00:47 Confidence in God's Genuine Love

01:49 Exploring Romans 5: Justified by Faith

02:56 Rejoicing in Sufferings: A Paradox

06:09 The Effects of Suffering: Building Endurance

09:56 Suffering as a Test of Faith

12:47 Hope and Trust in God vs. Worldly Pursuits

19:45 Righteousness Through Jesus

21:36 Experiencing God's Love Through the Holy Spirit

23:48 Christ's Death as a Tangible Expression of God's Love

30:39 God's Love for Sinners

34:22 Invitation to Experience God's Love

36:05 Closing Prayer

They say that they love me, but I have no clue if they just

2

love me because they're supposed to,

or if they actually like me, right?

3

There's some people that I know that

are like that, um, I'm like, not really

4

sure if they actually, like, I, I know

you love me because like, you know,

5

you're a Christian, you're supposed

to love me and whatever, but like,

6

do you actually like, like me, right?

7

There's, there's those people.

8

Um, sometimes I think I felt

that way about God, right?

9

I felt that way where I'm like,

I know God loves me, but does

10

God actually like love me?

11

Like does he like me?

12

You know, does I know he like, loves

me in the sense of like, he sent Jesus

13

to die for me and he cares about me.

14

But like, does he actually, is he actually

like happy or is he just like, yeah, I

15

guess I'm just putting up with you, right.

16

Um, today in our passage, we're

gonna be seeing that you can be 100%

17

confident that God actually loves you.

18

Actually loves you.

19

Like, is excited about the

fact that he, he loves you.

20

He's not just doing it because he has

to, he is not just doing it 'cause

21

he's obligated to that, that God

loves you because he, he really does,

22

he actually does care about you.

23

He actually does enjoy the

fact that he loves people.

24

Um.

25

And that that doesn't fluctuate

based on how your week's been.

26

And it doesn't fluctuate based

on the circumstances that

27

are happening in your life.

28

And it doesn't go up and down.

29

It doesn't get bigger or smaller

depending on how you're doing or, or

30

how much you know about the Bible.

31

Um, God's love for you is actually

not dependent on you at all.

32

Um, and we're gonna see tonight

why you can be confident of that.

33

So.

34

Head on over to Romans five

if you're not already there.

35

Um, we're gonna be looking at

verses three through eight, okay?

36

And remember all this started with

verse one, where it says, since we

37

have been justified by faith, right?

38

Since we have been justified by

faith because of that, because we've

39

been made righteous, not because of

anything we did, but by receiving

40

Jesus righteousness by faith.

41

Right?

42

Which that might not be

true about you, right?

43

You might not have done that.

44

Um, so.

45

Don't assume that I'm talking about you

when I, when we talk about these things.

46

Um, but because of that, last

week we talked about how we

47

have peace with God, right?

48

We that God, we're not his enemy anymore.

49

If you trust Jesus, but you're

actually, he's actually for you.

50

He's not against you anymore.

51

You're not under his wrath.

52

You've gone from the, the wrath room and

you've gone into the grace room, right?

53

Um.

54

And you have access to God.

55

You get to one day, know that

you're gonna have all of the joy

56

of seeing God and being with God.

57

And so that's why he said, we rejoice.

58

We're excited about that.

59

We, we are happy about that.

60

So then he says, not only that,

we don't only rejoice, we're not

61

only happy about that, but we

also rejoice in our sufferings.

62

That's really weird, right?

63

Don't let the Bible get so old to you.

64

And so.

65

Familiar to you that that's not

weird Stuff in the Bible should be

66

like, whoa, that doesn't make sense.

67

Let me see what is

actually happening here.

68

'cause this is weird.

69

Why would you be happy

when you're suffering?

70

Right?

71

Why would you be happy

when your relative dies?

72

Why would you be happy when your

parents get sick or get cancer?

73

Why would you be happy

when you get really hurt?

74

Really bad?

75

Why would you be happy when

someone breaks up with you?

76

Why would you be happy when your life

doesn't go the way you wanted it to?

77

Right?

78

We rejoice in our sufferings.

79

We can be happy even in our sufferings.

80

Why?

81

Well, he's gonna give us a few reasons.

82

He's gonna give us a few reasons,

but the main reason that we're

83

looking at is that our sufferings

don't mean that God doesn't love.

84

His people.

