But he doesn't always do everything we ask or think. But I'm glad he's able to, Brother Delbert. And it sure is good to know that I like that first song a lot. There's, I'm glad I'm covered by a blanket of grace. Aren't you? And I was riding down the road today by myself coming back from preaching. And I was listening to that song said, I'm sheltered by his grace. And I thought, man, it's crazy how much grace really does in all of our lives. And we sing Amazing Grace and get used to it, but Brother Jim, it does a lot more than just, there's a lot more than just saving grace. Brother Delbert, there's a lot of grace in our lives. We ought to thank God for the grace he gives us. Don't you agree with that tonight? And I'm glad for the grace of God. I sure am thankful that the Lord loved us enough that he gave us mercy and he gave us grace. We don't have to die and go to hell, but he made a way that we might be able to go to heaven. I'm thankful for that tonight. If you've got your Bible and you're in Romans chapter number 5, would you say amen? Look with me if you would in verse 1. It says, 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 the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but with 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. Aren't you glad the Holy Ghost lives in you? You wouldn't even be able to understand this Bible if it wasn't for the Holy Ghost. We'd never even be able to grasp the love of God if it wasn't for the Holy Ghost. I don't know about you, but the charismatic movement, it's so disrespectful to the Holy Ghost of God. It's us doing the works of the Spirit of God. That don't make no sense, Brother Delpert. I'm glad that when I got saved, I had something better happen in me on May 15th of 2008 than ever took place on the day of Pentecost, Brother Jeff. I had the Holy Ghost move inside of my heart. And everything that I ever need is contained in the Word of God and the work of the Holy Ghost inside of me. I'm glad we've got the Holy Ghost, Brother Delbert. Verse number 6, it says, For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will some die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. We all know and love this verse, but God commendeth His love toward us. That while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us tonight. Much more than being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him, talking about Christ. 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 join God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and I love this phrase, by whom we have now received the atonement tonight. says that we now join God through Christ by whom we've now received the atonement tonight. Brother Johnny, if you wouldn't mind, pray for me. God, give him liberty to preach your word, Father God. God, I pray you let him preach with the answer of the Holy Ghost, dear Lord God. God, I pray, Father God, that you just touch him, strengthen him, dear Lord God, allow him to stand for this hour, dear Lord God. God, I just pray, Father God, touch his body, touch his thoughts, his mind, his voice, touch his throat, touch his lungs, dear Lord God. God, just help him, God, and use him, dear Lord God, as a willing humble vessel, dear Lord God, to speak to us, God, through the preaching of your word, Father God. God, I pray that you be with every aspect of the service, dear Lord God. In Jesus' precious holy name we do pray. Amen. I'm glad, Brother Johnny, praise that God would touch my lungs. I'm still out of breath from, oh, I want to see him. And we were running through that thing. I was about to die. I thought I was going to see him tonight, Brother Josh. I thought it was coming. I was out of breath. But we find here in the Book of Romans, this is the greatest book in the Bible dealing with our salvation. The Book of Romans, that's where I'd say that many of us, the majority of us at least, probably have either led somebody or we got saved from reading what we call the Romans' road, brother Jeff. We find that in the book of Romans, Paul is beginning to tell us about the building blocks and the basic doctrines of soteriology, or salvation if you would. We find that here in Romans 5 that Paul begins to deal with the word that he ended chapter 4 with. Look at the last verse in chapter 4, verse 25. It says, Who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. We find that Paul writes that word, justification, and he stops for a minute, Brother Jeff, and he says, I think y'all need an entire chapter about this one word just to try and grasp how great it is. We find that Paul begins to write about justification. I got to looking at it, and I think it was Brother Mark Stroud said, a couple years ago at our tent meeting, justification does not mean justified, never sinned. It means just if I was never even a sinner in the first place, Brother George. Justification, if there's anything we ought to shout about tonight, it's the fact that I've been justified. It's the fact that it's not just that my sins were washed away, but it's the fact that there is no record of a sinner by the name of Tyler. But it is now only the Son of God. I'm glad tonight that there was a moment in my life where Jesus Christ's blood justified me. I was no more a sinner, no more lost. no more on my way to hell, no more living in the