Bruce Carter, you will learn some awesome stuff there. So just keep that in mind so you can grow. So we're going to continue in our series in the Book of Romans. We've covered a lot of material. We're finally at Chapter 5, which is exciting. So I'm going to read the first eight verses. You can follow along on the overhead. And then we're going to unpack Romans 5. So let me read from the text here. Romans 5, verses 1 through 8, follow along. Therefore, having been justified by faith. And if you have a personal Bible, I want you to underline that. That is the essence right there. It's, boom, right there. Having been justified or made right by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, he's like, not only this guys, but we also exult in our tribulations. Say what Paul, what? We exalt in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance, and perseverance, proven character, and proven character, hope. Hope does not disappoint. Why? Because the love of God has been literally gushed out within our hearts. How? Through the Holy Spirit, who was, what does it say? Given to us. And I love verse six. For while we were still helpless at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. Church, if those first six verses don't give you hope, I don't know what else to tell you. Verse seven, for one will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for a good man someone would dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That's some pretty awesome text right there. So let me dig into the text here and kind of recap a little bit of what we learned last week, slide four and five. You know, we finished up chapter four. Paul finished teaching the doctrine of justification by faith alone in Christ. And we looked at how he faithfully broke down every objection and argument that could ever be brought against this doctrine of justification by faith alone. And Paul has taught us that the righteousness of Christ has been imputed or credited to us through faith in Christ alone, just as it was to Adam, as we learned. So we're going to review some of just a little bit last week and then dig into the new material. So Romans 4.22 says, Therefore it was also credited to him, to Abraham, as righteousness. And slide five in the New Living Translation. And because of Abraham's faith, God counted him as righteous. And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn't just for Abraham's benefit, it was recorded for our benefits too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous, but look at the clause there, if, if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. we worship a risen Savior Church. He was handed over to die because of our sins, and He was raised to life to make us right with God. Boy, there's so much packed just in these verses. It's amazing. So what did we learn last week? Abraham, in his sinful flesh, like you and I, he was unable to meet God's perfect standard of righteousness on his own. Nor are we able to do so on our own. But the good news for Abraham, as well as you and I, is the good news of the gospel church. We have learned the Lord will take the faith that he has enabled a person to possess and count that faith as righteousness on the sinner's behalf. And we've also learned that the faith he gives us is not what merits salvation, it's how we receive the salvation from the Lord. And we had looked back at Paul's teaching in Romans 3, 21 and 22, slides six and seven. Take a look at this. But now, you can all say noony day if you want, but we'll go with but now. Apart from the namas, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been manifested. It was witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God through faith, there it is again, there's the conduit, through faith in Jesus Christ, for all those who believe, there's no distinction. And in the new living. But now, God has shown us a way to be made right with Him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God, Hal Church, by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And he says this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who you are. That should settle it right there. Don't believe any false prophet that tells you that you got to do something besides having faith in Christ to be saved. The Bible does not teach that anywhere. So we've learned that this is here back in chapter 3. This is where Paul had really started to unpack and introduce the gospel. But the first thing you'll notice he did is he had revealed our hopelessness. He revealed to us our condition, that all of us were condemned, and we were helpless in the power of sin. We learned that this was the same condition that Abraham was in. And we learned that throughout history, man has been trying to produce a righteousness on his own that would satisfy God. You gotta do this, but you gotta also do this, and do this, and do that. And we looked at how the Jews were trying to do it through the law, and others were trying to do it through their morality or their philosophy. And Paul had really broken down all those arguments and said, all of that is in vain. And back in these verses, Paul began to explain to us that a righteousness of God is available. And here we learn that Paul began to explain to you and I how the righteousness of God, meaning how God's justifying activity, empowers the gospel