Romans chapter 5, we're reading from verse 15 all the way to 19. I know Elder Joe read that, but I want to read it one more time. Romans chapter 5, 15 through 19. "But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many die through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for many.

And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if because of one man's trespass death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous." Let's pray. Gracious Father, we thank you for the privilege that we have to come and worship you this morning.

We thank you for the brothers and sisters of Christ that you've given us where we can sharpen each other. Love one another to keep each other accountable. In every way, Father God, that we would run this race together. We pray that the power of the Holy Spirit through your ordained word would cause our ears to be opened and our hearts to be softened and a strong will, Lord God, to apply all that you have.

We pray for this morning that you give us understanding that only your word would go forth in your heart and your mind. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. You know, it's easy to amaze me, you know, the more and more I see the technology advancing. You know, recently I was at a Starbucks and I saw this older gentleman who was there and he was having some sort of a business conference or a business meeting and he had maybe five or six other guys sitting outside and happened to be at the nighttime and he took out his cell phone and he plugged in this projector.

It was an all battery run and he was projecting against a little mini wall that he had and he was going through some sort of a presentation with them and I was there sitting and sipping on my coffee just mesmerized. I know that that exists. It's not like I haven't seen it in the magazines before.

But, you know, every time I've seen that I say, "Wow, that would be awesome. That would be such a useful tool to have." But he was doing the presentation and they were probably thinking, "What's wrong with this guy?" Like I almost joined the presentation because I was so mesmerized.

I can't believe that you can actually do this. All of a cell phone and he was projecting. The whole thing was probably only about this big. Cell phones about this big and then the presentation package was this big and six, seven guys there listening to that. I know some of you guys are like, "Come on, that's been around for a while." But it was amazing to me because a lot of this technology that we have now hasn't been around that long.

I think the first time I had a cell phone, not the smartphone, was probably in my early 30s. And the internet didn't come in until about that time as well. I mean, Esther and I actually moved to La Mirada because it took so long to prepare for sermons. I would hang out at Biola Library for about two, three days and just grab a table and get all the conference, the commentaries and different things and spread it out.

And I would be there about two, three days. So when we decided to purchase our first house, we wanted to get it somewhere because I spent more time at the library than I did going around doing other stuff. And as soon as we moved, the internet came in. And when I was getting ordained, my friends bought me a Bible program, a PC Bible program, and I realized, "I don't need to go to the library anymore." I know some of you guys are like, "Come on." But to me, it's still amazing.

Think about how things have advanced, the internet, the computer, and how life is changing so quickly and the impact that it's making. And so many things have happened in recent history, but if you go even further, some people will say maybe the Roman Empire made the biggest impact in history or maybe the Renaissance or the Industrial Revolution.

Some say in modern history, negative things like 9/11 or the terrorist attacks, and these are having ripple effects on every area of culture, politics, maybe even economy. But I think you and I will agree, if there's one particular event that has made the biggest ripple, biggest impact in human history, whether you are a Christian or a non-Christian, it had to have been the life and death of Jesus Christ.

Even if you don't believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, even if you don't really believe the effects of the cross, we have to admit that what happened 2,000 years ago, at least what is proclaimed that happened 2,000 years ago, made a tremendous impact on government, on our legal system, how we determine right and wrong, even what we study in universities.

Paul has been talking about for the first five chapters in the Book of Romans the condemnation of mankind, that because of sin, because of man's rebellion against God, the world that you and I live in is under God's condemnation. So Paul is trying to answer that in saying Jesus Christ is the answer for all of these problems of mankind.

All the condemnation, all the wrath of God, all the sins, all the death that reigned, that Jesus Christ and Him crucified, His one man in one man's act, reversed the curse of mankind forever. So the natural question is how can that one man, how can that one act of Him being crucified, and His one act of resurrection that happened 2,000 years ago, be the answer for all our problems?

How can it have been an answer for 2,000 years ago? How can it be an answer today? And how can it be an answer as we're going forward? The Hebrew 727 says, "He has no need, Jesus, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily." So think about that as a Jew.

The Jews were taught that if your sins are going to be atoned for, you have to bring sacrifices to the temple for every single sin that you commit. It had to be done daily. You couldn't pray to God. You couldn't worship Him without these sacrifices. They said they would come to Him daily, but first for His own sins, and then for those of the people, since He did this once for all when He offered up Himself.

