Amen. Amen. We're going to sing again. This time in Psalm 67. Psalm 67. The first.
[12:14] Version of the psalm. The short meter version. Lord. Bless and pity us. Shine on us with thy face. That the earth thy way.
[12:25] And nations all. May know thy saving grace. Let people praise thee Lord. Let people all be praised. O let the nations be glad. In songs their voices raise.
[12:38] Thou justly people judge. On earth rule nations all. Let people praise thee Lord. Let them praise thee both great and small. The earth her fruit shall yield.
[12:48] Our God shall blessing send. God shall us bless. Men shall him fear. And to earth's utmost end. The whole of Psalm 67. To God's praise.
[13:00] Lord bless and pity us. Shine on us with thy face. Lord bless and pity us.
[13:11] Shine on us with thy face. That the earth thy way.
[13:24] And nations all. May know thy saving grace.
[13:35] Let people praise thee Lord. Let people all be praised.
[13:50] O let the nations be glad. In songs their voices raise.
[14:06] Thou justly people judge. On earth rule nations all.
[14:23] Let them praise thee. Let them praise thee. Let them praise thee. Let them praise thee. Let them praise thee. Let them praise thee.
[14:35] O great and small. The earth thy fruit shall yield.
[14:48] And God shall blessing send. Oh God shall a blessing send. Oh God shall a blessing send.
[15:01] Let us now read God's Word as we find it in the epistle of the Apostle Paul to Romans and chapter 7. Romans chapter 7 and we're reading from the beginning of the chapter.
[15:31] We're going to read a few verses into chapter 8 as well.
[16:01] We were in the flesh, the motions of sins which were by the law did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
[16:40] But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead to wherein we were held, that we should serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid?
[16:55] Nay, I had not known sin but by the law, for I had not known lust except the Lord said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence.
[17:08] But without the law sin was dead, for I was alive without the law once. But when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment which was ordained to life I found to be unto death.
[17:23] For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.
[17:34] Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good. That sin, by the commandment, might become exceeding sinful.
[17:51] For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow not. For what I would, that do I not.
[18:03] For what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me.
[18:15] For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. For the good that I would, I do not.
[18:28] But the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that, I would not. It is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
[18:40] I find then a law that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members.
[19:00] O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
[19:15] There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
[19:30] For what the law could not do, and that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh.
[19:42] That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. And so on. Amen. That the Lord would bless you with his own word, and to his name be all the praise and all the glory.
[19:57] We're going to sing again this time in Psalm 103. Psalm 103, picking up our reading at verse 8. The Lord our God is merciful, and he is gracious, long-suffering and slow to wrath, and mercy plenteous.
[20:24] He will not chide continually, nor keep his anger still. With us he dealt not as we sinned, nor did we quite our own. For as the heaven and its height, the earth's are mounted far, so great to those that do him fear his tender mercies are.
[20:41] As far as east is distant from the west, so far hath he from us removed in his love all our iniquity. Such pity as a father hath unto his children dear, like pity shows the Lord to such as worship him in fear.
[20:59] Psalm 103, verses 8 to 13. To God's praise, the Lord our God is merciful, and he is gracious. The Lord our God is merciful, and he is gracious, long-suffering and high-cough.
[21:29] Long-suffering and high-cough to wrath, his mercy plenteous.
