WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.940 Good morning, Church. Good morning. 00:00:03.320 --> 00:00:09.179 For today's reading, can we turn our Bibles to Romans 4, verse 1 to 12. 00:00:09.179 --> 00:00:16.039 ! For anybody with these Bibles, it's on page 1131. 00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:19.039 Romans 4. 00:00:19.859 --> 00:00:28.160 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefathers, according to the flesh, discovered in this matter, 00:00:28.879 --> 00:00:36.259 if, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God. 00:00:36.759 --> 00:00:42.700 What does Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. 00:00:43.880 --> 00:00:49.219 Now, to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift, but as an obligation. 00:00:50.200 --> 00:00:55.299 However, to the one who does not work, but trust God who justifies the ungodly, 00:00:55.299 --> 00:00:58.339 their faith is credited as righteousness. 00:00:59.279 --> 00:01:00.399 David says, 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:07.920 The same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works. 00:01:08.719 --> 00:01:12.680 Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 00:01:13.539 --> 00:01:17.379 Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them. 00:01:18.379 --> 00:01:23.680 Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:28.160 We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. 00:01:29.060 --> 00:01:31.600 Under what circumstances was it credited? 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:36.060 Was it after he was circumcised, or before? 00:01:36.740 --> 00:01:39.040 It was not after, but before. 00:01:39.780 --> 00:01:47.880 And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:54.099 So then, he is the father of all who believe, but have not been circumcised, 00:01:54.259 --> 00:01:57.219 in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 00:01:57.939 --> 00:02:01.060 And he is then also the father of the circumcised, 00:02:02.420 --> 00:02:04.899 who not only are circumcised, 00:02:05.959 --> 00:02:13.019 but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. 00:02:13.219 --> 00:02:14.400 May the Lord's name glorify him. 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:17.120 Thanks, Tim. 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:19.759 Well, keep the passage open in front of you, 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:23.460 and do follow along as we work our way through it together. 00:02:23.560 --> 00:02:26.000 But let me pray as we come to look at God's word. 00:02:26.060 --> 00:02:26.460 Let me pray. 00:02:31.900 --> 00:02:36.379 Heavenly Father, there's something sort of gloriously ordinary about what we're doing together. 00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:41.219 We're looking at a book and trying to understand it together. 00:02:41.219 --> 00:02:47.659 But in the ordinariness of that, you do something extraordinary by your spirit. 00:02:47.659 --> 00:02:48.659 You do something extraordinary by your spirit. 00:02:48.659 --> 00:02:49.699 And you speak to us. 00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:52.419 You change us and transform us. 00:02:53.219 --> 00:02:55.300 You bring us from death to life. 00:02:56.840 --> 00:02:58.400 You help us persevere. 00:02:59.539 --> 00:03:02.240 You encourage us and equip us. 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:06.260 And so we pray that our experience might be that this morning. 00:03:07.300 --> 00:03:11.760 That because of the work of your spirit, because these are your words, 00:03:12.620 --> 00:03:14.400 you would be at work for the sake of your glory. 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:16.060 In Jesus' name. 00:03:16.820 --> 00:03:17.219 Amen. 00:03:17.659 --> 00:03:17.960 Amen. 00:03:17.960 --> 00:03:18.120 Amen. 00:03:19.480 --> 00:03:23.420 I wonder if I could ask you as we start, what is the best thing about being a Christian? 00:03:25.340 --> 00:03:26.879 What's the best thing about being a Christian? 00:03:27.020 --> 00:03:34.040 What is the great advantage of the Christian life over and above any other kind of life? 00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:39.640 Maybe you're not a Christian this morning, and you're thinking, that's a very good question. 00:03:40.860 --> 00:03:44.980 I mean, to become a Christian is to be called to give up so much, isn't it? 00:03:44.979 --> 00:03:50.319 You know, the Bible's sexual ethic seems pretty restrictive, and the call to generosity, 00:03:50.500 --> 00:03:53.159 well, that seems pretty miserable, really. 00:03:53.879 --> 00:03:57.879 The encouragement to love others, even when you don't really like them, 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:00.039 doesn't sound so great either. 00:04:00.359 --> 00:04:02.859 You know, what is the good thing about being a Christian? 00:04:02.919 --> 00:04:04.280 What is the best thing about being a Christian? 00:04:05.739 --> 00:04:08.399 Or maybe you're a Christian this morning, and you hear that question, and you think, 00:04:08.459 --> 00:04:12.780 well, yeah, that's a good question, because actually I'm finding my life quite a lot harder 00:04:12.780 --> 00:04:13.599 than I thought I would. 00:04:14.979 --> 00:04:19.500 I became a Christian, and I thought that might mean that God was therefore on my side, 00:04:19.500 --> 00:04:22.099 and things would work out as I hoped they would. 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:25.379 But that doesn't seem to be happening for me. 00:04:26.339 --> 00:04:28.560 So what is the blessing of the Christian life? 00:04:29.539 --> 00:04:34.379 You know, if I'm not promised a long life, if I'm not promised healing from every sickness, 00:04:34.500 --> 00:04:39.459 if I don't get the job I want or a secure home, then what is the good of being a Christian? 00:04:39.459 --> 00:04:43.579 Well, listen, this morning, however that kind of question lands on you, 00:04:43.599 --> 00:04:44.939 we will come to it again at the end. 00:04:45.339 --> 00:04:49.739 I want to try and show you from our passage this morning that the blessedness, 00:04:49.779 --> 00:04:54.919 or the blessing of the Christian life, the great advantage of being a Christian, 00:04:55.859 --> 00:04:57.279 is justification. 00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:04.519 In other words, it is this being credited by God with righteousness, 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:09.399 or being declared by God that we are in the right with him. 00:05:10.299 --> 00:05:13.439 I want to suggest to you this morning that that declaration, 00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:16.279 and grabbing a hold of that and knowing that that is yours, 00:05:17.319 --> 00:05:23.139 that itself is worth more than good health, long life, material wealth, 00:05:23.139 --> 00:05:26.419 wealth, marriage, family, all the riches of Egypt. 00:05:27.740 --> 00:05:31.000 And so let me just try and break our time down into two parts as we look at the passage. 00:05:31.139 --> 00:05:32.699 I want us to start with what is justification, 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:34.639 and then I want to think about why it's so great. 00:05:35.060 --> 00:05:36.639 So let's start with what is justification. 