Peace, Access, Glory

Good morning.

My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm one of the pastors here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church,

! and it's my joy to bring God's word to you today.

What I'm about to tell you has nothing to do with the sermon.

Years ago, I was at a wonderful Presbyterian Church in another part of the country,

and a man walked up to me after service one time, and he said,

you know, things seem a little sleepy around here.

And I tell you that because as I was singing with you all this morning,

and I was looking out at our church, you know, I thought,

our church is not perfect, but no one would ever accuse us of being sleepy.

And one of the things I just love about this church, among many things, is how bright it is.

And it's bright because of you all, because you're hungry and eager and excited to be here.

So, thank you.

Thanks for bringing your energy and your joy to our church.

We're continuing our series in the book of Romans.

You'll remember that Romans is a letter written by the Apostle Paul in the 50s A.D.

And Romans is called Romans for a very simple reason,

which is that it is written to the churches in the city of Rome.

And this letter is about the gospel.

It's about the good news of Jesus' death and resurrection.

We have exited chapter 4.

We're entering chapter 5, and we are, in a sense, getting a certain amount of payoff

because after having done all the work of chapters 1 through 4,

looking at this one concept, justification by faith,

Paul is now here to tell us about the benefits that flow from it.

We're going to look just at two verses this morning.

Two verses, by the way, that Martin Lloyd-Jones, the famous preacher of Romans,

and spent a grand total of four sermons on.

And I'll tell you, after living in these two verses this week,

that might seem excessive, but he's not crazy.

It's not crazy because there's so much going on just in these two verses.

There's incredibly dense.

There's so much to say.

We're really only going to be able to say so much,

and I'm going to try to keep us on track.

So on page 8, you'll see the sermon title, which is also our outline.

And I'm going to remind you of that throughout so we don't get lost.

We're going to talk about peace.

We're going to talk about access.

We're going to talk about glory.

These are all benefits of justification.

Because of our limits this morning,

we're going to spend more time on the first and the last,

on peace and on glory.

With that, I invite you to turn with me to Romans 5, verses 1 and 2.

Romans 5:1

You'll find it on page 8 of your worship guide.

As we go there, remember that this is God's word.

Jeremiah 23 tells us God's word is a hammer that breaks a rock into pieces,

which means there is nothing so powerful that it can stand against the word of God,

which is why we read now Romans 5, starting at verse 1.

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 the hope of the glory of God.

I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.

Our Father in heaven, we do thank you that you have given us great hope,

the hope of glory.

We ask that you would remind us of that this morning.

You would set our eyes exactly where they need to be,

that we would see clearly,

we would understand what things in this world are big

and which ones are small.

We would put things in their proper place.

Most of all, you would grow our love and affection for Jesus Christ.

We ask these things in his mighty name.

Amen.

One of my favorite movies came out in 2011.

It's called The Descendants,

and it features George Clooney,

who plays a very wealthy man named Matt King,

who lives in Honolulu.

His family owns 25,000 acres

on one of the islands of this beautiful, pristine land.

And, as we start the movie,

his wife has been in this tragic boating accident

that ends up being fatal.

And as the movie unfolds,

we end up finding out not only that,

but his wife has been unfaithful to him.

And so as the movie progresses,

everything just sort of unravels in many ways.

And the opening of the film is this montage of scenes from Hawaii,

and there's this voiceover from Matt King

as he's describing his life.

And he says this.

It's on page eight of your worship guide.

My friends on the mainland think just because I live in Hawaii,

I live in paradise.

Like a permanent vacation,

we're all just out here sipping Mai Tais,

shaking our hips, and catching waves.

Are they insane?

Do they think we're immune to life?

How can they possibly think our families are less screwed up,

our cancers less fatal,

our heartaches less painful?

And the point is this.

There is a war that touches everything.

You can't escape it.

There are some wars you can hold at a distance.

You cannot do that with this one.

It doesn't matter if your family owns 25,000 acres of the most beautiful land in Hawaii.

It doesn't matter how rich or how smart or how conscientious you are.

This is a war you cannot get away from.

As Coloradans, we might say this.

You can own property in Eagle County.

You can go to Summit County as much as you want.

The war will follow you there.

And it's a war that's between us and God, right?

It began with Adam and Eve in the garden when they rebelled against God.

We were called to worship God,

to serve him,

to love him,

to obey him.

Instead of those things,

we decided to rebel against him,

to disobey him,

to serve and love ourselves.

We took the gifts,

and then we rejected the giver.

That's what we've been looking at all through Romans,

especially chapters 1 through 3.

Paul's been telling us over and over again,

we're all at war with God.

We all deserve God's punishment.

