Notes on Romans

Romans Chapter 7 verses 5 to 13 : Covetousness and Carnality

2010-01-06T22:50:00.002Z

Notes from a message preached by Dr J Stewart Gillespie
At Bridgend Gospel Hall New Cumnock
To listen to the MP3 recording of this message click here

Chapter 6: 4 reasons we do not continue in sin:

1.Dead to sin
2.Alive to Christ
3.Serve another
4.Sin remains sin

The bulk / the biggest of these 4 reasons presented in chapter 6 was: 'I serve another' which runs from about verse 12 to 20.
Chapter 7 continues where chapter 6 left off
Chapter 7 looks at what stops me from living the life I ought to live, a life that really counts for God and for eternity,
The believer has 3 great enemies:

1.The World
2.The Flesh
3.The Devil

cf. James 3:15; Psalm 17:12-14
Consider Moses and his rod used against Egypt – the world, the serpent – the Devil and Amalek – the flesh
Consider David in 1 Samuel 17 – up against Goliath marked by 666, Saul and his carnal advice and the world in the form of the Philistine army
Come to Romans 7 you would hardly know we had 3 enemies, only 1 mentioned – the flesh!
Why the is it that the flesh comes in for such special attention here?

1.The Devil – smarter enemy: the 'angel of light', whispering in your ear: 'this is the way...let me show you a better way...don't listen to the preacher...never mind your bible..you needn't get rid of that sin, just cut it down a bit and if you can't cut it down a bit, just pretend you have, no one needs know...you can handle it.'

2.The World – would be a bigger enemy

3.The Flesh – the weakest enemy! Paradoxically the most significant! It is the weakest link in the chain! The flesh is the most vulnerable! The flesh becomes the final common pathway of all attack on my spiritual progress!

So then if I didn't have the flesh:

1.Satan would be unable to gain a foothold in my life? Correct! Consider the words of Christ: “The prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me” (John 14:30)

2.The world would have no appeal to me? Correct! Consider 1 John 2:16: “all that is in the world the lust of the flesh...”

3.Sin would have no appeal to me? Correct! (Rom7:5)

When we use our bodies / lifes to act / speak / serve, think of:

1.The Cause of the action: Is it “in the flesh,” is it the kind of thing an unsaved person would do? Is it just fulfilling natural desires?

2.The Consequences of that actions: God desires that all actions and service for Him lead me deeper into “holiness” (6:19,22)

3.The Conclusion (6:23) – does it lead to death? Do the results continue with positive significance after death, “unto eternal life”?

It is through the flesh Satan will attack me!
An unsaved person is very much in:

1.The Power of Sin (Rom 6)
2.The Power of Satan (Eph2)
3.The Power of the Flesh (Rom7:5)

Yet a man will rarely commit a sin that he does not enjoy!
So Satan will act on the flesh, the natural appetites, for a buzz, a good time, a thrill.
The world will appeal to: materialism, sexual appetite, natural desires: “the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, the pride of life.”
Beware of blaming your sin on the Devil!
God doesn't!
God holds me responsible for my own sin!
A man generally will enjoy his own sin:

David – acted and fell on sexual desire
Samson – sexual desire was his downfall
Nabal – gluttony
Judas – love of money, Satan entered into him and yet Judas fell because of his own greed and materialism. He had kept the bag and stolen from it and now he sells the Lord for 30 pieces of silver! A sin Satanically designed to appeal to Judas' flesh!

7:1-4 – Freedom from Law
7:5-13 – Failure of Flesh
7:14-25 – Frustration with Flesh

How does the flesh hold me back?

7:5 – The Flesh Rebels against God
7:6 – The Flesh Restricts God
7:7 – The Flesh Replaces God

The Flesh Rebels Against God (7:5)

What is the response of the flesh to God? To His Word? To His Law?
This verse is here that I might be able to discern the action and reaction of my own flesh to Gods Word.
Does the flesh respond to Gods Word by:

(a)The flesh gets information from the law? The flesh sitting back, minding its own business, is informed about sin by the law, and finds itself drawn to do what it never thought to do before? I don't think that is it at all. There is something far more active in the relationship between the 2 in verse 5: “the passions of sins” (v5), this is the flesh pursuing sin with a passion! Consider how the 'flesh' responds to Gods Law / Gods Word:

i.Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen19) – the men rebelled against Gods Word from Lot: 'who do you think you are?' Who are you telling what to do?' The flesh responds with rebellion against God and His Word.

ii.Synagogue of Nazareth (Luke 4) – The Word of God preached, an opportunity to respond to the gospel, if you don't respond then I'll turn to the Gentiles! Remember Elijah and the widow of Zarephath, remember Elisha and the Shunammite! What was their response? We never thought of that before? We'll need to go home and discuss this with our Rabbis? No the response of the flesh was that of rejection – took Him to the brow of the hill to cast Him off.
iii.Calvary – man responds in the flesh with revulsion: “hated without a cause” He was “despised and rejected of men...” they cried “crucify Him”

(b)The flesh is not simply informed by the law rather it is surely clear the response of the flesh is that on inflammation!

Why does this happen?
Every person has:

1.The flesh – which rejects God (Rom 8:7) – Detests God
2.A Conscience (Rom 2) – which detects God

As soon as the conscience detects God; in moral values eg Sodom and Gomorrah, in His Word eg Luke 4 or in Person – the rejection of Christ.
I need the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome all of that!
Beware of a response to the Word of God that: rebels, rejects, revolts – that is the response of the flesh.

The Flesh Restricts God (7:6)

The flesh wants to turn the reality of relationship into the routine of religion
We have seen previously that service for God can become a dry, dismal, dead, formal thing, that comes out of:

Responsibility
Obligation
Duty

This is not the motive for true Christian service
Psalm 40:8 “I delight to do thy will O my God, yea thy law is within my heart”

D – Desire
E – Enjoyment
L – Love
I – Intensity
G – Glory of God
H – Heart
T – Total Commitment

To serve the way God wants me to serve I need:

1.Passion to Serve (7:1-4)
2.Possibility / Ability to Serve (7:5-13)
3.Power to serve (7:14-25)

The flesh desires to change that service into a cold legality / formality (7:6)
It is possible to draw a certain comfort / consolation from the repetition of form.
The flesh likes formality – it keeps God at a distance.

Indicators of formality: we become caught up with:

1.The Processes of religion: “I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.” (Amos 5:21)

2.The Places of religion: “But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.” (Mat 12:6); Matt 24:1: the church / the hall!

3.The People of religion: “Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.” (Luke 3:8) cf. “Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.” (1Co 1:12) “For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?” (1Co 3:4)

The Flesh Replaces God (7:7)

Of all the commandments to pick in this verse why pick:
“thou shalt not covet” ?
Why that one?
Are there not more important commandments?
More serious laws?
What about the 1st table of the law? Sins against God?
Did you notice that “thou shalt not covet” is by way of illustration of “lust” (v7) – in other words it is covetousness that makes lust sinful.
The problem with lust is, it is a form of covetousness.
Lust – the product of the flesh, sets my heart on what it ought not to be set upon.
Lust is sinful because it takes my heart away from where it ought to be.
Consider how covetousness lies at the root of so many sins:

1.The root sin of the flesh – covetousness
2.The root sin of Satan – covetousness: Isa 14:12-13; Ezek 28:16
3.The root sin of the world – covetousness: 1 John 2:16
4.Idolatry is covetousness (col 3:5)
5.Theft is the practice of covetousness
6.Adultery is sexual covetousness

Covetousness is therefore presented in scripture as:

1.The root of all evil (1 Tim6:10)
2.The impediment to entering into heaven (Matt 19:24)
3.The alternative to Holy Spirit filled living (Col 3:2)
4.The seminal / root sin behind Satan, the World and the Flesh.
5.Responsible for bringing Gods judgement upon His people (Isa 57:17)
6.The sin of displacing God from my heart and putting something or someone else in His place: Ps 119:36; Ezek 33:31; Heb 13:5.

Covetousness is thus the Seminal sin:

The Divine definition of sin expounded in the 10 commandments, exemplified throughout Israels history, exposed in times of Divine judgement upon His people and explained in scripture hinges upon Gods abhorrence to and utter intolerance of covetousness, that is the revulsion of God towards a created being becoming distracted by or occupied with anything other than God. This is a most dangerous sin committed when it is committed against the One who describes Himself as a “jealous God.”

When I apply this to my life, the insight which it brings is little short of mind blowing:

i.Every unnecessary shopping trip
ii.Every distracted hour
iii.Every wasted evening on the TV / internet
iv.Every pre-occupation with material gain
v.Every social event which takes priority over the spiritual

Becomes an act of exceptional sinfulness.

To listen to the MP3 recording of this message click here

Romans Chapter 7 verses1 to 4 – A Passion for Service

2010-01-06T20:00:00.001Z

Taken from a message preached at Bridgend Gospel Hall New Cumnock by
Dr J Stewart Gillespie
To listen to the MP3 recording click here

“Shall we continue in sin?” (Rom6:1)

We considered 4 reasons we don't continue in sin:

1.We are Dead to Sin (6:1-6)
2.We are Alive to Christ (6:5-11)
3.Because I Serve Another (6:12-20)
4.Because Sin remains Sin (6:21-23)

Because I Serve Another:

We thought about this practically
Consider how the whole body is used in service, start from the top:

1.Our master (6:12) – Our Head
2.Our mortal body (6:12) – Our Human Desires / Lusts of the Body
3.Our members (6:13) – Our Hands
4.Our motive (6:17-19) – Our Heart

1.Our master (6:12) – Our Head

Who is in charge? Who is my master?
We chose our master!
There are only 2 possibilities:

i.Sin (5:21)
ii.Christ (5:21; 6:10,11)

Who is my head in this action?
I no more control sin and Satan than I control Christ and righteousness.
Some thought they could control sin:

i.Noah and his wine – Lost his dignity
ii.Lot's wife and a love for the world – Lost her home, family and life
iii.Achan and materialism – Lost his life
iv.Solomon and his wives – Lost his Kingdom
v.Samson and his fornication – Lost his life
vi.Judas and his love of money – Lost his soul

Who exactly was in control?
We have a great advantage here, we are able to look back on these biblical characters and take in the whole scope and panorama of their life!
Our freedom lies in our ability to choose not in our freedom from the consequences of those decisions we make!

2.Our mortal body (6:12) – Our Human Desires

Know your mortal body
What is driving the activities of my mortal body?
The body itself was created by God and has God given desires that are good and right:

i.Appetite for food
ii.Thirst
iii.Sexual desires
iv.Appreciation of beauty
v.Love of art

Our bodies are subject to our human nature and that nature is a fallen human nature corrupted by sin – referred to as the “flesh”
The flesh constantly pulls me in the direction of gratifying the natural desires of the body, those desires are physical and earth bound and keep me tied to earth.
Only with conversion and the power of Gods Spirit can I rise any higher that the desire to simply satisfy the natural desires of the body and only with His Spirit do I really appreciate that there is anything beyond the material to aim for and desire!
Rom 8:5-13
The desire and goal of the believer goes beyond simply enjoying the stimulation of bodily appetites satisfied: Rom 6:19, 22 – we have fruit to bring for God – our goal is “holiness”!
Is it the flesh driven by “lust” which is using:

i.My hands for its deeds?
ii.My eyes for its satisfaction?
iii.My lips for its message?

3.“Our members” (6:13) – Our Hands

Know your members
The emphasis here is on outcome, not simply actvity!
what am I actually achieving?
Consider Mary and Martha (Lk10:38-42)
Paradoxically when we apply the teaching of this section we may find that to be truly productive in the things of God we need to stop doing some things as we consider what they are actually achieving! I am a believer in that principle, of stopping service in a particular sphere as well as starting it! (Matt10:14; Mk6:11).

“Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin... your members as instruments of righteousness unto God... whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?...as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.” (Rom 6:13-19)

We are looking at outcome not only occupation!
Outcome in terms of “righteousness” - does it promote righteousness and “holiness” - does it further my pursuit of deeper holiness to God and encourage others in their pursuit of holiness, and “unto God” - is it acceptable to God?
But you say I am busy! Busy but barren?
Tests of worth / value:

1.What is the cause of my actions / activities (6:12-13). Is sin and the flesh the cause or is God the cause of this kind of action / activity / these words?

2.What is the character of my actions? Could I categorise it as “righteous” (v13) and consistent with Gods Word (v18) or is it “unrighteous”?

3.What are the consequences of this action (v19)? Where does it lead to? Is it “unto iniquity” (v19) or is it “unto holiness” (v19).

4.What about the conclusion of these actions? Do they end in death and with death (v16,21) or do these actions have eternal and enduring consequences (v22)?

4.Our motive (6:19) – Our Heart

Surely not more about service?
Surely this all isn't yet another message about doing more for God?
I recall as a young believer developing a reaction of 'not another message about what we are meant to be doing for God'
It is all very well speaking about service, exhorting to serve, talking about:

1.Responsibility
2.Obligation
3.Duty

To serve but this can leave us cold and uninspired!
Some of the people to whom Paul was writing had known most of their life about:

1.Responsibility
2.Obligation
3.Duty

as a motive for service, but this failed to achieve the desired result in their life and in the life of the apostle.
They knew “the law” (7:1), they knew all about their responsibility, obligation and duty under the law to serve God, but this is not the kind of service that Paul is speaking about in chp 6 to 8 of Romans.

1.Responsibility
2.Obligation
3.Duty

Simply spell ROD – and this becomes a rod for our back.
True service for God, true Christian service for God is not motivated, is not dynamised by have to.

For true service I must move from:

1.Responsibility
2.Obligation
3.Duty

To the dynamic of true Christian service.
Consider the motivating principle behind the service of Christ for God:

“Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.” (Psa 40:6-8)

His service was motivated by 'delight' and not by 'duty'!

from:

Desire
Enjoyment
Love
Intensity
Glory of God
Heart
Total commitment

This is the essence of true Christian service, motivated by delight rather than duty.
To serve in that way I would judge that I need 3 things:

1.A Passion to serve God
2.An Ability / Possibility to serve God
3.A Power to serve God

In chapter 7 I see:

1.A Passion to serve God (7:1-4)
2.An Ability / Possibility to serve God (7:5-13)
3.A Power to serve God (7:14-25)

1.A Passion to serve God (7:1-4) means Freedom from the law
2.An Ability / Possibility to serve God (7:5-13) – in contrast of the failure of being “in the flesh”
3.A Power to serve God (7:14-25) – in contrast to Frustration.

Therefore in Romans 7 I also have:

1.Freedom (7:1-4)
2.Failure (7:5-13)
3.Frustration (7:14-25)

Looked at positively we see:

1.A Passion to Serve (7:1-4)
2.A Possibility to serve (7:5-13)
3.A Power to Serve (7:14-25)

Chp 7:1-4 details a service born out of the passion of relationship

A Passion to Serve - Freedom (7:1-4)

i.Death releases from the law (v1)

"The law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth" - the principle stated
The rule or dominion of law extends only to death, as does sin (Rom5:12)
In eternity there is no sin and can be no sin for there is no law either!
On the surface, a point that is straight forward enough!
But the apostle seems to chose a very complex parable as the means of conveying this truth. So complex that some would suggest that Paul has bitten off more than he can chew! That he has mad a bit of a mess of the illustration!
In the chapter the believer is freed (7:4), just like the woman but it isn't the woman who dies it is her husband!
But the parable illustrates something more than just the basic truth!
So some have said the parable is a bit mixed up! A kind of mixed metaphor! Maybe Paul has overstretched himself!
Others holding to the inspiration of the Word of God wouldn't maybe just go as far as saying that but would perhaps tacitly acknowledge it by saying, 'don't look too deeply into the parable,' or perhaps that the parable is only meant to illustrate the basic truth, perhaps indicating that underneath the surface the whole illustration is a bit of a mess!
But this is the inspired Word of God and "not one jot or title shall pass away"
"the Word of God is living and powerful..."
Interestingly there are plenty of simple examples that Paul could have used to illustrate his point that the rule of law extends only to death and then law has no more demands upon us:

a)Ahithophel - was he ever called to account for betraying the Lord's anointed? No he wasn't! Why? He hung himself!
b)Naomi's two sons were they ever dealt with by the law and put out of the congregation of Israel for marrying Moabite girls? No! Why? They both died in Moab!
c)Eli's two sons Hophni and Phinehas were they ever broad before the law for fornication? No! Why? They both died in battle!
d)Samson and his fornication and adultery?

But he doesn't chose a simple illustration, for as we shall see a simple example of this principle just would not have done, it would have been critically lacking in at least 2 perhaps 3 key areas.

Pauls example illustrates at least 4 key principles:

i.That death releases from the law
ii.That in certain circumstances the death of another releases me from law
iii.My relationship with another is critical in enjoying that release from law
iv.Being released from law by death I am free to serve another

That death releases from the law (v1)

"The law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth" - the principle states
The rule or dominion of law extends only to death, as does sin (Rom5:12)
The principle stated is simple enough

That in certain circumstances the death of another releases me from law(v2,4)

Death releases me from the rule of law
In the parable however the death is not my death, the death of the woman, but the death of another!
Has Paul got mixed up?
Actually this point is quite consistent with the context of Romans so far
In chp 3+4 we came into blessing; the blessing of justification by faith, through death, the death of another!
In chp 5 Divine Grace was poured out, through the death of another.
In chp 6 our consecration to God was made possible because of our identification with Christ in His death – the death of another.
Not only is it the case that death frees from the law but that death is significantly the death of another!
Notice how that release by death occurs.
Our simple illustrations would again be inadequate here.
This is not release from the law in the same way that perhaps Hophni and Phinehas, Ahithophel, Naomis sons or Samson were released from the law.
This is not the release of a guilty party because of the weakness of the law, unable to pursue the sinner beyond death.
In our parable, significantly, it is the release of a guiltless individual who is now regarded as having fulfilled all legal obligations and death has now brought the claims of law to an end.
This is the release of the righteous rather than the unrighteous!
“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2Co 5:21)
“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” (Rom 3:28)

My relationship with another is critical in enjoying that release from law

My relationship with another who is dead to the law in certain exceptional circumstances can affect my status before the law too!
The death of another to the law can release me!
I think in the context of Roms 4 to 6 this is highly significant!
The nature of that relationship is also very interesting: marriage relationship!
Right the way through the NT scriptures the relationship between Christ and His church is consistently viewed as a marriage relationship: (Eph 5:24ff; Rev21).
In verse 4 we are "dead to the law" but it is by the "body of Christ" - the death of another!
Notice the logic of verse 4: “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God”
Notice that nothing less than the “body of Christ” is needed to break me free from the demands of the law!
The theme of redemption in scripture: the person of Christ, the work of Calvary, the sacrifice of the lamb, the sufferings of Christ (Ps22; Ps69; Isa53) all of this mighty work and sacrifice impacts upon my life at this point! To release me from that which binds me that I might be free to “bring forth fruit unto God.” What is this fruit?
“But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.” (Rom 6:22)

Holiness is no add on to Christianity
Holiness is no after thought on Gods part to Christian experience
Holiness is the very essence of Christian experience!
Holiness is the impression of Calvary upon my being!

Being released from law by death I am free to serve another

In this complex parable of death releasing us from the law we see illustrated a point that could not be illustrated by a simple example of the death of the accused releasing him from the rule of law:

(a)Ahithophel - what happened next? - Nothing he's dead.
(b)Naomis' two sons - what happened next, after they were released from the law? Nothing - they were dead!
(c)Eli's two sons - what happened to them next after they had been released from the law? Nothing - they were dead.

But in the parable of Romans 7 after the release from the law there is a 'what happened next...'
The woman released from the law is ready to move on and be married to another (7:4)
And in our case: "that we should bring forth fruit unto God" (7:4)
So this death is not simply an end but a beginning!
Only because of the complex nature of this illustration is this point possible!
Some take 7:1-4 to indicate that divorce and remarriage effectively exclude people from assembly fellowship (7:3)
That interpretation sheds more light on the thinking of those who teach it than it does on the teaching of scripture on divorce and remarriage!
The teaching in this section relative to the woman marrying another is whilst she is "bound by the law."
There is no provision in the law for operation of Divine Grace. Those who draw their teaching on divorce and remarriage from this section likewise draw no provision from Divine Grace.
The conclusion of this section brings us to our true standing today of being "dead to the law" (7:4) and in our dealings with men and women we must likewise recognise that there is likewise "therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus."
There is good indication elsewhere that people from a background of divorce and remarriage were received into assembly fellowship: 1 Tim2; 1 Co7, John 4.
Salvation isn't the end it is the beginning!
Once you are save, you haven't 'done it' but rather God has 'begun it.'

To listen to the MP3 recording of this message click here

Romans Chapter 7 – The Battle for Holiness

2009-12-25T19:41:00.000Z

Notes from a message preached on Romans Chapter 7 - The Battle for Holiness
by Dr J Stewart Gillespie

There are 3 great enemies of the believer (James 3:15):

1.The World
2.The Flesh
3.The Devil

Romans 6 the apostle speaks on the subject of consecration, of a life given over wholly to the service of God, particularly 6:12-20.
As the apostle turns to look at impediments to that consecration in chap 7 it is to the flesh that he devouts this section to!