00:05:38.019 --> 00:05:41.579 I think probably one of the clearest definitions of justification in the Bible 00:05:41.579 --> 00:05:42.879 is given for us in these verses. 00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:44.839 Look down at verse 3. 00:05:45.639 --> 00:05:47.019 What does scripture say? 00:05:47.259 --> 00:05:52.860 Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. 00:05:53.139 --> 00:05:56.419 Word righteousness, same as the word justification in the original. 00:05:56.919 --> 00:05:58.579 He was given justification. 00:05:59.300 --> 00:06:03.419 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift, but as an obligation. 00:06:04.120 --> 00:06:09.019 However, to the one who does not work, but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, 00:06:09.019 --> 00:06:13.019 their faith is credited as righteousness. 00:06:14.479 --> 00:06:17.579 Here Paul is proving his definition of justification 00:06:17.579 --> 00:06:21.899 by using the Old Testament character Abraham as an example. 00:06:21.899 --> 00:06:25.399 And his point is that if you've read the Old Testament, 00:06:25.919 --> 00:06:31.259 it should be obvious to you that Abraham received righteousness as a gift, 00:06:31.639 --> 00:06:33.939 not as wages for a job that he did. 00:06:34.579 --> 00:06:38.539 It's not that Abraham worked and God saw that work and thought, 00:06:38.879 --> 00:06:39.879 there's a good guy. 00:06:40.179 --> 00:06:43.679 I'm going to give him righteousness on the basis of his works. 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:49.100 No, Abraham trusted, literally the word that is, believed or had faith, 00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:54.199 and he received righteousness, received justification as a gift. 00:06:54.860 --> 00:07:00.519 So verse 5, he did not work, but trusted and is credited as righteous. 00:07:01.800 --> 00:07:02.939 Now, be careful here. 00:07:03.019 --> 00:07:08.980 It's not that Abraham's faith is the essential work in order to receive justification. 00:07:08.980 --> 00:07:12.540 It's not like, okay, listen, of all the good works I've seen Abraham do, 00:07:12.620 --> 00:07:14.640 well, he's got that one, which is faith. 00:07:14.680 --> 00:07:17.080 And that's the particular one that I'm interested in. 00:07:17.160 --> 00:07:19.240 And when I see that work, then I give righteousness. 00:07:19.400 --> 00:07:20.040 No, it's not at all. 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:23.700 Faith, as we'll see more next week and we were seeing last week, 00:07:23.700 --> 00:07:29.360 is simply an empty hand that receives the gift of God's give-away-able righteousness. 00:07:31.480 --> 00:07:34.879 It's just worth, I think, us thinking a little bit more about Paul's illustration here, 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:38.439 this contrast between wages and a gift, wages and a gift. 00:07:38.540 --> 00:07:40.959 Imagine for a moment that someone has said to you, 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:42.759 listen, I would like you to dig a hole in the ground. 00:07:42.920 --> 00:07:44.259 It's a big hole, it's going to take you all day, 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:48.819 and I'll pay you £100 at the end of the day if you dig a hole in the ground for me. 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:52.719 So you work hard all day digging a hole. 00:07:52.839 --> 00:07:55.279 You've got blisters on your hands. 00:07:55.399 --> 00:07:57.420 You've sweated through your T-shirt. 00:07:57.560 --> 00:07:58.959 You've got mud in your boots. 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:02.360 And then at the end of the day, the boss comes and he says, 00:08:02.360 --> 00:08:05.379 listen, I'm going to be really kind to you. 00:08:06.780 --> 00:08:09.360 I am such a nice guy. 00:08:10.180 --> 00:08:12.180 I am going to be generous to you. 00:08:12.960 --> 00:08:13.620 Here's £100. 00:08:14.860 --> 00:08:19.120 Just as a sign of my overwhelming generosity towards you, 00:08:19.620 --> 00:08:20.300 what would you say? 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:21.740 Hang on a minute. 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:23.639 Look at the hole. 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:25.600 Look at the blisters on my hands. 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:26.819 Look at the sweat on my brow. 00:08:26.920 --> 00:08:27.900 Look at the mud in my boots. 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:29.680 I've been working hard all day. 00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:33.560 Don't you dare say that that gift is an expression of your generosity. 00:08:33.700 --> 00:08:35.279 It's my wages. 00:08:36.580 --> 00:08:37.919 It's what you said you'd pay me. 00:08:38.560 --> 00:08:40.139 That money is what I deserve. 00:08:42.060 --> 00:08:45.519 Now, Paul says that's the mistake that many people make about justification. 00:08:46.600 --> 00:08:49.399 They think approval from God comes as wages. 00:08:50.240 --> 00:08:52.519 Swap digging holes for being good for a moment. 00:08:53.060 --> 00:08:55.019 Perhaps we've tried really hard to be good. 00:08:55.799 --> 00:08:57.399 I've not been as bad as other people. 00:08:57.399 --> 00:09:00.980 I handed my homework in on time every time. 00:09:01.759 --> 00:09:04.399 That's not actually true of me, but it might be true of you. 00:09:05.899 --> 00:09:08.439 Perhaps you live a clean life. 00:09:08.919 --> 00:09:09.699 You don't do drugs. 00:09:09.799 --> 00:09:10.579 You don't sleep around. 00:09:10.659 --> 00:09:11.600 You try to be kind to everyone. 00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:13.860 And then someone stands up and says, 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:17.039 no, actually, what you really need is righteousness as a gift, 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:18.139 not wages, a gift. 00:09:18.439 --> 00:09:19.059 And you're offended. 00:09:19.679 --> 00:09:20.480 Wait a minute. 00:09:21.579 --> 00:09:23.100 Look at all these good things I've done. 00:09:23.480 --> 00:09:24.500 Do they count for nothing? 00:09:24.500 --> 00:09:28.919 You know, look at the moral blisters on my hand 00:09:28.919 --> 00:09:30.899 and the sweat on my brow and the mud in my boots. 00:09:31.340 --> 00:09:32.940 You know, I've not been as bad as I could be. 00:09:33.559 --> 00:09:36.919 I've been working myself to the bone to receive approval. 00:09:38.360 --> 00:09:39.740 Now, Paul's point here is that, listen, 00:09:40.100 --> 00:09:43.000 of course righteousness from God cannot work like that. 00:09:43.139 --> 00:09:44.820 Approval from God can't work like that. 00:09:45.179 --> 00:09:47.899 Firstly, because no one boasts in front of God. 00:09:48.360 --> 00:09:49.840 No one speaks like that in front of God. 00:09:50.539 --> 00:09:51.460 It doesn't sound right. 