The problems of this life are all downstream of that.

sickness and disease and death and strife and estrangement,

cutoff, anger, violence, murder.

And no matter how great a moment in your life is,

sin is always lurking in the corner,

staining it somehow.

I say all that,

because as we start Romans chapter 5,

Romans 5 · chapter mention

Paul is here to announce to us,

that there is now peace with God.

And peace with God does not make sense.

It is not good news,

unless we see and acknowledge,

how bad the war we are in is.

until we realize the war with God

is the root of every problem.

If we realize that,

verse 1 is a spectacular announcement.

Therefore,

since we have been justified by faith,

we have peace with God.

the war is coming to an end.

Now, usually wars have winners and losers,

and it's the loser

that has to sacrifice things.

We talk of terms,

when there's a war and there's an end,

we might say, you know,

they're negotiating the terms of defeat.

How much is the loser going to give up?

Here, Paul tells us,

the opposite is actually the case.

It is the winner who gives up.

We have peace through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Here, it's the winner who sacrifices.

We have peace with God

because Jesus took the punishment.

Are you at peace with God?

Are you at peace with God?

Do you have peace

as you look back at your life

and you see your guilt

and your mistakes

and your sin?

Do you know

in that moment

that you have God's forgiveness?

Are you at peace with other people?

By the way,

peace with God

and peace with other people

are tied together.

Have you stopped

trying to impress them

because you know

you have God's favor?

peace with God

peace with God

is the end

of nursing grudges

and seeking revenge.

It's what Jesus says

in Matthew chapter 5

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

that if someone harms you,

you turn the other cheek.

By the way,

I'm going to suggest this morning

if you are

nursing grudges

and seeking revenge

and you call yourself

a Christian,

it's time for revival.

It's time to pray

that God would be at work

in your heart

in a new way.

One pastor says

the test of peace

is this.

Are you ready to die?

As a pastor,

I have the privilege

and task

of meeting with people

as they know

that death is close.

And the one question

I always ask

is this.

Are you ready?

Are you ready?

Do you have peace

with God?

Do you live

with the freedom

and joy

that comes from knowing

what is most true

about you

is that you belong

to God?

Is your hope

that God is one day

bringing full and final peace

to this world?

It's what we sing about

at Christmas.

Isaiah chapter 26

Isaiah 26:3

verse 3

says this.

You keep him

in perfect peace

whose mind

is stayed

on you

because

he trusts

in you.

Do you have

peace

with God?

I told you before

and I'll tell you again.

Romans is called

the fifth gospel.

It's called

the fifth gospel

because what Paul

teaches

Jesus taught

first.

Jesus says this

in John 14.

Peace I leave

with you

my peace

I give to you

not as the world

gives

do I give to you.

let not your hearts

be troubled

neither let them

be afraid.

Do you have

peace

with God?

I told you we had three points

this morning.

Peace

which now takes us

to access

and there's a logical

order here.

You can't have access

to someone

unless you have peace.

I'm not going to come

and ask a favor

from you

if I know

that you are

violently mad at me.

Right?

We need peace

before

we have access.

Access here

in verse 2

is a relational

word that's being used

and there's a very

simple principle

which is this.

there are some people

you have access to

and some people

you don't.

There's some people

you literally

don't know

how to get a hold of.

Right?

There's some crazy people

who work hard

to try to figure out

how can I contact

such and such celebrity?

How do I get access?

What is a man

asking a woman

when he asks her

for her number?

He is asking

for access.

He is saying

I want to be

in your presence.

I want to relate

to you.

The grace

that's being spoken

about in verse 2

is referring back

to justification.

Because of justification

because of what

God has done

for you

in Jesus Christ

you have access

to him.

Christian

you have

God's phone number.

He will take

your call

and he will take it

because of Jesus

Christ.

You have access

to him.

This is part of what

Moses talks about

in Deuteronomy chapter 4

Deuteronomy 4 · chapter mention

which is on page 3

of your worship guide

which Scott read to us.

For what great nation

is there

that has a God

so near to it

as the Lord

our God

is to us

whenever

we call

upon him.

You have

God's

phone number

and you have it

because

of Jesus

Christ.

Because of Jesus

God takes

your call.

So we have peace

with God.

We have access

to God

that leads

to joy

in our

future

with

God.

It takes us

to glory.

verse 2

he says this

we rejoice

in hope

of the glory

of God.

What Paul

is saying

is this

what Christians

dream about

what

thrills

them

what

fills

their minds

when they have

nothing else

to think about

is

the glory

of God.

That is what

we're supposed

to be excited

about

more than

anything else.

I've already

prepped the ground

for this a little bit

in our confession

of faith.

