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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/peter-simms/the-gospel-propitiation/
We're going to go back to Romans chapter 3 and start off where we left the other night, Romans chapter 3. Remember what's happening in these verses now, it's the Apostle Paul using a Roman court scene.
And he's using that to relay to us the position and the problem that the human family are in. Verse 9 of Romans 3. So there's the proof. You can't judge a man without proof that he's guilty. So Paul says, we have proved that both the Jew and the Gentile, they're guilty.
Then from verse 10 down to verse 18, he brings 14 charges against them. This is a charge that God has against the human family. And verse 19. And all the world may become guilty before God. The case is closed.
They've been proven guilty. The charges are laid. The case is closed. The announcement of the judge is guilty. And the sentence is death. And that's where we left off last night. Now my friends, what we're going to read are verses first.
So let's go to chapter 3. Just over the page to chapter 3. We'll read in at verse 23. Now we're going to talk now about this term, propitiation. God set forth His Son to be a propitiation. We're going to talk about what that word means.
Now let's go over to 1 John chapter 4. And we're going to read in at verse 10. Herein is love. Not that we love God. But that He loved us. And sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Now remember that verse.
Herein is love. Not that we love God. But that He loved us. And sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Chapter 2 and verse 1. Children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ of righteous.
And He is the propitiation for our sins. And not for ours only. But also for the sins of the whole world. Now a reading in Luke's Gospel, chapter 18. And you'll all remember the story of the two went up to the temple to pray.
The publican and the Pharisee. The one boasted of himself before God. And he went away as he came. Unjustified. Verse 13. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be propitious to me a sinner.
Now I know it says merciful there. But the word is the same one we're going to look at. Propitious. I tell you that this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For every one that exalteth himself shall be abased.
And he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Now that word propitiation simply means, it's big, it sounds big, but it's not. It's not got a large meaning. It simply means to satisfy. To pacify. To appease.
You know the pacifier? You have a little baby and the little baby gets all upset about something and starts crying and screaming. And what does mother do? She gets that little piece of rubber, they call it a pacifier, and sticks it in the mouth.
And the little one starts to draw on it and pretty soon it's all over. It's pacified. Whatever was irritating it, it's gone. It's been pacified. That's the idea behind the word propitious. God must be pacified.
Sin has stirred up his inner being. And there's nothing that revolts God, nothing so antagonistic to God, nothing so hateful to God, is when his creature, man, refuses to use that free will he gave him to worship him.
Instead he takes that free will and uses it as a weapon against God. To defy God. To do everything God doesn't want him to do. God gave man the free will so that he might exercise that free will in worshiping God.
Now, last night we went on to show what sin has done to the human family. This man Adam now, remember, it all started with him. He was innocent, he was not holy, he was innocent, and he was given a free will, and God talked to him, had a special talk to him in the garden, explained things about the garden, and put one restriction upon him.
Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you gain that knowledge, you will not be able to handle it. When it comes to all moral issues, God said, I will determine for you what's right and wrong.
You are not free to make up that choice of your own. There's the garden, you can eat whatever fruit you like. And you can rejoice in all the creation I've given you there in the garden. It's all yours to enjoy.
But, on moral issues, you are not allowed to make your own choice. I don't want you to gain the knowledge of good and evil. Well, you know what happened in chapter 3. The devil came along and tempted the woman, and she did exactly what she shouldn't have done.
And then when the man saw he lost the woman, he did exactly what he shouldn't have done. And the whole thing was lost. They were driven out of the garden. And they became spiritually dead. Their link with God was broken.
They're out of the garden. Now, from that day that Adam sinned, the human family has been progressively becoming more wicked, and more wicked, and more wicked, and more wicked. And when we come to the Apostle Paul's day, he wrote the epistle to the Romans to give the great treaties on the gospel.
But first of all, he's going to prove the guilt and the unworthiness of mankind. He's going to show us exactly what man is. Now, it's not a pretty sight. And last night we went over it. We're not going to go over it again.
