Rich were they. All right. I want to introduce tonight a study that we're going to be looking at over the next several Wednesday nights that we meet together and it's entitled Doctrines We Should Not Shun. That's going to make sense in a minute. So here's kind of the agenda and what we plan to do is to make the hard soft make the complicated less complicated, make the intricate less intricate, remove the fear from the feared, make the meat palatable, make application for our lives. So we want to make it easy even for children to understand some biblical doctrines that we find in the word of God, that God has put there for us so that we might grow from them, we might be enriched by them. So before we go any further, let's pray once again. Father, again, we thank you for this evening. We pray that you help us as we look through these things, learn of these things, that we might get prepared for the next several meetings as we meet on Wednesday night, that we might be instructed from your word in clear doctrines that may be hard for some, but we might make them easy to understand. In Christ's name we pray, amen. All right, here's an introduction. Some people approach doctrine with intimidation, fear, and confusion. They think something's too hard to be understood. Sometimes words and doctrines from the Bible are fearful and hard to understand. The author did not include these things in the Bible for us to pass over, but to contemplate. meditate upon, and dive into. They have deep meaning and rich nourishment for our lives. So that's what I've said over the next several Wednesday evenings. This is what we're going to be looking at. Doctrines we should not shun. So here we go. Doctrines pertaining to salvation. such as regeneration, justification, sanctification, election, predestination, and so on. So you're kind of getting it now, right? Doctrines we should not shun. So this is kind of a repeat of what I just said. Sometimes these doctrinal words intimidate us, we pull back from them, or we shun them. We think they're too difficult to be grasped or understood. Let's not shun them, but dive into them, assisted by the author, the Holy Spirit. Let's gain a greater understanding and appreciation for them and how they affect our lives. So, all of the topics that we'll be approaching pertain to salvation. Salvation. Salvation is the work of God whereby he rescues or saves people from their sin and the wages of those sins. The wages or the payment for sin is death. This death is an eternal death whereby one receives the wrath of God or hell. God, through the finished work of Christ, saves us from this sin and this wrath. So we think about salvation. Most of us know what salvation is. I remember one time my wife and I, we were working with some young people in our church, and we asked this young man, or he was asked, have you ever been saved? And he thought for a moment, and he said, yeah. One time I almost drowned, and a person saved me. That was his understanding of what it meant. He had no idea what salvation was in a biblical context. So what we can find in that is that is somewhat true. Not that we were drowning, but that we were drowned. We were dead. We had drowned in our sin. And we didn't even know we needed someone to save us. But we were somehow awakened to the fact that we had been dead. And we needed to be made alive. And this is what happens through the finished work of Christ in salvation. So let's look at some of the things we'll be talking about pertaining to the gospel of God's salvation. The gospel of God's salvation. Next time we meet, Lord willing, Pastor Jeff Johnson will be talking about election. And then we will talk about predestination. We will look at regeneration and how that brings about justification. Then we'll look at sanctification on our road to glorification. That's the ultimate end of salvation is glorification. We're with the Lord and we are glorified. Finally, every thought will be right. Every motive will be right. We will be in a glorified state with the Lord. On the road to glorification, we have mortification, putting to death the old man, the old ways, our sinful desires. There's also redemption. Part of it all. Adoption. Propitiation. That's a big word. See, a lot of us know these words. We may have an understanding of kind of what they mean, but to really think through them, bring them down to bits and pieces that we can consume and enrich us, it helps us. So propitiation. Imputation. See, all of this is part of God's salvation. These all link together and work together. And then there's reconciliation. Reconciliation. Let's have a couple of quotes by Spurgeon. Teach gospel doctrines clearly, affectionately, simply, and plainly. That's what we want to do. And especially those truths which have a present and practical bearing upon man's condition, and God's grace. That's what we want to do. Now look at this quote. Let us never think we've learned a doctrine until we have seen its fruit in our lives. Have I seen the fruit of these doctrines in my life? Have I learned something that's changed my life? As we learn of Christ, We learn of His salvation. We learn of what great things He's done for us. That should do something within us. That should change us. That should move us. That should motivate us. That should cause us to be sanctified, to be working works of mortification in our lives and so forth. So, all of these things and the doctrine that I want to just speak on for a moment tonight is what calls, pleads for all of these others to come forth. And that will be the doctrine of condemnation. Condemnation. Let's think about that for a moment. Condemnation. It's a declaration. It's not just a doctrine. It's a declaration. God has declared something. He's declared as a declaration by God, the judge of all the earth, that we are guilty before him. We are guilty before him. This guilt, this shame, this condemnation. Let's think about that. Let's look at a verse for an illustration to just kind of give us a basic meaning of this word. The verse that we'll look at is Luke 23, 40. It says, But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Do you not fear God, seeing you are in the same condemnation? Who said that? One of the thieves