'MUCH MORE
"MUCH MORE!"
ROMANS 5:6-21
INTRO: Our God is a God of the superlative! He never under-supplies
anything, but always deals with us generously. It is in God's very
nature to be lavish with His people! Luke 6:38 says—“...Good
measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over." That's
how God gives! All that we will ever need, He will supply! Philippians
4:19 says—“But my God shall supply all my need according to his
riches in glory by Christ Jesus!"
I'd like to title the message, "Much More!" In the O.T. the Law of the
Trespass Offering was that the guilty party must get right with the
person he had wronged before he could get right with God. More was
involved with making things right than simply saying, "I'm sorry" and
making restitution. He had to add twenty percent. Thus the injured
party became the gainer.
In Romans 5:9-21, the phrase "much more", appears five times. The
Trespass Offering of Christ's amazing Sacrifice is what is before us in
the phrase "much more." Because of Calvary both God and man have
gained. God has gained because He is now able to demonstrate His
love amply. Man has gained because he can become an heir to
sonship with God and an eternal salvation.
The SCRIPTURE says in Ephesians 3:20-21—“Now unto him that is
able to do exceeding abundantly all that we ask or think, according to
the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ
Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." This is what lies
behind the "much mores" of Romans 5. God's plan of redemption is
far above anything we could ever have asked for or thought of, but
God in love and mercy freely makes it available to all! I want you to
note that MUCH MORE speaks of:
(1) THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD
ROMANS 5:9—“Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we
shall be saved from wrath through him"
A. JUSTICE DEMANDS PAYMENT. This verse tells us—“being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” God is a just God
and His justice demands that sin be paid for! This was freely done at
Calvary with Christ's own blood! The blood of Christ met the demands of
God’s justice. We read in 1 Peter 1:18-20; 2:24—“Forasmuch as ye know
that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the
precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who
verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest
in these last times for you…Who his own self bare our sins in his own body
on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by
whose stripes ye were healed.”
How do know that the righteous demands of God’s justice were met in
Christ? God tells us so in Isaiah 53:11—“He shall see of the travail of his
soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant
justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.”
ILLUS: The fact that we are purchased by his blood, and sanctified by it,
renders us sacred in the eye of God; bestows a value on us
proportionate to the worth of the price of our redemption; and is a
pledge that he will keep what has been so dearly bought. (Albert
Barnes. Albert Barnes’ Notes On The Bible. e-Sword. Version 7.8.5.
Copyright 2000-2007. Rick Meyers. All Rights Reserved Worldwide).
B. JUSTICE DELIVERS PARDON. I want you to notice the words here in
v9—“…being now justified by his blood…”. The words “being now justified”
means “pardoned, accepted as his friends.” Now I stand JUSTIFIED (Just
As If I'd Never Sinned) before God by faith in Christ's blood! Romans 3:24-
25; 5:1-2—“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in
his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past,
through the forbearance of God…Therefore being justified by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have
access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the
glory of God.”
ILLUS: When God forgives through the risen, glorified Jesus, He not only
forgives, but He justifies. It is impossible for an earthly judge to both
forgive and to justify a man. If a man is justified, he does not need to
be forgiven. Imagine a man charged with a crime going into court, and,
after the evidence is all in, he is pronounced not guilty, and the judge
sets him free. Someone says, as he leaves the building, "I want to
congratulate you. It was very kind of the judge to forgive you."
"Forgive? He did not forgive me; I was justified. There is nothing to
forgive. You cannot justify a man if he does a wicked thing, but you
can forgive. God not only forgives but He justifies the ungodly, because
He links the believer with Christ, and we are made "accepted in the
Beloved." --H. A. Ironside (Bible Illustrator For Windows. Version 3.0f.
Copyright 1990-1998. Parsons Technology, Inc. All Rights Reserved).
Not only does this verse tell us that we who believe are “now justified by his
blood” but also "...We shall be saved from wrath through him" (Romans 8:1;
John 3:18-19; 5:24). What does this mean? It means hell is an
impossibility for the redeemed! Our sin debt has been paid and Heaven is
now our new home! Because of our faith in HIM we are assured of Heaven!
Someone said, “Faith is the Christian's foundation, hope is his anchor,
death is his harbor, Christ is his pilot, and heaven is his country.” –
Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667) (Edythe Draper, Draper's Book of Quotations for
the Christian World (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1992). Entry
#5638).
