1 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:17,000 It is certainly is a huge honor, always honor and privilege to be 2 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:23,320 able to come and share God's Word, to break bread and to let 3 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:26,800 us have a feast on God's word. And I pray that's what will 4 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:31,480 happen today. As Danny has already mentioned, 5 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:37,280 tomorrow is Memorial Day, and there of course, we honor those 6 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:41,800 that made the ultimate sacrifice, those that died so 7 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:45,520 that we might have freedom and peace. 8 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:51,160 But in the book of Romans, particularly the passage that 9 00:00:51,160 --> 00:00:54,360 we're going to look at today, we're going to learn about a 10 00:00:54,360 --> 00:01:00,960 peace that is far greater and far more meaningful and is 11 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:07,400 eternal, a peace that God provides for us. 12 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:13,600 And so today's message is called from war to welcome the gospel 13 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:18,440 of peace. And before we jump into the to 14 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:23,760 the passage that was read a few moments ago, I want to just kind 15 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:27,320 of navigate, kind of get some context. 16 00:01:27,320 --> 00:01:31,160 Where are we in the passage as we lead into this passage? 17 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:35,360 Where are we? Well Paul in in this very 18 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:42,280 glorious book, Paul has been the 1st 4 chapters. 19 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:47,360 He has been explaining to us that the gospel, the good news 20 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:53,640 of Jesus Christ, is the power of God unto salvation to everyone 21 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:58,040 who believes. Therefore, everyone is 22 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:03,320 available, or the gospel is available to everyone, but also 23 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:08,160 everyone needs the gospel because there is no one 24 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:11,200 righteous. No, not even one. 25 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:16,520 We may look good, some of you look better than some of the 26 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:20,640 others, and I won't point out who I'm talking about, but 27 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:25,880 relatively speaking, we may. We may think pretty highly of 28 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:31,640 ourselves, but compared to God, no one is righteous, not even 1 29 00:02:31,640 --> 00:02:35,480 and therefore everyone is has a problem. 30 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:43,720 Everyone is under condemnation. We are fallen and we are we 31 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:47,120 cannot get ourselves up. We have a problem. 32 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:52,120 The problem is their sin, the problem is the guilt of sin, and 33 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:54,600 our relationship to God is broken. 34 00:02:56,720 --> 00:03:02,320 But Jesus, Paul then goes on to tell us, Jesus, the righteous 35 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:10,360 one, the Son of God, came as a man and came and lived a 36 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:15,720 sinless, perfect life. He obeyed the law in every way, 37 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:23,040 in his thoughts, in his deeds, in his actions, in every every 38 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:27,480 intention of his heart was to obey and to please God. 39 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:34,440 And therefore, because he was God in the flesh, He then was 40 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:38,880 able to bear the penalty that we rightly deserve. 41 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:45,880 So Jesus is our substitute on the cross, substituted for us. 42 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:58,160 He bears the penalty of our sin. He brings into the 1st 4 43 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:01,880 chapters of Romans a word called justification. 44 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:04,320 And it's important that we understand what that word means 45 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:08,520 because he's going to hit the the ground running in chapter 5 46 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:11,680 with the So what of justification. 47 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:16,399 So he says therefore, since we have been justified by faith, So 48 00:04:16,399 --> 00:04:21,000 what does that mean? Well, Paul explains to us in the 49 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:25,920 1st 4 chapters that justification means at least two 50 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:28,000 things. One, it's a legal term. 51 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:34,480 We are guilty before God, but because of what Jesus has done, 52 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:38,680 we're declared righteous. Fact. 53 00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:41,720 That's what justification literally means. 54 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:45,840 We are declared righteous before God. 55 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:50,280 That in and of itself is great news, right? 56 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:54,920 But there's more, there's even more. 57 00:04:55,600 --> 00:05:00,720 It gets better. Justification also means that 58 00:05:02,280 --> 00:05:09,480 Jesus's righteousness gets credited into our account. 59 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:14,720 So it's not just forgiveness is not just wiping the slate clean 60 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:20,440 as great as that would be, but we actually get credited with 61 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:24,240 the righteousness of Jesus Christ himself. 62 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:28,640 I I don't know about you, but that's hard to take in. 63 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:34,880 That is hard to fully grasp. In fact, I think the whole 64 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:38,960 Christian life is trying to trying to somehow grasp and 65 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:42,600 fully understand that wonderful truth. 