But just to say that mankind is totally, absolutely, 100 altogether rotten in God's eyes. He's worthless. He's useless. Only one thing God can do with them. And that is cast them into the lake of fire.
Now, I know I can say that so fast. And you almost hate saying it. If it wasn't in the Bible. But we've got to stop and think. Now, listen. If our God, who is good, who is righteous, who is kind, who is merciful and gracious, all those wonderful attributes that set forth his character as being good and worthy of our trust.
But then that same God is holy. He's just as holy as he is loving and kind and just. Now, we generally look at, or the people of our world, the religious world, generally look on the good side, that God is good.
But that good God created a lake of fire in which he will put human beings. That's a frightening thing. That God will put people in a lake of fire because he's as much holy as he is loving. And he just cannot.
He warned Adam. He said, if you eat of that forbidden fruit, you will die. And that just didn't mean die, you know, physical death. Death means separation. And God says, you'll be separated from me. And that's what happened because when he sinned, he ran out into the bush to hide.
He was afraid of God. And if God hadn't went looking for him, he'd have died out there. That would have been it. And God could have left him go. God didn't have to go and call him back and reason with him.
But he did. And the human family. The first boy was a murderer. You don't go over a few chapters again until you find polygamy. And then you go a few more chapters again and there's no one naked. And his son's doing some immoral act.
And you go down the line, it just keeps getting worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse. The total depravity of man. Manifesting itself on every turn. Now I want you to look now in Romans chapter 3.
Where it says the whole world might become guilty before God. So when he says the world now, we want to look at that world as the world representing mankind. So we're going to take the whole of mankind and bring them together into one term.
Just like it is one man. There he is. The world. And God has pronounced it guilty. They've been proven guilty. Their mouth is shut. Now just picture a court case. And picture the world now. Before the Judge God.
The charges have been laid. 14 of them. They're terrible. The Judge has pronounced the world guilty. And the world stands there, its mouth is shut. There it stands before God. Now you picture the world as a man.
The most degraded. The most filthy. The most disrespectful. You think of every term that you can think of that will debase a person. You put it to that man. That's how God sees him. Totally wrecked and ruined.
Not a morsel of good in him. Everything about him cries out for the wrath of God to fall upon him. And picture a bar. And God the Judge. And he's looking into his eyes. Into that poor, despicable, wretched creature.
That he made for his pleasure. And dared to challenge him. And exercise his free will against his creator. And that creature represents and is a personification of everything God hates. And is repulsive to him.
There he stands. Now God has two ways to go. Two ways to go. He can damn him. Let justice have its way. And it would be righteous. He had every right to do so. Justice can have its way. And he'll go down to hell.
And that's it. Or there's another way he can go. And there's a conflict. As it were in the person of God. As to which way he'll go. Now, I want you to go with me to 1 John 4. And verse 10. As God looks into the eyes of that man.
That world. John says, Herein is love. Never was love like it before. Herein is love. Not that the world loved God. No, they hated him. But that God loved him. And gave his son to be a propitiation for his sin.
Herein is love. Now, you'll never find love expressed like this or to such a degree. John sits and wonders. And he says, herein is love. God's looking at that creature. The personification of everything he hates.
And is repulsive too. But he's going to show him love. Herein is love. God will not banish him to the lake of fire. He's going to give him another chance. There's going to be another chance for this creature, man of his, to exercise his free will.
Another chance. And so God's going to take up his cause. Because his mouth is shut. His hands are empty. He's guilty and he's got nothing to pay. He can't appease God. He can't pacify God. And if God is not pacified, he will damn him.
And now God is going to work this thing out. So he don't have to send this poor miserable creature to that lake of fire. Give him another chance. So herein is love. How can God love that creature? You ever see people?
They're just about as low, as low as they can get. They smell. They're dirty. They're drunk. They're addicts. I mean, take a look and think of everything that some people, how low down they can get. You want to walk on the other side of the street.
