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[0:00] And then take your Bibles and turn to Romans chapter 5.! Romans chapter 5.

[0:11] And we're going to see the context of our memory verse this week.! Romans 5.10. As I read verses 6-11.

[0:25] Romans chapter 5. Romans 5.10. Beginning at verse 6. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

[0:50] Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man. Though for a good man, someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this.

[1:06] While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him?

[1:23] For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life?

[1:42] Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

[1:56] You and I need Jesus Christ. Amen. This morning, we're going to see three reasons why you and I desperately need Jesus Christ.

[2:13] Straight from God's Word. Here in Romans chapter 5. A man named Paul wrote this letter to this church, this gathered group of Christians in Rome.

[2:28] Paul himself was sent by Jesus Christ to tell others about the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul was given the task to go and to tell others the good news about Jesus Christ.

[2:42] And to see that then churches were planted and the disciples there were strengthened in those churches. He came to tell others that Christ had come to die in the place of sinners.

[2:55] To be buried and to rise again from the grave. That all who trust in him would have eternal life. So Paul took that good news and he went to the ends of the earth, which at that time in the known world was Rome.

[3:12] So Paul himself would one day come to Rome in chains. And he would live there for several years as a prisoner. Sharing about Jesus. Even as he was bound in those chains.

[3:24] But Paul isn't there in Rome yet. Paul isn't living in Rome as a prisoner. Paul is now writing to the church in Rome. And in this letter he shares with us three reasons why you and I desperately need Jesus.

[3:42] Now Paul is a very logical writer. So he moves from one thought to another thought. And he often shows how those thoughts are connected together. He'll do that in this passage this morning.

[3:55] From one reason to another. And as he does this, he uses a very specific transition kind of phrase between reasons that I want us to especially see.

[4:08] So what is that transition phrase? Well you know those commercials on TV that sell products? They'll often say things like, You can have this for the low price of $19.95.

[4:22] Maybe it's a new garden hose. And they promote and they show how superior their hose is to your current rubber hose. Which they always show your hose in that black and white.

[4:34] With perhaps an elderly woman sighing and looking unbelievably frustrated with her hose. Whereas their hose is always in brilliant HD color. With that same woman now smiling and laughing and just having a grand old time with her garden hose.

[4:48] And as you're realizing just how terrible your current hose is. And how amazing their hose is. The narrator says that well known line. But wait.

[5:01] There's more. If you order now we'll send you not one but two garden hoses for the price of one. And you're still reeling from this incredible offer.

[5:12] When they say again. But wait. There's more. If you order now we'll also send you our newly designed energy efficient spray nozzle. With 35 different settings.

[5:24] For just $5. Altogether that's a $78 value that could be yours for $24.95. Call now to receive this special offer. We've all heard those commercials.

[5:37] We've all heard those phrases that they love to say in those commercials. For the low price of. Or that's a $78 value. Or my personal favorite.

[5:47] But wait. There's more. Now I think we'd all agree that most of the time these commercials are trying to sell you something that you don't need.

[5:58] For a price that is far higher than it should be. For a product that really isn't all that impressive. Most of those things as seen on TV are just junk.

[6:09] We would do well to not waste our time or our money on those things. In contrast to that. In stark. As stark contrast to that as possible.

[6:22] This morning we are presented with something that is worth our time. It's no garden hose. It's no as seen on TV product.

[6:33] It is the good news about Jesus Christ. And the free offer of salvation found in Him. This is the best offer ever. This is the most important offer ever.

[6:46] Because it addresses our greatest of problems. So it's no gimmick. There's no catch. There's no fine print that you have to read.

[6:57] There's no manipulation of the screen from black and white to HD color that tries to persuade you. The truth is just plainly presented to us here in Romans chapter 5.

[7:11] This letter that's written by Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to these Christians in Rome. And Paul is telling us just how unbelievably wonderful the truth about Jesus Christ is.

