Romans 8 | Chris Blevins | 3.8.26

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit

Transcript

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Do continue, uh, in the heart of prayer. I have uh a a line of thought on my mind, and uh I'll it it carries with it something that's been on my mind uh recently, but uh there is a different passage of scripture I would like to turn to in the beginning to where I'm gonna go. Um but where I the the the primary thought that's on my mind is found in Romans 8. Um but not where you might think. It is earlier in the chapter. Um there is a statement here made by the Apostle Paul in the context of their their there is therefore now no condemnation. That's verse 1. Now, I hope to touch on that, uh I don't want to get I don't want to if the Lord's in the matter, maybe I should spend all my time on that. But that there is the principle that's taught in the scripture that we are sinners by nature and sinners by practice, that as the Apostle Paul also wrote in another place, we are by nature children of wrath, even as others, and therefore, by nature, we would fall under the condemnation of God. Justly, that there is that's it's not unrighteous for God to look at us and say, You are condemned. Even though he loves us, our sin would condemn us. He does not excuse sin simply because he loves us. But here the apostle Paul says, There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Now, what I want to what I want to focus on is two, well, I want to mention two things. One, there is a change, something has happened for the children of God to bring us from under condemnation to no longer being under condemnation. And that change is being in Jesus Christ and is by the imputed righteousness of Christ. We did not have part in that. We did uh or uh we definitely have part in it. Let me rephrase that. We did not exercise power in doing that, and in by uh ex uh by extension, we did not decide to be in Jesus, nor do we decide that uh by walking in the spirit that's how we get to be in Jesus. That's not what the apostle Paul is saying. This is not a prescription in how to get into Jesus, this is a a uh diagnostic tool to tell you that you are in Jesus Christ. If the spirit leads you, if the spirit guides you, if the spirit moves you, you're his. Is essentially what he's saying. And because the spirit isn't going to accidentally go to one that's not God and say, you know what, let me tell you how to behave. Let me show you what's wrong and what's right. And then the Lord said, Spirit, you've gotten the wrong one. That's not how it works at all. The spirit knows who's his, just as much as Christ knows who's his, who the father, then the father knows who's his. And so because that he knows who's his, the spirit knows who to go to, and when you feel led of the spirit, that is a that is a signal to you that you are no longer under condemnation. Uh, in fact, in the mind and purpose of God, uh that that that being in Christ, uh, you are you're not just under no condemnation, it's something even better, is that you are full of the righteousness of God of Christ. So here later on, the apostle Paul says, For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Now, again, I didn't I don't mean to spend a lot of time on each verse, but the law of sin and death is simply this if you sin, you die. Uh going all the way back to the garden. In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Is it because the fruit was poisonous? No. It was because Adam transgressed the law of God. That's what caused, that's what brought death into the world. Sin brought death into the world, not eating of a particular fruit. It wasn't the nature of the fruit that was sinful, it was the disobedience of God that was sinful. It could have been any other command that God would have given, but there would, I believe there are reasons why he gave that specific kind of command. But regardless of the reasons, when Adam transgressed the law of God, he fell under the law of sin and death. And not just he, but all of us, because we are in Adam. And just as being in Christ, however, as the apostle Paul started that verse, uh, or started that sentence, for the law of the spirit of life in Christ hath made us free, made me free from the law of sin and death. So though we are under the law of sin and death, as far as Adam is concerned, being in Christ, we are made free from that because of the law of the spirit of life. Uh what is what is the law of the spirit of life? Where the spirit is, there's life. The life, the life of God comes by the spirit of God. We see that uh the the apostle, or excuse me, the Lord Himself uh describing this to Nicodemus is that in order for us to have part with him, and I'm summarizing John 3 very broadly, in order for us to have new birth, the Spirit of God has to bring us about in new birth, has to begot us again. Now I know there's another begotting unto a lively hope. That's a different begotting. Uh in order to be made alive, however, we are brought from death unto life by the Spirit of God. And where the Spirit of God is, there is life, and therefore the law of the Spirit of life makes you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law bringing about, he's describing both the mosaical law, but also the penalty under the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh. So why is there now no condemnation? Because it's condemned by the work of Christ. The sin that was against you, uh it be made free from the law of sin and death, Christ also took for uh uh the sin that was uh uh validly applied against you. Every transgression, every thought and intent of our heart that was against God, every act and deed of our hands, every time our footsteps bring us uh to a way we should not go, uh every word that we have misspoken and or or withheld uh