It's good to be with you once again. And I trust that the Lord will bless this Lord's Day for all of us, that the Lord would encourage us. So I want you to take your Bibles, turn with me to Romans, Chapter 5. Romans, Chapter 5. I want to read the first 11 verses. Romans chapter 5, after speaking about this great, wonderful doctrine of salvation, and locked up in that expression of justification, the Apostle Paul writes, been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulation. Knowing that tribulation produces perseverance and perseverance character and character hope. Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has given to us. For when we were still without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, have we now been justified by His blood. We shall be saved from wrath through Him. For when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son. Much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received the reconciliation Amen. Well, let's pray once again. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Our Father, we would pray and beseech you, O God, even as we sung that hymn just a few minutes ago, come thou fount of every blessing to our hearts this morning to sing your grace. Help us. Give us your Spirit, O God, illuminate our minds. Lord, give us understanding of Your Word and cause us not only to believe it, but to practice it. We ask these things for Jesus' sake. Amen. Well, as most of you know, the book of Romans is a systematic presentation of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, The focus of the Gospel is Jesus Christ. The objective of the Gospel is salvation. And perhaps the key verse in the book of Romans is chapter 1 verse 16 where Paul says, I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Well, I wonder if you've ever thought about the particulars of salvation. We just talk about being saved and we just use that word salvation and kind of throw it around. But I think it's important for us to focus upon what it is. What is this salvation all about? Well, one way to think of salvation, have you ever seen those boxes? You open up the box, there's a big box, and you open the box up and inside that is another box. And you open that box up and inside that is another box. Well, think of salvation as this great big box of blessings. And you open the box of salvation and there is another box and the title of that box or the name of that box is regeneration. God making us spiritually alive, alive to God, alive to spiritual realities. We know that's the new birth. You open up that box of regeneration and you have another wonderful box. It's called the box of justification. Justification. Salvation from the penalty and the punishment of our sins. It's all by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. You open up that box and there's another box and it's called the box of sanctification. Sanctification is God saving us from the pleasures and the practice of our sins. Open up that box. You see, we're not finished yet. Not only that, there's another box and the other boxes. Glorification, God, saving us from the very presence of sin into the presence of God. So we've got regeneration, salvation from the power of sin, justification, salvation from the penalty and the punishment of our sins, sanctification, salvation from the pleasures and the practice of our sins. Those of us who are Christians, that's what's going on. God is saving us from the pleasures and the practice of our sins. And then glorification, God saving us from the presence of sin into the presence of our Heavenly Father. In the first two verses, the Apostle Paul identifies three major benefits or blessings wrapped up in the box of justification. The first blessing, verse 1, peace with God. Now, peace with God doesn't seem like too much of a blessing for a lot of people, I guess, until Until we realize the horrible hostilities are hidden away in our hearts. Our hearts, by nature, are at war with God. And you know what's worse than that? God is at war with us. That scary verse in the Psalms. Psalm 711. God is angry at the wicked every day. Regenerating grace. changes us, changes everything about us. It changes our hearts, our sinful attitudes, our sinful thoughts. God's grace gives us faith and we believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. And as a result, we are justified. And the war is finished. I'm no longer at war with God. And He's no longer at war with me. Verse 10, For if, when we were enemies, we are reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. The second blessing in justification is found in verse 2. Access. Access into grace. Having believed, we are introduced into a whole new world. That new world is called grace. I don't know if you ever thought about it, but we live as believers, we live in a bubble of grace, a great bubble of grace. Every moment of every day, we are surrounded by God's great goodness. Every day we're surrounded and upheld and protected and preserved by God's great power. Every day, every moment