The
Greatness of Christ’s Abounding Grace
01 February
2006
Pastor
Matt Black
Midweek
Service
Romans 5:20
Discipleship: Let’s
review our discipleship questions…
Q. What is
the first commandment of God’s moral Law?
A. Thou shalt have no
other gods before me (Exodus 20:3).
Q. What is
the second commandment?
A. Thou
shalt not make unto thee any graven image (Exodus 20:4).
Q. What is
the third commandment?
A. Thou
shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain (Exodus 20:7).
And
now this week’s question…
Q. What is
the fourth commandment?
A. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy
(Exodus 20:8).
Introduction: Let’s
Bibles to the book of Romans. Our text tonight is found in Romans chapter
5 and verse 20.
This evening we will cover how
God’s grace superabounds over and above the sins we’ve committed against God,
so the title of the message tonight is “The Greatness of Christ’s Abounding
Grace.”
Romans 5 and verse 20—
Romans
5:20
“Moreover
the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound”
As we begin, I want to review what we have learned in the last few weeks
regarding these verses. I am going to
summarize these principles with what I call, the Laws of Salvation:
1. Man is
totally and irreparably sinful. There is an offense committed against
God. This text makes that crystal
clear. This offense is what we all
commonly refer to as sin. We are born
with the original sin of our father Adam, and we also choose sin for our selves
every day. I sin, you sin, all humanity
is sinning against God. Sin is never
pleasing to God. What we learned several
weeks ago is that man is not just actively committing sin every day, but that
the unregenerate man is in a state of sin.
Every person on earth is aware that they have not lived perfectly. The problem is, though man has a general
knowledge of his own sinfulness (what the Bible calls his conscience), yet he
has no real sense of how offensive his sin is to God. He does not have a valid assessment of his sin. If he ever did, he would run to Christ
immediately for salvation, but the one thing keeping him from doing so is that
he is blind in many respects to the magnitude of his own sin.
Not only this, but the lost man has no desire to seek
God (Romans 3:10-11). Therefore he
cannot do what we will call the ultimate good.
He is unable to please God. As R.L Dabney said, man is by nature “entirely
and decisively alienated from God.” He
went on to say that any good act that lost me do “is a contrivance to gratify
human pride and self-righteousness and to escape that great humbling fact
everywhere so prominent in the real gospel, that man's ruin of himself by sin
is utter, and the whole credit of his redemption from it is God's.”[1]
So man is unable to please God in anything he does,
because his heart is not converted to God.
That’s what it comes down to. And
man of course, cannot convert himself.
Conversion is a work of God’s grace in the heart. So the first law we learned concerns man’s
sinfulness. Man is completely alienated
from God and cannot do even one act that pleases God.
2. There can
be no seeking after divine grace until there is an awakening sense of sin. We spoke of
this last week. Remember you were
driving along the freeway going 85 miles an hour? You knew it was wrong, but your sense of
wrong was not awakened…until the Law turned on his flashing lights and pulled
you over! In the same way, men will
never turn to Jesus until the sense of their own sinfulness is magnified. The instrument that awakens our sin is the
moral Law of God. Dear brethren, we need
to know the Law well enough so that we can preach it to sinners! The Law leaves people with an awakened sense
of their own sinfulness. They begin to
see what a heinous life they have lived in opposition to God. They begin to fear at the weight of their
guilt and the punishment they deserve!
As you present the Gospel, a question that is helpful to ask that reinforces
this weight of sin is this: if God judged you according to the Ten Commandments,
would you be innocent or guilty? Of
course you’ve just reviewed the Law with them, so the answer is obvious to both
of you. They are guilty! Then you need to ask them, “Well, since you
are guilty of breaking God’s commandments, do you think God will send you to
heaven or hell?” The answer is obviously
that God will send us to hell.
So the majority of people on earth right now are not
in a state of grace, but in a state of wickedness with God’s wrath weighing
down on them. Judgment Day is coming. God is angry with the wicked every day. Men are dying each minute, and they must
stand before God when this life is over.
There will be no excuses on that day for their lying, stealing, lusting,
and blaspheming God. That Day of
Judgment is coming for every one of us.
With this
ugly backdrop of sin, wrath, and judgment, I want to preach to you the grace
that is found only in Jesus tonight!
Where the knowledge of your sin abounds, then grace much more abounds!
Let’s look
at our text again in Romans 5:20—
Moreover the law entered, that the offense
might abound, But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound”
Let’s consider our first point:
I.
If you are sharply aware
of your Sin, then abounding
grace is near! Repentance comes when God
brings a deep sense of guilt and sin upon people. This sense of sin is so heightened that the
human spirit cannot bear it. This
heightened sense of sin makes people desperate, distraught, frantic, anxious,
and ready to find a remedy for their condition.
