Is God Truly Good?
Fervently the beads of blood were coming from me that no one would show up to church today. And obviously he did not hear that prayer. I did hear he just answered opposite of what I wanted done. So you can tell if church is really hard up when the drummer has to come up here and and and speak. So I want to open up a little humor humor because I've never done this puzzle nerve nerve rattling. If it's not something that you used to doing how much easier and much more at ease talking about how to do CPR and had extra gay people from cars and going to burning buildings. I am talking about God's word, but I'm here and I'm being faithful and I love the church body so much and in this time about transition, there's several of us are a few of us a promise to stay that will be stepping up here and in front of filling in where were not used to feeling in so but it is a pleasure to be here. With you guys today. I'm here every Sunday with you. Just not up here like this, but I have also been helping out with Panguitch the church in Panguitch sand and helping out there when Dan needs needs a brake tag come back here. So let me start off by prayer before we get into our our versus we're going to be so people can get to it Book of Romans chapter 3 verses 1 through 26, but our Focus will be more on 21 through 26 was versus Lambo open up in prayer. Help me find the price of Jesus. We love you so much and just praise you and thank you for this day that you have made for us than allowing each and everyone of us to be her father is not an accident. It's not a coincidence that we are here gathered in this this church for today Father and it is by your will and by your design and end destination father that we're here and I just pray your father that even though I am a broken vessel father and not the the best orator father. I just pray that none the less that your word would be spoken in shoes and and that you're Holy Spirit father. I would just help others everyone present to hear your word and not just to hear father but to that it would sink into our hearts father and that we would do whatever your word says to do father and I just think I just thank you for blessing us out here at Red Hill Southern Baptist church, and they can just pray that your will be done today father in Jesus name. I pray amen. Again, I just said we're going to be in Romans chapter 3 verses 1 through 26 before I read through that though. I know when I have that out here any church, you know, depending upon how how much you read God's word how frequently go to Sunday school or or however you come into into the church body. There's sometimes a preacher and I'm not a preacher. I'm just a teacher I guess. But anyways, I have some definitions. I wanted to go through first. So as we read through these forces and as I dive deeper in into this you'll have an idea of when I use these words and these words come up you don't understand what we're talking about. So the first one is justification and justification is the declaring of a person to be just or righteous. The one thing always helps me remember and I heard this long time ago. What justification is when you hear this this word justification, it is just As if I never sinned that's what justification is just as if I never said that's what price does for us sanctification the process of being made holy resulting in a change lifestyle for the believer. So we're going to be being Sanctified means work. We're being set apart. Our life should be different now that we have chosen accepted Christ. One of the things that made me think about this if I know I saw it appear on the screen, but my wife and I threw John and Patrick Pastor Brandon guidance, we are watching The Chosen which is now beginning to come up on a second season, if any was not familiar with the shows and it is a TV series. It is not supported by any major.
TV Corporation, it is strictly funded by people who want to watch it you pay to watch it and actually pay it forward to watch have other people watch for free. It's an amazing dockyards is a documentary series about Christ really delved into his followers into his disciples and a season 130 come through you put an app on your phone. If your if your phone in your TV work, which we were trying to find you last night wasn't having too much help, but you cast it on there and you wash his amazing series about Christ and his disciples Dallas Jenkins is the director and he's when it came up with his father is who sweetheart. number Dallas Jenkins dad Jake and see the author of awesome author. Anyway, so just made me think of the chosen we talk about sanctification in our life changing in the opening. There's this this a circle of all these gray fish but this is one fish that's it up of different color like a turquoise or teal color in his swimming around and then I'll ask cuz they're all going the same direction except for this one fish and then it changes and then there's other fish looks around starts following that one fish. That's the different color and it changes color and obviously this is talking about Christ and his followers his disciples. I just always remember seeing this picture and it shows all the kinds of fish go in One Direction and then it shows that kind of that Christian looking fish. Just seen the back of people's cars and bumpers over the years go in the opposite direction. That's what being a follower of Christ is it's going the opposite direction of the world. We're doing things differently. Glorification the ultimate Perfection of Believers when we pass into heaven. I have a good friend here that today will be giving a per-person testimony for the time of the day is is is can God truly be good and be bringing me talking about justification old suddenly. Everything's going to circle around to yes. God can be trusted. God is good. But she's going to give me her testimony that even through the trials and tribulations of her and her family have gone through God is still good and I wanted to start to hear that and you can never really