on the cross. Why did he say that? What did the other one say? If you be the Christ, save yourself and us. If you're the Christ, save us. One of the thieves said that. Then the other one said, he rebuked him. Do you not fear God? Do you not understand that we are in the same condemnation? They had been condemned. They'd been condemned to death. They were thieves. They were robbers. He said, we're receiving what we justly should be receiving. Then what did he say concerning Christ? He said, this man has done nothing wrong. They were condemned to death on the cross. A basic meaning of condemnation. Condemnation. So then he said, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, today you will be with me in paradise. Here's a quote by John Flavel. Condemnation is the judgment or sentence of God condemning a man to bear the just punishment of his eternal wrath for his sins. So condemnation is the judgment or the sentence of God condemning a man to receive God's wrath because of that person's sin. If we sin, We deserve the punishment of God or the wrath of God. So, condemnation as we think about that. In the court of God's justice, we are guilty as pertaining to our birth. We are guilty as pertaining to our birth. When we were born, we were born guilty. We were born in sin in Adam. So in God's court, God's justice courtroom, we're guilty as pertaining to birth. We are condemned in Adam. And then we are also guilty in the court of God's justice as pertaining to the law. The law was given. so that we could see that we can't keep this law. We do not keep this law. We are against this law. We are condemned by the law. Then we're condemned in the court of our own mind. Our conscience bears witness that we are guilty, that we are condemned. Condemnation. That's a heavy word, isn't it? That's a convicting word. Now, if you are unsaved, it's not a coming reality. If you are unsaved, Condemnation is not a coming reality. It's a reality already. We'll look at that in a moment. The banner hanging over your head is condemned. John 3, this is a familiar passage. Everyone knows this verse, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Then let's look at the rest of the verse. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. Now, why did he make that statement? Why did he say that God sent his son, he didn't send his son into the world to condemn the world? Well, in the next verse, he tells us, he that believes on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not, what? Is condemned already. because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." Condemned already. That's heavy. And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world and men love darkness rather than light. because their deeds were evil. You've been given light. You've been given the light of the gospel. You've heard the gospel over and over and over again. You know the gospel and yet you are still in your sin. It's because you love your sin. It's because you want your sin. You want to remain in darkness and greater will be your condemnation because you have been given light and have rejected that light. The banner hanging over the head of the unbeliever is condemned. Condemnation. John Flavel said, ''Condemnation is a word of deep and dreadful signification. It is a word whose profound sense and intensity are only fully understood in hell.'' Isn't that an amazing thought? That no one will really understand the depth and the intensity of condemnation until they are condemned to hell. Tragedy of tragedies is that you are condemned already. and that you know that you are condemned and you love your darkness rather than the light of the son of God. I want to declare unto you that there is a removal of this banner of condemnation and it can be replaced with another banner. through Christ Jesus, our Lord. And just as condemnation is a declaration, so is this other doctrine a declaration. Jesus said to those leaders of the day who were looking at the light, who had heard about the light, who had light shining in their eyes, He said, you snakes, you brood of vipers, how will you escape being condemned to hell? Now, that's what we're going to be talking about over the next several times that we meet together. You've had the light, you've rejected the light, and the banner over you is condemned. Now, just as condemnation is a declaration made by God from His court. He's the judge, you stand before Him, an unbeliever, the gavel slams, you are condemned. But through Christ, through God's salvation, you can have something else declared. I like that word. Justified. Justification. Justified. It is a declaration of God when He slams the gavel down and says, you are now right with me. You are no longer guilty. You have been made right with me through my Son." So you're justified, you're sanctified, you're redeemed, you're adopted, and you're on your way to be glorified. Glorified. So condemnation, we can go from condemnation to that. I like that too, don't you? No condemnation. That is a declaration from the Word of God. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Is that not one of your favorite verses? If it's not, it should be. That's a good one. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Justified, made right in Christ. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, a new creation. Old things are passing away. Behold, all things are become new. And that's what all of these doctrines we're going to be talking about will explain and show to us. So, condemnation brings about, sets in motion, pleads for these other doctrines that we might be born. So, of course, Romans 8, 1. So there they are again. What's the banner say over your heart? What's the banner say over your conscience? Condemned? Or there is now therefore no condemnation? You've seen the light. You've been brought into the light. You've heard the gospel. Repent. Repent. Of your sin. Believe. Believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And thou shalt be saved. Come to Christ. Run to Christ, call upon him, repent, and believe the gospel. Y'all looking forward to looking at all these interesting words and growing in them, knowing them? Amen. All right. Now, which Jeff is coming up now? Jeff Johnson.