All right, let's open up to Romans
chapter five. Romans chapter five. Verse one says, therefore, Being
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ. That's a big verse. That's a big, big verse. It says, therefore, being justified,
Justified. Justified. When a sinner stands
before God, he's gonna be one of two things, justified or not
justified. One of two things. Being justified
by faith. What is faith? It's believing
God. It's trusting God. Being justified
by faith. Faith is not just a luxury in
this life. It's not. Well, you know, I could
just use a little more faith. Man, I need more faith. It'd just make things go a little
easier if I had more faith. Things would go a little easier,
I can tell you that. If I had more faith, it'd go just a little
bit easier. We would rest a little bit more if the Lord would increase
our faith. But if we don't have at least
a grain of a mustard seed worth of faith, that mountain that
stands between me and glory cannot be moved. That's what the Word
says. A grain of mustard seed. There
is a mountain between me and glory. And the Lord said, if
you had faith as the grain of a mustard seed, as the smallest
seed in the world, that mountain can be removed. And I can enter
into heaven. We are justified by faith. We are innocent, that's what
justified means. Innocent, we are free, we are
righteous by faith. Now everything I'm gonna say,
you need to listen to me carefully. This is the first time I've ever
told you that. May the Lord help us to zone in, all right? We're justified by faith. Well,
I thought Christ did all that for me. I thought Christ made me innocent,
made me free, made me righteous. He did. That's what faith is. It's Christ's faith. Christ gives it to his elect. Christ exercises it in them. That's a term of religion. You're
gonna have to exercise your faith. Well, it is exercised, but Christ
is the one exercising it. Christ, through his gift of faith,
causes men and women to look to Christ. That's what his spirit
is doing, the spirit he sent, and he put in a person, and he
calls that person to do something, and that spirit of Christ is
causing that sinner to look to Christ. And Christ gets all the glory
for it. All the glory for it. Faith is
not a work of man. It is the anti-work. That's what
faith is. It's the exact opposite of a
work. But faith is a work. It's a work of God. And it's
a real work. It is a real work. Verse one says, therefore being
justified by faith, We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ. We are justified by believing
and trusting and looking to Christ the Word. We must have faith. We must believe
the Bible, the word Christ says, we're justified by it. All right,
Ephesians 2.8 says this. It says, by grace are you saved,
right? All right, we'll look at verse
two right here in our text. By whom also we have access by
faith into this grace. Do we see that? By whom, Jesus Christ, we have
access by faith into this grace. By grace are you saved. By whom
we have access by faith into this grace. All of God's elect
must believe. and they will believe. And here's why. It's because
they were elected to believe. They were chosen to receive the
gift of God. How can I tell if I was chosen? I believe. I believe. I believe what? Anything? Turn over to Matthew chapter
four. Matthew chapter four, look at
verse 17, it says, From that time, Jesus began to
preach and to say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Repent. I believe I'm a sinner. That's
what I believe. Repent. I believe I'm a sinner. A sinner who needs a savior.
I acknowledge that. I acknowledge that. Turn with
me to John 17. John 17 verse 2 says, as thou
hast given him, that's Christ, power over all flesh, that he
should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
Eternal life. I believe I'm dead. I believe
I'm a sinner. I believe I'm dead. If he doesn't
give it to me, I'm gonna stay dead. That's what I believe. Verse 3 right here says, And
this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. That's what God says
life eternal is, that they might know Thee. The only true God,
there's only one. How can we know who the true
God is? He has revealed himself in his word. This is life eternal, that they
might know thee, the only true God, Jesus Christ, whom thou
hast sent. Turn to John 15. Verse 16 says, ye have not chosen
me, but I have chosen you. I believe I didn't choose God.
I believe that specifically. God chose me. That's what I believe. Ephesians 1 says this, according
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.
God chose me. Go back to John 17. Verse nine
says, I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. I believe God didn't choose everybody. He didn't choose everybody. Christ
didn't die for everybody. Who did Christ die for? All that
the Father gave him. That's who he died for. Turn
to John 6. John 6, verse 37. All that the Father giveth me
are gonna just remain where they
are for the rest of their life, just going about their business. All that the Father giveth me
are gonna do one thing. They're gonna come to me. They're gonna come to me. And the good news is, him that
cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. All that the Father
giveth me shall come to the true God of Scripture. I believe whoever God the Father
gave to God the Son, whoever Christ came to save, they are
going to come to Christ. They're going to. I believe grace is irresistible. That's what I believe. All right,
now go back to John 17. Verse 12 says, while I was with
them in the world, I kept them in my name. Those that thou gavest
me, I have kept, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition
that the scripture might be fulfilled. I believe if Christ keeps me,
I am never gonna be lost. Never. Never. That's what a person will believe
who God saves. That's what a person will believe. They are going to believe the
truth. They are going to believe the
Word. Who gets the glory for believing
that? Man? Who did nothing but receive it?
