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Righteousness

The Blessings of Righteousness

Josh Yates · Sunday, 22 June 2025 · Romans 5:1-11 · 49:40 · 8,296 words

Romans S9 · 5:1-11 Lake Orion

There is no public page for this message yet — the transcript below is the whole of it.

The sermon unpacks Romans 5:1‑5, showing that through faith we are justified and have peace with God, not because of our own goodness but because of Christ’s blood. It emphasizes that God’s grace gives us direct access to Him, a hope rooted in His glory, and that suffering builds endurance, character, and final hope. The message invites listeners to trust Jesus, confess Him as Lord, and rest in the assurance that even if He never did another thing, His salvation would be enough.

What this sermon is about

Ranked by keyness against every other sermon in the corpus. Each one is a word this sermon actually said — nothing here was written by a model.

enough 30 royce 8 suffer 26 rejoice 20 peace 24 character 18 miller 6 produce 15 endurance 12 roll 8 powerless 6 passover 5

Topics

Faith 8 Hope 7 Sin 6 Salvation 4 Justification 4 Suffering 4 Grace 3 Atonement & Sacrifice 2 The Wrath of God 1 Mission & Evangelism 1 Righteousness 1 Judgment 1 The Gospel 1

Scripture referenced 14

Verified against the transcript. A reference the recording does not support is never listed here.

Romans 1:16-17 2:16 Colossians 1:19-20 4:11 Romans 5 6:30 Romans 5:1 6:49 John 17:24 13:48 Ephesians 3 22:33 Ephesians 3:17-19 22:36 2 Corinthians 12:9 23:50 Romans 5:6 25:34 Romans 5:8 26:18 Romans 5:10 26:20 Romans 5:9-10 29:34 Romans 5:9 29:53 John 14:19 37:17

Transcript

Every word, as spoken, with the second it was said. Each word links to its own entry in the index.

Pre-service announcement — 8 lines, 0:39. Excluded from every count and search on this site, kept here so nothing is hidden.

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Well, we get to dig right back in to the book of Romans that we've been doing for most of the summer.

We will be in Romans for quite a while and we'll be in Romans through really Christmas, up to Christmas this year.

Romans is just an awesome book of the Bible. We learn so much.

And last week, last week has really been sticking with me.

It's been sticking with me.

When we realize that we worship the God who brings death,

dead things to life and calls things into existence, the things that we're not.

I mean, that's mind blowing that we serve that kind of a God that loves us that much,

that calls dead things into life and brings things to existence that we're not.

You know, for anybody who's struggling with anything, we ought to know that God holds us and he's always with us.

He never leaves us. He never forsakes us.

But that's not all we learned. That was kind of a what coming up to that point.

Man, in the book of Romans, we've learned that before no person knows Jesus,

there really is no chance for peace because that person just doesn't know God.

They're far from God.

In fact, we have no choice but to sin apart from God.

That's the reality. We have no choice but to sin.

We don't know anything else because before his grace changes us, it's how we live.

I am so I'm reminded so often and I have to remind people around us around me all the time.

We have to stop expecting people to act like Jesus when they don't know him.

We look at the world around us.

And we're like, it's so terrible and we complain about it.

Yeah, they don't know Jesus when we see the pain in the world around us when we see everything around us.

It should actually motivate us to go back to Romans 1, 16 and 17 where it says,

I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ because that is God's salvation for the world.

And yet so often when we look at the world, we complain about it more than it moving our hearts to tell people about who Jesus is.

We have to be thinking about that. It's how he saves people.

But then because of what we wanted, because of this sin,

that we commit, God gave us all over to what we wanted, not him.

The destructive effects of sin has separated people from one another and from God.

And it's degraded our hearts, our actions and our minds.

And society at large is not a follower of Jesus.

And we see it continue to degrade and it will continue to degrade.

It all results in alienation from God, first and foremost, and alienation from people around us.

I believe it's a big reason why we've lost the ability to disagree with people today,

because it alienates us from God.

It alienates us from each other.

We start looking only at ourselves and only how we want to live our own lives.

And so we're alienated from one another.

And if you disagree with me, you hate me now.

And it'll continue to degrade.

We're so alienated from one another that it's either you're going to tell me what I want to hear or you're out of my life.

And that sends us to more depravity.

And we all stand under the righteous judgment and the wrath of God.

I get it.

We don't like to hear about that.

As much as you don't like to hear it, I also don't love preaching it.

It's not like I get up here.

These are the first.

These are the first three chapters of Romans.

I'm like, yes, judgment again.