00:09:51.500 --> 00:09:52.519 We know that instinctively, don't we? 00:09:52.519 --> 00:09:53.819 That's what verse 2 says. 00:09:54.639 --> 00:09:56.699 And that's because deep down we know, don't we, 00:09:56.720 --> 00:09:58.199 that none of us are actually good enough 00:09:58.199 --> 00:10:00.019 to receive the righteous approval of God 00:10:00.019 --> 00:10:02.439 because the righteous approval of God 00:10:02.439 --> 00:10:06.139 is the declaration that we are absolutely perfect 00:10:06.139 --> 00:10:09.480 in every way, completely holy, without sin. 00:10:10.220 --> 00:10:12.059 And none of us deserve that, do we? 00:10:12.519 --> 00:10:13.899 None of us can earn that 00:10:13.899 --> 00:10:16.919 and say we instinctively know that boasting is excluded. 00:10:18.279 --> 00:10:20.279 I mean, secondly, though, if justification worked like that, 00:10:20.279 --> 00:10:21.759 how would you know whether anyone had it? 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:23.039 Think about it like that. 00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:27.779 If Abraham was justified by works and not as a gift, 00:10:27.860 --> 00:10:29.559 if it was his wages for his righteousness, 00:10:29.759 --> 00:10:31.299 how could you be sure that he made it? 00:10:33.399 --> 00:10:35.339 I mean, he did do some good stuff, didn't he? 00:10:35.339 --> 00:10:36.179 He left his home. 00:10:36.399 --> 00:10:38.819 He went in the opposite direction of migrating humanity 00:10:38.819 --> 00:10:40.019 in obedience to God. 00:10:40.860 --> 00:10:43.399 He displayed a willingness to sacrifice his own son. 00:10:43.399 --> 00:10:46.699 He also did some morally dubious things 00:10:46.699 --> 00:10:48.100 like lying about his wife 00:10:48.100 --> 00:10:50.079 that had been taken in by a foreign king. 00:10:50.759 --> 00:10:53.039 He had an illegitimate child with his wife's servant. 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:56.679 But still the Bible clearly makes him the father of faith, 00:10:56.799 --> 00:10:58.740 the great father of all of God's people. 00:10:59.340 --> 00:11:02.079 And Paul says that's because he didn't earn that salvation. 00:11:03.139 --> 00:11:05.299 Instead, verse three, it was credited to him, 00:11:05.939 --> 00:11:08.860 not as wages, verse four, but as a gift. 00:11:08.860 --> 00:11:12.919 A gift before even the work of circumcision, 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:16.379 which came later, as Paul explains in verses nine to 12. 00:11:18.060 --> 00:11:19.600 In fact, I think if you look down at verse five, 00:11:19.700 --> 00:11:21.379 Paul puts it even more starkly than just that. 00:11:21.659 --> 00:11:22.820 Let me just read it to you again. 00:11:22.980 --> 00:11:23.720 Notice this with me. 00:11:24.200 --> 00:11:27.759 However, to the one who does not work, 00:11:28.519 --> 00:11:31.000 but trust God who justifies the ungodly, 00:11:31.560 --> 00:11:34.980 their faith is credited as righteousness. 00:11:36.940 --> 00:11:38.060 Now, I think if you listen carefully, 00:11:38.059 --> 00:11:39.319 this will blow your mind, right? 00:11:39.500 --> 00:11:40.139 At least it should. 00:11:40.699 --> 00:11:43.019 Notice what are people like 00:11:43.019 --> 00:11:46.039 as they receive this declaration from God 00:11:46.039 --> 00:11:47.259 that they're absolutely righteous. 00:11:47.479 --> 00:11:48.239 What are they like? 00:11:48.679 --> 00:11:49.500 What does he say? 00:11:49.939 --> 00:11:52.939 God who justifies the deserving, 00:11:53.979 --> 00:11:57.439 the pretty good, no, the ungodly. 00:11:58.000 --> 00:11:59.619 In other words, the gift of justification 00:11:59.619 --> 00:12:04.059 is given to those who by definition don't deserve it. 00:12:05.219 --> 00:12:07.859 Now, go back to the digging a hole illustration for a moment. 00:12:08.619 --> 00:12:10.500 The truth is that spiritually and morally, 00:12:10.819 --> 00:12:13.579 we haven't been setting about the task that God gave us at all. 00:12:14.719 --> 00:12:17.500 If that was the task, we'd have done the opposite. 00:12:17.659 --> 00:12:19.939 We'd have built a mound, not dug a hole, 00:12:20.479 --> 00:12:21.919 not even picked up the spade. 00:12:22.699 --> 00:12:23.739 We are called, aren't we, 00:12:23.739 --> 00:12:25.879 to live all of our lives for God and his glory. 00:12:26.279 --> 00:12:29.019 God gives you life to live for him and his glory, 00:12:29.179 --> 00:12:31.500 and we live it for ourselves and our own glory. 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:34.960 We've not even begun to do what God has called us to do. 00:12:36.019 --> 00:12:39.659 And Paul says, still people like that receive payment. 00:12:40.659 --> 00:12:42.000 A gift, the opposite of wages. 00:12:42.600 --> 00:12:44.100 People who do not work. 00:12:44.940 --> 00:12:48.200 Because wages, if we were to receive the wages for what we've done, 00:12:48.259 --> 00:12:50.100 would be an immediate firing, wouldn't it? 00:12:50.600 --> 00:12:52.519 For laziness and inappropriate activity. 00:12:52.519 --> 00:12:56.960 Now, of course, we know, don't we, from chapter three, 00:12:57.120 --> 00:13:00.799 that God's ability to call ungodly people righteous, 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:02.079 it's not a trick, is it? 00:13:02.860 --> 00:13:06.960 It's not a trick that God is playing to, you know, compromise morally. 00:13:07.579 --> 00:13:11.259 It doesn't involve God becoming less holy to declare us holy. 00:13:11.899 --> 00:13:14.439 Instead, we know this power comes from the cross, don't we? 00:13:15.480 --> 00:13:19.080 Where Jesus paid for our sin and gifted us his righteousness. 00:13:20.259 --> 00:13:22.819 But here the focus is not so much Christ's atoning work, 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:24.919 but it is us as we receive it. 00:13:25.860 --> 00:13:28.259 And the point here is that we are totally undeserving 00:13:28.259 --> 00:13:30.100 in every single way. 00:13:32.759 --> 00:13:35.360 I know that sometimes sermons like this can be a bit complicated, right? 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:37.519 So let me just try and rebuild where we are. 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:38.600 This is what we've got so far. 00:13:38.600 --> 00:13:42.220 Our justification is the declaration by God 00:13:42.220 --> 00:13:44.440 that we are holy, righteous. 00:13:45.139 --> 00:13:46.540 We receive it as a gift, 00:13:47.100 --> 00:13:49.860 and it's given to those who, by definition, are undeserving. 00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:51.180 That's where we are so far. 00:13:51.879 --> 00:13:56.440 Next, notice the tense, the tense of this. 00:13:57.159 --> 00:14:01.920 Notice that it is not that the ungodly will one day be justified 00:14:01.920 --> 00:14:03.560 as soon as they clean up their lives 00:14:03.560 --> 00:14:05.460 and show themselves worthy of such a declaration. 00:14:05.460 --> 00:14:08.480 It's not even that God will justify them 00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:11.460 on the final day of judgment when they stand before him 00:14:11.460 --> 00:14:13.920 as long as they show the right kind of level of commitment 00:14:13.920 --> 00:14:14.900 between now and then. 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:18.200 No, rather the point is that justification is received 00:14:18.200 --> 00:14:20.160 at the point of belief, 00:14:20.620 --> 00:14:22.000 even ahead of final judgment. 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:25.240 Think about it like this. 00:14:25.240 --> 00:14:29.320 Some of you love Strictly, right? 