[7:26] He is telling us just how unbelievably wonderful the good news about Jesus Christ is. And he gives us these three reasons why. Three reasons you and I desperately need Jesus Christ.

[7:40] And do you know what Paul says over and over in his own way? But wait, there's more. That's how he transitions from one reason to another.

[7:50] He helps us to see that there is even more to this wonderful salvation as he walks us through this text. So let's hear what God's word has to say to us this morning.

[8:01] Three reasons you and I desperately need Jesus. And after each one, we really can say, But wait, there's more. So here's the first reason.

[8:13] Because without Jesus, without Jesus, you and I are self-proclaimed enemies of God. So we need Jesus because without him, you and I are self-proclaimed enemies of God.

[8:30] Listen again to verses 6 to 8. Who would you die for?

[8:59] Perhaps your spouse, your children, other loved ones. Sometimes people will say, I'd take a bullet for that person.

[9:10] And we all know what that means. I'd lay down my life for that person if it came to it. And what's always assumed when we hear that phrase is that this person has great love and affection for the other.

[9:26] Or they greatly respect and admire the other person. This person they count worthy of dying for. Someone might say it about a great leader that they are following.

[9:41] This leader is standing for what is right. This leader is courageous and clear and faithful and trustworthy and true. And so those who are with that leader in the cause, they might say, I'd lay down my life for him.

[9:57] I'd take a bullet for him. And to say that is admirable. To actually live out those words, if it came to it, far more admirable.

[10:08] But not entirely surprising, is it? To lay down your life for someone you know and love and respect. Someone that you consider worthy of such great sacrifice.

[10:19] Of course it would take great courage. But no one would be shocked to hear of such a sacrifice for someone so dear to you. And you to them.

[10:32] Because the person that you're laying down your life for is likely someone who reciprocates to that kind of love and affection for you. Husbands and wives.

[10:42] Parents and children. A leader and those following that leader in the cause. One friend for another friend. That's a great act of sacrifice.

[10:54] But it is not entirely surprising. That's what Paul is getting at here in verse 6. To lay down your life for a righteous person. Or for a good person.

[11:07] That's one thing. Those are people that we consider worthy of such sacrifice. Those who have lived morally upright lives. Those whom we have this personal connection with and a gratitude for.

[11:20] I think that's what Paul means by a good person. It's someone that you have an even deeper tie with. A deeper bond with. You have an attachment for this person. They've blessed you.

[11:31] They've been a blessing in your life. Whether a righteous person. Or a good person. Paul says, yeah. We can imagine someone laying down their life for that kind of person.

[11:46] It's within the realm of possibilities. It's not a given, of course. Actually doing it. Laying down your life for another would be an incredibly hard thing to do.

[11:57] And so Paul says, One would scarcely die for a righteous person. One would dare even to die for a good person. Okay. But that is not what Jesus did.

[12:13] He did not lay down his life for those who loved him. He did not lay down his life for those who lived morally upright lives. He didn't lay down his life for those who had been good to him.

[12:27] This is one of the greatest misunderstandings. One of the greatest lies about humanity. About all of us in this room.

[12:38] We are not good. We are not upright. We are not morally righteous. We are not born good.

[12:49] We are not born even neutral. What does the Bible tell us here? We are what? Verse 6. Weak. Ungodly.

[13:01] Verse 8. Sinners. And down in verse 10. Enemies of God. If you don't first understand this about yourself, you will not understand what makes the good news of the gospel good.

[13:19] You won't understand what makes the good news of the gospel important and necessary. You won't see why you and I desperately need Jesus.

[13:29] If you and I don't first see that we are weak, that we are ungodly, that we are sinners, that we are enemies of God, then we won't see any reason at all for a savior.

[13:43] Who needs a savior? What do I need saving from? What do I need to be rescued from? Too many people think, well, I'm a good person.

[13:55] And guess what follows? It's offensive that you would tell me that I need a Savior because I think of myself as a good person. Well, God's Word sets the record straight.

[14:09] Don't believe the lie that everyone tells you. You and I are not good in ourselves. We have the problem of sin. We need a Savior.

