Latest / HBCWestminster / 2.19.23 Romans 5:1-11 Pastor Danny Gardner

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2.19.23 Romans 5:1-11 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Would you pray with me? Eternal God, the heavens declare your glory. The earth proclaims your handiwork and your presence fills the universe. You have made us and so we are yours. You have granted to us life and joy and every other blessing and so we thank you and we ask that you would give us understanding as we look to your word. May it not return void in our hearts. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.
• 0:36
  Well, we concluded last Lord's Day by stating that our salvation depends upon an incredible promise. That Abraham believed and it was credited to him as righteousness. And that same righteousness can also be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord. We finished last Sunday by bracketing off Romans chapter 4 in our own Bibles. You guys remember? Verses 1 to 8, that bracket not by works.
• 1:03
  Verses 9 to 12, not by ceremonies. Verses 13 to 17, not by rules. Verses 18 to 22, not by knowledge. And then finally, verses 23 to 25, but by...
• 1:17
  faith and after having done a thorough job of explaining what we believe in chapter 4 that major doctrine foundational doctrine of the christian faith that we are saved by grace through faith having explained what we believe in chapter 4 the author now in chapter 5 explains why we want to believe it you notice in verse 1 and the very first word of verse 1 is the word therefore
• 1:43
  The chapter before us this morning flows directly out of the previous. And perhaps the dumbest thing I will say all morning is that chapter 5 follows chapter 4. You're like, well, duh. Yes, that's obvious. But don't miss the profundity of that statement. The benefits obtained by those in Christ only come to those who are in Christ.
• 2:12
  The benefits that we'll describe, the blessings, what one pastor has called and what I'm going to adopt for my sermon title, the links in the chain that bind us to God, the reason I believe and I'm never going back are ours because we have been justified and only because we have been justified.
• 2:37
  Notice verse 1, therefore, since we have been justified by faith, in other words, the author is asking, now that I have been made just as if I'd never sinned, what is true of me? In Psalm 103 and verse 2, the psalmist says, bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Let me ask you, church, is it beneficial to know the Lord? Are there some benefits? Of course there are.
• 3:07
  Aren't there some really good things about being found in Christ? I mean, that is a very good thing. Have you ever considered why you believe? Not what you believe. We spend a lot of time talking about doctrine and theology, but why you believe. Why do you follow Christ?
• 3:25
  Why do you worship twice a week with other believers? Why do you give of your resources and talents and finances? Our text this morning answers those questions by stating emphatically, because of all of the benefits I get through belief. What benefits does saving faith provide? The psalmist goes on in Psalm 103 to enumerate the many blessings the worshiper of God enjoys. And this morning the Apostle Paul in chapter 5 of Romans does something similar by listing six
• 3:54
  blessings like i said six links in the chain that the justified have in christ these six blessings should occupy in fact so much space in the believer's life that they would actually become life defining
• 4:11
  It's not just a list of things which we know that we have, these benefits of being in Christ that we list on a piece of paper, fold up and put in our pocket and kind of forget about. Like, I know I have peace. I know I have access. I know that I have hope. I know that I have the love of God. But rather, these benefits, these links in that chain should occupy so much space in our lives, in our schedules, in our marriages, in our minds, in our hearts, that they would become life.
• 4:36
  defining these should be the things that christians are known for you all know that we homeschooled our three sons our oldest is in his third year of college we obviously don't homeschool him anymore middle son is a senior in high school we really pretty much don't homeschool him anymore he either does independent or college classes himself at this point but nevertheless hallie has been their greatest academic influence throughout their lives you've all heard the homeschool stereotypes
• 5:07
  that have floated around since our generation. We're kids, right? You guys all know homeschoolers are weird, that they're socially awkward, that they don't know how to talk to people. What I find about that reputation, what I find funny about that reputation is, number one, that it is probably true. And number two, I wouldn't narrow that definition down to homeschoolers. Are you telling me if you go to public school, you're not weird and socially awkward and you now suddenly know how to talk to people? Some of the weirdest kids I've ever met have been public school kids.
