The Righteousness That God Provides In the Gospel: Part 3

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Profiting from Our Trials: Part 4

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We're gonna start recording now. So for those that Are away Namely, miss
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Lillian. So that's why we're doing this for anyone else. I did not get the message. So I praise God that we have access to doing that brother
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DNA man let's go to the gospel of Romans we're gonna look at the gospel and this is a
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Three -part series that I'm doing because of Reformation Month, right? Even consider
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Halloween part of anything. It's Pagan celebration anyway, so and I'm doing this because of this is celebration of 501 years of the
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Reformation that began many many years ago during the Dark Ages and that was all fired and sparked by a
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Little monk by the name of Martin Luther and nailed 95 theses on the castle door of Wittenberg and I'm looking at we're looking at a righteousness which
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God provides in the gospel And I do want to probably think pastor
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David what kind of direction you're taking us in here. So Try my best by God's grace to end this come to a conclusion and give application
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To what we've talked about in the past to the Lord's Day today a Righteousness which
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God provides in the gospel. We're going to look at what it means to have faith and believe in the gospel and The righteousness that God provides through Jesus Christ.
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It's his Righteousness, it's the righteousness of Christ and it's not a righteousness of our own
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And then after that Lord willing next Lord's Day, we're going to have communion When we have the
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Lord's table celebration the Lord's table with the body and blood of Jesus I'm gonna try to stay to our set schedule on that the first of the month
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Have communion and then the end of the month like today. We'll be having a Agape dinner, right?
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so that's a blessing a fellowship dinner and and To sit down and fellowship with one another and get to know each other more and more and more
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I have a desire for that don't you? We've been knowing each other quite some time, but I like to sit down and just discuss the things of God and personal things
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With you as well. And then after that we'll be looking at the righteousness of Christ a double imputation probably next week probably from the the lens of Isaiah 53
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I think that's always appropriate to go to Isaiah 53 It's loaded you can go there for Ages on ages of time upon time and look at what the gospel says there about Christ, right?
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It's all about the sufferings of Christ The Lord willing I'm going to take the direction as God Wills, I thought about a small epistle in the
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New Testament. I Considered Proverbs. I said that's a big project there I don't know if I'm going to overwhelm myself or you in that but we're going
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Lord willing probably go to the book of James Everybody okay with that book of James.
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I think it's a very practical. It's one of the most practical epistles in the New Testament and James is based that that epistle is really a commentary of what
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Jesus taught on the Sermon on the Mount And I think we can connect that so Lord willing
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I'm going to be going there in near very near future But today it's Romans 1 16 and 17 very familiar two verses, right and matter of matter of fact, it's so familiar
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I say to myself Lord save me from apathy from hearing this.
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I memorize this verse We know this verse so well But at the same time we need to be very careful and not being over familiar with the text right and say oh
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I've heard that before listen This is the heart of the
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God that what Paul is talking about here is the thing It's the key verse to the whole book of Romans and we're going to look at that Here the word of the
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Living God verse 16 in chapter 1 The Apostle Paul by the inspiration of the
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Holy Spirit Spirit of God's breathing upon this man he's apostle to the Gentiles and he speaks
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God's Word and man's language and The original Greek that's what he wrote it in but aren't you glad we got it in English today.
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Praise God Paul says this for I am NOT ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes
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For the Jew first and also for the Greek and then he says in verse 17 for in it
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The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written the just shall live by faith
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Aren't you glad for God's Word? Let's pray Our Father in heaven we are very aware of the text this morning and Lord Help us to be sober
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Give us understanding on this Lord's Day. We thank you for the great salvation through your son
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Jesus Christ Through his precious blood and we know that we have eternal life by believing in this gospel
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Help us never Lord to take this unspeakable gift for granted and father forgive us when we have
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Because we all have fallen in that category some way Form of fashion father we pray now
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Lord come as we've already prayed that we seek you Come in your most wonderful and precious way by and through your
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Holy Spirit Lord would you enable us to learn from the eternal truth through your word?
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Father give us the understanding and believing hearts to take a hold of your word and to obey it
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Lord that's where it ends it begins with you, but it's taking a hold
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But it ends with obedience and that's what it's about Lord. We are help us not to be dull of hearing
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Help us not only to father to Hear your word to be hearers of the word, but to be doers of the word
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Lord, that's where we need your Holy Spirit to help us Help us to make application of this in our personal daily living in the home at work
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As we live and move and have our being father. We need your help. So father we pray this in Jesus name Amen, and amen wonderful text here and Here before us is the most life transforming truth.
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I believe ever put into the hands of men if we could Really understand and respond as I pray and obey what is in this text?
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To these great truths in which the Apostle Paul brings in these two verses this verse 16 and 17 in chapter 1
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Time and an eternity will be totally and completely altered for you and me
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In these two verses from the is actually the theme of the whole book of Romans This is the key verse verse 16.
