1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,380 Amen. Good morning everybody. Hi. As John said, I'm not the main pastor guy here. 2 00:00:07,380 --> 00:00:11,700 I'm a servant leader, but I'm really excited to preach today. I really asked 3 00:00:11,700 --> 00:00:15,460 John to do this because he's been at camp all week, and I can only assume how 4 00:00:15,460 --> 00:00:21,100 bad his voice feels after all of that dust in the air. I'll give you a heads up 5 00:00:21,100 --> 00:00:23,980 right now. I've sat in those uncomfortable seats for the past two 6 00:00:23,980 --> 00:00:29,340 weeks, so I'm gonna try to keep this short and give your behinds a little bit 7 00:00:29,340 --> 00:00:34,840 of rest. So let's get going. I'm gonna continue our discussion this week about 8 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:39,000 the gospel. Last week, John discussed these four different movements of the 9 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:45,880 gospel. The creation that God created, the fall, the cross, and the restoration. He 10 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:49,840 showed how the gospel fits into the history of the world. God created all 11 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:58,200 things, and it was good. Humans instead chose sin and separation from God, but 12 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:03,760 the Son of God became human to die on the cross, and through him all things 13 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:09,600 will be restored back to God. It is so important to know that the Son of God 14 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:15,680 coming wasn't a backup plan, but it was the plan from eternity. And I'm gonna 15 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:20,160 use this sermon, that's why this slide is being reused this week, as the springboard 16 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:25,000 into my topic today. I'm gonna take a lot of the talk, the doctrine, the teaching 17 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:30,280 that John had last week, and try to move it into our lives day to day. And I want 18 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:35,600 to talk about how the gospel is our daily need. The story of God's grace and 19 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:41,680 love is the power we Christians need every day. I have two main points. First, 20 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:44,960 we're gonna talk about how the importance of preaching the gospel or 21 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:50,360 rehearsing the gospel every day, and what a life lived out of the gospel renewal 22 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:54,400 looks like. So first, I'm gonna use the word gospel a lot. You guys ever, I'm 23 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:59,320 saying it constantly, okay? So I want to orient you in the ways that I'm going to 24 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:03,520 use it. I could go to a different dictionary definition, but that usually 25 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:08,520 kind of falls flat. Last week, John used a great quote by Tim Keller. I'm gonna 26 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:15,680 put it up here. Tim Keller says, we are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than 27 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:21,400 we ever dared to believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted 28 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:26,440 in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope. So that's what we're gonna use 29 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:31,240 kind of as a backdrop of what the gospel means. In most of the New Testament 30 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:36,560 letters, the word gospel is shorthand for all of the teaching wrapped up in this 31 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:44,000 idea right here. You are separated from God due to your sin. God devised a plan 32 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:50,360 in the council of the Trinity from eternity past to rescue you from your 33 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:56,680 original, from your spiritual death. This plan involved sending a person of the 34 00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:03,120 Trinity to become man, and that should hurt your brain a little bit, and die as 35 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:10,280 payment for your sins. Through his death, you have been restored to God and can 36 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:17,040 now live in the newness of life, glorifying him. Amen? This message is 37 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:23,480 God's gospel, God's good news, and it's amazing. The plan, the work, and the 38 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:29,040 results of Christ's death on the cross is the gospel of God, and the Bible uses 39 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:36,600 extraordinary words to describe it. Look at this verse, 2nd Corinthians 4. The God 40 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:40,720 of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the 41 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:47,280 light of the gospel, of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. The gospel 42 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:52,240 is the glory of Christ, and something similar is said in 1st 43 00:03:52,240 --> 00:04:00,720 Timothy 1, 11, the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God. If you've ever 44 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:03,640 wondered what it was like to behold Christ's glory on the Mount of 45 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:07,800 Transfiguration, or maybe what it's gonna look like for Christ to come back at a 46 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:13,200 second coming, meditate on the gospel. You will start to glimpse the same glory 47 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:17,720 because that is what the gospel is. It is the demonstration of the glory and the 48 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:24,040 power of God. The gospel is the most concentrated demonstration of God's 49 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:31,960 power. Let's look at Romans 1, 16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is 50 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:39,040 the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. Through the gospel 51 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:45,520 we see God's power at its most concentrated. So my thesis this morning, 52 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:51,640 if the gospel is this culmination of history, the glory of Christ, the 53 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:57,640 fullest demonstration of God's power, we should be spending our lives consumed 54 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:03,840 with it. And I mean absolutely consumed with it, totally amazed, completely 55 00:05:03,840 --> 00:05:12,480 love-struck by it. To quote many wise men before me, preach the gospel to yourself. 56 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:20,640 This is my first point. This gospel is the daily need of us who claim the name 57 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:28,360 of Christ. And we need to work daily to renew ourselves in it. And Paul couldn't 58 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:33,600 get enough of telling Christians about the gospel. He injects gospel message 59 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:39,440 into all of his letters. He spends huge sections of his letters to churches 60 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:45,960 describing, reviewing, praising the gospel. Paul starts his letter to the 61 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:51,080 Church of Ephesus, a church that he spent three years himself at teaching. And he 62 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:55,960 reviews and reminds them of the gospel. Let's look at these verses. He 63 00:05:55,960 --> 00:06:00,440 predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself 64 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:04,680 according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious 65 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:10,080 grace that he lavished on us in the beloved one. In him we have redemption 66 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:14,640 through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of 67 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:19,400 his grace that he richly poured out on us. That's gospel. That's just the whole 68 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:24,640 message of Jesus. And in 2nd Corinthians, Paul is defending his ministry from 69 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:28,120 people who were accusing him of being a fraud. He was just in it for the money. 70 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:33,640 In the middle of this section, where he's trying to convince this church that he 71 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:37,640 loves Jesus and he's not there to take their money, he just starts throwing 72 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:44,000 gospel at them. This is the next section in 2nd Corinthians. For the 73 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:48,080 love of Christ controls us because we have concluded this, that the one has 74 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:53,480 died for all, therefore all have died. And he died for all that those who live 75 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:58,640 might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was 76 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:06,120 raised. Again, this is in the middle of Paul defending himself. This isn't a 77 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:13,080 message to unbelievers. But the heartbeat of Paul's ministry to churches was the 78 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:17,680 gospel. And if people were following Christ, Paul preached the gospel to them. 79 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:22,160 When Paul wrote to encourage other pastors, he wrote the gospel to them and 80 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:26,800 told them to walk in line with the gospel. He just didn't stop. And the 81 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:31,400 tenets of the gospel so changed, sorry, the tenets of the gospel should 82 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:36,720 so change our lives that we apply it to every aspect of our day to day. And this 83 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:41,640 is what the Apostles did. They didn't do anything different. It was not left for 84 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:45,600 the days of their early walk with Christ so that they could move on to more 85 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:51,000 important doctrine and more important obedience. The gospel wasn't put on a 86 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:56,800 shelf to be taken down when they were going to witness to a non-believer. It 87 00:07:56,800 --> 00:08:02,160 was their manna in the desert. It was their air conditioning in the summer. 88 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:08,360 Their hot coffee in the morning. Their motivation and inspiration for their 89 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:15,120 ministry. Again, this is my first point. Be like the Apostles. Meditate on the 90 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:22,720 work and glory of Christ on the cross. Think on it. Talk about it. Preach the 91 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:29,080 gospel to yourself. So now that you understand my first point, at least 92 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:33,200 hopefully you do, I want to try to demonstrate it to you. So I'll show it to 93 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:37,020 you in action. And I'll be honest, I wrote this down in my notes to remind you, 94 00:08:37,020 --> 00:08:40,520 I've been really excited about this. So if I start talking a little too fast, I 95 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:46,240 apologize. Just try to keep up. So first we're gonna start with the famous section 96 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:51,480 out of Ephesians 6. Let's go ahead and bring up those verses. Ephesians 6. For 97 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:56,000 this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to resist in 98 00:08:56,000 --> 00:09:00,040 the evil day. And having prepared everything to take your stance, 99 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:04,720 stand therefore with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like 100 00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:09,480 armor on your chest, and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel 101 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:13,920 of peace. In every situation, take up the shield of faith with which you can 102 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:18,560 extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation 103 00:09:18,560 --> 00:09:23,280 and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. So who here needs 104 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:30,720 protection from evil today? Paul's exhortation to the church is to use the 105 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:37,320 gospel for protection against the cosmic powers of this world. Here the items used 106 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:46,200 righteousness, salvation, gospel, faith, Word of God. These verses are not 107 00:09:46,200 --> 00:09:53,840 like this special training of like do like spiritual karate. It's a reminder to 108 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:59,400 go back to the gospel. Righteousness, salvation, faith are results of God's 109 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:06,280 work in my life, not results of my actions. Why would we need to pursue 110 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:11,960 anything other than the fullest image of God's power in this world to protect us 111 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:16,800 from evil? Why would we turn to anything else? But if we submit to the power of 112 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:22,080 the gospel and everything that God did there, allowing it to direct every single 113 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:26,440 one of my actions and every single one of my thoughts, what do I have to fear? 114 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:34,000 What accusation will stick? What slander will matter to me? I have Jesus. 115 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:43,120 I'm gonna stand secure in him. Let's go to the next one. Romans 5. Therefore, since 116 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:47,440 we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus 117 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:52,680 Christ. We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in 118 00:10:52,680 --> 00:10:59,680 which we stand and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Anyone struggle with 119 00:10:59,680 --> 00:11:05,160 feeling that God is still angry with you? Or maybe you feel like God is 120 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:09,920 just waiting for you to sin so he can punish you because you're just an 121 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:17,040 adopted child. You're not a real one. These verses make some of the biggest 122 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:26,280 claims in the Bible. One, you have peace with God. It's what it says. Two, your 123 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:32,720 standing with him, your peace, your position in him has only to do with your 124 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:39,360 faith. That a faith allows you to be justified in God's sight. Meaning when 125 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:47,800 God looks on you, he doesn't see you. He sees his son, his perfect, obedient, 126 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:56,800 submissive, glorious son. That's the gospel. So carve out some time this week 127 00:11:56,800 --> 00:12:01,840 to meditate on this. Just these two verses, Romans 5, 1 & 2. And ask yourself, 128 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:08,080 what does this mean about God? What does this mean about me? What does this mean 129 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:12,840 about God? What does this mean about me? I'll give you a thought, give you a thing 130 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:20,520 to start with. Jesus is the one who provided your peace. It wasn't your good 131 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:24,440 deeds, it wasn't your good actions, it wasn't the way that you did anything, 132 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:31,480 that you came to God. It was Jesus. So you don't have the power to destroy your 133 00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:37,480 peace with God. You are not more powerful than Christ's work on the cross. 134 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:45,840 So you get to live in the assurance of Christ's work. No strings attached. That 135 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:53,880 is what peace looks like in your life. Let's go to the next one. Psalm 16. In 136 00:12:53,880 --> 00:13:01,200 your presence is abundant joy at your right hand are eternal pleasures. You 137 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:04,760 ever read the Bible and like it just feels so mundane and like you just want 138 00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:08,960 somebody to come and like act it out for you? That's this verse for me. In 139 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:13,920 Psalm 16, we don't have time to read all of it, David starts this Psalm with a 140 00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:18,840 plea for protection. God protect me! And then he goes on to mention sleepless 141 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:25,280 nights, troubled thoughts. He alludes to dying and going down to Sheol. So the 142 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:30,760 context of this verse, this Psalm, is David struggling with deep fear and 143 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:36,600 anxiety, struggling to keep his head above water. Anybody else feel like that? 144 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:42,120 Struggling, trying to make it work, trying to get through feelings of 145 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:49,920 impending dread and the unknown. David was there and his response was to plead 146 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:55,200 with himself to keep his heart set on the Lord. Here's some quotes from this 147 00:13:55,200 --> 00:14:00,000 Psalm. I have nothing good beside the Lord. You are my portion. I have a 148 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:06,520 beautiful inheritance. David is preaching to himself. He is trying to put the 149 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:13,280 gospel into his heart, put it into his mind so he doesn't forget it. He's 150 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:17,960 repeating the promises of the Lord. He is wrestling against the fear and lies 151 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:22,360 around him by recounting the faithfulness of the Lord. And as David 152 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:28,040 sees that his death may come, his response is not despair but hope. Listen 153 00:14:28,040 --> 00:14:34,840 to it again. In your presence is abundant joy. At your right hand are 154 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:39,320 eternal pleasures. Meditating on the promises of the Lord and the truth of 155 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:45,880 his goodness may not keep you from suffering. It didn't from David. But you 156 00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:52,880 will overcome fear and despair with hope in him. He is true. He is faithful and we 157 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:58,080 will have eternal joy with him. Preaching the gospel to yourself will 158 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:02,920 overpower the fear and anxiety that comes upon you and you will have hope. 159 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:09,440 And let me give you one final example. The next slide. Romans 8 one. There is 160 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:16,480 therefore now no condemnation for those who were in Christ Jesus. When I'm having 161 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:21,000 difficulty, this is the verse I go back to. It answers so many questions and 162 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:27,760 doubts for me. My sin, which is my biggest problem, is dealt with. I don't 163 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:33,960 have to have fear of God's wrath and I can live in freedom. If I have sinned and 164 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:39,320 failed, like really really sinned, I don't have to live in fear because there's no 165 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:44,880 condemnation for me. The power of this verse abounds whenever I meditate it, 166 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:50,680 whenever I go back to it, it is always there to comfort me. Let me give you an 167 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:57,320 example from my life pretty recently of how that happened. Back in January, I went 168 00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:01,920 back to work. I had been off for 10 weeks of paternity leave and I was hoping to 169 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:05,640 come back and slowly get into the swing of things, you know, like haven't been 170 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:11,880 working, it's take it easy. That didn't happen. For those of you who don't know 171 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:21,240 what I do, like my wife, I handle really big problems for Cisco Systems, not the 172 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:25,120 food company, the internet company. And we had one of our largest customers 173 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:29,640 really upset and having a major problem that was affecting their senior vice 174 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:34,200 presidents. So my job was to show up and fix their big problem as quickly as I 175 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:39,920 can. Well, I got to work on that problem the second day I 176 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:45,960 was back. And immediately I started working 10 to 16 hours a day. I would go 177 00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:49,640 to sleep just trying to figure out how to solve this problem and what I would 178 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:52,840 do the next day. I would wake up in the middle of night and work for an hour or 179 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:56,000 two because that's the time frame I needed to work with people. And then I 180 00:16:56,000 --> 00:17:02,080 would wake up and go to meetings at 6 a.m. Every morning I hoped, oh I prayed, 181 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:06,840 that whatever plans I had come up with the night before were good enough for 182 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:12,720 that day. And after about two weeks of no progress and the problem not solved and 183 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:18,920 pressure mounting, I started to slide into hopelessness. This escalation, this 184 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:24,840 problem was consuming my life and the problem wasn't fixed and I was failing 185 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:30,920 at my job. And this is really really intimate to me. Failure at my job is one 186 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:35,880 of my deepest fears. Like to be found out that I don't know and that I can't do it, 187 00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:42,560 oh that scares me, like terrifies me. And one night I was searching for hope 188 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:48,520 anywhere and a way out of this problem which I, my boss couldn't fix it for me, 189 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:55,320 I started to meditate on this verse. There is therefore now no condemnation 190 00:17:55,320 --> 00:18:00,540 for those who are in Christ Jesus. I started preaching to this so hard to my 191 00:18:00,540 --> 00:18:06,160 heart. Jesus took away my condemnation. I live in freedom. I don't have to 192 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:13,440 perform for Jesus. He did it, not me. God loves me and will still love me if I 193 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:21,400 fail and never solve this problem. My worth is not stored up in my output but 194 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:29,440 solely in Christ. The next day after this I still had to wake up and still had to 195 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:34,640 get to work and still try to figure out this problem. It didn't go away. It wasn't 196 00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:39,960 for two more weeks until this problem was solved. But every day I had this 197 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:44,200 promise to hold on to. Every day I woke up with hope. Every day I could have joy. 198 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:49,160 Not because what I was doing but because what Christ had already done. The gospel 199 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:54,920 didn't fix the internet routing problem in a data center in Ashburn Virginia for 200 00:18:54,920 --> 00:19:01,560 me. But that wasn't my biggest problem. My biggest problem was already dealt with 201 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:12,160 in the death of Jesus on the cross and I needed to be reminded of that. Now that 202 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:15,840 you are ready to start renewing the gospel, you guys have bought into my idea 203 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:19,280 that you need to start preaching the gospel to yourself. What does a life 204 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:24,560 lived out of the gospel look like? What does this look like every day? And I want 205 00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:27,800 to first set up a problem that Christians have been dealing with and 206 00:19:27,800 --> 00:19:34,920 show how holding to the gospel fixes it. A very common response is, well I've 207 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:38,800 hold on to the gospel, great that's what I've been doing since my Christian walk 208 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:45,080 started. What's different now? So the thing that Christians have been dealing 209 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:51,440 with shows up from day one. If my sins are forgiven and I am right with God, can 210 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:58,040 I keep sinning? Paul addresses it in Romans 6. We don't have time to read it 211 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:08,600 but the summary is this, no way! Don't! Stop! But this question, well Christ did it, 212 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:15,400 it's done, right Nick? You keep saying that. Can I? Like can I? Like really, 213 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:23,200 it'd be really nice. And often what Christians do is they say one thing and 214 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:27,280 then act a different way. Nobody has ever accused Christians of being hypocrites, 215 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:33,320 right? We'll say you're forgiven in Jesus, your sins don't count against you, you're 216 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:42,840 washed clean. But God can still get upset with you if you sin too much, like you 217 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:47,240 know there's a limit. So you probably want to try really hard this time to 218 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:52,360 like earn back his love to make sure he's not too upset with you. You guys are 219 00:20:52,360 --> 00:20:58,680 being way too serious. I know you've all seen this before. We say God is 220 00:20:58,680 --> 00:21:02,560 forgiving and loving but we still take responsibility for fixing the 221 00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:11,480 relationship. This is a lie. Lies that distort the gospel. Lies that demean the 222 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:17,840 work of Jesus on the cross. This is the truth. There is no condemnation for those 223 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:22,880 who are in Christ. They changed the slide, that was gonna be really cool. But say 224 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:27,760 that verse to yourself. Repeat it to yourself often. Turn to someone right now. 225 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:33,480 There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 226 00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:46,520 There's no condemnation. A quick read through Romans 8, you will find that this 227 00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:51,840 promise directly ties to Paul's description of our status change in 228 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:58,240 verse 16 which reads, the Spirit himself testifies together with our Spirit that 229 00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:06,080 we are God's children. The Holy Spirit testifies to God the Father that you 230 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:16,120 are a child of God. You are a child of the triune eternal God. Your 231 00:22:16,120 --> 00:22:21,240 justification by faith turns into no condemnation which turns into your 232 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:27,040 status as a child of God. You have a birth certificate signed by the Holy 233 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:34,160 Spirit in the blood of Jesus Christ. So how do you choose to live now? Like what 234 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:38,800 do you want to do? Do you want to go back to sin? Do you want to go back to anger 235 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:45,960 and wrath? Do you want to go back to people fearing? Be scared of them? Do you 236 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:53,240 want to squander your freedom with a computer in a dark room? No way! Don't do 237 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:59,960 it! Why? You have Jesus! There's not a chance that you would turn to that. And 238 00:22:59,960 --> 00:23:08,000 this is my second point. Gratitude is our motivation. You live a life flowing out 239 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:13,280 overflowing with joy and gratitude in the work of Jesus on the cross. You wake 240 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:18,800 up every morning eager to serve, eager to learn, eager to know Christ more. Not 241 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:22,680 because of fear and punishment, not because you're gonna have to work extra 242 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:28,920 hard next time, but because of gratitude at all God has done for you. Gratitude is 243 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:38,880 our motivation. So here's some verses to exemplify this point. Let's go to the next 244 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:44,840 slide. A verse I don't feel like is quoted enough. 