Let's turn to Romans chapter 5. We're going to be looking at some things in verse 6 here. Romans chapter 5, verse 6. Now, let's read all of chapter 5 in order to get a lot of what Paul is saying. By the way, Romans chapter 5 is justly remembered. If you have ever memorized an outline of any books of the Bible, you will remember that in Romans chapter 5, this is the chapter that talks so much about the contrast and the comparison of Adam and Christ, the second Adam. So let's hear God's word starting with verse 1 of chapter 5 of Romans. a well-known verse in and of itself. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, and the tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance character, and character hope. Now, hope does not disappoint. because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. In our text, for when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. And now the verse 7, for scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us much more than having now been justified by his blood we should be saved from wrath through him. If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his son much more having been reconciled we should be saved by his life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because all sinned, for until the law, sin was in the world, but sin was not imputed when there is no law. Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who was a type of him that was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense, for if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ. As through one man's offense, judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so, through one man's righteous act, the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. By one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. So also by one man's obedience, many will be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness, through eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. God have His blessing. Okay, I have entitled this sermon, Weak and Wicked. Now you might think of someone described by those two adjectives, weak and wicked. There's no people like that. People who are easily led along and especially easily led along into, at least, mischief. And we think, oh boy, what a pathetic figure. What a pathetic case. What a sad sort of person. They give me strong stand for righteousness. They're weak and wicked. Have I got news for you people? This description is of all of you. Left to yourselves. This is your description. The same. This is my description. In fact, from what we read of the rest of this chapter, this is what Paul's talking about as coming as the result of Adam's sin. This is the description, the spiritual condition of everyone who has come into the world. Now let's look at this. First of all, what if you're weak? There are those who perhaps know somewhat that they are not right with God. In fact, maybe they have come, they don't know how it is, but we know it's by the work of the Holy Spirit. They have come to see that they really are in deep trouble because of God's name. They can't keep that knowledge down anymore, that knowledge which is of creation, that knowledge of themselves, which is in their own hearts, because even though it is marred, within them is still the image of God. They know they're made by Him. They know they're responsible to Him. They know they are in deep trouble before Him. They think, how can I hurt such a God? I can't come to God. Why, even when the Gospel is preached to them, even when it is told to them that God has provided a savior, God has provided one who will redeem His people from their sin, Even though they understand or come to see that Christ came in the place of sinners, He lived that sinners might have the record of his perfect righteousness on their account. He died so that the death on their account, because of the sin on their account, that brought along the guilt that was on their account. He died taking all that. He died for them, or excuse me, he died for sinners because of that. Well, they see how that works, but they think, I'm too weak. I'm too powerless. I can't conquer my sins. How can I come to God? Well, what they see of their own situation is quite correct. And this time, they're being honest with themselves. In this respect, actually, they are far ahead of those who pridefully think that they are strong and in charge of things. For such people to think properly of themselves as weak and helpless against sin is, well, it's distasteful! It's demeaning! It's an affront to them. But the scriptures say that all left to themselves are so weak that, well, when it comes down to it, they're dead. Paul writing to other people there in the Roman Empire over in Colossae. Colossians 2.13 says, and you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh Has he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses?" Right. People are dead! Left to themselves. That's pretty weak. That's pretty weak. I've been reading daily blog posts by Elder Tom Fisher from our Cambridge, Massachusetts congregation of the Progress. His wife Martha who's had a double lung transplant. And she's been so very weak, at least early on, couldn't even move her arms. But now she's getting stronger and she can do that and she's getting to the point, at least in the post last night, she was able to walk without a walker with just Tom, her loving husband, holding her hand. do some walking off. She's making some pretty good progress yet. Now she's still pretty weak, but she's making progress. She started out much weaker, but by God's grace she was still alive. But there was great fear that had the lungs not arrived before much longer, she would have been dead. As we've asked before, what can dead people do? The saying is, dead men tell no tales. They don't do anything