SUNDAY SERMON - Jesus Christ Is Praying
Episode Stats
Length
1 hour and 9 minutes
Harmful content
Toxicity
8
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14
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Summary
In this episode, Pastor Ken reads Romans 5:9-11 and discusses the role of the death of Christ in reconciling the world with God. God's mercy, grace, and good works speak volumes about the character and nature of God.
Transcript
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All right, please stand for the reading of God's Word.
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Our text for today is going to be Romans chapter 5, verses 9 through 11.
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I'll go ahead and read our text in its entirety when I finish reading it.
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We're going to say this is the Word of the Lord,
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at which point I would appreciate very much if you would respond by saying thanks be to God.
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Again, our text for today is Romans chapter 5, verses 9 through 11.
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Since therefore we have now been justified by His blood,
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much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were
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reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more now that we are reconciled shall we be saved
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by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom
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we have now received reconciliation. This is the word of the Lord. All right, please be seated.
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by way of introduction, I have the following. Christ dying was not due to any goodness found
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in man, but only due to the mercy that is found in God. Christ's death was not merely for those
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who were useless, but for those who were guilty and vile, such that their everlasting destruction
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would have been to the praise of God's glorious justice. It is not only that God, at the cost of
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the blood, the death of his only son chose to redeem and restore and reconcile those who were
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useless. It is not only that we were without value, but we were worse than useless. Trash
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would have been an upgrade. It would have been an improvement, a step in the right direction.
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Trash doesn't have much value. I guess it depends on whose trash we're talking about.
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One man's trash is another man's treasure. But in general, trash doesn't have much value.
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It's useless, but it's at least not a detriment.
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It's not necessarily attacking you, opposing you, an enemy.
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So not only those without utility or value, but we were opposing God, rebelling against God at every turn.
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The one time in all of history that God ever made himself vulnerable,
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namely Jesus taking on flesh the word becoming flesh and dwelling among us the only time
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that God allowed himself to be vulnerable to humanity we seized that moment of opportunity
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and nailed him to a tree so humanity is not just without value apart from Christ or useless but
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vile actually at enmity toward God apart from the saving grace that comes through Jesus Christ
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we are enemies of God and therefore if God were to leave us in our sin if every single last person
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on the planet died and went to hell and suffered under the conscious torments of the wrath of God
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for eternity God would not only be just and fair in doing so but this would also be not only
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permissible but glorious it would be to the praise of God's glorious justice if you're familiar with
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That he does all these things for the good of his people,
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what element what characteristic of god is being most emphasized most glorified in the instance of
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god being good to his people his grace to the praise of his glorious grace and likewise although
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it's not explicitly in the ephesians chapter one text by a way of necessary consequence we can say
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that the opposite the contrary is also true if god's goodness towards his elect people
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is to the praise of his glorious grace then god's god's justice his just judgments and punishments
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towards his enemies is to the praise of his glorious justice that hell speaks volumes in
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regards to the character and nature of god that hell does not speak of god's cruelty hell is not
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something that god is ashamed of it's not a character flaw it's not something that god's
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saying, hey, don't look over there because, you know, it kind of makes me look bad. God is not
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ashamed of hell. This is his justice eternally put on display. And for those who are with him
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in right relationship with him, this is his grace and his kindness and mercy eternally put on
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display. Goodness to his elect, to the praise of his glorious grace, and justice to his enemies,
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to the praise of his glorious justice going on i've written this therefore the design of christ's
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death is intended by god to demonstrate a divine act of kindness that is matchless and incomparable
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god has demonstrated the magnificent extent of his love for us which was previously only known
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to himself in such a manner that there is no room nor reason to doubt it the divine act of love did
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not arise from any loveliness in us, nor from any love in us to God, but exclusively from God's own
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sovereign will and good pleasure. In other words, God did not die for us because we had utility.
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He did not die for us because we were lovely or beautiful or valuable in any way. God died for us
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to make us lovely. He didn't die for us because we were lovely. He died to make us lovely. However,
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because before we were lovely, we were still loved.
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God did not die for us because we were lovely or valuable.
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And yet while we were not lovely or not valuable,
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but this one we probably all know good and well.
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john 3 16 for god so loved the world that salvation begins with the love of god john
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first john chapter 4 verse 19 we love because he first loved us elsewhere in the new testament we
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see that uh that very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man though for a good man good in this
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context is being used to describe perfection though for a good man one might dare to possibly
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die but god demonstrated his love for us in this while we were yet sinners christ died for us so
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in the midst of our unloveliness before we had utility before there was value before there was
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beauty no truth no goodness no beauty at all and yet before that occurred while we were his enemies
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not just without value, but again, opposing, rebelling against him at every single turn.
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In that state, in our worst state, in a state of enmity, Christ died for us because he loved us.
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God sent the Son. It was the Father's idea, as it were. The Father loved us and sent the Son.
