Faith Pleases God.

Steve Gentry

[0:01] Alright, well, again, welcome to Village Church. [0:03] If this is your first time here, my name is Steve, I’m one of the pastors here at Village [0:07] Church. [0:07] And as always, I am thankful and grateful to see each and every one of you. [0:11] If you have your Bibles, go ahead and open them to Romans chapter 9. [0:14] We’re going to be, by God’s grace, finishing Romans 9 this morning, moving into Romans

[0:19] 10 next week. [0:22] In Psalm 24, 1, it makes this great statement. [0:26] And the Psalms have these amazing ways of expressing who God is in really poetic ways. [0:32] And in chapter 24, starting in verse 1, the psalmist writes this. [0:36] He says,

[0:40] And so we see this picture in the Psalms that God is great, that He is larger than we are, [0:48] that He is more powerful, and so powerful, in fact, that everything that is, everything [0:54] that’s on this earth, everything that exists is His. [0:59] It all belongs to Him. [1:01] You belong to God, I belong to God. [1:04] And the way in which we have gotten wrong is this understanding of life, is that we

[1:10] think that we exist to fulfill our purpose, to do what we want to do, to grab a hold [1:17] of life and get things our way. [1:20] And the reality is that we exist for God, by God, through God, and to God. [1:28] We belong to Him. [1:30] And so last week, we were going through Romans 9, and we see this whole section about how [1:35] God is in control.

[1:37] God has absolute authority. [1:39] God is doing everything that He’s doing so that His purposes will be accomplished. [1:46] And He’s working through people to do those things. [1:50] And that even if you’re in absolute rebellion against the purposes of God, you are not so [1:56] large, you are not so great, you are not so powerful, that even for a moment in your [2:03] rebellion, that you could possibly undo any of God’s plans.

[2:09] You are not so great that if you rebel against God, that anything that He has determined [2:15] will come to pass, any of His purposes, any of His things that He’s going to happen according [2:19] to His will are at stake at all. [2:23] In fact, everyone, no matter what they’re doing, are ultimately working one great purpose [2:28] that is undoubtedly, according to the Scriptures, going to happen, and that is that God will [2:34] receive all of the glory for all time from everyone who has ever existed, either through

[2:42] salvation, which gets you God’s relationship, which earns you God’s keep, and then heaven [2:50] in His presence forever, or under His mighty wrath, where you will be judged and you will [2:57] pay the price for your sin, and wrath will come on you forever. [3:00] Either way, God’s will is going to be done, His glory will be known throughout all of [3:06] the world, and He will be worshiped forever and ever. [3:08] Why?

[3:09] Because He’s God. [3:10] Because He’s great. [3:13] Because the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. [3:18] Everything is His. [3:20] And that’s one of the reasons that we struggle. [3:24] You know, when I was first beginning to study the Scriptures in college, I was surrounded

[3:28] by this great group of guys who loved Jesus, wanted to live for Jesus, were pouring into [3:33] me. [3:34] It’s one of the reasons I believe so staunchly in the sovereignty of God in all things is [3:38] because that’s the only answer as to why I’m following Him is because of the environments [3:42] that He placed me in. [3:44] I read this amazing quote, ended up reading the book.

[3:47] One of the most impactful books that I’ve ever read contains this quote from John Piper, [3:52] and it is this famous quote by his. [3:54] It says that, [3:55] God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.

[4:02] And that’s one of the greatest things that you can ever understand in your life is that [4:06] you exist to find your hope, find your joy, find your meaning, find your ultimate satisfaction [4:13] in this life, in God, and in nothing else. [4:18] That He needs to be your hope. [4:20] He needs to be your purpose. [4:22] He needs to be the centerpiece as to why you wake up each and every day.

[4:28] But it also serves to remind me of one of the reasons that I struggle in my sin. [4:34] It’s because even in seeking to obey some of the simplest commands that God has given, [4:40] I uncover more and more sin in my heart. [4:43] That I’ll seek to command God, rather, I’ll seek to obey God’s commands so that He will [4:48] do something that I want Him to do. [4:51] So that He will give me something that I’ve been asking Him for.

[4:54] So that He will give me this spouse, or so that He’ll give me this job, or so that He’ll [4:58] give me this comfort, house, leisure, fame, power. [5:02] If I obey Him, maybe I will get some of that favor that I’ve always wanted from Him to [5:09] give me the things that He’s given me. [5:10] And that’s sinful.

[5:13] Because we are to find our ultimate satisfaction in God and in God alone. [5:20] That’s one of the quotes that John Calvin has, is that the human heart is an idol factory. [5:26] And that’s what we really begin to uncover when we look at all of the reasons and false [5:32] motivations that we have, even for obeying God. [5:36] Is that we’re actually trying to get God to give us something other than Himself. [5:41] And in that, that thing that we’re after, that really is what our God actually is.

[5:49] So that’s why, when you seek to follow Jesus and things don’t work out the way that you [5:55] wanted them to, or He doesn’t answer your prayers the way that you wanted Him to, or [6:01] the job never materializes, the money never comes, that person breaks your heart, that [6:07] child disappoints you, that person in your life causes you more pain than you ever thought [6:13] they were going to happen. [6:14] That’s why when that happens, you look to God and you say, how could this happen?

[6:19] I was obeying you, I was following you, I was doing all of the right things, and then [6:24] I didn’t get what I really wanted. [6:25] And that is where you have the ultimate problem with your faith.

[6:31] God doesn’t want you to follow Him, God doesn’t want you to obey Him because He’s going to [6:36] do everything exactly the way that you wanted Him to. [6:39] God wants you to follow Him because He’s so great. [6:43] God wants you to follow Him because He’s so grand, because He’s so wonderful, because [6:47] He’s so beautiful, because He’s merciful to the extent that He Himself would come, suffer, [6:53] sacrifice His life, and then rise from the dead so that you could know Him personally,

[7:00] so that you could have Him in your life. [7:02] The greatest gift that you could ever have is God, because He’ll never leave you, He’ll [7:08] never forsake you, He’ll be there through every moment where things go right and you [7:14] thought they were going to go left, when you thought you were going to receive something [7:19] that was taken away from you before you ever got it. [7:23] That in those moments are where our faith is actually seen in our lives, is when God

[7:30] keeps His promises in a way in which you did not expect Him to. [7:35] So take a look with me in Romans chapter 9. [7:38] I’m going to start reading in verse 23, which is where we left off this past week. [7:43] It says in verse 23, he says, that in order to make known the riches of His glory, and [7:48] So there you have it, the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof, everything belongs [7:53] to God, everything’s going towards God, everything’s going to work according to His power, according

[7:59] to His glory, for vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for what? [8:06] For glory. [8:07] And so why do you exist? [8:09] You exist to bring glory to God. [8:11] Why are you taking the path of life that you’re taking, whatever that path is, so that you [8:16] can follow Jesus into the glory of God through that path.

