It's the simple things I have to be reminded of. I turn the mic on. Good morning. It is good to be back with you. If you are able to stand, would you please stand for the reading of God's word? Romans chapter 5. I'm going to read verses 1 through 11 in chapter 5, because I'm going to talk about 6 through 11 this evening. But I want to give you the whole context. We're going to consider 1 through 5 this morning. Hear now the word of God. 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. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces 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. 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. Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. through whom now we have now received reconciliation. Thus far, the reading of God's Word. Heavenly Father, we ask Lord, this is such a wonderful, wonderful section of your Word. Give us ears to hear, Lord. plow our souls with your word. Let us receive it with faith and love and humility, that we may praise you. For you are our God and we are your people. You have not only adopted us as your children, but we are in Christ. And that makes all the difference in the world. So Lord, Please, especially God, as I feel so muddle-headed this morning, Lord, please help me to get out of the way of your word and have your pleasure with your people, that you would move in their hearts, that you would revive and refresh them, that you would give them forgiveness of sins and grant them repentance, that they may turn to you, the living and true God, and that they may know you which is eternal life. And we ask this for Jesus' sake. Amen. Please be seated. As I mentioned in my prayer, you'll have to excuse me. I went to Baltimore to visit my granddaughter and her parents. And she gave me a cold, which is the nicest gift I've ever gotten. And I'm still struggling with it. I'm still muddle-headed from it. So, there you have it, Bob's your uncle. This is such, you know, I hope you all had a happy New Year, but who decided New Year was January 1st? I'd like to know that. Who got to decide that New Year is January 1st, and that's not the only New Year, is it? If you're in business, you have a new year on July 1st, don't you? If you're in government, federal government, you have a new year beginning October 1st. If you're married, you have a new year beginning on your anniversary, don't you? If you have a birthday, you have a new year beginning on your birthday. So what's the purpose of all this New Year stuff? And it's a remembrance of what God has done. It's interesting, when you go back into the Old Testament, Exodus chapter 12, turn there real quickly. Exodus chapter 12. Beginning in verse one. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, this month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell all the congregation that on the 10th day of this month, every man shall take a lamb according to their father's houses, a lamb for a household. The new year in the Old Testament was associated with the Exodus. the departure of Israel from the slavery of Egypt. And you are beginning a new exodus if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. You have been translated from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of his son. And that will come in fulfillment when he returns. So the new year is a good time to go back and reflect upon God's character, upon God's mercy, upon God's faithfulness to you as his people. And that's why I've chosen this section of scripture. You know the scheme of Romans, right? Generally, Romans is divided into four major sections. Chapters one through four deal with justification by faith. And that is an extremely important doctrine. It is extremely important that you understand it. It is extremely important that you do not give it a token assent. And I hope to show you why here in a few moments. It has been called the doctrine by which the church rises or falls. And I understand that, and I'm not sure I agree with it. Would the church rise or fall if we were to deny the virgin conception? If Jesus is not conceived by the Holy Spirit, then we have a problem, for he is not who he says he is. Would the church rise or fall if we were to deny the Trinity? That would turn us into, that would turn us into cults, for there would be more than one God. Would the church rise or fall If we were to deny the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul argues, if he hasn't been raised from the dead, it doesn't matter what you believe. But this doctrine of justification by faith is critical to our everyday living. Chapters 5 through 8 deal with sanctification. Chapters 9 through 11 deal with God's dealings with his ancient covenant people. And chapters 12 to the end deal with practical matters. But this section here, chapter 5, verses 1 through 11, form a transition, a culmination of what occurred before, and a transition into the rest of the book of Romans regarding sanctification. That's why the therefore is therefore. In scripture, therefore is in a very important term. And if we were to handle it more properly, and go back at what he's saying in chapters one through four and understand that, then the rest of it becomes more obvious to us and becomes more clear. So when you come across those words, therefore, just don't let your eyes run over it. What Paul wants to do in this little section, and this is a dense section, is achieve three things. He wants you to understand the absolute character of justification by faith. He wants you to understand the absolute fullness of justification by faith. And he wants you to understand the absolute finality of justification by faith. So let's delve into it. He begins with, therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And notice how Paul begins this verse. We have been justified by faith. What a glorious statement. We have been justified by faith. In Romans 1, he begins this entire argument in verse 18, saying, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. You and I should never, never forget that we were among those upon whom the wrath of God rested. We were miserable in our sins. We lived in a state of misery. We were separated from God. We had no hope in the world. We were outside the covenant. Until, until God justified us. But the unbeliever