The Devil may well be a smarter enemy
The world may well be a bigger enemy but
The flesh is the weakest enemy and paradoxically therefore perhaps the most significant!
The flesh provides the final common pathway for the attack of the other two:

1.If it were possible to remove the flesh then the Devil would be unable to gain a foothold in my life? Is that correct? Consider: “Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.” (Joh 14:30)

2.If it were possible to remove the world then the Devil would be unable to gain a foothold in my life? Is that correct? Consider: “All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life...” (1Jo2:16)

3.If it were possible to remove the flesh then sin would be unable to gain a foothold in my life? Is that correct? Consider Rom 7:5, 23.

The flesh then is the final common pathway of the world, sin and the Devil.
A hit on the flesh scuppers the effects of all 3!
One of the greatest discoveries, practically in the Christian life is that the battle to be fought is primarily internal rather than external.
There is within my person – 2 distinct pulls:

1.Flesh – pulls to the physical, the material, the sensual, ties me to earth, self ward
2.Spirit – pulls to the spiritual, ties me to heaven, God centred

The pursuit of the one is the persecution of the other
Very practical, I need to sit down and analyse my behaviour and ask does this pursuit / behaviour promote the one or the other (6:13)
That will empower me with a level of discernment beyond mere rules or 'what's the harm in it?'
Gods desire for you is not simply to preserve you from committing gross evil but it is the active pursuit of holiness: 6:19,22.
This appreciation of the battle is critical in the pursuit of holiness.
The High Priest dressed in garments of glory and beauty had:

(1)Written on his heart – on the breastplate, the names of the 12 children of Israel. Consider his sympathy.
(2)Written on his shoulders – on 2 stones, the names of the 12 children of Israel. Consider his support.
(3)Written on his head, upon his miter – holiness to the Lord. Here is the highest calling and ambition of the High Priest: Holiness.

To miss that goal is to miss the point to our salvation!
Not service, not sacrifice but sanctification!

Romans 7 then is the front line in the battle for holiness
That front line is internal and not external
If I view my spiritual battle as primarily external then I will pursue / be dominated by certain ideas:

1.Separatism – because – you are the problem, you are the hindrance to my spiritual growth – this is rarely the case. Often behind schism lies pride! You're my problem! Usually I'm my problem!
2.Monasticism – because – it is the problem – the world is the hindrance to my spiritual growth.
3.Exclusivism – because that teaching is the hindrance to my spiritual growth.
4.Mysticim – because the Devil and his emissaries are the hindrance to my spiritual growth.
5.If the problem is my flesh then what is the solution? Consecration to the Spirit (8:1). The world and the Devil, find a friend in the flesh. All the time you are trying to battle the flesh is selling you out, double dealing behind your back with the enemy! I need to start here!

Depending upon how you view the battle determines how you go about the fight!

If I view the battle as primarily external what I need is another meeting!
If I view the battle as primarily internal what I need is to put into practice the things I heard at the last meeting.

If I view the battle as external; I may be heard to say: 'great preacher, great meeting.'
If I view the battle as internal; I am more likely to say: 'challenging message.'

If I view the battle as external; I will be looking for the perfect church!
If I view the battle as internal; I will be looking for a closer walk with Christ!

In chapter 7 we move from:
Death and sin in chapter 6 - death frees us from sin to
Death and law in 7:1-4 - death frees us from law
3 sections in chapter 7:

1.Death and Law - Freedom (7:1-4)
2.Law and Flesh - Failure (7:5-13)
3.Flesh and Will - Frustration (7:14-25)

Death and Law - Freedom (7:1-4)

i.The Rule of Law (v1)

"The law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth" - the principle stated
The rule or dominion of law extends only to death, as does sin (Rom5:12)
In eternity there is no sin and can be no sin for there is no law either!
On the surface, a point that is straight forward enough!
But the apostle seems to chose a very complex parable as the means of conveying this truth. So complex that some would suggest that Paul has bitten off more than he can chew! That he has mad a bit of a mess of the illustration!
In the chapter the believer is freed (7:4), just like the woman but it isn't the woman who dies it is her husband!
But the parable illustrates something more than just the basic truth!
So some have said the parable is a bit mixed up! A kind of mixed metaphor! Maybe Paul has overstretched himself!
Others holding to the inspiration of the Word of God wouldn't maybe just go as far as saying that but would perhaps tacitly acknowledge it by saying, 'don't look too deeply into the parable,' or perhaps that the parable is only meant to illustrate the basic truth, perhaps indicating that underneath the surface the whole illustration is a bit of a mess!
But this is the inspired Word of God and "not one jot or title shall pass away"
"the Word of God is living and powerful..."
Interestingly there are plenty of simple examples that Paul could have used to illustrate his point that the rule of law extends only to death and then law has no more demands upon us:

a)Ahithophel - was he ever called to account for betraying the Lord's anointed? No he wasn't! Why? He hung himself!
b)Naomi's two sons were they ever dealt with by the law and put out of the congregation of Israel for marrying Moabite girls? No! Why? They both died in Moab!
c)Eli's two sons Hophni and Phinehas were they ever broad before the law for fornication? No! Why? They both died in battle!
d)Samson and his fornication and adultery?

But he doesn't chose a simple illustration, for as we shall see a simple example of this principle just would not have done, it would have been critically lacking in at least 2 perhaps 3 key areas.
Pauls example illustrates at least 4 key principles:

i.The Rule of law
ii.The Release from Law
iii.The Role of Relationship in the release from Law
iv.The Result of Release from Law

The Rule of Law (v1)

"The law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth" - the principle states
The rule or dominion of law extends only to death, as does sin (Rom5:12)
The principle stated is simple enough

The Release from Law (v2,4)

Death releases me from the rule of law
In the parable however the death is not my death, the death of the woman, but the death of another!
Has Paul got mixed up?
Actually this point is quite consistent with the context of Romans so far
In chp 3+4 we came into blessing; the blessing of justification by faith, through death, the death of another!
In chp 5 Divine Grace was poured out, through the death of another.
In chp 6 our consecration to God was made possible because of our identification with Christ in His death – the death of another.
Not only is it the case that death frees from the law but that death is significantly the death of another!
Notice how that release by death occurs.
Our simple illustrations would again be inadequate here.
This is not release from the law in the same way that perhaps Hophni and Phinehas, Ahithophel, Naomis sons or Samson were released from the law.
This is not the release of a guilty party because of the weakness of the law, unable to pursue the sinner beyond death.
In our parable, significantly, it is the release of a guiltless individual who is now regarded as having fulfilled all legal obligations and death has now brought the claims of law to an end.
This is the release of the righteous rather than the unrighteous!
“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2Co 5:21)
“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” (Rom 3:28)

The Role of Relationship in the release from the law:

My relationship with another who is dead to the law in certain exceptional circumstances can affect my status before the law too!
The death of another to the law can release me!
I think in the context of Roms 4 to 6 this is highly significant!
The nature of that relationship is also very interesting: marriage relationship!
Right the way through the NT scriptures the relationship between Christ and His church is consistently viewed as a marriage relationship: (Eph 5:24ff; Rev21).
In verse 4 we are "dead to the law" but it is by the "body of Christ" - the death of another!
Notice the logic of verse 4: “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God”
Notice that nothing less than the “body of Christ” is needed to break me free from the demands of the law!
The theme of redemption in scripture: the person of Christ, the work of Calvary, the sacrifice of the lamb, the sufferings of Christ (Ps22; Ps69; Isa53) all of this mighty work and sacrifice impacts upon my life at this point! To release me from that which binds me that I might be free to “bring forth fruit unto God.” What is this fruit?
“But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.” (Rom 6:22)

Holiness is no add on to Christianity
Holiness is no after thought on Gods part to Christian experience
Holiness is the very essence of Christian experience!
Holiness is the impression of Calvary upon my being!

The Result of Release from the Law:

In this complex parable of death releasing us from the law we see illustrated a point that could not be illustrated by a simple example of the death of the accused releasing him from the rule of law:

(a)Ahithophel - what happened next? - Nothing he's dead.
(b)Naomis' two sons - what happened next, after they were released from the law? Nothing - they were dead!
(c)Eli's two sons - what happened to them next after they had been released from the law? Nothing - they were dead.

But in the parable of Romans 7 after the release from the law there is a 'what happened next...'
The woman released from the law is ready to move on and be married to another (7:4)
And in our case: "that we should bring forth fruit unto God" (7:4)
So this death is not simply an end but a beginning!
Only because of the complex nature of this illustration is this point possible!
Some take 7:1-4 to indicate that divorce and remarriage effectively exclude people from assembly fellowship (7:3)
That interpretation sheds more light on the thinking of those who teach it than it does on the teaching of scripture on divorce and remarriage!
The teaching in this section relative to the woman marrying another is whilst she is "bound by the law."
There is no provision in the law for operation of Divine Grace. Those who draw their teaching on divorce and remarriage from this section likewise draw no provision from Divine Grace.
The conclusion of this section brings us to our true standing today of being "dead to the law" (7:4) and in our dealings with men and women we must likewise recognise that there is likewise "therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus."
There is good indication elsewhere that people from a background of divorce and remarriage were received into assembly fellowship: 1 Tim2; 1 Co7, John 4.
Salvation isn't the end it is the beginning!
Once you are save, you haven't 'done it' but rather God has 'begun it.'

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Romans Chp 6 Verse 12 to 20 : 'Because I Serve Another'

2009-12-23T21:42:00.003Z

Taken from a message preached on:

Romans Chp 6 Vs 12 to 20 : 'Because I Serve Another' by Dr J Stewart Gillespie

“Shall we continue in sin?” (Rom6:1)
We considered 4 reasons:

1.We are Dead to Sin (6:1-6)
2.We are Alive to Christ (6:5-11)
3.Because I Serve Another (6:12-20)
4.Because Sin remains Sin (6:21-23)

Because I Serve Another:

It is instructive by way of contrast to compare Romans 6 with Deuteronomy 6.
In Deut 6 why shouldn't I sin?
Why shouldn't I serve other gods: Deut 6:13ff – reason not to sin – because God will wipe you out if you do (Deut 6:15)
That's a good reason mark you!
The theme continues in Deut 7:4; 11:13-17.
The reason not to sin was really very clear!
The OT scriptures don't only present the rod mind you they do also present the staff – leading us into blessing
The bulk of Romans 6: verses 12 to 20, though deals with a positive reason not to sin.
How do we “reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin” (6:11)
Only by being: “alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (6:11)
If I am 'dead unto God' none of this will work.
Sin will no longer “reign in your mortal body” (6:12) as I yield that body over to the practical service of and devotion to Christ (6:12-20)
Being “dead indeed unto sin” (v11) means not giving sin its way / freedom to use our body for its purpose / ends (v12), not to allow sin to use me for its purposes, to achieve its goals, but rather to take my body and give it over to Gods service (v13)

The best protection against sin is the practice of sanctification!

The best defence is attack
Amongst the armour of God in Eph 6 are the feet shod with the preparation of the gospel – not only defence but attack and progress!

The best protection against sin is the practice of sanctification!

What do I mean by sanctification?
I mean being actively, positively as well as negatively being set apart for the service of God!

(1)There's a man who struggles with alcohol. What are you going to tell him to do? Go to the pub with his pals and drink lemonade instead or go to the prayer meeting and pray fro the Spirits power to overcome the flesh? You see the different approach? That is the practice of sanctification: leaving the sin behind – the negative and cleaving to Christ – the positive!

(2)There's a sister who struggles with her relationship with another sister. What do you advise her to do? Avoid the sister? The world would advise that! How about pray for her? Positive sanctification. You're just making these up Stewart! This is the Biblical approach: “Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Rom 12:20-21)

(3)There's a believer with a growing awareness that he is wasting a lot of his time on the TV / internet / Bebo / twitter / face book – what do you advise him to do? Switch off the TV / internet – that will just leave a gap that he may fill with something even less profitable! What did the Spirit counsel Timothy to do? “Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” (1Ti 4:13-16). This is the positive practice of sanctification.

The best protection against sin is the practice of sanctification!

How do I begin then to reckon myself dead indeed unto sin (v11)?
This is a deliberate exercise of the will!
I need to do it!
A man, his master, his motive and his members!

Consider how the whole body is used in service:

1.Our master (6:12) – Our Head
2.Our mortal body (6:12) – Our Human Desires / Lusts of the Body
3.Our members (6:13) – Our Hands
4.Our motive (6:17-19) – Our Heart

1.Our master (6:12) – Our Head

Know your master
We can say no!
We don't have to obey sin!
Sometimes we do things because we have always done it!
You don't have to!
Who is in charge? Who is my master?
There are only 2 possibilities:

i.Sin (5:21)
ii.Christ (5:21; 6:10,11)

Who is my head in this action?
The head controls the body – what the head says the body obeys, even when we don't want to: seizure, spasms, jerks, migraine
There are 2 great spiritual realities which are above us, we do not control them rather we choose between them – Christ or Sin!
Being “free from sin” and “dead to sin” we are now able to choose where before we had no choice
I no more control sin and Satan than I control Christ and righteousness.

There are many such examples in scriptures of men who thought they could control their sin but their sin controlled them:

i.Noah and his wine – Lost his dignity
ii.Lot's wife and a love for the world – Lost her home, family and life
iii.Achan and materialism – Lost his life
iv.Solomon and his wives – Lost his Kingdom
v.Israel and her idols – Lost the Glory of God
vi.Judas and his love of money – Lost his soul

Who exactly was in control?
We have a great advantage here, we are able to look back on these biblical characters and take in the whole scope and panorama of their life!
Our freedom lies in our ability to choose not in our freedom from the consequences of those decisions we make!

2.Our mortal body (6:12) – Our Human Desires

Know your mortal body
What is driving the activities of my mortal body?
The body itself was created by God and has God given desires that are good and right:

i.Appetite for food
ii.Thirst
iii.Sexual desires
iv.Appreciation of beauty
v.Love of art

So all of these things are good aren't they?
So surely we can just follow our desires can't we?
The human body and its desires are not on 'automatic pilot' we are not computers preprogrammed and set to run automatically!
Our bodies are subject to our human nature and that nature is a fallen human nature corrupted by sin – referred to as the “flesh”
The flesh constantly pulls me in the direction of gratifying the natural desires of the body, those desires are physical and earth bound and keep me tied to earth.
Only with conversion and the power of Gods Spirit can I rise any higher that the desire to simply satisfy the natural desires of the body and only with His Spirit do I really appreciate that there is anything beyond the material to aim for and desire!
Rom 8:5-13
The desire and goal of the believer goes beyond simply enjoying the stimulation of bodily appetites satisfied: Rom 6:19, 22 – we have fruit to bring for God – our goal is “holiness”!
Is it the flesh driven by “lust” which is using:

i.My hands for its deeds?
ii.My eyes for its satisfaction?
iii.My lips for its message?

Are these desires lusts or:

i.Sinful desires (1 John2:16)
ii.Selfish desires (James 4:1-4)
iii.Satanic desires (Jo 8:44)
iv.Sanctified desires

3.“Our members” (6:13) – Our Hands

Know your members
Think about what you do and why you do it!
We often correctly regard laziness and slothfulness as an attribute worthy of condemnation and so it is:

i.2 Thess 3:6ff
ii.1 Tim 5:13ff
iii.Prov 6:6: “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:”

and because of that we then wrongly deduce that any business is a virtue!
This section and other scriptures prompt us to look beyond mere activity.
Not only what are we doing but what are we achieving?
When I use my:

i.Time
ii.Treasure
iii.Talents

what am I actually achieving?
Consider Mary and Martha (Lk10:38-42)
Paradoxically when we apply the teaching of this section we may find that to be truly productive in the things of God we need to stop doing some things as we consider what they are actually achieving! I am a believer in that principle, of stopping service in a particular sphere as well as starting it! (Matt10:14; Mk6:11).

“Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin... your members as instruments of righteousness unto God... whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?...as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.” (Rom 6:13-19)

We are looking at outcome not only occupation!
Outcome in terms of “righteousness” - does it promote righteousness and “holiness” - does it further my pursuit of deeper holiness to God and encourage others in their pursuit of holiness, and “unto God” - is it acceptable to God?
But you say I am busy! Busy but barren?

Tests of worth / value:

1.What is the cause of my actions / activities (6:12-13). Is sin and the flesh the cause or is God the cause of this kind of action / activity / these words? If an ungodly person would do what I am about to do, say what I am about to say, go about tackling the problem the way I am about to tackle it, it is probably sin and the flesh that is the cause of my actions rather than the Spirit of God.
2.What is the character of my actions? Could I categorise it as “righteous” (v13) and consistent with Gods Word (v18) or is it “unrighteous”?
3.What are the consequences of this action (v19)? Where does it lead to? Is it “unto iniquity” (v19) or is it “unto holiness” (v19). This is a profound truth that certain actions / activities / conversations/ language / behaviour / interests can draw me towards God, ie. They promote “holiness” and certain actions / activities / conversations/ language / behaviour / interests can draw me away from God: “unto iniquity.” “Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?” (Psa 24:3)
4.What about the conclusion of these actions? Do they end in death and with death (v16,21) or do these actions have eternal and enduring consequences (v22)? There are some things I can engage in, in time that have consequences that endure for eternity:
“And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” (Luk 16:9)
“But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:”(Mat 6:20)
“And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.” (1Co 9:25)
“For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?”(1Th 2:19)
“Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”(2Ti 4:8)
“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”(Jas 1:12)

“And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.”(1Pe 5:4)
“Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”(Rev 2:10)

4.Our motive (6:19) – Our Heart

What is our purpose in this?
Holiness (v19)
What fruit have you?
Is it fruit unto holiness? (v22)
What fills my heart and drives me forward?
The word is sown: “form of doctrine”
Sown in the heart
An army doesn't fight on an empty stomach
To fight I need food
The food for the fight is “that form of doctrine”
Faulty doctrine results in faulty behaviour
Satan attacks the doctrine and disables the believer

1 Samuel Chp 30

David finds an Egyptian in the field
A strange incident – the Egyptian appears and then disappears from the pages of scripture
What is it all about?
There are too many pictures, patterns and prophecies of Christ links with David for it not to mean something!
David is full pictures of Christ:

i.1 Samuel 16: David “anointed” : “mâshîyach” from the Hebrew word Messiah
ii.1 Samuel 16: David, now the anointed one, heads out to the valley of Elah: the valley of the oak tree
iii.1 Samuel 16: David heads out to the valley of Elah with bread in one hand and wine in the other!
iv.1 Samuel 16: oh yes and transport has been provided as he heads out to the valley of the oak tree: an ass (16:20)
v.1 Samuel 17: at the valley of the oak tree David will meet Goliath of Gath, a giant of a monster, marked by 666 – 6 items of armour, the spears head weighing 600 shekels, his height 6 cubits and a span
vi.1 Samuel 17: at the valley of the oak tree David will slay Goliath with his own sword (Heb 2:14).
vii.1 Samuel 18: The victory in the valley of Elah brings him a bride: Michal
viii.1 Samuel 19 - 31: Such a victory ought to bring David the throne but instead he now knows rejection
ix.1 Samuel 19: David in rejection ascends to Naioth : 'the residence' in Ramah 'high place'
x.1 Samuel 19: David having ascended to Naioth : 'the residence' in Ramah 'high place' there is a descent of the Holy Spirit and a pouring out of the Spirit of prophecy in 3 distinct waves
xi.1 Samuel 25: David will call his bride by missionary endeavour announcing a 3 fold “peace” to those who are afar off by sending his representatives to Nabal (25:6)
xii.1 Samuel 25: those like Abigail who have a heart for and an appreciation of David will respond with repentance (25:28)
xiii.1 Samuel 25: Abigail exhorts the person, power, privilege and purpose of David in terms reminiscent of Psalm 110 (25:28)
xiv.1 Samuel 30 – having called his bride in chp 25, David will now come for and claim his bride in chp 30.
xv.2 Samuel 5 – David will be crowned with his bride and will reign over all of Israel after a gap of 7 years – difficult years of tribulation for Israel.

It is hard in view of all these pictures and pointers to Christ to lack the desire to ask why and what is the purpose of this Egyptian in the field?
This Egyptian, a man of the world , is found in a “field” in 1 Sam 30.
The “field” sometimes occurs in the language of parables as a picture of the world (Matt 13)
Consider the Egyptian and:

1.His master (6:12)
2.His mortal body (6:12)
3.His members (6:13)
4.His motive (6:19)

The Egyptian is brought to David (30:11,12)
David will:

1.Refresh his thirst with water to drink cf. John 4.
2.Feed his hunger with bread to eat cf. John 6.
3.Bring fruit; figs and raisins cf. John 15.