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Namely first 17 I like to say it's connected with verse 616 and the theses by the way for the epistle in the book in the
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Romans is here and brief but glorious comprehensive terms this epistle
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I would like to say is compressed into the basic truths
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And it is the statement of the gospel of Jesus Christ and notice he says this
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That gives us the got the good news to the Romans and to the church at Rome Before he actually gives the bad news if you read verse 16 and 17 you have the good news and then if you read verses 18 all the way through the end of the chapter to verse 32 there is a list of Depravity such depraved
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Attitudes and from the nature of Depraved hearts I was thinking this morning how desperately wicked
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How desperately wicked is the hearts of men? You know you have people psychiatrists and psychologists constantly studying
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Human nature, that's the study of the human nature But if you really want to know human nature read the scriptures and Paul gives it here in These verses and then it says in verses 18 all the way through verse 32 that God's wrath is on all who?
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practice unrighteousness but before he gets into that here he gives the gospel and He says this
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I am NOT ashamed of the gospel of Christ And it is in these concise terms that expresses it in those two verses
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And remember and keep in mind that Paul Has concluded a masterful opening statement and a statement that has two parts to it now
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If you go back to verse Verse 1 look at what he says
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Paul a bond servant the original actually says a bond slave of Jesus Christ called to be an apostle
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Apostle is a sent -out one so he is called by God To be sent out he separated unto the gospel of God There he mentions the gospel he gives the introduction
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Which he promised before through his prophets and the holy and the holy scriptures now he speaks about the prophets as old
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You cannot throw out the Old Testament the prophets foretold of Jesus the gospel and then he said what's the
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Bible verse 3? concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord Who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh and declared to be the
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Son of God with power? there's that word power and According to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead and then he speaks of this and this is interesting
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I want you to notice this Through him we have received grace and apostleship
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For obedience to the faith among all nations for his name among whom you are you are
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Also are called Christ Jesus now if you go all the way to The end of Romans you can look at this
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And I bring out this for a reason The whole book is packed together.
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You have all that great powerful deep theology in between but notice how he began okay, he began with saying
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He speaks of a declaration of Jesus Christ and first. He says I'm a bond Slave of bondservant of Christ.
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He's called he said he set aside God has called him
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Christ has called him to be an apostle sent out one separated to the gospel and And again what he says for the obedience to the faith among all nations for his name
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Notice how he gives his benediction His benediction is but now made in verse 26 of the last chapter verse chapter 16
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But now made manifest manifest in other words here it is. It's in flesh It's here by the prophet prophetic scriptures made known to all nations you see that the same thing he begins with according to the commandment of the everlasting
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God for obedience to the faith just like he began Those are bookends and they're important bookends.
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So we need to see that remember that he he is basically giving in part one
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Has to do with the gospel of God This is the content of the gospel.
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He gives the content Part two and what he's saying here has to do with Paul's own personal representation of the gospel
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So first we look at the message and the first part of chapter one He gives the message and then the messenger in the remaining part of it
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So Paul has discussed his message then he has discussed himself as the messenger
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There has to be a message and the messenger he brings the message now He then he crystallizes the theses of the epistle which will unfold in the remaining chapters all the way through the book of Romans and Understand this is the most theological book that Paul ever wrote
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It is comprehensive. It is in -depth. It is full of great theology
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Practical theology the first half half is basically nothing but content the second half and the second half
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The first half goes from chapter 1 All the way to chapter 11 It's full of theology, but I want you to notice this in chapter 12 all the way to chapter 16
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You can look at it. He brings it out. He fleshes it out. This is the way the
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Christian should live You have all that Theology and people says, you know like today and most people said theology is so boring
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Look, everybody believes in something. They have some kind of doctrine that they believe in. So doctrine is important We just don't come to church to hear stories.
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Do we we want to hear practical application, but theology Basically the way we live is the way we think and the way we believe about God So that's why it's always first and foremost to study the
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Word of God to know in Context of what the text is saying that scripture interprets scripture and that we had the
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Holy Spirit to help me and help you Know these verses Precept by precept verse by verse and let the
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Word of God speak not the opinions of men, right? So this is so important.
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So he brings the theses to the epistle which will unfold in the remaining chapters so the whole epistle is really an expansion of what we see in verses 16 and 17, so 16 and 17 are the most critical verses in this whole book.
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It is the thing it is the theses And so it is essential that we get a proper perspective of these two great verses and now that gets us into the introduction of the thing and Truly understanding the gospel of Jesus Christ comes to us in an understanding the four key words in this passage
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And the four key words and we've already looked at one And and to the first key word,
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I believe is power Power we looked at what the power of God is, right? It is the omnipotence of God It is
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God is all powerful and in the gospel is all the power of God Unleashed through Jesus Christ his person and his works
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That is the power of God and That's the first word.
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We looked at power. It is the dynamite of God. Then the second word we looked at in Part two is salvation the power of God unto salvation
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Then the third and fourth on which I'll pack this in today as fast as I can So I'm gonna try to speak as fast as I can
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So I hope I don't go too quickly, but my wife tells me I need to speed it up some
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I go too slow sometimes So she's my greatest critic. So I always listen to her
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Words, we will look at today is believe Believe is a critical word believe.
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That's my first point the fourth word. We will look at along with believing is righteousness believing and Righteousness those two words are very critical so if we understand the meaning and the connection and Transition of those four terms those four words.
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We will understand the gospel. I really believe that so the four great terms we understand this gospel and Those are my two points today is believing that means or slash faith believing his faith
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We'll look at that Second righteousness and if we connect the two like Paul does in Romans chapter 10 verse 10, what does he say?
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What does he say? He says for with the heart one believes unto righteousness
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You notice that see the connection believing unto righteousness and with the mouth
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That comes later Confession is made unto salvation first. It's a work in the heart, isn't it?
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It is regeneration Before let me say this conversion proceeds
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Regeneration and I don't want people to get mixed up in those theological words. In other words First you have regeneration that is an act of God that not one of us.
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No one can do within themselves It is God himself that regenerates the hearts of man
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Who can do that but God a depraved heart that is bent and a nature that is bent to sinning all the time and Only the power of God through the gospel can transform a heart
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Paul said this in Corinthians when one becomes a new creation or a new creature that it depends on the translation creature creation
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I like to say creation because you become a new creation almost like creation. It's all new again
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And that's what Paul looks at When one is in in Christ, he becomes a new creation and he says behold look all
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Things become new don't you love that? Oh not some things all things become new
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It's all new DL Moody says when he was converted, but when he was regenerated to Jesus Christ when he walked outside He said the
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Sun gave a different meaning The world had a different meaning His whole perspective of life had a different meaning in it
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And that's the way it is when a person is in Christ He sees the eternal
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Person he sees the eternal things before he sees the judgment he sees the God who created all things upon his throne as said creator and Savior Redeemer through Jesus Christ And he sees that eternity is before him and not just time and there's a purpose
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Here under heaven and you understand your purpose. I like the way actually Billy Graham put it
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I don't quote him often, but he said this, right? He says when you're born again, you understand where you came from why you here and where you going and that is so true so Paul gives us this right perspective through the gospel and And this is going to give application today.
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And I think this is going to bless your hearts and it's going to help all of us So let's look at these two great words that Paul basically is saying to this point
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He's saying this is my thesis my thesis is the power of God and Paul is basically saying by the power of God Through the gospel it brings salvation
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How How does it do that? Now that's application, isn't it?
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I love those kind of questions. Don't you? Throw out a question how? Well, the how is given to everyone that believes
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That's how To everyone that believes now you got to do a little study in the book of John I don't have time to go there
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But if you go through John chapter 6 chapter 7 chapter 8 Jesus is having confrontations with the
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Pharisees and he basically says to them you cannot believe and You will not believe and then even quotes
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Isaiah The Prophet says your ears are duller here. You see the scripture constantly quoted through the verb through The Gospels and even
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Paul uses it, but it's based upon Isaiah 6 their heart is hard Dull of hearing that you cannot believe you will not believe and we're going to look at what?
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How one believes unto salvation to everyone who believes it's faith faith and I've said this before and I'll say it again when
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I first came to the Lord. I thought oh wow It's the faith in me That's taking a hold
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I thought it was some kind of faith within myself that I was mustering up to take a hold But when I started studying the scripture that the faith that God it was a it was it was faith that God gave me
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It wasn't a faith. I had within myself And many times people said what about those scriptures that says
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Jesus said to them your faith has made you whole well guess what God? Gave him that faith
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You see it wasn't a faith that they could muster up within themselves So it is a gift of God.
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I believe and R .C. Sproul said this The most merciful gift that God has given to his people is
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The gift of faith Think of that fit without faith.
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We could not lay hold of Christ without faith. We could not believe the gospel Faith is laying hold
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Believing the gospel believing and resting in who God is
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So where there's faith? There's the power of God in operation in salvation, so What is faith?
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You've got many definitions. I'm not going to give you my definition of faith I'm not going to give you
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Spurgeon's definition of faith, and I believe Spurgeon would have a good one a better one than I I'm going to give you what the
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Bible says what faith is and it's real simple Hebrews 11 1 the definitions there.
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What does it say? now faith is The substance don't let that word substance fool you it means now faith is the substance or the realization
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It's the realization of things hoped for and And the evidence or the competence of things that's not seen
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We believe in that we believe that there's a God in heaven We may not see
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God, but we like Peter says we love him not seeing him
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We love him We haven't seen Christ come back yet But we believe by faith that he's coming back one day to snatch us out of this world and there's going to be a great judgment
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We believe that we we see that coming in the future But we look back behind us and we believe by faith that Jesus died and was buried and with rose again
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You see we believe that that is the cornerstone. He is Who he is said he's going to he is by what the scripture says and we believe according to the scriptures
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Yes, so all we all of us live by faith, right? Every one of us believe about that.
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Let me bring it right down to home here on some illustrations Every day in our daily life
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We're filled with acts of faith. Don't we we turn on the faucet, right? We get a drink of water and we trust that it's safe to drink what's in those pipes
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Whether we know it or not. We're having faith in that and We trust that it's safe to drink it hopefully
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We drive across bridges We trust and have faith that that bridge is going to hold us up when we go by it or over it
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Trusting it will not collapse under us Despite occasional disasters, we trust airplanes to fly us safely across to our destination
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You and I go and we also go to restaurants quite often Don't we and we eat what they feed us.
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Amen. We all live by faith and trust. We don't get poisoned to death We we trust see people could not survive without having some kind of trust and great many of things
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But I believe Paul has something in mind here that is different than those kind of that's an illustration of faith and trusting in those things
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Paul is talking about a super Natural kind of faith not a natural faith
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Okay, you can divide it up. You have a natural faith in which I gave a few illustrations of But we also have a supernatural faith and it has really the same that same kind of nonetheless the basic idea
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Behind it. It is trusting and believing and yes, the power of God can save to the uttermost But through the gospel the power of God into salvation.
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It is a faith that is not of yourselves as scripture says And that's what it says It is the gift of God It is through faith by grace that you're saved through Faith and by the way, it's by faith alone in the gospel
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It's not part this or I cooperate with God here and it's
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God 50 -50. No, it's not it's all of God saving us bringing us regenerating regenerate us and converting us and Eternal life is both gained and lived by faith from God in Jesus Christ And as I said for by grace by God's favor, you've been saved through faith
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That's a very important word. It's through faith and by what it is by faith alone
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And that's what kicked off the Reformation say Luther got that Why did it why does
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Luther? Why did Luther see it so differently than us because Luther? was Swallowed up.
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I should say in What it will say acts of obedience of trying to earn his salvation
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No matter what Luther did in those days Before God regenerated him and he saw it right here in this text
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He felt that there was something he had to do to please God Now, isn't that the natural man?
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Don't you feel that way sometimes something? I just got to do to please God, but I want you to think of this.
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The gospel is that God the Father is pleased Not in us but in his son
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From beginning to end his whole life on this earth So when we place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ in him alone by faith
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You see It's pleasing to God so when we when we come before God And say it's through the precious blood of the lamb that the
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Lord Jesus Christ that we come before the throne Oh God the Father he's here. He's listening
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Now if I say I'm gonna come And like the pompous Pharisee, so he raises his his voice and he said
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I'm not like this sinner over here I'm better than this sinner. I tithe and I fast and I do this and I do that What did
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Jesus say about that person? He said he doesn't even hear it He doesn't hear that Pharisee that's lifted up up himself and his countenance before God thinking he's somebody
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Special and then here's this lowly person over here this sinner. He smites his breast and what do you say?
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he says Be merciful unto me a sinner Jesus said that man went home justified you see
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It's coming in humility Trusting and the merits of Jesus Christ in him alone
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And that's what the gospel is Jesus said in John 3 18 and he who does not believe is
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Condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten
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Son of God The gospel was given to the Jew first Salvation has primarily relevancy to the
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Jews since they were God's specially chosen people It is the
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Jew first and that Christ came Jesus said this in Matthew 15 24
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I am NOT come but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel In other words, it came to the
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Jew first now. I'm just going to give you I Can I can take a whole session on talking about the
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Jew first and then to the Gentile, but you see this brought out in Romans Paul brings this out
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Later on especially in chapter 9 and chapter 10 and chapter 11. He's talks a lot about the transition to how the how
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Israel rejected Christ And then the gospel is transisting comes to the
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Gentile. Aren't you glad? God's intention was to reach the whole world Through Israel, but Israel failed the gospel comes to the
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Jew first. He came into his own his own received him not I'll give you a quote by a commentator.
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I love he's one of my favorite commentators. His name is Robert Haldane Has some clear thoughts.
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He's a Scottish Scottish commentator is a clear thoughts on this and uh, let me just give you a quote for him what he says and this is some summarize basically to the
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Jew first He says this from the days of Abraham their great progenitor the
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Jew Had been highly distinguished from all the rest of the world by the many and the great privileges
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It was their high Distinction that of them Christ came who was over all
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God blessed and forever They were thus as his kinsmen the royal family of the human race and in this respect
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Higher than all others and they intended in manuals land
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I'm sorry and inherited Inherited manuals land while therefore the evangelical covenant and consequently justification and salvation
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Equally regarded all believers the Jews held the first rank as the ancient people of God While other nations were strangers from the covenant of promise
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The preaching of the gospel was to be addressed to the them first and the beginning to them alone.
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I But to the lost sheep of the house of Israel And he commanded that repentance of remission of sins be preached in his name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem While thus while Jews and Gentiles were united in the participation of the gospel the
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Jews were not deprived of their rank since they were first called and Then he says the preaching of the gospel to the
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Jews first serve various important ends It fulfilled Old Testament prophecies.
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It manifested the compassion of the Lord Jesus For those who shed his for those who shed his blood to whom after his resurrection
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He commanded his gospel to first be proclaimed It showed that it was also to be preached to the chief of sinners and and proved the sovereign efficacy of his atonement and Expiating the guilt even to his own murderers
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It was fit to that that the gospel should be begun to to be preached where the great transaction took place on which was founded and established and this
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Furnished an example of the way in which it is the will of the Lord That his gospel should be propagated by his disciples
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Beginning in their own houses and their own Country now that summarizes it pretty much doesn't it that it the gospel is come and was presented to the
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Jew first We see this we see this But aren't you glad?
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It came to the Gentiles and Paul was basically an apostle to the Gentiles It's interesting that Paul understood this
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It was to the Jew first, but also to the Greek to the Gentiles salvation of God was not limited to any one nation the power of Christ The is in the gospel and it has the power to save the one who believes
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How can it even? If he believes and how does it change him verse 12?
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It gives that answer for in it that is the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed
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What is it revealed from faith to faith? It is given Now you see the reason it came to save is because you believe
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But it's not the act of believing Again, it's not an act of your power or your willpower or my willpower
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And I don't know about you you hear a lot of this today Oh, it's just something you've got to do.
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You've got to do this. You've got to believe you got Yes, there must be believing but get this it is
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God that does that work even the faith is a gift and again, there's two great gifts that God gives the greatest
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I believe is faith and That sense it is next to love charity because it is the love of God that brings it right
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That's why God that God says the most important is charity charity is a got a the got a love this brings it
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God has chosen God has acted God has willed it if God did not choose it or act upon it.
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It would have never happened, right? So the salvation that is that has even been planned out.
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Don't you think of this? before the operation and all of it and the mechanics of it took place it was the heart of God that said
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I'm going to save this human race and think of this God knew that the whole human race would be plunged to sin
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But he already had the plan He's already had his people chosen before the foundation of the world
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Few that will find it the rest will get justice, but the few will get mercy
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Those few we're undeserving folks. We all deserve justice. We all deserve
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God's wrath. We all deserve hell But aren't you glad for the great love of God? You can think about this day after day after day and it never gets old
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You preach the gospel to yourself and you start thinking about it and why Christ came and why
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Christ died And he was nailed on the cross and he took the sin of the world upon himself And then you see the great act of God's love
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Isn't that great? Preach this to yourself and you will find yourself being lifted up to heaven
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And it's not something that we've done. It's something God has done through Christ And then we put out place our faith in him.
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It is a righteousness of God that is revealed now That's pretty much what it means is lay hold of that and that faith is a gift and the other gift is repentance
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We lay hold we come to God By faith, but we turn away from sin by repenting
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The repentance is the negative part the faith is the positive. I love that You never have negative negative
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You have a positive post in the negative post A battery wouldn't work with two positives or two negatives
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But God has been perfect proportion and balance He has the faith that's the positive and the repentance
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That's the negative and he brings it and he does the work in us and and and people say well
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God's not going to believe for me exactly but he gives you the gift to believe You see and that's why we could say all glories to God It's nothing
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I've done Reason it it can the the gospel can save is because when when you do believe and trust and put simple faith as a child in Christ the righteousness of God is
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Revealed to you. That's what the gospel saying here. That's what Paul's saying here.
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There's a revelation. It opens up to you, doesn't it? What's a revelation? It's it's it's a great truth.
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That's hidden behind the curtain It's like if I had a curtain here and we had a great treasure behind it
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And every all especially the children would say I want to see what's behind there. I want to see it But that's what it didn't like and then
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I pull back the curtain. That's what it is The God it's like Paul through the Holy Spirit pulls back the curtain and shows you this great treasure.
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There it is the pearl great price And that is Jesus Christ himself
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So God the gospel is revealed to you and to me by faith In other words, if it comes yours personally
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Christ is yours. Don't you love that wonderful him that fainting Christ was in blessed assurance.
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Jesus is mine. Oh What a foretaste of glory divine air of salvation purchase of God Born of his spirit washed in his blood
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This is my story. This is my song Praising my Savior all the day long because of Jesus he becomes yours and And there's a wonderful relationship
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Just not for time but for eternity all eternity that's how it happens and I quote
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Luther here again because I love Luther and he says I Began to hate the righteousness of God.
