1 00:00:17,390 --> 00:00:21,070 I don't understand myself at all. 2 00:00:22,390 --> 00:00:24,810 For I really want to do what is 3 00:00:24,810 --> 00:00:26,390 right, but I can't. 4 00:00:26,590 --> 00:00:28,930 I do what I don't want to, what 5 00:00:28,930 --> 00:00:29,710 I hate. 6 00:00:30,670 --> 00:00:33,730 I know perfectly well that what I am 7 00:00:33,730 --> 00:00:34,790 doing is wrong. 8 00:00:35,610 --> 00:00:38,570 And my bad conscience proves that I agree 9 00:00:38,570 --> 00:00:40,330 with these laws I am breaking. 10 00:00:41,030 --> 00:00:43,590 But I can't help myself because I'm no 11 00:00:43,590 --> 00:00:44,430 longer doing it. 12 00:00:44,430 --> 00:00:47,690 It is sin inside me that is stronger 13 00:00:47,690 --> 00:00:50,150 than I am that makes me do these 14 00:00:50,150 --> 00:00:51,130 evil things. 15 00:00:51,810 --> 00:00:54,130 I know I am rotten through and through, 16 00:00:54,310 --> 00:00:56,770 so far as my old sinful nature is 17 00:00:56,770 --> 00:00:57,350 concerned. 18 00:00:58,030 --> 00:01:00,290 No matter which way I turn, I can't 19 00:01:00,290 --> 00:01:01,810 make myself do right. 20 00:01:02,370 --> 00:01:04,310 I want to, but I can't. 21 00:01:04,950 --> 00:01:07,030 When I want to do good, I don't, 22 00:01:07,070 --> 00:01:08,830 and when I try not to do wrong, 23 00:01:08,930 --> 00:01:09,850 I do it anyway. 24 00:01:09,850 --> 00:01:12,710 Now, if I am doing what I don't 25 00:01:12,710 --> 00:01:15,710 want to, it is plain where the trouble 26 00:01:15,710 --> 00:01:16,270 is. 27 00:01:16,630 --> 00:01:20,030 Sin still has me in its evil grasp. 28 00:01:20,870 --> 00:01:23,090 It seems to be a fact of life 29 00:01:23,090 --> 00:01:24,890 that when I want to do what is 30 00:01:24,890 --> 00:01:28,150 right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 31 00:01:28,710 --> 00:01:31,090 I love to do God's will, so far 32 00:01:31,090 --> 00:01:32,770 as my new nature is concerned. 33 00:01:32,770 --> 00:01:36,030 But there is something else deep within me 34 00:01:36,030 --> 00:01:38,630 in my lower nature that is at war 35 00:01:38,630 --> 00:01:41,530 with my mind and wins the fight and 36 00:01:41,530 --> 00:01:43,590 makes me a slave to the sin that 37 00:01:43,590 --> 00:01:44,690 is still within me. 38 00:01:45,230 --> 00:01:47,350 In my mind I want to be God's 39 00:01:47,350 --> 00:01:51,330 willing servant, but instead I find myself still 40 00:01:51,330 --> 00:01:52,550 enslaved to sin. 41 00:01:53,150 --> 00:01:54,530 So you see how it is. 42 00:01:54,730 --> 00:01:56,710 My new life tells me to do right, 43 00:01:57,150 --> 00:01:59,410 but the old nature that is still inside 44 00:01:59,410 --> 00:02:00,590 me loves to sin. 45 00:02:00,590 --> 00:02:03,990 Oh, what a terrible predicament I am in. 46 00:02:04,510 --> 00:02:07,130 Who will free me from my slavery to 47 00:02:07,130 --> 00:02:08,530 this deadly lower nature? 48 00:02:09,509 --> 00:02:10,450 Thank God. 49 00:02:11,030 --> 00:02:14,410 It has been done by Jesus Christ our 50 00:02:14,410 --> 00:02:14,670 Lord. 51 00:02:14,770 --> 00:02:16,150 He has set me free. 52 00:02:16,970 --> 00:02:20,870 So there is now no condemnation awaiting those 53 00:02:20,870 --> 00:02:24,030 who belong to Christ Jesus for the power 54 00:02:24,030 --> 00:02:27,830 of the life-giving Spirit, and this power 55 00:02:27,830 --> 00:02:32,110 is mine through Christ Jesus, has freed me 56 00:02:32,110 --> 00:02:36,630 from the vicious circle of sin and death. 57 00:02:37,210 --> 00:02:38,490 Verse 33. 58 00:02:39,510 --> 00:02:43,670 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen 59 00:02:43,670 --> 00:02:44,570 for His own? 60 00:02:45,450 --> 00:02:46,150 Will God? 61 00:02:46,950 --> 00:02:49,090 No, He is the One who has forgiven 62 00:02:49,090 --> 00:02:51,630 us and given us rights standing with Himself. 63 00:02:51,630 --> 00:02:54,210 Who then will condemn us? 64 00:02:54,330 --> 00:02:55,010 Will Christ? 65 00:02:55,770 --> 00:02:58,870 No, for He is the One who died 66 00:02:58,870 --> 00:03:01,070 for us and came back to life again 67 00:03:01,070 --> 00:03:03,710 for us and is sitting at the place 68 00:03:03,710 --> 00:03:08,670 of highest honor next to God, pleading for 69 00:03:08,670 --> 00:03:09,890 us there in heaven. 70 00:03:10,610 --> 00:03:13,550 Who then can ever keep Christ's love from 71 00:03:13,550 --> 00:03:13,890 us? 72 00:03:14,390 --> 00:03:16,770 When we have trouble or calamity, when we 73 00:03:16,770 --> 00:03:19,490 are hunted down or destroyed, is it because 74 00:03:19,490 --> 00:03:21,190 He doesn't love us anymore? 75 00:03:21,650 --> 00:03:23,770 And if we are hungry or penniless or 76 00:03:23,770 --> 00:03:26,710 in danger or threatened with death, has God 77 00:03:26,710 --> 00:03:27,930 deserted us? 78 00:03:28,830 --> 00:03:29,570 Verse 38. 79 00:03:30,150 --> 00:03:33,970 For I am convinced that nothing can ever 80 00:03:33,970 --> 00:03:35,690 separate us from His love. 81 00:03:36,450 --> 00:03:39,410 Death can't and life can't, the angels won't 82 00:03:39,410 --> 00:03:41,510 and all the powers of hell itself cannot 83 00:03:41,510 --> 00:03:42,950 keep God's love away. 84 00:03:42,950 --> 00:03:46,530 Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow 85 00:03:46,530 --> 00:03:49,350 or where we are high above the sky 86 00:03:49,350 --> 00:03:52,090 or in the deepest ocean, nothing will ever 87 00:03:52,090 --> 00:03:55,170 be able to separate us from the love 88 00:03:55,170 --> 00:03:59,170 of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ 89 00:03:59,170 --> 00:04:02,750 when He died for us. 90 00:04:06,690 --> 00:04:09,610 You may care to have your Bibles open 91 00:04:09,610 --> 00:04:13,110 at Paul's epistle to the Romans. 92 00:04:14,870 --> 00:04:16,630 And the 8th chapter. 93 00:04:28,220 --> 00:04:32,720 I want to bring to you at least 94 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:38,360 a couple of messages during this Sunday and 95 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:44,880 the following Sunday morning, which will be complementary 96 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:50,020 to meditations that I shared with you on 97 00:04:50,020 --> 00:04:51,260 the problem of guilt. 