1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,520 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church Podcast, 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,480 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,720 My name is Pastor Josh and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:10,480 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,680 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:16,080 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:20,120 Now come along, let's look into the Bible and see what God has 8 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:21,440 for us here today. 9 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:27,690 We're going to go ahead and look into the word of God here this 10 00:00:27,690 --> 00:00:28,010 morning. 11 00:00:28,010 --> 00:00:31,570 If you have your Bibles, turn there with me to Romans Chapter five. 12 00:00:31,570 --> 00:00:34,410 We're going to continue our series looking at the Book of Romans. 13 00:00:35,610 --> 00:00:38,610 The title of this whole series is Theology Matters. 14 00:00:38,610 --> 00:00:41,530 And we're going to be talking today specifically about the benefits 15 00:00:42,010 --> 00:00:44,650 or the blessings of our justification. 16 00:00:45,290 --> 00:00:47,890 Now, we need to go back and look at that word justification before 17 00:00:47,890 --> 00:00:51,610 we move any further, because this whole chapter, Romans chapter 18 00:00:51,610 --> 00:00:53,710 5, is all about what we have in. 19 00:00:53,860 --> 00:00:56,700 In our justification, what we have in our salvation. 20 00:00:56,700 --> 00:01:00,860 Romans Chapter four, if you go back, probably for most of us, it's 21 00:01:00,860 --> 00:01:02,740 on the same page or one page back. 22 00:01:02,900 --> 00:01:07,940 The very last word in Romans chapter four is justification. 23 00:01:08,340 --> 00:01:12,060 And that's right where it picks up in Romans chapter 5, and 24 00:01:12,060 --> 00:01:15,060 it says in Romans chapter 5, verse 1, therefore. 25 00:01:15,700 --> 00:01:18,420 Now, if you've been here for any amount of time, when you see 26 00:01:18,420 --> 00:01:21,030 that word therefore in scripture, you need to read reference 27 00:01:21,030 --> 00:01:22,710 back to see what it's talking about. 28 00:01:23,110 --> 00:01:26,150 And we know it's specifically talking about that word justification. 29 00:01:26,470 --> 00:01:28,950 What we've been talking about in Romans Chapter four, what we've 30 00:01:28,950 --> 00:01:32,550 been seeing in the concept of salvation, it says therefore being 31 00:01:32,550 --> 00:01:33,830 justified by faith. 32 00:01:33,830 --> 00:01:36,909 And so we know that we're justified by faith. 33 00:01:36,909 --> 00:01:40,470 There's a lot that we could talk about just in those words, justified 34 00:01:40,470 --> 00:01:41,190 by faith. 35 00:01:41,990 --> 00:01:44,870 Justified means this declared righteous. 36 00:01:45,190 --> 00:01:47,870 Now, in the context of Scripture, we're talking about the 37 00:01:47,870 --> 00:01:52,630 fact that God can declare a sinful person righteous by faith. 38 00:01:52,630 --> 00:01:54,390 Now, why does that matter? 39 00:01:54,470 --> 00:01:56,310 Why does that mean anything to me? 40 00:01:56,310 --> 00:01:58,470 Because I cannot justify myself. 41 00:01:59,270 --> 00:02:02,110 The Bible says here in the Book of Romans and throughout the 42 00:02:02,110 --> 00:02:06,550 whole scripture that we are falling short of the glory of God 43 00:02:06,550 --> 00:02:07,310 because of our sin. 44 00:02:07,310 --> 00:02:08,950 There's the universal problem of sin. 45 00:02:09,350 --> 00:02:13,870 But the Bible says that because of faith in, as it says in 46 00:02:13,870 --> 00:02:18,070 verse one, Jesus Christ, because of faith in Jesus Christ, 47 00:02:18,070 --> 00:02:20,470 we can be justified or declared righteous. 48 00:02:21,270 --> 00:02:22,630 Now, what did Jesus do for us? 49 00:02:22,630 --> 00:02:24,590 Most of you know that Jesus came to this earth. 50 00:02:24,590 --> 00:02:25,710 He lived the perfect life. 51 00:02:25,710 --> 00:02:27,870 He died on the cross for our sins. 52 00:02:27,870 --> 00:02:30,590 He's conquered death through the resurrection, and he's ruling 53 00:02:30,590 --> 00:02:31,230 and reigning today. 54 00:02:31,230 --> 00:02:36,030 And so the Bible says because of who Jesus is and because of what 55 00:02:36,030 --> 00:02:40,350 he has offered to us, that when we place our faith in him, we 56 00:02:40,350 --> 00:02:41,110 are justified. 57 00:02:41,110 --> 00:02:44,200 We are declared righteous not because we're good people, but because. 58 00:02:44,270 --> 00:02:47,230 But because God is perfect and because of the work of Jesus Christ. 59 00:02:47,710 --> 00:02:50,190 And so it's justification by faith. 60 00:02:51,070 --> 00:02:53,750 Now, what are the results of this justification? 61 00:02:53,750 --> 00:02:55,910 Well, I could just say here this morning, we all go to heaven. 62 00:02:55,910 --> 00:02:57,550 Now let's close our Bibles and go home. 63 00:02:58,030 --> 00:02:59,470 But that's just the start of it. 64 00:02:59,550 --> 00:03:02,590 That is a beautiful thing, that we are granted everlasting life 65 00:03:02,590 --> 00:03:03,550 in our forgiveness. 66 00:03:03,870 --> 00:03:04,750 John 3:16. 67 00:03:04,750 --> 00:03:07,950 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, 68 00:03:08,190 --> 00:03:11,870 that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting 69 00:03:11,870 --> 00:03:12,190 life. 70 00:03:12,510 --> 00:03:15,590 And so there is beautiful messages there throughout scripture 71 00:03:15,590 --> 00:03:19,550 that we have everlasting life, that we are gonna be with our Savior 72 00:03:19,550 --> 00:03:21,550 for eternity because of our faith. 73 00:03:21,630 --> 00:03:23,390 But there's so much more than that. 74 00:03:23,550 --> 00:03:24,710 There's so much more to that. 75 00:03:24,710 --> 00:03:27,590 And that's what Romans chapter five is all about, telling us what 76 00:03:27,590 --> 00:03:29,390 we have in our salvation. 77 00:03:30,270 --> 00:03:33,110 And so the therefore is specifically talking about salvation. 78 00:03:33,110 --> 00:03:35,510 Chapters one through four have talked about that. 79 00:03:35,510 --> 00:03:36,670 And now he goes, hey, God. 80 00:03:36,820 --> 00:03:39,780 Therefore, because of all this, we are justified by faith. 81 00:03:39,860 --> 00:03:43,140 And it says here we have peace with God. 82 00:03:43,140 --> 00:03:47,580 The very first blessing that we see in salvation is the fact that 83 00:03:47,580 --> 00:03:49,220 we have peace with God. 84 00:03:49,220 --> 00:03:51,860 Now this is different than the peace of God. 85 00:03:52,820 --> 00:03:54,020 Before we came to Christ. 86 00:03:54,020 --> 00:03:56,460 The Bible says that we were not at peace with God. 87 00:03:56,460 --> 00:03:58,500 We were actually enemies of God. 88 00:03:58,740 --> 00:04:02,790 You could look to Ephesians chapter two to tell us what we were 89 00:04:02,790 --> 00:04:06,270 all about before we came to the Lord in salvation. 90 00:04:06,830 --> 00:04:08,910 It says in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 1. 91 00:04:08,910 --> 00:04:12,910 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 92 00:04:13,550 --> 00:04:16,470 wherein in time past you walked according to the course of 93 00:04:16,470 --> 00:04:19,910 this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the 94 00:04:19,910 --> 00:04:23,070 spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom 95 00:04:23,070 --> 00:04:26,710 also we had our conversation in times past in the lust of our 96 00:04:26,710 --> 00:04:30,270 flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. 97 00:04:30,270 --> 00:04:30,520 And. 98 00:04:30,590 --> 00:04:33,990 And we're by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 99 00:04:33,990 --> 00:04:37,510 And so the Bible says that before we are justified, before we 100 00:04:37,510 --> 00:04:39,390 are saved, we are enemies of God. 101 00:04:39,630 --> 00:04:41,150 We are partnering with evil. 102 00:04:41,150 --> 00:04:42,470 We are living in the flesh. 103 00:04:42,470 --> 00:04:44,590 We are fulfilling the lust of our flesh. 104 00:04:44,590 --> 00:04:48,030 And the Bible says that after we are justified, we now come to 105 00:04:48,030 --> 00:04:49,070 peace with God. 106 00:04:49,790 --> 00:04:53,470 A place that we don't wanna be in is a place where we are not at 107 00:04:53,470 --> 00:04:54,350 peace with God. 108 00:04:54,510 --> 00:04:57,750 We don't wanna be there because if we are not at peace with 109 00:04:57,750 --> 00:05:01,370 God, we face the opposite of the blessings of salvation. 110 00:05:01,370 --> 00:05:05,050 We face the judgment and the wrath of a holy and righteous God. 111 00:05:05,370 --> 00:05:08,610 And so before we come to Christ, we are deserving sin and 112 00:05:08,610 --> 00:05:09,610 we are deserving death. 113 00:05:09,690 --> 00:05:11,410 And after we come to Christ, guess what? 114 00:05:11,410 --> 00:05:12,970 We still deserve sin and death. 115 00:05:12,970 --> 00:05:13,890 But there's a difference. 116 00:05:13,890 --> 00:05:17,650 Now God declares us righteous and we are at peace with God. 117 00:05:17,650 --> 00:05:19,650 We are reconciled to God. 118 00:05:19,650 --> 00:05:22,930 We are brought back into the right state in which God had originally 119 00:05:22,930 --> 00:05:25,370 ordained us all to be in in fellowship with Him. 120 00:05:26,150 --> 00:05:30,190 And so it says here that we that are justified by faith have 121 00:05:30,190 --> 00:05:31,110 peace with God. 122 00:05:31,110 --> 00:05:33,310 And so many times we overlook that statement. 123 00:05:33,310 --> 00:05:36,310 But I'm going to tell you here today, you can't have the peace of 124 00:05:36,310 --> 00:05:39,510 God, as Philippians chapter four says, the peace of God which 125 00:05:39,510 --> 00:05:40,710 passeth all understanding. 126 00:05:40,950 --> 00:05:45,590 I think all of us as believers enjoy that and think about that and 127 00:05:45,670 --> 00:05:46,550 celebrate that. 128 00:05:47,110 --> 00:05:50,470 But the truth of the matter is that we could not have the peace 129 00:05:50,470 --> 00:05:53,350 of God if we were not at peace with God. 130 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:55,760 And there's a lot of people in this world today that are seeking 131 00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:59,000 the peace of God, but yet are not willing to come to him in faith 132 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:00,720 and experience peace with God. 133 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:04,560 And so we must have that reconciliation with God and that 134 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:08,480 fellowship with God so that we can walk in the peace of God in our 135 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:08,800 lives. 136 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:12,720 And so justification number one brings us peace with God. 137 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:18,400 This is the first benefit because the price is paid full. 138 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:20,120 Jesus says it is finished. 139 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:23,040 It is paid in full by the work of Jesus on the cross. 140 00:06:23,550 --> 00:06:26,990 God's justice towards us is eternally satisfying. 141 00:06:27,230 --> 00:06:29,870 There's another passage of Scripture in First John that says 142 00:06:29,870 --> 00:06:32,270 that Jesus is the propitiation. 143 00:06:32,990 --> 00:06:35,070 What does that mean, the propitiation of our sins? 144 00:06:35,070 --> 00:06:37,870 It means that God's wrath is satisfied. 