in transgression against the very righteousness of God that was all placed upon the person of Christ and in the flesh he condemned the sin that was against us on the cross. Having been condemned, because God is a righteous God, because he is a just God, he cannot. Uh here's one of the things that God cannot do. He cannot deny himself. When he says, You I am satisfied by the work of Christ, he cannot then say, I am not satisfied by the work of Christ. Uh it cannot be both ways with God. Because he saw the work of Christ, he is satisfied. And because he is satisfied, he cannot and will not require double payment for sin. He will not look at the condemnation that Christ uh under endured on the cross and look at that and be satisfied for that, for the payment of sin, and then look at us and say, I will require more of you. That will not be the righteous uh act of God. He will righteously say, and here's the beauty of God's righteousness. Uh uh, though we were would have been condemned because we were against the righteousness of God, the very righteousness of God in condemning sin in the work of Christ uh makes it impossible for him to look at you and say that uh that you are now under condemnation because the work of Christ is sufficient for the payment of sin. Now, for what the law cannot do, you know, uh again that that sentence, and for sin condemns sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Again, diagnostic, not a prescription, but it is something that tells us God, if the spirit leads us, there is another quality. Now, I mentioned that that is one thing to not be under condemnation. That is a beautiful liberty in Christ. Do you know where we would be if God just reset where it was? Is that we'd be back where Adam was. We would be without sin. But we would if it were just restoring us to a to a state where we were guiltless before God, then we might still fall again. And that's that's what that's the problem. That was the circumstance with Adam. Is that he was sinless. He had no sin in him when God created him. And yet he transgressed the law of God because he was not full of righteousness. What does it mean to be for the law of God to be fulfilled in you? The word fulfilled means to be filled full. If this glass, there's a little bit of space here, and that's because if I pick it up without that space, I'm gonna spill water everywhere, right? If that if this glass were filled full, it would be fulfilled. And that's there, there's a meaning of that word and that carrying forward of that word fulfilled, by the way. I don't I want to mention this part. We think of the law and the prophet being fulfilled. We think of uh prophecies being fulfilled. And in our mind, we think, well, there was a prediction or there was a circumstance that was said that would happen, and when that happened, then then it fulfilled that prophecy. Well, it's more than just simply doing what the prophecy said, it's that the prophecy set out an outline, it set a picture, it set something forward, it said, this is going to be the way this is. And until it happens, whatever that outline, if you if you were to draw, and this is the way it works in my mind and in my picture, the law of God draws an outline like a shadow on the wall. And what the law says is when the person comes that fills in this outline, that's the one you're looking for. Uh that's what the prophecies do. They they outline certain circumstances concerning Christ, uh, also concerning things in the day and time that they happened, but especially the prophecies concerning the uh uh the uh arrival, the birth, the death, the burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Uh that they set forward a picture and they set forward an outline. And when you saw that happen, it fulfilled the prophecy. It filled it full. It meant that there was no more gap, there was nothing left to be done, uh, that that that it was uh to its completion, and that with the law and the prophet being fulfilled didn't mean the dismissing of the laws and the prophet. It meant everything that the laws and the prophets, uh the law and the prophets had said concerning the coming and the work of Christ, uh, that they were about to be made full, that they were going to come to their completion, all the way back to the promise made to Eve in the garden, uh, that the that the seed of the woman should come the one that should crush the head of the serpent, that became fulfilled, that was made full by the work of Jesus Christ, uh, that he crushed the head of the serpent, uh, that sin and transgression that was against us was made was the power was destroyed. The head, remember, is the power, it's the source of power and authority. He crushed all authority and power of sin against the people of God, uh, that that was fulfilled in the very person of Christ. Well, likewise, talking about the righteousness of the law. When God looks at you, do you realize there's no room for sin? There is no room for it. It's not just that you were made free from the condemnation of God. He then filled you full with the righteousness of Christ Himself, so that when he looks at you, it is like a glass full that cannot have room for anything else. You have nothing but the righteousness of Christ in you. Now, the chapter right before this, and I don't want to get too much into that because that's not my thoughts this morning, but the chapter right before this describes the conversation of the Apostle Paul about a warfare in our members. But and there's a warfare in our members because the body is not yet filled full with the righteousness of Christ. It still has the it's still tainted with sin. And we know this because it must needs die. We must needs die, and our is water uh poured out of a spilled on the ground that it cannot be gathered up again. That's the way we are by nature, but