All right, we are in Romans chapter 8. Again, I want to thank everyone for the service last week and the wonderful encouragement that that was and looking forward to what God continues to do in and through our church and just thankful for what he has done. With that being said, I don't know if anyone was expecting this or not, but we're going to do a little bit of review. But we're going to do a little bit of review a little bit differently. And I want to kind of have some interaction from the floor. Everybody but Dave is allowed to participate in this first part. I'll start with this. How many cycles are there in chapters 1 through 12? I see one. Go ahead. Five. Five. Very good. And I saw people holding up five. Now starting from the top, what is the first cycle? You could blurt it out or you could be organized as God loves. What's that? Yeah, the need of justification. I would only add the universal need, right? Of course, that's what you meant. But the universal need, in other words, every single person who has had the breath of life has the need for justification. We are all unrighteous. We are all guilty before holy God. and have a need of justification. And Paul drives that point home by first of all talking about the pagan, but then he talks about the moralist. Because some people, I don't know if you've ever met them, or maybe you yourself have been that person who thought that, well, I do this and I don't do that. I'm fine. I'm righteous. Or as the Baptists say, I don't drink or chew or go with girls that do. I'm righteous. Paul says not so. So he deals with the moralist. Well, what about the Jew? The Jews thought that because they were sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, by necessity they are heirs. They have no need of justification. Not only that, I've explained the whole issue with the rabbis building fences around the law, and I'll explain that another time again. But by Following the traditions of men and rabbis, they thought, hey, I'm right. It's lost, getting us found. Now he's talking about why it's worth it. And it's not just salvation. And, and mind you, with the passage we're dealing with now, I don't want this to get lost. We're about to enter into territory that is extremely profound, extremely robust writings of Paul in chapters nine through 11. But Chapter 8 is the high point of the letter, and I believe, and we'll talk a little bit more about this, but the Book of Romans builds upward. It's like a pyramid. There's a strong, sturdy foundation, and he builds upon that foundation upwards. And as we come to Chapter 8, this is the high point, which tells us, I think, this is what he's getting at. And I think what he's getting at is that we're not just saved. Saved, if that was it, if we were just saved, we would praise God for all eternity. Amen? But we're not just saved. We're also heirs. And we'll look at what that means. So he talks about the many benefits we have. And then we talked about, you know, the similarities of chapter five and chapter eight. So cycle four is going to bear resemblance. What is cycle four? more benefits, right? Or it kind of has some slight nuance that seems to deal with the area of the ramifications of these things, you know, such things as our adoption as sons, our inheritance, the concept of predestination, those sort of things, which we'll review. But all in all, the benefits of our salvation, and that's the high point of what Paul's argument is. He's building up until this point. And then 9 through 11, he's going to talk about, well, what does all this have to do with Israel? And we'll, I look forward to getting into that in probably a couple weeks from now, a few weeks from now, several weeks from now. Who knows? Yeah, this summer. Amen. Before we move on, now with that, those five, well, what's the fifth cycle? I kind of gave it to you, but, okay, Israel, how these things apply to Israel. Now, this one might be a little bit harder. How is a hoopoephora cycle set up? How is it structured? What does it start with? That's the who before a question, but what about the entire cycle? Does he just jump into the questions, or what does he do before that? The themes, right? So he presents the theme of that cycle, and it's certain truths that he sometimes feels the need to expound upon, and he'll elaborate these truths. And we'll do a review of just giving you the theme, and he's anticipating that you're not quite convinced. And so he asks these pointed questions, and he doesn't leave any room for you to answer it or to fill in the blank. He drives home the point that he's trying to make. And so with that, we've now come to the section in Chapter 8, the Hupa Fora section. So by way of review, again, cycles 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. So the Hupaphora of cycle four, this is a review back when we introduced this section number four. There's four Hupaphora questions. The first one, what then shall we say to these things? In verse 31. Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? Verse 33. Who is he who condemns? Verse 34. Who shall separate us from the love of God? And so these are the four Huppe 4 sections of cycle number four, but it's almost as if these questions are also factoring in potential objections from past cycles as well. In other words, this is kind of the grand finale. And I think that one of the evidences of that is the rapidity, right? The past Huppe 4 questions, there might be some 4, 5, 6, 10 verses answering the Hupophora question. But this one, verse 31 is the question, 32 is the answer. Verse 33 is the question, 34 is the answer. And so it's interesting, and I think it testifies to the high point of Paul's argument. The title of today's message is Saved Sons Heirs? Question mark. And I think this is a really important concept for believers to grasp because we, rightfully so, I'm not at all belittling reflecting upon our salvation. It's important. But did you know that writers of the New Testament called those things elementary truths? Interesting. What did you learn in elementary? Basics, right? These are the basics of our Salvation, our faith, our walk with God, which implies what? There's more to come, right? And so I think so many Christians are stuck on that elementary level. Imagine if all of us were still in elementary school. How dysfunctional would we be? In fact, if you look at society, and I'm not a statistician. In fact, Mark Twain had something to say about stats that I won't say here. Stats, I'm sure, show and depict a decline in literacy of the average person. I think it's kind of along the same lines of elementary principles. People struggle understanding the basics. And so likewise, I think Christianity is going to struggle so long as we struggle with the basics. We have to press on to the meat, the substantial matters of doctrine. but not forgetting the basics, right? And so I think I'm not trying to belittle those who emphasize the basics, because unfortunately that's where we're at, right? We have to emphasize the basics. For some reason, we can't understand grace. Grace is unmerited favor, which means you don't deserve it, right? By definition, which means no matter what you do, you can't lose your salvation. We're still hung up on that. We've been debating it for centuries in the church that you could lose your salvation. Some say, well, if you're not showing yourself Savior, you never had it. Is that grace? By definition, it goes against grace. And we've been talking about that, of course. Because what's the only means of justification? All right. Turn to Romans chapter 3. I'm just kidding. We're going to start the series over. No, I'm teasing, but I know you all know the only means of justification is faith alone in Christ alone. And as I like to say, nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else. We must not add to the gospel and we must not also take away from the gospel either. We must understand that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. But with that, Paul's been talking about in chapter eight, our sonship or daughtership. our sonship, our inheritance, and that's what we will focus on today. So Huppiforah number one, this is the outline for today. We'll look at the question, the Huppiforah question, and that's in verse 31. And then we'll look at Paul's answer. And it's fairly short, but it's certainly not lacking profoundness. We'll look at the answer to Huppiforah number, should be number one. I don't know why I put number two there. Hupah 4, number one, answer, verse 32. And then we'll look at summary and application. And what I'm hoping to do is set things up to cover the second and third Hupah 4 next time. And then I really, I have to talk about Hupah 4, number four by itself, because it's one of, first of all, one of my favorite passages, that nothing can separate you from the love of God, even yourself. If you have trusted in Jesus Christ, even if you fall away, you can't lose your salvation. And we'll talk about that. So who before number one, the question. So breaking up the question into smaller parts, first of all, he says, what then shall we say? What then shall we say? Now this is a clause that further develops on previously declared truths. This is a clause you see throughout the book of Romans, and I think it shows that Paul is building his argument. It's not disconjointed arguments that he has, you know, cycle number one, two, three, four, and five. It's like that pyramid. It's building upwards. It's building upon each other. What then shall we say to this? So he's just talked about something profound, and now he's saying, what then shall we say to this? So some examples of him doing this, if you flip back to Romans 4.1, he says, what then shall we say? that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh. So he's talking about, and this is of course in cycle number two, the only means of justification. So he's building on the principles that he elaborated or introduced in cycle number two's theme, that the only means of righteousness is through Jesus Christ and his shed blood. So then he gets into what then shall we say Abraham our father has found according to the flesh. Jumping to Romans 6, 1, we see this clause again. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Again, he's building upon what he's already said, and what he's just said is extremely profound. In fact, speaking of grace, I want to highlight what he said at the end of chapter 5. He says, starting in verse 20, moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. Meaning, where there is more sin, what is there more of? Grace. So that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now that's a logic. If we're thinking logically, our next thought might be, well, okay, if grace is greater than sin, well, if we sin, does that increase grace? Hey, let's go sin and then have more grace and then God will be glorified, right? That's logical. That's a logical conclusion. Now I will say that that is true. Where sin increases, grace increases, right? But the argument then is, well, shall we go on sinning? And what is Paul's answer to that argument? No, because you're D-E-D, D-E-A-D. It's an inside joke. I promise I am literate. We are dead to sin, right? That's his answer. He doesn't say don't do it because that's not true. He's saying don't do it because you're dead to sin. How are you dead to sin? Because you're united to Christ who died for our sins. And that's going to be a pivotal, crucial point as we move into our text. Romans 7, 7. So, of course, when he brings up the topic of grace. Well, that necessitates, well, what about the law? How does the believer in Jesus Christ relate to the law? And so Paul's happy to tell us in chapters 6 and 7, that relationship. And so he's building his argument. And in Romans 7, 7, he says, what shall we say then? Is the law sin? And so he's building that argument. Next, we see this in our text in 831. What then shall we say to these things? What then shall we say to these things? And then if you jump into chapter 9 verse 14, what shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? So you see him building argument based on previously stated things. 930, what shall we say then? It's almost like he's He knows what he's saying is controversial. And he just brought it out and he's saying, well, what shall we say then? What do we have to say about this? And I think this culminates in Romans chapter 12, verse one, which was mentioned last week as the charge, part of the charge. This is where you can almost say Paul's letter starts. Of course, obviously we're not discounting the cycles, but This is where he gets into the application. 12-1, he says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Why is it a reasonable service for us to do this? Because of cycle one, two, three, four, and five. In light of all of the things that he just said, we should offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. And so I think that Genesis, Romans 1 through 11 is a culminating argument to 12-1, that we offer our bodies a living sacrifice. And so this, what shall we say then of this cycle? Romans 8 verse 1, he says, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to 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 did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit. So he's introducing the theme of the fourth cycle to talk about our identity in Christ. Now, he talked about in chapter 5, which is a similar cycle, but he focused on cycle 5, if you remember back, to peace, grace, and hope. And so he talked a lot about our peace with God. In fact, you could say this statement also includes, we now have peace with God. He talked a lot about grace in cycle number 3. And he did talk about hope, but not as much. But in chapter eight, he talks a lot about hope. And what is our hope? Can someone define hope, biblical hope? Confidence, certainty. I mentioned on Wednesday night, I like to translate it as expectation. Because biblical hope is something that's guaranteed. It's not a potentiality like we use it in our modern vernacular. It's a guarantee. But he's driving home that point, our identity in Christ. Now that's the focus, right? Up until this point, as we've been studying along, who are we identified with? Christ. Who are we identified with? Christ. We have to get that point driven home in our thinking. before we move on, because it's not only our salvation, our identification with Christ, it has much more to speak to. But I also think when he talks about these things, he's hinting at everything he's just said in Chapter 8. And usually this is what follows. When you're asking what these things are, you're asking about the antecedent, what is it referring to? I am of the opinion that it's usually going to be the nearest antecedent. meaning that what you just talked about is most likely contextually what he's referring to. But I think it's also true that based on his argument of the whole book, he's building an argument. And so I think it's really kind of all of these things. But to review chapter 8 truths, this is the list I pillaged from Pastor Dave. We see in chapter 8 verse 10 that Christ's in us principle. Christ is in us. Promised resurrection, 811. New responsibilities that we have, verses 12 through 13. The fact that we're led by the spirit, verse 14. Our sonship, verse 14. I think this is particularly what he has in mind. And then our adoption, verse 15. Also particularly what he has in mind. The witness of the spirit, which mind you is a guarantee of all of these things, verse 16. And then 17, our airship. Again, I think those three things in particular, our sonship, adoption, and airship, are what I think specifically these things are that he's talking about. What do we say of these things? Future glory, 18 through 21. Temporary groaning, 