quite frankly discount. Someone's personal testimony something that they've gone through. And so that's why I wanted her to come up and give that testimony a little bit later. The next word is impute. It is used to designate any action or word or thing as reckoned a person our sins are imputed to Jesus and his righteousness to us. So our sins were imputed to Jesus as if he was The Sinner and his righteousness was imputed placed on us as if we had never sinned again justification propitiation. That's a good word averting the diverting the wrath of God by offering of a gift of propitiation basically substitution. Jesus Christ was our propitiation. He was our substitute on the cross. We were the ones that were supposed to be there. We are the ones thanks to Adam and Eve are Mom and Dad who made the choice and took the apple and then came into this world and put on us. Righteousness is the state of moral perfection which none of us have Jesus Christ if that's what he places on us in a in a supernatural way a pistol. We're going to be talking about an epistle this letter this Romans epistle is a writing directed or sent to a person or group of people. It's basically a letter and last but not least we can be talking briefly about the law when they talk about the law and in God's word is the first five books of the Bible. That's what the people had initially the first five books of the Bible That's the law and the prophets. Those are the books of Joshua through Malachi. So anyways, let's get started Romans chapter 3 1 through 26
But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been manifested being witnessed by the law and the prophets even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe for there is no distinction for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God being justified as a gift by his grace through the Redemption, which is in Jesus it which is in Christ Jesus whom God just played publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness because in the forbearance of God, he passed over the sins previously committed for the demonstration. I say of his righteousness at the present time so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. So we're going to start off. here and I want to give credit where credit is due When I Was preparing for this message and and eyes again, I'm not a professional Pastor. I have them in seminary but you look up commentary you look up much wiser in in in intelligent individuals biblical Scholars. Typically who who their life has been spent studying God's word of how to kind of understand what we're saying here with Paul saying here and look into that.
I had trouble kind of focusing on putting it together. So, dr. Steven Lawson is the one that says his message and I took pieces and parchment that just spoke to me. So I'm going to give credit where credit's due. So but this is the doctor doctrine of justification as if they were never hear that word justification from now on that means just as if I hadn't sent that's the kind of simplistic layman's term. So in the beginning of Romans 1:18, which we did not read all the way through Romans 3:20 these verses to the first section of the epistle Paul presented in his case for the condemnation of the entire simple human race all mankind of all mankind that finds itself outside of price is under the wrath of God and a verse 21 has become their there's a dramatic shift as he perceives from condemnation to justification. Justification is the total opposite of condemnation. The first two words of verse 21 are but now which signals a dramatic pivot Martyn Lloyd James who is the great exposure for of the twentieth century has said praise God for the butts in the Bible, but now turns the corner from condemnation of the human race to the justification of all believers in Jesus Christ by the grace of God. So anytime that we read God's word and there is a but but in the word in in his word, that means whatever he's talking about prior to he's changing his Focus differently. So that's when he said thank them for the butts in the Bible. One thing. I wanted to touch on briefly. He talks about justification. So the whole world is condemned was condemned but those all believers in Jesus Christ. So only those who believe in Jesus Christ who believe that he is Salvation, he is our way to heaven are the ones that will not be condemned. So I wanted to make that first point. The first point Paul States here is that justification is apart from the law this announces that the righteousness we desperately need cannot come by our temp keep the law off the righteousness of God means the righteousness that God requires this righteousness can be achieved cannot be achieved by our own keeping of the Ten Commandments a right standing before God is entirely apart from The Keeping of the requirements that God has revealed in his written word. There is no way by our own efforts that we can meet the Highmark that God required to enter into heaven what God requires is absolute perfection. God will not grade on the curve. God will not look for the happy medium. God has established the standard of his own perfect Holiness and he will not lower it one iota it always amazes me for those that don't know. I was a firefighter paramedic for 27 years Las Vegas and I retired last year and all nine other individuals. I work with in my fire station. We're pretty much atheist had no belief in God whatsoever. They walk to make watch me like a hot sex Hawk since I was the Christian in the fire station, they had no problem pointing out my faults and failures, but it always amazes me that we assuming that's his creation, especially those that don't believe that don't have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ that we set standards of how what we think and needs to get in heaven and it here quite quite literally it shows that God is the standard. He has set the bar which none of us can reach. What's the weather? So other than through Jesus Christ
In fact in the end of verse 23 Paul says all have sinned.