[21:43] He will not chide content dryly, Nor keep his anger still With the sea held not as we sin Nor did we quite a hill For that the heaven in its height The earth's a lullaby found So make you, O God, in me
[22:48] This tender mercy's heart As far as he's just returned From the west of Bali From the stream who buried In his love all our iniquity Such pity as the mother And the Lord has come to his children
[23:49] Here Like pity chose the Lord To touch As worship in him here Well now with a view to God's blessing If you would turn back with me to the portion of Scripture Which we read in Paul's epistle to the Romans And we take our text from chapter 8 And from the beginning of verse 1 Romans 8 Verse 1 There is therefore now No condemnation to them Which are in Christ Jesus The apostle Paul The apostle Paul As a remarkable way of building an argument Over several chapters As he does in this book And then marvelously summarizing it
[24:52] Just in a few words And that is in many ways What he is doing here He is summarizing What he has been explaining in detail In theology In doctrine Up until this point And he uses these Remarkable words Which are in many ways Easy enough for a child to understand That there is therefore now No condemnation To them which are in Christ Jesus I want us for a short time this evening To consider These words And indeed To consider them Individually To consider them really One by one Not in the order in which we find them But in an order That will help us To properly understand What it is that The apostle is saying to us here And the word that I want us to begin with Is the word which in many ways Dominates the verse That word
[25:53] Condemnation What is condemnation Well Condemnation in many ways Is the opposite of justification When we are justified We are pardoned And we are accepted In the beloved When we are condemned Well we are just that Aren't we We are condemned We are declared To be guilty As charged And we are Sentenced And What I want us to consider First of all Is what this Condemnation is Where it comes from Why Why there are some Who are condemned And what it leads to Because if there is Therefore now No condemnation To Them which are in Christ Jesus Then By the law of opposites There is condemnation For those Who are not in Christ Jesus Those who are not in Christ
[26:54] Tonight They are Condemned And That is what the apostle Has been explaining Earlier on in this letter That we are all Sinners And That we have all Come short Of the glory of God We read in Romans chapter 3 And say from verse 9 We have Before proved That both Jews and Gentiles That they are all Under sin As it is written There is none Righteous No not one This is Jews Or Gentiles There is none That understands There is none That seeks After God They are all Gone out of the way They are all together Become Unprofitable There is none That doeth good No not one And So on And what he is Explaining there Is that That sin is universal That sin has come upon
[27:54] All people That we are all Sinful That we are all Corrupt In our very nature In the corruption That we received From our first father Adam This is What we are And this is Why we Will And behave And think And often act As we do Because of what Because of the sin That dwells in us Because of what sin Has done to us And this is true Of every single One of us By nature As we come Into the world Without hope And without God In the world We live in sin We live for sin Even if these Sins are Respectable sins Like the idolizing Of family Or the idolizing Of reputation And wealth And climbing up The ladder In the workplace These aren't sins Like murder Or rape Or whatever it might be But they are still sins
[28:55] In their own right They are still breaches Of the first commandment When we are told When we are commanded That we shall have No other gods Before him We live in sin We live for sin We live in ignorance There is none That understands There is none That seeks after God By nature In fact We live in revolt And enmity When we were When we were enemies To God It was then That he sent his son To reconcile us To himself When we were ungodly The apostle says To the Ephesians In Ephesians chapter 2 You hath he quickened Who were dead In trespasses And in sins That's how you were You were dead In trespasses and sins Wherein in times past You walked According to the course Of this world The way of this world According to the prince
[29:56] Of the power of the air The devil himself You were under his sway Whether you realized it or not The spirit that now worketh In the children of disobedience Among whom He's not just saying This is some people This is some bad people Among whom we all We all had our conversation Conversation There isn't just talk It's the way of life Gali kai e behi Your way of life We all had our way of life In times past In the lusts of our flesh Fulfilling the desires Of the flesh and of the mind We were by nature The children of wrath Even as others And even in our good works We come short Isaiah and there are some of you And you've done many good works And good things And you're praised By many people Rightly so But Isaiah came to realize That even our righteousnesses Are as filthy rags Even the good things That we do Because of the motivation Behind them Because of the pride