22 through 23. Future redemption of our bodies, verse 23, which we all say amen, right? Reaffirmed hope, 24 through 25. Help and intercession from the Holy Spirit, 26 through 27. And my head is in the way of that one. Confidence in God's good purposes, 28 through 30. Confidence in God's ultimate purpose, 28 through 30. Now I also think that what is the nature of a hupafor? It's a potential objection, right? I think that it would also make very good sense that 28 through 30 is something believers would object to. And so I think that's something also Paul has particularly in mind. How can you say, Paul, that we know all things work together for good? Paul, you don't know what I'm going through. You don't know my suffering. Of course, if anyone says that, they don't know what Paul's gone through and what Paul's suffering is, because if it was a competition, he would win, right? But suffering is suffering, right? It's not a competition. You could argue that your suffering is greater than another person, but is any suffering good? Is any of it enjoyable? No. And so I think that an objector would say, Paul, I don't believe you. I don't believe that God works all things for good. What does that even mean? And so I think Paul feels the need to answer that question. What then shall we say to these things? And so I think he's got in mind that concept of predestination, adoption, and inheritance. Because that's what God is doing, right? When Paul says that God works all things for good, he then talks about that concept of predestination, which Dave talked about. And it's nothing scary, as a lot of people may want you to think. Predestination simply means that there is a destination predetermined. In fact, did you know most of you, I don't know if all of you do this, you all have utilized predestination just about in your daily lives with your GPS. You plug in your coordinates, you have a destination prior to getting there, right? And it's telling you where you will go. Now, if you have Google Maps, which we use, sometimes it tells me to turn the wrong way down a one way. That's where the illustration breaks down. God's not gonna take you down a one way, the wrong way. But that answer of predestination, in other words, I think you could summarize the concept of predestination, God will finish what he started. He's talking about believers. And he's saying, if you're a believer, you will be glorified. And so someone who's a believer and suffering, they might think, well, big whoop. What is glorification? And Paul feels the need to talk about this. And it has to do with our inheritance. And I think that's why, as great as our salvation is, we as believers have to recognize the concept of inheritance. Because do you know that this life is just a blink? Some of you can testify to that, right? You've lived the majority of your life. And you know how fast it's gone. Amanda and I talk about it. It's been 10 years. since we started school at Frontier School of the Bible. That's crazy to me. You know, we just blink and our son is another year old. We blink and we've got two more sons. And we're going to stop blinking. But that's the common point that Peter wants to drive home is the brevity of life. But he always directs it to the eternality of the soul, because we will live forever, right? But the question is, how will we live? What will our eternal experience be like? And that's where we get into the conversation of inheritance. So what do we say to these things? And then he says, if God is for us, now he's not doubting whether God is for us. He's driven home the point quite clearly that God is for us, right? Is there any doubt about that? No. He says, if God is for us, And we see this in Romans 5, 1 through 5, right? That mention of grace, peace, and hope that we have with God. Meaning, if we have peace with God, it's the doctrine of, the big theological word is reconciliation. To simplify the concept of reconciliation, it's a change of relationship. You've changed from enemy to friend. If you've been reconciled to God, you're no longer his enemy, you're now his friend. Not only his friend, but you're his son. And we'll get to that because that's Paul's argument here. 8, 1 through 4. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. God is for you. And then 8, 28. We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. Which is, mind you, just a quick comment on that. That's why you can't take your circumstances and determine your relationship with God based on that. Does that make sense? If you're sick, if you're in financial trouble, if you're having a hard time, if you're suffering, don't automatically assume that God hates you or you're in the wrong with God. Is it true that those things can be indicative of that? Yeah. But I think there's been a lot of spiritual abuse over the years where people in my position will tell, well, there must be sin in your life. And I won't say what I want to do, but it's just nonsense. Could that be the case? Sure. But you know what? The majority of the time in scripture, we're told that it's not the case. In fact, Peter says, if you're suffering, make sure it's not for your own wrongdoing. In other words, it's, it's, It's your wages, right? You earn that. If you do something stupid, our family