Good morning, everyone. Good to see you folks here this morning. And again, greetings to those joining us on zoom. Good to have the ability and the privilege of coming together in the Lord's house this morning. We do welcome Pastor Brad and the family here today. It's good to have them all with us on this weekend. Pastor Brad, it's your turn. This morning we're going to look at Romans chapter 8, and so for our scripture reading I'm going to read just the first part of it and the last part of it, but we'll consider pretty much the whole of it in our message. So I'll read the first 11 verses and then go down to verse 28. Paul writes, There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh or according to the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal or fleshly mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin. But the Spirit is life. because of righteousness. For if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you. And then verse 28. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate, to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. May the Lord help us understand his holy word. Let's come together and pray. Lord our God, we want to praise you for such an astounding gospel as this, that God did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all. What amazing truth, Lord God, that sinful though we be, it can be said of us when we are in Christ, there is therefore now no condemnation. What an astonishing change of events from what we deserved. What astonishing power that could do what we never could. O Lord our God, thank you that we can come into your presence and call upon your name. And thank you, Lord God, that because of Christ we have access into your presence. We thank you for the Holy Spirit who helps us as we pray. And we thank you, Lord God, for the assurance that comes that causes us to cry out, Abba, Father, in the first place. O Lord our God, we thank you that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. And Father, we find these things so comforting and helpful precisely because there are so many things that try to undo us. Lord, you know the temptations we face and the trials that come our way that threaten to disrupt our confidence in the Lord. Help us to remember that the God who began this process is going to complete it in the day of Jesus Christ and that there isn't anything that can stop him. Thank you, Lord God, that our salvation depends upon the finished work of Christ. The one who died rather is risen and is at the right hand of the majesty on high interceding for us. So, Father, we pray on the basis of this glorious gospel In the name of the Triune God, we pray, Father, for each one who is passing through times of trial and hardship. Lord, you know those who are not well, who are wrestling with issues of health. Help us to remember, Lord God, that even in the worst case scenario, nothing separates us from the love of God in Christ. Lord, I pray that those who are suffering like this might know your presence with them. And we would pray, Lord God, as well, for the spread of this gospel. We would pray, Father, that you would use those missions that this church supports and others for which we pray. We ask, Lord God, that you would direct that gospel to the ends of the earth, that there might be many who come to find their rest in Christ alone. Holy Father, we thank you for the power of this gospel. And we pray, Lord God, that by your grace it might spread. Lord, we ask for help as we come to worship you. You know how our minds are easily crowded by the things of this world. We pray, Lord God, that you would help us to see Christ. Help us, Lord God, to join all those glorious names that belong to him and recognize that no earthly name matches that. He is the one who is over all principalities and powers. He is head over all things for the church. And Lord, our God, we seek to give him the glory due unto his name. Lord, our God, it is our great encouragement that power and mercy belong to our God. We thank you for this, Lord, and we ask that you would strengthen us as we wait before you. And we pray, Father, that your Holy Spirit, who inspired this book, would take its words and drive them deep into our hearts, that we might go on our way rejoicing and glorifying your name. Help us, we pray, for Jesus' name's sake. Amen. Again, it's good to have Pastor Brad with us. It's, I don't know, you folks feel like I do, it just feels like what, normal after 21 years? It never did when I was here. But thankful you're here, but thankful also for answered prayer on behalf of your health and so on. God is good, and here you are. Thanks. Well, I do want to thank you for your prayers. I know many of you were remembering us. I had a CT scan, not that my medical information is all that important to you, but I did have a CT scan at the end of March, and my consultation with the surgeon was a phone message that I had on my answering machine, and his nurse was telling me that he was happy with the CT. I don't know if that just means he liked his work, that the sewing was neat, or that I'm healthy. He didn't really explain, but he's happy with it, so I guess I won't worry about it anymore either. But I do thank you for your prayers. Everything seems to be going well as far as that is concerned, and I am thankful for