Unbreakable Favor With God

Pray

Read Romans 5:1–11 “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

Intro

Now I want to begin

by talking about a missionary

named Adoniram Judson.

During his ministry in Burma,

missionary Adoniram Judson was locked up in a jail for a year and seven months.

He was chained

so that he could move only with great difficulty.

Breathing hot, putrid air,

and surrounded by the filth of native criminals of the lowest class.

The jailers gave him no food,

and he wouldn't starve

if his wife

had not brought food for him.

When her money ran out,

she was forced to beg for food from house to house

to keep her husband alive.

Once,

thieves broke into their house and stole everything that could be taken.

Twice,

Judson’s wife was dangerously ill.

Pain

and suffering

is the hardest part

of the Christian life.

If there is anything

that has the most ability

to cause us to doubt

it’s suffering.

When we suffer

or we are in pain,

we often think that God no longer favors us.

That he forgot us.

And we tend to question, am I even saved?

Am I even a Christian?

Now, some of you may not be experiencing suffering

as severe

as Adoniram Judson.

But whatever situation you are in,

if you've ever wondered,

am I still favored by God?

Am I right with God?

Does God still love me?

If you’ve ever doubted

your walk with Christ

is what today's sermon is about.

Our title this morning:

is Unbreakable Favor With God

And our main point

Main point: Because of Christ, Christians cannot lose favor with God.

And there are three reasons this morning:

Reason #1 Peace with God (v.1-2)

Peace

is all the more sweeter

when there was war before it.

No one gets excited

about the peace in Antartica.

No one gets excited

about the peace between the penguins.

But it says in v.10

that everyone is at war with God.

Romans 5.10 says, we were enemies with God.

Look at the wrath of God on Jesus Christ.

That would have been us.

That is the war that God has on every single one of us

without Christ.

And that is why justification is necessary.

That's why it says in verse 1,

Romans 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

What does justified mean?

It simply means not guilty.

That's all it means.

Why can God declare you not guilty?

Because when you trust in Jesus, you give Jesus your sin.

And he gives you his righteousness.

Why?

Why does Jesus have to do that?

Isn't the cross enough?

Didn't he pay for my sins?

Yes,

but God also requires perfectly righteous life.

In Matthew 5.48 Jesus says,

therefore you are to be perfect

as your heavenly father is perfect.

Even though Jesus paid for all our sins,

past, present, future,

we can't live all the way to our death bed perfectly.

That's why Jesus gives us his righteousness.

So that we can enter into his kingdom.

This is why the apostle Paul

wrote in Philippians 3:9

Philippians 3:9 ESV

and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

What does God’s Word say?

Not my own righteousness

but the righteousness of another:

God.

And how do Christians

receive Christ’s righteousness

Christ?

Faith?

So then when God sees you

and he demands a perfect person to enter his holy kingdom,

he sees Jesus.

Not you.

Because Jesus

gives you

his righteousness.

In Matthew 22

Jesus tells a parable

of a wedding feast.

The king invites everyone to his wedding feast

and it is packed of people.

But then it says

in v.11

Matthew 22:11–13 ESV

“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

This parable

gives us

another picture

of the gospel.

God is inviting everyone

to enter the kingdom of heaven.

But what’s the key

to get in?

A wedding garment.

This man was not accepted

because he didn't have a wedding garment.

Instead he was thrown out

into torment

all because of no

wedding garment.

What is the wedding garment?

Is God seriously not going to let me enter heaven

just because I don't have a white robe?

The problem here

is that the man

tried to enter heaven

on his own terms

on his own good works.

But to enter God’s kingdom

you must enter

through one way

and one way only

and that’s Christ.

Like the wedding garment

you must be clothed in Christ’s righteousness

in order to come in

and stand before a holy and glorious God.

Because God will not accept dirtiness

and sin.

But thankfully,

Jesus fulfills God's perfect standard

by giving us his righteousness.