Once for all. These sacrifices that they needed to sacrifice every single day, every single year, every single decade. He said Jesus Christ came, and He did it one time. And not only was that good for that one person, it was good for all mankind from that point on. How could that be?

So, a couple of weeks ago, we talked about how Adam is a type of Christ. Well, if you have a hard time believing that one sacrifice took care of this problem, then look at Adam. One sin from one man condemned all mankind for eternity. So he used that as a type.

And so in verse 14, it introduces Adam as a type of Christ. As one sin from one man condemned the world, one man's obedience reverses the curse forever. But almost as immediately as he introduces Adam as a type, he actually comes back and he makes sure he qualifies that we don't take this comparison too far.

So in verse 15, he says, chapter 5, verse 15, "But the free gift is not like the trespass." In other words, it's not like that. So in some sense, it is like Adam, but in some sense, it is not like Adam. "For if many died through one man's trespass, much more had the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for many." Again in verse 16, "And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin.

For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification." So he's a type of Christ, but don't take this type too far, because clearly it is very different what his sacrifice produced and what this man's sin produced. So the first question we have to ask is, what was it about this one man's sin that would be deserving of the condemnation of all mankind?

And I know there's a lot of things that I wish that I could do over, especially around junior high school, high school time. There's a lot of things that I did I wish if I went back and redid it, because it had consequences. I was considering sharing some of it, but for the sake of time, I won't do it.

Some of you guys already know I used to get into a lot of trouble during that period, and some of those things had effects even as I was in college. But what one particular thing, what one particular mistake did you make that you think, "You know what, that ruined me for life." But the Bible says that one man's sin, one man and one sin in particular, ruined mankind forever.

So naturally we have to ask the question, what was it about his sin that was so heinous that all men would die and be condemned? If you study the Bible carefully, and if you're asking and really digging through the meaning of the Gospel, it usually will take you back to Genesis.

Because all the problem happens in Genesis, and all the prophecies of how he's going to reverse this curse is all written in Genesis. So we have to go back and look at Genesis to see, what was it that he did? What was so heinous about his sin that mankind would be under this condition?

So turn with me to Genesis 3, 1-7. And again, if you have a vague understanding of sin, and why this particular event caused condemnation, then even the cross is not going to make a lot of sense. Turn to Genesis 3, 1-7. Prior to this passage, this is the record of the fall of mankind, these seven verses.

Prior to this, God makes it very clear to Adam and Eve that of all the other fruits you can eat, except for the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And if you eat that, he says, you shall surely die. And God makes that very crystal clear. We get to chapter 3, where Eve runs into the serpent.

And this is the encounter they have. Verse 1. "Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, 'Did God actually say, "You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?" And the woman said to the serpent," and I want you to listen carefully to what she says, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" Now what I want to point out here is that Eve knew exactly what God prohibited.

And Eve actually repeated that if you do this, he said, "You shall surely die." So there was no confusion. So Adam and Eve couldn't say, "You know what? His instruction wasn't clear. I didn't know what he meant by that." And he said, "Well, he said not to go near." It was just not clear.

She actually repeats what God says to her in him. He said, "He said not to touch it, and if you eat of it, you will die." So she knows it. But Satan's response, the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die." In direct contradiction to what God says, "For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened.

You will be like God, knowing good and evil." So he actually blames, he says, "No, God never said that." In fact, the reason why he's prohibiting you from eating this, because he doesn't want to share his glory. If you eat of it, you're going to become like him. And God doesn't want to share his glory.

So basically, you're not the bad guy. I'm not the bad guy. He's the bad guy. So you should eat of this. It's a direct contradiction, saying it's because of him. He's an egomaniac, and he doesn't want to share any of it. And so as a result of that, she hears it and chooses to believe the serpent rather than what God said.

And then look at the next part where she carries out this act. Verse 6. "The woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise. She took of the fruit and ate." And as a result of that, sin comes into mankind, and the condemnation comes in.

