Here’s the way the Bible begins, Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”Here’s how the Bible ends, Revelation 22:21: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.”Isn’t it interesting that the Bible begins with the creation of the world, something done for man, and it ends with the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God extends to man. In between those two verses, Genesis 1:1 and Revelation 22:21, God tells us so much about Himself, but He also tells us so much about ourselves!
We’re told, first of all, that we were made in God’s “image,” Genesis 1:26 and 27. That means we can think God’s thoughts. Isaiah 1:18 says, “‘Come let us reason together,’ sayeth the LORD.” In James 3:9, we are said to be “made in the similitude of God.” And in Acts 17:29, we are God’s “offspring.”
But secondly, the Bible lets us know that we are free moral beings. We’re not puppets, we’re not robots, we’re not machines—God gave us the power of choice! We can either choose or refuse. We can decide to obey God, or turn our backs upon God, because man is a free moral being. In Deuteronomy 30 and verse 19, He said, “I have set before you life and death, therefore choose life;” in Joshua 24:15, it says “choose you this day whom you will serve;” or in Matthew 23, verses 37 to 39, Jesus said, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem…how often would I…but you would not!” The Bible said, “Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely,” Revelation 22:17. “The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes,” Romans 1:16. “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” Matthew 11:28 and following. Man is a free moral being.
But the third thing the Bible lets us know about man is that he is responsible for the use he makes of that freedom. We’re free to make a choice, but we’re not free from the consequences of the choice we make. A man is free to become drunk, he’s free to become an alcoholic, but he’s not freed from the consequences of alcoholism. He’s free to become a drug addict, but he’s not freed from the consequences of drug addition. He’s free to take his own life, he’s free to take someone else’s life, but he’s not freed from the consequences, because someday a reckoning is going to be made. In Hebrews 2, verses 1 and 2, the Bible says, “every transgression,” every “disobedience will receive a just recompence of reward.” God doesn’t settle all of His accounts at the end of any one year, but rest assured, those accounts will in time be settled! And someday, “every knee will bow…and every tongue will confess,” Romans 14:11 and 12. Everybody who has ever lived is going to be there on that occasion, 2 Corinthians 5:10. And according to Matthew 25, verses 31 and following, on that great occasion (with old Hitler there, Mussolini, Belshazzar, Herod—all who have ever lived, both good and bad) the Lord’s going to separate the “sheep from the goats…the sheep on His right…the goats on the left.” And once that separation is made, not one sheep would be left among the goats, and not one goat would be left among the sheep. Each person will be in one of those two groups, because Paul said, “every man must bear his own burden,” Galatians 6:5.
But the Bible tells us another thing about man. Not only is he made in the image of God, and not only is he a free moral being, and not only is he responsible to God for the use he makes of his freedom, but we are also informed over and over again that sin is man’s worst enemy. It has never been a friend. Paul said “sin deceived me,” Romans 7:11. Hebrews 3:13 speaks of the “deceitfulness of sin.” Ephesians 4:14 speaks of the “cunning craftiness;” or Ephesians 6:11, “the wiles of the devil;” or 2 Corinthians 11, verses 2 and 3 speaks to the subtlety of the devil. In fact, we’re told in 1Timothy 2, verses 12 to 14 that mother Eve was “deceived.” She was deceived into thinking two things about God: First, that God really didn’t mean what He said—oh, He said it, but he really didn’t mean it!—and, secondly, she was deceived into thinking that God wouldn’t do what He said. But to her surprise, and to the sorrow of all mankind since, because of what happened, Romans 5:12, she realized, first, that God did mean what He said and He always has! He never said anything He didn’t mean! And, secondly, that God would do everything that He said! “Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes not be scorched?” No! Can a man “walk upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?” Proverbs 6:27 and 28. No! “The wages of sin is death,” Romans 6:23. Sin has never been a friend of man, and yet it has proposed to be. But all through the years, it has been deceptive. The Bible said, man is “hardened” by it, Hebrews 3:13; his eyes are “blinded” by it, 2 Corinthians 4:4; and sin binds the will, Romans 7:21 to 23. Sin is an enemy! It’s the worst enemy that man could have, because sin is anti-God. Sin is turning ones back upon God. The Bible said sin “separates” us from God, Isaiah 59:1 and 2.
