[0:00] Welcome to our services today and we pray that the Lord would bless this word to us as we gather together around the word at this hour and we shall commence our worship by joining together in prayer.
[0:26] Eternal and ever blessed God, we give thanks unto thee that we have access into thine own nearer presence, that we can draw near to thee at this hour and offer our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving unto thee for thy goodness and for thy kindness to us.
[0:59] And as we draw near to thee, we are conscious that thou art the one who is sovereign, that all things are in thine own hands and that thou art working out thine own purpose through the history of this world.
[1:21] We give thanks unto thee, O Lord, that thou art a God who delighteth in mercy. And as we come before thee to confess our sins and to acknowledge our sinnership, to confess that we sin in thought, in word and in deed, that we are not what we ought to be, that we are not what we would like it to be.
[1:55] But we give thee thanks that thou art the sucher of our ways, that thou art the omniscient God, the all-knowing God, that there is nothing hidden from thee, and that thou knowest the desires of our heart.
[2:17] we give thanks that thou hast planted a desire in the hearts of thine own people, a desire for pureness of life, a desire for holiness.
[2:35] And we pray, O Lord, that thou would grant us the grace to strive for that holiness, that we would indeed, that our love would abound more and more in our knowledge of thee, through thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that we would be unable to discern and approve those things that are best for us, for our Christian growth, and that we would be honest, sincere, and without offence till the day of Christ, that we would not cause others to stumble in the way.
[3:20] O Lord, grant to us that spiritual discernment that would be good for ourselves, and that would be good for others.
[3:32] O that we would be filled with the fruits of righteousness, with a godly behaviour, that we would shine as lights in the midst of the darkness of this world, not for our own glory or to give praise to ourselves, but to praise and glorify thee.
[3:55] we give thanks to thee, O Lord, for those who sacrificed their lives to give us the freedom that we so much enjoy in our land today, as we remember them in these days, those who fell in action over wars and who never came to enjoy the freedom that they fought and died for.
[4:22] but we give thee thanks especially for the sacrifice of thy son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the darling of heaven, the son of thy bosom, who gave his own life so that sinners would be set free from the bondage and slavery of sin.
[4:44] we give thanks today that we can enter into the benefits that he has purchased for us, that we can be reconciled to our God, that we can have a peace with God, that we can have that grace of justification of a right standing before God, that we have that grace of adoption, that spirit of adoption implanted into our hearts whereby we can come and cry Abba, Father, and that we have that grace of sanctification working in our lives to make us to be conformable to the image of the Son, and that we have that anticipation that longing waiting for the day of Christ when he shall change our vile bodies and make it like into his own glorious body, looking forward to the day of our glorification, looking forward to the day of our resurrection from the grave.
[6:01] Oh, we give thanks for the victory that we have in Jesus Christ. And we would seek, oh Lord, that thou would bless our homes and our families.
[6:14] Remember those who are elderly, those who are lonely today. Remember those who are in care homes. Bless those who care for them.
[6:26] Remember those who are ill on the bed of affliction. Draw near to them, bringing healing if that is in accordance with thy known will, and if it be otherwise, oh Lord, prepare them in their heart and soul.
[6:40] Remember those who mourn over the loss of loved ones. We seek, oh Lord, that thou would be pleased to be their great comforter today, and that the time of affliction would be a time of blessing for them when they would be brought to consider their own relationship with God.
[7:01] Oh, bless the preaching of thy word, accompany the gospel with the power and demonstration of thy Holy Spirit in convicting and converting in the upbuilding of thy church.
[7:12] Bless thy servants today who proclaim thy word. In their weakness, may the power of God be made known. Remember our key workers at this time.
[7:28] We pray, oh Lord, that thou would bless them and uphold them in their work. and we pray, oh Lord, for our nation that thou would bring physical healing among us at this time, but also, oh Lord, that thou would bring spiritual healing.
[7:47] Remember our leaders, grant them the wisdom to understand that righteousness alone exalted a nation.
[7:59] Oh, bring us as a nation to repentance, bring us as a nation to sorrow over our sin and to seek the mercy of God in Jesus Christ.
[8:11] Oh Lord, in the midst of years that thou would revive us and in the midst of the years that thou would remember us with that covenant love, oh Lord, that the power of the gospel would be made manifest among us.
