Telling the Truth

Guest (Male): Today on Telling the Truth, Stuart Briscoe begins a message called Peace, Joy, and Hope about what can happen when you fully embrace your place in God's family. But before we hear from Stuart, if you've been feeling overwhelmed lately, like your mind just won't slow down, you're not alone. A lot of people today are carrying anxiety, uncertainty, and questions they don't know where to take.

That's why Telling the Truth is sharing biblical teaching in digital spaces so people can encounter God's truth right in those moments, right where they are. As we approach the end of the financial year, your support is critical to keep this ministry going. Right now, your gift will be doubled through an $82,000 matching grant, helping reach more people searching for peace and direction.

As our thanks, we'll send you Stuart Briscoe's book, A Piece of My Mind, a resource designed to help you experience God's steady peace when life feels unsettled. Call 262-788-4648 to have your gift doubled by the match or give online at tellingthetruth.org. Now, here's Stuart Briscoe with his message, Peace, Joy, and Hope.

Stuart Briscoe: We're going to turn now to God's Word once again, to Paul's letter to the Romans, and today we've arrived at Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5, verse 1 starts out with a word with which we are familiar in Scripture, and that is the word 'therefore'. Many of you have heard me say on numerous occasions, whenever you see the word therefore, you ask what's it therefore? Two or three of you do remember what I've been telling you.

When you see the word therefore, you ask what's it therefore? The answer to the question, of course, is that the word therefore functions in much the same way that a hinge functions on a door. Half the hinge is fastened to the door and half to the wall, and the one swings connected to the other. The word therefore, half of it is fastened to what has just gone, half of it is fastened obviously to what is coming.

Usually, what has just gone is a doctrinal or a theological statement or explanation. Usually, what is coming after it is a practical application. We need both. There are some people, of course, who say don't bother with theology, don't bother with doctrine, I don't understand it anyway, all these long words. Anyway, the reason that churches get into fights and religions get into arguments is because they don't agree on theology.

Why don't we just forget all about that and just find some nice happy medium, middle ground, and just get along with everybody instead of fighting over passing verbs and etymological roots and Hebrew and Greek and all these other things. We don't need that kind of stuff. Just give me the bottom line. I understand that, and it would be nice if we didn't get into all these unnecessary embittered arguments and debates.

However, the simple fact of the matter is this, that if you do not understand the principles, the practical will not be much help to you. On the other hand, there are people who take the opposite point of view. They just love getting into all the minute details of study. They love to spend enormous amounts of times getting into the intricacies of philosophical and theological debate. The only problem is they never get on to doing anything. They just spend time debating each other.

Neither the practical person who eschews theology or the theological person who is not interested in practical outworking of it is much help to us at this point, and Paul would not be in either camp. The word therefore is a constant reminder to us of this fact. In Romans chapter 5, verse 1, he says, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith." On the basis of what he has explained about being justified by faith, he then says, "Therefore, since we've been justified through faith, we have peace with God." Now he's coming into the practical application of the theological statement that he has made.

Let me just take two or three minutes to recapitulate what he means by "since we have been justified by faith". That in a nutshell is what Romans chapters 1 through 4 is all about. The statement of justified by faith means, first of all, that God has declared some people to be in a right standing with him. It is something that God has declared, and of course it carries great weight because God is the essence of righteousness.

That means he thinks rightly, he acts rightly, he is motivated rightly, he deals justly, he is totally fair. In other words, if we have a sense of rightness and wrongness, of good and evil, of justice and injustice—and we do—then somewhere along the line there is an ultimate of rightness, there is an ultimate of justice, and so forth. It's God. He is righteous. Amazingly, God under some circumstances is willing to declare some people are righteous, they are in a right standing with him.

What kind of people are they? This is the strange thing about it, they are the unrighteous. Who are they? It's all of us, I'm afraid, because compared to the righteousness of God, the intrinsic righteousness of God, there is an intrinsic wrongness about us. We can compare ourselves with each other and comparisons can be very nice, particularly if you decide who you compare yourself to. You'll always find somebody worse than you, and that will make you feel real good.

But we do not have the freedom to compare ourselves with each other. We are called to compare ourselves with the ultimate of rightness, God himself. We finish up, without argument, unrighteous. How in the world can God do the right thing by declaring some people who are unrighteous, righteous? That doesn't make any sense at all. How in the world can God be doing the right thing when he declares people that he knows are not righteous, how can he declare them righteous? That is the conundrum that Scripture now addresses.