shame of sin, because I've been justified by the blood of the Lamb of God tonight. We ought to be glad we've got justification. We find that Paul begins to deal with it. And if we're ever going to be able to grasp everything about justification or even get the message I'm trying to preach tonight, we've got to understand a couple truths about justification. I will give them to you quick by way of introduction. We'll move quickly. First notice that if we're ever going to understand justification, we must understand our position tonight. We must understand what our position was before we got saved. Look with me in verse number 6 again if you would of chapter number 5. It says, For when we were yet without strength, In due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Go to verse 10. Notice what Paul says we were to Christ. 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. Paul tells us three different conditions or positions, if you would, that we were in. He tells us in verse 6 that we were without strength. There was nothing you could do to get out of the sin that you were in. It didn't matter what age you got saved at. There was nothing we could do. We were without strength. But then he said we were wicked in our sin. Every person, whether you got saved at 4 or you got saved at 40, if you were lost, you were wicked in your sin. It said that Christ died for the ungodly. That's us. We think the ungodly is just the ones that Brother Bubba is preaching to. But the truth is we're just as bad as all of them are. We are ungodly. We were without strength. We were wicked in our sin. And ultimately we were on the wrong side. Verse 10 says we were enemies. I understand we say, well, but God is love. And yes, God loved the world so much that He gave His Son. But God could not overlook sin or else everybody, we'd be universalists. Everybody would get to die and go to heaven. Because God loves every man that's ever walked on this earth. But God despises sin. And we were, as our Father the Devil, as Christ said, and we were on the wrong side tonight. If we could ever understand our position, it'd maybe make us a little bit more happy about where our position is now. If we'd ever realized where we used to be and where we should have been, that we could not do it in our own strength, that we were enemies to Christ, there was nothing I could do. It'd be good for some of us tonight to take a stroll down memory lane and remember who you were and remember what all you deserved. Every single one of us deserves to burn in hell for all of eternity, but the grace of God changed my position. I could not do what needed to be done. I could not walk up Calvary. I could not be crucified for the sins of the world. It was not my works that could do it. I was lost in my sin. I was enemies to Christ, but yet God loved us enough That is sin and sin that we might be able to change our position tonight. Notice, if we're ever going to understand justification, you've got to realize what your position was. But then secondly, we've got to understand God's perception tonight. We've got to understand God's perception of mankind, of us. Notice what it says. We're going to read several verses of Scripture. Look with me in verse number 12. It says, 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 when 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 that was to come. That's what it says, "...but not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For it, through the offense of one, many be dead. Much more, the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by..." Notice the phrase, "...one man." Jesus Christ hath abounded unto many. Not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift. For the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. For if by one man's offense death reigned by one, much more they which received an abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ. Go down with me to verse number 19. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, but we all love this part, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound tonight. We find that we not only have to realize what our position was, but we've also got to understand what God's perception of mankind is even now today. find that Paul chalks everything down in this world to two people. He says ultimately there are two men, Brother Blake, in the eyes of God, and that is the first Adam and the last Adam. He says ultimately every single man and woman or child that's ever been born was born under the first Adam, but you must be reborn into the last Adam. God ultimately only sees two men. That's that of the first Adam, or you're in the estate of the last Adam, Jesus Christ. It says over and over, one man, disobedience brought death, but by one man, obedience brought life. And the truth is, all of us, it didn't ever matter how good you could be, brothers and sisters. It didn't ever matter how great of a Christian you were before you got saved. What really matters is that God saw you in the estate of the first Adam. You were in and dead with Adam, but then there was a moment you were quickened by the Spirit of God. The Word of God was preached to you. You received Christ. I like what the Haven of Rest said. That I heard a voice saying, make me your choice. I'm glad it didn't say, hey