[8:32] Grant to us, oh Lord, thy grace, the enlightenment of thy spirit, the guidance, the leading of thy spirit as we come to meditate upon thy word and all that we ask for the forgiveness of our sins in Jesus' name and for his sake.
[8:50] Amen. We shall now read the word of God as we find it in the New Testament in the epistle of Paul to the Romans and chapter 5.
[9:05] Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
[9:22] And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience and patience experience and experience hope.
[9:33] And hope maketh not a shame because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly.
[9:48] For scusely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love towards us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
[10:04] Much more than be now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
[10:20] And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now received the atonement. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned.
[10:38] For until the law of sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
[10:56] But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
[11:12] And not as if it was by one that sinned, so is the gift. For the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
[11:23] For if by one man's offence death reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.
[11:36] Therefore, as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so, by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon all men into justification of life.
[11:49] For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that the offence might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound, that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness into eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
[12:15] May the Lord bless unto us the reading of that portion of his word. Now, seeking the blessing of the Lord and his help, let us turn again to verse 15, that is Romans 5 and verse 15.
[12:33] But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God and the gift by grace which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
[12:57] The apostle, having expounded in the first four chapters of this letter, the need for justification or to be right with God and the way of justification by faith through our Lord Jesus Christ.
[13:14] Here in chapter 5, in the first five verses, he begins to expound the fruits that flow from justification. Then in verses 6 to 10, he gives four descriptive labels of what was true of those who are the recipients of God's love in Christ, that they were at one time without strength.
[13:38] They were ungodly. They were sinners and enemies. And then in verse 11 to 21, he rounds the chapter up by drawing a parallel between Adam and Christ.
[13:51] He shows forth that as death entered the world through Adam's disobedience, so new life comes through Christ's obedience.
[14:03] And our focus today will be on the last part of the chapter. And this is important for us for if we are going to truly understand the need of salvation by Christ, we need to know our problem and our need.
[14:21] And to do so, we need to understand what happened to Adam and we need to understand our relationship to Adam. The apostle here speaks of the offence of one.
[14:36] what comes to our minds here immediately is the offence of Adam and the sin which he committed.
[14:47] Here, he also reminds us of the consequences of that offence is that many be dead. Now, an offence always involves guilt and it is guilt that leads to punishment.
[15:06] And we must have that before our mind as we look over and meditate upon this chapter today.
[15:19] In our day, many people regard the first three chapters of Genesis as myth. But unless we accept the first three chapters of Genesis as actual fact, fact, not myth, but actual fact, unless we accept the first three chapters of Genesis as history, then we cannot come to understand our need of salvation.
[15:48] And indeed, we cannot come to understand the events of the cross of Golgotha. We cannot understand why Jesus, the Son of God, suffered and died.
[16:02] But when we consider the state of the world at the present time with all its upheavals and the misery and the moral breakdown, the unhappiness, why children die, why young and old die painful deaths and every other conceivable form of death that occurs in the world, we ask, why is it like this?
[16:27] Why have we always known it to be like this? Well, here is the answer. It all results from Adam. It is all tied up with what Adam did and our relationship to him.
[16:44] We are introduced here to the concept of sin, although this is not the first time that the apostle has taken this concept before us and because of Adam's one sin, he tells us that no one escapes the clutches of death.
[17:06] In these first chapters as here, he brings before us how sin is universal and how its consequences is universal.
[17:20] But not as the offence so also the free gift, for if through the offence of one, many be dead. This concept of sin is not popular today.
[17:37] According to many, there is no such thing as sin. It is simply the absence of good. They tell us that man has never been perfect, but that man is a creature who is evolving and their hope is that in billions of years, man will have evolved so much as to shed all those things that is the cause of so much trouble today.
[18:03] So, the trouble with man is that he has not developed to his full potential yet. And so, they tell us to get rid of the idea of sin and guilt and punishment.
[18:16] sin. They say that man is not really bad. What you say about man is that he is not perfectly good. However, that is not the biblical view.
[18:30] The Bible clearly tells us that man was created good and perfect. Man was created in God's image. God looked upon all the work of his creation and he saw that it was very good.
[18:46] However, here at verse 12, we are reminded that sin entered in. Wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world.
[19:01] We have a great body of divinity that we know as the catechism. And our catechism asks the question, did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created?
[19:16] And it dances right like this. Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created by sinning against God.
[19:30] Now, this phrase in verse 12, sin entered into the world, reminds us that sin is not merely the lack of certain qualities, but that sin is active.