You don't even want to walk by them. Do you love those kind of people? Or do you love the guy dressed up in his suit? You know, the respectable? That's why John is saying, here's love. Here's real love.
Look at this creature. Herein is love. Not that he loved God, but that God loved him and gave his son or sent his son to be a propitiation for his sins. Well, how is this going to work now? This world standing before God, guilty and condemned.
Remember, his hands are empty. He cannot do a thing. Everything he's going to get and every opportunity to be reconciled and to become something is resting solely and totally upon the gracious love and mercy of God.
If he gets what he deserves, he's going to hell. And so his mouth is shut, his hands are empty. God's going to work on his behalf. And what does God do? Well, God's going to send his son. Let's look at that verse in Psalm 85, in verse 10.
That's an important Psalm in light of what we're talking about. Psalm 85, verse 10. Mercy and truth are met. And the last part is, righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Mercy and truth, they're opposites.
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Now, we'll call it a problem. God really doesn't have a problem. But we'll call it that to help us understand. God is facing a problem. Which is really no problem to God, but we'll call it that.
Here's the world standing before him, that guilty wretch. And justice is crying out for vengeance. So God is a God of justice. A God of holiness. So there's one part of God saying, this world, this man, has got to die.
He has violated the laws, and the law said, if he sins, he must die. And justice demands that he die. But then God's not only justice. God's a God of love. A God of compassion. And God wants to save that man.
God wants to save the world. God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He wants to save it. But justice says, no, he's got to die. He's guilty.
He broke the law. And the law says he's got to die. So that's a conflict within the Godhead, as it were. Justice crying for vengeance. Mercy crying for mercy. What will God do? If you had a boy, and we use the illustration, it's just a simple illustration.
And you told that boy, now listen, this is the Lord's Day. Put that bicycle in the garage and leave it there. I don't want to see you on your bicycle on the Lord's Day again. If you do, you'll be in trouble.
So, he goes to bed for the Sunday afternoon and has a rest. And he gets up. He looks out the window. And there's Johnny running up and down the street with the bike. Now, if he gives Johnny a spanking, he's not showing no mercy.
That's justice. But if he does not spank Johnny, then there's no justice. See, he can't do both. Johnny disobeyed. And if he's going to be just, then he must spank Johnny. If he doesn't spank Johnny, then he's being merciful, but he's give up justice.
He can't do both. He cannot be both merciful and show justice towards Johnny at the same time. He can only do one. And if he does one, he gives up the other. Now God, what's God going to do? He can't save these guys.
They're wicked. They're vile. Everything evil and depraved is on their account. They're guilty. God can't let them go. He's got to retain His justice. That's what it says in Romans 3. That He might be just and a justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.
He can't give up His justice to save the sinner. I want young people to think about this. When you're a gospel preacher, and you want to preach the gospel, and you want to talk to your friends, and you want to witness to them, you've got to understand these truths.
Some people say, we've all got to be good Roman Christians. That is, we've got to know the Roman epistle if we're going to be effective in preaching the gospel. So God's justice must be satisfied before He can show mercy.
Mercy is locked up until justice is satisfied. And how's He going to satisfy justice? So then He can let the mercy go. Here we sing a song on the Lord's Day morning. If you're not accustomed to come to the assembly on Sunday morning, you should come.
Some of those songs are just packed with truth. Calvary, oh, Calvary, mercy's vast on Fathom Sea. That's where mercy comes from. Calvary. And what happened at Calvary? Well, that's where the mercy of God was released.
Because there's justice claims were met. So what did God do? God looks within Himself and He sees justice demands these people die. And if I'm going to set them free, somehow I've got to satisfy justice.
So what God's justice demands, God's love is going to provide. And it's all going to happen within God. This guy is still standing at the bar, guilty, hands empty, standing before God, exposed to the wrath of God.
And God's going to go to work to provide a way that these guys can once again have an opportunity to be set free. How's He do it? Well, this is the next man. He's called the last Adam. That's our Lord Jesus Christ.