boy, you ain't got no choice. But it said, choose me, it'll be a lot better life. And when you chose Him out of free will, something happened in your life. And you went from that of the first Adam to that of the last Adam tonight. Notice a comparison of the two Adams if you would. Notice as we contrast them, the first Adam was made from the earth, but the last Adam came from heaven. The first Adam was the king of the old creation while the last Adam is king-priest over the new creation in 2 Corinthians. The first Adam was tested in a perfect garden and he still disobeyed God. But the last Adam was tested in a terrible wilderness and yet still obeyed God. The disobedience of the first Adam brought sin, condemnation, and death upon the human race, but the obedience of the last Adam brought righteousness, salvation, and life to all who believe. Through the first Adam, death and sin reign in the world, but through the last Adam, grace reigns. The Old Testament is the book of the generations of Adam and ends with the word curse, but the New Testament is the book of the generations of Christ and ends with the phrase in the last chapter, And there was no more curse, Brother Delbert. The paradise of Genesis that Adam lost is restored in Revelation through the last Adam. You understand how similar they are, but yet how different they are tonight. God only sees the two. You're either with the first or the last. I'm glad there was a time in my life, Brother Jeff, when I realized that I was dead with the first Adam, but by the grace of God that entered into our lives, it took us out of the estate of that first Adam, and it placed my name with the last Adam. And now when Christ sees me, He does not see who I used to be, but all He sees is the Son of God. I'm glad that now I'm justified And I'm now on Christ's side. I've entered into the estate of the last Adam. And it feels good to be out from under the bondage of sin and under the abounding power of the grace of God, doesn't it, tonight? We find that we see our position, we see God's perception, but then lastly, by way of introduction, and the message is short, if we're ever going to understand justification, we've got to understand Christ's propitiation tonight. We've got to understand Christ's propitiation for us. Look with me in verse number eight, if you would. It says, but God commendeth his love toward us and that while we were, I love this word, yet sinners, Christ died for us. That means he loved us even when we didn't love him. Much more than being now justified by what? 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 then the end of verse number 11 tells us that it's through Christ that we've now received the atonement. Notice the only way, how in the world, Brother Josh, could our position change? How in the world could God's perception of us ever change? Well, it was only by the blood of the Lamb of God. The only way that I could ever change who I was, and it wasn't even me that changed it, brother Ron, The only way that you and I could ever step out of our sin and step out of the first Adam and into that of the last Adam was only by the blood of Jesus Christ. The only way it could ever happen, it wasn't by the blood of goats and bulls. It wasn't by the law of Moses. It wasn't by the works of Elijah. It wasn't by the prophecies of Ezekiel. It wasn't by the preaching of John the Baptist. It was not even by the works of Christ. in His earthly ministry, but it was only by the blood of the precious Lamb of God. Is there anybody that can agree for a minute? I'm glad there was a day where the blood of Christ was placed on my life and it changed everything about who I was. It changed everything about where we were and what we were only by the blood of Jesus Christ tonight. Had Christ not gave His life on Calvary, we'd all still be without strength, on the wrong side, wicked in our sin, and we'd still be with the first Adam. But through the sprinkling of His blood at the throne of God, we now stepped out of the first Adam into the last Adam, and now by His blood I'm justified. I am now been justified by the blood of Christ. Now understand that in order for us to be justified by the blood of Christ, it wasn't just that he had to be sinless, Brother Johnny. It wasn't just that he had to be perfect, it was the fact that he had to come to this world. And he had to suffer at all points like we suffer. Had to endure everything that we would endure. He was tempted at all points, Brother Jeff. He felt the pull of Satan on His flesh. He had to face everything that we would have to face. He wept. He cried. He got hungry. He got tired. I mean, He had everything that we had. Yet, He still had to choose that day at the Garden of Gethsemane that He would say, Nevertheless, not My will, but Thine, O Lord. And He still took our place at Calvary. You know what had to happen in order for Him to die for us and be our sacrifice, the sacrifice for our sin? The curse of sin had to touch the Son of God. The curse of sin had to touch Christ in order for Him to be able to change who we were. Somebody, just like it said, it didn't say by one God, it said by one man. Christ was 100%, He was all God and He was all man. He is the God-man. And in His humanity, and in His deity, He had to come, and He had to suffer, and He had to die, because God