Whoever does not have Jesus' righteousness,

just like the people in this parable,

who did not have a wedding garment,

will be rejected.

But thanks be to God that Jesus gives us his righteousness,

making us justified,

making us not guilty,

making us able to stand in the presence of Holy God.

So now that Christians have been justified,

now that we are not guilty before God,

we have peace.

We have peace.

That's what it says in verse 1.

We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Earlier it says,

having been justified by faith

and now

we have peace.

Pure biblical peace.

We have rest.

We have a true wellness in God.

We no longer fear God's wrath.

Continuing in this verse,

it says in verse 2, Romans 5:2 “Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

Not only do we have this peace,

we have a right standing before God,

we even have an introducer to God himself, Jesus

so that we can come to God

with confidence.

The Oval Office

is the most powerful room

in the world.

Generals

senators

and foreign dignitaries

had to wait outside.

They had to have appointments

and clearances

and protocols.

And during the presidency

of John F Kennedy

it was no different.

But there was one person

who had zero clearance

and no merit

and yet could come right in.

His 3 year old son

John F Kennedy.

There are famous photos

of JFK’s 3 year old son

playing

right under his desk.

How did he get in there

with no credential

or clearance?

The relationship.

He is the son.

And that’s what verse 2 means.

Because of Christ

we don’t

have to wait

outside the lobby for our appointment

like a nervous general

to come to God.

No we can come right in

as a son

because of Christ.

And that introducer is Jesus Christ.

In Jesus Christ,

we have an introduction to God.

He doesn't just say,

who are you?

He knows us because of Jesus.

Finally, it says in verse 2, it says,

we rejoice.

We rejoice

in the hope

of the glory of God.

Confidently rejoicing

in God.

and confidently rejoicing

in the return of Jesus Christ.

Where we will have a new body with no more sin.

A perfect body.

That's what we can hope in.

Any illness,

any sickness that we are experiencing,

you can confidently rejoice in Jesus

because

we will have a perfect body

when Christ returns

And when we pass

we'll be before Jesus on the throne.

So, as Christians,

we do not need to be afraid of losing favor with God

because the war is over.

The war is over.

God is not going to drop an atom bomb as soon as you sin.

Hiroo Onoda

was a Japanse soldier during WW2.

He was an intelligence officer

stationed in the Philippines during WW2.

But the war ended in 1945

when the emperor surrendered

and peace was declared.

Bot Onoda didn’t believe it.

He stayed in the jungle for 29 years.

He kept fighting a war that was already over.

He lived in fear

eating coconuts

and hiding from enemies

that weren’t there

until finally in 1974

his old commander flew over to him

to relieve him of his duty.

And unfortunately

too many Christians

Christians live like that

when they act

like they have no peace with Him.

They hide from Him.

Sometimes Christians

like to take a break from God,

maybe after they sinned.

They try to make their own peace with God

by doing good for a few days

and then coming back.

Sometimes Christians try to avoid church for a while.

You don't need to avoid God to restore peace.

You don't need to do all these things

to restore the peace between you and God.

Because Jesus has already brought peace between you and God.

So, that's the first reason why you can't lose favor with God.

Because we have peace with God.

Reason #2 God's love gets you through suffering

We see this in the next verses.

Verses three through four it says,

Romans 5:3–4 “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,”

What Paul is saying here

is that not only do we rejoice in God,

because we will have a perfect body in heaven

and because we will be with him forever.

Not only are we going to rejoice in that,

but we can even rejoice today,

even in the trials.

Even in our suffering,

we can rejoice.

Why?

Because we know our salvation is secure.

Even in the midst of suffering,

because

of God's love.

That's what it says in verse five,

Romans 5:5 “and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Now how exactly

does God’s love work in us

even when we suffer?

Look at v.3-4

again

suffering produces endurance

endurance produces character

and character produces hope.

How does suffering produce endurance?

Think of suffering like pressure.

Someone can say they are the best basketball player.

They may even score dozens of points

and never miss a free throw

in the gym

by himself.

But how do we know if he’s actually that good?

Not until we put him under pressure.

In the playoffs

with the game on the line

he needs to make this game winning free throw

with the whole crowd booing him.

But he makes the shot.

And now we know

this game isn’t just all talk.

He’s the real deal.

And it’s the same with our faith.

How will you know

your faith is real

when you are super rich

everyone likes you

you have a big family

and there are zero problems in your life?

How do you know

you’re not just hanging on

to your wealth

or your friends

or your family

instead of Christ?

You don’t.

Not until

you have some suffering in your life

will you truly know

whether your faith is real

or not.

And that is why God allowed Job

to lose

all

of his wealth

friends

and family.

And when he faced suffering

and still trusted in God

he gained endurance.

Endurance is being able to last

despite waiting a long time

or despite suffering.

And when you have endurance

that then produces character.

Character in the Greek

means to be genuine

or to be proven

and it was used often to describe

genuine or proven money

as opposed to counterfeit.

When you have had times in your life

where you faith endured suffering

you know have character

which means

proof

that your faith is real.

And finally

when you have proof

in your life

that your faith is real

it produces hope.

Hope is not being wishy washy

but confident certainty.

Having hope

makes you into a strong

and confident Christian

because you are confidently certain

that you will make it

into the end.

And what is the cause

of making us ultimately strong and confident Christians?

Suffering.

One example of this is when the apostles were arrested

the following happened to them

in Acts 5:40-42

Acts 5:40–42 ESV

and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.

Right here the apostles were arrested

for preaching the gospel

so they were beaten

and rather than be discouraged for their suffering

they rejoiced!

And every day they continued to meet together and preach

because they had become more confident

after being comfortable and rich?

No!

After being beaten

after

suffering!

When you remember that ultimately

suffering

makes you into a more confident Christian

then

you can rejoice

when suffering comes.

This is why it says

in James 1:2-3

James 1:2–3 ESV

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

If you are suffering right now

or if you are

not suffering right now

when the suffering does come

because it will

remember

that at the end of it

God is making you into a more confident

Christian.

So rejoice in the Lord,

even in suffering

because it is transforming you

to a more mature

and confident Christian.

Let's move on to verse 5 again, where it says,

Romans 5:5 “and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

That hope

that confidence Paul says

does not put us to shame.

In 1986

there was a massive live TV special

that discovered a secret walled off vault

under Al Capone

the infamous mafia boss’

old hotel in Chicago.

The hype was massive

as there was pro-ported to be gold

dead bodies

and secret guns

in this secret vault.

30 million people tuned in to watch.

So they finally blasted open the walled off vault

and when the smoke cleared

and he cameras zoomed in

it was empty

just a bunch of dirt

and an empty gin bottle.

It was utterly disappointing.

But Paul says

God is not like that.

When you blast open the door of death

it won’t be emptiness

or darkness.

Or even worse

be in the wrong place.

No.

You will see God face to face.

You won’t be embarrassed

or feel that you wasted your life trusting Christ.

He won't say, not good enough,

and then send you to hell,

because he loves us

because

of Christ,

Because of God's perfect, endless love

for us

because through faith

God no longer sees us

He sees Christ

he keeps us secure,

no matter what we do.

But how

does God pour his love towards us?

It says in verse 5,

through the Holy Spirit.

God pours out his love within our hearts,

through the Holy Spirit.

If you have the Holy Spirit,

you know God's love.

It’s like

When a man gives an engagement ring

to his fiancee.

it’s his promise to his fiancee

that he’s going to marry her.

And that's the same thing,

when God gives you the Holy Spirit,

that is God's promise to protect you.

Ephesians 1:13–14 ESV

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

The Holy Spirit is God's gift to you,

as a seal,

as a promise of his love,

to protect you and to secure your salvation forever.

That is why you don't have to worry about losing favor with God,

because of God's love.

God's love.

Nothing can separate you from the love of God.

Romans 8:38–39 “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Death

cannot separate you.