We're not going to talk about the entire nation. We're going to incorporate that into the things we're saying now. God has one Son. And God sent that Son into our world. The world knows Him as Jesus, the Nazarene.
Or Jesus. We Christians know Him as the Lord Jesus Christ. God's Son. God sent His Son into this world. He was born there in Bethlehem. And He was found wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
You all know the story. And He grew up in this world. He came to this world to represent us. All us bad guys. And He became for God what every other man should have been and failed to be. Every other man in the world was like the sheep.
He went His own way. He took His free will. And He abused it. And did everything God told Him not to do. He did not bow His will to the will of God. He broke the laws of God. But this man, he grew up, never once sinned.
Not a once. His will, he bowed to the will of his God. He never once exercised his will in opposition to the will of his God and Father. He spent 33 years here. He did not have it easy. He never had all the nice things that we have in this world.
He had a lot of opposition. They abused him verbally. They abused him physically. They abused him in every possible way they could. He was a man of sorrows. And he was acquainted with grief. And yet in all that, he never once, ever exercised his free will to oppose his God.
He had a free will, just like you and I do. I came not to do my will, he said, but I come to do the will of Him that sent me. He has a will. But the difference between him and every other man associated with the first Adam, he never, ever exercised his free will in opposition to God, like all that belong to this man and are in his creation did.
There's no difference. For all have sinned. See, we're all brought up into the same bundle. The Lord Jesus stands alone and distinct amongst the human family. He never once disobeyed God. And God said He was very proud of him.
At his baptism, God opened the heavens and declared, This is my beloved Son in whom I find all my delight. God was so proud of him. On the Mount of Transfiguration, the same thing. Wherever the Lord Jesus went, He went in perfect communion and fellowship with God His Father.
Of all the servants that ever served a master, there was no servant ever served a master like Jesus Christ served His God as His servant. Of all the sons that ever had a father, there never was a son honored his father as the Lord Jesus honored His Father.
He was everything God ever wanted in a man. Now listen, John says herein is love. Here's true love. You see, that wretch, he should be in hell. And the only reason he's not going to be there, the only reason you and I won't be there is because God is going to ask this perfect Son, the One He loves so much and the One who honored Him so faithfully, He's going to ask Him to go to this cross and He's going to ask Him to drink the dreadful cup of the wrath of God against this wretched creature.
What the world deserves upon this cross, this man, the Son of God, is going to die under the stroke of the wrath of God. Herein is love. The Lord Jesus, the impeccable, the Son of God who honored His Father so and was everything God expected of us to be and we failed to be on that cross.
There are certain terms our Bible uses. Do you well to go home and think of them. You broke God's law and you and I deserve to be cursed to bear the curse of that broken law. Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them.
But Christ was made a curse for us. Who cursed Him? Who cursed Him? The devil? No. The world? No. Who did it? God did it. God made Him to be a curse for us. John says, herein is love. Watch it, man. Watch it.
Look at it. Think about it. As God looks into the eyes of this ungodly, wicked world, what they deserve, then they're guilty and deserve it. His Son is going to bear on this cross and His Son never deserved it.
God's doing that for us. God's wrath must be pacified. The Lord Jesus hated sin. It was so foreign to Him. He just hated sin. And yet we read, God made Him to be sin. What a horrible experience for our Lord.
God made Him to be sin. And then treated Him as such. Poured out the wrath of heaven and the wrath of God and justice upon Him. God made Him to be sin for us. He who knew not sin so that we could be made the righteousness of God in Him.
One day God asked Abraham to take his only Isaac up to Mount Moriah. And He asked him to take him up there and offer him. Now, don't let yourself get so familiar with that story. It don't mean nothing to you anymore.
It's just a little Old Testament story. No. You put yourself in a domestic scene. A father and his only son. And God's asking him to take that son up to a hill. Put him on an altar. And take a knife and plunge it into his belly and offer his son a sacrifice.
Can you imagine what Abraham went through? Can you imagine Isaac as he walks up the mount with his father? Father, here's the wood and here's the fire and there's the knife. But where's the sacrifice?