Let's examine carefully verse 6, what actually was the sin. She looked at the food, and it was good for food. How many of you had looked at a nicely-- you know, when you were hungry, went to a restaurant and said, "Wow, I'm famished." Did you ever walk into a restaurant and was hungry and said, "Wow, that looks good for food," and thought, "I better not," because Eve did this, and she died?

How many of you looked at the food when you were hungry and said, "Wow, that looks good. That's a delight to my eyes," and thought, "I better not," because that's exactly what Eve did. She was hungry, she wanted to eat, and she thought that's good for food, and she died.

So I'm not going to do it. And then it says that she looked at it and said, "The tree was desired to make one wise." How many of you are attending school to be dumb? In fact, the whole book of Proverbs is about becoming wise, being a wise person.

So why was this a sin? That she was hungry, she found good food to eat, and thought that if she ate that, she would become wise. What was it about this particular event that was so heinous that would bring the condemnation of mankind from that point on until the end?

Deserving of what? Hell! What was it about that particular sin? See, what went wrong in the beginning? And again, I think the primary sin of mankind is contained in this text. The problem with her looking at the food that it was good and delight to the eyes and desire to make one wise, the reason why that was sin was that it wasn't good for food.

God said that it is not good for food, and she decided on her own, "It is good for food." God said, "Do not go near, do not touch it, do not eat it," and she desired to say, "No, that is good for food," and it was delight to my eyes.

God said, "If you eat of that tree, you shall surely die." But instead, she said, "No, that's going to make me wise and become like him." See, the rebellion wasn't simply that she was hungry. God said, "If you're hungry, you can eat of all of this, and all of these other things are good for food and delight to the eyes.

All of these other things will help you to live and be fruitful." What she determined in her own eyes, what she determined to be good, what she determined to be delight in her eyes. In Isaiah 5:20, it says, "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter." The primary sin of mankind is that this rebellion in our hearts to say, "I'm going to be the master of my own life.

Don't tell me what is good. Don't tell me where to go. Don't tell me what to eat." That's why the Scripture says that what causes us to be saved is those who believe that Jesus Christ was crucified, was raised, and that he is the Lord, to establish him as Lord.

Our primary sin is not to look at God and say, "I hate you, God." The primary rebellion of mankind is to say, "I don't want you telling me what is right and wrong." At the core of man's sin is he wants to be God. Now, no one would ever say that.

No one ever walks around, you know, Christian or non-Christian, like, "My goal is to be like God." Even though basketball players would put certain things under, you know, tattoos and "Superman," "I'm God," whatever. But, you know, when we hear that, some of that guy's an egomaniac, right? I think most people wouldn't have the gall to actually even say that.

But at the core of man's sin, that he wants to do whatever he thinks, he wants to determine for himself his destiny. In the book of Judges, chapter 17, verse 6, it describes the core sin of Israel at that time. And this is how it's described. "In those days there was no king in Israel.

Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." Everyone just determined. It didn't say they chose what was evil. They didn't scour the land and decided to rebel against God. All they did was they determined for themselves what was right and what was wrong. That sound a lot like what's going on in today's culture?

We want to determine for ourselves what is life and what isn't life. What is sexually permissible, not permissible? It's like, don't tell us what to do. Don't be a bigot. We don't want God telling us. We don't want anybody telling us what we ought to do, what we ought to think.

I mean, think about it. I mean, just even a few years ago, the idea that we can't even call a male a male or female a female. Let everybody determine for themselves what they are. We may think, oh, that's a modern problem in today's history, but in actuality, that was a sin from the very beginning.

From the very beginning of the fall. We want to determine for ourselves. Proverbs 12, 15, it says, "The way of the fool is right in his own eyes." See, a fool doesn't say, "I'm doing evil and I'm just going to do whatever I want." He says, "In his own eyes, his actions are justified." But a wise man listens to advice.

Ecclesiastes 11, verse 9, it says, "Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes." Now, if I stop right there, I'd be like, "Great." I've been looking for a passage in the Bible to help me to do whatever I want.

It says, "Cheer in your youth, walk in the ways of your heart, whatever you see." I mean, isn't that the benefit of being young? If you ask most people who are over 40 and ask them, "What age would you want to go back to?" You'll hear different answers. I've heard some people say, "I wish I was a teenager." Very few.