But the Bible also tells us another thing about man. He’s made in the image of God, he’s a free moral being, he’s responsible for the use he makes of that freedom, sin is his worst enemy, and yet, the Bible said, “all have sinned,” Romans 3:23. Isn’t that tragic? The worst enemy, and yet all of us have incorporated that enemy. The Bible said sin “entered” Judas [Luke 22:2-4], but he allowed sin to enter. Or in Proverbs 1:10, “if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.” You see, you have the last word, and even the devil cannot barge in without your permission! He wants to “sift you as wheat,” Luke 22, verses 31 and following. And yet, Jesus uses a “fan” to drive away all of the impurities so that nothing but the good is left, Matthew 3:11 and following. But sin is our worst enemy, and yet we’ve all sinned! In 1 John 1:8 to 10, “If we say we have no sin,” we’re wrong! Romans 3:10 speaks of the same thing [“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one….”].
Now that means that since sin separates us from God, all of us have been separated from God! That means there must be a reconciliation. Paul speaks of this at length in 2 Corinthians 5, verses 19 and following. But before there can be a reconciliation, there has to be a propitiation [Propitiation: an offering, or atonement, to win the good will of; to appease]. How many of you used that word yesterday or Friday or Thursday or Wednesday? How many first-grade teachers used that word with their first graders? How many men out at Sandia Laboratories used it? How many men out at Kirtland Air Force Base used it? It’s a word that isn’t even in the vocabulary of most of us. It’s found only a few times in the whole Bible. It’s found in 1 John 2:1 and 2; and the word “propitiation” is found in 1 John 4:10; and it’s found again in Romans 3:23 to 25. But while it’s found only a few times in all the Bible, that word is very basic. [Propitiation: an offering, or atonement, to win the good will of; to appease] That word ties in with what we are talking about this week: “By grace have you been saved through faith, that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast,” Ephesians 2, verses 8 and following.
Well, all of us have sinned—“None righteous, no, not one,” Romans 3:10—therefore, we’ve all been separated. If we want to be reconciled, there has to be a propitiation. But, you see, man didn’t give God what he owed Him in the first place. Every creature owed God perfect obedience, but nobody gave that to God, so that means nobody gave what he should have given. Therefore, nobody has anything extra to give. But until there is extra, there can’t be any such thing as propitiation, or an atonement. Well, if we didn’t give God what we owed Him in the first place, then we don’t have anything extra. And yet, without “the extra,” there can’t be a propitiation. Without that, there can’t be a reconciliation. Without that, there can’t be salvation. That’s why the Lord said to go to the Lord for help, Psalm 46, verse 1, “for vain is the help of man,” [Psalm 108:12], and, Psalm 3:8 says that “salvation belongs to the Lord.”
So that means that man is doomed, unless some outside help is provided! We know that Jesus came “to seek and to save” the lost, Luke 19:10, but why did He need to come to earth for that? We know that “Jesus came into the world to save sinners,” 1 Timothy 1:15. His very Name, “Jesus,” means Savior, Matthew 1:21. He came to seek and to save the lost. He came that men might “have life, and…have it more abundantly,” John 10:10. He came to call “sinners, to repentance,” Matthew 9:13, but why did He have to come? He’s called the “captain of our salvation,” Hebrews 2:10, but why do we need a captain? He’s the only “mediator between God and man,” 1Timothy 2:5, but why do we need a mediator? He’s called the “Prince of Peace,” Isaiah 9:6; the “Prince of life,” Acts 3:15; a “Prince and Savior,” Acts 5:31, and the “Prince of the kings of the earth,” Revelation 1:5. He’s said to be “our hope,” 1 Timothy 1:1, “our life,” Colossians 3:4, “our peace,” Ephesians 2:14. But why do we need all of that?