85

When Christians suffer, it doesn't

mean that God doesn't love them, and

86

it's easy to feel that way, right?

87

If you're a Christian, you're think,

oh, I'm a Christian, God save me.

88

Well, then why does all this

stuff keep happening to me?

89

Why is my life so hard?

90

Why do bad things keep happening to me?

91

We rejoice in our sufferings, and

the primary reason is because our

92

sufferings don't take away God's love.

93

We still have God's love.

94

Christians do, even in hard time.

95

Even when things don't go

the way you want them to.

96

So our first point tonight, don't let

suffering cloud God's love for you.

97

Right?

98

When bad things happen to you, your

first reaction should not be, I

99

guess God doesn't love me anymore.

100

When something terrible happens to

your family, your first reaction

101

shouldn't be, oh, well, I guess

God doesn't love me that much.

102

In fact, suffering is actually

an opportunity for you to

103

see God's love in action.

104

Suffering is actually a way that God shows

in the midst of it that he still does

105

love you and he still is for you If you

are connected to Jesus by faith, right?

106

If you are, if you've trusted

Jesus, you've gone from being

107

God's enemy to being God's friend,

suffering is actually a time for

108

you to see God still does love me.

109

He shows that based on what he

does in suffering, the first thing

110

that we see about suffering is

that you can rejoice in suffering.

111

You can be happy even when you're

suffering because of its effects.

112

Okay.

113

I like rearranging the verses so

they visually follow a structure.

114

Okay, so this is the same verses

that we saw earlier, three through

115

five, the first half of five, but I

just kind of indented it so you can

116

kind of see the progression, right?

117

This is like.

118

One of those things that like a,

it's like a chain reaction, right?

119

Like dominoes falling.

120

That's what's happening here.

121

So we rejoice in our sufferings.

122

Why?

123

Well, we know that suffering

produces endurance.

124

So we know that suffering can

actually help us persevere.

125

It makes us more resilient, and

then that endurance makes us more

126

like Jesus, and then that makes us

more excited about being with Jesus.

127

That's what hope is, right.

128

Hope doesn't put us to shame.

129

We're never gonna be

embarrassed about any of that.

130

So this is almost like dominoes

falling, that there's a bunch of

131

effects that come down from suffering.

132

You see that?

133

So we rejoice in suffering

because of its effects, right?

134

And if you've ever done something

hard, you understand this idea, right?

135

I may not be excited that I am

suffering, but I can be happy about

136

the downstream effects of suffering.

137

Right.

138

I was in the closest thing I've

ever been into bootcamp, which

139

was band camp in high school.

140

And uh, band camp was

actually really hard.

141

So we had, I don't know if

you've told you this story.

142

We had a guy from the, I think it was

from the Marines, and he came and did

143

our conditioning for our marching band.

144

So he used to train people that

jump outta helicopters, and he came

145

to spend his lunch breaks with.

146

So we'd condition from one to two,

it'd be like a hundred degrees out

147

and we'd go down to the, the turf and

we'd run around and do crazy stuff.

148

Um, we like dog bear crawled.

149

Um, and like I didn't know

marching band was as hard anyway.

150

Um, band camp wasn't fun, but there

were a lot of things, a lot of

151

results of band camp that I enjoyed.

152

I got really tan 'cause I was

outside from eight to five.

153

It's funny if you see all the band

kids, like school ID photos, they're

154

all super tan because it's in the middle

of band camp when they take the photos.

155

Um, I got really tan.

156

I was in pretty good shape 'cause I was

outside moving around doing stuff all day.

157

I got really good at my instrument

'cause I was playing all the time.

158

Right.

159

There were a lot of good effects from

band camp even though it was really hard.

160

It was, it was really hard.

161

It's eight to five people are yelling

at you with a megaphone for a lot of it.

162

Um, and.

163

It was right.

164

Painful in a lot of

ways, suffering, right?

165

Uh, I didn't enjoy having, you know,

those little like rubber turf balls

166

when you're in the stadium for all

those hours all week, those find

167

their way all over your house, right?

168

They're in your shoes,

they're in your bed.

169

They're everywhere, right?

170

Because you just can't get rid of 'em.

171

They get stuck in your socks.

172

They get, you know?

173

Anyway, so.

174

Yeah, you smell like sunscreen perpetually

for like the next month because

175

you've been wearing so much sunscreen.