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I've said this before but I think it's appropriate to say it again Until and then he says until he saw for the first time that the righteousness that God demands is a righteousness that God provides in the gospel
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That's the good news of the gospel so it brings to us we looked a little bit about believing and faith and I can go on there, but Let's look at righteousness righteousness along with faith
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This word is used 60 plus times in the book of Romans 60 plus times
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You will see it as you study through Romans again and again and again and very reason why the Gospels powers are revealed in salvation
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By faith is because faith which is the gift of God Activates I like to put it this way activates the revelation of righteousness of the righteousness of God it activates it
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If I am to be righteous before God In which
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I have no righteousness That's pleasing before God.
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There is a righteousness we have but guess what our righteousness as Isaiah says is as filthy rags
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You imagine bring filthy rags before a holy God All my good deeds and all my good works and you can put it up and here here
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God Here's my righteousness and God the Holy God That has eyes as so period cannot even look at the stars not even the stars appearing aside
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He looks at our our good works, and he says all your righteousness is as dirty rags
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Think of that so the scripture says there's none righteous. There's none nobody
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Therefore God must give me this his righteousness in order that we are can even enter into heaven
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So it's a righteousness. That's imputed. That's a great word isn't in the doctrine of imputation
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What does imputed mean it means it's placed in my account. It's a counted word to those who simply believe
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Believe in the death and the burial and the resurrection of Christ by faith alone
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Romans 5 17 through 19 says this for if by the one man's offense death reign through the one much more
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Those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one
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Jesus Christ Notice what he said the gift of righteousness Therefore Notice how it is he takes
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Adam who represented the whole human race And you take Jesus who represents
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God's people The first and last Adam that's what he does and he knows how to make it make his point doesn't he?
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And he brings it out, and he says this through one man's offense That's Adam judgment came to all men judgment has come to all the human race
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By Adam's sin let me stop right there before I finish this verse I saw a bumper sticker the other day said
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Eve was framed. I said what I Had to marry this up here
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It's all getting naive with spring Eve was just as responsible and I want you to notice that Satan was so cunning
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He knew how to get to the human race. He knew how to get to the heart to the one.
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He was after was Adam So he went through the weaker vessel through Eve He knew how to get and by the way ultimately
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Adam was there Well, what does it say in the Bible, but he didn't know what it says it is then after she was deceived she gave the fruit to Adam He was there.
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He didn't do it. Why didn't he stand up and say something? He plunged the whole human race, and that was the one in which
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Satan was going after he knew how to do that and he did it through he know she wasn't framed
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She was deceived. That's what scripture says Through one man's offense judgment came to all men resulting in condemnation even through through one man's
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Righteousness or righteous act I should say the free gift came to all men
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Resulting in what? Justification in that wonderful see all of mankind was plunged down and condemned
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Because of man's sin And but the second the last
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Adam Jesus Christ came representing us beloved and Then he brings justification by his great
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It's verse 19 for is by one man's disobedience Paul says many were made sinners
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So also by one man's obedience many will be made righteous
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Don't you love it? This is imputation? This is imputation.
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This is imputed righteousness by God's grace. This is a great doctrine beloved
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Study it when you can Imputation and by the way, can I say this? There's a double imputation.
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What does that mean? Jesus takes our sin And he gives us our right his righteousness
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And that great and that's a great exchange He takes our sin. He gives us his righteousness
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How else can we enter into heaven? How else can a holy God look upon us and be pleased?
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because he sees Jesus a Gift to those who believe double imputation
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Jesus took our sin and in exchange God gave us his righteousness Well This is so glorious It is glorious That is why scripture says that Christ that Christ became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him
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What a wonderful verse what a wonderful verse so when Paul says the righteousness of God is revealed
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He doesn't mean it. It's just disclosed to human minds He doesn't mean that it just spoken in human history
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No, he means that it is specifically revealed in action this happened it believes that it really happened that Christ died for this purpose and That the operation and through the operation of regeneration that is why the gospel
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Christ came comes in power To everyone that believes faith comes by hearing hearing by the
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Word of God Faith alone in Jesus Christ faith alone in this person faith alone in his works and that faith activates the righteousness of God That's powerful
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It's a righteousness from God and it's not a righteousness from us. And by the way, it comes through Jesus's righteousness
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Romans 3 verse 21 says and now the righteousness of God listen this apart from the law
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Apart from the law the law condemns the law shows us our disease
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It shows us it shows us that we're guilty. We're sinners and that's good.
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That's a purpose for the law How else could we know that we're sinners unless the holiness of God is seen before me?
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I don't know about you read the Ten Commandments Read those ten moral laws and I get convicted every time and somewhere down the line
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I am convicted that I have broken this law and this law and this law. I've coveted I have not honored
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God I have not kept God's name I've taken it in vain before I've put other images before God you see who that's not broken that law
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We all have But it takes that to help us to see our disease That the law is good and it's holy and it's righteous and then what
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I do about it I do something about it I go to Jesus and it causes me to follow my face before the
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Before the crimson flow and I plunge myself underneath that fountain that's filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins
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That I can lose all my guilty saying so it's apart from the law Any good works or any law keeping the righteousness of God is manifest
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Well, how is it manifest verse 22 gives us the answer the righteousness of God is by faith in Christ Jesus unto all and upon all who believe that's in chapter 3 verse 22 of Romans There it is the same principle that that glorious truth
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Romans 4 verse 3 Abraham believed Notice Abraham before Jesus was ever coming to this world was justified just like you and I were justified he believed that God counted him righteous
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You see and he believed that in his seed The Messiah would come see and we go back
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Abraham was just looking forward. We look back Well, I have to come to a conclusion here because my time is almost gone
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The Apostle Paul gave his testimony about righteousness in chapter 3 you could turn there very quickly look at this very fast
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I'm gonna go to two verses to come to a close close on this, but Philippians chapter 3 really tells a great deal
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Look at verse 7 through 11 And I'm not going to expound on this. I'm gonna just read these scriptures and let you take it for as it's worth
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Paul says this says this for what things were gained to me these I've counted lost for Christ Yet indeed also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my
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Lord for whom I suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish done a
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Manure he that I may gain Christ. That's the way he looked at everything else that Christ was his prize and he says in verse 9 and be found in him now
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Listen closely what he said be found in him not having my own Righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ the righteousness, which is from God by faith
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That I may know him you want to know God It only comes by being clothed in the righteousness of God and the power of his resurrection
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And the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death But if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead one more verse
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And then I'm gonna close this Matthew chapter 3 and this is important verse and I said
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I got to put this one in here because this is probably one of the most important verses found in the in the
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New Testament and It speaks about the righteousness that will be Fulfilled in Jesus Christ and notices that Jesus is baptism chapter 3 of Matthew Before Jesus began his earthly ministry in chapter 4.
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He was tempted of the devil, right? This is Jesus in inauguration before the father and he goes to John the
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Baptist for a reason Jesus came from Galilee verse 13 to John John the
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Baptist to the Jordan to be baptized by him not that Jesus Was any mean a sinner in himself he was representing sinners folks
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He was representing sinners here and John tried to prevent him.
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I don't know about you John was the greatest of all the prophets the old ten. He was the last of the
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Old Testament prophets He was the forerunner of Christ Jesus said it out all that all men's been born of women.
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There's none greater than John the Baptist John tried to prevent him. There's a reason for that.
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He understood the holiness of Christ He understood who Christ was he knew who
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Christ was. What did he say? He said behold the Lamb of God Which takes away the sin of the world.
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He says saying this he says I need to be baptized by you And you come are coming to me.
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I don't know about you. I would I would feel the same way. I Feel like I don't only need to be here.
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I mean Christ the Holy One Christ the Righteous One and then he comes but Jesus answered him and said this permitted to be so now and Here it is
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For thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness
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Now don't miss that and then he allowed him and you know the rest of the story. He was baptized
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Jesus came up immediately from the water Behold the heavens were open to him.
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He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove a lightning upon Suddenly the voice a voice came from heaven saying this is my beloved
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Son in whom I'm well pleased Everything about Jesus the
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Father's pleased man. Do you see that? So when we come before the throne we come in Jesus name we come in Jesus blood
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We come in Jesus's righteousness and the Father says I'm well pleased Hallelujah Everything that Jesus did from his birth in his life, and I want you to think about this
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It's just not all of his acts But yes his acts his life, but every heart motive every thought motive
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Everything about Christ was perfect and pleasing to God as a human being
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No one else could do that Nobody he is the
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Holy One. He is the Messiah. He is our Savior, and he's our Lord praise
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God Justification may be defined as this and I like what MacArthur says I'm quoting him an act of God whereby he imputes to a believing sinner the full and perfect righteousness of Christ forgiven the sinner of all
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Unrighteousness declaring him or her perfectly righteous in God's sight Thus delivering the believer from all condemnation
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That's what Paul says in Romans 8 therefore. There's no condemnation to those that are in Christ You're in Christ.
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Are you not in Christ? And that's what's important. We need to be in Christ Spurgeon said this you stay
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I love this you stand before God as if you were Christ Because Christ stood before God as if he were you
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That's beautiful, isn't it the late
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James Montgomery Boyce. I love Boyce He went home to be with the Lord in the year 2000. He was a great theologian of the
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Presbyterian Church 10th Presbyterian Church in Pennsylvania He drew from FW Barnes bunch of it's called a bunch of everlasting text
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I've said this story before but I think it bears repeating Of his father's visit to the church of st.
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John Lateran in Rome where quote he says there's a set of Medieval stairs said to have originally been the stairs leading up to Pilate's house in Jerusalem Once tried by our
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Lord for the this reason they were called the scalia Sancta or the
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Holy Stairs That's Latin I believe for Holy Stairs And it was the custom for pilgrims like Luther to ascend these steps on their knees praying as they went as Certain intervals there were stains said to have been caused by the bleeding wounds of Christ to the worshiper
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What would bend over and kiss these steps praying a long time before ascending painfully to the next ones?
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Remission of years of punishment and purgatory was promised to all that would perform this pious exercise
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Well Luther began as the others had but as he ascended to the staircase the words of the text came forcefully to Luther's mind the just shall live by faith the just Shall live by faith.
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They seem to echo over and over and over again Growing louder. This is the
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Holy Spirit moving upon Luther's soul by the way as he was reaching each stair
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Repetitiously he said he kept hearing it the just shall live by faith the just shall live by faith
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He kept hearing it time and time again Luther was not living by faith at that time
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He was living by fear because he only saw God's frown the old superstitions of the old
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Catholic Roman Catholic Church doctrines and the new biblical theology wrestled with it in him
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By fear Luther said by faith said st. Paul by fear said the scholastic fathers of medieval
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Catholicism by faith said the Holy Scriptures by fear Said those who agonized beside him in the staircase by faith said
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God the Father At last Luther arose in amazement from the steps upon which he had been dragging himself and shuddered at his superstition and folly for years
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Now he realized that God had saved him by the righteousness of Christ Received by faith alone
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He was to exercise that faith Receive that righteousness and live his life by trusting in God alone
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He had not been doing it Slowly he turned to Pilate's staircase and returned to the bottom and he went back to Wittenberg and in that time as Paul Luther his son said
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Luther he quotes he took that verse the just shall live by faith is the foundation of all of his doctrine
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The doctrine of justification by faith is the foundation of all that we believe folks
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How we are just before a holy God how we can be right before a holy God We sinners
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This was the real beginning of the Reformation beloved. You can study it right here is where It began for Luther for the
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Reformation of Luther Necessarily preceded the Reformation of Christian and God used the man and Luther would say and I've said this before Luther did nothing the word did it all
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It's the power of the Word of God It is the gospel just like we're about the same not the laborers of my hands can fulfill the laws demands
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Could my zeal no longer know could my tears forever flow all for sin could not atone
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Thou must say and thou alone you see
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The all -important thing is that we have that we must come to a full saving knowledge of knowing
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Jesus Christ and The Reformers believed this if you if you read the most important thing and I've heard
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Oh, I think I've read John Owen on this Jonathan Edwards on this and all of them say the same thing
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Spurgeon the most Important knowledge that you can have is first a knowledge of who you are a knowledge of yourself and Most important is a knowledge of God Knowing who
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God is and who you are that's foundational if we know who we are and who we really are
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And who who God really is? You will get a grasp of why the gospel has come
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To us are you in Christ? Have you found mercy through Jesus Christ when death comes one day and it will to all of us one day
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Then comes to judgment. That's what scripture says. It is appointed get that word
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Appointed we all have an appointment day with death We don't know when we don't know how
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But what counts is are you in Christ? Have you found his mercy all sufficient through his blood by faith alone
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That's the only way we're gonna stand before the judgment It is appointed for once man to die after this the judgment all that would all this
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That that's all really that's gonna matter Have you received and found mercy in Christ?
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Let's pray Our Father in heaven. We thank you so much for this time today If we've had to worship you in spirit and truth and to hear your precious word
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Lord to be received with Thanksgiving Lord. We received this word not as from men, but from you
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Oh God And we receive it gladly May we love it?
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Praise you for it Give thanks and we will through all eternity, but let us do it in time before we come into eternity
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Thank you father for the great salvation a salvation that is to the uttermost and That salvation is only through Jesus Christ and it's found in the gospel of who he is and all that he is
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So we father we rejoice in this and we pray this in Jesus.
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Holy name Let us sing Rock of Ages 421. Praise God The pages
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Cleft for me Let me hide myself in thee let the water and the blood from thy side which flow be of sin the double cure
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Cleansed me from its guilt and power God the labors of my hands can fulfill thy laws demands
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Could my zeal no respite no could my tears forever flow all for sin could not atone
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Thou must say and thou thing in my hand
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I bring Simply to the cross
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I cling Naked come to thee for dress
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Helpless look to thee for grace I to the
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Fountain fly Wash me say Roda this
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Fleeting breath, it's close and dead and I soar to worlds unknown
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See Judgment through all the pages
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Myself in thee Receive now the benediction The Apostle Paul to the
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Romans Now to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ According to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began
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But now made manifest and by the prophetic scriptures made known to all nations according to the commandment of the everlasting
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God for obedience to the faith to God Alone wise be glory through Jesus Christ forever.