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Well, good morning, Englewood. 
How are you? 

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Good, not bad. 
This is an exciting Sunday, 

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getting to celebrate our 
graduates this morning. 

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Some of you, I know maybe guests
with us, some of your guests, 

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because of one of these 
graduates, you came to be here 

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for them and support them this 
morning, I've gotten to meet 

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some of you. 
For those of you I didn't get 

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the opportunity to meet, my name
is Dylan Anderson. 

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I'm a student pastor here at 
Inglewood. 

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It's been my pleasure to be able
to work with these students over

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the last number of years. 
And man, just super proud of 

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this praise band, too, leading 
us in worship. 

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All of these students are 9th 
through 12th graders. 

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Yeah, Drew, who many of you know
is the only one that was on the 

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stage. 
That's not a 9th through 12th 

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grader, I feel. 
I feel that's obvious, and I'll 

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leave it at that. 
Love you Drew. 

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But it is an exciting day for us
to be able to celebrate our 

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seniors. 
But to be honest with you, 

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that's not the primary reason 
why we're here. 

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And maybe you're a guest with us
and you had no idea that we were

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celebrating our seniors this 
morning. 

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You didn't know that. 
It's senior celebration Sunday. 

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And we do. 
We did celebrate our seniors. 

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We want to Commission them 
excited about this transition 

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time. 
We want to be there for them and

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for their families during this 
season. 

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Many of you families went 
through this last year and so 

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maybe you can help out with some
of the feelings and the emotions

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that go along with sending a kid
out. 

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Some of them are sending their 
first, some of them are sending 

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their only, some of them are 
sending their last, and some of 

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them it's somewhere in between. 
And so we got parents all over 

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the board, but it's a big 
transition point in their lives.

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But this morning, we are here 
for one purpose. 

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And that's to worship. 
We talked about 7 essentials of 

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of a disciple here at Inglewood.
And one of those essentials is 

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to respond in worship with all 
and surrender. 

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And that's what we're here to 
do. 

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We've been singing songs of 
praise to God, and we're going 

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to open his word up and look at 
His word together here in just a

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moment. 
And if you haven't been here 

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with us in a little while, we're
in the middle of a series that 

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Pastor John began a number of 
weeks ago entitled Justified 

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Walking Step by Step Through the
Book of Romans. 

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And so if you have your Bible, 
go ahead and open it up to 

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Romans chapter 4. 
Pastor John finished up Romans 

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chapter 3 last week. 
And so we're going to we're 

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going to be in Romans chapter 4 
together this morning. 

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And there's a great word in here
for our seniors and for their 

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families, but really for all of 
us. 

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And because we're talking about 
school, let's go back to 

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elementary school for just a 
second. 

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Some of you, that's been a long 
time ago, but I'm going to help 

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you. 
Whenever your teacher asked you 

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a question. 
When you were in school, what 

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were you supposed to do before 
you answered? 

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Most of the time. 
Some of you remember that, 

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whether you did it or not. 
So we're going to practice that 

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a little bit this morning. 
I'm going to ask you a series of

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questions and if you are want to
answer affirmatively or if the 

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answer is yes, if the answer to 
that question applies to you. 

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Then I want you to raise your 
hand. 

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Let's see if it works. 
How many of you are alive this 

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morning? 
Great. 

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Want to start at a baseline and 
just make sure you're you're 

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tracking OK? 
Now, how many of you have ever 

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been broke before? 
How many of you have ever 

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desired to live a good or a 
blessed life? 

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How many of you have ever wanted
to belong somewhere before? 

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How many of you ever have ever 
wished that you had really rich 

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relatives that would leave you a
massive. 

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Inheritance at some point in 
your life. 

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Well, I think even if you 
couldn't identify with all of 

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those things that at least 
you've identified with a few of 

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them. 
And these are things that Paul 

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is addressing here with us in 
Romans chapter 4. 

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Romans chapter 4 a lot of times 
gets a lot of Flack because it 

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can be really deep. 
Pastor John and I were talking 

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about it before the 1st service 
man. 

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To try to cover a whole chapter 
of Romans in one sermon is hard 

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because every one of these 
verses by itself could be a 

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whole chapter. 
And so, but the main theme of 

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the whole book is justification.
It's that we can be justified. 

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We have a need to be justified, 
and we can be justified in 

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Jesus. 
As Pastor John was finishing up 

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Romans chapter 3 last week, we 
were Paul was talking about how 

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nobody has any room for 
boasting. 

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No one group has an advantage 
over another when it comes to 

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justification and when it comes 
to salvation because 

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justification is available to 
all But Paul throughout his 

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ministry. 
Paul's the one who wrote the 

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book of Romans, the letter to 
the church at Rome. 

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And he was fighting all 
throughout his ministry with a 

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group that we refer to as the 
Judaizers. 

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And this was a group of people 
who were mad that all of these 

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people were coming to Jesus. 
And they were trying to add 

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things on to the gospel to get 
these new Gentile believers, the

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ones that were not Jewish 
background, to try to to try to 

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look like Jews, to try to fit in
with the Jews, to try to abide 

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by some of the the Jewish law 
and to say in order to really be

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a child of God, in order to 
really belong, in order to 

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really be a son of Abraham, you 
have to be circumcised. 

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You have to abide by the dietary
restrictions. 

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You got to do all of these other
things instead of just believe 

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in Jesus. 
But in chapter 4, Paul is going 

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to show he's going to clarify 
the good news of the gospel of 

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Jesus Christ for all people. 
And he presses back against 

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these arguments of the 
Judaizers. 

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So let's look at Romans chapter 
4 together this morning in a 

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message entitled Jesus Paid it 
All. 

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But before we jump in, some of 
you may have those ESV scripture

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journals that Pastor John was 
talking about that we had at the

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bookstore before we started this
series. 

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Pastor John usually preaches out
of the English Standard version.

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I'll be preaching out of the 
Christian Standard Bible this 

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morning. 
And so if it's a little bit 

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different than what you've got 
in front of you, that's why one 

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of the biggest differences. 
That you'll notice in this 

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chapter if you've got the ESV in
related instead of the CSB. 

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Is there's a word that comes up 
often that we'll talk about that

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the CSB translates to credit or 
credited, that the ESV 

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translates to count or counted. 
The words mean the same thing to

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similar words. 
It's just two different 

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translation choices. 
So I just want to bring your 

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attention to that before we 
start reading the passage 

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together, but I'm going. 
To pray for us, and then we're 

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going to jump right into Romans 
chapter 4, starting in verse 1. 

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So let's pray. 
Heavenly Father, thank you so 

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much for your word. 
God, thank you for revealing 

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yourself to us so that we don't 
have to worry or wonder about 

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why, why we were created, why 
we're here, what we're supposed 

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to be doing, or what's next. 
Lord, Your word outlines all of 

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those things, and thank you so 
much that you have made. 

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Justification available to 
anyone who would call upon the 

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name of Jesus. 
Lord, there's so many people 

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here that are justified, that 
have believed and trusted in 

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Jesus and that are followers of 
Him. 

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And so I pray that this morning 
as we look at your word 

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together, that those believers 
will be challenged, that they 

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would be encouraged, they would 
be edified, that they would be 

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built up. 
But then also, Lord, if there's 

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some here and in a crowd this 
size or even watching online, I 

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know there's got to be an 
individual who hears the sound 

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of my voice who does not yet 
know you. 

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Maybe they've heard the name of 
Jesus, or maybe they've been to 

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church before. 
Maybe they've been in church a 

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lot of their life. 
Maybe they've read Your word 

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before, but they don't truly 
believe in God. 

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So this morning Lord, would 
today be the day of salvation 

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for them. 
Lord, would you do what only you

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can do by the power of Your 
word? 

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And Lord, would you remove 
distractions and by the power of

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Your Holy Spirit, help us to 
focus and help us to learn what 

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it is that You would have us to 
learn from Your word in Romans 

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chapter 4. 
This morning in Jesus name, 

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Amen. 
So Paul here in Romans chapter 4

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is going to go all the way back 
to the Old Testament, and he's 

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going to argue from the Old 
Testament that justification is 

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available to not just the Jews, 
but to everyone. 

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And the first argument that 
Paul's going to address is that 

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if justification is not by the 
law and the Jews really have no 

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reason to boast, then why is 
Abraham significant? 

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You'll see on the back of your a
worship guy that you got this 

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morning or if you're following 
along in the app, they're going 

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to be 5 questions that we're 
going to look at together that 

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Paul addresses. 
And there's going to, I'm going 

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to give you the question and 
then I'm going to give you the 

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answer to that question. 
And the first question that Paul

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asks is what about Abraham? 
What is the significance of 

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Abraham if the Jews really have 
no advantage or no reason to 

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boast, and if justification is 
available to all? 

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And so let's look at Romans 
chapter 4, starting in verse 

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one. 
What then will we say that 

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Abraham, our forefather, 
according to the flesh, is 

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found? 
If Abraham was justified by 

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works, he has something to boast
about, but not before God. 

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For what does the Scripture say?
Abraham believed God, and it was

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credited to him for 
righteousness. 