I don't think I'd want to be a teenager. I want some control over my emotions and my thoughts. I don't want to be a teenager. I don't want to be too old either. I want to be just old enough where I have the maturity and I have the freedom to do what I want.

And I want to be just young enough where I have the physical ability to do it. So I would probably choose somewhere between 25 and 35, because that's where I would be, which is where most of you guys are. So somewhere in that range would be a good age to be in for eternity, I think.

I don't know what it's going to be like in heaven, but that's kind of like the prime age. But some of the benefit, again, especially for you single guys, single women, is that you're at an age where you have a desire, you have the freedom. And I know a lot of the parents with young children envy you guys, because it's like, "Hey, that's a nice place to go." "Let's go next Tuesday.

Let's do it." And you're gone. And then you come back. And then you see somebody else, like, "Oh, that's great. Where did you eat that?" "Oh, downtown LA." "Let's go." "When?" "Right now." And then they go and they come back. And all the parents are on Facebook, it's like, "Ahh." I remember those days.

Who would think that that's wrong? It's a freedom that we have, and yet, he says, basically, whatever your heart desires, whatever your eyes see, just go ahead and enjoy yourself. But then there's a second part to that. He says, "But know that for all these things, God will bring you into judgment." Now, he's not saying that because you ate food and traveled that God's going to judge you.

But basically, if your whole life is based upon what I desire, what I want, and I'm just going to live it freely. And that is man's rebellion. Man's rebellion is, "I determine what is good." "I determine what is right." "I determine where I live." "I determine where I go." "I determine what I say." "It's me.

Don't tell me what to do." See, Adam and Eve falls into this sin, and as a result of that, what happens? Immediately, shame comes in. And as a result of this shame, there's isolation. Even between husband and wife. They can't be open with each other. I know some of you guys who are single, thinking like, "Oh, if I get married, I'm going to share everything." That's not true.

There's a lot of things that you don't even want your wife to know, and your husband to know. That's the nature of sin. There's this isolation that happens. As a result of this isolation, there's fear. And that fear comes in, and that's what happens. They hide from each other, and the voice of God and His presence, that brought joy and life, all of a sudden, they hear Him coming near them, and what happens to them?

They fall in fear. And as a result of this fear, they hide from Him, the Author of life. And as a result of this sin, what happens? The hardship comes in. Where before, they were working, and it produced joy. And now it says, when you work, Adam, it's going to produce thorns and thistles, and at the end of your life, at the sweat of your brow, and what you've got to show for it is you're going to die.

For Eve, He said, there's going to be contention in the home. That you're not going to understand your husband, your husband's not going to understand you, you're going to have contention with your children, raising them, and there's going to be hardship in life. Soon as they have children, what's the first thing that happens?

The older son and the younger son, there's contention, there's jealousy among them. This jealousy leads to hatred, and the hatred leads to murder. First murder recorded in human history was within the family, between older and younger brother. It doesn't end there. In Genesis chapter 6, verse 1, it says, "When mankind began to multiply, wickedness multiplied along with it." And as a result, the Scripture says, "Sin reigned." Sin reigned.

Death reigned on mankind. Not only then, today, and until the end of history, He said, death will reign. Some of the questions that we get commonly when we're trying to share the Gospel with non-Christians is, "If God is so good, why does He allow evil?" I'm sure you've probably heard that question from your coworkers, or from friends or family members.

"If God is so good, why is there so much evil in the world?" The answer is pretty plain. The Bible says the wrath of God is being revealed against all ungodliness. The evil that you see in the world is a direct result of mankind's rebellion against God. I think because the way that we presented the Gospel, we want to kind of skip through the first five chapters of Romans, and get to Jesus Christ died for you and loved you, and has a wonderful plan for your life, so they don't really understand why Jesus had to be crucified.

So if God loves us, what is all this drama about condemnation? But when we look at the Scripture carefully, the Scripture says we experience the Holocaust, wars, dissension at home, sex trafficking, poverty, all of this, the Scripture says, comes as a result of man's rebellion against God. Death reigns.

Now if I stop there, if Paul stopped there, it'd just be news. I got some news for you. This is the state of mankind. I mean, what a horrific thing to hear. Is it true? Absolutely true. Nothing that I said is exaggerated. Everything that I said is in Scripture.