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:31.759 Well, I know at least one person does, 00:14:31.860 --> 00:14:34.299 and I have no idea why, to be honest. 00:14:34.700 --> 00:14:35.899 But God bless you anyway. 00:14:36.039 --> 00:14:39.100 But in that show, as far as I can tell, right, 00:14:39.159 --> 00:14:41.440 in that show, couples dance, yeah? 00:14:42.220 --> 00:14:43.720 And the judges judge. 00:14:44.419 --> 00:14:46.740 And then they do that kind of little awkward run up to the top, 00:14:46.820 --> 00:14:48.560 and Claudia Winkleman says, you know, 00:14:48.560 --> 00:14:50.100 she talks to them a bit for a while, 00:14:50.100 --> 00:14:52.519 and then she says, the scores are in, right? 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:56.019 And then you pan back to the judges who hold up paddles, 00:14:56.680 --> 00:14:59.700 giving the kind of judgment on the dance, right? 00:15:00.500 --> 00:15:02.920 You know, whether it's a justified score, you know, 00:15:02.940 --> 00:15:05.240 like a 10, or a condemning score, 00:15:05.340 --> 00:15:06.720 like a 3, or a 2, or a 1. 00:15:07.879 --> 00:15:11.000 Well, listen, just to imagine that as a scenario 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:12.000 that helps us understand this. 00:15:12.659 --> 00:15:15.720 In life, if you like, we're in the middle of a dance, 00:15:15.720 --> 00:15:18.620 and we're making a terrible mess of it. 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:22.220 I mean, you might look at other couples dancing 00:15:22.220 --> 00:15:24.040 and think, well, I'm doing a better job than they are, 00:15:24.300 --> 00:15:28.019 frankly, but honestly, it's no real significance 00:15:28.019 --> 00:15:29.920 because we're all dancing in the wrong direction, 00:15:29.920 --> 00:15:30.720 if that can be a thing. 00:15:31.040 --> 00:15:32.379 And judgment is looming. 00:15:33.139 --> 00:15:35.200 And we know, all of us know instinctively, 00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:38.779 that there will come a point when the scores will be in, 00:15:39.639 --> 00:15:41.379 and God the judge will judge. 00:15:42.420 --> 00:15:45.220 And we know, because we can feel it in our feet at the moment, 00:15:45.720 --> 00:15:47.500 that that score will not be a good one. 00:15:47.940 --> 00:15:50.620 It will be condemnation, not salvation. 00:15:51.259 --> 00:15:53.800 It will be exclusion from God, not inclusion with him. 00:15:53.879 --> 00:15:55.540 It will be judgment and not glory. 00:15:56.540 --> 00:15:59.779 But here, in Paul's doctrine of justification, 00:16:00.360 --> 00:16:05.379 what happens effectively is God steps onto the dance floor 00:16:05.379 --> 00:16:07.879 in the middle of the dance. 00:16:08.820 --> 00:16:12.440 Before Claudia Winkleman has time to say the scores are in, 00:16:12.440 --> 00:16:18.760 he hands you a perfect set of tens and says, 00:16:18.980 --> 00:16:19.900 those are yours. 00:16:20.740 --> 00:16:22.820 Hold on to them for judgment. 00:16:23.920 --> 00:16:27.200 And so for you, even while you're dancing, 00:16:28.060 --> 00:16:31.300 the scores are already in, even before they're in, 00:16:31.540 --> 00:16:34.500 because you've got them and you know what will be said. 00:16:34.500 --> 00:16:37.440 And the score is perfection. 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:40.440 Absolute perfection. 00:16:41.179 --> 00:16:42.720 So that when you stand in front of the judges 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:44.000 and you do that awkward run up the stairs 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:45.440 and you trip over your high heels or whatever, 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:47.940 then hear the words scores are in, 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:49.879 you know, I'm safe. 00:16:50.840 --> 00:16:51.740 I'm justified. 00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:53.779 I'm perfect. 00:16:54.519 --> 00:16:57.440 Even though I was making a terrible mess on the dance floor. 00:16:57.960 --> 00:17:00.299 Because the perfect tens have been given to me, 00:17:00.360 --> 00:17:01.360 they've been imputed to me, 00:17:01.360 --> 00:17:05.940 they've been credited to me while I was dancing by God himself. 00:17:06.700 --> 00:17:09.539 And it's not, is it, because God is blind to our missteps 00:17:09.539 --> 00:17:10.920 and our poor timing, 00:17:11.460 --> 00:17:13.700 but because really Jesus, 00:17:14.660 --> 00:17:16.380 who is the Lord of the dance floor, 00:17:17.180 --> 00:17:18.920 has credited us with his dance, 00:17:19.660 --> 00:17:21.160 even as he took our dance on himself. 00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:22.299 That's justification. 00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:24.500 Romans 4 verse 5, 00:17:24.920 --> 00:17:26.160 the one who does not work, 00:17:26.259 --> 00:17:28.680 but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, 00:17:28.680 --> 00:17:34.279 their faith is credited as righteousness today. 00:17:37.480 --> 00:17:40.000 Let me say here that this doctrine of justification 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:41.900 gets contradicted all the time. 00:17:43.299 --> 00:17:45.360 Let me just point out a few ways that that happens, 00:17:45.740 --> 00:17:47.380 just so that we're clear on what this is. 00:17:48.220 --> 00:17:49.500 You don't have to speak to many people, 00:17:49.600 --> 00:17:50.740 you don't have to listen to many podcasts, 00:17:50.900 --> 00:17:52.759 you don't have to watch too many YouTube sermons 00:17:52.759 --> 00:17:54.200 or Instagram reels 00:17:54.200 --> 00:17:56.700 before you find someone contradicting what I've just said. 00:17:56.700 --> 00:18:00.500 And religious people particularly hate this. 00:18:01.039 --> 00:18:01.840 Others do as well. 00:18:02.460 --> 00:18:03.539 But they say something like this. 00:18:03.640 --> 00:18:06.000 Listen, what are you meaning to say to me 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:08.920 that if the drug dealer on my street, 00:18:09.460 --> 00:18:11.059 who is a terrible person, 00:18:11.740 --> 00:18:15.360 if he turns and trusts in Christ, 00:18:15.980 --> 00:18:17.860 does he know today 00:18:17.860 --> 00:18:21.080 that he will be safe on judgment day 00:18:21.080 --> 00:18:22.039 in the presence of God, 00:18:22.279 --> 00:18:25.819 while my aunt, who has no interest in Jesus Christ, 00:18:25.819 --> 00:18:28.659 and actually refuses anything to do with him, 00:18:28.859 --> 00:18:31.039 but is really a rather lovely person, 00:18:31.720 --> 00:18:34.000 she's going to be condemned by God on that day? 00:18:34.500 --> 00:18:35.779 Is that what you're telling me? 00:18:36.399 --> 00:18:39.000 Is she lost and he's safe? 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:42.119 That is exactly what Paul is saying. 00:18:43.579 --> 00:18:45.019 And he's not saying it 00:18:45.019 --> 00:18:47.200 because God takes some kind of pleasure 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:48.559 in condemning your aunt, 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:51.519 but because the gift of alien righteousness 00:18:51.519 --> 00:18:53.500 from Christ to the undeserving sinner 00:18:53.500 --> 00:18:56.799 is the only possible way to be holy before God. 00:18:57.220 --> 00:18:58.819 No one else will be. 00:19:01.379 --> 00:19:03.019 People also contradict it, they don't they, 00:19:03.059 --> 00:19:04.940 by building some kind of Christian hierarchy. 