Returning to the book of Romans chapter 5 tonight, we want to read some verses at the commencement of this chapter. Romans chapter 5, we'll read from verse 1. 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 of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed, 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 would one die, yet per a venture for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commended his love toward us, in 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. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. For until the law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him which was to come. But not as the offence, so also the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. Amen. We'll end there at verse 15. We know the Lord will add his blessing to the reading of his word tonight to all of our hearts. And we'll take a moment and bow in prayer and seek the Lord, ask him for his help. Our Father, we come around thy word. We thank thee that we can open these pages with that confidence that it is the word of God, inspired, inerrant, observed by thee. We thank thee we can take it up with confidence. And we pray that tonight, Lord, thou wilt come and bless our meditation and these things as we consider that glorious theme of the Gospel again. We pray that it will be a blessing to us all, a saving word to those unconverted. O Lord, draw them unto Thee tonight, we pray. Come and speak, work by Thy Spirit. Grant me that help I need to preach. We pray that we might all have help to hear and to receive Thy Word. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. We've been working our way along what is sometimes known as the Roman road of salvation. It's a series of texts in the Book of Romans that very clearly sets out the great truths of the Gospel. Now there are many parts of the Book of Romans, particularly the opening chapters, that are difficult to understand. Maybe the most difficult of all the books of the New Testament to understand is the Book of Romans, particularly the opening chapters. And yet, through these opening chapters, there are these texts of Scripture that very clearly set out the great truths of the Gospel. And while we acknowledge generally that there are many things in the scriptures hard to be understood, Peter tells us that himself in one of his letters, yet we believe that the gospel is clearly stated. How to be saved, how to come to know the Lord, how to have assurance of salvation is very clearly outlined for us in the Word of God. And that is certainly the case when we come to the Book of Romans. Many things in it difficult to understand, very close argument, a line of argument that Paul employs at times and it indicates to us something of the learning that Paul had. But here and there, there are these great gospel texts that set out the truth of the gospel. And we've been working our way through them. We've sought to put them under some general headings just to help our understanding of them. For example, if I can just quickly refresh your memory again, we started out in chapter one with the authority of the gospel. We noticed there that God is the creator, the lawgiver and the judge of all mankind. And that starts off the authority of the gospel. And as we said before, not only is the gospel an invitation, but the gospel is a command. There are those invitational texts of the scriptures where we're invited to come and receive, but there's also those commands to repent and believe the gospel. The gospel has an authority behind it. And it's the authority of the one who is the creator, the lawgiver and the judge. And that's going to be important in what we come to think a little bit about tonight. Then we thought about the necessity of the gospel. How Paul here in text set out the fact that we are sinners. All have sinned. Romans 3.23. All have sinned. None are able to save themselves. Romans 3.10-12. And then all are facing death. Romans 6.23. The wages of sin is death. And there we have the necessity of the Gospel. We need the Gospel to meet our need. Mankind needs the Gospel. Wherever they are upon the face of the earth, there is the great need of the Gospel. And only the Gospel can meet the need. of mankind across the face of the world. We thought about the hope of the Gospel, Romans 6, 23 again. The gift of God is eternal life and how there is this note of hope and gladness, good news introduced. We thought about the explanation of the Gospel, out of chapter 5 as well, Christ dying for sinners. This is why there is a Gospel. Christ has come and he has died as the substitute on the cross. Last time we thought about the reception of the Gospel. those three commands, exhortations in chapter 10, where it said confess, believe, call. Romans chapter 10, 9 and 10 and verse 13 as well. That brings us on then to one final general topic, although we're going to take a couple of nights to look at this, God willing. But we want to come to think tonight about the blessings of the Gospel. The blessings of the Gospel. And Romans chapter 5, verse 1, indicates something of this to us, therefore being justified by faith, we have And then Paul here begins to speak about some of the blessings that come to those who now know Jesus Christ as Saviour. If you come over to Romans chapter 8 and verse 1, we'll come to this another night, but just to highlight it now for you and bring the two portions together. Verse 1 again, chapter 8 verse 1, There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. So again, there is a highlighting here of the fact there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. So there are these blessings that Paul highlights as well. In fact, quite a bit of the opening chapters of the book of Romans is highlighting this particular truth. I