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Now to the one who works, pay is
not credited as a gift, but it's

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something owed. 
But to the one who does not 

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work, but believes on him, who 
justifies the ungodly, his faith

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is credited for righteousness. 
Now, Abraham is one of the 

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patriarchs of the Jewish faith. 
It's held synonymous that if 

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you're a child of God, that 
you're a, you're a son of 

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Abraham. 
And so Abraham held a high place

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in the Jewish religion in the 
nation of Israel because all of 

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Israel would come from the line 
of Abraham. 

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And so Paul says, you want to 
talk about justification. 

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Let's go all the way back to 
Abraham. 

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Let's go all the way back and 
let's see how was Abraham 

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actually justified? 
Well, I don't want to assume 

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that you've been here and you've
been following us for the last 

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number of weeks. 
And so as we think about this 

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word justification, it's not one
that we use very often in our 

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daily vocabulary, at least I 
don't. 

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But justification is just the 
act of being declared right or 

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righteous or in good standing. 
Just imagine for a moment, 

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because I know this would not 
happen to any of you, that 

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you've gotten pulled over for 
speeding. 

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You've been driving a little bit
too fast and you see blue lights

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in the rearview mirror. 
You pull over, you roll your 

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window down, and here walks Gary
Wester up beside your driver's 

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window. 
Gary says. 

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Son, you know how? 
Fast you were going and you, 

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because you're a follower of 
Jesus, you're honest and you 

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tell the truth. 
Yes, I know how fast I was 

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going. 
Here's how fast I was going. 

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And then the next question he's 
going to ask is, why were you 

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going so fast? 
And then immediately, we're 

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going to start trying to justify
the fact that we just broke the 

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law. 
We're going to try to find a 

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good reason for Gary to just 
drive off and pretend like this 

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never happened. 
And so we might say I just 

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wouldn't paying attention. 
Yeah, I just didn't notice I was

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going that fast. 
Or we might say, man, I was, you

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know, I was in a hurry. 
Like, I really had to get 

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somewhere. 
I'm running late. 

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Or, hey, I was just going with 
the flow of traffic. 

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Everybody else was doing it. 
So I just decided just to break 

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the law. 
Right, on with them. 

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Or maybe you're like, man, I 
really had to go to the bathroom

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super fast and I already decided
to get there and I was rolling 

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and you're keeping me from that.
So let's get this moving. 

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But you're immediately going to 
begin to try to start justifying

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your actions. 
But you cannot change the fact 

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that you broke the law and that 
you need to be justified. 

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00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:26,360
You stand in a place where you 
are guilty, but you need to be 

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00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:31,560
justified for breaking the law. 
And last week, if you were here,

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we looked at Romans chapter 3. 
Towards the end of it in Romans 

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chapter 323 tells us that all 
have sinned and fallen short of 

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the glory of God. 
So the reality is that every one

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00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:45,640
of us is in need of 
justification because right now 

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00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:49,800
we stand guilty before God, 
deserving of His wrath, and no 

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00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:53,760
amount of explanations or 
excuses or perceived good deeds 

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00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:56,040
can change that. 
We need justification. 

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00:11:57,120 --> 00:11:59,760
The Bible says that Abraham was 
justified, but how? 

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Paul goes all the way back to 
quote Genesis chapter 15 verse 6

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00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:08,960
where God tells us that Abram 
believed the Lord and he 

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00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:12,960
credited to him is 
righteousness. 3 crucial words 

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00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:16,080
in this passage, Belief, credit 
and righteousness. 

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00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:18,320
We'll talk about belief towards 
the end, but let's talk about 

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00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:22,280
righteousness first. 
A couple of weeks ago, at the 

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beginning of Romans chapter 3, 
starting in verse nine, look at 

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what Paul says about our own 
righteousness. 

246
00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:32,000
Romans 3, starting in verse 9. 
What then? 

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00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,040
Are we any better off? 
Not at all, for we have already 

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charged that both the Jews and 
the Greeks are all under sin. 

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00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:42,480
As it is written, there is no 
one righteous, not even 1. 

250
00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:46,080
There is no one who understands.
There is no one who seeks God. 

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00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:49,920
All have turned away. 
All alike have become worthless.

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00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:53,360
There is no one who does what is
good, not even one. 

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00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:56,840
Their throat is an open grave. 
They deceive with their tongues.

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00:12:56,840 --> 00:12:58,600
Vipers venom is under their 
lips. 

255
00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:01,440
Their mouth is full of cursing 
and bitterness. 

256
00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:03,840
Their feet are swift to shed 
blood. 

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00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:07,400
Ruin and wretchedness are in 
their paths and the path of 

258
00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:11,040
peace they have not known. 
There is No Fear of God before 

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00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:12,360
their. 
Eyes. 

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00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:17,520
You may say, man, that's not me.
I'm not, I'm not that bad, I'm 

261
00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:20,400
not like that. 
I hear all the time from people 

262
00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:24,320
that don't know Jesus, that have
a hard time believing that Jesus

263
00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:26,440
is the only way to salvation, 
that man. 

264
00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:29,080
How could God punish all of 
these good people in the world? 

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00:13:29,560 --> 00:13:33,480
Our culture wants us to think 
that every person is inherently 

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00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:36,320
or innately good. 
They want us to see the best in 

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00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:39,360
everyone, but the Bible paints a
very different picture for us. 

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00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:43,400
The Bible doesn't tell us that 
everyone is good. 

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00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:46,640
The Bible tells us that there is
no one righteous. 

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00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:47,960
None. 
Not one. 

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00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:53,160
The prophet of Isaiah uses very 
strong imagery to get us to see 

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00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:57,480
just how unclean we are. 
Isaiah chapter 64 verse 6. 

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00:13:57,480 --> 00:14:00,840
All of us have become like 
something unclean, and all of 

274
00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:04,000
our righteousness, our righteous
acts are like a polluted 

275
00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:08,120
garment. 
So what Isaiah is saying here is

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00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:12,600
if you think that you've got 
your own righteousness, if you 

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00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,160
think that you're doing well, 
man, you're going to church, 

278
00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:17,560
you're praying the Lord's 
Prayer, man, you're doing all of

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00:14:17,560 --> 00:14:18,640
the things. 
You're being nice, you're 

280
00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:22,000
volunteering in the community, 
you're kind, you're honest to 

281
00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:24,240
the police officer when he pulls
you over and you tell him how 

282
00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:27,320
fast you're going. 
You're doing all the things. 

283
00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:31,080
Isaiah says. 
Let me tell you what that's 

284
00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:34,640
like. 
It's like a polluted garment. 

285
00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:39,280
The word that he uses here is 
actually for a garment stained 

286
00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:41,160
by a woman's menstrual 
discharge. 

287
00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:46,440
That's how graphic Isaiah is 
getting to try to get his point 

288
00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:50,280
across. 
He wants to shock his readers 

289
00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:53,480
into understanding that you want
to do this on your own. 

290
00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:57,080
This is what you've got to show 
to the Lord. 

291
00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:00,280
This is what your good works 
are. 

292
00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:04,000
As the old King James says, it's
filthy rags. 

293
00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:11,360
That's all you have to offer. 
We are not good according to 

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00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:15,520
God's Word. 
We need righteousness that is 

295
00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:19,440
not our own righteousness. 
In line with justification is 

296
00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:22,320
the state of being right or just
or in line with the law. 

297
00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:25,360
And in this. 
Case the law of God you see, 

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00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:30,360
we've all got a debt that we. 
Cannot pay unless someone puts a

299
00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:33,840
credit on our account. 
Every time we get to this point 

300
00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:37,400
in the year and I'm thinking 
about graduations, I reflect on 

301
00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:40,400
my own time in school and and 
graduation. 

302
00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:44,320
And I graduated and went off to 
a big state school. 

303
00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:46,880
But I grew up really rural, 
middle of nowhere. 

304
00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:52,280
And part of graduation is you 
have graduation parties and 

305
00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:54,040
celebrations. 
You invite friends, family, you 

306
00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:55,200
invite church members to come 
over. 

307
00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:57,720
And a lot of people, they write 
cards and give you gifts, right?

308
00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:02,880
So for me, when I went off to 
college, man, I had more money 

309
00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:07,200
in my bank account than I'd ever
seen before in my life because 

310
00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:10,120
of gifts from friends and family
members and church members that 

311
00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:12,680
had given money. 
Because back then gift cards 

312
00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:14,280
wouldn't weren't as popular as 
they are now. 

313
00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:17,480
And so I went off to college, I 
had all this money in the bank 

314
00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:19,480
and I thought, man, what can I 
do with this? 

315
00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:22,040
And so I started buying stuff 
for my truck. 

316
00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:24,840
I bought an iPod. 
Some of y'all don't even know 

317
00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:28,800
what that is. 
It's bad whenever I'm so old 

318
00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:34,560
that there are people that don't
know because I'm still young, 

319
00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:38,320
right John? 
But I partied a lot of that 

320
00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:40,560
money away. 
But where the majority of my 

321
00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:44,280
money went is right across from 
my dorm was a Taco Bell right 

322
00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:47,360
across the street. 
And so man, multiple times a 

323
00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:49,400
week we were going across the 
street back and forth and 

324
00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:50,960
getting Taco Bell. 
Even though we all had money at 

325
00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:53,720
the cafeteria, we're spending 
our own money at the Taco Bell 

326
00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:55,920
across the street. 
And before too long, I logged 

327
00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:58,160
into my online banking account 
and I checked and there's a 

328
00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:01,680
there's a dollar amount in 
there, but there's a little dash

329
00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:04,640
in front of that dollar amount. 
I'm like, man, what does that 

330
00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:07,079
mean? 
So I go to Taco Bell one night, 

331
00:17:07,079 --> 00:17:09,800
go to scan my card, and it 
doesn't work. 