else, except rot. Remember that, children? That's what dead people do. Dead bodies do. They rot. Yes. Now, the good news is this, and there is good news. The Lord Jesus Christ is strong. to save those who come to him. He strongly works within them to bring them to life. Dead people can't see children. Dead people can't hear children. Dead people can't think children. Dead people can't believe children. But live people can do all this. Jesus in His grace makes His people alive so they can look to Him, hear Him as He speaks through His Word, the Bible. They can understand what He says and they can believe upon Him. Do you children remember the story that we went through some time ago in John's Gospel about Lazarus who died, Jesus' friend? And his sisters who were crying, I'm sure they had said, oh Lazarus, if only you could come out. But he could not keep them because he was dead. But Jesus said, Lazarus, come out. The voice of Jesus will wake the dead. They have no ability to do anything for themselves. But His call is what we call an effectual call. He takes the weak, He who is strong to save. He takes the weak. He takes the dead and raises them up from death and destruction into life as they look to Him. He saves them from the sin that binds them, enslaves them, and degrades them. Now, here is good news for you. Here is good news for you. If you have life-dominating sins, what we sometimes call sinful habits, and you dominated Or your love for a drug or several drugs? Or a life just dominated by abuse of alcohol? Are you dominated by pornography and perversion? Are you dominated by the glitter and the excitement of the gambling machines and the tables and the bright lights? Are you dominated by a lust to dominate others and to have power over their lives? Is your life dominated by an almost insatiable desire to have people loving you and applauding you? Are you dominated by sins that you know that you love too much to get rid of, but at the same time you want desperately to kill them? Perhaps you see that at the deepest level, there is the entire attitude, the entire bent if you will, of sin that completely overcomes you. I've got good news for you if this is the case. This is good news. Jesus will save you. Maybe you feel like a parachutist who threw a mishap. He's just tangled up in the lines, falling Jesus will untie you. Jesus will deliver you. He will be the strong man that will unbind you but will tie up the sin of your life. He will deliver you from death and put to death, death itself, and bring you to life in holiness and righteousness. He will save you from that sin. Oh yes, the consequences of it, the everlasting consequences of it, that He will do. But from the sin itself, He will be setting you free. When we were still without strength, that is when, in due time, Christ died for us. Who? The ungodly. And that leads us into our second question, what if you're wicked? People in general here are described here as ungodly. What does that mean? That's not a word commonly used in today's English. Well, the un part, we know, that means not. And the lee part, well, we know that makes it into an adverb. It's describing something. But what's ungodly? Well, sometimes people use that word a little bit, you know, it means something like, you know, it's over the top. Like, those snowmobilers are making an ungodly amount of noise at three in the morning, or something like that. But that's really rather a profane use of the term. Ungodly means that you are unlike God, unlike Him in His holiness. Unlike him in his righteousness. Unlike him in his justice. Unlike him in his goodness. Unlike him in his truth. That in every attribute. We like to think we are like little Jack Horner. Oh, what a good boy am I. But we are whistling in the dark. We are lying to ourselves and others, if that is the way we think of ourselves. Because left to ourselves, as we are in Adam, we are, you are, I am ungodly. That is the character of our lives. Well, that and weak or dead. So let me just say right off here, anything that this verse has to say about the wicked, the ungodly, it's talking to you. You people sitting here, you people listening to this, it applies to you left to yourself. You are very much unlike God in his righteousness and holiness. Because actually, you are guilty of great sin. Deep down you know it You have been all your life as long as you can remember and I'll tell you right now it goes back to before you can remember You have been in an attitude an entire attitude of rebellion against your creator Maybe Some of you know this Feel that guilt. You're afraid to go to Christ with it. And whether you know it or not, love yourself anyway, you are polluted. So many people concerned with green affairs. And there's a godly way to be that way, of course. There is an ungodly idolatry of nature-ism and such. Too few people that are all worked up about Mother Gaia and stuff of that sort, actually probably all together people that are that way, are not concerned at all about the pollution of their souls, but it is an even greater problem. The pollution of soul leads to the pollution of earth. And you are polluted with the defilement of sin. If you come to see that, you're ashamed to go to the spotless one. If you're coming to see that really, you're not a very good person at all. Really, yeah, ungodliness describes me. If you're coming to see this, well again, in all this, you're just being honest. It may be for the first time in your life, but good, good for you! There may be hope. This may be the beginning of something wonderful. Because sadly, that's not the way everyone is. Oh, I don't mean the wickedness, but the awareness. Because many think that they're pretty good, and that God must be pleased with such religious and respectable people as they to think properly. of