This Egyptian has been left for dead by the Amalekites like the man left by the side of the road in the parable of the good Samaritan in Luke chp 10.
This man has known death to the flesh and sin.
There has been a gap of 3 days and 3 nights
The phrase 3 days and 3 nights only occurs on 3 occasion in scripture:

1.Jonah 1:17
2.Matt 12:40
3.1 Sam 30:12

On the other 2 occasions it is linked with resurrection and specifically the resurrection of Christ, of which Jonah is a picture.
This Egyptians death and burial and resurrection is then followed by
Life at the hands of David, sustained by:

1.water to drink cf. John 4.
2.bread to eat cf. John 6.
3.fruit; figs and raisins cf. John 15.

Do you think Amalek would ever have had a clue as to how David found them?
I doubt it – for as far as Amalek were concerned that Egyptian was dead.
This man had been left behind sick (30:13) and with no food and water (30:12) – he had been left to die!
Is this not how the world still leaves us?
This Egyptian was once a “servant” of the Amalekites (30:13):

i.“we made an invasion” (30:14)
ii.“we burned Ziklag” (30:14)

Now that he is restored to life and brought back by david will he return to serve Amalek?
This man sees a change of status from serving Amalek to serving David.
Not only will he serve David but he will destroy Amalek (30:15-17)

I don't continue in sin because:
I am happy not to sin.

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Romans Chapter 6 Verse 6 : 'The Body of Sin'

2009-12-15T21:31:00.001Z

Taken from a message preached by Dr J Stewart Gillespie:

'The Body of Sin' (Romans Chapter 6 verse 6)

In response to the question of Roms 6:1 “shall we continue in sin?” we saw 4 reasons why we should not continue in sin:

1.We are dead to sin
2.We are alive to God
3.We no longer serve sin – we serve God
4.Sin remains sin

1.because I'm dead to Sin (6:1-7)

What does it mean to be “dead to sin”?
Does it mean to be unresponsive to sin?

Dead people are unresponsive, aren't they?
In this case then the bulk of Roms 6 would be redundant – the middle section (6:12-20) and 3rd reason for not sinning (cf. Vs 11-13).
If we were “dead to sin” in the sense of being unresponsive to sin there would be no possibility of : “yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin” (v13) and we would hardly require to “reckon” ourselves “dead indeed unto sin” for we would be “dead indeed” (6:11) unto sin!
Be careful what you use to interpret the scriptures!
Personal experience, common sense or even a reliable medical text book is not appropriate!
We only have Divine warrant for using scripture to interpret scripture (1Co2:13; 2 Tim2:15; Rom15:4; 2Peter1:19) guided by the Spirit of God (John 16:13; 1Jo2:27)
This death is positional 'in Christ' (Rom6:3, 5, 6, 8)
What is the significance of being “dead to sin”?
Death is the boundary line for the rule of 'king sin' (5:21)
I have been taken out of the realm / rule / reign of sin by the death of Christ
I am no longer under the absolute authority of King Sin
Every Kingdom has a boundary and the boundary of sin is death (Rom5:21)
By virtue of my position in Christ I am “dead to sin”

Man in creation was able to sin
Man after the fall was unable not to sin
Man in redemption is able not to sin
Man in eternity is unable to sin

I don't continue in sin because:
1 - I don't have to sin
2 - because I'm alive to God (6:8-11)

We saw that we were definitely dead in Roms 6:

(a)v2 - “dead”
(b)v3 - “baptised” + “dead”
(c)v4 - “buried” + “baptised” + “dead”

We are definitely dead!
This seemed a rather strange thought until we realised that in fact it was a very familiar truth but viewed from an unusual perspective – from the back!
We noticed a transition in v5: “planted” - that's burial with a future!
To be dead to sin is the other side of being alive to God!
We though that we ought to stretch ourselves a little and try to understand what this meant practically!
Keeping my feet firmly planted on earth what does this actually mean?
We looked at 2 Kings 4 and the son of the Shunammite

I see through His eyes:

This gives the believer a different perspective on others!
Isn't it amazing how callous the unsaved can be about others?
Referring to some as useless, as the dregs of society, as a waste of space and finding individuals to look down their nose at.
We look at others not through the eyes of the critic but through the eyes of Christ!
This would revolutionise fellowship in the local assembly.

I speak with His lips

I work with His hands:

Some things I just do not see, I cannot imagine the hands of Christ turning to:

Dealing drugs
Rolling a joint
Holding a can of beer
Punching someone's lights out
Filling in a lottery form
Flicking through a pornographic magazine

Then we turned to Colossians chp 3 and we saw that it wasn't just vivid imagination on my part that saw in the hands, eyes and mouth of the resurrected lad of 2 Kings 4 a picture of our dependence upon Christ as the source of life for our new life but rather these are the very features of a NT believer whose life is given over to Christ!
I don't continue in sin because:
I don't like to sin.

These 4 reasons for not continuing in sin are not an unconnected 'list' but rather they follow on from one another in a logical spiritual order.
We have seen already the connection between the 1st 2 reasons – they are really just opposite sides of the same reason!
Between the first 2 reasons and the last reasons there is a crossroads: 6:6.
An important verse and perhaps the most difficult verse in the chapter.
If we fail to understand this verse:

i.we will miss the connection between these reasons
ii.we will fail to see the chapter as one integral whole and probably only see a load of disjointed thoughts
iii.we will most likely fail to understand the reason why we ought not to serve sin any longer
iv.we will miss the main reason in Roms 6 behind our sanctification ie. The reason 'WHY' we ought not to sin.
v.we will probably thus find that our own personal holiness will suffer – if we lack a reason for holiness we will lack motivation to holiness!

Romans 6:6 presents a complete view of holiness:

1.Past: “our old man was crucified”
2.Present: “that henceforth we should not serve sin”
3.Future: “that the body of sin might be destroyed”

Notice in this list I have given these tenses in their chronological order, according to time but this is different from the order in the verse!
Herein lies to key to understanding the verse!
Paul gives us 2 great events – past and future, consider what has happened in the past “our old man was crucified” and consider what will happen in the future: “that the body of sin might be destroyed” and now live your life in the light of that!
The believer lives out his life between what has been completed and what will be completed and ought to make intelligent decisions in the light of these 2 great events!

1.“the old man” - What we were before we were saved, our old life as ruled by the flesh drawing us to constantly live a life taken up with satisfying the apetites of the body, lusts of the flesh and the cares of this world (Eph 4:22; Col3:9)

2.“that the body of sin might be destroyed” - is this:

(a)Sin Personified – Sin viewed as a person dieing on the cross? - John Calvin and Hodge, JN Darby all had this view of the verse – that in this verse I am looking back at Calvary, I see Christ hanging on the cross, I see Him dieing for my sins (Col 2:14) and I see their my sins hanging with Him, judged at Calvary.

Sin was certainly judged at Calvary but we notice:

i.That in vs 1-5 and again in vs 7,8 it is not sin that dies but me!

ii.If sin died or was crucified at Calvary would this be a reason for not allowing it to “reign in your mortal body” (v12) or to no longer “serve sin” (6:6)? Surely if sin was crucified at Calvary there is no longer any sin to serve for it is dead! I would expect the argument in the rest of the section to be: 'don't serve sin because sin is dead' but actually the argument is that I ought not to serve sin because I am dead!

iii.The means of destroying the body of sin was by crucifying “the old man” - would crucifying my old pre-christian life really bring about the death of sin itself? People die of cancer every day but that doesn't bring an end to cancer itself!

(b)Sin Neutralised - The Power of Sin over the Body? - Promoted by Albert Leckie and James Currie.

i.This interpretation immediately runs into a problem with the word “destroyed” because if this interpretation is correct the power of sin has been “destroyed” over the body, this is practically untrue! So these interpretors tend to change the translation of the verse to “anulled” - a valid translation elsewhere of this word when used in a legal sense elsewhere in Romans (Rom 3:3; 3:31; 4:14; 7:2) but perhaps not in a very similar contexts in 1 Corinthians (1 Co6:13). Even if we do translate the word as annulled we still have a problem as to what we mean by annulled. Here the commentators become a bit unstuck: 'Because the old man has been, in the reckoning of God judicially put to death as the result of the death of Christ, sin's power has 'been made of none effect' in relation to the believer. Henceforth he need not, he should not, serve sin...' (James B Currie p101) – actually if Mr Curries interpretation is correct it is hardly a case of 'need not' or 'should not' serve sin it would be really a case of 'cannot' serve sin!

ii.This interpretation seems to take inadequate account of the word “body” - the object of the destruction is not “sin” but the “body of sin”

iii.As already mentioned it is not “sin” that dies in any of the surrounding verses but rather self (6:2-5, 7-8,11).

iv.What is the effect of Calvary on my present human body? This interpretation suggests that Calvary liberates the body and frees it from sin. If this is the case how do we explain Rom 8:10 which seems to suggest that Calvary instead of liberating the convict puts him on death row! There is sin back again, the same sin that supposedly was 'anulled' at Calvary and it has killed the body!

(c)Sin Externalised- The Body as the instrument of sin

i.“body” has its usual meaning – the human body!

ii.At Calvary and by the work of Christ, sin was dealt with, a completed work completely saves (Heb10:14)

iii.In our experience we already see the fruit and consequences of that work, for from conversion we are the recipients of:

(1)A new heart (Ezek 36:26; Heb8:10)
(2)A new spirit (Ezek 36:26; John 3:5)
(3)A new mind (Heb8:10; Rom 12:2)
(4)A new creature (2 Co 5:17)
(5)There remains only one part of my being which has not been renewed by Calvary – my body! All that is left untouched from Adam. This too must one day be changed! A body once used to serve sin will be replaced by one fitted to serve Christ (1Co15:42-50). This new body comes as a consequence of Christ's resurrection, the subject of the previous verse (5:11).
iv.The effect of Adam is seen in tracing sin through Romans. From Rom1:1 to 5:11 there are 9 refs to sin, from 5:12-21 there are 9 refs to sin, in chp 6 there are 17 ref to sin and in chp 7, 15 ref to sin. With the introduction of Adam in 5:12 there is in Romans an explosion of sin!
v.The “body of sin” thus refers to my literal body, used to pursue the desires of the flesh and corrupted by sin. Calvary first condemns this body as it does condemn the whole of the person corrupted by sin: body, heart, mind, soul and spirit (Rom8:10), before the saving work of Calvary then renews the person, one day to complete that renewal with a new body (1Co15:42-50).
vi.Therefore I am currently a 'new creature' in a condemned house. A regenerate person in a degenerate body. This leaves me with a question: how should I live? As though the house was not condemned, pretending that there is life in the old man yet? Pretending that all of those activities I once indulged in with my body actually and finally achieve anything? Or do I live not for the old body now dead because of sin but rather I live for the new self who does have a future, unlike the old body? It is this that forms the crossroads between the 1st 2 and the last 2 reasons of Romans 6 for not continuing in sin.

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Romans Chp 6 Vs 1 to 14; 2 Kings 4: 'Alive to God'

2009-11-04T21:03:00.002Z

These notes are from a message preached at Bridgend Gospel Hall, New Cumnock by Dr J Stewart Gillespie.

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“shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” (6:1)

This verse might seem to present a bizarre idea, a strange suggestion
At times grace shields from our horizon the full consequences of our sin
God remains a Holy and Righteous God – He has not changed
It is possible however for this kind of idea to creep into our thinking
Am I trading on Gods Grace?
Would my behaviour change if:

i.If I thought that my lie / deception would be dealt with the same way as Ananias Saphira's was? (Acts 5) 2 believers lie to the Holy Spirit, maybe a little ½ lie – they sold the land and gave 'most' of it for the work of the Lord and said that they had given 'all' of it. Just a slight exaggeration? Did it really matter? Ananias executed on the spot by the Spirit of God and his wife executed 3 hours later! God has not changed!

ii.If I thought that my greed / materialism would be dealt with in the same way as Achan's was – Joshua chp 7. Jericho has just fallen, and explicit instructions have been given by God that the city and all in it are cursed, nothing to be taken for any private use. The gold, silver, brass and iron can be used for the sanctuary but everything else is to be left. Achan – just one man amongst millions who obey, takes 3 items: “...a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight...” (Jos 7:21). Whats the big deal? A few items which were going to be wasted anyway? The righteousness of God was the BIG deal. “...a goodly Babylonish garment” - “a trendy outfit from the high street.” Because of this disobedience of one man the entire army of Israel is defeated at Ai and Achan and his sons and daughters and animals are stoned and burned!

iii.If I thought that my grumbling would be dealt with the same way as Miriam's was (Num 12). Miriam and others had an issue with Moses leadership and wanted to push him out and move in (Num12:2). They take a round about approach to manoeuvring Moses out and attack him from the side – his wife (12:1) – not really the issue! Be careful how we approach a ministry that challenges us!

iv.If I thought that discord with my brethren would be made as public as that of Euodias and Syntyche's was (Phil 4) – Paul wrote of it in a letter, sent it to the church, copied it around the world and published it for 2000 years! Way to go! If every email I wrote were copied to every recipient in outlook express, if every text message was copied to every number in my phone book, if every telephone conversation were recorded and made public, would I say / write or text the things I do?

If it would change my behaviour to anticipate my sin being dealt with in these ways then I am trading on Divine Grace!
I am banking on Gods Grace to allow me to continue in sin!
4 reasons why we don't continue in sin:

1.because I'm dead to Sin (6:1-8)
2.because I'm alive to God (6:8-11)
3.because I must serve God (6:11-21)
4.because sin remains sin (6:21-23)

Dead to Sin

This may seem a strange idea, awkward thought, after all I am alive, am I not?
Positional truth – true because of my position in Christ, not because I hold the Bible at a strange angle!
Positional truth is not the opposite of real truth either (as was once suggested by a preacher at a conference)!
Positional truth is very real but not always fully realised!
Positional truth is true of me because it is true of Christ and I am in Christ, I have a relationship with Him!
Compare the benefits which the people of God had in the days of Samuel and David: they were in the land, with an inheritance, towns and homes to dwell in, but had they fought for them? Their forefathers had won them in the days of Joshua and because of their relationship with their forefathers what had previously been fought and won by another was now theirs!
This is no new idea for us in Romans, should already be familiar with it, cf. Roms chp 3 +4 – justification by faith.
I have been declared righteous! Am I righteous? God has said you are!
How can I be righteous? Because of my position in Christ (3:26)
Dead to sin doesn't mean unresponsive to sin (6:12-13)
I have moved out of the realm / sphere of sin
I have left the boundary within which king sin reigns (5:21)
Sin reigns to death and no further!
There is no sinning in heaven and there is no sinning in hell either!

i.Adam as created was able to sin
ii.After the fall man was unable not to sin
iii.After the new birth man is able not to sin
iv.In eternity man is unable to sin

Does this idea of death to sin seem a strange truth?
That Christianity begins with an end.
This is the truth emphasised in the opening 8 verses of Romans chapter 6:

i.death (v2)
ii.baptism + death (v3)
iii.burial + baptism + death (v4)
iv.planted (v5)

Does it all seem a bit odd – a bit strange?
Actually its very familiar.
It is a very familiar truth but viewed from an unusual angle – from the back
This is familiar truth
The truth of being dead to sin is the other side of being alive in Christ and alive to God!
This is one truth, connected together for example in v5 “planted” - the seed sown in the autumn, dead and lifeless and unexciting shoots up in the spring.
Burial and growth are 2 sides of the one truth!
Planting is death with a prospect!
Alive in Christ / Alive to God: 3 tremendous aspects:

1.Present Experience (v4)
2.Future Expectation (v5)
3.Eternal Enjoyment (v8)

We notice the pattern that future hope is founded on present help
This was the pattern noted previously in Rom 5:1-5
Future expectation was founded on present experience
The same is true of life in Christ: future expectation is founded in present experience
This is no subtlety of exposition
This is no fine point of interpretation
This is no needless digression
This is why, as believers we have at times such a hard time!

“For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:”
(2Co 5:1-2)

“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” (2Co 4:16)

It's not a pleasant thing to perish!
The 2 truths go hand in hand: death to the old life and new life in Christ
Our strength is taken that we might rest in His (Jer 9:23)
The day will soon come when time and sense and wealth and strength have been long gone and all that abides is Him!
In that day we will be grateful for all that the Lord stripped from us of earth prematurely that we might be drawn more closer to Him!
What does it mean to be:

“Alive to God” (6:10,12)
“Alive through Jesus Christ” (6:11)

2 Kings 4:

The chapter concerns a child of promise (4:16), just like Isaac (Gen18) and just like us (Gal4:28)
This child of promise experiences a death, whilst busy in the field (4:18) and whilst reaping for his father
Consider the chapter practically: what do we do when we hit a period of barrenness in our service for Christ?

1.Recycle:

The approach of preachers gone stale.
Some hark back to a day when things were fresher, when Christ was closer and draw from better and brighter days!
I used to wonder what motivated so many dispensational preachers to affirm with such confidence that this was “the day of small things” (Zech4:10), until I realised that there were really speaking personally of their own spiritual experience.
They could look back on better days when Christ was real and fresh to them!

2.Resign:

There was a day when faith was bright,
Before the sun had reached its height (v20)
But now beneath a darkening evening sky,
With head so heavy and about to die (v19)
I drop the scythe, the field I leave behind (v18)
For from my Father's service I resign
A better comfort I have found upon my bed (v21)
Alas this is the place but for the dead!

3.Raised again / restored:

Refreshed with the life of Christ again
The Shunammite comes to Carmel (fruitfulness)
She heads to Elisha, personally, only he will do, not his servant and not his staff, only Elisha personally.
She would make it a priority to lay hold of Elisha (4:27,30)!
The one who was the source of life would be the sustainer of life
She would follow the pattern and path of Job and Jacob:

“Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.” (Job 13:15)
“And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.” (Gen 32:26)

A priority to pursue and lay hold of Him!
Determination is needed to lay hold of Divine blessing (4:27,30)
Restoration and revival (4:34)

i.mouth to mouth
ii.eyes to eyes
iii.hands to hands

The new life in Christ:

i.mouth to mouth (Col 3:8)
ii.eyes to eyes (Col 3:12-14)
iii.hands to hands (Col3:9)

Practically what is the new life in Christ?
It is to:

i.see with His eyes
ii.speak with His lips
iii.work with His hands

Then I am living the life of Christ
This is not works righteousness by the back door!
This can only be achieved in the power of His Spirit!

i.see with His eyes:

Looking at one another not through the eyes of a critic but rather through the eyes of Christ (Col 3:12-14)!

ii.speak with His lips (Col 3:8-9)

iii.work with His hands (Col 3:9)

When man sinned and left the service of God in the garden of Eden these 3 aspects of mans being were were consecrated to sin (Gen3:6):

i.“woman saw” / “pleasant to eyes” - eyes
ii.“she took” - hands
iii.“did eat” - mouth

The same pattern re-echoes in 1 Sam 14:27 in Jonathan as he partakes of the forbidden honey, hands eyes and mouth going in the wrong direction.
In the fall Satan captured man's life with his:

i.Action – hand
ii.Appetite – month
iii.Attention – eye

In salvation Christ restores man's life with its:

i.Action – hand
ii.Appetite – mouth
iii.Attention - eye

One part of the anatomy I noted was missing in 2 Kings 4 – what about the feet?
Why no mention of the feet? Very important part of the body for service – the walk!
How do you take a dog a walk? Tie a rope around its feet and drag it?
A collar and a lead – if you control the head the rest of the body follows on after!
If he has my hands, my eyes and my mouth the rest will follow on after!
I will live out the life of Christ!

These notes are from a message preached at Bridgend Gospel Hall, New Cumnock by Dr J Stewart Gillespie.

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Romans Chp 6 Vs 2: 'Beginning with an End: - Dead to Sin'

2009-10-28T12:28:00.002Z

Taken from a Message Preached on Romans Chapter 6 Verse 2 by Dr J Stewart Gillespie

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It is possible to miss the simple message of Romans 6, to get away from the simplicity and clarity of it!

The Christian life begins with a conversion – an end to the old and a beginning of the new!

There would hardly be a more clear cut, a more dramatic way of putting it: black and white, right and wrong, life and death!

This is an absolute!

Salvation isn't doing a course, saying a prayer or filling in a form.

Salvation is a life changing transaction between me and God, which I enter into by faith:

F – Forsaking

A – All

T – Trust

H – Him

As I look back at that experience and as others look on – what should they see?

What can they see?:

Can't see faith – that's a spiritual thing
Can't see my thoughts
Can't see my turmoil
Can't see my feelings
Can't see the peace in my soul

But what they ought to be able to see is a change in my life!

Important to get the order right:

Salvation – by grace and through faith (Acts 16:31,John 3:16), because of that trust in Christ
Change – by the Spirit

Important to get the order right, or we can run into bother!

It's not me changing my life that forces God to save me but rather it is receiving Gods son as Saviour that changes me!

There ought to be a real before and after transition!

