Father, you know how easily we forget what you teach.
And you know, Father, how easily it is for us to depend upon our own self-righteousness and our own self-justification.
And Father, you know how much our self-righteousness and our self-justification causes us trouble and beats us up.
We ask, Father, that in your mercy you would pour out your Holy Spirit upon us, that you would expose to our hearts our addiction to our self-righteousness and self-justification.
And that you would, Father, hollow us out and humble us so that we would hunger for the justification that only you give, that only you bring.
And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son, and our Savior. Amen.
Amen. Please be seated.
There used to be a fellow that I'd see at least several times a week on Rideau Street.
And he had, he was quite muscular, a bit shorter than me, quite muscular.
He liked wearing in the warmer weather, even in quite cold weather, quite, you know, short T-shirts, tight T-shirts that showed off his arms and his chest and everything.
And he had lots of tattoos.
And he had two other things which, you know, I'll be honest with me, creeped me out a little bit.
One of them was some odd tattoos on his face, which I always find a bit odd.
And the other thing is he'd obviously had some bone, or some type of implants right up here in his head.
He had a shaved head, so he had two horns sewn on his head.
And so the combination of a shaved head with horns and tattoos on your face, it's a bit of an odd, it's, I never felt very, you know, comfortable with him.
On one hand, I'd pray for him, and, you know, maybe I could share the gospel with him one day.
But on the other hand, I was never disappointed that I didn't talk to him, if you know what I mean.
That's, you know, these are all things I say, and then I confess them in the part of the service later on.
But I don't, you know, I have no idea why he did those types of things.
And I have no idea whether he was involved in devilish worship or demons or anything like that.
But here's the thing, I, the longer I've been a Christian, the more I believe that every single one of us has some experience of the devil and some experience of demons.
And by that, I don't mean that, I mean, maybe it might very well be one of the people that we had as a ministry intern quite a few years ago now.
Before she had become a Christian, she was a witch.
And then she came to faith, and she was a ministry intern here at the church.
She'd been involved in Wicca.
And I don't know, maybe some of you have at one point in time been involved.
Maybe even today you're still involved with Wicca and spells.
And if that's the case, we're glad you're here.
But I think every single one of us, even if we don't have that type of experience of the devil, have an experience of the devil and the demons.
And we do in the sense that every single one of us struggles with despair at different times.
And every single one of us struggles with accusatory thoughts at different times.
And every single one of us struggles at some time or another with thoughts or experiences or feelings that are deeply shameful.
And we feel ashamed.
And we feel despair.
And we feel a real sense of accusation.
And if you say that you've never experienced those things, I don't believe you.
In fact, I don't think anybody here would believe you.
And every single one of us has those experiences.
In fact, many of you, maybe some of you this morning, as you're sitting here, in fact, have really been not even struggling with them.
Because you're not struggling with them.
But you can hardly even sit or stand.
Because there's so many accusatory thoughts or despairing thoughts that are flooding into your mind and your heart and your will.
And I think that if we have an experience of that, we have an experience of the devil.
Because that's what the devil does to us.
Whether we recognize him behind it or not.
And the scripture text that we're going to look at today is a very, very powerful text to those of us who struggle with shame,
who struggle with despair, and who struggle with accusatory thoughts.
So it would be a great help to me.
And it would be a great help to yourself if you have a Bible, if you open your Bible to Romans chapter 5.
We're preaching through the book of Romans.
And today we're looking at Romans 5, verses 1 to 11.
And it's a very, very powerful text that speaks to those of us who struggle.
And we all struggle at some time or another with despair, with accusatory thoughts,
and just feelings of profound feelings of guilt and unworthiness.
It's a powerful, powerful text that speaks directly to those experiences.
And it begins like this.
Romans chapter 5.
I'm reading from the English Standard Version.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Through him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand.
And we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Actually, before we go any further, you know what we're going to do?
Andrew, could you put that up on the screen?
And we're going to read it all together.
Romans 5.
We're going to read it in a moment.
And in fact, just if you're wondering,
remember last week I asked you just to pray for me
because I'm having more problems preaching on the book of Romans
than any other book that I've ever preached on.
And it's such a deep book.