to bring salvation to sinful people, and that's us, church. And just like Paul told us that God's wrath, that was Romans 1.18, had been revealed, he's now rejoicing in the fact that God's way of righteousness has also been revealed. Hear me this morning. By the death of Jesus Christ, God has acted to deliver and vindicate His people apart from trying to keep the law. Because Paul said back in Romans 3.21, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed or manifested. And we have also learned that God has provided a righteousness and has revealed it. It is entirely of God's grace and it is a free gift. Don't be misled. You can't earn it. You can't work your way into it. You can't strike any backroom deals with God, church. It's not something we can do that way. It is only available through the redeeming work of Christ. Hear me this morning. This righteousness, being made right with God, It's provided by God. It was prepared by God and made available to us by God. It is God's gospel, His good news to us. We need to keep in mind that the whole essence of sin in our lives is high-handed rebellion against God. Man is estranged from God and therefore man needs to be reconciled to God. So God, Church, we learn, had provided a way of salvation, and it is God alone who provided everything that is needed in and through Jesus Christ. It is the Father who sent His only unique, monogamous Son, and gave His Son that task. Not an angel, not a prophet, God's Son. And as we've learned, we cannot save ourselves. There's nothing that you and I can do on our own to make ourselves right with God. Nothing. It is all God's work and God's play in church. We'll never achieve salvation on our own. Hear me, he says, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified or made right in his sight. For by the law comes the knowledge of sin, as we've learned. So it is Christ, and only Christ, who is able to satisfy the law and keep it. And we learned that that gospel was planned before he even created the world. What does he say in verse 21? It was witnessed by the law and the prophets. Or as the New Living puts it, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. So this is why we have all these prophecies in the Old Testament. God had a plan that he instituted where man can be saved and reconciled to himself. And then we then ask the question, well, how does this righteousness of God come to us? How does it come to us? And Paul answered that question in verse 22. He says, through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe. The real question for you to ask yourself this morning is, do you believe? Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the eternal son of God? Do you believe that salvation is only through His finished work on that cross, His death, His burial, His resurrection? Hear me this morning. God, on the basis of what He did in His only Son, freely, listen, freely forgives and absolves us from our sins, but it's to those who believe the gospel. This is the whole theme from Romans 1 as we're coming into Romans 5, where he's kind of like recapping it, where he says, having been. So the righteousness of Christ is then, when we believe, is then imputed or credited to us, literally put into our account, so that you and I can then stand accepted in the sight of God when we drop dead. And that's it. And they're hitting us with the paddles, and we're not coming back. If you've come to a saving faith in Christ, all of His righteousness was now put into your account, and all your filth and sin was credited to Christ. That's called the Great Exchange. Don't ever forget that. Paul highlights faith as a means by which God's justifying work becomes applicable to us. So look at slide eight and nine now. Now, not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also to whom it will be credited as those who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. And then verse slide nine in the NLT. I hope the NLT is helping you guys with your understanding. And when God counted him as righteous, It wasn't just for Abraham's benefit. Look what it says here. It was recorded for our benefits too. Do you see that, church? Assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if, and there's that clause, if we believe in Him, the one who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead. Church, what a wonderful thing that you and I have learned from the life of Abraham, that his faith was credited to him as righteousness or being made right with God, and this same divine truth applies to each of you who trust in Christ alone for your salvation. The Holy Spirit inspired this truth to be written, as the text says, for our sake also, to whom it will be credited as those who believe in Him. Who's the Him? The Father, who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. So, what was true for Abraham is true for every person who has ever been or ever will be reconciled to God. As we've now clearly been taught from God's Word, this, church, hear me, this is God's way of justifying a man or declaring a man right. And the only way that God reconciles man to himself. The Bible reveals no other way. No other way, church. So it was not only written for Abraham's sake, but for your sake and my sake here now. If we believe how Abraham believed, we will be made right with God the same way