• 5:38
  What about private Christian schools? You're telling me those kids are not socially awkward? No, they're kids. They don't know how to talk to people either. I find it's really funny that homeschoolers have developed this reputation. I wouldn't necessarily probably relegate it only to homeschoolers. I think they're all kind of weird in their own ways and socially awkward, but I digress. I think our boys, our three sons, have avoided most of those homeschool stereotypes. And the only time I really sense our boys, what I'm going to call it,
• 6:07
  inner homeschooler is is when they ask for christmas presents last year our middle son zach who's now 18 years old asked for a ghillie suit for christmas and you guys know what a ghillie suit is it's one of those suits you wear that makes you look like a bush
• 6:26
  It's got like tree branches and grass and whatever hanging off all over it. And so the idea is if I'm hiding outside, you can't see me. That was the number one thing on his Christmas list. I want a ghillie suit, which he then proceeded to wear all over town. All over, you guys, I'm not kidding.
• 6:45
  He wore it everywhere. He'd wear it to the mall. He'd wear it at the middle of the neighborhood. Here he is in the middle of our street, you know, blessing America with his ghillie suit on. This year, that was last year, this year, number one thing on his Christmas list. And I was like, Zach, what do you want for Christmas? Well, you know what I really want? I want a grappling hook. You want a grappling hook? It's like a, it's a rope.
• 7:10
  with a metal like steel hook on the end. And the idea is that you can swing this thing around, sling it up over some ancient city wall and scale the wall like a ninja, I guess. I don't know. I want a grappling hook. And I was like, where do you even buy a grappling hook? It turns out Shields. That's where you buy it. So my son and I, my son Pearson and I drove up to Shields. We're talking to the salesman. We say, you know, we'd like to buy a grappling hook. And they sell them.
• 7:36
  But the salesman just looked at us and he's like, what are you going to do with a grappling hook? And Pearson, my oldest son, replied without skipping a beat. He said, we're going to tear down all of our rain gutters. The guy was like, okay, I'll be right back. Goes and gets it. Christmas morning, you know, we wake up, our family, just like you guys all did. We came here this year. Christmas was on a Sunday. We came here. We worship the Lord. We finished our series in Ruth. We went home and we began opening presents. Zach opens up his grappling hook.
• 8:06
  And he's saying, yes, this is what I wanted and whatever. And I asked him, Zach, why? Why do you want a grappling hook? And he said this, Dad, what's more intimidating than a guy with a grappling hook? Again, Pearson, his older brother, immediately said, a bear with a grappling hook. Zach said, oh, yeah, I guess so. Or, and now this is back to Zach, my 18-year-old. He said, or.
• 8:33
  A girl with a grappling hook. He said, because if you see a girl walking down the street with a grappling hook, you know she is 100% a psycho. And then he said, a guy with a grappling hook is kind of a 50-50. He's either a psycho or he's a homeschooler. That's probably about right. Homeschoolers have a reputation. I bring all of this up because the church, you and I, church,
• 9:04
  Also have a reputation. And like the homeschool community, it's not necessarily a good reputation. Probably has been earned. Those outside the church don't always think highly of us. Listen to what Richard Dawkins has said. Famous atheist, scientist, really philosopher. He said it this way about us. Faith. Us, believers. Faith is the great cop-out.
• 9:33
  The great excuse to evade the need to think. Wow, that is not a compliment. And to evaluate evidence. Faith is the belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence. Because you refuse to think, he says, you have faith. The church has even been blamed for many of society's ills. We are considered by some backward thinkers morally repugnant.
• 9:59
  We are considered by some unfeeling, uncaring, anti-intellectual, unloving warmongers. We are viewed by some as intolerant women haters who love guns more than people. You know, the most interesting part of that reputation is that based on what we have in Christ, based on the text this morning, that reputation, everything they think about us should be the farthest from the truth. We all know that being justified means we go to heaven instead of hell. Amen. That's a pretty big benefit.
• 10:31
  John 5, verse 24, Jesus said, Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me his eternal life, amen and amen, you have crossed over from death to life. The sky, not the grave, is our goal. But are there any benefits today?
• 10:49
  not beyond just i know that because i am in christ i will go to heaven someday after i die but what about today right now the benefits which will change the way that you live today if you understand all that is yours in jesus it's a good question to ask it's the question that the apostle paul answers he gives us six reasons to believe six reasons not to bail
• 11:14
  six links in that chain which permanently bind us to god and you're going to notice the verb tense as we progress through the text you'll notice in verse one it says we have and in verse two we have and throughout notice it doesn't say we will have someday he says we have it right now these are the benefits which we are supposed to remember from psalm 103 these are the things which make the good news
• 11:41
  Good, I will say with confidence that I follow Christ and church, I'm never going back. Why? Because of these six things. Notice first that we have peace with God. Verse 1 says we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace can be simply defined as the ending of a state of war.
