The NXR Podcast - December 04, 2023


SUNDAY SERMON - Jesus Christ Is Praying

Topics
trash doesn't have much value will of god prayers of Christ prayer & christ's intercession
Hosted by
Joel Webbon Harrison Smith Antonio Griffith Dale Partridge Wewsley Todd Calvin Robinson
Mentioned
Jesus Christ Peter Criss Apostle Paul Gentiles Godhead Pilate Exodus James Peter Soul
DAILY TRUTH - Spiritual Warfare CONFERENCE - Keep Your Kids with Jared Longshore

Episode Stats


Length

1 hour and 9 minutes

Words per minute

155.99

Word count

10,860

Sentence count

420

Harmful content

Toxicity

8

sentences flagged

Hate speech

14

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

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

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00 All right, please stand for the reading of God's Word.
00:00:02 Our text for today is going to be Romans chapter 5, verses 9 through 11.
00:00:06 I'll go ahead and read our text in its entirety when I finish reading it.
00:00:10 We're going to say this is the Word of the Lord,
00:00:12 at which point I would appreciate very much if you would respond by saying thanks be to God.
00:00:16 Again, our text for today is Romans chapter 5, verses 9 through 11.
00:00:21 The Bible says this,
00:00:23 Since therefore we have now been justified by His blood,
00:00:26 much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were
00:00:33 reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more now that we are reconciled shall we be saved
00:00:39 by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom
00:00:47 we have now received reconciliation. This is the word of the Lord. All right, please be seated.
00:00:53 by way of introduction, I have the following. Christ dying was not due to any goodness found
00:00:59 in man, but only due to the mercy that is found in God. Christ's death was not merely for those
00:01:06 who were useless, but for those who were guilty and vile, such that their everlasting destruction
00:01:12 would have been to the praise of God's glorious justice. It is not only that God, at the cost of
00:01:19 the blood, the death of his only son chose to redeem and restore and reconcile those who were
00:01:26 useless. It is not only that we were without value, but we were worse than useless. Trash 0.98
00:01:33 would have been an upgrade. It would have been an improvement, a step in the right direction.
00:01:38 Trash doesn't have much value. I guess it depends on whose trash we're talking about. 0.82
00:01:43 One man's trash is another man's treasure. But in general, trash doesn't have much value. 0.98
00:01:49 It's useless, but it's at least not a detriment. 0.77
00:01:54 It's not necessarily attacking you, opposing you, an enemy.
00:01:58 We were enemies of God.
00:02:00 So not only those without utility or value, but we were opposing God, rebelling against God at every turn.
00:02:09 The one time in all of history that God ever made himself vulnerable,
00:02:13 namely Jesus taking on flesh the word becoming flesh and dwelling among us the only time
00:02:20 that God allowed himself to be vulnerable to humanity we seized that moment of opportunity
00:02:29 and nailed him to a tree so humanity is not just without value apart from Christ or useless but
00:02:36 vile actually at enmity toward God apart from the saving grace that comes through Jesus Christ
00:02:42 we are enemies of God and therefore if God were to leave us in our sin if every single last person
00:02:49 on the planet died and went to hell and suffered under the conscious torments of the wrath of God
00:02:55 for eternity God would not only be just and fair in doing so but this would also be not only
00:03:03 permissible but glorious it would be to the praise of God's glorious justice if you're familiar with
00:03:09 the first chapter of the book of Ephesians,
00:03:12 three different times you find this phrase,
00:03:15 to the praise of his glorious grace.
00:03:18 Speaking of all the things that God does,
00:03:20 those positive things, those loving things
00:03:22 towards his elect, towards his people.
00:03:25 That he does all these things for the good of his people,
00:03:29 but also for his glory.
00:03:32 To the praise of his glorious grace.
00:03:36 To make it a little bit more specific.
00:03:38 what element what characteristic of god is being most emphasized most glorified in the instance of
00:03:46 god being good to his people his grace to the praise of his glorious grace and likewise although
00:03:54 it's not explicitly in the ephesians chapter one text by a way of necessary consequence we can say
00:04:01 that the opposite the contrary is also true if god's goodness towards his elect people
00:04:07 is to the praise of his glorious grace then god's god's justice his just judgments and punishments
00:04:15 towards his enemies is to the praise of his glorious justice that hell speaks volumes in
00:04:23 regards to the character and nature of god that hell does not speak of god's cruelty hell is not
00:04:29 something that god is ashamed of it's not a character flaw it's not something that god's
00:04:35 saying, hey, don't look over there because, you know, it kind of makes me look bad. God is not
00:04:39 ashamed of hell. This is his justice eternally put on display. And for those who are with him
00:04:47 in right relationship with him, this is his grace and his kindness and mercy eternally put on
00:04:53 display. Goodness to his elect, to the praise of his glorious grace, and justice to his enemies,
00:05:00 to the praise of his glorious justice going on i've written this therefore the design of christ's
00:05:07 death is intended by god to demonstrate a divine act of kindness that is matchless and incomparable
00:05:14 god has demonstrated the magnificent extent of his love for us which was previously only known
00:05:21 to himself in such a manner that there is no room nor reason to doubt it the divine act of love did
00:05:28 not arise from any loveliness in us, nor from any love in us to God, but exclusively from God's own
00:05:36 sovereign will and good pleasure. In other words, God did not die for us because we had utility.
00:05:42 He did not die for us because we were lovely or beautiful or valuable in any way. God died for us
00:05:51 to make us lovely. He didn't die for us because we were lovely. He died to make us lovely. However,
00:05:58 You must add this part.
00:06:00 He died for us to make us lovely
00:06:02 because before we were lovely, we were still loved.
00:06:07 God did not die for us because we were lovely or valuable.
00:06:11 In his death, we are made lovely and valuable.
00:06:15 And yet while we were not lovely or not valuable,
00:06:19 God still loved us.
00:06:21 John 3, 16, ample scripture,
00:06:24 but this one we probably all know good and well.
00:06:27 john 3 16 for god so loved the world that salvation begins with the love of god john
00:06:36 first john chapter 4 verse 19 we love because he first loved us elsewhere in the new testament we
00:06:43 see that uh that very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man though for a good man good in this
00:06:50 context is being used to describe perfection though for a good man one might dare to possibly
00:06:55 die but god demonstrated his love for us in this while we were yet sinners christ died for us so
00:07:02 in the midst of our unloveliness before we had utility before there was value before there was
00:07:10 beauty no truth no goodness no beauty at all and yet before that occurred while we were his enemies
00:07:18 not just without value, but again, opposing, rebelling against him at every single turn.
00:07:25 In that state, in our worst state, in a state of enmity, Christ died for us because he loved us.
00:07:34 God sent the Son. It was the Father's idea, as it were. The Father loved us and sent the Son.
00:07:41 the son loves us and willingly volunteers and goes and all of the father's ordained plan of
00:07:49 salvation the son his accomplishment of that plan of salvation is then applied by the spirit