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The standard of measurement is the glory of God, which is the moral perfection of his own. Holy character. We are not going to be measured against the morality of other people. We are not going to be measured against our own expectations for ourselves. It is by the unattainable standard of the glory of God that we are weighed in the balances and found to be wanting we can never achieve the righteousness that God requires by our attempts to keep the law. I think that's a common thing that we do at Schulman's Christian or not Christian We compare ourselves to others as what's good. What's not good? And you can all use the extremes.
Compared to Jeffrey Dahmer. I'm really good those of you that don't know Jeffrey Dahmer is he was a really bad guy just horrible for riffic things. But again, that's not the comparison. It's not me to Jeffrey's not us to Adolf Hitler. It's not us to Mother Teresa. Not even Mother Teresa met that that bar even though she was an amazing woman doing God's work. She still could not meet that Perfection What God desires or want from us? We can't give that to him. We bring absolutely nothing to the table. We make no contribution to our own salvation other than our sin that was laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ as he hung upon the cross. As I said, they're they're really hurting when the drummer have to come up and speak up here. So Michelle and I we've been married for Thirty-One years music has been a real Central focus of our part of our family. We love music, especially Christian music anything that lifts up her friend and glorify Jesus Christ. We love listening to too that I listen to music and Christian music speaks to me many times fixed a lot of us. It's on my my my radio when I turn it on as is the Christian radio weather satellite Earth radio, so we have a couple songs one that we bring up now that speaks to what I just talked about. So it's the lyrical one so you can read the words you hear it, but just please you're in time to come to church. I mean this is is is is not just hearing the word but receiving it take it in and really listening it kind of marinating in it in a sense meditating on it. So if you would down please
Where You Found Me Love May 1st
so even though the song Going 3 minutes, it's
so powerful
I don't know about anybody here, but you don't have to be the Jeffrey Dahmer's or the out of Hitler's the people that we look as bad as the worst to be convicted by this. I'm going to discuss that and just a little bit. Justification is provided by God. Paul says, even the righteousness of God the righteousness that God requires is a righteousness that he gives he is a source of the righteousness. He demands the righteousness that is imputed to us did not come from us, but from outside ourselves, it is a righteousness that comes down from the Throne of God Only God can provide that which he requires because the standard to be received into his presence is absolute moral perfection to his loss. I put a little note here Adam and Eve had so simple all they had to do what they had. Everything else. Just don't touch this one tree. But is that just like us? I'm sure there's a lot of people probably think over. Yeah, I could have, you know obeyed and not done that but Still to this day, if you're honest with yourself, if there's something you know, don't touch this don't do that. Whatever. You're like well, why can't I I want to I had this desire to do it. So
Justification is received by faith. That's how we receive it.
What is the saving Faith over talking about it is the firm commitment of your person's life to Jesus Christ the faith that saves of nothing nothing less than this. It is more than the mere head knowledge about God Jesus Christ and salvation. It is more than the emotional feelings of conviction of sin and affection for Christ saving faith is the exercise of a person's will to turn away from self-righteousness and entrust his life to Jesus Christ. It is to enter through the narrow gate it is to come to Christ and entrust all that you are to all that he is a half trust will not get you there. There must be the Reliance of your entire soul Upon Jesus Christ. You cannot hold back any part and try to contribute some portion of your salvation through your own good works a right acceptance before God faith is real when you come all the way to trust trust Jesus Christ Alone.
In that. Those words, I just read few things. I wanted to point out saving faith is the exercise of a person's will to turn away from self and entrust his life to Jesus Christ the word that's that stood out to me is that he uses there was exercise if you know what I don't know is what exercise is your working out your moving. That's what faith is Faith is not a passive thing. You cannot sit down now they do I will say this often the simple example to give the faith is when you came into church. Did you check on the nuts and bolts and screws in these chairs you satin or did you have faith that this chair would support you hold you? So this faith is a lot different than the faith what we talk about when you've been in church to talk about stepping out in faith. That means there is there is a physical activity or exercise in your face. Whatever that is. It's an exercise. There has to be movement on your part. Not just sitting back, even if you're sitting and waiting for Christ for God to work in your life. You're still active. You're still doing something for him, but maybe you don't know exactly what it is. But you're still active in his name secondly entering through the narrow gate. Matthew 7 1314 one of my favorite verses
1314 O'Fallon
Sorry.
