WEBVTT 00:00:01.410 --> 00:00:04.389 Those are great words written by Bill Wesley. 00:00:06.769 --> 00:00:09.130 You've just sat down, but I wonder if you would 00:00:09.130 --> 00:00:11.849 stand again, would you? Reach around and shake 00:00:11.849 --> 00:00:13.869 hands with some people. You all look like you've 00:00:13.869 --> 00:00:21.109 got sunburn, some hernia, and pain today. Off 00:00:21.109 --> 00:00:43.549 it comes. Well, thank you. Thank you for welcoming 00:00:43.549 --> 00:00:45.950 one another. Also gave me an opportunity to take 00:00:45.950 --> 00:00:52.909 my coat off. Romans chapter 3, please. And if 00:00:52.909 --> 00:00:54.630 you didn't get an opportunity to take it right 00:00:54.630 --> 00:00:58.109 now, you want to take yours off. Romans chapter 00:00:58.109 --> 00:01:03.670 3. We're going to read verses 24, 25, and 26. 00:01:06.260 --> 00:01:09.019 You'll notice that verse 24 begins in the middle 00:01:09.019 --> 00:01:13.640 of a sentence. I believe the best way to understand 00:01:13.640 --> 00:01:16.379 this complete sentence is to put the last part 00:01:16.379 --> 00:01:18.980 of verse 22, beginning with, for there is no 00:01:18.980 --> 00:01:23.420 distinction, on through verse 23 in parentheses. 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:28.019 I believe it is a parenthetical thought which 00:01:28.019 --> 00:01:32.060 underscores what he is saying. But so that we 00:01:32.060 --> 00:01:34.340 might understand clearly the thrust of the entire 00:01:34.340 --> 00:01:41.129 sentence, Even the righteousness of God through 00:01:41.129 --> 00:01:45.349 faith in Jesus Christ, for all those who believe, 00:01:46.010 --> 00:01:50.230 being justified as a gift by his grace through 00:01:50.230 --> 00:01:53.829 the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom 00:01:53.829 --> 00:01:58.189 God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his 00:01:58.189 --> 00:02:01.989 blood through faith. This was to demonstrate 00:02:01.989 --> 00:02:05.250 his righteousness. because in the forbearance 00:02:05.250 --> 00:02:10.229 of God he passed over the sins previously committed 00:02:10.229 --> 00:02:13.030 for the demonstration, I say, of his righteousness 00:02:13.030 --> 00:02:17.550 at the present time, that he might be just and 00:02:17.550 --> 00:02:21.750 the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 00:02:23.770 --> 00:02:27.270 Our hospitals and institutions are populated 00:02:27.270 --> 00:02:32.129 with people who have much the same basic problem. 00:02:32.439 --> 00:02:37.539 And that problem is guilt, guilt either real 00:02:37.539 --> 00:02:43.400 or imagined. Genuine guilt is the reaction of 00:02:43.400 --> 00:02:47.860 the conscience to an offense against its standards. 00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:54.099 Unresolved guilt can produce all kinds of consequences 00:02:54.099 --> 00:02:57.699 in the life, physical, emotional, mental, and 00:02:57.699 --> 00:03:02.870 spiritual consequences. I think this was illustrated 00:03:02.870 --> 00:03:07.050 graphically a few days ago when there was a documentary 00:03:07.050 --> 00:03:10.030 on national television regarding the war in Vietnam. 00:03:11.229 --> 00:03:14.789 Four or five men were interviewed as a part of 00:03:14.789 --> 00:03:17.810 this documentary. These men have one thing in 00:03:17.810 --> 00:03:21.090 common. They were all decorated in Vietnam but 00:03:21.090 --> 00:03:24.830 they are now imprisoned for various crimes here 00:03:24.830 --> 00:03:28.490 in the United States. One particular man drew 00:03:28.490 --> 00:03:32.000 my attention. As the others, he had received 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:36.479 awards and medals because of his heroism in Vietnam. 00:03:37.280 --> 00:03:39.800 But now he languishes in prison for a number 00:03:39.800 --> 00:03:44.500 of years. In the interview, he told of the effect 00:03:44.500 --> 00:03:54.139 of the war upon his life. It has resulted in 00:03:54.139 --> 00:03:58.819 his life being torn apart. And as he related 00:03:58.819 --> 00:04:01.680 his experience in Vietnam, his experience seemed 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:06.680 to center around one particular occasion, when 00:04:06.680 --> 00:04:10.840 in a moment of anger and unbelievable frustration, 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:16.240 he massacred an innocent Vietnamese family, a 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:18.639 mother, a father, and some children, who just 00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:24.160 happened to be there. The guilt of that action 00:04:24.160 --> 00:04:27.870 has dramatically and tragically affected his 00:04:27.870 --> 00:04:32.449 life. Still today he has nightmares of the war 00:04:32.449 --> 00:04:37.189 and when he has those nightmares he sees that 00:04:37.189 --> 00:04:44.430 family standing watching him. If only people 00:04:44.430 --> 00:04:49.069 like that could hear and understand what our 00:04:49.069 --> 00:04:53.350 text is saying today regarding guilt, they could 00:04:53.350 --> 00:04:57.199 be helped. because the Bible tells us that real 00:04:57.199 --> 00:05:05.240 guilt can be removed. Guilt is from God. It is 00:05:05.240 --> 00:05:07.779 part of the work of the conscience which he has 00:05:07.779 --> 00:05:12.000 built into us. But God has made it possible for 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:16.060 a guilty person to be forgiven. That is the good 00:05:16.060 --> 00:05:19.560 news of our text today. You'll notice that the 00:05:19.560 --> 00:05:22.579 apostle brings up an age -old theological dilemma 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:26.639 He says in verse 26 that God has demonstrated 00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:30.879 his righteousness so that he might be just and 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:34.720 the justifier of sinners. There have been those 00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:37.560 who have questioned how a righteous God could 00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:42.560 ever justify sinners and still be righteous himself. 