not in the inner man. And one day not in the outer man, but the in the inner man, you are filled full by the righteousness of Christ. And be that law of righteousness being fulfilled in you means that there is no room for transgression. That's why uh uh I I can't remember if it's James or John, maybe both in in various various ways of their saying it, uh, both uh uh uh point out the point, uh point out the fact that there is not a way for you to sin in the inner man. Now uh we we have to we have to rightly divide the word of truth because me in the flesh and me in the inner man are both me. I cannot say, well, you know, this other Chris did this, but I'm this Chris. They're both me. And yet the apostle Paul says, yet not I, but sin that dwelleth in me. What he's not, he's not saying, well, I can dissociate myself from any responsibility of the sins that I commit. They were done by another Paul. That's not what he's saying. What he's saying is who I am is not defined by the transgression that's in me. It would be if I were not the child of God. If I were not a child of God, I would be defined by who I was only by being a son of Adam. But not so the child of God. And God does not regard you as just, oh, you're just another one of Adam. He says you're one of the guys. And you being his, he looks at you as the perfection of Christ himself. Here's the fact each individually, he you we don't lose individuality and in being in Christ, just like uh as he describes a body being uh being many parts, but one body. Uh we're still individuals in that sense. Uh Marcia's still Marsha, Katie's still Katie. Uh as as Job himself said, with my own eyes I shall see him and not another. Uh that there is that hope that we know we're not just just a random, uh uh uh we're just random group of faceless people in the sight of God. He knows each of us individually. He has called us by name every single time he has come to us in the Spirit of God. Uh He knows us individually. So let's not think that because we're in the righteousness of Christ, uh we're we're simply just all the same to God. But in the sense of us being righteous in the sight of God, yes, we're all the same to God. We are all just as righteous as Christ, fulfilled, filled full by the righteousness of Christ Himself. And I haven't even gotten out of Romans 8, and I didn't even intend to get here until the end. So I'll go ahead and continue on. Uh that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Again, not not a prescription on how to be fulfilled in the righteousness of Christ, but a reminder or a declaration of who you are. Therefore, if God guides you, you're already his. If there is already the sting of conscience in you for sin, you're already his. In other words, if you feel guilty, be glad. That's not the time to start worrying about your state with God. That's the time that you start rejoicing in your state with God. Because if there's something in you that condemns sin in your mind and in your heart, that came by the fulfillment of the righteousness of God in you. It came by because uh the God had written his law in your heart and in your mind. And that law of God written in your heart and your mind condemns sin even in the flesh. And by the way, the inner man never, I may have even said this here before, the inner man never goes along with the outer man. Outer man has to be made subject to the inner man. For example, and this is my my favorite example because I get to tell it to the people who are exercising it right here and right now. When you woke up an hour earlier than you were normally used to, and your body says, you know, I really don't want to do this today. I'm so tired. Surely they won't miss me this one day. And your inner man says, No, because it's not about you. It's about worshiping God. Let's get to that place and let's open our mouths. Let's sing to God. Let's see the brethren. That's not a bad thing to do, but let us worship God in spirit and truth this day. Guess what? Your flesh is made uh uh obedient in that. Sometimes I wonder if that's not why we're so exhausted at the end of a good meeting. It's because we're we're we're exercising completely the submission of the body. The body gets worn out by it, uh, but the inner man rejoices in it. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Uh but we see that the the inner man does never go along with the outer man when we when we decide to to. If, for example, I rose up this morning, it would have been hard to do at David and Katie's house. I would have had to still been there in their bed. But if I had said no, you know what, they could get without get along without me today, and I just stayed there, my inner man would have said, Boy, you're gonna pay for this. You're gonna pay for this each and every time you remember uh the dereliction of your duty, and every time you miss the blessing of being with the saints of God. And most importantly, what are you gonna do the next time God uh bows down to you uh condescending to you and whispering in your ear, why didn't you show up today? Uh the inner man is always going to be uh on the side of Christ in that. It never says, you know what, let's just go along to get along today. That's not the way the inner man behaves. The inner man is fulfilled with the righteousness of Christ. It is filled full, knowing what is right and what is wrong, uh, not with perfect knowledge. That's one of the things we also have to understand. The inner man is is educated uh by the word of God, but it always has the law of God written in the heart in the heart and in the mind. Uh that there's a uh there's a beauty in knowing that it has the righteousness of God in it, but also that God has given you something in being uh in uh in learning uh or uh uh be wise unto salvation. That's what the knowledge of God gives you. That's