332
00:17:11,079 --> 00:17:14,480
Like what happened? 
Insufficient funds. 

333
00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:20,000
I learned what it meant to 
overdraft my bank account, but 

334
00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:22,720
here I am and freshman in 
college away from home and I 

335
00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:25,920
don't have a job. 
I'm not working and so I have no

336
00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:28,560
source of income. 
All that I had was the what was 

337
00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:32,280
in the bank and now I have no 
way to replenish that amount of 

338
00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:34,680
money that is now gone that I 
now owe. 

339
00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:38,800
That is a debt. 
I needed somebody to credit my 

340
00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:42,160
account. 
Paul in Romans chapter 4 verse 4

341
00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:45,800
says now to the one who works, 
pay is not credited as a gift, 

342
00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:49,000
but it's something owed. 
Those of us who work, who are 

343
00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:52,640
employed, who have a job, we 
work for an agreed amount of 

344
00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:55,000
money. 
And so when payday comes around,

345
00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:58,560
we are owed that money because 
we have worked for it by our 

346
00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:00,160
job. 
Does that make sense? 

347
00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:06,840
Well, where I was, I was not 
working and in fact I had blown 

348
00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:09,280
that money on really dumb things
that I didn't have to spend that

349
00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:14,360
money on. 
And so here I was, in debt, no 

350
00:18:14,360 --> 00:18:18,040
way to make income. 
I needed somebody to credit me 

351
00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:21,600
with a gift. 
So I did what any good freshman 

352
00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:24,240
in college would do. 
I called my mommy. 

353
00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:29,680
And it may not be good 
parenting, but it makes for a 

354
00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:33,440
good analogy. 
My mom and dad loved me so much 

355
00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:36,920
that they credited my account 
and got me out of the negative, 

356
00:18:37,360 --> 00:18:39,240
and then very quickly taught me 
a little bit about money 

357
00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:43,440
management. 
But if my parents hadn't bailed 

358
00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:48,800
me out, there was no hope for me
getting out of that debt. 

359
00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:56,000
But what we learn about Abraham 
is that the righteousness that 

360
00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:02,560
he had was credited to him as a 
gift because of his belief in 

361
00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:07,840
God. 
He trusted in the Lord, and the 

362
00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:11,520
Lord put righteousness on his 
account that was not his. 

363
00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:14,640
He had a debt that needed to be 
paid that he couldn't pay on his

364
00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:17,160
own. 
He needed somebody to gift it to

365
00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:18,480
him. 
He didn't do anything to earn it

366
00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:21,880
or deserve it. 
It was a credit. 

367
00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:28,200
And if you want to talk about 
what's fair or what we are owed 

368
00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:32,560
in this life or what we deserve,
just wait a couple of weeks till

369
00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:36,920
we get to Romans chapter 6. 
Because Romans 623 says that the

370
00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:42,440
wages or the payment or what you
are owed is death. 

371
00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:47,440
And not just physical death, but
what revelation refers to as the

372
00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:52,760
second death, eternal 
punishment, God's wrath against 

373
00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:54,920
your. 
Sin and mine. 

374
00:19:57,280 --> 00:20:02,640
You want life to be fair. 
That's fair because that's what 

375
00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:05,960
we deserve. 
I for one, am glad that life is 

376
00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:10,480
not fair. 
And that God has credited 

377
00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:14,320
righteous righteousness to my 
account, not because of anything

378
00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:17,840
that I've done other than 
believe and trust in Jesus. 

379
00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:22,800
So true righteousness, Paul 
answers, only comes by credit. 

380
00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:27,440
True righteousness only comes by
credit. 

381
00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:30,120
Abraham was gifted or credited 
with righteousness because he 

382
00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:32,960
believed in God. 
After addressing Abraham's 

383
00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:36,040
justification by credit Paul, 
then he brings up David. 

384
00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:39,640
Here's David, this other 
patriarch of the faith. 

385
00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:41,400
He was the man after God's own 
heart. 

386
00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:43,560
He was the king through whom 
which the Messiah, the promised 

387
00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:45,080
Savior of God's people, would 
come. 

388
00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:47,800
This Messiah from the Davidic 
line would sit on the throne of 

389
00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:51,480
David for all of eternity. 
Paul is going back to the 

390
00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:53,600
patriarchs of Jewish faith, and 
it's like, hey, guys. 

391
00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:57,840
Let's look at what David has to 
say now about those who are 

392
00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:00,600
credited with righteousness. 
And so first there's what about 

393
00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:02,520
Abraham? 
And now he says, what about 

394
00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:05,160
David? 
Let's continue in verse 6. 

395
00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:09,400
Likewise, David also speaks of 
the blessing of the person to 

396
00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:11,960
whom God credits righteousness 
apart from works. 

397
00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:15,680
Blessed are those whose lawless 
acts are forgiven and whose sins

398
00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:18,280
are covered. 
Blessed is the person the Lord 

399
00:21:18,280 --> 00:21:22,200
will never charge with sin. 
You see, I asked you earlier how

400
00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:25,160
many of you wanted to live the 
good or the blessed life. 

401
00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:27,480
I think every one of us would 
say that, and especially 

402
00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:29,320
parents. 
You say that of your kids, like 

403
00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:32,400
I want my kid to live up and 
have a good, blessed life. 

404
00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:35,400
But the problem is I think many 
of us might have different 

405
00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:37,760
definitions of what the good or 
the blessed life is. 

406
00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:42,280
Pew Research did a poll of 
parents within the United States

407
00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:46,840
back in 2023 and I asked them, 
what do you envision the good 

408
00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:48,800
life? 
What do you want for your kids? 

409
00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:50,960
For your kids that you're 
raising? 

410
00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:53,000
What do you want for the? 
What is the highest thing that 

411
00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:59,840
you want for them 80? 
8% of those polled said that 

412
00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:02,840
what I want for my kids is 
financial security. 

413
00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:08,280
So it's safe to say that for 
most of our country, the good 

414
00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:12,160
life is financial security. 
Well, we're one of the 

415
00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:16,920
wealthiest nations in all of the
world, but we're also one of the

416
00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:20,720
most unhappy. 
And for a whole bunch of wealthy

417
00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:26,840
people, we sure are a bunch of 
unhappy people. the United 

418
00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:29,280
States has one of the highest 
rates of suicide among any 

419
00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:32,440
developed nation. 
It's one of the leading causes 

420
00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:35,200
of death in the United States, 
with one person dying by suicide

421
00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:39,360
every 10 minutes. 
And it reported 12.8 million 

422
00:22:39,360 --> 00:22:42,160
people contemplated suicide in 
2023 in our country. 

423
00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:46,560
If financial security is the key
to living the blessed life, then

424
00:22:46,560 --> 00:22:49,720
why are so many people so 
unhappy? 

425
00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:55,720
I'm afraid that we as believers 
have allowed our culture to 

426
00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:58,560
determine what the good and 
blessed life is and not looked 

427
00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:02,360
at Scripture to see what God's 
Word actually has to say about 

428
00:23:02,360 --> 00:23:04,840
what the good and blessed life 
actually is. 

429
00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:08,200
And we look around at the world 
around us, and we look around at

430
00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:09,920
the people that live in our 
neighborhood and that we work 

431
00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:11,480
with, and we want to fit in with
them. 

432
00:23:11,480 --> 00:23:14,840
We want to belong with them. 
We want what they have, and 

433
00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:17,440
before too long we find 
ourselves focused more on what 

434
00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:20,000
the world has to say about what 
the good life is than we do 

435
00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:22,320
about what God has to say about 
what the good life is. 

436
00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:26,120
And when we will read the word 
blessing in Scripture, we 

437
00:23:26,120 --> 00:23:29,720
immediately go to earthly 
blessings and things that we can

438
00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:33,560
see that are tangible. 
We think of things like the 

439
00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:38,880
approval of other people or the 
balance in our 5O1K or 4 O1 Ki 

440
00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:48,240
don't have one of those. 
I have a four O 3B A4O1K or man.

441
00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:52,760
Maybe it's our car or house or 
our family or the clubs that 

442
00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:54,440
were a part of the sports that 
we play. 

443
00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:58,880
We begin to look at all of these
external things as blessings, 

444
00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:01,120
but then we turn around and 
we're living a pretty Dang and 

445
00:24:01,120 --> 00:24:06,200
happy life. 
And So what does God's Word have

446
00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:09,240
to say about what it means to be
blessed? 

447
00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:12,520
Next week we'll look at Romans 
chapter 5. 

448
00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:14,920
In the 1st 2 verses of Romans 
chapter 5, Paul writes, 

449
00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:17,880
Therefore, since we've been 
justified by faith, we have 

450
00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:20,080
peace with God through our Lord 
Jesus Christ. 

451
00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:23,960
We've also obtained access 
through him by faith into this 

452
00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:28,520
grace in which we stand and we 
boast in the hope of the glory 

453
00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:31,200
of God. 
You see, what all these people 

454
00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:34,480
that are searching for the good 
life really need is Jesus. 

