Sunday, April 9, 2023 AM

Good morning, Sunnyside.

I'm sure this is not the first time you've heard this today, hopefully not the last.

He is risen.

Amen, amen.

All right, we're gonna start our worship service with a few announcements this morning.

Because it is Easter Sunday, we're not going to have worship service tonight here at the church,

so spend that time with your family and friends today.

Looking ahead to Wednesday, 545, the mealtime this Wednesday, and

then 630, prayer and tag are going on.

Looking towards the end of the month on April 23rd, Truth Group after the evening service that evening for the young

adults.

And then Saturday, the second to last day of the month, April 29th, 10 a .m. is that Secret Sister

Fellowship.

You can see Tristan Call or Hannah DeForest for more information about that.

And then Sunday, the last day of the month, April 30th, communion in the morning, and then flock groups

that evening together.

All right, any other announcements this morning before we get started?

This week's fighter verse comes from the Psalms, Psalm 96, verse 9 and 10.

Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.

Tremble before him, all the earth.

Say among the nations, the Lord reigns.

Yes, the Lord, the world is established.

It shall never be moved.

He will judge the peoples with equity.

We're going to prepare our hearts for worship this morning, and then after that, Michael will come and open us.

Oh Christ, we address our prayers to you today, for you are our risen Lord and Savior.

You are King of kings, and you are Lord of lords.

You have ascended to the right hand of your Father, where you reign forever and ever.

You have all authority, and you have all of the pleasure of your Heavenly Father.

And the Father and you have sent us your Holy Spirit by whom we know you and abide with

you in fellowship together in your love, and we give you the praise, for you have risen

from the grave.

And we know that you are glorified in every respect, and you hold the keys of death and Hades, and that you

alone are our King.

We thank you for being our Savior.

We thank you that you maintain your position at the right hand of your Father, interceding for us every

day, pleading your very own righteousness for our sake.

And we thank you that you shall reign from the right hand of your Father until all of the enemies, all of your

enemies, are placed as a footstool for your feet.

All of this we give you praise for, and ask that you would give us grace by your Spirit

to rejoice in you and to give you due honor this day.

And we pray for these graces, looking only to you as you satisfy your Father.

Amen.

Good morning.

Would you stand for a call to worship?

Psalm 88,

9 through 12.

Would you read along with me?

Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your righteousness in the land of

forgetfulness?

Psalm of response this morning is 88B, Lord I've daily called.

Verses 6 and 7.

Upon your name, spread forth my hands for

praise.

A

hymn

of praise this morning.

Open your Bibles with me together to the book of Isaiah,

chapter 44.

We'll be looking at verses 21 through the end of the chapter.

Remember these, O Jacob and Israel, for you are my servant.

I have formed you, you are my servant.

O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.

I have blotted out like a thick cloud your transgressions, and like a cloud your

sins.

Return to me, for I have redeemed you.

Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it.

Shout, you lower parts of the earth.

Break forth into singing, you mountains.

O forest and every tree in it.

For the Lord has redeemed Jacob and glorified himself in Israel.

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb.

I am the Lord who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens all alone,

who spreads abroad the earth by myself, who frustrates the

signs of the babblers and drives diviners mad, who turns

wise men backward and makes their knowledge foolishness,

who confirms the word of his servant and performs the counsel of his messengers,

who says to Jerusalem, you shall be inhabited, to the cities of Judah,

you shall be built, and I will raise up her waste places,

who says to the deep, be dry, and I will dry up your rivers, who says of

Cyrus, he is my shepherd, and he shall perform all my pleasure,

saying to Jerusalem, you shall be built, and to the temple, your

foundation shall be laid.

Would you pray with me?

Lord God, there is no thing that you have

declared, no purpose which you have ordained,

that your hand is unable to bring to pass,

exactly as you have intended it.

Lord God, your words are not only good, but they are true, founded

upon your unassailable sovereign power.

