He had a microphone on, and it was on a cord, and he had the cord in his hand, and as he, he would walk with it over here, and he'd unwind it like a fishing reel. He would walk over there, but he was a good preacher, but I never will forget watching him do that. Well, it's good to see you, Goldman. I always enjoy being up here and the Lord and the blessings of Christ, and we want to just look at the word together. Shall we? Let's take our Bibles and turn to Romans, the book of Romans, chapter five. Just one verse, Romans chapter five and just the first verse. Notice very carefully. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, if we finish this this morning, tonight I'd like to look in the first or the second verse, rather. I'd never heard a message on access. It says we have access by faith. But this morning we wanted to look simply at verse one. Shall we pray? Father, we do thank you in a real special way that we can come before you today. What a joy it is to know the Lord Jesus is our own personal savior. We pray for each one who's come this way. We pray that you will bless each heart, each life. We pray if there be one here who is not saved, that that one may believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved, be born again of the Spirit and know the Lord Jesus as his own personal savior. We thank you for your love. We pray for those who have needs, and we pray for those who have been mentioned, and we pray that each one of us will continue before prayer in these things throughout the week, for we know that you hear and answer prayer. And we'll just give you all the praise in Jesus' precious name, amen. I would like to just speak with you about the thought today that we have peace with God. That struck me one day. We have peace with God. It doesn't say we can have peace with God. It doesn't say let us have peace with God, but it says we have it. You know, that's a great difference in that we have peace with God, and we want to think about that wonderful joy in the Lord we have. You notice it begins with therefore. Therefore, and the therefore takes us right back to the chapter preceding it, where it says, let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace. It tells us there that we were saved because of the fact that Jesus was delivered for our offenses, that he was raised again for our justification. It takes us back to the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. In fact, it might do us well to just turn to that and notice that you'll see the lead on of it and see that in the Word of God, because that is what leads up to it. Notice verse twenty two. Therefore, it was reputed or imputed to him for righteousness. Now, it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also to whom it shall be imputed. Notice, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, notice, who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. Therefore, therefore, the therefore depends on what has already been said, what has already been established, because Jesus died for our sins, we trust him as our own personal savior, and it says, therefore we have peace with God. Now, it speaks there, therefore having been justified by faith. That means, of course, to you and to me that we have trusted Christ, that we have been saved, that we have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, that he died for our sins, and we- he's come into our heart. Oh, I hope each one of you has done that today. Oh, I'm sure that you have. And what a joy it is to know that I'm saved and born again of the Spirit of God. I noticed something recently I had never thought of it specifically, though in a general sense I had. But, you know, justification is not something that takes place in you so much as that's something that takes place in the Lord. It means that because of the blood, that I stand before the Lord just as if I had never sinned. And isn't that wonderful today, dear friend? That is justification. I have sinned, but justification means that before the Lord, I stand as if I had never, ever sinned. That's a precious truth, isn't it? Now, those who've been saved are justified. We are converted. We're changed in our wonderful Savior. And with that in light, it says, therefore, having been justified by faith, it says this we have. Now it says in the second verse, we have access. Here it says we have peace. It's wonderful what peace is. When I think of peace, I always think of a beautiful scene with the cows, uh, gently lying down, you know, and maybe the noonday sun or an evening time when the sun is setting and the flowers are there, or in the fall the hay is there, all gathered in, and I look out and I think of peace. Peace, and peace is a wonderful thing. But, you know, in this sense, we believe what peace really means is it means peace between God and me. It means that I have peace with God. There's no enmity. It means that I am reconciled, and all is well with my soul. Isn't that a glorious truth today, dear friend? That we have peace with God. That we have been saved, justified, converted, born above, and we stand saved by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's peace with God. But, you know, also the Bible says that we have peace of God, the peace of God. I've been enjoying, as a Christian, the peace of God, but not as much as I feel that I can. How about you? And, you know, more and more we can enjoy the peace of the Lord. Recently, it's not been long ago, a poem came to my mind, and I hadn't really thought about this poem in the light that I did, but it began to say this: I strove with none, for none was worth my strife. And you know, when I thought about that, I was driving. And when I get in this large city traffic, you know, people just go right over you. I mean, it's like you're not even there. And sometimes I have to admit that does bother me. And I've got some horses under that hood, and