455
00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:38,600
And for those of us that believe
and trust in Jesus, we have 

456
00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:42,160
available to us because of our 
justification, a peace that 

457
00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:45,480
surpasses all understanding and 
a hope for a future beyond this 

458
00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:47,120
place. 
If you want to talk about what 

459
00:24:47,120 --> 00:24:49,840
the good and the blessed life 
is, it's having peace and hope 

460
00:24:50,360 --> 00:24:52,080
because that's what everybody's 
looking for. 

461
00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:55,360
And the financial security is 
what they think is going to 

462
00:24:55,360 --> 00:24:58,120
bring that. 
They think, man, if I just get 

463
00:24:58,120 --> 00:25:00,440
my money in order, if I just get
things in order, if my kid just 

464
00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:03,200
has a good education and a good 
job and their finances there are

465
00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:05,840
in order, then they'll be at 
peace and they'll have hope for 

466
00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:07,360
a future because they got a nest
egg. 

467
00:25:07,360 --> 00:25:11,120
But what happens if Iran starts 
dropping bombs on us? 

468
00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:15,880
What happens when the stock 
market crashes? 

469
00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:18,400
What happens when you lose your 
job? 

470
00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:21,080
What happens when you don't have
that income anymore? 

471
00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:24,520
Then what is the good and 
blessed life? 

472
00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:28,520
We've got to ask man, where are 
we looking for peace and where 

473
00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:33,360
are we looking for hope? 
Because God's Word teaches us 

474
00:25:33,360 --> 00:25:38,320
where it comes from. 
True blessedness is not earned, 

475
00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:42,880
it only comes by credit. 
When we believe and trust in 

476
00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:46,160
Jesus and God credits 
righteousness to us and we are 

477
00:25:46,160 --> 00:25:49,560
justified, we also get the 
blessings that come along with 

478
00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:51,840
that. 
And so you want to know what the

479
00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:55,240
true good life actually is? 
It's believing and trusting in 

480
00:25:55,360 --> 00:25:58,080
Jesus and living your life in 
the way that you were created 

481
00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:02,880
and called. 
To and then the peace and hope 

482
00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:06,920
that you've so desperately been 
searching for is there. 

483
00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:10,320
True blessedness only comes by 
credit. 

484
00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:13,760
It only comes to the one who the
Lord will not charge with sin, 

485
00:26:13,760 --> 00:26:16,680
as David says, and it comes with
peace and hope. 

486
00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:19,680
True blessedness is not found in
the approval of others or in 

487
00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:22,000
financial security or anything 
else that this world has to 

488
00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:23,760
offer. 
It's only found in the 

489
00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:25,320
righteousness that comes through
Jesus. 

490
00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:27,800
That blessedness only becomes by
credit. 

491
00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:30,080
It can't be earned. 
But then you've got these 

492
00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:34,320
Judaizers, these people that are
trying to convince these Gentile

493
00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:37,080
believers that they have to do 
all of these other things. 

494
00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:40,680
You see, the Gentiles just 
wanted to belong, man. 

495
00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:42,520
They wanted to be a child of 
God. 

496
00:26:42,520 --> 00:26:44,200
They wanted to be a part of the 
Kingdom. 

497
00:26:44,360 --> 00:26:47,440
They wanted a piece of the pie. 
They wanted to believe in Jesus 

498
00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:50,800
and to be called a child of God 
and a child of Abraham. 

499
00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:54,200
And the Judaizers are trying to 
build the wall high and they're 

500
00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:56,120
trying to Add all these things 
onto the gospel. 

501
00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:58,600
They're trying to Add all of 
these barriers to belonging. 

502
00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:00,640
They're trying to tell them, 
hey, you got to be circumcised, 

503
00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:02,240
you got to live by the dietary 
restrictions. 

504
00:27:02,360 --> 00:27:03,720
You got to come worship at the 
synagogue. 

505
00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:09,680
They're adding all of these 
other things, you see, every one

506
00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:12,240
of us have. 
Has an innate desire within us 

507
00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:18,000
to belong somewhere. 
And the Gentiles just wanted to 

508
00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:20,720
belong, man. 
They wanted to be a part of the 

509
00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:24,840
Kingdom. 
Paul hits this argument head on,

510
00:27:25,600 --> 00:27:27,600
says, man, you want to talk 
about barriers? 

511
00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:29,400
Let's go back and look at 
Abraham. 

512
00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:32,120
Let's go back and look at him 
again and look at his 

513
00:27:32,120 --> 00:27:33,760
justification. 
And so the third question is, 

514
00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:37,680
what about circumcision starting
in verse 9? 

515
00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:42,440
Is this blessing then only for 
the circumcised, or is it also 

516
00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:46,440
for the uncircumcised? 
For we say faith was credited to

517
00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:50,040
Abraham for righteousness. 
In what way then was it credited

518
00:27:50,360 --> 00:27:52,880
while he was circumcised or 
uncircumcised? 

519
00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:56,480
It was not while he was 
circumcised, but uncircumcised. 

520
00:27:56,920 --> 00:28:00,720
And he received the sign of 
circumcision as a seal of the 

521
00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:04,160
righteousness that he had by 
faith while he was still 

522
00:28:04,160 --> 00:28:07,120
uncircumcised. 
This was to make him the father 

523
00:28:07,120 --> 00:28:09,880
of all who believe but are not 
circumcised, so that the 

524
00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:12,800
righteousness may be credited to
them also. 

525
00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:16,160
And he became the father of the 
circumcised who are not only 

526
00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:19,320
circumcised, but also following 
the footsteps of the faith of 

527
00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:23,600
our father Abraham had while he 
was still uncircumcised. 

528
00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:27,320
You see, we've all got that 
innate desire to belong, but for

529
00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:33,200
so many of us, that desire is 
misplaced and we begin to look 

530
00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:36,520
for belonging in communities we 
should never desire to belong 

531
00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:40,560
into in the first place. 
I tell our students all the 

532
00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:42,440
time, when you go off to 
college, some of the first 

533
00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:44,640
people that you meet and start 
interacting with are the ones 

534
00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:46,480
that are going to set the 
trajectory for the rest of your 

535
00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:47,760
time in college most of the 
time. 

536
00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:51,360
Statistically, that's true 
because the first people you 

537
00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:53,360
meet when you're in a new place,
what do you want? 

538
00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:56,320
You want approval. 
You want to belong. 

539
00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:57,960
You want those people to like 
you. 

540
00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:01,040
You want friends and so the 
first people that you meet and 

541
00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:02,640
you start trying to find that 
community with. 

542
00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:04,200
You start trying to find that 
belonging with. 

543
00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:07,240
When I went off to college, I 
got. 

544
00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:10,920
Put in the athletes dorm and all
the guys that were right around 

545
00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:13,200
me, we're all part of the 
football team and so I 

546
00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:14,960
immediately wanted to start 
fitting in with the football 

547
00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:16,840
players. 
Well then, down the hall, we're 

548
00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:19,640
all the frat. 
Guys and so between the football

549
00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:22,880
guys and the frat guys, I wanted
to belong. 

550
00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:25,920
I didn't want to be the odd man 
out. 

551
00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:28,880
I didn't want to be the only guy
on the hallway that wasn't going

552
00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:30,600
to parties and doing all the 
things that they were doing. 

553
00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:34,240
I wanted to fit in. 
Had a misplaced. 

554
00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:39,160
Desire for longing that caused 
me to compromise my integrity. 

555
00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:43,560
But you see, this isn't just a 
problem for our teenagers. 

556
00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:50,440
Parents, grandparents, if we'll 
be honest, every one of us have 

557
00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:53,280
desired to be accepted and 
belong in the communities that 

558
00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:57,040
we don't have any business being
in or that are not the most 

559
00:29:57,040 --> 00:30:00,960
important. 
You see, I'm so. 

560
00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:06,160
Afraid that there are believers 
that care way more about fitting

561
00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:11,040
in with the travel ball parents 
or the Dance Moms then they do 

562
00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:13,280
about fitting in and belonging 
in the body of Christ. 

563
00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:17,880
And so it changes the way that 
we make decisions. 

564
00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:22,080
These things are not inherently 
bad things, but when we got too 

565
00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:25,080
much of a bad thing or we are a 
good thing, it becomes a bad 

566
00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:27,600
thing. 
Austin Smith gave me a cookout 

567
00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:29,360
hat right before the service for
my birthday. 

568
00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:32,360
I love cookout, but if I eat too
many cookout milkshakes, it's 

569
00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:35,320
going to be a problem. 
Too much of a good thing is a 

570
00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:39,560
bad thing. 
And so if we begin to place our 

571
00:30:39,560 --> 00:30:43,280
desire for belonging in these 
external communities above the 

572
00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:47,080
body of Christ, then we're going
to begin to suffer. 

573
00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:51,520
The church is going to begin to 
suffer. 

574
00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:56,800
You see, I long for the day that
we care more about whether our 

575
00:30:56,800 --> 00:31:00,000
nursery is fully staffed then we
do about the roster on our 

576
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:05,000
child's softball team. 
Because we got a bunch of people

577
00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:06,640
around here that are working in 
four or five different 

578
00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:10,920
ministries killing themselves 
when there are other members of 

579
00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:13,520
the body of Christ that are not 
fully fulfilling what God has 

580
00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:16,960
called them to. 
And so many people are searching

581
00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:20,160
for belonging outside of here 
when God would say if you. 