176

Probably if you're one of those,

people probably think that I'm

177

gonna have skin cancer because

of all the sunscreen I put on.

178

Um, but anyway, there's a

lot of suffering, right?

179

That happened.

180

But I still was happy because of all

the effects of all the suffering.

181

Right.

182

And I'm sure you've, maybe it's

your sport, maybe it's whatever

183

you, you work really hard at,

there's some suffering involved.

184

But it, or maybe it's your job,

you're like, I hate my job, but

185

I get money so it's worth it.

186

Right?

187

There's effects of your suffering

that can be good for you.

188

And so these are the kind of

three effects of suffering that

189

hopefully, um, can show you that

God is actually using it for good.

190

Right?

191

It's the point.

192

The point is, right.

193

Even though Bandcamp was hard, even though

I suffered, it was actually good for me.

194

It helped me do the things

that I really wanted to do.

195

It.

196

It helped me do the things

that actually I really enjoyed.

197

So your suffering, God is actually

gonna use it to give you what you

198

really want, which is him, right?

199

If you're a Christian, what you

really want is more of God, just

200

like we talked about last week,

if you're a Christian, what you

201

really want is to be closer to God.

202

You wanna trust God more.

203

You wanna be more like Jesus.

204

And so God's gonna use the

suffering to love you and give

205

you what you actually want.

206

So you see endurance, right?

207

Something that God does in suffering when

hard things happen to you, he shows you

208

whether you're a real Christian or not.

209

Have you ever thought about it like that?

210

Maybe God is giving you this really hard

circumstance you're in because he wants

211

you to know whether your faith is real.

212

He wants you to know whether

you trust him for real.

213

God already knows, right?

214

God already knows whether

you're a Christian or not,

215

but maybe you're not sure.

216

You're like, I don't

know if I'm a Christian.

217

Did I really repent?

218

I don't know if I really trust God.

219

Well, maybe God's gonna bring

something hard into your

220

life and it's gonna show you.

221

I actually do trust God because even

though all this bad stuff happened

222

to me, I came back to Jesus, right?

223

I prayed to God and I relied on him.

224

I put my hope in him and not in

my circumstances that'll show you,

225

oh, maybe I am a real Christian.

226

Whereas if you get really anxious

and really scared all the time

227

and you don't trust God and you

stop showing up to church and you

228

don't reach out for help, right?

229

Maybe then you weren't a real Christian.

230

So sometimes God uses these

hard situations to show you.

231

Whether you're a Christian or not, right?

232

Kinda like, you know, the four

soils, there's that one that gets

233

choked out by the cares and the, and

the anxieties of the world, right?

234

Um, so he shows you your faith is real

and he makes you more resilient, right?

235

That's the second part

with your character.

236

God sanctifies you during suffering.

237

There's so many things that you

can only learn the hard way, right?

238

The, the best lessons you've learned

are the lessons you've learned.

239

The hard way.

240

Right.

241

Today, um, at the office, sun was

telling me about one of their kids, um,

242

used to pick up their cat by its tail.

243

Um, and she kept telling

him, don't do that.

244

That's gonna be, it's gonna

be really bad for you.

245

Don't pick up the cat by the tail.

246

And they kept doing it.

247

And then one day the cat didn't wanna

get picked up by its tail anymore and

248

so the cat did something about it.

249

Um Right.

250

I bet they learned that lesson.

251

Much better than the obedient kid who

just said, okay, I'm not gonna do that.

252

Right.

253

Because that other person that, that was

picking up the cat by tail, they've got

254

the scars to remind them what happens

when you pick up a cat by its tail.

255

Right?

256

So sometimes your suffering helps

you learn things that you wouldn't

257

have learned any other way, right?

258

It helps you learn, you know,

God really was faithful because

259

not just, he wasn't just faithful

with me during the good times.

260

He was faithful with me

during the bad times.

261

God really is compassionate 'cause.

262

Even when it was, life was really hard.

263

God met me in those times and he

sustained me and he showed me how

264

to find joy even in hard times.

265

So God grows you during suffering, right?

266

He, he grows who you are in ways

that you can be happy about because

267

you're like, man, I'm growing.

268

That's something I can rejoice in,

even if my circumstances aren't good.

269

And that's where we go with hope here.

270

God uses suffering to almost

untangle you from your idols.