And every week, the more I study it, the more I just realize how deep and profound it is.
And I just feel so unworthy every Sunday
to try to even remotely unpack the depths and the riches of this book.
So please pray for me.
And I was going to come up with four points.
You know, some preachers preach three-point sermons.
John Stott knew a lot about preaching.
His sermons always had four points.
And I was going to do four points.
And then I realized that these, there's four.
Why on earth would I want you to remember my words
when you could remember the Bible?
And so we're just going to read this text.
We're going to read it several times today
because my four points are just the four basic phrases in these two verses.
And so could you all read this with me?
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Through him we have also obtained access by faith
into this grace in which we stand.
And we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
It's a really, really funny verse because it has two beginnings.
Notice that, therefore and since.
You know, usually you'll just have therefore or since,
but it actually has two.
It's actually one of the simple ways that the text wants us to understand
that the very next thing that it says is very, very, very, very important.
Therefore, since.
And that the first thing that goes directly to our experience of accusation,
despair, profound feelings of guilt, and profound feelings of shame,
even if you've been a Christian for many, many years
and you still struggle with these things,
is that very first phrase.
Did you notice what it says?
It says, therefore, since we have been justified by faith.
That's the first thing.
In fact, in many ways, all I want to try to do this morning
is try to help you to understand that phrase
and the three consequences that the Bible tells us follow
as we're gripped with this understanding that,
therefore, since, we have been justified.
We have been justified by faith.
What justified means is that, you know,
if I told, I think I shared with you last week,
if I told you, you know, after the service,
everybody who came has a PhD,
that would just be completely and utterly absurd for me
to tell you that you all have PhDs
just because you came to a church service.
I could say that,
but I don't have the power or authority
to make that type of declaration for you.
It would be sort of like, you know,
some people, you know, say,
we just need a couple million dollars to buy a building,
and I say, you know, maybe you'll give us that money,
and some people will say,
well, I could give you a check,
I could write you a check,
but it's going to bounce.
Anybody can write a check,
but not everybody can write checks
that are going to bounce.
And what this simple phrase is telling us,
therefore, since we have been justified by faith,
it wants us,
it's just following what Paul has just said beforehand,
and it's trying to help us to understand
what Jesus accomplishes for us on the cross.
And it's trying to help us to understand
that because of what Jesus accomplishes for us
when he dies upon the cross,
that if we receive that with open hands,
then God himself makes an authoritative,
powerful declaration
that you are now right with him.
That what Paul has been trying to explain
in the parts of the Bible up until now
is that Jesus dying upon the cross
is God's provision for human beings
so that human beings can be right with him.
And when we put our faith in Jesus,
God speaks over even the worst person
that he says to you and me,
you are justified.
And what that means is that
I am declaring,
I have the authority,
and I have the power,
and I have the right
to make these declarations.
And because you have received
what Jesus did for you on the cross,
I declare that you are now right with me.
And that's what Paul wants to remind us
by saying,
therefore,
since we have been justified by faith.
But some of you might be saying,
George,
okay, that just sounds really, really, really nice.
But gosh, George,
if you could just,
you know,
if I could actually just have the courage
to talk to you really honestly,
if you just knew
how many times
I either don't come to church
or I can barely come to church
because I'm so filled
with accusatory thoughts,
if you just realized,
George,
if God realized
how hard it is for me
to sit in a church
when I'm just filled with shame,
if you realize, George,
how hard it was for me,
I'm not sure that sounds
all very nice, George,
but it doesn't really deal
anything at all
with these very,
very powerful experiences
of accusation and guilt
that I struggle with.
Like,
how,
that sounds really good,
but I don't know
if that can actually be true for me.
It's true when I'm feeling good,
but it's not true
a lot of the time.
Well,
you know,
it's really interesting
because what Paul does here,
the therefore sins,
he sort of is looking at the back,
but he anticipates
our objection like that
in the part that comes
just a little bit after this.
I don't know if you noticed it
or remembered it
when Andrea was reading.
If you look in your Bibles,
look what Paul says
in verses 6 and following.
He says,
for while we were still weak,
at the right time,
Christ died
for the ungodly.
For one will scarcely die
for a righteous person,
though perhaps
for a good person
one would dare
even to die.