00:19:05.960 --> 00:19:07.319 I don't know if you've noticed this in life, 00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:09.179 but people love to think they're better than others. 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:11.579 And they look down their noses, 00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:12.519 they say, 00:19:12.639 --> 00:19:15.659 you mean you can't find the book of Zephaniah yet? 00:19:15.660 --> 00:19:18.279 Are you sure you're really a Christian? 00:19:20.140 --> 00:19:21.720 But what's wrong with that? 00:19:21.980 --> 00:19:23.500 Well, justifications say 00:19:23.500 --> 00:19:25.500 that if any of us are saved this morning, 00:19:25.660 --> 00:19:28.420 it's because we've received righteousness from Jesus 00:19:28.420 --> 00:19:29.940 in his gift of justification, 00:19:29.940 --> 00:19:31.360 which means it doesn't matter 00:19:31.360 --> 00:19:34.279 whether you became a Christian 15 minutes ago 00:19:34.279 --> 00:19:36.240 or 15 years ago, 00:19:36.400 --> 00:19:39.040 you are just as righteous as one another before God 00:19:39.040 --> 00:19:41.440 because the righteousness that you have before God 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:42.640 is gifted to you. 00:19:42.779 --> 00:19:44.180 It's Jesus's, it's not yours. 00:19:44.180 --> 00:19:48.220 It means as well, doesn't it, 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:49.500 that when you have a bad day, 00:19:49.940 --> 00:19:50.920 you ever have a bad day? 00:19:51.620 --> 00:19:52.660 Maybe you lost your way, 00:19:53.580 --> 00:19:55.700 you struggled and lost in the battle with temptation, 00:19:55.940 --> 00:19:56.799 you didn't read your Bible, 00:19:56.900 --> 00:19:58.600 you didn't share the gospel on a bus, 00:19:58.600 --> 00:20:01.799 and you did swear when you trod in the puddle 00:20:01.799 --> 00:20:03.600 and flooded your new trainers with muddy water. 00:20:04.120 --> 00:20:05.299 On that day, 00:20:06.080 --> 00:20:07.940 you are no less righteous before God 00:20:07.940 --> 00:20:10.480 than on the day that you spend all day in church 00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:12.420 singing songs on your face before Jesus. 00:20:12.420 --> 00:20:13.460 Why? 00:20:14.100 --> 00:20:16.019 Because your righteousness was gifted to you 00:20:16.019 --> 00:20:17.300 by the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:20:18.539 --> 00:20:19.420 That's justification. 00:20:20.200 --> 00:20:23.060 You have the perfect tens in your pocket, 00:20:23.500 --> 00:20:25.019 even in the middle of the dance. 00:20:26.279 --> 00:20:27.259 Right, that's justification. 00:20:27.480 --> 00:20:28.960 Why is justification so good? 00:20:29.940 --> 00:20:31.360 I want us to think carefully about this 00:20:31.360 --> 00:20:33.100 because I don't think this is always very well understood. 00:20:34.100 --> 00:20:37.220 I think we can often take justification as a starter. 00:20:37.620 --> 00:20:39.200 So maybe you've been a Christian a little while 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:41.160 and you're thinking, Steve, I know all of this. 00:20:41.860 --> 00:20:43.860 Literally, I could have done what you're doing now. 00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:44.700 I could have said all that. 00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:45.539 I don't know why you're there. 00:20:45.620 --> 00:20:46.279 What are you doing? 00:20:46.660 --> 00:20:47.799 Right, I know justification. 00:20:48.080 --> 00:20:49.039 This is also straightforward. 00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:51.920 Get to the practical bits, right? 00:20:51.960 --> 00:20:53.779 Get to the bit where God helps me 00:20:53.779 --> 00:20:54.880 with my relationships and my work. 00:20:54.940 --> 00:20:55.740 Tell me about that bit. 00:20:57.059 --> 00:20:58.259 Let's not move on so fast. 00:20:58.380 --> 00:21:01.059 Look at how verse six talks about justification. 00:21:01.620 --> 00:21:03.200 Let me read verses six to eight to you again. 00:21:03.259 --> 00:21:04.080 Look down in your Bibles. 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:06.519 David says the same thing. 00:21:06.619 --> 00:21:07.699 So we've swapped Abraham. 00:21:07.839 --> 00:21:09.879 We're now thinking about David, King David. 00:21:10.419 --> 00:21:13.379 He says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness 00:21:13.379 --> 00:21:15.419 of the one to whom God credits righteousness 00:21:15.419 --> 00:21:16.480 apart from works. 00:21:17.159 --> 00:21:20.199 Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, 00:21:20.779 --> 00:21:21.819 whose sins are covered. 00:21:22.319 --> 00:21:25.019 Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord 00:21:25.019 --> 00:21:26.399 will never count against them. 00:21:27.439 --> 00:21:29.559 Now notice that Paul is saying, 00:21:29.740 --> 00:21:33.439 David is speaking about the same thing, right? 00:21:34.019 --> 00:21:35.860 In other words, David here in this psalm 00:21:35.860 --> 00:21:37.960 is talking about justification. 00:21:39.500 --> 00:21:42.519 In Psalm 32, David is talking about forgiveness, 00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:43.720 having sin covered. 00:21:44.220 --> 00:21:46.340 He says that the Lord is counting our sinfulness, 00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:48.539 is not counting our sinfulness against us. 00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:51.180 And that is David's understanding of justification, 00:21:51.480 --> 00:21:54.120 credited righteousness, says Paul in verse six. 00:21:54.559 --> 00:21:56.299 This forgiveness is, says Paul, 00:21:56.299 --> 00:21:59.080 the counterpart of having righteousness credited 00:21:59.080 --> 00:22:00.320 apart from works. 00:22:01.019 --> 00:22:03.340 But notice the word that David uses 00:22:03.339 --> 00:22:04.679 is not justification, 00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:06.399 it's the word what? 00:22:07.639 --> 00:22:08.240 Blessedness. 00:22:09.299 --> 00:22:10.279 It's interesting, isn't it? 00:22:10.299 --> 00:22:12.899 It's not just to have a blessing, 00:22:13.339 --> 00:22:14.980 as in that's a good thing to have. 00:22:15.139 --> 00:22:18.839 It's about being blessed, a blessed one. 00:22:19.179 --> 00:22:21.220 So that this is the blessedness 00:22:21.220 --> 00:22:23.740 that defines someone who is in possession 00:22:23.740 --> 00:22:24.759 of justification. 00:22:25.679 --> 00:22:27.579 Now I submit to you, that's strange. 00:22:27.779 --> 00:22:29.519 What's so good about forgiveness, you might think? 00:22:30.200 --> 00:22:32.680 Now after all, we forgive people all the time. 00:22:33.299 --> 00:22:35.339 But notice here, it seems that this forgiveness 00:22:35.339 --> 00:22:38.039 is not just about God dealing with our sin. 00:22:38.539 --> 00:22:40.900 It seems to me that this is God dealing with our sin 00:22:40.900 --> 00:22:43.720 in a way which transforms our whole identity. 00:22:44.279 --> 00:22:44.859 Do you see that? 00:22:45.460 --> 00:22:48.420 So that we become people who are by definition, 00:22:48.920 --> 00:22:51.119 the blessed ones. 00:22:52.279 --> 00:22:54.019 Go back to the dance floor for a moment. 