[30:56] That we took on them Even these things Are soon Before God They're imperfect Before God You see The Lord desires We mentioned it this morning That the Lord The righteous Lord Loves righteousness And he demands Righteousness He demands Perfection And who has lived The perfect life Well none have lived The perfect life None have lived The life that God Requires And demands None have been able To keep the law of God Perfectly Have you Have I In thought In word And in deed Surely We not And that is sin That is sin But this is the thing Sin never comes alone Just as crime Never comes alone Crime comes with its own guilt And with its own sentence
[31:58] And sin brings guilt as well It brings guilt In a legal sense Before God It also brings guilt Into our experience Into our conscience It works It bothers us It brings out Our fragility Our insecurity Guilt is an awful thing Guilt is a deadly thing But that is subjective That's the way That we feel it But the fact is That sin brings Objective guilt As well That is guilt Before a judge Guilt before God Sin brings Condemnation Before a holy God He condemns sin And he condemns sinners When God sees The people that he made For himself To glorify And to enjoy him When he sees them Choosing to live Without the fear of God To live without Love to God To live with
[32:59] That complete disregard To the obedience That God requires God is angry We hear so much today God is love And that is Thrown about Without Explanation Without qualification God is love But God is angry too I recently read R.C. Sproul's Biography And the writer Of Stephen Nichols Tells of How he was Thriving down Florida I think it was Orlando One day On the highway And he saw A big sign Above the road That a mega church Had put up To attract people To the church And it said In huge letters God is not Angry with you And R.C. Sproul said God is angry With you If you are a sinner And if you are not Repenting of your sin That's exactly What God is God is Angry with you Read Romans
[33:59] Chapter 1 The wrath of God Is revealed From heaven Against all Ungodliness And unrighteousness Of men We were We just read it We were the children Of wrath Even as others How can you read A Bible And believe it And say God is not angry With sinners He is He is And so when we Stand before A judgment seat And if we are Out of Christ And still in our sins Still unrepentant Still unbelieving Then we will meet With an angry God Jonathan Edwards' Famous sermon At the beginning Of the Great Awakening In 1740 Was entitled Sinners in the hands Of an angry God And that's what It will be On that day When he shall Condemn sinners To a lost Eternity Condemnation That word Condemnation Is actually A different word In the original To what's usually Translated
[35:00] Condemnation And it has to do Not just with The sentence But it has to do With the execution Of the sentence So the condemnation Isn't just the judge Say I condemn you It's not just the judge As they did Back in the day Putting the black hat Upon his head And saying I condemn you To be To be Hung by the Hung by the neck Until you are dead It's not just the sentence It is actually The execution Of the thing It is actually The hanging Or in this case It is actually Hell Itself That's what The condemnation Is It is a lost Eternity It is the blackness Of darkness Forever It is weeping And it is Gnashing of teeth It is justice Being done And friend If you are still In your sin Know this That condemned Is written Upon your forehead In invisible ink And I can't see it And you can't see it When you look in the mirror But God can see it
[36:01] And when Christ Shall return On that day In the brightness Of his glory It will be as if An ultraviolet light Was shining Upon your head Showing condemned Out of Christ And that is a fearful thing And I hope that If you are yet Unreconciled to God Today If you are yet Unbelieving I hope that it's a truth That you will face There is Therefore now No condemnation To them Which are in Christ Jesus But there is Condemnation To them Which are in Christ But let us move on To the word Therefore It's an important word And we are told That we always need to ask What is it there for What is it there for What does it point back to It always points back To something Important Which leads on To this part Of the argument And people argue About what it does Point back to
[37:02] And I'm just going To give you Both options And I think it probably Does point back In some ways To both The immediate context And this is what The late professor John Murray Highlights He says that The immediate context Is chapter 7 Where the apostle Speaks of his Ongoing battle The ongoing battle That rages Within The believer That there is A war between The flesh The carnal The flesh Isn't just speaking About your Humanity But your sinful Your carnal Humanity The lust Of the flesh There is a war Between that Even in the believer And the spirit The Holy Spirit Working in you So there is this desire To do that Which is good And yet at the same time There is a propensity Towards evil And that's what The apostle Is saying here He's saying That I know That in me There dwells No good thing He says that
[38:02] The commandment Which was ordained To life I found to be Unto death For sin Taking occasion By the commandment Deceived me And by it Slew me Sin That it might appear Sin Working death In me By that which is good The law is good But we can't keep it And so It shows us Our sin That sin By the commandment Might become Exceedingly sinful Would sin Be so sinful If we didn't have it Written in black and white Well to God It would be But to us It probably wouldn't be We wouldn't maybe Know it to be sin We wouldn't have it there In black and white To tell us And that's what He's saying there The more he studied The law The more he sought To follow the Lord The more he sought His shortcomings The more he sought His sin And this isn't Him speaking as an unbeliever This is him speaking As a believer And this isn't A heathen man This is the Apostle Paul And he summarizes