271

God uses suffering to, to help you let

things go that you're holding onto.

272

So it's almost, I heard one

person describe it like this.

273

It's like you're a, you're a plant and

you love to let you know how those,

274

like, there's those vines that like

they wrap themselves around things.

275

We're all like plants and we love to

wrap ourselves like around the world.

276

We love to hold onto the world.

277

We love to hold on to the things

that the world can offer us, right?

278

Whether it's money or

pleasure or power or control.

279

We love to grab onto those things.

280

And so God, he's a good gardener

and he has to come and, and

281

chop off those branches, right?

282

Because they're grabbing

onto things that are bad.

283

Um,

284

you can rejoice in suffering.

285

Because your suffering

untangles you from the world.

286

You're, it detaches you from loving the

world so much, and it makes you love God

287

more because you realize, you know what?

288

This world isn't gonna make me happy.

289

Right?

290

I could have all the worldly

things I want, right?

291

I could, I could be accepted

by all the right people.

292

I could be friends with

all the right people.

293

All the right people could like

me, and I still wouldn't be happy

294

the way God can make me happy.

295

Right?

296

I could have all the, the

pleasure I want, right?

297

I could go after all the things

that I've always wanted to do.

298

My parents wouldn't let me.

299

And that won't make you happy.

300

Like God can, and sometimes God

uses suffering to show you that.

301

Or maybe, right?

302

It's you, you want the, the control

or the status or the power, right?

303

And God uses the suffering

to show, you know what?

304

Those things are temporary,

but what I give you, what

305

God gives you lasts forever.

306

And so you get this

confidence that one day.

307

I'm gonna be really happy forever, right?

308

God says, um, at my right hand,

our pleasures for evermore.

309

God gives you the most amount of

joy for the longest amount of time.

310

And so he helps you to, to put

your hope, your confidence in,

311

in him, and not in what the world

offers to make you happy, right?

312

And that's kind of what that means here,

when hope does not put you to shame.

313

If you are putting all of your

eggs in God's basket, right?

314

You're putting all of your

confidence in, you know what, I'm

315

gonna trust God to make me happy.

316

I'm gonna live God's way

because his way is better.

317

I'm gonna, I'm gonna do the things

that God wants me to do, because what

318

he has for me, he's, he's really wise.

319

He knows what's best for me, right?

320

I'm gonna lay aside the things

that I want and, and do what

321

God wants because God loves me.

322

You're not, you're never gonna

be embarrassed about that.

323

Yeah.

324

But if you pursue yourself and you pursue

what you want, you're gonna one day,

325

either think you've wasted your life

or you're gonna be really embarrassed.

326

'cause you're gonna stand before

God and he's gonna expose you.

327

It'd be kind of like if you put all your,

your, let's say you were dating someone.

328

Um, some of you imagine really hard,

some of you not as much, right?

329

But let's say you were

dating someone and you.

330

Put all your hope into marrying someone.

331

You're like, I'm gonna marry this person.

332

I'm gonna marry that guy.

333

I'm gonna marry that girl.

334

Right?

335

And so you're, you're thinking about what

it's like when you're gonna be married.

336

You're, you're planning your wedding,

you've got girls, you got your

337

Pinterest board already set up, right?

338

You, you know, you got your ring

picked out, you know, your wedding

339

colors, you got your baby names right?

340

Or guys, you, you're planning

for this future together.

341

You're like, oh, we're gonna move here.

342

We're gonna do this, or I'm gonna

have this job and this is what

343

our marriage is gonna look like.

344

It's gonna be great.

345

And you're, let's say you're engaged

and you're planning the wedding.

346

You, you've already sent out the invites.

347

You've got your photographer, you've,

you've spent your thousands of

348

dollars on, on all the people, right?

349

Your food and your, your videographer,

and your flowers and all this stuff.

350

And you've written out your vows already.

351

You, you already know the commitments

that you're gonna stand and, and

352

before God and say to this person.

353

And you've planned this whole wedding.

354

You, you've, all your relatives

are gonna come in town.

355

All your friends, you've got your, you

know, you've, you've got your groomsmen,

356

you've got your bridesmaids, you're

all ready to go for this date, and that

357

person doesn't show up to the wedding.

358

That would be so embarrassing, right?

359

All like, think about standing up

there and looking at all the people

360

that you invited to the wedding and

they're like, where is this person?