Abraham was made right with God through faith. So then, to sum this up before we go into verse chapter 5, faith is the necessary condition for salvation. And the only people who are received by God Only people who are received by God are those that have received Him by faith alone apart from works. You can never, ever, ever be good enough on your own or me on my own to earn a place in heaven. If I made an omelet and I had seven eggs sitting on the counter, And six of the eggs were really good and the seventh egg was foul and dirty. And I put the seventh egg in with the other six. Would you still want to eat the omelet? Only one sin. One sin to keep you out of heaven. So then, slide 10 and 11. Who was delivered over, verse 25, because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification. And slide 11. written in our modern vernacular. Jesus was handed over to die. Now look at this, please look at this, I beg you. He was handed over to die because of our sin. Do you see a church? Do you understand it? He was handed over because of my sin and your sin. But he was raised to life to make you and I right with the Father. He was delivered up, handed over to die because of our sins. Now, it's interesting in the Greek language, and to make my wife happy, I didn't put the Greek slides up. The words delivered up is actually a judicial term. It's a courtroom term. And this delivered up, this courtroom term, has the idea of committing, the committing of a criminal over for punishment. The criminal has been found guilty, And he's been handed over to punishment. He's been delivered up over for punishment. So now think about that. Think about that. Don't let that, don't miss that. He was handed over to die because of our sins. Or as the NASB says, he was delivered over because of our transgression. Think about the judicial term. The committing of a criminal over to be punished. Think about it. The very Son of God who never sinned ever, ever was delivered over to serve a death sentence which you and I deserve because all of us have sinned and all of us have fallen short of the glory of God. How does that affect the way you live knowing that? That should have been me and you being delivered over. But then it says, he was raised up to make us right with God. This was to provide you and I with the justification before God, where we are pardoned and made right and accepted by God. Something we could never do on our own. So now that brings us up to chapter five. That's kind of a little synopsis of the things we've been learning. So let's look at slide 12 and 13. Now we're in Romans 5.1. Dr. Carter will come up sometime later and teach us on the perfect tense and degree. Therefore, having been justified. So let me get it out of the way. Having been is in the perfect tense and degree. What does that mean? So there's this action in the past where you came to faith in Christ and he made you right. And that still has ongoing effect in your present day life now. I got saved back here and I'm still saved here. He's been, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God, but it's through Christ, our Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn't just say Jesus Christ, he says the Kyrios, he is the Lord Jesus Christ. And in the New Living he says, therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, We now have Irenaeus. We have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ, our Lord, has done for us. Do you see a church? Paul has finished up and concluded this incredibly powerful teaching on this doctrine of justification by faith. or how you and I are made right with God through the atoning, sacrificial death of Christ on that cross for our sin. Paul uses a connecting word here, therefore. So he's connecting what he's already taught us in those first four chapters with what he said to us and what he's about to teach us now. He now uses another very important term, which I think is in the present tense, we have. We have what? Peace. The words we have is actually two Greek words. The Greek word is ekon. It means to possess something, to hold, and it's in the present tense. Something that we have now already, and we possess it. If we have faith in God, we already now possess this thing. What is Paul trying to get across? What do we already possess now? Since you and I have been made right with the Father, By faith in Christ alone, we now possess or have hold of peace with God, and we have it through Christ. So this peace with God is established the very moment you come to a saving faith and trust in Christ alone for your salvation. So again, you are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. So look at that word peace. So I have to sit there and say, okay, Paul, what did you mean when you use this word peace? The Greek word is Irenae. The idea is quietness, rest. In fact, John Calvin in his commentary defines it as a tranquility of conscience. So think about it. If you've been born again and saved, how's your conscience right now? How is it? Think about that. You see, church, listen. When a person strives to seek peace with God or tranquility in his conscience by working or trying to earn it, he's laboring in vain. Remember, prior to being saved, a person was at war with God. He's an enemy of God. He has no peace with God. He's estranged from God. And sadly, most unsaved