[39:03] His Christian experience Like this The good that I would I do not And the evil That I would not That I do I want to do good And I'm not doing it And I don't want to do evil But I am doing that This is the Apostle Paul The one who threw out His letters Just calling you To holiness To be blameless To walk circumspectly Carefully Redeeming the time For the days are evil To walk in the light And here he is And he's confessing His own sins His own failure And we're almost Taken aback By the thing But we're reassured By it as well Aren't we That this is Perhaps one of the Godliest men That ever lived And he's talking About his struggles With sin And you know That if you are A true Christian This is you as well Let me say this If you don't find yourself
[40:06] In Romans chapter 7 If you can't say The good that I would I do not And the evil That I would not That I do If you can't say that If you can't see yourself There Then you are either A very Very young Christian Or you're not A Christian at all A very young Christian Or not a Christian at all Because this is the experience Of the Christian This is it And you know To be it Because you read In the scriptures The call to follow Christ You hear from the pulpit As you ought to A call to obedience And you see yourself Coming so short of that You look around you And you see others And they appear to be Towering above you In godliness And you look at yourself And all that you see Is failure All that you see Is shortcoming All that you see Is sins against knowledge Sins against grace
[41:06] You look at yourself And you see Worthiness Distracted Selfishness Frustration Discouragement Prayerlessness You see all of these things And you can't help but think When you see these things I must be condemned myself I can't be a believer at all If this is the way that I am And yet here's the thing This is the experience Of the true Christian The true Christian Doesn't walk about Saying I have arrived Here I am Living the good life Living the perfect life Sin is a thing of the past Onwards and upwards That's not the Christian's experience That may very well be The experience of the hypocrite But it's not the experience Of the Christian The Christian is mindful Of whose or her Shortcomings And failings And sins The apostle Paul was And he was a godlier man Than you And than I And he was
[42:07] And so we surely are as well And so the therefore Looks back to this Christian experience But it probably looks back Further than that As well And some people They want to take it And focus on what is Further back Particularly To chapters 3 and 5 To the force of the letter Where the gospel is explained In the atonement of Christ In justification In the work of the Holy Spirit In covenant theology Having once been in Adam For her condemnation And now being in Christ For her justification And you know It's almost as if In chapter 7 Particularly Perhaps 6 as well The apostle Paul Is at a snag And he's got bogged down In discussing The nature of The nature of The struggle of faith The battle The wrestling
[43:09] Not against flesh and blood But against principalities And against powers Against spiritual wickedness In high places And as he's thinking About that He comes to the climax Of it in verse 24 In chapter 7 And he says Oh wretched man That I am Who shall deliver me From the body Of this death What can be done For a sinner like me Who sinned In the way that I've sinned Who sinned against light In the way that I've sinned Against light And yet He almost doesn't even pause He almost sees The sinkhole That he's falling Into And he pulls himself Out straight away And he says In verse 25 I thank God Through Jesus Christ Our Lord That is the answer Who shall deliver me I thank God Through Jesus Christ Our Lord Who shall save A wretched man Such as I am I thank God Through Jesus Christ Our Lord Let us focus on these words
[44:10] There is therefore There is therefore No condemnation To them which are in Christ Jesus Because it is Christ Jesus Really that he spent The earlier part of this letter Explaining That he is the answer To the great problem of sin In his guilt Condemning us To hell And in his power Ruling over us And directing our lives So that we live for it And not for God So that we are slaves to it And not to God But what Paul is explaining Is that Jesus Christ Has freed us From the guilt Freed us from the condemnation Freed us from the power From the mastery From the dominion of sin That in him There is forgiveness For sinners In him there is Salvation for the guilty In him there is Peace with God In him there is Newness of life In him all condemnation
[45:11] Has been removed And he goes on To explain this Verse 3 For what the law Could not do In that it was weak Through the flesh In other words The law could not save us The Lord could not save us In that Not that there was Anything wrong with the law If you could keep the law Perfectly From your conception To your death It would bring you to heaven God would reward that But if we are sinners From our very conception If we were conceived In iniquity As David says In Psalm 51 And if the fruit of that Is evident in our lives From our youngest years Then the law Cannot save us Not because there is Anything wrong with the law But because there is Something wrong with us Because it is weak Through our flesh Again not through our humanity But through our sinful Fallen Corrupt nature For what the law Could not do The law could not save you In that it was weak
