Meal Plan for this Sunday at Coast

This week's meal is certainly not "leftovers" but it is a challenge to us to apply what we heard last week as disciples of Jesus Christ.

The message is "Gospel Logic Applied" (Romans 8:31-34).

Come and join us as we "chew" on this rich passage and seek, by God's grace, to get it from our heads to our hearts to our feet (daily lives)!

See you at 10:30 AM this Sunday! Come on time and with your napkin under your chin. :)

Gospel Logic

The Text: Romans 8:31-34

The Theme: The Logic of the Gospel and the Fight of Faith

Let me begin today by reminding you of an experience had by a man named Charles Simeon. God saved him in the midst of a spiritual wasteland and used the very thing that we want to see in this passage today … gospel logic!

Let me orient you with some facts about his life and times. When Simeon was born in 1759, Jonathan Edwards had just died the year before. The Wesleys and Whitefield were still alive, and so the Methodist awakening was in full swing. Simeon would live for 77 years, from 1758 to 1836. So he lived through the American Revolution, the French Revolution and not quite into the decade of the telegraph and the railroad. His father was a wealthy attorney, but no believer. We know nothing of his mother. She probably died early, so that he never knew her. At seven, he went to England's premier boarding school, The Royal College of Eton. He was there for 12 years, and was known as a homely, fancy-dressing, athletic show off. The atmosphere was irreligious and degenerate in many ways. Looking back late in life, he said that he would be tempted to take the life of his son than to let him see the vice he had seen at Eton. He said later he only knew one religious book besides the Bible in those 12 years, namely The Whole Duty of Man, a devotional book of the 17th century. Whitefield thought that book was so bad that once, when he caught an orphan with a copy of it in Georgia, he made him throw it in the fire. William Cowper said it was a "repository of self-righteous and pharisaical lumber." That, in fact, would be a good description of Simeon's life to that point. At 19 he went to Cambridge. And in the first four months God brought him from darkness to light. The amazing thing about this is that God did it against the remarkable odds of having no other Christian around. Cambridge was so destitute of evangelical faith that, even after he was converted, Simeon did not meet one other believer on campus for almost three years. His conversion happened like this. Three days after he arrived at Cambridge on January 29, 1779, the Provost, William Cooke, announced that Simeon had to attend the Lord's Supper. And Simeon was terrified. We can see, in retrospect, that this was the work of God in his life. He knew enough to know that it was very dangerous to eat the Lord's Supper unworthily. So he began desperately to read and to try to repent and make himself better. He began with The Whole Duty of Man but got no help. He passed through that first communion unchanged. But knew it wasn't the last. He turned to a book by a Bishop Wilson on the Lord's Supper. As Easter Sunday approached a wonderful thing happened. Keep in mind that this young man had almost no preparation of the kind we count so important. He had no mother to nurture him. His father was an unbeliever. His boarding school was a godless and corrupt place. And his university was destitute of other evangelical believers, as far as he knew. He is nineteen years old, sitting in his dormitory room as Passion Week begins at the end of March, 1779. Here is his own account of what happened.

In Passion Week, as I was reading Bishop Wilson on the Lord's Supper, I met with an expression to this effect – "That the Jews knew what they did, when they transferred their sin to the head of their offering." The thought came into my mind, What, may I transfer all my guilt to another? Has God provided an Offering for me, that I may lay my sins on His head? Then, God willing, I will not bear them on my own soul one moment longer. Accordingly I sought to lay my sins upon the sacred head of Jesus; and on the Wednesday began to have a hope of mercy; on the Thursday that hope increased; on the Friday and Saturday it became more strong; and on the Sunday morning, Easter-day, April 4, I awoke early with those words upon my heart and lips, 'Jesus Christ is risen to-day! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!' From that hour peace flowed in rich abundance into my soul; and at the Lord's Table in our Chapel I had the sweetest access to God through my blessed Saviour. (Moule, 25f) (Charles Simeon: Brothers, We Must Not Mind A Little Suffering by John Piper)

Charles Simeon reasoned with gospel logic, so to speak, “If God has provided an Offering for me on which I lay may my sin on His Head and transfer my guilt to Him, then I will not bear them on my soul one moment longer!”

This “If this is true … then this must be true or may be true of me” is the logic of gospel truth.

Sometimes we may think that reason or logic is an inhibitor to the walk of faith. But in times past, godly men taught logic so that people could understand the Bible and the truth of the gospel in clearer, deeper, richer ways. For example, think about Issac Watts.

Isaac Watts (17 July 1674 – 25 November 1748), was an English hymn-writer, theologian and logician. He was recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", as he was the first prolific and popular English hymnwriter, credited with some 750 hymns. … Watts was the author of a text book on logic which was particularly popular; its full title was, Logic, or The Right Use of Reason in the Enquiry After Truth With a Variety of Rules to Guard Against Error in the Affairs of Religion and Human Life, as well as in the Sciences. This was first published in 1724, and its popularity ensured that it went through twenty editions. (Isaac Watts, Wikipedia)

God has given us reason to strengthen our faith in Him and His promises, not to undermine them, as has been argued in church history and here in Romans 8.

