Romans 6:23 "The Final Outcome" - 3/16/2018

the next best thing is quick all right you remind me on for next week that's right that's right yeah I'm afraid we could not make that one work yeah but we are on for next week [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] one game Marty smile yeah I'll have to change my message now that's right that's right Louie come up here no I was thinking more about a message on difficult father-in-law's reaches great father-in-law's in the Bible in and how to deal with issues issues family issues all right so we still have a couple minutes here a little shout out for herbes coffee Hertz house coffee I went down there this morning and it was the first one in today got my cup of coffee at her there's no logo or anything on there brother playing I was expecting him one of those big-ass Stainback logos like on his golf balls mm-hmm that would be on the coffee cup anyway I gave the lady I bought Michel cut me a cut Michel puts in a dollar tip I give a dollar tip and I said so I to the lady I said I guess you get the tip and she said no and I thought we're bankrolling Kennedy on so many levels no I need if I start every week until we move down there plugging it yeah because we are moving down there I'm gonna switch worried about history by breakfast yeah it's free to get in will cost you get out we've locked the doors [Laughter] yeah I know it's only July but takes a while to order what I need so Jonathan how much time we got left Oh five seconds oh wow okay all right guys this you're good to see you glad that you're here and I do need to issue a welcome to everybody joining us on livestream wherever you are around the world wherever I travel people come up and and say they watch in fact we've just been out at Shepherds conference in Los Angeles and Kent is one of the most well-known people you know they know who you are and there's a new hashtag now on Twitter there actually really is its hashtag be nicer to Kent [Laughter] I think Kent started it okay so we all need to be nicer yes to can't all right let me begin in a word of Prayer for Kent so father what a privilege it is for us to meet together as men and with everyone who's joining us and to look into your word we are very mindful that your word is living and active sharper than any two-edged sword and so as we look into your word its pure truth and we want to receive it into our hearts more than that we want it to shape our lives conform us into the image of Christ so we ask for the Ministry of your Holy Spirit to Vic to be powerfully operative in our minds and in our hearts and that he would be at work in me and through me as we would lead this study pray this in Christ's name Amen all right we're in Romans 6 Romans chapter 6 and there's one last verse in Romans 6 verse 23 and it is such a an important verse that I did not want to jam it in at the end last time there's enough meat on this bone for just this one verse for us to look at and if you've ever memorized scripture this is on the short list of verses that you would memorize will ya this isn't a wanna verse okay so for the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord I mean I'm sure that you have that memorized are pretty close to being memorized and what this verse does is it brings to summation this entire chapter that this boils down to the the bottom-line summary and this is the outcome of everything that we've been looking at and just to remind you Paul has been painting quite a contrast between what we once were and what we now are and what we once were was a slave of sin and we were in the bondage of sin our mind our affections and yes even our will was in bondage to sin and when we were born again there brought about the extraordinary change in our life and we were liberated from our slavery to sin but we were introduced then immediately into a new slavery to the Lord Jesus Christ and it is a wonderful slavery it's a glorious slavery because everything he asks us to do is his good and acceptable and perfect will it leads into the fullness of his blessing for our lives and whenever we disobey we're going away from his blessings and so he is such a a loving master he provides for all of our needs he guides us he directs us he is with us every step of life's journey and so it is the the greatest slavery that we could ever know and experience and so as we come to the end of chapter 6 Romans 6 as he makes this contrast between slavery to sin which we once were and now slavery to Christ to God and to righteousness which we now experience he sets in contrast one more one more juxtaposition death and life and slavery to sin leads to death and slavery to Christ leads to life and so just to draw this to your attention in verse 21 he talks about death and in verse 22 he talks about life and so in verse 21 he says that for the outcome of those things which was refers to our slavery to sin the outcome of that is death and in verse 22 the outcome is eternal life when we are enslaved to Christ so let us remember these two great contrasts so as we come to verse three he in essence takes verse twenty one slave the outcome is death and he takes verse 22 the outcome is life and he ties them together and makes a knot and they're both in verse 23 to bring to summation so that's what's going on here so in in verse 23 it begins with the word for which introduces an explanation for what has just preceded and this verse divides out so perfectly and evenly into into two halves the first half for the wages of sin is death second half for the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord so there there's a lot here that we need to address so I've got two - two headings here very simple the wages of sin and the gift of God so let's start with the first half the wages of sin this is the first economy this is the first economic system and it is a works Bay system the one who is in this system which is slavery to sin you receive wages you receive a paycheck you get what you earn you are given what you deserve but what you have worked for by the sweat of your brow throughout your entire life there's a remuneration there's a payoff and you get exactly what you deserve so he says for the wages of sin is death this word wages literally means the pay off you go out you're hired for the day you're a day laborer you work out in the field you put in a full day's work you get a full day's pay you don't get a half a day's pay you know get a day and a half pay you work hard out in the field you put in a day's work you receive a day's pay you can't complain to the master that I was underpaid you can't complain that I was overpaid it's perfect equity it's absolutely fair and the wages that you garner the word wages here was used of a soldier who worked for a general reported to a general and the general issues the order to his paymaster that this man has put in this much work and he is to receive this much pay so he says the wages of sin you have been working for sin you have been under the mastery of sin you have committed sin you have lived for sin and let's remind ourselves what sin is sin is lawlessness sin is rebellion sin is anarchy sin is a violation of the law of God first John 3:4 says sin is lawlessness you are breaking the law of God and sin is committed in one of two arenas and it is committed in one of two ways the two arenas are what's on the inside your your