[46:11] Through the flesh God sending his own son In the likeness Of sinful flesh Not in sinful flesh But in the likeness of it And for sin Condemn sin In the flesh What we have here Is the doctrine of Substitution That the law Condemns you Because you sinned Against it And your sin Condemns you And you couldn't Save yourself So God does For us In Jesus Christ What we couldn't do For ourselves He sends his own son To be an offering For our sins To be a sacrifice For our sins To be a substitute For our condemnation And for our punishment And in the sacrifice As he offers himself As a once for all offering Jesus Christ Embraces All that our Condemnation entails
[47:12] He embraces The shame Of that condemnation The nakedness Of it The curse of it The penalty of it The agony of it The suffering of it The death of it He descends even Into the very dust Of the earth Because the Lord Said to Adam Dust thou art And to dust Thou must Return And Christ Embraces all of that All of the condemnation All of the judgment That we deserved And he fulfills The claims Of justice Against us Justice demands That there be A recompense Justice demands That it be satisfied That the holiness Of God In all of the Splendour And in all of the Majesty of it Justice demands That that be met And that the price Be paid And that's what Christ did That's what he
[48:13] That's why he suffered In order to take Upon himself The condemnation Which his people Deserted What is the law What is the father Doing to the son Upon the cross But this He is condemning him There is therefore Now no condemnation To them Which are in Christ Jesus Why Because Jesus Christ Was condemned Upon the cross Does the hymn writer Not say Bearing shame And scoffing Root In my place Condemned He stood And the result Of that Is just this That he condemned Sin in the flesh That the righteousness Of the law Might be fulfilled In us Who walk Not after the flesh But after The spirit He doesn't say here That Christ is condemned But that sin Is condemned That that sin Is condemned In what it does In its guilt In its power
[49:14] Because Jesus Christ's Righteousness Is imputed to us Dealing with our guilt And his righteousness Is imparted to us His righteous life In us and through us Is imparted to us To deal with the power Of sin And this sacrifice Friends Is the basis Of this verse The basis Of this letter The basis Of the gospel Jesus Christ Being condemned In the place Of sinners Is the basis Of our justification Of being made right With God And our sanctification Our ability To walk with God In fellowship With him In friendship With him Putting sin To death And living To righteousness But let us Not miss this Other little word As well A small word But an important word Is Sorry In In Christ Jesus And now This word
[50:18] In Christ Jesus It speaks In theological terms Of our union With Christ If we are in Christ Jesus Then we are United To Christ And we're united To Christ In two ways Firstly What theologians Would call Federally Federally Federal Union Is a word That has to do With covenant So we are united To Christ In covenant Or we are Legally United to Now By nature We are united To Adam Legally For us In Adam All die And that is Explained for us In Romans Chapter 5 That we were In Adam That we were Sinners In Adam We were corrupt In Adam And we were Guilty In Adam That the curse Of the covenant Of works That came upon him In the day That thou Readest thereof Thou shalt surely die That curse Came upon all of us
[51:18] As well Now In Jesus Christ God doesn't see you As condemned In Adam Anymore He doesn't see you As under the curse Of the covenant Of works Anymore But he sees you Legally Under the blessing Of the covenant Of grace For as in Adam All die Even so In Christ Shall all Be made Alive So legally Speaking God has Nothing against you Legally speaking You are not Under the curse Anymore Legally speaking You are Under the blessing Legally speaking You are justified God has no Crime To put On your account It has all Been taken away In that you are No longer United to Adam You are Legally Federally Covenanterly United to Christ That is the first Sense in which We are united To Christ The second Sense is The organic Union
[52:18] Or Sometimes called The vital Union And what we Mean by that Is that you are United to Christ In that In a very real Way Jesus Christ By his spirit Lives in you And you live In him He dwells in your Heart By the spirit The spirit Has made you To be his Temple Do you ever Think about that The life Of God In the soul Of man The Holy Spirit Living in you Dwelling in you Working in you Jesus Jesus says I am the Vine And you Are the Branches And what He's saying Is this Just as the Life of the The life Of the Root The life Of the Tree trunk Works its way Out into the Branches And the Branches Therefore Bear fruit Because the Life is coming Through the Roots So he's Saying I Am the Root I am the Vine And I Am living In you
[53:19] And through You You are the Branches And that Union is as Real as the Union between The head And the Foot The brain And the Foot They are United one To another Your foot Is not your Brain But they are United Together They are United Together And so It is With our Union to Christ We are United to You are Not Christ And Christ Is not You But you Are united To him His life Flows Through you He lives In you He dwells In you He works In you And the Result of That is What we Read in The second Half of This text Who walk Not after The flesh But after The spirit Or not According to The flesh That is the Sinful flesh That is no Longer The animating Principle In your Life But the Spirit of God Is the Animating Principle Verse 4 That the Righteousness Of the law Might be Fulfilled in Us Who walk Not after The flesh