The answer that God devised was to make an intervention himself. And to be not only the one who would judge our unrighteousness, but to bear the judgment himself in Christ. The judgment of unrighteousness, another word for sin, the judgment of sin is death. The wages of sin is death. Incredibly, God the perfect one, in his Son, the perfect incarnate one, God in his Son becomes the sacrifice for the sins of the world and they are dealt with, they are totally forgiven.

God declares men and women no further charge is laid against you. I will declare you righteous not on the basis of what you have done, but on the basis of what God himself has done in Christ. He provides forgiveness, he provides reconciliation, he provides justification and all these other long words that we need to learn. He provides them all, the table is set and he says come and partake.

Guest (Male): What characterizes the life of someone who's been justified by faith? That's what Stuart Briscoe is talking about this time on Telling the Truth, and he's coming right back with more. There's a growing hunger for truth in our world today, and more people than ever are searching for real answers. That's why as Telling the Truth prepares to close out another financial year, your support matters so much.

Your support helps take the trusted teaching of Stuart and Jill Briscoe and place it into digital spaces where people are already looking for hope. Right now, an $82,000 matching grant will double your gift, expanding that reach even further in the months ahead. When you give, we'll say thank you by sending you A Piece of My Mind, a powerful resource from Stuart that shows you how to experience God's perfect peace, even in uncertain and challenging times.

Call today to request your copy when you have your gift doubled by the match, 262-788-4648. That's 262-788-4048, or you can give online at tellingthetruth.org. For many, our smartphones have become our social connection, but we want to help you make a spiritual connection with the Telling the Truth mobile app. You can listen to daily programs, engage in Bible reading plans, journal, and share your thoughts and prayers on the community wall.

Get the Telling the Truth app through your app store or log on to tellingthetruth.org/mobile. Remember, you can also give to support Telling the Truth on our mobile app. Here is Stuart Briscoe once again.

Stuart Briscoe: To come and partake is to say first of all, this is what I need. I recognize I cannot make myself right with God. He has done it for me. Praise his name. Humbly, repentantly, joyfully, I receive from him what I did not earn, what I would never deserve, and which he in grace has offered to me at infinite cost, himself. That's the essence of faith. Faith receives what grace offers.

It is possible for men and women to say along with the Apostle Paul, "We have been justified by faith." We have been declared right with God, even though we are in ourselves unrighteous and God is righteous. He's done it out of sheer grace and we have received it through faith. Therefore, Paul says, having been justified through faith, what? So what? He answers, "We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Verse 2 says, "Through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character, character hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given us." Then verse 11, "Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation."

Now I want to highlight one or two words for you here, and these are the characteristics of people who know they have been justified by grace through faith. These are the characteristics that you would expect to see manifested in their lives. The first one is this, "Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God." That's the first one. Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God.

Here's the second one. Not only is that the case, "We stand in grace." We stand in grace. Here's the third one, "And we rejoice in hope." We rejoice in hope. Have you got those three things? Three characteristics of those who have been justified by grace through faith. Number one, they have peace with God. Number two, they stand in grace. Number three, they rejoice in hope.

Peace with God. When we talk about peace, and we talk about it a lot, I think it would be true to say that generally speaking, we think in terms of, well, peace is that delightful experience when having gone through a period of hostility, the hostility has ceased. Peace is what you enjoy as a result of the cessation of hostilities. That's very obvious.

A man who has been in the reserve, he's been shipped out, he's been there for 12 or 18 months, however long it was, and he's finished his time, he got on a plane and he came home and he goes to stay with his wife and his children and their little log cabin and a little lake up in the wilderness of Wisconsin. He couldn't be further away from roadside bombs and snipers and all the stuff that's going on, and the hostilities are over and he wakes up in the morning and he just has that great sense of peace. We understand that.

Another way of describing peace, a common way of doing it, of course, is when we are able to eradicate all the stress in our lives. This is related, of course, to the cessation of hostilities. But a lot of people wouldn't say I'm living in hostilities, but boy, I sure am under stress. The travel agencies know this, so they love to have pictures of palm trees and aquamarine water and brilliant blue skies and white, white sands and lounge chairs.

You look at that and you know when they ship these brochures to you? December and January in Wisconsin. They know what they are doing. Be careful, you have been warned. Now, it all looks so wonderful, it is so exciting, and you think to yourself, oh, I'd give anything, I'd give anything just to get away from all the hustle and the bustle and the stress. Well, I understand that, that's what we mean by peace.