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the son loves us and willingly volunteers and goes and all of the father's ordained plan of
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salvation the son his accomplishment of that plan of salvation is then applied by the spirit
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the triune god father son and holy spirit loving us before we were ever lovely so god doesn't die
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for us because we're lovely he dies for us to make us lovely but he's willing to die to make
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us lovely because even when we were unlovely we were still loved loved by God so the gospel
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begins with God and ends with God it is his mercy it is his kindness it is his grace
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now there's a few points by the grace of God I hope to bring out of the text today three
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to be more specific the first is this justified we are justified by christ's blood and saved
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from god's wrath justification and salvation very similar yet distinct in theological terms
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so looking at justification by the death if we speak of christ's blood we're speaking of
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his deaths justified by the death of christ and saved also from god's wrath the second point will
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be this reconciled by Christ's death and saved by his life what is it about Christ's life that is
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saving we often speak of how we're saved by Jesus death on the cross and this is true but there is
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a very real sense throughout the scripture especially in our text today in which we are
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saved not only by the death of Jesus but we are continually saved in a present ongoing tense we
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are being saved by not only the death of Jesus, but the life of Jesus. And then lastly, what does
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it mean to rejoice in God himself? Not only rejoicing in our salvation, which God brings
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about, not only rejoicing in the blessings of God, which he generously provides, but rejoicing
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in God himself. So beginning with justification and salvation, justified by Christ's blood and
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saved from God's wrath this is verse 9 of our text which says since therefore we have now been
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justified by his blood much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God the apostle here
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argues from justification by Christ to salvation by Christ whoever is justified by the blood that
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is the work of Jesus on the cross shall be saved by the person of Jesus if you are justified by
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the work of Jesus his work at Calvary his substitutionary death dying in your place your
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sins imputed to him that means your wickedness your sin against God transferred accredited to
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his account and then him receiving the wages of our sin which is death if his work has covered
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you and justified you whoever's justified by the blood of Jesus the work of Jesus shall also be
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saved by the person of Jesus. Notice that this particular verse does not speak of Christ
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saving us from wrath in regards to the wrath of our own sinful hearts or the wrath as it appears
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among the people of God towards one another, which is a sad reality. But there is often wrath
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amongst believers, even towards fellow believers in the context of the church. There's a very real
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sins in which God saves us by that because we're reconciled to God we should be reconciled to one
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another but that's not the predominant wrath that's in view in verse 9 of our text today
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it is not the wrath of our own sinful hearts or wrath that appears horizontally from believer
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towards believer neither does this verse speak of Christ saving us from the wrath of our avowed
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enemies that is unbelievers or even the wrath of devils the wrath of our great enemy satan
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a spiritual war which constantly surrounds us as the roaring of a lion but rather this verse speaks
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of the glorious salvation of christ from the white hot wrath of a thrice holy god christ promises
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even to save us from the fear of god's wrath as it exists in our own hearts and our consciences
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in this life one of the questions that christians have to be able to answer and i'm sure that many
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of you have asked this question at least subconsciously when it comes to salvation
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the gospel you need to get saved you need to get saved you need to be born again one of the
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questions that we have to ask a very simple question is this what do we need to be saved from
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And the reality is that our salvation is a multifaceted salvation.
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But we do need to be able to answer that question in a primary sense.
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What is the predominant thing that mankind needs salvation from?
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is it salvation from boredom is it salvation from dissatisfaction is it salvation from our
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fellow man and those who would be against us is it salvation from even ourselves our own sin nature
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is it salvation from corruption is it salvation from satan or what what is it that we need to be
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saved from. And again, there is a sense in which God saves us from all the things that I've just
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mentioned. But in the primary sense, what mankind most needs salvation from is not Satan. It's not
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ourselves. It's not our fellow man. It's not a corrupt world that's subject to decay. We need
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salvation first and foremost from God we need to be saved from God because our greatest threat
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apart from saving grace that comes through Christ Jesus alone for the unbeliever the
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unregenerate person left in his sin his greatest enemy his greatest threat is not the devil
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his greatest enemy and greatest threat is not himself and his greatest enemy and his greatest
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threat is not the world even if every single human being on the planet conspired against him
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his greatest enemy is god that before salvation we were enemies of god god was our greatest threat
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god was at war with us and justly so we were children of his wrath as ephesians says
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we were dead men walking underneath the just condemnation of a just and holy god the greatest
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thing if we were to say what are we saved from the greatest thing to be saved from is the wrath
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of god or if we were to ask the question who do we need to be saved from the person that we need
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to be saved from most of all is god himself and in justification in salvation in the christian
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gospel the first reconciliation that we receive is a reconciliation not with ourselves not with
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our fellow man but with God that we have been reconciled with God that he is no longer the
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judge condemning us but he has become our adoptive father that through Christ and his finished work
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that we have been adopted as children of God no longer children of his wrath but children
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beloved children adopted children of God as our heavenly father that we have right standing with
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him that we're no longer at enmity with him but rather received and loved and blessed by him
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so that's the first question or one of the first questions that must be asked and answered what is
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that God saves us from. He saves us from himself. He saves us from his wrath. But beyond merely
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saving us from his own just punishment, his own just wrath, God also saves us not only in the
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objective sense from his wrath, but in the subjective sense, he saves us from the ongoing
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perpetual fear of his wrath that we no longer are under the wrath of god if you are in christ if
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you've been saved by grace alone through faith alone in christ alone god is your adoptive beloved
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father you are his beloved son there is no enmity between you and god anymore you've been reconciled
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with God. So the wrath of God no longer hangs over you, but also there is freedom, not only in the
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life to come, the life after, but there is freedom in this life as well from not only the objective
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wrath of God, but the subjective fear of the wrath of God. 1 John speaks of this in chapter 4 verses
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17 18 and 19 which says this by this is love perfected with us that we may have confidence
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that we may have confidence for the day of judgment not only that we may be spared objectively
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declared righteous rather than guilty on the day of judgment but today as it pertains to the present
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now in this life, looking forward to the day of judgment, that we can have confidence now.
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By this is love perfected with us, that we may have confidence for looking toward the day of
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judgment. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with
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punishment. And whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved
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us. That's 1 John chapter 4 verse 17 through 19. It's important that the Christian understands
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there is a vital distinction when we speak of fear. There is a vital distinction between the
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fear of god himself and the fear of god's judgment the christian is not to possess fear of judgment
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but we are to continue to possess a righteous and holy fear of god it is right for the christian to
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go on fearing the lord to fear god the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom but in fearing god
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as we seek to you know answer that question well what is this healthy proper righteous fear of god
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well one thing that we can mark off the list is that a proper fear of god for the christian
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is not a fear of god's judgment we know this because the scripture forbids it
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it's explicitly removed first john 4 17 through 19 by this is love perfected with us that we may
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have confidence that the the standing the position the heart default for the christian should be a
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position not of presumption not of arrogance not a vain conceit but but a christ-rooted confidence
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looking toward forward to the day of judgment so as it pertains to god's judgment our standing is
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confidence that we don't shrink back first john goes on and says that elsewhere that we're not
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shrinking back at the day of his coming but we're standing firm and we're standing firm not in our
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own righteousness but the righteousness of christ which we've been clothed in by grace through faith
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so the position the heart position posture of the christian as it pertains to the judgment of god
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should not be fear but rather confidence there is no fear in love but perfect love cast out fear
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for fear has to do with punishment and for the christian there is no punishment the christian
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in this life may be and in fact will be it's simply a matter of how and when rather than if
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the christian will in this life be disciplined by god as his heavenly father per hebrews chapter 12
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that that's actually a sign, an evidence and a proof
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and that you have in fact been adopted as God's son,
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fathers discipline not other people's children but their own so the christian will receive god's
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discipline but discipline is distinct from punishment for fear has to do with punishment
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and whoever fears has not been perfected in love but we love our response to god is love for him
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because he first loved us so if you're in christ you're not an enemy of god but rather his child
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our heart posture should be a posture of confidence
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not because of our own arrogance and presumption,
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trusting in our own work and our own righteousness but our confidence the source of that confidence
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is christ himself that what christ has done what christ continues to do and what christ has promised
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is sufficient so we are justified by christ's blood and and being justified that is declared
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righteous because of the finished work of christ his death on the cross were justified by his blood
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but also necessarily as a necessary consequence saved from God's wrath. And in the subjective
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sense, further applying that salvation from God's wrath objectively means being saved from ongoing
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present tense fear of God's wrath in this life. The Christian does not live under fear of God's
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judgment, but perfect love cast out all fear. The next thing that we see in the text is this
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that we've been reconciled by Christ's death and saved by his life. This is verse 10 of our text
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which says, for if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son,
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much more now that we are reconciled shall we be saved by his life. Using similar language as in
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verse 9, the apostle now argues from reconciliation by the death of Christ to salvation by the life
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of christ now this is key we have been reconciled to god by christ's death and we are continually
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saved by his life not just salvation in the past tense which we all often speak of i've been saved
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but there is a very real biblical sense in which the christian has been saved it's past it's done
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it's finished and complete but the christian is also being saved present ongoing and the christian
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promised by God that he will be saved. I think of Romans 7 to illustrate that point. The Apostle
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Paul speaking, I believe, the Apostle Paul speaking as someone who is already saved, a Christian.
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This is not pre-conversion, but this is the Apostle Paul already converted, already born again,
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already adopted as a beloved son of God. And yet he says, I find this law at work within the members
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of my being when i want to do good evil is right there present with me so that the good that i want
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to do i cannot carry it out oh what a wretched man i am who will so future tense looking for
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who will save me and so some would read that and say oh he's not saved but paul gets more specific
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and says who will save me from this body of death praise be to god and then he ends in exaltation
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of god and his covenants and his promises and his character what paul's essentially saying is this
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that this may be a little bit oversimplified but i believe it's generally true in the past
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tense if you're a christian you have already been saved speaking of your justification declared
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righteous your soul your soul if we're thinking of the soul the soul has been saved in the past
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tense. It's already done. You've been justified, declared righteous in the heavenly court because
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of the finished work of Jesus Christ. In the present sense, you are still being saved. This
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references sanctification, this lifelong process from the point of conversion to the point of our
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physical death, the ongoing lifelong process for the Christian, sanctification. And this, I think
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if we were to summon up in a realm, in a location,
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It says, do not be conformed to the pattern of this world,
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but rather be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
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That so much of sanctification is a change in thought.
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but it's not merely a change in regards to the surface,
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it's sourced from a change in the way that we think,
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merely by gritting our teeth and clenching our fists.
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It's not just that, well, I want to do the right thing.
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I still have these desires and these ambitions,
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and I still have this worldview and this way of thinking,
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but I've been told from the Bible that that's wrong,
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and so I'm just going to grit my teeth and clench my fists,
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and I'm going outwardly in my behaviors and speech,
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I'm going to do this thing over here that contradicts inwardly
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what I actually desire and the way that I actually think.