Truly, the Jews and Pontius Pilate came together in Jerusalem to do all that your

will had predetermined to take place at Calvary, to bring about

atonement through the sacrifice of your spotless lamb,

that sins might be forgiven and washed away, that transgressions

might be blotted out, and a people redeemed.

And now the one who was faithful over your whole house as a son,

he is risen and he reigns.

Lord, let us, as faithful servants,

laying down our lives for his kingdom,

for his gospel, Lord, not becoming victims of

the deceitful calls to lay up treasures for ourselves in this world, for all of our

treasure is in Christ Jesus, and he is at your right hand.

Lord, I pray for the joy of hope in our sojourning here.

I pray for patience and all confidence to

endure every trial and all suffering in this life, knowing that we

have a living hope because our Redeemer lives.

Amen.

You may be seated.

This next song will be a type of call and response.

The words will be up on the board, and I'll try to indicate to you when to join

in.

Please join us.

The Lord reigns.

The

mighty God

is God's Son.

Let's

go

to the

Lord

together

in

prayer.

Heavenly Father,.

We know that You are pleased.

With these songs and these prayers and these readings and this gathering.

Pleased because of Your Son, Jesus Christ, whose name we praise.

We ask now that as we turn to Your Word and as we think about

these words that You have given to us by Your Spirit concerning Your Son,

that You would nourish our souls, that You would heal us

and enliven us and sanctify us

and do everything in Your power to glorify

Yourself in us, to do us good as we look by faith

to Your Son, Jesus Christ, who was risen from the dead.

We thank You for this day and we pray that You would help us to respond

in a way that is pleasing to You.

In Christ's name we pray.

Amen.

I invite you to open your Bibles and turn with me to Romans 4.

We'll be reading.

Verse 23 through chapter 5, verse 2.

Romans 4, verse 23 through

chapter 5 and verse 2.

Friday night we looked at Romans chapter 3, verses

19 through verse 28 and

considered together how it is that the righteousness of God

is indeed revealed through the law which justly brings us

under the condemnation of God's own standard.

And yet, the righteousness of God has now been

revealed apart from the law being witnessed by the law and the prophets.

Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and

on all who believe for there is no difference for all have sinned and fall short to the

glory of God.

Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God set forth as a

propitiation by His blood through faith to demonstrate His righteousness

because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins previously committed.

To demonstrate His righteousness at the present time that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in

Jesus.

Our righteousness, our standing before God entirely based on who Christ

is and what He has done.

Our being given that righteousness imputed to our account written down

as our very own by faith by the grace of God.

And yet, this perfect

sacrifice of Christ this perfect life which He lived the act of

righteousness of Christ what He submitted to on the cross the passive righteousness of

Christ the perfections of His sacrifice His death upon the cross the fulfillment of all these

prophecies would not affect our salvation had He not risen

from the dead.

Paul says.

In 1 Corinthians 15 if we have hope in this Christ hope in Christ in this life only we are of

all men the most miserable if we deny the resurrection of Jesus

Christ from the dead.

He is risen.

Please stand with me as I read our passage for this morning.

Romans 4 beginning in verse 23.

Now it was not written for His sake alone that it was imputed to

Him but also for us it shall be imputed to

us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead

who was delivered up because of our offenses and was raised

because of our justification.

Therefore having been justified

by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ

through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we

stand and rejoice in hope of the glory

of God.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

You may be seated.

I wonder if you've heard the story of the two Carls.

There was a man named Carl Barth foremost

thinker on the continent of Europe in neo

-orthodoxy a way of reading interpreting the Bible and doing theology

which did not necessitate that anything in the Bible be historically accurate at all.

Carl noticed something about the churches on the continent that had embraced the teachings of Kant

Schleiermacher.

He realized that there was an absolute impoverishing of anything going on

recognized it as a problem.

So he embraced the tenets of existentialism and married them to the scriptures

and said things like.

The Bible is not the word of God it is a witness to the word of God.

You might encounter the word of God when you're reading it but it's not guaranteed.