Here we go.

Right?

And yet we have to understand, again, how bad the bad news is before we can understand how good the good news is.

There's no way to pull yourself up by your bootstraps when it comes to our relationship with the Lord.

It's only through Christ.

And here's what Paul would say to the Colossians in Colossians 1, 19 to 20.

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile himself all things, whether on heaven or in heaven.

Whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of the cross.

In fact, that's what we're talking about this morning.

Jesus has reconciled people to himself when they placed their trust in him, and he has made peace with us through the cross and his shed blood.

Jesus alone makes it possible for us to have a relationship with God.

There was once a man in England who put his Rolls Royce on a boat and went across the continent to go on holiday.

I love how those in Britain call.

vacations, holiday. It sounds so much more

or it's, I don't know, it sounds better. I don't know why. But while he was driving around Europe,

something happened to the motor of his car. He called Rolls-Royce and was like back in England

and said, I'm having trouble with my car. What do you suggest I do? Well, the Rolls-Royce people

flew a mechanic over to where he was. The mechanic repaired the car, flew back to England and left

the man to continue his holiday. As you can imagine, the fellow was wondering, how much is

this going to cost me? I mean, it's a Rolls-Royce. I don't care how old this story is. Rolls-Royce,

still Rolls-Royce. Okay. So when he got back to England, he wrote the people a letter and asked

how much he owed them. He received a letter from the office that read, dear sir, there is no record

anywhere in our files that anything ever went wrong with a Rolls-Royce. The reality is though,

is that him not having to pay that, that illustration, that's justification, right?

It's as though it never happened. It happened, but they're like, uh-uh, Rolls-Royces, they're perfect.

No, but the reality is, that's justification. There's no longer a record of your sin.

When God says you're justified, he doesn't keep a record of it anymore. He removes your sin from

you as far as the East is from the West. That should just change our lives. We could stop

right there and the sermon could be over and you'd be like, yes, let's go. Okay. But the reality of

it is that's justification. And we're going to hear about that today and so much more that we

can have peace with God. So let's turn our Bibles to Romans chapter five. Romans five, that's where

we're going to plant for most of the time today. In fact, I'm going to go verse by verse today.

And really just talk through what Paul's talking about when he's talking about this peace with God

and what that looks like and how it applies to our lives. So let's start in verse one. Therefore,

we're going to stop there. All right. We're going to stop right at that first verse. All right. Our

first word. Again, I love doing this every time I have a chance because Bible study 101, we have

to get it. We got to know what this is. I don't know. Some of you have heard this. Many of you

have heard me say this before. When there is therefore, we got to find out what it's. Therefore, exactly.

Right. When there is a word therefore or and so or but now, all of those kind of comments, you cannot

look at what we're going to look at this morning without remembering or at least going back and

reading everything that Paul said at the beginning of his book. Okay. This is a letter to the Roman,

the church in Rome. Okay. So to just pull this one verse out, we can get into some error. And we do

that all the time in the scripture. This is called the connecting word. And so Paul is connecting this

everything that he just said are that our sin condemns us that the world is depraved that we have

we have done and even do the same things that we cannot condemn people that we've all fallen short

of God's glory. But God's righteousness has been revealed. Everything we've talked about over the

last seven weeks is coming to a head right here. And he doesn't multiple times in this letter to

the Romans. We've been justified. But let's read it. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith,

we have peace

with God through our Lord, Jesus Christ. Again, we've been justified. What is that again?

Justification. It's just as if I'd never sinned. That's how God sees you. When you are covered by

the blood of Christ, he sees Christ's perfection, not your sinfulness. Praise God, because I'm

pretty screwed up. I don't know about you. I need a savior so desperately. And we've been justified

by God. By what? By faith. By having faith in who? Jesus Christ. And

we now have peace with God. Are you kidding me? I mean, peace with God. What kind of peace is this?

It's the idea of it is well with my soul. We have peace with God now, but it's also a not yet peace.

We have peace, but we'll have ultimate peace once we are in heaven with him, when it's made

complete. When we think about peace in the world, though, most of the time, it's having fun. It's

doing something we enjoy. It's essential oils and a bath. That's not me. That's never going to

happen. Throw that out there. It's not my deal. Who am I kidding? I like a bath too. It's being in

God's creation when it's quiet, when you have no light pollution and you see the sky and the stars

just light up the sky. Sometimes for those of us that have kids and for many of you who have

young kids, it's when it's just quiet in the house. Of course, I don't know if that's peaceful

because then you wonder what's actually going on, right? Sometimes it's relational.

peace where we've now got peace with somebody that we haven't had for a long time. Sometimes it's just

the fact that our thoughts would finally stop and we can get some rest. This is peace that God is

talking about is all of this, but it's so much more. It's found in the creator of peace, the one who

actually created it, who makes all things whole and well. Paul's established that we were at war

with God. We were at war with God when we're a sinner. And now he's saying we can have peace

with him. We were his enemy and God has put that to bed. It has been destroyed. And who is it

through? Jesus alone. There is no other name under heaven by which people must be saved. It is Jesus

Christ. And we cannot believe anything else. It's Jesus plus nothing is peace with God. Then verse

two, through him, we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we

rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Through Jesus, we have obtained access to the glory of God.

Access. We were cast out before. We've obtained access to him and to his grace. We have access to

him. How? Because of faith. We now stand in the grace of God. We're not just given it. We live in

it. We breathe it. We walk in it. It is all around us. God's grace envelops us. How should that change

how we view every day? How should that change our neighbor that ticks us off or our co-worker?

God's grace is all around us. We live in it.

We are lifeblood, knowing that God's grace is all around us. It's how we can live. Pastor Tim Keller

says this, the only person who dares wake up the king at 3 a.m. for a glass of water is a child of

the king. And we have that kind of access to God. Similarly, Mike Bird says, it is a grace that means

we always have a VIP pass into the hallways of heavenly power. We have that kind of access to

the king of kings and the Lord of lords. That's grace.

You know, Jesus this morning, the hostility between you and him has been destroyed and you have access

to him. There is no hostility, only grace. My friends, when we were sinners, the only thing we

knew was God's wrath and judgment. And now after Christ, because of Christ, the only thing we know

is his grace and his mercy. That's all we know. That's all we know. And this hope is in the glory

of God. That's our hope. It's not hoping that the not, I mean, not the Niners, the Lions, right?

Make sure to throw that out for you.

Um, that the Lions win the Superbowl. For those of you that don't know, I'm a Niner fan. This is how

I got it. We can have that conversation later, but I'm from California. You can make fun of me all you

want. But the reality is we have a hope in these kinds of things sometimes, right? It's not that

hope. It's in the glory of God and that the glory of God that's coming for us. And this is what it

looks like. First John three, two says, beloved, we are God's children now. And what we will be

has not yet appeared, but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him because we shall

see him as he is. Second Peter three 13. But according to his promise, we are waiting for

new heavens and a new earth in which his righteousness dwells. Habakkuk two 14 for the

earth will be filled in the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

John 17, 24, Jesus said, father, I desire that they also whom you have given me may be with me

where I am to see my glory that you have given me because you love me before the foundation of the

world. He wants us to see his glory.

And deliver us from death. What a savior, what a savior that he wants to reveal all of his glory

to us. And we get glimpses of that in our lives. Now versus three to five, not only that, but we

rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces

character and character produces hope. And hope does not put us to shame because God's love has

been poured into our hearts through the Holy spirit who has been given to us. Paul says, not

only this, not only the glory of God, not only you have access, not only his grace and mercy,

not only that there's more Paul now hits us where we live. This is where the rubber meets the road

for us. And where Paul is like reminding us that all of this is available to us.

But this is living in life.

There is suffering in life.

There is suffering.

There's a reality of it.

There's going to be suffering now.

We will see the glory of God even in the middle of our suffering,

but it won't be complete until we reach heaven.

And why can we rejoice in suffering?

Because of our hope in God.

And it sounds so oxymoronic, right?

We can rejoice in suffering.

I don't know about you.

I don't really ever rejoice when I'm suffering, you know.

But if we can get a different perspective on it,

within the grace of God,

he tells us here that suffering produces endurance.

The Greek word here for suffering literally means to press

or to squash or to put under pressure.

I mean, we don't like pressure.

I don't know about you.

I don't like getting squished either.

But times in life just put us under pressure, doesn't it?

Sometimes we're being squeezed out like toothpaste in a tube.

What does that kind of suffering produce in us

when we're keeping our eyes on the Lord?

It produces endurance.

We learn how to live life with Jesus.

We learn how to let God.

We learn how to let go when we can't do anything else.

We learn how to have faith.

And that faith grows deeper

because God reveals more of himself every single time

in the midst of our suffering.

I don't know why we would think it'd be any different.

If you want to get stronger, what do you literally have to do?

You got to go to the gym and rip your muscles apart.

That's why your muscles get bigger.

Because they tear.

