For now, I would like you to go to the letter of 1 John and chapter 3. I want to encourage you today. That is my goal, and I think that encouragement should start with truths from the Word of God. A couple of years ago, I was challenged quite consistently on 1 John, and there were a lot of things that were being used in this book to make it seem like we as believers are encouraged by the apostle John's writing here, to make sure that we're saved by a series of tests. And that's not the theme of the book. The theme of the book is based off of what Jesus first modeled to the disciples in John chapter 13. One of the things, as a man who is born again, as somebody who has a responsibility to lead with biblical discernment, and as a husband and now as a father, that I hold very near and dear is the fact that everything that I have been asked to do in this Christian life has been modeled for me by Jesus. God is not asking me to do anything that he did not first do. I remember in Bible College, in John chapter 13, when we got to that portion, how significant the demonstration was by Jesus about servant leadership. Jesus, as you know in John 13, washes the feet of the disciples. This is not something that someone of Jesus' stature or power and authority should ever do. This is the role of a servant. But Jesus was teaching what he would go on to explain in John chapter 15 and in 16 to his disciples just moments before he would go to the cross. And the example that he was setting is, that's good that you've believed on me. That's a good thing. You're already set apart for that. But now I want you to go and serve. He does not paint this picture of the higher you go up in the system, the higher that you rank in spirituality, the more that people should serve you. The more that we grow, the more humble we should become. That allows God to work through us. It removes you and I out of the equation. I have a little bit of a fear of that word equation and other words like math, addition, subtraction, percentage. You know, things like that scare me. I don't like that, you know, so I don't want to hear about it. I'm just kidding. But when I think of that phrase, removing myself from the equation, I see the Christian life. And I see it modeled in Jesus Christ. When he washes the feet of the disciples, he demonstrates how the disciples are going to serve one another and serve others. And that's exactly what they did. Now, they spoke after the Lord ascended and the Holy Spirit came down. They spoke with great power and with great authority. but they still demonstrated servant leadership. It wasn't until the book of Acts chapter 6 that there was actually a change now. There was a lot of ministry being done in the church in Jerusalem there, and they needed to assign some people to take care of the widows. That was a good thing. That's something that needed to be done. And the apostles said, we're going to maintain to teaching God's word and prayer. We want you to minister to the areas of the church. And so you have the office of a deacon that comes into play. Nothing about that office of a deacon or the office of an elder changes anything about servant leadership. As a matter of fact, the men that are placed in those positions should be an example of servant leadership. When we have deacons and elders here at Calvary Community Church, these are not the untouchables. These are not the ones who are above any reproach. These are not the ones that we just blindly follow and respect. They actually serve. they're actually supposed to serve in the body. That's one of the things I love about events like we did yesterday. Everybody was doing something for somebody else. We're walking around getting things done, and we're just making sure that little fires are being put out here and there, and everything went well. And what you get at the end is an event that is focused on our community, focused on serving people. That model of servant leadership is something that we have to hold onto as we grow in our Christian life. We should never have a position of ourselves, well, I'm really somebody, I'm really somebody worth listening to. Well, people are just so blessed to hear what I have to say. You got a full stop on that. When that attitude comes in, you have pride 100% of the time. In the book of 1 John chapter 3, is where we are to start our study this morning, we see a wonderful declaration of the love that God has showed us, of the progressive sanctification of the believer, and the guaranteed glorification that one day, regardless of how it goes here on the earth, we will see Jesus. I know it's early and you're not awake yet. I get that. No, I'm just kidding. But folks, these three verses are fantastic. Look at what this says. Behold. When you hear the word behold, that's modern day for, hey, look over here. Look, listen. what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. That is where you are now. If you're here this morning and you say, I have believed that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, that his shed blood, his death, burial, and resurrection paid for my sin, the manner of love that has been bestowed upon you is you are now a part of the family. You're not somebody that comes in and provides goods and services from another company and you're just there enjoying the party. You're in the family. You get a part of this inheritance. The apostle calls that, look at the words there, love. What manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us. What is that love? How is it defined? We're sons of God. We're children now. Romans chapter eight describes it as joint heirs. We're not infringing upon something. This is not God winking and saying, don't worry, I got you. This is the blood of Jesus has been applied to our account and so now we are fully justified before him. We are positionally found in his son. Look at what this says. Therefore, in light of this great, wonderful love that has been given to us from God, the world knoweth us not. It shouldn't be a strange thing to become an outcast in our world. This is a part of the process. This is a part of being sanctified. We are set apart for a purpose now. The world is gonna reject us. You know, one of the things that I really thoroughly enjoyed in watching all the political stuff that was going on this week was there was one guy, nay, actually two, that actually got up there and prayed a prayer and used the name above all names. I want