Beloved, if you fail to get [understand] this, you have missed the real heart and core of the Gospel story! Maybe in failing to understand, we haven’t fully appreciated the grace of God. This morning we learned that grace is not a license to sin, and it’s not freedom from responsibility, and it doesn’t promote carelessness, and it’s not an amnesty. It doesn’t repeal the judgment day, and it doesn’t declare moratorium on the punishment of sin. It doesn’t discredit God’s justice. It doesn’t do away with a need for obedience. But before there can be grace, there has to be something that is un-repaid, undeserved, and unearned. Well, this is where Jesus comes in. You see, other than Jesus, we would be doomed to an eternal torment, because we don’t have anything extra. We don’t have anything extra because we didn’t give God what we owed Him in the first place! Without Jesus, there’s no propitiation, and with no propitiation, there is no possible reconciliation—that means no salvation at all!
Well, Christ became a man, Galatians 4:4. He came as man and for man, and He gave God perfect obedience. That’s what Ishould have done—that’s what youshould have done—that’s what every living personshould have done, and NOBODY did! Christ gave God perfect obedience. He said, “Which of you convicts Me of sin?”John 8:46. Nobody! In 1 Peter 2:22, there was no trace of “sin” at all in Jesus; in Hebrews 4:15, He was “without sin;” and Hebrews 4:15 and 9:28, He is “without sin.” Three times old Pilot said, “I find no fault” in Him, Luke 23:4, Luke 23:14, Luke 23:22. Herod found no fault in Him, Luke 23:15. And then Pilot’s wife said, “Have nothing to do with that just Man,”, Matthew 27:19; and then one of the thieves said, “this Man has done nothing wrong” (in Luke 23, verses 39 to 42); and then there was Judas, Matthew 27, verse 1 and following; and then the Centurion, who said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” Matthew 27:54. So that was Herod, Herod’s wife, Pilot, and the Centurion, Judas, and one of the thieves—all on the side of the enemy—that said this Man did nothing at all wrong. He never did sin! He never did go against God’s Will!
And then over and above—here’s the extra!—over, above, and beyond what everybody owed God and nobody gave God, 2 Corinthians 5:21—underscore that Scripture; put some exclamation marks out in the margin—that’s Gospel!— 2 Corinthians 5:21, He…was…made…“to…be…sin…for…us.” What? Don’t misread it! He was not made to be a sinner—He never did sin! He was not made to be sinful—there was no trace of sin at all in Him! But, He was made “to be sin.” Whatever sin did, whatever sin called for, whatever predicament sin put man in, Jesus took the sinner’s place [Jesus exchanged places with the sinner]. That means He provided something that we could not possibly have provided for ourselves. That’s grace! We cannot deserve it, or it wouldn’t be grace. We cannot earn it, or it wouldn’t be grace. We cannot repay it, or it wouldn’t be grace. So Jesus, then, was made “to be sin for us, that we,” in turn, “might become righteousness to God.”
Let’s go back to the Garden of Eden. Notice what sin did, how it disrupted man, and how it brought a curse upon the whole human race, as referred to in Romans 5:12. You see, sin brought shame. Before sin came, there was no such a thing as shame. Read Genesis 2:25. And now after sin came, there was shame, Genesis 3:10, and it was sin that brought that shame.
Well, the Bible says that Jesus was made “to be sin” for us. That means He apparently became a spectacle of shame, because there was “shame” connected to that cross in Hebrews 12, verses 2 and following. Had Jesus not become “shame” for us, then we would be doomed for eternity. But sin brought shame. Jesus was made a spectacle, you see? Whoever heard of wearing around the neck on a golden chain an electric chair as an ornament? Whoever heard of wearing around the neck on a golden chain a symbol of the gallows?—or a symbol or ornament of the gas chamber?—or a symbol of that “lethal weapon” that is now used in some states? Nobody had ever thought of glory on a cross, until Jesus died. A cross was not a thing to glory in, and yet Paul said he had no “glory, save [except] in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Galatians 6:14. Why did Paul glory in the cross of Christ?—because our Lord Jesus Christ was made “to be sin” for us on that cross. He’d given God complete obedience, total surrender, had never sinned, and had never deviated. He said that He wanted to do God’s Will, and He taught His disciples to pray, “Thy Will be done,” Matthew 6:10. In the garden that night, He said, “not My Will, but Thine be done,” Luke 22:42 [and see Matthew 26:39].
But, also, sin brought “sorrow,” Genesis 3:16. In Isaiah 53, verses 3 and 4,the Bible says that Jesus was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”A “man of sorrows”? That doesn’t mean He was pessimistic. That doesn’t mean He was disgruntled or soured on life. No, not that at all! He was “a man of sorrows,” meaning that He felt all of the weight of the sins of the world with all of the conscience of God.