your mindset your attitude what's in your heart and then also what's on the outside your actions and your deeds and Jesus was abundantly clear in Matthew chapter 5 that if you even look upon a woman with lust in your heart you've already committed adultery if you have hatred towards your brother you've already committed murder and so it begins in the heart even if the deed is never accomplished so those are the two arenas internal and external but there are also two types of sin we call them sin of of commission and sin of omission sin of commission is doing what you are doing the evil that you are forbidden to do I mean you're just running stop signs God says you shall not and you rather than hit the brake you push down on the gas pedal and you just plow right on ahead that's a sin of commission you you do what you are forbidden to do the other sin is a sin of omission that you fail to do what you're commanded to do you fail to do the good that you're commanded to do so we all sin in attitude and in actions and we all sin by doing the evil we're forbidden to do and failing to do the good we're commanded to do so that we have acquired quite a payment that's due us and of course we know that in Christ Christ has paid in full our sin debt but it is far more than any of us have any imagination what with the payoff on that would have been had Christ not stepped in and taken it on himself but the wages of sin is death and the death here is in contrast to eternal life and so the death here is eternal death which is the second death revelation 20 verses 14 and 15 talk about the second at the first death is physical death where we're not spared that death as Christians unless Christ returns in our lifetime we will still die the first death however we will never die the second death but those who are unbelievers are will reap the paycheck it'll be deposited into their account and the wages of that sin of all the accumulation of their sin is eternal death eternal damnation eternal torment now I just want to walk us through some verses here and you're gonna want to track with me to keep up with this but I just want to reinforce that the wages of sin is death and it's been this way since the very beginning of time this is nothing new so in Genesis chapter 2 and in verse 17 I even looked it up again this morning I just wanted to see with my own eyes and Bible I took out my little ballpoint pen I drew a circle around the word die I just want to be locked in on this so that it's in my in in in my mind and in my heart so Genesis 2 verse 17 but but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat now think about this God put Adam in a perfect world he had the whole world at his disposal there was one tree from which he could not eat and it was the goodness of God that said do not eat from this tree because when you eat from this tree you will obtain the knowledge of evil and your mind will become polluted and there will be darkness that will set in and we are to be innocent of evil and knowledgeable of what is good so it was a good God who put put a firewall around this tree who put a moat around this tree do not eat from this tree it will defile and darken you so what and and now he gives the penalty and it's a just penalty it's not a harsh penalty that is overly obtrusive it is it is equitable it is just he says for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die so what did Adam do that's the tree he had to eat from he ate from it and in the day that he ate from it he died he died spiritually and he began to die physically and he began to die emotionally and it would take many years until the physical death would become reality but the the the aging process began the dying process began and emotionally he began to to die on the inside he's now he's hiding from God and God appears in Genesis 3 where are you and and he's filled with fear and dread toward God and there was a breach in their relationship he was severed and it was the goodness in the mercy of God who took the initiative to restore the relationship by killing an animal and in clothing him and it was a foreshadowing of the Lamb of God it would take away the sin of the world but what we need to see here is just one sin against God well Dan your sole god is that holy and that God is that sovereign and God is that high and lifted up just one sin will send you to hell forever you and I have no idea how flagrant our sin is it is a cosmic rebellion against God it is cosmic treason against God it is high-handed anarchy against God and God takes it very seriously far more seriously than any of us takes in so from the very dawn of human civilization the wages of sin is death a blind man could see this but we tend to forget this all right come to Ezekiel chapter 18 Ezekiel 18 and verse 14 as we come to the prophets this is still on the books it's not as though this has been written off the books it's not as if God has forgotten this Ezekiel 18 in verse 4 behold all souls are mine there's a direct accountability of every soul to God the soul the father as well as the soul of the son is mine now look at the end of the verse the soul the sins will die that's exactly what God said to Adam and it is still has binding force upon the life of every person and God says to every one of us your soul is mine and you are directly accountable to me and you sin you die now look at verse 20 just to reinforce this the person who sins will die the judge of heaven and earth has determined the death penalty for sinners now come to the New Testament in Romans chapter 1 you remember the book of Romans don't you Romans chapter 1 and verse 32 you know starting in in verse 18 the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men ungodliness as the attitude and righteousness is the action who suppress the truth in unrighteousness they commit flagrant sin verse 21 they exchanged the knowledge of God for a creature and worship the creature verse 24 God gave them over to the lusts of their hearts into sexual impurity and verse 26 God gave them over to degrading passions lesbianism homosexuality verse 28 God gave them over to a depraved mind your your Bible may say a reprobate mine and then this laundry list in verse 29 unrighteousness wickedness greed evil Envy murder strife deceit malice gossip slander sounds like Entertainment Tonight haters of god insolent arrogant boastful inventors of evil disobedient to pay you know on and on and on look at verse 32 those who practice such things are were the of death the gavel comes down from the judge of heaven and earth the soul that sins will die we come to chapter 5 and verse 12 which we looked at a little while ago just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin sin paves the highway for death to travel and when we sin it's a package deal death comes with it the eternal death he says the same in verse 14 death reigned from Adam until Moses be and because all sinned we see the same in verse 17 for if by the transgression of the one death reigned through the one it's it's transgression or sin that brings death and at the end of verse twenty at in verse 21 at the end of chapter five sin reigned in death it's just they are inseparably bound together and you're not going to hear this anywhere else in the world except in a Bible study or an expository pulpit death sin brings death if you would look at chapter 8 and verse to Romans 