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It's a complete change, both inward and outward.
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Now that said, I don't want to completely disparage
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is that we're too introspective and too subjective.
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is about authenticity and being genuine, you know?
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I don't really feel it, so I'm not going to do it.
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I think God would prefer that I not be a hypocrite.
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Sure, he would prefer if I actually loved him from the heart
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and if I actually thought that the scriptures were true
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and it actually reframed, re-hardwired my worldview,
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But given the choice, because that's off the table,
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and saying the right thing, but not really feeling it
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You know, that's, you know, God's, he's a feeler, that God.
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You know, and so given the choice of doing the right thing,
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and it not being authentic, or not doing the right thing,
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And my desires aren't, I don't desire the right thing
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So at least my life is matching up with my heart.
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that would be god's preference he would prefer that to hypocrisy now i'm not saying that god's
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a fan of hypocrisy because he's certainly not but jesus explicitly addressed that in one of his
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parables he talks about two sons of a father and the father goes to both of his boys and he asks
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them to come and work with him and the first son says yes but he doesn't show and then the second
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son says no but then he has a change of heart somewhere along the way and he ends up showing up
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and Jesus posits the question you know which one did right which did better is the precise wording
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and it's the latter it's the second son who told his father no but ended up showing up and we don't
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know if his heart actually was ever in it it could have been just completely out of dread he could
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have just begrudgingly simply from just a sheer standpoint of commitment the no actually could
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have been his in word that could have been the more accurate reflection of of the heart inwardly
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how he actually felt no I don't want to come and his actions of actually showing up and doing the
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work could have just been the outward manifestation so in his behaviors outwardly I'm gonna do what
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the father wants but in his speech reflecting the heart which Jesus elsewhere says out of the
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abundance of the heart the mouth speaks so I feel like there's some decent exegesis there so in his
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speech here's revealing the actual inward the heart I don't want to work for dad but outwardly
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showing up I don't want to work for dad I still don't want to work for dad but I will work for
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dad and what jesus says the moral of this parable is that that is a vast improvement that is better
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than than saying i will work for dad but then not doing it and and here's practically here's the
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deal inward desires and thought processes and emotions and feelings these things do shape the
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outward, both your speech and actions. So if you inwardly love God, that is going to radically
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dictate and shape and compel behavior and speech that is loving towards God. But what Protestants
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often overlook is that the reverse is also true. So what do you do when you don't have a desire
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for God? What do you do when you don't desire to obey his commandments? You don't desire to seek
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your satisfaction in him? What do you do when you don't inwardly possess love for God and deep
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adoration and affection for him? Well, one of the things that you do is you ask God to change your
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desires. You ask for him to change your emotions, your thoughts. And in the meantime, with the
00:32:03.000
emotions, the thoughts, and the desires being completely absent, you go ahead outwardly in
00:32:08.420
your speech and behaviors and you do those things which would be loving towards god whether you feel
00:32:14.720
it or not it's the same as a marriage right well the love is gone it's just gone somewhere along
00:32:21.300
the way over the years you know we've just grown cold and you know well we don't know what to do
00:32:26.960
about it in fact there's nothing we can do about it you know because we can't control our heart
00:32:30.660
we're victims of our own emotions you know and this is just where we are well you can make a plan
00:32:36.800
a very practical plan of start doing these things
00:32:53.960
I mean, I've got a deep philosophical counter to it.
00:33:08.860
Okay, well then start doing the outward actions
00:33:16.920
that the outward patterns actually work the other way around
00:33:28.920
in a similar way that your thoughts and feelings
00:33:34.720
It's not a one-way stream, but it's a two-way street.
00:33:50.260
We have a roadmap that we seek to obey God's commandments
00:33:58.580
We seek him and we meditate on his law day and night
00:34:18.560
The secret is doing something over and over and over.
00:34:29.100
Nobody is just born coming out of the womb enjoying kale.
00:34:49.180
That is a well-harnessed, disciplined affection
00:34:54.380
That you shape over time by consistency, by patterns, by actions.
00:35:02.700
I'm doing something outwardly that does not align with my emotions and desires and thoughts inwardly.
00:35:10.540
But over time, the inward will be cultivated by the consistent outward.
00:35:20.860
so all that being said i can't even remember where i was but the point is is this when it
00:35:30.860
when it comes to well let's go back to the fear of god versus fear of judgment when it comes to
00:35:37.740
these things uh it's it's outwardly setting the patterns day in day out through obedience through
00:35:44.400
scripture reading through accountability through fellowship with the saints all these things
00:35:48.800
eventually slowly over time they shape the heart they shape our emotions they shape our thought
00:35:54.220
processes and we begin to truly desire we begin to truly love the Lord hypocrisy is not something
00:36:04.100
that God ever affirms it's not something that he esteems but better to outwardly do that which
00:36:11.440
inwardly you're not for than to say I don't love God inwardly and I'm not going to do anything
00:36:16.800
outwardly either that is not an improved method that's not the better option okay so reconciled
00:36:25.080
by Christ's death and saved by his life again verse 10 if we were enemies if while we were
00:36:32.780
enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son much more now are we reconciled shall we
00:36:39.240
be saved by his life so it's a similar language to verse 9 the apostle is now arguing from
00:36:45.280
reconciliation by the death of Christ to salvation by the life of Christ. We have been reconciled to
00:36:51.760
God by Christ's death, and we are continually saved by his life. That's where I was. Okay, so past,
00:36:58.840
present, future, all under the banner of salvation. If you think of salvation like this, think of
00:37:04.080
salvation as the overarching category. Underneath that, you have three subcategories. So there's
00:37:09.800
salvation and then you have justification, sanctification, glorification. So salvation,
00:37:15.800
that's the big umbrella. Then justification, sanctification, glorification. Justification,
00:37:22.440
the past salvation of the soul. Sanctification, the present ongoing salvation of the mind,
00:37:30.060
renewing the mind. And then glorification, the future promised salvation of the body.