This before and after Grace contrast comes out in the chapters we have before us:

Romans 5 tells me that by relationship with Christ I am linked to His life

This comes out in the content of the text but also in the pattern or structure:

Rom 5:15 “free gift... grace of God...the gift by grace” - 3 times in the verse we have either the word for “grace” or the cognate word “gift”

Rom 5:16 “but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.” - verse 16 takes us on from the free gift to imputed “righteousness”

Rom 5:17 “they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one” verse 17 takes us through “grace” to “righteousness” and then further on to “life”

Rom 5:18 “justification of life.” - emphasises “life” again

Rom 5:19 “shall many be made righteous.” - back to “righteousness”

Rom 5:20 “grace”

Rom 5:21 “grace...righteousness...life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” - all 3 themes in the concluding verse

Notice the pattern then:

A – Grace (v15)

B – Righteousness (v16)

C – Life (v17)

C – Life (v18)

B – Righteousness (v19)

A – Grace (v20)

A chiasmatic structure / symmetry to the later half of chapter 5. Why?

As an aid memoir? In days of low literacy and expensive parchments by the time the local church had finished reading and preaching chapter 5 the saints would have memorised it? Do we have low expectations of the Lords people as preachers? Do we have passive expectations of the ministry of Gods Word? Do we come expecting to allow the ministry to wash over us? The ministry meeting isn't a sauna – allow the warm comforting mist of ministry to waft over us and clear out our blocked pours whilst we slumber and relax! The ministry meeting is a school room where we need to focus down on the word of God, coming with an exercise to glean from the Lords word.
As part of the structure of the passage it focuses our attention on the key thought: “life” at the centre!

In chapter 5 I am linked by relationship to Christ with His life!

Romans 6 begins by telling me that by relationship with Christ I am linked with His death!

Death is mentioned in every verse from 6:2 to 6:11.

Last week we noted that Romans 6 presents 4 reasons for not continuing in sin:

4 reasons why we don't continue in sin:

because I'm dead to Sin (6:1-7)
because I'm alive to God (6:8-11)
because I must serve God (6:12-20)
because sin remains sin (6:21-22)

because I'm dead to Sin (6:2-8)

In this section the Spirit doesn't so much use symmetry as repetition and a building up of an idea by piling one linked word to the next:

v2 – Death

v3 – Baptism and death

v4 – Burial, Baptism and Death

v5 – Planted – an extension of the idea of burial – this is burial with a future

Why say “planted” - why not say “buried” in v4?

Because “planted” is “buried” with a future”

If you dig up dandelions with all of their seeds, how do you dispose of them?

You don't take a handful of dandelion seeds and bury them? Why not? If you do you know they will have a future! That kind of burial is a planting!

The 2 ideas of spiritual death and resurrection in verse 4 and physical death and resurrection in verse 5 merge together here.

v6 – Body - “old man”, execution - “crucified” and destruction - “destroyed”

It becomes hard to miss the thought that I am “dead to sin”

vs2-3 – we are dead to sin

What does it mean to be “dead to sin”?

Notice “dead” is an aorist tense – point tense and usually past, a completed action

What does that mean?

Does this mean that we have lost the desire to sin?

Some point out that a dead body is an unresponsive thing, having the lost the ability to respond to light, touch, hearing and pain.

Having died to sin does that render us unresponsive, to sin, lacking any desire to sin?

This is inconsistent with 6:11-14 – for if being dead to sin renders us unresponsive and with no desire to sin and lacking the capacity to sin then Paul would hardly have to exhort us not to allow sin to reign in our bodies (6:12), not to obey sin (6:12) nor to give our bodies over to the service of sin (6:13)!

This interpretation is also inconsistent with Col 3:5 ff and Galatians 5:16ff.

We need to be wary of interpreting the scriptures with medical text books rather than using the scriptures to interpret themselves!

To understand 6:2 I think we need to look back at 5:21.

Before my conversion 'sin was King' (5:21)

I lived under the domain, the authority, the rule, the tyranny of King Sin (5:21)

Now I am saved I live in another Kingdom (5:21) the Kingdom of Grace under Jesus Christ our Lord (5:21).

I have at some point left the one Kingdom and come into the other.

“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:” (Col 1:13)

Every Kingdom has its boundary, its border to which the rule of the sovereign extends and thus no further:

Illust: Coming into Scotland from England, M74 sign “Scotland Failte ”

The boundary marker for the Kingdom of sin isn't a sign on the road or a line on the map, it is a boundary marker appropriate to sin.

Sin cannot cross the boundary marker of death!

That link between sin and death cannot be broken:

The Kingdom of Sin has a boundary: “as sin hath reigned unto death.” (5:21)

After death sin has no more claim upon me!

Does this mean there is no sinning in hell?

Sin is a falling short of Gods standard it is the rejection of or rebellion against the self revelation of God, but in hell, apart from the experience of Gods eternal judgement there is no revelation of God to reject, revile or rebel against:

God is Light – and sin is described as a rebellion against and a rejection of that light (John 3:19), but eternal judgement is “outer darkness” it is the “blackness of darkness forever” - Jude 1:13.
God is Love – and sin is a rejection of or a cutting off of the love of God into our life and experience (1John4:7,8) but eternal judgement is a “fearful looking forward to...” (Heb10:27) – a place dominated by fear because there is no love there (1 John4:18).
God is Life – man's greatest outrage against God was to kill the Prince of Life (Acts 3:15) - but eternal judgement is the “second death” (Rev20:14)
God is the source of Hope – but eternal judgement has no hope, it is eternal! (Heb6:2)
God is Peace – but eternal judgement knows no peace - “And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.” (Rev 14:11)
Christ is Saviour – John 16:9 compare Heb 10:26 – in eternal judgement there is no opportunity to reject Christ! There remaineth no more forgiveness of sins.

There is no revelation of God in hell to sin against!

At some point I came to the boundary of that kingdom of sin and crossed over into the Kingdom of Grace.

Being “dead to sin” represents a change of address from the Kingdom of Sin to the Kingdom of Grace

That link between sin and death:

It is an inevitable link – sin is a rebellion against God and a rejection of God, “in Him is life” therefore sin separated from the source of life and brings death

It is an inviolable link – that is a link that cannot be broken – because God has also decreed this link:

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Gen 2:17)

“Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Eze 18:4)

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom 6:23)

There is an exit from sin but that exit is labelled 'death'

The only way out of the Kingdom of Sin is by way of Death.

On the other side of that door marked death the door is labelled either deliverance or damnation!

This is an interesting idea that death marks the boundary for the Kingdom of Sin but do you have any clear cut evidence of it?

Rom 6:7 “For he that is dead is freed from sin.”

That word “freed” is very interesting because it is the word “δικαιόω” - justified!

How can death justify us from sin?

Does it not take the work of Christ to justify us from sin and make us right with God and bring us into a living relationship with God? (5:11-21)

Of course it does and I suspect that is why the word has been translated “freed” in this verse to avoid confusion!

This is “justify” in a different sense.

This justify does not have the positive thought of being declared righteous by a God satisfied with the work of Christ and being brought into a living relationship with God but this is the “justified” of a criminal, found guilty of a crime who takes his punishment and serves the sentence meted out.

He has done the crime and now he does the time.

Should he complete his punishment then the demands of righteousness are satisfied.

Sin demands death, once death has been reached sins demands have ended!

God doesn't defraud sin, He doesn't say 'I know that sin demands death but I'm going to bend the rules here.' Rather He pays the price for that righteous demand in the death of His Son!

We are therefore declared to have satisfied or fulfilled the Divine decree concerning sin:

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Gen 2:17)

“Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Eze 18:4)

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom 6:23)

So are you saying then that once we die then the demands of sin are satisfied and because we have suffered death for our sin we are then free from guilt?

Are saying that every sinner therefore who dies is justified and goes to heaven?

Who said anything about heaven?

The punishment for and the consequence of sin is death and without a Saviour death is simply not an event is an eternal state.

Hence eternal damnation in the lake of fire is referred to as the “second death” (Rev2:11; 20:6; 20:14; 21:8) for the just demands of sin against an eternal being is eternal death and separation.

But were there not in scripture those who have left the domain of sin without dieing?

Enoch (Gen 5:24; Heb11:5)
Elijah (2 Kings 2:11)
The saints of 1 Thess 4 and 1 Co 15:51

How is this possible?

The work of Christ involves not only Christ bearing my sin (Isa 53; 1 Peter 3:18) but also dieing my death and entering into that deep experience of separation from God: "My God, My God why hast thou forskaen me?" and experiencing that thick darkness:

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” (Heb 2:9)

Albert Leckie: “Here it is dead to sin as governing my life”

Martyn Lloyd Jones: “Christ died to the realm and to the rule and to the reign of sin...we are dead to sin in the sense that we are no longer under its rule, being out of the territory and the jurisdiction of sin”

Free from the Domain of sin (5:21) from the Demands of sin and from the Domination of sin (6:9-12)!

This identification this union with Christ not only in His Life but also in His death allows me to move out of the Kingdom of Sin and to move on from the Kingdom of Sin, it sets me free from the Domain, the Demands and the Domination of sin.

Union with the death of Christ frees me from the POWER and PLACE of sin and one day from the PRESENCE of sin.

As far back as Job this truth appears:

“If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.” (Job 14:14)

Job saw death not simply as an end or termination but as a transition, not just a barrier but a boundary to something else, a transformation, a change!

Notice in this section we have a:

Burial
Baptism
Body (v6) – we have an old man hanging like a corpse on a cross

One of the reasons people don't come to Christ: we have too much invested in the Old Man

We make excuses that what the old man did was ok:

well I had to do it
my hands were tied
I was advised to do it
under the circumstances...
I couldn't have coped any other way...
It was different in those days...
The pressures were such that...

The Christian is a person who has faced the facts that what he or she has done is wrong, sinful, offensive to God and deserving of eternal condemnation in hell.

These were not little blips, imperfections, difficulties – they were sins, I was wrong and I confess them, I see my need of cleansing and forgiveness and I understand that Christ dies for me and my sin!

To that cross of Christ my “old man” - my pre-conversion life is crucified!

It is a painful, pitiful, shameful and embarrassing thing to watch the crucifixion of the “old man” (6:6) and so often I shy away from it.

What is the “old man”? (6:6)

What is the difference between the “old man” and the “flesh”

The “old man” dies at conversion (Rom 6:6), ends, on a cross, dead and crucified at conversion. The old man is the pre-conversion life lived out under the power of the flesh
The flesh continues even after conversion (Col 3:5ff; Gal 5:16ff)
After conversion we live according to the Spirit and live as a “new man” (2 Co5:17; Eph4:24; Col3:9,10; Rom8:1ff)

I have been to the cross,

I have seen dyeing there,

Thy Son tortured and bleeding for me,

And as I moved to depart,

My direction had changed,

I could see myself hanging with thee.

Having left all I was,

At Calvary's tree,

I stand empty and barren and bare,

A new life I must live,

For the old life has gone,

By His life there is a new me.

To serve that 'old man'

Hanging dead on the tree

Would be to still live in the past

But to serve a risen Lord,

Who sits high above all

Gives life meaning and purpose that lasts

To live still in sin

Just cannot be done

Now that sin is condemned in the flesh

For if sin was once wrong

Before Calvary's tree

How much more

Since it cost God His Son?

Not just an offence

That is bitter to taste

Reaping death, disaster and loss

But now it is clear,

It was the reason that Christ

Shed His blood,

Gave His life on the Cross.

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Romans Chapter 6 Verse 1: 'Shall we Continue in Sin?'

2009-10-20T12:07:00.002+01:00

Taken from a message preached on Romans Chapter 6 Verse 1 by Dr J Stewart Gillespie

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In Romans Chapter 5 we saw A Grace that:

1.G – Glory, the ultimate purpose of all Gods dealings in Grace. The Glory of God's Grace, is the reason (5:6,12) that is the reason for Gods permissive will in allowing Adams sin and Eden's fall (Eph1:5-6; 1:10-12)
2.R – Rejoices (5:3-5) in all of life's problems, in tribulations
3.A – Ability of Grace, able to save despite all of our inability. Grace removes (5:6) all obstacles to salvation – no one is lost because they lacked the ability, intelligence, know how or strength to be saved
4.C – Crowned, Grace is crowned King, Grace reigns (5:21)
5.E – Extends to wherever sign has been, Grace reaches (5:18,20) everywhere that sin has reached

Not only that but a Grace sufficient for:

1.Life's Problems (5:1-5)
2.Salvations Plan (5:6-11)
3.Man's Plight (5:12-21)

No matter what my problems there is grace sufficient for it? Correct!
No matter how deep the hole Gods grace can reach me? Correct!
No matter how big the mess Gods Grace can sort it out? Correct!
Well that's just fine because I love causing problems, making a mess, picking fights, being the awkward customer, I thrive on conflict and contention and I quite enjoy my sin! So I can continue dabbling in my sin with the reassurance that the Lord can sort it all out!

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” (Rom6:1)

Surely no one can seriously think like that?
Gods Grace is not license to sin, because Gods Grace is not the opposite of righteousness.
God does not cease to be righteous because He is Gracious
His Grace is not His means of ignoring or neglecting His Righteousness but rather His Grace is His means of maintaining His Righteous integrity whilst being able to save the sinner: Rom 3:22, 26.

Am I trading on Gods Grace?
Would my behaviour change if:

i.If I thought that my lie / deception would be dealt with the same way as Ananias Saphira's was? Acts 5 – 2 believers lie to the Holy Spirit, maybe a little ½ lie – they sold the land and gave 'most' of it for the work of the Lord and said that they had given 'all' of it. Just a slight exaggeration? Did it really matter? Ananias executed on the spot by the Spirit of God and his wife executed 3 hours later! God has not changed!

ii.If I thought that my greed would be dealt with in the same way as Achan's was – Joshua chp 7. Jericho has just fallen, and explicit instructions have been given by God that the city and all in it are cursed, nothing to be taken for any private use. The gold, silver, brass and iron can be used for the sanctuary but everything else is to be left. Achan – just one man amongst millions who obey, takes 3 items: “...a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight...” (Jos 7:21). Whats the big deal? A few items which were going to be wasted anyway? The righteousness of God was the BIG deal. “...a goodly Babylonish garment” - “a trendy outfit from the high street.” Because of this disobedience of one man the entire army of Israel is defeated at Ai and Achan and his sons and daughters and animals are stoned and burned!

iii.If I thought that my grumbling would be dealt with the same way as Miriam's was (Num 12). Miriam and others had an issue with Moses leadership and wanted to push him out and move in (Num12:2). They take a round about approach to manoeuvring Moses out and attack him from the side – his wife (12:1) – not really the issue! Be careful how we approach a ministry that challenges us! Miriam's grumbling against a faithful servant of the Lord was summarily dealt with!

iv.If I thought that discord with my brethren would be made as public as that of Euodias and Syntyche's was (Phil 4) – Paul wrote of it in a letter, sent it to the church, copied it around the world and published it for 2000 years! Way to go! Took about relationship counselling apostle style! Name and shame – not invented by the newspapers in the 20th century!

If it would change my behaviour to anticipate my sin being dealt with in these ways then I am trading on Divine Grace!
I am banking on Gods Grace to allow me to continue in sin!

4 reasons why we don't continue in sin:

1.because I'm dead to Sin (6:1-7)
2.because I'm alive to God (6:8-11)
3.because I must serve God (6:12-20)
4.because sin remains sin (6:21-22)

1)because I'm dead to Sin (6:2-8)

vs2-3 – we are dead to sin
What does it mean to be “dead to sin”?
Notice “dead” is an aorist tense – point tense and usually past, a completed action
What does that mean?

i.We have lost the desire to sin? Some point out that a dead body is an unresponsive thing, having the lost the ability to respond to light, touch, hearing and pain. Illust: check a person is dead: shine a light in pupils – no response, painful stimuli – no response. Having died to sin does that render us unresponsive, to sin, lacking any desire to sin? This inconsistent with 6:11-14 – for if being dead to sin renders us unresponsive and with no desire to sin and lacking the capacity to sin then Paul would hardly have to exhort us not to allow sin to reign in our bodies (6:12), not to obey sin (6:12) nor to give our bodies over to the service of sin (6:13)! This interpretation is also inconsistent with Col 3 and Galatians 5. We need to be wary of interpreting the scriptures with medical text books rather than using the scriptures to interpret themselves!

ii.A broken relationship with sin (Montgomery Boice). Boice points out the same phrase is used of Christ in (6:10) where Christ discharged His responsibilities to sin, dealt with it and finished with sin at Calvary, His relationship with sin is now finished! This is true but what does this mean to me practically?

To understand 6:2 I think we need to look back at 5:21.
Before my conversion 'sin was King' (5:21)
I lived under the domain, the authority, the rule, the tyranny of King Sin (5:21)
Now I am saved I live in another Kingdom (5:21) the Kingdom of Grace under Jesus Christ our Lord (5:21).
I have at some point left the one Kingdom and come into the other.
This is what Colossians 1:3 says: “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:” (Col 1:13)

Every Kingdom has its boundary, its border to which the rule of the sovereign extends and thus no further:

Coming into Scotland from England, M74 sign “Scotland Failte ”
The boundary marker for the Kingdom of sin isn't a sign on the road or a line on the map, it is a boundary marker appropriate to sin.

Sin cannot cross the boundary marker of death!
That link between sin and death cannot be broken:
The Kingdom of Sin has a boundary: “as sin hath reigned unto death.” (5:21)
After death sin has no more claim upon me!
Does this mean there is no sinning in hell?
Sin is a falling short of Gods standard it is the rejection of or rebellion against the self revelation of God, but in hell, apart from the experience of Gods eternal judgement there is no revelation of God to reject, revile or rebel against:

God is Light – and sin is described as a rebellion against and a rejection of that light (John 3:19), but eternal judgement is “outer darkness” it is the “blackness of darkness forever”

God is Love – and sin is a rejection of or a cutting off of the love of God into our life and experience (1John4:7,8) but eternal judgement is a “fearful looking forward to...” (Heb10:27) – a place dominated by fear because there is no love there (1 John4:18).

God is Life – man's greatest outrage against God was to kill the Prince of Life (Acts 3:15) - but eternal judgement is the “second death” (Rev20:14)
God is the source of Hope – but eternal judgement has no hope, it is eternal! (Heb6:2)

God is Peace – but eternal judgement knows no peace - “And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.” (Rev 14:11)

There is no revelation of God in hell to sin against!
At some point I came to the boundary of that kingdom of sin and crossed over into the Kingdom of Grace.
Being “dead to sin” represents a change of address from the Kingdom of Sin to the Kingdom of Grace
That link between sin and death:

1.It is an inevitable link – sin is a rebellion against God and a rejection of God, “in Him is life” therefore sin separated from the source of life and brings death

2.It is an inviolable link – that is a link that cannot be broken – because God has also decreed this link:

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Gen 2:17)

“Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Eze 18:4)

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom 6:23)

There is an exit from sin but that exit is labelled 'death'
The only way out of the Kingdom of Sin is by way of Death.
On the other side of that door marked death the door is labelled either deliverance or damnation!

This is an interesting idea that death marks the boundary for the Kingdom of Sin but do you have any clear cut evidence of it?

Rom 6:7 “For he that is dead is freed from sin.”

That word “freed” is very interesting because it is the word “δικαιόω” - justified!

How can death justify us from sin? Does it not take the work of Christ to justify us from sin and make us right with God and bring us into a living relationship with God? (5:11-21)
Of course it does and I suspect that is why the word has been translated “freed” in this verse to avoid confusion!
This is “justify” in a different sense.
This justify does not have the positive thought of being declared righteous by a God satisfied with the work of Christ and being brought into a living relationship with God but this is the “justified” of a criminal, found guilty of a crime who takes his punishment and serves the sentence meted out.
He has done the crime and now he does the time.
Should he complete his punishment then the demands of righteousness are satisfied.
Sin demands death, once death has been reached sins demands have ended!
God doesn't defraud sin, He doesn't say 'I know that sin demands death but I'm going to bend the rules here.' Rather He pays the price for that rioghteous demand in the death of His Son!
We are therefore declared to have satisfied or fulfilled the Divine decree concerning sin:

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Gen 2:17)

“Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Eze 18:4)

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom 6:23)

So are you saying then that once we die then the demands of sin are satisfied and because we have suffered death for our sin we are then free from guilt?
Are saying that every sinner therefore who dies is justified and goes to heaven?
Who said anything about heaven?
The punishment for and the consequence of sin is death and without a Saviour death is simply not an event is an eternal state.
Hence eternal damnation in the lake of fire is referred to as the “second death” (Rev2:11; 20:6; 20:14; 21:8) for the just demands of sin against an eternal being is eternal death and separation.

But were there not in scripture those who have left the domain of sin without dieing?

1.Enoch (Gen 5:24; Heb11:5)
2.Elijah (2 Kings 2:11)
3.The saints of 1 Thess 4 and 1 Co 15:51

How is this possible?
The work of Christ involves not only Christ bearing my sin but also dieing my death:

“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” (Heb 2:9)

Albert Leckie: “Here it is dead to sin as governing my life”

Martyn Lloyd Jones: “Christ died to the realm and to the rule and to the reign of sin...we are dead to sin in the sense that we are no longer under its rule, being out of the territory and the jurisdiction of sin”

Free from the Domain of sin (5:21) from the Demands of sin and from the Domination of sin (6:9-12)!