[19:42] It came, it entered, into the world. Sin is something that does things. Later on, the apostle says that sin came to reign and to govern.
[19:55] It is always something that is active and working. In fact, the word entered here could also be translated invaded. It is something that invaded the world.
[20:07] It is something that intruded into the life of mankind. What is sin? Well, the catechism gives us the answer. Sin is anyone to conformity unto or transgression of the law of God.
[20:23] Sin is rebellion against God. It is a violation of God's commandments, of God's holy law. It is a rebellion and violation of the way in which God created the world.
[20:39] It entered into the world. It intruded, invaded into the world. So that sin gives birth in us to an attitude of rebellion and hatred to God.
[20:55] A refusal to obey God's law. Sin has come to be a reigning principle in the life of mankind.
[21:08] We all have sinned. We are all sinners. There is none righteous.
[21:23] This is what we call original sin and which the catechism defines in this way with the question wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate wherein to man fell.
[21:36] The sinfulness of that estate wherein man fell consists in the guilt of Adam's first sin, the want of original righteousness and the corruption of his whole nature which is commonly called original sin together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.
[21:58] it means really this that we are in a fallen condition. It means that we are depraved and guilty before God and that our habits and our practices are governed by this reigning principle.
[22:16] We are by nature and practice sinners. Sin is universal. we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.
[22:36] But here also we are reminded that as a consequence of sin that death has come to be universal. The apostle here means physical death.
[22:51] But although death as a consequence of sin is physical it entails a lot more and can be looked upon in three ways. There's the physical element the physical death the dissolution of body and soul but there is also spiritual death the loss of communion and fellowship with God.
[23:11] We are dead in trespasses and sin and then there is eternal death the separation of body and soul from communion with God forever.
[23:23] So that when we see that death has come as a consequence of sin then we must think of it in these three ways physical death spiritual death and eternal death.
[23:44] People may ask where did death come from? Well here is the answer of the Bible by sin. death is penal it has come in as a punishment for sin.
[24:02] Those who accept the theory of evolution accept death as just part of man's constitution they say it's only part of the cycle of life but that is not the truth concerning death at all.
[24:17] Man was made perfect he was indeed created immortal had Adam not sinned he would not have been subject to death for death is the wages of sin.
[24:33] Adam as originally created was created good. Although Adam as originally created was not as to his body in that state which would fit him for his immortal existence for he was not yet glorified Adam had still to achieve glorification but there was no principle of death in him and he would not have died if he had not sinned after his time of probation was passed it is to be at least assumed that a change in him would have taken place similar to that which is to take place in those believers who shall be alive when Christ returns but Adam sinned and as the catechism again teaches us what was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created was they're eating the forbidden fruit we all sinned in
[25:37] Adam and we are all guilty before God and you ask how what is our relationship to the sin of Adam well the Bible makes it clear to us that we were in Adam and what does that mean to be in Adam well the emphasis is laid upon the representative relationship between ourselves and Adam this use that God constituted Adam as the federal or the representative head of the human race and as such he made a covenant with him this covenant we commonly call the covenant of life again we turn to the catechism and ask the question what special act of providence did God exercise to man in the estate wherein he was created and the answer is this when God had created man he entered into a covenant of life with him upon condition of perfect obedience forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good evil upon the pain of death and it goes on to say did all mankind fall in
[26:54] Adam's first transgression and the answer is the covenant been made with Adam not only for himself but for his posterity all mankind descending from him by ordinary generation sinned in him and fell with him in his first transgression so that Adam was not simply acting for himself but as he was constituted by God as the representative head of mankind what he did involved all of mankind the biblical teaching here is that we have all sinned in Adam and that we are all guilty before God on account of that one sin of Adam when he willingly broke God's commandment God has imputed to the whole of mankind that one sin of Adam this is the essential part of the doctrine of original sin and as a consequence death has passed upon all men for all have sinned but you might say is it fair that the sin of
[28:08] Adam should be imputed to me well we may answer that with another question is it fair that the righteousness of Christ should be imputed to anyone and if you do not believe that there was a literal Adam and that what Paul here says about him is true what sense then can we make of the cross of Golgotha what sense can we make of the gospel what sense can we make of God's love to sinners like me and you what sense can we make of the latter part of the verse that we have taken as our text today if it is true that there was not a literal Adam and what Paul says here about him that it's not true why is there need of forgiveness what is the sense of the gospel why are we worshipping here today are we here to worship a