He did not believe that the scriptures when they spoke of

anything of history were at all accurate but he still wanted to maintain that there was

some sort of real connection with God.

He tried to find a middle path between the liberalism.

Of.

The godless Tübingen school in Germany and the warm evangelical faith of

Martin Lloyd -Jones who preached in London.

In fact, Barth would travel across the channel and come visit Martin Lloyd -Jones church and listen to him

preach because he sensed that there was something there.

Carl Barth.

The foremost name in neo -orthodoxy.

Another Carl.

Carl F .H. Henry.

Carl F .H. Henry was foremost in the project called Neo -Evangelicalism.

A desire to engage with the culture wherever the culture was with

the word of God and to find some way to prove the relevancy of Christianity.

Where that project has ended up.

Probably not where Carl F .H. Henry wanted it to go but he was best known as being the

founder the editor of Christianity today.

And so.

It was that Carl and Carl at one point met.

Carl and Carl met and Carl F .H.

Henry relates the tale.

He identified himself in a press conference as everyone was there asking Carl Barth

questions.

He identified himself as Carl Henry editor of Christianity Today and

he wanted to pin Barth about his denial of the historicity of Christ and so he said

he pointed to the various leading religious editors or news reporters that were present there

to interview and to ask questions of Barth.

He pointed to reporters from the religious news services the United Press, Washington

Post Washington Star and he asked Carl Barth if these journalists had

their present duties back in the time of Jesus was the resurrection of Jesus of such

a nature that their covering some aspect of it would have been considered news like

news like the man on the street would consider it to be news.

You see what he's aiming at.

He's trying to pin Carl Barth on whether or not Jesus Christ truly historically rose

from the dead.

Barth became agitated at this and he pointed at Carl F .H. Henry and he asked and he

recalled his identification as editor of Christianity Today and he said, did you say Christianity

Today or Christianity Yesterday and

the audience, largely non -evangelical professors and clergy roared with delight

laughing.

You know what a judgment of God that men would

laugh where demons.

Tremble.

When we look at.

Our passage this morning we see that the good news is only good if Jesus

Christ is alive today and he is so we're here to

rejoice.

The realities of salvation depend upon a resurrected Savior.

The realities of salvation depend on a resurrected Savior.

So verses 23 -25 we consider belief in the risen Lord

belief in the risen Lord.

Now.

It sounds a little bit confusing when we start right in the middle of a thought but

it's intriguing.

Is it not.

Now it was not written what was written for his sake alone.

Who is that?

That it was imputed to him.

What was that?

It sparks the curiosity.

What is going.

On in this book of Romans there is a controversy.

There is a controversy about boasting.

How is one saved?

How is a sinner saved?

How is a sinner made right with God?

Does it have something to do with one's own devotion?

One's own intensity of religious practice?

Does it have something to do with one's intellect?

Does it have something to do with one's background?

With one's ethnic background?

One's identity?

What does it have to do?

How was one saved?

And so Paul seeking to settle the debate appeals

to scripture.

Now it was not written for his sake alone.

Something was.

Written down but not for this man's sake alone.

But something was written down to settle this.

What was written down?

It was the word of God.

It was according to the scriptures.

Now what was written down.

Well that it was imputed to him.

What was?

The righteousness of God was imputed written down to somebody else's

account other than God that somebody would bear under his record

the perfection of the righteousness of God.

Now it was.

Imputed to him it was written down for him it was reckoned to him but the fact that that was

written down was not for that man's sake alone but it was written down also for us.

Well who was that man that to his credit to his name was written down in

his accounting book before God the very righteousness of God himself.

It was Abraham.

You read Romans 4 and he's talking about Abraham.

In verse 17 we are on verse 13 it says.

For the promise that he would be heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through

the law but through the righteousness of faith.

God made promises to Abraham and to his seed and this promise was brought about

by faith not about the law not through the law.

And then verse 16.

Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace not according to our merits not according to our boasting.

Therefore it is of faith.

That it might be according to grace so that the promise might be sure to all the seed not only to those

who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham who was the father of us all.

Some of you are singing father Abraham in your minds right now verse 21.

And being fully convinced this is Abraham.

And being fully convinced that what he had promised what God had promised he was also able to perform.

And therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness.

Genesis 15 6.

It was accounted to him for righteousness.

He believed in God and his promise of the seed.

Therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness.

Whose righteousness we've already covered.

That in Romans 3 the very righteousness of God manifested in Christ Jesus.

Now it was not written for his sake alone but for us also.

Meaning here's the power of the scriptures what was written down by the original

author Moses to the original audience Israel.

About the original event Abraham by the inspiration of the

Holy Spirit who is the spirit of Christ himself.

All of this was.

Written down not for the sake of someone long ago alone

but for us also so that our confidence.

In.

Why we are right with God today is indeed a matter of faith.

But it is not a faith in somebody else some man's word not in my own personal assertion

but a confidence that is born out by the word of God.

God makes the manner and the basis for our salvation clear.

In 1 Corinthians 15 verses 1 -4 Paul says.

Moreover brethren I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you which you also received and

in which you stand by which you are saved.

If you hold fast that word that I preached to you unless you believed in

vain listen for I delivered to you first of all that which I also

received that Christ died for our sins according

to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day

according to the scriptures.

We are not saved by the word that we might give of our own

experience.

We are not saved by somebody else's word about what they observe in our lives.

We are not saved by the words of historians who consider the resurrection of

Jesus Christ to indeed be a credible historical event.

We are saved by the word of God as we trust and believe

in the gospel that was given to us according to the.

Scriptures a word.

That is entirely about Jesus Christ.

Everything in the scriptures everything that God says by the Spirit has reference to the Son

our Savior.

So it's according to the scriptures that we are to believe in the risen.

Lord that is the.

Basis of our assurance.

It's not man's word it's not my word.

It's God's word Romans 10 8 and 9.

But what does it say.

The word is near you in your mouth and in your heart.

That is the word of faith which we preach that if you confess with your mouth the Lord

Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the

dead you shall be saved according to the

scriptures.

Now it was not written for Abraham's sake alone that it was imputed to him but also for us it

shall be.

Notice verse 24.

It shall be imputed to us who believe in him who raised up Jesus our Lord

from the dead even as the promise we just heard.

What shall be imputed to us.

The righteousness of God.

The righteousness of God as accomplished and as manifested in Jesus Christ.

The only one of whom God said this is my beloved son

in whom I am well pleased is God

well pleased.

With you if you are.

In Christ by faith if you are wearing the very righteousness of God as fulfilled in

Jesus Christ.

If you are in Christ by faith united to him yes indeed

God is well pleased with you for the sake of his son.

He is the only one with whom he is well pleased.

He is the only one who has fulfilled the righteousness of God who has fulfilled the law of God.

Only Christ has.

Only Christ can stand between us and God and be our mediator to stand in

our place and for our sake as the very righteousness of God imputed to us given to our account.

And therefore it is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to the glory of God

alone according to the scripture alone that we are saved.

So this righteousness is accounted for our salvation.

But notice notice this is based by faith

in faith in him believing in him trusting in him who raised up

Jesus our Lord from the dead.

Many people doubt that God can save them.

Many people doubt that there can be any certainty as to whether or not they are going to end up on

the correct side when judgment day comes.

They are hoping it all turns out ok.

Many people many people's.

Funerals are preached by those and attended by those who have no

idea whether or not they went to heaven or hell because there was such a lack of

clarity about the gospel in their lives.

But you've also been to funerals where there wasn't an ounce of confusion

in the life of that believer upon what basis their hope rested.

And that's a splendid thing to experience and to be at

faith in God.

Jesus talked to his disciples one time and was explaining to them after engaging with a rich

ruler.

Now the culture back then was a little bit different.