Enter through the narrow gate for wide is the gate and Broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it. So as he mentioned here the gate to this life that Christ has for us is narrow. It is not why the world gate is wide we can do anything we want in the world and typically that will lead to destruction narrow is the gate that leads the true life through Jesus Christ and that is so true. I've been on the narrow road and I've been on the wide Road and I can guarantee you from personal experience the wide Road does just as God's word says it leads to destruction. And so yes, the path is narrow. Yes. God has a very very narrow of Standards high standard, but very narrow the world says you can do what Do you want hacker act? However, you want say whatever you want. It's okay. God says know if you want to be in my presence, then you will do it this way my way which is what I have chosen. My wife is chosen. Our four children have chosen do we do it perfectly know and that's where God's forgiveness. Come comes into play Third. We can't we can't contribute some portion of our Salvation through our own good works and Isaiah 64:6
Assure all of it to become like one who is unclean and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags. We are we all shriveled up like a leaf and like the wind our sins swept us away. So all have become all of us have become like one who is unclean. All of our righteous acts are like filthy rags. So even our best works, even our best days, even the best things that we do compared to Jesus Remember not comparing myself to Jeffrey or any of these other horrible humans throughout human history comparing to Jesus Christ who is without fault without Sim. That's the comparison. So even my best thing even if I fly off and build an orphanage or do this or that in the name of Jesus is awesome. He wants us to do that for him. But again, it is still like filthy rags in comparison to what Christ is like, Our faith is in Christ alone, not our baptism not our church membership and not our good works. This is the distinguishing Mark of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Every other religious message message in the world is a message of human works as the basis to earn salvation in which which man makes some contribution to his own righteousness. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only message of pure grace in which righteousness is received by faith alone man, must receive the righteousness of God by the empty hand of Faith. So again, we can't do anything on her own part of the overall title to this was with God. Can God truly be good and as we go see there, so hopefully it's seeing that God is truly good but I know this many times when when as we say the rubber meets the road when life gets really hard when a person or family whoever goes to a really difficult time is is can God be good in that. Can you see that? In fact, we were talking about the debt that today in in Sunday school. Is it in the midst of of anxious timing xiety? Can we still be thankful. Can we find that goodness? So my dear friend. Gina Bellamy is going to come up here and give a brief brief testimony that something her and her girls have and are still continuing to go through and I would love for her to come up here and get that testimony about God being good in the midst of trials and tribulations
second
hi. Just like David. I'm much better in front of children, but I am not going to Assume here that I'm going to give a brief just overview of why I'm here. So David started this journey with us. He's the one that took Patrick and Patrick is my husband. So that don't know. There's a few new faces out there March 17th to a doctor's appointment that the doctors had been just going over and over and around and around that this can't be anything bad. He's too young. The pasta just be a food allergy or something that his body is just not tolerating. So David went with him down to st. George after months of of just going around and errors in in in doctors or whatever and had a colonoscopy and sure enough. He had a huge tumor in his colon so big that it was going to the wall of the colon already. So March 27th of 2016. It was Easter Sunday and he came home after his first huge surgery. They felt good about it. They felt hopeful they told us This is you know, normally one of the better cancers to have great good will do the treatment and everything will be fine. So he did chemo with radiation and then chemo he got to ring the bell. Everything was great being such a good day and then fast forward to February of 17, and he went for a routine scan that we thought would just come out fine and they found it in his lungs. And so to make a long story even shorter. We sat in the doctor's office and all those words that you don't want to hear write terminal. stage 4 no cure we'll do the best we can to slow it down. That's what we were facing and I had Aubrey and Hannah at the time for years ago you were
At 9 Hannah was nine.
545 years old and the first thing in my head is
Aubrey isn't going to know much of her dad like cheese for she's 5 like what what is she going to remember right hand as a little bit older so that's okay.
And the doctor says I'm sorry. It wasn't better news. Okay until I look at Patrick and he looks at me and I'm like, what are we what do we do? What do we tell them what happens now like this kind of changed our world and I looked at the doctor and I said, well we serve a mighty God. And so medically speaking. I understand you I hear it. Like I know this could kill him right leaving a big hole in our family. However, God can also take it away if he so wishes and so that kind of started this I was purple and that's the first point of God's goodness. So now that you kind of know what our family's been through and my prayer life I I was angry and I didn't even want to pray and they want to pray about it. Cuz what if he doesn't answer me in the way I want which is just keep him here like as long as he can or take it away and that was my prayer take it away. Take it away. Take it away. Then my Red Hills Family.
