Title: Are you going down with the ship?
One of the great tragedies of the 20th century took place on the night of April 14, 1912. We are all familiar with the sinking of the Titanic. When the ship set sail on its maiden voyage the bands were playing, the passengers were dancing, and everyone was oblivious to the impending disaster. Even when the ship first struck the iceberg many people on board still did not perceive that they were in any danger. When the life boats were lowered down many of them were sent away only half full. The people simply did not know the true condition of the ship. When the band on the Titanic changed its tune to "Nearer My God to Thee" it was already too late.
Many people live their spiritual lives in exactly the same way. They don’t understand their true spiritual condition. They seem oblivious to the great eternal danger that looms ahead. As a result many never look for the spiritual life boat. The very idea that 1500 people would perish was unthinkable to those on board the Titanic, but they found that the cold dark north Atlantic waters were very unforgiving. Survivor Eva Hart remembered that night "I saw all the horror of its sinking and I heard, even more dreadful, the cries of drowning people". Most of the passengers ended up struggling in the icy seas, while those in the life boats waited a safe distance away, listening to the cries of the lost. God has heard the cries of lost humanity, too. He didn’t have to do anything about it. He could have kept a safe distance and just listened, allowing us all to perish, but He didn’t.
What is your real spiritual condition? Are you sinking? Are you going down with the ship? Today I want to challenge you to know your true spiritual condition and to get into the life boat that God has provided for you.
The apostle Paul talked about this issue of knowing our true spiritual condition in his epistle to the Romans chapter 3 verses 23 and 24. If you have not found the passage yet, would you please turn to it as we answer the question: Why would God send YOU a life boat?
Paul wrote this letter to the Christians in Rome. Since Rome was the capital city of the Roman Empire many people were being drawn there from other areas of the empire. This was also true of Christians. Many people, who had been saved as a result of Paul’s ministry, were now in Rome. Paul felt a great responsibility for them. Up to this point he had been unable to visit them, so these Christians had received very little teaching. This lengthy letter which is now known as the book of Romans, was written by Paul as a way to compensate for his inability to give them personal instruction. In this letter the apostle Paul explains fundamental truths about the sinfulness of man. When you discover how bad people truly are you might wonder why in the world would God even care about saving us. In our text today the apostle Paul tells us the reason why. Won’t you please join me this morning as we consider why would God send us a lifeboat?
In verse 23 the apostle Paul begins by showing us our true spiritual condition. He tells us "For all have sinned". That is NOT very good news for us!. That is like saying our boat has struck an ice berg. Sin is a very serious thing. It has become all too commonplace for us in the age we are living in. We are bombarded with it on television and in books, magazines, and on billboards. For the most part we have grown too comfortable with it! It’s common to hear people talk about their "vices" as if it is no big deal. But it is a big deal. It’s a big deal to God for He is Holy. Sin separates us from Him. How serious is sin? Sin carries with it a death sentence. In Romans 6:23 we read "the wages of sin is death"
But that is not our only problem. Paul tells us that not only have we sinned, but we have also come short of the Glory of God. The Glory of God? What is the Glory Of God? We are told in 2 Corinthians 4:6 that we see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. When you see Jesus Christ, you are seeing the Glory of God. God’s glory is shown in Jesus’ perfect life. But here in Romans Paul told us we have all fallen short of His Glory. We have not lived up to His perfect standard. If you have ever been involved with labor unions you know that the workers get real upset if someone new comes on the job who is working to fast. They don’t want anyone to show them up. They also don’t want management to get the idea that they are not working hard enough or worse yet that they should do a new time study. That could increase the daily work standard for everybody. When Jesus came to this earth he lived a perfect and sinless life. In effect He showed us up. We all have fallen short of His glory. We have fallen short of His perfect standard. Some people have the idea that Jesus’ perfect life is what saves us. That is not true. His perfect life condemned us. His perfect life is something we cannot live up to. The point is, our boats have struck the iceberg and we are sinking fast friends!
But God did not leave us to drown in our sins. In verse 24 the life boat comes into view. Paul declares that we are being justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. This verse has some important words in it. It states first that we are justified. That means we are declared in right standing with God. There was a man in England who put his Rolls-Royce on a boat and traveled across to the continent for a vacation. While he was driving around Europe, something happened to the motor of his car. He cabled the Rolls-Royce people back in England and asked, "I’m having trouble with my car; what do you suggest I do?" The Rolls-Royce people flew a mechanic over! The mechanic repaired the car and flew back to England and left the man to continue his journey. As you can imagine, the fellow was wondering, "How much is this going to cost me?" When he returned to England, he wrote a letter to the company and asked how much he owed them. He received a letter from the office that read: "Dear Sir: There is no record anywhere in our files that anything was ever wrong with a Rolls-Royce." That is justification. In the same way, when you are justified YOU are declared right with God, just as though you never did anything wrong.
The second important word in this verse is "freely". In the original Greek it means without a cause, or without a reason. Back in verse 23 we found that we are all sinners. Here the word "freely" is proclaiming that because we are sinners there is no cause, or reason why, any one of us could merit God’s favor! But does God leave us helpless? No. He reaches out to us with the very next word. And that word is "grace". Grace means God’s unmerited favor. It means that even though we don’t deserve God’s loving kindness He gives it to us anyway.