[8:20] And then he goes on and he says, even us whom He has called, not from the Jews only, but [8:25] also from the Gentiles, as indeed, he says in Hosea, those who are not My people, I will [8:32] call My people, and her who was not beloved, I will call beloved. [8:37] And in the very place where it was said to them, you are not My people, there, they will [8:42] be called the sons of the living God. [8:44] And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, though the number of the sons of Israel be as the

[8:50] sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved. [8:53] For the Lord will carry out His sentence upon the earth fully and without delay. [8:59] And as Isaiah predicted, if the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been [9:05] like Sodom and become like Gomorrah. [9:08] What shall we say then? [9:09] That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is a righteousness

[9:14] that is by faith. [9:16] But that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching [9:21] that law. [9:22] Why? [9:23] Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. [9:29] They have stumbled over the stumbling stone.

[9:32] As it is written, behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, [9:38] and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. [9:43] Pray with me. [9:44] Father, you are great. [9:49] And Lord, because of your great grace, we can come before you. [9:53] Because of your great mercy, we can know you.

[9:56] It’s my prayer today that you would rise up a people who would trust you, who would follow [10:03] this sinful world, to be delivered into your kingdom forever. [10:09] Lord, please open our hearts and open our minds to receive your word, to believe your [10:14] gospel, and to follow you in great repentance in faith for the rest of our days. [10:20] In the name of Jesus, I pray. [10:22] Amen.

[10:24] So last Sunday we began this great journey, or part two rather, of this journey through

[10:33] and for the past two weeks we’ve been looking at the great sovereign power of God. [10:40] And if we follow him, we begin to see that God works in ways that we would not necessarily [10:47] do things, and then sometimes he works in ways that we’re just like, man, I’ve never [10:51] even considered it that way. [10:52] I would have never done it that way. [10:54] It’s amazing.

[10:55] And so now he’s coming back in verse 24 to talk to the people of Israel, the people [11:01] who were risen up from the Old Testament at the beginning of Romans chapter 9. [11:05] You saw that he worked through Abraham, then they moved on to talk about how he worked [11:09] through Moses, and then through the family of Moses to the nation of Israel. [11:12] And then in this section, he’s returning to the Old Testament, but he’s going past that, [11:17] and he’s going to show how God’s mission for all time has been seen through the prophets

[11:23] of the Old Testament. [11:24] Namely, in this section, he’s going to go to Isaiah, and he’s going to go to Hosea. [11:29] But the reality of what Paul is seeking to build is a rock-solid trust in God. [11:36] He doesn’t want you to begin with this trust in yourself. [11:40] He doesn’t want you to begin by saying, oh man, it’s so great that I get the salvation. [11:45] I’m going to be able to give it to other people, because what he understands could happen

[11:48] in that is that you could make it all about yourself. [11:51] And he doesn’t want to do that. [11:53] And so Paul is actually digging deep roots by the stream that is the Lord so that you [12:00] will always turn to the Lord for everything, and you will know just how he works. [12:06] He wants you to begin with God before you can ever get to the point where you understand [12:10] what it means in chapter 10 when he says, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord

[12:14] will be saved. [12:15] We have to say first, why? [12:16] Why can we trust that promise? [12:18] How do we know that promise is going to come to play? [12:20] Well, we know it’s going to come to play because we have a God who’s the creator God, [12:24] who’s in absolute control over absolutely everything.

[12:28] And Israel, just like we do sometimes, is going to stumble over that middle section [12:32] in Romans 9, and they’re going to say, wait a second, that’s not the way that I thought [12:36] you worked at all. [12:39] Because for the nation of Israel, what they saw is when Romans 9 says, I raised up some [12:44] to be vessels of mercy and some to be vessels of wrath. [12:46] For the nation of Israel, they were like, absolutely you did that.

[12:49] We’re the vessels of mercy and everyone that’s not us, vessel of wrath.

[12:55] And so Paul’s coming to them and he’s going to correct their faulty thinking so that they [13:00] will see, no, that’s not the way that it works at all. [13:03] And the first thing that he points out is number one this morning is that God is and [13:07] always has been on a mission to save. [13:10] God is and always has been on a mission to save. [13:13] That’s why verse 23 was included this week as well.

[13:16] Is that God is seeking to be glorified and raising up for himself vessels of mercy, [13:24] people that he will save out of their sin and make his people. [13:29] That’s who we are. [13:31] That’s the Church of Jesus Christ. [13:33] When we follow Jesus, we are the vessels of mercy to give God glory for absolutely [13:38] everything.

[13:39] But he’s not just on a mission to save a small number of people from one nation of [13:46] one ethnic group of one race of one language. [13:49] Instead, what Paul’s pointing out to them is that God has always been and it’s always [13:54] been his plan to save people from all over the world. [13:59] That God is on a mission to make his glory known throughout all creation to every nation. [14:04] And that shouldn’t have been a surprise to the people of Israel.

[14:08] You say, well, it wouldn’t have been a surprise. [14:10] Well, look back in Genesis chapter 12. [14:13] God first comes onto the scene in Abraham’s life, makes his great promise, gives Abraham [14:19] this grace. [14:20] A guy that wasn’t following God, God intervenes, gives him his grace. [14:24] And God says to him, I’m going to make you a great people.

[14:26] And in that promise, he says this. [14:28] He says, I will bless those who bless you. [14:30] Him who dishonors you, I will curse. [14:32] And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. [14:38] And so right from that very first promise to the man whom the lineage of Israel would [14:44] come after, he says, this isn’t just about you.

[14:48] This isn’t just about your descendants. [14:52] This is about all people from all over the world. [14:55] I want to bless all families of the earth. [14:59] Then along the way, Israel begins to think about the promises of God and say, well, since [15:04] it came to Abraham and the covenant is for the descendants of Abraham, since we’re the [15:09] ethnic descendants of Abraham, let’s keep that promise, make it all about ourselves.

