This I Confess (Acts 24:1-25:22, Jeff Kliewer)

Justification by Faith and the Three Tenses of Salvation

Straighten our thinking. Where things are crooked, make them straight, Lord. Give us a straight path to walk on so that we don't turn our ankles as we go. Let your word be a light to our path. This morning speak to us, Lord.

Your servants are listening. In Jesus' name, amen. Normally I'll begin with an exciting story to try to catch your interest, and then once hopefully you guys are listening, I then go into the text and we try to bring the meat and the deeper content somewhere in the midst of the sermon.

But today I'm going to actually flip the script on that. I am going to dive right in to some good content, some teaching on justification by faith. The reason I'm doing that is I was reading Acts 24 and I noticed how Paul reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, and Felix was alarmed.

But I thought, what is the righteousness and the self-control and the coming judgment that Paul was talking about in Acts 24? So I thought, you know what, we need to lay a little bit of background to that.

Rather than opening with a story, I want to open with a little bit of theology. How's that sound? To remind us of the great doctrine of justification by faith. In 1st Corinthians 1 .30, like Acts 24, we see a threefold expression.

Because of Him, that's God, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. Many commentators have pointed out that righteousness, sanctification, and redemption represent the three tenses of salvation.

So in justification, the righteousness of God is credited to you right away. So therefore, we can talk about salvation as being a past tense. In other words, when Jesus was crucified on the cross, what was one of the very last things He said?

It is finished. Tetelestai. And the meaning of that is paid in full. It's done, past tense, over, complete. So there is a past tense expression of salvation. Next, there is a present tense expression.

If you'll look in your notes, you can follow along and this will be a little easier to follow, because some of these verses I'm going to ask you to look up later. In 2nd Timothy 1 .9, we see this past tense.

We're told He saved us, past tense. But notice in 1st Corinthians 1 .18, speaking of the gospel being the power of God, we're told we are being saved. So there is a present tense aspect of salvation. Something is being accomplished.

And finally, in Romans 5 .9, the passage that just follows after the the song that we just sang from Romans chapter 5, there is a future tense. We shall be saved from the wrath to come. Romans 5 .9 says, since therefore we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God.

So salvation speaks to the entire swoop of God's plan to rescue you. It includes this aspect of a finished work, tetelestai, which we're about to talk about, where you are justified. But it also includes this idea that you're being saved.

Yes, something has been firmly and completely accomplished in the past, but there's still an aspect of something that's being worked on you, and through you, and in you. It's a present tense expression of salvation.

And there's coming a day of judgment. According to Acts 24 .25, this is what alarmed Felix, I think. A coming day of judgment in which God will judge the world in righteousness, and you will be rescued from the wrath to come.

You will be rescued on that day, on the day of His wrath. You will be spared from that. So there are three tenses of salvation, but this morning I want to stress that first tense. Justification. You are declared righteous as soon as you put your faith in Jesus Christ.

Now, but in order to better understand that, I think it's helpful to contrast this with what most, perhaps all, other religions teach. Other religions say that God is working His righteousness in you.

The Catholic Church will say that righteousness is something that's infused into you. Now watch that word, infused. Righteousness is given to you, and you then maintain that righteousness, because in reality you're working out your salvation.

You are being righteous. Whereas you used to sin, commit certain kinds of sins, now you're righteous, because God's righteousness has been infused to you. And all of the religions of the world teach this doctrine of infused righteousness, or earned righteousness, where you have to do well, meeting a certain level, a certain standard, in order to please God.

Lest you stand in danger of being condemned. But here is the heart of the true gospel that the Protestant Reformation rediscovered. It had been lost and perverted by false teachers who had come into the church.

But the heart of the gospel is the idea of imputation. You have this in your notes. Imputation does not mean infusion. It means that you are credited with an alien righteousness. A righteousness that is not your own doing.

It is the very righteousness of Christ himself, credited, accounted, imputed to your account. And there is a legal declaration spoken over you, as if you're on trial. Today we're gonna see Paul on trial.