Review

The last two Sundays before the men’s retreat we looked at verses 31 and 32. The power of the gospel is, in part, the power of the logic of “if, then.” And we have already seen this “if … then” argument in verses 31 and 32.

1. If God is for us, then nothing and no one is truly against us. (Romans 8:31)

God, who is the ultimate and infinite Sovereign, Savior, Sufficiency and Satisfaction, is causing all things to work for our good, so nothing can ultimately hurt us but only help us and bless us.

If you are running for a touchdown and someone trips you, you may get mad because they prevented you from reaching your goal. God declares that nothing and no one is going to be able to trip us up so that we fail to reach the good He has promised us in Jesus.

So even our enemies have been turned into our friends because God makes them serve our good. (Genesis 50:20)

2. If God gave us the greatest gift of His Son at the greatest cost, then He would not withhold any good thing from us. (Romans 8:32)

God is not going to dishonor His infinitely precious Son by giving Him to us at so great a price (the cross) and then withholding something else.

Can you imagine anyone saying:

“You can have my arm but not my gum!”

“You can have my child but not my remote control!”

We can be confident that God is giving us all good things even when it doesn’t appear that way. (2 Corinthians 1:20)

This brings us to the verses we’ve yet to discuss where Paul continues his “if … then” gospel logic (Romans 8: 33-34).

Message

1. If God justifies us, then it doesn’t matter who charges us with sin. (Romans 8:33)

“Bring a charge” is legal, courtroom language and points to the ultimate day of judgment at the end of time.

‘charge’ = to summon before the bar of justice (Hodge)

‘elect’ = chosen or even beloved (Hodge)

‘justify’ = to declare that the claims of justice have been satisfied (Hodge)

“Daddy, Billy didn’t do his chores!”

“Daddy said I didn’t have to because He did them for me!”

Paul raises this question, "Who will bring a charge against God's elect?" And then, he doesn't answer, "Well, my enemies might, or my wife might, or my conscience might, or worst of all, God might. After all I am a sinner." Instead, he answers, "God is the one who justifies." In other words, others might bring charges, but the Supreme Court of the universe, namely, God, has already "justified." That is, he has acquitted and reckoned us righteous. "Clothed in righteousness divine." So nobody can make a charge stick. It doesn't matter who indicts us or what their case is, if God has justified us, "there is now no condemnation." (John Piper, sermon on Romans 8:34)

We will never be accused of unrighteousness by the One who declares us to be righteous because of His Son.

The Priest With Dirty Clothes

In this story by R.C. Sproul, based on Zechariah 3:1-5, a priest must preach before the king but he falls off his horse into a mud puddle on the way to see the king and soils his garments. When he arrives, he is told he cannot appear before the king in dirty clothes. He goes away and tries to get his clothes clean but nothing and no one can clean his dirty clothes. Then he finds out that he can get help from the son of the king. So he goes to see him and they work out an arrangement. The priest shows up again at the king’s palace in his dirty clothes and the magician comes out and accuses him and declares that he can’t come before the king in those clothes. At that time, the son of the king comes out, takes off his royal robe gives it to the priest and puts on the dirty clothes of the priest. So the priest is able to stand before the king and speak because of the exchange between himself and the son of the king. (Zechariah 3:1-5)

2. If Jesus intercedes for us, then it doesn’t matter who condemns us. (Romans 8:34)

The death and resurrection of Jesus are historical events that are meant to overshadow our historical events!

In His death, Jesus took our condemnation.

In His resurrection, Jesus was declared the Son of God and His work affirmed on behalf of sinners.

This truth is to overshadow every detail of our lives like a FB post announcing a new baby should get more response than the FB post that declares, “I don’t know what to eat.”

We will never be condemned by the One who was condemned in our place.

If Donald Trump pays all your bills, he’s not going to come back and demand that you pay all your bills!

As our Savior, Jesus was condemned for us, in our place, and therefore He will not condemn those for whom He Himself was condemned.

Condemnation is the follow up to accusation (or charges against us) and there is no condemnation either.

This is because the “Condemner” is the Judge and the Judge appointed by God Himself is Jesus Christ who is also our Savior.

But how can this be? How does "Just judge + guilty sinner = no condemnation"? A judge can't simply let criminals go free and still honor the law and protect society. So the next verse asks the same question again, but this time answers it with a more foundational answer. Romans 8:34, "Who is the one who condemns?" This is the same as asking, "Who will bring a charge against God's elect?" (verse 33). There the answer was: It doesn't matter who brings charges against you if God is for you and has declared you righteous. "It is God who justifies." Here the answer is: It doesn't matter who condemns you, because "Christ Jesus is He who died." There's the missing component in the equation, and the great center of Christianity, the death of Christ in the place of sinners. So now the equation goes like this: Just Judge + Guilty Sinner + Death of Christ = No Condemnation. The condemnation that belonged to us because of our sin was put on Jesus, and the righteousness that belonged to Jesus because of his perfect obedience was put on us. (John Piper, sermon Romans 8:34)

In His ascension, Jesus is exalted to the place of power and dignity so that no one can execute a sentence against us.