can forget this. He suppresses the truth in unrighteousness. He knows that there is a God, but refuses to acknowledge him as God, and will not consider the things of God. Think of the number of people that you have talked to about the Lord Jesus Christ, and they will turn around to you and say, I will have none of this. It is of no interest to me. That's why Paul makes the argument, we are ministers of a reconciliation. We want men to be reconciled to God. This is why talking about blessings and bringing people to Christ is such a dangerous thing. Because men will already feel that they're blessed. I have a lovely home. I have a superb job. I have everything that I could ever want or need. My children, my wife love me. My husband cares for me. That's not the issue. The issue is to be reconciled to God because you are apart from him. If indeed you have never trusted the Lord Jesus Christ, Now the question then becomes, how can this be? How can I be reconciled to God? How can you and I, who were once in open rebellion, who hated God, who warred against Him, who refused to pledge our allegiance to Him, who were defiant, of a just and holy and gracious God. How is it that we can be justified? Some would say, it's because I have faith. But faith is not the basis of your justification. Faith is the means by which you grab hold of that justification. Faith is the means by which you lay hold of the Lord Jesus Christ as he is presented to you in the gospel. So how can God at one and the same time forgive a sinner such as me and such as you? and yet remain just and righteous and eternally the same. See, when we forgive one another, we cannot hold these attributes eternally the same. But God, when he forgives sinners, He does not compromise His justice. He does not compromise His holiness. He does not compromise any characteristic of His being. And we compromise all the time. So how can God do this? Paul gives you the answer in chapter 3, beginning in verse 21. Paul writes, But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it. The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance, he passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time. So that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus Christ. And that's the basis. The basis is that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through his death. through his obedience, through his life, everything that he is, that is the basis of our reconciliation to God. And this is, and I'm gonna make this distinction, this is peace with God. It's not the peace of God, that you are no longer at war with him. that you are no longer at enmity with him. Do you know what's the one thing that stands in your way of this peace if you're not a believer? If you're an unbeliever, I want you to listen very, very carefully. You're separated from God because of your sin. and God has provided the means to remove that sin, that He laid that sin upon His Son, that when you say, I believe that the Son has proceeded from the Father and He took my place on the cross, that He bore the punishment I justly deserve, then God has reconciled you to Himself. See, when we have an argument with one another, right? Husband and wives, you ever have an argument with each other? No? Good. Never, right? There's an argument. And then there's repentance. And then there's a reconciliation. Both are reconciled to one another. Very, very rarely have I ever seen an argument, very rarely have I ever had an argument with Janet in which the two of us did not sin. We both sin, so we were reconciled as equals. But how do you reconcile with a just and holy God? Does he have to be reconciled to us? The answer is no. He didn't do anything wrong. He's just and he's holy. We have to be reconciled to him. And there's no possible way he could do that except through the Lord Jesus Christ, because he cannot compromise his character. He cannot compromise his holiness or justice or love. See, it's at the cross that all those three things meet, and they're satisfied. And God says to you, You are now my people. See, the world is in desperate search of peace. Isn't it? All you have to do is open the newspaper. And I don't care what page you turn to. The world understands there is no peace. What the world is looking for is not peace, it's looking for a cessation of hostilities. But now, now you have peace with God, not a cessation of hostilities. You have peace with God, wherein you are adopted into his family, you are placed in his kingdom, you are united to Christ, he's given you his Holy Spirit. That's not a cessation of hostilities. That's the father welcoming the son back, looking for him in the distance, and running to him and embracing him. That's what you possess if indeed you know Christ. See, we cannot have true peace unless the matter of sin is once and forever dealt with. And our sin has been removed from us. It has been placed on the shoulders of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. It's like Spofford in his hymn. It is well with my soul. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin, not in part, but the whole, has been nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more. Do you understand that? When you trust the Lord Jesus Christ, and you've sinned, haven't you? You've probably sinned this morning. I had children. I remember trying to get everybody into the car so we could get to church on time. And all the frustration, where are my shoes? I don't know, look on the ceiling. I didn't wear them last, why are you asking me? Remember those days? Maybe you had one of them this morning. That sin has been paid for. And you bear it no more. See, this is an objective truth. It's not necessarily subjective. It is an objective. God says your sins are forgiven in Christ Jesus. My sins not in part but the whole have been nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. See, once you grab, there's practical applications to the justification by faith that we don't think about. We look at, I mean, Presbyterians, we're really good. We got three of us in a room together and it takes us 30 seconds to find something we all disagree with. But there are practical applications that you can take from here and begin using them. You will know as you mine this for all. And I want to remind you, you