But there's coming a day of judgment, where all people will stand before God. Christians will first of all go before the bema, the judgment seat of Christ, but then one day at the great white throne all people will stand before God and give an accounting for every careless word they spoke in this life.

A coming day of judgment. The great news, it's not just good news, the great news of the gospel is that God has already rendered his verdict over us. The righteousness of Christ has been counted, it's been imputed to you by faith.

When you placed your faith in Jesus, when you were born again, when you humbled yourself before God and you knew the filthiness of your own righteousness, you had nothing to bring to the table, you had no contribution whatsoever.

God in his mercy imputed righteousness to you. So really there's three imputations in the Bible. Adam's sin was imputed to all of his posterity. All of those who are born from Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel and everyone else who's come, is imputed with the guilt of Adam.

There is an original sin that's a part of our nature, we are born to sinful parents and we ourselves are sinful. Then in actuality we live that out and we all commit sins, but that sin nature is something we are born with.

Adam's sin was imputed to us in the fall. In fact if you or I were Adam in the garden, we would have done the same thing. Our righteousness is like filthy rags, his sin imputed us, that's the first imputation.

The second imputation is that God imputed our sin to Christ. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, that in him we would become the righteousness of God, 2nd Corinthians 5 21. So the second imputation is our sin imputed or credited to Christ and he then is punished as the sin bearer.

And the third imputation then is the righteousness of Christ, imputed, credited to me and I am declared not guilty. So this is the starting point of the Christian gospel. You are justified by faith and therefore you have peace with God.

There is no more enmity between God and man if that man be in Christ Jesus. So there's the content of our message today, justification by faith. But it leaves us now in this practical place where we have been credited with righteousness.

Having been credited though, that doesn't mean that we're perfect in ourselves, that we have our own righteousness. No, the second tense of salvation, he is working sanctification in our lives as we're becoming more and more like Christ.

And there's coming a final day of glorification where we will be like him, we will no longer have a sin nature. So if these things are true, who shall bring any charge against us? We stand on very sure footing.

We stand on a rock. We have been, past tense, justified. Therefore, who shall bring a charge against us? Well, that doesn't mean that men and women will not try. It doesn't mean that life will be easy and there won't be charges brought.

It means that none of those charges could ever stand before God who has already stamped approved over us, paid in full. So we can stand in a confident and joyful place and what we'll find is actually that people will bring accusations, false accusations.

This life will bring trials and struggles. So we're gonna pick up the story now in Acts 24, but here's the main idea I want you to focus on. When the justified are brought through many trials, opportunities are given to testify to Christ and to prove the excellence of the way.

You're already justified. That's done, it's stamped, it's paid in full, but you will face many trials. In this life, you will face trouble, but take heart. Christ has overcome. So here's what I want you to see.

In Acts 24, it's the story of Paul on trial and the experience of Paul is not unique to him. These kind of trials will come upon all of us if we are justified. In fact, those who seek to do the will of Christ Jesus will be persecuted and the more that you walk in righteousness, the more sanctified you are, the more boldly you testify to the gospel, the more resistance will meet you.

The more opposition you will face, but take heart. He has overcome. So watch the story unfold. We're at Acts chapter 24. We had left off the end of the 23rd chapter. Paul was being guarded at Herod's Praetorium and a showdown in Caesarea has been arranged and here it is.

The Jews are bringing out all of their heavy hitters. They've marshaled their troops against him. Check it out now with me, beginning in Acts 24, one through nine, we'll begin with. And after five days, the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a spokesman, one Tertullus.

They laid before the governor their case against Paul and when he had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him saying, since through you we enjoy much peace and since by your foresight, most excellent Felix, reforms are being made for this nation in every way and everywhere.

We accept this with all gratitude, but to detain you no further, I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly. Stop right there. This guy has a forked tongue, doesn't he? Listen to how smoothly he talks.

Some of the most accusing people will have a very smooth tongue and be able to speak against Christianity, against the way, but there's a fork in his tongue. He's actually a deceiver and he's about to turn.

At verse 5, you see the turn. For we have found this man a plague. And now his vitriol comes out, one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world and is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

He even tried to profane the temple, but we seized him. By examining him yourself, you will be able to find out from him about everything of which we accuse him. The Jews also joined in the charge, affirming that all these things were so.

