Divine
Dividends
Steve W. Reeves
INTRODUCTION:
A. As
you make decisions in your life there are two things you should always
consider. The
is, “What is it going to cost?” The second is,
“What are the benefits?”
1. If you buy a new car you want to know
how much you are going to pay and how it will
benefit you. The same is true with any purchase,
large or small, you make.
2. When it comes to the purpose and
direction of life the same question applies. What is
your decision going to cost in terms of time,
money, effort and sacrifice? What benefits
will your decision produce.
B.
Jesus spoke about the costs of discipleship. In Matthew 16:23 he said, “If a
man will
follow me let him deny himself, take up his cross and
follow me.” In the words of Dietrich
Bonhoeffer in, The Cost of Discipleship, “When Christ
calls an individual He calls upon
them to die.”
C. In
Romans 8:1 Paul sets forth one of the greatest blessings in all of the Bible.
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus.” Why is this
statement so important? Let’s take a moment to
consider the message of Romans.
1. In Chapter 1 Paul describes how people
had rejected God and become caught up in
idolatry, immorality and rebellion. Because of
this rejection he says three times in
verses 24, 26 and 28 that “God gave them over” to their
sinful practices.
2. In Chapter 2 he addressed those who were
Jews. These were people who had God’s
law and covenant. God had showed them blessing
and favor but they had rejected Him
and were guilty of sin just as the others were.
3. In
Chapter 3:23 Paul declares, “All have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.”
All of
humanity is guilty. With our best effort we
cannot save ourselves because the wages of
sin (6:23) is death.
a. This is the basic problem of
humanity. As hard as we try we cannot be righteous.
b. Left on our own we would be in a
hopeless situation (like the woman in John 8).
Thankfully, God has a plan. In Romans 5:1 Paul
writes, “Therefore, since we have
been justified through faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
D.
What are the benefits of being a Christian?
Romans 8 is the “high water” mark in the
Bible for helping us understand the specific benefits
and blessings associated with
following Christ. Please join me in considering these five “Divine
Dividends.”
I. PARDON (vss. 2-4).
A. Paul says in verses 1- 2, “Therefore
there is now no condemnation for those who are
in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of
the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the
law of sin and of death.”
1. What is the law of sin and death? In
Genesis 2:17 God set forth a law to Adam and
Eve. “But from the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil you shall not eat, for in the
day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
2. What did Adam and Eve do? They broke the law and suffered the
consequences.
Those consequences were still evident in Paul’s
day and they are still evident today.
“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into
the world, and death through
sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.”
B. In verses 3 and 4 Paul wrote, “For what
the Law could not do, weak as it was through
the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering
for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so
that the requirement of the Law might be
fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but
according to the Spirit.”
C. John told the story of a woman who was
guilty of breaking the law in John 8:1-11.
1. Could she save herself?
2. Could she atone for her sins through
her own goodness?
3. It was Jesus who said, “Neither do I
condemn you.”
4. Have you ever broken the law? Can you
save yourself? It is onely through Christ that
there is “no condemnation.”
II. POWER
(vss. 5-11).
A. As evidence of our salvation God gives
us His Spirit.
1. Paul contrasts the difference between
people who live in the world without Christ and
hose who have put their trust in Him.
It’s not merely a contrast in behavior or
appearance. He is talking about something that is much
deeper - the condition of the
soul. People in the world live according to the flesh.
2. People of the world want to satisfy the
desires of the flesh (lust of flesh, lust of eyes,
pride of life).
3. Paul says that the flesh cannot
please God.
B. Those who are in Christ have God’s
Spirit living in them. In verse 11 he says, “And if
the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is
living in you, he who raised Christ
from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
because of his Spirit who lives in
you.
III. PROVISION
(vss. 14-17).
A. Many years ago in a rural community
there was a young man who had grown up as an
orphan. He had been abandoned by his mother. No
one knew who is father was. He
was the subject of cruel jokes and harsh names. One day he
went to church and as he
left the preacher spoke to him and said, “I know whose child you
are.” The young man
started to cringe. “You are a child of God.” He loves you so much.” For the
first time in
his life the boy felt a sense of worth.