I tell you, I can shower it down too, and I can make that thing go. And sometimes I'm tempted, you know, okay, buddy, I'm going with you. You know what I mean? But you know, all that'll do is that'll make you unhappy, and it'll make you nervous and all the rest of it, and when you get there, you'll be a nervous wreck. And that poem popped in my mind, and you know, ever since then, I've been saying, okay, you go ahead. I don't say it that way, but that's in my mind. You go ahead, and then I'll go. You know, and I let them do, and I just keep my car under control, and I don't have any arguments with any of them. And you know, it certainly is a good trip, isn't it? It's a wonderful trip. When I get there, I'm just as relaxed as I can be, and it doesn't make a lot of difference anyway, as far as all the rest of it is concerned. I strove with none. You know, dear friend, a Christian can enjoy the most wonderful peace with God. In the home, the husband and the wife, with the children, the life and the joy of the Lord. I had wonderful parents, and they were married, I believe, sixty five years. I'd have to count it up again, but it was a long time. It was a, a real long time. I never heard them argue. Now, if they argued, they went somewhere else to do it, because I never heard them argue. You know, that was always a blessing to me, and I can always see that example before me in the Lord and to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, I believe that a Christian can have, day by day, the peace of God. That's a joy, isn't it? And it's for each one of us to enjoy and know this peace of God. It says, we have peace with God, we have peace of God. Jesus is our peace, and it's just a wonderful blessing in our precious Savior. Now, you know, as you think about this world, this is a world of strife. I don't need to say that. This is a world of war. This is a world of local strife. It's a world of argument. It's a world of debate and so forth. But, you know, we can have harmony. We can have happiness, and we can know the joy of the Lord. It says he is the wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father. And it says the Prince of Peace. You know, that's just wonderful. That's just glorious. In the Lord we have it, to the glory of the Lord. I think I'll just read to you from Isaiah thirty two. Some of these portions in the Word of God just, just thrill me. Isaiah thirty two, and as I think of it, I just rejoice in what I have. But, you know, you just think about this. It's speaking of the millennium, and there's going to be a day of peace, but Isaiah, the thirty second chapter, and it's one of the most beautiful chapters in the Bible. And look at these words. It says, behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ in the millennium, and it says, and princes shall rule in judgment, and a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerer shall be ready to speak plainly. The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the curl shall be bountiful, said to be bountiful. Now, notice also, it says, as you go down in the chapter, it says in verse fifteen, until the Spirit be poured out upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and a fruitful field be counted for a forest. Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And notice this, and the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. And the people shall dwell in a peaceful or peaceable habitation, and in a sure dwellings, or in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. When it shall hail coming down on the forest, and the city shall be low in a low place. Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the donkey. You know, that chapter has a lot of things in it of which we wouldn't have time to go into, but we see something of the beauty of the Lord. The seventy second Psalm has much of the peace of the Lord in it. And you know, the, the Bible says that we live in a world where there is no peace. There is no peace for the wicked. I was asking the Lord to give me a while ago that verse, and we won't turn to it, but it's in Isaiah. He gave it to me, Isaiah fifty seven twenty. and there it tells us, the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest. We have two daughters, and we go out, each one takes us down to the beach in the summer, and we always enjoy it. I've always enjoyed the, uh, ocean and swimming in it and all and so forth, but I haven't s- haven't been, uh, swimming in the ocean in recent times. I hear too much about the sharks, I guess, for one thing. And, you know, down we go to down by Atlantic Beach at Morehead City, and the undertow there can be very, very strong. But, you know, we know this, I know from swimming in the ocean, the ocean is never calm. There can be the toe that's under it. There can be under that a strong pulling toe, and the sea is never calm. And that's the way the nations are today. That's the way you look around and see life, and it's getting more and more. The more technology, the more things rise and go, the more we see these things. The wicked are like the troubled sea, no rest and no peace. But you know, thanks be to God, in the midst of all of this, you and I have peace in the Lord Jesus, peace from the foe, harmony. The Lord Jesus gives us wholeness and salvation and the glory of the Lord. You know, I love it in Matthew five where it tells us, blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. You know, a, a Christian ought to be a peacemaker. A Christian ought to enjoy the peace of God and be a wonderful peacemaker in our precious, precious Savior. Now, you know, there are many things we could say on these things. Our Lord Jesus said, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. He said, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. He said, let not your heart be troubled, and neither let it be afraid. Are you ever afraid? When I was young, we