[14:20] We desperately need a Savior. When I was a residence hall director years ago at Grace College, we lived in an apartment in the dorm.

[14:35] It was a fun stage of life. It was an adventurous stage of life. It also had its challenges. When I say that we lived in the dorm, our apartment was literally built into the front of the dorm.

[14:47] We had a window that faced out onto the sidewalk. We called our apartment the fishbowl. Because if we had our windows, our blinds open, all the students would walk by and inevitably they'd glance in.

[14:58] What are the horns up to today? Seeing how the family's doing. We shared a wall in our kitchen with one of the dorms. From our dining room, that led into my office. From my office, that led out into the lobby.

[15:10] So we really lived right there among the students. One of the challenges of this is the fire alarms. If any of the 150 students in that dorm set off the fire alarm from their room, the whole building with all of its fire alarms would go off, including in our apartment.

[15:32] So Casey and I, with Piper, who was about two at that point, with Judah, who was a baby at that point, we were routinely evacuating the building with the rest of the college students whenever one of them set off the alarm.

[15:48] So I will admit it, it became kind of annoying when for like the 10th time that year, I'm hustling my family out into the field at 10 o'clock at night because somebody yet again had overcooked their mac and cheese in the microwave.

[16:05] Many of fire alarms that went off when rarely, if ever, in fact never, was there actually an active fire. It was like maybe some smoke from the microwave or girls with their like hair stuff that somehow set off the alarm.

[16:24] It began to feel, as we would go out each time, pretty unnecessary. Standing outside at all hours of the night, waiting for the volunteer fire department to come and to walk the halls to tell us, it's all clear, you're safe, you can go back inside.

[16:41] So the fire alarm for me became a nuisance. Rather than a warning of any kind of fire, it was just annoying to me. So one night, as I was cleaning up dinner, well, the fire alarm went off again.

[16:55] And I immediately thought, who burned the mac and cheese this time? Only to really quickly smell something burning. And I turned to look, and I had a grease fire on my hands in our apartment.

[17:08] So it was finally the real deal. We had a fire on our hands, and it was all thanks to me, the resident director of the dorm. So the fire department always checked with me to identify the room that the fire alarm had been set off in.

[17:25] So here I am sheepishly telling me, well, it was my apartment. And every time the fire department would go in, so the students are used to them going through the main entrance, into the lobby, down the halls, to find the room.

[17:37] There's a level of privacy. The students didn't know who had set it off. Well, this time, they went straight into my apartment in the front door. Everyone knows I have set off the fire alarm.

[17:49] And for the first time, there really was a problem. There really was a fire. And those fire alarms were a good thing. Without that alarm going off, I might not have noticed as quickly.

[18:04] That fire, it was a grease fire from our bacon. It could have gotten out of hand. We had a real problem, and we needed those fire alarms to save us from the problem.

[18:16] You see, you and I, when we are told this lie all the time that we have no problem, when we're told that lie, we're told all the time that people are inherently good, that's a lie from the pit of hell.

[18:33] Satan loves to whisper this lie into our ears to make us think that we are good in ourselves. And why is that lie so important? Why is it so important that we get the record straight that we are not good?

[18:50] Because if we believe that we're good, we will also believe we have no need for God. If we think that we're good, I don't need a Savior to save me.

[19:03] But you see, that lie is like a grease fire that has started with no fire alarms going off. That fire is burning, and everyone is just going about their day, their merry way, and soon enough, it's going to be too late.

[19:20] And that building is engulfed in flames, and everyone is still in it. God is speaking to us from His Word this morning, and how kind He is to have pulled the fire alarm on us.

[19:33] He's telling us the truth. It is the uncomfortable truth, for sure, but it is absolutely the truth that you and I need to hear, because you and I have a problem.

[19:45] Maybe we don't identify the problem, but it's there, and God has identified it for us. A real problem of sin. So we are not good. We are not on good terms with God.