1st John 5.3. For this is 245 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:49,560 what love for God is to keep his commandments and his commandments are 246 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:57,000 not burdensome. Do you ever feel that obedience to God is hindering you? It's a 247 00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:02,280 burden to your life that you have to obey? Or how about this next one Titus 248 00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:08,840 2.14. Jesus Christ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and 249 00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:14,840 to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good 250 00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:22,560 works. Sorry I got my translations wrong. Are you are you zealous to do good works? 251 00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:28,760 Do you have a zeal to give up your comforts to serve others? Does your heart 252 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:36,840 ever have enough of the gospel so that saying no to sin is deeply exciting? That 253 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:42,400 is what a mind changed by the gospel thinks. This mindset propelled Paul to 254 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:47,920 say this absolutely absurd thing. This is really in your Bible. I have suffered 255 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:55,760 the loss of all things and consider them as dung so that I may gain Christ. I have 256 00:24:55,760 --> 00:25:01,440 suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung so I may have 257 00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:08,960 Christ. The motivation behind this changed view of God's command that God's 258 00:25:08,960 --> 00:25:15,480 commands are good and glorious and the thing I want to do is is gratitude. 259 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:21,160 Gratitude overflowing into obedience. Joyful obedience. Obedience that is 260 00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:29,560 excited to glorify God. Excited to make him look amazing. I started with a quote 261 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:35,400 from Tim Keller so here's one more. Tim Keller describes it like this. Religion 262 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:43,560 says if I obey God then God will love and accept me. The gospel says God loves 263 00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:51,400 and accepts me therefore I want to obey. When was the last time you told God 264 00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:57,360 please please give me the chance to obey your commands? Give me the opportunity 265 00:25:57,360 --> 00:26:03,560 to sacrifice? Give me the opportunity to make you look precious and glorious to 266 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:13,000 me? The gospel is God's good news of the work he has done for us and it is shown 267 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:19,760 through the obedience of those who claim Christ. This obedience is expected as an 268 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:25,720 expected outcome of our changed hearts. Any other motivation for obedience to 269 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:32,300 God diminishes the gospel. It makes it look worthless. It makes the work of 270 00:26:32,300 --> 00:26:38,480 Christ on the cross insufficient for your life. So instead of Christ doing 271 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:44,840 everything he does some of it and then you finish it for him. How nice of you. 272 00:26:46,120 --> 00:26:54,080 But gratitude. Gratitude. Gratitude makes much of God. It praises him for his plan. 273 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:59,600 It praises him for his work. By redeeming of people for his own his own 274 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:06,320 possession that have a passion for him. Gratitude turns our hearts to sing his 275 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:11,560 praises. Gratitude drives us to give up everything so that we may know him more 276 00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:17,560 and more. And if you want this type of Christianity that looks otherworldly 277 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:24,400 it's propelled by gratitude full of joy seeking to glorify God. Meditate on the 278 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:29,320 gospel. Study it. Talk about it. Talk about it with your spouse. Talk about it 279 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:32,440 with your friends. Bring it up all the time. Read the Bible and just try to 280 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:36,160 look for where it talks about the gospel. Where God is doing something and 281 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:42,120 making a people of his own possession. You will see people differently. Just 282 00:27:42,120 --> 00:27:47,240 visibly like physically you will see people differently. You will see 283 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:54,160 yourself differently. You will see gospel moments all of the time. Where grace is 284 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:59,000 can be extended. Where mercy needs to be extended. Where forgiveness is an option. 285 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:06,080 You'll have all of that stuff and then out of it just so much joy and gratitude 286 00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:10,280 and obedience because it all comes together because it's what God desires 287 00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:16,720 out of us and the only thing that we want to do is to praise him. The gospel 288 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:31,520 is our daily need. Let us not stray from it. Amen. Amen.