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[0:00] I say Happy Mother's Day. I appreciate the mothers.! I appreciate a lot of the sacrifice a lot of them make.

[0:11] It's from Romans chapter 5 this morning.

[0:33] Not a negative message. Praise the good Lord. Not a negative message at all. In fact, you find a lot of positivity in the book of Romans. Paul, of course, being the author of this letter to the church at Rome.

[0:51] We find a lot of biblical and church doctrine within the pages of the letter to the Romans. And I'm thankful for that.

[1:03] You know, doctrine is very important. You know, there's people out there that say, I don't need theology. I don't need doctrine. Just give me the Bible and give me Jesus.

[1:14] Folks, the Bible is where you get your doctrine from. And the Bible is exactly what instructs you of which Jesus you are to worship. Because the world has thousands, maybe millions of Jesuses out there.

[1:28] But there's only one true Christ. And if that's the Christ that you are to worship, you will worship the Christ of the Scriptures. And the Scriptures is where you will get your doctrine and where you will get your theology from.

[1:40] So don't let anybody tell you that doctrine is not important. In fact, you read the letters that Paul wrote to Timothy many, many times. Doctrine is brought up in those letters. And keep in mind, when Paul wrote those letters, he was writing to a young pastor, telling him how important doctrine was.

[1:59] So don't let anybody tell you that it's not important. All that being said, the first few chapters of Romans, chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4, a lot of what a lot of people would consider negativity is found in the first three chapters.

[2:17] But folks, it is nothing more than Paul stripping away every element of human pride that there is and showing us that we are all sinners before God and we all stand in need of a Savior.

[2:33] In chapter 4, he uses a couple of very good examples. In the fourth chapter of Romans, he uses the example of Abraham being one whom God literally just looked down and chose, brought Abram out of the land of Ur, told him, you get yourself away from your family, get yourself away from the land that you're in.

[2:57] You go to the land that I'm promising you. And I'm going to multiply your seed, such as the stars are in the sky, such as the sand is on the seashore.

[3:07] And then he also, in Romans 4, uses the example of David. And of course, David, we all know King David from the Scriptures, or we should all know King David from the Scriptures.

[3:20] King David being one who, the only person in Scripture as described as being a man after God's own heart. But David had sin.

[3:31] David had major sin in his life. But chapter 4 shows that not only the one that God just simply looked down and chose to bring out of the land of Ur, Abram, and not only the one that we know had a lot of sin in his life, not that Abram was sinless, but as far as the Scriptural account goes, David had the sin of adultery, he had the sin of lying, he had the sin of deceit, he had the sin of murder against him, and the same grace that brought Abram out of Ur into the Promised Land or toward the Promised Land is the same grace that David was crying out for in so many of the Psalms.

[4:10] And it's the same grace that saved David. And that's the whole point of Romans chapter 4 is to show that grace and whom it is for, it is for everyone. So all that being said, we come to Romans chapter 5.

[4:23] Romans chapter 5 beginning at verse 1 says, Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we also have access by faith into this grace, wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

[4:43] And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not a shame, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us.

[5:01] Back to verse 1. Verse 1 begins with a very important word. Therefore. Therefore. What is that word there in the Scripture for?

[5:13] Because Paul here is drawing a conclusion from the first four chapters. Again, chapters 1, 2, and 3 all show the depravity of man.

[5:28] All shows man's need for God because man is a sinful creature. Those three chapters show just how sinful that man can be. Those three chapters show us and tell us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

[5:43] Those three chapters tell us that there is none righteous. No, not one. Those three chapters tell us that. And then we come to this word therefore. So this is the conclusion that Paul is coming to in light of those first four chapters of the book of Romans.

[6:01] Although man be a sinner, although man is completely and totally depraved, although man is a wicked, evil thing outside of Jesus Christ, don't look at me like I've got three heads.