361

Where are they?

362

They're, they didn't show up.

363

If they left you,

364

if you don't put your hope in

Jesus, that's gonna be you.

365

When you stand before God,

366

you're gonna look back at all of the

things that you wanted in life, all the

367

success, all the, the happiness, all

the stuff that you put your hope in.

368

And it's gonna, they're gonna be like

that person that left you at the altar.

369

You're just gonna, you're gonna be

so ashamed and so embarrassed because

370

they, they let you down and you

built your whole life on this thing.

371

You built your whole life on yourself, or

you built your whole life on your, the way

372

that, the way that people perceive you,

you built your whole life on whatever it

373

is that you're pursuing instead of God.

374

And you're just, you're gonna be

so embarrassed 'cause it's gonna,

375

it's gonna leave you high and dry.

376

That's what it's like to put your hope

in something that's, that's not God.

377

When you put your hope in God,

it's exactly the opposite.

378

You'll never be embarrassed, right?

379

God offers a hope, a future confidence

that is always worth it, right?

380

Heaven is never gonna be underwhelming.

381

It's never, it's not even gonna be

a little bit underwhelming, right?

382

Like sometimes you go do something

really cool and you're like, oh,

383

that was cool, but like it was like

90% of what you thought it would be.

384

Heaven's not gonna be 90% of

what you thought it was gonna be.

385

It's gonna be like a million percent of

what you thought it was gonna be, right?

386

You won't need to, to hide anything

or cover anything up anymore 'cause

387

you're, you're gonna be free from,

from all your sin, from all your shame.

388

Also, nothing you do for God

is ever gonna be wasted, right?

389

No second that you spend

praying is ever a waste of time.

390

Nothing you learn about God's

word is ever a waste of time.

391

No way that you love someone

is ever a waste of time.

392

No time.

393

You withhold something

'cause you're patient.

394

No money.

395

You spend being generous for God

is ever gonna be a waste of time.

396

All this stuff is, you're never gonna look

back and be like, I wish I didn't do that.

397

I really wish I didn't love that person.

398

You're never gonna say that, but you

might say, I wish I did love that person.

399

I wish I did share the

gospel with that person.

400

I wish I did get closer to God.

401

I wish I did do more of what God asked

me to do, rather than focusing on myself.

402

Right?

403

Nothing you do for God is ever

gonna be an embarrassment.

404

On the final day.

405

It might be embarrassing now, but one

day guess who's gonna be embarrassed?

406

Not you.

407

Right?

408

So, and this, this is all

related to being made right?

409

With God, being righteous

by faith through Jesus.

410

That's what all of this is tied to,

because that's what gets you God, right?

411

And because of your

made righteous by Jesus.

412

By a real person who, who really came

and really lived and, and really died.

413

Your experience of God's love,

like we talked about, God's favor

414

is tied to an objective thing

that really happened, right?

415

The fact that God loves you is tied to

a, a real thing that really happened.

416

It's not tied to your feelings.

417

It's not tied to how great the

worship was at your church.

418

It's not tied to how

recently you went to camp.

419

Right.

420

It's tied to something

that really happened.

421

God really came down as

a man to die for you.

422

And that's kind of what

this, where this goes, right?

423

We rejoicing our sufferings

knowing that suffering produces

424

all those things resulting in hope.

425

And hope does not put us to shame

because God's love has been poured

426

into our hearts through the Holy

Spirit who has been given to us.

427

So the reason that we don't

have to be embarrassed.

428

About anything as a Christian.

429

The reason that that one day you're,

you're never gonna be ashamed of anything

430

you did for God and all the stuff you

did for God is always gonna be worth,

431

it has to do with God's love, right?

432

You can be happy in the hardest of

times because you have a fu, you have

433

a confidence in the future that is

never gonna, never gonna leave you

434

embarrassed because currently, right,

actually, God's love has already.

435

Been poured into the hearts of Christians.

436

That's who our is through the Holy

Spirit who has been given to us.

437

So this is really confusing, right?

438

Because it's future hope about

something that already happened.

439

God's love has been poured into our

hearts, so we've, there's this experience

440

of God's love, whatever that is, and

it comes through the Holy Spirit.

441

Now, how does that work?

442

Well.

443

The best way I could put it, and I

didn't come up with this sentence.