It is said that one winter night, New York mayor Fiorello La Guardia decided to visit a Manhattan night court. He dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench. It was a bitter cold that night. Soon a man dressed in nothing more than a long sleeved shirt and pants was brought before La Guardia. The man had been accused of stealing a loaf of bread. His family was starving, the man claimed. "I have to punish you," the mayor pronounced. "The law makes no exceptions. I hereby fine you ten dollars" stated LaGuardia as he banged his gavel. Then La Guardia did an amazing thing. Reaching into his own pocket, he said "Here’s the ten dollars to pay your fine" tossing a ten-dollar bill into the man’s hat. "Furthermore," he went on, "I’m fining everybody in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a man has to steal bread in order to feed his family. Mr. Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to this defendant!" The hat was passed around, and the man left La Guardia’s courtroom, shaking his head and holding $47.50.
That is grace. And even though we don’t deserve it, God is loving toward us. He gives us His unmerited favor. He gives us grace. The opposite of grace is justice. If God were to give us justice we would all be in the water without a lifeboat.
The third extremely important word we come to is redemption. When we sin a debt is created. "How?" you might ask. Well, we have already seen that "the wages of sin is death" This death penalty MUST be paid. The God of the Bible is a God of justice. God is not capricious; He can’t just "let sinful people off". Someway, somehow the debt has to be paid. Someone has to pay it...so that God’s justice is not violated. The question you have to decide is who is going to pay the debt. You?...or God? What God is affirming in this verse is the fact that Jesus has already paid the death penalty you owe as a result of your sin!. There wasn’t any goodness in you that motivated God to do this. You certainly don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve it. None of us deserve to be redeemed. Why did God give us a way out? He gave us a way out because He is love. A lot of people have the idea that when it comes to Salvation we go "dutch" with God. You pay a little portion and God pays a little portion and the debt is paid. These verses make it plain that this it is an all or nothing proposition. If God is not paying, then you are paying. If you are paying, then the only thing you have to look forward to is death.
There is a story of a boy who was carrying an old, bent bird cage. Inside was a tiny field sparrow. A man stopped the boy and asked him what he was going to do with the bird.
"Well..." the boy said. "I think I’ll play with it for a while, and then when I’m tired of playing with it -- I think I’ll kill it." He made that last comment with a wicked grin on his young face.
Moved with compassion for the bird, the man asked, "How much would you sell me that bird for?"
"You don’t want this bird, mister," the boy said with a chuckle. "It’s just a field sparrow." But then he saw the old gentleman was serious.
"You can have this bird for – 50 bucks" he said slyly. It was an astronomical price for a bird worth only pennies. The man paid the money and then he let the bird go.
This is what Jesus did for us. You see, an evil specter called Sin had us caged much like that bird. We were unable to escape. Then Jesus came up to Sin and said, ‘What are you going to do with those people in that cage?’
"‘These people?’ Sin answered with a laugh. ‘I’m going to teach them to hate each other. Then I’ll play with them until I’m tired of them -- and then I’ll kill them.’
"‘How much to buy them back?’ Jesus asked.
With a sly grin, Sin said, "You don’t want these people, Jesus. They’ll only hate you and spit on you. Why, they’ll even nail you to a cross! If you really want them", Sin continued " it’ll cost you dearly. It will cost all of your tears and all of your blood -- your very life."
That, ladies and gentlemen, is just what Jesus did for us on the cross. Verse 24 tells us that our redemption is in Jesus Christ. So now the big question is how do we get in Christ? He gives us the answer down in verse 26 "that He might be just, and the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus". You are justified when you believe in Jesus. That is what you must do to be saved. Believe in Jesus.
If you were to ask most people "do you believe in Jesus?" almost everyone would answer you, "Yes certainly, I already do!" Does that mean that they are all justified and on their way to heaven? In James 2:19 we are told that the devils also believe, [in Jesus]. But are they saved? Are they going to heaven? No, definitely not! Mental assent or merely acknowledging that something is true is not enough to qualify you as being in Christ. There was once a man who decided he was going to walk across Niagara falls on a tightrope while standing on top of a barrel. The event was publicized in the local papers and a very sizable crowd had gathered to watch the event. After the man had the cable stretched across the falls, he then climbed onto the platform. He had with him the barrel and the long balancing pole he intended to use. He positioned himself on top of the barrel with his pole in hand. Just before he began to go across on the cable he looked down at the cheering crowd and noticed a woman standing nearby. He asked her "do you think I can do this?" The woman was all exited and said "Yes! Yes! You can do it!" "Okay" said the man. "Get in the barrel!" When you put your faith in Christ it is as though you were to get in the barrel. You entrust him with your very life and not only your life here on this earth, but with your very eternity. You so closely identify with Him that you become one with Him. Complete dependence upon Him. That is the kind of faith that will save a person!
On April 15, 1912 at 2:20 in the morning the Titanic slipped below the surface and began her long plunge to the bottom of the Atlantic. Some of the passengers remained on the surface struggling to stay alive in the icy waters. Many called out for the lifeboats to return to help them, but only one- lifeboat #14 - returned. That one lifeboat chased cries in the darkness, seeking and saving only a precious few. God has sent out a lifeboat to pick us up. You get into this lifeboat by being in Christ. But there is only one lifeboat. Won’t you get in the lifeboat by putting your trust in Jesus today? Don’t go down with the ship.
