[0:00] I'm a silly Billy. Sorry, thank you Monica.
[0:13] I've just made a mess. I always make a mess. I've spilt my drink all over the floor. As we're getting this cleaned up, I wonder, Natasha and Karina, where's Karina?
[0:43] Oh yeah, yeah. You speak a little English. Okay. I wonder, just to help, if some of the younger people, if you wanted to sit a little closer and you could do Google Translate, through the sermon, just a few words and sentences. Is that possible?
[1:07] Yeah, are any of you able to do that? Did you understand me? If anybody, I don't know how to do it, that's all.
[1:21] Okay. Thank you. Thank you. So let's open our Bibles to Romans.
[1:45] Romans chapter 5. Can you do it?
[1:59] Yes, so we're going to do a Google Translate. You can help. Well done. Thank you. Yes.
[2:11] Anybody, can you go to German? Okay. Do you speak German? No. No. Good try.
[2:26] Trevor, can you do it as well? I can get the Bible verses. Yeah. Yeah, just move around. It's okay. I don't mind people walking around and move your seats a bit closer.
[2:40] Yeah. Okay. So we're looking at Romans. Okay. So please, just help.
[2:50] Just help. That's all we're asking. You can move your seats.
[3:01] Isabel, if you want to move your seats across the aisle, it's right. You're very good. Thank you. So, Romans chapter 5.
[3:18] And we're going to read verses 1 to 11. Yeah, just show if you've got it there. You can just pass it over and they'll follow along. Romans 5, 1 to 11.
[3:30] Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.
[3:47] And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, and character hope.
[4:04] And hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
[4:16] You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person, someone might possibly dare to die.
[4:34] But God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him?
[4:51] For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life?
[5:06] Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
[5:16] So we're going to pray and ask for God's help. Our Father God, thank you for your word.
[5:28] Thank you for your Holy Spirit. Thank you that you speak our language. You communicate with us.
[5:39] And we ask that you would help us all today that we may understand something of your word and your truth, that it may build us up in our walk with you, that we may all leave encouraged and refreshed.
[5:56] In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. So as we start, I have two questions.
[6:08] Here's the first question. Can you explain the gospel? If someone asked you, what's the gospel? What's it all about?
[6:19] Would you be able to give an answer? Can you explain the gospel? The second question is related but different. Have you experienced the gospel?
[6:32] Do you know what effect or what change it brings in your life? You see, the gospel isn't just something that we know in our heads. It's something that's to be lived in our life.
[6:47] We're not just to understand the gospel, but we are to enjoy the gospel. So before we go any further, we're going to explain what the gospel is.
[7:00] And the gospel can be explained by using two words that we find in our text. One is a legal word and one is a relational word.
[7:12] Here's the first one, justification. Look at verse one. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith. This little phrase justified by or through faith summarises all of chapters one to four.
[7:31] It's all about what Jesus has done for us. Jesus Christ came into the world to exchange places with you and I.
[7:41] That's what we see at the end of verse eight. End of verse eight. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
[7:53] Jesus takes our place. He takes our record of sin on himself. And in its place, he gives us his record of righteousness.
[8:04] So our sin, he takes. His righteousness, he gives. In other words, Jesus is treated as we deserve to be treated.
[8:16] So that by faith, we are treated as Jesus deserves to be treated. And that's what it means to be justified by faith.
[8:27] We are declared right with God. We're put into a right relationship. It's a legal term and it gives us a status that can't be changed.
[8:39] So we are right with God. The second word is reconciliation. These are the results or the effects of justification.
[8:51] So look down at verse 11. Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
[9:06] So reconciliation means that we can now enjoy a living and vibrant relationship with Jesus today. We're no longer his enemies, but we're now his friends.
[9:17] And it's all possible because of what Jesus has done. That's a relational status. It's something to enjoy.
[9:29] So you see, the gospel isn't just something we need to explain. It is something to be experienced. It's not just something we know in our heads. It's something to enjoy and to live out of our hearts.
[9:44] So what we want to do today is to discover and think about what it means to enjoy the gospel every day. How can I enjoy the gospel?
[9:56] Not just know it, but enjoy it. So here we go. The first one is experience the gospel. Let's read verses 1 and 2. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God.
[10:29] So did you see those three things? Because of what Jesus has done, we have peace with God. We now stand in his grace, and we have the hope of glory.
[10:42] There's a past, present, and future. The peace that came because of what Jesus has done, the grace in which we now stand, and the hope of glory that is yet to come.
[10:56] To help us understand this, I want us to picture this scene. I want you to think of yourself as standing under a great big waterfall on a hot day.
[11:08] That water rushing down, and you're standing underneath the waterfall as it comes rushing down. It's fresh, and it's cool. And at the bottom of that waterfall is a great big poo.
[11:22] And from that poo is a series of other mini waterfalls that flow down to it, to another poo. It's a picture of what we have here.
[11:36] The main poo is the relationship we have with Christ, because we are justified and reconciled. And that overflows into peace, grace, and hope.
[11:51] The gospel is to be experienced as it overflows into our lives. So we're going to look at these three pools in turn.