you to pay attention to that just when people pray on the internet or on big forums and stuff. Most of the time they use God, they use Father, those terms are all good. Very rarely do you see people use the name of Jesus Christ, because you bring that name in and you're causing division. And guess what? That's not on us. I'm going to say his name. I'm going to speak his name, because his name is the one that everybody's going to confess. Amen? I'm going to go ahead and just get ahead of the eight ball, you know what I'm saying? Yes. And that was very encouraging. But I also want you to see the perspective of our nation, the perspective of our world, Not after the first man who got up there and spoke at the Republican National Convention, he gave a prayer, he used Jesus' name, 40 seconds later, somebody else walks in there and then prays a prayer in an unknown tongue to the one true God, Waragu. That just went through. Now look, I'm not trying to stir you up and get you all angry and stuff, but this is what it means by the end of this phrase. Look at the end of this phrase. The world knoweth us not. The world looks at Jesus as just another option. All roads lead to heaven. But Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Now he either said that and he lied, or he said that and he meant it. And this is the proof of the resurrection. And people will say, that's insensitive. Don't, come on, just stop causing division. The truth only causes division if you choose not to believe it. That's where the problem is. Look at what this says in verse two. Beloved, so behold, beloved, now are we the sons of God. There's no part of your Christian life right now in which you're trying to prove something that's already been done, amen? This is what you hold on to right now. And you take phrases like in John chapter 10, I give unto them eternal life, they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. This is a position that is not secured by your good works. It is already declared done because Christ died, amen? Now we are the sons of God, but pay attention here, please. And it doth not yet appear what we shall be. What does this mean? We have old, stinky, dirty, rotten, sinful flesh nature with us this morning. All of you brought it in, gross. Ew. We all have a sinful nature. I thank God that I'm not gonna go to heaven like this for many reasons. But I know I have sin in my life. There are things that can happen to me spontaneously and I will react in my flesh. How many of you have driven down Hillsborough Avenue recently? Hello. Even things that happen in our world, in our workspaces, in our families. You know, psychology calls it triggers, I get all of that, but folks, there are some things where we're undisciplined in the things that we say, the places that we go, what we allow into our minds. There has yet to be seen the perfect Christian. You have not met them. And you say, how do I meet one? May I be very blunt with you this morning? Die. Right? You want to see perfection. You got to get rid of this old sinful nature. That's why I'm so glad when I get to heaven, I'm going to get something brand new. A lot of people want to theorize on what it is. I don't care what it is. I just know I'm getting it. I want you to pay attention to the way that the Apostle John is phrasing this. It doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know, that's a very important phrase. He's not saying, I hope that you finish well, if everything, you know, if everything goes right. No, no, we know that when he shall appear, this is a guarantee that Christ is coming back, amen, we shall, two things, be like him and we'll see him as he is. What does that tell you? that in this life that you are living right now, you have a hope and a guarantee that you're not only gonna see Jesus, you're gonna be like Jesus, amen? You're not excited. I understand. We have a hope that passes any kind of guarantee here on the earth. There's so much going on in our country right now with prognosticating and polling and guessing and all that, folks. I'm not looking at the numbers to see, oh boy, am I gonna make it in? Let me check the most recent polling in the anger management part of my life. Oh, it's not looking good, I gotta get some points back. I'm not looking for any of that. I'm looking for Jesus, because I'm already found in him. Now, verse three, and every man that hath this hope, if you're a believer today, you've walked in here and you've already put your trust in Christ, this is you. Every, it doesn't say what condition, it doesn't say, well, everyone that goes to church, don't you know? No. Every man that hath this hope, the guarantee that you're a child of God, that you're a son of God, that you are in a progressive sanctification process, that you're gonna see Christ and he's gonna see you, you're gonna be like him, everyone that hath this hope, which is all found in the gospel, in him purifieth himself. There is a responsibility for you to walk in your spirit nature and deny the lust of the flesh. That's something that is expected. We've got a version of Christianity out there that is so milquetoast, so weak, that people are afraid of actually doing anything. Well, don't put a burden on me. It's not a burden to joyfully serve the Lord. You wanna find out how you put a burden on yourself? Make yourself the center of it all. Oh, I'm really somebody. Here we are, week 32, and I'm, snap, church brother. I did it. Somebody check the box. I'll be here in week 33 too. There's a lot of Christians that live that way, that think going to church, giving money, living a righteous life, they do all that for their own self edification. The instruction here is, every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure. Then you get down to verse nine. Look at verse nine please. Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God." What this means is, if you're born of God, you have a brand new sinful nature that does not commit, that word there in the Greek is not one single act of sin. There are modern translations out there today, and folks, I'm not on the conspiracy theory, I'm telling you how it is, that change that to practice. That's a big difference. Because you and I practice sin. Why? Because you're a sinner. But there's a nature inside of us, born again, that does not commit one single act of sin. And we've got to choose to walk in that nature. And some people say, well, then that means you're putting me back under the law. You're putting me back under some type of burden, this really, really hard thing. No, no. Can I give you honest today? Since I've started understanding walking in the Spirit, reading the Bible, learning to love, learning to be humble, I have not thought about the law once. Because naturally, as I obey what the scripture says, I'm not gonna go do those things. Lord, I love you, but I hate my neighbor. I really do. Lord, I love you. You think Jesus is going, well, good. Lord, I love you, but I like bearing false witness too. It's silly to think that as we walk in this new life, this new nature that we have, that there's no responsibility that comes with it. I've come up with these three words here, they're not brand new, but as a focus, realignment for what we're doing and why we're doing it. We're right in the middle of the year. Six months ago, many of us sat down and made a lot of plans and promises and we thought, okay, gonna do this, not gonna do this. All right, how's it going? All right. Not saying that to discourage you, but I think sometimes we can get busy and things start happening and we forget why we are doing what we're doing. So I've got three words that I want to focus on this morning. Fixed, faithful, and fearless. And as we're getting ready to go into today, okay, I'm not talking about the next six months or six years, as we're getting ready to finish well today, Let's keep in mind these three things. I want you to go to Hebrews chapter 12, please. Join me in Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12, page 1303 in the Schofield Study Bible. If you need a Bible, there's one located in front of you. Hebrews chapter 12 follows Hebrews chapter 11. I know, right? This guy's educated. I say that for a reason, okay? Because there's a lot of demonstration there of people working out their faith. And not to prove that they're saved, but putting their faith to use. You've got a bunch of examples. You've got Joshua in Israel, you've got Joseph, Moses, and his parents, all these different things. In Christianity, it's been coined the Hall of Faith. After that, in Hebrews chapter 12, we have a very good set of encouragement for how we can demonstrate faith similar to theirs. Look in verse 1. Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." A couple of takeaways here. We have a responsibility to lay aside anything that is burdening us, stopping us, slowing us down from finishing this race well. That's an active part of our Christian life. The sin which doth so easily beset us. It happens pretty easy, right? We can get into certain places in certain situations, and all of a sudden, we're doing that same old thing that's not working anything good. And let us run with patience the race that is set before us. So here's what people say. They go, okay, I gotta go back to this rigid Christian life. I just gotta be so meticulous with everything that I say and everything that I do, and I just have to be this dictator in my life, and I've just gotta get ahold of it and get, no, folks, look at verse two. And this may sound all free and easygoing and all of that, but look at the simplicity in the Christian life. Looking unto Jesus. That's where our eyes should be fixed. Hence my first point. The author and finisher of our faith. There are other translations that have taken that phrase there and defined it as pioneer or captain. It's similar to what was used in Hebrews 2. the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. The work is done. Jesus is seated because it's all finished. So now we who are still running our race here, we need to look at the one who's already finished it, who's already done it well. 4, consider, verse 3, him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself. When I read this, I'm not saying this is a correct cross-reference, but I see the religious system of Israel in Christ's time. They came against him hotly. What did they say? Oh, he speaks as one that has great power and authority, but he eats with the publicans and the sinners and the prostitutes. No self-respecting prophet would do such a thing. That is exactly what somebody would do who wants to reach people. James rebukes the believers in the church of Jerusalem. He says, you have partiality. You give empty phrases with zero action. He gives the illustration of a man coming to the door and saying, I'm cold and I need food. And the equivalent of what was happening in the church of Jerusalem was be warmed and filled as if those words would become food and shelter. And then they turn away not doing anything for the man. He commends them that they keep some parts of the law because they were thinking that's something that really mattered. But he says, you got to keep all of them. If you offend in one, you've broken them all. And then in chapter two, he talks about the significance that at the judgment seat of Christ, where all believers will be, we will not be able to stand up there and say, I believed on Jesus, and escape the judgment of our works. Hence the phrase faith without works is dead, it's profitless. Doesn't mean you're not saved, but it means you can't just simply use that as an excuse when your wood, hay, and stubble is burned up. The contradiction of sinners against himself. And why are we instructed to point, why is that pointed out to us in verse three? Look at what this says. Lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. It is so easy because of our sinful nature to become discouraged. To see our country take no steps forward and 8,000 back. To see our school systems put ideology before education. We can really just look at it and say, you know what? I'm not getting any support. I'm not getting any encouragement from my church, no encouragement from my family. You're looking unto men. Please heed verse two. Looking unto Jesus, the pioneer, the author, finisher, the captain of our faith. Eyes fixed on him. Four things stick out to me in this verse here, this passage. I look to Jesus because he endured the cross for me. I look to Jesus because his work for my sin is finished. I look to Jesus because I have a race to patiently run. As a big man, I like anything that has to do with patiently running. I like that. If the Christian life was a sprint, might have some injury, you know? But that's how a lot of people start. You might be here today and that's your story. You started off like hot out of the gate, but you didn't maintain pace. You didn't keep your eyes on Jesus. You started looking at the scoreboard saying, look at me, I'm really making progress. And you burned out. That's not keeping our eyes on Jesus. That's taking the mirror and putting it on ourselves and saying, wow, what a person. And finally, I look to Jesus because He ran the race before me with sinless perfection. 