So, our text tonight is from the book of Romans, chapter 5. And to me, and maybe to some of you, the book of Romans is like the crown jewel of all the books of the Bible. Imagine with me for a second that the books of the Bible are this glorious royal crown. And the Old Testament is just the gold foundation of it. And the books of the New Testament are all the beautiful gems all around this crown. But the crown jewel, the one that shines out the most, must be the book of Romans. And you're probably thinking, slow down there, James, that's a little too far. But let me tell you what Martin Luther said about the book of Romans. Martin Luther writes in the preface of his commentary, This letter is truly the most important piece in the New Testament. It is the purest gospel. It is well worth a Christian's while, not only to memorize it word for word, but also to occupy himself with it daily, as though it were his daily bread of his soul. So let's jump in tonight to our text and see what the Lord has in store for us out of the book of Romans. We'll be reading from chapter 5. I'll start at verse 1, but our main text tonight is verses 6 through 11. Romans chapter 5, verse 1. Hear the word of the Lord. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. In our text tonight, For while we were still weak at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die. But God shows his love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were sinners we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more now that we are reconciled shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received reconciliation. There ends the reading of God's word. So when you look over the entire Bible from beginning to end, you find the gospel everywhere. You can look all the way back to the very beginning in Genesis chapter 3 and find the gospel. In Genesis chapter 3 it says, I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and hers. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. You could find the gospel in the Psalms. You could find the gospel in Isaiah and in the prophets. And of course you could find the gospel in the New Testament. The first four books are the gospel according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But the book of Romans plainly lays out the idea of the gospel. When the Apostle Paul was pinning this letter to a church he had never been to, Did he know that one day this letter would help the entire church through all of time, that it would help us solidify our ideas of the gospel? The idea that there would be nothing that we could do to earn salvation. But only by faith alone could we accept this precious gift. And what is that gift? That only through the death of Jesus Christ could we escape the wrath of God. And over the life of the church, many great theologians have picked up the book of Romans and read from long ago with Augustine to the Reformation, as we heard with Luther and Calvin. And even today, even today, the book of Romans has been used to edify his church and made us more like our Savior, Jesus Christ. And with all these truths that we can glean from the book of Romans, it always brings us back to that one thing. That one thing. The gospel. It always brings us back to the gospel. The gospel is the most important thing that any human has ever heard. I've titled this sermon, Enemies Made Right. Before the moment that we were justified by Christ's blood, the wrath of God was pointed at us. The wrath of God is pointed at his enemies. But our text this evening shows us how this problem is remedied. Martin Lloyd-Jones said about our text tonight, this is one of the greatest verses in the Bible. He goes on to say, I do not hesitate to assert that there is no greater statement of love of God than this. These six verses tonight will show us not only that we're weak, but that we're ungodly, that we're sinners, and worst of all, we're enemies of God. And if not for the love of God shown to us in His Son, His wrath would still be pointed at us at this very second. And isn't that how the book of Romans starts out? The book of Romans starts out. Paul gives us a thesis statement in Romans 1, verses 16 and 17, where he goes on to say, For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also the Greek. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith. As it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. But the very next verse, the very next thing Paul writes to them is, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. And Paul will go on for the next three chapters. explained to us first with the Jew and then with the Greek that there is none righteous, no, not one. No one understands, no one seeks for God. All have turned aside. Together they have become worthless. No one does good, not even one. Romans 3, verse 10. And when we get to chapter 4, Paul shows us that it is only by faith that Abraham is considered righteous. And we should be thinking to ourselves, how can this be? How can this be? How can an enemy be made right with a holy and just God? And that's what Paul is going to explain for us in our text tonight. So if we jump back into verse 6, For while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. Verse 6 sets up this whole section for us. Paul wants to make perfectly clear that man is both weak and ungodly. Weak here isn't some physical weakness, a strength issue where you can't push a door open or pull something towards you. Paul is explaining weak here as a spiritual and moral issue. You see, being born in Adam, we as sons and daughters of Adam have one glaring weakness. We're born in sin. And with this weakness, we can never come to God on our own. Paul puts it another way in Ephesians chapter 2. And he writes, you were dead in your trespasses and sin. dead. Not sick, not poisoned, where all somebody has to do is hand you an antidote and you'll be made well. You were dead. You were just