But that's not the point. See, the Gospel means good news. If the news stopped there, it'd be like, "Oh my gosh, what will happen to us?" But good news is that God doesn't leave us there. In Romans 5:16, just as condemnation came through that one man, justification and righteousness also comes through one man.

In Romans 5:16, "For the judgment following the trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification." Romans 5:17, "If because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through one man, Jesus Christ." So we have to ask the question, what was it about Adam's sin that brought condemnation to mankind?

And we just took a few minutes to talk about that. But the next question we have to ask is, if Jesus' one man's one act reversed this curse, what was it about Jesus' condemnation? What was it about his death that was so unique and had the power to reverse the curse of mankind?

I mean, he wasn't the only one crucified. Thousands of other people were crucified just like him prior to his death, and hundreds and hundreds of others that were crucified after Christ. What was unique about his death and his resurrection? Well, every man who was crucified and every man who died prior to him, whether it was natural or through condemnation, died for their own sins.

It was a result of their own sins. Jesus Christ is the only one who knew no sin. And, you know, I kind of-- it's a fascinating question that would come up, and I just kind of leave it to you to kind of ponder upon it. If death came as a result of sin, if Jesus never sinned, would he have died?

Just think about it. I'm not going to answer that for you. Let me ask one more time so you know what I'm talking about. If we all died because there was condemnation of sin, physically, physical death came in as a result of sin, if Jesus never sinned, would he have died?

Just think about it. Don't get a headache, but just have something to talk about. Jesus is the only person who died not for his sins, but for the sin of others. But if he was just one man who lived perfectly, then his death may only pay for another man's sin.

But the Scripture says in John 1, 4, "In him was life, and his life was the light of all mankind." Meaning, contained in Jesus, in his deity, that Scripture says that all things were created by him and for him. Jesus simply doesn't say, "Come to me, and I will give you life." He says, "I am the way and the truth and the life." He is life.

So his death was a propitiation, atonement for all life. All men and women who are able to confess. And so he became a substitution for the penalty of mankind because all life is contained in him. So by his death and by his resurrection, it reversed the curse of mankind.

Now here's the point I want to really point out this morning. But he didn't just simply reverse the curse. Look with me in verse 15. And I want you to pay attention to the language here. It says, "But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many die through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for many." Now, when he says Adam and Jesus' death and resurrection and sin and condemnation, the reason why it's different is this one man's sin caused a condemnation for many.

But this many sins was reversed by one man. The point that he's trying to make is, his power to save is much greater than Adam's sin's power to condemn. He repeats the same thing again in verse 17. Look with me in verse 17. "For if because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ." Again, the language that he uses, he says, "death comes in, condemnation comes in, but much more." What Jesus did wasn't simply that, "Okay, now you can go to heaven and live." His power to save is much greater than the power that sin has to ruin.

The power of life is much greater than the power of death. The power to justify is much greater than the power to condemn. Much more. Whatever the condemnation, whatever the reign of death, whatever penalty that sin has brought into mankind, the power of the cross is much greater to overpower whatever sin has created.

You and I have a tendency to look at circumstances, and we're good at pointing out what's bad. We're experts in it. That's why when you go to Kmart or Walmart or Target or whatever, their complaint center usually is pretty busy. You think about lines being too long or products isn't what it is, and the return line, whatever it is, the complaint department is usually pretty strong.

I always wonder if they had a praise department, if anybody would ever take advantage of that. If I was to ask, even in this congregation, "What is bothering you?" Usually they say, "Hey, give me a second." And it's not because it's not already in your head. It's because it's so long, either I've got to pick from it, or it's going to take me a while to list all of it.

Let me start with my husband. My wife. Now I'll tell you what's wrong with my first child, second child, third child, fourth child. Let me tell you what's wrong with my work. My car. This government. Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton. My church. My shoes, my sock. The list goes on and on.

You don't need to dig deep because our natural tendency is like, "Here's what's wrong." But if you have any praise, anything to praise God about, "Give me a second, let me think about it." We have to sit down and actually put some work into it. What am I thankful for?

What am I thankful for? I've been thankful for the Bible for days recently. Thankful for the Bible? It takes a while. It's not there. You've got to dig a little bit deeper. Because our natural tendency is to gravitate toward things that are produced by darkness. Gravitate toward things that have gone wrong.