00:22:54.019 --> 00:22:57.599 And imagine that those straight tens 00:22:57.599 --> 00:22:58.579 that you've been given 00:22:58.579 --> 00:23:00.680 are pushed into your back pocket. 00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:03.839 And so as you dance around the dance floor, 00:23:03.960 --> 00:23:06.019 the most obvious thing about you 00:23:06.019 --> 00:23:07.940 is no longer the sequins, right? 00:23:08.019 --> 00:23:09.480 Or whatever silly outfit you're wearing. 00:23:09.819 --> 00:23:12.259 But it's the tens in your back pocket. 00:23:13.599 --> 00:23:16.299 Nobody notices the moves that you're making anymore 00:23:16.299 --> 00:23:18.720 because all they can see is these giant paddles 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:20.180 that say ten on the back. 00:23:20.180 --> 00:23:22.960 Your whole identity is transformed 00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:25.840 because of the possession of those perfect tens. 00:23:26.440 --> 00:23:27.740 Now that's it here. 00:23:29.180 --> 00:23:33.220 The blessedness is the justification that we have today. 00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:35.380 The justification of the gospel 00:23:35.380 --> 00:23:39.039 means that we are by definition blessed by God. 00:23:39.980 --> 00:23:43.000 In other words, holding justification today 00:23:43.000 --> 00:23:47.900 is being in receipt of the best thing God can give you. 00:23:47.900 --> 00:23:51.540 So regardless of whatever else is true in your life, 00:23:51.880 --> 00:23:56.220 if you have this, you have the blessedness of God. 00:23:57.080 --> 00:23:58.700 Think about what that means for a moment. 00:23:58.800 --> 00:24:00.620 It means, doesn't it, if David is right here, 00:24:00.920 --> 00:24:02.980 if the blessed Christian is the one 00:24:02.980 --> 00:24:04.720 who is in receipt of justification, 00:24:05.280 --> 00:24:06.820 it means that the blessed Christian 00:24:06.820 --> 00:24:09.640 can also be the suffering Christian. 00:24:11.340 --> 00:24:13.220 Because the blessing of being a Christian 00:24:13.220 --> 00:24:15.280 is not the blessing of health or wealth 00:24:15.280 --> 00:24:16.840 or the absence of difficulty. 00:24:16.839 --> 00:24:19.059 You know, people say that, don't they? 00:24:19.079 --> 00:24:19.980 That's not right. 00:24:21.220 --> 00:24:23.039 That's saying that the blessedness is something 00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:24.899 in addition to justification. 00:24:25.439 --> 00:24:26.799 But David disagrees. 00:24:27.859 --> 00:24:30.139 Blessedness is being in receipt of justification. 00:24:31.139 --> 00:24:32.339 It means the blessed Christian 00:24:32.339 --> 00:24:33.720 can also be the single Christian 00:24:33.720 --> 00:24:34.639 who longs to be married. 00:24:35.579 --> 00:24:37.839 It can be the Christian whose dreams didn't come true. 00:24:38.599 --> 00:24:39.500 You know, the blessed Christian 00:24:39.500 --> 00:24:41.359 can have wayward children, no job, 00:24:41.439 --> 00:24:42.480 be struggling with depression. 00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:46.759 Because blessedness of God is receipt of justification. 00:24:48.460 --> 00:24:49.680 Let me try and land this. 00:24:49.759 --> 00:24:51.400 I know we're in the realm of ideas, 00:24:51.640 --> 00:24:54.019 but let me try and persuade you of how good this is. 00:24:54.360 --> 00:24:57.220 Let me show you two contrasts that are implied as we finish. 00:24:58.299 --> 00:25:00.160 Firstly, notice this essentially means 00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:02.099 that this is relational, not material. 00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:04.980 Blessing in the Christian life 00:25:04.980 --> 00:25:06.660 is not having all that you want. 00:25:07.220 --> 00:25:08.440 It's not being healthy. 00:25:08.600 --> 00:25:09.840 It's not having a long life. 00:25:11.060 --> 00:25:12.320 The blessing of the Christian life 00:25:12.320 --> 00:25:14.019 is not removed from us 00:25:14.019 --> 00:25:15.140 by the presence of suffering. 00:25:15.640 --> 00:25:15.900 No. 00:25:16.440 --> 00:25:18.560 The blessing of the Christian life is not that. 00:25:18.700 --> 00:25:20.460 David says, blessed are those, 00:25:21.019 --> 00:25:22.759 not who have a good job, a nice flat, 00:25:22.840 --> 00:25:24.000 a good career, a long life, 00:25:24.519 --> 00:25:25.900 a big family and a beautiful wife. 00:25:25.960 --> 00:25:27.680 The blessing of the Christian life is justification, 00:25:28.220 --> 00:25:31.340 which means that it is not firstly material, 00:25:31.340 --> 00:25:32.500 but relational. 00:25:33.500 --> 00:25:36.300 They receive notice justification from God. 00:25:36.299 --> 00:25:37.519 They're covered by God. 00:25:37.579 --> 00:25:38.960 They believe in God. 00:25:39.659 --> 00:25:41.579 I think this is perhaps where we're going to have to make 00:25:41.579 --> 00:25:42.419 our biggest adjustment 00:25:42.419 --> 00:25:43.980 in our thinking about justification. 00:25:44.700 --> 00:25:46.740 Justification is the blessedness of the Christian life 00:25:46.740 --> 00:25:49.720 because justification is the receipt of the righteousness 00:25:49.720 --> 00:25:51.220 that belongs to Jesus. 00:25:51.839 --> 00:25:53.759 Not so much because Jesus has sort of 00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:57.779 torn away his righteousness and given it to you, 00:25:57.960 --> 00:26:00.579 but rather because Jesus has given you himself 00:26:00.579 --> 00:26:02.519 and his righteousness. 00:26:03.639 --> 00:26:05.240 This is what we find over and over again 00:26:05.240 --> 00:26:05.920 in the book of Romans 00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:06.859 and the rest of the New Testament 00:26:06.859 --> 00:26:09.500 that it hardly ever talks about becoming a Christian, right? 00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:11.440 Or giving your life to Christ 00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:12.460 as if he needed something. 00:26:12.859 --> 00:26:13.759 Rather, becoming a Christian 00:26:13.759 --> 00:26:16.240 is receiving Christ himself. 00:26:16.579 --> 00:26:18.839 The Christian is someone who is in Christ 00:26:18.839 --> 00:26:21.779 and receives his righteousness from him 00:26:21.779 --> 00:26:23.160 in relationship with him. 00:26:24.519 --> 00:26:25.900 Let me try and put this the other way around. 00:26:25.900 --> 00:26:28.299 You cannot have the blessedness of the gospel 00:26:28.299 --> 00:26:30.160 without having Christ. 00:26:30.160 --> 00:26:32.519 And you can't have Christ 00:26:32.519 --> 00:26:34.580 without also having along with him 00:26:34.580 --> 00:26:36.259 the blessedness of the Christian life. 00:26:36.320 --> 00:26:37.880 Those are inseparable from one another. 00:26:39.460 --> 00:26:40.540 Go back to the dance floor. 00:26:40.600 --> 00:26:42.360 I really only did this illustration for Jen 00:26:42.360 --> 00:26:43.620 and she's in Sunday school 00:26:43.620 --> 00:26:45.140 because she loves Strictly, 00:26:45.220 --> 00:26:46.600 so you'll have to tell her when you see her. 00:26:47.560 --> 00:26:50.140 But really what's going on here, 00:26:50.320 --> 00:26:53.160 it's not so much that the tens are in your pocket, are they? 00:26:53.440 --> 00:26:55.400 But it's really that you've been swept up 00:26:55.400 --> 00:26:56.580 in the arms of someone 00:26:56.580 --> 00:26:58.019 who is a professional dancer 00:26:58.019 --> 00:26:59.400 and they're doing it right. 