This identification this union with Christ not only in His Life but also in His death allows me to move out of the Kingdom of Sin and to move on from the Kingdom of Sin, it sets me free from the Domain, the Demands and the Domination of sin.
Union with the death of Christ frees me from the POWER and PLACE of sin and one day from the PRESENCE of sin.

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When a Child Dies: Finding God's Grace in our Greatest Grief: Pictures of Grace to a Child

2009-09-02T11:37:00.003+01:00

So far in our studies we have considered:

Provision for the child in Grace (Romans 5)
Place of the child in Grace (Matthew 18)
Pictures of the child in Grace (Roms 5:12; 2 Sam 12:20-25; 1Kings 17:18ff; 2Kings 4; Mk5)

Pictures of Resurrection

Perhaps today in our own land one of the most prominent and certainly one of the most promoted anti-Christian philosophies would be that of evolution

The athiest / agnostic and evolutionist would generally cite that their strongest evidence lies in the fact the events of the past have left their echo in the rocks of the present – they look for fossils: 'the present is the key to the past.'

We as Christians know a God who knows not only the past but also the future and we as Christians would often cite as our strongest evidence the very converse of the evolutionist, that lieing within the past are echoes of the future: in other words the past contained and continues to contain within it the key to the future!

“Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:” (Isa 46:8-10)

“I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.” (Isa 46:11)

The Christian therefore looks not for fossils of the past in the present but the believer, fully appreciating the greatness and sovereignty of his God seeks for shadows of the future in the past! Only God can do that!

I want to do something that may seem strange therefore to the mind of the unbeliever, the educated but unenlightened mind, the philosopher of the world I want to look for hope in Christ in the future by looking at Gods hand working in the past!

I am seeking Gods promises for the future by looking for Gods patterns in the past.

The believer understands why I am doing this!

As I look back for hope of a future resurrection for the child, I find that out of 8 specific individuals raised again from the dead in scripture other than Christ there are 3 children who are specified as having being raised again from the dead in the past. These 3 are very interesting:

Elijah and the widow of Zarephath's son (1 Kings 17)
Elisha and the son of the Shunammite woman (2 Kings 4)
Jarius Daughter (Mark chp 5)

In these 3 resurrections of children in the scriptures we have:

The resurrection of the son of the gentile woman (1 Kings 17) – in case we missed this the Lord emphasised this very point on the occasion of the commencement of His public ministry in the synagogue in Nazareth in Luke 4:26.
The resurrection of the daughter of a Jewish man – again hard to miss this; Jarius the scriptures highlight for us was the “ruler of the synagogue” - of what relevance did that have to the resurrection of his daughter or to the greatness of the need of the family?
The resurrection of a son “according to promise” (2 Kings 4:16) a condition identical to that of Isaac and the New Testament believer: “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.” (Ga 4:28)

We have therefore pictures of the resurrection of:

Children of the gentile nations
Children of the Jewish nation
Children of believers

In all 3 pictures, for some reason, the state of the dead child is linked with that of sleep:

Elijah before he will raise the dead boy of 1 Kings 17: “And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.” (1Ki 17:19)
Elisha before he will raise the dead son of the Shunammite in 2 Kings 4 will raise the child under similar circumstances: “And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed.” (2Ki 4:32)
Most explicitly of all we have the startling and perhaps slightly puzzling statement of the Lord Jesus concerning Jarius daughter: “And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.” (Lu 8:52 AV)

Perhaps you say what could be more natural than for the Lord to raise up a dead person from their bed? Is that after all not where dead people are often to be found lieing on a bed?

Well interestingly if you you look at the other 5 specified resurrections of the Bible you find:

The man of 2 Kings 13:21 was raised from a sepulchre
The widow of Nain's son, a “young man” was raised from his coffin
Lazarus of John 11 was raised from the tomb
Dorcas, a believer in Acts 9:39, raised from her place in the “upper chamber” - often used as a guest room
Eutychus of Acts 20:9 the young man who fell asleep whilst Paul was preaching, mind you I have to reluctantly confess that the scriptures do seem to blame the preacher for the audience falling asleep: “as Paul was long preaching” - if the audience fall asleep the preacher needs to waken up. Eutychus may well have been in need of his bed but he wasn't raised up from his bed either but from the ground where he landed having fallen from his seat in the open window!

Add to this those who are raised en mass when the Saviour died, unspecified individuals (Matt 27:52) who were raised from the graves!

So as it turns out the children are the only ones to be raised from their beds in a state of sleep!

Although as we are aware, interestingly this picture of sleep becomes a consistent picture of the condition of the dead in Christ (John 11; 1 Thess 4), but ever before the believer in Christ died to sleep with the promise of a future awakening, the child had been for many generations entered already into the enjoyment of that very experience!

Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath: A Picture of Rapture:

A child dies, but more than this, a child is committed into the care of Elijah (17:19)

Carried by Elijah out of the bosom of his mother to abide where he abides, to rest where he rests (cf. Luke 16:22)

“he took him” (v19)

“give me thy son” (v19)

Many times the Lord asks us to give to Him that which we least desire to part with, that we might trust Him for that which means most to us.

This is the essence of faith.

This was the essence of Abraham's faith in Genesis 22: “take thy son thine only Isaac.”

The God who requires from me that which I least desire to part with is the God who “spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all.”

For the purposes of the narrative it would have been enough to record “he took him” but the Spirit adds “out of her bosom.” From a mothers heart.

For some time, up until the resurrection of her son that was all the mother knew – the pain and sorrow of an empty heart.

Here is our problem – our sorrow lies in time and our hope lies in eternity.

As Elijah departed with the child and the door closed behind them, this widow woman was unable to see what was transpiring above, in the upper room, she only knew of the sorrow which was her portion below, the sorrow of an empty heart.

Here is our great disability, our eyes can only see to the horizon of time.

That is where we are too, trapped in time but with our hope in eternity.

“carried him” (v19)

Notice the direction “up” and the location “loft”

“into a loft”: 5944: stair way, upper room, the sky

The deaths of at least 7 individuals in scripture are linked with the loft or upper room:

Eglon the king of Moab (Judges 3)
David mourns for his dead Absalom in a loft or upper room (2Sam 18)
Ahaziah falls through a lattice in the loft (2Kings 1)
Son of the widow of Zarephath
Shunammites son layed in the loft (2Kings 4)
Dorcas lay in the upper chamber (Acts 9)
Eutychus (Acts 20) falls from the upper chamber.

Out of these 7 deaths linked with the loft or upper room, 4 know the power of Gods resurrection – the 2 believers and the 2 children!

The widows son is taken not just to a place but to His presence: “where he abode”

Gods place for us is of course consistently defined by His presence there:

“today shalt thou be with me in paradise”

“Abraham's bosom”

“in my Father's house...”

3. “laid him upon his own bed” (v19)

Not only a place and a presence but perhaps also the thought of peace

The place where Elijah slept is now the place where the child sleeps!

There are those who do not simply die and perish but who “sleep in Jesus” (1 Thess 4) perhaps like Lazarus of John 11 “our friend Lazarus sleepeth”

This is where the child is left at the end of verse 19

Is the child left or is the child lost?

Out of the sight of the empty heart of the mother, is there the fear preying upon the mind that the child has not simply left but is actually lost?

Perhaps unappreciated by the mother, the one into whose hands she has committed her son is one who has a powerful intercessory ministry with God (v20) cf. James 5:17.

Will she see her son again? What is the setting of this reunion?

A cry / shout (17:20,21)
The “voice” of Elijah (17:22)
The resurrection of the child (17:22)
The child descends (17:22)
The child, the mother and Elijah united once again (17:23)

Oh yes, and who is Elijah?

'El' – God
'Jah' – Jehovah – the Lord

“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

For the Lord himself shall
descend from heaven
with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and
the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord...” (1Th 4:15-18)

In 2 Sam 12 David has a hope of being reunited with his dead child

In 1 Kings 17 the hope linked with Elijah is not that of being reunited in death but rather reunited in rapture together.

This is fitting of course for Elijah, since he is the prophet who himself never saw death but was raptured to heaven alive in the chariot of fire.

When we come to the hope of the Shunammite woman of 2 Kings 4 her hope is linked more resurrection, to be reunited in resurrection:

setting is “carmel” or fruitfulness
she is greated with a 3 fold “shalom” (2 Kings 4) as did the Lord His disciples after the resurrection in John 20.

Looking in particular at the NT miracle of the resurrection of Jarius daughter we find that in the pattern of Marks gospel this event is part of a triplet of events in Marks account of the ministry of the Lord Jesus.

There are 3 events in that gospel which are marked out as distinct as the only occasions when Christ is present together with the inner corm of the 3 disciples: Peter, James and John:

The raising of Jarius daughter – the resurrection of a dead child by Christ.
The Mount of transfiguration – the revelation of the future resurrection glory of Christ, along with the NT believers – Peter, James and John and Old Testament Saints – Elijah and Moses
The Garden of Gethsemane – the Lord returns from His sufferings to find His saints whom He has left in His absence, during the night to be active and in prayer, He finds them asleep and raises them up (Mark 14:37). This word “sleep” is the same word as that used of the sleeping saints whom the Lord finds at His return for the saints in 1 Thess 5:10.

Are these 3 groups in Marks gospel pointing forward to 3 groups who have part in His resurrection?

The child – covered by His blood
Expectant OT and NT saints who await and anticipate His coming
Sleeping NT saints – saved but not living on the tip toe of expectancy

The resurrection of Jarius daughter raises a number of problems:

Inability
Innocence
Inaccuracy
Inactivity

The Problem of Inability:

Can someone who is unable to believe be saved? The question of faith.

Can't believe is different from won't believe

Inability to accept Christ is distinct from active rejection of Christ

Gods eternal condemnation and personal, individual judgement of humanity is always based on the active rejection in part or in whole of the person and work of Christ.

“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” (Joh 3:19)

“He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (Joh 3:18)

“And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;” (2Pe 2:6)

“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.” (Re 20:12-13)

The condemnation of the whole of humanity, in the opening 3 chapters of Romans and the conclusion of Romans 3:23 is on the basis not of our association with Adam – a reality that brings the condemnation of death in Roms 5:12 but it is on the basis of personal guilt, by virtue of the fact that I have transgressed the revelation of the true God in:

Creation (Roms 1)
Conscience (Roms 1+2)
Covenant (Roms 2+3)
Christ (Roms 3+4)

Condemnation to Divine Judgement in the first 3 chapters of Romans is as a consequence of personal corruption.

The condemnation of God in scripture rests upon those who are able but not willing to respond to God.

ii The Problem of Innocence:

What was her status before God?

Born in Adams sin, guilt imputed because Adam had sinned but without any personally committed sins – 'faultless failure'.

Was she condemned to judgement or covered by the blood?

The question of fairness.

Does God regard such as innocent?

Consider the following scriptures:

“For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.”(Isa 7:16)

“Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.”(Deu 1:39)

“Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.”(Jer 2:34)

“Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents;”(Jer 19:4)

“Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.”(Psa 106:37-38)

iii The Problem of Inaccuracy:

Why did Christ say “she is not dead” ?

There are perhaps echoes here of John 11: “These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.” (Joh 11:11), but the Lord goes a stage further than that here with Jarius daughter: “she is not dead but sleepeth” (Luke 8:52).

In John 11 Christ did not deny the reality of death but here in Luke chp 8 Christ denies the reality of death.

Why is this? Why does Christ not impute death to Jarius' daughter?

Was it simply because in this special case that Jarius' daughter was going to be raised from the dead or was there something different in essence about the death of Jarius' daughter compared to that of an adult?

The Lord did not say: 'she will not remain dead' or 'her death is not permanent' or as He did with Lazarus; 'your daughter will rise again' cf. John 11:23 but here with Jarius' daughter He denies the reality of death!!

The simple reading of the words of Christ here are not consistent with them being a reference to her impending resurrection at all!

Resurrection is life raised up from the dead.

The Lord denies that she is dead in the first place!

This is not the way the Lord approaches the issue of resurrection with Lazarus:

“Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.” (Joh 11:14). The Lord does not deny here the reality of Lazarus death!

How can the Lord say here “she is not dead but sleepeth” (Luke 8:52)?

Is it because He speaks not only as a man amongst men but as God?

Consider a very similar statement in this connection concerning the patriachs of old: “Now that the dead are raised, even Moses shewed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.” (Lu 20:37-38)

The Problem of Inactivity:

Why the wait?

Why the delay?

The Lord could have gone to Jarius house at the stage of Luke 8:4, but He took time to deal with the women with the issue of blood.

Why was this?

Jarius daughter had enjoyed 12 years of life.
The woman had endured 12 years of death!

But if Jarius daughter died and went to hell how could that delay have been justified?

Taken from a message preached at New Cumnock Gospel Hall on 1st September 2009

by Dr J Stewart Gillespie

Click the link below to listen the MP3 recording of this message:

When a Child Dies: Finding God's Grace in our Greatest Grief: Pictures of Grace to a Child

Other messages on Pauls Epistle to the Romans are downloadable in MP3 format from:

http://www.newcumnock.org/romans.html

When a Child Dies: Finding Grace in our Greatest Grief: The Position of Children in Grace (Matt 18:1-14)

2009-08-26T23:33:00.003+01:00

The position of children in Grace:

Far greater and completely different from their position before:

The law
Roman and Greek society
The disciples

When we come to consider the position of children before Christ and in Gods purposes we are going to have to take to heart the words of Isaiah:

“ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isa 55:8-9)

There is perhaps no section that deals with children which turns our thinking on its head so much as Matthew chp 18! So much so as you read through some of the commentators on this chapter you will find an almost utterly astounding phenomenon that emerges: many if not most will spend much of their time trying to explain why Matthew chapter 18 doesn't apply to children!

Why? Because if it does say what it plainly says then we would have to radically change our thinking about the child, a thinking which peripheralises and minimises the child and elevates us!

The Place of the Child (18:1-2)
The Pattern of the Child (18:3-4)
The Possession of the Child (18:5) – Possessed by God not by Man
The Protection of the Child (18:6-9)
The Privilege of the Child (18:10)
The Pursuit of the Child (18:11-14)
The Promise to the Child (18:14)

If our attitude to the child is better seen and not heard!
If our response to the child is one of impatience and intolerance and irritation!
If we view humanity as developing in importance as we move from childhood to adulthood, then in Matthew 18 we will find that our perspective on childhood is completely out of step with God!
There is perhaps no day, no hour, no place and no land when this teaching of the Word of God is more needed and more timely than in our own land and in our own day; a day wherein since 1967, society, government, hospitals, doctors, nurses, mothers and fathers, politicians and voters have regarded the life of the child as so utterly expendable and disposable that should the developing life of the unborn interfere with the priorities, desires, financial prosperity of the parents to be, then that developing life can be extinguished with impunity.
Since 1967: 7,000,000 such lives have been dealt with in that way in the UK.
To such the Saviour speaks these solemn words, which will not go away:
“ But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.”
One of the questions which ultimately our studies on this subject will ultimately address is this: 'where are the souls of those 7 million tonight?'
The answer I do believe is this: they stand as witnesses in the presence of God against a wicked and perverse generation!
We cannot cut off the souls of those who have mediated access into the presence of God and expect to live thereafter with impunity (Matt 18:10)

The Place of the Child (18:1-2)

“at the same time” (v1) – at what “same time”?
When the resurrection Glory of the Lord Jesus Christ has been seen on the Mount of Transfiguration (17:1ff)
When the Lord has spoken of the fact that:

Devils / Demons (17:14-21)
Death (17:23)
Demands of men (17:24-27) – unpaid tax bills

Cannot hinder the progress of His Kingdom!

“at the same time” (v1):
He was faced with a Demon who could not be cast out – so the Lord casts the demon out (17:14-21)
Death (17:23)
He was faced with the demands of men (17:24-27), and a tax bill that could not be paid, they had no money!

“at the same time” (v1): as so many of the preconceptions that men had about the kingdom were being swept away in the mighty torrent and flood of Christ's Glory!

“at the same time” (v1): as Christ was introducing the impossible to the eyes of the incredulous!

“at the same time” (v1): as the disciples had missed the point and failed to appreciate that the true essence of greatness in His Kingdom was humility!

As soon as they had been given a vision of the Glory of the Kingdom in Matthew 17 they are reminded that the Kingdom was introduced by the ministry of a child (17:10-12) – John the Baptist, a child filled by the Spirit of God from his mother's womb!
1 of 3 remarkable children in scripture involved with revival:

Samuel – a child priest
Josiah – a child King
John the Baptist – a child prophet

This glorious Kingdom was introduced by the ministry of a child (Isa40)
As the disciples as the question: “who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” the Lord will take them back to the principle established at the beginning of the preaching of His Kingdom; introduced by a child. Filled by the Spirit of God, with a ministry: “to turn the heart of the fathers tot he children” (Lk1:17)
Here is something utterly amazing – down through the years as commentators and preachers have come to Matthew 18, as they have watched the Saviour place the child in their midst, listened to the mistake of the disciples and heard the teaching of the Saviour, one of the first things which these commentators and preachers have done is to immediately miss the point and make the same mistake as the disciples by attempting to exclude the child from the promises of this chapter.
These promises only become the possession of adult 'child like' believers because they were first the possession of the child whom they have become like.

In society, in the world and even before the disciples the child had little if any place:

Before the world: Luke 9:54 : “maid”: 3816: “pais” possibly from 3817: “paio” : to hit or to strike; a child or servant could be hot or struck with impunity.

Before the disciples: the disciples seemed to have little regard for the child: Matt 19:13-15; Mk 10:13ff; Luke 18:15ff. Perhaps more than a hint of this too in the way the gospel writers record numbers; the feeding of the 5000 – was the feeding of 5000 men plus women and children, the feeding of the 4000 wasn't the feeding of the 4000 at all but the feeding of 4000 men plus women and children!

The teachings of Christ are no reflection of the social and religious ideas of His day!
In His teachings and in His person He is once again set apart as a man amongst men.

What place does Christ give to the child?

“...and set him in the midst of them” (18:2)
“in the midst” is a place of privilege and of prominence:

Christ in the midst of the church (Matt 18:20)
The High Priest in the midst (Mk 14:60) of the courtroom
Christ in the midst of the doctors (Luke 2:46) of the council
Christ in the midst (Luke 5:19)
Christ in the midst of the disciples (Luke 24:36; John 20:19; 20:26)
Christ in the midst at Calvary (John 19:18)

But here the child is not placed in the midst of the: council, the courtroom nor of Calvary but the child is in the midst of the disciples (18:1).
Not only is this a place of privilege and of prominence but it is also a place , which in the gospels is uniquely reserved for Christ!
In the gospels it is only ever Christ who is to be found “in the midst” of His disciples: Matt 18:20; Luke 24:36; John 20:19; 20:26 except here....
Where it is a child in the midst of the disciples!
Elsewhere in the NT Christ is still found pre-eminently in the midst of His disciples (Heb 2:12; Rev 1:13; 5:6) except in Acts 1:15 when Peter is in the midst of the disciples!
What a place of privilege the Lord places this child into!

The Pattern of the Child (18:3)

If there is one reason above all others that the mind of man struggles and wrestles with the salvation of a child it is surely this: 'how can a child in the absence of learning and understanding come to exercise faith in Christ and so come to be saved?'
In other words man's greatest problem with the salvation of the child is this: 'how can a child become like an adult to be saved as an adult is saved?'
This appears on the surface to be perfectly reasonable but it does of course contain a very serious error: namely that salvation can be hindered by personal inability. If this were true then salvation would be in part dependant on the possession of personal abilities and if that were true salvation would not be entirely of Gods Grace at all.
Justification would be by faith and a certain quantity of intellectual, mental, and spiritual ability!
We cannot supplement Christ without supplanting Christ – Jack Hunter
Romans 5 was very clear on this that personal inability and weakness does not disqualify us from the Grace of God in salvation but rather it is a prerequisite:
“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” (Ro 5:6)
Salvation was:

By His strength
In His season
By His Son

It is in fact a direct consequence of justification by faith that if Gods way of salvation is all of Grace and not of works then He must be the God who can save those who are unable to do anything whatsoever about the matter of salvation.
Their inability does not impact at all on Gods saving ability, it only serves to make His saving work all the more glorious!
As a result of this those who have had most doubts over the centuries concerning infant salvation are those who have compromised on justification by faith and added in works or merit of some sort – Roman Catholicism, which has had to come up with doctrines of limbo and baptismal regeneration to compensate for the infants inability to undertake any good works.
We might then from our studies in Romans anticipate that the answer of the Lord Jesus to this age old question of 'how can a child be saved?' would prove very interesting indeed, but I wonder if we would have anticipated just how interesting His answer would be!
The answer from the lips of the Saviour is little short of startling: not how can a child become like an adult to receive salvation on the same footing as an adult does but rather how can an adult become like a child to receive salvation on the same footing as a child?
“And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 18:3)
We ask how can a child become like an adult to be saved?
Christ asks how can an adult become like a child to be saved?