But God
shows his love
for us
in that while
we were still
sinners,
Christ
died
for us.
What is this text saying?
This text,
you see,
the problem I have
when I'm getting
overwhelmed
with guilt
and when I'm getting
overwhelmed
with shame
and when I'm getting
overwhelmed
with accusatory thoughts
is I start to actually,
it's as if,
you know,
I said a couple of weeks ago
that the last idol
that dies
in a Christian's life
is the idol
of self-righteousness
and the idol
of self-justification.
And it's as if
I somehow believe
that God
looked at me
and when he looked
at me,
he said,
woe is George ever good.
Look at all the good
things George does.
You know,
look at those times
he's faithful to his wife.
Look at those times
he's good with his kids.
Look at those times.
Whoa,
he visited somebody.
Whoa.
And so,
I'm just going to do something
that's going to top up
George's goodness
because George's goodness
is this high
and I don't know,
I need him to be this high
to get to heaven
and so I'm just going to
top up George's goodness.
And that's sort of
what goes on
in our souls
and in our thoughts
when it,
but what this text
is saying
is that God
didn't look around
at the good church people.
and he didn't look around
and see all the successful people
and he didn't look around
and see all the people
who are really smart
and could remember
complicated theological systems
and remember Bible verses.
He looked down
and what did he see?
He saw weak people
and he saw ungodly people
and he saw sinful people
and he saw unrighteous people
and he didn't die
for the good people
who just needed something
to top up their goodness.
He died for weak people
like you and me,
for ungodly people
like you and me,
for sinful people
like you and me,
for unrighteous people
like you and me.
That's who he died for.
That's who he declares
right with himself
when we put our faith
and trust in Jesus.
Those people.
That's who he's referring to.
Not the success.
As I've been studying Romans,
I now increasingly understand
all that old hymnody
that talks about
how our righteous acts
are like filthy rags.
And until I started
to study Romans,
I didn't really,
it didn't really grip me
how deeply
my idolatry
and our idolatry
to self-righteousness
and self-justification
robs us from thinking
about who it was
that Christ died for.
And the wonderful thing
as I've shared before
about this word justified
justified
is that this word justified
means that right now
I know
when I put my faith
and trust in Jesus
what God's final word
is about me.
I don't know if Jesus
is going to come back
in five minutes.
I don't know if I'm going to die
in my drive home.
I don't know if I'm going to live
another 50 years.
Because I don't know the future.
But I don't know the future,
but I can know one thing
about the future.
that when I put my faith
and trust in Jesus,
God declares me.
He has the authority.
He has the power.
And He declares me
right with Himself
because I have put my faith
and trust in Him.
And so I can now, today,
know God's final word about me
that will be spoken
in the last day
at the final judgment.
And you can know
that word too.
And God's word
and His final judgment
trumps the judgment
made by teachers,
the judgment made
by governments,
the judgments made
about your social class
or your education
or your accomplishments.
It trumps the judgment
made by wives
and husbands
and fathers
and children
and relatives
and sports coaches.
God's judgment
trumps
every judgment
like that.
And that's what
God wants us to.
That's why it says,
therefore,
since
we have been justified
by faith.
In fact,
it even goes beyond this
and it even actually tries to,
Paul tries to,
to make us to understand
because he knows
how the devil can say,
yeah, yeah, yeah,
that's all right.
But what about those times
when you just said,
I know God told me to do this,
but I don't want to do this.
And you might even resent
that God has told you
certain things to do.
It might just make you
angry at God
and as soon as you say,
well,
what about justified by faith
and all that,
and then,
excuse me,
the devil brings
all these times
where we've actually
been an enmity to God
into our minds
and God anticipates that
in giving us an image
of what his son did
for us on the cross.
I like reading,
you know,
thriller types books
and some of the books
will talk about,
you know,
war and stuff like that
and I like reading novels
like that
and there's a very,
very common phrase
in a lot of those books.
Maybe somebody's coming
to go a very,
very difficult mission
or they have to protect
a very,
very different,
a very,
very difficult place
and one of the other soldiers,
one of the soldiers
asks another soldier,
are you willing to die
for this?