98 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:58,000 I made, and perhaps you'll allow me a 99 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:00,760 moment or two just to set the context 100 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:03,480 for those who were not present a couple 101 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:04,840 of Sundays ago. 102 00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:09,840 I made the observation from this pulpit that 103 00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:15,780 the concern of the gospel is not primarily 104 00:05:15,780 --> 00:05:21,840 to create guilt within the heart of the 105 00:05:21,840 --> 00:05:23,120 hearer. 106 00:05:23,700 --> 00:05:27,280 That of course is one of the objectives, 107 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:32,420 but it is not the finishing post. 108 00:05:33,280 --> 00:05:37,180 It may be a milestone along the way, 109 00:05:37,900 --> 00:05:41,680 for you cannot trust Jesus as Lord and 110 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:45,240 Master until you're sorry for your sin. 111 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:53,520 The objective of gospel proclamation is not so 112 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:59,320 to measure on human inadequacy that one always 113 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:04,920 feels absolutely disqualified to live out life on 114 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:05,480 this earth. 115 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:10,960 Rather it is to point one from guilt 116 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:13,040 to forgiveness. 117 00:06:13,900 --> 00:06:20,080 From the inadequacy within the human breast to 118 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:23,120 the all-sufficiency that there is in Jesus 119 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:23,680 Christ. 120 00:06:25,300 --> 00:06:29,660 Now I cited two case histories, if you 121 00:06:29,660 --> 00:06:34,740 like, to demonstrate this point during those last 122 00:06:34,740 --> 00:06:36,200 two Sunday mornings. 123 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:40,960 We looked into the experience of David and 124 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:42,360 also that of Peter. 125 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:45,480 In many ways they were very similar indeed. 126 00:06:46,260 --> 00:06:49,780 Both these remarkable men, remarkable in their own 127 00:06:49,780 --> 00:06:52,400 right, had let the Lord down. 128 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:56,380 And they had to be confronted with the 129 00:06:56,380 --> 00:06:59,240 enormity of their sinfulness. 130 00:07:00,220 --> 00:07:02,380 Do you remember how we get something of 131 00:07:02,380 --> 00:07:07,820 an insight into David's psychological state, his guilt 132 00:07:07,820 --> 00:07:10,920 -ridden condition in Psalm 32 and 38 and 133 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:11,880 also 51? 134 00:07:12,580 --> 00:07:16,200 Do you recall how God sent Nathan, his 135 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:19,920 spokesman, his pastor, to David and how this 136 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:22,700 man was dealt with in a very wonderful 137 00:07:22,700 --> 00:07:23,060 way? 138 00:07:23,460 --> 00:07:26,300 To the extent that David, having come out 139 00:07:26,300 --> 00:07:31,100 of his period of spiritual despondency, having known 140 00:07:31,100 --> 00:07:34,820 the great balm of the love of God 141 00:07:34,820 --> 00:07:38,100 cleansing him from his sin, is able to 142 00:07:38,100 --> 00:07:42,260 say, Psalm 32, Blessed is he whose transgression 143 00:07:42,260 --> 00:07:45,120 is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 144 00:07:45,540 --> 00:07:48,760 Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord 145 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:51,900 imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there 146 00:07:51,900 --> 00:07:52,660 is no guile. 147 00:07:53,420 --> 00:07:56,600 Now similarly Peter, he has to be accosted 148 00:07:56,600 --> 00:08:00,360 by that denial, that terrible betrayal of all 149 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:05,560 his convictions when he disassociated himself from the 150 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:06,620 Christ of God. 151 00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:09,880 Do you remember how Jesus makes an appointment 152 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:13,400 with Peter on the seashores of Galilee? 153 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:19,060 This guilt-sodden man is encountered by the 154 00:08:19,060 --> 00:08:19,680 Lord Jesus. 155 00:08:19,900 --> 00:08:22,720 This man who had more darkness in his 156 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:25,140 heart at the night of the betrayal, the 157 00:08:25,140 --> 00:08:28,340 night of the denial, than there was in 158 00:08:28,340 --> 00:08:30,220 the natural atmosphere. 159 00:08:30,220 --> 00:08:36,000 Jesus deals with Peter and he is forgiven. 160 00:08:36,860 --> 00:08:38,980 And when he comes to write his letters, 161 00:08:39,140 --> 00:08:42,159 those two mighty epistles tucked away at the 162 00:08:42,159 --> 00:08:45,960 end of the New Testament, Peter mages on 163 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:48,360 the fact of the forgiveness of the great 164 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:51,600 shepherd of the sheep, the one who brought 165 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:54,800 Peter, who ensured Peter that he was still 166 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:55,760 in the fold. 167 00:08:55,760 --> 00:08:59,180 So then, here were these two case histories 168 00:08:59,180 --> 00:09:03,060 of men, absolutely guilt-ridden, but God did 169 00:09:03,060 --> 00:09:04,200 not leave them there. 170 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:06,860 It is never, I repeat, and I will 171 00:09:06,860 --> 00:09:10,280 continue to repeat, it is never God's purpose 172 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:14,480 to leave men in a guilty condition, in 173 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:17,760 a state of wondering whether or not they 174 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:20,280 are forgiven or reconciled to Him. 175 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:25,100 What then is the major objective of the 176 00:09:25,100 --> 00:09:27,080 Gospel for the glory of God? 177 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:31,140 I say it is succinctly put, it is 178 00:09:31,140 --> 00:09:37,300 well summarized, it is majestically expressed in Romans 179 00:09:37,300 --> 00:09:39,300 chapter 8 and verse 1. 