On Sunday night, my wife Sharon showed me a video of a sermon she was watching. Sharon doesn’t watch sermons on her phone. Something must be special here.

She was watching a video of the sermon that Pastor Bob Bryant of Cypress Valley Bible Church gave that Sunday. The sermon was on Rom 8:17-18 and being joint heirs with Christ.

When I saw the video, I contacted Bob and asked him if he’d be open to putting that sermon on the Grace Evangelical Society YouTube channel. Yes. Would he be willing to cut the sermon into three pieces so each would be in the 10- to 12-minute range? Yes. Then I asked if his staff could do the editing. Yes!

Alexi emailed me the three messages, and Bethany put them up on our YouTube channel. You can see Part 1 on Heirs of God here; Part 2 on Joint Heirs with Christ here; and Part 3 on Suffering with Christ here. Or you can simply type in Grace Evangelical Society YouTube and you will see the three messages.

Those three messages would also be good to share with family members and friends who are open, but maybe do not yet grasp the faith-alone message. Or the eternal rewards message.

I don’t want to steal Bob’s thunder. But I can whet your appetite for his message. His point is that being a joint heir with Christ is a reward if we as believers suffer for Christ. Everlasting life is a free gift. Eternal rewards are earned.

He has a great illustration on the sufferings of this current age not being comparable to the glory which is ahead.

In my opinion, Romans 8:17 is not only a key verse for understanding Romans. It is also a key verse for understanding the Bible!