Now, how do you think Abraham felt? He must have shot a pierce of anxiety and sorrow into his heart. What's he going to tell him? I'll sacrifice you, Isaac. He can't. He just can't bring himself to do that.
And he doesn't do it. But they get to the top of Mount Moriah. And Abraham builds the altar. Isaac's probably still watching on. And then, Abraham brings the rope. And he binds the boy. And the boy realizes, I'm the sacrifice.
You can picture the Lord Jesus there. Isaac makes no resistance. There's no fight. There's no resistance. There's not a word said. Isaac bows himself to the will of his father. And he stretches out on that there altar bound with the rope.
And his big brown eyes look straight into the eyes of Abraham's father. And his father pulls the knife. And it's God who intervenes. Abraham! Do your son no harm! He found the ram that died in his place.
But there was another altar one day. And there was another son upon the altar. This time, it's this Son of God upon this altar. And the prophet said, wake, O sword against my shepherd, against the man that is my fellow.
And God, as it were, unsheathed His sword and He plunged it deep into the bosom of His son. He had to die. What did He do that for? What did God ever do that for? Because He loved you. Herein is love.
Not that we love God. Oh, no. But that God loved us. And gave His Son on this cross to be a propitiation. Thereupon that cross, the Lord Jesus pacified justice. On every other altar in the past, those of you who study your tabernacle, but some are younger here and probably don't know.
But there was an altar as you entered into the door of the tabernacle. And upon that altar, there was a daily burnt offering put there. Every morning it was put there, and by evening and afternoon, it was burned to ashes and a new one was put on.
And then the fire consumed that one. And day after day, week after week, month after month, God said, the fire on mine altar shall never go out. Constant lambs being put on it. But the fire is always consuming the lamb.
Justice claims are never met. Because there never was a sacrifice that could consume the fire. The fire always consumed the sacrifice. But my friends, tonight, listen, on that cross, the fire of God's wrath descended from heaven.
Fire hath come down into my bones. Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the fierce day of His anger. From above hath He sent fire down into my bones.
The Lord Jesus died bearing the sin and the wrath of God. But when the three hours was over and the claims of justice was met and justice was pacified, this time the lamb or the offering or the sacrifice is still alive.
The sacrifice consumed the fire. And justice claims are met. And the mercy of God has now got a way in which it can flow out freely, unhindered. Justice is no more crying for vengeance. He's been pacified.
Just like you put that piece of rubber in that little baby's mouth and it quietens down into his mother's arms and goes to sleep. The Lord Jesus pacified justice. Justice is satisfied. Claims no more.
And now God's free to work. And what does God do? What does God do now? Well, He comes out to the world and once again He says things like this, If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as your Lord and you believe in your heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, you'll be saved.
But once again, it's all up to you. You don't have to trust the Lord Jesus. You have a free will. Once again I'm giving you the opportunity. Exercise your free will. He that believes on the Son has everlasting life.
But he that believeth not the Son will not see life. But the wrath of God abideth on him. It's all up to you. You have to tell your friends that, my friends. When you preach the Gospel, you've got to bring that sinner up there to the bar.
You've got to get him to shut his mouth. You've got to get him to understand he's guilty. You've got to get him to understand there's not an ounce of worth in him. God says you're worthless. You're lost.
You're hopelessly doomed. There's not one morsel of good in you. No. He's got to stand there. And he's got to see where he stands before God. And when he sees what he is. And there's proof. There's the proof.
You don't have to go anywhere else looking for proof. The Apostle Paul gave us the proof. We have before proven both Jew and Gentile that they are under the power of sin. And he gave 14 charges against the human family.
They're all there for you to look at. And there's no man on the face of the earth who can say he's not guilty. He's guilty. And he's got to shut his mouth. He cannot be talking in defense. He cannot be chatting away about what he is and what he's done and where he's gone and where he hopes to go and all the things that he wants to say to credit himself.