The Possession of the Child (18:5) – Possessed by God not by Man

A remarkable statement, for:

To 'receive' the disciple was to 'receive' Christ (Matt 10:40; John 13:30)
To reject the disciple with Christ's gospel was to reject Christ
To receive the Son is to receive the Father who sent Him (John 5:43; Matt 10:40; John 13:20)
To receive Christ is to receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38)

“And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.”
Lets not miss the import of this statement – to receive this child in His name, is to receive Christ! In the same way that receiving a believer in Christ's name is to receive the Lord Jesus Himself!
Such a statement is only possible “because ye belong to Christ” (Mk9:41)
To be received in Christ's name is to belong to Christ!
Some have so stumbled at this statement of the Lord Jesus that they have resorted to Biblical gymnastics to contort these verses into something other than they plainly mean.
Some have correctly pointed out that in verses 3 & 4 the Lord Jesus has drawn a pattern from the dependant faith of the child, as a pattern for all who would come in faith to Christ, they then claim that from verse 5 onwards the Lord is not speaking about little children at all but rather of believers who have become as little children to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Let's just spend a moment to reclaim these verses about the little child for the little child.
I think that it would be safe to say that if it were not for verses 3 & 4 of Matthew 18 that no one would ever have reached that conclusion. So if it were the case that verses 3 + 4 were not there we could conclude with confidence that the little child who is received in verse 5 is a literal and physical little child? Consider Marks summary of this event: Mark 9:33 -37; consider Lukes summary of this event : Luke 9:46-48 – there is no reference in either of these sections to an adult becoming as a little child but the reception of that little child is still linked with the same dignity and blessing.

Who is it that is receiving the “little child” in verse 5? The audience is that of believers: “disciples” (v1). If these “little ones” are believers then why does the Lord have to exhort the disciples to be prepared to receive disciples??
I think if we understand the setting given to us by Mark in his account we will see that no confusion could possibly have arisen in the minds of the disciples, for as the Lord utters Matthew 18:5 He has just a few seconds before picked up the little child of whom He is speaking and held him in His arms (Mark 9:36-37)
What is the Lord saying then in Matt18:5?
If I as His disciple extend my arms on His behalf to the objects of His affection I receive Him!
I am not saying and Christ is not saying that every child is indwelt by Christ, for one thing there is a condition attached to the reception of the child, they are not received simply because of what they are but they are received “in my name”
To receive Christ is by definition to receive the Father (John 13:20) – no qualification is required but to receive Christ in receiving the child a condition is attached : I must receive the child in His name!
How can I receive a child in His name?
Consider those who:
Gather “together in my name” (Matt18:20; 1Co5:4)
Belong to Christ and receive gifts in His name (Mk9:41)
Pray “in my name” (John 14:13; 14:14; 15:16; 16:23,24,26)
“in my name” implies at the very least the idea of belonging and perhaps even more the idea of fellowship.
We can only receive a child in “His name” if it is true that such a child belongs to Him!
If I as His disciple extend my arms on His behalf to the objects of His affection I receive Him!
As I read the scriptures to my children, grand children, nieces and nephews, teach the Sunday School class, I as His disciple extend my arms on His behalf to the objects of His affection, I thus receive Him!

The Protection of the Child (18:6-9)

Because that child belongs to Christ
Created for a Divine Purpose, enjoying Divine privilege and afforded Divine protection
From the moment of birth I am His by right

His by Creatorial Right:
Psalm 139:13-16, consider particularly: “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.” (Psa 139:13) – God has creatorial rights over the individual.
Isa 43:1,7; 44:2;21 – God has creatorial rights over the redeemed of the nation of Israel
Isa 46:3-4; 44:19-21 – God has creatorial rights over the whole nation of Israel
Psalm 100:1-3 - “all ye lands” - God has creatorial rights over all peoples.

His by Creatorial Purpose:
Created for His glory (Isa 43:7)
Is it just some who have been created for His glory? Consider Rom 3:23; Rev 4:11 – Gods expectation and design for all of His creatures!
If we do not want to be for His Glory He has no part for us in His Universe!
If He has power to form the vessel and create the vessel He has power to make the vessel again (Jer 18:4)!
The fact that that vessel was damaged did not mean that it was dammed! The difference between the damaged vessels and the dammed vessels of Jeremiah 18 lay in their attitude to the Potter.

His by Creatorial Relationship
Psalm 100:1-3
Luke 15 – the prodigal son – was he a backslider? Was he an unbeliever?
Quite clearly a lost sinner!
Context: Luke 15:1-3 – this is a parable to lost sinners
Character of the son (15:13) - “if we say that we love Him and keep not His commandments...” We could only regard him as a backslider if we develop a creedal view of Christianity. This would be completely unbiblical. Consider the Biblical view of Christian character in Luke 6!
Condition of the Son (Lk 15:24,32) – he was “dead”
But this boy starts off with a relationship with the Father!
He belonged by right at the beginning of the parable and by grace at the end!
No one ever suggests that the sheep or the coin was a backslider but they belonged to the fold!
God retains His creatorial rights over His creature in spite of the fall!
He is able to claim those rights and redeem His creature!
Eternal ruin and loss come when we reject His claims and His rights on our life and we render ourselves unprofitable.
From the moment of conversion I am His by redemption

The Privilege of the Child (18:10)

A privilege which parallels that of the believer and yet it is distinct from it
The believers access to the Father is not by angels!
Angels were linked with the old covenant (Acts 7:53; Gal3:19)
This was a temporary and transient arrangement for access to God.
Our access to the Father is not by angels but rather by the Son (Heb 4:14)!
This access by angels indicates a temporary or transient arrangement, which is either lost when a soul rejects Christ or is superseded by direct access through Christ at conversion.

The Pursuit of the Child (18:11-14)

Compare Matthew 18:11 “for the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost” - as spoken of the child to to that spoken of Zaccheus: “the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10)
Note the absence of seeking with the child!
No voluntary departure or rejection??

The Promise to the Child (18:14)

to listen to this message as an MP3 recording click here

When a Child Dies: Finding God's Grace Greater than our Grief: The Provision for Children (Romans chapter 5)

2009-08-19T15:05:00.002+01:00

In the old grave yard in New Cumnock, there lies amongst the many headstones the remains of one, incomplete, on which reads the following:

their 3 children who were born on the 13th March 1870
and died a son at birth
a son aged 29 hours
Mary Craig aged 20 days
James Craig their son born 27th October 1878 died 28th October 1883
Mary Craig their daughter born 13th March 1877 died 1st October 1888
Bessie their daughter born 7th May 1889 died 19th April 1890
Robert Craig their son born the 8th January 1885 died 28th June 1900
The above
Richard Gilbertson Herbertson
Physician and surgeon
who died Bradford aged 72 years

One family, not by any ways unique but the echo of whose grief can still be heard amongst the decaying memorials of a now almost forgotten generation.
Triplets, a naturally rare event, born on the 13th March 1870 all died – not perhaps surprisingly, they would have been born early and would have been below average weight, 2 boys died so soon after birth they weren't even named and only the daughter received a name – Mary, surviving for only 3 weeks.
Why did they die? Their only fault was to have shared a womb with too many others!
The story continues from tears to tragedy, for 7 years to the day, on the same date - 13th of March another child is born and named after the Mary who died 7 years previously, but this Mary too will die, still in childhood, almost an echo of Jarius daughter, at 11 years of age.
Bessie will die at 1 year old
Robert will die at 5 years of age
A tragic story indeed, but tragedy turns into irony for this is the family of one Richard Gilbertson Herbertson, physician and surgeon, the man who 140 years ago was doing my job here in New Cumnock!
As Dr. Herbertson was busy about his duties delivering children, dealing with measles, whooping cough, diptheria, meningitis, small pox and flu his own family were dieing around him!
Was there an even more bitter pill to swallow than this for Dr Herbertson, why were his children all dieing so young?

Was it due to one or some of the many childhood killer diseases of the Victorian period?

The same ones he was seeing in the village week by week?
Was he doing his best, committed to his duty and calling of tending to the sick and dieing in the village of New Cumnock whilst all of the time he was bringing back those very same infections to his own family?
Why the story?

1 - Well it touched me, for obvious reasons.

2 - It challenged me, for this record presents the Christian message of the gospel and our studies in Romans in 2009 in New Cumnock, with a very real problem. We need a faith that can come up some kind of answers to that kind of suffering and problem – real answers – robust answers

3 - It encouraged me! Encouraged you? Yes I did say that, for not only does that story present me with a big problem it presents me with an almost greater paradox. Why? This story, better recorded than most, was not unique in those days and in this village, this was part and parcel of lifes common experience for our forefathers, and yet just a few feet away from that broken grave stone lies another 2 pieces of broken grave stone, wether it belonged to this head stone or not I do not know, but lieing by itself amongst the death, disease, sorrow and suffering of a by gone day are 2 small fragments of stone, on the one is engraved these words: “thy will be done” and on the other: “until He come.” Here is the paradox; at a time when our sorrow and suffering was at its greatest, nationally Christianity, at least professing Christianity, church attendances and the promotion of Christ in our land was at its most vigorous! That kind of suffering may have killed off many of our children but for many it did not kill off their faith, in fact if the remnants of those stories are left to tell their own tale in the midst of their greatest grief, many found an even greater grace!

Just in case you make the mistake of regarding that hope as simply the product of sentimentality and superstition, I will make it clear that I make one assumption about the grief of a bygone day, the sorrow of the parents of a previous generation, namely that their tears were every bit as wet as ours, their sorrow was felt every bit as deeply as ours, their cots were every bit as empty as ours would bem and that their need for answers was every bit as real as ours!
Do not be tempted to assume that sentimentality was the pattern of a previous generation whereas intelligence and sensibility is the preserve of our generation! Many of those who lie their in those graves were men and women brought up and taught in the Scottish Presbyterian tradition, in a day, unlike today, when many of their ministers were God fearing men who knew Christ and who taught and preached the word of God.
That generation was a generation which had imbibed the reformation teachings of Calvin and Luther and which mark you had a carefully thought out Theology, not all of which I would personally agree with but which none the less correctly identified within the work of Christ and within the pages of the Word of God, a provision for their children, in Grace, which was greater than their grief.
I want tonight to lay bear the foundations of that hope, that Divine provision in Grace for those who died because Adam sinned but who I trust we will see over coming nights must live again, because Christ has died.
That provision in Grace is perhaps seen nowhere more clearly in the Word of God than it is here in Romans chapter 5.
Not only do I intend to look at Gods provision in grace over coming nights but I would also like to consider:

Provision for the child (Romans 5)
Place of the child (Matthew 18)
Pictures of the child in resurrection – as seen in 3 prominent examples
Prophecies of the child in resurrection
Proof of grace to the child as seen in 3 prominent examples

The Provision for the Child (Romans 5)

Romans 5 does not specifically address the matter of the death of a child, but the chapter is of fundamental and critical importance in addressing this problem because:

1 - Romans 5 does give the reason for the presence of death even in the presence of personal innocence (Rom 5:12-15), it explains the reason behind 'faultless failure'
2 - Romans 5 makes Gods provision in grace for a child a moral and spiritual necessity, by the time we have finished Romans chapter 5 it is completely clear that their must be a provision in Gods Grace in Christ for the 'innocent dead.'
3 - Romans chps 3,4 and explicitly chp 5 explain why it is possible for a person to be saved who is unable to contribute anything to their salvation expect for their helpless need of it and thus it is Romans chp 5 which explicitly removes the most stubborn objection to the salvation of the innocent – how can they be saved they cannot understand and they cannot respond to Gods plan of salvation.

A provision for the child in Gods Grace in Christ is a spiritual absolute necessity because:

Rejoicin: Gods Grace allows the believer to Rejoice: The believer MUST rejoice (5:3). The believer must be able to “rejoice in tribulations also” (5:3) – not only in the smooth seas but in the stormy seas also, in the furnace (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo), in the flood (the children of Israel), and even in the vomit (Jonah). If there were no provision in grace for this frequent and tragic encounter in life, Roms 5:3-5 would simply not be true!

Reigning: Grace must reign (5:21) – a grace that is sovereign must be a grace that is sufficient and if His grace does not reach down certain cul de sacs of human experience – Gods grace is not sufficient and it is therefore not sovereign – it does not reign.

Reaching: Every soul MUST be reached by the grace of God in Christ (5:18) – the scope of the work of Christ is at least as extensive as the wickedness of Adam.

Removing: Any impediment due solely to personal inability, for being unable to enjoy Gods salvation MUST be and has been removed (Rom5:6) – salvation is by His Strength, in His Season, and by His Son!
We can never use the reason for a soul being lost as having been due to their inability to comprehend or inability to apprehend the gospel.
If personal inability were a real reason for missing out on the blessings of Gods grace, this would mean that personal ability was required to apprehend Gods Grace, in which case Gods grace is not sufficient for the needs of a lost humanity and thus salvation would be partly grace and partly works!
Furthermore if my inability is actually what prevents me from enjoying the gospel then what I am really saying is that personal inability is ultimately far greater, more powerful and of greater importance than Divine ability. Human inability becomes the defining matter and deciding issue rather than Divine ability. I ascribe to my weakness the place of omnipotence and relegate Gods all sufficiency to some place of lower importance!
The problem of infant salvation cannot therefore terminate in a conclusion that they are not able therefore they cannot be saved!
If that is where my thinking concludes there can be only one logical conclusion drawn from that conclusion – that God is not sufficient for the problem.

Reasoning: Every problem that sin throws up MUST have a reason. We have seen in Romans chp 5 one over arching pattern: “that where sin abounded Grace did much more abound” - that Gods Purposes preceed mans Problems! God is Sovereign over Life's Problems (5:1-5); God is Sovereign over Salvations Plan (5:6-11) and God is Sovereign over Man's Plight (5:12-21). Because the solution precedes the problem I can never ask is their a provision from God in Grace for this problem which sin and self and Satan has thrown up? If there was no purpose, if there was no Divine response the problem would not exist! That is not to say that every sin and every problem and rebellion of sinful man must ultimately conclude with their salvation but that even in the depths of human sin and rebellion God has His purpose and ultimately all will be headed up in Christ. We therefore can search with expectancy to find Gods purposes in all problems of life.

Responding: Gods response to our need is not condemnation, that is Gods response to our sin (Rom chps 1 to 3) but Gods response to our need is His Glorious Provision of Grace (Rom 5:6,8,10), just as in the same way God does not condemn men and women who have not heard the gospel because they have not heard the gospel but God does condemn men and women who have not heard the gospel because they are sinners. It is not our need that condemns us it is our sin! If we conclude that all infants dieing in childhood come under the condemnation of God because of their need please realise that this must be the only time ever in Gods dealings with men when He breaks with the principles of His eternal justice and righteousness to respond to man's need with wrath rather than with Grace! God delights to respond to man's need with grace:
“And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” (Ps 50:15 AV)
“In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.” (Ps 86:7)
“He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.” (Ps 91:15)
“Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily.” (Ps 102:2)
“Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” (Isa 55:1)
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,” (Tit 2:11)
But grace rejected:
“But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.” (Ps 50:16-17)
“He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” (Joh 1:11-12)
The final judgement on man in Rev 20 is not as a needy sinner but man as a :
Christ rejecting
God hating
Conscience defiling
Gospel despising
Heaven mocking
Grace disbelieving
Sinner
“This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men preferred darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.”
He rejects us because we reject Him:
Gods Word rejected (2 Sam 15:23,36)
God rejected Personally (1 Sam 8:7)
Gods commandment and law rejected (2Kings 17:20)
Gods law rejected (Jer 6:19)
Knowledge Rejected (Hos 4:6)
Gods Son rejected (Matt 21:42)
This pattern is most clearly seen in the 2 Advents of Christ:
The 1st Advent of Christ – Man rejects Christ
The 2nd Advent of Christ – Christ rejects God

Listen to the MP3 recording of:

When a Child Dies - Finding Gods Grace in our Greatest Grief - Gods Provision in Grace (18/08/2009) JS Gillespie

Romans Chp 5 Vs 12 to 21 : 'Making Happiness Happen' (28/07/2009)

2009-07-28T23:58:00.001+01:00

The Problem of Suffering:

1.If God is good He would wish His creatures to be happy
2.If God is all powerful He would be able to make His creatures happy
3.His creatures are not happy
4.Therefore God is either not good or not all powerful or both

We have already argued that we need to face this problem not from the position of ignorance or unbelief but realistically in the full knowledge that God has revealed Himself clearly in :

1.Creation (Roms Chp 1)
2.Conscience (Roms Chp 2)
3.Covenant (Roms Chp 2+3)
4.Christ (Roms Chp 3+4)

When we do this we see that the very seed plot of Adams rebellion is germinating with the joy of Christ's salvation!

For the principle of:

1.Relationship has results
2.Connection brings consequences

Why should it be that our connection with Adam brings our death and condemnation
Why should it be that we all sinned in Adam
What difference do the actions of one man all of those years ago make to me?

"for that all have sinned"

Adam is our federal head - that needs an explanation in itself!
Adam is the representative man - but why? MPs are our representatives in parliament but the fact that they fiddle their taxes doesn't mean that we do!
All humanity was potential in Adam: "And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" (Gen2:7) - therefore corruption at the stage of Adam affects us all!

Our connection with Adam is not simply because he is like us - a representative man, or he is the chief or head man - federal head but our connection with Adam is very very real!
He is the representative man and the federal head because this connection is real!
There are 4 ways people have come into the world:

1.Adam by creation
2.Eve by formation
3.Christ by incarnation
4.All others by generation

God did not create you and I directly but indirectly
Our connection with Adam is real
"And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lifes; and man became a living soul" (Gen2:7)
Therefore corruption at the stage of Adam affects us all!
That which condemns the innocent to suffer because of his relationship to Adam also guarantees the:

1.justification of the unjust
2.life to the dead
3.salvation to the sinner

by virtue of his connection in faith to Christ:

1.Relationship with Christ's righteousness brings justification
2.Relationship with a Saviour brings Salvation
3.Relationship with the life of Christ brings life

Before we leave Adam and his suffering and move onto our relationship with Christ and His salvation perhaps there is one matter we should finish dealing with first
One barrier to be bridged
Bridging the barrier of brokenness
What about this problem of suffering
We have seen that within the seed plot of Adams sin there is germinating the joy of Christ's salvation but what about that argument that threatened to derail faith in Christ why did it point to such a wrong conclusion?

1.If God is good He would wish His creatures to be happy
2.If God is all powerful He would be able to make His creatures happy
3.His creatures are not happy
4.Therefore God is either not good or not all powerful or both

All of the most powerful lies are half truths
Even rat poison isn't 100 % poison, even rats aren't stupid enough to dine on poison
The best poisons are mixed with wholesome food - so we swallow it whole and the poison along with it!

There are at least 4 errors:

1.The Reason for unhappiness

2.The Responsibility for happiness

3.The Reality of Happiness

4.Our Receptiveness for Happiness

These issues are not entirely irrelevant to this section of Romans 5

The Reason for unhappiness:

The argument is superficial - doesn't go deep enough - it begins by asking: 'why isn't God doing something about the problem' instead of looking deeper and going further back and asking -
'why do we have the problem'
'where did the problem stem from?'
'why am I unhappy n the first place for God to make me happy.'
Mans Disaster - Sin
God did not make man unhappy - man made man unhappy
This is the subject of Rom 5:12-14
Our Relationship with Adam
We may feel that God has not cured our problem (although that is inaccurate)
But by the same token He has not caused the problem

The Responsibility for happiness:

The argument is based on unfounded and unsafe assumptions - the issue of responsibility - the question assumes that it is Gods responsibility to 'make His creatures happy' - in other words like some spoiled child we turn towards God and cry - well you made me, now you make me happy!
It assumes that happiness is what God does to me!
It is an argument founded on the autonomy of man - that is man is mature and grown up and we are going to make pronouncements on wither or not God exists but at the same time blames God for not treating us as robots!!!
Man's happiness becomes Gods responsibility if man has no personal responsibility for his own happiness
Man is not a robot!
Man's happiness becomes Gods responsibility if man has no personal responsibility for his own happiness
There may be some creatures for whom it is the case that their happiness is the sole responsibility of others

The earth worm is a simple creature - one long nerve running the length of its body, its happiness is really out with its own control - too much water in its environment it drowns, the wrong creatures spot it, it gets eaten by the bird or the mole, it doesn't even have much of a memory - just a few seconds and keeps running into trouble!
The happiness of the earth worm is not his responsibility but he is the victim and at the mercy of his environment and of powerful others
But is man the same as the earth worm?
This argument discerns no difference between the earth worm and man!!
We need to a get a right view of man before we tackle this problem of unhappiness!
The bible will give us the most realistic view of the greatness of man's problem as a sinner: Man's Disaster
The bible will also give us the most glorious view of the worth and potential of man:
Consider Man's Diginity:
Made in the image of God after His likeness (Gen1:27; 2:7; 3:8; 3:22)
Gods view of man (Psalm 8)
The sacrifice of Gods Son was to redeem man (John 3:16; Heb 2:9-18)

The picture the Bible paints of the relationship between God and man is not the same as the relationship between that of God and the earth worm!
God does treat man as the grown up he is!
I am not saying that man of himself can make himself happy but he can make himself very unhappy!