Today in our culture rich rulers are the closest thing to hell on earth.

If you're rich and you have authority then you must be demon possessed.

You're the spawn of Satan.

You're the worst thing that this planet has ever seen if you're rich and you're a ruler.

But back in Jesus' day.

If you were rich and powerful the common cultural assumption was you were the closest thing to

heaven.

Well obviously God likes you better than us.

Look at all the stuff he gave you.

And after engaging with the rich ruler about what salvation was really all about and him leaving

rejecting the gospel Jesus turned to his disciples and he said you know it's going to be easier for

a camel to go through the eye of a needle easier for the largest moving thing you've ever seen to go through the smallest opening your

eyes ever seen than for a rich man to get into heaven.

And the disciples said well then who can be saved?

I mean if those who are closest to God can't be saved what about the rest of us?

And Jesus made it very clear with man it's impossible.

With man it's impossible to be saved.

With man there's no hope of man being saved if it depends upon man.

You're not going to be saved.

But with God all things are possible.

Even saving the chief of sinners Saul of Tarsus himself

with God all things are possible.

You know who is this God in whom Abraham believed?

Verse 17 of Romans 4 as it is written I

have made you a father of many nations.

And Abraham is believing and holding fast to in the presence of him whom he

believed.

Now notice the description of God God who gives life to the dead and

calls those things which do not exist as though they did.

This is the God.

Who made us this is the God whom we are to believe in the God who raises the dead and says

let there be light when there was no light before and says let there be land and let there be water

and brings out of nothing into existence simply by the proclamation of

his word and so by his word if he declares this ungodly sinner righteous

in my sight welcome to my.

Presence.

He will raise him up from the dead as he raised Christ.

From the dead this was.

Indeed the faith of Abraham you know.

How much did Abraham really know?

Poor Abraham.

You know.

He didn't even have Genesis like let alone you know the minor prophets and

didn't have the New Testament.

Really how much did Abraham know?

Poor Abraham.

Hebrews 11 17 through 19 says by faith Abraham when he was tested by faith.

When he was tested his faith is tested.

He offered up Isaac his true heir his seed and he who

had received the promises offered up his only begotten son.

Abraham who received the promises offered up Isaac of whom it was said in Isaac your

seed shall be called.

So here's Abraham putting his son on the altar.

And what is he thinking as he's acting in faith.

What did he conclude.

Verse 19.

Concluding that God was able to raise.

Isaac up even from the dead.

It's like well.

All the promises are supposed to come through Isaac and God's saying I need to sacrifice him on the altar.

So if I kill him that means God's just going to raise him back from the dead.

What other conclusion can I come to.

And indeed Abraham received him back from the dead.

In the figurative sense it's a type it's a figure it's a shadow.

It has something to say about Christ.

So this this righteousness is accounted for our salvation according to the scriptures and it

depends entirely on Jesus Christ being at the right hand of the father.

Verse 25.

Speaking of Christ he was delivered up because of our offenses and was raised because of our

justification.

He was delivered up because of our offenses and was raised because of our justification.

We talked about him being delivered up for our transgressions on Friday night.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our

sorrows.

Yet we esteemed him stricken smitten of God and afflicted.

But he was wounded.

Listen he was wounded for our transgressions.

He was bruised for our iniquities.

The chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed.

God made him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

He was offered up as the lamb of God to bear our transgressions

and he comes as our atonement.

A wonderful beautiful English word

coined by Tyndale at -one -ment.

Look at the word.

A -t -at -o -n -e one -ment m -e -n -t.

M -e -n -t.

That's how he meant it.

He coined that phrase to talk about reconciliation at -one -ment.

How are we at one with God.

How are we who were apart from God.

Separated from God because of our sin.

At war with God because God is holy and we are sinful.

How is it that we are made at one with him by the blood of Jesus Christ.

And he was delivered up for our transgressions.

And he was raised.

He was raised bodily from the dead ascended thus for our

justification.

