Gospel Past Present Future

So today's sermon is the fourth and last in our series called Gospel Training.! Today I'm going to be talking to you about Gospel Past, Present, and Future. That's where I'm getting this Gospel Past, Present, and Future.

You've been saved from the penalty of sin. You're being saved from the power of sin. And you will be saved from the presence of sin. Three Ps to help you remember it, okay?

Been saved from the penalty of sin, being saved from the power of sin, will be saved from the presence of sin. Got it? Okay. John Stott has argued that actually when Paul, in Acts 24-25, reasoned with Governor Felix about righteousness and self-control in the coming judgment, he was pointing out the three tenses of salvation, which is an interesting thought if you think about it and look at it.

Righteousness, speaking of been saved, self-control, being saved, coming judgment, will be saved. You can also think of that in Exodus when it talks about the Israelites.

Israelites, they were saved from Egypt, okay? They were delivered out of Egypt. And then after they got out of Egypt, they were still being saved from Egypt, okay?

And then eventually they would be completely saved from Egypt, right? So similar kind of thought structure that goes there. So this is kind of even a theme that you see throughout Scripture.

So we're going to look at all three of these specifically. We'll start with the first one, past salvation. So the other way you can look at these is been saved, justification, being saved, sanctification, will be saved, glorification.

So the first one, past salvation, justification, we've been saved from the penalty of sin. So Ephesians 2 verse 3 says that we were by nature children of wrath.

So from the beginning, holiness, God's holiness is bad news for the sinner, okay? God's holiness is bad news for the sinner. And that includes just being born because we were by nature children of wrath.

He goes on in verse 4, it says, But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.

By grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. This is not your own doing. It is a gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast, okay? So there you have it, the quintessential verse about we've been saved.

We've been saved from the penalty of sin. God, while we were dead in our sins, while we were objects of wrath by nature, God came to us and saved us and made us alive together with Christ.

We were dead, he made us alive. We were blind and now we see. Just like amazing grace things, right? You have been saved. What is justification? Justification is basically right legal standing.

Someone would say it's just as if you had not sinned. Sin. Justification. Just as if you had not sinned. We all know we have sinned. We all know that we were by nature objects of wrath.

Justification makes it as if you had not sinned. Romans 3, 20 to 26 says, For by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it. The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift. Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith.

This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

This is such an awesome truth that God is not just just, but the justifier. See, if we were sinners and all we know of God is that he's just, that's really bad news.

If a holy God is just and we are sinners, that's bad news. It's not looking good for us. Because we then have the wrath of God justly upon us.

By nature, objects of wrath because he's a holy God. But if God is not just just, but he's also the justifier, now we're talking. He's not just just, but also the justifier.

So God's justice had to be met, but it was met in his own son. Jesus became the justifier of us by taking the punishment that was due us on himself and him being the perfect holy sacrifice.

He alone could bear the weight of that punishment. He alone could satisfy the wrath of God because he alone is holy. He alone is perfect. He alone was the perfect atoning sacrifice.

And so not only is God just, but he's the justifier. So he was able to satisfy his justice by also, and then become the justifier as well. That is an amazing, amazing charity that he gives to us.

That is amazing grace, truly. Okay? And then his justification has implications. Romans 5, starting in verse 1 says, What's that all about?

Since we've been justified, we have peace with God. Do you have peace with God? You who profess Christ, do you have peace with God? Is peace your natural flow? Is peace your natural way of living?

If you truly are justified, and by the way, there's no such thing as a, well, I'm kind of justified. There is no partial justification. That's kind of an oxymoron, right? Justification actually means justification.

I know we live in an age where everybody gets to redefine what words mean, but you can't do that. Okay? Words mean what they mean for a reason. And justification means that you are made right. You are made just.

And if you're made right, and if you're made just, that is why you have peace with God. Because there's nothing that stands in between you anymore. What stood between you was that you weren't right.

But the justifier made you right. The justifier made you right. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

When you come before him, after a bad day, after a long week, when you come before him and you sing songs on a Sunday morning and worship to him, what causes you to have peace with him?