Well, in the Garden of Gethsemane that night, Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 26:38 and 39, (whom He later left about a stone’s throw away), “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death.” Originally, that meant overwhelmed with sorrow. Why?—because He was made “to be sin” for us. Sin brought shame—He was a spectacle of shame. Sin brought sorrows—He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
But sin also brought on a curse, Genesis 3:17. And in Galatians 3:13, the Bible says that He was made to be “a curse for us.” What does that mean? Well, sin brought a curse, and Jesus became a curse because He was made “to be sin” for us, that we might be otherwise [that we might not stand sinful; that we might stand sinless] before the Almighty.
But sin also brought on separation. Read Genesis 3, verses 18 to 24. Sin drove man from his paradise. It striped him of his Eden. It separated him from God. Why? That’s what sin does!
On the cross, Jesus uttered some words that for a long, long time have puzzled me. How many times have we wrestled with Matthew 27:46, when on that cross Jesus said, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” If somebody had asked you, “Did God ever forsake His Son?” you would probably quickly say, “No!” But you’d be wrong! You would be wrong! He didn’t say, “Have You forsaken Me?” No, He said, “Why did You do it?” And Jesus never miscalculated—He never misjudged. How do you account for God forsaking His Son? Was it on the grounds that sin did that because He was made “to be sin” for us? Yes.
Sin separates man from God. Our Lord allowed Himself to be separated from the Almighty, so you and I might not have to be separated from Him throughout all the world to come. “Thanks be unto God,” Paul said, “for His unspeakable gift,” 2 Corinthians 9:15. Again, notice what Paul said, that he had no “glory,” except it be “in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” [Galatians 6:14].
Another passage that has bothered me very much is Matthew 26:39. When in the Garden of Gethsemane that night, down on His face, as Luke tells us in Luke 22, verses 42-44, in such “agony” that perspiration fell from His brow as if it were “drops of blood,” He said, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me.” What? Was He referring to His death on the cross? Didn’t He speak of that death on the cross in Matthew 16, verses 22 and 23? He did! And in the next chapter, Matthew 17, verses 22 and following, He spoke of it again. Three chapters later, in Matthew 20, verses 17 and following, He spoke of it again! In Luke 9:51, “He steadfastly set His face” toward “Jerusalem,” knowing that plans had been made to kill Him! If He knew all along at the end of that journey that there was that cross, and He knew what it meant to die on a cross—He knew the agony—then how do you account for the prayer that night in the Garden? Well, a lot depends upon what you see in Jesus that night, down on His face in such agony, really crying unto His Father. Hebrews 5:7 says “cryings” that could be heard echoing through those valleys—the Kidron Valley and the Tyropoeon Valley, and even another valley that’s been covered up now.
Well, if you see [think of] Jesus that night only as a man, suffering at the hands of men, He must have been a coward! But He was no coward! At no time—at no time!—was He ever a pitiful victim, but at all times He was a princely victor! If you see Jesus down on His face that night, standing at the gate of hell and about to bear the wrath of God, then you know that it’s no wonder He shuttered that night when He prayed, “if it be possible, let this cup pass.”It wasn’t that He was afraid to die, knowing in three days He would rise again. That wasn’t it! He wasn’t afraid of what man could take—He’d take anything that man could inflict! No, that wasn’t it!
To me, the only plausible explanation is that Jesus knew that “the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience,” Ephesians 5:6.And that wrath is mentioned again in Romans 1:18, and Revelation 6, verses 16 and 17. What about Job 26:11, “The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at His reproof;” or Nahum 1:6, “Who can stand before His indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him;”or Revelation 14:10, God’s “wrath” is unmixed. You see, as long as man lives, that wrath of God is mixed with mercy and grace, but once death comes, that door of grace will be forever closed to them that wouldn’t accept it. And so here Jesus is, about to bear the wrath of God. 1 John 3:8 says that in every sin there is a trace of the devil! Matthew 25, verse 41, says that hell was “prepared for the devil and his angels.” So that means Christ was about to experience hell, so that you and I might not have to experience that in the world to come! “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift!” I have no “glory,” except it be “in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” And yet we speak of the cross so flippantly! We speak of it without a flicker of emotion! But there is a lot of emotion in devotion! If we fully understand all that was involved on that cross, and what it took, we would understand what a just Godis to save a lost world through His grace; and there would be a lot more appreciation of that cross!