One way to

define glory

is this

being

in God's

presence.

To experience

glory

is to

be with

God

completely.

And why

is that to

experience

his glory?

Well it tells

us here

that's the

glory

we're

celebrating.

That's the

glory we

rejoice in.

The glory

of God.

Now you might

say okay

actually I

don't rejoice

in the glory

of God.

That's not

what fills

my heart

and my

mind.

That sounds

like the

kind of

thing that

maybe monks

do in

monasteries

doesn't

sound like

the sort

of thing

a normal

sane

person

does.

Right?

There's that

old phrase

that someone

can be so

heavenly minded

that they're

of no

earthly

good.

And I

think that

appears and

comes to

some of

our minds

when we

hear phrases

like this

okay rejoice

in the glory

of God

that's great

for maybe

a pastor

who's able

to take a

day of

prayer and

meditate

on heavenly

things.

And so I

have a task

this morning

and I'm

going to

try to

convince

you

that you

should as

a normal

Christian

rejoice in

the glory

of God.

God's

God's

glory

is what

should fill

your mind.

Okay?

First is

this.

God's

glory

is the

most

beautiful

experience

you

will

ever

have.

God's

glory

is the

most

beautiful

experience

you will

ever

have.

You

have

seen

God's

art.

You've

seen

it.

You've

been to

God's

museum.

You know

what sort

of things

are in

God's

museum?

Sunsets,

sex,

starry

skies.

Whenever

you see

those things

you are

seeing

God's

artwork.

And you

know what

you're

supposed to

think in

those

moments?

You're

supposed to

say this.

if the

art is

this

good,

what

must

the

artist

be

like?

If

the

art is

this

good,

what

must

the

artist

be

like?

And I

can make

you a

promise

this

morning.

The

artist

is

greater

than

the

art.

the

artist

is

greater

than

the

art.

You

think

mountains

are

great?

I'll

tell you

what's

greater

than

a

mountain.

The

one

who

made

them.

That

is

the

glory

of

God.

God.

beauty

is

so

great

that

it

will

be

almost

too

much

to

bear.

It

is

greater

than

anything

you've

experienced

in

this

world.

Some

of you

may know

that

Garden

of the

Gods

for a

time

was

ranked

number

one

in the

United

States

of all

the

locations

on Trip

Advisor.

And at

one

point

it

was

ranked

number

nine

in

the

world.

If

God's

glory

was

on Trip

Advisor

it

would

be

number

one

every

year.

By

the

way

why

is

it

that

house

prices

are

so

expensive

in

most

of

Colorado

the

front

range

but

in

some

places

in

particular.

They're

so

expensive

because

people

will

pay

a

premium

to

be

close

to

glory.

And I'm

here to

tell you

God's

glory

the

greatest

glory

is

free.

You

should

rejoice

in the

glory

of God

because

it is

more

beautiful

than

anything

you

can

imagine.