Who is it who is it.

Who is your advocate and your mediator.

Who is at the right hand of the father pleading your case.

Is Jesus Christ risen from the dead ascended to glory.

Pleading.

The merits of his own case for you let's turn over to

Hebrews 10.

Hebrews 10 verses 9 -22.

I just want you to consider the importance of

Christ having been raised from the dead and what it means that we have a resurrected savior for

our justification.

How it's necessary for our justification that we would be right before God.

Verse 9.

Then he said behold I have come to do your will.

Oh God this is the son speaking to the father.

He takes away the first that he may establish the second.

He takes away the first covenant he may establish the second.

He takes away the first order that he may establish the second.

He takes away the first creation that he may establish the second.

By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all

once for all time.

Only one sacrifice was necessary with Christ.

In contrast verse 11.

And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take

away sins.

That's what's going on in the in the former.

That's what's going on in the old covenant temple.

But look how ineffective it is.

But contrast verse 12.

But this man the God man Jesus of Nazareth who is the Christ the son of the

living God.

But this man after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever

sat down at the right hand of God.

This man who's at the right hand of God.

The dust of earth is at the right hand of heaven from that time waiting

till his enemies are made his footstool.

There he rules and he reigns till his enemies are made his footstool.

He returns in glory.

For by one offering he is perfected forever.

Those who are being sanctified you see how that works.

We are perfected forever.

Already full.

Fully accounted for in the righteousness of God perfected forever while we are still being sanctified.

Praise.

God but the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us.

For after he had said before this is the covenant that I will make with them.

After those days Jeremiah says the Lord I will put my loss into their hearts and into their minds I will write them.

Then he adds their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.

As far as the east is from the west so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Christ the offering on the day of atonement that propitiates the wrath of God.

The blood sprinkled upon the mercy seat.

Christ the sacrifice on the day of atonement led away into the unknown to wander and stagger and die

and the sins to be forgotten forever.

The propitiation and the expiation.

Now where there is remission of these there is no longer an offering for sin.

Once you have Christ you don't need another sacrifice for sin.

Ever.

You never ever ever have to come to God and say well I really hope you forgive me so I promise

I'll do this or this for you.

He's not interested in your sacrifices.

He has Christ's sacrifice he's satisfied in it.

You be satisfied in it.

Therefore brethren having boldness to enter the holiest.

By the blood of Jesus.

How do we enter in.

How do we enter in to the very communion with the Holy God by a new

and living way which is consecrated for us through the veil.

That is his flesh.

We have a risen Lord Jesus Christ fully man and fully God at the right hand of the

Father by which we have entry to God and having a high priest over the house of God let us draw near with a

true heart and full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water

meaning before the sight of God I am righteous I am righteous I am righteous I am righteous.

And so.

Why.

Because of Christ because of Christ because of Christ because of Christ.

That's why I can come to the throne of mercy and find in my time of trial and need

grace.

And mercy well the risen.

Lord is that what we believe.

We believe in our risen Lord.

Now consider the blessings of the risen Lord.

Not a single ounce of salvation comes to us outside of Christ.

There is not one single blessing of salvation that comes to us apart from the person and work of Jesus

Christ mediated to us by the.

Holy Spirit first

blessing.

Peace.

With God reconciliation.

Therefore having been justified by faith we have present tense

now with God.

Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

How do we have peace with God.

It's through our Lord Jesus Christ.

How do we have peace with God.

Because we've been justified by faith faith in our Lord Jesus Christ his righteousness to

our account.

That's why we're at peace with God.

We're in we we're not at war we're not at odds.

We are not.

We are not.

We don't have something outstanding before God.

We are reconciled every every sense of the word Shalom present here that we are made

whole with God.

He's got nothing against us.

He's got nothing against us.

Because Christ is for us.

There's every reason in the natural sense when we evaluate our lives for God to be at war with us.

However however he is at peace with us.

He is at peace.

With us.

You have peace with God.