alone was not going to do it. But Christ had to be like us, but He had to be like God. And He came down to this world, and the curse of sin had to touch the Christ. And when the curse touched the Christ, Jesus freely gave His life, Brother Delbert, and that's what changed our lives tonight. I wonder how much it would really change us. Listen, this is all basic stuff. I understand that if I preached this at any other church, they'd be like, wow, you have broke such bread. You have really taught us something, Brother Blake. But we just happen to go to the same church that for whatever reason, Brother Jason Sparks and Jeff Snyder both go here so I can make up something and y'all have still heard it before. But I understand that if we would ever grasp how great this really is, it would change how we live our lives. I understand that you say, well, he's preaching out of Romans 5 on the blood of Christ. I've heard this one before. But the truth is, if we would ever get a hold of how great and how special and how powerful our salvation experience really was, it would change how we live. We wouldn't have to preach a message on how to be the best father you can be to all the fathers in the room. You would just be the best father because you know what your price is. It would change how every mother, every father, every child, every teenager, every preacher, every member of this church would live different if we would ever grasp how great of a salvation we've got. If we'd ever realized all that Christ had to go through for us, it would change how we lived our lives. I want to preach on this thought for just a few more minutes, and I'll be done when the curse touched the Christ. When the curse touched the Christ. I want to show you three different moments that the curse of sin touched Christ that we see in Scripture. And I believe if we'd look at them, it would change somehow how we live our lives. I'll give them to you quick. and I'll be done tonight. First notice with me that we must see the pressure that Christ faced. We see the pressure Christ faced tonight. Look with me if you would in verse number 2 of chapter number 5. Notice what it says. It says, By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice. Notice that word. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Skip down to verse number 11 again. It says, And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement tonight. We find that Paul tells us that this salvation ought to change how we worship tonight. Can I ask you, for those of you that did participate in the worship part of the service tonight, why did you worship? Did you worship because we sang a hymn that you liked or a song that you liked or were you worshiping enjoying in the fact that Jesus' blood was shed for your life? Honestly, that's what it all ought to boil down to. That's why we ought to shout. I get in the rut and I'll preach, travel as an evangelist. It's my job. I preach salvation. That's what my heart is. You can ask Brother John. That's what we pray for, souls to be saved. Not trying to go around and even stir up revival. My heart is that sinners will come to know Christ as their Savior. And I get embarrassed almost at times, Brother Josh, because it seems like all I preach on is Christ being crucified in every single message. And then it clicked that that's kind of what we're supposed to do, Brother Blake. We ain't got to just preach Jesus. There's a whole Bible. But the gospel of Christ ought to be preached every time we mount the pulpit. That's what we're called to do. And that's why we ought to worship tonight. Worship shouldn't be about the blessing you've got. I understand that back in them psalmist days, but go look in the Old Testament, God's blessings were showed through financial blessings. They had things in their life. That ain't why we worship nowadays. I can thank God for all I've got, but that's not why I worship. I worship because of the fact that Jesus died for a worthless, garbage sinner like me tonight. We find that Paul says we ought to joy in it. you get to looking at Christ and yet, you know what you find is that Christ endured the worst of the worst and yet still had joy in His life. In fact, I got to thinking about the pressure that Christ had to face. When we survey the curse of sin, notice what one of the very first curses given on the first Adam was in Genesis chapter 3. You ain't got to flip back there. We'll be there for the majority of the message. But Genesis chapter 3 and verse number 19 said this, In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground, for out of it wast thou taken, for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Notice that one of the curses of sin, when man sinned in the Garden of Eden, one of the first sins that God placed on Adam was probably my least favorite of them all. Brother Blake, I'd rather die than sweat any more than I'm already sweating. He looked at Adam and he said, because of what you did, you will sweat while you work, is what he says. Because, you understand, sweat is one of the curses of sin. We find they never would have sweat. They didn't have to work in the Garden of Eden. But now we find that man would sweat signifying the pressure of the work that he had to do. He was working out in the garden. He was working out in the heat. The pressure