of the day, we're sustained and supported under the smile of our Savior's great love. There's nothing little about our salvation. We live in a bubble of grace. Ever thought about that? A bubble of grace. And we're supported under the smile of our Savior's love. And nothing can separate us from the love of God, of Christ, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecutions, or famine, or nakedness, or peril soar. In all these things, what things? The peril, and the sword and the nakedness and all the troubles. In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. And then the third blessing found in justification in the second part of verse 2, hope in the glory of God. Those of us who are believers are no longer in the mindless rat's race of this world with no light at the end of the tunnel. Our loving Father in heaven has given us hope. Confident expectation of seeing and knowing and feeling and one day entering into God's glory because we enter into His presence. Hope is the believer's optimism that looks to Christ with an eager expectation that one day, one day God will bring us into the brilliant spectacle of his awesome, immediate presence. And how should this affect us? We should rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Do you have that hope? I hope we have that hope of rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. And the tense there of that verb is we're constantly rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. All of this brings us to verse 3. Not only that. Not only rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. Not only that. But we also glory in tribulations. Tribulations, plural. Knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance character, character hope. We go from God's glory to tribulations. How about that? My dad used to say, how's that granddad? That old crank handle? I mean, how does that grab you? Verses 3 and 4 give us a little peek into that box of the blessings called sanctification. The words, and not only that, connect the truth of justification to that reality of sanctification. We're being sanctified as the people of God. Everyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ is justified, just as if we never sinned and always obeyed. And those of us who are justified are also being sanctified. God is making us holy. What is He doing? He's saving us from the pleasures and the practice of our sins. That's what He's doing. For all of us who are believers today, that's what He's doing. That's the purpose That's one of the big issues that's going on in our lives. We're being saved from the pleasures and the practice of our sins. How does God sanctify his people? I don't think this is a newsflash for you, but it may be. I don't know. Two things. Two Ts. How does he sanctify his people? Truth. Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth, said Jesus. He sanctifies us by the truth, by His Word, and He sanctifies us through troubles. Got it? Troubles. Paul says that not only do we rejoice, we boast in hope of the glory of God in verse 2, but he says we also glory, and he uses the same word, we boast in tribulations. Now, does that sound strange to you? We can understand boasting, rejoicing in hope of the glory of God, but who in the world wants to boast and rejoice in tribulations? Why would anyone want to glory and boast and rejoice in troubles, problems, difficulties? Because troubles and problems and sufferings make God's people better. God brings hard things into our lives because He loves us. And He's going to work that whole work of salvation in us. He uses troubles to beautify our souls. Here's a quote from Spurgeon. You know, I love to quote Spurgeon, but this is an amazing quote, and I wish you could just, all of us, write it down, but it's such a good quote. But here's where I'm going, alright? Here's where I'm going. Spurgeon says, Our God is a God of wonders. Things improbable, yea, impossible, with us, are everyday things with Him. When we know God, we begin to be at home with wonders. I believe the promise of God's grace in believing you shall live in a new world which shall be always wonderland for you. It is a happy thing to have such faith in God has to expect a surgeon that which to mere human judgment is most unlikely." Wonderland. I want to talk to you about Wonderland. Many years ago, when our children were all little, six of them, and the children, we moved to Florida, and the children one day said, Dad, you know, your day off is Monday. Can we go to Disney World? And Maureen and I talked about it. We thought, well, we'll take the kids to Disney World. And we told them yes. Sunday night after church, they said, Daddy, can we leave our clothes on tonight and sleep in the car? We can't wait to go to Disney World. It was exciting for the kids to go to Disney World. Happy place. Excuse me. I get excited too. Dear ones, the new birth brings us into a whole new world. Way, way better than Disney World. It's Wonderland. Grace. Grace. Wonderland. is where God turns troubles into