The sermon text for this morning is found in the book of Romans chapter 4 verses 6 through 8.

Just as David also speaks of the blessing upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works.

Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven and whose sins have been covered.

Blessed is the man who sin the Lord will not take into account.

O Father, as we undertake now to unfold these words in the context of this glorious and

perhaps greatest of all books in the Bible, the Book of Romans, we are desperately in need of your assistance.

Without you, we can do nothing, Jesus said. And so we ask for you to come for

listener and for preacher and give us your help. And I pray for any in the room who are without saving faith in Jesus Christ, or any who is walking,

or any who is walking in a path of destruction that you would save and rescue. Would you come Holy Spirit now and brood savingly, sanctifyingly over this people as we worship.

In Jesus, in name I pray, amen.

As we move through section by section in the Gospel of God in the Book of Romans,

I want you to have in your mind, I want you to get very clear, I want you to keep in your mind week after week that it's all about the gospel.

And the gospel means good news. And the good news is designed to lift your burdens and give you joy and make you strong.

I see it in the word blessed there.

You see the threefold use blessing in verse six,

blessed in verse seven, blessed in verse six blessed in verse seven blessed in verse eight that word

blessed macariaus in Greek means a condition where you are deeply secure and

profoundly content and happy in God. That's what the gospel is after. It's what God wants to do in you today.

And the reason I put it that way is because blessed does not mean that things will go easy for you. You know how we know that? Because the word occurs lots of times in the New Testament and the most dense usage is the beatitudes and the last beatitude says

blessed are you when men insult you and persecute you and revile you and say all kinds of evil

against you falsely on my account, rejoice in that day and be glad for great is your

reward in heaven.

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