Our Receptiveness for Happiness:

The problem is unrealistic and assumes that man is looking for that happiness and is waiting expectantly to receive Gods happiness
Are we really sitting waiting to receive Gods happiness?
Surely everyone wants to be happy? Don't they?
Surely everyone wants to be free from:

i.Death
ii.Disease
iii.Disaster
iv.Damnation
v.Despair
vi.Discouragement

Don't they??
We do want to be happy don't we??
Are we not all just sitting waiting to be made happy??
Lets look at times when God has offered man freedom from the things that bring unhappiness:

Death: John 11:41-54

Here was one performing a miracle of resurrection by the power of God (Jo11:42)
The potential therefore lay in Christ to be the liberator for all men from the power of death and the grave!
Man's response: "Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death" (John 11:53)
They wanted to kill the life giver!

Disease: John 5:2-5; 15-16; Luke 6:10-11

Think of the potential here in Christ to cure all of our diseases
The potential for the ned of suffering and disease
"And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day" (Jo5:16)
Despair: Isa 53:4; Mk 5:3-5; 16-17

"Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted"
Did we want one to take away our despair?
The one who was able to deal with all of our hopeless situations: the man of the Gaderenes, the woman with the issue of blood, Jarius daughter
"And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts." (Mk5:17)

Disaster: Luke 6:46-49

God has prepared in Christ the perfect disaster contingency plan
But we still build on the sand!

Damnation: John 3:19; Luke 23

The greatest tragedy is surely this that each of us can see how realistic this all is
If God were to move again in our day as He did in grace in the days of the Lord Jesus Christ man's response would be the same.
It would not matter what great and mighty works He would do and how much potential there was in Him to cure man of His unhappiness, should He refuse to go along with man and declare:

i.Homosexuality as a sin
ii.Gay marriage as an abomination and contrary to Gods created order
iii.Abortion as murder
iv.All religions do not lead to God

They would not have Him they would crucify Him again!
They would not receive His happiness!
The simple view that:
I want to be happy
God ought to make me happy
Is founded on a false premise:
That I am ready to receive Gods happiness!
Which leads me on to ask: what actually is happiness?
What am I actually looking for?
Is it happiness or is it something else?

The Reality of Happiness:

The argument fails to explain what it means by happiness - it fails to ask the question - 'what is happiness?' and assumes that perfect happiness is either the same as a problem free and hassle free existence or is gained by that means - ie. that happiness is in essence the same as prosperity!
It doesn't ask 'what is happiness?'
For when man was offered freedom from the things that make him miserable he didn't take them!
What is man looking for?
I would suggest that man is not primarily on search of real happiness but for something that he confuses with happiness.
Man was made in the image of God, after His likeness and animated by the breath of God
Man made like God and by God lacks only one thing - He is not God!
Herein lay Adams failure: "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil" (Gen3:5)
Adam had everything he needed and nothing he did not want
Adam was perfectly happy but created in the uimage of God and for God and desired to be God!
This spirit still works today in man:
"For all that [is] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." (1John 2:16)
Pride that pushes me above what I am
I desire happiness but a happiness of my own construction and my own imagination and in my own control
I want to be Lord over my own happiness
Man's happiness ultimately must come from something completely different
Not from happiness in being God but in a happiness in being with God!
The message of this book is that man failed by trying to exalt himself to be God
Grace triumphed when God humbled Himself to become man and subjected Himself to the taunts and the torture of the creature that I as mortal man might have the basis and the courage and the reason to subject myself, voluntarily to His will for my good and His Glory and my eternal joy and His eternal Glory
This is where we begun our studies in Romans all those weeks ago.

To summarise then what should this argument actually say:

1.Since God is good He desires His creatures to be happy
2.Since God is all powerful He is able to make His creatures happy
3.God does not impose happiness by power but rather offers it in grace
4.If man were good he would desire Gods happiness
5.If man were willing God would make him eternally happy

In Grace and in in Christ God Bridges the Barrier of Brokenness

4 Relationships:

1Relationship between man and sin
2Relationship between sin and death
3Relationship between me and Adam
4Relationship between Christ and myself

1Relationship between man and sin (5:12)

Connection has consequences
One man and one sin – sin enters
Sin is not simply a practice but sin is:

iSin as a motive (5:2)
iiSin as a man (5:6)
iiiSin as a monarch (5:12)
ivSin as a master (5:14)
vSin as a monster (5:23)

2Relationship between sin and death

Sin produces death
Sin is not a private matter of personal practices
Sin is viewed in scripture relative to God
“sin is lawlessness” and the law in view is Gods law
Sin is falling short of the Glory of God (Rom3:23)
Sin thus separates between me and God (Isa59:2)
Sin is not a private matter – it impacts on my relationship with God
Sin is not simply a practice
3Relationship between me and Adam

“for that all have sinned...”
Does this mean:

iThat all die because we have all committed sins? i.e. because we all repeat Adams disaster we all repeat Adams death?
iiBecause of Adams sin we all die and are affected by that one sin of Adam?

Notice:

iThe past tense of “all have sinned” - this is a sin in the past
iiNotice the parallelism and symmetry in v12:

A - “sin entered” - Adams Sin
B - “death by sin” - Adams Death
B - “death passed upon all” - My Death
A - “all have sinned” - My Sin

Is there not a missing step between B and B? What about the sin of all as the cause of the death of all?
The point is that it is not the sin of all that causes the death of all but the sin of Adam that guarantees the death of all.
Personal sin certainly confirms the diagnosis and at times accelerates the outcome:

i“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” (Gal 6:7-8)

Adam's sin brings Adams death but Adams sin also brings my death.

iiiDeath is present even where sin is not imputed (Rom 5:13-14) for death is the result of the presence of the principle of sin rather than the result of the practice of sin. So even in the absence of personally committed sin death still reigns – because death comes not from my sin but from Adams!

ivThese verses are the foundation stones which are being laid by the apostle to allow us an understanding of how it is we can receive the “reconciliation” that Christ has achieved for us at Calvary, as we will see the repetition of Adams sin in my life is no more required to bring about my death than is the repetition of Christ's atoning work in my life is required to bring about my salvation and eternal life. The reception of salvation and eternal life is based upon precisely the same principle as the reception of death and condemnation from Adam (Rom 5:18-19). We die first and foremost because we belong to Adam. We live because of our relationship to Christ (Rom 5:18-19).

Why is it that Adams sin should pass to me with its consequences?

iHe is the federal head of the human race – the representative man
iiAll human life was potential in Adam (Gen 2:7)
iiiCorruption of humanity spiritually is actually passed down to me today

So with this comes:

iDeath of the innocent
iiDeath of the unborn
iiiThe suffering of the child

Notice that in this section the apostle is not trying to explain away these problems he is taking them as accepted facts of life.
How often have we heard: 'well if there is a God why... do infants die...do the innocent suffer....did my...'
He is not trying to apologise for them on Gods behalf
He acknowledges the facts and features of this world and then asks the question: 'well what does this tell me about the way that the moral and spiritual laws of the universe operate?' Do they tell me anything?
Does this not tell me that: connection has consequences and that relationship brings results?
This spiritual law, fundamental to the way the universe operates is responsible for so much suffering and death but it is also the route by which my salvation comes!
For if guilt can be transferred by relationship so can Glory!
If sin can be transferred by relationship so too can salvation!
If condemnation can be transferred by relationship so too can justification!
If relationship with Adam brings death then relationship with Christ brings life!

Listen online to : Romans Chp 5 Vs 12 to 21 : 'Making Happiness Happen'

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Romans Chp 5 Vs 12 to 21 – Suffering - My Relationship with Adam

2009-07-21T23:49:00.000+01:00

There are probably only a handful of reasons for rejecting the Word of God and the Gospel

Most of these reasons are poorly thought out

Amongst them the most serious objection:

The problem of Suffering and in particular the suffering of the innocent:

CS Lewis:

If God is good He would desire His creatures to be happy
If God is all powerful He would be able to make His creatures happy
His creatures are not happy
Therefore God is either not good, not all powerful or both

This is the problem of suffering

There are at least 3 possible responses to this problem:

To deny the existence / power / benevolence of God
To pretend, as do many Christians, that yet suffering happens but bad things only happen to bad people and good things happen to good people! This is really a reflection of personal conceit and pride rather than a reflection of any appreciation of the scriptures and tends only to last so longs as the believer evades suffering!
To be honest - to acknowledge the problem is real and to attempt and to draw from it an understanding of the principles and laws that underpin the universe in which we live.

The apostle Paul does not have the luxury of being able to find a solution to the problem of suffering by denying the reality of God!

He does not live in ignorance!

Paul knows that God has revealed Himself in:

Creation (Rom 1)
Conscience (Rom 2)
Covenant (Rom2 + 3)
Christ (Rom 3 + 4)

None of these revelations will go away

As much as Saul of Tarsus would at one point have loved to have been able to deny the reality of at least the final of these Divine revelations - the evidence of the reality of God in Christ was so compelling on the Damascus Road that his life was forever changed!

The apostle Paul will approach the problem of suffering not from a position of ignorance but with the very real experience and appreciation of God in creation, conscience, covenant and Christ.

As Paul approaches this problem of suffering in the power of the Spirit rather than with the unbelief of the flesh we will see something completely glorious emerging from this perhaps greatest challenge to the Christian faith

We will see that in the seed plot of Adams sin there is germinating the glory of Christ's Salvation

As we look at the suffering of the innocent:

7 million children murdered in their mothers womb in Britain since 1967
Starving children in Africa
Children born with HIV infection

Paul will ask : if the suffering of the innocent is real and if God is real what does this tell me about the moral order of the universe and the laws upon which this world is founded?

From this Paul will draw a glorious lesson from this problem of suffering

A lesson that underpins and points to the very means of Gods salvation

A lesson that answers and explains verse 11: 'how is it that we receive the atonement?'

Relationship brings results
Contact has consequences

From this Paul will turn the problem 180 degrees around from being the biggest challenge of the Christian faith to being the biggest confirmation of the very means of the Christian faith!

Don't miss this!

If contact with dead man brings death what will contact with a living man bring?

If contact with an unrighteous man brings condemnation what will contact with a righteous man bring?

If contact with a sinner brings sin what will contact with a Saviour bring?

The Problem of Suffering brings before us on a daily, powerful and undeniable basis the very spiritual principles upon which our salvation is based!

4 Relationships to explore:

Relationship between man and sin
Relationship between sin and death
Relationship between me and Adam
Relationship between Christ and myself

There are 2 main ways over the years which have been used to provide a panoramic view of the bible, an overview of everything in the word of God:

Dispensationalism

Recognises the distinction in Gods dealings with men
Differences in the way God expresses His grace:

Age of Innocence - Eden
Age of Conscience – Adam to Moses
Age of Law – Moses to Christ
Age of Grace – Christ from His birth to His return
Age / Day of Wrath – tribulation
Age / Day of God – millennium and eternity

We can see some of these here:

Age of Innocence (5:12)
Age of Conscience (5:13-14)
Age of Law (5:14,20)
Age of Grace (5:20-21)
Age of Wrath (5:9)
Age of God (5:2)

Covenant Theology

Emphasises the consistency of Gods character
Sadly this had led many to conclude that because the character of God remains the same that there can be no distinction in His dealings with men
In Romans 5 we can see the consistency of Gods character – for the way men have always been saved is the way they are saved today: by Grace, through faith, in Christ and by relationship with Christ.

Relationship between man and sin (5:12)

Connection has consequences
One man and one sin – sin enters
Sin is not simply a practice but sin is:

Sin is a principle
Sin is a power
Sin is a person / personified

Sin stands with its hand on the handle of the gate ready to enter Eden (5:12)

Sin as a motive (5:2)
Sin as a man (5:6)
Sin as a monarch (5:12)
Sin as a master (5:14)
Sin as a monster (5:23)

When sin is dabbled with it “enters” (5:12)
The action is not the end of sin – it is the beginning – the door is opened to sin.
I don't understand this I though that sin was an action:

Sins of commission – what I do
Sins of omission – what I don't do

1 John 3 “sin is lawlessness”
Is sin not simply a breaking of Gods law?
We all make mistakes don't we?
So what's the big deal?
Are you not exaggerating the problem?
Sin: “hamartia” : missing the mark
The question is whose mark? Gods mark! Gods standard! Gods law!
It is natural and tempting for us as human beings to think of sin in terms of what it means for us as human beings: health problems, broken marriages, broken homes, broken bones, disease, death, theft, corruption, injustice etc., all of these things are the human side of sin.
The bible views sin however primarily from the Divine side – what sin means to God, and how God responds to sin and what the effects of sin are for man before his God!
“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Gen 2:17)
What was so special about the tree? Was it magic fruit?
Was there some kind of strange chemistry in the fruit that brought spiritual knowledge?

I very much doubt it: “that which is of the flesh is flesh and that which is of the spirit is spirit” - I find it very difficult to imagine how the partaking of a particular food can modify a person spiritually.
I also find it very difficult to understand how God could create something which is of itself and by its nature evil! “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” (Gen 1:31) – the fruit itself was not inherently evil.

The problem came in the eating of the fruit rather than the fruit itself!
In eating the fruit I disobey the creator and in disobeying the creator I drive a wedge between me and He who is the author and sustainer of my life, therefore the consequence of that sin is: “in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Gen 2:17)
The only prohibition given to Adam in Eden – if he trusted God on it, he drew near to God if he didn't trust God on it he drove a wedge between him and God.
“But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” (Isa 59:2)
Our relationship with sin fractures our relationship with God.
With that sin not only have we lost our link with God but with that sin comes Satan
Personality is linked with sin in this section and it is more than a figure of speech:

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” (1Pe 5:8)

“And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”

(2Co 11:14)

“And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:” (Luk 22:31)

I don't think that chp 6 deals with sin in a mythical or mystical or magical way but in a clear and down to earth way.
We need to stop thinking about sin as simply a practice but rather to think of sin with its consequences – even the sin that goes unknown / unnoticed by others – brings the same effect of separation.

Relationship between sin and death

Sin produces death
Sin is not a private matter of personal practices
Sin is viewed in scripture relative to God
“sin is lawlessness” and the law in view is Gods law
Sin is falling short of the Glory of God (Rom3:23)
Sin thus separates between me and God (Isa59:2)
Sin is not a private matter – it impacts on my relationship with God
Sin is not simply a practice

Relationship between me and Adam

“for that all have sinned...”
Does this mean:

That all die because we have all committed sins? i.e. because we all repeat Adams disaster we all repeat Adams death?
Because of Adams sin we all die and are affected by that one sin of Adam?

Notice:

The past tense of “all have sinned” - this is a sin in the past
Notice the parallelism and symmetry in v12:

A - “sin entered” - Adams Sin

B - “death by sin” - Adams Death

B - “death passed upon all” - My Death

A - “all have sinned” - My Sin

Is there not a missing step between B and B? What about the sin of all as the cause of the death of all?
The point is that it is not the sin of all that causes the death of all but the sin of Adam that guarantees the death of all.
Personal sin certainly confirms the diagnosis and at times accelerates the outcome:

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” (Gal 6:7-8)

Adam's sin brings Adams death but Adams sin also brings my death.

Death is present even where sin is not imputed (Rom 5:13-14) for death is the result of the presence of the principle of sin rather than the result of the practice of sin. So even in the absence of personally committed sin death still reigns – because death comes not from my sin but from Adams!

These verses are the foundation stones which are being laid by the apostle to allow us an understanding of how it is we can receive the “reconciliation” that Christ has achieved for us at Calvary, as we will see the repetition of Adams sin in my life is no more required to bring about my death than is the repetition of Christ's atoning work in my life is required to bring about my salvation and eternal life. The reception of salvation and eternal life is based upon precisely the same principle as the reception of death and condemnation from Adam (Rom 5:18-19). We die first and foremost because we belong to Adam. We live because of our relationship to Christ (Rom 5:18-19).

Why is it that Adams sin should pass to me with its consequences?

He is the federal head of the human race – the representative man
All human life was potential in Adam (Gen 2:7)
Corruption of humanity spiritually is actually passed down to me today

So with this comes:

Death of the innocent
Death of the unborn
The suffering of the child

Notice that in this section the apostle is not trying to explain away these problems he is taking them as accepted facts of life.
How often have we heard: 'well if there is a God why... do infants die...do the innocent suffer....did my...'
He is not trying to apologise for them on Gods behalf
He acknowledges the facts and features of this world and then asks the question: 'well what does this tell me about the way that the moral and spiritual laws of the universe operate?' Do they tell me anything?
Does this not tell me that: connection has consequences and that relationship brings results?
This spiritual law, fundamental to the way the universe operates is responsible for so much suffering and death but it is also the route by which my salvation comes!
For if guilt can be transferred by relationship so can Glory!
If sin can be transferred by relationship so too can salvation!
If condemnation can be transferred by relationship so too can justification!
If relationship with Adam brings death then relationship with Christ brings life!

Relationship between Christ and myself

Sin (chps 1 to 3) – why I need to be saved
Salvation (chps 3 to 4) – How I can be saved
Standing (chp 5:1-2) – Now that I am saved
Suffering (chp 5:3-5) – Why do I suffer now that I am saved? What God brings from that suffering.
Setting (5:6-11) – When God saved me (5:6,8,10)
Saviour (5:12-21) – connecting with Gods Grace

v11 concludes with: “by whom we have now received the atonement”
How do we actually “receive the reconciliation”
Not a formality / baptism / practice / sinners prayer
Receiving salvation comes from a relationship with the Saviour (5:12-21)
Now that is very interesting because that is what we saw in chps 3 + 4 had been happening for the previous 4000 years:

Justification by faith is nothing new
Justification by faith is faith in a person

These OT saints all depended upon Christ for Justification:

Moses: “Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.” (Heb 11:26); Deut 32:2-4; 15-18; 1 Co10:1-4 “that rock was Christ” (1Co11:1-4).
Abraham: Gal3:8, 16 – the Gospel of the future blessing in Christ; John 8:56.
David: Psalm 110:1; Heb 1:13; Matt 22:41-46: David's Lord was Christ! Acts 2:25, 29-32; Psalm 16 & 22.
Daniel: Daniel 10:5-18; 8:15; 10:9-10, 16; Rev 1:13-17 – Daniel encountered the same person as did John!
Shadrach, Meshech and Abednego in the fiery furnace (Dan 3:25-26) who will protect them in the flames? Surely the God whom they serve, the “Son of God”.
Prophets: Moved by the Spirit of Christ (1Peter1:11)
Elijah and Moses : present with Christ on the Mount of transfiguration (Mark 9)

These OT saints all depended upon Christ for Justification!
Justification then we would conclude from the pattern of the OT scriptures came when these OT believers exerted faith in a Person, the Person of Christ, rather than Faith in a Process or faith in their understanding of a process!
Some did not understand the process but they benefited from it by faith in the Person!
The gospel per se was only first spoken of by Christ and the apostles: “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;” (Heb 2:3)
“For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.” (Mat 13:17)

Romans Chp 5 Vs 12 to 21 – Suffering - My Relationship with Adam

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Romans Chp 5 Verses 6 to 11: 'Rejoicing in Vomit'

2009-07-08T23:42:00.002+01:00

What is the point of this section?
Sometimes it is possible to read a section of scripture and get a message, get a few points, get an encouragement, get a help, get a life, get a boost but I often ask myself: did I get the point? Did I get the purpose for which it was written?
What is the point to chapter 5.
A heavy chapter of doctrine, often quoted in the gospel 5:6,8,12.
Great doctrinal subjects such as:

1The sovereignty of God
2The plan of salvation
3The all sufficiency of Gods Grace

See in the 3 sections that Gods Grace is sufficient for and Gods purposes are Sovereign over:

1Life's Problems (5:1-5)
2Salvation's Plan (5:6-11)
3Man's Plight (5:12-21)

Or to put it another way He is enough for the:

1Worries of Life (5:1-5)
2Weakness of Self (5:6-11)
3Wickedness of Man (5:12-21)

I can rest in His all Sufficient Grace in:

1Life's Distresses (5:1-5)
2My Disabilities (5:6-11)
3Worlds Disasters (5:12-21)

Yet Romans 5 is a fascinating chapter, for whilst it deals with so many of the great themes and subjects of the gospel and whilst it fits into the flow of the epistle so far:

1Sin (Chps 1 to 3)
2Salvation (Chps 3 to 4)
3Standing in Grace (5:1-2)

Romans 5 is not written as a chapter in a text book to explain the doctrines of the gospel.
This is not a chapter for the intellectually curious
This is not a chapter written to satisfy our inquisitiveness about how it all works and why the world is as it is, why life's problems are as they are, why the innocent die and how the righteousness of Christ can be transferred to the sinner.
This is a section which really breaks off from the main line of the teaching given so far to develop one particular theme and explain one particular issue:
“... and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we rejoice in tribulations also...” (Rom 5:2-3)
We move from 'rejoicing' in our salvation in the future to 'rejoicing' in the every day problems of life.
The real issue that sparks off this development in the epistle of the Romans lies in this question: did I not put my trust and commit my salvation to:

1A Saviour who is all powerful? - Yes certainly : "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth" (Matt28:18)
2A Saviour who is all knowing? - Yes certainly : "Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee." (John21:17)
3A Saviour who is all wise? - Yes certainly: "In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col2:3)
4A Saviour who is always with me?- Yes certainly: "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." (Matt 28:20)

Well if that is true then how come I am having a hard time?'
We need answers to that kind of a question!
Does Christianity have real power or is it some kind of spiritual homoeopathy? All very nice, not do you any harm but lacking any active ingredient?