[12:04] The first one is we have peace with God. Peace isn't just the absence of an enemy, but it's the presence of a friend. That's what chapters 1 to 4 is.
[12:17] It's all about explaining how we were enemies, how we were under God's just judgment, but now we have peace with God. And that peace is not unlike the peace that was enjoyed in the Garden of Eden.
[12:32] Humanity in harmony with its creator and with creation. There was a sense of safety and security, a place of well-being and wholeness, in search of nothing because you have everything, satisfied and fulfilled.
[12:51] That's something that we can enjoy today, a living, vibrant relationship with God. So we have peace. The second, we have grace.
[13:04] See what it says? We have peace through our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 2, Through whom we have now gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.
[13:19] Grace is God's continuous generosity towards us, which is unearned and undeserved. In practice, it means God no longer treats us as our sins deserve.
[13:33] He treats us now as if we were his own son, loved and treasured. And because of Jesus, all our sin is covered, past, present and future.
[13:46] And that's something extraordinary because it means that when I sin and when I fail, I don't fall out of favour from God and I don't have to work my way back into God.
[13:59] I am always forgiven, always accepted, always welcomed, despite my sin. We stand safe and secure in God's grace.
[14:15] So not only do we have hope and grace in which we can enjoy, but we have the hope of glory. Verse 2, end of verse 2, we boast in the hope of the glory of God.
[14:33] We all know, don't we, from our own personal experience that the world we live in is terribly broken and disordered. Nations are at war.
[14:46] Cultures clash. Families are broken. Individual lives are wrecked through abuse and selfish addiction. None of us gets to go through life without being untouched by this brokenness.
[15:01] It affects every one of us. We get sick. We die. We face injustice. But, as Christians, as believers, we have the hope of glory to come.
[15:13] And hope in the Bible is not, oh I hope it will happen, a kind of, well, if I work a little bit harder I might get a bit closer. Hope in the Bible is always absolute certainty.
[15:28] One day we have the hope of glory when this world will be renewed and restored. Paradise promised in all its perfection.
[15:40] This is ours to enjoy. Guaranteed and assured. So this is the gospel. This is for us not just to know in our head, but to experience every day.
[15:53] And the invitation is to come to that waterfall to experience the flood of grace and mercy and joy and peace flowing down on our life.
[16:09] You see, so often we can spend our time trying to find enjoyment in other things. If only I could find that right job. If I could get the right partner.
[16:22] If I could just get that right thing. Then everything will be okay. But those pools are stagnant. We are to experience the gospel by immersing ourselves in the gospel.
[16:39] But before we move on, let's note that these things can never ever be taken from us. Look at what it says. We have peace.
[16:53] We have gained access to his grace. And we boast in the hope of glory. These can never be taken from us because they have been secured through the Lord Jesus Christ.
[17:10] These are benefits of the gospel that can be never taken never changed and never altered. So we experience the gospel every day.
[17:24] The second thing when it comes to enjoying the gospel is to know how to apply the gospel. Working it out in our life. So read with me verse 3.
[17:39] Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings or we rejoice in our sufferings. Did you read that carefully? Did you?
[17:51] That's hard, isn't it? Rejoice in our sufferings or glory in our sufferings? That's hard because I know that many of you suffer in different ways.
[18:05] We've just said we live in a world that is broken, disordered and distorted. Not just the physical world, but our own personal lives. As we go through our life, we experience suffering in all kinds of different ways.
[18:20] Physically, emotionally and mentally. And the last thing we feel like doing is rejoicing. How am I to rejoice in my illness?
[18:33] How am I to be grateful in my condition? How am I to see good in my struggle? Well, let me make it clear.
[18:45] Rejoicing doesn't mean that we jump around the place with a big smile on our face as if this is wonderful. No, it means that through Christ we now have a new way at looking at our suffering which we can rejoice about.
[19:03] It gives us a different perspective. You see, most of the time we see nothing good in suffering. The only good that can happen is to get rid of it. But the Gospel tells us something different.
[19:16] Because of the Gospel, we can look at our suffering through a different lens and see that it brings good. So look at verse 3 again.
[19:28] Not only so, but we also glory or rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character and character hope.
[19:46] It builds perseverance. You know, as we journey through life, as we walk through life, there'll be many times we want to give up and give in.
[19:58] It's too much of a struggle, too much of a burden. But through our suffering, we learn our dependence on God and as we depend upon Him, so we persevere.
[20:11] He gives us the ability to keep on going. He gives us the strength to carry on. So through our suffering, we build perseverance.
[20:23] And that has a knock-on effect because it builds our character. Have you noticed that some of the most generous-hearted, kind-loving people are those who suffer?
[20:40] Why is it that those who suffer the most care for others the most? Because the Gospel has taught them that through suffering, they have patience, understanding, and empathy.
[20:58] They can come alongside people who are also suffering and say, you know what? I've been there. I know what it feels like. And let me show you a God who will hold you and keep you and never let you go.
[21:13] You see, the perseverance that God gives us, the strength He gives us, changes our character so that we are able to draw alongside others to help them in their suffering.