of his work weighed on his physical body and it caused him to sweat. That sweat would pour out trying to cool off his body because his body is overheating, Brother Delbert. Sweat was one of the curses of sin that signifies the pressure of Adam's work in the garden. Then notice when the curse touched the Christ. The Bible says over in the book of Luke chapter number 22 and verse 41, And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down and prayed, saying, Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from me, nevertheless not my will, but Thine be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly. Notice this, and it's the first time and the only time it's ever mentioned that Christ sweat. And his sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Notice when the curse touched the Christ, Christ is in the garden just like the first Adam was. The first Adam would go in the garden, he'd work, and the pressure of his work would cause him to sweat. And now here we find the last Adam in the garden, fixing to go and do the work that his father said had to be done. And the pressure of his work begins to weigh on him. And all of a sudden that sweat begins to pour out as drops of blood as they run down to the ground. Brother Johnny, and he understands everything that he's fixing to walk into when he leaves the Garden of Gethsemane. And yet, he had such joy to do the will of his father, Brother Blake, that he said, Lord, if it be Your will, let it pass. But nevertheless, not my will, thine, O Lord. And yet when the pressure of His work was weighing on Him, He still decided it'd be better to be in the will of His Father than to do whatever will of man that He might have had pulling Him from Satan. tonight understand that Christ felt the pressure He's fixing to walk to Calvary and literally be crucified and gutted for you and I. And yet, Christ still said with joy in His heart, something like, Father, if it's for them, I'll walk to the end of the earth. I'll go all the way up, Calvary. And do you see Christ like I see Him? As that blood that would redeem all of mankind begins to run down His face. As Judas would kiss the very cheek where the blood would have been. Could it be that Judas went to hell with the blood of Christ on his lips, brother Josh? But yet Jesus said, it's better to be in the will of the Father than to be in the will of the world. Can I ask you this tonight? When we realized when the curse touched the Christ, and we realized all the pressure that he faced, and yet he still decided he'd be in the will of God, what's your excuse for not being in the will of God tonight? Christ knew everything coming down the pipe for him, Brother Delbert, and yet, though he was pushed to the absolute break and limits of his physical form, he still decided that he'd rather be in his Father's will. So what's the reason you ain't in your Father's will tonight? I mean, I understand you say, well, but preacher, it's just you don't understand how hard it is working a job, raising kids and having a marriage and living in a home and having bills to pay and then still trying to serve God and be at soul winning whenever everybody else goes and be at men's prayer when everybody else is there and show up for every single service. It's just it's hard if I'm just being honest. But the pressure that you face ain't near as bad as the pressure Christ face. And yet he was still in the will of his father. So what's the excuse for why you won't lay down the sin in your life tonight? I mean really, Christ laid down His very life to redeem us from sin. And yet we'll still mess around and have a drink every now and then, and we'll still mess around and do whatever in the world we want to do, and look at whatever we want to look at, and listen to whatever we want to listen to, and talk about people, and do whatever we want to do tonight. But the joy is, if we had ever realized the moment that the curse touched the Christ, it'd change how we live. We would decide we want to be in the will of our Father tonight. It'd be good if we had some Christians at Grace. We preached just the other night about, I don't want to be a mister almost, I want to be in the will of God. It'd be good if some of us would ever realize, hey, if He went and stayed in the will of the Father for me, I can stay in the will of God for Him, for Christ's sake tonight. Notice we see the pressure Christ faced, but then secondly, notice with me, we see the pain that Christ felt tonight. We see the pain that Christ felt. Look with me in verse 3. It says, not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience. Don't you agree with that tonight? Tribulation works patience. If you don't know anything about that, if you've ever drove on the interstate with an Ohio driver in front of you, you understand that tribulation either works patience, Brother Delbert, or it works up a whole lot of carnality. Nah, Brother Jeff, I ain't learned my lesson of patience yet. But notice he says, 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. Notice what it said. It said that we glory, we just read it earlier about we ought to have joy and rejoice in the fact that Christ died for us. But it says that we can glory in tribulations also. That somehow in the midst of suffering we can still give God glory and we can still