Second

reason

you should

rejoice

in the

glory

of God

this

great

benefit

that

you

have

access

to

because

of

justification

and

it's

this

when

we

see

God

we

will

become

like

God

when

we

see

God

we

will

become

like

God

I

didn't

say

we

will

become

God

that's

not

what

I

said

I

said

we

will

be

like

God

that's

what

we

already

read

in

our

confession

of

faith

remember

I

pointed

out

to

you

1

1 John 3:2

John

chapter

3

verse

2

we

read

all

of

this

together

beloved

we

are

God's

children

now

and

what

we

will

be

has

not

yet

appeared

but

we

know

that

when

he

appears

we

shall

be

like

him

because

we

shall

see

him

as

he

is

told

you

earlier

people

like

to

talk

about

my

real

self

who

I

was

meant

to

be

I

am

going

to

tell

you

this

morning

who

your

real

self

is

and

what

you

were

meant

to

be

you

were

meant

to

be

like

God

do

you

want

to

meet

your

real

self

the

true

you

you

will

meet

it

as

you

see

the

face

of

Jesus

Christ

when

you

are

in

glory

God

will

clear

away

all

the

sin

and

disease

from

your

life

and

you

will

finally

be

who

you

were

created

to

be

what

people

seek

through

surgery

only

God

can

provide

what

the

world

only

promises

God

delivers

rejoice

in the

glory

of

God

rejoice

in God's

glory

because

it is

more

beautiful

than

anything

you've

ever

seen

rejoice

in God's

glory

because

when

you

see

it

you

will

be

like

him

third

we

rejoice

in the

glory

of

God

because

to

be

with

God

is

the

fulfillment

of

everything

we

desire

we

rejoice

in the

glory

of

God

because

to

be

with

God

is

the

fulfillment

of

everything

we

desire

see

this

on

page

seven

of

your

worship

guide

a

quote

from

Les Mis

by

Victor

Hugo

the

supreme

happiness

of

life

is

the

conviction

that

we

are

loved

loved

for

ourselves

say

rather

loved

in

spite

of

ourselves

what

is

shame

if

not

someone

seeing

us

and

turning

away

and

what

is

love

if

not

someone

seeing

us

and

staying

and

what

is

it

that

the

human

heart

longs

for

more

than

that

first

1 Corinthians 13:12

Corinthians

chapter

13

verse

12

says

this

for

now

we

see

in

a

mirror

dimly

but

then

face

to

face

now

I

know

in

part

then

I

shall

know

fully

even

as

I

have

been

fully

known

when

you

go to

the

concert

a

concert

when

you

want

live

music

what

are

most

of

the

songs

about

and

which

songs

does

everyone

sing

along

to

I

don't

think

I've

ever

been

to

a

concert

where

people

have

sung

a

song

about

how

wonderful

it

is

to

work

a

nine

to

five

job

some

songs

are

laments

they're

songs

about

suffering

and

heartache

and

loss

some

songs

are

about

the

joy

of

being

alive

about

returning

home

and

what

are

the

songs

that

people

stand

up

and

cheer

for

what

are

the

songs

that

caused

people

in

the

90s

to

whip

out

their

Zippo

lighters

and

people

today

to

turn

on

the

lights

on

their

cell

phone

it's

love

songs

it's

love

songs

because

those

are

the

most

powerful

songs

and

those

are

the

most

powerful

songs

because

they

are

songs

about

seeing

and

being

seen

so

on page

seven

of your

worship

guide

from

Kurt

Thompson

we

are

all

born

into

the

world

looking

for

someone

looking

for

us

and

we

remain

in

this

mode

of

searching

for

the

rest

of

our

lives

Christian

that

desire

is

only

fully

met

in

Jesus

Christ

Jesus

Christ

is the

only one

with whom

we are

fully

loved

and

fully

known

relationships

and romance

on this

earth

are

merely

an

appetizer

and a

signpost

every

other

glory

is a

replacement

for that

nothing

can

compete

with the

glory

that is

to come

no matter

what has

happened

to you

in this

life

no matter

what will

happen

to you

before the

end

if you

are in

Christ

you

cannot

lose

that

glory

our

world

loves

to

separate

people

to

winners

and

losers

if

you're

a

winner

I

have

bad

news

for

you

no

matter

what

you

have

if

you

don't

have

this

you

don't

have

glory

that's

why

Mary

in her

song

in Luke

Luke 2 · chapter mention

chapter

2

talks

about

God

scattering

the

proud

in

the

thoughts

of

their

hearts

if

you're

a

loser

in

the

eyes

of

the

world

I

have

good

news

for

you

no

matter

what

you

lose

you

can't

lose

this

you

can't

lose

the

glory

that

is

to

come

!

you

make

this

your

hope

will

you

rejoice

!

more

than

anything

else

in

the

glory

of

God

will

you

allow

that

to

clarify

what

in

this

world

is

big

and

what

is

small

if

you

do

it

will

change

you

from

the

inside

out

that

sort

of

hope

will

make

you

a

different

person

it

will

cut

down

to

size

what

needs

to

be

cut

down

to

size

and

it

will

magnify

what

needs

to

be

magnified

what

Paul

taught

Jesus

taught

first

Jesus

in

John

John 17 · chapter mention

chapter

17

tells

God

the

father

that

he

wants

you

to

see

his

glory

father

I

desire

that

they

also

whom

you

have

given

me

may

be

with

me

where

I

am

to

see

my

glory

that

you

have

given

me

because

you

loved

me

before

the

foundation

of

the

world

we

might

say

this

when

I

gaze

upon

his

beauty

when

I

see

him

as

I

should

then

my

eyes

are

lifted

upward

for

his

glory

and

my

good

will

you

gaze

upon

the

glory

of

Jesus

Christ

will

you

rejoice

in

that

more

than

anything

else

when

you

do

it

will

change

you

from

the

inside

out

let's

pray

our

father in

heaven

we

do

praise

you

and

thank

you

for

the

great

glory

that

is

ours

in

Jesus

Christ

we

thank

you

for

the

security

of

that

inheritance

that

it

cannot

be

touched

by

anything

in

this

world

and

no

matter

what

we

lose

here

we

cannot

lose

that

we

ask

that

you

would

set

that

glory

before

us

as

our

great

hope

and

desire

that

it

would

be

what

we

rejoice

in

more

than

anything

else

we

ask