[21:27] But there's a third link to this chain. Not only perseverance and character, but it builds hope. You see, when we're fit and healthy and all is good, heaven and our eternal rest can seem irrelevant and not required.
[21:46] But when suffering comes, it reminds us that this earth is not our home. We're longing for something better and greater. Suffering fuels our desire to be finished with the struggles of this world.
[22:00] to be released from our decaying bodies, to be set free from our tortured minds. Suffering builds within us an anticipation and an expectation of our final home.
[22:18] So all of these knock-on effects. God strengthens us to give us perseverance that builds and changes our character so that we are able to help those who are suffering and together it creates an astounding expectation of the glory that is to come.
[22:40] You see, because of the gospel, we can rejoice in our suffering. Do you see what it says there? Glory or rejoice in.
[22:51] It doesn't say glory about your sufferings. There's nothing good about suffering in and of itself. But we can glory in it because we now have a new perspective, a new way of thinking about it.
[23:10] Well, you say, that sounds great. But how can I know that as a reality in my life? Well, look at verse 5. And hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
[23:33] We know God loves us because he's proved his love by dying for us on the cross. But we just don't want to know that in our heads. We want to experience that in our life.
[23:46] And how does that come about? By the work of the Holy Spirit who pours, who takes the demonstrated love of God and pours that into our life so that even in our suffering we know that he loves us because he's producing perseverance, character and hope.
[24:07] So think of yourself under that roaring fountain or that waterfall cascading down upon you, the love of God pouring down on your life.
[24:19] The Holy Spirit internalises that so that we know even in our most difficult times God is doing a work in our life for good and for his glory.
[24:35] So we apply the gospel. We experience it. And third, we're to remember the gospel.
[24:49] You see, if we're to know this gospel, if we're to experience it in our life, we need to remember what it's all about. How do we remember?
[25:02] Well, two very simple things that we should all know. We remember it by focusing on the cross. Look at verse 6. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
[25:25] Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this.
[25:39] While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. It reminds us of what we were like.
[25:51] Do you see what it says there in verse 10? Or, sorry, verse 6 and verse 7? That we were ungodly. We were sinners, enemies of God.
[26:07] But perhaps what is most revealing is it tells us we were powerless, verse 6. No one has the power to change their relationship with God.
[26:18] Nobody has the inner resources to make God love us or for God to change us. It is something that God does for us. He takes the initiative. He intervenes in our life.
[26:31] He's the one who dies for us. Twice it tells us, in verse 6 and in verse 8, Christ died for us because he loves us.
[26:44] He loves us deeply. So as we remind ourselves of this gospel truth that he intervened into our life to die for us so that we could experience his peace, his grace, his hope, so that we could rejoice in our suffering and know that he is bringing about perseverance, that he is bringing about strength to our life, changing our character and giving us hope.
[27:19] So we focus on the cross and we focus on the resurrection. Look at verse 10 with me. For if while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life?
[27:45] You see, the fact, and I think there it's talking about his resurrection life. How shall we be saved through his resurrection life? The fact that Christ rose from the grave is the proof that we need to know that we will receive our full salvation.
[28:04] Because Christ rose, we will rise. And because he rose again, we know that we will experience peace and grace and joy in all its fullness in eternity to come.
[28:20] I need to remind myself of that truth. We have it because we are saved through his resurrection life.
[28:32] So these are the twin truths that we are to carry with us every single day. We need to remind ourselves of these truths, the cross and the resurrection.
[28:47] Remember that waterfall that we talked about? As the water comes cascading down and it fills up that pool and from that pool it overflows to other ones?
[29:02] Well, if that waterfall stopped, those pools would not be there. In other words, it needs to be continually filled up and overflowing.
[29:15] And we need to fill up in our life. We need to fill our lives up with the gospel, to go back to the truth of the cross and the resurrection.
[29:26] And as it does, it overflows into our life with peace and grace and hope, giving us a future, giving us strength to live for today.
[29:40] So my invitation and encouragement for us all is that we would swim in the gospel every day. Don't just dip your toe in, and just kind of put a finger in and see what it's like.
[29:55] No, jump in, immerse yourself, apply it, and enjoy the gospel. We have been justified.
[30:06] We are reconciled. We have a great relationship with our God. Let's pray. Amen. God, we are going to pray.
[30:22] Amen. Amen. Amen. Our Father God, we thank you so much for the truth of the gospel. Thank you that you have saved us, you have rescued us, and you have given us peace with you today, grace to cover all of our sin, the hope of glory to come.
[30:46] Would you please help us as we go through our struggles and trials to be able to look at them with your perspective, to know that you are working good in them and through them, strengthening us, building us up, transforming our character, and giving us the hope of what we have to come.
[31:12] Father, help us that we would remember the truth of the gospel every day, that Jesus died for me, that Jesus was raised for me, so that I can be safe and secure with him now and forever.
[31:32] We give you our praise, we say thank you, in Jesus' name, Amen. Well, we're going to sing together, one that helps us to rejoice further in the gospel, to God be the glory, great things he has done, so loved he the world that he gave us his son.
[31:56] So let's stand together as we sing. Thank you.