8 verse 2 I just want to seal this in our thinking for the law of the spirit of life in Jesus Christ has set you free from please note the law of sin and of death their twin sisters heads and tails the same coin their inseparably bound together sin and death sin and death sin and death we see the same I won't even read it in verse 6 verse 10 verse 13 come to James 1 verse 15 I just want you to see it with your own eyes in your own Bible and feel free to mark up your Bible more you mark it up the better it'll be Spurgeon you say when you see a person whose Bible is falling apart you know their life is not so just mark it up James 1 verse 15 when lust has conceived it gives birth to sin and when sin is accomplished it brings forth death I remember when I was in college we call this the LSD of the Bible lust sin and death lust brings forth sin sin brings forth death it's all through the Bible and there other passages to which we could turn so when we come to Romans 6 in verse 23 and we read for the wages of sin is death none of us can say hey where'd this come from is this some new teaching from from Paul no it in fact the first preacher of this was God himself in the Garden of Eden it was God who said to Adam and the day that you eat of this tree you will surely die so now I want to I want to go a little deeper in this because some people send more than others and so some people earn a greater paycheck in sin and not all sin is the same you look at under the Mosaic law some sin all you had to do was replace what you stole replace what you broke that's the idea an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth simply means the punishment should fit the crime and so if in essence if you took someone's eye out you need to replace that i if if you took someone's tooth out you need to replace that tooth an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth it's not an eye for a tooth and it's not a tooth for a nice 4:9 a tooth for a tooth you break the lamp you need to replace the land but there were other sins that were for far more egregious and they required the death penalty and if you take someone's life your life needs to be taken by the government that's the only way you can have an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth the death penalty if you kill someone and there was even the death penalty under the Mosaic law for children who disobeyed their parents that would wipe out a whole generation of America right now there'd be no one left under the age of 70 so you cannot say all sin is the same because that would mean God is unjust and operates an inequitable Kingdom because God does not give the same punishment for every sin so for those who live their life as slaves of sin for some it will be more tolerable in the judgment than for others for a sum hell will be hotter than for others because God is just and God is equitable and he doesn't give the same paycheck to everyone because some have earned a far greater judgment and a far greater damnation than others now let's look at some verses on this way and we're under the wages of sin is death so come to the New Testament lest you think this is just Old Testament come to the New Testament come to Matthew come to the Gospel of Matthew come to the words of Jesus and in Matthew chapter 10 and in verse 15 Jesus sends out his his disciples verse 20 summon his twelve disciples gave them Authority etc sent them out verse seven they are to go out and preach the kingdom of heaven is at hand verse 6 they are to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel there to be itinerant evangelist and there to go from city to city and there to preach the gospel of the kingdom and the Kingdom of Heaven is is here you must repent and believe the gospel verse 14 whoever does not receive you as you travel from city to city nor heed your words as you go out of that house or that city shake the dust off your feet now verse 15 truly I say to you and remember whenever Jesus says truly I say to you he is underscoring the heightened importance of what I'm about to say it will be more tolerable for the land of sodom and gomorrah you were nervous sodom and gomorrah as the most vile city on planet earth and God literally smoked it out of existence fire came out of heaven and God literally just consumed and burned to a crisp for the entire city and it's buried under the Dead Sea right now it's in oblivion God just wiped it off the map it's like a tsunami wave just came sweeping over the city a wave of fire and just burned it to a crisp they're theirs they're not even the ashes that are left and then God buried it under the sea notice what he says it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Day of Judgment then for that city and that city refers to the city where they went and preached the gospel of the kingdom and had greater gospel light made known and you rejected the greater light of the truth you will be held more accountable by God for what you have heard then even Sodom and Gomorrah that was caught up in the grossest sins imaginable think about that it'll be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than for Dallas Texas in the day of judgment with all of the gospel voices and preaching that go on here for people who reject the gospel the greater the light the greater the accountability the greater the responsibility the greater the sin to reject it it will be more tolerable in the judgment and it will be more tolerable in hell no less we think that's an isolated verse come to Matthew chapter 11 next chapter Matthew 11 and verse 23 and 24 I'm going to begin in verse 20 then he began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles were done because they did not repent now where he did his miracles he preached the gospel he proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom he threw open the gates of paradise he called sinners to come to him and to repent and what is he saying verse 21 woe to you Corazon and the word woe does not mean like there's a rider on a horse and the horse bucks and he goes whoa no damned judged cursing is corazon woe to you bethsaida those are two towns on the northern Sea coast of the Mediterranean very close to Capernaum in verse 23 which was Jesus's headquarters Jesus based his preaching ministry out of Capernaum during his Galilee ministry and chorus basada had more than an earful of the truth they had full exposure to the light of the gospel woe to you cores and woe to you bethsaida for if the miracles had occurred and tyre and sidon which occurred in you they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes now what I just said about Corazon and Bethsaida on the Seacoast that's actually tyre and sidon excuse me for that slip but Corazon and best say that were right next to Capernaum very close that's an amazing statement and sovereignty of God because Jesus could have gone to tyre and sidon and preach the gospel and Jesus said and he would have brought about their repentance but he chose not to go there well that's a lot to put in your pipe and smoke that's that's that's pretty strong stuff but what Jesus is saying there will be a stricter judgment for those who reject the full knowledge of the gospel then there will be for these pagan heathen places that never heard the gospel if you're gonna go to hell and be better for you to go to hell from Nowheresville on some remote