[29:27] God of our own imagination or are we here to worship the living and true God and if we are here to worship the living and true God then why can we not accept what he tells us is the truth why do we accept the parts that of the truth that leaves us comfortable why do we accept the parts of the Bible that leaves us comfortable and reject that which leaves us uneasy and uncomfortable we have to accept the whole truth we are all sinners we are all under the condemnation of God we are all without strength we are all ungodly we are all sinners we are all enemies of God but the good news for me and you today is that the answer to the question did
[30:29] God leave all mankind to perish in the state of sin and misery that we have this answer God having out of a smear good pleasure from all eternity elected some to everlasting life to enter into a covenant of grace to deliver them out of the state of sin and misery and to bring them into an state of salvation by a redeemer God God passed the angels that fell from their original state but he took hold of man and he offers man salvation to the angels that fell there was no salvation offered to them but to man that fell salvation is offered to him and that's the good news today but in order to obtain salvation we must be brought into a spiritual relationship with
[31:42] Christ and what is true of the Christian in his relationship with Christ has already been brought before us in the reading of this chapter but may I draw your attention to verse 10 it says there for if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life here the apostle tells us that we shall be saved by his life a better translation would be saved in his life and the word saved here means full and final salvation before we were outside his life now we are in the life of Christ and therefore our position is secure we commonly call this that we are in
[32:46] Christ that is we are united to Christ we are in his life and here the apostle says to us we shall be saved in his life he is the one who died to deal with our sin but he rose again he is the resurrected Jesus and he ascended to the right hand of the father and only those who are in Christ will be saved and they will be saved in his life by being united to Christ by faith by trust by leaning by commitment to Christ here in verse 15 of course he brings before us a complete contrast he speaks of the offence and its consequences and then he speaks of the free gift he says if the wages of sin is death the gift of
[33:51] God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord it is the grace of God that produces this gift but not does the offence so also is the free gift for if through the offence of one many be dead all have sinned all is dead much more the grace of God and the gift by grace which is by one man Jesus Christ hath abounded unto many it is the grace of God that produces this gift it is difficult to define grace but it is that quality in God that leads him to be gracious to the most undeserving God showing his loving kindness and favour to those who do not at all deserve his loving kindness or favour and the cross of
[35:04] Jesus Christ the cross of Golgotha is the highest manifestation of the grace of God for it was the grace of God that led his son to the cross it was the grace of God that made him to deliver up his son to the cross for sinners like me and you it was such thoughts that led the prophet Micah to write who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage he retaineth not his anger forever because he delighteth in mercy he will turn again he will have compassion upon us he will subdue our iniquities and cast all our sins into the depth of the sea or the prophet Isaiah who says oh Lord I will praise thee though thou was angry with me thine anger is turned away and thou comfortest me behold God
[36:04] God God is my salvation and I will trust and not be afraid for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song he also has become my salvation but now as the offence also the free gift for if through the offence of one many be dead and now he says much more the grace of God the phrase much more is something which has been emphasised right throughout this chapter it's a reminder to us that what we receive in Christ is much more than what we lost in Adam and that's a thought is it not this grace says the apostle leads to a free gift he reminds us that what we are given is entirely free we have not merited this gift although he does not define the gift in this verse he does so in the verses that follows he says to us that this grace hath abounded unto many
[37:17] John Bunyan certainly saw this and that is why he gives one of his most famous books the title grace abounding to the chief of sinners you see grace always abounds and this is the grace that is presented to you in the gospel Paul's rights of the unsearchable riches of Christ these inestimate they cannot be added to what does this abounding grace mean for me and you well it brings to us forgiveness wisdom to understand the gospel to persevere in the Christian path despite all the temptations and difficulties it shall bring us ultimately to glory where we shall see God face to face you see it brings us to a higher position than Adam was in a state of innocence in
[38:20] Eden because this grace will bring us to glorification that state that Adam would have been brought into if he had not sinned Adam was in a state of probation and liable to fall but we are in Christ and there is no possibility of us falling from grace Adam was made in the image of God innocent perfect and without sin but he was not in Christ he was on probation but we are in Christ we are not in a state of probation Jesus said no man shall be able to pluck them out of my father's hand Paul was so sure of his salvation as he writes in the eighth chapter of this letter and he says moreover whom he did predestinate them he also called and whom he called them he also justified and whom he justified them he also glorified listen them he also glorified now our glorification is in the future but