Gravitate toward things that we don't like and we think need to be fixed. And usually that just kind of spills over. See, in 1 John 4, 4 it says, "Little children, you are from God and have overcome them. For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." The reason why John says this to them is because there's persecutions happening.

He said, "False prophet has gone out." And he's coming, he's going to persecute and he's going to judge you. Don't worry about them, no matter what happens. Because he who is in you is much greater than the problem that you see. These persecutors that are coming. A lot of people are so afraid of these ISIS guys who may-- maybe they're going to come here, maybe they're going to do this.

And I can see them. We live near Disneyland. I would think if they're going to come here and target anything, Disneyland would be one of those places. I'm not trying to scare you, but that's real. I say, "Wow, you know, all these things are happening and what's going on." And so John is writing to a group of people who are in very similar times, who are risking their lives to be followers of Jesus Christ.

And he says, "Do not worry. He who is in you is much greater than the problem that you see. Don't focus your attention on the power that is outside of you. Know that the God who created you is actually in you." 2 Corinthians 9:8, it says, "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency, all things, at all times, you may abound in every good work." Think about how often we come before God and say, "I'm not growing because I don't have these things in my life.

Only if I had this, only if I had this kind of accountability, only if it was this, this, that, and I can't grow because of that." When God says, "I have made my grace abound to you, to having all sufficiency and all things at all times." Not in this church, not through this organization, not through this program, not through this type of preaching.

It says, "Every Christian has been given all that you need for a life of godliness." So anybody to stand before God and say, "I am the way I am because I don't have these things," is basically saying, "You're not sufficient. Your word of God that you've given to me in your Holy Spirit is not sufficient.

I need this and this." I have to confess. As a pastor, the thing that I wrestle with repeatedly, and I have to constantly catch myself, is that in the context of ministry, I get frustrated. And there are times, and I dump it on Esther usually when I get an opportunity, and I would share about how discouraged I am, and things are going wrong, and this and that, and just lose hope sometimes for church.

And I think in my mind, it's like, "Maybe this is not going to work. Maybe I can just make money and then give it to people. That's something tangible. Maybe I just go out to China or India or just get into orphan work or something tangible. This is not going to work." And there are repeated times.

There have been periods in my life in ministry where I thought that that was the way out. And I thought that was the righteous thing to do. I want to bear fruit, but I don't feel like I'm bearing fruit. And in times like that, I have to take a kind of step back and realize that this is His church.

The only reason why you and I are here is not because God strategized the right people at the right time. And I'm sure God has orchestrated all of that. But when you look at 2,000 years of church history, if there's any miracle that you can point to in the 2,000 years of history that is absolute evidence of His power and His church, it's that you and I are still here.

Over 1,000 years of trying to eradicate Scripture. Over 1,000 years. Not a couple of years. Not decades. Not centuries. Over 1,000 years. The church that was given to protect and to proclaim the gospel through His word tried to destroy this. And people who stepped up and said, "This needs to be translated so that more people can have this," were killed at the stake.

1,000 years of this. How did we get here? Worship of statues? Killing anybody who was preaching the right gospel? In the church. How did we get here? See, Matthew 16, 18, it says, "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." The only reason why we are here today is because Christ loves His church.

Because the power to save is much stronger than the power to corrupt. Power to justify can overpower any power to condemn. And that's why you and I are here. It's not because we found the right strategy. It's not because we found the right system, and the right people, and the right amount of money.

It's because He said, "I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." So He says, "When the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." And if you believe that, that's why we worship. That's why we have hope. Not because we have the right people around.

Not because we have the right system around. Because God of the covenant is much more powerful than any other problem that you have brought into this room. Any other thing that has gone wrong, any health problems, any financial issues, whatever it may be. Our God is much more. Considering all that is going on in this world.

Considering all the overwhelming news of murder, sex trafficking, corruption, even in the church. That even in the context of all of this, Christ crucified foolishness to those who are perishing. For the power of God, for those who are being saved. That's why we worship Him. We don't come here because we have great people.

If you come to church because people are nice, you will leave because people are not nice. If you come to church because a church is organized a certain way, you're going to leave a church because it's organized a certain way. If you come for anything other than Christ crucified, you will leave.