South Sea Island than to go to hell from Dallas Texas so look at the next the next verse verse 22 nevertheless I say to you it will be more tolerable for tyre and sidon in the day of judgment than for you verse 23 and you Capernaum I mean Jesus is very direct very emphatic and you Capernaum that's where he based that that's where he called Peter and James and John and Andrew to come join him and to follow will you be exalted to heaven will you are you going to heaven you will descend to hades for the miracles had occurred in sodom which occurred in you it would have remained to this day that is quite a statement my friend verse 24 nevertheless I say to you it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the Day of Judgment than for you there in Capernaum where everyone's nice to one another everyone was religious add a little synagogue they live with their families they worked hard it was kind of a place that you'd want to live Sodom and Gomorrah you wouldn't have even wanted to have walk through town you might not have gotten through town without being attacked by a grossly sinning gang of people and yet Jesus said it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the judgement then where the gospel was preached and you rejected it and correspondingly it will be hotter in hell for you who have heard the gospel again and again a full exposure to the truth and you just continue to play religion and you just continue to play games you are Romans to says you are storing up wrath until the day of wrath now come to the Gospel of Luke Luke chapter 12 Luke chapter 12 and starting in verse 42 Jesus gives this parable and the Lord said who then is the faithful and sensible steward whom this master will put in charge of his servants to give them to give them their rations at the proper time blessed is that slave a slave of God a slave of righteousness in this masters the antennas master mine's doing when he comes you can tell who the true servant is because he is actively doing the will of his master but verse 44 truly I say to you he will put him in charge of all his possessions now verse 45 but if that slave says in his heart my master will be a long time in coming and begins to beat the slaves both men and women and to eat and drink and the idea of eat drink is you just throw your feet up on the table you're just kicked back you're not doing you're just goofing off there is no giving yourself as a slave to do the work of your master you are a rebellious slave you you are you are in treason against your your master you refuse to do what your master has called you to do and then at the universe forty five and get drunk that means you have no care whatsoever for your master first forty six and the master that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and an hour when he does not know it's a reference to the return of the Lord and will cut him in pieces he will fillet him he will just shred him up and assign him a place with the unbelievers you know what that is it's called a chi double-l this is not a true believer this is a false convert this is a false disciple this is a Judas disciple this is someone in the house but he's not doing his master's will he's just eating and drinking and getting drunk and beating up the other slaves he does not know his does not know the master and when the master comes back he is going to cut him up and pieces he's gonna shred him one limb at a time and cast him into that place of unbelievers which is the lake of fire and brimstone now verse 47 and that slave who knew his master's will he had a full exposure to the truth he heard gospel preaching he heard the announcement of the kingdom of God he knew his master's will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will he did not repent and he did not obey he will receive many lashes he will have the fire beat out of him now look at the next verse but the one who did not know it he didn't know his master's will he was in the house but no one ever brought the message to him he just didn't know the one who did not know it and committed deeds worthy of a flogging now will he get a pass he will receive but few he will receive few lashes it will be a lesser punishment because he had a lesser knowledge of the truth and there will be a lesser punishment but he still held accountable for even that which he did not know ignorance is not innocence under the law then he says from everyone who has been given much the idea is much truth much knowledge of the kingdom of heaven much knowledge of the need to repent much knowledge of the Masters will much will be required a higher accountability and to whom they entrusted much of whom they will ask all the more know the judgment is not going to be the same because God will expect far more from some than from others and it will be less tolerable for some because they had a greater knowledge of the truth and they kept running the stop signs now come to the book of hebrews hebrews chapter 2 and verse 2 hebrews chapter two hard for my bible to go past romans hebrews chapter two kind of gets stuck there notice the second half of verse two every transgression they're not all just lumped together in an omelet every single transgression will be singled out isolated and disobedience receive a just penalty now not all transgression will receive the same penalty some transgressions are greater they will receive a greater punishment some are less receive less our whole judicial system is built upon this entire principle an eye for an eye and a tooth for two if you jaywalk you should not get the death penalty you should get a $50 ticket if you go intentionally pull out a gun and shoot 17 people in an elementary school you don't get a $50 fine you get the death penalty times 17 every crime is not the same every punishment is not the same because God is just and God is equitable if I give you a dollar what's equitable is for you to give me four quarters if you give me three quarters that's unjust you give me five quarters in reality that's unjust it's the penalty that the crime and the penalty must match up so every transgression will receive a just penalty now come to Hebrews 10 and verse 29 Hebrews 10 and verse 29 I'm gonna start reading in verse 26 but where I'm headed for his verse 29 but we need to get a running start at it verse 26 where if we go on sinning again the idea of running stop signs you know the truth the gospel has been preached to you you hear the call to repent and you just stick your fingers in your ear yeah one day I'll get serious about God one day I'll think about repenting one day I'll come all the way to Christ one day I'll commit my life to Christ and if we just go on sinning in unbelief willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth you've had a full-blown exposure to the truth of the gospel there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins you're on your own verse 7 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the Angelus Aries now verse 29 how much severe punishment so okay so there's degrees of punishment there's punishment and then there's severe punishment do you think he will receive do you think he will deserve excuse me these are the waiters you've earned this this is on the books who has trampled under foot the Son of God and has regarded as unclean the blood of the Covenant by which he and there should be a capital H he was