used to call it scared. But, you know, I'm sure all of us have been afraid and are afraid at times. But, you know, Jesus said, let not your heart be troubled, and it is well with our soul in the glory of the Lord. There is a hymn that has meant so much to me, and I just pass on a little to it, of it today, and notice these words. It says, peace, perfect peace in this dark world of sin. And it is a dark world of sin, but it says the blood of Jesus whispers peace within. That means I have peace with God, and the blood stands, and I rest, and you rest in our wonderful Lord. That's what we have. We have it right now. And it says peace by peace, perfect peace, rather by thronging duties pressed to do the will of Jesus, this is rest. You know, dear friend, at times in our Christian life, maybe when we don't enjoy the peace of God, let's ask ourselves this. Are we in the will of God? Are we doing the will of God? You know, there's a great rest in that, to do the will of God and to follow the Lord in his will. That is just a wonderful peace because we have the joy of the Lord Jesus Christ. I remember about twenty years ago, the Lord called Rhoda May and me to go down to North Carolina, and I thought that I, I said to the Lord, I'm happy where I am, you know what I mean? I like it up here. But, you know, the Lord seemed to say, you're going to Carolina. And, you know, I learned something in my life. When the Lord leads, you might as well go on. I've been studying the book of Jonah lately. There's a lot in that book of Jonah, and want- wanting to m- to know what does the book of Jonah mean? What does it mean, uh, to you and to me? Sometimes I feel so much like Jonah, because, you know, when the Lord told Jonah to go to Nineveh, you know where he did? He got on a boat at Joppa, and, you know, he w- he went, he was going to Tarshish, which was twelve hundred miles away. He was going the opposite way! And I tell you, Jonah didn't get away with it. And I hope I've learned that lesson in life. The Lord won't make you do it, but he'll surely make you wish you had done his will, and you'll miss, and I'll miss all that peace and all that joy and all that blessing. The Lord led, and the Lord has worked, and the Lord is blessed, and the Lord will always do that if we look to him. We cannot, but the Lord can do it. Just remember to do the will of Jesus. This is rest. Peace, perfect peace with sorrows surging round, on Jesus' bosom naught but calm is found. And that's true, it's only in our Lord. Peace, perfect peace with loved ones far away, in Jesus' keeping we are safe in they. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Some translators will render it, let us have peace with God, but it says we have, we have it right now. And then peace, perfect peace, our future, all are known, Jesus we know. And beloved friend today, he is on the throne. Amen. I need to remind myself of that, don't you? I really do, that the Lord is on the throne, and he knows what he is doing. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God. Now, I do want to, I don't want to meddle too much, but I want to think about our lives. You know, the Bible tells us that as far as is in us, we should live at peace with all men. And that is a biblical principle. You know, if if a person doesn't watch out, he can go out in life and have a, you know what I mean, a little chip on his shoulder, you know, and anybody that goes against this little chip that I have, I'm ready, you know what I mean? I'm ready to go against it. But you know, a Christian is not supposed to be that way. I don't mean there's not a time to stand. I don't mean that at all, but you know what I mean. As far as is possible, every believer should live in peace. It says to follow peace with all men. And you know what Ephesians six tells us? Our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. I was in an old country store one time some years ago, and I knew a lot of people there, and had a lot of good fellowship with people and witnessed to them about the Lord. And I've never forgotten in all my life, this man comes running up to me and he looks me right in the eye, and he says, you can't know you're saved and don't tell me any different. But I was young, didn't he? Like, that scared me to death in the first place, you know what I mean? And it may be that I should have said a lot to him, but you know, I didn't know I was with him. I thought he had his mind already made up, and you know, I believe I was right. I believe he already had his mind made up. You know, dear friend, we can witness the word of God. We can witness to others of the Lord Jesus Christ. But we can never make anybody do anything. I noticed that as a parent, you know what I mean? You can love your children, you can help them along the way, but you, there is that psyche in the child, there is that way that they have, and that's what they'll be. That's the bent that they will have. Only the Lord changes our hearts and our ways. Oh, dear friend, what a joy as we live and go through this life. To enjoy peace with God, the peace of God, and peace with our neighbors and friends. Everywhere go- go to me and I have gone, we've tried in the neighborhood that we live to get along with everybody. Now, the other day, you know, we were at home, and we were there, and it was in the morning hour, and they were having sewer trouble across the street, and I saw them out there digging. And, you know, I said to Golda May, I knew there was a gas line out there because we've got natural gas, and I- I remember when the man put it in. I was watching them put it in and all. I said, you know, I hope they don't hit that live. Well, about that time, they must have hit it because here come the fire trucks. There were five fire trucks out there, and we all had to leave our houses, and we went out there, you could smell it. You could smell it. And I mean, we were out