If you have your Bibles this
morning, please turn to the book of Romans, 5th chapter. The book of Romans, the 5th chapter. We thank God for His grace and
His mercy for allowing us to be here this morning. We're going to read down from
verse 1 down through verse 11 in chapter 5 of the book of Romans. He says, Therefore, being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. by whom also we have access by
faith unto this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope
of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory
in tribulation also, knowing that tribulation work of patience,
and patience experience and experience hope. And hope maketh not a shame,
because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy
Ghost which is given unto us. For when we were yet without
strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet pre-adventure for a good man some would even
dare to die. but God commended his love toward
us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if,
when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death
of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also
joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received
the atonement. In the preceding chapters here,
Paul clearly states and he firmly proves that justification before
God is not by works of men, but it is by faith. Now he proceeds
to show the blessings that are ours through Christ. He says,
therefore, let's read that last verse in chapter 4, verse 25.
It says, who was delivered, speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ, for
our offenses and was raised again for our justification. Justification,
just exactly what is that? It's a judicial act of God in
accord with his holy character and righteousness where a sinner
is declared not guilty or innocent. That's why Paul says in Romans
8.33, who shall lay anything to the gods to elect because
it is God that justifies. And when we talk about being
justified by faith, We have to have the true faith. It's a faith
that God that gives us. There's many people in this world
that has faith, but they have faith in their own Jesus. The
Jesus that he's talking about here is the Jesus who are over
in the book of Galatians. It says, by him therefore dwells
all the fullness of the Godhead body. He is God manifested in
the flesh. It is the Jesus that says over
in the book of John, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was
with God and the Word was God. It's the Jesus that says over
in the book of Galatians, for by him were all things created
that are in heaven and that are in earth. visible and invisible,
regardless of who he is. He's absolute sovereign in all
things. And that's the Jesus that we
have faith in. And he is the object. It is the
person, the work, the sacrifice, and the blood of our Lord Jesus
Christ that we're justified by. And I thank the Lord for that.
And it says here that we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ. It ain't talking about the peace
of God, but it's saying that we have peace with God. Can we
imagine what a privilege that is, what a blessing that is to
have peace with the Almighty God? Peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ. When we are placed in the Lord
Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world, it says in Ephesians
2.14, it says, speaking of our Lord Jesus, for he is our peace,
who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of
partition. between us. You know, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. A verse that I
love is over in the book of Isaiah, and it's speaking of our Lord
Jesus, and it talks about this peace that we have. You know,
if everything in this life is just temporary, it don't matter
what it is, but with God, everything is eternal. His peace is eternal. In Isaiah 9, 6, and 7, it says,
this is speaking of our Lord Jesus. He says, For unto us a
child is born, and to us a son is given, and the government
shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor to Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. And it says, The increase of
his peace in government, there shall be no end. It's hard to
really realize how long eternity is. To have peace with God is
external. It's a condition in which all
the hostility caused by sin has been removed. It means to exist
no longer under the wrath of God. You know, God's holy word
says that the people that are outside of Christ are at war
with God, and God is at war with them. on down in eternity, it's
talking about right now. In John 3.36, our Bible says,
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he
that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of
God abideth on him. But when we have peace with God,
We also have the peace of God living with us. I love that verse
over in John where it states, John 14 verse 7, Jesus said unto
us, peace I leave unto you, my peace I give unto you, not as
a world giver. There's no peace in this world,
not as a world giver giving unto you. let not your heart be troubled,
and neither let it be afraid. It says here in verse one or
two again, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We not only have peace with God,
we not only have the peace of God, but we have access to God. And what a blessing that is.
In Ephesians 2.18, the Bible says, for through him, we both
have access by one spirit unto the Father. One benefit that
we have flowing from this piece is that we have access to the
presence and reality of God himself. Ephesians 3, 12 says, in whom
we have the boldness and access with confidence by faith in him. You know that in the Old Testament,
whenever the tabernacle was built, there were strict boundaries
were set. And only the great high priest
go into the Holy of Holies once a year. And if he didn't go in
worthy, He would be killed while he was there. He had to go in
where he would lose his life. If you have your Bibles, turn.