582
00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:23,440
Believe and trust in me. 
You already belong in the only 

583
00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:26,160
community that's going to last. 
Eternal you're. 

584
00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:28,960
Already a part. 
Of the body of Christ, you're 

585
00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:31,600
already been grafted in, you're 
already a child of God, you're 

586
00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:33,720
already a child of Abraham. 
He says, hey, you want to talk 

587
00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:35,240
about Abraham? 
You want to say that 

588
00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:37,720
circumcision, that you've got to
be circumcised in order to be a 

589
00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:40,160
part of this community. 
When Abraham was justified, it 

590
00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:42,240
was over 10 years before his 
circumcision. 

591
00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:46,840
And so stop trying to put these 
external barriers on to the 

592
00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:50,080
gospel. 
Have the faith of Abraham, 

593
00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:52,680
believe God and it will be 
credited to you as 

594
00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:58,440
righteousness. 
All of these other things are 

595
00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:04,440
just noise. 
In Genesis chapter 17 verse 11, 

596
00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:07,320
Paul and back in the book of 
Genesis referred to circumcision

597
00:32:07,320 --> 00:32:11,960
as a sign or a seal. 
Circumcision was not required to

598
00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:14,280
gain the credit of 
righteousness. 

599
00:32:14,520 --> 00:32:16,480
Abraham. 
Believed God and it was credited

600
00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:18,880
to him as righteousness. 
Not Abraham was circumcised then

601
00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:22,080
it was credited to him as 
righteousness, Circumcision. 

602
00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:26,200
Circumcision was an outward sign
of the righteousness that 

603
00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:31,240
Abraham already had. 
But throughout the Scriptures it

604
00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:34,960
points forward to a time where 
there would be an internal sign 

605
00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:37,760
and seal. 
And instead of an external sign 

606
00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:41,200
and seal for faith, in 
Deuteronomy chapter 30, verse 6,

607
00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:44,400
it says the Lord your God will 
circumcise your heart and the 

608
00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:47,160
hearts of your descendants, and 
you will love him with all of 

609
00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:49,760
your heart and with all of your 
soul so that you will live. 

610
00:32:50,560 --> 00:32:53,480
The circumcision of the heart or
the inward sign and seal of the 

611
00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:56,760
righteousness credited by God to
those who believe was fulfilled 

612
00:32:56,760 --> 00:32:58,040
at the coming of the Holy 
Spirit. 

613
00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:01,840
Paul writes to the Ephesians in 
Ephesians chapter one, verse 13 

614
00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:04,920
in him that's in Jesus. 
You were sealed with the 

615
00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:07,800
promised Holy Spirit when you 
heard the word of truth, the 

616
00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:10,960
gospel of your salvation, and 
when you believed. 

617
00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:15,240
The presence of the Holy Spirit 
in the life of a believer is the

618
00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:19,440
sign and seal that your account 
has been credited with 

619
00:33:19,440 --> 00:33:22,280
righteousness. 
Now, but the Holy Spirit is an 

620
00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:26,680
inward sign and seal, but it's 
an inward sign and seal that 

621
00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:32,000
should have external realities. 
If we truly believe in God, if 

622
00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:35,960
we truly believe the gospel and 
we have His Holy Spirit living 

623
00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:38,880
inside of us, then there should 
be evidences, there should be 

624
00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:41,520
fruit of that bore out in our 
lives. 

625
00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:44,400
Now those evidences, those 
fruits, those works, they don't 

626
00:33:44,400 --> 00:33:46,760
add anything to the 
righteousness because it's not 

627
00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:49,880
our righteousness to begin with.
It's Jesus that was given to us.

628
00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:55,040
And so it's not the works that 
somehow add something on to the 

629
00:33:55,040 --> 00:34:01,280
righteousness. 
It's an outworking of the belief

630
00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:08,000
that brings the righteousness. 
And so true belonging is 

631
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:11,639
something that comes by credit. 
It's something that's given to 

632
00:34:11,639 --> 00:34:12,960
us. 
It's not something that can be 

633
00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:14,679
earned. 
You may be here and you may not 

634
00:34:14,679 --> 00:34:16,320
be a follower of Jesus. 
You may have been coming and 

635
00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:17,639
thinking, man, this place is 
weird. 

636
00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:19,960
These people are weird. 
It feels uncomfortable. 

637
00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:22,480
Every time I come here, it's 
because you don't belong yet. 

638
00:34:23,679 --> 00:34:25,719
It's because you've not placed 
your faith and your hope and 

639
00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:27,760
your trust in Jesus yet for your
salvation. 

640
00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:30,760
You're not a part of the family 
yet, but that can change today. 

641
00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:37,840
If you put your faith in Jesus, 
if you believe God in the way 

642
00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:41,239
that Abraham did, he will credit
righteousness to your account. 

643
00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:43,960
And you won't just receive the 
righteousness, but you'll 

644
00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:47,400
receive the blessings that come 
along with it, and you'll also 

645
00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:51,840
receive belonging. 
You'll be a part of the family 

646
00:34:52,360 --> 00:34:54,719
and you can quit searching for 
belonging and all of the other 

647
00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:56,800
places that you're trying to 
find it in your life right now. 

648
00:34:56,920 --> 00:35:00,640
And if you're here and you 
believe in trust in Jesus, and 

649
00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:02,520
you've been looking for love and
all the wrong places, come. 

650
00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:08,680
Back because you belong to God, 
you belong as a part of his 

651
00:35:08,680 --> 00:35:12,240
family. 
You're a part of the body and 

652
00:35:12,240 --> 00:35:16,480
the body needs you way more than
those other communities 

653
00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:19,640
externally do. 
And if you'd place the belonging

654
00:35:19,640 --> 00:35:23,640
in the in the community of 
Christ first, then you can 

655
00:35:23,640 --> 00:35:28,640
utilize those other communities 
for the gospel and the Lord can 

656
00:35:28,640 --> 00:35:31,400
use you as a light in these 
other places that he's sending 

657
00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:34,040
you to. 
So the presence of the Holy 

658
00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:36,520
Spirit in the life of a believer
is the sign and the seal of New 

659
00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:44,720
Testament faith in Christ. 
I want to know when are we going

660
00:35:44,720 --> 00:35:49,240
to decide that enough is enough 
and we're not going to care 

661
00:35:49,240 --> 00:35:52,400
about the external pressures. 
We're not going to care what the

662
00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:55,880
parents down the street are 
doing, but we're going to decide

663
00:35:55,880 --> 00:36:00,200
As for me and my house, we serve
the Lord and we're going to care

664
00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:03,280
more about belonging as a part 
of the body of Christ than we do

665
00:36:03,280 --> 00:36:05,400
about any external pressures 
that we're getting in the world 

666
00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:07,880
around us. 
I don't care what any of these 

667
00:36:07,880 --> 00:36:09,480
other communities are saying or 
doing. 

668
00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:13,160
I belong to Jesus and that's 
going to impact and influence 

669
00:36:13,160 --> 00:36:15,480
the way that I interact with all
of these other communities. 

670
00:36:16,880 --> 00:36:20,120
And so along with the gift, the 
sign, and the seal of the Holy 

671
00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:22,880
Spirit that's given to us when 
we believe in trust in Jesus. 

672
00:36:23,120 --> 00:36:25,960
The Holy Spirit, Paul says in 
Ephesians 114, actually 

673
00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:29,520
functions also as the down 
payment of our inheritance. 

674
00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:34,560
So what is an inheritance? 
Traditionally your parents, all 

675
00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:37,360
of their assets, all of their 
resources would be passed down 

676
00:36:37,360 --> 00:36:39,560
to their children. 
That would be the inheritance. 

677
00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:42,040
And traditionally there wouldn't
be any kind of qualifications or

678
00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:44,160
anything that you would need to 
receive that inheritance other 

679
00:36:44,160 --> 00:36:45,680
than just being a child of your 
parents. 

680
00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:48,560
Now I've realized that there's, 
there things can work 

681
00:36:48,560 --> 00:36:50,120
differently today. 
There can be stipulation. 

682
00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:52,200
Just parents can decide they 
want to bestow their their 

683
00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:54,600
inheritance somewhere else. 
But traditionally you just got 

684
00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:55,920
to be a child. 
There's nothing that you have to

685
00:36:55,920 --> 00:36:59,320
do to earn it. 
You just got to be a child. 

686
00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:03,920
And what Paul is saying is he's 
going back and he's looking at 

687
00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:06,400
all of these Old Testament 
evidences and specifically this 

688
00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:09,080
time at the promise to Abraham. 
And he says, hey, all of those 

689
00:37:09,080 --> 00:37:11,320
who have been justified, who 
believe and trust in Jesus, 

690
00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:14,320
there's actually a promised 
inheritance for you that's 

691
00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:17,960
coming. 
And so #4 what about the 

692
00:37:17,960 --> 00:37:20,640
promise? 
Let's keep reading in verse 13. 

693
00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:24,400
For the promise to Abraham or to
his descendants that he would 

694
00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:29,040
inherit the world was not 
through the law, but through the

695
00:37:29,040 --> 00:37:30,720
righteousness that comes by 
faith. 