[15:14] Bless those who bless you, curse those who curse you. [15:16] So anybody that comes against us, they’re bad. [15:18] Everybody’s for us. [15:19] It’s all right. [15:20] But the promise is about us. [15:22] The promise was never about them.

[15:25] The promise was about God and what God would do and who God would save. [15:30] Israel, nor anyone else on the earth deserved God’s grace. [15:35] That’s why it’s grace. [15:37] It’s an undeserved gift. [15:39] He doesn’t promise to just bless them. [15:41] In Romans 9, 24, he returns to speaking about Israel’s worldwide mission from God.

[15:47] And then very quickly, he begins to quote Old Testament passages to show the people [15:52] of Israel. [15:53] Look, this isn’t something new. [15:56] God told you this hundreds of years ago. [15:58] Why are you surprised that he’s keeping that promise? [16:02] He quotes Hosea 2, 23.

[16:04] Then he quotes Hosea 1, 10. [16:06] And he says, those who are not my people, I’m going to call my people. [16:11] Those who have no faith in me, I’m going to give them faith in me so that they will be [16:15] called sons of the living God. [16:18] He’s not just going to the patriarchs of Israel. [16:21] He’s going to all people all over the world.

[16:25] Many within Israel had a faulty thought about how they got saved. [16:30] They thought they were born into salvation. [16:33] And the gospel stands as a revelation that salvation depends on faith. [16:38] It’s not by birth. [16:40] That’s why in 1 Peter, chapter 2, Peter even looks to the church that’s been dispersed [16:45] full of Jews.

[16:46] And he says, he says, once you were not my people, but now you are God’s people. [16:51] Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. [16:56] So you weren’t born into this. [16:58] Just as Abraham had to have faith in God, you need to have faith in God. [17:06] You can’t ignore one thing that God says over here and take a hold of one thing that God [17:11] says over there.

[17:11] And we might be thinking, we’re like, man, how did Israel get it so wrong? [17:17] Well, have you ever excused yourself for not obeying one Bible verse by obeying another [17:21] Bible verse and saying, well, I’m doing all right over here. [17:24] I’m just not doing that great over there, but it’s OK because I’m doing so good over [17:28] here. [17:28] Well, that’s basically what they were doing.

[17:30] They were looking at the one side of the covenant, the side that gave them all the [17:34] benefits. [17:35] And they said, that’s good. [17:37] If we ever get around to it, that whole world thing looks pretty good. [17:41] But for right now, it’s all about us. [17:45] It’s all about what we want it to be.

[17:47] It’s all about what my vision has to be for this life. [17:50] It’s all about what my thoughts have to be about this specific place at this specific [17:55] time with this specific instance. [17:57] They wanted God to work things to their viewpoint rather than saying, since he’s God, he can [18:05] work things to the way that he wants them to be. [18:08] And it should not have surprised them that God was keeping that promise.

[18:12] But what did surprise them was how God kept the promise. [18:17] Has God, have you ever held on to one of the promises of God in your life and you’re [18:20] like, you know what, this promise is for me in this moment, at this time. [18:24] You’re like, I know God’s going to work in this way. [18:26] And then God works in a way that you did not expect to keep a promise. [18:31] That tends to be how God does many things.

[18:33] It’s almost as if he has a greater viewpoint than I do. [18:37] God has never come to me and said, now, Steve, I know it’s early in the morning, but you [18:43] throughout the rest of the day coming and these promises for you in the gospel are [18:47] absolutely true. [18:48] But here’s how I’m going to work them throughout the rest of your day today. [18:52] Are you cool with that or do you want me to work them away that would be more comfortable

[18:56] for you? [18:58] Has God ever done that? [19:00] I mean, there have been days where so many things have happened in ways that I did not [19:04] expect. [19:05] Things have come into my life that I did not expect. [19:08] Things have gone out of my life that I thought I was going to keep forever.

[19:11] And I’m just like, what in the world is God doing? [19:15] Sometimes my immediate response isn’t always, Lord, how are you going to teach me to follow [19:20] you today? [19:21] Sometimes my response is, Lord, I really wish that you would just do things the way that [19:25] I want you to do. [19:28] See, and in that moment, what I’m doing is very treasonous.

[19:32] In that moment, I’m trying to be God. [19:36] In that moment, I’m saying, you know, Lord, if you would just take my advice, this whole [19:40] thing would go a lot better specifically for me.

[19:47] So they shouldn’t have been surprised that God kept his promises. [19:52] But one thing that I can guarantee you, you will be surprised by how God keeps his promises [19:58] oftentimes. [20:00] Don’t be surprised that he does keep his promises, but don’t be surprised if you’re surprised [20:04] at how he keeps his promises because he often is going to work in ways that we do not expect [20:10] and the way that the nation of Israel expected God to work is that he was going to use them

[20:14] and it was in their hands according to their playbook. [20:19] And when they got around to blessing the whole world and taking this great salvation [20:24] that God has given them, these great promises through the law that God has given them, [20:28] when they got around to taking it to the rest of the world, that’s when it would go to the [20:31] rest of the world. [20:32] But right now, we’re just going to focus on ourselves.

[20:35] And what does God do? [20:36] He says, oh, wait a second, these promises that I’ve made to the whole world, they’re [20:40] not dependent on you, they’re dependent on me. [20:42] So God himself comes in the person of Jesus Christ, lives a perfect life, does a sinless [20:47] death, gives forgiveness of sins to all who will believe in him, then rises from the dead [20:51] so that all will follow him.

[20:53] And then all of a sudden to the shock of the Jews, Gentiles start getting saved. [20:59] And they’re like, slow down. [21:01] You’re blessing the world faster than we’re comfortable with. [21:05] We want you to reserve it for us for a while. [21:08] And God’s response is the promise was never about you in the first place. [21:12] The promise was never reserved for Israel.

[21:15] The promise was never even about Israel. [21:17] The promises of God have always been about a God who saves, about a God who wants to [21:23] make for himself a people from all over the world. [21:27] And so do not be surprised in your life that God fulfills his promises. [21:31] Specifically, though, in our lives, we struggle with God’s promise to use us to take the [21:38] gospel to other people.