145 00:06:37,870 --> 00:06:41,710 Not in judging me now as a sinner, but God's wrath was poured 146 00:06:41,710 --> 00:06:43,310 out upon Jesus on the cross. 147 00:06:43,950 --> 00:06:46,750 Jesus paid the price completely for us. 148 00:06:47,390 --> 00:06:50,510 And so that is the blessing is that we don't have to pay for the 149 00:06:50,510 --> 00:06:53,270 sins that we commit to Jesus paid that sin for us. 150 00:06:53,270 --> 00:06:55,670 And so now we are at peace with God. 151 00:06:56,630 --> 00:07:00,310 If you go a little bit further In Ephesians chapter 2, Ephesians 152 00:07:00,310 --> 00:07:03,590 chapter 2, verse 14 tells us, for he is our peace. 153 00:07:04,390 --> 00:07:08,710 Who hath made both one and have broken down the middle wall 154 00:07:08,710 --> 00:07:13,230 of partition between us speaks of this, that Jesus Christ is our 155 00:07:13,230 --> 00:07:13,470 peace. 156 00:07:13,470 --> 00:07:14,630 He is the prince of peace. 157 00:07:15,030 --> 00:07:18,020 Even if you go back another verse, it says, but Now Ephesians 158 00:07:18,020 --> 00:07:18,980 chapter 2, verse 13. 159 00:07:18,980 --> 00:07:24,980 But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off, are made 160 00:07:24,980 --> 00:07:28,380 nigh by the blood of Christ, says this. 161 00:07:28,460 --> 00:07:31,420 We who were separated from God were far from God. 162 00:07:31,420 --> 00:07:32,940 We were not going to save ourselves. 163 00:07:33,020 --> 00:07:34,940 We were not going to find God on our own. 164 00:07:34,940 --> 00:07:37,980 But the blood of Jesus Christ brings us close to him. 165 00:07:37,980 --> 00:07:42,420 It brings us an opportunity to know him, to be close to him, to 166 00:07:42,420 --> 00:07:43,820 have a personal walk with him. 167 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:48,880 And so Ephesians 2 tells us that before we were saved, we were 168 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:49,920 enemies of God. 169 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:52,560 Before we were saved, we were partners with evil. 170 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:56,480 But it's because of the blood of Jesus Christ, because of his sacrifice 171 00:07:56,480 --> 00:08:00,199 for us, that we can know him and be close to him and have peace 172 00:08:00,199 --> 00:08:00,720 with Him. 173 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:04,560 Some of you know what it's like to not have peace with somebody 174 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:05,200 in your life. 175 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:09,280 Some of us who are married understand that there's those times 176 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:10,480 in our life where we wish. 177 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:14,280 We wish we had peace with our spouse, but because of some sort 178 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:17,280 of conflict, maybe there's some difficulty there, there's some 179 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:18,120 division there. 180 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:21,600 And as God ordains it, we are to walk in fellowship. 181 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:23,240 And so therefore we have to get right. 182 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:25,080 What is causing the divide? 183 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:27,600 That's the same thing when it comes to our relationship with God. 184 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:30,360 There's going to be times in our life where we allow certain issues 185 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:33,120 in our life and certain struggles in our life and certain 186 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:35,200 sins in our life cause a division. 187 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:38,830 And therefore we lose completely the understanding of the 188 00:08:38,830 --> 00:08:41,870 peace of God that we have in our life because we have allowed 189 00:08:41,870 --> 00:08:45,430 ourselves to get to that place where we've drawn a divide between 190 00:08:45,510 --> 00:08:48,030 the Lord and our own lives. 191 00:08:48,030 --> 00:08:51,990 And so I want to tell you here this morning, having peace with God 192 00:08:51,990 --> 00:08:55,030 is an important, vital aspect of salvation. 193 00:08:55,830 --> 00:08:57,510 We're going to move a little bit further here and we're going 194 00:08:57,510 --> 00:08:58,030 to see what it says. 195 00:08:58,030 --> 00:09:00,670 It says, so therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace 196 00:09:00,670 --> 00:09:02,790 with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 197 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:06,120 That's the only way that we can find this type of peace. 198 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:08,040 But verse number two, it says, by whom? 199 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:09,880 That's Jesus. 200 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:15,880 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace. 201 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:21,280 So the Bible says here that another blessing of being born again, 202 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:24,880 another blessing of the justification would be this we have 203 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:30,300 access to God, access to God, that we can know him in a personal 204 00:09:30,300 --> 00:09:30,580 way. 205 00:09:30,580 --> 00:09:34,020 There's a passage of Scripture that I love to go to when we're talking 206 00:09:34,020 --> 00:09:35,780 about this idea of having access to God. 207 00:09:35,780 --> 00:09:37,540 And that is found in the book of Hebrews. 208 00:09:37,540 --> 00:09:39,580 If you want to see that with me, you can. 209 00:09:39,740 --> 00:09:41,100 Hebrews, chapter four. 210 00:09:41,580 --> 00:09:45,500 We're going to look at what the Bible says what our access really 211 00:09:45,500 --> 00:09:49,860 looks like when it comes to knowing who God is and knowing his 212 00:09:49,860 --> 00:09:50,620 love for us. 213 00:09:51,820 --> 00:09:54,660 We know that all of this is only through Jesus Christ. 214 00:09:54,660 --> 00:09:57,340 We're reminded that verse by verse, Verse one, we remember we 215 00:09:57,340 --> 00:09:59,500 can only have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 216 00:09:59,820 --> 00:10:02,980 Number two, we can only have access by faith because of Jesus 217 00:10:02,980 --> 00:10:03,260 Christ. 218 00:10:03,500 --> 00:10:06,140 And so in Hebrews chapter four, we're reminded of this great 219 00:10:06,140 --> 00:10:11,340 high priest, Jesus, who understands our struggles, who understands 220 00:10:11,340 --> 00:10:15,580 our pain, who went through all the temptations that we had. 221 00:10:15,580 --> 00:10:17,860 But we're gonna see that there's a difference in his response 222 00:10:17,860 --> 00:10:18,780 and our response. 223 00:10:19,340 --> 00:10:20,860 Hebrews chapter 4, verse 14. 224 00:10:20,860 --> 00:10:23,900 Seeing then we have a great high priest. 225 00:10:25,020 --> 00:10:26,980 Now, back in the Old Testament, the priest was the one 226 00:10:26,980 --> 00:10:28,540 who connected man to God. 227 00:10:28,620 --> 00:10:31,780 We know that in the New Testament in our lives today that 228 00:10:31,780 --> 00:10:33,740 it is Jesus who connects God to man. 229 00:10:33,820 --> 00:10:35,860 Jesus says, I am the way, the truth and the life. 230 00:10:35,860 --> 00:10:37,620 No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 231 00:10:37,620 --> 00:10:40,379 So Hebrews chapter four is talking about Jesus. 232 00:10:40,379 --> 00:10:44,140 Here we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens. 233 00:10:44,220 --> 00:10:45,740 Jesus, the Son of God. 234 00:10:45,900 --> 00:10:47,860 Let us hold fast our profession. 235 00:10:47,860 --> 00:10:50,060 Let us hold fast to the confession of our faith. 236 00:10:50,930 --> 00:10:53,730 For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the 237 00:10:53,730 --> 00:10:54,850 feeling of our infirmities. 238 00:10:55,490 --> 00:10:56,530 So what does this mean? 239 00:10:56,850 --> 00:11:00,650 We have someone who can sympathize with our struggles, but 240 00:11:00,650 --> 00:11:02,610 was in all points tempted, like as we are. 241 00:11:03,330 --> 00:11:07,010 But the distinction is this, yet without sin. 242 00:11:07,410 --> 00:11:09,570 So we could sit here all day and say, you know what I've been 243 00:11:09,570 --> 00:11:10,850 through with what you've been through. 244 00:11:10,930 --> 00:11:12,770 I struggle with what you struggle with. 245 00:11:13,330 --> 00:11:17,570 I can understand your pain, but the truth is that I didn't handle 246 00:11:17,570 --> 00:11:18,740 it so sinlessly. 247 00:11:19,540 --> 00:11:21,740 But the Bible says that Jesus went through all the things that 248 00:11:21,740 --> 00:11:24,420 we've gone through, but it says he faced it without sin. 249 00:11:24,500 --> 00:11:26,660 And therefore, what's the response to that? 250 00:11:26,820 --> 00:11:27,540 Verse 16. 251 00:11:27,620 --> 00:11:32,820 Let us therefore, because of this, let us as believers come boldly 252 00:11:32,820 --> 00:11:38,460 or confidently unto the throne of grace to go before the Lord. 253 00:11:38,460 --> 00:11:38,820 Why? 254 00:11:38,900 --> 00:11:43,300 That we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 255 00:11:44,170 --> 00:11:47,810 All of us find a place in need sometimes. 256 00:11:47,810 --> 00:11:51,210 Some of us are struggling, some of us have struggled, some of 257 00:11:51,210 --> 00:11:52,130 us will struggle. 258 00:11:52,130 --> 00:11:55,490 And the Bible says that access to God is not just coming to him 259 00:11:55,490 --> 00:11:56,490 when everything is going well. 260 00:11:56,490 --> 00:11:59,250 It's actually coming to him when things are going well, coming 261 00:11:59,250 --> 00:12:02,210 to him when things are difficult, coming to him when things 262 00:12:02,210 --> 00:12:03,130 feel overwhelming. 263 00:12:03,130 --> 00:12:07,370 It says that we can come to him and find mercy and grace to help 264 00:12:07,530 --> 00:12:08,970 in time of need. 265 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:10,920 God is there for us. 266 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:12,200 He cares for us. 267 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:14,880 He wants to have that relationship, he wants that two way 268 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:17,200 communication, he wants that fellowship. 269 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:19,760 And that's a beautiful thing that we have in salvation. 270 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:23,040 Because I could look at justification just as a ticket to 271 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:24,920 heaven, but it's more than that. 272 00:12:25,159 --> 00:12:28,440 It's knowing that we have a relationship with God and He cares 273 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:31,400 for us and he wants to communicate with us and he wants 274 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:33,560 us to walk in fellowship with Him. 275 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:37,820 And so the second benefit or blessing of salvation would be that 276 00:12:37,820 --> 00:12:39,580 we have access to God. 277 00:12:40,380 --> 00:12:44,380 So verse two, he says, by whom also we have access by faith into 278 00:12:44,460 --> 00:12:45,180 this grace. 