And the soldier will say,
I'm not going to do this
so I'll die for my country.
I'm doing this
so that the other guys
will die for their country.
That's why I'm trained.
I'm not trained
to die for my country.
I'm trained
to be so effective
at killing
that the enemy
will die
for their cause.
And that's just
how we understand
how it is in war.
But did you notice
not only in verses 6 to 8
that reminds us
that when God says,
therefore,
since we have been
justified by faith
and justified means
that we put our faith
and trust in Jesus
and what he's accomplished
for us on the cross
and then God
who has the authority
and the power
to make a declaration
declares us
to be right with himself,
he does it not only
for weak,
ungodly,
sinful people,
he does it for people
who were his enemies.
He does it for you and me.
Did you notice that?
Look at what it says
in verses 9 and 10.
Actually,
we'll go up to verse 8.
But God shows
his love for us
in that while
we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.
And then notice again,
it's just so reverses it,
but the double thing
to make sure we notice,
since therefore
we have blood,
justified by the fact
that he died,
he shed his blood for us.
It's a concrete image
to make us see that
we're not just talking
about some type
of imaginary story,
we're talking about
the fact that
if you went back
in a time machine,
you would see Jesus,
the blood coming
from his wounds
in his head,
from the thorns
that were on his brow,
and you would see
the blood dripping
from his hands
and his feet,
and you would see
the blood dripping
and pooling on the ground
from the whips
that he had on the back,
and you would see
that blood dripping,
and then you would see
that the blood
no longer drips
because he's dead.
There's that final
few moments,
but then the blood,
heart starts pumping,
he's died,
and it's a powerful,
a powerful,
grounded image
of death.
for those of you
who think in pictures,
and images are really important,
it's a text speaking
directly to you
to think of the blood,
and so in verse 9,
it says,
since therefore
we have now been justified
by his blood,
by his death,
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.
And here the Bible
is giving us this other image
of what it is that Jesus,
as he dies upon the cross,
and that what it is
that he accomplishes
for us on the cross.
And we've already seen
different images
that all of the anger
and the wrath
that we maybe would labor under,
an image to understand
what Jesus accomplishes
for us on the cross,
is that in the cross,
as Jesus dies for us,
he swallows all the wrath
and all the anger
that we could possibly fear
or think or imagine
or that could be claimed against us,
that he in his death
swallows that wrath against us.
And we've already seen
in the Bible
that on the cross,
that all of the things
that make us enslaved,
that the things
that we are slaved to
in terms of how other people
think about us,
our slavery to trying
to make ourselves righteous,
our slavery to making ourselves
think that we can justify ourselves,
our slavery to things
like debt or money
or sex
or having things be perfect
and all of the things
that we are slaved to,
that Jesus on his death
is the one
who swallows those things
and he is our great redeemer.
And we've seen the image
for those of us
who struggle with money
and we worry about
how we're going to pay those bills.
And the Bible has given us
this image
that imagine every single debt
that is ever possibly owed by you
that you could never pay,
that would completely
and utterly crush you,
that on the cross,
Jesus deals with
all of those debts for you.
And now we see
in this language
of reconciliation
the language of friendship.
We see the image
of two really, really good friends
sitting in Tim Hortons
or sitting in Starbucks
or sitting on somebody's porch,
maybe in the spring or the fall
and you're on the swing
and you're just talking
and you're just really, really close
and you're pouring your hearts out
and it's a beautiful day
and you're completely and utterly
just at one with this person
and you're both sharing your heart
and that's the image here.
That it's the image of,
it's the image of those of us
who worry about,
it's telling us that
there's been many times
in our lives
that we have to understand
that we have made,
that we are at enmity with God.
But God has never been
at enmity with you and me.
He sees our rage against Him
when He impinges upon our life
and His response was just,
I know you find me your enemy.
I know that in your heart of hearts
there are times
that you would like to speak
just like those soldiers do
in the movies and books
that are popular in your culture,
that you go into battle
not so that you will die
for your country
but so that God will die.
Somebody else will die.
And I know that's what
in your heart of hearts
you sometimes think and experience
and it was while you were thinking this
that I died upon the cross for you.
You might view me as your enemy,
He says to you and me,
but I do not view you as my enemy.
