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Greatest book, greatest chapter, greatest joy.

Greatest book, the Bible.

And I argued why on Friday night, namely it is the one book without which the ultimate purpose of God to be supremely glorified in the white-hot intensity of the

everlasting joy of his redeemed people in himself would fail.

But because the Bible exists, that purpose will not fail.

It is the greatest book in the world.

The greatest chapter, Romans 8, and I will argue in the first half of this message why that is so.

And the greatest joy, seeing and savoring and sharing in and showing the glory of God.

And that will be the second half of the message.

So first, why is Romans 8 the greatest chapter in the Bible.

Romans 8 is so dense and so constant in good news. The good news that is so great and so glorious and so vastly

superior to all other good news like the good news of health or family good news or

church good news or job good news or political good news or international good news or financial good news

so vastly superior to all other good news that you can scarcely feel the force of the good news until you take every verse and turn

it into a statement of the good news. Which I did but won't read them all I'm going to read 16 of them and instead of reading them as they're stated, I'm going to take the place of

God and speak them to you. I feel some authorization to do this because Paul said I

an ambassador for Christ, God making his appeal through me to you. Be reconciled to God. These are 16 of the best and my prayer now is that I speak them to you as I speak them to you on behalf of

God he would cause you to receive them as your own.

And I was an outsider. In Christ, my son, you are free from eternal condemnation.

My spirit in you will one day raise you from the debt.

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