66 00:05:43,160 --> 00:05:52,720 Now, it's interesting because here we have to realize and 67 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:56,760 reflect on the fact that Paul had never visited the church at 68 00:05:56,760 --> 00:05:59,960 Rome. He'll visit it later, ironically 69 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:04,040 as a prisoner. He'll get there. 70 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:08,720 He'll get to meet his Christian brothers and sisters in Rome in 71 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:11,800 chains. But when he writes this letter, 72 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:15,840 he hasn't yet been there, and he wants to make sure. 73 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:22,040 So he's writing to believers. He's not writing to people who 74 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:28,160 need the gospel, but he's writing it to people who already 75 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:30,880 have believed the gospel. He wants them to fully 76 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:36,440 understand all the implications of the gospel in their life. 77 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:45,920 Now I just want to one other thing that I want to say is that 78 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:51,400 a lot of scholars, Bible students of the New Testament, 79 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:54,480 when they, when they look at Romans and they study the way 80 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:58,360 it's laid out, they compare it to the other books that Paul 81 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:01,280 wrote. They sometimes they think this 82 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:05,600 is interesting because really about now, at the end of chapter 83 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:13,080 4, Paul would normally turn from doctrine over to practical 84 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:16,240 application. But he doesn't do that here. 85 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:19,040 Actually, he doesn't do that until chapter 12. 86 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:23,600 But he does do something interesting here in these 11 87 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:26,560 verses. It's almost as if he's driving, 88 00:07:28,560 --> 00:07:34,600 taking a journey through the beauty of the gospel, the 89 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:37,400 message of the gospel. And it's he's, it's almost as if 90 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:40,640 he pulls off to a rest stop, you know, like one of those scenic, 91 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:43,840 you know, drives, you know, you're in the National Park and 92 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:46,520 they have these really nice places you can pull off. 93 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:49,200 And there's a Vista, beautiful view. 94 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:51,400 And it's almost as if Paul has pulled off. 95 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:56,320 He's looking out and he is admiring where he's come from. 96 00:07:57,160 --> 00:07:59,880 He's looking at this beautiful view. 97 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:05,840 And so I want to take just a few minutes and explore here the 98 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:10,840 admiration that the Holy Spirit speaking through Paul, is giving 99 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:14,000 about justification. And he says this. 100 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:19,080 He says since we have been justified or declared righteous, 101 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:26,360 since Jesus's righteousness has been credited to our account, we 102 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:32,039 have peace with God. And I want us to look at 4 103 00:08:32,039 --> 00:08:35,880 aspects of that peace. First of all, the fact that it's 104 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:39,520 a true peace. The second is it's a grace 105 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:44,400 creating peace. Thirdly, it's a joy producing 106 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:46,880 peace. And then fourthly, it's a 107 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:51,960 personal peace. So first of all, a true peace. 108 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:57,440 When he says we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus 109 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:00,760 Christ, literally we are having peace. 110 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:07,120 It is an ongoing reality in the life of a believer. 111 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:11,400 It is a true people. Why don't I say it's a true 112 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:14,720 peace or a real peace? Well, there's a lot of times in 113 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:19,280 the New Testament, many times in the New Testament that it talks 114 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:23,880 about the experience of peace that a believer has. 115 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:28,800 That is absolutely, completely true. 116 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:32,200 The Bible teaches it. The Bible. 117 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:37,080 A believer does not need to have an anxious heart. 118 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:39,400 He doesn't need to have a troubled heart. 119 00:09:40,840 --> 00:09:45,640 We do not need to be. We can be content in our 120 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:48,240 circumstances. We can be content in the Lord. 121 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:53,960 However, as true as that is, that's not what Paul is talking 122 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:56,160 about here. He's talking about a different 123 00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:59,960 kind of peace. What he's talking about here is 124 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:06,560 a literal peace. You are no longer at war with 125 00:10:06,560 --> 00:10:12,280 God, and God is no longer at war with you. 126 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:17,760 We may feel the struggle. We may say, well, it sure feels 127 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:22,120 like I'm at war. That war is against your own 128 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:24,720 flesh. It may be against Satan, it may 129 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:30,960 be against the world, but God is no longer at war with you if you 130 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:37,560 are in Christ. If you know Christ, you and he 131 00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:42,720 are no longer on opposite sides. You are now on His side. 132 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:45,560 You are now a citizen of his Kingdom. 