And I will die upon the cross
so that on the cross
we see God dealing with all
that has kept us at enmity from God.
It's all dealt with by Jesus
when He dies upon the cross.
And Paul is saying,
just think for a second,
if God knew
that we were at enmity with Him
and still Jesus died upon the cross for us
while we were enemies,
imagine how He'll treat us
now that Jesus has risen from the dead
and dealt with all of our enmity
against God.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith.
Could we all just say this whole Scripture text together?
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith,
we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Through Him, we have also obtained access by faith
into this grace in which we stand.
And we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Some of you might say,
okay, George, that's...
I don't know if it's...
I don't know if I...
I don't know if I've really grasped that before.
That I don't have to worry about...
I don't have to worry about...
about the accusatory thoughts.
that those aren't coming from God
because all of the accusations
were dealt with by Jesus.
All of my sense of indebtedness and obligation
and being crushed by obligation
has been dealt with by Jesus.
All of the enmity and rage
I sometimes have felt that God
or other people, part of His creation,
has been dealt with by Jesus.
All of the anger has been dealt with.
All of the things that enslave me
and so make me feel with guilt
have been dealt with by Jesus and the cross.
And that God,
seeing all of that
and knowing all of that,
He sent Jesus to die for me
when I was weak and ungodly
and a sinner.
But I don't feel it.
I don't feel it.
That's a really powerful
and that's a very, very common thing.
And in fact,
if you look at that second thing,
the second point up there,
it wants to say that
because we have,
we've been justified by faith,
one of the three consequences
is that we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ,
but we don't feel it.
In fact,
here are some of our religious traditions.
The devil uses them to fool us.
Those of you who've been growing up
in reformed traditions,
the devil has used the doctrine of election
to cause great mischief
for those of you who've grown up
in reformed traditions.
Because you have this sense
that God will only,
you don't think you're part of the elect
because the fact of the matter is
is you find church boring.
Or on Sunday afternoons,
you'd rather not go off
and witness to the poor
or pack things for the poor.
What you'd really like to do
on Sunday morning
is sit down with a couple of beers
and a big bag of chips
and watch football all afternoon.
You don't feel like
you're part of the elect.
And a choice of going to a prayer meeting
on a Thursday night
or going out to have a beer
with your buddies.
In the bar,
you'd always choose beer
with your buddies.
And so therefore,
you're not part of the elect
because you don't feel like
you're part of the elect.
The devil has used that doctrine
in reformed churches
to cause great lack of confidence
and get you to focus
on all the wrong things.
I'm going to tell you
to forget about election.
Like, it's almost as if
it's one of those things
that you have to just
completely and utterly ignore.
Why?
Because the Bible doesn't say,
for those of you,
Jesus died upon the cross
for those who like to go to church
on Sunday mornings naturally
and those who naturally
like to pack shoeboxes
for the poor on the afternoons
and those who naturally
would much rather listen
to a Matt Chandler pod talk
than watch an NFL football game.
And I've only died.
No, he dies for the weak,
ungodly, unrighteous,
sinful people.
That's who he died for.
And it's not a matter
of trying to work up
some type of feeling of election
or some type of accomplishment
in your moral accomplishment
in your life
so you can think you're elect
that now he accepts you.
Forget about all of that.
It's all wrong.
wrong.
You put your faith
and trust in Jesus
as a weak, ungodly,
sinful person.
Maybe as a person
with next to no interest
in spiritual things,
but you put your faith
and trust in Jesus
and he deals
with everything on the cross.
He declares you right
with himself.
And some of us,
we're not from that doctrine.
And some of us are saying,
gosh, George,
I don't even know
what this doctrine of election is.
We're actually going to talk about it
in a couple of weeks in Romans.
But for many of us
who are from more Wesleyan
or Pentecostal churches,
we have a different problem.
And the devil has used
an emphasis upon emotion
or certain experiences
to make us think
that we aren't loved by him.
That, you know,
we just don't feel our salvation
or, you know,
we just don't feel
the joy of the Lord
and we just don't have
these experiences
like we used to.