And they heal back with more fibers.

You're literally breaking down your muscle to build more muscle.

That is how life works.

And sometimes we get very broken down.

But in those moments,

we have choices to make.

Are we going to look at the glory of God?

Are we going to look at the hope of God?

Are we going to keep our eyes on God?

Or are we going to try to figure it out all on our own

and then take the credit for it later?

Because that kind of suffering will never develop endurance.

But then what does he say endurance produces?

Endurance produces character.

The idea here and the words here is the refining of metals.

Getting rid of the impurities in order to get a pure metal.

Endurance helps us to get the stuff out of our lives

that keeps us from God's will for our lives.

And character, this is a character that comes directly from God.

This is a character that comes directly from God.

This is a character that comes directly from God.

He works his will and his way in us as we endure with him.

And there is an idea of enduring here.

We're enduring the weight.

And as that happens, we begin to develop a character

that only God forges in the fire of suffering.

And if we have a God that we are convinced that loves us,

he never leaves us in the middle of it.

He walks through every step.

He says the waters won't rise above you.

When the weapon's formed, it won't prosper.

Some of us in this room are walking through some dark times.

And if I can be a little transparent,

I had some major anxiety.

Like crippling anxiety about three or four weeks ago.

Where in the middle of a week, man, I couldn't do a thing.

Happens to me every once in a while.

I've struggled with anxiety in my life.

And I was attacked by the enemy.

And he was coming in like a flood.

I didn't sleep for like four nights.

I kept crying out to the Lord.

And I learned more about him.

It doesn't happen to me all the time.

It's happened to me about three, four times in my life.

About four weeks ago, it was one of those times.

I think it's because the enemy is doing things in my life,

doing things in this location, doing things in other places.

But I want to tell you, it wasn't fun.

It wasn't fun.

And even,

even today, I still feel a little bruised by it.

You know, when you go through things like that,

you can feel bruised mentally too.

It's not easy to go through suffering.

And you have those moments where,

God, why am I struggling with this?

This is stupid.

I'm a moron.

I'm a loser.

Yeah, I had all those thoughts.

I bet many of us have those thoughts.

But we have to go back to what's true.

You got to go back to his word.

Because that suffering produces endurance.

For some of us, it's mental.

For some of us, it's financial.

For some of us, it's relational.

For some of us, it's physical.

So for some of us, it's been a terrible life.

Life is hard at times.

The thing about our Lord is, though,

is that he always gives purpose to those times.

Because he's developing us in a character

that can only be formed in those moments.

And what does this character produce?

Commentator called this character tried integrity.

An integrity that's tried and that's refined.

And once our character in God grows, hope springs from it because we're looking at God.

We've learned more of who he is and how he will never leave you or forsake you.

And then Paul says this hope will never put us to shame.

This hope is real.

Why?

Because God has poured out his love on you.

Literally poured it out.

Poured it out.

Set it on you.

He's lavished it on you.

In fact, it's his agape love.

Paul never refers to the love that God has for us as anything other than agape.

And he never refers to the love that we have for him as anything more than phileo.

Because it's hard for us to have an unconditional love for God.

But God's love for us is always unconditional.

And when we go through the things of life, we realize that we are overflowing with God's love when we really understand it.

Doesn't mean it's not easy or that it is easy.

I don't want you to hear me this morning saying, hey, it's great.

You're going through hard times.

Hey, it's going to be hopeful.

Eventually, yay.

That's not at all what I'm saying.

Don't hear me say that this morning.

But know that he walks through the waters with you.

And there's a purpose in what you're going through.

We may not know that purpose until heaven one day.

But as he works in you and through you and as other people see God working in you and through you,

what did Paul say later?

That we have been comforted with the comfort of God.

Why?

So we can comfort others.

He gives us purpose.

I can't tell you how many times the fact that I did not have a, I mean, my dad was alive,

but he was not myself.

He was my father.

I cannot tell you how many times in almost 20 years of youth ministry,

I was able to talk to students about what it meant to make God your father and not have a dad.

Do I wish things would have been different?

But I also look back and go, I don't think I would be a pastor today if I had had my dad's influence in my life.

I would have been a totally different person.

God has a purpose in every single thing that's happening.

It doesn't, it's not always fun.

Not always fun.

It is, the results can be good.

The results can be good.

Remember what Paul said in Ephesians 3 that I read last week?

Ephesians 3, 17 and 19 says,

What's love for you is so deep, so high, so wide.

You can't fathom it.

And I've been saying over the last few weeks,

I'm only beginning to really believe that he loves me.

I'm only beginning to really believe that he loves me.

I'm only beginning to really believe that he loves me.

I'm only beginning to really believe that he loves me.

I'm only beginning to really believe that he loves me.

I'm only beginning to really believe that he loves me.

I'm only beginning to really believe that he loves me.

I'm only beginning to really believe that he loves me.

I'm only beginning to really believe that he loves me.

I'm only beginning to really believe that he loves me.

I'm only beginning to really believe that he loves me.

I'm only beginning to really believe that he loves me.

And I've followed him since I was three years old.

I'm turning 47 in a couple months.

I'm only actually beginning to believe that he loves me.

It's a difference between knowing it and believing it.

Because when you believe it, it changes you.

Because I don't always love me.

I don't love what I see.

I don't love sometimes how I react.

I see the negatives, right?

A lot of us do.

God loves all of it.

Paul would even speak of his suffering and weaknesses in 2 Corinthians 12, 9.

All the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Commentator said it this way.

We exult in suffering because it is the path to spiritual maturity and glory.

The great saints of God all agree.

Ask Abraham and he will direct your attention to the sacrifice on Mount Moriah of Isaac.

Ask Jacob and he will point to his stone pillow.

Ask Joseph and he will tell you about the dungeon he found himself in.

Ask Moses and he will remind you of his trials with Pharaoh.

David will tell you of his songs that came in the night when he couldn't sing.

Peter will speak of his denial.

John, the isle of Patmos, where he wrote the revelation.

And Jesus would speak to you of the cross.

Blessings are poured out in bitter cups.

Suffering is so difficult, but it will come.

God gives a purpose.

Commentator, another commentator put it so very well

that what God is doing.

God's priority is not to take away all of our problems.

It's to make us more like Jesus.

Number two, God's promises can be trusted.

Number three, God's pattern will lead us to him

and lead us to hope.

Suffering gives way to endurance,

gives way to character, gives way to hope.

And then Paul says, when we endure in faith,

this hope will never put us to shame.

It will never disappoint us.

It will never disappoint us because he is our hope.

Verse six, for while we were still weak

at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.

This is a huge reality of God's love for us.

We can't miss this here.

Many of us may have heard this verse,

but think about it for a minute.

We have to think about what Paul is telling us here.

When we were still weak, Jesus died for who?

The ungodly, those that hated him,

those that didn't want anything to do with him.

The word here for weak,

it's actually better translated as powerless.

When we were powerless.

See, we're described in the coming verses

in number six as powerless, also in six as ungodly.

In verse eight, we're described as sinners.

In verse 10, we're described as enemies of God.

Yet at the right time, Jesus died for us.

When we were powerless to change our eternal destiny,

when we were powerless to stop sinning,

when we were powerless to know him,

when we were ungodly and wanted nothing to do with him,

what did he do?

He died in our place.

He died for us.

When we were unsightly, when we were ungodly,

when we, again, we hated him, died for us.

Verse 78, for one will scarcely die for a righteous person,

but he will die for us.

Verse 78, for one will scarcely die for a righteous person,

but he will die for us.

Verse 78, for one will scarcely die for a righteous person,

but he will die for us.

Though perhaps for a good person,

one would dare to even die.

But God shows his love for us

in that while we were still sinners,

Christ died for us.

Talks to us about how people act, right?

I mean, we might die for someone that we love.

We might.

I mean, I'd like to believe that I'd do whatever I could

to save my wife and daughters.

I'd step in front of a semi if I had to.

Someone that hates me.

Someone that talks behind my back.

Someone that wants to see me fail.

Someone that's hurt my family.

I perceive as a threat

or is just a thorn in my side all the time.

I'm not doing that.

That's not what I'm going to do.

But when we were all those things and more,

Jesus died for us.

He died for us.

Great illustration of the Revolutionary War.

There was a faithful preacher of the gospel

by the name of Peter Miller.

He lived near a fellow man who hated him intensely

for his Christian life and testimony.

In fact, this man violently opposed him

and ridiculed his followers.

One day, this unbeliever was found guilty of treason

and sentenced to death.

Hearing about this,

Peter Miller set out on fire

to intercede for the man's life

before George Washington.

The general listened to the minister's earnest plea

but told him he didn't feel

that he should pardon his friend.

He is not my friend, said Miller.

In fact, he's my worst living enemy.

Washington was bewildered.

He's like, you have walked 60 miles

to save the life of your enemy?

That, in my judgment,

puts the matter in a different light.

I will grant your request.