what the Spirit of God gives you in the in the Word of God is is not is not righteousness, but the knowledge of righteousness. Not not uh uh uh imputation of uh uh the word of God uh as in the written word, in the preached word, doesn't give you the imputation uh of life, but it gives you the knowledge of life. It gets it educates you, it makes you wise in the spiritual mind. And by the way, only the spiritual mind can understand it. The spiritual mind is made wise unto eternal life. In other words, the more you learn about who you are in Christ, the more you see Christ, the more you see the power of his work, and not just his power work for all of the saints of God, which is wondrous, but it makes it wise unto it makes you wise unto salvation in your regard. That you were engraved in the palm of his hand before the world was, and that when he came to redeem sin, uh redeem you from sin, he uh, like every other child of God, which I uh this makes my mind break to think about how Christ can do this. He reg he represented every child of God at the same time, but individually before God. He he said, I will I will uh pay for this sin and this sin and this sin from beginning to end, and before God condemned all of the sin of the children of God in the flesh. And he regarded you while he was doing that. I believe that take this for what it's worth. I believe there's a beautiful picture in the scripture about the bones of Christ representing the children of God that were placed in him before the foundation of the world. Because I think that's one of the importances of the fact that his bones were not broken. His family was intact and made intact by the work of Christ. But there's a passage that says in Psalm 23, He telleth all his bones. Now that's that's that's one that is a picture of his suffering and of his uh of the the actual condition of his body. But it's also, I think, a beautiful picture of the fact that while he was on that cross, his mind was not on his circumstance. He was regarding those who he came to die for. He was caused to tell me to take account of. Okay, I'm gonna take care of this one and this one and this one, because the promise of Christ uh to his father is that of all that thou hast given me, I shall lose nothing but raise it up again the last day. And he didn't he doesn't start taking account of his children on the day of the resurrection. He has taken account of his children from the day that were placed in him until the day of the resurrection. When he uh can present us before the throne of God. For they you know what I I want to I want to pause here. I might come back to this. There is one passage I want to turn to in Hebrews chapter 1. In Hebrews 1, uh the apostle Paul is addressing I I believe uh Paul wrote Hebrews, um I believe he wrote Hebrews particularly to address the fact that as you can read through the passage through the book, that these are Jewish believers. These are Jews that believe in Christ, but under persecution, under uh being being uh uh being ostracized, being ridiculed, being persecuted, uh being be their jobs being taken from them, families turning their backs on them, uh sometimes physical persecution, as we see the apostle Paul went through in certain circumstances, that they are contemplating, saying, you know what, it's not worth it. It's not worth it. We'll just go back under the law. It'll be easier that way. And the apostle Paul is writing this book and says, Remember what it is you learned in learning about Christ. And he begins first with the declaration of uh God, who in sundry times and diverse manners spake to us in times past by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son. So he's he he focuses in from the beginning on the importance that this was not given to us. The understanding of the fulfillment of the law of God, uh the work of Christ, uh the the New Testament church. Uh these things were not given just as uh oh uh here's an alternative way to regard me. He's saying these were given by God for a reason, that this is how God intends for us to acknowledge him. And much of the uh the uh the book is about the superiority of Christ over every element of the Old Testament, uh uh high priesthood, the sacrifice, uh, even being the tabernacle, uh the the uh being our representative before God, that he is superior in every way, that he's better than every aspect because he is the fulfillment of everything that God said he would do in bringing uh peace to the people of God. Well, uh the apostle Paul reminds them listen, if God gives you the best and you say, No, thank you, what does that mean that you're saying to God? In other words, if God says, My son is good enough for me, why is he not good enough for you? And that's that's the the apostle Paul, that's the question he's asking. If we're going to say this, we have to understand there's consequences to that. There are consequences to turning your back on the truth, and that God is not going to regard it lightly, if having come to a knowledge of who Christ is, that we then say, nah, the the world's better, or it's easier. It's just, and so when you read, understanding that, that the Lord is uh is directing the apostle Paul or whoever, but I believe the Apostle Paul in addressing this uh this problem with them, it's directly relevant to us today in this time because has the world stopped trying to get the church to stop worshiping God? No, it has not. Satan has not stopped, he didn't give up uh when uh when uh the apostle Paul wrote this letter. He didn't say, ah, well, that argument's too strong for me. I'll just I'll just pretend I'll just go on my merry way and just wait until the end. No, he knows he has a short time. And whether it's a short time to us, he knows there is a marked day in which his work will come to an end completely. That he will no longer