00:07:56 the triune god father son and holy spirit loving us before we were ever lovely so god doesn't die
00:08:04 for us because we're lovely he dies for us to make us lovely but he's willing to die to make
00:08:11 us lovely because even when we were unlovely we were still loved loved by God so the gospel
00:08:20 begins with God and ends with God it is his mercy it is his kindness it is his grace
00:08:27 now there's a few points by the grace of God I hope to bring out of the text today three
00:08:34 to be more specific the first is this justified we are justified by christ's blood and saved
00:08:42 from god's wrath justification and salvation very similar yet distinct in theological terms
00:08:49 so looking at justification by the death if we speak of christ's blood we're speaking of
00:08:55 his deaths justified by the death of christ and saved also from god's wrath the second point will
00:09:03 be this reconciled by Christ's death and saved by his life what is it about Christ's life that is
00:09:12 saving we often speak of how we're saved by Jesus death on the cross and this is true but there is
00:09:19 a very real sense throughout the scripture especially in our text today in which we are
00:09:23 saved not only by the death of Jesus but we are continually saved in a present ongoing tense we
00:09:30 are being saved by not only the death of Jesus, but the life of Jesus. And then lastly, what does
00:09:38 it mean to rejoice in God himself? Not only rejoicing in our salvation, which God brings
00:09:44 about, not only rejoicing in the blessings of God, which he generously provides, but rejoicing
00:09:52 in God himself. So beginning with justification and salvation, justified by Christ's blood and
00:09:59 saved from God's wrath this is verse 9 of our text which says since therefore we have now been
00:10:05 justified by his blood much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God the apostle here
00:10:13 argues from justification by Christ to salvation by Christ whoever is justified by the blood that
00:10:20 is the work of Jesus on the cross shall be saved by the person of Jesus if you are justified by
00:10:29 the work of Jesus his work at Calvary his substitutionary death dying in your place your
00:10:35 sins imputed to him that means your wickedness your sin against God transferred accredited to
00:10:41 his account and then him receiving the wages of our sin which is death if his work has covered
00:10:48 you and justified you whoever's justified by the blood of Jesus the work of Jesus shall also be
00:10:55 saved by the person of Jesus. Notice that this particular verse does not speak of Christ
00:11:02 saving us from wrath in regards to the wrath of our own sinful hearts or the wrath as it appears
00:11:09 among the people of God towards one another, which is a sad reality. But there is often wrath
00:11:16 amongst believers, even towards fellow believers in the context of the church. There's a very real
00:11:23 sins in which God saves us by that because we're reconciled to God we should be reconciled to one
00:11:28 another but that's not the predominant wrath that's in view in verse 9 of our text today
00:11:34 it is not the wrath of our own sinful hearts or wrath that appears horizontally from believer
00:11:40 towards believer neither does this verse speak of Christ saving us from the wrath of our avowed
00:11:47 enemies that is unbelievers or even the wrath of devils the wrath of our great enemy satan
00:11:55 a spiritual war which constantly surrounds us as the roaring of a lion but rather this verse speaks
00:12:03 of the glorious salvation of christ from the white hot wrath of a thrice holy god christ promises
00:12:10 even to save us from the fear of god's wrath as it exists in our own hearts and our consciences
00:12:17 in this life one of the questions that christians have to be able to answer and i'm sure that many
00:12:24 of you have asked this question at least subconsciously when it comes to salvation
00:12:30 the gospel you need to get saved you need to get saved you need to be born again one of the
00:12:37 questions that we have to ask a very simple question is this what do we need to be saved from
00:12:43 What do we need to be saved from?
00:12:46 And the reality is that our salvation is a multifaceted salvation.
00:12:51 God saves us from much.
00:12:53 But we do need to be able to answer that question in a primary sense.
00:12:58 What is the predominant thing that mankind needs salvation from?
00:13:06 Is it salvation from a purposeless life?
00:13:09 From meaninglessness?
00:13:10 is it salvation from boredom is it salvation from dissatisfaction is it salvation from our
00:13:19 fellow man and those who would be against us is it salvation from even ourselves our own sin nature
00:13:27 is it salvation from corruption is it salvation from satan or what what is it that we need to be
00:13:36 saved from. And again, there is a sense in which God saves us from all the things that I've just
00:13:43 mentioned. But in the primary sense, what mankind most needs salvation from is not Satan. It's not
00:13:52 ourselves. It's not our fellow man. It's not a corrupt world that's subject to decay. We need
00:13:59 salvation first and foremost from God we need to be saved from God because our greatest threat 1.00
00:14:09 apart from saving grace that comes through Christ Jesus alone for the unbeliever the 0.90
00:14:15 unregenerate person left in his sin his greatest enemy his greatest threat is not the devil
00:14:22 his greatest enemy and greatest threat is not himself and his greatest enemy and his greatest
00:14:28 threat is not the world even if every single human being on the planet conspired against him
00:14:34 his greatest enemy is god that before salvation we were enemies of god god was our greatest threat
00:14:47 god was at war with us and justly so we were children of his wrath as ephesians says
00:14:58 we were dead men walking underneath the just condemnation of a just and holy god the greatest
00:15:08 thing if we were to say what are we saved from the greatest thing to be saved from is the wrath
00:15:13 of god or if we were to ask the question who do we need to be saved from the person that we need
00:15:19 to be saved from most of all is god himself and in justification in salvation in the christian
00:15:28 gospel the first reconciliation that we receive is a reconciliation not with ourselves not with
00:15:35 our fellow man but with God that we have been reconciled with God that he is no longer the
00:15:43 judge condemning us but he has become our adoptive father that through Christ and his finished work
00:15:50 that we have been adopted as children of God no longer children of his wrath but children
00:15:56 beloved children adopted children of God as our heavenly father that we have right standing with
00:16:03 him that we're no longer at enmity with him but rather received and loved and blessed by him
00:16:10 so that's the first question or one of the first questions that must be asked and answered what is
00:16:16 that God saves us from. He saves us from himself. He saves us from his wrath. But beyond merely
00:16:26 saving us from his own just punishment, his own just wrath, God also saves us not only in the
00:16:34 objective sense from his wrath, but in the subjective sense, he saves us from the ongoing
00:16:40 perpetual fear of his wrath that we no longer are under the wrath of god if you are in christ if
00:16:49 you've been saved by grace alone through faith alone in christ alone god is your adoptive beloved
00:16:55 father you are his beloved son there is no enmity between you and god anymore you've been reconciled
00:17:03 with God. So the wrath of God no longer hangs over you, but also there is freedom, not only in the
00:17:11 life to come, the life after, but there is freedom in this life as well from not only the objective
00:17:17 wrath of God, but the subjective fear of the wrath of God. 1 John speaks of this in chapter 4 verses
00:17:26 17 18 and 19 which says this by this is love perfected with us that we may have confidence
00:17:34 that we may have confidence for the day of judgment not only that we may be spared objectively