that. Well, let's come to the Lord and pray together as we look at Romans 8. Father, we thank you for your word. It contains things that we never would have guessed or imagined. We can hardly believe these things, what the Spirit has given to us, what the Lord has prepared for those who love him. Oh, Lord, our God, we thank you that you know our need and that the gospel is designed exactly to meet it. And so we pray, Lord God, you would help us to understand it more but also to trust and to follow you. For Jesus' name's sake, amen. On May 31st of last year, a dear brother passed away at the age of 88. Over 60 of those years had been devoted to the preaching of the gospel and pastoral work. In fact, he gave his final sermon, what would turn out to be his final sermon, at our church in Orillia about six months before the Lord took him home. When he met with me in anticipation of his passing and funeral, he asked that Romans 8 be the text used at that time. And as I was thinking about the text, of course, its comfort is obvious. But given what I knew of him and the help I'd received from him over the years, I thought that it might be interesting to look at Romans 8 from the perspective of Romans 1, verse 16. If you remember that verse in the opening chapter, Paul says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." And I started thinking, what is it that Paul says, for example, in Romans 8, which is something of a concluding part of one section, at least, in terms of the assurance and the confidence of the gospel, What clues do we see in Romans chapter 8 that explains Romans 1.16? Why he is not ashamed of the gospel? Why would someone like him be so devoted to the gospel that he wanted to preach it as long as he had breath? What is it about the gospel that encourages a church, just to broaden the perspective from that occasion, what is it that encourages a church to stay true to this gospel even when the world is suggesting that perhaps it's outdated in our time? What keeps us preaching Christ when there seems to be so many alternatives that are being offered to us. And as individual Christians, what keeps us committed to this gospel? What keeps us holding on? Some of you have been in the Lord for decades as well, 60, 70 plus years. What sustains that faith? What gives us that ongoing confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ? On that occasion, I thought of five things, and so I've adapted them for this format this morning, of course, but I'd like to share them with you. And so that phrase that I printed in dark print, if you happen to get one of the outlines, is to be repeated before each of the five points. We are not ashamed to preach Christ because there is. Because there is what? Well, here are five things rooted mostly in Romans chapter 8 that I want you to think about. We are not ashamed to preach Christ because there is a profitable word to announce. There's something worth preaching here in the gospel, and the reason for that is because it is an essential word. Why do you place a mission like Elgin Street Mission where you do? Well, if your aim is to seek to help those who are homeless or in need of food, it's best to put the mission where they are. That's kind of the point. You remember when Jesus called Matthew to follow him, going by the tax collector's booth, and then he gets invited for supper at Matthew's house, and he invites all his friends who, oddly enough, our tax collectors and sinners, because nobody else will associate with them, and they question Jesus on this. Why are you there? Why are you amongst people like this? And Jesus answers exactly that. The healthy don't need the doctor, the sick do. I came to call sinners to repent, so this is where I need to be. When Paul writes to the Romans, he agrees fully with that. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God, he declares. And concluding a section that had begun in the middle of chapter 1, a masterful expose of every useless alternative to be right with God that we tend to try. As we reach the climax in time, there is the wrath of God already being revealed in Romans 1.18, but the day of the revelation of the wrath and righteous indignation of God at the beginning of chapter 2. When we come to Romans chapter 8, Paul sums that up. a little bit. For example, in what he said in verses 5, 6, and 7 that I read, they that are according to the flesh mind the things of the flesh. They that are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. To be carnally minded, to be fleshly minded, is death. To be spiritually minded is life and peace. The carnal mind is enmity against God. They that are in the flesh cannot please God. We are weak through the flesh. We cannot be justified by anything that we come up with. We cannot answer the question, how can I be right with God? We have no answer. That's the point of those opening chapters of Romans. You can try your religion, but they didn't do it. They knew it, but they didn't do it. You can say, well, I've got the Bible. I have a wonderful presentation copy in a prominent place in my living room. But if you don't read it, it's not of any benefit to you. We are weak through the flesh. There is no way for us to be right with God. Our guilt is as inescapable as it is inexcusable. But there is a way to be justified. There is a way to