[6:13] Even Paul the Apostle himself said, I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. And if a man that wrote half of the New Testament can clarify to his audience and convey to us 2,000 years later that in his flesh dwelleth no good thing, I promise you, in your flesh and in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.

[6:39] This is Paul's conclusion considering all of that. Therefore, being justified by faith, not justified by your works, not justified because you're a good woman, not justified because you're a good man, not justified because you put a little money in the coffer, not justified because you feed the homeless, because you clothe the naked.

[7:04] Those things are all great and good and fine and well in their own right. But they do not earn you merit with God. They do not earn your way into salvation.

[7:15] Jesus Christ and His blood, shed blood, alone is what gets us to heaven. It is by faith in Him that we get to heaven. Not of our own works. Even Ephesians chapter 2, another letter that Paul wrote said, it is not of our own works lest any man should boast.

[7:32] We are saved by grace through faith. And that is it. Paul here says, therefore being justified by faith. Keep that in your mind.

[7:43] It is not of our own works. It is not of our own will. It is not of our own doing. It is by faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came here, was born of a virgin and lived the perfect life that you and I have failed to live that was impossible for you and I to live.

[8:02] Jesus Christ came and lived that life. He died, a substitutionary sacrifice on your behalf and on my behalf. He was buried. He resurrected the third and appointed in glorious mourning.

[8:14] He has since ascended to the Father where He forever sits at the right hand of majesty to make intercession and mediation to all who have repented of their sins and believed on Him.

[8:26] Therefore, therefore, being justified by faith, by faith in the one that lived the life that you couldn't. By faith in the one that died the death that would have done you no good.

[8:40] We've all got an appointment with death according to the scriptures, do we not? The Bible says in the book of Hebrews it is appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgment. We are all appointed to death and if Christ does not return in the taking out in the calling away of the church beforehand you and I have an appointment with death.

[9:05] Jesus Christ died a death that was good enough and it was pure enough and His blood was pure enough and He was holy enough and His blood was holy enough He died the death that you and I deserve.

[9:20] It was me that should have been on that cross it was you that should have been on that cross it was your parents it was your grandparents it was your children it was your grandchildren it was nephews nieces aunts and uncles every one of us should have been the one that was whipped every one of us should have been the one that was scourged every one of us should have been the one that was mocked and spit upon and Jesus Christ took your shame your guilt and your punishment upon Himself therefore it is by faith in Him in His glorious gospel that although man be a sinner God is a wonderful mighty powerful willing and able Savior it is by faith in that in the gospel of Jesus Christ that we stand justified before God therefore being justified by faith and by faith alone by faith alone yes there is some repentance that needs to come in the way Jesus said Himself in Mark chapter 1 the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand repent ye and believe the gospel and I promise you if you truly believe the gospel of Jesus Christ if you truly believe and you truly see from the scriptures that you are a sinner in need of a Savior that truth and that reality will drive you to repentance because the Bible because the Bible does not just describe Jesus Christ as a loving Savior it also describes Him as He that doth judge and make war the Bible describes Him coming back on the clouds of glory coming back with the armies of heaven behind Him and it says on His thigh was written a name King of Kings and Lord of Lords you must believe in that aspect of Jesus Christ as well therefore being justified by faith what?

[11:11] we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ why do we need peace with God? folks your greatest enemy is not something outside of you your greatest enemy is not inner turmoil of some kind your greatest problem and my greatest problem is enmity with God James chapter 4 says that friendship with the world is enmity with God folks at one time if you're sitting here born again this morning praise God amen and hallelujah for it but at one time when you weren't you were an enemy of God according to the scriptures you did not just shun the church according to the scriptures you did not just not like the gospel singing you didn't just not like the preacher according to the scriptures you had hatred in your heart for God and for the things of God before you were saved that's not my word that's what the scriptures teach we hated God we hated the things of God hated the word of God hated everything about God everything about the church some more so than others granted but there was hatred in our hearts but now because we have been justified at the beginning of that verse by faith by faith in Christ we have peace with God peace folks there is no greater peace to have this world can come against us your family may come against you all kinds of things may come against you but when you have peace with God those things become secondary and those things become tertiary why we'll continue reading to find out why again verse 1 therefore being justified by faith we have we have peace with God through our Lord