So Paul, justified by faith, the one that that God says that we're supposed to imitate, Paul says imitate me as I imitate Christ. You would think he should be able to have a smooth and easy ride as a Christian.

After all, he's walking in righteousness, but in fact, the exact opposite is the case. The degree to which he testifies of Christ with boldness and power and walks in the way of Christ is the degree to which he's persecuted.

The troubles increase the more he preaches. Read 2 Corinthians 11 about the five times he was he was scourged and received the 39 lashes, how he was beaten, one time he was stoned and left for dead, shipwrecks, all kinds of troubles.

And here again, a false accuser. What's his name? Tertullus. He's kind of like the lawyer that the Jews have brought in to accuse. And notice how he begins his accusation with this flattery of Felix. I mean, the first time he says something, most excellent Felix.

Okay, we can excuse that, he's just trying to be respectful. But he goes on and on, how he makes these reforms and everything so much better because of Felix. Now the Jews, by the way, most of them did not feel that way about Felix.

This is just flattery and pandering to him. But he says, but to detain you no further, I beg you in your kindness. I mean, gag me with the spoon. This guy just goes on and on with his flattery. It's disgusting, isn't it?

And then he turns against Paul. And you notice the peanut gallery there in verse 9. After he said all these things, all of the Jews just kind of jump in and, oh yeah, yeah, that's true, he's right, he's right.

So the false accusations come in proportion to the threat that we pose. Paul is a threat to Satan and the kingdom of darkness. And so he faces these persecutions. In our lives, the more boldly you testify of Christ, the more you stand upon the Word of God, the more false accusations will be levied against you.

You will experience that. Jesus told us that, right? In the Sermon on the Mount, he closes the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 saying, they'll say all kinds of evil about you because of me. That's the case in this country.

The more that you speak the truth of God's Word, the more people will stand against you. Verse 10 and following. If we stop there, that would just be a really disheartening sermon, wouldn't it? But notice Paul, giving testimony to Christ and walking joyfully, he is vanquishing the enemies.

There is victory in Jesus. It's not an easy or smooth road, but it is a victorious road. So in verse 10, and when the governor had nodded to him to speak, Paul replied, knowing that for many years you have been a judge over this nation.

See, that's a respectful and appropriate way to address this governor. He goes on, I cheerfully make my defense. You can verify that it is not more than 12 days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem, and they did not find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd, either in the temple or in the synagogues or in the city.

Neither can they prove to you what they now bring up against me, but this I confess. That's the title of my sermon today, but this I confess to you that according to the way which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the law and written in the prophets, having a hope in God which these men themselves accept that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.

So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man. Now after several years, I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings. While I was doing this, they found me purified in the temple without any crowd or tumult, but some Jews from Asia, they ought to have been here before you to make an accusation should they have anything against me, or else these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the council.

Other than this one thing that I cried out while standing among them, it is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day. Paul gives a bold testimony to what he calls the way.

Now you notice they have called it what? A sect. That word heresia, from which we get heresy, is how they describe the Christian movement. But Paul calls it the way. Guys, your religion is the way. It is the way, first of all, meaning there's not many and multiple roads that all lead to the same place.

There's actually the way, but it's also more than just praying a prayer to accept Christ, being justified, and then going about your life living for the world and looking like the culture that surrounds you.

No, Christianity is the way. It's a road that we walk on. It's a pilgrim's progress. It's a life that we live. It's how we respond to people. It's how we carry ourselves in the fruit of the Spirit. And you notice how Paul defends himself.

The text tells us his cheerfulness in verse 10. You see this? He walks in the joy of the Lord, considering even this trial. He is literally on trial for his life, being falsely accused with all kinds of crimes that he did not commit, and yet it says, I cheerfully make my defense.

Consider it all joy, brothers, when you face various trials. How is that possible? Here is a man who knows his testimony. He knows how he once persecuted those who walked along the way, and yet God has stamped Tetelestai over him.

He knows that there is no longer any condemnation for him who is in Christ Jesus. Paul is so grateful, so thankful, that he's not afraid to die. He's not afraid of the lies and the accusations of others.

He is walking joyfully in the Lord because of Christ. And this is his victory, this joyful walk along the way. So continue with me now. This victorious life is rife with unjust suffering, but there is purpose.

God is allowing Paul to suffer the way he is so that he can testify to the gospel. There is a sense in which it's not Rome who has Paul chained. Paul is chained to the gospel, and Rome is chained to Paul.

Wherever he goes, he testifies. You lock him up, he preaches to guards. You take him before governors, he preaches the governors. You bring him before kings, he preaches the kings. You bring him to Emperor Caesar himself, and he is there on a mission trip.

All of this is being worked out according to purpose. It's not meaningless suffering. And brothers and sisters, whatever you're going through, if you've been justified and you belong to Christ, whatever it is that you are going through has a purpose.

It has a purpose to sanctify you along the way, to make you joyful in suffering, to produce character, proven character, to refine you like fire, to give you opportunities to preach the name that is above every name.

This journey is not easy. We can all testify to this. It's a hard walk, but every suffering that comes your way is not just the opposition of the enemy, it is the very decree of God for the purpose of refining you and for making known the name that is above every name.

Let's read this, 22 and following, but Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the way, put them off, saying, when Lycius the tribune comes down, I will decide your case. You'll notice this with this governor, he's a procrastinator.

He keeps putting things off. In a minute here, he's gonna put it off for two years, and he never comes to faith from what we can tell. Maybe there's somebody here, you have been procrastinating for years.

You've heard about the name that is above every name, and you think that you're owed tomorrow. You think that tomorrow will come, but you can't keep your heart beating for one more moment, for one more heartbeat.

Don't procrastinate any longer. If you've been hearing this gospel of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, today is the day of salvation. Stop procrastinating. Felix has this problem. Verse 23, when he gave orders to the centurion that he should be kept in custody, but have some liberty, and that none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs.

See, this trial here probably feels like a vacation for Paul. With everything he's been through for the last three mission trips, he is now on a beachfront resort compared to what he's been through. He's in this beautiful town, Caesarea by the sea.

He has, remember the prophets from Caesarea that came and encouraged him? He has friends, he has his traveling companions, they're allowed to come see him, and he's not being beaten. He's not being stoned and left for dead, but he's still on trial.

His freedom is restrained. But what, let's look at Felix and now his wife, Drusilla. Before I read this, let's tell you a little bit about each of them. Felix was known for his cruelty. There was a time when he put down a rebellion by destroying an entire Jewish town, and because of this, the Emperor eventually summoned Felix and exiled him.

The Saqqari were the zealots, the zealots of Israel who would oppose the Romans, and Felix was after the Saqqari and often would accuse people falsely for being zealots. The Saqqari were known that way because they would carry daggers.

The Saqqari was a dagger, and the religious zealots would sneak up on a Roman soldier and stab him in the back and then disappear into the crowd. Felix was resisting this zealotry in Israel, but he was just as cruel and harsh, and if he had any suspicion that someone was a zealot, he would have them crucified.

He crucified so many Jewish people across the land, and his wife was no, really no better. Drusilla had been married at age 14 to a Syrian leader. Her brother, who was a king, had married her off to this Syrian king, but the thing about Drusilla, Josephus tells us she was the most beautiful woman in all the land.

No one even came close to her, according to Josephus. So Felix had set his eye upon her when she was only 16 years old, and he sent a sorcerer to her to say, if you'll leave your husband, we'll curse him, and all the curses will come upon him, and you can marry Felix.

Well, she left her husband and she married Felix at age 16. She's probably about 19 years old here. So, according to verse 24, after some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.

Here's the verse we started today with, and as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment, Felix was alarmed. Wouldn't you imagine that? Is this a man that has any self-control?

No. This is a very cruel and ungodly man, but Paul is speaking about a coming judgment. By the way, that coming judgment is what restrains evil on earth. If people don't believe that there is a God, the men, the people, the women, are unrestrained.