279 00:12:46,940 --> 00:12:49,740 Point number three, justification brings us grace from 280 00:12:49,740 --> 00:12:52,940 God, not just in salvation, but in every element of our life. 281 00:12:53,579 --> 00:12:55,660 Folks, when we think about that word grace, we're thinking about 282 00:12:55,660 --> 00:12:57,820 something given to us that we don't deserve. 283 00:12:58,620 --> 00:13:02,420 And everything that we have in Christ is grace because it's not 284 00:13:02,420 --> 00:13:03,500 what we deserve. 285 00:13:03,660 --> 00:13:09,070 The blessings, the protection, the love, the forgiveness, the compassion, 286 00:13:09,150 --> 00:13:11,830 the presence, the access, everything that's listed here is 287 00:13:11,830 --> 00:13:12,670 a grace of God. 288 00:13:12,670 --> 00:13:13,070 Folks. 289 00:13:13,070 --> 00:13:15,510 We get to rest in the grace of God. 290 00:13:15,510 --> 00:13:17,390 Resting in the grace of God means this. 291 00:13:17,470 --> 00:13:19,550 When I fail, he doesn't kick me out. 292 00:13:19,950 --> 00:13:21,950 When I struggle, he doesn't turn away. 293 00:13:22,750 --> 00:13:26,030 And so the thing that sometimes we think about is grace 294 00:13:26,030 --> 00:13:28,830 only in the context of going to heaven. 295 00:13:28,990 --> 00:13:30,350 And that is certainly the case. 296 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:34,000 But we have to access the grace of God in every element of 297 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:34,520 our life. 298 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:38,120 Folks, I don't know about you, but when I look at the news, when 299 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:41,640 I deal with my circumstances, when I wake up in the morning, I 300 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:43,480 am in desperate need of the grace of God. 301 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:43,800 Why? 302 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:47,960 Because I fail so often, my perspective is this, hey, you know 303 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:48,080 what? 304 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:48,920 It's not worth it. 305 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:52,360 It's not even something that's gonna bring me any benefit. 306 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:52,880 So you know what? 307 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:53,840 I'm just gonna give up. 308 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:56,320 But the Bible says that there is no reason to give up because we 309 00:13:56,320 --> 00:13:57,880 have the grace of God in our lives. 310 00:13:57,880 --> 00:14:01,720 And so it says in verse number two, we have access by faith into 311 00:14:03,620 --> 00:14:05,060 what an amazing grace it is. 312 00:14:05,300 --> 00:14:06,660 We sing Amazing grace. 313 00:14:07,380 --> 00:14:10,500 Truth is, is that sometimes we forget how amazing that grace really 314 00:14:10,500 --> 00:14:12,180 is when it comes to knowing God. 315 00:14:12,580 --> 00:14:13,460 Look at your life. 316 00:14:14,020 --> 00:14:16,140 And many of you say, well, look at my life, Pastor. 317 00:14:16,140 --> 00:14:17,300 It's pretty difficult. 318 00:14:17,620 --> 00:14:20,140 And I can understand that through the human perspective. 319 00:14:20,140 --> 00:14:21,380 Our lives can be difficult. 320 00:14:21,780 --> 00:14:24,740 But if we really sit back and think about the blessings of God, 321 00:14:24,740 --> 00:14:27,900 I guarantee you, you'll have opportunities to thank God for that 322 00:14:27,900 --> 00:14:28,740 amazing grace. 323 00:14:29,550 --> 00:14:32,430 And so it says here that we have access to him, we have grace 324 00:14:32,510 --> 00:14:35,030 in him, and it's where we can stand. 325 00:14:35,030 --> 00:14:36,990 It says we can stand in that grace. 326 00:14:38,030 --> 00:14:41,150 It's not about just realizing it, but the Bible actually says in 327 00:14:41,150 --> 00:14:43,550 the New Testament that we are to grow in this grace. 328 00:14:43,870 --> 00:14:46,790 Now, a lot of times people think that means that I need to love 329 00:14:46,790 --> 00:14:49,790 God more so that he can give me more grace. 330 00:14:50,110 --> 00:14:52,670 But the way that I understand Scripture, and maybe the way that 331 00:14:52,670 --> 00:14:55,750 you understand Scripture, is that God's grace is abundantly and 332 00:14:55,750 --> 00:14:57,620 infinitely poured out upon us in salvation. 333 00:14:57,620 --> 00:15:00,120 And how could he prove his love any more than dying on the cross 334 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:00,800 for your sins? 335 00:15:01,040 --> 00:15:03,800 Think about that for a moment if you're ever questioning whether 336 00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:04,640 or not God loves you. 337 00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:06,800 It says in Romans, chapter five, verse eight, which we're going 338 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:07,760 to get to in a little bit. 339 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:11,640 But God commended or demonstrated his love towards us 340 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:14,640 in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 341 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:17,720 That's the greatest demonstration of love ever throughout 342 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:21,120 all of history that we sin against our Creator. 343 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:24,440 The Bible says in John chapter one that Jesus created us, that we 344 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:25,680 are created by Him. 345 00:15:26,060 --> 00:15:29,860 The light of God was shown abroad in the world and we rejected 346 00:15:29,860 --> 00:15:30,940 him in our sin. 347 00:15:31,020 --> 00:15:34,220 And so he says, okay, I created you, you sinned against me, 348 00:15:34,220 --> 00:15:37,220 but I still love you enough to give my only begotten Son for you 349 00:15:37,220 --> 00:15:38,700 and die on the cross for your sins. 350 00:15:38,700 --> 00:15:40,300 That's the greatest act of love. 351 00:15:40,540 --> 00:15:43,220 So anytime in your life that you doubt whether or not God loves 352 00:15:43,220 --> 00:15:44,540 you, what should we do? 353 00:15:44,620 --> 00:15:45,980 We go back to the cross. 354 00:15:46,700 --> 00:15:48,260 We go back to what he did for us. 355 00:15:48,260 --> 00:15:49,660 And so what we can see here is this. 356 00:15:49,900 --> 00:15:51,660 We can stand in that grace. 357 00:15:51,740 --> 00:15:53,740 Standing in the grace of God says this. 358 00:15:53,820 --> 00:15:56,620 I know that I'm not enough, but I know that he is enough. 359 00:15:57,490 --> 00:16:00,370 I know that this struggle is really big today, but he's bigger. 360 00:16:01,170 --> 00:16:02,130 I know that. 361 00:16:03,170 --> 00:16:07,330 I'm so confused right now, but his wisdom is stronger than my confusion. 362 00:16:08,290 --> 00:16:10,530 His certainty is bigger than my doubt. 363 00:16:10,850 --> 00:16:14,570 And folks, if you're struggling today to reconcile something 364 00:16:14,570 --> 00:16:18,610 in your life when it comes to the love of God, go back to his grace. 365 00:16:18,610 --> 00:16:20,130 Stand in his grace. 366 00:16:21,730 --> 00:16:24,570 So what we see there in verse number two is that we can stand in 367 00:16:24,570 --> 00:16:25,090 that grace. 368 00:16:25,650 --> 00:16:30,250 But then we see number four, that justification doesn't just bring 369 00:16:30,250 --> 00:16:35,650 us peace and access and grace, but it also brings us joy. 370 00:16:36,050 --> 00:16:39,090 Look at it there in verse number two, it says, and rejoice 371 00:16:40,370 --> 00:16:42,210 in hope of the glory of God. 372 00:16:42,770 --> 00:16:45,570 The Bible says that the joy of the Lord is our strength. 373 00:16:45,650 --> 00:16:49,090 Philippians says that we are to have joy in all situations. 374 00:16:49,090 --> 00:16:50,650 Rejoice in the Lord always. 375 00:16:50,650 --> 00:16:51,890 And again I say rejoice. 376 00:16:51,890 --> 00:16:53,658 That's Philippians 4. 377 00:16:53,722 --> 00:16:54,010 4. 378 00:16:54,810 --> 00:16:57,610 One of the elements of the fruit of the Spirit is joy. 379 00:16:58,010 --> 00:17:02,050 The Christian's life is to be characterized by joy, not circumstantial 380 00:17:02,050 --> 00:17:02,570 happiness. 381 00:17:03,530 --> 00:17:05,090 Because circumstantial happiness is this. 382 00:17:05,090 --> 00:17:07,130 Hey, I go into work today, I get a raise. 383 00:17:07,290 --> 00:17:07,690 Great. 384 00:17:08,090 --> 00:17:09,690 It's okay to be happy for that. 385 00:17:10,250 --> 00:17:13,770 But can we have biblical joy when we go into work and we don't 386 00:17:13,770 --> 00:17:14,410 get the raise? 387 00:17:14,410 --> 00:17:15,610 Actually, the opposite. 388 00:17:15,930 --> 00:17:17,050 Can we have joy? 389 00:17:19,059 --> 00:17:20,979 Circumstantial happiness is me going to the doctor. 390 00:17:20,979 --> 00:17:22,259 Now, some of you know this. 391 00:17:22,819 --> 00:17:24,899 You know, you go to the doctor, you sit down, and they look 392 00:17:24,899 --> 00:17:27,619 over your numbers and they go, hey, everything's good. 393 00:17:27,619 --> 00:17:28,499 Your numbers are good. 394 00:17:28,499 --> 00:17:30,019 You're tracking in the right direction. 395 00:17:30,019 --> 00:17:31,499 That's circumstantial happiness. 396 00:17:31,499 --> 00:17:33,059 Yes, that's good. 397 00:17:33,778 --> 00:17:34,339 Amen. 398 00:17:34,419 --> 00:17:37,739 It's easy to praise him in those moments, but are we willing 399 00:17:37,739 --> 00:17:40,219 to praise him when we go to the doctor and they don't say the 400 00:17:40,219 --> 00:17:40,539 same thing? 401 00:17:40,539 --> 00:17:42,339 They say, hey, things aren't looking so good. 402 00:17:42,579 --> 00:17:45,360 This test isn't coming the way that we want to see it. 403 00:17:45,360 --> 00:17:46,600 So we need to have another test. 404 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:50,080 Are we willing to say that I can have joy not because of what's 405 00:17:50,080 --> 00:17:53,720 happening to me, but because of what has already happened to me 406 00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:55,880 in Jesus Christ in salvation? 407 00:17:55,960 --> 00:17:59,680 Folks, the Bible says that it is joy that characterizes the Christian 408 00:17:59,680 --> 00:17:59,960 life. 409 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:05,640 Joy, love, truth, all these aspects that God imparts to us, we 410 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:07,240 as Christians are supposed to live out. 411 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:09,880 So he says, rejoice in hope. 412 00:18:11,330 --> 00:18:14,010 We can talk about that word joy over and over again today. 413 00:18:14,010 --> 00:18:16,450 But what I'm gonna tell you here today is that many Christians, 414 00:18:17,010 --> 00:18:20,410 and I can say by way of testimony in my own life that I have 415 00:18:20,410 --> 00:18:21,570 fallen into this category. 416 00:18:21,650 --> 00:18:24,330 Many Christians have allowed certain things to happen in their 417 00:18:24,330 --> 00:18:28,370 life to cause them to lose what we would call lose our joy. 418 00:18:29,330 --> 00:18:34,050 Someone steals our joy, takes away what we thought was something 419 00:18:34,050 --> 00:18:36,410 that was a blessing in our life, and we can say, you know what? 420 00:18:36,410 --> 00:18:38,530 I no longer have joy as a Christian, folks. 421 00:18:38,860 --> 00:18:42,460 I can understand that from the human perspective, but from the spiritual 422 00:18:42,460 --> 00:18:45,540 perspective, we have no reason to say that we've lost our joy because 423 00:18:45,540 --> 00:18:47,820 nobody can take away what we have in Jesus Christ. 424 00:18:48,140 --> 00:18:50,780 The Bible says in the Book of Matthew that those things that we 425 00:18:50,780 --> 00:18:55,100 have in this earth, moth and rust can corrupt, people can steal, 426 00:18:55,500 --> 00:18:58,500 but nobody can steal what you have in Jesus Christ. 427 00:18:58,500 --> 00:19:01,020 Therefore, that gives us the joy of our salvation. 428 00:19:01,740 --> 00:19:05,060 Even the psalmist said, restore in me the joy of my salvation, 429 00:19:05,060 --> 00:19:05,380 folks. 430 00:19:05,380 --> 00:19:07,260 That's sometimes the prayer that we need to pray. 431 00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:10,440 Sometimes we need to pray the prayer of lord, restore that joy 432 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:11,360 of my salvation. 433 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:13,840 Let me see it from the biblical perspective. 434 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:16,080 Let me see it from the eternal perspective. 435 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:21,360 So many times we can get into the rut of complaining, discontent, 436 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:22,560 bitterness. 437 00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:25,960 And the Bible says, no, rejoice in the hope that you have. 438 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:27,760 And that brings us to point number five. 439 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:31,360 Justification doesn't just bring us joy, but it brings us hope. 440 00:19:32,970 --> 00:19:34,570 That's what we see there in verse number two. 441 00:19:34,890 --> 00:19:39,050 It says, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 442 00:19:39,850 --> 00:19:42,090 What an amazing thing that is, that we can have hope. 443 00:19:42,090 --> 00:19:45,290 Now, again, we need to define this word hope, biblically speaking, 444 00:19:45,690 --> 00:19:47,570 because our world teaches hope like this. 445 00:19:47,570 --> 00:19:50,170 I'm gonna cross my fingers, I'm gonna hope that this happens, 446 00:19:50,170 --> 00:19:51,450 but I'm not sure about this. 447 00:19:51,530 --> 00:19:53,450 So there's no certainty in the world's hope. 448 00:19:54,090 --> 00:19:54,970 It's guessing. 449 00:19:55,690 --> 00:19:58,530 But what the Bible says is that there's something else, a different 450 00:19:58,530 --> 00:19:59,290 type of hope. 451 00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:02,240 This type of biblical hope is certainty. 452 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:07,840 Some have defined it this way, a confident expectation that God 453 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:13,480 will keep his word, trusting in God, hoping in him, knowing that 454 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:15,920 he will fulfill his truth in my life. 455 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:17,760 And so hope is not guessing. 456 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:18,960 Hope is certainty. 457 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:23,760 Knowing that we have him, knowing that he is with us, knowing 458 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:26,960 that he gives us joy, knowing that he gives us everlasting life. 459 00:20:27,340 --> 00:20:30,220 It's confidence in knowing that God is truthful and he will 460 00:20:30,220 --> 00:20:31,340 always be truthful. 461 00:20:32,540 --> 00:20:34,140 So we see those five things there. 462 00:20:34,140 --> 00:20:35,660 We see peace with God. 463 00:20:35,660 --> 00:20:37,900 We see access to God. 464 00:20:37,900 --> 00:20:41,100 We see grace given from God and where we can stand. 465 00:20:41,420 --> 00:20:45,620 We see joy that God gives us despite all of our difficult circumstances. 466 00:20:45,620 --> 00:20:47,740 And we see hope, confidence. 467 00:20:49,180 --> 00:20:52,380 And so if we were just to stop there, that would be enough. 468 00:20:52,380 --> 00:20:53,180 That would be great. 469 00:20:53,180 --> 00:20:54,300 That would be amazing. 470 00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:59,360 All of this only makes sense to those who have been justified, 471 00:20:59,440 --> 00:20:59,840 though. 472 00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:04,480 We can't impart these two verses, verses one and two, to someone 473 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:06,640 who does not trust in Jesus Christ as Savior. 474 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:09,120 This is for believers. 475 00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:12,640 This type of confidence, this type of peace, this type of joy, 476 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:13,520 this type of grace. 477 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:17,400 This type of access only comes to those who have trusted in Jesus 478 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:17,640 Christ. 479 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:19,040 We see that there in verse one. 480 00:21:19,120 --> 00:21:24,540 Being justified by faith, they have peace with God through Jesus 481 00:21:24,540 --> 00:21:24,860 Christ. 482 00:21:25,420 --> 00:21:27,020 Through Jesus we have faith. 483 00:21:27,020 --> 00:21:28,620 And through Jesus we have grace. 484 00:21:28,620 --> 00:21:31,340 Through Jesus we can stand in joy and hope. 485 00:21:31,820 --> 00:21:33,500 And so we get to verse number three. 486 00:21:33,500 --> 00:21:36,820 And so all of us today would probably to some degree agree with 487 00:21:36,820 --> 00:21:37,620 verses one and two. 488 00:21:37,620 --> 00:21:39,340 We would say, yes, I have all those things. 489 00:21:39,660 --> 00:21:43,580 And we're not tempted to doubt that when everything is going well. 490 00:21:44,460 --> 00:21:48,110 But I'm going to tell you that Verse number three kind of changes 491 00:21:48,110 --> 00:21:49,270 the script a little bit here. 492 00:21:49,830 --> 00:21:51,630 You guys remember that infomercial? 493 00:21:51,630 --> 00:21:52,710 Maybe they still have it out. 494 00:21:52,790 --> 00:21:54,310 They say, but wait, there's more. 495 00:21:54,710 --> 00:21:55,110 Right? 496 00:21:56,150 --> 00:21:57,790 Just for 1999, you get this. 497 00:21:57,790 --> 00:21:58,710 But wait, there's more. 498 00:21:58,790 --> 00:22:00,790 That's kind of what Paul is going to say here in a second. 499 00:22:00,790 --> 00:22:02,550 He says, but wait, there's more. 500 00:22:03,350 --> 00:22:05,990 After all of what I've told you about all these blessings, there's 501 00:22:05,990 --> 00:22:09,110 more blessings even better than what we just talked about. 502 00:22:10,550 --> 00:22:13,110 And then Paul's going to start talking about something that we don't 503 00:22:13,110 --> 00:22:14,870 in our human nature understand. 504 00:22:15,940 --> 00:22:17,620 Verse three, he says, and not only. 505 00:22:17,620 --> 00:22:20,620 So that's the King James way of saying, hey, there's more. 506 00:22:20,620 --> 00:22:21,700 There's more blessing. 507 00:22:23,860 --> 00:22:27,580 And I wish I could tell you that he's going to say, everything's 508 00:22:27,580 --> 00:22:28,420 going to be okay. 509 00:22:28,420 --> 00:22:30,500 You're not going to have any struggles in this world. 510 00:22:31,860 --> 00:22:32,580 And that's what. 511 00:22:32,580 --> 00:22:35,620 If we were writing this, that's what we would want it to say. 512 00:22:36,340 --> 00:22:39,300 But Paul says this, I need you to follow me here this morning. 513 00:22:39,380 --> 00:22:40,100 It says this. 514 00:22:40,740 --> 00:22:41,000 But. 515 00:22:41,150 --> 00:22:49,310 But we glory, boast, get excited, for we glory in tribulations. 516 00:22:49,390 --> 00:22:49,790 Also. 517 00:22:51,230 --> 00:22:54,590 He says, hey, there's all these wonderful blessings of salvation 518 00:22:54,670 --> 00:22:56,670 and all these great things that you can have. 519 00:22:56,670 --> 00:23:00,670 Joy, hope, peace, confidence, access, all of these things. 520 00:23:00,670 --> 00:23:04,990 But then he says, we also glory in difficulty. 521 00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:09,240 That's not what we're used to hearing when it comes to the Christian 522 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:09,560 life. 523 00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:13,240 But what Paul is telling us is the complete scope of what it means 524 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:15,720 to walk in faith as a believer. 525 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:21,320 We know that in the book of James, it says we count it all joy 526 00:23:22,120 --> 00:23:24,440 when we fall into diverse or different temptations. 527 00:23:25,320 --> 00:23:26,800 I've always heard it said this way. 528 00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:30,080 Well, the author doesn't really mean that we get excited about 529 00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:30,800 difficulties. 530 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:33,760 He's just saying in comparison to living the unsaved life. 531 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:37,300 No, no, no, we're inserting something there that's not there. 532 00:23:37,300 --> 00:23:40,340 He says, have joy, glory in tribulations. 533 00:23:40,340 --> 00:23:45,780 Now, how on earth can a Christian glory in difficulty? 534 00:23:46,340 --> 00:23:50,580 How can a Christian count a joy when he goes through a trial? 535 00:23:51,780 --> 00:23:53,060 Well, he's going to tell us here. 536 00:23:53,140 --> 00:23:57,500 He's going to explain how we can have the type of hope that's 537 00:23:57,500 --> 00:23:59,460 described in verses 1 and 2. 538 00:24:01,390 --> 00:24:07,470 In the midst of difficulties, it's easy to have hope when all things 539 00:24:07,470 --> 00:24:09,230 are as they should be in our eyes. 540 00:24:09,870 --> 00:24:13,630 But Paul explains that this is what he's about to say. 541 00:24:13,710 --> 00:24:15,790 This type of hope is a greater type of hope. 542 00:24:16,350 --> 00:24:19,230 The Christians hope is greater than the world's hope. 543 00:24:19,790 --> 00:24:23,870 The Bible says that even later on in 1 Thessalonians, it says that 544 00:24:23,870 --> 00:24:25,950 we don't even have to sorrow like other people's sorrow. 545 00:24:26,830 --> 00:24:30,430 There's a greater hope in our lives than just, hey, everything's 546 00:24:30,430 --> 00:24:32,030 working out the way that I want it to work out. 547 00:24:32,190 --> 00:24:36,630 And so if we rely on God through tribulation, or another way 548 00:24:36,630 --> 00:24:38,390 that you could say that is through trials. 549 00:24:38,390 --> 00:24:41,190 And trials can come from different forms, they can come from 550 00:24:41,190 --> 00:24:41,950 different angles. 551 00:24:42,750 --> 00:24:47,110 But he says here, if you are able to rely on God through the trials 552 00:24:47,110 --> 00:24:51,230 in faith and stand in grace, this is what's going to happen. 553 00:24:51,470 --> 00:24:53,950 This is the process of spiritual growth. 554 00:24:56,720 --> 00:25:03,040 He says, knowing, knowing, having confidence in knowing that 555 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:04,960 tribulation worketh patience. 556 00:25:06,320 --> 00:25:08,160 Now, patience isn't a word that we want to hear. 557 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:09,440 We want to reject patience. 558 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:11,440 Our flesh wants to reject patience. 559 00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:11,840 Why? 560 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:15,080 Because the Bible says that patience is one of the elements of 561 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:16,000 the fruit of the spirit. 