• 12:08
  It is a state of both physical and spiritual being that the world has never experienced fully and which they cannot fabricate long term. Martin Luther famously said that the Bible has a nose of wax. Meaning, he said that if you were so inclined to manipulate and improperly define what the Bible is saying, you can twist that nose of wax to make it say whatever you want.
• 12:35
  If you're going to manipulate the meaning of the Scriptures, if you're going to improperly use the Scriptures and words are improperly defined, then anyone can make the Bible say whatever they want it to say. And the word peace is one of those words. It has a definition of wax. Douglas Moo has said it this way in his commentary, peace is an elastic term. It can be manipulated, misdefined.
• 13:02
  It can be stretched, he says, to mean many different things. And this blessing of peace with God, which is arguably the greatest blessing ever offered to mankind, could perchance be overlooked. People would completely neglect it since so many people probably misdefine what peace actually is and therefore feel like they don't really need peace with God. Why? Because in their minds, they're not at war with God.
• 13:31
  And if I'm not at war with God, then I don't need the peace that He offers. But here we are reminded that peace has been declared over us even if we have declared war against Him. The only way to find that peace, to have that peace, is in Jesus Christ who brought peace and offers peace and is Himself the Prince of Peace. Luke 2, verse 14. Remember the day that Jesus was born. Glory to God in the highest and on earth.
• 14:02
  peace among those with whom he is pleased isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6 for to us a child is born to us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful counselor mighty god everlasting father prince of peace ephesians chapter 2 and verse 13 but now in christ jesus you who once were far off aliens foreigners strangers have been brought near you have been called sons and daughters family members by the blood of christ for he himself
• 14:32
  is our peace who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility and so let me ask you church that you have let me start by just making a declaration here you have peace with god amen are you living as though you're at peace with god or are you frantic hurried
• 15:02
  racked with anxiety and guilt and shame, scrambling. I routinely hear believers describe their own lives as too busy to enjoy their families.
• 15:14
  Too busy to enjoy their schoolwork, too busy to enjoy time in God's word, too busy to pray, too busy for the church, too busy to serve. The honest phrase I hear is, we are barely keeping our heads above water, Pastor Danny. And I feel like if we stop paddling, even for a moment, we might drown. Wow. If that's the case, can I encourage you? Can I go beyond encouragement? Can I exhort you?
• 15:44
  To change the way that you're living. Peace has been declared over you. And it's a peace which you cannot lose. J.B. Phillips has said it this way in his commentary. He says, you are at peace with God. If you're in Christ, you're at peace with him. Now, you possess something the world cannot give and cannot take away. And can I tell you, there is no way to enjoy the peace of Christ while you're drowning.
• 16:15
  Second, we have peace with God. That's first. But second, we have access to God. Notice verse 2. Through Him, through Jesus, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. The word for access in the Greek means literally to bring somebody in or to make an introduction. Can you imagine Jesus here interceding between us and the Father and saying, listen, Danny, I want to introduce you to somebody.
• 16:43
  And taking you into the Father's presence and saying, this is Danny and this is your creator God. As it's used here in verse 2, the thought is that of genuine acceptance with God and enjoyment of his grace. We have been introduced by invitation. The story goes that a little boy once stood outside the gates of Buckingham Palace in London. He wanted to talk to the king.
• 17:08
  But he was sternly rebuked and turned away by the guards at the gate. He rubbed his grimy little hand to his cheek to wipe away a tear. Just then along came a well-dressed man who asked the boy to explain his trouble. Why are you crying? When he heard the story, the man smiled and said, Here, hold my hand. I'll get you in. Never mind these soldiers. The little boy reached up and took the hand of the man and to his surprise saw that the soldiers now leapt to attention.
• 17:36
  presented arms as he approached the guards, holding the hand of his newfound friend. Past the guards he was led through wide-flung doors and on through a glittering throng of people, right up to the throne of the king. It turns out he had taken the hand of the Prince of Wales, the king's own son. And through him, the boy gained access to the king. Again, John Phillips.
• 18:05
  It says it this way, it is a glorious thing to have acceptance, to know the war is over and that God no longer looks upon us with disfavor and wrath. It is good to have peace with God. It is far better to have access. Those that have taken the pierced hand of the king's son have access indeed. Listen to this invitation given in Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 16. We've just sung it. It's the last.