sanctified and has insulted the spirit of grace by your flagrant continual unbelief every time you here you sit in church you hear the gospel and you refuse to give your life to Christ you refuse to repent and you just get up and you're in a hurry to get to lunch and to watch the football game and you just go barn storming out of church you are trampling underfoot the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and it was a sign of total disdain a total rejection and you are also insulting the spirit of grace who has come and has convicted you a sin and righteousness and judgment you are spitting in the face of the Holy Spirit and you are trampling underfoot the blood of Christ it means nothing to me it is like the blood of pigs severe er judgment then those who have never heard the gospel and cannot trample underfoot the precious blood of what they've never heard yet they will still be beaten with lashes just fewer lashes than the many lashes so the next verse for we know Him who said vengeance is mine I will repay and again the idea is paying wages no this one is accumulating a massive payout this one has stock options that have split so many times there is compound interest there is this is exponential multiplication of the payment that is coming to you the wages of your sin is stacking up to the heights of heaven there's a pay day some day that's coming the wages of sin is death so verse 31 or at the end of verse 30 the Lord will judge as people and as people here refer to unconverted Jews that's why the book of Hebrews is called Hebrews it's written to Jews you hear the gospel but cannot give up their Judaism and will not come all the way to faith in Christ knowing they will be D synagogue they'll be put out of their families their parents will have a funeral service and bury their clothes they will be cut off from all business relationships within the synagogue they know that if I come all the way to faith in Christ it's gonna cost me everything but they've heard the truth and they continue to trample underfoot the precious blood of Christ and they insult the spirit of grace God will judge his people he will judge his Hebrew people as well as his Gentile people and then verse 31 it is a terrifying thing terrifying to fall into the hands of the Living God God will not even delegate this judgment to someone else God will will not sub it out God will not hire a hatchet man to come in and do the dirty work they will fall into the hands of God himself and God will damn their souls forever and it will be fair it will be just it will be right it will be equitable because the wages of sin is death and compound sin brings compounded punishment and it will be more tolerable in the day of judgment for Sodom and Gomorrah and it will be for those cities where the gospel was preached now I knew it would take a little bit longer to go through those verses and we hadn't gotten to the good part but I want to tell you again what I've already told you there is no good news until you know what the bad news is and the darker the bad news the brighter the good news and I need to at least tell you what the good news is now we can open it up here for discussion but the free gift of God you don't want what you deserve you don't want what you've been working for you do because in fact you come to one more verse revelation 20 verse 12 it was a moment for everyone to call it's not said turn to Revelation 20 look at verse 12 revelation 20 verse 12 and you now you know I'm naturally gonna say when we start reading in verse 11 and I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it it's the Lord Jesus Christ from whose presence earth and heaven fled away and no place was found for them and I saw the dead the great and the small standing before the throne and books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books according to their deeds God has kept perfect books on everyone's life things that people can't even remember the junior high school bedroom friends buddies dates high school college military athletic teams single days marriage God has kept impeccable books every every thought every attitude every word every deed it's all recorded and the books will be opened and God will judge everyone it says according to their deeds and they will receive exactly what they deserve no more no less it'll be perfect justice and they will have no advocate to stand beside them to plead their case it will be one-on-one with God and in Romans 3 and verse 19 it says every mouth will be closed there be no excuses the Lord but you see how can you argue with the books and you will validate to your own mind as true true as true it's true it's true yes it's true it's true so much sin so much punishment so much damnation so the wages sin is death the second death from which there is no acquittal or rather than having it buy what you deserve you could have what you don't deserve now if anything is unfair it's for you and me to receive what we don't deserve and that's called G r AC e grace but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord and in Colossians 2 just turn to Colossians 2 I know I'm running stop signs here to let everyone hop in but I know this is pretty heavy in Colossians 2 and verse 14 talking about the death of Christ having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us he has taken it out of the way having nailed it to the cross what is this certificate of debt that was nailed to the cross metaphorically it is the list of every charge against you in reality that's what was nailed to Jesus's cross king of the Jews that wasn't a gospel tract that was the charge against him he claimed to be the King of the Jews they would post to the top of the cross the charge against you and they would also put the the the just recompense so let's say they put someone in prison they would ride on their terrorist thief murderer and then they would put out beside it 20 years 10 years 18 years in prison would be the charge there would be the penalty that's written on the certificate of debt this is your debt to justice this is your debt to society and you will not be let out of this prison until the entire debt has been paid every charge every penalty and then once you'd been in there for 48 years they would then open the prison gate take you take down the certificate of debt take you to the judge and the judge would write across the certificate of debt to tell us died paid in full and you would now be released when Jesus died upon the cross he cried out to tellus die paid in full or it is finished and what Jesus did when he went to the cross God the Father took the list of every sin that you have ever committed in the entirety of your life going back to the beginning and through the end until you died God took every sin and posted it on that certificate of debt and the the amount of punishment that you would pay in Hell for that sin that certificate of debt was nailed to the cross for everyone for whom he died and when he shed his blood it says at the end of verse 13 he purchased forgiveness for all of our transgressions he paid in full so God didn't just take our sin and sweep it under the carpet God took all of our sin and laid it upon Christ and nailed the certificate of debt to the cross and upon the cross Jesus suffered for every single individual sin that you and I have ever committed whether an attitude or