know intermingled and interspersed through those chapters, there's those great gospel texts, but in the main, Chapters 4 and 5 and 6 and 7 and 8 are about these great blessings that come to those who have come to believe on Jesus Christ. Those who have confessed their need of Christ and believed on Him with all their heart and called upon Him to be saved. Here are the blessings then that we come to enjoy and that we enter into. And you'll notice that in both of these verses that we have drawn to your attention, chapter 5 verse 1 and chapter 8 verse 1, they both highlight the new relationship that there is with Jesus Christ. Chapter 5 verse 1 speaks about having peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Chapter 8 verse 1 talks about being in Christ Jesus. So both of them highlight this important point, that it is a new relationship with Jesus Christ that has come about. And as a result of that new relationship with Jesus Christ, there is then these blessings that come to that individual. It's Christ that makes the difference. It is knowing Christ that makes the difference. Out of Him we are lost and undone. We are those that are heading for eternal ruin. But in Christ, it makes the difference entirely. We are safe and secure if we are in Christ. And that's what Paul there is particularly emphasizing in chapter 8 and verse 1. Being in Christ. And it's true that if we are in Christ, And then, as he said in 2 Corinthians 5, 17, old things have passed away, behold all things have become new. There is this wondrous change that comes over the individual who does confess their need of Christ and who does believe with all their heart and calls upon the Lord to save them. That brings them into union with Christ and as a result brings them into blessing. And it's that that we want to pick up on tonight. These blessings, as I say, we'll come back to this, God willing, another time as well. It may not necessarily be next Thursday evening with the testimony meeting, but we'll come back again and pick up on this theme of these blessings. But I want to highlight some of them here tonight, particularly in Chapter 5, where we have been reading. First of all, I want you to notice that in Christ we now partake of justification. And this takes us right back, you see, to where we started out, as I said a moment ago. Chapter 1 emphasises the fact that God is our creator, he's our lawgiver and our judge. This is the God with whom we have to do. Well, when we come to think about the blessings of gospel, that's where it starts. There in verse 1 of chapter 5, therefore being justified by faith. And justification brings us right back to that starting point. And brings us back to think of what it is to stand before One who is the Creator and the Lawgiver and the Judge of all mankind. You see, we need to be justified before this God. We need to be justified before this Creator, Lawgiver and Judge. This is the One whom we are going to meet. We are going to stand before Him. We need to be justified in His sight. And therefore the very first blessing that Paul mentions here brings us back to that starting point where we commenced some time ago in thinking about this Roman road of salvation. Because in our unsaved condition we are condemned. And if you keep those two verses in your mind together, chapter 5 verse 1 and chapter 8 verse 1, because chapter 5 verse 1 talks about being justified, chapter 8 verse 1 talks about condemnation. And those are the two opposites in the scripture. You see, either we are condemned before God or we are justified before God. There's only two ways that we can stand before this one who is the creator, lawgiver and judge. Either we stand before him justified because we know Christ and are trusting in Christ or we stand before him condemned because we don't know Christ and we're still in our sins and we're still counted as guilty before God and the debt of our sin has never been paid for. Therefore, we are condemned in his sight. So justification and condemnation are opposite terms. They are connected. And there's a reason, and you see why in chapter 5 verse 1 and chapter 8 verse 1 Paul should mention and use these two terms because they're connected in this way. When we come to think about this subject of justification, we're thinking about our legal standing before a judge. Because when you think about a judge, you're thinking about a courtroom. and how you stand before that judge in the terms of the law. Well, that's what justification is about. It is a legal term. It is a courtroom term. Justification is not something that takes place inside of ourselves. It is not something that takes place in our mind or in our emotions or feelings. It is something that happens outside of ourselves. Something that happens as we stand before God. Let me take you back to one text of scripture that I think really does illustrate this. Go back to Deuteronomy chapter 25. And to me, this is a key text in understanding this thought of justification and condemnation. And here we're going to read about it in an earthly context. It's to do with judges in Israel. Moses was to appoint judges. He was the chief judge, but there were other judges under him. the land of Israel as well. And Deuteronomy chapter 25 verse 1, it says, If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them, then they shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked. They shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked. So here's what they have. They have only two options. The judges have only two options. They're either going to justify the individual before the law when they come to judgment and the judge sits and exercises judgment. He's got two options. He's either going to justify them before the law and say there is no charges to answer