even, not more than that, we can actually glorify God. We can worship tonight in the midst of tribulations. And we find that Paul says because it's all working to something better. It's working and trying to push you to hope. I preached here just a couple of weeks ago on what is hope in the Bible. Hope is not a feeling. Hope is a person. It's pushing us to be more like Christ. It's what I believe Paul is trying to say with Delbert. It's growing us as a child of God. Notice it says that we can have glory in the tribulations during the midst of our suffering. Can anybody say amen if you've ever suffered before in your life? I'd say all of us could probably agree some of y'all's lips are super glued shut tonight and that's alright but at least nod your head or wink at me or do something so I know you're still breathing. I was about to do CPR, Brother Jaws. I understand, I think I said it Thursday night, if only church pews could shout and stained glass could talk like that song, Brother Delpert. I understand that all of us more than likely have suffered. Whether it's for Christ or we suffer because of chastisement, we've all probably suffered somewhere in our lives. We've suffered mentally with grief or anxiety or depression, or we've suffered physically with health ailments, or we've suffered in our families and some things that have happened. We've all suffered tonight somewhere along the line. You understand that's one of the curses of sin. The Bible says in Genesis 3, verse 17, unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it, it is cursed, and cursed is the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Notice this, thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. And I ain't got time to read it, but even when he places the curse on the woman, he talks about the travail of childbirth, that we now feel pain because of the fact that Adam sinned in the garden of Eden. I'm saying before we get too spiritual, we all would have done the same thing Adam did, Brother Delbert. We would have messed up just as bad. Only difference is, we probably would have done it a whole lot sooner than what they did. Understand that we would have been in the same boat. We try and say, well, I blame Adam and Eve. No, no, no, no. We all would have done the same thing tonight. Understand that we never would have suffered, whether it's in the mind or in the body or in the family, we never would have suffered had it not been for that curse of sin. Notice the curse of sin. It's not just suffering, but it says that thorns and thistles shall it bring forth. Notice we find as Christ went and accepted and went to Calvary, he was beaten, smitten, suffered. And you remember what he wore? He wore a crown of thorns. There's the curse again. Notice what the Bible says in John 19 in verse 1, Then Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns and put it on His head. And they put on Him a purple robe and said, Hail, King of the Jews. And they smote Him with their hands. Skip down, it says in verse 5, Then came Jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns. and the purple robe. And Pilate said unto them, Behold the man. When the chief priest therefore an officer saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him and crucify him, for I find no fault in him tonight. Notice we find that when Christ went up to Calvary, he didn't just suffer pain, but notice that curse touched the Christ one more time, Brother Josh, as the soldiers made him a crown of thorns, big long thorns, and they beat him into his brow, and they pierced and ripped the flesh from his head. Could you imagine? the pain that Christ felt, the angst in His mind and in His body as they whipped Him and they beat Him and they mocked Him and they stripped Him naked and they laughed at Him. You know what bothers me is that I could preach a whole message on the suffering of Christ and some of us wouldn't even bat an eye about it because we've gotten used to hearing the story. Put yourself there and understand that had you been there, it says they all yelled crucify. You would have yelled the same thing. Brother Jeff, had you and I been there, we wouldn't have been saying, no, don't do it. We'd have been saying, crucify, crucify, crucify. It was, I love, I think it's that how deep the Father's love. It says, ashamed, I hear my mocking voice cry out among the scoffers. It was us that hung Him to the Calvary. It was my sin that held Him there. And yet Christ went through all of that pain because He realized there was glory on the other side of Calvary. I can see as Christ might have been walking up Golgotha, but His eyes were already on me. And His eyes were already on you as they beat the crown of thorns in His brow. A perfect picture of the curse of sin and the pain of man as it was placed on His brow. It's a perfect picture just like the ram that Abraham saw on Mount Moriah. It had thorns that it was stuck in. Perfect picture of Christ as Christ stepped in and He saved our life. For we were about to be slew for the sins of mankind. I was going to die, but yet Christ for the glory. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number 2 says, Looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him which endured such contradiction of sinners, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. The writer of Hebrews says if we're going to run the race in verse 1, he says then we ought to watch all that Christ endured that we might be able to be here today. Them thorns touched Christ. Notice, do you remember what Paul says it is that we suffer with tonight? Remember, Christ was touched with the thorns, a perfect picture of that curse of sin from Genesis 3. But Paul said it like this in 2 Corinthians 12. He said, Of such a one will I glory, yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. The same thing Paul's saying in verse 3, but with glory in tribulations. Notice what Paul says. For though I would desire the glory, I shall not be a fool, for I will say the truth. But now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me. And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh tonight. The messenger of Satan debuffeth me lest I should be exalted above measure. He says that phrase in verse number 9. My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ, that's the power to see souls saved, may rest upon me tonight. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses. Why? For Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong tonight. Notice Christ took a thorn that He might be able to redeem us, and yet we'll complain and whine about every thorn that we face tonight. Understand that don't you think if Christ could take on the thorns of all of mankind for us, we can handle some type of thorn for Him tonight? We might not like it, we might not enjoy it. It might be mental, it might be physical. And how dare we ever look down on one that suffers with the opposite one of what we suffer with. There's some that never will suffer with something mental, and yet I would. Or there's some that would suffer with something physical, and I wouldn't. And it's not us to decide which one's a thorn and which one's just somebody being a wimp tonight. No, no, no, no. We've all got, if we're really trying to live for Christ, you'll have a thorn somewhere along the line. Notice here's the difference. It's not just enough to continue with the thorn. We've got to glory in the thorn tonight. It's not just enough to say, well, I'll be a super Christian and just keep coming to church. That's great. But what we ought to do is come in and say, Lord, I don't really care about the thorn that's in my flesh, because you took all of the thorns of sin for me, and you're still worthy of my glory tonight. Say whether it's physical, whether it's mental, whether it's in your family, or it's financial, whatever it may be, Brother Delpert, Christ is still worth giving glory to, regardless of the thorns we've got in our lives tonight. No matter what happens in your life, Christ will always be worthy of glory. He will always be worth serving with everything we've got. Would to God we'd have some Christians like we used to have. I think all the time, about Ms. Mary Lou and about Ms. Barb Thews and about Ms. Wanda Cummings, Christians like that, that had those thorns in their life, and it wasn't just enough for them to come, but they were still happy about being here. You didn't walk up and talk to them, and Ms. Barb, I never heard Ms. Barb say, I'd say, how you doing? And Ms. Trish, I'd never hear her say, well, to be honest, life's terrible. She'd just smile and say that God's still good. What to God we'd have some like that crowd that would say I don't care about what I'm suffering with. I came to give God glory tonight. He's worthy of worship. We're out of glory in our tribulations tonight. He's worthy of our praise in the midst of the thorn. But lastly, and I'll be done, we see the pressure Christ faced. We see the pain that Christ felt. Then lastly, notice, we see the price that Christ forfeited tonight. We see the price that Christ forfeited. I've been preaching 34 minutes. I'm almost done, I promise. Look with me in verse number 10. It says, for if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by, notice this word, the death of His Son. Doesn't say we were reconciled by anything else outside of the death of His, capital S, Son. Much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life tonight. Notice, it was Christ's death that reconciled me on the cross, but it was Christ's life that saved me tonight. Paul said, if all we have was Christ crucified, we're of all men most miserable. We would have reconciliation, but no one to believe on to be able to receive it tonight. Through Christ's death, the debt of sin was wiped clean, Brother Delbert, but through his resurrection and through his life, I'm now saved. I believe on the fact that he's still living tonight. Notice we find it says that, in order for us to be reconciled, that's taking the hand of God and the hand of us and bringing us together. As Lorne comes, I'm almost done. Notice, in order for us to be reconciled, Christ had to pay the ultimate price. He had to die. Notice what the biggest curse of sin was in Genesis 3, 19. It says, In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return to the ground. For out of it was thou taken for dust, thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return, dealing with death tonight. Remember what the Bible said. It said the wages of sin is death tonight. Notice, it's telling you and I that the only way that the price of sin could be paid is through