562 00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:19,120 So walking in the spirit, we love patience. 563 00:25:19,120 --> 00:25:20,880 Walking in our flesh, we hate patience. 564 00:25:21,810 --> 00:25:23,050 You want to have your flesh tested? 565 00:25:23,050 --> 00:25:25,250 Go wait in line for an hour somewhere, okay? 566 00:25:25,250 --> 00:25:27,250 None of us want to wait. 567 00:25:27,890 --> 00:25:31,090 None of us want to be patient through a trial. 568 00:25:31,090 --> 00:25:34,290 But the Bible says here that this word patience is not just the 569 00:25:34,290 --> 00:25:35,650 type of patience that we're talking about. 570 00:25:35,650 --> 00:25:38,690 When you go to an amusement park and you're waiting for an hour 571 00:25:38,690 --> 00:25:42,170 to ride a two minute ride and thinking, trying to justify in your 572 00:25:42,170 --> 00:25:44,930 mind that it's worth it, okay, this is not that type of patience. 573 00:25:45,890 --> 00:25:47,170 The world's patience is this. 574 00:25:47,170 --> 00:25:49,860 Just sit back, you know, twiddle your thumbs, just sit here 575 00:25:49,860 --> 00:25:50,620 and wait. 576 00:25:50,860 --> 00:25:53,060 But biblical patience is more than just waiting. 577 00:25:53,060 --> 00:25:56,060 Biblical patience is endurance through something. 578 00:25:56,860 --> 00:25:57,500 Okay? 579 00:25:57,580 --> 00:26:01,940 We know that because In Hebrews chapter 12 it says to run 580 00:26:01,940 --> 00:26:04,300 the race of life with patience. 581 00:26:04,620 --> 00:26:08,500 Now, if biblical patience was just sitting there and not moving, 582 00:26:08,500 --> 00:26:09,900 how could we run the race? 583 00:26:09,980 --> 00:26:10,540 Okay? 584 00:26:10,540 --> 00:26:13,060 So running the race with patience, or another word that we 585 00:26:13,060 --> 00:26:14,380 could use is endurance. 586 00:26:15,430 --> 00:26:19,510 And so if we rely on God through trials, he teaches us and 587 00:26:19,590 --> 00:26:21,910 produces in us endurance. 588 00:26:22,870 --> 00:26:27,630 Pushing through the trial, pushing through the difficulty, and 589 00:26:27,630 --> 00:26:30,350 not in our own strength, but we know that it's through the strength 590 00:26:30,350 --> 00:26:31,430 of God in our lives. 591 00:26:31,430 --> 00:26:33,430 That's what it's gonna say there in verse number five. 592 00:26:33,590 --> 00:26:35,830 It's only given to us because of the love of God. 593 00:26:35,830 --> 00:26:38,790 It's only given to us because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 594 00:26:39,030 --> 00:26:41,750 But what I'm gonna tell you here today is that we as Christians 595 00:26:41,750 --> 00:26:43,495 can say it's okay to go through trials. 596 00:26:43,495 --> 00:26:47,830 And because it teaches us endurance, think about anyone trying 597 00:26:47,830 --> 00:26:51,630 to do anything worth it in this world, it doesn't just come 598 00:26:51,630 --> 00:26:52,110 naturally. 599 00:26:52,430 --> 00:26:55,470 Even professional athletes that are gifted by God to do wonderful 600 00:26:55,470 --> 00:26:59,630 things, practice, everybody goes through that sense of discipline. 601 00:26:59,870 --> 00:27:02,630 And so what we can see here in this case is that he says, if you 602 00:27:02,630 --> 00:27:05,990 want to grow as a Christian, if you want to be a mature Christian, 603 00:27:05,990 --> 00:27:09,910 if you want to be able to pursue, go through those difficulties 604 00:27:09,910 --> 00:27:13,210 trusting in God, and it will produce patience and it will produce 605 00:27:13,210 --> 00:27:13,890 endurance. 606 00:27:14,770 --> 00:27:20,570 So he says here, knowing that tribulation worketh patience or manifests 607 00:27:20,570 --> 00:27:24,250 or displays patience, another thing that you could see here is 608 00:27:24,250 --> 00:27:26,210 this verse number four. 609 00:27:27,090 --> 00:27:28,850 And it's kind of like a chain here. 610 00:27:29,250 --> 00:27:33,650 Actually, some commentators call this the golden chain of Christian 611 00:27:33,650 --> 00:27:35,490 maturity or Christian growth. 612 00:27:36,930 --> 00:27:41,700 One virtue builds upon another virtue as we grow in the pattern 613 00:27:41,700 --> 00:27:42,460 of Jesus. 614 00:27:43,100 --> 00:27:47,660 So he says, with patience or endurance comes experience. 615 00:27:49,900 --> 00:27:51,420 Now, it's not just having experience. 616 00:27:51,420 --> 00:27:52,780 Like, hey, I've went through this. 617 00:27:53,180 --> 00:27:54,539 The idea would be this. 618 00:27:54,940 --> 00:27:59,020 We experience the power of God and it manifests or it reveals our 619 00:27:59,020 --> 00:27:59,660 character. 620 00:28:00,300 --> 00:28:03,980 So we have more experience in these trials, and through these experiences, 621 00:28:04,060 --> 00:28:04,250 we. 622 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:06,240 We can have our character tested. 623 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:10,920 We can have more what we would say a public testimony for what God 624 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:12,000 is doing in our life. 625 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:14,480 What is character, by the way? 626 00:28:15,440 --> 00:28:18,400 Character is who you are and what you do when no one's looking. 627 00:28:20,159 --> 00:28:22,880 Character is what's really going on in there. 628 00:28:23,360 --> 00:28:25,640 Because my reputation is this, okay? 629 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:28,080 My reputation is what people think about me. 630 00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:31,400 And I can kind of skew my reputation. 631 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:32,720 Some of you know what I mean by that. 632 00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:34,880 You can talk a certain way in front of people, make sure you're 633 00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:37,920 on your best behavior around people, but that's not character. 634 00:28:38,720 --> 00:28:40,240 That's not what he's talking about here. 635 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:43,040 Because I can say something in front of someone. 636 00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:48,040 I remember back when Silas was going through his issues there when 637 00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:51,880 he was born, and people were asking me how I'm doing, and frankly, 638 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:53,120 I wasn't doing great. 639 00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:54,960 But what do you say? 640 00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:55,840 Well, I'm doing great. 641 00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:56,640 We're doing fine. 642 00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:00,360 Just because I say that I'm doing fine, just because I say that 643 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:02,560 I'm trusting in God, that doesn't necessarily mean that I am. 644 00:29:03,540 --> 00:29:04,980 You know, there was that idea in my mind. 645 00:29:04,980 --> 00:29:07,380 Maybe if I can just say it enough, it'll actually start to happen. 646 00:29:08,020 --> 00:29:13,220 But it wasn't until I said, lord, give me the strength to be 647 00:29:13,220 --> 00:29:18,420 able to see this from the biblical perspective, the Christian 648 00:29:18,420 --> 00:29:21,300 perspective, the eternal perspective, that I was able to say 649 00:29:21,300 --> 00:29:25,860 truly that God is good, that he's got us no matter what. 650 00:29:26,260 --> 00:29:27,340 And so what is he saying here? 651 00:29:27,340 --> 00:29:28,020 He's saying this. 652 00:29:28,430 --> 00:29:30,950 It's not about, like when someone comes and asks you, hey, 653 00:29:30,950 --> 00:29:31,430 how you doing? 654 00:29:31,430 --> 00:29:32,110 I'm doing all right. 655 00:29:32,510 --> 00:29:33,070 Well, that. 656 00:29:33,070 --> 00:29:35,230 So maybe everyone thinks that you're doing okay. 657 00:29:35,230 --> 00:29:37,870 So it's not necessarily your reputation, it's your character. 658 00:29:37,870 --> 00:29:40,190 It's what you believe when no one's looking. 659 00:29:40,910 --> 00:29:42,830 It's what you do when no one's looking. 660 00:29:43,310 --> 00:29:46,990 It's in that deepest part of your mind that you sometimes question 661 00:29:47,550 --> 00:29:49,470 whether or not God is going to get you through this. 662 00:29:49,710 --> 00:29:52,390 Going through trials and allowing him to get you through it 663 00:29:52,390 --> 00:29:56,190 allows you to understand that and have that biblical character 664 00:29:56,190 --> 00:29:57,350 that you can say, you know what? 665 00:29:57,350 --> 00:30:00,750 I know that God is going to do this because he did it before and 666 00:30:00,750 --> 00:30:01,590 he'll do it again. 667 00:30:01,670 --> 00:30:03,470 And that's what we're seeing here in this passage. 668 00:30:03,470 --> 00:30:07,070 He says that going through these trials, trusting the Lord gives 669 00:30:07,070 --> 00:30:08,070 us endurance. 670 00:30:08,150 --> 00:30:09,350 It gives us experience. 671 00:30:10,870 --> 00:30:13,310 We can have bad experiences and we can have good experiences. 672 00:30:13,310 --> 00:30:16,190 In this case, it's talking about proof of character, character 673 00:30:16,190 --> 00:30:17,750 of God working out in our lives. 674 00:30:18,630 --> 00:30:23,680 And so he says, patience, experience and experience, hope, 675 00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:29,880 expectation, confident expectation that God is going to 676 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:30,800 keep his word. 677 00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:32,960 So what he's essentially saying is this. 678 00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:37,080 If you follow this golden chain of spiritual maturity, as you 679 00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:40,080 trust in God during the trial, he's gonna give you more endurance. 680 00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:43,680 As you trust in God in the trial, he's gonna give you more experience, 681 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:47,120 he's gonna give you more to play back on in your life. 682 00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:52,400 And ultimately the benefit or the end all be all would be that 683 00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:56,760 we grow in our expectation that God is going to keep his word, 684 00:30:57,560 --> 00:30:59,160 hope, confidence in Him. 685 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:03,080 I know that's not necessarily what we want. 686 00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:06,720 We all wish we could start with just complete hope in him in 687 00:31:06,720 --> 00:31:07,320 every way. 688 00:31:07,480 --> 00:31:10,000 But the reality is that most of you that have gone through the 689 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:11,880 trial, you don't enjoy going through that trial. 690 00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:14,480 But when you saw God's hand through that trial, you can go back 691 00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:16,550 and say, yeah, I know that God was with me through that. 692 00:31:17,110 --> 00:31:18,190 It's an evident thing. 693 00:31:18,190 --> 00:31:19,270 It's a beautiful thing. 694 00:31:20,630 --> 00:31:22,270 It's something that strengthens our faith. 695 00:31:22,270 --> 00:31:24,150 It's something that strengthens our character, something 696 00:31:24,150 --> 00:31:25,670 that strengthens our endurance. 697 00:31:26,390 --> 00:31:32,830 And so I think all of us, maybe, maybe I'm making a conjecture 698 00:31:32,830 --> 00:31:36,590 here, but I think that most of us probably want to grow in our spiritual 699 00:31:36,590 --> 00:31:43,140 maturity, but many of us, and I'm not judging because I've been 700 00:31:43,140 --> 00:31:46,900 here, many of us don't wanna go through what the Bible says is 701 00:31:46,900 --> 00:31:49,660 that difficulty to grow in our spiritual maturity. 702 00:31:50,700 --> 00:31:53,700 How many of us want, how many of us wake up in the morning saying, 703 00:31:53,700 --> 00:31:56,100 lord, if you send things my way, I'm gonna give you praise no 704 00:31:56,100 --> 00:31:56,540 matter what. 705 00:31:59,340 --> 00:31:59,900 We look at. 706 00:31:59,900 --> 00:32:04,380 Sometimes we look at people in the Bible and we think of those people 707 00:32:04,380 --> 00:32:05,740 as like movie characters. 708 00:32:06,950 --> 00:32:10,710 Elijah, Elisha, Paul, Peter. 709 00:32:10,790 --> 00:32:13,430 And we say, oh, yeah, of course they went through those things. 710 00:32:13,430 --> 00:32:14,390 But, yeah, that's not. 711 00:32:14,390 --> 00:32:15,310 No, these are real. 712 00:32:15,310 --> 00:32:20,550 The Bible says these are real people in real places with real emotions, 713 00:32:20,950 --> 00:32:23,910 with real faith, and they were able to endure. 714 00:32:24,470 --> 00:32:29,510 Did they all end with being retired on a beach with, you know, 715 00:32:29,510 --> 00:32:30,710 a bunch of money to sit on? 716 00:32:30,710 --> 00:32:31,030 No. 717 00:32:31,110 --> 00:32:32,790 Some of them died for their faith. 718 00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:36,400 And we in America feel like that's the worst thing that could 719 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:36,920 ever happen. 720 00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:39,320 Persecution. 721 00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:41,440 We gotta stop persecution. 722 00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:42,560 I agree with that, folks. 723 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:45,480 But at the end of the day, look back at the early church. 724 00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:49,080 The blood of the martyrs was the seed of evangelism. 725 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:53,960 Persecution is actually something that we can grow in. 726 00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:55,800 Persecution doesn't stop the church. 727 00:32:55,800 --> 00:32:58,160 If persecution stopped the church, the Roman Empire would have 728 00:32:58,160 --> 00:32:58,440 won. 729 00:32:59,260 --> 00:33:00,260 But I'm going to give you a little secret. 730 00:33:00,260 --> 00:33:01,300 The Roman Empire didn't win. 731 00:33:01,300 --> 00:33:02,060 The church spread. 732 00:33:02,540 --> 00:33:04,060 The church is all over the world today. 733 00:33:04,060 --> 00:33:05,100 There are people getting saved. 734 00:33:05,100 --> 00:33:07,860 In countries that say that there's no churches, there's people 735 00:33:07,860 --> 00:33:08,700 still getting saved. 736 00:33:08,700 --> 00:33:09,020 Why? 737 00:33:09,020 --> 00:33:12,100 Because the power of God is bigger than any persecution of this 738 00:33:12,100 --> 00:33:12,380 world. 739 00:33:12,380 --> 00:33:14,380 There's been people that have tried to burn Bibles. 740 00:33:14,380 --> 00:33:16,220 There's been people that try to stop churches. 741 00:33:16,220 --> 00:33:20,260 But the Bible says here that those difficulties are all part of 742 00:33:20,260 --> 00:33:20,540 it. 743 00:33:20,620 --> 00:33:23,620 Those difficulties are there so that we can further the gospel 744 00:33:23,620 --> 00:33:24,380 of Jesus Christ. 745 00:33:25,990 --> 00:33:30,630 And I pray, I pray every day that God continues to spare our country 746 00:33:30,710 --> 00:33:31,910 from persecution. 747 00:33:31,910 --> 00:33:35,070 I pray every single day that God would give us the freedom to 748 00:33:35,070 --> 00:33:35,670 assemble. 749 00:33:35,750 --> 00:33:37,470 But that is not a guarantee. 750 00:33:37,470 --> 00:33:38,230 Look at history. 751 00:33:38,470 --> 00:33:42,990 It's a very relative small span in time that there is freedom 752 00:33:42,990 --> 00:33:45,990 to worship, and yet we just live in it like, hey, you know what? 753 00:33:46,870 --> 00:33:47,830 It's what we expect. 754 00:33:48,070 --> 00:33:49,270 It's what we've always known. 755 00:33:49,270 --> 00:33:52,530 It's what I've always known, but I've only been alive for, like, 756 00:33:52,530 --> 00:33:53,690 a handful of decades. 757 00:33:54,010 --> 00:33:56,010 What about those people that are living in another country? 758 00:33:56,010 --> 00:33:57,930 They can't meet like we meet. 759 00:33:58,170 --> 00:34:01,410 What about those people that lived five, 600 years ago that were 760 00:34:01,410 --> 00:34:04,690 being burned at the stake as a martyr for what they were believing. 761 00:34:04,690 --> 00:34:05,930 And you know what? 762 00:34:06,570 --> 00:34:07,250 They weren't. 763 00:34:07,250 --> 00:34:08,250 They weren't wavering. 764 00:34:09,210 --> 00:34:11,210 They weren't wavering on what they believed. 765 00:34:11,210 --> 00:34:12,330 They were saying, you know what? 766 00:34:12,330 --> 00:34:14,450 Put me on a stake and burn me as a martyr. 767 00:34:14,450 --> 00:34:16,250 I am confident that this is true. 768 00:34:16,330 --> 00:34:18,010 How can we have that type of hope. 769 00:34:18,510 --> 00:34:22,310 How many of us, if we were put to the fire, would be able to say, 770 00:34:22,310 --> 00:34:24,030 yeah, I stand by this no matter what. 771 00:34:26,110 --> 00:34:28,510 Some people like pastor, don't speak it into existence. 772 00:34:28,830 --> 00:34:30,150 I don't believe in that kind of stuff. 773 00:34:30,150 --> 00:34:30,550 Okay? 774 00:34:30,550 --> 00:34:32,070 God has ordained it to be so. 775 00:34:32,070 --> 00:34:35,390 Okay, so what we're going to see here in this case is that hope, 776 00:34:37,070 --> 00:34:37,790 verse 5. 777 00:34:38,110 --> 00:34:40,990 Hope maketh not ashamed. 778 00:34:42,430 --> 00:34:43,230 What does that mean? 779 00:34:43,470 --> 00:34:44,110 Means this. 780 00:34:45,010 --> 00:34:47,010 This type of hope never disappoints. 781 00:34:47,650 --> 00:34:49,650 This type of hope never lets us down. 782 00:34:50,050 --> 00:34:51,970 This type of hope never fails. 783 00:34:52,690 --> 00:34:53,810 You know what fails? 784 00:34:54,930 --> 00:34:59,410 Man made hope, man made love, man made emotions. 785 00:35:00,610 --> 00:35:04,210 Now, what we can see here in this case is that in verse five, 786 00:35:04,210 --> 00:35:06,690 he says, okay, what type of hope? 787 00:35:06,690 --> 00:35:08,050 It's the hope that doesn't fail. 788 00:35:08,290 --> 00:35:08,690 Why? 789 00:35:08,930 --> 00:35:10,530 Because of the love of God. 790 00:35:11,430 --> 00:35:14,750 Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the 791 00:35:14,750 --> 00:35:16,390 Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. 792 00:35:16,470 --> 00:35:20,430 And so this hope allows us to know the love of God, to show the 793 00:35:20,430 --> 00:35:22,710 love of God, to grow in the love of God. 794 00:35:22,710 --> 00:35:25,510 It helps us understand that God loves Me no matter what. 795 00:35:27,830 --> 00:35:33,430 This is how God's love is communicated to us through the power 796 00:35:33,430 --> 00:35:36,430 of the Holy Spirit, indwelling us and comforting us and teaching 797 00:35:36,430 --> 00:35:37,510 us and convicting us. 798 00:35:37,590 --> 00:35:39,600 That's the way that God shows His love. 799 00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:40,520 That's what it says here. 800 00:35:40,840 --> 00:35:43,960 It says, and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is 801 00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:45,080 shed abroad in our hearts. 802 00:35:45,320 --> 00:35:45,720 How? 803 00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:46,440 How? 804 00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:47,960 How does God show us his love? 805 00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:50,240 Well, we know by dying on the cross for our sins. 806 00:35:50,240 --> 00:35:51,560 But how does he show me love today? 807 00:35:51,880 --> 00:35:53,360 Because it didn't stop on the cross. 808 00:35:53,360 --> 00:35:56,040 God's love didn't stop on the cross and say, I loved you back then. 809 00:35:56,040 --> 00:35:58,440 I did everything I need to do and now I'm done with you. 810 00:35:59,320 --> 00:35:59,720 Right? 811 00:35:59,880 --> 00:36:00,520 Is that how. 812 00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:01,960 Is that how a good marriage works? 813 00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:04,600 Like, I love my wife on our wedding day? 814 00:36:05,340 --> 00:36:05,900 But that's it. 815 00:36:06,460 --> 00:36:06,940 It's good. 816 00:36:06,940 --> 00:36:07,540 Now we're good. 817 00:36:07,540 --> 00:36:08,380 I don't need a lover now. 818 00:36:08,380 --> 00:36:08,700 No. 819 00:36:08,700 --> 00:36:10,340 God continues his love for us. 820 00:36:10,340 --> 00:36:11,980 And it says it right here in verse 5. 821 00:36:12,780 --> 00:36:16,180 Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the 822 00:36:16,180 --> 00:36:18,140 Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 823 00:36:18,380 --> 00:36:21,980 So the Bible says that God proves His love daily through the 824 00:36:21,980 --> 00:36:25,860 relationship that we have with him and through the work of the Holy 825 00:36:25,860 --> 00:36:27,020 Ghost, the Holy Spirit. 826 00:36:27,820 --> 00:36:29,300 What's the work of the Holy Spirit? 827 00:36:29,300 --> 00:36:29,900 Conviction. 828 00:36:30,630 --> 00:36:33,390 We often don't think that conviction is a way that God shows 829 00:36:33,390 --> 00:36:34,070 He loves us. 830 00:36:34,070 --> 00:36:37,470 But when God shows He loves us by showing us that we're wrong, it's 831 00:36:37,470 --> 00:36:40,310 him demonstrating his Love so much that he would say, hey, I don't 832 00:36:40,310 --> 00:36:41,670 want you to continue on in this. 833 00:36:42,630 --> 00:36:44,950 Often we don't think of conviction as God's love for us, 834 00:36:45,910 --> 00:36:46,350 folks. 835 00:36:46,350 --> 00:36:50,630 We have to, have to, have to be so sensitive to the conviction 836 00:36:50,630 --> 00:36:51,430 of the Holy Spirit. 837 00:36:51,430 --> 00:36:54,470 I was just talking about this today in my Bible study. 838 00:36:55,510 --> 00:36:59,090 There are days when I'm not sensitive to the Holy Spirit and 839 00:36:59,090 --> 00:37:00,370 I'm just doing what I want to do. 840 00:37:00,370 --> 00:37:02,250 And I'll let the chips fall where they may. 841 00:37:02,490 --> 00:37:05,690 But there's other days when I'm walking in the Holy Spirit by 842 00:37:05,690 --> 00:37:09,410 just the things that I say, by the way that I say the things that 843 00:37:09,410 --> 00:37:11,170 I say, that I feel convicted, that I say. 844 00:37:11,170 --> 00:37:12,090 I got to get that right. 845 00:37:12,090 --> 00:37:13,210 I can't be that way. 846 00:37:13,530 --> 00:37:14,650 I can't be that way. 847 00:37:14,650 --> 00:37:17,170 I could be doing the right thing in the wrong way and totally 848 00:37:17,170 --> 00:37:17,930 miss the boat. 849 00:37:18,330 --> 00:37:20,810 And so the Bible says that the conviction of the Holy Spirit is 850 00:37:20,810 --> 00:37:23,610 the way that God shows His love for us. 851 00:37:24,810 --> 00:37:28,170 He doesn't want his child to go further in that sin, convicts 852 00:37:28,170 --> 00:37:28,570 our heart. 