here. These people are free to go. There's no charges against them. There is nothing to answer for. He justifies them before the law or he condemns them before the law. They are guilty. There are charges against them and they have committed the things that they are charged with. Therefore, they are condemned before the law and before the judge. So there's only these two terms, these two options for the judge. He either justifies them or he condemns them. They're opposite terms. Now, with that illustration in mind, we can hopefully think a little bit about this great truth of justification, because let's lift it higher. Let's lift it now between a sinner and God. Lift it up out of this world and how we stand before this one who is the creator and the lawgiver and the judge. How do we stand with him? Well, we either are condemned or we're justified. There's only two options. for that individual who has come to believe on Jesus Christ and receive the gospel as we were thinking about last Lord's Day evening. They have received the gospel. They've acknowledged their need to be saved. They've acknowledged that they are sinners. They have believed with all their heart. They have called upon the Lord to save them and they have been saved. They now are justified. Something happens before God, the Judge. A change has taken place. Once they were condemned, but now they are justified. There is a change that has taken place in our legal standing before God, the Judge. Justification is the declaration that we are righteous in God's sight. And without going back over what we considered one other evening about the explanation of the gospel, that is possible. That happens because Christ takes the sins of his people and he gives them his righteousness. He pays their debt in full. Completely, entirely. He settles the account. He blots out all their transgressions. He renders satisfaction to the law. That's what he was doing on the cross at Calvary when he died, rendering satisfaction to the law, answering to the judge so that all those who believe in Christ then benefit from what he has done. And there's this change of legal status then from being condemned before the judge to being justified before the judge. Now, that's what happens when any individual is saved. When they come to believe the Lord, they're not conscious of that unless they have been taught maybe the gospel from childhood and they know some of these things, maybe know the catechism or whatever. But you take somebody who's come to hear the gospel and maybe haven't been brought up in the gospel, but they've heard their need and they know their need and the Lord has worked in their heart and saved them. They might not be aware of all of these things at the time, but this is what God's word teaches us happens when somebody comes and is saved. That moment we believe on the Lord is the moment we are justified. Justification is an act. It is not something that takes place over a period of time. It's an act that happens in a moment of time. When that person believes on Jesus Christ and takes all of his merit as their merit, in that moment we're justified. There is a change in legal status before the one who is our judge. And this is the first blessing. that Paul begins here with, and he begins in chapter 5 here to speak about some of these blessings that come to us who have trusted in Jesus Christ. We're justified. We're justified by faith. There is a change. You see, God no longer is our judge then. He's our Savior. When the saved sinner comes to the Lord, and we'll think a little bit about this in a moment, by coming to the Lord. But just to say this now in this connection, when the saved sinner now comes before the Lord, we are not coming to a judge. We're not coming with the fear of being condemned and sentenced and told to depart from God for all of eternity. We're not coming to God like that. We're coming to our Savior. We're coming to one now who has justified us and declared us to be righteous. That brings us on to the next one then, here in chapter 5, verse 1. It's peace with God. We obtain peace with God. And that follows on from being justified. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God. It follows on, because the sin question is dealt with. The guilt of sin is now removed. And with that removal, there comes not only the peace of God, but peace with God as well. And there's a slight difference between the two. But the old account is now settled. And we can have peace. We can have peace. And what a blessing that is to have peace. Now, naturally, we do not have peace. In our unsaved condition, in our natural condition, we do not have peace. And Paul has been emphasising that here in this portion. Because if you look at chapter 8 verse 7, he reminds us here about the natural enmity that there is in the human heart. Chapter 8 and verse 7, because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. There is no peace between the sinner and God. The sinner is a rebel against God. The sinner doesn't like being told to live in a particular way. There's a fallen heart in man. There is a sinful nature. They are not subject to the law. There is a rebellious heart in man. The heart, the natural heart, dislikes the restraint of God's law. It resents being told what to do. And we see that more and more today in society, in the age that we live. Men and women resent being told. God says this in his word. God commands you to do this or not to do this. Men and women resent that and dislike being told that. Why do they resent it? Why do they dislike being told that? Because in their heart there is this enmity that Paul mentions here in chapter 8 and verse 7. The carnal mind is full of enmity. Full of opposition against God. It is not subject to the law of God. It doesn't yield obedience. It