MUCH MORE speaks of THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD but also of…
(2) THE GOODNESS OF GOD
ROMANS 5:10—“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to
God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life."
A. GOD’S LOVE IS UNDESERVED. What a wonderful verse of Scripture!
Listen to what it says, “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to
God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved
by his life.” We were enemies because we were rebels. Colossians 1:21-
22 tells us—“And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your
mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh
through death, to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in his
sight.” According to Romans 5:6-8 we were:
• WEAK. V6 tells us—“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” I want you to notice the words “without strength”. They are translated from one Greek word that means “impotent, strengthless, sick.” It means “we had no power to devise a scheme of justification, to make an atonement, or to put away the wrath of God” (Albert Barnes. Albert Barnes’ Notes On The Bible. e-Sword. Version 7.8.5. Copyright 200-2007. Rick Meyers. All Rights Reserved Worldwide).
• WICKED. We read in v8—“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” It says there “while we were yet sinners”. It means we were “full of sin”. We were wicked sinners.
Friends, the truth of the matter is that NONE OF US deserve to be loved by
God! Why then does God love us? 1 John 4:8b-10 tell us why—“…God is
love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God
sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son
to be the propitiation for our sins.”
B. GOD’S LOVE IS UNDENIABLE. Friends, the love of God is one of the
unmistakable realities of this life. One of my favorite passages of Scripture
is found in Ephesians 2:4-10—“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great
love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ, by (grace ye are saved;) And hath raised
us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in
his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works,
lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should
walk in them.”
ILLUS: God sent Jesus to die for us, not because we were good enough, but
because he loved us so much. Whenever we feel uncertain about God's
love for us, we should remember that he loved us even before we
turned to him. If God loved us when we were rebels, he can surely
strengthen us now that we love him in return. Because our knowledge
of God's love is based on his demonstration, all doubts ("How do you
know God loves you?") can be directly answered: "I know God loves me
because Jesus died for me." (Life Application Bible Commentary.
WORDsearch 7.0. Copyright 2007. WORDsearch Corp. All Rights
Reserved).
It tells us in Romans 5:10—“when we were enemies, we were
reconciled…”. Friends, these words speak of the love of God. God’s actions
were:
• MANIFESTED BY LOVE. “We were reconciled to God by the death of his son…” (John 3:16).
• MOTIVATED BY LOVE. It was God’s great love for us that moved the heart of God! God wants every person to know that “No matter how bad you are, how evil you are, or how sinful you are God loves you. God is crying out to your soul and heart. "I love you. I love you. I love you." –Billy Graham 1982 SBC (Bible Illustrator For Windows. Version 3.0f. Copyright 1990-1998. Parsons Technology, Inc. All Rights Reserved).
ILLUS: God revealed His love at the cross when Christ died for those who were
“without strength,” who were “ungodly,” “sinners,” and “enemies,” thus
proving His great love. Paul’s argument is this: if God did all that for
us while we were His enemies, how much more will He do for us now
that we are His children! We are saved by Christ’s death (v. 9), but we
are also saved by His life (v. 10) as “the power of His resurrection”
(Phil. 3:10) operates in our lives. We have received “reconciliation”
(atonement, v. 11), and now the love of God is experienced in our
lives. (Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament. 1992 by SP
Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of
America Electronic Edition STEP files Copyright © 2003, Quickverse, a
division of , Inc).
MUCH MORE speaks of THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD, THE GOODNESS OF GOD and…
(3) THE GIFT OF GOD
ROMANS 5:15—“But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if
through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many."
A. THE REASON FOR THE GIFT. The gift of God became necessary because
of Adam's transgression (Romans 5:12). Sin MUST BE PAID FOR and
because of grace, God sent His Son to pay for our sins (2 Corinthians
5:21). Romans 5:9-11 tells us that this gift brings:
• RECONCILIATION. We read in Romans 5:11—“we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” Through faith in His finished work on the Cross we become His friends—“received the atonement,” and are no longer enemies and outcasts.