853 00:37:28,890 --> 00:37:31,330 Another way that the Holy Spirit works, we know that he's the 854 00:37:31,330 --> 00:37:32,530 comforter, right? 855 00:37:32,530 --> 00:37:35,530 The comfort of the Holy Spirit is a beautiful thing in our lives 856 00:37:35,610 --> 00:37:38,890 that shows us that God gives us that peace that passeth all understanding. 857 00:37:39,050 --> 00:37:43,010 But remember, we can't have that peace with God, or, excuse me, 858 00:37:43,010 --> 00:37:44,970 the peace of God, unless we have the peace with God. 859 00:37:46,330 --> 00:37:49,170 And so at the end of the day, we see that the comfort of the Holy 860 00:37:49,170 --> 00:37:51,210 Spirit is also a way that God shows His love for us. 861 00:37:51,530 --> 00:37:52,690 The teaching of the Holy Spirit. 862 00:37:52,690 --> 00:37:54,930 The Bible says that the Holy Spirit is a teacher. 863 00:37:54,930 --> 00:37:56,570 He's going to lead us to all truth. 864 00:37:56,650 --> 00:37:58,290 The teaching of the Holy Spirit, right? 865 00:37:58,290 --> 00:38:00,450 When you're reading the Word of God and something jumps off the 866 00:38:00,450 --> 00:38:02,410 page for you, that's the love of God. 867 00:38:02,410 --> 00:38:03,690 He's speaking to you. 868 00:38:04,250 --> 00:38:07,050 And so we see here this morning that the love of God is shown 869 00:38:07,050 --> 00:38:09,290 to us not through giving us an easy life. 870 00:38:09,530 --> 00:38:13,290 It's there to show us that he's with us through this world and 871 00:38:13,290 --> 00:38:14,130 that he's there with us. 872 00:38:14,130 --> 00:38:16,690 And he's concerned with our hearts and he's concerned with our 873 00:38:16,690 --> 00:38:17,050 ways. 874 00:38:17,300 --> 00:38:20,420 And so ultimately, this is how God's love is communicated. 875 00:38:20,980 --> 00:38:26,820 A lack of awareness of God's love can often be credited to constantly 876 00:38:26,900 --> 00:38:29,220 rejecting the Holy Spirit in our life. 877 00:38:30,740 --> 00:38:33,820 When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, when we are walking 878 00:38:33,820 --> 00:38:37,180 with the Holy Spirit, we are often never tempted to believe that 879 00:38:37,180 --> 00:38:37,860 God loves us. 880 00:38:37,940 --> 00:38:40,780 It's when we drift away from the conviction of the Spirit, it's 881 00:38:40,780 --> 00:38:43,250 when we drift away from the teaching of the Word of God, when 882 00:38:43,250 --> 00:38:45,490 we start doing our own thing, that we're tempted to think that 883 00:38:45,490 --> 00:38:46,730 maybe God doesn't love me. 884 00:38:46,810 --> 00:38:50,450 Maybe the situation that God's brought me is showing me that he's 885 00:38:50,450 --> 00:38:50,890 not real. 886 00:38:51,130 --> 00:38:52,490 We have to go back to see. 887 00:38:52,570 --> 00:38:52,930 No. 888 00:38:52,930 --> 00:38:55,650 It's when I'm walking in fellowship with him that I can't 889 00:38:55,650 --> 00:38:59,130 be distracted away from the truth, that I can't be questioned 890 00:38:59,130 --> 00:39:00,730 when it comes to my love for Him. 891 00:39:01,370 --> 00:39:04,050 And so everyone who is a believer, we're gonna see this later 892 00:39:04,050 --> 00:39:05,290 on in Romans chapter 8. 893 00:39:05,450 --> 00:39:09,860 Everyone who is a believer has the Holy Spirit indwelling them. 894 00:39:10,980 --> 00:39:15,940 But not every Christian lives in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. 895 00:39:15,940 --> 00:39:18,260 Not every Christian walks in the Spirit. 896 00:39:18,260 --> 00:39:20,180 Not every Christian is filled with the Spirit. 897 00:39:20,180 --> 00:39:20,500 Why? 898 00:39:20,580 --> 00:39:22,020 Because we want our own path. 899 00:39:22,020 --> 00:39:24,420 And so what we can see in Romans chapter five is this. 900 00:39:24,500 --> 00:39:27,460 It's a dying to self, a yielding to the Spirit. 901 00:39:27,460 --> 00:39:30,900 And when we do that, we're able to go through the trials of 902 00:39:30,900 --> 00:39:37,150 life with patience, with experience, with hope, trusting in 903 00:39:37,150 --> 00:39:40,150 the hope of Jesus Christ, trusting in the fact that he loves 904 00:39:40,150 --> 00:39:45,150 us, trusting in the work of his great sacrifice for us. 905 00:39:46,510 --> 00:39:48,030 So the benefits of being born again. 906 00:39:48,510 --> 00:39:52,670 Well, justification brings us peace with God. 907 00:39:53,310 --> 00:39:59,870 It brings us access to God, brings us grace where we can stand. 908 00:40:00,520 --> 00:40:06,320 It brings us joy, it brings us hope, it brings us endurance, it 909 00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:08,840 brings us experience, and it brings us expectation. 910 00:40:09,720 --> 00:40:11,840 These are all things that we have to think about when it comes 911 00:40:11,840 --> 00:40:13,960 to our Christian life, folks. 912 00:40:14,440 --> 00:40:19,360 We are selling the power of God short when we think that I trust 913 00:40:19,360 --> 00:40:19,880 in God. 914 00:40:20,920 --> 00:40:22,760 I'm a Christian now by name. 915 00:40:23,160 --> 00:40:26,490 And now everything just stays the same, folks. 916 00:40:26,490 --> 00:40:31,490 Our life is supposed to be transformed, transformed. 917 00:40:32,690 --> 00:40:35,970 A new life in Christ, a different way of thinking. 918 00:40:36,770 --> 00:40:37,730 Yeah, I understand. 919 00:40:38,130 --> 00:40:41,330 I am the first to admit that thinking like Christ does not make 920 00:40:41,330 --> 00:40:42,450 any sense in this world. 921 00:40:43,730 --> 00:40:46,210 Loving my enemy does not make sense. 922 00:40:46,610 --> 00:40:49,170 Loving my neighbor as myself does not make sense. 923 00:40:50,050 --> 00:40:54,540 Giving to the Lord does not make sense in the world standard. 924 00:40:55,100 --> 00:40:57,820 But when we look at it from God's standard, it makes all sense 925 00:40:57,820 --> 00:40:59,140 to give it all over to him. 926 00:40:59,140 --> 00:41:05,460 Romans chapter 12 says, to give your bodies everything, a living 927 00:41:05,460 --> 00:41:09,380 sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable 928 00:41:09,380 --> 00:41:09,740 service. 929 00:41:10,460 --> 00:41:12,540 It's only reasonable that we give him everything. 930 00:41:12,780 --> 00:41:16,860 And so how many of us say, I've been here, Lord, I'll give you 931 00:41:16,860 --> 00:41:20,230 this, this, and this, but you can't touch this. 932 00:41:20,870 --> 00:41:21,830 This is off limits. 933 00:41:21,830 --> 00:41:22,390 This is me. 934 00:41:22,390 --> 00:41:23,270 This is my thing. 935 00:41:23,590 --> 00:41:25,510 And I'm gonna struggle with this on my own. 936 00:41:25,990 --> 00:41:27,670 I'm Gonna go through this on my own. 937 00:41:28,150 --> 00:41:29,750 I'm gonna fight my own battle. 938 00:41:30,630 --> 00:41:33,790 Folks, that's such a misconception of what God wants from 939 00:41:33,790 --> 00:41:34,070 us. 940 00:41:34,070 --> 00:41:37,030 He wants us to know him and be known by him. 941 00:41:37,030 --> 00:41:39,430 He wants us to go into the throne room of grace. 942 00:41:41,510 --> 00:41:44,830 Yesterday, my son's not here. 943 00:41:44,830 --> 00:41:45,670 He's not gonna hear this. 944 00:41:45,840 --> 00:41:47,160 He probably won't watch the live stream. 945 00:41:47,160 --> 00:41:47,560 Okay. 946 00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:49,360 Yesterday, we were over at some folks house. 947 00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:54,640 My son's 10 years old, and I hear clunk. 948 00:41:54,960 --> 00:41:58,040 And he fell off these steps, these brick steps, and he hit him. 949 00:41:58,040 --> 00:41:58,960 I didn't know what he hit. 950 00:41:59,120 --> 00:42:00,160 I didn't know what he hit. 951 00:42:00,720 --> 00:42:02,000 And he's 10 years old, right? 952 00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:05,360 So I'm like, I never baby him, but he looks up and he's crying, 953 00:42:06,640 --> 00:42:07,560 and I just. 954 00:42:07,560 --> 00:42:08,120 I ran. 955 00:42:08,120 --> 00:42:08,920 I just, like, ran. 956 00:42:08,920 --> 00:42:09,680 I was like, he's 10 years old. 957 00:42:09,680 --> 00:42:10,640 He can handle himself. 958 00:42:10,640 --> 00:42:11,690 But I ran to. 959 00:42:12,480 --> 00:42:15,000 It wasn't like, I didn't sit there and think about it and go, 960 00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:18,240 well, I wonder if he's really hurt, you know, he'll rub some dirt 961 00:42:18,240 --> 00:42:18,640 in it. 962 00:42:18,800 --> 00:42:19,960 He, like, took over in my. 963 00:42:19,960 --> 00:42:21,360 In my heart, like, I ran. 964 00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:22,600 Nothing could have stopped me in that moment. 965 00:42:22,600 --> 00:42:24,800 I picked him up like he's a baby, and I'm, like, holding him. 966 00:42:25,280 --> 00:42:26,680 And I thought about that for a second. 967 00:42:26,680 --> 00:42:29,120 I thought about, like, when I fall, God doesn't sit there and go, 968 00:42:29,120 --> 00:42:31,280 well, I wonder if he can handle it on his own. 969 00:42:32,560 --> 00:42:33,880 He wants to help his children. 970 00:42:33,880 --> 00:42:35,000 He wants to come and grab them. 971 00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:36,240 I don't care how old you are. 972 00:42:36,400 --> 00:42:39,800 God wants to wrap his arms around you and love you and give 973 00:42:39,800 --> 00:42:41,080 you that peace and strength. 974 00:42:41,400 --> 00:42:42,040 I couldn't. 975 00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:45,280 I remember back when Silas was going into. 976 00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:47,640 Well, actually, when he came out of surgery, it was one of the 977 00:42:47,640 --> 00:42:51,560 hardest things I ever saw in my life to see my child, like, crying. 978 00:42:51,560 --> 00:42:54,240 I couldn't stop him crying, you know, Inconsolable. 979 00:42:54,240 --> 00:42:55,640 And he wasn't crying just because he didn't have food. 980 00:42:55,640 --> 00:42:58,560 He was crying because they just operated on him for, like, nine 981 00:42:58,560 --> 00:42:59,720 hours or whatever it was. 982 00:43:00,520 --> 00:43:03,680 And everything in me, I wanted to take away that pain from him. 983 00:43:03,680 --> 00:43:04,120 I want. 984 00:43:04,120 --> 00:43:05,240 I couldn't, though. 985 00:43:05,930 --> 00:43:07,530 I couldn't take away that pain from him. 986 00:43:08,010 --> 00:43:08,970 I wanted to. 987 00:43:10,330 --> 00:43:12,330 And sometimes in our life, God loves us. 988 00:43:12,330 --> 00:43:15,410 And God loves us so much, but he doesn't take the pain away from 989 00:43:15,410 --> 00:43:18,170 us, because many times the pain that we're facing is because 990 00:43:18,170 --> 00:43:19,610 of a decision that we've made. 991 00:43:19,850 --> 00:43:22,410 And so it's not because he's sitting there and going, hey, you're 992 00:43:22,410 --> 00:43:22,930 going through pain. 993 00:43:22,930 --> 00:43:23,930 And I'll Take away. 994 00:43:24,010 --> 00:43:25,770 Sometimes God does take away the pain. 995 00:43:26,730 --> 00:43:28,650 Sometimes God doesn't take away the pain. 996 00:43:28,730 --> 00:43:29,690 I don't know why. 997 00:43:30,410 --> 00:43:33,260 I don't know why even he chooses to heal certain people and 998 00:43:33,260 --> 00:43:34,100 not heal other people. 999 00:43:34,260 --> 00:43:37,220 But at the end of the day, the promise is not that he will take 1000 00:43:37,220 --> 00:43:38,980 away all of our immediate pain. 1001 00:43:38,980 --> 00:43:41,260 The promise is that he'll be there with us through it. 1002 00:43:41,260 --> 00:43:44,420 And ultimately the healing will be there when we're with him 1003 00:43:44,420 --> 00:43:45,820 for eternity, folks. 1004 00:43:45,820 --> 00:43:51,580 When we think about this world as being so long, 100 years in comparison 1005 00:43:51,580 --> 00:43:53,660 to eternity is nothing, folks. 