Christ died in chapter 3

I've just got saved in chapter 4

Then why am I having trouble in my life in chapter 5?

Can't we just cut the tribulation and get to the triumph? Please??
Is the believers faith just pie in the sky when you die?
If so then herein lies one of the great assurances of the reality of Christian experience, one of the great confirmations of the reality and genuineness of the relationship with God established by justification by faith for if salvation is just pie in the sky when you die then the furnace of affliction ought to produce from the Christian the ashes of Christian crumble.
Actually and amazingly it doesn't!
The apostle who writes in Romans 5 : "we rejoice in tribulations also" (Rom5:3) is the same apostle who recounts his trials and sufferings in 2 Co11:23-28!
How do we reconcile these 2 passages as coming from the pen of the same man?
Either we have here:

1.A man who has been cracked by the trials of life or
2.A man who has cracked the trials of life: a man for whom the veil that separates the purposes of a sovereign God in eternity and the pain of mortal man in time has just split apart, so that with unclouded sight he is able to penetrate the mists of Divine purpose and with the hymn writer he is able to 'trace the rainbow through the rain.'

Has he found a God who is able to triumph in life's tragedies?
Has he found that life's problems are but the prelude to a deeper and richer experience of the presence of God?

In:
1Life's Problems (5:1-5)
2Salvation's Plan (5:6-11)
3Man's Plight (5:12-21)

In the:

1Worries of Life (5:1-5)
2Weakness of Self (5:6-11)
3Wickedness of Man (5:12-21)

In:

1Life's Distresses (5:1-5)
2My Disabilities (5:6-11)
3Worlds Disasters (5:12-21)

Is this not a consistent pattern right the way through the word of God?
Are there not a number of such moments in the Word of God?
Moments when all seems dark, bleak, lost, hopeless and finished, when the darkness of despair comes like a storm cloud over the landscape carved by the love and gracious purposes of God? But is it not the case that even the toil of man's tragedy is used to sow the seeds of Gods triumph?
Are we not so often left asking the question: 'Is nothing too great for our God?'
Consider the 'wow' moments of scripture:

Daniel 3 - Shadrach, Meschech and Abednigo in the fiery furnace and then "one like unto the Son of God"

Daniel 6 - Out of the jaws of the lion: "O king live forever"

Exodus 14 - the people of Israel trapped between the armies of Pharaoh and the Red Sea, they're mad, 300,000 unarmed civilians, what do you think Pharaohs armies are going to do when they reach them? Ask them nicely if they would like to come back home? This nation responsible for the death of every first-born in the land? Caught between the sea and the soldiers: "stand still and see the salvation of the Lord" Praise the Lord that Exodus 14 is followed by Moses Song of triumph in Exodus 15

Jonah 3 - A great fish washed up onto dry land, vomits and there in the vomit: 'look dad there's a man in the vomit!' Our God is a God who is able even to use vomit for His Glory! He is able to bring Glory out of the flames of Dan 3, out of the lions mouth in Dan 6, through the flood of Exodus 14 and yes even out of vomit! Ever considered why the account of Jonahs experience are recorded in all their stomach churning detail? Because as that man arises out the vomit, God will use Him as instrumental in the conversion of over 1 million people; calculation based on there being 120,000 children under 5 and a fairly even distribution of ages between 0 and 50 years = 1.2 million people! How would we reach 1.2 million people for Christ? 12 million tracts? The God channel? Radio? Power Point? How does God start? With vomit!

Romans 5 deals with some heady theology, deep questions, heavy doctrine but all of it arises from 1 simple question: If God is sovereign how come I'm having a hard time?
The clue is in the crises!
In Romans 5 I trace the total sovereignty of God in all things!
Every aspect of human experience is under His control!
What is the meaning of Romans 5?
What is heavens purpose behind earth's pain?
The opening 2 verses of chapter 5 clearly follow on from the subject of the preceding sections:

1.Sin (chps 1 to 3)
2.Salvation (chps 3 & 4)
3.Standing in Grace (5:1-2)

The opening 2 verses of chapter 5 follow on logically and progressively in the development of the chapter so far
We have already seen that in chapter 4 the great subject of justification by faith is:

1.Justification by faith is nothing new
2.Justification by faith is faith in a person
3.Justification by faith is by faith alone
4.Justification by faith is a full salvation
5.Justification by faith is the beginning not the end

Since Justification by faith is the beginning not the end what could be more reasonable and logical than for chapter 5 to open up with the consequences, the result of this justification, what does it bring me to? It brings me into a relationship with the Lord: into this grace wherein we stand.
From the end of verse 2 the chapter then goes off at something of a tangent from the theme so far and the remainder of the chapter really pick up on the closing words of verse 2 : "we rejoice in hope of the Glory of God"
This them of rejoicing is then pick up on in verse 3: "and not only so but we rejoice in tribulations also...."
This theme of rejoicing which flows from our salvation flows through the whole chapter!
A rejoicing that flows through:

1Life's Problems (5:1-5)
2Salvation's Plan (5:6-11)
3Man's Plight (5:12-21)

1Worries of Life (5:1-5)
2Weakness of Self (5:6-11)
3Wickedness of Man (5:12-21)

1Life's Distresses (5:1-5)
2My Disabilities (5:6-11)
3Worlds Disasters (5:12-21)
How can this be?
For my God is Sovereign and His Grace is sufficient in every trial and difficulty of life.
That joy that flows from our salvation is able to permeate every aspect of our life.
Every aspect of our life?
Is there any limit?
In Romans 5 there is no limit! He is in control of:

1Life's Problems (5:1-5)
2Salvation's Plan (5:6-11)
3Man's Plight (5:12-21)

1Worries of Life (5:1-5)
2Weakness of Self (5:6-11)
3Wickedness of Man (5:12-21)

1Life's Distresses (5:1-5)
2My Disabilities (5:6-11)
3Worlds Disasters (5:12-21)

Working all for His Glory:

In Life's Problems He's there (5:1-5) bringing patience and experience and hope from those experiences
In Salvations Plan He's there, before it starts (5:6, 8, 10)
In Man's Plight He is sovereign (5:12-21) - Adam may have brought the disaster but Christ has brought the deliverance - Adam is the figure but Christ is the fullness

The reason for tribulations lies in 5:6 : " For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly"
God saves:

1.By His Strength
2.In His Season
3.By His Son

The way God Saves is the way God Sanctifies
The way God begins His work is the way God completes His work in us
He molds us in our misery
He transforms me in my trials
It is when my strength is gone that I draw on His strength, when my mind has reached the limits of its understanding that I draw on His wisdom and when my resources have proven insufficient that I draw on His infinite resources: " Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise [man] glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty [man] glory in his might, let not the rich [man] glory in his riches:" (Jer 9:23) when my:

1.Wisdom
2.Work
3.Wealth

Comes to an end then I draw from the depths of His resources in Christ.
The principles by which God deals with us in Salvation (5:6-11) are the same as the principles by which He deals with me in tribulation and sanctification (5:1-5)
So I can see:

1.The Results of Tribulation (5:1-5) - Fruit - 'patience,' 'experience,' 'hope,' 'faith'
2.The Reason for Tribulations (5:6-11)
3.The Resources in Tribulations (5:6-11) - God (5:5), The Holy Spirit (5:5), The Person of Christ (5:6-11)
4.The Reassurance from Tribulations

The Resources in Tribulations (5:6-11) -
God (5:5)
The Holy Spirit (5:5)
The Person of Christ (5:6-11)

1.By His Strength
2.In His Season
3.By His Son

A trinitarian section:

1.The Spirit (v5)
2.God the Father (v5)
3.The Son (v6-11)

6 verses from 5:6 to 5:11 - all of Christ:

4/6 verses Christ is named - v6, v8, v10, v11
1/6 verses has a personal pronoun for Christ (v9)
The remaining verse is all about the work of Christ (v7)

When God works in Salvation and when God works in Sanctification it is all of Christ
Notice what these verses do not say:

1.Christ died for those without strength
2.Christ died for sinners
3.Christ died for His enemies

All of that would be true and that is often what we take from those verses but that is not quite what these verses are saying
These verses go beyond that
The subject of these verse is not so much about my standing before God in my:

1.Strength (lack of it) (5:6)
2.Sin (5:8)
3.Status as an enemy (5:10)

Rather these verses are really about the setting of His redemptive plan, notice the difference:

1."when we were yet without strength"
2."while we were yet sinners"
3."when we were enemies"

These verses are not simply describing my status or standing before God but rather they are describing the setting or season of His redemptive work in Christ!
These verses not only point out my weakness but they point out His sufficiency
These verses don't preach half a gospel message!
Here is:

Despair that leads to deliverance
Crises that leads to Christ

These verses not only record my trouble but more than that they record Gods timing
The glorious subject of these verses is His:

1.Substitutionary Death (v6, v8, v10)
2.Sufficiency of His Resurrection Life (v8, v10)

The Reassurance from Tribulations:

Notice again how the chapter is building up:

1Life's Problems (5:1-5)
2Salvation's Plan (5:6-11)
3Man's Plight (5:12-21)

1Worries of Life (5:1-5)
2Weakness of Self (5:6-11)
3Wickedness of Man (5:12-21)

1Life's Distresses (5:1-5)
2My Disabilities (5:6-11)
3Worlds Disasters (5:12-21)

Do you see the pattern?
Do you see how we move from:

My personal experience (5:1-5) to
Gods plan expounded and explained in scripture (5:6-11) to
The expectation of Christ's triumph over all of man's sin and suffering and sorrow (5:12-21)

We move from:

what we have experienced in our own private and personal trials and tragedies to
an understanding of what is unfolded in scripture in Christ and the onto
what is yet unseen and not yet fulfilled but expected of Christ's triumph in the depth of man's sin and failure

Each step leads us deeper and deeper into an understanding of Gods purposes and into a deeper and deeper faith in His sovereign power and ability
How far does His power and authority go?
How broad are His Shoulders?
Is he able to bring opportunity out of all trials of life - yes and more than that!

God does not only bring opportunity out of the tribulations but He brings the trial with its opportunity!
Where are the boundaries of my rejoicing in the midst of adversity?
Romans 5 - says there are none!
We need not wonder - is there a solution to every problem
We can rest in this - that was there no solution - there would be no problem!
He is Sovereign over all - if He is not sovereign over all, He is not Sovereign at all!
Consider how the Roman Emperor Hadrian had to build his wall - to stop the Scots; a wild and barbaric bunch, especially round about dinner time! Hadrian knew if he was to be ruler of Britain he had to be ruler of all
There is no Hadrian's wall in Gods sovereignty! There are no no go areas, there are no cul-de-sac out with His authority!
I can rejoice in every circumstance of life!
Betsy Ten Boom: "There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still"

Listen online to: Romans Chp 5 Verses 6 to 11: 'Rejoicing in Vomit'

www.newcumnock.org

Romans Chp 5 Verses 6 to 11: 'Life's Problems and Salvations Pla

2009-06-30T23:33:00.001+01:00

God is Sovereign over:

Life's Problems (5:1-5)
Salvations Plan (5:6-11)
Man's Plight (5:12-21)

We have seen that in Life's Problems a Grace that is Sovereign (5:21) is a Grace that is Sufficient: allowing the believer to “glory in tribulations also” (Rom 5:3)
In those verses we:

First narrowed / focused down the ministry and we saw that for us to find good to glory in the problems of life we must first know Gods Salvation (5:1) for it is God by His Spirit (5:5) who turns these situations around. These promises can only really belong to the believer since it is Gods purpose in these problems to deepen my relationship with Him and to bring about in me a likeness to Christ by creating in me “faith” (5:1), “hope” (5:5) and “love” (5:4)
Then we broadened out these verses and we suggested that whilst they only apply to the circumstances of a believers life they surely apply to all of the circumstances of a believers life; eg Jonah, who was in the belly of the whale because of his disobedience and sin but God was able to turn that situation around for his good, Ninevehs blessing and the Glory of God, and by the way just consider how in those circumstances Jonah was drawn closer to the person of Christ!
Noted a condition: “By whom also we have access by faith into this grace” (5:2) – Gods treasure chest of grace is accessed by the key of faith. How often we cut ourselves off / lock ourselves out of grace and try to get in with a crow bar! Such a believer approaches the trial in faith, not simply the faith that 'it will all work out in the end' or the faith that says 'what's fur ye will no go bye ye' but rather the faith to rest in Him and to draw our resources from Him! We go into the trial in faith, we come out of the trial in faith. If we go into the trial in hope we come out of the trial in hope. If we go into that trial in unbelief we will either come out in unbelief or not come out at all. In those trials and tests we need to be “exercised thereby”. If you are a believer who in the trials and tests of life, does not pray, does not feed upon His Word, does not seek the “rainbow through the rain”, does not meditate upon His Word you run the very real risk of wasting your suffering. He gives us grace for every trial – we must take that grace to ourselves!

There are resources for those trials:

The Sword of the Spirit: “the Word of God” - Emphasised in Luke 4
Prayer (5:2) – to the fore in Romans 5:1-5

As we approach the trial in “faith” (5:2) and drawing from those wells, that sufficiency in Him, I can profit from those trials.
The “tribulation” worked “patience” - not just patience as a general characteristic or feature of life but patience with a prospect, patience in a person, the one whom I have experienced in the problems of life I can wait patiently on! I wait patiently for Him, at the place I met Him, a place of suffering and a path of suffering stained first by His own blood!
“and patience experience” - “experience” or “proof” of the reality of our salvation.
Hope expected in trust becomes hope experienced in trial!
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo – the reality of their salvation was proven in the furnace.
The life of the believer is lived out with the same perspective, our life, our hope, our expectation is lived out waiting for our Lords return by a pool of His blood. Our life is lived out in the shadow of Calvary and I must interpret my life in the reality of His cross. Life is not a fun fare it is a furnace, not a picnic but a battle field! It is His cross and His work that brings sense and sheds its light on all of my life!

“For” (v6) – these 2 sections are connected by the same idea / thought
These are not 2 unrelated or unconnected sections
What is the connection between the 2 sections?
We have just found that it is in the extremities of life that we have enjoyed the experiences of God
Is this a surprising discovery?
Is this an unexpected finding?
Why should it work like this? That when I come to the trials and tribulations of life and find that in these trials I am pushed beyond:

Mind and its wisdom - wisdom
Body and its strength - work
Wealth and its riches - wealth

That instead of crumbling in the crises of life, in Him I can find triumph in the tragedy?
Is Christianity just pie in the sky when you die? If it is then the crises and problems of life are a recipe for Christian Crumble!
Instead we have found that when these trials are approached in faith we have seen that these ovens of adversity become a furnace which forges faith in the God who reveals Himself in your trials and tests and tribulations, as the God who is all sufficient for our problems!
Pity the believer who when faced with any: opposition, trial, discouragement, challenge, any fight for the faith gets up and hides, runs away, goes off in the huff – such a believer will never grow!
At the end of verse 5 we ask the question: “why” either :

'Why' in a negative way: 'But why does it have to be this way?' / 'Why can't I have an easier life?'
'Why' in a positive way: 'Why is it that I keep finding Christ in the Crises of life' / 'Why is it that when I come to the end of my resources I find that the cup that I thought was so empty, so useless, so hopeless, so desperate has just suddenly been gloriously filled by Him?'

Why is it this way?
Recently when my son decided to take up fishing the first reaction of my wife was to purchase him a life jacket, amongst the instructions on the life jacket:

Not a substitute for a baby sitter
This life jacket will keep your body floating on the surface of the water – providing you don't struggle!

The life vest will save you – if you let it!
Upon this principle God saves
Upon this principle – the same salvation principle I enjoy His salvation!
This simple principle of the life vest underpins Gods dealings with me in :

Tribulation (5:1-5)
Salvation (5:6-11)

The Principles by which God works in:

Life's Problems
Are the same principles by which He works in:

Salvations Plan

The Conditions in which God saves (v6)

By His Strength “when we were yet without strength”
In His Season “in due time”
By His Son “Christ died for the ungodly”

The Character of Gods when He acts (v6-9)

Grace (v6-7)
Love (v8)
Mercy (v9)

The Consequences of God Acting (v9-10)

Justified (v9) – Right Relationship
Reconciled (v10,11)
Salvation (v10)
Rejoicing (v11)

The Conditions in which God saves (v6)

By His Strength “when we were yet without strength”

Not our strength
We come to our weakness – I can't cope anymore, I can't manage it any more!
God takes me beyond my:

Mind and its wisdom
Body and its strength
Wealth and its riches

God takes me beyond my:

Intellectual ability
Physical Strength
Financial Resources

“Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.” (Jer 9:23-24)

In His Season “in due time”

In “due time”: “καιρός” : in fullness of time
Gods plan of salvation was not a:

Reaction
Reflex
Response

To the need of man but rather Gods solution precedes mans problems!
“But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,” (Gal 4:4)
Gods perfect timing in Salvations Plan is paralleled by His perfect timing in Life's Problems – saw last week the testing of Christ in the wilderness: lasting 40 days – God was in control, a set time, Satan may buffet and test but God is in control:
40 days, often linked in scripture with:

Division – 40 days of trial effectively separate what come before from what comes after that trial, eg the 40 days of rain in the time of Noah – separated the old and the new world, Josephs mourning for Jacob 40 days in Gen 50 marks a water shed experience in his life!
Provision – the 40 years in the wilderness for the nations of Israel were a time of Gods gracious provision (Ex 16:35; Deut 8:2,4) when they learned dependence on Him.
Decision – Caleb at 40 years of age spied out the land of Canaan (Josh 14:7) and Elijah after 40 days in the wilderness (1Kings 19:8) had a life changing experience and decision to make!
Preparation – for 40 days at Sinai Moses prepared himself to receive the law from God! (Deut 9:11-25)
Limitation – Deut 25:3 – punishment by whipping, within the nation of Israel was limited by God to 40 strips, a trial with set limits, under Gods control: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1Co 10:13) – Gods judgement is tempered with Gods Grace.

Satan may be on the attack but God is in control of the trial, it lasted 40 days , God had set the bounds and the limits to this testing.
Every testing and every trial has its perfect completion and conclusion in the purposes of God.
“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1Co 10:13)

By His Son “Christ died for the ungodly”

Our salvation begins with Gods provision in His Son
Our salvation is sustained by Gods provision in His Son:

“And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” (Luk 4:4)

“And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.” (Deu 8:3)

“And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” (Joh 6:35)

The Character of Gods when He acts (v6-9)

Grace (v6-7)

We get what we don't deserve

Love (v8)

Underpinning Gods plan of salvation and yes revealed in all His dealings with us even in those trials and tribulations; this is the great discovery that beckons, the eye of faith at the end of all of life's trials (Rom5:5).

Mercy (v9)

We don't get what we do deserve!
In His salvation and in His tribulation God seeks to steer me away from His wrath, His anger, His displeasure: cf. Jonah in the belly of the whale, it may well have taken him down to the depths of hell: “And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.” (Jon 2:2) – that same fish which also in Gods purpose took him down to hell also took him back to the path of service and fruitfulness from which he had strayed!

The Consequences of God Acting (v9-10)

Justified (v9) – Right Relationship
Reconciled (v10,11)

Opportunity for salvation
It is not we but God who brings us into Grace
His Grace needs to be “received” (v11), this opportunity requires a response

Salvation (v10)
Rejoicing (v11)

Believers 190

O Christ, he is the fountain,
the deep, sweet well of love!
the streams of earth I've tasted
more deep I'll drink above:
there to an ocean fullness
his mercy doth expand,
and glory, glory dwelleth
in Emmanuel's land.

With mercy and with judgment
my web of time he wove,
and aye, the dews of sorrow
were lustered with his love;
I'll bless the hand that guided,
I'll bless the heart that planned
when throned where glory dwelleth
in Emmanuel's land.

Believers 181:

verse 4 – Salvation that lies in the eternal counsels of God

verse 5 – Salvation that is realised in the circumstances of every day life

Click here to listen online to: 'Life's Problems and Salvations Plan'