00:37:52.520
it's justification being declared righteous in the past.
00:37:59.960
it's sanctification, the renewing of the mind in the present.
00:38:04.640
Salvation, as it pertains to the body, this flesh,
00:38:09.520
it's looking forward to a future resurrection of the body,
00:38:13.720
that this body of death, as the apostle Paul says
00:38:16.560
in Romans 7, we will be saved from this body of death one day.
00:38:20.660
It's the glorification in the future tense of the body.
00:38:39.400
where he now ever lives to make intercession for his people
00:38:52.220
So once more, verse 10, just to make sure that we get this.
00:38:58.620
we were reconciled to God by the death of his son.
00:39:08.820
The most natural reading of verse 10 of our text
00:39:21.700
his life in which not only did he avoid all sin
00:39:26.080
but in which he in his active obedience he fulfilled all righteousness so we're thinking
00:39:32.100
of his fully obedient life his fully righteous life and that's true we are saved by the death
00:39:39.140
of Jesus dying in our place our wages of sin being laid upon him our sin goes to him and then the
00:39:45.880
wages of our sin goes to him the just punishment for our sin he takes our death he takes our sin
00:39:54.580
All that happens at the cross and the death of Jesus.
00:40:04.400
with a presence of Christ's obedience and righteousness.
00:40:08.000
So it's not just that we move from being sinners
00:40:13.600
but our sin is transferred out of our account to his
00:40:20.620
namely death. And we're not just sitting here now out of a negative balance. It's not just that
00:40:26.640
we're no longer in the red, but now we have zero in the account. We're not in the negatives, but
00:40:31.780
we're also not in the, no. Then his righteousness, his perfect obedience, which comes by his life,
00:40:37.220
his act of obedience in his life towards God's law, all of that is accredited to our account.
00:40:42.640
And we receive the just reward for his righteousness, everlasting life, adoption,
00:40:48.740
all these things all these promises so there is a sense in which we are saved by jesus past life
00:40:56.360
but i think what the author is getting at in this text today romans chapter 5 verse 10
00:41:01.680
is not just speaking of the past life of jesus 2 000 years ago namely his perfect righteous
00:41:08.540
earthly life but the life that he now lives not just speaking of his past life here on earth
00:41:14.780
leading up to the cross but the life that he now lives after his resurrection and glorious
00:41:20.740
ascension to the right hand of the father that we are actually being saved not only by his life
00:41:27.500
that ended in death but his new life after his resurrection and glorification and ascension to
00:41:33.760
the right hand of the father that christ is ever living that we are saved by his continual life
00:41:43.080
And part of the question that's begged by that is,
00:41:52.940
We know what he did with his life 2,000 years ago.
00:41:58.460
He preached and taught, performed many signs and miracles,
00:42:02.560
raised the dead, cast out demons, and eventually went to the cross.
00:42:06.640
So we know what Jesus did in his life on earth.
00:42:10.200
But what is Jesus doing in his forever life, his eternal life, at the right hand of the Father?
00:42:16.520
One of the things that Jesus is doing is he is praying.
00:42:25.220
And we see the beginnings of his perpetual intercessory mediatorial role that he plays at the right hand of the Father.
00:42:34.300
We see the beginnings of that, a glimpse of that in John chapter 17, in his high priestly prayer.
00:42:41.580
His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane before his arrest and going to his mock trial and then his crucifixion.
00:42:49.460
And one of the things that Jesus prays in the garden that offends many is this.
00:42:57.200
jesus doesn't just in his prayers offer up prayers and intercessions to his father
00:43:05.360
for the object of his prayers but he even takes the time intentionally to specify
00:43:10.940
who his prayers are not to be applied to who he's not praying for again john 17 jesus says
00:43:19.440
i do not pray for the world but i pray for my own for those whom the father has given to me
00:43:39.220
Jesus prays for Christians and future Christians.
0.83
00:43:46.860
And part of the reason that Jesus does not pray for the world
00:43:50.060
is because the prayers of Christ are efficacious.
00:44:01.860
successful in his prayers in a way that you and I have never been.
00:44:07.220
That's not to say that you and I shouldn't waste our time praying,
00:44:14.480
But we are not nearly as effective in our prayer as Jesus is,
00:44:20.840
One, because when we pray, we never possess perfect faith.
00:44:33.120
You were only born again, a new creation in Christ Jesus,
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00:44:36.040
because you've received God's gift of grace through faith.
00:44:39.920
But none of us has perfect faith, complete faith.
00:44:44.780
We have faith, and it is true faith, genuine faith, saving faith,
00:44:53.740
then you would achieve a state of sinless perfectionism.