00:17:42 declared righteous rather than guilty on the day of judgment but today as it pertains to the present
00:17:51 now in this life, looking forward to the day of judgment, that we can have confidence now.
00:17:58 By this is love perfected with us, that we may have confidence for looking toward the day of
00:18:04 judgment. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with
00:18:12 punishment. And whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved
00:18:20 us. That's 1 John chapter 4 verse 17 through 19. It's important that the Christian understands
00:18:27 there is a vital distinction when we speak of fear. There is a vital distinction between the
00:18:35 fear of god himself and the fear of god's judgment the christian is not to possess fear of judgment
00:18:44 but we are to continue to possess a righteous and holy fear of god it is right for the christian to
00:18:52 go on fearing the lord to fear god the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom but in fearing god
00:18:59 as we seek to you know answer that question well what is this healthy proper righteous fear of god
00:19:06 well one thing that we can mark off the list is that a proper fear of god for the christian
00:19:11 is not a fear of god's judgment we know this because the scripture forbids it
00:19:18 it's explicitly removed first john 4 17 through 19 by this is love perfected with us that we may
00:19:26 have confidence that the the standing the position the heart default for the christian should be a
00:19:34 position not of presumption not of arrogance not a vain conceit but but a christ-rooted confidence
00:19:42 looking toward forward to the day of judgment so as it pertains to god's judgment our standing is
00:19:49 confidence that we don't shrink back first john goes on and says that elsewhere that we're not
00:19:56 shrinking back at the day of his coming but we're standing firm and we're standing firm not in our
00:20:02 own righteousness but the righteousness of christ which we've been clothed in by grace through faith
00:20:07 so the position the heart position posture of the christian as it pertains to the judgment of god
00:20:15 should not be fear but rather confidence there is no fear in love but perfect love cast out fear
00:20:23 for fear has to do with punishment and for the christian there is no punishment the christian
00:20:30 in this life may be and in fact will be it's simply a matter of how and when rather than if
00:20:38 the christian will in this life be disciplined by god as his heavenly father per hebrews chapter 12
00:20:46 that that's actually a sign, an evidence and a proof 0.86
00:20:53 that the Christian is in fact a Christian
00:20:55 and that you have in fact been adopted as God's son,
00:20:59 that God is in fact your father
00:21:01 because all loving and good fathers
00:21:03 discipline their children.
00:21:06 One sign of not being a child of God
00:21:08 or an illegitimate child of God
00:21:11 is that you are not disciplined by God.
00:21:14 fathers discipline not other people's children but their own so the christian will receive god's
00:21:21 discipline but discipline is distinct from punishment for fear has to do with punishment
00:21:28 and whoever fears has not been perfected in love but we love our response to god is love for him
00:21:35 because he first loved us so if you're in christ you're not an enemy of god but rather his child
00:21:42 And therefore, as his legitimate child,
00:21:45 you will in this life receive discipline,
00:21:48 but you will not receive punishment.
00:21:50 And as we look forward to the life to come
00:21:53 to that day of judgment,
00:21:55 our heart posture should be a posture of confidence
00:21:58 rather than fear.
00:22:00 We fear God, we have reverence for God,
00:22:03 but we do not fear God's judgment,
00:22:06 not because of our own arrogance and presumption,
00:22:09 trusting in our own work and our own righteousness but our confidence the source of that confidence
00:22:15 is christ himself that what christ has done what christ continues to do and what christ has promised
00:22:22 is sufficient so we are justified by christ's blood and and being justified that is declared
00:22:30 righteous because of the finished work of christ his death on the cross were justified by his blood
00:22:37 but also necessarily as a necessary consequence saved from God's wrath. And in the subjective
00:22:44 sense, further applying that salvation from God's wrath objectively means being saved from ongoing
00:22:52 present tense fear of God's wrath in this life. The Christian does not live under fear of God's
00:22:59 judgment, but perfect love cast out all fear. The next thing that we see in the text is this
00:23:07 that we've been reconciled by Christ's death and saved by his life. This is verse 10 of our text
00:23:14 which says, for if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son,
00:23:20 much more now that we are reconciled shall we be saved by his life. Using similar language as in
00:23:28 verse 9, the apostle now argues from reconciliation by the death of Christ to salvation by the life
00:23:35 of christ now this is key we have been reconciled to god by christ's death and we are continually
00:23:43 saved by his life not just salvation in the past tense which we all often speak of i've been saved
00:23:51 but there is a very real biblical sense in which the christian has been saved it's past it's done
00:23:58 it's finished and complete but the christian is also being saved present ongoing and the christian
00:24:04 promised by God that he will be saved. I think of Romans 7 to illustrate that point. The Apostle
00:24:12 Paul speaking, I believe, the Apostle Paul speaking as someone who is already saved, a Christian.
00:24:19 This is not pre-conversion, but this is the Apostle Paul already converted, already born again,
00:24:25 already adopted as a beloved son of God. And yet he says, I find this law at work within the members
00:24:31 of my being when i want to do good evil is right there present with me so that the good that i want
00:24:37 to do i cannot carry it out oh what a wretched man i am who will so future tense looking for
00:24:44 who will save me and so some would read that and say oh he's not saved but paul gets more specific
00:24:51 and says who will save me from this body of death praise be to god and then he ends in exaltation
00:25:00 of god and his covenants and his promises and his character what paul's essentially saying is this
00:25:07 that this may be a little bit oversimplified but i believe it's generally true in the past
00:25:14 tense if you're a christian you have already been saved speaking of your justification declared
00:25:20 righteous your soul your soul if we're thinking of the soul the soul has been saved in the past
00:25:28 tense. It's already done. You've been justified, declared righteous in the heavenly court because
00:25:33 of the finished work of Jesus Christ. In the present sense, you are still being saved. This
00:25:39 references sanctification, this lifelong process from the point of conversion to the point of our
00:25:46 physical death, the ongoing lifelong process for the Christian, sanctification. And this, I think
00:25:51 if we were to summon up in a realm, in a location,
00:25:55 justification, soul, past.
00:25:58 Sanctification, mind, present.
00:26:02 I think of Romans.
00:26:04 It says, do not be conformed to the pattern of this world,
00:26:08 but rather be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
00:26:12 That so much of sanctification is a change in thought.
00:26:18 It's a change of mind.
00:26:20 It's a change in the way that we think.
00:26:24 Repentance, many of you are probably aware,
00:26:26 the word repentance speaks of change,
00:26:28 but it's not merely a change in regards to the surface,
00:26:32 to our outward behaviors.
00:26:35 But that change is ultimately,
00:26:37 it's sourced from a change in the way that we think,
00:26:41 that we're not just doing different things
00:26:44 and saying different things,