I didn't know why remove two-seater didn't know why Red Hills. I was always told, you know, there's not many Christian churches. What are you going to do there? Well, he was saved here in this church.
And then all my friends would come up and say we're praying for you and Patrick and the girls all the time. And I thought that was the first light conviction of I'm praying wrong. I kept praying he'll him I pray with the girls every night. He'll him healing take it away. And then I thought you know what maybe it's not his will to take it away. And so my for a change my prayer changed with the girls to do what you need to do with Patrick. If you've meant to be here great, but we don't want him here like this because this was ugly and they watched him go through the suffering and it wasn't even like a whoop. It was there. He is again Captain America bad, you know good bad and then good and then he always came out of it. So maybe he would heal him. I don't know but that my prayer life changed in a way that God blessed me and and I I get into the word and I'd read passages and nothing seemed to really fit what we were going through and then I read one day Ecclesiastes 3 1 through 8, I won't read the whole thing for everything. There is a season the time for every activity under Heaven a time to be born and a time to die. And when I read that and I did read it before so many times over and over one of my favorite books and it never but there is a season and there's a reason he brought that to Then I thought you know, maybe it is his time to die Maybe. There's something more for him in heaven that he can't do here. And so then I keep reading a time to plant and a time to harvest A Time to Kill and a time to heal a time to break down and I would just this is the first time this is the passage I would go to all the time and it just made me feel so much better until I went to someone and cried and had a bad day and then the good of prayer God shows us how to pray. I feel like I wasn't praying right at the beginning because you guys were praying to heal. Everybody was I know you were in so you had that covered so then I had to think how do I have to pray for my kids in my family and I had to make sure they were okay with him dying and I didn't want them to be angry and I didn't want to be angry. And so if I pray that over them all the time that just do your will Lord if it's to take him it's okay. We're going to be okay. So the next Point God's goodness there others. I But it blows my mind. Why don't you know why we are Red Hills. Well, why was I on the 1st pastor search committee? I'm at one of my best friends.
And then his best friend comes home from being working away and became one of his best friends and he just put people in our lives that I couldn't even text phone calls emails treats for the girls meals notes on the front door parts on the lawn coffee deliveries pastors and church family coming to the house to pray notes on my desk at work pink Christmas, which has been a huge blessing friends that call. I'm coming. We're coming in 15 minutes and we're taking the girls were you taking them? It doesn't matter. You just need some time. Okay, fantastic. So it just goes on and on and on Ephesians 2:8 through 10. God Saves Us by his grace when you are but when you when you believe you can't take credit for it is a gift from God salvation is not a reward for the good things that we have done. So none of us can boast about it. Those were all good things brought to us and God's goodness through other people. We moved to Cedar we were put in a great neighborhood blessed with a house that we had great neighbors blessed with a church that we couldn't have gone through it without our church family. We carry each other's burdens Galatians 6 through 6 to you guys all carried this burden with us. And that's God's goodness through all of it because I couldn't have done it without others goodness. And his timing is probably the biggest one if I go back I journaled a lot through all of this and his timing I didn't think about it as I was going through it cuz I go through angry I go through static go through happy. I went through all the emotions but his timing Was good. The doctors were right. They gave him time Aubrey's 9 now and Hannah 13. And so they will remember their dad. It wasn't fast. It wasn't we found out in 2 weeks later. He was gone we had for years. It wasn't an easy for years, but it gave us time until God's goodness in timing and then Covetous fast forward a whole lot of and he had covered but I didn't think he did but he did and so in March of 2020 he was down in Dixie they said how is he alive? I don't understand and I said, I guess God knows. I don't know but had he died of covet.