be able to go about and deceive the people of God because we will be above deception at that point. Uh but until that day comes, he will try to persecute, deceive, entice, whatever way he can do it. He will either lie, uh promise, or threaten in order to make you uh uh disobey the law of God in some way. And the law of God being prime in the New Testament, love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your might, and all your strength, and the second lackening to it, love your neighbor as yourself, uh, to love uh in the in the uh true love, and I don't mean true love in the in the fairy tale sense, I'm talking about true dedication. What love is in the scripture is uh purposeful dedication to taking care of someone else even above yourself. That's what the love of God is demonstrated in the very work of Jesus Christ. That's what we are called to uh to manifest and show in the uh in the church of God. Well, Paul is from the beginning of the book of Hebrews pointing out the superiority of Christ even in just being the Son of God. That he is not an angel, that he's not someone who is just called to this work, he is God in the flesh. And it in pointing this out, he says this. Who, verse 3, being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power. When he had by himself purged our sins, and I just I cannot I cannot complete that sentence without saying something about that phrase right there. That by itself proves how you are redeemed. He by himself purged you from your sins. So to whom do we owe all glory and praise? To Christ and Christ alone, to any work of myself because I I happened to participate and cooperate? No, because I was dead and trespasses and sin when I was purged by sin from sin. I I couldn't cooperate because I was I was a carnal, uh, uh dead and trespasses man when it happened, and that would be just as ridiculous as us to find a cemetery, and you've heard this example before, and you've heard it before because it's an appropriate example. It would be just as ridiculous for me to go out to a cemetery and say, all you gotta do is believe and come forth out of those graves. Nothing's gonna happen because I do not have any power in my voice. He, when he says live, you live, and then you can respond, but you cannot respond before you're alive. And that that's how that's how we know uh that we have the the the uh spirit and the life of God in us, is because there is something in us that responds to the word of God. Now, he says this we have by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance, so the incarnation is better than any angel, Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, not because he was made the Son of God, then, I want to be very clear, he was the Son of God before he was made the Son of Man. A son thou hast given. But he being incarnate, that he is a superior position than any angel, he hath by inheritance, because he was already the son of God, obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And there's an answer to that. Never. He has never ever once said to an angel, You're my son. And again, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. Again, the answer is, never has he said that to an angel. And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, and let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels, he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire? But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne God is forever and ever. I want to take what might be a little side trip for the remainder of this time, because my focus so far has been trying to demonstrate how you are filled full by the righteousness of Christ. We can go back to the Romans 8 and look at the contrast. The Apostle Paul continues the contrast about the nature of the carnal mind and the nature of the spiritual mind. Uh Romans 8 is a very clear picture about how you must have already been born again of the Spirit of God for you to even understand spiritual things. But I won't take the time to go back and go through all of that, but I want to focus now back on the one whose righteousness we are filled with. Now, here the Apostle Paul using this psalm, and we're gonna go turn to Psalm 45. The Psalm 45 describes not just anybody. Because what does he say? And unto the Son, let me reread it, but unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever. Now, here's another scripture that proves one simple fact. We believe and know that this that the word made flesh is God in the flesh. That the Son is God. God one and three, three and one. That there is not a separation here in nature, in divinity, that the Son of God is God, as much as the Father is God, as much as the Spirit is God. But unto the Son he said, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Now, before we continue in Hebrews, I want to turn to uh Psalm 45. We may end up spending the rest of the time here, but uh I do it. I would like to get back to Hebrews and maybe even back to Romans 80 if time per minute. Psalm 45. The first words of David. This is a Psalm of David. My heart is indicting a good matter. I speak of the things which I have made touching the king. If this indeed is a psalm of David, which I believe it is, is David the king? And so is David writing about him? Not at all. He understands some of this from the concept of being a king. He knows another king. He knows a better king. This is think about how David is writing this. I I just wanna have you ever met someone that at least you consider to be important? And that you thought was important to other people. And if you've ever met that person, which do you then have the temptation? Do you have that maybe temptation is not the right word, but have the desire to then tell everybody you know you met that important person. It could be, it could, and for the purposes, it could be someone, a pop star, it could be a movie star, it could be a a I hesitate to say politician, but it could be a politician. It could be anyone that you regard. I I think that if any one of us met the president, whether we liked him or not, we might tell people, well, you know what? I met the president. I I actually shook his hand. You know, that that's something that's that is exciting to do because you regard them, especially if you regard them highly. And if you regard them, the higher you regard them and the more important you regard them, the more likely it is that you're gonna say, you know what? I am gonna tell everybody I know about this person that I met. Here is David saying, I know somebody I want to tell you about. My heart is indicting a good matter. I speak of the things which I have made touching the king. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. I want to tell you this. And what is it that David wants to tell us? Thou art fairer than the children of men. Grace is poured into thy lips. Therefore, God blesseth blessed thee forever. Gird thy sword. Now I want us to see the picture of this king. This king, what do we know so far about this king? Uh he says, Thou art fairer than the children of men. He is beautiful to look upon. Grace is poured in thy lips. The very words of his lips are full of grace, by the way, and truth. He is full of grace and truth. Therefore, God hath blessed thee forever. You know that word blessed doesn't just mean putting blessings upon them, it also means raising up and blessing. And I believe that's the aspect in which God says that whenever God says anything about this king, it's always a blessing, never a curse. He's always saying, look at this king, look what this king has done, look at what this king has said, look how this king behaves, because this king is my son. And we we kind of skip ahead to the uh to the uh to the secret there. He says, gird now, here's the other aspect of this king. Gird on, gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. So, what is the picture of this king transformed to? This king is not only beautiful to look at, and someone who has the perfect words and grapes, and God blesses him continually forever, but that he's the mighty king, he's the king of warfare, he's a king that girds his sword upon his thigh, ready to go out to battle for his people, mighty in battle and glory and in majesty, and in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness. What we see is a king who not only rides out, but rides out uh with the purpose of prospering his people. And he says, for the sake of, or in other words, this is what uh the what this is what the Lord is riding out to prosper in. Is he good is he riding out just to prosper the glory of his name? You know that that is something that uh that certainly God uh in the person of Jesus Christ, he had the right, he had the authority every single moment of his life to remind every single person around him of who he was. He could have said from the moment of his birth, which would have been a miracle in and of itself, uh, but he sub uh uh he didn't do that because he subjected himself to the to the nature and to the weakness of the flesh. But he had the right and the authority to say, I am God, worship me now. And he would have been right to do so, and he would have been a right to demand worship for everyone. But you know he did not, Christ did not raise himself up once. He humbled himself and became obedient unto death. This man rode out not seeking his own glory, but the prosperity of his people, but not in the wealth of this world, not in being made uh the Jews themselves look for the day in which the Messiah would come and conquer the other nations and make Israel the ruling nation of the world. That's not what Christ came to do. He came to establish his kingdom and to glorify and to magnify his kingdom, but not with the glory and the majesty and the wealth of this world. He came to prosper us in truth and meekness and righteousness. And thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Now that word, that word terrible there doesn't mean terrible in the way that we often take it nowadays. It's talking about wondrous majesty, uh awesome. It's talking about something that that that would that shakes you to your core, but not in a bad way. When we see the might and the power of God, this was what happened on the day that the uh that the disciples were on the boat and they were fearing for their lives because they were they were sailors, they knew what it meant to be caught in a storm such as this, and they were ready for the boat to sink. And they knew that that's what naturally would happen to them when Christ said, be still. This was a terrible thing to them. This was a and not not an awful thing, not an ugly thing, not a bad thing, but this was something that struck them up. They knew this man was something, they did not know this man was the one who spoke to creation, and creation obeyed. They real they started to realize something about this man. This man is not just the Messiah, as if that's a small thing. The Messiah is God. This was when they start realizing this. Who is this that commandeth even the winds and the waves? That his right hand teaches them terrible things, wondrous things, majestic things, that he has power and authority in everything he says and does. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies. And you know what? That is a beautiful thing to me. There were, I remember a day. In fact, there are two occasions we can look at in the scripture. There's some men that were cut to the heart, but then there was an occasion where there were some men pricked in the heart. And his arrows that pricked you in the heart have an effect. They turn your heart from a stony heart. And I'm not saying that's the moment those men were born again, but I do know this. You have to have a living heart for the heart to feel anything. A stony, cold, dead heart has no feeling at all. Dead is a dead. But the living saying breathing heart of the child of God. When it is confronted with the transgression of sin, it hurts. It stays. It's an arrow to the heart, it's a prick in the heart. It's the cause those men to say, men and brethren, they said that because they realized Christ was hanging on the cross because of their sin. They realized that. They may not have ever realized that being uh in the picture of the law of the prophets until that very moment. Maybe they dwelt on that and thought about it that many times and just now realized that had to do with them. But for however, however, they came to that conclusion at that moment, they realized Christ died because of me, not because of my brother here, and not because of my sister here, because of me. He died for me. What do I do with that? What do I do with that knowledge? What do I do with the fact that I know I was guilty and he died to redeem me? Peter says, Obey God, be baptized for the for the remission of sins, to acknowledge the remission of sins, and walk in that way. Because now you know who you are. Walk the way that you know you ought to walk, being who you are. That's what it means. Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called. That doesn't mean you make yourself worthy, it means you walk according to the worthiness of that which you are. By the Spirit of God, by the grace of God, but that's that's the beauty. It's it you know you're already equipped to it. God has not called you to an obedience that he's not equipped you to obey in. You are you have the Spirit of God in you. You have the righteousness of God in you, because he went out to prosper the kingdom and truth and what does it say? Truth and mercy and righteousness. Not just to give that, but to give us the knowledge of that. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies, whereby thy people fall under thee. And here we have a willing and obedient people, uh. Now I know that there's a process uh an aspect of this of Christ being a mighty conqueror of his enemies, but as the scripture says, for when we were enemies, Christ died for us. I believe that's a the beautiful picture is that though we know by nature we were contrary to God, even then Christ died for us. So how much more? How much more does Christ care for those who he died for and are redeemed and have the righteousness of God in them? If he cared for you when you were an enemy, how much more when you're his? I know we were always his in in election and purpose, but vitally that you're born of his very nature. How much more does he care for you? If he could care for you more, he cares for you even more. I don't know that he that that we can apply that to God, but how much more should we attribute to the fact that he cares for us, at least in that regard? Thy throne, let me, verse 6. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. So this king, just as the apostle Paul addresses this kind of the same concept when he regards the high priesthood of Christ. But here we regard it in his kingship. Will Christ ever cease to reign? Thy throne, oh God. Who is Christ? He is God in the flesh. Any weakness that you would ever apply to Christ, you would have to apply to God. So can God fail? Never. So can Christ fail? Never. Can he fail to impart his righteousness to you? Never. So, if there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit, having been made free from the law of sin and death, and made free in the spirit law of the spirit of life, and having been uh filled full, having been made fulfilled in the righteousness of Christ, if that is the case, can you ever fail of the grace of God? Now I can fail the grace of God in my mind and in my obedience, but I can never fail of the grace of God because the grace of God is by the purpose and the might of this king. This king has the authority, this king has the scepter, this king has the rule, this king has the judgment. When we look at the condemnation that we are not under, who's the one that's condemning? The apostle Paul summarizes it. He says that uh maybe I should just go ahead and jump to the end of Romans chapter 8. You know what? Let me finish this verse in 45 and then go there. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter. Uh remember, the king under the uh under the law and and uh under David and under the Old Testament, uh, and even in the New Testament, was a king that that gave judgment and and uh and counsel in his kingdom. Uh we remember, ought to remember the example of the two women who disputed about who uh who was the mother of this child. And they who did they bring uh this matter before? The king, because it was his kingdom, and it was his judgment that that ruled in his kingdom. And when Solomon rendered his judgment, that was law. Guess what? It's the same in the kingdom of God. Christ has his scepter of rule and authority and of judgment in his kingdom, and it is a right scepter, meaning it will never, ever fail in unrighteousness, it will never be an unrighteous judgment. Now, if we had unrighteousness in us, that should cause us to tremble. If we were full of unrighteousness, we would have no hope. But what is the state of the child of God before Christ? Full of righteousness. There is no unrighteousness in the inner man to have this right scepter judge against it. Thy throne, oh God, is forever and ever. The scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter, so it's always going to be right as well. Thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness. Therefore, God, thy God. And who is this king? God. Thy throne, oh God, is forever. Thy God, therefore, God, thy God. How can a God have a