For a long time in my audience where I preached, down on my left toward the front, there sat a gray-haired, old man who probably was never conscience of what he was voicing out loud. Or maybe he was not conscience of even doing it at all, but if I preached about the cross or about the love of God, or about what God’s done for us, or about how God made it possible that we don’t have to go to hell, you could hear the whimper of this man’s voice above the sound of my voice. If you looked at the man, you would see tears streaming down his aged cheeks. And I thought to myself, the cross doesn’t mean that much to the average person as it does to this gray-haired, old man—it doesn’t really mean that much to the average man! We don’t fully understand all that is involved on that cross.
You see, it was on that cross, Hebrews 2:9, “that He, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man.” And with that grace, nobody has to go to hell, because our Lord experienced that! Now, we often say, “War is hell,” and, no doubt, in this audience, there are those who have seen some action in wars. And no doubt you would agree that that is a pretty good description. Ask anybody in the front trenches! Ask anybody who’s been out on that battlefield for any length of time. It’s a pretty good description! But even a better description is to say, “Crucifixion is hell!” I’ve read two or three doctors’ descriptions of death by crucifixion, and undoubtedly, it is the worst death that man could die! The very position of the body is such that every movement is pain and agony, and it is a gradually increasing agony! After going through that horrible scourging, with 13 stripes across a naked shoulder—the first of which would rip a man’s flesh and the blood would gush—and then 13 across the right shoulder, and 13 across the mid-section—39 in all, but allowed 40, so that if there was a miscount, it wouldn’t go beyond what was allowed. We’re told by historians that very, very few people ever survived that scourging. Many people became raving maniacs. They were tied to a whipping frame [like a post] and the body was in such a position that they could hardly flinch or move. It was certainly an experience of “hell.” And we’re told that many of the people scourged lost consciousness and many of them died. Our Lord must have been a real “he-man” physically—not that “milk-toast,” effeminate sort of a fellow that some artists have depicted [painted or drawn or sculpted or carved]. He never did anything to dissipate that body. He could take [bear] anything that man could inflict and, my!, what He took [bore]! But every lash of that whip, and every prick or sting of that nail, and even the thrust of that sword was that I deserved—what you deserved—it’s what sin deserved! But He gave us something that is undeserved, something that’s unearned and un-repaid and that’s grace. Now we don’t have to be lost!
In Matthew 19:25, the Bible says, “Who then can be saved?” Can anybody be saved? Oh yes! Because Christ made it possible! Do you realize that when the Bible says that “the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,” (mentioned in Titus 2, verses 11 and 12) it is instructing us “to the intent that denying ungodliness…” Oh! I thought there wasn’t anything man is to do? Oh yes! That’s grace! Grace instructs us to “deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, that we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.”That grace was something that you couldn’t deserve, couldn’t earn, couldn’t repay, and you can’t, because sin deserved punishment in hell. Our Lord was made “to be sin” for us.
We often sing that beautiful hymn, “When I survey the wondrous cross, on which the Price of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.” What do you see when you survey that cross? Beloved, be sure you see the condemnation of sin. The Bible said He was “smitten of God,” Isaiah 53:4. I thought he was smitten of men! And the Bible said, “it pleased the Lord to bruise Him,” Isaiah 53:10. That’s not a typographical error—that’s not an error by the copyist. It pleased God to bruise Him? Why? On the basis of 1 Corinthians 1:21, it “pleased God…to save.” And for God to save a lost world, it pleased Him to do it through the bruising of the Son of God. The Bible said, “by His stripes we are healed, [Isaiah 53:5]. “The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all,” [Isaiah 53:6]. “For the transgressions of my people” has He been “stricken” all of this, Isaiah 53[:8], and also in 1 Peter 2:24. The Bible says, “He, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man.” We see the condemnation of sin—whatever sin called for—for God to remain just, and His nature calls for His justice. He’s “known by the judgment He executes,” Psalm 9, verse 16. And that judgment is just, Romans 2:2 and 1 Peter 1:17 and 18, and so forth.