00:26:45 a change outwardly in our behaviors and speech
00:26:48 merely by gritting our teeth and clenching our fists.
00:26:53 It's not just that, well, I want to do the right thing.
00:26:57 I still think this way.
00:26:59 I still have these desires and these ambitions,
00:27:01 and I still have this worldview and this way of thinking,
00:27:05 but I've been told from the Bible that that's wrong,
00:27:09 and so I'm just going to grit my teeth and clench my fists,
00:27:11 and I'm going outwardly in my behaviors and speech,
00:27:14 I'm going to do this thing over here that contradicts inwardly
00:27:17 what I actually desire and the way that I actually think.
00:27:21 Well, that's not a robust repentance.
00:27:25 Repentance is, it's a complete overhaul.
00:27:28 It's a complete change, both inward and outward.
00:27:32 Now that said, I don't want to completely disparage
00:27:36 changing your behaviors and speech,
00:27:39 even if your heart is not quite there yet.
00:27:42 I think that that's one of the problems 1.00
00:27:44 that Protestants have created 1.00
00:27:47 is that we're too introspective and too subjective. 1.00
00:27:51 And so we'll say, well, I don't want to do it
00:27:54 unless my heart's in it, right?
00:27:56 Everything for evangelicals and Protestants
00:28:00 is about authenticity and being genuine, you know?
00:28:03 And so then what we end up doing is nothing.
00:28:06 I don't really feel it, so I'm not going to do it.
00:28:07 I think God would prefer, you know, 0.91
00:28:10 I think God would prefer that I not be a hypocrite.
00:28:14 Sure, he would prefer if I actually loved him from the heart
00:28:18 and if I actually thought that the scriptures were true
00:28:20 and it actually reframed, re-hardwired my worldview,
00:28:24 my thinking process, which shaped my desires
00:28:27 and all these things that then flowed out
00:28:29 to righteous behaviors and righteous speech.
00:28:31 That would be God's first preference.
00:28:33 That would be his first choice.
00:28:36 But given the choice, because that's off the table,
00:28:38 that's not gonna happen.
00:28:39 So given the choice between me doing
00:28:42 and saying the right thing, but not really feeling it
00:28:45 because God really cares about the feels.
00:28:47 You know, that's, you know, God's, he's a feeler, that God.
00:28:51 You know, and so given the choice of doing the right thing,
00:28:53 saying the right thing, but not feeling it
00:28:55 and it not being authentic, or not doing the right thing,
00:28:58 not saying the right thing, but being aligned
00:29:01 and true to inwardly my heart,
00:29:04 which doesn't feel the right thing.
00:29:05 And my desires aren't, I don't desire the right thing
00:29:08 and I don't think the right thing.
00:29:09 So at least my life is matching up with my heart.
00:29:12 that would be god's preference he would prefer that to hypocrisy now i'm not saying that god's
00:29:18 a fan of hypocrisy because he's certainly not but jesus explicitly addressed that in one of his
00:29:23 parables he talks about two sons of a father and the father goes to both of his boys and he asks
00:29:30 them to come and work with him and the first son says yes but he doesn't show and then the second
00:29:38 son says no but then he has a change of heart somewhere along the way and he ends up showing up
00:29:45 and Jesus posits the question you know which one did right which did better is the precise wording
00:29:51 and it's the latter it's the second son who told his father no but ended up showing up and we don't
00:29:59 know if his heart actually was ever in it it could have been just completely out of dread he could
00:30:05 have just begrudgingly simply from just a sheer standpoint of commitment the no actually could
00:30:12 have been his in word that could have been the more accurate reflection of of the heart inwardly
00:30:18 how he actually felt no I don't want to come and his actions of actually showing up and doing the
00:30:24 work could have just been the outward manifestation so in his behaviors outwardly I'm gonna do what
00:30:30 the father wants but in his speech reflecting the heart which Jesus elsewhere says out of the
00:30:36 abundance of the heart the mouth speaks so I feel like there's some decent exegesis there so in his
00:30:41 speech here's revealing the actual inward the heart I don't want to work for dad but outwardly
00:30:47 showing up I don't want to work for dad I still don't want to work for dad but I will work for
00:30:52 dad and what jesus says the moral of this parable is that that is a vast improvement that is better
00:31:01 than than saying i will work for dad but then not doing it and and here's practically here's the
00:31:08 deal inward desires and thought processes and emotions and feelings these things do shape the
00:31:17 outward, both your speech and actions. So if you inwardly love God, that is going to radically
00:31:24 dictate and shape and compel behavior and speech that is loving towards God. But what Protestants 0.97
00:31:31 often overlook is that the reverse is also true. So what do you do when you don't have a desire
00:31:37 for God? What do you do when you don't desire to obey his commandments? You don't desire to seek
00:31:42 your satisfaction in him? What do you do when you don't inwardly possess love for God and deep
00:31:52 adoration and affection for him? Well, one of the things that you do is you ask God to change your
00:31:57 desires. You ask for him to change your emotions, your thoughts. And in the meantime, with the
00:32:03 emotions, the thoughts, and the desires being completely absent, you go ahead outwardly in
00:32:08 your speech and behaviors and you do those things which would be loving towards god whether you feel
00:32:14 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 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 about it in fact there's nothing we can do about it you know because we can't control our heart
00:32:30 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 a very practical plan of start doing these things
00:32:40 on a daily basis, weekly basis,
00:32:43 monthly basis with your spouse.
00:32:46 Well, but I don't feel it 0.94
00:32:47 and I don't want to be a hypocrite. 0.52
00:32:48 Well, here's the counter argument. 0.92
00:32:51 Who cares?
00:32:53 Right?
00:32:53 I mean, I've got a deep philosophical counter to it.
00:32:56 I don't feel it.
00:32:57 I don't care.
00:32:59 You don't feel it.
00:33:00 Why does it matter how you feel?
00:33:02 Why is that so important?
00:33:03 So just start loving your wife.
00:33:06 Well, but it's not there in my heart.
00:33:08 Okay, well then start doing the outward actions
00:33:11 and speech of love toward your wife.
00:33:14 And here's the beautiful thing,
00:33:16 that the outward patterns actually work the other way around
00:33:20 and will cultivate affection and desire.
00:33:23 It will.
00:33:24 Your outward behaviors and speech
00:33:26 will shape your thoughts and feelings
00:33:28 in a similar way that your thoughts and feelings
00:33:31 can shape your outward behaviors and speech.
00:33:34 It's not a one-way stream, but it's a two-way street.
00:33:39 Both the outward affects the inward,
00:33:41 and the inward does also affect the outward
00:33:44 so that we're not lost without hope
00:33:46 and nothing that we can do,
00:33:47 completely helpless and powerless.
00:33:50 We have a roadmap that we seek to obey God's commandments
00:33:54 even when our hearts aren't necessarily in it.
00:33:58 We seek him and we meditate on his law day and night
00:34:02 Even when we'd rather be doing something else.
00:34:06 The trick to delighting in the law of God
00:34:10 is meditating on the law of God
00:34:12 before you delight in it.
00:34:16 That's the secret.
00:34:18 The secret is doing something over and over and over.
00:34:22 It's called acquired taste.
00:34:26 We know that this is a reality.
00:34:29 Nobody is just born coming out of the womb enjoying kale.
00:34:35 You know, nobody.
00:34:37 Now, I personally don't think that anyone,