God? Because it's God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Now, I I want to close, I want to close this passage with this and the next verse. All thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces whereby they have made thee glad. What is the what is what is the m state of mind of this king as he sits on his throne? Is he fretting? Is he wondering, oh, is my kingdom gonna stand? Is he wondering, oh, are all my children gonna come to me? Is he wondering, is he begging, is he pleading, is he, is he frightful? Not one bit. Because who is he? He's the mighty captain of our warfare who goes out and accomplishes the victory. He's the one who has all authority and power in his word and in his might. He's the one that in his right hand has terrible things to show us, mighty mighty, wonders, mighty things. He is the one that has ascended to the Father, having accomplished the Father's will. He's the one that as he sits on the right hand of God, he is glad. This gladness, I believe, is the very picture of the Spirit of God that even now fills the house of God with the gladness of Christ. When we come before Christ, what is the heart's response? Isn't all dread? Is it wonder? Is it is it fear? It is joy, it is peace, it is comfort, it is this is the this is what this is the odor that fills the room where Christ approaches. Is that when Christ comes into the room? We all know he comes in gladness and in joy to be with his people and in the anticipation of the eternal joy that he will have with uh with his people throughout all of eternity. But you know, this is the same joy, this is the same gladness, this is the same spirit of God that will fill all of eternity, uh, that he is the very light of the kingdom of God, uh, and that uh when we come before him uh in the resurrected body, uh we will uh we will we will be able to almost literally smell the joy of Christ Himself. Now I want to I want to just turn back to Romans 8 and close there. Romans chapter 8, uh verse, I'll pick up in verse 33. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Can can we can we admit a fault that then is laid to our charge? No. Why? Because he condemned it already in the flesh, he condemned it on the cross. Can Satan bring a charge? Satan's more than us, he's not more than God, let's never attribute the attributes of God like omniscience or omnipotence or omnipresence, like we we we often sometimes do to Satan. We sometimes think that Satan's everywhere, he has a wrong to and fro, he can't be everywhere. He we sometimes apply uh the knowledge of uh omniscience to Satan. Satan, Satan does not know what is going on in your heart. If he did, he would have known it would have been useless to fight with Job. He does not know. Only God knows the thought and the intent of your heart. Even we don't know the thoughts of our intents of our own hearts. God does. And only God does. Even the angels don't know that. They look outwardly, they look in to see and discover these things. They just, you know, when you bow down and pray to God, they're looking outward, looking in, saying, what a wondrous thing this is to see a man of Adam worship and praise God. They can't see the inner man like God does. So don't let us let's be careful. Satan's more than us, but he don't ever attribute the attributes of God to Satan. We're apt to do that because we're here, Satan's here, and he's in between us and God as far as power is concerned. But so when we look up as far as power goes, don't let us think that it goes all the way to God. But can Satan, in all of his cunningness and craftiness, and knowledge, bring anything to charge against the elect of God? Not one. And part of that is also because God knows exactly what he did. That sounds pretty simple, right? Doesn't God know what he did? Yes. He knew exactly what he did on the cross. To think that we could invent something that could then all of a sudden surprise God is to make up is to make a circumstance in our heart or mind that God didn't think about and that God doesn't know about in the work that he did. Now, why did I why am I focusing on that every single time we go to God thinking that God won't hear us because of who we are. We are doing that. We are saying God, you you you just you didn't really expect me to be this bad. God knows what he did. He knew what he did when he accounted you as a loved one even when you were an enemy. That's why I said that before. How much more so when you are his and accounted as his own? What shall we say then? Uh excuse me, uh, verse uh I jumped into nine uh uh chapter nine, verse 33. Who shall lay anything that God charges to how back up? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? The answer is nobody, because why? It is God that justifieth the king with a scepter, a righteous king with a righteous scepter over his kingdom. Guess what? He's the one that paid for it. He knows exactly what he did. He knows every time he sees you that his work was sufficient for you, and he's that that that we ought to take consolation in that same joy and knowledge that God now sits at the right hand of God and rejoicing in. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. So not only is he the one making the judgment, he's the one bringing the intercession to his throne. So when the one who's making the case for you is the one making the judgment, it's almost as if the the the jury's rigged. But rigged in the favor of the child of God. Because why? It's it's not rigged in the sense that it's unrighteous, it's rigged in the sense that the one who's being brought before this the jury in this in the in our mind, in our thought, and in our heart, what we're forgetting is that the jury has already been met. God has already issued judgment and uh executed uh righteousness, and we're already full of the righteousness of God in us.