2 Timothy 2, please. So a reminder to fix your eyes on Christ. 2 Timothy 2, page 1280. Paul is writing here to the young man that is going to take his place. He's given all types of encouragement. And don't be mistaken, these things that are written are not just for the profitability of those who go into ministry. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. There are things that you can apply from these 10 verses to your life, and I've taken three of those things out as an illustration for you. First, here's the exhortation, the charge, in verse 1 of 2 Timothy 2. Thou therefore, my son, be strong in your own perseverance. Grit those teeth. No. Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. This is so foreign to our culture. When you see epic movies and just any kind of entertainment, it's always the hero that just pushes against everything and his story arc and his climax is about revenge and doing what is right because that's what's right and they're willing to sacrifice fortune and security to get all of that. The thrust of why we do what we do is because we have been given grace. Grace that is in Christ Jesus. Verse two, and the things that thou hast heard of me, this shows me that Timothy was under Paul's teaching, among many witnesses, the same, now you, Timothy, commit thou to faithful men, find others who shall be able to teach others also. There's a model here of teaching. There's a model here of not being a forgetful hearer, but a doer, as James 1 tells us. This is expected. This is not Paul going, look, if you have time. No, he's saying, make the time. This is what you're supposed to do. Thou therefore, so in light of this charge to go and teach what has been taught to him, in light of that charge, we now have encouragement. and a command, therefore endure hardness. I'm sure all of us have felt hardness. We've felt coldness. We've felt rejection, opposition. It's almost like a wall comes up in some people's minds and they won't even go any further than what you've just introduced. Endure it. Remember, fixed, the eyes fixed on Christ. He endured it as well. Think of the mocking that happened at the cross. The Pharisees who were born by birth, placed into the tribe of Levi to take care of those things of the temple. Those same Pharisees are looking at Jesus and say, just come off the cross and we'll believe you. The Roman soldiers, before he was put on the cross, they bagged our Savior's head, smote him, And mocked him saying, tell us who struck you. You want to know the depth of that picture? He knew every one of those men's names and their sin. And then went and paid for it. And the mouth was closed. He stumbled under the weight of that cross. Mocked, ridiculed, in shame he hung on that cross. They parted his garment and cast lots on it. You think, well, that's the only possession he had. That purple robe he had was given to him at his faux trial as a mockery that he is the king. And they cut it up and gambled on it, cast lots on it, mocked him, ridiculed him. Three and a half years, or excuse me, three years there was an attempt to completely destroy Jesus. Yet he was faithful and obedient. He endured hardness. That's who you look to when you endure hardness. And I'm gonna be playing with us, folks. So far in this country, no one's seeking to nail Christians to the cross. They're trying to take away our voice. I get that. But Paul's encouragement to Timothy here is the same encouragement I now give to you. Endure hardness. And you say, how? Verse one, just as a reminder, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. I'm not trying to rally myself up, you know, psych myself out to do this Christian life. I'm just looking to Jesus. My prayer life sometimes is very simple and it's just this, Lord, give me strength, amen. and then I put one foot in front of the other, and I expect God to give me strength, and he has. He has. Well, that's not complex enough, brother. You gotta really petition, brother. No, I'm gonna just fall into Christ, and I'm gonna expect him to do what he said he's gonna do. So far, it's going all right. as a good, verse three, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that woreth and tangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet he is not crowned, except he strive lawfully, the husbandman that laboreth must be first partaker of the fruits. There are three examples there from Paul to Timothy as illustrations to be like this. Those three illustrations are summarized here. Verse number four, no man that woreth and tangleth himself with the affairs of this life, this is the single-mindedness of a soldier. This is what a military man should look like. When he's on the battlefield, he is not distracted. He is set on one goal, the objective and the fulfilling of that objective, period. Sure, he may have other thoughts, like his family, his future, his own well-being, but a trained soldier puts those aside and goes and fulfills the objective, even if it results in his death. That's somebody you want fighting for you. My faithfulness should model a soldier focused on the battle. By the way, the battle is to depend on God's grace through Christ and deny the lust of the flesh from our sin nature. And that is supposed to help Timothy go and teach, go and pass this along to others. The second illustration, verse five, and if a man also strive for masteries, yet he is not crowned, except he strive lawfully. We got the Olympics coming up, okay? I think you might be able to see the connection between the Olympics and strive lawfully. Do you know what I mean by that? There's a lot of people that go into the Olympics and they're working, but they're using things that are not allowed. You understand what I'm saying here? They're cheating. They're not going in honestly. They might be working just as hard as somebody else, but they have something that they're using to have an advantage over. That's not our goal. We're not supposed to cheat our way into service. My faithfulness, the second illustration here in verse five, my faithfulness should model an athlete training in purity and