Demons cannot separate you.

The culture cannot separate you.

Suffering cannot separate you.

Even your sin

cannot separate you.

Because

of the love of God

that we have in Christ.

God shows his love to you every day,

and you know it

because the Holy Spirit lives within those who believe in Him

forever.

Yes, God himself dwells within us.

The Holy Spirit, forever.

Are you still not convinced of God's love?

Well,

if you are not, look at verse 6.

Romans 6:6 “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.”

When we look at the thousands of years before Christ,

we see the sinful poverty of mankind.

You see the impossibility of going to heaven.

We see the unlovable-ness of human beings.

That

is when Christ died.

Christ died at that time to show,

not how lovable we are,

but how great God's love is.

Because Jesus even died for you,

while you're his enemy.

Look at verse 7,

it says,

Romans 7:7 “What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.””

Yes, it's not very common for people to die for one another.

You hear about it sometimes that maybe someone lays down his life for a friend,

or because he's a righteous person.

However, we're not even righteous,

and yet

God died for us.

That's his love.

Bodyguards exist

to defend others with their life.

And the president always has his bodyguards

the secret service

to protect him

because assassination attempts are unfortunately very real.

They are trained

to even take a bullet for the president.

That’s what happened

when assassination attempted on President Reagan occurred

his secret service agent

took the bullet.

Now imagine

if that same secret service agent

jumped out in front

to take the bullet

not for the president

but for the shooter.

What?

Who does that?

And yet

in v.8

that’s what Christ did.

As sinners

we are the shooter:

the enemy

but Christ takes the bullet

for us.

Every sin that we commit against God pierces Christ like a lance

and yet with all the times we have pierced Christ

with our sin

He died for us.

So if Christ died for you while you were his enemy,

what makes you think he'll slay you

when you're his friend?

That is powerful.

The powerful truth of God’s love

is what enabled Christians to endure

for thousands of years

of persecution.

Christians were fed to lions.

They were lit on fire as lamps.

And this means the saying,

that the church of Christ is built on the blood of martyrs.

How has the love of God enabled these Christians to persevere through awful suffering?

Because they knew how powerful the love of God was,

that they were willing to die for him

and that He is with us

through the suffering.

John 16:33 says

John 16:33 ESV

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Be fearless Church.

Because Christ’s love is with you

through suffering.

That's number two. Christians cannot lose favor with God

because God’s love gets them through the suffering.

Reason #3 Reconciliation

We have are reconciled to him.

If you were on the wrong side with God,

it makes sense to be afraid.

You might lose favor,

he might just strike you with lightning as soon as you enter the church building,

like the Greek God Zeus.

Just a few days ago

the White House

just announced phase two

of the ceasefire between Gaza and Isreal.

And just as that was announced

people were killed.

Over 400 people

have been killed since the ceasefire began

in October

with both sides accusing each other

of violating the ceasefire.

It’s worrying to follow because you feel

at any moment

it could just collapse back to war.

And to many Christians live

like they are merely in a ceasefire with God

like that thinking

oh

one moment God loves me

and the other moment He loves me less.

But we don’t have a ceasefire with God

Remember we have peace.

And not only peace

if you believe in Christ

you also

have a right relationship.

No more war

and not just peace

but reconcilliation.

There are people who have had conflict with one another

and are now at peace

but no reconcilliation.

But here God’s Word says

we have peace

AND

the reconcilliation!

Look at verse nine.

Romans 5:9 “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”

What Paul is saying is that if God loved you while you were his enemy,

how much more will he save you now that you are justified because of Jesus?

Paul says this again, verse 10.

Romans 5:10 “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

If Jesus reconciled us while we were enemies,

how much more will he save you now that you're no longer an enemy but a son?

Not only did God give you a right relationship with Him

He did it while you were his enemy!

If God died for you while you were a sinner,

How much more will he save you now

that you have a right relationship with him?

And because of that, we can rejoice.

Romans 5:11 “More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

The relationship between us and God

is restored because of Jesus Christ.