180 00:09:39,860 --> 00:09:42,300 If you haven't these words written across your 181 00:09:42,300 --> 00:09:44,840 memory and you claim to be a Christian, 182 00:09:44,980 --> 00:09:45,980 then shame on you. 183 00:09:45,980 --> 00:09:48,860 This is one of the pinnacles of God's 184 00:09:48,860 --> 00:09:52,480 revelation of saving grace to the sinner. 185 00:09:53,280 --> 00:10:00,080 There is therefore now no condemnation to them 186 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:02,360 which are in Christ Jesus. 187 00:10:03,420 --> 00:10:05,420 That's the goal of the Gospel. 188 00:10:06,620 --> 00:10:09,780 That's the target to which Gospel preaching is 189 00:10:09,780 --> 00:10:10,120 moving. 190 00:10:10,780 --> 00:10:15,420 For a man having been guilty, having recognized 191 00:10:15,420 --> 00:10:19,020 the enormity of his sin, having looked to 192 00:10:19,020 --> 00:10:23,400 his past and being disgusted by it, to 193 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:27,960 have encountered Jesus Christ, the forgiveness that He 194 00:10:27,960 --> 00:10:32,820 offers, and to move into that glorious, delightful, 195 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:38,800 exquisite experience of sins forgiven, well does the 196 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:41,440 hymn writer enjoin us to sing about a 197 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:42,620 full salvation. 198 00:10:43,940 --> 00:10:45,960 And it seems to me it's more and 199 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:49,120 more necessary, not just for us to work 200 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:53,140 it in, but to work it out in 201 00:10:53,140 --> 00:10:55,600 terms of our lifestyle, in terms of our 202 00:10:55,600 --> 00:11:00,460 mental attitudes, in terms of wholesome personalities. 203 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:03,780 There is therefore now no condemnation. 204 00:11:03,780 --> 00:11:06,860 I care not if you listen to nothing 205 00:11:06,860 --> 00:11:08,720 else that I have to share this morning. 206 00:11:09,420 --> 00:11:12,500 If you forget everything else that I offer 207 00:11:12,500 --> 00:11:15,900 for the attention of other people, provided you 208 00:11:15,900 --> 00:11:19,160 go away with this one fact burning in 209 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:24,020 your heart, that in Christ Jesus, having been 210 00:11:24,020 --> 00:11:27,980 forgiven, you can then enter into the glorious 211 00:11:27,980 --> 00:11:31,440 state of no condemnation. 212 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:34,660 There is not one sin in your life, 213 00:11:35,060 --> 00:11:38,780 there is not one misdemeanor, there is not 214 00:11:38,780 --> 00:11:42,700 one unhealthy thing in which you engaged that 215 00:11:42,700 --> 00:11:45,340 God, the eternal God, now remembers. 216 00:11:46,060 --> 00:11:49,140 If it be the case that you have 217 00:11:49,140 --> 00:11:52,500 trusted Jesus as Lord, no condemnation. 218 00:11:53,300 --> 00:11:56,460 Listen to Wesley as he puts it, no 219 00:11:56,460 --> 00:11:58,560 condemnation now I dread. 220 00:11:58,560 --> 00:12:02,900 Jesus and all in him is mine, alive 221 00:12:02,900 --> 00:12:06,200 in him my living head, and clothed in 222 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:10,600 righteousness divine, bold I approach the eternal throne, 223 00:12:10,900 --> 00:12:15,020 and claim the crown through Christ my own. 224 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:17,820 My dear friend, I tell you that there 225 00:12:17,820 --> 00:12:21,040 is nothing more vital today than for Christian 226 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:24,300 people to recognize who they are, what they 227 00:12:24,300 --> 00:12:28,020 have become, what they have received, because they 228 00:12:28,020 --> 00:12:29,740 belong to Jesus Christ. 229 00:12:29,940 --> 00:12:33,080 All things passed away, all things become new, 230 00:12:33,580 --> 00:12:36,360 all things that would haunt, all things that 231 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:40,000 would create problems, they have been dealt with 232 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:42,380 by the blood of Jesus Christ, to the 233 00:12:42,380 --> 00:12:45,180 extent that we can forget those things which 234 00:12:45,180 --> 00:12:48,520 are behind, no longer allowing them to plague 235 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:51,740 us, because we are new in Christ. 236 00:12:51,740 --> 00:12:57,340 Now, all this, I argue, can be concluded 237 00:12:57,340 --> 00:13:01,020 not only from this first verse of Romans 238 00:13:01,020 --> 00:13:04,520 8, but by the chapter that preceded it, 239 00:13:05,180 --> 00:13:06,000 Romans 7. 240 00:13:07,060 --> 00:13:10,120 However you understand the Apostle Paul in this 241 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:13,000 piece of argumentation, I'm not really concerned. 242 00:13:13,500 --> 00:13:16,400 Whether you think this is biographical, or as 243 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:19,340 Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones does, that this is 244 00:13:19,340 --> 00:13:23,040 hypothetical, it really does not in any way 245 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:27,180 interfere with what I am pointing to this 246 00:13:27,180 --> 00:13:28,460 morning for your attention. 247 00:13:29,140 --> 00:13:32,880 Here in the seventh chapter of Romans is 248 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:36,660 the situation of a man who hates his 249 00:13:36,660 --> 00:13:37,140 past. 250 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:40,740 Here is the condition of one who feels 251 00:13:40,740 --> 00:13:47,820 absolutely helpless to cope with the demands of 252 00:13:47,820 --> 00:13:54,000 his conscience over against the deficiencies of his 253 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:55,920 weak base nature. 