inaction whether in word or in deed where they're doing what we should not have done or failing to do what we should have done are doing what was right but with the wrong selfish motive all of those sins no matter how you slice it or cut it was written on this certificate of debt and it was nailed to the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ it was invisible you couldn't see it all you could see was what the Roman government posted Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews that was the charge against him but our charge was nailed to the cross as well and so Jesus by His perfect death on our behalf he paid the wages of our sin he paid it off completely in essence he threw down his credit card just put it all on my account and I'll pay the whole smelly mess with my blood and with my death and so he now gives to us the free gift of eternal life and here eternal life is the eternity of being with the Father and being with him forever and it is all at the end of verse 23 it is all in Christ Jesus our Lord there's not a drop of grace outside of the Lord Jesus Christ it is all in Christ and if you're outside of Christ you're gonna have to pay that hole you're gonna have to pay it off yourself in hell forever or you could come to your senses then repent of your sin and turn to him who died in the place of sinners and throw yourself upon his mercy and believe in him and entrust your life to him commit your life to Him and receive not what you deserve but receive what you do not deserve which is Grace so this verse is just a monumental verse and I out of time I know and I'm somewhat frustrated with myself but I just have to believe that God the Holy Spirit is directing as we go through this so much application I mean I mean if we can't worship of God after knowing this then we must be lost and if if this doesn't motivate us to live for Christ that the noose that was around our neck was removed by the by the hangman and we've been set free I mean we have to live for him and it's this is all in Jesus Christ our Lord if you're saved he's your Lord if he's not recognized as Lord you're not saved Jesus Christ Jesus our Lord so this requires our submission this requires our obedience this requires our living for him I mean he died for us surely we can live for him right no sacrifice that he would ever require me is too great if he paid off this whole smelly mess and has delivered me from the fires of hell forever then every day I should be living for him to bring him honor and bring him glory and and to bear witness of Christ and to tell other people they're running stop signs I mean are you certain that you know the Lord I mean have you come all the way to Christ because there will be a severe punishment otherwise and then you know if you've never believed in the Lord Jesus Christ I mean the whole now is the accepted time behold today is the day of salvation so if you hear his voice harden not your heart so come to Christ believe in Christ and for whoever is watching on livestream you've been listening to the truth in these studies of Romans and God is holding you to a higher level of accountability to him because you have now been hearing the truth and so it'll be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah then it will be for you if you do not repent and run to Christ flee to Christ and let me give you the good news he loves to receive sinners his arms are thrown wide open and he says him that comes unto me I will in no wise cast out he's a physician has come for those who are sick not for those who are well he's come to seek and to save that which is lost he didn't die for good people he died for bad people so he invites you to come to himself and to believe upon him and he will receive you and he will bring you into his kingdom and he will bestow upon you the free gift that you could never purchase in a million lifetimes eternal life and it's all on his son Jesus Christ well I need to close and word of Prayer and anyone who wants to stay and talk I'm gonna be preaching in this building first-floor Sunday Trinity Bible Church of Dallas if you can come come we'd love to have you and I'd love to see you personally and if you're watching by livestream please come up and introduce yourself to me I'd love to see you and what we're gonna have a great time Sunday morning digging into the Word of God we're never disappointed when we look into God's Word because the Bible tells it like it is well let me close in a word of Prayer father this has been a waiting heavy study than we've had today but every bit of it has just come from your word and sometimes it takes the heaviness of these verses to really arouse our attention and it has certainly done that today and it makes us all the more grateful for the free gift of eternal life father thank you that you do not hold us accountable now for what we have worked and to be received as wages thank you that Christ took it to himself he paid it all off on our behalf and we're now free from the bondage to sin thank you for eternal life thank you for Christ thank you for this plan of salvation may much grace and encouragement rest upon every man here today thank you for including this last verse in Romans 6 pray this in Jesus name Amen amen man thank you for hanging in here with me I know this is a big one yes sir yes sir their lives will often here well God could never forgive me yeah oh absolutely yeah and of course I ran out of time at the end and I had more notes no he said to us in chapter 5 verse 20 where sin increased grace abounded all the more so no matter how great a person's sin God's grace is infinitely greater and he has grace to save the chief of sinners that Paul saw as himself and so for any continuing to listen no matter who you are what you've done where you've been where you are in sin the grace of God is far greater as high as the heavens are above the earth so great is his forgiveness towards those who fear him if you will by faith commit your life to Christ and take God seriously as high as the heavens are above the earth so is his grace higher than the depths of your sin and he will take your sin and cast it behind his back meaning he will not see it any more and he will bury it in the sea of his forgetfulness and your sin he says he will remember no more so God's grace is superabundant grace and whatever you've committed whatever sin you you are in God's grace is is yet greater so yes that is very true so anyone else yeah mark but and as you talked about I don't think that the unrepentant center can even fathom the depths of Hell mm-hmm the Eternity of hell but the believer who has been redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ with this physical body in these minds but I don't think we can even fathom the glory to come yeah sure eyes not seen nor heard and ears entered in the heart of man every first of the gospel not to heaven but yeah it's so true it's because that puts the beautiful balance in that verse but the free gift yeah yeah absolutely well I wish I had bounced out even more in my presentation however we've spent the last three months going through justification and the grace that covers us and the forgiveness and every once in a while we need to have the hammer dropped and and just to kind of be awakened out of our slumber and so this was that time but for those who are still watching run to Christ flee