There's no reason to be godly. Anyway, Felix was alarmed and said, go away for the present. When I get an opportunity, I will summon you. See how he's putting this off. Now, verse 26, at the same time he hoped that money would be given him by Paul, so he sent for him often and conversed with him.

He saw how Paul had brought this big offering to Jerusalem, the alms from all of the Gentile churches that he had brought to help the suffering Christians. And I think he's wondering, can I get a piece of that pie?

Is there some some cut here? Is he gonna bribe me to get out of prison? You know, he's hinting at that. Verse 27, when two years had elapsed, look how he's putting it off. For two years, Felix was succeeded by Portia Sphestus, and desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.

What came of Felix and Drusilla? Anybody know? Felix exiled just a short time after this, never heard from again. Probably didn't end well. Drusilla, interestingly, had a son by Felix and moved to Pompeii and was incinerated with the eruption of Vesuvius, or whatever that...Vesuvius, thank you.

You always know. Vesuvius erupted and she was actually burned and killed along with her son. But was that just the first of the fire of the coming judgment? Or maybe, before it was too late, she repented.

Maybe this gospel had penetrated, and in time that seed bore fruit. And when those first lava flows and explosions were happening, maybe she called on the name of the Lord and was saved. Maybe it wasn't too late.

I don't know. But I want to just reiterate this point. You never know the day of the judgment. You never know when that trumpet will sound and an archangel will, with a loud voice, declare, and the dead in Christ shall rise, and we who remain will be called up to meet him in the air, and so we will be with the Lord forever.

But there will remain seven years of devastation on earth, and there will be many who miss that trumpet call and the rapture of the church. Don't be among them. If you're putting it off like Felix, today's the day.

Humble yourself. Call on him. You'll find him to be a perfect Savior. We're gonna move quickly through the second trial. We're not gonna make it all the way through, just to verse 22. I just want you to notice a few things.

There's another trial. After all of this, you'd think, let him out, let him go. But trials don't just come once and you're done. The trials of this life pile one after another, after another, and this requires patient endurance among the saints.

This requires proven character, so allow that to accomplish its work in you. Now, after three days, Festus had arrived in the province. He went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea, and the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews laid out their case against Paul, and they urged him, asking as a favor against Paul, that he summon him to Jerusalem, because they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way.

Guys, there's far more opposition to you as a faithful Christian, man or woman, than what you know. First of all, there are spiritual forces in heavenly places that despise the work that God is doing in your life, and you think that the course of this life is natural only.

It's not. There is opposition, and there are reasons why things are happening, and behind the scenes, notice Paul doesn't see this happening, but there is still, after two years, a rage motivating those who are against the Word of God.

Do you see this? They're still all worked up in a frenzy. This new king is appointed in Caesarea, this new governor. The first time he comes to Jerusalem, the first order of business that these Jews have is to kill Paul.

That's the first thing on their mind. That's the number one issue that they're facing. Guys, this battle is real. The spiritual war that we're in, according to Ephesians 6, is ever-present. It's behind the scenes, and often we don't see it, because Satan likes to disguise himself, doesn't he?

Often as an angel of light. But verse 4, Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea, and that he himself intended to go there shortly. So said he, let the men of authority among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them bring charges against him.

In other words, no, we can try him where he belongs. I'm not gonna bring him down here. However, he wants to do them a favor. Now here, Paul, with dove-like innocence, shows a godly shrewdness in how he answers the Jews.

Guys, it is a spiritual war, but we must learn wisdom. We must learn how to address these things. Paul actually uses the Roman law. Verse 6 and following, after he stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea, and the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought.

By the way, they just excavated Caesarea, and they found that palace in the tribunal. It's amazing. The University of Pennsylvania was a part of that, but that ancient Caesarea has been unearthed with the big amphitheater seating 13 ,000 people.

So if you ever get a chance to go to Israel, you'd get to see it. I think some of you, you've seen it. Amazing. When he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him that they could not prove.

Now watch the shrewdness of Paul. Paul argued in his defense, neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any offense. But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?