And what a blessing this is. Turn to Hebrews 4 if you would. I take it for granted so much.
the blessings that we have in our Lord Jesus Christ. But just
think about it. Here in Hebrews 4, beginning
in verse 14, Christ Jesus, he is our great high priest. He
is our prophet, he is our king, he is our representative, he
is our substitute, he is our surety. It says here in verse
14, seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed
into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast
our profession. For we have not a high priest
which cannot be touched with the fillings of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly
under the throne of grace, that we may attain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. We thank the Lord for that and
we can only do that through our great high priest, the Lord Jesus
Christ. If you will go back to Romans
5. As we was talking about the way
it was in the Old Testament, Christ ended all of that. In
His atoning sacrifice, He made the Father accessible to His
chosen people. Let's read Hebrews 10, 19-22
for a minute. Hebrews 10, 19-22. I thank God
for His Word because it's absolute truth. Hebrews 10. 19 through 22, it says, having our four brethren boldness
to enter into the holiest of the blood of Jesus by a new and
living way, which he hath concentrated for us through the veil, which
is to say his flesh, and having a great high priest over the
house of God, Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance
of faith, having a heart sprinkled from an evil conscience and our
bodies washed with pure water." I thank the Lord for that. Let's
go back to Romans 5, and it says here, In the second verse, it says,
by whom also we have access by faith of this grace wherein we
stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. We are able
to stand and we will be able to stand by God's faith. And
you know, we are not only preserved by the power of God, but we persevere
by the power of God. There's nothing in ourselves
that are any good. There's nothing in the flesh
that is any good. The Bible says, neither is there
salvation in any other, for there is none other man under heaven
whom by we must be saved. But Philippians 1.6 says, being
confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good
work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. And when it says here in this
second verse, it says, rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Jesus Christ guarantees the believer's
hope. Why is that? Because Christ himself
is our hope. It says in 1 Timothy 1.1, Paul,
an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior,
and our Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope. Hope of being what? A hope of spending eternity with
Christ. You know, it's hard to imagine
the life that we live in now, the problems that we face from
within and without. But one day we have that hope
of living with the Lord Jesus Christ. We have that hope of
being absent from the presence of sin. God has saved us. He's saving us and He's going
to save us. And He does all the work Himself, and we thank Him
for that. If you have your Bibles, another
verse that we love to read, it gives us much hope, it gives
us much strength. It is over in the book of 1 John,
chapter 3. If there's any absolute truth
in this world, it's God's Holy Word. And as the preacher often says,
it's etched in stone. It is forever. The flower fadeth
and the grass withers, but the word of our God will stand forever. It says here in first verse of
chapter three of 1 John, behold what manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of
God. Therefore the world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, and it doeth not yet appear what we shall be, but
we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we
shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this
hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Martin Luther
wrote one time, let's turn back to chapter five of Romans, but
Martin Luther wrote one time, and listen to this, this applies
to all of us. He said, although I am a sinner,
yet I despair not. For Christ, who is my Redeemer
and my righteousness, liveth. In Him I have no sin, I have
no fear, no sting of conscience, and no fear of judgment. For
in Him there is no condemnation. I am indeed a sinner as touching
his present life, but I have a righteousness of God, which
is above his life, who is Christ my Lord, in him I rejoice. You know, the Lord's perfect
obedience to the Father, he is our righteousness. And I love
what David said over in Psalms 17 verse 15. He said, I shall
be satisfied when I awake in his likeness. Romans 5, 3, and 4. And not only
so, but we glory in cribbulation also, knowing that cribbulation
work of patience. And patience experience, and
experience Job said that a man is born of a woman, his days
are few and full of trouble, and anybody that's been around
any time at all in this world can relate to that. But there's
a reason for that. There are many tribulations and
trials and afflictions that we go through in this life. They
can take on the form of physical, material, mental, or even spiritual. heartache, grievous, and we don't
glory in the trial itself, but we glory in the effect of that
trial. We exist, we come to know, as
we're Christians, as we go through this life and go through the
problems of this life, and we put more trust and more confidence
in our Lord Jesus Christ, more faith, it grows. We grow in grace. We realize that we exist. We
exist for His pleasure and His glory. And whatever comes into
our lives is a part of His sovereign will, because He is absolute
sovereign in providence. And that's a heart belief. It's
not a head belief. But He is absolute sovereign
in providence. And everything that comes into
our life, it is for His purpose and for His glory and is for
our good. And it is by His power. is through His strength that
we are able to accept whatever it is. And we all love this verse
right here and we know it very well because there's so much
truth to it. And we know that all things work
together to the good to them that love God, to them who are
called according to His purpose. And God don't break promises.
He's absolutely perfect. We serve a God that is perfect
in all His ways. But cribblation works for patience. A lot of people don't realize
this, but patience is a fruit of the Spirit. Patience is submission
to God. And the only way to obtain patience
It's through trial and tribulation. And those trials and tribulations,
what are they for? They're to gross away from this
world and to gross closer to Him. You know, in this world,
it tells us to love not the world, neither the rest of the world
or the rest of the eyes, but the pride of life in His flesh.
That's very hard to do, isn't it? But greater is He that is
in you than he that is of the world. But through cribblation,
we grow in patience by going through trials and cribblations.