444

This is, um, someone else said

this to me and this is the

445

best way I could describe it.

446

So what happens here is the Holy Spirit

447

are actually, let's go to this next verse.

448

This is why the connecting words

in the Bible are so important.

449

Four.

450

That means that four, like, that's

because, so this thing, God's

451

love poured into our hearts.

452

Has to do with this next verse.

453

That's why those connecting words matter.

454

So it has to do with the

fact that Christ died.

455

Jesus died for me before

I deserved it, right?

456

I was a sinner, ungodly, right?

457

That's me.

458

Christ died for me, and that is

why I can know that God loves me.

459

So how does that work?

460

Well, the idea here is

there's a historical fact.

461

Christ died for me before I

even asked him to die for me.

462

Christ died for me while I was his sinner.

463

Christ died for me while I was ungodly,

when I deserved to go to hell under

464

God's wrath, apart from God, God's enemy.

465

I hated God.

466

I rejected him.

467

I worshiped myself.

468

I lived for, for myself rather than God.

469

Jesus died for me then.

470

So I know that God, if God loved me,

then he will surely still love me now.

471

God loved me at my worst.

472

How much more will he love

me now that he's adopted me?

473

Now that he's justified me,

he's made me righteous, right?

474

If he loved me before I deserved it, of

course he'll love me now that he's adopted

475

me, now that I'm his his child, right?

476

So what happens is the Holy Spirit

takes this fact, this, this thing

477

that really happened in history.

478

You could go to the place this happened.

479

The people who saw this would

tell you it happened, right?

480

Those people.

481

Alright, this, this event that really

happened, this thing that really

482

happened, the Holy Spirit takes

those facts and it shows you right?

483

The Holy Spirit.

484

He shows you God's love in that, right?

485

And you can really experience that.

486

God's love isn't just a fact.

487

To know God's love is.

488

Experience that Christians really have.

489

Christians really experience

being loved by God, right?

490

This isn't just something

you do on a test.

491

This isn't just two plus

two is four on paper.

492

This is two plus two is

four in real life, right?

493

This is, I have two things.

494

I have two things and I put 'em

together and I have four things, right?

495

That's two plus two in real.

496

This is God's love in real life.

497

It's this thing that really happened.

498

And then if you be, if you become

a Christian, you trust Jesus to

499

take away your sin and give you his

righteousness and and be raised from

500

the dead, then you can really experience

that the fact that God loves you,

501

and it really gives you real joy,

a real feeling that God loves me.

502

We talked about a wedding earlier.

503

It's kind of like how the you,

when you propose, or Well, if

504

you're a guy, you propose, right?

505

Don't, don't propose to anyone, ladies.

506

Okay.

507

Let your fiance to be propose to you.

508

Um, when someone proposes,

they give their, their, their,

509

uh, fiance a ring, right?

510

That ring is a tangible expression

of a subjective reality,

511

right, of, of their love.

512

Like when I proposed to Shea, she

didn't have like a thermometer

513

to see how much I loved her.

514

She couldn't tell like, how much

does Lewis really love me right now?

515

She couldn't measure it.

516

She didn't have like a thermometer

or a radar gun to be like,

517

how much does Lewis love me?

518

But the point is that the ring gives

you an expression of that love, right?

519

So if she's ever not sure if I

really love her enough to marry her.

520

She can look at her hand and

say, oh yeah, he does, right?

521

Because he spent all this money on

this ring and he told me when he

522

gave me this ring that he wanted to

marry me and that he loved me a lot.

523

That's an oversimplification of

what I said, but there you go.

524

That's the Cliff Notes version, right?

525

The the ring is a tangible

expression of how I feel about Shea.

526

Right.

527

Christ's death is a tangible expression

of how God feels about Christians.

528

Does that make sense?

529

Because you don't have a thermometer

in the morning or a radar gun.

530

You can't be like, oh, how

much does God love me today?

531

Right.

532

You don't have a, a way of, of

knowing that apart from what God does.

533

God has to show you that, right?

534

You can't just assume that God loves you.

535

'cause what if he doesn't?

536

Then you're gonna be put to shame, right?

537

If you lived your whole life

thinking God loved you and you

538

show up to heaven, and he's like,

depart from me, I never knew you.