[19:58] No, what's the title that the Bible gives us? Apart from Christ, what are we? Enemies. Enemies of God. Not just that God opposes us because of our sin, but we are self-proclaimed enemies of Him.

[20:16] We are rebel sinners who shake our fist at God. Now maybe you think, I'm not shaking my fist at God. I'm not doing that.

[20:27] That's kind of extreme. Many people wouldn't openly say that they are enemies with God. Many people wouldn't think of themselves as being an enemy of God.

[20:39] But do you listen to Him? Do you obey Him? Are you concerned with what He has to say in His Word?

[20:50] If God says in His Word, do this, and you say, I don't have to, or God says, don't do this, and you say, I will if I want to, that is shaking our fist at God and saying, thank you very much, but I'll do life my way.

[21:11] And God has every right to be in charge. God has every right to be the authority of our lives. He's the maker of heaven and earth. He's the maker of us. So we answer to Him.

[21:24] What He says goes. And the beauty of it is, what He says is always good. So yes, He's in charge. No better being to be in charge than God Himself.

[21:38] What He says is good. But apart from Christ, we disagree. And so we say, no, that's not good. What I say is good. And so we ignore what He says in His Word.

[21:51] We oppose Him. We hate Him. There is only hostility in our hearts towards Him. So we go our own way. And we live in rebellion. We love our sin.

[22:03] We love ourselves. And we want nothing to do with God. We see it here in Romans 5. This is not the only place that God's Word speaks of us in these kinds of ways.

[22:14] The Bible describes us like this. Dead in our sins and trespasses. Gratifying the cravings of the sinful nature.

[22:26] Carrying out the desires desires of the body and the mind. Darkened in our understanding. Alienated from the life of God. Calloused and giving ourselves up to sensuality.

[22:40] Greedy to practice every kind of impurity. We have such a deep-rooted, all-encompassing problem of sin.

[22:51] In ourselves, we are rebel sinners and we need to be saved. We need a Savior to save us from our problem of sin. Have you seen this great problem that you have?

[23:06] Have you seen this great problem even this morning? Do you see why you desperately need Jesus? Because we need a Savior sent from God to save us from our problem of sin.

[23:21] And Jesus Christ is just the Savior we need. Now let me also be clear here. God sent Him.

[23:34] Can you imagine treating your enemies in this way? Here we are, hating God, rejecting Him, living to please ourselves.

[23:44] And what does God do in response? What is it that God does to His enemies? In love, He sent His Son. In love. What does verse 8?

[23:56] God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. God did not send His Son to die for His enemies once His enemies stopped being His enemies.

[24:13] He didn't wait until we had put down our weapons of war. It wasn't as though God said, you know, I'll send My Son to die for you once you stop raging against Me.

[24:24] God didn't come to the table for peace talks like that. He didn't come to the table to negotiate with sinners like us. He simply sent His Son, Jesus Christ.

[24:37] And Jesus Christ is God. He is God who became a man. God who took on a human body. So He is perfect in every way, sinless, completely undeserving of any punishment, completely undeserving of death.

[24:53] And God sent Him. While His enemies were still His enemies, God the Son, Jesus Christ, died for rebel sinners like us.

[25:07] We often sing these lyrics, what wonder of wonders, what love is this, that Christ would die for me.

[25:18] And we could go on to say, what wonder of wonders, that God in love would send His Son for sinners such as us. What a marvelous thought that is.

[25:30] What a wonderful truth that is. Indeed, this is good news for weak, wretched sinners like us. We desperately need Jesus because without Jesus, we are self-proclaimed enemies of God.

[25:47] And it's just for such enemies as us that Jesus came to die. But wait, there's more. The reason number two that you and I desperately need Jesus because we need to be saved from the wrath of God.

[26:06] Because we need to be saved from the wrath of God. Look at verses 9 and 10. Since therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God.

[26:22] For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more. Now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life. So do you see how Paul says here in his own kind of way, but wait, there's more?