Only when a person is brought to this level of humility and brokenness
can he find salvation.
A. Grace abounds when our Heart is broken. So
when you are sharply and acutely aware of your sin, grace is there waiting to
bind your wounds and forgive your sins.
This well established as the way of salvation from the beginning.
o
Psalm 51:17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite
heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
o
Psalm 34:18
The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such
as be of a contrite spirit.
o
James 4:6
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but
giveth grace unto the humble.
B. Grace abounds when we Own our sin. The Lord comes with His grace when you have
pleaded guilty to the indictment which the Law presents against you. Only when we fully own our sin is their any
grace at all from God. Why would God
give grace to anyone who was trying to pull one over on Him?
Luke 18:10 tells us how justification by God’s grace
actually functions—
Luke 18:10-14
Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a
Pharisee, and the other a publican. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with
himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are,
extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in
the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. 13 And the publican, standing
afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote
upon his breast, saying, God be merciful
to me a sinner. 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather
than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he
that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
The sinner was not making excuses and platitudes. He was telling it like it was—he had a heightened
awareness of his sin. Why should God
give grace to those who do not want it?
The one who is near to God’s abounding grace is the one who says “I must
have it!” He doesn’t try to paint his
sin differently. He no longer says, “I
made a mistake” or “I am a sinner just like everyone else.” No, he owns
his sin. He names it specifically, “I
have lied. I did so on this day to so
and so. God forgive me!” “I’ve been a wicked husband. I’ve not treated my wife right. God forgive me!” “I’ve not lived for you God. I’ve lived for myself! God forgive me!” Those who have an overwhelming sense of shame
and guilt are near to God’s forgiving grace.
You feel your sins. You know your
need of forgiveness! It is only when
your heart is broken and you own your sin that you are in any condition to
receive the abounding, free, sovereignly given grace of the Lamb of God who
erases the sins of the world.
You cannot experience God’s grace in your life unless
you realize you have no where else to turn.
Your mouth is has been shut by the clear indictment of God’s Law and you
realize that you deserve only God’s infinite displeasure. Do you understand that at this moment Hell is
gawking at your feet? Like a vulture circling around a dead animal, hell is
waiting for the day to swallow you up.
We cannot say to God, but… I just need more time! Time for what? To show that you are a good person? If you are a good person you do not need
God’s grace! Grace only abounds to
sinners, and sinner who have no where else to turn. The Law shows us that we are imprisoned! I’m a liar, I’m an adulterer! Help, I’m in the prison house of sin! You cannot be set free until you know you are
incarcerated.
C. Grace abounds when we realize the Greatness of our sins.
1. The magnitude of Original
Sin. Very few people understand the
Biblical teaching of original sin. That is, you were born deserving hell! You did not have to commit one act of sin—you
were already condemned in Adam. Look how
terribly Adam’s sin abounded. Our context
makes it clear:
·
Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the
world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have
sinned:
Look at all that the human race has committed against
God. See the consequences of sin on
every side, and you will see how Adam’s one sin abounded! He was told not to eat of the tree of the
awareness of good and evil. To this
point, he was innocent, and only aware of his Creator, walking God each day in
the Garden.
·
Genesis 2:16
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou
mayest freely eat: 17 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.
Nothing was denied Adam except that which would
destroy him. God gave Adam all but one
of the trees of the garden, and all was for Adam’s good. But Adam, like Satan before him, enthroned
himself above God and gambled not only with his own life, but with all those
who would be born from him. Think of the
consequences of Adam’s sin. All the sins
of the entire world came because of his one sin. Sin like a flame on a piece of paper has
consumed all of humanity. Like a
contagious disease, it has infected every single person you see. All are guilty
because of Adam’s choice. You say, “Well
I would never have chosen to sin, so it is not fair!” Ok, then all we must do is look at you. You are not only guilty in Adam, you are
personally guilty. It is established by
the Law. We are guilty of lying,
stealing, lusting, coveting, and having our way, dishonoring our parents, and
dishonoring God.
2. But, look at the magnitude of Personal sin. The
person who is being drawn by God’s Spirit is no longer speaking of sin in the
second or third person. He no longer
speaks of our sin or his sin or their sins.
But he not only owns his sin, he realizes that from sun up to sun down
for his life up until this point, he has dishonored and ignored his Omnipotent
Creator and Judge.
It is not only that man is constantly sinning, but
that he is sinful, that is he is
totally Depraved. Sin has had its way in every corner of our
lives.
i.