133 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:50,480 He has accepted you. He may discipline you, you may 134 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:55,040 grieve him, but you're no longer at war with him. 135 00:10:55,040 --> 00:11:00,480 You are no longer his enemy. I also want you to notice that 136 00:11:00,680 --> 00:11:04,640 this is an abiding peace, meaning again, as I said a 137 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:10,040 minute ago, this is a a literal translation would be we are 138 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:12,160 having peace. This is something we 139 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:16,080 continually. This is not, this is not like 140 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:20,240 the Palestinians and the Israelis, OK, they can have a 141 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:23,800 ceasefire. If they announced A ceasefire 142 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:30,120 today, does any person in this room believe that the war has 143 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:33,160 really ended? No. 144 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:35,920 Same thing. Ukraine and Russia. 145 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:41,120 They might have a ceasefire, but they're the reasons for the 146 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:46,480 hostility are still there. That is not true with the peace 147 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:49,000 we have with God through Jesus Christ. 148 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:54,160 There is no long all the reasons for hostility between US and God 149 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:57,000 have been taken care of in Jesus Christ. 150 00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:05,680 Now it's not only a real peace, it is a grace creating peace. 151 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:11,560 He says through him we verse 2. Through him we have also 152 00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:19,720 obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, or 153 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:23,840 literally in which we are standing. 154 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:31,680 Last fall I had the wonderful opportunity to go with my son to 155 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:34,520 Ireland. In fact, he he actually was my 156 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:38,360 Christmas present from him. It's always great when you have 157 00:12:38,360 --> 00:12:42,240 children that make more money than you do and they treat you 158 00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:45,480 to nice things like that. But we he we went over there and 159 00:12:45,560 --> 00:12:49,320 got a chance to watch Georgia Tech defeat Florida State, which 160 00:12:49,320 --> 00:12:51,560 seemed like a really big deal at the time. 161 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:55,760 It it turned out to not be, you know, so you know, one of the 162 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:59,200 easier wins, but it was a great time. 163 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:02,200 And one of the things that that course the the day of the game, 164 00:13:02,680 --> 00:13:06,360 we're in the middle of Dublin and we go to the ESPN Sports 165 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:09,920 Center place, you know, where they broadcast the pregame. 166 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:12,800 If you're not a if you're not a college football fan, just 167 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:16,560 believe me, it's a big deal, OK? So there's thousands of people 168 00:13:16,560 --> 00:13:20,240 there and they're going to get up and talk about football for 169 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:23,800 hours, you know, which is great. Sounds great to me. 170 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:29,600 It may sound awful to you, but anyway, Well, Jacob, my son knew 171 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:37,160 a friend who knew a friend who could get us on the stage, the 172 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:40,400 game day stage at ESPN. Pretty cool, right? 173 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:43,520 I mean, that's not something you get to do every day. 174 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:45,840 I still have a hat. It's got the ESPN on it. 175 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:48,440 It's pretty cool. It's got a Irish flag on it. 176 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:54,120 And so couple hours before they went on the air, we met at a 177 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:59,560 certain place and this young lady who had full credentials 178 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:03,440 ushered us into and onto the stage. 179 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:07,000 And I got to wave to the crowd, pump them up. 180 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:12,040 It was so cool. Now, do you think if I had just 181 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:15,320 walked up and said, I'm, I'm a big fan of Sports Center, I'm 182 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:17,600 going to get on this. Do you think they'd let me on 183 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:22,520 the stage? No, I it was because of someone 184 00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:30,360 who I knew or who knew me that I was able to have full access to 185 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:36,040 the ESPN stage. That is really honestly, that's 186 00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:42,520 the concept that Paul is trying to communicate here through him, 187 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:46,560 that is through Jesus. We have also, not only are we at 188 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:53,280 peace with him, but he's taken his former enemies and he is now 189 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:58,360 Jesus Christ because of his credentials, not yours, his. 190 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:03,720 He is actually ushering you into a new room. 191 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:09,040 He says we are standing in grace. 192 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:12,800 What is grace? It is God's unmerited favor. 