00:34:39 even with training, enjoys kale.
00:34:42 But I've been told that some people do.
00:34:45 But that is not a natural affection.
00:34:49 That is a well-harnessed, disciplined affection
00:34:54 That you shape over time by consistency, by patterns, by actions.
00:35:02 I'm doing something outwardly that does not align with my emotions and desires and thoughts inwardly.
00:35:10 But over time, the inward will be cultivated by the consistent outward.
00:35:18 That's something that we need to be aware of.
00:35:20 so all that being said i can't even remember where i was but the point is is this when it
00:35:30 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 these things uh it's it's outwardly setting the patterns day in day out through obedience through
00:35:44 scripture reading through accountability through fellowship with the saints all these things
00:35:48 eventually slowly over time they shape the heart they shape our emotions they shape our thought
00:35:54 processes and we begin to truly desire we begin to truly love the Lord hypocrisy is not something
00:36:04 that God ever affirms it's not something that he esteems but better to outwardly do that which
00:36:11 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 outwardly either that is not an improved method that's not the better option okay so reconciled
00:36:25 by Christ's death and saved by his life again verse 10 if we were enemies if while we were
00:36:32 enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son much more now are we reconciled shall we
00:36:39 be saved by his life so it's a similar language to verse 9 the apostle is now arguing from
00:36:45 reconciliation by the death of Christ to salvation by the life of Christ. We have been reconciled to
00:36:51 God by Christ's death, and we are continually saved by his life. That's where I was. Okay, so past,
00:36:58 present, future, all under the banner of salvation. If you think of salvation like this, think of
00:37:04 salvation as the overarching category. Underneath that, you have three subcategories. So there's
00:37:09 salvation and then you have justification, sanctification, glorification. So salvation,
00:37:15 that's the big umbrella. Then justification, sanctification, glorification. Justification,
00:37:22 the past salvation of the soul. Sanctification, the present ongoing salvation of the mind,
00:37:30 renewing the mind. And then glorification, the future promised salvation of the body.
00:37:37 Soul, mind, body, past, present, future,
00:37:42 justification, sanctification, glorification,
00:37:45 all under the realm of salvation.
00:37:49 So salvation, as it regards the soul,
00:37:52 it's justification being declared righteous in the past.
00:37:57 Salvation, as it pertains to the mind,
00:37:59 it's sanctification, the renewing of the mind in the present.
00:38:04 Salvation, as it pertains to the body, this flesh,
00:38:09 it's looking forward to a future resurrection of the body,
00:38:13 that this body of death, as the apostle Paul says
00:38:16 in Romans 7, we will be saved from this body of death one day.
00:38:20 It's the glorification in the future tense of the body.
00:38:25 Salvation can be spoken of biblically
00:38:27 in all three of those terms.
00:38:31 So here, the apostle does not merely speak
00:38:33 of Christ's sinless life on earth,
00:38:35 but of his interceding life in heaven,
00:38:39 where he now ever lives to make intercession for his people
00:38:43 to ensure that all the promises of God,
00:38:46 which Christ has obtained by his death,
00:38:49 are thoroughly applied to his people.
00:38:52 So once more, verse 10, just to make sure that we get this.
00:38:55 For if while we were enemies,
00:38:58 we were reconciled to God by the death of his son.
00:39:02 Much more, now that we are reconciled,
00:39:04 shall we be saved by his life?
00:39:06 What I'm saying is this.
00:39:08 The most natural reading of verse 10 of our text
00:39:11 that we will be saved by his life
00:39:13 is to think back of Jesus' earthly life
00:39:17 2,000 years ago, his sinless life,
00:39:21 his life in which not only did he avoid all sin
00:39:24 and maintain a state of innocence,
00:39:26 but in which he in his active obedience he fulfilled all righteousness so we're thinking
00:39:32 of his fully obedient life his fully righteous life and that's true we are saved by the death
00:39:39 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 wages of our sin goes to him the just punishment for our sin he takes our death he takes our sin
00:39:51 and the death, which our sin rightly deserved.
00:39:54 All that happens at the cross and the death of Jesus.
00:39:57 But we're also saved in the life of Jesus
00:39:59 because it's not just that our sin is removed,
00:40:02 but our sin is actually replaced
00:40:04 with a presence of Christ's obedience and righteousness.
00:40:08 So it's not just that we move from being sinners
00:40:10 to being innocent or neutral, a blank slate,
00:40:13 but our sin is transferred out of our account to his
00:40:17 and he takes the just punishment for our sin,
00:40:20 namely death. And we're not just sitting here now out of a negative balance. It's not just that
00:40:26 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 we're also not in the, no. Then his righteousness, his perfect obedience, which comes by his life,
00:40:37 his act of obedience in his life towards God's law, all of that is accredited to our account.
00:40:42 And we receive the just reward for his righteousness, everlasting life, adoption,
00:40:48 all these things all these promises so there is a sense in which we are saved by jesus past life
00:40:56 but i think what the author is getting at in this text today romans chapter 5 verse 10
00:41:01 is not just speaking of the past life of jesus 2 000 years ago namely his perfect righteous
00:41:08 earthly life but the life that he now lives not just speaking of his past life here on earth
00:41:14 leading up to the cross but the life that he now lives after his resurrection and glorious
00:41:20 ascension to the right hand of the father that we are actually being saved not only by his life
00:41:27 that ended in death but his new life after his resurrection and glorification and ascension to
00:41:33 the right hand of the father that christ is ever living that we are saved by his continual life
00:41:40 his present life, his ongoing life.
00:41:43 And part of the question that's begged by that is,
00:41:46 well, what is Jesus doing now?
00:41:49 What is Jesus doing with his life now?
00:41:52 We know what he did with his life 2,000 years ago.
00:41:56 He fulfilled all righteousness.
00:41:58 He preached and taught, performed many signs and miracles,
00:42:02 raised the dead, cast out demons, and eventually went to the cross.
00:42:06 So we know what Jesus did in his life on earth.
00:42:10 But what is Jesus doing in his forever life, his eternal life, at the right hand of the Father?
00:42:16 One of the things that Jesus is doing is he is praying.
00:42:21 Jesus is praying and he's praying for his own.
00:42:25 And we see the beginnings of his perpetual intercessory mediatorial role that he plays at the right hand of the Father.
00:42:34 We see the beginnings of that, a glimpse of that in John chapter 17, in his high priestly prayer.
00:42:41 His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane before his arrest and going to his mock trial and then his crucifixion.
00:42:49 And one of the things that Jesus prays in the garden that offends many is this.
00:42:54 He says, I do not pray for the world.
00:42:57 jesus doesn't just in his prayers offer up prayers and intercessions to his father
00:43:05 for the object of his prayers but he even takes the time intentionally to specify
00:43:10 who his prayers are not to be applied to who he's not praying for again john 17 jesus says
00:43:19 i do not pray for the world but i pray for my own for those whom the father has given to me
00:43:25 and those that the Father will give to me.
00:43:27 My disciples here, now, and future disciples.
00:43:30 All those who will come to believe in me.
