The Free Gift

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Introduction: Murderer Redeemed by Penny Sermon – “One of the most fascinating events surrounding the reading of a Spurgeon sermon occurred in a South American city. There, an Englishman had been confined to prison for life, apparently for murder. An English friend visited him and left behind two English novels. But as the providence of God would have it, between the leaves of one of the novels, a Spurgeon sermon had been wedged. The message influenced the prisoner tremendously, for in the sermon Spurgeon referred to the murder of Palmer. The Gospel presented in the message gave the prisoner such hope in Christ that, though he never expected to be released from prison, he had come to know Jesus Christ as Saviour and would one day experience the great liberation of heaven.” –from Spurgeon: Prince of Preachers by Lewis Drummond (p.325).  

I.         BY ONE MAN (v.15) 

A.      One Man Brought Sin – Adam (v.12) 

B.      One Man Brought Grace – Jesus (1Corinthians 15:45-49) 

II.      UNTO MANY (v.15) 

A.      Multitudes have Believed (Acts 5:14; 14:1) 

B.      Multitudes will be in Heaven (Revelation 7:9-10) 

III.   BY GRACE (v.15) 

A.      The Grace of God  

1.       The gospel of the grace of God (Acts 20:24)

2.       The bestowing of the grace of God (1Corinthians 15:10)

3.       The offer of the grace of God (Titus 2:11) 

B.      The Gift by Grace (Ephesians 2:8-9) 

It Would Not Burn – “The power of [Charles] Spurgeon’s sermons affected a Scottish woman. Under conviction of her sin, she tried to burn her Bible and a copy of one of Spurgeon’s sermons. Twice the sermon fell out of the fire, the second time half consumed. This so aroused her curiosity that she read the fragment and was converted on the spot.” –from Spurgeon: Prince of Preachers by Lewis Drummond (p. 326).

C.      The Abounding Grace (Romans 5:20) 

IV.   UNTO JUSTIFICATION (v.16) 

A.      Justified by His Grace (Romans 3:24) 

B.      Justified by His Blood (Romans 5:9) 

C.      Justified from Condemnation (Romans 8:33-34) 

D.      Justified by the Faith of Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:16)         

V.      UNTO LIFE (v.17, 18) 

A.      Passed from Death unto Life (John 5:24) 

B.      Given Eternal Life (Romans 5:21; 6:23) 

C.      Promised a Resurrection Life (1Corinthians 15:21-22) 

D.      Enriched with Abundant Life (John 10:10) 

“Mas Baz” Finds the Lord – One day in 1841, while the sixteen-year-old Basil Manly “was walking alone in a cornfield in Orange County, North Carolina, near the Bingham Academy where he attended school, his mind turned toward spiritual things. His mother, at home on the family farm near Pittsboro in neighboring Chatham County, had been converted, baptized, and welcomed as a member of the local Baptist church. Her influence on her son brought religious conviction, as acceptance of the Christian life seemed to be the way of redemption from the guilt and spiritual distress he found himself in. Walking through the corn, weighing heaven and hell in the balance of his mind, Manly was overcome emotionally, and tears soon coursed down his cheeks. Then, from a distance, he heard a voice, and began to move toward it. As he drew closer, Manly recognized the voice as that of an old black man, and overheard the prayer of the slave pleading for the Lord to speak to ‘Mas Baz.’ Young Manly was overwhelmed, and fell to his knees beside the old man, who helped him to pray. Their weeping and praying soon brought other slaves and the white members of the family with whom Manly was boarding to the scene. The tears of spiritual angst soon became tears of joy, as the young man and his new Christian family, white and black, free and slave, celebrated his conversion. From that day forward, Basil Manly was a Christian.” –from Chaplain to the Confederacy by A. James Fuller (p. 11-12).

VI.   BY HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS (v.18)

A.      The Sinless Righteousness of Christ (2Corinthians 5:21) 

B.      The Imputed Righteousness of Christ (Romans 3:9) 

VII.         BY HIS OBEDIENCE (v.19) 

A.      In Life (John 6:38; 15:10) 

B.      In Death (Hebrews 5:8; Philippians 2:5-8) 

Conclusion: Invited to the Throne of God – “Emily Post was once asked for advice by a friend. She said, ‘I have been invited to the White House but I already have an engagement for that same time and am in somewhat of a quandary trying to decide which place to go.’ Emily Post replied, ‘An invitation to the White House automatically cancels all previous engagements.’ ” Jesus has invited every soul to come to Him for rest (Matthew 11:28-20). This cancels all previous engagements. Won’t you accept His offer today?