be right with God. Not what we have done, but the gospel. Hence, the gospel is the power of God to save. It's the gospel that is able to do this, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is an effective word precisely because it's through faith, not works. In Romans chapter 1 leading up to verse 16, Paul had been explaining his great desire to come to Rome. He wants to come there, he says, in order that he might impart some spiritual gift to them that they might be established. In verse 13, that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. he wants to bear fruit in Rome. If you go to the end of the letter, and nearly so, in Romans 15, you find that he wants to use his visit to Rome not just to bear fruit there, but as a springboard to take the message even farther. There's an essential word here that we need because of our sinfulness. We have no way to be right with God, but here is the effective word that actually saves, the word that is powerful, the word that accomplishes God's purposes and goals. So that's the first thing. We're not ashamed to preach Christ because there is a profitable word to announce. But of course that raises the question, why is the gospel so profitable? Why does it work? And that leads to the second thing. We're not ashamed to preach Christ because there is a powerful Savior to accept. That's the reason the word is profitable. That's the reason the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. As you read through the letter to the Romans, and read it through a few times, I suppose, you begin to realize that there's certain sections that Paul is dealing with. The first four chapters, if you want to just put it roughly, the first four chapters are essentially outlining exactly that, the need of the gospel and what has God done in order to respond to that. Chapter 3 verses 21 through 24 is a key passage in that connection. And then chapters 5 through 8 are tied together as a section and they begin and end. The first part of chapter 5, the last part of chapter 8, on the theme of assurance. How do we know that we are right with God? This is the implications of being justified. Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God, is how he begins chapter 5. And nothing separates us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, is how he ends chapter 8. And so that section is bound together, thinking through the implications of being saved in this way. This is radically different. This is radically new. Should I sin that grace may abound? Of course not. You died to sin. You're alive in Christ. And so on, similar themes as that he develops. And so when you come to this section, what is it that gives it its power? At the beginning of chapter 5, he was underlining our weakness. Verse 6 of chapter 5, when we were without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. Scarcely for a righteous man will one die, peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. 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. You notice all those terms? Without strength, ungodly, sinners, enemies. He's underlining the reason why in chapter 8 he will say that we were weak through the flesh. What the law, verse 3, what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh. That's the problem. But what does Paul say? What we could not do, God did by sending His Son. It's really a summary of the life and work of the Lord Jesus and of the gospel in one sentence. What the law couldn't do because of weakness in the flesh, God did by sending His Son. This is that gospel. His life, His work, His death, His resurrection. The confidence is found in the strength of the Savior who has finished His work. The paragraph in verses 31 through 34 that I read to you of chapter 8 ties this together and explains what he means by this. If God before us who can be against us? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Delivered him up. That's the language of sacrifice. That's the language you would use if you were describing your worship in the days of Moses. When you take your sheep, or your bull, or your goat, or whatever the sacrifice called for, and you would bring it to the tabernacle, you would deliver it up to be sacrificed, to have its blood poured out. You would deliver it up. Why? So that the animal is found dead at the end of the day, but you aren't. You're still alive. A substitute has taken your place. You are right with God on the basis of the shed blood of that sacrifice. But of course, being Christians and understanding a little bit more at this point in history as you move to the New Testament time, we know something about those sacrifices. Hebrews tells us, for example, that the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sin. So it's not that these sacrifices in and of themselves could make us right with God, but they did point to what could, and that is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He delivered up, not an animal this time, He delivered up His own Son that we might be right with God. And this Son, unlike you and I, was not weak. Not in any sense. He made himself weak. He made himself nothing. But he was mighty to save. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, Paul says, because it's the power of God unto salvation. Why? Because Christ is! Because Christ is the lamb that actually takes away the sin of the world. The law is satisfied. And as Romans 3 pointed out, God is just and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus. And therefore, what might you conclude? Well, if you're Paul, you might conclude that there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. And he expands on that, as I said, in verse 34 here. How can you say there is no condemnation? Just look at Christians, and here's where you insert your favorite story about the sinfulness of Christians, and we have to admit it. You're not wrong, but you're not looking at Christ. When Paul says, there is therefore now no condemnation, he is explicitly acknowledging the weakness of the flesh. He's explicitly acknowledging we did not save ourselves. What we could not do, God did by sending His Son. That's the power of the gospel. That's why there is therefore now no condemnation. And so Paul presses the point. Think about it. If God is for you, who's against you? It doesn't mean there aren't people against you. It means who is successfully against you if God is your defender. What charge will stick if Jesus died and rose again and intercedes for us? No, Paul says, the bottom line is this. If it's God who justifies you, you're justified. No one condemns. And he also makes this point, both here and back in chapter 5. Notice chapter 8, verse 32. He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things. Think about that. If God would do this, then surely He'll do everything else that's needed. This is the way He put it in chapter 5, verse 9. 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. Not only so, we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now received the atonement or the reconciliation. We are not ashamed to preach Christ because there's a profitable word to announce. We're not ashamed to preach Christ because the reason there's a profitable word is there's a powerful Savior to accept. The third thing that I wanted you to notice, we are not ashamed to preach Christ because there is a precious people to assure. Let me explain. In the Bible generally, and Romans 8 specifically, we are faced with a book that is realistic. It knows the actual situation. From what I've said so far, the mistaken notion might have crept into your mind that what this is saying is that if I become a Christian, my problems with sin and suffering are over. But that's not what Paul says. He acknowledges in this chapter that sin and suffering remain issues for us. In fact, this is the whole reason he's writing this letter, is because he knows the believers in Rome are going to be under attack. Think about being a Christian in Rome. A minority little group in the very heart of the empire? Being a Christian and gathered together with your fellow Christians in a little group within spitting distance of Caesar's palace? Obviously there are going to be challenges. And Paul underlines that. Listen to what he says in verses 12 and 13. Therefore, brethren, we're debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh. For if you live after the flesh, you shall die. But if you through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. We wrestle with sin. There are challenges with our old habits. Old habits die hard. And not only that, he goes on to talk about the creation in verse 20. The creation was made subject to vanity. The creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption. Ultimately, we know right now the whole creation groans and travails in pain. We live in a creation that is weighted down by the damage done by sin. We live in a creation that is not what it was meant to be. We live in a creation that is damaged. And this world's not our home. Near the end of the chapter, he quotes from the Psalms. I mean, you read Romans and you can always use the line, Paul quotes from the Old Testament. He does so frequently in this letter. But listen to what he quotes. Verse 35, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. I'm guessing, I might be wrong, but I'm guessing no one has that verse on a plaque on their living room wall. We are counted as sheep for the slaughter. But Paul is being realistic. This is what it's like to be a Christian in the Roman Empire. This is what it's like to be a Christian in most of our world. Perhaps even increasingly right here. Sin will have to be put to death. And you'll do better some days than others. And a world will be filled with hatred. Sometimes some days are worse than others in that too. If you're following a crucified lamb, is suffering a surprise? Well, it shouldn't be. And so, how do we put all of this together? Paul is saying, I'm not ashamed of the gospel because it's the power of God. I'm saying that if God is for you, who can be against you? But then I'm saying, but this is my life, Paul. I struggle sometimes with sin. I'm not what I should be. After all, he says the goal of the gospel is that we would be conformed to the image of his son. And I hope none of us are arrogant enough to think we're there. And sometimes, because of those things, my confidence takes a hit. I'm just not quite as sure as maybe I was the day that I believed. But Paul says, no, this should not dissuade us. If we understand the gospel, we'll see why it's the power of God to save, and that we do not need to be afraid, even in the midst