to Christ he receives sinners he's the friend of sinners was the accusation against him because they saw his life Luke 15 1 he spent time with tax collectors and sinners and the the you know the Pharisees I mean does he not know who these people are that he's spending time with and he told them the parable of the lost sheep the lost silver and the lost son and it's his heart to go after the lost center to find the lost coin and to receive the rebellious son it's the heart of God so anybody needs to slip out we can go ahead and then you wanna stay and for some questions and discussion would stay for a few more minutes also again Steve is was preaching last week to 5,000 people's and this is under he's going to be preaching to us lucky less we're privileged to have him so I didn't bite everybody to come the Trinity Bible reading downstairs at Hertz house yeah lines are emanating 9:30 and bring a friend and bring your Bible we're privileged to ask you any questions yeah we actually have one for okay yeah oh I love Romania I just spoke with some men tomorrow Romania at the shepherds she asked about 1029 he was set apart the word sanctified it means to be separated to be set apart unto doesn't necessarily mean to be cleansed as it is when issues relating to us in fact the word was used in the old testament of prostitutes who were sanctified meaning set apart to their occupation Christ at the cross was set apart to the will of God and set apart to his mission to receive us now it's it's a translators decision there's no capital letters and there's no small letters in the original Greek and so the translator has to make the decision when it should be capitalized and when it should not be it's one reason I like the new American Standard by the way and I don't prefer the newer translations I want divine pronouns to have a capital letter III I want he to be capitalized when it refers to God and Christ it's too confusing when it's a small letter but this is one case where I think it should be a capital it's a good question on thank you for watching him from Romania I was wanting to come to Romania this summer because I'm going to the Czech Republic and there are men who come from Romania that I met them in Vinton burg Germany this past summer but it just wouldn't work out there'll be people coming from Slovakia to the Czech Republic as I preach there I hope one day to get to Romania so yeah anything else head move on up you can't sit back in the corner I mean you got sit with us guys come on yeah yes sir tell us about what how does Satan play a role well obviously the whole rebellion against God started with Satan who is Lucifer son of the morning and he led a revolt in heaven 1/3 of the Angels rallied behind his influence so think about how persuasive and influential the devil is if he could convince a third of the Angels in the very presence of God who are created innocent without a sin nature to join him as he seeks to exalt his throne above the throne of God God cast him down and a third of the angels down and they are the demon spirits he is now the one who led the first rebellion in the Garden of Eden against God so he's continuing his pattern of rebellion against God and he is seeking now to instigate this opposition against God and to be worshipped as God that's in heaven he wanted to exalt his throne above the heights of heaven and received the worship that belonged to God alone in the mystery of all mysteries is where did that sin begin but it did he now is the god of this age the ruler of this world god of this a small G and God has allowed him to have a limited delegated authority we know from job 1 that he has access to come before the throne of God and I don't understand that one either and he still must receive permission from God the the the limits to which he can carry out his dastardly deeds have a limitation and he said in job one you can do this you can do this you do this but you cannot do that and then joke - he was given more permission yes you can now do this he had authority - he you know to take the lives of the ten children of Jobe John 8:44 he he is a murderer from the beginning Jesus said so he was there with Cain and Abel and inspiring in the heart of of Cain his murder of of his brother Abel and so he's the power behind the throne of wickedness we know from Ephesians 1 in Ephesians 6 that there is a hierarchy of angelic demonic spirits highly structured highly organised rulers and powers and principalities and dominions and so it's it's a it's a very organized force of darkness against the kingdom of God and it's real now you say I mean God remains sovereign and as Martin Luther said the devil is God's devil and carries out God's purposes and what he means for evil God means for and you can just look at the cross and Satan was there inciting the riot against Christ crucify him crucify him and yet it was the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God so the devil is just playing into God's hand and at the end of the age he will be chained and cast down into hell and and they're confined he is not the lord of hell he is he will be the the lowest of the lowest of hell he will not be inflicting the punishment on the others in hell he will be the recipient of God's punishment in hell but until then he roams about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour first Peter 5:6 and he is loose he's loose on the streets of Dallas he is not omnipresent so he he can only be in one place at one time and so he would be like my father and my father-in-law fought in World War two they never did hand-to-hand combat with Hitler but they fought against Hitler the devil has his minions and demonic spirits and we wrestle not against flesh and blood begins principalities powers spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places and so it's very real he incites persecution against the church he sews tares among the wheat he snatches up the seed after it's been sown he has power to inflict disease he is a murderer he is an insider of murder he is a liar and a deceiver and is behind all attacks on the Bible I mean when first thing that came out of the Serpent's mouth has God said and surely you will not die he is the hiss of the serpent behind every attack on the integrity of Scripture the inspiration of Scripture so I mean just in a nutshell Satan is real he's more real than the person sitting next to you he is our real adversary that he has been defeated at the cross and the full sentence will be executed at the end of the age but he is real and he is not to be trifled with and even Michael the Archangel would not bring you know railing accusation against him knowing the the power he was the highest of the angels he is more brilliant than any of us around this table he is smarter faster quicker I mean we are no match in and of ourselves for the aggression of the devil but greater is he who's in you than he who's in the world first John 4:4 so we have to put on the full armor of God we have to gird our loins with truth we have to put on the breastplate of righteousness we have to put on the helmet of salvation we have to take the shield of faith we have to shot our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace we have to take the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God and we can leave no in our armor no crack in our armor and Satan is firing his fiery