obedience. If you follow a lot of stuff that's going on with like training camp and all that stuff, and I'll be honest with you, I have not paid attention to it this year, but there's been times in years past where the star running back comes back, the man's been eating good. He doesn't look like he'll run through any line, maybe a buffet line. And that's the talk of the town. They're like, oh, running back, blah, blah, blah, put on X amount of pounds. He looks sluggish. He's still an athlete, but he's not striving well to attain the victory. Same thing for you and me. This is a comparison that Paul is giving to us as the athlete training impurity and obedience. And there's other, especially in baseball, one of my favorite sports, where people are ascending rapidly. They're just going up and up and up. Great contact, great exit velocity, lots of home runs. Oh, performance enhancing drugs. What happens to that person? Baseball, thankfully, is very rigid with their Hall of Fame process, and they say, we're going to bar anybody access into that Hall of Fame if you cheated. That happened a while ago with a team that won the World Series. They were proven to use things incorrectly. It disqualifies you. Why would we want to do anything in this Christian life that disqualifies us from running well? The third example, look at verse six. The husbandman that laboreth must be first partaker of the fruits. My faithfulness should model a farmer consistently sowing seed. You've got an illustration here of a good farmer, someone who partakes, that laboreth, he's got to first put the fruit in the ground. And if you know anything about farming, there's a lot that goes into that. You can plant incorrectly. You don't put the seed deep enough, the soil's not well, you don't guard against, not termites, I don't even know if that's a thing, but pests and herbicides, all that kind of stuff that can destroy the actual product later. The one who laboreth, he first has to be a partaker of that fruit, not that he eats it. This is that he put it in the ground when it was a little seed and no profitability. We need to be consistently sowing seeds. And then the last thing here, look at verse eight, or excuse me, verse seven. Consider what I say. You know what that means? Think. Timothy is expected to chew on these things, not just simply go, okay, got it, moving on. He's supposed to meditate on these things, dwell on them. And the Lord give thee understanding in all things. Timothy, if this is confusing, if this is hard, if this looks like a mountain that is hard to climb, given unto Jesus. The Lord will give you understanding in all things. Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel, wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound. Paul's saying we've got to remember why we're doing what we're doing. Jesus, seed of David, which is again a testimony to his rightful lineage to the throne, was raised from the dead according to the gospel. I, Paul, suffer trouble for that. And the way that he's viewed is he suffers trouble as someone who's doing evil. So don't be surprised if the same view comes down on you. There's a guy that I'm working with right now. I'm not gonna say his name. This man is breaking his code of ethics in sharing the gospel with people. And I met him a couple of weeks ago. And I'm sitting across from him. He's an educated guy. He presents himself well. But he said, I'd rather break my code of ethics than keep my mouth shut on the gospel. We need more men like that. We need more men who are willing to speak out. He's led people to the Lord. He's still doing what he's doing. He's leading people to the Lord. Endure hardness and he knows the day is coming where just it just takes a few and all that gets cut cut off But he's gonna do what he can while he can amen What's his encouragement, you know, he's gonna suffer He knows that this is something that is against what he's been taught to do in his line of work, but he's gonna stand for Jesus Therefore I'm sorry, verse nine. Paul's saying, I'm bound, I'm viewed as an evildoer, I'm even put in bonds, but the word of God is not bound. Don't you think it's interesting when people start using the name of Jesus, when people start reciting scripture and all of that, right now in our country the way it is, the first thing is to do is to physically restrain that person from speaking? Get that mouth shut. We don't wanna hear any more about that. Folks, you can't do that to the word of God. You can't. And I think that's something we need to remember. So speak it. Now don't go in there and do foolish things. Be wise in the way that you present the gospel. Be wise in the way that you approach people. We should do all things, speaking the truth in love. But folks, there is an expectation to speak. Therefore, I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. It is a faithful saying, for if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. Are we dead in Christ? No, we're not dead in Christ, we're alive. What are we dead to? The penalty of sin, amen? Romans six, why then would we put ourselves back under the servant mastery of sin, what? You've been freed from it. I know it's not the greatest illustration, but as a kid, I loved Aladdin. That Cave of Wonders was so amazing. My dad bought me a little Cave of Wonders. I wish I still had it, but that was so cool. But one of the things that just always gets me with that movie is Aladdin's final wish. He could use it for anything except the things he couldn't. He chose to free Genie. And I love that part where he's looking at those shackles and they come off. And I don't know, just when I think of who I am in Christ, that sin, I'm not bound to it. I have choices and options. I'm freed from it. Why? Because I have such great discipline? Because Christ died for my sins. And they're paid. My faithfulness should model Jesus' faithfulness in suffering hardships. My last point here, Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8, starting in verse 31. I grew up as a musician. I'm not going to say a professional musician because I wasn't that professional, but I took AP Music Theory. And one of the things that I absolutely love about symphonic orchestra and music writing is how talented these composers are. They can start something that just seems with a recurring theme or whatever it is, but with the adding of instruments, different flavors, so you would say, you get to the climax of the piece where