people, they don't even think of themselves that way. But look at slide 14 and 15. What does Paul state? And we'll cover this much later on, but I'm just gonna touch on it a little bit here. The mind, now look at this, don't miss it. The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile towards God. Now do you see that? The mind, is your mindset set on the flesh? Wanting all the trinkets of the world, get it all now, Because that's hostility towards God. That's the opposite of peace. Why? Because that mindset is not subjecting itself to the law of God. It's not even able to do it. How about slide 15? For the sinful nature is always hostile towards God. It never did obey God's law, and it never will. So I'm going to tease this apart a little bit. So the real question I had to say is, OK, Paul, what did you mean when you used the word hostile? What did you mean, Paul? The Greek word there is ekthra. What did it mean when he said it would be hostile? Well, the idea here has the idea of hatred. When you're hostile towards God, you are showing him, based on the Greek text, hate, ill will, enemy. So if my mindset is on flesh, I am showing him hatred, ill will, and I'm being an enemy of him. The mindset, tes franesme. Sedon has the idea of a fixed attitude, of a person's disposition. So think about it. You have these words there, hostile, hatred, enemy, ill will. Then you have franeme, tes franeme, the mindset. The mind that is set on the flesh, the sarks. So think about it. This fixed attitude. So think about it. What preoccupies your mind every day? What is it set on apart from God every day? Think about that. Think about where I get so wrapped up in something, God's not even in the thought process. Don't even bring him in on it. Listen, where a person keeps his or her mind and what that person thinks about determines who he is and what he or she does. Let me say it again. where a person keeps his or her mind and what that person thinks about will determine who he or she is and what he or she does. So when Paul speaks of a person's phroneme, the person's mindset, he's actually speaking of that person's will, that of person's affections and reasonings. Where are your affections being misguided right now in your life? I got quiet, Dr. Carter. The flesh. Okay, Paul, the Greek word is sarx. What did you mean there? See, when Paul says the phroneme or the mindset set on the flesh, Paul's talking about a person's mindset that is now under the influence and control of that person's sin nature. He's speaking about that mindset that is really focused primarily upon worldly urges, worldly desires, a mind that is giving its attention and pursuits over to the sin nature. Just one more drink and you'll be fine. The bottle or your family. The drugs are your job and your life and your kids. You see, the problem, Church, is sin makes me and you, all of us, very anxious people, doesn't it? Sin gives us no rest, no peace, because we're always in pursuit of something. Just a little bit more money and everything will be okay now. Hear me this morning. Those who indulge in the flesh and its corrupt desires will have no peace. And those whose end is destruction, whose God is their appetite, those who set their affections on earthly things have no peace, and they are in hostility towards God. Hear me this morning. This hostile, this hatred, this showing ill will, this behavior towards God, church, this way of life, this behavior towards Him is the opposite of peace with Him. And people that are living out that mindset are miserable, they're unhappy, and their lives are in constant turmoil. And if your life's in turmoil, maybe it's time for you to say, you know what? I got to surrender my life. I got to surrender the bottle. I got to surrender the drugs. I got to surrender all that over to the Lord because I need peace with Him. And listen, the only real peace does not come in a Budweiser. It doesn't come in a Jack Daniels or a Southern Comfort. It doesn't cover in crack, meth, or anything. It comes in an intimate relationship with the very God that knits you in your mother's womb, and His name is Jesus Christ. Amen? We need to stop looking for peace and blessings in the land of idols, church. And if we are to be honest with ourselves and the Lord this morning, let's be honest. Let's just really come clean with God. What kind of gods have we conjured up in our own imaginations? We have projected our own thoughts and have thought that, hey, this must be of God. You run every thought you have through the lens of scripture. You pray about it. But listen, the moment we come to realize the truth about God, we are troubled in our hearts and we are disturbed at our hatred towards God. Do you now see then, apart from salvation through Christ alone, there is no peace, only hostility. Your war, my war against God, it comes to an end when we come to a saving faith in Christ alone and we trust in Him alone for our salvation. That's when it comes to an end, Church. Please hear me this morning. When a person who has surrendered his life or her life to Christ is secure in that relationship with Christ, that person is now freed. Now listen, freed from focusing on his or her own goodness and is then able to serve the Lord with confidence that nothing in this world can separate that person from the love of God. There