[26:39] Paul has spelled out the wonderful truth of salvation. That Jesus Christ came to die for sinners. That He came to die for His enemies in the place of His enemies. Because all of us, apart from Christ, deserve death.

[26:54] Our sins have earned us the punishment of death. Romans 6.23 says, the wages of sin is death. My earnings for my sin is death.

[27:07] Here's the payment. Here's what I've earned. And it's not money. It's nothing good. It's death. That's what we deserve. And it's eternal death.

[27:18] We've sinned against a perfect, infinite, holy, good God. And so our sins have earned us an eternal death in hell.

[27:31] And yet, Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God who became a man, He lived a perfect life on this earth. He lived a righteous life, obedient in every way to God the Father.

[27:44] This Jesus Christ died for rebel sinners. He died in the place of rebel sinners so that all who trust in Him, all who come to Him, all who believe in Him, well, they are now justified by His blood.

[27:59] That's how Paul begins verse 9. Justified. That means that God declares us who are in Christ to be in right standing with Him.

[28:11] He declares us to be righteous. In ourselves, we're not. That's our problem. We've just seen it. We're sinners. But in Christ, now we are declared by God to be righteous because Jesus Christ Himself, He is righteous.

[28:29] He is good. Never sinned. No sin found in Him. And God then looks on those who are joined to Christ. He looks on those who are in Christ and He sees them not as they once were, but He sees them just as His Son is.

[28:48] So God declares us in Christ righteous. He declares us innocent because the blood of the righteous, innocent one was shed for us.

[29:00] His blood covers us. So back in verse 8, when Paul said, Christ died for us, that's what he's talking about. This doctrine, this teaching of justification.

[29:12] That we're declared righteous by God because Christ who is righteous died in our place. Now, Paul says, but wait, there's more. And you see that phrase there in verse 9.

[29:25] Much more. Repeat it again in verse 10. Much more. If we've been justified by the blood of Christ, then there's more. We'll also be saved by Him from the wrath of God that is to come.

[29:42] You see, Paul is now, he's looking to the future. We will be saved. That's a future tense. He's looking to a day that lies ahead.

[29:53] A day that God says will absolutely, most certainly come. It is the final day. The Bible calls it the day of judgment. This is when Christ will return again and He'll bring the armies of heaven and He's going to bring all of human history in this present age to an end and He is now going to usher in a new age, the new heavens and the new earth for all of eternity.

[30:21] And in that day, there will be great rejoicing, but there will also be for others great anguish and great sorrow.

[30:33] Rejoicing for all of us who are found in Christ, rejoicing for those who know Him, who have trusted in Him, who have believed in Him, that day will be a great joy.

[30:45] That word does not capture the kind of joy that we will have. It will be a great joy for us. But for those who have rejected Christ, who continued to live as His enemies, that day will be a day of great sorrow and anguish because God's wrath, His righteous anger against sin, will fall full force upon them.

[31:11] That's the punishment that sinners deserve and sinners in that day will receive it. And so it will be a day of judgment for them. A day in which they will not be declared innocent.

[31:24] But rather guilty. How will you be found on that day? Right now, today, does the thought of that day fill you with joy and confident hope and assurance?

[31:41] Or, does just the thought of that day, when you take a moment to think about it, does it fill you with dread and with fear and with despair?

[31:52] Do you actually try to push the thought of that day out of your mind? Do you try to avoid it? Do you try to not think about it? Because it is a terrifying thought to stand before God all on your own.

[32:06] All by yourself. Here you are, self-proclaimed enemy of God. The war is over. The enemies have been rounded up. And now you are standing before the righteous judge to be judged as his enemy.

[32:24] But for those in Christ, that day doesn't fill us with dread. Anything but dread. Because Jesus Christ saves us from the wrath of God.

[32:36] God's wrath is coming, but we have a Savior who died for us. and he now ever lives for us. He's a living Savior. Christ who came and died for his enemies while they were still his enemies, now he's risen and he's reigning and he's alive.