[13:11] Jesus Christ by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God so in verse 1 Paul is talking about the exclusivity of Jesus Christ and how we obtain peace with God through Jesus Christ this second verse begins with two words by whom he's continuing to press on the exclusivity of Jesus Christ on Jesus Christ being the only way Jesus Christ being the only way of salvation Jesus Christ being the only light of the world Jesus Christ being the only way unto God we all know from John chapter 14 or we should know Jesus Christ said I am the way the truth and the life and no man cometh unto the Father but by me and then another place in that same gospel in the gospel of John Jesus also makes it very very apparent and very plain that no man can come unto him except the Father draws him we don't come to God on our own terms and on our own time we come when God draws we come to Christ when God draws by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand it is by Jesus Christ that we are justified and it is by Jesus Christ that we have access we have access to the grace the grace of whom the grace of what the grace that comes only from almighty God and folks this is so deep here in this scripture it is so deep to think about the access that at one time we did not have when you look at the scriptures when you look at the Old Testament and you consider you read in Leviticus chapter 16 that only one time per year was one man one priest allowed to go into the very holy presence of almighty God and he could only do it if he brought blood with him folks that paints a very vivid picture for you and I what is that picture

[15:18] God is holy God is holy and man in his natural state is not welcome in God's presence in his natural state but folks again with verse one with verse one therefore being justified by faith we are justified folks that's a legal term we are justified and it's not that God is discounting his holiness and justifying you God is still just because sin was still punished but it wasn't and that punishment was not handed down to you it was placed upon his only begotten son hallelujah and I thank God that it's that way you and I would have crumbled you and I would have crumbled with the punishment that Christ Christ bore on our behalf but Christ did not Christ endured by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand folks we stand in the grace of God we stand we don't come as unknown beggars to God once we have been justified by faith in verse one we don't come as people as strangers unto God we stand before God we can come boldly as the writer to the

[16:42] Hebrews said to the throne of grace that we might obtain mercy in a time of need hallelujah to the lamb of God he is the one that made all of that possible and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God and rejoice in hope of the glory of God folks we do not rejoice in ourselves we do not rejoice in our own hope we rejoice in the hope of what of the glory of God why do you think why do you think the apostles minus Judas Iscariot of course but why do you think the original apostles suffered what they did why do you think that they allowed the beatings to happen why do you think that they allowed the imprisoning to happen the martyrdom to happen why do you think that all these things why do you think that our early church fathers you know suffered the martyrdom that they did because they had hope but it wasn't in themselves they hoped in the glory of God and that should be your focus and it should be my focus it's to glorify

[17:57] God that is where our hope is and our hope is in his glory our hope is in everything that he has promised that will bring him glory and the glory of the kingdom that he has promised will come I will be part of that kingdom if you've been born again washed in the blood of Jesus Christ you will be part of that kingdom we glory in that because that's something God did we don't glory in things that we do we glory in what God has done verse 3 and not only not only so but we glory in tribulations also my goodness it seems like we just went in reverse don't it glory in the things of God and then Paul says and not only so but we glory in tribulations also not only so where does those words come from he is talking in the previous chapters in the previous verses you read the last three or four verses of chapter four here on end to chapter five we are talking about the gospel the good news that Jesus

[19:04] Christ did exactly as he said he came to seek and to save that which was lost we glory in those things but here Paul it seems like he goes backwards a notch but he doesn't not only so not only do we glory in that but we glory in our tribulations now I'm not saying you wake up in the morning with a headache and you say praise God I'm glad you gave me this headache and I know it's going to do that none of this is going to do that I won't do it but we glory in tribulations what kind of tribulations are we talking about the tribulations that are described throughout scriptures that come against the people of God we are talking about trial and temptation I'm not talking about temptation of sin I'm talking those trials that come in your life you glory in those and we glory in those why because we have hope in the glory of