193 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:18,040 It is the way that God now treats his children. 194 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:25,640 It means that there is nothing, nothing you can ever do to be 195 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:30,200 rejected by God. You will never be kicked out of 196 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:35,240 the room of grace. Now that sounds kind of 197 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:41,400 scandalous. We struggle sometimes struggle 198 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:46,720 with grace. Paul even struggles with it 199 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:50,400 later in the same book. One of the objections that 200 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:55,560 people raise is well, wait a minute, if we're under grace and 201 00:15:55,560 --> 00:16:00,280 we don't have to obey the law anymore, then why don't we just 202 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:02,840 sin all the more so we can get more grace? 203 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:05,960 God loves to God loves to give grace. 204 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:09,880 I love to sin man great. It's a great that's a what a 205 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:16,360 deal Anybody who believes that has not experienced grace. 206 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:22,280 Imagine go back to the ESPN analogy. 207 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:28,000 Imagine that I had come up on stage after being ushered onto 208 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:34,440 the stage, and here I am as as a special guest, honored to be 209 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:38,680 there. All of a sudden I just spit on 210 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:41,680 the floor. Do you think I would do that? 211 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:46,880 It would embarrass my son. It would humiliate him. 212 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:55,000 If you really understand the grace of God, you're not going 213 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:56,880 to spit on the floor of the throne room. 214 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:00,200 That's the last thing in the world. 215 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:04,960 And when you do, you're going to, you're going to truly have 216 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:08,440 godly sorrow and repentance when you do. 217 00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:13,640 That is why grace is grace. Understanding and believing 218 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:18,400 grace makes us holier. It does not give us a license to 219 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:20,599 sin. Do you understand the 220 00:17:20,599 --> 00:17:22,319 difference? Think so? 221 00:17:22,319 --> 00:17:27,839 OK, now so we're ushered into grace. 222 00:17:27,839 --> 00:17:32,040 It's accessed by faith in Jesus. It's almost we're also 223 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:36,920 permanently located in grace. The the Greek here could not be 224 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:42,320 more demonstrative or or more emphatic. 225 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:46,040 It it uses 2 words that are both in what's called the perfect 226 00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:50,560 tense in the Greek, which is a past action that still has 227 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:54,800 abiding permanent results. We are accessed. 228 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:58,880 We we are. We are introduced almost as the 229 00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:03,040 word where we, we, we are at. We have access because Jesus has 230 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:07,920 introduced us, brought us into the phone room, and now we are 231 00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:12,440 permanently standing in a state of grace. 232 00:18:12,440 --> 00:18:17,000 We cannot lose it. We cannot get out of it. 233 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:22,880 It is a permanent gift that God has given everyone who has been 234 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:27,840 declared righteous and and for which for whom the righteousness 235 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:29,840 of Jesus has been credited to them. 236 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:32,920 I also want you to notice it gets even better. 237 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:37,840 It gets even better as He's looking out and admiring the 238 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:41,880 beauty of justification and the peace that it brings. 239 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:47,840 It is a joy producing peace. Look at verse 2, the second part 240 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:54,600 of verse 2, and we rejoice or literally we are rejoicing in 241 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:58,520 hope of the glory of God. So first of all, we are 242 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:05,400 rejoicing in hope. Now hope is, is a very critical 243 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:10,200 New Testament concept. The word hope, our English word 244 00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:15,640 for hope is really not. It just can't nail the the Greek 245 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:20,840 meaning for hope a a better way. Whenever you see hope in almost 246 00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:23,720 every time in the New Testament, just kind of substitute 247 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:30,880 confident expectation or eager and confident anticipation. 248 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:37,800 That's the idea behind hope, and hope is critical to the health 249 00:19:38,120 --> 00:19:46,960 of every believer. God's desire for us as healthy, 250 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:53,640 mature believers is we should be just longing for heaven, 251 00:19:55,840 --> 00:19:58,640 dreaming about heaven, meditating on heaven. 252 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:01,960 It should be pulling. I don't care even if you're 15 253 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:08,080 years old, 20 years old. I wish I had learned this many, 254 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:09,840 many years ago in my Christian life. 255 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:16,240 The hope of heaven purifies us and pulls us toward him. 256 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:22,320 I'm thinking about a few years ago I went to Las Vegas for a 257 00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:26,560 business convention. I did my one time in Vegas. 