There's only one way to have peace with God and that is to kiss the son do

homage to the son find refuge in him.

The one who is raised from the dead and reigns from the right hand of the father.

We have peace with God reconciliation.

Shalom with God.

And we have new life.

We have regeneration.

We are new creatures new creations because of Christ.

Notice.

Verse 2 says.

Through whom also through Jesus Christ we have access.

That's what Hebrews 9 was talking about.

We have a way into the holiest of holies by his

flesh by his high priest representation of us.

We have access by faith into this grace in which we stand.

We are now alive in a way that we were not alive before.

And this grace does not end at the cross and it doesn't end at our conversion.

But we have continual access into this grace by faith in our Lord Jesus

Christ.

2 Corinthians 5 17 says.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation.

Old things have passed away.

Behold all things become new.

How.

Because you're in Christ.

Welcome to the new creation.

Romans 8 1 says.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Why.

Because we're justified.

Having now been justified means not guilty.

No condemnation.

So there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh but according to

the spirit.

Why.

Because you've been born again.

You've been raised from death spiritually in your union with Christ.

But you are not in the flesh.

Verse 9 says.

But you are not in the flesh but in the spirit if indeed the spirit of God dwells in you.

Now if anyone does not have the spirit of Christ he is not his.

You're not alive in the spirit.

You don't belong to Christ.

But if Christ is.

In you verse 10 the body is dead because of sin but the spirit is life because of righteousness.

You are part of that first resurrection a spiritual resurrection where all things are new.

You have access by faith into this grace in which you stand.

So it's new life new life new life.

You always have access to that.

Now your body may be on its way to the grave because of sin.

But that's not the last bit of the story because verse 11.

But if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you he who raised Christ from the dead will also

give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you.

So if you're alive in Christ by his spirit now your body is going to be raised from the dead.

In the last day because he is risen we are going to be raised.

The two are tied.

Completely together so not only.

We have reconciliation and regeneration but we also have rejoicing.

Rejoicing.

Look at verse 2 again.

Romans 5 through whom also.

We have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and through whom meaning and

through whom we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

We rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

What is this hope.

This hope is a.

Perspective controlling confident expectation of

God's glory in all things.

A confident.

A.

Perspective controlling confident expectation of God's glory in all things.

I think it is monumentally foolish.

Monumentally.

Foolish.

For anyone who is filled with bitterness and anger at Christians to think

that they're going to succeed by killing us.

That's been tried a whole lot.

And the blood of the martyrs.

Is the seat of the church and Christ wins.

You can't stop us by killing us we keep living and then we're raised from the dead of the last

day.

We.

Rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

You can't stop the church because she's the bride of Christ and Christ wins.

Hope.

Hope is the sermon for your soul.

Hope is the sermon for your soul and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God when we consider the

resurrection of Jesus and every Sunday is resurrection day every Sunday the

first day of the week we remember how Christ brings about the new creation through his

resurrection from the dead.

Hope is the sermon for your soul.

Some hymns are sermons for your soul from

the from the

didactic to the imperative from the facts to why it matters.

Before before the throne my surety stands.

Before the throne my surety stands.

My name is written on his hands.

Arise my soul.

Arise.

Arise my soul arise shake off your guilty fears and rise.

We rejoice in hope of the glory of.

God you know.

Carl made fun of Carl.

Christianity today.

Or Christianity yesterday and Carl F .H. Henry waited for the

laughter to die down and then he replied.

Yesterday.

Today.

And forever hallelujah.

Let's pray.

Father I thank you for the hope that we have in your son Jesus Christ and his resurrection from the dead.

I pray that you would master our affections and our thoughts with his glorious truth of your

son.

We pray these things in his name.

Amen.

Would you stand with me.

Turn your hymnal to 217.

Christ the Lord is risen today as we sing about

his resurrection

is

risen today.

Oh.

Sons of men and angels say of

the

son.

The love of the father the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.

We are dismissed.

He is risen.

Amen.