And what causes you to not have peace with him? What is your peace? Or rather, who is your peace? Jesus is your peace. Jesus is the one who stands between you and God.

And when he looks on you, he sees his son. He is the just God and the justifier. He makes you right. And nothing stands between you and him. So often, we have these, as believers, we have pockets of unbelief.

You might even call them little pockets of atheism. Right? But we profess to be Christians and we profess to know Christ. And yet when we come to him, we feel, oh, I feel like I'm not justified. Well, who ever said anything about your feelings?

Do your feelings make you any less just? Do your feelings make you any less right? Do your feelings make Jesus' sacrifice any less atoning? Do your feelings make God any less the justifier?

Sometimes we have these feelings towards justice that cause us not to believe in his justification. Well, God isn't just just. He's also the justifier. And through Christ, he has made you right.

Therefore, you have peace with God. Through him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. Where is your standing? What are you standing in?

So often we believe more in the power of our sin to disqualify us than the power of God's grace to make us right and just. Is your sin really that powerful?

That it would be more powerful than the justifying power of God in Christ Jesus making ransom for you to be saved? Through him, we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand.

The reason I have peace with God is because I stand in his grace. How often? If I've been made just all the time, I'm always standing in this grace. It's like that old Switchfoot song where he says, maybe forgiveness is right where you fell.

Right? We think every time we sin, it's like we go in and out of justification. No. Justification is a status that is given to you by God through Christ.

There's grace in which we stand. We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Verse 6. While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 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. And that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. It's like Luke 15, right? While we are a long way off, he ran to him.

Okay? Since therefore we have now 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. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

See, we've been saved from the penalty of sin. We stand in grace. We've been made right. We've been justified. That's why in Romans 8.33, he says, Who shall bring a charge against God's elect?

It is God who justifies. You're going to bring a charge against me? You're going to say, Oh, no, no, no. He's not clean. He's not righteous. He's not justified. Says who? You dare make a charge against the one that God justified?

How dare you? It's God who justifies. You don't get to justify or unjustify somebody. That's not how this works. Only God can do this. And there's a big word in the Bible called propitiation.

I read it in the verse before in Romans 3. It says, propitiation just means satisfaction of God's wrath. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith.

Jesus was the propitiation for us, meaning the wrath of God was satisfied in Christ Jesus. Some Christians live as if the wrath of God was not satisfied. How dare we even banish the thought?

Banish the thought that the blood of Jesus was not enough to cleanse. Banish the thought to think that God's sacrifice was not enough. It was sufficient. When Jesus said on the cross, it is finished, what do you think he meant?

Did he mean, well, it's kind of finished. It's mostly finished. I think it's finished. No, it's finished. The work was complete. The wrath of God was satisfied.

The propitiation was met. When you think of wrath being upon you, you have to think, no, no, no. In Christ Jesus, the wrath has been satisfied. 1 John 4.10 says, And this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

The satisfaction of the wrath of God for our sins. So that's satisfaction of the wrath of God, which then brings the next thing. Another big word is, or maybe a word you don't use as much, is expiation, which means the removal of sinner guilt.

Not only did he take away and satisfy the punishment, absorb the wrath, he also removed our sinner guilt. Some people say, yeah, yeah, I believe God saved me, but I still feel guilty.

I still feel dirty. No, no, no, no, no. That's unjust. That's unjust. Psalm 103, verse 12. As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Have you ever measured how far the east is from the west? Try it sometime. That's how far your sin is from you. When it comes to justification, it's gone.

It's gone. Your guilt has been removed. 1 John 1, verse 9. I love this verse so much. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Now, just use that word just again. Did you hear that? But when you think of just, what do you think of? A lot of times we think of just, we think, well, if God is just, then that's why I shouldn't feel like I can come to God.

Because I sin. If God is just, then that means there's something in between us. My sin is in between us. Hold on. 1 John 1, verse 9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us.

Don't stop there. And cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So from this verse, you could deduce that it is actually unjust for God not to cleanse you.

Did you hear me on that? If you were still dirty, that would not be justice. If you believe so many people think they're dirty because God is just, it's the wrong view of his justice.