death tonight. That the price of sin was blood of mankind. Notice Christ had to die that we would be able to live tonight. In order for us to be reconciled, Christ's death had to take place. By one man's sin entered into the world, by one man, death. His obedience to God, dying at the cross, is what brought us life tonight. Look at it as its opposites. Because Christ died, Brother Gilbert, I'm now finally alive. I was born dead in my sin. In fact, actually Paul said I was alive once, but then the law came, sin revived, and I died. There was a time I realized I was a sinner. That's what we call the age of accountability. I realized I was lost, and I was dead in trespasses and sins. Then I heard about one that died in my place and resurrected. And I got to live in Philippians chapter 1, I think verse 10, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection. And that power saved my life. And now, because he died, I live. Because He resurrected, I'll resurrect one day. All three parts of my body, my trinity, my flesh, my spirit, and my soul one day will be united in heaven. When I die, my spirit goes to the Father because I'm saved. My soul goes to heaven. And one day at the resurrection of the dead, my body will meet us up here. I don't know why we'll need it, Brother Jeff, but it'll be there. All of me will be in glory tonight. It's through His death that I now might have life. So I'm going to ask you this. It's one of the oldest statements we could ever hear. As if Christ could die for us, why in the world couldn't we live for Him tomorrow? If Christ gave His life for us, Brother Daniel, why in the world could we not live for Him? What is our excuse that we can't live our life in the perfect, pure will of God if He died for us tomorrow? I think it's Brother Travis Kerlock, he says that his statement that he says all the time is live a life worth Christ dying for tonight. I'll be honest, I'll never be able to match up to that. Brother Blake, I'll never be worthy of Christ dying, but it sure would be worth it to give a shot, Brother Delbert, to live as much like Christ as I can. In fact, did you know that your life isn't even yours anymore? The moment you got saved, this is what the Bible says. 2 Corinthians 5 and 15. One of my favorite verses I've been studying this year. It says, and that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto them which died for them and rose again tonight. Your life ain't even your life, brothers and sisters. It's not my life to choose what I want to do. Because the moment I got saved, and the moment I believed on the fact that Jesus died for me, all of a sudden it wasn't about living however I wanted to live. It wasn't about living how my mom or daddy wanted me to live. But it was all about doing everything unto Christ's life. Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do all to the glory of Jesus Christ tonight. Now take that verse and compare your life and tell me if you're living it tonight. When I compare and survey what I do and what brings Christ's glory, I fall short every single time, Brother George. Nevertheless, the curse touched the Christ so that I could be alive. Had he not died, Christ should have just sent us all to hell. God should have sent us all to hell and just been done with it, and started over or just left it with the angels and the seraphims. Yet He loved us enough, Brother Johnny, that Christ took on the curse of sin, died for us, suffered the pain, felt the pressure, faced it all, and died for us so that we could live for Him today, Tom. The truth is, when's the last time you can really say you live for Christ? Cut out at whatever you're counting. Cut out reading your Bible because it doesn't really count as a sacrifice if you were supposed to do it in the first place. Cut out praying. Cut out being faithful to three services a week. Now beyond that, what have you done for Christ in your life tonight? What have you done outside of half our prayers are normally selfish asking Christ to do something for us? When's the last time you really think you truly lived for Christ tonight? I'm talking about when's the last time you personally evangelized? When's the last time you fasted and begged God? When's the last time you lived as wholly as you possibly could tonight? If we cut out our church attendance, the truth is many of us live like the average carnal lost person. There ain't nothing Christian about us at all. When's the last time you've lived a life worth Christ's time? Heads are bowed, eyes are closed. I'm done. I'll ask you this and I'll be finished. Maybe in here you'd be honest with me. All I preached tonight wasn't the gospel, honestly. I preached that Christ died. He was buried and He was resurrected and seen of men. And I ask you this, if you'd be honest with me, nobody's looking around, but just be real tonight. How much longer will you, maybe some of you might be playing the game, maybe some of you might not even have ever realized your laws, but I wonder tonight, how much more will it take for Christ to convince you that He gave His life for you and it's a free gift? I ask you, maybe you'd be honest with me and say, preacher, nobody's looking around, but I wanted to ask you if you'd pray for me. Don't know that I'm saved. Preacher, pray for me. I'm not positive whether I'm lost.