696
00:37:31,240 --> 00:37:34,120
If those who are of the law are 
heirs, faith is made empty and 

697
00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:37,000
the promise nullified because 
the law produces wrath. 

698
00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:38,960
And where there is no law, there
is no transgression. 

699
00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:42,160
This is why the promise is by 
faith, so that it may be 

700
00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:46,280
according to grace to guarantee 
it to all the descendants, not 

701
00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:49,720
only those of the law, but also 
the one who is of Abraham's 

702
00:37:49,720 --> 00:37:51,800
faith. 
He is the Father of us all, as 

703
00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:53,760
it is written. 
I've made you the father of many

704
00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:57,240
nations in the presence of the 
God in whom he believed, the One

705
00:37:57,240 --> 00:38:00,720
who gives the God who gives life
to the dead and calls things 

706
00:38:00,720 --> 00:38:03,360
into existence that do not 
exist. 

707
00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:07,920
And so Paul says here that the 
descendants of Abraham have an 

708
00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:10,880
inheritance coming to them, and 
that inheritance through the 

709
00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:16,120
promise is the whole. 
World Don't matter how rich your

710
00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:19,000
parents are, I promise you, you 
aren't inheriting the whole 

711
00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:22,400
world. 
There are three aspects of the 

712
00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:25,680
promise that God made to Abraham
in the Old Testament that are 

713
00:38:25,680 --> 00:38:27,000
passed down through his 
descendants. 

714
00:38:27,320 --> 00:38:29,960
First, God promised Abraham that
he would make him the father of 

715
00:38:29,960 --> 00:38:32,400
many nations. 
This is fulfilled kind of in 

716
00:38:32,400 --> 00:38:34,800
two, in two ways. 
First of all, he made a great 

717
00:38:34,800 --> 00:38:38,680
nation come out of him by ethnic
Israel, Abraham. 

718
00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:41,920
Israel came from Abraham. 
A few 100 years later, they're 

719
00:38:41,920 --> 00:38:45,320
in captivity and Egypt. 
And 400 years after that, all of

720
00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:48,440
a sudden this nation that was 
once just of one family is now 

721
00:38:48,560 --> 00:38:50,520
millions and millions and 
millions of people. 

722
00:38:51,240 --> 00:38:54,000
So God made a great nation 
through Abraham out of one man. 

723
00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:56,480
But God doesn't just promise 
Abraham that he's going to make 

724
00:38:56,480 --> 00:38:59,600
him the father of a nation, that
he's going to make him a great 

725
00:38:59,600 --> 00:39:00,680
nation. 
He says he's going to make them 

726
00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:05,200
the father of many nations. 
And so if if you go all the way 

727
00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:08,480
to the New Testament and go to 
the book of Matthew and you 

728
00:39:08,480 --> 00:39:12,000
track backwards the genealogy of
Jesus in the book of Matthew, 

729
00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:17,880
Matthew strategically tracks it 
all the way back to who Abraham 

730
00:39:20,880 --> 00:39:24,720
you see by faith. 
Abraham becomes the father of 

731
00:39:24,720 --> 00:39:28,560
many nations because anyone who 
would choose to believe and 

732
00:39:28,560 --> 00:39:32,720
trust in the same God that 
Abraham believed in now becomes 

733
00:39:32,720 --> 00:39:35,320
a child of Abraham because of 
faith. 

734
00:39:36,040 --> 00:39:38,040
And so he's not just the father 
of the nation of Israel, but 

735
00:39:38,040 --> 00:39:41,560
he's the father of all. 
Who would believe, not just the 

736
00:39:41,560 --> 00:39:45,040
father of a great nation, but 
the father of many nations. 

737
00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:50,080
Secondly, God promised Abraham's
descendants a promised land. 

738
00:39:51,400 --> 00:39:54,640
In Genesis chapter 17, verse 8, 
he said, God says, and to you 

739
00:39:54,640 --> 00:39:56,680
and your future offspring, I 
will give the land where you are

740
00:39:56,680 --> 00:39:59,640
residing, all the land of Canaan
as a permanent possession, and I

741
00:39:59,640 --> 00:40:02,640
will be their God. 
And so we know throughout 

742
00:40:02,640 --> 00:40:06,600
history that Abraham, after 
Abraham and then the nation of 

743
00:40:06,600 --> 00:40:08,560
Israel started to grow. 
They went into captivity in 

744
00:40:08,560 --> 00:40:10,040
Egypt after they came out of 
Egypt. 

745
00:40:10,240 --> 00:40:12,800
God says I'm going to bring you 
to that promised land. 

746
00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:16,000
That I promised to your 
forefathers to Abraham all of 

747
00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:18,840
those number of years ago. 
They disobey him. 

748
00:40:18,840 --> 00:40:20,680
They have to wander in the 
wilderness for 40 years. 

749
00:40:20,680 --> 00:40:23,640
But then after 40 years they're 
able to enter into the promised 

750
00:40:23,640 --> 00:40:26,320
land and take control of the 
land that God had promised to 

751
00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:28,200
Abraham. 
And so they take the land. 

752
00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:33,720
But the the New Testament paints
a much bigger picture for us, 

753
00:40:34,120 --> 00:40:37,080
way bigger than a small strip of
land in the Middle East. 

754
00:40:38,000 --> 00:40:40,400
Because you remember what we 
read from Paul, what was the 

755
00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:43,880
inheritance? 
The whole world. 

756
00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:48,320
In Matthew chapter 5 verse 5, 
when Jesus is preaching the 

757
00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:50,040
sermon on the mountain, he's 
talking about believers. 

758
00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:53,600
He says blessed are the humble 
for they will inherit the earth.

759
00:40:55,440 --> 00:40:57,920
The the New Testament, the Book 
of Revelation specifically 

760
00:40:57,920 --> 00:41:01,200
paints a beautiful picture of 
us, of Jesus recreating the 

761
00:41:01,200 --> 00:41:04,560
whole world of the old passing 
away in the new coming, a new 

762
00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:07,200
inheritance for his people and a
new holy city. 

763
00:41:07,680 --> 00:41:10,160
In Revelation chapter 21 verses 
one through 3, we've been 

764
00:41:10,160 --> 00:41:11,680
talking about this on Wednesday 
nights. 

765
00:41:12,600 --> 00:41:15,040
Then I saw a new heaven and a 
new earth for the 1st heaven and

766
00:41:15,040 --> 00:41:17,480
the first earth had passed away,
and the sea was no more. 

767
00:41:17,600 --> 00:41:20,760
And I also saw the holy city, 
the new Jerusalem, coming down 

768
00:41:20,760 --> 00:41:23,960
from heaven, from God, prepared 
like a bride adorned for her 

769
00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:25,280
husband. 
Then I heard a. 

770
00:41:25,280 --> 00:41:27,440
Loud voice from the throne. 
Look, God's dwelling is with 

771
00:41:27,440 --> 00:41:30,880
humanity and he lives with them.
They will be his peoples and God

772
00:41:30,880 --> 00:41:33,480
himself will be with them and 
will be their God. 

773
00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:37,280
We have a promise if we are a 
child of Abraham by faith that 

774
00:41:37,280 --> 00:41:39,480
there's an inheritance coming 
for us in the future. 

775
00:41:40,160 --> 00:41:42,600
That one day all of this is 
going to pass away, that Jesus 

776
00:41:42,600 --> 00:41:45,480
is going to come back, He's 
going to make all things new and

777
00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:48,720
we get to rule and reign beside 
of him and his Kingdom over the 

778
00:41:48,720 --> 00:41:51,600
whole world for all of eternity.
I don't care how good your 

779
00:41:51,600 --> 00:41:55,440
inheritance is. 
God promised Abraham Canaan, and

780
00:41:55,440 --> 00:41:57,720
he promises to all of us the 
cosmos. 

781
00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:00,920
It's not just the strip of land 
in the Middle East, but it's the

782
00:42:00,920 --> 00:42:05,400
whole world. 
This is the inheritance that 

783
00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:10,760
only comes by credit. 
It's not something we can earn. 

784
00:42:11,560 --> 00:42:13,440
It's not something we can work 
towards. 

785
00:42:14,640 --> 00:42:17,360
But if we have the faith of 
Abraham and we believe in the 

786
00:42:17,360 --> 00:42:21,200
God that Abraham believed in, 
then we're gifted righteousness 

787
00:42:21,960 --> 00:42:24,480
and we're gifted blessedness, 
and we're gifted belonging and 

788
00:42:24,480 --> 00:42:28,400
we're gifted an inheritance, a 
hope for a future beyond this 

789
00:42:28,400 --> 00:42:31,280
place, way better than any 
financial security that you can 

790
00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:36,080
give your descendants. 
And so there's a promised land, 

791
00:42:36,080 --> 00:42:39,240
but then third, there's a 
promised that all of the 

792
00:42:39,240 --> 00:42:42,160
families of the world would be 
blessed through Abraham. 

793
00:42:42,920 --> 00:42:45,920
Genesis chapter 12, Three, God 
tells Abraham, I will bless 

794
00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:47,800
those who bless you. 
I'll curse anyone who treats you

795
00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:50,120
with condemned, and all the 
peoples of the earth will be 

796
00:42:50,120 --> 00:42:54,080
blessed through you. 
You see, God from the very 

797
00:42:54,080 --> 00:42:57,280
beginning has always had his 
eyes on the nation's. 