258 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:30,400 I'll never go again. I don't advise it's if you 259 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:33,440 haven't gone, you're not missing anything. 260 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:37,440 But now that's my little rant on Vegas. 261 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:41,160 But it is an interesting town. It is a fascinating place. 262 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:45,600 And it was a museum that we went to, and we went in the daytime. 263 00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:47,720 I think at the night, in the night, it's lit up. 264 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:51,600 But I went in the daytime and it was an old it's basically a 265 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:58,920 boneyard for old neon signs that used to decorate Las Vegas. 266 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:01,640 In fact, one of them is very famous. 267 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:08,400 It's the Stardust sign, but it wasn't lit up and, and, and the 268 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:13,720 paint was like peeling off of it and it looked you could get a 269 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:17,840 sense of the former glory when it was, you know, you could kind 270 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:20,160 of imagine what it would have looked like. 271 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:23,560 But now it's just kind of pathetic. 272 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:27,120 You know, it's kind of sad. Looks kind of like tensely 273 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:32,640 cheap. When the Bible says that we 274 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:37,600 rejoice in the hope, the confident expectation, in 275 00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:42,640 confident expectation, that's kind of what what the scholars 276 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:48,120 tell us is that this is, yes, this is referring to the glory 277 00:21:48,120 --> 00:21:52,760 that we one day believe we will experience, where we will know 278 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:55,840 God fully and he will be fully revealed to us. 279 00:21:56,160 --> 00:22:00,480 But this is also talking about the glory that we will have as 280 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:06,280 believers, and we will reflect the glory of God to him as well 281 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:11,600 when God glorifies us fully. Right now we're like those 282 00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:19,440 burned out old neon lights, but one day we will shine brightly. 283 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:23,000 That's the hope that we have also. 284 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:24,560 It's not just hope in the future though. 285 00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:28,560 It's it's that we can rejoice in our suffering. 286 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:31,400 He does something really interesting here, verse 3. 287 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:39,840 Not only that there's more, but we rejoice in our suffering, 288 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:44,560 knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces 289 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:47,160 character, and character produces what? 290 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:53,040 Confident expectation, hope. And hope does not put us to 291 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:56,120 shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts 292 00:22:56,560 --> 00:23:00,560 through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 293 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:06,600 Now it's interesting here again, the Bible teaches many places in 294 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:10,120 the New Testament. It teaches that all suffering 295 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:14,280 for a believer, all suffering can be redeemed. 296 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:19,800 But here specifically, the word is really could be translated 297 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:23,280 probably more accurate to translate it tribulation. 298 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:28,920 This is referring to the suffering that we have for the 299 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:33,800 sake of the gospel. Remember, the war's over. 300 00:23:34,360 --> 00:23:39,720 We're at peace, right? So whose side are we on? 301 00:23:42,360 --> 00:23:45,880 We're on God's side, right, If we're in Christ. 302 00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:51,840 But there are still, there are still rebels out there and 303 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:53,360 they're still fighting against God. 304 00:23:54,120 --> 00:23:57,240 What did Jesus say? He says if they hated me, they 305 00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:01,200 will hate you. A servant's not greater than his 306 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:04,680 master. This is a reality now. 307 00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:07,480 This is not a license for us to be rude. 308 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,080 It's not a license for us to be self-righteous. 309 00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:15,600 And there has been much harm done in the name of Christ by 310 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:20,240 people who were not living a life worthy of the gospel. 311 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:29,880 However, it is inevitable. If we are living and presenting 312 00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:34,560 the gospel, it will rub some people the wrong way. 313 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:37,960 It is offensive. And why? 314 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:43,000 Because it insults our pride. What do you mean God has to die 315 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:45,840 in my place? What do you mean I'm an enemy of 316 00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:48,840 God? What do you mean I'm I'm not 317 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:52,320 right before God? It can be offensive. 