you hear Conflict and then resolution, and you hear swelling percussion, and the brass section is strong, and the wind section is graceful, and the strings are just jumping everywhere. And if you listen to a piece of music from the beginning to the end, it tells a story. It's composed together. And if you've ever seen a philharmonic performance before, you don't hear individual instruments, you hear everyone playing in harmony. Sometimes there's a solo and there's a point for that. It's supposed to bring out something that the whole orchestra supports behind. But how silly it would be if the conductor raises his staff and he goes to start and only the second chair flute is playing. You're like, what? Turn up the rest of it. But also, if you have the whole orchestra playing and the flute section is silent, something's missing. It's a delicate balance. And when I read Romans chapter eight, That is a piece of music that swells to this conclusion. The timpanis are firing, the French horns are doing all their angelic things, the trumpet sections are blaring, the strings are moving quickly. It's loud, but it's not tasteless. This passage here is the stamp, the greatest part of our Christian life. Verse 31. Page 1202. We've talked about fixed, we've talked about faithful, now we're gonna talk about fearless. What shall we then say to these things? What are these things? Verses 28 through 30. We're gonna be glorified one day because we've been justified. We're justified because we've heard the gospel and believed. God has already predestinated. Meaning those who will put their trust in Christ, their destiny is secured, glorification. So that's the charge. God's already said it, he will do it. So the question that Paul asks here, what do we say in light of these things? You know what this means? What are you gonna do about that? And now he gives the objector's view. This may be a real person in the Roman church, it might not. but in his style here, which is called a diatribe, he begins to give some things that people might say against your glorification. That's not yet seen, but against your justification, which has already come to pass. If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? He that spared not his own son. This is the price in which we were bought. I want you to see something before we move forward here. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Hold your spot in Romans. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. He spared not his own son. 1 Corinthians 6 verses 19 and 20, page 1217. Paul's in the middle of a discussion here about separation. He says, what? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own? That's against the American idea. We hear it all the time. My body, my choice. And I'm not talking about that, all the politics behind that, but people make that statement. People made that statement about the vaccines and all of that. But in light of Scripture, His body, His choice. I don't get to just go around and do whatever I'd like to do in contrary to what the Word of God says. I've been bought, what's the price? We talking American dollars, we're talking fiat, we're talking crypto, we're talking property, no. For you are bought with a price, what's that price? the red blood that ran down the post of that cross. That's the price. You are bought with the price. Therefore, in light of these things, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. Back to Romans 8. He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, How shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Verse 33. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. People have forgotten this. People have forgotten this. Because of the rampant teaching of the reform doctrines in Calvinism, people are trying to prove something that's already been done. It's God that justifies. There are three questions here that Paul puts in the position of the objector. 31, what shall we say to these things? This is what someone might say. 33, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? We see this in our judicial system, right? You get arrested, and if the state proceeds further, they can press charges, they lay the charges. They can do that. The world can press charges on us. They can lay things against us. They have the burden of proof in that, but it can happen. The encouragement here is that God is the one that justifies you. You're not expected to go into this Christian life and prove anything. God's already spoken. There's no amount of good works that would prove you're extra doubly saved, folks. You are justified because God has justified you through the blood of Christ, period. Now, here's the third question, and this is where all the strings are on and everything is very good. The third question is, now who can take those charges and press you guilty, condemn you? Look at what this says. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died. Yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. We are not to look to ourselves or a moment of whenever we changed our life or whatever it is. We look to the empty cross and the empty tomb, which results in the risen Savior. There's nobody that can condemn us as guilty. Even for sins that we have done, they've all been paid. This is the crescendo, the climax of the Christian life. Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Not because I'm maintaining my salvation with good works, not because of my obedience. God has a plan for obedience. He has a plan of rewards set for those that are faithful and obedient, but none of those things do any kind of damage or any kind of press into your justification. It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again. So when the world comes against you because you're a child of God and the world knows you not, when they lay charges against you for the whole world to see, you are not there to give a defense for yourself. You are there to point to Christ, period. And we have this twisted view in our Christianity that we're supposed to be the one that fights all of our battles. Folks, they will kill Christians. Read about it in Revelation. Somebody was asking the things that happened to former President Donald Trump. Somebody's trying to make connections that he might be the Antichrist because he, quote, suffered a deadly wound and was healed. Can I tell you something very simple and plain? You're gonna know you're in the tribulation period. I think we're kind of