Paul doesn't just trust in God's sovereignty and say, okay, go with it. No, he is fighting in a supernatural, spiritual way with wisdom and shrewdness. He sees through this plot. He sees it for what it is, and he addresses it like this.

He says, I am standing before Caesar's tribunal where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well. If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death.

See that quiet confidence? But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar. Then Festus, when he had conferred with his counsel, answered, to Caesar you have appealed.

To Caesar you shall go. And so it is that Paul will be sent to Caesar for another opportunity now to preach the gospel to the Emperor of Rome. And this is the last point I'm gonna make. These sufferings that he's going through are for the purpose of testimony, that he would have a chance to live the gospel cheerfully with all integrity, without reviling those who revile him, and to speak the gospel and make Christ known in the world.

There is a reason for it. And now we see, even though here we don't have recorded that he preached the gospel, listen, Festus did hear Paul preach the gospel. Because follow what happens now, 13 to 22 and we're done.

Now when some days had passed, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus. And as they stayed there many days, Festus laid Paul's case before the king, saying, there's a man left prisoner by Felix.

And when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews laid out their case against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. I answered them that it was not the custom of the Romans to give up anyone before the accused met the accusers face to face and had opportunity to make his defense concerning the charge laid against him.

So when they came together here, I made no delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought. When the accuser stood up, they brought no charge in his case of such evils as I supposed.

Now follow this, tune in. Rather, they had certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive. There's the gospel. This is why everything is happening so publicly.

Being at a loss how to investigate these questions, I asked whether he wanted to go to Jerusalem and be tried there regarding them, but when Paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of the emperor, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar.

Then Agrippa said to Festus, I would like to hear the man myself. Tomorrow, said he, you will hear him. And for our purpose, next week, you will hear him. Paul will give an amazing testimony in front of King Agrippa.

So what do we take from this today? Now, now already past tense, therefore, if you have been justified in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation for you. Your sins are already covered and a decree has been issued over you that you are not guilty.

Because you didn't do it? No, but because the penalty has been put on Christ, your sin has been paid for in full. Therefore, this walk that you are on, you'll face many trials. Keep your eyes set on Christ and recognize no weapon formed against you shall prosper.

There will be false accusations brought against you, but take heart, there's a purpose. The trials might not be false accusation, it might be some disease, it might be some pain, it might be death of a loved one, it might be some kind of trial that feels completely unnecessary, and you might never know the reason for it.

But we see in the story of Paul that the trials of this life have purpose. There's a reason. It's for the refining of your faith, if nothing else, for your sanctification, for your present walk with the Lord along the way.

And it is for the testimony of Christ. Here's what I love to do when I feel like I'm falsely accused. I don't want to worry too much about defending myself. You know I want to do? I want to take it as an opportunity to go preach Christ Jesus with more firmness and more vigor than I ever had before.

I want to take the gospel to people and preach Christ because I know the real enemy that's opposing me is Satan and his minions, and they're feeling threatened. And so my response when I'm feeling falsely accused is to say I'm gonna preach the gospel to every person I meet at the gym and at the supermarket, and I'm gonna take this as an opportunity to make Christ known.

In this world you will face trouble, but take heart. He has overcome the world. Amen. Let's pray. Father, thank you so much that we are not alone. Thank you that you, by your Holy Spirit, are here with us, standing by our side.

Thank you, Jesus, that you have overcome. And I'm thankful, Lord, for your example right now. You were put on trial in front of Pontius Pilate and Herod, falsely accused, and yet you did not revile, but you made the good confession.

You say that I am. And Jesus, I confess that you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. The world will be held to account and must stand before your throne. I thank you, Jesus, that you have suffered and died to bear the penalty of us, your children.

Thank you that we are justified, and therefore we have no condemnation and nothing to fear. I pray for this people, each one of us here this morning, Lord. Make us strong. Encourage us, Lord. Help us to walk cheerfully in the midst of pain.

That's not possible in the flesh, so we ask for your Holy Spirit to give us the fruit of joy. And I pray that you would open our lips to testify all the more to the Son of God, Jesus Christ. In his name we pray, amen.