• 18:33
  verse of and can it be bold I approach the throne of God right and that's straight from Hebrews chapter 4 listen to this invitation let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help
• 18:51
  in time of need we have been given an invitation it's like we've been given a key imagine all of the keys that you have on your key ring here is the access to my house to the church and to my truck right there's the access that i have and it's like you've been handed a key for your key ring that is the key to access to the presence of god
• 19:14
  The key to the throne room. It's like you've been given the security code to the presence of God where you're not only allowed to come, you're actually encouraged to present your requests. Consider for a moment what a privilege that is, but also what a responsibility. How many of us are using the key that is on our key ring? How many of us are using that privilege going before the throne with confidence and presenting?
• 19:46
  our requests finding grace to help in time of need charles spurgeon worded it this way he said the man who does not earnestly pray over his work must surely be a vain and conceited man right because consider for a moment if you don't pray if you have access to pray anytime you want and you never do it he's saying consider what that communicates to god vain conceit what you're saying is i don't need what you've got to offer i don't need your help
• 20:18
  If I needed your help, I would come to you. As Spurgeon continues, he acts as if he thought himself sufficient of himself and therefore needed not to appeal to God. Church, are you using the key, the access that we've been granted? Notice third, we have hope. We have hope. We have peace. We have access. We have hope. And more specifically, we have hope even in the midst of suffering. You pick up in verse two. He says, we rejoice in hope.
• 20:49
  Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings. The word for sufferings is the same word translated tribulations in other New Testament passages. It's actually the same exact word used in Revelation 7, describing the seven-year great tribulation following the rapture of the church, where the wrath of God would be poured out unsparingly on those who have rebelled against the Lord. Same word.
• 21:15
  Even when you endure tribulations, he says, you have hope. That word for sufferings is the Greek word flipsis. It has the underlying meaning of being under pressure. It's being squeezed. It was used of squeezing olives to produce olive oil. Ancient olive presses looked something probably like this.
• 21:38
  There's a recreation of one. You can see there that big screw mechanism. On the bottom of that, there is a weight, a stone or something. They would screw that thing all the way up. They would wind it all the way up. They'd stick a bucket or something of olives underneath. Then they would just take a beam and they would just start to twist and then take it back out, put it in the next hole and twist. And as it was being squeezed down, every last drop of oil was extracted. What this text is saying,
• 22:08
  is that sufferings and tribulations are like an olive press, carefully, intentionally extracting every drop of what is precious out of us. And what is this precious oil that the Lord wants to extract? There are three things, three results of suffering, and see if you can find them yourself. Pick up in verse 3, read in your Bible, see if you can find the three words. What are the three things that suffering produces?
• 22:41
  Endurance, character, and hope. Verse 3 says, Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. Endurance is the same word as perseverance. Suffering allows us to run our spiritual race farther and longer.
• 23:05
  Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 1. Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. You and I are running. We are running. And this says that suffering allows us to run farther and longer. The text continues. Not only endurance, perseverance, but it also produces character. The godly character is the proof of salvation.
• 23:34
  That term was used of testing precious metals in order to determine their quality. Like gold and silver would be refined in the fire. The dross, the impurities were removed. The smelter was left with only what was pure. And so also does God use sufferings to test our quality and to purify us. Character. But it doesn't leave it there. It says character produces hope. The end product of tribulations is eternal hope.
• 24:03
  And so friends, do not despair when tribulations come. The suffering the Lord allows is never wasted. The Lord has brought those tribulations to prove your faith and to produce in you a godly character. And here is a wonderful promise. Notice in verse 5 it says, and hope does not put us to shame. The same wording could be translated, hope does not disappoint. Do you ever wonder if heaven will be worth it?
• 24:37
  Do you ever, like Asaph maybe in Psalm 73, look around and despair of the sacrifices you've made? Despair of the devotion? Despair of the years you've committed to following Christ? And wonder if the sacrifices, those sacrifices, your devotion that you're making for the kingdom will be worth the reward? Do you look forward to that day that you'll be ushered into heaven? Is there in the back of your mind maybe a little thought, like a little fear? What if I get there?
• 25:07
  I pass through that thin veil between this life and the next. I die, and I'm ushered into heaven, and I look around for the very first time, and what if I respond with a, eh, I mean, it's nice. Hudson Taylor, famous missionary to China. In the mid-19th century, he left his native England at the tender age of 21 years. He had only been saved a mere six years himself when he decided he was going to be a missionary to China.
• 25:41
  He spent those first six years of his Christian life diligently preparing for the mission field. He began studying Mandarin, learning basic medicine, immersing himself in Bible study and prayer. When he arrived at the Chinese port, which was his destination, and disembarked on what he thought would be the first steps of an entire life spent in this new country, he determined to do something that no British missionaries did at the time. He decided he would in essence become Chinese.