[32:55] He's seated at the right hand of God and he intercedes for us. Meaning that he speaks a good word for us. If we belong to him, he says, they're covered by my blood.

[33:10] He says, they're justified by my blood. And God looks on us and he sees his Son. Right now and every day after until that day of judgment.

[33:23] And on that day, all of us who are in Christ, we can confidently stand because right now Jesus Christ lives for us. This is what Paul means in verse 10 when he says that we shall be saved by his life.

[33:40] We'll be saved by our Savior's life. Yes, he died for us and yes, he lived a righteous life for us but now he lives for us at the right hand of the Father saying, he's mine.

[33:55] She's mine. They belong to me. I purchased them with my blood. The blood that I shed on the cross. He claims us as his own. We're precious to him.

[34:06] He treasures us and God the Father looks on us and God accepts us. His wrath that was once against us has been turned away and it is forever turned away because our Savior died for us and now he lives for us and he lives to plead for us.

[34:29] If you are outside of Christ this morning, if you have not turned to Christ and trusted in him, he does not presently speak for you.

[34:41] Your name is not on his lips. On the day of judgment, you won't have him as your advocate if you don't turn to him. He won't make a defense for you.

[34:54] He'll say, I never knew you. And you'll be on your own. Facing God who is your enemy and he will not be merciful on that day.

[35:06] Do you see that you desperately need Jesus? You need him to speak a good word for you based not on your own goodness, your own merit, your own righteousness, but based purely on his.

[35:20] That's the second reason that we desperately need Jesus because without Jesus we will perish under the wrath of God. But wait, there's more.

[35:32] The third reason that we need Jesus is because without him we are alienated from God. Without him we are alienated from God.

[35:44] Look at verse 11. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received reconciliation.

[35:56] So we've seen that in love God sent his son to die for his enemies. And we've seen that God's son, Jesus Christ, will save those for whom he died from the wrath of God that is to come.

[36:11] Now we have the but wait, there's more. More than that, Paul says. Those for whom Christ died are now reconciled to God. We see that in verse 11.

[36:26] We have now received reconciliation. reconciliation. Back in verse 10, Paul talks about this reconciliation as well. Our memory verse, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son.

[36:39] Now reconciliation, that's a very relational term. If we think of justification, being justified, God declaring us righteous, we think of a courtroom, right?

[36:50] That's where our mind ought to go, being called innocent or being called guilty. Well, now we come to reconciliation and we should think more of friendship or of a family being brought back together in right harmony with each other.

[37:06] So when we think of our sin, we should recognize that because of sin, our relationship with God is broken. It's been ruined.

[37:16] It can't be repaired by us. Because there is no way for us, sinful as we are, to do anything to make us right with the perfect holy, sinless God.

[37:29] But through Christ, through His perfect, sacrificial death in the place of sinners, that relationship is repaired. Through Him, sinners are restored to right relationship with God.

[37:43] All who were once counted as enemies of God are now counted as friends of God. God was once against us. God now in Christ is for us.

[37:56] in another letter that Paul wrote, this letter to the Colossians, Paul talked about our reconciliation as well. He says in chapter 1, beginning in verse 21, God, and you who once were alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before God.

[38:30] So do you hear how Paul talks about our relationship with God? Because of sin, we are what? we are alienated. We are far from God.

[38:41] There's this relational distance between us and God. There's a spiritual chasm between us far from God, and yet through Christ, what happens when we are reconciled to God?

[38:55] We are now presented holy and blameless and above reproach before God. There's a relational distance talked about there. Now we're not alienated far away from Him, we're presented before Him.

[39:10] Right there. We can be brought near to God through Christ. No longer hostile in mind, no longer doing evil deeds, or as Paul says in Romans 5, no longer enemies of God.

[39:26] No longer enemies. But what? Holy, blameless, above reproach, reconciled to God because God now sees us as He sees His Son.

[39:40] And what is His Son? Holy, blameless, and above reproach. So we go from alienated as His enemies to embraced like His very Son.