[21:40] And so when we’re struggling to believe God, when we’re struggling to have faith in God, [21:45] rather than obeying him and forming our lives around his mission to take the good news [21:50] that he saves through his son, Jesus Christ, to other people, to make disciples, so often [21:56] we are left with a response of, but what about, but what if I, but what if this happens? [22:03] What if that happens? [22:04] What about dot dot dot?

[22:06] And God says to us, you trust me with that. [22:09] And then we respond, but what about this? [22:12] What about that? [22:13] What about the other thing? [22:14] And the issue is that you don’t want God to surprise you. [22:19] You want life to work out a certain way, even if that means that you have to sacrifice obeying

[22:24] Jesus because you have a vision for your life and his vision for your life isn’t going [22:29] to come in front of your vision.

[22:32] The how is never up to me. [22:36] The how is never up to you. [22:38] That is up to God. [22:40] What God requires of us is faith in him. [22:44] So the ultimately, your problems with obeying God are actually problems with faith. [22:51] You rarely are going to put a point at that.

[22:53] You’re going to point to a bunch of other things that are standing between your relationship [22:57] with God and the thing that you know that you need to do, and you’re going to put all [23:00] these obstacles up that God is constantly trying to knock down through faith in the [23:04] gospel of Jesus Christ. [23:05] But at the end of the day, it’s about trusting God. [23:09] And when you disobey God, when you do not live his mission, when you do not form your

[23:15] life about making him known to the people around you through the good news of Jesus [23:19] It’s because you are struggling to believe him.

[23:26] Or maybe you don’t want him to work in your life. [23:30] Because God works through faith and what is needed in your life is about faith. [23:35] Israel didn’t like how God fulfilled his promises.

[23:41] So the question you need to deal with with that specific thing is, why aren’t you finding [23:47] joy in the way that God fulfills his promises?

[23:51] Where do you need to have greater faith? [23:54] Because number two this morning, understand that it is only faith that pleases God. [23:59] Do you know that God has never any day been impressed by anything that I have ever done? [24:07] I have never been impressive to him.

[24:12] I have never preached a sermon so great that he was like, [24:17] Maybe we do need to attack one more on the end of Revelation.

[24:22] I have never been so eloquent that he’s been impressed. [24:25] I have never loved my wife so much that he started rewriting Ephesians 5. [24:30] I have never been so faithful that God holds me in this great esteem. [24:36] Do you know the only thing that I have ever done that’s ever pleased God is I’ve believed [24:41] him. [24:43] As I’ve had faith in him.

[24:45] As I’ve trusted him. [24:47] As I said, yes, I believe that you will do what you said you will do. [24:50] Yes, I believe that you are God and I am not. [24:55] That is what pleases God.

[24:59] But Israel got it backwards. [25:02] They said surely there must be something special about us. [25:08] Throughout the prophets of the Old Testament God warns Israel many times that they should [25:13] not all expect salvation. [25:15] For those who do not trust he warns them that only a remnant of Israel will actually be [25:22] saved.

[25:23] Verse 27 in Romans 9 there is actually a quotation from Isaiah chapter 10. [25:29] It says that the number of the descendants of Israel is not what God is going to boast [25:34] in especially if it is an unfaithful number. [25:38] You see the Israel they looked in Genesis 15 when God looks at Abraham and he says [25:42] that your descendants are going to out number the stars and they said that’s what it’s [25:47] all about.

[25:48] We need to have a lot of babies so that we build a great big nation with lots of descendants [25:53] of Israel and God is going to be impressed by just how many of us there are. [26:00] In Isaiah 10 God bursts their bubble as he does throughout most of Isaiah. [26:06] He says I am not impressed by the number of your descendants. [26:11] I will save for myself a remnant of Israel. [26:16] God is glorified even in saving only a remnant of Israel for himself if that was his plan.

[26:25] Here again is the theme from the previous verses in Romans 9 that without intervention [26:30] all would perish under the judgment of God. [26:33] You see Israel has it backwards. [26:34] Look at how good we are. [26:36] We are obeying him and our numbers are adding up and we are doing fantastic and we look [26:40] wonderful.

[26:40] Our nation is huge. [26:42] We look great. [26:44] Everybody says God is so blessed to have such a good Israel. [26:50] God says it’s never been about you. [26:52] It’s so much never been about you. [26:54] I don’t care how many of you there are.

[26:57] I am only going to save a few of you anyway. [27:00] So Israel looks back shocked. [27:03] How could you say something like that about us? [27:06] We are so precious to you. [27:09] That’s where we get it wrong. [27:11] That’s what it looks like when you make yourself the centerpiece of God’s design.

[27:16] Rather than understanding that the centerpiece of your life should be God. [27:20] The center of your vision should be God. [27:23] Not you. [27:24] Do not become so self-absorbed that you believe that the focus of greatness is on you. [27:30] The focus must always be on the promise giver. [27:34] Not the promise receiver.

[27:37] The promise giver is God. [27:40] But God is always faithful to save. [27:44] It’s not that God didn’t keep his promise to Israel. [27:46] That’s not what he’s saying at all in Isaiah 10. [27:48] That’s not what he’s saying at all here in Romans 9. [27:51] God is always faithful.

[27:53] But what he wants us to understand is that what we deserve is not salvation. [27:59] What we deserve, what Israel deserved is condemnation. [28:05] Paul then goes on and he quotes Isaiah 1.9 in Romans 9.29. [28:11] God is always faithful. [28:13] We all deserve his condemnation. [28:15] But God always keeps his promise to offer redemption through faith that is based on

[28:20] God’s accomplishments rather than your accomplishments. [28:26] You will never accomplish so much that God stands back and says, I did a good job with [28:32] that one. [28:33] That’s not what it’s all about. [28:36] It’s about us looking back and saying, oh my goodness, I cannot believe what God has [28:41] accomplished on my behalf.

[28:43] I cannot believe what God has done for me. [28:47] We are designed and created to step back and look at what God has done. [28:52] Look at how God has worked. [28:54] And say, what a wonderful, great, immense, grand God who works all things according [29:03] to his purposes. [29:05] When it came to God fulfilling his promise to save the nation of Israel’s outcry was

[29:12] that it was unfair. [29:15] These people that you’re bringing in, these Gentiles, they don’t deserve it. [29:19] They haven’t been here for generations like we have. [29:22] They weren’t born to the right families. [29:25] They weren’t born in the right places. [29:27] That’s just their dumb luck that they aren’t Israelites.