But be sure you see not only the condemnation of sin, but secondly, be sure that when you survey that cross, you see the manifestation of the greatest love that mortals have ever known. How much did He love us? Nobody knows. Nobody on earth knows! You have to deal in superlatives, because nothing else suffices. So you read John 3:16. Did He tell us how much He loved us? He just said, “God SO loved the world.” You have to use superlatives, because there is no way to measure it!
And then, thirdly, in surveying that cross, be sure you see not only condemnation for sin, and the greatest love that mortals have ever known, but be sure you see the great gift of salvation. And it is a gift! It is a free gift! Even though I must submit to it—I can’t earn it, I can’t deserve it, I can’t repay it—it is still a “gift,” Romans 6:23. How great is salvation? Again, we have to use superlatives! Nothing else will suffice. In Hebrews 2:3, the Bible speaks of “SO great a salvation.” How great? You just leave it at that, because there is no way to get any kind of a measurement—there is no instrument that we can use get the depth of it. In fact, it is a four-dimensional love, Ephesians 3:18. It has “breadth, and length, and depth, and height.” It’s too deep to fathom—it’s too high to reach—it’s too broad—it’s too long for us to even try to measure. That’s the love of God, and He “commends His love toward us, in that, while we were sinners, He died for us,” Romans 5:8. And the Bible said, “Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called His children,” 1 John 3:1.
All of that is because, “by grace have you been saved through faith,” and that “by the grace of God, He tasted death for every man.” Don’t say, “If God had wanted to save the world some other way, He could have.” Don’t you believe it! That’s blasphemy! Don’t you know that if there had been any other way, when His Son in that great agony prayed that night, that if it be possible, it would pass, He would have done it? But it was the only way! In 2 Corinthians 4:10, the Bible says, “carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in this” mortal flesh. You see, if it weren’t for the sinless life that He lived, the cross would have been meaningless! If it hadn’t been for His doing exactly what God wanted and never deviating—something all of us should have done and nobody has—then we couldn’t glory in that cross! There would be no glory at all there! But now we can glory in the cross. And then He did over and above what was owed God—obedience. He was made sin for us, and He took those stripes that really should have come to us. “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift!”
The cross of our Lord is significant because it really manifests the grace of God. There isn’t anything like it! It’s a love that we can’t possibly understand. Our Lord came from the God-head, Philippians 2:6 to 8, and “He is the image of the invisible God,” Colossians 1:15, “the brightness of His glory” coming down to earth, Hebrews 1:3 and 4, and “through Him” all of these things on earth were made, John 1:1 and 2. And subjecting Himself to all of this suffering and going through all that He did was so that He might be made sin for us. I tell you, that’s marvelous! That’s Gospel!
Well, in closing, you and I can be “baptized into His death,” Romans 6:3. What does that really mean? I don’t know, I really honestly don’t know, but surely it means a lot more than meets the eye [than we can understand]! I wish I knew of the depth of it. But don’t overlook that we’re baptized into His body, the church, 1 Corinthians 12:13—that’s true! We’re baptized “into Christ,” Romans 6:3—that’s true! But we’re also “baptized into His death.” We know this much, whatever else there is that we haven’t seen [haven’t understood]. Anything that was made possible in and through that death is mine and yours when we’re baptized into that death. I tell you, if no other passage in all the Bible had to do with baptism, that passage ought to be enough to cause all of us to want to be baptized—to reap the benefits of all that was made possible in and through that death! [Read ALL of Romans, chapter 6!]
Is there any one here tonight that would like to do that? Is there anybody here tonight that has probably forgotten all that Christ did, and you’ve let your love grow cold and you’ve let your interest dwindle? You’re not really steadfast as we taught this morning. Come back to Him tonight. Don’t let another moment pass! One of the devil’s greatest wiles is to “wait awhile.” He’s saying, “Don’t do it tonight—but wait!” We’ve gone an hour, but in much less time than this whole service has been tonight, you can change an eternal destiny. Will you do it? We hope and pray that you will! Why don’t you do it right now while we stand and while we sing. Will you come?