Timing like Easter is going to be different from now on. So my mom kept saying June 9th. We're going to leave June 9th of June 9th. We're going to get it. You know, we have found out he went to his brain on May 26th, and then they said he probably had two to four weeks and he had 14 days. He died 14 days later and June 9th was just a bunch of things we do night. All right, leave do night. That sounds great. Just get in the motorhome and come on out. Well, then I I called her on Saturday Friday. And I said you guys better come I think no matter what even if it's a couple more weeks just knew better come and so they did and here comes this huge motorhome that that too was God's goodness cuz they drove through a hurricane their windshield wipers went out their high beams went out and the the devil or Satan or whatever said you're not going and you're not getting there and Robert my brother-in-law said over getting there. We're getting there and so he drove 36 + hours straight without sleeping and he got them there at 1:30 in the morning on the 9th and Patrick was still with it and talk to every single one of them and knew who they were again God's timing and then he died at 9:55 on June 9th. So my mom was right about June 9th. It's just that they need to be there by June 9th and not leave on June 9th. But again. It was good and got them there so through all of it. It was ugly, but it was beautiful and sometimes I would pray just take him like why are you doing this to the girls? And look what Jesus did like he went through nothing compared to what Jesus did for us? And so I have to remember to that, you know, his suffering was minimal compared to what Jesus does for us if we just say yes to him. So now after gods Now it's now. It's the aftermath right? So now the yuck is over and we say goodbye to him. The last time I stood up in front of someone was at his service. So it's been a long and it's been months but God continues to be good as one of my friends. I won't mention her name since we will it wasn't your best moment. Cuz I did something that maybe I shouldn't quite have done in the spur of grief like sell my house when I don't have somewhere to go. I thought we were going to go to Florida and something was just saying don't go the girls didn't want to go I wasn't ready to go and I just said we just have to I have to slow down like not only did I sell my house. I sold probably everything I own and so other than if my bed's we needed our bed, so I guess so then I panicked and we're going to stay but we have nowhere to be at my house is too far along to back out of it, but God's goodness again because Red Hills without even a Beat. John and Robin Harris said we'll take you in the girls. and
And they have been.
Nothing short of a miracle because the girls fight or they get annoyed with us. I'm sure they don't always show it but they've been good and then we're to build this house and it's good. You can Praise Him for staying here and I feel awful about the house. Right because Austin was just up here at the housing market is crazy right now. And what are we eating? I'm thinking all this money into a house that I don't I don't really know if I want it. And again God's goodness because someone else in Red Hill says we'll have a place for you in June. Okay, because he takes care of it. He knows I was going to mess up. It was not a good moment at all More Tears more this sting. What are we going to do?
The god knew I was going to do that and mess up so.
I think I didn't even really look at my notes, but I think that's all I have. I've had made some not so great decisions.
I don't know the good in God taking Patrick away from me and the girls. My mom my dad my niece is there so many people that loved him friends here at Red Hills friends at work friends at my school. He finished his bachelor's degree.
In 2019 the summer he booked have 19.
And so but there's hope and I feel like God's goodness. Is that hope and when I get out of my own way, then you see God move cuz I'm always in my own way. Like I want to fix it.
I told her to go downstairs. But I want to fix it for them, you know. He was a good man, but even good people have to go.
But the goodness of God and leaning on him. And I need people like Lori. Get out of your own way. You like just let him do it. Just stop thinking about it. Okay, stop thinking so much about it. So Psalms 511 and 12, but let all who take refuge in you rejoice. Let them sing. Joyful Praises forever spread your protection over them that all who love your name may be filled with joy for you bless The Godly. Oh Lord you surround them with your Shield of love and he does that if we just allow him. So his goodness has been it was hard to see it going through it. But I'm glad I journaled I'm glad I look back and I and I think that was for those those things time prayer. The goodness of others that know Christ and how much I needed them but I would say no but they'd come over anyway, because they knew I needed someone. So I love you guys. I love Jesus above all and I do my girls do and and the one thing that I'm I'm happy about is that they're not angry. They're not they're not mad for taking him to the new. It just had a new way that we have to figure it out. But God is good all the time. And so I hope that down the road. I see the big picture of goodness. I I don't I don't know that yet. Is there going to be someone in my life that I can I can help with what they're going through another wife losing a husband or whatever. It doesn't have to be that my kids a friend losing a dad or a mom and they can they can help them through it. So that's it.
I want Gina to do that because a lot of times. I am in in our lives. I think that's like it's over the rubber meets the road when we go through a really hard time. Even as Believers were like a where was God in that and again, you know, there's nothing you can discount about Gina's testimony because it's hers. She went through it and Patrick Kearney girls and but I wanted to have her up here. Let me know.