missiles and he seeks to bring discouragement defilement temptation I mean he is after us and I say he threw his delegated strategies stratums of demonic spirits he wants our death and and so it's real a spiritual warfare and the closer you advance to the frontlines in serving God the more you're in the line of fire I mean he's going to leave a sleeping dog lie on the back pew but as you advance to the front lines and you want your life to count for God you're gonna meet opposition head-on and when Jesus appeared that's why there was such a demonic outburst in the Gospel accounts because the Son of man has come in advanced to the front lines and it was like hell you know was aroused so we can't just sit back passively and go well it's the sovereignty of God God will work it all out no but that's fatalism no we have to be strong in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we have to put on the full armor of God and the disciples try to perform some miracles in his life and we couldn't do it you know this kind of lonely come out by prayer and fasting and I mean there's high responsibility for us to get dirt under our fingernails and blood on our Jersey and to get in the game and and wrestle with the devil so just to answer your your question obviously so much more can be said he he holds captive his prey second Timothy 2:26 held in the snare of the devil to do his will I mean you talk about freedom of the will are you kidding me first of all you're dead and sin and trespasses but you're also bound by the devil there's far stronger than you I mean the devil doesn't want you to come to Christ so he's so actively involved so he's alive and well and he's after us the sinner who just goes can this people you know can the Lord forgive me for this and our sins are note to the cross and statement continue bring us up yeah he's a great deer exactly and he as you said he doesn't want you sure he brings condemnation to the conscience which is why we have to know sound doctrine and to know the truth because the battle for the Christian life is the battle for the Christian mind I mean you have to know the truth you can't run on your emotions he's called the evil one he's called Belial he's called Satan he's called the devil he's called Lucifer he's called the strongman he's likened into a lion I mean on and on now here no Sam yeah no here say I don't know yeah it's just the feel good you have been asked your wife yeah no it is preaching a message yeah it is it really is Ted and it's this message that should drive people to Christ I mean the holy spirit has come into the world to convict men of sin righteousness and judgment now if you want people under conviction of sin and to be regenerated and converted then you're gonna have to preach on sin righteousness and judgment now we do preach on the love of God and the grace of God and but in its order first the bad news that makes the good news phenomenal news it makes grace amazing grace you know to know to know this hell yeah yeah and I'll tell you what they're on they're on pulpit committees they're on Deacon boards now an elder but where's a lot of good teaching in doubt but that would be bored of the people were you know I dare say you would empty a lot of churches sad just sad to say and our goal is not to just shut everything down but it it would be so sobering and shocking yeah we'll just go someplace else this can't be true I mean where'd you come up with this strange teaching yeah yeah it's called Genesis through revelation welcome to the Bible yeah I mean Jesus had more to say about Hell than anyone in the Bible the most loving thing you can do is to warn people of the the peril and the danger and then to flee yeah and I I who knows what I'll do next week we meet next Thursday and please tune in and please come back I don't know if I'll dig down into the free gift is eternal life we've been hitting that for like the last three months under justification by faith alone and even sanctification it is a lot of me yeah there there is a power in cross references when they're lined up well because you bring the whole Bible to bear on a subject this isn't just an isolated verse that you could say well like you could read it a different way wage of sin is death you know maybe doesn't mean that but then you genesis Ecclesiastes all through romans james revelation I mean the whole record of Scripture it speaks with one voice it never contradicts itself and so a matter is determined by two or three witnesses well we've just brought you know eight witnesses to the stand it's more than a confirmed testimony and just because you might answer this just because your sin is less yeah violation is a man invented teaching just like purgatory is a man invented teaching annihilationism that there would be term limits to hell that there would you know after 20 years it's over and God could not be this cruel could not be this harsh for all eternity etc so it's who are you gonna believe are you gonna leave the Bible or are you going to believe your own common sense or your own reasoning well if Ken if we went through the book of Revelation for example the same word that defines how long heaven and eternal life is is the same word that's used for how long eternal punishment is so if you teach anihilation ism for hell you you're also going are you're just totally inconsistent you're playing fast and loose with the Bible then you're next to say the same for heaven that God just annihilates everybody in heaven as well and God just ends up with nothing in the end well that's a stupid teaching and doctrine and you know it it annihilationism people want God they want a wider mercy and and they want God to look better when in reality you're making God unloving to give now a lesser punishment than what is deserved and we just have no idea how sinful sin is and Kent and I were with John MacArthur yesterday Ian we were at the airport and he reminded us of a book the sinfulness of sin it's an old Puritan classic by Ralph Benning so I and he's buried in bun Hill fields I've led many tours to bun Hill Phil effect Kent was with me this summer church history tour to London and Ralph finning is was a part of the great ejection in 1662 and is buried in Ben Hill field were John Owen and John Bunyan or buried in Isaac Watts etc and anyway so I just read it on the plane coming back last night and last night as I was trying to read myself to sleep the sinfulness of sin and it just takes sin in every conceivable direction just layer upon layer upon layer and it was good for me to be reminded of the sinfulness of sin and the subtitle is the plague of plagues the Puritans had a way of and it is the plague of plagues and it's playing off of the plague that swept through London after the great ejection and there's a far greater plague than then the Black Death and it's eternal death the second death so obviously I've had a chance to read the whole thing but if anyone wants to read a good book on sin after the Bible it would be that well thanks for staying for the afterglow well actually I feel like we're in the upper room after Jesus left so the faithful eleven remained yeah Ted thanks for coming so thank thanks [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]

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Length: 107min 24sec (6444 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 16 2018