318 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:55,280 It is offensive. In fact, if the Holy Spirit 319 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:59,360 didn't illuminate our hearts, it would it it probably for all of 320 00:24:59,360 --> 00:25:02,160 us. It was offensive to us before we 321 00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:10,800 came to know Christ now. So why is he rejoicing then that 322 00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:14,680 he's having tribulations or why the Romans are having the Roman 323 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:16,040 Christians are having tribulation? 324 00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:18,440 It's because it's not because of the suffering. 325 00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:24,000 We're not happy that people are offended, but it's what the 326 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:28,560 suffering produces, he says. Knowing this is something you 327 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:33,320 got to know because if you know, if you don't know it, you're 328 00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:38,640 you're just going to get hurt, upset, frustrated, and you're 329 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:40,440 going to feel like you're doing something wrong. 330 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:45,440 He wants you to know something. He wants you to know that your 331 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:48,560 tribulations are going to produce endurance. 332 00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:54,320 That is our capacity to believe in Jesus is going to just get, 333 00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:58,920 as we trust him more, he's going to get sweeter and he's going to 334 00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:03,320 get more real. And our capacity to trust Jesus 335 00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:06,200 actually grows through experience. 336 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:10,960 And that endurance then is going to produce proven character. 337 00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:14,400 That's, I think that's basically just talking about the fruit of 338 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:17,920 the Spirit. God's going to produce that in 339 00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:21,280 our lives as we trust Jesus more and more. 340 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:26,400 And then that Lovejoy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, 341 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:32,480 all of those fruit of the Spirit as as the Holy Spirit births 342 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:37,600 those and and grows those in our life, what's going to happen 343 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:43,320 then is our confident expectation of heaven is going 344 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:48,440 to get even stronger. Our hope of heaven today should 345 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:53,200 be stronger than our expectation and anticipation of heaven 346 00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:56,200 yesterday. And every day it should grow 347 00:26:56,200 --> 00:27:02,480 stronger. Now we are in a very unusual 348 00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:05,080 time. Historically, we're probably, 349 00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:10,840 there's probably few generations of people on the planet of the 350 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:16,720 last 2000 years that have had to suffer less for the gospel than 351 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:19,400 where we are where we Live Today. 352 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:23,680 However, I can look across the room. 353 00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:31,960 I know many of you and I know that we, if you have made a 354 00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:40,440 stand for Jesus Christ consistently, most of you, I 355 00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:47,080 suspect, have experienced the pain of someone very close to 356 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:52,160 you, maybe even in your own family or friends who have 357 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:57,760 rejected you or cut off all contact with you or have very 358 00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:01,280 little to do with you. And it is only for one reason 359 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:06,800 and one reason only. It's because you proclaim the 360 00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:11,160 gospel. That's suffering for the gospel. 361 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:17,480 But God says he will even redeem that. 362 00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:23,760 But if we respond, if we trust Jesus in the midst of that, it's 363 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:29,920 going to produce even greater expectation and eagerness for 364 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:33,600 heaven and for glory. But then he goes on and he says, 365 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:36,320 and we're going to jump down to verse 11 here, and you have to 366 00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:39,720 trust me on this. This is grammatically correct, 367 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:44,600 to do this, to jump to 11. He's got one more thing to 368 00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:47,000 rejoice in. He says more than that. 369 00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:51,560 We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through 370 00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:55,680 whom we have now received reconciliation. 371 00:28:56,760 --> 00:29:02,400 His last rejoicing is just in God himself, because after all, 372 00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:05,440 that's what it's all about. The gospel is God. 373 00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:10,360 If you get God, you don't need anything else. 374 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:17,520 What does God desire? He desires your heart more than 375 00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:22,280 anything else. He wants you to desire Him more 376 00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:28,760 than anything else. This person that you were once 377 00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:33,200 his enemy, He has now ushered you into the throne room of 378 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:36,560 grace. He's given you so many reasons 379 00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:41,200 for rejoicing and more than anything else, He just wants you 380 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:47,200 to desire Him. I, you know, I think about 381 00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:52,320 heaven sometimes and I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm going to love to see my 382 00:29:52,320 --> 00:30:01,760 mom, to see friends, my, my father-in-law, Ralph Powell, to 383 00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:06,920 see the Mansfields, to see Bruce Thompson. 