is, listen, there is a desire when you come to faith in Christ to want to serve the Lord with all your heart. You start exchanging all of your ambitions to, what do you want me to do for you today, Lord? Let me ask you this question. Is there a true desire in your heart to want to serve the Lord? Or is your desire, your mindset, still focused on chasing after the money, the worldly things, the traps? Slide 16. I like what MacArthur says here. MacArthur says, when engaged in a battle, a Roman soldier wore boots with spikes on the bottom to give him a firm footing while he's fighting. Because Christians have their feet shod with the gospel of peace, as taught in Ephesians 6.15, Christians have the confidence to stand firmly for Christ without spiritual slipping or emotional sliding that uncertainty about salvation inevitably brings, knowing that God is on their side. Is God on your side? Peace with God is opposed to the dead security of the flesh church. Notice how Paul finishes this verse. He says, all of this through our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, Paul, knowing how easily you and I forget things, this is one thing he never wants us to forget what we've been covering this morning. Where do we get our blessings from? through the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other way because Christ is the only way. Think with me this morning. Think. Being justified by faith, being declared right by faith, We now, present tense, have peace with God, and this peace is through our intimate, ongoing, abiding relationship with Jesus Christ. The question you need to ask yourself this morning is this, do you have this peace? Now listen, I understand that all of us want the blessings that the Lord gives us. We all want to know we have a future. But the reality is that we may not be here tomorrow. Do you ever stop and think that today could be the very last day you're on earth? How many people wake up, how many people will wake up this morning, get a shower, brush their teeth, and go about their day thinking they got another 20, 30, 40 years, and sometime during the day, whether they're hit by a car or something else, they're dead? They're done. One of my son's friends he grew up at school with, back I think this past Tuesday, somebody put a bullet through his chest and killed him. My son and daughter went to school with this kid. My son played football with him. He was 25 years old. He woke up just like all of you this morning. He woke up, everything was good. And that afternoon or early evening, right down there off of Beach Street, somewhere near the recce center, there was a fight, they pulled out guns, and the guy that shot him in the chest and killed him. 25 years old. That kid had no idea that morning that that afternoon he would be ushered into, hopefully he knows the Lord. Life is but a vapor, isn't it church? Life is but a vapor. So then, Do you now see how important the business of the gospel is? And it's not all about receiving blessing, but rather the gospel is about reconciling you and I who hated God to belonging to Him and being with Him, having a relationship with Him. So being justified by faith, being made right with God, the first thing that must happen to you and I is that we have peace with God, that we are no longer His enemies. Hear me this morning. We shall never know the peace of God until we first have peace with God. Because we are justified or declared right by faith, listen, the wall that existed between God and you is now removed. We have this new relationship. This, listen, listen, this barrier of hostility. Think about that word, hostility, hatred, ill will. Think about it. That hatred and ill will that was there has now been shattered and torn down. The state of war between you and God is over and you have peace with God when you come to a saving faith in Him and you trust in Him. How in the world was that made possible? Well, we learned that, slide 17, back in Romans 4. I'm just going to read the NLT for time. He was handed over to die because of our sin. Let that ruminate in your skull for a moment and in your heart. Jesus Christ, who never sinned, was handed over to die because of the sin and filth of my life and your life. And He was raised to life. He conquered sin. Do you realize He conquered sin and death? He was raised to life to make us right with the Father. That's how it was accomplished. And then verse 2, Romans 5, 2, slide 18-19. Through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this charis, this grace in which we stand and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And the NLT, in our modern vernacular, Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege, undeserved kindness, privilege. That's grace. where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully, now look at those verbs there, confidently, see the participle at the end? Well, that's not a participle. Confidently and joyfully look forward, looking forward to sharing God's glory. Do you see that? He says through whom? Well, who's Paul speaking of here? He's speaking of Christ. That's through whom. He says, we have obtained our introduction by faith, or Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved faith. Privilege. Introduction. Now, it's a really interesting word, pros ag ugame. It means to, pros, if you remember from the