00:45:17.480
not fully that we in that moment believe that the momentary fleeting temporal satisfaction
00:45:26.180
of sin is more fulfilling than the promises and the character of God the only reason you and I
00:45:35.560
continue to wrestle with sin in this life is because we we have not achieved perfection in
00:45:42.760
the realm of faith and the scripture elsewhere testifies why do you not have is it not because
00:45:49.040
you don't ask you have not because you ask not and when you ask you ask with wrong motives to
00:45:56.760
spend it on your passions right so there's another reason so asking with wrong motives
00:46:02.420
so selfishness also asking without full faith right that the one who asks should not doubt
00:46:09.800
He should not be double-minded like a wave tossed to and fro in the ocean.
00:46:15.820
But when we ask, we should have confidence and fully believe that God will grant to us
00:46:23.160
Elsewhere, the scripture also testifies that the prayer offered in faith availeth much.
00:46:32.000
So the prayer that is filled with faith is a working prayer.
00:46:35.660
So why do our prayers sometimes not work in absence of faith?
00:46:39.400
What's another reason they sometimes don't work?
00:46:48.580
the last reason why our prayers do not always work.
00:47:08.060
we don't have perfect faith and we don't have perfect motives. And that's a reason why our
00:47:13.280
prayers do not always avail much, that our prayers are not always efficacious. But also, even if we
00:47:20.160
could reach a state of sinless perfection in this life, we would still be, unlike Jesus, we would be
00:47:27.140
finite. So even if we were sinless creatures, we would still be creatures nonetheless. Whereas
00:47:42.080
And so as Jesus is praying in the Garden of Gethsemane,
00:47:45.020
John chapter 17, he's praying with perfect faith.
00:48:01.100
and i don't just mean god in terms of sinlessness but god in terms of of the fact that he's infinite
00:48:08.080
particularly in the realm of knowledge his omniscience so you and i even when when we're
00:48:15.940
praying with as much faith as we possibly can muster and with as pure of motives as we can
00:48:21.640
possibly cultivate we still do not know god's sovereign will right the the secret things
00:48:30.180
belong to God, but those things which he has revealed belong to us and our children forever.
00:48:37.620
One doctrine that many Christians struggle, I think, at times to understand, or perhaps have
00:48:42.980
never been taught, is the two wills of God. Did you know that God has two wills, not one?
00:48:50.360
God doesn't have one will, and also it's worth noting he doesn't have three. So if we're speaking
00:48:55.060
of theology proper. So theology proper is just reference to the doctrine of God. Theology as it
00:49:02.040
pertains to who God is. And as we're speaking of God theologically, it's important that we
00:49:08.700
understand that will belongs to essence, not personhood. So we have one God eternally existing
00:49:17.820
in three persons so where do you place the will of god if will is belonging to personhood then god
00:49:28.820
who eternally exists in three persons would therefore have three wills but this is not correct
00:49:35.460
and for not quite 2 000 years it took about you know 500 years or so to understand doctrine of
00:49:42.500
god it's not an easy topic but for at least you know a millennia and a half we have the church
00:49:49.740
has universally held that that the will of god belongs to his one divine essence rather than his
00:49:57.700
three distinct persons so the will of god belongs to the one essence of god the divine essence so
00:50:04.500
god has one will now some of you might object this was my objection as i was coming into these
00:50:10.940
doctrines, you know, years ago. Well, wait a second. Doesn't Jesus pray? You're talking about
00:50:15.060
John 17. What about the portion where Jesus is praying and he asked for the cup of God's wrath
00:50:20.680
to pass? But then he says at the end of his prayer, not my will, but yours speaking to God,
00:50:27.520
the father be done. Well, doesn't that right there show showcase an example of a distinction
00:50:43.680
And the reason why it doesn't show a distinction
00:50:45.700
between two wills is because there, once again,
00:50:55.940
is not because we're speaking of two different divine persons,
00:51:01.680
but because what we're seeing is two different natures within the one person of the Son.
00:51:07.220
So when Jesus says, not my will, he is speaking of his human will.
00:51:11.440
Because remember, Jesus has two natures, the divine nature, but also the flesh, the human nature.
00:51:18.920
So in Jesus' human nature, he didn't really want to go to the cross.
00:51:23.480
But the beauty of Christ, as it pertains to his human nature,
00:51:33.180
for the human nature to be in full submission to God.
00:51:50.560
is perfectly aligned with the Father and the Spirit.
00:51:59.840
namely the God-man, Christ Jesus, the Son of God,
00:52:03.360
there are two wills, not because of two persons,
00:52:16.440
Okay, my goodness, I'm struggling today to get off track.
00:52:24.100
Three wills of God versus, oh, two wills of God.
00:52:26.940
Here we go. So it's not three wills of God belonging to three persons. It is one will of
00:52:32.720
God insofar as we speak of the one essence of God. But within that one divine will, there is
00:52:37.960
actually a sense in which there are two. Here are the two wills of God. His prescribed will or
00:52:42.920
revealed will. These are different names that we could use. Revealed will, prescribed will, or
00:52:48.040
you could call it his moral will. And then there is his hidden or secret will or sovereign will.
00:52:58.700
Okay, so God's, his moral will or prescribed what he reveals.
00:53:06.880
We know that it is the will of God that no one ever murder.