there, we were about an hour, I reckon we were out there a good while, you know, and somebody said, don't light any matches, you know what I mean, and so forth. Well, you know, as I think about that, all things can happen so quickly, but we had a good time with the neighbors, and we live in peace with our neighbors, and we live, we enjoy living in Victoria, Virginia for a number of years, and I find it really pays to pay to live at peace with everybody because it's good to come back, isn't it? It's a lot of fun to come back and see people, and they'll still speak to you, you know what I mean? Still talk to you, and oh, the joy and the blessing of the Lord. Made mistakes myself, I'm sure you have, but dear friend, as far as is in you and in me, may there be a peaceful living, a love of everyone, and a joy in the Lord Jesus. That is what it is to have peace. Therefore, having been justified by faith, it says we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It's there, we have it. We don't seek it. We don't try for it. We don't reach for it, but praise his name, we've got it. And I like that kind of salvation, don't you? I'm saved now, and I'll be saved tomorrow, and throughout all eternity, the joy of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, as I think of this, and I look at it to illustrate it, there is a, an illustration that to me illustrates the fact that we have peace with God. To me, the best way that I can think of it. It has to do with a man whose name was H. G. Spafford. He lived from eighteen twenty eight to eighteen eighty eight, so it was a long time ago. But there were some other interesting things about his life. Now, H. G. Spafford was a wealthy man. He lived in Chicago, and uh, he decided that he wanted his family, and he wanted to go with his family to France. And uh, so he arranged, but he was going to have to come later, so he had his wife and his four lovely daughters to go ahead of him. And they went on the, the Ville du Har, the largest liner of its day, a French liner, and they sailed across the Atlantic Ocean. When they got in the middle of that, of the ocean, there was a vessel that for some reason had a, an iron, uh, hull on it, and it was strengthened. It was an extra strong ship, and those kind of ships can really take you down. I remember nineteen fifty six. anybody remember those two liners that collided? You remember them? One was the Andrea Doria, and today it lies three hundred feet down in the Atlantic. It's been seen by, is it Ballard that goes down and looks at those? And the Stockholm was a reinforced ship from Sweden, and they collided, and one of them went down. That was the way it was with this ship, and in two hours, the ship was on the bottom of the deep Atlantic Ocean. This is Spafford telegraphed back, saved alone, saved alone. um Four precious daughters. And I can imagine that. My wife and I have two wonderful daughters, and as I think about that, I can think four, and you lose them all at once, and all the heartbreak of it and the ring, the ringing of the heart. As soon as H. G. Spafford could get booking, he got on the ship and went to his wife's side. But we've got to back up. The story has many interesting sidelights to it. P. P. Bliss has written the music to many of our songs that we sing, and the interesting thing about P. P. Bliss, he worked with D. L. Moody. He was a genius at music and was greatly used of the Lord. Well, he was on a train with his wife, and when they got to Aristobula, Ohio, there was a train wreck, and he could get out, but his wife couldn't get out of the train for some reason, in the wreckage and so forth. And he stayed with her, trying to get her out, and both of them died. And all that music and TT bliss, and he died at thirty eight. That's young. But you know, a lot of people pass away early of life and and so forth, and and the Lord knows what he's doing. We can have that peace to know that the Lord knows what he's doing. Those are interesting sidelights. You see all of this tragedy that happens. H. G. Spafford went on to France, and as he was going, the captain called him up because he knew he was on the ship, and he showed him the exact spot in the Atlantic where the ship had gone down and where he lost his dear four daughters. You know, H. G. Spafford, when he got alone, he went down and he wrote a hymn, and oh, what a beautiful hymn that is. He wrote, when peace like a river attendeth my way, he said, when sorrow like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul. That's a beautiful. And you think about the fact of it being well with my soul. Well with my heart, well with my life. Is it well with your soul? I'm glad it's well with my soul today, that I know, regardless of what happens, I'm on my way to glory to the things of the Lord Jesus. I was reading the Greensburg Daily Record this past week. I almost wish I had not read it. It was about a young girl died of tumor. She was fourteen, brain tumor. She was fourteen years of age, a happy girl. It said she died with a teddy bear in her arm. And I wish I hadn't read that, but you know, you see in this world of tragedy, it's good to know the joy of it is well with my soul. And it went on to say, though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, does that sound familiar, dear friend? You know, Satan will fight you. If you want to enjoy the peace of God, the peace with God, Satan will fight you. And it says, my sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to his cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, oh my soul. You notice that it says my sin not in part, but the whole. I'm mighty glad of that, aren't you? Not piecemeal. You know, I could just see it now, the Lord is seeing me approaching, you know, and he says, OK, Steel. Remember when I was going to college, that's what he used to call me, Steel. He'd call you by your last name. Well, he- he'd