getting a little bit of a taste of that. You see what happened yesterday when one little bug enters into a computer system. You see how our world came to a halt? You see how easily we can be without a lot of things that we depend on? Let's just look at the medical field as an example. Can't find charts, can't find any kind of records or anything like that. Patients need medication. Mr. Hernandez, flying to the Philippines. That Microsoft bug crashed everything and he was stuck in Houston. Couldn't go forward. Now, I think he got there, but there was an interruption in the plan. We can trust in a lot of different things, and I think we as believers can become desensitized to the fact that when Jesus says, it's gonna be the worst period of time that anyone has seen, people are gonna know they're in the tribulation period, and we're not in there yet. But may I say, without any shadow of a doubt, we are so, so, so, so close. with what's going on in the world, the technology that's out there today. Absolutely. But the world condemns, the world tries to condemn, the world tries to bring charges against, and we say, no, Christ is risen. 35, what shall separate us from the love of Christ? All right, they can't condemn me. They're charging me, they're speaking against me, but they can't condemn me. So maybe they'll try to separate it. Maybe they'll try to overthrow the judicial process and just by the laying on of their hands, strip me from God. shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword, as it is written, this is a quote from Psalm 44, 22, for thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. They're already doing that. They're already persecuting Christians today. The blood of the church still runs. Does that separate? No, nay. In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us, not through our determination, not through our perseverance, but because we're found in Christ. Now, Paul makes a statement here that is very important to understand. Many of you have probably heard Romans 8, 38, and 39 out of context, but in context, you can see this is the culmination. He's persuaded that nothing, death, life, angels, principalities, powers, things present, things to come, height, depth, any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Even if they want to physically take your body and silence you, it will not separate you from what God has already said is done. Fixed on Jesus. Our faithfulness models His faithfulness, and we can look at a world without any fear, because who is He that condemneth? Who is anyone that lays charges against me? God is justified. Christ is risen. He's interceded. As your pastor, I want to demonstrate those three things in the way that I live my life. There's nothing in the future, I know, that will separate me. Even my own self, God forbid. And people worry about that a lot and they say, what if I do this and this? It doesn't matter. You're already justified. It's already been done. Now, Romans 12. 9, 10, and 11 are written to Israel. That isn't to say there's no profitability for the church because all scripture is profitable. But we can pick up in light of it's God, it's Christ. Romans 12 and verse 1, page 1206. I beg, beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. From the view of this apostle, who was maligned, There were coups set up against Paul. He was mocked. He was jailed. His view, through the inspiration of God here, is our service is reasonable. It shouldn't be a hard thing. And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. There is an expectation for every child of God to serve. And the gas for your service is what we studied in the first part of our message this morning. Now don't worry, there's not a second part, okay? But there's a demonstration for you and me that we are looking to Jesus as we serve. And let me tell you something, folks. You can close your Bibles. There's going to be a lot of talk against that. There's going to be people who come against you and say all manner of silly things to you. Some of them may be in the body of Christ, meaning they're disbelievers, but they're babies. That's okay. You keep doing what you're doing for the Lord. The minute we take our eyes off of the defense for Christ and put it onto the defense of ourselves, that's when we trip and stumble. One of the things I love about watching a boxing match is when a boxer sets his feet incorrectly. He may have everything coming out of that strong hand, but he stumbles on that back foot, and all that power is gone. He lunges forward half-heartedly, and his opponent, seeing the weakness, strikes him on the side of the head, and he's down. He's waking up going, what happened? Nothing good. We become the boxer with improper stance when we try to defend ourselves. You just stand for Jesus. And if somebody says, what do you have to say for yourself? You give the gospel. Sometimes I think it's good for us to ponder if we ever had an audience with the world, what would we say? We'll go to you, 30 seconds. What do you have to say? What would you say? Now think of that in the scope of your life. James describes our lives as a vapor, as the grass that grows and fades and then it's blown away. We only have a little bit of time compared to eternity. What are you gonna do with the time that you have? You'll have to give an account for it. Some people say, oh, well, that's a burden. Well, I'm sorry, it's the truth. Don't waste it. Don't let the persecution of the world keep you silent. And as your pastor, I want to encourage you. I'm not here to hurt you or make you moldable to my standards. I want to walk with you. You know, folks, there's coming a day possibly where we can't have church, where the doors will be closed or maybe even the property is burned down. That doesn't mean we don't do church anymore. You know, they met in houses in the beginning. They said, well, what happened? They brought an insurance liability case against them. No, that's not actually what happened. You know what happened? They killed them. They took them from the houses. And then the church scattered. But here we are. You think of what happened in Acts. What started in Jerusalem is now continuing here in Tampa. Isn't that amazing? It's a testimony to God is the one who is pushing this thing through. And while we have this time, we need to be fixed, faithful, and fearless because of Jesus. Amen? Now, if you're here this morning and you say, I don't know that