No! God does. The one who did the
work does. A work was done. I'm preaching
works this morning. God's works. A work was done. I will not diminish His work. A work was done. That work was done in order to
be saved. God did the work. He's the author
of the work. He's the finisher of the work.
But listen to this, that work is wrought in a sinner. It's a real work. That work is
there and you will see it. God doesn't do anything and then
hide it under a bushel. He doesn't do anything. That sinner will believe. That sinner will respond to the
work of Christ. If Christ says, come to me, that
sinner's coming. That sinner will respond. How can faith be the evidence
if you never see it? How can faith be the evidence
if you never see it? How can faith be the evidence
if you never see it? How can faith be the evidence? The evidence. I'm going to show
up in court and I want to win. What am I going to bring? Evidence.
Proof. How can faith be the evidence
if you never see it? A person cannot go through this
life rebelling against the truth in God's Word, hating the truth
of God's Word, hating the true God of Scripture, crying, free
will, free will, and then go spend eternity living
in the kingdom and the peace of God. Not going to happen. Every religion and belief other
than Christ alone is free will. Now let's go back to our text
in Romans chapter five. Verse one says, therefore, being
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace
wherein we stand. Martin Luther cried, here I stand. I can do no other. I can do no
other. Wherein we stand and rejoice. Rejoice. Not only do we believe
it, we love it. You know everything I just told
you, I love it. I love it. I love it. I really love it. Go with me
to Hebrews chapter three. Hebrews chapter 3 verse 6 says,
but Christ as a son over his own house, whose house are we
if we hold fast the confidence. What's faith? Faith is the substance
and that means confidence. if we hold fast the confidence
and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. We believe
it and we love it. Now, do we get the glory for
that? No. By nature, I hate it. My flesh hates it. I will not
believe it. But God has wrought a work in
me And because God sent his spirit to me and put faith in me, now
because of that, I believe it and I love it. I believe it and
I love it. Back over to our text in Romans
chapter five. Verse one says, therefore, being
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace
wherein we stand and rejoice in hope. Hope, we saw last week, means
expectation. Expectation. That's a pretty
strong belief in expectation. It means to anticipate with pleasure
we can rest assured that we have access into this grace if we
believe. Believe the Word of God. Believe
the Word of God. Every single word that proceeds
out of the mouth of God. Every single word. If we love
and rejoice in God getting all the glory, God gets all the glory
in me believing this word. I want him to get all the glory
for the fact that I believe this word. If God didn't do it to
me, I would never believe this word. I'd come to something and
say, well, I don't believe that. Every single word. If we love
and rejoice in God getting all the glory. All right, now wait
a minute. Are you saying that a person
has got to know? No. Any statement that starts out
like this, does a person have to know? Here's a more accurate statement.
You ready? Are you saying that a person
will, if, Yes. That's what I'm saying. Are you
saying that every single sinner will believe that God is God
if God chose them unto salvation? Yes, I am. That's what I'm saying. Here I stand. I can do no other. Actually, I'm not saying it.
God said it. Preaching is just repeating what
God has said. Turn with me to John chapter
3. There's a song that says, Christ
receiveth sinful men. Do y'all know that song? It says,
make the message clear and plain. Christ receiveth simple men.
Our Lord was a preacher from this time Jesus began to preach.
The message has never been clearer or plainer than when it came
out of the mouth of God. Now listen to this, this is as
clear as it gets. John chapter three, verse 36
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.
And then after that is a period. I don't have to comment on that.
I don't have to comment on that. Well, now you better start prefacing
that. No. Black and white. Now listen to this. Here's the
good news. All whom God has caused to believe
that they were chosen by God, that Christ came here and lived
for them, that Christ went to the cross and died for them,
all who believe that salvation is truly of the Lord, that Christ
is all, he's all my hope, He's all my life. He's all I need. All whom God has caused to believe
that have peace with God. That's what Romans 5 says. They
have peace with God. Look at Romans 3. Romans chapter 3. Verse 22 says, even the righteousness
of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon
all them that believe, for there is no difference. Did you see
the righteousness by faith? Now turn with me to Isaiah 32. Isaiah 32, look at verse 17. And the work of righteousness
shall be peace. And the effect of righteousness,
quietness and assurance forever. If I bow to this word of God,
if I bow to every word, if I come to a word and I don't stumble
over it, I believe it, I bow to it, and I believe it, I'm
gonna have peace, I'm gonna have quietness, and I'm gonna have
assurance forever. That's what I need. I need some
peace. I need some quietness. I need
some quietness. I need some assurance. It's only
gonna come through bowing and believing and trusting this word. Our prayer will forever be, Lord,
I believe. Help thou my unbelief. Lord, teach me. Correct me. Help me. Help me. Lord, help
me. It's only going to come through
this Word. That's it. Alright, I hope the Lord will
use that. You're dismissed.