His Nails Caught Me!
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 7 viewsNotes
Transcript
His Nails Caught Me!
13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
The Bible says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, and then in another scripture it says he that hath ears let him hear what the Spirit is saying.
I try to listen to messages with the intent of grabbing hold of something by faith, that I might be strengthened to understand and run this race!
A few months back, our bishop, the Bishop Marcus Ways preached a message at the W.E. Sheard Memorial District Meeting that was entitled, I’m Not Crazy, I Just Believe God!
In this message he talked about the story of a man working on a tin roof. And while the man worked on this tin roof, it began to rain. As a result the man began to lose his grip and footing on the roof and subsequently slide down the slippery slope of the roof.
In his desperation the man cried out to the Lord and said, God, you gotta help me!
As the man was sliding down the roof, there happened to be a nail sticking out of the roof that caught hold of his coveralls and stopped his fall.
I want to talk to you on the message entitled….
HIS NAILS CAUGHT ME!
Much like the story of the man working on the tin roof, is the story of all humanity.
We were found slipping down into the depths of sin, and the law could not offer any grip of assurance through human strength for us to pull ourselves back up from sins degradation and despair!
I’m reminded of the story of
Mephibosheth, in 2 Samuel 4:4, who was five years old at the time when the news came out of Jezreel about the death of his father, Jonathan, and his grandfather, King Saul, who were killed in battle against the Philistines.
When his nurse heard the news, she took him up, and fled: and it came to pass, as she made haste to flee, that he fell, and became lame.
Like Mephibosheth, that when sin came with the news of death, the law warned us, but we were unable by natural strength to be carried to safety!
Therefore we were left spiraling out of control into the depths of doom!
Someone asked the question, did the law fail us, did it trip us up, did the law push us over to be an offense against the will of God?
Paul said in Romans 7:7-11
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
[8] But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence (all manner of evil desires) That is, Sin impressed upon the flesh to resist the law. For without the law sin was dead.
[9] For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 7
I was alive once, apart from the law Paul describes a figurative existence in which a person is unaware of sin and undisturbed by condemnation from the law. This might refer to Paul’s own experience before becoming a Christian or to the experience of Israel before receiving the law at Mount Sinai.
sin sprang to life In
[10] And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. (the commandment, which was, &c.—designed
to—give
life—through the keeping of it.
I found to be unto death—through breaking it.)
[11] For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.
Romans 5:20 tells us that
Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. The high standard of the law was too expensive for human strength to pay it off!
But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
certificate of indebtedness The Greek term used here means “handwriting,” but it denotes a written record of indebtedness. The initial image is one of tearing up or burning a debt record, although later in the verse this document is nailed to the cross. Paul is confirming the significance of the crucifixion: Through His sacrificial death, Jesus both embodies the debt of human sin and wipes it out (compare Rom 8:3; 2 Cor 5:21). It is also possible that the expression refers to the regulations of the Mosaic law, which Paul also discusses in Col 2:20–23. In this case, the law functions like a record book of humanity’s sins (compare Rom 4:15; Gal 3:19–22).
Barry, John D., Douglas Mangum, Derek R. Brown, Michael S. Heiser, Miles Custis, Elliot Ritzema, Matthew M. Whitehead, Michael R. Grigoni, and David Bomar. 2012, 2016. Faithlife Study Bible (https://ref.ly/res/LLS:FSB/2023-02-17T19:53:47Z/6906493?len=634). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
1 I was sinking deep in sin,
Far from the peaceful shore,
Very deeply stained within,
Sinking to rise no more;
But the Master of the sea
Heard my despairing cry,
From the waters lifted me–
Now safe am I.
Refrain:
Love lifted me,
Love lifted me,
When nothing else could help,
Love lifted me;
Love lifted me,
Love lifted me,
When nothing else could help,
Love lifted me.