798
00:42:57,760 --> 00:43:01,520
We articulate God's mission here
as God bringing great glory to 

799
00:43:01,520 --> 00:43:06,600
Himself, but us joining Him in 
redeeming the nation's. 

800
00:43:06,600 --> 00:43:09,400
God has always had the desire 
from the very beginning to 

801
00:43:09,400 --> 00:43:12,240
redeem the nation's. 
We see this through His promise 

802
00:43:12,240 --> 00:43:14,320
to Abraham here where God says 
Abraham. 

803
00:43:14,320 --> 00:43:16,760
Through you, one day there's 
going to be a Messiah that's 

804
00:43:16,760 --> 00:43:19,560
going to come, there's going to 
be a savior that's going to come

805
00:43:19,560 --> 00:43:22,760
for my people. 
And one day, anyone who believes

806
00:43:22,760 --> 00:43:27,600
and trusts in the same God that 
you believe and trust in is 

807
00:43:27,600 --> 00:43:31,160
going to be blessed and have 
access to the same inheritance. 

808
00:43:32,040 --> 00:43:38,320
That your descendants have, 
through Jesus, a descendant of 

809
00:43:38,320 --> 00:43:41,320
Abraham. 
All of the families of the earth

810
00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:45,280
can be blessed. 
But true inheritance only comes 

811
00:43:45,280 --> 00:43:47,280
by credit. 
And so righteousness and thereby

812
00:43:47,280 --> 00:43:50,240
justification, blessedness, 
belonging, and this promised 

813
00:43:50,240 --> 00:43:53,000
inheritance are all only 
accessible by credit. 

814
00:43:53,000 --> 00:43:56,200
So the question becomes. 
How can I get this credit 

815
00:43:56,200 --> 00:43:59,840
applied to my account? 
I can't call my mommy like I did

816
00:43:59,840 --> 00:44:03,240
in college. 
She has the same righteousness 

817
00:44:03,240 --> 00:44:05,160
that I do. 
She's holding the same filthy 

818
00:44:05,160 --> 00:44:07,240
rags, polluted garments that I 
am. 

819
00:44:09,120 --> 00:44:10,720
And so how do we receive this 
credit? 

820
00:44:11,480 --> 00:44:13,280
Romans chapter 4, starting in 
22. 

821
00:44:15,320 --> 00:44:17,920
Therefore it was credited to him
for righteousness. 

822
00:44:18,800 --> 00:44:21,080
Now it was credited to him, was 
not written for Abraham alone, 

823
00:44:21,080 --> 00:44:24,000
but also for us. 
It will be credited to us who 

824
00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:27,160
believe in Him, who raised Jesus
our Lord from the dead. 

825
00:44:27,160 --> 00:44:30,840
He was delivered up for our 
trespasses and raised for our. 

826
00:44:31,200 --> 00:44:34,320
Justification. 
And So what about the credit? 

827
00:44:35,440 --> 00:44:38,240
The application of this credit 
only comes through belief in 

828
00:44:38,240 --> 00:44:40,800
God. 
You see, Abraham believed God 

829
00:44:40,800 --> 00:44:43,080
and it was credited to him as 
righteousness. 

830
00:44:43,080 --> 00:44:47,560
We too can receive this credit 
like Abraham if we believe God. 

831
00:44:48,560 --> 00:44:51,400
God tells us in His Word through
Jesus, that Jesus is the way, 

832
00:44:51,400 --> 00:44:55,360
the truth, and the life, that no
one comes to the Father except 

833
00:44:55,520 --> 00:45:00,640
through Him and John 14/6. 
Pastor John on Friday night was 

834
00:45:00,640 --> 00:45:03,320
talking to our high school 
seniors and was telling them, 

835
00:45:03,320 --> 00:45:05,720
hey, this is a season of your 
life where when you go off away 

836
00:45:05,720 --> 00:45:08,480
from home, you're often 
personalizing or finally taking 

837
00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:11,120
ownership of your faith because 
you're not up under your parents

838
00:45:11,120 --> 00:45:12,920
anymore. 
You're not riding the coattails 

839
00:45:12,920 --> 00:45:15,640
of their faith anymore. 
And so for me, I get to watch 

840
00:45:15,640 --> 00:45:18,520
seniors graduate and move on to 
all kinds of things. 

841
00:45:18,520 --> 00:45:21,040
And some of them we don't ever 
see again. 

842
00:45:22,520 --> 00:45:27,760
Some of them never step foot in 
church again because the rubber 

843
00:45:27,760 --> 00:45:31,680
met the road and they were now 
responsible for their own faith.

844
00:45:31,680 --> 00:45:36,320
And sometimes they realize I 
didn't have true faith. 

845
00:45:37,640 --> 00:45:39,800
I was just going along with what
my parents wanted me to do or 

846
00:45:39,800 --> 00:45:42,720
what my peers wanted me to do, 
or I was just I was looking for 

847
00:45:42,720 --> 00:45:46,360
belonging and I found a false 
sense of it around this 

848
00:45:46,360 --> 00:45:49,400
community. 
I didn't truly belong, but I 

849
00:45:49,400 --> 00:45:53,200
felt like I did. 
But what about the faith, The 

850
00:45:53,200 --> 00:45:57,640
belief that Abram had in Romans 
chapter 4, starting in verse 18,

851
00:45:57,640 --> 00:46:01,920
The verses we skipped, says he 
believed hoping against hope so 

852
00:46:01,920 --> 00:46:04,480
that he became the father of 
many nations according to what 

853
00:46:04,480 --> 00:46:06,560
had been spoken. 
So will your descendants be. 

854
00:46:06,560 --> 00:46:09,320
He did not weaken in faith when 
he considered his own body to be

855
00:46:09,320 --> 00:46:11,280
already dead since he was about 
100 years old. 

856
00:46:11,720 --> 00:46:13,080
And also the deadness of Sarah's
womb. 

857
00:46:13,080 --> 00:46:15,320
He didn't waver and unbelief at 
God's promise, but was 

858
00:46:15,320 --> 00:46:18,600
strengthened in his faith and 
gave glory to God because he was

859
00:46:18,600 --> 00:46:21,280
fully convinced that what God 
had promised he was able to do. 

860
00:46:22,040 --> 00:46:24,800
Therefore it was credited to him
is righteousness. 

861
00:46:25,360 --> 00:46:29,000
True, faith changes things. 
God told Abraham that he was 

862
00:46:29,000 --> 00:46:31,040
going to make him a great 
nation, but the problem was that

863
00:46:31,040 --> 00:46:32,840
he and his wife were almost 100 
years old. 

864
00:46:32,960 --> 00:46:35,720
What say his wife had been 
barren, not able to have a kid? 

865
00:46:35,880 --> 00:46:39,480
But Abraham trusted that if God 
said it, it was going to happen.

866
00:46:40,600 --> 00:46:43,240
That God could do the impossible
in his life is. 

867
00:46:43,240 --> 00:46:48,200
That the kind of faith that you 
have, do you trust? 

868
00:46:48,200 --> 00:46:52,280
That God can do the impossible? 
Do you trust that He's actually 

869
00:46:52,280 --> 00:46:56,360
in control of your family? 
Do you realize that you have a 

870
00:46:56,360 --> 00:47:00,720
debt that you cannot pay? 
That you desperately need 

871
00:47:00,720 --> 00:47:02,320
righteousness credited to your 
account? 

872
00:47:03,760 --> 00:47:07,760
There was a lady. 
In 1865, at Monument Street 

873
00:47:07,760 --> 00:47:11,320
Baptist Church in Baltimore, MD,
her name was Alvina Hall. 

874
00:47:12,360 --> 00:47:15,160
She was a member of the choir 
there at that church. 

875
00:47:15,160 --> 00:47:18,520
And on one Sunday morning, she 
had a hymnal much like the one 

876
00:47:18,520 --> 00:47:21,000
that I'm holding in my hand as 
she was sitting in the choir. 

877
00:47:22,760 --> 00:47:27,040
And she was thinking about this 
debt that had been paid for her 

878
00:47:27,040 --> 00:47:30,640
by Christ, and she was 
captivated by it. 

879
00:47:31,320 --> 00:47:33,760
And the Lord began to impress on
our heart, on her heart. 

880
00:47:33,760 --> 00:47:36,480
Some words that she bent, she 
began to scribble in the margins

881
00:47:36,480 --> 00:47:40,000
of her hymnal, and she pinned 
these words that morning. 

882
00:47:41,920 --> 00:47:49,600
I hear the Savior say, Thy 
strength in deed is small child 

883
00:47:49,600 --> 00:47:53,240
of weakness. 
Watch and pray find in me thine 

884
00:47:53,240 --> 00:47:59,920
All in all, Lord, now indeed I 
find thy blood, and thine alone 

885
00:48:00,560 --> 00:48:03,680
can change the leper spots and 
melt the heart of stone. 

886
00:48:04,640 --> 00:48:08,200
For nothing good have I whereby 
Thy grace to claim. 

887
00:48:08,800 --> 00:48:12,640
I'll wash my garments white in 
the blood of Calvary's lamb. 