00:27:00.539 --> 00:27:01.940 The Christian, we've been swept up 00:27:01.940 --> 00:27:02.980 in the arms of Jesus 00:27:02.980 --> 00:27:06.059 and he is perfect in every way. 00:27:06.980 --> 00:27:08.379 And when God looks at us, 00:27:08.420 --> 00:27:11.000 he doesn't see the mess that we're making, 00:27:11.559 --> 00:27:13.799 but he sees the perfection of the Lord Jesus. 00:27:14.819 --> 00:27:16.920 And so it's a relational blessing 00:27:16.920 --> 00:27:20.940 that comes through our inclusion in Christ. 00:27:21.379 --> 00:27:22.319 It's not material. 00:27:23.319 --> 00:27:24.480 Now, of course, you know that, don't you? 00:27:24.480 --> 00:27:26.160 You know that the best bits about life 00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:28.259 are not material, they're relational, don't you? 00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:31.040 You would rather live in a studio flat 00:27:31.040 --> 00:27:32.480 with someone who loved you 00:27:32.480 --> 00:27:34.640 than you would live in a great mansion 00:27:34.640 --> 00:27:35.580 with people who hated you. 00:27:35.620 --> 00:27:36.440 You know that, don't you? 00:27:36.759 --> 00:27:38.140 Because relational blessings 00:27:38.140 --> 00:27:39.880 are greater than material ones. 00:27:40.680 --> 00:27:41.340 You know, don't you, 00:27:41.340 --> 00:27:43.000 that if you fall out with your closest friend, 00:27:43.360 --> 00:27:44.940 you go out to buy a new set of clothes 00:27:44.940 --> 00:27:46.700 to help you heal from the heartbreak. 00:27:46.960 --> 00:27:47.840 It doesn't work, does it? 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:48.680 You know that. 00:27:49.240 --> 00:27:51.440 You can't compensate relational loss 00:27:51.440 --> 00:27:52.779 with material gain. 00:27:53.100 --> 00:27:54.120 It doesn't work like that. 00:27:54.119 --> 00:27:56.659 Because relational blessings are always the greatest. 00:27:57.299 --> 00:27:58.579 But Paul's point here is 00:27:58.579 --> 00:28:01.539 that the relationship that you really need, 00:28:01.939 --> 00:28:04.159 the one that you were really made for, 00:28:04.639 --> 00:28:06.439 is knowing God. 00:28:06.759 --> 00:28:09.000 That is the relationship that you were made for. 00:28:09.799 --> 00:28:11.839 And knowing that you're right with him, 00:28:12.219 --> 00:28:14.099 knowing that you're included in Christ 00:28:14.099 --> 00:28:15.119 and having his blessings, 00:28:15.599 --> 00:28:18.079 that is what you are made for. 00:28:18.679 --> 00:28:20.679 To join this family of faith 00:28:20.679 --> 00:28:22.159 that Abraham is the father of, 00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:23.519 that we were reading in verse 12. 00:28:24.019 --> 00:28:26.320 That relationship is the blessedness of the gospel. 00:28:26.680 --> 00:28:27.940 And it doesn't matter what you have. 00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:31.640 If you don't have that through justification, 00:28:32.140 --> 00:28:32.880 you have nothing. 00:28:33.580 --> 00:28:34.820 Nothing worth it. 00:28:36.820 --> 00:28:38.360 Because this is what you were made for. 00:28:39.180 --> 00:28:40.840 You know, being a Christian might not mean 00:28:40.840 --> 00:28:42.620 that all your material dreams come true. 00:28:42.619 --> 00:28:45.399 But it will mean that you are known, 00:28:46.059 --> 00:28:47.819 loved, cared for, 00:28:48.279 --> 00:28:51.019 in closest possible communion with 00:28:51.019 --> 00:28:52.839 the God who made you. 00:28:53.879 --> 00:28:56.219 And blessings don't come richer than that. 00:28:57.079 --> 00:28:58.739 There is nothing richer than that. 00:29:00.299 --> 00:29:01.079 Secondly, though, 00:29:01.179 --> 00:29:03.119 it is liberating and not enslaving. 00:29:04.199 --> 00:29:05.659 There's something profoundly liberating 00:29:05.659 --> 00:29:06.519 about this justification. 00:29:06.799 --> 00:29:07.259 Think about it. 00:29:07.579 --> 00:29:08.039 Justification, 00:29:08.159 --> 00:29:10.059 you can use the word sort of approval, right? 00:29:10.059 --> 00:29:12.700 So justification from God being declared righteous 00:29:12.700 --> 00:29:14.819 is God looking at you 00:29:14.819 --> 00:29:16.619 and approving of you. 00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:17.299 Saying, 00:29:17.980 --> 00:29:18.299 yes, 00:29:18.799 --> 00:29:19.639 they are holy. 00:29:20.220 --> 00:29:20.460 Yes, 00:29:20.519 --> 00:29:21.559 they are in the right. 00:29:21.879 --> 00:29:22.059 Yes, 00:29:22.119 --> 00:29:22.679 they are righteous. 00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:23.819 I approve of them. 00:29:24.539 --> 00:29:25.379 And we know all, 00:29:25.460 --> 00:29:25.679 don't we, 00:29:25.700 --> 00:29:27.359 about that kind of quest for approval. 00:29:28.059 --> 00:29:29.799 It's why we spend so much of our lives 00:29:29.799 --> 00:29:31.940 slavishly looking for the approval of others. 00:29:32.819 --> 00:29:33.000 You know, 00:29:33.059 --> 00:29:34.519 why do you work so hard? 00:29:35.019 --> 00:29:35.200 Well, 00:29:35.240 --> 00:29:36.660 because you want your boss to turn to you 00:29:36.660 --> 00:29:36.960 and say, 00:29:37.220 --> 00:29:38.759 really well done. 00:29:39.259 --> 00:29:40.440 Have a pay rise. 00:29:40.700 --> 00:29:41.319 I approve. 00:29:42.160 --> 00:29:42.480 Or, 00:29:42.779 --> 00:29:44.500 you want your parents to approve. 00:29:44.599 --> 00:29:46.079 You want your parents to go to parents' evening 00:29:46.079 --> 00:29:47.519 and come back and say, 00:29:47.980 --> 00:29:49.400 you're all smashing this school thing. 00:29:49.460 --> 00:29:50.000 This is great. 00:29:50.059 --> 00:29:51.220 You're doing a brilliant job. 00:29:51.980 --> 00:29:53.500 It's why we spend money in the way we do 00:29:53.500 --> 00:29:55.059 because we want people to look at us and go, 00:29:55.519 --> 00:29:56.259 you look great. 00:29:56.319 --> 00:29:57.039 I'm not going to point in any particular. 00:29:57.160 --> 00:29:57.940 You look great. 00:29:59.099 --> 00:30:00.740 I approve of what you look like. 00:30:01.420 --> 00:30:02.500 We want people to like us, 00:30:02.500 --> 00:30:03.879 to move towards us. 00:30:04.560 --> 00:30:06.700 But all those approvals are the approval of works 00:30:06.700 --> 00:30:08.820 and the quest for them sort of enslaves us, 00:30:08.860 --> 00:30:09.320 doesn't it? 00:30:09.560 --> 00:30:12.020 As we work hard to receive that positive feedback 00:30:12.020 --> 00:30:13.260 from the people that we care about. 00:30:15.340 --> 00:30:17.780 There's a guy called Alain de Botton 00:30:17.780 --> 00:30:19.620 who wrote a book about 20 years ago 00:30:19.620 --> 00:30:21.120 called Status Anxiety. 00:30:21.240 --> 00:30:22.140 Don't know whether you've heard of the book. 00:30:22.940 --> 00:30:25.320 He defines status anxiety like this. 00:30:25.740 --> 00:30:27.220 A worry so pernicious 00:30:27.220 --> 00:30:29.160 as to be capable of ruining 00:30:29.160 --> 00:30:31.660 extended stretches of our lives. 