00:53:11.980
But then you look at Acts chapter two and Acts chapter four,
00:53:24.180
and all these Gentiles gathered in this holy city,
0.76
00:53:27.100
speaking of Jerusalem, to do to Christ Jesus
0.96
00:54:00.460
in the middle of the night, produced false witnesses
00:54:05.480
What do you call that when you wrongly kill someone?
00:54:10.380
So God in his revealed will, Exodus 20, the sixth commandment,
00:54:18.780
he ordained the murder of his own son for his glory.
00:54:31.020
We follow the script, or in our case, namely the scripture.
00:54:35.100
We follow the script, that which he has revealed to us.
00:54:39.980
We don't play the game of, well, the ends justify the means.
00:54:48.240
so long as I'm going to bring about a good outcome.
00:55:00.880
common denominator with, you know, our crazy, you know, regime.
00:55:06.740
That's what you see on the world stage is, you know,
00:55:19.940
because they think it's gonna bring about a good end.
00:55:37.860
that's unified between the three persons in the Godhead,
00:55:44.220
namely his revealed will, that which is written,
00:55:46.600
his moral will prescribed will and also his hidden will his sovereign will and so in all of that
00:55:53.960
that's the third reason there it is i remember the third reason why sometimes our prayers are
00:55:58.980
not efficacious our prayers don't work is because in the fallenness category the fact that we're
00:56:05.220
sinners we're lacking at times in faith and we also have a corruption of motive but in not just
00:56:12.180
the fallen sinful category but in the finitude category the fact that we're creatures we're not
00:56:16.960
omniscient we're not omniscient so one reason why our prayers are sometimes not answered is because
00:56:23.660
we're praying for that which god wills in his revealed will but it is not in that given case
00:56:30.640
what god actually wills in his sovereign will and in god's sovereign will his secret will god
00:56:36.720
sometimes allows for sin in order to bring about greater good for his people and greater eternal
00:56:43.880
glory for himself and that is not given to us that's not in our purview and that's why we're
00:56:50.920
taught when we pray to pray towards the end of our our prayers as jesus did in his human nature
00:56:56.960
not my will be done but yours that's why when we pray god if you will right so if we're praying
00:57:04.400
for the sick. My daughter, I was praying for her a couple days ago. She had a fever and praying,
00:57:10.540
Lord, will you heal my daughter if it be your will? It may not be. I don't know. And so I'm
00:57:18.640
saying, God, your will be done. I would like my daughter to be healed. But you are good and
00:57:24.680
infinitely wise. And you may have a purpose in this moment to glorify yourself and do good to
00:57:32.180
all those who have been called, who love you and are called according to your purposes, Romans 8,
00:57:37.120
through this sickness. So at the end of my prayer, not my will, but yours be done. But in the case of
00:57:44.660
Christ, because he's not a sinner, because of not being fallen, perfect motives, perfect faith,
00:57:51.620
and because he's also God, perfect omniscience. So the prayers of Christ are efficacious. They work.
00:57:58.580
Why? Because he only prays what God wills, not only in his moral revealed will, but even knowing
00:58:04.940
God's sovereign will because he is God and he prays without sin, distracting from faith or
00:58:12.760
corrupting his motives. Again, in short, Christ's prayers are efficacious, a.k.a. the prayers of
00:58:20.300
Christ work. And that's precisely why Christ doesn't pray for the world in John 17, because
00:58:27.600
Christ doesn't waste prayer. He doesn't pray for the world because he's not going to bother praying
00:58:35.200
for a group of people that he's not about to go and climb up and hang on a tree to die for.
00:58:41.100
Christ prays for the same group that he dies for. He's praying for this group, the very group that
00:58:48.700
he's about to pay for. He prays, then pays. We're saved by his life, not just the life he once lived
00:58:56.960
on earth his sinless life righteous life but also his continual ongoing life and in this life what
00:59:04.720
does he now do he prays and here's my point if christ is for you who can be against you if christ
00:59:13.820
is praying for the glory of god and your eternal good christ has never prayed a prayer that went
00:59:22.220
by unanswered. And Christ promises in his word that he is praying for all his people. He is our
00:59:30.820
high priest. And one of the things that he does in his life, not his past life on earth, but his
00:59:36.520
continual present life right now, as he's seated at the right hand of his father, one of the chief
00:59:41.980
things he's doing in his life is praying. He's interceding on your behalf. And all his intercessory
00:59:50.160
prayers they work christ if christ prays for you you're you're golden even with peter christ says
00:59:58.540
this satan has asked so even satan had to ask permission god is sovereign he's asked to sift
01:00:06.060
you like wheat but i have prayed for you that your faith may not fail and when you have returned
01:00:13.860
that means you're gonna fall a little bit you're gonna take a hard hit but when you've returned
01:00:19.560
go and strengthen your brothers also go and encourage your fellow disciples notice what
01:00:26.840
what christ says to peter in that moment is he's saying because satan has to ask jesus for permission
01:00:32.460
to even go and and tempt and prod peter and if i was peter i would be tempted to respond christ
01:00:39.120
saying satan has asked to sift you like wheat but i've prayed for you i would say you know what
01:00:43.820
jesus maybe you could save your prayers um if he has to ask permission instead of praying for me
01:01:09.260
So Satan asked to hurt me and you said, go for it.
01:01:15.240
don't get bogged down on that part of the equation.