doesn't yield itself in submission to what God says. No, it resents being told. So how can there be peace with God if that's the state of our hearts by nature? Then if we turn it around and look at it the other way, there's no peace between God and the sinner because the sinner is condemned and therefore the sinner is under God's wrath. Because they're in a sinful condition. The Bible tells us that God is displeased with sinners. He's angry with the wicked every day. They provoke them with their sins. Thirteen times in the Bible you find that phrase, provoke me to anger. They provoke me to anger. Let's just take one place where that appears. Jeremiah 25. If you would turn over there. Thirteen times this phrase appears. particularly in the Old Testament, where the Lord says, you have provoked me to anger, your sins have provoked me to anger, you're under my wrath. And here's one example, Jeremiah 25 verse 7, you have not hearkened unto me. Saith the Lord. And that brings in the thought we were mentioning there for Romans 8 and 7. The carnal mind is enmity. It won't yield obedience to God's law. And here the Lord says, you have not hearkened unto me, saith the Lord. You haven't obeyed. You haven't yielded. Because there's this enmity in your heart. You haven't hearkened unto me, saith the Lord, that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own heart. They will not yield obedience. They provoke God to anger. And it's not going to go well with them. They're under his wrath. So there is no peace between the sinner and God. And there's no peace between God and the sinner. But when somebody comes to know Jesus Christ as Savior, all of that changes. That's what Paul is teaching in Romans 5 and verse 1. If we are justified, if there's this change in our legal status before God, then peace with God comes about. Peace with God is also tied in with the truth of reconciliation. You see, there's a reconciling of the sinner to God and God to the sinner. There is a coming together. Because if we think about the enmity that is in the human heart, the Lord deals with that in salvation. He gives a new nature. He gives a new nature. When somebody comes to Christ, they're born of God and a new nature is given to them. And with that new nature, there is now a desire and a willingness and an ability to obey God. You see, the Lord deals with the issue in saving a sinner. The Gospel is suited to man's need. It meets man at the very point of his need. And when the Lord saves a sinner, He changes that person's nature and He takes away the enmity. Now, they still battle with sin. Nobody's perfect as we know. Nobody reaches that sinless perfection stage, this side of eternity. But the Lord takes away that enmity and He gives a new nature and a new heart and a new obedience that's now willing to obey Him. And that enables the sinner, you see, to be at peace with God. But then if we look at it in the other way, the debt of sin has been paid by Christ at the cross and justice has been satisfied. Justification has come about. Therefore, God is at peace with the sinner now. So there is this reconciling of God and the sinner as a result of justification. And there is peace with God now that comes about. So there is peace with God. And when you have the peace with God, then you have the peace of God. You have the peace of God. Turn over to Philippians chapter 4 and look at verse 7 here, what the apostle has to say about this matter of the peace of God. We'll just break into the chapter and read the verse and let it stand on its own. Philippians 4 and verse 7, it says, And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. There is a peace of God that passes understanding. When we have peace with God, when we are reconciled to God, as we have been explaining, then there comes the peace of God into a person's heart. That sense of guilt goes. That sense of the troubled conscience goes. That sense of conviction of sin goes. It's no longer there because there's peace with God. And there's a peace of God that comes into the heart and the life of the individual. It's described there in Philippians 4 and 7 as a peace that passes all understanding. One of the Puritans said it was better felt than tellt. It's better felt than tellt. It's hard to explain it unless you've experienced it. And you know what it is to have the peace of God. If we just take one verse out of the Psalms to Maybe help our understanding of this. Listen to what the psalmist had to say. Psalm 4, verse 8. He says, I will both lay me down in peace and sleep for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety. I will both lay me down in peace and sleep because thou, Lord, only makest me to dwell in safety. There's the peace of God. The Christian can put their head on the pillow at night, knowing as well with their soul. They might not see the light of the morning, But they know it's well with their soul. They know where they're going. They know that in Christ they're saved. That He has paid the price of their redemption. And He saved them and brought them unto Himself. And they can have peace. There may be many other things in life that are troublesome. And have a host of other difficulties to contend with in life. But over and above all of that, there's a peace. There's a peace in the heart. Isn't it that hymn that goes along those lines? There's a peace that the world cannot give. And there is a peace in knowing Christ and being justified, being saved. The world cannot give. Oh, there's many tonight out in the world and they're hankering for peace. They're longing for peace. They want something to satisfy. They want peace, but they can't find it because they're looking in the wrong place. And they think that alcohol or drugs are a moral living. or some other pleasure or sin, that if