With a pardon in hand,

Miller hastened to the place

where his neighbor was to be executed

and arrived just as the prisoner

was walking away.

He came off to the scaffold.

When the traitor saw Miller,

old Peter Miller has come to have his revenge

by watching me hang.

But he was astonished

as he watched the minister step out of the crowd

and produce the pardon which spared his life.

That's what Jesus has done for us.

The greatness of God's love

is displayed in the cost it took

and in our unworthiness of it.

How great the cross is.

Verses nine to 10.

Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood,

much more shall we be saved by him

from the wrath of God.

For if while we were,

we were reconciled to God

by the death of his son,

much more now that we are reconciled,

shall we be saved by his life.

See, Paul reminds us

what we've been saved from in verse nine.

We've been justified by Jesus.

Our sin has been removed,

but we can't forget what Jesus

death does for us completely. Since we've been justified, Jesus has also satisfied the wrath of

God the Father. Father's wrath was poured out on Jesus at the cross instead of on us. Everything

that we've learned about in these first four chapters of Romans about God's wrath on sin,

his righteous and just wrath on sin, it doesn't fall on us anymore. It fell on Jesus. We can't

miss that fact. This should cause us to cry, holy, holy, holy is the lamb. We should cause us to

praise him every day because of what he has actually done. See, the problem is we like to

step back and go, well, I'm not that bad. I haven't done that bad stuff. And I'm going to say it again.

If our sin isn't a big deal, the cross is not a big deal. If we think that we're somehow justified

in and of ourselves, the cross doesn't matter. But if our sin is what God says it is, the cross

is the most monumental event in all of human history because it's changed and given us an

opportunity to have a relationship with a holy God. I mean, Jesus did. And then Paul says, you

know, wait a minute. Jesus did the difficult thing. He died in our place, paying for our sin and

justifying us. Of course, he can now do the easier thing, saving us from God's wrath and giving us

his life to live it abundantly. While we were enemies, Jesus did this. He didn't just save us

from something. My friends, he saved us to something, to live for him. It's not just from

the bad things of life. It's to an abundant life that God has called us. Now that abundant life

doesn't mean you're going to be rich, but it does mean you can be rich in him.

It's about him, not about this world. Verse 11, more than that. It's like, Paul, what are you

saying? Paul's like, Paul's going nuts here. He is excited. You have to understand this. He's like,

wait, you know about this? Hey, did you know about this? Hey, wait, more than that. It's this. Hey,

whoa, it's more, it's more than that. More than that. He's, he's excited when he's writing this.

He says, so he does more than that. We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

through whom we now have received reconciliation. Paul's saying, look, sit and consider what God's

done. This is life changing. It's eternity changing. It's everything changing. Not only

that, it can be even better than what we just talked about. This is relationship with God

changing because for Paul, salvation is so absolutely amazing that he went nuts with the

metaphors in this passage. He's talking about all kinds of different things. We get to rejoice

in God. We get to rejoice in him. What does it mean to rejoice in God? Tim Keller

wrote some comments about what it means to rejoice in God. And I love it. He actually

died in 2023 of cancer, but listen to what he says about rejoicing in God. He says, number one,

your mind is deeply satisfied with the doctrine of justification by faith. You rejoice in it by

studying it and speaking about it to others. Rejoice in God to understand that he no longer

holds my sins against me. Again, if we don't truly understand how our sin is an affront to God,

and he hates our sin and he no longer holds it against us, that should cause us to dance in the

streets. I mean, think about it. If you've been forgiven, I mean,

gosh, I'm thinking about play Hamilton. I love Broadway plays. Okay. Some of you may be going,

oh, great, you know, whatever. But there's a point at the end where Alexander Hamilton,

he's cheated on his wife and she is just like, you know, and it's, it's the song.

It's quiet downtown. It's called downtown, I think. And he's just walking with her and he

just keeps walking with her. And their son had been, had been, had been killed in a duel and

she hasn't yet forgiven. And then there's this line in the song that just says forgiveness. Can you

imagine forgiveness when you know you're guilty and you long for nothing more to be restored to

someone and they forgive you of something that you are so ashamed of. There is such a freedom

that comes with that. And that is what God offers to every single one of us. That kind of forgiveness

that changes us. Number two, you only think in your past terms of your past life. You don't say

what a mess I made of it there. You say me, a Christian, despite my deep flaws, despite my

record, it's absolutely true that God loves me. When you discover that you're not a Christian,

the discovery doesn't make you doubt God's love. It makes you feel closer to him and his grace for

you becomes more precious.

in your sight because he loves you in spite of another character flaw. When your conscience

accuses you and says, how could God love you after what you've done? You don't try to answer

with reference to your performance. You thank God for the cross of Jesus Christ. When you face

criticism, you don't say this is totally unfair. You rejoice gently inside with thoughts like, well,

I'm really a much worse sinner than they know, but the accuser can roar of the sins that I've done.