are all theologians. I hope you understand that. You're not passive participants. You don't live vicariously through your pastor and elders. At least I hope you don't. I hope your Bible reading is not superficial. I mean, we all love devotions, right? What about study? You got a marvelous library back there. I don't know how much you use it. But pick a book of the Bible and start studying it. And then go ask your elders, what about, I don't understand this. and they'll help you. Maybe they don't understand it either. Do you ever have somebody comes up to you a question and says, what's this all about? Beginning of Ezekiel is like that to me. I have no idea what's going on in the beginning of Ezekiel. I don't understand, but I want to know more. Is that the attitude of your heart? Is that what drives you? because it's knowing God. That's eternal life. See, when you grab hold of the fullness of this doctrine of justification by faith, you will know, objectively, that God loves you in spite of the fact that you are a sinner, and in spite of your sin. Why? Because he loves his son. That's the basis. He loves his son. And he has united you to his son. If you're not a believer, I must warn you, you are not united. The wrath of God still rests upon you. And you may not feel it now. There's many people who have gone to their grave very, very happy and then woke up to the terrors of torment. I plead with you, don't do that. There's no reason to. The Lord Jesus Christ stands and invites you to come to him. Don't ignore that. So what are some of the practical effects? Well, do you ever have your mind accuse you of sin? And it may be an egregious sin. It may be a subtle sin. But your mind accuses you. These thoughts do will and do arise from time to time. We've all had them. I've had them. The question then is, how can I be at peace with God? Look at what I've done. Look at the darkness of my heart. Look how little I love Christ. How can I be at peace with God? The man who understands the doctrine of justification by faith will say to himself, along with Paul, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. This is not a subjective thing. This is an objective tenet. That Christ gave himself for me. And on that I rest. What about when Satan whispers in your ear? You know, you're a hypocrite. How can you call yourself a Christian? Look what you just did. Look what you just said to your wife. Look at how you provoked your children to anger. How can you call yourself a Christian? John Newton understood that. He went through that. He was a foul and vile sinner. But do you think you're any less of a sinner than Newton? So when the devil whispers in your ear, when you committed a sin for the thousandth time, that besetting sin that you just can't get over, You know, you keep returning to that sin, Satan says. Surely, you can't be saved. Surely, you have gone one step too far. You're beyond saving. What will you say? Well, I'm a good person. There is only one way to silence your accuser. This same John Newton, who knew how great a sinner he was, also understood what a great Savior the Lord Jesus Christ is. In his great hymn, turn to hymn number 507 for a second. Approach my soul, the mercy seat, where Jesus answers prayer. There humbly fall before his feet, for none can perish there. Thy promise is my only plea. With this I venture nigh. Thou callest burdened souls to thee, and such, O Lord, am I. bowed down beneath the load of sin, by Satan sorely pressed, by war without and fears within, I come to thee for rest. Be thou my shield and my hiding place, that sheltered near thy side, I may my fierce accuser face and tell him, thou hast died. That was Newton's response. That is our response. I'm not justified on the basis of anything that I can commend myself to God on. I am justified by God's free grace. And I can answer my accuser. And there'll be one day, one day in the day of judgment, where I will not have to answer and you will not have to answer, but the Lord Jesus Christ will answer for you and say, this one is mine. For others who do not know him, he will say, depart from me, for I never knew you. Which camp will you be in? Some of you are going through trials. It may be family stresses. It may be the loss of a job. It may be a diagnosis you did not want to receive. It may be loved ones who are ill. There is the peace of God that Paul talks about in Philippians 4 when he says, be anxious for nothing but by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known unto God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. That's an outflow of justification. But here we're talking about peace with God. And it is this peace which allows us to rejoice in our sufferings. Why? Because these sufferings produce endurance and character and thus hope. And that hope does not put you to shame. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Father and the Holy Spirit, will never put you to shame in this life or at the day of judgment. We're often ashamed of the gospel, aren't we? When we know we should say something, but we're afraid to. Why? We have peace with God. There is nothing that comes into our life no matter what it is, that is apart from His good and gracious provision for you. It's meant to drive you to Christ. All of these trials, these tribulations, are meant to drive you to Christ, to go to that throne in full confidence that you will be received and you will be heard. I recently had a discussion with a family member whose grandfather has been diagnosed again with cancer and it has spread. And her grandfather was a person who was raised in the church, made a profession of faith, and has since departed from the faith. And this family member is understandably upset. And I asked her one question. I said, do you believe in the power of prayer? And she said, oh yes, yes I do. And I said, I don't. I believe in the God who hears prayers. When you pray, do you have confidence that because you have been justified by faith, by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, are you confident that God hears your prayers? And if the answer is no, why not? You need to come up with a good biblical answer, why not? Because God hears the prayers of his people. He does not hear the prayers of sinner. That's the whole thing about the young man who