00:30:31.660 --> 00:30:34.340 It's a worry that we are in danger 00:30:34.340 --> 00:30:35.840 of failing to conform 00:30:35.840 --> 00:30:37.360 to the ideals of success 00:30:37.360 --> 00:30:38.740 laid down by our society 00:30:38.740 --> 00:30:40.580 and that we may as a result 00:30:40.580 --> 00:30:42.800 be stripped of dignity and respect. 00:30:43.279 --> 00:30:45.300 A worry that we are currently occupying 00:30:45.300 --> 00:30:47.380 too modest a rung of the status ladder 00:30:47.380 --> 00:30:49.960 or are about to fall to a lower one. 00:30:50.320 --> 00:30:50.820 That's what he says, 00:30:50.900 --> 00:30:51.920 status anxiety is. 00:30:52.620 --> 00:30:54.980 The book became a worldwide bestseller 00:30:54.980 --> 00:30:57.500 because Alain was onto something, 00:30:57.560 --> 00:30:57.880 wasn't he? 00:30:57.880 --> 00:30:58.860 Perhaps you feel it. 00:30:59.940 --> 00:31:01.120 But the extraordinary thing 00:31:01.120 --> 00:31:02.140 about status anxiety 00:31:02.140 --> 00:31:03.520 is that everybody feels it. 00:31:03.860 --> 00:31:05.380 It doesn't matter how much you have, 00:31:05.800 --> 00:31:06.500 you feel it. 00:31:07.020 --> 00:31:08.700 So the strange thing is 00:31:08.700 --> 00:31:09.500 that status anxiety 00:31:09.500 --> 00:31:12.400 is not solved by a better status 00:31:12.400 --> 00:31:14.220 because you still have it. 00:31:15.460 --> 00:31:17.000 It's a kind of slavery. 00:31:17.820 --> 00:31:18.420 The sad thing is, 00:31:18.480 --> 00:31:19.220 is Alain in his book 00:31:19.220 --> 00:31:20.460 offers absolutely no solution 00:31:20.460 --> 00:31:21.080 to it at all. 00:31:21.380 --> 00:31:22.920 He says perhaps we should talk about it. 00:31:23.440 --> 00:31:25.060 Well, no help is it? 00:31:25.980 --> 00:31:27.099 Now doubtless the Apostle Paul 00:31:27.099 --> 00:31:28.700 would be bewildered by Alain's book, 00:31:28.799 --> 00:31:29.179 I'm sure, 00:31:29.559 --> 00:31:30.960 and all the other self-help books. 00:31:31.220 --> 00:31:32.079 But he would tell us, 00:31:32.139 --> 00:31:32.559 I think, 00:31:32.639 --> 00:31:34.319 that your search for approval 00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:36.460 is really just an echo 00:31:36.460 --> 00:31:37.619 of a deeper hunger 00:31:37.619 --> 00:31:38.220 that you have 00:31:38.220 --> 00:31:39.139 that you were built for 00:31:39.139 --> 00:31:40.220 for God's approval. 00:31:41.659 --> 00:31:43.679 What you really need in life 00:31:43.679 --> 00:31:44.980 is not the approval 00:31:44.980 --> 00:31:46.279 from those around you 00:31:46.279 --> 00:31:47.700 so much as approval 00:31:47.700 --> 00:31:48.859 from the God who made you. 00:31:49.559 --> 00:31:50.899 And that approval 00:31:50.899 --> 00:31:53.599 is given to the undeserving 00:31:53.599 --> 00:31:55.419 who put their faith 00:31:55.419 --> 00:31:56.359 in Jesus Christ 00:31:56.359 --> 00:31:58.419 and he gives it to them. 00:31:59.339 --> 00:32:00.399 And then you can know, 00:32:00.519 --> 00:32:00.819 can't you, 00:32:00.859 --> 00:32:02.819 that the God who sees and knows 00:32:02.819 --> 00:32:04.799 looks at you 00:32:04.799 --> 00:32:06.659 and approves of you. 00:32:07.639 --> 00:32:09.240 Not because of what you've done, 00:32:09.959 --> 00:32:11.599 but because of Jesus Christ. 00:32:12.179 --> 00:32:13.559 Because you have received 00:32:13.559 --> 00:32:14.199 his righteousness. 00:32:15.659 --> 00:32:16.939 That blessedness, 00:32:17.139 --> 00:32:17.459 says Paul, 00:32:17.559 --> 00:32:19.119 is on offer to all who believe. 00:32:19.439 --> 00:32:20.379 It's liberation, 00:32:20.779 --> 00:32:21.219 isn't it? 00:32:21.220 --> 00:32:23.920 It's an approval in glory 00:32:23.920 --> 00:32:25.240 as a gift I didn't earn. 00:32:27.019 --> 00:32:29.140 And so I can go about my life 00:32:29.140 --> 00:32:30.620 knowing that God loves me 00:32:30.620 --> 00:32:31.539 and approves of me 00:32:31.539 --> 00:32:33.160 because of Christ. 00:32:35.039 --> 00:32:36.460 You start to me with this question, 00:32:36.559 --> 00:32:37.220 what's the best thing 00:32:37.220 --> 00:32:38.100 about being a Christian? 00:32:38.940 --> 00:32:39.839 Let me submit to you 00:32:39.839 --> 00:32:40.880 that it's justification. 00:32:42.039 --> 00:32:45.100 Being declared holy by God 00:32:45.100 --> 00:32:46.160 as a gift, 00:32:46.559 --> 00:32:48.539 a gift that you possess now, 00:32:49.240 --> 00:32:50.200 holy in his sight, 00:32:50.200 --> 00:32:51.740 approved of by the God 00:32:51.740 --> 00:32:52.319 who made you, 00:32:53.000 --> 00:32:54.720 approved in Christ his son. 00:32:55.500 --> 00:32:55.980 Now that's something 00:32:55.980 --> 00:32:57.039 that money can't buy you. 00:32:58.480 --> 00:32:59.559 If you had all the material 00:32:59.559 --> 00:33:00.319 success of the world 00:33:00.319 --> 00:33:00.940 and you didn't have that, 00:33:00.980 --> 00:33:01.480 you'd have nothing. 00:33:02.120 --> 00:33:03.140 It's something death 00:33:03.140 --> 00:33:04.220 can't rob you of 00:33:04.220 --> 00:33:05.779 because death will show you 00:33:05.779 --> 00:33:06.279 its glory. 00:33:06.940 --> 00:33:08.340 It's something that liberates you 00:33:08.340 --> 00:33:09.779 from the tyranny of works 00:33:09.779 --> 00:33:11.080 so that no longer 00:33:11.080 --> 00:33:12.200 is your identity built 00:33:12.200 --> 00:33:13.720 on your own flimsy success, 00:33:13.900 --> 00:33:14.880 but it is a gift 00:33:14.880 --> 00:33:15.779 of God in Christ. 00:33:16.340 --> 00:33:16.660 We, 00:33:17.160 --> 00:33:18.559 you if you trust in Christ, 00:33:18.559 --> 00:33:20.339 are the blessed one 00:33:20.339 --> 00:33:21.460 this morning. 00:33:22.099 --> 00:33:23.019 Praise his name. 00:33:23.519 --> 00:33:24.379 Let me pray. 00:33:24.380 --> 00:33:34.460 Heavenly Father, 00:33:34.520 --> 00:33:35.840 we thank you so much 00:33:35.840 --> 00:33:39.320 that approval from you, 00:33:39.660 --> 00:33:41.000 righteousness from you, 00:33:41.660 --> 00:33:42.320 is not something 00:33:42.320 --> 00:33:43.460 that we earn 00:33:43.460 --> 00:33:44.800 in our own rights 00:33:44.800 --> 00:33:46.940 from our own good works, 00:33:47.360 --> 00:33:48.220 but it's something 00:33:48.220 --> 00:33:49.160 that you give 00:33:49.160 --> 00:33:50.920 through faith 00:33:50.920 --> 00:33:51.880 in Jesus Christ. 00:33:51.880 --> 00:33:52.040 Christ. 00:33:53.220 --> 00:33:54.120 Oh, please, Lord, 00:33:54.980 --> 00:33:56.000 would you liberate us 00:33:56.000 --> 00:33:56.760 from the tyranny 00:33:56.760 --> 00:33:57.900 of working for the approval 00:33:57.900 --> 00:33:58.420 of others 00:33:58.420 --> 00:34:00.360 as we know 00:34:00.360 --> 00:34:02.240 that you look on us 00:34:02.240 --> 00:34:03.040 and smile. 00:34:04.600 --> 00:34:05.720 Pray, please, Lord, 00:34:05.800 --> 00:34:06.960 that you might help us 00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:08.200 to hold on 00:34:08.200 --> 00:34:09.360 to this great doctrine, 00:34:10.160 --> 00:34:11.099 build our lives 00:34:11.099 --> 00:34:12.180 and our hopes on it 00:34:12.180 --> 00:34:13.960 as we trust in Jesus 00:34:13.960 --> 00:34:15.720 and all that he's done 00:34:15.720 --> 00:34:16.440 for us. 00:34:17.220 --> 00:34:17.579 Amen. 00:34:18.160 --> 00:34:18.640 Amen. 00:34:21.880 --> 00:34:23.539 Amen. 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:23.539 00:34:23.539 --> 00:34:53.519 Thank you.