254 00:13:56,860 --> 00:13:59,660 It's summed up perhaps more clearly than the 255 00:13:59,660 --> 00:14:01,080 words I've just used. 256 00:14:01,580 --> 00:14:06,100 In the 18th verse of Romans 7, I 257 00:14:06,100 --> 00:14:09,020 know that in me that is in my 258 00:14:09,020 --> 00:14:11,820 flesh dwelleth no good thing, for to will 259 00:14:11,820 --> 00:14:14,120 is present with me, but how to perform 260 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:17,140 that which is good I find not. 261 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:21,480 And he goes on to talk about this 262 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:27,320 great problem of always feeling that he can 263 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:31,500 never cope with the past, he can never 264 00:14:31,500 --> 00:14:35,240 rise to the challenge of the present, and 265 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:38,420 the future is a forbidding prospect. 266 00:14:40,800 --> 00:14:45,280 He loses himself in a sea of self 267 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:52,620 -pity, he feels absolutely inadequate, there is the 268 00:14:52,620 --> 00:14:55,560 life that he ought to attain to, and 269 00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:58,260 the life that he's living, and he sees 270 00:14:58,260 --> 00:15:02,060 no possibility of reconciliation, no bridge at all. 271 00:15:02,060 --> 00:15:05,920 And in the 24th verse he cries out 272 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:09,940 in a soul agony, O wretched man that 273 00:15:09,940 --> 00:15:10,700 I am! 274 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:14,840 What a predicament I find myself locked into! 275 00:15:15,620 --> 00:15:17,740 What an irresolvable problem! 276 00:15:18,940 --> 00:15:20,140 What can I do? 277 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:21,720 I know that I'm base. 278 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:24,860 I have memories that haunt me and I 279 00:15:24,860 --> 00:15:26,100 can't cope with them. 280 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:28,740 Who can come to my aid? 281 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:32,380 Dare you send this man to Sigmund Freud? 282 00:15:34,080 --> 00:15:36,320 Dare you send him to the humanists? 283 00:15:37,580 --> 00:15:41,320 They'll say, you're saying it's unreal, you're only 284 00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:42,980 doing what other people have done. 285 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:46,220 Get rid of your complexes, be blase about 286 00:15:46,220 --> 00:15:47,140 your lifestyle. 287 00:15:47,820 --> 00:15:50,220 They'll stir up his emotions and when they've 288 00:15:50,220 --> 00:15:52,720 settled he'll be in exactly the same condition. 289 00:15:53,060 --> 00:15:54,680 O wretched man that I am! 290 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:58,940 But thank God this wretched man isn't left 291 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:03,200 in a morass of despair and despondency. 292 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:08,160 Like David, like Peter, he's going to be 293 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:10,160 pointed to someone who can deal with his 294 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:11,280 problem, even God. 295 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:14,200 And so hard on the heels of that 296 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:17,760 terrible cry, O wretched man that I am, 297 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:23,820 is that tremendous affirmation, I thank God, if 298 00:16:23,820 --> 00:16:27,480 you like, for Jesus Christ the Lord. 299 00:16:28,140 --> 00:16:30,880 Here is my problem, there is the solution. 300 00:16:32,060 --> 00:16:37,520 Here is my dilemma, there is the medicine 301 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:40,200 that will cope with my problem. 302 00:16:41,340 --> 00:16:46,520 Here is my guilt, there is my antidote. 303 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:51,320 And so, gathering all of Romans 7 together, 304 00:16:52,340 --> 00:16:56,340 it's brought to its final conclusion in the 305 00:16:56,340 --> 00:16:58,900 first verse of the following chapter. 306 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:03,220 There is therefore now no condemnation to those 307 00:17:03,220 --> 00:17:04,980 which are in Christ Jesus. 308 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:07,720 Of myself I cannot cope. 309 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:10,940 My own endeavors I can't get rid of, 310 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:12,079 that which is unpleasant. 311 00:17:12,780 --> 00:17:15,240 I will never be able to rise to 312 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:17,260 what I believe is a nobler way of 313 00:17:17,260 --> 00:17:17,579 life. 314 00:17:17,700 --> 00:17:18,940 Of myself, no. 315 00:17:19,700 --> 00:17:21,480 But in Christ Jesus, yes. 316 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:26,500 I move from the category of the one 317 00:17:26,500 --> 00:17:30,880 who is condemned to the category of the 318 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:36,740 one who is renewed, who is made again. 319 00:17:39,660 --> 00:17:45,620 There is therefore now no condemnation. 320 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:49,840 That word, no, is one of the biggest 321 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:50,480 in the Bible. 322 00:17:51,540 --> 00:17:53,400 And that sounds absurd. 323 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:57,600 It's only got two letters to constitute the 324 00:17:57,600 --> 00:17:57,920 word. 325 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:01,580 But sometimes a two-lettered word in the 326 00:18:01,580 --> 00:18:05,340 Bible has a whole dictionary encased within it. 327 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:09,560 There is therefore now no condemnation. 328 00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:10,200 Never. 329 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:12,380 This is an absolute statement. 