[20:07] God in other words we know that those trials are only temporal they will not last forever some of you have been here longer than I have some of you been here a shorter amount of time than I have I'm talking about here on this earth but folks it temporary and we are promised a kingdom over yonder somewhere that will forever be praising God we all know that song don't we everybody will be happy over there you know why everybody is going to be happy over there because we'll be in the glory of God we will be in the very physical presence of God no sin no sin that's why John the revelator could write in Revelation 21 4 he says there will be no more sorrow there will be no heartache there will be no death there will be no sickness

[21:07] John wrote all those things in Revelation 21 but why are those things not there because sin is not present in that celestial city that God has promised to all who repent and believe and because sin is not there there will be no sickness and there will be no death all those things happen after the fall in the garden with Adam and Eve but one of these days one of these days we're going to be brought into God's holy presence and that sin will not be present and therefore those things that came along with sin will not be present and not only so but we glory in tribulations knowing that tribulation worketh patience your trials that you go through I ain't talking about something stupid that you got yourself into or that I might get myself into I'm talking about trials that come I'm talking about genuine trials I'm talking about spiritual warfare that comes into your life those trials work patience you need look no further than the book of

[22:11] Job to see that you look at the man Job you look in Job chapter 1 how it describes the man Job how it describes it says that he was a perfect man and an upright man I understand he was a man he had sin in his life but I'm telling you what scripture says he was perfect he was upright he eschewed evil says that he made offerings on behalf of his children just in case they had sinned he acted as a priest for his family in other words how many else can say we do that!

[22:46] consider his riches you consider his reputation that he had you consider his family you consider everything that he had all the oxen that he had all the asses that he had according to the scripture everything that he had and it was all taken away and then his family was taken away one of the servants that came running said there was an east wind that blew down the four corners of the house that they were in they were in your oldest son's house eating and drinking and now all your children are dead he had all of his livestock taken from him his welfare was taken from him his means of finance was taken from him his children were taken from him and then you get over to chapter 2 and his health was taken from him he was struck from the sole of his feet to the crown of his head with balls and then comes the final blow in my opinion then his wife turns and says are you seriously still holding to your integrity curse

[23:52] God and die she tempted Job with the same temptation that Satan told God that Job would allow into his own life said if you take his health you take everything away from him he will curse you to your face and his wife is the one that tempted him with that but nevertheless Job never lost his integrity he never lost his faith in God again I'm not saying Job was perfect as far as sinless perfection goes there's only been one ever walked this earth in that kind of shape and that was the man Jesus Christ but we'll be we'll be in a land with sinless perfection one of these days but right now is not that time the folks Job according or what we just read in verse three tribulation work of patience what is patience patience is endurance under pressure that's exactly what patience is it's mother's day you mothers know something about having patience raising children even grandchildren it is endurance under pressure without breaking and folks

[25:05] Job is not the only example that there are many other examples of that in the scripture but Jesus Christ is the ultimate example Jesus Christ in the garden of Gethsemane the bible says in the gospel of luke that his sweat became as it were great drops of blood you want to talk about someone that was under pressure it was Jesus Christ he said but nevertheless nevertheless not my will but thy will be done speaking to the father praying to the father that was a man under pressure and he endured under pressure and the thing is he didn't even endure for himself he endured for your sake and for my sake and to the glory of God that is why Christ endured tribulation work of patience verse 4 and patience experience and experience hope so we got how tribulation works patience patience works experience how many of y'all have gathered some experience through your patience

[26:09] I have and if you're honest you have whether you even realize it or not folks we have all kinds of things that as we call it now test our patience they test our patience and through that through that we gain experience we gain experience as to as to what folks we gain experience that God if he got us through something yesterday if he got us through something last week if he got us through something last year or if he got us through something 20 years ago why would we doubt that he can get us through something right now on this very day that's the experience that we gain we gain it through experience you parents out there you mothers if you've been praying for lost children but you've got some saved children you've gained experience you've gained experience how so because you've seen children saved you've seen them saved you've seen them born again you've seen them living for