of this world, even as I wrestle with sin that I need to put to death. And particularly, among many things, particularly in this text, he underlines the leaving of the spirit. If you notice a triune flavor to this, the work of God through the Son by the Spirit, you're on track. And that's how Paul writes his letters. And so he assures us that we are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if we belong to Christ. If you are a Christian, this is true. No matter what struggles you're facing currently, Those who are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God, the children of God. And being led by the Spirit is not just in matters of specific guidance like what career I should choose or what fridge I should buy. It's about the very direction of your life. It's the way you walk. It means being able to battle against sin, like he just said we need to do. It means access to the throne room of the universe, as he says in verses 26 and 27. The Spirit helps our infirmities. We're weak, but the Spirit helps. He makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered. Spirit-enabled prayer, what John Piper calls the wartime walkie-talkie that connects us to headquarters and all of its resources. And he adds this, what is the source of my assurance? What is the source of my confidence? Well, the source is Jesus Christ. The source is the promise that he saves completely, that he is the one who justifies. It's also the work of the Spirit. We have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but we have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. This spirit who leads can be called the spirit of adoption. What does a spirit of adoption do? Instead of jumping behind the bush when we sin with Adam and Eve, we run to the Father. We cry out, Abba, Father. We look to Him, and the Spirit is prompting this. And then, as we read in the closing part of Romans 8, it's all rooted in the unchanging plan of the sovereign God. Remember Daniel recording the words of King Nebuchadnezzar after Nebuchadnezzar was sent out to graze with the oxen for a while? And Nebuchadnezzar finally confesses the truth that should have been obvious to him in the first place, that it's God who sets up kings and takes them down again. And Nebuchadnezzar makes a shrewd observation. Whatever this God wants to do, nobody stops him. Nobody even has the right to go up to him and ask, what are you doing? What do you think you're doing? Not with God. And that's what Paul says here. What's our great confidence? Everything works together for good. Because God is good. And because God's purposes for those who believe in Him are nothing but good. How do I know that? Not by looking at today's circumstances. I know that by looking at the cross. Is it still the B verse? Romans 5.8? But God commendeth His love toward us? There you go. Should have asked you a hundred points for that. God demonstrates his love in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That's how I know that he loves me. Or you could use John's words if you prefer. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called children of God. We are not ashamed to preach Christ because there's a profitable word to announce, and it's that way because there's a powerful Savior to accept, and it's applicable to us, a precious people who need to be assured of the truth of this gospel. Two more things quickly, and I didn't ask since you start five minutes later when you I also made a point of not telling you that the man who was facing death last year gave me 15 minutes to say all of this. As I said, I modified this slightly. But here's the fourth thing, and the last two we can deal with fairly quickly. We are not ashamed to preach Christ because there's a promised eternity to anticipate. You see, there's a heaven that is promised. In Romans 8, verse 17, Paul says, if we are children of God, if that spirit of adoption is assuring us of that, understand this, then we are heirs, heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ. If so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. When you are suffering, remember the path Jesus took, suffering then glory. And that's what's happening here. There's more to come. If this was only about this life, remember 1 Corinthians 15? If in this life only we have hope, we are of all men most miserable? But it's not about this life only. There is a heaven, there is an eternity to face. Do you face that eternity with any anticipation and joy, or do you face it with utter dread? Well, in Christ, look at the program. Whom He did foreknow, He predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son. We're on that path. Today might not be a good day, but that's what God is doing in me. Whom He did predestinate, He called. Whom He called, He justified. Whom He justified, He glorified. Imagine using the past tense at that stage. It's as good as done. He justified you. He's glorified you. Well, you know, there's a bit of touch-up to do here, but that's the point, that's where we're going, and the goal is certain. That's why, he says, in a world where suffering is an issue and sin can be a struggle, understand this, nothing will separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The glory of heaven stated in standard biblical terms is being forever with the Lord. Remember Psalm 