illustrious Dr. Carter's teaching, the pros tanthea, facing forward, moving forward. If I'm introducing somebody, I'm bringing that person forward, I'm saying, this is so-and-so, right? That's your face-to-face, that's your introduction. So we've obtained this introduction, this bringing forward, this approach. What do we glean from this church? So let me give you an illustration here. If you were going to meet the president, you have no access to him as you are right now. There are certain formalities or certain procedures you would need to go through before you visit him to make that visit become possible. So there is a way where you can have access to him. You can be presented or introduced to him at a court or in the White House. You can have an introduction from an important official. So this seems to be the idea of this introduction. This is where the Apostle Paul seems to be going with this idea. Hear me. You see, before salvation, when you were dead in your sins and trespasses, walking according to the course of the world, before you were made right with God, you had absolutely no entrance into the presence of God. None of us had access. We had no introduction, so we couldn't come into His presence. Why? We're sinful, polluted people, and God will not allow sin into heaven. We had nothing to commend ourselves with. Our clothing is unworthy. It's unsuitable. We have no right to our own name to be allowed to enter in His presence. But here's where it changes. Because of our justification, because you and I have been made right with God through Christ, we now have our introduction. What does Jesus do? He introduces us to the Father, because Jesus is the one who has the right of entry. He has access to the Father. He dealt with our sin, so then He can present us, claims the Father. So Jesus says, come here, sinner. I die for you, sinner. I'm going to put on this beautiful robe of righteousness now, sinner. I'm going to put this robe on you, and I'm going to introduce you to the Father. Because I paid it all for you. I made it right for you to be able to do that. So we've attained our introduction. Do you see that, church? Through Christ's atoning sacrificial death on the cross, He made access to the Father now possible. That's why Jesus says when you pray, our Father, who art in heaven, holy be thy name, right? And then he finishes up, and I'm just about done, about 18 more pages. No, I'm kidding. By faith and to this grace in which we stand. Another really important word, histemi. It means something that is immovable, something that is established. Listen to me this morning. The state of your being made right with God, because of the grace in which you stand, is forever established and it is immovable. You cannot lose your salvation. This verse is making it clear. By faith, into this undeserved kindness that we receive, which we can now presently stand. Histemi, immovable, established. This is the state of our justification. It stands firm, immovable, and established forever. Before we were made right with God, before we had the introduction of the Father, the Father looked at each of us in the legal matter. Why? Slide 20 and 21. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All of us have turned aside. We have become useless. There is none who does good, not even one. So the Father did not look upon us as his technons, his children. We were rebels who hated him. We were his enemies, but For those who have come to a saving faith in Christ alone for the salvation, you are no longer under the law condemned, you are now under grace. For it is by grace you having been saved through faith. It's not of yourself, it's a gift from God, not of works so that no one can boast. So we've now entered into a new position of grace. Even when believers fall into sin, and listen, I fall into sin, and you fall into sin, and you and I, whether we want to admit it or not, we sin in thoughts, words, deeds, actions, and motives every day. We even sin in our prayers. But here's the thing that's really incredible. God's grace will always be more powerful than your sin. If God in His sovereignty declares that those who believe in His Son to be made right forever, forever He declared right with Him, there is no human, angel, or anything in the universe that could overturn that verdict. Not one. It is firm, it is His stay in me established and immovable forever. MacArthur says, slide 22, the very purpose and effect of salvation is to free men from sin, not to free them to do it. Slide 22, he goes on to say, the true believer, now look at this church, really let's just read this, let it soak in. The true believer will begin from salvation on a new pattern of righteousness springing from his new nature. which hates sin and loves God. He will not be perfect, but his desires will be different, and so will his patterned behavior. You see, God, when you come to a saving faith in Him, He plants brand new desires in you. Brand new desires. You start to realize the things in this world never satisfy. How about the questions on slide three? Based on what MacArthur said, You know, if the heart of stone was taken out, it gave you a heart of flesh? Are you now living differently than you did before you said you got saved? Now think through that. Are you now living differently than before you got saved? Or are you still