330 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:15,860 The man, the woman, who has been incorporated 331 00:18:15,860 --> 00:18:19,240 into the body of Christ, who shares in 332 00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:22,820 the victory of Christ, will never again be 333 00:18:22,820 --> 00:18:23,300 condemned. 334 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:27,600 No condemnation, not now, not in the past, 335 00:18:27,780 --> 00:18:30,500 nor in the future, because Jesus has died. 336 00:18:31,620 --> 00:18:36,440 That my condemnation shall be extinguished. 337 00:18:37,820 --> 00:18:40,340 Do you remember the thieves on the cross 338 00:18:41,660 --> 00:18:44,980 alongside our blessed Redeemer? 339 00:18:46,060 --> 00:18:48,740 They've been there for some hours. 340 00:18:50,020 --> 00:18:52,800 At the beginning of the Passion, at the 341 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:55,780 beginning of the awful Crucifixion, they've been mocking 342 00:18:55,780 --> 00:18:58,400 Jesus along with the bystanders. 343 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:02,660 And then, influenced by the majestic presence of 344 00:19:02,660 --> 00:19:06,920 Jesus, that silent holiness, which had a remarkable 345 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:12,280 impact on those who were sensitive, one of 346 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:15,100 the criminals changed his tune. 347 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:21,080 And we read in Luke 23, verse 39, 348 00:19:21,420 --> 00:19:21,940 these words. 349 00:19:22,300 --> 00:19:24,760 One of the malefactors, one of the criminals, 350 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:28,820 which were hanged, mocked Jesus, saying, If you 351 00:19:28,820 --> 00:19:31,280 be Christ, save yourself and us. 352 00:19:32,340 --> 00:19:36,180 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, Do 353 00:19:36,180 --> 00:19:37,240 not fear God. 354 00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:42,980 Seeing thou art in the same condemnation, and 355 00:19:42,980 --> 00:19:46,540 we indeed justly, for we receive the due 356 00:19:46,540 --> 00:19:47,760 reward of our deeds. 357 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:52,560 But this man, this man here, he's done 358 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:53,280 nothing amiss. 359 00:19:54,360 --> 00:19:59,020 We are condemned, the whole human race. 360 00:19:59,740 --> 00:20:02,840 Every son, every daughter of Adam is condemned. 361 00:20:03,260 --> 00:20:04,940 They have broken God's law. 362 00:20:06,940 --> 00:20:10,860 But this man has done nothing amiss. 363 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:18,800 Full marks to the theological precision of that 364 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:22,080 criminal's grasp of sin and the human condition. 365 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:25,220 We are condemned, every one of us here. 366 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:29,760 Condemned because we have broken God's law. 367 00:20:30,580 --> 00:20:32,100 Wretched, miserable, vile. 368 00:20:32,260 --> 00:20:34,420 We may not acknowledge it, but in truth, 369 00:20:35,180 --> 00:20:36,380 that describes us. 370 00:20:39,770 --> 00:20:44,210 Then to whom do you go when you 371 00:20:44,210 --> 00:20:44,790 feel guilty? 372 00:20:45,930 --> 00:20:48,750 To whom do you go when you feel 373 00:20:48,750 --> 00:20:49,290 condemned? 374 00:20:52,390 --> 00:20:56,230 Here's the absurdity of certain principles of modern 375 00:20:56,230 --> 00:21:00,830 psychiatry who accuse, or which accuses the evangelical 376 00:21:00,830 --> 00:21:06,090 church in its gospel of stimulating and accumulating 377 00:21:06,090 --> 00:21:09,910 guilt within the hearts of men and women. 378 00:21:10,510 --> 00:21:13,570 Why did Jesus come into the world to 379 00:21:13,570 --> 00:21:15,350 make us feel guilty? 380 00:21:15,730 --> 00:21:16,010 No! 381 00:21:17,250 --> 00:21:21,050 Jesus came into the world so that we 382 00:21:21,050 --> 00:21:24,250 might, on response to what he has done 383 00:21:24,250 --> 00:21:26,530 for us, know forgiveness. 384 00:21:27,790 --> 00:21:30,370 John chapter 3 makes it so clear. 385 00:21:30,550 --> 00:21:33,750 You can't argue against my assertion, my teaching 386 00:21:33,750 --> 00:21:34,350 this morning. 387 00:21:35,350 --> 00:21:37,730 For God sent not his Son into the 388 00:21:37,730 --> 00:21:41,010 world to condemn the world, but that the 389 00:21:41,010 --> 00:21:43,850 world through him might be saved. 390 00:21:44,630 --> 00:21:47,910 He that believeth on Jesus is not condemned, 391 00:21:48,730 --> 00:21:51,850 but he that believeth not is condemned already 392 00:21:51,850 --> 00:21:54,370 because he hath not believed in the name 393 00:21:54,370 --> 00:21:56,730 of the only begotten Son of God. 394 00:21:58,090 --> 00:22:00,370 Jesus came to create guilt. 395 00:22:02,070 --> 00:22:02,570 No! 396 00:22:03,990 --> 00:22:06,450 Jesus came to neutralize guilt. 397 00:22:07,470 --> 00:22:09,330 Jesus came to lance guilt. 398 00:22:09,330 --> 00:22:13,910 Jesus came to lift us out of the 399 00:22:13,910 --> 00:22:18,230 old nature and to bring by the power 400 00:22:18,230 --> 00:22:22,030 of his indwelling Spirit us into a new 401 00:22:22,030 --> 00:22:22,490 nature. 402 00:22:23,690 --> 00:22:26,970 He came to incorporate us into himself. 403 00:22:28,430 --> 00:22:34,390 There is therefore now no condemnation to those 404 00:22:34,390 --> 00:22:37,830 who are in Christ Jesus. 405 00:22:38,730 --> 00:22:41,990 Oh, my friend, I tell you not for 406 00:22:41,990 --> 00:22:45,890 any dramatic effect God deliver me from theatrical 407 00:22:45,890 --> 00:22:47,450 attempt to preach. 408 00:22:48,830 --> 00:22:50,990 I tell you from the depths of my 409 00:22:50,990 --> 00:22:54,090 heart, I wish I had the vocabulary, the 410 00:22:54,090 --> 00:22:58,010 persuasive ability to plant these concepts in your 411 00:22:58,010 --> 00:23:01,310 mind so that perhaps they will revolutionize your 412 00:23:01,310 --> 00:23:02,850 spiritual walk with Christ. 413 00:23:03,730 --> 00:23:07,810 There is therefore now no condemnation to those 414 00:23:07,810 --> 00:23:09,250 who are in Christ Jesus. 415 00:23:09,650 --> 00:23:12,330 We are incorporated into him if we belong 416 00:23:12,330 --> 00:23:12,770 to him. 417 00:23:15,690 --> 00:23:17,710 I am more part of Jesus Christ than 418 00:23:17,710 --> 00:23:20,470 I am part of any other organization or 419 00:23:20,470 --> 00:23:22,810 if it were possible organism in this world. 