You have a distorted, perverted view of God's justice. If you think that God is pushing you away because of your sin in Christ Jesus. The real belief about justice is that if you confess your sins, if you're in Christ, he not only forgives you your sins, but he cleanses you from your sins.

This is just. This is just. It would be unjust for him not to forgive you and to cleanse you. It would be unjust for him to hold against you something that has been already paid for.

It would be unjust. When was the last time you appealed for that kind of justice? When was the last time you went to the Lord in your sin and appealed for God's justice to cleanse you?

You ever think of that? You ever appealed for God's justice? We're typically like, I don't want to remind God of his justice because that's bad news for me. No! Not if he's just and the justifier. That means that Christ is the propitiation and the expiation.

He satisfies the wrath. He removes the guilt. And it would only be just for him to cleanse you from your sins and your unrighteousness. Is that not good news?

That's good news. 2 Corinthians 5, 18-21 says, So do you do that?

Are you living consistent with the way God treats you? God, it says here that God doesn't count your trespasses against you. Do you count your trespasses against you? Why?

Why? The Bible says that God doesn't count your trespasses against you. Why are you still doing it? And why aren't you telling the devil what it is written when he tells you and reminds you of your sin?

Why don't you just say, hey, it's written. God doesn't count my trespasses against me. You can leave now. Right? And he trusted us the message of reconciliation.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ. God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Wow. This is why Romans 8, verse 1 says, Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Christian, do you tolerate condemnation in your life? Why? Why? There is no more condemnation for you.

But, but, no, no, no, no. No buts. No buts. Do you believe the gospel or do you, do you not? If you think that God just kind of cleans you up, he makes you tolerable but not beautiful.

If you think he just, you know, he, he makes it so that, well, I guess he can, he can come in. No, no, no, no, no. He washes you clean. For him not to wash you clean would be unjust. And now because you are washed clean, because the wrath of God is no longer against you, because there's no longer any dirt that remains on you, there is no condemnation for you in Christ Jesus.

No condemnation. Romans 4, verse 8 says, Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. Blessed is that man. And guess what?

That man is every Christian. Every true believer in Jesus Christ is the one whom the Lord will not count his sin. So he absorbs the wrath of God.

He takes away the guilt of sin. And then he doesn't just leave it there. Then he gives us his righteousness. Romans 4, 5. Romans 5, 19.

For as by one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience, the one man being Christ, the many will be made righteous. Do you believe not only that he's absorbed the wrath, that he has removed your guilt, but that he's given you Christ's righteousness?

So when the Father looks on you, he sees the righteousness of Christ. He sees the work of Christ. You say, my work isn't enough. Absolutely. You're right. But whoever said anything about your work, you're not coming to the Lord on the basis of your work.

You're coming to the Lord on the basis of Christ's work. Philippians 3, 8-9. This is what Paul said. For his sake I've suffered the loss of all things, and I count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own.

It comes from the law. But that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God, that depends on faith. Some of us think, oh, we just need to be saved from our unrighteousness. No, no, no.

We have to be saved from unrighteousness and self-righteousness, and we are given the righteousness of Christ. That is, on Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name.

That's trusting in the righteousness of Christ. Okay? So that's gospel past. That's good news. Some people only stick there. They're like, yeah, that's my testimony, man. I want to tell my testimony.

They have a testimony of how God saved them. They have no testimony of how God's saving them, and they certainly don't have a testimony of what he's going to do in the future. Or, some people, they believe in gospel past, gospel future, but they have no, they have no grid for gospel present.

They say, well, God saved me, and one day he's returning to save me, but in the meantime, I just got to grit my teeth and my own strength and my own power and try to stay free from sin. Well, that sounds like good news. Not really.

Right? But this is how, so many Christians believe this. They think, yes, God saved me. One day he will come and he'll rescue us from this earth and all the sin and make all things new.

But in between, man, I'm on my own. I gotta, I gotta grit my teeth and just push through. No. No. Let's look at gospel present.

Gospel present, present salvation, is sanctification. It's being saved from the power of sin. 1 Corinthians 1.18 says, The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

It is the power of God. See, the cross is not just saving us from the penalty of sin, it's saving us from the power of sin. Do you believe that? Do you believe in a gospel that not just saves you from the penalty, but saves you from the power?