I know them all and thousands more. God knows even more and he has called me his son or daughter and

I'm justified before him. When you face death, you do it with serenity because you are going to

a friend to rejoice in God like that. As you get to know God, you fall deeper and deeper in love

with him. You learn of his character. You learn how he loves you. You learn what he really did

for you, what he really did for you. I love being able to talk about God with so many of you. I've

been able to have coffee with a lot of you and just talk about the Lord or just in and seeing

you in different places, being able to talk about what life really is like. When I get to, there are

times when so many people have the light go on in their faces and I just love seeing that light.

Some of you haven't grown up in church and when you hear of a God that loves you and how he loves

you and who he is and what he's done, I love getting to sit back and see God change some of

you. Some of you kind of went to church and when you say things like, I never knew, it blows my

mind that God would even allow my wife and I to be a part of any of that in any life. I never knew

God was like that. I get to hear that. Then others have been around the church for a while. I get to

hear how God's faithfulness is changing. I get to hear how God's faithfulness is changing. I get to

hear how God's faithfulness has worked in your life over many years and there's times when I see

tears fall when you're struggling too and it's an honor to walk through those waters too. We cling

to the one we rejoice in, right? Suffering is a part of life. We cling to the one we get to rejoice

in. Everything's going to be made right in heaven and we can experience God in his peace now, but

also not yet. John 14, 19 says, yet a little while, Jesus is saying, yet a little while and the world

will see me no more, but you will see me because I live, you also will live. The promise of Jesus to

every single one of us that know him.

Can I tell you today? Rejoice in God. Rejoice in him. Don't just make it a religious exercise.

Rejoice in who he is. I want us to know and take away this morning that God has given us so much

that if he never did another thing for us, it would be enough. He's already done so much for

us that if he never did another thing for us, it would be enough. See, during the Passover and the

Passover Seder that Jews celebrate, they remember what God did for them as they were saved out of

Egypt. You know, I've said before, I've been watching the series, The Chosen. I love it. It is a great series.

I do want to tell you, don't get your theology from a TV show, okay? But it is an excellent show

that puts skin on the stories, the accounts that we read in God's word. It's been such a great thing

for me. My family was there while Jeannie and I were able to see season five in the theater back

in Easter, and it's now releasing on Amazon Prime. If you have that, it's going to be releasing in

the summer sometime on the free app too, so you can watch it for free eventually here. But this

season is all about the Last Supper.

It's all about the Last Supper and what they celebrated and how they celebrated it.

The disciples and Jesus are celebrating Passover because for the first time,

with the real Lamb of God, they're celebrating this Passover. Passover looked forward to that,

and they're in the room with the Lamb of God. And there's this process, these sayings that's

called the Dayenu in Jewish tradition, where they remember everything that God did for them

in saving them from Egypt and slavery. It's such an awesome thing, and there's a version of it in

and I want to read it for you. Each of the disciples are saying these things around the table

as they're having the Lord's Supper, the Last Supper with Jesus. They say,

if he had brought us out of Egypt and not made judgments against our adversaries,

it would have been enough. If he had made judgments against our adversaries and had not destroyed their

idols, it would have been enough. If he had destroyed their idols and had not given us their

wealth, it would have been enough. If he had given us their wealth and had not split the sea for us,

it would have been enough.

enough. If he had split the sea for us

and not taken us through it on dry land,

it would have been enough. If he had taken us through on dry land and not drowned our enemies,

it would have been enough. If he had drowned our enemies and had not supplied our needs in the

desert for 40 years, it would have been enough. If he had supplied our needs in the desert and

had not given us the Torah, it would have been enough. The Torah is the Old Testament. If he

had given us the Torah and had not brought us into the land of Israel, it would have been enough.

If he had brought us into the land of Israel and had not built us the temple, it would have been

enough. And then James, one of the disciples of Jesus at that time, adds something to it that's a

little theatrical license in this series, but I love what he says. He says, just big James stands

up and he says, if he had only built the holy temple and not sent the Messiah in our lifetime,

it would have been enough. We would have waited, but you chose us. It is enough. Later on in that

same episode, crazily enough, I looked it up because I wanted to kind of watch it a little

bit because I had the God kind of placed.