420 00:23:24,030 --> 00:23:25,390 For me, he died. 421 00:23:27,570 --> 00:23:31,830 And my past life, those things which I 422 00:23:31,830 --> 00:23:38,090 regret, those experiences that are unwholesome, the times 423 00:23:38,090 --> 00:23:42,110 when I let him down, those things that 424 00:23:42,110 --> 00:23:48,170 merit and brought condemnation of God, they now 425 00:23:48,170 --> 00:23:49,150 no longer exist. 426 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:55,820 There is therefore now no condemnation. 427 00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:59,060 Now no condemnation. 428 00:23:59,980 --> 00:24:03,920 Not for the past, nor for present sins, 429 00:24:04,700 --> 00:24:06,800 nor even for future sins. 430 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:10,780 He died for them all. 431 00:24:12,340 --> 00:24:16,620 All my iniquities on him were laid. 432 00:24:18,140 --> 00:24:21,900 He nailed them all to the tree. 433 00:24:23,380 --> 00:24:24,260 Do you believe that? 434 00:24:25,700 --> 00:24:27,400 Do you believe it from the depth of 435 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:27,940 your being? 436 00:24:27,940 --> 00:24:32,600 When you wake up on Monday, do you 437 00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:34,960 realize that as you wake up, you wake 438 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:36,780 up as a son of God, as a 439 00:24:36,780 --> 00:24:37,600 daughter of God? 440 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:41,240 Not for your life to be harassed by 441 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:43,040 unpleasant thoughts of the past. 442 00:24:45,100 --> 00:24:48,260 Not for you to feel in any way 443 00:24:49,820 --> 00:24:54,380 that there is something that has irrevocably come 444 00:24:54,380 --> 00:24:56,240 between you and God. 445 00:24:57,780 --> 00:25:00,800 You're made one with Jesus. 446 00:25:01,660 --> 00:25:05,560 You're accepted in the Beloved. 447 00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:11,380 You're heirs of Jesus Christ. 448 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:17,460 Joint heirs with Christ of all the Father's 449 00:25:17,460 --> 00:25:18,260 blessings. 450 00:25:21,140 --> 00:25:25,020 If I had miraculously kept to my notes, 451 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:30,520 which rarely I seem to manage, I would 452 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:33,460 by this stage be taking you through Romans 453 00:25:33,460 --> 00:25:39,380 8, which would underpin the point on several 454 00:25:39,380 --> 00:25:45,660 occasions as to the position that is now 455 00:25:45,660 --> 00:25:47,280 yours in Jesus. 456 00:25:49,900 --> 00:25:52,480 Verse 9 tells us that we've received the 457 00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:53,680 Spirit of Christ. 458 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:55,840 That won't be taken from us. 459 00:25:57,240 --> 00:26:00,120 Verse 14 tells us we're sons of God. 460 00:26:01,260 --> 00:26:06,760 That privilege will never be lifted out of 461 00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:07,380 our grasp. 462 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:13,340 Verse 17 tells us that we're joint heirs 463 00:26:13,340 --> 00:26:14,240 with Christ. 464 00:26:15,740 --> 00:26:21,000 Verse 21 tells us, rather verse 23 tells 465 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:23,700 us, that we're moving to a time in 466 00:26:23,700 --> 00:26:25,920 history when we shall know the redemption of 467 00:26:25,920 --> 00:26:28,900 our bodies besides the redemption of our souls. 468 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:32,840 Verse 28 tells us that in the absolute 469 00:26:32,840 --> 00:26:35,720 purposes of God we have a part. 470 00:26:36,940 --> 00:26:39,940 Verse 31 tells us, and the language here 471 00:26:39,940 --> 00:26:43,640 is majestic, that God has done all that 472 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:47,920 He possibly can do historically to demonstrate that 473 00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:48,860 we belong to Him. 474 00:26:50,180 --> 00:26:54,700 If God be for us, who can be 475 00:26:54,700 --> 00:26:55,680 against us? 476 00:26:56,820 --> 00:26:59,220 He spared not His own Son, but delivered 477 00:26:59,220 --> 00:27:00,560 Him up for us. 478 00:27:02,380 --> 00:27:05,620 How shall He not with Him also freely 479 00:27:05,620 --> 00:27:08,540 give us all things? 480 00:27:09,140 --> 00:27:12,280 So Paul comes back to the problem that 481 00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:15,980 is a nightmare to the man in Romans 482 00:27:15,980 --> 00:27:17,460 7, verse 34. 483 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:19,040 Who is he that condemns? 484 00:27:20,740 --> 00:27:23,560 Who has the cheek, who has the audacity 485 00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:28,860 to slide alongside the believer and condemn him? 486 00:27:31,740 --> 00:27:33,000 No one has that right. 487 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:35,380 No one has that power. 488 00:27:35,560 --> 00:27:36,340 Why not, Paul? 489 00:27:37,260 --> 00:27:38,620 Well, because of Calvary. 490 00:27:38,620 --> 00:27:42,900 It is Christ that died, yea, rather that 491 00:27:42,900 --> 00:27:46,700 is risen again who is even at the 492 00:27:46,700 --> 00:27:50,420 right hand of God, who also makes intercession 493 00:27:50,420 --> 00:27:51,240 for us. 494 00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:56,220 That Christ who took my sin. 495 00:27:57,500 --> 00:28:02,400 That Christ into whose mystical body I have 496 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:03,740 become part. 497 00:28:03,740 --> 00:28:08,840 I have been inaugurated. 498 00:28:10,020 --> 00:28:16,060 He is by the Father's side, interceding for 499 00:28:16,060 --> 00:28:16,740 me. 500 00:28:17,340 --> 00:28:20,620 So again the apostle says in the 35th 501 00:28:20,620 --> 00:28:23,360 verse, Who shall separate us from the love 502 00:28:23,360 --> 00:28:24,180 of Christ? 