triumphs. Wonderland is where God turns sinners into saints. Wonderland, if you take the whole context of chapter 4, Wonderland is where Abram, as a 75 year old man, went when God told him, I want you to get out of your country. From your family to a land that I will show you, and there I will make a great nation of you." So Abram went, and he didn't even know where he was going, but God was bringing him to Wonderland. Wonderland is where Jacob went when he was running away from his brother. His mom and dad says, I want you to go to Padanerim, where Uncle Laban lives, and I want you to go there. He's on his way to see Uncle Laban. And he's going through this rocky, lonely desert region. And he has a dream. You remember the dream. Falls asleep and he dreams about this ladder going all the way up to heaven. There's angels descending and ascending up the ladder. And then God speaks to him and promises to bless him. And Jacob called that place the house Bethel. The house of God. This is the gate of heaven. Wonderland. Wonderland is where Joseph lived after his brothers sold him into slavery. You realize that for 13 years. Joseph was 17 years old. He met Pharaoh when he was 30. 13 years! He suffered all kinds of troubles and problems until God made him the second ruler in the land of Egypt. And later on, in Genesis 15, verse 20, Joseph told his brothers, he said, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. That 17 year period of time where he had all kinds of troubles. Wonderland is where Moses went when he ran away from Pharaoh. Moses found himself in Midian, the country of Midian, a lonely mountainous desert region. And he was there, living there for 40 years, taking care of sheep. He's on the backside of the desert. And he didn't know where he was, except God had put him in Wonderland. And then he found out it was Wonderland. He saw this bush that was burning, and it kept on burning and burning. And the thing was, it was a wonder to him. He looked at the bush and just didn't stop burning. That was the wonderful thing about it. But more than that, why didn't it stop burning? He gets closer to look at it. And the reason why it kept on burning, because God was in the bush. And God spoke to him and said, take the sandals off your feet, for you're standing on holy ground. This is wonderland. Moses took his shoes off his feet. God commissioned him in wonderland. Wonderland is where Moses went when God sent him back to Egypt. What kind of a place was it? Well, it was a place of threats and danger and ridicule and great judgments. Wonderland is where Israel went when they left Egypt after the ten plagues, chased by Pharaoh in his army into a cul-de-sac of fear and doubt with nowhere to go. And then God opened up the Red Sea And they walked through on dry land. Wonderland is where Israel wandered for 40 years in a rocky desert wasteland with no food or water. And yet, according to Psalm 78, God split the rocks in the wilderness, gave them drink-abundance like the depths. He brought streams out of the rock, caused the waters to run down like rivers. He commanded the clouds above and opened the doors of heaven. And He rained down manna on them to eat. Men ate angels' food." Where? In Wonderland. Wonderland. is the place where God turns the worst possible circumstances and situations into great blessings and benefits. Wonderland is that really painful place or predicament where God is working great miracles in us. Wonderland Most of the time is a very lonely, uncomfortable place. God likes to take us out of our comfort zone, but he never takes us out of the bubble of grace. Wonderland is often a very difficult work situation, or a hospital, or a hospital bed, or a nursing home, or a funeral home, or a prison, or a family crisis. Wonderland is almost always a place where there's suffering, a place where there are tribulations, plural. Sometimes lots of them, all kinds of trials and troubles and problems and pressures and pains and persecutions and heartaches and headaches and disappointments and sickness. You know what? Everyone has tribulations. But not everyone lives in Wonderland. Wonderland is where God is working. You have to believe in a great God to live in Wonderland. You have to believe that God is so great and so good and so wise that he routinely turns our headaches and our heartaches and sufferings and troubles into life-changing encounters with himself. Wonderland is a place where we see the glory of God. It happens in this world. Wonderland is where God brings heaven, a little bit of heaven down here. In fact, a lot of heaven. A lot of heaven. Because God himself comes and he meets with us in the midst of a trying situation or circumstance. Verse 3, and not only that, but we also glory in tribulations knowing that tribulation produces perseverance. The key to living in wonderland is knowing. Knowing. And not only that, but we also glorify Him through relations, knowing. Intuitively knowing in our heart of hearts that God has purposed and He has planned this hard thing. And this