practicing the same sins you practiced as a way of life before you said you got saved? Oh, it's real quiet in here now, Doctor. Now think about it. Are you living differently, hating sin more and more each day as you grow more in love with Jesus? Well, I hear people say, well, I want to hear that still small voice, Pastor Jack. Open it up and then if it's whisper it to yourself. This is how God speaks to you, right here. This is the final authority in all matters of life, faith, and practice, church. This is how He speaks to you. When people want to hear from God, God doesn't talk to me. Well, yeah, if the Bible's like this, then Sunday morning you're going, get the dust off, and some people think I've been in it all week. I could give you close to 100 verses about the Word of God, the Logos of Theos, the Word of God. Are you living differently? Do you hate sin more and more each day because you keep falling more and more in love with the Lord? You see, church, a person who is sensible, a person who is honest, will see the self-evident truths in himself because God gives us all a conscience. So Paul finishes the statement in Romans 5.2, and I'll just use the NLT because we're about done. We confidently and joyfully. We confidently. I'm hitting that word confidently because I want you to think, well, what does that word mean? Confidently and joyfully. We're not looking forward to the race and being the CEO of a big company and making millions of dollars and driving really fancy cars. We're looking forward to eternity where we're sharing God's glory. Do you realize we're going to be sharing His glory? I'm not worthy. You're not worthy. Think about it. He must really love you to be willing to share His glory with you. I don't deserve it. How about you? Paul uses the word exalt, kokamahi. It means to boast. What is Paul saying here as we close this out? Well, it would seem that because you and I are made right with God through our faith in Christ, and because Christ has delivered us from our sin and raised us up for our justification, we can boast in the confidence we have. We can joyfully rejoice in the hope of His glory. You know, I'm wondering if Paul was reflecting maybe back when he was on the road to Damascus. He was going along, looking for Christians to arrest and get him killed, when suddenly he saw this bright light, so bright that he fell to the ground, and he saw the face of someone glorified. He saw the face of Christ. We know this because he cried out, who are you, Lord? Who are you, Lord? The Lord responds to Paul, hey, Paul? I am Jesus, the man that you've been persecuting. And I wonder how much persecution we give them if we're hostile towards them. As I close, to those who have been made right with God, we can look with hope, with confident expectation that we shall all stand in the presence of the glory of God and of Christ, no veil, We will see him as prosopon, prosopon. Imagine looking into the face of the risen savior. I mean, I can't even, my mind can't even comprehend it. It's mind boggling that I'm gonna be able to stand and look right in his face. Tears streaming down my face because I'm not worthy. Are you? I'm not worthy, church. So this is what I believe Paul wanted us to understand. Does it close? Do you have the hope? If you were to drop dead today, this afternoon, like that 25-year-old young man that my son played football with and got shot and killed in the chest with a bullet, when you drop dead today or tomorrow, whenever, do you know where you're going to spend eternity? Ask yourself that question, you listening around the world right now. When you die, when they hit you with the paddles and you're not coming back, Do you know for certain where you're going to spend eternity? 1 John 5.13 says these things were written so that you may know how to have eternal life. Do you understand that church? I'm going to ask you to bow your heads and do some business with God. Right now, as you are in his presence right now, because God is everywhere at the same time, you are right now in the very presence of the very God that knit you in your mother's womb. If you were to die today and you were to stand before the living God, face to face, at that beam of seat, that judgment seat, and he was to look at you and he was to ask you a simple question, why should I let you into heaven? What would your answer to that question be? And there's only one answer to that question, church. It's because I place my faith and trust in you, Jesus. I believe that you died on that cross to pay for every wretched, filthy, hostile sin act that I've ever said or committed. And I know that I am worthy of death, but I am clinging to you. and your death on that cross, and that crimson blood that you shed on that cross to pay my sin debt in full. It was the blood that was spilled that the Father took as payment for your sin. It was the blood that was spilled. And listen, if you're in a church that doesn't preach the blood, run from that church. Because without that crimson blood, listen, that very blood, Acts 20, 28, that ran through Jesus' veins was the blood of God. that was spilled for you and me. That's what the Father took to pay our sin debt in full. Now may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. In Yeshua's name, amen. Meet and greet each other, line up for an awesome meal.