[27:17] God don't give up on the ones that aren't saved yet keep praying for them patience works experience and experience hope we get that experience and what does that do folks that bolsters our hope our hope in what again not in ourselves our hope in the glory of God our hope in the things of God our hope in the promises of God our hope in every word that is in this book our hope of a better life to come our hope that it won't always be this way this is the these are the things that that this list of what we are reading here Romans 5 work knowing that tribulation work with patience and patience experience and experience hope folks when we have that experience we have hope when

[28:18] God reveals that experience to us when God puts us through the trial when God refines us and we go through the refiner's fire hey folks it bolsters our faith and it bolsters our hope you consider Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the book of Daniel they personal it's hard to do sometimes but you glorify God in your tribulations and all these other things will follow and it's not because I say so it's because God's word says so verse five and we'll be done and hope maketh not ashamed this is probably the greatest verse in this or the greatest line in this and hope maketh not ashamed what does that even mean hope maketh not ashamed this hope that we have in the things of God this hope that we have in the gospel this hope that we have in the promises of God it will not make us ashamed in other words it will not humiliate us when it comes down to the end

[29:52] God will fulfill everything that he has promised to all who have repented and believed it will not shame us it will not humiliate us it will not embarrass us so glorify God in your trial glorify God in your tribulation glorify God in everything in your life because the hope that you have in him is an eternal hope everything about God is eternal everything about God is everlasting how do we know that because God is everlasting the Bible describes him as he as the one being the ancient of days it describes him as the first and the last it describes him as he knows the end from the beginning God has ever been and ever will be and everything about him every attribute of God is eternal who And that includes his promises.

[30:50] That includes his love. That includes his mercy. That includes his grace. But folks, that also includes his fury. That includes his judgment. That includes his wrath. It includes everything about God.

[31:05] The psalmist said, if I climb up to heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, thou art there. There'll be no need at the end of time.

[31:16] There'll be no need when we're all gathered together up yonder. There'll be no need for the wrath of God there. But the wrath of God is eternal. And it will ever abide in a place called hell.

[31:29] For all of those who rejected Jesus Christ. And rejected his gospel. That's where the wrath of God will be. There'll be no use for it in heaven. We'll all be up there singing praise unto God.

[31:44] And hope maketh not ashamed. Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. Folks, this hope is not something that you have to doubt. It is not something that is going to embarrass or humiliate you.

[31:57] As I've already said. But again, it is not because of you that it is that way. The hope and hope maketh not ashamed.

[32:07] Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. Which is given unto us. We have this hope inside of us, folks.

[32:18] Over in the Old Testament, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit had not happened just yet. In fact, through part of the New Testament, it had not happened just yet. But you turn to Acts chapter 2.

[32:29] And God, just as he promised that he would in the book of Jeremiah, pours out his spirit on all of mankind to indwell all of those which belong to God.

[32:40] Hallelujah. God is not just walking beside me. God is not just walking before me and behind me. God is walking within me. And if you are born again, God is walking within you.

[32:54] And that is something that is given to us. It is not earned. It is not merited. It is not something that we work for ourselves. It is given as a free gift of grace. Hallelujah.

[33:05] You read on through the end of this chapter. You read all about that free gift. We didn't get that far this morning. We won't get that far this morning. But hope maketh not ashamed. Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.

[33:18] Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. It is shed abroad. Folks, it isn't just a little here and a little there that God saves us. It is not a little here and a little there that God gives us grace.

[33:30] It is His love. God's love is shed abroad in your hearts if you are His. It is shed abroad in my heart because I am His.

[33:42] And I praise God for that. In our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. It is a free gift that God has given to all who repent and believe.

[33:53]  That's today's message. God bless you all.