Sometimes one of our children will “harass” (lovingly or otherwise) another of our children, and the “harassed child” will often come running to me or to Jan, appealing for help and protection and relief! They do this because of the power and authority we have as parents over the situation. Likewise, the believer can and should run to the One who has authority and power supreme and can intercede for us.

The right hand is the place of favor also and we are with Him and in Him at God’s right hand of favor.

If God requires death and righteousness and both have been satisfied in Jesus, then nothing more can be required of us (and condemnation is silenced before God, no matter how others may condemn us).

Ever heard someone say, “Any friend of … is a friend of mine!” That’s what God says, “Any friend of My Son, Jesus, is a friend of Mine!” And God treats His friends amazingly well!

We will never be condemned by the One who administers grace (undeserved favor) to His people.

In His intercession, He appears continually before the Father as our everlasting Mediator and the Guarantor of all God’s gracious blessings on His people (so that we will never be condemned or cursed).

If Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father so He could pour out His grace on us, we need not fear that He will give us anything other than grace.

The intercession of Jesus is a present, ongoing, unchanging intercession. Jesus is a perfect and permanent Intercessor for us. (Hebrews 7:23-28)

If Jesus is the beloved of the Father and we are one with Him and He is pleading His merit on our behalf, then we need not fear rejection now or ever (He does not change and this will not change).

What does Jesus say to the Father in His intercession for us?

Intercession of presence or pleading?

Some would say, “Nothing with His lips, but much with His life and death!”

Something like:

“I died for them, so they cannot die forever.”

“I lived for them, so they must live forever.”

“I rose from the dead for them, I cannot abandon them now.”

“I rule over all, no one can keep them from LIFE.”

“They are united to Me, treat them as You would treat Me.”

“I bought them, they are Mine and always will be.”

But the resurrection of Jesus and the intercession of Jesus for us in heaven are essential for this reason: they prove the validity and the eternity of the condemnation-removing effect of the death of Jesus. The resurrection doesn't add anything to the condemnation-absorbing effect of Jesus' death. And the intercession of Jesus for us in heaven doesn't add anything to the condemnation-absorbing effect of Jesus' death. Instead, the resurrection of Jesus proves that God is satisfied with the death of Jesus as removal of all our guilt and condemnation. Jesus did not have to stay dead to keep paying for our sin. His suffering and death were sufficient. The resurrection is God's great declaration: It really is finished. The debt has been paid. Justice has been done. Guilt is removed. Condemnation of sin has been executed.

And when Paul says in verse 34 that Christ is at the right hand of God interceding for us, the point is not that anything is being added to the sufficiency of the death of Christ, but that this death has eternal effectiveness. What is the plea that our interceding advocate makes with God? His plea is his own blood, his own death. He has no other case to make for us but his own death. That is the meaning of his daily intercession. The death of Christ is as valid and as eternal as the life of the risen, interceding Christ. That's the point. So I think we can keep our equation simple: Just Judge + Guilty Sinner + Death of Christ = No Condemnation. But we need to keep in mind: because Christ rose from the dead, we know that his death was utterly sufficient and needs no repetition or addition to remove all our condemnation. And because Christ intercedes for us, we know that his death will go on having its saving effect as long as there is Christ - who can never die! (John Piper, sermon on Romans 8:34)

Others would say, “All that He prayed for His people when He was on earth (John 17; Luke 22:31-32).”

Thomas Watson:

When a Christian is weak, and can hardly pray for himself, Jesus Christ is praying for him; and he pray for three things.

First, that the saints may be kept from sin (John 17:15). "I pray that thou shouldest keep them from evil." We live in the world as in a pest-house; Christ prays that his saints may not be infected with the contagious evil of the times.

Second, for his people's progress in holiness. "Sanctify them" (John 17:17). Let them have constant supplies of the Spirit, and be anointed with fresh oil.

Third, for their glorification: "Father, I will that those which thou hast given me, be with me where I am" (John 17:24). Christ is not content till the saints are in his arms. This prayer, which he made on earth, is the copy and pattern of his prayer in heaven. What a comfort is this; when Satan is tempting, Christ is praying! This works for good. (All Things for Good, 1663)

Let’s try to make some application to our lives as we conclude.

1. We have to fight for joy and peace and holiness in this life, with the logic of the gospel against our own unbelief and the enemies of our soul especially in times of trial and suffering.

2. For us to change we must have our minds renewed so that we think and live in line with the gospel. (Romans 12:1-2)

3. There is no substitute for meditation on the truth in order to change. (Psalm 1:1-3)

4. Don’t be surprised by charges, nor fear accusations, nor give in to “condemnation” that argues that we can’t be saved simply because of sin in our lives.

5. We need to make the “transfer” or “great exchange.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Are you prepared to take the Lord’s Supper? Have you made the transfer of your sin to Christ and His righteousness to you?