they pursue this and pursue more and more of it, that somehow they'll have peace. Peace comes in being justified. Peace comes in settling the sin question and knowing that as well with our soul. So Paul says we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to notice here as well, if we go into Romans 5 in verse 2, that we now stand in a state of grace. This is the next blessing that he mentions, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand. So those who are saved are brought into this state of grace. that is mentioned here and the thought there is outstanding and we'll come to pick up on just what that is referring to. But if we think here for a moment about the state of grace that is mentioned, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace. So we have access, we're brought into this state of grace. Now, what does that mean in the context of salvation? Well, it simply means that we are brought under the favor of God. We are brought into Christ and brought in under the favor of God. It's referring to being treated as a child of the King. Do you remember, without turning it up for the sake of time, but way back in the days of David, remember the man Mephibosheth that David favoured? He was of the house of Saul. And David had made a covenant promise to Jonathan that he would favour Jonathan's descendants. And this was a son of Jonathan. And you remember Mephibosheth had fallen and was lame, was not able to walk. But David favoured him. David favoured him. And Mephibosheth marvelled at it and he said to David, why do you favour me? I'm just a dead dog. I'm of the house of Saul, this rebellious house that is thought to put you to death. Why would you favour me? But David was doing it because of a covenant. And that's a great illustration of salvation. But in those verses in 2 Samuel that deals with Mephibosheth, it tells you about Mephibosheth being brought in among the king's sons. And he sat down at the table as one of the king's sons. It particularly says that. He was treated as a king's son. Now he wasn't a son of David. He was the son of a rebellious house. He was a son of Saul, grandson of Saul, son of Jonathan. He belonged to a rebellious house. But David showed him mercy and favoured him and brings him in and treats him as one of his own sons. And it tells us there that he sat at the table as one of the king's sons. Well, that's the thought that is here in Romans 5 and 2 about this access into this grace. It has been brought into the favor of God. You see, if we think about the opposite there for a moment, somebody can be reconciled to a sovereign that they've offended, but never be brought into a state of favor. You think of Absalom, who was a physical son of David. but rebelled against his father and led an uprising against him and was exiled out of the land because of the sins that he had committed. And it tells us in 2 Samuel 14 verse 24 that the king said, let him, let Absalom return to his own house and let him not see my face. So Absalom returned to his own house and saw not the king's face. You see, in a sense, he was reconciled to his father. He was brought back from the land of exile, but he never met his father. He never saw his face. He never came back into favor with his father. His father never forgave him. David let him come back into the land because he had lived for a number of years outside the land of Israel. And David was persuaded to bring him back. But David never showed him favor. Now is that how God looks upon a sinner that he saves? No. God doesn't half-reconcile a sinner. Salvation is full. There is a fullness of redemption in salvation. And when God reconciles a sinner, they might belong to a rebellious house, they might have done much against the Lord, but God has dealt with their sin and saved them and justified them and brought them back into fellowship with himself and he favours them. He favours them fully. It is not a partial reconciliation with the Lord. There is the fullness of favor. There is this restoration to full favor with God, brought nigh unto God, brought into the enjoyment of God and all the blessings that there are in God. There is here, I am sure, the thought of access to God in prayer, access to the throne of grace. In fact, that is something that is found in Ephesians 2, verse 18, where it says, For through him we both have access, there's the same word, by one spirit unto the Father. Chapter 2, verse 18. Chapter 3 of Ephesians, verse 12, In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. The general thought there is of being brought into favour. And part of that is that we can seek him in prayer, come to the throne of grace and pray. But again, what a blessing that is to be brought into the favor of God. You know, there's people today in the world, and if they've got the ear of some politician, they think that they're favored. If you had the ear of the Prime Minister, if you had access to him, if you had access to the monarch, He had the ear of the monarch or some of her advisors. He would be looked upon as a very privileged individual to be able to be in the favour of some individual like that and to be so brought nigh to some earthly individual that has influence and ability to do things. What about the Christian who is brought near to God? The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. We are brought nigh to Him. We are brought in to His favour. We have His ear. These are great blessings that come to those who have believed on Jesus Christ. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God. What the Lord does for an individual in this life is only the beginning. It's only the beginning of salvation. It's just the start. The end is not yet and the best is yet to be. We can say about salvation. And into the heart of the child of God there comes this hope of glory and this joy that comes with it as well. And you'll notice if you go down the chapter a little bit there where Paul mentions this once more about joy. Verse 11, And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. So there's this joy, this rejoicing that comes about. And it's connected with the hope that there is before the child of God, the hope of glory. The way of the Christian is getting bright. The Hymn writer says our souls are on the way. We're going upward. We're going homeward. We're going heavenward. This is the hope that the child of God has. You see, we have thought about faith. We talked about the importance of the object of our faith. What is our faith in? We mentioned that last Lord's Day evening. We said it was vitally important that it was in Christ and in his finished work. So faith has an object. We thought about the nature of faith. Believing with all the heart is mentioned there in Romans 10 as well. But think for a moment about the end of our faith. Paul uses that terminology, or Peter uses that terminology in 1 Peter 1 verse 9, where he says, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your soul. There's an end to faith. What is the end of it? What is the purpose of being saved? Is it just to live in this world? Is it just to be saved from hell and nothing more? Those are blessings. We can know salvation here in this world. We can know what it is to be delivered from hell. But that's not the end of salvation. The end of salvation is glory. That's what the end of salvation is. The end of our faith is glory. That's what the Lord is doing. He has saved us. He has brought us unto himself. Justified us. Reconciled us. All of those terms that we can use about salvation. He's done it with one purpose in mind. He's taking us home to glory. He's going to give glory to the child of God. Now what hope does sin give? What hope does sin give an individual? Somebody tonight is following sin. What is the hope that they have at the end of it? The more that they follow, what is going to be the end of following sin? It's not going to be glory. It's going to be misery. It's going to be an untimely death in a physical sense. It's going to be hell forever. What hope is there for the Christ rejecter? with His famed eternity, with the devil and his angels. But what about the Christian? What's the end for the Christian? What's the hope for the Christian? What's the hope for that individual who sees their need of salvation and comes to Christ? It's glory. It's partaking of glory. It's coming. and sharing in the glory that God has given His Son, but that His Son is going to share with His people. That's the amazing thing about salvation. The glory that God has given His Son, because of His work of redemption and redeeming sinners, He in turn is going to share it with those whom He has saved. Just one verse and we'll come towards a conclusion. Revelation 3.21 And when you think about the glory that Christ has that he is going to share, and we're going to see that here in this text, Revelation 3, 21. It's a triumphal glory. It's a glory that is associated with Christ triumphing over his foes and putting them beneath his feet. He's the one who wears the diadem. He's the sovereign. He wears also the victor's crown. He's the conqueror. Christ's glory is a triumphal glory. And as I say, he's going to share this with his people. Revelation 3.21, To him that overcometh, and this is a title for the child of God, the one who is saved and will overcome sin and death and hell, all because of Christ. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and am sat down with my Father in his throne. Do you notice the connection? There is a glory that has been given to Christ. He sits with His Father in His throne. And we know that that happened as a result of His coming to the world and His dying at the cross and suffering and then triumphing and rising victorious. And He is ascended into heaven. It tells us He's exalted. He's given a name above every name. He's seated at the Father's right hand. He sits on the Father's throne. That's His glory. But He tells us there in the opening part, Him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne. even as I have overcome and sat down with my Father in His throne. Those who know Christ have got glory ahead of them. And that glory is being with Christ. Sharing in that glory that He has. That triumphal glory of Him overcoming and the Christian overcoming. The Christian is going to triumph over sin and the grief and death and hell and Satan and sin. The Christian is going to triumph over all of these things. because of Christ. And we're going to share in that glory. And the saved soul, you see, looks forward to that. This is the blessing that Paul is highlighting here. The hope of glory. This is the Christian's future. And what a difference it is to that person who's on save tonight. What future do you have if you're on save tonight? You're heading to meet a judge. You're heading for condemnation. You're heading for separation from God. for all eternity. That's where you're heading tonight if you're not saved. But the Christian's heading for glory. There's blessings in coming to know Christ. Now may we be partaker of these blessings. And if you're not saved in this meeting tonight, may you come to Christ and partake of these blessings. And you'll never partake of them until you come to Christ. There is nothing else that will ever bring you in. to these blessings other than coming to know Jesus Christ. You must come to Him. You must be saved. You must believe on Him. You must call upon Him to save your sin-sick soul. And if you do, then you can partake of these blessings. Tonight, they can be yours. May the Lord bless His Word to our hearts for His name's sake.