But Now

Romans 3:19-21

Preached December 21, 2008, Grace Family Church of Americus

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Snippets from the sermon transcript:

"Here is a person for whom assurance comes at a premium…it seems distant and unreachable. Having lived a moral life, he finds no radical conversion story to tell. He can name no grievous sins to confess. He looks for the radical change in his outward behavior, but can find none. For it is not by the outward behavior…..not by works of the Law….that we are justified…but by being given a new nature…..a new heart and a new Spirit within us….And by the grace of our God, this dear man is learning to see the heights of the mount of Calvary. He is learning to see how much he has been redeemed….by having tread for the first time in his life, the valley of despair, helplessness…..from God mercifully showing himself in the mirror of His own holiness.

"This man is not alone in his experience. Many are in the same situation. Being raised in a religious home, lived a moral life, you have never been broken before this holy Law. Never having turned on this hinge of BUT NOW….and if you do not turn on this hinge, you will not be saved. What you need to know, if you have found yourself in this situation, is that there is a subtle attack of the enemy awaiting. He wants to keep you there in verse 19 and 20…..and keep you out of verse 21. He wants to keep you out of the "but now" theology.

"He wants you to see the blackness of your sins, and to think that you cannot be saved, and so despair that you turn away. To you who are there, although that be true about you….BUT NOW! You who have hit your face in despair, unworthy of redemption, you can hold up these words of truth….BUT NOW! You who have stood under the crushing weight of the Law, you who fear God, you who seek God, you who have turned to God, you whose mouths are stopped before God…..you can now say, "BUT NOW!!" For it is true, that if you have been brought to this place, it is done so only by the grace and mercy of God drawing you to Himself. For there is no place closer to the Father's side than here…..BUT NOW!!! Although I am unrighteous, BUT NOW,THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD is mine in Christ…..Although I be unworthy, BUT NOW there is One who is worthy who stands for me…..though I am a sinful man, BUT NOW there is One who has been made manifest who is without sin to stand in my place…..though I cannot live to God, BUT NOW there is One who lives within me to live through me…..though my sin burden weighs heavy on me, BUT NOW there is One whose yoke is easy and Whose burden is light…..though I am weak and tired from this body of death…..BUT NOW there is One who has redeemed me by His Own blood, Jesus Christ, the Righteous!"

The Necessity of the Virgin Birth

Luke 1:26-38; Romans 3:21-23

Preached December 7, 2008, Grace Family Church of Americus

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Snippets from the sermon transcript:

So let us look into this beautiful truth of the Virgin Birth of our Lord Jesus. First, let me state the purpose of this sermon. It is to continue on the same footing which we laid in the exposition of Romans 1-3. We see very clearly in these chapters, that man is utterly sinful, and cannot rescue himself. There is nothing within us that can bring us to God, but only that which is abhorrent to God, worthy of death and Hell. This is a foundational Christian principle. Any who teach an idea that man can rescue himself by any of his own abilities or actions teach that which is heretical to the biblical Gospel. Because, as we will see, God's purpose in the Virgin Birth is the only solution for the redemption for fallen mankind.

Why? We will look at four reasons today:

• Our sin, in Adam, renders us helpless to initiate our own salvation. Salvation not only could not come from the line of Adam, but it also could not come from any man, for all are corrupt. It must come from One who is not of Adam's sin. Salvation, therefore, must be at the initiation of God. This requires a Virgin Birth.
  
• Our sin, in Adam, renders us helpless to perform our own salvation. Not only could we not initiate our own salvation, but we cannot perform it could we initiate it….for again, all are corrupt and worthy of death. Our salvation must first be initiated by One who is not of Adam's sin, and secondly, it must be carried out by One who is not of Adam's sin. This requires a Virgin Birth.
  
• Our sin, in Adam, has the particular consequence that it requires the redeemer to come from the descendant of a woman, not of a man. This requires a Virgin Birth.
  
• Our sin, in Adam, renders our blood unqualified to be shed for our own salvation. It must be shed by One who is not of Adam's sin, and therefore not of Adam's blood. This requires a Virgin Birth.