503 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:30,200 Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine? 504 00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:35,960 No condemnation, no separation. 505 00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:41,700 There's nothing in my life that can ever 506 00:28:41,700 --> 00:28:48,780 take from me the blessings I enjoy because 507 00:28:48,780 --> 00:28:50,420 I belong to God through Jesus. 508 00:28:51,940 --> 00:28:54,900 I am convinced that nothing can ever separate 509 00:28:54,900 --> 00:28:55,880 us from His love. 510 00:28:56,020 --> 00:28:59,680 Death can't, life can't, the angels won't, and 511 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:02,180 all the powers of hell itself cannot keep 512 00:29:02,180 --> 00:29:03,220 God's love away. 513 00:29:03,820 --> 00:29:06,640 Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, 514 00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:09,460 or where we are, high above the sky, 515 00:29:09,700 --> 00:29:12,320 or in the deepest ocean, nothing will ever 516 00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:15,180 be able to separate us from the love 517 00:29:15,180 --> 00:29:18,360 of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ 518 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:20,080 when He died for us. 519 00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:21,280 Do you really believe that? 520 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:23,120 Nothing. 521 00:29:24,380 --> 00:29:25,540 No condemnation. 522 00:29:29,100 --> 00:29:30,220 No separation. 523 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:37,600 I was reading late into last night, and 524 00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:41,620 I came across a passage by that great 525 00:29:41,620 --> 00:29:44,360 man of God whose name I referred to 526 00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:45,980 earlier, Martin Lloyd-Jones. 527 00:29:47,460 --> 00:29:49,580 And he was saying in a book that 528 00:29:49,580 --> 00:29:51,400 he's written called Spiritual Depression. 529 00:29:51,580 --> 00:29:53,540 I wasn't feeling depressed last night, I just 530 00:29:53,540 --> 00:29:55,080 wanted to find this particular quotation. 531 00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:01,480 He was saying that in all his pastoral 532 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:05,040 experience, the thing that seems to dog, the 533 00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:08,940 thing that seems to blight the mind of 534 00:30:08,940 --> 00:30:13,740 so many Christians and interfere with their assurance 535 00:30:15,820 --> 00:30:19,280 is their inadequate grasp of what Jesus has 536 00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:20,200 done for them. 537 00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:25,120 Let me sum it up this way, says 538 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:25,820 the good doctor. 539 00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:29,440 You and I, and to me this is 540 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:32,080 one of the greatest discoveries of the Christian 541 00:30:32,080 --> 00:30:32,520 life. 542 00:30:32,820 --> 00:30:38,280 I shall never forget what realizing this for 543 00:30:38,280 --> 00:30:40,620 the first time did for me. 544 00:30:41,780 --> 00:30:44,360 You and I must never look at our 545 00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:45,400 past lives. 546 00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:49,040 We must never look at any sin in 547 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:52,520 our past life in any way except that 548 00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:56,260 which leads us to praise God and to 549 00:30:56,260 --> 00:31:03,080 magnify His grace in Christ toward us. 550 00:31:05,380 --> 00:31:08,820 There is therefore now no condemnation to those 551 00:31:08,820 --> 00:31:09,660 who are in Christ. 552 00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:14,860 What might have robbed Paul of his assurance? 553 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:20,760 Do you remember he was the man who 554 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:22,700 if he didn't put the stones in the 555 00:31:22,700 --> 00:31:26,320 hands of those who robbed Stephen of life, 556 00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:29,380 he certainly was an accomplice for the death 557 00:31:29,380 --> 00:31:29,900 of Stephen. 558 00:31:30,580 --> 00:31:34,920 That great preacher whose story is recorded at 559 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:36,980 the end of Acts chapter 7. 560 00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:42,700 I sometimes wonder how Paul ever coped with 561 00:31:42,700 --> 00:31:45,820 his conscience after that death. 562 00:31:46,600 --> 00:31:49,120 Paul who had been a persecutor of the 563 00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:51,900 church, who had brought terror into the hearts 564 00:31:51,900 --> 00:31:54,920 of Christian womenfolk in Jerusalem, who had their 565 00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:57,100 husbands incarcerated in jail. 566 00:31:57,640 --> 00:31:59,240 Paul who was going to set off for 567 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:03,880 Damascus to eradicate the city there of any 568 00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:05,540 followers of Jesus. 569 00:32:06,540 --> 00:32:08,480 He now becomes a Christian. 570 00:32:10,220 --> 00:32:13,140 But the great problem for the apostle Paul 571 00:32:13,140 --> 00:32:17,140 is to forget that for which Jesus died 572 00:32:17,140 --> 00:32:21,020 in his past, which if he constantly dotes 573 00:32:21,020 --> 00:32:23,780 upon it will rob him of his effectiveness 574 00:32:23,780 --> 00:32:27,180 in the present and also in the future. 575 00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:33,100 But Paul responding to the magnificent grace of 576 00:32:33,100 --> 00:32:37,080 God, he looks to the past and instead 577 00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:40,040 of allowing it to cripple him, it becomes 578 00:32:40,040 --> 00:32:40,900 a stimulus. 579 00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:44,320 If God can lift me from that, then 580 00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:46,880 how great is the salvation of Christ. 