Verses three and four again, and not only so, but we grow
in cribblation also. Knowing that cribblation work
of patience and patience experience and experience hope. This experience
means to grow in maturity. We grow, we don't stay babes
all our lives, but we grow in maturity of character. And our
faith continues to grow strong. And a strong faith produces hope. Now this hope is not the hope
that we saw in verse 2. The hope that we was talking
about in verse 2 was a hope of being with Christ, of being like
Christ, to spend an eternity with Him. This hope right here
is a hope that produces a strong union with Christ because we
have been tried and tested again and again. And because of that,
Christ becomes our only foundation. He becomes our rock, He becomes
our hiding place. Our trust, our faith is in Him. And you know, the crows of a
believer are not to tear us up, but they're to make us stronger.
They're to make us stronger, and they do. And we thank the
Lord for that. And then some people, you know,
one preacher said that you could call this hope assurance, because
the more trials that we endure, the stronger our faith is and
the stronger our assurance. While we're talking about assurance,
if you will, go to 1 John 5, 11 through 13. 1 John 5, 11,
13. Verses 11 through 13. And our assurance is not in anything
that we do, not anything that we say, not any kind of lifestyle
that we have, not anything that we do for the Lord, but our assurance
is in God and God alone. Our assurance is in the person,
the work, the blood, and the sacrifice of Christ Jesus, our
Lord. But talking about assurance,
listen to this. In verse 11, chapter five of 1 John, And it's
a heart belief. And this is the record that God
hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. Now listen to this. Do we trust
God? These things have I written unto
you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may
know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe. on
the name of the Son of God, and I thank him for those. Who possesses
a good hope in Christ will never be ashamed of that relationship,
nor will he ever have a cause to be ashamed. Christ is our
life, and that spirit reveals it to us. He says over in the
book of Corinthians, what know ye not that you were bought with
a price? You are not your own. We belong to God. But you know
what's good about that? He belongs to us, for what the
preacher's talking about in Winston 9. I love that. But anyway, here
in verse 6, he talks about, we talk about the blessings. Now,
he's showing here the proof that he loves people that he had placed
in Christ before the foundation of the world. Because when he
placed a sinner, he said, for when we were yet without strength
in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. He says, for scarcely
for a righteous man will one die, yet pre-adventure for a
good man some would even dare to die. We know that there is
no righteous man, but what he's talking about here is a man that
is very strict, a man of high integrity. a respected, a strict
man, and then he says, who is the good man? It's someone who
is kind and compassionate, someone that people love. Curiously,
would a man die for him? But the Bible says that for a
man to die for a man, that's the greatest act of love that
you can have. And it says right here, but God
commended his love toward us, not while we were good, Not while
we were righteous, but God commanded his love toward us while we were
yet sinners. Rebellious of God, haters of
God. Loved the world, loved the things
that were in the world. Christ, he laid down his life.
He laid down his life. Wicked man didn't take it from
him. He laid it down for his people, for the people, the Lord,
his father had put in him before the foundation of the world.
But then, If He laid down His life for us while we were sinners,
much more than being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved
from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more
being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. I mean, he says in verse 11,
and not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, whom we have ourselves received
the atonement. You know, if God's love for us
was so great that he gave Christ to die for us while we were sinners,
we have all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. We have a wonderful
future ahead of us. In verse 11, it says, we rejoice
in God's holiness, and his righteousness, and his justice, and his mercy,
and his sovereign grace, and his love. We rejoice in God and
all his perfections, his providence, and we're able to do this through
our Lord Jesus Christ, who sacrificed His sacrifice for sin is our
atonement. He died on the cross only for
those people that God had placed in him before the foundation
of the world. And I thank the Lord for that.
I'm gonna read you right here before I quit. I got one thing
I'd like to read. I find it so beautiful, though.
Our Lord, He is so gracious. He is so merciful. He is so loving. And He saved us in spite of ourselves. And, you know, it's not the fact
that, you know, as I read the scriptures, as we read the scriptures,
it's not that hard to fall in love with God. But then when
we look at ourselves, it's very hard to understand how that God
could love us. But anyway, in Lamentations 3,
22 through 26, listen to this. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They
are new every morning. We need His grace, His mercy,
and His love each and every day of our lives. Great is His faithfulness. We don't depend on our faithfulness.
It is the faithfulness of Jesus Christ that we depend on. "'For
Lord is my portion, saith my soul, "'therefore will I hope
in him. "'For Lord is good unto them
that wait for him, "'to the soul that seek of him. "'It is good
that a man should both hope "'and quietly wait for the salvation
of the Lord.'" And then John 10, 27 and 28. He said, my sheep
hear my voice, and we hear his voice in the Holy Scriptures. And I know them, and they follow
me. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish. And shall any man ever pluck
them out of my hand. We have to put our confidence,
we don't have to, we want to put our confidence in our God,
in our Christ. One God, one Lord, one Christ,
one Savior. We put our confidence and our
trust in Him. We have so much to look forward
to. And everything that happens to us in this life, let us not
forget. It is by the sovereign will of
God. It is for his purpose. It is for his pleasure. And it
is for our good. Thank you.