The interesting thing, however, is this, when you look at the biblical understanding of peace, it goes deeper than that, and I'm glad. I'll tell you why, because you can't always get rid of hostilities because there are hostile people around. You can't always eradicate stress because this is a stress-filled society. It operates on stress. If we're going to wait until we end all hostilities or eradicate all stress, I'm sorry folks, you're not going to enjoy an awful lot of peace a lot of the time.

This is the biblical understanding of peace. We see this in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament word for peace, the Hebrew word, is Shalom. Shalom has a rich, rich meaning. Let me read to you from the prophecy of Isaiah, chapter 48. This is Isaiah quoting the Lord, verse 17.

"This is what the Lord says, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river." There's the promise of peace like a river. But notice what is the connection here? The Lord your God is willing to teach you what is best for you.

He is ready to direct you in the way you should go. And that requires you to know his commands and pay attention to them. You do those three things, recognize that he knows what's best, recognize that he's directing you in the way you ought to go, pay attention to his commands, and there's a promise, you will experience peace like a river. It says absolutely nothing about hostilities. It says absolutely nothing about stress.

It says nothing about hostilities ceasing, it says absolutely nothing about stress being eradicated. You know why? Because those things are not going to happen and the Shalom that he's talking about, the peace that he's talking about, is not external, it is internal. It is not related to your circumstances, it is related to your relationship to the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, who knows best, who directs in the way you should go.

Who gives certain commands which if they are adhered to produce—and here's the basic meaning of Shalom—they produce an inner sense of order. So that in the midst of the stress and the midst of the hostilities which do not cease, I know deep down within me an inner contentment and I'm able to say it is well, it is well with my soul.

I'm simply quoting the famous hymn, "When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say it is well, it is well with my soul." There's a lot of frantic, frenetic, frazzled people in our world. Have you noticed? In the midst of all the frantic freneticism, there are some people who seem to have a deep-rooted sense of well-being.

Guest (Male): Well-being. Why? Because God delivers. He directs. He controls. He works out the details. Peace. This is Telling the Truth and you've just heard Stuart Briscoe with his message, Peace, Joy, and Hope. Stuart's right back in a moment with a final thought for the day. What if your generosity today helped place biblical truth in front of someone at the exact moment they needed it most? That's what's happening every day through Telling the Truth.

Through social media, our Telling the Truth website, and other digital platforms, people are encountering God's word, many for the very first time right where they are. More people than ever are searching for the kind of peace that can only be found through life in Christ. That's why as we approach the end of the financial year, it's so important that we finish strong because your support can help us reach even more people with biblical truth in the coming year.

The great news is that a group of generous friends has offered an $82,000 matching grant, doubling your gift to expand the outreach even further. Now is a powerful time for you to step in and help keep God's Word going out to the people who need it most. As our thanks, we'll send you Stuart Briscoe's book, A Piece of My Mind, to help you experience the peace of God in whatever you're facing today. Just call 262-788-4648. That's 262-788-4048, or you can give online when you visit tellingthetruth.org.

Guest (Male): Stuart, why is the support of our listeners during the month of June so important?

Stuart Briscoe: As we come to the end of our financial year on June the 30th, I want to thank you for your prayers and financial support over these past 12 months. Echoing Paul's words to the Philippians, we can gladly say, "I thank my God every time I remember you. I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel." You truly are a faithful friend to this ministry.

That's why I'm asking you to prayerfully consider making a donation by June the 30th deadline to help us finish the financial year strong. The end of our financial year is when we determine the extent of this outreach in the year ahead. Your gift today will not only ensure we finish on firm financial footing, it'll allow us to seize more opportunities to impact people with God's truth in the year ahead.

Thankfully, some dear friends of Telling the Truth have offered a generous matching grant which doubles any gift you give by June the 30th. That means your gift will be worth twice as much to reach people with God's life-changing truth. Thank you again for your faithful support. It really is because of your support that so many people around the world can experience fullness of life in Jesus Christ.

Guest (Male): Before we go, here's something important to remember. Your support this month can help Telling the Truth reach even more people in the coming year. Right now your gift will be doubled through an $82,000 matching grant, helping extend biblical teaching to people around the world through digital platforms. As our thanks, we'd love to send you Stuart Briscoe's book, A Piece of My Mind, to encourage you with the promise of God's peace.

Please request your copy when you call 262-788-4648. That's 262-788-4048, or you can give online when you visit tellingthetruth.org. Tune in tomorrow as Stuart concludes his message, Peace, Joy, and Hope, and shares what can happen when you let the gospel do its work in your heart. Experience life on Telling the Truth.