[29:30] We deserve salvation, not the rest of the world. [29:35] The Gentiles weren’t the people who received God’s promise. [29:39] That was for Israel. [29:41] Friends, what’s going on with the nation of Israel is that they had held on to the [29:51] message for so long that the actual message of it was something that they had become [29:55] completely inoculated to.

[29:58] They had become completely numb to the promises of God. [30:01] Friend, one thing that I warn you on is don’t allow knowledge of God to become an obstacle [30:06] to faith in God. [30:09] Don’t allow knowledge of God to become an obstacle to faith in God. [30:13] I love knowledge. [30:16] I think information is a wonderful thing.

[30:18] It’s often been said that the church has actually too much information, that we’re [30:23] overeducated saints. [30:24] That’s such a lie. [30:25] I’ve talked to some of you. [30:26] No, just kidding. [30:28] But the reality is that what knowledge and information lead to is obedience to God.

[30:35] Without that knowledge, you’re going to struggle in obedience, but that knowledge is supposed [30:39] to translate into obedience. [30:41] Knowledge is how you know about God. [30:43] This is a confessional faith. [30:45] Without knowledge, you don’t have news to tell. [30:47] Much less good news to give to others.

[30:50] But the reality is that in your knowledge, what you can do with it is you can be puffed [30:57] up with how smart you are, how much you know about God, all of the facts that you know [31:02] about God, a great descendants and ancestry that you have from God, and you can be religious [31:08] to the extent that you trust your works or your status over and above God’s promise to [31:15] save.

[31:18] And that is when it becomes about you more than it is about God. [31:25] That is when you begin to believe the lie that you deserve God to do a certain thing, [31:34] a certain way. [31:35] And if he doesn’t do it that way, well then everything is up for question.

[31:43] The reality is that your works are no substitute for faith. [31:50] Israel allowed their belief and their superiority to overcome their trust in God. [31:55] But the reality is that God is perfect. [31:58] They were imperfect, yet they thought that their imperfection was better than everyone [32:04] else’s imperfection. [32:06] So God should have been in some way impressed.

[32:09] That is why people of privilege, which I think we all are and we should be thankful [32:17] for that, but even people who have been in church for a while can be a tougher audience [32:22] than those who are hearing the gospel with fresh ears and humble circumstances. [32:29] You begin to forget the primary things. [32:32] You begin to forget faith. [32:35] You begin to forget just how in need of God’s grace you are.

[32:41] You begin to forget the primary things of the gospel like Galatians 2.16 where Paul [32:46] writes, he says, we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through [32:51] faith in Jesus Christ. [32:53] So we also who have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith in Christ [32:58] and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. [33:04] You can hear a promise enough times that you become completely inoculated to it.

[33:10] So you begin to believe this lie. [33:11] You say, oh yeah, I didn’t deserve to be saved in the first place. [33:15] That’s why I needed faith. [33:17] But if you’ve been paying attention, I’ve hung on here for a while. [33:20] I’ve been doing a pretty good job. [33:22] I show up all the time.

[33:23] I mean, I’m in this community group. [33:25] I’m in this discipleship group. [33:26] I come to church every Sunday. [33:27] I’m on 17 serve teams. [33:29] I mean, I am always here. [33:30] I read my Bible every day.

[33:32] I may have not deserved to get in, but buddy, do I deserve to stay in?

[33:39] See, that’s when you become inoculated to the goodness of the gospel. [33:44] That’s when you lose sight of who God is and you begin completely to become [33:48] completely self-absorbed with who you are. [33:51] You’re not looking at the beauty of God. [33:53] You’re looking at a mirror at your own reflection and beginning to say, man, I [33:57] look good.

[34:01] That is not faith in Jesus. [34:05] See, Paul furthers his statement in Galatians two and Galatians five, starting [34:09] in verse two, and he says, look, you know, a conversation is going to be really [34:13] good when he starts it that way. [34:15] Look, he’s a high Paul say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will [34:19] be of no advantage to you.

[34:21] See, what had been going on to explain that particular verse is that Paul had [34:26] been going and planting churches and he planted a church in Galatia. [34:28] He’d risen up some leaders, he’d discipled some people, and then he, as was his way, [34:33] he traveled on to a different area to plant another church. [34:36] And after he left, there was this group called the circumcision party that would [34:41] sneakily work their way into relationships in those churches.

[34:45] And in Galatia, the church at Galatia specifically, they walked in and they’re [34:48] like, Hey guys, I understand that Paul’s been here and he gave you part one of [34:52] the gospel. [34:53] Good news. [34:54] We’ve got part two. [34:56] Part two is, is that you need to be circumcised, become a child of Israel and

[35:01] you need to submit to the law of the Old Testament and God will get you in, but [35:06] you keep yourself in through obeying the law.

[35:10] So Paul writes to this church and he says, starting in verse three, he says, I [35:13] testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep [35:19] the whole law. [35:20] You are severed from Christ. [35:22] Now, for those of you that are Bible junkies, this is a word play here that goes [35:28] back to circumcision.

[35:29] So he says, don’t be circumcised because if you are, you can be severed from Christ. [35:35] You who would be justified by the law, you have fallen away from grace for through [35:41] the spirit by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. [35:45] Note this for in Christ, there is neither circumcision nor uncircumcision [35:52] that counts for anything, but only faith working through love. [35:57] And so you might be saying, well, my parents either took care of that or chose

[36:00] not to take care of that in the hospital. [36:02] So we don’t really need to deal with that. [36:04] Circumcision is not a really big deal in our culture.

[36:08] You’re missing the point for the thing. [36:12] This isn’t specifically about circumcision. [36:14] This is about faith in Jesus and why you think you have it or why you think you [36:18] keep it, replace circumcision with your birth. [36:22] Who you think you were born to, what family of privilege. [36:26] And Paul would say, it doesn’t matter what family you were born in or what family

[36:29] you were not born in, all that matters is faith in Jesus Christ, your childhood. [36:34] What school you went to, how many times you go to church, how much you read your [36:39] Bible, how good you think you are versus how bad you think you are, how much you [36:44] think you’ve done versus how little you think you’ve done, whether you ate [36:47] broccoli last night or whether you had yourself a big old donut last night. [36:51] Neither of those or anything else counts for anything.