384 00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:09,240 He's, he hasn't been there that long. 385 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:13,920 He's pretty new, but I believe if, if we could talk to any of 386 00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:21,560 those people today, they would tell us don't, don't be, don't 387 00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:24,920 be excited to see us when you get there. 388 00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:30,760 It's all about Jesus. That's what's really that. 389 00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:33,000 That's what it's really, that's what it's all about. 390 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:38,160 It pulls us. It's supposed to pull us now. 391 00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:48,320 It's not only a true peace, it's not only a glory creating or a a 392 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:51,920 grace creating peace. It's not only a joy producing 393 00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:57,960 peace, it is a personal peace. And here I'm going to switch the 394 00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:00,120 order in your from your bulletin. 395 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:03,640 We're going to do the second one first in verse 5. 396 00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:09,440 It says, and hope or confident expectation does not put us to 397 00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:15,480 shame or disappoint us because God's love has been poured into 398 00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:20,080 our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given us. 399 00:31:20,920 --> 00:31:25,640 It is a personal peace that is proven by a gift. 400 00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:31,520 We just said a minute ago, the joy of heaven is the gift of 401 00:31:31,520 --> 00:31:36,440 God, the joy of our life. Here is the indwelling Holy 402 00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:39,120 Spirit. That is the best gift God could 403 00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:44,040 ever give us. He gave us Himself in the person 404 00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:47,440 of the Holy Spirit. If you know Christ, I'm not 405 00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:50,960 saying you're aware of it every minute of every day, but you 406 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:54,760 know what I mean when I talk about the witness of the Spirit. 407 00:31:56,080 --> 00:32:00,960 You know if you possess the Spirit, there have been times 408 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:03,520 that you're clearly can distinguish. 409 00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:09,400 Yes, God's Spirit indwells me. In fact, you could never have 410 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:15,160 put your faith in Jesus in the 1st place had not the Spirit 411 00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:19,720 poured out the love of Christ into your heart. 412 00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:25,120 Why would you even want him? The Holy Spirit has to show that 413 00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:29,120 to you. So it's proven. 414 00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:37,360 This personal peace is proven by a gift, but it's also motivated 415 00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:44,160 by love. How many of you like to read a 416 00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:50,320 good book that has a plot twist? I mean, a really incredible plot 417 00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:53,800 twist that you never saw coming? You like that? 418 00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:59,680 I do. OK, so here I will say this is 419 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:04,680 the biggest, greatest, most mind blowing plot twist ever 420 00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:09,720 conceived. Verse 6 For while we were still 421 00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:14,600 weak, listen to all the flattering terms that God is 422 00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:19,120 going to use to describe who we were before we came to Christ. 423 00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:22,600 We were still weak at the right time. 424 00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:25,400 Christ died for the really good people. 425 00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:31,920 Is that what it says now died for the ungodly? 426 00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:37,000 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps 427 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:39,480 for a good person one would dare even to die. 428 00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:43,680 But God shows His love for us, in that while we were still 429 00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:48,960 sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now 430 00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:56,240 been declared righteous by His blood, much more shall we be 431 00:33:56,240 --> 00:34:00,160 saved by him from the wrath of God. 432 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:04,520 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the 433 00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:09,960 death of his Son, much more now that we are reconciled, shall we 434 00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:21,400 be saved by his life. Jesus never waited for you to 435 00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:28,840 get good. He died for you while you were 436 00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:32,080 still a Sinner, while you were still weak, unable to save 437 00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:37,520 yourself, when you were ungodly. If He did all of those things to 438 00:34:37,520 --> 00:34:44,960 bring you peace, will you not rest in the peace that you have 439 00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:48,040 with God, that you are no longer at war with Him? 440 00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:53,679 You stand in the throne room of grace and he treats you on the 441 00:34:53,679 --> 00:34:58,560 basis of grace, not on the basis of your performance or works. 