00:43:33 Jesus prays for the church.
00:43:37 Jesus prays for the elect.
00:43:39 Jesus prays for Christians and future Christians. 0.83
00:43:42 He does not pray for the world.
00:43:46 And part of the reason that Jesus does not pray for the world
00:43:50 is because the prayers of Christ are efficacious.
00:43:53 In other words, the prayers of Christ work.
00:43:58 Jesus is successful in his prayer life,
00:44:01 successful in his prayers in a way that you and I have never been.
00:44:07 That's not to say that you and I shouldn't waste our time praying,
00:44:10 because we should pray.
00:44:12 We are commanded to pray.
00:44:14 But we are not nearly as effective in our prayer as Jesus is,
00:44:18 and there's a number of reasons for that.
00:44:20 One, because when we pray, we never possess perfect faith.
00:44:27 We all, if you're a Christian, you have faith.
00:44:30 You want to be a Christian otherwise.
00:44:33 You were only born again, a new creation in Christ Jesus, 0.88
00:44:36 because you've received God's gift of grace through faith.
00:44:39 But none of us has perfect faith, complete faith.
00:44:44 We have faith, and it is true faith, genuine faith, saving faith,
00:44:49 but it is not perfect faith.
00:44:51 If you had perfect faith,
00:44:53 then you would achieve a state of sinless perfectionism.
00:44:58 The reason you still sin
00:45:00 is because you don't perfectly believe.
00:45:04 Every time you and I sin against God, 0.98
00:45:07 even as Christians go on sinning, 0.96
00:45:09 it's because there is something
00:45:11 in the character and nature of God,
00:45:13 the covenants of God,
00:45:14 the promises of God
00:45:15 that we don't actually believe.
00:45:17 not fully that we in that moment believe that the momentary fleeting temporal satisfaction
00:45:26 of sin is more fulfilling than the promises and the character of God the only reason you and I
00:45:35 continue to wrestle with sin in this life is because we we have not achieved perfection in
00:45:42 the realm of faith and the scripture elsewhere testifies why do you not have is it not because
00:45:49 you don't ask you have not because you ask not and when you ask you ask with wrong motives to
00:45:56 spend it on your passions right so there's another reason so asking with wrong motives
00:46:02 so selfishness also asking without full faith right that the one who asks should not doubt
00:46:09 He should not be double-minded like a wave tossed to and fro in the ocean.
00:46:14 James speaks of this.
00:46:15 But when we ask, we should have confidence and fully believe that God will grant to us
00:46:20 what it is that we ask.
00:46:23 Elsewhere, the scripture also testifies that the prayer offered in faith availeth much.
00:46:30 It means it works.
00:46:32 So the prayer that is filled with faith is a working prayer.
00:46:35 So why do our prayers sometimes not work in absence of faith?
00:46:39 What's another reason they sometimes don't work?
00:46:42 Because impurity of motives,
00:46:44 selfish motives,
00:46:45 to spend it on our own passions.
00:46:47 Here's another reason,
00:46:48 the last reason why our prayers do not always work.
00:46:52 Because of our finitude.
00:46:54 The first two, right?
00:46:56 Not having perfect faith
00:46:57 and not having perfect desires or motives.
00:47:00 That speaks to our fallenness,
00:47:02 but it's also worth speaking to our finitude.
00:47:06 So because we're sinners,
00:47:08 we don't have perfect faith and we don't have perfect motives. And that's a reason why our
00:47:13 prayers do not always avail much, that our prayers are not always efficacious. But also, even if we
00:47:20 could reach a state of sinless perfection in this life, we would still be, unlike Jesus, we would be
00:47:27 finite. So even if we were sinless creatures, we would still be creatures nonetheless. Whereas
00:47:34 Jesus has only ever been the creator.
00:47:38 He is not made, but rather eternally begotten.
00:47:42 And so as Jesus is praying in the Garden of Gethsemane,
00:47:45 John chapter 17, he's praying with perfect faith.
00:47:48 He's praying with perfect motives.
00:47:51 So there is no sin corrupting his prayer,
00:47:55 hamstringing the effectiveness of his prayers,
00:47:59 but also he's praying as God.
00:48:01 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 particularly in the realm of knowledge his omniscience so you and i even when when we're
00:48:15 praying with as much faith as we possibly can muster and with as pure of motives as we can
00:48:21 possibly cultivate we still do not know god's sovereign will right the the secret things
00:48:30 belong to God, but those things which he has revealed belong to us and our children forever.
00:48:37 One doctrine that many Christians struggle, I think, at times to understand, or perhaps have
00:48:42 never been taught, is the two wills of God. Did you know that God has two wills, not one?
00:48:50 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 of theology proper. So theology proper is just reference to the doctrine of God. Theology as it
00:49:02 pertains to who God is. And as we're speaking of God theologically, it's important that we
00:49:08 understand that will belongs to essence, not personhood. So we have one God eternally existing
00:49:17 in three persons so where do you place the will of god if will is belonging to personhood then god
00:49:28 who eternally exists in three persons would therefore have three wills but this is not correct
00:49:35 and for not quite 2 000 years it took about you know 500 years or so to understand doctrine of
00:49:42 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 has universally held that that the will of god belongs to his one divine essence rather than his
00:49:57 three distinct persons so the will of god belongs to the one essence of god the divine essence so
00:50:04 god has one will now some of you might object this was my objection as i was coming into these
00:50:10 doctrines, you know, years ago. Well, wait a second. Doesn't Jesus pray? You're talking about
00:50:15 John 17. What about the portion where Jesus is praying and he asked for the cup of God's wrath
00:50:20 to pass? But then he says at the end of his prayer, not my will, but yours speaking to God,
00:50:27 the father be done. Well, doesn't that right there show showcase an example of a distinction
00:50:34 between the will of God the Son
00:50:36 and the will of God the Father?
00:50:40 Great question.
00:50:41 Here's the counter for that.
00:50:42 No.
00:50:43 And the reason why it doesn't show a distinction
00:50:45 between two wills is because there, once again,
00:50:48 will is belonging to essence,
00:50:50 or another word for that would be nature
00:50:52 rather than personhood.
00:50:53 The reason why Jesus can say that
00:50:55 is not because we're speaking of two different divine persons,
00:51:00 the Son and the Father,
00:51:01 but because what we're seeing is two different natures within the one person of the Son.
00:51:07 So when Jesus says, not my will, he is speaking of his human will.
00:51:11 Because remember, Jesus has two natures, the divine nature, but also the flesh, the human nature.
00:51:18 So in Jesus' human nature, he didn't really want to go to the cross.
00:51:23 But the beauty of Christ, as it pertains to his human nature,
00:51:26 is that Jesus demonstrates for us perfectly
00:51:29 what it looks like for a man, for a human man,
00:51:33 for the human nature to be in full submission to God.
00:51:37 And so he says, it's not my first choice,
00:51:39 not really my preference to get crucified,
00:51:41 you know, in a few hours, but not my will,
00:51:45 but yours be done.
00:51:46 Now, Jesus, in his divinity, the divine will
00:51:50 is perfectly aligned with the Father and the Spirit.
00:51:53 One divine essence, therefore one divine will.
00:51:56 But within the second member of the Trinity,
00:51:59 namely the God-man, Christ Jesus, the Son of God,
00:52:03 there are two wills, not because of two persons,
00:52:06 but because of two natures, divine and human.
00:52:10 So no, Jesus is not arguing with his dad.
00:52:14 He's not arguing with his dad.
00:52:16 Okay, my goodness, I'm struggling today to get off track.
00:52:19 I usually can bring it back.
00:52:20 I got into the wills.
00:52:22 Why was I getting into wills of God?
00:52:24 Three wills of God versus, oh, two wills of God.
00:52:26 Here we go. So it's not three wills of God belonging to three persons. It is one will of
00:52:32 God insofar as we speak of the one essence of God. But within that one divine will, there is
00:52:37 actually a sense in which there are two. Here are the two wills of God. His prescribed will or
00:52:42 revealed will. These are different names that we could use. Revealed will, prescribed will, or
00:52:48 you could call it his moral will. And then there is his hidden or secret will or sovereign will.
00:52:56 Let me give you an example.
00:52:58 Okay, so God's, his moral will or prescribed what he reveals.
00:53:03 Thou shall not murder.
00:53:05 Sixth commandment.
00:53:06 We know that it is the will of God that no one ever murder.
00:53:11 But then you look at Acts chapter two and Acts chapter four,
00:53:15 which says, we're not Pilate and the Jews 0.84
00:53:21 and these Roman officials and soldiers
00:53:24 and all these Gentiles gathered in this holy city, 0.76
00:53:27 speaking of Jerusalem, to do to Christ Jesus 0.96
00:53:30 exactly what your hand and your plan
00:53:35 predestined to take place.
00:53:38 In other words, God planned,
00:53:42 he willed the death of his son.
00:53:46 Okay, well, but how did Jesus die?
00:53:49 Was it a just death?
00:53:51 Did he receive a fair trial?
00:53:53 Did he actually do something worthy
00:53:55 according to God's law of the death penalty?
00:53:57 No, they produced, they did a kangaroo court
00:54:00 in the middle of the night, produced false witnesses
00:54:03 and then wrongly killed him.
00:54:05 What do you call that when you wrongly kill someone?
00:54:08 Murder.
00:54:10 So God in his revealed will, Exodus 20, the sixth commandment,
00:54:13 thou shall not murder.
00:54:16 But then God in his sovereign hidden will,
00:54:18 he ordained the murder of his own son for his glory.
00:54:22 and the salvation of the world.
00:54:25 Two wills, two wills.
00:54:28 His revealed will, that's what we follow.
00:54:31 We follow the script, or in our case, namely the scripture.
00:54:35 We follow the script, that which he has revealed to us.
00:54:38 We don't try to play God.
00:54:39 We don't play the game of, well, the ends justify the means.
00:54:44 So in terms of the path,
00:54:46 I can do things that are blatantly sinful
00:54:48 so long as I'm going to bring about a good outcome.
00:54:52 No, that's not given to man.
00:54:54 That's attempting to play God.
00:54:56 We don't get to play God.
00:54:58 That's, I mean, that's a consistent, you know,
00:55:00 common denominator with, you know, our crazy, you know, regime.
00:55:06 That's what you see on the world stage is, you know,
00:55:09 in a nutshell, if you were to boil it down
00:55:11 to one consistent, you know, denominator,
00:55:13 it would be guys who do wicked things,
00:55:16 but they think that they're justified
00:55:18 in doing those wicked things
00:55:19 because they think it's gonna bring about a good end.
00:55:22 It's man wanting to play God.
00:55:24 That's what we see again and again.
00:55:26 But God is the only one who gets to be God.
00:55:29 So God has not three wills with three persons
00:55:32 because it belongs to essence, not person,
00:55:34 and not even just one will, one divine will
00:55:37 that's unified between the three persons in the Godhead,
00:55:40 but two branches, if you will, of that will,
00:55:44 namely his revealed will, that which is written,
00:55:46 his moral will prescribed will and also his hidden will his sovereign will and so in all of that
00:55:53 that's the third reason there it is i remember the third reason why sometimes our prayers are
00:55:58 not efficacious our prayers don't work is because in the fallenness category the fact that we're
00:56:05 sinners we're lacking at times in faith and we also have a corruption of motive but in not just
00:56:12 the fallen sinful category but in the finitude category the fact that we're creatures we're not
00:56:16 omniscient we're not omniscient so one reason why our prayers are sometimes not answered is because
00:56:23 we're praying for that which god wills in his revealed will but it is not in that given case
00:56:30 what god actually wills in his sovereign will and in god's sovereign will his secret will god
00:56:36 sometimes allows for sin in order to bring about greater good for his people and greater eternal
00:56:43 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 taught when we pray to pray towards the end of our our prayers as jesus did in his human nature
00:56:56 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 for the sick. My daughter, I was praying for her a couple days ago. She had a fever and praying,
00:57:10 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 saying, God, your will be done. I would like my daughter to be healed. But you are good and
00:57:24 infinitely wise. And you may have a purpose in this moment to glorify yourself and do good to
00:57:32 all those who have been called, who love you and are called according to your purposes, Romans 8,
00:57:37 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 Christ, because he's not a sinner, because of not being fallen, perfect motives, perfect faith,
00:57:51 and because he's also God, perfect omniscience. So the prayers of Christ are efficacious. They work.
00:57:58 Why? Because he only prays what God wills, not only in his moral revealed will, but even knowing
00:58:04 God's sovereign will because he is God and he prays without sin, distracting from faith or
00:58:12 corrupting his motives. Again, in short, Christ's prayers are efficacious, a.k.a. the prayers of
00:58:20 Christ work. And that's precisely why Christ doesn't pray for the world in John 17, because
00:58:27 Christ doesn't waste prayer. He doesn't pray for the world because he's not going to bother praying
00:58:35 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 Christ prays for the same group that he dies for. He's praying for this group, the very group that
00:58:48 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 on earth his sinless life righteous life but also his continual ongoing life and in this life what
00:59:04 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 is praying for the glory of god and your eternal good christ has never prayed a prayer that went
00:59:22 by unanswered. And Christ promises in his word that he is praying for all his people. He is our
00:59:30 high priest. And one of the things that he does in his life, not his past life on earth, but his
00:59:36 continual present life right now, as he's seated at the right hand of his father, one of the chief
00:59:41 things he's doing in his life is praying. He's interceding on your behalf. And all his intercessory
00:59:50 prayers they work christ if christ prays for you you're you're golden even with peter christ says
00:59:58 this satan has asked so even satan had to ask permission god is sovereign he's asked to sift
01:00:06 you like wheat but i have prayed for you that your faith may not fail and when you have returned
01:00:13 that means you're gonna fall a little bit you're gonna take a hard hit but when you've returned
01:00:19 go and strengthen your brothers also go and encourage your fellow disciples notice what
01:00:26 what christ says to peter in that moment is he's saying because satan has to ask jesus for permission
01:00:32 to even go and and tempt and prod peter and if i was peter i would be tempted to respond christ
01:00:39 saying satan has asked to sift you like wheat but i've prayed for you i would say you know what
01:00:43 jesus maybe you could save your prayers um if he has to ask permission instead of praying for me
01:00:49 why don't you just tell him no?
01:00:51 You know what I mean?
01:00:52 That would have been my thought.
01:00:53 Satan asked you permission