00:05:43.420 --> 00:05:45.399 Of course, the answer to that dilemma is that 00:05:45.399 --> 00:05:50.240 God has completely and eternally dealt with sin 00:05:50.240 --> 00:05:54.360 through Christ's death and resurrection, and 00:05:54.360 --> 00:05:57.939 has saved the believer by that work of Christ 00:05:57.939 --> 00:06:01.279 on the cross on his behalf. In the text that 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:04.019 we're looking at today, we see three results 00:06:04.019 --> 00:06:07.459 of that saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:06:07.879 --> 00:06:13.939 One is manward, the second is sinward in its 00:06:13.939 --> 00:06:18.660 impact, and the third is godward. I'm thinking 00:06:18.660 --> 00:06:22.199 of the three key words that we find in the word 00:06:22.199 --> 00:06:27.300 justified or the noun justification. The next 00:06:27.300 --> 00:06:32.620 keyword redemption and the third propitiation. 00:06:33.439 --> 00:06:35.879 One of the reasons that I have gone to the New 00:06:35.879 --> 00:06:39.060 American Standard Version at least for now is 00:06:39.060 --> 00:06:41.939 because it retains some of these keywords which 00:06:41.939 --> 00:06:45.100 the NIV translates into phrases. Now I think 00:06:45.100 --> 00:06:47.279 it's important for us to hear the words and to 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:51.660 understand what they mean. Justification redemption, 00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:55.819 and propitiation are three results of the saving 00:06:55.819 --> 00:06:59.839 work of the Lord Jesus Christ. These are more 00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:04.259 than just theological doctrines. They are life 00:07:04.259 --> 00:07:08.399 -transforming, guilt -removing truths that God 00:07:08.399 --> 00:07:11.100 gives to us in His Word. Let's talk about them 00:07:11.100 --> 00:07:14.160 today. First, let's think about justification. 00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:18.519 Justification is one of the fundamental truths 00:07:18.699 --> 00:07:23.399 of biblical Christianity. Justification by faith 00:07:23.399 --> 00:07:26.300 was the cry of the Reformation which swept across 00:07:26.300 --> 00:07:30.139 Europe centuries ago. One of the initiators of 00:07:30.139 --> 00:07:33.740 that Reformation, Martin Luther, wrote these 00:07:33.740 --> 00:07:37.040 words in a sermon entitled Justification by Faith. 00:07:37.639 --> 00:07:40.199 I wish that those who still bear Luther's name 00:07:40.199 --> 00:07:42.300 today and their religion, did all of them at 00:07:42.300 --> 00:07:45.060 least, would believe what Luther wrote regarding 00:07:45.060 --> 00:07:49.509 justification by faith alone. He says, The foundation 00:07:49.509 --> 00:07:52.329 must be maintained without wavering, that faith 00:07:52.329 --> 00:07:57.310 without any works, without any merit, reconciles 00:07:57.310 --> 00:08:02.050 man to God and makes him good. As Paul says to 00:08:02.050 --> 00:08:06.250 the women, But now, apart from the law, a righteousness 00:08:06.250 --> 00:08:09.629 of God hath been manifested, been witnessed by 00:08:09.629 --> 00:08:11.569 the law and the prophets, even the righteousness 00:08:11.569 --> 00:08:16.009 of God, through faith in Jesus Christ unto all 00:08:16.009 --> 00:08:20.129 them that believe. These and many other passages 00:08:20.129 --> 00:08:24.050 we must firmly hold and trust in them immovably, 00:08:24.370 --> 00:08:26.990 so that to faith alone, without any assistance 00:08:26.990 --> 00:08:30.430 of works, is attributed the forgiveness of sins 00:08:30.430 --> 00:08:35.169 and our justification." Well, it was that blessed 00:08:35.169 --> 00:08:39.049 truth which had been buried under ritual for 00:08:39.049 --> 00:08:43.389 centuries that caused the Reformation to flame 00:08:43.389 --> 00:08:48.139 throughout the European continent and then eventually 00:08:48.139 --> 00:08:51.940 even to our country itself. Justification. What 00:08:51.940 --> 00:08:56.379 does the word mean? The word justification is 00:08:56.379 --> 00:09:01.080 a legal term which deals with a criminal's position 00:09:01.080 --> 00:09:06.200 before a court of law. On the one hand it means 00:09:06.200 --> 00:09:10.419 acquittal. It is used in this sense in Acts chapter 00:09:10.419 --> 00:09:14.490 13 verse 39 when the Apostle says, through him, 00:09:14.509 --> 00:09:18.809 that is Christ, everyone who believes is freed, 00:09:19.669 --> 00:09:23.409 or the word really is justified, from all things 00:09:23.409 --> 00:09:26.570 from which you could not be freed through the 00:09:26.570 --> 00:09:30.129 law of Moses. What is he saying? He's saying 00:09:30.129 --> 00:09:32.750 to those Jewish listeners that the law of Moses 00:09:32.750 --> 00:09:37.509 could not acquit them of their guilt before God. 00:09:39.929 --> 00:09:43.879 And so justification on the one hand means acquittal. 00:09:44.259 --> 00:09:50.200 But it's not a pardon only. It is also a reinstatement 00:09:50.200 --> 00:09:55.480 to a position of not having broken the law. And 00:09:55.480 --> 00:09:58.320 that's why pardon is an insufficient term to 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:02.440 define justification. It's more than that. It 00:10:02.440 --> 00:10:06.259 means to declare one or to consider one to be 00:10:06.259 --> 00:10:10.940 righteous. It does not mean to make righteous. 00:10:11.309 --> 00:10:14.250 That is another doctrine called sanctification. 00:10:15.409 --> 00:10:18.269 This is a legal position before God in which 00:10:18.269 --> 00:10:22.509 one is declared to be righteous in his sight. 00:10:23.710 --> 00:10:28.070 It is not a matter of character. It is not a 00:10:28.070 --> 00:10:31.230 matter of conduct. It is a matter of a legal 00:10:31.230 --> 00:10:37.210 position. Whereas pardon deals with the past, 00:10:38.279 --> 00:10:41.600 in our relationship to the law cannot deal with 00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:44.820 our future relationship to the law. But you see, 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:48.620 justification does both. It goes into the past 00:10:48.620 --> 00:10:52.600 and into the future, and it sets us forever right 00:10:52.600 --> 00:10:56.980 in God's sight. If we were to give a definition 00:10:56.980 --> 00:11:00.559 of justification, maybe these words would suffice. 00:11:00.919 --> 00:11:08.090 It is the judicial act of God whereby Those who 00:11:08.090 --> 00:11:11.909 put faith in Christ are declared righteous in 00:11:11.909 --> 00:11:17.789 his eyes, free from guilt and punishment. Do 00:11:17.789 --> 00:11:21.590 you understand what that means? It means if you 00:11:21.590 --> 00:11:25.870 have placed your faith in Jesus Christ, that 00:11:25.870 --> 00:11:29.370 you are free from guilt and punishment, and as 00:11:29.370 --> 00:11:33.009 far as God is concerned, you are as good as one 00:11:33.009 --> 00:11:38.840 who has never sinned. You are forever set into 00:11:38.840 --> 00:11:42.940 a right relationship with Himself legally, a 00:11:42.940 --> 00:11:48.940 relationship which cannot change. This includes 00:11:48.940 --> 00:11:54.759 the truth that God sees us as those who are in 00:11:54.759 --> 00:12:01.759 Christ. When God sees you, He sees you identified 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:05.340 with Christ. He does not see you alone as just 00:12:05.340 --> 00:12:08.960 you. When he sees you, when he hears you, he 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:13.100 sees and hears you as one who is in Christ, having 00:12:13.100 --> 00:12:16.379 trusted him. The apostle puts it wonderfully, 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:20.279 doesn't he, in Philippians chapter 3, as he writes 00:12:20.279 --> 00:12:25.360 to those believers, and he says in verse 8, I 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:31.039 count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing 00:12:31.039 --> 00:12:35.450 value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom 00:12:35.450 --> 00:12:38.370 I have suffered the loss of all things, and count 00:12:38.370 --> 00:12:42.509 them but rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ, 00:12:42.950 --> 00:12:48.769 and be found in him." What does he mean? He means 00:12:48.769 --> 00:12:52.610 to be found legally, identified, or united with 00:12:52.610 --> 00:12:57.350 Jesus Christ, and be found in him, not having 00:12:57.350 --> 00:13:01.649 a righteousness of my own derived from the law. 00:13:01.929 --> 00:13:06.649 but that which is through faith in Christ, the 00:13:06.649 --> 00:13:10.169 righteousness which comes from God on the basis 00:13:10.169 --> 00:13:13.950 of faith. What he does there in Philippians chapter 00:13:13.950 --> 00:13:17.070 3 is to give his own personal testimony as to 00:13:17.070 --> 00:13:21.409 what justification is. It means to be found in 00:13:21.409 --> 00:13:24.710 Christ, not having righteousness that we get 00:13:24.710 --> 00:13:28.690 from ourselves, a righteousness which is insufficient 00:13:28.690 --> 00:13:32.899 before God. but having Christ's righteousness 00:13:32.899 --> 00:13:37.559 given to us because of our faith in Christ. Now 00:13:37.559 --> 00:13:41.240 going back to Romans chapter 3, I want you to 00:13:41.240 --> 00:13:44.980 notice the modifying phrases in verse 24. He 00:13:44.980 --> 00:13:47.600 says, being justified, and by the way that's 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:52.340 passive. Paul doesn't justify himself, he is 00:13:52.340 --> 00:13:57.259 justified by God. It is God doing the work declaring 00:13:57.259 --> 00:14:02.100 Paul and every believer in Christ to be righteous. 00:14:02.460 --> 00:14:08.840 He says, being justified as a gift by his grace. 00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:12.740 Two phrases there which really compliment one 00:14:12.740 --> 00:14:17.960 another. Grace is of course God's unmerited kindness 00:14:17.960 --> 00:14:23.559 in action toward us. And he says that it is a 00:14:23.559 --> 00:14:28.200 gift, this justification. Literally it says being 00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:33.059 justified without a cause. What that really means 00:14:33.059 --> 00:14:36.759 is that there is no reason, there is no basis 00:14:36.759 --> 00:14:44.139 in you or in me that God should justify us. There 00:14:44.139 --> 00:14:49.059 is nothing in us that recommends us to God. Nothing. 00:14:50.980 --> 00:14:55.580 Without any cause whatsoever in us, God gives 00:14:55.580 --> 00:15:00.679 us the gift of righteousness. The cause is found 00:15:00.679 --> 00:15:07.299 in Him, God Himself. He provides the cause, and 00:15:07.299 --> 00:15:10.860 the cause is simply His grace, the riches of 00:15:10.860 --> 00:15:14.259 His grace, which He desires to manifest toward 00:15:14.259 --> 00:15:19.450 us. So that's the first result of Christ's saving 00:15:19.450 --> 00:15:21.690 work. Not the first logically, but the first 00:15:21.690 --> 00:15:24.809 that he mentions here in our text. The one who 00:15:24.809 --> 00:15:28.389 believes in the Lord Jesus Christ is justified, 00:15:29.429 --> 00:15:33.529 declared right with God. The second word is the 00:15:33.529 --> 00:15:38.769 word redemption. This is a word that is sin -ward 00:15:38.769 --> 00:15:44.929 in its effect. He says being justified as a gift 00:15:44.929 --> 00:15:49.090 by His grace through the redemption which is 00:15:49.090 --> 00:15:54.450 in Christ Jesus. Redemption means to pay the 00:15:54.450 --> 00:15:59.870 price of a slave. It is touchingly illustrated 00:15:59.870 --> 00:16:03.909 in the Old Testament in the life of a prophet 00:16:03.909 --> 00:16:09.860 of God whose name was Hosea. God commanded Hosea 00:16:09.860 --> 00:16:15.840 to take of himself a wife who was a harlot. He 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:19.679 brought her to himself, he loved her, he cared 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:22.919 for her, but in the process of time she went 00:16:22.919 --> 00:16:29.679 back to her whoredom. There came a day when that 00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:37.169 woman whose name was Gomer, was placed on an 00:16:37.169 --> 00:16:42.309 auction block in the city of Jerusalem. She stood 00:16:42.309 --> 00:16:45.269 there naked before the eyes of the gawking crowd 00:16:45.269 --> 00:16:50.049 and was put up for sale as a used prostitute, 00:16:50.429 --> 00:16:56.370 nothing more than a slave. And God told Hosea 00:16:56.370 --> 00:17:00.559 to go and to buy his wife back. And in Hosea 00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:03.039 chapter 3, in those early verses in that chapter, 00:17:03.100 --> 00:17:06.480 it tells how much Hosea paid for his own wife 00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:10.640 who had been unfaithful. And he bought her and 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:13.819 brought her back to himself. And the whole picture 00:17:13.819 --> 00:17:17.200 there in Hosea is that Israel, the nation, has 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:20.839 been unfaithful to God, but that he has bought 00:17:20.839 --> 00:17:23.259 the nation and will bring the nation back to 00:17:23.259 --> 00:17:26.059 himself. You see what a beautiful picture that 00:17:26.059 --> 00:17:29.650 is of redemption? It is to pay the price of a 00:17:29.650 --> 00:17:33.910 slave. There are really three Greek words essentially 00:17:33.910 --> 00:17:39.109 which are translated redeem or redemption in 00:17:39.109 --> 00:17:43.109 the New Testament. One of them simply means to 00:17:43.109 --> 00:17:49.009 purchase in the market. In those days there were 00:17:49.009 --> 00:17:51.869 sections of the cities which were markets. They 00:17:51.869 --> 00:17:55.589 were called the agora. If you go to Corinth and 00:17:55.589 --> 00:17:57.529 the ruins of that city today where they have 00:17:57.529 --> 00:18:00.369 excavated, you will see the part of it that is 00:18:00.369 --> 00:18:03.750 called the agora or the marketplace where they 00:18:03.750 --> 00:18:08.990 bought and sold wares and goods and food. What 00:18:08.990 --> 00:18:12.670 this word really means and that Greek word is 00:18:12.670 --> 00:18:17.690 based on the word agora, agorazo, it simply means 00:18:17.690 --> 00:18:22.869 to buy something in the market. There's a similar 00:18:22.869 --> 00:18:26.690 word to that, which means to purchase out of 00:18:26.690 --> 00:18:29.849 the market. And the emphasis of this word is 00:18:29.849 --> 00:18:34.130 to take something out of circulation. We might 00:18:34.130 --> 00:18:36.970 illustrate it with a work of art. If you were 00:18:36.970 --> 00:18:38.990 to go out and buy a beautiful painting, you would 00:18:38.990 --> 00:18:42.069 bring that into your home. And perhaps someday 00:18:42.069 --> 00:18:46.410 you would sell it again and get a profit. A museum, 00:18:46.670 --> 00:18:48.930 however, when it buys a work of art, pays a great 00:18:48.930 --> 00:18:52.119 price for it. But a museum's purpose is not to 00:18:52.119 --> 00:18:54.140 sell it later to make a profit, but to take it 00:18:54.140 --> 00:18:57.839 out of circulation, to keep it for itself. It 00:18:57.839 --> 00:18:59.740 is that thought that is behind the second word. 00:18:59.759 --> 00:19:02.500 It means to purchase something out of the market 00:19:02.500 --> 00:19:06.579 and to keep it. And then there's a third word, 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:08.640 which is the word that is used here in this word 00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:11.740 redemption, which literally means to loose or 00:19:11.740 --> 00:19:16.000 to set free or to deliver. Now if you put all 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:18.279 three of those words together, you have the picture 00:19:18.279 --> 00:19:21.539 of redemption really. in the Bible, the redemption 00:19:21.539 --> 00:19:27.299 of sinners. It pictures us as slaves on a slave 00:19:27.299 --> 00:19:32.880 market, who are purchased and taken out of the 00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:37.660 market, loosed then from slavery and set free. 00:19:39.420 --> 00:19:42.900 All those words combine to give us the full picture 00:19:42.900 --> 00:19:46.119 of redemption. To buy, to take out of the market, 00:19:46.259 --> 00:19:50.140 and to deliver, to set free. And it tells us 00:19:50.140 --> 00:19:53.500 here that that is what God has done for us. He 00:19:53.500 --> 00:19:56.859 has paid the price of our redemption. You remember 00:19:56.859 --> 00:19:59.880 the words of the Lord Jesus, Mark chapter 10, 00:20:00.099 --> 00:20:04.960 verse 45? He said, the Son of Man has not come 00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:09.960 to serve, rather to be served, but to serve. 00:20:10.200 --> 00:20:12.599 Isn't that right? What a great attitude that 00:20:12.599 --> 00:20:16.279 is. An attitude that all of us should exemplify. 00:20:16.670 --> 00:20:18.829 the attitude of being willing to serve and not 00:20:18.829 --> 00:20:22.470 to be served. And then he goes on to say, and 00:20:22.470 --> 00:20:27.470 to give his life as a what? A ransom for many. 00:20:28.609 --> 00:20:32.349 You see, his life was the ransom which was paid 00:20:32.349 --> 00:20:37.089 to deliver us from the slave market of sin. He 00:20:37.089 --> 00:20:39.490 has paid the price of our redemption. It was 00:20:39.490 --> 00:20:42.849 the price of his own blood shed for us. Now what 00:20:42.849 --> 00:20:46.789 are the benefits of redemption? What do we receive 00:20:46.789 --> 00:20:51.170 from this blessing? Well, in Ephesians 1 -7 it 00:20:51.170 --> 00:20:54.490 tells us that we have this blessing right now. 00:20:54.589 --> 00:20:58.289 It is the forgiveness of our sins. It says there, 00:20:58.410 --> 00:21:01.769 in whom we have redemption through his blood, 00:21:01.890 --> 00:21:05.349 even the forgiveness of our sins through the 00:21:05.349 --> 00:21:10.009 riches of his grace. One of the blessings of 00:21:10.009 --> 00:21:12.849 redemption is that here and now I am forgiven 00:21:12.849 --> 00:21:16.730 of my sin. And connected with that is the important 00:21:16.730 --> 00:21:20.990 thought of freedom from it. I'm not only forgiven 00:21:20.990 --> 00:21:25.789 for the penalty, but I am freed from the power 00:21:25.789 --> 00:21:29.910 of sin in my life. That whole theme is covered 00:21:29.910 --> 00:21:33.329 in detail in Romans chapter 6 and chapter 7 and 00:21:33.329 --> 00:21:37.369 into chapter 8. But God has not only redeemed 00:21:37.369 --> 00:21:40.470 us from the penalty of our sin, but he has redeemed 00:21:40.470 --> 00:21:42.589 and delivered us from the power of it in our 00:21:42.589 --> 00:21:46.789 lives. So no longer do we have to be slaves to 00:21:46.789 --> 00:21:50.450 that master. And then in the future there is 00:21:50.450 --> 00:21:53.910 another benefit of redemption. In Romans chapter 00:21:53.910 --> 00:21:58.349 8 verse 23 it tells us that right now we are 00:21:58.349 --> 00:22:02.269 awaiting what is called the redemption of our 00:22:02.269 --> 00:22:07.890 bodies. And that is referring to the rapture 00:22:07.890 --> 00:22:11.019 of the church. That is, That time when the Lord 00:22:11.019 --> 00:22:14.220 Jesus Christ will come back into the air and 00:22:14.220 --> 00:22:16.220 will shout and with the sound of the trumpet 00:22:16.220 --> 00:22:20.259 the dead in Christ will rise first and then we 00:22:20.259 --> 00:22:22.859 who are alive and remain shall be caught up together 00:22:22.859 --> 00:22:27.539 with them to meet the Lord in the air. That is 00:22:27.539 --> 00:22:29.700 what is called the redemption of our bodies. 00:22:30.700 --> 00:22:34.980 So not only our souls, our spirits, the immaterial 00:22:34.980 --> 00:22:38.420 part of us are redeemed, but our bodies are redeemed 00:22:38.420 --> 00:22:43.349 as well. by the Lord Jesus Christ. When we think 00:22:43.349 --> 00:22:46.970 of redemption we should think of the Old Testament 00:22:46.970 --> 00:22:50.809 picture of what is called a kinsman -redeemer. 00:22:52.309 --> 00:22:57.450 A kinsman -redeemer was a family member who was 00:22:57.450 --> 00:23:03.210 able and willing to redeem a relative who had 00:23:03.210 --> 00:23:08.430 become a slave due to indebtedness. Now, there 00:23:08.430 --> 00:23:11.269 were regular times that such people had to be 00:23:11.269 --> 00:23:14.690 released anyway, according to God's law. But 00:23:14.690 --> 00:23:19.430 if there was a relative who was willing and who 00:23:19.430 --> 00:23:22.190 was able to pay the price of the indebtedness, 00:23:22.490 --> 00:23:27.210 he could redeem his relative from obligation. 00:23:28.250 --> 00:23:33.029 Likewise, land. If a person owned land but owed 00:23:33.029 --> 00:23:35.950 a great deal of money, the creditor could claim 00:23:35.950 --> 00:23:42.329 the land. But because the land was so important 00:23:42.329 --> 00:23:44.930 in God's economy with Israel and because it was 00:23:44.930 --> 00:23:48.710 so identified with families, God provided that 00:23:48.710 --> 00:23:53.549 that land could be redeemed or purchased by a 00:23:53.549 --> 00:23:56.190 relative so that it could be restored to the 00:23:56.190 --> 00:23:59.269 family that it properly belonged to. Those of 00:23:59.269 --> 00:24:02.589 you familiar with the story of Ruth in the Old 00:24:02.589 --> 00:24:06.630 Testament recognize that thought. Boaz was a 00:24:06.630 --> 00:24:11.759 kinsman -redeemer. and he acted toward Ruth in 00:24:11.759 --> 00:24:16.059 that capacity. A beautiful love story which pictures 00:24:16.059 --> 00:24:20.279 the work of the Redeemer. Purchasing for himself, 00:24:20.380 --> 00:24:22.720 and you see that's what God has done for us. 00:24:23.980 --> 00:24:26.299 In the Bible we are called, in the King James 00:24:26.299 --> 00:24:30.940 translation at least, peculiar people. Today 00:24:30.940 --> 00:24:34.900 that word means strange or queer in some way. 00:24:35.400 --> 00:24:41.309 But the word peculiar means a people of one's 00:24:41.309 --> 00:24:46.410 own, a special treasure. And you see, that's 00:24:46.410 --> 00:24:51.609 what we are to God. He has purchased us back 00:24:51.609 --> 00:24:56.029 to Himself by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:24:57.710 --> 00:25:01.630 And so we have the blessing of redemption. Are 00:25:01.630 --> 00:25:06.099 you laboring today under a load of guilt? because 00:25:06.099 --> 00:25:09.339 of something that you've done in your past, if 00:25:09.339 --> 00:25:12.799 you will come to Jesus Christ today, He will 00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:15.319 redeem you from the penalty and the power of 00:25:15.319 --> 00:25:18.559 sin. He will forgive you of all of the past. 00:25:19.599 --> 00:25:21.980 Not only that, He will set you right for all 00:25:21.980 --> 00:25:25.359 of the future, so that guilt will have no power 00:25:25.359 --> 00:25:29.579 in your life. Now there's a third result of the 00:25:29.579 --> 00:25:31.660 work of Christ that we see here, and that is 00:25:31.660 --> 00:25:38.609 found in this word, propitiation. This word had 00:25:38.609 --> 00:25:43.329 a meaning to the pagans of that day. What it 00:25:43.329 --> 00:25:47.630 literally was to them was the appeasing of their 00:25:47.630 --> 00:25:53.569 gods. They had rather ornery gods who were temperamental, 00:25:55.089 --> 00:25:57.950 but they were sort of like humans, exalted humans. 00:25:58.829 --> 00:26:01.230 And they might have a temper tantrum or a fit. 00:26:02.170 --> 00:26:08.569 And so in their mythology, they offered up propitiations, 00:26:08.950 --> 00:26:12.509 appeasements to satisfy their temperamental gods. 00:26:15.130 --> 00:26:19.190 That word propitiation is taken and put into 00:26:19.190 --> 00:26:25.210 the Bible in a better context. Literally what 00:26:25.210 --> 00:26:28.390 the word propitiation means is satisfaction. 00:26:29.869 --> 00:26:31.450 And if you want to slip that word in there you 00:26:31.450 --> 00:26:36.839 can. Whom God displayed as a satisfaction. because 00:26:36.839 --> 00:26:40.759 what it means is that Christ's work on the cross 00:26:40.759 --> 00:26:44.539 satisfied the just demands of God for judgment 00:26:44.539 --> 00:26:50.319 on sin. The Schofield Reference Bible puts it 00:26:50.319 --> 00:27:09.630 this way in one of its notes, righteously. W 00:27:09.630 --> 00:27:13.789 .A. Criswell has this note in some studies that 00:27:13.789 --> 00:27:19.190 he's produced. He says, theologians have disputed 00:27:19.190 --> 00:27:22.029 the proper translation and consequent meaning 00:27:22.029 --> 00:27:26.269 of hilisterion, this Greek word, which is translated 00:27:26.269 --> 00:27:30.970 here as propitiation. Roman and Greek mythology 00:27:30.970 --> 00:27:34.920 pictured capricious gods with temperaments more 00:27:34.920 --> 00:27:38.420 unsettled than those of mortals. These gods had 00:27:38.420 --> 00:27:42.339 to have their anger assuaged and appeased by 00:27:42.339 --> 00:27:46.720 costly sacrifices. Uncomfortable with the concepts 00:27:46.720 --> 00:27:50.480 of wrath, judgment, and hell, faithless theologians 00:27:50.480 --> 00:27:54.619 have imagined that propitiation is a translation 00:27:54.619 --> 00:27:58.220 that relegates theology to the mythology of Greeks 00:27:58.220 --> 00:28:02.700 and slanders the character of God. They advocate 00:28:03.679 --> 00:28:08.380 expiation as the proper translation, and so define 00:28:08.380 --> 00:28:12.220 the word as forgiveness in terms of cancellation 00:28:12.220 --> 00:28:16.640 of sins. Even though expiation is certainly included, 00:28:17.519 --> 00:28:21.559 in no sense is it an adequate translation. He 00:28:21.559 --> 00:28:24.460 goes on to say, here the translators of the King 00:28:24.460 --> 00:28:27.839 James Version are precisely correct in rendering 00:28:27.839 --> 00:28:30.619 the word propitiation. Now listen to what he 00:28:30.619 --> 00:28:33.710 says. This is significant. The difference between 00:28:33.710 --> 00:28:37.269 the doctrines of propitiation in Christianity 00:28:37.269 --> 00:28:42.769 and in Greek mythology is bound up in the character 00:28:42.769 --> 00:28:48.690 of God Himself. Being holy, perfect, and immutable, 00:28:49.410 --> 00:28:53.089 the living God is never capricious. And being 00:28:53.089 --> 00:28:56.869 immutable, He is never ruled by changing moods. 00:28:56.869 --> 00:29:00.769 Consequently, God's wrath is a settled disposition 00:29:00.769 --> 00:29:05.230 against evil. The just demands of God's holiness 00:29:05.230 --> 00:29:08.710 for the punishment and exclusion of sin must 00:29:08.710 --> 00:29:12.970 be satisfied. Propitiation is the work of Christ 00:29:12.970 --> 00:29:16.990 on the cross in which he met the demands of the 00:29:16.990 --> 00:29:20.990 righteous God against sin, both satisfying the 00:29:20.990 --> 00:29:25.049 requirements of God's justice and cancelling 00:29:25.049 --> 00:29:30.609 the guilt of man. And so he is the propitiation. 00:29:32.539 --> 00:29:40.200 for our sins. This word is first found in the 00:29:40.200 --> 00:29:44.140 Septuagint, which is a Greek translation of the 00:29:44.140 --> 00:29:47.079 Old Testament, done about 200 years before Christ, 00:29:48.279 --> 00:29:52.900 in Exodus chapter 25 verse 17. Perhaps it would 00:29:52.900 --> 00:29:55.160 be good to go back there so you can see how this 00:29:55.160 --> 00:29:58.180 word is used in that Greek translation of the 00:29:58.180 --> 00:30:01.900 Old Testament. It gives us a wonderful insight 00:30:02.200 --> 00:30:07.799 as to its significance. Exodus chapter 25 verse 00:30:07.799 --> 00:30:15.660 17. We're coming here into the middle of God's 00:30:15.660 --> 00:30:18.940 orders to Moses as to how the tabernacle and 00:30:18.940 --> 00:30:23.359 its furniture was to be constructed and used. 00:30:25.740 --> 00:30:28.619 And in the verse we're looking at, Exodus 25 00:30:28.619 --> 00:30:33.890 verse 17, He says, and you shall make a mercy 00:30:33.890 --> 00:30:38.670 seat of pure gold two and a half cubits long 00:30:38.670 --> 00:30:42.849 and one and a half cubits wide And you shall 00:30:42.849 --> 00:30:46.009 make two cherubim of gold make them of hammered 00:30:46.009 --> 00:30:50.589 work at the two ends of the mercy seat As you 00:30:50.589 --> 00:30:52.390 go on down through the context there you see 00:30:52.390 --> 00:30:57.730 the words mercy seat that word is the word that 00:30:57.730 --> 00:31:04.490 the translators chose to use the word propitiation 00:31:04.490 --> 00:31:07.970 for. So literally what the word means in the 00:31:07.970 --> 00:31:11.450 New Testament is this, that Jesus Christ is our 00:31:11.450 --> 00:31:15.049 mercy seat. Let me explain to you what the mercy 00:31:15.049 --> 00:31:21.130 seat was to the Jews. They had within their tabernacle, 00:31:22.109 --> 00:31:26.369 their place of worship, two compartments. The 00:31:26.369 --> 00:31:28.950 first compartment was twice as large as the inner 00:31:28.950 --> 00:31:32.769 compartment. The first compartment was called 00:31:32.769 --> 00:31:37.049 the holy place and into that area the priests 00:31:37.049 --> 00:31:40.150 would go daily as they went about their routines 00:31:40.150 --> 00:31:44.809 of sacrifice. But into this inner compartment 00:31:44.809 --> 00:31:49.750 only one person was allowed to go and that only 00:31:49.750 --> 00:31:54.829 once a year. In that holiest, it was called, 00:31:55.049 --> 00:31:58.009 where the holy of holies was only one piece of 00:31:58.009 --> 00:32:03.059 furniture. Does anybody know what it was? That's 00:32:03.059 --> 00:32:05.920 right, it was the Ark of the Covenant. There 00:32:05.920 --> 00:32:10.119 was a box. There were several articles put within 00:32:10.119 --> 00:32:14.759 that box as God had commanded. One of the articles 00:32:14.759 --> 00:32:18.759 being the two tablets of stone which Moses brought 00:32:18.759 --> 00:32:22.200 down from the mountain with the commandments 00:32:22.200 --> 00:32:25.420 on them. Those tablets were in the bottom of 00:32:25.420 --> 00:32:31.319 that box. What did they do? They testified of 00:32:31.319 --> 00:32:36.960 the righteousness of God. And those commands 00:32:36.960 --> 00:32:44.500 required the death of sinners. God's presence 00:32:44.500 --> 00:32:48.779 was always there in that tabernacle, over that 00:32:48.779 --> 00:32:52.920 box. But God provided that there would be a lid 00:32:54.179 --> 00:32:58.220 on top of the box made out of solid gold and 00:32:58.220 --> 00:33:00.640 from the ends of that beaten gold were to come 00:33:00.640 --> 00:33:03.839 two cherubim, large creatures, wings were 15 00:33:03.839 --> 00:33:07.500 feet in length. They were just too neat over 00:33:07.500 --> 00:33:12.940 the top of this gold lid. That lid was called 00:33:12.940 --> 00:33:16.339 the mercy seat. Now the reason it was called 00:33:16.339 --> 00:33:21.000 the mercy seat was because on the Day of Atonement, 00:33:21.400 --> 00:33:26.259 on Yom Kippur, Each year the high priest would 00:33:26.259 --> 00:33:29.500 enter into that holy place in a carefully prescribed 00:33:29.500 --> 00:33:33.099 manner with the blood of a sacrificed animal. 00:33:34.460 --> 00:33:39.539 And he would offer the blood upon that gold lid 00:33:39.539 --> 00:33:43.740 to the ark, the mercy seat. And what it signified 00:33:43.740 --> 00:33:46.839 was that though the law was there requiring the 00:33:46.839 --> 00:33:54.190 death of sinners, God provided blood. as an atonement 00:33:54.190 --> 00:33:58.269 for sin. So that as he looked down, what he would 00:33:58.269 --> 00:34:01.230 see would not be the law, but the shed blood. 00:34:02.470 --> 00:34:06.710 The shed blood of a sacrificed animal. So that 00:34:06.710 --> 00:34:10.329 what should have been a seat of judgment was 00:34:10.329 --> 00:34:14.090 a seat of mercy. God could then show mercy upon 00:34:14.090 --> 00:34:18.449 the nation of Israel. Now do you see why Jesus 00:34:18.449 --> 00:34:24.380 is called the mercy seat? In fact, it even mentions 00:34:24.380 --> 00:34:31.260 here His blood in our sentence in Romans. God 00:34:31.260 --> 00:34:36.219 displayed publicly Him as a propitiation, a satisfaction 00:34:36.219 --> 00:34:39.900 in His blood. In other words, His blood was offered 00:34:39.900 --> 00:34:46.159 up as propitiation. It meant that the righteous 00:34:46.159 --> 00:34:50.000 law requiring the death of sinners was fully 00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:54.559 satisfied. This was not the blood of animals, 00:34:55.239 --> 00:34:58.940 but the blood of the sinless Son of God, so that 00:34:58.940 --> 00:35:01.460 his blood was offered up for you and for me and 00:35:01.460 --> 00:35:06.579 for all men." When we come to the cross of Calvary, 00:35:06.639 --> 00:35:11.340 God's righteousness is demonstrated. The Apostle 00:35:11.340 --> 00:35:15.360 brings to mind here this demonstration of his 00:35:15.360 --> 00:35:17.699 righteousness, particularly as it relates to 00:35:17.699 --> 00:35:20.929 Old Testament believers. Apparently there were 00:35:20.929 --> 00:35:24.050 some who felt that God was ignoring human sin 00:35:24.050 --> 00:35:28.929 in those Old Testament days. That is, the atonement 00:35:28.929 --> 00:35:31.650 never did take away sin, did it? It simply covered 00:35:31.650 --> 00:35:35.849 it. Was God then just forgetting it? Was God 00:35:35.849 --> 00:35:40.230 just putting it out of his mind? No. God was 00:35:40.230 --> 00:35:42.550 waiting for the right time and the right way 00:35:42.550 --> 00:35:46.750 for those sins to be removed. You see, those 00:35:46.750 --> 00:35:50.739 people who died in faith in the Old Testament 00:35:50.739 --> 00:35:53.139 did not have their sins removed from the record 00:35:53.139 --> 00:35:56.739 book. The sins were still on record against them, 00:35:56.760 --> 00:35:59.380 though they were covered over by the blood that 00:35:59.380 --> 00:36:03.440 was shed, the blood of animals. But when the 00:36:03.440 --> 00:36:06.320 Lord Jesus Christ gave himself on the cross, 00:36:06.400 --> 00:36:10.079 he died not only for our sins in this age, but 00:36:10.079 --> 00:36:13.019 he died for those sins of the Old Testament as 00:36:13.019 --> 00:36:16.659 well, so that their sins were at that point completely 00:36:16.659 --> 00:36:21.829 removed. from the record book. That's why God 00:36:21.829 --> 00:36:26.170 is said to be both righteous and the one who 00:36:26.170 --> 00:36:30.449 can call sinners righteous because he has paid 00:36:30.449 --> 00:36:34.889 for the sinner's sin. Then I want you to notice 00:36:34.889 --> 00:36:37.969 another thought here when it says that God has 00:36:37.969 --> 00:36:42.829 displayed publicly Christ as our propitiation. 00:36:43.469 --> 00:36:45.650 In the Old Testament when the high priest came 00:36:45.650 --> 00:36:49.590 into that inner compartment He was there alone. 00:36:50.409 --> 00:36:54.929 His work was done in secret. No one could see. 00:36:55.929 --> 00:36:59.710 In fact, they had bells that were tied to his 00:36:59.710 --> 00:37:02.710 robe so they could be sure he was still alive 00:37:02.710 --> 00:37:07.570 after entering into that holiest. They could 00:37:07.570 --> 00:37:10.630 not see him to know whether he had been struck 00:37:10.630 --> 00:37:15.010 dead by God because of some error, some sin, 00:37:15.650 --> 00:37:18.400 perhaps. And so they had bells tied and they 00:37:18.400 --> 00:37:21.059 could hear him walking around in there and they 00:37:21.059 --> 00:37:23.599 would know he was still alive. All of it was 00:37:23.599 --> 00:37:28.639 done in secret. But at Calvary, God did a marvelous 00:37:28.639 --> 00:37:34.320 thing. Publicly, He exposed and displayed the 00:37:34.320 --> 00:37:38.460 Lord Jesus Christ as a propitiation for your 00:37:38.460 --> 00:37:43.659 sin and mine. Quite a contrast to that Old Testament 00:37:43.659 --> 00:37:49.010 economy. God has now once and for all offered 00:37:49.010 --> 00:37:55.429 up his Son as a propitiation on our behalf. This 00:37:55.429 --> 00:37:59.650 verse, verse 25, has been the verse that God 00:37:59.650 --> 00:38:04.730 has used to bring many to faith in Christ. One 00:38:04.730 --> 00:38:09.630 of them is William Cooper. William Cooper lived 00:38:09.630 --> 00:38:12.610 in a different century, but we sing his hymns 00:38:12.610 --> 00:38:16.059 today, and I will mention one in a moment. In 00:38:16.059 --> 00:38:20.460 his memoirs he writes these words of testimony. 00:38:44.650 --> 00:38:48.070 whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation 00:38:48.070 --> 00:38:52.369 through faith in his blood. Immediately I received 00:38:52.369 --> 00:38:55.889 strength to believe it, and the full beams of 00:38:55.889 --> 00:38:59.570 the sun of righteousness shone upon me. I saw 00:38:59.570 --> 00:39:02.269 the sufficiency of the atonement he had made, 00:39:02.750 --> 00:39:07.130 my pardon sealed in his blood, and all the fullness 00:39:07.130 --> 00:39:10.650 and completeness of his justification. In an 00:39:10.650 --> 00:39:14.019 instant I believed and received the peace of 00:39:14.019 --> 00:39:17.739 the gospel. Unless the Almighty arm had been 00:39:17.739 --> 00:39:20.139 under me, I think I should have died with gratitude 00:39:20.139 --> 00:39:24.619 and joy. My eyes filled with tears. Transports 00:39:24.619 --> 00:39:27.460 choked my utterance. I could only look up to 00:39:27.460 --> 00:39:30.460 heaven in silent fear, overwhelmed with love 00:39:30.460 --> 00:39:33.619 and wonder. But the work of the Holy Ghost is 00:39:33.619 --> 00:39:38.860 best described in his own words. It is joy unspeakable 00:39:38.860 --> 00:39:43.070 and full of glory. It is this same William Cooper 00:39:43.070 --> 00:39:46.550 who later wrote the words, There is a fountain 00:39:46.550 --> 00:39:51.409 filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins, 00:39:52.230 --> 00:39:56.510 and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all 00:39:56.510 --> 00:40:02.510 their guilty stains. Great work of salvation 00:40:02.510 --> 00:40:05.730 accomplished for us in the death and resurrection 00:40:05.730 --> 00:40:09.909 of the Lord Jesus Christ. It includes justification. 00:40:12.289 --> 00:40:16.570 redemption, propitiation. Dear friend of mine, 00:40:18.250 --> 00:40:25.750 salvation may be free, but it's not cheap. It 00:40:25.750 --> 00:40:32.030 cost God the life of his only begotten son. If 00:40:32.030 --> 00:40:35.670 you turn your back on God's provision for your 00:40:35.670 --> 00:40:41.329 salvation, then you walk away to eternal misery 00:40:41.329 --> 00:40:46.989 and damnation. To reject Christ is to leave yourself 00:40:46.989 --> 00:40:52.369 without hope and without God. It is to accumulate 00:40:52.369 --> 00:40:55.369 judgment and ultimately to lose your own soul. 00:40:57.150 --> 00:41:01.050 To neglect Christ is to gamble with your most 00:41:01.050 --> 00:41:06.820 valuable possession, your own soul. There is 00:41:06.820 --> 00:41:09.900 no passage in the Bible that makes more clear 00:41:09.900 --> 00:41:14.360 how God has provided for your salvation. Have 00:41:14.360 --> 00:41:17.659 you received it for yourself? Have you given 00:41:17.659 --> 00:41:22.440 your heart to the Savior and trusted Him? Do 00:41:22.440 --> 00:41:24.820 you notice again and again the words, by faith, 00:41:25.059 --> 00:41:29.599 those who believe? Will you today turn from whatever 00:41:29.599 --> 00:41:34.809 you're trusting in and trust alone? Depend alone, 00:41:35.010 --> 00:41:38.789 rely only upon the Lord Jesus Christ as your 00:41:38.789 --> 00:41:44.449 Savior. If not, if you've not done that before, 00:41:44.929 --> 00:41:49.849 will you do it today? And I have this word for 00:41:49.849 --> 00:41:53.690 those of us who have made that decision. It seems 00:41:53.690 --> 00:41:56.710 to me that the text before us is a marvelous 00:41:56.710 --> 00:42:01.489 one to serve as a motive for our serving the 00:42:01.489 --> 00:42:05.739 Lord. We don't serve Him out of fear but out 00:42:05.739 --> 00:42:09.699 of love because of His work of redemption, His 00:42:09.699 --> 00:42:13.119 propitiation on our behalf, the justification 00:42:13.119 --> 00:42:17.340 that we have received as a gift. The blessings 00:42:17.340 --> 00:42:21.400 that Israel of old had were conditional. God 00:42:21.400 --> 00:42:25.519 said, if you will, then I will. But folks, do 00:42:25.519 --> 00:42:27.900 you understand the blessings that are ours in 00:42:27.900 --> 00:42:31.679 Christ Jesus are unconditional? They're already 00:42:31.679 --> 00:42:34.829 given to us. every one of them. What a great 00:42:34.829 --> 00:42:38.550 motive for service that is. And it seems to me 00:42:38.550 --> 00:42:41.030 that the text we have before us is also a great 00:42:41.030 --> 00:42:44.969 relief to our fellowship. For many have the idea 00:42:44.969 --> 00:42:47.909 that in order to have fellowship with God, they 00:42:47.909 --> 00:42:51.949 have to perform up to a certain level. If they 00:42:51.949 --> 00:42:55.349 perform well, then they feel close to God, and 00:42:55.349 --> 00:42:59.190 if they fail or are unresponsive in some way, 00:42:59.210 --> 00:43:03.159 then they feel far away and rejected. Nothing 00:43:03.159 --> 00:43:06.780 could be further from the truth. God receives 00:43:06.780 --> 00:43:10.320 us, God accepts us, not on the basis of how we 00:43:10.320 --> 00:43:13.440 perform, but on the basis of the fact that we 00:43:13.440 --> 00:43:17.840 are in Christ. You could not be nearer to God 00:43:17.840 --> 00:43:22.659 than you are today in Christ. And that nearness 00:43:22.659 --> 00:43:26.179 to Him is not conditioned upon how good you are. 00:43:26.860 --> 00:43:29.559 It is conditioned upon the grace that has received 00:43:29.559 --> 00:43:33.340 you already. Some people reduce the Christian 00:43:33.340 --> 00:43:37.780 life to a set of rules, of do's and don'ts, and 00:43:37.780 --> 00:43:40.880 they badger themselves and others with guilt. 00:43:43.000 --> 00:43:45.320 I would like to say to you today that that is 00:43:45.320 --> 00:43:49.739 wrong. We serve the Lord and we fellowship with 00:43:49.739 --> 00:43:52.699 him because we love him, because of all the blessings 00:43:52.699 --> 00:43:55.699 that are already ours in Christ. But are you 00:43:55.699 --> 00:43:58.820 serving him today? Are you walking in fellowship 00:43:58.820 --> 00:44:05.170 with him? The songwriter said, how long has it 00:44:05.170 --> 00:44:09.730 been since you talked with the Lord? How about 00:44:09.730 --> 00:44:14.750 it? If you're out of fellowship with him today, 00:44:15.690 --> 00:44:20.789 will you come back? Will you bend the knee again, 00:44:21.429 --> 00:44:24.769 acknowledge his lordship, confessing your sins? 00:44:26.889 --> 00:44:37.840 Let's pray. The words that we have studied this 00:44:37.840 --> 00:44:44.219 morning are amazing words. We would not believe 00:44:44.219 --> 00:44:48.800 them if you had not said them. But because they 00:44:48.800 --> 00:44:51.440 are part of your infallible and errant word, 00:44:52.119 --> 00:44:54.699 we can depend upon them today and know that by 00:44:54.699 --> 00:44:59.179 grace, through faith we are saved, apart from 00:44:59.179 --> 00:45:03.679 works, that Jesus Christ has paid the full price 00:45:03.679 --> 00:45:07.880 for our sin. that you have satisfied your righteous 00:45:07.880 --> 00:45:12.260 demands in the law, so that we are found free 00:45:12.260 --> 00:45:16.340 from the law and its condemnation. If there are 00:45:16.340 --> 00:45:18.820 some of us who have trusted that truth and know 00:45:18.820 --> 00:45:21.980 the Savior but who are living unfaithfully, then 00:45:21.980 --> 00:45:24.579 today calls us to come back to that place of 00:45:24.579 --> 00:45:27.940 obedience, that we may experience an appropriate 00:45:27.940 --> 00:45:32.199 daily all that is ours in Christ. If there is 00:45:32.199 --> 00:45:34.539 some friend who has never trusted the Savior, 00:45:34.760 --> 00:45:37.219 help him to do it today. For Jesus' sake, amen.