And the devil uses this
to make us think,
oh, if you're really a Christian,
you'll have these regular,
profound experiences
of being convicted by sin
or you'll have these regular experiences
of being profoundly close to God
or you'll have this final triumph
over temptation and sin
because if you're a real Christian,
you will no longer
have a problem with pornography.
If you're a real Christian,
you will no longer
have these problems with debt.
If you're a real Christian,
you will no longer
have these problems
of lack of forgiveness
or of anger.
If you're a real Christian,
you have some type of breakthrough
on these types of things
connected with an emotion.
And I'm going to tell you
that the Bible is saying
to forget all of that.
Forget all of that.
It's a lie from the devil.
Therefore, we have been justified by faith.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith,
we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
And the Bible's description of peace
is something objective,
not something subjective.
I'll give you an example.
I have no fear of flying.
I know this is going to sound a bit crazy,
but I actually think,
you know when they're going through
all that thing up at the front
at the plane or the little thing
if you've flown lately
about what happens
in the event of an emergency?
Well, first of all,
if it was me,
I would just say
if there's going to be an emergency,
that's when you should actually pray.
Because, you know what,
you're about to meet your maker.
And I actually think
that dying in a plane crash
is actually a pretty good way to go.
That it would be pretty quick.
I know I'm weird,
but I think that if I'm going to die,
a plane crash is pretty good.
Or a plane accident,
you know, all of a sudden,
I don't know,
a bomb goes off,
you just die.
Like, you know,
one minute you're,
I don't know,
watching Ant-Man
on the screen,
and the next minute,
you're in the throne room of God.
I don't know.
I mean, it would be really hard
for my wife and kids,
but, you know,
it wouldn't be that bad for me.
But I know that some people
have a terrible, terrible,
terrible, terrible fear of flying.
And I've sometimes sat beside people
that you didn't realize
how long somebody
could have white knuckles
until you've sat beside some people.
But here's the thing.
My confidence in the plane
or another person's nervousness
of the plane
my peace
or the other person's peace
is actually completely
and utterly irrelevant
to whether or not
the plane crashes.
Isn't it?
Completely and utterly irrelevant.
What matters
is the competency
of the plane and the pilot.
And what is here
Paul has been talking about
is that you want to have
peace with God.
That's an objective thing.
Because of what Jesus
has done for you on the cross,
when you accept that in faith,
you realize that you have
to trust in Jesus
to make you right with himself.
God objectively accomplishes
something for you.
And he sure wishes
you had more times of peace
where you had trust
and confidence in it.
But whether you have
feelings of peace
or whether you don't
are irrelevant
to the reality of the situation.
In fact,
that's one of the interesting things
if you just sort of
jump down a little bit
to verses 3 and 4 and 5,
it helps you to understand
something about what he says there.
If you know down there,
because Paul in a moment
is going to talk about,
look, verse 3,
do you suppose,
oh man,
sorry, I should read
the right chapter,
that helps, yes.
Verse 3 over here,
and not only that,
but we rejoice
in our sufferings,
knowing that suffering
produces endurance,
endurance,
and endurance produces
character,
and character produces hope,
and hope does not
put us to shame
because God's love
has been poured
into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit
who has been given to us.
And I'm not going to really
talk very much today
about how it is
that the peace in all
deals with suffering.
We're going to talk about that
again in a couple of weeks
when we get into Romans 8,
a far more profound reflection
upon suffering in the gospel.
But you'll notice here
that what the Bible
is saying is that
there's two witnesses
that we can call out to
in terms of our feelings
that bear witness
to the fact that
we have been justified
by what Jesus has done
for us on the cross.
The first witness
is in a sense
an objective witness.
We should just look
at the cross
and think about it.
Jesus died in history.
He lived in history.
He died in history.
The tomb in history
was empty
and is empty.
And he rose again
from the dead.
And we can just think
about the fact
that on the cross
Jesus died
and paid for all
that keeps us from God
and he did it
while I was weak.
He did it while I was ungodly.
He did it while I was a sinner.
He did it while I was his enemy.
He did it while I was in debt.
And he did it for me.
And I can think about it.
And I can remember it.
That's one of the reasons
why it's so important
for Christians
to hear the gospel
time and time and time again.
But the other witness
is Jesus,
God doesn't just give us
an external,
objective witness,
but he does
and it's very precious.
He also pours out
the Holy Spirit
upon his children.
There's an inner witness
of the Holy Spirit
that we maybe
do not feel
all of the time.
Maybe we only feel
at some time.
But I'm going to tell you
brothers and sisters,
if you've given your life
to Jesus,
it is a good thing
to ask the Father
to pour out
his Holy Spirit
upon you.
It is a good thing
to ask him
to pour out
his Holy Spirit
upon you
that you might know
his love for you.
That you might dwell
and rest
in his love for you.
And so when it says here,
therefore,
since we have been
justified by faith,
we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ,
he's talking about
something objective.
The second thing,
I know my time
is starting to come
to an end,
but it's the next thing
that for me personally
has meant the most
to me this week.
Just for me personally
as I've reflected upon it.
It sounds,
it's a really,
it's the hardest part
to say,
but actually,
let's put it out,
can we all say
this whole verse together
and then I'll point out
to you which is the part
that's meant the most
to me this week.
Can we say it again?
Therefore,
since we have been
justified by faith,
we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Through him,
we have also obtained
access by faith
into this grace
in which we stand
and we rejoice
in hope
of the glory of God.
Personally,
what's really struck me
this week
is the third part.
we have also
obtained access
by faith
into this grace
in which we stand.
And it,
I have to confess
when I first saw it,
it didn't jump out at me.
But it's,
remember,
Paul is here telling us
three different consequences,
three things for us
to understand
about the benefits
of the fact
that we've been justified
by what God
has done for us
on the cross
in the person of Jesus.
and one of these
consequences
is that
as I stand here
before you now,
on one hand,
I stand before you
in the Ottawa Little Theatre,
but on the other hand,
objectively,
I stand in the throne room
of God
in his gracious presence.
And so does
the weakest Christian.
So does
the most guilt-ridden Christian.
The most ignorant Christian.
So does
the Christian
who has been
most beat up.
That when you put
your faith
and trust
in Jesus,
the image here
is,
and it's a very,
very powerful image,
because if you think
about it for a second,
how could I dwell
with the Queen?
I mean,
that would be impossible.
That could only happen
if somebody
who knew the Queen
and the Queen loved
was to say,
George,
come and meet the Queen.
And in fact,
say,
not only Queen Elizabeth,
George needs a place
to stay.
And he's my buddy.
He's my friend.
I like him.
You're going to like him too,
Queen Elizabeth.
Can he stay with you?
He's going to stay with me.
We're going to bunk together
in your house.
Eat at your table.
And we wouldn't expect
that we could do that
to the Queen
by ourselves,
but that's in a sense
what the Bible is saying
that Jesus does for us.
When we put our faith
and trust in him,
it's as if Jesus takes us
and puts his arm
around your shoulders
and ushers you
into the very presence
of God.
And until you see God
face to face,
you are always
in the throne room
of God.
I mean,
part of the thing
that really struck me
this week
is that really,
right now,
God is basically
only seen
through his created order.
Maybe at times
we have glimpses
of glory
and have glimpses
of his presence.
And 2 Corinthians
reminds us
that these are all
just the smallest,
slightest tastes
of an eventual glory
that will fill us,
that if we were
to experience it now
in our fallen bodies
would unmake us.
But this is
our Father's world.
The planet Earth
is always
in the throne room
of God.
I don't go anywhere
on this planet
without being
in the throne room
of God.
And that's how
I am to understand
how I live
in the world.
How,
if you're a civil servant,
how you serve
as a civil servant.
Sure,
on one hand,
you're in cubicle land,
but really,
you are in the throne
room of God
in his presence.
Can you just say
this verse with me
one final time?
Therefore,
since we have been
justified by faith,
we have peace
with God
through our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Through him,
we have also
obtained access
by faith
into this grace
in which we stand.
And we rejoice
in hope
of the glory of God.
By the way,
I forgot to mention
that in the original language,
this idea of standing
is permanent residence,
permanent,
proper place.
Just this final benefit.
Do you know this?
That we rejoice
in hope
of the glory of God.
One of the things
that the Bible
wants us to have
is a certain hope.
A certain hope
that God's final word
has been spoken
about you.
A hope
that that final word
has been spoken
about you
and that even though
on one hand,
if you live long enough,
your body's just
going to get weak,
it will no longer
be strong.
We always,
as the Bible says,
hold this treasure
in jars of clay.
But the final word
about us
will be to enter
into God's glory.
And the final word
about us
that we can know today
is that God
is making us,
remaking us
in his image
so that ordinary
human beings
like us
can dwell
in his glory
and reflect his glory
throughout the entire
created order.
and the witness
of the Holy Spirit
in our lives
is to grant us
that type of
not presumptuous hope
but confident hope.
The reason that we
can take risks
of looking at
what's going on
in our lives,
the reason that we
can take risks
to go to faraway places
to share
the gospel,
the reason that we
can take risks
in our places of work
that we stand
for those things
that are right
and that are true
and that we bear witness
to Jesus,
the reason that we
can have all of
these types of stands
is that the more
that we have this sense
that God's final word
has already been
spoken about us,
that he's not
weighing our merits
but he's pardoned
our offenses
as the gospel grips us
more and more
and more.
It allows us
to take risks.
It allows us
to look at ourselves.
It allows us
to confront our shame
and confront
our guilt
and confront
our wrongdoing.
I'll just ask you
to stand for a moment.
Andrew,
could you put
the Romans 1 text
up please?
Every week,
if you're a guest,
you don't know this,
but every week
we've been saying
Romans 1,
16 to 17.
It's the text
at the beginning
of the book of Romans
that basically
summarizes the whole
message of the book
of Romans.
And actually,
why don't we just
say it together
and then I'll say
a final thing
before we pray.
For I am not ashamed
of the gospel,
for it is the power
of God for salvation
to all who believe.
For in the gospel,
the righteousness
of God is revealed
from faith to faith.
As it is written,
the righteous
shall live by faith.
See,
the text is telling us
that God acts
with power
to make us right
with himself.
and we enter
into this power
by faith.
And the Christian life
goes from faith
to faith,
from strength
to strength.
It's shared
from my faith
to you
so that you might
have faith.
That's how it's shared
and that's how
it's grown.
And so,
if you this morning
have never put
your faith and trust
in Jesus,
there is no better
time than today
to call out to him.
He died
for people
who don't like church.
He died
for people
who'd rather
make lots of money
than read the Bible.
He died
for people
who'd rather
spend time
in a bar
than in a church.
He died
for ordinary people
like you and me.
And for those of you
who've grown up
in church homes,
I just want to tell you
the final idol
to die
is self-righteousness
and self-justification.
And you've got to realize
that he didn't die
because you're good.
He died
knowing who you are
to the depths
of your spirit
and still he died
for you to make
you right with him
when you put your faith
and trust in him
and there's no better time
than today to do that.
Call out to him
and ask that that
text of scripture
be the story
of your life.
And for the rest of us,
we're going to just pray
that God would make us,
that he would grip us
with this teaching
of what Jesus accomplishes
for us on the cross.
Let's pray.
Father,
I ask that you would
pour out your Holy Spirit
upon those
who have not yet come
to a faith in Jesus.
Pour out your Holy Spirit
upon them.
Father,
silence the devil
and whatever he's saying
about how it's going
to wreck their lives
or screw up their lives.
Father,
pour out your Holy Spirit
upon them
to bring them
to a point of release
that they lay down
their weapons
and they lay down,
they just open their arms
and that they call out to you
that Jesus would be
their Savior.
Father,
I ask that your Holy Spirit
would fall upon those
in that struggle
and that wrestle right now.
Father,
for those of us
who have been kept far from you
because we think
we need an experience
or we think that we need
to prove that we're really
spiritual
and that we're elect,
Father,
we ask that you would
silence the evil one
in those things
and that you would help
people like that
turn their hearts
to Jesus
and put their arms out
and trust that you do
all that's needed
to make them right
with you.
And Father,
for all of us
who are here,
help us to be gripped
with the gospel.
Pour out your Holy Spirit
upon us
and make us disciples
of Jesus
gripped by the gospel
who are living
for your glory.
And this we ask
in Jesus' name.
Amen.