01:00:54 to go and do something really bad to me.
01:00:58 And you're really leaning and heavy on this,
01:01:01 but I prayed for you thing.
01:01:02 But implicitly in that,
01:01:04 you're also saying, and I told him yes.
01:01:07 Can we talk about that part real quick?
01:01:09 So Satan asked to hurt me and you said, go for it.
01:01:14 But don't worry, Peter,
01:01:15 don't get bogged down on that part of the equation.
01:01:17 I've prayed for you.
01:01:18 right and if it was anybody else about christ that's how we'd feel right somebody's saying hey
01:01:25 i'm praying for you well you know we usually receive that warmly thank you but part of the
01:01:32 reason we receive the prayers of our fellow saints warmly is because we're all finite and a lot of
01:01:37 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 and and one of you says hey i'm praying for your daughter well then then i'm going to respond
01:01:48 positively to that. I'm going to say thank you. But if you had superpowers and could snap your
01:01:54 fingers and heal my daughter, but you deliberately refused and said, I'm not going to do that,
01:01:59 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 what? Why? Why wouldn't you just help? Save the prayer. Let's get some actual help.
01:02:13 part of the reason we view prayer like that is because we don't understand christ and his
01:02:21 ministry of prayer when jesus says to peter but i have prayed for you that is the same as him saying
01:02:29 i gave satan permission to do this but he cannot do that whatever jesus prays is within the realm
01:02:37 of his sovereign will and what will be done.
01:02:41 When he says, you will not ultimately fail,
01:02:45 your faith will fail for a moment,
01:02:47 but I have prayed that it won't ultimately fail.
01:02:49 And when you return, go and strengthen your brothers also.
01:02:52 That is the same as Christ saying,
01:02:54 I've allowed Satan to tempt and to prod and oppress,
01:02:58 but I have not allowed him to do so
01:03:00 at the point to which your faith would utterly fail.
01:03:03 And I will restore you
01:03:04 and use you to restore your brothers.
01:03:07 When he says, I've prayed that this will happen,
01:03:09 that's the same as saying it will happen.
01:03:12 Because again, the prayers of Christ are efficacious.
01:03:16 Christ does not pray prayers that fail.
01:03:20 And so we are saved.
01:03:22 That's the final thing that I'm trying to say,
01:03:23 and I'm gonna skip the last point.
01:03:25 But we are saved not only by Christ's death,
01:03:29 dying as a substitute in our place,
01:03:31 taking the just judgment that we deserved,
01:03:34 But we're also saved not only by the death of Jesus,
01:03:38 but we are being saved and will be saved
01:03:41 by the continual life of Jesus
01:03:44 because one of the chief ministries of Jesus
01:03:47 in his life right now, not the life he once lived,
01:03:51 but the life he now lives and forevermore will live
01:03:55 is his intercession.
01:03:58 He is the mediator of all the promises
01:04:01 of the new covenant.
01:04:02 he is the intercessor the high priest who is actively constantly continually praying
01:04:10 for his people and he has never prayed a single prayer that has gone unanswered and one of the
01:04:18 things that we know he is praying for us just as he prayed for peter if you're born again christian
01:04:25 is that your faith would not fail so you're golden that doesn't mean times won't be hard
01:04:32 that doesn't mean that you won't experience suffering in this life but what it does mean
01:04:37 is that you are christ's possession and he can never lose you what it does mean is that your
01:04:42 faith although tested and tried purified by as as by fire your faith being refined like gold
01:04:52 it will not in the final analysis utterly fail because christ is praying for you and in that
01:05:00 sense, if in many others as well, but in that sense, if nothing else, we are saved not only by
01:05:06 the death of Jesus, but also by the life of Jesus. Finally, verse 11, more than that, we also rejoice
01:05:12 in God through the Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Not only
01:05:19 are we saved by Christ from the wrath of God, and not only do we rejoice in our sufferings
01:05:24 and in the hope of the glory of God,
01:05:27 but we also rejoice in God himself.
01:05:30 We do not rejoice, brothers and sisters,
01:05:32 merely in what God gives us,
01:05:34 what God promises us, or what he provides for us.
01:05:37 We're not only using God as a channel,
01:05:41 as a conduit to rejoice in the end,
01:05:43 but God is the end in himself.
01:05:46 Our rejoicing is not only in what God promises,
01:05:50 but in God himself.
01:05:52 We rejoice in God because,
01:05:54 through union with christ our lord we now have access to god as our covenant father he is the
01:06:01 god of all grace joy peace and salvation and all his perfections are engaged on our side and
01:06:09 the means by which saints come into this rejoicing in god is not by the light of nature
01:06:16 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 angels in heaven but through Christ the eternal mediator and through him only for it is only
01:06:30 through Christ that God is now our covenant father and all his many blessings rightly belong to us
01:06:37 in short we rejoice not only in what God gives but we rejoice in God himself and our rejoicing
01:06:44 in God comes through Christ we would not rejoice in God because God again see point a all the way
01:06:53 back to the beginning of the sermon, God would not be someone to rejoice in, but rather someone
01:06:58 to be in dread of. God was once our enemy, our greatest enemy. The first and foremost thing or
01:07:06 person we needed to be saved from is God, not the devil, not ourselves, not our sin, not the world.
01:07:14 The greatest thing we needed to be saved from is God himself and his just wrath. There is no
01:07:20 rejoicing in your greatest enemy but we rejoice in God because he is no longer our enemy but the
01:07:27 source of all blessing the source of all love the source of all acceptance and reconciliation
01:07:36 eternal life all the the covenant promises are in him and we rejoice in him but he is only
01:07:44 positive for us he is only our good through christ it is only because of jesus what jesus
01:07:53 has accomplished on our behalf through his life his death his resurrection his ascension and his
01:08:00 continual forever ongoing life it is only through jesus that we can truly in a very real sense say
01:08:08 that we rejoice in God.
01:08:11 The only reason you brothers and sisters
01:08:13 can rejoice in God is through Jesus Christ.
01:08:17 Apart from what Christ has done and continues to do,
01:08:21 God is not worth rejoicing in.
01:08:24 He may be worth it,
01:08:25 but God is not someone that we're going to rejoice in,
01:08:27 but rather he is someone that we have nothing
01:08:31 but dread and total fear of.
01:08:33 And not only fear of him in a reverence capacity,
01:08:36 but fear of his inevitable judgment but for the christian there is now therefore no more
01:08:42 condemnation for those who are in christ jesus let's pray father thank you for your word bless
01:08:48 it to your people help us to believe in your covenant promises help us to rest in christ
01:08:53 finished work help us to trust not only what christ has done but what he continues to do on
01:08:58 our behalf at your right hand that he is praying for us and that his prayers mean something that
01:09:04 his prayers are effective, that his prayers never fail, that if Christ is for us, none can be against
01:09:11 us, that you are no longer our enemy, but our beloved father. Help us to rest in this, to take
01:09:18 hope in this, that all the challenges and trials that we experience in this life, that although
01:09:24 real, although significant, Lord, we pray that they would pale by comparison to this glorious truth.
01:09:30 We pray these things for your glory and for our continued good.
01:09:34 We pray these things in the name of Jesus.
01:09:36 Amen.