I'm going to ask you to open your Bibles, please, to Romans chapter 5. We continue our study in Romans chapter 5, dealing with the blessings that accompany justification by faith. Because we have not a few people who are new with us since the last time that we were in Romans 5, I think it would be wise for us to review a little bit this morning so that we can set the stage for what we're going to look at. If you have an outline in your worship folder, you will notice
that it has three points on it. No poem this morning, just three points. And we're going to cover point number one, but we'll reserve points number two and three until another time. I think the review will be helpful to all of us, but especially to those who are new with us, our collegiates and others. so that you can get up to speed with us as we come into this marvelous section of Romans 5. It's like a garden that is filled with beautiful flowers for us to admire
and to enjoy. These doctrines and truths that are revealed in chapter 5 are precious truths. I think this must be one of the most compact and filled passages in all of the Word of God. Let's read together the 11 verses you followed along in your Bible as I read, and then we'll
talk about the setting of it. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance. And perseverance, proven character, and proven character,
hope. And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. But while we were still helpless at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for the good man someone will dare even to die. But God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us. Much more than having now been justified by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him. And not only this, but we also exalt in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. The theme of the book of Romans is the righteousness of God. the righteousness which is God's because he is God. In other words, his attribute of righteousness. There's a marvelous aspect of God's being that
should cause us to respond with praise. His justice, his purity, his righteousness are all brothers and part of the family of God's holiness. We marvel at this attribute of God's. It means that he has no wrong in his person and he can do no wrong. He is just and right in everything that he does. We accept that by faith. Jesus prayed in the garden, O righteous Father. And never was the righteousness of God more displayed than in the work that he accomplished on the cross
within a few hours after saying that. But the theme, the righteousness of God, has another meaning in Romans, and I think this is really the more emphasized of the two. And that is the Romans tells us how we may have the righteousness of God ourselves. That is how we can be right with God through the righteousness that God gives us when we trust Jesus Christ. In Romans chapters 1 through 3 in general, the theme is sin. And the apostle reveals to us how much we need the
righteousness of God. No one can go to heaven. No one can be related to God unless he is perfectly righteous. And what those chapters tell us is that all of us are perfectly unrighteous. We're all sinners. He speaks first about the pagan idolater. He says that those... who have turned from the truth to the lie, have now degraded themselves in their idolatry to the point of perversions. And the course that he outlines in Romans chapter 1 is really a history written
in advance of our own civilization today. For the Western civilization was founded on the truth of God's word, and yet has strayed from that significantly. I don't know that it could be said that Western civilization was a Christian civilization, but many of its principles were founded by what the Word of God teaches. But today we worship a new God, man himself. It's
called humanism. Man has deified and enthroned himself, and the result of that most perverse of all idolatries is immorality of the most wicked kind. And that is where our society is today. The value of life itself is as nothing in our world. Whether you talk about the slaughter in Lebanon yesterday, or you talk about the slaughter of millions in our own nation by abortion, human life is worth nothing. Why is that? Because of the religion of humanism, idolatry, the worship
of man. He goes on to say that those who are moral pagans are likewise under God's condemnation. They have a conscience within that gives them direction. They don't answer to their own conscience. He says that the moral idolaters are stirring up God's wrath until that day when his wrath will be revealed. And then he moves on to a third group, and here he talks about the Jews, the moral Jews, those who are part of the covenant of the law, they're bragged and boasted in the
law. Yet the apostle says the very law that they boast in condemns them. And so the conclusion is that all are under sin. Every person who's ever been born into the world except Jesus Christ because of his unique virgin birth. All of us are sinners. We need the righteousness of God if we're going to be right with God. And then beginning with about verse 21 of chapter 3, the
apostle changes his theme to salvation. And he begins to explain, after painting the picture as black and as bad as it can be, he begins to paint a new picture. A picture with life and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. And he tells us how God has provided for us perfect righteousness so that we can be saved. He has done that, not by overlooking our sins and kind of sweeping them aside and ignoring them, but rather by dealing with them once and for all through Jesus Christ.
Remember there are three major doctrines mentioned there in the last part of chapter 3? One of them is that of redemption. You and I, by our sin, were enslaved to that way of life. We were sold under sin, dominated by it. But by the grace of God, the price has been paid, the blood of Christ, and we have been bought, purchased out of the slave market, and released. so that in liberty then we might willingly give ourselves in service to Jesus Christ. Another doctrine
he mentions is that of justification. Not only has God released us from our sins, but he has declared us righteous in his sight. That is, justification is a legal declaration of God. whereby the one who comes to him through Jesus Christ is said to be righteous in his sight. A marvelous thing. It doesn't mean that my life is always righteous, that I never sin again. It doesn't mean that at all. That's sanctification. That's another subject. But this is a legal declaration.
God sees me as in Christ, and as far as he's concerned, I'm without sin. And then there's the doctrine of propitiation. It's the basis of justification. Propitiation simply means that God's holiness, God's justice has been satisfied. The demands of the law for death upon the lawbreaker have been fully executed on Jesus Christ. So that now God is satisfied and he is able to save the sinner. who comes to him. Now of those three doctrines, which one is the one that Paul zeroes
in on? Those of you who are new might not know, but if you've been here a while, you should know. Is it propitiation? Is it redemption? Or is it justification? But I should have given you a hint when I lifted my eyebrows. You see, it's justification. That's what he begins to talk about now. And in chapter 4, he illustrates justification. And he goes back to the Old Testament and he picks out the most prominent figure as far as the Jews were concerned of the whole Old Testament.
That's Abraham. And he begins to show that Abraham was justified not by his works. not by his circumcision, not by keeping the law, but by faith. Now there are those who said that Abraham was justified in God's sight by being a good man. But the apostle says if Abraham were justified by his works, then he could boast before God. Furthermore, he says, if a man is saved by his works, it means that God owes him salvation. And God will have none of that. Salvation is by grace. It's a free
gift. And so he quotes from Genesis chapter 15 where it says, And Abraham, what? What did he do? He believed God, and it was counted to him for what? For righteousness. In other words, Abraham trusted, he believed the promise that God gave to him, and God said, Abraham, you aren't righteous, but because you trust me, I'm going to count that faith as righteousness, and here
it is. justification, and he saved him. Then there were others who said, well, Abraham was saved by his circumcision, by the ritual, the rite that he went through. And so the apostle reminds us that Abraham was declared righteous when he was 85 or 86 years of age. That's when he believed that promise in Genesis chapter 15
and was declared righteous before God. But it wasn't until he was 99 years of age that God commanded him and all of his household to be circumcised as an evidence, a token, of the covenant that they had made with God. And so it was 13 years between salvation and that rite, that ritual of circumcision. Now why is that important today? Because, dear friends, there are untold thousands and millions of people in this world today who are depending upon ritual and rites to get them
to heaven. It may be the rite of baptism. It may be the rite of communion or some other ritual. It's a part of their religious heritage. And they think that somehow God is going to find them more acceptable because of that. And it's not true. You and I come to God the same way Abraham did, by faith in Jesus Christ and by faith alone. And remember those who said that Abraham must have been saved then by keeping the law. And once again, the apostle gives us
a simple lesson in history. He said, don't you remember that Abraham lived 600 years before Moses? The law was not even given in Abraham's day. How could he have kept the Ten Commandments? And so he concludes he was justified by faith. And then he says, This was written not just for him, that he believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness, but for you, who will believe on him who raised Jesus Christ our Lord
from the dead. You see, we are illustrated in that particular chapter without any question whatsoever that justification, being right with God that is, comes by faith. And then in chapter 5, he begins then to explain the blessings that come with that. Justification is basic salvation. But along with that salvation come blessings that are beautiful and marvelous to consider. The first one is found in verse 1 of chapter 5, where he says, Therefore, having been justified
by faith, we have what? Peace with God. Now that's not tranquility of spirit. That's the peace of God. Christians can know that too. But he's talking here about peace with God. That is the peace that is the word describing our relationship to God now. Before we were enemies of God. We were hostile toward God. We were bold against God. And God's holy response was inevitably wrath and judgment. But now Jesus Christ has come to make peace. And when we come to God through him,
we have peace with God. And that's a permanent position that can never change. Never again can a person be at war with God when once peace has been declared. As far as God is concerned, the war is over. It's settled. We have peace. Does that describe your relationship with God today, or are you still trying to make it on your own in some way? You're still hostile and rebellious against God, perhaps. Dear friend, today God provides peace through Jesus Christ, peace for
you. And then he says the second blessing that we have by justification is that of access, or what he calls an introduction to God. That goes back to a picture that is not too familiar to us in our democracy. Let's suppose we live under a monarchy for a moment, and the king is in his palace. You, as an ordinary citizen, have no right to go before the king. But there's a man in the court of the king who is a friend of yours, and he says to you, would you like to meet the
king? Come on. And so he takes you into the courtroom and personally introduces you to your sovereign. Dear friend, that's what Jesus Christ did for us when we trusted him as Savior. He gave us access to God himself so that we may now come boldly before God. God does not intend for us to slink into his presence. He doesn't want us to come with our tail between our legs, so to speak. God wants us to come boldly and confidently into his presence. If we don't, then we're coming
in unbelief. Did you hear what I said? If we do not come boldly into his presence, we are coming in unbelief. Rather let us come boldly to the throne of grace. Now that doesn't mean to come brashly or arrogantly. But we are to come with confidence that God is hearing us and that we are received. because of Jesus Christ. And then he says, the third blessing, is that we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. When he says we exult in it, we rejoice, and he means
this is something we brag about. You don't brag about something unless you verbalize it, and that's the thrust here. He's saying this is something we talk about with a lot of confidence and joy and excitement. God's glory is coming. Do you realize that because you have received Jesus Christ as your Savior, that someday you're going to share in his glory? That's your calling. That's your destiny. Now, those who have not trusted Christ do not have that future. Theirs is just
the opposite. It's God's condemnation. But for those who do trust the Savior, it's glory that's coming. Now, that's a great thought. It means that someday you and I are going to be body, soul, and spirit, just like the Lord Jesus Christ. Now as you look up here this morning, you don't see a lot of glory, do you? Well, frankly, I don't see a lot of it back there either. Why is that? Because our bodies are lowly bodies.
Our bodies are affected by sin. But someday, when Jesus Christ comes back, we are going to get new bodies. that are said to be bodies like his body of glory, Philippians 3, 20 and 21. In that day, in every respect, you will be like Jesus Christ. It doesn't mean you'll be God as he is God, but you'll be like him, for you'll see him as he is. And not only that, you're going to live in a place that is specifically created to reflect the glory of God. It's called the
New Jerusalem. It's that which Doris Adams sang about a few moments ago. It's described in Revelation 21 and 22. It's a city that is built specifically to reflect the glory of God to his new heaven and new earth, the new creation. Personally, I believe that that new Jerusalem is going to be the only source of light to that new creation. There will be a need for sons because Jesus Christ is the light or the lamp of that new Jerusalem.
From his person is going to radiate such splendor and such glory that it's going to go through that city and out into the universe that God is going to create. It's a marvelous thought. We talk about the streets being of gold. It's not gold like we have today. This is a transparent kind of gold. We're able to see through it. The
city is not a little thing either. If you were to put that city described in those chapters in Revelation down on a map of the United States, it would cover two -thirds of the United States. Now that is the city that God is preparing for the bride of his son, the church of Jesus Christ. We might call it home, because that's going to be home. Jesus said, I go to prepare a place for you. That's where he's going. He's preparing
a place for you and for me. And maybe that's why the songwriter said, Oh, that will be glory for me. When by his grace I shall look on his face, that will be glory. Be glory for me. Because that's part of it, too. We're going to be able to see his face. We'll behold his face, according to Revelation chapter 22. The hope of the glory of God. But it goes on to say we have a fourth blessing of our justification. The working of
God. Now I can hear somebody say, oh, fabulous, that means prosperity and success and good health. Well, that's not what he talks about here. He says that God is using our troubles to work in our life. That's not quite so exciting, is it? Or is it? Just think about that. The troubles that you and I pass through in this world are God's tools to work in our lives. Therefore, he says, we exult in them too. Do you brag about your troubles as much as you brag about heaven?
Well, I do. That's what he says here. He says, we brag and boast and glory in heaven, the glory of God. But he says, we also brag, we boast, we glory in our troubles because we know something. God is working in our lives. And here's what he's doing. Out of those troubles, he's bringing patience. The ability to endure, to bear up under a load. And he said, out of that patience, He's bringing proven character. A proveness, in other words. Showing that you passed the test. Sometimes
it doesn't work that way. Have you noticed that we have a lot of shooting stars in the evangelical world these days? Let me explain what I mean. Jesus told a parable about a sower one time. Remember that parable? A man went out to sow, and as he sowed, the seed fell on four different kinds of soil. One kind was a superficial soil. He says the plants took root. The roots went down, but they hit rock, stopped growing, and when the sun came out, there was no moisture,
there was no depth for the plants. Therefore, the plants withered, they blew away. And Jesus himself gives us the meaning of that. He said that's like the people who hear the word of God and who immediately receive it with a lot of joy. And then when troubles come, they're like the plant and they blow away because they have no root. It reminds me of a shooting star. They get saved, and oh my, we're dazzled by the brilliance of that testimony. And then, it's gone. When
trouble comes. Why is that? It's evidence that the person never really was saved. The word of God was received superficially, but not genuinely. For the child of God, troubles prove him to be a child of God. Now that doesn't mean that we will never fail in a trial. We all have experienced failure, haven't we? We've all disappointed the Lord and we've disappointed ourselves. That's part of growing. But the fact is that God brings
us out of that. And he proves to himself and he proves to us that we are genuinely his children. Troubles do that. God is working through our troubles. to give us patience and endurance, which in turn proves our character, that we are children of God. You know, sometimes we judge things too soon. And some of you may be sitting there today in the middle of a trouble, and you see defeat and failure, and you say, well, maybe
that means I'm not a child of God. Well, that may be something you need to examine in your life. You may not be a child of God. But don't judge an unfinished product. If you go into a factory and you look at any product halfway through the line, you're going to look at it and say, what a pile of junk. What is that supposed to be? Is it deficient? No, it's just not finished yet. When it gets to the final assembly line, it begins to fall into place, and then it comes
out what it's supposed to be. Don't judge yourself in the middle of a trouble. Let God work in that, and when it comes out to the end, if you're a child of God, it'll be proven. It'll be proven. And he says as that confidence then builds up in us, again we focus on the hope, and it reassures our hearts before God that we're his children, that Christ is coming, and that heaven is a reality. And we're going to be there. See, that's the process. God is working through your troubles.
God still loves you. Don't ever think that God doesn't love you because you're having problems. In fact, God never loves you any more than when you're right in the middle of whatever it is that's the pressure cooker in your life. He says that hope is not going to disappoint us. Why? Because God loves us, and that brings us really to what we want to look at this morning. We're
going to look at it and be on our way. He says, Hope does not disappoint, verse 5, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Do you know that the moment you were saved, the Holy Spirit came to live in you? God himself and the person of his Spirit came to indwell you. And at that moment, he brought his love to make it real in your life. God wants you to sense and to know in your experience his love
for you. Do you? When he says it's poured out, he means it's like an oil gusher. You've seen pictures of that, haven't you? When they drill down into the earth and they strike oil. We've all dreamed that that might happen in our backyards, I suppose. And when they strike the oil, with a roar and a blast, it goes into the air and it comes down and it covers everything. And what he says is, the moment that you trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, the Holy Spirit came into
you and he brought a gusher of God's love. And it overflows your life and out through your life to touch other people. That's God's plan. God wants to make his love real to you. Do you feel it this morning? Why is it that people don't feel the love of God? Why may you be here and not really sense that God loves you? Let me just suggest a reason or two. One reason may be because you're tired. Did you know that when we are physically run down, it affects us so that we don't respond
quite right, even spiritually? Your need really is not to go to a prayer meeting. Your need is to go home and go to bed and sleep. Please don't sleep here. Go home and go to bed and sleep. That may help you. It could be sin. Sin has a way of hardening our hearts. In Hebrews chapter 3, he warns us against hardness of heart that
comes by the deceitfulness of sin. Do you know sin can begin to encrust our hearts or to callous our hearts so that we don't sense God's love like we used to and we don't love God like we used to? Oh, what a terrible condition that is. And friend, if that describes you this morning as a Christian, then your need today is to come to the Lord in repentance and confess that to Him. Then there are some people who do not feel that God loves them because they have never been
loved by anybody. One of the most important things for a parent to do is to raise a child so that he knows he's loved unconditionally. It doesn't mean the spankings are in order occasionally. I think we all know that. But we need to raise our children so they know we love them. Children who have been starved for love. have a hard time later if they become Christians realizing God's love for them. Because they don't know how to emotionally get a hold of it and to feel it.