539

That's gonna happen to some people and

they're gonna be put to shame 'cause

540

they're gonna walk up to heaven and

assume that God's God loves them and

541

they're gonna be really disappointed.

542

So

543

if you are a Christian, you can be

100% confident about how God feels.

544

Because how God feels about you is

determined by Jesus, not by you because

545

Jesus died when you were unlovable.

546

Right?

547

Raise your hand if you

ask Jesus to die for you.

548

Right?

549

No one asked Jesus to die for them.

550

Jesus died for you

before you actually even.

551

Existed, right?

552

God loved you before you existed, right?

553

If you're a Christian, God actually

made you so he could love you.

554

Isn't that crazy?

555

So the way you measure God's love for

you is you look backward at what Jesus

556

did, and that's our second point.

557

Look to Christ to see God's love.

558

Right.

559

You don't determine how much God loves

you by how much you prayed this week.

560

That's not how you measure

God's love for you.

561

You don't measure God's love

for you by how you felt at

562

worship night at camp, right?

563

You don't measure God's love for you

based on what your parents say about you.

564

You measure God's love for you.

565

By what he's done to show

his love for his people.

566

And that's why you can rejoice even

in really hard times because does

567

the, the hard time you're going

through change what Christ did?

568

No.

569

Right?

570

Right.

571

When you get sick, it doesn't

change what Jesus did.

572

So God's love for you

doesn't change either.

573

When if your parents got divorced,

it doesn't change God's love for you.

574

'cause it doesn't change what Jesus did.

575

God's love for you has to do with

what Jesus did, not with what

576

you do or how your life's going

577

because God's love comes

from him, not from you.

578

And that's what we see in

the rest of these verses.

579

Verses 68, while still

weak at the right time.

580

Christ died for the ungodly.

581

Then we explain this more.

582

Right?

583

For no one will scar, scarcely

die for a righteous person.

584

Oh, perhaps for a good person

one would dare even die, right?

585

Maybe if you really thought

that person was worth it, maybe

586

you'd die for them, right?

587

Maybe a parent would die

for their kid, right?

588

Maybe a kid would die for their parent.

589

Maybe you die for, you know, your,

your favorite, you know, your

590

favorite athlete or whatever, right?

591

Probably not.

592

I wouldn't recommend that,

but maybe you would, but God.

593

Which I love sentences to

start with, but God, right?

594

Those are like some of the

best sentences in the Bible.

595

But God shows his love for us

in that while we were still

596

sinners, Christ died for us.

597

And remember this us is if you've

been justified by faith, right?

598

The US is the people who've trusted

God to take away their sin, right?

599

So if that's not you, this isn't for you.

600

It could be, you could change that.

601

If you trust Jesus tonight, you,

you could be part of this us.

602

But if you're holding God at arm's length

and not trusting him, then that's not you.

603

You're not included in this, right?

604

What I'm talking about with

God's love doesn't apply to

605

you until you trust Jesus.

606

So God shows his love for for

Christians, and that while we are

607

still sinners, Christ died for us.

608

Which again, when we talk about

being a Christian, it starts with

609

admitting this part right here.

610

Jesus Christ died for the ungodly.

611

So if you're out there saying, I'm

a good person, I'm not that bad.

612

You're disqualified from being someone.

613

Christ died for.

614

Christ died for the ungodly, the

ticket to entering the US here.

615

Part of that is admitting,

I'm one of those people.

616

I'm one of those ungodly

people, those sinful people.

617

Those not good people that

Christ died for, right?

618

There's nothing about me that

619

attracted God's love,

620

and that honestly is really, really

comforting when you think about it, right?

621

Like you think about some people,

they get married, and then when

622

that person isn't attracted to

them anymore, they divorced them.

623

And they say, sorry, I'm done.

624

I'm no long.

625

I don't love you anymore because

there's nothing about you

626

that I want to love anymore.

627

Right?

628

That's the opposite of

how it works with God.

629

God said, there's nothing about you

that makes me wanna love you, but

630

I love you, so I'm gonna love you,

and I'm actually gonna make you more

631

lovable because I'm gonna sanctify you

and I'm gonna grow you, and one day

632

I'm gonna actually make you perfect.

633

So God's love for you isn't

because you attracted God's love.

634

It's actually because God

decided I, I'm gonna love you.

635

I'm gonna choose this person

and I'm gonna love them.