[39:35] Paul was so assured of it that he could use these words and give them to us as if our glorification had already happened whom he justified them he also glorified and in the verse 38 and 39 of the same chapter chapter 8 of this letter he says for I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord God well may you ask how is this grace and the gift by grace obtained by one man Jesus Christ this blessing can only come to us through
[40:35] Jesus Christ as we were united to Adam so we must be united to Christ by faith there is no salvation apart from Jesus Christ his coming into the world and his death on Golgotha was not a show but it was absolutely necessary for our salvation if he had not come if he had not died if he had not risen again there would be no abounding grace to sinners just a note in the passage sometimes people get confused without many as used in this verse and other places and they think that it means exactly the same and they proclaim universalism that is sin is universal all of sin and salvation is universal all are going to be saved but that's not at all true as
[41:38] Paul uses this word many in the first sense but not as the offence so also as a free gift for if through the offence of one many be dead there it means universal everybody has sinned everybody is dead in trespasses and in sin much more the grace of God and the gift by grace which were by one man Jesus hath abounded unto many what the apostle is saying there those who are connected to Jesus Christ by faith will receive the abundance of grace and gift of life those who are connected with Adam fell with them that is all of us and that those who are connected with Jesus Christ by faith will receive the abundance of grace and gift of life the vital question really for me and you today is are you connected to
[42:41] Jesus Christ by faith do you know anything of this abounding grace as we have already noted Jesus is the one who died to deal with our sin but who rose again he is the resurrected Jesus and he has ascended to the right hand of the father and the writer to the Hebrews reminds us that Christ continueth forever that he hath an unchangeable priesthood wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them he is able to save to the uttermost all those that will come unto God by Jesus Christ Christ died to reconcile you to God and he is alive and he is in heaven and if you trust in him he is your advocate there he is interceding on your behalf and his love will not let you go so our assurance of our ultimate salvation is summed up in that we are in
[43:57] Christ we are in his life that the certainty of our salvation depends absolutely on the fact that we are in Christ and that in him we have a new standing before God that we are in his life we should recognize that as powerful and destructive as Adam's one sin is Christ obedience and righteousness are more powerful we have to recognize that we cannot defeat sin and death ourselves but we must recognize that Jesus Christ has won the victory will we stand alone against sin and death or will we stand behind our great redeemer Jesus Christ when from time to time we stand at the grave of loved ones and we ought to recognize that we are there because of the one sin of
[44:58] Adam has one act of rebellion that one sin of Adam that one act of rebellion that one act of disobedience has had powerful and far reaching effects that causes grief and pain and suffering and loneliness another letter oh death where is thy sting oh grave where is thy victory the sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law but thanks be to God which giveth us victory through our
[46:01] Lord Jesus Christ Paul could say these words I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me can you say these words of Paul but not as the offence so also is the free gift for if through the offence of one many be dead much more the grace of God and the gift by grace which is by one man Jesus Christ hath abounded unto many well do you know anything in your own experience of this grace of God and of this gift of eternal life which he offers to me and you by grace through one man
[47:05] Jesus Christ may the Lord bless our thoughts let us pray eternal and ever blessed Lord today we come and we acknowledge our sinnership we acknowledge that we fell with Adam in his first transgression that we came under thy wrath that we came under the condemnation of God we acknowledge that by nature we are without strength we are ungodly we are sinners we are the enemies of God but blessed be thy name oh Lord for thy grace and for the outworking of thy grace that thou did stoop down to take hold of man and that thou did offer to man salvation salvation through thy son the
[48:12] Lord Jesus Christ the one who is one with thee the one who is in thy bosom the one who condescended to take upon himself our nature and for our sins to be laid upon him we give thee thanks O Lord that he the son of thy bosom became our saviour that he came to redeem us from the bondage and slavery of sin that thou did send him in this world and that he took our nature into himself in order to die that he became the sin bearer that he was cursed for our transgression that he was crushed for our iniquities that upon him that brought his peace and with his wounds that we are healed O Lord may we ever be found in humility of mind and heart bound down in thy presence and acknowledging
[49:19] O Lord our indebtedness to the grace of God in Jesus Christ we ask O Lord that thou would continue with us that thou would help us and lead us and guide us and uphold us in everything may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all now and forever more Amen