• 26:10
  radical, even criticized at the time by other missionaries. Taylor began to dress in Chinese clothing, grow out and braid his hair the way that other Chinese men did. He eventually mastered the Chinese language and culture so that he could reach the interior of China for the gospel. It is something which literally had never been done before. No missionaries had ever gone beyond the coast of China at the time. He would later found
• 26:40
  what was called what we know as China Inland Mission. He distributed gospel tracts in Chinese. He planted a small church in an inland city. At one point, he lost his financial support from England, but he decided to stay anyway, trusting God for his provision. If you read his biography, which you've got to do, called Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret, it says that he determined never to ask for help from anyone else other than God because, after all, he said,
• 27:11
  Who else needs to know about my need other than the great provider? And so he just determined, I'm never going to ask for help. He never sent letters. He never raised support. He just prayed and help always came. I wish I could tell you more of his story, but for sake of time, allow me to skip ahead. Taylor became extremely ill at points in his ministry, even being forced at times to return to England to recover. While in England, he began a Bible translation work into Chinese.
• 27:41
  He would get married. He would return to China with his five children at the time, ever focused on the work. He, at one point, said this, China is not to be won for Christ by quiet, ease-loving men and women. He said, if you want to stay comfortable, just stay home. The stamp of men and women we need is such as will put Jesus, China, and souls, first and foremost, in everything and at every time. Even life itself must be secondary.
• 28:10
  The gospel would cost Taylor and his family dearly. His wife died when she was 33 years old. Four of their eventual eight kids died before the age of 10. His grueling work pace, persistent poor health, and spiritual bouts with depression proved too much in the year 1900, and he had a complete mental and physical breakdown. He died just a few years later. At the end of his life, on his deathbed, Hudson Taylor was asked about what the gospel had cost him.
• 28:41
  Mr. Taylor, would you talk to us about the sacrifices you've made for the advancement of the gospel? Can you talk to us about what you've lost? What you have sacrificed so the gospel could be preached to the interior of China? And he replied simply by stating, I never made a sacrifice. Isn't that a crazy perspective? I never made a sacrifice. What about all the money? What about...
• 29:12
  Your marriage. What about even the lives of your kids? He had such an eternal and heavenly perspective that he knew that even if the Lord took these earthly treasures, he knew he would be repaid a thousandfold in the life to come. John Piper said this of Hudson Taylor's statement, I never made a sacrifice. He said what he said was true for the compensations were so real and lasting that he came to see that giving up
• 29:39
  Sacrificing, not quitting, sacrificing is inevitably receiving. What I'm giving up for the kingdom is nothing compared to what I will receive in the next life when one is dealing heart to heart with God. It reminds me of the story of Jim Elliot, who was martyred along with his missionary friends in Ecuador decades ago now, who stated this. He said, he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.
• 30:11
  You're no fool to hope, beloved friends, because hope does not disappoint. There is no possible way, Romans 5 says, that you get to heaven and think, you know what? I shouldn't have sacrificed so much on earth. This isn't worth it. Hope does not disappoint. Now, this will no doubt be our longest point, single point in the sermon, but that's okay. The next three are actually pretty quick. Allow me to direct our attention back to the beginning of this section. Look again at verse 2.
• 30:41
  It says, we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. You'll notice the same phrase in verse 3. We rejoice in our sufferings. If you look at the word rejoice in verse 2, you'll probably notice a little tiny translator's note. There is a small number 4. Do you guys all see that? You go down and look at the footnote in your Bible. That same word for rejoice in the ESV could be translated boast or brag. We brag in the Lord.
• 31:11
  over what he is able to produce in us through the suffering which he provides. We brag about our kids. We brag about our accomplishments. We may brag about our work. But church, when was the last time you bragged about the sufferings and tribulations that the Lord has allowed in your life? Because you know what it is producing in you. We have hope. Notice fourth, we have the love of God. We have the love of God. Verse five.
• 31:43
  God's love, it says, has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who's been given to us. For while we were still weak at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. God loves us. Oh, how he loves us.
• 32:11
  The ultimate proof of that love is Christ on the cross. And notice specifically, not just that Christ died for the ungodly, but the text even includes when Christ died. Verse 8 says, while we were still doing what? Sinning. While we were sinning, Christ died for us. And honestly, you and I might be willing to, on a certain day, if the mood catches us right, lay down our lives for another. But consider who you would die for.