Because in Christ, we win.

In Christ, we celebrate.

We can confidently rejoice in Jesus.

We have such a jubilant joy in Jesus

because he has made us right with God.

Marquis de

was a French hero who helped America

win the American Revolution. 

But you might not know what happened to him after the war.

When he went back to Europe,

his life fell apart. 

He was caught in the middle of the French Revolution and was captured by the Austrians. 

For five years, he sat in a dungeon. He was stripped of his title, stripped of his fortune, and left in solitary confinement with just the rats.

When he finally got out,

he was a broken, bankrupt old man, living in poverty, feeling completely forgotten by the world.

But in 1824, President James Monroe sent a letter to France.

He said, 'Come home. America has not forgotten you.'

When Lafayette’s ship sailed into New York Harbor,

he expected a quiet entry.

He was just an old man in worn-out clothes.

But when the fog lifted, he saw the harbor was filled with ships.

Cannons began to fire.

Bells rang across the entire city. 

80,000 people—the largest crowd in American history at that time—were screaming his name.

Old veterans rushed the pier, weeping, hugging him, and kissing his cheeks. The celebration didn't stop for a day; it lasted for 13 months as he toured the country.

That is Reconciliation.

If the President had just signed a paper saying, 'Lafayette is not a criminal,' that would be Peace. That would mean he wasn't going to be shot.

But the parade? The tears? The cheering? That is Reconciliation.

And in Christ

we don’t just have peace

we have true reconciliation

and celebration in Heaven

like the father celebrated the prodigal son

for coming Him.

And this power of joy is so fulfilling.

It says in Psalm 37 verse four, delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

For the Christian,

the desire of our heart is God.

And so there is no greater joy,

no greater pleasure than worshiping God because God made us for this,

to worship him.

That's why we have overwhelming joy

because we can worship God because we have a right relationship with God.

And so our joy of victory in Jesus is so strong,

we no longer have to fear losing favor with God.

Joy

is the remedy to pain and sorrow.

If you are going through a lot of pain and suffering right now, remember the joy of your salvation.

Remember the joy that God has given you through Jesus,

reconciling us to God

no longer as enemies

but as children of God.

Remember the joy when God first saved you and how joyful you were.

Because You do not have to fear losing favor with God

because you are reconciled to Him.

That was number three. We cannot lose favor with God because we are reconciled to Him.

In conclusion

I hope you guys were wondering,

what happened to Adoniram Judson?

Don't tell me he was just sitting in the cell,

his wife is sick,

begging for food.

Is that it?

Well, here's what happened.

In the midst of all his suffering,

one of Judson's fellow prisoners asked him,

what about the prospects of the conversion of the heathen?

Basically, the prisoner is mocking him,

saying,

you came here to share the gospel in this desolate country.

What about now?

You're in prison.

Your wife is so sick that she might die

and she has to beg for food.

What about now?

How are those prospects looking

now?

And Judson replied,

the prospects

are just as bright as the promises of God.

Judson,

even though he was suffering the worst trials imaginable, suffering,

he was able to remain hopeful and faithful

and to continue his mission work

because he remembered that he cannot lose favor with God,

no matter what

because of Christ.

And that is true for you today to

if you are in Christ

that your favor with God

is unbrekable.

But if you are listening today

and you are not in Christ

you don’t truly believe in Him

realize this

that you can lose favor with God.

These promises don’t apply to you.

You don’t have peace with God.

You’re still at war with Him.

You don’t have hope in suffering

and can’t rejoice in suffering

because you don’t rely on God’s love in Christ

to get you through.

And you are not reconciled with Him.

Because of your sin

your rebellion against Him

you’re still His enemy

at war with Him.

But the good news..

In conclusion:

Reason #1 Peace with God (v.1-2)

Reason #2 God’s love gets you through suffering

Reason #3 Reconciliation

Main point:

Because of Christ, Christians cannot lose favor with God.

Let’s pray.