1 Corinthians 15.1-2 says, I remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and which you stand, and by which you are being saved. Present. Being saved.

If you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. Okay? The same power that saved you from the wrath of God and the penalty of sin is the same power that saves you from the power of sin.

Do you believe that? The same way you received it initially when you first became a Christian is the same way we receive it in everyday life. You are tempted with sin, it's threatening to overtake you, it's threatening to rule over you, and you believe that you can't do it, you can't resist it, you have no power in and of yourself to resist that temptation, but you believe that the gospel is the power of God for salvation of all who believe, Romans 1.16, you believe that in that moment that God's salvation and power is available to you to be saved, not just from the penalty like you did before when you first came to Christ, but that his power is available to save you from the power of sin so that sin will no longer reign over you.

This is good news. Right? Hebrews 10.14 says, This is called sanctification, right?

Progressive growth and holiness. 1 Thessalonians 5.23 It says, Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Okay? This is God working in you his will, this is God removing the power of sin from your life, sanctifying you day in and day out, setting you free. 1 Thessalonians 4.3-5 says, This is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual morality, that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who don't know God.

Do you believe that God's power is available for you even to overcome and conquer sexual morality? I know for some reason we have glorified and worshipped and lifted up the power of sexual morality nowadays to be a sin that cannot be overcome by the power of God.

What a travesty. What a slap in the face of the gospel. Is not God mighty to save even from sexual or immorality? I mean, what do you believe?

He can save you from all their sins but that sin? It's like God is this tiny little God but the God of sexual morality is the God that reigns? No, Jesus Christ is the God that reigns. He died so that the power of God will be given to you so that you could live in holiness and honor.

That's the truth. Those are the facts. We have power over sin. Okay? This is why Romans 6 says, Let not sin, therefore reign in your moral body to make you obey its passions.

Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and your members to God as instruments for righteousness for sin will have no dominion over you.

Do you believe that? Do you believe that? That that's a promise of God that in the gospel sin shall have no dominion over you. That means it doesn't rule over you. That your inheritance isn't to just be someone who's saved from the penalty of sin but sin rules over you until Jesus returns.

No. Sin's penalty has no power of you. Sin's power has no power of you. And one day its presence won't be there either. It will remove the presence of it altogether. That's the good news.

That's the full gospel. No dominion. 2 Corinthians 2.14 says thanks be to God whom Christ Jesus leads us in triumphal procession and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge from everywhere.

This is how Paul describes the Christian life. Let me ask you believer fellow believers would you describe your Christianity as a triumphal procession?

Would you describe it as that? The Bible does. The Bible describes your Christianity my Christianity as a triumphal procession. Again if you believe a gospel where it's all on you until Jesus returns then this is foreign to you.

You read this and say what? What is that? If you believe that the gospel is for yesterday today and forever if you believe that it's past present and future if you believe it's not just the penalty but it's also the power and it will be the presence if you believe that and you read triumphal procession you're like yes absolutely that's my inheritance that's what I live in that's the good news triumphal procession we don't use that word triumphal much anymore we should that's what we get in the gospel he didn't just save you from the penalty of sin and leave you alone he saved you from the penalty of sin and then said I'm now giving you power for triumphal procession triumphal procession triumphal procession some of us need to notify our face about that like hey hello we have been given in the gospel the power to triumph over sin to triumph over sin not in our strength not in our power in the power of Christ this is why Romans 5.17 uses this great term

I love this term reigning in life are you reigning in life? are you reigning in life? that's your inheritance the free gift of righteousness causes you to reign in life through the one man Christ Jesus it's the difference between overcoming and coming under right the Bible talks a lot about those who will overcome they'll inherit salvation right are you an overcomer or a comer under?

do you come under the power of sin or do you come over it? those who believe in the power of the gospel are coming over the power of their sin not coming underneath all their sexual temptations all their temptations towards depression towards selfishness towards anxiety okay no we're not coming under those things we're coming over those things because God's power in the gospel is enough to triumph over them Romans 16.25 says now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel do you believe in a gospel that strengthens you in the present?