Sonic
continue on here wearing verse 23
justification needed by all. Justification is needed by all Paul ride for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God every person in the history of the world wear their past present or until the end of the age has sinned and fall short of the glory of God that is a simple definition of what sin is there are still there are many different definitions for sinews in the Bible. This is one of those which is to fall short of the perfect Holiness of God by this high standard God is not comparing us to our neighbor or just someone you think it's further away from God than you are if you can picture a set of scales and on one side of the scales is placed your life on the other side of the scales is the glory of God, which is the sum and substance of all the Perfections of God. We are weighed in the balances and measured against the absolute purity of God by this standard. We have fallen Wolfe Ali short of the glory of God. Justification is declared by God being justified is a passive verb. We are passive in a painting this righteousness and someone else is active. We cannot justify ourselves. Someone else is the justifier. It is God alone who can justify us.
Goes on to talk about justification is a forensic declaration. This picture this pictures a courtroom scene in which God the judge makes a legal declaration. He declares the guilty Center to be righteous on the basis of the righteousness that Jesus Christ has to cure for them. This pronouncement of righteousness is an immediate and and and irrevocable act it take place in a split-second. The moment The Sinner believes in Jesus Christ Our sanctification is Progressive throughout the rest of one's life are glorification, which is what Patrick has experience when he died and went to be with Jesus and Heaven Help. His body was glorified will take place in a moment and will last throughout all eternity but justification take place in the twinkling of an eye when One Believes In Jesus Christ, We're talking about supernatural. Cobra talk about things that are beyond our little human tiny little brains that we can understand something that happens an instant when that one person believes in and receive Christ. They are humble enough. Put their pride aside and realize I am a sinner I do need priced. I want to be with him in heaven is not just to be in heaven because there's no more sickness. There's no more dying There's No More Tears. That's all awesome. The real reason real draw for us to be in heaven is to be with our savior. That's the real draw.
and finally The Divine actor justification is more than the removal of the penalty of sin. It is more than being forgiven of your sin. That is only the removal of the negative that separates you from God justification moreover brings the acquisition of the positive righteousness of God by faith, you're given a positive righteousness before God. We need far more than the forgiveness of sin. All the pardon of sin does is bring it back to point zero and zero do not go to heaven forgiveness washes away sin. But in order to have a right standing for God we must be more than a clean slate. We must be brought higher than merely Ground Zero there must be deposited into our account the positive saving righteousness of God, just like this said, Is yeah Jesus blood wash all of our sins away, but for even asking for even as to go to heaven, I was in this having her sins washed away which brings this race brings our debt to zero. We need to have Jesus Christ's righteousness on us as I talked about before that word impute. So are filthy so ugly horrible sins going Christ and God Jesus Christ righteousness is imputed onto us. That's how God sees us when he looks at us. He doesn't look at it as a horrible sinful human beings that we are. Jesus Christ when he entered this world invaded the slave-market of mankind, he came into the the person into the prison House of this world and his substitutionary death upon the cross Jesus Christ purse purchased in full the Redemption of Sinners who were held captive by the chains of sin under the cruel tyranny of the devil the Lord Jesus Paid The Ransom price in order to secure the release of those in prison by their sin, you will never hear any better news than this for the rest of your life. Everything else is secondary. This truth is what is primary
Just remember there's no sin that we can commit that Christ can't wash away. There's no deep hole or Valley that we can be in that Christ isn't there already with us? We can go to him. I know someone personally who says that they've done so much bad. There's no way Christ can forgive them. That's not true. He can he can forgive any sin again. If we put a put aside our pride if we are humble enough to bow at the cross to tell Jesus. I've messed up face heal me he can heal he is a great physician I wanted to end today when I was reading through this and it says you'll never hear any better news than there. So I'm to go along for the definition of those that don't know when you hear the word gospel. That means good news and working in another video Another music video by MercyMe just real briefly if anyone is familiar with MercyMe are not familiar with MercyMe BART to the lead singer. He's the one that wrote. Oh my goodness. I just forgot his sweetheart. I can only imagine thank you. He's the one that wrote it and we saw that movie. In fact Michelle to mention about maybe we should meet up for movie night one night to watch the story about Barton what he went through and again horrible life absent father everything and if you look at where he is now, it's it's absolutely amazing what God has done through him his band their Ministry, but he was I wanted to kind of clothes on this because the gospel is the good news, but it's also the best news ever.