The conclusion for me early on in the week, I looked at it. This episode released this morning

at 3 a.m. on Amazon Prime. I couldn't, it hadn't been released until today, what I'm about to tell

you. And Jesus in this scene is having a meal with his disciples that were women. Jesus did have

disciples that were women. Again, we don't see a lot of that in the Bible. And again, we don't get

our theology from a TV show, but it's definitely possible that something like this could have

happened. And they gave him a version of the Dayenu that I don't know if I'm able to get through,

but I'm going to try to read it for you.

He says this,

Mary Magdalene, who many theological scholars believe that was the prostitute that Jesus

saved from being stoned. In this scene, Mary Magdalene says,

if you had only performed signs and wonders and not called me by name, it would have been enough.

Then Eden, who's Simon Peter's wife, says, if you had only healed Mary of demons and not called my

husband, it would have been enough.

Then Tamar, in this scene, she's an Egyptian disciple of Jesus in the show, says, if you had

only called Simon Peter and not healed my friend, it would have been enough. Then Martha, the sister

to Lazarus, who was raised from the dead, says, if you had only healed Ethan and not raised my

brother, it would have been enough. Then Mary, the other sister of Jesus, who was actually at his

feet, and Jesus protected her honor, she says, if you had only raised my brother and not defended

my honor when I worshiped you, it would have been enough. Then Joanna, who is a Roman follower of

Christ in the show, says this, if you had only defended Mary but not given meaning to my life

that had been so unfulfilled by letting me support you in this miraculous family that I believe will

change the world, it would have been enough. I'll tell you, I was watching this and I was an

absolute wreck. There's so many things that God could do. If he did another thing, it would have

been enough, but he keeps giving, keeps loving, and he keeps moving in our lives because he loves

us as his children. So I would hope that this is the case. I would hope that this is the case. I would

hope that this is the case. I would hope that this is the case. I would hope that this is the case.

And I wrote a couple of my own, it would have been enough. He said, if he had been a father to this

fatherless one and not given me a family that loves me and I love dearly, it would have been

enough. If he had given me a family that loves me and I love dearly and not called and equipped me

to serve him, it would have been enough. What we've learned today, he had only saved me from

the penalty of my sin and not done you fill in the blank from your life.

it would have been enough, but he continues to move. He continues to love. He continues to make

us more like him. Sometimes it's through suffering leads to his hope. Like Paul says, not only that,

not only that has Jesus done, not only that has God the Father done, he's given us peace with

himself. See, God has given us so much that if he never did another thing for us, it would be enough.

Have you met him today? Have you given him your life? Because if you don't know Jesus as your

Savior, you simply need to believe who he says he is, that he's a son of God, that he did what he

said he did and died on the cross. Ask him for forgiveness of your sin and call on the name of

the Lord and you'll be saved. Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart

that God raised him from the dead and you'll be saved. And if that's, if you're not sure that you

know him as Savior, call on the name of the Lord. Tell him who you believe he is and ask him to

forgive you and he will come into your life and he will save you. But not only that, he will walk

with you every minute of the day. If you've been struggling, know that your God has never

left you or forsaken you. He loves you right where you are. He knows that suffering can be

difficult, but he comes to us and he says this suffering that we experience, it produces endurance

in us. And that endurance is going to produce the character that I want for you. This world is

broken. And so rather than just having suffering happen for no reason, we're going to, we're going

to take it and we're going to help you develop that character of Jesus. And that character is

going to give you hope and it's going to give you an ability to help others. And not only that,

he'll walk every step of the way, no matter where you are. Good, bad, so high, so low.

So far and so deep. Strengthened in his love. Like Paul, we could say, not only that, because

what's your, it would have been enough. Sometimes we just have to sit in the reality of who God is.

Be thankful for what he's done, for where we've come from. It may not be fun where we are,

but we got to remember where we've come from. To save us, it would have been. Remember how much

you're loved. Peace. Father, I just thank you so much for your love. I thank you for this peace

that you've offered us, that you give us. Thank you for your word. I just pray that we just be

so thankful for how you love us, for what you've done. That if

the only thing you did was save us from the penalty of our sin, it would have been enough.

But we say with Paul, not only have you done that, but I pray that you deepen our relationship with

you. That wherever we are, we would take a next step in you. That we would desire you more. That

we would understand you more. That God, we would speak of you more. Help us to see you in good

times or in rough times. Help us to cling to you at any time, every time. Help us to believe,

not just know, but believe. Thank you. Stand and worship.