[36:59] Only faith in Jesus Christ pleases God. [37:04] And then once you come to faith in Jesus, you do not obey him so that he will love [37:10] you, you obey him for another revolutionary reason. [37:14] And that is because you believe that he does love you and he has your best [37:19] interest at heart and he deserves your whole life because he’s such a great God. [37:23] So enjoy, you don’t follow him in a drudgery to earn your keep.

[37:27] You follow him in joy because he’s so great.

[37:34] Do not allow your relationship with God to be defined by how much you think you [37:42] do deserve or how much you think you don’t deserve. [37:45] You trust Jesus because he deserves all.

[37:51] Faith pleases God. [37:54] Redemption is made to bring our focus to the great power and grace of God alone for [38:00] our sake. [38:02] So I always want to remind you of what Paul said in Romans chapter three, look in [38:06] verse 21, he says, but now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the [38:11] law, although the law and the prophets do bear witness to it.

[38:15] The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe, for there [38:20] is no distinction. [38:24] It’s all about Jesus. [38:27] It’s only about Jesus. [38:31] But then thirdly, this morning, understand that faith doesn’t try to build on what God [38:36] has finished.

[38:38] Faith doesn’t try to build on what God has finished. [38:41] Faith gives God the glory.

[38:44] You get in verses 32 and 33, and so if you’re someone who believes the gospel, if [38:49] you’re someone who is trusted in Jesus Christ, you read verses 32 and 33 and you [38:53] might be a little a little confused by it because you look at it and you’re like, [38:57] man, we have these great promises of forgiveness of sin. [39:00] We have Jesus who comes and he obeys where I fall short. [39:03] We have Jesus who takes the penalty of sin onto himself, offers me perfect

[39:07] forgiveness of sin. [39:08] Then he rises from the depths that I could have a new life in which I know God, in [39:12] which I can follow God and I’ll get heaven for eternity with God. [39:15] How in the world is that a stumbling stone? [39:18] How can you trip up over that? [39:22] I mean, it’s like you go to a party and someone who has done nothing good all year,

[39:26] he’s been hateful to everybody and everybody brings these amazing gifts that he [39:30] doesn’t deserve, these gifts that are amazing. [39:32] And he’s like, oh, my goodness, I can’t believe you did that for me, you jerks. [39:36] I don’t think anybody’s going to react that way.

[39:41] But with the gospel, if you’ve received the gift, this should baffle you. [39:45] He tells them the end there and starting in verse 32, and he says they did not [39:52] pursue it by faith.

[39:56] You see, without faith, you’re going to stumble over Christ every time. [40:02] Without faith in Jesus, you’re going to resent God. [40:07] Without faith in Jesus, you’re going to look to God over and over again and you’re [40:10] going to be asking him who he thinks he is. [40:13] Why does he think he can intervene in your life? [40:15] Why does he let this happen?

[40:16] Why does he let that happen? [40:17] But the eyes of faith looks to the gospel of Jesus Christ and say, I may not understand [40:21] everything, but I do understand one thing. [40:22] There is a God who is there. [40:24] There is a God who has made himself known and there is a God who saves. [40:27] And I love that God.

[40:29] But without faith, you cannot grasp that. [40:33] You will not comprehend that. [40:35] And in here, he quotes Isaiah chapter 28 to say that the gospel of Jesus will be a [40:40] stumbling block that does trip people up. [40:44] Specifically here, it tripped an entire nation of people up. [40:48] The surprise of how God would save would be too much for some of them to handle.

[40:54] The reason why is actually found in the Old Testament. [40:57] In Isaiah 814, here’s what the prophet Isaiah says. [41:01] He says, and he, speaking of God, will become a sanctuary. [41:07] Let’s unpack that first. [41:08] What does it mean when it says he will become a sanctuary? [41:11] It means what is a sanctuary?

[41:13] It is when people are in danger, they need a safe place to go to. [41:17] They are in trouble. [41:18] So they need somewhere to hide. [41:20] And it says that God is going to be that sanctuary for all, for all nations and all [41:26] peoples. [41:28] Then look at the next word.

[41:29] He says, he’ll be a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both [41:38] houses of Israel, Judah and the Northern Kingdom of Israel, a trap and a snare to the [41:43] inhabitants of Jerusalem.

[41:46] How is that possible?

[41:50] It’s possible if you understand your own sinfulness. [41:53] She’s really easy to look to Israel and say, man, you guys are a bunch of jerks. [41:57] Actually, you’re kind of racist. [41:59] I don’t appreciate that.

[42:02] But if you understand your own sin and what you think you deserve, I think you’ll [42:07] understand. You see, original sin is rooted in pride. [42:11] So when Satan tempted Adam and Eve in the garden with the fruit, it wasn’t because [42:17] the fruit was going to taste better than other fruits. [42:19] They didn’t grab it. [42:19] And they’re like, oh, my goodness, it’s so good.

[42:21] No, it’s like it wasn’t better than the tangerines on the other tree. [42:27] No, what they were tempted with was, do you want to be like God? [42:33] Do you want to unseat him and put yourself on that seat? [42:37] So what is the temptation really there? [42:39] The temptation is pride. [42:41] The temptation is to be self-centered.

[42:43] The temptation is to be self-absorbed. [42:45] The temptation is to be so impressed with yourself that God doesn’t impress you and [42:50] he actually offends you because he thinks he has authority over you.

[42:55] That’s what Israel struggled with. [42:58] And friend, at the end of the day, if you’re honest, that’s what you struggle with. [43:02] You see, faith requires humility to admit that you need God to do what you cannot. [43:11] You need God to be your sanctuary forever, or you have no hope. [43:18] There is no sanctuary other than God. [43:21] So let me ask you a couple of questions.

[43:24] How do you know if the gospel is a stumbling block for you? [43:28] How do you know? [43:30] Well, does your growth in obeying Jesus make you think more of yourself or more of God? [43:38] Do you think you are a really good Christian or that you are growing because God is really [43:45] gracious to you?

[43:48] You see, Jesus removes all pride.

[43:51] You see, pride looks at my obedience to Jesus and says, man, everybody else should use me as their example. [43:59] I mean, I’ve got it going on where faith is concerned. [44:01] I’ve got it going on where obedience is concerned. [44:04] I’m memorizing scripture. [44:05] I’m doing all these wonderful things. [44:06] I’m a really, really good Christian.

[44:12] That person isn’t growing.

[44:15] That person is actually in sin. [44:17] You see, growing in your faith is doing all of those things. [44:23] Being in the word, being in the fellowship of the Church of Jesus Christ, growing in faith, growing in obedience. [44:30] And when you actually notice that you’re growing in obedience to God, your response is not, look how good I am. [44:36] Your response is, God has been so good to me. [44:41] He has been so gracious to me.

[44:44] He gifted me with faith in Jesus. [44:47] He brought me to a place where I turned from my sin and I trusted Jesus Christ as my Savior. [44:52] And then in every step since then, he has strengthened me with the power of his spirit so that I can hear from him, so that I can walk with him, so that I can obey him. [45:03] It’s all about him. [45:05] That is what growth actually looks like. [45:09] You see, works gives you the credit.

[45:13] Faith gives God all of the glory for every step. [45:18] Do you think that you deserve God to do certain things in your life or bless you in certain areas because of the things that you do for him?

[45:27] Friend, that’s not faith. [45:29] Faith believes God will do specifically what he promised to do, however he wants to do it, and obeys him because no matter where the road leads and who he uses to accomplish it, it’s about him. [45:45] Because he has authority. [45:46] He has control. [45:47] It doesn’t matter if I get these little insignificant temporary things in this world or if I don’t get them. [45:53] It doesn’t matter if no one knows who I am or if everyone knows who I am.

[45:57] It doesn’t matter how awesome you think I am or how lame you think I am. [46:01] It doesn’t matter what I think of you, what you think of me, or anything in between. [46:04] All that matters in the lens of faith is what does God think? [46:08] What does God want to do? [46:10] How does he want to work? [46:12] Because everything is working itself to accomplish his will and his glory for all things.

[46:20] You see, 2 Corinthians 2 gives what really is our story and what really was the story of Israel. [46:26] It says, but thanks be to God who in Christ Jesus always leads us in triumphal procession and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. [46:36] For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. [46:43] To one, a fragrance from death to death. [46:46] To the other, a fragrance from life to life. [46:49] Who is sufficient for these things?

[46:51] Friends, God is leading us toward triumph. [46:54] Faith knows this and it is beautiful. [46:58] For some, maybe even some of you, the way in which God works and the people who God chooses to do it through isn’t beautiful. [47:06] God takes what we think of as worthless and makes glory out of it. [47:12] God takes what we think is dead and he brings life to it. [47:16] God takes what we think is ugly and he makes the most beautiful things in the world out of it.

[47:22] That is the fragrance of life to life. [47:28] See, to those who don’t believe, to those who don’t trust, if you are so self-absorbed, then it is a fragrance of death to death. [47:38] Because you don’t want anybody else to get all the credit. [47:41] You don’t want anybody else to get all the glory. [47:44] You want everybody to look at you. [47:46] You want it to be all about you.

[47:48] And that is why some people stumble over the gospel of Jesus Christ. [47:55] Because it causes you to repent. [48:00] Causes you to turn from your self-absorption, to turn from your pride. [48:04] Changes the way things look and smell. [48:08] Redefines what I think is beautiful and good by how God defines it. [48:12] Makes him the wise one and me the fool.

[48:16] It is trusting and following through everything and when things go to an unexpected destination. [48:26] When I lose that thing or I receive that pain, things get tough. [48:32] Times get tougher.

[48:35] Someone leaves, someone unexpected comes. [48:39] A person hurts me. [48:41] Reconciliation with that one person never happens and they cause me more pain than I’ve ever felt in my life. [48:47] In those moments, faith responds by grabbing God and saying, [48:52] I trust you. [48:54] I’m looking forward to how all this is going to play out to your glory because I have no idea how.

[49:00] See, that is faith. [49:02] That is faith. [49:04] And that’s the vision and hope that the cross of Jesus Christ gives us. [49:09] That’s the vision and hope that knowing that there is a God who looked down from eternity and saw a people who were rebelling against him personally and rather than condemning absolutely every one of us as we deserve. [49:24] He looked down in love and he said, I will save for myself a people. [49:32] And that is what Jesus came to do on the cross.

[49:34] And that is the power that he gives you to believe through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. [49:40] It is all about faith. [49:43] And there’s also the statement that happens in baptism. [49:49] And this morning we’ve had two that have already been baptized. [49:53] This is why my sleeves were a little wet when I came up here. [49:55] Maybe you thought I got that sweaty.

[49:57] But we have two more that are going to be baptized in this service. [50:01] And what baptism is, is this wonderful picture.

[50:06] Of God purifying us of our sin. [50:08] You know, water tends to clean you up a little bit. [50:12] And what’s going on in the water today is not right there. [50:15] The work that God is doing in that moment. [50:19] You see, God’s already done that work, but God is so gracious that he wants to give us a picture that we can look at. [50:26] And we can see specifically what he’s done in these people’s lives.

[50:31] And what these people are doing this morning is they’re saying, I’ve trusted in Jesus. [50:34] He’s saved me from my sin. [50:36] He’s given me a new life and he has told me to obey him and begin my journey with him this way. [50:42] And so I’m getting in the water that represents the forgiveness of sin. [50:45] I’m being lowered in the likeness of his death to die to my sin. [50:49] And when I’m risen up, I want you all to know that that is a picture of the new life in Jesus Christ.

[50:56] Right now, I want to call my good friend, Aaron Payne up. [51:00] I cannot see out there, so I have no idea where he is. [51:02] There. Oh, no, that’s not Aaron. [51:03] You aged. Just kidding.

[51:08] There he is. I’m going to ask my buddy, Aaron Payne, to come up. [51:11] You know, baptism is a wonderful thing because what it does is it is a first step. [51:18] You can go ahead and get in the first step of obedience in following Jesus Christ. [51:24] It’s a picture not of what God is doing right now, but what God has already done. [51:32] And it’s a picture for every one of us to see the purification that the gospel of Jesus Christ gives us for our sin. [51:41] And then a picture of what it looks to die to sin and then what it looks like to raise up your sins,

[51:49] to never be counted against you by God ever again for all eternity. [51:54] And for your life to be one that is built on faith in Jesus Christ. [52:01] This is Aaron Payne, and he has trusted Jesus Christ as his savior. [52:05] And he comes today to be baptized in obedience. [52:08] Go ahead and have a seat.