like a skeleton laying in the middle of the desert and your bones are being bleached by the sun. There is absolutely nothing you could do, but at the right time. Or as Paul says elsewhere, in the fullness of time, Christ died for the ungodly. You see, we were still dead. It wasn't that the world was getting any better. And the father told the son, now's the time, son. Now's the time. They've achieved the line. Go get them. That's not what happened. That's not what happened. There is nothing in us that did any of this. And if we're dead, how can we be made alive again? And it's not that God would have nothing to do with us. But you see, when you're ungodly, you want to have nothing to do with Him. You run from His presence. You're like our beginning parents, Adam and Eve, and you go hide in the bushes when you hear them walking in the garden. You hate the things of God. Have you ever tried to talk to an unbeliever and you just mention Jesus' name and they like recoil and they back up? Or just simple Christian ideas, that's the fallen human heart. But you want to hear something amazing? Christ died for the ungodly. Nothing had changed in us. Nothing made us want to love God so that he would send his son. Our love may seem like a lot to us, but it doesn't even compare to God's love. And that leads us into verse 7. Verse 7 we read, For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die. This verse seems a little difficult at first. Really what Paul is trying to do here is to show us the fallen human heart. How much do we love? Who would we die for? It's rare for someone to die for somebody, isn't it? That's something you hear soldiers doing. But what about the person on the street? What about your co-worker? What about your neighbor? Did you die for one of them? I know you might be thinking right now, you know, slow down there, James. It's summer break. I just got this new car. I want to drive it around. I don't want to die for anybody. Or if you're a new parent and you have this new child, You're thinking, there's no way I want to die. I want to watch this kid grow up. Would you die for family members or friends? Of course you would. Of course you would. What this verse is getting at is sure we would die for someone we love. Like it says, for a good person we would even dare to die. Friends and family. But what Paul is trying to show us is a huge contrast. When Christ died, he gave his life for those who hated him. think about someone who people hate hopefully we don't hate anybody right but think about like the average name that pops into our heads when someone says oh that we should hate that person let's say adolf hitler right joseph stalin that's in the past think about today think about people who people hate the rapist the child molester those are people people hate Now I want to turn this around. Think of someone who hates you. Think of someone who hates you. Would you die for someone who hates you? Think of someone who would kill you if they had the opportunity to do so. Think of ISIS. Think of Jihadi John who would behead you and put the video up on YouTube. Would you die for him? And now we get to see and understand verse 7 leading into verse 8. I want to read verse 7 again and then read verse 8 with it. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die. But God shows his love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. It almost leaves you speechless, doesn't it? What kind of love is this? That this holy, holy, holy God would die for wretched sinners like you and me? The first thing that pops into my mind is, hallelujah, what a Savior. What a Savior. This whole time, Paul has been telling us who we are. First we were weak and then ungodly. And now, sinners. And I think we forget about that over time. I guess we forget about how we look without the blood of Christ covering us. While I was preparing this sermon, I was reading a study from Cornelius Plantinga over at Calvin College. And in his study, he was saying that churches no longer mention sin in their evangelism. And they no longer mention sin to new believers in their worship services anymore. he says that churches leave out the topic of sin because it turns off non-Christians and new believers these churches are trying to be relevant to culture today and you're like, really? relevant? like don't we deal with sin and the consequences of sin every day? how much more relevant is that? the question I would love to ask these churches is, do you guys read the Bible? Do you guys read the Bible? The Bible is full of sinners. The Bible is full of people that fall short. The Bible goes out of its way to show them that they're not worthy. How will anybody ever know they need a Savior if they never know they're a sinner? So what do we look like? without the precious blood of Christ covering us? It's disgusting. Filthy. Wretched. To God, humanity is swimming in one gigantic cesspool. The Bible says the sinner is an abomination to our holy God. And as one pastor put it, the sinner is a monstrosity in God's beautiful universe. And yet, and yet, like the text says, God shows his love for us. That while we were still this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And not just any old death, but one of the most humiliating deaths. Death on a cross. God showed us his own love by putting his own son to death for people who were enemies of him. And as I was thinking about this verse, John 3.16 jumped right back into my head. John 3.16, For God so loved the world that he gave us his one and only son, that whoever would believe in him shall not die, but have everlasting life. How did God love the world? He sent us his one and only son. And why did he send us his son? To die on a cross for you and me. And not just for anybody, not just for you and me, but for the church from beginning to end. Paul says it's a specific group. Christ died for us, us, Christ's bride, Christ's church. It