hard thing He's brought into our lives for His own glory and for our good. And God's people believe that. All God's people know, or they should know, that God's purpose in saving us from our sins is not so that we can be happy in this world, but so that we can be holy in this world and in the life to come. And there's no true happiness without holiness. Salvation is about making us like Jesus. And God uses truth and troubles to do it. Listen to Piper. John Piper says, life is not a straight line leading from one blessing to the next and then finally to heaven. Life is a winding and a troubled road. Switch back after switch back. And the point of biblical stories like Joseph and Job and Esther and Ruth is to help us feel in our bones, not just to know in our heads that God is for us in all these strange turns. God is not just showing up after the trouble, cleaning it up. He's plotting the course and managing the troubles with far-reaching purposes for our good and for the glory of Jesus Christ. Last time I was here, I think I preached from John 16, 33. I think that's what I preached. In this world, Jesus said, you will have tribulations. But be of good cheer, I've overcome the world. And that word tribulation, or tribulations, same word here. The word in the original means to be squeezed. To be put under pressure. If you squeeze an orange, what do you get? Orange juice. You squeeze a lemon, what do you get? Whatever's inside the lemon. Lemon juice. You squeeze an apple hard enough, you get apple juice. What do you get when you squeeze a Christian? Whatever's inside. Let me ask you, what's inside of you when God squeezes you? When he uses some kind of tribulation to just put the squeeze on you. He said, I don't like that. I don't either. And if we were honest, we'd say we don't like that. But we're to glory in the squeezings. We're to rejoice in being squeezed. Because God is working something wonderful. He's saving us from the pleasures of our sins and the practice of our sins. Martin Lloyd-Jones says regarding this passage, he says, there is no more important, no more subtle test of our profession of the Christian faith than the way we react to the trials, troubles, and the tribulations of life in this world. Did you know that reaction is really crucial in the Christian life? How do we respond to things we don't like? Jesus said to someone to slap you on your right cheek, what did he say? Turn to him the other also. And if anyone will sue you at the law and take away your coat, let him have your coat also. You see, the Christian life is really about, so much about, reaction. How we react. Verse 3, trouble, produces perseverance. Spiritual squeezing sets off a chain reaction of the grace of God in the believer's life. Troubles squeeze us on the outside and are, again another present tense verb, energetically and constantly working in us patient persistence and steadfastness. Perseverance is the idea of a quiet and contented heart under pressure. And so the psalmist says in the 46th Psalm, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear. Even though the earth is removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though its waters roar in their troubles, though the mountains shake with its swelling, be still! And know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. You see, pressures and squeezing make us gracious people. Tribulations make us quietly content. And that quiet contentment of spirit is very precious in the eyes of God. What happens when graceless people are squeezed? What happens? Quiet and contentment and patience never come out of that. You might as well get sweet mango juice from a lemon as getting quiet contentment and grace out of an unbeliever when they're squeezed. Verse 4. Perseverance produces character. Under the pressures and the squeezings of God, the true believer gains moral and spiritual excellence. Maturity. The idea of the word translated character is the idea of putting a piece of metal into the fire in order to test it. To make sure that it's the real thing. When we go through some trial or some trouble or faith and everything linked to our faith is tested. See if it's real. Our love is tested. Our joy is tested. Our devotion to Christ is tested. Our spiritual strength is tested. Our moral character is tested. You put a Christian in the squeeze and then you see what comes out of it. Or her. When we come out on the other side of the seizing of squeezings and tribulation, all of our graces are strengthened. And God is glorified. Martin Luther says, He who has faith and deed has all the excellent things which are mentioned in the text, but in a hidden way. Through tribulation they are tried and purified to the highest degree. Whatever virtues tribulation finds in us, it develops them more fully. If anyone is carnal, weak, blind, wicked, irascible, haughty, and so forth, tribulation will make him more carnal and weak and blind and wicked and irritable. On the other hand, if one is spiritual and strong and wise and pious and gentle and humble, he