• REJOICING. The ground of rejoicing is the reconciliation with God which has been effected through Jesus Christ. (B. W. Johnson. The People’s New Testament. e-Sword. Version 7.8.5. Copyright 2000-2007. Rick Meyers. All Rights Reserved Worldwide). Friends, salvation brings rejoicing. In fact, salvation should bring lasting joy! (Psalm 5:11).
ILLUS: An aged and ragged Indian wandered into one of our Western
settlements, begging for food to keep him from starving. A
bright-colored ribbon from which was suspended a small, dirty pouch
was seen around his neck. On being questioned, he said it was a charm
given him in his younger days. Opening it, he displayed a faded,
greasy paper, which he handed to the interrogator for inspection. It
proved to be a regular discharge from the Federal Army, entitling him
to a pension for life, and signed by General Washington himself! Here
was a name which would be honored almost anywhere and which, if
presented in the right place, would have insured him support and
plenty for the remainder of his days. Yet he wandered about, hungry,
helpless, and forlorn, begging bread of the charitable to keep him
from famishing.
What a picture of men with all the promises of Jesus in their hands—
and of Christians, too, with the charter of their inheritance in full
possession, yet starving in the wilderness! (William Moses Tidwell,
"Pointed Illustrations.").
B. THE REALITY OF THE GIFT. The word reality means “the sum or totality
of real things.” (Funk & Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary. Volume 2, N-Z.
p. 553). The reality of God's gift is that it is:
• FREE (v15a) (Ephesians 2:8-9; John 3:16; Romans 10:13).
• FULL—Perfect (Complete & Soul-Saving) (Ecclesiastes 3:14; James 1:17). Once saved, we are saved completely (Hebrews 7:25).
• FOREVER (Ecclesiastes 3:14; John 6:37-40; 10:27-29; Romans. 8:35-39).
• FOR EVERYBODY. God's gift abounded to many! (Matthew 20:28; 1 John 2:2; John 3:16).
• FOCUSED ON CHRIST. Christ is the ONLY AGENT of God's gift! (John 14:6; Acts 4:11-12; John 10:9).
ILLUS: 'Christ died for our sins.' That is the tremendous, colossal,
stupendous, staggering claim of the Bible. There is in his death
power, sufficient power, to cleanse sin from a person's heart, to bring
forgiveness from God. There is transforming power in the cross of
Christ. Any person who wants it, who asks for it, who consents to it,
can - and will - experience this power of forgiveness and cleansing in
his life. We will experience the invasion of our lives by the eternal life
of God himself. Incredible, but true! This is Christianity! Literally,
actually, honestly, this power of God - this purging, cleaning,
sanctifying power - is available to us. God has promised. His
promises are inviolate, immutable! Richard C. Halverson, Decision,
(September 1991), p. 33.
MUCH MORE speaks of THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD, THE GOODNESS OF GOD, THE GIFT OF GOD and…
(4) THE GLORY OF GOD
ROMANS 5:17—“For if by one man's offense death reigned by one; much
more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)"
A. THE RECEIVING OF HIS GLORY. When we are saved by grace through
faith, we become partakers of His glory! We are “made the righteousness of
God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Peter wrote in 2 Peter 1:14—“Simon
Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained
like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior
Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge
of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given
unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the
knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given
unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be
partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the
world through lust.” I want you note the words in v17—“shall reign in life
by one, Jesus Christ.” Death reigned as king because of Adam, but now
believers reign in life (right now, not only in the future) through Christ,
and have abundant life! (Warren W. Wiersbe. Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines
on The New Testament. p. 377).
B. THE REVEALING OF HIS GLORY. As believers, our lives should reflect
the glory of God. But to reveal God’s glory as we should God has to often
deliver chastisement in our lives to deepen our commitment to HIM. The
SCRIPTURE says that we are chastened, "that we might be partakers of his
holiness" (Hebrews 12:10). The old black man was asked if he thought the
Lord loved him. He said, "Yes suh massa, I knows the Lawd loves me. He
says in His book that he chases those that He loves, and He chases me so
much I know He have to love me a whole lot.” (Bible Illustrator For
Windows. Version 3.0f. Copyright 1990-1998. Parsons Technology, Inc. All
Rights Reserved).
Friends, when we are saved, we are as fit for Heaven as we will ever be, but
we live holy, in order that, our enjoyment of Heaven will be greater! We are
called to “be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.”
(Ephesians 1:12).