motto is stupid games win stupid prizes. So if something happens, they hit their head, they fall down, and they're doing an activity that would logically lead to that conclusion, we will say you just won a stupid prize because you were playing a stupid game. And I think a lot of times we as Christians play stupid games and we win stupid prizes. If God is for us, then he asks the question, who can be against us? Now, this question, he's not saying that no one is gonna be against you. That's not his point. He's not saying that we don't have anyone against us. He's emphasizing that the one who truly matters isn't against us. So truly, can anybody be against you? And this makes me think, if you jump over to Matthew chapter 10, it makes me think of something Christ said, Matthew 10, verse 28. Jesus is speaking and he says, and do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Now, obviously it's a scary thing. If someone could take your life, that's a legitimate concern. Jesus isn't belittling that concern, but he's saying our true fear, the one who actually matters when it comes to being concerned, is the one who can not only take our body but our soul, who controls our destiny, and that is God. He is emphasizing that the one who can deal with us, who can affect our eternal destination, is on our side. So now getting into a little bit of summary, or the answer, excuse me. He says, he who did not spare his own son. Now this is a, we have to do a little bit of digging and to see what exactly, because sometimes with these who before questions, there's a question that we have to read between the lines of what exactly is Paul touching on here? And so he says, he who did not spare his own son. This makes me think of the question, who had Jesus killed? It's a tough question, potentially, right? Some say the Jews. Some say the Romans. Now, ultimately, I think if we're being technical, both had a part to play. Both are guilty. But we have to be careful with that, right? Because there's been a lot of anti-Semitism in history because they'll say that Jews are Christ killers. And a lot of evil things done to God's chosen people because of that. Misunderstanding. Did the Jews reject their Messiah? Yes. Did they have a part in turning him over to Pilate? Yes. Who's Pilate? A Roman. So the Romans also had a part to play. But who ultimately laid down his life? Jesus Christ. But not only that, who delivered his son? God the Father. This is a and I hope I don't step on toes. If I do, I apologize. A heresy that I believe C.S. Lewis believed in called the Ransom Theory. The Ransom Theory was saying that the debt that was owed for the salvation of mankind was owed to the devil. And so you kind of see this depicted in the Chronicles of Narnia series, which I, mind you, think is an awesome series. But you see, you know, Aslan has to go to talk to the White Witch and That's how that transaction takes place. And it depicts that common theory that because we sinned, we are under the domain of Satan. And that's not biblical. In fact, I think that belittles the holiness of God. We sinned, and we are liable for condemnation under the holy God, our creator. And yet, God the Father sent his son. He delivered his son for our sins. Exactly. Amen. He's the only one who could. So he who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all. Now, a few points on this. First of all, there's a substitutionary aspect that we have to be mindful of in this answer to this, this potential objection. The substitutionary aspect is that Jesus was delivered up for us all. He took our place. He is our substitute. and not just for salvation. And we'll get to that point because I think that's the point Paul's making. But he's our substitute. Now this is particularly something the Jews would have understood back in the Old Testament. They would lay hands on the sheep, the lamb that was to be sacrificed, and it was to depict or symbolize the transaction of that person's guilt being transferred to the innocent sheep. And then that sheep was then led to be slaughtered and thus atone or cover the sins of that individual. But the concept of substitutionary atonement. There's also a personal aspect that we have to recognize. This is what makes what we believe as Bible-believing Christians different than a lot of Christian religions. And that is there's a personal aspect. There's many that you can talk to. In fact, I may have friends and family listening online that may be offended by this, but that would believe that, yeah, amen, Jesus Christ died on the cross for all our sins. But what does that mean unless you understand that it was for your sins personally? He died for your sins. He died for my sins. He didn't just die for the sins of mankind and open the door for the opportunity to save ourselves. Or as the Mormons say, we're saved by grace after all that we can do. In other words, you do your best and then God will make up the difference. He'll pay the rest of the check. I know it's a hymn, but it's a great theological truth. Jesus paid it all, right? Every last sent, so to speak. Everything that was owed. And it was for us personally. Our personal debt was paid. There's a propitiatory aspect. Now, big fancy word, I know, but I want you to learn it because it's one of my