themselves as guilty and polluted is insulting and it's disconcerting. It cannot be with such fine ones as they. They are not common lowlifes. They are not wicked. Well, to have such an attitude as that, the Bible says, is a lie. Paul, earlier on here in Romans, in chapter 3, Verse 23 declares, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Got a couple of other passages here that speak to this, and believe me, there are more than three, but in Ecclesiastes 7.20, back in the Old Testament, for there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not. That's pretty comprehensive, isn't it? And looking ahead to another writer near the end of the New Testament in 1 John 1.8, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Not only is that comprehensive, it's not beating around the bush, is it? But as we said to those who came to see or are coming to see that they are weak, that in fact they are dead, There's good news. There's good news. The good news is that the Lord Jesus Christ has died for the ungodly. That is, as a substitute, someone in their place. And that's what it says here. For when we were still without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Let's make something clear here. We are saved by what Christ does for, well I shouldn't say does, but he has done for us. We are justified by something that happened two thousand years ago. It is not on the basis of his ongoing work within us, within you. he died for sinners. He died for his people. Particularly for his elect, he died. Now, we have that not only here in verse 6 of chapter 5 of Romans, but later on in chapter 11 verse 26 Paul goes on to write to the Romans, and so all Israel shall be saved. As it is written, there shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and he shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. Is ungodliness the problem? Well, that's what we're looking at right here in verse 6 of chapter 5. So, chapters later, in chapter 11 verse 26, there shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and he shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." How can he do that? Well, we're reading that in the rest of this chapter here. Christ was righteous, perfectly so. He fulfilled God's law to the uttermost, never did anything against it, never fell short in any way. He always and ever, in everything, kept the law of God perfectly. That godliness is put to the account of everyone who believes it. That godliness, of course, is the admission ticket, in a manner of speaking, to heaven. And in addition, at the cross, He took the punishment due to your sin, the barrier to you having any access, loving, heavenly access, anyway, to God. He took that. He endured separation there on the cross. crying out, and it wasn't an act, it wasn't part of some passion play. It was real and true, quoting from Psalm 30, excuse me, from Psalm 22, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? As the mediator, He was forsaken there. As the mediator there, he took upon himself all the wrath and curse of God for all the people of God who had ever lived from the time of the sin of Adam and Eve, and who would ever live beyond our time until he comes again. That is what we mean, or more to the point, what the Holy Spirit through Paul means when he says that Christ died for the ungodly. all later well around the same time to people in corn wrote second Corinthians 521 for he have made him that is the Lord Jesus Christ to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him here's good news for you feel like You are just weighed down to hell with guilt. If you feel that devils could not feel the shame that you do, if you dare not look up to heaven, but almost in despair, like someone long ago, croak out, God, be merciful to me, a sinner! Jesus will save you. Jesus will save you. For he has paid the punishment, and he has taken the guilt of any and everyone who comes to him for mercy." Oh, I'm such a sinner. I am so ungodly. I am so wicked. Would he have me? This is a faithful statement. and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus has been to the world to save sinners. Pope Paul to his adopted son Timothy and he went on to say, of whom I am chief. If Christ has the liberty, and he has, The boss guy, the sinner. The chief, the sinner. Do you think it's too big a thing to take care of an underling like you? Christ Jesus came to save sinners. Struggling friend. That's what's got you bugged. That's a good thing. For those who will maintain, they are just fine, and they don't need the likes of Christ, or the ones who will find out eventually, oh yes they do. Jesus has come to save just such people as you, and He promises to you, if you will come, He will receive you. He has come to save sinners. Don't worry that you're not good enough. Let me tell you right now, you aren't. No need to worry about that, because that is the case. You aren't worthy to come. You're not good enough. But let me tell you, though you may know many another Christian, not a one of them was either! Jesus takes sinners! And you can't make yourself anything more than that. Any better than that. You can't clean yourself up. You can't get the mud out of your clothes by washing with muddy water. Now, salvation, deliverance, rescue for the weak and the wicked all comes from the undeserved grace of God. And by the way, it is what we call grace, undeserved favor. You know, if you were good enough, you'd have earned it. But God says, no! No, I will not take earnings. You cannot make the earnings. All you do, in thought, word, and deed, in your best moments, is continue to dig the depth, the hole, even deeper. There is no burning away. I'm going to love anyone. I'm going to keep anyone. If I'm going to deliver, rescue, save anyone, it must be, it shall be, by my grace, by my