Sin has ruined the Earth. “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring
forth to you.” “In the sweat of your
face shall you eat bread.” So not only
our bodies, but this planet that we live on opposes us. We have to till the land before it will yield
the harvest. When Adam sinned, then out
of the earth came “Stinging nettles” and poison ivy! Insects became aggressive, Red ants and wasps
and yellow jackets! Instead of calm, the
earth began to produce earth quakes and hurricanes on the sea and land. Volcanoes and disasters of all kinds are now constant
occurrences on this planet!!
ii.
Sin has ruined our Bodies. By the sweat of our brow the man labors, and
the woman travails in birth always in horrible pain. We are all sentenced to death. Ten out of ten of us will die. It is inevitable. “Dust you are and unto dust you shall
return.” We are all slowly dying because
of our sin. We are all slowly and
painfully falling apart. Look at a
picture of yourself ten years ago. Your
face was fuller. Your body was
stronger. Your mind was sharper. What is happening? You are on death row. You have a death sentence in your body. You are returning to dust.
iii.
Sin has ruined
man’s Soul. Man can no longer rule himself without the
help of God. He is out of control! “All our faculties are out of gear.”[2] Our mind is corrupted. All the tendencies of our heart are
perverted. We have turned egocentrical
instead of theocentrical. We have become
our own god—we say what we should do.
·
Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned every one to his own way
iv.
Sin has ruined
man’s Destiny. Adam was destined to walk with God and
commune with Him for all eternity, but now all the sons of Adam can look
forward to is terror and judgment and pain in an eternal lake of molten
lava—where they cannot even see the light of the lava, for there is nothing but
blackness—where the only emotions they will know are fear and terror and regret
and worry and horrible sickness and pain.
Revelation
21:8
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable,
and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars,
shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which
is the second death.
Revelation 20:12 tells us that the dead small and
great will stand before God, and the books will be opened, and “whosoever was
not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”
Sin abounds, and the consequences for sin abound! But the grace found in Christ abounds more!!
So we are aware of the greatness of our sin, but even more we are even more
aware of the greatness of Christ!!
II.
If you are sharply
aware of the greatness of Christ,
then grace will abound.
A. Look at the greatness of Christ’s Cross. Do you see how
sin has abounded? Look at sin all around
us. Take all the sins that believers
have committed in this congregation. If
we were each to unburden our soul tonight and speak from our conscience of all
the sins that we can remember—what a mountain of sin there would be! Then let God take not only your sins, but the
sins of all believers of all times. Let
him not only pile up the sins we know, but all sins from our birth until our
death. Look at Adam’s sins, and
Abraham’s sins, and Jacob’s sins, and Moses’ sins! Look down and see David’s sins and Manasseh’s
sins, and look at all the believers of all times. Look at the massive heap of those sins! The world can hardly contain it! And the Scripture says,
Isaiah 53:6
“The LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all”
On Him, on Jesus is the mountain of all your
sins! There is no sin too great, and
there is no sinner who has sinned too much for Christ’s sacrifice! He bore your sins! He carried your sorrows! As Peter says,
1 Peter
2:24
“His own self bare our sins in his own body on the
tree”
Look at the greatness of the cross. It will forgive
any sin—even the centurion soldiers who crucified the Lord were extended
forgiveness! Is there any crime greater
than butchering the Son of God? And yet we read that…
Matthew
27:54
“…when the centurion, and they that were with him,
watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they
feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.”
Christ substituted Himself for even the greatest crime
committed in all of humanity! What do those who crucified the Lord
deserve? They deserve to be forsaken of
the Lord for every in the
But Christ’s Cross is so great, that He can bare any
sin!
Matthew
27:46
Christ, when He was on the cross “…cried with a loud
voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me?
Why did God forsake Christ? Because you
deserve to be forsaken! You deserve
God’s wrath! He was forsaken to bare
your sin. Is your sin too great that
Christ’s cross cannot bear it! Look at
the greatness of Christ’s cross! What
greater place to see where grace abounds than in the Cross of Christ! “God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have
everlasting life!” (John 3:16). Grace
abounds when we look to the Cross of Christ!
B. Look at the greatness of Christ’s Forgiveness.
Think of the woman who came and wept at Jesus’ feet in
Luke chapter 7. She brought an alabaster
box of ointment—expensive fragrance and anointed Jesus’ feet with her tears and
the ointment! She knew she was not
good. The Bible says in Luke 7:37 that
she was a known sinner. Perhaps you
think that you are not like this woman.
You don’t think you are a known sinner.
You’ve hidden it from your friends.