[39:54] God's Word couldn't be any more clear. You and I, we desperately need Jesus because without Jesus, we are self-proclaimed enemies of God.

[40:05] Without Jesus, we will perish under the wrath of God. And without Jesus, we were alienated from God. So what will you do with what you've heard from God in His Word this morning?

[40:24] God has told you the truth about yourself. He's told you the truth about Himself. He's told you the truth about His Son. He's told you the truth about the Savior that you need.

[40:34] Will you turn to this Savior, Jesus Christ today? Will you turn and confess that you are a sinner? That you are an enemy of God and that you need to be saved from your sins?

[40:48] You've seen what a Savior Jesus is. He came to die on a cross for His enemies when they were His enemies. And He came and died because God in love for His enemies sent Him.

[41:04] If you come to Christ believing in Him to be your Savior, He will receive you this morning. He will delight to save you. He laid down His very life to save sinners such as all of us.

[41:19] So come to Him today and you will no longer be God's enemy, but you will be God's friend. You will be His beloved child. And one day you will be warmly welcomed by God into His very presence, holy and blameless and above reproach.

[41:39] But wait, there's more. And you think, what? We've read the whole passage. Circle back to verse 11. Because those who have trusted in Christ, those who have been reconciled to God, those who have been brought into right relationship with Him, you can now rejoice.

[42:00] More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received reconciliation. If you trust in Christ, you have new life.

[42:15] You have eternal life. You are safe. You are secure in Him. Your greatest problem has been addressed. as Proverbs 1.33 says, you can dwell secure and be at ease with no fear of dread of disaster.

[42:36] There is no condemnation for you that awaits. God's face now shines upon you. God now smiles upon you. Christians, we who are Christians, should be the happiest people on the face of this planet.

[42:55] We're right with God. We belong to God. We're secure in Him. He's our refuge. He's for us. So what joy should fill our hearts?

[43:09] Yes, in this life, you will have trouble. When you become a Christian, the problems, the trials of life, they don't suddenly disappear. In fact, you will probably and likely have newfound problems because you're a Christian and you live in a world that hates God.

[43:25] But the trials of this life are short and eternity is, well, forever. And your eternity is secure. You're reconciled to God, the relationship that matters most for you.

[43:41] So like Paul, we can say we rejoice. We rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Or as King David said in the Old Testament, in Psalm 16, I have set the Lord always before me.

[43:56] Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad and my whole being rejoices. My flesh also dwells secure.

[44:08] For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol or let your Holy One see corruption. You make known to me the path of life. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

[44:21] In your presence, there is fullness of joy. There's hope. We have a confident, unshakable hope.

[44:35] We're going to enjoy God for all of eternity because we've been reconciled to Him through Christ. So those with this unshakable hope for the future, well of course then we have an unshakable joy in the present.

[44:52] This very day we rejoice. So if you are outside of Christ, come to Him today. No longer than a self-proclaimed enemy, reconciled to God, and you too can have that very joy.

[45:09] Let's pray together. Amen. Heavenly Father, what wonder of wonders it is that Christ would die for us, that you would send your Son, that you would send Him out of love for rebel sinners, that you might reconcile us to yourself.

[45:31] Father, we pray that all who hear that good news today would turn to Christ, would come to Him in humility, would come to Him pleading that He would forgive their sins, and then know that He receives all who come to Him.

[45:49] We thank you, Father, for the truth of Your Word, the clarity of Your Word. You tell us just as it is, and we need to hear it all. We need to hear the good news, or the bad news, so that we can rejoice at the good news.

[46:04] Thank you, Father, that You've given us Your Word. Thank you, Father, that You've sent Your Son, and thank you, Father, that all who trust in Him have Your Spirit, and we forever have joy in You.

[46:17] We pray that You would make us to know that, that You would open blind eyes even this morning, give them sight to see, and make us all to go from here rejoicing in the unshakable hope that we have in Christ.

[46:29]  It's in His name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.