ILLUS: As Christians, our lives are living tributes to God's grace. God selected
us as believers so that we might praise him. When others look at our
lives, what kinds of "tributes" do they see? Liberated, engaging
individuals, full of gratitude for all he has done for us? Or shrivelled,
sullen, embittered shells that feel as though we've been cheated out of
life's good things? (Life Application Bible Commentary. WORDsearch
7.0. Copyright 2007. WORDsearch Corp. All Rights Reserved).
(5) THE GRACE OF GOD
ROMANS 5:20—“Moreover the law entered, that the offense might
abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound"
A. WHAT GRACE HAS DONE. All that sinful man can become, is because of
the grace of God! (1 Corinthians 15:10a). The Bible tells us we are:
• SAVED BY GRACE (Ephesians 2:8-9).
• SERVE BY GRACE (Acts 26:22).
• SECURE BY GRACE (l Peter 1:3-5).
ILLUS: The Bible mentions grace some 170 times in 159 different
references…The Greek word used in the New Testament, charis,
means, "favor, grace, gracious care or help... an act which one grants
to another."
If there is any single word which is distinctively Christian, it is the
word GRACE. The whole concept is framed with an undeserved
quality—something which we believers have received, which we could
never merit—something which God chose to do simply because He
loved us. —Harold Sala (Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations.
WORDsearch 7.0. Copyright 2007. WORDsearch Corp. All Rights
Reserved).
B. WHAT GRACE CAN DO. "...But where sin abounded, Grace did MUCH
MORE abound". Friends, no man can outshine the grace of God! Note the
words “grace did much more abound.” The words “much more abound” are
very interesting. It pictures unending, overflowing grace — a grace that
knows no bounds. Grace is always more abundant than sin. (Preaching the
Word. WORDsearch 7.0. Copyright 2007. WORDsearch Corp. All Rights
Reserved).
ILLUS: Spurgeon has a sermon on this text entitled, "Grace Abounding over
Abounding Sin."
This was the experience of Mel Trotter, who was such a great influence
for Christ in Chicago and in fact the entire nation during the first half
of this century. As an alcoholic he had fallen so low that on the
evening he finally stumbled into the Pacific Garden Mission and found
Christ, he was under the influence of alcohol he had purchased with
the shoes taken from his little girl's feet as she lay in her coffin. So
wondrous was the effect of God's abounding grace in his life that eight
years later he was ordained to the Presbyterian ministry, became an
outstanding evangelist, and founded more than sixty-seven rescue
missions from coast to coast.
There is always more grace! (Preaching the Word. WORDsearch 7.0.
Copyright 2007. WORDsearch Corp. All Rights Reserved).
As the hymn writer wrote:
1. Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary's mount outpoured,
there where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.
Refrain:
Grace, grace, God's grace,
grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
grace, grace, God's grace,
grace that is greater than all our sin!
2. Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold,
threaten the soul with infinite loss;
grace that is greater, yes, grace untold,
points to the refuge, the mighty cross.
(Refrain)
3. Dark is the stain that we cannot hide.
What can avail to wash it away?
Look! There is flowing a crimson tide,
brighter than snow you may be today.
(Refrain)
4. Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
freely bestowed on all who believe!
You that are longing to see his face,
will you this moment his grace receive?
(Refrain)
No matter how vile the sinner the grace of God can save! (1 Timothy 1:11-
15; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
CLOSING: Romans 8:32 says—“He that spared not his own Son, but delivered
him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all
things? " God's Salvation provided for a lost, Hopeless race
something that can fulfill all our needs! MUCH MORE speaks of
THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD, THE GOODNESS OF GOD, THE
GIFT OF GOD, THE GLORY OF GOD, and THE GRACE OF GOD.
1 Peter 1:3 says—“According as his divine power hath given unto
us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the
knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue"
Friend, do you know Him today? He can be your Saviour, your
strength, your life, and your all, if by faith you'll come to Him!
Christian friend, Oh how much we should praise Him for the life He
has given us! 1 Corinthians 6:20 tells us—“For ye are bought
with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit,
which are God's." Believer, are you doing that?
Prepared by Brother Bryan L. Browning, Pastor of Beechmont Baptist Church, Beechmont, KY for Sunday Morning, August 26, 2007.
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