• 32:42
  Honestly, if you had to make a list in the inside cover of your Bible, who would I die for? I'll bet there's not a hundred names on it. Right? Maybe half a dozen. Maybe a few more if you're really caring and loving. But for the most part, you got to look at that and say, am I willing to make Hallie a widow for you? My boys fatherless for you? If I'm going to lay down my life for you, you better do something awesome. Like cure cancer or something, right?
• 33:14
  Make my sacrifice worth it. But notice that is not at all how the Lord sees it. He sent his son to die while we were still sinning. We were in the act. Jesus died for debauched, wretched, lying rebels while we were lying and rebelling, which is beautiful.
• 33:37
  Because what that means is that the Lord's love for us is not contingent upon what? Our love for him. The Lord's love for you is not contingent upon your love for him. It is not a quid pro quo, a back scratching. I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine. It's not any of that. The Lord sent his son to die while we were still sinners.
• 34:09
  While we were still rebels, He loves us. Oh, how He loves us. And we can live grounded in that love. Those who are grounded in God's love are unshaken by the trials of the world. They are unshaken by politics. They are unshaken by poor economies. They are unshaken by the prospects of war. Like children who just trust in their father. Why?
• 34:44
  Because they know he's just going to make it okay. I'm reminded of Billy Graham who said, I've read the last page of the Bible and everything's going to be okay. I love that. I've read the last page of the Bible and everything's going to turn out okay. He loves us, church. And so everything is going to be okay. Fifth, we've been saved by God from God.
• 35:15
  Notice verse 9, since therefore we have not been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. We have been saved by God and from God. And in fact, the verbiage we even use when sharing our testimonies is taken from this text. We will say that we were saved.
• 35:43
  We oftentimes use that terminology in reference to being saved from the eternal consequences of our sin in hell, right? We'll say we are saved from hell. Don't we say that? But notice, hell never comes up. He never mentions hell in here. Or we will say something like, we were saved from the devil. But notice, the devil never comes up. He's never mentioned in here. What verse 9 says is that we shall be saved by him.
• 36:14
  from what the wrath of god the scariest thing in the universe is not hell the scariest thing in the universe is not the devil the scariest thing in the universe is to fall into the hands of an angry god
• 36:29
  Right? I mean, that is it. He is a consuming fire. And what this says is that by our justification, because we have been saved, we were not only saved from sin and saved from hell and saved from the devil and saved from all of those things, we were actually saved from something much bigger, much scarier even. And that is the infinite wrath of God himself.
• 36:55
  We have been saved by God from God. And notice finally, number six, we have been reconciled to God. Verse 11 says, more than that. Other translations say, not only this. As if the first five blessings were not enough, verse 11 just stacks one more on top of it. He says, more than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. We have been
• 37:25
  reconciled to God. To be reconciled means to change a relational status from enmity, hatred, to friendship. This verse literally says that those who have been justified have not only gained peace with God, but have become friends of God. Imagine this for a minute, church. He dies for us.
• 37:52
  While we are walking in rebellion and hatred against him, if you and I had been witnesses of the crucifixion, if we had been standing there at the foot of the cross, we would have been amongst that angry and visceral mob spitting at him and mocking him and shaking our fists at him. And not only did Christ choose to stay on the cross, he then puts his arm around us and calls us friend? Friend. We are no longer enemies.
• 38:26
  of god but friends of god one pastor has worded it this way and i liked just how simple it is he says every blessing a christian has comes from christ peace and access hope love deliverance reconciliation they bind us to christ like links in a chain they are the reasons why the good news is so good they are the reasons why we believe and why we're never going back amen are these six qualities
• 38:56
  Church so abundant in your life that they would actually change your reputation among outsiders. That these would be what you would become known for. Can you imagine the blessing that it would be if your neighbor describing you said, that man or that woman has peace unlike what I have. They clearly know the Lord because they so frequently enjoy the access he has granted. In fact, they pray with me even if I ask them not to.
• 39:25
  I share something like, let me pray for you. I'd rather not. Well, we're going to pray anyway. They have hope even in trials. They're grounded in the love of God. They've been delivered from rebellion and lies and they act as though God is their friend. What a reputation that would be. What a witness a Christian like that would be. And Lord, that is the type of Christian that we want to be. We don't want to be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, by doubt.
• 39:58
  Lord, we want to be grounded and mature and we want to remember all of the good things that we have in Christ, Lord, like links in a chain that bind us permanently to you. God, may we live that way and may those blessings, those benefits in Jesus cause us to rejoice. And it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.