I'm going to heaven. I hope that I am, but I don't know. You can have hope. And I'm not talking about like, oh, I hope Scotty Scheffler pulls it out and he wins the open. I'm not talking about that kind of hope, because I have no idea how that man's going to play today. And I'm glad that a lot of my eternal security has nothing to do with man's performance. What I mean by hope is that you can know for sure. This hand represents you and me. This block of sin represents sin. I put it on top of my hand because the Bible says for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. To sin means to miss the mark. To be a sinner is one who misses the mark. Well, if I'm missing something, sir, what is it that I'm missing? I'm glad that you asked. In order to get to heaven, the mark that we miss, the mark that is set, is the perfect sinless righteousness of God. We can't even comprehend that. It's not possible. We can strive our very, very best, but we cannot be sinless. We cannot be perfect. And that's why we are called ones who miss the mark. Now God, He loves us. He hates sin. Sin separates us from Him. The wages of sin is death, eternal separation from God in a literal fire-burning hell. And this is what causes me to open my mouth and give the gospel because the person I'm talking to might slip away into eternal separation from God. I don't want that to be something that I'm party to. I want to give the gospel. I want to give it clearly, lovingly. and as often as I can, because there are people who are going to pass away today and enter eternal separation from God. The only time that they'll stand before God is at the great white throne judgment, and it'll be over. The wages of sin is not turning from sin, starting something, promising stuff. Folks, all that is good stuff, I get that, but it's not a valid payment for sin. Hebrews 9 says, without the shedding of blood, there is no remission for sin. So not only does somebody have to die to pay for sin, they have to have no sin in and of themselves. I can't die for you, you can't die for me, because we're both sinners. We need someone to intervene. We need a Savior. Amen? This hand represents Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, fully God and fully man. And here's what Christ did for us, and not only for our sin, but for the sins of the whole world. For God so loved the world, that's you and me, that He gave His only begotten Son, that's Jesus Christ, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. A couple of takeaways here. For God so loved. That means God loved in this way. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that's Jesus Christ, that whosoever, anybody, Well, what about the worst of us? What about the best of us? We're all falling short. Whosoever, and here's how salvation is applied, eternally, whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The moment that you put your trust in Jesus, for some of you, that may have just happened. You may have, in that pew, gone, that makes sense. I've changed my mind. I'm putting my trust in Jesus Christ. The moment that you did that, you are given eternal life. I'm not trying to be comical, but eternal means something. It means forever. So if you have everlasting life, and all your sin is paid, where are you going to go when you die? You're going to go to heaven. But what if I sin? Good question. What if you sin? Did Jesus die for sins? Yes. So your sin is paid? Yes. I've yet to meet anybody, anybody who understands that and then says, oh, so I can just go send it up. I'm being serious when I say that I've yet to meet a person who says that. But that's the charge that's laid against the gospel. You don't have to strive, work, give, maintain anything to keep your eternal life. It is God that justifies. Christ is the one who's risen and you're found in Him. Amen? Let's go to the Lord in prayer, please. Heads are bowed and eyes are closed. Nobody's looking around. I want to give you a moment if you're here this morning and you say, Pastor, I walked into church and I was trusting in myself. I was trusting in maybe the religion of my family. Or I was just trusting that I'm not that bad of a person. But I recognize, in light of this presentation you've given, that I am not perfect. And that I can't do good works to pay for my sin. So today I have changed my mind. I have put my trust not in my works, but in Jesus Christ. And I believe that what he did on the cross as the Son of God, his shed blood, his burial, and his resurrection, I believe that that has paid for my sin. And I now know that I'm going to heaven because there's no sin to lay against me. I am eternally secured in Christ. My friend, if that describes you this morning, I'd like to pray for you. I have everyone in the audience with their head bowed and their eyes closed for privacy, but I want to ask if you trusted in Christ as your Savior today, if you gained assurance Would you just slip up your hand so that I can pray for you? Raising your hand doesn't save you. We don't do this for show. It just helps me understand that somebody trusted Christ. Praise God, I see you. I see you too, God bless you. I see you, brother. No one's going to tap your shoulder, bring you down the aisle. We just want to pray. And I want you to know, too, we're really happy that you're here today. To those of you who have already trusted in Christ as your Savior, you've been walking the Christian life for a while. Folks, the world is hot right now. It's tough. Endure hardness as a good soldier. Look to Jesus. Eyes fixed. Faithfulness modeled after him. And don't be afraid. Do not be afraid. Let's pray. Father, I pray for the ones that raised their hand this morning, an indication of what they have believed. that Jesus, the Son of God, paid for their sins and rose again. Give them comfort and assurance from your word. I pray that they've found a church home here. And I just rejoice, Lord, as I know there is rejoicing for one sinner that changes their mind. Father, I also pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ that are here this morning. We've got some new ones, but a lot of us have been doing this for a long time. Give us strength, Lord. That's my simple prayer this morning, strength. Reminders from the word to have eyes fixed on Jesus after the model of faithfulness that he has given. And I pray, Lord, that we will not have fear as we move forward. Bless this ministry. In Jesus' name we pray these things, amen.