had nothing to do with us. Nothing to do with what we did. Nothing we did or ever could do could ever make this happen. Paul writes in Ephesians, but because of his great love for us, God, who was rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. It is by grace you have been saved. There is absolutely nothing we could have done to make this happen. And as Isaiah writes, And when we get to verse 9 of our passage, we can see what Christ's blood has accomplished. It says, Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood. Bringing up blood here, Paul wants us to see that Jesus' death was a sacrificial one. Only by the shedding of blood could there ever be forgiveness of sins. And we are justified if we are in Christ. This means that our debt's been paid. On the cross, Jesus took the wrath that was meant for us. And if we finish verse 9, it says, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. We never have to face the wrath of God. We have been saved by Christ from ever having to face such a terrible thing. And this is another thing I think we forget about as Christians. We never really think about it. The wrath of God. It's almost too scary to think about, isn't it? The God who created the universe will come back once and for all to judge sinners. But we know it will happen. We know it will happen. Even when Scripture gives us literary pictures of this, the second coming, it just gives us chills to think about it. The Old Testament calls this day the day of vengeance. And I want to read a little bit of Isaiah 63, just so we can get this tiny taste of this day of vengeance, this wrath of God. Isaiah 63 starts out, Who is this who comes from Edom in crimson garments from Basra? He who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength. It is I, speaking in righteousness mighty to save. Why is your apparel red and your garments like him who treads the winepress? I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me. I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath. Their lifeblood splattered on my garments and stained all my apparel. And you're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down. That's the God of the Old Testament, right? That's not our God of love in the New Testament. Nope, same God. Same God. Paul writes in 2 Thessalonians, When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not know those who obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. How scary is that? How scary is that? This coming wrath. And I know every single one of us sitting in this room knows a non-believer that has that pointing at them at this very second. This very second. This should make us run. Drop everything and run and tell them, please, plead with them, please listen to the gospel. Please, hear it out. He will come back. He said he would. And this time he doesn't come back as the lamb. But he comes back as the lion. And finally, Paul will remind us what Christ's death brought us. Though we were enemies, now we are reconciled. Verse 10 reads, For while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son. Much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Once again, Paul shows us that there's nothing that we did. That's like the theme, the overarching theme of this section of tests. text, that there's nothing that we did to make this happen. While we were enemies, isn't it a joy to know that all this happened while we were weak, while we were ungodly, while we were sinners, and now while we were enemies? It is God the Father through his Son, Jesus Christ, that everything has been accomplished. We couldn't even mess this up if we tried. it is the death of his son that has brought this broken relationship back into harmony, that has made enemies right. Paul says elsewhere in 2 Corinthians 5, all this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. I love that. He entrusted to us this message now. And what is this message? The message is the war is over. The war is over. We can now go to the nations and tell them the price has been paid. We no longer have to be sons and daughters of Adam, but now we can be sons and daughters of our Father in heaven. Christ has fulfilled the law. He lived the perfect life, which we could never do. That's why Paul says we shall be saved by his life. And now we read in verse 11, more than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation. God, through Jesus, has brought us peace. Has brought us peace. You see, brothers and sisters, it's done there's nothing we can do to change it Paul tells us this in Romans chapter 8 there is now no more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus for the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death what a great assurance is that you can leave here today knowing that and Paul tells us in chapter 12 that we should leave here being living sacrifices for him. What I tell you, the book of Romans, the crown jewel of the Bible. First we were dead. Then we were made alive by the once for all sacrifice of Jesus, which took away the wrath of God. And now we can live for him. Now we can live for him. Brothers and sisters, if you are in Christ, Remember what he has done for you. Stop and ponder what he had to do for us. And go tell those who don't know. I beg you, go tell those who don't know. The wrath of God is pointing at them. We are no longer enemies, but beloved children. The war is over, my friends. Walk in Christ. Let us pray. Father God, we thank you so much for sending your son to die in our place. There was nothing, absolutely nothing we could do to mend that relationship, but you sent your one and only son to do it. We pray, Lord, that you continue to convict us of this, that we go and we share it, that we have boldness to share this gospel message, that it's only in you that this relationship can be remedied. Thank you so much for this day. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.