[54:19] But after The spirit The righteousness Of the law Probably that Refers to That you begin To live in The way that God wants You to live You begin To do the Things that God wants You to do You become A changed Person You see Friends This section Of scripture Isn't just Talking about Our justification It's talking About our Sanctification It's not just Talking about The fact that There is no Condemnation And that God has Nothing against You It's also Talking about This That there is Evidence for This That there is No condemnation That it's not Just a legal Change that Nobody can See and that You yourself Cannot experience But there is A change That can be Felt That can be Understood That can be Known by Its fruits The fruits Of godliness In your life The fruit Of the spirit In your life Because he Dwells In you And so There is The federal Union And the
[55:20] Organic Union But there's Something else Here as well Because how do We come to Be in Jesus Christ How do I Come to be United to him In this Covenantal Sense So that Legally I Am no Longer Guilty How do I Come to be United to him In this Organic This practical Sense So that his Life begins To flow Through my Life And that he Begins to Change the Way that I Live so that If any man Be in Christ He is a New creature The old Things pass Away All things Are made New How does This happen And it Happens like This By faith That word Faith Is used In the Epistle to The Romans Thirty Nine Times Thirty Nine Times That the Just Shall live By faith The justified Person He shall Live by Faith We read In chapter Three And then Verse Twenty Two That The righteousness
[56:21] Of God Which is by Faith of Jesus Christ Unto all And upon All them That believe It is for Them That Believe And it Goes on to Speak about The propitiation Through his Blood And the Righteousness Of Christ That he Might be Just And the Justifier Of who Whom Which Believeth In Jesus And then In chapter Five Therefore Being justified By faith We have Peace With God Through our Lord Jesus Christ The way That we Become united To Christ The way That we Lay hold Of him And his Salvation Isn't by Being better Or doing More It is by Believing In him It is by Putting our Faith And our Trust In him It is Faith alone That justifies That removes Our Condemnation And our Faith will Never be Alone Faith without Works is Dead And we Must both Repent
[57:21] And believe The gospel And yet It is This faith Which lays Hold of Jesus Christ There is No other Way Friend To be Saved No other Way To be Justified No other Way To have Your Condemnation Removed But by Trusting And resting In Jesus Christ For all Of your Salvation And for All of Eternity Have you Done that?
[57:44] Have you Believed in The Lord Jesus Christ? Are you Resting in Is your Hope In him Or is it In anything Else?
[57:55] Everything Else is Chaff As the Hymn writer Said all Other ground Is sinking Sand What it Is Let me Just Conclude With Two Things The first Is that If you're A believer Here Tonight Satan Will Accuse You And not Only will Satan Accuse you And tell you That you're Not a Believer But your Own heart Will condemn You Your own Heart Will tell You That you're Not a Believer And You'll Question Yourself You may Very well Doubt Your faith Particularly When you See the Poverty Of your Soul Particularly When you See your Sin When you See yourself For what You are You will Condemn Yourself At times But if you Believe in Jesus Christ Know this That That you Are justified Now There is
[58:56] Therefore Now No Condemnation Even at This very Moment You are Justified It doesn't Say that There is Therefore Now No Sin In those Who are In Christ Jesus That there Are No Mistakes In their Lives No Failures Or No Shortcomings It doesn't Even say That there Is no Cause For Condemnation There is Cause for Condemnation In my Life And in Your Life There Certainly Is But this Is what It says That now Even at This Present Moment That this Assurance Can be Yours That if You are In Jesus Christ And if You have Laid Hold Upon And even With The weakest Hand Of Faith That There is Therefore Now No Condemnation In the Original Language The very First Verse In this Sorry The very First Word In this Chapter In this Verse Is the Word No It says No Condemnation
[59:57] To them Which are In Christ Jesus No None At all Just if He is saying God Is nothing Against you Anymore Your guilt Has been Removed Your Condemnation Has been Taken Away Sin Your accuser Has been Condemned In your Place And so If the Believer Has Condemned Written Upon his For it In that Invisible Ink You Have Not Condemned No Condemnation What a Blessed Truth That is Friend For you Today What a So Refreshing Reality It is For you To Remember That even Now At this Present Time There is No Condemnation To Them Which Are In Christ Jesus Who Shall Lay Anything To The Charge Of God's Elect It Is God That Justifieth Who Is He That Condemneth It Is Christ That Died Ye Rabel That Is Risen Again Who Also Maketh Intercession For us Who Can Condemn You
[60:57] When Christ Has Not Only Died For You And Has Not Only Risen Again For You But Is Even At This Present Moment Making Intercession For You Praying For You I Believe By Name At The Right Hand Of Majesty Who Can Condemn You And He Goes On To Say!