will become more spiritual, wise, pious, gentle, and humble. Those speak foolishly who ascribe their anger or their impatience to such as offend them or to tribulation. Tribulation does not make people impatient. It just proves that they are impatient. So everyone may learn from tribulation how his heart is constituted. You know that's true. Tomorrow, if you don't know that's true now, just think about it. Tomorrow you're going to have some issues coming. You know, usually it's between husbands and wives. God puts these opposites together, doesn't he? We're opposites. And God uses that reality to squeeze us a little bit. And then he goes on, he says, and character produces hope. What kind of hope? Well, the same kind of hope he spoke about in verse 2. Hope in the glory of God. This hope in the glory of God makes those of us who are true believers triumphantly optimistic in the Christian life. No matter what's going on around me, no matter what's going on, what's happening to me, There's a sense in which every believer should be triumphantly optimistic. And why shouldn't we be? Let's give a hand to Romans chapter 8. Talk about optimism. Why shouldn't we be optimistic? Romans chapter 8 verse 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, Abba, Father. Why shouldn't we cry out, Abba, Father? No matter what's going on, I'm in a bubble of grace. I'm living in wonderland. Problem is, The problem is we're focused on the wind and the waves and we don't see the Savior walking on the water. We're always afraid. We don't get it. We cry, Abba Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. Now look at your Bibles. Does that say we shall be children of God? Does anybody have that in their Bible? I hope not. We are right now children of God. If that doesn't make you shout, at least you're inside. I know we're Reformed Baptists and you're not supposed to shout, right? May the Lord Change us, you know. We need to be shouters, but at least shout inside, I am a child of God, and it does not yet seem what we shall be, but we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone that has this hope in Him purifies himself even as he is pure. It's all about being changed. Save me, Lord, from the pleasures and the practice of my sins. He says, verse 17, and if children, oh, it gets better, better. And if children, heirs, heirs of God, join heirs with Christ. You can't shout about being a child of God and something's wrong with you because you're heir of God too. You're joined here with Christ. Everything Christ has, you have. Oh, talk about a bubble of grace. Talk about wonderland. We lose our focus. You are in a bubble of grace. We are living in wonderland. Verse 18, For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with a glory which shall be revealed in us. And I know The glory which shall be revealed, it doesn't say to us. And we're going to see it for sure. The glory of God is going to be revealed to us. But he says it's the glory of God that shall be revealed in us. How? Well, he's working that right now. He's changing me into the image of Christ. He's doing that to you too. The glory of God is going to be revealed in us. And the sufferings The sufferings that bring about all of this, the sufferings of this present time, are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us, in you. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. In other words, everything in creation, they can't wait to see me. And Bob Linetta, see what the big change is in Bob. And me too. You know, all of creation cannot wait to see the end result of the life, sufferings, and death, and resurrection, and the ascension of Jesus Christ. Try you, God, from before the foundation of the world. The Father chose us and gave us to His Son. Jesus says, I'm going. I'm going to purchase Myself a bride that My Father has given Me. And the Holy Spirit says, I'm going to secure that bride. And I'm going to give them understanding and make them alive. Give them that understanding and change them. Salvation is a real thing. He's working in it in our lives. Biblically instructed believers should never say when you ask them, you know, how many times you've said, you and I said this, how you doing? I'm hanging in there. Dear ones, we're not hanging in there. We're in a bubble of grace. We're in wonderland. We're in the world I just you had. The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us. And you either believe it or you don't believe it. And if you believe it, live it. Amen? I like to hear that amen. Let's pray. Our Father, how we thank You that Your salvation is not just some theological thing. But it's reality. You have worked in our lives and you have changed us and you continue to change us. And one day we shall be made over into the likeness of Christ. Help us, Lord, to live in that reality. Help us to rejoice in hope of the glory of our God. And help us also to know what it means to rejoice in our troubles, in the squeezings. We ask your blessings upon your own word. In the name of the Lord Jesus, Amen.