581 00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:51,580 If Jesus could die for my guilt as 582 00:32:51,580 --> 00:32:54,480 an accomplice to the death of Stephen, if 583 00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:57,160 Jesus could die for the fact that I 584 00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:00,740 had been a persecutor and a blasphemer, how 585 00:33:00,740 --> 00:33:03,420 great is his salvation. 586 00:33:05,620 --> 00:33:08,700 And how I can say of a truth, 587 00:33:09,660 --> 00:33:13,260 and all can benefit from it because they 588 00:33:13,260 --> 00:33:15,600 know the life of the man who pens 589 00:33:15,600 --> 00:33:20,800 the words, there is therefore now no condemnation. 590 00:33:22,640 --> 00:33:25,820 Not even to the apostle Paul. 591 00:33:30,100 --> 00:33:34,000 If I got time, which I haven't, I'd 592 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:35,940 share with you a further part of my 593 00:33:35,940 --> 00:33:37,500 late evening studies. 594 00:33:38,180 --> 00:33:41,280 I went through all the Hebrew verbs in 595 00:33:41,280 --> 00:33:43,540 the Old Testament and all the Greek verbs 596 00:33:43,540 --> 00:33:47,520 in the New Testament to discover what God 597 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:51,180 does with sin when it's been confessed. 598 00:33:52,180 --> 00:33:56,800 And the languages of the Bible are much 599 00:33:56,800 --> 00:34:01,080 more eloquent than our English vernacular in describing 600 00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:03,740 what the Lord does with sin and how 601 00:34:03,740 --> 00:34:05,200 the Lord forgives. 602 00:34:07,260 --> 00:34:09,880 And there are some great concepts in both 603 00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:13,120 Testaments which speak about, well in the Old 604 00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:15,040 for example, as far as the East is 605 00:34:15,040 --> 00:34:18,320 from the West so far as God separated 606 00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:19,719 our iniquities from him. 607 00:34:19,719 --> 00:34:23,080 The blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, keeps 608 00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:25,000 on cleansing us from all sin. 609 00:34:26,340 --> 00:34:27,699 Do you really believe that? 610 00:34:30,300 --> 00:34:34,940 Peter one day was told not to call 611 00:34:34,940 --> 00:34:38,620 unclean what God has cleansed. 612 00:34:39,100 --> 00:34:42,880 The context doesn't apply just at the moment. 613 00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:46,719 But there are Christian people who are looking 614 00:34:46,719 --> 00:34:49,719 back to the past that has been cleansed 615 00:34:50,679 --> 00:34:53,780 still allowing it to be thrown into the 616 00:34:53,780 --> 00:34:57,880 present and it might even blight the future 617 00:34:57,880 --> 00:35:02,240 because in effect they're doubting God's word. 618 00:35:02,980 --> 00:35:03,540 It's gone. 619 00:35:04,700 --> 00:35:05,960 Irretrievably gone. 620 00:35:06,720 --> 00:35:13,040 God not only forgave it, he forgot it. 621 00:35:15,220 --> 00:35:22,600 Dr. Sangster of Westminster fame. 622 00:35:24,560 --> 00:35:28,220 On one occasion I understood, gave an illustration. 623 00:35:29,240 --> 00:35:31,600 I read it about 15 years ago and 624 00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:34,820 I haven't checked it so don't push the 625 00:35:34,820 --> 00:35:37,680 details but this was it in essence. 626 00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:42,120 Of what I believe were called the old 627 00:35:42,120 --> 00:35:47,240 sludge chips that used to leave the port 628 00:35:47,240 --> 00:35:48,400 of London. 629 00:35:49,600 --> 00:35:54,100 Some of the untreated sewage and muck of 630 00:35:54,100 --> 00:35:58,180 London was channeled into the holds of those 631 00:35:58,180 --> 00:35:58,540 ships. 632 00:36:00,260 --> 00:36:03,360 And when they were full they would set 633 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:08,320 out on their regular daily voyage down the 634 00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:12,040 Thames to its mouth, then to the channel, 635 00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:15,460 then ultimately to the North Sea and over 636 00:36:15,460 --> 00:36:20,300 the continental shelf where there are fathomless depths 637 00:36:20,300 --> 00:36:22,140 of water. 638 00:36:23,420 --> 00:36:27,440 The holds at that point were open and 639 00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:30,840 all the muck and all the filth of 640 00:36:30,840 --> 00:36:34,620 London sunk, fathoms down. 641 00:36:35,960 --> 00:36:41,120 I said, Sangster, that's what God in Christ 642 00:36:41,120 --> 00:36:44,040 has done with our past. 643 00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:50,340 The confessed sin and inadequacy of Christian people. 644 00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:56,040 It sunk in the sea of his forgetfulness 645 00:36:57,020 --> 00:37:03,780 and now there's no condemnation to those who 646 00:37:03,780 --> 00:37:04,840 are in Christ. 647 00:37:05,540 --> 00:37:11,000 They're new in him and there's no separation. 648 00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:13,440 Once in him. 649 00:37:14,220 --> 00:37:15,380 That made you jump. 650 00:37:16,600 --> 00:37:17,540 Once in him. 651 00:37:18,700 --> 00:37:19,580 In him. 652 00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:21,740 Forever. 653 00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:33,020 The exquisite experience of being forgiven is what 654 00:37:33,020 --> 00:37:34,300 God wants you to enjoy. 655 00:37:36,140 --> 00:37:36,860 Amen. 656 00:37:37,860 --> 00:37:40,920 And on the merits of our Saviour's death 657 00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:45,820 and resurrection we bask, O Lord, in the 658 00:37:45,820 --> 00:37:47,540 joys of sins forgiven. 659 00:37:48,240 --> 00:37:49,840 No condemnation. 660 00:37:50,800 --> 00:37:52,660 No separation. 661 00:37:53,860 --> 00:37:58,120 May this be the platform from which we 662 00:37:58,120 --> 00:38:00,680 live out the remainder of our lives. 663 00:38:01,740 --> 00:38:05,100 May we enjoy being forgiven. 664 00:38:05,100 --> 00:38:06,620 Amen.