1006 00:43:53,660 --> 00:43:55,620 We're going to be with our Savior for eternity. 1007 00:43:55,860 --> 00:43:59,670 No more pain, no more, no more tears, no more suffering, no more 1008 00:43:59,670 --> 00:44:01,030 separation, folks. 1009 00:44:01,030 --> 00:44:02,590 That's what we're living for. 1010 00:44:02,910 --> 00:44:04,750 And so the eternal perspective is this. 1011 00:44:04,990 --> 00:44:08,990 I go through a trial now, but Paul says it so wonderfully. 1012 00:44:09,150 --> 00:44:14,190 He says, the little trial that I'm going through now is nothing 1013 00:44:14,190 --> 00:44:17,630 in comparison to the glory that I will experience with being 1014 00:44:17,630 --> 00:44:18,590 with my Savior. 1015 00:44:19,230 --> 00:44:22,510 And I can tell you, if Paul could be here today, if any of our 1016 00:44:22,590 --> 00:44:25,830 loved ones that have gone on to be with our Savior could talk 1017 00:44:25,830 --> 00:44:27,410 to us today, you know what they would say? 1018 00:44:27,730 --> 00:44:28,810 It's as simple as this. 1019 00:44:28,810 --> 00:44:33,050 I believe they would say it's worth is worth it all when we see 1020 00:44:33,050 --> 00:44:33,650 Jesus. 1021 00:44:34,690 --> 00:44:36,570 And I'm going to tell you here today, there's struggles. 1022 00:44:36,570 --> 00:44:37,450 I know there's struggles. 1023 00:44:37,450 --> 00:44:38,690 I'm not overlooking the struggles. 1024 00:44:38,690 --> 00:44:40,690 Come on, we all know that there's struggles. 1025 00:44:40,690 --> 00:44:43,050 But I'm going to tell you this, and I think that you guys will 1026 00:44:43,050 --> 00:44:43,650 understand this. 1027 00:44:43,890 --> 00:44:46,450 Saved people and unsaved people are going to have struggles. 1028 00:44:46,850 --> 00:44:49,690 Doesn't mean that unsaved people go perfect lives. 1029 00:44:49,690 --> 00:44:50,770 They don't have perfect lives. 1030 00:44:52,060 --> 00:44:54,180 The truth of the matter is though, the hope that we can have 1031 00:44:54,180 --> 00:44:56,380 as Christians is that we can go through the struggles of life. 1032 00:44:56,460 --> 00:44:57,820 Why is there struggles of life? 1033 00:44:57,820 --> 00:44:58,620 Because of sin. 1034 00:44:59,900 --> 00:45:01,420 We live in a sin cursed world. 1035 00:45:02,780 --> 00:45:06,220 So the difference is that a Christian is going through the problems 1036 00:45:07,580 --> 00:45:11,180 saying, I've got something better, I've got someone bigger. 1037 00:45:13,180 --> 00:45:15,260 And so that's the blessing of salvation. 1038 00:45:15,260 --> 00:45:16,620 Yes, we'll be with him one day. 1039 00:45:17,100 --> 00:45:20,680 But it's not just saying one day everything will be okay. 1040 00:45:20,680 --> 00:45:24,120 It's saying that because one day everything will be I'm okay right 1041 00:45:24,120 --> 00:45:24,400 now. 1042 00:45:25,840 --> 00:45:28,800 And so what we can see here in Romans chapter five is that he says 1043 00:45:28,960 --> 00:45:32,640 there's many, many blessings of being born again. 1044 00:45:33,840 --> 00:45:36,640 And we're going to go further in Romans chapter five in the next 1045 00:45:36,640 --> 00:45:40,560 coming weeks and it's going to talk more about the love of God, 1046 00:45:41,120 --> 00:45:43,920 it's going to talk more about why there's struggles in this world. 1047 00:45:45,290 --> 00:45:46,890 He's going to talk about a guy named Adam. 1048 00:45:47,530 --> 00:45:53,530 Right by one man's sin entered into the world and death by sin. 1049 00:45:54,730 --> 00:45:57,450 But there's what the Bible calls as the second Adam. 1050 00:45:58,650 --> 00:46:03,410 Just as one man allowed sin to come into this world, so there was 1051 00:46:03,410 --> 00:46:05,690 one man who came to pay for the price of all of our sin. 1052 00:46:05,690 --> 00:46:07,570 And that's what we're gonna talk about further on in Romans, 1053 00:46:07,570 --> 00:46:08,170 chapter five. 1054 00:46:09,130 --> 00:46:11,490 So I'm gonna ask if you're able to stand with me this morning, 1055 00:46:11,490 --> 00:46:14,010 every head bowed, every eye closed, as the music plays here. 1056 00:46:15,110 --> 00:46:17,230 I know we've talked about a lot this morning when it comes to 1057 00:46:17,230 --> 00:46:21,470 this area of justification and my job this morning, I believe from 1058 00:46:21,470 --> 00:46:24,830 the Lord, from the Word, that my job this morning is to tell you 1059 00:46:24,830 --> 00:46:30,509 exactly what we face when it comes to our justification, when 1060 00:46:30,509 --> 00:46:30,950 we're saved. 1061 00:46:30,950 --> 00:46:34,750 We're not saved from all the problems, at least the immediate 1062 00:46:34,750 --> 00:46:35,430 problems. 1063 00:46:35,910 --> 00:46:38,950 We are saved from the biggest problem, and that is sin. 1064 00:46:39,110 --> 00:46:42,230 And so we must see salvation for what the Bible calls it. 1065 00:46:42,690 --> 00:46:46,730 And I would venture to say that when we really, truly dig deeper 1066 00:46:46,730 --> 00:46:49,890 into what salvation really is, it's better than we could ever imagine. 1067 00:46:51,810 --> 00:46:57,010 Folks, I love you, I love my children, I love my family. 1068 00:46:57,410 --> 00:47:01,410 But there's no greater love than what God has shown to you. 1069 00:47:01,650 --> 00:47:04,930 And that is the greatest act of sacrifice, that is the greatest 1070 00:47:04,930 --> 00:47:08,890 act of service, that is the greatest act of sanctification, that 1071 00:47:08,890 --> 00:47:09,850 he sets you apart. 1072 00:47:09,850 --> 00:47:13,430 When you believe in him, you are now set aside for a specific 1073 00:47:13,430 --> 00:47:13,790 use. 1074 00:47:14,590 --> 00:47:18,470 God, the Creator of the universe, the One who knew no sin, 1075 00:47:18,470 --> 00:47:22,390 the One who is eternal, the One who had no beginning and has 1076 00:47:22,390 --> 00:47:28,270 no end, wants to know you and have access to a relationship with 1077 00:47:28,270 --> 00:47:30,510 you, and you have access to relationship with Him. 1078 00:47:31,150 --> 00:47:34,310 The beauty is this, that we can know him and talk to him and 1079 00:47:34,310 --> 00:47:38,740 fellowship with him and rest in his grace and walk in his grace. 1080 00:47:39,620 --> 00:47:44,660 Folks, you cannot overemphasize grace enough. 1081 00:47:45,540 --> 00:47:51,140 Grace is needed in every element of our lives, in our homes, 1082 00:47:51,460 --> 00:47:53,940 in our workplaces, in our. 1083 00:47:54,260 --> 00:47:58,260 In our hobbies, in our physical strength, everything. 1084 00:47:58,740 --> 00:48:00,980 Grace is a necessity. 1085 00:48:02,180 --> 00:48:05,880 And so here this morning, the challenge for me, the challenge for 1086 00:48:05,880 --> 00:48:08,880 you is, are we thanking Him? 1087 00:48:08,880 --> 00:48:10,520 Are we resting in that grace? 1088 00:48:10,760 --> 00:48:13,160 Are we resting in the benefits of being born again? 1089 00:48:14,360 --> 00:48:18,280 Are we allowing the Holy Spirit to work his work in our life? 1090 00:48:19,160 --> 00:48:23,080 Have we been tempted to think that God, maybe, maybe, just maybe, 1091 00:48:23,080 --> 00:48:25,160 doesn't love me like he loves somebody else? 1092 00:48:26,120 --> 00:48:28,760 Am I willing to allow the Holy Spirit to work in my life? 1093 00:48:29,480 --> 00:48:34,110 Am I allowing the conviction of the Word of God, the conviction, 1094 00:48:34,430 --> 00:48:39,670 conviction of the power of God to change the way that I act, to 1095 00:48:39,670 --> 00:48:40,990 swallow up my pride? 1096 00:48:43,070 --> 00:48:47,910 The Bible says die to the flesh, not just curb it, cut it out 1097 00:48:47,910 --> 00:48:50,110 here and there, die to the flesh. 1098 00:48:50,430 --> 00:48:52,270 God is serious about what he says. 1099 00:48:53,550 --> 00:48:57,400 So here this morning, if any of this has spoken to you, maybe, 1100 00:48:57,400 --> 00:48:59,920 maybe you're the one going through the trial right now and you're 1101 00:48:59,920 --> 00:49:00,760 dealing with it. 1102 00:49:00,760 --> 00:49:02,360 You don't know how to deal with it. 1103 00:49:02,760 --> 00:49:05,400 The Bible says in James chapter one, the same passage that 1104 00:49:05,400 --> 00:49:07,880 says, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations. 1105 00:49:07,960 --> 00:49:11,040 He says to go to him if you lack wisdom, go to him and he'll 1106 00:49:11,040 --> 00:49:11,800 give it to you. 1107 00:49:12,120 --> 00:49:16,120 Ask of him for wisdom and strength in the midst of the trial 1108 00:49:16,120 --> 00:49:20,120 so that you can say, I glory in my difficulties because my difficulties 1109 00:49:20,200 --> 00:49:23,140 bring me to a place of endurance, my difficulties bring 1110 00:49:23,140 --> 00:49:25,900 me to a place of experience, and my difficulties bring me to a 1111 00:49:25,900 --> 00:49:30,340 place of expectation and hope in my Savior, to be my Savior in 1112 00:49:30,340 --> 00:49:30,780 my life. 1113 00:49:31,980 --> 00:49:34,220 And so here this morning, if you need to come forward and talk 1114 00:49:34,220 --> 00:49:37,060 to him today to get things right with him today, maybe just 1115 00:49:37,060 --> 00:49:41,820 to thank him for that immense infinite grace, come forward this 1116 00:49:41,820 --> 00:49:42,060 morning. 1117 00:49:42,060 --> 00:49:42,940 The steps are open. 1118 00:49:43,020 --> 00:49:45,780 But if you need Jesus Christ as your Savior, if you want to trust 1119 00:49:45,780 --> 00:49:50,340 in him to experience true justification, true declaration of 1120 00:49:50,340 --> 00:49:53,790 righteousness in your life, not by works of righteousness which 1121 00:49:53,790 --> 00:49:57,430 we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing 1122 00:49:57,430 --> 00:50:02,550 of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Ghost, not by works that 1123 00:50:02,550 --> 00:50:03,150 we have done. 1124 00:50:04,430 --> 00:50:07,470 So can we say this morning, hey, it's not about me becoming a 1125 00:50:07,470 --> 00:50:07,910 better person. 1126 00:50:07,910 --> 00:50:12,110 It's about me trusting in the greatest person, the person of Jesus 1127 00:50:12,110 --> 00:50:12,430 Christ. 1128 00:50:12,830 --> 00:50:15,310 If you need Jesus this morning, we've got some folks up 1129 00:50:15,310 --> 00:50:18,520 here that can lead you in the word of God to show you what it means 1130 00:50:18,520 --> 00:50:19,560 to know him as your Savior. 1131 00:50:19,560 --> 00:50:22,280 Lord, I pray that you be in this time of invitation working hearts 1132 00:50:22,280 --> 00:50:22,520 and lives. 1133 00:50:22,520 --> 00:50:28,320 We thank you for your love and your grace work in hearts today in 1134 00:50:28,320 --> 00:50:28,840 Jesus name. 1135 00:50:28,840 --> 00:50:29,200 Amen. 1136 00:50:29,200 --> 00:50:31,960 As the music plays, some have already come Follow as the Lord leads 1137 00:50:31,960 --> 00:50:32,360 here today. 1138 00:51:33,110 --> 00:51:44,030 Foreign thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist 1139 00:51:44,030 --> 00:51:44,950 Church podcast. 1140 00:51:45,190 --> 00:51:47,510 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 1141 00:51:48,150 --> 00:51:50,430 If you would like to find out more information about our church 1142 00:51:50,430 --> 00:51:53,910 or this sermon, you can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org 1143 00:51:54,230 --> 00:51:56,790 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 1144 00:51:57,510 --> 00:52:02,460 You can also eat email me directly at Josh Massaro middletownbaptistchurch.com 1145 00:52:02,940 --> 00:52:04,620 if you've enjoyed this podcast. 1146 00:52:04,780 --> 00:52:09,260 Please subscribe and follow along for future podcasts and updates. 1147 00:52:09,900 --> 00:52:10,860 Thank you so much. 1148 00:52:11,100 --> 00:52:11,820 God Bless. 1149 00:52:12,060 --> 00:52:13,340 Have a wonderful day.