He has no credit. He's doomed. Totally. 100 bad. And he's got to appreciate now herein is love. You have a chance, man. You have a chance, woman, to receive the forgiveness of sins. But once again, not as a robot.
You'll make your choice. Pilate said, what shall I then do with Jesus which is called to Christ? That's it. That's your will, Pilate. You make up your mind. Pilate sold Him because he was afraid of a king called Caesar.
Pilate sent Him away. Crucified Him. Pilate's in hell tonight. And he'll never get out. He made his choice. And that's where you got to bring people. The sinner. You got to bring the issues to him. Don't present to him some flippy floppy loosey woolly type of gospel that anybody can receive.
Remember the Lord Jesus said, the biggest problem in preaching the gospel is not the sower, the man preaching, or the seed that he sows. That's not where the problem lies. It's in the soil. And you've got to bring that man's thinking into a place of conviction where he stands before God recognizing, I am doomed!
I'm shut up to the mercy of God. That's where he has to come to. You can put the seed into some soil and the soil might be that thick. And the seed will spring up. And boy, we've got a convert. And he only lasts for 6 months or a year and he's gone.
See, it had no depth. The soil was no good. There was no depth to it. Or you can throw it amongst the stones. The rocks. And the Lord Jesus says that's competitive. There's too many things competitive.
You didn't come to realize that, listen, listen boy, you're finished. Forget about your business. Forget about your family. Forget about everything. You're doomed! All this stuff and all the friends come and so on.
And pretty soon all this competitiveness goes on and pretty soon the seed dies. It had no fruit. We've got to get good soil. And that good soil is when we get sinners to understand where they stand before God.
And the Spirit of God has to do the real work behind that conviction. Now, there's one other passage we read. And that was in 1 John 2. This is the propitiation work of Christ in relation to us who are Christians.
We are the children of God. My little children, these things write I unto you, that you sin not. But, if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.
Do Christians sin? Yeah, Christians sin. We shouldn't. The command is, my little children, these things I write I unto you, that you sin not. But, God is realistic. And He knows we will sin. And if you sin, what happens?
When a Christian sins, what happens? Do you lose your salvation? No. Does God become your judge, remember? As long as you're an Adam, God is your judge. But once you're in Christ, you're enjoying the propitiatory work of Christ, and you're in Christ, now, your God is your Father.
And He will treat you as a son. But He says, if you confess your sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins. On what basis? On what basis can God forgive a Christian of their sins? Well, the same basis He can forgive the ungodly, because of the propitiatory sacrifice.
I sin, the Lord Jesus is my advocate, He goes before my Father about that sin. And His advocacy is effective, because He is the propitiation for our sins. He has already, 2 ,000 years ago, pacified justice, satisfied God, become the propitiatory.
On that grounds, God is already, God's justice is already been pacified. That's why we can read verses like we do in Hebrews. We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was at all points tested like as we are, sin apart.
Therefore, come boldly onto the throne of grace. It's a throne of grace. And you will obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Now the clock has run its course, and so we have to stop. God bless you, and if you can, come back tomorrow night.
Let us pray. Our Father, we thank Thee for the tremendous work that Thou hast wrought through Thy Son on our behalf. Herein is love, not that we love God, but that God loved us. And what happened that day in the cross when Thy Son died, died at Thy hand.
God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. We thank Thee, Father, for those awesome terms that Thou hast taught us in Thy Word, that God made Him to be sin.
Thou hast made Him to be a curse. Thou didst deliver Him that awful blow that Isaiah talked about, all so that we could be set free and saved. We thank Thee for each one of us tonight who are saved and are in Thy family.
Help us to walk worthy of what Thou has called us to. Help us now as we sing another song and we part. Bring us back again tomorrow night, we pray, in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen. 1 7 6 1 7 6. The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell.
It goes beyond the highest star and reaches to where all mortals dwell. The guilty pair bowed down with care. God gave His Son to win. His erring children, His erring child, He reconciled and pardoned from His sin.
1 7 6.