636

And so the more honest you are about your

sin, the more amazing God's love is, which

637

actually should make you happier, right?

638

The more the, the bigger god's love

is to you, the the more amazing that

639

is and the more happy you'll be.

640

Right?

641

God loves me so much, right?

642

If you think God only loves

you a little bit, you're only

643

gonna be a little bit happy.

644

But if you realize God loves me

so much, you're actually gonna

645

be able to rejoice even more.

646

So Christ's death is a right

certain and unchangeable

647

expression of God's love, right?

648

If I know there's times where

you'll probably feel like you,

649

you feel more loved by God, right?

650

Maybe you, you just had a, a, a great

week of Bible reading, or you, you had

651

a really great experience singing the

God, or you spent time around Christians,

652

or you just went to this Bible study,

you feel like, man, I, I feel so,

653

I feel God's love more right now.

654

And that's okay.

655

There's nothing wrong with that, but

656

you have an objective place

to look to when you aren't

657

sure about God's love, right?

658

If you're a Christian, you

can always go to this verse.

659

This verse is always true no matter

how bad you messed up, right?

660

This verse is always true.

661

No matter how your life's going, no matter

what kind of bad things happen to you.

662

And that, and that's the best part, right?

663

And that's the best part of

the gospel is that it's, it's

664

not about you, it's about God.

665

God sent Jesus because

he loved people, right?

666

John three 16, for God so loved the

world, this is how God loved the world.

667

He gave his one and only son that whoever

believes in him, anyone can do this.

668

Whoever believes in him shall not perish.

669

Right?

670

That's certain will not, shall not.

671

It's not gonna happen.

672

Not a chance.

673

They'll have eternal life, right?

674

You can be with God, the most amount

of happiness for the longest amount

675

of time, what you were made for.

676

And so if you're recognizing tonight,

you know what, I, I'm not part of that.

677

Right?

678

Maybe you're thinking, I,

I, I'm, God can't love me.

679

I've done too many.

680

You don't know what I've said.

681

You don't know what I've seen.

682

You don't know what I've done.

683

You don't know what I've thought.

684

Join the club.

685

Right.

686

We're all, we're all sinners.

687

Some of us.

688

Sure.

689

Right?

690

You can say, oh, I'm the

worst sinner than that person.

691

Great.

692

God shows his love for sinners.

693

Doesn't matter how big of a sinner

694

you Yeah, God.

695

God shows his love for sinner.

696

And so if you're a sinner,

you qualify for God's love.

697

And so if you're out there and

you're saying, man, I'm so unlovable

698

by God, I just, I, I really want

you to see that God loves sinners.

699

That's the qual, the qualification of

being loved by God is being a sinner.

700

And if you recognize your sin, you

say, you know, I, I am unlovable.

701

There's nothing about me that

deserves to go to heaven.

702

There's nothing about me that deserves

God's love for me, but Jesus, you

703

said that you can take away my sin.

704

You can take away God's

wrath against my sin.

705

I trust you to do that.

706

Jesus, you're the only

reason I can go to heaven.

707

I need your perfect life.

708

I need your righteousness.

709

And one day you're gonna

rescue me from death.

710

Just 'cause, 'cause

you rose from the dead.

711

And so I, I trust that you

can help me live forever too.

712

And you turn from your sin because

you love Jesus and you trust him.

713

You can experience God's love and be

the happiest you've ever been, even

714

when life gets really, really hard.

715

Let's pray and we'll go to small groups.

716

God, your love is amazing.

717

We don't understand your love sometimes,

718

but that's okay.

719

Um, in one of his prayers,

the apostle Paul asks to.

720

He asked for help to understand your love.

721

So I pray for all of us right now in this

room, that you give us the strength to

722

comprehend your amazing love that for

even the people that in this room that

723

have been a Christian for a long time,

who know the Bible really well, who maybe

724

none of this was new for them, I pray

that you help them just to, to be more

725

confident in your love, to be more amazed

by your love and more satisfied, more

726

excited about the fact that you love them.

727

And I pray for, um.

728

People here who feel unlovable by

God or who don't want God's love.

729

I pray God that you show them that

um, you are better than anything

730

else they could ever pursue.

731

Anything else they could ever want.

732

You are always gonna be worth

it and always gonna be, um,

733

what we're made to, to love.

734

Pray all this in Jesus' name.

735

Amen.