was blind and healed. And they hauled him and they hauled his parents before the Pharisees. And they said, who healed you? And he said, I don't know. He rubbed mud in my eyes. And they said, well, you're a sinner. And so is this man. He's just a man like anybody else. And the man says, this is such a wonderful answer. He says, we know that God does not hear the prayers of sinners. He hears the prayers of his people. And you should be very confident that when you go to prayer, that you are heard. See, God, how can we be confident? Because God has made propitiation of our sin. His wrath and justice was satisfied at the cross because our sins were laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Now imagine this. There's only one time One time in all eternity that the communion between father and son is broken, and that's at the cross. When Jesus cries out saying, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? As God pours out his wrath upon sin. He crushes that sin in the Lord Jesus Christ. And at that moment, all evil is focused at the cross. You know it. You know that they called for him to come down. We'll believe you if you come down off that cross. Remember that? He cries out, Elie, Elie, lama sabachthani. And they say, oh, he's calling out to Elijah. He endured those torments of hell for you. He appeased the Father's wrath. And we are justified and declared righteous with the righteousness of his Son in the eyes of God. So he says to you, he says, comfort comfort my people, says your God, speak tenderly, speak words of love to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, as she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins, according to the prophet Isaiah in chapter 40. And finally, We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Do you do that? I mean, you look around a lot, there's not a whole bunch of joyful Christians out there, are there? Why? Because we live in a revolving door. We go out in the world. And then we come back into church, and we go out in the world, and we come back into Bible study, and we go out in the world, and we come back into prayer. Then we get to Thursday or Friday, and we're bone tired. Where's the joy? Where is it? unless we live in the light of the scriptural truth that we have been justified by grace, through faith, that we are no longer what we once were. We are not what we want to be. Nowhere is nearer, but we are on our way. When you go into work, do you ever think to yourself, do you ever pray before you go to work? or dealing with your children. One of the nice things about being a grandfather is watching your children become parents. That's a hoot. And reminding them that it is God who works in you to will and to do his good pleasure. Or is all this gospel stuff just for partaking around the dinner table or here in this building? You know what? Your brothers and sisters in China don't do that. They're under severe persecution right now. Why? Because the Chinese government recognizes rightfully that the gospel is a threat. And it has always been that. Why? Because people are transformed. That now you begin to love one another. You don't love one another as you love your neighbor. You love your neighbor as yourself, right? How many commandments there are? And everybody says 10, right? No, there's 11. Jesus says to his disciples on the night before his crucifixion, a new commandment I give you. That you love one another as what? I have loved you. That's self-sacrificial love. The love that caused him to give his life for you, now you are to do for others. They will know you're his disciples by your love. And with that is the joy. and the glory of God. What is the glory of God? We don't fully understand it. It's God's heaviness of his presence, of his character. If you could sum up infinity, that would be it. But John gives you an idea. We beheld his glory as the only begotten son of God. And throughout his gospel, he points out seven different times where Jesus manifested his glory. The wedding of Cana, right? The raising of, who am I thinking of? Lazarus, right? Yeah, Lazarus. How could I forget him? These are the things that you need to dwell on. Stop going through the revolving door. That's what I want you to think about in the new year. So if I ever come back a year from now, your pastor goes on vacation and your session has lost all their minds, they invite me back. I can say, how have you grown in grace the last year? How have you grown in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ? And I don't care about your age. I don't care. But some of us may not be here again next year. But what is that final glory? When we buried Bonnie, all I could remember was, man, she's in the presence of the Lord. the one whom she loved, and more importantly, the one who loved her. But there's coming a day when the dead in Christ will be raised from the dead, and we shall be like him. We will see him in his glorified state, and we will be like him. And what that looks like, I have no idea. But I can't wait for that day. So if you're lacking joy, don't come to me, go to Christ. If you're frustrated, if you're tired, don't come to me, go to Christ. If you're caught up in a sin, go to Christ and receive the balm for your soul that you need. That's where the healing is. Father, there's so much more to say in this section. God, we're so weak. And our faith is so frail. And we run. From problem to problem to problem, we forget all about you. We pray for cross-country trips, and we don't pray when we go to the corner store. We pray for healing. We don't pray for the glory that comes. I'm reminded of your servant, D. Martin Lloyd-Jones, who, as he faced his last days with colon cancer, said to his daughter, do not pray for my healing. Don't hold me back from glory. God, we need a better understanding. of who you are and the reality that you have laid forth in your Word that we might begin to live it day by day, moment by moment. Please forgive our sins, O God, and please help us to love you more and give us grace and strength, O Lord, in the coming year. that we might be able to say at the beginning of 2021 what you have taught us, how faithful you have been to us, and how you have caused us to grow in the knowledge and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.