Or how God wants to heal that. And he can and he will. And then there are those who don't love themselves. And so their response is, well, how can God love me? I don't love me. I talked with someone like that recently. He does not like his body, the way that he's created. And because he does not love himself, he does not comprehend how God can love him. You know what God wants?
He wants that person to love himself in the right sense, to accept himself as a special creation of God, so that God then can Help him to understand and to feel and to experience his love. We don't often talk about feeling God's love. We're so scared of emotions. And that's too bad because emotions are part of us. And God wants us to experience his love. Do you this morning? Or do you sit there with a heart that's cold and
unfeeling? That is not God's will. The Holy Spirit is in you to make real God's love in your life. God has proven that love objectively. What has he done? Well, he tells us here. He says, while we were still helpless at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. Do you wonder if God loves you? Then think back to what you were before you were saved. The condition you were in. And how repugnant your sins were to you, let alone
to a thrice holy God. And then realize this, while you were ungodly, and while you were helpless, and you were a sinner and an enemy, that Christ died for you. And then doubt no longer, friend, that God loves you. He has demonstrated his love in a way that you cannot deny. He says in verse 7, One will hardly die for a righteous man. In other words, for a stiff, self -righteous, hard kind of a person. There aren't very many people that will die in the place of a guy like that.
He says there might be some who would dare to die for a good man. That's the guy that wears the white hat. You know. The good old boy. The friendly, generous, kind -hearted person. There may be a few who would give their lives for that kind of a person, but he says, God has proven his own special kind of love for you. And while you were a sinner, not righteous, not even good, Christ died for you. Have you received that love, my friend? Will you no longer reject it, but
will you receive it today? God has so loved you that he has provided by grace a way for you to be right with himself. If you have trusted Christ and the love of God is in your heart, are you returning that love to him? Or as God examines your heart today, are you something like the church at Ephesus? Or just filled with all kinds of activity and good things? But you lack one thing. You've left your first love. But love for Jesus Christ is not there like it ought to
be. Will you realize today what a heinous sin that is? Oh, I convict my own heart in that. I judge myself in it. But my heart does not leap more readily with love for Jesus Christ than it does. Will you today as a Christian say, Father God, I have been away from you. But I come back today because I want that love to be warm and real in my life. Remember the prodigal? This boy was selfish. He took his inheritance early.
They went out and wasted it. And when he got down so low that he was in a pig pen ready to eat, the husks that they were eating, he said, I'm going back home to my father. And I'll tell him that I'm no longer worthy to be his son, but I'll be one of his hired servants. But I know my father will care for me. He got out of that pig pen and he went back home. But do you remember what the father was doing? The father was standing there at the portal, looking down
the road for his son. Who knows how many days that father stood there longing with an aching heart to see the figure of his son come over the horizon on that road. And finally there he came. The father didn't even wait for him to get back home. He rushed to meet him and threw his arms around him and the son started to spurt out his little speech. Father, I've sinned against heaven and against you. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. And he got that far. And
the father said, I love you. And he brought forth the best robe in the house and put it on him and shoes on his feet. I tell you, there are some Christians I'm talking to this morning that are prodigals. And you're in the pig pen. And you know that God loves you. And God does love you. He's on the portal, as it were, looking out there longing for you to return. Will you
get out of the pig pen and come back home? And let God warm your cold heart and soften your calloused heart and get you back to that place where you may experience his love. Father, help us today, I pray, to respond to the Holy Spirit's speaking and to take whatever steps, to make whatever decisions necessary to be in the place where we're right with you. and who are able to experience your love so graciously poured out into our lives by the Holy Spirit. In Jesus'
name, amen. We're going to close by singing a verse or so of number 290. It's about the love of God. But as we sing this, I trust the Spirit of God has said something to every one of us this morning and that we will confirm in our lives and answer positively as we ought to. If there's a need for you to make some kind of an open and public commitment this morning, we encourage you to do that. It may be to publicly profess
your faith in Jesus Christ. Or it may be, as a Christian, that you want to publicly say to the Lord and for others, that today you're coming out of a pig pen and back to the Father's house to be in fellowship with Him. It may be as a Christian you want to be baptized to follow the Lord in obedience, or that you want to be a part
of this church. But if the Spirit of God has been dealing with you about a commitment, He's been telling you to make that an open and public thing, this is the time to do it as we sing number 290, The Love of God. Will you join me and stand, please, as we sing together? And if the Spirit of God has spoken, then come right now. I wait for you here in the front.