I love Jude 24 see a lot of people they have this fear of falling away I just want to say confidently I do not have a fear of falling away I don't have any fear but you say well you should because the Bible talks about people falling away it does it does but I'm not afraid of it you know why?

Jude 24 Jude 24 now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling another version says from falling to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy that's why I'm not afraid of falling I'm not putting my hope in myself to keep me from falling I'm putting my hope in God to keep me blameless until the day that Christ Jesus returns that's where my hope is I don't fear falling I'm just pressing into trust God you didn't I didn't bring myself I'm not going to keep myself and I'm not ultimately going to save myself you are I'm trusting in you to him who is able to him who is able to keep you from falling to keep you from stumbling you believe in that God?

do you act like it? do you live like it? do you sing like it? this is the gospel now in that some people confuse justification and sanctification okay they think well when I sin I lose my justification so I need to get re-justified by feeling bad for long enough or you know doing penance some form of penance and if I do that then maybe so I go back and forth from sanctification to justification and it's just like they confuse it they think every time they sin they lose their justification no when you sin your justification isn't affected this is this is where you need sanctification the penalty is still gone you're still right before the Lord because of that now let his the justification feel your sanctification so that you go and sin no more that you say no to sin Martin Lord Jones says there's no going back and forth from being justified to not being justified and I think of no greater story than this than the story of David and the city of Nob you guys know this story at all it's a great story okay it's a great story one of the cool things about David is if you ever read the life of David unlike any other person in the Bible when you read the life of David number one you got two versions of it because you have two accounts of a lot of it but then you have a third insight into it and then you have the book of Psalms and you have all these Psalms that he wrote while he was doing certain things so you're thinking well I wonder what David was thinking when this and this and this happened there's probably a Psalm about it you look at the Psalm and you're like

I know what he was thinking what in the world was he thinking that for you know and then you can you start to understand some things so let's do that let's do that right 1 Samuel 21 starting verse 1 David comes to Nob comes to him a him elect a priest okay now give you a little context here he's running from Saul Saul's trying to kill him okay that's what's happening right now Saul decided that he's not a fan of David he's trying to kill him David goes into exile and when he goes into exile he's got to get he's got to get some stuff so he goes to Himalek in Nob the city of the priests verse 2 says David said to Himalek the priest listen to what he says the king has charged me with a matter and said to me let no one know anything on the matter about which I send you and with which I have charged you I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place guess what that's not true that's a lie Saul didn't send him Saul didn't send him on this mission Saul's trying to kill him David went to the priest and lied to the priest this is a this is a flat out lie this did not happen so he goes to the priest and then so the priest believes David he has no reason not to believe David and David says what do you got on hand give me five loaves of bread or whatever's here and the priest says

I have no common bread on hand but I have holy bread and if the young men have kept themselves from women and David said the priest truly women have been kept from us always when I go on an expedition the vessels of the young men are holy and so the priest gives them holy bread and now verse seven a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day detained before the Lord his name was Doeg the Edomite the chief of Saul's herdsmen then David said to Himalek then have you not a spear or a sword at hand for I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me because the king's business required haste and the priest said the sword of Goliath the Philistine when he struck down the valley of Elah behold it is wrapped in the cloth behind the ephod if you will take that take it for there is none like it for there is none but that here and David said there is none like it give it to me so he gives him bread gives him the sword provides for David because David lied to him what do you think Saul's going to find it well let's look it's 1 Samuel 22

Saul is asking all the men hey where's David he's still looking to try and kill him and Doeg the Edomite answers remember the guy who was there who saw David go to Himalak Doeg the Edomite verse 9 of 1 Samuel 22 who stood by the servants of Saul he said I saw the son of Jesse come in Nab to Ahimelech the son of Ahithub and he inquired of the Lord for him and gave him provisions and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine then the king sent to summon Ahimelech the priest the son of Ahithub and all his father's house the priests were at Nab and all of them came to the king and Saul said here now son of Ahithub and he answered here I am Lord you and the son of Jesse and that you have given him bread and a sword and inquired of God for him so that he has risen against me to lie and wait as at this day and then Ahimelech answers as you would think he would answer right he says who among all your servants is so faithful as David who is the king's son-in-law and captain over your bodyguard and out into your house is today the first time that I've inquired of God for him no let the king impute anything to his servant or to all the house of my father for your servant has known nothing of all this much or little and the king said you shall surely die