442 00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:05,880 I'm convinced and I just I've had two or three interactions 443 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:11,360 with with friends of mine in the last week and I, I am more 444 00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:17,440 convinced that ever that we as believers, we really struggle 445 00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:22,760 believing that Jesus truly loves us. 446 00:35:28,690 --> 00:35:35,330 This is proof this is exhibit A. He died for you while you were 447 00:35:35,330 --> 00:35:39,770 his enemy. He loves you that much. 448 00:35:39,770 --> 00:35:42,730 And if he if he died for you while you were his enemy, if you 449 00:35:42,730 --> 00:35:45,930 put your trust in him, he's surely going to save you from 450 00:35:45,930 --> 00:35:52,050 the wrath to come. I want to close with a just a 451 00:35:52,050 --> 00:35:56,480 brief story. They're they're in a service 452 00:35:56,480 --> 00:35:57,960 like this. You're always going to have 453 00:35:58,240 --> 00:36:01,960 you're going to have believers at different levels of of 454 00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:07,400 understanding of the gospel. We never, we never move on from 455 00:36:07,400 --> 00:36:09,800 the gospel. The gospel is like rebar in 456 00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:13,520 cement it. It holds everything together and 457 00:36:13,520 --> 00:36:18,240 everything is connected to it. We just don't ever. 458 00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:23,120 Everything in the Christian life connects back to the gospel. 459 00:36:23,120 --> 00:36:27,440 So we never leave the gospel. We just go deeper into it. 460 00:36:29,600 --> 00:36:35,360 But I'm convinced that we struggle with the love of God. 461 00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:42,200 There are also people here. However, in a room this big 462 00:36:42,200 --> 00:36:46,280 there's I feel pretty confident that there are people here who 463 00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:57,600 have never, ever trusted Christ. In September 2nd, 1945, General 464 00:36:57,680 --> 00:37:04,040 Douglas MacArthur on the USS Missouri formally accepted the 465 00:37:04,040 --> 00:37:08,800 surrender of the Japanese to the Allies. 466 00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:14,400 It was a There were celebrations all over the world. 467 00:37:17,440 --> 00:37:23,000 VJ Day. It was finally over. 468 00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:29,480 The conflict was over. There was true peace. 469 00:37:29,480 --> 00:37:35,280 The hostility had ended. But there was a Lieutenant, his 470 00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:41,160 name Hiru Hiru Anoda. He was a Lieutenant in the 471 00:37:41,160 --> 00:37:43,560 Japanese army. He was stationed in a small 472 00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:46,280 island that had in the Philippines that had been cut 473 00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:52,720 off from the rest of his army. And people on the island begin 474 00:37:52,720 --> 00:37:58,000 to announce the piece. He refused to believe it. 475 00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:03,840 In fact, he went into the jungle and for the next 29 years 476 00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:09,680 carried out guerrilla raids on the people of the island. 477 00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:13,280 They would drop leaflets. They would have bull horns 478 00:38:13,280 --> 00:38:15,400 announcing and trying to convince him. 479 00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:17,600 And he thought that's all propaganda. 480 00:38:19,440 --> 00:38:24,280 He did not believe the news that there was peace. 481 00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:31,320 It wasn't until 1974. I was a senior in high school. 482 00:38:32,880 --> 00:38:34,400 It's kind of weird to think about this. 483 00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:39,880 Finally, he surrendered. And the only reason he 484 00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:44,400 surrendered was they had to fly his former commanding officer to 485 00:38:44,400 --> 00:38:48,800 the island and that that commanding officer had to give 486 00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:56,880 him the order to surrender. Now the gospel is an 487 00:38:56,880 --> 00:39:02,960 announcement. It is a proclamation that there 488 00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:07,200 is now peace between God and man. 489 00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:11,960 Only reason you don't experience that peace is if you don't 490 00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:17,200 accept it. If you're here today and you 491 00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:21,560 have never surrendered, that's what you have to do. 492 00:39:21,560 --> 00:39:27,800 That's the only thing necessary is to surrender your pride and 493 00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:34,120 believe that Jesus did everything necessary for your 494 00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:38,280 righteousness. That is, that is trusting 495 00:39:38,520 --> 00:39:42,960 Christ. In a minute the praise team is 496 00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:47,080 going to come. We're going to sing a hymn or a 497 00:39:47,080 --> 00:39:50,600 song of invitation. I don't know where you are 498 00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:53,920 spiritually. I'm just going to ask you to 499 00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:57,640 respond. If you want to trust Christ, 500 00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:00,960 Brother Steven will be down here. 501 00:40:01,360 --> 00:40:03,640 We have other encouragers that will be here. 502 00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:11,800 We would love nothing more and to pray with you as you trust 503 00:40:12,160 --> 00:40:15,280 Jesus. And to help you and and and to 504 00:40:15,440 --> 00:40:18,200 and to speak some words of encouragement to you. 505 00:40:18,520 --> 00:40:22,520 Perhaps you're a believer and you have a burden. 506 00:40:22,960 --> 00:40:25,720 You just come need to come and pray, please. 507 00:40:25,720 --> 00:40:28,000 Again, we would love, we have encouragers. 508 00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:32,720 We would love to pray with you about anything you need. 509 00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:36,360 We had a good friend of mine came in the first service and he 510 00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:41,360 was just, he knew that he needed to understand the love of Christ 511 00:40:41,360 --> 00:40:45,880 even more. So that would be my invitation 512 00:40:45,880 --> 00:40:49,040 to you. And Stephen James is going to 513 00:40:49,040 --> 00:40:53,320 come forward and whatever you want, whatever the Lord is 514 00:40:53,320 --> 00:40:56,240 calling you to do, I would ask you to be just to trust Him and 515 00:40:56,240 --> 00:40:56,840 be obedient.