Introduction:
Elvis Presley had a song called Double Trouble: I guess there's gotta be two dark clouds hangin' over me My future looks as bumpy as a matchbox on the sea Every time I think that I have finally got it made Some losin' cards are played, I just can't make the grade I got double trouble, I got double trouble I got double trouble twice as much as anybody else
Thesis: Let’s talk about double trouble and the double cure
For instances:
I. THE SINNER'S "DOUBLE TROUBLE."
A. Sin makes us guilty under the law. We are guilty as sin.
1. Sin is the act of breaking God’s law. Romans 3:23- All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
2. Law-breaking results in guilt (James 2:10: For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.). This is an objective state, a wrong relationship to the law of God. It is not the same as subjective guilty feelings. Whether we feel guilty or not, we are as guilty as sin.
3. Guilt brings punishment. Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death. We have earned it
4. This is the sinner's most serious problem: he is guilty of breaking God's law, and he is condemned to suffer the penalty of eternal hell. The sinner owes God the DEBT of hell.
5. This is what we have been talking about over the last several months.
B. Sin also gives us a sinful heart or sinful nature. Haven’t talked about this much.
This sinful condition is a kind of spiritual death. Col. 2:13: you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature
Think of a man losing his temper at home, storming out of the house, jumping into his car, and zooming out onto the road without stopping and checking for traffic. He is immediately broadsided by a truck, creating two problems. Two sirens are heard as emergency vehicles approach. One is a police car, because the driver has broken the law by driving recklessly and causing an accident. The other siren is from an ambulance, which is necessary because the accident broke the man’s leg. So the man has to go to the hospital and have his leg set and put into a cast, and he has to hobble around on crutches for weeks. Has two problems, one legal and the other medical. As sinners, we also have two problems. First is legal and the second is a soul/spirit sickness, all caused by sin.
More than just a physical sickness or cancer, it is also a problem of the mind. The sick mind and flesh work together to produce immoral behavior in a sinner.
In our unsaved state the sinfulness of our hearts and bodies makes us weak in the face of temptation; we do not have the strength to break the grip of sin over our lives.
Romans 8:7-8: “the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.” Sinners can still respond to the gospel, we are not totally depraved. However, we are all rebels and enjoy breaking God’s law. We get excitement and pleasure from doing what ought not to be done.
We are so spiritually and mentally sick that we do things that are hazardous and dangerous to ourselves and others
II. GOD'S "DOUBLE CURE" OF GRACE.
A. First, the grace of God resolves the problem of our guilt and takes away our punishment. God as JUDGE declares that the penalty for sin no longer applies to us.
1. This is the gift called justification, forgiveness, or remission of sins. Rom. 4:7-8: “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” Not counted against us, justified, no penalty!
2. Made possible by the death of Christ. Jesus paid our debt! Rom. 5:9: Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
3. Because we are forgiven (justified), we are free from the law's condemnation. Rom. 8:1:
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus
B. Also, the grace of God resolves the problem of our spiritual sickness and restores us to spiritual wholeness. God as PHYSICIAN cures the disease of sin that afflicts our natures.
The beginning point of this cure is called regeneration, the new birth, or spiritual resurrection. This is accomplished by two things:
the victorious power of Christ’s death. Romans 6:4-6: We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.
the renewing power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Titus 3:5: He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
2. In Romans 6 Paul is answering the objection: It seems that grace only encourages a person to sin all the more. If this is what we think, then we simply do not yet understand the full implications of grace. Especially, we do not understand that in addition to justification, God's grace gives us a NEW NATURE, a NEW LIFE. Thus continuing in sin would be a kind of MORAL CONTRADICTION.
2. The process continues through the gift called sanctification, through which the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit gives us on-going power over sin and the ability to live holy lives. 3. Process is completed after we die, through the perfecting of our spirits (Heb. 12:23: You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect) and our resurrection into glorified bodies (Rom 8:23: we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.).
C. The "double cure" in the hymn-book.
Rock of Ages: "Be of sin the double cure: cleanse me from its guilt and power."
Blessed Assurance: "Born of his Spirit, washed in his blood."
The Old Rugged Cross: "For ‘twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died, to pardon and sanctify me."
D. A few Sunday nights ago I passed out a chart or a graph that displayed the Double Cure. It has the solid black line of the percent forgiven. Through Christ we are 100% forgiven at the moment of conversion and that goes on forever (as long as we trust in Christ, stay under his blood). The gray line is the percent holy. We will always be less than 100% holy or sanctified until we get to heaven. Some people have the idea that they have to be 100% holy to be saved. We will never be that holy. However, when we come to Christ for salvation, the percentage of our holiness should be going up gradually in fits and starts. Second part of the double cure.
Conclusion and Invitation:
III. GOD GIVES THIS "DOUBLE CURE" IN CHRISTIAN BAPTISM.
A. Acts 2:38.
1. "Be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins." This is justification.
2. "And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." This is for the purpose of regeneration and sanctification.
B. Colossians 2:12-13: having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. .
1. “Having been buried with Him in baptism.” Being buried with Christ into his death (Rom. 6:3-4) brings us into contact with his blood, which is the basis for justification.
"raised with him through your faith in the power of God" (see v. 13). This is spiritual resurrection from spiritual death, which is another way of describing our regeneration.
A scene from an old time western movie. Sometimes, when the hero takes a bullet or arrow, he gets an infection and develops a deadly fever. The doctor in called to the house, and the doctor goes into the bedroom from time to time to see if any change has occurred. The first few times he comes out of the bedroom, sadly shaking his head. Then finally, after one visit, the doctor exits the bedroom with a big smile on his face, saying, “The fever broke!” He is telling us that the hero has turned the corner and is beginning to get well.
When God’s gift of regeneration is giving to the sinner in Christian baptism, we can joyfully shout, “The fever broke! The infection of sin is starting to be healed!” But as with the western hero, the healing of our sin diseased natures is not immediately complete. It does not happen all at once but is an ongoing process called sanctification. This process is the result of the Holy Spirit’s continuing to indwell our very bodies. Romans 8:11: 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 through his Spirit, who lives in you.
The Holy Spirit is given for the purpose of helping us make a full recovery. In this recovery stage we are given strength by the Spirit, but we must use our own spiritual muscles and exercise our way back to health. As our live in physician, the Spirit, supplies us with the “tonic” that builds up our spiritual systems, but he also gives us instructions that we must follow in order for the cure to continue.
How? First step is to be baptized. 2 Kings 5 gives the story of Naaman. Naaman came down with the deadly skin disease called leprosy. Wanting to be healed of the disease he went to the prophet Elisha. Elisha told Naaman to go and wash seven times in the Jordan River and his leprosy would be healed. Naaman didn’t like the prophets idea, he complained...,