say, well, Steel, uh, the- these things are okay. We'll- we'll check them off. That's okay. But now these sins over here now, we don't know about that. I tell you, you'd be in a fix, wouldn't you? Oh, you've got to have all of your sins, all of my sins. And you know, dear friend, when it says, therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, it means he took your sins, not in partial, not in parcel, not in part, but he took the whole lot of them, and as far as the east is from the west, so far has the Lord put your sins away, never to be brought up again. I, I preach not too long ago on where are our sins, and you know, I'm glad mine are gone. And you know, as Christians, sometimes we don't have peace because we let the devil worry us about our sins. And you know, there are all kinds of sins, and I don't mean we've got to rob banks and live in adultery, but there can be other sins. I was in Raleigh a few weeks back, you know, and we saw this sign, it says they're f- they're photographing your license plates, or he had it, I don't remember the exact wording. I was going through there on caution, I believe, and I haven't heard anything from it. I hope that I don't, you know, but but but they have that where they photograph your license plate. They're doing it in Greensboro, I know, and I I've heard that some people, and even though you get through, get through on yellow, sometimes it'll get you on that. But you know, it makes you feel funny about that, that you're going to get a greetings letter, you know? And so forth. You know, the beauty of it today, dear friend, is the Lord takes all of our sins. And where are they? Gone. They're gone. They're passed all away. It says, it is well with my soul, and the Lord haste the day when the faith shall be sight, the clouds roll back as a scroll, the trump shall be sounded, and the Lord shall descend. It is well. It is well with my soul. Isn't that a precious truth? Well, with my soul. We're living today in a day of health. We're living in a day when they're improving, and then there's some things that I think are not improvements, if you please, but they're improving and and so forth, and you want your health to be good. But those things pass, you know. I was talking with a dentist not too long ago. He said he went to the doctor, and he said, well, doc, you're going to check my blood. He said, just give me the whole works. He said, no, doctor, you don't want the whole works. He says there, there's three hundred and some things that we can check you for. He said, you don't, you don't want the whole works because it's getting more and more. They can tell so much about you by that one sample they can tell you about yourself. But you know, it's good to be healthy, and I'd say to everybody, do all you can to be as healthy as you can. Do everything you can in your power. But dear friend, the most important thing is for it to be well with my soul. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I haven't repeated that today because I know you've got good minds, and I know you can remember. But you think back, dear friend. When you remember a sermon, you won't remember much about it if you're like myself. You remember just a little bit about it. And what I want you to remember about it is that we have peace with God. I want you to remember that it's well with your soul, and in the battles and in the trials of life, I want you to realize that you have peace with God, that you have every day of your life the peace of God through the Lord Jesus Christ. I happen to notice, just in an old book, a poem that was given. I, I, I would never have noticed it apart from that. And I remember the writer of it because down in Victoria, Virginia, there was a, a dear Christian lady, one of the sweetest Christian ladies I've ever known, named Allie Mae. And I never will forget Allie Mae Coolidge, a wonderful Christian. She helped me, encouraged me, gave me books, helped me in every way. And one day I told her that I had been reading something by Bonar. And I remember she said, no, that's Scotch, B-O-N-A-R, that's Bonar. And I, I looked it up, and she was right. I don't know how she, she knew that, but it was one of the Bonners, and he wrote this, beautiful words. I hear the words of love, I gaze upon the blood, I see the mighty sacrifice, and I have peace with God. Isn't that precious? And I have peace with God. Tis everlasting peace, sure is Jehovah's name, tis stable as his steadfast throne, forevermore the same. My love is oftime low, my joy still ebbs and flows. His peace with him remains the same. No change, Jehovah knows. I change, he changes not. God's Christ can never die. His love not mine, the resting place. His truth not mine, the tie. Isn't that wonderful? Praise his name. Therefore, being justified by faith, that's past tense, having been justified by faith, we, present tense, have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace with God, the peace of God. It is well with our souls, and we can be a witness to the Lord Jesus Christ and all that he's done. If you need any help, I'll be glad to talk with you. The brethren will be glad to talk with you, how you can know it's well with your soul. May we as Christians, may we enjoy the peace of God. Let's not forfeit that, right? Let's enjoy it every moment. Father, we thank you for your love. We thank you for the wonderful people here, their kind attention. We pray that you will just put this verse in our heart, in our life, that therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God. We know as we go through life, a lot of, uh, narrative will not stay in our minds. It will slip out, and we will not remember much of even any messages, but we'll remember the scriptures, and we'll remember the word of the Lord. And may each one of us enjoy in the most wonderful way, in spite of life's trials, may we enjoy the peace with God. In Jesus' name, amen.