Because all things will fade away like grass. Hebrews 12, 28-29, it says, "Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken." Because the foundation and the cornerstone on which the church is built is Jesus Christ. Not me, not you, not our system, but Jesus Christ.

"And thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, the reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire." Let me conclude with this. When I was back in seminary, I took a book of Revelation, Exegesis through Revelation. Because I was going to be one of those top theologians.

I'm going to be one of those guys, I'm going to figure this out. So I went in and took the book of Revelation, and my professor happened to be an expert on this. I got a decent grade, I didn't get like A+, but I got a decent grade. I was like, "Oh, I'm going to come out and I'm going to be an expert." I came out absolutely confused.

He would say, "Here's ten views on the horses, and here's four views on what red means, and here's five views on what white means. Here's what the trumpet, and I'm not even sure, is it consecutive or is it all together? Here's a seal judgment, the bowl judgment, like what is this?

Is this a nuclear war? Or is this a famine? What is this?" Since then I've studied through it many times. In fact, some of you guys remember a couple of years ago, I told you I might study through the book of Revelation. I started studying it to prepare to teach in one of the Wednesday Bible studies.

I went about two-thirds through it, and I said, "No, we're not going to do it. I'm going to wait a little bit." One of the most encouraging things that I heard was shared by a missionary. We're not a theologian, but he was sharing his encouragement in Revelation. He said, "The book of Revelation is not an unfolding of mysteries so that we can calculate when Jesus is going to come, and so that we would know that he's going to be the pre-trib, post-trib, amillennialism, and post-millennialism.

It's not for the purpose for us to just kind of wrestle with these things. I mean, it's interesting, and I'm not saying it's not important. It's in the Bible, so it is important. But sometimes we get so wrapped up in that, and we forget the larger picture, the bigger picture.

The main point of the book of Revelation is to tell us that Jesus wins, that history is written, that no matter what darkness and trials you're going through, at the end of the day, everything Jesus promised gets fulfilled. If we were living during World War II, and we know the history about the Holocaust, and probably in modern history, one of the most horrific things that have happened, how the Nazis killed six million Jews.

Imagine if you were living at that time. Even if you weren't a Jew, even if you were living way over in the United States, and knew that that kind of evil was happening, the kind of darkness that you would have felt, the despair that the whole of mankind would have been under.

We study that, and we look back at that, because it's done, and the Nazis were killed, and they were delivered. So we can look back at that and say, "Make sure that doesn't happen again." But it doesn't cause us despair, because we know what happened. The good guys win.

See, the book of Revelation is the recording of history, not foretelling, not "Hopefully this will happen." It is the history that has been written. This is going to happen, because God has ordained it. And it says in Revelation 21, 5-7, "And he who was seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.' Also he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.' And he said to me, 'It's done.

I am the Alpha and the Omega. I am the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God, and he will be my son.'" This is not hopeful thinking.

This is not wishful thinking. This is recorded history from God's perspective. This is what's waiting for us at the end of our life. Amen? That's what Paul is trying to say. You could think about the result of the condemnation, and what sin has created even in the church, and being a husband and wife, and the sickness, and all the trials that I know that some of you guys are going through.

And sometimes the despair can be so strong, and you don't know what to do, that you don't even know, you can't even form the words to pray, because your heart is so burdened, that in the midst of these trials, do not forget, that the one man sacrifice is not like the sin of Adam.

Much more. Hope that we have in Christ is much more than any despair that you and I will ever experience in this world. Whatever burdens that you have brought into this room, his power to save us, to justify us, to make us righteous, is much more. Let's take a few minutes to come before the Lord in prayer as our worship team comes up.

I know that in this room, and that some of you guys I know personally, and some of you have brought burdens in this room that I may not be aware of, but I know all of us, we are living in a fallen world. And because we live in a fallen world, the effects of sin is going to get to us.

It gets to us in our marriage sometimes, it gets to us in our business, it gets to us in our friendship and relationship, and even in the church. But let's not forget, let's not be so short-sighted, that in the midst of this despair, that we forget the big picture.

Our Christ has conquered sin. If the Son sets you free, he will be free indeed. So let's take the time to come before the Lord and to thank him for what he has done. So let's take some time to pray.