16, in your presence are pleasures forevermore. There's an eternity to anticipate And there's a practical point to all of this. I hope you're already seeing that implicitly. But let me make it explicit. The point of this is that we are saved in hope, as Paul says. Hope is a key word. Not hope so, but confident hope. Colossians 127 speaks of Christ in you, the hope of glory. So we wait. Yes, this isn't heaven. I get that. But it is assuredly coming. and anticipating it, it's a powerful force in a believer's life. In Romans 15, verse 13, he says this, Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing, that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. Abound in hope, filled with joy and peace as we believe. What a promise. in light of the certainty of this hope, persevere in it, abound in it. I suppose we often think of how we are called to a struggle against sin, how we are called to be outcasts and strangers on earth, pilgrims. But have you ever thought of this? You are called to hope. to joy, to peace in believing. That's a gospel we should trust. We are not ashamed to preach Christ, a profitable word to announce, powerful Savior to accept, a precious people to assure, a promised eternity to anticipate, and finally, a praiseworthy God to adore. Paul wants to show up in Rome to bear fruit amongst them, he says in chapter 1. Listen to this, then, from chapter 15. Now I say, Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God to confirm the promises made unto the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. What ultimately is the point of bearing fruit? It's to glorify God. How does God glorify Himself in this world? Well, preeminently in this day of grace, this day of salvation, He does it by saving sinners. He does it by sitting down with Matthew and his friends, calling them to follow Him. Jaws drop because Jesus saves sinners. And the question is, why are you amazed? Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That's kind of the point. There's no one else who could save, and so He saved. And again, in that text in Romans 15, Paul quotes the scriptures to prove it. And because of that, we've circled right around to where we started. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It's a message to be preached as long as you have breath. It's a gospel to be held dearly till you take your final breath and discover to your joy and delight not even death can separate you from the love of God in Christ. And so Paul is motivated for service. He says in Romans 15, verse 6, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. What's the point of gathering this morning? What's the point of carrying on the life of the church? Well, that's the point. With one heart, one mind, one mouth, glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, Paul's desire to bear fruit was not often welcomed, was it? One of the accounts that always amazes me is that of the man from Macedonia. Remember him from Acts 16? Paul has nowhere else to go in service. God keeps shutting doors and finally he's reached the coast. Where does he go now? And he has this dream. And in the dream, a vision, a man from Macedonia is saying, come over and help us. What does Paul do? They determine that's the will of God. They sail across the sea. They make their way to Philippi and he lands in jail. And he escapes from Philippi jail and ends up in Thessalonica where he causes a riot. And so he flees for his life to Berea. That's why we're Bereans, right? Because they at least listened and paid attention. But then the Thessalonians sends a delegation and he has to run from there. And that's answering a vision that says, come over and help us. He had the Philippian jailer. He was helped. Lydia was helped. Demon-possessed slave girl was helped. A congregation grew in Thessalonica, riot or no riot, they were helped. It was the will of God in spite of the suffering. And Paul says, even with all of that, I will not waver in my service so that minds and mouths would be employed in the glory of God. You think it's a small thing when we stand up to sing, join all the glorious names of wisdom, love, and power? Do you not see that that's the point of the universe? Okay, so there's thousands living around us who don't see that. But if you're in Christ, you do. This is God at work to do what you never could. This is a gospel that is actually really good news. And so we stay at it. And one day, conformed to the image of His Son, we stand in His presence with pleasures forevermore. I am not ashamed. of the gospel of Christ. It's the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes. Let's pray. Thank you, Lord God, for your amazing grace. Thank you, Holy Father, that you save completely. You finish what you start. And that finish is going to be spectacular. And it's already settled. You've demonstrated your love. You've demonstrated you can do this. Death is defeated. It's lost its sting. Our labor is never in vain in the Lord. And therefore, Lord God, help us to give to the Lord the glory due unto his name. Help us to link our arms and join our hearts and join our mouths. in giving you the praise due unto your name. And may Jesus Christ be preached. May the Spirit be at work to convince us of our adoption. And in everything, Lord God, may you be glorified. For Jesus' name's sake, amen.