Ahimelech you and all your father's house and the king turned and told his servants to kill him they said no we're not going to do it right they wouldn't put their hand against the priests of the Lord right but you know Doag is perfectly willing to do it right verse 18 the king said Doag you turn and he killed on that day 85 persons who wore the linen ephod and now the city of the priest he put to the sword both man and woman child and infant ox donkey sheep he put to the sword one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahithub named Abiathar escaped and fled after David and Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priest of the Lord and David said to Abiathar I knew on that day when Doag the Edomite was there that he would surely David says I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father's house David knew it was his fault he knew he lied and who died he lied in all 85 priests the city of the priests imagine if there was a city like imagine if there was a nearby city near Kansas city where all the pastors lived and you told a lie and all the pastors got killed and their wives and the children and all the animals can you imagine that now you guys have probably had bad days when you've sinned

I don't know if you've ever had a bad day like this right you ever told a sin where 85 priests died and all their wives and all the kids and all the animals because of a lie you told probably not have you ever sinned before and felt really bad and felt condemned yes I have many times I don't think I've ever done anything as consequential as this so I'm thinking okay if there's a psalm about this surely David's like I'm an idiot I'm stupid I'm scum I'm a worm what have I done I'm a horrible person this is what you would think he would say right well let's take a look Psalm 52 now some of these psalms they say at the beginning what was going on right beginning Psalm 52 says to the choir to the choir master a master of David when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul David has come to the house of Ahimelech you following me here this is the psalm we could find out what he was thinking during this time it's like okay let's check it out what does it say there let's read it why do you boast of evil almighty man he's obviously talking about

Doeg right so he wrote a song about Doeg okay why do you boast of evil almighty man the steadfast love of God endures all the day your tongue plots destruction like a sharp razor you worker of deceit you love evil more than good and lying more than speaking what is right you love all the words that devour oh deceitful tongue but God will break you down forever he will snatch and tear you from your tent he will uproot you from the land of the living the righteous will see and fear and shall laugh at him saying see the man who would not make God his refuge but trusted in the abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his own destruction okay so so far he's just talking about Doeg right he condemns himself right let's look at this because that's what I would do right I screwed up Lord I'm such a bad person I'm an evil worm I'm an idiot this is what David says about himself after all that happens but

I am like a green olive tree in the house of God I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever I will thank you forever! because you have done it I will wait for your name for it is good in the presence of the godly wait what how dare he how dare he trust in the righteousness of another how dare he trust that his sin does not remove his justification how dare he trust that God is his portion forever that God is a steadfast lover and that he is not putting his hope in what he does and he is not putting his rejection in what he didn't do or what he did wrong he is putting his hope in the God who saves and he says I'm an olive tree thriving in the house of God so when you sin and you go to the Lord you pay penance do you have to feel bad and pout around for a couple weeks or a couple days or you feel bad about is just and the justifier because

I've confessed my sins he is faithful and just to forgive me and cleanse me from all unrighteousness I'm an olive tree thriving in the house of God and I will trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever is that what you say that's what David said why don't you do you do we do we have that kind of attitude what is then then you're probably some self righteous religious hypocrite who only believes that God loves you and is close to you when you do everything that's right okay and like Brennan said God loves you for who you are not who you should be because no one is as they should be if you're waiting to be as you should be for God to love!

you're! for a long time all their ground is sinking sand I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus name what does David say I will wait for your name for it is good in the presence of the holy God when you pray you say in the name of Josh amen no I don't say that but sometimes I act like it sometimes I act like oh God you should accept me because I read my Bible a lot lately I been praying a lot lately I been a good boy I'm not on the naughty list or sometimes I pray like that where I think oh he's not going to answer my prayers because I haven't been as I should be well guess what no one is as they should be except for Christ do you lean on his name do you trust in his name is that where your hope lies when you sin you say I'm an olive tree thriving in the house of God and I will hope in the Lord forever is that your hope that's gospel presence that's good news what about gospel future future salvation or what the Bible calls glorification we will be saved from the presence of sin

Matthew 24 13 says the one who endures to the end will be saved you've been saved from the penalty of sin but you still have a sinful body that wants to do sinful things Romans 5 verse 9 says since therefore we've now been justified by his blood much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God when it comes and he comes with on that horse with the great rodeo in the sky and he returns!