B. In verse 14-15 Paul writes, “ For
all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are
sons of God. 15 For you have not
received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but
you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we
cry out, “Abba! Father!”
C. We have the privilege of
B. We are not slaves of sin. We are no
longer orphaned bywickedness. We have a
“Father.” Three little boys were talking about how
important their fathers were. One
said, “My father knows the mayor. Another said, “My father knows
the governor.” The
third one replied, “My father talks to God every day.” Can you do better
than that?
.
A. Glory- In verse 18 he says, “I consider
that our present sufferings are not worth
comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
1. We are vividly aware of the suffering
that exists in our world. There is suffering
because of natural calamities, illness, sin and
evil.
2. Present sufferings do not compare
with the glory God has in store for us.
3. Paul illustrates this truth by
comparing the struggles of the world to a woman in the
pain of childbirth. In verse 22 he writes, “We
know that the whole creation has been
groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the
present time.”
a. You ladies who have given birth
can relate to what Paul writes. There is pain in
childbirth but it gives way to indescribable joy and
blessing.
b. The pain of this life is
temporary and cannot be compared to the joy that we will
experience.
4. Jesus is the perfect example of this
principle. Think of the horror of the cross. The
excruciating pain, the humiliating circumstances, the
hatred and brutality. And yet, it
was temporary. On the first day of the week Jesus rose from
the dead. Now He is
seated at the right hand of God in glory.
2 Cor, 4:17 says, “For our
light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal
glory that far outweighs them all.”
5. This hope is ours because there is no
condemnation in Christ. Verses 23-25 – “Not
only so, but we ourselves, who have the first
fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we
wait eagerly for our adoption to son-ship, the
redemption of our bodies. For in this
hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all.
Who hopes for what
they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for
it
patiently.”
B. Guidance - All of us need help in this
life. One of the great blessings of being in Christ
is
the help that comes through the Holy Spirit. Paul writes, in verses 26-27 – “In the
same way, the
Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we
ought to pray for, but the Spirit
himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And
he who searches our hearts knows the mind of
the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes
for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”
1. He helps in our weakness as we pray.
Paul says that we really don’t know how to
pray. We may pray simply or eloquently, long or
short – but we really do not know
how to pray.
2.
He intercedes for us as we pray. Since He dwells within us He knows our hearts.
The
Holy Spirit did not inspire the writing
of the Bible and then take a permanent vacation.
He is alive and active in our lives today as we
pray.
C.
Good – God sees the “big picture.” He wan weave a beautiful tapestry from
tattered
threads.
V. PROTECTION
(vss. 29-38).
A. Regardless of what happens in this life we
have the assurance of God’s protection.
Notice verses 31– 39 – “What, then, shall we
say in response to these things? If God is
for us, who can be against us? He who did not
spare his own Son, but gave him up for
us all—how will he not also, along with him,
graciously give us all things? Who will bring
any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is
God who justifies. Who then is
the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who
died—more than that, who was
raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also
interceding for us. Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or
persecution or famine
or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face
death all day
long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we
are
more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death
nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
neither
height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us
from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
B. Dr. Neale Pryor told the story of a
father and his small son crossing a busy intersection.
As they were crossing the light suddenly
changed and they were surrounded by cars.
The fathr picked his son up and hurried to the
curb. The little boy said, “Daddy, I was
a-holdin’ on.” The daddy thought, “I was a-holdin’ on too.”
When you are in Christ God
is holding on to you.
1.
He is not against you.
2. He is not ambivalent about you.
3. He is passionately for you!
CONCLUSION:
A. Jack
Exum told a marvelous story entitled, “The Day I Was Arrested.” In the story he
talks
about a young man arrested for a crime he had
committed. When he appeared before the
judge he had no attorney. The judge appointed an attorney
who lovingly urged his client
to throw himself upon the mercy of the court. The young man was
shocked to learn that
his attorney was the judge’s son and even more astounded when he offered to pay
his
fine and claim him as his own. This is the
heavenly scene re-enacted with each of us
before our Heavenly Father.
B.
Will you come and claim the pardon, power, provision, promise and protection
God
offeres through Jesus Christ our Lord?