love, which they do not deserve, and I have the right to give to sinners. Do not try to make yourself godly to come to Him. Throw yourself not on His justice, for you will die. Throw yourself on His mercy, and He will gladly make you godly. He will save you from your sin. brought along a little book today. See those hymnals the Presbyterians have? See our psalm books? This is a hymn that's got no music with it, just the words. I want to read to you from what's called a Scottish paraphrase. When the church in Scotland had degenerated a little bit, they started adding stuff to the psalms and Some of them were these paraphrases of certain portions of scripture. Now, this in and of itself for private use is not necessarily a bad thing. We have fine Christian books which are of use to us. But we wouldn't sing from scriptural words any more than I would preach exposing John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion. I preach from the scripture, and we sing in worship that which is useful. Of course, at times we quote from other men. I'll quote from this poetry here, which is taken from, based upon Hosea chapter 6, verses 1 through 4. Let me read a few stanzas here. Come, let us to the Lord our God with contrite hearts return. Our God is gracious. nor will leave the desolate to mourn. Now, weak ones and wicked ones, hear this. His voice commands the tempest forth and stills the stormy wave, and though his arm be strong to smite, it is also strong to save. And going down a few more stanzas to the last two, as dew upon the tender herb diffusing fragrance round, as showers that usher in the spring and cheer the thirsty ground, so shall his presence bless our souls and shed a joyful light. The hallowed morn shall chase away the sorrows of the night. That is what the weak find when they turn themselves to the strong That is what the ungodly find when they fall upon the mercy of the Savior. All of this, you may be thinking, has been sounding very, very evangelist. And it is. It is. I want you to say there are some words of comfort for you who have seen this maybe a little while ago already, and you put your trust in Christ. Or you saw it a mile ago. And by His grace, you're living on 10 even now. Christian, you know the remaining sin in your life. And it hurts. And you hate it now. And you've long pregnanted. And there may be even times when you think, how can God continue to love me? Just think of the not quite pet sin. I hope none of us have pet sins. By that I mean things which we are not willing to let go of. Just think of that sin, or maybe a little complex of related sin, that you're actually kind of a patsy for. I mean, you're fighting them, but the temptations keep coming up, and still from time to time you fall through them. You're fine as long as The temptation isn't around, you know. It's like me. Just to give you an example. Most of the time I've got no problems with keeping within the informal diet I have. And sometimes, stuff will be at home, or stuff will be here at church, and I've got to watch out sometimes. Well, I don't obey the sixth commandment quite as well as I should. All right, now. Let's see here a couple of things. The Lord Jesus Christ has saved you, has delivered you, has blessed you, and all depends, your everlasting life depends upon what He has done for you. Back it comes. Back it comes. It does not depend upon what He is doing in you. God and His love is what delivers you, and He does not change. Your spiritual condition goes up and down, although if you're being Christ, the general direction is upward, more and more holy. But your standing before God does not depend upon that. It's not what's being done in you. It's what has been done for you. It does not depend upon your loveliness, but God's loving. Christ has done everything for you. And you are growing in strength. You are growing in godliness. Do not fear. Furthermore, what's the deep longing of your heart? Isn't it like me to be more and more holy? Isn't there most anything you would give up? Isn't there most anything you would take on if you knew for a fact that you would be made holy? Wouldn't you love to have some button to push? Or some magic words to say to make you instantly holy so you could be done with disappointing in your own mind, your father and your savior. There isn't any of that, but what there is is the promise that this shall happen. And you are traveling in the way of it. He who is strong to deliver is strong to cleanse. He who raises the wicked from their filth, cleans them up, and presents them as a spotless God, without spot, without blemish. One other thing that's not in my notes. I don't know about you, but all too often I think of my father It's just pointed at me. All too often, I did that to my earthly father. But that is a lie from the devil, friends. We have looked before, near the end of the book of Malachi, where God says, where Jehovah says, of those who are gathered together gather together and worship with him that they are his jewels that he treasures that you are a treasured believer you are the light of him you can never disappoint him give thanks and joy in the fact that never were cast to us and that more and more you will be pleased at His work in you and for you and through you to His glory. You will appear to yourself to your own delight and amazement and wonder as a jewel someday too. Yes, you have been wicked. Yes, you have been wicked and There are some remaining spots of weakness yet, and there are areas where you are not sanctified yet, but you've confessed your sin, and He has been faithful and just to forgive you your sin. He is even now, and will yet bring it to perfection, cleansing you from all unrighteousness. Weak and wicked? Yes. By God's grace, you are delivered. ever stronger in Christ our righteousness. Amen.