The world doesn’t know you are a sinner, and they could care less if you
were anyway. Your parents don’t
know. This church does not know. But you are a known sinner whether you admit
it or not. Job said “There is no
darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide
themselves” (Job 34:22). You can try to
hide it, but your face tells a different story.
God sees the shame on your face!
Isaiah 3:9
The shew of their countenance doth witness against
them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto
their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.
Turn over to Luke 7:44. You’ll never experience the great forgiveness
of Christ unless you come as a known sinner—coming to Him as this woman with a
broken heart and a broken alabaster box.
She poured out her tears on the Saviour’s feet and then anointed those
soon to be nail-pierced feet with the priceless fragrance. And what did Jesus say to those standing
around?
Luke 7:44
And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest
thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my
feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the
hairs of her head. 45 Thou gavest me no
kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
46 My head with oil thou didst not
anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which
are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the
same loveth little. 48 And he said
unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.
Oh, the great forgiveness that is in Christ! When grace abounds, forgiveness abounds! This woman is a picture of Christ’s great
forgiveness. Her sin abounded to
her. Not only did the whole town know
she was a sinner, but she knew she
was a sinner. Oh that we could all be
like that woman with her broken heart!
Then we would hear as she did “Thy sins are forgiven.” We would hear as David did,
Psalm
103:12
As far as the east is from the west, so far
hath he removed our transgressions from us.
Those who crucified the Lord heard the Lord Himself
pronounce that they would be forgiven!
Luke 23:34
“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
This point didn’t make it onto your sheet, but it is an amazing point!
C. Look at the Greatness of Christ’s Heaven!
Do you think hell will be greater than heaven? In no way!
Look at Revelation:
Revelation
7:9
After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which
no
man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and
tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white
robes, and palms in their hands;
We will see more in heaven than the devil will see in hell! No man can number God’s elect. You might say, but it is obvious that the
gate is straight, and the path is narrow.
Yes, how true. But do you think
all these children that are killed by the abortionists—millions every
year! More children are born than die in
many cities! These are not silent
voices. They praise God even today. You mothers who have seen children die, you
have lost them before they were even born.
Don’t you know in heaven you will praise God with these precious souls? David said of his infant son who died in his
arms:
2 Samuel
12:23
But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again?
I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.
And do you know also that the bliss of heaven will far outweigh the
tortures and torments of hell! Sin
abounds, but grace much more abounds!!
And this brings me to the final point.
III.
If sin has been
seen to abound, it is nothing compared to Grace
which superabounds!
Look at
our text:
“…where
sin abounded, grace did much more abound”
As we close think how grace abounds. How I wish we could have a testimony time
tonight. God can take the most
reprehensible among us and make us a noble servant of the Lord. NO ONE is beyond the grace of God! Do you hear me? No one is beyond the shadow of Christ’s
cross. Look at how horrible your sin was
and is. Look at it in all it’s
disgusting shades. Think of the filthy
and rebellious words you have uttered in your life. Think of the way you have wasted your
resources—your time, your money, even the body that God has given you. We’ve wasted our eyes and our hears, our
heart and our mind. We had not only
dwelled on wickedness, but we have done
wickedness! Sin abounds to us.
But it doesn’t hold a candle to God’s grace! Think of how God has humbled your heart. You love much because you’ve been forgiven
much. You wasted your heart and
affections on the world, but God has given you a love for Him that makes your
previous love for the world look like nothing.
You have forsaken all and followed Christ!
Think of how God is making you holy as He is
holy. You used to sin big, but now your
love for God is much greater than your love for sin. In fact your hatred for sin is much great
than the love you had for the world!
Think of the people you influence for the wrong when
you were lost. But now, Christ makes you
an ambassador! He calls you to intercede
for the lost!
Before all you lived for was this world; you wanted
the world; the world was you life. Now
Christ is your life, and your inheritance is in Him! Now you are a king and a priest for God’s
Kingdom. He says you will rule and reign
with Him—you are a joint heir with His Son!
You are a child of the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords! The world, sin, and our own way seemed so
magnificent, and we abounded in them.
But now compared to God’s grace they are show to be nothing. As Paul says,
Philippians
3:7-8
But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss
for Christ. 8 Yea doubtless, and I count
all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but
dung, that I may win Christ,
Where sin abounds, grace does much more
abound!!!!! Glory to God for His abounding
grace!!
Closing Hymn: 355 Jesus Paid it All
[1] R L Dabney. The Five Points of Calvinism. Web document: http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/dabney/5points.htm#t accessed 01 February 2006.
[2] Charles Spurgeon. Grace Abounding Over Abounding Sin. Delivered on March 4, 1888, Lord’s Day Morning at the Metropolitan Tabernacle.