888
00:48:13,240 --> 00:48:16,560
When from my dying bed my ransom
soul shall rise. 

889
00:48:16,560 --> 00:48:21,040
Then Jesus paid it all shall 
rend the vaulted skies. 

890
00:48:21,920 --> 00:48:24,960
When and when before the throne 
I stand in him complete, I'll 

891
00:48:24,960 --> 00:48:28,920
lay my trophies down all down at
Jesus feet. 

892
00:48:30,160 --> 00:48:32,320
Miss Hall, after the service was
over, kind of partially 

893
00:48:32,320 --> 00:48:35,000
embarrassed, walked up to the 
pastor and said, pastor, I'm 

894
00:48:35,000 --> 00:48:37,320
sorry, I wasn't paying attention
to your sermon at all. 

895
00:48:37,320 --> 00:48:38,320
And he's like, yeah, I'm used to
that. 

896
00:48:38,320 --> 00:48:40,080
Everybody falls asleep, don't 
worry about it. 

897
00:48:41,040 --> 00:48:45,400
She says, no, I was captivated 
by what Jesus has done for me. 

898
00:48:46,440 --> 00:48:48,640
And I wrote, these words are 
worth this poem I want you to 

899
00:48:48,640 --> 00:48:50,640
take a look at. 
And she handed him to him. 

900
00:48:51,720 --> 00:48:54,120
What Miss Hall didn't know is 
that earlier in the week the 

901
00:48:54,120 --> 00:48:57,320
choir director of the same 
church had written a musical 

902
00:48:57,320 --> 00:49:03,760
refrain that he had entitled All
to Christ IO, but he didn't have

903
00:49:03,760 --> 00:49:07,640
words for it yet. 
And so the pastor took the poem 

904
00:49:07,640 --> 00:49:10,560
of the hymnal, He took the the 
musical score that was sitting 

905
00:49:10,560 --> 00:49:13,760
on his desk, and he put the two 
things together and to his 

906
00:49:13,760 --> 00:49:17,960
surprise, they fit perfectly. 
He called Miss Hall and he 

907
00:49:17,960 --> 00:49:20,360
called the choir director and he
brought them in that week after 

908
00:49:20,360 --> 00:49:22,480
that Sunday service. 
And he showed them, and as they 

909
00:49:22,480 --> 00:49:24,920
were amazed, and as they sit 
there playing and singing 

910
00:49:24,920 --> 00:49:27,720
through those words, they 
decided that there needed to be 

911
00:49:27,720 --> 00:49:30,880
a refrain written. 
And so that week the three of 

912
00:49:30,880 --> 00:49:34,080
them sat down and they wrote the
refrain of one of the most 

913
00:49:34,080 --> 00:49:37,520
famous and most well sung, well 
known hymns over the last 100. 

914
00:49:37,520 --> 00:49:51,560
Years, Jesus paid it all, all to
him I owe sin had left a Crimson

915
00:49:51,560 --> 00:49:56,080
stain. 
He washed it light as snow. 

916
00:49:57,360 --> 00:49:59,680
You see, in just a few moments, 
we're going to sing the words to

917
00:49:59,680 --> 00:50:04,000
this song. 
And it's my prayer in my bones 

918
00:50:04,960 --> 00:50:10,400
that you can sing Jesus paid it 
all and that it would be true 

919
00:50:10,760 --> 00:50:13,600
for you. 
Because the reality is every 

920
00:50:13,600 --> 00:50:17,240
single one of us have a debt and
we're all have to stand before 

921
00:50:17,280 --> 00:50:20,560
Jesus one day, holding our 
polluted garment of our own 

922
00:50:20,560 --> 00:50:25,080
righteousness. 
And some of us, without belief 

923
00:50:25,080 --> 00:50:30,360
in God, are going to have to 
take that polluted garment, and 

924
00:50:30,360 --> 00:50:32,880
we're not going to be justified.
The only justification is for us

925
00:50:32,880 --> 00:50:36,680
to be able to pay for our sins 
by bearing the wrath of God 

926
00:50:36,680 --> 00:50:38,520
against our sin for the rest of 
eternity. 

927
00:50:40,280 --> 00:50:44,480
But for some of us, not because 
of anything that we have done, 

928
00:50:45,360 --> 00:50:50,480
not because we deserve it, not 
because we've earned it, but 

929
00:50:50,480 --> 00:50:54,640
because we believed in God and 
it was credited to us as 

930
00:50:54,640 --> 00:50:56,720
righteousness, we'll be able to 
answer. 

931
00:50:58,240 --> 00:51:05,680
Jesus paid it all, all to him. 
Sin had left a Crimson stain, 

932
00:51:05,680 --> 00:51:09,840
but Jesus, he washed it white as
snow. 

933
00:51:11,280 --> 00:51:15,320
If you're here this morning and 
that's not your refrain of your 

934
00:51:15,320 --> 00:51:20,520
life, it can be today. 
You have a debt that needs to be

935
00:51:20,520 --> 00:51:26,240
paid and all you have to do is 
believe in God, trust that His 

936
00:51:26,240 --> 00:51:29,160
word is true and that Jesus's 
sacrifice was enough for you. 

937
00:51:30,880 --> 00:51:33,080
And then righteousness will be 
credited to your account. 

938
00:51:33,080 --> 00:51:35,400
Those blessings that come along 
with that will be credited to 

939
00:51:35,400 --> 00:51:37,440
your account. 
That belonging and that and that

940
00:51:37,440 --> 00:51:40,160
inheritance, all of those things
will be credited to your 

941
00:51:40,160 --> 00:51:41,400
account. 
And for those of you that are 

942
00:51:41,400 --> 00:51:44,640
believers in the room, we need 
to start living like we have 

943
00:51:44,640 --> 00:51:47,920
those things, like we have the 
righteousness of God in our 

944
00:51:47,920 --> 00:51:51,240
life, like we know because God's
Word tells us what the good life

945
00:51:51,240 --> 00:51:53,880
actually is. 
Like we belong to a community 

946
00:51:53,880 --> 00:51:58,040
that is eternal. 
And so however you need to 

947
00:51:58,040 --> 00:52:01,320
respond to Jesus this morning, 
it's my prayer that as we sing 

948
00:52:01,320 --> 00:52:05,120
these words that you'll do that.
There'll be pastors down front, 

949
00:52:05,400 --> 00:52:07,520
there'll be volunteers in our 
Next Steps room that would love 

950
00:52:07,520 --> 00:52:08,880
to be able to have a 
conversation with you. 

951
00:52:08,880 --> 00:52:12,640
You can take the Next Steps card
out of the the worship folder. 

952
00:52:13,200 --> 00:52:17,000
And you can write, hey, I need 
to talk to somebody about the 

953
00:52:17,000 --> 00:52:20,840
debt that I owe. 
That Jesus paid, and we'd love 

954
00:52:20,840 --> 00:52:23,000
to reach out to you and have a 
conversation with you about what

955
00:52:23,000 --> 00:52:26,640
it looks like to believe in 
Jesus. 

956
00:52:27,800 --> 00:52:29,400
Let me pray for you. 
And then we're going to stand 

957
00:52:29,400 --> 00:52:33,480
and sing this song together and 
you respond how you need to. 

958
00:52:34,440 --> 00:52:36,320
Heavenly Father, thank you so 
much for your love for us. 

959
00:52:36,320 --> 00:52:38,320
Thank you for this time that 
we've got to spend together. 

960
00:52:39,960 --> 00:52:45,960
Help us not to rush past this 
moment because no response to 

961
00:52:45,960 --> 00:52:48,000
Your Word is a response to Your 
word. 

962
00:52:50,960 --> 00:52:53,600
Help us to respond in the way 
that we need to, in the way that

963
00:52:53,600 --> 00:52:57,080
You're calling us to. 
For those in the room that have 

964
00:52:57,080 --> 00:52:59,600
a debt that needs to be paid 
that's not been paid yet, Lord, 

965
00:52:59,600 --> 00:53:02,600
would they believe and trust in 
Jesus this morning for their 

966
00:53:02,600 --> 00:53:05,520
salvation? 
Would they trust that You will 

967
00:53:05,520 --> 00:53:09,440
credit them with righteousness 
and they'll find blessing and 

968
00:53:09,800 --> 00:53:11,880
belonging and inheritance that 
comes with that? 

969
00:53:13,680 --> 00:53:15,680
And then for those of us that 
are followers of Jesus, some of 

970
00:53:15,680 --> 00:53:19,160
us have gotten distracted. 
Some of us have let the world 

971
00:53:19,160 --> 00:53:21,120
tell us what the good life, the 
blessed life is. 

972
00:53:21,120 --> 00:53:23,600
Some of us are looking for 
belonging in communities. 

973
00:53:23,600 --> 00:53:25,800
We have no business searching 
for belonging. 

974
00:53:25,800 --> 00:53:29,120
In and we need to refocus this 
morning. 

975
00:53:30,920 --> 00:53:35,000
We need to be reminded that 
Jesus paid it All in all to him.

976
00:53:35,440 --> 00:53:44,240
Aye, oh so Lord, as we respond 
in worship this morning, help us

977
00:53:44,240 --> 00:53:45,400
to respond the way that we need 
to. 

978
00:53:46,520 --> 00:53:49,680
In Jesus name, Amen, we stand.