[52:13] Aaron, in obedience to the command of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, [52:17] and because you have trusted him as your savior, I baptize you, my brother, in the name of the Father [52:23] and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, lowered in the likeness of his death, raised to new life in Jesus Christ.

[52:40] You know, there are sometimes in even a beautiful thing, you’re reminded of why you should have worn short sleeves.

[52:49] My watch is waterproof, don’t worry. [52:51] Right now, I’m going to ask another friend, Jocelyn Lindsay, if she would come up.

[52:58] You know, one of the great things about being part of the Church of Jesus Christ is that relationships are formed, [53:06] that not just lead to redemption, but lead people to say, you know, I want to be a part of the church. [53:12] I want to make my faith public and I want to come for membership. [53:16] And so Jocelyn Lindsay and her husband, Matt, have been a part of our church for a good few months now. [53:22] And Jocelyn and Matt have come for membership and she said, but I need to follow Jesus in baptism. [53:29] And so affirming her faith in Jesus Christ this morning and we’re making her faith in Jesus public to village church this morning.

[53:37] Go ahead and have a seat.

[53:42] Jocelyn, in obedience to the command of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and because you profess faith in Him as your Savior, [53:48] I baptize you, my sister, in the name of the Father, of the Son, and the Holy Spirit, [53:53] lowered and likeness of His death, raised to new life in Jesus Christ.

[54:07] One of the greatest privileges that I have as a pastor is when parents are raising their children to follow Jesus. [54:16] And so this morning, I’m going to ask Aubrey Stillwell and her father, Chad, to come up here and talk to Aubrey a couple of weeks ago. [54:24] And let me tell you, she believes in Jesus and she didn’t want to disobey Him by not being baptized any longer. [54:32] Only a childlike faith would look at you and say, why would you delay obedience? [54:37] But this morning, Aubrey comes because she doesn’t want to delay her obedience. [54:41] She wants to obey Jesus Christ and make her faith public this morning to you.

[54:47] And she’s going to be baptized by her father this morning. [54:50] It is cold. [54:51] I’m sorry. [54:53] My bad. [54:55] Well, Aubrey, it is cold, but because of your profession and faith in Jesus, I get to baptize you today in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, [55:05] buried with Him in the water.

[55:09] Here we go. [55:10] Try again.

[55:13] I think she’s got enough Jesus. [55:16] Yeah, there we go. [55:17] Amen. [55:18] Amen. [55:19] Thank you so much. [55:20] It is cold.

[55:22] Amen.

[55:25] I tell you, baptism is this wonderful thing because what it represents is a life that’s ahead of you. [55:35] And I can’t think of any greater privilege than a child to say from this day forward, I’m following Jesus. [55:43] All right. [55:44] This morning, one of the awesome things that we also see happen is that people that are a little older come to faith in Jesus Christ. [55:51] And this morning I’m going to ask one of our pastors, James, to come up and he’s going to talk to us just for a minute about a guy that’s in our village group. [56:00] Good buddy of mine, Don Alfano.

[56:02] And as soon as he’s ready, he’s going to come up as well.

[56:08] While you’re coming, I’ll talk to people. [56:10] This is Don Alfano. [56:12] He and his wife, Ashley, have been coming to my village group for probably about a year now. [56:17] Would you say? [56:18] Step on it. [56:20] Thank you.

[56:20] Scared to know.

[56:24] Go ahead and say.

[56:28] Okay.

[56:31] I’ll make sure you’re comfortable, man. [56:33] Okay. [56:35] So, Don, me and Don, since last fall, we’ve been meeting together, having coffee and reading through the book, Purpose Driven Life, and just talking about what it is that God’s called us to and the life of a Christian. [56:46] And the first sentence, if you’ve ever read the book, it says it’s not about you. [56:51] And when me and Don were talking, he just said, man, that really confronted me because I realized that I really have been living a life for myself and really not considering what it was that God was calling me to and what he wanted for me. [57:04] And so over the past few months, as we’ve been praying through and talking through this book and through the scriptures as well, just Don has just grown right before my eyes.

[57:13] And it’s awesome to see what God’s been doing in his life. [57:16] And so today he just wants to proclaim his faith in front of the church, in front of everyone. [57:22] All right. [57:22] In obedience to the command of our Lord and Savior Jesus, I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, lowered in the likeness of his death.

[57:34] And raised to new life in Jesus. [57:36] All right.

[57:44] Say God is good. [57:46] God is good. [57:47] And I am I’m always so thankful and grateful for mountains. [57:53] I’m not just kidding. [57:54] I’m always thankful and grateful for the ways in which God works and the amazing family and community he has formed in Village Church. [58:03] And I just want you to know that it is a work of grace that God allows me to be a part of this.

[58:10] And so I’m very thankful. [58:11] But I do want you to know that if you’re in here this morning and you may have watched what you just saw and you may say, I don’t understand why they did that. [58:21] I don’t understand all there is to go along with baptism. [58:24] But I do understand that there is something missing in my life because I don’t know God. [58:29] I’ve never trusted in Jesus. [58:31] This salvation that you’re talking about with a great God.

[58:34] Maybe it’s piqued something in your mind and you want to know more about what it means to follow Jesus. [58:40] I want you to know just a couple of things. [58:43] If you trust in Jesus, all it means is, is that you realize that you have sinned against a great and awesome God who created you to live for him. [58:52] And you have failed just like I have. [58:55] And you want a relationship with that God. [58:58] You know you deserve his wrath.

[59:00] But he has promised that he’s poured that wrath on his son, Jesus Christ, so that he doesn’t have to pour it on you. [59:07] And if you want to accept Jesus as your savior this morning, you can trust him and you can be saved right now. [59:16] And just a minute, there will be some in the back. [59:18] There will be some in the foyer. [59:19] We want you to understand. [59:21] And so if you have any questions or you just want someone to pray with you, there will be people back there to pray specifically with you.

[59:28] If you want to come to know Jesus Christ today as your savior. [59:32] But as the band comes up, I also want to take some time just to celebrate for a few minutes what God has done in our presence this morning through these four people who have come to faith in Jesus, been baptized in a step of obedience to him. [59:48] And as we do that, I want you to stand with me and I want you to sing in praise of Jesus Christ.