[61:16] Who Shall Separate Us From The Love Of Christ Shall Tribulation Nor Distress Nor Persecution Nor Famine Nor Nakedness Nor Peril Nor Sword He Says I Am Persuaded That Neither Death Nor Life Nor Angels Nor Principalities Nor Powers Nor Things Present Nor Things To Come Nor High Nor Depth Nor Any Other Creature Shall Be Able To Separate Us From The Love Of God Which Is In Christ Jesus Our Lord Spurgeon Said That This Glorious Chapter Which Is The The Cream Of The Cream In Scripture He Says It Begins With No Condemnation And It Ends With No Separation Now We Ought To Remember These Two Things No Condemnation No Separation But Finally If You're Not A Believer This Word Condemnation Generally
[62:16] Speaking Refers To Two Things In The Bible Firstly It Refers To The Way In Which Jesus Christ Was Condemned By Men And Indeed Condemned By God For The Sins Of His People We've Considered That But It Also Speaks Of Those And We've Touched On This To Who Reject Jesus Christ So In John Chapter 3 You Remember After That Glorious Verse For God So Loved The World That He Gave His Only Begotten Son That Whosoever Believeth In Him Should Not Perish But Have Everlasting Life But He Goes On To Say That God Sent Not A Son Into The World To Condemn The World But That The World Through Him Might Be Saved He That Believeth On Him Is Not Condemned But He That Believeth Not Is Condemned Already Because He Had Not Believed In The Name Of The Only Begotten Son Of God And This Is The!
[63:11] Condemnation He Says This Is The Condemnation That Will Be Laid Against Those Who Have Not Believed In Jesus Christ Listen To This That Light Is Coming To The World That Christ Is Coming To The World But That Men Loved The Darkness Rather Than The Light Because Their Deeds Were Evil That Is The Condemnation That Christ Came Into The World To Save Sinners!
[63:40] That Whosoever Should Believe In Him Should Not Perish But Have Ever Lasting Life So That You Should Believe In Him That If You Believe You Will Not Perish But Have Ever Lasting Life Like You Will Not Go To Heaven But That You Shall Be With Christ In Paradise But This Is A Condemnation That Shall Be Laid Against!
[64:02] You At Your Charge On That Day If You Die Out Of Christ That Light Came Into The World That Light Was Preached From This Pulpit And This Man Heard About That Light And This Woman Heard This Christ Being Preached And Offered To Her But The Condemnation That We Have Against Them Is This That Light Is Coming To The World And Yet They Loved The Darkness Rather Than The Light They Loved Their Unbelief More Than They Loved Christ They Loved Their Sin More The Lord Themself Is Asking You Are You Tonight In Your Sin Or Are You In Jesus Christ What Is Written Upon Your Forehead In In In In Condemn Or Not Condemn No Condemnation Or Condemnation Amen Let Us Pray Gracious
[65:05] And Ever Blessed God Help Us To Stand Fast In That Liberty Where Christ Made Us Free For Christ Hath Redeemed Us From The Curse Of The Law Being Made A Curse For Us Cursed Is Everyone That Hands Upon A Tree And He Hanged Upon The Tree For His People That All Who Trust In Him Might Have Their Condemnation Removed Oh Bless us Then we Pray Bless Thy Word To Us And Part Us With Thy Blessing Now For Giving All Sin For Christ Sake Amen Well We conclude Singing to God's Praise In Psalm 43 Psalm 43 And From Verse 3 O send Thy light forth and Thy truth Let them be guides to me and bring me to thine holy hill even where thy dwellings be then will to
[66:09] God's altar go to God my cheapest joy yea God my God thy name to praise my harp I will employ why art thou then cast down my soul what should discourage thee and why with vexing thoughts art thou disquieted in me still trust in God for him to praise good cause I yet shall have he of my countenance is the health my God that doth me save psalm 43 verses 3 to 5 to God's praise so send thy light forth and thy truth let them be guides to me oh send thy light forth and thy truth let them be guides to me!
[67:02] and bring me to thy holy help in where thy dwelling spiel and where I took those sons and go to thy love thy keep and joy in all thy love thy name to face my heart thy will and joy why art love and and!
[68:00] my soul O church is God in thee and why will let sing for our love this quiet is in me still proud in God for him and his and own I yet shall have all my heart sin help my God that does my God that does me need to now may of the
[69:11] Christ love of God fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all Amen thanks thanks