01:01:18.960
right and if it was anybody else about christ that's how we'd feel right somebody's saying hey
01:01:25.740
i'm praying for you well you know we usually receive that warmly thank you but part of the
01:01:32.100
reason we receive the prayers of our fellow saints warmly is because we're all finite and a lot of
01:01:37.380
times there's not a lot more that we can do but pray you know so if i have a loved one who's sick
01:01:43.040
and and one of you says hey i'm praying for your daughter well then then i'm going to respond
01:01:48.580
positively to that. I'm going to say thank you. But if you had superpowers and could snap your
01:01:54.140
fingers and heal my daughter, but you deliberately refused and said, I'm not going to do that,
01:01:59.780
but I will pray, then I'm not going to say thank you. I'm going to be angry. I'm going to be like,
01:02:05.860
what? Why? Why wouldn't you just help? Save the prayer. Let's get some actual help.
01:02:13.080
part of the reason we view prayer like that is because we don't understand christ and his
01:02:21.860
ministry of prayer when jesus says to peter but i have prayed for you that is the same as him saying
01:02:29.980
i gave satan permission to do this but he cannot do that whatever jesus prays is within the realm
01:02:47.180
but I have prayed that it won't ultimately fail.
01:02:49.880
And when you return, go and strengthen your brothers also.
01:02:54.500
I've allowed Satan to tempt and to prod and oppress,
01:03:00.600
at the point to which your faith would utterly fail.
01:03:07.100
When he says, I've prayed that this will happen,
01:03:12.180
Because again, the prayers of Christ are efficacious.
01:03:34.080
But we're also saved not only by the death of Jesus,
01:03:47.780
in his life right now, not the life he once lived,
01:03:51.880
but the life he now lives and forevermore will live
01:04:02.880
he is the intercessor the high priest who is actively constantly continually praying
01:04:10.380
for his people and he has never prayed a single prayer that has gone unanswered and one of the
01:04:18.280
things that we know he is praying for us just as he prayed for peter if you're born again christian
01:04:25.160
is that your faith would not fail so you're golden that doesn't mean times won't be hard
01:04:32.500
that doesn't mean that you won't experience suffering in this life but what it does mean
01:04:37.280
is that you are christ's possession and he can never lose you what it does mean is that your
01:04:42.640
faith although tested and tried purified by as as by fire your faith being refined like gold
01:04:52.740
it will not in the final analysis utterly fail because christ is praying for you and in that
01:05:00.400
sense, if in many others as well, but in that sense, if nothing else, we are saved not only by
01:05:06.060
the death of Jesus, but also by the life of Jesus. Finally, verse 11, more than that, we also rejoice
01:05:12.540
in God through the Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Not only
01:05:19.060
are we saved by Christ from the wrath of God, and not only do we rejoice in our sufferings
01:05:34.860
what God promises us, or what he provides for us.
01:05:46.000
Our rejoicing is not only in what God promises,
01:05:54.160
through union with christ our lord we now have access to god as our covenant father he is the
01:06:01.400
god of all grace joy peace and salvation and all his perfections are engaged on our side and
01:06:09.220
the means by which saints come into this rejoicing in god is not by the light of nature
01:06:16.180
nor the law of moses nor any works of righteousness as done by men nor is it through saints of old or
01:06:23.540
angels in heaven but through Christ the eternal mediator and through him only for it is only
01:06:30.040
through Christ that God is now our covenant father and all his many blessings rightly belong to us
01:06:37.120
in short we rejoice not only in what God gives but we rejoice in God himself and our rejoicing
01:06:44.780
in God comes through Christ we would not rejoice in God because God again see point a all the way
01:06:53.300
back to the beginning of the sermon, God would not be someone to rejoice in, but rather someone
01:06:58.700
to be in dread of. God was once our enemy, our greatest enemy. The first and foremost thing or
01:07:06.400
person we needed to be saved from is God, not the devil, not ourselves, not our sin, not the world.
01:07:14.420
The greatest thing we needed to be saved from is God himself and his just wrath. There is no
01:07:20.160
rejoicing in your greatest enemy but we rejoice in God because he is no longer our enemy but the
01:07:27.580
source of all blessing the source of all love the source of all acceptance and reconciliation
01:07:36.420
eternal life all the the covenant promises are in him and we rejoice in him but he is only
01:07:44.500
positive for us he is only our good through christ it is only because of jesus what jesus
01:07:53.700
has accomplished on our behalf through his life his death his resurrection his ascension and his
01:08:00.360
continual forever ongoing life it is only through jesus that we can truly in a very real sense say
01:08:17.500
Apart from what Christ has done and continues to do,
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but God is not someone that we're going to rejoice in,
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And not only fear of him in a reverence capacity,
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but fear of his inevitable judgment but for the christian there is now therefore no more
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condemnation for those who are in christ jesus let's pray father thank you for your word bless
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it to your people help us to believe in your covenant promises help us to rest in christ
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finished work help us to trust not only what christ has done but what he continues to do on
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our behalf at your right hand that he is praying for us and that his prayers mean something that
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his prayers are effective, that his prayers never fail, that if Christ is for us, none can be against
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us, that you are no longer our enemy, but our beloved father. Help us to rest in this, to take
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hope in this, that all the challenges and trials that we experience in this life, that although
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real, although significant, Lord, we pray that they would pale by comparison to this glorious truth.
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We pray these things for your glory and for our continued good.