We waiting for him to save us from sin completely where it's gone we get new bodies one of the worst parts about this life is that we have sinful bodies one of the best parts is that the spirit of God made us alive in Christ Jesus so that we have new desires and we have a sinful desires but the desires of

God within you because of the spirit of God sin doesn't reign in you anymore that's the good news but you still got a battle right we're longing for the resurrection bodies our Easter bodies right Romans 7 18 to 25 says I know that nothing good dwells in me that is in my flesh!

I have desire to do what is right! but not the ability to carry it out that's bad news right I hate that that's one of the worst parts about this life I have the desire to do it right but in my flesh I don't have the ability to do it if do not do the good I want but the evil I do not want is what I do what I want if I do what I do not want it is the good news of gospel future one day we'll be delivered from this body of death in the meantime we have what is called right here indwelling sin but one day we'll have no indwelling sin Philippians 3 20 21 our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await a savior the lord jesus christ who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself we'll get a body like his which you know his body he ate fish walked through walls appeared maybe right sounds pretty awesome to me but the best part is that that body won't have sin 1 john 3 2 says beloved we are god's children now and what we will be is not yet appeared we're still waiting for it we know that when he appears we shall be like him because we shall see him like he is and here's the quintessential verse on this

I get so excited when I read this verse 1 corinthians 15 50 to 55 I tell you this brothers flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of god that's this stuff right here can't inherit the kingdom of god nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable behold I tell you a mystery we shall not all sleep or in other words not all die but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed for this perishable body must put on the imperishable and this mortal body must put on immortality when the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality then shall come to pass the saying that is written death is swallowed in victory oh death where's your victory oh death where's your sting it's no longer there because the presence of sin will be gone no more temptation no more fighting sin you would never even want to sin anymore you'll have a new body it's one of the best parts about the gospel one day god returns we see him and our body is transformed and we are saved from the presence of sin and we can finally say oh death where's your victory now where's your victory now you have no control over me you have truly no dominion you're not even in there anymore no more indwelling sin

I have a new resurrection body this is what we're waiting for and Romans 13 11 says salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed we're waiting for it we're waiting for it to all who've been wearied by sin know that there's a day coming for those in Christ Jesus where the presence of sin will be gone and the battle will be over Philippians 1 verse 6 I'm sure of this that he who began a work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ you believe that that he who began a good work in you gospel past will bring it all the way through gospel present and all the way through the gospel future but one day sin is gone it's gone like Luke 21 28 says when these things begin to take place straighten up and raise your heads because your redemption is drawing near do you believe that do you believe that when you think about the gospel do you believe in eternal life you know some people say well hell isn't eternal if hell is not eternal then neither is life so you might want to think that one through a little bit hell is eternal but eternal life is eternal as well and this is what we have to look forward to paradise with no sin revelation 21 then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more and I saw the holy city new

Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for a husband and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying behold the dwelling place of God is with man he will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God he will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more neither shall there be mourning!

nor crying nor pain anymore for the former things have passed away for the former things have passed away do you believe this?

that he's going to come and make all things right? sin, death, tears they're all going to be gone sickness it's all going to be gone this is the good news do you believe in gospel past, present, future?

do you believe that you've been saved from the penalty of sin? you're being saved from the power of sin and you will be saved from the presence of sin I close with 1 Peter 1, 3-5 blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ according to his great mercy he has caused us to be born again to a living hope a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable undefiled unfading kept in heaven for you it's in the future, right?

kept in heaven for you who by God's power are being guarded through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time the salvation that's coming in the future you're being guarded for now this power is available now to guard you let's believe in this power let's not be functional atheists let's trust in the power of God in pockets of unbelief amen?

amen please stand me me me me me me! me!