favorites. This is why I don't particularly like the conversation on atonement. I will say that I don't think Jesus is our atonement. I think he's our propitiation. Now, the difference is an atonement simply means a covering. And so that when we talk of the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, it was a covering. It was something that God prescribed for the nation of Israel to cover their sins. It was a sign of faith that they were showing that they were trusting in God's future deliverance for them. And God was temporarily satisfied by this annual sacrifice. But propitiation means a full satisfaction. And I hope you know that that's what took place on the cross. The ultimate offering, when John the Baptist saw Jesus, the first thing he said is, behold, the Lamb of God. And that's pointing at his ultimate destination of sacrificing himself on the cross. As a propitiation, a full satisfaction. Now if God's, and what, we have to ask the question, what has been satisfied? What's that? God the Father was satisfied. Now is he just a, insane God that just loves bloodshed? No, His wrath was satisfied. Why is His wrath even there? Because of our sin. So if Jesus is our propitiation, which means that He is the full satisfaction of the wrath of God the Father, what does that mean if we believe in Jesus Christ? Is there any wrath left? Fully satisfied means fully satisfied, right? Have you ever gone to a restaurant and you've eaten your fill and they ask you, did you save any room for dessert? What do you usually say? Oh, no, absolutely not. There's no room left over for wrath because Jesus paid it all. So to summarize, it is impossible for God to be, quote, against us because of this. This is Paul's point. It's impossible for God to be against you. Why? because he was against his son. That's his point. It's impossible for him to be against you because he was already against his son and his son fully satisfied his wrath. There's none left over for you. Sorry to disappoint if anyone was looking forward to that. He who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Now this is where he transitions into his point. This is, what he's doing here is an argument from hard to easy. The hard part was delivering his son. Now I'm always amazed by the providence of God. We just talked about Isaac being offered by his father Abraham, right? How Tremendously difficult that would have been. And yet God the Father knew. Abraham maybe didn't know the details of God's future offering, but God the Father knew, right? And he delivered his son. He did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all. That was the hard part. What's the easy part? Well, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? So to break this down, what things? I think namely, inheritance. I think that the potential objector that Paul has in mind is wondering about this inheritance, this suffering in this life. Is it going to be worth it like you say, Paul? And Paul centers on the conversation of inheritance and he says, you bet it is. The principle is what is Christ's will be ours. So the hard part was God delivering his son for us. And so Paul's arguing the easy part is, is it unlike God? Or is it too hard for God to not give us everything that is Christ? He gave his son to die on the cross for our sins. How much more will he give us an inheritance? That's not too hard for God. So to summarize, since Jesus is the divine substitute, what is true of him is now able to be true of the believer. It has to do with our salvation, which I mentioned, but it also has to do with our inheritance. Because when Jesus returns, what is he going to do? He's going to rule and reign from this earth, right? So if we have a part, if we are co-heirs with Christ, what are we going to do? We're going to reign. That's our inheritance. And so this is a conversation I had recently this last week with the conversation of my sister's dad's memorial service is heaven. The question was given to me, where is heaven? Is it in our hearts? Is it in our thinking? Is it a real place? Where is it? And I said, well, ultimately, right now, it's a real place. But ultimately, our concept of heaven should be more earthly. And what I mean by that is God's going to bring heaven to earth. Now, I know that believers now, it says, to be absent from the bodies, to be present with the Lord. Believers who die now, they will be in heaven, the dwelling place of God, the third heaven, as Paul calls it. But post kingdom, we're going to be on the earth, right? The kingdom is going to be on the earth, and then God's going to create a new heavens and a new earth. And so I think our concept of heaven should be changed. You know, we're not going to be angels playing harps on clouds. It's not going to be an eternal church service, as some others may think. I think heaven is going to be a lot like it is now, except with all the bad stuff. I think we'll work in heaven, and I hope that doesn't disappoint anyone. Because this is, in the Bible framework, with the class I taught up at Fort Collins, I talked about this and I explained that, did you know that labor or work is not a part of the fall? Toilsome labor is. Hard work is. So that unfun part of your job, that's a part of the fault. But there's a satisfaction we get from, I've talked about this with my father-in-law, when you get your hands dirty, there's something about just the satisfaction of growing something, building something, creating something. God made us to do those things. I think we'll do it for all eternity, to glorify him. He condemned sin in the flesh. So to summarize, he condemned sin in the flesh. He died and thus the believer died to sin in the law. He's made that point already, right? He rose from the dead, making the believer alive in Christ. Our life is hidden with Christ, meaning what's true of him as our divine substitute will also be true of us. Jesus will be glorified and believers will be also Now, I will say at this point, there's an aspect of Jesus already being glorified to some extent, but not close to what he will be glorified. The images that Daniel saw, for example, I think were of the glorified Christ. The image John saw was of the glorified Christ. And when he saw them, what was John's attitude? Oh, hey, buddy. Good to see you. Long time no see. He was terrified. And I think that's also a helpful reminder for us as believers is to recognize, yes, Jesus, what a friend we have in Jesus. Absolutely true. He is Lord. We have to have a good element of reverence for who he is. And that'll only better contextualize his love for us. The first two before is handling the potential objection slash question about his statement concerning predestination. He's kind of dealing with OK, Paul, you're saying that it's worth it, but how do I know? And he's talking about our inheritance. And with that, what we do now will determine what we do for eternity. And I explain this. I'll wrap it up, I promise. But I was answering some tough questions with my family. We were talking about my sister's dad. And talking to her, interesting, I think there's a good chance that he believed the gospel and was saved. And I told my sister, I said, the issue with your dad and my grandma who passed away not too long ago, who was a believer, they're saved, eternally secure. They'll be there. But they may not have the same inheritance of the individual who faithfully faithfully serves God their life. And so that's the challenge I want to issue to you today is that I heard it best said that this life is training for reigning. How you live now will determine what the kingdom is going to be like. And it's such a short time. Don't sell your future inheritance for the here and now. I know this wasn't the principle of the prodigal son, but I think to use that as an illustration, isn't that what he did? His future inheritance, he says, I want that now. And what did he do? He blew through it. There wasn't going to be any left. Now the father still welcomed him back, right? But I think that's a good warning for us is don't let your inheritance be living it up now. Because you could have the best possible life here on earth. You could be rich. You could have all the cars you wanted. You could have a yacht. You could go see the world. You could go do whatever you wanted to do. Never work a day in your life. And that is going to be the worst possible day in the kingdom. Don't sell your inheritance for the things that are going to burn. The question is highlighting the changed relationship between the believer and God who is now, quote, for us. So the principle to take home is God is for you. Even when you suffer, God is for you. That may be hard to believe when you're in the midst of suffering, but it's a good helpful reminder to remember God loves you. Even when you struggle, even if you're struggling with sin, even if you're struggling with following him, God is not treating you as a probation officer saying, you know, you better tell the line if you want my love and affection. He gives it freely, even when you sin. And I want to close by talking about 1 John 1, 9. And I don't mean this. I call this the believer's bar of soap. And I don't mean this to belittle it, but because of the functionality of 1 John 1, 9. 1 John 1 9 says that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. That's where the bar of soap comes in. Meaning when you sin, what do you need to do? Confess. And what does confession mean? Go down to the priest and try your best to remember everything wrong you did. I think I heard recently a story of Martin Luther he had the priest's ear for an hour or more and just kept going over all these sins. And eventually the priest said, okay, enough, no more. That's not what we're to do, confession. Well, is it even individually? We have to try to remember all of the things we did. I would say that if you can remember the things that you clearly did and you mentioned those to the Lord, then yeah, that's helpful. But confession simply means to agree with God. You agree with God that what you did was sinful and hinders your relationship with him, your fellowship with him. And the hardest thing is after you do that, you're not on a probation. It's not our salvation, but also with our inheritance. May we live in such a way in light of eternity, recognizing that, and to whom much is given, much will be required, and to whom have been faithful with little will be given much. We pray we would be in that category. We love you, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen.